Evanna's eyes blinked open and slowly adjusted to the dim orange lighting. Turning her head, she scanned her surroundings, which irritated the sore spot on her neck.

She was seated on a folding chair in the corner of an empty room. Stainless steel countertops ran the length of the wall, bathed in the orange glow that spilled out of a serving hatch.

Staggering to her feet, Evanna grabbed the chair to steady herself. She inhaled sterile air with each hurried breath. The stillness was unsettling.

As her wooziness dispersed, fear bubbled up. Her roving eyes latched on to the industrial door on the far wall.

Evanna made a dash for it, but it was locked. Then the swing door next to the serving hatch caught her attention. She took a hesitant step towards it, and her gaze fell on her backpack, perched atop the counter.

Lunging at it, she rummaged inside for her phone. It was missing. Her heart sank. Of course, Ev. What did you expect?

She balled her fists, struggling to keep her rising panic at bay. Then she edged towards the serving hatch and peeked through.

A dark, deserted restaurant lay beyond. A single orange lantern was switched on to provide scant illumination. Minimalist tables and chairs loomed out of the darkness.

Her heart thudded in her chest as she pushed through the swing door.

The resonant space amplified her shallow breaths. She had only taken a few steps when her eyes snapped to the glass doors that glowed like a beacon—the restaurant's main entrance. Beyond it was a concrete corridor lit with white LED strips.

Just when she was about to make a run for it, a glimmer from a dark corner drew her attention.

"You're awake?" a female voice asked.

She jerked violently and stared into the gloom.

A tall figure rose up.

"Who are you?" Evanna backed away, legs wobbling in sync with her erratic heartbeat. "Why am I here?"

The stranger walked forward, her measured tread echoing off the surfaces. The reddish lamplight glinted off her glasses and emphasized the color in her shirt. Short hair sprouted around an oval face, which sent a jolt of recognition through Evanna. The woman in Rind's photo! The one I bumped into at the seminar.

"I—I know you," Evanna whispered. "You're Dara Roberts, right?"

Dara halted and surveyed her. Her face looked drawn, with prominent dark circles. Then she sat down at an elongated table. The clatter of furniture sounded obscenely loud in the quiet. She motioned for Evanna to take a seat.

Evanna hugged the backpack tighter. "Where the heck am I?"

"HEPLOK," Dara said.

She blinked. "What! "

"Sit down, and we can talk."

"You abducted me!" She rubbed the spot where the needle pierced her skin. "What did you inject into my neck!"

"Just an anesthetic. I didn't think you'd be inclined to get into a stranger's car at this time of night."

"You can't just—"

"You're fine, aren't you?"

Dara kicked a chair, indicating for her to sit. Evanna winced at the harsh grating of metal.

The woman appeared to be the picture of calm. Yet, there was something lurking behind the tired, placid countenance. A hundred questions sprouted up. She could've contacted you tomorrow. Why the hurry? How did she find you, Ev? Why now?

Evanna shot a look at the exit, its brightness drawing her like a moth to a flame. She diverted her attention back to Dara. Behind her was a curving juice counter, which partially obscured a secondary door in the distance.

"You're looking for answers, yes?" Dara said. "Sit down."

She started. Part of her wanted to just take off, even though she felt that might not be an option. On the other hand, Dara knew Rind, and she might indeed have the answers.

As Evanna inched towards the chair that was now angled in her direction, her alert eyes landed on the phone in the woman's hand. My phone!

"How did you find Novak?" Dara asked.

She sank down onto the seat and crossed her arms.

"Let's make this easy for both of us," Dara said in a crisp tone. "Tell me—"

"How about you tell me what the heck is going on?"

Her voice rang out in the room with a reverb effect, before decaying into tense silence.

Dara's face exhibited impatience for a split second before reverting to its prior composure. "You were at the wrong place at the wrong time...I knew someone might've jumped as well."

"Jumped?"

"Universes."

While her heart thumped harder, Evanna trailed her eyes over the unsettling sheen of orange on Dara's skin. "So you and Rind—you jumped here too?"

"Yes."

"How? What exactly happened?" she managed to croak. "I was walking down that underground tunnel leading to the detector, and I—I can't remember what happened after that."

"Well, the CHC—or rather, the CRC as it is called here—runs experiments that could solve the deepest mysteries of the universe. Depending on the experiments and energy levels, we excite quantum fields—and might discover unknown particles, or heavier versions of existing particles known as Kaluza-Klein states."

"And what do those particles do? How do they help solve...whatever?"

Dara leaned forward. "For example, we might create a graviton, which is the quantum of gravity—and find that it has disappeared...into extra dimensions."

Silence reigned for a good minute before she whispered, "Can you access those extra dimensions?"

Dara's forehead puckered into a frown. "Possibly."

"How would that be like?"

"What?"

"I mean, if you access an extra dimension..."

The frown deepened. "Hard to imagine...since we only function in our three spatial dimensions—with the fourth dimension of time. Are you thinking about what was said at the seminar at your school?"

Evanna hesitated—then nodded.

"If there was a 2D world existing on a plane...and a 2D person gains access to the third spatial dimension, they would have a hard time understanding what's happening."

"Yes, I remember that from the seminar," she whispered with wide eyes. "So the 2D person would feel like it's magic? Or like...they're defying the laws of physics? Like a character glitching in a video game?"

"Is there," Dara said, her eyes taking on a probing quality, "something you want to say?"

Evanna shrugged, and her fingers started twiddling. "Going back to what happened at the collider...How did we end up jumping?"

"Do you know what a wormhole is?"

"Um..." Her gaze rested on the glowing orange lamp that held the darkness at bay. "Sort of like a bridge that connects two points in space?"

"It actually connects two points in space-time."

"Oh."

"Meaning, it can connect different locations billions of light years apart, different times or...different universes."

"So," Evanna said, her breathing becoming unsteady, "a wormhole was created by the CHC that day?"

"Well, it's hard to say exactly what it was. In fact, it is suggested that a wormhole itself can be a projection of a fourth dimension. So it'd be like that 2D person experiencing a part of something that is 3D."

Evanna's shaky hand reached up to rub her temples. Her brain whirred like a computer pushed to the limit.

"The very fact that parallel universes exist is...an era-defining discovery," Dara said in a strange voice. "This phenomenon will revolutionize our understanding of everything. It not only shows a connection between universes and your alternate selves, but the fact that you can jump..."

"You haven't figured out exactly what it is?" Evanna whispered.

Seconds dragged on before Dara responded, "What we do know about it and the experiment parameters...are contained in the pen drive you have in your possession."

A shiver ran down her spine.

"I'm thinking you want to get back to your world?" Dara asked.

"Yeah," she breathed.

"Then hand it over."

The words seemed to echo in Evanna's head, where thoughts and emotions eddied in a chaotic whirlpool. A full minute crawled by as they stared each other down. Rind and Dara are the only ones who can get you back, Ev. Hand over the pen drive.

"I could've taken it from your bag," Dara said. "But I wanted to talk with you."

Evanna's brow creased into a frown. The lone lamp cast shadows that crept along the featureless tables. Her wandering gaze followed the shadows back to Dara's unmoving form and halted on an illuminated patch on her blouse. The flowers on the fabric had taken on a blood-red intensity under the lighting. An involuntary image surfaced in her mind—the splotch of red in Rind's room.

"The doors are unlocked," Dara added in a flat voice. "I'm not keeping you captive. Hand over the pen drive and you can go."

She fought off the vague feeling that she wasn't really being given a choice. "And what happens after that?"

"I'll contact you when we have everything sorted."

"Like, get me back home?" Her heart quaked at the prospect. "Next year? After the CRC has been built or—"

"Yes, get you back home."

Evanna reached a quivering hand into her bag and produced a pen drive. Then she slid it across the table to the waiting hand.

"Thank you," Dara said with a note of finality.

Just when she rose to her feet, the door behind Dara swung open with excessive force. Evanna shrank back as the loud bang ripped through the quiet. Then she swiveled her head towards the source of the disturbance—and gasped.

It was the very man she had been tracking down all this time. She watched as his dark, gaunt form swooped into view from the blackness of night. Adam Novak Rind.

Dara pushed off the chair and jumped to her feet. "Novak!"

Rind headed towards them with loping strides. He swerved past the juice counter and shoved aside chairs obstructing his way. As he jolted to a halt by their table, his heavy breaths emphasized his agitation.

Then his raspy voice barked at Dara, "Did you get the drive?"

Dara turned to Evanna, who was dumbstruck. "You can go."

"Huh?"

"Go."

Evanna staggered back—then eyed the open doorway Rind had come through, which revealed distant lights set in a veil of darkness. She started when she realized that Rind's sunken eyes were on her—alight with a red gleam, giving him the appearance of a hellish bat.

"She handed it to me," Dara said coolly.

He snapped his head in her direction. "Give me the drive."

"Calm down, Nova—"

He slammed his fist on the table—the sound cracking the air like a whip. Evanna flinched.

"Have you gone mad?" Dara's cold voice hissed.

While a barrage of words was exchanged, Evanna grabbed her phone atop the table and buried it in her backpack. Backing away, she set her course towards the open door and took a step.

A grating of a chair made her freeze. She spun around to witness Rind lunging for Dara's wrist.

Dara swung back her hand on reflex. When the man's momentum pushed him to her, she stepped back, and the other hand smacked the side of his head. Her cupped palm connected with his ear with the explosive pop of compressed air, and Rind lurched sideways to crash into a table.

He sprang back up with a snarl, one hand on his ear. "Damn it, Dara!"

"You're not getting the drive, Novak."

Panting, he lunged at her again—this time with a cautious stance.

Evanna watched aghast at the scuffle that ensued—Rind attempting to pry open Dara's clenched fist while she threw punches at him.

Then something clattered to the floor and skidded to her feet. As her eyes darted down, an orange spark shot off a small piece of metal and hit her retina. The drive.

Bending down on wobbly knees, she picked it up. A split second later, Rind lost interest in Dara and made for her.

For the second time that day, her body switched to a fight-or-flight response, and the phantom beast of a power awoke from its dormancy. Its wild form crystallized into a shockwave that blasted Rind away from her. Her own form recoiled like a firing shotgun while a scream tore out of her throat. She clutched her head and took off.

As Evanna sprinted towards the doorway that opened into the night, she barely heard the clink of the pen drive hitting the floor.

She only made it to the darkened juice counter when the doors of the primary entrance opened with frightening force. She ducked behind the counter and peeked around it.

A woman strode in, silhouetted against the lit corridor beyond the glass. She was a blonde woman in a form-fitting jumpsuit. Her short stature did not mitigate the danger she exuded. On her heels were three more black-clad figures.

Rind let out what sounded like an animalistic growl while Dara, who was picking something off the floor, straightened up as if struck by lightning. Then Dara flicked down what was in her hand and rammed her heel on it, emitting a sharp crunch. Pieces of plastic and metal scattered from the point of contact while the remnant of a broken pen drive lay by her feet.

Before anyone could react to this development, Rind pulled out a gun from his waistband in one wild motion, and a shot rang out with shocking abruptness.

Evanna clapped her hands to her ringing ears and crouched in a ball underneath the counter. Her heart pounded in her head while a storm of shouting and crashing thundered behind her.

Frozen in place, she sat staring into nothing as if in a trance. Wave after wave of panic washed over her, though the pain that ravaged her head was the long-lasting recoil of her psionic exertions. She was distinctly aware of the now familiar force brimming inside again—a whirling pool with no focus. After a few agonizing minutes, the pandemonium behind her seemed to wane.

She placed a shaking hand over her mouth to muffle her ragged breathing and peeked around the counter again.

Bathed in the orange light was a scene of chaos. From her low vantage point, she made out upended chairs amidst broken shards of a salt shaker, which glimmered in the dim illumination. Then her palm pressed harder on her lips when her eyes zeroed in on something just behind a table leg—a motionless hand.

She suppressed a scream when the body that hand was attached to was dragged across the floor towards the glass doors. Rind...Is he knocked out? Or dead?

Voices and footsteps gradually receded, leaving behind a surreal stillness. Icy shivers shot down her spine, and goosebumps erupted on her arms. The night beckoned her through the secondary doorway, the shining pinpricks giving the impression of a starry sky. Her cold fingers fumbled with the straps of her backpack and hoisted it onto her shoulders.

Evanna hurled a panicky glance to ensure the coast was clear. Then she crawled out of her hiding place, desperately trying to put as much distance as she could between herself and the scene behind her.

When she burst out of the restaurant, a gust of cool air blew across her face.

She ran.

Her heart hammered to the rhythm of her thudding feet as she sprinted over grassy lawn under a cloudy night sky. A building loomed in the distance, its rectangles of light bobbing in her view with each frantic step.

The more unconventional architecture crept into her line of vision. Outlined with LED strips, they popped out like shimmering alien structures.

As she crossed a snaking footpath, Evanna tripped over a protruding paving stone. She went sprawling on the ground and scraped her forearms. Stinging pain made her eyes water, and she bit back a whimper.

It was like the accident broke her momentum—and her spirit.

Drained to the core, she could barely lift herself up to a sitting position. A sense of numbness descended on her. She gingerly wiped the skinned forearms on her hoodie and hugged herself.

The tranquil sounds of chirping insects and rustling leaves seemed to clash with the fresh horror on her mind—almost like it was an unreal nightmare conjured up by her brain. Beads of sweat dotted her forehead, and her damp tee stuck to her torso.

Chest heaving, she clambered to her feet and mustered up the strength to cross the distance to the nearest building.

She staggered to the entrance and clutched the cold metal of the door handle. Amber light spilled out as if to invite her in.

Before she could push through, an alarmed male voice interrupted her from behind, "Are you okay? What happened?"

Evanna wheeled around. A young man was watching her, one hand holding his car keys.

"No, I—I'm not okay." Emotion choked her, making it difficult to speak. "There was—she might've killed him—"

"What?"

"The police!" She yanked open her backpack and plunged her hand in to grab the phone. "We need to call the police!"

"No, wait." The guy took a step closer. "You can't."

Her wild eyes goggled at him.

"The police can't just come in. This is neutral ground—HEPLOK lies on the border, and this is an international body of—"

"Someone might've been killed!" Evanna shrieked, making him jump.

"What? Where?"

She pointed a trembling finger at the concrete bulk of a building she ran from. "The restaurant!"

His troubled eyes followed her finger and trailed back to her. "Wait inside. I'll go and see..."

He broke into a jog.

Evanna stood motionless, her gaze drilling into his receding back. Cool air brushed her clammy skin and made her shiver. Then she sank to the ground and swiped open her phone—though her fumbling fingers got the pattern wrong twice.

She stared at missed calls from her mom, Marilda and Shane.

An instant later, she jabbed Marilda's name and smacked the phone to her ear.

Marilda picked up on the first ring. "Evie! Where are you!"

Relief flooded her, and she croaked, "Mari-chan!"

"Evie, what happened!"

"I—I'll tell you. Right now, I'm at HEPLOK—"

"What!"

"Yeah." She gulped in a lungful of air. "I wanna go home..."

"Stay there! We'll come get you. Send me your live location."

The line went dead. Huh?

Aching all over, Evanna's still form sat there for a long minute. The wind fanned her face and sent her hair flying.

She had just sent her live location to Marilda when she saw the guy running back to her. She scrambled to her feet.

He came to a stop and doubled over to catch his breath. "I think you should come in and take a seat. Is there someone you'd like me to call? What's your name?"

"What?"

He made to open the door behind her, motioning for her to walk through.

She waved her hand at the dark mass in the distance, where the restaurant resided. "What about the—"

He watched her for a prolonged moment. "There's nothing there."

The blood drained from Evanna's face.

Observing her expression, he elaborated, "Everything's fine—there's nothing out of order."

She took to her heels without bothering to respond. As she retraced her steps back to the restaurant, her whole being screamed in protest.

"Wait!" the guy yelled, following behind.

Evanna ignored him and sprinted all the way back to the very place she desperately wished to run from. Her inner eye flashed the harrowing images imprinted on her mind. She adjusted her course to take her straight to the outer entrance of the restaurant.

She skidded to a halt at the door—the exact one she burst through on her mad dash out just half an hour ago.

It was now shut.

Undeterred, Evanna traversed around the building to its gaping entrance and charged down the corridor. Her heart raced as she passed several doors and pulled up short at the glass front of the restaurant.

It was pitch black inside. Her own disheveled reflection glared back with petrified eyes. Panting heavily, she jabbed the phone and shone the flashlight.

She clapped her hand to her mouth.

The picture of normalcy met her eyes. There was no upended chair and no shattered glass.

The guy arrived and approached her with slow steps. "There's nothing there, see?"

Evanna shook her head as if she refused to accept the sight before her. Its sinister implications coalesced into a rational theory. This was more than a science experiment gone wrong. She only got to know two of the pieces on the board, but now they had faded back into the fog. The knowledge she had acquired made it all the more overwhelming.

"Look, maybe it was a hallucination," said the stranger beside her. "Are you on any—"

"No." She backed away. "I—I need to go."

"Where?"

"My friend's coming to get me."

"Oh."

"Where's the nearest exit?" she croaked.

"That way." He pointed out the direction with a hesitant hand. "But I think you should—"

She set off at a run and emerged back outside. The stillness of the night wrapped her in its cool embrace, but it failed to quench the fiery storm within. With a second's pause to catch her breath, she continued on her way.

Evanna's course took her through a central plaza, now as empty as the restaurant behind her. She sprinted over an expanse of paving, spattered with indoor plants. A large skylight curved up like an eye pointed to space. Small shops and offices rose on either side, now closed. It occurred to her this was indeed similar to a town. What if I can't find my way out!

She almost reached the exit at the far end, but jolted to a stop.

A tall figure materialized ahead.

"I thought that was you, Zeller," Alcina said, face contorting into a frown.

"What—" Evanna shook her head. "Why are you here?"

"You're not the only one in this situation." Her lips inched into a smile.

"What the heck are you doing here?"

"I might be ahead of you."

"This isn't a race, Alcina," she hissed.

"I had a special...meeting."

Her brain went into overdrive. She couldn't deal with this development or figure out the meaning behind Alcina's move. Either Alcina was onto Rind like she was and happened to follow him or there was a connection that Evanna wasn't even aware of.

Fear and urgency made Evanna jump back to action. "Get out of my way."

She made to push past the other girl.

Alcina grabbed her arm and spun her around. "Not so fast, Zeller. I'm not done with you."

"Get away from me!"

"Get away?" Alcina seethed. "You destroyed my life and got us into this mess. You think you can grab my boyfriend too? You little shit."

Did she see me in his car? But I was in my disguise! Evanna found her voice. "Shane is not yours. And you have no control over him or me."

Alcina's lip curled, and she threw a punch at her. Evanna dodged at the nick of time. Her eyes widened at the venom in the other girl's eyes.

"I will crush you, you insect!" Alcina's voice rose as Evanna backed away. "I'm the head prefect next term. And that means your life is over."

"You can't just bully people!" Evanna stumbled back, feet sinking into unpaved earth where ornamental plants grew. "There are different rules here."

"Oh, I'm aware of that, and I'll play by those rules. You'll stay away from Shane."

"Or what?" she snapped.

"Let's just say the Lycan's going to be very interested in your relationship with him."

Chills slithered down her form, and her bruised back prickled. "You have no proof."

"We'll see about that!" Alcina lunged at her again.

The panic escalated as she tripped over a root and crashed into a bush. Then she felt it stirring. This time, she channeled it to a small pot and sent it flying at Alcina's legs.

Then the unexpected happened.

The pot stilled and juddered in mid-air as if it was hit with an opposing force.

Evanna goggled, forgetting to breathe.

Then Alcina's eyes flicked to the side, and the pot crashed against a half-wall. Chips of concrete flew off.

Impossible. Then her memory jogged back in time to a cafe near Olympus when Alcina asked her a peculiar question. Is there another little something you've noticed? A strange something?

It was too much. Evanna clutched her head. Her eyes pierced a large banner suspended on the balcony directly above the other girl.

A nanosecond later, it tore off and descended on Alcina, who emitted a yell and fell down, trying to untangle herself.

That was the opening she needed. Evanna fled.

After what felt like eons of running, she arrived at a wide road. It stretched on to a security checkpoint with a boom barrier.

The guard on duty stared at her when she slowed to a halt at the gateway and doubled over. Her hand flew to the stitch in her side, which added to the slew of aches that racked her body.

He hurried out of the booth. "You okay, miss?"

Evanna nodded and forced her leaden legs to carry her to the pedestrian gate.

"You're waiting for an Alico?"

"My friend."

The guard hesitated. "Do you want to take a seat?"

She shook her head and lurched past the gate.

Now under a street lamp, she stared at the road ahead with weary eyes. It wound away into darkness, surrounded by wild, open plains.

Evanna sank down to the curb and hugged her knees while she waited for Marilda. She must've sneaked out and booked an Alico.

Insects zapped around the lamp above and one strayed close to her ear. Exhaustion prevented her from swatting it away. Then she slowly rubbed her forehead as if it to wipe away the memories stamped on her mind.

Sooner than she expected, a car came hurtling down the road. She scrambled to her feet and squinted at the glaring headlights. It was not the small Alico she anticipated—it was a beige sedan.

When it neared the boom barrier, it veered to the side and jounced to a stop—one wheel hopping onto the curb.

The passenger door flung open and Marilda sprang out. For a moment, she just stood, her shaggy hair blowing in the wind.

"Evie!" Marilda bounded over to Evanna and gave her a bear hug. "What happened to you!"

"It's...complicated." Evanna swallowed the lump in her throat.

Marilda nodded. "C'mon, let's go. Your mom's freaking out too. She called me a gazillion times."

They jogged over to the car, and Marilda opened the back door.

Evanna lowered herself onto the seat. She sensed the driver staring and raised her head. Her jaw fell open.

Anukie Perera flashed an uncertain smile. "Hey, Evie."

"Can we just go?" Marilda clicked her seatbelt into place. "We can talk on the road."

The other girl nodded and jerked the car into reverse.

Marilda leaned back and gave Evanna's knee a reassuring pat. "She's new to the whole driving thing she says. But we'll live, okay?"

As they sped along the road, Evanna found her voice. "What—how did you—"

Marilda craned her neck to look back at her. "You really have no clue, do you?"

She just blinked, utterly dumbfounded.

"Evie, she's Sef!"

Only the low drone of the car met Marilda's statement.

It was like the world came crashing down. Evanna fought down a sob as an overpowering wave of emotion swept over her.

"I was worried when you didn't come on Arcana to tell me how it went today, and I called Marilda," Anukie said with a peek through the rearview mirror. "She called me later to say you're here at HEPLOK, so we sneaked out in my mom's car to come get you."

"Are you okay, Evie?" Marilda asked when she didn't respond.

"Yeah..."

"Okay..."

"Mari-chan?" Evanna murmured after a long minute.

"Yeah?"

"Your pen drive is...gone."

Turning around, Marilda shot her a look. "Really, Evie? After all this, you're concerned about that? It's fine!"

Evanna couldn't help the rueful smile that spread over her face.

As they rode along the deserted road in silence, Evanna's fingers dug into the pocket of her jeans and closed over the pen drive that contained vital information that would, hopefully, lead her back home. Someday.