First published by Allen & Unwin in 2017
Copyright © Text, Marcus Emerson 2014
Copyright © Illustrations, David Lee 2014
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. The Australian Copyright Act 1968 (the Act) allows a maximum of one chapter or ten per cent of this book, whichever is the greater, to be photocopied by any educational institution for its educational purposes provided that the educational institution (or body that administers it) has given a remuneration notice to the Copyright Agency (Australia) under the Act.
Allen & Unwin
83 Alexander Street
Crows Nest NSW 2065
Australia
Phone: (61 2) 8425 0100
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.allenandunwin.com
A Cataloguing-in-Publication entry is available from the National Library of Australia
www.trove.nla.gov.au
ISBN 978 1 76029 562 2
eISBN 978 1 92557 644 3
Cover design by Marcus Emerson and Sandra Nobes
Text design by Sandra Nobes
Cover and internal illustrations by David Lee
www.marcusemerson.com
This one’s for Charlotte and Emma …
If you’re thinking about recruiting a dinosaur as your sidekick, I’d recommend something other than a T-rex. I mean, yeah, they’re totes one of the scariest dinosaurs that ever existed, but what science dudes don’t tell you is just how vain T-rexes really are. We had only just reached the vampire queen’s lair, and he was already looking for a mirror to fix his mask!
My name is Chase Cooper, and I’m a sixth grade ninja … trying to find the vampire queen with my T-rex sidekick.
‘Seriously, broseph,’ Bennie, the T-rex, groaned. ‘Does this mask make my face look big?’
I stopped in the middle of the dark hallway, turning around and waving my torch high over my head to get a better look at Bennie’s face, which was about six metres above the ground. ‘Um, I think your gigantic tyrannosaurus head makes your face look big. You know those magazine photos are ’shopped, right?’ I said, spinning around and continuing my trek through the dark hall.
‘My head does, but my heart doesn’t,’ Bennie whispered.
You see what I mean?
After a peaceful twenty seconds of silence, Bennie spoke again. ‘Soooo, you think the vampire queen will have a mirror so I can check if my mask looks alright?’
‘Why do you even wear a mask?’ I asked, starting to feel slightly annoyed.
‘Duh! The same reason you wear yours! To protect my secret identity!’
For a second time, I spun around to look at Bennie. ‘You’re a dinosaur!’ I hissed. ‘I don’t think a ninja mask is going to hide the fact that you’re a two-storey-tall reptile! You’re also the only talking dinosaur in existence. I think it’s pretty obvious who you are! But whatever, man. I’m almost a hundred per cent positive that the vampire queen doesn’t have a mirror since vampires can’t see their reflections anyway.’
‘But she would probably have one for her guests, right? Like, for friends she has over for dinner? I mean, not for dinner, but to have dinner with her?’
I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. ‘I don’t know. We’ll worry about that after we find her. You seriously need to focus – get your head in the game!’
‘Right,’ Bennie said, nodding his giant head once. ‘In the game. The zone. The game zone. The zone where games are played, like, for real, yo.’
A thin strip of light flickered about ten metres in front of us. Pushing my torch into the soft dirt of the floor, I snuffed out the flame so Bennie and I were hidden in the shadows.
‘There,’ Bennie said. ‘That’s the door to her lair.’
‘Do you think she knows we’re out here?’ I asked, taking one step forward.
‘I wouldn’t be a very good vampire if I didn’t,’ a voice hissed.
‘Uh-oh,’ I said.
‘Who has come to visit me?’ the voice asked, seeming to come out of thin air.
‘It’s me, Chase Cooper,’ I said. ‘I come from the land of dirty laundry and half-empty soft drink cans, also known as my bedroom.’
‘Cooper,’ the voice replied. I could hear the wicked smile on the face of whoever was speaking.
The glowing strip at the end of the hall burst, flooding the corridor in blinding light. I squeezed my eyes shut, but the light was so intense that my eyeballs still burned behind my eyelids. Even if I could open my eyes, I wouldn’t be able to see anything.
I heard the sound of the brick walls crumbling around Bennie and me. It was violent and deafening.
‘Bennie!’ I shouted over the roar of disintegrating bricks and mortar. ‘You still with me? You okay?’
‘I can’t cover my eyes!’ Bennie yelled. ‘My arms are too short! Damn these tiny arms! Are they too short? Do you think they make me look weird?’
I ignored Bennie’s question and pressed forward, feeling the ground rumble under my feet. The queen was playing mind games with us and I knew it.
There wasn’t really an explosion in front of us, and the walls weren’t really crumbling apart. It was all an illusion, planted by the vampire queen.
‘Just keep moving forward!’ I shouted, keeping my eyes closed. ‘Get ready to charge!’
‘Roger that!’ Bennie said, stomping his massive legs as we prepared to storm the queen’s lair.
I held my breath and tried to calm my mind, but it was nearly impossible. ‘Forget this!’ I said. ‘Run!’
I stepped aside and let Bennie go first since he was the size of a house. As soon as he staggered past me, I sprinted behind him.
‘Go! Just break through the door! Once we’re in the same room as the vampire queen, this illusion will end!’ I yelled.
Bennie roared loudly as he crashed into the wall at the end of the hallway.
And then the illusion of blinding light and melting walls disappeared, leaving Bennie and me behind in the cold air of the next room.
‘Well done,’ the vampire queen hissed.
Dust fell slowly as I jumped to my feet, scanning the room for the most powerful enemy I’d ever encountered. Robot James Buchanan and the Ice Queen of Scrag Seven were bad, but the vampire queen was on a whole nother level.
And she wasn’t just a vampire queen. She was a ninja vampire queen.
Two hands gripped my shoulders from behind and tossed me across the room like a ragdoll. I flipped in midair, barely keeping myself from smashing against the wall like a bug on a windscreen.
Dropping to my feet, I had just enough time to collect myself before getting tossed across the room again by the queen.
‘Chase!’ Bennie shouted as he leapt toward me.
Catching his rough skin with my hands, I dug my fingers into his scales and pulled myself to safety on his back.
The vampire queen’s voice sliced through the air like ninja stars. ‘You dare enter my home uninvited?’
Bennie stomped backwards, darting his head left and right trying to find the queen. Vampires are famously tricky, so she could’ve been hiding anywhere.
Suddenly, black smoke drifted from the shadows and swirled at the spot in front of me and Bennie. I watched the smoke form a solid shape on the floor. As the vapour climbed higher, it slowly morphed into a person right before my eyes.
It was the vampire queen. A tattered purple scarf rested on her shoulders and covered the bottom half of her face.
The queen arched her neck, cracki
ng it like she had just woken up. Her eyes met mine as she took a seat on a cracked concrete throne. Pulling one leg up, she wrapped her hands around her knee and held it in place.
‘Sup,’ she said as if we were old friends.
Bennie didn’t waste any time. He dove forward hoping to crush her out of existence. His nine-tonne dinosaur body tore through her concrete throne, but not before the vampire queen burst into a cloud of smoke, teleporting safely to another spot in the room. I managed to jump off my sidekick before he ploughed into the wall.
‘Down, boy,’ the queen said as she raised her open palm. An ice-cream cone materialised above her hand. ‘Who’s been a good boy?’ the queen said, pressing her lips together and talking with a cute baby voice. ‘Who’s been a good boy?’
Bennie’s weakness was ice cream.
Rolling to his back like a dog, he wiggled both of his itsy-bitsy stick arms like he was trying to get the queen’s attention. ‘Me, me, me!’ he giggled. ‘Yay, ice cream!’
The vampire queen tossed the ice-cream cone through the air. Bennie sat up and caught the treat in his claw. He lifted it to his face and stuck out his tongue, trying to get a lick of the ice cream.
Bennie often forgot how it was almost impossible it was for him to eat an ice-cream cone. His short arms kept him from ever getting a lick, but he kept trying.
The vampire queen knew this and used it against him.
So there I was, facing the vampire queen pretty much on my own. There was no way Bennie was going to take his eyes off his sweet treat.
‘You got lucky with the ice cream,’ I said, stepping slowly around the vampire queen, keeping a safe distance from her the entire time.
‘It wasn’t luck,’ the queen sneered. ‘Don’t you remember? I know everyone’s secrets. It’s my job …’ she said, pausing to pull her scarf down, revealing the rest of her face. ‘… as a Scavenger.’
I stumbled over my feet, shocked. I wanted to speak, but my words got lost in my throat. Standing only a metre away from me was the vampire queen …
It was Naomi.
She flung her cape off her shoulders and strutted toward me like she was in a fashion show. ‘Remember when we used to be friends?’ she asked, smirking. ‘Remember all the good times we had?’
‘Remember when you betrayed me, and turned out to be one of the most monstrous villains I’ve ever come across? Remember when you ruined my life by getting everyone to hate me? Remember any of that?’
‘Kind of,’ Naomi said. ‘I guess I remember it differently.’
Naomi was just trying to get me to talk. I shouldn’t have responded at all, but I guess my brain wanted the opposite. Sometimes my brain thinks it’s smarter than me … I know, right?
‘How can you remember it differently?’ I said. ‘That’s exactly what happened! You betrayed me!’
Bennie looked up from his ice-cream cone. ‘Um, what’s this lady talking about?’
‘Doesn’t he know?’ Naomi asked, gliding towards me. She moved through the room like she was completely weightless. ‘Doesn’t he know about … us?’
‘Dude, this is getting weird,’ Bennie said. ‘Did you used to go out with her?’
‘No!’ I snipped. ‘It’s complicated!’
The vampire queen laughed. ‘It’s not that complicated. Tell him, Chase. Tell your dinosaur sidekick how you and I used to be BFFs …’
‘No way,’ Bennie said. ‘You and the vampire queen?’
I stared at Naomi as she continued her approach. ‘That was the past,’ I said. ‘I didn’t know she was an evil, life-sucking vampire at the time!’
‘Chase,’ Naomi said with a soft smile. ‘That hurts. Remember when we used to train together? Remember when we were on the same team? We used to split our French fries at lunch!’
I squeezed my eyes shut and shook my head. ‘No! It wasn’t real! You were playing me the whole time! You were playing everyone!’
Naomi’s voice was right next to me. ‘It’s not too late to join me, you know.’
‘It’s not too late for you to stop … being a vampire!’ I said defensively, fully knowing how lame it sounded.
The vampire queen grabbed my shoulders. ‘I guess we’ll have to do this the hard way.’ Squeezing her hands, she yanked me closer and opened her mouth, hissing the entire time.
‘Chase!’ Bennie roared from across the room.
‘NO!’ I shouted.
My legs kicked forward, and I was suddenly on my back staring at ceiling tiles. The hissing vampire queen was no longer there. Instead, I heard the sound of giggling students drift overhead.
‘Great,’ I whispered, sitting upright, trying to focus my blurry vision on my friends as they hovered around me. It was Zoe, Gavin, Faith and Brayden … and they were wearing their pyjamas.
Contents
Monday. Back to reality.
Monday. The gymnasium.
Monday. The gymnasium.
Monday. The wrestling room.
Tuesday. The hallways.
Tuesday. My locker.
Tuesday. The lobby.
Tuesday. The race.
Tuesday. The second checkpoint.
Tuesday. The cafeteria.
Wednesday. The cafeteria.
Wednesday. The hallways.
Wednesday. The cafeteria.
Wednesday. The lobby.
Thursday. My locker.
Thursday. Still at my locker.
Thursday. The track.
Thursday. The kitchen.
Thursday. The Dungeon.
Thursday. The last token.
Thursday. The cafeteria.
Friday. Outside.
Friday. The hallways.
Friday. The empty hallway.
Friday. Prisoners in the classroom.
Friday. The gymnasium.
Friday. Dodgeball.
For anyone just joining our program, let me fill you in …
My cousin Zoe is the new school president. The election was last Friday, so she’s only been president for a few days.
The school has been through a lot over the past few weeks, starting with a scandal that involved Sebastian, the previous president, and ending with a rigged election that was uncovered by Melvin, a student reporter. Because of everything that’s happened, Principal Davis wants to get a little school spirit back in the hallways, so he’s throwing a Spirit Week. And honestly, it was a great idea. It’s all Zoe talked about over the weekend. My phone buzzed every ten minutes with a text message from her about a fun school activity or a great fundraising plan for school clubs.
I was happy that she was so excited, but I was also glad that the messages were from her because every time my phone vibrated, I was afraid it was going to be Naomi.
Naomi used to be one of the best ninjas in my ninja clan. She also used to be one of my best friends. I say ‘used to be’ because last week she revealed herself as the leader of the Scavengers, a dangerous group of kids who know everyone’s secrets and use them to control the school. And she didn’t try hiding it or playing it off either – she came right out and told me she was their leader. She was like, ‘Oh, BTW, I’m the leader of a terrifying group of kids who know everything about everyone. K, bye!’
The Scavengers operate in the background, listening and collecting gossip and discarded notes. You think your crush is just between you and your BFF? You’d better believe it’s not. They’re never seen or heard, and most kids think the Scavengers are a rumour. In fact, none of my friends know the Scavengers are real.
Legend says that the Scavengers have been around since the school was first built a hundred years ago. That’s right, they’ve operated in the shadows since the very beginning. And Naomi is the current leader.
Every Buchanan School president has been a Scavenger. The Scavengers rig the elections and make sure one of their own is in power. In fact, a Scavenger would be the president right now if it wasn’t for Melvin’s quick thinking.
Zoe’s the first presiden
t that isn’t a Scavenger. And I’m afraid that Naomi plans on doing something about it. Hopefully she won’t, but knowing my luck, something will go down.
Here’s the part that confuses me though – Naomi turned out to be the bad girl, but it broke my heart … and I miss her friendship. Sappy, right? Well, that’s how I feel, and I’m not gonna lie about it.
After I turned down the Scavengers’ (super creepy) invitation to join their club, they decided to seriously ruin my life. I won’t go into details, but let’s just say it was the roughest week at school yet. I lost friends and made enemies without even lifting a finger! But that’s not all … except for Brayden, every ninja in my clan quit and joined the Scavengers.
Ever since I became the leader of the ninja clan, I’ve had trouble keeping it together. I’m not exactly sure why everyone kept quitting, but I was beginning to think it’s because I’m not a good leader. Bummer, right?
So far, only a handful of people knew I wasn’t the one behind the mess last week, and that was on purpose. If I went to the principal about Naomi and the Scavengers, my ninja secret would also be exposed.
But it was mostly because of Zoe that I hadn’t told anyone about the Scavengers yet. She was so excited about winning the presidency that I didn’t want to burst her bubble with another ‘situation’.
Why were my friends dressed for a slumber party? Did I fall asleep at a sleepover or something? Where in the heck was I? Those were the questions forming in my noggin as I blinked back to life.
I glanced past my friends and saw the tinted windows of the cafeteria. Through the glass was a mess of activity as students sat at tables eating lunch and laughing with each other.
‘Oh, that’s right,’ I said, remembering that I was at school, and my friends were wearing pyjamas because that was the Spirit Week theme of the day.
‘Game over!’ my phone chimed from the carpet by my feet. I snatched it up and looked at the screen. The vampire queen had killed my character.
I guess I got too carried away in the game’s story. You ever do that? Naomi and I obviously weren’t characters in it, but my brain made it that way. And there wasn’t actually a T-rex sidekick in the game. My imagination did that too.
Spirit Week Shenanigans Page 1
