“YOU KILLED IT!”

“Oh, shut up!”

“You’re not supposed to kill it! It’s thirteen year of bad luck for killing someone. You’re going to die soon!”

“My lifespan is fourteen years.”

“See? You get bad luck for the rest of your life, and then you’ll die!”

Nick opened her eyes cautiously. She was lying on a surprisingly soft and carpeted floor, and her limbs were no longer chained. Everything was a peculiar shade of green, and strange bright spots danced around her vision. Her eyes hurt, and she was plagued with a bad headache.

“Urgh,” she groaned, then shuddered in surprise at her own voice. It was strangely low and cracked, as if she were sick.

“You’re not dead!” a large white rabbit the size of a microwave exclaimed (at least, Nick assumed it was white. Everything looked rather green).

A spotted rabbit next to the first bobbed its head. “I told you it wasn’t dead! Poor thing. I’m Edna and that’s Kor.”

Nick backed away, her eyes wide with fear.

“Oh, you’re scaring it!” Kor snapped. “Don’t you remember? Her memory was wiped. She can’t understand what we’re saying! She has the memory of a newborn rabbit.”

“Aw,” Edna said with disappointment. “I wanted to test my English on a real human. She must remember something. Hi!” she said slowly.

Nick stared at Edna with a look of extreme confusion. Then, taking a deep breath, she began to scream at the top of her lungs, rolling her head around and flailing her arms.

“See?” Kor yelled over the screams, “I told you not to scare her! Oh, poor dear. We aren’t going to harm you.” She hopped forward, attempting to be motherly.

Nick screamed louder, her eyes darting around the room.

“Oh no. Look what you did Edna! You scared the poor thing out of its wits. Now it won’t stop screaming. This is all your fault. Oh dear.” Kor ignored the increasingly loud screams, and approached Nick. “Is there an off button to make it stop? Or—what do you call it—a pressure point?”

“I heard if you slice across its neck it will stop,” Edna suggest snidely.

“That will kill her!”

“It will be your fault then,” Edna said sourly, her nose scrunched as if there was a piece of rotten fish held under it.

“Well—” Kor was suddenly interrupted by a loud roar. Nick stopped screaming immediately.

Everyone turned their eyes toward the wall to Nick’s right. There was a loud thud against it. After a moment of uncertainty, the two rabbits approached the wall. They looked more curious than afraid, and quickly gathered enough courage to touch it with their whiskers.

Suddenly, the wall exploded and blasted both rabbits on to the far wall. They collided and fell unconscious.

“Bam! Bam!” a familiar voice shouted enthusiastically. The two rabbits fell dead unceremoniously. “Ferret, you finish off the remains.”

“Took you long enough,” Nick groaned, trying to mask her pleasure. She stood up and carefully walked around the spilt rabbit gut. “And I rather liked the two rabbits before you killed them. They were more amusing than you.” After a pause, she resumed, “How was my act, by the way. I know you were watching.”

“Splendid!” Exflibberaguil replied, grinning. “Your scream especially. Bought me some time. It really irritated those high-class rabbits that speak Rabbish. Their language revolves around precise tones and pitches. To them, your scream was like chalk on chalkboard.”

“Nails. Nails on chalkboard.”

“That’s what I said. Now, aren’t you going to ask how I got out?”

Nick shrugged. “Through the ceiling, I presume.”

Exflibberaguil’s face fell. “Uh…”

“I was going to tell you,” Nick continued smugly, “but I was taken away. I am a little confused though. I expected they were going to drop me down by now.”

“They were too busy chasing me and ferret. Ferret found me as soon as I escaped from the ceiling.” Exflibberaguil held his large gun proudly. “Got this from one of the guards. It’s a little difficult to operate because it is meant for rabbits, but I figured it out. Shame I have to leave it behind though. It’s out of explosives.”

Nick nodded. “I see then. I assume you fiddled with your memory machine last time I erased my memory?”

Exflibberaguil grinned toothily.

“Well, now that that’s all sorted out,” Nick said, standing up and stretching, “how do you suppose we get down from here? And excuse me if I’m wrong, but I think I hear rabbits coming this way very quickly.”

“THIS…THIS ISN’T WHERE THE PARKING LOT IS, DOC.”

“I know, Timothy!”

“Then where is the parking lot then?”

“I’m trying to find out!”

Timothy groaned. “You went the wrong way in the beginning, didn’t you. We’re lost, and my phone’s out of battery and you’re phone is charging in the car. You should of gone the other way when you were leaving Oakley.”

“It wouldn’t have made for a dramatic exit,” the doctor muttered.

They circled around a sign that read ‘Treck Street.’ “Ah ha!” the doctor exclaimed. “I recognize this!”

“That’s what you said to ‘Park Avenue.’”

“That was a mistake.”

“And ‘Ridge Road,’ ‘Jefferson Boulevard’, ‘Decade Street,’ ‘Eisenhower—‘”

“All right! All right! I get your point!” The doctor waved his arms in frustration. “But I think I know Treck. It’s a gut instinct.”

Timothy glared. “My gut tells me to go back down Park Avenue and visit that bakery that smelled so good as we walked by. I’m hungry. It’s about time you give up on that horrible pride of yours and ask for directions.”

“No! I know my way—”

But Timothy had already walked away. “Er, excuse me ma’am,” he said apologetically, “but do you know the way to—”

The woman screamed and ran away.

Timothy was taken aback. “Gee, do I look that bad without showering for one day?”

Suddenly, Treck Street erupted with screams and people running. A few pulled out their phones and began taking videos. Timothy raised his head.

It was a spectacular sight. Two kids were descending rapidly, a sort of futuristic umbrella above them. The main source of the screams came from them.

“Make way!” one of them screamed.

But it was too late. By the time Timothy was able to react, they collided. Timothy felt his head hit the ground hard. The doctor rushed to his aid.

“I’m sorry!” one of the kids squeaked, her voice low but feminine.

“Me too!” the other, a boy, repeated.

“The weather’s beautiful!” said the girl.

“Splendid!”

“Amazing!”

“So we thought it was—”

“A good day to—”

“To, um—”

“Parachute!”

“That’s right! Parachute! Love it!” The boy fumbled at the clasps that held them to their futuristic umbrella.

“The excitement!” the girl panted. “Fun! Great fun. We were just testing out our new parachute! We have to go now. I’m sorry!”

Timothy opened his eyes. “Hey wait!” he yelled hoarsely.

The girl turned around, her black eyes fixed on him.

“Hey, it’s you!” Timothy yelled. “The girl on the posters!”