(Misaka's POV)

Aiko gave a long, piercing scream that echoed off all four walls.

Slapping my hand over her mouth, I took several deep breaths, trying to calm my racing heart.

The room was a long rectangle and the ceiling was high above us. There were fifteen coffins approximately and the shelves along the walls were full of creepy, Western dolls, all smiling with big, wide eyes.

"...So..." I ground out as Aiko stopped her muffled screaming. "What is the meaning of this, Rin?" I turned around enough to stare at the steps.

Rin stopped on the step above us and smiled sadly. "Oh dear..."

"You saw it..." The butler's voice said as he stepped on the step behind Rin.

"Danger, danger!" Miyu and Haru sang once more.

"Don't be scared, okay?" Rei's soft voice asked as she and everyone else gathered in the dark room.

Aiko glanced at me and I nodded slightly. I was thinking the same thing as her.

Run.

Hide.

Escape.

We both sprang into action. 

We have to find the key.

We have to get out.

"Where are you going?" Haru called, concern in his voice.

It has to be all but a dream.

"Where are you going??" Miyu repeated, her voice echoing the same way Aiko's scream had.

Either that...or we're going crazy.

Rei spoke loudly. "Won't you please wait?"

NO!

"Please don't be scared, okay?" An unfamiliar voice called.

How does that equate to "Don't be scared"? YOU IDIOTS! You have creepy dolls and coffins in your basement!

Either way, Aiko and I both stalled on the stairs, looking back down.

You both are the focus of the show. What will you do next? Human time is passing faster than normal~

How will you end it, dear sisters?

How will it end?  I wondered. Will it end with both of us in one of these coffins? Is it really all up to us?

And why did it seem that this was all for someone else's mere, yet deadly amusement?

"So we find this damned key and we go home, right?" Aiko snapped, for probably the first time in her life. Her eyes were cold and her fingernails were digging into her palms, drawing blood.

"Why, yes of course," Dietrich, the butler, replied. "You need to return the key to the door and answer the riddle on the clock. Then you shall have a happy ending."

"But where's the key?" Haru asked, his face hidden in the shadows and her wasn't even smiling.

"Indeed." Miyu agreed, looking downright murderous. Did they always have to have basically the same facial expression? They already were exact copies of each other.  "Where is that cold, shiny key?"

"The key..." They both said in monotone. "...Is hidden."

"Oh really! I didn't expect it to be lying around in plain sight!" I snarled, stomping up the rest of the stairs with Aiko on my heels.

I went straight for the clock again, frantically hoping that Aiko wasn't going to run off again. I was getting tired of running after her.

Besides, I needed to save myself and my sister. And if it was possible, the occupants of this never-ending nightmare.

Aiko plopped herself behind me as I knelt down, running my hands all along the bottom of the huge clock. I was looking for a hidden latch, a hidden switch, whatever. Something that would either have the key or lead to the key. The spirits had said that time outside was going faster.

Did that mean that time outside was going faster than what we were used to? Did that mean that we had less than three days left?

I had no clue, but either way, I had to figure it out.

"Misaka."

I didn't answer as I slid my hand in the small space between the clock and the wall.

"Misaka!"

I fell forward into the clock, my hand catching underneath the clock. Gasping from pain and feeling blood starting to run down my hand, I turned my head toward Aiko.

"I'm sorry?" Did she just call me by my actual name?

"If we don't get out in time--"

"You could at least help me, idiot!"

Aiko glared. "Don't you dare interrupt me, Misaka. If we don't get out before our limit is up and we're stuck in here forever...that boy, Kurogane you called him, is mine. He's cute and I like him."

You're worried about that?!

I pulled forcefully at my hand, giving a sigh of relief as it came free, knocking me flat on my butt. I shrugged, wiping my injured hand on my t-shirt. "Why'd you just tell me that? I don't give a crap for your love life."

"Because..." Aiko drifted off, and in the reflection in the glass, I could see a calculating look in her eyes.

"Whatever."

I went back to the task at hand (using the right hand), but for some reason untold, Aiko's words wouldn't leave my head.

Tick tock tick tock tick tock.

Hurry, hurry.

You are the lead actress in this; only you can find the key. How can you make it end?

AN: The picture is Kurogane.