A/N: A pretty short and simple prologue to get this story going. I'm excited about this one so I'm hoping it'll work out well.

Prologue

Like most Friday evenings, the local New York bar was full of college students. Most of them were either playing pool or trying their luck at a make out session. One girl, however, remained silent in the corner, rolling her eyes at her friend who was flirting badly on the other side of the bar. The smoke was becoming thicker now, blinding the girl and making her cough. She shoved her empty glass across the dirty table and got to her feet, rushing out the side door quickly, ignoring protests from her peers.

"Hey Rach, where you goin'?" one voice came, followed by the distinct mumbling of someone else a few feet behind. Rachel looked up, straightening her back, and looked the girl she hardly knew in the eyes.

"I'm tired and I have work to do tomorrow," Rachel replied, slinging her long brown locks over her shoulder.

"It's Saturday. Live a little, girl!"

Rachel merely raised her hand in irritation and began her slow walk back to the apartment she shared with her new friend, Laura. The air was so much cooler and fresh out here compared to the grotty bar. Suddenly she heard calls from further down the road. "Rachel! Hey, Rach. Wait up!"

Shoving her hands into her over jacket, Rachel turned and waited, glancing at her watch for emphasis. Laura ran down the street in full stride, constantly pulling at her short skirt. "I just want to go home," Rachel said quietly, looking at Laura and then letting her gaze drift to the curb.

"Why do you always do that though? Rush off whenever we all have a party," Laura asked, walking beside her friend.

Rachel sighed and looked up to the sky, smiling weakly at the stars above. "It was hard moving here. And I've never been much of a party animal like you and your friends." Being a transfer student from England meant that Rachel had had to make friends all over again and learn a new way of life.

xxx

Loud music blasted away into the night as Rachel tossed and turned, unable to sleep. She grit her teeth and slung her pillows off the bed in fits of rage. "Will you turn that SHIT down?" she screamed to Laura and her gang of friends who had since turned up unexpectedly at the apartment. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she glanced over at a photo of her parents on the bedside table. She missed them more and more each day, wishing so much she'd have stayed at home. America wasn't her home.

Suddenly with no word of warning, her bedroom door burst open. "We're gonna see if somethin' works, wanna help us?" a Goth girl asked, her head appearing around the doorframe. She was dressed from head to foot in black and her small eyes peeped out from underneath layers of black and white make up. Rachel grimaced, finding it so hard to hold onto any chains of reason and sanity she had within her.

"I don't care what the hell you're doing. Just get the fuck out of my room!" Rachel screamed.

"Don't be like that. I'm sure it'll be fun." Immediately after those words, Rachel felt herself being dragged at by the Goth girl, who apparently wouldn't take no for an answer.

Ten minutes later and Rachel found herself surrounded by a group of half drunken people who had all come to gather around the coffee table in the living room. "You do realise that it's nearly four in the morning?" Rachel asked in a matter of fact tone. Laura ignored Rachel and grinned broadly, grabbing an old hat from a box of junk they've found earlier that morning down in the basement. The hat was black, looking like something from an old Western, full of dust and cobwebs. It had probably belonged to someone who had lived there previously.

The Goth girl held a strange looking book in her hand and began reading, her eyes fixed to the page, but a worrying smile was present between her black painted lips. Her brown eyes locked on Rachel for a moment as she read out the strange words.

Take me to this time and place. A place where I will find the owner of this hat. Take me to this time and place. Open the portal to time and space; take me to this other time and place.

Suddenly, Rachel knew what was going on, making the air catch in her throat. There in the centre of the table next to the hat was one of her gloves. "You...," Rachel began, gasping and covering her face with her hand. Laura's laughs echoed through the living room, followed by a round of others. Full of anger and fright, Rachel got to her feet, not knowing whether to cry or shout.

Darkness suddenly enclosed the group, switching off all lighting in the apartment. Then one scream filled the room, cutting open the air like a knife...followed by silence.