The House With No Doors

Sally-Anna floated towards the hallway. She did not want to be the first one through. Certainly not without knowing what might happen. The others could found out for her thank you very much.

"Go on ahead!"

Sibyl Siren

Sibyl's day was as normal as it could be for a psychic who worked in a shop that only focused on the supernatural. They donned their silk nightgown, cotton always rubbed their skin the wrong way and it was easy to find cheap silk with the help of the internet, and lit the incense on her dresser. The scent of sweet lavender filled the room, letting Sibyl take a deep breath.

Letting the incense go, they approached their altar. The tumbled gemstones shone: selenite, clear quartz, amethyst, rose quartz. The candle stood unlit in the center, surrounded by bits of sage. It was their safe place. The calloused hands of evil couldn't reach them here. Their eyes glanced at the rustic clock above their bed, its pendulum swinging heavily beneath it. The hour was late. Sibyl should retire for the night.

"Goodnight, spirits. Slumber well." They eased themself into bed, trusting the incense to burn itself out before it became a problem.

When Sibyl woke, it wasn't to the usual gong of seven in the morning. They looked around to find themself in a stranger's bedroom. The covers were scratchy and the pillows were long deflated and dusty. "Hello?" They swung their legs over the bed, catching themself in their peripheral for the first time.

"What?" They scanned their legs. The nightgown and their skin were translucent, a drab gray carpet reflecting through the dull shine. Sibyl would be a fraud if they didn't know about the concept of astral projection, and this was similar to everything they had read. Had Sibyl managed to achieve such a power? If so, why here? What spiritual purpose was to be found in this place?

The best course of action was to explore this foreign place. Sibyl nodded to themself as they drifted from the room, puzzled at why a bedroom would have an open archway instead of a door. The only path that lay ahead was a seemingly endless corridor. Perhaps this was more a spiritual test than a mission. Sibyl had to prove they were worthy of this ability.

"I've never aced tests, but I can figure this out." They made their way down the corridor, eyes peeled for proof of their destiny.

Things were quickly devolving. Petrus wanted to withdraw entirely, but he knew in his gut he couldn’t just sit there on the bunk bed, content with no answers. The others were right to be curious, wanting to explore. It just needed some order.

Well. He needed some order.

Petrus got off the bed, upright, walking over to the others despite the lack of sensation. The disconnect was still surreal and jarring.

“I feel lile we’re getting ahead of ourselves,” he spoke up. “We’re about to run about a place with no idea what’s beyond this room, and we haven’t even learned each other’s names. I don’t know who any of you are.”

With a bow of his head, he decided to introduce himself first.

“My name is Petrus Rikk. I’m 24 —“ or, was, if he was indeed dead. Though it hadn’t been confirmed, yet.

Normally, if there was a ghost, there was a body.

Oh god, that meant he had to find his body, didn’t it?

“I’m—“ he stuttered, tripping over his own horrifying thought. “Well. I don’t know if it matters, but the last thing I recall was going to bed, and feeling a strange kicking sensation in my back before I woke up here like this.”

Carter got out of the bed- or floated- and followed after the other ghosts. He turned to hear what the ghost named Petrus was saying. His... self moved effortlessly at the slightest thought.

He nodded, "I'm Carter. I only remember falling asleep and then I woke up here."

Wherever here was.

"I'm Sally-Anna," she offered. "I was also just about to get to sleep."

Up ahead, Sibyl heard voices. More travelers? More people here to prove their worth? They fought to catch up, stumbling into a group of people. “Travelers! Hello! I’m Sibyl. Can you believe that we’re so lucky as to have the privilege of astral travel?”

"Astral travel you say?" Sally-Anna hummed thoughtfully. "That's quite an interesting way to put it."

“What do you mean? This is textbook astral projection.” Sibyl floated closer the group. “Back at the shop I worked, there was a guide to astral projection. And it said the easiest way to either master lucid dreaming or entering a meditative state. How did you all arrive here?”

''I...I don't know.'' Gemna admitted, ''I was asleep when I felt a kicking sensation and woke up here.''
She paused.
''The names Gemna by the way,'' she added.

"Hmm. You have a point there," Sally-Anna nodded.

“That sounds like astral projection to me! Your brain entered this higher state and your body kicked it out, so now your consciousness is somewhere else. There’s something we need to do here in order to go back to our bodies!” Sibyl was practically bobbing in the air now. “Isn’t this exciting?”

"That is pretty exciting!"

The last thing Cassidy remembered was pain. That was it. An immense, splitting pain. Pain so extreme, she'd never felt anything like it. And now, even worse, she has somehow arrived in a not-at-all suitable bed to rest in, bunked with some random persons, all chattering like nervous squirrels. No, they weren't people. People weren't transparent. Were they? Cali's brain started to churn. I was in my room. I was just in my room. She stared in horror at her ghostly hands. She felt empty. Literally empty, like she was hollow inside.
"This isn't possible," She muttered, not realizing she was speaking aloud, "This shouldn't be physically possible."

"It probably shouldn't be, but someone figured out how to do the impossible it would appear."

Cali would've bruised her head on the roof if she had a tangible head. She was stunned by the woman's beauty, the one who just spoke. There was a sort of wisdom, almost ancientness, in her eyes, even though they were a misty smoke. Also, she was tall. Very tall. Almost twice Cassidy's height, but that wasn't saying much as she, let's say, didn't measure up to a lot of standards.

"Yes." Cassidy managed, after getting over the thought of how this being must've looked without a ghostly form. "I'm Cassidy, but some people call me Cali... I suppose this is reality, as I doubt a mere dream can be this vivid."