Limits by Dan Freeman.
Rated M. Vulgar actions, vulgar language.
Chapter 1: p0rtals
Life. Just like war, life never changes. You're always in a rut. Trying to find what you missed. Or, in his case, lost. Many have dubbed his case 'shut' and 'useless'. He wouldn't give up. He would find Katie. Even if he died trying.
It was a crisp autumn night for our protagonist Dan. He had just returned from work; a 6am-9pm pace, just to support him and his daughter, Katie. Although it was alarming to see that the door was broken, Dan was assured that Katie, his four-year-old toddler, was okay because of noises from the T.V. But then he heard screaming…her screaming.
Dan rushed through the apartment, finding his only child being taken away through a black portal. Dan ran after the shadowy being taking her through, but to no avail as he tripped over a fallen lamp. He was knocked unconscious for the remainder of the night.
As he awoke, he immediately dashed to the spot where the portal was. It never looked like anything peculiar happened there. He ran outside, screaming for his lost little girl. Eventually the police arrived and said that he was probably disillusioned and that they'd look for her in local areas.
This did make it to the news, though. It was not before long that people thought Dan was crazy and that he killed Katie himself. Dan was outraged. In fact, he threw a rock at a cameraman. Dan was well built, brown hair and piercing green eyes. He and his deceased wife, Rachel, had Katie during senior year in high school. Rachel died literally the day after Katie was born, due to a heart defect. Dan was in mental pain, crying for weeks. He regained some composure after a while, but with Katie gone, the media hating him, and on the run from the cops (He was eventually charged with the crime) he decided to end his life.
But, right before he was about to jump over the edge, he paused.
"Happy Birthday to me." Was all he said when he jumped off of an office building, plummeting to the asphalt below.
As he hit the ground, a portal opened up, swallowing him whole.
Dan remembered his whole life in that portal; His family, his mom's death, his sister's death, his dad's alcoholism, and worst of all, the day of Sorrows. The very day his friends were butchered like lambs. He and Rachel were the only survivors.
The day he was supposed to die.