New Home

     Part 1

 Packing up everything you own and moving to a new town is by far one of the scariest things I’ve ever done. For most people, they move for good reasons, like their family is growing or to be closer to relatives, but for me that wasn’t the case. You see, I had a stalker, we went to school together and i quickly became an obsession to him. It started with us becoming study partners and i guess you could say; we became friends, but not the type of friend you’d see out of school though, you know the ones where you literally just have “school” in common?.  At first he seemed like a really nice guy, he’d carry  books for me and offer to get me a snack when i was stressed and in no way did I ever think he would turn out like he did. Long story short, Eric ended up doing a lot of messed up shit, the worst thing he did was, killing a bunch of stray cats and hanging them in my garden; I’m allergic to them so he thought he was doing something nice for me. I ended up getting a restraining order against him and that’s when we decided to look for somewhere new to live.

 Our new house is in Steepvale, it’s a quiet town with friendly people. It’s definitely an upgrade; both me and Maggie worked and saved as much as we could. We were lucky enough to get a house as nice as this, it had just come onto the market and as soon as we saw it; we knew it had to be ours. It’s rustic and old and needed a lot of work doing to it, but that’s what made us want it even more; we could make it how we wanted it. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a mansion but we upgraded the parts that would matter the most, like the kitchen and bedrooms. Everything was going great for both me and Maggie, she’d managed to get her dream job and as for me, I enrolled into college and started my journey to become a doctor, for as long as I can remember, I’ve always wanted to help people and I was heading towards becoming a paediatrician. I was actually taking a break from studying when all of this mess occurred.

  So everything was great, until I decided to do a spring clean around the house and do the odd jobs we’d been putting off. I’d made it as far as the upstairs, i thought I’d start with the hoovering and as i went to plug in the cable, i noticed a set of double doors; they hadn’t been there previously; I was sure of it, we would have noticed. Anyway; it was locked, I searched and searched the entire house and collected every key I could find, but none of them worked. I tried everything, i used a hair grip to see if i was talented enough to lock pick it; but it was no use; nothing worked. I got frustrated and ran at it a few times, but all i got out of that was bruises all down my arm. After feeling sorry for myself i decided to grab a hammer, like a normal person would have done. I bashed and wacked it as hard as i could and finally; the lock fell to pieces. I was shocked, confused and even wondered if i was hallucinating when i opened the doors to find a long, long; hallway. It was as if the house had an extension, but we knew that it didn’t. The curiosity got the better of me and i stupidly started walking down the hallway, I’m sure any other person would have been concerned over of the stability of the structure or the fact that a random set of doors had appeared where they hadn’t before, but me being me, i went straight on in. The hallway went on and on until I finally reached the end, where there were another set of double doors, this time it had an even bigger padlock; the biggest I’d ever seen. Luckily I’d brought the hammer with me and bashed it until it came off in pieces, as the other one did. I eagerly opened the doors and...... Whoosh! I got sucked in like a vortex, my cheeks flapped and I choked on my own hair. The wind liked gush finally stopped and I landed on the floor. I gasped for the air it had taken from me and I slowly but surely picked myself up. I was even more convinced that I was hallucinating, maybe from the paint fumes or something, just something logical that would explain what was in front of me. I was now stood in what looked like; a hospital, but not a usual hospital, it felt strange, like it shouldn’t be there. Before I could even think straight to figure it all out, a woman came up to me “are you alright there miss?” I stumbled my words as I didn’t quite know what to say; my head was filled with fog and confusement. I didn’t need to reply though as she immediately took me over to a chair in what looked to be a waiting area. She made me a cup of tea and sat across from me, and i managed to compose myself just enough to answer her flooding questions. Even though i felt back to normal-ish, the woman, who I now realized was a nurse, looked and treated me as if I was crazy when I answered her. She had asked me what the date was, and I knew exactly what date it was because I had a deadline for an assignment that day, that i of course turned in on time, being a teacher’s pet and all. She asked me to try and try again to get the correct date, and when i wasn’t able to do so, she stood up and called over a doctor, he held out his hand in a polite manner and led me to “room 3” He sat me down on an empty bed, pulled the curtain around for privacy and began to check me over, he did the “follow my finger with your eyes” thing that doctors do, which of course is actually called a “neurological exam” now that I think of it, anyway he gave me the same “your definitely crazy” look and then asked if I had any form of identification, luckily I had my driver’s licence on me that i needed for something earlier in the day, and handed it over. The doctor looked as confused as I was; he called security, but for what? I hadn’t done anything wrong. Two smartly dressed men came walking towards me, my instinct kicked in and i bolted for the doors. I closed them behind me; they didn’t even try the door, why weren’t they coming for me? I’ll tell you why, and this is going to sound just a little bit crazy; just a little; but read this with an open mind, because until this point in my life i never would have thought this to be possible. I had somehow travelled to another point in time, sometime in the past, indicated by their odd dress sense; and a few other things. I bet your wondering how i know all of this just from one accidental visit to this place. Well, the curiosity got me again and I went back inside the doors, where once again i was sucked in and spat out at the exact same moment in time as before, the same things happened, the nurse asking me if I was ok, the doctor checking my license and calling the security; all of it, again. So i repeated the same process over and over until...... I got stuck.

Part 2 

 It’s been over six months since Rachael went missing and everyone seems to have given up on finding her; but not me, I won’t rest until she’s found.

I came home from work and shouted Rachael but she didn’t respond; that’s when I walked upstairs to see where she was and ended up coming across a set of double doors; with a broken padlock on the floor. Without thinking, i walked straight through and found a long hallway, and at the end there were another set of double doors, and this time it had a massive padlock that was still attached. I didn’t have anything to break it with, so i ran back to the house and grabbed a screwdriver. I whacked it and bashed it until finally it broke off in pieces. I pushed the handle and.......Whoosh! I was sucked in like a really powerful hoover. My body was flopping all over the place and it was hard to breathe, luckily it was over in an instant and I was thrown to the floor. A woman immediately rushed over to me and asked if i was alright, i looked at her and saw that she was a nurse, but why was there a nurse in my house? She sat me down and asked me a million questions. The whole time i couldn’t help but feel like i was being watched, as if I was an animal at the zoo. I’d only been at there a few minutes when i noticed a woman across the room; she kept looking at me as if she was trying to get my attention. Once she realised I’d noticed her; she left the room. I followed where she went but couldn’t see her anywhere, until i was walking past a store cupboard and got pulled in. “What the hell do ya think ya doing? Get ya hands off me!” I yelled. The woman removed her hat, unravelled her long brown hair and looked me in the eyes. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing; it was Rachael. I had so many questions for her, but Rachael put her hand over my mouth and told me to keep my voice down, “i know you have questions but there’s no time, this place is well, it’s from the past, I’ve been stuck here all this time, how much time has it been?” she was talking so fast it was hard to keep up, but i got the jist of it all. I did my best to soak it all in and i gently let her know that she’d been gone for six months; she paused and continued talking. “ I used the doors three times and on the fourth; i got stuck. I was confused and began explaining that there was ....... and before i could continue she interrupted me by finishing what i was about to say, “a giant padlock, the biggest you’ve ever seen?” i nodded and she looked worried. Rachael needed me to test a theory of hers, or more like a fear of hers. She re-tied her hair and put on her hat and led me to the doors, “open the doors and go through, then try to get back here straight after” Rachael’s instructions were clear and i could tell it was important to her, I reached down for the handle and before i could even look back at Rachael; I’d been sucked back into the portal (that’s what Rachael called it) Anyway, within seconds i was back standing in front of the two doors, with the broken padlock still on the floor. Without wasting a second, i pushed the handle and was once again; sucked in. When i got thrown in this time, Rachael was on the floor holding her head screaming, i ran over to see what was wrong and she just kept on screaming, “MY HEAD! IT FEELS LIKE IT’S GOING TO BURST!” doctors rallied around her trying to figure out what was wrong, but then all of a sudden; Rachael went quiet. She moved her hands from around her head and slowly stood up, “I’m fine, I’m ok now” the doctors were concerned but Rachael reassured them it was just a bad headache. She took my arm and led us back to the store cupboard, “well? What happened? Was anything different?” I didn’t know what Rachael wanted me to say but it definitely gave her some form of hope, “I just went through like before and everything was the same” “the padlock, what about the padlock? Was it still there, was it intact?” I nodded and she smiled, “come with me, I might finally be able to get out of here” she hurried us towards the doors and took my hand, “let’s get out of here” She reached for the handle and pulled; but nothing happened. “No! no, why won’t they open!” “Calm down Rachael, I’ll try” I reached for the handle and pulled it towards us and....... Whoosh! We were sucked in and were back at the house. I fell to the floor, my legs were jellified and i felt sick. I flipped myself around and laid on the floor, staring at the ceiling that was starting to stop spinning, I panned my eyes down at the door and Rachael wasn’t there; she hadn’t made it through. Without even thinking i opened the doors and once again got sucked inside. I flopped to the ground and threw up, the nurse once again rushed over, but i pushed her away and dragged myself up off the floor, “Rach!” I stumbled over the front desk and demanded they tell me where she was, “room 3” said the receptionist. I ran as fast as i could. I could hear screaming and as i entered i saw patients strapped down to their beds.  As i reached the end bed, there was Rachael; having fits and doctors just ignoring her. She looked different; older somehow. As soon as she saw me; she started to calm down and even sat up on the bed. She told me that i had been gone for six years and that each and every one of the restrained patients were old tenants of our new house. Every time someone new would enter the portal, it would cause them excruciating pain and the doctors ignored and sedated them. As we were talking, Rachael and the other patients started screaming in pain, and i knew that it could only mean one thing; someone new was entering the portal.

 Part 3

    I witnessed the other patient’s age in front of me, including Rachael; it was really unsettling. Suddenly; everyone stopped screaming “Maggie?” I turned around and Rachael looked at me and smirked, “I’m older than you now” Rachael had noticed some of the patients weren’t conscious and walked over to them “sleep tight angel” she whispered. Shit just got real; the room was more like a morgue at this point. Rachael had seen it happen before and she knew it would happen again, as long as that stupid portal was active, more innocent people would die. Rachael peered through the room door, “Maggie, go and check the portal bring whoever it is here, if you can” i pretended to be looking at leaflets, whilst i glanced over at the portal. I couldn’t believe who it was, it was Eric; Rachael’s stalker. Rachael walked up behind me, Eric had noticed her and ran straight over “Rachael? My love is that you? Where have you been? What is this place?”  Eric was over excited and wanted to go through the doors again; without knowing that it was a portal. He ran off and Rachael knew she was the only one who could stop him, she ran after him but..... she was too late, The screams returned yet again and people aged; including me. Another six years taken.

 Eric came back like he said he would and we were waiting for him, we grabbed him, strapped him down and didn’t take our eyes off of him, it was creepy how he was still in love with Rach even at her accelerated age of fifty-eight, bear in mind that he is still only eighteen. All he does is lay there smiling at her and calling her “my love” every two seconds; it’s disgusting!

 Two weeks passed and it was my turn to watch Eric, Rach had been staying away from him as much as she could, she couldn’t even look at him anymore, all the hurt, the pain, all because of his fixation of her; she blames herself. No-one else had discovered the portal so it had actually been kind of normal, until Eric once again destroyed everything. It was time for Eric to have his shower and that’s when it all went downhill. He had somehow unscrewed the door off its hinges and kicked it down, knocking me to the ground; he ran for the portal (still not knowing it was a portal, and grabbed Rach’s hand thinking he could take her with him. I of course went after him and within a second; he changed his mind and decided to grab my hand instead, he held me with force and pulled the handle....Whoosh!

    I am now stuck in the real world, being forced to live my life as normal; like Rach wanted. Eric used his last use of the portal; he is now in that place with my Rachael who will be even older because of him. I will not give up on hope, i know i  can no longer use the portal but i am determined to find a way through without it hurting anyone, and finally beat the shit out of Eric once and for all!