The School of Revenge

by Michael Richan

  “Aaron!” Boone screamed, and Aaron turned. The creature had ripped in half, leaving sections of itself still inside the shell, the emerged half able to maneuver unhindered. It lunged at Boone. With horror Aaron watched as its mouth descended upon Boone’s neck, biting into him.

  Aaron ran, and as he approached the creature he positioned the point of the stinger, like the tip of a sword, determined to drive it into the creature’s back. Its many legs, black and spindly, worked at Boone’s body, pressing him down while it chewed on Boone’s neck and shoulder.

  As Aaron approached the creature from behind, he tried to choose where to strike. Instinctively he knew to go low, and chose one of the sections that had just emerged from the shell. He used all of the momentum he’d gained from running to plunge the stinger into a section near the ground, holding it out as he flew forward, as though he was trying to cross a goal line. He felt it make contact. Worried that the armor of the section might deflect the blow, he held it firm, and angled the sharp tip so it was perfectly perpendicular to his target. The freshly emerged section of the creature was still soft, and he felt satisfaction as the stinger sunk into the giant mortipede’s body.

  He squeezed the fleshy part of the stinger, hoping it would force more of the poison inside. Suddenly the stinger was ripped from his hand as the creature turned around to face him, abandoning Boone. Aaron fell backward as it rose up above him like a giant snake, preparing to attack, its many legs moving wildly in anticipation of the strike.

  Then, starting at the bottom and quickly rising one by one, Aaron saw the legs of the creature freeze as the poison moved rapidly through its system. It tried to descend for the strike, but the poison caused it to lose control of its movements. It tipped forward and fell onto him. Aaron felt the slime from its mandibles rub against his cheek as the creature’s head landed next to his.

  He pushed up on the body until he could slide out from under it, feeling its pointed legs rubbing against him as he moved to the right. He rose to his knees and looked at it; eight sections had emerged, the last one trailing liquid and mucus where it had ripped from the rest of its body. It was immobile except for the occasional twitch of one of its black legs.

  Aaron ran to Boone, who was lying on the ground, also immobile. Red was spreading throughout his shirt from a wound near the shoulder; Aaron could see holes in Boone’s shirt where the creature had bitten him.

  “Boone!” Aaron cried, kneeling next to him. He tried to revive him, but Boone wasn’t conscious, and his breathing seemed ragged.

  Aaron stood up and looked around the room, unsure what to do.

  Benjamin! he thought, and ran from the room. He found Benjamin — Julian — slipping the sleeve from Phillip’s arm.

  “Is it done?” Julian asked as Aaron ran into the room.

  “Boone’s hurt!” Aaron yelled.

  Julian dropped the sleeve and ran with Aaron to the room where Boone and the creature were lying, both feeling the effects of poison in their system, both moments from death. The stinger was still stuck to the back of the creature.

  “It bit him!” Aaron yelled, pointing at Boone’s shoulder as they approached.

  “Where’s his backpack?” Julian asked. “Help me find it!”

  Aaron searched, locating it several feet from Boone; it had been knocked away during the fight. Julian dug through it, searching.

  “Can you help him?” Aaron asked.

  “The Scolo are highly venomous, just like centipedes,” Julian said, rummaging through the backpack’s contents. “I’m sure he brought…”

  Julian pulled his hand from the backpack. In it was a syringe with a cap. He discarded the cap and pushed on the plunger to remove air, then placed the tip of the needle at a vein near Boone’s neck. Slowly he depressed the plunger until the syringe’s contents had been administered. Then he fell back and sat next to Boone.

  “Is he going to be alright?”

  “I don’t know,” Julian said. “I’m assuming that syringe was an antidote.”

  “What if it wasn’t?” Aaron asked.

  “Then I’ve pumped him full of something,” Julian replied. “Won’t matter either way. The poison acts very quickly to shut down your nervous system. If that wasn’t an antidote, it won’t matter.”

  “And if it was an antidote?” Aaron asked. “How long before he’s better?”

  “Can’t tell you that, either,” Julian replied. “Depends on how much of the poison got into him, and how quickly it had moved through his system. We just have to wait and see.”

  Aaron sat down next to Julian, looking at Boone.

  “What happened?” Julian asked. “This was supposed to be simple.”

  “It turned into a man,” Aaron said. “It was talking to him.”

  “Was Boone responding to it?” Julian asked.

  Aaron tried to remember. “A little.”

  “It was a delaying tactic,” Julian replied. “Boone knows better.”

  “He tried to use the stinger but the man knocked it out of his hands. Boone stepped on it, trying to stop it from emerging while I looked for the stinger. I found it, but it had already attacked him by the time I stabbed it.”

  “You stabbed it?” Julian asked, pointing to the creature. “You did that?”

  “Yeah,” Aaron said. “I chose the newest section, because I thought it would be the weakest.”

  “Smart,” Julian replied, reaching to take Boone’s arm and check his pulse. “If he survives this, he can credit you with saving his life.”

  Aaron watched as Boone’s chest rose and fell. His breathing seemed to be smoothing; each breath appeared less ragged and more predictable, less like someone in pain and more like something sleeping.

  “Phillip?”

  “The agent I gave him should be wearing off soon,” Julian replied. “Go check on him. I’ll stay here with Boone.”

  Aaron rose from the floor and walked back to the other room. Phillip was still tied to the chair. His arm was free of the sleeve. He was staring at him.

  “How are you doing?” Aaron asked, sitting at the table across from him. “Can you talk yet?”

  He looked at Phillip. His friend was clearly angry; you could see it in his eyes.

  “I can talk,” Phillip said, the words taking longer than normal to form. “Untie me.”

  “Not yet. Not until you hear me out.”

  “I don’t want to hear anything you have to say,” Phillip replied, slowly forming his words. “You had no right to do this to me.”

  “You don’t even know what we did,” Aaron said. “You don’t understand half of it!”

  Phillip stared at him. “I guess I don’t have a choice.”

  “You’ll listen?”

  “I said I don’t have a choice!”

  Aaron told Phillip all about Boone and what had occurred since he’d met him. When he finished, he looked at his friend expectantly.

  “Well?” Aaron asked.

  Phillip snorted. “What horseshit!”

  “It’s all true, I swear it. The thing that used to be Herrod and Madame Pritchard is dead in the next room. You can see it for yourself.”

  “Untie me then.”

  “Only if you promise to come see it.”

  “Fine, I promise.”

  Aaron stood and walked around to the back of Phillip’s chair. He loosened the knots and the cord fell. Aaron reached for Phillip’s arm, attempting to help his friend up. “Can you walk?”

  Phillip shrugged his arm away from Aaron. “I don’t need your help.”

  Aaron stepped back and let Phillip stand. He seemed a little shaky, but he managed to stay upright.

  “Well, let’s go then,” Phillip said.

  “You first,” Aaron replied.

  Phillip walked around the table and out the door. Aaron followed. He wanted to make sure his friend didn’t fall over as much as he wanted to make sure he didn’t bail and run out of the building.

  They walked to the room at
the end of the hall. As they entered, Aaron was relieved to see Boone raised up on one elbow, sipping at something Julian was holding.

  “You’re OK?” Aaron asked.

  “I’m OK,” Boone replied. “I don’t feel very good though.” He winced as he rolled his shoulder.

  “We’ve got to get that treated,” Julian said. “I have a kit back at my place. Are we ready to get out of here?”

  “We have to collect it, first,” Boone replied, fishing in his pocket. “There’s plastic boxes in my trunk. It’ll be faster if you bring them in. I don’t think I can move yet.”

  Phillip had walked to the creature and was looking down at it. Aaron stood next to him.

  “You’re telling me that was Madame Pritchard?” Phillip asked.

  “Yes,” Aaron replied.

  “And Herrod?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Do you know how crazy that sounds?” Phillip asked.

  “Well, you’re looking at it,” Aaron said. “You tell me.”

  “Boys!” Julian called. “Come with me. We’re going to Boone’s car.”

  As they followed Julian outside, Phillip kept asking Aaron questions, and he did his best to answer. Every time Phillip took one of Aaron’s answers skeptically, Julian jumped in and backed Aaron up. Phillip seemed to take Julian’s word seriously.

  When they arrived at Boone’s Porsche, Phillip couldn’t help but comment on it.

  “Yeah, I know,” Aaron said. “I rode in it with him, up to Bellingham. It’s sweet.”

  Julian unlocked the trunk and removed several plastic boxes of various sizes, piling them up in Aaron and Phillip’s arms.

  “What are these for?” Aaron asked.

  “We need to collect it,” Julian replied.

  “Collect it?” Phillip asked.

  Julian closed the trunk. “We’re going to cut it up into sections and store them in these boxes.” He turned and walked back to the library.

  Aaron turned to look at Phillip over the top of the boxes. For the first time that evening — and perhaps in days — he saw the edges of his friend’s mouth turn upward. Phillip looked back at him, and the two of them nodded at each other.

  It’s going to be OK, Aaron thought.

  Chapter Fifteen

  When Aaron awoke the next morning, he had a creepy sensation on the side of his ribs. It felt like sharp points pressing into him. He wondered if it was the vestige of a bad dream. He had, after all, been witness to some very strange things the past few days.

  He ran his hands down the side of his body. They’re in there, he thought. Pointed legs. Waiting to come out. I wonder if an X-ray would expose them.

  He slipped from his bed and went to the corner of the room. He knelt down, examining the spot where the wall met the floor. He sniffed at it.

  I don’t smell the rosemary anymore. How long has it been since I sprayed? A couple of days?

  Do I need to keep spraying, now that the Scolo is dead? Did all the mortipedes die with it?

  Why would they? he argued with himself. They’re independent creatures.

  Yeah, but controlled by the Scolo.

  He stood and reached for the spray bottle. There was enough in it for another round of application. He began to administer it to the floorboards. I need to find out from Boone if I have to keep doing this or not, he thought as he went around the room. Add it to the list of questions.

  Later that day at school Phillip joined him at the lunch table.

  “How you doing?” Aaron asked.

  “Fine, you?”

  “Fine.”

  Long pause.

  “What we did last night was kind of twisted, you know?” Phillip said.

  “Yeah,” Aaron replied, taking a bite of hamburger. “But it was kinda cool, too.”

  “You killed that thing? Not Boone?” Phillip asked.

  “Yeah.”

  Another long pause.

  “I hear Curtis is recovering,” Phillip said. “Dirk too. Won’t be back to school anytime soon.”

  “That’s fine with me,” Aaron said, looking around the lunchroom. It was nice to eat in peace without the looming threat of Curtis and Dirk.

  “I had a nightmare last night,” Phillip said. “Legs were sticking out of my sides.”

  “I had the same nightmare,” Aaron muttered. “Been checking myself to see if I can feel them inside me.”

  “This is so unfair,” Phillip said. “What, our whole lives we have to deal with this?”

  “No one forced my hand into Herrod’s box,” Aaron replied. “Or yours. You seemed pretty gung ho at the time.”

  “So did you.”

  Another long pause.

  “Have you ever seen the mortipedes in your house?” Aaron asked.

  “What?”

  “I told you about them, they live under the cracks in the wall.”

  “I’ve never seen them.”

  The way Phillip said it, Aaron took it to mean that Phillip didn’t believe him. “Really? After everything else you’ve seen, you think I made that up?”

  “Calm down, I believe you,” Phillip replied. “I never got the eggs. The flyers came to your house, remember? I don’t think there’s any in my home.”

  Aaron felt a little sheepish about assuming that Phillip didn’t believe him. “I was wondering if I need to keep spraying. Boone taught me how to make a spray that keeps them away, but I don’t know if they’re still around, now that the Scolo is dead.”

  “Scolo…what a weird name,” Phillip said. “I can’t believe we chopped it up last night. Disgusting!”

  Aaron could tell that, despite his friend’s protestations, he’d enjoyed how they dismembered the creature and stuffed it into boxes. “Boone said he wanted it for parts.”

  “Parts for what?” Phillip asked.

  “I dunno…I’ve got this growing list of questions. I’m thinking I should go to his place tonight and see if I can get more answers.”

  Another pause.

  “You want to come with?” Aaron asked.

  Phillip smiled at him. “Do I!”

  —

  Aaron pressed on the button to Boone’s condo. The door buzzed, and Phillip pulled it open.

  “That’s unusual,” Aaron said as they made their way to the elevator. “He normally asks who it is.”

  “He didn’t know you were coming?” Phillip asked.

  “No, I didn’t tell him.”

  When the elevator reached the top floor and opened, Aaron immediately felt concern; the door to Boone’s apartment was slightly ajar. They walked to it.

  “Maybe he left it open for you?” Phillip whispered.

  “Not like Boone,” Aaron replied. He pushed the door open slowly.

  From the doorway they could see the mess; the place had been ransacked. They walked inside, inspecting the damage.

  “Boone?” Aaron called. “Are you here?”

  “Wow, they did a number on the place,” Phillip said, making his way to the large windows that overlooked the water. “And what a view!”

  Aaron joined him, looking down at Alki Avenue. “I wonder where he is.”

  They both saw the reflection in the glass at the same time.

  “I was hoping you might be able to tell me,” came the voice from behind them.

  They turned. A short man stood between them and the door. His hair was dark and he wore glasses. His black raincoat looked oddly formal; not like the kind locals would wear.

  “Who are you?” Aaron asked.

  “Who are you?” the man repeated back at him.

  “I’m Aaron, and this is Phillip.”

  “And how do you know the occupant of this apartment?”

  “Condo, actually,” Aaron replied.

  The man walked forward and startled Aaron by reaching out toward him. His fingers wrapped around Aaron’s face. Aaron could smell the man’s palm.

  “Tell me,” the man said. “Where is Boone?”

  “How should I know?” A
aron muttered into the man’s hand. “We just got here. We wanted to talk to him.” He reached up to grab the man’s arm, intending to pull him away, but the arm was firm.

  The man’s fingers tingled on the skin of his face. Aaron had the sensation of them elongating around the back of his head and meshing together once they connected.

  “Ah,” the man said. “Pre-instar. What, are you his protégés?”

  “What does that mean?” Phillip asked.

  “Is he teaching you? He’s more than a decade your senior, so he knows much, much more than you. You’ve yet to go through it, haven’t you?” He looked from Phillip to Aaron. “You’re both molting virgins.”

  “Who are you?” Aaron asked, still trying to pull the man’s arm from his face. “And what have you done with Boone?”

  “I’ve done nothing with him,” the man replied. “And I can see you’re not going to be any help to me.” The man released Aaron and turned, walking away from them.

  “Wait!” Aaron said. “Who are you? Where’s Boone?”

  The man didn’t stop walking. “He’s not who you think he is,” he said over his shoulder. “I’d be very careful around him, if you value your life.”

  The man opened the door and walked out of the condo, leaving Aaron and Phillip standing by the window.

  “What the hell was that all about?” Phillip asked.

  Aaron ran to the doorway, but the man was gone. He walked back into the condo to find Phillip.

  “What do we do now?” Phillip asked.

  “I don’t know,” Aaron replied. “I’ve got Boone’s phone number. Let’s try that.” He reached into his pants and retrieved the phone. He dialed. It rang and eventually went to voice mail.

  “Boone, this is Aaron. We’re…Phillip and I, we’re at your place. It’s all torn up. And there was a man here. Just wondering if you’re OK and where you are. Call me back.” He hung up.

  “Now what?” Phillip asked.

  “We wait,” Aaron said. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”

  They left the condo and rode the elevator down. On the bike ride home, Phillip proposed Xbox, and Aaron readily agreed, feeling it would be nice to re-establish some normality, even if he was worried about Boone.