People. Well, they seemed normal other than the strange and seemingly heavy clothing they wore. But wait a minute. Why were these people holding opened umbrellas? In a building? With a roof? Charlie raised her eyebrows and stepped out of the elevator. It was then when she realized why.
"What in the world?..."
She flinched when she felt something cool and wet land on her cheek. Charlie raised a finger. Water, it was water.
"Rain?" Charlie muttered, slowly lifting her eyes.
'From the ceiling?'
Apparently, there was no ceiling. The only thing up there was cumulonimbus clouds, gray and foreboding. She raised her hand to catch a droplet.
'Huh? When did I have such pretty hands?'
Charlie was sure that her hands were short and pudgy, which gave her a hard time typing on a large keyboard at work. Although they were slightly small, like the hands of a kid, the fingers were long and slender with slight calluses in the fingertips. Mark of a musician maybe? In fact, she thought about quitting her job and making a living as a hand model instead.
"Miss?"
Charlie was too captivated by her newfound beauty to hear.
"Miss Lierendi?!"
"Who?" Charlie turned around. But… Nobody was there. All the people with their strange clothing and opened umbrellas were gone. Even the rain stopped. A ceiling that hung a glass chandelier and elegantly adorned tables took their place.
'What the… Weird things keep happening to me today.'
Now she was convinced that she was hallucinating. Charlie chewed her lip.
'Maybe I've been too stressed out lately. I swear, when I get home, I'm going straight to bed.'
(* DING! *)
"There she is! Close off all the exits!"
Charlie looked around for a way to escape. But too late. Before she could even ready herself into a sprint they already blocked off all the exits.
'Ah, they might actually catch me this time!'
Charlie's eyes darted left and right.
'Think, Charlie. Think!'
Her eyes landed on a door used only for employees. A police guard was stationed six feet away from there. If Charlie flipped a table to use as an obstacle for the guard, she might make it. And from there, she might actually escape!
'Okay. That's what I'm going to do. 1... 2... 3!'
Charlie rushed over to a table and flipped it according to the plan. Caught by surprise, the guard stumbled over while trying to catch her.
'Heheh, that's what you get!'
She was just inches away from the door, she was going to make it! Charlie reached out to push the door open.
"Stop."
Charlie stopped and gulped. Something about his voice made Charlie know deep inside that if she didn't obey, something terrible might happen. She heard a click.
"Good. Now turn around slowly…"
Charlie started to turn, her face turning pale.
"I said slowly." The police guard said. Then, shot the gun a foot away from her. Charlie jumped.
'My supposed crime isn't bad enough to include a gun, right?'
Charlie's knees started to wobble. It took her everything to keep standing.
"Hands up in the air. Now."
She did as she was commanded. The police man pulled out his walkie talkie.
"We surrounded the criminal,"
'Criminal? So what? "Illegally haggling" marks you as a criminal, while stealing money doesn't?'
"On standby for further instructions."
After mustering up her courage, Charlie used this temporary distraction to make a break for it.
"Stop now. This is my last warn-"
Charlie didn't hear the last bit since she was already past the employee door. She sprinted through the bustling kitchen and pushed past the confused employees. When she glanced behind her, Charlie accidentally bumped into a male employee carrying a large silver platter with a delicious scent wafting out, causing him to spill all the contents out on the floor.
"I'm so very sorry. But I can't afford to waste any time."
She muttered. Although the employee gave her a confused look that begged for explanations, she continued running. This was definitely not the time to slow down. After opening the opposite employee-only door, Charlie found herself face-to-face with the same police guard from earlier. A black pistol closing in the distance. He cocked the gun back.
"AH!"
Instinctively, she shut her eyes and flung her hands up to protect her face.
"Miss? What are you doing?"
'Huh? What do you think I'm doing? Do you really think I want to get shot in the face? And what's with the honorifics?'
Charlie slightly opened her eyes.
"Miss, we should get going now."
'Just what is this guy talking about?'
Now that she thought about it, this voice was more affectionate as if he were talking to someone he respected and cared about.
She lowered her hands.
The pistol disappeared and now there was a little boy with shaggy dark reddish-brown hair. He had a face of subtle beauty which greatly contradicted that of the stern police guard's.
Charlie relaxed a little after seeing his somewhat handsome face that was speckled with freckles. But the eyes. His eyes were a striking shade of amber that seemed to glow. Not in a spooky way, but like daylight lightly shining on golden honey.
The boy tugged on her right hand and gave her a worried expression.
"Miss, please. We really must be going now."
Charlie noticed the growing apprehensiveness in his tone.
"Miss, please."
She gave in.
"Alright, alright. Let's go- "
'Where are we going though?'
Without warning, something that sounded much like an air raid horn blared. Charlie felt the atmosphere darken and began to feel unsettled herself. The crowd around her, that she didn't notice before, hurriedly scattered in different directions until they vanished from sight. Charlie looked around her.
'Is this a public town square?'
"This way, miss! Hurry!"
The little boy tugged her hand again in the direction he was pointing at. Lily started to walk but her body felt somewhat heavy.
'I definitely don't remember wearing a dress like this. Anyway, I don't think this is the time to be recalling things.'
She pulled up her skirts with one hand and allowed him to lead her with the other. They were also hurrying down the plaza until she heard whistling near her. Charlie turned around and looked up, her eyes widening.
'No… It can't be…'
(* BOOM! *)
Charlie could hear a buzzing sound mixed with nearby screaming, shouting, and... Someone crying? With much difficulty, she sat up.
'Ugh, my everything hurts… My head feels like it's going to rip itself apart.'
Her sight was blurry with white specks but she could see a bright orange and the outlines of people frantically running about. She looked around but the boy was nowhere to be found.
"Lady Charlotte? Lady Charlotte?!"
She coughed. It was getting harder to breathe.
(* Thump, thump, thump, thump. *)
She heard rhythmic footsteps running towards her and felt hands stand her up. After finding her balance, she gently pushed the hands off.
"Hank you wery much but I'm f-fine." She slurred.
Charlie started to walk.
'Ughhhh, I feel so dizzy. Am I even walking straight?'
She stumbled a little.
'Jesus f*ck, I must look like a drunk.'
"We need to bring her Ladyship back to the mansion immediate-"
Another booming sound drowned out the command. The last thing she remembered was feeling a great pain on the side of her head.
"Lady Charlotte!"
Then, everything went black.