I nodded and turned to leave. Just as I was about to go down the stairs into the audience I turned around. Magenta shared a tiny warm smile with me. Riff stared blankly. Opening my mouth to ask one last question, he raised the gun to point it at me. I smiled, shook my head, dropped the pocket knife, and headed out the double doors. I could hear Magenta's laugh as I stepped into the main hall.

Spotting the trio near the door, I ran up to Brad, Janet, and Dr. Scott. They walked and wheeled off to the door, and I followed them. The earth below me started to shake. I got to the door, and I saw the ground more than a few inches away from me. The castle started to rise. I jumped forward, landing face-first on solid ground. Clouds of smoke rushed over me. When the rumbling stopped, I looked around. I could barely see above all of the dust and smoke. I was dizzy. The world started to spin. I lay down and blacked out.

And crawling on the planet's face

Some insects called the human race

Lost in time, lost in space and meaning…

Disoriented, I opened my eyes. There was a church in front of me. Something was being pelted at me. I was more annoying than painful. Then something jutted into my arm.

"C'mon!" Erica exclaimed, screaming at me. "Throw your rice!"

Wait – Erica?!

"ERICA!" I hollered, throwing my arms around my friend.

"Woah, what's the big deal?" She pushed me off of her, looking at me like I had three heads.

My mouth opened, but nothing came out. I shrugged my shoulders and threw my rice at her.

She giggled. "Hey, this means war!" We threw the rest of our rice at each other. And for an hour and a half, I forgot about the events from earlier.

When the movie ended, the shadow cast took their bows and the house lights came back on. I picked up my bag to leave. I stopped dead in my tracks. Something felt strange. I peeked inside it. There they were: the garter, Frank's Transylvanian lightning bolt button, the shiny red glove. And the letter.

I pulled out the envelope, now weathered from the evening's events. Being careful to not cause any more damage, I pulled the flap up and took out the letter, re-reading it:

Everything is real. The only way out is at the end.

But now something was scribbled in at the bottom. Each line was in a different handwriting, except for the last two, which matched the top:

Thanks for the laughs. ~M.

You're welcome… in advance. Ha ha. ~C.

It was a pleasure getting acquainted with you. ~F.F.

Sorry to tell you this, but you only get one first time. Make it count.

Riff Raff

My finger ran over the ink. I thought,"Thanks for answering my question, Riff. You did know about this, after all." There was no way that this could have been possible… was there? Unless… "Everything is real," I murmured to myself. Beaming, I put the letter back in the envelope, threw it into my bag, and caught up with Erica.

She piped, "So, what do ya think? You coming back with me next week?"

"Hopefully. When I do, I'll be better prepared," was all I could answer without bursting into laughter. I held tighter onto my bag. Absolutely better prepared, for I was going to wear my newfound articles of clothing next time.

Riff was right. This was probably never going to happen again like it did tonight. My mind flashed back through my time at the Frankenstein Place. The funny thing, though, was I couldn't help but think, "Wow. The first time is truly an adventure."

Note: Thanks y'all for reading and dealing with my trial-and-error-ness of my first ever fanfiction! Because you've been so nice, reviewing and providing me feedback (which we all know keeps us going), the next chapter is a sneak peek at my next work! It'll be longer than this one, as the story is one that needs time to unfold. Enjoy! ~MJ