No Going Back

William spun around when he heard the door slam. There wasn't even any kind of breeze, yet it shut quite furiously. He quickly grabbed the handle and pulled the door back open, raising his eyebrows at the sight. The hallway was gone. Instead, behind the door was a closet. A fairly average looking but decently large walk-in closet. It wasn't huge but it was packed with an array of colors, patterns, and fabrics.

William was a logical man, his dedication to science and empiricism had hardened him against strong emotional reactions. But at the moment he was trying very hard not to panic. The hallway was gone, and with it any path back to his lab. He closed the door and quickly opened it again, hoping that might reset whatever portal he had passed through. But nothing happened, the closet remained a closet.

And the worry about getting home was being replaced with a more immediate concern: getting out of this room. This was very clearly a teenage girl's room, and William was very clearly an adult man - and it's not like he had any believable explanation for being here. He had to get out before anybody saw him. He went to the window, only to find that this room was on the second floor. And even if he did manage to get down without breaking a leg, it was apparently a nice day out and plenty of people in the neighborhood were out and about.

His analytical mind made a note of that - he wasn't sure where he was, or if he was even in the same city where he lived. But it looked at least vaguely suburban-American. That would be something to figure out once he got out of this house.

His only hope now was that nobody else was in this house. Maybe he could sneak out the back. But those hopes were dashed when he heard a voice calling from downstairs.

"Maddie, honey, are you ready to go? Ashley's going to be here any minute! You better not be late again!"

Oh no. Someone else was here! And did he know that voice? William thought it sounded familiar but it was sort of muffled and he couldn't place it. He froze, not sure what to do.

"Madison, I'm not going to tell you again!" the voice yelled, this time sounding closer as William heard footsteps on a stairway. "How long does it take to pick out an outfit? You'd better be dressed and ready to go!"

No... no no. They were coming toward this room! He had nowhere to go. This was a completely surreal situation and his instincts to run or even hide were short circuiting. So he just stood there, like a deer in headlights. His heart felt like it was in a vise, his head was spinning, and was the room getting darker? Nope, that was tunnel vision. And the tunnel was getting narrower. William knew he was about to pass out, but couldn't do anything about it.

The last thing he saw before it went dark was the door swinging open, and a blurry figure standing on the other side.