Mary: "You first."
Tristan: "Like hell! You didn't hate the mall nearly as much as I did. You first."
Mary: "You didn't nearly get eaten in the mall. You first. I'm very tired."
Tristan: "How can you be tired? You don't even have a body."

Mary: "It's worse for me then, isn't it? I have to conjure all of this exhaustion out of thin air."
Tristan: "Sure. But I have to... oh hell. Come on."

Tristan grabbed Mary's hand and pushed the door open. This time they entered a small office with a single attendant who smiled at them.

Daniel: "Are you here for passes?"
Mary: "Yes."

Mary gingerly pushed her stamped paperwork forward. The attendant smiled and handed them back two pewter medallions strung on double-faced satin ribbon.

Daniel: "Here you go! Just hang on to these. Even if you leave, you can always re-enter."
Mary: "Great, thanks."

Mary turned abruptly and pushed her way out of the office, inhaling deeply once she was outside. She handed Tristan one of the medallions, and he obediently placed it around his neck.

Mary: "Finally."
Tristan: "Yes. Let's go."

They flashed their medallions at the woman at the front gate and pushed through the turnstiles. There were still glimmering lights in the distance, and the music, though louder, was still nowhere nearby and only reached them on the breeze.

Mary: "This is beautiful. Just what we needed."

Tristan looked worriedly at her.

Tristan: "What's that, exactly?"
Mary: "A break. Why don't we take a quick rest, a nap maybe, and continue on in awhile?"
Tristan: "I don't think that's a good idea. Let's at least find the source of the lights, and the music."
Mary: "Okay. That might be nice."

They walked toward the nearest light they saw, which was a campfire at once in the middle of a field, near a lake, and in the forest.

Tristan: "What the hell is this? The Renaissance Faire Funhouse of Hell?"
Mary: "Even you have to admit this isn't hell."

Mary had a dreamy look on her face and sat down near the fire. A moment later she fell softly to her side, then rolled over onto her back, staring up at the stars.

Mary: "This is beautiful!"
Tristan: "Yes, it is."
Mary: "I think I might go swimming. Would you stay here, and keep the fire up?"
Tristan: "No!"
Mary: "I suppose I could just find another."

Mary stood up and walked, as though she were sleeping, toward the edge of the lake. She stepped in, wading out until she was waist-deep.

Tristan called after her, but she seemed not to hear him. He was beginning to feel extremely uneasy. There was no one else around. Everything was peaceful, yet it sent waves of fear coursing through his body.

Tristan: "Mary!"

Mary smiled serenely at the moon overhead, moving in time to music that Tristan wasn't entirely convinced was real. Tristan dove into the water after her, picked her up, and walked out of the lake back toward the fire. Mary wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her head on his shoulder for a moment before letting her body go limp, her arms flailing out to her sides. Tristan broke out into a run. He didn't slow down when he approached the turnstiles, and leapt over them instead, landing awkwardly with Mary tumbling out of his arms.

It took a moment before Mary came to her senses and stood up.

Mary: "What the hell was all that about? Lucky for you we're allowed re-entry! Sheesh!"

Tristan got up onto his feet and began pulling Mary away from the entrance.

Tristan: "Mary, this isn't right."
Mary: "Why not?"
Tristan: "Emily isn't here."
Mary: "Sure she is! Why wouldn't she be? I can feel her. I've only ever felt like this around Emily, she must be here."

Tristan: "No, Mary, she isn't. What you're feeling-it's not Emily. Either you're accepting yourself or you're being tricked, but Emily isn't here. How could she be? She's only been here a matter of hours, and she doesn't have a guide. She wouldn't have reached this place so quickly, I realize that now."

Tristan: "And even if she had... is this where Emily would come? To a place of loneliness and darkness? It's been night here all day long. Wouldn't she want to see the sun? To be with her loved ones?"
Mary: "Her loved ones are here, aren't they? We're here"
Tristan: "Yes, we are. But Emily isn't. Tell me you don't feel that. This is your world, not hers."

Mary: "Fine! So she isn't here! She's fucking not here! It's my world. But maybe I need to be here, to find her. I need to get away, from everyone and all their voices, from television and music and alcohol and sleep and insomnia and books and mirrors and everything. Tristan, I have to find her! My best friend is dead. Emily is dead. She's dead and she's gone and I'm the one person... and I can't even find her because I've just been fucking things up beyond all repair!"

Mary started to cry, and then to howl. It made Tristan extremely uncomfortable. He shifted his weight from one foot to the next. Finally he took her into his arms and tried to be the strong one, a beacon of comfort, before finally giving into it all and sobbing along with her, for all that he had lost, all that they had both lost.