The Afterlife Academy (23 page)

C
harlie was trying to stall. “I thought you were one of the good guys. Your website—your books—they're about fighting the dark side. Is that all fake?” Charlie was practically foaming at the mouth.

Wisdom flinched. “Fake? I'm not a fake. I have been fighting, and I continue to do so. But do people care? I've been made fun of for years. Mocked. Ridiculed. Slandered. All because of my beliefs. Do you read the newspaper much?”

Charlie shook his head. What kid his age had time to do that?

Wisdom reached below Charlie's chair and held up a copy of the most recent newspaper. On the front page was a picture of Wisdom beaming at the camera. The headline read:
WISDOM WILLOWS TO SPEAK AT ANNUAL FESTIVAL
.

“That's nice.”

“Hardly. Listen to this!” Wisdom spat. “ ‘Year after year hordes of faithful followers suit up in their creepiest costumes and arrive in Conrad to celebrate the annual Wraith Festival. What should be considered a thrilling weekend for children, however, has transformed into a broiling hive for adult weirdoes. Taking the helm at this year's nerdfest is none other than Conrad's own Wisdom Willows, the self-proclaimed king of the dimwits.' ” Wisdom crumpled the edges of the paper with his hands. “And look who wrote it.” He jabbed his index finger at the italicized name beneath the headline.

“Gopher Phillips?” Charlie whispered. “He works at the newspaper?”

“He's supposed to report the news. The facts. Not sway people's minds with his opinions!” Tight-lipped and red-faced, Wisdom wadded the paper into a ball.

“Who cares what he writes?” Charlie reasoned. “You're way more successful than he is. I bet most people don't even read what he writes.”

“Oh, they read. They all do. And they all talk about me and about my loser minions. That includes you, Charlie. But now, after tonight, they'll know the truth. They'll see their mistakes and beg for my forgiveness.”

“That's what this is all about? Because people make fun of you? Join the club. I've been made fun of my whole life. That doesn't mean it's okay to take revenge. What you're going to do will hurt people, and not just the people like Gopher Phillips.” Charlie suddenly realized that Melissa Bitner had been right to be angry with him when he'd broken Mo's hand. If Charlie lived his whole life looking for the right moments to take revenge on enemies like Mo, or Vincent, or even Wheeler, he would end up being no better than Wisdom.

“Why were you trying to help me online? What was all that garbage about a Chamber Torch?” Charlie continued.

“My boy, I don't even think a Chamber Torch exists. I'm sorry I misled you, but I needed the book—and you.”

“How did you even know what to do with
The Summoner's Handbook
?”

“I'm not working alone. I have a benefactor. Someone has been providing me with the necessary materials.” Wisdom reached into his fanny pack and pulled out the large glowing orb. “It's the largest Celestial stone ever given to anyone, living or dead. This provides me with control over all Underworld creatures. It's not a fun place, the Underworld. It's messy.”

“You've been there? Where the demons come from?”

“How else would I have been able to amass my army?”

“But I thought only monsters could travel there.”

“Of course not. Anyone who knows the way can visit the Underworld. And naturally, me being me, I knew the way. But no human would ever dare step into their realm unprotected. That would be like delivering a pizza to a college fraternity, if you know what I mean.” Wisdom stuck out his tongue. “But I have my stone for protection.”

Wisdom tilted his head to one side. “Charlie, you and I are a lot alike.”

“We are
nothing
alike!” Charlie snapped. “I'm not destroying the world with demons just because I was bullied.”

Wisdom's face twisted with grief. “You don't get it. That's not what I'm doing. I'm just opening a pipeline. Letting a little more in. Giving a select few demons extra powers to mix things up a bit. I'll keep control over them with the handbook.”

“How are you going to control them when you can't read it?”

“Don't be silly. I've examined the decoding page. I can read it just fine. But only
you
can provide the soul sacrifice to open the Gateway. Once that's done, I'll have no trouble controlling the book. Then, as payment, I'll be allowed to rule the demons as I choose. Show them off to all the nonbelievers. My benefactor has promised to overlook it when I become one of the most powerful men on earth. I'll live a long, full life, and then I get a one-way ticket to heaven. Guaranteed!”

“Hello?” a female's voice sounded from the stairwell.

Both Charlie and Wisdom turned to focus their attention on the girl standing in the locker room doorway.

“Oh no,” Charlie whimpered. Where had she come from? Melissa Bitner had picked the worst time to become interested in Charlie's life.

“Hello there, little girl.” Wisdom tried to smile, but he came across looking gassy.

“You're Wisdom Willows,” Melissa said, no longer looking as eager and excited as she had outside the hotel.

“That's right. Are you a fan?”

“What are you doing to Charlie?” She took another step, stopped, and stared at the bindings on Charlie's arms and legs.

“Ah, you're his sister? His girlfriend?” Wisdom asked.

“No!” Charlie's voice cracked. “She's neither one of those things.”

“How long have you been hiding up there?” Wisdom pointed at the stairs with his chin.

“Long enough to hear that you're about to do something terrible to Charlie.”

“Yes, well, what you see before you is just an act,” Wisdom explained. “Charlie and I are practicing for our performance at the festival.”

Charlie began to deny it, but Wisdom promptly slapped him on the back of the head.

“Ouch!”

“Sorry,” Wisdom apologized. “I'm still in character.”

“What's really going on here?” Melissa asked. “Charlie, are you okay?”

Wisdom fixed Charlie with a dangerous glare. “Think about your parents,” he muttered through tight lips.

“I'm…I'm fine. We're just practicing, like he said.” Charlie forced a smile. He wanted to rub his throbbing head.

Melissa narrowed her eyes and glanced around the room. “You're sure?”

“Yes, yes, of course!” Wisdom barked. “Now, if you don't mind, we need to practice, practice, practice.”

“I don't think so.” She backed toward the stairs. Charlie could see she was shaking.

“Tell me, girl, did you come here with family? Your parents?” Wisdom asked.

Melissa nodded. “Yes, my parents are outside right now.”

Wisdom gazed up the stairs, his smile widening. “I don't think so. I think you're telling a fib.” He snapped his fingers. “Noral!”

One of the alligator demons bounded out from the showers. He charged right at Melissa, but since she couldn't see it coming for her, she didn't move. Suddenly she gave a yelp as Noral's clawed hand clamped down over her mouth and the demon hoisted her into the air.

“Leave her alone!” Charlie yelled. “Let her go!”

“She's seen too much.” Wisdom sighed. “Put her with his parents.”

Noral toted Melissa, struggling and kicking to break free, into the shower room.

“Now, Charlie, no more talkie.” Wisdom pressed his fingers together. “If you value the lives of your parents and your girlfriend, you'll start reading immediately.”

“She's not my girlfriend! And you're just going to hurt them anyway!”

“Cross my heart and hope to die, if you do your part, I promise not to lay a finger on any of them.” Wisdom held up his hand, solemnly swearing. “Now, time for your willing sacrifice so that we may open the Gateway and transfer your soul inside.”

Charlie looked at the opened pages.

“Wait, willing? I'm not willing. Not willing at all!”

Wisdom scrunched up his nose. “Eh. Close enough.”

The room crowded with more demons tromping through the rear exit. A couple of globby orange demons resembling slithering Jell-O molds were the first to enter, followed by many others in a variety of shapes and sizes. Among them walked the small bat-eared demon, the horned gorilla, and the Cyclops, displaying several gruesome injuries. The Cyclops limped up to Wisdom, wincing with every step.

Wisdom threw his hands up in the air. “Hoonga, Gorge. Don't tell me Walter got away.”

Hoonga snarled. “I'm not exactly in the mood to talk about it.” His eye narrowed, and he reached a claw for Charlie's throat. “Why is he still breathing?”

Wisdom held up the Celestial stone, and the demons in the room shielded their eyes, cowering at its power. “Need I remind you who's in charge here? Not you! Me! So get back, and give me space! Sorry, Charlie.” Wisdom paused. “That sounds funny. Sorry, Charlie.” He laughed some more. “Anyway. I apologize for the distraction. Now, where were we?”

Charlie's eyes darted around the room, landing on the various creatures glaring at him. They purred and drooled. Some of them bared their teeth while others released flatulence. It was a disgusting crew of demons.

“Are we still under sufficient guard?” Wisdom asked, hiding the stone.

Hoonga shrugged. “Not really. I've pulled in my best and left a half dozen of the lesser demons and wraiths outside to watch. We'd better hurry.”

Wisdom clapped his hands together. “Okay, my friend, no more delays.” He once again pointed to the desired passages. “It's time to begin.”

“A
ny more of your friends going to show up to complicate things?” Riley asked.

Walter shrugged. “Who knows?”

Melissa's older sister sat on one of the bleachers, gabbing away to someone on her cell phone.

“We need to act before she wonders where her sister is and goes down to find her,” Reginald said.

“Okay, let's split up as planned. We'll have to figure out a way to get our hands on Wisdom's Celestial stone once we're inside.”

“Wait.” Ronald cleared his throat. “What if we used a decoy?”

“Meaning?” Teague said.

“Well, Wisdom and the demons aren't expecting us to show up for a fight because we're not supposed to know about any of this. But they might not be too surprised to see Walter charging in there to save Charlie. He was his HLT, after all.”

Teague folded his arms. “I'm listening.”

“It would be dangerous, but if Hoonga's really down there, he might want to torture Walter first for fun. It could be just the distraction we need to strike. We could dim Walter's aura with dimming powder to throw Wisdom off.”

All eyes rested on Walter.

Go in alone? Allow Hoonga to capture him for torture? It sounded like a suicide mission. But if it could give Charlie a chance to make it out alive…

“I'm in.”

“We'll have to hope that the distraction will cause Willows to drop the stone so that we can destroy it,” said Teague.

“Actually, I think I have an idea about that,” Walter added. “And this one's even crazier than Ronald's.”