DISCLAIMER: I do not own anyone except for Tori. I do not own the places either. I just own Tori.


Tori stood, shocked into an almost paralyzed state, in front of a large metal table with an array of surgical instruments neatly and evenly spaced on top of it. Her heart raced as she looked around for something that would give her even the slightest clue as to where she was. The room was small, made of tough concrete and very dark. It felt muggy and damp and smelled similar to an old basement. She shouldn't be there. That isn't where she was only a few very short seconds ago.

Those few seconds ago she had been walking towards Alkali Lake. She remembered parking her truck, getting out, and taking a short hike through the woods. She remembered seeing the edge of the water in the distance, and she remembered she was getting closer to it.

She was there to take pictures of the lake. It had been only two days since the dam collapsed and she knew that the new flowing water surrounded by trees and mountains would be a great scene. This was her only day to do it and she couldn't have been more excited. She remembered the smell of the water, the sound of the wind blowing through the trees, and the cold of the air and snow, but she didn't remember how she got in that damn room.

She felt the weight of her camera against her hip. She placed her hand on it; it was something familiar. She closed her eyes and attempted to calm herself down. A split second later a cold breeze made them snap open. She now found herself back outside.

Her heart race increased; her head seemed to be filled with lead as she tried to think. Her thoughts were racing as fast as her heart and she couldn't even manage to form a coherent thought. She was shaking now, and not because of the cold. She figured she needed to get as far away from the woods as possible; for some reason that just seemed like the most logical thing to do.

She took shaky steps that quickly turned into a brisk walk and eventually a jog. She reached the water's edge and looked around. To her left was another part of the woods and to her right was a small cliff. She walked over to the cliff and stood on top of it. She managed to calm herself down by taking a few pictures.

After a while of picture taking her eye began to become strained from looking through the view finder. The icy air wasn't helping the matter either. She placed the camera down at her side again then closed her eyes tight and rubbed them with the palm of her hand a little bit. She opened them again when she felt the air become significantly warmer.

She wasn't back in the same room as before, however, this time she was standing on a platform that extended from a wall to about halfway through the room. The room was circular and she noticed the walls were missing a significant amount of panels. There was no exit to the room and panic kicked in full force.

'I was just outside!' she thought in her panicked state. 'How the fuck did I get in a room with no door!'

She looked down from the platform and saw no visible bottom. Her fear of heights plus her slight claustrophobia made her panic even more. Tears formed in her eyes as she ran carefully towards the wall the platform was jutting out from. There was a door there, but it was thick steal and didn't seem like dynamite could even open it.

She sat down and, for what seemed like the hundredth time, tried to calm herself again. She needed to figure out how to get out of this place, whatever and wherever it was. She took out her camera and crawled over to the edge of the platform. Her flash was bright and she thought that maybe the platform wasn't really that high up after all and that with just some light she'd be able to see the bottom and hopefully a way out. She picked up the camera in her shaking hands and turned the flash on the camera. Without looking through the view finder she snapped a picture into the darkness.

Her idea failed. Even with the extra light there was still nothing to be seen. She crawled back over to the wall and sat against it.

'So this is how I'm going to die. In a room I have no idea how to get out of, in a place I have no idea how I got to, and located in a place I don't remember getting to.' She thought.

She snapped a picture of herself before putting the camera back down. 'Now, if someone ever finds this next to my dead….' The word 'dead' scared her and she didn't finish the thought. Instead she flipped the camera in to View Mode and examined the picture of herself she just took.

Her mid-back length red hair was windswept and messy; it was still damp in some places from where the wind kicked snow up on to it. Her bright green eyes were surrounded by a light red color from all her crying. Her skin was paler than usual, but she didn't know whether that could be blamed on her fright or not. Her cheeks were still rose-colored from the cold.

'At least that's a decent last picture….' she thought as she switched off the camera and placed it down at her side.

She closed her eyes and tried to just sleep. She figured sleeping would be better than panicking.

Again when she opened her eyes she was in another location. She was now sitting on the cliff where she was taking pictures.

She looked around, smelt the air, and felt the snow. It all seemed real, but she wasn't sure anymore. She picked up her camera and flipped it into View Mode. She went through all the pictures she took that day. Pictures of the sunrise over the mountains from her hotel room, pictures of the wolf that was outside the hotel, pictures of the owl in one of the trees on the side of the road, pictures from the trail she walked down, and finally a few pictures of the lake. Nowhere was there a picture of the darkness, or a picture of her in a room with no doors.

"What the fuck is going on?" she screamed out at the lake. "What is going on with my head?"

By the end of the sentence she was back in that inescapable room. She slumped back down against the wall and cried.

'There's something wrong with my head. My ability must be malfunctioning. That's it. This is all in my head and its projecting back on me. I just have to stop thinking about this. Then it will go away. Yeah, just stop thinking about it.' She thought.

She shut her eyes and thought about other things; things that made her feel safe and happy. She thought in images, and remembered the smells, the feel, and the sounds. Normally she could project an image into another's head. She couldn't make them feel, smell, or hear anything, but she could make them see the image as if it was one of their memories. She could either project her own memories or she could project just random scenes and images that she created. Never before could she make a person actually experience anything. This must be her power malfunctioning. There was no other explanation.

She opened her eyes. Nothing was working. She was going crazy. That was the only explanation she could find. Her powers were driving her insane and she was going to die in this place that may not even really exist. She was giving up now. Her head hurt and she was tired. She slumped against the wall and cried.

"Why are you crying?" a young voice broke the silence.

Her eyes snapped open. In front of her at the end of the platform was a little girl. The girl seemed to be no more than 10, had shoulder-length brown hair, and was wearing a long white nightgown. Tori was un-nerved by the fact that the girls face was hidden in shadow.

'I'm not doing this…this isn't me. It can't be.' She whispered out loud.

"Not doing what?" the little girl asked.

The girls question went unanswered.

"Who are you?" the little girl asked.

"I'm not so sure right now." Was the answer that the girl received.

"Well, who are you other times?" the little girl asked.

"Other times my name is Tori Cerra." Saying her name out loud to a girl who came out of nowhere sounded strange.

"Hello, Tori." The little girl smiled.

"What's your name?" Tori asked.

"I'll tell you on one condition." The little girl said.

"What's that?" Tori asked.

"You save me." The girl stated.

"Save you?" Tori asked.

"I'm stuck in here. You have to get me out." The little girl said.

Tori laughed out loud. It was a cruel, humor-depleted, laugh.

"Save you because you're stuck in here? News flash: I'm stuck here too." She snapped at the little girl.

"No you're not." The girl answered. She didn't seem bothered at the sudden harsh treatment at all. "You're here because of me. You're still outside and just so you know, your pants are getting soaked from the snow." The girl smirked.

Tori suddenly became aware of the cold wetness on the back of her pant legs and felt embarrassed. Observing her pants she saw the dark spots that were getting soaked and she felt the snow around her even though she was still in that enclosed room.

"So, let me get this straight. I'm outside; I only think I'm here?" Tori asked.

"Yes." The girl smiled.

"You're stuck in here, and you need me to save you, which is why you're showing this to me in the first place?" Was the next question.

"Yes." The girl smiled.

"Alright, where is here?" Tori asked.

"We're under the lake in the dam." The girl told her.

"We can't be. It was destroyed." Tori informed her.

"Not all of it. This room's pretty messed up, but it's not full of water." The girl said. "Otherwise I wouldn't be here."

"How do I get in here?" Tori asked.

"I don't know." The girl said.

"How do I get into this building?" Tori asked.

"I don't know." The girl said.

"Then how am I supposed to save you?" Tori asked.

The girl frowned. "I don't know."

The girl began to panic; Tori could see it in her face. Tori knew what the girl was thinking. She knew the girl was afraid she wouldn't receive any help if the task seemed impossible and if she had no clue where to even start. Tori knew because that's how she felt.

"Please! You have to help! My dad's going to be so mad! He's probably hurt somewhere...Oh! This is all my fault! Please help me! I have to fix this! I have to finish what he told me to do!" The girl cried.

Tori felt bad for even thinking about not helping now. This was just an innocent little girl who was stuck, and whose father had probably died when the dam burst.

Tori sighed. "Alright, I'll help. You just have to be patient. I have to figure out how to get here."

The girl stopped crying. "Oh thank you!"

"What's your name anyway?" Tori asked.

She never got a reply, for by the end of her question she was back on the cliff sitting in the snow.