Portal

“Come on, man, let’s get out of here before a teacher comes.”

“Yeah, alright.. This loser isn’t worth breaking my hand over, anyways..”

“…”

Fresh, wet blood stained the sidewalk under his face and everything from the chin up ached. As he sat himself up slowly, a string of blood and saliva connected the small puddle under him to his bottom lip and with a heavy pant of his breath, which he was still struggling to fully catch. Rotating his jaw to make it feel even the slightest bit back to normal helped, but it hurt like hell. A gentle hiss through clenched teeth filled his lungs from the quick shot of pain he felt on his eye and cheek and stomach, but he pushed passed it and gathered what blood-tainted saliva he still had in his mouth and spat it on the ground below him. The taste of his own vital fluids wasn’t a foreign taste by any means, it had become more of a reminder of how worthless and unimportant he was to the world and that logic had been literally beaten into him over the years. To any other person, blood was something you could easily forget the taste of, but not Finn.

Graduation couldn’t come any sooner. There was only two weeks left in the year and he was done. Gone. Away from people that undermine him. Away from people that treat him like just another piece of dog shit owners leave behind on dead patches of grass. The only person to perhaps never forget about him was the janitor that had to clean up the red mess his body left behind from the bullies that beat on him almost every day. But, even the janitor didn’t bother to learn his name.

Just two more weeks. . Two more weeks.

Coming home to an empty house wasn’t surprising. Finn’s mother always worked, often him being alone for days or weeks at a time. On rare occasions, his light sleeping will wake him up around three in the morning to hear a faucet running or a door shutting and he knows that she was finally home, but instead of bothering to get out from under the covers of his bed that has become his only sanctuary, he shuts his eyes and goes back to sleep. Today would be no different. The house was silent, cold and uninviting. Always was.

Closing the front door behind him, he drops his book bag on the couch in the living room and heads to the kitchen.

Stomach growling from not eating lunch due to one of his many bullies taking what few bills he had, he steps towards the fridge, but stops when he notices a piece of paper on the counter top. His mother’s handwriting was comforting to see, but it would still never be as good as seeing her in person. He couldn’t remember the last time he caught a glimpse of her. The sounds he heard in the middle of the night from her getting home from work, or from whatever she was doing, was more like his house was haunted and he was just hearing things rather than feeling the comfort of her saying hello or waking up to her kissing his cheek goodnight. She didn’t do that kind of stuff anymore.

Finn ~

Working late again tonight. There’s leftover Chinese in the fridge and a frozen pizza in the freezer. Eat whatever you’d like and remember to do your homework.

Love you,

~ Mom

He stared blankly at the paper after reading it, the sense of truly feeling alone settling comfortably in his stomach and a soft, quiet sigh escaped his nostrils.

Alone again. . Alone, like always.

After standing in the silence of the kitchen waiting for the oven to heat up, he stared at the floor. Mind blank in a numbing daze. A loud and long beep came from the oven, signaling that it was ready and he slid the pizza into the oven, set the timer, then made his way down a long hallway, passing his bedroom and going to the bathroom across from it.

Leaving the light off, preferring the dark, he turned the faucet on and cupped his hand to gather a small pool of water and bringing it to his mouth. Swishing around the water for a few seconds, he spat it out into the sink, noticing the water had absorbed a dark rosy color from the remaining blood that still hugged his teeth and watching it swirl down the drain. Cupping one more small pool of water in his hand and doing it a second time, the water now ran clear and he looked up at himself in the mirror. No wonder he was getting so many weird looks on his walk home. Face bruised and scratched and bloody, his eyes quickly left the reflection, tired of seeing his face the way it was and how he almost couldn’t remember what his faced looked like without them.

Turning the faucet off and drying his hands, he left the bathroom and went back to the kitchen to retrieve his pizza he was practically dying for, cutting it into triangles and grabbing a few slices to take back with him to his room on a plate.

As he set down his plate with the hot slices of pizza, he noticed he had a small stain of his own blood on the front of his shirt and again, he sighed softly. It must’ve dripped down from his nose onto his shirt on his walk home. Reaching back and grabbing the collar of his shirt, he pulled it over his head with force and a slight spark of anger, balling it up and throwing it into the trash bin next to his computer desk, then going to his dresser to grab something clean. Can’t risk mom seeing the stains, she has enough to worry about already.. Best to just throw it out, he thought.

Sadly, there was only one shirt left. Having to throw out so many articles of clothing had left him without many options, or rather, no options at all, and he pulled out a thick green turtleneck that was old and far too big for him. Better than going shirtless when the nights can get cooler, not to mention the house got cooler, as well, due to the heat rarely ever being turned on.. Or working.

After throwing on the last article of clothing he had to his name, he stepped over to his computer desk and glanced over his prized possessions. Books. Books that held stories, myths, skeptical sightings, elaborate descriptions, worlds that were anything but his own, printed on the white pages cover to cover that he had read and memorized ten times over, but reading them again never got old. A home away from home. Words to help him forget just how bad his life was and words that got him through each day at school and each night alone without his mother. Worlds that helped keep his imagination alive and worlds that kept him happy. Somehow, despite everything, he could still find happiness in something.

Belly flopping onto his bed after he had chosen a favorite, Creatures of Death, Destruction and Deception, he flipped through the pages, glancing over a few chapters before finding one he found the most interesting. Masters of Deception. Just the title of the chapter forced the corners of his mouth to twitch upward and just like that, he was lost. Lost in a world that wasn’t his own and completely content. Forgetting school, forgetting the bullies, forgetting his mother and empty house. All of it. It was just him now. Him and his beloved folklore. Reading the descriptions of some of the beasts made his mind wander, imagining the worlds they would possibly live in. Maybe a dark and foggy forest, muddy and eerie with poisonous mushrooms scattered about among the forest floor. Or a dark swamp with bubbling yet stagnant water, tall dead trees surrounding bogs with vines that hung from the trees the weeds had claimed to thrive. Even in his dreams, the worlds were elaborate, mystifying and wonderous.

Finn read for hours, although the exhaustion of the day had settled in and he'd fallen asleep on the pages of the open book. Unknowingly, he pushed the empty plate onto the carpeted floor with his wandering hand as he slept, the sound of the thud the plate made when it hit the floor sprung him awake and his head popped up from his favorite book he had accidentally fell asleep on. He looked around his room, confused for a split second on where he was, but after quickly realizing he was in his own bedroom, the panic dissipated and he reached up to his face to wipe his eyes and aid in waking himself up more.

10:34pm a clock in his room read, Finn sitting up in his bed and completely bewildered at how late it was and how long his nap had lasted. Although, in all actuality, five hours worth of sleep could hardly be classified as a nap. He was exhausted. His life was exhausting. Reading and sleeping was all he had and any time he could do either, his body succumbed easily to both the words in his books and the comfort of his bed.

He took his phone out of his pocket next. No messages. No calls. Not surprising. Slipping it back into his pocket and taking a large inhale, he let it out heavily and shook his head to help wake himself up a little bit more before finally committing to standing up.

Once on his feet, he picked up the plate that had fallen onto the floor and brought it with him out to the kitchen, placing it in the sink before he headed to the living room. The house was still silent. No lights had been tampered with and with the sun now plenty past the horizon, the house was dark and desolate. Lonely.

Finn walked to his backpack he had placed on the couch and unzipped it, his hand searching blindly through the bag and weaving through his notebooks, folders and text books until he felt a warm, comforting fabric. He pulled out his beanie and the side of his mouth twitched up into a smirk before placing it snugly on his head and heading for the front door.

At times where he felt the most alone, occasionally he’d go out and visit a corner store or a hangout that was open late where some of the students would waste their time drinking Slurpee's, sitting on the hoods of their cars and playing loud music as they ate microwave burritos and chips and sweets. He liked going near the locations, but never getting close enough to involve himself. He’d eavesdrop on their conversations, chuckle quietly to himself at their jokes and pretend he was involved, but really, it was creepier than he cared to realize as he watched them from a distance. Nevertheless, it made him feel like he was a part of something, it made him feel good to pretend he had friends and it made him feel less lonely.

This time around, however, he felt brave for the first time in his life. He craved a soda. His mouth salivated at the thought of it and he hadn’t had one in ages. There was only water and a milk carton with one third of it remaining in his fridge at home and he wanted something sweet and bubbly to treat himself with. Maybe if he just walked in, grabbed a can of Coke and walked out, no one would notice? Maybe they wouldn’t see him? Maybe they wouldn’t acknowledge him like they never did at school? In and out. Invisible like a ghost.

When he started approaching the convenient store, the boys were too preoccupied with the girls they were with to notice him and the girls were too busy laughing at whatever lame jokes the boys were spouting. Finn quickly headed into the convenient store without being seen, a small bell attached to the door hanging by a string jingling when he entered. The clerk behind the counter glanced up from his magazine momentarily to acknowledge the customer that had came in, but without saying a word, he looked back down at his magazine. Finn side-eyed him as he passed to go to the coolers.

Taking a can of Coke from the cooler, he went to the counter and reached into his pocket, pulling out a handful of change he managed to hide from the bully at lunch. It mostly being pennies, he dropped the change onto the counter and without the clerk even counting it to see if it was correct, too mundane of a task, he brushed off the purchase.

“..I’m sure it’s all there,” the clerk replied and Finn nodded in thanks as he took his Coke and left the store.

In that short amount of time that he was in the convenient store, the small group of students had already jumped in their car and left and Finn stood there holding his Coke as he stared at the spot the car had been parked at. No more entertainment. His almost nightly routine of pretending he had friends was foiled and it was going to be yet another lonely night of him being by himself.

Instead of sulking at the picnic table not too far off from the parking lot where he normally sat to watch his classmates from afar, he left the shop and started walking. He didn’t go towards his house, the town, the school, or anywhere else in particular. He simply walked, choosing a street at random and began his adventure to nowhere. The air was cool but not cold, perfect for the old turtleneck he had put on. The sky was clear and riddled with stars, no cars on the road, just soft chirping of crickets in the distance that hushed their calls whenever he walked too close.

He walked for roughly an hour, unsure of where he was going or why he felt the need the venture so far from town, but it’s where his legs took him and he decided not to stop until he’d either grow tired or eventually felt the need to turn back. Although, the feeling of needing to turn back never came.

Eventually, he found himself coming up upon a small pond, surrounded by trees and brush with the sounds of frogs croaking along the edge of the water. When had he ventured off from the sidewalk? How had he not noticed such a difference in terrain as he now stepped through long blades of grass with soil that grew softer and softer the closer he got to the pond? Before he stepped directly into the water, he finally stopped. Suddenly, his head popped up and he looked around him, not familiar with where he was or how he got there, but one thing had still never changed. He was alone.

Deciding to stop and take a breather before beginning his long trek back home, or rather, attempting to find his way back to a road, he sat at the edge of the pond and listened to the crickets and frogs that filled the night with life. Not alone after all. He enjoyed it. It was peaceful and serene. He listened to their calls as he watched the stagnant water of the pond reflect the clear sky covered in stars, the water only ever being disturbed by ripples from a frog jumping into it.

With a gentle pull of his index finger, he opened his can of Coke and took a few long sips of it, the carbonation fizzing down his throat and the taste of the sugary syrup brought a soft smile to his lips. Oh how he savored and missed the taste of it. He set the can down next to him, bringing his knees close to his chest and wrapping his arms around the front of his legs as he then continued to watch the water and listen to the wildlife around him. So very, very peaceful.

Suddenly, a scream in the distance filled the air. In a split second, Finn was on his feet and frantically looking around him. Eyes wide and heart beginning to race, he tried to find the source of the scream, but it was there and gone too quickly for him to pin point its exact location. He stood there with his legs frozen in place, his head swiveling right and left, his eyes searching the dark wooded area and listening.. The crickets and frogs had stopped and the silence was so evident that it felt as if the world had come to an abrupt halt for only a moment. Nothing. No one. Had his mind been playing tricks on him?

No. There it was again. Louder this time and more frightening than the last. It came from the right, deeper into the wooded darkness and he didn’t know what to do.

Call for help, that’s it!

Pulling out his phone from his pocket and almost dropping it to the ground from how shaky his hands were, he unlocked it, but as he dialed 9-1-1, he only managed to dial the nine before the phone suddenly went black. Dead. There was nothing else he could do. He didn’t have anything to help the person in need and even if he did, he wouldn’t be able to do anything without pissing his pants first.

What do I do?

Finn pondered a moment.

..Never mind, it's not my problem..

Finn turned around, going the opposite direction of the scream, but before he could even get a few feet, he stopped. Heart still racing, he looked over his shoulder toward the direction of the scream and guilt rushed over him. There wasn’t anyone around for miles and he was the only one that could do anything, if there even was anything he could do. The guilt he knew he’d feel later on after abandoning someone in need would be too great for him to bare and he couldn’t ignore it. He couldn’t.

“Fuck,” he said with a frustrated and shaky whisper, finally turning around and running in the direction he had heard the scream.

He panted as he weaved in and out through trees, heart still pounding out of his chest and another scream filled his ears. It was close and he was getting closer fast. Even a break in the trees didn’t stop him as he passed a bridge that looked as if it had been beaten and abandoned and reclaimed by the woods. He'd been living in this area all his live and never noticed it before. Where the hell am I? No time to think about it. Running back into a patch of woods, he continued to weave in and out through them and even stumbled a few times, but his adrenaline kept him from falling and he kept going.

Another scream. The closer he got, the more frightened he became, but he kept running and once he finally burst out through the edge of the woods, what he saw next horrified him.

Finn was stopped dead in his tracks, seeing a car parked and shaking wildly no more than fifty feet from him and through the window in the back, he could see someone struggling to fight someone else off. The girl continued to scream and the car continued to rock back and forth until suddenly, a splatter of crimson blood hit the back window from inside of the car and there were no more screams. His entire body flinched at the sudden splatter against the window from within the car and he was frozen.

Silence.

The car stopped shaking, but Finn sure hadn’t.

Once he finally unfroze himself, Finn hastily backed away and ran back into the woods, hiding behind a large tree in the cover of the darkness where he knew he couldn’t be seen. His entire body shook in horror from what he had just witnessed. He had never seen so much blood before, not even his own that had been beaten out of him multiple times thanks to his bullies.

He heard the back left door of the car creak open after a few minutes had passed, then hearing it shut and footsteps on the dead grass crunching under footsteps where the car had been parked. Slowly, he peaked around the tree, body still shaking, eyes remaining wide and his lips parted the slightest bit so he could breathe easier. He squinted his eyes, trying to focus as best as he could to see who had come out of the car alive and what he saw was straight out of the books that he cherished.

A young woman stood in a black gown as if she had just left a black tie event. She was beautiful. Her dark skin covered in blood, long white hair slicked back, blood dripping to the ground below her from her dress being soaked in it. Her eyes were black, her iris’ a glowing color that he couldn’t make out from where he stood, her hands covered in blood and he watched as she brought her hand up to her lips. She was holding something.. Something red and wet, but he couldn’t make out what it was exactly. When she smiled as she looked at whatever she was holding, that’s when Finn grew even more frightened than he was.

Fangs..

She wasn’t human.

Everything she did before hinted that she wasn’t, but her fangs are what fully convinced him. He couldn’t believe it. A supernatural was actually right before his eyes. He had always wanted to see one, to have even the slightest of evidence to prove that they were real, but.. Now that he was finally faced with one, he wasn’t sure how to feel. Excited? Relieved? Completely horrified that he was right all along? His body still shook in fright, not wanting to get any closer and not wanting to be seen, but he couldn’t help the curiosity that engulfed him.

Finn watched as she then took a large bite out of whatever she was holding and more blood spilled down onto the ground, dripped down her hand and arm, smeared on her face.. He couldn’t look away. He watched her for minutes until whatever she was holding was completely gone.

Finn watched her in both horror and amazement, unable to look away from her or even blink in fear of missing anything else she might do. Even when his eyes grew drier, he didn’t blink. When the woman then began to walk away from the car and into the darkness of the woods just beyond it, licking her fingers, Finn panicked a moment.

Should he follow her, or should he get the hell out of there before he ended up like the poor girl in the car the supernatural had emerged from?

Think, think, think..

When the woman was out of sight, Finn swallowed all the fear he had and ran towards the car. He hid behind the car by the bumper, looking towards the ground and seeing the drops of fresh, warm blood the woman had left behind on the ground near his feet. He was hesitant at first to check inside of the car, but he wanted to.. A deep, curious, sick part of him wanted to see exactly what the woman had done and he couldn’t shake his immense interest.

He slowly stood from his crouching position and quietly stepped up to the side of the car, hesitating a few seconds and trying to find the courage he needed to check inside and when he finally found the courage he needed, he wished he hadn’t looked.

Finn never heard a scream from a man, but there were two bodies in the car. The black eyed woman must’ve gotten to him before taking care of the girl. Blood stained every inch of the inside of the car, their faces unrecognizable, their bodies and clothes shredded and the icing on the cake, a huge hole in each of their chests where their hearts once were.

That must’ve been what the woman was holding, and.. And eating.. Her.. Her heart..?

Finn immediately pulled himself away from the car, his mouth salivating in an instant and he knew he was going to throw up. Vomiting where he stood, the smell alone, even without the visual, could make anyone’s stomach turn and his throat burned from extracting every drop of his Coke he had drank no more than ten minutes prior, along with the pizza he had eaten after school.

After wiping his mouth on the sleeve of his sweater, he kept his eyes forward and didn’t dare to look back at the car again. Stepping around it carefully, making sure to keep his eyes anywhere else, he walked towards the edge of the woods where the mysterious woman had gone and he looked into the darkness for a long moment. He contemplated whether or not he should follow her or get the hell out of there while he still could as he held his queasy stomach.

Again, his curiosity got the better of him and with a hesitant step forward, he began his trek to find out where the woman had gone to. His knowledge of everything revolving around the supernatural kind had fueled him in following her and what he wanted to know most was what she was. He needed to know. He remembered her eyes, her fangs, her long, pointed nails, and her need to feed on human hearts.. But, what frustrated him the most was that he couldn’t figure out what she was exactly. After everything he’d studied about creatures like her, he had no idea, and it bothered him more than he’d care to admit.

This is crazy, right?

He thought.

Why am I following her? Especially after seeing what she was capable of? Why the hell am I doing this?

He continued to ask himself, but even with him wondering these questions, he went on into the darkness of the woods. He hid behind every tree he came across, trying to remain unseen since he still had no idea where exactly the woman had gone to.

Did I lose her?

He pondered, having been walking around the woods for roughly five or ten minutes in search of the mysterious woman, but there was no sign of her. He lost her.

Wait..

Suddenly, after almost giving up hope, he felt a deep fear wash over him and he knew he wasn’t alone any longer. It felt as if his body was heavier, an invisible weight being pushed down all around him every second that passed and as if his feet were making imprints in the hard earth below him. His eyes studied the area in front of him and to the sides, yet he saw nothing.

What's happening?

A gentle heave of warm air blew by, but it didn’t feel like any other innocent breeze.. It felt like something was breathing down his neck.

Slowly, Finn turned around, his eyes immediately connecting with the black orbs the woman possessed. He could finally make out what her iris colors were now that she was this close. A deep pink with a crimson shine hugging her pupils. Her eyes were terrifying, and yet, calming all the same. He didn’t know how or what to feel as he stared at them.

“Hello there, little one,” she spoke in a breathy, soft, feminine voice that had an eerie echo to it that was much deeper and gruff and it sounded as if it echoed throughout the entire woods.. As if it was coming from every direction around him, like she had an invisible, ghostly man with her that mimicked her words as she spoke them in a deep and ominous tone. Chills run up his spine and every inch of his skin was suddenly riddled with goosebumps as he stared up at her. She was much taller than him and he felt so very small now standing right in front of her. An ant in front of a skyscraper.

His jaw trembled, trying to find words to speak back to her, but they eluded him.

“What’s wrong, little one?” She asked as she took a step closer and Finn instinctively took a step back. He slowly walked backwards more and more the closer she stepped and he only stopped when his back met an object. He knew he was pinned when he felt the rough bark of a tree on his fingertips.

“Were you following me?” She continued to question, but Finn couldn’t wrap his mind around what words she spoke, and only one question came to him after a long silence between the two.

“W-What.. What are you?” He finally found words to speak, but they were quiet and hitched. Quaking. He could barely form a sentence without his jaw quivering.

The woman ignored his question.

“What happened to your face?” She asked, reaching for his cheek, but Finn instantly flinched before she could touch him. However, despite his reaction, she kept her hand near his face, as if she still desperately wanted to touch it, but shouldn’t. She showed restraint.

Her scent was the slightest bit sweet that Finn could smell with each slight, gentle breeze, but when the air was stagnant, all he could smell was blood that still coated her dress and skin.

“Why so scared, little one? Am I really that frightening?” She wondered with a soft grin that she had held since the moment their eyes met, exposing the slightest bit of her fangs and Finn swallowed hard. His Adam’s apple bobbed roughly and slowly in his throat and she stepped up closer, just inches from his face.

“There are far worse things than me to be scared of.. You can be calmed by the fact that I’m one of the nice ones,” she continued, her eyes looking over his face with her hand still tantalizingly close and wanting to touch him.

“N.. N-Nice ones? After what you did to the couple in that car?” He challenged, a rare, brave question pouring from his mouth that he regretted immediately the very second after he asked it.

“Oh, you saw that, did you? Is that why you’re so frightened? Are you worried that I might pluck your heart from your chest as well?” She wondered and he watched her eyes briefly slide down his face, his neck, staring at his chest for a moment before finally looking back up to his eyes. He hated the look of hunger hers held.

“You’re lucky I’m not a glutton like some of the others, or else I would,” she added and Finn grew more frightened by her threat, even if she said she wouldn’t act on it.

“..T-There’s more of you?” He asked as more fear coursed through his veins and she giggled softly.

“Well, no.. I’m one of a kind, little one, but.. My people would love to see you. They would have such fun, such fun, indeed.. Would you like to see?” She asked curiously and his jaw still rattled in fear.

“..S-See? See what?”

“Here, I’ll show you,” she replied, Finn flinching as her hand raised and brushed passed his cheek to touch the tree behind him and a black, hollow hole formed within it.

“I’ll see you soon, little one. Have some fun, though, won’t you? I know that they’ll have fun with you,” she said with a wider grin and Finn grew confused.

“W-What are you talking ab-” he began, but was cut off when the woman’s hand pressed roughly against his chest and he fell back into the hole the woman had made in the tree. He desperately tried to grab onto something to keep himself from falling, but the edges he thought he could grab hold of in one last desperate attempt to keep his footing felt like his fingers had ran through a thick smoke and he fell backwards. He watched in fright as the grinning woman grew more and more distant as he fell down into a black abyss, the darkness consuming him from every direction and soon, the light from the other side of the hole to his world disappeared.