"Do you think they'll find anything?" Miranda asked.
"We just have to hope they do", Toby answered, examining the scar he had discovered on his lower calf. It was small and made him think it was a wound caused by something being thrown or shot at him, but why or how he had received it in the first place was as unknown as with everyone else's injuries.
"This is quite a different adventure from the one we'd expected", Tessa sighed and leaned back against the bed. "We were expecting to have a meet-up, head to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, be all nostalgic and crazy and geeky and then it would be back home again."
Miranda smiled sadly in agreement.
"How old are we now, by the way?" Toby asked. "Last I remember it was 2017 and I was twenty-two years old, then we're back here and it's 2014 so I guess that'd make me nineteen, but now we find out that we have lost several months, maybe even a year or more..."
"No, stop, that's all too confusing", Tessa groaned.
"We need something to do while we wait for the others", Miranda decided and rose from the chair. "I'll head across the street to the diner me and Jade spotted when we got here while you two come up with a game of some kind that we can play. Alright?"
"Fine, just bring back something good to eat", Tessa said.
"I'll bring what I can find", Miranda answered before she hurried downstairs. Before exiting the house she made sure that she indeed had her wallet on. Once she had confirmed this she wrapped her cardigan tighter around her and headed outside, the chill of Maine hitting her head on. If the calendar on the wall had been turned to the right month that meant it was March here right now and she would not be surprised if the temperature was down beneath 0 degrees Celcius. The fact that she was wearing a cardigan was another clue to them actually not having been transported directly from Orlando to here as she did not remember wearing one when visiting the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
The street was empty of cars and made for an easy crossing. Upon entering the diner she found it filled with people. No one looked at her as if she was different, however; it would seem they were a bit disoriented as well, and considering the vast amount of fairytales that existed it would be impossible for them to recognize everyone.
"Can I help you?" a young woman with brown hair and red highlights asked from behind the counter.
"Yes, I'd like some food to bring with me", Miranda answered.
"Just random food or something a bit more specific?" the woman asked with a smile. Miranda blushed.
"Well, what would you recommend?"
"How many are you?" the woman asked.
"Three", Miranda answered. "Well, we're expecting six more to turn up, so make it nine."
"Wow, that's quite a company", the woman said with a new smile. "I can make a set of sandwiches for you to bring along, different kinds, of course."
"Yes, that'd be great."
The woman immediately set to work, chopping vegetables and preparing slices of meat. While waiting Miranda looked around the diner. In the back of her mind she knew it was a futile attempt to possibly jog her memory, but no matter how hard she looked she could not find anything familiar.
"There, all done", the woman said, drawing her attention once more.
"Thank you so much", Miranda said. "How much..."
"It's on the house", the woman answered. "Granny and I have agreed not to charge customers until we figure out what's going on. I'm Ruby, by the way."
"Miranda."
Ruby smiled and was about to say something else when the door to the diner opened and a stout man with a black and grey beard entered.
"Big news, everybody!" he shouted. Everyone immediately turned towards him, all ears. Miranda knew better than to act like she did not understand what was going on and thus did the same.
"Emma found Regina", the man continued. "She was holed up in her office working on a potion."
"What kind of potion?" a man with glasses and a scarf asked, rising from a chair by the bar.
"Was she going to hurt us?" another man asked.
"A memory potion", the man by the door answered, walking further inside the diner. "Regina said she's going to use it to prove that she didn't cast the curse."
"Like I'd drink anything she handed me", an old woman said, her voice dripping with hatred.
"Well, somebody will!" the man shouted. "And if they remember, we'll know exactly who did this to us."
With those words the diner was suddenly bustling with activity and when Miranda turned back towards Ruby she found her gone, off talking to the old woman. The door chimed again and Miranda turned, watching as a woman with red hair walked down to the road in a hurry. She frowned; why would somebody leave the diner in such a hurry right now? A shiver passed down her spine and she shrugged, before she grabbed the paper bag with the sandwiches, managed to wave goodbye to Ruby and then head back out and across the street.
"Tell me again why we should be looking for things inside a hospital?" Jade asked.
"Well, it's a long shot, but our journey here wasn't exactly pleasurable", Rachel answered as she walked first down the corridor. "You told me you landed together with Miranda, and Chris, Tessa, Wolf and Indira also landed together, as did me, Filipi and Toby. Logically that means the others did not end up alone, but what if one of them was injured when landing?"
"Then the other one would bring them here", Chris filled in. He had hardly finished speaking when the doors behind them burst open and a group of nurses came rushing through the corridor. Rolling between them was a bier on wheels with an injured man.
"Out of the way!" one of them shouted, causing the trio to jump aside.
"What are you doing here?" a man walking behind the nurses asked as he spotted them. "I thought Emma told you to stay at Granny's."
"Well, we would have if we didn't realize something had happened to us as well", Rachel responded, falling into steps next to the man. "Long story short we seem to have been transported through time and have also managed to lose our memories of what happened during the last three months, at least."
"Wait, who's this?" Chris asked.
"I'm David", the man answered.
"Doesn't tell us much", Jade said. "Who's the injured guy?"
"Little John", David responded. Chris' mouth fell open.
"Seriously? You've got Robin Hood as well?"
"He would be the guy up there", another man said. He was dressed differently than the others, more like someone stepping right out of a fairytale. The fact that he also had a hook for a hand, which he now used to point at the man walking closest to the bier, sort of gave away who he might be.
"So, Captain Hook and Robin Hood in the same room", Jade said. "Who would have thought?"
"What did this to him?" a man in a long white coat, obviously a doctor, asked.
"We don't know", David answered. They had now entered a patient ward and the bier was placed in the centre, allowing the nurses to stand around the wounded man. He was shaking violently.
"He's going into shock!" one of the nurses shouted.
"We need to sedate him", the doctor ordered. Little John suddenly gave a scream and a long, black tail whipped out from beneath him. Everyone in the room seemed to inhale sharply in shock. The next moment the tail whipped away the needle meant to sedate him, sending the doctor stumbling backwards in the process.
"John!" the man pointed out as Robin Hood shouted. David moved forward, grabbing Little John's shoulders in an attempt to hold him down.
"Look out!" Rachel suddenly shouted, pushing him aside as something else appeared, striking against the man. Instead it now sent her and a nearby nurse crashing into a shelf filled with medicines.
"Rachel!" Chris and Jade shouted as one, moving to help their friend but instead being sent in the opposite direction by something black.
"Bloody hell!" Captain Hook cried out, having also been flung to the floor. He now quickly moved Robin out of harm's way as the tail aimed their way once more.
"John!" Robin called again, desperately hoping he could still reach his friend. David looked around and saw Rachel sitting up, grimacing slightly. She did not seem to be severely hurt, or at least she was not unconscious. Then he heard the strangest chatter and turned around, noticing that everyone else in the room did the same.
On the bier there was no sign of Little John. Instead a creature with black and silvery fur, a long, black tail and huge, black wings rose on it. As it straightened out they could all see that it was a monkey.
"Okay, I didn't see that coming", David admitted as he slowly got to his feet. The monkey then screamed at them, a scream mostly resembling the sound of someone dragging their fingernails across a blackboard and thus causing them all to shrink back and, at least partially, cover their ears. It flapped its wings and pushed the bier away, levitating in front of them for a few more moments before it turned and soared through the room, crashing through the window at the far end and disappearing in the darkness that had now fallen over the town.
"What the hell was that thing?" David asked.
"Don't look at me", the doctor said. "I'm a doctor, no a vet."
"Am I the only one who saw a monkey with wings?" Chris asked.
"No, definitely not", Rachel said and grimaced as she rose. She touched the back of her head and her hand came back covered in blood. This caused one of the nurses to quickly force her to sit down on a nearby bed so that they could take a look at it.
"How did he even... become like that?" Jade asked. "He just... he was transformed. Bones and flesh and hair and clothes and... everything."
Okay, so that's the batch for now. More coming in a couple of hours!