Reveal

The little boy tossed tirelessly in his bed, hoping that his mother would come in soon to check on him. She seemed to be taking longer this time, but he wasn’t sure how much longer he had till it would disappear completely if it had not already. Nothing was worth the wrath of his mother if she caught him out of bed this late again though, that he was sure of. He froze, relaxed his body and closed his eyes just as his door swung silently open just wide enough for the hall light to shine in his room with his mother’s figure looming in the opening. The door then slowly closed softly as the hall light was shut off and he heard his mother’s footsteps receding to her room. The coast should be clear, he had hoped. 

The boy quietly climbed out of bed as he reached on his nightstand for a flashlight, he had sat out earlier. He flicked it on then off again to make sure it was working as he started to tiptoe to his closed door. Being mindful to all the spots that made noise in his hallway beforehand, he slipped out of his room and made his way discreetly to the end of the hall where the stairs led to the large attic. His mother had always kindly warned him to stay out of there, reminding him that his father had many things that she was sure he wouldn’t want his only son to mess with. The boy did not care. His father was never home anyways to even play catch with him or teach him how to ride his new bike he had just received days ago. Instead, he would buy him this and that while all he ever wanted was his father’s time. Yet, his company was more important than he was. This the boy knew was true enough. Even though young, he was smart enough to know things. Especially things like when someone is purposely hiding something from you, such as a mysterious father who works for the government on secret projects that normal people and the rest of world are not supposed to know about. This also did not surprise the boy as he did his own detective work years ago to try to find out who his father honestly was. 

The boy finally reached the top of the large flight of stairs. His mother thought she had locked the attic door and hid the key well, but the boy found the key quite effortlessly in her locked, which he had no issue with, office desk drawer over a month ago. It took him over that course of time to find which door it was to since his house was fairly large and full of many doors his mother had also forbid him to go into, but this certain key she had took the time to hide carefully in a locked spot had sparked the boy’s curiosity more so than anything. The attic door was a huge red door with carved woodwork that the boy loved sit and stare at for hours on end ever since he remembered being small and exploring the big house alone. At the top of the door was a dragon, coming out of the wood as it flew over a beautiful mystical land that occupied the rest of the door. You could see trees with faces that had ominous dark limbs coming out as if strange beings were hiding in the dark of the safety of the woods. There was what he believed to be fairies or pixies flying in the field where mountains that held a castle stood far off in the background and where his favorite part of the majestic work was carved at: the knight who rode on a huge wolf or big cat; either of which was cool to him. The door was a work of art that he was sure his father paid good money to have done. The boy pulled out a black key that had a partially gold dragon’s head on the end. When he had found it, he had a dream where he heard whispers that told him exactly where to find it in his mother’s office. When he opened it, a huge dark dragon started to come out and chase him as it burned his house and the rest of the world down in flames. It made him wake up in panic and sweat, calling out for his mother. Scared, she came rushing in, reassuring him it was all okay as she held him tightly and traced over his face with her fingers. He remembered that she made sure to remind him to always stay away from the locked rooms and to respect his father’s wishes. She had also made the note to remind him that his father loved him very much. As she started to cry silently, he had held her, too, as they both fell back to sleep in the large empty house. Now he was sure of what he had to do. Expose his father for the man he truly was so he could get his attention enough to tell him how much his mother desperately needed him back home. The boy just wanted to make his mother smile again. 

The young boy stuck the key in the door and slowly turned it to unlock it; suddenly, he heard whirling and sliding sounds coming from behind the door as it started to open by itself the rest of the way. It was even more complicated mechanically and amazing to the boy than it had looked at first. The door opened inwards and a gust of wind greeted the boy as if inviting him in or warning him of a forthcoming danger; either way, he did not care with what he had at stake. He took a deep breath and stood up straight as he walked in, flicking on his flashlight as he did. It was very large and had all sorts of objects and boxes spread out. The huge room smelt of dust and had a particular old scent about it, not to mention, it felt relatively chilly even though to his knowledge he had never found a window or opening. He had looked around some before and found some interesting things, but none of them were exactly what he was searching for. Last night, though, he had found something that had made him lose track of his endeavor entirely. He started his way in the maze of his father’s belongings, making his way to the back. It had been concealed at the very back, he was sure by his father, since his mother had specifically warned him that he didn’t want anyone in his belongings. According to his mother, his father had a very hard time listening to figures of authority; for one, since he had deemed himself ‘too intelligent to listen to opinions of those who were not as equally great’ and two, because he never liked to listen to anyone to even begin with she had explained to him. Guess he was more like his father than he wanted to admit, but he knew he would never stoop to his father’s level and hurt his mother as he had and continued to do. That he swore to himself.  

As he got closer to a low humming sound, it grew louder. Approaching the back, he took care where he stepped as he swung his flashlight around to make sure nothing was hiding in the darkness of the room. He took in a deep slow breath as he continued stepping around a large pile of boxes to see a faint blue light near the corner of the attic full of huge mirrors that towered over him. Each was covered with large velvet cloths that reeked of mothballs and dust, except one at the far back where the faint blue light barely shone through. Mirrors surrounded it, making it difficult to even see it as close as the boy was now. He weaved through the mirrors, careful to not hit any or to pull the covers off by accident. He felt an eerie feeling that gnawed at the pit of his stomach making it hard to tolerate the musty smell they already gave off. All he wanted to do was to not find out what lie under the rest of the cloths considering what he found already that lie at the back. The light got slightly brighter as he inched closer. Finally, in front of him was a pool of bright blue light that shined from a huge mirror, resonating as a low hum came from it. It was the only mirror to be uncovered from what he had guessed was his father’s collection of them. 

Tonight, the boy wanted to test what it was and he was going to use what he found in his father’s things to test it. It may have looked like a portal, but he wasn’t sure what it could be except maybe a wormhole or like something out of one of the sci-fi movies he had stayed up to see late at night on his laptop while his mother slept. There was a dirty old baseball that lay on top in the heap of boxes that he saw when he shined his light around, looking. It would make a great test one object for the portal, he thought as he grabbed it. Next, he looked through the pile by going through some of the boxes on top. He found a thin, tattered rope that could be fastened to something, but what- he dug deeper in the boxes. There! It looked like a hook someone would use to climb with. It may have been what was at the other end of the rope at one point. It would be perfect for test two. He would see what would happen with these first before throwing more into the portal, just in case, he told himself as he weaved through the mirrors going back to the glowing mirror in the corner. He tied the rope to the hook then sat both, it and the flashlight on the dirty, cold floor so he could throw the ball as hard as he could into the portal. He had been practicing during the day. Playing with just his mother and sometimes the kind groundskeeper that came by to clean the grounds and care for the house once a week, he wasn’t that great, but he wasn’t even sure how good he truly was. He inhaled and posed perfectly still as he gracefully swung his left arm slowly back. Posing with his feet about seven inches apart, he turned his body slightly as he raised up his right leg slightly and with a flash, threw the ball into the portal with a heave of breath escaping his lungs as he did. The ball went into the portal soundlessly. The boy focused hard, hoping to get a reaction. Nothing. He sighed and bent down to pick up the rope. 

Abruptly, the same ball suddenly rolled up to the boy and tenderly hit his foot. He fell back, hitting the floor, scared at the sight of it. Barely three minutes had passed for the ball to come back to him, he realized. He looked up at the portal and grabbed his light to look around to see if anything came out. The ball came back just as quietly as it had gone in, so how was he so sure nothing came out with it? Standing up, he looked around. There was nothing he could see. He looked at the portal and then grabbed the hook and rope. Next test. He sat his light down and took a deep breath of the musty air. Starting to swing the hook, he carefully aimed at the portal and flung it in casually. The boy pulled the rope, in hopes that it would grab anything, but it fell out of the portal after couple of tugs. Once more time, he thought to himself, then he would try to throw something else in. With a bit more strength, he swung it once again and flung it in. As it flew in, he pulled just at the last second. Success! He wasn’t sure what he grabbed, but the rope was hooked onto something. Smiling, he felt proud of his idea and pulled at the rope slightly. It was holding on fairly tight. He positioned himself carefully and started to pull with all his strength, hoping to pull whatever it was hooked onto out of the portal. He had hoped it to be some sort of treasure or evidence from another place he could use against his father. Suddenly the boy froze. The rope was growing tighter as it started being pulled from inside the portal. His heart started racing as his eyes darted around as he contemplated on letting the rope go, but before he could even let it go, the rope yanked the boy off his feet and into the portal with quick ease. His flashlight fell from its standing position to flicker a couple of times before dying as a huge mysterious gust of wind flew through the empty attic.