Mr. Scaramucci looked at me. “Miss Donaldson, will you please gather up all the kinetic specialists and join the rest of our class in the back of the auditorium? Thank you.”
I stared at him until Sara shoved her elbow into my side. “Um…okay…I guess…okay.” I was in charge of some of the people? The only girl in Basic Kinetics?
Sara leaned over. “I want to be in your group, not with the cafeteria lady!” I nodded. Of course, Sara was going to be there. So was Donny. I needed at least two people I could trust.
“Ahem. Now, please, Miss Donaldson,” Mr. Scaramucci said, giving me a look that promised extra homework if I didn’t get moving now. He gestured to the rest of the kinetics class and they all headed toward the back of the auditorium.
“Yeah. Okay. Sorry.” I looked at Mrs. Brattle. “Um…like, um, how should we divide everybody else up?”
She frowned and looked around at the students and adults who were still sitting in the first couple of rows of seats.
“Okay, who thinks that they’re stronger in image magic?” She glared around at everybody. I noticed that Sara and Donny kept their hands down. I knew they were both pretty good at illusions, but Sara had already said she wanted to be with me, and I guess Donny thought he should work with his little sister.
Benny Dunleavy had already gone with our class, so I knew that I would have to work with him, but some of the boys who were in his crowd were staring between Mrs. Brattle and me. I really, really hoped they went with her. I didn’t want to deal with all those guys. Benny by himself was bad enough.
Lucky for me, they all raised their hands for images, and so all of them, one of the janitors, and two of the other teachers went with Mrs. Brattle. I stared at everybody still sitting there. The other janitor, one other teacher, the principal’s secretary, my brother Donny, Sara, and two other older students, a girl and a boy, who I had seen around school but didn’t know.
“Okay. I guess you guys are good at kinetics?” I tried really hard to sound like I knew what I was doing. I mean I’m good at kinetics, but nobody ever listens to a thirteen-year-old girl.
The janitor, I think his name was Carl, smiled at me. “You’re doing okay, kid. Yeah, we’re good at kinetics.” Donny nodded in agreement, and Sara jabbed her elbow in my side again.
“Um, okay. Well, I guess we need to go see what Mr. Scaramucci wants us to do.”
I led the way to the back of the auditorium, to meet up with the rest of my class. Sara stopped next to me. “Do you still think Benny did this?” she whispered.
“Yeah, I do. Look at him. He’s scared to death that Mr. S. is gonna yell at him in front of everybody.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right. I wonder why none of his friends came over here?” Sara glanced back over her shoulder at the image magic group that was gathered in front of the stage.
“They probably don’t want to get blamed for anything he did. Great friends, huh?” I snorted.
We walked past the open door at the back of the auditorium, and Sara punched me in the arm.
“Look!” she hissed, pointing at the weird trees just outside the playground fence.
The trees were still swaying back and forth together only faster now. Like some weird line of dancers. We had to be elsewhere. Or, wherever Mr. S. said, somewhere in between elsewhere and our world. How the heck did stupid Benny do this?
Speaking of stupid Benny Dunleavy, he looked super scared now. I could tell that Mr. S. must have yelled at him before we got there, because Mr. S. was looking more annoyed than usual, and Benny was slouched down in a seat, holding his head in his hands, and shaking.
“I don’t know! I don’t knoo-ooow!” he was wailing. “I didn’t think it would work! He said…” Benny suddenly stopped talking.
Mr. Scaramucci pounced. “Who said what? Who’s ‘he’?”
The whole group, including Carl, Mrs. Marsh, the teacher, and Mrs. Reynolds, the principal’s secretary, were staring back and forth between Benny and Mr. S.
Mrs. Marsh sort of reached out her hand toward Mr. Scaramucci. “Um, Michael, um, I think the kid’s scared. Maybe we should leave him alone.”
Mr. S. didn’t even glance up. He just stared at Benny. “No, Brenda. This kid did something to get us here. Or worse, he allowed someone or some thing to use him and our class exercises to bring us here. I don’t know why anybody wants us here; but I do know that we need to leave as fast as possible, and this kid is the only one who can do that.”
Benny actually started crying. I mean, blubbering. It was gross. I could see snot running out of his nose, and he just kept shaking. Now I was sorta starting to feel bad for him. He looked really scared. He looked so scared that I started to get scared. How were we going to get home if Benny didn’t know how we got here? Boys do stupid things, and they stink. Need proof? Benny in a seat blubbering into his hands with snot running down his face.
We were all staring at Benny and Mr. Scaramucci when Benny’s head jerked up, and his mouth fell open. He started making a weird wailing or screaming noise, and his head whipped back and forth like he was watching a super fast tennis game or something. His eyes rolled back until all you could see was white. And then they turned black. Like black holes in his head.
Mr. Scaramucci jumped back. His eyes got really big, and I got extra scared. I didn’t know that Mr. Scaramucci could be afraid of anything.
“Brenda, Amanda, Carl!” he snapped and reached his hand out to the other adults. They all grabbed hands, making a circle around Benny, and started chanting a spell that I’d never heard before. And Dad let me hear and read a lot of different kinds of spells.
After a minute that felt like an hour, Benny stopped screaming and slumped down in his chair with his eyes closed. Mr. S. and Mrs. Marsh were panting like they’d just run across the school. Mrs. Marsh collapsed into a seat a couple away from Benny. I didn’t blame her. I wouldn’t want to sit next to him after that either. Carl and Mrs. Reynolds sat down on the other side of Benny. They all looked really tired.
Donny came over to stand by me, and Sara and I edged closer to each other. This was now officially super weird and super scary. Mr. Scaramucci looked over at me.
“Miss Donaldson, you are the strongest in our class. I need you to work with me and Mrs. Marsh. We are going to have to move Mr. Dunleavy outside of the playground over to those trees.”
“You’re going to give him to the trees? What do the trees have to do with any of this?” I waved my hands vaguely around the auditorium. I was shocked. Mr. Scaramucci sounded like he was going to just abandon Benny to the strange, swaying trees. I didn’t like Benny, but that seemed like a really bad idea for anybody.
“We don’t have any choice. Mr. Dunleavy has allowed one of the wraiths that lives in this…wherever we are…in between…elsewhere…in those trees and other places, into his soul. It is what caused him to relocate the school. It’s bad enough that one student has been captured; we cannot allow all of us to fall to the same fate. Therefore, Benny will have to go out to the trees.” Mr. Scaramucci’s expression was upset and angry.
“But…but…” Sara was staring between Benny and Mr. S. “Can’t you get the…whatever…wraith out of him and just send it back to the trees?”
Mrs. Marsh glanced up at Mr. S, and he met her eyes. They both sighed heavily, and Mrs. Marsh put her head back in her hands. Carl, the janitor, moved like he was about to say something, but then he glanced at Mr. S. and just grimaced and didn’t say anything. Mrs. Reynolds was crying quietly.
I was beyond super scared now.
What was going to happen to Benny, and how were we going to get back to our world? I felt a small movement next to me, and Sara raised her hand.
“Sir? Excuse me, Mr. Scarmucci?” Her voice was shaky. She sounded as nervous as I felt.
“Yes, Miss Preston?” Mr. S. just sounded sad.
“Um…I-I think, um, like, um, there’s a way to get the wraith out of Benny, um…” she trailed off when Mr. S. t
urned to her.
“What do you mean, Miss Preston?” He was really staring at her now.
I was surprised. He was actually listening to Sara and not acting like a teacher. He must be really worried, too.
“Well, um…well…” Sara took a deep breath. “My uncle got caught by a wraith a couple years ago, and I watched my dad do a spell with my other uncle that sent the wraith back to wherever…here?” She made a gesture that indicated the whole school and this weird elsewhere or not place.
I stared at Sara. “You never told me about that!”
She shrugged and gave me a sideways glance. “It’s not exactly something you go around advertising,” she muttered, staring at her feet.
“Quite right, Miss Preston, and thank you for sharing this infor…” Mr. S. broke off as Benny started wailing again, jumped up out of his seat, and ran toward the back door. Carl sprinted after him and tackled Benny to the floor with help from Donny and the other boy. Benny’s face was all twisted up, and his eyes were all weird again. They didn’t look like eyes, they looked like black holes in his face. Mr. S. studied the pile of people on the floor and then glanced back at Sara.
“Okay, Miss Preston, we’ll need to begin immediately. Please tell me everything you know.”
Mr. S. and Sara moved a little bit away from the rest of us and Sara started talking really fast. I couldn’t hear what she was saying, but Mr. S. was nodding like a bobblehead doll.
Donny and the others got Benny to stay down and Carl, Mrs. Marsh, and Mrs. Reynolds did that spell again to keep him quiet. Now they all looked even more tired. Mrs. Reynolds pulled a candy bar out of her purse, broke it into three pieces and gave two of the pieces to Carl and Mrs. Marsh. They all wolfed them down. I just stood there trying to figure out what to do.
“Miss Donaldson, come over here, please.” Mr. S’s voice startled me. I ran over to him and Sara.
“Yes, sir?”
“You’re the strongest student I’ve ever had. Surprising, but there you go.” He licked his lips and rubbed his hand across his face. “I believe you can handle this.”
“Um. Okay. What is it?” I could see Donny’s worried expression as he watched us.
“Miss Preston has given me the details of how her uncle was freed from the wraith. This will require some teamwork. Mrs. Marsh, Mrs. Reynolds, Miss Preston, and I will handle the wraith. You, Carl, and the others will first move Benny out to the trees…”
“No! We can’t give him to the trees!” I shocked myself by interrupting a teacher. Benny was stupid and annoying, but not those trees…
Mr. S. sighed and held up one hand, but he didn’t seem angry. “As I was about to say, you and the others will move Benny out to the trees but remain on this side of the playground fence. We need to get him as close as possible without going directly into the domain of the wraiths.”
“Oh.” I felt my face go red.
“It’s okay. I understand,” Mr. S. sounded tired. “To continue, after we move Benny outside, Mrs. Marsh, Miss Preston and I will take over. At that point, you will begin the process for moving the school back to our original plane. We will have the illusion team outside with us so we don’t lose any time; that is of the essence. With the wraith gone, Benny should be back to himself and be able to remember the pattern to return us to our world. You will need to work with him at that point. Are we clear?” Mr. S. gave me the same look he did in class when he expected you to know the answer.
I nodded. “I think so. We move Benny outside, you guys start to get rid of the wraith, get the image from the other group, we start the kinetic spell to move the school back, you guys come back with normal Benny, we move the school back.” It sounded simple enough, but I’d never moved anything like Benny, never mind the entire school.
Mr. S. smiled at me. “Excellent. I know you can do this. You have your father’s strength and talent and that makes you very formidable. And, I understand you once moved a garden shed, so moving Benny shouldn’t be too much different.”
Oh, yeah. The shed. Remembering that made me feel a little better. But I still didn’t like the look on Mr. Scaramucci’s face. This was going to be a lot harder than moving that shed or some chairs around the playground.
Mr. S. nodded at me and moved over toward the others with Sara and me following him. Benny was now back in one of the chairs with Carl standing next to him, and Mrs. Marsh sitting on the other side. Mr. S. started explaining what we were going to do. Donny came over and put his hand on my shoulder.
“You okay, sis?”
“Yeah. I’m fine. We have to do this, so we will.” I smiled at my big brother. “I’ll just pretend it’s Dad’s garden shed.” Donny laughed.
Mr. S. looked over at us. “Miss Donaldson, we’re going to work in unison. On my count we will begin the spell. The direction for our object…Benny…will begin at six feet in height. The path is right, 25 feet, left 40 feet. That will carry us to the closest point to the trees while remaining inside the fence line. I’m not convinced that the fence will completely stop them if they wish to come in, but I believe it will act as a significant deterrent.”
I was starting to wish that Mr. S. was a little less honest and just told us it would all be fine. But I guess that wasn’t how he worked.
Mr. S. turned around and waved at the illusion team at the front of the auditorium. Mrs. Brattle waved back. The whole group had stopped whatever they were doing, and everybody was staring at us. They walked up the auditorium aisle, and after Mrs. Brattle and Mr. S. talked quickly, she took them all outside. I just hoped they’d created a good enough illusion so that we could use it to get back home.
“Is everyone ready?” Mr. S. gazed around at all of us. I swallowed hard and nodded. I felt Donny and Carl put their hands on my shoulders. I guess the others were holding their shoulders, but I didn’t look back there. I was focused on Benny.
“We got ya, sis,” Donny whispered.
Leva oculos corporis.
Proficies.
Praeterilla.
As the power built up in the spell, I could feel energy coming from Donny and Carl and the others. That was a little weird. I felt stronger, but it was like I was vibrating.
Benny was still slumped over in the seat with his eyes closed, but he slowly began to rise out of it as we kept going with the spell. I started creating my own pattern to take Benny outside. He twitched a little but didn’t really move. That was a relief. I’d only ever shifted things like chairs and rocks, and they don’t move around by themselves. People are completely different.
Mr. S. pointed to the door, and I moved toward it in my kinetic pattern, with Donny and Carl and the others shuffling along behind me. Talk about awkward. Once we got outside, the trees started swaying back and forth even more. Somebody gasped, and there was a small stutter in the power that was flowing into me. I heard Donny say, “Don’t stop!” and the power went back to an even flow. Carl squeezed my shoulder.
Mr. S. frowned at the trees doing their weird swaying dance thing and then glanced over at Benny. I did, too. Benny’s face had twisted into a snarl. His eyes were closed, but I could see them rolling around under his eyelids. It was like watching somebody have a very bad dream.
The trees started making a weird noise. It sounded like somebody whispering, and I thought there were words in it. I tried to hear what they were saying.
“Do not listen to the wraiths!” Mr. S.’s voice cracked like a whip. It was so loud and sudden I couldn’t hear the whispering anymore.
“Now, Miss Preston, Mrs. Marsh, Mrs. Reynolds,” Mr. S. said sharply.
The four of them started chanting, and Benny screamed. I flinched, but Donny and Carl squeezed my shoulders harder. Benny screamed again, and the movement of the trees became frantic. Whatever they were, or the wraiths were, they didn’t want to leave Benny alone.
Benny shrieked a third time, and then his eyes opened with those black holes in them. He was twisting and turning in the air where I was holding him.
I took more energy from Donny, Carl, and the others to keep him still. Finally, after what felt like ages, Benny stopped twisting and passed out. Mr. S. took his eyes off Benny for the first time and glanced over at Mrs. Brattle and the image group.
“Now!” he snapped. “Miss Donaldson, remove Benny!”
I started pulling Benny back towards me. “Hang on!” I clenched my teeth. Just as we got him next to me and started lowering him to the ground, Benny opened his eyes. I didn’t want to look at them, but when I did, they were normal. I waved at him (I have no idea why) and said, “We have to go back home now.”
Benny nodded and held out his hand. I grabbed it, and the pattern appeared in front of me. We turned to face the image created by Mrs. Brattle and the others.
“Go!” I yelled at Benny. All the energy from Carl, Donny, and the others poured into me. I shoved it into Benny’s pattern, and I could feel the shift start. I’d never been in a group kinetic spell before and never moved myself. It felt really weird. Benny was panting, and I felt like I was running as fast as I could.
Just when I thought my lungs were going to explode and Benny was actually whimpering, Mr. S. let out a yell.
“Yes! You did it! Leave the pattern!”
I dropped Benny’s hand, and he collapsed. I probably would have, too, except Donny caught me by my armpits just as I was about to fall. (I bet that looked hysterical).
I leaned against Donny and looked around. We were not in the middle of a lake anymore, and there were no swaying trees outside the fence. I could see the street that went past the back of the school, along the fence.
We were home.
Mr. S. smiled at me. “Excellent work, Miss Donaldson. Excellent work.”
There was no school the next day, which was fine with me. I slept almost all day. When I finally woke up, Mom gave me a giant bowl of soup and three grilled cheese sandwiches. I ate everything.
Dad told me he was proud of me and that I did a great job. That felt really good.
Middle school still stinks, but it’s definitely not boring.
Fantastic Schools: Volume 2 Page 9