The Post Sunday Experiment | COMPLETED 2020

Chapter 11

"What... is this place?" Ody's voice was barely more than a whisper. His eyes drifted about the space in admiration—never once stopping on anything for more than a second.

After his words were let free in the air, Ramona and the larger man looked first at each other, then at Dr. Plomin for what to say.

"Well, Ody, my son-" Dr. Plomin began.

"Señor, tou can't just tell za boy!" Ramona interrupted. It was as if Ody weren't standing right there, hearing every word that fell from her lips.

"How much do you know?" the big, African American man spoke—no emotion in his deep voice. Everyone in the room fell silent as their eyes watched the man and then turned to face Ody for an answer.

"I- uh-" Ody stuttered. The weight of their stares made him want to run and hide.

"Answer him, niño!"

"I- we- don't know much. All we have is this," Ody stuttered as his hands started to shake. He pulled the note out of his pocket and handed it to the woman. "Our father wanted us to find someone named 'Ammon.' Is that you?" Ody asked as he looked up at the tall, thin Hispanic woman. She had a sharp jawline, caramel skin, and brown hair pulled slickly back into a tight bun.

Ramona quietly unfolded the note and read it swiftly. After gazing over the parchment for a few moments, she looked at both Ody and Penny. She let go of the girl's arm.

"Damien," she spoke softly to the large man beside her, fear radiating from her big eyes. "Dr. Winter wanted za boy to know."

Out of the corner of his eye, Ody could see Dr. Plomin smiled a little but the excitement was soon ended when the large man, Damien, spoke.

"Dr. Plomin and Dr. Ammon, may I speak to you?" His eyes darted to the others in the room before adding, "Alone?" His voice broke.

Ody and Penny looked at each other. Dr. Plomin gestured for them to stay put in the room while the three other people went into another room. The door closed behind them with a resounding thud.

As soon as the latch clicked, Ody and Penny started talking at the same time.

"We're alone. Come on, let's get out of here!"

"What the heck! Why are you here? Were you stalking me?"

They both hissed simultaneously. Pausing for a second to process what the other had said, Ody conceded.

"We can't leave. This is what Devlin wanted us to find!" Ody spoke quietly to Penny.

"No, Ody, if we stay, they'll only call our parents! Mom doesn't need any more stress right now. We have to-"

"Parent," Ody interrupted, his voice was rough and harsh.

"Parent, parents, it doesn't matter, Ody. Devlin's gone but his legacy ain't. The only way to find what he was working on is to avoid getting' caught. I miss him too, Ody, but we have to figure out what this is. Come on. We can leave and wait till tonight, then come back."

Offended, Ody sighed. Soon enough, he agreed and the two children tip-toed up the stairs to the hum of a distant conversation in the other room.

They climbed out of the lab and closed the lid of the box before sped-walking out of the shed. They then ran as quietly as they could to their bikes.

Peddling deeper into the woods, they found a place to cover their bikes in tree branches so no one would spot the brightly painted metal.

Ody slumped down with his back against a tree.

"So, we just wait?" he asked.

"Yup."

"What are we supposed to do all day?"

Grinning, Penny walked over to her bike and moved the branches over just enough so she could open up the basket that was secured to her bike.

"Now," she grunted as she lifted the heavy box. "While y'all were gone," she puffed as she sat down next to him by the tree. "I knew Devlin was up to more than simply studying plants. I didn't know what, but I knew there was something. So, I did what I could to understand what I did know."

Pulling out magazines, books, journals, and scratch paper, Penny laid them on the grass. "These are the few materials Devlin was using most just before... well, it happened." Her gaze fell to the dirt.

Looking at his broken, little sister, something moved Ody's heart a little. He put his hand on her knee and smiled at her with genuine compassion—an emotion Penny had never seen on his face before.

"Penny, go on." He smiled reassuringly, and she did.

"Well, I mean, I didn't want anyone to see this, so I hid it in my room. And after ya told me to go to bed." Penny yawned. "I knew what ya were goin' to do so I figured it would be of some help, so I snuck down stairs and put it in my bike basket."

"I hate to say it, Penny, but I'm impressed," Ody snickered.

"Why, thank you," Penny joked as she scrunched her nose up at her brother. "Oh, and I also figured we'd want this.".

Reaching her hand in the basket once again, she pulled out two sandwiches, grapes, two water bottles, and a share size bag of skittles.

"Dang, Penny, I'm starting to think you're telepathic," Ody laughed.

He went for the skittles first, but just before he opened the bag, he looked up at his sister.

"What ever happened to our dog, Skittles?"

"Oh, some old lady down the road took him in shortly after you left. I watch him a lot and she pays me to walk him. He was always Mae's dog, anyway. Devlin didn't care much to keep him."

Relieved to hear that his dog was still well, he pushed his father's death from his mind, instead focusing on the books. The sun rose soon after. Penny laid on the grass and drifted off.

The gentle bird song calmed both their nerves and excitement and allowed them to truly relax.

Yet as they hid just out of sight from the shed, they missed the sound of a particular old man on the phone with a certain someone.

"Mr. Aldrich, the Winter children know of the PSE. What can we do to assure they don't discover the truth?"