Suddenly, I could see again. I groaned, picking myself up off the...ground? Yep. My house was gone. I was outside. In a temperate forest judging by the canopy above me.
And I was alone.
"Karyn? KARYN?!" Shit. Shit shit shit. Leonard...what did that idiot get us into? "I wish we were in a different world." Another world. That was clear enough...but the wish was vague. What sort of world is this? It didn't look terribly alien. And I could still breathe...so at least Leonard hadn't transported us all to Venus. But this...this could be very dangerous. And Leonard...he had the stone. Even more dangerous.
"Karyn?! LEONARD?!" I called again, desperately. Save for what appeared to be birds, no one gave answer. I kept it up, yelling till my throat was hoarse. There didn't seem to be anything else to do. Finally, when I realized I was going to blow out my voice, I stopped, and collapsed back to the ground. What could I do? I had no idea where I was, where to go, or where Karyn was...and the source of ultimate power over the universe was in the hands of a maladjusted child.
"Damn it!" I punched the ground, then swore again as I cut my hand on a rock, a long red line now visible along the side of my palm. Ok Jon, I thought to myself, cradling my injured fist, calm down. You're not going to get anywhere just sitting here, or yelling yourself hoarse like a frightened retard. Pick a direction and get moving.
East, I decided arbitrarily. I could at least get a vague idea of where I was going by the sun, and I could rest at night. First thing was to find Karyn and Leonard. After that, well....I'd cross that bridge when I came to it.
