I couldn’t believe it. After all this time, it had finally happened.
That was indeed great and all, but I had no idea how to reverse it. Or how to do it again, for that matter. I was thus thrust into an alternate universe, afraid and alone with no way home.
In my defense, if someone told you it was possible to travel to an alternate universe, would you believe them? I, well... I didn’t, but I guess I was a tad incredulous for trying out their method anyway.
It is what it is.
I had found myself in what appeared to be an ancient European city. A man in a dapper and oddly modern suit happened to be walking my way. He was alone on the sloped cobblestone street, but I could hear a crowd somewhere beyond the direction he was walking, out of view.
I approached him, hoping against hope that he’d understand my English.
“Good day, sir,” I said, and watched as the man stopped dead in his tracks. “Do you know...”
The man cut me off. “Excuse me?” he asked, his mouth drooping open in disbelief.
I stammered. “Uhh, I said...”
“I know what you said,” the man interrupted. “Do you truly believe, do you really think, is it actually in that plain head of yours, that this behaviour is in any way appropriate?”
I put my hands up in defense and stumbled backwards.
He continued. “Do you seriously have the AUDACITY to wish such a hideous fate upon the one and only me? Of MERELY a good day? Nothing more than a mediocre period of time betwixt the rising and the setting of the sun?” He was almost animated in his expression of anger, speaking with full motion and hand gestures to emphasize every word. “Alas, you may have succeeded in my condemnation. My excellent morning has disintegrated into naught more but an average – nay, a horrible – day. But I will not let that be! I shall have the greatest of morrows. If not genuinely, then merely to spite your hideous acclamation!”
I wiped the accumulated spit off of my face. “Bruh,” I countered.
He grabbed me by the shoulders, his crazed face now a deep red. “Do you know who I am?” he shouted, shaking me with every syllable.
I stammered for two seconds shaking my head, then pushed him and bolted before giving him the time to react.
“Guards!” he shouted from behind me. “Seize him!”
I dared to peek over my shoulder. I don’t know where they came from, but a group of people in odd, military-style uniforms took up chase.
My feet were pounding against the cobblestone at a super-human speed, fuelled by fear and adrenaline. My lungs were screaming at me as my vision blurred in concentration. I was not fit, but I was damn sure I’d keep running faster than anyone else at that moment.
In my delirious state, it wasn’t until I had started falling down mysterious stairs before my mind processed what had happened.
I had been kidnapped. Hidden in an obscured doorway around my last tight corner was a pair of strong hands that almost ripped me from my feet, pulling me inside. I had struggled for barely a second before sending us both careening down the musty stairway into a dark basement.
In an instant I had scrambled back to my feet, but a tight grip caught my calf.
“Wait!” I heard from behind me in a whisper so sharp it might as well have been a shout. “I’m one of the good guys.”
I paused, then looked back at the voice. “Um, you’re not a guy,” I whispered to maintain the hushed tone.
She flashed me a look similar to the that man gave me.
I racked my brain. How would a normal person introduce themselves in an awkward situation like this?
I thrust out my hand for a handshake. “Leon,” I said.
She obliged. “I’m Alexandra.” She seemed to eye me up, scrutinizing my features. By this point, our whispers had evolved into soft voices. “So, you’re new to inter-dimensionally travelling, eh?”
I shook my head. “I’ve never tried it,” I replied. “I think humans can only understand the third dimension. Universes, on the other hand...”
“Shut up,” she said. “In two minutes, they’ll burst through that door. There is a chance that I could save you. I could also kill you, but for the sake of argument let’s assume I really am the good guy. Do you trust me?”
I thought for a second. Should I trust her?
