Careful how you frame this.
“There’s a group of students here,” said Will. “Seniors. They belong to a kind of club, or secret society, and they goof it up with rituals and masks that make the whole thing seem harmless. They’re called the Knights of Charlemagne.”
He thought by her reaction that she might have heard the name before.
“But it’s not harmless,” said Will. “It’s a cover for abusing younger kids. New kids or weaker kids or ones who don’t fit in, and this goes way beyond bullying. They single these kids out and terrorize them.”
“If this is true,” asked Robbins, “why haven’t I heard about it before?”
“Because they’re smart about who they target,” said Will. “Because they shut them up with threats. The kids they go after are petrified. And I know for a fact one of them was Ronnie Murso. They might even have something to do with his disappearance.”
That lit an angry fire in Robbins’s eyes, but she worked to keep a handle on it. “I’ll take this straight to the headmaster. Do you have any names of the people responsible?”
“Lyle Ogilvy,” said Will.
“Anyone else?”
“Not that I’m sure about. But you can definitely start with him.”
Robbins kept quiet, calculating. “Do your roommates know about this?”
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#45: COOPERATE WITH THE AUTHORITIES. BUT DON’T NAME FRIENDS.
Will heard voices in the hallway. It sounded like it might be Ajay and Nick. “I don’t want to get anybody else involved.”
“Dude, check out the freakin’ pole in the lab! That’s awesome!”
Yep, Nick.
“I’ll accept that answer on one condition,” said Robbins coldly. “Your parents will be staying as Mr. Rourke’s guests at Stone House. Take the rest of the day to collect your thoughts about what you’ve just told me. You’re going to give me every last detail you know about this by tonight. A complete and thorough account—”
“But—”
“Or I’ll have no choice but to immediately expel you from the Center. You’ll leave tomorrow. With your parents. For good.”
She stared straight at him, her violet eyes hard and unwavering. She wasn’t bluffing.
OceanofPDF.com
INSTANT MESSAGE
Robbins left the ward and moments later Nick and Ajay trundled in, regarding Will with more than a little awe.
“So are the rumors true, Will?” asked Ajay. “They’re saying you nearly got hit by that flying telephone pole!”
“Well, let’s just say I was in the room at the time,” said Will.
“Dude, no way, that had to be ill,” said Nick, giving Will a fist bump.
“I’ll tell you later,” said Will quietly, leading them out the door. “I told Robbins we’d meet her in the lobby. I want to look for something first.”
Will led them through the lab where the rescue crews were working and snuck out the door that led to the back stairs. They went down the empty, echoing stairwell to the second floor.
“What are we looking for?” asked Ajay.
“Evidence,” said Will.
“Of what?” asked Nick.
Will opened a utility closet, flicked on a light, and started searching. There were brooms, mops, and cleaning supplies on shelves. Stashed in a recycling bin, Will found what he was looking for: a long black mesh metal box the size of a baguette.
“Lyle tried to kill me,” said Will. He used a rag to lift out the box. “With what was in this.”
“Dude, oh my God … Lyle sicced his ferrets on you?!”
“Not ferrets,” said Will. “Worms, crossed with centipedes as long as this box, that bled acid. They crawled up my body when I was in the MRI machine.”
“I may vomit,” said Ajay, leaning against a wall.
“Did anybody else see ’em?” asked Nick.
“No. Not a word to anybody,” said Will as he slipped the box into a plastic trash bag. Nick slung it over his shoulder as they hurried down to the lobby.
They found Robbins huddled near the front doors with Eloni and a woman who looked like his female twin. Eloni introduced her as his cousin Tika.
“Eloni will drive you back to Greenwood,” said Robbins. “I want you in your quarters for the rest of the day, Will. I’ll pick you up myself once your parents arrive. Call me immediately if anything else occurs to you.” She gave Will one last stern look.
The boys followed Eloni and Tika out to a dark blue Ford Flex, parked and idling outside. Snow was still falling heavily. They climbed in and Eloni took the wheel. No one spoke on the ride to Greenwood Hall. They parked in front; Eloni and Tika walked them inside.
Eloni stopped and knocked on Lyle’s door; Nick and Will exchanged an anxious look. When there was no answer, Eloni gave Tika an order in their native language. She went inside and opened the inner door. A moment later she came back and shook her head.
“Stay here,” said Eloni to her, and then to the boys, in a no-messing-around voice, he said, “Upstairs. Now.”
“You looking for Lyle, Eloni?” asked Nick.
“You could say that,” he said.
Once on the third floor, he followed them into the pod and checked each bedroom. Brooke’s and Elise’s rooms were empty.
“I’ll be just outside if you need me,” said Eloni, heading for the door. He closed the door, and his heavy footsteps padded into the hall.
“So the school’s put out an APB on Lyle?” asked Nick.
“I said just enough to get them interested,” said Will.
Ajay put an eye to the peephole and saw Eloni outside, arms folded, standing guard. “He’s planted,” said Ajay. “Like a potted palm.”
“We need to work fast,” said Will. “Have you seen Brooke or Elise?”
“Not since this morning,” said Nick.
“Robbins said she paged them when she called you guys, so they’re probably on their way. Try them again, Nick, just to be sure.”
Nick picked up the phone and asked the operator to page both girls.
“Ajay, is it safe to use our tablets?” asked Will.
“As safe as I can make them. I’ve got something else to show you as well.”
“Meet in your room,” said Will, heading for his. “Two minutes.”
As Will entered, his tablet turned on. His syn-app stood on-screen, waiting. He looked more lifelike now, fleshed out with detail, and even more unsettling.
“Is everything all right, Will?” asked his syn-app.
He even sounds more like me. He must be recording and sampling my voice.
“Yes,” said Will. “I want you to look for photographs of ANZAC Special Forces helicopter units that served in Vietnam. Look for a chopper with the call letters Alpha Tango Delta three nine Zebra.”
“Are you looking for any person in particular?” asked “Will.”
“I’m trying to find out what happened to an old friend,” said Will. “His name was Dave Gunner.”
“I’m on it,” said the syn-app. “You have a video message from Nando.”
The syn-app opened a video of Nando in his taxi, speaking into the lens of his camera phone. “Wills. Had a badass nightmare about bugs last night, but aside from that I’m okay. Listen, we ran this down on that National Scholastic Whatever Program.” In his other hand, Nando held a BlackBerry. He read from it: “Corporate HQ in DC. Branch offices: LA, New York, Miami, Chi-Town, the ATL, and Denver. All in federal buildings, so it has some kind of relationship with government. But it’s a nonprofit, privately owned by something called the Greenwood Foundation. Catch you later. Peace.”
Will couldn’t move for a moment. “The Greenwood Foundation,” he repeated as it sank in.
“Yes, Will?” asked his syn-app.
“The Greenwood Foundation is the trust that runs the Center,” said Will.