The air in my dorm room shifted, a strange static humming in the space just above my bed. I sat up, my heart hammering against my ribs, my fingers gripping the edge of the mattress. The darkness seemed to pulse, and then it rippled. I blinked, my breath catching—not in the clichéd way, but in that sharp, involuntary gasp you make when something impossible unfolds right in front of you. My eyes widened as the portal opened...

The car ride to my parents’ house was… tense, to say the least. Portal sat beside me in the passenger seat, their tentacles coiled neatly in their lap—or what I assumed was their lap. They had insisted on wearing a trench coat and fedora to “blend in,” but the way their tentacles shifted beneath the fabric made them look more like a Cthulhu cosplayer than a casual traveler. I couldn’t help but laugh, though my nerves were...