Chapter 11

Phineas tripped after Ferb as they both sprinted into the city. No one turned their heads at their oddly hurried run, and the many Danville citizens just kept walking straight ahead, unwaveringly.

Ferb turned the corner on a block, recalling exactly where he had seen the tall skyscraper of the travel agency. He came skidding to a stop in front of the several glass doors, and Phineas attempted not to stumble as he fell down behind him.

Sticking his forehead on the glass, Ferb cupped his hands around his eyes to get rid of the glare. He searched back and forth through the dark room, which had remained lightless and uninhabited, until he found the familiar wall in the corner.

"No…" Ferb mouthed as he slowly backed up. "It-it's gone… It was right here, I saw it…"

By now, Phineas had recovered himself from falling on the sidewalk. He came up beside Ferb and mimicked the action of looking through the doors. "Where was it?"

Still standing a few paces back, Ferb lifted a finger and pointed to the blank space where he had previously seen a lively and inviting poster. Now it was nothing but flat, beige drywall.

"Maybe it fell down?" Phineas suggested. Ferb shook his head with doubt, but nevertheless forced himself to step forward and grab onto the golden vertical bar, pulling the glass door open. They both started to walk inside, leaving the ambient sounds of the street, and entered into the quiet and empty lobby of the building.

Ferb weaved his way between the wooden desks, and his heart sunk when he noticed that, now, the pens had been clearly organized differently. Stacks of technical documents were tossed on the desks' corners in place of the previous brightly-colored travel brochures, as if the pamphlets had never existed.

Already able to see the blank wall from his place across the room, Ferb didn't bother to walk over. He could see Phineas investigating it, and there was no fallen poster folded on the carpet below.

"It was a travel agency, I swear it was…" Ferb was mumbling as he pushed his way back over to the glass doors. "This was definitely the right place…"

Then Ferb caught sight of the lettering on the door. He reached up his hand carefully in front of him and lightly ran the tips of his fingers over the white engraving. Though it was printed backwards from the outside, Ferb could still read it with no trouble.

Raund & Raund Law Offices

"LAW offices…!" Ferb shouted, still attempting to hold in his disappointment. He shoved his fist onto the glass as he let his head fall down dejectedly. "I wanted to travel out of this place, I don't need LAW offices."

Ferb went over and slumped on the floor at the foot of a cushioned couch, not bothering to crawl up on it. He stared outside to the streets, which had lost the brightness of daylight in favor of a grey tone coming from the clouds. Ferb just sat there for a good twenty minutes.

Eventually, after he had calmed his frustration for a moment, Ferb turned to Phineas, who was still standing looking bored near Ferb's seat, and mentioned sadly, "…We can't find the exit if we don't even have a place to start looking."

Dropping down to the floor in front of him, Phineas crossed his legs so he could better listen to Ferb. He leaned forward a bit, as Ferb continued muttering.

"If we have to check every door of every basement of every building in all of Danville… I don't know if I'll ever get out of here."

"Sure you will," Phineas assured him, pulling his feet around himself in a different position.

But Ferb didn't pay much attention to Phineas' consoling words. Instead, he stared distantly into a random corner and whispered with a hint of craving in his voice.

"Phineas… I'm lonely."

With a little turn of his head, Phineas answered, "I'm here, Ferb."

"I know… but it's not the same," he said while only tossing glances distractedly. "You're really fun to hang around, and you're just like him to the tee…"

Then Ferb breathed hard and loudly, tucking his knees close to himself. "…But at the end of the day, all you are is a hallucination."

Phineas made no sign of intending to answer, and just stayed silent with a little prompting look on his face, forcing Ferb to continue.

"A really nice and helpful hallucination, I'll give you that," he said, trying to smile. It never came through. "But when I close my eyes and think things over… I know I truly am all alone in here."

"You'll get out of here in no time," Phineas replied, keeping his optimism. Then he slid closer to the couch, and bent over to grasp both arms around the top of Ferb's. He snuggled close and rested his head on his brother's shoulder, just as he closed his eyes to begin to nod off.

When Ferb felt the warm grasp of Phineas' arms around his, he could not suppress the little warm grin that crept over his face. He looked downwards to him and gave him a caring look, though Phineas had already shut his eyes.

"Phin…" Ferb whispered, moving his head to face forward as he directed his words into the still, lightless air ahead of him. "If you're out there somewhere, I miss you, too."