"What the HECK?!"

I was freaking out. I was terrified out of my skin. This was too much to handle! I looked around at everyone while trying to process what the heck was going on. Every single thing was frozen! The birds stopped chirping and were suspended in mid-air. The dogs and their owners were frozen on the ground, all bearing happy expressions.

I freaked out so much that I had to run up to Astrid and hug her. I was tearing up. I crying... crying silently. Silently suffering inside and out. Why was I crying?

I heard a chuckle coming from behind me. I wiped my tears as I turned around to see what it was. I was surprised to see another person standing there.

It was a man, maybe in his mid-40's. He was tall... Taller than me and my friends. He wore a grey suit with a white shirt underneath. He was also wearing black dress shoes. There was a red tie to pull it all together.

Even though there was a whole ton of snow on the ground, he made no footprints when he walked, and his shoes never got dirty.

"Hello, young one." A small smile. "My name is William Hughes, but my closest friends call me Professor H."

I stood there in shock. I didn't know what to say. I couldn't move, so I just started thinking of what I could say back to him. Hi, my name is Violet McNaughton, but my closest friends call me Vi? What was I supposed to say?

Professor H? What is he, some kind of teacher? I thought.

"Yes, indeed I am, Violet." He said to me. There was a sparkle in his eye that told me he was here to help me, which I thought was strange.

"Okay, what the what? Can you please explain to me what's going on here? How did you know my name when I didn't tell you? What did you just do now, read my thoughts? Plus, why is everything frozen? I'm so confused, and I feel so dang HELPLESS!! Can I just get a little HINT of what's going on here?!" I snapped.

The guy just chuckled in response. That was kinda making me more pissed off than I already was.

"Ah, what a curious one you are." He said. I raised my eyebrow. "Well. If you would like to know more about us, come to this place tonight. Seven o' clock sharp. Alright?"

He handed me a little slip of paper with an address on it. It read: 147 Preston St. Back alley, around the corner. 7 o' clock SHARP. Signed, Professor H. 

I read the note and said a slow "Thanks?" to let him know I wasn't sure what it was, but I was thankful for him giving it to me anyways. I looked up at him and gave him a small smile. He smiled back and winked. The second I blinked, he was gone.

I stood there wondering who he actually was, why the guy could read my thoughts, why he called himself a professor, and how the heck he disappeared in a split second! Suddenly-

"Hey, Vi? You alright? You look like you've just seen a ghost!" That was Astrid's voice.

I turned around. All my friends were staring at me with weird expressions on their faces. I shoved the paper in my jacket pocket.

"Hm? Oh, yeah! I'm totally fine. Just... taking in some air, I guess." I responded. I didn't want to tell them anything about what just happened. They'd think I was nuts!

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. I could hear the birds chirping and the dogs playing with their owners again. Thank goodness that whole mess was over!

"You looked like you were about to pass out!" Nixon came up to me and put his arm around my shoulders. I giggled. I could hear Astrid fake-gagging in the background, which made me giggle even more.

"So now that you're back in the pink, everyone can start to head home again, right, Vi?" Asked Iris.

"Yeah. Why're you asking me? We're on our way home, are we not?" I smiled. It felt great to have friends like mine!

*    *    *

It was nearing 7 o' clock. It was 6:30, to be exact. The sun was setting and the sky was absolutely gorgeous. I recently finished my homework for the weekend and was getting fidgety. I had to meet this "Professor H" guy at 7:00 in this creepy alley so I could find out the "truth" or something like that. I had to go. I wanted to find out what the heck this was all about.

"H-Hey mom?"

"Yeah? What's up, sweetie?"

"Mom, I'm... uh... meeting some friends downtown and I have to be there for exactly 7:00. I'm gonna take my bike, okay? It'll only be for a little bit!"

My mother gave me a stern look.

"When are you coming back?" She asked.

"Uuuuh... Soon!" I said.

My mother rolled her eyes. "Fine. But be back soon, like you said. I don't want to have to start thinking that you got kidnapped or something!"

I nodded my head. "Yeah, sure, uh huh! I promise mooooommmm!! Love youuu!! I have my phone!" I grabbed my cellphone and shoved it into my jacket pocket as I was putting it on. I was trying to rush out the door as fast as possible to make it there on time.

"Be careful! And don't stay out too late, okay? Call me if you need anything!"

"Okay byyyyyyyyyee!" I exclaimed as I shoved on my boots and ran out the door. I grabbed my bike and my helmet and raced to 147 Preston St, having high hopes for whatever was going to come my way.

Finally, I made it. I parked my bike in the alleyway and took off my helmet. I wrapped the bike lock around a bike pole that just so happened to be there and locked it up tight to make sure it wouldn't get stolen.

I checked my phone. It was 6:55. I had five minutes to find out where I was supposed to go. I ran around the corner to find a guy that looked like a body guard. He was leaning against the wall. It was almost as if he was waiting for someone...

"Hey you. Your name's Violet?"

I perked up at my name. How does everyone know my name now? I quietly responded, not sure what the guy would do.

"Yeeeeees... That's me..." I stammered. I wasn't sure where the guy was going with this.

The guy checked his watch. "Alrighty. Follow me, then."

I quietly followed him around a corner when he told me to stand still right where I was. Not wanting to get hurt, I obeyed. The guy pulled a little remote out of his pocket and pressed a big red button. The ground beneath us started to glow a faint light blue. I started to panic as the ground started to crack and crumble.

"What the WHAT?!" I exclaimed.

The guy turned me around to face him and looked sternly into my eyes. At this point, I was even more freaked out. 

What the heck is he going to do to me? I thought.

The bodyguard-looking guy grabbed my hands. Then we fell.

*    *    *

I was still freaking out. The bodyguard guy was still holding my hands. He could probably see the fear written all over my face because-

"Are you alright?"

I nodded my head, not knowing what to say. He looked at me with concern. He pointed to a little name tag on his shirt.

"My name's Dean."

I nodded. "My name's Violet... But I guess you already knew that, huh?"

We both chuckled a bit.

"Is this your first time on the Shaft?"

I looked up at him, confused. What was he talking about, "the Shaft"? He must've seen the look on my face, because he cocked his head to the side and said,

"Oh, you don't know what the 'Shaft' is, do you?"

I shook my head. I wanted him to tell me about this strange place. I just wanted to know what was going on...

Suddenly, we stopped falling. Dean let go of my hands and ushered me to follow him. A door opened as we stepped out of the little 'corridor' that we were 'falling' in.

After walking down a bunch of hallways and turning lots of corners, we went through a doorway. When I joined him in this huge room, he put his hands up in the air.

"This, my friend, is the Shaft."

I looked around. This room was massive indeed! Dean told me that we were inside a gigantic, tinted bubble dome, which I found to be really cool. As I looked around, everyone was on the walls... Literally. There were people on the ceiling, on the floor, and all around. The people were surrounding the walls of the gigantic dome thingy. 

I guess gravity's different here? I thought to myself.

I heard a voice in my head who responded to my question.

Yes, child. It certainly is. The voice said in reply.

I looked up. To my surprise, Professor H was walking up to us.

"Professor H!" I exclaimed.

He chuckled. I was actually happy to see him, for once. This day had certainly been a conundrum of events, but all of it was about to make sense.