Chapter Three
"Vel, shit happens everywhere. I mean you can't honestly believe that tale."
Excitement surges through Velma and she grips her friend's arm enthusiastically, a laugh follows suit, and Freddy tries his best to hush her.
"Vel come on, my mom."
"She won't wake up, come on Freddy - just consider it for once."
"You know I hate Freddy," he says folding his arms over his broad chest.
"I don't believe in ghosts Vel! I don't believe in none of it."
"Well Fred, I hate to break it to you, but uh, we live in a ghost World and our small town Crystal Cove and a few others are a place for creatures thought to be unknown, to travel and rest."
Fred chuckles this time, "Oh really Vel. Rest from what?"
"Well I've read that travel from World to World can be a tiring journey, so there are marking points - rest stops if you will. These breaks are where the creature, can regain loss power or energy and at most occasions feed."
"Whoa this is crazy. you actually believe in all the shit you read?"
"Oh come on Freddy, think about it. Crazy stuff happens all the time and the press is simply running on lame excuses. There exists other Worlds and things out there - there just has to."
"Oh so science fiction shit exists just because you want it to."
"Oh, well, can you explain the murders now? Those people were slaughtered by something not belonging to our World."
"Kay, stop it Vel, seriously those people were killed by a bear. I'm not doing this with you."
"Oh my gosh Fred! Can't you for once believe in something bigger, and larger than we ourselves are?"
Fred Jones couldn't, he wouldn't either no matter how much his friend pressed. He didn't believe in a higher force or power or anything. He attended church because it was expected of him, but he knew he didn't believe. How could there be a higher power, or God with all the bad happening. The one bad thing that seemed to affect him the most was the absence of his father, Matthew Jones.
"Fred, do you remember the people who were dragged down into the lake? Witnesses say they saw something, but they were to afraid to go out in the water."
"Well that's shit cuz a few buddies I know went swimming in the same lake two weeks ago."
"That's why I'd said that our hometown is just a resting spot. The sea monster - or whatever it was disappeared."
Fred rolls his eyes again, a common notion whenever he spoke to Vel. "You've any prove."
Velma smiles and walks out, Fred follows. On the sofa sat her purse, she pulls out her notebook stuffed full with papers and mismatched articles of information.
"Okay so I'd just mentioned the sea - I mean lake monster, okay that just happened two years ago. During it's duration period it managed to devour twenty people, then there's a break of about four years dating before that, so the creature stays for two full years and travels for four. This last time he ate twenty, okay timing back it only manage to eat eleven and the numbers get smaller since it's first arrival. So we can conclude that it's getting bigger, twenty is the new number and yes it won't be back for another two more years, but image when he does how many people will it eat."
"This is crazy Vel."
"Yeah, right I know. It may sound crazy, but to me it makes perfect sense."
"A lot of crazy things to you make perfect sense."
After Velma left, Fred showered and got in bed, sleep escaping him. He found that his mind wouldn't settle until he reviewed all that Velma had said. He did always think that there was some kind of evil presence in Crystal Cove, but he reeled it towards the back of his mind like any sane person would do.
After what Vel said though, he couldn't argue his suspicion any longer. He did remember when those people disappeared. The press had summed it up to all kinds of things, drowning, gators, they even reasoned that perhaps some people got out of the lake and went hiking and somehow got lost. It made since then because it happened over the two year period.
He wondered if the press and cops knew more than they were letting on, if they did shouldn't they alert the town? Crystal Cove, a resting place for weary creatures. Fred mulled over what Velma had stated, we live in a ghost World. What if she happened to be right?
Suddenly the lack of Daph's presence was now abnormal. If Vel last spoken to her on Friday last bell, and she didn't show up for today, which of course was already odd, then perhaps something strange is going on. He knew how Daph's dad was, always out sleeping around, not returning sometimes for days. If in fact, Daph is missing it could very well escape Ronnie's notice.
Fred texts Vel :
"Hey, we skip tomorrow. We're gonna check on Daph."
He then plugs up his phone and tucks it neath his pillow. He didn't care much for a reply, he knew she would agree. Even though Velma is considered one of the smartest kids in their school, her attendance wasn't the greatest. In fact the three of them would skip often just to hang out in the abandon barn a few ways from the lake. They'd spent time and money from doing odd chores, sometimes stealing from their parents all to fix up their little hang out. They even found an old sixties van, which Fred prided himself on fixing it. Daph would stay there the most, perhaps that's where she is now.
Fred texted Vel one last time :
"We'll check the hide out."