by Bill Myers
“That’s strange,” the man said. And before Willard could stop him, he reached toward the enter key
”No,” Willard cried, “not that key. It’ll send it!”
“What key? This one here?” the hermit asked as he hit the key and sent the message.
“Yeah,” Willard sighed in defeat, “that one.”
Zach had barely managed to get control of the motorcycle when the cell phone began vibrating in his back pocket. He reached in and dug it out. Keeping one eye on the road he read the tiny screen:
go back to Shadow Man’s headquarters!
He frowned. It didn’t make sense. If there was one place he didn’t want to revisit, it was Shadow Man’s Compound. Still, the instructions over the cell phone hadn’t been wrong yet.
He slid the cell phone into his pocket and threw the bike into a sharp left, heading toward the Compound.
A moment later a pair of headlights bounced onto the road behind him. He glanced over his shoulder. It was Monica and her goons.
He revved the bike faster and roared down the dark road. But no matter how fast he went, the van stayed on his tail
Piper peered out the windshield. She didn’t believe her eyes. “What have you done?” she shouted back to her little brother.
“What’s wrong?” Cody called.
“He’s brought us back to the Compound!” she cried. “Elijah, what did you do?!”
The little guy gave no answer except for his usual satisfied grin.
Suddenly, Shadow Man’s fortress loomed before them. Piper hit the brakes and slid the RV to a stop just a few yards from the front entrance.
The area was too small to turn around, so she threw the vehicle into reverse. It would have been a good idea, except for the Hummer that suddenly appeared behind them, blocking their path. She wasn’t sure how much more abuse the old RV could take, but she had no choice.
She stomped on the gas, preparing to ram the Hummer.
But the RV didn’t move. Not an inch. Instead, its wheels just spun in place.
“What’s going on?” Cody shouted, his eyes wide and his face white with fear. “Are we stuck?”
She blew the hair out of her eyes and pressed the accelerator harder.
More spinning but no movement.
Her mind raced, trying to understand. There was no mud, no snow. Why couldn’t they move?
Suddenly, the side door flew open. She twirled around and had her answer. Shadow Man stood before them, one arm raised toward the RV, holding it in place with his powers.
“Welcome, children,” he sneered. “Ssso nice of you to return.”
Piper turn to Elijah. The little guy didn’t look frightened … but he was no longer smiling.
Dad groaned and tried to move his head, but it seemed to weigh a ton. He forced his eyes open and saw the blur of a hospital room. With lots of effort, he finally rolled his head to the side and saw another bed.
And his wife.
“Juud … …” …” his tongue was so thick no words came. “Juuu … …” …”
He heard a small beep on the other side of him and a nurse’s voice. “Doctor, the husband is coming around.”
There was another beep, and the doctor’s voice answered through the intercom. “It’s time for another dose. Give one to both of them.”
“Yes, Doctor.”
Dad tried to move, but his body felt like lead. He opened his mouth and forced out the word, “No … ”
“It’s all right,” the nurse said. “You’ll be just fine.”
“Nooo.”
He saw the glint of a needle in the dim light. Desperately, he tried to move — not to save himself, but his wife.
“Steady now.”
He felt the tiny burn of the needle.
“No …”
“There we go.”
Once again his eyes grew heavy. No matter how he tried, he could not keep them open. They closed, and the silence returned.
The Compound came into Zach’s view. So did the Hummer and RV. He immediately hit the brakes. Unfortunately, Monica’s van behind him wasn’t quite as quick, which would explain the …
SCREETCH!
followed by the
THUD!
of it slamming into the back of Zach’s bike and throwing it forward.
Zach yelled as he hung onto the handlebars. He managed to steer clear of the Hummer but had to dump the bike in order to miss the RV. He came to a sliding stop at Shadow Man’s feet.
Monica’s van wasn’t quite so lucky.
It slammed head-on into the rear of the Hummer. Of course, the Hummer was barely scratched, but the van didn’t survive as well. Now it looked like a crunched accordion with steam rising from it.
Unfortunately, that didn’t stop Monica from prying herself out of the metal accordion and screaming. “You moron! Who taught you to drive?”
“Nobody,” Silas said as he stumbled out after her.
“Well, it shows! Where’s Bruno?”
There was no answer. She turned back to the van. “Bruno?”
Finally, the big lug crawled out and tumbled to the ground.
Monica raced to him. “Bruno … Bruno?”
The man was definitely dazed.
“BRUNO!”
He grinned foolishly at her. “That was fun, Mommy. Can we go on the ride again?”
“Silence!” Shadow Man demanded.
Bruno fell silent. So did everyone else.
“You will come with me,” he ordered. “And bring the children.” Leaning closer to Elijah, he hissed. “And you thought you dessstroyed my Chamber, did you?”
Elijah blinked.
“You did not dessstroy it, my little friend. You have only increasssed itsss range … ssso everyone can enjoy itsss power!”
Chapter Nine
Testings
Piper sat tied to a chair along with Cody, Zach, and Elijah in Shadow Man’s office. They were facing what Shadow Man called the Chamber. Well, it had been a chamber. Now it was a pile of shattered glass. The only part that remained was a circular tube where Piper guessed its ceiling had been. A circular tube that was pulsing orange, red, green … orange, red, green … orange, red, green …
Monica and her thugs had been told to wait in the hall. Now the kids were alone with Shadow Man, whose fingers flew over some sort of computer keyboard.
“You’ll like thisss,” he hissed. “You’ll like it a lot.”
Piper leaned over to her brother and whispered. “Got any more plans?”
“Yes,” he whispered.
Piper’s heart pounded. “Great,” she said. “What are they?”
“I think we should escape.”
Her hopes soared. “How?”
“I haven’t worked out the details.”
Her hopes crashed.
She looked back to Shadow Man as he hit a final key and the room exploded with light so intense that, for a moment, she was blinded.
As her eyes adjusted to the brightness, she saw that things had majorly changed.
For starters, Cody sat in an actor’s chair holding a movie script. He wore top-of-the-line clothing, sunglasses, and had a smile that revealed dazzlingly perfect teeth. And on a scale of 1 to 10, his body was a definite 11. Around him stood a team of makeup ladies, hairstylists, and about a dozen girls all sighing and begging for his autograph.
Piper frowned and then spotted her brother. He was still his sloppy self (complete with hurricane haircut), but now he was decked out like some sort of multigazillionaire, with gold chain necklaces, bracelets, a diamond studded watch, and a silk suit with wads of money stuffed in the pockets. Pretty amazing.
But not as amazing as what both Zach and Cody stared at. Instead of paying attention to how they’d been transformed, they were both gawking at …
Her!
At first she didn’t understand, thinking something was wrong. But when she looked down at herself, she saw that nothing was wrong. Nothing at all! She no longer saw the s
crawny, all-knees-and-elbows tomboy who hid under extra-large baggy sweatshirts. Now she had the looks and shape of a model — a supermodel. Tall and lean, with all the right curves in all the right places. No wonder they stared. She looked fantastic! And, as she swished her thick blonde hair to the side, she felt fantastic.
“Ssso,” Shadow Man hissed. “You like?”
Zach was the first to speak. “Are you kidding?” Zach said, pulling out a thick wad of cash. “What’s not to like?!”
Shadow Man grinned. “Yesss. Thisss and ssso much more will be yoursss as sssoon as your brother decccidesss.”
Piper turned to Elijah. Unlike the others, he was exactly as he had been. No fancy clothes. No fancy body. No fancy anything.
“What’s wrong?” she asked her little brother. “Why haven’t you changed?”
Shadow Man answered for him. “Your brother isss a ssstuborn one. He refusssesss all that I offer.”
Piper frowned, not understanding.
“Yet that will change,” Shadow Man said. He reached back to the keyboard, and once again his fingers flew. When he’d finished, he looked up grinning. “Yesss, that will change very sssoon.”
With a flourish, he hit the final key and more light flooded the room — light so bright that Piper had to cover her eyes. When she finally removed her hands, she gasped.
Now they all stood on a giant stage the size of a football field and at least fifty feet high. Below them, stretched out as far as she could see, were people. Thousands of them, no, millions. They were all looking up and chanting her name: “Piper … Piper … Piper …”
It was unbelievable.
She immediately glanced down to make sure she still had her incredible body. And, of course, she did. Cody and Zach were across the stage, checking themselves out, equally as pleased.
But where was Elijah? Where had he —
And then she saw him. At the very center of the stage, sitting on a throne.
To his right, Shadow Man sat on another, grinning and laughing.
Piper glided toward them, as graceful as any runway model, while thousands of adoring fans continued calling her name.
“What’s going on?” she shouted.
Shadow Man didn’t hear. He was too busy yelling to Elijah. “Thisss can all be yoursss! You can help me rule the world! Together we will ssshare all itsss power and glory!”
But Elijah seemed totally unimpressed.
Shadow Man leaned forward. “What about your brother and sssissster? You would deprive them of such joy?”
Elijah hesitated.
Shadow Man nodded. “That’sss right. If you won’t do it for yourssself, then do it for them.”
Elijah swallowed, then looked out over the crowd as their chanting grew louder.
“All you need do isss sssubmit, and they will be given thisss. Thisss and ssso much more.”
Piper wasn’t sure what Shadow Man meant, but she couldn’t imagine her little brother turning all this down. How could he? Everything was so incredible! And if he wasn’t interested, then it was true, he should at least think about Zach and her.
Still, Elijah hesitated. He turned toward Zach, who was eating up the money and worship like a starving man gobbling up food. And, speaking of food, there were at least a dozen tables surrounding him, all filled with his favorite meals: chips, pizza, chips, steak, chips, ice cream, and more chips.
It was true, Zach loved to eat. He loved in-between-meal snacks, and in-between in-between snacks, and in-between, in-between, in-between … well, you get the idea. This was the happiest Piper had ever seen him. All that food plus the fame plus the money. For him, it was a dream come true. To be honest, it was also a dream come true for her.
Yet Elijah still hesitated. What was wrong with him?
The boy turned back to his sister. She motioned to her fantastic body, to the millions of people loving and adoring her, to everything that surrounded them. Surely, he wouldn’t deny them this.
But instead of nodding in agreement, a deep sadness filled Elijah’s eyes. She didn’t understand. How could he be sad when all this could be theirs? Unless …
She turned to Shadow Man. “Is this some sort of trick?” she shouted. “Another one of your lies?”
“No, my dear. I ssswear by all that isss unholy, what you sssee before you isss truth.”
“What’s the catch?” she shouted.
“There isss no catch. If your brother followsss the Massster, thisss isss the truth of your future.”
Suddenly, a voice thundered.
“Truth?”
Piper spun back to Elijah. She knew it was his voice, but it was a thousand times more powerful. Weirder still, when he spoke, his mouth didn’t move.
“You call this truth?”
For a moment, Shadow Man seemed surprised. But he quickly recovered. “Yesss, if you follow the Massster.”
“No. This is only part of the truth.”
It took Piper a moment to find her own voice. “What?” she squeaked. “What do you mean?”
“Here is the complete truth.”
Instantly, Piper found herself inside a magnificent palace. Handsome men and beautiful women were waiting upon her. Two were on their knees massaging her feet, giving her the world’s greatest pedicure. Two more were at her hands giving her a manicure. Someone else was rubbing her neck. Another, was giving her a facial. She’d never felt so good in her life and couldn’t help but sigh with pleasure. If this was “complete truth,” sign her up.
She open her eyes and spotted Cody across the marble room. He held another movie script and wore a silk robe as a dozen servants waited on him. But he had changed. Instead of being young and gorgeous, he was now old and ugly. Instead of being his kind, thoughtful self, he was screaming, “I wanted this robe in white! Not ivory! WHITE!”
“But my lord — ” one of his servants answered.
“No buts!” Cody yelled. “And tell the director I expect to play all the parts in this movie. Do you understand me? ALL!” To make his point, he threw the script at the servant.
“Yes, your highness.” The servant bowed low and backed out.
Piper couldn’t believe what she saw. And when Cody spotted her staring, he screamed, “What are you looking at?” Before she could answer, he yelled, “Get out of here, or you’ll miss your weekly plastic surgery!”
Piper scowled, not understanding.
“And don’t frown. You know how that makes wrinkles.”
Instinctively, her hands shot to her face. Her skin felt as taut as a rubber band about to snap. She spotted a mirror and motioned one of her servants to hand it to her. When she looked into it, she practically gagged. It was hard to tell her age because, staring back at her, was a creepy clown face, her skin pulled so tight from so many plastic surgeries that it was frozen in a grotesque perma-grin. The only thing worse was her giant-sausage lips from too many lip implants. Then there was her skeleton body. Not a trace of fat could be seen — only bones that jutted out. Finally, the skin that stretched over her arms, legs, and stomach was covered in scars from a hundred surgeries where they had cut and removed the slightest hint of flab. In her attempts to remain beautiful, she’d become a monster.
Behind her, in the mirror’s reflection, she saw Zach lying on a couch. At least she thought it was Zach. She spun around and looked at her brother. His lean body had morphed into a ton of blubber with so much fat that she could barely see his face.
He was also yelling, “Make sure there’s more chocolate in the next bite of pizza you chew for me!”
Piper looked on, trying not to retch. It was true, Zach was so rich and lazy that he actually hired other people to chew his food for him. They would take a bite of whatever food he commanded, chew it for him, and, you guessed it, spit it into his mouth so all he had to do was swallow it.
“And that is only the beginning.”
Elijah’s voice was speaking again.
“Here is the future. Here is the final truth.”
The scene changed again. Suddenly, they were all standing on a cliff overlooking an ocean of fire. The heat was so intense that it made Piper’s eyes water. And the smell reminded her of the time Dad cremated the hamburgers on the barbecue. The only thing worse was the screaming.
Screaming from the people who were burning in the fire.
She spun to Elijah and shouted, “I don’t understand!”
“If you wish, I will agree and follow his master.”
“And this will be the future?” Piper asked in a small voice.
Elijah said nothing.
Piper looked back to the people and the fire.
Elijah spoke again.
“This is the future for all who chose to follow Shadow Man and his master to their final truth.”
“Final truth?” she repeated. “Would it also be yours?” She looked to Elijah. “If you followed, would this also be your future?”
He said nothing.
She tried again. “Are you saying that if you follow him, this would be your final truth?”
Elijah hesitated a moment, and then slowly began to nod.
Piper shuddered and stepped back. “No!” She closed her eyes against the screaming below. Louder and more strongly, she shouted, “No way! Absolutely not!”
Suddenly, she was back in her young, supermodel body, standing next to her movie-star boyfriend and her filthy rich brother.
“Are you sssure?” Shadow Man, who now stood beside her, hissed.
“Yes, I’m sure! Of course, I’m sure!”
“Really? Because I have ssso much to offer.”
Once again she found herself standing on the giant stage beside her brother’s throne. Once again millions were shouting her name. For the briefest moment, she hesitated then caught herself. “No!” She closed her eyes again. “Don’t do it, Elijah!” She turned to him. “It’s not worth it! Don’t do it!”
Elijah stared at her a long moment. It was almost like he could see inside her, like he knew what she was thinking. Maybe he could.
When he was satisfied she was telling the truth, he gave another nod.
Suddenly, they were back in Shadow Man’s office. There was more blinding light, only this time it came from the tube in the Chamber’s ceiling. It was exploding, filling the room with smoke and a thousand sparks.