Eliza hadn't gotten to know Alicia very well in the time they'd known one another, but... something was definitely off about her behaviour. For a start, she was always so gloomy, and yet every once in a while she'd look off into the distance and act like she'd seen something horrific. When Eliza had looked, there wasn't anything there. She was starting to suspect that Alicia was hallucinating, honestly. It would expin a lot... but it certainly wouldn't expin this.This was the death train. This is the train you ride because you're going to pass on, there's no mistake about it, and yet Alicia was practically dancing in her skin. She pyfully ran from booth to booth, greeting the different passengers on the train, most of whom were, certainly, happier than Eliza was... but still nowhere near as ecstatic as Alicia.She finally came running back to Eliza, beaming, "Well, looks like he's not here. Fantastic. This is a great day."Eliza furrowed her brow, "Alicia, you're dead. You know that, right? Dead. D. E. A. D. Dead. Not alive anymore.""I know, Eliza," She said, "You don't have to rub it in."Eliza paused, "Hold on, but you're meant to have forgotten me. How do you know who I am?""How couldn't I? You're one of my only friends."Well there was a depressing thought, "I... okay. Well, anyway, that's not important right now. Why are you acting so hyper, I feel like I need to keep telling you that we're dead."Alicia's grin widened, "I know. And that means he's not here!"With that, she ran to the back of the carriage and power-slid into a booth seat.

  ***

  "Rachel?" Kiera asked, "No- no, you're Alicia. Alicia, what happened?"J looked at her for a moment, then at Faith."Hm," He said, "Do you think it's possible that some kind of multiversal event has occurred, do you think perhaps you were sucked into a wormhole? Where Faith, Alicia and you, Kiera, have vibrated at a frequency that has pushed you from your home worlds? That would expin your knowledge of my non-existent sister, Alicia's sudden change in name, and the disappearance of this Eliza girl."Faith turned to give him a confused look, "What did any of that mean?"J looked at her, "What?""What you just said.""Did I say something? I was so distracted by your beauty."Kiera cpped her hands together, "I think we'd all be better off not questioning the weird stuff right now unless it can help us find our friends. For all we know, it's aliens trying to fuck with us. Rachel, was it?"Rachel nodded, "That's right. What are you all doing in my house, anyway?""We're looking for a friend of ours. Looks a lot like you. Name's Alicia. Ring any bells?"She pointed at him, "He looks like me. A bit.""Who?"He pinched his nose, "They can't see me. And what's with this Rachel business?"Kiera narrowed her eyes at him, "No, no, that's not who I'm talking about.""Wait," Said Faith, "Is there somebody up there?""I'll tell you about it ter, Faith. Look, if you don't know who Alicia is, what about Eliza?""Eliza... oh! I met an Eliza once, but she didn't want anyone to know that. I didn't want anyone to know she met me either for some reason.""And when was this?""Oh, about five years ago?"Faith rolled her eyes, "Well, that's no help. At least you're... sort of.. okay. Maybe we should start looking for Heidi, Kiera."Kiera shook her head, "What? No, we need to help Alicia- uh, Rachel, figure out what's going on.""I might have an answer for that, actually... but I'll tell you outside. Sorry for the intrusion, Rachel, feel free to uh, get back to your day."Rachel smiled at them in a way that felt uncanny, and only J smiled back as the three of them left.

  ***

  Darkness.

  Deep, deep, she fell. She's used to this. This is normal. Into the inky bck, where the void consumes your body like liquid.

  Further. Deeper.

  Her soul shines as she falls further and further away. More. She needs more. As soon as she's back, she has to make more.

  Enough to break the cycle.

  Falling further and further, she found herself in a ke, which was lit up by her naked body's incandescent white glow. Heidi shook the bck water off and walked onto the shore, the grass beneath her feet the same pitch bck as everything else in this pce. It didn't matter to her, though. She didn't need her eyes to see. She knew her way around.Her feet touched the cement of the footpath, and she walked along the ke until she found her bench.Okay, she pondered aloud, So that wasn't the best batch.