Title: The Untold Stories
Author: DancingStar
Crossover: PSI Factor / Sue Thomas: F.B. Eye
Pairing: Connor / Lindsay, Jack / Sue
Rating: 12
Summaries: Because their car breaks down, the team has to spend the night in the mountains.
Notes: Happy Birthday to Me! Happy Birthday to me! It´s my Birthday, tomorrow. Happy Birthday to me
(Excuse me, but I love Nevada and California) I can´t believe that Sue Thomas F.B. Eye is broadcast in German television in 2011 after the show was filmed in 2002! In addition, only 6 episodes were synchronized for German TV. Too bad! Actually I like the show and would like to see more...
The Untold Stories
"Are we there yet?", asked Claire a little bit tired and hungry when she looked at the digital clock in the driver's cockpit of the Mobile Lab. It was already late and they were on their way to the next airport. They had just finished a case with a client in Northern California and wanted to return to the Headquarters. Their route would pass by Lake Tahoe in the Sierra Nevada.
"I don´t know," Peter admitted honestly, "But you already asked thirty minutes ago."
"Because I'm hungry."
"There is certainly a pizza service in the next town. For once, we can stay there and you can order something for dinner or breakfast."
Claire thought about Peter's words and she wondered how long the ride to the next town would take. She wanted to ask, but in this moment red warning lights began to glow in front of Peter. Claire assumed this wasn´t a good sign and suddenly Peter exclaimed shocked: "The engine!"
White hissing steam rose from the left and right of the hood. Peter tried to brake and he could feel how the steering wheel was shaking in his hands. Likewise, the brake pedal twitched restlessly under his feet. The truck slid a few more feet forward and came to a stop. Peter exhaled relieved and Claire decided to get out. How they noticed the truck had stopped almost lateral on the lonely road. Peter immediately went to the hood and opened it, in which he pulled a lever in front of the radiator. An even greater cloud of steam escaped from the engine and Peter drew back.
Claire watched him and both didn´t notice how a van stopped behind the truck. Connor, Anton, Lindsay and Mia got out, passed the Mobile Lab and came to them.
"What's wrong?" Connor asked anxiously, "Are you okay?"
"I fear we have an engine failure... That never happened before!"
"Can you drive on?", asked Anton.
Peter watched how a cloud of steam came out of the radiator. "I wouldn´t risk it anyway," he said and Connor reached for his cell phone to call the breakdown service immediately. The team listened and Connor finished the conversation with a sigh of disappointment.
"The breakdown service isn´t available before tomorrow morning," he apologized, "The breakdown service in the next town probably doesn´t have a night service."
"So we stay here?", Mia asked and she really didn´t mind. Maybe it was nicer and funnier to camp here out in nature, than to sleep in an uncomfortable motel bed. In the last motel where they had stayed, the beds were uncomfortable, but also dirty. It did not happen often that they had to sleep in poor accommodation during their business trips, but sometimes it happened anyway.
"We could send someone to the next town and get help", suggested Lindsay, "How far is it to the next town?"
"Two hours by car..." That was because of there were no towns on this side of Lake Tahoe. With that Lindsay´s idea was smashed. She didn´t want to know how long it would take to walk to the nearest town. In the direction from which they came, there was nothing more than fields, meadows, forests and mountains since a three hour´s drive. So it was no option to drive back in the van. They were stranded in the middle of nowhere.
"Well," Peter sighed, "I´ll try to fix the truck." And in his mind he added this would be much easier if the truck would not block the road.
"Lindsay, Claire and I get the tents ready," Mia smiled at him. Fortunately, tents and sleeping bags were part of the OSIR standard equipment and for the case Peter wasn´t able to mark the start of the truck they wanted to pitch the tents better now.
They decided to pitch their camp a little off the road and so they camped between some dry bushes under the starry night sky. Only a few clouds were in the sky, they sometimes capped the moon.
Claire, Mia and Lindsay had fun with pitching the tents and when they didn´t come forth, they asked Connor for help. "I haven´t been camping for a very long time!", said Lindsay, laughing. She handed Connor a tent peg which he beat into the ground for stabilization of a green tent.
"Me neither," he admitted, "But it will be fun." At least they would be spared from a possible invasion of the slugs.
"I'll go and get the sleeping bags!", Claire called after Connor and Lindsay had pitched the last tent. Lindsay helped her to pick up inflatable air mattresses from the truck. She put a mattress, which then should be inflated by an electronic pump, in each of the six tents. While the pump was humming and predominated the musical chirping of crickets, Anton lit a fire in the middle of their camp.
Last Mia took a freezer to their tents. She glanced at her watch and noted that they stopped about 90 minutes ago on this lonely road in the mountains. Together with Lindsay Mia went to Peter in order to inquire how far he had come with the repair of the truck.
"It doesn´t look good. We definitely have to wait for the breakdown service", Peter said, wiping his greasy hands on his T-shirt. It was summer and it was very warm in the Sierra Nevada. The Nature reminded Lindsay a little bit of this old picture which once hung over the fireplace in her grandmother's house. It showed a long mountain range whose peaks were covered with snow.
Suddenly she had an absolutely absurd idea. "Do any bears live here?", she asked worried.
"No", Peter replied, "But there are cougars and coyotes..." He coughed, because the steam from the engine was still heavy in his lungs.
"That means we have to stay awake and make sure the fire is burning all night, because we don´t have a gun with us," Mia stated and Peter nodded in agreement. They went back to the campfire.
Half an hour later a silver rental- car drove along the lonely mountain road. Jack Hudson was watching the street, while his companion was asleep in the passenger seat. On the back seat of the car their dog had curled up, the Golden Retriever also dozed. A smile flitted over Jack's face: Sue was so beautiful, even while she was sleeping and for one moment he imagined he´d push her blond hair out of her face and kiss her awake. But then he saw a white truck which was blocking the mountain road in front of them and Jack decreased the speed of his car.
Sue woke up and Levi on the back seat raised his head confused. "What's wrong?", she asked wearily.
"A truck blocks the road," said Jack, the car stopped now. Now Sue also noted the huge white truck which blocked the gravel road completely. The hood of the truck was open and still steam came out. It was an eerie sight.
Jack untied the belt and grabbed the driver's door. "You want to get out?", Sue asked horrified.
"I have to," Jack looked at her, "Maybe someone´s hurt."
Sue nodded and decided to come along. Together with Levi she followed Jack to the truck. When they walked around the truck, they realized it was empty. "Looks like no one´s here," said Sue, but Jack pointed to a faint glowing point about twenty feet away. He could see a campfire and some people had gathered around it. "Let's go," Jack suggested and Sue reached for Levi's collar.
Anton saw the two strangers at first and got up.
"Hi, we don´t want to bother you. We... ", Jack began, "I assume the white truck is yours... Well, it blocks the entire street."
"I'm sorry. We had an engine failure. I'm Anton Hendricks. We were on our way to the airport when it happened", Anton explained.
"I´m Jack Hudson, that´s Sue... This is Levi. He is my wife´s hearing dog", the young, dark-haired man held out his hand, "What´s in your truck?" He could not figure out what Anton and his friends, two men and three women, wanted to do here in the solitude of the Sierra Nevada. Except this was...
"The truck is our Mobile Lab. We are with the OSIR", said Anton and now the rest of the team members who had gathered around the fire got up, "This are Peter Axon, Connor Doyle, Claire Davison, Mia Stone and Lindsay Donner." Lindsay raised her hand, when Anton mentioned her name.
Jack had heard about the OSIR before. He had heard it was an organization which studied paranormal phenomena and he told his wife what the OSIR was.
"You said Levi is a hearing dog...", Lindsay looked at Sue and she nodded: "Yes, I´m deaf since childhood."
"But how did you know what I said?", Claire asked now very interested and fascinated.
"I can read lips… But I´m also good in sign language", Sue smiled and looked at them.
"Can we help you with your truck?", asked Jack.
"I don´t think that's possible," Peter told then, "The truck weighs so much we don´t get it off the road." Therefore, they had settled down domestically next to the fire.
Jack remembered that next to the road on which the truck was standing, were narrow moats on the left and right. So he couldn´t drive past the truck in his car without getting stuck in the trenches.
"Unfortunately the breakdown service isn´t available before tomorrow morning", Connor told them.
"That means we have to return", Jack said to his wife.
"We are on the road for four hours," Sue recalled, "We can´t drive back all the way... You're tired." She and Jack were vacationing and had just left San Francisco. Their next stop was a small cottage on the Californian side of Lake Tahoe, where they would spend a few quiet and romantic days. Then they wanted to see Reno, Nevada, before they traveled back home. Now, a giant truck blocked the only access road to the little place where they would spend their holidays and Jack didn´t want to spend the night outside in the mountains. He was also worried about Sue, she would get a cold.
"Just sit down with us and join us waiting," now Connor suggested and the rest of the team nodded in agreement. Sue also didn´t mind. These people looked very friendly and it didn´t feel as if they were on the run or they would be crazy sect members. So they to the fireplace went with them. Jack and Sue sat next to Connor and Lindsay in front of an overturned tree.
"We have to stay up all night," Mia told them, "In fact we have no gun with us and because there are coyotes in the mountains, we must ensure the fire is burning all night long."
Lindsay asked Sue if she wanted to drink a cup of hot coffee, but she refused. When the blonde woman then pushed her jacket to the side Lindsay noticed why she gave up the coffee. Sue told her she was expecting her first baby in December, near her and her husbands´ first anniversary. This trip was the last holiday before her doctors would prohibit flying in a plane in the third trimester of pregnancy and maybe they should also visit Sue's parents. Her parents should know that she and her baby were in very good hands and Jack was caring well, even if they lived far away in Washington D.C. Sue´s mother sometimes still believed she couldn´t survive without her.
"Before you broke into our camp, we decided to tell the most scary things which ever happened to us", Mia continued and handed sandwiches out of her freezer to the guests and her friends, "And I tell my story first."
I was sixteen years old and spent the holidays with my grandfather and my grandmother, who lived on the countryside. My grandfather owned a farm. He also had some milk cows and many fields that were farmed. I liked spending the summer with my mother´s parents. I liked even more that they spoiled me very much because I was their only grandchild. One night I stayed up longer because I wanted to watch a movie on TV. It was about 2 p.m. in the morning when I went to bed and I was just on the way to the stairs when I saw an eerie shadow standing at the window. Although I was shocked a little I decided not to pay too much attention to the shadow. So I went upstairs to the guest room where I always lived during my stay on the farm. The moment when I sat on the bed, I saw a figure that limped across the field which was located directly in front of the house. I didn´t know what to do, so I hurried to the window and tried to see anything. That night the moon was not shining, I remember, so I unfortunately could not see much. The strange shadow worried me a little while. The thought that it could be the shadow at the window, came to me much later.
The next day I was helping my grandfather with sowing cereals on the field and in the ground I saw the footprints significantly. I asked my grandfather if people often sneaked around his house, but he knew nothing about it. I thought it was a coincidence and therefore I didn´t mind when my grandfather and my grandmother wanted to take an invitation on the same evening on one of the surrounding farms and they left me alone at home, because I did not want to come along. So I was sitting alone again in front of the television and even regretted that outside a thunderstorm was raging. The strong wind was blowing around the house and the barn and it moved the sound game, which hung on the terrace. I remember the sound very well... So I was sitting on the couch, watching television when I was suddenly asked by a strange voice who I was and what I did here. The voice didn´t belong to my grandparents and when I turned around, I saw a figure in the doorway and when a lightning struck in the tree next to the house I could see the man who had two faces instead of one face.
"That never happened!", Claire interrupted loudly and because they had not expected, the team shrugged a little bit scared, "It happened in the last X-Files episode. I've watched it, too."
"I wasn´t done yet," Mia complained, "I asked my grandparents about it and they confessed the man was my mother´s older brother. He was born so distorted that they had hidden him in the attic and they only let him out when no one was visiting my grandparents. However, he had fled before I arrived and he was in hiding on the farm. I had to promise never to tell my parents about it."
While Claire still protested against Mia's story, Lindsay was looking for a warm sweater in her bag. The blanket, which she had packed she handed to Sue and Jack. The later it got, the colder the air became. Lindsay had initially believed it would stay warm in August at night in the Sierra Nevada, but it wasn´t so. Connor explained the cold air came from the snow-capped mountains and she tried not to cuddle to him too conspicuous.
"Who tells the next story now?", Mia asked and her eyes stuck to Connor and Lindsay. When Lindsay saw this, she sighed. "All right," she said, "But I am warning you: It´s a trip into danger zone… The whole thing happened five months ago. I still remember it was a sunny spring day in March, when Connor and I drove alone through a forest in the dusk and the pink cherry blossoms on the trees almost looked orange..."
"Oh No," Peter moaned, "Now we hear the story about the unlabeled truck in which frozen aliens were transported?" Then Mia hissed at him, he should be quiet.
As I said before, it was a beautiful day in March and Connor and I were traveling alone. I swear I had no idea why we were chosen for this task and the strange thing was weren´t allowed to talk to our team about it. We weren´t allowed to talk to Anton or Peter…
As dusk began, we drove through a forest, which soon gave way to a barren, almost desert-like landscape. We didn´t know why we should just take that route. Finally, there were many paths which could lead us to our destination. Unfortunately, Peter is right: That's the story of a white delivery truck and we also didn´t know the content of it. In short: The whole mission was a puzzle.
It was a situation like this because we still had to drive very far when suddenly the cooling of the delivery truck gave out. I was worried and Connor tried to cheer me, so he made a joke that now probably the ice cream in the truck would melt away. For some reason I thought we weren´t chosen to give a joy ride to some ice cream. In addition, we had to check now what the cargo was, which would be broken probably. So we got out to see what it was. We opened the door and cold air was flowing toward us. At first we couldn´t see anything, when...
...I wished we had something what we could use as defense in case of emergency. The cloud of icy air was gone and I got into the truck. I asked Lindsay to wait at the door cause I wasn´t in the mood to be captured in the truck. I almost slipped once on the icy ground. As I expected, the vehicle wasn´t loaded with ice cream but three elongated containers that looked like blocks of ice. Because warm air came already into the inside of the truck the ice blocks began to melt. Lindsay asked me what I was seeing and I described everything for her very well. I stepped closer to a block of ice, wiped away the frost and saw the huge, black eyes and gray skin of an extraterrestrial. A faint cry escaped, when the alien which was caught in the ice block, suddenly turned the head, looked at me straight and opened a mouth with a row of sharp teeth. I stumbled backwards, slipped now and I tried to leave the truck as fast as I could. Although I didn´t even need to run two meters to the door, I felt like I would need hours for this short distance. When I left the van I slammed the door behind me. Lindsay wanted to know what I had seen and I told her the truck had apparently loaded three frozen aliens. We didn´t know why we were just in this situation. We also didn´t know who brought us into this mess and where these aliens came from. I believed the three aliens would now unfreeze completely, they would probably send signals into space to their mother's ship to pick them up. Who knew what else aliens wanted to do? I already saw myself lying on a cold metal table where I had to endure inhumane tests on me...
...Of course I knew we had to do something. This thought came to me very late when we heard a loud crash form the inside of the truck. Two seconds later a strong fist hammered against the inside of the door. I helped Connor to lock the door, saved a bag from the back seat quickly and then we ran. Connor suddenly grabbed my arm and held me. He screamed we couldn´t leave the truck in this solitude, because at some point the aliens would certainly escape from their prison. In all the panic I didn´t understand one single word. Connor then asked if I had a lighter or matches with me, because he just had an idea. I rummaged in our equipment bag, was searching for something useful and finally I handed a box of matches to him. I was shaking. He left me alone on the field, ran to the van, broke open the fuel door and threw a lit match into it. I could see how he ran for cover because of the fire flash. Scared I screamed his name and I called out to him, he should get away from the car before it´ll explode. And thank God Connor heard me, because he came to me and pulled me roughly on the arm. We ran and ran until the truck behind us finally exploded. Exhausted, I collapsed on a muddy field and we both needed several minutes to calm down. In my bag which I had saved out of the truck, I also had my cell phone and so we called for help. This was by far the spookiest thing I had ever experienced and I think I can speak for Connor, too, when I say this. On the other hand, this created a very strong bound between us…
"It really happened?", asked Sue, who had been following their stories carefully.
"I swear to God it happened," Lindsay raised her hand, "Upon my Sam!" Then she grabbed for Connors hand.
Sue still didn´t know whether to believe it and she was grateful when Peter proclaimed now, they should take a short break. He also would like to tell them a sinister story, but he could not decide which was scary enough now.
"We should collect more firewood," Lindsay suggested and Connor agreed to help her. Anton watched with an amused grin on his face when the two walked away. It was an open secret in the team that there was more than friendship between both. Therefore the two didn´t even mind that Jack and Sue would stay in the tent, which was intended for Lindsay. There was a reason for her to spend the night with Connor.
No one in the team ever talked about it. The main thing was that Connor and Lindsay were happy. Anton thought this relationship was very positive even for Connor. Since he and Lindsay were a couple, he was much more relaxed and he also noted he had time off. Connor loved to fill his free time with Lindsay´s nearness. Weeks ago he was persuaded by Lindsay to skip an entire working day: They stayed in bed long and both reported sick in the office. Anton learned only a few weeks later they weren´t really sick and he as responsible person for the OSIR actually had to take them to task, but he refrained. Only happy people were good people and he'd do nothing which ruined their relationship.
"Shall I help you carry?", Connor asked when he and Lindsay walked between the waist-high bushes. "Thanks, that's very nice", Lindsay smiled and handed him a bundle of dry twigs. He behaved always like a gentleman and it wasn´t her style to exploit this, but in this unpleasant task she could need some help.
Lindsay still collected more branches. They moved further and further from the camp, when they stood on a hill, looking down on Lake Tahoe. Because the lake in the Sierra Nevada was at an altitude of 1,900 meters, it was also called "Lake in the sky".
"We could catch a fish there," said Connor.
"It looks really scary but also very beautiful," Lindsay added. The shore on the opposite side was so far away that she couldn´t see to the glittering lights of the city, which should be located there. "Come, let´s go back," Connor suggested. With the branches on his arm, he went ahead and Lindsay followed. They took off the branches next to Anton and then sat down again in front of their tree. The fire was crackling in front of them and Jack put an arm around his wife, who snuggled up to him tired and kissed him. Levi put his head on Sue's legs.
"I have a bag of marshmallows with me," Claire said and rummaged in her backpack. She opened the plastic bag and speared some marshmallows on a twig, she had found on the ground. Mia drew her eyebrows horrified. "You really want to eat this?"
"Why not?"
"I don´t want to know which raccoon already peed on this twig," Mia giggled and even Sue laughed a little. But then she asked: "Claire, what´s the scariest thing which ever happened to you?"
"This is not hard question," said Claire, "I was alone on the way home one night and when I drove past the cemetery I had to stop because a branch was blocking the road. I cleared the road, sat back in my car and drove on. Then I realized I was chased by a motorcycle rider. In the rearview mirror I saw, how he repeatedly flashed his headlights. At home, I parked the car in front of my garage, ran to the door and there I was looking frantically for my keys in my purse but I couldn´t find them now. The motorcyclist stopped at the gate, dismounted and came toward me without taking off his helmet. Suddenly he said that he don´t wanted to hurt or scare me, but when I got out of my car next to the cemetery, he saw a man entered my car on the back seat. Then I went back to my car and looked at the back seat where a blood-stained ax was laying which I´ve never seen before."
"This story isn´t true," Jack said, "This is a myth. Just like the rumor that Twinkies were nonperishable forever. But I know a story that is much worse than everything we heard tonight... Did you know three kids disappeared 100 years ago in Lake Tahoe? The story tells Tessie had killed them."
"Who´s Tessie?"
"Tessie is a sea monster. Just as in Loch Ness in Scotland a sea monster is also living in Lake Tahoe."
"How should it come into the lake? It may fell from an airplane?", Mia asked," As far as I know, Lake Tahoe has no connection to the ocean."
The protest didn´t impress Jack, he continued telling: "As we know the northern part of Lake Tahoe belongs to Nevada, the remaining part belongs to California. By chance we are on the Californian side, where 100 years ago three little girls disappeared in the Halloween night without trace."
100 years ago, this area around Lake Tahoe was even less populated than today: The people lived on farms that were several miles apart. However, they loved to decorate their homes in the Halloween time. Because the farms were apart from each other, however, it was uncommon to go for Trick or Treat in the night. There was a little hotel which was located on the lake and it was run by a single mother. Her husband had disappeared the previous year on Halloween night without a trace. No one knew why this happened but the neighbors suspected he ran off with another woman. In the Halloween night the woman was very busy in her hotel so she sent her young daughter alone to her best friend, who lived on a farm. In the dark night the little girl was on her way to her friend and because she´d be earlier at her friend´s house if she was walking along the lake she took the route along the shore. The little girl arrived, but also her friend´s parents had no time for the kids. So they went to another girl who also lived on the lake. Because the three girls had any idea what to do in the night they decided to stay at the lake and play. The girls were sitting near the water, when they suddenly heard an eerie noise from the center of the lake. It almost sounded like a loud roar. Instead of running away scared, the three girls wanted to see what kind of animal could cause such a noise. They ran to a boat dock, took an old rowboat and headed out into the lake. They didn´t come far: It is said the monster of Lake Tahoe attacked them and ripped the boat apart. The parents noticed next morning something was wrong when their children were not there and when they looked for them, they discovered the remains of the old rowing boat in the water. The three girls were never seen again. Because people back then didn´t want to believe in monsters, they accused a man from the city he had killed the kids and they hanged him without a fair trial. The next day, after the man was hanged, the mother who owned the hotel at the lake, found a shoe in the water which belonged her daughter. In the shoe was still a part of a human foot. A huge, powerful creature removed it with sharp teeth. The woman then moved away because she never wanted to talk about Lake Tahoe...
Levi barked when Jack had finished the story. "It was really scary," said Connor, " I haven´t heard about Tessie before. Is it true?" Connor wasn´t sure if he should believe it. Although he was open for such things, he wanted to see it with his own eyes.
"I don´t know," Jack finally admitted, "I just know Tessie is described in most cases as large and black. Even zoologists think Tessie is a large sturgeon. In the old stories of the Washoe Indians a creature occurs that fits Tessie´s description. So far, only one video exist which shows the monster, swimming in the water. But actually the Lake Tahoe- Monster isn´t as famous as the Scottish relative Nessie..."
For a moment there was silence. Only the rustle of the warm camp fire could be heard. Claire nodded understandingly and once they wished, they had Cooper taken with them. He would certainly know about Tessie.
"Excuse me for a second," finally Sue got up heavily from the ground, "The baby is pressing on my bladder..."
"I'll take you to the Mobile Lab," Lindsay suggested. There Sue could go to the toilet. As always, Levi accompanied her. "So, you and Connor are together?", Sue asked only out of courtesy and because she had noticed how much in love the two looked at each other and how he silently formed the words "I love you" to her and the team couldn´t hear it.
Lindsay nodded. "He's perfect. He is... to be honest, I can hardly put into words, but I think he's the right one. I knew it immediately."
"That's nice ..."
"Yes," Lindsay sighed, "I don´t want to get too personal, Sue, but how did you know it?" She wondered if it wasn´t extremely hard for Sue to find someone who accepted her the way she was.
"He asked me to dance. When I told him this wasn´t a good idea because I couldn´t hear the music, Jack said he would be willing to take that risk and later that evening he kissed me. Since, I knew it", Sue smiled happily when she thought about it. It was nice she could talk about it with Lindsay, even though they didn´t knew each other. Lindsay seemed to be very honestly and sincere.
"Do you already have a name for your baby?"
"Thousands", Sue smiled, "Although we don´t even know if it's a boy or girl. We want to be surprised." Because they didn´t know Sue and Jack bought toys and clothing for a boy and a girl. "What about you? Do you and Connor want to have kids someday?"
"Yes," Lindsay's response wasn´t audible, but the word which formed her mouth was a clear answer for Sue, "I think no one´s better for that job." Sue you didn´t have to explain children were something wonderful because Lindsay already knew.
They reached the Mobile Lab, Lindsay inserted the PIN code to open the door and they entered. Lindsay showed Sue the way to the toilet, then she and Levi had to wait for her. Lindsay sat thoughtfully on a desk. What she had just said to Sue, was true: Connor was the right man for her. He was exactly the man whom she had always dreamed of.
While Lindsay waited Levi raised his head and looked curiously at the door. He had heard a noise. Levi took a second then he got up and walked to the door. Lindsay heard the jingling of his collar and called for him to stop. But he didn´t care: the Mobile Lab´s door opened automatically from the inside and Levi had disappeared.
"Is everything all right?", Sue wanted to know when she left the toilet. Because she could only see Lindsay back, she wasn´t able to figure out what was going on. Lindsay finally turned around to her. "Levi run away," she said, "I called after him he should stay but he wouldn´t listen."
Together they went outside and Sue called for her dog. But Levi didn´t come. This was very unusual: Normally Levi was a very obedient dog. Worried Sue hurried back to camp and called Jack. When he saw how she held her belly and how scared she looked like, his heart skipped a beat. He was afraid something was wrong with his baby and he got up in a hurry.
"Levi is gone. He doesn´t respond if I´m calling for him", tears came into Sue's eyes, "He never did that before."
Lindsay explained the dog ran away and she couldn´t stop him. She suspected Levi was so hungry that he had probably decided to look for something to eat. But Sue didn´t believed.
"We have to look for Levi," Jack decided and Peter agreed this was a good idea. Mia and Sue should stay here. "I´m coming with you," Sue said with conviction.
"Me too", Mia agreed. She loved the adventure and didn´t want to miss it here in the camp. Maybe Levi was eaten by Tessie, Mia thought. "You stay here!", Connor ordered and equipped with flashlights, they made their way to search for the dog. The moon was hidden behind a thick cloud at the moment and therefore it was frightening darkness. They walked side by side to the place where Connor and Lindsay had already collected twigs for the fire. Maybe Levi was stuck on one of the bushes with his collar but unfortunately this suspicion was not confirmed. "Levi? Levi, where are you?", Lindsay called, but she discovered nothing that could help to find the dog. They reached the place from which Connor and Lindsay could see the lake and suddenly they heard a bark. "There´s Levi!", Jack called, "How the hell did he come there?"
They began to look for a flank of a hill and they found a grassy slope on the other side. "That´s gonna work," said Peter and went ahead. One after another stumbled down the hill and they finally reached Levi, who was sitting on the shore and barked to the water. "Hey boy, what's going on?", Jack asked, taking Levi's collar. Lindsay noticed a loud splash on the lake. "I'm afraid, that´s the reason why he barks," she murmured and Jack looked up. He discovered the long, elegantly shaped head of a being whose skin was covered with black scales. The head was on a long neck, rising out of the water and the eyes of the being stared at them.
"My goodness," said Claire fascinated, "The Tessie- story is true." She had not believed it, but now...
The sea monster came closer with wide open mouth and Claire yelled that she didn´t want to be eaten by Tessie. Once again, Jack grabbed Levi's collar and pulled him away from the lake. They ran as fast as they could and they stopped out of breath when they arrived at the hill, through which they had come to the lake. Jack put down Levi and everybody watched how the monster in the water threw its head back and forth frustrated and gave a loud cry. The clouds in the sky disappeared and the moon light was shining now on the monster´s black skin. It looked just like Jack had described in his story.
"This being is a miracle." Anton regretted he left his camera at the camp and couldn´t take a photo.
"It's a miracle we´re still alive," Peter corrected. Then he looked at Jack. "Is the dog all right?"
Jack nodded. He didn´t know what else to say. He never believed that the story about Tessie, which he read by chance on the Internet, was true. "Let's go back to our camp," Lindsay suggested. There was no reason to hurry. They talked about what they had seen and wondered how this creature probably came into the lake and how it survived there. Connor even suspected it was an illegally imported sea serpent that had been marooned in Lake Tahoe by someone.
Finally they reached the camp and Levi welcomed Sue excited. "We should try to get some sleep," said Claire exhausted and Connor and Anton agreed. So they wanted to take the first night watch and would be replaced in two hours by Claire and Peter. They all went back to their tents, while Connor and Anton were sitting in front of the fire. Lindsay also stayed with them and drank a cup of coffee. She smiled amused when she heard how Jack wanted to know if the inflatable mattresses were good enough for his wife´s back. Mia was the last who entered her tent. After Peter had told her they saw a creature in Lake Tahoe she was still disappointed because she had missed the monster. "Good night. Try not to dream about mutants, monsters, murderers, or aliens tonight."
The breakdown service arrived next morning and it took almost an hour until the truck´s engine was repaired. While they had to wait for the repairs Connor, Lindsay, Claire, Mia, Jack and Sue walked to the viewpoint from which they could look at Lake Tahoe. They all admired the nature before they would leave. Today it was unusually cold even though the sun was shining.
Then Peter called to them the truck was repaired and they were able to drive on.
"Have fun at Lake Tahoe," Lindsay said goodbye to Sue, "And don´t be eaten by Tessie."
"We won´t," she smiled. The two exchanged phone numbers and email addresses while Jack thanked Anton and Connor for the strange adventure. He also asked if they experienced such things more often. "You know, the world is full of paranormal phenomena. I'm sure there are many things between heaven and earth of which we don´t know", said Anton, "This was certainly one of them."
Jack nodded. Then they parted from each other and Sue promised Lindsay she would send her a photo when the baby was born. In return, Lindsay had to promise she would invite Sue and Jack to her wedding if she and Connor should ever get married. Lindsay laughed and said she would do her best. Sue sent her a "goodbye" in sign language.
They all got back into their cars and drove on: As planned Jack and Sue drove to the little cottage near Lake Tahoe while the team drove on to their destination, the airport...
Coming soon: Chapter 2!