A/N: I HATE DIALOGUE! Lol, but I managed...I hope. Thank you all again for the amazing support - the reviews, the favorites, the likes...all of it. I appreciate it more than I can say. :) Hope you all enjoy the next chapter! If you see anything that really stands out, please let me know. Editing while exhausted is something I do way more than I should but I get antsy to post when I know people are waiting. :)

Chapter Four

Karina was dressed and out the door the next day long before she was due to arrive at the theater. She did so with a little less excitement than what she'd felt the previous day, but out was out. It was a little slip of freedom she was desperate to have.

She realized how backwards that thought was as she pulled her hood up to hide her face and started down the sidewalk. Hidden freedom. That's what she had.

That...and an unlikely hero.

Heat rose to her cheeks and she quickened her pace, anxious to see that hero again.

He's a gorilla, Karina, she told herself. A gorilla. Her traitorous mind was having none of that, though. It quickly threw out other things about her kind-hearted savior that were extremely hard to ignore.

Who came to your rescue, can wear the hell out of a leather jacket and jeans, has a British accent and the kindest eyes possible.

All valid points that she couldn't seem to find decent arguments for.

Instead of arguing with herself, she pulled the phone Nana had gotten her from her sweatshirt pocket, plugged in her ear buds and scrolled to her playlist. That was one strange thing about this reality she found herself in - tfhere were so many things exactly the same that it was a little unsettling at times. Music, phones, car brands, clothing brands, authors of books-. She swore she'd seen an advertisement for a Starbucks at one point but refused to give her hopes up on that one, regardless of how badly she found herself craving a vanilla latte with a chocolate croissant at times.

Music quickly filled her ears and she closed her eyes, letting it drown out her hectic thoughts. Her body picked up on the beat, the smooth undercurrent of bass and started moving out of habit, her feet executing a small chasse followed by a soutenu pique. Dance moves she'd thought long forgotten filled her head and she moved through each with ease, her dance instructors drill sergeant-like voice distantly ringing in her head.

Do not lock your elbows,mind your turnout, shoulders back.

Karina had always been good at disregarding the shouts of the instructor when lost in the music, refusing to allow the shrill tone to ruin something she enjoyed. Dance was her outlet to the darkness that paced continuously in the shadows, waiting for guards to be dropped so that it could seep in and destroy any light. Everything else was just white noise. When she was dancing, nothing could touch her.

Might want to tone it down just a bit, she thought. You're supposed to be keeping a low profile, not attracting attention.

She scrolled through her playlist, looking for something a little less upbeat to carry her to the Moon Theater when the sound of a horn blaring interrupted her. She peered around her hood as best she could, not expecting to see anyone she recognized and smiling when instead she saw Johnny behind the wheel of an old black Chevy truck. Pulling her earbuds free and taking a cautious look to make sure there wasn't anyone nearby, she shoved her hood back a bit. "Nice truck."

"Thanks," he said back with a small grin. "It's my dad's. Were you walking to the theater?"

Karina shoved her hands in her pockets and rocked back on her heels. "That was the plan."

His smile widened. "You know it's a good ten miles, right?"

"Um, no," Karina muttered. "I didn't know that. I guess I should have paid more attention when we were going there yesterday."

"I could give you a ride, if you want."

Sure, if you could promise to talk the entire way, she thought, enjoying the sound of his voice much more than she probably should have. "Really? You wouldn't mind?"

"Well, since it's on the way and all-."

His light joking put her at ease and when he told her to get in, she didn't argue, going around the front and hopping in beside him. As he pulled back onto the road, not bothering with a blinker or even checking behind them, she noticed the to-go cup in the cup holder and gasped. "You guys do have a Starbucks here!"

Johnny shot her a strange look. "Uh, yeah. I don't...I don't stop there much but I didn't get a lot of sleep last night so-."

"I don't judge people for their choice in caffeinated beverage," she quickly assured him. "Unless you ordered extra whip and sprinkles. Then I might judge...but just a little."

Johnny laughed and she barely managed to suppress a pleased sigh. If his voice wasn't going to slowly undo her, then his laugh most certainly would. "No, nothin' like that. Just regular coffee. You can have what's left."

"Oh, no I couldn't do that."

"Go for it. It's just gonna get cold anyway. I already drank half and I'm not big on coffee. Just needed somethin' to wake me up, is all."

"You sure?" she asked.

"Yeah."

She hesitated a moment longer, then lept at the opportunity, taking a sip and savoring the bitter taste with a moan of true appreciation that had Johnny laughing again.

"Sorry," she said, feeling heat rise to her cheeks. "I haven't had a good cup of coffee in forever. Nana does the whole french press coffee thing. I love her...and I choke it down, but it's way too strong for me."

He nodded in understanding and a silence that wasn't entirely uncomfortable fell between them.

"So, you have Starbucks where you're from?" Johnny asked after a while.

He could have asked the question he had meant to ask, the one he'd obviously attempted to mask with his casual tone. But she appreciated his attempt at normal conversation without trying to make things awkward between them.

"Yeah. Starbucks, Barnes and Noble, Target...the only big difference between where I'm from and here...is that everyone here isn't...human."

She caught his curious look out of the corner of her eye and took another long sip of coffee before speaking again. "Human...that's what I am."

"Is everyone where you're from...like you?"

"Not just like me. Every person is different. There's different races...people with different colored skin, different color hair, different accents."

"How did you end up here?"

There was the million dollar question she wasn't sure she would ever be able to answer. "I don't...know. I wish I knew. One day I was there...the next I'm in a hospital room here."

"Hospital room?"

She stared down at the coffee lid. It would be nice if she had some fanciful, magic filled story how how she came to exist in this world. Not something that resembled the beginning of a horror movie. "I um-," she took a deep breath and closed her eyes, what she remembered from that day replaying in her head "I was found...in a..box washed up on shore. I'm not sure how long I was in there. I just...remember trying to help them get me out and not having the strength to do it. Nana said I was in the hospital for a week and a half before I woke up. I can remember people talking, shouting for help. But nothing much more than that until I woke up and there was Nana."

"Jeez, that's...I'm sorry, Karina."

She shrugged off his apology, wrapping her hands around the to-go cup and taking as much comfort as she could from what little warmth it offered. "It's not your fault. And maybe I'll figure out all the how's some day. I'm just...happy to be alive, honestly. And to have castoff coffee."

His smile, though slightly sad around the edges, was back and her heart was melting over it as if they hadn't had such a serious conversation only seconds earlier. "Could get ya your own tomorrow, if you want?"

"Johnny, you don't-."

"Have to let you walk to the theater everyday? I know."

She bit her lip, trying to suppress the giddy smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. Even if it was confusing and strange, she couldn't deny that he was incredibly charming and effortlessly kind, both qualities that she found impossible to resist.

He pulled into the alley next to the theater a moment later and she got out of the truck, following him in.

"If you need a ride home, I'm good for that too," he said, pulling the door open and holding it for her.

"That'd be great. I-,"

She was cut off before she could finish, Ash appearing out of nowhere, taking her hand and pulling her towards the hallway. "You're coming with me," the feisty porcupine said.

"Oh, um...okay?"

"Ash, what's goin' on?" Johnny asked, starting after them.

"Go back to the stage. Mr. Moon's out there with Mike. He might need some help."

It was all she needed to say for Johnny to listen. The look of confusion was immediately replaced by one of intensity that left Karina feeling on edge and he jogged back towards the stage.

"Who's Mike?" Karina asked, surprised to find she was having a difficult time keeping up.

"No one you want to know," Ash shot back.

They went up the stairs and to one of the practice rooms tucked in the back, not speaking again until Ash had closed the door behind them and pulled down the drapes of the few windows overlooking the hallway.

"So," Karina started, watching Ash as she moved across the room to where a black sweatshirt hung over a chair and pulled a phone from one of the pockets. "What was that all about?"

Ash threw a bored look at the closed door, then turned her attention to her phone. "We're supposed to be keeping things about you under wraps, right? Mike would be the last person to make sure that happens."

Spotting a couch along the wall, Karina went to it and sat down, pulling her legs up. "Does Mike work here?"

"No. He was kind of part of our group, I guess...back before we found out about the prize money."

"Prize money?"

Ash waved a hand dismissively, the other scrolling through the contents of her phone. "Long story. Bottom line, he's a money hungry, arrogant jerk who only looks out for himself and is only marginally better than my ex. And you would be nothing more than a meal ticket to him."

"Oh-."

Left with little else to say, Karina started tracing the paisley pattern on the couch. If one of them was going to break the silence, it was going to be Ash. Karina felt as if she had somehow intruded on the porcupines territory and the smartest thing she could do right now was keep quiet and wait. Ash was so preoccupied with her phone that Karina didn't see much conversation taking place until Ash made a sound of sheer frustration and turned it off completely. "Are the guys where you're from complete idiots?"

The question startled a laugh out of Karina. Out of everything she was expecting Ash to say, that wasn't it. "Not all of them...but yeah, there were definitely quite a few that could have easily ended the world if put in charge."

That earned her a look of semi-appreciation. Ash crossed the room to the couch and sat down beside her with a huge sigh, throwing her phone between them. "My ex could probably show them first hand how to do it in seconds," she muttered.

She didn't say anything for a while and Karina kept quiet, guessing Ash was a talk-when-she-wanted-to person and understanding that as an outsider, she had no right to be questioning another person's life. She was playing by their rules and maintaining their trust was crucial. So she waited.

"Where are you from, anyway?"

The rules here were not made to keep her from rehashing what she what little she was supposed to know about her situation, apparently.

"Here...kind of," Karina replied. "Everything's the same. It's like someone came in, turned everybody into animals...but forgot about me." That sounded dark, even to her, and she sighed, shaking her head at her bleak statement. "Sorry, that was a bit morbid. Where I came from wasn't much different from here. There's a lot of the same things. It's just like…"

"An alternate universe?" Ash offered.

"Yeah...exactly like that, actually."

"And you have no idea what happened?"

"No," Karina said softly. It was the one question she could answer with complete honesty.

"That's crazy."

Karina couldn't agree more. "Crazy like the kind of crazy that would land me in a psych ward crazy," she muttered.

Ash released a tiny snort of laughter and relaxed, leaning back against the couch. "Maybe. None of us will put you there though." She glanced up at Karina. "I'm sorry...that you have to deal with all of this."

"I'm sorry that you have to deal with an idiot ex-boyfriend."

Ash shrugged, then reached for her phone and turned it back on. "It's okay. I just...wish he'd get it through his dumb skull that I want nothing to do with him."

"Have you tried pounding it in with something substantial? I hear that works."

A true laugh escaped Ash this time and Karina couldn't help grinning. "No, but that doesn't sound like a half bad idea."

The door to the practice room opened and the elephant from yesterday, Meena if Karina remembered right, stuck her head in.

"He's gone," she said, looking uncertainly between the two. "Mr. Moon said you should find Mrs. Crawley and he'll check on you later."

Karina stood, looking back to Ash when she didn't. "You staying here?"

"Yeah. It's quieter here than on stage - easier to concentrate."

"Okay. Well...see you later?"

Ash smiled and gave a small nod, both of which seemed genuine. "Sure. Good luck with Mrs. Crawley."

Karina left feeling much lighter than she had in days, savoring the rush of gratitude for what she hoped was the beginning of an established friendship. Even in her past, friendships had been hard to come by. Those who struggled with situations most breezed through were seen as easy targets and she was about as easy a target as they came, opening herself up to consistently being made a doormat for people to trample over, rubbing their muddy problems all over her without caring how deeply it stung or how personally she took it.

Fresh start here, she thought, refusing to let go of the warmth talking with Ash had given her. Things can be different. I can be different.

Finding the main offices took some time and she ended up getting lost more than once, inadvertently giving herself a tour while she was at it. The upstairs portion of the theater was a maze of practice rooms towards the back, mostly hallway in the middle with smaller hallways leading to private alcoves that overlooked the stage. Towards the front, offices were arranged on either side of a sprawling lobby with plush, red furniture and glass top tables.

The place was impressive and had a historical charm to it that she adored.

She finally found Mrs. Crawley, humming to herself as she worked on what looked to be a coffee pot. Karina knocked on the open doorway first so as not to startle the woman. "Mrs. Crawley?"

She turned slowly, her movements slightly jerky and erratic. "Ah, Karina! Mr. Moon said you were going to be helping me out. That's sweet of you."

Karina entered the office with a smile. "Anything you need me to do, Mrs. Crawley. Where would you like me to start?"

"How about we start with the coffee machine? Mr. Moon goes through at least three pots a day."

She started showing Karina how to go about filling the coffee machine and just from watching the woman put grounds in without a filter, Karina could tell it was going to be a long afternoon.

They started with coffee, moved on to light cleaning which took no time at all and finally Mrs. Crawley asked her to sort through Mr. Moon's contacts and itemize his receipts. As she settled down to do that, Mrs. Crawley disappeared as did much of Karina's afternoon.

Mr. Moon was not a neat freak by any stretch of the word. There were numerous folders with "receipts" written across them in bold permanent marker, contacts written on post its all over the office, invoices from various vendors scattered across his desk and not even the slightest hint of a system to keep it all straight.

By the time Karina had sorted through all of the receipts and invoices, the sun had dipped below the horizon. She'd turned on the lamp on the desk and continued working, lost in what she was doing and the time that was passing. She vaguely registered Mrs. Crawley coming in and telling her goodnight at some point.

She had no idea how late it had gotten when the soft notes of a piano playing drifted through her subconscious. She glanced up, looking for a clock and gasped when she saw the one above the door read a quarter after seven.

"Oh my god," she muttered, pushing herself up and straightening up what she'd managed to go through so that she could start again tomorrow.

She turned the light off and walked out of the office, closing the door behind her. The piano continued to play, not far from where she was, and curiosity guided her towards the sound. The lights in Mrs. Crawley's office were off as were a majority of the second story lights. The only one that remained on came from the office across the lobby, the light spilling softly over the gold and burgundy carpet.

Karina walked to the door, easing it open. Johnny sat at the piano, his fingers moving effortlessly over the keys. The song wasn't one she knew at all, but she didn't need to to feel the sadness coursing through each key. It was a despondent melody, soft, unrushed and absolutely beautiful.

She stood listening for a while, then walked over to where he was and sat down beside him, giving him a hesitant smile. He glanced at her briefly, but continued to play and she watched, mesmerized by how a pair of hands so big and strong could create very much the opposite.

Something on the music rack caught her attention. At first, she thought it was a cell phone but no cell phone she knew of was that thick. And it had been a very long time since she'd seen one held together with tape. It almost looked like a very old and very well used radio.

The final note of the piano drifted off and Johnny's hands fell away from the piano and into his lap.

"Yours?" she asked, nodding to what she thought was a radio.

He picked it up and she quickly realized that it wasn't a radio - it was a walkie talkie. "Yeah. S'mine."

"I haven't seen one of those in years. Does it actually work?"

He nodded, his gaze suddenly sad. "Been awhile since I used it. My dad…we used to talk to each other with 'em."

She was tempted to lean against him, to be closer to him and ease that sadness somehow. "You don't anymore?"

"Nah." He shook his head, then shoved the walkie in his pocket and looked down at her, forcing a grin. "You hungry?"

"Starving. Did you even know it's past seven?"

"Really? Guess I didn't," Johnny stood and offered his hand to help her up. "Want to get something to eat?"

"Where? I can't really go into many places. Nana's only pulled off one so far and we had to sit way in the back where there was no lights. I kind of like to see my food when I'm eating it."

He looked thoughtful for a moment, then smiled again and his hand tightened around hers. "Who said we have to go in anywhere?"