[center][h2]Sasha Koslova[/h2][/center]

"Ngh..."

Last Sasha could recall, it had been late evening, the kitchen warm and full of the scent of a freshly-cooked pot of stew. But as she opened her eyes, the sun was long since set, the air now cool around her and the aromas of her earlier endeavours long since faded.

“Must have been more tired than I thought,” she grunted to herself, as she her elbows to lift herself off the table she was slumped over. She remembered now; Nic and Kat were away for the evening, one on a school trip and the other staying at a friend’s. Dad was meant to be home this weekend, so with free run of the house afforded to her, she’d caught up on some outstanding chores- the others had been a little sloppy as of late- and put on some stew to welcome him back.  She must have dozed off at some point, and the clock on the kitchen’s wall confirmed it was coming up on half eleven. That was no real problem; the stew would keep if she got it in the fridge as soon as possible, it wasn’t so ungodly an hour that staying up a bit longer would tank her sleep schedule, and there was still half an hour until-

She jolted fully upright. 

[i]“Гавно!”[/i] She belted out, jumping up from the table and making for her room. She’d meant to go to the store earlier to pick up an order that had come in for dad, but had decided to put it off until she was caught up with the housework. Now she was half an hour out from closing time, staring down the end of the day with nothing to show but a slightly creased sweater where she’d fallen asleep on the counter!

The store wasn’t too far away, she thought to herself as she opened her closet and pulled out her coat. The main roads were a long trek, but she knew her way through the in-betweens and alleys that offered a shortcut, and so long as she minded her own business and ran there she could make it up to Mr. Jacobs for the last minute drop-in later. Dad had been working so hard for them, least she could do was make sure his package was here for him when he got back in the morning.

A few minutes later, and she was back in the hall, getting her shoes on. Her phone was on the table by the front door, charging; she’d have been perfectly happy sticking with her old flip-top, but Nic and some of her friends had point-blank forced her to upgrade when they bought her the smartphone. She hadn’t been happy at the time, but it seemed like it was finally going to start being something more than a [i]distraction[/i]. She could load up the receipt now while she was still on the wi-fi, have the number ready as soon as she got in. Her fingers quickly and blindly worked at the screen as she pulled the door open, clicking at the first email that came up as she stepped out into the light and closed the door behind her-

---

... Wait, [i]light[/i]? It was coming up midnight, why was it suddenly as bright as day?

She turned around, looking either side of her. Gone was the front of her house, and the cool darkness of the midwestern night. Instead, she found herself in what could only be described as an atmosphere of perfect neutrality. All around her was featureless white marble, light and room temperature alike seemingly perfectly perched between warm and cold, and a space that was neither too open or too enclosed; perfectly measured for herself [i]and[/i] the group of people around her.

She looked between them, one by one. She paused.

"... Is this like the movie with the spinning top?" She asked, trying her best to make sense of what was going on around her. Short of an alien abduction, all she could guess is that her dreams had suddenly got a lot weirder; and a [i]lot[/i] more real-feeling.