“C’mon, Sandra!” Meri called as quietly as she could and took off after her Sen. How could Senara just leave them standing there? They moved quickly through another room, this one even bigger than the last.

“What’s the plan, Sen?” Meri asked. Sen had paused at a doorway and was just standing there. Probably trying to get a feel for what was outside. She held in a little shiver. It probably wasn’t good, whatever it was. “How do we get the bracelet off?”

Meri took a step back as Sen leveled her with a glare unmatched by any she’d ever seen before, from anyone. And that was saying a lot. Her mom was really good at them.

“The plan is for you all to go right back through the anteroom, down the stairs and into the portal, back home. This is no place for you.” She gestured toward Sandra. “She is afraid of the small dragons in your land. Those are nothing compared to what awaits you here.”

“That doesn’t sound good, Meri,” Sandra said. “Maybe we should head back.”

That would be the logical thing to do. Absolutely the logical thing to do. But when would she ever have this chance again? To discover something no one else had even an inkling about? Stuff like that was running out on Earth, if not completely gone. She might not be Lara Croft, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t find something that could shake the entire world to its core. Even with the couple pictures of she’d taken she would never be able to convince anyone where she had taken them. She needed concrete proof. Then came the free ride at school, the book deals, the movies. But first the proof.

And even if she did convince someone, would the portal let them come back? Would the United States government let her come back? Nah, probably not. This was her one and only chance. Plus, could she really leave Sen here alone? Sure, she was from here and obviously knew what she was doing, but still. The older girl always seemed so sad, so on edge. It was obvious she’d been through a lot.

If she could find something to take back as absolute proof, maybe she could convince Sen to go back with her. And then when they showed everyone whatever it was she was going to find, all the great minds around could help Sen get the bracelet off. It was totally disgusting that someone would put that thing on her like that, for no reason.

“Waiting for an answer here, Meri,” Sandra said, interrupting her thoughts.

Sen snorted and walked off. Apparently Meri was going to have to get used to that.

“You go if you want. I’m staying.”

A good fifteen seconds of silence. “Seriously? You’re going to risk your life, for what?” Sandra said, her voice quivering a little. “Fine then. Your choice. But how do I even know that portal will take me home? There have to be other worlds out there if there is this one, right?”

She did have a point. Was this the only other world out there? Maybe they should focus on getting around this one before they thought about that. Being logical didn’t stop the tingle of excitement from zapping through her. Endless worlds to explore. This was going to be so amazing.

“Sen said it would take you home. I don’t see why she’d be dishonest. If you take the portal, you’ll end up back in Florida.”

“Sen’s gone again,” Sandra said.

Shoot. They moved together, in the direction that they had last seen her going. They stumbled through another room, this one full of bodies. At least they had been dead for a while. Not that it was any less creepy. Pieces of a shattered door hung in the way, blocking part of the view of a snow covered the landscape. Snow? She’d never seen snow for real. Her mom always wanted to go to South America on vacation to get a tan.

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

The temperature changed as soon as they stepped through the open doorway, sending a shiver clear from her toes to her shoulders. And she’d thought the temperature too low before. That didn’t make sense. There was no way a broken door could hold in heat, was there?

Fresh footprints in the snow gave away the direction Sen had headed.

They followed.

The air here felt strange. Fresh. And those trees. What kind were they? A deciduous of some kind, but nothing she recognized. Which really wasn’t significant since that wasn’t included in her major and she was a city girl from the south. Maybe that kind of tree was common in Canada. Who knew.

They found Sen not far away, kneeling over a corpse. A fresh corpse. She was digging in the guy’s pockets.

“Ah, Sen? This guy is dead.”

“Yes?”

“As in dead, dead. As in no longer alive.” Sandra’s tone was rising in pitch.

“Yes?” Senara was staying so calm. Calm was good, right?

“Well how do you think he died? Natural causes, right?”

Meri actually looked at the corpse on the ground. A large hole gaped open in his chest. Sen just gave Sandra a look and moved on.

“At least tell us what killed the guy!” Sandra yelled after her.

“I don’t know. Probably the temple defenses. You’re fine if you’re with me.”

Temple defenses? Like turrets, or like magic? What left that kind of hole right through a man? After traveling through that portal, she’d probably believe anything. She jogged over to Sen, trying not to stare at the morbid sight. Sandra stuck to her like glue.

And now that she thought about it, why were they fine if they were with Sen? The defenses didn’t work against her, or wouldn’t try to attack her?

After the freak-out moment ended, the fact that they had just jumped into another world where it was snowing while wearing Florida clothes slowly set in. They were totally going to freeze to death if they didn’t figure something out. At least she had boots and jeans, protection against all the swamp critters at home.

“Ah, Sen?” Meri asked. She didn’t really want to keep bothering her, but the alternative was frostbite, so… “We really are going to need warmer clothes,” she continued when Sen didn’t answer.

“My name is Senara.” Sen moved over to one of the corpses. A fresh one, not one that had been dead for decades. Surely she wasn’t going to… Op. She did. She rolled the body over and took the guy’s cloak, holding it out for Meri.

She took it, but held it out in front of her. It wasn’t that cold, was it? They’d be fine without the cloak until they found something else, right?

Just the thought made her shiver.

Fine. It was freezing. But this was so disgusting. She pulled it over her shoulders. Instant relief. Impressive. The people here sure knew how to stay warm. They’d have to, living on the North Pole like this.

Sen moved over to another body, this one a woman, and did the same thing, holding the cloak out to Sandra.

“There ain’t no way I’m wearing that thing,” Sandra said, her voice rising in pitch. “It’s from a dead person. A dead person. We shouldn’t be here. Why are we here?”

“Suit yourself,” Sen said, and dropped it on the ground before taking off again.

“Just take it. You’ll want it later,” Meri told her quietly. Probably sooner rather than later, actually, but Sandra could get stubborn and might not take it.

“I can’t do this, Meri. I don’t know why you want to, but I can’t. I’m going back. I’m not going to die here in some horrible way, with my parents never finding out what happened to me.” Her voice continued to rise until she was nearly impossible to understand.

“Shh, calm down.” Meri said. “I’m not staying long.” She patted her camera. “Just long enough to get some undeniable proof.”

“Good luck with that. It isn’t worth someone’s life.” She brushed at the snow on her shorts, glared after Sen for a second, and then took off back toward the portal.

“Sandra!” Meri called after her.

She just lifted a hand without turning around.

Was she right? Was this crazy? Yeah, probably. But everything good came with a risk. There had to be something around here that could prove she’d been to another world. Something portable, or photogenic.

“Sen!” Meri called, scrambling to catch up. The other girl didn’t even slow. “Why are you in such a hurry?” Meri panted out when she caught up.

“Because those men,” Sen said, pointing a thumb over her shoulder at the bodies littering the ground. “Were looking for me. And those weren’t all of them.”

Meri’s gut clenched and she stopped. Those soldiers had been hunting Senara? Why? And there were more? She looked around at the trees, at the darkening gloom. Anything could be hiding in there. She eyed Sen from the side. And why were they after her, anyway? What had she gotten herself into now?

A glance over her shoulder showed Sandra had just made it back to the temple. Maybe she was the smart one. But that didn’t change anything for Meri. This place was going to change her life. Forever.