Creeped Out (4 page)

Saffy was still shaking her head in disbelief. ‘I can't believe you can remember something like a weird poem from so long ago.'

‘I remember all kinds of stuff like that,' said Felix. ‘Especially about monsters.' He shuddered.

‘Awesome,' said Saffy. ‘So where do we find this Grubbythingy?'

‘I don't know,' said Felix. ‘I only know the poem. I've got no idea what it looks like or where to find it, so I reckon we'd all better get ready to run the penalty course for the next week anyway.'

‘That reminds me,' said Jasper. ‘I've got to run the penalty course tonight. I'd better go.'

‘Watch out for the Grubbywhatsy,' Saffy called after him cheerfully. ‘They might've already released it.'

‘That's not funny,' said Felix, pulling out his asthma puffer. ‘Um, can we go back now? I mean, I did nearly die today.'

6

Jasper trudged along the icy ground towards the edge of the forest. The further away from the school building he was, the more the darkness grew around him. The clue for the Task kept beating through his head.
In the darkness
underground, I creep and crawl without a sound

He wondered if the monster for the Task
had
already been released into the school grounds. Who knew what was creeping and crawling without a sound around him?

Jasper entered the forest, heading towards the lantern that hung from a tree branch, illuminating the starting point for the penalty course.

There were three boys and two girls from other year levels waiting to begin the penalty course. Jasper recognised one of the older boys as Mac, who sat at his table in the food hall. Mac was a hunt captain, and he seemed to love Monstrum House. He was one of the best monster-hunters in the school, and Jasper didn't want to let on how much the forest gave him the creeps.

‘Hey, Jasp,' said Mac. ‘What's your best time on the penalty course? I reckon I'll beat you hands down. You all right? You're looking a bit nervous. Don't worry, you'll be tucked up in bed before you know it.'

Sometimes Mac could be just a little bit annoying.

Jasper was about to reply when a dog's harsh bark cracked through the night and a tall, thin, man stepped from the shadows.

Jasper wondered how long he had been standing there. His body seemed to hunch and twist around like a gnarled old tree. It was the perfect camouflage.

‘Good evening,' the man said calmly.

‘Good evening, Mondrag,' they replied.

Mondrag was the guard dog trainer and in charge of the penalty course. Behind him, two vicious-looking guard dogs strained on their leads. They looked like German shepherds crossed with wolf hounds or something. They were huge. Jasper took an involuntary step backwards.

‘The hounds will be released in ten minutes,' said Mondrag. ‘I suggest that you start running now.'

Jasper tried not to think of the dogs' sharp teeth as he followed the other kids along the path through the trees.

Jasper was a strong runner and the penalty course wasn't particularly long, but tonight it felt like his feet were on the wrong legs. He was tripping up all over the place. He caught his foot on a tree root as he ran, and went flying headfirst into the undergrowth.

‘Are you OK?' Mac stopped to help Jasper up.

Jasper nodded. ‘Thanks. I've lost my shoe, but it's no worries, you keep going. Seriously, I'll overtake you in a minute anyway,' he added, trying to sound confident.

‘Righto, see you later, speedy,' said Mac, and ran off into the shadows.

Jasper scrambled around in the dark.
My shoe
has to be around here somewhere
, he thought.

He stooped under a branch and felt a spiderweb cling to his face. He wiped his face frantically and stumbled backwards, tripping over his shoe in his panic.

He took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. He knew that being scared of spiders was stupid, but they still got to him. Just the thought of their black eyes, their hairy legs, the way they scuttled … it gave him the creeps.

Jasper jammed his shoe on and took off after the others. All he could hear were his own footsteps cracking over the frozen ground.

The words of the Task clue ran through Jasper's mind again.
I creep and crawl without a
sound.
He tried to push the thought away, but it was too late.
The Grubbergrind could be out here
right now.
If the poem was right, he would never hear it – not until it was too late.

He couldn't see Mac or the other kids anywhere. He guessed they would be reaching the school soon and crawling back into bed.

Jasper had run this course before, but he had never been quite so creeped out. He tried to run even faster, but stumbled and tripped again. Then he froze to the spot. He suddenly knew that something was there, watching him.

And he hadn't heard a thing.

7

Jasper turned around slowly. Snow had begun to fall, and moonlight shone down. And what Jasper saw in the moonlight made his breath catch in his throat.

A guard dog stood directly in front of him. It wasn't a monster, but still, this dog looked nasty. It let out a fierce, low growl, and Jasper's heart leapt in his chest. The dog was huge, with sharp, gleaming teeth. Jasper wasn't scared of dogs, but this one looked, well, vicious. It was a trained guard dog, and what it was probably trained to do was ferociously rip you to pieces.

Dogs can sense fear
, Jasper told himself. He didn't like his chances in a one-on-one fight. He looked at the trees – but he knew he could never climb one in time. The dog would get to him first.

Jasper took a deep breath and crouched down, his hand held out towards the dog. He tried to treat it like a friendly puppy. ‘Hiya, pup,' he said as calmly as he could.

The dog growled more loudly, its teeth still bared.

Jasper held his breath. He had a bad feeling he was about to get torn apart. ‘Good dog?' Jasper said hopefully. He tried to imagine it was one of his dogs at home, but they were both fat labradors. It wasn't quite the same.

The dog snapped its jaws shut and cocked its head to one side. It seemed to be deciding whether or not to bite him.

‘Not,' Jasper whispered.

The dog sat down and whined at Jasper, licking his outstretched hand. Jasper slowly let his breath out and gave the dog a pat.

‘You
are
a good dog, aren't you, fella?' Jasper murmured as he rubbed the dog's head.

It was so nice to encounter something that was
friendly
. Jasper suddenly felt homesick. He missed creatures that didn't want to eat him. He missed his dogs. He missed good food. He missed his bedroom, with the walls covered in comics he'd drawn. He missed his cosy bed. He missed his mum. He even missed his sisters.

He had been writing letters home to his mum every couple of weeks as promised. Each letter was more of a lie than the last. When she dropped him off at Monstrum House she had told him to be careful – but she had no idea just how hard that was in a school crawling with monsters.

Jasper didn't like lying to his mum, but he also didn't want her to worry about him. What good would come of telling her about being shoved in monster-infested rooms or being made to stand in the snow for hours? Would she even believe him?

Jasper wanted to make his mum proud. If he could just make it through his first year without being expelled, he knew she'd be happy.

The funny thing was, Jasper wasn't such a bad student at this school. He was actually OK at the classes. In a funny way, Monstrum House suited him – the stuff they learnt came easily to him. It just made more sense than normal school.

‘I bet Mondrag doesn't pat you much, does he, fella?' Jasper asked, as the dog rubbed its muzzle against him. He ruffled the dog's ears, then gently pushed it away.

He sighed and got up. ‘I still have ages to go through this course,' he muttered. ‘And chances are the thug brigade are already on the prowl, waiting to catch me out of bed and give me more penalty points.'

Jasper was about to start his run along the path through the forest again, when the dog barked sharply. Jasper stopped and turned. The dog barked again, and gripped the bottom of Jasper's hoodie firmly in its mouth.

The dog pulled at it, wrenching Jasper away from the path. Jasper resisted. He wasn't sure this was such a good idea. How did he know where the dog would take him? After all, it
had
been trained by Mondrag. What if it was a trap?

But there were no rules to say you had to run the penalty course along the path, it's just what everyone did. Perhaps there was another way through the forest.

The dog barked again, and Jasper realised he didn't have much of a choice. He didn't want to argue with those teeth.

‘OK, OK,' Jasper gave in, and followed the dog into the trees, away from the well-worn track.

It was darker and denser in the forest than Jasper had thought possible, and he could hear strange noises.

But before he had a chance to be worried he was suddenly back at the school. The dog had just saved him half an hour! He couldn't believe it – they had come out from the forest almost directly next to the mansion. Jasper didn't even know the forest stretched this close – and he had made it his mission to know his way around the campus.

Searchlights flashed around the school grounds, but the Monstrum House mansion loomed large and dark above them, casting a shadow over Jasper. The dog led Jasper through a hole in the fence, and right up to the school. It gave him a gentle nudge and scratched at the wall. Jasper scraped away the dead ivy to find a small door.

‘You're serious?' he asked. The dog just stared at him. ‘Well, you got me here – I guess I'll take your word for it. Thanks.' Jasper gave the dog a final pat. He checked the name on its tag:

Woof

‘Hmmm, original name.' Woof licked Jasper's hand before slinking silently back into the shadows of the forest.

Jasper twisted the handle of the door and grimaced as it gave a loud squeak. He waited for a prefect's hand to land on him, but nothing happened. Jasper carefully pulled open the door. There was a dark tunnel ahead of him. He knew that once he closed the door behind him, he would be in darkness. He took a deep breath and climbed inside.

8

Jasper felt his way along the tunnel. It was a tight squeeze, and he had to commando-crawl along on his stomach, pushing his feet against the sides of the tunnel. Every now and then, the tunnel would stop and turn upwards, and he would have to squirm into a sitting position so he could haul himself up a ladder. He wondered what the tunnel was for. Where did it go?

The tunnel kept rising, until Jasper was sure he was up at least one storey high. Every now and then he could hear kids' whispers as he crawled along.
I must be passing by the sleep halls,
he thought.

‘OOOOOOHHHHHH,' he moaned, hoping to give the kids in the hall a fright. There was a muffled squeal, and then silence. Jasper grinned. He hoped that was Saffy he'd frightened.

Then Jasper started to hear a different kind of whispering. A spooky kind of whispering. It didn't sound like kids. It didn't sound
human
. It seemed to seep from the walls.
Craaag
...
kroomt
...
lisss
...
en
...
lissssen
...
Jaaaaassssper
.

Jasper had heard this whispering before. He'd heard it when he first stepped off the plane to Monstrum House. And he'd heard it again in the maze of corridors near the records office.

Jasper moved quickly along the tunnel, trying to get away from the eerie whispering. But it seemed to be growing. It filled every bit of the tunnel. Was it telling him to
listen?

Jasper came to another ladder and climbed it as quickly as he could. Where would the tunnel end?

There must at least be some air vents or something
, he thought. He felt along the wall with his fingers. Nothing. Jasper climbed another ladder, this time running one hand along the wall, feeling for something – anything – that might indicate a way out.