Staring into the dark abyss, I could hear the screams and crackles of electricity. When I looked away I knew immediately I had made a mistake. There was blood everywhere, as if the night had been replaced entirely by this dark crimson. Bodies lay sprawled against the ground, unmoving and lifeless. Wanting to unsee the horrendous sight, I leapt into the abyss that had taken the shape of an octagon, and became enclosed in darkness.

I woke up on the couch to the chuckles of my twin, Evelyn. “More messed up dreams, sis?”

My little brother, Eren, was laughing as well. My dad, on the other hand, didn’t look as amused.

“You know Kate, these dreams might mean something. Something you don’t know about yourself, dreams have a tendency to reveal a person’s true self,” Dad said seriously.

Eren burst out laughing again. “Or maybe it means that she’s just a weirdo!”

My siblings’ laughter resumed. However, my mind was within my dreams. The dreams started four years ago, when I was only eleven. I figured they would go away once I got older and when my imagination would be a little more tamed, but it’s been four years and nothing had changed.

Evelyn took hold of my hand, bringing a small smile to my face.

Since forever, my sister and I have been close. I mean, we chose to share a room, we completely understand each other and have this weird but amazing connection between ourselves. Like those psychic twins I’ve seen on TV.

Everything in our lives was normal, until it happened.

I was watching TV with Evelyn and Eren when some random newscast came on saying, “SUSPICIOUS DEATH OCCURS AND SHOCKS NATION. MAN FOUND DEAD IN BASEMENT WITH MYSTERIOUS MARKINGS. POSSIBLY A RITUALISTIC KILLING.”

Being the curious person I was, I ran upstairs and grabbed my computer, intent on searching online for the more information on the death. Sure enough, the page came up and I was astonished to find that the man’s corpse was found lying on top of a giant octagon that was drawn on the ground. An octagon? Why an octagon? Does this man’s death have anything to do with the one in my dreams? Or was he just some nutjob? I am?

My mind filled with questions that could not be answered by this news page, but I was determined to discover the truth and why this case so quickly caught my attention. I quickly typed in ‘octagons and mysterious deaths’. I couldn’t tell how long I was researching, but eventually I found my answer. I did not even need to say anything to Evelyn because, as usual, she suspected something and came exploding into my room, clearly suspicious of my sudden vanishing act.

“Okay Kate, spill. What have you been up to?”

“Geez, Evelyn, don’t scare me like that! Anyways, did you see that newscast?”

“Yeah, now that I think about it I did. What about it?” she asked dumbly.

“Well, I did some research on it, and, to be honest, I’m getting freaked,” I said nervously while showing her the information I just found. Her eyes grew wide and her jaw dropped, and I knew she was as scared as I was.

“That shape. Didn’t you say you were having weird dreams involving it? I mean, every time your dreams involved some wacky shape or something freaky like that, right?,” Evelyn asked with her brows furrowed.

“Yeah, and I am starting to think it has something to do with both of us, not just me.”

“Wait a second, don’t go jumping to random conclusions thinking that I might have something to do with your wacky dreams because I don’t, I’m not like you, Kate,” Evelyn snapped, throwing her hands up in defense. “I really don’t like where this is going. I’m out of here,” she said as she walked out of the room.

Unlike my sister, my mind was craving knowledge about the octagon and my dreams. After hours of scouring the web, I found out that there was this ancient belief that some people born with a rare trait could pass through different dimensions. To do so, they draw a giant octagon, each point on the octagon represents one of the eight dimensions. However, one must use their own energy to open the portal that allows them to move clockwise in the flow of dimensions. If they use too much energy, they can die, and I concluded this is how that man must have died. He must not have been strong enough. Despite the obvious danger, I really wanted to try out this ritual and see if I was one of those ‘special people’, and if it even exists.

After about an hour of trying to convince my sister to try it with me, she finally gave in, considering the late hour. We quietly tiptoed down into our basement, flicked on the light, and drew a giant octagon with sidewalk chalk.

“Okay, Miss Crazy, what do we do now?” Evelyn asked drowsily, simultaneously rubbing her eyes.

I got into position. “Apparently we are just supposed to kneel in the center of the octagon and set our hands on it like this -”, I took Evelyn’s hand and before I could finish my sentence, all tranquility in the room disappeared and was replaced with the sound of electricity. The octagon began to glow green, then disappeared, leaving a dark abyss. I heard an ear-piercing scream that struck me out of my daze and I looked up, to see something that was all – too familiar. I saw blood smeared on the walls around us, and my sister writhing on the floor as if she was possessed. She slowly lifted her head and stretched out one, frail hand, and I tried looking into her eyes, but only saw black pits. What is happening? This has to be another dream!

My mind swirled with emotions and my stomach was doing gymnastics as I absorbed the scene that was happening around me. Suddenly, my sister disappeared from sight, as did the rest of the room, and I was left in a void of complete darkness. As I began to panic, I felt a hand gently rest on my shoulder, and I whipped around to see four figures standing before me, all engulfed in blinding white light, erasing the sudden darkness. As my eyes adjusted, I realized that they were actually people, and I dropped to my knees and wept as I realized who one of them was. It was none other than Evelyn herself, shimmering with light, a smile on her face. She held out her hand, I took it, and she rose her other hand to point to the other two smiling beings. I recognized them as the corpses I saw lying on the ground in my dream, expect these two were alive and standing right infront of me. The male figure reached out his hand to me, smiled and said, “Hello Kate. We’ve missed you.”

“Who are you?”

“We’re your family, Kate. Your real family. And the time has come to come home.”

“But what about -”

Evelyn quickly interrupted. “They won’t even remember us when we’re gone.”

“But -”

“Kate.”

A new voice emanated, belonging to the woman. The small figure next to her was Eren, smiling same as Evelyn. He looked like the happiest little boy alive.

“It’s time to come home, sweetheart.”

Those words are what silenced me. I looked into her eyes and saw pure love.

A white staircase appeared before us, and when I looked around I realized that the darkness had faded and was replaced with light. I took my father’s hand and began to ascend the staircase, too awestruck to say anything else. All I could do was think and the only thing that went through my mind was this: All of this happened for a reason – one of which I am yet to find out. This is the beginning of a new chapter in my life – with my real parents. With my real family.