Case File 13 #2 (23 page)

Waking up was like swimming out of a deep pit filled with thick, black tar. Nick tried to sit up and immediately the room began to swirl. A hand pushed him gently back down.

“Give it a moment,” a familiar voice said.

He looked up to see a pair of piercing black eyes studying him. He'd seen the face before. The light skin. The dark, slicked-back hair. “Mr. Blackham?”

The librarian nodded.

Nick tried sitting up again. This time more slowly. His head felt like a cannonball attached to his shoulders. He could barely keep it upright. Carter, Angelo, and the others were sitting on nearby cots. They looked like they had just woken up as well. “Other than Cody, you had the most energy drained,” Mr. Blackham said. “It will take you the longest to recover completely.”

Nick blinked. “Where are we?” he asked.

Mr. Blackham stepped away from the cot where Nick had been resting, pulled across a chair, and took a seat. “You are on the main level of the school.”

Nick recognized the dormitory from the tour he'd taken.

“How did you find us?” Angelo asked, standing shakily up from his bed and coming over.

The librarian shot him an amused glance. “I've discovered it's wise to keep an eye on you three.” He looked to where Angie, Dana, and Tiffany were sitting on a nearby bed, whispering. “Make that six.”

“I thought you were out of the country,” Nick said.

“I was.” Mr. Blackham rubbed his chin. “I've been tracking Dippel since he arrived. I wasn't sure what he was up to. But as soon as I heard about the missing bodies, I put two and two together. I had a feeling you'd investigate, so I called the library to give you a few clues.” He gave a pained laugh. “I also said to make sure you didn't do anything until you spoke to me. Apparently that message wasn't delivered.”

“Where is Dippel?” Nick asked, terror filling his chest.

“We've placed him where he can't hurt anyone else,” Mr. Blackham said, crossing his legs.

“
We?
” For the first time, Nick realized there were other people in the room with them. Men and women—all of them dressed in the same long black coats and gloves—hurried in and out of the room, carrying bags and boxes. They all had the same slick dark hair and pallid complexions. Several of them wore sunglasses, although the room was very dim.

“Who are these people?” Nick asked.

“Just some fellow . . . librarians.” Mr. Blackham uncrossed his legs and stood.

“Librarians?” Nick was pretty sure these people didn't work in any library. Before he could ask more, though, Angie, Dana, and Tiffany walked over.

“Are you all right?” Angie asked.

Nick rubbed the back of his neck. All of his muscles ached like he'd been stuck in a bag and rolled down a steep, rocky hill. “I think so.”

“Let's get you on your feet,” Mr. Blackham said, pulling Nick up. “It's time for you kids to be heading home.”

“We're just going to leave? What will the police say when they find . . .” Angie waved her hands as though she didn't have enough words to describe everything they'd seen that night.

Mr. Blackham pulled on his gloves and gave a small smile. “When the authorities arrive, they will find a rather mysteriously empty school. There will no doubt be some talk concerning the disappearance of Mr. Dippel and his students. But nothing more . . .
unusual
. . . than that.”

Nick realized someone was missing. “Where's Cody?”

“Being cared for,” the librarian said. “When he regains consciousness it will be better if he remembers none of this.”

“So he's going back to those terrible grandparents of his?” Angie scowled.

Mr. Blackham tilted his chin ever so slightly. “It would be nice if he had some friends to help lift his burdens.”

Angie nodded.

“What about Jake?” Carter asked.

Mr. Blackham shook his head.

Nick's throat shut tight. He couldn't breathe.

Carter's face went white. A tear ran down his cheek. “He's . . .
dead
?”

“No,” the librarian said, gripping his shoulder. “I'm sorry. I didn't mean to frighten you. All of Dippel's creations will be cared for, I assure you. We are finding an especially good home for Jake.”

“I'm gonna miss Jake,” Carter said.

“Yeah,” Tiffany agreed. “He turned out to be a pretty awesome guy.”

Mr. Blackham steered them down the hall and out the front door. “What the seven of you did was amazing. Incredibly stupid but amazing. If you had possessed just a hair less life force, Dippel's monstrosity would have been powerful beyond belief and we would be looking for homes for
you
.” He glanced down at Nick. “How did you know it would work?”

Nick shrugged. “I didn't.”

The librarian laughed. After all the horror they'd been through, it was a good sound. “Sometimes ignorance really is bliss. But you know, combining your life forces like that can never be completely undone. There will always be a part of Jake in all of you. Just like there will always be a bit of your life force in each of your friends, and theirs in you.”

Tiffany looked at Carter and put her hand over her mouth. “I think I'm going to be sick.”

Mr. Blackham chuckled. “Get some rest. You deserve it. By the way, I hear you boys are going camping next week.”

“Yeah,” Nick said. “With my parents. How did you know that?”

Mr. Blackham tapped his eyes with two fingers. “Keep your eyes open. The woods can be an interesting place.”

Nick wasn't sure he liked the sound of that. But before he could say anything more, Mr. Blackham turned and walked away. The kids walked down the hill toward the train station.

“You know,” Angie said, “just because we saved your butts this time, don't expect us to hang around with you dweebs.”

“Saved
us
?” Nick said. “Who's the one who came up with the idea to blow up the blob?”

“Who got you there in the first place?” Angie said. “If it wasn't for us, you boys would still be sitting at home.”

“If it wasn't for Angelo's A.S.T. device, you wouldn't have found the wrapper.”

“He never could have used it if my mom hadn't let us in the morgue.”

Dana and Angelo just grinned.

Nick leaned over to Angelo and whispered, “Are you and Dana . . . you know? Because if you are, I guess I could live with it.”

Angelo punched him on the shoulder. “Absolutely not.”

Nick wasn't sure if he was telling the truth or not. But maybe it didn't matter. Change was okay. As long as it wasn't
too
much.

Tiffany pulled out her phone and started texting.

Angelo opened his notebook and began writing.

Carter scratched the back of his head, where the hair was just starting to grow back in to cover up the ram. “Anybody feel like stopping for a burger on the way home?”

Nick grinned. Some things would always stay the same.

Well, that was a bit too close for an old librarian like me. I thought you promised to keep an eye on the boys—and girls—while I was gone.

Then again, I might have known someone like you couldn't resist a good mystery. Especially if that mystery involves creepy crawlies, nightmare creatures, and power-hungry mad scientists. I don't imagine I could have resisted that at your age either.

Fortunately everyone seems to have survived . . . this time. But let me warn you now. This is not the end of dark happenings in Pleasant Hill. Things are only going to get stranger, more terrifying, and more dangerous.

Perhaps it might be better if you took up a slightly less stressful hobby than monster hunting. Say, knitting baby socks, or collecting the cardboard tubes inside toilet-paper rolls. Have a nice glass of hot cocoa. Read a book of poems. And whatever you do, if something knocks on your door late at night, do NOT let it in. Especially if it looks familiar.

Sincerely,

B. B.

Photo by Erica Thurman

After a recent trip to an undisclosed location,
J. SCOTT SAVAGE
returned home mumbling about life forces and electrical currents. He then locked himself in the basement for several days. No one knows for sure what he's been up to, but his wife, Jennifer, randomly sparks blue electricity; his children, Erica, Scott, Jake, and Nick, have odd bolts sticking out of their necks; and his trusty collie, Pepper, has been found burying random body parts. Rumors of a fifth child, named Frank, remain unconfirmed.

Visit him on his blog, jscottsavage.blogspot.com, or follow him on Twitter @jscottsavage.

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Cover art © 2013 by Doug Holgate

Cover design by Sarah Nichole Kaufman

C
ASE FILE 13 #2: MAKING THE TEAM
. Copyright © 2013 by J. Scott Savage. Illustrations copyright © 2013 by Doug Holgate. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

www.harpercollinschildrens.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Savage, J. Scott (Jeffrey Scott), 1963-

Making the team / J. Scott Savage. — First edition.

pages cm. — (Case file #13 ; #2)

Summary: A mysterious private school has opened in town and Nick, Carter, and Angelo join forces with their rivals Angie, Tiffany, and Dana to uncover the mystery behind the school's inhumanly good football team.

ISBN 978-0-06-213331-1 (hardback)

EPub Edition July 2013 ISBN 9780062133366

[1. Monsters—Fiction. 2. Video recordings—Production and direction—Fiction. 3. Best friends—Fiction. 4. Friendship—Fiction. 5. Football—Fiction. 6. Scientists—Fiction. 7. Supernatural—Fiction.] I. Title.

13 14 15 16 17
LP/RRDH
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1