Into the mist

Following the route they'd taken to get there, they walked back toward the university buildings. "I'm so sorry, Olivier, I'm a bit clumsy sometimes. I'm sure you figured that out," Erin said shyly.

"Erin, it's ok. This was an accident," he responded in his silky voice, every ounce steeped in understanding. He gave her a wide grin and put Erin at ease. Finally, they reached the buildings but everything was locked. They looked around the buildings a bit but they couldn't find anyone around to help them.

"What do we do now, Olivier? We can't sleep on the streets, and our luggage is locked in there," as she peered through the glass of the large stone building.

"I'm not sure what to do.." he responded, at which time, a boy, about 13 years old appeared seemingly out of nowhere. He was a bit grubby looking but had a wide-toothed grin and looked like a sweet kid. His blonde hair and blue eyes were shining in the fading sun.

"I can 'elp ya, Miss," he said kindly, "name's Charlie, my mum works in the building, if you'll just follow me, I'll show you where to go."

Olivier looked to Erin and they both appeared puzzled. Neither one seemed to know what to do and so they shrugged and decided to follow the boy. Off they set, following Charlie.

After a couple of minutes of walking, they both noticed that they were feeling a bit strange again, a little like when they had first met. Some of their senses seemed heightened, but others were sort of hazy, a bit like they were walking through a dream. Charlie seemed to be walking more and more quickly and they were struggling to keep up. They passed the neatly-kept homes they'd passed earlier, and when they were approaching the area the bridge had stood, they realized they were surrounded by a thick fog.

Only then, shrouded in a thick mist, where they could only see one another did they realize they could no longer see Charlie. Not only that, they were hopelessly lost. "When had they walked into a forest?" Erin thought to herself and suddenly nothing made sense. The only thing she knew, for sure, was that Olivier was standing with her, and he appeared equally dazed.

"Where did Charlie go?" asked Olivier.

"I have no idea, and I don't even know when we stopped walking with him, do you?" Erin queried.

"This is not good, it's very strange..." he responded.

They took in their situation, surrounded by a pea soup, they had no sense of direction and could only see that they appeared to be deep in a forest, and they both had no idea how they'd gone from the quaint city streets to this point. Neither of them could understand what was going on.