by Z. Fraillon
The door slammed shut behind them. Woof growled again. Jasper heard the bolt slide shut. He was beginning to wonder if this was such a good idea.
Matheson pulled Jasper down the hallway. ‘Hurry up,’ he said impatiently. ‘I don’t want to die for your weak bladder.’ Matheson stopped at the door to the toilets. ‘The dog can go in with you to guard. I’ll keep watch out here. If you hear anything, don’t come out. Just run. There’s a door on the other side of the bathroom. It’s the only other exit.’
Jasper gulped. This was getting scary.
Woof followed Jasper into the toilets. He seemed to know what Jasper was thinking. He stopped growling and yipped excitedly. Jasper gave him a pat. ‘Wait until I’m out of sight, then sound the alarm. I don’t want Matheson in danger.’
Jasper tipped his head back and stared at the vent in the roof. He had been in this bathroom before and he knew of a way out that Matheson didn’t. In his first year he’d discovered a tunnel leading from outside the building right to the vent above him. He just had to climb up into the tunnel, then follow it until he reached the exit. It would take less than ten minutes.
Jasper climbed up onto the sink, working the vent free with his fingers. The vent made a horrible grating noise, which Jasper tried to cover by coughing.
‘Hurry up!’ Matheson called.
‘Coming!’ Jasper replied. He grabbed onto the vent with both hands. The metal dug painfully into his palms. He jumped as high as he could, hauling himself through the vent and into the roof. Woof wagged his tail approvingly.
Jasper carefully closed the vent. He peered into the dark tunnel. Woof sounded the alarm. Jasper saw him barking madly at the door on the opposite side of the bathroom. ‘Clever dog,’ Jasper whispered.
He started silently down the tunnel. He knew he’d be in serious trouble, but he had to find Boris.
Jasper knew exactly where the tunnel would take him. It ended not far from the forest, around the back of the school.
There was a little door at the end of the tunnel that led outside.
And then Jasper remembered that the last time he’d used this tunnel, the door had been covered in a plant that looked suspiciously like ivy.
10
Jasper opened the small door and scraped away the screechwort surrounding the door. He tried to tap into his whispering to find out if the swarm of killer monsters was near by. But he couldn’t hear anything, not even a low buzzing sound. Jasper decided this was a good sign and crawled out of the tunnel. An ice-cold wind whipped around him.
Find Boris and get back. That was as far as Jasper’s plan had got. But now he realised that Boris could be anywhere. On guard duty near the fence, in the school herding students, collecting dog drool. Jasper might never find him.
A cheer rose up from around the other side of the school. Jasper listened, catching sounds of excitement in the wind. Had the swarm of monsters been caught already?
Jasper edged his way around the side of the building. The wind picked up the snow, making it impossible to see. Something crackled unpleasantly in his pocket.
‘Crcckasper! Crccckom in! Crrkover,’ Saffy’s tinny voice echoed from Jasper’s hoodie. The walkie-talkie! Jasper realised. It actually worked. Jasper pulled the squashed tin can from his pocket.
‘Ow!’ he yelped as an electric shock shot up his arm. Saffy obviously hadn’t perfected Functional Fixedness yet. ‘Saffy? Come in. Saffy? Over.’ Jasper held the walkie-talkie gingerly between his fingers.
‘Where arckre you? Crrkover,’ Saffy replied.
‘At the edge of the forest. I’m in the rim of trees opposite Light Tower 3. I’m on my own.
Over.’ Jasper had no idea how much of the message Saffy could hear. He waited anxiously for a few minutes.
Then a rock hit Jasper painfully in the back of the neck. He turned to see Saffy and Felix grinning at him. ‘I knew you had to be close,’ Saffy waved the walkie-talkie at Jasper. ‘They only have a range of thirty metres.’
‘I can’t believe you actually made a –’ Jasper stopped short. He was staring at Felix, who was munching slowly on a bar of chocolate. ‘Where did you get that?’
‘They brought us some chocolate to keep us feeling good,’ said Felix. ‘Just like on a Hunt. They had wheelbarrows full of the stuff in the courtyard.’
That explained the cheering Jasper had heard.
Felix grinned, his teeth coated in chocolate. ‘Pockets are full.’ He shook his hoodie.
‘Can I have some?’ Japser pleaded. Felix threw him a bar.
‘What’s going on?’ Saffy asked Jasper. ‘Señor Hermes sent the thug brigade after you. All of them are looking for you. Even Boris came asking. He said to tell you to turn yourself in.’
‘If the other prefects get hold of you, you’ll wish you were caught by the monsters,’ said Felix.
‘We knew we had to find you,’ Saffy explained. ‘So we said we’d go out and gather screechwort for the big nest.’
‘The what?’ asked Jasper.
‘The big nest,’ Saffy repeated. ‘It was my idea – to, you know, entice the monsters into the assembly hall. I figured that if we got a huge pile of screechwort and put it all together in one place with heaps of fearful vibes, what monster could resist? This way, we bring the monsters to us, rather than us going to them. And then we trap them,’ she finished. ‘Where have you been? And what have you done?’
Jasper had a lot of explaining to do. But he shook his head. ‘We have to find Boris. He’s in danger. I’ll tell you on the way.’
Saffy nodded towards the fence line of Monstrum House. ‘Boris said he would check out the perimeter,’ she said, leading the way. ‘Now start explaining.’
Jasper took a deep breath. ‘OK, well, you know last year, when Von Strasser mentioned that thing about people who’d been bitten by a monster?’ Jasper couldn’t meet his friends’ eyes. He really hoped this wouldn’t change things between them. After all, he was about to tell them that he was part-monster.
‘Yeah …’ Saffy prodded.
‘Well,’ Jasper paused, ‘it’s like, um, I mean, ah …’
Felix started laughing. ‘We already know, don’t worry about it.’ He thumped Jasper on the back.
Saffy shook her head. ‘You could have dragged it out a bit, Felix,’ she huffed.
Jasper stopped walking. ‘Hang on, you know, about me being a Whispered?’
Saffy and Felix nodded. ‘It was so obvious,’ Saffy replied. ‘We just wanted to see how long it took for you to tell your best buddies. Speaking of which,’ Saffy turned to Felix, ‘you owe me ten bucks. He told us way sooner than you thought he would.’
Felix mumbled something under his breath.
Jasper felt as though a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders. ‘So, you don’t care?’
‘Duh,’ Saffy said. ‘To be honest, I’m kind of jealous. I’m considering getting myself bitten so I can have some super-duper monster-hunting edge as well.’
‘It’s pretty cool,’ agreed Felix. ‘But I think I can do without getting bitten.’
They were almost at the fence line. Jasper thought he could make out Boris by the fence, but it was getting dark. The last thing he wanted to do was waltz up to one of the other prefects and get dragged back to Señor Hermes, while Boris was left in danger of being killed by a Skrinkerscreech.
Felix froze. ‘Hang on. You shouldn’t be out here, Jasper!’ he said. ‘And Boris? You think he’s a Whispered too?’
Jasper nodded.
‘What’s going on?’ asked Saffy.
‘Skrinkerscreeches,’ Felix said. ‘They are particularly vicious and kill other monsters anywhere near their nesting place. Which means the Whispered are all in trouble.’
Jasper looked at Felix in awe. He suddenly realised why Felix was having extra Species Studies classes. He really did have a brain for this sort of stuff.
‘You need to get inside.’ Felix looked terrified. ‘Their antennae are really powerful. They
’ll sense your monster side in no time.’
Jasper didn’t need reminding. ‘Which is why we need to warn Boris. Now.’
11
Felix and Saffy crunched through the snow towards the prefect, while Jasper hung back. Jasper hoped that Saffy had some more of the cancel cards with her. Students weren’t supposed to venture this far from the school unsupervised. If the prefect turned out to be anyone other than Boris, Saffy and Felix would get in trouble – but Jasper would be delivered straight back to Señor Hermes.
The coast was clear.
Saffy stuck two fingers in her mouth and whistled loudly for Jasper. He emerged from the trees, and Boris strode purposefully towards him.
Jasper smiled. ‘Thank goodness it’s you.’
Boris sighed. ‘Sorry, mate,’ he said, then threw Jasper into the snow, knocking the wind out of him.
‘You are now under prefect arrest. You don’t have to say anything, but anything you do say may be given in evidence. You don’t have the right to do anything except what you’re told. If you do not comply, this may be a painful experience,’ Boris recited.
‘Boris, listen!’ Jasper wheezed. ‘I can explain! But you have to let me go!’
Saffy and Felix were standing with their mouths hanging open.
Boris shook his head. ‘I’m afraid I can’t do that. As much as I would like to help you out, I have my orders. And my orders clearly state to apprehend you and take you back to the mansion using any force necessary.’
Saffy held up her hand. ‘OK, OK. You don’t have to disobey your orders. But you can still let Jasper go.’
‘I’m not stupid,’ said Boris.
Saffy didn’t seem convinced about that, and Jasper hoped that she wouldn’t argue the point. ‘I know,’ she said instead. ‘But your orders said “by any force necessary”, right?’
Boris nodded slowly.
‘Well, if it isn’t necessary to use any force, then you could let him go, couldn’t you? If he promises to go back to the mansion with you?’
Boris thought about that for a few moments.
‘If you try to run, I will chase you down,’ Boris warned.
Jasper nodded. ‘I promise, no running.’
Boris let go of Jasper’s arm and helped him to his feet.
‘Let’s go,’ Boris commanded, shoving Jasper towards the mansion.
‘Gladly,’ Jasper said. ‘This is why I had to escape from Señor Hermes, so you and I could go back to the mansion together.’
Boris stopped walking. ‘That really doesn’t make sense.’
Jasper looked to Saffy and Felix. He had no idea how to tell Boris that a swarm of monsters was out to kill him. Well, to kill them both, really, but Jasper was trying not to think about that bit.
Saffy took control. ‘Boris,’ she said seriously, ‘you know about monsters, right?’
Boris looked at Jasper. ‘They know?’
Jasper shrugged. ‘Of course. They know all about it. They even know you’re a Whispered.’
Boris stared intently at Jasper. ‘I told you not to –’
‘The problem is,’ Saffy interrupted, ‘there’s like this whole bunch of flying monsters. And they’re in the school to lay monster eggs. Which is why we are all trying to catch them. But, er …’ she tried to smile reassuringly. ‘If they come near you, they’ll kill you.’
Jasper thumped his head. ‘Nice,’ he said to Saffy. ‘Like that’s not going to freak him out.’
But strangely, Boris didn’t look scared. His face had taken on a stony expression.
‘It’s because of the monsterness in your body,’ Felix tried to explain. ‘Their antennae sense monsters, and … Boris?’
Boris’s eyes had glazed over. He wasn’t listening.
Jasper took over. ‘You need to come back to the school with me. All the Whispered are camping out in a room back at the mansion. The monsters can’t get to us there, but they can get to us here, so we should probably move. You know, before they sting us to death.’
Boris shook his head, but started towards the mansion. ‘No can do. I will escort you back to the mansion. But I will then continue with my guard duty as ordered.’
‘This is why he’s a prefect,’ Felix whispered to Jasper. ‘He’s obsessed with following orders. It’s just not right.
’ Boris was striding towards the school.
But Jasper wasn’t giving up that easily. ‘Boris! Listen! They’ll take back their orders as soon as they know you’re a Whispered –’
Boris stopped so suddenly that Jasper smacked painfully into his back. Jasper was really beginning to wonder whether Boris shoved bricks down his top. The prefect turned around and stuck his finger in Jasper’s face.
‘No!’ he said forcefully. ‘We don’t tell anyone! Anyone! Understood?’ Boris’s left eye had begun to twitch, and the veins in his forehead were popping out. Jasper heard Felix whimper softly behind him.
‘OK, sure,’ Jasper said, holding up his hands. ‘But please, please stay in the school. If they find you, the Skrinkerscreech will kill you!’
Boris shook his head. ‘Thanks for trying to protect me. But I promised to do my duty and to obey every order I am given. And that’s what I will do. It’s what I have to do.’
Jasper kicked a mound of snow in frustration. ‘But you were only given those orders because no-one knew you’d be in danger! If they knew ...’
But Boris had already started off towards the school again, dragging Jasper behind him.
Felix started after them. ‘You tried,’ he said to Jasper.
Jasper shook his head. ‘Fine,’ he fumed. ‘If you are that stupid and stubborn, then fine. But I’m going to tell Hermes. And if you get kicked out or whatever, at least you’ll be alive.’
‘Well, as long as I am alive, I’m going to follow my orders,’ said Boris, as he broke through the forest and stormed across the snowy plain.
‘Hang on!’ Saffy called sharply.
Boris stopped and turned around. ‘What?
’ Saffy shook her head and moved quietly back to the cover of the trees. Boris followed.
‘Something’s not right,’ Saffy said. ‘Listen.’
‘All I can hear is the wind,’ Felix whispered.
‘Exactly,’ Saffy replied. ‘No noise. No talking, no yelling, no anything. Everyone was supposed to be gathering screechwort and heading back to the assembly hall. The fourth-year crews were going to stand guard outside, but no-one’s there. Something’s happened. I don’t like this. Not one bit.’
Jasper shivered and his eyelids fluttered shut.
COOM ... MING ... KLUSE ... NAAO ... KLUUSSE.
The whispering made Jasper jump. What was it saying? Señor Hermes had taught him how to see the words written down on piece of paper in his head. Jasper concentrated.
COMING CLOSE NOW, CLOSE, he read.
It sounded like a warning. Or was his monster side excited? One thing was for sure – the monsters were close. Where were they? He couldn’t see anything. But he could hear something. A soft, low buzzing.
Jasper’s heart pounded in his chest. He held his breath. And then he saw it.
A Skrinkerscreech was coming their way.
12
The Skrinkerscreech looked like an overgrown, mutated insect. It had huge, hideous nippers and a fanged face. Its plate-sized eyes were like a fly’s, divided into hundreds of gleaming sections. Twitching antennae poked out the top of its head – but one of these was twisted, as though the monster had been in a fight. Its body had a hard, shiny casing like a beetle’s, which curved around to end in a pointed stinger.
The monster slashed at some leaves with its sharp nippers. It paused, then rose into the air, its wings moving in a blur. A long line of screechwort drifted behind as it made a beeline towards the mansion.
Jasper let out his breath. It hadn’t seen them or sensed them. Maybe because its antennae was mangled. They had been lucky.
Felix had his eyes clenched shut. ‘Has i
t gone?’
‘All clear,’ Boris said.
‘That isn’t supposed to be happening,’ Saffy said uncertainly. ‘The nest should have been built by now. The plan was that as soon as the swarm entered the assembly hall, everyone would jump out and spray the drones with dog drool.’
‘So what is a drone doing gathering screechwort?’ Jasper asked.
‘Exactly,’ Saffy replied grimly. ‘Something’s gone wrong.’
‘At the assembly hall?’ Boris checked. Saffy nodded. Boris pulled out a pair of binoculars and held them up. ‘Ah. Ah-ha. Mmmmm, that’s what happened.’
Saffy, Felix and Jasper waited.
Boris kept watching. ‘Ewww,’ he winced. ‘That’s got to be painful.’
‘What?’ Saffy hissed. ‘What is going on?’
Boris let the binoculars drop. ‘The students are being held prisoner. By the huge bug-things. The situation does not seem to have gone as planned,’ he added, somewhat unnecessarily.
Jasper grabbed the binoculars and peered through the lenses, trying to see into the hall. ‘Oh,’ he murmured.
Through the window of the hall, Jasper could see students lying in a large heap on the floor. Two of the older students – presumably the ones Saffy said were guarding the doors – had broken out in blistering hives. It was truly disgusting.
‘By the look of it, most people have fainted,’ Jasper relayed.
‘They might be paralysed. The drones will be releasing their fumes,’ Felix said thoughtfully.
Jasper put the binoculars down and turned to Felix. ‘Huh? What fumes?’
‘When the queen is ready to lay her eggs, the drones let off fumes,’ explained Felix. ‘You know how Stenka said when people are attacked, their burst hives release a fear gas? It’s the same kind of gas. It paralyses anything in the vicinity. It’s to protect the queen.’
Saffy grabbed the binoculars. ‘They’ve taken over,’ she muttered. ‘We’re completely outnumbered. And even if we weren’t, it looks like the monsters saw right through our plan anyway.’