Across Worlds

Ch 1 - Falling down the rabbit hole

Wren hastily shoved the books for her advanced English literature class into her backpack. She was running late thanks to more drama from her mother. Candace had had Wren young and now insisted on acting like more of a twenty-year-old than her daughter. She had come in late last night, drunk off her ass with some random guy she had met at the bar, and woken Wren up. And then their moaning had kept her awake and she slept through her alarm as a result. She threw her chestnut brown hair into a quick braid over her shoulder, pulled on her favorite sweatshirt showing David Bowie and Jennifer Connolly dancing from the ballroom scene in Labyrinth over her t-shirt and jeans, and slid on her sneakers, making a bee-line for the door.

"Didn't you make coffee?" her mother asked blearily from the doorway of the kitchen as Wren was about to step out.

Ugh, are you fucking kidding me? she thought, not able to stop her eyes from rolling. "No time, mom. You'll have to make it yourself," she replied. You know...like an adult, she added in her head, closing the door on her mother's groan and the beginnings of her curses as to what an ungrateful daughter Wren was. It would go something along the lines of 'I brought you into this world...I raised you...you should respect me.'

She blinked away the tears gathering at the corners of her eyes, not sure if she wanted to cry from anger or sadness. Probably both, she thought bitterly, bypassing the elevator and running down the stairs of their apartment building instead. She scolded herself for the millionth time for getting upset about her mother's behavior. It was the same old song and dance that one would think she'd be used to by now.

The sun was just starting to crest the buildings on the sleepy New England main street of Greenfield Massachusetts, lending a bit of warmth to the crisp early fall air. Wren took a deep breath, trying to shake away the stress of dealing with her mother, and started briskly walking for the bus stop.

It was a short ride to Greenfield Community College, but Wren still pulled her well-worn copy of Pride and Prejudice out of her bag and read a few pages. Working two jobs while trying to put herself through college didn't leave her as much time for pleasure reading as she used to have, but someday it would all be worth it when she would have her own stories in print. She only had two more semesters left in her English degree. She was hoping that the bachelor's degree would be enough for her to get published and then maybe she could use the money from those book sales to get her master's and take off from there.

She stepped off the bus with a slight smile as she made her way down the sidewalk to the academic building, her heart feeling lighter as she let her mind wander into the pleasant daydream of her future. A future in her own place, without her mother's issues. A future of traveling adventures for book promotions, signings and conventions. Maybe even a future with someone who loved her.

The smile quickly fled as a familiar voice came from behind her. "Well, if it isn't the drab little Wren," Tiffany Palmer said acerbically. Greenfield was a small town and Tiffany had gone to high school with Wren. She had been even worse to her there. Tiffany was pretty and popular; thin, blonde, and a cheerleader, with perfect hair and make-up at every moment of the day. Wren had hoped she would've been able to escape her in college, but leave it to Tiffany's jock boyfriend to get a full ride scholarship for basketball to Greenfield. And where Brad went, Tiffany followed.

"Ugh, did you even shower today, neanderthal?" she scoffed at Wren as she came alongside her.

Wow, the bimbo's pulling out the SAT words today, Wren thought sarcastically while replying, "Leave me alone, Tiffany," and doing her best to ignore the preppy bitch. At almost five foot nine inches, Wren was tall for a girl and her features had tended toward a more masculine side with a stronger jawline than most women. Had she bothered to worry about make-up she probably could've contoured things to her advantage and softened her features more, but there honestly wasn't time or money in her life for that. To make things more difficult, one of her jobs at a local stable working with horses meant that she had thicker more muscular thighs and broader shoulders than most women. All things that model-perfect girls like Tiffany never let her forget.

Wren lengthened her stride toward the glass double doors leading into the main academic building, trying to put more distance between herself and Tiffany.

"Always running and hiding, aren't you, loser?!" Tiffany yelled after her.

Wren didn't reply as the doors swung shut behind her and she hurried through the hall to the stairwell, picking up the pace as the bell rang signaling the top of the hour for class. She rounded the first landing to continue down, when her sneaker suddenly missed the next step. She pitched forward, her stomach flying into her throat at the sudden change in her center of gravity. Try as she might, she couldn't regain her balance and went to her knees, tumbling down the stairs. She tried to bring her arms over her head for some protection, but felt the sharp pain of impact as the side of her head hit the edge of one of the concrete steps and the warm stickiness of blood coated her face. Her forward motion stopped not long after that and a bright light came rushing at her. But instead of the white light she would've expected with being knocked unconscious, this light was a bright and twisting neon green. And then there was blackness.