I'm not sure whether to be excited or afraid when my phone rings an hour later, Lucinda's number flashing on the screen. At least, I think to myself, at least I'll get a couple minutes off from this boring homework.

I pick up.

"Hey, Olivia, you need to show me where the machine thing is," Lucinda begs.

"I'm on my way."

"What? No, no, it's fine. You just need to tell me how to locate it and get to it."

"If you're going, I'm going with you," I insist. I canceled my ideal date to find the machine in the first place. If you ask me, I deserve to accompany her on an adventure.

"Fine." I'm surprised by how quickly that stubborn girl gives in. "Meet me across the road from Oriel's house in five minutes, okay? See you there." Click.

I practically dive out of the house, a song of freedom ringing in my ears. I slow down, feeling slightly guilty. This doesn't seem like a joke to Lucinda. It shouldn't be one for me either.

* * *

We meet up according to plan. I find Lucinda kneeling next to a bush, her squinted eyes fixed on the entrance of the house.

"Backdoor, silly," I say. I stealthily advance toward the Grantley household, dragging Lucinda with me. Thanks to my daughter-of-a-policeman skills, we make it to the basement in no time. The coast is clear through-and-through. My only fear is that Dr. Grantley may already be gone, making use of the machine. To my great relief, it's still there, completely intact.

"Come on." I motion for Lucinda to follow close behind me.

"Uh, this thing looks a bit sketchy," she concludes, examining the futuristic box before us. Then her face fills with determination like I've never seen it before. "But let's go!"

We hop into the machine. It's glowing with fluorescent lights. The dashboard has only one button.

It's red.

Lucinda raises her eyebrows in caution at the sight of the button. "Are you sure this won't alert someone that we're trespassing or something?"

"Nah," I shake my head. "Last time it took me right to our destination. I have no doubt it'll do the same this time."

She shrugs, probably realizing that there's no other alternative if she wants to get to that other dimension. My fingers graze the button, and Lucinda braces herself for impact. So do I.

"Don't move!" Someone shouts from behind us. Both Lucinda and I whirl around, coming face to face with none other than Oriel.

Lucinda is the first to react. "Shh! I can explain!"

But his eyes narrow at her. "I'm calling my dad," he states, taking a step backwards. "Whatever your excuse is for being here, it's not good enough."

I spit out the first explanation that comes to my mind before he runs upstairs. "Your dad has a dangerous nocturnal job." To my relief, Oriel stops. I continue. "He's deceiving everyone. Luce and I are just trying to get to the bottom of it. We need your help. Come with us?"

It seems that I've convinced him. He cautiously makes his way toward us, stopping just in front of me. "Fine," he spurts, "but don't do anything stupid."

Olivia saves the day. "Okay, great. First things first—ever seen this box?"

It takes him another couple seconds to simmer down. Then he replies, "Oh yeah, it's been down here as long as I can remember. But Dad never lets me go anywhere near it. Always told me it'd zap me. That's all I know."

"So he's been keeping secrets from you, too," Lucinda mutters. "Well, surprise surprise—he travels to another dimension every night. It's a place known as DreamLand. Apparently, he's the ultimate controller of the world's dreams."

Oriel stares at Lucinda, speechless. Then he herds us both into the box, locating himself next to us. Reaching between Lucinda and me, he presses the red button.

The next moment, we're there. A whole world surrounds us. There's colour, there's sound, and there's everything else that our ordinary world would have. If we didn't know better, we might not even be aware that we just travelled to some other planet—if it can be called that.

"So," Olivia says, "divide and conquer?"

Lucinda shakes her head. "You said there was a big Factory... Ah! Is that it? That's got to be it. Let's go there. He's definitely there, if anywhere."

"Who's 'he'?" Asks Oriel, suspiciously eyeing Lucinda.

She clears her throat. "Omar. My soulmate." Before Oriel can interrupt, she goes on. "Listen, we'll fix this. We'll figure everything out, but I need you to trust me and help."

I feel like an outsider as I watch them stare at each other. Oriel's glare finally softens. "I'll try," he says.

With that, we begin our march toward the Dream Factory.

* * *

It's unbelievable how fast we get caught. Dr. Grantley must have super advanced intruder-alert technology. He catches up with us before we even set foot on the property of the Factory. Somehow, after all I've learned about him in the past few hours, it doesn't surprise me at all.

I stare at his figure. There's no doubt in the world that it's the same Dr. Grantley as Oriel's dad. The only difference seems to be that his personality has shifted drastically from one side of the spectrum to the other.

"Scoundrels," the man mumbles under his breath as he drags all three of us into the Factory. "You'll regret this, let me tell you! You'll be wishing you'd never questioned my judgment by the time you've spent 100 years in prison!" He glares at Oriel through squinted eyes. "Especially you, traitor!"

If you asked me where I thought I'd be in 5 years, I would've never told you that I expected to spend a whole century locked up in some dungeon in another dimension controlled by my best friend's near-fiance's father. It just wasn't realistic. And yet as I feel solid cuffs clasped with great force against my wrists, it's happening.

Five minutes later, the three of us are left alone in a pitch-dark prison cell.

Oriel and Lucinda have said nothing since our chaotic contact with Dr. Grantley, so I take it upon myself to break the silence. After all, it's the only thing any of us are thinking.

"So, what do we do now?"