"Allison!" A voice drifted into Allison's room, barely audible over the music blasting from her speakers. For a moment, she debated pretending that she hadn't heard. Then the voice repeated itself, more insistent this time. "Allison!"
With a sigh, Allison snapped her phone shut and turned off her music. "Coming, Mom," she yelled. Yawning, she brushed her long, coppery hair out of her eyes. The curls bounced right back, as usual, and she sighed in resignation. She sat up, shutting off her music, and headed down the stairs.
As soon as she stepped off the bottom step, Allison's mother appeared in the doorway to the kitchen. "Thereyou are. What took you so long?" Before Allison could reply, her mother continued. "I need you to run to the store. We're out of milk, and I can't finish making this sauce without it." She waved a sauce-covered whisk, as if to emphasize her point. "Use some of your spending money, and I'll pay you back tomorrow." Allison knew she would never see that money again, but she nodded as if she believed it. "All right, Mom. I'll be back as soon as I can." With that, she turned and walked out the door.
Little did she know that she would probably never see her mother again.
As soon as she made it to the street, she flipped open her phone, furiously texting with one hand.
SARAH! U there?
The response came almost immediately. ya... y?
Allison's fingers flew across the tiny keypad. Mom sent me to the store. Meet me there asap :D. Then she stuffed the phone back into her pocket, walking as fast as she could to get there. Suddenly she stopped, staring down the road she would normally have taken. If she followed this road, it would take her at least fifteen minutes to get there... Wasn't there a shortcut just a few blocks ahead? She hesitated, then crossed the street and continued on. I'm sure it was just up here...
After a few minutes, she felt a bit less sure. Did she miss the turn or something? This didn't look familiar at all. The stores were all abandoned, giving the area an extraordinarily creepy aura. Most of the windows were boarded up, except for on one building just ahead. Allison stopped, looking into one of the windows. The lights were on, but the store was completely empty; no people, no merchandise, not even any shelves. Out of curiosity, she pushed on the door. To her surprise, it swung open easily.
Just then, Allison felt her cell phone buzz. She pulled it out.
where r u? ive been waiting 4ever... :( Sarah's grammar tended to get even worse when she was upset. Allison turned away from the strange building and leaned against the wall. Srry. Got lost. I'll be there soon. Just as she finished typing, the door swung open behind her. Allison whirled around, startled. Then she froze, because what she was seeing couldn't possibly be real.
The door was gone. In fact, so was the building. In its place was what could only be described as a black hole, except in a bright purple that she had never seen before in nature. She stumbled back in terror, but there was a strong gravitational pull dragging her towards it. She couldn't escape the force of it, no matter how hard she tried. She screamed, but it was cut off as she was sucked into the vortex.
As soon as she was inside, the unnatural black - or rather, purple - hole disappeared. The empty building was back, with all the lights on, and the area was silent except for the ringing of a cell phone dropped on the ground in front of the door.