The Paladin Prophecy (38 page)

“How’d you meet this guy?” asked Ajay.

“He helped me escape the Caps,” said Will. “Totally solid guy.”

The picture jostled around as Nando attached the phone to the strap and fastened it to the front of his hat. Fragments of images whooshed around—the garage, the backyard, Nando’s taxi, late afternoon sky—until the camera stabilized on the back of Will’s house.

“How’s that lookin’, guys?” asked Nando off camera.

“Perfecto,” said Will.

“Now tell me where to find that key.”

“In a magnetic key box,” said Will. “Attached to the window by the back door.”

“Copy that,” said Nando.

On the tube they watched as Nando approached the house. They heard his feet crunch on gravel and the sound of his breathing. He pulled on a pair of thin black gloves.

“So it’s sixty-five degrees, a lovely autumn evening here in Southern California,” said Nando, doing a TV weatherman impression. “How is it up there in San—”

“Cold,” said Will, remembering how much he hadn’t yet told either Nando
or
his roommates. “Colder than that. Much colder.”

“You find anything out about that rented jet?” asked Nando.

“Nothing so far. Still checking.”

“Jet?” said Nick. “What jet?”

Will held a finger to his lips at Nick and mouthed, “I’ll explain later.”

“Not like they walked out of Costco with a toaster under their arm. That’s a multimillion-dollar takedown, homie. Surprised I ain’t seen nothin’ on the news. Say, how’s your dad doing?”

“He’s feeling better. Thanks for asking.”

Ajay looked askance at Will; Will held up a hand, gesturing for patience.

Nando reached the back door. His hands came into view and searched around the window.

“Hey, my cousin Freddie tracked down a website for that National Scholastic Whatever Agency,” said Nando. “I emailed you the link. You get that yet?”

“I’ll check when we’re done,” said Will.

“Got something here.” Nando lifted a small metal box into view, slid open the lid, and pulled out a house key.

“That’s it,” said Will.

Nando moved to the door and inserted the key. The door swung open. “Going in,” he said. Nando stepped inside and closed the door. The floorboards creaked.

Seeing the inside of his old house sent queasy waves of unreality through Will. Sweat dripped under his arms.

“No lights on. Gonna leave it that way, case the Caps got it scoped out.”

“Where are your parents?” whispered Ajay.

“Not home,” whispered Will. “Still at work and … out of town. Out of town on work.”

Nick and Ajay glanced at each other. Nando moved down the hall into the living room. Will’s heart sank when he saw it.

It was completely trashed: Books scattered, chairs broken, wallpaper ripped from the walls. Floorboards had been pried up and left in jagged stumps. The sofa had been torn apart and the stuffing pulled out. Dad’s plaster bust of Voltaire had been shattered. They’d smashed his prized turntable, too, dumped out his record collection and stomped most of the priceless old disks into shards.

“Dude,” whispered Nick. “You been
robbed
.”

“Doesn’t look too good, holmes,” said Nando.

“The
bastards
,” said Will, gritting his teeth.

“Did you know about this, Will?” asked Ajay, more wide-eyed than usual.

“I had a pretty good idea,” said Will. “Check upstairs.”

Nando backed out of the room and climbed the stairs. The light grew dimmer; all the doors on the second floor were closed.

“Hang a left at the top,” said Will.

Nando rounded the corner. The whole house was deathly quiet. All they could hear was Nando’s breathing. “Hot up here, man,” he whispered. “A
lot
hotter. They must’ve left the heat on.”

“My room’s straight ahead of you,” said Will. “Look in there.”

The hallway flooded with light as Nando opened the door. It took a moment for the camera to adjust and then Will saw his room. Or what was left of it. It looked like wreckage caused by a hurricane. Everything had been chopped to pieces. The banner over the window—THE IMPORTANCE OF AN ORDERLY MIND—hung to the floor in tatters.

“Oh, Will,” said Ajay in sympathy.

They were looking for something. Something Dad must have hidden. But what?

“Dude,” said Nick. “All kidding aside. This is serious.”

Will felt sick, hoping and praying that the same kind of violence hadn’t been done to his parents.
What do these people want from us? From me?

“Check my parents’ room,” said Will. “Down the hall, last door on the left. There’s a shelf of files next to my dad’s desk.”

Nando padded down the hall. When he reached the door, the camera tilted down. Nando’s hand came into view, turning the knob. He pushed the door open.

As he walked through the doorway, a thin gossamer strand of filament that had been stretched across the threshold snapped. Nando never noticed. And in the furnace room under the basement stairs, a ring on a round steel mesh drum the size of a beer keg rotated slowly to the left. A plug rose out of the barrel with a hiss, and a thick yellowish vapor began to fill the room.…

Upstairs in Will’s parents’ bedroom, Nando surveyed more of the same destruction. Will’s parents’ bed had been slashed and stripped to the coils. His father’s desk had been emptied, drawers pulled out and smashed.

“The shelves are all empty, man,” said Nando. “Maybe the Caps took the files out in those boxes.” The camera focused in on a thermostat near the door. “No wonder it’s so hot in here. Thermostat’s turned up to eighty-five.”

“Check the closet,” said Will.

Nando moved to the open closet; it was a walk-in, deep and spacious and dark. He raised a pocket flashlight and switched it on. The camera followed the flashlight beam around the closet. Clothes and hangers had been pulled off the rails and tossed into a big pile on the floor.

“There’s nothing in here, man,” said Nando. “And they’ve searched it.”

“There’s a false panel in the ceiling,” said Will. “Near the back right corner. Try looking there. You’ll need a chair.”

Nando dragged a chair from the bedroom to the rear of the closet. He stood on it and examined the ceiling, which was covered with a layer of sprayed white insulation.

“Think I see it,” said Nando. “There’s a seam here.” He poked around until a panel, about a foot square, shifted out of its frame. Nando pushed it up and out of the way. “I can see the rafters. There’s like a crawl space. And there’s something up here.”

“Can you reach it?” asked Will.

“I’ll try,” said Nando. The screen went blurry as Nando tilted his head to the side. “I got it.” He brought a black bag down into view and pointed his light at it. “It’s like a doctor’s bag. Real old leather.”

“That belonged to my dad,” said Will.

“Something’s printed near the handle, kind of faded. It’s initials, I think.”

Will didn’t remember seeing lettering on the bag before. “Is it
J. W
.?”

“No, man. That’s not it. Looks like … 
H. G
.”

“That can’t be right,” said Will.

“Take a look,” said Nando. He held the bag in front of the camera. They saw faded gold letters on the worn pebbled leather below the handle: H. G.

“Open it,” said Will.

“Hold on a sec,” said Nando. “Thought I heard something.”

A moment later they heard a muffled boom, as if something heavy and metallic had hit the floor downstairs.

“What was that?” asked Nick.

“Maybe the furnace?” said Ajay.

“No,” Nando whispered. “I think somebody’s in the house.”

Will leaned in, alarmed. “You need to get out, Nando. Get out of the house.”

Nando jumped off the chair and started toward the open door. “Oh, man,” he said. “What is
that
? Something really
stinks
in here.” Then he stopped at the door. “I hear something moving in the crawl space.”

Will shouted at the screen, “Nando, get out of there now!”

Nando spun around. His flashlight whirled and found the hatch in the ceiling. Something stood on the edge of the opening. Will’s first thought was that it looked like a huge version of an insect kids called a potato bug.

But this thing was worse. Much worse. It had a tiny head on a pale stalk; pincers sprouted from its jaws. Big bright eyes protruded from an almost human face. It reared up on its hind legs, revealing a waxy segmented belly and the rest of its limbs, wriggling rows of what looked like black, stubby fingers.

“Aw,
sick
!” said Nando.

The thing emitted a high-pitched rattling screech and leaped off the ledge at the camera. Ajay, Nick, and Will jumped back from the screen. Nando swatted it away, turned, and jumped out of the closet, slamming the door behind him.

“Did you see that?” Nando asked.

“Yes!” yelled Will, Nick, and Ajay.

They heard the bug hit the inside of the door, then watched as its pincers speared straight through the wood like twin drill bits, secreting an acidic red-orange fluid that quickly liquefied a pulpy wet hole.

“What is that thing?” shouted Ajay.

An automatic pistol appeared in Nando’s hands.

“Dude’s got a
gat
,” said Nick.

Nando fired three shots, point-blank, as the thing wriggled through the hole it had made. The creature exploded into loose fluids that splattered and burst into flames. Liquid fire flowed down the door.

“That is
not
a bug native to Southern California,” said Ajay, shaking.

“Ya
think
?!” yelled Nando.

“Get out!” yelled Will.

“I’m getting,” said Nando.

Nando ran out the door as the fire quickly spread. They saw another bug just outside, perched on top of the banister. It leaped and attached itself to Nando’s leg. The camera spun frantically as Nando hopped down the hall, trying to slap the thing away as it crawled all over him, jaws snapping wildly.

Ajay and Nick jumped as if it had landed on them, slapping at their legs.

“Get to my room,” said Will. “Use the window—”

“Damn, it’s on my back,” said Nando.

Nando slammed backward into a wall. They heard a hideous screech and a loud crunch. Nando quickly turned. The black smear and gooey debris that had splattered from the thing burst into flame.

“Go, go!” yelled Will.

Nando had reached Will’s door when they heard a sickening skittering sound. When Nando turned, they saw a stampede, hundreds of the monsters pouring upstairs, scrambling over each other. Nando fired a burst at the head of the swarm, setting off the combustible bugs like a string of firecrackers, flames erupting.

Nando threw himself into Will’s room, slammed the door, ran to the window, and pushed up the sash. They heard a chorus of band saws behind him. Nando whipped his head around, tilting the phone sideways: A thousand bugs were chomping their way through every inch of the door, all at once, dissolving it before their eyes. Nando emptied the clip at them and what was left of the door exploded.

Then he was on the roof, breathing heavily as he crunched across the shingles. “Somebody call the damn Orkin man!” shouted Nando.

He reached the edge of the roof and jumped into the air. The camera jerked. They heard him grunt as he broke his fall on the branch of a tree, then groan as he dropped to the ground. He scrambled to his feet and limped for his taxi.

He opened the door and turned just as the whole house went up, flames bursting from every window. Nando climbed in behind the wheel and slid his key into the ignition, then jammed the taxi into gear and pulled into the alley.

“Are you okay?” asked Will.

“I’m a long way from okay,” said Nando. “But I’m
alive—
”

Another bug dove straight into the windshield, screaming. Nando shouted and swerved hard right.

The screen went blank.

A TINY PIANIST

A message came up on-screen: CALL DISCONNECTED. When Will turned around, he saw Nick and Ajay with their arms wrapped around each other.

“Monsters,” said Ajay faintly.

“Dude,” said Nick. “I am believing anything else you ever tell us for the rest of my life.”

They separated, a bit self-consciously. Nick staggered out of the closet, gulping in some deep breaths. Ajay and Will followed.

“You think Nando’s all right?” asked Ajay.

“I’ll try to call him,” said Will, taking out his phone.

“So those bugs are from the same place as the other ones?” asked Nick.

“Yes.” Will hit Nando’s number. The call went straight to voice mail.

“Well, we didn’t need special glasses to see
these
,” said Ajay.

“No,” said Will. “I think that means they came across a while ago.”

“From this place you called the Never-Was,” said Ajay.

“Right,” said Will.

“And they get here through those Weasel Holes,” said Nick.

“Yes.” Will punched REDIAL. “Damn, he’s not answering.”

“Dude,” said Nick. “Your
house
is on fire. Call the local fire department.”

“And tell them what?” asked Ajay. “That we saw it burning from
Wisconsin
?”

“I don’t know,” said Nick, throwing his hands up. “If they hurry, maybe they can catch one of those crazy cock-a-roaches.”

“They won’t find anything,” said Will. “It’ll all be wiped out by the fire. That was a trap set to go off if I came back. That’s how the Caps planned it.”

“You mean … they want to kill you?” asked Ajay.

The hell with rules or what my parents wanted. My friends are involved now, in harm’s way, and I put them there. Time to come clean
.

“Yes. Did you record any of what we just saw?” asked Will.

“All of it,” said Ajay.

“Get the girls,” said Will. “Let’s meet in the great room.”

Five minutes later, Elise and Brooke had joined them, huddled together on the couches in the great room, listening as Will told them the whole story about how the Black Caps had chased him that morning in Ojai. He showed them the mechanical bird they’d used to spy on his family before his parents had been kidnapped, or worse. He told them about the monsters in the hills and on the plane, about Ride Alongs and Weasel Holes and how people at the school were now summoning monsters from the Never-Was. He didn’t mention Dave or the Hierarchy—he didn’t want them to think he was
completely
crazy—but he did say that Todd and some of the seniors on the cross-country team, along with Lyle and the rest of the Knights, appeared to be the ones who were bringing monsters over.