Chapter 4

The two women drank the coffee that Komo brought for them as they worked to set up the portal according to the notes their mystery friend had brought them. "Okay, so we need a light to shine through the frames," Skylar said. "And the frames need to be lined up just right."

Riley saw a projector and turned it on, placing the piece of film in front of it. "Hmm," she said, seeing it didn't get the whole picture.

"Try placing the film piece in the projector like a slide," Komo suggested.

She did that and a clear picture of the freeze frame showed up on the blank screen sheet in front of the room. "Hey, it worked," she said.

"Okay, so if we can line them up like that, we should be able to open a portal between the projector and the screen," Skylar said, taking a moment to measure distance and nodding. "About here, I think."

"Sounds about right," Riley said as she glanced at the notes.

Komo came up to them. "Now we just need to fit all six tape frames into the projector," he said.

"How?" The detective asked curiously as she removed the slide frame before placing another piece of film over the one they had and put it in the slide. She then tested it by placing it in the projector and the picture showed up clearly. "Hey, wait a minute," she said. "Is it just me or...are Wooly and Amanda in the same standing position in these frames?"

"I noticed that too," Skylar said. "Each film piece, minus the last one, have both Amanda and Wooly standing in almost the same spot, just a different background."

"Try to match them all up," Komo suggested.

Riley got to work, carefully overlapping each piece and checking to be sure she had it right. She slipped the last piece in behind the others and carefully slipped the slide back into the projector. Miraculously, though it was a bit of a tight fit for the slide, it clicked into place and the light projected the image of Amanda and Wooly clearly. "I think I got it," she said.

"Good job," Skylar said. "Now for the dangerous part."

"Best fix those bendable light stands around us," Komo said. "Try to make them all point to where the portal will be."

The two young women made quick work of doing that and soon, all was ready. "Okay, Komo," Riley said. "It's ready."

"Standby, and get ready to catch Rebecca and Wooly," the genie said, going into his golden armor for extra protection.

Skylar looked at Riley. "You catch Rebecca and I'll catch Wooly?" She suggested.

"Deal," the detective said as both braced themselves, ready.

Komo took a deep breath and used his magic to create a glowing portal that soon became clear and looked as if they were looking at a television screen with Amanda and Wooly looking back at them while the edges of the portal glowed.

"What...is that?" Amanda asked, confused.

Komo looked in the portal and his expression turned horrified. "Rebecca! Wooly! There's a monster behind you two!" He called out. "Run! Run towards us and jump in! We'll catch you!"

Wooly looked behind him and turned back, terrified. "Come on!" He said, grabbing his friend's hand and running for the portal.

Amanda dug her heels in. "No!" She said, too scared to do so.

"Amanda, come on!" Wooly said. "I'm not leaving without you!"

"The monster's getting closer!" Komo warned.

A tree branch suddenly snapped and landed behind Amanda, who shrieked and ran for the portal, taking Wooly's hand as they both jumped into it, their appearances changing when they crossed into the real world.

Riley caught Amanda, who transformed back into Rebecca and Skylar caught Wooly, who turned into a human before her very eyes. He weakly looked up at her, but had no time to say anything as Komo closed the portal and looked at them. "We need to leave," he said urgently. "Now."

Riley scooped Rebecca up into her arms as the girl clung to her and Skylar handed Wooly to Komo, who took him as the programmer grabbed the keys to the Jeep and unlocked it, all of them jumping in. "Buckle up!" The young woman said, starting the Jeep up and putting it into gear before pressing down on the gas pedal. The Jeep set into motion and Skylar pressed down more on the gas pedal to make the vehicle go faster, the wheels hitting a strip of something and an alarm rang out.

"What's that?" Riley asked, covering Rebecca's ears as the girl winced from the loud noise.

"The explosives set to go off at a certain time after the trigger lines are touched!" Komo yelled over the noise.

"We've got ten minutes before the explosion reaches us!" Skylar said. "Hold on!"

The noise grew deafening as they continued down further, the programmer pressing a button to make the Jeep ready for what she was about to do. "Here we go!" She called out in warning before the Jeep began heading directly for a cliff and just as the Jeep became airborne and began to fall front end first, Skylar pressed another button and the front part of the Jeep became streamlined like a torpedo and they hit the water cleanly with little impact and hardly losing speed. The Jeep now turned sub continued moving rapidly before Riley spotted a tunnel up ahead and saw Skylar move the Jeep towards it. No sooner did the tires hit the ground, spikes slipped out of it and the Jeep began moving fast on the now rock-and-dirt terrain that was under them.

"We're almost there!" Komo called out.

"To where?!" Riley called out.

"The end of the tunnel!" Skylar called out just as something shook the Jeep and she nodded. "The explosives are detonating now!"

Komo and Riley held Wooly and Rebecca protectively as they braced themselves for the worst. The Jeep shot out of the tunnel and was airborne again for a bit before landing on the ground, shaking the passengers up a little before Skylar continued driving down the path in front of them. Not one moment later, the tunnel exploded into a fireball and the building where Skylar and Komo had been living in for the past few years went up in smoke.

Riley sighed in relief as she relaxed, looking down at a very scared Rebecca who was clinging to her and trembling. "It's okay, sweetie," she said. "You're safe."

"So are you, Wooly," Komo said to the sheep-turned-human.

Wooly was quiet but tried to brush some dirt off of his white shirt and black pants. "Rebecca, are you okay?" He asked.

She sniffled and nodded. "Are you okay, Wooly?" She asked.

"Yeah, I am," he said.

Rebecca suddenly burst into tears, clinging to Riley as she cried. "I don't want to go there anymore!" She wailed out. "I don't want to be the star anymore!"

"Shh," the detective cooed to her, rubbing the ten-year-old's back soothingly. "It's okay, Rebecca. You're not going back to that company anymore."

"We're going to take them down," Skylar promised. "And we'll find your dad, Rebecca. I promise."

The child looked at her. "You-You'll find Daddy?" She asked.

"We will, kiddo," the programmer said.

Wooly looked pensive. "Do I have to go back to that company?" He asked.

"No," Komo soothed, gently ruffling the hair on the boy's head. "You're both free of them, Wooly."

Both kids broke down crying and the adults shed a few tears too. Skylar then got a message from the mystery friend and nodded, asking them to find out what they could about where Sam was.

It was going to be a long journey, but they had already taken the first steps to start with.

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