Coffee House Writers

Top Menu

Main Menu

  • Home
  • Article Categories
    • Creativity
    • Culture
    • Design
    • Family
    • Fashion
    • Fiction
    • Food
    • Environment
    • Health
    • Home
    • Lifestyle
    • Memories
    • Nonfiction
    • Poetry
    • Politics
    • Relationships
    • Sports
    • Style
    • Technology
    • Travel
  • About Us
    • Our Story
    • Our Founder
  • Meet Our Admin
    • Chief Editors
    • Editors
    • Poetry Editors
    • Advertising Team
    • Recruiting Team
  • Testimonials
  • Apply
  • Login

logo

Coffee House Writers

  • Home
  • Article Categories
    • Creativity
    • Culture
    • Design
    • Family
    • Fashion
    • Fiction
    • Food
    • Environment
    • Health
    • Home
    • Lifestyle
    • Memories
    • Nonfiction
    • Poetry
    • Politics
    • Relationships
    • Sports
    • Style
    • Technology
    • Travel
  • About Us
    • Our Story
    • Our Founder
  • Meet Our Admin
    • Chief Editors
    • Editors
    • Poetry Editors
    • Advertising Team
    • Recruiting Team
  • Testimonials
  • Apply
  • Login
  • Self Allegiance

  • Abstract

  • What Comes Down the Chute

  • Magical Convergences

  • En Medias Res

  • September

  • Back Roads

  • Find Your Passion and do it with Desire and Purpose

  • Turning Forty

  • Sick at Netherfield

  • I’ll Pull One

  • A Piece Of Deadwood

  • The Island Flamingo: Chapter 17

  • Perils of Gaming

  • Paradise Falls: Chapter 8

  • Autumn Whispers

  • The Red Maiden, Part Twenty

  • The Witching Hour

  • Getting Away with Murder

  • The Inhabitants

  • All the Books

  • The Vampire of Longbourn

  • Cause of Death

  • An Ode to Swedish Metal

  • Éowyn, Queen of Earth

  • Reading Values

  • Autumn, Halloween’s Escort

  • The Thing About Football

  • Score Success for Two

  • The Island Flamingo: Chapter 16

CreativityFictionFantasyHorrorEntertainment
Home›Creativity›Beyond The Threshold

Beyond The Threshold

By Jill A Yoder
September 20, 2021
1136
0
Share:
Alien, portal, Jill Yoder, horror, fantasy
Featured image by elvina1332 from Pixabay

The path narrowed as she ran; her lungs burned with each breath. Then, up ahead, a steep incline appeared. She knew the area well enough and remembered there was a small, dark cave to take cover. With little time left for escape, Petra slid down the hill to the cave.

Crouching in the darkest corner, she allowed herself to regret defying her mother’s warning.

“Never go out in daylight,” her mother said. “That’s when they can see to hunt.”

Ten months ago, a terrifying event descended upon her village. Initially, no one knew what attacked and mutilated a campsite full of families in the local national park. The most disturbing detail of the attack was that it happened in the middle of a sunny afternoon.

Eight families joined at the site to celebrate several upcoming birthdays. Each person was stripped of every ounce of flesh—leaving only the bones. It had to be more than one animal to attack and was unlikely to be human. The question remained; what animal exists that would kill in such a manner?

Nothing of this magnitude ever happened in this quaint little town. Nevertheless, there is one group of people in town considered peculiar—the paranormal investigators.

For several months, authorities found whole families left in their yards as nothing but piles of bones; skeletons stretched out as if they welcomed death.


The darkness of the night finally blanketed the town, and Petra made her way home.

“Where the hell have you been?” her mom said, half screaming and half crying.

Hugging her mother tighter than she ever had, Petra said, “I’m so sorry, mom. I screwed up. I’ll never go out during the day again.”

“But, why did you? You know the danger. I can’t understand why you risked your life.”

“Because, mom, I hate being locked inside during such a beautiful day. I feel like our lives are robbed of joy. When is this all going to end?”

“I don’t know, Petra. I have no idea what it will take to fix this nightmare. I did find out a theory, though.”

“Really! Holy shit, tell me.”

“Before I do, tell me if you saw the creatures that are killing people.”

“Mom, I can’t believe you called them creatures.”

“Why?”

“If I tell you, please don’t freak out.”

“Okay, okay, I won’t. But, what the hell happened out there?”

“I was trying to walk soft and quiet down the trail through the woods in the back of our house. They were in the trees, mom. They were looking down at me, and when they saw me, they jumped.”

“What did they look like?”

“They looked like nothing I’ve ever seen; ever. They were pink-skinned, with huge, round heads and large eyes. Their wide mouths had pointed teeth inside and outside.”

Petra’s mom stood, staring at her. The silence, lasting only seconds.

“It was the paranormal society that started this hellish ordeal. Tell me more. I want to know more.”

“Well, they walked upright but ran on all four legs when they chased me, and they’re fast.”

“How did you get away—where did you hide?”

“I made it to the cave. But why do you think the paranormal investigators started all of this?”

“I watched them on TV telling the police chief and the FBI that they accidentally opened a portal to a dimension where these things are from.”

“How did they do that? I didn’t think they did stuff like that.”

“They don’t, but they teamed up with a congregation who perform rituals that open gateways to the dead. Except, this time, they made a grave error in judgment and opened up a gateway to a dimension of horrific monsters who can only see and exist in bright light.”

“So do they go back through to their world when it gets dark?”

“That’s the theory. You’d think performing a ritual to close the doorway would be the solution. Unfortunately, it turns out that it’s not as easy as just performing another ritual. Finding the correct ritual is the problem.”

“So we can’t go outside during the day and can only go out at night until this is fixed? That totally sucks.”

Petra felt as though life would never go back to normal. Exploring her world in the joy of sunshine was no longer an option. She wondered if they should move to another town. Or maybe this is all a dream, and she’d wake up to normal again. But, then, it occurred to her that she might be locked in her own private dimension. Yes, that could be it. Would she ever know? How could she ever be sure if she was trapped in an unconscious state? As she pondered these scenarios, she resigned herself to the reality that this was not her imagination.

The days, weeks, and months crept along towards a dark and ominous future. The only way to test if the entryway was secure would be to allow a small gathering of people to stay out during the day. Those chosen people, of course, would be the National Guard.

The experiment to close the door failed. Every business closed, and every family moved, leaving a dead town emptied of all human life. A concrete wall forty feet high with electric wire fencing at the top kept the rest of the world out and the creatures in—for now.


Exploring the unexplained is exciting and energizing for many. Fear can be both a deterrent from the unknown and a temptation to explore it. Where do we draw the line, or should we? Perhaps this puts a twist in the phrase, “be careful what you wish for.” Whatever can be manifested, you will have to face. Are you sure you want to know what is beyond the threshold?


Featured image by elvina1332 from Pixabay. 

TagsJill Yoder Authorparanormalparanormal fictionpaganismAliensportalsJill Yoderfictionsummoning ritualhorrorFlash Fiction
Previous Article

Existence and Renewal

Next Article

A Million Ways to Lose a Friend

0
Shares
  • 0
  • +
  • 0
  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

Jill A Yoder

Jill A. Yoder has been a writer and editor at Coffee House Writers from August 2019 through July 2020. After a seven-month break, she began writing for Coffee House Writers again in February 2021. Jill has a Bachelor’s degree in English and Creative writing. Jill enjoys writing fiction and creative non-fiction. Jill Yoder grew up in New York State and currently resides in Florida. She moved to the sunny state of Florida at the age of 23. She enjoys the heat much better than the snow. Jill draws upon her childhood experiences, her travels, and people to inspire her. Although Jill is an amateur photographer, she enjoys taking her Olympus digital camera on nature walks to find the perfect photo.

Related articles More from author

  • Cabin
    FamilyMemoriesHomeDesignEntertainmentEnvironmentLifestyleNonfiction

    Home Is Where The Horror Is

    November 3, 2020
    By Adele Z.
  • EntertainmentCreativityRelationshipsFictionCulture

    When We Troubled The Water

    April 15, 2019
    By Lorelei
  • CreativityFiction

    To Catch a Creature Part 1

    September 10, 2018
    By Deannad
  • RelationshipsFictionHealthHomeCultureEntertainmentCreativityFamily

    Ghosts On The Stairs – Part Two

    June 24, 2019
    By Keely Messino
  • castle, hall, window
    CultureEntertainmentCreativityFiction

    Cascade Falls – Part One

    June 17, 2019
    By Xander S. Lee
  • a blue antique boat
    MemoriesHomeEnvironmentCultureCreativityEntertainmentFamilyFiction

    When We Troubled The Water – Part Three

    May 13, 2019
    By Lorelei

Leave a reply Cancel reply

You may be interested

  • coffee shop
    HorrorCreativityFictionEntertainmentMystery

    The Board – Part 11

  • LifestyleCreativityRelationshipsHealthPoetry

    Hope

  • Tarot card the fool
    MusicPoetryMemories

    The Fool

Timeline

  • September 25, 2023

    Self Allegiance

  • September 25, 2023

    Abstract

  • September 25, 2023

    What Comes Down the Chute

  • September 25, 2023

    Magical Convergences

  • September 25, 2023

    En Medias Res

Latest Comments

  • A Piece of Deadwood, is in this Week’s Coffee House Writers Magazine – Ivor.Plumber/Poet
    on
    September 18, 2023
    […] Hello dear readers and followers, I am now writing for “Coffee House Writers” magazine on ...

    A Piece Of Deadwood

  • Cast In Marble (is up at Coffee House Writers Magazine) – Ivor.Plumber/Poet
    on
    September 8, 2023
    […] Hello dear readers and followers, as you may know, I now write for “Coffee House ...

    Cast In Marble

  • In This Limbo, (at Coffee House Writers) – Ivor.Plumber/Poet
    on
    September 8, 2023
    […] https://coffeehousewriters.com/in-this-limbo/ […]

    In This Limbo

  • A Day At The Race, (is up at Coffee House Writers Magazine) – Ivor.Plumber/Poet
    on
    September 8, 2023
    […] Hello dear readers and followers, as you may know, I now write for “Coffee House ...

    A Day At The Races

  • A Welcoming Roar, is up at Coffee House Writers Magazine – Ivor.Plumber/Poet
    on
    September 6, 2023
    […] Hello dear readers and followers, I now write for “Coffee House Writers” magazine on a ...

    A Welcoming Roar

Find us on Facebook

About us

  • coffeehousewriters3@gmail.com

Follow us

© Copyright 2018-2023 Coffee House Writers. All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s administrator and owner is strictly prohibited.