Saxa spat out the toothpaste and rinsed her mouth with water. She put her toothbrush back on its spot and took a look in the mirror. She ran her fingers through her shoulder long, black hair and studied her blue-green eyes in the mirror. They were a fun mix. Azure blue close to the pupils, moving out in a pine green.

"Welcome home, Saxa," she spoke to her mirror image.

She had bought this house and moved into it. Today marked her first night in the house. A house she knew from her childhood despite never having set foot inside it. Her classmate Xavier Woods had lived there.

"What the hell happened to you, Xavier?" She mumbled.

Xavier went missing when they were 12. It had been 23 long year without anyone seeing him. His parents lived in the house for another year while constantly hoping he would come home. In the end they couldn't stand being surrounded by his memories anymore and they moved. Other people had lived there, and now the house was hers. She was aware it was kind of absurd that she had bought this house of all houses but she liked it. And she couldn't resist a mystery, no matter how close to home it might hit.

"Go to bed," she sighed.

She left her mirror image and her thought of solving a mystery in the bathroom. She went to the bedroom and picked up the short, royal blue nightgown she had picked out for the night. She put it on, turned off the light, and crawled under the duvet.

For a while she laid there listening to the sounds she wasn't used to. A new place always came with new sounds. The creatures outside of her window that was waking up to take over the night. She rolled over on her side and yawned. She didn't know what it was but something made her open her eyes and look at the built-in closet in the wall. She wasn't sure if she had heard anything coming from there. More like a feeling that something was in there she needed to see.

"You're doing it again, Saxa. Remember what your therapist told you. Stay grounded. Don't lose your head in the clouds," she said.

She ignored her own voice of reason and got out of bed. She turned on the light again and opened the closet. The only thing in there was the clothes she had put in there earlier that day.

"There's nothing in here. You're spooking yourself out. It's a new house. It's gonna take time getting used to it," she said.

She once again ignored her own voice and pushed the clothes on the hanger aside. She took a step inside the closet and froze. What appeared to be a portal opened in front of her. She should be scared. She should get out. She should slam the door to the closet and pretend it had never happened. Instead she reached a hand forward to touch it. It went through to the other side.

"What the hell?" She looked at her arm stuck in the portal. "This is a bad idea, Saxa. It's real but still a bad idea. Not even your therapist saw this coming. Make your decision before that thing closes and chops off your hand."

Instead of pulling her hand back, she stepped through the portal. She stepped out into a Winter landscape full of trees and bushes. She couldn't help but smirk at the idea of having stepped into a movie.

"This is just like Narnia," she chuckled.
"Except it is real," a voice behind her sounded.

She turned around and was shocked to see the portal was gone. Instead a man stood there. A man she recognized right away despite not having seen him in 23 years.

"Xavier?" She asked.
"Saxa? Is that you?" He eyed her up and down. "Damn, you grew up mighty fine, girl."

She tried pulling the short nightgown further down. She didn't like how he was looking at her. In her mind he was still that 12 year old boy that had gone missing. It was hard to see him as the 35 year old man he now was.

"You must be freezing," he said. "This way. I got the fireplace going in my cottage."
"You live here?" She asked.
"It was either figure out how to survive here or freeze to death in the snow," he shrugged. "I've been waiting so long for anyone from our world to come here. You're my ticket home, Saxa. I need you to help me get back home."
"What can I do?" She asked.
"Come," he beckoned a hand in the air. "Let's get you warmed up first. Then we can talk."