

RITA MORSE AND THE SINISTER SHADOW

Book 1 of the Rita Morse Series

By

Holly A. Hook

SMASHWORDS EDITION

PUBLISHED BY:

Holly A. Hook

Rita Morse and the Sinister Shadow

Copyright © 2011 Holly A. Hook

Cover design by T.M. Roy, cover art ©2011 T.M. Roy

www.TERyvisions.com

All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

Also by Holly Hook

*Destroyers Series*

Tempest (Destroyers, Book One)

Inferno (Destroyers, Book Two)

Outbreak (Destroyers, Book Three)

Frostbite (Destroyers, Book Four)

*Rita Morse Series*

Rita Morse and the Sinister Shadow (Rita Morse, Book One)

Rita Morse and the Treacherous Traitor (Rita Morse, Book Two)

After These Messages (A Parody)

* * * * *

RITA MORSE AND THE SINISTER SHADOW

* * * * *

### Chapter One

If I'd known my boring life was about to turn into an epic battle with the forces of injustice, I would've abandoned my prank on the Kool Spot, rode my bike back home, and twiddled my thumbs like my mom said I was supposed to do when this kind of thing happened. Okay, maybe I wouldn't have sulked in my room, but I would've at least thought out this toilet papering job a little better.

But I didn't, because I'm Rita Morse.

Tonight, nothing could keep me from the one thing on my mind: revenge. Revenge against my older cousin, Jerry, for the wonderful sign he'd put up in the door of his video game lounge earlier that day. Revenge for the fact that he'd just turned his back on all our years of friendship, all the pizza parties he used to host for me and my friends, and the fact that he was the one source of sanity I had in my family. The blue poster board in the Kool Spot's door glared out at me in the streetlight. Absolutely no one under eighteen allowed without a parent. No explanation. No warning. Did it make any sense? No, because this wasn't like my cousin at all. Did it tick me off? Yes. But you've probably guessed that already.

I nodded to my friend Ryan Sullivan as he hopped off his bike. "How much did you bring?" I asked, staring at his badge-covered backpack. It practically bulged at the seams.

He opened his mouth to say something, but his buddy Dan cut in front of him and tossed a toilet paper roll at me with a Look of Death. It bounced off my T-shirt with a soft thump and rolled away down the sidewalk. "What's Jerry's problem?" he asked. As if it were really my problem. "What does he think we were doing? Slashing open the bean bag chairs?"

The wind flung my hair into my face, forcing me to spit it out before I could answer. "Just because he's my cousin doesn't mean I know."

Dan wouldn't have it. His glasses shined in the moonlight as he kept glaring. "Well, he practically babysat you all the time growing up. Don't tell me you don't know what he's plotting, Raging Rita." Of course. He had to throw in my least favorite nickname. Hypocrite.

"Sorry. He wouldn't pick up his phone today." I glared at the sign and picked up the toilet paper Dan threw at me. "I'm not waiting four more years to go in there and talk to him about this."

Ryan brushed his hand through his spiky hair. "G...give Rita a break, man. We've gotta get this done."

He was right, though it was weird that he was the one standing up for me this time. "Yeah, can you stop giving me attitude? Maybe he'll only answer his phone now if you're over a certain age." I glared at the new sign. "You think I had anything to do with that?"

Dan shut his mouth and stalked over to his friend Sean, grumbling like he did every time he got toasted by a Dragon Wizard on his Darkworld card game. Ryan shot me a look that said, sorry for bringing him.

"It's fine," I mouthed. We needed all the help we could get.

The wind snapped through my hair again, shoving a curtain of brown right over my eyes. I flung it away and wrestled a toilet paper roll from my grasp. If that didn't tell Dan what side I was on, nothing would.

"Ready?" Ryan asked.

I nodded. Time to get started. If I was out too long, my parents would ask all kinds of nosy questions. Or worse, a car could come rolling by. This was Dobbs Street, after all. Even with all the stores closed this late, someone was bound to come through here sooner or later. It was the main road in town.

I did the honors and hurled the first roll to the roof. A long streamer of white unfurled and another thump sounded as it made contact. It tumbled back down and caught on the old rain gutter, leaving a streamer of Charmin waving in the wind as the roll hit the sidewalk.

"Sweet," Sean said.

A tingle of satisfaction raced up my spine. Bingo. One down, twenty more rolls to go. Maybe after this, Jerry would explain why he'd betrayed us. Why he'd betrayed me.

Ryan and Sean tossed up rolls too. Then Dan. Then me, again. Minutes went by. Once a car passed on the next street, sending us all running for our bikes, but it was a false alarm and we all went back to work. Soon the Kool Spot had the world's raggiest curtain in front of it. Jerry was going to crap his pants when he came to open up in the morning. Not that he'd have a lot of customers to worry about anymore. And what was he going to do after this? Ban us?

We were on our last set of toilet paper rolls when it happened.

"Shhh," Sean said. "I think someone's coming."

Footsteps were approaching. Heavy, scary footsteps—the kind you'd hear in a corny horror movie.

My stomach lurched as I dropped the last roll and whiled around to face the noise. Great. How were we going to explain the toilet paper? Hey, it's a modern art project that we just happen to be doing in the middle of the night? Yeah, everyone knew I was into art, but that excuse would never fly.

Then the footsteps stopped. Like that. The street stood empty except for a fast food bag blowing across the pavement.

"Huh?" I asked, spinning in a circle to look at all of Dobbs Street. A motorcycle revved somewhere far away and faded in the distance as sweat gathered at the base of my neck. My heart tried to pound its way out of my chest. I hadn't been this freaked out since my mom signed me up for the junior high cheer squad without my permission. (Which, by the way, I skipped.) Maybe whoever it was had cut down the alley behind the Kool Spot or something. Or turned and gone the other way. I hoped.

"Maybe I was hearing stuff," Sean said, letting his short arms slap down to his sides. "Better get done. My dad'll kill me if I'm not in by midnight."

He had a good point. And I didn't want to wait around and see if whoever made those footsteps came back.

I tossed up my last toilet paper roll and watched it unravel as it fell. There. It was done. Toilet paper waved in the breeze everywhere. We had our revenge. I'd laugh later, like as soon as I rode my bike off the street, but right now I wanted to scram. Something about the quiet street and those disappearing footsteps gave me the creeps big time, and I don't scare easy.

"Well, I think we're finished," Dan said, standing back to inspect the work. "Sorry 'bout getting mad at you, Rita. I didn't mean it."

I nodded, silent, just as a chill ran across my skin. Translation: can we please go now?

Ryan and Sean both burst out laughing at the top of their lungs. I couldn't help it. I forgot about those footsteps for a moment and started laughing, too. I couldn't even see the yellow of the Kool Spot anymore. That's how covered it was. Toilet paper billowed out like a tattered shower curtain. Jerry would be cleaning this up for hours. And I didn't care if he knew it was me. He couldn't prove it.

The streetlights all blinked out, leaving us in almost total darkness.

A laugh died in my throat as silence fell. And the front door of the Kool Spot burst open with an eerie squeak.

My heart leapt. Toilet paper parted from the door as it swung open, revealing the blue absolutely no one under eighteen sign for a moment. It looked like the lounge had an angry, opening mouth that led into a bottomless pit. Was it Jerry coming out? Man, he was going to kill me, even if I was his favorite cousin. Or worse—he was going to call my parents about this.

But no. It wasn't him. Sauntering out was—

"Oh, crap," I muttered. But that didn't quite cover it.

—some guy that looked like a living shadow.

Now I'm not talking someone who looked all dark because it was night. Or someone dressed in black clothes with a ski mask over his face. I mean this guy was a shadow. Even in the moonlight he looked like one of those ink blots I'd seen in all my art classes. And to make it even scarier, he had a brimmed hat on and a cape that hung down almost to the sidewalk, like some psycho killer from a bad slasher movie.

He stopped just a few feet away and stared. At least I think he was staring. It was hard to tell as I couldn't make out any facial features. A pointed boot tapped the sidewalk as the door squeaked closed behind him. That was somehow worse than him saying anything. If he said something, at least I might know who—or what—he was.

My legs turned to rubber as I reached out to grab Ryan's arm. Not like me at all, but this was an emergency. My hand closed on air. Ryan stood over by Dan and Sean, frozen with his jaw falling open and his airplane goggles slipping down his forehead.

He'd never do anything, so I needed to do something, and quick. Like go for my bike and scream at everyone to scatter. But all I could manage was, "Uh—"

The shadow guy lurched forward, cape billowing out behind him with a flapping sound. He seized my arm. Tight.

"Uh!" I tried to jerk away and tear down the sidewalk running.

No use. He pulled back. I thought his grip would be icy cold or something, but it felt normal. Except for the fact that it was stronger than the rubber cement I'd put on my teacher's chair in the sixth grade.

My heart pounded into my throat. I tried to yell something, but only a little squeak got out as I dug my feet into the pavement. At last I managed to form words. "Jerry, this isn't funny!"

And then he finally spoke, and the voice did not belong to my cousin. Or anyone I knew, for that matter. "You look familiar."

I froze. It was a low, creepy voice straight out of a nightmare.

Okay. This was really starting to freak me out. I yanked against his grip, but my wrist still didn't budge. It might as well have been encased in that rubber cement.

The door to the Kool Spot flew back open with a bang. The shadow guy started to pull me back. Right to the darkness in the doorway.

Whatever was going to happen in there, it sure wasn't going to be a Night Recon tournament. "Guys, some help please!" I flung my hand out to Ryan.

He broke his paralysis and caught it. "E...everybody pull!"

Dan and Sean leapt for my arm. Three pairs of hands gripped it and yanked.

The shadow guy tugged harder. I winced. Pain exploded in my shoulders as I scraped my shoes on the sidewalk. Now I knew what medieval torture racks felt like. But even with the four of us pulling, the shadow guy was still winning. I slid an inch closer to the door, and then another inch. "Come on, guys!"

"Pull!" Ryan's voice rang in my eardrums.

I gave it all I had. I dug my feet into the sidewalk so hard I felt like they might sink into the pavement. Sean gritted his teeth. My arm slid through the shadow guy's grasp. Only a couple more inches and—

The shadow guy grunted and let go.

I went sprawling back into my friends. And Dan.

Dan's glasses hit me in the side of the face as I fell back. Ouch. Ryan tumbled into me, sending me backwards into the street. I got my footing back and faced the creep who'd nearly abducted me.

He still stood there, cape waving in the breeze, not saying a word. I tried to make out a face. Anything that could tell me Jerry had lost his mind and played a joke. Anything I could tell the cops. Nope.

The shadow guy lifted one hand and snapped his fingers.

And the footsteps came back, echoing off all the buildings on Dobbs Street. Uh, oh.

I swallowed over the dry lump in my throat. And glanced down the street.

Three more figures came running up the street towards us, boots hammering against the cracked pavement.

### Chapter Two

Things weren't looking too good for the home team. We'd been caught in the middle of our prank by some shadow guy that might or might not rat us out to Jerry. I was leaning towards might. And now more shadow guys were joining the party. I had a feeling it wasn't to congratulate us or laugh at the toilet paper still billowing around the Kool Spot.

I couldn't move. I could only gape at the approaching shadow people like an idiot. The three of them came side by side in tight formation, jackboots hitting the concrete at the same time. A loud click click click met my ears. They had no capes or hats, but had sharp edges on their shoulders made me think of armor. I half-expected these guys to chant "left, right, left" like the Marines. But they said nothing, which made it scarier.

"What?" Ryan muttered. His goggles slid down his face again as he whirled around. "We've gotta get out of here."

Wait. The bikes. How could I have forgotten about the bikes? I glanced at Ryan, Dan, and Sean and yelled what I should've yelled a minute ago. "Scatter!"

I ran for mine, which I'd left leaning against the florist shop. Luckily, that meant it was far from the first shadow guy. The thudding of the jackboots got louder. And louder. They'd catch us in seconds.

I yanked my bike up off the pavement and swung my legs over the seat. The others scrambled for theirs, cussing. I knew a hand would land on my shoulder any second. I had to move. Pedals...where were the pedals? Finally my feet hit them and my bike clunked as it lurched forward.

Wind blew against my face as the gears clinked below me. Ryan sped in front of me with Dan and Sean, headed for the corner. We were free. No way those shadow guys could catch up to us.

"Split up!" Dan yelled.

Good idea.

Ryan cut in front of me and made for the corner. Sean and Dan sped across the street and down towards the old muffler shop. Their tires whizzed away into the night.

But the footfalls didn't stop. I stole a glance back. The three shadow people ran past their leader and towards us. The guy with the hat and cape stood right on top of the unused toilet paper rolls, crushing them under his boots. Crushing my revenge. He put his hands on his thighs like a ticked off kindergarten teacher.

And then he yelled. No, he screeched.

"Never again!"

My back prickled and the hairs stood up on my neck. I pumped my legs faster and whipped around the corner. Ryan rode so fast, his hair blew down flat. I caught up with him, catching my breath. Footfalls still met my ears. The shadow soldiers were still behind us.

A wall of bushes flew past on the side. I stared at the gap between a couple of them that led to the school.

"The trail," I breathed. "Let's take that."

"No. Too bumpy," Ryan said between gasps.

He was right. That would slow us down. Which we didn't need.

Another corner drew closer. The one that led down to the library. I followed Ryan around it, struggling for air. The footsteps started to fade behind us. We were losing those shadow people, whatever they were. And the streetlights were on down here. At least one thing was going right.

And then they clicked off like someone had hit a switch.

Darkness again. I glanced over my shoulder. No, it couldn't be. The shadow with the cape and hat stood at the corner we'd turned like, two seconds ago. He couldn't have moved that fast.

"Uh...Ryan? It's right behind us!"

He looked back too, mouth dropping open. "Oh, crap. Head for the park."

The park. It would have to work. It was so dark at night an elephant could hide in there. I pumped my legs faster, if that was even possible. They burned, begging me to stop. My lungs felt ready to explode. But that was better than whatever the shadow guy had planned for us.

I led the way next, cutting across the library lawn and narrowly missing a head-on collision with the return box. My bike bounced across the ground and over an expanse of little pink rocks, which about threw me off. Ryan cussed next to me as his bike made a squealing sound. Note to self: never cut through here on a bike again.

The light on the side of the building blinked off. That meant one thing. The shadow guy was still close.

My bike lurched over the curb and back onto the pavement. The dirt driveway of the park waited for us down the street. Almost there. Two more streetlights shined as we passed—and they stayed on.

Without a word, we swung our bikes into the park lawn. Mine started bouncing everywhere again like I was on the worst amusement park ride ever. I dodged a swing set and barely missed a sandbox. In front of me, Ryan made for the woods.

I leapt off my bike and rolled it over there as fast as I could. We could duck down and wait for those freaks to pass by. Then we'd ride back to our houses and lock all the doors. And board up the windows while we were at it.

Pine needles stabbed me in the face as I wheeled the bike past them and dropped it on a mat of them. It made a soft thump at it landed. Ryan set his bike down next to it and wiped the sweat off his forehead. "Let's just hang in here for a while, okay?"

I nodded, picking some sap out of my hair. The tree in front of us blocked out everything except for a little square of moonlight on the street and the swing set right in front of us. Unless those shadow people had night vision, they wouldn't find us.

I shook my head. What were those shadow people, anyway? And what the heck did they have to do with the Kool Spot...or my cousin? One part of me wanted to believe it was all a joke Jerry rigged up. That would mean those things weren't real. But another part of me didn't. If this was a joke, it meant Jerry, the cousin who'd helped me catch frogs when I was little and got me out of my parents' stifling house all the time, had practically told me to get lost. What was worse, I didn't even know why.

I wanted to chuck a pinecone across the park, but let out a slow breath instead. Something might notice if I did that.

A mosquito buzzed at my ear. I slapped it away and faced Ryan. "You see anything?"

"No," Ryan said, hugging himself. His skin looked green in the moonlight. "B...but I'm not moving. Unless we can somehow teleport to my house."

"Maybe Jerry plotted this," I said, trying not to think about what that meant. "Those could've been people in costumes, you know." Yeah right, a dumb little voice in my mind said. If those were costumes those shadow people had on, they were really good ones. And the leader shadow's grip on my wrist felt like bare skin. Not a glove. But what was I supposed to say? That we were doomed and about to be eaten by weird shadow people? The "never again" sounded pretty ominous.

Minutes went by as I crouched on the pine needles, praying that Dan and Sean had gotten home okay. I might not care for Dan's attitude too much, but I'd never wish anything awful on him. He'd probably made it, though. The shadow people seemed to be after me more than anything.

Bugs buzzed around my face. And it was getting closer to midnight. After that, my parents were going to murder me for being late and daring to stand up for myself again. Ryan wouldn't have a problem, though—his mom didn't care about much anymore. Still, we couldn't stay here long. But what if those things planned to ambush us as soon as we left the park? We were screwed. I really, really wished I'd thought out the toilet paper prank a lot longer than five minutes this afternoon.

All that happened in the fifteen minutes that we sat there was a cat running across the road. "It doesn't look like they're coming," I said. "We should get going." I hoped Ryan didn't hear how my voice was shaking.

If he did, he didn't care. He kept sucking in breaths next to me so fast he sounded like a train. "Maybe they went after Dan and Sean instead."

My stomach lurched. "But they had bikes," I said. "And those shadow things chased us first. So that gave them lots of time to get home." I somehow felt worse listening to my own words. It was me the shadow leader guy had been after. Me. Not Ryan. Not Dan or Sean. You look familiar. I shuddered again as I imagined the million things that could've happened if I hadn't had my bike right there at the Kool Spot. "Let's go."

I pushed my bike towards the edge of the woods. Ryan followed suit, almost tripping over a branch. As soon as I hit that pavement, I'd burst my sides open riding home.

I froze. Footsteps were coming down the street. Heavy footsteps.

My heart leapt into my throat. "Uh...Ryan?"

He stared at me, eyes huge. I knew what that meant. Back to the woods.

We sounded like rhinos rolling our bikes back in. But I didn't care. I wasn't willing to bet that whoever was coming was friendly.

I dropped my bike for the second time and crouched back down on the pine needles. The footsteps got closer. I could only hope that it was some kids out walking. Or the cops. Anything but—

The shadow guy with the hat and cape appeared on the street. Along with five other shadow people.

Crap. Now there were six of them?

A shudder raced up my spine and every muscle in my body tensed. I wanted to take off running through the woods. But I didn't. I couldn't move. My limbs had turned to stone. All I could do was crouch there, paralyzed, as the six of them turned and walked right into the park.

Ryan reached out and took my arm. That would have made me blush or something under normal circumstances, but these were not normal circumstances.

The shadow leader led his minions closer. I held my breath. Maybe they could smell us. Or hear our heartbeats. But they stopped on the other side of the swing set and formed a loose circle. A meeting.

I let out a breath. So they hadn't spotted us. They'd just met back here because it was far back from the road. Who was going to notice shadow people meeting in a park that was almost pitch black?

Us, of course. I had to know what those shadow people were saying. Especially if it had to do with me.

I glanced at Ryan. His airplane goggles had fallen down to hang around his neck and he had a look on his face like he'd swallowed a lemon.

I nodded to him.

Ryan snapped out of it and shook his head at me. I knew what he wanted to say. Are you insane? You're going to get yourself killed. As usual, though, it was my job to do the scary stuff. It was ever since I took the daddy-longlegs off Ryan's lunch box in kindergarten and made friends with him.

I crawled closer to the edge of the woods.

The shadow people still stood around in a circle. I squinted to see if one of them might be Jerry in disguise. No. Unless he'd gone on one of those miracle diets where you lost fifty pounds in two days, he wasn't with them. I didn't know whether to feel relieved or scared. A little of both, I guess.

The leader shadow took off his brimmed hat and rubbed his hand over his hair. Messy strands of it fell back down to his head. Hair? Shadow people had hair?

He smashed the hat back down on his head. "Well, that ought to show them not to try that again. Kids. They irritate me. That's why we need to step up our campaign, people."

My fists closed on air as Ryan shrank back a bit. I was liking this guy less and less every minute.

The leader still wouldn't shut up. He slammed his fist down on the palm of his other hand and paced around his little troll circle. "Tight control. That's our motto when it comes to dealing with teens. They're a menace to society, as you just saw." He stopped in front of a tall shadow guy and jabbed his finger at him. "And to think you were one a few months ago."

Blood roared in my ears. Menace to society? What had they expected me to do after Jerry screwed me over? Smile?

That solved one mystery, at least. These weirdos definitely had to do with Jerry banning us from the Kool Spot. What if he was in league with them? I'd never let him live it down.

The other shadows muttered something. Probably how much they agreed that we were evil and needed to be locked up. The leader added something to that, but his voice was so low I couldn't make it out. Then he spoke louder, enough so I could hear him if I strained my ears. "...could be a problem. We'll have to do Procedure Number Twenty-Eight soon. Especially with that one. She's too dangerous to our cause." He paused. "It's the nature of her kind to fight us. We need to nip that in the bud."

My spine felt as if someone had dumped a bucket of ice down it. He was talking about me. I was a hundred percent sure, mostly because I was the only girl in the toilet papering expedition.

And then something really weird happened.

The leader shadow turned away from us. At least I think it was away. He snapped his fingers and muttered something else.

Okay, that's not too weird. Here was the weird part.

A bright purple dot appeared on the other side of him and started to grow. At first I thought it was a laser pointer or something. That's how bright it was. But no. The thing was swirling, like someone was twirling the laser in a circle really fast.

It got bigger by the second. Black mixed in and started to swirl with the purple. A hole. That's what this thing was. It looked like the painting of a black hole I'd seen in my science book last year.

I grabbed onto a tree branch in case it started to suck everything in. But it didn't. Once the hole was a little taller than the leader guy, it stopped growing and just floated there, waiting.

My hair stood on end. Ryan shifted next to me. The air felt electric, like the hole was about to start shooting sparks at us or something. Maybe it was time to go. I went to grab my bike for the fifteenth time, but stopped cold.

The leader shadow walked right at the swirling hole thing. And disappeared.

I had to hold in a gasp. What the heck was this? A gateway to another dimension or something?

The six other shadow people lined up in front of the thing. One by one, they walked right into it and vanished, like their leader. Once the last shadow had disappeared, the hole started to shrink back down to a purple dot. With one last flash of violet light and a pop, it was gone.

### Chapter Three

We did next what any sane person would do. We grabbed our bikes, hightailed it out of the park (after I convinced Ryan to move), and rode back to Ryan's house as fast as we could. I didn't care about my parents yelling at me anymore. I didn't even care if they burned all my band shirts and made me wear pink athletic stuff to school every day. We had bigger things to worry about.

Neither of us said a word on the way. The air stayed all electric until we got down to the corner, like whatever energy that portal had put in the air hadn't faded yet. My hair stopped standing on end when we turned the corner to the library, but I didn't slow down, even though everyone's porch lights and glowing garden decorations stayed on. I wasn't taking any chances.

Ryan's house was on the other side of town, two streets over from mine. That meant that we were really panting and out of breath by time we set the bikes up against the peeling wood of his porch. But I didn't care. We got away from those shadow things.

Ryan's mom barely even noticed as we burst into the house and through the messy kitchen. Mrs. Sullivan sat at the table, playing some shooter game on her laptop. She played a lot of video games ever since Ryan's deadbeat dad left them a couple of years ago. That was good that she was doing it now, because I didn't want to explain why I looked ready to pee my pants. I couldn't think of an excuse that came close to sounding normal. Mrs. Sullivan, it's because we saw a UFO? That was almost as bad as the truth.

"Hey, Mom," Ryan said, patting her on the shoulder. His voice trembled a little and I thought he was going to spill everything right there. I think part of him wanted to.

"Hey." She nodded and squinted at the computer screen like she was trying to escape into it. I don't even think she noticed me standing there, because she didn't even nod at me like she normally did.

Ryan sighed and went for the stairs. So it looked like no parents were going to get involved after all.

I stepped over a few stacks of books and about tripped on a box of taped movies. Luckily, that was normal for the past two years, so I didn't look too stupid. Ryan waved me up the stairs to the second floor. I followed him, scaling stacks of clothes and a couple of boxes. No wonder he wanted to get out and hang out with me so much. You could hardly breathe in this place.

Not, of course, that I minded.

There was barely a place to stand in Ryan's room. For one thing, his mattress was off his bed. And the box for the computer he'd bought two months ago was still on the floor. Cards from his Darkworld deck were laying everywhere and his techno CD's were in stacks all over his dresser and computer desk. I had to back against his old Sharkman curtains to find a place to stand. "Um...was that some weird hallucination or something? I really hope so."

Ryan pushed his goggles up farther on his head. Sweat still ran down his temples. That kind of answered my question.

"Um...how many hallucinations chase you?" he asked, flipping on his dragon lamp. "And try to drag you away?"

Okay. He had a point there. But that portal thing—I had too much trouble wrapping my mind around that one. "Maybe we should tell your mom about what happened. I think she's more likely to believe something weird than my parents." There seemed to be a lot of stacks of paranormal books laying around the Sullivans' house. My parents always said that kind of stuff was stupid.

Ryan sighed, leaning against his closet door. "If we could drag her away from the computer first. She didn't even make dinner tonight. I had to do it."

"Sorry." I hadn't meant to bring up the whole situation with his mom, but my mind wasn't working the best right now. Time for a subject change: finding out if that portal was even real or not. I needed to get my head together, because Ryan wouldn't anytime soon. "I've got an idea."

"D...does it involve boarding up the windows and locking all the doors?" Ryan asked, rushing past me and pulling his curtains shut. "I'm finding my baseball bat tonight."

"No." Of course I wanted to help him turn his house into a fortress, but we had to take this one thing at a time. "It's just a way to tell if we were seeing things or not. You have some paper and a bunch of colored pencils?" I looked around the dumping ground that was his room. Ryan got to take all the art classes he could (his mom liked art, unlike mine) so he had to have some laying around.

By some miracle, Ryan knew where to find those in the mess. He lifted a huge stack of mangas off his desk and dug out some blank paper, then fished out at least two dozen colored pencils from under the dresser. "Okay, Rita. What's this for?"

"We each go into a separate room and draw what we saw in the park. Without telling each other. If the pictures are the same, that proves it was real." I felt a bit proud of myself for figuring that one out. Usually my other friend, Penny, was the one who came up with stuff like that.

Ryan nodded. His skin was the color of that paste they made us use in art class. I could tell he was hoping we'd prove the "it was all real" theory wrong.

I was with him. Telling Penny about this wouldn't go over so well. For one thing, she'd yell at us for the toilet paper prank. Penny never got involved with anything like that. But we'd have to do it in order to get her help with figuring this out.

I took a piece of paper and a bunch of pencils and headed across the hall to the storage room. Luckily there were tons of boxes in here to draw on.

The bare light bulb glared down at me as I drew out the portal and those shadow people standing around it. And I'll admit it. My hand shook as I did, making me mess up a bunch of times. This wasn't something I wanted to see again. So I squinted and colored the purple swirls and scribbled in the shadow people like a two-year-old. As long as it got the point across, I didn't care.

Creaky footsteps got closer and Ryan knocked on the door. "Uh...done, Rita?"

"Yeah." My palms tingled. Here came the moment of truth.

He opened the door and held up his own drawing.

Uh, oh.

The black hole with the purple swirls stared out of Ryan's paper at me like the eye of some monster, and the leader shadow stood next to it complete with his hat and cape.

In other words, we'd seen the same thing. It was real, all right.

"Just wait until we have to tell Penny about this," he said, slapping the paper down against his side. "That's not going to be fun."

* * * * *

I didn't tell my mom about what had happened until the next day when I found her sitting in the living room. And I only mentioned the part where we went to the Kool Spot after school and saw Jerry's new sign. Okay, I left out the whole toilet papering part. I had a feeling I might get grounded if I told her about the prank, because she'd busted me for all my other pranks. After I put rubber cement on Mr. Connolly's chair back in the seventh grade, she confiscated my entire CD collection for a month. Not to mention I couldn't leave the house for a week after letting all the air out of Gerald Salinger's bike tires last summer (hey, he deserved it after throwing Ryan's Darkworld deck down a sewer hole.) No way I'd get anything pretty for the toilet paper.

I didn't mention the shadow people or the portal, either. No way she'd believe me about that one. Sure, I wanted to tell her all of it, but the words wouldn't form in my mouth, and I wasn't sure why.

My mom listened and flipped through her tabloid as I told her about how Jerry had declared me an enemy for no good reason. Her nose never left the paper. I guess she was reading the story on the front cover: Missy's Argument With Blake: Second-by-Second Details Inside! Man, those people had no privacy.

"...and I wish he'd return my calls. I tried him eight times this morning," I finished, blood roaring in my ears. Didn't anyone care about this except me?

Finally she yawned and turned her little frame around on the couch. "Well, one bad apple ruins the bunch. Jerry's been having some problems with a couple of kids. Those are his rules, and you're just going to have to follow them." She lowered her face back down to the tabloid. "That's just the way things are."

I couldn't stop my big mouth. I should've known my mom wouldn't care. She never did when it came to anything like this. "What? It's OK he kicks everyone out of the Kool Spot? And stops even talking to me?"

"You hang out in that place too much, Rita." She turned the page to reveal a bunch of actresses in gowns. Something about fashion. "You need to do other things. Why don't you try out for volleyball this year? Or go shopping for clothes like...like normal girls do? Or—"

"Because that's not me," I interrupted before she got to the part about the cheer squad I refused to join. "I like drawing and art and video games and hanging out with people who share my interests." Which is why I'm never here, I wanted to add. "That's why I like Jerry's company. He's fun and I can be myself for once."

A loaded silence fell across the living room: the boring cream walls, the fake flowers, and the fresh vacuum tracks in the carpet. Uh, oh.

But instead of an explosion like I usually got, my mom sighed and set the tabloid down on her lap. "You're hopeless."

"Geez, sorry I'm not just like you when you were younger."

"Rita, you're pushing it." The edges of her voice told me it was almost eruption time.

My arms fell to my sides. That was it. I stomped outside and shut the door behind me before I yelled something at my mom that got me in trouble. We had zip in common, and she always let me know she resented it.

I felt ready to explode with it all. The one person I wanted to talk to the most—Jerry—wouldn't even associate with me anymore, and my mom didn't care about the injustice of it all. Just, why can't you be like everyone else, Rita? I really couldn't believe she was my mom sometimes. The two of us clashed on every possible level.

I raced down the stairs and towards my bike. I had to get to Penny's house and help Ryan tell her about the shadow people. She'd be mad at him for the toilet papering thing and he might need backup. It beat stewing over what my mom said.

"Ouch!"

Pain surged through my foot like someone had jabbed a spear through the sole of my shoe. I lifted my foot. A huge rock sat right on the bottom step. And did I mention it was pointed, too?

I went to kick the thing off the step before anyone else got hurt, only to notice something sticking out from under it—a folded piece of bright blue paper.

I yanked up the paper and forgot all about the pain in my foot. Maybe Jerry had left me a note. My heart pounded with the anticipation. Maybe he still wanted to associate with me after all. Maybe he'd even tell me something about those shadow goons and maybe even about other worlds. The note nearly blew away as I unfolded it in my hands and held it up to the light.

The paper had a single line scrawled on it in bad handwriting. And I'm not talking chicken scratch, but doctor handwriting. Like whoever had written this note had been standing next to a ticking bomb or something.

After I turned the note upside down and right side up at least four times, I made out what it said. At least I thought I did.

Leave town and hide. Or you're in danger.

Disappointment washed through me as my heart nearly burst from my chest. Leave town? This note—it was a threat. My head spun and I had to grab the railing to steady myself. Shadow people, portals, losing my cousin, and now threatening notes. No way. A harmless prank shouldn't have led to this.

I decided I'd let Penny do most of the thinking. She was good at that. My brain felt like it had gone through a garbage disposal since last night, plus a storm of emotions tore through me. I lowered the note to stuff it in my pocket, but stopped short.

One of those shadow guys stood across the street.

My blood froze. Not literally, but it sure felt like it.

He stood there in his shadow jackboots and armor in broad daylight, between the neighbors' garage and a huge pine tree. Now that it was light out, I had no more doubt about it: yes, this guy really was a living shadow. It looked as if someone had cut out a life-sized soldier from black construction paper and stood it up by the neighbors' driveway.

He stared like a deer caught in headlights. Well, I think he was staring. It was hard to tell on shadow people.

Just then, I recognized him. It was the tall guy the shadow leader had jabbed his finger at last night. That didn't make me feel any better.

Before I could run back into the house, slam the door, and dial 911, he whirled around and crashed into the woods behind the neighbors' house. Twigs broke and branches slapped back into place as he made his getaway.

I stood, note in hand, breathing so loud the deaf must've heard it.

* * * * *

The wind whipped my hair back as I rode over to Penny's house. Ryan would already be there, telling her about last night and getting grilled in return. Not that he needed that with all the other crap going on in his life.

Yeah, Penny nagged a lot, but we had one of those, what do you call them?—symbiotic relationships. Kind of like those birds that clean out crocodiles' mouths and don't get eaten, only not as gross. Basically, I kept the jerks off Penny's back all through junior high, since she was a target for reading all the time in the cafeteria. In return, Penny helped me not fail my math classes, which kept my parents off my back. It's kind of hard not to eventually become friends with someone who ensures your survival.

But that didn't stop her from being annoying sometimes.

"...and it was a really dumb idea," she finished nagging Ryan as I stepped—no, vaulted—in through the front door of her house.

I kicked my shoes off before Penny's dad complained about dirt and slid across the hardwood floor and into the sitting room. At least, Mrs. Hart called it a sitting room. It was really a place full of antiques and a white couch where Penny got yelled at if she got anything below an A minus on her report card. Now Penny was using it to yell at Ryan. He sat on the Couch of Shame while she stood near the glass coffee table, hands folded over her red shirt. Ryan had already sunk halfway into the couch under her words. If I'd gotten here any later, he probably would've melted through to the floor. He never was very good at standing up for himself. Being the big mouth was usually my duty.

"Penny," I said. Translation: stop nagging Ryan and listen.

She did. Her black hair bobbed around her shoulders as she faced me. "Is anything Ryan's telling me true? I hope not, for your sakes."

I hated to drag her into this. It was pretty lousy after she'd helped me with Algebra all last year. "Sit down."

She did. Ryan sat up straighter on the couch, shooting me a look of gratitude.

Penny didn't notice. Her eyes narrowed a bit at me. In other words, I had better make this convincing, or she'd start lecturing me, too. Well, better me than Ryan. It didn't bother me too much, mostly because I had, well, my parents as parents.

I could barely hear my own voice as I told her what happened, starting with our toilet papering job last night and ending with the note that gave me a foot injury that morning and of course, the shadow guy across the street. "I'm wondering if he's the one who delivered this," I finished as she read the note.

Penny shrugged and let her hands slap onto her knees. Here it came. She was almost as obsessed with rules as my mom. "I can't believe what you guys are telling me. Why couldn't you have just gone to Jerry and talked to him instead of—"

"We nearly got abducted by shadow people, and you're worried about us toilet papering the Kool Spot?" I asked. "Not to mention Jerry's the one not talking to us. Um...what's the bigger offense?"

"Sorry." She leaned forward, resting her hands on her knees. "I don't believe the story about that. I can't. It doesn't make any sense."

It was my turn to sigh. I'd expected this, though. Penny always thought things through like a computer, which was why she was such a great help all the time. If someone walked up to me and said they'd seen shadow people walking through a portal in the middle of the park, I guess I'd be pretty skeptical, too. But it was better than hearing her grill us on the evils of a harmless prank.

"That's fine. I didn't expect you to," I said. The grandfather clock on the wall ticked away. I needed to prove the truth to her, and could think of only one possible way to do that. "But I still want to talk to Jerry. And I want you to come with me. Both of you."

Penny looked up at me as if I'd grown antlers. Or aced an algebra test. "After you left his business covered in toilet paper?"

Heat crept up my neck. "Well, yeah. Since that didn't work out too great, I figured we could talk to him about why he put that sign up." I nodded to Ryan. He returned the nod. The sign still sucked—maybe even more now—but figuring out what those shadow people were had kind of taken priority. Especially since the leader said they were coming after me. For that, we needed Penny. And to get her help, we had to get her to the Kool Spot to prove our case. I really, really hoped Jerry knew something about last night. Except for the fact that we'd toilet papered the place.

Penny put her chin in her hand like a thinking detective. She always did that in the middle of reading one of her mystery novels. "That's the first thing you should've tried. Let's go. I don't like that new policy, either. I'd love to hear Jerry's reason for it."

"And why I have the plague now," I added. I couldn't imagine not having an escape on the weekends anymore.

She and Ryan stood just as another chill swept over my skin. The folded-up note poked at me in my pocket. Given to me by one of the shadow guys. I almost opened my mouth to tell my friends I'd changed my mind, that I'd just sit and twiddle my thumbs about this instead, but I couldn't. I was Rita Morse, so that was out of the question.

Or maybe the note was some attempt to keep me from finding out what was going on in the first place. I decided I'd think of it that way.

Penny's dad demanded she had to be back by one o' clock. He didn't give a reason, so I think it was because he wanted to be a control freak as usual. In other words, we had to hurry.

"You really need to break rules more," I said to Penny as we grabbed our bikes. "You ought to stay out until...one thirty!"

"I wish." Penny stared down at her bike for a long time as she pulled it out.

My bike clunked all the way to downtown as my stomach rolled with nerves. Ryan's did, too. My front tire started to look, well, sorry. It spread out on the pavement like a squished slug as I rode. I must've run over something sharp cutting through the library last night. But hey, it beat whatever those shadow people would have done to us.

The Kool Spot hadn't opened yet. It wouldn't until noon, but Jerry's maroon car sat in one of the angle parking spots out front, dripping oil onto the pavement. He'd come early, probably to clean up the toilet paper. There was still quite a bit of it on the building, by the way, mostly short pieces hanging too high for him to reach without a ladder. But I couldn't even laugh about it now.

We stopped on the opposite side of the street to let a bunch of cars crawl by. Penny made her trademark humph sound. Maybe the toilet paper had something to do with that.

"You know, you sound like your mom when you do that," Ryan said.

Penny responded my slapping him on the arm. I guess she didn't like his revenge too much.

"C'mon, guys. I don't need you fighting right now," I said. I'd broken up enough of their spats before.

After locking our bikes behind the hardware store, we made our way down the sidewalk and to the front door of the Kool Spot. My heart sank. Despite all my, um, persuading, the blue sign still hung in the door. Absolutely no one under eighteen allowed without a parent. I forced myself to look at a poster for Night Recon near the top of the door as I tugged on the door handle.

Locked. I should've known.

"Great," I said, glancing at Ryan. He swallowed and shrugged.

"If you knock, maybe he'll come out and talk to us," Penny said.

So I went to Plan B: knocking on the door as loud as I could.

"Can't you ever be subtle about anything?" Penny asked.

I responded by knocking louder.

We waited. And waited. After about two minutes, it got pretty obvious that Jerry wasn't coming to the door. My stomach started getting upset, and it had nothing to do with the sign in the door. I nodded to Penny and Ryan. "Let's head to the back."

There's a secret way to open the back door that I've known since the age of ten. Since all the buildings on Dobbs Street are about a hundred years old, there's a lot of wear and tear. I'm one of the few people who know that the lock on the back door doesn't work quite right. If you push the door in, twist the knob just right, and then jerk it open really fast, it usually comes loose and you can get in. We entered the narrow alley, passing a stinky dumpster and holding our breath. I let the air out of my lungs as I reached out, took the doorknob, and did the secret code to make the back door swing open.

I couldn't help what I said next. "Huh?"

The door came open okay, but what was on the other side of it made me freeze. Boxes. Jerry had stacked them up inside the door like a fortress wall. I was guessing they weren't boxes of anything light and easy to move. One shove on them confirmed my suspicions. Jerry had put every box of his old playing cards, comic books, and old video game systems in front of the door to keep me out. He'd probably added some bricks for good measure.

"Looks like he knew you'd do this." Penny sounded relieved. She never liked breaking rules of any kind, even if they weren't fair. "I think I should head home now. My dad's going to lecture me if I don't pick up my room by tonight."

I braced myself and rammed my shoulder into the boxes. I was getting more ticked off every second. "Jerry! What's your problem?"

"Rita, you're always so bullheaded," Penny said from behind me. "We really should head back. Try to call him again."

The boxes wobbled and moved back a couple inches. My muscles started to burn with the effort. "Tried that about thirty times. Sorry, but I've gotta know what's going on here."

Luckily Ryan gave me a hand with the boxes, saving me from straining something. Penny stood there and crossed her arms as we slid them out of the way to reveal the short hallway and green carpet of the Kool Spot. Well, I guess it was Forbidden Territory now.

"Come on," I coaxed Penny. "Jerry's not going to call your parents about this. The worst thing he'll do is make us leave."

She swallowed and took a step into the building. I really hoped I wasn't getting her into anything that would get her in trouble.

"He's here, all right," Penny said.

The light was on in the storage room. That new song from Mosshead thumped out of the radio as a guy grunted out death metal lyrics that sounded like ra ra ra all the time. At least it had helped cover up the sound of us barging in.

"Now what?" Ryan asked. His face turned green.

Mine probably did, too, as last night came back to me in a rush. Maybe coming here was a bad move after all. If that one shadow guy from this morning could come out in the daytime, why couldn't the others?

Still, I had to get this done.

I marched out of the hallway and into the main room. It stood empty. No Jerry. The bean bag chairs all sat around, waiting for customers. The computer monitors glowed with the green-and-yellow Kool Spot logo while the bargain CD bin and bookshelf collected dust. I had a feeling they'd have a pretty thick layer of it soon. I couldn't imagine anyone over the age of twelve coming in here to hang out with their parents.

"Jerry?" I asked. He had some questions to answer.

A toilet flushed in the bathroom, which answered my question. A moment later the bathroom door squeaked open. I whirled around to face my cousin, who stood there pulling his Space Destroyer tee down over his gut with one hand and gripping the door frame with the other.

I couldn't stop the words from coming out of my mouth. "Okay. What? Why? Who? When? You know what I mean."

"Maybe you should let me handle this," Penny said.

Jerry ignored her. "R...Rita," he said, paling. His chin wobbled under his brown beard. "You have to leave. Now. I can't explain."

I glared over at the blue sign taped in the door and back at him. The shadows of the toilet paper streamers stretched out on the floor. Ryan shot me a look and shook his head. Better be careful about that part. "All right. Question one. Why the sign? Whoever did the toilet paper job out there must've—"

"I know you did it, Rita," Jerry said quickly. "I know you too well. I'm not mad. I understand." He pointed to the back door, sweat beading around his glasses. "Now...now..." he turned his gaze over to the back of the building. "...get behind the counter and duck!"

I jumped in place and faced the back door. A purple dot spun in midair in front of it.

Another portal was opening.

### Chapter Four

The portal got bigger every second as my skin tingled and my hair stood up on the back of my neck. I would've run for the front door, but it was locked.

I took Penny's arm and pulled her to safety behind the counter. She'd find out how true our story was soon enough—like a few seconds from now.

Ryan didn't need persuading. He dove over the counter, knocking a stack of CD's to the floor with a clatter. He ducked under the counter like a soldier in combat. I joined him, yanking Penny with me by the sleeve of her shirt.

"What's—" she started.

I put my hand over her mouth, and she stopped.

Ryan's breath blew in my ear and Penny's elbow jabbed into my side. I removed my hand and she shot me a look that asked, what's going on here? But I didn't dare say anything.

There were a few inches between the bottom of the counter and the floor, so—you guessed it—I was the one who got to duck down and peek under it. Jerry's shoes stood a few feet away. Purple and black spun on the other side of him. Why wasn't he getting out of the way? Any second those shadow goons would step out of there.

And they did. At the same time, the radio went dead and silence hung over the building.

I squinted as a pair of black jackboots hit the floor in front of the portal. This guy didn't look like an ink blot, though. He seemed normal. Well, compared to last night. The guy wore a dark blue pair of pants and a black cape that nearly touched the floor. I couldn't see his top half from here, but I didn't need to. This was the same guy who tried to abduct me last night, only now he'd made himself look normal. I remembered the creepy cape all too well. I was willing to bet he had a brimmed hat on, too.

Another set of black jackboots hit the floor, and another. The portal shrunk and disappeared, leaving the back door—our escape—visible on the other side of them. Now three of those weirdos stood out there, ready to confront my cousin. Or me.

I decided I really shouldn't have come here.

Jerry didn't move. He stood there like he expected these goons. My stomach tightened at the thought of it.

"A. Gist," he said with a hint of bitterness in his voice. "Anything else you want me to do to tick off the local kids? Look at what happened to my business." His shoes lifted and turned. Probably so he could point at the toilet paper—and away from me.

So Jerry knew these guys. Creepy. At least it didn't sound like he was too chummy with them. That was a big relief. There might be some hope yet.

Then the voice of the leader shadow filled the room. It was the same guy, all right. "That just proves they need to be controlled more tightly. Maybe I'll give you a new assignment later. I have, um, other things on my agenda right now, like the big mall curfew over in Nevada. I have to make sure they don't let kids in after five o' clock. Then I have to go push for a new law over in China that'll forbid drivers under eighteen from having passengers with them. And of course," his tone darkened, "I need to find someone. You can help me with that." The A. Gist guy—well, I think that was his name—took a menacing step closer to Jerry.

A chill raced over my whole body. I didn't like where this was going. And I hated this guy more every second.

"I've done enough for you," Jerry said, not backing down. "I never asked to work for you."

Yes. Yes! He didn't hang up the sign to get rid of me after all. My stomach calmed down a bit. I wished I could say the same about my nerves.

"You're my servant, whether you like it or not," A. Gist shoved him back a little. Wow, this guy was cocky. "You do as you're told or there are...consequences. You could disappear, Jerry. My portals should tell you that." Then his tone got all smooth, like somebody looking for sympathy. "I need people like you to run my campaign. I can't roam freely in the human world like you can, and even taking my shadow form is risky. You're doing me a service. One little rule at a time, and soon I'll have complete control."

"This is blackmail," Jerry said.

Wow. Jerry had some guts. It made me really wish I hadn't toilet papered the Kool Spot. It wasn't Jerry's fault that sign and the shadow people were there to make us miserable. My real enemy was this A. Gist guy who seemed to be waging war on teenagers everywhere. That alone qualified him for Mortal Enemy status.

I squashed the side of my face against the carpet and peeked under the counter, nearly breathing in a dust bunny. Beside me, Penny and Ryan tensed. If I now had a mortal enemy, I at least had to know what he looked like.

Jerry stood there, facing off with A. Gist. Sweat shined on his temples. I understood completely. Mine probably looked the same way.

And A. Gist stood there, facing off with Jerry. His two minions stood behind him.

These people needed a fashion designer. Bad.

A. Gist's whole outfit looked like the Old West with a touch of Goth and dictator for good measure. Messy red hair stuck out from under his black brimmed hat. Gold buttons lined the front of his dark blue shirt and black cuffs hung around his wrists.

His minions, a short little man and a dark woman, had it worse. They wore the same blue shirts and pants, but instead of capes and hats, they wore these silver armor vests. And they both had blue hair. No joke. The guy had spots of it through the gray stuff on his head and the woman had bright stripes in hers.

No wonder they couldn't walk around in the human world. I wouldn't, if I looked like that.

A. Gist didn't seem to care. He just held Jerry with his squinty-eyed stare and said, "Back to business. The person I'm hunting for. I'm sure you know of her, as she's the one who did this." A. Gist pointed outside to the toilet paper. "Girl. Long brown hair. Oval face. Hangs out with a kid who wears airplane goggles around his forehead. Obnoxious."

Gulp. Jerry knew me better than A. Gist thought. And A. Gist was way, way too close to finding me. If he did, then what? I didn't want to know what Procedure Number Twenty-Eight was.

A. Gist took a step closer to Jerry, waiting for his answer. His two minions flanked him like mindless slaves, expressionless, armor shining under the light.

Jerry shook his head. "Doesn't ring a bell. There's about a hundred girls around here who fit that description."

A. Gist leaned closer with a sneer. "Are you sure?"

"Yes. I'm sure. I've seen the kid with the goggles a few times, but he always has a couple of other boys hanging out with him. Maybe the girl's from another school district. Kids from all over the area come here. Well, they used to. By the way, I open in five minutes. You may want to make yourself scarce."

Wow, I owed Jerry. I'd help him clean up the toilet paper. Or mow his horrible lawn the rest of the summer. Just as long as he got rid of these people before they found me.

A. Gist sighed and took a step back like a whiny little kid. "For your sake, I hope you're not lying. Just remember. The Shadow Regime is ten thousand strong and growing. We have friends everywhere. We are immortal. We are ageless. And we strike when no one can hear your cries for help." His black jackboots turned away from Jerry and carried him towards the back of the Kool Spot. His armored minions followed behind him like dogs on leashes. "We'll speak again, Jerry. Perhaps then you'll remember who it is I'm looking for."

He snapped his fingers, and purple swirled again at the mouth of the hallway, making my hair stand on end. I had to hold in my sigh of relief. The portal. In other words, they were leaving, hopefully for good.

Jackboots rose and fell as the three of them disappeared into the portal. Only when it shrunk and closed did I let out my huge sigh.

At the same time, the radio came back on and blared a commercial into the room.

After what felt like an eternity, Ryan faced Penny with enormous eyes. "B...believe me now?"

Without a word, she nodded. Even she couldn't deny the evidence right in front of her face.

"Out," Jerry demanded, voice loud and way more serious than I'd ever heard it.

I climbed out from behind the counter—practically pulling Ryan behind me—and nearly slid on the CD's he'd knocked over. Jerry stood there, breathing heavily and staring at me as my friends stood.

I had about eight thousand questions swirling through my head, but I could force out only one: "What?"

Jerry's frightened gaze matched mine. "He's the Ruler of Ageism, Rita. That means he pretty much controls age discrimination. He's waging a war against young people all over the world and he wants you to practically live in a prison. He's doing it slowly, so you don't even know what's happening. Don't ask me why. I don't know his reasons for it. But you saw. He's got a whole army behind him and people like me everywhere."

"Why's he after me?" I asked. Ryan, Dan, and Sean helped me last night, but A. Gist sure hadn't mentioned them. Not that I wanted him to, of course. I just wanted to know why he'd singled me out.

Jerry shook his head. "If I knew, I'd tell you. Now go. I open in two minutes. If you're still in here without your parents, he'll know about it and come back to skin me alive later."

That got me moving towards the back door about as fast as I could, for Jerry's sake as much as mine. Ryan tore past the boxes and out the back door, yanking Penny with him.

"Rita," Jerry said.

I stopped and turned around. My cousin stood there and swallowed. "Sorry, but you have to stop calling me. We can't hang out anymore. He's got some of his Shadow Ones screening my phone calls. I think they're watching my house, too."

I know my face fell. Jerry hadn't betrayed us, but it didn't matter. He was gone anyway. "Look, I'm sorry about the toilet p—" I started.

Jerry lifted his arm to show his watch. "Go!"

I turned and ran out of the Kool Spot as if the seat of my pants were on fire.

* * * * *

Knowing that some guy from another dimension with a whole army of freaks was hunting for me wasn't a nice feeling. Not knowing why was even worse. And knowing he was running a secret campaign to take all my freedom away made me want to throw something across the room.

The fact that I now had one less thing to get me out of my house didn't feel great, either. Jerry might as well have moved to another state.

I kept looking over my shoulder and in the booth at Burger Planet, Westonville's only fast food joint. The Saturn-shaped light above us glared down and made a bright ring on the table. The statue of their creepy mascot didn't help things, either. The astronaut stood there in the middle of the restaurant with his lifeless eyes, smiling at me like a deranged puppet. I really thought A. Gist ought to team up with him. They both liked to stalk people.

What a great way to end summer vacation.

I let my burger sit on its wrapper in front of me. Ryan wasn't faring great, either. He hadn't even ordered anything. Instead, he stared down into the table as if it were a bottomless pit.

Penny reached over the table and gave me a pat on the shoulder. Moisture rimmed the bottom of her eyes. "I'm sorry I didn't believe you. I had no idea."

"It's not your fault. It's mine. I never should've done the prank," I said, checking the parking lot again for the Shadow Regime. My mind spun faster and faster with it all. What would they do next? Make it illegal for us to sit in Burger Planet for being too young? Make it so I couldn't have contact with my friends, too? I faced Penny as she rubbed her eyes. "Now what? We can really use your brain right now."

Penny lowered her voice as if the people in the next booth were agents of the Shadow Regime. "From what I heard, it sounds like those guys won't come after you if there's witnesses. It's a good thing we start school this week. You might want to do a lot of after-school stuff this year so you don't have to be home alone so much. We'll walk home with you every day and try to be with you if your parents leave the house. Ryan and I will make sure you're always around people."

"I'm sure my mom will force me into something I hate," I said.

Ryan perked up a bit. "I heard the high school has a comic book club. We can join that when it starts. If there's a fee, my mom will probably pay for both of us."

"Thanks," I said. Some of the weight lifted off my shoulders. It felt better talking about normal stuff. And I couldn't exactly go to the cops and have them put a restraining order on the Ruler of Ageism, and my parents would never believe me, but having my friends around to understand what I had to deal with helped a ton. One thing still nagged at me, though. "That note I got warned me to leave town."

"And it came from a Shadow Regime guy," Penny said. "I'm not sure if you should trust it. I also find it creepy that he knew which house was yours."

Oh. Good point.

"I...I think if that guy wanted to hurt me, he would've told his boss where I live. He didn't." I was throwing stuff out there. "Otherwise A. Gist wouldn't have gone to Jerry looking for me. Maybe not all the Shadow Regime people are jerks." If I wasn't right, I was in big trouble. I made a silent prayer to that Shadow One—well, I think that's what those people called themselves—that he'd stay quiet about my address.

"Maybe," Penny said. "But I still want to have you over at my house today. They don't know I'm your friend since I didn't participate in your...prank."

"And I think I'll be taking these off," Ryan said, slipping his goggles over his hair and hiding them down in his lap. "I might cut my hair, too. I'd rather look like everyone else than get kidnapped by shadow freaks."

I forced myself to take a bite from the burger. It felt like a rock going down. "He's not after you. But yeah, lose the goggles. We don't want anyone torturing you for info about me. Or Jerry."

The burger fell from my hand. I'd just given myself a great thought. How long did Jerry have before the Shadow Regime dragged him off to interrogate him? He couldn't hold out long, not with A. Gist's infinite patience.

Penny's mouth turned into an O of horror. "You're right. If there's anyone they'll go after first, it'll be him."

### Chapter Five

My mom figured out that I'd done the toilet paper prank.

Jerry didn't call and tell her or anything, (since the Shadow Regime was screening his calls) but she saw the toilet paper dangling from the Kool Spot while driving to the store. That, and I was out last night. She'd put the dots together. I knew because she exploded at me as soon as she got through the door with some groceries.

"Why are you like that, Rita?" She opened the fridge and started cramming vegetables in after very accurately accusing me of the deed. "I never would've done something like that when I was younger. When I was a kid, we accepted the rules and followed them."

"What did she do now, Beverly?" My dad strolled into the kitchen, cramming his square glasses farther up on his face.

My mom told him. With almost every word she slapped her Celebrity Buzz tabloid down on the counter. She finished by facing me and saying, "Oh, I'll make sure you stay too busy to get in trouble this school year. We'll make sure you participate in a few after-school activities of our choosing."

Great. How had I known?

I sighed and leaned against the counter. There was no way I could deny my guilt, and if she made me try out for cheerleading, I'd be sure to fail. I faced my parents. "What would you have done if you saw that sign when you were younger?"

My dad pulled out one of the dining room chairs. Translation: sit down so we can tell you how much trouble you're in. "We didn't have that stuff when we were kids. We didn't have city curfews and the driving restrictions that are out now. Malls didn't kick us out on weekend nights. That's because we didn't need that kind of stuff." He looked over to my mom, who nodded at him. "You have to understand that rules are rules."

My grip tightened on the counter. I couldn't help it. It was more than just a rule I hated, so much more. "So you're saying that even if they aren't fair, I shouldn't stand up for myself?"

My mom whirled around and ran her hand through the curls in her hair. "You've always been so stubborn, Rita. Why can't you be more like other girls?"

* * * * *

I spent the last few days of summer vacation either a.) holed up in my room with the curtains closed, b.) sticking with Penny and Ryan as much as possible, or c.) going with my parents on all their boring errands so I wouldn't be home alone. Plus I had to keep Ryan out of his hopeless home life as much as possible, so I kept him distracted from it all by struggling through the Darkworld card game with him and walking around town quite a bit.

It also helped that I was grounded yet again, this time from going out after dark for three months. (Not, of course, that I was planning on doing that ever again.) In other words, being bored was what my parents wanted me to do, so they actually made me go on errands with them.

Especially bad was the one where my mom shopped for some new kitchen towels for two hours and fussed over finding some that matched the dull cream color of the whole house. She spent the entire time telling me all about Missy getting caught cheating on Blake and their tabloid argument. Then she drove us over to the pharmacy where she tried for the millionth time to get me interested in makeup, and sighed as loud as she could when I said no.

Almost as bad was the errand where my dad had to get some new hinges for the laundry room door.

"Isn't this fun?" he asked, sifting through a bin of them at the hardware store.

"Yeah. Loads," I said, checking the aisle for shadow people. Thanks, Shadow Regime, for these moments. If it wasn't for them, I could be off spending time with Jerry and doing something fun.

I know it's going to sound weird, but I couldn't wait for school to start. Because it was frustrating twiddling my thumbs when the Ruler of Ageism was out there working his evil and threatening my cousin. The fact that this was all my fault didn't help any. I tossed and turned at night, trying to find a way to help Jerry or get the word out about the Shadow Regime. Calling him was a bad idea. Writing him a letter was out, because of the whole address thing involved. Going to his house was a big no since the Shadow Ones had it staked out. The only good part about it all? Jerry's car still appeared in front of the Kool Spot every day. That meant they hadn't taken him away—yet.

Penny and Ryan walked all the way out to my house to meet me the day school started. They did that a lot now. It was like having the Secret Service around me every time I left the house. Not that I complained. Luckily, I wasn't grounded from seeing them.

The Westonville High School building loomed over us as we made our way past a bunch of buses and a couple of bike racks. Penny sighed as we neared the front entrance. "Looks like they did pass eighth grade." She pointed to the bike rack, making a face.

Two silver bikes sat in the rack. Make that two really nice bikes. They made mine look like crap, hands down. Silver swirls covered the frames and they looked like someone went over them with polish. At least twenty gears held the tires together.

It wasn't that that made me grit my teeth. It was the two people shoving them in the rack.

Every town has a couple of juvenile delinquents who pretty much live to annoy everyone else. Josh and Kristina were those people. And—you guessed it—they were the ones who had the nice bikes.

Kristina dropped her bike (which she probably ripped off somebody) and glared at us with her block face. Josh's nostrils flared like a bull's as he flicked his cigarette to the ground. Now maybe he could afford a bike like that. He lived in the rich neighborhood.

I pulled my backpack farther up my shoulder. "Great. Now we get to deal with them until they drop out."

"We all know they'll quit school in a year," Penny said. "Their parents probably won't even notice."

"Amen," Ryan said in a low voice. His gaze sunk to the ground as he walked. I had a feeling he was thinking about his mom.

"Hey," I said to change the subject. "Penny wouldn't be our friend if it wasn't for them." Josh and Kristina used to toss her books around back in middle school, and she became my friend after I stuck up for her one day. That's how the whole me-watching-her-back-while-she-helped-with-my-homework thing started, anyway.

I quickly forgot about Josh and Kristina as we made our way through the front doors and through a crowd of confused people. Even Ryan perked up. We stopped next to some orange lockers so Penny could pull out her schedule. "Okay. We all have the same first hour. Biology must be a pretty big class if we're all in it."

"That's because they make all the freshmen take it," Ryan said.

The science hallway had to be the dimmest in the whole school, and they all had some burnt-out lights. Our class waited at the very end of it. At least the crowd thinned out here and I could breathe again.

"What's that smell?" Penny asked, her nose wrinkling. "It smells like that pond behind my house."

"Pond" didn't quite cover it. "Swamp" just might. The closer we drew to our class, the stronger it got.

Ryan shot me a look. "I hear frogs."

I strained my ears as someone in front of us walked into the Biology room. He was right. I could hear frog croaks. Maybe this teacher had an aquarium full of them or something.

The smell overtook me as I stepped over the threshold and into a classroom that had more green and brown in it than well, a swamp. The bad part? A bubbling aquarium sat next to the door. Sitting on top of it were five of those plastic, motion sensing frogs that croak when someone passes by. They let out a chorus of croaks as I went past them. No avoiding it.

The other bad part: Josh and Kristina sat in the back corner of the tightly packed room. A head of dirty blonde and curly black hair towered over everyone else.

"Duck. It's Raging Rita," someone said near the front of the room.

"Great," I said. My first day in high school already stunk. Literally.

Now I'm not squeamish about bugs or nature or anything, but this went over the line, even for a science classroom. Tanks bubbled away all around us, including a putrid-looking green one that no one had sat next to. Probably because it stunk. Jars of slimy stuff filled the shelves. A glass box of moldy fruit sat on top of a stack of dusty books. The teacher's pet millipede crawled around its tank on his desk, wiggling its five hundred rows of little legs. A grimy aquarium against the wall held a couple of really big goldfish, and a bunch of Venus flytraps grew out of the one by the window. I bet they were there to deal with, well, the flies. And the tank next to Josh and Kristina's table held a huge black and orange tarantula. Kristina scooted her chair as far from the spider as possible, grimacing.

Note to self: Kristina is scared of spiders.

We found a long table in the middle of the room to sit at. People shuffled around tables and settled in chairs, making faces. Ryan didn't look too happy, either. He hated bugs.

Our first teacher, Mr. Gorfel, sat at his boat-sized desk with a stack of papers in front of him. Dim light shined off his bald head and gray stuff stuck up around his ears like fuzzy mold.

And the second I sat down, he looked up from the papers and stared right at me.

Yeah, right at me. And I hadn't even done anything wrong.

He eyed me like I was some kind of bacteria under a microscope. A few seconds passed, which turned into a whole bunch of seconds. With every one that passed, the creepy factor went up by ten. I couldn't imagine why this guy I'd never seen before in my life had the nerve to stare like this.

I tugged on Penny's sleeve to distract her from flipping through the new binder her parents got her. "Look."

"What?"

Mr. Gorfel lowered his gaze back down to his desk as if he'd been caught spying. That just made the creepy factor go up by twenty.

I lowered my voice to a whisper. "You didn't see that? The teacher decided to have a staring contest with me."

"Shudder," Ryan said. Translation: I saw it too.

I didn't have time to think about it. The plastic frogs all croaked again as Mr. Gorfel walked over and closed the door. For some reason, it sounded like a prison door closing. He strode back to his huge desk at the front of the room and stood in front of it, red tie dangling off his white shirt.

"As you can see on your schedules, my name is Mr. Gorfel," he began. "I've taught Biology, Zoology, and Botany for almost thirty years now. This is my first year teaching at this school, however. Be quiet back there, I'm speaking!"

Josh and Kristina had started snickering about something. Typical.

"Please be aware that I will not have disruptions in this classroom." Mr. Gorfel threw a piece of paper away, making the plastic frogs all croak. What a hypocrite. "I will deal with it harshly. Now we'll go over the rules."

Mr. Gorfel read us the rules, which were the same as every year. No gum chewing. You needed a pass to go use the bathroom. Turn in your work on time. Then we got our Biology books, which had more in common with cinder blocks than other books. Once finished, he turned and wrote a homework assignment on the board.

"Read the first section and answer all of the questions, including the Critical Thinking," he said with a little smirk. "Go ahead and read the second section as well."

The class groaned a little. Ryan slumped in his chair. Penny bit her lip and started to copy down the assignment. Mr. Gorfel's smirk grew into a grin. I decided I wasn't going to like this guy.

I heard muttering to my left. Josh and Kristina had started chattering again.

Mr. Gorfel cleared his throat as loud as he could. "Did you hear what I said? One more time and it's detention for both of you."

The entire class fell silent. Josh's nose flared as a bunch of swear words—his entire vocabulary—spewed out of his mouth.

I think everyone tensed up. I know I did. Mr. Gorfel's face flushed pink. The volcano was about to blow.

"That's it. It's time for a lesson in respect. I want a three page essay on why it's important to respect your teachers by tomorrow!"

I turned to share a grin with Ryan. Until Mr. Gorfel added, "That is, from the entire class."

I felt as if someone had hit me in the stomach. What? This was wrong. This was evil. A second of loaded silence followed, and then the room filled with shouts of protest, including mine. Penny dropped her pencil and Ryan's jaw fell open.

"But we didn't do anything!" Aimee Randall pointed to Josh and Kristina. "It was just them."

Michael Grover came a few inches off his chair. "That's right. Why are you punishing us?"

Mr. Gorfel leaned against his desk and did the meanest thing he could've done. He smiled.

I gripped the edge of the table until my fingertips turned white, and a strange electric feeling raced up and down my arms as if someone had run a wire underneath my skin.

I froze. Whoa. That hadn't happened before.

It grew stronger and turned into electric pulses. My palms grew warmer until they felt like a pair of hot plates. My heart started pounding in terror. What was this? A seizure? I flinched and wrung out my hands. The heat and electricity vanished in an instant.

"Rita? You okay?" Ryan asked through his grit teeth.

"Yeah." I shook my head as my heart started to slow. What had that been? Maybe my blood pressure finally shot through the stratosphere and warped my brain. Possible, with all the stuff that happened in the past couple of weeks.

"I'll tack on a page if you are not quiet in five seconds," Mr. Gorfel taunted, which brought me back to reality. "It's called collective responsibility. Everyone in the group needs to behave, or the bad apple is going to get the bunch thrown out every time."

A tense silence fell over the heads in front of me. Mr. Gorfel grinned wider as if daring us to do something. I imagined dunking his face in one of the aquariums, even after what happened a few seconds ago. Especially the disgusting green one.

The electric feeling pulsed back into my arms for a second, but disappeared.

The bell rang and the class stomped out of the room, shoving in chairs and slamming books. Mr. Gorfel's grin made me forget about my weird symptoms for a moment, and I joined the class in storming out the door. The plastic frogs all croaked as if laughing at us.

"I don't think I've ever had such a horrible teacher." Now that he was away from Mr. Gorfel, he'd show his anger. Ryan's breath came in ragged gasps as his face turned the color of brick. He turned his head and glared at the doorway to Mr. Gorfel's room as if his gaze could melt it.

Even Penny's brow had lowered. "Well, we get a jerk teacher every year. What's his problem? That didn't make sense at all."

"Plus he didn't even give Josh and Kristina detention," I added.

The two of them waltzed out of Mr. Gorfel's class. Josh laughed and slapped Kristina on the shoulder. I could imagine what he was thinking. Ha ha, it's so funny we got the whole class in trouble. No way they'd actually do the essays.

Ryan stomped away from us to go to his Drawing class while I followed Penny up the stairs to Basic Computers. The injustice of it all pulsed through me like poison. I'd had teachers do things like this before, tons of times, but nothing compared to Mr. Gorfel.

"Room five eleven..." Penny glared at her schedule, mumbling. We came to the right class after a minute, but she froze in the doorway as if she'd struck an invisible wall.

I stopped short, nearly crashing into her. "What?"

Penny twisted around. Her mouth fell open and the color drained from her face. In other words, uh oh.

"What is it?" I asked. "Are you okay?"

"Mr. Gorfel," Penny said, wide-eyed. "I think he's working for the Shadow Regime."

### Chapter Six

I flinched. It's not like I could help it or anything. "What?"

Penny looked up and down the hall and motioned me into the computer room. As if I hadn't gotten the message, she took my arm, dragged me over to a couple of chairs in the far corner of the room, and shoved me down into one of them. The look on her face told me one thing: no joke.

"Mr. Gorfel?" I asked. Yeah, dumb question. "I knew there was something wrong with him, but I was hoping—I mean I was thinking—that he was just a really crappy teacher." Especially with the whole staring thing going on.

Penny leaned forward, brows high. The gears were turning in her brain. "The evidence all just came crashing down on me. You said Mr. Gorfel was staring at you?"

I nodded.

"Plus," she said, adding more worry to my already bad day, "look at how he treated all of us. He's exactly the type of person A. Gist would want to work for him. Jerry said he has people everywhere. It wouldn't surprise me if he has agents in the schools to watch his enemies. In particular, this school. Your school."

My skin tightened around my arms at the thought of it. Like Ryan said: shudder. If this was true, would I have to stop coming to school, too? Maybe I'd have to isolate myself in a cabin somewhere. I shifted in my chair, hoping Penny didn't notice. My brain struggled for some kind of argument, something that would tell me wrong. "But you don't know what he even looked up at me for. It could've been anything."

"That's right," she went on. "We don't know. Rita, sorry to say this, but he probably has access to your information. Like your address."

My heart leapt into my throat. I don't scare too easy, but at that moment, I actually felt sick. That meant A. Gist could have my address by the end of the day. And have me. I just might find out about Procedure Number Twenty-Eight unless I did something, and fast. "Now what? Do I leave town like that note said?"

Before she got a chance to say anything, the Basic Computers teacher strolled into the room to start class.

I barely heard any of Mr. Harvey's words as he called attendance and read us the exact same rules Mr. Gorfel had. I could only stare at my dark computer screen to think and worry. Mostly worry. What did the Ruler of Ageism want with me, anyway?

In other words, I had to find out the truth about Mr. Gorfel. My life depended on it.

* * * * *

The next two hours dragged on and on. I kept looking over my shoulder to see if the Shadow Regime had anyone spying on me. I found out I shared my Language Arts class with Dan, who would understand if I decided to tell him everything that happened that day. But all I got the chance to do was exchange worried glances with him, since our teacher spent the whole hour reading the rules. I'd have to wait until tomorrow to fill him in on the identity of those shadow people, if I made it that far.

Luckily Penny told Ryan all about her theory by time I joined them in the lunch line, which, by the way, extended out into the hall. I could tell because Ryan's face had turned that paste color.

"Great, huh?" I asked, squeezing into the line.

"Yeah." Ryan hung his head. "So sorry about this, Rita. I bet Mr. Gorfel's going to give A. Gist my address, too."

"Stay over at my house tonight," Penny said, staring at me with her brows raised again. "They won't look for you there. I'll find some excuse to tell my parents."

"Yeah. You wouldn't get away with staying at my house. There's nowhere to walk," Ryan said.

I shot her a look. Penny's parents would never let anyone stay over on a weeknight. They used to barely let us have sleepovers on the weekends. But if anyone could think up a good way to help me out and sneak me in, it was her. I opened my mouth to take her up on it, but she jumped in front of me and backed up, shoving me into Ryan. "Rita! Get behind us!"

With a gulp, I took a peek around her. Guess who was coming down the hall?

You got it.

Mr. Gorfel strode down the hallway towards us. He had this satisfied smirk on his face like he'd just punished another class. My stomach turned, which it probably would have done anyway at the sight of him, but knowing he might be an agent of the Shadow Regime made it worse. He drew closer. Closer. Penny couldn't be right. He's nothing but a horrible teacher...just a horrible teacher...

Mr. Gorfel stopped a few feet away and adjusted his tie. To spy on us? A shudder raced over me. I'm embarrassed to admit this, but I thought of cutting through the line and getting out of there just then. I lifted my foot to start tearing out of there, but Mr. Gorfel cut in front of a bunch of people and grabbed a tray off the end of the salad bar.

I let out a sigh of relief, hoping nobody heard it. "He's just getting lunch."

"How do you know he's not following you around?" Penny asked.

My stomach rolled. Good point. I didn't. If he was following me, he wouldn't make it look obvious. I had nothing to prove Penny wrong. Except for one crazy idea I had cooking in my mind since Basic Computers.

Mr. Gorfel slopped a heap of coleslaw onto his tray. A bunch of cheerleaders ahead of us glared at him. First day of school, and everyone hated him. He'd win the Jerk Teacher Award of the Year for sure.

"Shadow Regime material," I muttered. "We need to talk as soon as we're out of line."

I heaped some nachos covered in greasy cheese onto my tray, paid the lunch lady, and stepped into the noisy cafeteria. Mr. Gorfel paid in the other line and bolted back out into the hallway, vanishing into the crowd. To the teachers' lounge, I hoped. If he ate with the students, I'd go home.

My back didn't leave the wall until Penny and Ryan came out of the lunch line. Ryan still had that pasty color on his face and Penny bit her lip, all serious. Here it came.

"I've got a way to see for sure if he's working for A. Gist or not," I said, careful to make sure no one around us heard.

Ryan steadied his tray before his hamburger took a dive to the floor. "How? It won't be easy finding out he's just a teacher. It's not like you can walk up to him and ask, 'Hey, do you work for the Shadow Regime?'"

I swallowed. "I know. That's why we'll have to break into his classroom after school."

* * * * *

We shot each other nervous glances all hour in Acting, the last class of the day. Of course Penny didn't like my plan at all, but she agreed to it. I felt pretty bad for her. If she got caught, I didn't want to imagine what her parents would do. Probably ground her for a year.

I didn't like the thought of breaking and entering, either. I wished I could just ask Jerry for a list of A. Gist's minions—he'd help in a heartbeat—but it was even more dangerous to try to talk to him. Man, I wished I could ask for his advice right now. He always had something to say to make me feel better. Be yourself, Rita. Who cares if those snotty girls didn't invite you to their party? You've got better friends.

Still, we had to do this. This would tell us if I could even go home tonight. Or ever, for that matter. Plus we had the problem of not getting caught. No pressure, right?

Right.

"If I even find a piece of paper in there with my name written on it, I'm spending the night at your houses for the next month," I said, resting my chin on my forearms. I didn't care how dirty Ryan's was. I'd help him clean it if I had to.

We had only a few minutes before the final bell rang. What would Mr. Gorfel have in his classroom if he worked for the Shadow Regime? A license to serve the Shadow Ones? Secret cameras? Notes about me? If he had any evidence, it should still be there, since it was the first day of school. Penny brought that point up already. I was glad to have her along to help us figure things out. I couldn't keep my head that level in emergencies.

The bell rang, and everybody put their chairs up on their desks. Time to get this done.

Ryan gulped. "I really hate the idea of breaking into Mr. Gorfel's room, even if he isn't with the Shadow Regime."

My hands twitched. Agreed.

We forced our way through the crowded stairwell, brushing elbows with about half the school. I couldn't breathe again until we got down to the first floor. The three of us stood against the wall in the main hallway while the school cleared out. Lockers slammed. Chatter got quieter. People ran out the doors in a hurry, nervous about finding the right buses to get on. Good thing the three of us usually walked home and didn't have to worry about that.

"There he goes," Penny said.

I turned my head. Mr. Gorfel strode out of the science hallway and down towards the office. Well, I hoped it was to the office. If he left the school, that was bad. He could hand my address over to A. Gist any time he wanted.

"Let's not stand here," Ryan said, hugging himself. "We don't want to be in the halls alone when he's around."

I led the way down the science hallway. "Maybe he left the door unlocked."

My hope vanished a minute later as I tugged on the doorknob to his classroom. The door refused to budge. "Crap," I said, heart leaping up my throat.

"Look on the bright side," Ryan said, wiping his sweaty palms on his jeans. "This means he probably isn't coming back here today."

I nodded, imagining the Shadow Regime breaking down my door. We had to get in there, no matter what. I peered through the little window and into his dim classroom.

Bingo.

Sunlight poured into the room. Two of the windows were cracked open, probably to clear out the smell. I couldn't believe our luck.

I waved Penny and Ryan towards the exit. "We can still get in. Come on."

I shoved open the brown exit door and stepped outside into the sunlight. We'd lucked out double-time. Mr. Gorfel's room was at the back of the school, near the fence and the woods. In other words, nobody except the squirrels would see us sneaking in.

"Unless someone sneaks back here to smoke, we're pretty safe," Penny said, digging into the grass with her shoe. "I think one of us should stand out here and be a lookout, though."

I knew what she meant. No way was Penny going in there to get busted. Not that I could blame her, though. And I'd still have Ryan with me. If he got in trouble, it wouldn't be as bad dealing with his mom. "You're right. You can stand out here by the window and wait for us. We might need someone to run and get help if things get hairy."

Silence hung in the air as we stared at each other. We all knew that "hairy" meant if portals open and shadow people come out to drag us away.

"But only if it's the Shadow Regime," I added. "If a janitor comes in and yells at us, that's okay." I dropped my backpack against the side of the school and made for the window.

The window was cracked open about a foot. I peeked inside. The tank of Venus flytraps blocked half of the window. At least it wasn't the tank of green slime. That might just make me give up my mission. "If we're careful, we can get in without knocking that over," I said.

Squeezing in was easier said than done. Schools always have those windows that only open a foot or so at the bottom. I got myself stuck a couple of times, and Penny had to help shove me in. Finally I crashed onto the floor, barely missing the flytraps. I hoped the classroom door opened from the inside, or it was going to be even less fun to climb out.

Ryan had an even harder time. He had to slide in backwards. Plus he banged his knee on the radiator.

"Okay. Hurry up," he said once standing.

I didn't know where to look first. Mr. Gorfel had a bunch of long homework assignments on the board and left a few pink Detention Slips on top of a cabinet. Nothing weird for him.

"Look in the drawers," Penny whispered through the window. She pointed at the boat that was his desk. "He knows students won't go through there."

"Bossy as usual," I joked. But she was right. If he had anything to hide, it would be in there. I nodded to Ryan and ran for it, heart pounding. "You take that side of the desk and I'll take this one." Yeah, the desk was that big.

Drawers flew open with squeaky noises that someone down the hall would've heard. Pens and pencils rolled around inside the top one. Diagrams of frog anatomy stared at me from the second. The third drawer? A huge stack of detention slips that probably wouldn't last too long sat next to a confiscated mp3 player.

"That d...doesn't tell us anything." Ryan pulled open another drawer. "There's just a stapler and some red ink pens in this one."

"That's good, though," Penny said. "The more boring stuff you find, the less likely it is he's working for the Shadow Regime. Unless he memorized your address. Or has it in his pocket."

Leave it to her to always find the positive. But if she was right, there was nothing we could do about that. Maybe breaking in here hadn't been such a bright idea after all.

I reached down to open the last drawer.

It didn't budge. "Locked," I said.

Penny tapped on the glass. "It looks like if there is anything incriminating, it'll be in there. What else would someone lock up?"

Ryan let out a breath and lifted a stack of papers off the desk. "You're right. Maybe there's a key in here somewhere."

I went to search through the other drawers again when a lock jiggled. Ryan must've found the key and unlocked the drawer. I faced him, but he'd frozen like the deer my dad almost drove his car into last year.

It wasn't the lock on the drawer jiggling.

Rattling filled the room. The noise came from the classroom door, not the drawer. The doorknob twisted side to side, then stopped, then started again.

"Oh, crap," Ryan said.

Mr. Gorfel had come back.

### Chapter Seven

The door to the storage room stood just a few inches open. I seized Ryan's arm and darted for it, heart hammering in my chest. Penny ducked on the other side of the window.

Ryan launched himself into the closet and shut the door most of the way once we were in. Darkness surrounded us except for the light coming in through the crack. I could only hope Penny had her cell phone out, ready to dial 911.

The rattling stopped. A second later, the classroom door creaked open. The plastic frogs all croaked as a set of footsteps thudded into the room.

Spots danced in front of my vision as Ryan practically breathed in my ear. I let out the breath I'd been holding. What if Mr. Gorfel noticed the storage room door was now shut when it wasn't before?

Mr. Gorfel set his keys down on his desk with a jingling sound and walked towards the back of the room. My heart slowed a bit. He hadn't spotted us. A scraping sound followed as he opened a tank. It seemed like he'd come back to feed all his animals. In other words: we'd have to hide in here for a long time.

Mr. Gorfel closed the lid and opened another. "Hey, girl," he crooned. "I know you must be hungry."

I really didn't want to know what he was talking to.

He circled the room outside for several minutes, a few steps at a time. More aquarium lids slid open and closed. Then he must've finished feeding everything, because the footsteps grew louder. I let out a slow, quiet breath when his chair scraped against the floor and pulled up towards the desk. He was sitting down.

A lock jiggled again. Mr. Gorfel had just unlocked the drawer we'd tried to open.

The sound of shuffling papers followed. His evil plans? Files on us? At last the noise stopped and the chair squeaked like he'd leaned back into it. Mr. Gorfel sighed and started turning the pages to something.

My stomach lurched. This might just be what we'd come in looking for.

Ryan tapped my arm. I about jumped out the door. I'd forgotten he was standing there next to me. A line of light landed on his cheek as he pointed to the crack in the door. I knew what that meant. Our only chance to see what is was sat right in front of us.

He'd never get up the bravery to go peek, so that was up to me. I crept towards the door, careful to breathe out of the side of my mouth. Craning my neck, I squinted and peered out into the Biology classroom.

Mr. Gorfel sat hunched over his huge desk, a book open in front of him. The late afternoon sunlight poured in, right on the pages. And they were shiny pages, too, which meant I couldn't read anything on them.

Great. Now I could only wait for a cloud to block out the annoying sun. Or for Penny to peek over the window and see what it was instead. I couldn't bet on that, though. She'd get spotted. Only after my back started to ache did the sunlight in the room start to dim. Ryan's hot breath blew against my ear as he leaned over more to see. The annoying shine faded, leaving a big picture in its place.

Ryan lost his balance.

His hands gripped my shoulders. Hard. I lurched forward, struggling to grip the door frame. Instead of getting the wall, my hand hit the door itself.

You can probably guess what happened next.

The door sprang open. But that wasn't all. It also hit a metal bookshelf with a loud bang and sent a jar of greenish-brown slime teetering to the floor. It shattered and the gross stuff splashed everywhere. I gripped the door frame to stop myself from falling out of the storage room and into the mess.

Slam. Mr. Gorfel shut the book. A loud squeak followed as he pushed his chair back.

I froze, mind blank and legs turning to rubber. Ryan muttered a curse behind me.

"Who's there?" Mr. Gorfel barked. "Show yourself!"

Heart thudding, I looked around for an escape. None. The storage room didn't go anywhere. There was no use in putting it off, then. At least we'd have room to run out in the classroom. And Penny could hear what was going on and run for help if she had to. It beat letting Mr. Gorfel corner us in the closet.

I faced Ryan and shrugged, stepping out of the storage room. A. Gist's voice rang through my head. We strike when no one can hear your cries for help. If Mr. Gorfel was with the Shadow Regime, we'd find out about it while he had us away from everyone else. In other words, now.

Mr. Gorfel stood behind his desk, stiff and trembling. His wide eyes relaxed when they landed on us. I wished I could do the same. Any moment now a portal might open and those goons would come out and arrest us.

Instead, he stood silent for several moments, doing that staring act again. His jaw quivered. "What are you doing in my classroom?"

Heat crept up my neck. Well, this was embarrassing. Ryan shot me a desperate glance. Excuse time.

"Uh...I forgot what my homework was and had to come in to see," I sputtered, pointing at the board. "I tried the door but it was locked and I had to—"

Mr. Gorfel put a hand up. "Then why didn't you come get me? Why did you hide in the closet? I thought...I thought you were someone here to rob me or something!" His fists clenched, but still no portal appeared. Turning away, he muttered something under his breath and walked behind his desk. He picked up the book and opened the bottom drawer.

That's when I saw what he'd been paging through. Benton High School: What a Year It Was!

Man, I felt stupid. A yearbook. That was it. It was probably from the school he used to teach at. No evil plans. No secret cameras.

Mr. Gorfel tucked it back into the bottom drawer and locked it. Then he stood tall, folded his arms over his chest, and stared daggers into us. "Explain."

Ryan swallowed. "She already did. It...it was a long assignment you gave us and I think we missed something. And we couldn't find you, so—"

"Why don't I believe that you're telling the truth? Because you're not," he said. "You got angry over the essay and decided to come trash my classroom or something. Now get out of here!"

Mr. Gorfel stormed over to the door and yanked it open, making the plastic frogs all croak. My shoulders drooped and relaxed as we headed out into the hallway and into fresh air. Mission accomplished...sort of. Mr. Gorfel probably wasn't working for the Shadow Regime. He would've turned us over right there if he was.

"Oh, don't think you're getting out of punishment," Mr. Gorfel said. "I'm going to decide on that sometime this week. I think I'll let the two of you brood on what it's going to be while I decide your fates."

Of course, that didn't make him any less evil.

* * * * *

"Well, I survived yesterday," I said, sitting next to Penny and Ryan in Mr. Gorfel's class the next morning. Nobody came knocking on my door or breaking into my house last night. That alone lifted my mood a few notches, even if Mr. Gorfel had some horrible punishment lined up for us. "I found out from my parents that I have to join the Westonville High Fashion Designers, though. They're still looking for a second activity." The only reason they hadn't made me do cheerleading was the fact that they knew I'd fail the tryouts on purpose. Not that I could pass them if I tried, anyway.

"That's good. Well, about Mr. Gorfel, anyway. I was still worried even after he let you off the hook." Penny stared down at her table. I could tell she felt bad that we got in trouble and she didn't.

"And my mom probably won't even notice," Ryan grumbled. "Fashion Designers, huh? I guess it could be worse."

"Hey, I tried to argue, but I didn't have much time with that assignment we had. They don't start until next month, though. So I have time to find a way out," I said. I had better sign up for the Comic Book Club before my parents put too much on my schedule. "Man, this sucks. I'm already grounded from going out after dark."

Penny lifted her chin and tapped her pencil on her binder. "At least you can go out after dark sometimes. I'm never allowed out after dinner. My dad says he might start letting me stay out until nine on weekends when I turn sixteen." She didn't sound too hopeful, mostly because when her dad said might, it usually meant might not.

I opened my mouth to tell Penny that she needed to start standing up to her dad a little more, but the bell rang and Mr. Gorfel strode into the room. He didn't even look at us as he entered, much to my relief. Maybe he stared at all his students on the first day to scare them.

"Pass up your homework and essays," he ordered. The shuffling of papers filled the room. If Penny hadn't helped me find all the answers after school and gave me ideas of what to put in the essay, I never would've finished it all in time.

Josh and Kristina made no effort to dig for any papers. I ground my teeth together and clutched my sore wrist. They hadn't done their essays. Everyone had but them, and they were going to get away with it.

Once Mr. Gorfel gathered all the papers, he swaggered over to his huge desk, slapped them down, and sifted through them. He laid the chapter questions aside and held the essays high in the air. A smirk came across his face. "Thank you for doing these."

And then he did the unspeakable.

Mr. Gorfel walked towards the door, making the plastic frogs all croak. I could only watch in horror as he stood there and dropped the entire stack of papers in the trash can. They landed with a loud thud.

My veins pulsed in my ears. Those electric pulses spread through my arms again, but at that moment, I didn't care. Just as I'd predicted, Josh and Kristina got away with their crap. Mr. Gorfel hadn't even checked to see who'd done the essays.

Class couldn't end fast enough. I bolted out the door as soon as the bell rang, but not fast enough to miss what Mr. Gorfel said to me.

"Don't think I forgot. I'm still working on your punishment."

* * * * *

The morning dragged by. I kept my schedule with me, as I'd forgotten all my room numbers from yesterday due to all my stress. I even got turned around headed to Basic Computers (it was only thanks to Penny I went the right way) and again when headed to Language Arts. Hey, memorizing the school layout hadn't been my priority yesterday.

Kristina shot me dirty looks in the hall and seemed to be at every corner today. She'd probably heard some rumor that I'd insulted her again. Which I hadn't. Sure, I stood up to her when it came to my friends (which led to scary moments sometimes), but even I wasn't dumb enough to actually insult her. No one who wanted to avoid a messed-up face ever did. I just wished she'd go away. Her glares made it hard to concentrate on my schedule and where I was going.

It wasn't until my walk to World Issues did anything exciting happen.

"Hey!" someone called right in the middle of the crowded Social Studies hall.

I jumped, whirled around, and nearly got run over by a big group of girls in the process. Sean ran up to me, out of breath. He patted his backpack as if to make sure it was still there.

"I have something for you," he said between pants. "I'll give it to you after Acting. I don't want people to see me giving you this."

"Give me what?" I asked, stopping in the river of people.

The look on his face said it was serious. "I did some research. That's all I'm going to say."

"Research on what?" a nasty voice echoed nearby. "How to be a bigger loser?"

Great. Not them.

Josh and Kristina stood there, close enough to breathe in our faces. The two of them grinned as if Josh had cracked the best joke in the history of the world.

I couldn't deal with it all anymore. My lips started moving before I could stop them. "What do you know about research? You two probably don't even know how to read."

Sean's mouth fell open. I'd broken the Number One Rule of School Survival. Thanks, big mouth.

Josh's nose flared dangerously as he spat on the floor. Yeah, the floor. Gross, huh? Kristina's face turned the color of a bad sunburn and her fists clenched into bricks. She spewed a long string of insults at me right there in the middle of the hall. I won't repeat them here, because none of them were rated G.

People stopped around us to stare. A ring of people started to form—the universal sign of a fight. Kristina kept calling me every nasty thing you can think of. Sean shot me a nervous glance. It might be a good time to go.

I turned—yeah, stupid—and cut my way through the crowd. Sean came right behind me, breath blowing against my back. I braced for Kristina's fist to land on the back of my head, but it never came, probably because Sean was blocking its flight path. I owed him one. It wasn't so much the fight I was scared of. It was suspension—I'd have to spend too much time alone if I couldn't go to school. Why had I opened my big mouth?

Once out of the hallway, I turned to ask Sean about what he wanted to give me, but he'd disappeared.

* * * * *

By lunch, I had tons of questions in my head. I told Penny and Ryan about the encounter in the hall and tried not to let ketchup drip on my schedule at the same time.

Penny raised a finger. "Maybe he found something out about the Shadow Regime that we don't know yet. Or some way to avoid them. I've been thinking, and I know I'm stumped."

"I hope so," I said. "He's good at research stuff." I had a sinking feeling he hadn't found out anything good, though. Sean didn't smile or anything when he gave me the news. "But he wouldn't say anything about it. Maybe I ought to ask Dan about it. He hangs out with Sean all the time." I had a feeling he wouldn't give me attitude this time. The situation was way too serious for that.

Penny sat bolt upright. "Uh...Rita?"

Before I could respond, a meaty hand came down on my schedule and ground it into a ball with a crinkling sound. Another hand appeared and flipped my tray up at me. I dodged to the side in time to miss some flying mashed potatoes. I dropped my burger to the table and twisted around on the stool. "Wh—"

Kristina's other hand gripped my sleeve. More profanity spewed out of her mouth as she called me a bunch of things (the nicest of which was Raging Rita) that described her a lot more than me. "What were you doing, mouthing off to me?"

My heart started to race and my body tensed, preparing for battle. Josh stepped on my tray with his hideous orange designer shoes. Mashed potatoes squished around them.

Now was not the time to let my big mouth make anything worse. I had to try something totally different for once—diplomacy. "Hey, sorry. It wasn't a big deal. Nobody even heard what I said."

"Geez. Leave her alone," Ryan said. His voice sounded like a terrified gnome's.

Kristina smiled, exposing two rows of tobacco-stained teeth. She loved this kind of stuff. Josh stood behind her, grinning in anticipation. I tensed, ready to start blocking blows. The muscles around Kristina's jaw trembled as she lifted her free arm up behind her.

"Hey! Knock it off!" A lunch lady marched at our table, glaring at Kristina.

She let go of my sleeve, swearing, and stalked over to the other side of the cafeteria. I let out a really quiet sigh of relief as they sat way on the other side of the room, snickering.

Ryan brushed down his hair and waited until they were out of earshot to speak. "Man, I really hate them."

"Tell me about it," Penny added. "They have to ruin everything."

* * * * *

Sean fidgeted and stared at the clock as if a bomb would go off any second. My palms tingled with anticipation as the time inched closer to the bell.

It rang seconds later. Chairs scraped against the floor and chatter filled the hall outside, but I forced myself to stay seated. Sean nodded and slid his book back into his bag as if he'd just thawed out from a glacier. I followed suit as the classroom cleared around her. "Move slow, guys," I said to Penny and Ryan. We had to wait for the room to clear out.

It did. Nobody wanted to hang around at the end of the day. Mr. Bolther left the room, leaving only me, Penny, Ryan, and Sean. Oh, and a wasp that kept smacking into the window.

Sean sighed and stood. "Perfect!"

"So what's the big secret?" Ryan asked. "Did you find some Shadow Regime repellent or something?"

Sean didn't smile as he reached into his backpack. Bad sign. "I don't think you'll like this too much." He pulled out an unlabeled CD in an orange case. "Put this in your computer as soon as you get home, Rita. You should look at it first, since you're the one the shadow people were talking about. Ryan told me about it." He paused to catch his breath. "There's a link to some videos someone stuck on Youtube labeled as a horror movie. It's not fake, though. You'll be able to tell. I also found some newspaper articles and put them on here." He swallowed as he shoved the CD into my hands. "Don't lose it even if there's an asteroid hurtling towards the earth. I had a hard time just getting this to you."

Sean took in a deep breath, turned, and vanished into the river of students outside the door. I stood with the disc in my hand.

"He left like that wasp just stung him in the butt," Ryan said.

"Hide that," Penny whispered.

Good idea. I didn't know who might be watching. I shoved the case in my backpack. "Well, let's get back to my house."

We didn't waste any time getting out of the school and running down Dobbs Street. Luckily, Jerry's car was still there in front of the Kool Spot, which meant he probably hadn't disappeared yet. The blue no one under eighteen sign still hung there. I thought of Jerry sitting in there all by himself and had to fight the urge to go in there and spill everything to him. He'd have something up his sleeve or something to say to make me feel better. He always did.

"Rita, we can't stand here," Penny said. Only then did I realize I'd stopped right there on the sidewalk. "It's too dangerous. I know this is hard for you."

I snapped out of my daze. She was right, as much as I hated to admit it. If I went in there, all I'd do was put Jerry and the rest of us in danger. The thought made me want to kick something.

I shook my head. "Let's go."

Luckily the area was deserted, so nobody saw us running like idiots towards my house. The guy that compulsively mowed his lawn all the time wasn't out. Neither was the annoying little kid who stuffed everyone's mailboxes with grass. I didn't even see a squirrel running up a tree.

"You sure you don't want to go to my house?" Penny asked, out of breath.

"And use your dial-up?" I asked, pulling my key out of my pocket. "Plus Ryan's computer has a virus." I fell silent, waiting for the reason that she was right and I was wrong.

"Yes. My dial-up," she said, stepping in front of me and blocking my sidewalk. "It just seems too quiet around here. I don't like it. And I have to be home by three."

Ryan wrapped his arms around himself. "Good point. Shudder."

I froze right in the middle of my driveway. Yep, she was right. The birds had gone dead silent. I didn't even hear a lawnmower going off anywhere. All the houses around us were closed up and all the driveways empty. Needless to say, it made my hair stand on end.

"Okay. Your house," I said, turning.

Too late.

I think we all saw it at the same time, because a weird squeak came out of Penny's mouth and Ryan jumped back onto my porch.

Across the street in the neighbor's driveway stood someone who looked like the creep on all those Neighborhood Watch signs. He'd taken that shadow disguise out here in broad daylight, but the brimmed hat and cape told me all I needed to know.

A. Gist now knew where I lived.

### Chapter Eight

Plans changed in an instant. A million thoughts ran through my head at the speed of light. A. Gist stood across the street, staring at me with that featureless face. He'd found me. Somehow, he'd found me. I had to do something, and now.

An idea flashed through my head. It was worth a try. "Quick!" I yelled at the top of my lungs. "Run to my house!" Translation: this isn't my house. No, it's not. Go look somewhere else.

Ryan stared at me as if I'd lost my mind. Maybe I had. I took his sleeve and pulled him down the sidewalk. My keys fell from my hand to the pavement. Great. There went my lie.

As if he'd detected it, A. Gist took a bold step forward. He raised his hand as if to say stop and started to cross the street.

I stopped. Ryan crashed into me. Penny crashed into him. We'd have to run right at him to leave the yard, thanks to all the fences we had.

"Now what?" Penny breathed. For once, she didn't have the answers.

My own breathing filled my head as my legs turned to rubber. Good question. "Come on!" I seized my keys off the ground and bolted for the front door. We had no other option.

I'd never had a harder time unlocking the front door. The key kept missing the lock and my hand wouldn't stop shaking. A. Gist's footsteps drew closer.

Ryan beat on the doorframe. "Hurry up!"

"What do you think I'm doing?" I exploded. I imagined a hand landing on my shoulder any second. The key found the lock and I rammed into the door, forcing it open so fast it hit the wall.

We stampeded into the house. I whirled around to close the door. A. Gist stalked up my sidewalk, cape flowing. He stopped there and waved me over with a silhouette hand. "Come here."

"Uh, no." The words felt dry and weak in my throat. You can probably guess what I did next. I slammed the door, locked it, and turned to Penny. I was Rita Morse, but I sure wasn't going to confront him. "Call the cops! Now!"

Penny stood paralyzed for a second before running for the kitchen, shoes squeaking against the floor. I heard the click of her cell phone opening.

I stood by Ryan, waiting. Waiting for the knock. Or for the door to break down.

But the doorknob never rattled. The silence made it even scarier. What was A. Gist doing out there? I had a feeling he hadn't given up or anything.

"Wh...what's he up to?" Ryan asked as if I knew the answer.

"Don't know," I said. Then a thought hit me and I felt as if someone had punched me in the gut. "I...I left my window open this morning!"

Our footsteps thundered through the house as we both ran for my room. My window was cracked open and my curtains billowed in the breeze. A. Gist hadn't found it yet. I jumped over my art supplies, vaulted around my desk, and shut it in record time. Ryan pulled my curtains closed, then leaned against my wall and heaved out a huge sigh. "That was close."

Penny appeared in my doorway, brows high and chin quivering. "My phone's dead. I think your power's out, too."

I glanced at my alarm clock and felt like someone had punched me all over again. She was right. No red numbers glowed on the screen. It was like the time A. Gist made those streetlights go out.

"Oh, crap," Ryan breathed, pressing against the wall.

It also meant we couldn't call for help. It was time for me to take charge. Ryan was way too freaked out to think and even Penny's brain had shut down. I had to get them out of here and to safety. I could never live with myself if my friends got hurt because of me.

"We've gotta leave. He has us trapped in here," I said. Any minute, he could have those Shadow Ones or whatever storming the place. I struggled to keep my voice from shaking. "I say we run down the street screaming. Someone'll hear us. If we stay here, he'll find a way in and nobody will ever know what happened to us."

Penny nodded, trembling. I felt like doing that myself.

Ryan peeled himself from the wall. "Agreed."

Without a word, I led them through my room, careful not to make any noise. I didn't want A. Gist to know where we were in the house. I nearly knocked over a ton of CD's and tripped over a box of flowery shirts my mom always tried to make me wear. If I lived through this, I swore, I'd keep my room clean from now on.

I stepped out into the hallway and stopped in mid-step, stomach lurching. "Wh—"

A. Gist stood in the middle of the hall.

He still used his shadow form like he wanted to hide who he was. Well, he didn't know I'd seen him already, but I wasn't about to tell him that. Jerry's life depended on it.

An embarrassing squeak escaped my throat as Ryan gripped my shoulder from behind. The door hadn't even opened. I never heard windows breaking or anything. How did he get in? But that didn't matter now.

We were screwed. Big time.

A. Gist reached up and tipped his brimmed hat in a mock greeting. At least, I think that's what he did. It was hard to tell on a walking ink blot. "Finally. The last of you," he said in that cocky voice. "Now you'll have to come with me."

I couldn't move. I couldn't speak. I couldn't even ask him what the heck he meant. Penny and Ryan looked like they were having the same problem, too. All I could do was stand there like an idiot. My heart pounded so hard, my teeth hurt.

A. Gist reached out to the side to snap his fingers. To open a portal. To drag us away.

"No," I croaked, backing right into Ryan.

The rumble of a car engine and the sound of crunching gravel floated in from outside. I almost cried out in joy. It was the most beautiful sound I'd ever heard.

My mom had come home from work early.

A. Gist whirled around and cursed. He knew he was caught.

I wanted to say something cool to him, something really crushing, but my brain wasn't working at the moment. "You'd better leave," was all I could manage.

"I will." He turned back to me, cape billowing. Uh, oh. "But first I'll make sure you can't hide."

Outside, the car turned off and went silent. I shot Penny a look. My mom had better hurry up.

A. Gist raised one hand at me. His black palm started to glow bright blue as if heated by a live wire. Yeah, bright blue. The glow gathered together and formed itself into a ball of spinning light. I could only stand there and stare at it as it got brighter and brighter.

Outside, my mom slammed the car door.

And the blue light shot at me, fizzling and getting bigger by the second.

Penny cried out. Ryan tried to pull me out of the way. Too late. The light hit and sent a jolt through my body, knocking me back into the folding closet door. Squealing filled the air as it gave behind me.

Blinding blue blocked out everything. The hallway. My friends. I couldn't even feel the closet door behind me anymore.

It was like I was tossed somewhere outside of existence. An endless sea of blue light pulsed around me as I floated aimlessly in space. I don't know how much time passed. Maybe seconds. Or months, or years.

"Guys?" I called out, trying to whirl around. I prayed for Penny's voice to come through, telling me I'd just passed out or something, or even Ryan freaking out.

No response. Just the blue swirled around me in silence. That's when I started to get really scared, as if I hadn't been already. Was I dead? Maybe I'd float out here for eternity, lost. Maybe I'd disappeared like A. Gist said would happen to Jerry. My heart started racing even harder. What would my mom say when she got in the door and saw me gone?

At last, the blue melted away like someone had pulled a drain at the bottom of it. I heaved out a big sigh of relief, until I saw what took its place.

My feet hit the ground and I almost—yeah, almost—heaved out a big sigh of relief. It died in my throat. I wasn't back in the hallway, standing next to Penny or Ryan. I don't even think I was on Earth. I sucked in a sharp breath as I took in my surroundings. It's not like I could help it or anything.

Now I stood on an expanse of concrete underneath a dark purple sky. It seemed clear enough, but no sun, moon, or stars shined overhead. Definitely not normal. It was just the same, boring purple color all around.

In the distance, an enormous blue mansion with four pointed towers crowned a hill and overlooked a small city of blue and gray. Past it, a brown wasteland (also boring) stretched out in every direction. Definitely not an inviting place.

But that wasn't the worst part.

I was surrounded.

Shadow people, thousands of them, stood around me in a huge ring. I'm not exaggerating. When A. Gist said the Shadow Regime was ten thousand strong, he meant it. Some of them had the sharp edges of armor on their shoulders, some didn't. It was like standing inside a thick, inky circle. And every single one of them stared right at me as if I'd landed from Mars.

Only the sound of my own breathing met my ears. Unless I grew wings, I had no escape.

So I yelled the one thing that came to mind: "Go away!" Yeah, effective. My yells echoed off the pavement and up into the purple sky.

Slowly the shadow people started to close in. An army of jackboots tapped nearer. I choked and spun around, forcing down a scream. I wouldn't show fear. I wouldn't give them what they wanted.

Dozens of inky arms came towards me, grasping.

Everything melted together in a smothering blackness. The ground vanished from under my feet again. My stomach lurched as I fell, fell into darkness just like the shadows themselves, and I remembered no more.

* * * * *

"Rita? Rita!"

My mom.

A second later, a pair of tiny hands shook me. I forced my eyes open. The world spun around me. My mom's face. Penny. Ryan. The ceiling. Even the ugly fake plant my mom kept at the corner of the hallway.

"Huh?" I shook my head, but didn't dare move until the spinning stopped.

"You passed out, according to your friends. They say you were out for about a minute. Sit up, and then you're going to the doctor." She stared down at me, blond curls hanging around her face in a mess, which they never did. In other words, I'd scared the crap out of her. Penny and Ryan stood on either side of her, looking just as nervous.

A. Gist was nowhere to be found, of course, which meant my mom had no idea what really happened. I figured he'd gone out a window or something. What on Earth—or off Earth—had happened to me? A vision? At least my body had stayed here the whole time. That was a relief.

I sat up and let my back rest against the closet door, which squeaked in protest. The hallway stopped spinning. Good. I didn't need to throw up on top of all this.

"Go home," my mom ordered Penny and Ryan. "We need to take a trip to the clinic. I'm sorry to throw you out, but I think she may be coming down with something." As if to make her point, she laid her hand on my forehead.

"I don't feel sick," I protested. Penny and Ryan—well, mostly Penny—were the only two who could help me work out what that blue light had done to me, and I didn't want them to leave. I had a feeling the doctor wouldn't be much help. Hey, the Ruler of Ageism just nailed me with a blue light and made me see visions of another world? That might land me in the mental hospital.

"You passed out, Rita. That's sick enough for me," my mom said. "Come on. I want to get you in to the urgent care before they close at five."

As much as I hated to admit it, she had a point. I shot Penny and Ryan a look to say sorry. Penny nodded. She couldn't even reason with my mom right now.

My stomach churned all the way to the doctor, which was way over in Fullerton. It had nothing to do with me coming down with anything, either. It had everything to do with the fact that A. Gist broke into my house. I wondered if he'd tortured Jerry for my address. Man, I couldn't live with that thought. Or hacked the school computers. Or maybe Mr. Gorfel really did work for him after all, and he'd hidden the evidence better than I thought. None of those thoughts were very comforting. And just as we pulled into the Urgent Care parking lot, I remembered the disc Sean had given me. If the power was still out at my house when we got back, there was no way I'd get a chance to look at it until school tomorrow. And there was no way my mom would let me go anywhere tonight after passing out, so the library was a no, too.

It didn't take long for us to get back into a treatment room. My mom had me explain my spell to the doctor, which consisted of me lying and saying that I felt dizzy and fell to the floor. No, I didn't shake. No, I didn't foam at the mouth. Yes, I felt fine now.

The doctor wrote a bunch of stuff down on her clipboard and stared down her nose at me. "We'll need to do a blood draw and run some tests to rule out some problems. I'll send in a nurse. After that, head up to the front desk for you co-pay."

Swell.

"I'll go ahead. Meet me out in the waiting room," my mom said, rising from her orange plastic chair. I knew the real reason for that. She hated needles, and blood. I wasn't a big fan of them myself

"I'll be fine," I said. At least needles wouldn't send me to an alternate universe to be attacked by shadow people.

The nurse came in a minute later, readying something that looked like a cow shot. "Can you go ahead and roll up your sleeve for me?" she asked.

I did, exposing my forearm.

I expected the nurse to say something like, "This will only hurt for a second," or "You'll feel a pinch here." Definitely not, "Oh, that's a pretty tattoo. Where did you get it?"

"I don't have a—" I started, staring down at my forearm.

The words died in my throat, because right there on my skin was a curly blue A.

### Chapter Nine

The power still hadn't come back on when I got home. All our neighbors' houses were dark and candles flickered inside everyone's windows. Whatever power A. Gist had used to knock out the whole street was, well, impressive. I didn't want to know what else he could do.

"Any luck getting through, Tom?" my mom asked as we got through the door.

My dad stood in the kitchen, trying to call the electric company on his cell phone. The frustrated look on his face told us no. So much for looking at the disc tonight. Now I'd have to wait.

My mom set down the Burger Planet bags she'd picked up on the way home. I ate in a hurry in the firelight and rushed to the bathroom, taking one of the big emergency candles with me.

The A was still there on my arm, bright as ever. I hadn't showed it to my mom. She'd scream at me and ask where I'd gotten a tattoo, and I wouldn't have an answer for her. Then she'd make me join dance or something. At least it wasn't huge or anything—only a couple inches tall. I could hide it by wearing long sleeved shirts without a problem. If it didn't have anything to do with the Shadow Regime, it would actually look kind of cool.

But it wasn't cool. Because A. Gist had put it there with that flying blue light, and that couldn't mean anything good. I felt like a cow marked for slaughter.

The A stung when I touched it, like a bruise or a burn. I winced, grabbed a bar of soap, and started scrubbing at it as hard as I could. It burned some more, but it had to come off, pain or not.

I think I scrubbed at my skin at least eight times. And—you guessed it—the A refused to come off or even fade a little. Once my skin turned bright red around it, I gave up and threw the bar of soap (now much smaller) into the sink. I'd have to settle with hiding it for now. I rolled my sleeve back down over it and prayed that it wasn't permanent.

* * * * *

"No!" I yelled as I stood in front of the television in my black long-sleeved shirt the next morning. "No!"

The weather report displayed today's high in huge numbers. Ninety-one degrees. Sunshine all day. No wind. And as if that wasn't bad enough, the humidity was going to be high, too. Sweat already crept out under my arms and on the back of my neck. The air conditioning hadn't had a chance to cool the house yet, since the power had come back on only fifteen minutes ago, but that didn't matter. The school didn't have air conditioning, and unless I wanted the A on my forearm to show for the world to see, I'd have to sweat to death all day.

Making sure I had Sean's disc in my backpack, I headed out the door before my mom could yell at me to put on a short-sleeved shirt. Time to get to school before the sun got too hot.

Penny and Ryan waited out by my driveway. I brought them up to speed on last night, rolling up my sleeve to show them my arm. Ryan's eyes nearly popped out of his head when he saw it.

"I don't know what it means," I said, rolling my sleeve back down, "but it can't be anything good." I wondered if Jerry had one of these, too, but I had no way to ask him. Would I ever get to talk to him again? What would he tell me to do? What did you do when this sort of thing happened?

Penny suggested we stay in a tight group once we got through the double doors of the school. That was a good idea. "Scan the halls. If you see anyone shadowy—"

"I don't think the Shadow Ones are going to jump out from behind the drink machines," I told her, searching up and down the hall. Crowds of other students gathered in groups and socialized. The cheerleaders stood over next to the jocks, giggling. One of the art girls marched down the hall wearing fake elf ears. And Josh and Kristina leaned against some lockers, fiddling with a couple of new cell phones. "Too many people here."

Penny looked behind her. "Well, you'd never know."

Ryan glared at Josh and Kristina and their phones. "I hope Mr. Gorfel confiscates those and throws them in that algae tank."

"Oh, crap." My stomach lurched. On top of everything, I hadn't done my homework for Mr. Gorfel last night. My grade in that class was already teetering on the toilet seat. One more missed assignment, and it would fall in. It was bad enough I had A. Gist to worry about. "Great. I also couldn't do my questions last night." Since Penny had gotten kicked out by my mom, she hadn't reminded me.

The row of plastic frogs all croaked as we walked into Mr. Gorfel's class. Only a couple of people sat up front. Perfect. I sat and pulled my Biology brick—I mean book—out of my backpack. Mr. Gorfel hadn't come in yet and the bell wouldn't ring for ten minutes. I had hope yet, although Penny wouldn't let me live this down for the next month.

"Penny," I asked, "Can I copy your questions?"

"Copy?" Penny wrinkled her nose. "You know I don't like that. And if I got caught—" She didn't finish that sentence. "I can help you with the questions, though."

"This is an emergency!" I flipped to the assignment page. "We don't have time for that." And besides, I could look up the questions myself. I wasn't an idiot. "It's not my fault I couldn't do my homework."

"C...copy mine." Ryan fished through his papers. "I think I have most of the answers right."

"Thanks," I said, glancing at the grimy clock above the chalkboard. Nine minutes before the bell. I had to hurry.

I scribbled down Ryan's answers onto my sheet, trying to put them in my words as much as I could. The tense minutes ticked by as more and more people filed into the room and slouched in their chairs. If Mr. Gorfel caught me doing this, I just might be dead before A. Gist found me again.

Penny made her humph sound as she opened her own book. "I can't believe this."

"We're being threatened by the Ruler of Ageism and his whole Shadow Regime, and you're worried about me copying some homework?" My voice rose. I couldn't help it. "It's not like I could fit it between me passing out and losing our power last night. What am I supposed to do? Take a zero?"

"You're supposed to find the time to do your homework and make sure it's your own work," a horrible voice rang out from the front of the room.

Oh, no.

Mr. Gorfel stood next to the storage room, arms folded over his chest. He must've lurked in there the whole time and heard everything I said. Great.

"Rita. Ryan. Come up to my desk," he said, sitting down.

I sighed and walked up to the teacher's desk while Josh and Kristina snickered. Why didn't they get in trouble for anything?

The millipede climbed up the wall of its tank as if trying to get a better look at me getting grilled. I joined Ryan in front of Mr. Gorfel's desk. The back of my neck prickled. Everyone in the class must be staring at us.

"I'm marking both of your assignments in as zeroes," Mr. Gorfel explained loud enough for the whole class to hear. "And in addition to that, I have decided on your punishment for your other little example."

He leaned over towards a drawer, the drawer that had the pile of Detention Slips. Big surprise. Mr. Gorfel pulled out two of them and waved them high in the air. He made a show of filling them out, too. "And not only will this be a detention. It's going to be a little parent-teacher conference as well. I will personally call your parents to pick you up tomorrow night, after your special little punishment."

We sulked back to our seats. Penny stared straight ahead as I sat. Could my week get any worse?

I could only think about how my mom would yell at me for copying homework. Things were bad enough with my parents lately. I couldn't even imagine what I'd get for breaking into the classroom. Mr. Gorfel wouldn't forget to mention that. Ryan sighed and slapped his Detention Slip down on the table.

"Hey, I'll keep you out of trouble and tell your mom I dragged you into this," I said. Which was, to some degree, true. "You'll get in less trouble that way."

"You don't have to be the protector all the time, Rita," he said. "I...I can tell her myself."

"Gee, I see you appreciate it."

Ryan flattened his hands on the table. "I do. It's just that...I can stand up for myself sometimes."

Mr. Gorfel started a boring lecture and I stewed over just about everything until the bell rang. What was so bad about wanting to stand up for my friends? Or myself, for that matter? I couldn't help it or anything. I'd been doing it ever since I took that spider off Ryan's lunch box on the playground. What did people want me to do? Sit around and giggle all the time? Well, my mom did.

I forced those pleasant thoughts from my mind when the bell rang. We still had the disc to look at and our next class was Basic Computers. "We'll tell you what we saw at lunch," I said to Ryan as he split from us to go to his Drawing class.

I followed Penny into Mr. Harvey's room and took the back table. I fished out Sean's disc and thrust it into the computer before the teacher even took attendance.

"Here goes," I said.

The disc had only two folders on it, one labeled Open First and the other Open Second. Yeah, nothing original. All the first folder had in it was a link to those Youtube videos Sean told me about.

"There it is," Penny said.

I clicked. And I'll admit it. My heart started to pound. I almost didn't want to know what Sean had found. But I had to do this now. A. Gist knew where I lived, which meant I might not get another chance.

The school still had dial-up, by the way. Which meant the page loaded slow. The bell rang and Mr. Harvey started taking attendance by time it did.

A row of videos finally popped up, all labeled The Saga of Gabe Cruz. I saw five parts waiting there in the sidebar. It did look like an amateur movie series someone had put up. If Sean hadn't told me otherwise, I would've passed right over it if I was browsing Youtube,

"We'd better start watching them." Penny leaned forward, grimacing. "Video takes forever to open."

I turned the volume way down and clicked on the first movie as Mr. Harvey called out everyone's names. A black screen popped up and a red loading bar crept along below it. I hit pause. There was no point in watching the movie if it had to stop to buffer every few seconds.

By time it finished loading, Mr. Harvey told us to start on some PowerPoint presentations and gave us a story about a camping trip he'd done over the summer. At long last, I hit the play button.

A tall guy with spiky black hair, maybe seventeen, appeared on the screen. Movie posters and figures of comic book characters decorated the walls and shelves behind him. He seemed like someone Ryan would get along with. "Hi," he said, smiling. The screen tilted as he adjusted his webcam. "My name is Gabe Cruz. I'm here to document my battle with a local business." A pause as he slicked down his hair. "I used to be a loyal customer at a place called the CD Den here in town. Now I can't go in with my friends anymore because of this."

He vanished and a photo took his place on-screen. A square blue sign glared out from behind the glass of a door covered in music ads. Absolutely no one under eighteen allowed without a parent. I swallowed. We were in the right place, all right.

The movie went back to Gabe Cruz. "See?" He folded his arms over his chest. "You probably have a store like this in your town that you complain about, too."

I snorted with laughter. It's not like I could help it or anything.

"But I'm going to do something about this." He leaned towards the camera and came so close that his face blocked out his movie posters. "The first thing I'm going to try is a letter right to the manager. I'll report back in two weeks to let you know how it went. If it doesn't work, I'll do something else. Gabe Cruz, checking out."

I closed out the movie. Exciting? No. But we still had four more videos to go.

Penny eyed the clock and bit her lip. "I have to start on my assignment. Keep playing those while I'm working."

Everyone—including poor Penny—started working on their presentations. Mr. Harvey buried himself in his own computer. From here I could tell he was surfing the net, because he was on a sports site. He'd never notice what we were up to.

The Saga of Gabe Cruz, Part Two. White letters stood out on a black background as the next video buffered. Penny typed into her Powerpoint slides and leaned closer to my screen at the same time. We didn't speak or even look at each other. Finally Gabe Cruz sat on the screen again, nervously smoothing down his hair.

"Well, I have the letter w...written and r...ready to go. I'll send that out tomorrow." He gulped. "I know this is really early for me to be back, but something kind of weird happened this morning. It was right after I loaded my first entry up on here. I have to tell someone, even if it's just this camera."

"Turn it up!" Penny twisted the volume control before I could react, then added a new slide to her assignment. "We might be getting somewhere."

"I went out right after I sent my letter to get some chips." Gabe stole a glance behind him. "I rode my bike down to the gas station and I passed the CD Den. And standing there...well, you're not going to believe this."

"Really?" I blurted, gripping my chair like I was on a roller coaster. "Try us."

Gabe pressed his face closer to the camera. "It was this shadowy figure. It was totally black even though it was bright and sunny, and standing right there on the sidewalk. I think it was wearing a cape, I'm not sure. I turned and rode away from there as fast as I could."

Penny clicked something with her mouse and tapped me in the shoulder. "Bingo."

"Well, that's out of my system," he said. "I don't know what it was and why it was there. I just hope I never see it again. The letter's sent, and I'll see you in a week."

The screen went dark again, and we shot knowing glances at each other. Gabe had ticked off A. Gist, which didn't take much. But all the dumb comments below his video told me no one believed this was anything but a corny movie. Ohhh, scary! I just wet myself. And hope your next episode actually shows something happening. And wholesale shoes and purses at www.cheapstuff4sale.com. Okay, so the last one was spam, but you get the point.

I glanced at the clock. Thanks to the dial-up, our time was short. "There's no way we're going to see all of these today. We've still got three entries to go."

"Load the next one." Penny turned back to her screen and kept working.

Part Three took the most time so far to load up. Nearly ten minutes later, Gabe Cruz sat at his desk, breathing like he'd run a marathon. My stomach turned. I knew how he felt.

"Hey there," he puffed out. "I don't know what's going on. I saw the shadow thing again. I was walking home from my friend's house and I felt like I was being watched. I looked behind me and it was there in the middle of the street, and I ran all the way home. I think I lost it."

A shudder raced over me. I knew how that felt, too.

Gabe took several more deep breaths, sinking into his chair a bit.

"I don't know what's going on. But let's get back to business. The letter didn't work and the sign's still up. I'm resorting to Plan B now. What I'm going to do is have a bunch of people at school sign a petition to have the sign taken down."

"Oh, no," I said. "No, Gabe. Address. They'll see your address!" I felt like I was yelling at a horror movie character about to walk into a basement and get killed. Half the classroom stared at me, but I didn't care.

"He didn't know," Penny told me. She'd stopped typing. "And this happened months ago. It's already done, whatever it is."

The screen faded to black for the third time. We had fifteen minutes left. Desperate to finish the videos, I clicked on the second to last one. The red buffering bar seemed to slow down as I watched it. "Please hurry," I pleaded, heart pounding. "I've got to know what happened to him, please." Mainly because I wanted to know what I got to look forward to and how to avoid it.

Gabe Cruz appeared for the fourth time, still in his room. Sweat rolled down the sides of his face and his eyes looked like they'd pop out of his head if someone slapped him on the back.

"Well, I've started getting people to sign the petition," he rambled. "But things get weirder. I think that shadow's after me because I'm doing this. That's all I can think of. Seriously, this is no joke. I went to school early this morning and it stepped out from the woods and beckoned to me. I froze and the shadow lightened and turned into some guy wearing—I don't know—this outfit from the nineteenth century. I sketched him in class today."

Gabe reached down, grimaced, and pulled up a piece of computer paper with A. Gist himself drawn on it. It was all the proof I needed that he was facing the same thing I was. He had every detail right. The hat. The jackboots. The cape. The cocky grin.

I hugged myself and squirmed in my chair. The more of this I saw, the worse I felt. How many people had the Shadow Regime tormented like this? Why were they waging war on teens? We'd never done anything to them. I felt ready to burst with questions.

"This is a widespread phenomenon." Penny's mouth hung open. "It must happen to everyone who tries to fight this kind of stuff."

Gabe lowered A. Gist from view, which made me feel a little better. "This guy said something about taking me through a portal...something about a procedure. I didn't hear all of it because I booked. Luckily a school bus came around the corner and let me on." He put his head down on his desk for a long moment and sat up again. "There's something else, too. The guy threw what looked like blue fire at me. I don't know what it did, but I wound up with this on my arm."

He rolled up his sleeve to show his forearm. Cringe time.

Because he had the exact same blue A I had on mine.

"I don't know what's happening here." Gabe rolled his sleeve down. "I might pack up and go hide at my grandmother's."

The screen went black again. Penny shot me a look. It wasn't an everything's going to be okay look, either. I tried to swallow, but my throat had turned into a desert. One video left. The Saga of Gabe Cruz, Part Five.

The bell rang into the room and the sounds of everyone packing up surrounded us. I let out a breath. So much for that. I took the CD out in frustration and put it back in its orange case. I wanted to hit myself for not watching the last entry first. Now we'd have to wait until after school to watch it.

The electric pulses came screaming back into my arms.

I froze and gripped the table. Heat gathered in both of my hands as my heart started to pound. Something was way off here. This wasn't right.

"Rita?" Penny's voice sounded a trillion miles away.

I took a deep breath and let it out, and slowly the pulses died. That was the third time this week that happened. If it didn't clear up soon, I'd have to break down and tell my mom to take me back to the doctor. "I'm fine. Just had a head rush."

I couldn't get my latest episode out of my head as I made my way to my next class. Yeah, the doctor would want to do all kinds of scary tests on me, if I even made it long enough to make an appointment. Or maybe I should run away so A. Gist couldn't find me, and worry about my weird episodes later. The thought nagged me as I weaved around people in the hall, smacking into a few on the way. The Shadow Ones knew where I lived. I could take Gabe's cue and hide out somewhere. It would kill my parents, but I could always call them and let them know I was okay.

But had it done Gabe any good? I wouldn't know until I saw that last entry.

Dan stood right in the doorway to Language Arts. I almost ran right into him.

"Did you look at it?" he asked before I could apologize.

Oh. He meant the disc. Since he hung out with Sean all the time, he'd know about it.

"We got through four video entries in computers. We didn't get to see the fifth one or the other file. Ran out of time. What's on the last one?"

"Look at them as soon as you can. I'd go to the library during lunch." Dan went to his desk, slapped his book down, and sat as if he didn't want to get caught talking to me. Which, with everything going on, he probably didn't.

"Good idea. Didn't think of that. You can just go in there and use the computers? And you didn't tell me what the last video is."

"I think you can. I'd try," he said from the corner of his mouth, nose almost touching his book. Conversation over.

Since Dan refused to talk to me (and the teacher's lecture prevented that anyway) I ran over everything that happened yesterday in my mind. Even the bad parts, which was, well, all of it. Nothing new came to me, so in my next hour, World Issues, I put my head down to think some more. Mr. Langspur was one of those laid back, obsessed-with-sports teachers who told us to read the first section of our books, so that left me plenty of quiet time.

Slowly I replayed the last twenty-four hours in her mind, detail by horrible detail. Me passing out. The vision. A. Gist standing there across from my house, as if he'd expected me to show up there. But how did he get my address? He couldn't have come near me in school. He couldn't blend in with high school kids. Heck, he couldn't blend in with a crowd of adults with an outfit like that. No way could he stroll down the hall, into class, or into the cafeteria.

There it hit me.

I sat bolt upright in my chair, swallowing. Man, I felt stupid. Why hadn't I realized?

I ran to the cafeteria when the bell rang, plowing through a group of girls who yelled names after me on the way. But I didn't care. I had to tell Penny and Ryan about this before we took any more damage. The narrow brick hall of the lunch lines was still pretty empty, so I stood there tapping my feet and wringing my hands as I waited for my friends. After two agonizing minutes, they rounded the corner.

"We need to talk right now. Get your lunch and sit where there aren't a lot of people," I said. "Actually, skip lunch, because you're about to lose your appetites."

Penny let her backpack dangle from her hand. "What is it?"

"Let's sit down," I said.

We skipped the lines and rushed over to the far corner of the cafeteria, to a table near a huge window. I took a deep breath and eased myself onto the stool.

"Okay," Ryan asked, setting his art poster up on the table. "What happened?"

"Nothing, really," I said. "I was just going over everything in Mr. Langspur's class. It just suddenly hit me."

"Is it about Gabe Cruz?" Penny leaned across the table.

"Worse," I whispered. "It's Josh and Kristina. They're the ones working for A. Gist, not Mr. Gorfel."

### Chapter Ten

"What?" Ryan exploded. "Those idiots?"

"Think about it," I said. My stomach protested at the thought of them. "They took my schedule yesterday. Ryan, what do our schedule sheets have on them?"

He squinted at me. "Our classes?"

Penny slapped her hand down on the table. "Our student info. It's at the top." She dug through her backpack and gutted all her books out in search of her sheet. "Let me see. Here." The schedule sheet appeared in her hand, folded in a neat square. After smoothing it out, she slapped the table again and pointed down at it. "These have our addresses on them."

"Hide that," Ryan said, swallowing.

Penny shredded her schedule into thirds, then sixths, then into whatever comes after that. Soon confetti covered her section of table. "You should shred yours too, Ryan."

He dug out his schedule and tore it in pieces in record time.

"That's why Josh and Kristina were on my case yesterday. I had this out, looking at it." Wow, I wanted to bury myself. "They waited for the right time to come grab it, so that's why they came over here." Bile rose in my throat as I remembered Kristina taking my schedule. "Then she gave it to the shadow people."

"Wait, Rita. We can't be sure they're working for the Shadow Regime," Penny said.

"Then how do you explain all the new stuff they've got? Those bikes? Those blue and silver bikes? And the cell phones? They got those this morning. Right after A. Gist found me."

"So they're getting rewards for selling us out?" Ryan asked, hugging himself. "Yikes."

Penny opened her mouth to say something, but I cut her off.

"And my mom told me Jerry hung that sign up after having problems with a couple of kids. Remember that? Three guesses as to who those people were. I bet they got rewarded with the bikes for that one."

"Are you sure it's not still Mr. Gorfel?" Penny asked. "He still could've had something to do with it."

"He's not the one who stalked me to get my schedule sheet," I said. "I hope I'm wrong about all this, by the way."

Ryan shrugged and leaned back. "One problem. W...why would the Shadow Regime hire teenagers to work for them? I thought they were waging war on us?"

He had a point. But so did I. "Josh and Kristina are the reason things like Jerry's sign happen. Well, some of it. People like them are the reason people like us get pushed down. Why wouldn't the Shadow Regime want to use them as a weapon?" I'm not sure how I thought of that one. It was weird. I just kind of...knew.

Penny made her humph sound. I think she was jealous that she hadn't thought of this first. "Okay. You've made your case. I think you may be right. It just irks me. Not you, Rita, I mean." She cleared her throat. "Josh and Kristina don't care that they got all of us punished. They never do. They're only for themselves."

"They always are." If I had a tray in front of me, I would've stabbed it until my fork went through to the table. I'd never, ever hated Josh and Kristina more. They brought suffering to most of the school before, but now this? Now they made a career of putting their classmates in mortal danger? Even the time Kristina had dumped an entire bottle of barbeque sauce in my backpack when I dared to stand up for Penny sounded like a trifle now. So did all the times Josh tried to shove Ryan in a locker and I had to stop him.

No one said a word. I think we were all taking it in, wondering if it was really possible. I knew they hated me, for pretty obvious reasons. Josh and Kristina sat on the other side of the room, fiddling with their phones again. The A on my forearm burned a little, but I ignored it. So those phones had been the price put on my head.

Penny's jaw started to quiver, which hadn't happened in my memory. Usually I was the one who got mad. "This is just so wrong. We can't control their behavior but we get punished for it. Mr. Gorfel can take his 'collective responsibility' lecture and shove it right up his—"

She went dead silent like an invisible hand had crept up and started choking her. Her eyes grew wider and wider as she peered over my shoulder.

Ryan's jaw dropped. "Uh..."

Both of them stared past me and at the window.

"What?" My voice sounded weak to my own ears as a prickle ran over my skin. "There's something behind me, isn't there?"

No answer. Translation: yes.

I gulped and twisted around on the stool.

Standing on the other side of the window was a figure I'd seen in the Kool Spot the day I learned about the Shadow Regime. A square face grinned at me from under a head of gray and blue hair. His metallic blue armor vest shined in the bright sunlight.

The Shadow One smiled wider, raised one hand, and waved.

* * * * *

Five seconds.

That's how long it took us to run to the other side of the cafeteria.

Laughter broke out from a couple of nearby tables as I flattened myself against the wall. Hey, even I wasn't going to stick around over there. Penny and Ryan joined me. Ryan turned the color of paste again while Penny clutched his arm.

The window. The Shadow One. I turned my gaze towards it, expecting to see him smiling back.

Guess what? Nobody was there now. Only a bird flew past the window. I let out a slow breath and begged my heart to slow down. The Shadow One must've run off before anyone else could see him. Figured. Now we could look like idiots for running across the room as if we had hornets in our pants.

"If you want to practice for the marathon, the track is out by the football field!" A lunch lady wheeled a trash can down an aisle, scowling at us. More laughter broke out from a table of older girls nearby.

"But—" I sputtered, pointing to the window.

The lunch lady shook her head. "No running. Any more misbehavior and you get trash duty."

The lunch lady made her way down another row. The snickering died down and left a bunch of chatter in its place. Our sentence of shame had passed.

"Oh..." Ryan moaned, leaning against the trophy case. "Oh..."

Penny seized his arm. "Look!"

Josh and Kristina sat way on the other side of the room, far away from the window. Kristina laughed so hard that tears rimmed her eyes. Josh pounded his fist on the table. Their cell phones bounced from the force of his pounding. They knew what happened. They knew the Shadow Regime guy had been the one standing outside the window, even though they were nowhere near it. The sight of them made me want to puke.

I shook Ryan out of his daze. "Let's get out of here. Don't say anything until we're out in the hall."

My legs felt like gelatin as we climbed the stairs to the quiet hall. I plopped down on some benches near the school seal. Probably the senior benches, but I didn't care. Compared to Shadow Ones, territorial eighteen-year-olds weren't that scary.

Penny and Ryan sat down next to me and dropped their backpacks on the seal. The silence grew stronger and stronger until it became unbearable. Finally, Ryan choked out, "Was...was that real?"

"No," Penny said, her voice unnaturally shrill. "We just ran the fastest we've ever run in front of the entire cafeteria because we felt like it. That was—"

"Shhh!" I peeked over my shoulder at the hall behind us. Only a janitor swept up some papers at the corner. "What if the traitors come out here and listen in?"

"Good point." Penny cringed. "Let's get to the library. That's one place you'll never find Josh and Kristina. And besides, we need to check out that disc."

"Good idea." Ryan stood. "But what if that freak gets into the school?"

"I doubt he'll try. He'd stick out in a uniform like that," I said. "This is getting bad. They're not bothering to look like shadows anymore. They don't care if we know about them. And that means..." I'm almost finished. I'm facing Procedure Number Twenty-Eight. I struggled to form the words, but they wouldn't come.

Ryan looked over his shoulder. "M...maybe he was just trying to scare us. It worked, all right."

"Yeah right, Ryan." My voice cracked for once. I was losing it. I couldn't keep up my brave face much longer, but I knew I had to. Nobody else was going to help us or tell us what to do. Jerry couldn't. My parents wouldn't even believe me about all this.

We had to find out what happened to Gabe Cruz more than ever. "They're just getting warmed up."

I scanned as much of the library as possible before sliding through its double doors. One curly-haired librarian went through a stack of new books at the front desk. She didn't have armor or blue hair, I'm happy to say. Nobody sat at any of the tables or worked at the computers in the middle of the room. I almost started digging in my backpack for the disc, but stopped myself. Sean didn't want any strangers to see it.

The librarian smiled at us. "Hello. I wasn't expecting any students until next week."

"So no one's in here?" Penny asked. Her words echoed with relief.

"No one," the woman told her. "I did have a young man come in here earlier, but that's it."

I breathed a big sigh of relief. Maybe the Shadow Regime guy had gone back to his own world through a portal. The farther away, the better. Now we could focus on watching the last part of the Gabe Cruz saga. "Is it okay to use the computers?"

"It is," she said, "when they're working. All of them went down this morning around third hour or so. They were all on and suddenly went to this blue error screen. I tried restarting them, but I got that error again and just shut them down."

I dropped my backpack. Yeah, I was really losing it now. "What? They all got the Blue Screen of Death?"

The librarian shook her head. "It looks like the network got hit by a virus again. Every year someone thinks it's funny to do this. I hope they'll be back up by next week. I've got Mr. Harvey on it."

Without another word, I skulked over to a table and sat. No way I was going back to the cafeteria so that Shadow One could stare at me some more.

Penny shot me a wide-eyed glance. "Someone crashed the computers on purpose. Josh and Kristina must have told the shadow people about the disc, so now they don't want us to see that entry."

"That guy in the window probably did it," Ryan strangled a paper clip. "Let's sit somewhere else tomorrow. Away from a window."

"Oh, no!" Penny shot out of her chair.

I gulped. "What now?"

Penny's eyes grew rounder than usual. She flattened her hands on the table and stared at us like we'd grown horns. "Josh and Kristina," she said. "They're going to tell the Shadow Regime you two have detention in Mr. Gorfel's class tomorrow."

* * * * *

A sense of dull panic descended on me by the end of lunch. Okay, maybe it wasn't so dull. It was more like a my life's over type of panic. A million things spun through my mind. The experience in the cafeteria. Josh and Kristina. Gabe Cruz. Detention. The fact that I couldn't see the video entry. And I still didn't know what this stupid A meant on my arm.

"Do you really think the losers tipped off the Shadow Regime that we've got detention tomorrow?" Ryan asked me in Algebra class. "Mr. Gorfel made sure the entire class knew we got detention. He waved those pink slips in the air."

"I just hope they haven't yet," I told him. "They got those new phones, though. Hopefully they haven't got a minute to use them."

"Good point," Ryan said. "We can only pray school never gave them the chance to make a call, or that cell phone signals can't go to other dimensions."

My throat felt a little less dry. Maybe Josh and Kristina hadn't called their friends. Phone signals probably didn't make it to other universes. But still, we had to try something.

"They will, though, if they haven't already," I said. "They'll probably get some CD's for it or something."

"Or a few movies," Ryan added.

Another brilliant idea popped into my mind. Okay, maybe it wasn't so brilliant, but it was our only shot. "Unless," I said, "we make sure they don't."

"How? They're both bigger than us. I remember the time Josh tried to shove me in a locker in middle school. He didn't succeed only because I couldn't fit!"

It was really because I'd distracted him, but I didn't remind him of that. He'd just get ticked off. "We could follow them after school and distract them," I suggested. "If they know they're being followed, they might not meet with the Shadow Ones."

"Yeah right. If they know they're being followed they'll just lead us to those freaks and tell them to come after us."

"Good point. Maybe we could let the air out of their bike tires before they leave school."

"Or steal them and throw them somewhere where they can't get to them," Ryan said. He smiled for the first time that day. "It would be a great twist if we threw them inside the Kool Spot."

I snickered. "Yeah, that would be funny. The thing is, A. Gist could just go in there and get them out for them." Then the snicker died in my throat. I really didn't like the thought of stealing anything. Toilet papering the Kool Spot was one thing, but committing a crime was another. It just wasn't me. The last thing I'd stolen was a carton of milk in kindergarten, and that was only because some kid had told me they were free. But my life depended on this, and I didn't see much of a choice. If Josh and Kristina met with the Shadow Regime, they'd tell them about the detention, and those freaks would have the perfect opportunity to come after us. A big empty school with just us in it was probably what they wanted.

Ryan frowned. I could tell he didn't like the idea, either. "Yeah. The bikes are probably the best way to go. We have to try something."

I told Penny our plan in Acting. "I think I have a way to keep Josh and Kristina from telling their friends we have detention." I studied all the desks around us to make sure nobody heard us. "We need to steal their bikes as soon as the bell rings. They'll be distracted and hopefully they'll be searching for whoever did it instead of meeting with their friends."

Penny fell silent for several tense seconds. She screwed up her face in thought. "Do you know what?" she asked. "Sometimes I get really tired of following the rules all the time. It's not like it ever earns me any freedom. And besides, this is to help my friends."

I barely stopped myself from jumping out of my chair. Penny? Rebel against her dad and agree to steal something? That was like a holiday break where a teacher didn't give us a project to do, or a weekend where it didn't rain. In other words: it didn't happen. Had I rubbed off on her over the years?

"I know. I can't believe I'm agreeing to this," she said, letting her forehead fall into her hand. "I guess this whole situation is doing something to me."

"You don't have detention, though," Ryan reminded her.

Penny lowered her hand from her face. "I know, but I am not walking home by myself tomorrow. They've seen me, too. I can't call my mom to pick me up because she'll be at work. I'm going to wait for you guys to get out of detention. You need all the people around you that you can get."

"Thanks," I said. I'd have to thank her a lot more later. Her dad would have her head for being late home tomorrow.

"I can't believe we have this much to worry about already," Ryan added, hugging himself. "This has been the worst week ever, and it's only Thursday."

### Chapter Eleven

I about died when the bell rang. We didn't have much time to pull this off. The three of us bolted out into the hall as people started pouring out of classrooms. I wanted to turn around and run, but I couldn't. I had to do this, because nobody else was going to.

"If they're unlocked, we take the bikes and run," I said. "We can always ride them if we have to."

"There's three of us," Penny said, running alongside me.

I sighed. "Great. We might have to put someone on the handlebars." I wasn't thrilled about the idea, but it beat letting Josh and Kristina tell the Shadow Regime about detention.

"Do you know where the bikes are?" Ryan puffed out, nearly colliding with half the football team.

"Main entrance," I said.

We thundered down the stairwell and burst into the Social Studies wing. For one sickening moment I saw Josh heading in the opposite direction, and I swore he gave us an evil grin as he passed. Not his usual nose-flaring at all.

"Come on!" Ryan pushed his way down the hall, cutting in front of me.

I shoved against a tide of students as fast as I could. Angry yells surrounded me, but I didn't care that I was now officially the rudest person in the school.

Sunlight glared down on us as we burst out the front doors. Sweat started to soak the back of my black shirt as I checked the row of buses for Josh and Kristina. All clear. Now for the bike racks. Josh and Kristina rode their bikes to school every day, since the buses kicked them both off permanently in the seventh grade. Now I had to remember where they'd parked them.

Penny raised her arm and pointed. "There!"

The silver bikes sat in the middle of the bike rack, shining in the sun. I ran for them, my friends right on my heels. As I got closer, I made out something I hadn't noticed before. Both of the bikes had a curly blue A on the frames, matching the one on my wrist exactly. It sure didn't stand for Assenmacher.

Well, it proved my point. At least I knew I was targeting the right people this time. Any reservations I had about doing this blew away. I wanted to chuck both those bikes down a ravine.

"Are they locked?" Ryan asked from behind.

I hunted all over. Josh and Kristina hadn't bothered to lock them up at all. The bikes sat there, no chains around them. I knew why. No one ever got up the bravery to take them, and they knew it. "No."

Ryan sure didn't sound calmer. "Let's just take them and run!"

He was right. Josh and Kristina would come out of the school any minute. Penny took one bike, Ryan the other. I guess that left me the one to ride on the handlebars.

"You're stealing Josh and Kristina's bikes?" someone asked behind us.

I whirled around. Gerald Salinger stood there with an obnoxious grin on his fat face. My heart leapt into my throat. He was one of the jerks always bothering Penny in middle school. I'd even had to punch him one time when he squirted pop on her shirt. But it wasn't the fact that it was him standing there. It was the fact that he sometimes hung out with Josh and Kristina.

"This is none of your business," Penny snarled at him.

"Do you know what they're going to do to you?" Gerald asked, his grin growing wider. "I wouldn't steal their bikes if it was a life or death situation, man."

"This is a life or death situation!" I yelled. I couldn't help it. I was losing my cool. "Just leave us alone."

"Now how do we do this with three people?" Ryan asked, his voice getting higher and higher. He seemed to know what I knew. Gerald would rat us out for sure.

"Can I get to my bike?" Gerald asked, still grinning.

I followed his gaze to the most pathetic bike on the rack. Most of the purple paint had chipped off, rust covered the gears, and the seat had a bunch of huge rips on it. And it was way too small for anyone over the age of ten. But I didn't feel like laughing at it now: it was the only other bike on the rack that wasn't locked.

"Josh!" Gerald bellowed behind us.

Oh, no.

Josh and Kristina stood outside the main entrance. Their eyes got bigger and bigger as they stared at us. Kristina's jaw dropped and Josh trembled like a volcano ready to blow.

In other words, time to go. I wasn't even going to mess with this.

"Now!" Ryan hopped onto one of the silver and blue bikes. Penny did the same while I yanked out Gerald's third grade bike. I swung my legs over it and flailed for the pedals.

"What are you doing?" Gerald yelled. Yeah, he finally caught on.

We pedaled over the grass and for the sidewalk, dodging people. Swearing erupted behind us as Josh and Kristina gave chase.

"Go!" Penny yelled, as if I needed convincing.

We rode alongside the line of buses and burst out of the parking lot. The swearing and footfalls faded behind us. Man, that hadn't gone well at all.

Penny and Ryan rode smoothly in front of me, while Gerald's old bike kept making funny noises. Mostly clunks. I didn't dare peek behind me until we got way down the next street. Josh, Kristina, and Gerald stood at the corner, gasping for breath. Josh snarled something at Gerald and shoved him down onto the grass.

Nice friend.

"This way," Penny breathed, waving us around another corner and towards an empty house. Her voice shook. "Let's hide until we know what they're going to do.

"Well, they know we took the bikes now, obviously," I said, dismounting Gerald's bike and following her around the side of the house. "At least we have them distracted. They'll probably spend all afternoon hunting us down instead of going to meet the Shadow Regime." Well, I hoped.

"H...how do you know they won't go right to A. Gist?" Ryan wondered out loud, setting the bike against the house. "They might go whine to him that we took the bikes."

Penny looked into the air for a moment. "We'll know in a minute. They have to come this way to leave the school. It's the only road out of here."

She was right. They'd have to go someplace private to meet with A. Gist, since he couldn't stroll onto the school grounds with everyone hanging around, doing after-school stuff.

Penny sighed. "I can't believe we did this. I didn't know they'd leave that fast."

"Yeah. N...now we're dead no matter what," Ryan said. He faced me. "Want to trade? I'd rather not ride something the Shadow Regime made."

I opened my mouth to tell him no thanks, but a sound met my ears. Footsteps. "I think they're coming."

Grumbling laced with profanity grew closer and closer. Yeah, it was them. I ducked behind a bush and strained to listen.

"Where did they go?" Kristina asked, only with some pretty bad words thrown in.

"I don't care if they went into their houses," Josh growled. "I'll break down their doors and go after them."

"Yeah, I hope you know where they live," Gerald grumbled. "They took my bike too, you know."

"I don't care about your bike!" Josh roared at him. "They only took it because they needed to get away. You couldn't pay someone to steal it."

I almost felt bad for Gerald for a minute. Almost.

Gerald sighed as loud as he could. The three pairs of footsteps stopped. They must've stopped right there on the sidewalk. I just prayed they didn't sneak back here to have a smoke.

Kristina's voice rose. "You should've stopped them while you were standing there."

"I couldn't," Gerald argued. "There were three of them."

Josh's temper finally broke. "Get out of here!" He called Gerald something pretty bad. I'll let your imagination fill in the blank. Then I heard a thud. Josh had punched him on top of it.

"Fine!" Gerald yelled. "I'll look for them myself!"

Footfalls scraped against the concrete as Gerald stomped off. He'd never try to fight Josh.

Josh called more insults after him. Then, after a minute, Kristina sighed in relief. "There. We got rid of him," she said.

Penny tensed next to me and parted the bush a bit. Here it came. The moment of truth.

"Now what?" Josh asked. "Do we look for those idiots first or get the Regime? We still have to tell them."

My stomach untied a little. So they hadn't met with the Shadow Regime yet. We still had a chance of making sure A. Gist didn't know about the detention.

"Maybe we should go tell him first," Kristina said. "He'll get those bikes back for us. Or have new ones made. He said not to do anything to them yet. Remember?"

"Yeah. And we get something big for the assignment tomorrow," Josh said with relish. "I hope it's killing them."

A long, horrible silence followed. My arms grew cold. Whatever Procedure Number Twenty-Eight was, it was going to make the two of them happy.

"What time is it, anyway?" Josh asked. "We have to be there at three-thirty or he's leaving. He never hangs around if we're late."

"Two forty-five." Kristina swore—big surprise. "Now how do we get there without our bikes?"

Ryan gave me a thumbs-up, smiling. We only had to make sure Josh and Kristina couldn't get to their destination by three-thirty. Then all I'd have to worry about at detention were my parents. Oh yeah, and them.

Josh's footfalls started to fade. They'd started to run.

I looked at my friends. Some color returned to Ryan's face and Penny was getting back on the bike. Time to go.

"It sounds like A. Gist is somewhere kind of far from here," Penny said. "That's even better. It gives us more time. Let's go."

I got back onto Gerald's small bike and slowly pedaled out of the yard, Penny and Ryan right behind me. We had to follow close enough to see Josh and Kristina, but we had to stay far enough back to escape if we had to. And I had a feeling we might have to.

All the buses pulled out of the high school, rumbling past us as we rode out from behind the empty house. Josh and Kristina ran up towards Dobbs Street about as fast as they could. It would've looked funny under other circumstances.

A bus turned left, and I lost view of them for one scary moment. But the bus cleared the corner, and Josh and Kristina ran past the Kool Spot without a glance. I grit my teeth and pedaled harder, thinking of Jerry in there. I wondered if those two had anything to do with him getting blackmailed. Probably. The fact made me hate them even more.

"Ride slow. They can't run very fast," Penny said.

"I hope they trip and land on something sharp," Ryan said, bitter. "Then that would solve both our problems."

"Well, they won't," I said. "We have to do something to keep them from getting to wherever they're going." Unfortunately, I couldn't think of anything that didn't put us in mortal danger.

"It's got to be at least a mile away," Penny said. "They said they might not make it without the bikes, and they have forty minutes left. That means it might even be out of town."

I groaned. "I don't like the thought of following them out into the middle of nowhere."

Ahead, Josh and Kristina sprinted around a corner. They were headed for the other side of town, the side I rarely ever strayed into.

"They're heading for the rich neighborhood," Ryan said, raising his hand to block the sun from his eyes. "You know—that one with the perfect lawns and the swimming pools."

"I think that's where Josh lives," I said. "Maybe they're meeting A. Gist at his house." Especially if his parents weren't home. I had a feeling they weren't too often.

Penny spoke up. "I doubt it. That's too close for them to be running like that."

I swallowed. She was right. Again. Why couldn't I think like that? "Well, we'll need to stop them before we end up out of town."

Josh and Kristina slowed down ahead of us. They were running out of steam. I forced Gerald's bike to reduce speed without making any noise—no easy feat. So far, they hadn't spotted us, but it wouldn't take long.

The houses got bigger around us and the yards neater. The cars got newer and shinier. The minutes flew by. My mind worked feverishly, trying to think of some way to stop them. I even thought about calling the cops, but what would we tell them? We were the ones who stole the bikes. Josh and Kristina hadn't done anything wrong—yet.

Ahead, a field stretched out past the last of the houses. We were almost out of town. Almost out to where no one else was around. My stomach tied in a knot, for obvious reasons.

"It's been t...ten minutes," Ryan said. "We need to think of something fast."

"Maybe we can throw something at them," I suggested. That meant not actually going near them. "We just have to make them late to wherever they're going."

Josh and Kristina started to run again. They were desperate. I pedaled Gerald's bike faster to keep pace, scanning the ground for rocks. The rich neighborhood was way too neat to have even one. All the lawns looked the same. I didn't even see a bed of those decorative rocks some people have out in their yards. "There has to be something we can throw."

"Maybe we can yell at them," Penny said. "Rocks might just make them run faster, anyway."

Good point. That's what I would've done if someone threw something at me.

Okay. Here went.

"Hey!" I screamed at the top of her lungs.

Josh and Kristina both jumped and whirled around. I stopped Gerald's bike with an awful grinding sound as they stared us down. Kristina screamed something at us, trembling with rage. I couldn't make it out, but I didn't think I wanted to.

"It's working," Penny said, stopping next to me.

"Who were you going to meet, anyway?" I yelled at them.

I don't think she heard me, but Kristina screamed something else, waving a nasty hand gesture in the air.

"We should try to get them to chase us," Ryan suggested, catching his breath. Sweat rolled down his face. I could tell he didn't care for the idea.

"They won't," Penny said. "They know they can't catch us on foot."

Josh tugged Kristina's arm, and the two of them turned and ran away from us again.

I scrambled to pedal the bike forward. "Great! Since when do they run from a fight? A. Gist must've really promised them something good this time."

Pavement crawled past under me as I rode between Penny and Ryan. The huge brick houses got farther and farther apart and a bunch of empty fields and woods got closer. Sweat soaked the back of my shirt under the hot sun. This was it. We had to do something, and now.

Penny cut into the tense silence. "We might need to do something desperate. We might have to get in front of them and cut them off."

"That's nuts," Ryan said. He glanced at me with wide eyes.

"Like stealing these bikes wasn't nuts?" I asked. My hands almost slipped off the handlebars, I was sweating so much. "We have to."

Penny drew in a long breath. "They're not going to stop otherwise."

"Let's go." Gerald's bike clunked as I pedaled with all my might past the final house. Trees and ditches surrounded us on both sides. Bad news.

Josh and Kristina jogged faster now, towards a big patch of woods a couple of fields away. Their meeting place, probably. Penny and Ryan shot ahead of me and whizzed towards them. I struggled to keep up on Gerald's bike, passing a dirt path that cut into the trees. I hunted the area for people, but only saw a van rolling up the road about a mile away. Not good enough for me.

"I don't like this." Ryan slowed down and let me catch up. "This is the middle of nowhere out here."

"Faster. Last chance." I pedaled ahead of Penny and Ryan.

Josh and Kristina slowed down to a walk and stopped, panting so hard that their chests heaved up and down. I pulled up in front of them, Penny and Ryan joining me.

Kristina's eyes grew wide like an alien spaceship had just landed in front of her. "What are you following us for?" Kristina rasped, open-mouthed.

My temples throbbed. The A on my forearm burned again, like someone had struck a match across it. I ignored it. Here stood the two people who were partly at fault for everything that had happened. I wanted to hurl myself at Kristina, but stopped myself. It was time for my big mouth to come into play. "I know what you're doing. I know how you got those bikes. And the cell phones."

"That's not any of your business!" Josh roared, hoarse. Sweat rolled down his face and his nose flared dangerously.

I expected them to charge at any moment, and kept my feet on the pedals of Gerald's bike. Penny trembled and Ryan stayed as far as he could from the two of them. He was about to fall in the ditch.

"We just have friends," Josh continued. "Friends that are going to make sure you don't live to see Saturday."

I couldn't stop my big mouth. "You don't have any friends. Maybe because you shove them around and treat them like crap."

"I'm not talking those friends!" Josh roared again.

Kristina's gaze flickered up the road, and back to me. She stared hard at me and smiled savagely. The van coming up the road—the blue van—loomed larger and larger, and all at once I understood.

"You see that van coming up the road?" she growled. "That's our friends. Say goodbye, Rita."

### Chapter Twelve

I squinted. Josh and Kristina weren't lying. The blue van rolled slowly towards us. Painted on the hood of the van was a brilliant silver A with a curly tail. Dead giveaway.

The Shadow Regime was coming to meet Josh and Kristina. And now, us.

The two of them jumped up and down, waving their arms at the van and pointing at the three of us. At the same time, the A on my arm burned worse until I felt ready to cry out from the pain.

"It's them!"

"Over here!"

"Now!"

"They stole our bikes!"

"Run them over!"

The blue van sped up. Crap. We were spotted. My legs turned into jelly. There was only one thing to do.

"Run, guys!" I yelled, whipping the bike around.

Penny and Ryan did the same and sped back up the road. I followed, urging Gerald's bike to pick up speed. It felt like one of those nightmares where you couldn't run very fast.

Wind snapped against my face. The van's engine grew louder behind us. Josh and Kristina still jumped up and down on the side of the road as the blue van blazed right past them. I searched for an escape, any escape. Open fields surrounded us on both sides and the houses were too far off to reach in time. We had nowhere to hide.

Except for that dirt path that went into the woods.

"This way!" I yelled once we reached the trees.

Gerald's bike clinked and clunked as I maneuvered it down the path. Maybe this led to the dirt bike trails the rich guys at school talked about. We could lose the van in there.

Ryan dodged a tree branch. "Where we going?"

My knuckles turned white around the handlebars. "Don't know!" I really, really prayed this didn't go to a dead end.

But it did lead to a bunch of mud puddles. A huge one loomed ahead of me. I plowed through it, splashing myself with a gallon of water.

Ryan's voice rang through the air. "Here he comes!"

Gravel crunched behind us. That meant one thing. The van found the trail.

Penny yelled over the growl of the engine. "There's another trail up here! Turn right!"

We sped down a smaller, muddier trail. Maybe the van wouldn't fit. It just might get stuck and we'd be home free. I weaved the bike around another huge puddle and ducked to avoid a cluster of hanging branches. Getting knocked off now would be fatal.

The engine rumbled louder behind us. I stole a glance back. The blue van turned onto our trail and fought its way forward like a hungry dinosaur. Branches cracked and bushes bent forward in front of it.

"No!" I fought down terror as I pumped my legs harder. Adrenaline rushed through me. My throat burned and my sides begged me to stop, which was not going to happen. Trees stung my face. Mud grabbed at my tires, slowing me down. Bugs swirled into my eyes. The engine roared louder and louder behind me. In seconds its wheels would crush me under them, and A. Gist wouldn't have to worry about me anymore.

Water splashed up from Ryan's tires, nailing me head on. I looked for an escape, but thick bushes closed in around us. My legs protested, but I couldn't stop.

"Look!" Ryan yelled.

The trail curved up ahead into three-foot-tall hill. A dirt bike ramp. If we got over that, the van might get stuck on it. It might work. It would have to work.

"Over that!" I cried out.

The engine rumbled so loud behind me now that I could almost feel the ground shaking. The hill loomed taller and narrower ahead of me. I wasn't sure I could even get over on this bike.

Penny glanced at us, hair flying. "Dump the bikes on the hill and he'll hit them!"

Desperate? Yes. But I couldn't think of anything else. Gerald's bike might not make it over that hill. Dumping them would have to work.

The van honked again, and a cocky voice boomed out of a speaker somewhere. "Rita Morse! Penny Hart! Ryan Sullivan! Stop the bikes. You are to be subjected to Procedure Number Twenty-Eight!"

I leaned forward and gave it all I had. "Go!"

Hitting the dirt hill jolted my whole body. The bike lost speed, and I started to roll backwards. Crap. Ryan dumped the bike and crawled over the hill. Penny's legs freed themselves from her bike and she toppled over as well. The van's engine growled in my ears.

I threw myself to the side, flying off Gerald's bike. Dirt slipped through my fingers as I pulled myself up and fell over the other side of the hill, landing in a mud puddle.

A second later, I heard a loud, metallic crunch.

The blue van had stopped halfway up the dirt bike ramp. Josh, Kristina's, and Gerald's bikes lay tangled under the van's spinning tires. Tendrils of smoke rose angrily from them as the van's tires spun. A pop sound followed with the hiss of a tire going flat.

This would've been very funny in any other situation.

"Let's go." Penny tugged on my arm. Ryan stood next to her, frozen.

I couldn't move or tear my gaze off the figure behind the van's windshield. A. Gist looked the same as he did that day in the Kool Spot. Only madder. Red hair stuck out everywhere under his hat. His jaw quivered and his eyes bulged like they were about to pop out of his head.

Ryan shook his head and backed away. "Oh my god!"

A. Gist reached over and shoved open the driver side door. An arm sleeved in dark blue came out, which somehow made it all real to me. The Ruler of Ageism was about to kill us.

My legs finally moved as I burst down the trail. "Into the woods!"

"You're some bold juvenile delinquents, aren't you?" A. Gist screeched.

His voice made the hairs on my neck stand on end, to put it mildly. Hey, I only stole the bike to save my life. I turned my head to see him standing next to the van, fists clenched in fury. He kicked the dirt with one of his jackboots and faced the van. "After them!"

The van's back doors opened. Several pairs of feet hit the dirt. I knew what was coming out. Ryan seemed to have heard it, too. He ducked into the woods ahead of me, and Penny followed. I leapt after them and found myself on yet another trail, a footpath this time.

Footfalls thudded behind us as underbrush crashed. My sides killed me, but I forced myself to run faster. Leaves whipped at my clothes, trying to slow me down. We had to find civilization. We had to find other people. The closest thing was the rich neighborhood. The Shadow Regime wouldn't kidnap us if other people could witness it. It was our only chance.

I forced the words from my burning throat as I slapped Ryan's shoulder. "We need to get to those houses as fast as we can!"

"There they are!" a woman called out behind us.

Uh, oh.

Farther down the trail, a circle of light shined through the trees. The trail ended up there. We'd either burst out into someone's yard or out into the field. I couldn't tell what.

"Bring them back here!" A. Gist screeched from somewhere behind us. "Break their legs if you have to!"

I pumped my legs faster. Nice guy.

The circle of light got wider. A quick glance behind me showed two blue-armored figures in pursuit: that guy from the window and the tall, dark woman from the Kool Spot. Both still wore the horrible armor. And the crashing through the woods around us told me they weren't the only Shadow Ones after us. The man scowled as he ran, and the woman kept looking behind her like A. Gist would break her neck if she didn't catch us. "Come back! We won't hurt you."

Ryan's voice had turned hoarse. "Yeah right. They just tried to run us over!"

"There it is," Penny choked out as underbrush crashed around her.

The path widened and dried out. My feet thudded against hard earth. A sunny patch of weeds waited at the end of the woods. Lying just beyond that was—

"The houses!" the man called out. "Don't let them get there!"

The circle of light grew closer and I saw something that made me want to cry out in joy: the back of a huge brick house. Somewhere ahead, two kids yelled at each other and a car motor revved down a street. We could make it. I thought of shouting to let everyone know we were in here, but my throat was too hoarse.

We burst out of the woods and ran across a stretch of tall grass. A row of huge houses loomed in front of us. Luckily they had no fences.

"We're not going to catch them!" a man called out behind us. "Back!"

That didn't make me slow down any. My legs came free of the weeds and I burst onto a neatly trimmed lawn. Underbrush cracked as the Shadow Regime ran back through the trees. I didn't stop until I reached a huge playhouse on the side of the yard. Penny and Ryan joined me, collapsing to the ground and gasping for air.

Bushes rustled at the end of the woods as our pursuers ran back through them. Thick leaves swallowed the glint of some armor. Goodbye, shadow freaks.

I heaved out a huge sigh and leaned against the playhouse. Penny and Ryan stood, chests rising up and down. Two yards away, a pair of older women sitting on a back porch pointed at us and stared. I didn't care. We were alive and we'd probably stopped Josh and Kristina from telling A. Gist about detention. With his flat tire, he wouldn't be too concerned about meeting with them. I hoped.

"Oh, my god." Ryan grasped a swing to hold himself steady. "I can't believe that!"

"That was not a good idea," Penny said. She made a choking sound. "He could have had us right there. He would've run us over if that hill hadn't been there."

"I didn't know that was going to happen," I said through my burning throat. If I did, I would've called off the whole thing and moved to another state instead. Now I'd put my friends in danger on top of everything else. My stomach rolled at the thought. So much for sleeping tonight. "I thought he was standing somewhere waiting for Josh and Kristina to meet him. I didn't know he'd have a van!"

Ryan stared into the woods. "Maybe we should get out of here. I'm never going in those woods again. And A. Gist might get mad and come after us himself."

"Yeah. Let's go," I said. The Shadow Ones were probably still in there, regrouping. I didn't like the thought of being this close to them, even if they couldn't come out of the trees.

Without another word, the three of us jogged out of the yard and towards the street. We walked down the perfect pavement towards town, too tired to run anymore. My muscles were going to be super sore tomorrow.

Ryan checked up and down the street. "We still have Josh and Kristina to worry about."

"Better them than A. Gist," Penny said.

I really, really hoped they were too tired to come after us now.

"Well, did we accomplish anything?" Penny asked no one in particular, picking at some mud splatters on the front of her shirt. Yeah, we got dirty.

"We did destroy Josh and Kristina's bikes and give A. Gist a flat tire at the same time," I said. "Hopefully we distracted everyone enough to save ourselves tomorrow."

"I hope he's still stuck there," Ryan said, bitter. "Maybe Josh and Kristina won't find him in time to tell him about the detention. We can only hope."

"He was mad," I said, kicking the mud off my shoes. "Even if Josh and Kristina find him they might not want to go near him. I know I wouldn't. Didn't you see the tantrum he was throwing?"

Ryan's eyes grew big. "I was too busy running for my life! I can imagine, though."

We rounded a corner and Penny spoke. "But didn't you hear Josh and Kristina talking before we followed them? They said A. Gist was going to give them something big for something he wanted them to help with tomorrow. I'm sure it's coming after us."

I groaned. "Great."

"I think we should all ride the bus tomorrow." Penny winced as she took a step, like she'd sprained her ankle. "There's lots of people on it. Rita, we still need to find you a place to hide out. Your parents probably won't be home the whole weekend."

"Good point," I said. If they so much left me alone to go grab a pizza, I was toast. They'd stay home tonight as they never did anything on weeknights, but the weekend was a different story.

If I made it that long.

* * * * *

I called home just to make sure my mom was there before we headed to my house. She was, entertaining a couple of her friends. Even better.

She sat at the kitchen table with Charlotte and Karin, eating a salad and talking about the latest diets. Not that she needed one. The three of them were in the middle of discussing how many calories salad dressing had when we got through the door, a muddy mess.

Total silence fell, and three pairs of gaze landed on us. My mom's jaw slowly dropped. Her gaze flicked down to the vacuum tracks on the white carpet and back up to us.

"How did you get so muddy?" My mom's shrill voice filled the house.

Charlotte and Karin both jumped in their chairs. Excuse time. And fast.

"We took a shortcut home from school and there was this muddy spot," I invented wildly. Well, that was the truth. "It didn't look bad and we stepped in it and slipped."

"Well, take a towel and get that mud off you!" she demanded, tossing me one of her new kitchen towels. "Don't track that on the floor. I just vacuumed. I've had a lot of stress today since I came home and found a virus on the computer."

I shot Penny and Ryan another look. They returned it. "Virus?"

"I opened an email that looked like something from Celebrity Buzz and the computer gave me this weird screen," my mom said, slapping her hand to her forehead. "It's there every time I turn it on. I can't get it to stop. And by the way, did you turn in your sign-up sheet to the Fashion Designers club yet?"

I gulped and ignored her question. "Don't tell me it was the Blue Screen of Death."

She nodded. "It was blue, all right. It had a bunch of gibberish on it, too. I'll have your dad look at it when he gets home, but he'll be late tonight. His work called a meeting."

I sighed, took the towel, and headed to the bathroom.

The three of us spent a good twenty minutes wiping the dried mud off ourselves. "Geez, your mom freaked out," Ryan said as he wiped the mud off his shirt.

"What was I supposed to tell her?" I said. "That we got muddy because we were being chased by beings from another dimension? And I'm not surprised the computer's broke. My mother couldn't resist opening that email the Shadow Regime must've sent her."

We finished wiping the mud off ourselves and headed into my room. I double checked that my window was locked. I pulled the curtains closed while I was at it.

"What about your computer?" I asked Penny.

"We can try that," she said. "It's slow, though. Let me call my parents to see if it's still working."

She whipped out her cell phone and made the call. I sat on my bed, dry-mouthed, waiting for the answer.

"Hi, Dad. I heard there's a virus going around and I was wondering if our computer's okay. Rita needs to do some homework on it because hers isn't working. Oh...really?" Her face fell. Uh, oh. "From the Morses' email address? That's weird. Okay, thanks." A pause. Here came the part where her dad chewed her out. Penny slumped a bit as his voice droned through the phone. "Yes, I know I'm late. I'm sorry. I'll be home in ten minutes." She hung up and heaved out a long breath. All her spirit of rebellion seemed to have vanished in that one phone call. "Apparently that virus your mom got sent itself to our email address after it hit your computer. It must be one of those ones that hits your whole email contact list. Whoever wrote this virus knew what they were doing. Our antivirus software didn't even block it."

I leaned back and let my head bang against the wall. "Must be the Shadow Ones have some techies in their ranks. Great. Now we have to wait until tomorrow."

### Chapter Thirteen

I shot up as soon as my alarm beeped the next morning. A wave of nausea hit me as soon as I did. Today was the day everything was going to happen. I knew it. And it didn't help matters that Josh and Kristina were ticked at me and I had to go to school with them. Even without the Shadow Regime, it was going to suck big time.

I scanned the room for intruders but found none, unless you counted a fly buzzing in my window. Just my drawings, my boxes of stuff, my stacks of CD's. And the clothes my mom tried to make me wear that I hated. A horrible pang seized my gut. I might not return home this afternoon, or ever. If I made it through today, I swore, I'd join the Fashion Designers without complaint, and even pretend to like it. I'd never argue with my parents again. Okay, maybe that was a stretch, but I'd try to get along with them better.

Rain pounded against the windows. I'd have a good excuse to wait inside for the bus. That worked for me, because I would've done that with perfect weather, too. My mom wouldn't leave for work for another half-hour, and it would definitely pick me up by then.

I heard my mom rinsing some dishes out in the kitchen, and the pang returned. By time I got dressed (in another long-sleeve shirt) and went out into the kitchen, she sat at the table, drinking a cup of coffee and trying to pin her hair up at the same time.

"Ahhh. It's finally Friday," she said with a smile. "I have half a day at work again today. Why don't we all go out to dinner tonight when your father gets home? Then we can go get a manicure together."

Manicure. The idea was alien, but if this was my last day, I might as well make my mom happy, even if it was only for a moment.

"Sure," I said. "That sounds great. I'll try it." Not my thing by a long shot, but I realized something weird just then. I wanted to go. I needed to survive the day and make it to that. My throat constricted, but I wouldn't cry. No way.

My mom sat up straighter. "Really?"

"Yes. Really."

She made a noise between wow and squee. It just made me feel worse. This was the first time I'd agreed to do anything girly with her that I could remember, and she could be in for major disappointment later.

"You'd better take the bus today," my mom said from behind her makeup mirror. "It's raining off and on this morning. The weather says it'll stop by noon, though."

"Trust me, I was planning on it."

Ten minutes later, I swung my backpack over my shoulder and ran across the wet sidewalk. The bus squeaked to a stop. A bunch of people sat on it already, shadows behind the tinted windows. Without bothering to look at the bus number, I ran on, shuffled past half-asleep students, and found an empty seat in the middle section. Then I squashed down as low as I could as the bus began to move again.

Do you blame me any?

I fidgeted and gulped every time we stopped and picked up more students, afraid A. Gist or someone in a horrible armor uniform would step up and take control of the bus. I didn't even know where we were until Penny came up the steps. She stopped cold in the aisle when she spotted me.

"You ride this bus?" Penny asked. She sounded very relieved. "I didn't know we had the same bus."

"We must," I said as she sat next to me. "We just didn't know because we never ride it."

"Did anything weird happen after me and Ryan left last night?"

"No. Nothing. Unless you count my dad banging his elbow on the table and swearing." And the fact that I'd agreed to go get a manicure.

"Oh, that's good. I called Ryan last night, and nothing happened to him either." She took a long look out the window. "That is, when my dad was done lecturing me for being late."

"I think today's going to be a different story. I wonder how Ryan's getting to school." I glanced outside at the pouring rain. He wouldn't walk, that was for sure.

The bus rumbled down Dobbs Street and past the Kool Spot. The blue sign still hung there, but that was the least of my concerns right now. I heaved out a huge sigh of relief when I spotted Jerry unlocking the front door. It was the first time I'd seen him in two weeks. I was relieved to say he didn't have any black eyes or broken limbs from torture. A. Gist didn't have a reason to interrogate him anymore, because he'd already found me. I fought the urge to roll the bus window down and yell at him.

"Check the bikes!" Penny leaned over me to peek out the window as the bus pulled up to the front of the school. "If Josh and Kristina's aren't there, they probably didn't meet with A. Gist yesterday."

My heart leapt into my throat as I searched the racks. Empty. Nobody rode their bikes to school in this weather except Josh and Kristina. "They're not there. You're right. If they'd met with A. Gist yesterday they'd probably have them repaired and back now." I knew they couldn't have ridden the bus. They weren't allowed on any of them.

Penny pointed out the window. "There they go now."

Josh and Kristina sulked into the main entrance, completely drenched. They'd walked to school. Kristina's hair stuck to the back of her red-and-black striped shirt, and the entire bottom half of Josh's name-brand jeans were soaked with muddy water. He couldn't be too happy about that.

"Now we just have to totally avoid them," I said. "You know they won't forget yesterday for the rest of their lives."

I followed Penny off the bus and checked to make sure Josh and Kristina weren't waiting inside the front entrance. They weren't. The two of them seemed to have stalked off somewhere.

"Penny! Rita!"

Ryan walked out of the office, grimacing. "Josh and Kristina went by. Luckily my bus dropped me off before they got here, but I think they're looking for us. I saw them head for the art hall. We might want to get to class before they come back here."

"Great," I said. "Let's go. Hopefully Mr. Gorfel will be in there."

Ryan's jaw dropped. "I can't believe you just said that."

Gazes flickered towards us on all sides as we made our way to class. I knew why. We'd pulled off the bike theft in front of everyone. This was the worst thing I'd ever done, and I'm including the toilet paper and super gluing my teacher to his chair in the sixth grade. I figured there was no one in the school that didn't know by now.

"Did you hear?"

"They ripped off Josh Carver's and Kristina Lanoran's bikes!"

"In front of them!"

"Josh and Kristina's bikes!"

"I wouldn't want to be them right now."

Yeah, I didn't want to be me right now, either. For more reasons than they knew.

The voices faded behind us in the Science hallway. Mr. Gorfel's door stood wide open. The plastic frogs croaked. Several other students were already sitting down and Mr. Gorfel sat at his oversize desk.

He looked up and grinned. "Remember your detention tonight. Be here no later than five minutes after school."

I sighed. Even if she made it through the detention, I had my parents to deal with after school. I hoped to have to deal with them, though.

Weaving around the tables, I led the way to the table by the tarantula tank, the one Kristina didn't want to go near anymore. Penny and Ryan plopped down next to me, silent.

The bell rang and Mr. Gorfel stood to write something on the board. Josh and Kristina stalked into the room a minute late, shoes squelching. The plastic frogs croaked into the ominous silence.

Kristina shot us the most hateful look I could imagine. "You're dead," she mouthed. As if I hadn't figured that out already.

Josh swung himself into his chair, nose flaring. Only when they were both seated did I realize I had a death-grip on the table. Yeah, me.

Mr. Gorfel looked around the class and broke the tense silence. "We will be doing the chapter one review for the rest of the hour," he told us. "There are four pages of multiple choice, short answer, and essay questions. What you don't get done will be homework, of course. Open your books to page twenty-eight."

I shifted in my chair when Mr. Gorfel said twenty-eight. An ugly reminder or what? Could he know something about what was going on? But when I opened my Biology book, I saw that the section started on page twenty-eight. Duh. I couldn't believe how jumpy this week had made me.

It was hard to concentrate on the assignment when I didn't know if A. Gist was going to burst through the door at any second. The fact that Josh and Kristina glared at me every few seconds didn't help.

The bell rang seemingly hours later, and I did something that Rita Morse does not do: I ran.

Without a word, Penny and Ryan shot out of Mr. Gorfel's class and ran down the hall. I followed them, pumping my legs. We had to put as much distance between ourselves and Josh and Kristina as possible. Kristina screamed something at us over the crowd, but I couldn't make it out. Not that I wanted to.

"See you at lunch!" Ryan called. He ran for the art hall, backpack bouncing on his back.

He vanished into the crowd. Swearing and profanity drew closer and closer behind us as the crowd grew thicker.

Penny seized my arm. "Quick! Up the stairs!"

We plowed past a group of football players and thundered up the stairs. I didn't dare look behind me. Josh and Kristina couldn't be far behind. As if on cue, Kristina's voice met my ears over all the chatter.

"Run! Run!" she mocked. "You'd better run!" She added a long string of insults. I'm not going to describe them.

I darted into Mr. Harvey's class behind Penny, praying they didn't see us going this way.

"Back here," Penny whispered, running for the very back of the room. I realized we were the only people in here. Which was bad.

"Where did they go?" Josh growled out in the hall.

"I'll kill them!" Kristina spat.

Penny nodded. "Duck."

I dropped on the other side of a row of computers. Penny joined me, chin quivering. Josh and Kristina stomped past the door, trying their best to fit as many swear words into one sentence as they could. Finally, the swearing faded. I didn't realize I'd been holding my breath until I let out a huge sigh.

"I don't know how long we can keep this up," I muttered, standing. "We can only do this so long."

"Yeah. I know," Penny said. She bit her lip, probably to make her chin stop moving.

We didn't make our way back to our usual seats until more students filed into the room. Only then did I see that every computer in the room was off. Fantastic.

"I think they crashed these computers too." I hit the ON button. The computer turned on okay, but all I got was the Blue Screen of Death. I squeezed the sides of the chair in frustration. The electricity raced down my arms again, but I ignored it this time. I had way worse things to worry about.

"Well, we kind of knew this was going to happen," Penny said, slumping in her chair.

Mr. Harvey ran into the room as the bell rang. His hair was messier than normal, his purple glasses were crooked, and he'd put his bright red shirt on backwards. The tag stuck out of the front. He'd had a bad morning. "Good morning, class," he said, out of breath. "I hate to tell you we can't do anything on the computers today. I think we must have gotten a virus, because yesterday all the computers in the library shut down. I walked in this morning to find these ones not working, either." Mr. Harvey took the attendance at breakneck speed. He sat down at his desk and turned to a large pile of computer books. "I don't normally do this, but I'm going to have to give you book work today. I'd take you down to the computer lab, but there's already a class using it this hour."

I stared at Mr. Harvey like he'd just handed me a trip to Hawaii. "You mean there's still some computers in the school that work?"

He rummaged through the books without even looking up at me. "Yeah. If you need to get any homework done on them, I took them off the school's network before the virus could hit them, so they should be safe. You can still get on the Internet. But if you get an email labeled Celebrity Buzz, don't open it. That virus is spreading around town like crazy."

I wanted to get up, run over there, and hug Mr. Harvey. Finally, I had a way to see Gabe's last video. The problem would be getting down to the lab before the Shadow Regime found a way to shut it down. The sooner we got there, the better.

"We both need to try ducking out of class as soon as we can to go down there," I said to Penny. "Starting next hour. If neither of us makes it down there by lunch, then we go at lunch."

Penny nodded. "Agreed. I don't like the idea of one of us going by ourselves, but I don't see any other choice."

* * * * *

Neither me or Penny got a chance to run to the lab third hour. My teacher lectured the whole time and on top of it, Dan hadn't come to school today, so I couldn't beg him for the answers I needed. Then Penny told me that due to a group project, she didn't get a chance to duck out, either.

It wasn't until my fourth hour did a window of opportunity open up.

I took a seat near the front of my World Issues class while Mr. Langspur rolled a television into the room. He had a grave look on his face, too. "Class, I'm afraid we're about to witness one of the biggest natural disasters in our country's history. Watch."

He flipped off the lights and moved to show the TV. It was on the news, which never meant anything good. This time was no exception. The biggest hurricane ever spun right at the East Coast. Below it, huge letters read Record Evacuation Underway as Hurricane Janelle Approaches U.S. East Coast. Mr. Langspur stood there, transfixed as a guy's voice droned out of the TV. Around me, the class did the same.

I couldn't believe my luck. I mean, yeah, the hurricane was bad and everything, but I had my own problems right now. I didn't have time to worry about normal stuff like that.

After feeling the outline of the plastic CD case in my backpack, I slowly got up from my chair and slipped out the open door. Nobody noticed. At least, I think they didn't. Mr. Langspur didn't yell at me to sit back down or anything. He'd started talking about his brother who lived on the coast. Poor guy.

No one walked out in the hall and figures in shadow form—or otherwise—jumped out at me. A locker slammed in the distance and a teacher closed a door near the corner. Here went.

I walked quickly up the four hundred wing and past the office, hoping I just looked late to a class. The computer lab was way over in the art hall, according to Mr. Harvey. The distance seemed like a real hike now, especially now that I was alone. I figured if anything came after me, I could scream and someone would come running.

Okay. The art hall. Drawings and paintings in a glass case stared at me. I tiptoed past a classroom with foreign language posters covering the window. A partially open door halfway down caught my eye. I held my breath and peeked in.

Bingo.

The room had all the lights turned off, but rows of tables sat in the middle of the room. That is, rows with computers on them. Computers that didn't show the Blue Screen of Death. Their screens glowed with the purple-and-gray Westonville High School logo.

I ducked in and gently closed the door behind me. I couldn't help pumping my fist. The Shadow Regime probably didn't even know about this room. "Yes!"

Now cast in darkness, I chose a computer near the back of the room so a teacher wouldn't see me if they walked by. I clicked on the Internet icon and loaded the disc into the computer, as I couldn't remember the link to the Youtube videos and I didn't have time to do a search. I brought up the Open First folder and clicked on the link.

After several tense seconds, the Saga of Gabe Cruz popped up in five parts. I scrolled down and clicked on Part Five with a sweaty palm.

The loading screen popped up, and the bar grew across the screen much faster than the other four entries. A short entry. Bad sign. My heart pounded faster and my palms tingled with anticipation. Finally, after three very tense minutes, Gabe Cruz appeared on the screen.

He looked way worse in this video than he had in the last four. Cold sweat rolled down the sides of his face and he trembled like he had the flu. He was sitting in his room again. Only now his door was barricaded with his bed.

"Oh, my god," he moaned, wiping the sweat off his face. "They're after me. This is no joke. This thing on my arm," he said, rolling up his sleeve to show the A, "I think it's a tracker. They're using it to find me. I can't run anywhere. It burns every time those freaks are close, like it's telling them where I'm at."

He glanced behind him again, then at the camera. His eyes were wide and terrified. I found myself rubbing at the A on my own arm as goosebumps rose on my skin. A tracker? No wonder that Shadow One found that window I was at yesterday. I could only pray it didn't go off before I got done with this.

"They chased me on the way home from school—they were in this blue van and yelling at me through a loudspeaker. Something about a procedure twenty-eight. Please, listen! If anyone's out there watching this—"

Gabe went dead silent and sat bolt upright. One of the portals grew wider right behind the back of his chair.

"No!" I yelled, unable to help it. "Move!"

Black and spinning, it took up the entire screen behind Gabe. The bright purple swirls spun inside of it, making my head ache. Gabe turned his head just in time to see two figures in blue armor running out at him, their heads cut off by the screen.

He leapt back, arm hitting the webcam. It titled and fell back into place.

I jumped. I couldn't help it.

Two pairs of arms sleeved in blue caught his arms and wrenched him backwards. Gabe thrashed and screamed as the chair fell out from under him. One of his hands hit the camera again, and it tilted off the desk and hit the floor. It landed only to show Gabe's flailing feet vanishing into the portal.

The black and purple vanished, leaving a view of his floor. The screen faded to black. At last, white letters appeared on the screen: Gabe Cruz, Missing Since May 28.

Then, in smaller letters: Please share this video with everyone you know.

"Damn it!" I rose from my chair, fists clenching. I didn't know whether to feel angry. Or scared to death. Or both. Most likely both. Suddenly, Josh and Kristina didn't seem so bad anymore. The Shadow Ones had abducted Gabe from his own room. Was that what I had to look forward to, with this tracker on me? No wonder Dan and Sean were too scared to tell me anything. They didn't want to end up in that portal with Gabe, and I didn't blame them. I scanned the dark computer lab to make sure no portals had opened. Only glowing screensavers stared back at me.

I closed out the screen. No way I wanted to see any more. I had all the info I needed. Only the screen stared back at me with its two folders.

Two files. I'd almost forgotten there was a second folder Sean wanted me to see.

I closed out the window and clicked on the Open Second folder. A newspaper clipping appeared on the screen a second later. Gabe Cruz smiled out at me from a school photo. Just above him, huge black letters read Teen Missing Since Thursday.

Wincing, I scrolled down to the next page without reading the article. I was pretty sure it wouldn't mention anything about shadow people.

Another article glowed on the screen. Mall Curfew Protester Vanishes.

Below the headline, a girl of about sixteen stood in front of a big shopping mall. She held a sign that read Revoke Mall Curfew: Unfair to Teens.

Good for her. I gripped the table with all my might. I just wished she hadn't disappeared.

I scrolled down again, only to see a third headline screaming out at me:

Activist For Rights of Older Workers Missing.

An older guy smiled from the steps of a courthouse, unaware that he was doomed. A chill ran down my spine as I scrolled down once again. This was getting scarier by the second.

24-Year-Old Man Disappears Before Protest On High Car Insurance Rates For Young Drivers.

No. I wasn't seeing all this. This couldn't be true. The Shadow Regime couldn't be as bad as this. Someone would've noticed. I moved on to the next page.

Girl Protesting City Curfew Goes Missing Over Weekend.

I scrolled down again. A lump formed in my throat.

Advocate For Elderly Vanishes.

Again. I wanted to scream.

4 Protesters Missing, Manhunt in Progress.

I couldn't do this anymore. It was too horrible. Everything I'd just seen spun through my head. The Shadow Regime really had a grip on the world, and nobody even knew about their evil. All I could do now was tell Penny and Ryan about this at lunch and go into hiding. Preferably with armed guards around me.

The A on my arm burned.

I leapt out of the chair. Gabe said something about this. It burned when—

Footsteps approached out in the hallway.

My heart stopped. I frantically closed out the screen and slid out of the chair. They were close. I scooted under the desk as far as I could. A couple of muffled voices floated in and the doorknob jiggled.

I prayed for it to be a teacher. Or a hall monitor. Or even the creepy Burger Planet astronaut. Anything but the Shadow Regime.

"I can't believe you didn't plant the virus in the computer lab," a man scolded someone outside the door. "What if one of those delinquents skips class to come down here? They might see those videos. Actually, why didn't you take them off the Internet?"

"I already did the library and that classroom yesterday," another guy argued. His voice sounded muffled behind the door. "And emailed the virus to half the town. It's kind of hard to sneak around here and not get caught. I tried to get down here yesterday, but there were classes in here. And someone keeps posting the videos online. I can't do anything about them."

I squeezed myself farther under the desk. I knew those voices. One belonged to the window guy. The other one, the techie's, sounded familiar too, but I couldn't place it.

Just then, the door opened. Light spilled into the computer lab. Two shadows stretched across the floor only feet from me.

Yikes.

The gray-haired guy sighed. "You need to figure out that it's not good to get the boss mad at us. You're the techie, not me. I'm no good with computers. Do you realize I was born two hundred years ago?"

Whoa. I guess A. Gist was right about the immortal thing.

The man from the cafeteria stepped into the room. The second figure followed and shut the door behind him. The room fell back into semidarkness. I officially had no escape. I could only hope this tracker didn't give off a signal again, or I was hosed.

"Great," the techie said. "There's twenty-five of these things in here, George. We'll have to do them one at a time."

"Boss's orders," George told him in a snotty tone of voice. I liked this guy about as much as A. Gist. "I'll stay by the door."

"I hate this. I never wanted this job." The techie seethed. He stomped away from his companion...and towards me. A pair of jackboots drew closer.

"Well, if it wasn't for you," George said coolly, "We wouldn't have to be down here right now. But orders are orders. Get used to it."

The techie walked right in front of her. I held my breath. If he stopped at this computer, I'd be spotted for sure.

The A on my arm burned again and I about died. Not good.

"You know what?" George asked. "My sensor's going off. We must be close to that girl." I heard rustling as he dug in a pocket. "Oh, yes. I'm picking up the signal. Strong, too. She can't be more than fifty feet away."

I gulped. It was all about to hit the fan. It might really be scream time.

"Someone in here?" the techie asked. "I don't see anyone."

"This thing doesn't lie." A pause. "Hmmm. Not to mention there's a backpack sitting just a few feet from you."

The light clicked on.

A pair of legs in blue pants and black jackboots stood five feet away. The shiny boots turned to point at me. Busted. If I wanted to avoid a trip to another universe, I had to move now. Waiting for them pull me out wouldn't do any good. They'd have to fight to take me away.

"Aaarrrrr!" I shot out from under the desk and stood as the room tilted around me. If I made enough noise, someone would come. I could take them by surprise. I could—

I stopped cold.

No one moved or made a sound. The techie Shadow One stood frozen two feet away from me. In one horrifying moment, I placed his voice as a wave of sickness washed through my guts.

Tall and very skinny, he stared back at me with wide brown eyes. My gaze landed on his black, spiky hair, which was now spotted with bright blue.

It was Gabe Cruz.

### Chapter Fourteen

I couldn't move. I could only stare back at Gabe Cruz, a Gabe Cruz that was now an immortal Shadow Regime member, not a fighter against injustice. My insides twisted with the horror of it.

"It's...it's her!" George sputtered. He stood next to the light switch, armor shining and mouth gaping open. A black device with an antenna sticking out of the top nearly fell from his hand. "It's Rita!"

It might be a good idea to move right about now.

I didn't think about what I did next. I picked up my heavy backpack, Biology book lurching inside. I bellowed out a war cry—or maybe it was a scream—and ran right at George. His eyes widened. He backed away. Too late. I swung my backpack through the air, and a loud thump sounded through the air as the book hit his armor.

George fell back into a table with a crash, sending a monitor sliding back. "Urgh!"

I caught my balance and bolted out the door so fast my heavy backpack almost yanked my shoulder out. My shoes squeaked against the floor as lockers blurred past me. I didn't look back.

"Gabe! You idiot!" George yelled from the computer room. "She was right there!"

I rounded the corner and nearly slid. No footfalls echoed behind me, but I took no chances. Not after that. I'd head to the office and call my parents and tell them to drive me far away from here.

The bell rang through the halls. I slid to a stop like I'd hit a brick wall. Doors flew open and chatter filled the halls around me.

Lunch. That meant people all around me. That meant safe.

I leaned against a locker and squeezed my eyes shut. I hadn't just seen that. No, I hadn't. All those clippings appeared in my mind like an evil slideshow. Everyone who stood up to A. Gist. Everyone who vanished. Then Gabe Cruz himself. He'd made the computers crash all along. He was one of them now.

"Oh," I moaned, slamming my fist into the locker. I tried not to think about what this meant. But I couldn't help it. Everything about the Shadow Regime, their conspiracy, and their secret web of control was so much worse than I could've imagined.

"Rita!" a voice called.

Penny.

I lifted my head from the cold of the locker to face her. She jogged at me, eyes wide. "You look sick. Did you see the video?"

That, and more. "Yes, I did!" I couldn't help it. My voice sounded like a hysterical half-scream from a horror movie. Kids turned to stare at me as they passed, but I didn't care. I grabbed Penny's sleeve and pulled her closer, forcing my voice to level out. "They dragged him away, Penny. Into a portal."

"What?" Penny's mouth gaped open as the color drained from her face.

I hated to do this to her. "And the second file was some articles about people who stood up to the Shadow Regime. Tons of them. They all went missing. But that's not the worst part!"

"Gabe Cruz..." Penny whispered, eyes wide, "Did they...did they kill—"

"It's worse than that," I babbled, barely hearing my own words. "I saw him! He was making the computers go down the whole time."

"What? That doesn't make sense. Why would Gabe do it?"

Here it came. The big, horrible revelation. "Because they turned him into one of them!"

Penny's jaw dropped as she pulled away. She stood there, staring as if I'd hit her in the face. "But...but..."

"Rita!" another voice called out down the hall. Ryan ran towards us, weaving around the Chess Club. "Did you see the disc? What happened to that Gabe Cruz guy? Did you find out what Procedure Number Twenty-Eight was, by any chance?"

It all clicked in one horrifying moment. My insides twisted into a tighter knot, if that was even possible. I seriously thought I was going to puke. "It's when they turn you into one of them!" I cried, sliding down the locker and to the floor. "That's what they're going to do to us!"

Now it was Ryan's turn to stand there, stunned. He backed away at last and gagged. "N...no."

"We need to get into the cafeteria." Penny pulled on my shirt sleeve. "We have to stay around people. They won't drag us away with other people around."

Yes. The voice of reason. The halls started to clear as everyone scrambled to get to the lunch lines before they got too long. If we stayed out here when everyone left, we'd find ourselves on the other side of a portal. And after that...well, you get the picture. I really didn't want to say it.

None of us grabbed lunch. My appetite was gone forever. Penny led us to a far table and pushed me down in the chair. Ryan joined me and grabbed the edge of the table so hard his knuckles turned white.

"Tell us what happened!" Penny sat opposite us and leaned forward.

I didn't feel like reliving the experience in the computer lab, but I had no choice. I told Penny and Ryan all the horrifying details. Which was, well, all of them. Bile rose in my throat by time I finished.

Penny drew in a breath. "So we're next."

"W...where do they take you?" Ryan asked. His face had turned the color of paste again, by the way.

"I didn't catch that," I said. "It's sure not anywhere nice." I exhaled. At least they hadn't taken Jerry yet. Had they threatened him with transformation if he didn't cooperate? Or worse? No wonder he did what the Shadow Regime told him.

Ryan stood next to me, not letting go of the table. "We should run. W...we need to find a way out of town and go somewhere where they can't find us. Anyone got money for plane tickets?"

"We can't," I said, rolling up my sleeve. "I have this tracker on me. Even if we go to Alaska, they can find us. I think we should stay here in school. Around people. They're not going to kidnap us in the middle of class." So running away was out. I scratched at my forearm, praying for the A to come off. All I managed to do was make my skin turn red around it. "What about after school, Penny? Got any ideas?" I didn't mean to snap at her, but who cared in this situation?

Ryan sat back down. "Yeah, Penny. My mom's not even home until d...dinnertime and she forgets I'm there. And we have detention after the school clears out. They'll know we're here even without Josh and Kristina telling them about it."

Penny stared at him for a long time. For once, she didn't have an answer.

A thought came to me. "Mr. Gorfel will be there. We know he's probably not working for the Shadow Regime. They won't show themselves to him. And he said he'd make our parents pick us up afterwards. He wants to tell them what bad kids we are, remember?"

"The man is sadistic," Ryan added.

"Maybe you're right," Penny said.

"It's better than joining the Shadow Regime," I said. Even cleaning his entire classroom with a toothbrush beat that. And I'm including the tank of algae.

"B...but why would they want teenagers in their army?" Ryan asked. "Doesn't make sense to me. They hate us."

I remembered that night we did the toilet papering job. That meeting the Shadow Ones had in the park. A. Gist's words swirled through my head. Tight control. That's our motto when it comes to dealing with teens. And to think you were one a few months ago. God, he must have been talking to poor Gabe. And then at the Kool Spot, he said, we are immortal. We are ageless. "Gabe isn't a teenager anymore, even if he looks like one," I said. "He isn't even human. Man, I'm going to throw up."

Penny sighed. "They're all immune to the rules they inflict on humans, then. This does explain things, though. Not only are they changing people, but they're stopping us at the same time."

I stared down at the table. "This is so much worse than I could've imagined. How are we supposed to avoid having our brains turned into cottage cheese? Call the military?"

"I can't think of anything better than going to the detention, either," Penny said. "Your parents are going to pick you up. And Mr. Gorfel will call your mom, Ryan."

"Josh and Kristina still know, even if they didn't tell A. Gist," Ryan reminded us. "We still have them to worry about."

"Better them than the Shadow Regime," I said. "Compared to them, they're not so bad. Even if they do want to kill us."

* * * * *

At last the bell to end the school day rang. Mr. Bolther wished the whole Acting class a good weekend. I looked at my friends and grimaced. Mainly because my weekend was going to consist of a.) getting killed by Josh and Kristina or b.) getting turned into a Shadow One and being forced to serve A. Gist forever. Both possibilities sucked pretty bad.

"Now what am I going to do?" Penny asked once we were fighting through the crowded stairwell. "I don't have detention."

"We'll have to think of something," I said, worrying about that myself. "Try to see if Mr. Gorfel will let you sit with us or not. If he doesn't, stand right outside the door."

"I'll do that. I don't know what excuse I'll have for my dad today, though." She stared at the floor as she walked. This wasn't going to be a fun day for her, even if everything went okay at the detention.

We made our way through the crowded hallways and to the science wing, passing kids who shared weekend plans with each other. I wished I could join them.

Mr. Gorfel's door stood wide open at the end of the gloomy hallway. He stood next to his desk, waiting for us. He grinned evilly we walked in and set off the plastic croaking frogs. Mr. Gorfel folded his arms, stood tall, and said, "Rita. Ryan. Welcome to detention."

I sighed, unable to help myself.

"Why don't you have a seat right here at the front of the room?" Mr. Gorfel asked, pointing to the front desk. "I want to keep a close eye on you to make sure you don't cheat again."

I dragged my feet towards the desk and sat down, Ryan joining me a few seconds later. The frogs all croaked again as Penny took several baby steps into the room.

"Would you like to join the detention, Miss Hart?" Mr. Gorfel snarled. "I don't think you do. In my detentions, you get to do things like work on big piles of worksheets or clean all the tanks in here."

Ryan gulped, and Mr. Gorfel seemed to have noticed. His evil smile grew bigger. "And that includes the millipede tank and the tarantula tank."

A heavy silence followed. Ryan shifted in his seat. He hated bugs.

"This isn't fair what you're doing to them!" Penny yelled. "I think it's ridiculous! You're the worst teacher I've ever had!"

I felt my jaw drop. The rebel was back. Penny had never mouthed off to a teacher before. But hey, this was a desperate situation.

"Am I, now?" Mr. Gorfel gestured towards the table. "You can have a seat next to your friends, Miss Hart, while I decide your fates."

Penny smiled at us as she sat. "Just paying you back for all the times you stood up for me," she whispered.

I couldn't believe it. Penny had just gotten herself into a detention for the first time in her life...and on purpose. I had to thank her later, and big time. Her dad was going to flip out if we made it through today.

Mr. Gorfel went to the door and closed it. The plastic frogs all croaked again. "What to do, what to do?" he pondered out loud. "Worksheets or cleaning?"

Ryan faced me and wrapped his arms around himself. "Worksheets, please," he mouthed.

"I think I've made my decision," Mr. Gorfel said, going for the storage room. "I hope none of you have arachnophobia. Let me get you some rags."

Mr. Gorfel vanished into the storage room. He ran a sink, wrung something out, and emerged with a handful of wet towels. At least he hadn't emerged with the Shadow Regime behind him. "You will wipe down the inside walls of every tank that isn't full of water. That includes the Venus flytrap tank, the rotting food tank, the cockroach tank in the back, the millipede tank on my desk, and the tarantula tank."

Shudder. Maybe coming here wasn't such a great idea after all.

Ryan looked around the room. "You're...you're going to take the bugs and spiders out of their tanks before we clean them...right?"

"Oh, they won't bother you." Mr. Gorfel smiled again. "I think you'll live."

The millipede reared up behind him, wiggling its tiny legs. My skin crawled. I really didn't think so. Plus if I didn't speak up, Ryan was going to have a heart attack. "Hey, we'll take the worksheets. And all this is my fault. I'll do all the tanks myself."

This time, Ryan didn't argue with me standing up for him. Yeah, he hated bugs that bad.

"Ryan, you take the millipede tank first," Mr. Gorfel ordered, ignoring me. "Penny, you can do the cockroach tank. And Rita, you get to make sure Suzie's walls are clean. You can empty out her water dish and refill it while you're at it."

He pointed to—you guessed it—the tarantula tank. My heart sank.

"That thing's name is Suzie?" Ryan asked, mouth hanging open.

"To the millipede tank." Mr. Gorfel scowled and pointed behind him.

Ryan turned towards the desk as Penny went for the back of the room. I sulked over to the tank to find the tarantula sitting very close to the water dish I'd have to empty. Oh, joy.

Ryan made a gagging sound as he opened the millipede tank. I couldn't blame him. I turned back to the tank and decided to start working before Mr. Gorfel came and yelled at me. After all, I'd run into worse things than a tarantula today.

I lifted the lid off and looked down at the biggest, hairiest spider ever. It looked just like the ones I'd seen killing people in countless B-movies: black with orange bands on its legs. I started to wipe down the wall farthest away from it. The tarantula sat there like a rock.

Mr. Gorfel slowly walked around the room as we worked, grinning. "That's right, Ryan...get those water stains off the walls...and don't forget to get that spot at the bottom..."

I really, really hated him.

I finished the first wall of the tank and moved on to the next one, inching closer and closer to the spider. Suzie still would not move out of the way. Maybe she was asleep.

"You're braver than most kids, Rita," Mr. Gorfel said behind me. "Most kids won't stick their hands in the tank at all. Now why don't you empty out that water dish right now?"

I didn't say a word. I didn't want to put my hand within a foot of that tarantula, but the thought of giving Mr. Gorfel any kind of satisfaction was worse. So I grit my teeth and reached for the water dish.

BANG!

I jumped, Mr. Gorfel whirled around, and Penny let out a squeak.

The banging sound came again. Someone was hammering on the door. Okay, that was an understatement. Someone was trying to break it down.

"What's that?" Penny yelled, dropping her rag right into the middle of the cockroach tank.

"I don't know," Mr. Gorfel said, backing for his desk.

The hammering noise came again and the door shook with the force of a blow. Everyone in the room had frozen. My mind spun with possibilities. Well, two of them. I had who was breaking down the door narrowed down to two people.

"Who...who is it?" Mr. Gorfel demanded, voice trembling. "I will make sure you get suspended!"

Josh's muffled voice came from the other side of the door. "I don't care if he's in there! They'll pay right here!"

So it was Josh and Kristina, not the Shadow Regime. The thought didn't make me feel any better.

Another loud BANG sounded on the other side of the door. I pictured Josh smashing in Mr. Gorfel's door with a baseball bat and thought of going for one of the windows. But no. I'd never squeeze out in time.

"You three get back!" Mr. Gorfel demanded. "I'll call the office!"

I pressed against the tarantula tank, heart thumping. Josh and Kristina weren't coming in for an ordinary fight.

Mr. Gorfel ran for his desk, nearly running Ryan over. The door shook again. Ryan glanced at the door and ran to the back of the room. Mr. Gorfel fumbled with a phone on his desk. He lifted it to his ear and muttered something into the receiver just as the door came flying open with a deafening crash.

The plastic frogs croaked as Josh and Kristina stormed into the room, faces twisted into rage. Kristina's jaw quivered. Her eyes looked ready to burst from their sockets. Josh growled, reached over, and threw one of the tables down onto its side with another crash. I'm not exaggerating.

They were in here to kill us. Literally.

"What...what are you doing in here?" Mr. Gorfel yelled.

Josh stopped for a second and glared at Mr. Gorfel, who slammed the phone down and ran right at him. Josh growled and shoved him back as hard as he could. Mr. Gorfel flew back into his desk with another crash. He let out something between a gasp and a scream.

And then Josh turned back to us, but Kristina cut in front of him and stormed through the tables.

"You're...dead!" Kristina puffed, thrusting her hand into her pocket.

I stopped breathing. I had a couple of ideas of what she'd pull out. I was the only one between her and my friends. A single thought raced through my head: I couldn't let anything happen to them

It's amazing what you'll do to save your life. I whirled around and stuck my hands into the tarantula tank. Before I knew it, I was sliding one hand right underneath the huge, hairy spider. Its orange-striped legs flexed up and down as its prickly feet struggled to grasp my skin. I lifted it up and whirled around to see Kristina just a few feet away, closing in on me.

Kristina froze in place, her fist around something metallic and shiny. Her face went from beet red to ashen as her gaze flickered down to the spider.

Then, she screamed. Yes, Kristina screamed. "Get that away!" She leapt back and the object fell from her grasp. Kristina crashed into a cabinet as a folded pocketknife spun across the floor and shot under a cart of books.

"Leave her alone!" Josh roared.

Oh. Him. I turned my head to find him running at right at me. I had no time to move.

"Against the wall!"

I leapt out of the way as a large hand caught the front of Josh's shirt and slammed him back into a filing cabinet. A guy with a buzz cut and a whistle around his neck stood there. The Gym teacher, I guess. His knuckles turned white as he clutched the front of Josh's shirt.

The whole room fell silent again. Josh stood there pinned, open-mouthed. Kristina flattened herself against the cabinet, pale. Penny and Ryan huddled together near the cockroach tank. And did I mention what a relief this was? I heaved out the biggest sigh of relief, breaking the silence.

"What is your problem?" the Gym teacher roared at Josh.

"Leave him alone!" Kristina whined. "They were the ones shoving spiders at us."

"You deserved it!" Mr. Gorfel peeled himself away from his desk, rubbing his back.

"Are you okay?" the Gym teacher asked Mr. Gorfel, his grip tightening on Josh's shirt. "This was the one that shoved you, right?"

Kristina kept whining. "I...hate...spiders! My brother used to drop them down the back of my shirt!"

"You know what you're really going to hate?" the Gym teacher growled. "Military school. I will strongly recommend it to both your parents."

This was swinging in our favor. Maybe I'd live through today after all.

"Get him down to the office," Mr. Gorfel said, disgusted. "I don't want him back in this school ever again. I have zero tolerance for this kind of thing."

For the first time, we agreed on something.

The Gym teacher pulled Josh away from the cabinet. He'd gone dead silent. I figured he'd never been the one slammed up against a wall before.

"And you!" Mr. Gorfel yelled at Kristina.

She stood pressed against the cabinet for a second, then turned and bolted for the door as fast as she could. The sound of the exit doors opening and slamming echoed through the hall. Mr. Gorfel started after her but stopped, rubbing his back and grimacing.

"I will call the boy's parents," the Gym teacher growled as he pulled Josh across the room. Josh growled like a caged wolf again. A bunch of mechanical ribbits sounded through the air as they passed the frogs and went out the door.

Mr. Gorfel leaned against his desk and heaved out a long sigh. I didn't know what to say. I could only stand there as the tarantula slowly crawled up my arm. I'd only just remembered it.

At last Ryan broke the silence. "Y...you picked up a tarantula? But those are poisonous—right?"

By that point, I'd gone numb. I didn't even care that I had a huge, hairy spider on me. It beat getting stabbed any day.

Mr. Gorfel sighed. He sounded a million years old. "Most tarantulas are not dangerous to people. Suzie's used to being picked up, and she's never even tried to bite. Now please put her back in her tank, Rita, and don't drop her. Tarantulas are very fragile."

Suzie had stopped halfway up my forearm like she didn't even care. I lowered her back into the tank, touched one of her fuzzy legs, and watched her walk off my arm. I couldn't believe that she had actually picked her up, but hey, I was desperate. My mom would've died if she'd seen it.

Mr. Gorfel stood up straight and winced for a second. His back must still hurt. "Let's get down to the office. I'll need you three to be witnesses. You should have told a teacher about those two. I can't believe how bad you kids are getting nowadays."

He led the way out of the room and shut off the light. I grabbed my backpack and followed, walking between Penny and Ryan. After that, I didn't want to walk alone. Anywhere.

"If only I'd had a camera," Ryan said dreamily. "I would have framed that picture."

"I wouldn't have thought Kristina was terrified of spiders." Penny squinted at me. "How did you know?"

"Not sure," I said. Then it came to me. "Oh, yeah. Kristina scooted away from the spider tank on the first day. I guess I remembered without realizing it."

Ryan smiled for the first time in days. "Well, that's one problem down. I so hope Josh gets military school. I'd love to see him getting chewed out by a drill sergeant."

I couldn't help but smile, too. We had one problem down. Kristina terrified and jumping back, and Josh getting slammed against the wall...it was the first good thing I'd seen in days. No, weeks. If we made it through this nightmare, I'd cherish the memory of it forever.

Mr. Gorfel led us into the office and pointed to an old maroon couch in the reception area. "Stay right here," he ordered. "I'll have to call the principal up here, and you'll need to tell her what happened. We'll be making a police report, too."

Mr. Gorfel vanished into a side office. Behind another door, Josh argued with the Gym teacher. I knew it was him because of all the profanity. And the growling.

"This is grounds for expulsion!" the Gym teacher bellowed. "Have you got anything else on you we need to know about?"

Josh muttered something that I couldn't make out.

"Do you realize how serious this is?" The walls practically shook with the Gym teacher's yells. "You'll probably end up in juvenile court for this. You know what they do to kids that bring these things to school."

"Oh, man," Penny said. She started to tremble, understandably. It's not every day someone tries to murder you.

"I could tell they weren't just planning on giving us black eyes when they came through the door," I said. Now that I thought about what almost happened, I felt sick. "I hate them. I really do. It's people like them that make all teenagers look bad."

"We were lucky," Penny whispered, staring down at the floor. "If you hadn't picked up that tarantula..."

She didn't finish. I didn't want her to.

"At least it wasn't the Shadow Regime," I said, trying to lift the mood. "I doubt any of us would have been able to hold them off. If it was them they'd probably be putting us through the horrible transformation right now."

The door to an office opened and the Gym teacher stepped out, quickly closing the door behind him. Josh cussed at the top of his lungs inside.

"This kid has some very serious charges coming down on him," he said, shaking his head. "I really think he's going to be put away somewhere. He attacked a teacher, broke down a door, knocked over tables like a maniac, and had a pocketknife with him. Not to mention he was going to attack you three if he could."

"He has a history," Penny said. "So does his friend."

"When we find her, she'll be facing the music too," the Gym teacher went on. "They've got no discipline. If this was a military school she'd be scrubbing every toilet in this place for a month."

There was another thought I liked.

Mr. Gorfel came out of the other office. The Gym teacher turned to him and whispered something, pointing to another office. The two of them vanished into it, closing the door. Leaving us alone out in the reception area. I could do the math. Alone = Bad.

"Well, d...do we stay or go?" Ryan whispered. He was thinking the same thing.

I couldn't decide what was more dangerous as I squashed down into the couch. "I don't know. There's people here, and we might even be worse off if we leave."

The door to the third office opened again, and Mr. Gorfel and the Gym teacher stood in the doorway.

"I think it would be a good idea if the three of you went to the police station after what Mr. Greywood just told me," Mr. Gorfel said. "That girl is still out there. This is also bad enough to make a report. I'll leave Mr. Greywood here to watch Josh and I'll drive you there."

"Okay," Penny said, almost smiling.

I felt like doing that myself. An invisible boulder lifted from my shoulders. Police station = Good. It was the last place A. Gist would open a portal, with the exception of the moon.

"I definitely want to help put them in military school," Ryan said. "You know he whole school would back us up."

"I just have to go get my car keys," Mr. Gorfel said, going for the office door. "I left them in my desk. Don't you even think of moving." He jogged out of the room, tie flapping.

Josh started to swear at the top of his lungs again. Didn't he get the picture that no one wanted to hear him? No, because a bunch of crashing noises followed. Now he had to trash the office, too.

"Wait here!" Mr. Greywood ordered. He ran for the office and threw open the door. The crashing noises got louder for a second, and Josh tried to make a break for it. But Mr. Greywood forced him back into the room and shut the door behind him.

"Well, we'll be safe as soon as we get to the police station." Penny smiled. "That's the last place they'll open a portal."

"Do you really think we're going to let you get there?" a cruel voice cut in.

My stomach dropped as I jumped up off the couch. A gagging sound escaped my throat, because three armored Shadow Ones stood in the office doorway.

Ryan yelped and Penny stood frozen in horror. The tall, dark woman stood in front of Gabe Cruz and George. As if that wasn't bad enough, Kristina stood to the side of them, smiling. So that was why my tracker hadn't burned this time. They hadn't needed it, because she'd brought them here. I wanted to strangle her.

"Oh, god!" Ryan's eyes got huge as he stared at Gabe Cruz. "It's true!"

I opened my mouth to scream like a wuss, but nothing came out. The Gym teacher kept struggling with Josh in the back office. More thumps followed. He couldn't come out to back us up right now.

"I take it she must have told you all about it," George said with a stupid grin. Then he raised his voice and grinned even wider, cruelly mocking us: "Oh my god, Gabe Cruz is one of them now...Oh no, that's what they're going to do to us...we're doomed!"

Gabe Cruz shifted and shrunk back from the door. Poor guy. I had a feeling he didn't like being in the Shadow Regime too much.

"George, that's enough," the tall woman said. Her voice trembled a little. "We've got to make this quick and quiet."

I frantically looked around for an escape—big surprise—but the Shadow Ones stood in the only way out of the office. Another loud thump sounded somewhere behind us. An ominous silence followed, and a few seconds later the office door came open.

It wasn't Mr. Greywood. It was Josh, catching his breath.

"Josh!" Kristina yelled. "Are you okay?"

"Knocked him out," Josh puffed, leaning against a wall. "Hit him over the head with the chair."

The tall woman sighed with relief. "Now we just have that other teacher to worry about."

My heart thudded and my throat got so dry, it hurt. I scanned the hall outside for anyone, even the janitor. No luck. Things were officially going downhill.

George raised his voice so everyone could hear. "Oh, we don't need to worry about him. I believe Ted and Monica are making sure he gets locked in his classroom right now."

Kristina smiled wider. "I told you you're dead!"

The tall woman turned to Kristina. "Oh, I don't think so. Though I think now they're wishing they were."

Yeah, I was just then. I didn't like the alternative I was about to be put through. Bile rose in my throat as I stared at the Shadow Ones' horrible uniforms. The thought of getting stuck in one for all eternity made me want to hurl, preferably on them. "Were all of you like us once?" I asked, something like hatred surging through me. My fists clenched with fury as I stared at Gabe Cruz, who stared back with wide eyes. His parents probably worried about him every day and thought he was dead.

The tall woman stared into the air as if trying to see something in the distance. "Yes, we all were, once. But that was then."

Josh groaned. "If you're not going to kill them, then what are you going to do to them?"

George snorted and the tall woman sighed.

"Man, you're thick," the tall woman said. "If you can't figure it out for yourself, I'm not going to tell you." She turned back to George. "Are you sure no one's going to see us?"

"Oh, man, oh man, oh maaaaannnnn..." Ryan moaned, shuddering. "I'll pay you not to turn me into one of you."

Kristina's eyes nearly popped out of her head and her jaw nearly fell to the floor. "That's it? You're just going to turn them into Shadow Ones? What about getting our bikes back? What do we get to do to them?"

"What do you mean, 'That's it?"' Geez, sorry to disappoint you, Kristina. I couldn't think of a time I'd dreaded anything more in my life.

George smiled. "You're wrong about that, Kristina. We won't be drafting them into the Shadow Regime. He will."

He pointed behind me. A tingly, electric sensation filled the air. The lights didn't go dead, but they didn't need to. We were hosed whether or not the power went out.

I whirled around and choked back a scream.

A. Gist himself stood in the middle of the office, grinning triumphantly. Behind him, a portal spun and waited.

### Chapter Fifteen

My jaw dropped faster than my hope. My legs turned to lead and ice spread through my veins. We were officially screwed. I wasn't going home tonight, or ever, and it was all because of a stupid prank. Here stood the guy who'd taken my cousin from me. And now he was about to take my whole life from me, too. I wanted to fall to the floor and beat at it with my fists, screaming at the injustice of the world. Better yet, I wanted to beat at him with my fists.

A. Gist stood there with his arms folded smugly across the shiny gold buttons on his shirt. The portal continued to spin behind him. He'd probably stood there about a minute, watching us. Pleasant thought.

"Josh. Kristina," he said with an air of satisfaction. "Great work. You'll both have your stereo systems by the end of tomorrow."

"What about our bikes?" Josh snarled. "Did you ever find them?"

I couldn't help myself. If I had to disappear in a minute, I wanted to get every stab in that I could. No way was I going to keep my mouth shut. "He ran them both over!"

Both Penny and Ryan shrunk back next to me. Penny's chin quivered. She was lost for words.

A. Gist stood for a moment while Josh and Kristina's eyes widened. I think he enjoyed watching the shock on their faces. "I took both of your bikes back to the Shadow Home World, where they're being fixed right now. You'll have them back by the end of the week. Don't worry about that."

"Oh." Josh wiped the sweat from his forehead. "But we're in so much trouble. I had to hit a couple of teachers. Can't you make them forget I did or something?"

"And they were shoving spiders at me!" Kristina rubbed her arms as if to brush something off.

A. Gist shrugged like it didn't matter. After all, Josh and Kristina were just a couple of teenagers, there to be used like everyone else. "I never said anything about erasing anyone's memories. Only my superiors can do it, and they're not going to take the time to come out here and sort out something unimportant like this."

"What?" Josh's nose flared. "They'll lock me up!"

"I told you to be careful." A. Gist smiled again, enjoying Josh's horror. Nice boss. "You did complete your task and you'll get your rewards, but there's nothing I can do to keep you from getting punished by your own people."

"But you've got powers," Kristina begged. "I thought you could just erase this mess. There's got to be something you can do."

"Well, I could take you both to the Shadow Home World and make you both one of us as well," A. Gist said, "but I don't want permanent minions as stupid as you. It would be a waste of time and energy."

Josh made a long growling sound and stormed past me. He shoved George out of the way and joined Kristina out in the hall. The two of them raced down the hall and out of sight, scowling.

Dead silence fell until Ryan gulped audibly. It was time.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" A. Gist asked. "Bring them into the portal!"

Before I could jump out of the way, someone rammed into me from behind. Hard. I fell forward and tried to whirl around to face my attacker. The tall woman with the blue stripes in her hair scowled at me. "Move!" She shoved me forward again, so rough I almost went off my feet.

I scraped my shoes against the floor as the portal loomed larger in front of me. The blackness. The purple swirls. Panic exploded within me as she thought of what must be on the other side. "No!"

Ryan's voice cut into my panic. "Rita! Get out of there!"

I had to do something, and fast. I had nothing to grab onto to stop myself from getting shoved in. A. Gist stood next to it, grinning wider and wider.

I threw back my elbows, trying to hit the tall woman behind me. They did, all right. In her armor. Pain surged my arms as she gave me another shove. The portal waited three feet away.

"In!" the tall woman yelled, seizing my arms from behind. Bright purple swirls spun madly right in front of me. Without thinking, I lifted my foot and raked it down the front of her leg.

The tall woman let out a yell and stopped.

I leapt to the side and backed into a nearby desk, taking a second to look at the office. Penny held onto the doorframe while George yanked on her arm. Gabe Cruz threw Ryan, kicking and screaming, to the floor.

"Hurry up!" A. Gist commanded. "That teacher's going to wake up any minute."

I had to help my friends. My legs carried me towards Penny, but a figure in blue jumped in front of me. The tall woman. I backed up and banged my leg into an office chair. Ouch. But the chair might work. I grabbed it and rolled it in front of me.

"Umph!" The woman collided with it and crashed to the floor. Perfect.

I whirled around. A. Gist stood between me and Penny, fists balled. I couldn't move, not with him in the way.

"Let go!" he yelled. He stared at the doorway Penny held onto. The office door slammed—by itself—right onto her fingers. Penny shrieked in pain and let go, cradling her hand while George yanked her by the other arm to the portal.

"Leave her alone!" That tingle ran through my arms again, but I ignored it. I had to think, and fast. I jumped over the chair and swung at the side of George's face. I'm not a violent person, but I didn't have a choice. It hit his cheekbone and his jaw clamped shut.

Penny broke free and darted for the other side of the room. "Come on!"

Maybe we could make it. Maybe we could escape if we got Ryan free.

Gabe Cruz had Ryan in a headlock. Ryan tried to back towards the door. I started for him but stopped again.

"Ted!" the tall woman screamed from under the chair, kicking. "Monica! Get in here!"

Two more Shadow Ones ran into the office, a short man with spots of blue in his gray hair and a woman with jet-black, blue-streaked hair. They were back from locking Mr. Gorfel in his classroom. We were now outnumbered.

The tingle in my arms died. I looked around for something to use as a weapon, but saw nothing but an empty glass juice bottle on a nearby desk. That would have to work. I ran for it, took it, and whirled around to see not the two new Shadow Ones coming at me but A. Gist himself.

"You're...going...whether...you...like...it...or...not!" he breathed, closing in.

I forgot that my adversary was bigger, stronger, and way more powerful than me. I forgot I was up against the immortal Ruler of Ageism. So I raised the Spanta bottle and swung it through the air.

Something like a small explosion followed. Glass shards flew through the air. A. Gist staggered back, hands to his face. I dropped the glass bottle, realizing that the bottom half was broke off. I'd hit it right across his face. If I wanted to escape, it had to be now.

"ARRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHH!" A. Gist raised his hands at me.

Before I could move, an invisible wall slammed into me. Not kidding. I flew back off my feet and crashed into another desk. Pain surged through my butt and spots danced in my vision. All the breath escaped me. I couldn't even react as the tall woman ran over and grabbed my arm. A. Gist stood feet away, hands back over his face, and just behind him I could see—

"Ryan!"

Ted and Gabe Cruz pulled him right into the portal. All the color had gone out of his face and his mouth gaped open in a silent scream.

And then he disappeared into it.

My throat locked up. I'd failed. Penny was gone, too, along with George and Monica. Both of my friends were no longer on Earth, and it was all my fault. I wanted to collapse to the floor and die.

"You!" A. Gist lowered his hands from his face and walked towards me. "You..."

He had a small cut on his cheek. And it oozed blood. Blue blood. My stomach rolled at the sight of it. Just as I felt I was about to vomit, the cut shrank and vanished, taking the blood with it. Whoa. Did the Shadow Regime people all have weird healing powers?

I tried to pull away, but the tall woman seized my other arm and wrenched it behind my back. A. Gist stopped two feet away, staring at me like he'd discovered life on another planet. His eyebrows rose. I didn't like it at all.

"You...you are probably the bravest foe I've had in a while, Rita. Defying me. Going up against the two toughest kids in town. Risking your very life. You are unafraid to do what you have to do. I'm wondering very hard about you."

I sure didn't feel very brave right now, not with A. Gist two feet away from me and my friends already taken through the portal.

"But even if my suspicions about you are right," A. Gist continued, smiling, "it does not matter. You will not escape Procedure Number Twenty-Eight. No one has ever escaped it under my watch."

A. Gist backed towards the portal. The tall woman shoved me forward, keeping a death-grip on my arms. I couldn't find the strength to resist now. I couldn't abandon my friends. The purple swirled around like the mouth of a monster waiting to swallow me up.

But I had to go. I couldn't abandon Penny and Ryan even if no one was shoving me through.

I squeezed my eyes shut and waited. The air around me grew tingly. My feet scraped against carpet, then pavement. But there was no pavement in the office, or inside the school, for that matter.

The tall woman stopped. I slowly opened my eyes.

And nearly died with shock.

I stood on a large concrete platform now. Ryan was feet from me, arms seized by Ted and Gabe Cruz. Penny stood just behind him, arms held by George and Monica. I nodded to them, sending them my it's going to be OK nod. Though I knew it wasn't, and the thought made me sick inside.

Their eyes darted around in horror, and it took me only a second to realize why.

We weren't in Westonville anymore.

A dark purple sky stretched above us as far as I could see. No sun. No stars. No anything. Around us, a city of gray and blue buzzed with noise and activity. Long, winding paths weaved between storefronts, tall apartment buildings, and factories. Streetlights shined everywhere and antennas and satellite dishes stuck out of some of the rooftops. Lights glowed inside some low structures nearby that looked like offices.

Glowing billboards rose above the buildings everywhere. There seemed to be dozens of them. And they weren't advertisements for fast food joints, either. Electric blue print read slogans like Teens: Tight Control. One Rule At a Time. Another read Victory is Near! And one even said, Join the War on Teens. It's Not Like You Have A Choice. Yeah, it seriously said that.

There were also people, both men and women, milling around. Some walked. Others drove these silver scooters that all had a curly blue A on the side. I even saw a few that looked like teenagers, but no kids. Everyone had the discolored blue hair, marking them as Shadow Ones. A few patrolled around in armor uniforms and carried some scary-looking clubs, but most had on these boring blue outfits that looked like prison jumpsuits. In a way, I guess they were. As if that wasn't bad enough, each uniform had a dark blue A on the front pocket. Did A. Gist have to put his logo on everything?

I also noticed something else. Nobody smiled, not even the guards.

And on the far side of the city, an enormous blue mansion stood on top of a hill, overlooking the city. Its four towers pointed into the sky. I could guess whose house it was.

I stood there, speechless. This was the world from my vision.

Another pair of feet hit the concrete behind me. I snapped my head around. A. Gist stood in front of the portal, smiling. Which, of course, wasn't good.

On this side, the portal spun inside a metal ring. A computer monitor with a keyboard stood next to it. Bright blue type on the monitor read WESTONVILLE, SEPTEMBER 4, 3:45 PM. A. Gist turned and pressed a few buttons on the keyboard and the portal turned off. The swirling blackness vanished, leaving the metal ring hollow.

Our escape route was gone.

"Be sure to charge this thing later, Gabe," A. Gist commanded. "It looks like the juice is really low after keeping the portal open for that long. I doubt it could even take us ten minutes back or forth. You should have brought them over here a little faster."

"Yes, sir," Gabe mumbled, staring down at his jackboots.

"But first we have another matter to attend to, of course," A. Gist continued, facing me. "Welcome to the Shadow Home World. I would like to inform you three that you will be spending the rest of time here."

A. Gist glared at Gabe out of the corner of his eye. "However, I wanted Procedure Number Twenty-Eight to be more of a...pleasant surprise. I don't like my enemies to know ahead of time what it is. I prefer to tell them myself."

I wanted to say it was just as horrible either way, but decided against it. The last thing I needed was for him to put us through it any faster.

"I was also hoping that you would all run home today," A. Gist went on, switching his gaze between the three of us. "It's so much easier to snatch people out of their own homes than out of public. But two certain people had to mess that up. I warned them not to show you the video, but they didn't listen." A horrible little smile crept onto his face.

I felt like someone had slapped me. No. It couldn't be.

"Dan? Sean?" Ryan's voice trembled as he struggled against his captors. "Y...you're not going to do anything to them...are you?"

A. Gist folded his arms and grinned wider, showing two rows of teeth. My heart sank. "Oh, you'll see both of them soon," he said. "They should have shut up and not defied me. When they found Gabe's videos, they started talking about warning you."

"You knew?" Penny choked out.

"Oh, yes," A. Gist told her. "Josh and Kristina made sure I knew everything Dan and Sean planned to do. It's amazing how willing they were to work for me when I offered some simple gifts."

Great. I should've known. Josh and Kristina had been right by us in the hall when Sean had told me about the disc. Of course they'd found out about it and told A. Gist. How could I have forgotten about it?

"Josh and Kristina were very useful to me." A. Gist continued. "First of all, they helped me talk Jerry into putting the sign at the Kool Spot up. After they held him at knifepoint, it was quite easy for me to get him to bend to my will and hang up that sign. The more people fear teenagers, the easier it is to ostracize them."

He paused as if to let it sink in. Jerry hadn't told me about that part. The cousin I loved had willingly banned us?

"The two of them also kept me informed. Finally, they led me right to you," A. Gist went on. "I'm afraid their usefulness has worn out, however. They're both bound for a boot camp at last. I have no more use for such stupidity. That's fine with me, because the three of you will more than make up for them. I prize intelligence and bravery in my servants."

My insides coiled into a knot. "No!"

A. Gist took a step towards me, eyes shining with cruel victory. "You should've accepted what's true, Rita. There's nothing you can do against me or my rules. Soon, I'll gain control over teenagers everywhere."

I looked away—anything was better than a view of him gloating—only to see the Shadow Home World all around me. The gray and blue buildings looked more menacing than before and the dark purple sky showed no sign of light. Nausea rose up through me. Would I have to call this place home forever, taking orders from A. Gist himself? Yuck. Yuck! Billboards stared down at me from everywhere with their War on Teens messages. A question burned in my mind, the same one I had since that night it all started.

"Why do you hate us so much?" I asked. "Teenagers, I mean? Why do you dedicate your lives to making us miserable?"

"I have to admit that's a very good question." A. Gist scratched his chin. "I don't actually hate any of you. I'm just doing the job that was handed to me by my boss." He looked around at his surroundings and then back to me. "We Shadow Ones wage war on teenagers because you're the future of humanity. You always have been. When we succeed at oppressing you, we succeed at oppressing humanity, because you will grow up knowing nothing else and with no will to fight back. My boss will be very, very happy when we achieve this. It'll pave the way for...greater things. And it will happen soon."

"No. You won't," I croaked. This was way, way bigger than I thought. He was looking to control everyone. I didn't want to imagine what would happen after he won, or who he worked for.

"Oh yes, we will," A. Gist said, folding his arms. "One rule at a time. Our takeover is so gradual, your peers don't even know what's happening to them. Look at all the wonderful new laws popping up against you. The rules. The curfews. None of those were there when your parents were young."

A pit seemed to open inside me. He was right. All the city curfews and driving laws and everything—my parents never had those. They were all new, a part of his campaign.

"This is ridiculous," Penny said, trying to wrench out of George's grip. "You're just doing this because someone's telling you to?"

A. Gist smiled, turned, and walked towards the edge of the concrete platform. He descended a few stairs leading down to one of those winding paths. "Bring them this way. Tera, don't you dare let Rita run away."

Tera, the tall woman, shoved me down the steps and didn't seem to care if I tripped and died. The sound of shoes scraping against pavement followed as the Shadow Ones forced Penny and Ryan along behind us.

Now they paraded us through traffic with A. Gist marching in the lead, cape flowing. Scooters hummed past and Shadow Ones stared at us. And it could've just been me feeling sorry for myself, but it seemed like a lot of them gave me looks of sympathy. We got a lot of sad nods and headshakes. They knew what was going to happen to us, because the same thing had happened to them.

A pair of women in blue jumpsuits stood outside of a gray building with the glowing blue words A Systems Bank, chatting. Tera pushed me past them, and both of them fell silent like a funeral procession was going past. A woman with blond and blue hair met my gaze. She frowned and leaned towards her companion. I heard her words even after we'd passed. "Sad...when we bring in kids...lives are over..."

Geez, that made me feel better.

A. Gist walked faster now, past a cell phone booth labeled A. Mobile. Bad sign. Just ahead the walkway curved past a low gray building with narrow windows. We made our way around the curve, and at last I saw what lay ahead of us.

Let me tell you this: it wasn't good.

Chain-link fence stretched across the pavement and behind the offices, blocking off a big open area. Barbed wire coiled and twisted on top. Straight ahead was a gate between two dark blue guard shacks. Two blue-armored guards, both men holding clubs, stood aside like soldiers as A. Gist approached. One pressed a button inside the guard shack and the gate started to slide open by itself. The squealing of metal on metal filled the air and a low groan escaped from my throat.

"We're almost there," A. Gist said without looking back. He sounded like a parent driving his child someplace fun. If "fun" meant the dentist.

The stony-faced guards looked straight ahead as we passed. Maybe they had to by order. I scraped my shoes against the pavement as I passed through the gate, trying to slow down. No use. Tera practically rammed into me, forcing me forward so much I had to catch my balance. When I stood back up a large, blue sign stared me in the face.

YOU ARE ENTERING SECTOR F

JUDICIAL DISTRICT

COURTHOUSE

MAXIMUM SECURITY PRISON

ARENA

CONVERSION CHAMBER

RECOVERY CENTER

We were on the edge of the city now, because the brown wasteland spread out past this area. No people milled around this area, and I didn't blame them. A small courthouse made of blue and gray marble stood a short distance away. I had a feeling the trials it held weren't exactly fair. Behind it loomed the prison, complete with four guard towers and spotlights. On the other side of me, a huge bowl made of blue marble and glass towered over us: the arena. I didn't even want to know what happened in there.

Oh, and there was also no escape. Fence and barbed wire boxed in the Judicial District on all sides. Even we managed to break free, we had nowhere to go.

A. Gist's voice cut into my thoughts. "That's where we're going!"

Just yards away a shiny, metallic dome waited for us. Four sinister glass towers boxed it in and pointed at the sky. A fifth tower jutted up from the top of the dome and rose above the others. Glass claws curled from the top of each tower.

Ryan gagged behind me and Penny let out a squeak. My heart hammered as I read another blue sign next to the glass door:

CONVERSION CHAMBER

PROCEDURE NO. 28

RESTRICTED ACCESS

A. Gist strode forward and opened the glass door. "Rita. Penny. Ryan." He paused after each of our names. "Welcome to Procedure Number Twenty-Eight."

### Chapter Sixteen

The inside of the Conversion Chamber building was worse than I'd imagined. It looked like a mad scientist's lab. A very rich mad scientist's lab. Wires ran everywhere inside the dome and over our heads. Some even glowed with an eerie blue light. A computer monitor with a bunch of controls hung on one wall, along with an old-fashioned lever that might have once been used on an electric chair. In the back, a glass holding cell waited. And did I mention it was freezing in here?

But that wasn't the worst part.

Something that looked like a very tall glass phone booth stood in the middle of the room, complete with a door. I realized it was the bottom of the dome's middle tower. And instead of a phone, this booth had a pair of manacles hanging from the inside walls.

Every ounce of strength drained from my limbs. I wanted to scream. I wanted to cry. Only a croak escaped me. So this was where they were going to put us, one by one. This was where we'd endure the horrible transformation. This was where our fight was going to end forever. And the worst thing was that there was nothing I could do about it.

Behind me, Ryan gulped audibly.

A. Gist reached the glass booth, turned, and raised a single hand. The door slammed shut behind us, followed by the clicking of a lock. Silence followed.

I stared at glass booth and had to choke back a scream. I'd guessed what it was for. "No."

"Yes!" A. Gist said. He snapped his fingers and faced his minions. "Now take Penny and Ryan to the holding cell."

Ryan cussed at the top of his lungs as Gabe and Ted dragged him towards the back of the room. George and Monica followed with Penny in tow. She had her mouth closed like she'd throw up any second.

A door squeaked open. I tried to stand taller to see what was going on, but Tera's grip got painfully tight on my wrists. Ted muscled Ryan into the cell with his meaty arms and Monica pretty much just watched as George shoved Penny in. Some thumps sounded and the door slammed shut with a click. Finally the Shadow Ones moved out of the way. Ryan and Penny stood shut inside the holding cell, palms pressed against the glass.

"Good work," A. Gist said smugly. "It looks like everything will go smoothly now."

I gulped. They hadn't bothered to put me in the holding cell, too. That could only mean one thing.

A. Gist turned to face me. "Rita," he said slowly, "you will be the first inside the Conversion Chamber."

Yikes. My legs turned to rubber as the full horror of what was about to happen crashed down on me. I fought to get some last insult out at him, but the words wouldn't come. My throat had locked up.

A. Gist raised his voice enough for everyone to hear. "Penny and Ryan will get to watch before it's their turns. It's a shame you didn't get to watch the two conversions earlier."

I felt as if someone had slugged me in the stomach. The two earlier? "Dan? Sean? You already—"

"Yes. You're right! I brought Dan here this morning. We pulled him right out of his house as he was getting ready to go to school."

I swallowed. Dan hadn't been in class this morning. I felt hollow inside with horror, like someone had scooped out my insides. A million insults raced through my head, but I only managed to get out one word: "Oh."

"You didn't!" Ryan yelled from the holding cell. Even from here, his face looked like paste.

A. Gist ignored him. "We pulled his short friend through at lunch, as he crept off down the halls to the computer lab. He was probably trying to find more stuff to warn you with."

I clenched my fists so hard my arms trembled behind my back. My throat finally unlocked. "But why them? I thought your beef was with me, whatever it is!"

He adjusted his hat. "They knew too much and were spreading information about the Shadow Regime. That was enough justification for me. Now, if I could only find whoever keeps posting those videos..." he trailed off, muttering something under his breath.

Bile rose in my throat. If A. Gist was right, Dan and Sean had already faced the Conversion Chamber. They'd already joined the Shadow Regime. They'd risked their lives to try to save us from this, and that was their reward.

"Oh, don't worry," A. Gist mocked in a sarcastic, soothing voice. "You'll see them both very soon in the Recovery Center. Friends should always stick together, you know."

Bang! Ryan kicked the inside of the holding cell. I jumped at the noise. Ryan's face was purple. Yes, purple. No exaggeration. Even Penny backed away from him. "I knew Dan since kindergarten!"

"Oh, it's not like he's dead," A. Gist shrugged and let his arms fall to his side like this was no big deal. "Far, far from it. In fact, he will never die."

"What you did to him is worse than death!" Ryan pounded against the glass with all his might. He'd had enough, enough of losing all the people in his life, and now he was finally exploding. I prayed he'd break the glass, or at least distract the guards for a while. But the glass held up. And A. Gist stood there, unfazed by the temper tantrum. A little smile crept back onto his face as he watched. He was enjoying this. Right then, I had a lot of choice words for him, things along the lines of what Josh and Kristina were probably saying about him right now.

Ryan gave up and fell to the back of the cell, chest heaving. He covered his face in his hands and slid to the floor. Penny squashed herself against the wall and watched with a quivering lip. It was official. My friends had given up hope. I couldn't even find the words to stand up for them anymore. It was as if this room had sucked them out of me.

"Why are you acting like this?" A. Gist asked innocently. "You should know all the things you'll enjoy after your transformation. You will live forever and never, ever get sick. You will be ageless, so none of my rules will affect you anymore. And you'll like being Shadow Ones!"

Um...yeah, right. As if in agreement, Gabe Cruz stood behind the other Shadow Ones, shaking his head no. Monica looked down and ran her hand through her head of black hair, and Ted swallowed and wrung out his wrists. And those people out on the streets hadn't looked too happy, either.

"Before we begin, I must read you the official notice," A. Gist went on.

He waved his right hand through the air, and a brilliant flash of blue light appeared around it. I jumped, but it vanished a split second later. A. Gist held a piece of paper, one covered in shiny blue print. It looked like a legal document of some kind. He lowered the paper, stood taller, and began to speak.

"Rita, Ryan, and Penny," A. Gist read. He spoke louder. "You are sentenced to Procedure Number Twenty-Eight. You shall be placed, one by one, into the Conversion Chamber. Shadow energy shall be passed through your bodies until you become one of us. You shall then spend the rest of time as members of the Shadow Regime, completely under my command." A. Gist smiled and rolled the piece of paper up, which vanished in another flash of bright blue light. He strode over to the Conversion Chamber (with a huge grin on his face) and opened the glass door to the towering glass booth. There he stood, holding the door open.

"Gabe," he commanded, "Tera. Bring her forward."

Gabe Cruz jogged at me, looking down at the floor. Tera released my left arm just as Gabe seized it. Great. I was outnumbered. I wanted to just scream, to just bellow insults at A. Gist, but nothing came out but a croak. Tera and Gabe forced me towards the Conversion Chamber, which loomed larger in front of me. The door stood open, waiting.

Penny's voice cut in, shrill and desperate. Finally she could speak. "It doesn't have to be this way! Why can't you just leave us alone?"

A. Gist whirled to face her. "Yes, it does. How else do I maintain my power? What better way to deal with people like you?"

I was two feet from the Chamber now. A panic I hadn't thought possible exploded through me, and my dumb paralysis broke. Screaming at the top of my lungs, I raised my foot and landed it on the doorway.

"You're only making this harder on yourself!" A. Gist taunted. Like I cared. I was not going in there.

Tera shoved harder. My muscles burned with the effort as I fought to keep my foot on the doorway. If it slipped, I'd go flying into the Chamber. And I knew what would happen after that.

"Get...in!" Tera breathed.

Something sharp rammed into the side of my knee. A jackboot. Tera had started kicking at my leg. Another kick came and pain surged up my shin. I gritted my teeth, refusing to move.

"Oh, come on!" A. Gist said, standing there like an impatient little kid. "Are we going to have to break some limbs?"

Yes, they would.

The tall woman kicked me in the side of the leg a third time, this time so hard spots flared in my vision. And my foot slid off the door frame.

Okay, maybe they wouldn't. Because now I went flying into the Chamber itself. I hit the back wall, rattling the glass of the booth. I whirled around to get the heck out of there, but Tera yanked my right arm to the side. Something cold closed around my wrist. Crap. A manacle! Before I could react, Tera wrenched my other arm to the side, and the second manacle closed around my other wrist. I lunged forward, but they held and almost cut into my skin. Hope drained from me. I was trapped in the Conversion Chamber.

"There," Tera breathed, backing away. She glanced at A. Gist out of the corner of her eye like she expected him to start yelling at her.

A. Gist slowly stood there, arms folded. George leaned against the wall with a smirk. Ted and Monica stood up against the wall, shifting leg to leg. Gabe Cruz stood two feet away, eyes darting back and forth. He looked almost as nervous as I felt.

But that meant I might still have hope. Gabe went through this nightmare a few months ago. He would have to understand.

I lowered my voice. Here I was, begging. It was unthinkable. "Gabe, help us."

Gabe twisted his face in thought. His gaze rolled down the floor as his chin quivered. He shifted from leg to leg. Bad sign.

At last he spoke. "I can't. I'm under orders. I'm not allowed to help humans unless they're working for A. Gist."

"That's right," A. Gist said triumphantly. "He can't help you, Rita. He no longer has any free will when I'm around. You'll understand that soon enough."

"But..." I sputtered, "You know what this feels like." I glanced at the other Shadow Ones standing around. "You all do. Please!"

"I'm sorry." Gabe shot me a narrow-eyed look. "I mean...just look at me."

"Move out of the way," A. Gist commanded him.

Gabe nodded to me and stepped to the side, like he was trying to communicate some secret to me. A. Gist took his place at the doorway.

"I have another problem, Rita," he said. "I do hope you can help. You see, I don't know who keeps posting those videos of Gabe here, but I have a feeling you may be connected to them. I'd love information. As in, I want names. The more you give me, the more I will consider letting you out of the Conversion Chamber unscathed."

A. Gist's eyes gleamed with delight. He'd never make good on letting me out. I stood against the back of the Chamber and shot him my dirtiest look. The thought of letting him terrorize others made me sick. And besides, I didn't know what the heck he was talking about. How was I supposed to know who posted those videos?

"Do you realize what kind of situation you're in?" A. Gist continued. "You have no other escape, Rita. Cough up some names. That's all you have to do, and perhaps your sentence will be lifted."

Just behind A. Gist, Gabe Cruz shook his head no again. I couldn't give him any names (even if I wanted to), but I had to find a way to stall, too.

"Okay," I said. "I know who did it. I'll give you the names I know."

"First and last names, please," A. Gist said.

I sucked in a breath. "Santa Claus!" I yelled at the top of my lungs. "The Tooth Fairy! Mr. Gorfel!"

The smile dropped from A. Gist's face and his mouth fell open. "You don't want to escape, Rita?"

"You said so yourself that no one's escaped this. You wouldn't have let me go anyway."

"You're right, Rita." His hand moved to the open door of the Chamber. "I was just hoping to make my job a little easier."

I would've loved to throw up on him just then. But my stomach was empty, so I settled on the next best thing. I spit. Yeah, it was gross, but I had to get one last stab at him before I lost my free will forever.

A. Gist stood as if slapped. His jaw slowly dropped as his eyes grew wide with understanding. "I knew it," he said. "It is you. I was right."

He slammed the glass door shut, sealing me inside the Conversion Chamber.

I wanted to melt and die. This was it, this was really the end. My vision blurred, but I blinked the tears away. A. Gist wanted me to cry and beg, and I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction.

Total silence fell. A. Gist strode to the side of the room towards the computer monitor and the scary-looking lever. He pressed several buttons on the keyboard and the screen started to glow. Wait. Maybe Gabe had planted the virus on it. That must be what he was nodding at me about.

If I saw the Blue Screen of Death right then, I swore, I would never gripe about computers crashing ever again. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't move. All I could do was wait for the virus to kick in and save my butt.

It didn't.

Bright blue print rolled across a black screen and the monitor beeped. It was working. A. Gist hit a few buttons, leaned at the screen, and cranked down the lever. He whirled around, crossed his arms, and stared in my direction.

Ice seemed to race through me. A whirring noise started up from above. I looked up the Chamber to realize I could see all the way up to the top of the tower and to the purple sky. The tips of the glass claws started to glow electric blue.

A howl escaped me. I couldn't help it. It was really all over. My days of standing up to anything—and being me—had come to an end. I'd never see my family or my home again.

The blue glow got brighter above me. Glowing tendrils of light snaked down the glass at me like a hungry alien beast. I pulled against the manacles and shrunk down (no use), but the glow only came down faster. The glass walls around me started glowing. A blue light bathed the entire room and A. Gist stood there and watched, grinning wider and wider.

Ryan pounded against the glass again. "Let her out!"

My hair stood on end. The blue tendrils grew thicker and thicker around me, hiding the rest of the room from view. Now I stood inside a box of light. A tingle raced across my skin and filled my whole body. And I felt sick. Not just queasy, but I'm-going-to-die sick. I slumped in place and would've gone to the floor if the manacles weren't holding me up.

A flash of blue light exploded at me, and a vision of A. Gist standing there in front of the dark purple sky took its place. "You should have just accepted what's true, Rita. There's nothing you can do against me or my rules. That's just the way it is."

"No," I managed.

With another flash, he disappeared. Only blinding blue light danced around me. My stomach rolled and protested.

The blue light shot upwards, tearing through me like an energy hurricane. It sapped me of all my strength...Ryan and Penny screamed somewhere...my vision dimmed...a dense fog filled my mind...and then I was gone.

### Chapter Seventeen

I groaned. My limbs trembled with weakness and my stomach gurgled and rolled. A chill swept over me, so I pulled the blanket over myself.

Great. I probably had the flu.

A fog like no other filled my mind. Like someone had put my brain through a blender and stuffed it back into my head. Now I had to get up and tell my mom there was no way I was going to school.

I struggled to open my eyes and finally succeeded.

Wait. This wasn't my room.

This was some kind of hospital room. Plain white sheets covered me and plastic rails guarded me on both sides of the bed. Blue and white checkered curtains blocked out everything except the opposite wall. I looked around for a doctor, or my parents, or even an orderly. Nobody. No call button sat next to me. Nothing but a black leather-bound book sat on the bedside table. What kind of hospital was this? I didn't even have a TV playing some boring soap opera.

Something wasn't right.

I sat up a little and the room spun around me. Someone shifted on the other side of the curtain. So I wasn't alone in here.

There were several tall, narrow windows across from me. A dark purple sky stretched out over a city of tall buildings in the distance. Next to a window hung a white sign with bold black lettering:

RECOVERY CENTER

PLEASE REMAIN IN BED AND REST

READING MATERIAL IS PROVIDED

A horrible thought, a muddled yet terrifying thought, slowly crept to the surface of my mind. I tried to shove it down, to bury it, but it refused to go away. Maybe I could go back to sleep, and I'd wake up in my room. This crap would go away. I leaned back and stared at the tiled ceiling. I tried to close my eyes, but I couldn't now. How could I sleep, not knowing for sure?

Someone groaned from somewhere farther down the room. It sounded like Ryan.

I should get up after all. Maybe it would clear the thick mud from my mind.

I sat up and the room spun again. Once it stopped, I swung my legs around the edge of the bed and started to stand.

Uh, oh.

I froze in place as if slapped. The horrible thought sprang all the way up to the surface of my mind.

I wore an ugly blue jumpsuit. With a curly A sewn on the front pocket.

Without thinking about it, I reached back and grabbed a handful of my hair. Here it came. The moment of truth. I yanked it in front of my face, heart pounding. No. Please no. For the love of all things good, please no.

A gagging sound rose in my throat. Mixed in with my long brown hair were several thin streaks of bright blue hair.

I fell back onto the bed, the world spinning around me. I yanked the sheet over myself and crammed my head under the pillow in shame.

"NOOOOOOOOO!"

Okay, my reaction was straight out of a movie, but I think I'd earned the right. Everything I'd done was for nothing. It had all been useless, hopeless. I had become one of them.

I spiraled down into total misery, staring at the darkness underneath the pillow. I never wanted to come out. I just wanted to disappear.

Now my day couldn't possibly suck any worse.

Ryan's groggy voice cut in from somewhere. It sounded muffled from under the pillow, but it was definitely him. "Uh? Someone screamed."

"What the—" Penny began somewhere.

I lifted the pillow from my head. Penny and Ryan were here too. I could guess that they were suffering the same fate as me.

Blankets rustled. "What am I wearing?" Ryan asked. "Where—" He started to scream.

Listening to my friends only made me feel worse, if that was possible. If only we'd run from the office as soon as Mr. Gorfel had run into the hall. If only we hadn't gone to the office at all. None of this would've happened.

At last, silence fell. It was somehow worse. I buried my face in the pillow again, half-hoping to suffocate. Penny sniffled on the other side of the curtain. I don't know what Ryan was doing, but it sure wasn't smiling. He'd probably passed out from the horror of it all.

I'd failed them. I'd failed, period.

I lay there for several minutes like a rock and finally gave up trying to suffocate. Get a grip, I thought. You're Rita Morse. Do something!

My silent pep talk did nothing to make me feel any better. What could we do, other than sit here and feel miserable? "Now what?"

No one said anything.

I remembered a book on the night table. Would it have anything helpful? What was it, anyway? I forced myself to sit up, averting my gaze from the jumpsuit I was stuck in. The black book waited on the night table. Like everything else in this world, it had a shiny blue A on it. It also had some blue lettering on the spine:

The Book of Rules and Regulations.

"Maybe there's something in this book," I choked out. Well, we had nothing else to go on. "Do you guys have one?"

"Yeah." Penny sniffled again. "I don't think it's there to help us, though."

"It's all we've got." I started to lift the cover.

"Drop that!"

I jumped and dropped the book onto my lap. Gabe Cruz stood at the foot of my bed, ashen-faced and wide-eyed. He breathed heavily as if he'd just run across an entire state.

"What are you doing here?" I snarled. Blood roared in my ears at the sight of him. He'd done nothing to help us out.

"Don't read the book!" Gabe waved his arms and looked up and down the room. "Don't even open the cover. If you do, you'll never get out of here!"

"O...okay," Ryan said somewhere.

I sat bolt upright and glared right into Gabe's huge brown eyes. "You helped do this to us!"

Hatred pulsed through me. I wanted to hurl myself at him and start pounding, but my wobbly limbs wouldn't let me. So I settled for the next best thing. I grabbed the lamp off the night table and hurled it at Gabe as hard as I could. He jumped to the side as the lamp exploded on the floor.

"Please! Listen!" Gabe put his hands in the air. "Do you think I wanted to? I had no choice—"

"I hate you!" I screamed at him, sliding out of bed and landing on the floor. "You helped ruin my life!"

"I didn't want to. I was forced. He ordered me to do those things. When he orders us to do something, it's like being a puppet on a string. Your free will disappears and you can't control what you're doing."

I froze and unclenched my fists. Oh, yeah. That.

"Well, what are you doing here now?" I snapped.

"Did any of you three read the book yet?" Gabe looked back and forth across the room again.

"I haven't," Penny said from the other side of the curtain.

"Me neither." Ryan made a gagging sound. "I can't believe this happened."

"Good," Gabe said. "There's still hope."

"Hope?" I asked. Now he wanted to help? "We're stuck here. And you said you couldn't help us."

"I said that I couldn't help humans," Gabe said, nodding. "Well...I can help you now. Do you think you can walk?"

I forced myself to stand. No easy feet, considering that my legs still felt weak. "You can help now? Wow, great timing."

"As long as we keep this quiet," Gabe went on. "And as long as none of you opens that book. What we're about to do is make use of a loophole."

Loophole. The word rolled through my head, slowly making more and more sense. It sounded even better than you've won a million dollars or Mr. Gorfel got fired. Maybe we could reverse the transformation, or at least get back to Earth. Hopefully both.

"Why can't we open the books?" Penny asked as the bed creaked on the other side of the curtain.

Gabe shook his head. "I can't tell you. Take it with you, though. Look at it when you're human again—it'll be safe to look at it then—and then you will understand everything."

Ryan echoed my thoughts exactly. "You can get us out of here? Seriously? This isn't some sick joke?"

Gabe smiled a little. "No joke. As long as you can all walk. The transformation takes a lot out of you. They put you in here because it takes a couple of days to regain your strength. Now, we need to move before someone comes in here to assign you jobs." He faced me and grimaced. "A. Gist said he was going to come here and do that personally. That can't be good."

Shudder. I didn't even want to know what he'd make me do. Probably polish his boots for all eternity. Or clean bathrooms, if Shadow Ones even needed them. That thought got me moving. I stopped at the wall next to Gabe and leaned on it. Yeah, it was still hard to stand.

Ryan staggered out from behind the curtain. He was stuck in the same jumpsuit as me. His hair now looked like a blue fire perched on top of his head. "Oh." Ryan clutched his stomach. "I don't feel so good."

I ignored him. Feeling like crap was the least of our problems. "Penny! Do you think you can get up?"

"I think so."

I peered around the curtain. Penny sat up on the hospital bed and gazed at the floor like she wanted to melt into it. Her short black hair now had wavy blue stripes running down through it.

"We don't have a lot of time," Gabe reminded us, nervous. "A. Gist told me to charge the portal. That's the only way we'll be able to get near it. The thing is, charging it only takes a few hours. After that he'll go check on it."

"How long were we out?" Penny asked.

Gabe backed towards a steel door at the end of the room. "Two hours. We have got to go!"

Penny managed to stagger out of bed. I leaned against the wall and looked down the length of the building. A row of ten beds, all with curtains, sat in here. Nothing else. One had the white sheets thrown off—Ryan's—but two beds farther down the room had curtains drawn.

Uh, oh.

"Who—" I began.

"No." Gabe tapped my arm. "There's nothing you can do."

"Dan?" I called. "Sean?"

I staggered toward the two beds. I heard a page turn behind the closest one, and my stomach dropped. No. It couldn't be. It would be too late if—

"Dan! Sean!" I called again. "We can get out of here."

I reached the first curtain and pulled it back.

Dan sat up in bed, also in a blue jumpsuit. Little spots of blue had appeared all through his hair. And he looked completely engrossed in a copy of The Book of Rules and Regulations. He didn't even look up as I stood there, staring at him.

Dan turned another page of the book. At last he spoke, sounding as if someone had died. "I have to finish reading this."

"You can read it later," I demanded. "Gabe says we can get out of here."

"I can't read it later," Dan said. "Get out of here if you can, Rita. I can't go anywhere. I'm doomed."

### Chapter Eighteen

Frustrated, I staggered over to the next set of drawn curtains. If I couldn't persuade Dan to come with us, then maybe Sean could.

"Sean?" I asked, pulling them back.

He sat up in bed, hair completely blue. His nose was buried in the black book as well. My stomach turned at the sight of it.

"I can't go anywhere either," Sean said, answering my question. "Dan's right. You should get out of here."

"Look, I'm sorry I took so long to watch those videos, and I'm sorry I got you into this mess." My voice shook. "I didn't realize you were being followed and spied on. You're going with us if I have to drag you!"

Gabe Cruz spoke just behind me. "There's nothing you can do, Rita! Even if we do drag them the portal won't take us back far enough to help them. They were put in the Conversion Chamber hours before you. We have to go."

I turned to Gabe. "We can't leave them. They were just trying to help us. We can't do that!"

"Go," Dan yelled. "You can't help us."

Ryan pushed his way around Gabe, nearly falling in the process. "You're coming with us."

But Dan wouldn't have it. "Get out of here. You can't do us any good!"

Gabe took my arm. "We have to leave. I'm very sorry. There's nothing we can do."

I let out a breath. Penny's chin wobbled. Even Ryan stopped. There was no way we could get the two of them out of here if they refused. We didn't have the strength.

"We just can't do this," I said, deflating. "Why can't they just follow us out of here? They risked everything to help us."

"Exactly," Ryan said.

"And it'll all be for nothing if we don't go." Gabe tugged my arm and headed for the door.

Gabe pushed open the steel door, which led right outside. I wanted to say something to Dan and Sean, but my throat locked up. What could I tell them? Sorry we have to leave you in the Shadow Home World for all eternity? I wanted to throw myself down on the concrete and pound it, but that wouldn't do any good. If this was my only shot, I couldn't blow it.

The purple sky stretched out overhead and a silver dome with five towers blocked some of the city from view. The back of the Conversion Chamber building. I shuddered. What a great memory.

"Are there any guards around here?" Penny asked.

"No. Except me," Gabe said, waving us around the silver dome. "We're the only ones allowed in this area. Now come on." He faced me. "This is your only shot out of here, Rita. You have no idea how important you are."

How important I am? Suddenly, it hit me. "You're...you're the one who left me that note that morning."

"Yeah, it was me," Gabe continued as we rounded the building and made our way across the open pavement. "Someone else wrote the note and sent me to leave it, but I'm not allowed to say who did. They swore me to silence. I wasn't even allowed to read the note, so I couldn't know if I was helping you or not. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to do it. But now that I think about it, someone knows about you and wants to keep you safe, Rita. You are—I mean were—the last of your kind."

"Huh?" Ryan asked, looking up from the ground. He couldn't be feeling too good, leaving his two friends behind.

"The last of my kind?" I echoed, trying to keep up with him. I wobbled on the pavement, reeling. "I'm confused."

"Well," Gabe turned back to me, "You will be the last of your kind again when you get out of here."

"What do you mean?" I asked, catching up to him.

Gabe faced me as he walked. "Rita," he said slowly, "I heard you have powers of some sort. You just had no idea you ever had them. Have you ever felt anything weird?"

"Powers?" I sputtered, tripping over my own feet. "Me? How could I—"

He picked up the pace. "When you're mad, do you ever feel anything strange? And not to mention, are you always trying to protect people?"

Something tickled at the back of my mind—the weird electric pulses in my arms that I'd felt a few times that week. Now that I thought about it, they happened only when I got mad, like all the times in Mr. Gorfel's class. What if Gabe was onto something?

I didn't say anything, as I still didn't know what to make of it. I'd worry about potential powers after I got out of here.

Gabe quickened his pace to a jog. I struggled to keep up. Penny tripped and held us for a few seconds. After she got up, Gabe led us in the direction of the arena.

"We'll have to go behind the arena and over the fence," he said. "The guards are still at the gate. If they see you guys leaving so soon, they'll know something's funny. And it wouldn't be good if A. Gist came strolling in and saw you."

Now we walked between the arena and the brown wasteland. Luckily, nobody was back here, either. Just a bunch of steamrollers and construction trucks sat back here in a row.

"H...how are we going to get over that?" Ryan asked.

I saw what he meant. Ahead was the fence that divided the Judicial District from the rest of the city. The office buildings clustered just on the other side of it, but between us and that sat the horrible tangle of barbed wire.

Gabe sighed. "We have to climb. There's no way the guards will let me take you through the gate. I had to sneak over this way coming to get you guys."

Suddenly the barbed wire looked a lot sharper. "Gabe, are you insane?"

Penny asked, "How much time do we have?"

Gabe swallowed. "Not that much. Once the portal's fully charged A. Gist will come inspect it to see if he can yell at me for something. And if he finds out what I'm doing," he glanced in the direction of the prison, "it's going to be that. For a very long time." He wiped his sweaty palms off on his blue pants and looked again at the barbed wire.

"But you said this is a loophole," Penny told him, voice trembling. "If it's legal, how can he—"

"Do you think he cares?" Gabe asked. "Trust me. He doesn't. All you have to do is make him mad, and you're in there. Now we have to get over this fence. It's designed to keep humans in more than...us."

"That's easy for you to say," Ryan said. "You're in armor and we're in these suits."

I gritted my teeth. I wasn't about to let a fence keep me from getting back home. "I'm going over. I am not going to stay like this for the rest of time."

Ryan eyed the wire. "Do you realize how bad we're going to get cut up?"

"It won't matter," Gabe told him. "Did you forget that you're supposed to be immortal now and that you'll heal up right after you get hurt?"

My limbs felt a little stronger now, but not much. And only when I started climbing the fence did I realize I was barefoot. My toes curled around the cold metal of the fence. Swell. There were probably shoes back at the Recovery Center, but I wasn't going back to get them.

My hands slipped and I struggled to hold on. The world tilted around me again. "Help, please!"

My hand scraped against the wire. Ouch. It felt like fire digging into my skin, but I couldn't stop. My arms quivered with the effort as I began to hoist myself over. A set of hands—Gabe's—caught me and pushed me up. Into the wire, by the way. I tottered in place and tilted over the other side.

I can't describe the pain. The barbed wire cut right into my leg and a ripping sound followed. Hot pain surged up my leg as I fell to the pavement. The fall didn't feel too good, either. Spots flared in my vision as I hit pavement.

"NRRGGGGHHHHH!" I clutched my leg as I rolled into a ball of pain on the ground. Everything turned a fuzzy gray for a moment. When it cleared, I sat up to examine the injury on my leg.

And instantly wished that I hadn't.

A huge rip had appeared in the front of my pants from the knee down. But that wasn't the worst part. A long gash ran from my knee down to my foot, and bright blue blood seeped out of the wound.

"Rita! Don't look at it," Gabe called from the other side of the fence. "It'll heal in a few seconds."

Already the wound had started to pull together. It was weird, to say the least. A tingle ran over my skin as it closed and disappeared. The pain faded to a dull ache and vanished altogether. And the blood was gone, thank all things good and decent. My stomach rolled. I really, really didn't want to see that again. If I got out here, I'd have nightmares for days.

The fence creaked and wobbled, and Ryan landed with a thud next to me and let out a cry of pain. Already Gabe was shoving Penny over. Her leg got caught in the wire, too, and she messed up her face and bit in a scream. She fell from the wire headfirst and hit the pavement with a thud. It was an awful sound. Penny lay on the pavement, limp.

My heart leapt. "Crap," I mouthed, getting up.

"She'll heal in a few seconds," Gabe said, climbing the fence with ease. It helped that he was tall and wearing armor. Instead of fighting his way through the wire like we had to, he stepped on it with one of his jackboots and landed next to us. "Sorry I had to do that to you guys. It was the only way."

Penny stirred, and I breathed a sigh of relief. At least she wouldn't have a head injury that lasted more than ten seconds.

"We're not far now," Gabe said. "Is everyone recovered?"

"I am," I said, helping Penny up. Beside me, Ryan stood and groaned.

"Just walk normally," Gabe said, waving us down the side of the office building. "You'll blend right in."

I glanced down at the jumpsuit I was stuck in. Even the rip had mended. Yes, unfortunately we would.

We ducked down an alley and emerged onto the winding road, nearly getting run down by one of those silver scooters. I ducked under the awning of a building labeled A. Employment Agency and almost tripped over a row of those parked scooters. People walked in and out of buildings and down the road, some carrying files and laptops, but nobody gave us a second glance now. It seemed like we were back in that business district A. Gist had dragged us through. The portal couldn't be more than two minutes away.

"Are you sure no one's going to catch us?" Penny asked. "I don't want to see you get put in that prison."

"I can't be sure," Gabe said. "That's just a risk I have to take. I don't know how much charge is in the portal now. Hopefully, enough to take you back to before you were brought to this place."

"Go back?" Ryan asked. "You mean that portal thing's also a time machine?"

Gabe smiled. I think it was the first time I'd seen him do that. "Exactly. Mostly it's used to go to different places, but it can go back and forth in time just a little. It can't take you back in time very far, though. Maybe half a day when it's fully charged. Time travel takes a huge amount of energy, and this portal doesn't pack very much."

Time travel. I had a hard time wrapping my mind around that one. But hey, I was walking through another world right now, so I guess that made anything possible.

"If it takes us back that far we'll have another chance at not being brought here at all," Penny said. "Now, will we have to warn our past selves about what'll happen, or—"

Gabe swore and froze in place.

Crap. My heart leapt into my chest. About twenty feet ahead, a door swung open to an office building called Investigations. A black jackboot and half a cape came out as the wearer leaned back into the building to talk to someone. "You can rip up that file, Lisa." The man speaking sounded almost giddy. "Case closed. We won't have to torture that Jerry man after all. I can't believe we found her in that place of all places."

"Back!" Gabe mouthed, pointing to a nearby, dark alley.

Good idea. I knew who was coming out.

I backed into it along with Penny and Ryan, nearly tripping on a metal trash can. Gabe followed, practically jogging backwards. My back hit a gray brick wall. I couldn't go back any farther. I just prayed no one on the street pointed down this alley and yelled, "Here they are!"

"W...what if he finds us?" Ryan asked.

Gabe didn't say. Instead, he whispered, "Let's make sure that doesn't happen. Shadow form, everybody. He probably won't see us in this darkness."

"But—" I sputtered, "How are we supposed to? We've never done it before." Not to mention it was creepy. I did not want to look like those shadows that chased us that night.

"Just think about doing it," Gabe said. "Now. I think he's coming."

Footsteps grew louder and louder and echoed off the buildings. A laugh floated down the alley towards us.

I didn't have a choice, unless I wanted to get caught. I thought of going dark and shadowy. The second I did, a chill washed over me. I started to clench my teeth, but the chill vanished a second later.

Gabe ducked down in front of us, turning dark and shadowy until he looked the way he did that day he left me the letter. "Get down."

Heavy footsteps got louder and louder. I ducked down as low as I could, hugging the alley wall. Ryan and Penny did the same. Both of them now looked like silhouettes. I could tell one was Ryan due to the spiky hair, and I could barely see him in the darkness.

I glanced down at my own hands. Black silhouettes. Freaky. Now I looked no different than the shadows that had chased us two weeks ago. I bit in a moan of horror and tore my gaze away.

A. Gist came into view with a broad grin splitting his face. He walked with a swagger that made me feel even sicker. To make matters worse, George and Monica were right behind him. Both of them were now armed with clubs, which hung from their belts. Immortal or not, getting hit with those would still hurt.

I realized something just then: even though I'd gone through the transformation, I still hated his guts. Cold comfort? Yeah. But at least I didn't have an urge to worship him or anything.

"You're definitely getting a bonus for this one," A. Gist told them. "I can't believe we finally got her. I was beginning to think we'd never find her." He stopped in front of the alley, right we stood thirty seconds ago.

"Are you sure she was the one?" George asked. "If it was her, wouldn't you think she would have been harder to take care of?"

A. Gist whirled around to face him. "I know it. I suspected it when I first saw her at the Kool Spot, but I realized it for certain when she spat at me. Luckily for us, she never knew a thing about her abilities. She'll never know now that she's one of us!"

I fought down the urge to throw up. That might blow our cover.

"You don't understand, do you?" A. Gist asked George and Monica. "I have been looking for her for fourteen years. You have no idea what her kind put me through in ages past. So yes, I'm very happy we finally got the last Guardian. Everything has worked out perfectly."

My foggy mind spun again. So Gabe was right. A. Gist had just confirmed that. I did have a past I didn't know about.

A. Gist strode off down the walkway. George and Monica followed him, whispering to each other. Good. I didn't let out my breath until their footsteps had completely faded.

Ryan sighed in relief. "Where's he going?"

"Probably to go gloat," I said. His words stuck in my mind and stung like angry hornets.

Gabe sprung up, stiff as a board. "He's heading back to the Judicial District. That's the only place down that way. I bet he's going for the Recovery Center to assign your jobs."

Penny shot up too. "He'll find us gone."

I stood and watched Penny going from shadowy to normal again. So did Ryan and Gabe. I took that as a cue to do the same, and simply thought of returning to normal. Another chill swept through me, and I lifted my hands to study them. They looked normal. I breathed out another big sigh of relief.

"He'll find you gone and then command Dan and Sean to tell him what happened," Gabe went on. "They won't be able to resist. They will tell him everything they heard."

He had a point. "Let's go," I said. "Or he'll stop us and you'll get in trouble."

We burst out of the alley, nearly running down a couple holding hands. A. Gist had already vanished from the road. He must be walking through the Judicial District by now, in sight of the Recovery Center. Once he found us missing, well, I didn't want to think about that.

"Now!" Ryan said, darting ahead of me. "We have like, two minutes!"

I tripped once on the way to the portal, and in the middle of a crowd, too. My legs still didn't want to work right. Gabe helped me up in a hurry and we sped as fast as they could for that raised, concrete platform. It came into view as we rounded a curve around a big office building. It stood empty except for the computer and the metal ring.

Gabe ran up to the monitor as I bolted up the stairs. "Okay, let's see how much this can take you back."

"How much?" I asked, heart pounding.

"Three hours." Gabe said. "That's it. It's only half-charged."

"We can't wait for it," Penny said, wiping her palms off on her pants.

I agreed. Now or never.

"Exactly," Gabe said. "Still, we have to try. When you go through, you'll find yourselves as you were three hours ago. And you'll have to hit the controls on this thing. I can't do it. I've set your coordinates."

I didn't ask questions and ran up to the monitor. A keyboard waited with a green button on the side labeled Activate. At least this thing was idiot proof, because I couldn't think right now. Small blue print on the screen read Three hour time travel capacity, 52% charged.

"Did you bring the book?" Gabe asked.

"I brought my copy," Penny said.

"Remember, it'll explain everything," Gabe reminded her. "Only look at it when you're human again."

"Dan and Sean," Ryan croaked, staring down at his feet. "They'll be trapped here."

Gabe sighed. "I'm very sorry about your friends. I really am. I wish I could have helped them, but A. Gist never gave me the chance. By time I could get to them, it was too late."

"The book," Penny snarled. "There's something about this book."

I pressed the green button on the control pad, rage exploding through me. Instantly the portal sprang to life. The inside of the metal ring filled with a black-and-purple swirl. I might get out of here, but Dan and Sean were hosed. How many others had faced the Conversion Chamber? Probably everyone in this world.

"Rita," Gabe said slowly. "Don't let this happen to anyone else."

I stood there, speechless. How could I stop this horror from happening to other people?

Gabe saw the confusion on my face and spoke again. "I know you can do something, Rita," he went on. "Hint: get angry."

I waved him over to the portal. "Come with us! Maybe you can get out of here too."

Gabe looked down at the concrete. "I can't. I was transformed five months ago. The portal can't go back that far. And even if it wasn't that long ago, I still couldn't."

"Is it because you read the book?" Penny asked.

Gabe swallowed, silent. That was answer enough for me.

"You should go," he said at last. "The portal's almost out of juice. Good luck."

"Thanks," I managed.

"Oh my god!" Ryan jumped in place.

A bright blue cloud had exploded in the middle of the platform. A human figure stood inside it as it thinned. I knew what was happening.

A. Gist had teleported here.

"Now!" I yelled, running for the portal.

Penny and Ryan darted past me and leapt in. The blue cloud started to clear. A figure stood in the middle of the platform, a tall figure with a brimmed hat and a long cape. I backed away and my knees hit the metal ring. A. Gist lunged at me, his face contorted into rage. I fell backwards, and everything went black once again.

### Chapter Nineteen

"Good work," A. Gist said somewhere in the confusion that followed. "It looks like everything will go smoothly now."

I had my eyes squeezed shut, so I groaned and opened them. Bright light stabbed at my eyes. Wires crisscrossed over my head. A set of hands held my arms securely behind my back. Worst of all, A. Gist stood just ten feet away from me, smiling.

"Wh—" I began, looking around me.

This was not good. Because I stood in the Conversion Chamber building all over again.

The computer and the lever waited over on one wall and a holding cell stood on the other. Penny and Ryan stared at me from the other side of the glass, open-mouthed. I looked down. I wore my shirt and jeans instead of a blue jumpsuit. I was human again.

But I had no time to feel any relief. Just twenty feet away towered the Conversion Chamber, manacles ready. We'd gone back to right before I was pushed in. In other words, I wouldn't stay human for long.

Tera breathed down my back and held my wrists tighter. If she hadn't, I would've collapsed to the floor under my despair and started beating it with my fists. I wanted to scream and throw a tantrum. We didn't deserve this after going through all that!

"Rita," A. Gist said slowly, "since you were the first to defy me, you will be the first inside the Conversion Chamber."

So A. Gist hadn't come back in time with us. The portal must've puked out before he could jump in. But it didn't matter. Either way, we were screwed big time. Even if we managed to go back in time again, the portal wouldn't take us back far enough to avoid this.

"Penny and Ryan will get to watch before it's their turns," A. Gist added, oblivious to the fact that I'd heard this before. "It's a shame you didn't get to watch the two earlier."

George smiled at me. Monica shifted. Gabe stood there, too, swallowing. His words rang through my head. I know you can do something, Rita.

A. Gist stood there impatiently, waiting for my reaction to his news about Dan and Sean. He finally cleared his throat. "I brought Dan here this morning," he said. "We took him right out of his own house this morning after his parents left for work."

I remembered Dan lying there, reading that book, already one of them. He'd probably never be human again, would never go to school again, would never see his family again, would never see his friends again. Same for Sean. This was their reward for helping us. And here A. Gist stood, practically laughing about their fate.

My blood roared in my ears, and I realized something: I was getting angry.

"You should've heard how he and his friend begged," A. Gist continued.

I heaved air in and out of my lungs. My fists closed so hard my fingernails dug into my skin. "Urrrrrrrggggghhhh!" I growled at the top of my lungs. "You...did...this...to...all...these...people..."

A. Gist grinned wider. "That's right. Everyone like you. Your cause is hopeless, Rita."

Everything swirled through my head in that moment: Dan and Sean, Gabe Cruz, all those missing people, Josh and Kristina, Jerry, A. Gist's plot to control humanity, and even that stupid no one under eighteen sign. All of it.

My whole body shook with rage. The flame in my mind grew into a bonfire, then an inferno...and then an explosion... and then an erupting volcano...

An electric thrumming filled my whole body, like a switch inside me came to life.

A. Gist stopped smiling as his jaw dropped in shock. "Oh..."

Tera screamed and let go of me. Electricity pulsed down my arms. George and Monica backed away. Penny and Ryan watched, open-mouthed. The whole room went silent.

Then I saw why.

I lifted my pulsing arms. "Ah!"

An electric green fire blazed to life around my hands. It got brighter and brighter as the pulsing increased. I didn't try to think about it. Whatever it was, it was good because A. Gist didn't like it. It could give us a chance.

The green glow got almost blinding. I'm not sure how I knew what to do, but I raised both my hands towards A. Gist. He didn't move. He stood there and let his arms slap down to his sides.

I couldn't believe what happened next.

A beam of green light shot from my hands and towards A. Gist. Time seemed to slow as it sailed through the air like a meteor, crackling and spitting.

The beam of light slammed into A. Gist. A green explosion pulsed around him as he threw his arms out and flew back, screaming. A bang echoed through the air as he hit the back wall and the glow vanished. He slid to the floor, hat falling over his face.

The glow around my hands died, taking the electric feeling with it. I let my own arms slap back down as it all sank in.

The Shadow Ones stood there looking at me like, well, like I'd just manifested superpowers. Ted backed away almost knocked Monica over with his huge frame. And my friends stood in the holding cell, eyes huge.

It was nothing compared to how I felt. My mind spun insanely. It was true. I wasn't normal, and it was why A. Gist was after me all along.

I couldn't wonder about it now. The Shadow Ones were distracted and A. Gist lay there, knocked out, which meant now was the time to move. He'd recover in no time with his healing powers.

I raced around the Conversion Chamber, footfalls echoing off the dome, and for the glass holding cell. Ryan and Penny stood inside, pinned against the back wall. I tugged at the door, but it wouldn't budge. Crap! Oh, wait—there was a lock on the outside. I lifted the little metal bar and tugged the door open. "Come on!"

Ryan bolted out of the holding cell, dragging Penny by the arm. "L...let's get out of here!"

As if I hadn't planned on that. I whirled around to run, but too late.

A. Gist stood just feet away, straightening out his cape. He'd recovered already. "I knew it. You're the one."

We stopped. He was blocking the way and his minions stood on the other side of the Conversion Chamber. The entrance to the building was locked, too. We still had to try. "The door!"

We thundered for it. Ryan shoved Monica to the side and ran so fast, his hair blew down.

"Block the door!" A. Gist screeched. His voice echoed through the dome. "I won't let her get away again!"

George, Tera, Monica, Ted, and Gabe Cruz all scrambled to stand in front of the door. I skidded to a stop. There was no way we could push through them. They had on the armor and they outnumbered us. I had to get that green light to appear around my hands again.

Penny's voice was shrill in my ears as she slid into me. "No!"

"Move!" I yelled, fists clenched. "You know what I'll do if you don't!" I didn't feel too confident about that, but I had to sound like I did.

The Shadow Ones didn't move, not even Gabe. They couldn't move. Monica swallowed and Tera took a step back. A. Gist had ordered them into my path when he knew what I was capable of. Nice guy.

Footsteps drew closer behind me as a cape swished.

I whirled around as my legs turned to rubber. A. Gist stopped about twenty feet away. He brushed off his shirt (which had smoke coming off of it) and adjusted his hat. Now the worst grin of all crept onto his face.

"I've been waiting for this moment for fourteen years." he said with relish. "After all that searching. After all those headaches, here you are, doomed to Procedure Number Twenty-Eight, ironically enough."

Did he have to gloat all the time or what? "You've been looking for me my whole life?" I asked. I had to stall him until I could bring that power back, or whatever it was. I had to buy us some time. The longer he talked, the longer we'd have. As if to make that point, Ryan nodded at me.

"Yes, I have," A. Gist told me as if I had half a brain. "You're the last of your kind, Rita, and I'm going to make sure of that."

A cold silence followed. Penny and Ryan shifted next to me. No electricity raced up my arms. I urged it to come, but it didn't. Time for more talking—hopefully I could get him to say something to tick me off. "Last of my kind? What are you talking about? And how did you come after me when I was little? My parents never said anything about it. They would've known something for sure."

A. Gist sighed and smacked himself on the forehead. "Oh, come on! Those people you're living with now aren't your biological parents."

I felt as if someone had punched me in the stomach. It couldn't be. Okay, maybe it could. But I'd have to worry about that later. No tingling or green glow appeared around my hands. Shock wasn't going to help it along any. Only anger would.

"It looks like you were placed with the two most boring people in the world to hide you from me," A. Gist went on, "and it worked. For a while. They must have no idea what they're in the middle of. They'll just think you ran away or that Josh and Kristina killed you." He paused and folded his arms. "Your real parents met some...unsavory fates, by the way." He glanced over at Gabe and George. "What are the names of her adoptive parents, anyway? Might be worth knowing."

"Morse. I think," George said.

Uh, oh.

A. Gist's face lit up. The pieces were coming together in his brain. "Morse? Really?" He stared right at me. "Odd. That's Jerry's last name. You know, the guy I had Josh and Kristina threaten? You're not related to him, are you?"

Double uh, oh. I opened my mouth to lie, but nothing came out.

"Interesting." A. Gist snapped his fingers, and with a flash of purple light, another portal opened near the computer monitor. Don't ask me why he didn't need one of those portal rings. Maybe it was because he was the boss. "I'm afraid we'll have to subject him to Procedure Number Twenty-Eight, too. He'll know what happened to you, and I can't have that."

His last words swirled through my head, mocking me. A faint thrumming ran through my arms as I grit my teeth. It was coming back. Now I had to make sure it stayed that way. He wasn't going to pull Jerry into this. Dan and Sean were bad enough.

"No!" I yelled. "Leave him alone!"

A. Gist smiled. "Like you can do anything. You're about to become one of us, and when you do, your kind will be extinct."

I seethed. It was working. Electricity filled my body and pulsed through my hands. A green glow teased the edge of my vision, but I didn't have to look to see what was happening.

"I'm prepared for that this time!" A. Gist yelled, raising his own hands. I realized something just then: he wanted me ticked off. He wanted to fight me.

Uh, oh.

A bright blue glow appeared around his hands as the green glow blazed brighter and brighter around mine. The portal kept spinning. Ryan let out a yell and jumped back. Good idea. All I could do was brace myself for whatever came next.

It all happened very fast. A beam of green light shot from my hands. At the same time, A. Gist shot a blue beam of light. The two collided in midair.

A loud crashing sound filled the dome and echoed off the walls. A jolt ran through my body as the ground trembled under me. I nearly came off my feet. But I caught my footing and squinted. Green light still shot from my hands like water from a fire hose. Beams of light pushed against each other in midair. Green and blue sparks shot away from the bright mess in the middle. A force tried to push me back and I fought to stand up straight. No easy feat. I was locked in a magical battle with the Ruler of All Ageism.

"You can't win, Rita!" A. Gist growled, screwing up his face. He wanted to beat me and humiliate me before the Procedure.

And I wasn't going to let him. I tensed and willed the electric pulses to increase. I had to win. If I didn't, we weren't getting out of here.

Blue light reflected off him as he kept shooting the beam. And slowly, it pushed against my green one. It drew closer and closer. A. Gist started to smile again on the other side of the sparks. Which meant I was losing.

"Make it stronger, Rita!" Ryan yelled in my ear.

The blue beam closed in, ten feet away...nine feet...eight feet...it would knock me over in seconds—or worse. My whole body tensed and shook as the electric pulses raced down my arms. I had to give it all she had or we were hosed.

I gritted my teeth until they hurt. I imagined the green light getting stronger, brighter. Nothing changed. The blue beam closed in and the sparks from the collision rained hot on my skin. A blast of heat hit me in the face. I'd come all this way just to be burned alive. No! I wasn't going to let it end this way.

"Aaaarrrrr!" I turned my thoughts to Dan and Sean again and gave it all I had.

A. Gist grinned broadly now. The blue beam crackled just a foot away. The heat was overbearing. He was about to win after all we'd gone through.

And the pulsing in my hands grew into a surge. I can't describe it any other way. The green beam grew brighter. And then the heat went away and coolness wrapped around my skin. It was a major relief.

I was getting the upper hand at last. The green beam of light got longer and slowly pushed back the blue one. The shooting sparks crept away from me.

"No!" A. Gist yelled. "I'm not going to be beaten by some juvenile delinquent!"

Things seemed to happen on their own now. The world felt far away. The green beam kept shooting from my hands and closing in on A. Gist, inch by inch. His face screwed up again. I seized the rage with all my might and the green beam of light grew brighter and stronger by the second. I was winning, actually winning against the Ruler of All Ageism, and hope rose up in me. We might actually escape. We might actually get out of here.

"You've almost got him!" Ryan practically jumped up and down now. "Whatever you're doing—"

Then the unspeakable happened.

A. Gist looked at his minions and ordered, "Go through the portal and bring Jerry back here!"

Footfalls thudded against the floor as the Shadow Ones ran for the portal. No. He was trying to distract me, and it was working. I couldn't let them go through and bring my cousin into this.

So I did the one thing I could think of.

I turned, barely dodging a stream of blue light, and aimed the green stream at the portal.

It seemed like the whole building blew up.

A deafening boom filled the air. I came off my feet and landed on the floor, which was trembling, by the way. Penny and Ryan landed next to me, covering their heads. The air rippled around me as the green glow died around my hands. Screams pierced the air, followed by a crash and a loud shattering noise.

The air settled and the room quieted down. My ears rang as I sat up.

My hitting the portal with that energy had caused some kind of explosion. The portal was gone and the Shadow Ones were all lying on the floor, A. Gist included. They'd been closer to the portal, so they'd taken the brunt of it. I kind of felt bad for them (except for A. Gist and George.) It wasn't their fault they were in this situation.

Glass covered the floor in the middle of the room. And—I made sure to record this scene in my mind to cherish forever—the Conversion Chamber was broken, leaving only the frame standing on its bottom half. Even the manacles were on the floor.

"Get up!" Ryan yanked my other arm as Penny stood. "Door's open now!"

I sprang up. The shockwave from the explosion had busted the glass door. Which, by the way, had a huge hole in it.

The Shadow Ones started to stir. Now was the time to go.

I burst through the doorway and out under the dark purple sky, practically pulling Penny and Ryan with me. My feet seemed to fly across the pavement on their own.

A. Gist yelled, "Get them! I can't let them get away!"

He was awake. Great.

Footfalls echoed behind us. I glanced back. A. Gist jumped out of the door, minions running behind him. His eyes were wide like the world would end if he didn't catch us. Or that his boss would kill him.

"Omigod. Omigod," Ryan breathed as he ran. "We won't make it in time."

The Judicial District looked a mile across now. We tore past the prison and the courthouse. The gate loomed ahead of us, between the guard shacks. And it was closed.

"Great!" I yelled, hoarse. "Now how do we get over?"

We didn't have time to get over the barbed wire again. It was bad enough with Gabe helping us over. He couldn't help us now, now that we were human again.

"Keep that gate closed!" A. Gist hollered at the guards, who stood on the other side, clubs ready. He didn't sound too far back, either. Footfalls got louder behind us.

Penny hit me on the back. "Knock the gate down. Now!"

We drew closer and the gate loomed taller above us. The world tilted as I ran. I forced myself to think about stuff that ticked me off. Mr. Gorfel. Dan and Sean. Mr. Gorfel. Josh and Kristina. Mr. Gorfel. It worked. The electric feeling pulsed through my arms and gathered in my hands. Green light flickered around my hands and grew. I raised both hands at it, and a blast of green sailed for the gate with a whoosh.

A squeal filled the air when it hit. One of the guards jumped to the side. The other stood with his mouth gaping open as the entire gate wobbled and crashed down on him.

"Sorry!" I called.

A. Gist swore behind us. Close behind us. Jackboots pounded the pavement. Any second I expected to get tackled and kicked.

"Go!" I jumped up onto the fallen gate, which rattled under my feet, and bolted for the even ground on the other side. I nearly lost my balance (it wasn't even with the guard laying under it), but Ryan caught my arm as I started to trip.

"This way," Penny breathed, jumping to the ground and bolting down the curvy path.

We leapt over the stunned guard and thundered down the path, Penny and Ryan right behind me. A scooter dodged out of the way and people ran to the side as we came through. A whole stampede ran into the Employment Agency and slammed the door, even some of the armored guards. I guessed that was so they conveniently wouldn't hear A. Gist's commands to capture us. I wished I could thank them.

And he was yelling, too. "No! Stop them! Block the way!"

The road curved ahead, and the portal waited on its raised platform. We'd have to start it again, set it for home, and jump in all before A. Gist reached us.

"You set the portal and I'll try to hold him off!" I yelled we ran past Investigations.

"Don't let them go through!" A. Gist screeched behind us. "No one escapes me!"

No one was left on the street except a woman on a scooter, who whirled it around to come at us. She was too late, though.

I grit my teeth as I bolted up the stairs behind Penny and Ryan.

The ring was once again off. I prayed it had enough power to get us back. Gabe hadn't charged it yet here in the past.

"I'll set it," Penny ran for the monitor, which still glowed with faint blue letters. It was probably set for home since no one had touched it after we came through the first time. We might have a chance.

"You can't, Rita!" A. Gist howled. "You don't know what you've started!"

I whirled around to see him climbing the stairs, livid. And then I did something that I will treasure the memory of forever.

I raised my foot and kicked him right in the face.

A. Gist let out something like a gasp crossed with a scream as stumbled back down the steps. George and Monica caught him.

"Let's go!" Ryan yelled. He seized my arm and yanked me back.

A. Gist raised his hands again, and already the bright blue glow gathered around them. Time to move. I was done fighting.

Black and purple spun inside the ring. Ryan waved us over and jumped in just as a blast of blue light whizzed past my face. No time to waste.

I pushed Penny through the portal and faced the control panel. A thought hit me.

I had to make sure A. Gist couldn't come after us again.

"No!" He bolted up the stairs. "You don't know what you've done!"

I felt for one last burst of electrical energy. It surged up my arm and shot out of my hand. A green explosion enveloped the control panel, and the purple swirls started to waver inside the ring. I had to jump. Without another look at the Shadow Home World, I took a leap into the fading, swirling darkness.

### Chapter Twenty

I crashed to the floor of the school office. Pain surged through my elbow, but I didn't care. I shot up and spun around. The portal spun in the middle of the office, growing smaller and smaller. It wavered again as if a shock wave had gone through it. Then, with a faint fizzling sound, it simply died.

Silence fell. Penny and Ryan appeared at my side, breathing heavily.

"Let's go." Ryan backed for the office door. "H...he can come back for us any second."

"There's no need," I said, numb. The world seemed like a dream to me. "He'll have to fix the portal before he can even think of coming back here. I made sure of that."

"You...you broke it?" Ryan's jaw fell. And then he did something that I'm sure he'd never have the guts to do in any other situation.

He hugged me.

Sure, it was one of those clap-me-on-the-back hugs, but still. My numbness broke and some heat rose to my cheeks.

He let go after what felt like a whole minute. That's when I got a load of the office. The broken glass from the juice bottle lay on the floor, gleaming in the sunlight. The office chair was tipped over and broken, and the old maroon couch was pulled out from the wall. Papers lay everywhere on the floor. And nobody stood in here besides us.

The clock read ten after four. The portal had put us back to the time shortly after we'd been abducted.

"I can't believe that," Penny choked out, leaning against the door frame. "We escaped. We just might be the first people ever to escape Procedure Number Twenty-Eight."

Her words made it all come back in a rush. I wanted to collapse into that couch and beat it with my fists. Dan and Sean were still trapped in the Shadow Home World, and I had no way to get them out. But I held back. I wouldn't throw a tantrum in front of my friends.

Ryan gestured to the mess. "This all proves it. I...I'm never going to recover from that. I'll have nightmares for the rest of my life!"

That made two of us.

I said nothing and staggered out of the office on shaky legs. My anger melted away as a dull ache thumped across my forehead. Now that the shock was gone, my limbs trembled and felt weak, probably from whatever power I'd used. "Oh..." I groaned, slapping my hand to my forehead.

Penny cut into my exhaustion and took my arm to help keep me standing. "Let's get out of here."

We made our way down the empty hallway without a word, past rows of lockers and classroom doors. Penny's cell phone rang—probably her dad wanted to yell at her for not being home at three—but she reached down and turned it off. Good for her.

"I'll be glad to see him, but I don't need a lecture right now," she said. "I'll have the whole weekend for that. I have a feeling I won't be leaving the house."

Someone had propped an exit door open, and fresh air poured in. It was the best thing I'd ever smelled.

The silence got unbearable as we neared the exit. Penny and Ryan shuffled their feet, but wouldn't look at me. I had to break it.

"My mom and dad," I said. "So they're not my biological parents?"

Penny stared at me and lifted an eyebrow. "I always suspected that, actually. I was just too afraid to say anything. I always noticed how you look nothing like your parents. Your mom's tiny and blond, and your dad's tall with black hair. You've got brown hair. Plus you're creative, outspoken, and fun, and they're...well..."

"Boring?" I asked. "They always try their best to just blend in with everyone else. If they were any more boring, they'd be robots. Not that they're bad parents or anything." I paused. "But you know what? I'll be happy to go get that manicure tonight."

"You? Get a manicure?" Ryan stared at me as if I'd grown horns.

We stepped into the sun and Penny stared at me again. "But how did A. Gist know about your history? He acted like he knew everything about you. He knows more about your past than you do."

I shuddered. Yeah, creepy.

"That's what's bothering me about this," I said. "I don't even know what I am."

"Well, whatever you are, it has to be good if A. Gist hates it." Ryan smiled. "He said your kind caused him lots of trouble in the past. Maybe your real ancestors spent their lives fighting him."

"Maybe." A tingle of satisfaction ran through me at the thought, even though I felt ready to explode with questions as we made our way through the school parking lot. I'd have to do some serious thinking about all this later.

"Look!" Penny pointed to the other side of the pavement.

I snapped out of my confusion and noticed it for the first time. A police car idled twenty feet in front of us. Nobody sat in the front, but seated in the back were—

Ryan snorted and almost leaned over with laughter. "Josh and Kristina!"

I stopped to gawk. Hey, I deserved this after the day I had. Josh and Kristina sat with their arms twisted behind them. In other words, handcuffed. Kristina looked down at her feet, lip quivering. And Josh leaned back against his seat, tears rolling down his cheeks.

Yeah, tears.

"Oh...my...god." Ryan gasped between fits of laughter. "Oh...my...god."

I found myself holding in a fit of laughter, too. I walked past the police car slowly, making the moment last as long as I could. This memory was going to go up there with me kicking A. Gist in the face.

"We should get out of here," Ryan said at last. "The cops are still around here somewhere. I don't want them questioning us."

"You do have a point," I said. Throbbing pain beat at my head and my legs threatened to give out. I didn't feel like having to tell the cops about Josh and Kristina today. Tomorrow would be better. Collapsing on my couch sounded like a much better idea.

"There they are!"

So much for that.

I turned. Mr. Greywood, Mr. Gorfel, and two police officers ran at us from the direction of the science wing. Mr. Greywood held an ice pack to the side of his head. Poor guy. And sweat rolled down the sides of Mr. Gorfel's face. Both teachers heaved out a huge sigh of relief and stopped a few feet away.

"So you're okay," the Gym teacher said. "After that punk hit me over the head with that chair I woke up and found the whole office a mess. I don't blame you three for running out of there. That kid was on a total rampage."

I looked at Penny and Ryan, barely hiding a smile. Penny nodded. Mr. Greywood thought Josh trashed the office. The best thing we could do was go along with it. It's not like I could say, no, a bunch of immortals called the Shadow Regime did it. "He came out of that door and just started trashing everything. He threw a juice bottle and then he was shoving chairs everywhere."

Penny nodded. "We ran out of there. Then we saw Kristina coming down another hall at us. We ran out of here and then over to the middle school."

"It was wise, getting out of the way," the Gym teacher added. "I think they were looking for you."

"We found them behind the bus garage," the first officer added. "You don't know how many times we've dealt with them before. They almost have a whole drawer to themselves at the station."

That I could believe.

The female officer spoke. "There was nothing we could do until something serious happened. They're not of age. We had to wait for something like this, sadly."

"I never want them in this school again," Mr. Gorfel growled. "Attacking teachers. Breaking down doors. Trashing everything in sight. Not to mention I think that girl locked me in my own classroom earlier. I had to yell until the janitor heard me. What is wrong with kids now?" Mr. Gorfel shot a nasty look at us as if we'd been the ones breaking down doors and attacking teachers.

"Ryan!" A woman's voice cut across the grass.

We all turned. Mrs. Sullivan trucked her way across the lawn. I saw her car parked over by the football field gate. "I got a call from your teacher that you were missing. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, Mom," he said, voice full of emotion.

I could only watch as Mrs. Sullivan swept him up in a hug.

* * * * *

It was nearly five in the afternoon before the three of us made it over to our next stop, the Kool Spot. I'd already called my worried parents and let them know I was okay, and told the cops all about Josh and Kristina (leaving out the part about the bikes.) Yeah, I wanted to get home to collapse and die, but Jerry came first. I had to make sure he was okay, and let him know he didn't have to worry anymore. Well, at least for a while.

Then it was off to dinner and a manicure.

The blue no one under eighteen sign still hung in the door. Big deal, but I knew it was just one of the many rules the Shadow Regime was bringing to the world. Worse stuff would come if someone didn't do something.

And I had a feeling that someone was me.

I opened the door and stepped in to find the place empty. No shock. Jerry wiped the dust off a game table with a cloth. He probably didn't have anything else to do.

Except stop, stiffen, and stare at me. "Rita? You can't come in here." His gaze darted around the room. "He could come back. A portal opened a while ago in here, but no one came out. I can't take any chances, though—"

I held up a hand and did two things. First, I peeled the sign off the door, crumpled it in a ball, and tossed it across the room. It rolled under the shelf of books.

The second thing I did was run over and hug Jerry.

"It's fine now," I said, a rush of emotions coming over me. "He can't come back here for a while. Sit down and lock up the building. We've got a lot to tell you."

* * * * *

An hour later, we all sat at the counter while Jerry strangled a bunch of receipts in his fists. "If I ever see A. Gist again, I'm going to have a baseball bat in my hands. I had no idea he was doing that to people. What are Dan and Sean's parents going to think?"

I'd been wondering about that myself. At that moment I would've given anything to go back in time and take back that stupid toilet paper prank. Dan and Sean would still be here right now. But the portals in the Shadow Home World didn't go back that far. I felt ready to pound the counter in frustration, and the now-familiar electricity raced down my arms. I shook them out before I accidentally set the Kool Spot on fire or something.

"Do you think they'll come back after us?" Ryan asked. "We know too much now. We know what happened to Dan and Sean." He choked up and stared down at the counter, unable to say any more. I couldn't blame him. He'd known the two of them way better than I ever had and hung out with them a lot since his dad left.

I remembered something just then. "Penny—do you still have that book?"

She stood off the stool and stuffed her hands in her jeans pockets. "It's here. Somehow it came back in time with us. Gabe said it was safe to look at it as long as we were human again. I guess that's now."

Ryan gripped the counter so hard his knuckles turned white. "Then we can see why Dan and Sean were stuck."

Penny fished out the Book of Rules and Regulations. The blue A on the cover shined in the orange sunlight coming through the window. The four of us leaned forward to see. Dark blue print took up the whole inside cover. You couldn't miss it or anything.

By Order of A. Gist

ALL NEW MEMBERS OF THE SHADOW REGIME ARE REQUIRED, ON OPENING THIS BOOK FOR THE FIRST TIME, TO READ THROUGH THE ENTIRE TEXT AND MEMORIZE ALL RULES, POLICIES, AND PROCEDURES, AND TO FOLLOW ALL RULES, POLICIES, AND PROCEDURES IN THIS TEXT. YOU ARE FORBIDDEN TO STOP READING THIS BOOK UNTIL YOU HAVE MEMORIZED ALL RULES.

"So that's why we couldn't open the book!" Penny stood up on the stool and flattened her hands on the counter. "If we had when we were Shadow Ones, we would have seen this order and been forced to follow it. You heard how Gabe said they don't have any free will when A. Gist orders them to do something."

"That's—" Ryan clenched his fists in fury, "That's just horrible. It's a trap. When people get transformed they wake up and they're scared, so the first thing they're going to do is reach for this book, and then—"

"I almost opened my book," I said. A chill swept over me at the thought. "I would've been totally doomed if Gabe hadn't run in right then."

Penny flipped through the Book of Rules and Regulations. I spotted rules about everything from dress codes (which was limited to jumpsuits and armor) to gum chewing and how much electricity could be used per day. I even saw a law forbidding Shadow Ones from dating humans. Wow, they had less freedom than the people they were trying to take it from. "So this is how A. Gist controls his minions," Penny said. "Here's something else."

I leaned forward again, trying to read the shiny blue print in the sunlight.

Portal Usage

ALL SHADOW ONES ARE FORBIDDEN FROM USING ANY PORTAL FOR ANY PURPOSE, OR FROM OPERATING ANY PORTAL CONTROLS, UNLESS ORDERED TO BY A. GIST HIMSELF. ALL VIOLATORS WILL BE SUBJECT TO PROCEDURE NUMBER THIRTY-SEVEN (SEE PAGE 88.)

At last I understood. "That's why Gabe couldn't tell us anything. That's why he said he couldn't touch the controls."

Penny's eyebrows rose. "Exactly. We were able to break the rules because we didn't know them. Gabe did find a loophole!"

I felt lost for words. I could only sit there at the counter and feel more grateful than I ever had towards Gabe Cruz. Which was an understatement.

"What's Procedure Number Thirty-Seven?" Ryan asked in a shaky voice. "How many procedures do they have?"

"Imprisonment." Penny turned another page in the book. "That's just horrible. That prison that we saw—that's for Shadow Ones that break rules somehow, or make A. Gist mad."

"Gabe," I said, balling my fists. "I hope he doesn't get thrown in there. It's bad enough he's trapped in the Shadow Home World."

"I wish there was something we could do." Penny sniffed and closed the little book. "A. Gist is going to keep doing this to people. He won't stop his war. I feel pretty sure he'll be back after us." She faced me. "And you still have that tracker on you."

My heart sank. I rolled up my sleeve to take a look at it. "Yeah. It's...gone?"

The blue A had disappeared. My skin looked bare, like it had never been there.

"How?" Ryan asked.

"No clue," I said. "Maybe it wore off. Or maybe that—power—I had got rid of it." Either way, I wasn't going to complain.

"He'll still come back," Penny said, shaking her head. "I don't know how long it'll take. But I doubt he'll be shut in the Shadow Home World forever."

She was right. A. Gist would keep terrorizing people like us and keeping his cruel system in place. And he was going want revenge. We knew too much now.

"Maybe we can do something." I said. "I don't know what, but we have to try. If A. Gist is right, we're the only three people to have ever escaped Procedure Number Twenty-Eight. We might be the only people in the world who know what's been going on."

"Except whoever put Gabe's videos on the Internet," Ryan added. "So we might not be the only ones."

"Yeah, Rita, and we'll have to find out why you have powers," Jerry added, leaning back in his chair. "And yes, your parents did adopt you when you were about three months old. My Aunt Beverly found out years ago she couldn't have kids, and she always wanted a daughter to do girl stuff with."

Uh, oh. Major guilt trip. "So...so that's why she always pesters me to get into fashion and makeup," I said.

Jerry glanced down at the counter. "I think that's it. Now that I think about it, maybe you should do something like that with her once in a while, even if you hate it. Humor her a bit. But don't mention the adoption thing to her. They told me never to mention that fact to you. I don't know from where they got you, though. We'll have to find out all that stuff."

I stood, overwhelmed by it all. The last Guardian, whatever that was. It was why I always had to stand up for my friends, and stand up to just about everything else. Maybe it even explained my big mouth. I sure didn't get it from my parents. Well, the ones I had now.

I felt as if a mountain stood on my shoulders. The last of my kind. Gabe's words swirled through my head. I know you can do something, Rita. But how was I supposed to make sure Procedure Number Twenty-Eight didn't happen to anyone else? Or stop A. Gist's war on teens? Still, I had to try. I couldn't sit by, knowing what was going on.

"We have to end what's happening," I said. A slight electric thrum ran through my arms again. "I'm going to fight. I don't know when he's going to come after us again, but he will. I think this was just the start."

Penny and Ryan stood too, deadly serious. "We're in this with you," Ryan said, looking back and forth. "We'll help you fight him. I just lost two of my friends today, remember?"

"And we'll help you find out where you came from," Penny added. "We swear."

Penny extended her hand, and Ryan put his hand over hers. I nodded to Jerry and slowly placed my hand over Ryan's.

And right there in the middle of the Kool Spot, we swore on it.

# # #

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Also by Holly Hook

*Destroyers Series*

Tempest (Destroyers, Book One)

Inferno (Destroyers, Book Two)

Outbreak (Destroyers, Book Three)

Frostbite (Destroyers, Book Four)

*Rita Morse Series*

Rita Morse and the Sinister Shadow (Rita Morse, Book One)

Rita Morse and the Treacherous Traitor (Rita Morse, Book Two)

After These Messages (A Parody)

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