Secrets Of New Forest Academy Part 27

"Must lock down the whole system so the grates only lift once," Spencer said.

"Makes sense," said Alan. "That would control how many people can get down here."

The elevator trundled upward, bearing Spencer, Alan, and Daisy to the previous level. In a moment, they were racing across the parking garage. Spencer noticed the tracks of goo and venomous slime from the dead Grimes.

"Hey," Dez grunted when they reached his elevator. Spencer slid the grate open and everyone stepped inside. The bully looked up at Alan. "Where'd you find the caveman?"

Dez looked pale and weary. His hair was matted on his forehead and his shirt was soaked with sweat. Red streaks marred anything that Dez had touched with his hands.

"What happened?" Alan dropped to his knees at Dez's side.

"Filth got him," said Daisy.

Alan inspected the wound and grimaced. "That must have been the world's biggest Filth. We need to remove the quill."

"No!" Dez grunted. "Is it gonna hurt?"

"Have you ever had a shot from a nurse?" Alan asked. Dez nodded. "Did it hurt when she pulled the needle out?"

"No," Dez muttered, a hint of his old toughness back in his voice.

"This is going to feel kind of like that," Alan said, grabbing the bloodstained quill. "Except this is going to hurt a lot."

Before Dez could react, Alan jerked the quill out of the boy's leg with a swift motion. Dez moaned and gasped. He said a couple of bad words through clenched teeth. Blood started gushing freely from the wound.

"I need some cloth for a bandage," Alan said, pressing on the wound.

Immediately, Daisy and Spencer produced their team handkerchiefs. Alan didn't hide his surprise. "Not only did I get rescued by some twelve-year-old kids ..." Alan accepted the handkerchiefs, "but they brought first-aid kits."

Alan folded one handkerchief into an absorbent triangle and pressed it over the st.i.tch holes above Dez's knee. He tied the other handkerchief securely around the boy's leg. "Keep the pressure on it," Alan instructed. Dez nodded and pressed with both hands.

The elevator had arrived at the next level. Daisy opened the grate. Spencer and Alan helped Dez to his feet, and they hobbled out.

It was slow going with Dez. The injured boy let off a steady stream of complaints. When they pa.s.sed the spot on the level where Dez had been injured, Spencer couldn't look down. The pile of Filth dust had soaked up the blood, making a disgusting crimson mash.

Daisy pushed up the next grate. "Welcome back, Mr. Zumbro," said Penny. She smiled and nodded respectfully. There was a look of awe in her eyes, and Spencer remembered what Walter had said about Alan turning the tides for the Rebels. It was hard to believe. His dad was practically a hero!

"This is the last level," Daisy said as the elevator stopped. Penny and Alan took Dez under the arms and helped him hobble forward. They all crossed the garage, climbed through the concrete archway, and settled onto the wooden pallet.

"The last chain," Spencer muttered, giving it a jerk. Far overhead, he heard the gears kick in. The chain went taut, and instantly the wooden platform shifted as they started to rise into the blackness. Spencer couldn't help but duck as they neared the top, fearing for a moment that they would all be crushed against the pallet above. But at the last moment, the overhead pallet lifted out of the way.

They stumbled off the platform and into the janitorial closet. Alan braced Dez against some low shelves while they scavenged around Slick's office for any fresh Glopified supplies. Penny made sure that everyone had a broom, since their escape route would most likely take them over the brick wall.

Alan took the warlock hammer from his pocket and readjusted it so it wouldn't fall during a long run.

"Hey, hey!" Penny said when she saw it. "Look what you got!"

"No sense in leaving it in the hands of an enemy." Alan grinned.

They moved up the stairs, down the hallway, and into the chill night. It was nerve-wracking to wait for Dez. Penny and Alan helped him along, but they seemed to move like tar. This was the crucial escape! They should be running!

They crossed the street over to the sidewalk in front of the rec center. Spencer and Daisy moved ahead of the others, scanning the shadows for a BEM ambush.

"Wait!" Dez gasped. The procession came to a reluctant halt. "The nail," he said. "Garcia's bronze nail!"

"Forget it," Penny said. "We don't know where it is. Let's just get out of here while we can."

"I know where ..." Dez pointed a finger toward the rec center. "Boys' locker room ... Slick showed me. Part of the deal."

"Why didn't you tell us sooner?" Spencer asked.

"I didn't ... aghhh!" Dez gripped his leg. "I didn't think of it till now."

"Spencer and I will go in," Alan said. "The rest of you stay here." Spencer felt an immediate swell of pride that his dad had chosen him.

"Hidden ..." Dez said. "I have to show you."

"I think we should keep going," said Daisy. "Forget the nail."

The group exchanged glances, their frosty breath billowing in the light of the streetlamp.

"We might not get another chance like this," Penny finally said. "We've already got the hammer. If we can take the nail, then the Rebels could have two warlocks." She gestured toward the building. "You three go in. We'll stay here and watch the entrance."

"Come on." Alan took Dez by the arm. The opportunity was too good to pa.s.s up. Spencer took Dez's other arm as Penny and Daisy lingered on the rec center steps.

Spencer and his dad guided Dez down the hallway and around a corner. Their breathing was ragged and their eyes scanned the dim halls, but the building was empty.

Alan opened the door to the locker room and slipped inside, leaving Spencer and Dez in the hallway. A moment later, he reappeared. "Coast is clear," Alan whispered. He took Dez by the arm again, and the three figures moved into the shadowy locker room.

"Over there." Dez hobbled down an aisle of tall lockers. Alan drew the bronze hammer from his pocket. They'd need to use it to remove the nail.

Bracing himself against the wall, Dez bent over. "Here." He held out his hand, beckoning for the hammer. For a brief second, Spencer saw a greedy look consume Dez's eye, but before Spencer could say anything, Alan handed it over.

That was the first sign that something bad was about to happen.

Dez s.n.a.t.c.hed the bronze hammer, pulled back his arm, and hurled the object through the air, high over their heads. Spencer flinched against the loud sound it would make when the hammer hit the floor, but the sound never came.

Turning, Spencer saw Slick standing in the doorway, the bronze warlock hammer in his hand.

"Nice toss, Dez."

Chapter 55.

"Don't answer, son."

Before anyone could move, more than a dozen armed BEM workers stepped out of the tall lockers, completely blocking the way out.

In utter shock, Spencer turned to Dez. The big kid slid down against the wall. Sitting painfully, he pressed on the blood-soaked handkerchiefs.

"Sorry," Dez muttered. "Tried to tell you. It was part of the deal."

Any hope that Spencer had held for Dez shattered into countless pieces. He was more than just a bully. Dez was a filthy traitor!

Two of the BEM workers pushed past Alan and Spencer until they reached Dez. Taking him under the arms, they picked him up and carried him to the doorway. He groaned and complained.

Just as he pa.s.sed out of sight, Dez made eye contact with Spencer. It was hard to see through his anger, but Spencer thought there might have been a glimmer of regret. But no matter what he'd seen in the bully's eyes, it was too late now.

The deal was done.

Slick pa.s.sed the bronze hammer to another worker, giving her instructions to take it somewhere safe. Then he casually strode toward the cornered Rebels.

"Father and son," the Academy janitor said. "What a happy little family reunion! Maybe now you can put your heads together and tell me just what exactly was in that package?"

"Don't answer, son," Alan said. He put a comforting hand on Spencer's shoulder.

But Spencer couldn't have answered, not even to save their lives. Spencer glared at Slick, with his oily hair and dirty gla.s.ses. The janitor was wicked-a brutal henchman in the BEM's ruthless plan to overgrow Toxites and turn kids' brains to mush.

Spencer's hand dropped to his tool belt. Maybe it was time for Slick to experience the terror of his own creations.

Spencer reached into the pouch where he'd once kept vacuum dust. Now his hand closed around something cold and slimy. Jerking it out by the tail, Spencer flung the gigantic Grime directly at Slick.

The janitor shrieked and lifted his hands. Several of the other BEM workers tried to strike, but the creature's momentum was too great. The long tongue lashed out, coiling tightly around Slick's neck. The dark mouth opened, drawing him in like a toad catching a fly in slow motion.

The Grime didn't bite or chew. It took Slick whole. Its long, yellow body shuddered, neck expanding to accommodate the meal. Slick thrashed, and Spencer could see him punching and kicking all the way down.

Then the creature convulsed once, seeming to gag on something. The tongue flicked out as the Grime regurgitated one of the janitor's steel-toed boots. The gooey mess landed with a thud on the floor of the locker room.

The scene was horrifying. The other BEM workers fell back, crowding at the doorway. Only a delicate thread of loyalty kept them from deserting. The Toxite's throat expanded, filling with greenish slime. Then the giant Grime spewed a stream of viscous poison toward the doorway.

Without another moment's hesitation, the BEM workers ran, their thundering footfalls and cries of alarm fading down the hallway. They didn't want to find out who would be the Toxite's next meal.

The huge Grime sprang onto the bank of metal lockers, forked tongue dancing out again. Alan drew back defensively. But Spencer had a theory.

Spencer had returned the relocated Toxite to its desirable habitat. It had taken a moment for the monster to realize it-a fatal moment for Slick. But now that the Grime was inside New Forest Academy, it clung calmly to the lockers and enjoyed the residual student brain waves.

Spencer gave a huge sigh of relief. The Grime's head swiveled around. Suddenly noticing the father and son against the back wall, it gave a frightened swish of its broad tail and scuttled out the door to hide.

Alan looked at his son. The man's mouth opened and closed a few times, unable to find words. He pointed at Spencer's belt pouch, then gestured to the lockers where the Grime had been. When Alan spoke at last, he couldn't complete his sentence. "That thing was ..."

"I know." Spencer wiped his hand against his jeans. "Slimy."

"Huge!" Alan squinted at his son's tool belt. "What else have you got in there?"

Spencer scanned the locker room. "We've got to get out of here, Dad." Alan nodded in agreement. "But what about the bronze hammer?" It was hard to leave empty-handed, especially since they had been so close to stealing the warlock tool. Slick had pa.s.sed the hammer off to another BEM worker, but maybe it was still nearby.

Alan shook his head. "Forget it. The hammer's long gone by now." He ran a hand through his beard. "Just like we should be."

Alan steered his son out of the locker room and into the empty hallway. A moment later, they burst out the door and onto the rec center steps.

"You guys all right?" Penny asked. "A dozen BEM workers just came out the front door with their tails between their legs. I was ready to fight, but they weren't interested in sticking around. What happened in there?"

"Trap," said Alan.

Daisy looked from Spencer to his dad. "Where's Dez?"

For the second time, Spencer had to break the news. "Dez isn't coming."

Noise drifted through one of the rec center windows. Penny lifted her double mops defensively. "Let's move."

Without Dez, the group ran swiftly across the lawn. The campus was silent. That meant that either Walter had succeeded in escaping into the forest ... or he had been captured. Spencer wanted to find him-rescue him if necessary. But meeting up with Walter wasn't part of the plan. The warlock was on his own.

The group sprinted down the road, the broken gate coming into view. One by one, they tapped their brooms and floated over the brick wall and the wreckage of the outer parking lot.

New Forest Academy was finally behind them. They raced down the road, the mountain surroundings still and peaceful. Their heavy breaths came out in frosty, moonlit plumes. The calmness of the night offset Spencer's thumping heart as he ran through the cold air, side by side ... with his dad!

They paused anxiously at the side of the road as Penny ran into the trees to plunge the janitorial van from its hiding spot.

Spencer's mind didn't stop. It rolled over and over, imagining the joyous expressions his family would make when he walked into the house with his dad. It was a moment he had dreamed about so often. It was finally real!

"Son." Alan's voice cut through his thoughts. Spencer turned to face his father, standing beside him. Alan tried to tuck a strand of gnarled hair behind his ear, but it fell to shadow his face once more.

"They questioned you," Alan said. "Didn't they?"

Spencer nodded.

"What did you tell them about the package I sent?"

"Nothing, Dad." Spencer felt a twinge of worry. "Everyone keeps talking about it, but ..." He swallowed. "I never got a package from you."

Alan closed his eyes and ran a hand through his long beard. "Everything I worked for ..." He muttered the words like a eulogy.

"What was in the package, Dad?" Did he dare ask that question?

"I don't know." Alan opened his eyes. "I never looked. If I had opened the package, the BEM would have pried the information out of me. I couldn't take the risk, so I sent it to you without looking inside."

Daisy shook her head in disbelief. "So, the BEM locked you up for something you didn't know anything about?"

Spencer looked at his father, eyes silently begging for an explanation. Penny suddenly emerged from the trees, the large van dangling weightlessly from the toilet plunger in her hands. She trudged up the slope and set the van onto the road.

"Come on," Penny interrupted. "We're not out of the woods yet." The escapees quickly piled into the van, the cranking engine cutting through the darkness.