Imagination's last hope: The quest to save the unseen world

Chapter 28

Rachel struggled to fall asleep. She got home at 3am. She was exhausted and thought that she would be able to fall asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow, but that wasn't the case.
She tossed and turned the whole night. She couldn't stop thinking about the portal closing and what would happen if they couldn't stop it. This bot was working really fast, and he seemed so powerful. Three guardians struggled to take him down. Rachel tried to think of a plan, but it was no use. She was out of ideas. She tossed and turned for another while, and then finally, she fell asleep. 
Rachel was still really tired the following day. She didn't get a good night's sleep, and she woke up early.
She was still half asleep and, in her pyjamas, on her way to the bathroom when she walked into a stranger who gave her the fright of her life. Rachel screamed when she walked into him. He had blonde hair and blue eyes and wore black jeans and a black hoodie. He looked a few years older than Caleb like he could be older than Rachel. He looked exactly like Mira.
"Who are you?" She asked when she calmed down and got her breath back. 
"I'm really sorry. I'm Marcus. I'm Caleb's friend." He seemed really shy and didn't speak much. He just went into Caleb's room and shut the door behind him.
Rachel held her chest and took a few deep breaths. She didn't need to get such a big fright this early in the morning. 

"I heard you and Marcus ran into each other this morning," Caleb said at the breakfast table.
Marcus wasn't there yet; he was still busy in Caleb's room. 
"I almost had a heart attack." She poured some cereal into her bowl. 
"I met him at school this week. He's super cool and an amazing gamer. He's been in school for a long time, but we didn't know about each other."
Marcus came downstairs and sat down next to Caleb.
"Would you like a cup of coffee?" Rachel offered.
He just nodded.
"So, from where are you?" 
"We lived in a small village. It's a few hours from here. I got here three months ago." He answered, not really making any eye contact. 
"And we only got to know each other this week." Caleb chipped into the conversation.
They started talking about some game that involves trying to survive in the Wild West. Rachel didn't know what they were talking about, so she zoned out.

Rachel was trying to get a quick afternoon nap. She had homework to catch up on but wasn't in the mood for that. She was too tired, and her mind was elsewhere; plus, Caleb and Marcus were being too loud for her to be able to focus.
She pulled her pillow over her head in an attempt to drown out the noise, but it didn't help much. She couldn't stop wondering about Marcus. He was so weird, and he looked almost exactly like Mira. She wanted to ask him more about himself, but Caleb wouldn't let her. He would just interrupt and start talking about some stupid game.
Luckily, Caleb looked a lot better now. He didn't look like a zombie the whole time, but Rachel knew it was only because he had Wi-Fi and technology. As soon as that gets taken away, he would return to looking like an actor who belongs in the Walking Dead movie. 
She still couldn't wrap her head around the fact that the portals were starting to close. She wanted to go to the world of imagination and find out what was happening and if they had figured out a plan yet, but she knew it was too dangerous. If the portals closed, she would get trapped there forever. It wouldn't be so bad; Rachel would enjoy it. She could have anything she wanted, no school, no chores; it would be amazing. But she would miss the real world and everything in it a little. Even though she didn't like how her life was now, she enjoyed some things. 
Rachel wanted to help, but Hootwiggle made it very clear that she couldn't go to the world of imagination. She just couldn't help wondering what was happening over there.
After laying on her bed for most of the day, Rachel decided that going on a walk would be really good for her. She used to go on walks every afternoon, but since having to help the guardians, she rarely got time for that anymore.
She got out of bed, put some shoes on, and headed outside. 

Rachel didn't want to walk too far. She still had some Biology homework to finish. She decided to just go for a short walk in the field next to her home and see what she could find. It wasn't the best spot for scavenging since it was an open field with only a few bushes. She followed the same path that she usually walked on. She found one or two rocks that she thought might be interesting. She also found a few daisies and placed them behind her ear. She was already feeling a lot better. She knew getting some fresh air would be just right for her.
She continued walking along the path, saw some pink Foxgloves, and picked an entire handful. She always placed these on her desk in her room.
Just as she wanted to walk away, she heard a loud rustle in the bush behind her. She held her mouth to not scream. Luckily, there was another bush close by. She crouched down and headed to the bush as quickly as possible. She moved around it to get a good view but also made sure not to be seen. She couldn't believe what she saw.
Rachel thought it might be someone hiding in a bush, a dog or a deer. She didn't expect to see a portal hidden in the bush. It looked exactly like the one leading to the world of technology. She wanted to go closer and see what was going on, but she hid further behind the bush to try and see if she could see a guardian or a person. She didn't wait long before someone came out of the portal. She couldn't see who it was, but it was clear that it was a human and not a guardian. They were dressed in all black and had a hoodie pulled over their head so their face couldn't be seen. Rachel tried to look at their face, but it was useless. He got out of the portal, holding a big box. He checked to see that no one saw him, then he hid it in the bush and pushed it under the leaves. He checked that you couldn't see it and then disappeared into the bush. 
Rachel knew that it was a bad idea to go after him. So many things could go wrong, but she just couldn't help herself. She needed to know who this person was and what they were doing. She knew that Hootwiggle warned her not to go through any more portals and stay in the real world, but she had an idea that this person might have something to do with what was happening between the worlds.
She waited five minutes to make sure that the person really was gone. She tried to convince herself this was a terrible idea but couldn't help it. 
She went to the bush and took out the box that the person had hidden under the leaves. It was really heavy. She opened the box, she gasped. It was filled with many smaller boxes, each containing a device. There were mostly phones which haven't even been released yet. She put everything back and closed the box again. Then she hid it where she found it. 
She looked at the portal. "Rachel. Don't do this." She tried to tell herself that this was a terrible idea. She couldn't go to the world of technology alone. She tried to list all the things that could go wrong and that she should just let the guardians take care of it, but it was useless. It just made it seem more tempting.