Eternal Love

Worlds Apart

My hands trembled as I lit the last candle around the antique mirror in my basement. I had never imagined I would be delving into the mystical dark arts, but grief changes a person. My beloved Mark had been tragically taken from me only a couple of years into our marriage by a fatal house fire. He had left the stove on accidentally while on a business call in the other room. It was an accident.

No one could have known what would have happened next.

I am lost without him.

When the psychic Madame Zelda claimed she could establish contact with spirits in other planes of existence, I became obsessed with the possibility of seeing Mark again. Zelda had warned me Mark's consciousness likely resided in the dangerous astral realm now, full of threats I could scarcely fathom. But I was past caring about personal risk. I had to try.

As I completed the ritual under Zelda's guidance, the mirror surface rippled like water. My reflection vanished, replaced by an eerie portal glowing within the frame. I could make out a dim, gray landscape beyond the glass.

"There is your gateway," Zelda intoned.
"Find your Mark, but make your presence in their world known only to him. Return before the candle burns out, or you may never make it back!"

With that ominous warning, she gave me a push and I stumbled through the portal. I emerged gasping into a realm of swirling mists and craggy, ominous vegetation. The very air felt electrically charged, like a coming storm. In the distance, unseen creatures screeched and howled, the sounds echoing unnaturally. Where was I to even start looking for Mark in this endless, alien world?

As I crept forward, the unmistakable sound of footsteps crunching on gravel sounded behind me. I whirled to find a tall, intimidating figure looming out of the fog. Heart racing, I opened my mouth to cry out.

The man held up a hand.

"Hush! Do you want to draw the Souleaters? Make no sound and come away quickly." 

Though alarmed by the stranger's intense urgency, I sensed no immediate threat from him. I allowed him to lead me along a forested path to a small, camouflaged shelter dug into an embankment. Inside the tiny space, the man studied me intently by the light of a single candle.

"You're newly arrived," he deduced.

"From the Living Realm, I presume?" At my hesitant nod, he went on.
"Dangerous to cross over without a guide. You're fortunate I found you when I did." 

I shifted anxiously. "Please, I'm searching for someone. My husband, Mark. Have you seen or heard of a man by that name?"

The stranger furrowed his brow. "Can't say I have. But this realm is vast. Tell me, what prompted you to risk your soul to come here alone?"

Haltingly, I explained about Mark's sudden tragic death and my fruitless efforts to cope without him. When I described detecting Mark's essence nearby during a séance, the stranger nodded gravely. 

"I understand, miss. But take care - the Veil deceives. Not all here are as they seem. Promise me you'll return to your world before long. I can guide you toward the Crossing Point." 

Before I could respond, a blood-curdling screech sounded just outside. The man seized my wrist, eyes wide.

"They've found us! We must go now!"

We crashed headlong through the woods as the shrieks followed close behind. Finally, my guide shoved me toward a shimmering Portal suspended between two twisted oaks.

"The Crossing!" he shouted.
"Jump through before it closes!" 

But as I peered desperately through the Portal, my heart dropped like a stone. No candle-lit basement awaited on the other side - only an endlessly dark void. This was not my way home!

I backed away, shaking my head frantically. "You've tricked me! This isn't the way back!"

My guide's face contorted in frustration. "You little fool! I offer you escape and you spit it back?"

He advanced, all pretenses gone.
"The Souleaters will feast well tonight after all!"

As he grabbed for me, the brush exploded behind us. Three misshapen horrors burst forth, jaws unhinged and clawed hands outstretched. I turned to flee but my attacker held firm. "They can have what's left after I finish with you," he snarled.

Then one of the nightmares spoke, its voice achingly, blessedly familiar.

"Unhand my wife, demon!"

My assailant whipped around with a rageful scream. Too late - Mark's fist collided with his face in a blast of blinding light. The man crumpled, howling.

The true monsters wavered, wavered...and vanished as if they had never been.

Mark. My wonderful, courageous, miraculously alive Mark - turned to me, eyes drinking me in.

Before he could speak, I threw myself into his embrace with a joyful cry.

"How did you find me in this terrible place?" 

Mark held me close, murmuring into my hair. "Does it matter? We're together now."

As Mark led me gently but firmly toward a new shimmering portal, the candles lining my basement mirror guttered out one by one behind us. A reminder of my departure from the physical world.