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Griffin was skeptical of the current plan. The twins and Topher had come down to the bunker to talk to Griffin and Harper about and idea of there's. They wanted to return to when the Campbell family first got to Sulpher Springs to get video proof that there had been ghosts. The activity was at it's peak in the week after the family arrived and would supposedly allow them to know the signs of ghosts appearing and gives them things they can look back on to ensure if another ghost show up. This way if it happens they don't have to question it and can get on their unfinished business as quick as they can.
"Why would we need that if we have all experienced it," Harper asks skeptically towards the trio. Her and Griffin were standing in front of the radio to block the other's view of the machine, allows them to worry slightly less.
"Because we know that ghosts have made us feel like we are crazy before. If we have the proof of their activity it can help with separating the paranoia from reality," Wyatt explained excitedly.
"So you want it to feel safer?" Griffin confirmed.
The trio looks between each other before giving nods. They remained quiet as Griffin and Harper thought it over for a long moment. They had been so quiet you could hear the high, quiet pitch of the radio as it sat on the year 1962. The older two looked at each other, seeming to have a slow, silent conversation before turning to the duo in sync.
"You can't go," Harper says with finality in her tone.
The trio seemed like they were about to argue with her before Griffin quickly cut them off. "You can't go but we will. We have more experience with staying out of sight. From what Savannah has said about your adventures you guys have no idea how to sneak around the timeline. We will get you a short video of ghosts later tonight, after dinner."
They seemed disappointed about not being able to use the machine but eventually gave up, settling with the opportunity to still get their footage.
--
Later that night, after dinner, the duo made their way down to the bunker they spent so much time in. Harper quickly walked over to the machine to punch in a date about 1 week after the Campbells arrived. Around the time the two got interrogated about them constantly disappearing.
Griffin moved to look over her shoulder for a second before turning to ask about it.
"Well, the activity didn't start immediately and that night our past selves will be so caught up with being in trouble they won't be able to wander much. Not to mention our parents will be super busy with us." She finished putting in the date before moving towards the hatch, the boy not far behind her.
"I guess that makes sense. I know that i was going crazy over the excuse you made up," the blonde joked as they climbed up the stairs to the opening.
"Ow," Harper says quietly when she reaches the top of the stairs, climbing out of the hatch. "Really?" She asked behind her.
"Yeah, i mean i had never thought of you like that before and i started to after you said it. Not that i fully realized till months later." He laughed once he was out of the hatch and standing next to the girl. He walked towards the Tremont using the familiar path. A small chuckle could be heard behind him as he walked towards him home.
The walk was relatively short, not lasting more than a few minutes before they were at the hotel. Harpers mom's car was parked out the front next to Griffins family's cars. They must be being interrogated right now.
The duo slowly made their way up to the side door, watching to see if anyone was around before creaking the door open to make their way upstairs. They slipped upstairs once everything was clear and moved into room 205. As creepy as it was they knew nothing was in there right now, meaning they were safe from being found and from ghosts for now.
The two sat quietly waiting for their past selves to walk upstairs. They hear two sets of footsteps making their way up the stairs. The twins. Not too long after louder and faster steps made their way upstairs, Griffin. It was another few minutes before they could hear Griffins parents come up the stairs and enter their room.
The two shared as short look before Griffin quickly opened the door to take a glance outside the room. The hall was empty with most of the lights being turned off. He opened the door fully to leave the room with Harper. He turned to look at her as she spoke.
"We should head downstairs and try and find something to video. Leave as quick as we can." She received a nod in response before they made their way down the steps as quietly as they could.
They made it down the stairs with no issue, creeping towards the room they were interrogated in earlier that year. Harper was the one to speak out toward the ghost. "Grace? Can you do some small ghost things like switching lights and moving objects so we can return to our time, please."
The room remained quiet as Griffin fished out his phone to record any activity. Nothing happened for a solid few seconds before a light started to flicker in the corner and the curtains blew like there was wind behind them. The duo smiled brightly as the recording stopped. They said their thank you's quickly and quietly before moving towards the basement.
It was just their luck that that was when a light in the lobby flicked on. Right behind the two, causing them to see the shine of the lights around their shadows. They attempted to move away from the light but it appeared to be futile.
"Who are you?" Griffin's past dad called towards them. They glanced at each other, both ready to run as soon as they could. That thought was just as quickly shut down when the man set his hands on each of their shoulders.
Turning around slowly, they saw the recognition dawn on the man's face.
"Why do you look like Griffin and Harper?"
--
The two sat on the same couch that their younger selves did earlier that night. The biggest difference being that the two sat significantly closer than their counterparts, mostly due to their nerves.
Griffin was fidgeting with his fingers while they waiting for the Dunn's to return. Griffin and the twins were sitting in the opposite room, just as confused. They were mostly out of sight from the adults so they had been able to stay to watch. Apparently mrs. Dunn hadn't even gotten home yet when she got the call so she just brought Harper back with her. She was stuck onto a chair in the lobby from what they could hear her mom say.
She walked into the room confused as ever. "Why am i back here?"
Sarah pointed towards the two on the couch. The other women glanced at them for a second before turning to them fully. Seemingly more confused than ever.
"Before you say anything," Mr. Campbell started. "We have no clue what's going on. That's why we called you back. We checked after we found them and Griffin was in his room. We figured you would also want to know about this though."
"That depends on who they are i suppose."
Harper and Griffin looked at each other for a moment, trying their best to think of excuses to get out. They knew they couldn't. They knew they were caught.
"Who are you?" Mrs. Campbell started.
Griffin cleared his throat for a second before he responded, glancing at Harper again. "My name is Griffin Campbell."
"And mine is Harper Dunn."
The three adults didn't look too convinced as they watched the two.
"Well," Griffin started. "You obviously don't believe us so we can just leave if you wa-"
"No," Ben said quickly. "We want to know why you, who are clearly older than our kids, are pretending to be them."
"We're not trying to-" Harper started before she was cut off.
"Then what are you doing," Sarah ask.
Griffin sinks into the couch as the girl next to him tenses slightly, knowing what they are gonna have to do. They almost didn't notice the younger of the Harper's moving behind the banister to eavesdrop with the others.
"Do you believe in time travel?" Harper asks after a long moment of silence.
Ben scoffed while the mom's shared a look with one another. Griffin's mom sighed heavily before responding. "If we say yes will you tell us who you are?"
They both hesitate for a moment, looking towards each other for a response. They looked for any possible ideas in the other so they could get out of this. Deep down they knew it was fruitless to try. They had to tell the truth now. Looking back at the adults they both nodded, small but still there.
The adults seemed to have their full attention on the two, waiting impatiently for their explanation.
"So, it started not long ago when we found a time machine in an old, hidden shed in the springs." Harper started, glancing at Griffin who nodded minutely for her to continue. They didn't wanna reveal the real location or how long they had been doing this. That could hurt the past even further. "We found out, with some trial and error, how to travel to specific days. We set it to a random one and ended up here. We were trying to leave when you found us."
Sarah nodded slightly before looking at the two. "Ok, now you can start with the truth."
The two sat shocked at the statement before Griffin tried to say it was the truth. She shot him down just as fast as he started.
"I was the one who checked around the entire springs. There aren't anymore standing sheds down that way. Any that were there had been destroyed by falling trees after the springs dried up." She explained.
Harper cursed under her breath, causing Griffin to let out a breathy laugh before looking back at his past parents.
"Fine, you got us," he said defeated. "We found the machine in the basement, and before you ask we will not say what it is, we also found it earlier than we said." Harper gave him a sharp look at the last comment. He shrugged not knowing what exactly to say. "We came back here cause the alternative was the twins, which is definitely worse. We were gonna be in and out. We were doing our best to try and not be spotted."
"We usually travel to a time we don't exist so we don't have issues with seeing people who would recognize us once we came back, or while in the past." Harper explains further.
"Where do you usually go?" Mrs. Dunn leaned a bit closer to the two as she talked.
"Usually the 60's, went to the 30's a few times." Her future daughter replies.
The adults didn't seem too convinced as they looked between each other without speaking. It made a tense silence settle over the room.
"Not going back to the 30's anymore." Griffin mentioned after a few seconds. It didn't help much.
"Ok, how about you prove real quick you are who you say you are before we continue. I'm still having a hard time believing this," Griffin's dad said sternly.
"Um, o...k..." Harper responded before pausing for a second to think of something to tell them. She seemed to consider for a second before waving her future mom over to the couch. She seemed hesitant before moving in slightly so Harper could whisper to her. From what Griffin could hear it had been something about her dad.
The woman pulled back with a sad look on her face. She turned to the others with a nod of confirmation at her being Harper. Then they looked towards Griffin for him to prove it.
"Well, i used to play guitar with dad for hours before we moved here and he started working on the hotel, and i had been begging you every day to go back to Chicago before i started hanging out with Harper," he said, giving two things incase one wasn't enough.
His past dad nodded shortly while looking at his mom. They seemed to finally believe them.
"Ok, we have confirmed you are who you say now. Can you say what you had been doing going off all the time if it wasn't time travel?" Ben questioned.
"Kissing, as i said when you first asked," Harper responded easily.
The adults looked skeptical at the response before sarah spoke up. "Griffin seemed real surprised when you said that earlier, like he also didn't know what the reason was. Want to explain that?"
"I was embarrassed. Surprised she actually told you. It wasn't exactly something i wanted my parents to know i was doing, especially not since it resulted in the talk." Harper snickered at him quietly so he elbowed her in the side so she would stop. They both still had smiles on their faces as they turned their attention back to their parents.
They stared at the two blankly. "I still don't believe it," Griffin's mom said quickly. Griffin was about to say something again before she continued. "I would believe it from you in the future, I suppose, but not in our present."
The blonde almost rolled his eyes at his mom, refraining himself for obvious reasons.
Harper was the one to speak up next. "We found time travel when Griffin first gave me a tour. We were messing around." She admitted.
The boy gave her a look when she glanced over at him. Similar to the one she gave him when he had started talking about the real machine.
"Clearly trying to lie our way out is not gonna work." Griffin mumbled, leaning into the girl next to him minutely. She rolled her eyes at him, turning back to their parents.
"So if you disappear from your time when you travel, you are currently no where to be found in your time?" Mrs. Dunn gives them a curious look as she waited for their answer.
The two seemed to finally remember that they were needed somewhere else as Griffin pulled out his phone to check the time. It was three hours past when they left now. Harper's mom was looking for her.
"Yes, and we need to go back now to avoid another incident." Harper shot up from the couch, pulling Griffin by the hand to move with her. "We need to go."
They were blocked by the adults so they couldn't leave. "What incident?" Ben asked as he tried to get the two to sit back down.
"Let's just say we were gone for longer than intended and you didn't know where we were for almost 16 hours. We haven't been gone that long since and do not plan on being gone for longer than necessary so the twins don't follow us," Griffin explained as he tried to move to get out of the room.
"We still have questions for you two." Sarah stated sternly as the two tried to move past them.
"Can we answer them in the future?" Griffin tried to move past his dad to no avail.
The three looked towards each other and then at their kids. They knew they could get the kids to explain when it was time. Mrs. Dunn and Mr. Campbell slowly moved out of their away but they didn't make much more room before the two kids were running out of the room, hands held tight together.
"Now i can totally believe they are a thing in the future, i just can't right now," Sarah said quietly towards the other mom.
"I get what you mean." She nodded before looking to the side to drag her daughter back home. She wasn't there anymore.
--
They didn't even make it out the door before their younger selves, along with their siblings, had caught up to them. One of them had put a hand on each of their shoulders, causing them to pause.
They turned around quickly after they felt the hand only to find themselves.
"Well this just keeps getting better," Griffin complained sarcastically towards the girl he was leaving with. She let out a short sigh as she focuses on her past self.
"What do you wanna know?" She crosses her arms.
"Well," The younger Harper starts. "We want to know why you actually came back. You said that the twins wanted evidence of a ghost but they could just get that in the future, right?"
The two older kids looked at each other before looking back. Griffin did a small zipping motion with his lips while Harper just shrugged with a small smile.
"Guess you'll find out in the future," Griffin said smugly.
His younger self seemed annoyed at that response. "Why?"
"We can't spoil everything in the future," Harper said simply.
"Gotta keep you a little surprised."
The older pair both had small smiles as they looked to their past. It was crazy that it had only been a handful of months. Almost a year at this point. Griffin looked down for a second before crouching to the height of his younger self.
"Thank god for growth spurts," he commented as he looked over to his Harper. She just rolled her eyes with a wide smile.
"Now i can look you in the eyes when i talk to you."
"Better than before," he said straightening up to stand next to her, slightly closer than before. They got strange looks from their younger selves as the twins just rolled their eyes.
"Come on Wyatt. These love birds aren't gonna tell us anymore." Zoey says trying to drag the boy away.
"But i want to know about my future," he complains as he looks towards his future brother.
"My lips are sealed." He shrugs as he watches them walk up to the stairs.
The group was quiet as they waited for someone to ask or even say something. Griffins younger self rocked on his feet before clearing his throat.
"How is our future though?"
"Eventful," Harper responds quickly.
"Yeah, quite a few things change as well. All for the better," Griffin explains as he opens the door to actually leave.
"That's all we get?" Younger Harper complained.
"Yes," her older counterpart said before their parents called out to them. "Looks like they are done talking. Time for everyone to go to their homes."
"On that note, goodbye." Griffin grabs his Harper's hand as he leaves the hotel to walk out to the hatch.
The younger two looked awkward as their parents came down the hall to finally get to sleep. "Say goodbye now," one of them called to the duo.
"Bye," Griffin said quietly as he turned and quickly made his way up the stairs. He didn't even wait for a response from the girl. From what he did see he might have just gotten a nod before the door closed behind the Dunn's.
--
The two had made it back into the hatch with no issues when the door leading to the basement opened up. It was the twins and Topher, probably ready to travel back to find the two.
"I am gonna send the video to you when we get out of here, also, never again." Griffin teased as he walked around the trio back towards the basement.
Harper turned the three around as they all walked back out into the hall leading towards the hotel seating.
Griffin and Harper split off from the others fairly soon, immediately getting to talking about months before.
"They wouldn't know about any of the changes till the morning. We are in a slightly better position with you and Topher spending the night tonight. Now, i have no idea how our appearance in past changed things but we should stay in the same room to be safe, you know, make sure nothing between us changed. We can write notes or something to make sure we know how we were before the change." The blond rambled as Harper tried hard to keep up.
Before long she set her hands on his shoulders, shaking him to get him to slow down and stop talking. "You're thinking too much. It will be ok. We can write notes if it makes you feel better but for now we can just go up to your room and get some rest, prepare for the next round of questioning."
He nodded slowly before pulling her in for a hug. The rest of the night was a blur as they wrote small notes for things that happened in the last few months, at least the solutions. They had to prepare for any changes.
When they woke up the next morning, Harper taking up most of Griffin's bed, they could hear people down stairs getting breakfast. They looked at each other, nothing seeming to change as they walked down the stairs towards the dining room for Griffin's family. His parents were sitting at the table quietly. They both glanced up when they heard the door creak open.
"Oh, your up?" Ben smiled sweetly.
"Now we just need jess and we can start the questions." Sarah said as she sipped her coffee.
Griffin groaned loudly as he sat at the table next to Harper, who was only a few seconds before him. They glanced at each other before starting their breakfast.
It was gonna be a long morning.