Chapter 1

Liona Knight stared lazily out the window of her dreary Physics class and didn’t care that she wasn’t hearing anything her stuffy gray-haired teacher was saying. She couldn’t stand Physics, and even though she’d only been in school for two weeks she was finding it harder and harder to like anything about school.
“At least pretend like you’re paying attention.” Kali whispered from beside her. “I don’t want him to call on us.”
Liona’s thoughts were interrupted and she looked over at Kali. “Sorry.”
She sighed. “Lilly, snap out of it. You’ve been like this ever since-”
Yet Kali could not go on. Ever since they’d left the alternate universe they’d been thrown into only a few months before? Ever since they’d left the Kingdom of Mondel and their newfound friends Allister, Jack and Adara? It sounded just as crazy as it was, and Liona could only look at Kali strangely as if to confirm the insanity she felt.
“Don’t look at me like that.” Kali said, shaking her head. “I want to go back just as much as you do.”
Liona shrugged. “Sorry.”
At this, Kali only shook her head and turned to pay attention to the lecture. Liona frowned to herself, and looked down at her barely-touched notebook. She knew she was being sulky, and she knew it was driving Kali crazy. In fact, Kali was the only one of them handling their situation well. After they had woken up on the bathroom floor Foster changed dramatically, barely talking and becoming eerily reserved. Liona could only wonder the reason for his mood change, knowing that a lot had happened while they were in their fairytale world.
Liona was suddenly surprised to hear the bell ring, and students all around her jumped up, eager to get out of the boring class. After they packed up, Liona and Kali made their way to the crowded lunchroom to meet Foster at their usual spot. He was already there, nibbling at his sandwich.
“Phew, what a day!” Kali exclaimed, sitting down. “You know I think I’m starting to get the hang of Physics though. I was pretty worried there the first week.”
Liona sat beside her and nodded. “Yeah, it’s pretty tough.”
Kali nodded slowly, looking back and forth between Foster and Liona. “So anyway, how has your day been today, Tweak?”
Foster looked up. “Fine, I guess.”
“Nothing exciting?” She probed, taking out her lunch bag.
He shook his head. “Nope.”
Kali paused, pursing her lips. “Are you guys serious? It’s been two months, can’t you guys get over yourselves?”
“Get over what?” Foster said, looking up.
“You know what I mean!” Kali said, beginning to get upset. “It happened, we’re back now, and we don’t know whether or not we’ll ever go back.”
Liona shook her head. “Kali, calm down.”
“No!” She said forcefully. “Ever since we came back you two have been grumpy and mopey and I’m sick of it. Call me when you get over yourselves.”
With that she stood, grabbed her lunch bag and left. For several moments Liona and Foster awkwardly looked in the direction she went, but soon Liona turned to address Foster.
“She seems really upset.”
He nodded slowly. “I haven’t been grumpy, have I?”
She only shrugged. “You just changed. We’re both not as happy as we were. It…it doesn’t have to do with me, does it?”
“What do you mean?” He asked, looking back down at his sandwich.
She shook her head. “I dunno. We never…well, we never really talked about what happened before we were captured. What you said-”
“It doesn’t matter, Lilly.” Foster said, interrupting her. “I told you back there, it doesn’t matter. That’s not what this is about.”
She frowned. “What is it about?”
He took a deep breath, slowly putting down his sandwich. “It’s just different for me, okay? The whole time we were there, I didn’t have time to process. I didn’t have time to think about what it all meant.”
“What are you talking about, Tweak?”
He shook his head. “What am I supposed to think every time I go to church now?”
“Oh,” Liona said weakly. “Tweak, that doesn’t mean-”
“I don’t know what it means.” He said quickly. “Look, I know it doesn’t mean that everything I’ve ever learned is wrong, but it makes you re-think some things, okay? It’s not the same for you and Kali, you’ve never gone to church and Kali’s never been into it. I just need some time to sort all of this out.”
Liona nodded. “You could have told us.”
He only shrugged. “What about you? You’re like a freaking zombie.”
“Least I’m not going through an existential crisis.” She countered, smiling. “I guess we really have been downers lately, huh?”
He smiled back. “Yeah. We should probably talk to Kali, she really did seem upset.”
“She’ll forgive us by English.” Liona said. “But we should still apologize.”

* * * * *

Later that day the teenagers decided to walk home from school. Kali was much happier since Foster and Liona apologized, and as they walked away from their dull high school she nearly skipped beside them.
“What in the world are you so exited about?” Foster said, raising an eyebrow. “I don’t know how much I can take.”
Kali stuck her tongue out at him. “I have a surprise for you two.”
“Surprise?” Liona said, frowning. “Somehow I don’t like the sound of that.”
“I was talking to Kristin Waller during Band.” Kali said, ignoring Liona. “And she was complaining about how her Mom is taking her to a carnival after school.”
Foster frowned. “And that’s a surprise for us because…?”
Kali rolled her eyes. “Do I have to spell it out for you? It’s the same carnival we went to in July, same troop, same location, same everything.”
“What?” Liona said, shaking her head. “But that doesn’t mean the creepy lady will still be there.”
Kali only shrugged. “What if she is? What if we can find some answers there? Look, it’s worth a try and it’s only a ten minute walk from here.”
Foster nodded. “Well then, let’s get going.”
As they approached the carnival Liona felt oddly ill at ease. It looked exactly the same as it had when they first visited two months before, and she took a deep breath as she was hit with the reality of deja vu.
“So where did you go the first time?” Kali asked, looking over at Foster and Liona. “I wasn’t with you, all I know is we were in the market area.”
Liona nodded. “Yeah, it was like five tents behind where you were. It wasn’t open, it had a flap.
“It was a dark purple color, too.” Foster said. “Looked like any other freak show tent with Pagan stuff in it.”
Wandering in the direction of the market, Kali led as Foster and Liona looked around cautiously to see if they could find the tent that had been the root of their adventure. Liona scanned each tent, looking for anything that even resembled the tent or the woman who had given her the magic kit.
“I don’t see it.” Liona said, shaking her head. “Last time it was around here.”
“Here.” Foster said, and Liona looked behind her to see Foster pointing to a deep purple tent.
Kali’s eyes widened. “Is this it?”
Foster shrugged. “Sure looks like it. Come on.”
Walking over to him, Liona and Kali followed as Foster entered. Liona nearly gasped as she walked into the exact setting she was confronted with in July. It was so identical Liona wondered for a moment whether it was even real.
“What can I do for you kids?” A voice said, and Liona turned to see a gray haired woman sitting at the same counter the red-haired woman had. She had her feet propped up on the table and held a magazine in one hand.
“Hi there.” Foster said, smiling at her. “I don’t suppose you run this store with anyone else?”
The woman raised an eyebrow. “You mean Mary?”
“Does Mary have red hair?” Foster asked.
The woman shook her head. “Nah, she’s a blondie.”
“And you don’t know my name or anything weird like that?” He said, his smile fading.
The woman blinked several times before answering. “Kid, you do know this magic stuff is crap, right? I ain’t a psychic, I just sell witch stuff. It’s touristy. Now are you gonna buy anything?”
Foster shook his head, glancing back at Liona. “Sorry, but no. Thanks for your time.”
The three exited the tent and Kali sighed. “Well, it was worth a try.”
“That was really strange though.” Liona said, shaking her head. “Did you see that, Tweak? It was exactly the same. Everything was, except for the woman.”
He nodded. “Yeah, I noticed. But it felt different, did you notice that too? The first time we were creeped out the minute we went in there. This time it just felt like any other tourist trap.”
“It just doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.” Kali said, narrowing her eyes in thought. “Who is doing it? Who is giving those bundle things to random kids?”
Liona shrugged. “I don’t know, but it doesn’t really look like we’re supposed to know.”
“Well,” Foster said, shrugging. “While we’re here want to go play some games?”

* * * * *
“You don’t seem as upset as I thought you’d be.” Kali said as the three teenagers left the carnival and headed towards Liona’s house.
Liona only shrugged. “I guess I didn’t really have high expectations.”
“It was kind of a long shot.” Foster agreed. “But thanks for brining us, Kali, it was fun to go to the games again.”
Kali sighed. “Do you think we’ll ever go back?”
“Maybe sooner than you think.” Foster said, suddenly stopping.
Liona and Kali stopped also, nearly running into him.
“Jeez, Tweak, watch it.” Kali said. “What are you talking about?”
But Foster didn’t answer, he only pointed at something in front of him. Liona frowned, trying to look at what he was pointing at, but she didn’t see anything.
“Oh my God.” Kali said, her eyes widening.
Liona frowned. “Okay, I fail, what are you pointing at?”
“The window, Lilly.”
Looking over, she gasped as she finally realized what Foster meant. Just a few feet away a large glass store window was letting off a dull glow, which was odd considering it was the middle of the day. Liona and Foster exchanged glances, and the three teenagers quickly made their way to take a closer look.
“Do you see that?” Kali said, clearly excited. “Look, it’s the forest!”
Liona shook her head. “I can’t believe this. This is it, this is really it.”
“What are we waiting for?” Foster said, grinning. He held out either hand and Liona and Kali smiled at each other before they held hands and walked straight into the window.

Prolouge (unfinished)