When she reached the other side, she noticed that everything was gray and devoid of color. Well not completely. She thought as she looked down at her blue dress. She looked around: the area looked like a city except for the lack of people. As she started to walk to a nearby store to ask for help, she paused. A dog appeared in front of her. It looked familiar somehow, she thought as she gazed at the creature. Then she remembered.  

When she was ten, she found a dog near her house. She cared for it and fed it for a while, until one day the dog got into a fight and was severely injured. It did not survive. She buried it at a pet cemetery that was run by her friend's parents. Now looking at the creature, she felt deep sorrow. All the sorrow faded, however, when the dog jumped on her as if greeting an old friend. When it got down, he barked for her to follow. 

The dog then led her to a crossroads where the dog "spoke" to her, but it was more like it projected words into her head:

"This is a crossroads. One road leads to Dmitri, the other to the portal. Now, you could try to look for your friend, but remember only one person could go through the portal and you have only three hours, well less than that now."

"What happens if I don't find him again?" she asked

"He dies," the dog said.

Tears started to well up and she said, "I would like to see him one last time."

"Ok."

The dog led her down several roads, past buildings of all kinds. They approached a grand building, which looked like something from the Victorian Age.

"Is he in there?" Sally asked.

"Yes," the dog said.

She took a deep breath and opened the door. Her blue skirts turned to the black skirts of an elegant ball gown and her bust turned to black with red trim. A mask covered her hazel eyes. She looked around and went through a door that led to a ballroom filled with masked partygoers...from a goth lover's paradise. The partygoers all were wearing goth-like clothes, with various goth masks.

"How am I going to find Dmitri?" she whispered aloud as she gazed around the room for him. Then she heard a familiar voice behind her.

"When did you get red highlights? Last time I saw you, you had blue highlights," the voice said. "Beautiful dress by the way."

"Dmitri?" she asked as she turned around.

"In the flesh," he said as his silver eyes stared down at her through his mask. He then looked up and asked, "Where are we?"

"You don't want me to answer that."

"Am I dead?"

"Not quite."

"Should I be?"

"I don't know."

The music then started to play and all of the partygoers started to dance.

"May I have this dance?" Sally asked.

"Thought you would never ask," said Dmitri with a smirk.

He then took her by the hand and her waist. It seemed as if stored energy flowed between them as they danced around the ballroom floor. All the while, Sally knew it might be the last time she saw him. Dmitri then led her outside. "What's wrong?" he asked

"Nothing, it is just odd you know."

"Sure," he said sarcastically.

 "Look all you need to know is that we need to find the portal so we could get home."

"Fine, but you still seemed troubled."

Before she could explain any more, her guide bit her leg and exclaimed: "We only have an hour left!"

"An hour for what?" Dmitri asked as Sally grabbed his hand and ran.

They ran passed buildings, bridges, through alleys, until they came face to face with a tall office-like building.

"So where is it?" Sally asked the dog.

"All I know is that it is in this building and we have only thirty minutes to find it," he replied.

"Find what exactly?" Dmitri asked.

"I would love to tell you the full story, but I'm afraid I don't have the time. How am I supposed to find this thing in thirty minutes?!"

As if in reply, a blue timeline appeared before them.

"Talk about seeing your life. Flashing before your eyes." Sally said as she looked at the timeline underneath her feet.

"Yeah, it starts at your birth, wonder where it ends," Dmitri said

"I'm pretty sure that I do not want to find out," she replied.

"C' mon we need to hurry."  

The group then followed the timeline to an office room with one solitary window. Sally looked out the window and saw a girl and a boy in an ambulance.

"This is it. Only one can go through." Sally said more to herself than to anyone else.

"Sally, what do you mean? " Dmitri asked urgently.

Sally was silent.

"Sally, tell me what's going on!"

"It's simple...one of us needs to di-" Sally trailed off.

Dmitri nodded in understanding and gently lifted her chin so that he could look her in the eyes. He then let out a deep breath as he said in a thick voice, "Then it should be me."

Silence followed as they looked into each other's eyes when Sally finally realized what always lurked beneath his steely stare. Because it was then that she realized what always lurked behind her stares. She leaned in to kiss him and falling for her trap, he bent down to meet her lips. When his lips were close enough, she caught him by surprise and pushed him through the window. She then turned to the shocked dog as she said matter of factly, "It wasn't his time." 

He was falling out of the window and towards the pavement, when a hole opened up in the ground, allowing him to fall through it. The next thing he knew he was staring at the ceiling of an ambulance truck, strapped to a gurney. He looked beside him and saw the paramedics trying to revive Sally.

"We got her, but just barely..." said one of them.

"He's up.-Don't worry, calm down," said another as they came to his gurney.

"How is she?" Dmitri asked as he tried to free himself.

"Sir, stay down." the paramedic said firmly.

"No, I can't." He then got up and went to Sally's gurney.

"Hey, Dmitri," Sally said weakly. 

"Hey," he whispered.

"Dmitri, do you think we could've been more than friends?" she asked. Dmitri then looked at her with a surprised look as he answered," Yeah, maybe."

She smiled weakly as she asked, "What would our first date look like?"

"Well, we could have had a midnight picnic in Central Park and danced together by the moonlight."

"Sounds nice," she said as her voice grew weaker. "I... wished it ...could have happened."

She then closed her eyes for the last time as she drifted off to an eternal slumber. He then leaned closer as he whispered: "Me too."

He then gave her a quick kiss on the lips and said: "I have always loved you."

Soon after, the monitor went off and the paramedics tried to revive her, but this time with no luck. They called it and covered her before they got to the hospital.

When they reached the emergency room, it was an organized frenzy. They immediately got him to trauma and were looking over him. To Dmitri, however, everything was a series of blurs. He could barely feel the extreme pain coursing through him before he finally blacked out.