I blinked at the girl, my eyes widening as her words sank in. "You saw a man push you through a portal?"

She nodded warily, her gaze steely. "Yes."

"What did he look like?" I asked eagerly, my heart thumping wildly in my chest.

"I don't remember." Sara looked back over at Seth, her gaze pained. "Let us go!"

"Look," Zeke said, blinking to clear his own shock, "we need your help if you want to go home. You and Seth's. You're more flexible but Seth is a little harder to convince. If you want to be free, we need help from the both of you."

Sara hesitated, hugging herself tightly. "What do you mean?"

I bit my lip, choosing my words carefully. "Somebody is imprisoning people that aren't from this world here, but Zeke and I want to help get you all back home. With both yours and Seth's powers, we can get inside that castle over there in the distance and figure this all out. Plus, a little girl has been taken there. She needs rescuing."

Sara squinted in the direction behind us at the castle. She then pursed her lips before nodding slowly. "Very well. We-We'll help."

"Will he really?" I asked, nodding my head to Seth.

Sara nodded. "I can convince him."

"Great! Then all we have to do is wake him up and he can slip out of the restraints."

"I can get into the control room and see if I can use the computer to turn the flow of sedatives off," Zeke said. "He should wake up after that."

"Please do," Sara responded, pressing her palms against the glass.

I gave Zeke a tense smile that he returned before he was walking away into the distance at a hurried pace. I turned back to Sara, my eyes flicking over to Seth's unconscious form, the thin tube springing from his arm pumping clear liquid into him to keep him asleep. "Um...what exactly are your powers again?"

"Well, I'm telekinesis and telepathy, to keep it basic," she said. "But Seth is more complicated. He has the ability to control his molecular density; which allows him to phase through solid objects or withstand greatest of impacts."

"Oh." I nodded, trying to look smart, though I felt anything but that. "That's cool."

She shrugged. "Useful, for sure. What's your name?"

"Gianna Yumia."

"That's a nice name," she offered.

I nodded again. Visitors didn't seem to be paying much attention as they bustled by with the maps to the parks held out in front of them. I pretended to be interested in the plait holding Sara's name as a group of tourists came by, staring at Sara curiously. The girl turned away from them and stalked away to the back of the exhibit, making me bite back a smile. When her intentions were clear to the tourists that she wouldn't be turning back, they began walking again, clearly disappointed.

"I'm sorry about this," I said when she turned back, eyes following the tourists.

"Well, Seth and I crashed our spaceship here on earth before in the past, so I'd say we're just paying another visit...except behind glass." Sara cocked her head almost humorously, but like every other Disney character in the park, her eyes already held the hints of sadness and fear that I'd gotten used to seeing.

I began to speak but my walkie-talkie released loud static before I heard Zeke speaking urgently. I quickly ducked behind the exhibit and some bushes, turning the volume on it down. Zeke was saying, "I've found the computer, but accessing the remotes to Seth's restraints is proving difficult."

I chewed on my lip, looking back at Sara who watched intently. "Doesn't Ben work part-time in the control room? Maybe you could call him and ask."

"I thought about that but it's his day off."

"I'm sure he would understand," I scoffed quietly, glancing back over the bushes to make sure no one saw me.

"He lives at least a half hour away." I could hear Zeke shuffling through something.

"We can wait that long." When he didn't respond, I concluded with, "Can't we?"

"Um..." The sound of typing on a keyboard was prominent. I shifted uncomfortably. "Sure. Alright. I need to call him. Over and out."

As the other end went dead, I returned back to the front of the exhibit as stealthily as possible. Sara frowned at me. I stared at her. "What?"

"I'm not sure I understand him."

"What do you mean?"

"Over and out," she quoted, eyebrows furrowed. "Is it a metaphor?"

"Oh." I laughed. "That's just his polite way of saying he's done talking and wants to hang up."

She didn't seem amused. "Really?"

"Well..." I started, but shook my head with a grin. "Yeah, no. I don't know what it means."

She cracked a smile before lowering to her knees, sitting on the ground. "There's not much to do here, is there?"

I sat down too, earning confused looks from bypassers. "Well, not when you're in an exhibit. But we'll get you out and on your way back home. All of you."

"All of us?"

I bit my lip. How do I explain that she's a creation of a company designed to entertain real people? "There are more people...not of this world trapped here. They're as helpless as you and your brother."

She glanced around at the other characters and their exhibits. "Them?"

"Yes." I nodded. "And many others."

She sighed. "Well, that is quite a predicament."

"Tell me about it." I laughed softly. But it stopped abruptly when I spotted a familiar person prowling past, holding themselves high with dignity. Ykell. I frowned and muttered to myself, "What is she doing out?"

"What?" Sara asked.

I turned completely around to watch Ykell slink off out of sight. Nobody seemed to care that one of the two founders was walking about in the open. Go figure. "Hey, Sara, I'll be right back."

"Um, okay?" She rose to her feet, watching me sprint away.

As I rounded the corner Ykell disappeared beyond, I spotted her. She stood near the mens bathroom, glancing around cautiously. I quickly ducked behind a baby's stroller and watched as she pressed a stone in the side of the restroom. Immediately, a small cluster of stones moved to reveal a passage. I scoffed. Cliché.

As she disappeared down the steps, the stroller in front of me was moved. A young mother glared down disapprovingly. "What are you doing?"

I quickly jumped to my feet, brushing my pants off. "Nothing! I just...um, I need to go. Bye!" I quickly walked away from her and pretended to be continuing down the path until she finally left, throwing me one last dirty look. I reversed my route and approached the mens restroom, my hand coming to feel the rough stone wall. My palm pressed a stone in and the passage opened up for me to enter.

I stared down into the darkness, a queasy feeling twisting at my stomach. Maybe I should wait for Zeke before venturing into an unknown place. I shook my head. He's busy. I'll just pop in and be quick about it. Ykell won't even know I'm there.

Cautiously, I began my descent down the steps. The passage sealed shut behind me, plunging me into total darkness. I fumbled for my phone, pulling it out of my pocket and turning the screen on to illuminate the staircase ahead of me. My steps were careful and quiet, only a slight padding sound following each placement of my feet. Don't freak out, Gianna. Voices could be heard at the bottom, loud and seeming to be in an argument with each other. I turned the screen of my phone off when I reached the bottom.

"-waited long enough!" Ykell's raspy voice was saying indignantly. "We must make a move on them before they figure out anything! They're already suspicious. Especially Gianna Yumia."

The breath hitched in my throat at my name. The sound of pacing could be heard from the other side. I nearly fell over leaning forward when Stermin's voice spoke. "I am well aware of this predicament, Ykell. But they won't find anything out."

"And how do you know this?" hissed Ykell. "We need this world! I am not about to allow some little brats to ruin our plan."

"We have our insider watching them, remember?" Stermin reminded her. "He hasn't let us down yet and I'm sure he's not about to now. He's been giving us valuable information about what Miss Yumia and Mr. Warner have been up to. I doubt they have the capacity to figure this all out from what he's reported."

There was a stretch of silence in which I held my breath. Shuffling of paper could be heard.

"Ben?" Ykell finally questioned bluntly.

My eyes widened. With trembling hands, I pushed myself away from the partially opened door. Ben has been spying on us? The same queasy feeling from earlier caused bile to rise in my throat. I swallowed and turned away from the door to sprint back up the stairs, my heart pounding.

I need to warn Zeke!

A squeaking noise reverberated around the narrow tunnel as my foot slipped on a step. I gasped out, jerking my arms out to catch myself but still crashing to the ground with my forehead coming to collide with a step. I tumbled back down the stairs and hit the door hard, causing it to swing open.

When my vision cleared, I saw the founders standing over me with cold sneers.

"Well, well, well," Stermin chuckled darkly. "What do we have here?"

•~•~•~•

Uh-oh. Looks like Gianna's in trouble! Did anybody suspect that Ben could be a spy? :O