9. The Mysterious Machine

THE MYSTERIOUS MACHINE 9 "What are you doing in my house?" Jasper Eerie demanded. He loomed over Sam, Lucy, and Antonio. The friends were cornered! Sam swallowed and stepped forward. "We know the truth about the school and about Orson Eerie," he said. "And I know you know what I'm talking about. We were both there, in the music room..."

Jasper's eyes widened as he looked to Antonio and Lucy. "All three of you know the school is alive?" Antonio nodded. "And we know you're trying to bring Orson back to life!" "But we won't let you!" Lucy said, balling up her fists. Relief swept across Jasper's face. "Bring Orson back to life?" he said. "Oh, no! It's the opposite." Sam looked to Lucy and Antonio. Their mouths were small, stern lines.

"I apologize if I scared you," Jasper said, speaking softly. "But if you follow me, I can show you the real truth about Orson and your school." Sam and his friends couldn't resist the opportunity to learn more. They followed their substitute teacher. "Orson Eerie and I are related. Orson was my great-great-grandfather. This old house is mine— I inherited it," Jasper said. "After moving in, I discovered a trunkfull of Orson's notebooks and designs. He wrote about your elementary school. And I found plans for the strange machine that allowed Orson to become the school..."

"A machine?" Lucy asked. Jasper nodded. "I didn't think it was real. But I was curious. So when Principal Winik posted for a substitute teacher, I applied. It was the only way I could investigate the school and learn if Orson had been successful. Today, I did something I thought was crazy: I spoke to the school. But it wasn't crazy... The school heard me— Orson Eerie heard me! And attacked me! That's when I knew it was true. All of it..." Jasper led the three friends inside the shadowy room. It took a minute for Sam's eyes to adjust to the darkness. Then he fully saw the strange machine. It was the size of a refrigerator. It was built from many different parts, all of which appeared to be very old. Sam saw an ancient stove, a boxy TV, vacuum hoses, and other things.

"Orson built this?" Antonio asked. "Sort of," Jasper said. "I found it here. It was a wreck. I started to rebuild it. I believe I can use this machine to do the opposite of what Orson did. I believe it can remove Orson from the school— so that the two are no longer bound together."

"Wait," Sam said. "You mean, this machine could end it for good?"