The Wilder-ness

Chapter One

There is a message from an unknown number.

It's 6 PM on a Friday. I'm in my room, lying in bed, when my phone vibrates next to me. The text just reads "Boo."

Something bounces off my window. Loudly. I startle and whip my head towards the sound. As I watch, another object, which I now realize is a shoe, comes flying towards my window again.

The only different thing that happens this time though, is that the glass shatters.

Letting out a shriek, I rush out of my room and down the stairs to the kitchen yelling out, "Mom! Dad!"

I am still holding my phone. That may have been the problem.

I find my parents in the room next to the kitchen, tied up and being dragged towards a large and round blue portal. Maybe if I hadn't shown up, they might still be alive.

I freeze, but it's too late. I made too much noise. Keeping their hoods low, they pivot towards me and all I can see are their eyes. Eyes that rage with fury.

I can't look away. I watch as they take their time, pulling out a long, thin blade, knowing that there is nothing that we can do to stop them.

And I watch. I watch as they stab my parents through the back, killing them instantly. My parents didn't even know it was happening.

They fall over—my parents. Onto the floor from where they kneel. Blood pools around them, seeping into the carpets. At least it was painless. This is all wrong. This should not be happening. Why is this happening?

I don't move from where I stand, staring at my parents who are dying on the living room floor. It's only when I hear a grunt from one of the intruders that I look up to see one pat the head of another—most likely why that guy had grunted.

You know how the saying goes that once you've hit rock bottom, the only way to go is up? Well, that's where I am now. And my first step up came as a miracle. The guy patted the other's hooded head just as he was walking through the portal. And the one who got patted was the last person there. The one who went through the portal happened to accidentally push the hood off of the other's head. And I see his face.

There is that split second where we both just stare at each other in shock. It's like I'm watching the whole situation unfold outside of my body.

Then I snap back in and he must realize the same thing. He quickly pulls his hood back on and steps through the portal.

The portal doesn't close right away. Then a hand pokes through the pool of blue and motions for me to come.

Clearly, I am in shock, and I am not ok, because I decide to listen. The next thing I know, all I see is blue. But then it turns white. And it's too bright. I feel someone grab me, but I'm still blind. My head hurts. Every . . . thing . . . hurts . . . .