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Chapter 1
The first bell sounded. So begins another
thrilling day, Toby Robin O’Keefe thought as she and Terry
Blair joined the gaggle of girls silently trudging up the stairs
to Sacred Heart Elementary.
Behind them, a momentary commotion broke
out. “You stupid idiot!” Trish Thornewood yelled.
Everyone whirled about. Trish stood glaring
at Betty McAllister, mousy, bookwormish Betty McAllister, who
had an absolutely horrified expression on her face. Toby noticed
a black splotch, roughly the size of a quarter, on the sleeve of
Trish’s otherwise pristine white blouse.
Sister Mary Francis swooped in. “Miss
Thornewood! What is the meaning of this?”
“She bumped into me and got ink on my
blouse!” Trish said, pointing an accusing finger at Betty.
“It was an accident! I didn’t mean to!
Honest, I didn’t!” Betty pleaded.
“There’s nothing on your blouse, Miss
Thornewood,” Sister Mary Francis said.
“What do you mean? It’s … right …
here …” Trish replied, her voice trailing off. Toby took her
glasses off, wiped her eyes, and put them back on. Sure enough,
the blotch on Trish’s blouse was gone. Toby was sure she’d
seen it before, but there was no sign of it now.
“That will be detention this afternoon,
Miss Thornewood,” Sister Mary Francis pronounced.
“You can’t give me detention!” Trish
retorted, then hastily backtracked when the Sister gave her an
icy glare. “I mean … I’ve never had detention before
…”
“Well, you’ve got it now,” Sister
Mary Francis replied, “for two days. Shall I make it three?”
“No, Sister,” Trish said, obviously
still resentful but knowing better than to argue any further.
The other girls turned to head inside, the
mysterious blotch forgotten. For once, Trish had landed in
trouble … and they couldn’t gloat about it!
Sister Mary Francis following the crowd
into the school. As she stepped over the threshold, she glanced
down and noticed a small stain, about the size of a silver
dollar, in the main entryway. Someone must have spilled
something, she thought, shaking her head as she bustled off down
the hall. I’ll have to get the janitor to clean it up.
Unseen by human eyes, a fly landed at the
edge of the stain. A narrow tube, about the size of a drinking
straw, extruded from the center of the stain, sucked the fly in,
and retracted.
***
The first thing Jodie Fitzgerald and Doris
Wade did when they entered the third grade homeroom (as they did
every morning) was rush to check on Micky and Goofy, the class
guinea pigs. Today, though, a surprise awaited the girls.
“Where’d they go?” Doris asked,
eyeing the empty cage with dismay.
“Dunno,” Jodie replied. “And what’s
that stuff in the cage?”
“Looks like … like … like tar or
something,” Doris said, crinkling her nose in disgust.
Their teacher came into the room. “Sister
Mary Thomas!” Jodie cried, running to her. “Mickey and Goofy
are missing! And there’s something icky all over their cage!”
Sister Mary Thomas scrutinized the cage.
“You’re right, they’re gone. But what’s this icky stuff
you’re talking about?”
Both girls looked again. The cage, which
was still empty, bore no sign of the inky black substance they’d
seen before. “It’s … it’s gone,” Jodie breathed.
“But where are the guinea pigs?” Doris
asked.
“I don’t know. I’ll see if I can find
out what happened to them. Please take your seats, it’s time
for class to start.”
With one last baleful look at the cage,
Jodie and Doris reluctantly sat down and tried to concentrate on
the day’s lesson.
***
The end of the first period came. Sister
Mary Francis, striding through the busy halls, paused as she
passed a student restroom. Was that a scream she’d heard from
inside?
She poked her into the room. “Hello? Is
everything all right in here?”
Dead silence greeted her. She looked
around; no one in the stalls, no one at the sinks. The restroom
was empty.
Sister Mary Francis shrugged her shoulders
– it was probably the school’s heating system acting up
again – and was about to leave when she spotted a notebook and
a couple of textbooks lying in a heap on the floor. She gathered
up the books; they belonged to Cynthia Stanton, a fourth grader.
Well, Miss Stanton can write an essay about the proper treatment
of school property while she’s in detention this afternoon,
the Sister thought as she swept imperiously from the room.
Chapter 2
Betty McAllister smiled as she entered the
school’s library at the start of second period. This was her
favorite time of day, serving as aide to Sister Mary Paulette,
the Sacred Heart librarian. The duties were light, generally
just some reshelving and neatening. Once she’d finished, she
was free to spend the rest of the period with her true love –
books.
“Good morning, Sister,” she said. As
usual for this time of day, the library was deserted except for
the two of them.
“Good morning, Betty,” Sister Mary
Paulette returned the greeting. “When you’re done
reshelving, the easy reader section is a mess. See if you can do
anything with it, please.”
“Certainly, Sister,” Betty replied,
grabbing the recycling cart and starting her rounds. Sister Mary
Paulette returned to her tiny office. She was pondering a
subscription renewal to National Geographic – excellent
articles, but those pictures of those naked African boys! –
when she heard Betty shriek, “Sister! Hel –!”
She rushed into the main library, just in
time to see a pair of frantically kicking knee-socked legs
sticking out of a large black tube, which was slowly retracting
into the middle of a black splotch covering most of the ceiling.
The Sister watched, horrified, until even the very tip-toes of
Betty’s MaryJanes disappeared from sight.
Still not quite comprehending what she’d
seen, Sister Mary Paulette walked directly under the splotch.
“Wha –“ she started. Then the tube extended again. The
Sister tried to duck out of the way, but too late. Seconds
later, the library was quiet once more.
***
Start of third period, and Sister Mary
Agnes was taking roll. “Betty McAllister … Betty McAllister
… Miss McAllister?”
All eyes turned toward the empty desk where
Betty usually sat. “Does anyone know where Miss McAllister is?”
Sister Mary Agnes asked.
“She was in class first period,”
Margaret Wade volunteered. “Maybe she got hung up at the
library.”
“Perhaps,” the Sister replied, but she
sounded doubtful. Betty was one of her most punctual students,
and she’d never been tardy before.
“I wonder if Trish had something to do
with it,” Terry whispered.
“Could be. I wouldn’t put it past her,”
Toby murmured back, and both girls shared a barely-suppressed
giggle.
“Miss Blair and Miss O’Keefe!” Sister
Mary Agnes remonstrated.
“Sorry, Sister,” Toby apologized and
quickly looked straight-postured and attentive, but a corner of
her mind was still mulling over the mystery of Betty’s
disappearance.
***
With lunchtime approaching, Sacred Heart’s
crew of hairnet-wearing, white-dress-clad cooks were making
their usual preparations. In one isolated corner of the kitchen,
a “lunch lady” was stirring up the daily pot of tuna noodle
casserole when the black tube descended from above, taking her
by surprise. After ingesting the cook, the tube reached into the
cookpot and took a sample of its contents … then hastily spat
it out and retracted.
***
Sister Mary Ambrose’s second grade class
was watching a film about the Pilgrims. All eyes were glued to
the screen, under threat of the Sister’s ruler (no idle
threat, since her pupils knew all too well that Sister Mary
Ambrose was the one teacher at Sacred Heart who wouldn’t
hesitate to apply her ruler to the palms or backsides of errant
students). Consequently, no one noticed when the darkened room
grew slightly darker as an inky black substance covered the
walls and windows.
The tube started at the back of the room,
taking the teacher first. It moved relentlessly from seat to
seat. The first few girls were completely surprised and
swallowed without a struggle. The next victim had time for a
brief squeal before she, too, disappeared. The remaining
students panicked, rushing for the door – only they couldn’t
find it, or the lightswitch, or any of their classroom’s
familiar fixtures. The tube took its time, picking them off one
by one, until the last kicking, squirming girl vanished into its
maw.
The film ran out, and the loose end on the
takeup reel went flap, flap, flap against the projector housing
as the light flashed on the vacant screen.
Chapter 3
Toby sat impatiently at the sixth grade
table in the Sacred Heart cafeteria, waiting for Terry to make
her way through the lunch line. As slow as that line was moving
today, lunchtime could well be over before either of them had a
chance to take a bite, she thought.
Terry finally approached, carrying a tray
loaded with the daily entrée. “Jeeps,” she said as she sat
down, “I didn’t think I’d ever make it through that line.”
“What took so long?” Toby asked as she
unwrapped her PB&J.
“One of the lunch ladies had to leave
early. Or that’s what they think, anyway. Nobody knows for
sure where she is.”
“Hm.” Toby mulled that over as she
chewed and swallowed. “Another mysterious disappearance. First
Betty, then the lunch lady.”
Terry peered over her friend’s shoulder.
“They may not be the only ones. What happened to the second
graders?”
Toby craned her neck around; indeed, the
second grade table was sparsely attended today. “Jeeps …
what’s going on?”
Meanwhile, Terry took a forkful of tuna
noodle casserole and immediately made a face. “Yuck! This
tastes awful!”
“Yeah, and it’s usually so delicious,”
Toby replied, heavy on the sarcasm.
“No, I mean it’s even worse than usual.”
Terry scooped up another forkful and held it out. “Here, see
what you think.”
Toby took a whiff, crinkling her nose in
disgust. “P.U! I see what you mean, Terr. It smells like they
used the pot to rinse out some old gym socks or something.”
“I don’t think I’d better eat any
more of this,” Terry said as she shoved her tray aside.
“Good idea,” Toby agreed, handing over
half her sandwich.
***
Meanwhile, in the Sacred Heart chemistry
lab, Sister Mary Catherine’s eighth-grade class was busy
preparing an experiment. Under the Sister’s watchful eye,
students measured out chemicals and poured them between vials.
Above them, unseen and unnoticed until too late, the ceiling
slowly filled with black. The creature had found its latest
prey.
The tube’s descent into the room produced
the same reaction as in the second grade class – and with the
same result. Sister Mary Catherine’s attempt to take charge of
the situation failed when she, too, disappeared into the tube’s
relentless maw. Girls tried running, dodging, hiding under
tables … all to no avail.
Vicky Hannover watched in horror as, one by
one, her classmates disappeared into the dark tube. Perhaps
because she stood absolutely still, the creature saved her for
last.
The sight of the tube coming for her broke
her paralysis. “No … no … stay away!” she cried, backing
up until she bumped into a worktable. She reached back to steady
herself. Her hand closed around a vial. Instinctively, she flung
the vial as hard as she could, at the tube.
The contents of the vial splattered inside
the tube. A shrill, piercing shriek filled the air. Vicky jammed
her fingers into her ears, reflexively shutting her eyes against
the hideous noise. When she opened them again, she found herself
alone in the lab. There was no sign of the strange creature –
or of her teacher, or any of her classmates.
Vicky bolted from the room. She sped
through the halls of Sacred Heart to the main office and burst
through the door, shouting, “Help! Somebody, help –“
But the office was empty, an overturned
chair and some papers scattered on the floor evidence of a
recent disturbance. Vicky wandered through the inner rooms,
calling, “Sister Mary Cabrini? Anyone?” No answer. The girl
headed where she knew she’d be most likely to find someone
this time of day – the Sacred Heart cafeteria.
Chapter 4
Lunchtime was nearing its conclusion.
Terry, having finished off half of the contents of Toby’s
brown bag, was busy chatting with Audrey Vandingham about the
latest installment in Laura Lovelorn’s “True Teen Romance”
series. Meanwhile, Toby sat with her head propped up on one
hand, bored out of her skull. Terry and Audrey had studiously
ignored her eye-rolling and snarky comments, so now she kept
quiet, waiting for the agony to end. This was a real mystery,
she thought sourly: how anyone could possibly enjoy reading that
junk.
Then, over Terry’s shoulder, she saw
Vicky Hannover race into the cafeteria and rush over to Sister
Mary Francis, the lunchtime monitor. The obviously-flustered
girl apparently explained something to the nun, who raised her
hands in a calming gesture.
Her curiosity piqued, Toby decided to see
for herself what was going on. She got up from the table and
headed over. Terry, noticing Toby’s interest, excused herself
from Audrey and followed.
Vicky was babbling, on the verge of
hysterics. “It was big, and black, and there was this long
tube, and it ate Sister Mary Catherine, and it ate all the other
girls, and –“
“Miss Hannover!” Sister Mary Francis
interrupted. “I must insist that you calm down! I can barely
understand a word you’re saying!”
The eighth-grader took a deep breath and
wiped her eyes. “Okay,” she said more slowly, “I was in
chemistry lab. There was this big, black … thing. It covered
the ceiling and the walls. This tube came out of it and sucked
up Sister Mary Catherine and everyone else. It came after me,
but I threw something at it and it went away. I ran to the
office, but there was no one there. Please, you’ve got to
believe me!”
Toby and Terry exchanged glances. Toby
noticed that Margaret Wade had tagged along and was listening in
avidly.
“And just what was this ‘thing’ that
devoured your class, Miss Hannover?” Sister Mary Francis
asked, her voice full of skepticism.
Vicky pushed her hair back, looking up at
the ceiling. “I don’t know. I never saw anything like it
before …” Her voice trailed away, and her eyes widened in
fright. “There it is! There it is!” she shrieked, pointing.
All conversation in the cafeteria ceased.
Everyone looked first at Vicky, then at where she pointed.
In the far corner of the room, a black
stain spread. As the amazed girls watched, it rapidly covered
most of the ceiling. The ever-present tube snaked down and
snatched a girl from the first-grade table. The creature wasted
no time, quickly inhaling its hapless victim and moving on to
the next.
The sight touched off a mass panic. Girls
ran for the exits. Most headed for the two doors leading to the
outside, but the blackness flowed down the walls, blocking off
any escape there. The resulting crush of bodies made things
rather easy for the creature. The tube descended again and
again, each time sucking up another kicking, squirming
schoolgirl.
“C’mon,” Vicky yelled, “we’ve got
to get out of here!”
But Sister Mary Francis was determined to
play the role of lunchroom monitor to the bitter end. “Girls,
please!” she shouted, raising her hands and advancing into the
room. “There’s no need to panic! Everyone, evacuate in an
orderly fashion through the inner door –“ Her further
pronouncements were lost in the general noise and confusion.
Vicky led Toby, Terry, and Margaret to the
inner door. At the threshold, they turned and looked back. Jodie
and Doris were running their way. They were almost to the door
when the creature grabbed Doris, engulfing her down to her
waist. As the tube retracted, Jodie alertly grabbed her friend’s
leg and tried to pull her free.
“Doris!” Margaret shrieked, racing back
into the cafeteria and grabbing her little sister’s other leg.
The brief but deadly game of tug-of-war ended when the tube
extended again, swallowing Doris entirely and Jodie and Margaret
up to their waists. For a moment, it seemed they’d gotten
stuck there, four kicking bare legs instead of the usual two.
Then the creature inhaled again, and they, too, vanished.
Vicky glanced up. The creature was creeping
down the wall, directly toward them. “Look out!” she
shouted, roughly shoving Toby and Terry out the door. The girls
landed in a heap in the hallway. The blackness filled the
doorway, sealing off the cafeteria completely.
“We’ve got to get out of here! C’mon,
hurry!” Vicky urged, scrambling to her feet and racing for the
main entrance. Terry and Toby followed her. Behind them, the
imprint of several hands showed on the blackness covering the
cafeteria door. One by one, they disappeared, until the surface
was smooth again.
Chapter 5
Due to her longer legs, Vicky easily
outdistanced the two younger girls. Toby and Terry rounded a
corner and nearly collided with the eighth-grader, who stood,
staring dumbly, at the main entrance. The creature had gotten
there before them, and a black veil barred any escape.
“The side exits! Hurry!” Vicky cried,
setting off again. As she ran, Toby glanced into the empty
classrooms. To her horror, she saw the windows were blocked,
too. She didn’t hold out much hope for the other exits; but
still, they had to try …
The girls raced past exit after exit,
finding each covered by blackness, until they skidded to a halt
before the last door. “Wh … wh … what do we do now?”
Terry gasped out, trying to regain her breath.
Vicky looked around. “Maybe a window
–“
“No,” Toby said flatly. No sense in
getting everyone’s hopes up, only to dash them again. “I
saw. They’re blocked, too. All of them.”
“Then what do we do? We’re trapped!”
Terry was on the verge of outright panic, and Vicky, to all
appearances, was no better. Fighting down her own rising sense
of terror, Toby struggled to remember what Vicky had said to
Sister Mary Francis back in the cafeteria. Maybe there was
something there …
“Vicky,” she said tentatively, “you
said that when that – that thing came after you in the
chemistry lab, you were able to get away from it. Is that right?”
Most girls Vicky’s age would have balked
at being interrogated by an underclassman; Vicky, though, knew
Toby well <see>, so she didn’t hesitate. “Yeah …
yeah, I did.”
“How did you do that?”
“Well – that tube-thing was reaching
for me – and I threw something at it. There was this big
screeching noise, and it – it just disappeared.”
“Then it can be hurt,” Toby thought out
loud. “What was it you threw?”
“A jar of – of – I dunno. Some
chemical.”
“What chemical was it?”
“I don’t know! I didn’t have time to
look!”
“Could you figure it out, if we went back
to the lab?”
“I … I guess so.”
“Okay, then. Let’s go!”
***
Their footsteps echoed as they made their
way through the silent halls. Never before had the school felt
as empty. Even on the rare occasions when Toby had gotten an
after-school detention, there had always been someone around –
nuns grading papers and preparing the next day’s lessons, the
janitorial staff cleaning up, or other students engaged in one
of Sacred Heart’s many extracurricular activities. Now, there
was nothing – nothing except an overwhelming aura of menace,
of the creature lurking unseen, waiting to strike again.
The girls had just finished climbing the
stairs and were almost to the chemistry lab when Terry shouted,
“Look out!” Toby found herself shoved roughly to the floor,
her glasses askew. She straightened them; there was the
all-too-familiar sight of the tube retracting toward the ceiling
with a pair of kicking bare legs dangling from it. She looked
around; Vicky knelt beside her. That meant the kicking legs
belonged to – belonged to –
“Terry!” she screamed, scrambling to
her feet and leaping in a desperate attempt to reach the trapped
girl. Her fingertips grazed the soles of Terry’s shoes, and
she fell to the floor again, watching helplessly as the tube
disappeared again, taking her best friend with it.
Toby lay sprawled, staring up in disbelief.
She couldn’t accept that Terry had been – had been – “No!”
she shrieked, jumping up and scuttling backwards, as if to
distance herself from the thought, until she collided with the
nearest wall. There was no escaping the truth, though. All her
friends and classmates … Terry … Jodie … Margaret … even
Trish and Leslie … all gone. Her tears came unbidden; she
covered her face with her hands and slid down the wall to a
sitting position, sobbing.
Chapter 6
Toby lay sprawled, staring up in disbelief.
She couldn’t accept that Terry had been – had been – “No!”
she shrieked, jumping up and scuttling backwards, as if to
distance herself from the thought, until she collided with the
nearest wall. There was no escaping the truth, though. All her
friends and classmates … Terry … Jodie … Margaret … even
Trish and Leslie … all gone. Her tears came unbidden; she
covered her face with her hands and slid down the wall to a
sitting position, sobbing.
How long Toby sat and cried, she couldn’t
say. She felt a hand on her shoulder, gently shaking her. It was
Vicky. “Toby, c’mon. We’ve got to go,” the older girl
urged.
But Toby wasn’t ready to do anything else
just yet. She jerked away from the contact, drawing her knees up
to her chest and wrapping her arms around her legs, trying to
make herself as small as possible.
Vicky grew more insistent. “Toby, we’ve
got to get moving! That thing could come back any time?”
“I don’t care!” Toby groaned. Right
then, she truly didn’t.
“Well, I do!” Vicky was getting
exasperated. Deciding on a more direct approach, she put her
hands under Toby’s armpits and tried to bodily lift the girl.
“Come on!”
“No!” Toby jerked away again, this time
falling into a heap on the floor, where she lay, huddled up in a
near-fetal position, sobbing and moaning.
Fortunately, Vicky was an experienced
babysitter, and she knew a tried-and-true method of dealing with
reluctant children. She squatted down beside Toby and, without
hesitating, administered a sharp swat right where it would do
the most good.
“Ow!” The sting penetrated Toby’s
misery, bringing her back to herself. “What was that for?”
“If you’re going to lay there and cry,
I’m going to give you something to cry about,” Vicky
responded, delivering another swat.
“Owww!” Toby yelped again, quickly
rolling onto her back to prevent any further damage.
“Toby, look, I’m sorry about Terry,”
Vicky explained. “I lost …” She swallowed hard,
remembering the scene in the chemistry lab. “I lost all my
friends, too. But if we’re going to beat this thing, we need
to work together. I can’t do it by myself. Okay?”
Reluctantly, Toby forced her grief aside.
What Vicky said made a lot of sense. If they defeated the
creature, there’d be plenty of time to mourn Terry and the
others; if not – well, that wasn’t a good thing to think
about right now. “Okay,” she replied. She was about to get
up when she realized something she’d overlooked before. “Terry
… Terry pushed me out of the way, didn’t she?”
Vicky hesitated, afraid her answer would
set Toby off again. “Yeah … yeah, she did,” she finally
admitted.
One more thing I owe Terry, Toby thought
grimly. She wiped her eyes and extended her hand to Vicky. “I’m
okay now. Help me up, please.” Vicky pulled the younger girl
to her feet, and the two set off again.
They entered the chemistry lab. “There’s
the jar!” Vicky exclaimed, scampering over to pick it up. She
frowned as she read the label. “Methyl beryllium? What’s
that doing here? We weren’t using it in today’s experiment.”
“Never mind that. Is there any more of
it?” Toby asked, eyeing the empty vial.
“There should be. I sure hope so.”
Vicky crossed the room and opened a supply cabinet. “Look!
There’s plenty!” She indicated a shelf of vials similar to
the one she held.
Toby’s mood brightened … somewhat. “Can
we … can we find something to put it in?”
“How much do you think we’ll need?”
“Well …” Toby pondered the matter.
“It’s a pretty big, um, creature. We’ll probably need an
awful lot.”
“Will this work?” Vicky held up an
empty gallon jug she’d found on the cabinet’s bottom shelf.
“That’d be perfect!”
Vicky set the jug on the floor and took two
vials of methyl beryllium from the shelf. She handed one to
Toby, who took it cautiously and asked, “This stuff isn’t
dangerous, is it?”
“Not unless you drink it,” Vicky
replied.
The girls took turns pouring vials into the
jug. There was enough methyl beryllium to fill the large
container about three-quarters full. “What do we do now?”
Vicky asked after they’d emptied the last vial.
“We find that thing and see how well this
stuff works,” Toby responded.
“Okay, let’s go!” Vicky picked up the
jug and headed out of the chemistry lab. Toby grabbed a sponge
and followed.
The pair made their way downstairs to the
nearest exit. The black veil still covered the doorway. Toby
poured a small portion of methyl beryllium onto the sponge, then
carefully replaced the lid, not wanting to risk spilling the
precious fluid. “Let’s see how it likes this,” she said,
wiping the sponge across the blackness.
Nothing happened. “It’s not working!”
Vicky cried. “Toby, what do we do now?”
Chapter 7
Toby thought quickly. “Vicky … when the
… the thing was reaching for you, and you threw the jar at it,
did any of that stuff go inside it?”
Vicky tried to recall exactly what had
happened. “I – I think so. That’s what must have happened,”
she finally concluded.
“So it looks like we’ve got to get this
stuff inside that thing to kill it,” Toby said, brandishing
the sponge.
“How are we ever gonna do that? We’re
doomed!”
Suddenly, Toby had one of those moments of
clarity, when she knew, she absolutely knew, what she had to do.
“Maybe … maybe there is a way,” she said slowly.
“What’s that? A way? How?”
“Leave that up to me,” Toby said with
renewed confidence. “I’ve got a plan. First of all, we’ve
got to attract its attention.” She tossed the sponge aside,
made a megaphone out of her hands, and shouted, “Monster! Hey,
monster! Where are you?”
Vicky looked astonished. “Toby … are
you sure you know what you’re doing?”
“Monster! Come out, come out, wherever
you are! Monnnnn-sterrrrrr!”
“Toby, I really don’t think this is
such a good idea –“
But Toby wasn’t to be deterred. “Hey!
Monster! What’sa matter? Are you afraid of me? I’m not
afraid of you!” To emphasize her words, she kicked the
blackness covering the exit door. It felt like kicking one of
the mats they used in gym class. For good measure, she kicked it
again.
“Toby!” Vicky breathed. “Here it
comes!”
Toby looked up … the black stain was
spreading over the ceiling. “Okay,” she said, positioning
herself directly over the jug, “here’s what we do. When I
yell ‘Now’, you duck that way and I’ll duck this way,”
indicating opposite sides of the hallway.
“Wh-whatever you s-say, T-toby,” Vicky
replied, nervously watching the still-spreading stain.
The ceiling filled with black, and the
ominous tube came snaking toward them. Toby watched as it came
closer … and closer … “Now!” she shouted.
Vicky dutifully ducked out of the way,
rolling across the floor to the relative safety of the far wall.
Toby bent down and grabbed the jug of
methyl beryllium, wrapping both arms around it, willing herself
to remain still as the tube came down and swallowed her.
Chapter 8
Toby had guessed, correctly, that it’d be
cold inside the tube, but she hadn’t expected it to be quite
so cold. Even if there had been any light, she most likely still
wouldn’t have been able to see anything, because her glasses
had probably frosted over immediately.
Her feet left the floor as the tube
retracted. She felt something grasping one of her ankles. Vicky,
she thought. No, don’t try to pull me out! Let it have me! She
kicked desperately, breaking the older girl’s grip.
The tube walls constricted, drawing her
further in. Now she felt the cold on her bare legs as well as
her bare arms. Her fingers were already turning numb, and her
toes were sure to follow. What’s more, the tight passageway
left little room for her chest and lungs to expand. Breathing
was going to be a problem.
The constrictions continued. Toby found
that, if she timed things just right, she could get a shallow
breath just as the tube walls relaxed. She did her best not to
struggle or squirm, hoping that, if she remained still, she’d
move along and get to the thing’s stomach faster.
Then the tube narrowed still further. Now
breathing wasn’t just difficult, it was downright impossible.
Even worse, she felt the jug start to slip away. She fought to
clutch it even tighter in her numbing fingers. If she lost the
jug, she had no hope of defeating the creature.
At last, just as her oxygen-starved lungs
felt about to burst, the tube expelled her, and she found
herself falling headlong through the darkness.
Toby didn’t fall far before she
bellyflopped onto a (fortunately) soft, spongy surface. The
impact of the jug against her stomach drove what little air she’d
been able to gulp down right out of her lungs again, and she
laid still for a few moments, gasping for breath.
Now, she was sure she could feel the cold
in the very marrow of her bones. Utter darkness surrounded her.
“Terry? Jodie? Anybody?” she called, hoping against hope.
Complete silence was her only answer.
Well, Toby thought, if she didn’t get
busy, she’d freeze solid right where she lay. She started to
get to her feet – only to find that she couldn’t move. The
surface was covered in a sticky substance, and she was stuck
fast. She tried to use her left arm to push herself up, only to
have it sink up to the elbow. There didn’t seem to be any
bottom to whatever she was laying on – none that she could
find, anyway. She managed to yank her arm free; still, that left
her right where she’d started, only colder.
Again, Toby fought down her rising panic.
After a moment’s thought, she tried gently rocking her body
from side to side. She felt the stickiness’ grip loosening. A
little more … a little more … there!
With a great effort, she rolled over onto
her back. She was stuck fast now, she knew, but both her arms
were free. Now for the jug … the jug? Where was the jug? When
she’d rolled over, she’d lost it!
Cautiously, trying not to let her hand come
into contact with the sticky stuff again, Toby probed the area
where she first landed. There it was! She managed to pull it to
her. Now to get it open …
Her fingers were little more than lifeless
slabs of flesh, and it was very difficult to get them to obey.
Despite all her efforts, the jug’s lid refused to turn. Toby
realized it must have frozen in place. She remembered a trick
her mother used on difficult-to-open jars. Caitlin O’Keefe
would run hot water over the jar; the heat would cause the lid
to expand, making it easier to open. Toby pulled the jug as
close to her mouth as she could and blew on it furiously, hoping
whatever little warmth her lungs were still capable of producing
would be enough. She knew she didn’t have long; numbness
continued to spread through her, and she’d already lost all
feeling in her legs.
She wrapped her unresponsive fingers around
the lid and tried again. For a heart-stopping second, nothing
happened; then, slowly, reluctantly, the lid started to turn.
Toby worked for many agonizing seconds before it came loose.
With the last of her remaining strength, she upended the jug.
The methyl beryllium sloshed out.
Immediately, a piercing shriek filled her
ears, and the surface around her shuddered and roiled, as if in
an earthquake. She kept the jug tipped until the last of the
liquid poured forth, then tossed it away and collapsed, utterly
exhausted, slipping into unconsciousness despite the shuddering
beneath her and that awful, horrendous noise.
Chapter 9
“Toby?”
The sound came from the very edge of her
awareness. She felt hands on her shoulders, gently shaking her
awake. But she didn’t want to wake up just yet. She wanted to
sleep for oh, say, another century or two.
“Toby!”
It was Vicky. Her voice and the shaking
were getting more insistent. “Toby? Are you okay? Please wake
up, Toby, please! Toby!”
Reluctantly, Toby pried her eyes open. She
found herself still flat on her back, but in the familiar halls
of Sacred Heart rather than some alien creature’s stomach.
Vicky’s worried face hovered over her.
“Toby!” The older girl’s concern
changed to elation. “Toby, you did it!”
“Wha?” Still disoriented, Toby couldn’t
quite process what she was hearing. “I did what?”
“That – that thing is gone, and
everyone’s back!”
Toby closed her eyes, letting that sink in,
while taking a mental inventory. Although still chilled, she
could already feel tingling in her arms and legs as circulation
returned. Her uniform felt absolutely soaked. Must have got some
of that stuff on me, she thought. Then Vicky’s last words
penetrated, and her eyes snapped open again. “Wh-what do you
mean, everybody’s back?” she asked, struggling to sit up.
Vicky put her arms around Toby’s
shoulders, assisting her to a sitting position. “See for
yourself!”
Blinking rapidly to clear her still-blurry
vision, Toby looked around. The hall was filled with the school’s
students, faculty, and staff, most lying senseless, but some
showing signs of life. Sunshine poured through doors and windows
formerly blocked by blackness. The pervading aura of menace had
disappeared.
More of the fog in Toby’s brain
dissipated. If everyone was back, then that meant – but where
was – she looked around frantically before spotting a familiar
blonde laying nearby. “Terry!”
With Vicky’s help, Terry stumbled to her
feet and staggered to her best friend’s side. “Terry! Oh,
Terry!”
Terry’s eyes fluttered open. “T-Toby?”
she murmured. “Wh-what h-happened?”
“She let that thing swallow her and
poured out the methyl beryllium inside it!” Vicky explained.
“It was the bravest thing I’ve ever seen!”
Toby thought of all the things she’d seen
that day. Margaret’s and Jodie’s doomed attempt to save
Doris … Terry pushing her out of the way in the hallway …
Vicky herself, trying to warn the rest of the school instead of
fleeing to safety. “Jeeps, Vicky, there were a lot of brave
people,” she declared.
“Is it … is it … dead?” asked
Terry.
Toby and Vicky exchanged glances. “Dunno,”
Vicky finally said. “It’s gone, that’s for sure. And I
hope it never comes back!”
By now, everyone had regained
consciousness. The Sisters were taking charge, organizing the
girls into their class groups and counting heads. Doris and
Jodie wandered about, searching the hallway. “Goofy! Pluto!”
they squealed, scooping up the guinea pigs and hugging them
gleefully. A single fly, unfrozen, sprung into the air and
buzzed away.
“I wonder what that thing was,” Terry
mused. “I supposed we’ll never know.”
“There’s one thing I’d like to know,”
Vicky said.
“What’s that?” inquired Toby.
“Just how did that jar of methyl
beryllium get on my work table?”
Farther down the hall, beyond the sunlight,
Usikujumba drew his own conclusion. Well, how do you think the
jar got there?
If that thing hadn’t been so greedy,
maybe we could have worked something out – after all, there
was the most delicious burst of fear every time a girl slid down
its gullet …
But the infernal thing wanted too much.
Besides, nobody and nothing comes into this school and treats
these girls like that except me!
THE END
Usikujumba, Lord of the Night
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Usikujumba, Lord of the Night
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