The School of Revenge
Page 17
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Aaron and Phillip had been playing for an hour when Aaron’s phone rang.
“It’s Boone!” Aaron said. “Pause it!”
Phillip paused the game and Aaron took the call. “Boone?”
“I got your message,” Boone said. “Do you remember the fish shack where my sister introduced us? Where I removed the head from your arm?”
“Yeah,” Aaron replied.
“Meet me there in a half hour.”
“Can I bring Phillip?”
“Sure.” Boone hung up.
“What?” Phillip asked. “What did he say?”
“We’re supposed to meet him at the fish place on Alki in a half hour.”
“Really?” Phillip asked, excitement showing on his face.
“We’re gonna have to sneak out,” Aaron said. “My mom thinks we’re in for the night.”
“Nothing you haven’t done before,” Phillip replied. “Besides, I was kicking your ass in Halo 5. This will give you some time to recover.”
Aaron picked up his pillow from the bed and threw it at Phillip, who easily deflected it and began to laugh.
It’s nice to be back to normal, he thought.
Well, normal except for the bug thing.
—
Boone was seated around the corner in the back of the fish shack, in the same spot Aaron had found him when he came with Mrs. Morrison. That seemed like ages ago.
“Boone!” Aaron said, sitting down. Phillip joined them. “What happened?”
“Your call actually helped me,” Boone replied. “I was about to go home. If you hadn’t warned me, I might have walked right into the guy.”
“Who was he?”
“Was he short?” Boone asked. “Glasses? Kind of obnoxious?”
“That’s him,” Phillip said.
“Moser,” Boone replied.
“He was asking us if we knew where you were,” Phillip said.
“I presume you told him nothing,” Boone said.
“Yeah, nothing,” Aaron said. “We didn’t know anyway.”
“He trashed your place,” Phillip added.
“Who is he?” Aaron asked.
“He’s an AG contractor.”
“AG?” Aaron asked.
“AG…short for Achernar Group. They’re a consortium of assholes, headquartered back east somewhere.”
“What did he want with you?” Phillip asked.
“Let’s just say there’s a little dispute between me and them. They think I’ve got something that belongs to them, and I disagree.”
“What?” Aaron asked. “What do you have that they want?”
Boone looked around, checking to see if anyone was near. He leaned forward. “Remember I told you I was working on a way to stop the transformation?”
“Yeah,” Aaron replied.
Boone leaned back. “Well, what I’ve got might be part of the solution. That’s why those assholes want it.”
“Are they infected too?” Phillip asked.
“Hardly,” Boone replied. “They just like to study us, like bugs pinned down on a board. The Achernar people are evil, don’t forget that. They’re not to be trusted.”
“What are you going to do?” Aaron asked.
“I need to disappear for a while,” Boone replied, “and lose them. There’s some out-of-state work I need to do anyway. I’ll lie low for a couple of months, then I’ll come back.”
Aaron suddenly felt depressed. He was hoping Boone might be able to share more with him about what had occurred, but if Boone was going to skip town for a while, none of that was going to happen.
Boone picked up on Aaron’s disappointment. “Hey, I’ll come back. And when I do, we’ll work on things together. I’m going to need your help down the road. So hang loose and chill for a couple of months.”
“We’ve had nightmares,” Aaron said.
“About the legs?” Boone asked.
“Yeah,” Phillip said.
“It’s always about the legs,” Boone replied. “Listen, you won’t molt for months. I’ll be back way before then. In the meantime, I want you to start making this.” He slid a piece of paper across the table toward Aaron.
Aaron took it and opened it. It looked like a recipe.
“Everything’s there, just follow it exactly and you’ll be fine.”
Aaron showed the paper to Phillip. “Alright,” he said. “Can we text you while you’re gone?”
“You can try, but don’t get bummed out if I don’t reply. I might be out of range, or I might have to ditch the phone. But I’ll be back.”
Aaron forced a smile. He’d never had a dad, and Boone was the closest thing to a male father figure that had ever entered his life. Losing Boone so quickly after meeting him felt unfair, and it was tough to mask his disappointment.
“Hey,” Boone said. “It won’t be long. I’m not going to abandon you guys.”
Phillip sighed. “So it’s really true? We’re going to turn into that thing? I’ve spent all day trying to convince myself that it’s all a lie or a bad dream. It’s really true, isn’t it? We’re all doomed.”
“Not doomed,” Boone said. “The molting is the worst part. The rest of it is manageable. Hell, if I can get this thing solved, we won’t even have to ingest that crap anymore.” He pointed at the paper in Phillip’s hand. “But yeah, you’re infected, kid. It’s a done deal.”
Silence settled on the table. To Aaron, even the sound of the other patrons in the restaurant seemed far away.
“Hey, it’s not all bad,” Boone said. “At least there’s the speed thing.”
Aaron looked up. “The speed thing?”
“You haven’t felt it?” Boone asked.
“No,” Aaron replied, looking at Phillip. “Have you?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Phillip replied.
“If you hold still for a few seconds,” Boone said, “you can use the speed you would have spent during those seconds and add them to your normal speed. You’ll feel it, like a tension building inside you.”
“What?” Aaron asked, not sure he’d understood what Boone had said.
“It’s like a little recharge,” Boone said. “Save up movement energy for a couple of seconds, then use it for a burst of speed.”
“You’re kidding, right?” Phillip asked.
“Nope. Not kidding.”
“How?” Aaron asked.
“I already told you how. Try it later, you’ll see what I mean. It’s thanks to the body of the creature that’s still inside you. Have you ever seen how a centipede can strike at something very quickly?”
Aaron remembered the long, red centipede in Boone’s terrarium. It struck the glass in the blink of an eye. Then he remembered how Herrod had moved in his kitchen at home, attacking him.
“The more you do it, the better you’ll get,” Boone said. “So practice while I’m gone. It took me years, but I can save up between two and three seconds. Don’t do anything stupid with it. And don’t tell anyone about it either, unless you want to be branded a freak.”
Aaron turned to Phillip. His friend was grinning broadly, obviously pleased with the news. Great, Aaron thought. Now he thinks we’ve got superpowers.
“I gotta go,” Boone said. “You two stay frosty while I’m gone and we’ll talk when I get back.”
Boone rose from the table and left, wandering out through the restaurant and onto Alki Avenue.
“I forgot to ask him if I need to keep spraying,” Aaron said.
“Who cares about spraying,” Phillip replied. “We can burst!”
Aaron raised his arm and held it above the table. He moved it back and forth as quickly as he could, then he paused and held it still. He did feel a sense of momentum building within him, like a spring being wound.
When he moved his arm again, for a split second it shifted so quickly it was almost a blur.
“Oh my god!” Phillip said, watching his friend. “It works!”
&n
bsp; Phillip raised his arm and tried to imitate what he’d seen Aaron doing.
The two of them sat at the table in the back of the fish shack, shaking their arms back and forth for the next fifteen minutes.
—
Aaron pedaled up the hill with Phillip at his side. It was the last hill before they’d reach level ground for the rest of the ride home.
“I wonder where he’s going,” Phillip said.
“Who knows,” Aaron replied, imagining far-off places a lot more exotic than wet West Seattle.
“I wonder if we can burst on bikes,” Phillip said.
“I don’t see how,” Aaron replied. “You have to build it up first. Can’t do that without stopping. What would be the point of that?”
“We’re not going to make the football team this year,” Phillip said. “I know that. You can already tell who coach is going to pick. But who knows, with this burst we might make the team next year.”
“I’m definitely going for track,” Aaron replied. “That’ll get me some credibility for football next season.”
“I wonder if you could use it to rob a bank,” Phillip said.
“Don’t be stupid. It wouldn’t help with two or three seconds, like Boone can do. We can barely do a half a second. It wouldn’t work. Besides, we’re not bank robbers.”
“Yeah, I suppose you’re right. You’re almost always right. I admit it, you were right about the School, and I was wrong. I’m sorry we fought about that. I was always on your side, though. I mean that.”
“I didn’t doubt you,” Aaron replied. “I’m sorry too. I knew once you saw what was really going on, you’d understand.”
“Part of me knew all the time,” Phillip said. “Even when we were arguing about it.”
“They why did you argue, dork?” Aaron asked, laughing.
“You’re not always right,” Phillip replied.
They rode on through the streets. The wind picked up a little, and leaves began to fall around them.
“What if he doesn’t come back?” Phillip asked.
Aaron contemplated his friend’s question. Boone had promised that he’d return, but Aaron had seen enough of Boone’s dangerous exploits to know his plans might change. Things happen. Boone might not come back.
“We’ll be fine,” Aaron replied, pedaling harder, wanting to get home. “If Boone doesn’t make it back in time, I’ll watch over you while you molt. I’ll make sure you’re protected.”
I did, after all, defeat the Scolo, he thought. I should be able to protect Phillip just fine.
“OK,” Phillip replied. “And I’ll do the same for you.”
They raced their bikes over the carpet of fallen leaves, hearing them crunch under the tires.
###
Michael Richan lives in Seattle, Washington.
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Also by Michael Richan:
The Bank of the River
The novel that begins the Best Selling series, The River
More from Michael Richan
The River series:
The Bank of the River
Residual
A Haunting in Oregon
Ghosts of Our Fathers
Eximere
The Suicide Forest
Devil’s Throat
The Diablo Horror
The Haunting at Grays Harbor
It Walks At Night
The Cycle of the Shen
A Christmas Haunting at Point No Point
The Port of Missing Souls
The Downwinders series:
Blood Oath, Blood River
The Impossible Coin
The Graves of Plague Canyon
The Blackham Mansion Haunting
The Massacre Mechanism
The Nightmares of Quiet Grove
The Dark River series:
A
The Blood Gardener
Other titles:
The Haunting of Pitmon House
The Haunting of Waverly Hall
All series are part of The River Universe, and there is crossover of some characters and plots. For a suggested reading order, see the Author’s Website.
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