House Warp
By: David Serra
Holly and Raquel were in the middle of writing their upcoming web episode script when Aaron called them to the attic.
“What’s up?” Raquel asked.
“I need help installing these new cameras.”
“You bought new cameras?” Holly questioned.
“Yeah, for the next episode.”
“Cool,” Holly replied.
They got to work placing the camera’s around the studio when a plastic bat fell against the wall, making a loud clink. Startled, the three of them investigated the wall. Upon a closer look, they found a large hidden safe embedded within it.
“Uncle Jack!” Holly called.
Uncle Jack, still cover in paint-stained clothes, hurried up to the attic.
“What is it? Oh!”
Uncle Jack examined the safe, noticing the combo lock also had a keyhole.
“Stand aside,” Raquel said, taking out a paper clip from her pocket.
She picked at the lock. After a few seconds, the safe clicked open. Aaron pulled open the door, they all peered inside.
“Are you kidding me?” Holly asked out loud.
Inside was a journal, a couple of blueprints for a strange-looking machine, but what caught their attention was a packed VHS tape. Uncle Jack took it out and looked it over.
“Otherworld expedition ‘94?” He read the title out loud.
“What is all this?” Holly asked herself while looking over the old blueprints of the machine that was entitled: DimensTraveler.
Aaron flipped through the leather-covered journal, intrigued. “William Hawthmeyer?”
“Do we still have a VCR?” Holly asked.
“Who still has a VCR?” Raquel replied with a laugh.
“I do.” Uncle Jack answered.
He got the VCR from one of the closets, hooked it up to a TV in the living room, and slipped the tape in. The four of them took a seat on the couch.
There was some static, followed by a slightly fuzzy but still clear video of the inside of a warehouse. The DimensTraveler, as detailed in the blueprints, stood in the middle of the room. A bearded and stout man in a lab coat appeared in front of the screen.
“Dr. William Hawthmeyer, speaking. Date, November 3rd, 1994. We have completed the DimensTraveler and are in the process of testing it. Observe.”
A person in a spacesuit-like outfit with a shaded helmet enters. They get put into a hanging chair on one of the beams.
“We shall now send subject temporarily into another dimension. Begin mission sequence.”
A couple of the scientists activate the machine. It whirls to life. Faster it spins when the gateway, attached to the opposite beam, flashes open and the person thrusts through it. The machine slows and comes to a halt. The person is no longer there.
“Where did she go?” Hawthmeyer exclaimed.
The video abruptly ended. Uncle Jack instinctively turned off the TV and VCR.
They all sat in shocked silence for a long moment.
“What was that?” Aaron asked, stunned.
“No, it couldn’t be.” Uncle Jack said, almost to himself.
“Maybe this is a prank?” Raquel suggested.
“Who would prank about this?” Holly said in disbelief.
Uncle Jack took the tape out and looked it over again.
“We have to figure out who that person was and who made this tape.”
“What?” Aaron asked.
“Holly, remember when you asked about Aunt Leanna?”
Holly sprang up from the couch. “You said she enlisted for NASA.”
“That’s what I thought.”
“Wait, are you saying?” Raquel began.
“Yes, I am.” Uncle Jack replied somberly.
