Chapter Four: A new Neighbor.

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"Hey kiddo, are you all right?" Mary was standing over her head. Erin was lying on the floor of the store.

"Yeah. Yeah I'm fine." Erin's eyes grew very wide. "Oh Mary! It was so cool! I saw the Monkee's and it was like the TV show was real life! And they all lived together and Davy even hit on me!"

"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?" Nate came running down the showcase. "Erin! Erin what happened?"

"I saw the Monkee's!" She was starting to sound like a crazy person.

"I think she fell and now she's having all these weird hallucinations." Mary explained.

"They weren't hallucinations! They were real! I swear! I touched them!" She held out her hands.

"I think you should take a few days off, Erin." Nate stated. "I'll call a cab for you." 

"But its Thursday and cabs always charge more Thursday."

"Um… Erin? It's still Wednesday."

"But I was with the Monkee's for like 12 hours!"

"I think I'll just drive you home." Nate helped Erin up off the ground and to his car.

The drive home was in silence. Erin was still trying to figure out what had happened with the TV. How could someone be transferred to a whole different world? It was just impossible but Erin had managed to do it. And why the Monkee's? Was it because the Monkee's was on the TV? Or because the TV was magical? Erin was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't even realize that they were at her apartment building.

"Well, here you are." Nate said with a sigh.

"Yeah. I'll see you tomorrow." She was about to leave the car when Nate grabbed her arm.

"I think you should take sometime off. You must have fallen pretty hard and you're going to need your rest so just take the next few days off. Okay?"

"But I need the money--,"

"I'll give you paid vacation." Nate let go of her arm.

"Al-all right. Bye." Once again Erin was going to exit the car when  Nate grabbed her arm again.

"Hey, no hard feelings, right? I know that you have that problem with your hand and I just don't want a law suit on our hands."

"It's okay. I don't think I'm hurt. I'll just take it easy the next couple of days. Bye." She walked up to her building and buzzed for Carley to open the door. "Hey! Let me up! Where are you Carley?"

"ERIN!" Carley came running down the stairway. "Oh, are you all right? Mary from work called and told me everything that happened. Are you okay?" She started to feel Erin's forehead and look at her eyes.

"I'm fine. Now, stop it, ya weirdo." Erin pushed away Carley's hands and walked into the building. "I just fainted."

"JUST fainted?! People don't just faint for no reason." Erin gave a stern look to Carley. "Okay, maybe they do. But I have never, ever seen you faint in your entire life. What happened?"

"Nothing! Nothing happened!" She grew angry with Carley. "And even if I DID tell you, you wouldn't believe me."

"Oh yes I would." She stopped Erin from entering the apartment and looked strait into her eyes. "Tell me."

"Fine. I went back to get a TV set for a customer when I saw this other TV. It this quarter size black mark on it and I went to go rub it off and then I blacked out. There, are you happy?"

"Mary said something about hallucinations."

"I had a dream that I saw the Monkee's."

"But it wasn't a dream… was it?" Carley always had this sort of sixth sense thing. She always knew exactly what you were thinking.

"No, well, at least it didn't feel like a dream. It felt…real." Erin leaned against the wall of the hallway. "I can't explain it. I felt everything. Their touches, the couch I sat on, and even their breath. And I could read things. It was like I was using both sides of my brain to create this reality."

"Come on in and sit down." Carley led her into the apartment and sat her down on the couch. "Do you want anything to drink?"

"No thanks." But Carley brought her a glass of water anyway.

"Drink. So tell me more about this reality."

"What's there to tell? I was there, I sat, and then came back."

"Well, how did you get back?"

"I grabbed my shirt," Erin demonstrated by grabbing her shirt. "and closed my eyes, and then… I was back." There was a long silence before either of them spoke.

"What was playing on the TV when you touched it?"

"It was just an episode of the Monkee's. Why?"

"Maybe, maybe the TV transported you into the show making it seem like it was reality?"

"Then how did I get back?"

"Well, the only other explanation would be that," Carley searched for the right words. "That you can transport into these realities." Erin scoffed at the idea that anything was special about her, but after a few minutes, it didn't seem so crazy.

"Why me?"

"I don't know. I'm just the hired help here." She gave a smile and then got up.

"Are you going to make dinner?"

"That reminds me. We're going over to our new neighbors house for dinner tonight."

"Why would anyone move into this dump?"

"Beats me. But I ran into her and we got to talking and she was really interesting. Her name is Megan. Meg for short."

"Oh really. Well, 'M' is shorter." Erin leaned back and gave Carley a devilish smile.

"Shut up and go put on some clean clothes."

"Wow. You sound just like mom."

"I'll show how much I sound like mom." She pulled out a wooden spoon. "Now get. We were supposed to be there like five minutes ago."

Erin quickly changed into, what she thought, was pretty decent clothing. She wore blue jeans and a multi-colored tanktop. As soon as Erin walked out of her room, Carley demanded she go and change, but when Erin reminded her of how late they were, she gave up.

"Sorry we're late." Carley said apologetically to Meg.

"It's quite all right." Meg stood about 5'6'', had short auburn hair, and spoke with a French accent. But Meg had the most peculiar eyes Erin had ever seen. One was deep brown and the other was a very light green. Realizing that Erin was staring, Meg lowered her head and invited them in.

"Wow. You have a great apartment!" Carley walked off to a wall that was covered in pictures. "Is this your family?"

"Yes, they live back in Paris."

"Oh, is it hard living so far away from home?"

"Yes, a little. But I like Minneapolis. Please, sit." She motioned toward a table that had been set for four people.

"Is someone else suppose to be here?" Erin asked.

"My husband, but he had to work late so he could not have dinner with us."

"A husband? Maybe we should have you guys over some night so we can all get aquatinted?"

"That sounds lovely." The rest of dinner was filled with conversation between Carley and Meg. Erin just didn't feel like talking much. When everything was finished, Meg insisted that we leave the dishes in the sink and sit down on her couch and talk more. They once again became engaged in conversation. Erin walked over to the desk by the patio door and looked at the top of it. She saw normal everyday items. Pencils, paper, a stapler, but there was something that caught her eye. It was a very thick black binder with "Through the Shadows" written on the cover in white. When Erin reached for it, Meg leapt out of her seat and grabbed the binder.

"NO! I'm sorry but you can't look at this. It's very privet."

"I didn't know…"

"It's all right. No harm done." She placed it back down on the desk. There was an uneasy silence until the buzzer rang on the door. "Oh that must be my husband. I'll be back in a few minutes." She ran out the door and down the hall.

"I wonder… I wonder what's in the binder." Erin turned around and reached for the binder once more.

"No." Carley slapped her hand. "No, don't. She asked you not to so don't. It's that simple." But Erin paid no heed. She could feel Carley's hand on her shoulder as she reached for the binder. The second her fingers grazed the smooth cover. The world swirled before her and unconsiousness  took her before she hit the ground.

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