On January 26th, in the warm desert of California, a doorway opens between hell on earth and the hell down below.
“Where are we going?” asks Heather, a young girl only 13 years of age.
“It’s time for you to grow up fast,” replies Adam, avoiding the question. Heather is the innocent daughter of Adam, and the sister of the boy they are about to meet.
“What do you mean? What’s happening?” Requests Heather, eager to understand what’s happening. She receives a reply of silence as Adam warms up the engine of the car they’ve just entered. They start their drive from a lush forest home in Northern California, and soon reach barren desert. After nearly an hour of quiet, Adam turns on the radio to drown out the chaos in his mind. Heather immediately shuts it off.
“Adam. Tell me what’s going on.” Heather constantly calls her dad by his first name to annoy him and to seem more mature. This power struggle has been constant ever since Heather was adopted by the single father.
“Heather, remember me telling you about how I had a son before I adopted you?” She thinks for a minute, then nods, recalling his story about how he ran away and has been missing ever since. “Well, they’ve finally found him.”
Heather’s eyes widen. “You mean I’ll finally get to meet my brother?!”
“Maybe,” Adam says solemnly, “There’s a strange bit of circumstances around his reappearance.” Heather looks at him, very intrigued. “He’s in a kind of hospital, Heather.”
“Well that’s not too strange, being out on his own he was bound to become sick at some point,” Heather reassures. “Everyone gets sick, right?”
“But not everyone gets sick like this, Heather.” Silence strikes again like a bolt of lightning, paralyzing both of them.
“How am I going to explain this?” Adam thinks to himself. “How do I tell her that her brother could possibly be insane?” He recollects his thoughts. It all started with a phone call. A familiar voice was on the other end of the line, warped by age.


“The hands of hell are coming for you,” The voice said. Adam recognized it, but could not put a face to it.
“Who is this?” He asked. A clamor of noise and screaming begins. “What’s going on?” The ruckus became louder and then quieter until it faded away. Adam was unsure of why he was still on the phone now; it must just be a prank call, right? He repeats one last time “Who is this?”
“Hello, Mr. Roberts, are you still there?” A voice replies.
“Yes, who is this?”
“This is a staff member of Desert Regional Mental Health Recovery Center, you were just contacted by… let’s see here… your son, correct?”
“My… my son?” Adam was shocked. “I haven’t seen him in years. What’s happened?”
“A lot of things have happened. Do you believe in ghosts, Mr. Roberts?”
“Well that depends, what kind of ghosts?”
“Well, your son claims to be seeing ghosts. Demons, specifically. Isn’t that funny?”
“What kind of professional are you, joking about my son’s mental health?” Adam replied angrily.
“Well it’s not a joke to him, sir. He claims that he’ll open up a portal between earth and hell very soon. In fact, it should appear right abo—“ The phone line went silent.


“Well, your brother is in a mental hospital, and we’re going to check on him.” Adam finally says to Heather. He tells her the story and they both venture onward through the desert, hoping to find Adam’s son when they arrive at their destination.

Rumor has it that on this day, January 26, the portal could reappear anywhere, and Adam’s son could assist the hands of hell in dragging you down.