Gasp! How Scandalous!

It is the family reunion. I am sitting at the table with my oldest cousins and my aunts and uncles. I am pleased that Katie and Bisbee remember me. I realize how much we all look alike simply because of our eyebrows and eyes.

I get up to get something and find myself on some sort of carnival ride, which is actually transportation to another part of town. I am very high up, and the fog pushes past as I whiz along the rails. I wonder why I am not cold, as I am wearing short sleeves.

I am deposited in a run-down area of Downtown San Francisco. Examining my surroundings, I see a squadron of Black-American policeman, advancing menacingly on me. I run for my life, around the corner of a large brick factory building and down the stairs to an iron-wrought door. I wrench open the door and run inside. The purpose of the small company seems to be to provide a bathroom if you are really desperate. I guess there weren't any others around. I dash past the elegantly decorated and nicely lit entry and lock myself into one of the spacious stalls. I decide to unlock it again, because if it's locked, it's obvious that there's someone inside. I can hear the guards slamming open the stall doors next to me, looking underneath for feet. I manage to crouch on the porcelain toilet, then I lose my balance and fall off. I think they have gone away, but when I open the door cautiously they are there. I slam the door in their faces, delaying them as they barge in. I throw a couple of punches, one's lip begins to bleed, but the two large men are able to overcome me. With a secure grip on me, they open the stall door to take me back to their squadron.
A clean-shaven young white man stands defiantly in their way. Between the two of us, we are able to take down both the policemen. Very relieved, I decide this man is now my boyfriend. He wants compensation for saving my ass, but I tell him not right now because Mister Fosberg is in the cubicle right next to ours. How embarrassing that would be! So we exit the bathroom (without paying for its use) and sit together on the back steps. I have grown very fond of him in a short time.

I stand on the same steps heartbroken, my family tries to comfort me. I think my boyfriend has been abducted. My father, in a sudden flash of inspiration, turns into a werewolf in order to track his scent. We set off down the block.
I notice that there is an abundance of small dogs in this city. Two chihuahuas take a liking to us, and begin helping us track down the missing person.

We find ourselves in an underwater dungeon. The search party splits up - I follow dripping pipes and grimy walls to a large room. The light is soft and ambient, such that the blue walls seem to glow. I feel like I am deep in the open ocean. In the middle of the room, a large black sphere spins slowly. There is an opening on one side. Near another entrance to the ocean room, my boyfriend is standing, transfixed. I am very glad to see him. Joining him, he tells me he thinks this is some sort of portal to another world. I decide the only way to find out is to try it, and together we dive through the opening. It is no portal, but the inside of the sphere is dark and embracing, like a womb or a nest. We decide it is an excellent place to give and receive compensation.

Dark Staircase

Kellen and I decide to visit Holly at the video store. We go inside, but beyond the counters there are no movies, but instead the interior of a house. Holly tells us to put our bags down by the shoe rack. "Good thing you're both wearing black," she tells us. I look down and realize that I am wearing the same black ball gown I wore to winter ball. Kellen isn't actually wearing black, but apparently Holly hasn't noticed.
Cameron comes from behind the counter (he and Holly are both wearing their black work uniforms). He tells us that the party us upstairs, and he'll see us up there as soon as we're ready. As they both leave, I notice that the house is very dark, and the gray carpeting seems to glow where the moonlight shines through the sliding glass door. Kellen and I can hear muffled music from the party going on above us. We start up the staircase, even though we can't see the top because of the darkness.
We reach a square landing after only ten stairs, and the next staircase doubles back, quite like the emergency stairs in a multi-story hotel. I can see a balcony across the room, maybe three more stories up, where people are dancing. They are all wearing black.
I begin to notice that the stairs are getting steeper and narrower, although they are still carpeted. After five more flights, I realize that we should be at the party by now. But although I can still hear muffled music, I can no longer see a balcony, just dark walls. I wait for Kellen to catch up with me. Her black hair has come undone and is falling out all over the staircase. For some reason this does not worry me and I tell her we have to keep going.
Finally we reach what seems to be the last flight of stairs. It is so steep that, when I look up into it, it feels like I'm looking down into a deep chasm. The muffled music pulsates from deafening to inaudible. Kellen is terrified; she grabs my hand and tells me not to go up but I feel like I have to. I climb up one step, which by now is about two feet high and maybe six inches deep. As soon as my feet leave the ground, I feel myself being pulled upwards. Suddenly I am terrified. Kellen grabs my legs and pulls me back down, and we sprint back down the stairs until we are back by the shoe rack.
"We have to get out of here," I say, but I can't find my bag or my keys. I am frustrated by my dress. It won't let me move as quickly as I need to. I know we have to leave before the thing at the top of the staircase finds us, but I can't find anything. I decide to take off my dress. I have regular clothes underneath, but as soon as I get my dress off, the regular clothes begin to morph back into the dress. Finally I spot my bag underneath the shoe rack, and I lay down on my stomach so I can reach it. When I get up, Kellen is gone. The music is almost deafening. I know that I am going to die.