Bad Apple (The Warner Grimoire) (22 page)

“We need to go now,” Simon said. “If we stay here that
thing
will get us.”

“No.” Luke looked back the way they had just came. “That was a hellhound,” he said. “A dog, kind of, but worse.”

“Yeah?” Simon said. “So?”

Luke turned back to him, slowly backing away. “Dogs can’t moan.”

The significance blossomed slowly in Simon’s mind, but it was a second too late for him to act. A hand burst out of the passageway, seizing him, trying to pull him back into the dark. It was strong, and it gripped his shoulder fiercely. Foul, frigid breath fell on his neck, and slowly the sound of moaning returned, filling his ears utterly. Simon knew in that instant that the creature was going to drag him down. His mind dropped down, far down, first through the passage, then further, then into a darkness his mind could not grasp. His very thoughts turned to ice. It was hopeless. In the next instant he would be taken away from everything he knew, from this new place he had only just discovered, from his home at the Paw, from Molly and Zoey, from Halloween and homework and everything good and bad in life--it was all going away. He was leaving it all behind.

He was leaving Sam.

A bright magenta dart streaked out of the darkness, moving so fast it burned a path in Simon’s vision. He could not see it, but he smelled burning skin above him, and the iron hand instantly released his shoulder. Simon fell to his stomach, and from the floor he had his first clear view of the passage, and the creature. It appeared human, or at the least
mostly
human, at least in all the important, noticeable ways. Simon doubted it could pass for human in daylight, but night was a different matter. The creature lay still, the only movement at all being the small plumes of smoke that slowly rolled off several large patches of its ruined body. Its milky white eyes stared emptily at Simon, but the creature’s eyes were well past ever seeing anything ever again. Further down the stairs other shapes were moving in the dark, and their moaning became louder than before.

Simon scrambled out into the passageway. Luke helped him to his feet, while Penny peeked down the passage. “Moatlings. More of them,” she said. “Can your fairy handle them?”

Maggey floated slowly on the air back to Luke. “I think that one took it out of her.” He stroked a small spot on his shoulder. “I can’t believe this. Moatlings and hellhounds in one place. They never work together. This is bad.”

Simon sat up. His senses slowly recovered. “That was--”

“Maggey,” Luke said. “Popped up out of nowhere and got that one right in the face.”

Strength was slowly returning to Simon’s legs. “Thank you,” he said in the direction of Luke’s shoulder. “You saved me.” The spark flashed twice, dimly, then went dark.

“She needs rest,” Luke said. “That wasn’t easy for her.” Another howl cut through the air above them. “They have us pinched,” Luke said. “This is weird. These two nasties don’t mix.” Both the boys looked at Penny. “Which way now?”

“There’s the main stairwell,” she said. “If they followed us through the passage, then it might be clear.”

“Better than nothing,” Luke said. “Lead the way.”

“How is she?” Simon asked, looking at Malkin.

“Scared. She’ll be okay.” Penny looked back a the passage. “We need to go.”

She lead them into the stacks. After a minute of sneaking, Penny paused to put her hand on a shelf. Somewhere out in the silence a small
thud
happened. A moment later she shuddered. “Four of them. I dropped books on the far end of the floor, away from us, try to draw them that way. When we make it to the stairs, we go straight to my dad’s office.”

“That so?” Luke peered into the dark. “Beeline it straight there. Why?”

“Threshold,” Penny whispered. “Dad has a second one on the doorway there, stronger than normal. Almost impossible for
them
to get through.”

Luke stepped back. “Music to my ears. How far till the stairs?”

Simon’s heart thundered in his chest, causing him to stumble. He steadied himself against the wall as Boeman’s discordant, tinny laugh suddenly jangled inside his head.

“Simon!” Penny said. “What’s wrong?”

“Boeman,” Simon said, trying to shake the laugh from his head “He’s here.”

“How do you know?”

“I feel him,” Simon said, the pounding in his chest fading. “I hear
him.
He’s really close. Penny, how far till the stairs?”

“Close,” she said. “Can you move?”

“I think so,” Simon said, finding his footing. “Go.”

They ran as quietly as they could to the front of the floor, never pausing, not even when Luke knocked over a cart containing more books than Simon thought possible. Penny had merely slapped a shelf as she ran past, causing a wave of books to go careening to the floor, the noise of the barrage almost covering the sound of beasts yelping and the gnashing of teeth. They reached the door to the main stairwell and Penny slowly slid the door open, peering down into the floors below. “All clear,” she said at last. “Hurry.”

They slipped into the stairwell and began rapidly descending the flights of stairs, while above them they heard the howling and thrashing of the hellhounds as they continued to tear the sixth floor to shreds. As they reached the landing for the ground floor, Penny paused to peek through the doors.

“There’s one in front of Dad’s office,” she whispered. “They must have figured we would head there.

Simon peered through the glass of the doors. In front of the side door to Mr. Nettle’s office was a large, familiar black shadow moving back and forth, its silhouette cutting through a patch of moonlight as it paced back and forth. Streaker.

Simon’s heart pounded. “We can’t go this way.”

Luke peered through the glass. “Yeah? Why in the world not?”

“That’s not just a hellhound,” Simon said. “That one works with Boeman. They took my guardian, Sam.”

“Wait.” Luke said. “Hang on. Did you say
Boeman
?”

Simon stared at Luke in disbelief. “Haven’t you been listening?”

Luke shook his head. “Not really.” He looked at his shoulder. “Dogs and devils, Maggey. We’ve really done it this time.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Look,” Luke said after a moment. “This here’s our best shot. I’ll create a distraction, you run for the office, got it?”

“What are you going to do?”

“What I do best,” Luke said. “You ready?”

Simon exchanged a long look with Penny. “Okay,” he finally said. “Ready.”

Luke took a deep breath, followed by another. “Now,” he whispered. “Hey ugly!” he shouted, kicking the door open. Unlike Penny’s eyes, though, his eyes flashed a deep, scarlet red. The dog was instantly locked onto him. “You’re IT!” His eyes flashed again, and he snapped his fingers, hard and loud. A high-pitched tone burst throughout the air, and Streaker howled in terrible pain. Luke followed by hurling a large book at the beast, then broke into a run, away from them, followed closely by Streaker, who had quickly recovered and was chasing him like Death itself had been let loose.

Simon waited until the coast was clear, then slowly slid the door back open and peered around. “Okay,” he said. “Looks clear.” Penny shoved her head through the crack in the door, too, performing her own rapid-fire inspection.

“Straight ahead,” she said. “Once we’re through the door, we’re safe. It’s done.”

Another quick check. “Okay,” Simon whispered. “Now!”

The side door to Mr. Nettle’s office was at the far end of the room. Simon moved quickly, keeping his head down and listening for any sudden sounds, all the while an icy cold sensation spread across his chest, seizing up towards his throat. Penny slipped along beside him, and he suddenly realized that she was barefoot. She barely made any noise, padding along quietly as the two of them slipped along the floor to her father’s office.

They were halfway to the door when another vicious howl shot through the air, joined a moment later by moaning. Penny grabbed Simon’s hand. “Hurry!” she shouted, pulling him into a run.

Shadows moved behind the shelves around them, human-shaped creatures stumbling rapidly forward, falling towards them in an unfettered pursuit, and behind them claws could be heard scraping across the floor.

They were a few yards from the door. From safety. In a few seconds, they would be inside, past the threshold, safe behind Mr. Nettle’s magic. Simon pumped his legs harder, Penny already running at full sprint.

Something darted in the corner of Simon’s vision. It moved quickly, leaping in front of the door to Mr. Nettle’s office, its teeth flashing blood-red in the moonlight.

Penny screamed and stopped short.

A hellhound blocked their escape. The moaning shadows began to close in around them.

The Other Voice whispered in his mind.
“You’re pinched, Simon. Do something.”

“Get behind me,” Simon said. He raised both his palms towards the snarling hound. “Ex luce vita,” he said, albeit weakly.

Nothing. He shook his hands as the beast arched its back and growled.

“What are you doing?” Penny put her back up to Simon, her eyes fixed on the shadows around them.

“Just something I do,” Simon said. “I did it yesterday. First my hands sort of, well, buzzed, then this light--”

“Are you insane?” Behind them a shelf of books collapsed onto a group of the advancing ghouls. “You can’t just tap your life force around like that.”

“You’re weak, kid,”
said the Other Voice.

Another hellhound appeared at the stairwell door. They were boxed in. “Do you have any other ideas?” Simon flexed his hands and held them back in front of them. In his mind, he tried to reach out to the same force he had felt before, to connect to what he thought was his hidden strength.

Cosmic forces.

Strong stuff.

Poofy
.

Slowly, the buzzing began to creep into his hands, and the hellhound in front of Mr. Nettle’s door began to growl louder. He tried to focus his thoughts more clearly, to line them up all in a row, put them in order like books on a shelf.

“I sure hope you know what you’re doing,” Penny said.

“I think so,” Simon said. He closed his eyes and tried to think of the brightest image he could. Maggey had been bright, in the corridor. Brightness was the key, he was sure, but he was without any idea what to say. He thought of the sun, and spoke the first word that sparked in his mind. “
Burn
.”

Dizziness.

Fire poured out of his fingertips like orange and red water, and he was aghast. Flame erupted from his hands and washed over the hellhound, chasing it off into the darkness. Despite the inferno that now suddenly raged around them, the path to the door was now completely clear. He shook the fire from his hands. “Go!” Simon shouted, and Penny flew to the door, throwing it open and charging inside. Behind Simon the flames leapt across the piles of fallen books, spreading rapidly across the floor as it closed in on every moving thing, moatling and hound alike. The moatlings fell back from the flames, shuffling a hasty retreat into the depths of the library, but the hounds remained, ignoring the inferno for the most part.

Simon’s hands tingled even though the flames had faded away, and his head swam clumsily as he backed towards the open door. His eyes kept failing to take in all the sights around him. His chest had gone numb. He crossed into the office with a shiver then collapsed in a heap on the floor. Penny helped him sit up, and when he looked out the door again, Luke was there, on the far side of the room, near the main exit.

“Luke!” Simon’s voice was a muddled croak. “Luke, hurry!”

The moatlings had completely disappeared, and the hellhounds only retreated when the shelves began to heave and fall all around them. They rapidly retreated through several large broken windows, yet Luke remained frozen in place, his face a flicker of flames and shadow.

“Luke!” Simon shouted again, trying to get his voice to carry. “LUKE!”

“I said I’d help you get in there,” Luke shouted. He pointed at Mr. Nettle’s office. “Which I did. There you are.”

The air thickened with smoke. Simon could barely make out Luke’s outline across the floor. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “ARE YOU FOR REAL?”

Luke looked back at them. “Yeah.”

Penny fumed. “Some friend!” she screamed.

“Sorry Strawberry!” Luke started to back towards the main exit. “Ain’t nothing personal!”

“I won’t forget this!” Simon shouted.

Luke stared at both of them. It was a long, hard stare.“I know,” he said slowly. Then his face slowly hardened, the flame baking it to brick. Without another word, he backed slowly through the door behind him, and was gone.