Nick seemed to think for a moment. “Well, our dorm is still a mess because we haven’t finished unpacking everything yet… How about your place, Kelly?”
I quickly shook my head. “My dad won’t like me having company over on a school day,” I said. “Can we go to your house, James?”
He finally put the booklet down. “I suppose we can do that,” he answered. “My mother’s excited to meet my new friends, anyway.”
We were ten minutes late for school because we got stuck behind a very slow-moving elderly gentleman in a sports car. When we got there, we started up the main stairway to get to biology.
When we were about halfway up the stairs, the silence in the halls was shattered by a terrible scream. We raced up the remainder of the stairs to find the source, but the hallway was empty. The four of us scattered to find whoever it was. I was looking along the lockers toward biology when I heard Abby yell, “Guys, get over here!”
The rest of us joined Abby, who was behind a set of lockers near the English hallway. She was trying to help Jessica McMillan, a girl from my ethics class, off the floor.
“Jess, what happened?” I asked as Abby and I helped her up. Jessica’s legs were wobbling like wet spaghetti noodles and it was hard to keep her upright.
“I…I was attacked by these freakish bu-bugs,” Jessica said breathlessly. “I feel so—” Before she could finish her sentence, she passed out, almost bringing Abby and me down with her.
“Jess? Jess, wake up,” I said, shaking her gently.
A scurrying noise came from the other side of the hall. What I saw when I turned around made me want to pass out myself. Three rat-sized bugs with red-and-white shells and scorpion-like pincers were crawling up the wall. I couldn’t even scream I was so disgusted. All I managed was a high-pitched squeak as I pointed at the bugs, which were halfway up the wall now.
When the others saw the bugs, Abby let go of Jess and slid as far away from the insects as possible, pinning herself to the other wall. Nick, on the other hand, sprinted toward the bugs, leaped up, and swung at them with his bookbag, but they were just out of reach.
“Was she bitten by all three of them?” I asked, looking back at Jess. Seeing how pale and sick she looked sent an icy trickle down my spine.
James knelt and looked at her arms and legs. “She has one small puncture wound on her left arm and two on her right leg…so it’s probable. And it would explain her condition.”
“We’ve got to get her to the nurse,” I said. But I didn’t know what the nurse could do for her, really. If Kristiana was right about these bugs, Tylenol was not going to cut it.
Still, Nick picked Jessica up, and we took her downstairs to see the nurse.
“Mrs. Juris, we need help!” I cried as we walked into the nurse’s office.
“What in the name of— What happened?” said Mrs. Juris, lunging from her seat.
“She was bitten by insects, three of the same type that bit Mr. Simmons,” said James.
“What kind of insect was it?” she asked as she motioned Nick to place Jessica on the bed. “Mr. Simmons was a little delirious when he tried to explain it to me yesterday before he went to the hospital. His description was a bit far-fetched.”
“The insects seem to belong to the mantid family,” said James. “However, their pincers are more scorpion-like and they have a proboscis that curls like that of a butterfly.”
Mrs. Juris looked at James like he had gone crazy. “Let me guess, it was as big as a chihuahua?”
“It seemed to be more…the size of a large brown rat,” said James, who looked like he was calculating something in his head.
“Did you get a picture or something of the insect?” asked Mrs. Juris after a moment’s silence. “It might help identify it.”
I shook my head. “They scurried away too quickly,”
Mrs. Juris looked at Jessica, who was still out cold. “And you said that there were three of them?”
“Yes, and they left obvious puncture marks this time,” James said, pointing them out.
“I see. Mr. Simmons didn’t have an obvious mark like she has,” said Mrs. Juris. “He just had some redness on his neck.” She sighed. “I wish I could see one of them so we could possibly identify it. That would make things much easier on the hospital staff.” She walked over to the phone on her desk and picked it up.
Kristiana’s words went through my head. “I don’t think they’d be able to identify it,” I said quietly.
“Hello, Judy McMillan?” Mrs. Juris said on the phone. “This is Ann Juris, the school nurse from Force-Pointe High…”
After telling Jessica’s mother what happened, Mrs. Juris got on the phone with the Force-Pointe General Hospital, where she was almost immediately put on hold.
“Do you think…she’ll be okay?” Abby asked, her face almost as pale as Jessica’s.
“If it’s a similar case to Mr. Simmons’s, then she should be fine,” said Mrs. Juris, looking kindly at Abby. “But it’s a good thing you kids brought her down here when you did.”
Abby shuddered. “We were late coming in and heard her scream. She was conscious when we found her, but just barely.”
“I think I’ve got it from here,” said Mrs. Juris. “Thank you, kids. You can go to class now.”
“Do you mind writing us an excuse so we avoid getting written up?” James asked hopefully.
She smiled. “You were late to school, but you did help Jessica down here, and who knows what would have happened to her if she was left lying there until next period?” She opened her desk drawer, took out a hall pass, and signed it.
We rushed to class and barged in fifteen minutes after biology started.
Mrs. Snider’s glare of disappointment made James yelp and take a step back. “You four are late,” she said sternly.
Nick answered. “Sorry, Mrs. S. We had to help a girl down to the nurse’s office. She was bitten by these weird bugs and passed out.”
James handed Mrs. Snider the hall pass, his hand shaking. “She signed the hall pass…”
She looked at it. “Fine. Take your seats and turn to chapter thirty-three.”
The four of us walked to the back row and opened our books. Flipping through, I saw a photograph of a mantis; it made me feel sick. I quickly turned the page, trying to get the thought of those insects and poor Jessica out of my mind.
In chemistry, I overheard a few people saying they saw a few mutant insects crawling across the halls on the way to class. One kid was talking about what had happened to Mr. Simmons the day before.
I soon realized people were talking about them in every class. What had happened to Jessica spread around school like wildfire, and they were making some pretty interesting theories about the insects.
One story was that they were the result of a bug laying its eggs near a nuclear waste dump, as if we had any on the Force-Pointe Islands. Another theory was that they were aliens trying to take over the world, while another called them a genetics experiment that had escaped from a lab in an undisclosed area. That one was pretty close, but they missed the part about them draining the energy out of all of us so that an evil genius could acquire some mysterious object that would free him from his computer jail. I didn’t really want to join in on the conversation, because even the thought of those creepy things made me want to move to the Arctic Circle.
At lunch, I borrowed the booklet from James and read through some of it, hoping to see if it had any tips on how to kill giant evil bugs. It didn’t. What I did find out was that the Edania Organization had many rules and guidelines, as well as an extensive code of ethics. Its structure was pretty organized, too. I was impressed, but not surprised.
“This organization is quite impressive, isn’t it?” said James as I put the booklet aside.
“Seems like it,” I said, looking down at the booklet. “It’s just a lot to take in.”
Nick slammed his carton of chocolate milk on the table after chugging it. “Well, I stand by
my decision. I think we should go for it. That Kristy lady said that we could help a lot of people.”
“Weren’t you saying just yesterday how crazy you thought she was?” I asked.
He shrugged. “What can I say? You saw what she could do.” He frowned, and suddenly looked deep in thought. “You guys didn’t feel it…that force field or whatever it was. That thing was rock solid. That kinda took whatever doubts I had about it and turned it to dust.”
Abby was quiet. She clenched the fork while eating her salad. Finally, she dropped her fork and grunted. “It still sounds crazy. They want the four of us—high school students, mind you—to take care of a bunch of mutant bugs that suck the energy from your body and then fight whoever made them?”
“Come on. This is the coolest thing ever,” Nick said. He flexed his muscles, posing for an imaginary camera. “Hey, we might even get our own TV show.”
“Nick, you’re giving me a headache with all your enthusiasm,” Abby said, rubbing her temples. “Let’s come back to reality, shall we? If we go through with this, we could get killed.”
“If we refuse to do it, we probably will be killed,” said James matter-of-factly. “As well as many other people. Kristiana said that this is only the beginning.”
“Are you considering this?” I asked James.
He took off his glasses and sighed. “I haven’t made up my mind exactly. However, seeing what happened to Jessica has certainly opened my eyes to the possibility.”
I cringed. Those bugs are pretty nasty, I thought. And they do need to be taken care of. But why does it have to be us?
“Fine.” Abby sighed. “I’ll listen to the stupid rules and stuff… I may even go with this whole ‘superpowers’ thing, but I still don’t like the idea of throwing ourselves into danger.”
“I don’t either,” said James. “But since we’ll be given abilities, at least we won’t be as completely defenseless as we are now.”
Abby looked at me. “Kelly, you think this is all total craziness, right?”
I nodded. “But…what other options are there?” I said, not wanting to admit it.
Abby sat back in her seat. “Ugh, this is so… I don’t even… I can’t.”
“Abbs, you’re doing it again,” said Nick.
She sighed and rolled her eyes. “I’m sorry. I’ll try to stay positive. I’m sure that our obituaries will be interesting, at least.”
***
Mr. Simmons was back in history class. He did look better, but he was still a little shaky and his speech was a bit slurred, and he had to sit down twice to catch his breath. Seeing him like this made me even more worried about Jessica… Would her condition be three times worse than Mr. Simmons?
After school, we went to the nurse’s office to see if she had any news on Jessica. Mrs. Juris didn’t seem to notice us walk in. She was frantically writing on a few sheets of paper. Her pen kept slipping, and she was nervously mouthing something to herself.
When she finally looked up at us, I asked if there was any news on Jessica.
She frowned. “I’m afraid not… You’ll have to call her mother to see how she’s doing. I have two more students who have collapsed. One of them told me that they were bitten by a couple of large insects matching the description you gave me before they fainted. The ambulance is on its way.”
The privacy curtains had been pulled around the two beds on the side of the room, so I couldn’t see who the students were.
“Alright…thank you,” I said.
“Not a problem,” Mrs. Juris said. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to write a report to the director of diagnostic medicine at the hospital about what’s going on. Have you seen any more of those insects?”
“Yes. The other students have, too. It seems that their number is increasing,” said James.
“This is not good,” said Mrs. Juris wearily. “We may have to close the school before too long if it keeps up. I should probably let the principal know what’s going on, too.” She looked over at the beds, her face haunted with worry. “You kids should go. Thank you for keeping me updated about the insects.”
***
We arrived at James’s house in a matter of minutes, thanks to Nick’s driving “skills.” Almost the whole way there, he kept one hand on the wheel and drove seventy miles an hour. He had the radio on way too loud and bobbed his head to the music. We almost hit a few curbs, and I thought it was a miracle that we made it. At my insistence, he slowed down to the speed limit when we got into James’s neighborhood.
When we arrived at James’s house, Nick opened the trunk and grabbed an old, tattered green bag that looked like it weighed a hundred pounds. He threw it over his shoulder and shut the trunk.
“What is that monstrosity?” I asked, staring at the decrepit bag.
“It’s my gym bag,” he answered simply. “I’ll need to change into my jersey and stuff before I leave for practice. I know, it looks a little rough.”
“You’ve had the same bag since sixth grade,” said Abby. She hit it, and Nick almost fell over. “What’s worse is that he refuses to get another one until this one’s bottom rips.”
“Hey, don’t hate on my bag,” he answered, swinging it back over his shoulder.
“I’m just glad Mom made you throw it in the washer before we left,” Abby said. “If not, that trunk would’ve smelled like a locker room.”
“I woulda washed it anyway,” Nick said unconvincingly.
“Right,” Abby said, hitting the bag again.
When we walked in the house, James’s mom called from the kitchen.
“Yes, Mother?” he answered.
“What are you doing?” his mom said.
“I brought my friends over,” James said quietly. “We have an extracurricular project to do.”
Mrs. Stump walked into the little hallway. She was a short woman with long greying hair and a gentle face. Gentle, that was, unless you made her angry. “So, you’re the new friends James has told me about? It’s nice to meet you two. And hi to you, Kelly.”
“Hi, Mrs. Stump,” I said, waving to her.
Nick walked up to her and offered her a handshake. “It’s really nice to meet you, too, Mrs. Stump. I’m Nick.”
Mrs. Stump shook his hand. “Nice to meet you.”
“I’m Abby. Nice to meet you, ma’am,” Abby said politely.
“Nice to meet you, too, Abby,” said Mrs. Stump. “Are you guys hungry? I’ll fix you some sandwiches or something.”
“Sandwiches sound good,” said James. “Thank you, Mother.”
The four of us went down to the basement, which was James’s study area. It was finished with plush carpet and excellent lighting. A desk occupied the far corner, right near the window. There was also a couch and a TV, which he probably only used to watch documentaries about Ebola and influenza.
James motioned everyone to sit on the couch, and we dropped our bags on the floor and sat down. James took the booklet out and opened it.
“I read through the booklet, and the rules and statutes are simple to understand. The first four rules seem to be the most important. Rule number one is to never, under any circumstances, use your abilities to harm anybody that is not a Corrupted, regardless of how big a threat they pose.”
“Even if someone has us at gunpoint or something?” Abby asked.
“It would seem that way,” he answered.
“So they’d rather us get killed than knock a dude out with our superpowers?” asked Nick.
“I don’t think that’s how they look at it,” James said. “Rule number two is to never accept help from anyone who is not in the Organization on issues that pertain to missions. As the booklet says, ‘Some Corrupted can conceal their power, and have mastered mimicking emotion. You may be consulting with the enemy without knowing it.’ Rule number three is to make sure that we follow orders as best we can—”
Abby coughed and glanced over at Nick, crossing her arms.
“What?” he said, hold
ing his hands up in defense. “I can follow directions just fine…usually.”
“Rule four,” James continued as if he didn’t even hear them, “says, ‘Unity is key. If your group is divided, your abilities can be unpredictable. It is dangerous to be against one another; it may even stop your abilities from working altogether. Staying united in adversity will mean the difference between life and death.’ There are another 609 rules in here that I will let you guys read on your own.”
“Wow, these folks are real sticklers for the rules,” said Nick, leaning back on the couch with his hands behind his head.
“Most legitimate organizations are,” said James, closing the booklet.
Nick chuckled. “But we’re supposed to be superheroes. You don’t see Clark Kent or Bruce Wayne having to follow all of those rules.”
“Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne don’t exist,” said James. “And even so, they still had a code of conduct they had to follow.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Nick said. He sighed. “I guess I’m gonna have to read that booklet to get to know the rules. I’m just saying there are a lot of them.”
“The Edania Organization has always handled things with the utmost ethical practices,” said James. “Regardless of the situation. This has caused them scrutiny among certain groups because there are hardly any shades of gray that they will acknowledge. It is either right or wrong.”
“You seem to know a lot about this group, J-Man,” said Nick.
James shrugged. “I thought that I did, but apparently not. I knew nothing of their hidden crime-fighting mission.”
“I don’t think anyone in the public knows,” I said. “I wonder if they’ve done this since the organization was founded.” That was a question I’d been pondering. Was that their main reason for being? Or did they just accept the responsibility when it came to them? And how did these Segols come into being?
“James, the food’s ready,” Mrs. Stump called, and James went up to get them.
He came down a moment later with an entire serving plate full of sandwiches.
“Oh, wow, can your mom makes a good sandwich!” said Nick as he inhaled his.
James nodded. “It’s the toasted bun, the way she prepares the tomato, and of course her secret homemade sauce.”
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