The Other World - The Ending? (Patreon)

Lauren crouched down on the ground near where Eric insisted the portal was going to open. They had to be far enough away to make sure they didn’t turn into crazy-town.

Lauren smiled to herself softly when she realized that she discovered a benefit to being confined to diapers. Sitting on the ground was less painful when you have the equivalent of a pillow wrapped around your bottom. Eric was staring at his watch and then back at the spot in the center of the park.

Eric had been over the plan a few times that night. They needed to sprint the moment they saw the blue light in front of them. It would take them too long if they hesitated. Lauren had nodded reminding Eric that they wanted to get home as badly as he did and would not be missing the window. Charlie had even tied his tennis shoes tightly for this moment.

Ever since Eric has mentioned the light, Lauren has been fantasizing about being at home, back in her regular bed, away from Mrs. Wellington and her evil training methods. She was dreaming about sleeping at night without waking up wet and even going to work where she could be a productive member of society again. She dreamed of a life without diapers.

“Hold on a second,” Eric pointed in the distance where a white light was getting brighter.

“Didn’t you say the light was blue?” Charlie asked, frowning.

“That’s a headlight. Stay close to the ground.” Eric hissed.

Indeed in the distance, several vehicles had rolled into the park. They were SUV’s moving silently in the night and they appeared to be setting up a perimeter around the area where the portal was bound to appear.

Lauren shifted uncomfortably in her diaper. What were these people doing here?

“Have you seen them before?” Lauren hissed towards Eric who looked confused.

“No, they’ve never been here.”

A man, wearing a sports coat, hopped out of the car and was joined by a woman who was also dressed smartly. Her high boots made it easier for her to navigate the rugged terrain. She was barking orders at soldiers who were busy setting up fences and barriers. Another person pulled out a computer and began typing furiously on the keyboard.

“Charlie?” Lauren asked quietly. “What are they doing?”

Charlie held his hand up. “Hold on babe, I’ve never seen this before either.”

But Lauren wasn’t asking because she wanted a detailed accounting of what was happening. She was asking because as the men set up the barriers to her only way home, she suspected they were here to monitor the portal and anyone who would try to go through it. Lauren started to tremble. She wanted to go home and this was only going to complicate things.

“Look,” Eric pointed to the side of the area a bit further away. “They haven’t put up a fence over there, we need to head in that direction so we can get through.”

“But we can’t get any closer can we?” Lauren asked nervously, glancing at Charlie’s phone that told them they were 55 meters away from the portal’s range.

“How can they be so close?” Charlie looked at Eric.

Eric shrugged.

Then he grabbed Lauren, “Look, the light.”

Indeed, ahead of them, in the darkness, the world turned slightly blue. It was an electric neon blue, a color that Lauren had never seen naturally recurring in nature. While the sky or ocean had a blue that was calming and could lull you into a sense of peace, this blue felt violent. It felt like it didn’t belong. And to make matters worse, it seemed to pulse and get brighter, jutting out into the darkness in straight, aggressive lines.

Lauren also smelled burnt funnel cakes and electricity.

“Come on!” Charlie yelled, grabbing Lauren’s hands. “We have to move now.” Lauren found her legs were feeling weak. They had fallen asleep while compressed under her diaper. Wobbly, she stood up and hobbled behind Charlie who was trailing behind Eric, pulling as hard as he could.

What was strange, was the closer they got to the light, the heavier gravity seemed to get. It was as if they were being pushed backward and down at the same time. Eric, who had started sprinting before Charlie had managed to get Lauren off the ground, was a few paces ahead of them and had managed to turn the corner and had come face to face with the portal.

Lauren reached the turn and watched as Eric stuttered for a moment. The portal looked as if someone had ripped a hole in the darkness. It was hard to see the other side because, at the center of the eye, the fabric of the universe was tearing and repairing itself constantly. Lauren hadn’t expected the noise that came with this moment. It sounded like bones cracking and a deep pounding base at different octaves.

Lauren was trying to move with Charlie to get close to the portal, but she found it nearly impossible to move. The tearing noise grew louder, the crunching got louder and then an ear-splitting high noise smashed into them and the center of the portal opened up and for a second, Lauren could see the other side.

Lauren didn’t expect this, but the light from the other side showed brighter and sharper colors. In fact, compared to the darkness around her, the darkness from the other side was clearer, sharper and for a moment she could smell the grass and a strong smell of water.

Eric was right, the light fantastic was hard to describe. The portal snapped shut again and then aggressively opened again and the tearing noise got louder and louder. The base was overwhelming. Lauren and Charlie pushed forward as Eric reached out towards the portal.

Suddenly, a bang was heard behind them and the man in the suit from earlier barged into the room. His eyes looked crazy as he grabbed Lauren around the waist and pulled her backward. “Charlie!” she yelled, slipping through his hands.

Charlie, alarmed, spun around and tried to claw at Lauren to get her back in his control, but the man dragged her backward, aided by the force of gravity being propelled by the portal.

For a second, Eric stood next to the portal, his soft hair blowing in the gravity of the moment as he debated what to do. Lauren, remembering who he had left on the other side screamed, “GO ERIC, GO!”

Eric didn’t move.

The portal pulsed again as Charlie made contact with Lauren and tugged, but another guard had reached Charlie and grabbed him, placing him in a chokehold.

Lauren saw another guard lunge for Eric. But with tears running down her face, Lauren yelled again. “GO NOW!”

Eric nodded, pressing his hand to his chest and then stepped forward into the darkness between the portal. In an instant, the portal snapped shut and let out another screeching noise.

For a moment, the man who had lunged after Eric was suspended in the air and all of them around the portal floated upwards, unbounded by gravity. As the entire group watched, the man's arm, which had been caught in the portal as it closed, seemed to flicker for a moment. Then, as if it were made of dust the arm began to crumble in front of their eyes.

The man screamed as everyone was hurled back to the ground. The last thing Lauren felt before the world went black was the grass hitting her face.

***

Epilogue

Lauren’s eyes flung open.

She winced when she saw the nursery around her, only everything around her was bright white, sterile and polished.

Lauren wobbled to her feet and to her dismay saw she had wet herself in her sleep.

Lauren investigated the room around her and saw strangely that there were no doors in the room, just stuffed animals, a changing table, and the giant crib she had woken up in. Having learned not to speak a while ago (unless spoken to) Lauren began investigating the room trying to figure out where she was.

Suddenly, a voice interrupted her thoughts.

“I’m glad you’re awake.”

Lauren jumped and spun around. Sitting in a chair was a woman in a black suit.

She spoke again. “For a moment, we thought we had lost you there. Portals can be dangerous businesses.”

“Excuse me?”

The woman smiled and looked down at her phone. “The portal from last week.”

Lauren glanced at her wrist where her watch should have been. So it had been a week since the portal had opened. And clearly, they hadn’t made it through.

“What am I doing here?” Lauren asked defensively. “Where is Charlie?”

The woman smiled. “I promise I’ll answer your questions soon, but in the meantime, I need to tell you that we saved your life the other day.”

“What do you mean?” Lauren glared at the woman who had taken away her chance at freedom.

“Had you entered the portal, you would not have gotten the results you expected.”

Lauren stared at the woman. “Don’t lie to me.”

The woman pressed a button on her tablet and the wall behind her opened up. “No lies here,” she insisted as another person entered the room and handed her an envelope. “This should answer your skepticism.”

The woman handed the envelope to Lauren who ripped it open.

Inside was a sheet of cardstock stationery that bore an eagle at the top. Scrawled in red ink were the words, Not the right portal. Do not come.

Lauren gasped.

The woman narrowed her eyes and headed towards the door. “I suspect we have some work to do. Are you coming?”

Lauren stood there for a moment frozen and then waddled after her.

The world just got bigger.