by Robert Gray
“Griff?”
In answer, the fairy exploded into a cloud of glittering dust.
“Thought you might need some help,” Griff said. “You three need to get to higher ground.”
“You mean the trees?” I asked, shaking my head. “But the those fairies can easily reach us up there. We’d be trapped.”
“Fairies aren’t the only things here you need to worry about.”
Before I could ask what he meant by that—or even come close to processing what he was even doing here, for that matter—he lifted me up impossibly high, so that my head almost banged into the thick tree branch above.
“Climb up,” Griff said.
I pulled myself onto the branch, and then Griff lifted Carly Beth and Sam, too.
“Go as high as you can.”
“What about you?” I asked.
“I’ll stay down and help Three Petes with the fairies.”
The first couple of fairies raced up after us, but Griff snatched them in midair while we scaled the tree. The remaining fairies billowed around the base of the tree as their companions burst into stardust, then decided to attack the zombie triplets instead.
When we couldn’t go any higher, we rested on a sturdy bough. Sam—the only one of us who could see what was happening below—began guiding Griff and Three Petes like a panicked copilot: “Over there! There! Good one. Oh! I bet that hurt. Quick, above you! Boom!”
I was sure we’d make it out of this alive. But then the tree started to quake. Carly Beth, Sam, and I lost our footing, and we dropped from the bough, crashing through branches and leaves until a thick limb finally caught us. Sam swung himself back onto the branch and pulled me up. Together we helped up Carly Beth.
“What was that?” Carly Beth stammered, still holding on to me and Sam for support.
“It’s Sawbones!” Sam yelled. “He’s ramming the tree!”
TWENTY-FIVE
WE OPEN A PORTAL
“He’s trying to knock us off,” I stammered. “Where are Three Petes? What about Griff?”
“Three Petes are busy with the fairies, and unless you’ve forgotten, Griff is invisible,” Sam said. And then he cried, “Hold on to me! Here he comes again!” as he dug his claws into the tree trunk.
Carly Beth and I gripped on to Sam with all our strength as Sawbones smashed into the tree again. Leaves and branches rained over us, and I could feel my feet rattling around in my shoe, but otherwise, we were okay.
Below, Sawbones raged, and we braced ourselves for another apocalyptic blow, but it never came.
“What’s he doing, Sam?” I asked.
But then I heard splintering bark and felt the tree shiver. I didn’t have to wait for Sam’s response to know Sawbones was climbing toward us.
“I’m coming to get you,” Sawbones sang, and he laughed a deep har-har.
Carly Beth and Sam were both strong and had no problem navigating the tree. I, on the other hand, had about as much upper-body strength as a slug. I glanced down to see Sawbones catching up to me. He’d have me at any moment.
“Give me your hand,” Carly Beth said. She clung to a branch and reached down for me.
“No, go ahead. He’ll catch us both if you wait for me.”
“I’m not moving without you. Give me your hand,” Carly Beth demanded.
As I reached for her, the branch beneath me gave way with a sharp crack.
“Eve!” Carly Beth yelled as she reached for me, just missing my fingers as I fell into a meshed cage of tree limbs.
Sawbones was directly below me. I could feel his rotten breath warming my legs.
“Why are you doing this?” I yelled, clambering out of the tangled limbs that snared me.
His mouth twisted into a snarl, and he swiped at me with one of his massive hands and caught me by the ankle.
I screamed in pain and tried to yank my leg free from his wrenching grip, but couldn’t. He pulled harder, and I could feel the tree-limbed cage crack beneath me.
“Get off me!”
I kicked him in the face with my free foot, and two things happened: Sawbones let go of me, and the branches released me as if a trap door had just opened.
Sawbones flailed his arms trying to find another branch to grab onto, but he was too big, the branches too thin, and he smashed down hard onto the ground.
I should’ve fallen, too, but an invisible hand caught my wrist and swung me up onto surer footing.
“Thanks,” I huffed.
“Can you climb up to the others?” Griff asked.
I nodded. “I think so, but it might take me a few hours to get to the top.”
“I’ll help you up.” Griff guided my feet to his shoulders. “Okay, hold on.”
The climb was much easier with an invisible man helping me, and I had this odd sensation of weightlessness, as if I were floating up the tree. Without the need to exert myself, I had a moment to collect my thoughts.
“How’d you know we were here?” I asked.
“I found Three Petes snooping around your house the other day. I figured they were the ones who stole your necklace, but I couldn’t figure out why they’d want to come back. When I heard you and Carly Beth talking about portal keys and graveyards, I didn’t know if those zombies were trying to help you or hurt you. Either way, I figured we’d find some answers.”
“What about Sawbones and the other pirates … and the necklace? None of it makes sense. I mean, why wouldn’t the captain have just killed us on the ship?”
“I’ve heard of fairies being used as trackers. If their hearts are stolen, they can find them no matter where they go. What doesn’t make sense is the fairies themselves. They are supposed to be peaceful creatures, not blood-thirsty savages. It’s as if they’ve been possessed somehow … but regardless of that mystery, I suspect that’s why the captain gave you the necklace—as a way to track you. That way they could keep their involvement with The Source a secret. If they attacked you on the ship, URNS would’ve found out.”
“So you think the captain and the others are working for The Source?”
Griff didn’t answer. Instead he asked, “Do you still have the portal key?”
“Yeah. It’s in my pocket.”
We reached Carly Beth and Sam, who were sitting on a branch, leaning against each other.
“Sam gave me a play-by-play of the whole thing!” Carly Beth exclaimed and nearly knocked me off the tree with the hug she gave me. “I thought that zombie creature had you for sure—”
“But then Griff showed up … and wow! That stupid zombie had no idea what hit him,” Sam added.
Once Sam and Carly Beth’s excitement died down, Griff said, “You three are still not safe. That big zombie won’t give up easily, and Three Petes can only hold off those fairies for so long.”
“We need a plan,” I said, and not having one to offer, I turned to Carly Beth and Sam for support. By the blank stares and shrugs they gave me, I figured they didn’t have one either.
“Let me see the portal key,” Griff said.
I handed it off and the key flipped and twirled as Griff examined it. “Should still work. Sam, can you see any zombies down there?”
Sam lowered himself down to the bough below, pushed aside some branches, and searched the ground. “Not the bad kind,” he called out. “Three Petes are still swatting at those fairies, though.”
Without pause, Griff said, “Okay, here’s what we’re going to do. I’ll climb down to help Three Petes distract the fairies. We’ll force them toward the north of the graveyard while you three head over to that angel tombstone at the South end. Do you see it?”
Since Sam had no finger to follow, it took him a moment to spot the statue.
“What about Sawbones?” Carly Beth asked. “He’s still out there somewhere?”
“I caught a whiff of his scent,” Sam said. “I should be able to spot him before he gets close to us.”
“When you get to the statue, wait for my signal,” Griff added.<
br />
I had no idea what signal he was talking about, but before I could ask, the leaves beneath us began to shake as Griff climbed down.
After a few minutes, Sam announced, “The fairies are gone. Let’s go.”
The giant stone angel stood with wings and arms open. Cramped tombstones circled the angel, acting as her eternal audience. I guess it was a good enough place as any to die.
We hadn’t been here more than five minutes when we saw Three Petes dashing toward us, their swords glittering in the air.
“Where’s Griff?” I asked as the three zombies collapsed next to us.
“Stayed back … to take care … of the fairies. Said we should … wait here … for him.”
I scanned the graveyard, but couldn’t see much through the gloom. “What about Sawbones? Any sight of him?”
They shook their heads.
“What’s going on, Eve? Why are Sawbones and those fairies after us?” Sam asked.
I leaned back against the tombstone and gazed up at the cloud-covered sky. “I’ll be honest. I brought you here tonight to help me. After Three Petes had left the portal key in my room … well, at the time, I thought it had something to do with The Source. I’m sorry for holding out on you. I didn’t expect any of this to happen.”
“Yeah, well, you’re just lucky this is the most fun I’ve had since I’ve been in this stupid world,” Sam grumbled and tossed a stone into the night.
I gave Carly Beth a reassuring squeeze around the shoulders. “You okay?”
“Oh, yeah, having the time of my life. So what’s next? Fifty-foot squid monsters? Killer clowns? A vampire uprising?”
“Who knows? Maybe all three,” I said, smiling.
Carly Beth leaned over to me and searched through the shadows for my eyes. “You better be kidding. I’m already looking at a lifetime of therapy from this.”
The six of us sat with our backs to the angel tombstone. While Sam sniffed the air for any sign of Sawbones, I questioned Three Petes about what they knew.
They told me there’d been several suspicious humans on the ship a few months back, and they gave Captain Mossbeard a sack full of gold coins , several cases of fresh brains, and a portal key to bring them to Gravesville.
“Why would these humans take a ship to Gravesville if they already had a portal key?” I asked.
Three Petes shrugged. “Don’t … know … lady.”
“You said the keys weren’t illegal until the murders started. The Source must’ve known that was going to happen. Maybe they wanted it to happen,” Carly Beth suggested.
I tilted my head toward Three Petes and peered at them. “But then how are Captain Mossbeard, John Wart, and Sawbones involved? Do they work for The Source?”
“We can’t say … for sure … but we overheard … Mossbeard and the human … mention something about The Book of Shrieks.”
“You mean one of the Nightmare Books?” Sam laughed. “But they’re just myths. They don’t exist.”
“Mossbeard thinks they exist … and he thinks they are … worth a fortune.”
“Do you think The Source is murdering monsters in order to get the Nightmare Books?” I asked Carly Beth, forgetting she had no idea what I was talking about.
I explained to her that the Nightmare Books were a collection of stories said to have created monsters.
“Wait a sec,” Carly Beth interrupted. “Don’t you mean they explained how monsters were created?”
“No. That’s where the myth part comes in,” I said. “Like the first book in the series, The Book of Shrieks. It tells the story of how human screams breathed life into monsters.
“Just a bunch of old fairytales our parents told us when we were little,” Sam said. “I mean nobody believes the books actually created the monster race.”
I didn’t think they could be real either, but … “Someone has Mossbeard convinced those books are real. Maybe if we can find him—”
“I’m sure a date with the captain can be arranged. Though to be honest, he only wants you for your mind,” Sawbones said.
My eyes had adjusted enough to the darkness so I could see panic spread across Sam’s face. He’d been so concerned with the conversation about the books, he hadn’t been keeping a nose out for Sawbones. Sam lifted his hand and pointed to an inky shadow no more than twenty yards away. “There!” he called out. “Oh, Jack. I don’t like that smile on his face.”
At first, I couldn’t imagine what had made Sawbones so happy, but then I realized our backs were against the angel tombstone. We had nowhere to run.
Sawbones charged. He was close enough now that I could see his giant hands clutching for us. We scattered just in time, and the massive zombie went headfirst into the base of the solid granite angel. A meaty crunch sounded, and he crumpled to the ground.
“He’s not gonna … be out … for long,” Three Petes said, drawing their swords and surrounding the slumbering beast.
I heard teeth snapping and wings buzzing, but it wasn’t until Carly Beth said, “Come on. Don’t these things ever give up?” that my attention shifted from Sawbones to the swarm of fairies hurling toward us.
“Where’s Griff?” I asked. “Where’s our signal?”
Sam caught sight of it first. “There!”
Then I saw it. In front of the swarm, a glittering key bounced in the air.
The portal key drove into the angel tombstone, right at the spider-web crack Sawbones’s head had left. In a flash of electric blue light, a door slid open at the base of the tombstone, revealing first bright orange light, and then …
Wonderful, beautiful Gravesville! Oh, how I wanted to dive in—go home!—and forget about this whole mess.
“Eve, get out of the way!” Griff yelled.
I shook off the homesick feeling when I saw Sawbones had recovered. He flung Three Petes to the side with a swipe of his massive arm and then hammered the ground with his feet as he thundered toward me.
Thankfully, zombies were forgetful things, and at the last moment, I leaped out of the way. Sawbones face shifted from I’m going to eat your tasty parts to Where’d that hole come from? He barely got out a scream before his legs kicked up over his head, and he tumbled through the portal.
The fairies weren’t as easy to trick. Three Petes, having gathered back to their feet, turned their swords on the fairies, but they fluttered around the attack and moved farther away from the portal.
“Sam, give me your hoodie,” I said.
“But it’s cold outside—”
“Gimmie it.”
“Fine,” he groaned, pulling the hoodie over his head and handing it over.
“Hey, fairies. I’m the one you want. I stole your stupid hearts.”
That got their attention. I just hoped this worked.
When the fairies circled toward me, I opened the hoodie like a net, scooped them inside, and pulled the drawstrings tight. Before they could tear their way through, I tossed the hoodie into the portal. Griff pulled the key from the tombstone, and the portal closed up like a super-fast-drying puddle.
Sam regarded the quiet tombstone, holding his arms and shaking off the cold. “You know, I think I liked this graveyard better when everything was dead.”
As we were about to leave the graveyard, I remembered I had left my spell book on the grave of Herbert Alexander Wellington. The book lay open against Mr. Wellington’s tombstone like it had been tossed aside. It wasn’t like me to be so careless with my spell book—
Huh? I flipped through the pages. All of the words were gone.
“Hey guys? Check this out.”
“What is it?” Carly Beth asked, coming up behind me.
“The pages are—” When I glanced down at book again, the spells were all there. “But they weren’t here a minute ago. I swear.”
“Eve, it’s dark out, and I’m sure you’re as tired as I am. Your eyes were just playing tricks on you,” Carly Beth insisted.
I’m sure she was right, although I neve
r considered that my eyes might know how to play tricks. Guess they were more talented than I thought.
TWENTY-SIX
THE SOURCE SENDS ME A MESSAGE
As soon as I arrived at school the next morning, I kissed the ground and thanked Jack Hal didn’t kill me during the drive to school, and then I went to see my dad.
I rushed into the main office, planning on using the excuse that I needed to discuss the Halloween Bash with the principal because there was a major issue over the potato chips—hoping that Mrs. Nutley didn’t prod into this fictitious snack-food dilemma, because I hadn’t gotten much further in my story than that.
Mrs. Nutley’s glasses dripped a little down her scrunched nose. “He’s not in yet.”
The concern in her voice made me nervous.
“Has he called?”
She leaned back in her chair with her face pinched and her eyebrows creased. “I really don’t think that’s any of your business, Miss Hallows.”
But I wasn’t taking that for an answer, so I crossed my arms and waited.
Mrs. Nutley flicked her eyes from me to McDougal’s office, and she shook her head.
“I shouldn’t be telling you this, but the principal’s been acting weird lately.” She brought her voice down to a whisper. “And this morning he doesn’t show up. It’s not like him at all. He’s never missed a day. Not one. Trust me, I know. I’ve been wishing for that ever since—” She cut herself off and cleared her throat. “It’s strange.”
By the time I left school, I felt so miserable I wanted to bury myself alive. Not because we hadn’t found any more clues since we were at the graveyard—which we hadn’t, by the way—but because of how naive I had been to think I could defeat The Source. And now my dad was missing, too. I should’ve quit when my parents told me to. I should’ve let the professionals take over instead of trying to be the hero. But no, I had to be the one to find The Source. Who was I kidding? Me, a fourteen-year-old girl. And a stupid one at that.
The pizza place didn’t help my mood any. The customers here made Grandpa’s Wolf Out parties seem tame by comparison. I mean, really? What was it about pizza that turned humans into such barbarians?