Prologue:

Sleet came from a dark sky, and I wrapped my cloak tighter around me. Dark hair fell in my eyes, but I ignored it.

"Ari, you have to," Dusk said. "Hurry, hurry!" I gritted my teeth, and forced myself to let my molecules shed from my arm. I slid my hand through the door, and unlocked it. Then I pulled my hand back and opened the door. Dusk and I slid into the little building just in time to miss the soldiers running past us in the cobbled street of 18th century England.

"Ari, you did it," she breathed. "Thank the gods."

"I still don't see why you couldn't have teleported us out of here," I grumbled.

"I told you," she said crossly. "You need to learn to use your ability."

"I already have one, Dusk. Why do I need to harness my second one?" I retorted.

"Oh, I'm Arianna'" she mocked. "I can regenerate and never die! I am so amazing, I don't need anything else!"

"Oh, shut up!" I growled. The sound of the soldiers feet reversed, and I crouched lower as they ran by again. I took a deep breath as one came close to the door of the cottage. I could hear him pause, then he broke down the door. Dusk and I screamed.

"I found them!" he called, lowering his gun so the barrel lined up perfectly between my eyes. Dusk reached out, grabbed my hand, and the world snapped into pure white light as we traveled forwards in time 25 years and thousands of miles to present day NYC.

Chapter 1:

As my vision returned, I began to look around. Dusk was out cold in the middle of an alley, her skirts all around her. I frowned at her a moment, then turned to look around.

It was most queer, the buildings here were not thatch and mud but rather made of rectangular stones, and metal. And it must have been a very rich neighbourhood, because everyone could afford glass windows. The road I was standing on wasn't cobbled, but rather one large slab of stone, seemingly made up of millions of itty bitty stones glued together. I walked down the road to an open street made of the same little stones. Huge metal contraptions with big lights and people inside roared down the street.

I screamed and raced back into the alley. "Demons!" I yelped. I shook Dusk awake. "Demons roam the streets! They... they're metal! And they EAT PEOPLE! Horseless carriages... no drivers! Dusk, where did you take us?"

"Uh... what, Ari?" she asked stupidly.

"Demons!" I repeated.

"Eh, you, stop yelling you little twits," a voice came from behind me. I jumped and spun to face another large metal thing, only this one didn't move. It was a big green metal cube with black plastic sheets on top of it. And it smelled foul. One of the plastic sheets lifted and an old man looked at me. His beard was grizzled and he had on a queer hat made of yarn, and a most curious jacket.

"What on god's green earth are you WEARING?" he asked, at the same time that I said:

"What in the gods name are you wearing?"

"Bah! You must be one of those girls from the theatre," he grumbled. "All up in your 18th century get."

"Um... sir, would you kindly mind telling me what year it is?" I asked.

"You don't know?" he stared at me, baffled. "It's 2011, dearie. Where have YOU been?"

"Apparently 250 years in the past," I cursed under my breath. "Where are we?"

"New York city," he responded, staring at me guardedly. "Did you hit your head?"

"No, no," I said. I turned quickly to Dusk. "You have to get us out of here."

"Very well," she said. She squinted her eyes closed and put her hand on my arm. After a moment she opened an eye, then the other. "It's not working," she said.

"What kind of a face was THAT?" the old man asked. "You looked constipated." he informed us.

"Ari, it's not working," she said, ignoring the man completely. She began to panic. "It's not working!"

"Maybe... Maybe you're just all tired out. we'll get a good night's sleep and try again in the morning, alright?"

"It's 8:50 in the morning, you twits," the old man said. "You ain't gonna be gettin' a good night's sleep fo' a few 'ours."

Dusk and I exchanged a glance. I'm fairly certain we were both thinking the same thing, in terms of a word I was soon to learn in New York City:

Oh, s***.