Victor opened his eyes and saw things slowly come into focus. He sat up and an unbearable wave of nausea crashed through him, and he flopped back over. He felt the carpet beneath him and thought about how oddly it felt, natural, moist, and ticklish from being so ridiculously long, and then realized it wasn't a carpet, it was grass. That would explain why he was staring up into the galaxy.

The last thing Victor thought before passing out again was, "How did I get here?"

There was an odd sensation of something cool sliding down his throat, and Victor thought it would be best if he swallowed so as to avoid choking. However, he was a bit late to react, and began coughing and sputtering. He blinked his eyes open and saw the silhouette of a girl looking down at him. She turned away and yelled something that was too far away and in too many places for Victor to understand.

Victor attempted to sit up and felt a similar wave of nausea to the earlier one, which he'd forgotten about. The girl began slapping her hands against his face in quick little beats.

"Didn't you hear what I said?" her voice started to come together into one piece. Victor was fairly certain he answered, "No, not really."

"I said, 'Don't try to sit up.' You know why? Because you'll get sick and probably pass out again, that's why."

"Oh," Victor thought he might have said. "I'm sorry."

"Well, just try to relax. Do you remember anything?"

"Well, I remember arriving in Amsterdam… then it's all kind of a blur. And then there's nothing up until now."

"Go to sleep, it's the best you can do for yourself right now." Victor had to refrain from asking something stupid, like for her to keep talking. She had a nice voice, now that he could hear it. Crisp British accent, low and soft, and somehow, like she knew things he didn't.

Somehow Victor managed to doze off.

When he awoke again, Victor slowly sat up and looked around. He wasn't on grass anymore. Now he was on the floor of what looked like an old van decorated to look somewhat like a living room. There was a purple sofa, bright green bean bag chair, end table with a lamp, a small bookshelf, and several things scattered on the floor, such as bags and blankets. In the corner there was an acoustic guitar.

"How the hell did I get here?!" he exclaimed in surprise. He tried opening the back door but found it was locked from the outside. "Hey!" he yelled. He started banging on the door and jiggling the handle as if it would do something.

Pressing his ear against the door, he heard people approaching. He started to bang on the doors again.

"Hey! He-elp!"

"Sounds like he's up," said a male voice from the other side. A female voice said something in reply Victor couldn't hear, but it sent the other voice, as well as a couple others, laughing.

The door opened and Victor fell forward, hanging onto the door handle.

"Careful! You might break the car," said a man with long, blue hair and messy beard. He wore dark sunglasses. Victor noticed that two others, another guy and a girl, were wearing identical shades.

"Okay, Ray, it's your turn to drive," said a familiar female voice. A young woman around Victor's age climbed in the back of the van and sat on the sofa. In the light of what he assumed was morning, Victor was able to get a good look at her for the first time. She had long blonde hair that ended in a neat flip and a smattering of freckles across the bridge of her upturned nose. Her eyes were violet with long eyelashes.

The other girl sat on the floor in front of the sofa even there was room for her to sit on it. She wore her also blonde hair in a ponytail. She looked like she was the youngest.

"Uh…" started Victor but the young woman cut him off.

"You're probably wondering what happened," Victor nodded and she continued. "We decided to stop in a field for the night and found you there, totally unconscious, around three in the morning."

"We thought you were a goner," added the younger girl.

"You woke up at some point, but it felt like you had a fever, and you didn't seem to be all there. Had you been drinking at all?"

"Um, I think so, but I don't think I've really eaten in three days."

"You still haven't; here." The young woman tossed him a small, brown paper bag. The bag was warm and emitted a delicious smell.

"What is it?" Victor asked peering in.

"Fish and chips; not much, I know, but they were actually pretty good for fast food."

"Well, actually, I'm a vegetarian…" said Victor, a bit disappointed.

"Oh, so is Ray. He liked them."

"What? Since when was fish a vegetable?"

"Since Ray declared it one! Now eat what you're given or starve!" The young woman became aggressive suddenly.

"Yes, ma'am. Sorry." Victor figured he would just eat the chips (which he was surprised to find was the European name for fries).

"What're your names, by the way?" Victor asked between bites.

"I'm Kowalski," said the younger girl.

"Your parents didn't bother to give you a name?" remarked Victor sarcastically.

"No, I don't really remember my first name, actually," Kowalski giggled. "I think it was Steffi or Sophie or something like that. Anyways, up in the driver's seat is Ray, this is Kent," she gestured to the guy sitting next to her. "And over here," she said dramatically, "is the lovely Anita Knight."

"I'm—"

"Victor Volt, we already know." Anita interrupted.

"Here's your wallet back, by the way," said Kowalski as she handed it to him.

"Hey!" exclaimed Victor.

"Relax, we just took it out to see if there was any form of identification." Anita stated coolly. Victor checked his wallet just to be sure, and when he saw everything was where it should be, he relaxed and put it in his jacket pocket.

"So how long have you been here?" asked Kowalski.

"I have no idea. After I graduated high school I decided I was bored with the suburbs and,"

"You were inspired by Jack Kerouac to go hitchhiking across the country?" inquired Anita.

"Well, a bit more Douglas Adams, but pretty much. At least, that's why I chose Europe and not the States. I started off in Amsterdam, and then I remember hitchhiking all the way to Berlin, and then I think I've been in a haze for at least the past week."

"Well, we're headed for Tuscany. My boyfriend Alphonse lives there, and we might stay at his house for a while and then head off for London." Anita invited. Victor thought it was weird that he felt somewhat disheartened at hearing Anita was in a relationship.

Ray pulled back the red tapestry separating the front seats from the back of the van.

"Are we all clear?"

Everyone called back some kind of affirmative response, and, rather confused, Victor muttered, "I guess so."

"Alright then, we're off!" Ray started the car and they headed off for Tuscany.

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Okay, as you can tell, this is an alternate universe (just thought I'd state the obvious there). Thank you to everyone who reviewed my first story, and (while I'm on that subject), Ronnie Knight, you're welcome ;)