We need to go reaper, Exhibit 0 - The outside

A psychological horror adventure story? Why not? Not what I usually write, but I hope you enjoy nontheless!
This should end up being relatively short, and I'll be posting it alongside elf for now.
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Synopsis:

In hindsight, entering a black swirling portal inside an old closet to explore another dimension might not have been the brightest of ideas.

Well, creepy replica rooms, nauseating illusions, and reapers trying to kill us aside, I got to see a side of my boyfriend I would never get to see otherwise.

He might not be my boyfriend for much longer though…
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“I think there is a portal to another dimension in my grandpa’s closet.”

That’s how it had all started. I still remembered looking at my boyfriend with my eyebrow raised as if he’d just told me the sky was green.

Well, to be fair, his grandpa had been quite eccentric and probably had kept all sorts of weird things in his home. But surely, even his weirdness had its limits, right?

Apparently not.

Even with all its contents removed and a flashlight shining right inside it, the back of the closet wasn’t exactly what one might expect of an empty closet. For one, the swirling blackness and a humming sound were pretty uncloset-like.

I glanced at my boyfriend standing next to me, the ominous necklace with a skull ornament hanging off of his neck.

“N-now you believe me?” his jittery voice asked.

“Hmm… it sure does look like some supernatural phenomenon.” I nodded sagely. “But how did you even figure it out?” I pointed at the necklace.

“W-well… I found this thing inside the closet.” He cupped the skull shape. “I thought it looked kinda cool and stuff… so I tried it on and…”

“As soon as you did, that portal thingie opened.”

“Yeah…”

“So, if you take it off, it disappears again?”

Instead of replying, he took the necklace off, and just like flipping a switch, the mysterious portal vanished, leaving only an old closet behind.

Even when seeing it with my own eyes, I still couldn’t believe I was dealing with some kind of supernatural phenomenon. Sure, I had heard about them and read some stories, but never actually dealt with one myself.

“Well… did your grandpa ever happened to mention a creepy necklace unlocking a transdimensional gate in his old closet?”

“Uhm… he might have?” He scratched his cheek.

“Might have?” I raised my eyebrow.

“Look, grandpa used to tell me all sorts of crazy stories! I can’t remember them all!”

“What? So you’ve had your foreshadowing all along and you just ignored it?”

He slumped his shoulders and let out a sigh. “Can we just… do something about this? I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep with this thing right above me.”

“Right, right.” I thought for a second. “Let me borrow it. I wanna see if it works for me too.” I pointed at the necklace in his hands.

“Uhm, sure?” He handed me the jewelry and I promptly put it around my neck.

Nothing happened.

“Well… You definitely didn’t tell me your family had a legendary portal-opening artifact with its powers tied to your bloodline.”

“We don’t!” he shouted, before briskly whispering, “Probably…”

“Still, wouldn’t it be better to call a professional instead of going in ourselves?”

“Maybe… But I feel like this is some kind of test from grandpa for me, you know?”

I arched my eyebrow. Truly exasperating, even in death. Dammit, old man!

“And anyway, they would probably quarantine this whole place because of it! And I don’t want to let them do that!”

I sighed.

“Alright, I get it.” I looked up at the closet again. “But still, I don’t see the problem. Just don’t ever wear this, and no monsters from eldritch dimensions will come barging into your room.” I shrugged while taking the necklace off and handing it back.

He didn’t answer. Instead, he decided to give me his cute pleading look. What a cheater. He knew I could never resist that overpowered move.

“Okay, fine! We’ll go and explore whatever is on the other side of that portal! I bet it’s just some lions and witches and whatnot.”

“Thanks, Annie!” He continued cheating, giving me the brightest, most innocent of smiles impossible for other boys. Ugh, to think one of the reasons why I’d fallen in love with him would be my downfall!

“Alright, but going in with just a flashlight is asking to be munched on by horror monsters. We need some equipment!”

“Right, umm…” He looked around. “There are some old baseball bats around… a rope, walkie-talkies…”

“Well, you grab all of those, I’m gonna go downstairs to fetch us a first-aid kit and a bag to put stuff into.”

“Okay!”

I smiled and climbed the ladder back down from the attic.

I couldn’t help but wonder what the heck I was getting myself into again. My boyfriend had been crushed by his grandpa’s death and hadn’t even wanted to see the house he inherited from him.

And then, not even a week after he’d finally found the courage to move here from my place, he’d found something supernatural.

“Damn the occult geezer.”

If only he’d left a user manual for the necklace at least.

“I’m back,” I announced, after getting everything I thought could be useful and stuffing it into the backpack.

“Okay, I found two baseball bats, a spare flashlight, some rope, the walkie-talkies, and extra batteries for the flashlights,” he informed me as he stuffed everything into the backpack.

“Good, are we ready then?”

“Uhm, well…”

“What? Getting cold feet already? I thought this was a test for you from your esteemed grandpa?”

He stood there in silence for a second before slapping his cheeks and putting on the necklace. He then gazed at the portal that appeared and then turned to me, giving me a determined nod. “Okay! Let’s do this!”

I shot him a smile and grabbed his hand. We stepped through the portal.