Lucas Ryan Versus: The Return (8 page)

LEVEL 15

LEAVE A SCAR

As I walked through the door of Ms. Strickland’s classroom, my pulse raced. After Roland and I’s not-so-secret excursion, I hadn’t been able to concentrate on anything but what we saw. Thankfully, there was a silver lining to this new detention location.

“Olivia?” I said, excited. Olivia was already waiting in the empty room. We were the only two people here.

“She invited you here too, huh,” Olivia tried to smile. She was understandably scared.

“Invite isn’t quite the word. More like, ordered,” I shrugged.

“Where’s everyone else? We can’t be the only two losers that have detention today.” Olivia seemed to swell with uneasiness. She was right.

A terrible thought popped out of my mouth. “She wanted to get us alone.”

“Why?” Olivia gasped.

“I don’t know yet, but Ro and I had a weird conversation with her earlier in the day.”

“About what?” she asked.

“We were doing some research in the library when she found us and tried to intimidate both of us. Threaten us,” I said, uneasy. “Also, I think Ms. Strickland may have something to do with all the missing kids.”

Olivia scooted up next to me and asked, “What do you mean, Lucas?”

“I don’t think she’s human.”

Before Olivia could say anything a strange scratching sound came from the back of the room. We both turned our attention behind us.

“Did you hear that?” she asked, panicked. I nodded yes and took a small step forward. More scratching came, followed by a solid thud.

“It sounds like it’s coming from the cabinets at the back of the room,” I said. Olivia followed close behind me, her warm hands rested against my back. We walked up to the blue and black painted cabinets carefully. With a tingle along my arm I reached out for the handle of the cabinet’s door. The scratching stopped, leaving only the sound of Olivia’s breathing. Steadily, I opened the door and braced for the worst.

“It’s a box.”

Olivia looked over my shoulder. “A box?”

A dark red box the size of a cinder block sat quietly with its lid slightly ajar. Written across it was two distinct words.

LUCAS RYAN

“It has your name on it,” Olivia gasped.

“I’ve never seen that box before, Olivia. I don’t understand…” Instinctively, I wanted to open it and slowly outstretched my arm.

“No! Are you nuts?” Olivia warned, as I placed my hand on top of the box. The scratching sound returned, only more intense this time. “Lucas, don’t.”

“Ms. Strickland is hiding something. Maybe this is it. Maybe this is her secret.”

“She put her
secret
in a box with your name on it? Are you crazy? This feels like a trap.”

“Maybe,” I whispered, but my hand gripped the lid tighter.

“I don’t like this…” Olivia trailed off, and took a large step backwards.

“Don’t worry, I won’t let anything hurt you,” I grinned her way. The scratching became so furious it sounded almost like the buzzing of a chainsaw. The new sound made me take an extra moment to build up the courage to open it. My tattoo awoke in a golden hue that filled the cabinet with warm light. No matter what was in there, I’d be ready. I had Ripley after all.

With a jerk, I ripped the top from the box and a swarm of flying insects exploded everywhere. Except they weren’t normal insects. They were miniature versions of the spider-like serpents that had been haunting me, only with pointy silver and red wings. Black stripes cut across their chests, claws and legs. Rows of needle-sharp teeth spit foaming hate as they surfed the air. Their menacing appearance washed over me as I pushed Olivia away. It didn’t matter though, the rush of alien bugs blanketed us with a fury of clicks and chirps. Their legs scratched at every inch of flesh they could find.

Olivia screamed loud enough to hurt my ears, “Lucas!”

She immediately ran for the door but found it wouldn’t open. It was now locked or stuck from the outside. She smashed herself against it repeatedly with no luck. The swarm tripled in numbers and splashed over me, rushing for her. With a swing of my hands I slapped away as many as I could. Their humming little bodies revved with the intensity of a thousand charging bullets, hurting my hands in the process. Olivia fell to the floor covering her face and head with her hands. Quickly, she pulled her shirt up to help block the barrage of stingers and claws.

“Help me!”

“Hang on,” I hollered, but the sound of the tiny alien chainsaws smothered my voice, easily.

“Lucas, please!” she begged, swatting at the menacing swarm. As I watched the bugs engulf Olivia my anger ignited uncontrollably. My hands balled into fists that began to shake with adrenaline. The mystical markings along my skin burst with orange and yellow fire.

“No!” I yelled, and slammed my right hand into the floor. A flash of yellow light exploded from me and announced the arrival of Ripley. Ripley spun from my arm in a ferocious attack that sent the wave of bugs flying to the corners of the classroom. Ripley’s eyes dripped liquid sparks and smoky wings of fire emerged like giant switchblade knives.

“Ripley, kill them all!” Olivia screamed, at the top of her lungs. Her voice cut through me as I admired her enthusiasm. She didn’t even give me the chance to call out the order. Ripley doubled in size and roared like a charging beast made of fury. The mass of buzzing spider-hornets moved along the ceiling with manic screams of anger. They popped and jumped in place, reaching down for us like demented yo-yos.

Before pulling Olivia to the floor with me, I ordered, “Get down!” It only took a second but it was enough time to get her to safety and let Ripley open a can of whoop-ass.

Desks flew against the walls and paper spun everywhere as Ripley powered up. With a crash against the ceiling, Ripley absorbed half of the swarm inside its body. The little demons burnt up in trails of flickering ash that sprinkled down on top of us. Their shrieks were ear-piercing but Ripley continued the rampage. With another roar, Ripley spun into a twister of flames and smoke that sucked in the oxygen at an incredible rate. Olivia and I held our breath, riding out the storm. The rest of the tiny monsters slid into the burning whirlwind, their dying screams echoed everywhere.

“Ouch!” I yelled, and slapped my hand onto my neck. The last little creature managed to sting me before being whipped into Ripley’s destructive force. When it was obliterated like the rest of the swarm, Ripley returned to me without a word. I helped Olivia back to her feet and nodded a thank you toward my magical bodyguard.

“Lucas, you’re bleeding,” Olivia said, placing a worried hand over my wound.

“I’m okay.” Ripley didn’t agree and spun around behind me. “Ripley, what’s wrong?”

~ You’ve been stung. ~

Yeah, so what?

~ Don’t move. ~

Filling with dread and a fresh wave of pain that originated from the sting, I thought,
Why? What’s wrong?

~ The stinger is still in your flesh and digging deeper by the second. We don’t have much time. ~

And?

~ If that stinger reaches your spine…you die. ~

“What?” I screamed. Olivia grabbed me by the shoulders.

“What’s wrong, Lucas? What is Ripley saying?”

I tried to answer her but was overwhelmed with a freezing dizziness. Ripley spoke for me instead.

“If that stinger isn’t removed in the next ten seconds, he will die.”

Without hesitation, Olivia ripped at her hair, removing a sharp hair stick, and ordered, “Move!” Ripley slid to the side just as Olivia jammed the hairpin into my neck. She dug around with urgency, as the room began to fade to black. My legs began to give out on me and I was about to fall to the floor when the spider-hornet’s barb fell to the floor with a splatter of my blood.

“Ripley, help me,” Olivia demanded. Ripley placed a sturdy grip around my waist, locking me in place, and simultaneously smashed the barb on the floor with a flick of a smoky tail. The room began to settle again and the pain decreased.

“Olivia…” I coughed out. She smiled at me and wiped her bloodstained hands on her pants.

“Are you okay?” she asked, sweetly.

“I think so. Sheesh, those things have quite a bite.” I turned to Ripley. “How did you know about the stinger?”

“These creatures are from my dimension, my world.”

“That means Ms. Strickland’s a part of this mess,” Olivia stated. I nodded yes but was still confused. She frowned and asked, “What are we going to do?”

I grumbled, “I don’t know.”

The door handle began to shift back and forth as if it was about to open. Ripley faded into the air leaving only a faint smoke trail that quickly disappeared. Olivia and I whipped around just as the door flew open. Ms. Strickland stormed in with her eyes wide and attentive. She searched the war-torn room before focusing on Olivia and I. Her usual smirk was replaced by a serious frown.

“Ms. Weaver…Mr. Ryan…” she said, as if she was disgusted by our presence.

“It didn’t work,” I cursed at her. My words stopped her in place as if I had slapped her.

“What are you talking about, Mr. Ryan?” she smiled.

“Your trap.”

With a gentle but phony laugh, she asked, “What trap?” It filled me with a new rage. I stepped forward with Olivia safely behind me.

“The box.”

Ms. Strickland let out an even bigger laugh. “What box?”

With a shaking finger, I pointed back towards the open cabinet and yelled, “That freakin’ box!”

Ms. Strickland’s face filled with delight. “I don’t see any box.”

Olivia and I turned to find the open cabinet door and nothing else. No box, no bugs, nothing but empty space. My anger exploded everywhere.

“It was there! You did this! You planned this!”

“I have no idea what you are talking about,” Ms. Strickland sighed. She slowly paced the room, stopping only to glare down at Olivia, and then, me. “You have a very wild imagination, Mr. Ryan.”

I stomped past her, scooping up Olivia’s hand as I did. “You’re not going to get away with this.”

Olivia added, upset, “This isn’t over.”

With a calm but steady voice, Ms. Strickland warned, “You can count on it.” Quickly, she made her way to the back of her classroom and closed the cabinet door in a slap. Before Olivia and I could make our way out the door, Ms. Strickland dared us with one final statement.

“Interesting scar you have there, Mr. Ryan.”

My hand fell to the back of my neck. The skin was still warm and slightly raised with my newest battle wound. Enraged by her attitude I waved a middle finger her way and pulled Olivia out the door. In my head Ripley warned, sternly.

~ This is just the beginning. ~

LEVEL 16

BAD BLOOD

“Cannonball!”

Taylor’s warning rumbled over all of us like thunder as his bronzed carved body pulled into a large ball and punished the water below him. A mini tidal wave rolled along the surface of the pool as the excess water rained down on top of us. Morgan cheered with delight before quickly tumbling into the water to climb upon Taylor’s back. She kissed him on the cheek as he carried her toward the pool stairs. Roland cringed as he abruptly tried to place his now wet laptop into his backpack. A couple dozen curse words escaped his lips at the same time. Olivia removed the large orange and yellow beach towel from both our heads. She had covered us both just in time. We hardly had a drop on us.

Taylor’s house was almost as beautiful as he was. His parents were as close to being rich as financially possible. His house reflected that fact. Three-stories high, with spacious front and back yards, exquisite landscaping, and a majestic pool fit for a king.

“Come on, guys, it’s the perfect day to swim,” Taylor said, walking up to us. Morgan was at his side with a playful smile.

“Yeah, the water feels perfect,” she added.

Still mad from the surprise tsunami, Roland pouted, “You almost ruined my computer, Tay!”

“Easy, Ro, you’re sitting next to the finest electronics guru in the West!” Taylor smiled, and pointed at me. I just shrugged and leaned closer toward Olivia on our pool deck chair.

“That’s not the point. We have serious business to discuss this afternoon. This visit wasn’t supposed to be a playdate,” Roland scolded.

“Lighten up, Lil Bro, things have gotten crazy at school. We could all use some decompression time,” Morgan tried to ease her brother’s doubts. He was too upset by her choice of words. They were twins but she was born a minute before he was and liked to point that out every chance she got.

“I’m not your
little
brother, Mo!” Roland cried out. We all tried our best not to laugh.

“Okay, okay…let’s get down to business.” I stood up and offered my seat to Morgan. As she sat down, Taylor joined me in front of the rest of the group. Before the impromptu pool gathering, I had explained what had happened to Roland and I earlier in the day, and the freakish scene in Ms. Strickland’s classroom after school. We had all decided to meet and discuss our next step. Taylor and I exchanged a confident look before I turned to everyone else in our small circle.

“T and I have a plan.”

Morgan looked over at Olivia who was now very worried. “I still can’t believe what happened to you two. Do we really think Ms. Strickland is the cause of all the missing people? That she’s not from this world?”

“I don’t know what to think, Mo. But I do know what we’ve seen. And, I remember everything we had to deal with before she showed up. The attack on the school, my mysterious new powers, getting lost and then found from another dimension. Now, innocent people are disappearing and no one seems to notice,” I said, cryptically.

“We have to do something,” Taylor added.

Olivia looked up at us. “Okay, what’s the plan?”

Taylor and I said together, “Homecoming.”

“Homecoming?” Roland asked, surprised.

“Yes,” Taylor said.

“Ro, that book we stumbled onto in the library has something to do with this whole thing, I know it. We need to investigate it thoroughly, without any distractions this time,” I explained.

“And the Homecoming dance will be the perfect opportunity to do that,” Taylor said, with a smile.

“I don’t understand,” Morgan expressed.

“Tomorrow evening the school will be open all night for the dance. While everyone is distracted with their dates and dancing, I can sneak off to investigate the library.” I nodded toward Roland who still seemed unsure.

Taylor said, worried, “You mean we. We will investigate.”

I shook my head no. “I don’t know, T, you have a very important date that night.” I pointed towards Morgan who looked mildly upset. She had been planning for over a month to go to this event with Taylor. “Besides, I couldn’t forgive myself if something happened to you.”

With a unknowing flex of his biceps, he grumbled, “I can take care of myself, Luc. And Morgan understands, this is important.”

She didn’t understand. “You mean more important than us? More important than the biggest date of my life?” She flared with uneasy emotions and Taylor shrank a little in his stance.

“I didn’t mean it that way, Morgan…” he tried to say.

“Yes, you did!” she snapped.

Trying to ignore her, Taylor turned to me. “Wait a sec, are you saying you don’t need me?”

“No, not at all. I just don’t want to spoil your night, big guy.”

“My night? What about yours? Aren’t you going with Olivia?” he asked, bluntly. Olivia’s eyes pulled my way. We hadn’t discussed going together yet. After all, she and her band were playing the event.

“Well, her band is playing the dance, I didn’t think she would have the time to deal with me,” I mumbled. She looked at me a little hurt.

“Deal with you?” she huffed.

“I was just trying to keep you and Sophia out of this. She was going to be there helping you with your equipment, right?” I eased my voice, hoping she would understand.

“Lucas, you understand that whatever you deal with, I deal with…right? After all we’ve been through, you should never doubt that.” She was mad. Roland shrank back in his chair, ducking from all the messy relationship zingers.

“I don’t doubt you, O,” I sighed.

“Well, I hate this plan,” Olivia said, too loud. “First off, you shouldn’t be sneaking off by yourself. You need us. Secondly, you know Sophia, if she gets wind of this plan, she’ll be impossible to stop from joining in.” Olivia stood up and looked directly at me and placed a hand on my tattooed forearm. “Lucas, she’s your biggest fan, and you two are still connected.”

She was right. Sophia would be a problem if she knew what I was up to. Thankfully, Roland chimed in.

“It’ll work, Olivia. It’s a good plan.”

“You can’t be serious?” Morgan fumed, at her brother.

“Hear me out, Sis. You and Taylor enjoy the night together. Keep an eye out for anything not quite right. I’ll go with Lucas to the library.”

“And Sophia?” Olivia scolded.

“Tay and Mo won’t let her out of their sights, right?” he said, with a nod toward Taylor. It eased Morgan a little bit but Taylor wasn’t so sure. He shook his head still upset and turned toward his house.

“Anyone else thirsty? I’ll get us some drinks,” he said, in defeat. Slowly, he lumbered off in the direction of the kitchen doors.

“Lucas, what happens if you find something even worse in the library?” Olivia asked, quietly. I looked at her long and hard before turning my attention to Taylor as he entered his house.

“I don’t know. I hope I find some answers…any answers.”

Morgan injected sarcastically, “Why don’t we just go into the school tomorrow, walk right into the library and check out this magical book with a library card?”

Roland snapped back, “Because the school’s librarian is one of the missing people, and they locked up the library yesterday, at least until next week.”

“So, it’s settled. Tomorrow night at the dance, Olivia, you and your band play the show like everything’s normal. Obviously you’ll have a perfect opportunity to survey the whole layout of the dance floor and gymnasium. Mo, you and Tay enjoy your evening but keep Sophia away from any and all activities that could involve her. And I’ll get Lucas into the locked library and help him with the mysterious book. Sound about right?” he asked us all. Morgan nodded yes, followed by a reluctant Olivia. He looked at me and I sighed.

“I’ll be right back.”

Urgently, I ran up to the house. I needed to talk to Taylor. His strength was matched only by his delicate ego. I wanted to make sure he was really okay with the new plan. After all, he had to play in the biggest game of the year just hours before the dance. Our high school football team was a lock for another championship, thanks to him. He was also more than likely the future MVP of the game, but I didn’t want any of this drama to mess with his head before the championship.

As I walked up to the kitchen doors that opened up to the backyard, I could hear both of his parents talking with him. They weren’t my biggest fans. His mom, Barbara, was always nice to me but the snob in her never fully accepted me as his best friend. As for Taylor’s father, James, well, let’s just say that he disliked me and leave it at that. I was from the wrong side of town, the wrong kind of family, and was basically leeching off his greatness. Yeah, his dad pretty much hated the sight of me. I stopped walking just as I reached the slightly opened kitchen door. I could see both of his parents in the reflection of the glass within the door, and they were having a heated conversation with Taylor…about me.

“Not too much longer with the pool shenanigans, Son, you have a very important day tomorrow. Your friends will just have to understand that,” his mother said, almost sweetly.

“Don’t worry, Mom, they’re all leaving soon. After we have our drinks,” he said, annoyed. His hands were filled with frosty cold bottles of water. Their glass bodies gently chimed as they bumped into each other. His father spoke up, defiantly.

“Is
he
here?”

“Yes…he’s my best friend,” Taylor said, upset.

“You know how I feel about Lucas. He’s bad news.”

“No, he’s not, Dad.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about. I’ve known people like him. He’s a
hanger on,
a
wannabe
, a
mooch
.”

Taylor growled, “That’s not true.”

“Sure it is. He’s just using you, Son,” his father said, as fact.

“Using me? Are you nuts?”

“Yes, using you. Using your good name to better himself in his social circles. Using you to protect all his lies. Come on, he disappeared for month with those young ladies for his own selfish reasons. Heaven knows what he did with those poor innocent girls. I can’t believe you even still talk with him!” his fathered roared.

Taylor slammed the bottles of water down on the expensive kitchen counter. “First off, those four people sitting outside
are
my social circle! My
only
circle. Secondly, Lucas is the only person who’s never lied to me. Ever. He’s the only person who’s never asked anything of me. He’s my best friend!”

“Ugh, quit saying that. I know you can’t see it, Taylor, but he’s using you. His kind always do…always will,” James declared, unfazed.

“Let me tell you something, Father…” Taylor rose up extending his tall torso straight up, ready to fight. “His
kind
is what makes the world a better place…a safer place. If you only knew what he’s had to overcome in his life. He’s a hero,” Taylor said, flustered. He took a moment to center himself. His voice returned to normal but much softer than before. “I wish I was as strong as Lucas is. I’m the one sponging off of him. He’s
my
hero! Always has been. Always will be.” With a swift scoop of his arm he snatched up the waters and proceeded to march out the door, directly into me with the most stunned look on my face.

“Hey, T…” I stuttered, trying to seem like I wasn’t spying on him.

“Lucas? Umm…did you hear all that?”

“Umm, maybe a little bit…or, pretty much all of it.”

“I’m sorry, man,” he sulked, embarrassed. I wrestled with my words for a moment, not sure what to say. Finally, I smacked him on the arm with my hand and smiled.

“I was wrong. I do need you to help me tomorrow night.”

He fought a silly smile, “What about Roland?”

“He’ll understand,” I teased. “What about Mo? She’s not going to like this.”

“I’ll worry about that tomorrow night,” he winced.

I snatched a bottle from his arms and took a long swig from it. We both turned to our friends who were watching us from a distance. Olivia sent me a concerned wave of her hand and I quickly waved back.

“Sounds like we have ourselves a plan.”

“Do you really think it’ll work?” Taylor reluctantly asked.

“Probably not.”