My Newest Book Absolutely FREE
I love you all so much. You are the reason I write these books into existence. Whether you’ve been following me since the beginning or just discovered my page, I’m grateful for you.
And I want to give you something.
Every day for the next 56 days, I will be posting a chapter from The 999 Portal: Starseed Academy Book 1.
If you’ve been waiting to order this book for financial reasons, or you just want a glimpse into the magical world of Agartha, this is your chance to experience the Starseed Academy absolutely free.
Because I believe this story came to me for a reason. I believe it wants to be told.
So without further ado…
The 999 Portal
Chapter 1
There is a world inside this one. A secret realm hidden beneath the surface of Earth, where reincarnated souls study the healing arts. At least that’s what it says in this strange little book I found in a free library box: A Starseed’s Guide to Agartha.
Its once-vibrant cover is now dulled with age, the image of ancient pyramids dissolving into a backdrop of symbols that seem to shift when you stare at them too long.
According to the text, portals open every year in special locations around the world to transport students to a school unlike anything found on the surface.
This year’s portal? September 9th.
That’s why I’m in Shasta.
One of the few perks of living in your car is being able to chase a portal to the center of the Earth on a whim.
“Are you a first-year too?” A girl with beach-blonde dreads and a septum ring grins at me. She looks about my age. Early twenties, tan, freckled, and beaming like she’s already been chosen.
“I guess. I’ve never walked through a portal before, if that’s what you mean.”
“Same. My name’s Mae.” She adjusts the ukulele strapped across her back like it’s a purse.
“Hi. I’m Synchronicity.”
“Oh my God. I love your name.”
“Thanks,” I say. “My parents were amateur Jungians. You’d think with all that shadow work, they’d be a little more self-aware.”
Mae laughs. “Hey, that’s why we’re here, right? To heal the generational trauma.”
We’re gathered around a natural spring on the western slope of Mount Shasta, maybe fifteen of us total, dressed like festival castoffs and cult recruits. The crisp mountain air nips at my skin despite the bright morning sun.
“Most of these people won’t even see it,” Mae says, tossing her dreads over one shoulder. “The portal only appears to those who are chosen to attend the Academy.”
“How do you know all this?” I ask.
“My dad. He told me stories growing up. Never went himself, but he met people who had. He used to read me that same book.” She nods toward the copy in my hand. “It’s rare. I’m surprised you found one.”
I glance down at the timetable in my book. It claims the portal will open at 9:09 a.m. Strangely specific for a prophecy, but that’s what it says. I run my thumb over the dog-eared page, wondering for the hundredth time if any of this is real.
“Why 9:09?” I ask, not quite skeptical, but not convinced either.
“I don’t know,” Mae says. “Something about numerology. Portals love symmetry.”
As the scheduled time approaches, a hush descends over the crowd. The only sounds are the babble of the spring, a lone raven’s croak overhead, and the crunch of gravel under nervous feet.
Then, a man with shoulder-length black hair and a full sleeve of alien tattoos shouts, “I see it! The portal!”
For a moment, I think he’s crazy, until he steps forward and vanishes.
“Me too!” someone yells, and they disappear at the same spot on the edge of the creek.
One by one, people vanish before my eyes. I blink hard, heart hammering in my chest.
“Can you see anything?” I whisper to Mae.
She narrows her eyes, scanning the rocks. “Wait… yes! Right there. In front of the spring!”
I stare. Nothing.
“Oh my God,” she breathes. “I can’t believe I’ve been chosen. My dad’s gonna freak.”
“Yeah. Wow. Congrats.” My voice sounds far away.
“You don’t see it?”
“Nope.”
“Don’t give up. Sometimes it takes a second. And even if you don’t get accepted this year, you can always come back. Some people try for decades.”
“Well, don’t wait on my account,” I say, watching a few more people disappear.
“Are you sure?” Mae shifts her weight from foot to foot.
“Go. This is your dream.”
“Thanks,” she says, but before she goes, she turns toward me and places a warm hand on my arm. “Just wait. I know you’ll get accepted. You have such good energy.”
I let out a sigh. “I’m not so sure about that, but thanks.”
Her eyes linger on mine for a beat longer, then she turns around and approaches the edge of the creek. It looks like she’s going to step right into the water, but at the last second, she vanishes.
After a few more minutes of this, there are only seven of us left. We wait and wait, but no portal appears.
A guy with a man bun picks up his pack and trudges back down the trail, shoulders slumped. The others file slowly after him.
An older couple passes me last, the woman smiling faintly. “Beautiful day, isn’t it?” she says, as if the weather might make up for the magic that never came. They amble down the mountain, arm in arm, leaving me finally and utterly alone on the banks of the creek.
What the hell am I doing here? Did I seriously think that someone like me would be accepted into some cosmic boarding school for energy healers?
I don’t leave. Not because I have hope, but because I have nowhere else to go. My friend group back home won’t talk to me, my family disowned me, and my credit cards are just about maxed out.
Instead, I strip off my clothes and step into the water.
The cold hits like a slap. I walk deeper until the current reaches my waist, then sink backward into the stream, letting it swallow me.
This is exactly what got me into this mess in the first place.
Maybe I’ll just stay here.
Maybe I’ll die, and nature can take me back.
I close my eyes and tilt my head into the current, letting it leech the heat from my skull.
My skin numbs.
My thoughts don’t.
The ache inside me, the one I’ve carried since that day six months ago, doesn’t fade. It never does.
I submerge completely and start counting heartbeats, waiting for the darkness to win.
But something inside me resists.
At the last second, a wild, animal instinct claws to the surface. I break through the stream, gasping, coughing, water streaming from my hair and eyes.
And there it is.
Glowing in front of me.
A six-foot rift in time and space, shimmering violet and humming with impossible energy.
The portal.
I scramble to my feet, but the smooth river stones betray me. I slip hard, gashing my ankle on a rock.
“Shit.”
I crawl out of the water, pull a sock over the wound, and stare. The portal pulses like it’s alive.
My clothes go on in a flurry. I think about running back to the car, grabbing a bag, something, but the portal starts to flicker.
No time.
I shove my copy of A Starseed’s Guide to Agartha into my hoodie pocket, and with three steps, I leave my old life behind forever.
If you can’t wait for the next installment, you can order The 999 Portal here: