Hey everyone! First of all, sorry about taking kinda long to get this chapter out...life's been getting in the way! Curse you life! -shakes fist- I also apologize for how short this chapter is. -hides from people throwing tomatoes- Heh heh. Honestly, I've messed with it so much, seeing if I should add anything or whatever, but I'm happy with how this came out, despite the length. Ah, whatever. Heeeere is...
Chapter Three
During the drive to Amity Park, everything but my last few minutes in Dimmsdale (in which Frances had apologized for bullying me, but now Tucker was going to get twice the beating) was running through my head. After everyone had left, I told Tucker about my latest ghostly encounter, and he just doubled over laughing. I glared at him, but he had a point: most ghosts that I ran into had the tendency to want to break my bones, just because I was alive and they weren't. Very rarely did one ever just sit there and talk, and never had one disappeared of their own will.
I was thinking about what she was saying—"He's the one". What did that mean? Who was the one what? Was she actually making some kind of prediction, or was she leading me into a death trap? I couldn't figure it out.
Of course, given my previous experience with ghosts, it was more that likely that she was leading me into uncertain doom. I mean, last time I had followed a ghost's advice, I found myself tied to a chair of said ghost's crazy stepparent, having ghost rays shot at me. Not very nice.
I yawned, grabbing hold of my seat as Dad made an extremely sharp turn. My parents, being themselves, rarely ever drove anywhere—we had chauffeurs--but Dad had wanted to drive across the state 'like a real live tourist!' was how he so gleefully put it. Nagging and begging hadn't worked, so I had resorted to pleading, which had gotten my CD player taken away for the trip. Now I was forced to listen to AM radio babble while my parents went on and on about how great the 'sites' were.
Oh yes, Mom and Dad. A bunch of trees, some cows, and the occasional traffic jam. I'm so thrilled.
I leaned against the seat, deciding to take a little nap. Dad had told me that we should be there that night—exactly one day before I was supposed to start my new school. Even more thrilling.
I closed my eyes, letting the ghost's words drift over me. She was off her rocker...Amity Park was going to be fine...it wasn't going to be the ghost-infested town that Tucker made it out to be. The so-called 'ghost hunters' were probably just some crazy people, and any normal ghost would be scared away by them, so I wouldn't have to deal with so many spectral beings.
Besides, I usually had no problems with the ghosts I encountered. Okay, there were a couple of—well, evil ones that wanted to rip out every bone in my body, but most of the time, they were keen on letting me help them. And it's not like there are ghosts everywhere, right?
I knew I was just trying to kid myself, but I was growing more and more nervous about this place—especially after the report Tucker had given me, and especially after what that weird woman ghost had said. It was unnatural for a Goth like myself to be optimistic, but I decided to give it a shot anyway.
'Amity Park is a ghost-free town...' I thought to myself as I drifted off to sleep.
--
"GHOST!"
That was the first word I heard when I stumbled out of the car in front of our new home, disheveled and half-asleep. At the sound of the g-word, my eyes snapped open and I saw two people clad in bright spandex jumpsuits running down the sidewalk holding silvery-looking devices. One looked strangely like a vacuum cleaner, and the other was clearly a baseball bat.
"Mom! Dad! Wait! That's not a ghost! It's out an out of shape teacher in a mask!" Another girl, with long red hair and a teal headband was running after them, clearly trying to get them to stop their madness. I looked down the road and saw something running, but it was clear the girl was right: what those people were chasing was no ghost, simply because everybody got out of his way.
I couldn't help but feel a little relieved—if there were any real ghosts around here, maybe it wouldn't look so odd when I was talking to nothing. Maybe Tucker was right and this whole town was on ghost-alert. Maybe, for once in my life, my "talent" wouldn't make me stand out in the bad ways that I didn't want to.
I glanced over at my own parents, whose mouths were hanging open in shock. I could tell they were now totally regretting moving here.
"Well," I coughed. "Maybe this place will be more exciting than Dimmsdale. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a lot of unpacking to do considering I start school tomorrow."
"Oh...sure honey," Mom answered, blinking. She broke into a grin. "Oh Sammykins, did you see the house? Isn't it lovely?"
I spun around and looked up...and up. The 'house', as Mom like to put it, was huge. It was the width of about three normal houses on the block, and a story taller. It was impossible to be driving down the road and not notice it.
So much for fitting in.
--
The moment the majority of my stuff was unpacked, I pull out my cell phone and decided to give Tucker a quick call, just to let him know I had survived a drive with my parents—and to tell him about my strange encounter that happened on the sidewalk.
The phone had barely rung once when someone answered. "Hey Sam."
"Tucker?"
"No, this is the funny farm. To who are you speaking?"
"That's whom, techno-geek. I'm just letting you know that I made it over here alive."
"And that's supposed to be news?" He let out a laugh. "C'mon Sam, I know you better than that. You wouldn't call me just to report that you're alive."
I sighed. "Well...actually, I'm beginning to wonder if you were right about this town."
He let out a very fake, dramatic gasp. "The almighty Sam Manson is actually admitting that I'm right for once! WOO!"
"Keep your victory dance to yourself, Foley," I smirked. "There's nothing ghost-related happening...yet."
"Yet?"
"Well, considering the very first word I heard when we came into town was 'GHOST!', I'm going to assume that some kind of spook is going to find me eventually."
I could practically hear Tucker raise an eyebrow. "Sam, I said the place was rumored to be haunted, not full of crazy people."
"These people weren't chasing a ghost. They were running after some old guy in a mask, attempting to whack him over the head with a baseball bat."
He paused. "Oh...wow. That's, like, beyond wonky."
"Pretty much," I agreed, although I really had no clue what 'wonky' was supposed to mean. "Listen Tuck, I start school here tomorrow so I gotta get to sleep. Wish me luck that the place isn't totally overrun by the spirits of dead lunch ladies or something."
"Knowing you, it probably will be," he laughed.
Oh yes...considering how lucky I am.
--
Heh heh, poor Sam. Hopefully her luck's about to change...since she does proclaim she's so 'lucky' and all. :P
It's freaking awesome I'm getting so much praise for this story:D -hands everyone a cookie- Thanks to the awesome people who reviewed last chapter: divinedragon7, phantasticphantom, Galateagirl, Lacey52, Psycho but fun, cutereviewgirl, Kagome M.K, shadowspinner1, WWMTgirl, dArkliTes-sPirit, Phantom2B, katiesparks, Nobody-Important91, rikagirls, BlueMyst19, pwykersotz, Terrasina Dragonwagon, Kewl, and animeobsessed3191. You guys totally rule and I hope you'll review again!