Chapter 3: The Center

As usual, they got scanned in and traveled to the elevator where Billy was waiting for them. "Hey Billy!" They all said.

"Hey guys!" He answered.

"Billy my man, Thanks to Tracy I now have a new angle to try on Jenny. It's called Stand up for your rights!" Martin said.

"Cool Marty." Said Billy, turning his head "How'd you show him that Tracy?" He looked over to see Tracy talking to Diana about boring school subjects.

"What did you say Billy" she asked

"Oh, I was just asking how you showed Martin how to stand up for yourself." He replied.

"I did that?" Tracy stated, "When did I do that Martin?"

"Oh, you remember, when you did that thing." Martin said pointedly

"That thing?" She said eyebrows raised. "Thank you Martin for that precise explanation." With a last puzzled look, she started talking to Diana again.

"Fine." Martin said, "I'll tell Billy myself. You should have seen it Billy. Tracy went up in front of Marsha, the Head Sorority sister, and totally rejected her offer! I was extremely impressed."

"Cool!" said Billy. By that time, they had reached M.O.M's office. They walked in and took seats in front of her desk.

"Good afternoon agents. Today you will be going to the city of Vancouver to investigate a missing person's report. The girl missing-in-action is a Miss. Daphne Green. She was last seen in her apartment on Main Street. Find her... Billy?" With that, Billy opened up a portal and they were off.

"Wow! Vancouver is so cool!" Martin exclaimed as they walked down a crowded street.

"If you call cool walking down a street looking for an apartment on a road that goes through the whole city." Diana said shrewdly. Tracy stopped. She looked up at a tall building on the corner.

"This is it." She said.

"Huh?" said Martin eyeing some pretty girls. "What did you say?"

"This is Daphne's apartment." She Replied. "Are we going up?"

"Sure, that's what we're here for." Diana said. They walked up the steps and talked to the landlord. After a bit of explaining they were able to investigate the apartment. As soon as they walked in, they knew something bad had happened. The windows were wide open, there was a table flipped over, a broken lamp, and a matter of other things scattered on the floor.

"Wow!" said Martin. "Something really paranormal happened here!"

"Really Martin?" Diana said, "Once again, you're jumping to conclusions. It looks like a struggle went on here. Maybe it was just a simple kidnapping. Not all crimes are paranormal Martin. If something of that sorts did happen... and I'm not saying it did, how can you prove it?"

"Easy!" said Martin, "You want proof? There's your proof." Lying on the floor was a rather large shred of fabric.

"That's proof? All it is... is a piece of cloth!" Diana said.

"Are you sure Diana?" He said, "Feel it, it's all sticky, and it's really durable."

"You're right Martin!" Diana said, "Send it to Billy for analysis." Diana looked around the room. She saw Tracy looking transfixed at the wall near the windowsill. "What are you looking at Tracy?" She asked.

"Look at this" she said. "There are scratches on the wall. And look at this." They all looked outside the window. All around the outside windowsill were scratches.

"Strange" Martin said, "I've never seen anything like this before. Maybe, it's the markings from a giant bird from outer space; that pulled Daphne out of her window and flew away! I read about it in paranormal monthly!"

"Get real Martin. Maybe hail or something like that caused the scratches. Or even better, maybe the scratches were there before she was taken. You know that this place isn't palm beaches resort."

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

"What do we do now?" Diana asked

"How's about we go and do some sight seeing?" Tracy asked

"Yeah! Java Like!" Java said.

"Then it's agreed," said Diana with some authority. "Let's go."

"You think you could give me some tips Tracy?" Martin asked.

"No." Tracy replied stiffly and walked out of the apartment after Diana.

"Wow. She doesn't let on easily does she Java?" Martin exclaimed

"She sad. Partner gone." Java said.

"Oh yeah! The poor girl needs some comforting." Martin said running to catch up with her.

"Hey. Sorry about losing your partner." Martin said as he caught up to her. "You must be feeling pretty sad with him being dead and all." He stopped and gave her a hug.

"What are you talking about? Get away from me!" She replied pushing him away. "Don't act all sorry. I've heard all the lines imaginable! So, grow up! I don't need your sympathy!" With a last scowl at Martin, she stormed off to a nearby crowd with Java and disappeared.

"Aren't you mister sensitivity? You'll never learn Martin." Diana said shaking her head. They went over to the fountain Tracy and Java were sitting next to.

"It's getting dark. Maybe we should head back to our hotel." Tracy said

"Yeah." Diana said. "Lets go." They started headed back to the hotel. Tracy stopped. She could have sworn that something was following them. She looked behind her. She could have sworn that something huge had ducked into the alley behind them.

"It must have been my imagination. There's no way. I'm seeing things. Get it together girl! It's all in your head." Tracy snapped out of it. They walked up the steps and into the hotel. Diana and Tracy shared a room and so did Martin and Java.

"What's up guys?" Diana asked as she walked into their room.

"Nothing much. Where's Tracy?" Martin asked

"She's in our room sitting, looking out the window. She's been acting strange lately. I hope she's not sick." Diana answered.

"Yeah. Oh well. Vancouver is really creepy at night." Martin said looking out the window.

"You said it!" A voice behind Martin said; that made him jump a foot in the air.

"Hey Billy!" Diana said.

"Hey! I have your analysis here." Billy said as he typed at his mini computer. "It turns out that the piece of fabric you sent me isn't fabric at all. It's a rare kind of spider web that's over 300 years old; dating back to the medieval ages. Well, see you guys later." Billy called as he zoomed through a portal into the Center.

"Weird" Martin said thoughtfully. "I guess it's time to... Whoa! What was that?" Martin Exclaimed as a piercing scream filled the air.

"That's Tracy's voice!" Diana cried as she, Java, and Martin bolted down the hall to Diana and Tracy's hotel room. A cold breeze hit them as soon as they entered the room. Once again, it wasn't a pretty sight. In fact, it was down right creepy. The light bulbs were smashed leaving a dark gloom about the room. There were tables turned over, lamps lay shattered on the floor. Martin replaced the light bulb and they began their investigation. "What a mess!" Diana said, "I hope Tracy's ok."

The window was wide open and the curtains were torn off the wall. There were those strange scratches on the walls again.

"Strange." Martin said, "I guess it's time to fire up the Legendex." After pressing a few buttons on the U-Watch the Legendex appeared. "I'll just put in Spider, and medieval ages." It took a few minutes but the results finally came in. "Here we go!" Martin said. "The legend of the Gorromantula."

"The what?" Diana said.

"The Gorromantula. According to Legend, the Gorromantula lives in forests. Every night it travels into the city closest to it's home. It waits until it finds a female to prey on. The Gorromantula will wait until she's' alone, then it attacks the poor unsuspecting female and brings it back to the forest, Where it will store her until it's hungry enough. Some of the Gorromantula's victims have been kept alive for as long as 2 years, the reason being because of the Gorromantula's uncharted hibernation habits. It could fall asleep at any moment, and stay that way for a random time. Some times a Gorromantula will hibernate for a week. Sometimes it will hibernate for as long as 100 years. Wow. It says that a Gorromantula can be from 7 to 25 feet high and weigh up to 800 pounds. This is one big spider. How cool!"

"COOL? MARTIN HAVE YOU GONE COMPLETELY INSANE! TRACY'S BEEN TAKEN BY THIS THING! SHE MAY ALREADY BE GONE!" Diana cried.

"Java no like bugs!" Java said shuddering.

"We have to go and save her!" Martin exclaimed.

"No way Martin! No how! This is one of those times when we call the Center for back – up, There's no way were going to take on an 800 pound, 300 year old spider! There's just no... MARTIN! WHERE ARE YOU GOING?" Diana cried as Martin and Java ran down the stairs and out the hotel door. "Well there's no way I'm going to stay here by myself." Diana said as she reluctantly followed behind them. They hopped into their new SUV and headed out towards the forest that surrounded the town.