Opera in Underland

1. Down the Drill-Hole

Endsville.

That was the name of the town the girl had ended up in. Not coincidentally, she figured, since it was literally at the end of the bus line.

She'd gotten as far away from her old town as she could with her limited means, and somehow managed to settle herself in, wandering about the town as she pleased. She supposed it was alright, but she did wish people remembered her name better.

When she'd first arrived, she had first been greeted by an overly enthusiastic older man, who claimed he was principal at the local school. When he'd asked her name, where she'd come from, and why she was all by herself, she'd been so startled by the bombardment that all she had managed to stammer was a string of words and part of the name of that fateful musical.

"I... er... well... the Opera..."

"Opera is it? Good to meet you little lady! And remember, stay in school!"

"But that's -" the man had dashed off so she'd muttered to herself after that. "Not... my name."

Since then word had spread, and the entire town had taken to calling its little wandering girl Opera. And what a peculiar town it was. All sorts of strange characters, even stranger than she. And all the peculiar people seemed not to mind each others peculiarity. Did it just become dull after a while, or did they just genuinely not notice? How curious it all was.
Not that anything here was especially extreme, not from what she could tell. It just seemed the town was plagued by weird phenomena, and the residents were such characters that they just went along with it. Never in her short life did she think she would be the normal one, and yet, here she was, an apparently ordinary girl in a very extraordinary town.

The only problem was that the police from her hometown were indeed looking for her after the warehouse incident. If there was one thing she wanted, it was to not be caught. Even if they didn't intend on blaming her for the explosion, she was not enthusiastic about going back to where she had come from. To that end, she'd had to stay on the move and in relative secrecy. The whole thing was very tiring, really. She took any opportunity given to rest. Like now, for example, as she sat in the kitchen of a rather kind couple giving her a snack.

"Thank you for the sandwich, Ms. Gladys."

"Oh it's no worry sweetie, you just take your time. Our son is over at his friend's house anyway," replied Gladys with a smile.

"Right... friends." The girl mulled over that statement, sipping a glass of water as she did.

"Something wrong, dear?" asked Gladys with apparent concern.

The girl just shrugged, pulling a leg up next to her in a subconscious defensive stance. "I mean, friends are just kind of this strange thing to me. It's not exactly easy for me to make friends. Not that I had that many to begin with."

"Soooo why don't you try harder? You know, stop running around on the loose and enroll in school and such?" The questions came from the man, Harold, and he earned a glare from his wife at that.

"I can't," the girl said, biting her lip. "It's... complicated. I do get tired of all the running around. Always being tired and never staying in one spot. And the boredom, it drives me crazy. Not to mention the fact that nobody really understands what I've been through, so I can't ever explain it -" she caught herself ranting and clammed up again. "Never mind. But I can't stop." She stared out the window, biting her lip again.

..........

Far beneath where she stood, the girl's image flickered on a monitor screen.

The being controlling the monitors pressed a few buttons, pausing the video feed. This was a very unusual child, even by his considerable standards. He steepled his hands and contemplated what he had just seen.

The child was lonely, that much was obvious. Lonely and plagued by boredom. He felt a certain level of pity for her. After all, he had been in that same position not so very long ago. He supposed she reminded him of himself, and that was no small feat.

And then there were those pesky police. On another screen, displaying the next street over from where the child stood, they were sweeping the neighborhood, continuing their search. She obviously did not want to be found, for whatever her reasons were. But such an event would be inevitable if she stayed where she was. Now, what was to be done about it?

After a few more moments of thinking he strode over to his preferred mode of transport, a gigantic otherworldly looking drill. Perhaps it was time to pay the surface a visit yet again.

..........

"I still don't get it," remarked Harold, completely oblivious to his wife's sharp protests against his intrusiveness. "What could be so bad that you'd have to keep on running forever?"

The girl thought about telling them. Doing so would undoubtedly get her caught and turned in. Well, maybe it was time to give up the chase anyway. She pushed her plate to the side and looked up at the couple, taking a deep breath and preparing herself for the confession. "Well you see, the truth is ..."

She never got to finish. Just then the ground started rumbling, and she stood from her chair, as surprised and confused as the adults were.
"What the Dickens?" Gladys stumbled outside, Harold following. The girl wondered if this was what an earthquake felt like. But after a few moments, the shaking died down a bit. So she went outside as well, looking around for the source of the clamor.

She didn't have to look far. Just outside of the house, in the middle of the street, was a gigantic hole in the ground that looked like someone had drilled upwards from who knew where.

The girl was about 90% certain that hadn't been there before. Only 90%, because after all, one's mind could play remarkable tricks. But she still assumed it had just now appeared. So why was it there?

"Dad? Dad!"

The cry came from somewhere in the crowd. The girl turned her head just in time to see a small, slight boy, likely near her age, pushing people aside and running forward towards the cavernous hole. He was pale, with black hair, glasses, and bright green eyes, and he was clearly in a hurry.

So much in a hurry that he dove right over the edge.

"Wait!" The girl cried out and dove forward as well, trying to catch him, but failed. He plummeted downwards and she was left peering over the edge into the dark abyss below, with no bottom in sight.

The girl swallowed nervously. How deep could a hole even go? Didn't the Earth's crust eventually end? Slowly, trying not to fall, she backed away from the edge. When she turned around, she was facing a troop of police officers.

Oh bloody hell.

They clearly recognized her, by the looks on their faces. These were most likely the ones that had been looking for her all this time. And now they were trying to coax her forward, to go with them. "Come on, 'lil girl, we can take you back home. We won't hurt you."

Suddenly the hole seemed much more inviting, and she found herself standing on its edge again. "I don't want to go back, or with you. And if I had anywhere else to go, I would go there instead."

An ominous and smooth voice, echoing from the cavern behind her, suddenly spoke out. "I think that can be arranged, my dear."

What happened next happened so fast she barely had time to register it. Something black and snakelike shot out from behind and coiled around her, pinning her arms to her sides. In an instant she was lifted up and pulled backwards. The edges of the cavern shot into view around her and she felt herself barreling down, down, down into the Earth.

She screamed and tried to pull away, and in doing so she managed to throw herself into the wall of earth beside her, hitting her head and passing out.