CHAPTER 30
They crawled on their bellies for several more minutes, until Lawrence pushed a tangle of roots apart. Dust blew in, which told Teddy they’d found an exit. Lawrence scooted between the roots, and Teddy saw him stand up on the other side. They were through.
Teddy slid out of the crawl space and joined him. It was still dusty outside, but the wind was weakening, and there was less sand flying around. Teddy guessed they were approaching the calm eye of the storm—which meant they were getting close to the tree.
He decided that when they finally broke through the dust and wind, he would simply sprint for the house. Despite the hints of emotion he’d prompted in Lawrence, the tall boy still had the energy of a slug. Teddy was sure he could outrun him. Walter and Albert were out of the picture. If he was able to dodge Sloot, Joey, and Oliver, he could make a break for the window and climb back into his own world.
As they continued on, the dust thinned, and the sycamore rose in front of them. It lorded over the darkness, more dominant here in the world it had created than in the light of day. Despite its trunk being still more than thirty yards away, its twisting branches reached over the boys’ heads and into the storm beyond them.
Teddy didn’t sprint toward it. Instead, he froze, suddenly drained of courage. He glanced at Lawrence, who wore the same expression he’d shown when Teddy first saw him—none.
“Are you going to make a run for it?” Lawrence asked.
Teddy was surprised that the boy knew exactly what he planned to do. “I was,” he said.
“No one’s stopping you,” Lawrence said.
“Really?”
“I brought you this far,” the tall boy replied, glancing up at the branches as if to make sure they weren’t listening. “And I’ll need to chase you when you go. Understand?”
Teddy nodded in agreement. Lawrence nodded back, then he bent down to tie his shoe, lowering his head and turning his eyes away from Teddy.
It was now or never, Teddy thought, and he took off running toward the house.
Lawrence waited a moment before he looked up. “Hey!” he shouted halfheartedly. “Come back here!” He rose and stumbled, tripping over his untied shoelace.
The tree groaned and rotated its huge limbs toward Teddy as he broke out of the waning storm and into the open. The A-house was visible beneath the sycamore on the other side of the trunk, and Teddy headed straight for it.
Teddy heard a whistling sound above him and dodged to his right just as a giant branch whizzed past and slammed into the ground where he had been only a moment earlier. He leaped over another limb and danced through a tangle of roots that wove up through the sand. The tree was a split-second slower than him, and as Teddy neared the A-house, he almost dared to hope that he would reach it.
But then he saw Sloot step out from behind the trunk, flanked by Joey and Oliver.
CHAPTER 31
Teddy trotted to a stop between the tree and the house, facing the dead boys. He was trying to remain calm so that he wouldn’t miss a chance to get past them, but he couldn’t help his anger.
“You brought me here!” he accused.
“Aww, you’re not sore at us, are you?” Sloot said. “We’re your friends.”
“No you’re not,” Teddy said. “You’re the one who tried to get me into the tree.”
“Sloot told me to hide in the chimney,” Oliver offered innocently.
“Shut up, Olive Oyl,” Sloot snapped, “or I’ll bust you in the chops.”
“Don’t call me that,” Oliver complained.
By now, Lawrence had trotted to a stop behind Teddy and stood over him like a reluctant prison guard. Teddy cursed himself for taking too long to get to the house.
“You were the first one in,” Teddy said, pointing directly at Sloot. “You helped lure everyone else.”
Teddy’s accusation drew a smirk from Sloot. “You think I’m bad?”
“I think you’re scared,” Teddy said.
That quieted Sloot, and he stared off into the distance, a reaction Teddy hadn’t expected. The sycamore groaned impatiently above them, and Teddy braced himself for an attack, watching for low-hanging branches in the darkness above.
“Have you tried to fight back?” Teddy asked. “Tried to escape?”
Sloot spoke without looking at Teddy. “My dad used to take his boots off in our yard when he came home from a hard day at the nuke-u-lar plant. He’d empty the sand out of them right beneath the old sycamore. Sometimes he would get mad at me, but I could always climb faster than he could throw a boot—”
“I mean escape from the tree,” Teddy interrupted.
Sloot looked up at him, his eyes glistening with tears that wouldn’t quite come. “The tree is where I came to escape.”
“Well, I’m not staying here,” Teddy said. “I got into this world on my own, and I’m going right back out!” Teddy marched past them to the bedroom window in the house. He was surprised when they didn’t try to stop him.
Teddy pushed up on the window frame. It didn’t budge. His heart sank as he turned to find Sloot grinning.
“You dumb palooka.” Sloot laughed. “It’s locked.” He waved to Lawrence, Oliver, and Joey. “Take him to the tree,” he commanded, “before it sucks one of the rest of us completely dry instead.”
CHAPTER 32
The dead boys converged on Teddy, and he had to think fast. He whipped out the flashlight and shined it straight into Oliver’s eyes. Oliver doubled over, and Teddy shoved him to the ground. It bought Teddy just enough time to yank the zipper open on his backpack.
“Get in there!” Sloot yelled at Lawrence. He pointed wildly at the scuffle between Teddy and the other boys.
Joey was on Teddy next, his hands grabbing at Teddy’s shirt. They struggled, standing toe-to-toe for a moment before Teddy pulled the pocket of the backpack wide. Joey looked down just in time to see the rattlesnake’s triangular head dart out and sink its fangs into his leg.
The dead boy winced as the snake dropped to the ground and slithered through his legs off into the desert. It left behind two small holes in Joey’s flesh, a pinpoint of blood leaking from each one.
Joey looked up at Teddy with pleading eyes, but Teddy couldn’t help him. Joey staggered backward. The other boys stared at him, forgetting Teddy for a moment as Joey died in front of them. Shock and poison worked together, dropping Joey facedown into the sand, and it was over in moments.
Teddy didn’t wait for the others to recover. If the bedroom window was locked, there was always the broken attic window on the roof. He ran for the porch, hoping to climb up one of its pillars before the kids could catch him.
Halfway to the house, Oliver intercepted Teddy with a flying tackle, and they both went down in a heap. As Oliver wrestled to keep Teddy on the ground, Sloot sauntered over and cocked his foot back to deliver a vicious kick to Teddy’s head.
Teddy braced himself for impact. But then Lawrence grabbed Sloot by the collar and hoisted him up off of his feet. There was still no emotion in Lawrence’s face that Teddy could see, but the force with which he rammed Sloot headfirst into the wall of the A-house seemed a bit more than necessary.
Oliver rolled off of Teddy to see what had happened and found Lawrence’s foot suddenly in the middle of his chest.
“Get up,” Lawrence said to Teddy. “And stay down,” he said to Oliver, holding him on the ground with his weight.
Teddy didn’t hesitate. He hopped to his feet, climbed onto the porch, and began to shimmy up a pillar. The tree was moving overhead, but its lower branches were too thick and slow—it couldn’t bend them fast enough to stop him.
Lawrence helped push Teddy up, standing on Oliver’s chest for a few extra inches of height, and Teddy grabbed hold of the gutter that ran along the edge of the porch roof. He swung one leg over the edge and wriggled his body up onto the rooftop. Tree limbs swung in to sweep him off, but he rolled and dodged them, clambering up the roof toward the broken window.
Teddy was al
most to the window when he heard a shout of alarm behind him. He turned around to see Lawrence rising up into the air, lifted by a branch that had curled about his waist. Leaves quickly covered his exposed skin, beginning to feed.
Teddy stared, helpless, as the tree drained the last of Lawrence’s spirit. It happened very fast—there was not much of Lawrence left. The tall boy writhed in the tree’s grasp, the remaining color in his face fading. Then he gave one last shudder and went still.
CHAPTER 33
The tree continued to suck at Lawrence’s motionless form, his body caving in wherever the leaves touched him. As Teddy watched in horror, Lawrence’s body began to disintegrate into powder, and the dust of his remains drifted away on the wind. In a matter of minutes, he’d disappeared completely.
Below, Oliver and Joey marveled wide-eyed and horrified at the fate of their former companion. By this time, Sloot had gotten up, and he glared at the other boys, jabbing his finger at the tree.
“You see? You see?” he cried. “That’s what you get!”
The tree shook as though renewed by the last bit of energy it had drained from Lawrence. Its branches turned their attention back to Teddy. They were suddenly more nimble, and a narrow limb darted after him, whipping around his leg.
Teddy yanked the hatchet from his pack and brought it down with the force of desperation, chopping the branch in two. The severed end released his leg and writhed on the roof, oozing black sap. He looked up just in time to avoid a larger branch hurtling toward him by throwing himself flat on the roof as it whistled over his head.
He saw two more following close behind. But he also saw the window was within reach. Gathering his legs beneath him, Teddy launched himself through the opening in the broken glass.
He landed hard on the attic’s beams but scrambled up and hurriedly started making his way through the room. He stepped over and ducked under the tangles of tree branches that curled around the rafters and wove through the floor beams, balancing carefully.
It seemed as though the limbs had grown and expanded to fill the space, and Teddy was thankful they were so entwined they couldn’t move to grab him. When he was halfway across the attic, he swung the flashlight toward the trapdoor. There he saw a dark lump the size of a person wedged between the narrow floor beams. As he approached, he realized that the lump was a boy curled up in a fetal position.
The boy was breathing, but seemed to be asleep. He looked about the same size and weight as Teddy himself. Unfortunately, he was positioned directly atop the trapdoor so that Teddy would have to move him to get the door open and return to his own world.
But if I can wrestle him out of the way, he thought, I’m free!
Teddy grabbed the boy’s body and shoved him off of the trapdoor. As the boy rolled over, he stared up at Teddy with glazed eyes. Teddy’s heart leaped into his throat as he instantly recognized the face.
Oh no, he thought. It’s me!
CHAPTER 34
Teddy stared in horror at his own motionless body. There was a long gash in his leg, and his shorts were completely red. It looked like he’d already lost a lot of blood. The end of the sharp branch that had cut him was still buried in the wound, sucking out his life like a straw.
This is my place, Teddy thought.
He knew instantly that he had to get himself out of the house or he’d die in this secret place and never be found, just like the other boys. He reached down and pulled the parasite branch from his torn flesh with a sickening pop. It squirmed against his grip, trying to worm its way back into his unconscious body, but Teddy wrestled it aside and pulled out his hatchet again. He gave it a firm chop, and the dismembered branch fell between the floor beams.
Heaving his own limp body up onto his back in a fireman’s carry, Teddy turned to discover that the previously still attic branches had come alive and were weaving a wall between him and the broken window. The tree wanted him to stay.
But Teddy snarled, angry. He lowered his body onto the floor beams, stomped across the attic, and met the tangle of branches head-on. They blocked the window, but he swung the hatchet hard and severed two small limbs, spattering the beams with black, sappy fluid. His backswing caught a larger branch and cut it almost in half. It flopped like a beheaded snake, and the other limbs shrank from the weapon, clearing a path to the window.
Teddy hauled his body back up and dragged himself out through the broken glass.
Together, they tumbled down the slanted roof, out of control. The hatchet went flying as Teddy scrambled for a handhold.
He caught the edge of the rain gutter, but it gave way, sending him down to the ground. Still, his grip on the gutter slowed his fall just enough that he hit without feeling any bones snap.
Then his own body fell right on top of him.
CHAPTER 35
The impact knocked him over, but Teddy quickly rolled to his feet. He looked for his body, but he didn’t see it anywhere. He took a step and felt a vicious sting in his leg—the cut from the branch was now on his own thigh. Teddy pressed a hand to the wound and scanned the immediate area, but there was only one of him.
I reunited with my body, he realized.
The physical wound hurt, but without the sharp end of the branch jabbed into his leg, it wasn’t bleeding anymore. Teddy almost collapsed with relief. He was no longer dying.
But he was still trapped in the dim world, body and soul together. And the A-house was not a way out—it was meant to be his tomb, so Teddy knew he would never go back inside. Even if he’d wanted to, he wouldn’t have the chance. The tree stood directly over him like an executioner in the barren darkness.
“There’s no escape,” Sloot called. He stood a safe distance away from Teddy, still rubbing his head where Lawrence had slammed him into the wall.
Oliver stood behind him. “Anywhere you go, there it is,” he added.
Teddy balanced unsteadily on his injured leg and faced the two dead boys. “Well, you can tell that stupid, ugly, moldy thing to go rot.”
“Tell it yourself,” Sloot said.
A huge branch swooped down and buffeted Teddy from behind. He flew forward and landed facedown on the desert floor. But Teddy didn’t stay down. He defiantly crawled back to his feet to face the monstrous tree.
“You’re just a huge bully!” he yelled, spitting sand. “And I eat bullies for breakfast!”
He pulled the small flashlight and shined it up into the low branches. It wasn’t much, but they squirmed under its light, parting to reveal Albert, the tree’s next victim.
Teddy clenched his fist in rage—the tree was sucking the other boys dry, because it couldn’t get him. He kept the light trained on the leaves, which were pasted all over Albert’s body. They peeled themselves loose, shrinking away from the light until Albert dangled by a single branch, then dropped.
Albert landed in the sand at Teddy’s feet. He was alive, but barely, his energy drained so low that he could not even lift his own neck. Teddy bent down and cradled Albert in his lap.
“I’m sorry,” Albert moaned through dry, cracked lips. “At first I did try to bring you here, but then you were nice to me, and I wished I hadn’t. Now you’re stuck, and it’s all my fault.”
“I’m still your friend,” Teddy whispered to Albert, who stared up at him with eyes full of grateful tears.
But then Albert’s eyes went wide, and Teddy turned just in time to see the branch that had struck him before swinging around again, this time whipping toward his head. Just in time, Teddy ducked down and met the branch with the flashlight beam.
The limb swung close enough to the flashlight bulb that it caught the brightest part of the beam. The light cut into the branch with a sizzling sound, leaving a shallow black scar three inches wide. The branch retreated, and the entire tree spasmed as though in pain, shaking the ground.
Teddy seized the chance to haul Albert up to his feet, but almost immediately, more branches began to descend. As thick as elephants’ legs, they bent to the grou
nd around the boys, blocking any path of escape. At the same time, thinner limbs snaked straight down toward them like hanging vines to grab them.
“Back to back!” Teddy snapped, leaning up against Albert so that they could see both directions. He’d hurt the tree with the flashlight, and it gave him hope that they could fight it. Teddy dumped the last of his supplies from his pack, desperate for anything else that could help them. All that was left were the crowbar, the spray bottle, and the rope. He grabbed the rope and crowbar for himself and handed the flashlight and bottle to Albert.
“What’s this?” Albert asked.
“Weed killer,” Teddy said, then the pack of narrow limbs snatched both boys off their feet.
CHAPTER 36
Teddy was tossed upward by the branches on a dizzying trip through the darkness, much faster than when Sloot first invited him into the tree for a view. Higher and higher he was passed, until he could no longer see the ground. In no time, he had lost track of Albert, who was being handled by other branches.
The limbs were not gentle with Teddy, but they moved him with enough care that he decided the tree was not planning to kill him yet. He noticed that the branches were growing thinner as they traded him from one to the next, and Teddy realized that he was nearing the treetop.
With a jolt, the last few branches halted his ascent, and he teetered in the dimness at the top of the tree. It was as if the tree was holding him up like a prize before draining him of his life.
But Teddy didn’t wait for the leaves to latch on to him. Ever since he’d realized the tree was going to take him, his hand had been wrapped around the climbing rope. He slid one end through two of his belt loops and the other end around the treetop, where he tied a hurried knot.
He saw Albert about fifteen feet below him, also clinging to the trunk. He’d gotten loose from his branches and was holding the parasitic leaves at bay by burning them with the beam of the small flashlight and squirting them with weed killer, which made them curl and crumple.
The Dead Boys Page 9