Welcome To Strangervill

The first sighting and major test

The next morning, Carter picked up the house phone, dialing each of his friends with the morning's plan.

“Alright, Leo,” Carter said when he finally reached him, “I need you to take Finn and Amelia out for a while. Keep them busy, do whatever you gotta do—get lunch, check out the stalls, whatever. Just make sure they don’t come looking for us.”

Leo gave a laugh over the line. “Got it. So you three are off to do something wild, huh?”

Carter smirked. “Something like that.”

After hanging up, Carter dialed Ryder and Alex, explaining the plan. “We’re going to take a small sample of the blossom fruit, a few tools from my scientist kit, and that portable computer Alex… uh, borrowed.”

“You mean stole,” Ryder chimed in with a chuckle, his tone teasing.

“Borrowed. Anyway,” Carter continued, “we’ll test it on the fish and bring along shovels to see if we can find some of the strange seeds that might be around. And, Ryder, I need you to work your magic at the market stalls today. See if you can get any info out of that seller you mentioned. The guy’s already a believer in the weird stuff happening around here, right?”

“Yeah,” Ryder replied, a hint of pride in his voice. “He uses all these little codes when he talks, like ‘dark stars’ or ‘whispers in the water.’ I’ll drop some hints about the blossom fruit while I’m at it. Maybe he’ll spill something.”

“Perfect,” Carter said. “Meet me at my place in an hour, and bring whatever gear you’ve got. We’ll head to the lake and start setting up the camera to watch the fish ecosystem too, just in case anything strange happens once we test things out there.”

As the call ended, none of them noticed that the line wasn’t entirely secure. In a black van nearby, two agents listened in, one smirking as they took notes.

“These kids,” one agent said, grinning at his partner, “they’re relentless, I’ll give them that.”

The other agent shrugged, more amused than anything. “Let ’em keep testing their little theories. They’re harmless.”

An hour later, Carter, Alex, and Ryder set out on their bikes, carrying their gear in backpacks. The sun was high and bright, casting an almost surreal glow over the landscape. When they reached the lake, they set up a camera facing the water’s edge, ready to record any changes or disturbances in the fish ecosystem once they introduced the blossom fruit into the water.

As they scouted for the right spot, Ryder spotted a small wooden box in the reeds by the shore. It looked oddly out of place, with the word Cowplant engraved in a precise, clean script on the lid.

“What do you think this is?” Ryder asked, holding up the box for the others to see.

Alex raised an eyebrow. “Cowplant? That’s gotta be some kind of joke.”

“Probably just a prank someone left,” Carter said, though his curiosity was piqued. “Let’s see what’s inside.”

Ryder lifted the lid, revealing a strange, dried seed inside. It looked almost cartoonish, with a strange, bony shape that hinted at something unsettling. The three of them exchanged glances, a silent agreement passing between them.

“Let’s plant it,” Alex suggested, a mischievous smile spreading across his face. “Hide it somewhere, just to see what happens.”

They found a hidden patch of earth a short distance from the lake and planted the seed, covering it carefully with soil. To anyone else, it would just look like an ordinary patch of dirt. Once it was set, they returned to their main mission.