people die?”
“You saw your forehead, David. You’re developing a growth, like Chief Hayes. How long before you look like this … ghost of Reggie Borden? What if you and Chief Hayes are turning into zombies?”
“I’m not turning into anything, Ariana. Chief Hayes doesn’t remember exactly what happened to him in the basement. But he escaped, just as I did. He went on to live a long, normal life — and so will I. We were — infected in some way, but obviously not enough.”
“How do you know that? This could transform you slowly, over years. How do we even know Chief Hayes is on our side?”
“Ariana, we can’t get paranoid about this.”
“I can get as paranoid as I want!”
I couldn’t tell whether or not Ariana was crying.
“We can’t bring John and Jason and Rick back,” I said softly. “But we owe them a little effort. If we can figure out why they were chosen, we may be able to predict who’s next.”
Ariana sighed. “Okay. You’re right. I — I shouldn’t be giving you a hard time.”
“So you’ll help me?” I asked.
“Yeah, I’ll come over in a few minutes.”
“No. Meet me at the library. I want to look at the town history again. The thing was here in 1950, and it took Reggie. But no one else disappeared that year — ”
“So you think the other two voices were taken at another time, and you want to check, for earthquakes and strange disappearances and murders.”
“You got it.”
“Hey, I didn’t get to be editor in chief for nothing.” Ariana gave a weak laugh. “But here’s what I want to know: Say this thing wakes up every few years, just belches out of the ground, makes everybody’s life miserable, eats people like flies. Then why does it go back to sleep? Does it get too full? Does it have some fatal, weakness?”
“Maybe it’s allergic to females.”
“Ha-ha. Keep it up. I guess you enjoy going to the library alone.”
“Meet you there in ten minutes?”
“Let me call Stephen back. We had this fight before you called. We were supposed to hang out this afternoon, but he called to say he couldn’t make it.”
“How come?”
“Well … that’s what I need to find out. I figured it had something to do with Monique, so I hung up on him.”
My heart started pumping. Now she would get angry at him. “Okay, work it out. I’ll see you in twenty minutes?”
“Make it a half-hour.”
“Twenty-five.”
“David — ”
“Bye.”
Chapter 23
“D AVID, YOU LOOK AWFUL.”
Mrs. Klatsch greeted me with those words as I barged into the library. I did not bother to return the compliment.
Needless to say, on a Saturday morning, the place was not crowded. At the nearest table, I dropped my backpack, which contained a copy of the Voyager, my alphabetical list of the Wetherby High School senior class, my notebook full of clippings, and a pen.
“Oh … yeah, a skit. It’s dye,” I replied. “Bumped my head, too — ”
“David, I’m sorry about your classmates. It must be awful — ”
“Mm-hm.” I tried not to let my impatience show. “Um, may I use the Wetherby history book?”
She looked at me as if I were insane. “Sure, David,” she mumbled, pulling the book out of the stacks behind her desk. “More earthquake research?”
“Sort of,” I replied.
“Well, if I can be of any help …”
“Thanks.” I tried to give as normal-looking a smile as possible. She didn’t seem convinced.
I took the book and placed it next to my other stuff. I’d forgotten to bring a pad of paper, so I turned over my student list and stared at the blank page.
Now what?
I hate blank pages. They make me dizzy. That’s because I stare at them a lot, especially when I have to do papers. I get tired. I get nauseated. I stand up, walk around, and end up at a large electric object, like a refrigerator or TV.
I couldn’t do that now. I picked up my pencil and wrote:
VOICE 1 = BORDEN
Genius. Brilliant. A+. Skip a grade.
What did I think I was doing? I
“You saw your forehead, David. You’re developing a growth, like Chief Hayes. How long before you look like this … ghost of Reggie Borden? What if you and Chief Hayes are turning into zombies?”
“I’m not turning into anything, Ariana. Chief Hayes doesn’t remember exactly what happened to him in the basement. But he escaped, just as I did. He went on to live a long, normal life — and so will I. We were — infected in some way, but obviously not enough.”
“How do you know that? This could transform you slowly, over years. How do we even know Chief Hayes is on our side?”
“Ariana, we can’t get paranoid about this.”
“I can get as paranoid as I want!”
I couldn’t tell whether or not Ariana was crying.
“We can’t bring John and Jason and Rick back,” I said softly. “But we owe them a little effort. If we can figure out why they were chosen, we may be able to predict who’s next.”
Ariana sighed. “Okay. You’re right. I — I shouldn’t be giving you a hard time.”
“So you’ll help me?” I asked.
“Yeah, I’ll come over in a few minutes.”
“No. Meet me at the library. I want to look at the town history again. The thing was here in 1950, and it took Reggie. But no one else disappeared that year — ”
“So you think the other two voices were taken at another time, and you want to check, for earthquakes and strange disappearances and murders.”
“You got it.”
“Hey, I didn’t get to be editor in chief for nothing.” Ariana gave a weak laugh. “But here’s what I want to know: Say this thing wakes up every few years, just belches out of the ground, makes everybody’s life miserable, eats people like flies. Then why does it go back to sleep? Does it get too full? Does it have some fatal, weakness?”
“Maybe it’s allergic to females.”
“Ha-ha. Keep it up. I guess you enjoy going to the library alone.”
“Meet you there in ten minutes?”
“Let me call Stephen back. We had this fight before you called. We were supposed to hang out this afternoon, but he called to say he couldn’t make it.”
“How come?”
“Well … that’s what I need to find out. I figured it had something to do with Monique, so I hung up on him.”
My heart started pumping. Now she would get angry at him. “Okay, work it out. I’ll see you in twenty minutes?”
“Make it a half-hour.”
“Twenty-five.”
“David — ”
“Bye.”
Chapter 23
“D AVID, YOU LOOK AWFUL.”
Mrs. Klatsch greeted me with those words as I barged into the library. I did not bother to return the compliment.
Needless to say, on a Saturday morning, the place was not crowded. At the nearest table, I dropped my backpack, which contained a copy of the Voyager, my alphabetical list of the Wetherby High School senior class, my notebook full of clippings, and a pen.
“Oh … yeah, a skit. It’s dye,” I replied. “Bumped my head, too — ”
“David, I’m sorry about your classmates. It must be awful — ”
“Mm-hm.” I tried not to let my impatience show. “Um, may I use the Wetherby history book?”
She looked at me as if I were insane. “Sure, David,” she mumbled, pulling the book out of the stacks behind her desk. “More earthquake research?”
“Sort of,” I replied.
“Well, if I can be of any help …”
“Thanks.” I tried to give as normal-looking a smile as possible. She didn’t seem convinced.
I took the book and placed it next to my other stuff. I’d forgotten to bring a pad of paper, so I turned over my student list and stared at the blank page.
Now what?
I hate blank pages. They make me dizzy. That’s because I stare at them a lot, especially when I have to do papers. I get tired. I get nauseated. I stand up, walk around, and end up at a large electric object, like a refrigerator or TV.
I couldn’t do that now. I picked up my pencil and wrote:
VOICE 1 = BORDEN
Genius. Brilliant. A+. Skip a grade.
What did I think I was doing? I
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