9. The Plan is Revealed

THE PLAN is REVEALED 9 After school, Sam, Antonio, and Lucy ran to Jasper Eerie's house. The house sat at the end of a cracked driveway. The roof was sunken in and the house was sort of crooked. Lucy knocked on the door. It creaked open, and Jasper appeared. "Hello, kids," he said. "No time for hellos!" Sam said as he rushed into the house.

This had been Orson Eerie's home— and it was full of his creepy, old things. Ancient trunks and boxes filled the kitchen. There were stacks of Orson Eerie's notebooks and journals on the table. "What's going on?" Jasper said. "Eerie Elementary is about to be torn down!" Antonio said. "That's good news!" Jasper asked.

Sam said, "Maybe. Or it might be the worst news! Can we sit down?" They gathered around the kitchen table. Jasper listened while the kids explained what had happened the past two days. They told Jasper they feared the school's evil powers could spread. "That sounds like Orson all right," Jasper said. "We need to know what will happen to Orson's power if pieces of the school are moved," Antonio said. "Like if they end up in other buildings."

Sam eyed the piles of Orson's work. "Well," he said, picking up a notebook. "I guess we should start reading." It was almost dinner time, and they hadn't found anything useful. Antonio chuckled as he read a document. "Check this out: Apparently Orson Eerie was super ticklish. He was researching a cure for ticklishness! "Weird," said Sam. "But not helpful."

Just then, Lucy discovered something that was helpful. She was flipping through a notebook when a piece of paper slipped out. Sam picked it up. "It's a drawing of Eerie Elementary!" he said. Lucy gasped when she saw what it said on top: IN EVENT OF SCHOOL DEMOLITION

"Demolition...," Jasper said curiously. "This means Orson planned for this. This drawing explains what will happen when the school is torn down." "What are these arrows?" Antonio asked. As Sam looked at the drawing, everything suddenly made perfect and terrible sense. "This drawing shows Orson Eerie's power spreading!" Sam said. "Orson is making the school fall apart!" "The falling plaque and the crumbling walls... It was all Orson's doing," Antonio said. "We thought Orson would finally be defeated, but—"