Thomas, who was really Lincoln in disguise, put his arm around Cora lifting her into a sitting position. "Come on, Claire. Rise and shine."

When she was sitting fully upright she stared into the face of the man with the black medical bag. His eyes seemed kind, yet familiar somehow.

"Who’s Claire," she asked curiously. Her eyes mirrored the confusion fogging her brain.

"Oh, my," Jennilee murmured. She shouted toward another man who was walking down the street. "Professor Dunlop! Claire’s gone mental again!"

***

A short time later, Cora found herself inside a medical clinic and someone was pointing a very bright light into her eyes. The situation she found herself in was becoming more annoying by the minute. She wasn’t sure what was worse, this place or the Shadow Realm. This town seemed to be the polar opposite of Hollow Creek. There was sunshine, and a bustling city beyond the windows with cars, a coffee shop, a real estate office. Everything looked -- normal. So she knew there had to be something wrong here. Nothing was normal in Hollow Creek.

"What’s your name?" the man called Professor Dunlop asked. Thomas checked her breathing and Cora found the man’s touch causing her heart to race. His hands moved to her throat checking the lymph nodes in her neck. Cora focused on breathing evenly but found it difficult with Dr. Thomas Gale this close to her.

When he was satisfied with her condition, he sat on a stool opposite her and stared at her intently. He probably wasn’t treating her any differently than any of his other patients but for some reason, his nearness was setting her body aflame. And that condition was one she had never experienced before in the presence of any man.

She focused her attention on Professor Dunlop who had asked her for her name again.

"For the fourth time, my name is Cora Laskey."

Jennilee held a large book with many pages. It looked older than any book she’d ever seen. The professor and the doctor looked toward Jennilee.

"Sorry, guys. I’ve looked three times, and she’s not in there. You’re on your own with this one."

The two men stared at her curiously.

"I’m not sure how to proceed. We’ve never had a question that couldn’t be answered by the Book of Ages," Professor Dunlop said.

"I’m sure that sucks for you, but where in the heck am I? And how did I get here?" Cora asked.

"We don’t know, sugar." Jennilee said quietly. "The others -- we were able to get rid of them because the book showed us how. But you’re a whole different beast all together."

"What Jennilee is trying to say is that you’re the first entity that didn’t try to kill us," Thomas Gale said. The other two visibly relaxed.

"What exactly do you mean by entity?" Cora was getting one of those really bad feelings about this.

The professor shrugged and looked toward Thomas. "Maybe she doesn’t know." His next comment was directed toward Cora. "Have you looked into a mirror since you came to town?"

"You mean since I woke up passed out on the concrete?" The professor nodded. "No, sorry. Haven’t had a lot of time to primp since I came here."

Thomas brought a small mirror and handed it to Cora. The image reflected back to her was not her own! The girl in the mirror could only be fifteen or sixteen with long, wavy blond hair and until this moment she hadn’t realized she was wearing a purple and white cheerleading outfit with the words Hollow High draped across her chest.

"That is not me!" Cora said handing the mirror back to Thomas. "I’m not a blond-haired, blue-eyed cheerleader."

"It really is the oddest thing," Jennilee muttered. "Watching Claire talk and know it’s not her behind the words. Maybe it’s just another aspect of her personality revealing itself."

"Listen, buckette. I don’t have a split personality. I’m just me. Your Claire must be out taking a mental vacation."

"This is more animated than I’ve ever seen her," the professor commented. Both Professor Dunlop and Jennilee inched toward the far side of the room.

"I fear Claire has become a channel for evil!" Jennilee said loudly. "We must not allow the evil to taint our town again!"

Thomas stood between Cora and Jennilee and the Professor. "This entity, as you call her, does not seem evil. Soon she’ll leave like all the others did. Our town is more than safe."

"She is not in the Book of Ages, Thomas. We cannot allow her to stay here. If she escapes, she’ll take the secrets of our town with her. Can’t risk being exposed again. Our town won’t survive a strike like the last time," Jennilee said.

"I know you’re close to Claire, Thomas, but we must sacrifice the one to save the many. I’ll call the Council together." The Professor and Jennilee walked out together.

"This is completely crazy. My dad moved us to Hollow Creek and everything in my world turned upside-down. My dad died. My mother became a human fireball and became half her age. Then I walked through a mirror and faced a shadowy demon in the Shadow Realm. The woman whose place I took inside the mirror is now running around Hollow Creek with my face and I’m stuck here in someone else’s body. I’m having a really bad month."

"Does magic exist in your world - where you come from?" Thomas Gale acted curious even though he already knew the answer. "Before I came to Hollow Creek, I would have told you, ‘no freakin’ way,’ but there’s something different about Hollow Creek. Before we moved there, I looked it up on a map. The town’s not there. Almost like it doesn’t exist."

"Or exists outside your normal dimension," Thomas muttered.

"What was that?" Cora asked curiously.

"Nothing, just -- hypothesizing," Lincoln knew he had to think fast if he wanted to spend some time with Cora here in a relatively neutral setting. He wouldn’t have many opportunities inside the Hollow to do such a thing. "What you suggest is -- intriguing, along the lines of some research I’ve been considering myself."

"Doesn’t really seem like the sort of thing a doctor would be interested in."

"I’m interested in many things, Cora." Thomas said cryptically. "Most of my colleagues think I’m a crack pot due to my supernatural inclinations, but it doesn’t really bother me. Cases like yours and your sister’s are the reason why I continue to practice here in Hollow Town."

"My sister?"

"Yes. Her name is Violet. She had quite an identity change herself a couple of years back. In fact, she was one of the reasons I came back to Hollow Town at all."

Thomas put his black doctor’s bag into the back of his cherry red Mustang convertible. "Hop in. I’ll give you a ride home."

"Home?" Cora wasn’t sure she wanted to leave the vicinity until she figured out exactly how she’d come to be in this alternate dimension in the first place.

"I thought so. You don’t know where home is, do you?"

"If you’re referring to this dimension, then no. But I do know where I live in my own dimension if that gives me any brownie points."

Cora found it rather odd how understanding and helpful Thomas Gale was being. Odd in that creepy Hollow Creek way. But there was something about him that implored her to trust him.

She’d already learned nothing was quite what it seemed in the Hollow.

"I wish David were here with me," she whispered. At least a familiar face would make this place a little less scary.

For now, she was grateful for Thomas Gale.

***

The last thing David Laskey remembered was how outrageously he’d insulted Maurice the cat by calling him Figment. How was he supposed to know that the two of them had at one time or another fought over the same woman. He chuckled a bit. Maurice was pretty sensitive for a cat.

His mother had told him once that a warlock could only be transformed into a cat if the person had done something too horrible that normal punishment wasn’t severe enough. Being turned into a cat was a thousand year sentence. Seemed pretty harsh to David.

"Exactly what turned you into a cat, Maurice?" David asked, glancing at Livvie. She seemed eager for an answer too. It still baffled him that an angel was watching over him and had saved his life.

Maurice turned around once then faced away from David staring off into Morgana’s castle."

"I haven’t always been the honorable soul I am now. There was a time I roamed these very halls."

Before Maurice could continue, a flash of blinding light illuminated behind him. When he turned back around, David was gone.

The broken pieces of what had once been the violin girl statue began to quiver and Livvie stepped back from them. The more they trembled the more a gaseous vapor emitted from them.

Maurice let out the highest pitched cat scream he’d ever muttered and pounced down the hallway away from the mystical mist.

As the mist arose from each piece, the concrete of the statue dissolved into nothingness. Soon the entire shattered statue was gone, replaced by a ghostly mist. The vapor spoke in whispers once it was all gathered together. It trailed full force behind Maurice who was running as fast as his little legs could take him away from it.

He darted into Morgana’s chamber where she was sitting in front of a rolling fire warming her hands.

"You are not welcome in my castle, you wretched cat. My anger still burns like a thousand suns." Morgana stood as Maurice cowered beneath her elaborately jeweled throne.

"If you value your life, you will leave immediately."

Maurice shivered in fear and placed his cat paws over his eyes. "The mist is coming," he bellowed.

Morgana barely had enough time to look up at the doorway when the full force of the mist hit her and Maurice full force. They both dissolved into tiny particles and faded away until there was nothing left of either of them except the echoes of the mist’s whispering.

***

The glory of Camelot nearly glowed in welcome. Mac Marlowe could barely rip his eyes from the ancient place he’d longed to see in person. Then the blinding light from Morgana’s lair pierced the skyscape of the Hollow brightening every dark corner for a fraction of a second.

Mac stopped short and raised his hand against the brightness as did every character in Hollow Creek. Ella, Nicholas, Thornswell, Katherine all turned away from the sudden light. It quickly dimmed replaced by the darkness, but each knew something magical was occurring. And none knew whether to be afraid or happy about its occurance.

"What in the hell was that?" Ella said trying to blink away the white spots dotting her vision.

"I forgot about that," Mac said, as if knowing the secret of the light.

"What did happen?" Keith asked. Sabrina stood next to him with the same question in her eyes.

"It’s Maurice," Mac said simply. "The build up of energy inside the statue was so immense that when it was finally destroyed the magic contained inside of it his Maurice full force. I’m afraid he’s no longer in the Hollow."

"What?" Ella’s face registered the sock but her mind could barely wrap her mind around the truth. A tear slipped down her face as she growled. "I knew that damn spell would kick him in the ass once day."

"Who are you?" Keith asked Mac. "And how do you know what’s happening? Do you have some kind of mind reading power?"

"No," Mac admitted. "I’m just a big fan of supernatural television drama."

"That’s crazy talk," Sabrina said. "How can watching television tell you what happened to Ella’s brother?"

"In my world, you are all characters on television and all this has already happened."

Ella held her hands to her head. "Shut up -- all of you!"

Her voice boomed with an otherworldly eerie echo that bounced off the mountains around them. She waved her hands like a witch finally realizing the full extent of her powers.

"You three, my friends, and me, At Nicholas’ castle now. Blessed be."

The four of them disappeared from the outskirts of Camelot. Where they landed was anyone’s guess.

***

Livvie could barely understand what had just happened. She’d released David from inside the statue and then a hand full of Hollow Creek’s most notorious residents were suddenly gone, ripped from inside the boundaries. She couldn’t sense them anywhere.