"ANNA. ANNA. WAKE UP."
Second time in as many days I've heard those words. This time, though, the voice is high-pitched and tinny. Like one of those munchkins in the Wizard of Oz.
Something shakes my shoulders. "Come on. It's over. Wake up."
I don't want to wake up. Wherever I am is quiet, peaceful. No pain. No noise. No light. No hunger. Over the rainbow?
"Am I in heaven?"
The laugh is loud. Rude, even.
I burrow deeper into whatever I'm lying on and refuse to open my eyes.
"You're crushing me. Get up."
Suddenly, I'm aware of movement. Beneath me. Something is squirming, trying to escape.
Oh my god. Am I back in that motel room in Santee? Have I done it again?
I pop one eye open, fight back a wave of nausea and spy an unfamiliar face with bright red hair.
I have done it again. This time with-what? This guy looks a little strange and the length of his body stops somewhere just below my waist.
I screwed a midget?
The nausea is stronger, forcing me to squeeze my eyes shut again. Still, the spinning continues. It's like the horrible, out of control feeling from a bad drunk just before you pass out-or throw up.
"Don't even think about it."
The voice screeches in my ear.
I jump up and away. A midget in a bright green jumpsuit stares at me. How did I get in that movie?
"Thank the gods."
"What?"
He frowns. "Will you snap out of it?" He waves a hand. "See where we are?"
I tear my eyes off the face of the munchkin long enough to sneak a look around.
We're in the middle of a dirt road. There's a car with a smashed front end-
A flash of recognition. The car? I touch my cheek. The skin feels rough, and it tingles.
A memory hovers just out of reach.
I shake my head. Concentrate.
The midget stirs. "Come on. I have places to go, things to do. I can't wait here all day."
"Listen, Casper-" That automatic response snaps everything into place.
It must show on my face because Casper-er, Avatoar- grins. "At last. Jeez, Anna. It doesn't usually take so long for a vamp to come back. You were really out of it."
I arch my back, working out a vicious kink. "I thought you said that would only hurt a little?"
He shrugs. "If I told you it would hurt like a son of a bitch, would you have agreed to try?"
His tone, his expression, his very words are certainly different from the rather ethereal character who used to tell me things like "don't forget who you are."
I raise an eyebrow. "Who are you and what have you done with the real Casper?"
He answers with a withering look.
I approach the front of the car. Cautiously. Don't want to bounce off the damned wall again. A tentative probe confirms that, as I suspected, I'm now on the other side of the barrier.
There's a hole at my feet. Big enough for the two of us to have squeezed through.
"Want to tell me how you did that?"
"Pretty obvious isn't it?"
I look from the hole to Avatoar. "You mean we tunneled under the barrier?"
He makes his hands flutter. "More like bored under."
That explains the heat and friction. "Why aren't my clothes torn or my skin?"
"I could protect us from some of the effects of the vortex. Unfortunately, not the pain."
"I noticed." I kick at the dirt. "Well, what now?"
Avatoar doesn't answer.
I turn around.
I'm alone.
I do a complete three sixty. Casper is nowhere in sight.
I'm not surprised or angry. He did his part. Got me where I needed to be. But-
I wave a hand at the sky. Wait, Casper. I have a question for you.
For a moment, there's no answer. Then, Make it quick. I said I have places to go.
How did you find out about me? In the beginning, with the Revengers?
Casper's laugh floats back to me like music on a summer breeze. Jeez, Anna. I would have thought a smart cookie like you would've figured it out by now.
Figured what out?
That the Watchers may not be the only game in town. Bye, Anna. And good luck.