The Land of the In-Between

They were running breathlessly in the night. The school hallways looked haunted in the dark, illumined only by emergency lights. Kara felt tired, but she also felt that if she stopped running, something bad was going to happen. Mary was in front of her, grabbing her hand harshly.

"Where are we going?" Kara asked. She was panting for air already. "Shut up!" Mary shouted back, and then she came to an abrupt stop. Kara ran into her, knocking her off balance. When the pair finally got back on their feet, Mary put her finger to her lips in a shushing position.

They were standing at an intersection between the hallway and another stairwell leading to the second floor. Mary tiptoed a little past the rail of the stairwell and looked up into the darkness. Kara stayed behind, crouched behind Mary. Then she felt a light tap on her shoulder.

She shakily turned her head, to face a deformed creature with no eyes and no nose, but which appeared to have been human once. Kara let out a scream, "Mary!"

All at once, as if something had been awakened in the dark, hordes of the faceless creature swarmed around them.

"I told you to shut up!" Mary said angrily.

"I'm so sorry! I don't want to die," Kara cried, running back to Mary, who immediately took hold of her hand and began to cut through the swarm as they both ran as fast as they could."What do you mean? Third time's the charm," Mary told her as she sliced the monsters with her blade in her other hand.

In the distance, Kara could espy that there was one exit open after all, and if they could just get there---

BAM! The exit shut itself, and Kara felt herself losing hope.

"Hold on!" Mary told her. To what? Kara thought.

With one swift movement, Mary sliced through the air in front of her, and leapt into the gaping hole in what appeared to be the fabric of reality. Kara, without a second thought, leapt in with her. Then they began to fall. Kara looked up to see that the creatures were peeking through the hole but weren't following them. 

"They can't go through here," Mary said without elaborating further. After what felt like ages, they landed on soft ground covered with tall grass. There was a large moon above them.

Kara looked around. It was a vast grassland. She could see some way off stone statues of people by trees with small pink flowers. Mary walked the other way, towards a bunch of logs laid out in a circle around a fire. Kara awkwardly followed her and sat beside her on one of the logs.

"So..." Kara began, "Can I start asking questions now?"

"You're safe here."

"But where exactly is 'here'?"

"We're on the Moon Pad."

Kara gestured wildly around her. "Okay, and??"

"And you owe me your lives."

"But I don't even know why!" Kara kicked a heap of dust in front of her. She was so angry. This was supposed to be the life she's never lived, the life she's always wanted, now unbridled at her fingertips...but then something weirder comes along, and now she's stuck with the school loser in another dimension.

"If you really want to know," Mary said exasperatedly, "You're an anomaly, just like the rest of us. You weren't supposed to live again, and yet, here you are."

"Who's 'the rest of us'?"

From the corner of her eye, Kara could see shadows meekly coming out from their hiding places. The stone figures from the other side of the plain shed their camouflage and came forward as normal-looking people. Kara tensed up a bit, afraid that this was going to be another chase, but she saw that Mary didn't seem bothered.

As they came to the light, Kara could see them clearly--people old and young, all wearing attires from different time periods, from different places.

"We've all got a story to us," Mary said, "Some were reincarnated, just like you. Some were born during the apocalypse. Some of us are so powerful they were called gods in their time. Some of us can travel through different dimensions."

"So what is this then, the sad misfits club?"

"You could say that," Mary said, without even trying to rebut her insult, "We were never meant to exist. But we do, and that's why normal people have written about us. They think we're fiction, when they're actually not that far off from the truth."

"If we were never meant to exist...then why do we?"

"Because we do. We are born in the world with our abilities just like anyone is born in the world. I say that we aren't meant to exist, because of the Cleaners. They're paid by an extremist group that believes that only 'normal' people have a right to this world."

"Our classmate a while ago--was he a Cleaner?"

"You betcha."

"But if the Cleaners have powers too, why do they obey those people? And who are these people anyway?" 

"It's complicated. The Cleaners have been promised clemency, although they've been doing some cleaning inside their organization as well. The people who run the show...it's a large network of bigwigs and powerful people in high places. But the head honcho, well, we're yet to find out who he really is." 

"Where do I fit in all of this?" Kara asked, still confused. She saw Mary roll her eyes, "This is much bigger than you, actually, but I've long sensed that one of the students in that area is one of us, so I thought I'd do you a favor and swing by to help you out."

"I'm sorry."

"No problem. It's a lot to take in."

"What do I do now?" Kara said helplessly, "Where do I go? Do I stay here?"

"This is the Land of the In-Between, Kara, none of us stay here for any longer than we have to, or we'd go mad. No, you have to go back home."

"But what if that Cleaner shows up again!"

"He won't. We already know who he is. He'll bide his time, though, and wait for the next moment to strike. Take this," Mary took Kara's hand and placed an ivory blade in it, "For protection. Keep it in a hilt or something."

Kara wondered how her grandmother would react to her wielding a sharp object at home, but she gratefully accepted the gift.

"I'll take you home," Mary said. Kara followed her to an altar with stone angels. Mary slashed the space between them with her blade, and another portal opened to Kara's bedroom.

"Goodnight," Mary said.

---

The next day was like any other day. Kara reluctantly went to school, where she was greeted by everyone, her council mates and boyfriend included, as if nothing had happened. They did seem to notice she was restlessly looking around for someone, and were surprised when she immediately waved at Mary Rafael across the cafeteria at lunch.

"Babe, are you crazy?" Will whispered in her ear. But Kara ignored him and continued signalling frantically at Mary, who timidly took a seat at their table. She stood out, in all the wrong ways. Her uniform, though neat, looked as if it had been handed down from one person to another. Her frizzy hair was tied back with a scrunchie so that her round face protruded visibly. She adjusted her glasses as she smiled at Kara and her friends.

"What's all this about? Anybody need their Calculus homework done?" Kara noticed that though her voice was awkward and mellow, Mary was shooting her daggers with her eyes. What are you doing? she seemed to say.

"Everyone. From now on, Mary is part of this group. Last night, Mary---"

"Oh my goodness! Look at the time! Kara, you said you wanted to have your book report proofread before you submitted it today." Mary said through her teeth. Kara looked at her perplexedly, before realizing what she was doing.

"Oh...oh yeah. Excuse us for a sec."

"What are you doing?" Mary finally said when she pulled Kara forcibly to a corner.

"I'm trying to make it up to you. To thank you, for saving my life," Kara began, but Mary stopped her, "You think making me a part of your little high school clique will repay me? What the--" but she cut herself short and suddenly looked across the cafeteria. Kara followed her gaze, and was surprised to see that someone was also looking in their direction.

The Cleaner from last night.

He was one of the high school bullies, a flunky who had been repeating the same subjects for years. He was a walking stereotype of a tall, tough-built bully who flipped over the smaller kids for their lunch money. He was smiling sinisterly at them.

"We have to run, Mary."

"No. He won't dare cause a scene here. His bosses would have his head if he did. This is just a warning. We know who he is, and he knows who we are. A secret for a secret."

Mary's eyes flitted back to Kara.

"Keep a low profile."

Kara nodded.

---

The rest of the day was uneventful and quiet, which Kara was thankful about. There was no trouble from the Cleaner who had attacked her last night, and Mary completely ignored her in class.

On the way home, Will drove Kara back to her place, Will going on about some boring game, and Kara distractedly watching the side mirrors for anything that might be following them.

"Kara? Kara!" Will said. Kara jumped. "You okay?" he asked her worriedly.

"Of course," she smiled at him and kissed him gently, "I'm just tired. See you tomorrow."

When Will left, she opened the door and entered the quiet little house. She was surprised to find that Mary was there, having a chat with Roselle.

"Kara! You didn't tell me you were tutoring classmates now too," Roselle said, "She's a very bright girl."

"She really is, and really kind too," Mary laughed, "She's helped me a lot. Thank you so much for keeping me company while I wait."

"Alright, I'll leave you two alone now." Roselle stood up and disappeared into the kitchen. Kara immediately rushed to Mary's side.

"Thank goodness you're here!" she said, "I was so scared the entire day."

"Learn to suck it up, princess," Mary said, her personality having changed completely, "We've got stuff to do."

"Oh! Am I in it with you now?" a rush of excitement temporarily came over Kara.

"Shut up. The thing is, there's another one of us somewhere in this neighborhood," Mary whispered, "And they're just like you. Maybe you can help me find them before the Cleaners do."

Kara nodded, "Tell me what you need me to do."