by Bryan Chick
The scouts dodged left to avoid a kid dressed as Harry Potter, then rounded a curve in the road. Ella glanced over at Richie. Below his checkered flood pants, Ella saw at least six inches of stark white socks. Most of his shirt was buried in his pants, and the things in his pocket protector occasionally jumped out, leaving a trail of office supplies on the street.
DeGraff, faster than the scouts, began to pull away.
“We’re losing him!” Ella said into her bone mic. “He’s too fast!”
As they rounded a sharp turn in the road, DeGraff was gone, lost in the fog. Ella and Richie stopped. They didn’t know if he’d continued down the street or charged into the surrounding lawns.
“He got away!” Ella said.
Sam’s voice: “You sure?”
“Yeah.” She braced her hands on her knees and swallowed a few deep breaths to cool the burn in her lungs. “He’s gone.”
After a few seconds of silence, Sam’s voice rose again into Ella’s ears: “Descenders—find him! Do whatever it takes!”
CHAPTER 37
HANNAH RUNS THE ROOF
Hannah turned off the street she was on and ran alongside a house. There were no trick-or-treaters in sight, and all the nearby porch lights were out. The darkness was as thick as the fog. She needed a better view, and she knew how to get it.
Still running, she jumped and tugged the pull-loops on her boots. Her rubbery soles bulged to ten inches thick. She shot upward, high above the houses, and landed on a gabled roof. Without breaking her stride, she hunched low to keep from being seen and ran across the shingles. At the end of the roof, she sailed easily across the distance to the next house, where she landed with a soft thud.
She looked right, then left. Through the fog, she detected the faint outlines of a few costume-clad kids. About ten rooftops in front of her, the row of houses stopped at Jenkins, the primary road through the subdivision, the one that wrapped around the Clarksville Zoo. On the other side of Jenkins were more houses, and beyond their backyards was the long concrete wall of the zoo.
Hannah sprang through the air again. If DeGraff was headed for the Clarksville Zoo, he would eventually have to cross Jenkins Street.
And Hannah hoped to be there waiting for him.
CHAPTER 38
SOLANA WALKS THE WALL
Solana cut across several lawns and turned onto Jenkins. Not more than fifty feet ahead was Old Cove, where Ella and Richie had spotted DeGraff. She veered across the street, ran between two houses, and headed across a backyard to where the zoo wall stretched in both directions. She jumped, planted her palms on top of the wall, and pulled herself up. She quickly climbed to her feet and took off running. Though she couldn’t see much through the fog, she could still see some activity in and out of the zoo. If she was lucky enough to spot DeGraff, she could move on him in an instant. She came to a stop in a place with a view between a pair of houses to Old Cove.
“I’ve got a good position,” Solana announced into her bone mic. “I’m on the wall along Jenkins.”
“Stay there,” Sam spoke into her ear. “And be ready. Don’t let this monster into our house.”
“No way,” Solana said. “That’s not going to happen.”
CHAPTER 39
TAMERON TAKES THE TOWER
At Clarksville Elementary, Tameron ran across the playground toward the back of the school. In the fog, the play equipment looked strange and eerie. Swings dangled like prison chains, and dome-shaped climbers sat like steel traps.
“I’m at the school.” He spoke into his mic. “The Halloween party’s over. The place looks empty.”
“Stay put,” Sam said. “Find a spot with a view.”
Knowing what Sam meant, Tameron veered toward one of the wings of the school. As he ran, he pulled a strap on his large backpack. The canvas bottom dropped and released his tail. It uncoiled on the ground and dragged behind him, leaving a curling, snakelike trail in the wood chips. As he neared to within twenty feet of the building, he swung his tail high over his head, brought it down in a smooth arc, and catapulted himself onto the roof. He quickly retracted his tail and headed across the ceramic tiles.
On the peak of the main building, the Descender crouched beside the big bell tower, leaning his shoulder against one of its columns. He stared into the distance beyond the concrete courtyard in front of the school. Here, the fog wasn’t so thick, and he could faintly make out several side streets and the winding stretch of Jenkins. The neighborhood was quiet and still.
“What time we got?” he asked.
“Nine-fifteen,” Sam answered. “Streets should be empty by now.”
This was good, Tameron thought. Get the people indoors, get them safe. Things were about to get very dangerous.
CHAPTER 40
SAM SOARS INTO THE SKY
As Sam ran toward Jenkins Street, he said into his bone mic, “I’m going to find a spot between Old Cove and the school.”
“You better hurry....” Solana said into the airwaves.
“Why? What do we got?”
“Someone’s coming down Old Cove. A man.”
Sam uttered a curse. He stopped running. “Is it him?”
“I can’t tell. He just cut into a corner lot. I can’t … I can’t see him now. It’s too dark. And the fog …”
“Solana, tell me what—”
“Wait! He just turned onto Jenkins Street! He’s headed toward the school. He’s about five blocks away from it.”
“Don’t lose sight of him.” Sam paused, then said, “Hannah, what’s your position?”
“I’m on the rooftops, headed toward the action.”
Sam looked around, unsure. Then, he said, “Tameron—I’m coming your way.”
“From which direction?” Tameron asked.
Sam considered this a moment, then said, “From above.”
He retreated into the darkest recess he could find, a spot between two houses and a grouping of trees. He swatted his wrists against his hips, and with two loud clicks, the buckles on his jacket latched onto the zippers at the end of his sleeves. He raised his arms out to his sides, spreading the feathers from inside his jacket. Thin rods shot out from his cuffs, increasing his wingspan.
His transformation complete, Sam crouched low and sprang into the foggy air.
CHAPTER 41
THE CHASE
As Noah ran toward Jenkins Street, he was startled by a figure running out from a foggy yard. It was Megan, but Noah, having forgotten that his sister was dressed like a pirate, almost didn’t recognize her. She turned and ran in his direction, joining him. Twenty feet ahead of the siblings, a man charged past on Jenkins Street—a man in a trench coat and a wide-brimmed hat.
“I’ve got Megan with me,” Noah announced into the airwaves. “We spotted DeGraff on Jenkins, just past Pheasant Run.”
“Follow him,” Sam said. “Don’t get too close.”
“Roger,” Noah said.
As Megan and Noah cut through a corner lot and headed after DeGraff, two figures rose out of the fog in a nearby yard—a screwy-looking kid with checkered flood pants and an oversized bow tie, and a girl with a gold headband, shiny steel bracelets, and a flowing cape. As they ran, the nerd tripped over his own feet and the young Wonder Woman leaped over a bush in superhero fashion. The two kids joined Noah and Megan on Jenkins Street, and together, the four scouts chased after the man the Secret Society desperately needed to keep out of the Secret Zoo.
CHAPTER 42
THE ENGRAVINGS
In the area that the tunnel had opened into, Tank stroked his flashlight beam along the wall. It was covered in slime and moss. Stringy green gunk dripped down its sides, and fog concealed its distant reaches. All along it were dark passages like the one he had just walked through. Caves. Caves that led to unknown places. Tank had never seen this part of the Secret Zoo—and it made him nervous.
Huge insects crawled across the walls. They moved in and out of the caves, their long bodies bending a
round curves.
Tank saw something above the mouth of the tunnel down which he’d slid: a deep engraving in the hard dirt. Letters. Peering forward, he read the word: “Rhinorama.” This made perfect sense because Tank had just portaled into the Secret Zoo through the rhino exhibit in the Clarksville Zoo.
He moved the flashlight above a neighboring tunnel and noticed another deep engraving. Upon reading the words, he gasped and a jolt of terror surged across his body.
The engraving named a spot that wasn’t associated with the Clarksville Zoo or the Secret Zoo.
The engraving read “Clarksville Elementary.”
CHAPTER 43
THE DESCENDERS CLOSE IN
As Sam softly touched down on a rooftop, he closed his wings across his back and then dropped into the shadows of a wide chimney. The house faced Jenkins Street. To the right, about fifteen rooftops down, was Clarksville Elementary. In the fog, it looked odd and somehow threatening.
“Tameron …,” Sam said into his bone mic.
“Yeah.”
“I can see Clarksville Elementary, but not you. What’s your position?”
“Beside the bell tower.”
Sam squinted to see through the fog. Though he made out the shape of the tower, he couldn’t spot his friend. “How’s the traffic down there?”
“There isn’t any.”
Just then, a figure came running up Jenkins Street. Fog whirled around a man in a trench coat and a fedora hat. Him.
“He’s coming,” Sam said. “Everyone up. Solana, you keeping a visual?”
“Roger,” Solana said.
Crouched low, she was running along the five-inch cap of the concrete wall, the Clarksville Zoo to one side of her, the neighborhood to the other, as if she were rushing down the dividing line between two worlds.
Directly to her right was DeGraff, a row of houses and their lawns the only things dividing her from him. He moved in and out of Solana’s view as trees, thick patches of fog, and other obstacles seemed to race past.
Solana said, “Who else has sight on the target?”
“I got him,” Hannah said as she touched down on a new rooftop beside a chimney, smoke twining around her body. She dropped to her rear and pressed her back against the cold stack of bricks. Directly across Jenkins Street was Clarksville Elementary. Hannah peered at the foggy bell tower for Tameron, but couldn’t see him.
“I’m across from the school,” she said.
“By me?” Tameron asked.
“Yep.”
“Give me a visual.”
“See the two-story house blowing smoke?” Hannah asked.
“Yeah.”
Hannah lifted her hand high and waved it in the streaming white vapor. “Hola.”
“Perfect,” said Sam. “We have him on all sides.”
Hannah peered down Jenkins Street and watched the fog continue to break around DeGraff. “Sam,” she said, “how you want to play this?”
“I’m working on it,” Sam answered. He was still crouched low on the rooftop, his silver feathers blanketing the shingles around him. “Hannah—you seeing anyone in the street?”
“Negative.”
“Tameron—anyone on your end yet?”
“Nope.”
“Then I’m going to take him,” Sam said.
“In the middle of the street?” Tameron asked.
“We can do this right now,” Sam said. “We can end this.”
Silence passed across the channel, then Ella’s voice came on: “He’s right. Let’s bring this guy down. If we get spotted, so what; we’ll deal with it.”
Sam stood and scanned both ends of the street. Most of the porch lights were out. He charged down the rooftop, jumped over its edge, and snapped open his wings. After steering around a few tall trees, he coasted out above Jenkins Street.
As he passed over the scouts, DeGraff came into full view. He was running. About fifty feet in front of Sam, Clarksville Elementary rose from the fog.
One of Sam’s wings whapped a branch, and DeGraff swung his shadowy face around. Seeing Sam, he lowered his head and picked up speed.
“He’s headed for the west entrance of the zoo!” Tameron shouted into the airwaves.
“Sam!” Hannah shouted. “Do it now!”
Sam swept toward the street. With a thrust of his legs, four steel hooks sprang from each shoe. He sailed down, his talons aimed at DeGraff’s shoulders. But just as Sam struck, DeGraff dove off the street and landed in a roll on the front lawn of Clarksville Elementary. Sam swung around in a wide circle, steering through the tall oaks along the curb and then crossing over Hannah. He saw DeGraff charge toward the school, away from the zoo wall.
“You guys seeing this?” Sam said.
After his friends answered yes, Solana asked, “What do you want us to do?”
“Descend,” Sam instructed.
CHAPTER 44
THE FALL OF TANK
Tank stared at the engraving above the mouth of the tunnel: “Clarksville Elementary.” Was it possible that this passage actually connected to the scouts’ school? The thought filled him with dread.
A deep growl came from behind him, and before he could react, something struck the side of his head. He collapsed to the ground and lay there, pain pushing through his temples, light flashing across his sight. The ring in his ears was deafening. As the side of his face slowly sank into the mud, a large, spiny insect squirmed onto his neck, leaving a trail of slime. The world-gone-sideways began to blur as he teetered on the edge of consciousness.
Something moved into his vision. A foot—a foot the size of a child’s torso. Mangy hair fell off its heel, sprouted between its toes, and dragged through the mud. Its nails were like swollen claws. A sasquatch.
Tank tried to move and couldn’t. The world continued to gray, and the ringing became a low drone.
He heard a voice behind him—a deep, gravelly voice that seemed to come from something less than human: “Now bring me the others.”
Something clutched Tank’s ankles and hoisted his legs. A second later, he was being dragged backward. Mud oozed into his clothes and packed into his ear. Too stunned to resist, he watched a sasquatch move into the tunnel marked Clarksville Elementary, its shoulders slumped to fit beneath the low ceiling. The beast was followed by another, and another, and another. Before Tank could count their number, the drone in his ears stopped and the world went black.
CHAPTER 45
THE CAPTURE
As Noah veered off Jenkins Street and led the scouts onto Clarksville Elementary’s courtyard in pursuit of DeGraff, something appeared on the edges of his vision. He swung his head to see Solana running toward the school, her long, flat quills bouncing on her arms and torso and swinging from the backs of her hands. Just beyond her, Tameron dove from the school rooftop, thin bands of armor spreading across his body, his tail releasing from his canvas bag. As he landed, he lowered his shoulder and rolled on the ground, his armor protecting him. Then he ran after DeGraff, who had just charged off the courtyard and headed toward the back of the building.
Noah glanced at the other scouts. Ella’s jaw hung open, Megan’s lips moved with soundless words, and Richie’s eyes seemed to swim behind his taped-up glasses. The three of them couldn’t believe what was happening any more than Noah could.
As the four friends chased after DeGraff, Sam flew over them, the wind from his wings wagging Ella’s cape and tossing Megan’s pigtails. Hannah lunged from the peak of a nearby house and touched down briefly in the courtyard before springing up and out again. She passed over Sam and then touched down on top of the school’s west wing.
DeGraff disappeared behind the corner of the building.
“Keep on him!” Sam said.
As Tameron and Solana rounded the corner, Sam swooped over the rooftop and Hannah jumped down to the other side. The scouts turned the corner after them and Noah watched as Hannah, in the air again, came down in front of DeGraff, who dodged left, then charged out
into the playground. He only got a few feet before being blocked by Sam, who’d landed with his arms out to his sides, his wings open like a feathery wall. As DeGraff ran in a new direction, Solana plucked a handful of quills and threw them. More than a dozen barbs studded DeGraff’s backside. The Shadowist fell forward and tumbled through the wood chips. His hat fell off and rolled on its circular brim to a stop ten feet away.
The Descenders quickly surrounded him, and then so did the scouts. Facedown, DeGraff writhed in pain, quills sticking from his back and hamstrings like needle-thin daggers. Noah tried to see his face but could only make out a glimpse of his profile—his cheek, ear, and jawline. He looked human.
It was Sam who spoke first: “Get up.”
No response. DeGraff continued to squirm, his sweeping limbs piling the wood chips at his sides. Around him stood the play equipment, its beams and bars looking like fresh frameworks of puny buildings.
Tameron kicked DeGraff’s leg. “Get up before I make you get up.”
The Shadowist said nothing. With his face still down, he reached around, grabbed a fistful of quills, and ripped them from his flesh. He howled in agony and tried to crawl away from the pain, his arms and legs slipping on the ground. After a few seconds, he stopped and lay there, his arms spread out in front of him, the soles of his black boots overturned. Then he did something that Noah doubted anyone would have imagined. He began to whimper. His broken cries were barely audible, but they were clear.
“Get up!” Tameron said. He reached down, seized a few of Solana’s quills, and tore them from DeGraff’s back. “Up!”