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Setting: Alternate Dimension Sarah eased her eyes open. Blackness greeted her. Not blackness like the dark night, but complete nothingness, as thick as storm clouds on a rainy day. She felt a pair of strong arms around her. "D.K., is that you?" she whispered. It had better be or she intended to let out a scream that would be heard throughout all time. "Yeah. Where the heck are we?" She relaxed at the sound of his voice. "I don't know." She slapped his arm. "You fell asleep! I told you not to do that." "I didn't! You were snoring, and --" "Snoring! I don't snore!" He chuckled. "Well, whatever ... I started feeling dizzy, and then we were here." He sighed. "I think we'd have been better off if I had fallen asleep. Maybe we'd have ended up someplace real." He glanced around. "Geez, it's dark." Pulling away from Sarah, he sat up. She clutched at his arm. "Don't let go of me. We'll never find each other." D.K. clasped her hand in his. "Don't worry. I've got you." A strange sound broke the thick tension hanging in the air. It reminded Sarah of an empty balloon being stretched. In the pitch surrounding them, it seemed particularly eerie, making her feel as if she was in the middle of a Stephen King movie. "What was that?" she whispered. "I don't know." D.K.'s grip tightened on Sarah's hand. He pulled her to her feet. "Let's get out of here." "How? We can't even see." "Then let's just move away from that noise." He pulled her deeper into the darkness, hoping they'd find a way out of this ... void. "I've got a bad feeling about this place. Who knows what's lurking in the shadows." "Don't say that! You're scaring me. Where in time do you think we are?" "I don't think we are in time." His voice sounded strained, even to his own ears. "I think we're between time. Lost in a dimension that doesn't exist." "Is that possible?" "None of what's been happening to us is possible. But it's been happening anyway." "Sarrrrrrahhhhh ..." A voice called from a distance. D.K. and Sarah stopped in their tracks. D.K. couldn't see Sarah, but he felt her hand tighten around his. "Sarrrrrrahhhhh ..." Sarah's heart began to pound. "That voice! I know it!" She pulled away from D.K.. "Daddy?" She rushed forward. "Daddy! Where are you? I'm here! I'm right here." D.K. reached out for her. "No, Sarah!" Panic filled his voice. "Wait!" He rushed forward, but couldn't see her. He couldn't see anything. "Sarah, where are you?" "Over here! That was my father! He's close by." Her voice faded as she moved further into the darkness. "Sarah, stop. Wait for me." "Hurry, D.K., before--" A shrill scream rent the blackness. D.K. froze, then raced toward the sound, unmindful of any obstacles that might be lurking in his way. "Sarah!" Her scream echoed in the vastness surrounding him, then faded away like she'd fallen into an abyss. "Sarah! Answer me!" He stopped in his tracks, not knowing where to turn. "Sarah!" D.K. plopped down. He'd lost her. "Oh, Sarah." He buried his head in his hands. What was he supposed to do now? |