Chapter 10: Lost Time
The past few minutes were full of nervous inspection as the gang and the Eds looked through the rest of the house; even though it was likely that whoever had locked the door probably left, the teens still agreed to check the building just in case. Velma and Double d were the most troubled, and they regarded the situation as potentially dangerous if there was someone who remained in the house. However, in the end, none of them could find even a clue to the idea that someone remained in the mansion.
Double d was still convinced that a mysterious individual had been in the house, so the lack of any evidence was arguably more concerning than finding legitimate clues. Velma agreed with him, but the two of them concluded that they wouldn't find anything further in the house, so the group decided to leave. Walking down the steps of the house as they exited the mansion, the group of teens quietly traversed across the front lawn as they headed toward the parked van.
The group filed into the vehicle, Fred and Daphne entered the two front seats while the rest of the group climbed into the back space of the van. As he turned the key in the ignition, Fred placed his hands on the driver's wheel and proceeded to leave the cul-de-sac once again.
Eddy and Double both sighed as they watched the mansion slowly wane into the distance; the past 20 minutes had been nerve-wrecking to say the least, and it was even worse given the fact that they didn't find anything.
"Hey, Sockhead," Eddy began, garnering Double d's attention, "Why'd you have to bring these guys with you? If they weren't there, we could've been turning in that statue right now for some serious cash."
"Well, excuse me, Eddy, for worrying about my friends," Double d said defensively, "I can't drive, so it only made sense to get a ride from somebody!"
Eddy bit the inside of his lip in irritation, "Yeah, whatever."
"Geez, what time is it anyway? If we get home late, Mr. Bronson surely won't be happy," Double d said nervously.
"Hang on," Eddy said with a sigh, taking out his phone from his back pocket, "It's 9:37pm," he informed upon glancing at the digital numbers that adorned his screen.
"Good Lord!" Double d exclaimed, "It's worse than I thought."
Placing his face in his open hands, Double d lowered his head as Ed patted him on the back in an attempt to sooth him.
"Yeah, 9:30pm is pretty rough," Velma stated, "I'm sure even my parents will-"
Her words stopped as she glanced down at her own phone; there, on the screen, read: 8:55pm.
"Hey, I thought you said it was 9," she said, turning to Eddy.
"What do you mean? It IS 9," he returned, giving her an angry look as he shoved his phone in her face.
He was right; the phone read 9:37pm, not a minute off from his initial claim.
Glancing over at Double d, she tapped him on the shoulder, "Could I see your phone?" she asked.
Double d, still stressing over how mad Sheriff Bronson would be, didn't even give it a second thought as he handed his device over to Velma. Turning the phone on, she stared down at the numbers that read: 8:55 pm, the same as her phone said.
"Hey, Fred," she called out to the driver.
"What's up?" he replied.
"What time do you have on the dashboard?" she wondered, although she was sure she was just looking for something that wasn't there.
"Uhhh, it says…8:55. Why?" he answered.
By this point in time, Double d had looked up and stared at Velma, he was starting to become interested in what she was doing. The time on Eddy's phone was off by approximately 42 minutes – a very strange and random deviation from the other devices.
"Ummm. Ed, do you still have that watch that your mother gave you?" Double d asked.
Before the three of them had gotten on the plane to California, Ed's mother had given him a small watch so that he could "keep track of time" (whatever that means).
"Of course I do, Double d!" the large Ed bellowed as he pulled a small contraption from his pocket.
It was a wrist watch, but of course Ed never figured out how to put it on his wrist so he usually kept it in his pocket. Double d held out his hand as Ed placed the watch in the center of his palm; it was warm and covered in a combination of chewed gum and lint, but Double d didn't even want to ask why. Glancing down at the time that was displayed on the device, his eyes widened as he read the numbers: 9:37 pm in green digital characters.
Passing it over to Velma, he witnessed the same surprise adorn her face, and the two of them simply glanced at each other in silence. Neither of them spoke, but they both knew what the other was thinking.
"Hey, what's the matter with you two?" Eddy asked, noticing the weird looks they gave one another.
"Eddy, how long were you in that mansion for?" Double d cautiously asked.
"Huh? Not too long, maybe like 5 minutes or something like that," he answered, confused why Double d was asking such a question.
"Even the time before we arrived at the house?" Velma stepped in.
Eddy, feeling a bit threatened by the sudden questions, blurted out, "Look, what is your guys' problem? I called Double d because I thought it would be funny and I knew he would get to the house as fast as he could. After I called, we waited like 2 or 3 minutes until you guys got here. That's it! Now will you stop interrogating me?"
"2 or 3 minutes…" Double d repeated aloud, although the statement was more for himself than anyone else. That just wasn't possible – it sounded like such a short period of time. From the time he got the call, to the time he got into the Mystery Machine, to the time they drove over to the house, and even the time it took to unlock the door – it was far longer than just a simple 2 or 3 minutes. Perhaps the drive itself was that long, but the time to run from the laboratory after the call to the parking lot was at least 2 minutes. The combination of getting into the vehicle, driving to the house, and working to unlock the door had to have been around 6 or 7 minutes, at least. So, in total, the time it took to get to the house from that laboratory was more around 8 to 10 minutes – how was it possible that Eddy experienced only 2 or 3 minutes of that time. This didn't make any sense.
"Eddy," Double d began, wondering if telling his friend was even worth it, "It didn't take me just 2 or 3 minutes to get to the house. It was closer 6 or 7 minutes."
Eddy lifted an eyebrow in confusion, "Huh? Well, it didn't feel like it."
"Eddy, are you aware that the time on you're phone is 42 minutes behind the current time?" he asked.
The short Ed rolled his eyes and gave Double d a dismissive glance, "So? It's not my fault you're phones are all broken."
"Two of our phones and the Van's internal clock all read the same time; however, you and Ed both seem to have vastly different times," Double d continued, hoping to convince Eddy of the situation's severity.
"Ok, so maybe MY phone is the one that's broken. Big whop, I'll get it fixed," he said.
"Eddy, your phone isn't broken; otherwise, Ed's watch wouldn't be at the EXACT same time as yours – unless his also broke as the same time – which is still highly improbable," Double d desperately explained.
Eddy rolled his eyes once again, signaling that he wanted this conversation to be over.
"You're all overreacting," he groaned.
Double d opened his mouth to respond but decided against it; after all, they could have this conversation at home if need be.
As the Mystery Machine made its way down the bleak street, the teens began to settle down to a comfortable silence; Fred and Daphne were the only two in the vehicle who would whisper to each other back and fourth through the quiet atmosphere. Shaggy was busy petting Scooby on the head while the canine happily panted beneath the attention and Velma had pulled out a laptop to carefully type on the keys. Ed, despite the bumpiness of the ride, had fallen asleep and leaned against the inside of the vehicle with a small river of saliva running from the corner of his mouth. Eddy rested his head in the crux of his left palm while the other hand busied itself with the screen of his phone – probably playing a video game. Double d sat silently in the corner of the van with his arms placed neatly in his lap, sitting cross-legged; his eyes lazily stared up at the ceiling of the van, pondering the events of the past few hours.
His mind was still distracted by the strange time difference between he and his friends, but he could he feel his thoughts begin to slow down until they became muddled with the concerns of an average teenager – things like school and homework were of the most important to him now. Recognizing the street that Fred turned down, Double d heard Eddy let out a sigh as they approached Sheriff Bronson's house and parked in front of the driveway.
Popping the back doors open, the three Eds made their way out of the Mystery Machine, although Double d and Eddy first had to wake Ed beforehand.
"Thank you once again for the ride," Double d called out to Fred.
The blonde driver stuck his hand out of the side window to give the teen a wave, "No problem. If you ever need a ride again, let us know."
Double d felt the need to thank him once again, but the realization that this might've been somewhat annoying was what made him stay silent and give the gang a smile. As the van started up again, the engine roared and it sped down the street until it turned a corner and disappeared out of sight. Double d's eyes continued to linger on the disserted road like he was expecting the vehicle to return, but his attention was ripped from the street upon feeling a hand on his shoulder. Glancing over to a worried looking Ed, Double d gave a weak yet comforting smile to his large friend. They didn't say any words, but the meaning was clear; turning around and heading toward the front door, the three of them procured a key from beneath the welcome matt and wandered inside.
Almost in silence, the three of them mindlessly moved through the motions of getting ready for bed; brushing their teeth, getting in more comfortable clothes, and climbing into their respective beds didn't take too long. It was only until he pulled the covers over him did Double d become conscious of the fact that they hadn't run into Sheriff Bronson when they entered the house – thank goodness. Double d was surprised at this but decided not to dwell on it, so he quickly excused these thoughts and turned to shut off the lamp light next to him. Pulling on the string to replace the light with darkness, he weighed his head back against the pillow and thought one final thing:
Where had the time gone?
End of Chapter 10
Author's Note: Hey, guys, how did you like this chapter? I wrote this with the purpose of adding a few clues, or mystery elements, to the story. I hope to be able to link a lot of these clues together in later chapters, but I also wanted to strengthen the relationship between the gang and the Eds. Anyway, if you liked this chapter, solve this puzzle:
if 321546 = mocnet; then what does 1233456 = ?