A/N: Time for an update, so let's get on it! Don't forget the IDNOAC thing. Here is Chapter 38. Enjoy!
TrueHeart—Chapter 38—At the Edge
Danny and Sam got up with a groan when their respective alarm clocks went off. Both had had trouble going back to sleep after what had happened with the lynx last night; and both were not in the mood to get up now. In fact, the sound of their alarms was like déjà vu to them in many ways, since it had been practically as hard to get up in the past few weeks with all the worries and stress with which they had been dealing.
But today, it was even harder to get up. Especially for Danny, now that he woke with a headache. Still, they dragged themselves out of each their beds and went through ultra slow motion through their morning routines. But that also included the morning non-routine of checking on the animals. They were disappointed when they found both of the animals still out for the count. But, there was nothing they could do about that right now, since they had to get ready to go to school.
Tucker and Valerie also got up with similar groans when their similarly respective alarm clocks demanded that they get up. For Tucker, the new day was fast becoming the 'same ol'-same ol'' as they all had been lately; well, except for having talked to his mother last night. But that hadn't really helped, either. His heart was still broken, and he was practically convinced that his body didn't know how to sleep anymore. Still, he didn't know how much longer he could go on. Nevertheless, he oozed out of his bed and started to get ready for school.
However, it was a little easier for Valerie to get up. When her head cleared a little, she remembered her mission for today. She was going to try to talk to Tucker and get through this mess. She just had to. She got up and started to get ready.
Al and Armen had also gotten up in their own homes, but they were up in time. They had slept a little better than the already mentioned couples. They had both talked about all the weird things that had happened to the other these past few weeks; and felt an odd bond with each other because of them. In fact, they had both laughed and understood it when Al had suggested that they had to get along, since they both were now officially crazy!
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Meanwhile, Bertrand had finally gotten to his own lair just as morning broke in the Real World. In spite of how sore he had been, he had to run a lot of errands right after his fight with the lynx. And now, he was exhausted and went right to his bed. All he cared about at the moment was to rest and recuperate from his clash with the lynx.
Lastly, Spectra had gotten up the earliest of all the concerned parties, eager to be done with her scheme and reap its rewards. But, at first, she would have to check on Bertrand. He had not made any contact with her since the day before. She soared over to his lair and rapped loudly on his door.
He didn't answer and she banged even harder.
She went in this time when he didn't answer. She finally went to his room and saw that he was snoring up a storm in his bed. She growled and went over to him. She grabbed one of his shoulders and shook him hard.
'Owwww!" he wailed when the shoulder she had touched happened to be the sorer one of the two that he had gotten from his skirmish with the lynx. He slowly opened his eyes and groaned when he saw who it was.
"Bertrand! What are you still doing in bed? We have to get to the Real World. And where are the ghost animals?" she demanded, her voice sounding very irritated.
But he wasn't about to let her rile him up. Purposely ignoring her last question, he dryly replied, "Correction: You have to get to the Real World. I have to return to the 'Dream' World." He huffily pulled the covers up closer to his neck and rolled over.
"Urgghh!" she growled before pulling his covers off.
"Spectra! I'm not in the mood!" he growled as he rolled back and faced her with a very annoyed scowl, which startled her.
She unquestionably knew he was angry. He didn't call her by her last name or look like that unless he was very mad at her.
He didn't get up; but he then reached toward her and firmly snatched his blanket from her hand. Still facing her, and defiantly throwing the blanket back over himself, he grumpily continued, "Just so you know, I did find those sniveling little ghost animals! And that pesky lynx gave me more than a few licks. I almost had them, though, when they escaped through one of those infernal random portals. Who knows where they are, now; but, quite frankly, I don't care! And, for your further information, I got more of those infernal vials in spite of the fact that I should have went right to bed. And it took me longer than I thought it would take, blast it! But now, I'm so sore I'll need a few days to recover!"
"But we don't have a few days! We're in the final stretch with the Ghost Brat."
"And I'm in a much needed stretch right now!" he firmly said, scowling with his challenge. "Now, leave me alone!" He abruptly pulled his covers up to his neck while turning to his side again, and slammed his eyes shut.
She huffed indignantly, but turned on her heels and headed to his lab. She carefully searched throughout his once-again organized concoctions and found the one for which she was looking. She grabbed the vial and went back to his room. Without hesitating, she poured the cold green liquid from the bottle right on top of Bertrand. He yelped when it hit him.
"What was that?" he demanded, this time shooting up in his bed.
"That stuff that's supposed to heal ghost wounds. You said it comes from river reeds."
"Well, at least you got that right," he snidely grumbled; but then, immediately yawned. "And you're right. That should help, but you forgot the little detail that in liquid form, the river reeds' healing qualities also act like a sedative. So, I really have to thank you for the healing and also thank you for the much needed sleep."
He fell into a stupor right after he said that and she growled once more. She intentionally grabbed his sore shoulder and shook it hard. But he didn't budge, or even make the tiniest of sounds.
She frowned in frustration.
Now she would have to wait!
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Danny, Sam and Tucker hadn't said a word to each other even though they still met up with each other. They all were too sleepy to remember that they were still upset with each other. Nevertheless, they were uneasy as they walked onward.
Finally, all the teens finally converged on the school. But when Tucker saw Valerie in the near distance, he veered away and headed right to class without going to his locker. He wasn't happy about doing that, but he was even unhappier with the prospect of having to talk to her. He sat down in the empty classroom, lay his head down on the desk, and promptly fell asleep.
Valerie, however, hadn't seen Tucker before he had steered away from her. But she wasn't going to let the day pass without talking to him. She wished that Tucker and she had this first period together now. But she would catch him before lunch, she was sure of it.
Danny and Sam didn't stifle their yawns as they opened their lockers. They didn't say a word to each other as they took out what they needed—well, for Sam, anyway. Danny just sorted through his pile as usual. He threw everything else he didn't need for now back in and slammed the door, growling in irritation.
"Why don't you get some kind of organizer for that?" Sam finally asked, as she looked down at her boyfriend who was still crouched in front of his locker.
He frowned, suddenly very irritated with her. Normally, that remark would not have even raised one of his eyebrows. But he had lost even more sleep last night than what he had already been losing in the past few weeks with the unresolved Tucker…and Armen affair. And then, there was his headache! So, Sam's comment just now inadvertently touched those edgy nerves all over again. "I would, if I didn't have to keep organizing my after-school hours," he grumbled.
Sam knew to what he was referring. Last night. She growled back, "Look, Danny, I told you…." But she didn't have time to finish.
He interrupted her, "And speaking of 'telling', you never did tell me anything more about what happened between you and Armen. So, what of it?"
"What? You don't expect us to talk about that now?" Sam gasped. "And really, we haven't had time to…."
But he butted in once again, "But you had time to do that lame thing with the cat last night. But that's not half as bad as the lame way you treated me when it comes to whatever's between Armen and you."
"Now, wait a second," she countered, her jaw tensing. "They have nothing to do with the other…"
Danny's bad mood was definitely in gear as he quickly countered back, "Oh, really? Seems to me that you didn't think about how upset I would be from them both…"
"That's not fair!" she replied, her voice getting edgier, "And this isn't like you at all. If you're just as tired as I am, maybe,…"
"Maybe you should just wait until you're really ready to stop avoiding the subject and just come clean about it all!" He countered.
Just then, the warning bell for the next class rang.
Danny didn't give her a chance to say anything else. He quickly turned and headed to his first class, leaving a fuming Sam behind.
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The day dragged on, and finally, it was lunch. Valerie hadn't been able to corner Tucker. For some reason, she couldn't find him between classes! But little did she know that he had finally thought about using his invisibility program on his PDA. If he weren't so upset lately, he would have thought of that days ago.
Valerie headed to the cafeteria, hoping, of course, to find him there. One of the other past concerned parties—Al—was already there when Valerie arrived. Then, Valerie spied Tucker just about to sit down with his food. Good! His friends weren't with him. But she didn't know that Sam was currently at her locker and Danny was about to head for his. Nor did the girl know that Sam and Danny were still irritated with each other…Or that Armen had stayed after class to ask his teacher some questions.
In the meantime, and just before lunch had started at Casper High, Spectra had finally been able to get Bertrand up and ready to come to the Real World. He still hadn't fully recovered, but he was sure that the shadow ghost would make sure he wouldn't recover at all if he hadn't finally agreed to go.
As the two ghosts floated by the large tree near the school, Spectra turned to the yawning Bertrand and said, "Now, I want this to go right this time. And when all of it goes right, then the little Ghost Boy will be broken and his pheromones will be all ours for the taking. In fact, if we can do more than that and completely crush the brat, he might very well be all for our taking, too. And that would mean that we could get to his pheromones anytime we wanted, since he would be in our complete control. How delicious would that be? Oh, well, we'll have to see. So, you will be able to remember what you're supposed to do, right, Bertrand?"
"Of course, I will," he answered with another yawn before snipping right back, "It's ridiculously simple."
She growled a bit at his hint of an insult. But she was too focused to let him bother her. "Now, before we go, how much of the stuff did you get from the Ghost Kid the last time you were away?"
Bertrand huffed indignantly, "You already know how much stuff I got from him! Just two more vials are left after you 'ate' the latest one. But each of them should last us a quite a few years. They're as potent as I said they would be…Which means you should lay off the stuff for now….And, by the way, the last time I was away, if you care to remember, I was away looking for those insignificant ghost animals just for you."
Spectra waved her hand nonchalantly and remarked, "Oh, yeah. That's right!" She cleared her throat, "Ahem!" But she abruptly changed the subject. "Only a few years worth of pheromones, huh? Then she put on a dark smile. "Then, it's time to get cracking on getting enough stuff to last centuries, right? And speaking of 'stuff', how about spraying more of that ghost masking stuff on us?"
"Yeah, well, about that, Penelope. We're running dangerously low on that stuff."
She frowned and said, "What? How did that happen?"
He sighed indignantly again. "We wasted most of it on those now long-gone ghost animals, remember? But, fortunately, at least it's still embedded in me for now. And because you've been using it like it has been going out of style, there's not that much left at all! And I haven't had time to get more of those plants! And really, I don't want to, either! Getting them won't be exactly easy as pie!
"You know, you have a bad habit of using too many catch phrases!" Spectra pointed out, sounding bored.
He growled in irritation, not at all wanting to give her the pleasure of an answer on that. Instead, he firmly continued, "Yeah, so, whatever you have planned had better work pronto, or else you're going to be the life of the Ghost Kid's party sooner than you think."
She raised an eyebrow in a 'see?' manner after he said, 'life of the party', before adding with a sing-song-voice, "Catch phrases…"
But before he could comment, she continued, "OK, I get it! And just skip the histrionics, will you? I'll get in and out quick, so I won't need much. And, of course, you won't need any at all. And if I play all my cards right, we won't ever have to use any of that anti-aura stuff ever again. Especially if we finally get that Ghost Brat. So, in any case, because you're already anti-masked, you should have no trouble getting in quick to 'guide' the other principle player in this play!"
Bertrand frowned at her own histrionics—and catch phrases-and tersely said, "Well, let's stop the blather and get to it!"
She made a grab for the little machine and the ghost-masking gas.
This time, however, he pulled it away and out of her reach. He wouldn't surrender it to her and let her waste it like she had the last time. He quickly sprayed enough of the ghost-masking gas on her, and just as quickly shoved the little machine into his pants. He was certain—and certainly glad—that he still had just a little of it left in case of an emergency.
They quickly turned invisible and intangible and lifted up and soared toward the school.