Chapter 4
As Adam woke up that morning he knew him and his friends were in for an adventure – just like when they were kids. Well, they were still kids, Adam frequently repeated to himself. But they were about to enter their last year of high school and he couldn't help but wonder what would happen afterwards.
He, Cindy, Sally and Tira arrived at the bakery well after Bryce and Amy met up with Watch. As they sat down it immediately began to dawn that this was going to be a very big adventure.
"This is Amy," Bryce introduced as he slid more into the booth, and closer to Amy who was sitting pressed against the window to make room for everyone at the six person booth.
"Hi," the mysterious girl said as she flashed a nervous smile.
They each greeted her back as the girls sat down and Adam grabbed a chair from a nearby table so that they could all sit together.
There was a moment of silence.
"Well?" Sally demanded. "Would you spill it already? Stop keeping us in suspense."
Watch cleared his throat. "Amy's here because of Ann Templeton."
Everyone looked at Amy and she lowered her head to avoid their stares. "She came to my house. I already knew who she was though."
"How?" Sally snapped, not giving the new girl a chance to go on.
And so, once again, Amy went into the explanation of how she became the newest inhabitant of Spooksville. Sally didn't buy it.
She nodded her head in annoyance. "And you expect us to believe that? Listen sister, we've been through a lot and we haven't exactly had a tremendous amount of luck with pretty strangers such as yourself. I don't know what a good explanation passes for in your dimension, but here yours doesn't cut it."
Bryce intervened. "Sally," he warned.
"It's true," Sally insisted. "Ann Templeton, Jessica, Claree, Nurse Sharon, Savannah, Rula, Leah - your own cousin, Bryce - Tira and especially Cindy," she listed, counting off each name on her fingers.
"Hey!" Cindy exclaimed.
"What?" Sally asked innocently. "At least Tira made up for trying to possess us, you just mooch. The first time we met you, your grandmother tried to kill us while we were trying to rescue your brother from your demented family and since then all you've done is whine and run off in your pajamas to meet native boys in other worlds. And we, being the great, brave people we are, are forced to go save you since we have a moral obligation to protect those who are weaker than us."
Sally was referring to the time a closet monster had grabbed and dragged Cindy off to the realm of Cetine. Of course she had not gone there willingly like Sally told the tale, but Sally would not let the matter rest.
Watch, the quick thinker, pacified Sally by pushing a doughnut in front of her. "Chocolate," he said. Sally glared at him, but nevertheless ate the doughnut in silence. It had become a rare sight to see Sally be so cruel to Cindy, but the scent of a Spooksville adventure was in the air and it awakened Sally's hibernating wit, if one chose to call it that.
Bryce was quick to lighten the mood. "Amy knows all about our adventures," he mentioned.
"How much was written in the series?" Adam asked curiously.
Amy was as Sally had said – pretty. Her thin, straight, light auburn hair was shoulder-length. Like Watch and Bryce she was pale. When Adam looked at her, he was reminded of autumn because of her hair and sky blue eyes; she was even wearing fall colors. Actually, that wasn't the only thing she reminded him of, but he couldn't quite pinpoint who.
He could honestly say he had no intentions of pursuing her, but Bryce did. Adam noticed the way Bryce was so attentive to her like he was to all the girls he took a liking to – and there had been many. Over the last few years Bryce developed the habit of getting into short, meaningless relationships and the worst part was that he liked to keep them that way. His handsome good looks, remarkably innocent smile, and aura of mystery made him a magnet for female attention. Adam wished Amy wouldn't be his next victim because from this moment on, really, they were all she had; it would be a shame if things between her and Bryce soured.
He remembered it had been Bryce's sudden change of heart towards girls that had made Cindy weary of him and the crush she once had. After a nearly paranormal-free summer four years ago, Bryce had his first girlfriend within the first week of grade eight and then another by the time November ended. The time of his dating had dwindled to the point that it wasn't even dating anymore; it was just short flings.
Because the crush on Bryce had been, well, crushed, Cindy's sights were once again focused solely on Adam. Now it wasn't that he didn't think Cindy wasn't a great girl; in fact, she had developed into a remarkable and gorgeous young woman. He often caught himself trying to get a glimpse into her beautiful, wide blue eyes and had to use all his will power so that he wouldn't do something irrational.
Adam was no fool; he knew he liked Cindy as she liked him, but it would be unfair if he asked her out since he had feelings for someone else as well. He had no idea what to do and he realized how complicated the predicament Cindy must have been in and the confusing feelings associated with it.
Adam stopped his train of thought and came back to reality as Tira spoke. "Are the books even accurate?"
Bryce was at a lost. He looked to Amy who shrugged. "Ask me anything."
"Where did the robotic crabs first attack?" Tira asked.
Amy didn't even pause. "At the beach beside the pier."
"Who turned me into a vampire?" Cindy questioned, not going easy on the newcomer. It would be absurd to say that Cindy was not jealous of Amy; her teen years had not softened this tendency towards fellow pretty girls and especially those who hung around her boys.
Again Amy answered immediately. "Ted Tane."
Sally swallowed the last of her doughnut. "What did Adam try to do when he was possessed and he tied Cindy and me to a tree?" She smiled smugly at Adam.
"Hey!" Adam exclaimed. He felt violated; Sally had promised to keep it a secret. When the No-ones showed up in Spooksville, one had possessed Adam and he ended up tying Sally and Cindy to a tree so they could be possessed as well. The girls escaped in time, and since then Sally swore she saw Adam try to kiss Cindy. Of course it had been her wild imagination, but Adam believed her; he didn't remember a thing when he was possessed.
Adam was quick to get revenge. "What did Sally and Sally Two talk about on the way to get help for Watch?"
Sally glared at him. She wasn't so smug now. "OK, OK," she turned back to Amy and thought up a new question. "What was the name of the girl Adam left behind in Kansas?"
Adam shook his head. Amy suppressed a smile. "The only friend he had that was a girl named Denise, but they weren't romantically involved."
"Yeah," Cindy cooed. "You have nothing to worry about."
"I wasn't worried," Sally said as she reached for another doughnut.
Even Watch seemed interested in her knowledge of them. "Why do I always wear four watches?" he asked.
Amy shifted uneasily. "They're set to the four different time zones in America to know what time it is for each member of your family."
Watch nodded softly and looked out the window again, lost in thought. Adam knew he was worried that Amy knew more than he wanted anyone to know about the situation with his family. Watch was a very private person
Tira broke the awkward silence. "What about the flowers you picked, Watch? Did you find out anything about them?"
He looked over at her and retrieved the flowers from his pocket, setting them down on the table. "I couldn't figure out much; I tried looking them up on the internet, but none of them have been discovered, at least not in this dimension. Since there isn't much that hasn't already been discovered in this area, if anything, I'm inclined to believe these plants came from the Secret Path. I mean, people settled here hundreds of years ago and if these flowers thrive in a graveyard they would have been discovered a long time ago."
"We knew that already," Sally said dully.
Watch glanced at her. "But I proved it. And I also discovered a few odd characteristics about the flowers that may help us understand the dimension beyond Madeline Templeton's tomb. The more we know before we walk through, the better."
"Who decided we're using the Secret Path?" Sally demanded.
"What did you discover?" Tira asked.
"Chlorophyll is the substance in plants that allows photosynthesis to happen and photosynthesis is the process of using sunlight and water to produce nutrients for plants to grow and survive. Usually plants are green because there's a lot of chlorophyll, which is green. Plants that are not green, but red, like all the ones in the cemetery, have a higher level of anthocyanins, which is another pigment. And there's a reason for more anthocyanins than chlorophyll." Watch paused and looked around at each of them. "It's unusual to see so many different red pigmented plants together, but it's been theorized that in the time of the dinosaurs the dominant plant species was red because of all the sunlight. When the theoretical meteor hit, the sun was blocked and plants needed more chlorophyll to be able to survive. Only then did plants turned green."
"I thought you said you didn't know much," Bryce muttered.
Cindy's face fell. "Dinosaurs again?" she asked exasperatedly.
The gang had already dealt with dinosaurs. Four years ago the Secret Path had opened up to the past. Spooksville had been founded on land that was unstable in space and time, so when a volcano exploded millions ago, it opened a portal in the present. Adam and his friends had to set up an alien bomb to vent the volcano out so that the main explosion would never occur. The gang did not want to see the dinosaurs again, especially Cindy who had been carried off by a mother Pterodactyl to feed her young.
"What happened four years ago can't be happening now," Bryce refuted. "The rip in time occurred beyond the mountains because that's where the location of Madeline Templeton's grave was that many millions of years ago. The most unstable place in Spooksville now lies in the cemetery and that's where the new dimension is connected to ours."
Watch thought a moment. "True, but perhaps the dimension connected to ours is presently going through the prehistoric period. Maybe the dimension beyond the Path is just similar to the prehistoric period."
"The portal four years ago was huge but this one is really tiny in comparison, right?" Cindy asked.
"Probably," Bryce told her. "Last time when you were in the vicinity of the portal you could see through to the past. This portal should be no bigger than it is when you use the Secret Path normally."
Sally rolled her eyes. "Oh please, there's nothing normal or consistent about the Secret Path."
Cindy breathed. "So that means dinosaurs can't come through then?"
"Not to scare you, but some dinosaurs would be small enough to fit through; that is, if the Secret Path is held open and there are dinosaurs," Watch said.
"So you think we should go through the Secret Path?" Adam asked Watch.
"Not yet," he answered. "I think we should split up and visit the hospital and gift shop. I want to know more about these flowers before we leave."
Adam was about to object when Watch caught his eye. "That sounds like a good idea," he lied, although he figured Watch had one or two things to discuss about Amy who had remained silent through the rest of their conversation.
It was decided that Bryce, Cindy and Amy would go to the gift shop and the rest of them would go to the hospital. Adam was not surprised by the way Watch chose the groups.
Before they parted Watch handed them one of the flowers and the two groups said goodbye. As soon as they were out of hearing range Sally began complaining. "I don't trust her. With our luck with strangers you know she's got to be evil."
Adam was quick to defend her. "You don't even know her."
"My point exactly."
Adam sighed. He was about to go on when Watch turned to Tira. "Do you sense anything about her?" he asked cautiously.
Although still somewhat reluctant to discuss her possession, Tira had settled into twenty-first century nicely. As a result she was more willing to be open about herself and the sensitive powers she retained after the no-one had been driven from her. "No," she said. "But there's something familiar about her; it's so subtle that I can't figure it out."
"I got that same feeling," Adam muttered.
"Why are we even going to the hospital and the gift shop?" Sally complained. "You already know stuff about the flowers."
"I want Dr. Paine's opinion; he studied botany briefly in University."
They arrived at the hospital to find it busy. The waiting room was packed with people. Adam, Watch, Tira and Sally stood there for only a minute before they caught sight of Dr. Paine, the doctor who had helped the gang while the vampires had invaded.
He looked up at them as they approached him. "You always seem to show up when there's a crisis," he said. At least he remembered them. "No broken bones this time?" He had also been the one to set and cast Bryce's broken leg after he was a hit by a van.
"No, sir," Adam said. "What do you mean crisis?"
"Well as you can see we're busy today," the doctor said, surveying the room. "Many of the witnesses to the attacks describe a reptilian squirrel as the inflictor of the wounds. I can't say I believe them, but you kids figured out what was happening to those people a while back, maybe this is similar."
"Not likely, those were vampires that invaded four years ago," Sally said darkly.
Dr. Paine just glanced at her sternly. Watch decided to take control. "Sir, I was wondering if you could analyze some plants for me again."
A confused look came over the doctor. "I thought school would have ended already."
"It has," Watch agreed. "This is just for my own personal knowledge."
Dr. Paine thought a moment. "I suppose I could as long as all the patients remain stabilized and no one else comes in."
As he led them to his office, Watch described each flower's characteristic, but leaving out what he believed to be the origins of the plants. Watch decided it was for the best since Dr. Paine was a logical man and refused to believe in the paranormal and the like. He had been the same way when the vampires had come to town.
Taking the flower from Watch, the doctor left.
"The guy thinks we're insane," Sally muttered.
"He's still helping us," Watch said.
"Not you; he loves you, you're his dream child." Sally rolled her eyes.
"Red plants and reptilian squirrels?" Adam thought aloud. "Maybe the prehistoric era is just beyond Madeline Templeton's tombstone."
"I guess we'll have to find out," Tira said.