Authors: Dean Lorey

Monster Madness (17 page)

“It’s the perfect size for us,” Barrington exclaimed. “Not too big, not too little—just right, as Goldilocks would say.”

Charlie smiled. Only his father would quote Goldilocks.

“So, has the Nightmare Division treated you okay?”

“Perfectly fine, Charlie,” Olga replied. “They got your father his job, got us this nice apartment, and gave us new names.”

“A ridiculous bit of cloak-and-dagger,” Barrington snorted. “Truth is, I like my old name just fine.”

“Who are you now?”

“The Smiths,” Olga replied. “Bob and Betty Smith.”

Rex couldn’t help but laugh. “I guess Jim and Jenny Jones must have been taken.”

“I asked them the same thing!” Barrington replied. “And, you know what they said? Yes!”

Everyone laughed then. After the nightmare of the past few days, it felt good. Being around his parents seemed to Charlie almost like a dream—a wonderful dream that he wished would never end.

“What’s wrong, Charlie?” his mother asked with a warm smile. “I can see it in your eyes.”

“It’s just…it’s been difficult.” In that moment, he seemed far older than a boy of thirteen. “See, I’ve done things…things that haven’t turned out exactly the way I’d hoped.”

“It doesn’t matter,” his mother replied simply.

“But you weren’t there, Mom. I made decisions. They seemed right at the time and maybe they even were right, but they couldn’t have ended up more wrong.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Yes, but people depended on me and I let them down, and now—”

“Charlie?”

“Yes, Mom?”

“It doesn’t matter. All that matters is that your father and I love you no matter what you do. Do you understand that? No matter what.”

“Yes, Mom. I understand.”

She touched his face with a warm, loving hand. “You’ve got so many years in front of you, Charlie. Why be in such a rush to grow up?”

He hugged her tightly, tears filling his eyes.

Rex and Charlie stood on the small balcony just off his parents’ living room, surveying the bustling streets of Brooklyn far below. Multicolored twinkle lights, wrapped around the wrought-iron railing, blinked cheerfully. Inside, his parents were preparing dessert—something with chocolate and apples and thick whipped cream. It smelled delicious.

“Nice to see your folks, huh?”

“Yeah,” Charlie replied. “Sure is.”

“You’re not gonna be alone, you know. You have your friends, and then there’s Tabitha and me, of course—we’ll stand by you as much as we can.”

“I know. And thank you.”

From down the street, they heard the sound of glass shattering, followed by another sound that Charlie had become all too familiar with:

The shriek of a Netherbat.

Then came the screaming—people shouting, horns honking. Charlie and Rex glanced at each other, saying nothing.

There was nothing to say.

“It’s starting,” Rex said finally.

Charlie nodded. “Yeah. I thought we’d have a little longer, but I guess we’re already out of time.”

The sound of sirens and the smell of smoke began to fill the night sky.

“So, you think you’re ready to take on the Fifth?” Rex asked.

“No,” Charlie answered honestly. “How could I be?”

“Fair enough.”

They both glanced upward at the full moon, which glowed orange in the city smog. Just then, a flock of Hags flew across it, their leathery wings silhouetted against its ancient craters. They dived down into the darkness below. Terrible, gleeful cackling echoed back, followed by panicked shouts and screams.

“They do everything they can to make us fear them,” Charlie said quietly. “But you know what?”

“What?”

“They should start fearing me.” He turned to Rex then. “I’m not a kid anymore.”

“I know,” the cowboy said, “and just in the nick of time, too.”

He stared off into the dark, monster-filled night.

“Looks like the War of the Nether has finally begun.”

Credits

Cover design by Alison Klapthor

NIGHTMARE ACADEMY, BOOK TWO: MONSTER MADNESS. Illustrations copyright © 2008 by Brandon Dorman. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, 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.

Microsoft Reader July 2008 ISBN 978-0-06-170508-3

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