Nightmare Academy
Page 20
“Aw, come on, it wasn’t that amazing,” Theodore replied, flushing with embarrassment but basking in the compliment nonetheless.
“Thank you both,” Charlie said. “I can’t tell you what it means to me.”
“Ah, no worries,” Theodore replied with a grin. “That’s just the way we roll.”
“Mr. Benjamin!” a voice boomed from the far end of the Nethermancy room. Charlie turned as the Headmaster strode in, followed by Rex and Tabitha. “Good Lord, boy—you made it!”
Tabitha rushed over and gave Charlie a big hug. “We were so…” She struggled to find the words. “You just need to be more careful!” she said finally.
Rex clapped Charlie on the back. “Way to go, kid. How you pulled this off, I have no idea, but I am dang glad to see you.”
“Same here,” Charlie said, beaming. He turned to the Headmaster. “What did you end up doing with…”
“Director Drake?” she asked. “Why, he’s right here. Come on in, Director.”
The Director of the Nightmare Division entered the Nethermancy room and walked up to them. “Director Drake,” the Headmaster said, “I’d like you to meet someone very special. This is Charlie Benjamin. He’s quite Gifted.”
“Pleased to meet you,” Drake said, shaking Charlie’s hand. “Work hard, study diligently, and one day you may find yourself working for me in the Nightmare Division.”
“Thank you, sir,” Charlie said, then turned to the Headmaster. “The Hags, right?”
“Of course.”
Rex sighed dramatically. “Those Hags turned my daddy into a liar, because he always said, ‘Inside every beast lies a beauty,’ but there’s nothing beautiful about those critters, inside or out.”
Charlie laughed. “Your father said that?”
Rex nodded, grinning.
“Wait a minute,” Charlie said, “if you remember your father, then that means…”
“—that I got my folks back in the bargain, just like you.”
“Really?”
“They’re all right back in here where they belong,” Rex said, tapping his head with a forefinger. Charlie hugged him then, hugely relieved. “Hey, easy, kid,” Rex grumbled pleasantly. “Let’s not get sentimental.”
The Headmaster turned to Charlie. “When you are ready, Mr. Benjamin,” she said, “we really should talk.”
They stood on the deck of the pirate ship at the very top of the Nightmare Academy. The jungle spread out below them like a green velvet carpet. Brightly colored birds flew through the trees, held aloft by the warm tropical breeze.
“So the Artifacts of the Nether are summoning devices,” the Headmaster said, shaking her head gravely. “And you’re certain that all four of the Named must be present together on Earth to use them to summon what they called ‘the Fifth’?”
“That’s what Barakkas and Verminion said,” Charlie replied, nodding. “And they didn’t know I was listening, so I think they were telling the truth.”
“I wonder who or what this ‘Fifth’ is? If it takes all four of the Named to bring it to Earth, it must be a very powerful creature indeed. We must do everything in our power to prevent it from being summoned by keeping the remaining two Named from crossing over to our world.”
“Who are they?” Charlie asked. “The last two, I mean.”
“Their names,” the Headmaster replied, “are Slagguron and Tyrannus. Hopefully, you will never have the opportunity to make a personal introduction.”
“You won’t get any argument from me,” Charlie said.
“The information you provided, though chilling, is vital, and I greatly appreciate your acquiring it for us.”
“You’re welcome.”
“But I do not appreciate the lying and subterfuge you employed to make that happen,” she continued darkly. “Though things turned out well, they could just as easily have gone very wrong.”
“I know,” Charlie said. “I see that now. Even though we succeeded, pretty much nothing went according to plan.”
“It rarely does.”
“I wanted to make Verminion and Barakkas think I was joining them, so that they would let Theodore and Violet take my parents away.”
“And then you planned to escape with the bracer?”
Charlie nodded. “But Verminion sniffed out my plan.”
“Deceivers are always excellent at knowing when they’re being deceived,” she said grimly.
“We survived,” Charlie continued, “but barely.”
“Get used to it. My whole life has been a series of one ‘barely’ after another. When you left, the two Named were still fighting?”
Charlie nodded. “Yeah, they were tearing each other apart. The last thing I saw was Barakkas taking the bracer from Verminion’s stomach. I’m not sure they could have survived.”
“I see,” the Headmaster said. “Well, whether they survive or not, you have clearly delivered them a serious blow. They will be in no condition to attack in the next month or even the next year. You have bought us some time.”
“I guess…but Barakkas got the bracer.”
“Yes, and that’s unfortunate. But he would have gotten it eventually, and probably at the cost of many lives in the Nightmare Division.” She was silent a moment. “All things considered,” she said finally, “you and your friends succeeded quite remarkably, and the most amazing thing is that you did it all by yourselves.”
“That’s actually one thing I was wondering about,” Charlie said. “I kept thinking that you guys might show up and, you know, save us or something.”
“Did you?” she asked mildly.
“Yeah. At the end, when I was fighting half the lair, I kept thinking—hoping, I guess—that you’d pop in and rescue us. Why didn’t you?”
“Because I didn’t know what your plan was. Had I arrived at the wrong time, I could have ruined everything. True?”
“True,” Charlie conceded. “I just…I didn’t figure you’d trust me like that.”
She smiled warmly. “I had faith in you, Charlie, just like you asked me to.”
“Thank you,” Charlie said simply, then turned and stared out at the ocean. It seemed to go on for an eternity. “Where are we, exactly? Here at the Nightmare Academy, I mean.”
“Hidden,” the Headmaster replied somewhat cryptically. “Just like your parents will have to be.”
“What?”
“It’s true, I’m afraid. When they are recovered from their ordeal, we will provide them with new names and identities and give them a fresh start—for their own protection.”
“I don’t understand! Can’t they be protected here?” Charlie insisted. “There’s nowhere safer. Even Barakkas couldn’t attack us at the Academy.”
“It is true that the Academy has its own unique form of defense against the creatures of the Nether.” She lovingly rubbed the worn wooden railing of the pirate ship. “But that protection may not last forever.”
“What is it? How does it work?”
“That is a long story for another day,” she replied. “I know you wish that your parents could remain here, but, as we have seen, they make you terribly vulnerable. Besides, the Academy itself is only a very small part of a very large island.” She looked out across the broad expanse of jungle. Even though the sun was shining brightly on the treetops, Charlie couldn’t see past them to the darkness below. “There are other dangers here,” she said finally. “We are not alone.”
Charlie was bursting with questions. What exactly were the Academy’s defenses? What was lurking in the jungle? Where would his parents be hidden? He wanted answers and he wanted them now, but the Headmaster didn’t seem inclined to give him any. “When can I see my parents again?” he asked finally, hoping for an answer to that question at least.
“I’m not sure,” the Headmaster replied. “They will need to remain hidden until we know the final fate of Verminion and Barakkas.”
“I understand,” Charlie said, and then he quickly turned away so that
the Headmaster couldn’t see the tears that were already beginning to sting his eyes.
Deep in the heart of Barakkas’s and Verminion’s lair, the two giants lay sprawled across the rough volcanic rock, which was now wet and sticky with their black blood. They were torn up almost beyond recognition. Netherstalkers attended them, stitching them back together, piece by ruined piece, using their tough silken webbing. The two Artifacts of the Nether glowed brilliantly in the darkness.
“Keep him alive,” Barakkas gurgled, gesturing to Verminion. “All of the Four must be present or we will be unable to summon the Fifth.”
“Yes, master,” one of the Netherstalkers said.
Verminion lifted his bloodstained head and turned to Barakkas. “The boy…must pay,” he gasped. “He must die.”
“No,” Barakkas replied. “He must live. And be made to suffer.”
“Yes,” Verminion said. “Good.”
As lava flowed in glowing streams down the walls of the cavern, more Nethercreatures entered to attend to the crippled behemoths, using the full extent of their dark skills to coax the two beasts back from the brink of death.
Pinch sat alone on the rocks outside of the cave that led to the Banishing arena. The salt spray from the crashing waves stung his face.
“I know what you must feel like.”
Pinch turned to see Charlie standing there. “Do you?” he replied. “Do you really?”
They were silent a moment. Another wave tumbled in from the sea, leaving trails of lacy white bubbles on the sand. Gulls screeched overhead.
“If I could take it back,” Pinch said softly, “I would. All of it.”
“Me, too,” Charlie replied. “Back to before any of this ever happened. It’s just…I’ve caused a lot of people a lot of pain.”
“And you will cause more in the future,” Pinch said. “You can’t control that—but you can control whether the pain you inflict comes to further the cause of something noble or something dark.” He was silent a moment. “Don’t do what I did,” he said finally.
“I’ll try,” Charlie said. “It’s just…it’s not always easy to see which end is up, if you know what I mean.”
“I’m afraid I do.”
They sat in silence then as the sea foamed and churned at their feet. Charlie thought of the hundred and one ways that things could have, should have, gone horribly wrong. It was only luck that had saved them this time.
Next time, luck might not be enough.
“Get over here, DT,” a voice called from somewhere down the beach. It was Theodore, happily splashing in the surf with Violet.
“Yeah, the water’s great!” she added with a gale of bright, carefree laughter.
It was music to Charlie’s ears.
He walked toward them then, stopping only momentarily when he saw Brooke standing at the edge of the jungle by a grove of wild palms. She looked beautiful. He waved to her and she smiled and waved back. Seeing this, Geoff, her boyfriend, possessively slung his arm around her and steered her away from Charlie and into the darkness of the wild green jungle beyond.
“You coming?” Theodore yelled again.
“Coming,” Charlie shouted back after Brooke was finally gone from view.
He turned then and ran down the warm sand toward his friends. Behind him, the Nightmare Academy rose into the sky, its catwalks swaying gently in the tropical breeze, its crazy quilt of cabins and sailing ships and hidden nooks and crannies just begging to be explored.
Charlie was glad he didn’t have to do it alone.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
WRITING THIS WAS, FOR ME, a real creative rebirth, and I’d like to thank the many kind and talented people who made the process such a joy.
Thanks to my older son, Chris, the very first ever reader of Nightmare Academy, and my younger son, Alex, who promises to read it just as soon as he learns how. To my parents, Craig and Marilyn, who continue to define what parents should be; and my wonderful wife, Elizabeth, who snuck a peek at the first chapter and said, “Hey, this is pretty good.” Thanks also to my terrific agents, Rob Carlson and Jennifer Rudolph Walsh, and my lawyer, Tim DeBaets, who had such enthusiasm for the project right from the get-go. And thanks to Steve Sommers, Bob Ducsay, Scott Bernstein, and the rest of the folks at Universal, who are currently working hard to bring Nightmare Academy to a movie theater near you.
I’m a big fan of fantasy art, and this book wouldn’t have been the same without the stunning artwork by Brandon Dorman. I’d also like to thank the hugely talented J. P. Targete for his major contributions to my website, as well as my good friends Todd Farmer and Jim Vallely; my sister, Tiffany; and my aunt, Fran, for their strong support and comments through many drafts.
Finally, a huge thank-you to all the talented and hardworking folks at HarperCollins in the US and the UK—I can’t imagine better partners. Susan Katz, Nicholas Lake, Matthew Morgan, David Caplan, Christopher Stengel, Maggie Herold, Margaret Miller, Laura Arnold, and the many, many others who worked tirelessly to make this book the very best it could be. Last but certainly not least, my biggest thanks go to my editor, Barbara Lalicki, whose passion and belief in the wild world of the Nether continues to inspire me.
About the Author
DEAN LOREY has written extensively for television and movies. This is his first book for children. He hopes it will keep you up all night.
Dean Lorey lives in Calabasas, California, with his wife, Elizabeth, and their sons, Chris and Alex. You can visit him online at www.deanlorey.com.
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Credits
Jacket art © 2007 by Brandon Dorman
Jacket design by Christopher Stengel
Copyright
NIGHTMARE ACADEMY. Copyright © 2007 by Dean Lorey. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
July 2007 ISBN 978-0-06-149212-9
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