Campfire Horror Stories (Vol. 1)

The Mysterious Spiraling Portal

Peaceful towns can sometimes be boring but, they're all better than a hypnotic portal that nobody knows nothing about. Umbridge is home to a few intelligent scientists that are known all throughout the world but, not even they had any idea about what this vortex is, let alone how it appeared in our town park. At least, that's it started.

All of the top scientists in Umbridge, including my father, performed various experiments on the portal. Trying out all sorts of theories, and gimmicks. Nonetheless, they did not find out much. They couldn't even send any types of cameras into the portal without them short circuiting and exploding the moment they were put inside the portal. They could send in rope, stuffed animals, and blocks made of clay into the portal without anything happening.

I remember my friend Katie telling me how around the time the portal was discovered, three of our oldest residents had gone missing. Who would want to kidnap an one hundred-three year old man, and two elderly ladies in their nineties?

As the days went by, more elderly went missing. Nobody could understand why this was happening. Katie guessed the portal. And as it turned out, she was right.

Late one night, I went out on a date with my girlfriend, Masako. We went to the movies, got some pizza, then we started making out in her car. While she was groping my breast, I heard a strange noise coming from the park nearby. We both exited the car, and saw Police Chief Talembaum walking to the park.

It was strange, it was as if the chief was in a trance. We followed him as he made way to the center of the park. Next thing we know, he walked straight toward the portal. Why was he walking to the portal? Did he find something out? No.

Tyrone Talembaum walked straight into the portal, and disappeared. We waited all night to see if he would come back, but he didn't. I remember sitting on a bench, feeling flabbergasted by what the Police Chief just did. It was utterly bizarre.

What was more bizarre, is that we saw the same exact incident repeat itself the very next night. One of the older doctors from the hospital walked right into the portal. We got a couple of our friends, including Katie, to come check out the weird events. Just as we predicted, another older person (about sixty-five years old) walked straight into the portal.

By the end of the week, all of the residents Umbridge knew the reason for the disappearances of our elderly citizens. Even more so than that, a few scientists came to the conclusion that the portal is hypnotizing people one by one into it's core. We all found it suspicious that the portal was taking people in an order of age.

Many townspeople were freaking out. They tried to flee the town but, an invisible barrier at the edges of the town stopped them from leaving. My father and his team did not give in to despair. Instead, they tried to find ways to break the barrier.

Unlucky for us, my dad and his team failed. More and more citizens kept walking into the portal. Eventually, both of my parents went into the portal. I wept for days with my little brother. I hated that portal.

I tried my best to destroy it but, failed. I wasn't the only one who attempted this, many others did too. Some even tried sealing up the portal. The next age group of citizens just moved it aside, and went along with their fate. It wouldn't be long that my fate would be next.

I panicked. Short of breathe. Legs trembling, arms freezing up, chest pounding, tears streaming down my cheeks. Everything looked so dark. And I couldn't stop thinking about negative thoughts. I did not want to go into that portal.

A whole week had passed since my parents had disappeared into that portal. People in their late twenties were now walking towards destiny. In a few more days, I'd be next, as well as my friends. It even dawned on me that my little brother would be going in there soon too.