LEA

"Woah." Is all I can think of to say. There's a hole in the middle of the front door, with dried greenish liquid on the edges of it.

"Must have gotten his head caught in there. Or, better phrased, one of his heads." Chance turns the handle, opening the door and letting me go out first.

We walk in silence, and I start to really hate the silence. "Do you have a plan?" I ask, stopping.

He looks at me, and something passes behind his eyes. "No." he finally says, and keeps walking. I don't move, crossing my arms.

"Then why aren't we figuring out one?"

He turns around, looking irritated. "Be my guest. Figure out how to get home."

I walk up to him, forced to look up because he's taller than I am. "Then what's the point to keep going? We have to think of something." My tone is insistent, although I can tell it's getting desperate too. "There has to be a way out of this dimension."

"As soon as you find one, let me know, will you?" Chance answers, sarcastic to the bone.

"Do you not care?" A knot starts to tighten in my chest, and I refuse to let tears come. "Don't you have a family? Friends?"

"No, I don't." he says shortly, meeting my gaze in a challenge.

I'm shocked into silence, and don't press the matter. But I do have family, I want to add, but can't find the heart to do it.

A shadow passes over us, and I shiver, rubbing my arms until it passes over us. Chance starts walking again, and I follow him, not knowing what else to do. My brain is being racked for solutions, but there are none that I can think of.

"Is there a way to access all of the dimensions?" I ask, looking over at him. He knows way more than I do about this subject, so I decide to learn more about it. Then maybe I'll have a chance to find a solution.

"No." Chance's answer is short, and sounds like he doesn't want any more questions asked. I ignore his tone.

"What do you know about the dimensions, then?"

He sighs. "You won't stop asking questions, will you?"

I shake my head. "No, I won't."

"The dimensions are exact copies of the real world. Anything done to the dimension stays in that dimension. If someone were to alter that dimension, the alterations would stay in that dimension, unless the dimensions are merged." He says all this like it's old news. I, on the other hand, have never heard about this.

"Why haven't I learned about this? In school, or somewhere?"

"Because the government likes to keep it hush." He says simply, and I find it hard to believe that dimensions were kept that secret.

"How?"

"Simple. The ones who know about it aren't allowed to tell about it. And they believe that it's better to just keep the information to themselves."

I'm quiet for awhile after he says that, and we don't move. Chance looks around us impatiently. "Would you mind keeping walking?"

I had hardly taken a step when I hear a roar. I'm in the middle of turning when Chance grabs my arm, pulling me the other direction. "Just run!" He yells, pulling me the first couple steps until I get my feet under myself. Then I run, picturing the dragon-monster flying over the rooftops towards us.

My feet pound on the road, starting to get sore from all the running I've been doing this week. But I keep going, knowing that if I stop, it might be the end of me.

"Why can't we go into a house?" I yell, and Chance shakes his head, for the first time I've seen him looking terrified. The next minute, the house's door shatters open, and the glowing-blue monster starts rolling towards us.

I blur past a sign that says "dead end" and barely register it until we hit the cul de sac. The monster waiting for us has a cloak that is floating gently in the wind, and its claws are ready for action.

The dragon lands behind us, and the rolling monster spreads out to our left. Trapped.

I look at Chance, who looks panicked. "Don't let the blue one touch you with it's tentacles. They're poisonous." He snaps, and I don't ask how he knows that.

The monsters start to close in, and I realize running is no longer an option. "Chance..." I start, wanting to ask him what to do. Technically, I'm older, but he clearly knows more than I do about this situation.

He presses a gun handle into my palm. "Once you start shooting, they will attack. They'll attack anyway, but once the shot goes off, they'll attack sooner and more vigorously."

"Then why..." Why are you giving me the pistol then?

"Don't waste your shots." He doesn't let me finish my thought, or question, as it was.

My palms are sweaty, and I wipe them on my jeans, taking a deep breath. It would be best to start firing before they're too close. It'll give us time to react when they liven up.

I raise the gun, deciding to target the poisonous one. The monster's tentacles freeze midair, as if it knows what the gun is. I don't waste, and line the sights up on its soft underside. And then fire.

Dark green blood spews from the wound, and an ear-shattering screech emanates from the monster. It sounds like nails grating on a chalkboard for an extended period of time, and a shudder runs through me.

"Lea!" Chance screams at me, and I fire again at the monster. It curls up into a ball, covering it's underside up with its shell. I don't waste time firing at the shell and spin around where the two other monsters are charging me. I fire at the dragon, and hear the bullet thud into its skin.

I don't have a chance to fire again, and I duck underneath the monster, rolling and getting back to my feet, firing nearly point blank at it. Green blood spews onto the road, blending in with the black concrete. The place where I shot starts is turning green, and the monster's three heads lunge at me again.

I'm ready for it, and jump to the side, still, one of its heads clamps me on the shoulder. I gasp in pain, but turn around, firing one shot into each head. I don't miss a single one. It collapses to the ground, and the body turns into thick black smoke, which is blown away by the wind.

Chance screams my name again and I whirl around, seeing the cloaked monster three feet away from me. I know I won't be able to raise my gun in time, yet everything seems slow motion. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Chance's face tight, one hand on the curled up shell monster, and the other extended towards the space between the monster and me.

A black, spaceless hole appears between us, and the monster goes through it. A second later, the hole is gone.