Outside the building and unbeknownst to all inside, a strange thing was happening. The ice that encased the building grew thicker and thicker until one could swear it was nothing but a monolith of ice. There was no way to come in and no way to come out. People were oblivious to the monolith and the drop in temperature. It was as if the building existed in a world apart from the city.

What’s happening?

Kaine watched with alarm as the ice encased the building and the building…

Disappeared…

It had vanished without a trace.

Oh, no…what now?

The building no longer existed in the world that Crystal and her friends had dwelled in. Indeed, the building no longer existed at all. It was trapped in a place between worlds and dimensions--a strange combination of wormholes, negative space, and a half existence. No one had ever gone to this gap to stay; one only visited it in passing. And no one, not even Kaine could get to this place of his own accord. They were on their own no matter where they were… And as for how they would get back, Kaine had no idea.

“Something’s happening,” Crystal said, looking around. “We’re…moving.”

As soon as the words left her mouth, the ground shook. Ice cracked and peeled off of the walls and ceiling of the building. Crystal felt the air around her grow thick and smothering, like a huge blanket of oil had been set around her. She could scarcely move her arms or legs. She couldn’t breath, couldn’t scream. The pressure increased until Crystal was sure she would be crushed.

She saw the room that she had been standing in grow black and disappear. Images faded and Crystal could swear she had passed out. But a second later, the room came back into vision, but it was so far away. It was as though Crystal was staring at a toy that hovered just out of reach. Light bent and air twisted. Crystal had a strong feeling that if she were to try acid, this would be the result.

Wild colors and patterns danced in front of her eyes, between her and the room. Crystal struggled. She had to get back; she had to keep going. She couldn’t give up now. Her friends were counting on her. Crystal fought with arms and legs, trying to strain towards the room, trying to get back.

I can’t do it… Kaine… Where are you? Help me!

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Crystal balked, inwardly. She didn’t need his help. She needed it before and he hadn’t been there. He’d sent Crystal’s friends off to their deaths… Some priest he was, ha!

Crystal fought harder. She would show that white-haired menace. He may have gotten her into this mess, but she would get out of it. Without his help.

Amanda didn’t even notice the shift in dimensions. She was still fighting off the other thirty demons that had shown up after she’d had her last breather. She rabbit-punched one in the gut, brought the elbow of her left arm across the face of another, delivered a savage kick to one of them, cracking it’s bones. She pinned one up against the icy wall of the landing with her forearm, while kicking one in the face, over the edge of the railing. The pinned demon began squalling and sank its teeth deep into Amanda’s arm.

She didn’t even look at it before she crushed its skull.

The very first thing Crystal heard after regaining consciousness was Austin saying in his best television of angel’s impression, “Come back to me, my son…Christ calls you to the light…LIFELESS DEVIL COME OUT!” Followed by a smack.

Crystal opened her eyes and had the hazy sight of Austin perched atop Troy’s chest. Troy lay beneath him, not moving. Austin had seized Troy’s head between his hands and began shaking him vigorously. How that was supposed to help Troy regain consciousness, Crystal could not imagine.

The first thing she felt was Daniel’s hand where it should not be.

“DANIEL!” SMACK! At least her reflexes were working.

“It was worth it!” Daniel was in good condition.

Crystal rolled over and came to her feet, “Daniel, I don’t want to see you perform CPR. Ever. Just let me die.”

“It’s useless,” Austin sighed, “He won’t wake up. I’m going to have to carry the bastard.”

“Maybe he would be able to breathe if you weren’t sitting on his chest, dear,” Crystal said.

“Really?” Austin seemed intrigued by this path of logic. As soon as he stood up and got away from Troy, the taller boy gasped and choked.

“God,” Troy groaned, “It feels like a fat guy’s been sitting on my chest.”

As soon as the word left his lips, Austin had pounced on him and was preparing to send Troy back into unconsciousness; he was very sensitive about his weight.

Crystal stopped them, “We don’t have time for this, guys.”

“What happened?” Daniel asked.

“I don’t know,” Austin said.

“I don’t want to know,” Troy whined, “I just want to go home.”

“I don’t think we can,” Crystal said. All three boys turned to look at her. “I don’t think we’re…where we used to be.”

“Ya think?” Austin asked, “A couple of hours ago I was sitting on my couch, watching Monday Night Nitro.”

“And I was in a hot tub with ten naked women,” Daniel said.

“And then you woke up,” Troy concluded.

Daniel opened his mouth, but Crystal cut in, “Look, we need a plan. We’re not where we were a few minutes ago, but we want to get back there. We came here to fight a demon, so where is it? We came here to help Sam, where is he? We came--”

Crystal stopped because all three boys seemed to have a problem with her repetitive use of the word came. Crystal rolled her eyes, but continued, “We’ve got to get Sam and Amanda, and get the hell out of here and kill anything that gets in the way.”

“Huzzah!” yelled Daniel.