Chapter 1 Portal

I CHECKED OVER THE list that Auth had given me of this week's tasks, making sure I had done all of them. I had just finished returning a monster to its book after it had escaped. Usually, something like that wouldn’t be my priority; however, the monster had somehow managed to get into another book. It had caused some damage to the book and nearly killed one of the main characters while it was there. Having failed to find the monster before it was seen, it was now in the book. It was a good thing I wasn’t seen, otherwise Auth couldn’t have written it off since I don’t exactly fit the theme of the book.

The monster is from my friend Demon’s book, though I think he is called Daemon now; he would be pissed if I got it wrong. I don’t think Auth gave a title to his book yet, but she knows she wants to turn it into a comic which will probably never happen since she can’t draw and she procrastinates with everything. Plus, it took her three tries to figure out the right book for him. Auth actually created his character first along with his cafe, or was it a bakery back then? He likely still owns a cafe in this rendition, as despite the mismatch with his character, I can’t imagine him not baking.

However, I cannot reveal further details, as you will learn more about him when Auth writes his story. I returned my attention to the list before me, and a grin spread across my face as I realized I had finally finished. Given that Auth has been assigning me less work recently, this should not have been a surprise to me. I’m not really sure if things are less hectic or if she’s not giving me as much, but who am I to complain. Without work, I have more time to annoy Daemon and the rest of the group.

Actually, I should go visit him I know nothing about his new book because I haven’t seen him in a while. I put the list away and snapped my fingers, causing one of my portals to appear in front of me. Just a vortex of swirling crimson that will take me anywhere I want within Auth’s mind. Before I took a step through, I activated my hover boots. Since Damon’s world is new and I haven’t been there yet, my portal will just pop me out anywhere.

My prior experience with that situation involved falling into a lake, a frustrating event because my boots weren’t yet waterproof. I was thankfully able to save them starting from scratch wouldn’t have been fun. Luckily, everything else was waterproof, so I avoided being completely soaked. My boots are waterproof now, but I really don’t enjoy getting wet. As I stepped through the portal, boots on, I thought of Daemon to be transported to his book.

When I came out the other side, I instantly realized something had gone wrong. Even though I hadn’t visited Daemon’s world, I knew it was set in the human realm. The blood-red sky I was under was clearly not a feature of the human world. I lifted my right jacket sleeve, showing a thin metal bracelet engraved with “fuck off,” and then tapped on the word fuck, which caused a holographic keyboard to appear. As I questioned the reason for my portal’s destination, when I was trying to go to Daemon’s book, I typed in “book, blood-red, and sky” intending to reach Daemon’s book. I didn’t remember Auth having a book with a red sky, but this could be a new book, so I was checking the database.

I received a response almost immediately, though it wasn’t what I had expected.

“How can there be no results when I’m right here under a blood-red sky?” I spoke to the database even though I knew it couldn’t hear me.

I tried again, but even when I typed “book,” “blood-red,” and “sky,” it still reported no findings. Of course, this book could be a forgotten book, and that’s why I can’t find it in the database, but they would completely fall apart after being forgotten. The sky would be the first to disappear, and since this sky appears perfectly normal in every direction I look, it can’t be bad enough to completely forget. Realizing I could just ask Auth about it when I get back, I snapped my fingers to form one of my portals. Unfortunately, like everything else that I’ve been doing, I didn’t get the results that I wanted because a portal didn’t appear.

I stared at the blank space in front of me where my portal was supposed to be before snapping my fingers once again, but there was still nothing there. Then I did it again and again until my hand ached from the action of snapping my fingers. Which shouldn’t have been happening. My portals have never, in my whole life, stopped working. I know there’s a phrase that says “Theres always a first time for everything,” and while I usually love quotes, this doesn’t need to be the first time of anything. I pushed away the thoughts of panicking and overthinking, figuring neither would do me any good.

Taking a deep breath, I closed the keyboard by tapping “fuck,” then tapped “off” and spoke.

“Auth, this is Portal. I’m in a location that doesn’t have a database entry, standing in a blood-red sky, not sure if that means anything to you. I portaled to it without even meaning to and now my portals won't open. Although I know you’re likely busy with real-world matters, I’d appreciate it if you could contact me as soon as possible.”

I clicked off again to send the message, hoping she would respond right away. She's not always in her head, but even if she isn't, she should be able to hear this. So I waited for her response. First one minute, then five, then a full 30 minutes went by with no answer. My concern grew because, as her replies are sometimes slow, I have never waited this long before.

I tapped off again. “Auth, 30 minutes have passed without a response. Please contact me soon if you received this message; it’s kind of urgent.”

I clicked off once more, and as ten minutes passed with no response, my anxiety increased. Just as my concern was about to morph into panic, a little spark of light drew my gaze to the ground. My hover boots’ lights were blinking, signaling that their battery was about to run out of power to keep me aloft. Considering I’ve been using them non-stop, it’s understandable the battery needs a brief rest to charge, even though solar power usually switches on when it gets too low. Realizing that I took a glance around looking for the sun, which is when I noticed there wasn't one.

Meaning if I didn't turn off my boots soon they would just do it when the power runs out. For the first time since arriving, I looked down and understood the gravity of my situation, seeing I was thousands of miles from any solid ground or building. I don't fear heights since I became accustomed to appearing in a book’s sky; a fear of heights never made sense.