The hood over my face obscured my vision. I could make out the cloudy silhouette of my Carrier.

Carriers are the people who take the Vortex's victims to their doom. They could be your Mother, your Brother, your Great-Auntie Mable or a random stranger that you've never met before. It doesn't matter really. The Carriers have no control over their lives, and only do their job so they have money to support the family. My Uncle Pete was a Carrier. Anyway, I got sidetracked. Back to the subject…

The footsteps of the Carriers stopped. The hood was viciously yanked off my head. “Bye-bye, you little scamp! Have fun in the other side!” A gruff one laughed. My eyes stung from the sudden light. And then I was thrown through a hole, the Vortex, and everything went black.

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•

I regained consciousness in a place I certainly didn't recognise. My head hurt and I had no feeling in my legs. I had gone through the Vortex and, most importantly, had survived. Now what to do next?