Despite how much I had come to dread my future, I had little doubt that there would be some sense of stability there. If I closed my eyes and imagined the years to come - even if they would undoubtedly be dull and tedious - I knew I would have a comfortable living. My family's fortune would assuredly see to that.

Except now, I was not sure if that would ever actually come to pass.

I was standing in the middle of the strangest room I'd ever been in before. It was bright - far too bright - and there was a contraption spitting out towels made out of paper, and some kind of sink that seemed to spray water on command. And there was a girl with a rather foul mouth standing in front of me, waving her hands around, that unusual little thing she called a cell phone clutched tight in her grasp.

Being here was disorientating enough, but the girl was most definitely not helping. Her vigorous hand gestures and shrill voice were rather grating. There was a dull throbbing at the base of my skull, this disgusting taste in my mouth, and my vision would not stop shifting in and out of focus. I thought I was going to vomit again.

There was no way this could be the year 2014. No possible way. This was a dream. That was it. It couldn't be anything else but a dream. Just a dream.

"Well, good luck to you, Percy. I've got planes to catch, boats to ride, that sort of thing."

I barely registered what the girl was saying before she turned on her heel and left the room. Somehow I managed to tear my gaze away from her bare legs - why, oh why was she showing so much skin? - and stumble after her.

"Madam, please, you can't - wait! Please! I need - "

I wasn't entirely aware of the words coming out of my mouth, only that I was speaking, trying to tell the girl that she couldn't leave me. She found me, had she not? She must have known how I wound up on the floor in the...the restroom, then.

She whipped around and converged on me so suddenly I stumbled backwards, taken aback by the angered look on her face. "Didn't I just say that my name is Callie?"

"Yes, I'm so sorry, Callie," I spluttered. "It's simply that I must - "

"Go home," Callie repeated, jabbing a finger into my chest. "Just go home, okay? This whole lost puppy thing is starting to get a little creepy."

"...but I'm not a lost puppy," I said, very confused. "I am, quite obviously, a man."

I had to admit to myself that Callie had very pretty green eyes, but they were not quite so attractive when they were narrowed at me. Never before had someone looked at me with such...revulsion. "Look, Percy. You seem like an... okay guy. But you're kind of just freaking me out, honestly, so... so go be creepy with someone else, okay?"

She did not give me the chance to respond, and disappeared quite suddenly into the mix of people milling about this place. This place...whatever it was. It was so loud and bright and full of an...an eclectic mixture of people.

My head was spinning and everything seemed to be blurred at the edges of my vision. I stumbled my way over to a nearby chair and sunk into it, tucking my head between my knees.

What kind of hellish dream was this? I could recall a few distinct nightmares I'd had once or twice that still sent a sliver of ice down my spine whenever I thought back to them, but never one quite as vivid as the scene currently playing out before my eyes. I briefly contemplated the merits of pinching myself, but decided I didn't need any further proof than the acidic aftertaste in my mouth left over from vomiting.

I hadn't the foggiest as to what the bloody hell was going on, but whatever this was...it wasn't going away.

I could not recall the last time I had ever shed a tear - as a child, surely - but I recognized the tight feeling in my throat and the burning in my eyes.

"Hey, you okay?"

I looked up at the sound of an unnaturally kind voice. There was a young woman crouched down in front of me. Her hair was a vibrant shade of magenta, and there seemed to be some piece of jewelry protruding from her nose.

"You look a little green," the young woman said, smiling rather kindly.

I would have found it endearing had I still not been reeling. "I... beg your pardon?"

"Are you sick?"

"I am afraid I..." I seemed to have momentarily lost the ability to speak, and could only muster up some pathetic flap of my hand.

The girl smiled in understanding and patted my knee as she got to her feet. "Stay put. I'll be right back."

I watched her journey over to what appeared to be some kind of store. I couldn't make out the particulars of what the shop contained, but the girl seemed to know the shelves rather well. She returned a few short moments later, carrying a cup in her right hand.

"Here," she said, proffering the cup.

I was unsure of what to say in response, so I merely nodded, attempting a halfhearted smile of thanks as I accepted the cup. The steaming contents of the cup smelt faintly fruity, and I cautiously took a sip when I recognized it to be tea. The flavor was somewhat bitter against my tongue, but I was thankful to have been offered something to drink nonetheless. It helped to ease the dryness of my mouth.

"I figured that would do the trick," the girl said to me with a smile. "Tea always helps."

"My mother says the same, as well," I said, and I felt my insides suddenly constrict with pain at the thought.

I still refused to accept that this was nothing but a dream, but...what if it was not? What if this had somehow frighteningly become my new reality? How would I ever possibly return to London? To my family?

"First time away from home?" the girl asked, perching herself on the arm of the chair I currently occupied.

"Ah...yes," I muttered, clearing my throat.

Despite the troubling thoughts bombarding my mind, I still felt uneasy at our proximity. I had never been so close to someone of the opposite sex before, excluding my mother and grandmother.

"I've been on my own for awhile now, and I know it can be rough at first," the girl told me, smiling sympathetically. "It gets easier, trust me."

Whatever this was...I highly doubted it was going to be easy. I had just been virtually thrown into uncharted territory, an ocean of uncertainty, really, and I was already drowning.

"I'm sure that cut on your forehead isn't helping you or anything, too," the girl said, gesturing to my head.

I ran my fingers across my forehead and winced when a sharp pain caused my head to throb.

"Hang tight," the girl said, and she disappeared yet again, heading back to the little shop she had just visited.

She returned a few moments later with a damp rag I recognized to be what the girl – Callie, I believe she said her name was - called a paper towel. Even though Callie had presented herself as overall unpleasant, I would have to find her. She had to know at least something concerning how I had wound up on the floor in the ladies' restroom, one hundred twenty-seven years in the future.

"This shouldn't sting too much," the girl said before carefully dabbing at the cut on my forehead.

I remained as motionless as I was able to, biting the inside of my cheek. "Madam, I must ask you..."

"Madam?" She laughed. "No need to call me madam. My name is Natalie."

"Forgive me. Natalie, then," I corrected myself. "Might I ask why you've took it upon yourself to assist me?"

"Karma," Natalie answered simply.

"I'm sorry?"

"What, is karma an unfamiliar concept in jolly old England?"

"No, I'm afraid I just..."

"What goes around comes around," Natalie said after a moment of quiet contemplation. "Help someone out, and someone will do the same for you somewhere down the road, too."

Natalie's explanation seemed quite interesting. Perhaps the other girl, Callie, believed the same, as well. If I happened across her again, I would have to remind her of this.

"I agree," I said, rising to my feet once I had finished the remainder of the tea she'd brought me. "And I am much obliged to you for your assistance, but I'm afraid I must ask you one further question."

"Which is?"

"Did you, ah...happen to see a girl here just a few moments ago?"

Natalie laughed, somehow finding my question amusing. "This is a mall. There are hundreds of girls here."

"Yes, but she was blonde."

"Well, that sure narrows it down."

"She was yelling a fair amount. And she had something called a...a cellphone, I believe."

Natalie laughed all the harder now. "Buddy, you just described, like, ninety-five percent of the female population under the age of thirty."

"Percy."

"What?"

"My name is Percy. Not buddy."

"Well, then. Percy. Sorry." Natalie got to her feet and approached me, reaching out to take the empty tea cup from my hand. "I'm afraid I can't help you with that one."

I was raised in a genteel household, so I knew full well how to publicly present myself, but it took every ounce of my sensibilities not to shout to the high heavens in frustration. Natalie was obviously a very kind girl, but the amused expression on her face was proving to be more aggravating than anything else.

"Then I thank you nevertheless for your help," I said, holding back the stream of curses threatening to burst forth. "Know that your kindness has not gone unnoticed."

"Yeah, I can see that," Natalie said, still very much amused at our interaction. "Stay out of trouble, Percy."

That, I was afraid, was a promise I could not make. I knew nothing of this world I had inadvertently stumbled into, and I was not eager to discover what else this place had to offer. I didn't want to consider what my next course of action was to be, but loitering around doing nothing was not going to accomplish anything.

I thanked Natalie for her assistance yet again and began the journey down the long corridor immediately in front of me. I hadn't the foggiest what the men and women who appeared to be vendors of sorts were selling, but I was asked more than once if I wanted to "test-drive" new hair products, or sample an item called a "dead sea face mask."

I did my best to be as courteous as possible, but I was growing increasingly aggravated with this turn of events. It was impossible to collect my thoughts due to the incessantly loud noise all around, the bright lights and flashy objects everywhere, and the people. The people were most distracting of all. Never before had I received such unusual and awkward glances. And why were women dressed so immodestly? Was it not obvious that it was by no means appropriate to ever show that much skin?

I could only stumble around on uneven legs with no set destination in mind. I didn't know where to begin in my search for the young woman named Callie, and I was hesitant to ask for assistance after Natalie's response.

I was unsure of how long I had been walking through this house of horrors, but I soon came to a series of doors that seemed to lead outside. I came to a halt, and it suddenly became rather difficult to breathe. What was I to do? Venture outside, and come across even more unpleasant people than the ones that occupied this building? What else was there outside to shock and horrify me? The possibilities were endless.

Well, I knew for certain that I could not just sit around and let apathy consume my being. I had to do something. Perhaps Callie had gone outside. Perhaps she was waiting outside these very doors, and I would come across her in no time at all.

I was aware that my hopes were childish, but what else did I have to cling to? I wanted to go home. Surely that desire was understandable. If Callie held the answers to my arrival, then could she not have the answers that would bring about my departure, as well?

I had spent the last few years of my life longing for a sense of purpose and adventure, bored with the monotony that regularly consumed me, and now that such an opportunity had been thrust upon me, I found myself wary of embracing it. I did not want to admit that I was frightened of what was before me, but I most certainly was. Wouldn't anyone in my position have similar feelings?

"Alright, Percy," I said aloud to myself. "You're a Townsend. A born and raised gentleman. You're from England, for God's sake. Do it for queen and country, if nothing else. This is nothing you cannot possibly handle."

It was with that final note of encouragement to myself that I ventured outside.

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       So sorry it's taken so long to update! Editing a manuscript on top of work and school is so not easy. 

Don't forget to drop a comment (maybe even a vote, too) with your thoughts, and thanks for being such amazing readers! :) 

Lots of love,

Ally