The Dark Academy (Supervillain High Book 4)

by Gerhard Gehrke

  He screamed. “Stop it! Stop!”

  “Brendan Garza, is it?” she said.

  He nodded. He was hyperventilating. “Puh-please.” At that moment he would do anything if it meant the pain would stop.

  “We couldn’t agree whether this should be a warning or a lesson, so we decided on both.”

  The burning electric jabs continued on to his belly and began creeping downward past his beltline. He raked at his skin and pulled his clothes away even as more stings began to cover his scalp and ears. Every time his fingers touched one of the fiery points of pain, he felt the viscous substance. What’s on me? What is she doing?

  Suddenly, it stopped. The sensation changed. It was as if warm water were running down his entire body, like he had just finished taking a shower. The liquid ran down his trembling legs and arms to his hands and ankles, finally leaving him dry as a puddle formed beneath his hands and knees. An earthy aroma filled his nose. Tiny glistening reflections shined on the ground as the puddle left him and headed towards the girl. It was her. She was doing something. It didn’t make sense.

  The large boy from the lab window dropped down and walked towards him.

  “Don’t hurt me,” Brendan said, his voice shaking and distant and fuzzy as if someone else were speaking. The memory of the pain was too real, and the thought of it returning made him feel weak.

  “I could break his fingers so he doesn’t mess around with his gadgets,” the boy said.

  “No,” the girl answered. “We’ve delivered our message. Time to wish Brendan Garza a good night. Ike?”

  Brendan managed to get up on his knees and watched the swooping shape descend towards him. So fast, he thought. The flying boy hit him with something hard, and Brendan felt a sharp pain and then nothing at all.

  12. Lucille’s Recovery Room

  Brendan was being carried. Someone’s shoulder dug into his gut. Each step made him gasp. He weakly pawed at whoever it was and felt large arms. It was dark and he couldn’t see, but the thought of Bull Johnson, the Cathedral Valley star player, carrying him off somewhere filled him with panic. Or maybe it wasn’t him at all but the supers-killing clown, here for Brendan’s repentance and to take his life for…what?

  Pretending to be something he wasn’t. A hero. Or lately, a villain. Someone willing to cheat for a football game he had no stake in. Maybe like some postmodern Santa, the clown knew everything he had ever done and was about to sit in judgment, weighing his heart against a feather like an Egyptian god testing his worthiness for an afterlife. The clown would have to get the heart out first.

  “Don’t kill me,” he murmured.

  “Shut up.”

  “Tyler?”

  Tyler kept walking, pausing at a door and pulling it open. They were entering a school building. Brendan’s head hurt. He forced his eyes to focus and saw the peach-and-cream hallways of the athletic building. Tyler carried him through a door across from the weight room.

  “Put him there,” he heard Lucille said.

  He was set down on a thick exercise mat. Lucille was sitting on a stack of mats nearby. He pushed himself up and the room spun.

  “Dude, you might have a concussion,” Tyler said.

  Brendan didn’t dare try to stand. He touched his head where he had been struck. There was a large bump that felt sticky under his hair.

  “Was it the flying guy?” Tyler asked.

  Brendan looked up at him and it took his eyes a moment to focus. Tyler had a swollen face, his left cheek and eye thick and red. “Did he attack you too?”

  “No, but I saw him,” Tyler said. “Bull and I went at it. Then whatever little flying stinging things he has with him swarmed all over me.”

  “Cathedral Valley doesn’t like having their games messed with,” Lucille said.

  Brendan took in the room. He saw uneven parallel bars, a dangling pair of rings, and mats lining the floor everywhere. It was just the three of them. The clock on the wall read 1:10. He leaned on the stack of mats and sat up.

  Lucille held out a small bottle. “For the pain.”

  Brendan caught a whiff of something astringent and shook his head. Mimi Dreyfus had gotten him tipsy during their last conversation. He didn’t know if he could take his head spinning any more than it already was. Lucille took a drink.

  “Go check outside,” she said to Tyler. When he hesitated, she said, “Go.”

  Brendan watched Tyler leave. “Like an obedient dog.”

  “Hardly. Don’t think you know me or him. What’s your problem anyway?”

  “Right now, I probably need to be in a bed and get some ice for my head.”

  “You know what I mean. Why don’t you like me?”

  He sighed. “Is this the time for this?”

  “Yeah, it is. When I first asked you to help me with my homework, you seemed cool. But then you start acting like I’m some bitch.”

  Her eyes looked glassy. Brendan didn’t think alcohol alone would do that. “Maybe I didn’t want to become one of your drones. You had Paul and Henry attack me.”

  “Just playing. But that doesn’t answer my question.”

  She sipped and offered the bottle again. This time he took it and examined the label. Gilbey’s Vodka. He sniffed and it reminded him of solvents he used in the electronics lab. The small bottle was half-empty.

  “So you want to know why I don’t like you, or why you can’t put the whammy on me?”

  She made a go-ahead gesture. She clearly wanted both answers.

  “Because girls like you don’t normally show interest in guys like me.”

  “But girls like Tina do. You settled for her.”

  “I didn’t settle for anything.” He sipped the vodka and winced at the sharp, burning flavor that ran along his tongue and assaulted his throat. His stomach recoiled in horror as the liquid came down. He turned the bottle in his hand. “Those pills from your brother—you take them?”

  “What do you care?”

  “Because I need to know if I’m going to have to call you an ambulance to have your stomach pumped.”

  “Wouldn’t be the first time,” she said softly. “So why do you like Tina?”

  “Because I like hanging out with her. It’s not like we’re getting married or anything.”

  “The only thing you two have in common is your dumb supers videos.”

  He heard a slur in her speech. He wanted to know whether the Cathedral High students were still out there, but with Tyler gone, he didn’t know whether Lucille should be left alone. He also doubted he was able to stand.

  “Lucille, how long have you been here?”

  “Since curfew.”

  “What about your dorm monitors and security?”

  She made a face as if the answer were obvious. “They like me and give me wiggle room.”

  “We need to get you back to your room.”

  She reached for the bottle but he didn’t hand it over. “Give it.”

  He dumped the bottle’s contents onto the floor.

  “No, don’t!”

  When the last few drops were gone, he handed the bottle back.

  “Nice going, Cesar.”

  “Look, I don’t know what’s going on outside, but we can’t hide in here all night. They not only know we go to school here, they know what room I’m in. We need to figure out what to do next.”

  “Isn’t that part obvious? You need to help with next week’s game.”

  “They came to our school and attacked us.”

  “And we get our payback during the game. They’ll think they scared us, but they didn’t. And next week, we’ll be on the offensive. I need you for this.”

  “No bribe, no offer of further help finding my dad?”

  She gave a dismissive wave. “You know I’ll help with that. But what can you really hope to do with your FBI guy?”

  “I’m not giving up.”

  “Then one more game. It’s us versus them next week, our big grudge match. Let’s show them we can
dish it out. I see it in your eyes. I saw it with you and Torben. You hate getting beat and you bottle it up. Finding your dad will take time, but this is something we can do now. They smashed up your lab and clobbered you. Let’s take the fight to them.”

  In spite of the dozen reasons he could think of to refuse, he said, “Okay. I’ll help.”

  Tyler came into the gymnastics room. “Cops are here.”

  Brendan’s dizziness ebbed enough so he could stand, but his head was pounding. Tyler appeared to resent his help as they got Lucille up. She kept an arm on both of them as they took a circuitous route across campus, steering clear of the white-and-blue flashing lights near the science building. Lucille directed them to the front door of her dorm. When Brendan hesitated, Tyler said, “The monitor will get her to her room.”

  The monitor was a gloomy older woman who gave Brendan an accusing look as she took Lucille from the boys and guided her inside. Tyler waited until they were out of sight before heading towards his dorm. He lived in the first male dorm, while Brendan was in the second.

  “How often does she get like this?” Brendan asked.

  “As often as she wants,” Tyler said. He accelerated his pace.

  “Is doing any of this a good idea? You and I can get her to leave it alone.”

  Tyler stopped and looked down at Brendan. “You said you’d help. So help.”

  “I’m going to. I want payback. But the football game is such an obvious place.”

  “It doesn’t matter. Figure it out. Because next week, we’re going to win.”

  Flashlights shined nearby. Security was out in force. Brendan hurried to return to his own dorm. He waited in the shadows for a moment before choosing the right time to make it to the side entrance, only to find his dorm monitor and a security guard waiting for him.

  “Mr. Garza, please come with us,” the guard said.

  13. Measured Responses

  Security had found his phone near the smashed lab. Lights and security cameras had been disabled. And they had just busted him coming back into his room, the only boy in the dorm who hadn’t been present for a surprise bed check.

  “Would you like to tell us what happened?” the guard asked. Two other guards and a police officer waited for Brendan’s answer. The bright lights in the office hurt his eyes.

  “I couldn’t sleep, so I was going to the electronics lab to work on an extra credit project.”

  “Does extra credit include breaking into the lab and destroying everything inside?”

  “That wasn’t me. I heard things breaking. Someone hit me over the head.”

  The female security guard pulled on plastic gloves. “May I see?”

  She examined his head, then checked his eyes and had him watch her fingers as she moved them back and forth. She then started asking questions. “What’s your full name? What hospital were you born in? What color are your mother’s eyes? What school do you go to?”

  As he answered each question, she appeared to be satisfied with his responses.

  “Would you like me to take you to the hospital to get checked out?” she asked.

  “I’m fine,” he said. “How much longer?”

  “We’re not done here,” the first guard said.

  “Let me talk to Mr. Childes.” His counselor would get him out.

  “We called him and left a message. So for now, you sit tight and let us know if there’s anything you’d like to tell us.”

  ***

  The female guard woke him. She checked his eyes again as he straightened up in the hard chair. The cop was gone, as were the other security guards.

  “I didn’t bust into the lab,” he said.

  “We’ll see what the investigation says,” the guard said. “I’m going to help you back to your room where you can still manage to get a couple of hours of sleep. Your monitor will get you up and make sure your head is okay. He may decide you need to get checked out, but from what I’m seeing you don’t have a concussion.”

  His dorm monitor awaited his arrival with concern and a dash of disappointment in his expression. Brendan hated that look. If it weren’t for Brendan, the man’s job would be easier and the school a safer place.

  “My phone?” he asked the guard before she left.

  “For now, it’s evidence. Mr. Childes will have to help you get a replacement.”

  Brendan reached for the absent phone three times before nodding off in his bed.

  ***

  They all met at the Bean. Tyler and Lucille were sitting on one side of the table, with Vlad, Poser, and Tina opposite them. They’d been waiting for him for twenty minutes. Brendan pulled another chair over and sat at the head of the table. Lucille appeared surprisingly clear-eyed. It was Tina who looked tired, and she clearly wanted Brendan to get on with it.

  Brendan waited for a neighboring table of kids to clear out before speaking. “They attacked us at our school. They know it was us who messed with their game. Both Tyler and I got clobbered last night. I think there were three of them. A head girl—I don’t know her name. The big guy, Bull. And someone named Ike who can fly. He knocked me over the head.”

  “You told the cops all this?” Vlad asked.

  “No. They still think I might have had something to do with the lab getting smashed. The lights and cameras were out, so they’re still piecing it together.”

  “I hate to sound difficult,” Vlad said, “but you did have something to do with it. Going to their game and almost making them lose sure got their attention.”

  “Maybe they were onto us after the Temecula game,” Poser said. “Maybe that explains the guy snooping around. What if he wasn’t with the FBI?”

  “It doesn’t matter,” Vlad said. “We should have left all this alone. First messing with the FBI and now a group of psycho students willing to physically attack us. This has escalated and we have to disengage.”

  Lucille reached out as if to take Vlad’s hand. He jerked it back. “Oh, Vlad,” she said with exaggerated concern. “You were always so sensitive. We have one game left. We can’t let them bully us into letting them win. Won’t you help us do that? Do it for me.”

  “I don’t want to do anything for you.”

  Tyler leaned forward. The bruises on his face were yellow and blue. “It’s one game. Our game. See it through.”

  “Why can’t you win on your own merits?” Vlad asked. “You’re the jock superstar. You don’t need our help.”

  “They started cheating first,” Brendan said.

  “That’s a crappy answer. It doesn’t excuse us doing the same. And look at how it’s escalated. We need to back off. Don’t you think it’s about time we called the cops and told them what we know?”

  Brendan had never seen Vlad so upset, and this was the boy who could be whipped into a frenzy over a prerecorded supers battle when he already knew the outcome. He was probably the smartest person Brendan knew, and he realized if it weren’t for him Vlad would never be involved in anything illegal.

  “I’m not telling you what to do either way,” Brendan said. “This is probably as good a time as any for us to decide for ourselves whether we’re taking the next step. But if we are, we need to start planning now.”

  “No pressure,” Poser said wryly.

  Vlad sat back and wouldn’t make eye contact with anyone. Tina was stirring her coffee. She hadn’t said a word.

  “Well, this was fun,” Lucille said. “Maybe Vlad here should stick to his supers and his video games if this is too risky. We’ll talk later, Brendan, but I have class in a few minutes and I hate being late.” She and Tyler got up and left.

  When Poser and Vlad started to get up but hesitated, Tina said, “We’ll catch up.” Brendan and Tina were now alone. “I didn’t want to be the wet blanket, but it’s hard to argue with Vlad. It’s just a game. We’re risking a lot now for Tyler and Lucille. You don’t care about sports. The offer for next weekend is still open, and I have another reason I want you to come with me.”

&
nbsp; “What’s that?” Brendan asked.

  “I’ve been talking to my doctor just about every evening since getting back from Not-Earth. I didn’t want to bring it up with you. I thought it was just me. Brendan, we’ve been through some crazy things. We’ve seen people die. We can’t just pretend none of that happened.”

  “I’m not pretending anything.”

  “Maybe you aren’t. But throwing yourself into this Lucille situation makes it seem like you’re trying awful hard to ignore what might be going on in your own head. Maybe I’m crazy and it’s really nothing. But talking to my doctor has helped. I haven’t told her everything. She’d probably have me locked up. She’s good, though, really good. Maybe if you and I just visit her together, in person. Then you can speak with her privately.”

  Brendan gave a half-nod. “I’ll think about it.”

  “Will you? Because maybe you’re thinking about getting payback for whoever clobbered you. Somehow you’ve become involved in this thing and it’s become personal. You’ve gotten sidetracked from doing anything to find your dad, with what? Winning a football game? This is going to get you hurt and anyone who helps you. Maybe even arrested. The headmaster isn’t around to make that kind of trouble go away.”

  “I don’t need him.”

  “Spoken like someone who doesn’t care about what happens. But what about Poser? Or Vlad? Poser doesn’t care what happens, either. But that’s always been his MO. Vlad, though, does care and is only involved with this because he doesn’t want to let you down.”

  “I’ll tell him not to help.”

  “He already has helped. It’s what friends do. He’ll keep on helping because he feels like he let us down when Lucille put her moves on him.”

  Brendan hadn’t touched his own coffee. He had been waiting for his stomach to settle after waking up with an unusual cramp and heartburn, but it had only gotten worse.

  “Vlad’s a big boy,” he said. “He can make his own decisions. So can I.”