10. Trapped!

TRAPPED! 10 I get it now!" Sam yelled, holding up the blueprint and the book. "It all makes sense. Orson Eerie designed this school so that he could stay alive forever. That's why we couldn't find a grave for him in the town graveyard! He never died! He became the school!" "Wait," Antonio said. "So you're saying—

"Orson Eerie is Eerie Elementary!" Sam said. "He is the walls and the floors. He is the lockers and the pipes. He is everything! That's why the school took you this morning, Lucy! It sensed that we found that library book! It knew we were close to finding out the truth!" Lucy's face went white. "This whole thing... It's terrifying... Sam agreed. It was almost too crazy to believe! But it did make sense. It explained everything. CLACK! The lock on the Heating and Cooling Room door slid into place, trapping them!

Then Eerie Elementary started going crazy. The walls began to vibrate! The pipes began shaking and clanking again! And the floor cracked open! The friends stumbled back. "What's happening?!" Lucy screamed. "Now that we've uncovered its secret," Sam yelled, "the school will never let us out!" Antonio jumped back. "My feet are getting wet!"

Water bubbled up through the crack in the floor. It was rising up fast. "We don't have much time!" Sam yelled. The water was over his sneakers. Lucy yanked on the door handle, but it wouldn't unlock. "We're stuck!" Sam gulped. The water rushed up through the floor fast. It was already above their knees. And there was no way out.