several college students and a teacher dabble in magic, open a portal, and none of them are ever right again

[tjones]

the story, which occurs in current year (early 21st century) is told from the POV of one of the students who, decades after the incident, is tracking down the other participants to try to determine what actually happened that day that they assisted their teacher in performing a ritual he had discovered. during the "event", one of the students disappeared and has not been seen since. the portal seemed to flood the area with a heavy orange light, like a sunset that never ends, and malevolent creatures could be seen trying to enter our realm. the participants, some of whom had a near cult-like devotion to their teacher, were never right or whole or normal after the event. at least one of them spent a lot of time in a mental hospital. the plot of the novel is the POV character, tracking down the other students, their interactions, and the group trying to sort out what happened during the ritual, and why their lives have turned out the way they have.