"Oh shit," Rita mumbles when she goes to help me up and realises I'm not Katie.
"Yeah, that's probably the same reaction Amy would be having right now. If Katie is with her that is, I really hope she is. Cause if she's not then I really have no idea and I really hope that she's okay. Because she is me, and if she's not okay then that might mean that I won't be okay. Because that's how this sort of thing works right, I can't exist without her," My words start to tumble out and as the rate of words escalates, so does my breathing.
"Karma, Karma, breathe. Take it easy, you are going to make yourself pass out," Rita grabs me by the shoulders and forces me to look at her. I stop talking and try to steady my breathing and nod at her in understanding.
"Why aren't you freaking out about this?" I ask once my breathing is slightly more under control. Upon seeing that I am okay again Rita releases me and leans backwards against the wall.
"Oh, I'm freaking out as well, trust me," Rita replies, I only notice now that she sounds a little breathless as well.
"What are we going to do?" The question isn't really directed at Rita but it seems like it needed to be said.
"Hey, you two can't be in here. The rides are closed," a gruff looking man appears from around the corner and it's likely he works as a Carnie.
"Sorry about that Sir, we were just leaving," Rita offers in apology and grabs me by the hand to drag me past the Carnie and out of the Haunted House.
"What the hell are we going to do now?" I ask and Rita chews on her lip for a moment in contemplation.
"I don't know, but we'll think of something. We have to,"
"Another storm maybe?" I offer but we won't know it's a halfheartedly suggestion.
"Unfortunately, I don't know how many more freak storms are going to come our way in the near future," Rita responds dryly, stress already colouring her tone.
"We were supposed to be home free, what the hell happened?" Rita asks, clearly exasperated with the situation and all I can do is shrug my shoulders because really, what else is there to do in this situation?
"Look, let's just go back to the hotel and figure things out from there. Okay?" Rita suggests and I nod my head, gesturing for her to take the lead before it's not like I know where I'm going to get to their hotel in this world.
"Right, so this is home for the time being," I say as Rita opens the hotel door and lets me in.
"I guess so," Rita replies and sits down on the edge of her bed.
"At least all of my stuff seems to be here," Rita continues and waves a hand at a suitcase and laptop nearby.
"What a second, that might work. The laptop, it has Skype on there, right? Or at the very least, we could download Skype," I exclaim and Rita looks at me with concern.
"We're in the real world here, even if we can get on Skype it's highly unlikely that we could contact Katie and Amy," Rita reasons but I'm not ready to give up yet.
"But that's the thing, in my world you guys still exist and so there must be some sort of connection between our two worlds. It's worth a shot, and it's not like we have a whole lot else going for us,"
"Go for it, I guess," Rita sighs and I rush over to the laptop and bring up Skype. Despite the circumstance, Rita still scoffs when she sees the username I search for.
"Really, 'Karma's BFF' that's what Amy went with?"
"Oh shut up, you," I grumble but I feel like my heart is climbing its way up my throat when I press the call button. It rings more times then I am comfortable with, but when I see Amy's face I'm about ready to cry in relief.
"Karma, oh my God. I'm so glad you're okay, are you okay? You're not hurt or anything are you?" Amy's voice shows concern but relief is there in equal measure.
"I'm okay, I'm so glad to see you," I reply and I see Katie pushing her way into the shot.
"Rita, are you okay?" Katie asks and Rita gently moves me over so that she can be seen.
"Yeah, I'm fine. What about you? Are you alright?"
"I'm fine,"
"Right, now that we've established that everyone is fine, what the hell are we going to do?" Amy asks and the collective silence is quite concerning.
"I don't know yet, but we'll figure something out. We are going to get everyone back where they belong," Rita says and everyone nods in agreement.
"I don't know about you guys, but the best plan we've come up with so far is to wait for another storm," Katie speaks this time and everyone voices sounds of acknowledgement.
"So then, what do we do in the meantime? How long are you guys on holiday? I'll admit that I'm a pretty good actor, but I don't really think that I could do it for a living. Let alone fool anyone that knows Katie well enough to talk to her on a daily basis," Karma pipes up and Katie nods her head, preparing to speak again.
"Hell, I'm an actor, but I still don't know enough about Karma's life to pass with anyone even the slightest bit more observant than her parents. No offence, Karma,"
"None taken, my parents can be a little out there sometimes. Alright, so we lay low as best we can and hope for a miracle, or at least freak storm, and try our best to stay away from anyone that we know personally,"
"We need to learn about each other's lives as much as possible in the case that we do need to talk to anyone, and above all, we need to make sure that no one finds out what is going on. The last thing we need is Karma getting carted off because someone thinks you've gone crazy," Katie says and everyone nods before falling silent again. Amy is the one to break the silence with a halfhearted salute.
"Go Team,"