Door To Another Realm

The Room

'What is this dream suppose to mean?' Candice thought as she awoke. The room was now filled with the afternoon sun. She slowly blinked to adjust to the light. Once her eyes were good, Candice slowly looked around and realized she hadn't had the chance, in her hast to look around the night before, to really get a look at her new room.

Candice looked around to see two white painted side tables, on each table was an antique looking, brass lamp. On each lamp was an olive colored lamp cover. Each had rose gold colored fringes. The bed she was sleeping on was queen size. It has an olive colored bed spread, with a pale rose pink colored sheet set. The headboard was painted white as well.

Across from the bed was a great, white painted dresser with six drawers. On either side of the dresser was a door. Candice entered the door to the left of the dresser to find a beautiful walk-in closet that was about 8 feet deep. At either side, there were shelves lining the bottom of each wall. Over each of the shelves was clothing bar. At the end of the closet was a set of double vanity doors. When opened there was a half length mirror inside. On either side of each door, there were hooks and little compartments for jewelry and make-up. There was also a small fold down table. Underneath the table was a small, padded stool.

Candice went to the bathroom, which was the other door on the side of the dresser. As you enter it's sweet and homely. On the right of the entrance, there is a small basin with a two door cabinet underneath. Next to that, about 3 feet away, is the toilet. It's one of those newer models, with the small, water saving tank on the back and the button on top to flush. To the left, was a shower/tub combo. The tub could fit two people comfortably. There is a glass divider around the tub to keep the water from the shower from getting all over. The shower head was an adjustable one. It had the option for massage, slow, and hard setting. To the side of the tub was a small closet with enough space to fit all the towels and wash rags Kim had bought for her. There was also a bottle of shampoo and bottle of conditioner. Kim really thought about everything.

After taking a shower, Candice got dressed and ready to explore some of the town. She dressed in a short, green sundress with little white flowers on it. This dress was her favorite. Krystal had gotten it for her on her birthday the year before. She had to keep it hidden from her family as they forbade her from accepting things from others. She was only allowed to receive the things they gave her to wear. Mostly old, torn, and worn out clothes they didn't like or want any more.

'Enough, Candice...' she thought to herself. She knew she needed to stop thinking of the past and move on to find happiness. After brushing her hair, she threw her hair into a high ponytail and grabbed her purse and phone. She left the house and walked towards town square.

As she walked town square, Candice found a little bistro. She ordered herself a panini and a cup of tea. As she watched the locals mingle, she thought about the man from her dream. His gorgeous, wavy, brown hair. His beautiful caramel eyes. She couldn't help but wonder if the man was real. Would she ever find happiness like she felt in her dreams?

She finished her sandwich and tea, then decided to see if there were any places around hiring so she could get a job. She passed a few cute little shop and a sign caught her eye. The sign read 'Help wanted!" Looking up she saw a cute book shop.

Candice entered the book shop, looking around in wonder. Books have always been her escape. She made her own worlds and played out many different stories in her mind.

She looked for any workers and found just one. She asked for the manager to inquire about the job. From a back room, she assumed to be an office, a tall, kind looking man walked out and greeted her. He extended his hand to shake hers. "Welcome, I'm Cameron. I own this shop. What can I do you for?" Candice shyly smiled and reached out to shake his hand. "H-hello... I'm Candice. I was wondering about the job?"

Cameron smiled sweetly, "hey now. Calm down, relax. Can you catalog, organize, and count change?" Candice wrapped her hair on a finger and fidgeted nervously while replying, " I don't have much experience, but I'm a fast learner and I promise to work hard!"

Cameron placed a hand softly and comfortingly on Candice's shoulder."It's quite alright Candice. I will work with you. All I need is your number and I will text you once I have had the chance to look into the schedules." She gave Cameron her number and with one last goodbye, Cameron disappeared back into his office. Candice noticed it was early evening and decided to go back home.

When she got back she made a quick dinner with chicken, a salad, and rice. She took her plate to enjoy in the sunroom. There was just enough time for her to get to enjoy some of the last day light while she ate. After eating and cleaning up after herself, she decided to call it an early night since she hadn't gotten a whole lot of sleep the nights prior.

Before heading to bed, Candice decided to look into the mystery room in the attic. It was on her mind all day and she couldn't get that picture out of her head. She opened the doorway to the attic and walked up the stairs. It seemed so familiar, which was odd since before last night she had never been here before.

As she walked up the stairs, she felt a calm wash over her. When she got to the top she looked around and noticed the couch and chairs were brighter. More colorful. The table was clean, with a vase of fresh lavender and babys breathe. 'Kim must have come by,' she thought to herself.

She walked to the door and went into the room. As she remembered, the small bed in between the two main walls, a small wooden dresser to the left of the room with the picture frame on it, and a small window to the right of the dresser letting a little of the moonlight shine through.

She opened the drawers to the dresser and found some old dresses, button up blouses, and skirts. While looking at the clothes, she noticed they were her size. while thinking this, she thought immediately of the picture. She grabbed the photo and still stunned at how similar this girl looked just like her. While staring at the picture, she noticed a light from the corner of her eye. At her surprise, when she looked up she noticed the sun peeking from the over the horizon. It felt like she was only in there for a short period of time.

She headed down the stairs to her room. This was getting weird. It seems like time was passing quicker in that room. Since another night passed and she stayed up, she decided to only lay down for a couple of hours and wake to explore a bit more.

As she slept she dreamed of that beautiful man again! In this dream, it was the same house, only this time it was Easter by the looks of it. She looked down and noticed the baby bump was huge now. She turned around at the sound of a voice. That man was here again. He wrapped her up in a huge embrace and kissed her forehead. "I love you, my darling," he whispered. She was about to reply when a buzzing woke her from her dream.

She sat up straight, and turned to her phone. She had two messages. One from Cameron marked from two hours prior and one from Krystal marked only a few minutes before. She opened Krystal's first and messaged back in response, so Krystal knew she was well. Upon opening Cameron's text, she noticed it was still dark and her phone showed it was still yesterday's date on it. This wasn't right she spent an entire day here already. She will have to get her phone checked later. According to Cameron's text message though, he doesn't need her to begin until Saturday. Today is Tuesday, so she had a few days to explore and get her things settled in.

Candice decided since it was still dark to sleep a while longer. Once her eyes closed, she was fast asleep in just a few minutes. She was thrown right back into the dream of Easter with that gorgeous man. He said he loved her!

She awoke again a few hours later as the sun was peeking through her windows. She looked at her phone, only one text message awaited her. The phone was still showing the date a day behind. She made a mental note to take it somewhere to get it fixed. She opened her texts to see who had messaged. It was Kim, letting her know she would be there in an hour. That was sent 20 minutes ago. She hurried out of bed and washed her face real quick and threw her hair into a messy bun.

She made her way down stairs and set up the coffee to brew a fresh pot. She grabbed a big coffee mug and her favorite creamer from the fridge. Once the coffee had finished dripping, she poured a generous amount into her mug and poured her creamer. She moved to the sunroom to wait for Kim. She sat on the lounger and watch as humming birds flew to the feeder hanging outside one of the windows. The bell rang. Candice got up and set her coffee down. Opening the door, she welcomed Kim and stepped aside to let her in. She invited Kim into the sunroom and asked about her day.

After an hour of chit chat, Candice decided to ask about the phone coverage in her area. "Kim I wanted to ask, is the phone signal in this area okay? My phone has been lagging on the days! I was going to take it to get it fixed if there is an issue with it." Kim looked perplexed. Candice noticed the wary look on Kim's face and asked what was wrong. "I think I have a little explaining to do," Kim said.

"After my grandmother passed, I took over this estate. My grandmother use to tell me stories of visitors coming from the room in the attic. She had fallen in love with one of those visitors and he broke her heart. She sealed up the room so no one could come through ever again. I knew about the room, but I didn't believe her stories. She said time was different, where these visitors came from. I'm still very skeptical of the story. I came over yesterday while you were gone and seen the door unblocked." As Kim was explaining her story, Candice was not quite sure she believed it. But one thing did still remain a mystery. What was with the picture in that room? Candice decided to keep the question to herself until she could prove this story. Until she had her proof she would stay skeptical of the story all together.

She let the conversation drop and continued with the previous conversation. After another hour Kim received a call and had to leave. Candice showed Kim out and made her way upstairs to take a shower. After her shower, she got dressed in a cute blue, knee length skirt. She paired it with a light blue v-neck t-shirt. After dressing she brushed out her hair and braided it down her back. She gathered her purse and phone and went out the door. She walked down to town square again. She had more daylight this time. While exploring, she decided to check in at the book store. She wanted to get an understanding of the layout of the store so she could do better work when she starts this weekend.

She walked the square and got to the block of the book store, she looked around perplexed as her surroundings looked different from when she was here the day before. It was then she realized she hadn't seen the bistro from the day before either. What happened to the book store? Where the book shop was, now sat a coffee shop.

Confused, Candice sent a text to Cameron. While she waited for a text back, she walked a bit more thinking she may just be on the wrong block. She never stumbled upon the shop. After about an hours time, Candice decided to go back home. Still wondering what happened to the shop, as she entered her home her phone buzzed, indicating a text message just came through. She took out her phone and saw a message from Cameron. The problem was, though, the address he sent was the address to the coffee shop she saw earlier. Ignoring the mystery for the night, Candice made herself some dinner and sat down with a book she had stashed away in her bag.

After eating, she cleaned up her mess and sat back down in the sunroom to read for a bit longer. She must have been exhausted from her day, as she had fallen asleep sometime on her fourth page.

"Push my love!" Candice looked up to see the love of her dreams. He had love and concern in his eyes. She looked around to see a hospital room, her legs up and spread. Her stomach was still rather large. The pain... "AAAHH!" The man ran his hands over her head, "my love you must push so we can welcome out new little bundle of joy!" with that he kissed her temple and squeezed her hand in reassurance. She squeezed his hand back and nodded, before giving one big push. Finally the cries of a baby can be heard ringing through the room.

A bright light makes Candice blink vigorously. As she opens her eyes slowly, she realizes she had fallen asleep on the lounge seat and the sun is beginning to shine through the windows of the sunroom.

What are these dreams? Are they of the future? Is this man real? Candice got up and went to her bathroom for a long bath. She was surprisingly sore, like she had been through some major trauma.

She filled her tub and dropped a few drops of vanilla bubble bath soap in to relax. As she laid in the warm tub, she could feel the knots in her body loosen. Once she felt well and relaxed, she got out and dried off. She dressed in a pair of loose fit shorts and a large t-shirt, put her hair up in a loose bun, and went downstairs to make some coffee and have a bowl of cereal. She decided to straighten out all her belongings and stay in today.

After cleaning up her breakfast, she began putting her few belongings away. Once everything was out in it's rightful place, she decided to look around to see what she may need around the house to make a grocery list. As she passed the hallway door to the attic, she got the sudden urge to go up and look to see if anything was different or new. Stuck on the conversation with Kim the day before, she had to get to the bottom of this mystery. Upon entering, she noticed a new set of flowers in the base on the table. Questionable... Candice continued on to the room. When inside she decided to sit on the bed and look out the window to see how things look from up there. As she sat there, she let out a massive yawn, stretched out, and decided to lay down there for a moment. Almost as soon as her eyes shut and darkens took over, she was being shaken awake. She opened her eyes to see Kim standing over her. Her eyes held much concern. Candice sat up and noticed it was nearly dark out. Kim looked at her and asked, "what are you doing here?" Candice was confused and realized while looking around, that she had fallen asleep in the mystery room. "I didn't even realize I laid down up here," Candice said coyly. She stood and followed Kim downstairs.

Once downstairs, Kim set a kettle for some tea. "You must have a lot of sleep to catch up on," Kim exclaimed while looking at Candice with much pity. Candice looked up at Kim with a shyness. "It's ok Candice. You've been through more than anyone should ever have to in life. Get your rest while you can." Candice opened her mouth to respond, but was interrupted by the kettle whistling. Kim pulled out a mug and some chamomile tea bags. She placed two bags into the mug and poured the water over them. Candice took the cup from Kim and drank it slowly. Kim gave Candice a slight side hug and told her goodnight. After finishing up her tea, Candice locked up the doors and went up to bed. She got changed and got into bed. As soon as her head hit the pillow she was out like a light.