We need to go reaper, Exhibit A - The attic

Baseball bat in hand, ready to swing at eldritch monsters waiting for us, we appeared on the other side of the portal.

Or, at least that’s what I thought would happen.

“Uhm, what the heck?”

For some reason, we found ourselves back in the attic. As if the portal led to… itself.

“Well, mystery solved! The portal doesn’t lead anywhere!”

“That’s… weird,” my companion said and glanced around.

“Hey, don’t just assume whoever made this portal was perfect! Probably a failed experiment or something.” I shrugged, mentally heaving a sigh of relief that I wouldn’t have to fight supernatural monsters.

“Wait… this is… not right…” he said with a jittery voice as he slowly made his way to…

“What isn’t… Oh, what the heck?”

We had entered the portal just after noon with the sun shining bright outside. But now, when looking out of the little attic window, it was black.

“So… a time travel portal?” I ventured.

“... No, look closer.”

I did.

And I didn’t like what I saw.

Rather than pitch black, the darkness was tinted red. And if that wasn’t enough, it was moving as if it was alive.

“Oookay, I’m definitely not liking this! So the portal led to an alternate dimension that’s identical to our own except… what? The world outside is filled with creepy sentient blood matter?”

He didn’t respond and kept staring out of the window, concerned.

“Well, alright, how about we leave this for --” I glanced back to the closet and stopped in my tracks. The portal wasn’t there. I glanced at my boyfriend’s neck, the necklace was still there. I looked back to the closet. Still no portal.

“Uhm…”

“W-what is it Annie?”

“Did… your necklace run out of batteries?” I pointed at the closet.

“What are you talk--” his eyes widened as he caught sight of the portalless closet. “Uh?!” He grabbed the skull of the necklace and tried pinching and pushing it as if it was a TV remote. “I… no! Are we stuck here now?!”

“Hey, it’s fine! Don’t panic! Maybe it just needs some time to recharge?” I suggested, not really believing it myself. “Or maybe there’s another way back somewhere in the house. Come on, let’s --”

Once again, I stopped in my tracks.

“Where is the ladder?”

Another difference from our original dimension seemed to be a lack of ladder leader back down from the attic. All we got was a wooden floor.

“A-A-Annieeee…” he whined.

Despite being shaken myself, I toughed it out and gave him a one-armed hug while patting his head. “Hey, it’s okay. We’ll find a way out. No problem!”

Once he calmed down, I looked around the place again and started at one of the old dusty boxes. “There has to be a way out, come on, let’s look around.”

I didn’t have that much experience with the supernatural, but one thing I knew was that there were usually tools to escape in places like these.

Otherwise, there would be a bunch of trapped people in here already, the darker side of my mind supplied.

I put down the backpack, kneeled down, and unpacked the box before taking a look inside at the contents. I expected dusty old stuff forgotten by everyone, not a folded up little girl’s dress with a book lying on top of it.

I lifted the dress up and looked it over. It was completely clean and untouched, which made no sense considering where I’d found it.

“A dress?” I cocked my eyebrow at my boyfriend, who stood frozen in place whilst staring at the dress. “You recognize this? Whose is it supposed to be?”

His mouth opened and closed before he shook his head and replied, “No, I… I don’t know whose this is.”

I could tell he was lying, but I didn’t want to push him. The sight of an unused little girl’s dress left some unsettling possibilities on the table. I took the hint and didn’t ask any further.

“Hmm, what about this book then?” I opened the book and glanced inside with my boyfriend taking a peek over my shoulder as well.

I regretted opening it as soon as my eyes landed on the contents.

The book was actually a photo book containing various pictures of… A little girl wearing the very same dress I just held in my hands. She was all smiles and happiness, but it still felt disturbing looking at these pictures.

“Um.” I looked over my shoulder only to see my boyfriend freezing up again. I immediately snapped the book shut and hugged him tightly. He hesitantly returned it.

“Sorry…” I whispered. “That must have brought back some unpleasant memories I bet.”

I had no idea who the little girl was, but considering he clearly recognized her and I didn’t know a grown-up version of her, I could fill in the blanks.

“No… I… that’s not it… I…” He shook himself from my embrace, avoiding my eyes. “Let’s just get out of here already.”

I nodded and got to searching more of the boxes. Most of them contained what I could only assume were the little girl’s belongings. Hairpins, dolls, more dresses… I made sure to snap all of those boxes shut again since the sight of these items clearly disturbed my companion.

Eventually, I stumbled upon something that would make no sense in the real world, but in a creepy supernatural alternate dimension, whose goal was to freak you out…

“There’s a ladder leading down inside this box…”

Just as a test, I closed the box up and lifted it up. There was no ladder or entryway below it. Just more wooden planks.

After I put it back down and opened it up once again, the ladder presented itself to us once again.

I exchanged a glance with my partner and nodded to him. “Let’s see where this leads then, shall we?”

After receiving a shaky nod from him, I rummaged the bag for a flashlight before entering the box and climbing down.