Josie’s voice startled Alex out of his ruminating: “Sorry… Where do I go from here, Mags?”

“Oh! Right,” Marigold stopped in the hallway, trying to get her bearings, “it’s a little complicated, it’s like…”

Marigold turned a sharp 90 degrees. The other two watched her take a step forward, crumple up like a piece of paper, and disappear into nothing.

Alex couldn’t stop himself from interjecting: “What the hell?”

Josie was completely silent, head craned to look at the empty space where Marigold had once been. Alex desperately studied their face for any context, if this was normal to them or if they were just as lost. All at once the emotions seemed to hit them, like they needed a few minutes to download their reaction: “MAGS?!”

“I’m right here, dummy,” she said. Alex could hear her quite clearly, but couldn’t place where her voice was coming from; neither could Josie, judging by how quickly they were looking around. “Over here!”

For the next few minutes, the two of them wasted their time pacing around the hall, trying to locate her voice. Marigold remained every bit as equally close, or distant.

“Maggie, this isn’t funny,” Josie said in a tone Alex found pitiful, collapsing to their knees and pulling at the spot where the floor met the wall. “Where are you?”

“I’m not joking! It’s… really not that hard.” Her voice wavered with genuine confusion. “Wait, where are you?”