It was the first time Gwendolyn MacMillan had ever been interrogated by a cop before, and it was revving up her anxiety, bad.

Of course, the adrenaline rush she felt was not nearly as bad as when she was being chased through a mall by Jason Vorhees.

The RCMP officer arrived at the MacMillan household the morning after Gwen had arrived home, after she had mysteriously disappeared until around three in the morning.

She barely slept the previous night, even with the company of her parents and younger sister, out of fear and excitement. She knew the officer would be there the next morning and she couldn't decide whether or not she should tell them the truth. That she had discovered another universe where movies and pop culture were real.

After accidentally hopping on the wrong bus home, Gwen had found herself in a version New York City on an different Earth An Earth in an alternate reality called Charactia- where pretty much every form of pop culture somehow existed together.

The discovery had come with mixed emotions. Being the avid geek she was, meeting Ethan Hunt, Dr Ian Malcolm, and Supergirl caused her to giggle every time she thought about it. But those memories led to the negative encounters where she discovered her worst fear- Hannibal Lecter- was alive and was leading a gang of horror movie characters for...some reason. Some reason that involved robbing a Dairy Queen.

Anyone that attempted to describe in their fanfiction how terrifying Hannibal Lecter, Freddy Krueger, Michael Myers, Jason Vorhees, and that girl from the Ring were had obviously never met them.

If you had seen plenty of horror films (whereas Gwen had never even seen one), imagine the terror you had while experiencing these characters. Now, take that terror and chuck it down your nearest Death Star garbage chute because they were a hundred times worse.

When she was laying awake with her family around her in her parents bedroom, she remembered every detail of those monsters. But then she remembered all the great things that came out of meeting them.

For starters, she had found out that the Upside-Down was still around and so was the Demogorgon. She was now a consultant for the Impossible Mission Force. She had met Ethan Hunt, Supergirl, Dr Ian Malcolm, Benji Dunn, and...

Snape.

Professor Severus Snape.

It didn't seem real. When she looked at him, no matter how hard he scowled at her- no matter how loud he yelled at her- it was like some sort of dream. She stared at the darkened ceiling and she couldn't stop thinking about him. About their interaction. About the fact that he looked almost exactly like Alan Rickman, and yet different enough to be a completely unique man. Like a perfect mix of his novel and film characterization.

About the fact that he was alive. Alive but sick. Sick, lost, confused, starving, sleep deprived. He had somehow woken up in a science lab. That was the last thing he told her before he threw her out.

She had been ordered by Ethan to return to the IMF that Saturday, early in the morning. It was no question that she planned to visit Snape. This time, hopefully, with something for him to eat.

But it was a question of whether she really wanted to return to Charactia. Half of her had no doubt in wanting to return and give her duties to the IMF. But returning meant going back into the world where Hannibal was waiting. And she wasn't sure she was prepared for that.

After a night of barely any sleep, hard contemplation and anxiety, the RCMP arrived at six the next morning before school. Gwen got dressed as quickly as she could manage and her parents sat with her at the kitchen table, which was where the questioning took place.

It was the first time she had really lied. And worst of all, she had lied to the police officer. Her anxiety- nearly at its peak- and her sense of honesty was almost holding her back as she told the cop was had 'really' happened.

She said that she had ended up on the wrong bus and wound up in a place she didn't even know existed or how to locate. She had been saved from a gang of criminals by someone who looked like Tom Cruise and an upholder of the law escorted her to the correct bus.

What she told them was true...from a certain point of view.

While she sat in the kitchen alone after the interview, the RCMP officer spoke with both of her parents in the living room. From what she could hear, the officer was not completely convinced with Gwen's story though he did say that it was normal for her to be in shock. Especially with her disorder.

Once the officer had left, Gwen played with her cereal nervously while her parents stood at the other end of the kitchen table. David (a tall man with a well-cut jawline and Gwen's blue eyes) and Nellie (shorter woman with short brown hair and large glasses) both had their arms folded.

"Why didn't you call me?" Mrs MacMillan whispered.

"You wouldn't pick up," Gwen said. And that was the truth.

"There was no record of you calling me anywhere on my phone!"

"I did call you. I called you a hundred times! I swear!" Gwen cried. Mr MacMillan raised a hand for his daughter to quiet down and she did.

"Gwen, you're absolutely certain your mother would not pick up?"

"How could I not be?" Gwen asked, her eyes wide.

"Nell, your phone hadn't died, had it?"

"It was at 86% last time I saw it,"

"I called you!" Gwen protested. "I swear it!"

Her parents glanced at one another while Gwen tried to piece it all together. She had called more times than she was able to count but her mother hadn't seen any of the calls. It was possible to call Nova Scotia from New York City so how come it hadn't worked there?

Her mind worked it out while her parents were whispering amongst themselves. Yes, it was possible to call Canada from New York City. But it was clearly not possible to call a Canada located in another dimension.

After both exhaling long and hard, the MacMillan parents faced their daughter with a newfound sympathetic expression. Mrs MacMillan sat down at the table and took Gwen's hands.

"I'm sorry, love. You look like you had a hard time yesterday and this isn't helping,"

In her mind, Gwen saw Ethan Hunt cut Hannibal's cheek with a plastic knife. Her mom had no idea the time she'd had yesterday.

She opened her mouth and every character name she had laid eyes on sat on her tongue- one in particular drank Chianti and the other brewed potions. But she said nothing. She even blinked back tears. Those characters still seemed fantastical.

"Listen," Mrs MacMillan whispered, not doing as well to hold back her own tears. "After school, when you come home, we'll do something fun. Okay? We'll go out to Boston Pizza or watch a movie. Sound good?"

A movie.

They were no longer just creations made by man. They were living, breathing, real things. If anything, they were encyclopedias for her to prepare when she returned to Charactia. If she ever did go back. She was terrified to go back, to fight those who embodied her worst nightmares. And yet, the excitement and anticipation outweighed the fear.

A movie.

Did she really want to watch a movie?

She did. And the lightbulb above her head ignited as she realized exactly which one. Looking at her knees, her heart in her throat, she said softly-

"We could watch a movie,"

"We can watch whatever you want,"

That was it. The green-light. Gwen looked back up with eyes full of excitement. Her brain instantaneously forgot about movies' real worlds and people. She explained to her parents which film she'd like to watch and to her surprise, her mother agreed. At the time, Gwen couldn't remember why her heart was beating. It didn't matter.

That was the night her cinephile life changed forever.

That was the night she watched her first ever horror movie.

That was the night she watched "Psycho".

It was all she could think about through school. Well, it was one of the things she thought about. There was that small fact that she had met real live characters in another dimension. However, she was still as invisible and looked down on in school as ever.

Her Hufflepuff scarf, her "Carry A Towel" t-shirt, and her constant doodling of fictional people created the idea to others that she was below intelligence and slightly insane.

Gwen liked to consider herself a Luna Lovegood in a mass of Hermione Grangers. That being said, she called them Hermione Grangers because they were over-popular and naysaying. She liked to compare herself with Luna because second from Snape, Luna was her favourite 'Harry Potter' character. And mainly because to others, she was perhaps just as strange and bizarre.

She had about three other Luna Lovegood friends that usually hung out with her, but only three.

Ryan, who was African-Canadian and bespectacled, was one year older than Gwen, and had seen pretty much every form of iconic horror ever (he was able to survive them, as his parents were doctors and he could tell when gore was real and when it wasn't).

Then there was Bea, the Latina black haired and blue-eyed Whovian and Edgar Allan Poe geek, who actually enjoyed math.

And lastly, Kyle, blonde with floppy hair that had been shaved underneath and usually found with some kind of Disney shirt on.

All four loved 'Harry Potter' (and were what the Internet called "Pro-Snape"), Kyle secretly liked 'My Little Pony', and their types of parties usually included playing 'Scene It', binging 'Mystery Science Theatre 3000', or watching a movie one of them had discovered and showed the others.

But despite having them around, Gwen held up the facade of ending up in a wrong part of Halifax.

"I wasn't even aware there WAS a wrong part of Halifax," Kyle said, doodling in his math book.

"Well, there is. And I don't really want to talk about it," Gwen was eyeing Ryan's t-shirt, which had the silhouette of a man in a fedora and long coat, holding a briefcase. The man on the t-shirt was staring up at a house while underneath a lamppost. "I did see some pretty good cosplays though."

"Man, I wish I had the time to do cosplay," Kyle sighed. "I went online and saw someone do this awesome Tracer cosplay-"

"Everyone does Tracer cosplays," Bea rolled her eyes, one headphone in her right ear. "Harley Quinn, Tracer, Batman, Hermione Granger. Look, I'm not saying I'm annoyed with the cosplays or the characters but-"

"You're annoyed with the cosplays and the characters," Gwen laughed. Personally, she didn't know whether or not to be annoyed with the characters. She hadn't met any of them yet.

That was a thought.

She could meet Batman.

"Yeah, but it was Tracer mixed with Poison Ivy," Kyle finished.

"Why?" Ryan asked.

"I dunno. Because,"

"I once saw Darth Vader mixed with Donald Trump," Bea added blankly.

"Yeah, but THAT makes sense," Ryan said, nodding.

Gwen smiled slightly and looked at her phone. She had the temptation to watch the video of Snape closing the Upside-Down portal in the Subway but how was she supposed to explain that if she got caught? She cleared her throat.

"So, Ryan, my mom's letting me watch 'Psycho' tonight. What do you think about that?"

The pencil in Ryan's hand dropped onto the table. He looked up, eyes wide. "Wait, really?"

"Yeah,"

"Your first horror movie! I'm so proud of you! What, is it like a treat since what happened last night?"

"Yeah,"

"Sweeeet," Ryan whistled. "It's fantastic. You're gonna love it."

"Wait, which one is 'Psycho' again?" Kyle asked.

Ryan imitated stabbing with a knife while he sung- "Wah wah wah wah!" in a high-pitched voice.

"Oh. It's the one 'Bates Motel' is based on," Bea said, still not looking at them.

"No, Bea. No," Gwen laughed, pointing at her with a pen. "We don't discuss 'Bates Motel'

"Yeah, but I like that show,"

"Yeah, but it breaks canon," Ryan noted. "And it's not even set in the right time period! And the Bates' built the Motel, they didn't buy it!"

"Woah, Ryan, calm down. You're giving away spoilers,"

"Oh shut up, Gwen. You already know how it ends!" Ryan laughed.

"Yeah, but that's all I know!" Gwen grinned.

It was true. Her mother and her had been sitting in a restaurant when Mrs MacMillan had accidentally spilled the beans on the whole "Mother" twist at the end of 'Psycho'. Gwen didn't mind so much now. Knowing how a scary movie ended helped her anxiety a bit.

Although endings didn't really matter, Hannibal Lecter could've been arrested at the end of 'Silence of the Lambs' and it wouldn't have changed the fact that she had met him.

That evening, with as many lights on as they could manage, Gwen and her mother sat on the couch together in the living room, under a blanket with bagels.

The movie was scarier in her head than what she saw on screen. By the end of that night, it had become Gwen's fourth favourite movie. She adored it. She loved Marion and screamed furiously when discovered she would be the one dying in the shower. She loved Norman Bates, despite being a murderer. He was shy and sweet and trapped in a terrible situation, with no help. Yes, he was crazy. But he was oh so handsome and very kind.

She loved the line- "You eat like a bird," and the scene where Norman sinks the car into the swamp. She loved the silhouette art done with the black and white colours. She loved the way Norman always ate Kandy Korn, how "Mother" had used the term 'dank' to describe the cellar.

She loved how the name 'Arbogast' was used so often that you could make a drinking game out of it. How chocolate sauce was used instead of fake blood. She loved the shot of Norman craning his neck directly over the camera.

And that shower scene. It was brutal. So incredibly brutal. Even though you never saw anything, the sound and movement of the knife was jarring. It was so violent and yet, she couldn't take her eyes off it. Somehow, they filmed Janet Leigh without ever showing nudity. Somehow, she held that pose, pretending to be a corpse for so long. She discovered, it wasn't the scene itself that people loved but what it represented. The main character being killed off so violently with barely any gore and no nudity.

Gwen thought Arbogast's death was funnier.

She loved the whole movie so much, she had forgotten that Alfred Hitchcock had accidentally caused it to happen in reality. And deep down she knew, Norman Bates- whether or not he was still Mother- was banished somewhere mysterious for his crimes by Aslan. He was banished to a place no one knew with his motel of twelve cabins and twelve vacancies.

The more Gwen thought about Norman, the scarier and yet more intriguing he became. She couldn't decide whether or not to pay attention to the terrifying image of him racing into the basement while wielding a knife, and wearing a huge grin and his mother's clothes...or the image of him showing Marion around her room and smiling while saying- "There's some stationary with Bates Motel on it if you want to make your friends back home envious." (Gwen wanted that stationary, desperately).

She wasn't sure if he even counted as a villain, but more of an antagonist. Then again, it was an ongoing debate in her mind.

Maybe if she ever met him, she would decide.

If she ever met him.

She wasn't sure she wanted to meet him.

But she needed to go back to Charactia. She promised that she would. And she wanted to. She really did. She wanted to see Snape again and with her newfound knowledge- now with the breakthrough that she had seen her first ever horror movie- she was almost brand new. As she lay awake in bed that night, she concocted a scheme to get her back to Charactia. She considered Ethan's words and smirked in a way that would make Norman Bates jealous.

But if she was really going to survive Charactia, she was going to need a weapon and some more information. Looking under her pillow, she made sure that Ethan's card was still there. Using her flashlight, she beamed it around her room.

Her walls were plastered with drawings and art she had done, as well as posters she had bought at her local DVD stores.

She looked at the faces of the Avengers, the Justice League, dinosaurs from Jurassic World, Hans Gruber and John McClane, Bilbo Baggins, Newt Scamander and his crew, and finally Severus Snape.

She saw Snape's face in her room three different times.

Then, she lowered the flashlight onto the spot above her desk where she had her Funko Pop collection and more drawings.

There she saw a pencil sketch of Norman Bates as "Mother" she had drawn barely a few hours ago. It was a cartoonish sketch but it looked like him.

Beneath him were drawings from one of her favourite movies "Galaxy Quest", a detailed and shaded sketch of tightrope Ally Gal from the Haunted Mansion ride at Disney World, and art of Severus Snape. She also had a good collection of art from her own stories.

She swallowed and pointed her beam back on her large poster of Snape. It really didn't do him justice.

She clicked off the flashback and glaring into the dark determinedly, she fumbled with her pillow.

She was going back. There was no question.