Into the Portal

Hero watched it with his own eyes. Roxie had transformed. Her fur was not normal though. It was not white, nor grey. “She has the colors of a tiger.”

“What the hell?” Bose drew back. “She changed. She transformed?”

“When the originals reach maturation, they gain transformation.” Hero came nearer to her. “Never transforming in her life, this will not be easy on her. Make sure everything is sealed.” He drew even closer, curious about the colors. Why did she have colors of a tiger? Black. Orange. He did not see that in any of the documentation. As she stirred, Hero went on alert instinctively. She half groaned, half growled. “Roxie. Don't be afraid, but . . .you've changed.”

“Huh? Changed?” She groaned again. She started to sit up, but quickly noticed her paws. “What?!”

“You've changed. I was wrong about you being a project Z. You're not a project.” He stood next to her, almost the same size. “You are something else, and I strongly believe you don't belong in this world.”

Roxie bent down on all fours, not moving. “I-I-what?!” She stuck her paw out and brought it back inward.

“Walking on all fours is not hard. Remember back to your childhood when you learned to crawl, it may help.” Hero stuck out his own front and back paw. “Left side, and then right.”

Roxie trembled as she stuck out her front paw and tried to move her back leg too.

“Complete left side. Move both your paws on your left side and then the right.” Hero showed her. “See?”

Roxie caught on this time, although stumbling some, she held steady. “I-I'm a wolf. I'm a wolf.”

“Something like that. Your colors are different.” He held his paw out toward her. “You have the colors of a tiger.”

“My scent.” She looked toward him. “You rescued me anyhow.”

“It's not half as overbearing anymore to me. I've grown more used to you. I've been reading up on certain documents I haven't looked at for a long time.” Hero walked around her. “I've come to the conclusion that I believe you aren't from this world. I think the scientist that created the projects was playing with DNA, but from another dimension, not from the regular wolves of this world. We are similar, yet so different. Some DNA mixing up, and you get projects. Becoming wolves from birth. Experimenting with controlled scents. A jumble between strong and weak points. I'm almost sure of it.”

“I'm not. . .even from here?” Roxie looked away. “I don't even belong here. Then where?”

“Where did your parents find you? Who gave them to you?” Hero asked.

***

Roxie's mother stared at her in disbelief. “Roxie? Is that really you?”

Roxie nodded but looked back at Hero. Now that she had transformed, her scent wasn't nearly as bad. “I need to know who gave me to you.”

“No one from around here,” her father confirmed. “Just someone.”

“Do you know who someone is? Someone is someone that doesn't want to get into trouble. You are protecting someone,” Hero accused him. “Where did Roxie come from, I want to know!”

“From my sister, okay? She knew we wanted one, and she attained her.” Roxie's mother continued to stare at Roxie. “Can you change back?”

“I don't know,” Roxie confessed. “I don't even know how I changed.”

“Not right away. She is getting used to enough right now.” Hero couldn't teach her to change yet. It was something deep inside that he would help her trigger, but not yet. She might reject her wolf side and never want to transform again. “This is a part of her and it's natural for her species. Respect it. Now, Roxie, where is your Aunt?”

“My Aunt?” Roxie looked at her mother. “My own Aunt?”

“We never wanted her involved. She swore that she would help us find a child only if we kept quiet. She's a good woman,” her mother pleaded to Hero. “You can't send her to jail.”

“Come, Roxie.” Hero moved slow as he had done before. Roxie would not be ready for running yet. She was finally getting the hang of walking. He jumped out the broken window the other wolves had caused, wanting her to give it a try.

She placed her paws by the side but only looked at the shattered glass.” Can't we go out through the front door again?”

“You need to work on jumping. Come on.” Hero urged her. “You don't even need a running start, it's not up that high.”

“For you.”

“Try it,” her mother urged her. “Tell your Aunt I'm sorry that I couldn't keep the secret any longer.”

Roxie didn't answer back. She took a few steps back. Whether Hero thought she needed a running start or not, she would take one. If she messed up, she would end up with glass in her feet. Roxie ran and leapt out, arching her back and front feet upward. Her bottom chased after it, bringing her rear up enough to launch over.

She shook her head, trying to clear it afterward. She heard Hero chuckle.

“I told you that you could do it. Now, let's go see that Aunt of yours.”

Along the way, there were some wolves that noticed her, but they didn't create a pack that tried to take Hero down. Hopefully her strange fur colors kept them away too. They trotted several blocks. Her Aunt didn't live much further than ten blocks.

At first, her Aunt was startled when Roxie approached her at home and told her what happened.

“Oh.” Her Aunt sighed. “I am so sorry, Roxie, I didn't know. I just . . .you needed someone, and I knew your parents wanted a baby.”

“Where did you find her?” Hero questioned.

“In my basement. I was an idiot back then. I should have called the police or something, but, no, silly me. I was just too curious.” She took them towards her basement door. There were chains all around it. “I had a second door put up halfway down the stairs. The construction worker thought I was nuts, but I paid him well. It's got even heavier chains.” She left a moment and came back with a large keychain. She began to unlock several locks along the door. “I have not come down here since Roxie, so do watch yourself. No telling what is down there now.”

Such heavy chains. Roxie had been to her aunt's house before, but she was never allowed this far back.

“I don't even know if it's still there, so be careful.” She finished unlocking the last lock.

“What is down there?” Hero asked.

“A portal. This strange whirling cloud. I used to keep the washing machine and dryer down there. I was bringing down laundry and there it was.” She held her hand out. “I stuck my hand in it, watching it disappear. I brought it back quickly, but it was fine. Curiosity got the best of me. I stuck it in again, and then my foot. Nothing happened . . . so I shoved my head slowly through.” Her Aunt looked back at her. “It was another world. A whole other world on the other side.” She walked down the stairs while the other two trotted down with her. “I didn't go far but I saw a grisly site. I heard crying, and I saw you, Roxie.” Her Aunt looked at her, tears filling her eyes. “You were screaming around two dead wolves. I looked around and I didn't see anyone. I thought your parents must have been killed by projects or something. Looking back at it, they were more than likely your own parents.” She unlocked the last door. “I bolted out of there with you. I wasn't fond of the thought of raising a baby, and I couldn't just put you up for adoption. People would ask questions.”

“So you gave me to mom and dad,” Roxie said. “Hero was right, I was from another dimension.”

“Just be careful. I don't know if it's still down there.” She started to head back up. “I will give you one hour, Roxie, and then I'm locking it all back up. No one, not anyone in this world, should know about that hole.”

“That we can agree on,” Hero said. He grabbed the door with his teeth and paws, trained well in opening doors. As it opened, a light of blue could be seen. They both headed down the rest of the way and stood before the portal. “Your home is through there.”

“Where my parents died a grisly death. I want to stay here,” Roxie answered. “If I can change back, I can still have my life. The scent's changed and . . .this is my home, Hero.”

“Stay if you want, but I am going. Whatever started the projects is over there. What if he's still alive on the other side? What if there are more?” Hero approached the portal. “This leads to a world where part of me came from.”

Roxie came closer to him. “My world.” She closed her eyes. “I suppose I should visit it. See where I did come from.”

Hero nodded and looked toward the hole. This time he moved backward. “No telling what's over there. On the count of three, we'll run fast and jump.” As he counted to three, they both ran at their top speed and leaped into the portal.