I quickly grabbed hold of the railing, stopping him in his tracks. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“I think I’m about to teach you a few tricks, if you don’t mind,” he calmly replied.
Shaking my head, I told him that I could barely skate, much less do tricks. I would fall flat on my face.
A smile tugged at the side of his mouth. “That’s not going to happen. I won’t let it. Now, let go.”
Taking a deep, exasperated breath, I reluctantly did as he asked and allowed myself to be pulled away. Once we were in the middle of the rink, he dropped my hand and skated around me in a tight circle.
“I’m going to teach you how to spin,” he explained. “Keep one foot on the ground and use your other leg for momentum. Try to keep your body facing me, no matter what.”
I nodded, concentrating on what he said. After a while of slow spinning, Dustin sped up a bit. He kept getting faster and faster until he had turned into a blur. I twirled and twirled, gathering speed along with him. Wait a second; I was going way too fast! There seemed to be no way to stop myself. In a panic, my eyes darted around the rink. Worst thing I ever could have done. This only made me really dizzy. I closed my eyes, attempting to stop the dizziness, but I was caught off balance. Before I knew it, I was flailing my arms, trying not to fall. However, the force of gravity prevailed. I was going down.
Just when I was about to crack my head open on the hard ice, strong hands stopped my descent. I opened my very tightly closed eyelids. They rested on a boy’s foolishly grinning face looming over me. Dustin.
“You all right?” he asked, laughter in his voice.
I glared up at him. “Yeah, sure. A few more seconds and I so would not have been all right.”
He rolled his eyes. “You were never going to fall. As I’ve told you before, I wouldn’t let that happen.”
Like I could totally trust him. I stood up, pushing his hands from around my waist. “After everything that’s happened, you of all people shouldn’t expect me to just trust you.”
He backed up away from me, looking hurt. “I know. Sorry.”
Shoving his hands into his pockets, Dustin resumed skating.
I stayed where I was. Although I felt guilty for snapping at him like that, my words were true. I skated over to the benches and took off my skates, stripping off the winter wear.
I headed upstairs with the skates slung over my shoulder. During all this, Dustin kept skating, not even noticing my absence. This didn’t surprise or upset me. I didn’t really feel like speaking to him, anyway.
Once upstairs, I put the skates back and took a look around. Directly next to the skate shack was a big Starbucks. It had to be one of the nicest ones I had ever seen. Waves of the wonderful, intoxicating smells of coffee beans and pastries floated from the restaurant. Next to that stood a seriously creepy-looking laser-tag maze, which I so wanted to explore. Since I had no intention of asking Dustin, I let myself in.
The place was pitch black except for the neon lights. Laser guns and glow-in-the-dark vests hung from hooks at the entrance.
I decided to take a gun and vest for safety reasons. You’d think I’d freak out holding a laser gun and all, but I didn’t. They were just toys. What was there to be afraid of?
I cautiously walked down the dark path. Flashing signs warned me to Beware and Watch Out! Then I felt something move under my foot. A second later a skeleton flew out in front of me. I screamed. My screams soon turned into laughter. Just a dummy, of course. This was like a haunted house. Whoever came up with that must have been very creative. Every few minutes a creature of some kind would jump out in front of me. So that I could pass, I had to shoot them with my laser. I had fun, but the experience would have been better if someone else was there with me.
Right on cue, someone or something came up from behind me and grabbed my shoulders. Strange, I couldn’t recall stepping on a trigger. Yelping, I whirled around. Instead of a mechanical creature, a snickering boy stood before me.
“How did you find me?” I asked.
Dustin shrugged. “Wasn’t that hard.”
“You scared me.”
His eyes gleamed under the flashing neon lights. “That was the point.”
I shot him with my laser gun. Grinning, he ran into the dark. I hurried after him, but the maze had swallowed him up. Using my laser as a flashlight, I crept along, searching.
He came out of nowhere and grabbed me, scaring the living daylights out of me. Shrieking, I wriggled out of his grasp. He laughed, shooting at me with his laser gun. We went on like this for a while, darting behind walls, giving each other a scare, and of course, shooting. Then we exited the maze and headed for Starbucks.
Once we had reached the counter, some guy popped right up without warning. He had on a Starbucks tee and cap. Flashing a very charming smile, he asked us what we would like. His teeth were so white that they had to be veneers. This was interesting, because the guy couldn’t have been any older than twenty. The tag on his shirt read Jeremy. His eyes were a pretty blue. They reminded me of the beach, my favorite vacation spot. Wavy locks of dark hair hung loose from under his hat. Boy, was he cute.
Since I was too busy staring into Jeremy’s eyes, Dustin ordered for me. When the cutest employee in the world handed me my iced mocha latte, his fingers touched mine for a second. They were pleasantly warm. I would have fainted right there if Dustin hadn’t been steering me away from the counter. I stole another longing glance toward Dreamy Jeremy. He gave me a small crooked smile. My heart did a little flip.
Dustin sat down across from me in a booth. I could tell he was kind of annoyed by my sudden crush on the employee.
“Where did he come from?” I asked, gazing in his direction.
Dustin shrugged, taking a sip of of his Frappuccino. “I don’t know. He started working here a few days ago. It’s not that important.” He was trying hard to hide his irritation, but he wasn’t doing a very good job.
Then I took a sip of my first latte ever. It tasted really good. I hurried to take another sip. Then another. Dustin laughed at my reaction to the tasty beverage.
“Haven’t you ever had one of those before?”
I shook my head. “Nope. This is my first.” I took another long sip before I went on to say, “Wow, this is so good. Mom says I’m too young to . . .” I trailed off, looking down at my cup.
He cleared his throat. “Sorry. This was supposed to get your mind off of… you know.”
I smiled weakly. “That’s sweet, but that’s not the only reason why you brought me here.”
He sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Actually, there’s something I need to tell you, about that building we saw on the tour.”
I remembered the strange calmness on that little girl’s face and shuddered.
Moving closer, he began to tell me what he’d found out.
The building had turned to be some kind of science lab, as we had already assumed. Different experiments were performed on a selection of kids. Usually they came out mentally and physically traumatized. On very rare occasions they were mostly fine, with just a few bruises. However, they all lost memory of what had happened. Dustin’s dad visited the lab daily, checking on the progress. This wa had gathered so far.
Dustin put his head down on the table. “Lily, what if I was wrong about Dad? What if he really is insane?” He raised his head to rest his troubled eyes on me. “There are other things I’ve heard too. Really bad things, like sometimes, for a test, he has kids commit murder. Just to see if they can do it. I may have even witnessed it happen without knowing. I think there’s something really wrong going on, but there’s no way to know for sure.”
“Well,” I said, placing a hand on his, “there just might be a way.”
Eyes alight with curiosity, he leaned in closer. “What?”
I flashed him a wicked grin, the idea already forming in my head.
Tragedy
Dusk had fallen, casting an eerie shadow
upon the whole campus. The only sources of light were the streetlamps that bordered the park pathway. Everything was at a standstill and quiet. So quiet it sent a chill down my spine. The air had grown cool, menacing. A more than gentle breeze tussled my hair, played with the flaps of my jacket.
We stood side by side, staring at the looming fortress. Just the sight of it gave me goosebumps. I wanted nothing more than to turn right back around, but I was determined to see this through.
Dustin shifted uneasily beside me. “Are you sure you want to do this?”
I nodded slowly. “Positive. Let’s go.”
We crept toward the lab building, as silent as mice. Dustin led me around to a side door. He took out a shiny gold key he had somehow managed to steal from under his father’s nose. The door opened with a soft click.
We stepped into some sort of utility room. Brooms and buckets cluttered the floor. Other cleaning supplies filled the shelves. I pushed my way through the junk, reaching out to open yet another door. Heart in my throat, I cautiously turned the knob. Both Dustin and I held our breath.
To my relief no one stood waiting at the other side. Just a plain hallway. From the inside, the place strongly resembled an office building. The carpets were a dull gray, while the walls had been painted beige. Just like outside, complete silence.
I had just turned to ask Dustin which way he wanted to go when we heard voices coming in our direction. Quick as a whip, he pulled me back into the closet, leaving the door open only a crack. A group of guys in white lab coats passed by us. They seemed to be in the middle of some kind of heated debate. Their words were precise but fast. I couldn’t catch anything they were saying.
Since they were deeply engrossed, I decided to follow. Dustin tried to stop me, but he wasn’t fast enough. He had no choice but to hurry after me. Neither of us said anything for fear of being heard. We simply trailed the arguing scientists at a near tiptoe.
After taking a few winding turns, they finally stopped at a large metal door. The word Restricted had been painted in bright yellow letters. One of the lab coat guys pulled out some sort of keycard, waving it around in front of what appeared to be a scanner. With a mechanical beep, the door creaked open.
Once they were all inside, it slowly began to close. This was my last chance. I dove inside before it was too late, tugging Dustin along with me. We landed on our hands and knees. Thankfully, the clueless scientists already on their way, their backs facing us.
We stood on the balcony of a large warehouse-type room. The floors were made of cement, the walls a dirty gray. Scientists swarmed the area. Many were walking in and out of a large glass cubicle that stood right in the middle of the room. I struggled to see what was inside.
Taking a closer look, I realized that three sides of the cubicle had built in walls. Only the side facing us had been left as glass. Both the walls and the floor were an unnaturally clean shade of white.
After a few minutes, only one lone scientist stood in front of the glass. He appeared to be pressing buttons on a control panel of some kind.
While he messed with the thing, a door at the far right side of the warehouse opened to admit yet another group of scientists. This time they appeared to be wheeling somebody in on a stretcher, a child. They walked right into the glass cubicle. One of them held a syringe in her hand. Slowly she hunched over the sleeping child and pressed it into his arm. Almost immediately the boy awoke with a jolt. The woman whispered something in his ear. Dutifully he stepped down from the stretcher.
With a large mechanical swooshing sound, all the doors to the mysterious glass room began to close. Red lights flashed. All lab workers began to evacuate the cubicle, leaving the boy to stand there alone. They all stood and watched. He stared right back, a mixture of fear and grogginess frozen on his face.
Nothing happened for a few seconds. They all just stood there, waiting. I used those few seconds to study the boy. He had to be about ten. His hair was a vibrant shock of blue. His nose was slightly crooked, as if it had been broken at some point. He wore a white T-shirt and pants. Not a speck of dirt could be seen.
Several seconds went by and I had started to wonder if they were just going to stand there all day, when the boy suddenly cried out in pain. He crumpled to the floor, curling up in a ball. He began to shake and quiver like he was having a seizure. His skin turned a frightening shade of green and then switched to red. He appeared to be stretching, growing about a foot a minute. His arms continued to expand into the arms of a buff bodybuilder. The veins were nearly popping out of his skin. The groans of pain turned into roars of rage. During this whole transformation, no one made a move to help him. They simply stood there.
The boy looked up. Lips curled into a snarl, he slowly stood up. He no longer resembled a scared little ten-year-old boy. That boy had disappeared. A livid monster had taken his place. Beating his chest, the beast let out a mighty roar. The guy holding the control panel pressed a button. Out of nowhere, a large silver object came racing toward the monster boy. He swatted it like a fly. As the thing fell to the ground, I realized with a jolt that it was a car. They started coming faster now. Again and again he pummeled the cars until they were nothing but scrap metal. He never tired. Whatever they threw at him he would simply crush into smithereens. Every time he destroyed something, another button was pushed, and wreckage that was left would simply sink into the floor.
Finally, after about fifteen minutes, the monster began to show signs of tiring. His reflexes had become slightly slower. Some of the things were starting to hit him. Although he still roared and fought ferociously, small cuts were accumulating on his tomato-colored skin. One piece of scrap metal got him smack against the head. He fell with a bang. He struggled to get back to his feet, but it was too much. By this time a large gust of wind had been added to the storm of flying cars. Giving up entirely, he held his hands up in a feeble attempt to protect himself.
As if triggered by this sign of defeat, he started to shrink back to his original size. His arms became weak kid arms again. This turned the odd man-made storm deadly. It slowed, but not enough. Frantic, he tried dodging the large objects, but his now normal legs weren’t fast enough.
By the time the onslaught stopped, he lay trapped under a car. Only his arm stuck out from beneath the beat-up vehicle, utterly still. The glass doors slid open, red lights flashing. The same scientists who had wheeled him in rushed to remove him from under the car. They carried his broken body out, not even bothering with the stretcher. Blood seeped onto their once perfectly white coats. The boy showed no sign of life. He simply lay limp in their arms.
Once they had left the room, a few of the other scientists seemed to be writing down notes on pads of paper. The man standing in front of the control panel glanced up his checklist.
“Bring in the next one,” he called. Sick to my stomach, I turned to Dustin. He stood frozen, unmoving except for his hands. They were shaking like crazy. His eyes remained locked on the glass cubicle.
“Dustin?” I touched his shoulder.
He did not blink or move. It was like he couldn’t even see me. I shook him. Still he didn’t move. Suddenly I heard the familiar mechanical beep of the door behind us. I pulled Dustin behind a corner, pressing our bodies against the wall. Once whoever it was had their backs to us, I shoved Dustin through the door and soon followed.
Without talking, we made our way back to the utility room. Thankfully, the halls were quiet as we made our escape. Dustin silently opened the door to the outside world. He didn’t say anything as we headed for the school building.
Finally I couldn’t take it anymore.
“So, do you wanna talk about what just happened in there?” I shot a nervous glance in his direction.
“There’s nothing to talk about,” he mumbled.
I frowned. “Of course there is. That kid just turned into some kind of beast right in front of us. And then he-” I bit my lip, unable to say the words. “Don’t you have anything to-?”
&
nbsp; His head snapped up, eyes glistening with what I presumed to be tears. The question died in my throat. The expression on his face confused me. He was livid, full of a hatred I had never seen before.
“There is nothing to say,” he spat. “My father is a sick, twisted man and I can’t believe I thought he was a good person. Almost all my life, I’ve been working for a monster!”
He turned away, taking a shaky breath. “You were right all along. I’m such an idiot. And do you know what the worst part about this is? I was probably the one who brought that kid in. And now he’s…”
Something wet ran down his cheek. He wiped it away. Before I could say anything, he had broken into a dead run. I called after him, but he was already gone, having disappeared into the night.
Plan B
For the next few days, I searched for Dustin, but he was nowhere to be found. Since I no longer needed to take karate, there was no contact between us during the day. That space in my schedule had been filled with Advanced Combat 101. Luckily, True and Cattie had also been upgraded to that class. Although I couldn’t talk to Dustin, I could talk to them.
Right before class, I told them what Dustin and I had found out, and they were utterly shocked. I talked them into changing our plan. We weren’t the only ones that needed to get out. Those kids being used as human guinea pigs were in dire need of a breakout, too. Both were skeptical at first. How would we even be able to do this without being caught? I didn’t have an answer for that one, but I did know this was the right thing to do. However, they were right—we couldn’t do this on our own. We needed help. And I finally figured out where to find him. Instead of going to my next class, chemistry, I headed straight for Dustin’s rooms.
You read this right. I said rooms. Dustin had a whole side of a building to himself. He had one one big room for sleeping, then a whole series of them for studying, hanging out, watching TV, playing the latest video games. All that good stuff.
He was reading when I entered his bedroom—a room I had tried to avoid, but this was serious. I needed his help. Since he appeared to be completely engrossed in his book, I decided to play a little trick. Creeping closer, I stayed as quiet as a mouse. Once close enough, I let out a bloodcurdling scream. Jumping up with surprise, Dustin fell right out of bed. The book flew out of his hands.
Wacko Academy Page 10
