CHAPTER NINE
I could not believe how stupid I was for not seeing it before. A bunch of suspicious weirdoes followed my family around the world, Dad disappeared, and a man I barely got to know died before my eyes. It could not have been more obvious if they had just handed me a manual for how to sort out ridiculously obvious things. It hit me even harder to think of what that could mean for my father.
Lathon paced around the room, allowing the desks to pass through him. Grunting, calculating, I hoped he was drumming up a plan and soon. LeCarre sat motionless at his desk, breathing slowly. The inaction was maddening.
“Well, say something,” I pleaded. The fear crept over me. I was beginning to think all of this was my fault. I had an entire childhood to report those men to the authorities and I blew it.
LeCarre smirked, “There is not much to say. Those men are clearly rooting out the Silhouettes. It was never a question of if, but when they were going to come and finish the job. Sorry to have doubted you, Lathon.”
He was calm, but I wasn’t positive on how a Silhouette reacts in those kinds of situations. The fake body that covered his shadowy skin might as well have been a robot. Lathon, on the other hand, showed a human side with his anger. I did not know if he acquired it by inhabiting Vick’s body, but it was becoming dizzying to watch him zoom around the room faster and faster. It seemed trivial to try and stop him, as he would have probably just passed right through me.
I walked over to Mr. LeCarre’s desk, the agony of the situation getting to me. “What is he doing?” I asked.
LeCarre brushed his hands through his mane of hair, “If I know Lathon, and I believe I do, he is trying to keep himself from breaking out of this building and killing all of those men.”
Lathon changed his pattern. He would pass through a few desks, but every fourth one he would become solid, pick up the desk, and chunk it against the wall. The teacher next door must have taken her kids to lunch or she definitely would have been banging on the door at that moment.
That Silhouette who, up until that point, I had thought to be a prankster was starting to frighten me. A painful soreness drew my attention to my right hand. I realized I was gripping LeCarre’s desk for dear life.
I let go. Shakily, I said, “Will h-he eve-r-r stop?”
LeCarre leaned back in his chair, his big beard scratching his chest. He rested his hands behind his head, saying, “I suppose I could put an end to it.”
He rubbed his hands together and abruptly threw them forwards. A green orb in the shape of a cheap light bulb came shooting out, hit Lathon in the head, and froze him in place. He blinked green like a strobe light.
Lathon said, “Can I help you?”
LeCarre got up and sat on the front of his desk, “You are scaring our young friend here. Likewise, you are getting on my nerves. Please, calm yourself long enough to come up with some kind of plan. Note that I only say please because it is customary in this part of the world. You do not have the luxury of a choice.”
“Fair enough. Could you be a dear and take this freezing spell off me?”
LeCarre snapped his fingers together. The freeze was lifted and Lathon sat down at one of the remaining desks he hadn’t thrown across the room. He said, “Before we continue, is there something we can do about the boy?”
I jumped to my defense, “I want to help! This is every bit my problem as it is yours.”
He waved his hand to silence me, “Not you, Alan. I am referring to,” he pointed at Vick lying in a laundry pile on the floor, “pudgy over here. I dare say I do not feel comfortable giving him a chance to wake up and hear the plan. It might give him a bit of a start. Am I wrong here?”
LeCarre nodded in agreement. “We are going to have to wake him. The human rules here do not allow for an unconscious body to lie in the hallway. Alan, I think this might be a good opportunity for you.”
To my defense, I said, “Me? No way. If I am the first person he sees when he wakes up, he’ll pulverize me.”
LeCarre smiled, “But, Alan, if you cannot stand up to a human adolescent, how do you propose to fight the forces that wait for you on Draio?”
Lathon concurred and faded into a vapor, making himself invisible. LeCarre slightly waved his hand. At his command, every desk but Vick’s in the back of the room sat upright and in it is normal position. It was going to make things easier, but I didn’t think Vick would remember how he went from gym class and straight to Mr. LeCarre’s.
I got on one knee next to Vick. He was beginning to snore; one booger slid in and out of his nose. I was already regretting the idea.
“Vick?” I said, barely more than a whisper. I looked back at LeCarre for confidence, but his eyes were staring back at me with cold impatience. Louder, I said, “Vick?”
He wouldn’t budge. I grabbed his shoulders and began to shake him. Nothing I did was making a dent. He was out for the count. I said, “Guys, I don’t think I can wake him up. You must have put some kind of sleeping spell or something on him.”
Lathon sighed, “No such thing exists, Alan. With all of the cool things we can do, why would we waste time on something as silly as that? You are not trying hard enough. Pain might be beneficial in this situation.”
I turned back to LeCarre, but his eyes had grown wide. He said, “They would not be very pleased with me if I did what needs to be done. I quite enjoy playing human.”
Maybe I wasn’t trying hard enough. Here I was planning something life altering with two magical beings, but I was still looking at my high school bully like he was a sleeping T-Rex.
Shame was unacceptable. I went with my instincts and punched Vick in the stomach as hard as I could. As I feared, it sprung him to life.
“Oh my God,” he said, gasping for air, “I am awake. I am awake!”
I slowly crawled backwards, hoping he wouldn’t notice me. I knew this was a lost cause. Once he could catch his breath, his eyes locked on to mine. He stood up on his own with a glaring fury coating his red cheeks. He said, “Alan?”
He looked at Mr. LeCarre and then to his desk that was lying upside down on the floor. When he turned his attention back to me, his expression shifted from anger to an emotion I had never seen on his face before: admiration.
Vick approached me. It was all I could do not to turn around and run away, but I held my ground. He came to within an inch of my frame. I could smell onions and body odor radiating from his hoodie. Just when I thought he was going to return my favor with a stiff punch in the ribs, he spread his arms wide.
I glanced from his left arm to his right, trying to determine how he was going to pound me in with that move, but his arms lovingly wrapped around my back. Sweat dripped off of his brow and landed on my cheek. It was disgusting, but I was relieved that I was not about to get beat up in front of the Silhouettes.
He said, “Thank you.”
I mumbled, “You’re welcome?”
Vick laughed, let me go, opened the door, and pushed the first kid he saw in the hall towards the nearest locker. He hadn’t changed one bit, but I supposed that he would not be bothering me again. I said, “What just happened?”
LeCarre waved his left arm, the door closed. He began to applaud, “Now, was that not impressive?”
My body was shaking, but I felt stronger. I said, “Did that—what?”
Lathon reappeared, “If you thought that was amazing, you would have loved Draio.”
I asked, “Loved?”
Lathon changed the subject, “What are we going to do about those lousy dream blokes?”
LeCarre said, “I imagine we need to come up with something quickly. It is only a matter of time before they—”
The intercom sounded off from the center of the room. LeCarre and I looked up, but Lathon took a defensive stance. He screamed, “I WILL NOT GO BACK.”
A
woman’s voice said, “Mr. LeCarre?”
LeCarre stood up and walked to the door where the intercom button rested. He said, “Lathon, please relax.” He pressed the button, “Yes?”
She continued, “Is Alan Quinn still in your room? I beeped Mrs. Mucaukis’ room, but she reported he had not shown up for her class.”
“He is here. Is he needed?”
“He has been checked out for the day. Tell him to bring his things.”
I said, “Is it Mom?”
LeCarre released the button, “I guess we will have to meet at another time. My class is probably tearing up the cafeteria at this point. Lathon, stay with Alan and we will figure something out. Darius was a good man but he was not an ace at combat. Those five bas—men probably have something up their sleeves we are not aware of yet.”
He opened the door and ushered us out. Lathon morphed into vapor and climbed into my satchel, saying, “Until we meet again, old friend.”
The Silhouette (Alan Quinn and the Second Lifes) Page 10
