12. Powering Up

POWERING UP 12 When the final bell rang, Sam and his friends sprinted to the art room. "Ready?" Jasper Eerie asked, greeting them. He was wheeling the huge machine out from its hiding place. "You bet!" Antonio said. He and Lucy helped Sam clear away chairs and tables, creating space.

The machine looked enormous as Jasper pushed it into the center of the room. He plugged in the power cord. "Run the hoses to the walls," Jasper said, reading from Orson's old notes. "We need the machine to be as connected to the school as possible."

Antonio attached hoses to air ducts. Sam and Lucy shoved tubes against cracks in the cinder-block wall. Then they all stared at the machine. Sam thought he saw something odd. He stepped closer. He couldn't quite tell. But it looked like ever so slowly a single screw was turning. Oh no. Orson Eerie knows what we're doing!

"We can't wait any longer," Sam said. He stepped up onto a chair, grabbed hold of the machine's red lever, and pulled. ERRRR-ROOOOM! Sam jumped down as the machine rumbled to life. "Um, so what's supposed to happen now?" Antonio asked. The machine chugged and pumped. The hoses shook and snapped against the floor. "Just give it time..." Lucy replied.

All of a sudden, Lucy's hair stood on end. Sam felt his own hair do the same. "The machine is creating static electricity," Lucy said. "Like when you rub your feet on the carpet and then touch a door knob." The air in the room felt electric. A strange wind began to blow. Papers whirled around. The curtains waved and the lights flickered. Suddenly, the color of the walls seemed to lighten — from top to bottom. It was like the darkness of Orson Eerie was being drained from the school.

"It's working!" Jasper shouted over the rumbling machine. But Sam wasn't so sure. The bad feeling in his stomach was growing stronger. Then — SMASH! The ceiling lights BURST! Sam, Lucy, and Antonio reeled back as the floor buckled. The room turned pitch black. Jasper tripped. Everything was quiet. No one dared speak. No one dared even breathe. Then it happened. For the first time, Sam and his friends heard the voice of Orson Eerie. Orson Eerie spoke to them. And what he said chilled them to their bones...