Hi everybody! Thanks for waiting so long for me to come up with this new chapter, but I had a severe case of writers block! :( Anyway, if you have time, check out my other story, Cahills Writing Fanfiction! Please review! Cheers!
Disclaimer: I do not own the 39 clues. Or the Cahill Resort. I mean the resort, not the story. Ah, you know what I mean.
The Truth Serum: Part 2
To Dan, this was more exciting than the time that he took twenty bottles of diet coke, poured mentoes into them, and dumped them off the top of the roof onto Amy and Evan, who were holding hands in the garden. That was pretty epic. But, hunting for the truth serum with Bella was much more exciting.
They had woken up bright and early on the second day so that they could find the serum faster. The other day had been a complete waste, but now they knew not to search on the east side of the rainforest. The only useful thing that Dan had learned was to never poke a stick at a giant anthill. While eating a sandwich.
Bella lead Dan to the heart of the rainforest, and then stopped him abruptly. "We're here."
Dan peered around at the shrubbery and trees, looking for any sign of a house. "Uh, Bella? Why here?"
Instead of answering, Bella tromped over to the bottom of a tree and pressed down on a knot. What looked to be just a section of grass flipped over, revealing a silver elevator. Bella hopped in and motioned for me to follow. As soon as Dan stepped into the cylinder, it started sinking down into the earth. A second later, it was emerging in a wide room with a huge computer on the side. Dan gasped and pressed his hands against the glass. "No way!"
Bella nodded smugly. "Yes way. Admit that it's awesome."
Dan shrugged, trying to sound cool. "Eh, it's OK." On the inside, though, he was freaking out.
Bella snorted and bumped his shoulder. "You lie."
The glass elevator opened into the room, and Dan raced to the giant computer. Its screen showed different parts of the resort. There was the beach, the pool, the tennis courts, the lobby, and the entrance to the rainforest. At the beach, a dog was running around, and its owner was chasing after it and falling into the sand. At the pool, Jonah was walking with a girl that Dan didn't recognize. And in the lobby- Dan did a double take and started laughing.
Bella came up behind him. "What?" she asked, confused.
Dan gleefully grabbed a remote and pressed on the rewind button. In slow motion, they watched Amy walking across the screen with-
"Ian Kabra!" Dan laughed. "Wow, this is quality stuff! We TOTALLY need to get that truth serum. That's probably why she looked so weird! Amy's in love with the cobra!"
Bella got hold of the remote and clicked on the rainforest. A dozen more screens popped up, showing all different parts of the forest. Bella clicked on the Arial view icon, and the screens suddenly shifted. They were flying up, and looking down on the forest.
Bella smirked. "We can use this to find where the old Lucian's hut is. Pretty ingenious, right?"
Dan gave a reluctant yes. "Try zooming in on the west side. We haven't checked there."
Bella obeyed, and they started hovering the camera all over the forest. After a few minutes of dizzying footage, Dan yelped. "There! Go back! I think I saw something!"
Bella quickly backtracked, and they found themselves staring at the fuzzy image of an old hut, clearly abandoned, next to a waterfall. Bella whooped, and gave Dan a high five. "It's forest coordinates are 4-5 East. We need to hurry if we want to get there before three o'clock."
Dan frowned. "Where are we now?"
"3-2 Central. We have about an hour's walk from where we are now."
Dan groaned. Yet another reason for his feet to ache. But he would do anything to get that Truth Serum. "Let's go."
Before they left, Bella insisted on stocking up some stuff. They visited the storage room, and they each grabbed waterproof backpacks with the Cahill Resort label printed on to it. They stocked their new bags with maps, tracking gear, waterproof and bulletproof jackets, dart guns, poisons, and, of course, root beer. Dan would have also added in a sandwich, but because of what had happened the day before with the giant fire ants, he decided to go without. All in all, their backpacks were still surprisingly light. They headed out into the rainforest, ready for some walking.
Every couple of minutes, Bella would check her jungle tracking watch, watching their coordinates. She would occasionally yell out for them to turn more to the right or to the left, but in all, they were making great time. The only awkward moment was when Dan had to pee because of all the root beer he had packed and he had to duck in the woods. A couple minutes later, Bella had to do the same. After a while, the sun got so hit that Dan abandoned his thirstiness and dumped his bottle of water onto his head.
Bella rolled her eyes. "You do know that you just used up the last of your water, right Dan? Who knows where our next water source will be?"
Her answer came in the form of a loud roaring sound. Dan and Bella had reached the waterfall.
The waterfall was massive, with huge pale jets of water hurtling towards the lake, pounding the surface and creating mist. It was a beautiful sight, and one that left Dan speechless. It would be really fun to kayak down this baby, he thought to himself.
Bella pursed her lips. "Getting down this waterfall will not be easy. What we need is a rope." She took one out of her pack and handed it to Dan. "Tie this around that rock," she ordered. Bella then grabbed her waterproof jacket and pulled it on. Dan followed suit. Finally, she grabbed the loose end of the rope, and smiled. "Watch and learn, young Jedi." She then jumped off the cliff.
Dan's heart missed a beat. He cautiously leaned over the cliff, to find Bella slowly making her way down the slick rocks on the side of the waterfall. When she was safely to the ground, she jumped onto the moss, and called out to Dan, "PULL UP THE ROPE !"
Dan pulled up the rope, and tried to calm his pulse. It's okay. Bella did it. You can do this, Dan. Then, closing his eyes, he jumped.
Everything felt like it was going in slow motion. Dan could feel himself swaying from the rope, landing on a rock, and lowering his foot. One at a time, he stepped down the rocks, hanging on to the rope for support. It seemed to take hours, but he finally reached the bottom of the rocks. Dan jumped away from the rope and landed in the mossy bank. Bella came over and congratulated him. "That was pretty good for a first timer!"
"Thanks." Dan caught sight of the small hut in the distance. "C'mon, I can see the house from here!"
Dan and Bella took off at a run towards the trees. They stopped when they reached the Lucian's hut. It was completely dilapidated, with its roof caving in, porch sagging, and nearby trees poking through it. It had an eerie silence surrounding it, and Dan had the feeling that nobody had been near this house since the 1900s.
Bella crept on to the porch and opened the squeaky door. "Care to join me?"
Dan nodded and stepped into the hut.
Bella immediately got to work- scouring the place for any clues, checking every single piece of stray wood, looking for objects that could lead them to a secret lab.
After ten minutes of searching, Bella collapsed onto the moldy floor. Dan did the same.
"T ere's nothing!" she wailed. "Nothing's here! It was all just a stupid myth, like Nathan said."
Dan sighed. Maybe Bella was right. There was nothing here, and there probably never was. The old serum maker died out here, a long time ago, never dreaming that two gullible kids would interrupt his peace, trying to find a truth serum that never even existed. Feeling like a complete failure, Da leaned against one of the roughly carved wooden beams for support.
Creeaaak! Suddenly, the wall behind Dan moved aside, and there was a narrow staircase leading down. Bella jumped up and ran to where Dan was. They screamed and whooped loudly, and then Dan grabbed a flashlight out of his backpack and handed it to Bella. "Ladies first."
Bella switched on the flashlight and bounced down the steps excitedly. Dan followed nervously.
The stairs ended, but all Dan could see was black. Then, Bella yanked on a suspended cord, and the room was flooded with light. Dan and Bella gasped.
The room was filled with bottles. Lots of different sizes, shapes, and colors were placed around the room. Each had a label on them. Dan and Bella immediately started looking at all of them.
"Sleeping Draught, Painful Death, Energy, Pain Reliever-" Dan read aloud from the labels.
He heard Bella give a squeak from the other side of the room. "Dan…here it is."
The Truth Serum was bright blue, and the liquid looked thick and syrupy. Dan held it up to the feeble light and cheered. Finally, what they had come for!
Dan lightly put the bottle in his backpack, wrapped up in his jacket. He and Bella left the cabin triumphantly, but not before closing the secret entrance.
Dan smiled evilly. "Who should we use this on first? I say Amy and Ian."
Bella shrugged and laughed. "I honestly don't have a better plan."
As Dan was about to suggest using it on Jonah, too, he heard some strange noises coming from the bushes. He motioned to Bella to follow him, and they crept towards thee trees.
Silently, Dan parted the leaves and they peered in. Dan almost jumped. It was Sinead and Hamilton! But the best part was that Hamilton was leaning down close to Sinead's face. Sinead was closing her eyes.
Dan jumped out of the bushes. "Ha!" he yelled triumphantly. "Put your hands in the air and your weapons on the ground." And with that, he triumphantly held up the Truth Serum.
So, yeah, this was kinda just a filler/explanatory chapter, but we'll be right back with the good stuff. I decided not to make Dan and Bella fall in love, b/c i'm way too loyal to Natan. Sorry. But, if you wanted to make Dan and Bella fall in love, i totally give you rights to use her character in your own story.
Can you answer these questions for me? Thanks!
1. What should the next chapter be about? Amian, Hamead, or Jonah+Martina (Maronah? Or maybe Jonina?)
2. What questions should Dan and Bella ask to everybody?
3. What are your stories so I can review them, too?
Thanks everybody! See you soon!
