Grey Griffins: The Clockwork Chronicles #1: The Brimstone Key (16 page)

“I hope Smoke gets what’s coming to him,” Natalia
muttered as the Griffins passed through the pillared gates and into the Green Corridor.

“Baron Lundgren shut his powers off,” Ernie said. “I guess Dean Nipkin had him locked up somewhere in Sendak Hall.”

The Griffins fell into silent thoughts as they passed through the halls of the school. As they neared homeroom, they found Dean Nipkin and Ms. Merical locked in another heated discussion. The difference was that Dean Nipkin won this time. She was holding Robert’s arm in her bony fingers as she turned to leave.

He reached out to fuse himself to the wall, but his power disappeared like a dead battery.

“No!” Ernie shouted. In a burst of speed, he tore down the hall, placing himself in front of Dean Nipkin. “Where are you taking him?”

The dean looked down at Ernie with tired eyes. “You know very well where he’s going. You of all people should understand that Robert needs special attention until he can control his talents.”

“I don’t want to go!” Robert complained. “I want to stay here with all the normal kids.”

“What would happen if you blew up in the middle of a classroom? Do you really think we should put the entire student body at risk because you prefer to roam around the campus unfettered? Do you really want a repeat of our tragic history?”

“What about Ernie?” Robert maintained. “Why does he get to stay?”

Ernie felt exposed as the dean turned to eye him carefully. “I’m working on it.” With that, she brushed past Ernie and disappeared through the doors with Robert in tow.

Ms. Merical placed a hand on Ernie’s shoulders. “As much as I hate to admit it, Dean Nipkin is right. Robert needs to learn how to control his abilities, or we’re all at risk.”

“Am I next?”

Ms. Merical shook her head as she smiled at Ernie. “I don’t think you need to worry about it.”

“Dean Nipkin mentioned a tragedy,” Natalia began. “What was she talking about?”

“Naomi…” Ms. Merical answered after a sigh.

“Who?”

“Many years ago, a young girl named Naomi attended this academy. She was a fire elemental like Yi, and she had extraordinary potential. In fact, she might have been one of the most powerful changelings in recorded history.”

“Why haven’t I heard about her before?” Ernie wanted to know.

“Because something went very wrong…” Ms. Merical’s voice trailed off. After a moment she blew her nose, wiped her eyes, and continued. “As difficult as it may seem right now, the rules are here to protect us. One day you will understand.”

“No. I won’t,” Ernie said flatly.

Ernie stewed through the rest of the morning, refusing to talk to anyone unless it was on the topic of food. He always ate a lot, but when he was depressed, his appetite went into overdrive. He was lucky that he never gained weight. When the bell announced lunch, he shot out the door. A stack of papers swirled behind him as he raced to his locker, where he opened the small refrigerator door that the maintenance team had installed. He grabbed a stick of summer sausage and bottle of Plumples before slamming his locker shut.

“I thought you weren’t supposed to use your super
speed unless it was an emergency,” Max said, placing his books in the locker next to Ernie’s.

“I was hungry,” Ernie grumbled before turning to walk to the dining hall.

“I’m sure Robert is going to be fine,” Max said, trying to catch up.

Ernie stuffed half the sausage into his mouth before tearing a chunk off. “Look, I know you’re trying to make me feel better, but you don’t get it,” he said as he smacked his lips. “Eventually I’m going to turn into some kind of a freak all covered in fur, or feathers, or who knows what. It’s the same for Robert, and all the other changelings. Instead of trying to help us find a cure, they want to lock us away like we’re criminals.”

“Maybe we could talk to Brooke’s dad,” Max suggested.

“Yeah, right,” Ernie said. “He probably gave Dean Nipkin permission to take Robert away. I bet you anything that I’m next. Besides, what’s going to happen when they see this?” Ernie pulled up his shirtsleeve to reveal a series of faint spots on his arm.

“Have you shown that to Doc Trimble?” Max asked.

“You’re kidding, right?” Ernie said, rolling his sleeve back down.

By the time Harley and Max grabbed their lunches, Ernie had already rushed through the line. He was sitting with the Toad brothers, eating with the rest of the
social outcasts. The room was packed with chattering students.

“What the heck is going on?” Harley asked as he wove through the crowd.

“Beats me,” Max replied.

“You’re just the two we were hoping to see,” Todd said, as Max took a seat next to him. “Where’s Romanov?”

“I don’t know. She told me that she would meet us here before class started,” Max replied. “It’s usually better not to ask. Why? What’s going on?”

Ross finished scribbling something into his little black notebook. “They just released the pairings for the Round Table tournament.”

“You aren’t going to believe this,” Todd said, looking at Ernie. “You’re dueling against Smoke.”

“Smoke?” Ernie asked, nearly choking on his macaroni salad. “I thought he was locked away.”

“Apparently he’s still eligible for the tournament,” Ross replied indifferently.

“Who am I dueling?” asked Harley.

“Cricket Willoughby,” Todd answered. “You two have a similar style, but you should be in good shape if you don’t do anything stupid.”

“How do you know what my dueling style is? You haven’t even seen me play.”

“Honestly,” Ross began, tucking a pencil behind his ear, “have a little faith. We do this for a living. How
else do you think the
Toad Reports
have become world famous?”

The Griffins looked at one another blankly.

“The
Toad Reports
are only the best scouting reports that money can buy. We can tell you everything from what kind of cards your opponent plays with to what he had for breakfast on his seventh birthday.”

“Speaking of which,” Todd said, flipping to a chart in the back of his notebook, “what kind of Kinematic goggles do you guys duel with? Salvino Technohancers? The Tesla Recoil?”

“I don’t have a clue what you’re talking about.” Max sighed.

“You’re serious, aren’t you? Look, you have to keep up with the times if you want to be competitive, Sumner. Kinematic goggles work kind of like the SIM Chamber. They allow you to duel in three dimensions, just like a real battle. It can get pretty intense, but it’s the only way to play.”

“Besides, you can’t play in an officially sanctioned tournament without them,” Ross added. “And you’ve got enough to worry about. You’re going up against Yoshino Takamori.”

“So do you have a scouting report on him?” Max asked.

The Toad brothers smiled at each other. “Of course,” Ross proclaimed. “But first we need to work out the business side.”

“We want to give you free
Toad Reports
for the first round,” Todd added.

“What’s in it for you?” Harley asked with a healthy dose of skepticism.

The Toads smiled in unison. “If you win, you promise to buy a report for every round until you’re knocked out,” Todd replied. “And when you get interviewed for the school paper, you need to give us a plug.”

Max turned to the other Griffins, but nobody said a word.

“All right, we’re in.”

Natalia showed up a few minutes later wearing a new outfit. She was sporting a ruffled blouse with a brooch fixed to the collar, khaki pants, and a pair of button-up boots.

“What are you so happy about?” Max asked.

Natalia looked around to make sure that no one was listening. Then she leaned over and whispered, “Someone is throwing a party in one of the Construction Zones, and we’re invited.”

“The Construction Zones are off-limits,” Harley objected.

“Since when have you ever worried about the rules, Harley Eisenstein?” she countered quickly. “Besides,
Stacy Bechton said they do this all the time. The teachers just pretend not to notice. What could possibly go wrong?”

“Who the heck is Stacy Bechton?” Ernie wanted to know.

“It’s this way,” Natalia said, motioning for the rest of the Griffins to follow. She broke away from the crowd of students loading onto the
Zephyr
, before disappearing into a crumbling passageway marked off with yellow tape. She reached into her bag, pulled out a flashlight, and set off down the lonely hall.

“I checked some of the records in the library,” she continued as they picked their way over the rubble-strewn floor. “This passage should lead us directly under Sendak Hall.”

Ernie sighed. “Sendak Hall isn’t really a place to party. Trust me.”

“Well, we’re going under it, not into it,” Natalia returned crisply.

As they wandered down the cramped tunnel, Max couldn’t stop thinking about Baron Lundgren’s warning. He knew they shouldn’t be here. The last thing he needed was to get suspended. How was he going to explain that to his grandmother? Still, Natalia was so excited about being invited to an exclusive party that he couldn’t say no.

“So has anyone heard from Brooke?” Max asked, trying not to sound too interested. He didn’t want Harley to start teasing him about having a crush on her.

“I’ve been chatting with her on my DE Tablet,” Natalia said, leading them deeper into the darkness. “She says she’s ready to come back to school, but her dad won’t let her.”

“Why not?”

“She thinks he’s overprotective, I guess,” Natalia replied. “I’m supposed to go to her place after school, so I should know more tonight.”

“This looks like an abandoned mineshaft,” Harley noted as he stepped over a pile of fallen masonry. “Are you sure we’re going the right way?”

“Of course,” Natalia replied. “The girl who invited us described it perfectly. They leave it like this so the teachers won’t get suspicious.”

“Wouldn’t they notice the footprints?” Ernie asked. “I mean, you’re the detective and everything, but there’s a lot of dust down here.”

Natalia ignored him.

After a few minutes, they found themselves at the top of a shadowy staircase blackened with soot and grime. “Down we go,” Natalia directed.

“Are you kidding?” Ernie asked as he looked over the edge with trepidation.

“Nobody forced you to come with us,” Natalia said. With that, she stepped over a broken gargoyle and began the descent.

“If Sprig were here, she could turn into a giant firefly or something and light the way,” Ernie suggested.

Max’s stomach turned. His attempts to find his Bounder had failed. She’d never been away this long before. If it was true that faeries were hiding from someone, maybe she was fine and just waiting until things were safe again.

“I told you there was nothing to worry about,” Natalia said as she moved quickly down the stairs.

“Shhh… I hear somebody following us,” Ernie warned.

Natalia turned her flashlight back up the stairs, but nobody was there. “It’s probably more people coming to the party.”

When the Griffins finally got to the bottom of the stairs, they found themselves in a long hall. The floor and walls were damp, and Max had a strange sense that he had been there before.

“There’s no one here,” Harley said, turning to Natalia. “Someone pulled a prank on you.”

“Wait a minute,” Natalia said. She saw someone move in the distance, the tail of her dress fluttering as she disappeared down one of the passageways. “That’s her. That’s the girl who gave me the invitation!”

“What are you talking about?” Harley pressed.

“Come on.” Natalia took off after the girl, and soon the Griffins found themselves facing a sheet of tattered plastic that had been strung across the abandoned hallway.

“Where did she go?” Natalia asked, frantic to find her.

“I know this place,” Max whispered. “It’s from my dream…”

His nightmare had sprung to life before his eyes. It was the same hallway. The same smell. The same everything. What was next, the bicycle? The newspaper bag? Would Johnny Geist be waiting for him in the room beyond?

“Maybe we should get out of here,” Ernie suggested, but Max didn’t hear him. Before Max knew what was happening, he pushed aside the plastic sheet and walked down the hall until he came to a doorway.

“
Help me
…” a voice echoed inside his head.

Max walked over the threshold and into a chamber that reeked of death. There was a rusted metal table with thick straps, broken drill bits, curved saws, forceps, and knives scattered on the floor where a tray had been overturned. Max had indeed been here in his dream, but it had been a different time. Ages ago.

Ernie skirted as far away from the wicked tools as he could. Across the room, Natalia spotted shackles big enough for her to wear around her neck. “I wonder what these were supposed to hold.”

“I don’t know,” Harley said. “But this whole room is lined with iron. Maybe they were doing experiments on faeries.”