Villain School

by Stephanie S. Sanders

  Be well, my darling, and know that I will always love you.

  Your’s

  Cat

  I had watched my father’s face as he read the letter. At first he’d looked confused, then his eyes widened with understanding. Finally, the tiny vein in his left temple began to throb dangerously.

  “What is it, my love?” asked Padurii.

  My father raised his eyes slowly to Padurii’s face. It was the Master Dreadthorn I knew. All the mushy, lovey, gooeyness was gone.

  “You!” he said, backing away from Padurii.

  “Veldin, what’s wrong?” she asked, reaching out to touch his shoulder. He pushed her hand away.

  “Treachery! You’re not Cat. You’re Padurii!” Then he cast a spell. I’d never heard it before, but when he was finished, Padurii’s disguise was gone.

  Fear and confusion clouded her features as she reached up to touch her hair and face. Then she realized her spell had been broken. Tabs was perched on my dad’s shoulder and hissing at Padurii.

  “Veldin, I can explain!” Muma Padurii said, reaching out for my father. He backed away, his black eyes flashing with anger.

  “Get out! I never want to see you again!” he shouted.

  Turning his back, he began to walk down the hallway. Behind him, I could see Muma Padurii’s face. Her tears gave way suddenly to an insane rage. I could hear her whispering a spell. I wanted to shout to my father to watch out, but I wasn’t even really there. I was just watching something that had happened before I was born.

  Still, my father seemed to sense something. He turned, and I realized he’d been Spelling, too. At the moment Padurii unleashed her spell, my father completed his. I could feel the energy as the two forces collided in the air. But my father’s spell was more powerful. Padurii’s own hex exploded in her face. She raised her arms to shield herself, but it was no use. When she lowered them, my father gasped.

  She was no longer the cute, curly-haired freckled girl, but an ugly, bent old woman. Again, she raised her hands to her face, feeling the wrinkles. She held her hands out to examine them. They were knobby and spotted with veins like worms.

  “What have you done!” she shouted. Her voice was shaky and hoarse.

  “You did this to yourself,” my father said.

  “I hate you for this, Veldin Drexler! I hate you forever!” she screeched, then fled.

  I thought that would be the end of the crystal’s vision, but it wasn’t. There was one more scene, one final story that needed to be told. When the smoke cleared, I saw a woman in a royal bedchamber. In her arms were two bundled babies, one wrapped in a pink blanket, the other in blue.

  She was alone, sitting in the bed, rocking both of her children. Suddenly she looked up, and I saw a cloaked figure standing on her balcony.

  “You came,” she said with a smile, but it was a sad smile.

  Then the figure entered the room and stood at her side. When he lowered his hood, I saw it was my father. He didn’t return Catalina’s smile, though. He looked older, and I could tell he would never be that smiling young villain again.

  He sat beside Queen Catalina, and she handed both the bundles to him.

  “What are their names?” he asked.

  “This one,” she said, pointing to the baby in the pink blanket, “is Princess Ileana Alexandra Veldina Nicolescu.”

  “Nicolescu? Is that your … your husband’s name?” my father asked. The queen nodded.

  “And Veldina is for her father,” she said. “I told you I’d name my child after you.”

  “And the boy?” my father asked, nodding toward the blue blanket.

  “I thought you should name him,” said Cat, and my father looked surprised. “It’s why I asked you to come. My father won’t allow me to keep a boy. Only a girl. You must take him with you, Veldin.” A tear ran down the queen’s cheek. My father wiped it away and nodded.

  “I will call him Rune,” he said. “Rune Toma Emilian Drexler.”

  Then he took one last look at the baby girl and handed her back to the queen. She, in turn, planted a final kiss on the baby boy’s cheek—my cheek—and my father took me away to be raised as a villain.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Double Trouble

  The crystal went dark. Everyone blinked their eyes as if they’d just awoken from a dream. I had no idea how much time had passed. It felt like days, but I could still hear superheroes outside the bathroom, beginning their school day.

  “Wow,” Wolf said, looking from me to Ileana and back to me.

  “So you guys are related!” Jezebel said, a broad smile spreading across her face. “That’s great! Twins!”

  I thought she seemed a little overenthusiastic, but since this officially dropped Ileana out of the running as my potential girlfriend, I’m sure Jez was psyched.

  “Not just twins,” said Wolf, “full-villain twins!”

  Again, there was an awkward silence as we all remembered the words of the prophecy.

  “Hey! I just thought of something,” Wolf said to break the tension. “If you were related to Ileana this whole time, Dodge, er, I mean Deven, never needed to give you that vial of the princess’s blood to get past her room guardians that night we raided the girls’ dorms.”

  “What about my blood?” Ileana asked.

  “He knew,” I said, remembering the funny look he’d given me outside Ileana’s door. “Morgana must have told him I was Ileana’s brother. She knew, too. That wasn’t Ileana’s real blood.”

  “Wait,” said Jez, “you guys raided the girls’ dorms?”

  “Focus, please,” I said.

  “Right,” answered Jezebel. “So, full-villain twins.”

  “Like in the prophecy,” I said, finally admitting it.

  “Yeah, how did that go again?” asked Wolf.

  Ileana recited:

  “In this place, inside these halls

  A terrible betrayal falls.

  Full-villain siblings, twins

  One the other’s power wins.

  A long-kept secret is revealed

  To one, the other twin must yield.

  The traitor twin shall be betrayed

  And villains into heroes made.”

  It really didn’t surprise me that she had it memorized. She was pretty smart, after all. I guess she got that from her, uh … our mother.

  “So,” said Wolf, “what does that mean exactly?” He looked from me to Jezebel to Ileana.

  “It means one of them will betray the other,” said Jezebel, eyeing Ileana meaningfully.

  “No, it doesn’t!” Ileana said. “That prophecy could be about any full-villain twins. It could’ve already happened a hundred years ago. It might not even be a real prophecy at all, just some graffiti on an old door.”

  “Or,” said Jezebel, crossing her arms, “it could mean you’re going to betray Rune.”

  “Why me?” Ileana asked. “Maybe it’s Rune who’s the traitor.” She pointed an accusing finger at me.

  “What?” I asked, standing suddenly to my feet. “I was raised a villain! And villains stick together, er … at least as long as it’s beneficial. Anyway, if anyone’s going to betray us to the heroes, it’ll be you, Power Princess!”

  “Oh, nice,” said Ileana, also standing. “We find out that our parents lied to us, that we’re actually brother and sister, and the first thing you do is turn on me?”

  “Well,” said Wolf, “according to that prophecy thing, it was bound to happen.”

  “Shut it, Wolf!” Ileana and I both said at the same time.

  “This isn’t getting us anywhere,” I said. “We still have to find my dad.”

  “Our dad,” said Ileana, raising her eyes to mine.

  “Right,” I said, looking away.

  “Rune, don’t you want to talk about—” began Ileana.

  “Anyway, we have to find the Dread Master and get out of here,” I interrupted. Everything we’d seen in the crystal was just too overwhelming. I was in no mood to t
alk about it, so I changed the subject. “The question is: Where is he?”

  Of course, this time the crystal decided to be helpful. Once more, it glowed in my hands. The princess and I sat back on the floor with the others. With a flash of red light, a scene unfolded. We could see a wall with a tapestry depicting a knight on horseback fighting a three-headed dragon.

  “Three heads, pah! That’s nothing,” said Jezebel.

  “Shh!” I said.

  The tapestry seemed to float away from the wall as if disturbed by a breeze. Behind it was a hidden door, and beyond the door, a winding stairway leading up. The scene in the crystal moved, floating up the stairway, around and around. A window revealed the countryside spreading out far below: rolling hills, trees, streams, and mountains. The hidden stairway was obviously high up in one of the castle turrets. At the top of the stairs was a landing and a single door. We passed through the heavy wooden door like ghosts and into a small, circular room, with a bit of odd furniture, a few chairs, an old desk. At the far end, I could see my dad. He was unconscious and locked in a cell. On his wrists were manacles that glowed faintly with magic—probably to keep him from using a spell to escape. The scene grew hazy, then the crystal went dark.

  “Okay, I have a plan,” said Ileana. “I’ll go after the dragons and meet you at that window we saw. You three get Master Dreadthorn out.”

  “How do we know you won’t just betray us to the heroes?” asked Jezebel.

  “Why would I do that?” Ileana asked.

  “Oh, I don’t know, maybe because it’s your destiny!” Jezebel said. “Maybe you want to win Rune’s power!”

  “Rune doesn’t have any power!” Ileana said.

  “Hey!” I said.

  “We’re wasting time. I’m going.” The princess stood up, dusted off her hero costume, and held out her hand to me. I thought she was trying to help me up, but then she frowned when I took her hand.

  “No, Rune,” she said. “I need the crystal.”

  “What for?” I asked, wondering if I would ever be able to trust Ileana again.

  “Uh, to keep it safe from Deven. To find the right tower when I come to rescue you.”

  “I think you’ll be able to find it without the crystal,” I said, hugging the crystal ball tighter to my chest. “It’ll be the one with a bunch of villains hanging out of it.”

  “Exactly,” said Ileana. “You guys are going to be running from Deven. You don’t want him to get the crystal back. It’ll be safe with me.”

  “Until you betray us!” said Jezebel.

  “For the last time, I’m not going to betray anybody!” Ileana said. “Although I’m seriously thinking about hexing you, Countess!”

  “Don’t threaten Jezebel!” I said.

  The look on Ileana’s face was almost enough to make me feel guilty. Almost. But I couldn’t help thinking about the prophecy and all the secrets that surrounded us. What if Ileana was trying to steal some kind of power from me? I mean, sure, she was my sister, but how well did I really know her, anyway?

  “Keep the dumb thing! I don’t even want it!” Ileana shouted as she made her way to the bathroom stall with the sewage grate.

  “Where are you going?” asked Wolf. Ileana was sliding the grate away from the hole.

  “Where I said I was going. To get the dragons. You’d better be ready, or I might just leave you all here!” she said, then disappeared beneath the floor.

  “Don’t forget our clothes!” Wolf said. I don’t know if Ileana heard him or not. Or if she cared.

  I stared at the empty stall, and for a second I thought about going after her, but I didn’t.

  “Come on,” I said after Ileana was gone. “We have to find that tapestry.”

  We opened the bathroom door to find Invis-a-boy still keeping watch.

  “Where’s the princess?” he asked.

  “She had to go find our ride out of here,” I said. “She’ll be back, though. I hope. Anyway, can you help us find something? We’re looking for a tapestry of a knight fighting a three-headed dragon.”

  Invis-a-boy nodded and said, “Follow me.”

  Jez, Wolf, and I followed him down the hallways, which were mostly empty now, as the heroes had presumably all gone to class. I wondered if anybody was still searching for us, but I didn’t have long to wonder.

  “There they are!” someone yelled.

  We whipped our heads around. At the far end of the hallway stood Deven Do-Good, Omnibrain, Vortex, and someone who looked like a pink hippo. It was the Queen Bee. She was so swollen with bee stings she looked like a fleshy pink water balloon about to pop.

  “Get them!” she shouted. Only her lips were all swollen, so it sounded more like “Guh-uhm!”

  The young heroes raced up the hall toward us. Jez popped into a bat and ducked into my cape just as Vortex sent a whirlwind down the hall, lifting up all the curtains and letting in deadly sunlight.

  We turned to run, but I realized Invis-a-boy wasn’t following.

  “Come on!” I shouted.

  “Go!” he said. “Down this hall, take two lefts, then down the stairs to the right you’ll find the tapestry!”

  “What about you?” asked Wolf.

  “I’ll hold them off!” he said.

  “Are you mental?” I asked, knowing the scrawny little kid didn’t stand a chance against even one of the heroes, let alone all of them together.

  “Just go! Rescue your father! And tell the princess not to forget me!” Then, with a high-pitched yell, he charged down the hall toward Deven’s gang.

  “Heroes,” I muttered as Wolf and I fled in the other direction with Jezebel tucked safely in my cape.

  We rounded the first corner, and I heard screams coming from behind us. Wolf and I ignored the sounds and kept running. We dashed around another corner, then descended a short flight of stairs. To the right was a hallway. We ran in that direction and searched the walls.

  “Here!” Wolf shouted.

  We stopped in front of the tapestry of the knight and the dragon. Behind us I could hear the heroes closing in. Invis-a-boy had managed to stall them, but now the chase was back on. I yanked the tapestry aside and cried out in surprise.

  “Where’s the door?” Wolf asked.

  The crystal had clearly shown a doorway behind the tapestry, but we were looking at a solid stone wall. No door.

  “Maybe it’s the wrong tapestry?” Wolf offered.

  I let the tapestry fall back into place and examined it. I even counted the dragon’s heads to be sure. Three, just like in the crystal. This was the right tapestry.

  “I don’t understand,” I said.

  “The crystal was wrong,” said Wolf.

  At the far end of the hall, I could see the heroes coming down the stairway. We had to hide. I grabbed Wolf by his tail and yanked him behind the tapestry.

  “This is the dumbest hiding place in the history of forever,” he said. “Only an idiot wouldn’t notice us hiding here.”

  “Do you have a better idea?” I asked.

  But Wolf didn’t get a chance to answer. As soon as we pressed our backs against the wall, it swung open, revealing a hidden door. We fell backward into the wall, and it closed up again.

  Wolf and I found ourselves in the turret stairway, just as the crystal had shown us. I looked back at the door and saw the hidden mechanism that allowed it to open. It had probably been triggered by us pressing some kind of secret lever in the wall.

  “What’s going on?” Jezebel asked, poking her bat noggin out from under my cape.

  “Nope,” I said, pressing her back in. “There’s a window in here.”

  “What are you doing, Rune?” Wolf asked. I was pulling at a loose stone in the wall. It came out, tumbling to the floor.

  “This,” I said, shoving the broken stone under the mechanism, so the door wouldn’t open. “It should buy us some time. Come on!”

  We raced up the winding stairs, past the window. I glanced briefly outside, scanning the
skies for Ileana and the dragons. I didn’t see them. I tried not to let myself panic, not to let myself believe that she would betray us. Instead I focused on finding my dad.

  At the top of the stairs was the little landing and the door. We pushed our way in and found the cell with my dad. He was no longer unconscious, but he was still wearing the magical handcuffs on his wrists.

  “It’s about time,” was all he said. No thank you. No signs of worrying for his son’s safety. “What are you wearing?”

  I glanced down at my superhero costume and blushed. Then I noticed my dad wasn’t alone in the cell.

  “Who’s that?” I asked.

  “Who?” Jezebel asked, venturing another peek from beneath my cape. When she saw the room was window-less, she flew out and transformed back into a girl.

  “I would venture to guess it is the Master of this school, Doctor Do-Good,” Master Dreadthorn said in his bored voice.

  Upon closer inspection, I could see it was the doctor. He was slumped over, and obviously unconscious.

  Just then, we heard something that sounded like a raging tornado from somewhere below us.

  “It must be Vortex! They’re trying to break through the door!” I said.

  “How do we get Master Dreadthorn out?” Wolf asked.

  “I don’t know. I guess I’ll have to use a spell,” I said uncertainly. I wasn’t exactly the best Speller. Sometimes accidents happened, usually involving setting people’s pants on fire.

  “Or you could spare me bodily injury and use the keys,” the Dread Master said, nodding toward the wall where the keys were hanging.

  “Right,” I said, yanking the keys from their hook and unlocking the cell.

  “Where are the keys for the handcuffs?” I asked.

  “If I had them,” said Master Dreadthorn, “I wouldn’t need you.”

  “Right,” I said again. “We’ll have to get them off later.”

  Another explosion sounded from below. I could hear shouting. It wouldn’t be long before the heroes broke through.

  “So, what’s the plan, Rune?” Jezebel asked. “You got us up here, now how are we getting out? Do you expect us to just fly out the window?”

  “Yes,” I said, opening the door and running back into the stairway. Jezebel squeaked in surprise and popped back into a bat. This time, she had to hide in Wolf’s cape since I was standing in full sunlight.