Chapter 24

chapter twenty-four Back home, we get Alfred into his cage. Then, I examine the weed killer. We have nine GIANT JUGS of something called Walt's Weed-B-Gone. "I'm going to hook hoses up to the weed killer," Quint says. "We'll run the hoses to Super Soakers. And then we blast away at the tree." I begin climbing up into the tree house to retrieve the space marine suit. I have a feeling we might need it. But halfway up the ladder, I stop. Looking at the garage, I watch Quint lose control of the hose and spray water everywhere. June's hair is soaked. She laughs. Dirk grabs Quint and lifts him up into the air, pretending he's about to unleash one of John Cena's Five Moves of Doom. Quint and Dirk both giggle. I can't lose these guys. I'd rather lose myself than lose them. I finish climbing up into the tree house—and I immediately gag. I throw my hand over my nose

and mouth. A thick, acidic scent fills the air, like burnt brownies and sidewalk chalk. The smell of evil. The smell of Thrull. The tree house interior is pitch-black somehow, even though it's the middle of the day. It's like all light has been sucked from the room. Slowly, a dim light returns. And I see him... HELLO, JACK. I gulp. Need to play this freeze-pop cool. "Hey, Thrull! Long time no see. You just, ah, let yourself right in, huh? I didn't even realize you knew where we lived." "I know many things," Thrull says.

"Right." Suddenly, Thrull grins. "I haven't seen you guys around Joe's Pizza in a few weeks, so I thought I'd pop in and pay you a visit. How's the bestiary coming?" I swallow hard. I can feel the fear on my face—I need to hide it. I try cracking a smile, but I'm sure I just look like the Joker.

We kinda lost interest in the bestiary. We've Leen doing other stuff. Lot of Frisbee, actually. Ultimate Frisbee. You play? Thinking about putting together a post— apocalyptic Ultimate Frisbee team. I was maybe gonna put up a flyer at Joe's. Any interest? Thrull lowers his head and chuckles softly. When he raises it again, his eyes are narrowed and seem to glow red. He speaks in a thick, wet growl. "Jack, where is the key?"

I gulp. We were so careful! We hid. We covered our tracks. Maybe if I play dumb... "Ah, the key?" I ask. "The bestiary," Thrull growls. "Um, Thrull," I say, "I'm really not sure what you're talking about. Is everything OK?" Thrull's beady eyes look me up and down. If he gets his hands on the bestiary, he only needs to bring it to the tree. And then he will perform the ceremony and the bestiary will open the Tree of Entry—and we're done for. .e...c. will come. Everything, kaput. "Do not lie," he says. "I know you were at the Tree of Entry. .e...c. the Ancient saw you. He sees all." "The book is gone," I say after a long moment. "We destroyed it." Thrull laughs. It's a harsh sound, like footsteps on gravel. "No human can destroy an enchanted bestiary. Your lies are foolish. You speak nonsense. Tell me where it is. Now." "OK, you're right," I say. "I lied. But for real— for truth—we lost it. Actually, to be specific, I lost

it." Thrull says nothing. "I'm like, y'know, super absentminded. You should have seen my locker back in school. You know—before your evil overlord opened the portal door thing and the monsters came and DESTROYED the joint. But yeah, my locker was just papers and old sandwiches everywhere. So I just, y'know, lost the bestiary. Misplaced it. I swear sometimes, if my head wasn't attached to my shoulders..." Thrull rises. He fills the room. LIE TO ME AGAIN, BOY, AND YOUR HEAD WILL NO LONGER BE ATTACAHED TO YOUR SHOULDER5 I PROMISE YOU THIS. I want to step back. I want to cower in the corner. I want to cry. But I don't do any of that.