I had no idea what tags to put on this.. If i missed any important ones, let me know. I'm planning on this being a longer series.
*
Reggie sat at the desk, and looked at the thrumming device in his dining room, his jaw slack, and his head slowly shaking. He still couldn't believe that the entire thing started by accident.
He was in grad school, at Cal St, with his friend Mark and his twin sister, Kay. They were working together on an experiment to find a new way to transport electricity from point to point without wires. The experiment began, and ended at a round tube, looking much like a O-shaped neon light. The experiment stood about 6 feet tall, and had been an utter failure. There was simply too much degradation in amperage between the two points. The school had decided to end their funding, and when the lab was closed, the experiment had been deemed worthless. Reggie had been given permission to take the device home with him.
The friends took the failure on the chin, and quickly found a new direction for their final project, leaving the seemingly broken project behind. The three worked long hours on the new project, barely completing it in time. As Reggie returned home, the weight of the last few weeks suddenly hit him. He collapsed on the couch, and was asleep before he even stopped moving.
Reggie woke with a groan, frustrated with the sunlight in his eyes. As he sat up, he registered something being... odd almost immediately. As he turned his head, he saw the apparatus, sitting in his dining room, emitting a soft, almost undulating hum. He immediately doubted his own ears. After all, the device was dead, and wasn't even plugged in. He had no more completed his thought, than he saw a spark in the orb, and the center of the device was filled with an utter blackness, which seemed almost liquid.
David, Reggie, and Kay immediately agreed to keep the project a secret. The group decided that one of them needed to be brave/stupid enough to test the "abyss" on themselves. Reggie, being the bravest of the group, and fiercely protective of his sister, agreed to be the test subject. David tied a rope to the apartment's central pillar, and tied it around Kay's waist. The plan was for her to hold on to Reggie, as he stuck his hand into the portal. If nothing went wrong, the experiments would continue. Kay held Reggie's hand tightly, as he inched towards the device. As he extended his hand slowly, he braced himself for a sudden shock. When his finger touched the barrier, he instantly felt a change. Everything was black. He felt as if he were falling, but there was no wind, and no objects rushing by. His only sensory input in that moment was the feeling of his sister's hand in his. He turned his head, and saw her next to him. The look on her face was one of absolute terror, and she was clearly screaming, but somehow, no sound existed.
Reggie awoke with a start, and inhaled a mouthful of dust. Coughing, he reached out, and touched Kay, both to assure himself that she was truly there, and to make sure she was awake. As she was on her back next to him, she too woke with a start, but without the mouthful of dust. As she gasped, he grabbed her, and simply held her, thankful that she was alive. As they stood, they noticed the familiar scenery that surrounded them. It looked like a scene from an old western. They stood in the middle of a huge plains area, untouched by human hands. The pair no more that got to their feet, than they were met by a pair on Native Americans, who took them to the village. As they walked the two natives regarded the siblings with a guarded kindness. While the natives gave them water, and some jerky, Reggie noticed that neither of the two dared sit their weapons down, or let the siblings leave their sight. Immediately, upon their arrival, Reggie discovered the language barrier. No matter what the siblings tried, the natives simply did not understand, and vice-versa. Eventually, the natives simply took them to the river, and pointed to the other side. Reggie crossed first, making sure the path was safe for Kay. The pair crossed the shallow river without incident, and crested a small hill. What they saw stopped both of them in their tracks.
Before them was a dirt road, rutted with wagon tracks. As their eyes followed the road, they saw an old west town, bustling with cowboy types, and ladies in worn dresses, and bonnets. Wagons, and men on horseback crossed each others path, and the din of a bustling young civilization met their ears, full of rickety wagon sounds, horse hoof beats, and even the twang of a player piano. Kay, always full of a sense of adventure, stated first toward the town, with Reggie in tow. As they entered the town, all eyes seemed to be on Kay, and she quickly deduced that the sight of a woman in slacks was not a normal occurrence, One of the ladies in the street quickly pulled kay aside.
"Oh my, yer don't want to be advertising your curves, love. Not in a town like this. Coming from the North,are ye?
Kay blushed at the woman's concern, and the pair stepped into a shop, with Reggie in tow, to get out of the sight of the locals.
Kay quickly adopted the twang of the woman's voice immediately. :Well, I don't rightly 'member.. Yer see, we took a fall, and lost everthing.."
Over the next hour, Kay's new friend gifted her a dress, and explained the rules of the area. Apparently, after a lengthy war with the natives, With the "cowboys" controlling one side of the river, and everything North, and the "savages" controlling the other side of the river, and everything South. The war had ended two generations ago, and the uneasy peace had drifted into a sort of wary friendship, and trade partnership. However, the cowboy side of the river had maintained the typical lawless atmosphere, until the new government was installed. Suddenly, any crime was met with an instant death sentence. Even firing a gun outside of a lawful excuse was criminal. Kay, Reggie, and their new friend walked down the wooden sidewalk as they chatted. As if to illustrate the lady's point, a rider tore onto town in a buckboard, with a woman on the back. As they stopped, the pair scooped up a young, bloody child, and ran into the doctor's office. Moments later, the man exited the building, and approached Reggie.
"hello, friend. I needs a witness. My dog bit my boy, and I aim to put it down."
Reggie stepped back, clearly not wanting to get involved, but the woman grabbed his arm.
