Hell Is A Place On Earth

2020

Ash stared into the mirror. Poked at her mascara. Tried to smile. The phone on the table buzzed. It was Ashley’s brother.

No, Ash thought, taking a calming breath. My brother.

She pulled up the text. “See you soon! :)”. She smiled, almost genuinely this time. Static buzzed on her tongue, and she swallowed it down. She opened the app to text him back. Her fingerprint unlocked it, even though it wasn’t her phone.

Ash had gone through the phone the day she appeared. Ashley had a lot of friends. She had tried to text some of them, but they had all seemed alien to her. They’d all mostly stopped texting her, after a bit. Ashley’s brother was the only one to keep trying. Maybe he didn’t notice she wasn’t Ash. Maybe he did and he didn’t care.

She looked back up into the mirror. The face wasn’t hers. She didn’t have a face. Not one that belonged to her anyway. Then the face morphed. Ash stumbled backwards as Chris fell out of the mirror and tumbled to the floor.

“Fuck!” Chris snapped. 

Ash struggled to think of something to say. 

The phone buzzed again. “Is that Alex?” Chris asked.

“Yeah.”

“Why is he texting you?”

“Because I’m going out to dinner with him tonight. It’s his birthday.”

“You remember his birthday?”

“I care about him. He’s my brother.”

“Ash, he’s not. You need to stop lying to yourself.”

“I—”

“No Ash, I tell you over and over and you never listen to me. I can’t win here.”

“He’s my brother.”

She checked the time on Ashley’s phone. “I should leave, dinner’s soon.”

Chris sighed. “I should probably lie down. Hell fucks with my sense of time.”

“He’s asking to meet you, you know.”

“Oh yeah? What’re you telling him about me?”

Ash didn’t say anything.

“Right. Have fun with Alex. But when you get back, we need to talk about something.”

“What?”

“I don’t want to ruin your night. Just have fun. It’s not urgent.”

It was a long way to the restaurant, but Ash liked walking. It wasn’t like she could drive, anyway. Even if she had been able to, it didn’t seem like a good idea. Alex was already there when she walked in. He looked concerned, but he smiled. “Hey Ash, how’s it going?”

“Fine,” she said, trying her best to smile back. She wasn’t sure how convincing it looked.

“I feel like I haven’t seen you in ages.”

“Yeah it’s, uh, been a while.” It’s nice to meet you Alex.

“What are you up to? I heard you and Tom broke up— ”

“Oh? Yeah. Tom.” She had blocked him after a few exchanges. She hadn’t liked him that much.

“Are you okay? You seem kind of off.”

She felt kind of off. Her head was fuzzy, and a low buzz was beginning to build in her ears.

“I’m fine.”

She wasn’t fine. The lights of the restaurant expanded into six pointed stars in front of Ashley’s rapidly unfocusing eyes.

“Alright, if you say so. Seriously though, is something wrong? A bunch of your friends asked me why you’ve been ghosting them. You know you can talk to me.”

This is going all wrong. What do I say? I can’t think I can’t see I can’t—

Something was seriously wrong. Her vision swam. This shouldn’t be happening. This hadn’t happened since she had been created. She’d overcome this. She willed Ashley’s eyes to focus. They’re not Ashley’s eyes anymore. They’re mine they’re mine they’re mine they’re mi—

“Ash. Ash.” Alex snapped his fingers in front of her face. She managed to focus on his face “You zoned out. Maybe we should leave.”

Water sloshed into her glass, she was vaguely aware of the waiter standing next to her. “Anything to drink?”

Do I want anything to drink? What would Ashley say? Would Ashley want something to drink?

“We’re still deciding,” Alex said. He turned his attention back to Ash. “Seriously, you can tell me if something’s wrong. You look sick. Are you feeling depressed again?” He paused.

Ash wanted to answer him. She really truly did. Unfortunately, her head was buzzing. Nothing but static. She tried to swallow it, but it welled up in her throat. She knew if she opened her mouth, it would all come falling out, and then Alex would know she wasn’t Ashley, and he wouldn’t want to be her brother anymore.

“Ash, if you don’t say something right now I’m going to call an ambulance.” She was swaying in her seat. He could tell. She had to do something. She had to—

Ashley’s phone buzzed on the table, but she couldn’t move her arm to check it. Where was her arm? She felt as though it was slowly evaporating, turning into particles.

Miraculously, her eyes managed to focus on Alex’s face. He looked terrified. He grabbed for her hand as static fizzed off of it. “Ash! What—”

The phone rang. Chris’s smiling face appeared on the screen. Somehow, Ashley found the strength and matter to reach over and answer. “ASH! I lied, it was urgent! Are you okay?”

Ash opened her mouth to try to answer, try to say anything, but all that emerged was an inhuman shriek. Alex fell backwards out of his chair as grains of black and white static flooded from her mouth, and rose into the air, beginning to take human shape. She fought to close her mouth, but it was locked open. A man stood next to the table, bits of his face orbiting his head. He smiled, static fizzing between his teeth and glanced down at the phone. “Hello Christine. I’m afraid you’re too late.” Ash’s vision turned grainy and then faded to black as what remained of Ashley’s body slumped out of the chair.

1987

Chris was in hell. Actually, that was a lie. She’d been to Hell, and it was much more pleasant than this.

It had been a hard two years since Luke was born. Four since she’d married Will. Three since he’d found her father’s old books in the attic. She’d sworn off most of that, which might be why she hadn’t picked up on the unlocked attic door or opened boxes until one night he locked her feet to the ground and sealed her mouth shut to keep her quiet.

She’d tried to leave, but she was out of practice, and alone, and had no way to prevent him from finding her. And once Luke was born, she couldn’t open gates anymore. She had no idea what effect it might have on a newborn baby. And she couldn’t leave him.

So she’d spent two and a half years alternately wishing she could escape and wishing she could kill him. Covering the burns on her arms when they went out. Faking a smile when people cooed over Luke.

She was standing at the top of the stairs. Luke had fallen asleep quickly, thank god. She paused for a moment, debating whether to go down. She knew Will would hear her. He would also notice if she didn’t. The burns on her arms hurt. She flexed her fingers. Maybe. She’d never been good at anything but travel. It was useful, but only for escapes. She could try again in a few years. She could bring Luke.

I can’t wait that long.

Chris took a deep breath, and began to walk down the stairs. She heard a noise in the kitchen. I can try to attack him. He won’t expect it. She crossed the living room and entered the kitchen. He won’t expect it he won’t expect it he won’t expect it. Will had his back to her. He began to turn around. Just do it. She raised her hand. Shit. I haven’t done this since I was a kid. Too late. She had to go through with it. She slammed her hand forward. Putting all her energy into the push. Picturing Will’s skull shattering against the tile wall.

He didn’t even flinch. He looked at her for a moment, his expression neutral, then flung her into the table. Stars covered her vision, then static. She could feel it flowing over her face, gripping her arms, digging into her flesh. No no not again not again. She was being anchored to the wall by tendrils made of static. She could barely see through it. Will stared at her, faintly smiling. She opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, before she could scream, a tendril plunged down her throat. She gagged as it burned and cut her throat.

“Don’t do that again.” Will spat. He didn’t even glance at her as he left the kitchen. Chris tried to scream, but nothing came out. Fresh blisters began to form on top of the half healed ones. She didn’t want to escape anymore. She just wanted to die.

1970

Chris took another tentative step, wincing as the floorboards creaked. Her father was in the living room. She wasn’t sure if he’d be able to hear her. It was usually about fifty-fifty depending on what he was doing. Hopefully he wasn’t reading. She inhaled, braced herself, and slowly pushed the door to the living room open.

He was sitting in the middle of the floor, books strewn everywhere. His eyes looked like the static when the tv antennas broke. A buzzing, crackling sound seemed to emanate from where he was sitting.

She gulped down her fear and began tiptoeing towards the book closest to the door. As soon as she entered the room, the temperature dropped 20 degrees. She felt as though she had just chewed a mouthful of pop rocks. By the time she had reached the book, she was worried she might faint.

She scooped it up and began scurrying back towards the door. As she reached the threshold, she couldn’t help herself. She turned back. Her father had not moved. She began to sigh with relief, but suddenly choked as his head snapped to look at her. His tv static eyes stared directly into hers. “YOU!” an unfamiliar voice shouted, coming from the same place as the buzzing.

Chris shrieked, scrambling through the door and slamming it closed. A horrible, inhuman shriek came from the living room, then fell silent. Chris sprinted up the stairs, clutching the book so tightly her knuckles turned white. She closed the door to her room, blood ringing in her ears, then turned it over to look at the cover. Transdimensional Gates and Passageways.

2020

Alex blinked his eyes frantically, desperately trying to clear his vision. Screams and the sound of running footsteps and silverware being knocked off tables sounded all around him. Then everything was quiet.

He crouched under the table, paralyzed with shock and fear. All he could hear was static and his own heart pounding. He slowly began to crawl out from under the table, but stopped when he saw a pair of legs in front of him. He looked up to see a tall man standing over him. His eyes—  oh god his eyes. They were— 

The man smiled and raised his hand. His fingers looked like they were crawling with flies. Was that where the buzzing was coming from?

“I’m afraid you should have run like everyone else.” the man stated calmly. Alex frantically looked around, trying to find— his eyes fell on his sister, slumped over on the ground, and all thoughts. “A-ash.” he managed to choke out.

The man turned to see what he was looking at. “Oh, you knew that thing? Maybe I should keep you alive.” he considered for a moment. Alex was paralyzed. He had to do something, he had to but his muscles wouldn’t move. Bile rose in his throat. “No,” the man decided. “No I don’t think I will.” He pointed his hand towards Alex. The inside of Alex’s head felt as though it were swarming with insects. Or vibrating. He could see the black dots on the man's hand better now. They weren’t flies. They just looked like...dots. He could make out any details. The buzzing in his head was building, spreading to his limbs. He didn’t think he could move even if he had the wherewithal to.

Abruptly, the door to the restaurant was thrown open. A woman stood in the doorway. She wasn’t very visually imposing, but the expression on her face was murderous. The man turned to see who had come in. “Ah, Chris, I—”

“GO TO HELL, WILLIAM!” she yelled, slamming her hands towards him. Before either of them could react, a glowing...door? Portal? ...Something opened beneath him, and the man (William, Alex guessed), fell through the floor, vanishing. Immediately, the buzzing in Alex’s head stopped. He realized he had been holding his breath, and he gasped and began breathing heavily.

The woman surveyed the room. “Oh fuck. Ash.” she sprinted over to where his sister was lying next to her chair. Her glass of water had fallen off the table and was pooling under her head, like clear blood.

Alex began to crawl towards where Chris was crouching over Ash, checking her pulse. “Is—  is she ok?”

Chris seemed to notice he was there for the first time. “Are you Alex?”

“Uh, yeah.”

“I’m Chris.”

“Oh-oh wait, that Chris.”

They were both silent for a moment.

“Is Ash okay?”

Chris was silent for too long. “She’ll be okay.”

“Should...should we call an ambulance?”

“No. They’d ask too many questions. Static reproduces, it’ll refill her body in a few days.”

“Static? What static?”

2019

It choked and gagged and flopped, struggling to breathe, struggling to get its limbs to do anything. It was vaguely aware of a swarming in its body, its mouth, all around it. Or was IT the swarming? It had no clue. It didn’t know where it was, what was happening, who it was.

A pounding came on the door. “Hello?” a voice called from outside.

“What the FUCK did you do to me?” It gagged, trying to form coherent speech, or really to make any sounds beyond hacking and sparking. The person outside pounded harder. “HEY! OPEN!”

There was silence for a second, and then splintering wood as the lock was broken and the door flung open. “Hello?” the voice called from downstairs, venom dripping from the words. “I hear you, Static.” It heard footsteps in the hallway. It flopped and contracted its muscles, trying to turn towards the sound. The footsteps stopped behind it. “Oh fuck. Do you live here? What happened? Did you see anyone?” It tried to reply, but all that came out was buzzing. "Shit.”

The source of the voice knelt down next to her. “Right, so, you’re a waitress. Probably just got home from your shift since you haven’t changed. Or about to leave.” It felt hands moving the cloth on its chest. “Your name is Ashley. Okay, Ashley, try to stay calm. My name’s Chris. I’ll see if I can help you.”

Ashley tried to calm its breath, tried to stop moving. Chris would help her. It was going to be okay.

2020

Chris sighed. “Alex, your sister has been dead for a few months. Her body is currently being inhabited by an eldritch demon.”

Alex simply could not process that. He stared at her, mouth agape.

“Right, okay.” Chris grabbed Ash’s phone, which had fallen next to her. “I’m going to get her out of here. You can call the police if you want. Make up a story, they won’t believe what happened. Text Ashley’s phone if you want to talk.”

She touched the water on the floor, and it glowed in the same way the gateway the man had fallen through had. Chris lifted Ash by the torso and stepped through it, dragging Ash with her. The glow subsided

Alex sat on the ground in shock, staring dumbly at the water on the floor.