The Inn Beyond Time and Space

The voice in Adrian Wells's mind startled him out of his daze, the cold wind of the valley forgotten for a moment. Then he froze again, this time in confusion.

It wasn't until Eileen shouted at him a second time that Adrian snapped out of it, jolting back to awareness.

"Eileen?" Adrian muttered, cautiously scanning his surroundings as he moved toward the crumbling ruins of the old temple. He was looking for a temporary shelter while trying to respond mentally. "How… are you contacting me? I mean, speaking directly into my head—"

"Is that hard to understand?" Eileen interrupted with an air of indignation. "I'm one of Alice's Dolls!"

Adrian considered her words, failing to make the connection. Did being one of Alice's Dolls automatically grant telepathic abilities?

"I've already entered your dream once, haven't I?" Eileen added, her tone patient but self-assured. "Once I've been there, I know the way."

Adrian paused at her explanation, still skeptical, but he appreciated her persistence. "Wait," she continued, her voice suddenly concerned, "where are you? I can't sense you anywhere."

After a moment of silence, Adrian glanced at the ominous forest and shadowy cliffs surrounding him. The atmosphere felt so tense he half-expected a colossal monster to emerge to the swell of a dramatic musical score. The thought sent a chill down his spine.

"…Let's just say I went for a long walk," he replied dryly. "And I'm not sure I can find my way back."

Eileen's reaction came after a brief pause, her voice tinged with disbelief. "Didn't you say you were just taking out the trash? Did a garbage truck kidnap you?"

Adrian didn't know whether to laugh or cry at her wild leap of logic.

Still, hearing Eileen's voice brought a shred of comfort amidst the panic of being thrown into this desolate wilderness. Her presence was proof that he still had a connection to his original world. If Eileen could reach him, there might still be a way to return—though he had no idea how or why. But for now, Adrian clung to that hope.

First, however, he needed to ensure his immediate safety.

The valley was eerily quiet, with only the occasional hollow whistle of the wind breaking the silence. Yet Adrian couldn't shake the oppressive feeling of being watched. It was as if something cold and ravenous was scanning the area, its formless gaze sweeping over him again and again.

The sensation left him increasingly uneasy. He needed to find a hiding spot and get out of the open.

The crumbling temple ruins offered the only viable shelter. Though the distant forest was dense, it exuded an even more sinister air, and Adrian wasn't about to venture into its shadowy depths. Wandering into a forest at night was a classic setup for a horror story—and he wasn't about to play along.

But he also knew that stepping into an ancient, decrepit temple was no better. The choice felt like picking between beasts in the forest and spirits in the ruins, either way accompanied by the swelling strains of a dramatic soundtrack.

After weighing his options, Adrian gritted his teeth and crept toward a corner of the temple that seemed relatively intact.

As he moved, he explained his situation to Eileen, summarizing what little he understood: he'd opened a door, stepped outside, and ended up here.

Eileen fell silent for a long moment after hearing his explanation. When she finally spoke, her voice carried a mix of confusion and hesitation. "It sounds like… you've fallen into an 'Otherworld.'"

Adrian froze mid-step, her words catching him off guard. "Otherworld? You call this place an Otherworld? Does that mean you know where I am?"

Eileen's tone grew more uncertain. "Huh? There are tons of Otherworlds. How am I supposed to know which one you're in?"

Her casual response left Adrian frowning. Despite her confusion, he realized he'd just learned something crucial about the supernatural.

He might not have been thrown into a completely different reality. Instead, he might have encountered a phenomenon that Eileen found unremarkable—a natural occurrence within her understanding of the world.

"Wait… you don't even know what an Otherworld is, do you?" Eileen's voice carried a hint of disbelief.

Adrian's expression turned wry. "Should I? Is this supposed to be common knowledge?"

"Not for regular people, no," Eileen admitted. "Most people go their entire lives without encountering anything like this. But you—" She paused, then added matter-of-factly, "—you live in one every day."

…

Shadows shifted beneath the cover of night. In their depths, predators formed, their shapes emerging like specters in the darkness.

A grotesque wolf leaped from the shadows, its movements swift and silent as it bounded across the uneven rooftops of the old district. With a final jump, it landed in the middle of Sycamore Street, looking around cautiously.

"Get back here!" snapped an annoyed voice from the shadows of a nearby alley.

The wolf immediately cowered, emitting a soft, apologetic whine before scurrying back into the cover of the buildings.

A short-haired girl, dressed in a dark red jacket and black skirt, stood between two old houses. She reached out to ruffle the wolf's head before raising her gaze to the houses at the end of the street.

Sycamore Street was short, home to only a few dozen families. The road was straight and clear, offering an unimpeded view from one end to the other. Even without the wolf's sharp eyes, the girl could easily survey the area.

Frowning, she was interrupted by the sudden chime of her phone. Its ringtone was unmistakable—the opening theme from the Star Wars saga. She answered the call before the music could reach its second crescendo.

"It's me," she said calmly. "Yeah, I'm here in the old district on Sycamore Street."

The voice on the other end belonged to a middle-aged man, exhausted and rambling incoherently.

The girl listened patiently, her expression unchanged. When the voice paused, she replied, "I've searched the entire street. My wolves have combed it front to back three times, and there's no sign of an Otherworld opening or anything coming out of one."

The man hesitated before responding. "The monitoring team is certain—Sycamore Street showed signs of an Otherworld connection. There had to be a portal, even if only briefly."

"I don't doubt your team's expertise," the girl said with a sigh. "But I trust my wolves too. Maybe a portal did open, but it's gone now. And considering how quickly it disappeared, someone else might have closed it."

"There aren't many people capable of cutting off an Otherworld connection so fast," the man replied, his voice weary. "And we haven't received any communication from the usual groups tonight…"

"Maybe it's the Hermit Society," the girl suggested lightly. "They're always meddling in secret."

Her words triggered another stream of rambling from the man, and the girl sighed, nodding reluctantly. "Fine, fine. I respect scholars as much as anyone. But let me check the street one more time. Sycamore only has sixty-five houses—it won't take long."

Ending the call, she pocketed her phone and looked down at the shadowy wolf heads shifting around her. With another sigh, she muttered, "I still haven't done my homework… Outsourcing is such a grind."

…

Adrian sat in a corner of the ruined temple, huddled against what remained of a sturdy wall. The cold wind blew through the gaps, and above him, the sky was a muddled, oppressive black.

He tried to clear his mind but failed.

Moments ago, he had learned a disquieting truth.

The one place in Boundary City he had considered safe—the house he thought of as his haven—wasn't normal at all.

According to Eileen, it was an "Otherworld."

Eileen had explained that Otherworlds were domains outside the boundaries of normalcy, dimensions on the fringes of rationality. What appeared to be a stable, ordered reality was, in fact, riddled with tiny "holes" leading to these irrational realms.

Most people would never encounter these "holes" or see the surreal landscapes beyond them. But for those who did, even a fleeting glimpse could change everything.

And though Eileen herself was accustomed to such phenomena, even she found it strange that someone could live in an Otherworld for so long.