GreenerThanGreen

I am a new author and English isn't my first language, so expect grammar, spelling and punctuation errors. I will edit them if they are pointed out, so I will than you in advance. Constructive criticism and ideas are welcome. Sometimes I can't remember a word and use synonyms, so if a better sentence comes to mind I will review suggestions. I will try to read all comments and answer any questions.

The day started pretty much like normal for Jessica Thomas. Waking up in the rental apartment she shared with two roommates, having a lively discussion about what they would be doing for the day over breakfast and almost missing the bus to work because their conversation carried a little too long. Well, not work exactly, just an internship she secured until her college classes resumed after the break. Nothing unusual or out of the norm so far. The strange things started happening right after arriving at work. She was asked to see the Regional Director in his office, when until now she hadn’t had any dealings with anyone higher than a Marketing Team Leader. When she met the Director she was informed that a reclusive CEO wanted to sign a deal with them and asked specifically for her, by name, to deliver the documents for the proposal. And since he was living in a cabin in the mountains, with no safe road for cars, she had to ditch the company car at a rest stop and hike the rest of the way. Very strange indeed. At least for the inconvenience of needing her to hike up a mountain, they gave her a voucher to buy gear and supplies, so she didn’t need to deplete her Poor University Student Account. But, hey, what girl doesn’t like shopping for new clothes and shoes? Even if they are hiking boots and sturdy outdoor clothes and backpacks instead of cute shoes and beautiful clothes. So, after a stop at a shop, change of clothes and with a backpack full of energy bars and a few bottles of water plus a first aid kit in case of emergency, Jessica entered the company car and drove toward the mountains.  

The drive up the mountain was luckily normal and with no surprises. She parked the car at the rest stop, checked the car seats and the glove compartment in case she has dropped something and then started hiking up the trail that would lead her to the cabin. Usually this would be the hard or annoying part for almost anyone else, but Jessica was pretty fit and she enjoyed hiking as a hobby. So she ate an energy bar, stayed hydrated and continued to trek along the trail. After a few hours she finally saw the cabin and a smile graced her face. She was finally here. 

The next part wasn’t so much strange as was annoying. She knocked on the door, a man opened it and immediately asked her for the documents. He didn’t even invite her inside to rest or offer her any refreshments, just took the papers and closed the door in her face. Her work was done, but the attitude of the other party kind of pissed her off. Who asks for someone by name, to climb a mountain and then just slams a door in their face when they finish the job? 

With nothing else to do here, she started on her way down the mountain. It was going to be just as far and probably take just as long or longer to go down. At least the view was beautiful and the air fresh. One had to focus on the positive things in life instead of all the negative stuff. 

On her way back, Jessica’s attention was attracted by something shining in her eyes and having her interest piqued just a little, she left the trail and go see what it was. There was that one in a million chance it could be something valuable. When she approached the shiny thing she found the mouth of a well hidden cave. The place couldn’t be seen from the trail and the only reason she found it was the sun shining at just the right angle at just the right time for it to reflect off the surface of the shiny thing and attract her eye. And speaking of the shiny, she approached the mouth of the cave and took a closer look. 

“What do I have here?” As soon as she took the object in her hands she heard an almost imperceptible DING sound, but assumed it was one of the apps on her phone and didn’t pay attention to it. She moved the object to the shade to stop the reflecting sun. ”Is that a duel monster card? I loved these when I was 8. I even collected quite a few cards until my interest waned and I had to focus on school.” 

Jessica looked at the name on the sleeved card and then read it out loud. “Another Dimension Containment Machine.” Five seconds later the card in her hand disintegrated, there was another DING and a big machine, just like in the illustration on the card, appeared in the cave in front of her. The next moment a scanning beam shone in all 360 degrees around the machine. Jessica instinctively raised her hands to shield her face or eyes and accidentally pressed something that appeared in front of her. The next moment a strong suction force came from the machine and started sucking her towards what looked like an event horizon or something. “No, no, no! HELP! Fuck, shit, NOOOOoooo…!” Jessica scrambled to try and hold on to something, but was flailing her hands in vain. There was nothing she could grab in her vicinity. She flew through the circle in the machine and disappeared. The machine stopped working shortly after that, but the time it was active was enough to weaken the structure of the cave and the entrance collapsed, enclosing the machine in darkness and erasing any evidence that there was a cave. 

Days later there was a missing person report filed with the police for Jessica Thomas. After not coming home that night and next morning, her roommates got worried and called all the places she could have spent the night. Friends, relatives, bars she frequented and other places. She hadn’t reported back to work after going on assignment. After filing the report with the police, the CEO from the cabin was their first suspect for her disappearance and there was a massive search organized to check the mountain for her living or dead body. But nothing was found, not even the cave where the machine stood.