Chapter 4: The Treehouse Party Car

"I'm not sure about this Meg."

"Don't worry so much Emily," I said reassuring her, "I mean you did say Bill was gonna be out for a while right?"

"Yeah, but…"

"Then don't worry, I'll be home way before he gets back."

"...O- Okay, I guess a little time over wouldn't hurt."

It was a Sunday evening and Emily and I were talking in her living room. We wanted to hang out at my house but Emily wasn't allowed to go anywhere when Bill was gone, so I had the idea of me coming over instead. Emily was very hesitant at first, but I managed to convince her. Though she was right to worry.

We were around ten years old at the time, so we were more prone to having really stupid ideas. More often me than her but that's beside the point. Point is, coming over that day was a seriously stupid idea.

Seeing as Emily only had an old DS in the way of consoles, I decided to bring over my switch. We both took a joycon each and played games such as Smash, Animal Crossing, Mario Kart, and even Breath of the Wild. When we played that one we took turns at first until we ended up controlling half of Link each. Emily controlled movement, aiming, and weapon selection with the left joycon, and I controlled attacking, jumping, and the camera with the right. We died a lot when we played like that. Didn't make it any less fun though.

We played for hours laughing and just enjoying ourselves. Unfortunately we were having so much fun that we lost track of the time. It was now ten at night and someone was unlocking the front door. We didn't even notice as a figure entered the house and closed the door behind him. We were lining up a shot in a shrine when a voice from behind us gave us both chills.

"Emily Rose," the voice said.

We turned around and saw a man with lightish dark skin, a black goatee and shaved head wearing a brown coat, and ripped jeans. It was Emily's uncle, Bill Rose. There was a flush on his face and he was carrying a brown bottle. He had just got back from hanging out with his friends at the bar.

And he was pissed.

"How many times have I told you, you're not allowed to have anyone over while I'm gone?" He asked sternly.

"I, uh… I…" she was struggling to say.

I didn't like seeing Emily in trouble so I quickly spoke up.

"Mr. Rose, please don't be mad at Emily," I said, "It was my idea to-"

Suddenly Bill swung his empty hand, now a fist against the wall behind him causing a loud bang to be heard throughout the room and making me and Emily jump from shock.

"I wasn't talking to you!" he shouted.

The living room was dead silent and Emily and I just stared at Bill in fear. Bill was getting impatient so he turned to me in a more calm manner.

"Megan, you know the way home right?"

I nodded quickly.

"Good, then get going."

I looked over at Emily and stood there for a moment . She looked back with a face of sorrow, pleading for help. She knew what was coming and she wasn't looking forward to it.

"Now!" Bill yelled, making me jump to my feet.

With that motivator I quickly grabbed my switch and made my way to the door. After Bill closed it behind me, I started to hear him and Emily talking. I placed an ear to the door trying to hear the conversation, their voices were muffled and I could only really hear Bill clear enough.

"I told you, no one over, and what do you do? You bring someone over!"

It sounded like Emily was trying to apologize but was quickly cut off.

"I don't wanna hear it. I mean Christ, you can't just spend one day without having to hang around that little twerp?"

Whatever Emily said next, it just angered Bill more. I was startled when I heard a loud smack from inside which was preceded by a light thud.

"Don't you dare talk back to me!"

I heard Emily crying softly to herself before Bill continued to shout.

"Quit your goddamn crying already! Get up and go to your room!"

With that I heard Emily scurry from the living room toward the back of the house. I wanted to see if she was okay, but I was terrified of Bill. I stood in front of their front door feeling a mixture of worry and fear debating what to do. But eventually my fear won out and I crossed the street and went home.

That was a memory I really don't like looking back on.

The car I was in was a gigantic roller coaster twisting and turning all throughout a large area in the clouds. Just after riding it, there is a rest stop area on a floating island with a few dozen porta potties for people who needed to use the bathroom, or to throw up their breakfast. Hazel was unfortunately one of the latter, so I was waiting for her near the car's exit.

I was sitting on a red metal bench looking down at Emily's cube remembering that night. Everytime Emily was ever sad, hurt, or just in trouble, my mind would always wander back to that memory. Maybe because that whole situation was my fault. I felt so guilty after that night, not just because I was the one who pressured her into it, but also because Emily didn't even blame me for it. She said it was her fault for not noticing the time and just forgave me on the spot. What made the guilt worse, was the fact Emily had a bruise on her left cheek the morning after.

Emily never blames me for anything, even if it is seriously my fault. She either just forgives me immediately or takes the blame for herself. I'm not sure if it's because she's incredibly caring, or that she's just used to her uncle's abusive parenting. Maybe both.

Mom and Dad tried getting child services on him, but there wasn't any hard evidence, and Emily wouldn't even acknowledge his abuse so they couldn't do anything. Emily was just too afraid to say anything.

"Emily…" I said saddened as I gently rubbed the metal cube with my thumb.

After that box car, Hazel told me about the group those three passengers were from. A group of passengers with high numbers who believe the train is a toy that belongs to them. Knowing that this "Apex" has something to do with Emily, only made me worry beyond belief. I have no idea what they could be doing to her, or even if they still have her, but I knew I'd have to find them to know for sure.

No matter what though, I had to stay strong. For Emily's sake.

Just then one of the porta potties to the right of me opened up. I quickly put Emily's cube in my bag as Hazel walked out of the blue box looking far less sickly than before she went in.

"Feeling better?" I asked as she approached me.

"Much better," she said happily, "I knew I shouldn't have had so many sweets in that chocolate car. Oh well, you live and learn. Anyway ready to go?"

When she looked at me she noticed something was off.

"Hey, are you alright?" she asked.

I hadn't realized, but I was starting to tear up. I guess I wasn't hiding it that well. I quickly wiped my sleeve over my eyes before looking back at Hazel with a fake smile.

"Yeah I'm alright, let's go."

I walked over to the exit and opened it up, Hazel followed me on the bridge not convinced.

"If… If it's about Emily, don't worry. I'm sure she'll be okay, and we'll find her before anyth-"

"I said I'm alright," I interrupted, "So we don't need to talk about it."

"Meg…" she said worried.

"I'm fine, really," I said trying to reassure her, "Let's just check out the next car."

As I approached the next door, I stopped when I heard something from inside. There was loud music blaring just behind the door.

"Music?"

When I opened the door I was greeted by the biggest, and first, party I've ever seen. The car was a large forest with giant trees as far as the eye can see, with round wooden platforms connecting to each of them high above a fog hidden ground. The entrance sat on the very edge of one of them.

On each platform was a dance floor lighting up different colors leading to a bar wrapped around the trunks of the trees, and there were big mirrors here and there reflecting colored beams of light all around and disco balls hanging on every other branch. The trees had around a hundred multicolored four foot tall koala bears on each of them, and it'd probably be in the thousands for the whole car. Hazel and I just looked out onto the sea of dancing bears as the music started to die down.

"Huh," I said, "Some kind of koala party car. That's cool I guess, but what would the puzzle be?"

"Maybe a dance battle or something?" Hazel said putting a hand to her chin.

"Oh I hope not, I suck at dancing." I looked over at two bears dancing a little away from the main crowd. One with brown fur and one with blue. "Let's go find out what it is."

We walked over and I tapped the blue one's shoulder gaining his attention.

"What's up?" he asked.

"Hi." I said with a wave, "Sorry to interrupt, but what's the puzzle for this car?"

"No puzzle here ladies, just dancing and partying, right fellas?" Just then every single koala in the entire car let out a "Woo!" in unison.

"Uh… alright, in that case do you know wh-"

Suddenly a different track of music played and cut me off. I tried to ask again but the music was so loud that I could barely hear myself speak.

"Do you know where the exit is?"

"Oh thanks, I love dancing." he said, mishearing me.

"No." I said a bit louder, "Do. You know. Where. The exit. Is?"

There was a slight pause, then the blue koala turned to his friend.

"I think she wants to know where the bathroom is."

"It's over there." said the brown one pointing to a tree far in the distance with a big toilet shaped sign on it.

I facepalmed as Hazel put a hand on my shoulder.

"I think we're on our own for this one Meg." she said, trying to talk over the music, "Let's split up and look for the exit."

"Wait, can't you just use your tablet to find It? That's how you found it in Lincoln's car."

"Oh, right." Hazel started to rub the back of her head, "About that, I sorta… lied. My tablet can't actually find the exit doors."

I just stared at her blankly.

"But don't worry, we should be able to find it ourselves. Here, take this."

Hazel opened her bag and handed me a little radar.

"This radar is programmed to locate my belt. If you find the exit first, use it to come find me."

"And what if you find the exit before I do?"

"Don't worry," she said, "I should be able to find you easy enough."

With that she walked down a rope bridge to another tree. I wasn't sure how she'd be able to find me. This place was huge and I don't have a cool radar like she does, but I just shrugged it off and went in the opposite direction.

Aside from a few layout choices most of the trees were relatively the same, but some of the trees had specific purposes like the bathroom tree. A few I saw were used as an inn, a hospital, and even a little jail. All of which still having a dance floor, bar, and dancing koalas around them. Though after about an hour of searching, there was no sign of the exit and I was getting tired of looking. Maneuvering through hundreds of party goers while having to listen to exclusively three tracks of music over and over again, had got me feeling very impatient.

I looked over at the bar on my current tree and decided I'd take a break.

"Excuse me, pardon me." I said as I passed the koalas along my path.

The bar itself was made of dark brown wood and stretched all around the stem of the tree making it available from all sides with four bartending koalas spread out behind it. When I got to the bar I hopped up on an empty wooden stool, gaining the attention of the eastern most bartender.

"Hello," he said. "What can I get for ya?"

Behind him there were shelves attached to the bark with loads of bottles.

"Nothing for me. I'm just sitting for a minute."

"Gotcha, let me know if you change your mind." he said before attending someone else.

With a moment to myself, I looked towards the rest of the car behind me to see all the very similar trees that lay ahead of me. Being unable to distinguish them, like at all, I turned back towards the bar and let out a sigh. I leaned on it with my arms as my mind wandered.

'Why do some of these cars have to be so big?' I thought, 'At this rate I'll never find the way out.'

I shook my head.

'No no, I will find the way out. I'll find the exit, then I'll be one step closer to Emily.'

Upon thinking of her, I felt a pit in my stomach.

'Emily… I wish I knew if you were alright. I feel so useless right now, those Apex jerks could be doing who knows what to her and I'm just sitting here being… well, useless!'

"Hey, what's with the long face kid?" said a voice to my right.

I turned to see a man wearing a ragged black coat, jeans, and boots sitting a few stools away from me. This man had long greying brown hair, a beard, bronze colored eyes, and a green number going up into his sleeve. He was looking at me with some red on his face.

"Yeah you," he said, "What's with the long face?"

Without even realizing it I had been frowning to myself.

"Oh, It's nothing. Hey do you know where the exi-"

"I'm gonna stop you right there kid," he interrupted, "You need to loosen up and enjoy yourself. I mean it's a never ending party here." Judging from the slur in his voice and the glass of golden liquid he was drinking from, I could tell he wouldn't be much help.

"Uh thanks, Mr…?"

"The name's Harry, no Mr here."

"...Harry," I continued, "But I should go now."

"Oh come on kid, relax a little."

"No thanks, I've spent enough time sitting here anyway."

"What's got you in such a hurry? It's not like a little fun will kill ya."

"I said no."

A little over an hour later of searching and the exit was still nowhere in sight. After splitting up with Meg the only thing I've found so far were more party trees, and thousands of party koalas on them. Honestly as I walked through the unending hoards of partiers, I started to get worried. Not that I wouldn't find the exit or something, worried about Meg.

'Maybe splitting up wasn't such a good idea after all.' I thought.

This car just didn't seem like the best place for Meg right now. She was clearly upset and I doubted this car would help her, at least in a good way.

Just then a green koala bumped into me while dancing and then fell to the ground. He stared up at me with a big smile and reddened cheeks.

"Ha ha, tall." He said completely out of it.

'I need to find that exit already.'

Luckily I didn't have to look much longer, because on the next platform over I spotted the red and gold door I'd been looking for.

"There you are." I said with a sigh of relief.

With the hard part out of the way I pulled my tablet out of my bag and turned it on. On the screen was the same progress bar with an X on it. It was further along than before, but it still failed again. I was seriously getting annoyed over how long it was taking to analyze, but I just ignored it for now and went to the anomaly scanner, and switched it to radar mode. Now on the screen was a green grid with an arrow pointing up in the center and a blip to the right.

I smiled a bit. I wasn't sure what made Meg so different, but I was glad it was different enough to show up on my tablet. Admittedly though, I am worried about it. I mean a blue number, I've never heard of anything like that before, that's why I'm trying to figure it out.

But one thing at a time, I then went to follow the radar and some time later. I found Meg, and she was angry.

"Will you just leave me alone!?" she yelled.

"C'mon join in the party already," a drunken man said back, "Hell have a drink or something."

"I'm fifteen, I'm not even old enough to drink!"

"Neither was I when I started."

This was exactly the kind of thing I was worried about. I quickly approached the two who were in a clearing around the koalas. A few of the denizens were even watching as they partied.

"What's going on here?" I asked.

"Oh sweet, another party… uh… person." the man said.

"Hazel, thank god. This guy won't leave me alone."

"Because you are clearly depressed or something."

"Shut up and go away already!" she yelled, gaining the attention of more koalas.

"Okay now," I said putting a hand on Meg's shoulder, "I think it's time to leave."

"Tell that to this asswh-"

"No no, we're leaving. Let me handle this okay?" I said to Meg before I turned to the man with a level head, "Sir, we are going now, we have to keep moving."

The man let out an annoyed sigh.

"Whatever, but it's your loss." he said as he turned around and walked towards a bar.

"There," I said, "C'mon I found the exit, let's go."

"That guy was so annoying." Meg said.

As Meg and I began walking away, the passenger said something to himself under his breath.

"Frickin party poopers."

In that moment the music suddenly shut off, and all partying in the car had halted. Every single koala in the entire car, even ones on different platforms, just started staring at us.

"What… what did he just call you two?" a red koala asked.

There were murmurs throughout the crowds mostly revolving around the words, party pooper. As we were getting death stares from all around, I turned to Meg getting ready to run.

"Meg, we should-" just as I turned a few koalas began to charge us, and a few had tackled Meg to the ground. "Meg!"

I hurried over and tried to get them off her, but I was soon grabbed by three of them myself. I was about to change my form, but before I could I felt a glass bottle breaking over the back of my head. I fell to my knees feeling woozy. The last thing I saw was a yellow koala blocking my view as he jumped on me.

These cars so far are so different, nothing like the jungle one me and Tuba were in at all. A fancy dancing car, a living snow car, and now a color clock car.

Me and Grace were walking on a big thing of yellow shapes trying to get to the top, but somethings been bugging me since we got here. As Grace climbed up to a higher part, I noticed Roy the clock denizen doing a cartwheel on a yellow block behind me.

"Why don't you like Roy?" I asked Grace as she helped me up.

"Well, because Roy's a null."

"What does that mean?"

"Null, it means nothing, not even a zero." Grace said before climbing to the next part and holding a hand to me.

I was about to take it but then I looked at Roy again.

"Is it different then a denizen?"

"Uh, null, denizen, same thing."

"What's wrong with nulls?"

"You can't trust them," she said with a more serious look, "You never know what they'll do."

"But… have you ever gotten to know one?"

"Hazel, in all my time here I've never met a null that actually wanted to help us. All they do is distract us from what's important, and run at the first sign of trouble."

Is that why Simon doesn't like Tuba? Does Grace not like her too?

"But, Tuba is good."

Grace looked down at me for a moment before letting out a sigh.

"I'm sorry Hazel, I'm sure she is, but it's just hard for us to trust them."

That made me a bit sad, but I stayed hopeful.

"Well don't worry, I'm sure really soon you, Simon, and Tuba are gonna be the bestest of friends ever!"

Grace smiled at me before helping me up to the top.

"That sounds nice." she said as she sat at the start of a yellow slide, "Now how bout some fun?"

I sat in front of her and we slid together, laughing the whole way down.

I felt my head resting on a cool pillow as I woke up in an uncomfortable feeling bed. I was feeling a bit groggy so I just layed there thinking of the vision I just had.

It was honestly one of the more different ones I've had so far. Unlike the previous ones, I saw this one through the perspective of a young Hazel. To be honest I had a feeling that little girl was Hazel for a while now but I still found it interesting to know for sure. But man, Hazel was adorable as a kid.

The lady she was with, after seeing the armor and the wavy line on her face again, I knew this time that she and that blonde passenger were members of the Apex. Back in that box car, Hazel mentioned someone named Grace that belonged to their group. It wasn't hard to put two and two together and see that the lady was her.

It only made we wonder, why would Hazel be hanging out with such awful people? People who see denizens as nothing but things made by the train. Actually, I was more wondering if Hazel knew more about the Apex than what she was leading on. She doesn't seem like the kind of person to lie, but I knew there were things she wasn't telling me.

"Have a good rest?" asked a voice to the side of me.

I looked over and saw Hazel sitting on a metal frame white bed with a single pillow and no blankets, when I looked over I quickly noticed the metal bars right behind her. Just then I realised where we were.

We were in a jail cell with two beds, a toilet, and a sink. The cell itself was in a round room made of wood along with a few mirrors and boxes in the corner past the bars and a brown door with muffled music coming from the other side. This entire room looked like it was carved out of the base of one of the party trees.

"Seriously!?" I asked annoyed, "They locked us in jail? We didn't even do anything!"

"Yeah well, apparently the worst crime imaginable in this place is being accused of being party poopers." Hazel said with air quotes, "Honestly I did not think those little guys would be so hostile."

"Well that's just great." I said sarcastically, "It's all that old guy's fault, if he just left me alone we'd be in the next car now."

"I don't know, I mean you didn't really help the situation back there. You could've ignored him y'know."

"Are you trying to say it's my fault? It was him that-"

"I didn't say it's your fault Meg, I'm just saying that getting angry at a random drunk isn't gonna help you find Emily any sooner."

"W- well yeah, but…"

"That guy should've left well enough alone, but you didn't need to lose your cool either. I know you're hurting Meg, but lashing out at people you don't like won't help anyone. Trust me, I know."

"Well I… No… no, you're right Hazel." That wasn't easy to admit, but I guess when you're in the wrong it never is. I lowered my head and started to look down at the floor. "I'm sorry."

"It's alright Meg." Hazel put a hand behind her head. "Look, I know this whole situation with Emily is rough for you, but if you wanted to talk about it…?"

She fell silent. I knew what she was trying to say, but did I really want to tell her how I felt? That I blamed myself for letting this even happen in the first place? That if I were a better friend then she wouldn't need this stupid train at all? That I was the only person she had, and I felt like I failed her?

It was quiet for a moment. I let out a long sigh, before I lifted my head back up with a smile.

"Thanks Hazel, but I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" She wasn't quite convinced.

"Yeah, I'm sure. Besides I'd rather get outta this car first."

Hazel looked at me for a moment, before she sighed herself.

"Alright then, first things first I guess."

I looked at her with a more genuine smile, then moved my attention to our cell.

"So, how are we getting out of here anyway?" I asked.

"Well, I might have something in my bag that could help. Give me a sec." Hazel said as she started to rifle through her satchel.

I got up from the bed and walked over to the cell door to examine it. I lifted my hand up and tapped on the bars with a knuckle.

"Just as I thought, metal." I said quietly to myself.

As I pulled my hand back, I noticed my number had gone down a little. It was now 230, it went down by nine. I decided to ignore it for the time being and went back to examining the cell.

I placed both hands on the cell door and tried to shake it a bit. Unfortunately it was locked, obviously. I still couldn't help but try. I actually noticed that these bars were covered in dust and were in near perfect condition. The cell looked completely unused. I guess it made sense with how much these koalas party though, I bet we were the only passengers to earn party pooper status. Despite knowing this, it didn't really help our situation. I was about to turn to Hazel before I noticed my hand again. On one of the bars I was holding, I could see the blue glow under it start to change.

"Oh no." I said.

I felt a pit in my stomach as I turned my hand around, and when I saw my palm it only got worse. My number looked all glitchy and started to flicker, and after my hand was off it, so did the cell door. I took a step back as I watched the glitching spread to the entirety of the door.

"Oh god no, not again!"

"What's wrong Meg… what the...?" Hazel asked looking over.

Soon the door began to shake wildly, and started to clip into the bars until it was suddenly flipped on the complete opposite of its hinges. The glitching began to settle and the cell door was now embedded into the bars next to the now open doorway. I stared at the bars in shock for a moment, before my gaze shifted to my number.

The number looked almost unstable during the whole thing, but it quickly returned to normal afterwards. As I looked at the blue number I couldn't help but be worried. I thought that the glitching stopped after that car with the orb, but I guess it hadn't.

"Meg?" Hazel said. "What in the heck was that?"

I turned to her with a troubled look.

"It… it's my number." I said showing her my palm, "Ever since I got here, it's been glitching out and messing with stuff on the train. I don't even know why it's been happening."

Hazel grabbed my hand and observed my number more closely.

"Glitching…?" Hazel looked up at me, "Well... don't worry. I'm sure we can figure this out later. For now let's focus on leaving this car." she said with a reassuring look.

I was still worried, but I put on a brave face and gave Hazel a nod.

Hazel and I left the cell and slowly opened the wooden door leading out. On the other side we could see the hoard of dancing koalas just past a bar acting as if they hadn't just thrown two people in jail. Behind the bar was a bartender dressed as a prison guard with his back toward us. He started to turn, so before he could see us we quietly closed the door.

"Well, we aren't getting through there." I said, "Unless you got a thing that can make us invisible or something."

"Nope sorry, but there has to be another way." Hazel began to look around the room closer until she noticed something higher up. "Ah yes, that'll do perfectly!"

I looked toward Hazel's line of sight and saw it. About ten feet above the door there was a metal vent leading outside.

"How do we get up there?" I asked.

"I've got just the thing." Hazel said as she went to her bag. After a moment of looking, Hazel soon pulled out two metal things and slipped each of them on her hands. As she held up her palms I saw the metal claws on each of the metal hand braces.

"Ta da! I can use these to climb up to the branches and sneak above the party."

"Okay," I said, "So how will I get up there?"

"For now, you're staying here."

"What! Why?"

"Because you probably don't have as much experience with this kind of thing as I do, and I doubt the koalas won't notice the both of us up there."

I did not like that answer. I glared at her impatiently before she reassured me.

"Don't worry, once I figure out a way for us both, I'll come straight back."

I didn't like the thought of being stuck in this makeshift jail, but it was partly my fault we were there in the first place so I didn't have much room to argue. I let out a sigh.

"Okay okay, but please don't take too long."

"Trust me, I'll be back before you know it."

Hazel then turned to the wall behind her, and started to climb up using her climbing claws. After a moment Hazel had reached the vent and left after removing the panel.

Now, I know I've been trying to be more patient… well in general, but there was not much to do in that room and I am a teenager after all.

I found myself in the corner with all the mirrors and boxes, and I was going through them out of boredom. Most of the boxes contained bar supplies like glass cups and unopened bottles, but a few had electronics from wires to little circuit boards. I guess this room doubled as a jail and a storage room. Soon I got bored of that too and just started to stare at my reflection in a big circular mirror leaning against the side of a pile of more of them.

"Why didn't I just ignore him?" I asked myself. "We could've left by now if I had, but no… I had to prove something to the drunken passenger, and it was probably completely stupid whatever it was. Now I have to sit here waiting for Hazel. I almost want someone to walk in, just to kill the boredom."

Suddenly I heard something, the sound of a doorknob turning. I quickly turned around and saw the brown wooden door begin to open.

"Oh crap!" I whisper screamed to myself, "I didn't actually mean it train."

As the door opened more I took a step back, but I was then caught unbalanced when I stepped onto a bottle. I tried to rebalance myself but I ultimately started to fall backwards. I knew I was about to fall on the tilted mirror, so I instinctively closed my eyes in fear of the impending shards I'd make. But they never came.

I felt myself go through something. I'm not sure what, but I felt a chill as I did. Soon after I felt a wooden floor beneath me as I landed on my butt. I opened my eyes, but I was confused. I was still in the same carved room with the cell and I was facing the mirrors I thought I fell on.

"Wait, I swear I was facing the other-"

"What in the…!?" someone asked shocked.

I turned around and saw the guard bartender staring at the opened cell. The music had stopped again and the koala was looking around the room. I was one hundred percent sure he'd see me but as he glanced toward the supplies…

"Where the heck did they go?" He didn't even notice me.

I was confused. Was he blind or something? I was literally just a few feet away from him and he couldn't see me. I didn't want to risk him hearing me so I stayed as quiet as possible. After a few minutes of looking the koala gave up.

"Well, good riddance to ya. Don't need any party poopers here to bring down the fun."

The music suddenly picked up again as the bartender left the room with the door still wide open. I was relieved he didn't see me, but I had no clue why. I hoisted myself up to my feet and began questioning what happened.

"How did he not see me," I wondered aloud, "I mean I was right there. He must have the worst depth perception ever or…"

Just then I had a thought. I turned to the mirrors again. I thought of how odd my fall was, I mean I fell back on them but ended up facing towards them when I hit the ground. So what happened?

When I approached the mirrors I noticed something immediately. My reflection, I could barely see it.

"What the..." I asked confused, "Why is… Is my reflection broken or something?"

My reflection was transparent. It was like a reflection you could see in a window. I then started to feel a little pain in my head, and started to see someone. Mom's younger self stood next to me as she examined the mirror in front of us. She then placed a hand on it, and after putting pressure on the mirror her arm phazed through. I was confused, but then I remembered the chill I felt. As Mom disappeared I looked at my hand and then to the mirror. I placed it on the mirror mimicking how Mom did it, and soon my hand went through too. It was a little warmer on the other side.

"I… I can go through these mirrors?" I asked stunned, "How does that…?"

The more I thought about it the more I understood. How I fell down, that chill I felt, the guy not seeing me. I didn't go through the mirror persay, I was inside the mirror. That would explain why the bartender didn't see me.

"Wait, does that mean...?"

I quickly walked up to the open door and peeked my head out. Most of the koalas were still partying like normal on the dance floor with a few drinking at the bar. A few were looking in my direction but just like the barkeeper, they couldn't see me either.

A smile crept onto my face as I realized that I'd be completely invisible in this… plane of existence or whatever it was.

"Well Hazel, I guess I'll come to you first." I said as I pulled her radar out of my pocket, "Hope this thing still works in here."

I felt dread when the music stopped a while ago. I was afraid Meg got caught or something, but aside from the pause in the party nothing really happened. All of the koalas in the car stopped, but none of them moved, not even the ones on the tree Meg was at. They just went back to partying like nothing happened. Best case scenario, that had nothing to do with Meg; worst case, well… I figured I should just focus on finding a safe way for her. I was sitting on a branch high above the party on the tree with the exit, surveying the car.

The problem was I was having trouble finding a good way. There was no sure fire path to get Meg through these koalas, going through wasn't an option, we'd be seen going above, and there weren't enough branches to go below. The worst part was it seemed like all the denizens here were psychically linked, so there'd be no way we could escaped after being seen. At least not easily. Maybe a distraction could work, but the jail tree was too far away for us to get there in time. Honestly it wasn't looking great, but I wasn't giving up. I kept trying to think of a way until I heard something.

"Hazel?" A voice said.

I looked toward the source, only to see no one. It came from the branch just below me but all I could see down there was a round mirror attached to it. I thought it was impossible but I swear that voice sounded like-

"Hazel, over here!" the voice spoke again.

I looked closer and that's when I saw it. There was something in the mirror. Or rather, someone. In the mirror I could see Meg waving her arms towards me trying to get my attention. With how fast I climbed down the base of the tree toward her, I'd say she got it.

When I got to the mirror, I looked down and saw Meg standing next to my reflection.

"Meg!?" I exclaimed, "How in the… Why are you in the mirror?"

"No idea, but hey I found a way for us now." She said as she held a hand through the mirror, "C'mon, we'll be invisible in here."

She… was in the mirror world? How in the heck was she in the mirror world? I didn't get it, only reflections can be in the mirror world right? I mean I've heard mirror enforcement could pass in between worlds during emergencies, but they had special equipment. People from the prime world shouldn't be able to go in… right? When Amelia told me about the mirror world, I didn't really believe it till now. God I wish I paid more attention to her, cause I had no idea what was going on. I think she mentioned once that she knew a kid who used a mirror officer's glove to go in and out, but Meg had no such glove. So what the he-

"Uh, Hazel?" Meg asked.

"Wha? Oh right, sorry." I spaced out a bit trying to figure this out.

"Anyway c'mon." she offered again.

I ignored her hand for a moment and looked towards the exit door below. There was no mirror anywhere near and it was littered with koalas. Meg's plan wouldn't really work if there wasn't a mirror for her. I looked above and as luck would have it, there was a mirror tied to one of the lower branches near the exit.

"Even if I could go in, We'd still need a mirror by the exit to leave." I said.

"Huh, how so?"

"First, you won't be able to affect anything on my side in there, in other words you won't be able to open the door; and second, you can't leave unless you have another mirror, and there's none by the exit."

"Well, what do we do then?" Meg asked.

"Don't worry, I've got a plan."

I was now a few trees away, sitting on a branch with a rope tied firmly on it. I told Meg to wait by the exit while I caused a distraction. The tree I was at was the biggest one in the car, with the most koalas on it. This tree also happens to have the DJ setup controlling all the music in this place on it. The branch I was on had a metal frame with a row of lights bouncing off the mirrors strung about. This branch, was directly above the DJ setup.

The plan was simple, when I cut the rope all the koalas should be focused over here. Then I will make my way back to the tree with the exit and get that mirror to it, then we leave as the koalas are distracted. I'm sure there might've been a better way, but It was the best I could come up with on short notice. I looked down at the rope, getting ready to cut it.

Y'know, there was another reason I didn't want Meg to come with me up on the branches. I was still sure she might've been seen by the koala's but I would've been more worried about the second reason.

I looked at my gloved hand. I told Meg I could use those metal claws to climb, but those became pretty useless sometime after I first got them. They are pretty much just for show at this point, but I now have a better way to climb, or in this case, cut things.

I focused on my hand, and soon it started to change. My light brown skin started to become green-ish scales; and my fingernails turned into claws. I used to hate it, being able to change like this, but as I started to grow control over it, I started to see it as a part of me. Plus in cases like this I guess it pays to be a denizen sometimes. I let out a chuckle with that on my mind, but then raised my hand up.

Without a second thought I slashed at the rope.

"You've gotta be kidding me." I said annoyed with the koalas dancing around me.

When I actually stopped to see what tree the exit was on, I immediately became angry.

"The bathroom tree, are you serious!?" I practically yelled to the toilet sign hanging above, "are you telling me that bear was actually pointing to the exit when I first asked?"

I tried to calm down.

"Y'know what no, no, I am fine. There's no point getting angry over it…" Unfortunately that calm didn't last long. "Nope, there's no way I'll ever get over that, what a load of-"

Suddenly there was a loud crashing sound from the center of the car, making the music immediately stop as well as the party.

"Well, If that's not a signal, then I don't know what… uh…"

Just then I noticed the koalas near me. Their expressions went from party all day every day; to shocked horror; then finally, to complete murderous intent. Each koala now bore fully red eyes and a frown with sharpened fangs. I knew they couldn't see me, but I still felt incredibly nervous around them now.

Without a second to spare, every single koala got on all fours and charged to the source. I might not be able to affect stuff here, but things from the other side can sure affect me. As the koalas rushed by, a few would occasionally bump into me, one even made me fall over. After a moment though most of them were off to the connecting tree, leaving me free to wait by the exit.

I kept an eye on the branches above and soon enough I saw Hazel rushing toward the exit tree, aka the stupid bathroom tree. To be honest I think I'm always gonna be salty about that. Anyway as Hazel jumped from branch to branch, it looked like a few koalas had figured out what had happened. Because following a few yards behind her were hundreds of koalas climbing all over the branches. A few even fell off into the foggy nothingness below, but they didn't seem to care. They were completely hell bent on reaching Hazel.

After a moment Hazel had reached a branch with a mirror tied to it and quickly grabbed it before cutting it loose. Those mirrors were almost as big as me, so I was a bit surprised when Hazel hoisted it onto her back as she held onto it with the rope. She was a lot stronger than I thought she was. Even more surprising when the koalas were almost on her, Hazel straight up jumped off the branch with the mirror and slid down as she clawed into the base of the tree leaving five lines carved into it. At the time I assumed she used her metal claw thing to do it.

"Holy cow!" I exclaimed.

Unfortunately I didn't have the time to watch in amazement because the koalas followed behind her. Most of them were quickly climbing down but a few fell to the floor. When they hit the wooden platform they just looked woozy and passed out.

When Hazel reached the bottom she sprinted toward the exit. She grabbed the mirror on her back and threw it forward being careful to make it slide on the floor. The mirror made it to the exit first as it bumped into it with a loud crack. I quickly ran over in fear to check, but thankfully most of the damage was in the side, leaving plenty of room for me to get through. I quickly phased through like before and hurried to open the exit.

With the door open, I turned to Hazel who had a calm relieved look on her face when seeing me. I wish I could say the same about me because right behind her I could see a wave of koalas that had just reached the bottom and I was extremely worried.

"C'mon hurry!" I yelled.

The koalas seemed a little faster than Hazel, but luckily she got to the exit before they could catch up. As we rushed through the door, we quickly grabbed it and slammed it shut. The second it was closed, the door was met with a strong thud that almost threw Hazel and I back.

As we stared at the red door, a wave of fatigue rushed through my body. I fell to a sitting position as that fatigue turned into relief.

"That… that was intense." I said.

"You can say that again." Hazel said, after getting a quick breather.

"But Hazel, that was incredible." I said amazed, "How in the world did you do all that?"

"Well what can I say? I've had a lot of practice."

"Honestly that was awesome Hazel, if there weren't so many koalas I bet I wouldn't have needed those magic mirrors back there."

Hazel then bore a more worried look.

"Meg, that car only had normal mirrors in it. There's nothing special about them."

"What are you talking about, how else can you explain me going through them like that?"

Hazel looked at me for a moment then went into her bag.

"Because Meg, for whatever reason..."

Hazel pulled out a little hand mirror and lifted my hand up to it. As she placed the mirror on my hand, she pushed it against the tips of my fingers until to my surprise, like the mirrors from the party car, my hand phased through. I stared shocked at my arm halfway through the hand mirror as Hazel continued.

"You can go into the mirror world."

Just then I remembered what I saw back in the little jail. I had a vision of my mom going through a mirror the exact way I did after. Filled with even more questions I could only let out three words.

"The… mirror world?"