Chapter 18: Bloom and Gloom

The soft patter of raindrops on the worn cobblestone street drew Scarlett out of unconsciousness…

She sat up on what she assumed was the worn splintered floor of the treehouse, and stretched with an over-exaggerated yawn. An unflattering cracking sound met her ears. She cringed as she combed her fingers through her scalp whilst smacking her lips.

"Well, I don't know about you guys!" Scarlett burst as she cricked her neck from side-to-side, "But that was one hell of a thunder…"

She trailed off as she eased open her amber eyes… this was not Mulberry County.

Instead, Scarlett was sitting in an abandoned alleyway in the middle of a light rainstorm. Her pupils shrunk to pinpricks as she scanned her unfamiliar surroundings. She placed her hands over her head as the panic seeped in.

How long have I been knocked out? How could I have let this happen to me? What happened last night? And what happened to my friends? Ughh! Why can't I remember?

Scarlett rapidly tried to recall the events from the previous night.

She'd had a vivid hallucination involving a swirling vortex of multicolored light, and having to watch both of her friends get sucked into it. She had held onto the edges of the walls in a death-like grip for as long as she could manage before the inevitable occurred. Her fingers slipped, and she had been sent tumbling into the wormhole against her will.

"Wait…it wasn't a hallucination… those things really happened!" Scarlett groaned as she fisted her head, "Snap out of it! Now is not the time for hysterics! First thing's first, you have to figure out where you are… after that it's just a matter of finding everyone else… just breathe."

Scarlett did as she'd instructed, and was immediately put at ease.

Her legs wobbled slightly as she rose to her feet. Rain dripped from her curly raven hair and was effortlessly able to conceal the tears that were sliding down her cheeks. She grunted before hastily wiping her eyes… she didn't have time for this.

Scarlett stepped out of the alleyway and screeched at the top of her lungs.

Three factors caused her to take off running in the opposite direction: she had ended up in London in the year of 1897, she was three inches high, and anthropomorphic cartoon mice were casually walking the streets. They were dressed in suits, top hats, dresses, trousers, bonnets, high-heels, corsets, and boots. The only things that set them apart from being people were the furry snouts, tails, and ears.

They gasped in alarm, and stared at Scarlett with wide disbelieving eyes as she whizzed past them. Her heart rattled in her chest as she pounded through the lake-sized puddles. She didn't care where she was going; all she wanted was to get away from whatever they were.

She was forced to duck into another alleyway in order to catch her breath. What… what is going on?!

Scarlett couldn't take it anymore, and sobbed in frustration. She had no idea where she was, where her friends had ended up, or even if they were still alive. All she knew was that she was drenched, frightened, and worst of all alo-

-TWHACK!

Her reeling thoughts were cut off as something hit her in the back of the head, knocking her out cold. She recalled murmuring a curse word before her world faded into nothingness…