During both incidents at DA's house and the park, Keesha and Phoebe were at Phoebe's childhood home. Neither of them had any plans, so they were just hanging out by themselves. However, they didn't really have much to talk about, so Keesha was in the living room, doing her own thing while Phoebe was in the kitchen.
She was on her phone, just mindlessly scrolling through her social media and whatnot. Soon after, though, she started doing an old habit that she had never gotten over. She mainly did this to see how long she could go without thinking of what might have been. Usually, she would never last more than 3 minutes. Two minutes into her habit, Keesha came into the kitchen for a glass of water. Once her glass was full, she turned to go back to the living room and became confused as to what Phoebe was doing.
"Pheebs, why are you looking through old pictures of you and Arnold?" Keesha asked curiously.
Phoebe sighed while stopping on a photo she had taken of her and Arnold at their junior prom. They didn't attend their senior prom together as they had broken up by then. "It's just a stupid habit that I have. I don't want to talk about it."
"Phoebe, you can tell me anything. What is this stupid habit of yours?"
"Well... every once in a while, I look through old pictures of Arnold and me."
"Why?"
"Because... well, because I want to see how long I can go before I start crying and imagining what life could have been like. I look through the photos of us as a couple and try not to think about what could have been."
"Why would you do that? You broke up with Arnold because of his attitude towards Ms. Frizzle."
"I know, but, for some reason, I have never gotten over it. I know that what Arnold said was horrible, but... a part of me still loves him."
Keesha's eyes widened and her jaw dropped in shock. "You still love him?"
Phoebe nodded sadly. "I guess I've always loved him. Ever since I saw what kind of guy he was while helping him look for Dr. Skeledon's egg, I knew that I had a thing for him. He was pretty much the only guy that ever truly loved me and wanted to be with me. No one else has ever given me as much affection as he did."
"So, you really can't get over Arnold?"
Phoebe shook her head. "I've never been intimate with anyone since we were together. I try to get over it and remind myself that there are other guys, but I guess a part of me will always love him."
Keesha sat down next to Phoebe and put her hand on Phoebe's. "Look, Phoebe, I may not be specialized to handle relationships, but I think I can help you a little. Just hear me out, okay?"
Phoebe nodded slightly, so Keesha continued. "I get that you and Arnold have always had something special between you, and maybe things could have been different. Maybe by now, you two could've been happily married and have children in a nice quiet suburb. But it's pretty clear that it will never happen. Arnold's married now and has a kid, and we all stopped talking to him because of his hatred towards Ms. Frizzle. We can't go back and change anything now. It is what it is. There's no point in thinking about what could have happened."
"I know that. It's just... What-it-is sucks."
"Yeah, life is like that sometimes, but we just have to roll with it. I mean, I went through basically the same thing with Ralphie. I felt heartbroken when I broke up with him, but it had to be done. He could never settle for just one girl. I've never really been with anyone since we went out, but I know that the right man is out there for me, and I'll meet him someday. Let me be the one to tell you that it sucks, but you have to keep moving forward. It may be hard at times, but there's no other choice."
Phoebe thought about what Keesha had spelled out for her, and, as much as it hurt to admit, she was right. A part of her did still love Arnold, but he already had a life with another woman, and she needed to be strong and accept the fact that Arnold wasn't right for her anymore due to his attitude towards Ms. Frizzle. She didn't know how long it would take, but eventually, she'd finally be completely over Arnold.
For now, she needed to forget about what her life could have been and start to move on.
Before she could comment, though, there was a loud boom that sounded like it came from the sky.
And you all know the drill by now. Flash of red light, shaking, red sky, large shadow blocking the sky, screams of "what is going on?!" and all that.
After the power went out and the rumbling stopped. Keesha and Phoebe caught their breaths, and Keesha took her phone out to light up the dark house, even if it was just a little light.
"Phoebe, are you alright?"
Phoebe took a few more seconds to calm down. "I'm fine. What was that?"
"I don't know. Whatever it was, it can't be good."
"You're telling me. It's the middle of the day and it's pitch black."
"I know. We should try to get the power back on, right?" Keesha suggested.
"Definitely. Let's go check the fuse box."
Keesha and Phoebe started heading to the garage to check the fuse box, but along the way, Phoebe got the feeling that something wasn't right. Keesha noticed that Phoebe looked way more nervous than usual.
"Phoebe, what's wrong?"
"I don't know. Something doesn't feel right."
"Phoebe, nothing is right at the moment. Let's just try to get the power on. It will make everything better."
"No, I mean, it feels like there's something more. Something that we don't know."
"It's probably just the darkness making you feel paranoid." Keesha pointed out.
"Maybe... Still, I can't help but feel that something is off."
Keesha sighed. "Phoebe don't let the darkness get to you. Look around." Keesha moved her flashlight around to illuminate what she could to show that there was nothing to worry about. Or so it seemed...
"See? There is nothing to-" Keesha then froze as the flashlight caught something down the hall.
"Keesha? Keesha?! What's going-" Phoebe turned around and also froze when she saw what was down the hall. Two mysterious figures, or creatures, that were way taller than them, with shadowy bodies and red, piercing eyes. They just stood there, perfectly still. Then after a few seconds, they began running at the girls, with their ear-splitting, demonic roar.
Keesha and Phoebe began running away, praying that the creatures wouldn't catch them. The demonic roars became louder as the creatures seemed to get closer. Then, just before they reached the garage door, Phoebe split up from Keesha and ran down another hall. Keesha tried calling to Phoebe, but she had to stay focused on escaping. She just hoped Phoebe knew what she was doing. Keesha ran into the garage and locked the door, praying that the creatures couldn't break it down. She also hoped Phoebe had managed to get to safety.
The demonic roar continued outside. Then, it sounded like it was just outside the door. It continued for another minute as Keesha sat huddled in a corner, hoping that this was not the end for her. Finally, the roar stopped. Keesha thought that was the end of it, and she slowly approached the door. Just when she got to the door, a booming voice as loud as thunder was heard on the other side.
"Listen to me, mortal! I have come with a message for you!" Keesha froze at the voice.
"I have been sent by my boss to warn you about this only once! You will meet with your friends soon, and they will try to get you to participate in something that has gotten Him angry! It concerns a certain woman named Valerie Frizzle!"
At this, Keesha's eyes became wide. Ms. Frizzle?! What does she have to do with this?!
"You will try to remove her from His domain! You must refuse to participate in this! If you don't, there will be consequences! You have been warned!" With that, the voice disappeared.
For a few seconds, Keesha just sat there, processing what was just said. What was that creature? Why did it mention Ms. Frizzle? And what did it mean when it said she would remove her from some domain?
Keesha couldn't figure out what any of that meant. For now, she needed to get out of the garage and check with Phoebe. Keesha waited for about a minute before slowly opening the door. Outside the garage, the power was now back on, and the creature was nowhere to be seen. Keesha exited the garage and began walking down the hallway that Phoebe ran down, calling out her name. When Phoebe didn't answer, Keesha got worried.
Then Keesha made it to the back of the house and found that the back door was ajar. Keesha then became more worried at this. Did Phoebe run out the back door? Keesha opened the back door completely and saw that the shadow that had blocked out the sky was gone. And Phoebe was nowhere to be seen.
Keesha called out Phoebe's name again, but still no answer. Then Keesha looked at the woods that were behind Phoebe's house. Did Phoebe run into the woods with that creature chasing her? Keesha hoped to God that she didn't. Keesha then called Phoebe's phone, but no answer. She tried a few more times, but still no response. Now Keesha was really worried. Phoebe was missing.
Keesha went around the house but couldn't find Phoebe anywhere. She went back down to the living room as she tried to decide what to do. Maybe she should call the cops, but would the cops believe her about a creature chasing her friend away? Besides, Phoebe was over 18, so little could be done without evidence of a crime. Maybe she should go into the woods and look for Phoebe, but then again, did she know for sure if Phoebe was in the woods. Before Keesha could make up her mind, there was a knock on the door. She answered, and it was the rest of the gang.
"Oh, hey guys."
"Hey Keesh," Ralphie said. "We need to talk to you and Phoebe about something."
"Um, okay. Come in."
The gang came into the house. Keesha noticed Liz and the gang confirmed it was her.
"Where's Phoebe?" DA asked.
"Well... It's a long story. And it's kind of weird. It all started with something going on with the sky-"
"Hey, we went through something weird with that, too!" Tim exclaimed.
"Really?" Keesha asked, surprised.
"Yeah, and we have to tell you all about it..." With that, the gang went through their various experiences with the blackened sky. Ralphie brought up the earrings, showed them to Keesha, and explained that the bus was at his house and was waiting for the gang to get back together.
"So, you're saying that there were demons after you to stop us from saving Ms. Frizzle from Hell?"
"Yes. That's what we came to talk to you about. We need to get everyone back together to save Ms. Frizzle." Ralphie said.
"We need you and Phoebe for this." Wanda said. "Speaking of which, where is she?"
"We went through the same thing as you." Keesha then went on to recount her experience with the demons and explained that Phoebe had just disappeared and probably ran away.
"Phoebe's missing?" Ralphie asked.
"Yes. She won't answer her phone, and I don't know where to find her."
"Well, that adds another obstacle to this mission." Carlos sighed.
"Other obstacle?" Keesha asked, confused.
"Yeah, we need the whole gang. That includes Arnold." Wanda explained.
"Oh, yeah. Man, he is not going to just go along with this." Keesha stated.
"I know. It was bad enough having an Arnold problem, but now we have to find Phoebe." Ralphie sighed.
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Wanda cut in. "if we're going to save Ms. Frizzle, we need to get them now!"
"Wanda's right. There's no point in wasting time." DA added.
"Right! Let's get them and save the Frizz!" Ralphie exclaimed.
"Okay. Who should we work on first?" Tim asked.
"I think we should try Arnold." Wanda suggested. "It may take longer to find Phoebe."
"Do you know how long it might take to convince Arnold to help the woman that he hates?" Keesha asked.
"Well, no."
"Then we should probably find Phoebe first. At least we don't have to spend a long time trying to convince her to help." Keesha pointed out.
"But do you know how long it will take to find her?"
"No..."
"Exactly!"
"Guys, we're wasting time arguing about this. Let's just do what is easiest to do now and work from there." DA cut it.
"Fine. The easiest thing to do is call Arnold."
"Fine. Just get it over with." Keesha sighed.
Wanda took out her phone and called Arnold. As the phone rang, Wanda got nervous, knowing that Arnold would not just help them. Would he even believe their story about demons and the bus? Wanda swallowed as she tried to tell herself that everything would be fine, despite knowing that it might not.
Finally, the call was answered. "Hello? Arnold Perlstein speaking."
"Arnold, it's Wanda."
"Oh, hey Wanda. Could you call me later? I'm busy with work."
"This is important, Arn."
"Okay, what do you need?"
"Well, you may not believe this when I tell you, but just know that I wouldn't be calling if it wasn't really, really important."
Wanda began reciting what had happened to the gang and the mission to save Ms. Frizzle. The whole time, she hoped that Arnold would not just laugh her off or something.
After Wanda finished, the line was quiet for a minute. "You really expect me to believe all of that?"
"I know it sounds ridiculous, but it's what happened. Ask the gang."
"Wanda, there is no way that any 'demons' have come for you guys, and there is no way that Ms. Frizzle is trying to communicate with you that she needs help. She's dead."
"But-"
"Sorry, but I don't buy anything that you just said. What I can't believe is that you would interrupt my work just to tell me ridiculous stories."
"Arnold, it's not a ridiculous-"
"Just save it. I don't believe anything you just said. End of story." Arnold then hung up.
Wanda turned to the gang, and they could all tell it went badly. "I told you calling Arnold was a waste of time." Keesha said.
"Fine, you were right." Wanda sighed.
"Well, I suppose we should look for Phoebe now." Ralphie suggested.
"Just one thing. Even if it doesn't take long to find her, we still need to find a way to get Arnold." Tim pointed out. "Who knows how long that will take."
"Oh, right. How are we going to take care of that?" Ralphie asked.
"Well, what if we did something that shows we're not kidding around?" Wanda suggested.
"And what might that be?"
"Maybe he might see that we're serious if we go to see him in person? If we show that we are taking the time to go see him, he might start believing us."
"In person? He's all the way in California. How would we make the time to do that?" Keesha asked.
"Yeah, we have to be quick if we want to save Ms. Frizzle." Ralphie pointed out.
"And would he want to see us? And for that matter, which one of us would want to go see him?" Carlos added.
"I could go see him." Wanda said. "He might listen if I talk to him."
"After that phone conversation, I doubt it." Keesha said.
"Look, I at least have to try. As already stated, we need the entire gang. If that means going all the way to California and arguing with Arnold for hours, so be it."
Ralphie sighed. "Fine, Wanda. You can try to talk to him. But you might need some help. I'll go with you."
"You will?" Wanda asked, surprised.
"Yes. I might be able to knock some sense to Arnold if worse comes to worse."
"Well, I don't think it will get to that, but I appreciate the help."
"You know what, I'll go, too." Tim said.
"You too?" Wanda asked.
"Yes. I was really close with Arnold before we stopped talking to him. He might listen to me, too. Plus, you'll need all the help you can get."
"Alright, anyone else?" Keesha, Carlos, and DA all shook their heads. "Alright, so it's just us three. We should probably get to California as quickly as possible." Wanda, Tim, and Ralphie quickly went online and bought the earliest flights to San Jose tomorrow. They would depart at 9 AM and probably get there at 4 PM after a layover in Texas. They also got the earliest tickets to get back to Walkerville two days from now.
"Now that that's taken care of, we should work on looking for Phoebe." Keesha said.
"Right, and tomorrow, while you guys talk to Arnold, me, Keesha, and Carlos will continue looking for Phoebe if we don't find her now." DA said.
"Alright. Now, let's get out there are find her." With that, the gang went into the woods to look for Phoebe. They all hoped that it wouldn't take long to find her, and they hoped that Arnold would finally agree to help the gang tomorrow.