Portal to Nowhere

Amanda and her friends, Abbie and Stone, were bundled up tight in front of the roaring fire. Above the fireplace sat a big flat screen television which was currently playing a slasher movie. As the villian cut into its latest victim one of the girls’ phones buzzed. Stone got dirty looks from the other girls as she pulled her phone out. After a few swipes and some clicking as she sent a text message, she looked at her friends.

“What?” The pink haired girl asked.

“We were supposed to turn our phones off, Stone.” Amanda said as she threw some popcorn at her friend.

“Yeah, Stone, turn your phone off.” Abbie teased as she threw popcorn as well.

“Pause this. I just got sent a horror clip from someone.”

“Who sent it to you?”

“I don’t know,” .

“You should probably just delete it.” Abbie opined.

“No, let's watch it.” Amanda said as she paused the movie.

The girls squeezed together in the chair Amanda was sitting in and Stone hit the play button. At first the screen remained dark, but after a few seconds the screen lit up. When the video finally focused the scene was that of a girls bedroom. There was a bed on the right, a dresser on the left, and an open closet full of vibrant colored clothes straight ahead. Centered in the middle of the frame was a young brunette woman holding up two identical mirrors. They were about three feet tall and two feet wide.

“Ok, this is test one.”

After she spoke she lowered the mirrors and pulled two identical chairs from off screen and placed them on either side of herself. The mirrors were then placed at an angle on the chairs. The young woman then stood there, back to the camera. Seconds dragged by before she spoke again.

“Ok, nothing happens with just the mirrors pointed at each other.” She said as she walked to the camera and picked it up.

Now out of the shot she showed the mirrors as she got closer to the set up chairs and mirrors.

“Wait, that’s different.” She said as the mirror on the right showed a different image than the one on the left.

The woman showed the left mirror and it reflected the room as it was, a bed on the left, an open closet on the right, and the various posters that made up the wall behind the bed. When the shot swiveled to the mirror that was originally on the right there was a rippling effect on the mirror. It took a minute for the effect to fade and showed a completely different scene. Instead of the room reflecting back the screen showed a brightly lit room, void of any furniture or decoration. The walls were white and the floor was black.

“What is that?” The young woman asked as her hand came into view.

The hand slowly moved towards the flat surface. Once the longest finger touched the surface the material moved onto her other digits.

“That’s cold,” the woman whispered as she quickly pulled her hand back.

The substance became liquid over her fingers and snapped back into place once her fingers were removed. There was a ripple on the surface, again, and it soon settled back to a solid surface. The hand disappeared from the shot before the screen swiveled to reveal the young woman.

“I don’t know what I did, but it worked.” The woman smiled and turned the camera back towards the mirror.

The full view of the mirror now sat centered in the frame and it was still showing the plain room, despite the young woman standing right in front of it.

“I am going in!”

“No, don't go in there!” The three young women watching the clip exclaimed together.

Without a pause the video slowly went forward. The hand from before reached out again. This time, when it made contact with the surface the substance slid down her hand and started pulling on her. Instead of fighting the pull the woman stepped into it. The silver liquid quickly surged up her arm and engulfed her. The screen went dark as it too was covered in the strange liquid.

The next thing that appeared on the phone was the strange room. The large open space was as plain in person as it was on the screen. There were plain brown doors and a few hallways that led away from the center. The ceilings were paneled with florescent bulbs lighting the room. The woman, still out of frame, began to walk around the area before showing what had been behind her. An ornate mirror, suspended by nothing in the air, hung there reflecting the young woman behind the camera phone.

“This is bizarre.” The woman spun around before yelling, “Hello? Is anyone there?”

She then went to the closest door and went through it. When she looked around she noticed the mirror from the previous room was hanging in the center of the room. She walked around the mirror, catching everything on her phone, and decided to go through another door. This time the door opened into a hallway. She slowly walked down the white walled hallway yelling, “Hello.” as she went. After a few minutes of walking she rounded a corner and saw the same mirror come back into view.

“What the hell?”

The rest of the video showed the woman going down every hallway and through every door to wind up back in the same room with the mirror. She was dumbfounded and started to panic. By the end of the video, which ended with everything going black, the young woman was running around screaming for help and crying.

“That was scary. What happened? Did she get out?” Abbie asked as a shiver ran down her spine.

“We just watched the same video, so we know as much as you do.” Amanda said while rolling her eyes.

“You got any mirrors?”

“You can’t be serious.” Abbie said, fear on every word.

“Nothing is going to happen. Stop being a baby.” Stone replied, “So, you got any mirrors?”

“Yeah, let me go get them. Y’all grab the chairs from the dining room.” Amanda answered as she pushed Abbie off of her and got up to find the mirrors.

It only took a few minutes for Amanda to find the mirrors. One was full length while the other was one by one foot. The girls squared them up, facing each other, and waited. The girls grew impatient quite quickly and went back to their movie. It wasn’t until the movie was over that they checked the mirrors again. Amanda absentmindedly walked past it to get to the kitchen, but Stone stopped when she saw what was on the full length mirror.

“It worked!”

“What do you mean? What worked?” Amanda asked from the kitchen.

“The mirror shows that room.” Abbie half whispered as Amanda came out with drinks for everyone.

“Shut up!” Amanda exclaimed as she hurried back into the room, almost spilling the drinks.

When she got there she too saw the room from the video. The girls huddled together and examined the full length view into the strange room. Like on the video, there was nothing in the white room. Stone stepped closer and reached out towards the mirror, but Amanda grabbed her arm. The girls looked at one another before Stone pulled her arm out of Amanda’s hand.

“Get off of me. I can touch it if I want.” Stone declared as she tried once again to touch the mirror.

“Are you stupid?” Amanda said as she grabbed Stone’s arm again.

“Are you?” Stone violently pulled her arm back. “It’s safe, how else did she get to send the video around?”

“I am not concerned with how she got the video out!” Amanda snapped. “I care about you.”

“I am going.” Stone said as she walked straight into the mirror, disappearing into the liquid material.

Amanda and Abbie looked at one another, both with wide eyes and open mouths.

“I am not going in there.” Abbie cried.

“Come on, we need to go get her.” Amanda said as she grabbed her other friends’ arm and led her through the mirror.

Amanda felt the cold substance crawl over her body as it pulled her into it. Abbie tried to scream, but her mouth was quickly covered in the crisp liquid. Both started to panic when the end of the portal didn’t immediately appear. Amanda pushed forward even though the ichorous texture was constantly pulling on her. She then had to pull Abbie further into the depths of the mirror before her hand that she had outstretched felt the unknown matter retreat. Her arm started to move without resistance and soon her head was poking through the mirror that was on the video. Amanda took in a quick breath then a deeper one once her friend followed her out of the mirror.

“Why did you bring me in here?”

“Oh, stop crying, Abbie.” Stone said as she came through one of the doors.

“Shut up, Stone.” Abbie replied as she wiped her nose.

“Stop it, you two. We need to get out of here.”

Amanda walked the few steps she had taken back to the mirror, but this time it was just a mirror. The cold liquid that had encapsulated her was nonexistent. She slapped the mirror a few times before turning towards her friends, looking for answers they didn’t have.

“I already tried that.”

“Then how do we get out? It didn’t show that on the video.” Amanda replied, “You didn’t think of that, did you?”

“You didn’t either.” Abbie took a second from crying and barked at Amanda.

“I wasn’t going to let Stone come here alone.”

“You didn’t have to bring me. I don’t want to be here.”

“Let's explore.”

“We already know there is nothing here.” Amanda stretched out her arms.

“I want to go home.”

“Y’all are no fun.” Stone sighed and started running for the hallway in front of her, “I am going exploring!”

Amanda once again looked towards Abbie, but seeing tears run down her cheeks she stopped before she even started to run after Stone. She walked a few paces to her friend and hugged her. Abbie hugged her friend back and cried on her shoulder.

“This place is trippy.” Stone said as she walked through a door behind them. “What’s wrong?”

“I want to go home!”

“Have you had your fun yet?”

“Come on, guys, let's explore a little bit.” Stone begged.

“No, Stone! We need to get out of here. There is something wrong.”

“What is wrong, Amanada?” Stone asked with fierceness in her eyes.

“I want to go home!”

“I am not done exploring.” Stone said with an attitude before running towards another door.

“I am going to check out this mirror again.” Amanda said as she walked towards the ornate mirror suspended by nothing.

Abbie hesitantly followed her towards the mirror. There was an odd clear and small cylinder that ran on the perimeter of the mirrors' ornate edges. It was a third of the way filled with a dark red liquid. The unknown substance caused a shiver to run down Amanada’s spine. When she banged on the mirror the liquid sloshed in the small tube and showed its viscosity. The girls tried their best to beat the mirror into letting them through, but nothing happened.

“I told you I already tried that.” Abbie jumped at Stone’s sudden appearance.

“I want to go home.”

“Shut up, Abbie, that is not helping.” Amanda snapped before tuning to Stone. “Are you done yet?”

“Fine, we can leave now.”

“How?”

“I don’t know.” Stone sounded exasperated.

The three girls started trying everything they could think of, which wasn’t much. They beat on both sides of the mirror, tried asking nicely, and then Stone suggested there being a specific path through the doors and hallways to open the portal home. After the suggestion they tried going into each door together and then separately. Nothing happened. Soon they were all laying around the mirror, exhausted from running around, trying to come up with a new plan. As they discussed what to do, the far corner went pitch black. They all sat up and then looked at one another, each with a quizzical look on their face.

“D-did a light go out?” Abbie asked as she tried to hide her face with her hands.

“Probably. Maybe it's one of those lights that require movement to turn on?” Stone said as she got up.

“I don't think you should go over there.”

“Why?” Stone asked as her feet moved towards the darkened corner.

“Something is wrong. That is too dark. Please don’t do it.”

“Please don’t do it, Stone.”

“Okay, I won’t go over there, you babies.” Stone blew a raspberry before sitting back down.

“Stop being mean.” Abbie said as she continued to hide her face.

“We are in a new and strange environment and y’all just want to leave. Where is your sense of adventure?”

“It disappeared when that mirror changed into a portal to nowhere.” Amanda replied as she got up. “We need to keep moving in case you are right about movement keeping the lights on.”

“So, now you want to explore?”

“No, I want to make sure we don’t get trapped in the darkness.”

“Are you afraid of the dark now?” Stone asked with a smirk.

“Shut up, Stone.” Amanda said as she helped Abbie to her feet.

The back and forth kept going as the girls moved through the mysterious room. With no way to tell time they aimlessly walked around, hoping they would figure out how to get out. As the time passed slowly to them they became exhausted. The first one to decide to sit was Abbie, who leaned against the white wall in the giant room. Then Stone found a spot in the middle of the room and laid down. Amanda returned to the mirror and examined it again, but ultimately found nothing different. She, too, eventually sat down to rest.

All three of them nodded in and out of consciousness, each trying to regain their strength. Unfortunately, Abbie fell into a deep sleep and was the first one to not move for a while. The other two girls kept moving their extremities, albeit sluggishly, but moving nonetheless. Amanda watched in fear as a perfect square of blackness from the void descended upon her friend.

“Abbie!” Amanda yelled as she got to her feet.

Abbie woke up, startled, and got straight to her feet. The darkness, still a perfect square, slowly fell, but something in the void rushed down and out of it. A creature of shadows quickly pushed Abbie to the ground. It covered her in its shadow, pulsing black waves reverberated down it like flowing material, and turned towards the other two young girls with deep red eyes that seemed to glow against darkness. The creature smiled sadistically at Amanda and Stone before raising a clawed hand into the air. With a quick movement the sharp clawed hand raced down towards the muffled screams of Abbie and eviscerated her under the cover of the void. Her pained howls grew in intensity until silence erupted from the girl. A dark red wave shimmered over the surface of the shadow just before the descending darkness enveloped it.

Amanda and Stone looked at each other with a look of pure horror on their faces. Tears welled up and freely fell down their cheeks as they both replayed the unwanted moment in their minds. The dark square remained on the floor for only a few seconds before it retreated back into the ceiling. Laying on the floor were just pieces of bloody clothes. Amanda and Stone cautiously approached the pile of red stained garments. Besides the blood on her shredded clothes there was nothing left of Abbie. Her earrings laid on the floor next to her favorite heart shaped locket, the tattered tee shirt and sweatpants were scattered under them, and her blood covered shoes remained just short of the clothes.

“Where did she go?”

“How would I know?” Amanda cried out.

“I think it is time to get out of here!”

“You think?”

Amanda, with terror on her face, walked back to the mirror. She noticed that the clear tubing around the edge of the mirror had more of that thick red liquid in it. She immediately figured out what had to be done to get back home. She had jumped through the portal in the hopes of saving her friend, but was now plotting her death. In the reflection of the mirror Amanda watched as Stone approached her. Fear hit Amanda like a brick. She knew what she needed to do, but didn’t think she had the ability to go through with it.

“What are we going to do?” Stone asked nervously.

“I guess we keep moving.”

“But I am so tired. Aren’t you?”

“Yeah.” Amanda started to bite her lower lip, “Do you think you have enough stamina to stay awake for a while?”

“Why?”

“Well, we could take turns sleeping while the other keeps the light on.” Amanda lied.

“No, I don’t think I can stay awake much longer.”

“I can stay up first.”

With her friend now laid out on the floor Amanda started pacing next to her. How could she sacrifice the friend she tried to save? Could she live with knowing she was the reason that Stone never returned home? When Stone’s breathing became heavy and rhythmic Amanda walked a few meters away, tears welling up in her eyes and spilling down her cheek. She stood like a statue, silently crying as she waited for the darkness to descend upon her friend.

When the darkness first emerged from the ceiling Amanda changed her mind and yelled for Stone to wake up. Stone woke up, looked towards her friend with a quizzical expression on her face and then turned her eyes to the falling lightlessness. She scrambled to her feet, but the shadow creature was quicker. Reaching out for Amanda she screamed for help, but Amanda was too far away, even though she was running towards her. Amanda yelled, “I am sorry,” as she approached, but the monster was now gripping her friend's shoulders with its claws and pushing her to the floor. Stone landed and then the cloak of darkness descended upon her. That would be the last time Amanda saw Stone.

This time the creature didn’t smile at Amanda. It just went to work on its new victim. Before the square blackness fell on the scene she was forced to watch as the creature tore through her friend. Each time the clawed hands came up droplets of blood could be seen flying off the clawed hands. Instead of falling to the ground, like normal, the blood was sucked up into the blackness that was now halfway between ceiling and floor. Seconds later and the creature was once again encapsulated by the falling block of shadow.

A few more seconds passed, but it felt like an eternity to Amanda, and the pitch black block quickly ascended into the ceiling. Laying on the floor were Stone’s eviscerated clothes, a bit of blood on each piece, along with her blood laced shoes. Once again there was nothing left of her friend. She walked to where her friend had been and the tears poured out of her eyes. She started to hyperventilate, but when a new smell hit her nostrils she screamed and backed away. The smell of blood lingered in the area, and she couldn’t believe what she had done.

Trying and failing to pull herself together she walked back to the mirror. She watched through bloodshot eyes as the red liquid in the clear tube surged upward. Once it reached the top there was a bright white light from the mirror and it changed from reflecting Amanda to showing her living room. Scared and pissed off Amanda started banging on the ornate wood of the mirror. With every slap or punch the liquid-like substance just rippled from either side.

After looking back at the piles of her friends' clothes she reached out and touched the surface of the mirror. The substance poured over her hand like before and Amanda stepped forward. There was the familiar pull of the liquid and she held her breath as it quickly enveloped her. She started pushing her way through the thick material until her outstretched hand was free of it. When she finally made her way through the portal she took in a deep breath and began to sob uncontrollably. She fell to her knees and continued to cry into her hands.

When Amanda finally looked back at the mirror it reflected her red eyes and face, disheveled hair, and the wetness of her face as fresh tears continued to fall. She balled up her fist and slammed her knuckles into the full length mirror causing it to crack. The impact of hand on the mirror cut her up and when she withdrew her fist pieces fell to the floor. She took in a sharp breath and got up. Rushing to her bathroom before blood could fall on her carpet she ran her cuts under the warm water of the sink.

Amanda turned on the hot water and let her knuckles bathe in it before opening the mirror and removing the items she needed to clean her wound. She watched as the blood slid down her fingers in the steaming water and traveled down the drain. Then she grabbed a towel and closed the mirror on the medicine cabinet. Her reflection stared back at her, eyes bloodshot from crying. She focused on drying her hand before applying the antibacterial cream, but was startled when the lights above the mirror popped and went out. When she caught her breath she looked back in the mirror. This time the only light shone in through the window on the right side of her face, draping the left side in shadow. As she looked into the mirror her left eye, red like an ember, stared back out of the darkened side of her face.