Rachel Maksy & the Sword of Cosplay (A Rachel X Frodo Portal Adventure Fanfic)

Not in Massachusetts Anymore...

 Rachel jolted upright to the sound of her dog barking. She blearily glanced down at the foam cosplay armor she had been working on shaping and saw that it was marked with a smudge of her red lipstick. She rubbed at it, trying to get rid of the lip impression, but it only smeared greasily.

Oh well, she thought, Nothing a little plasti-dip won't fix.

Had she fallen asleep? She had stayed up until 2 A.M. the night before playing video games but still, she usually preferred a comfy place to nap. Definitely not her office desk out in the cold-ass barn.

Stretching, she yawned and then rubbed her face. What time was it? And had Frodo woken her up with his bark or had she dreamed that? She looked under her desk to where he would usually curl up by her feet, but he was absent. She touched her toes to the spot. Still warm.

Standing up, she shuffled along toward the stairs. She'd fallen asleep in her full adventure regalia, having just switched from filming for her latest YouTube video to carving the wood of her new foam shield. She was so, so behind on deadlines.

Her foot was asleep, so she stomped it a bit as she called out for Frodo. She heard a scratching noise, and then he came bounding up the stairs to the top level of the barn. What had he been getting into down there? Did he need to go out into the yard?

"What is it Frodo? Outside? Outside?"

Frodo just wagged his nub, his little hairy ears all perky and cute.

"Being so cute should be a crime, you know."

Frodo took off, and she followed, limping down the stairs with her pins-and-needles foot.

"Hold on, hold on. I'm coming."

He didn't head for the door as she'd expected, but instead to the creepy no-zone dug into the barn's foundation.

"No, Frodo. No. Stay outta there."

He just switched between staring at the creepy dirt hole half made of rafters and half made of nightmares and staring innocently back at her. Pausing on the middle step, she rubbed her leg to coax the blood back into her veins.

They'd only lived at the new house for a couple of months. Hidden away in the woods of Massachusetts, the place was exactly what they needed. It had charm, space, a huge yard and adjoining woods for her to take her Instagram photos, and a pond. Only problem was, it also came with terrifying hidey holes like the one Frodo was staring intently into.

The dog turned and gave her an open mouthed, slobbery tongue, happy grin before barking once and scurrying into the dark.

"Noooooooo," she cried in alarm. "Do not do this to me right now!"

Her husband Nick was off on a business trip and the night time creaks of the old house were already giving her the spooks. She couldn't even ask him to go in after Frodo. She wasn't even sure she could bring herself to go in after Frodo. Eventually, he would come out, right?

She moaned and gave a little whimper. She may cosplay as Wonder Woman but she was not that brave. Nope, nope, nope.

Just then, Frodo gave a little yelp, and she surged forward to the opening of the frightening black void that lived under her craft and work space.

"Frodo, are you OK? Here boy, come on!"

Nothing.

Panicked, she rushed back up to her work table and grabbed her phone, snagging a short sword in a sheath just in case she had to kill a rat. Or smash it to death. You know, one or the other.

Flicking on the flashlight on her phone she peered into the gloomy depths. It looked...well... it looked like she was going to have bad dreams in spades, that's what it looked like. She didn't see Frodo.

She called out to him again, but heard nothing back, and, trying to keep her nerves and fear at bay, she ventured into the cellar space after him.

"Oh God. Oh God. This is how serial killers get you. I am going to die. Nick's going to come back and find me and be scarred for life. Frodo, no treats for a month! No, a year! Oh God. Oh God."

The whole underground space just smelled like cold, and wet, and fear. Her fear. When she got out of here she was going to make a whole YouTube video about boarding up this murder den for good. Yep. Might as well make it look cute. Like a hobbit door or something. Or a portal to Narnia. Or ... or... She tried to keep thinking of more options. Anything to keep her mind off of the fact that her flashlight was not penetrating the blackness and she hadn't seen Frodo yet and she felt like she'd been walking for way longer than her barn was long.

Just then she heard Frodo bark, but it sounded like it was from kind of far away. Like the other side of a wall, or if she was under water and he was above. She called out for him, and he barked again.

God save that dog, he was going to be in so much trouble. Could you ground a dog? He was getting grounded.

A rock caught the toe of her boot, and she tumbled forward, throwing out her phone and sword scabbard, one clutched in each hand to catch her fall. No, Nick wouldn't find her murdered, he'd find her with a broken neck. How did Rachel Maksy, YouTube star and Cosplayer die? By tripping over her rock in a basement terror hole. Perfect. An obituary for the ages.

But the impact she was expecting never came. She was standing, actually. She realized she'd squinted her eyes shut as she fell, and now she opened them tentatively to find... grass. Spring grass. And were those...ferns?

The woods around her house were filled with dead leaves and pine needles and the cold hard earth of a New England spring. This...this was not that. This was verdant, and lush, and the air smelled like heaven. It was that perfect blend of slightly chilly wind and chlorophyll and filtered sunshine.

As she gawked, her red lips hanging open in shock, Frodo came bounding up from behind a tree, his mouth dripping with water and drool. He stood staring at her, and wagged his nub.

"Wha..."

Rachel Maksy looked around again, and she knew without a doubt she was not in Massachusetts anymore.