[Janitors 01] Janitors (8 page)

The next four minutes passed like hours for Spencer. His worksheet was untouched on his desk. He quietly clicked his tongue with each movement of the red second hand. Dissatisfied by the sluggish tempo of the clock, he began clicking twice for each second.

“Shut up,” Dez grunted at his side, but Spencer didn’t hear him.

Five . . . four . . . three . . . two . . . one . . .

11:06.

Nothing.

Spencer glanced up at the fluorescent tube lights on the ceiling. Not so much as a flicker. Spencer’s stomach began to twist nervously.

Then, without a sound, the lights turned off. The fan in the back of the room gradually slowed and Mrs. Natcher looked up from the black screen of her computer with an annoyed look, as though the power outage was planned. Well—it
was,
but Mrs. Natcher had no way of knowing that.

Spencer hit the button on his watch and the seconds started rolling.

Dez immediately jumped to his feet and did some awkward dance move while chanting, “Power’s out! Power’s out! Wahoo!”

The classroom had one large window in the wall, but Mrs. Natcher kept it covered with outdated paisley curtains. Under the curtains was a shade that she’d pulled down the first time the overhead projector was used and she’d never put it up again.

“Everyone sit down,” Mrs. Natcher said. “The power will return at any moment.” She crossed the room to pull up the window shade and let in the now-needed sunlight.

Spencer waited until Mrs. Natcher’s back was turned. The class was still in mild chaos, and he attracted no extra attention as he slipped out the door.

It took Spencer longer than he wanted to find Daisy in the dim hallway. At the sight of Marv, Daisy had retreated to hide in a remote corner, clutching Baybee as if it were her own child. Spencer wandered several halls before they found each other.

Three precious minutes had passed by the time they stood before the boys’ bathroom with a wrinkled “out of order” sign thumbtacked to the wooden door. Spencer was holding the little gray flashlight in his hand, but he was afraid to turn it on. Baybee dangled in Daisy’s grip by one plastic arm, the doll’s diaper crooked from Daisy’s run down the hall.

Here, by the gym, it was rather dark. Spencer knew that without a window in the restroom, it would be pitch-black inside. Not willing to waste any more time, Spencer clicked the flashlight’s switch with his thumb. A dull, yellow glow appeared at the end of the small bulb. As Mr. Hadley had explained, it wasn’t even bright enough to illuminate the door two feet away.

Spencer was reaching out for the door when suddenly a bright white beam of light shot from the flashlight, angling sideways across the hallway. Spencer and Daisy jerked around to see the beam land on a winged vulture-bat. It was hanging upside down from the ceiling, but when the light touched it, the creature took flight. Spencer’s light tracked the jagged flight pattern masterfully, even though the flashlight was motionless in his hand.

The flying beast dove and touched the ground. Wriggling forward, it disappeared through the gap under the gym door. The flashlight returned to its dull glow in Spencer’s hand.

“What happened?” hissed Daisy in his ear.

“Mr. Hadley said that other magical objects would draw out the light. I guess that means creatures too.” Spencer finally pushed open the bathroom door. A small card fell to the hard floor. Hadley must have used it to stop the door from latching.

Spencer picked up the card. “Come on,” he urged, using the Indiglo feature on his watch to see that five minutes had passed. Daisy didn’t move. “What’s wrong?”

She hesitated. “I’ve never been in a boys’ bathroom before.”

“Oh, please,” Spencer muttered. “They’re just like girls’ bathrooms, except
we
have couches and entertainment systems with surround sound.”

“Really?” Daisy asked, her gullibility setting in again.

Daisy stepped into the bathroom and Spencer inserted the card over the latch and carefully shut the door over it, plunging the restroom into nearly complete darkness. In the dim light from the flashlight’s weak bulb, Spencer saw two urinals on the wall next to a single stall. There was one sink with an old soap dispenser and a roll of paper towels.

Suddenly, the flashlight flared to life. The white beam split the darkness, pinpointing its target near the sink. Then the beam flashed a different direction, toward the wall of the bathroom stall. Erratically, the light jumped between two objects.

The target near the sink crawled forward. When the next flash of light highlighted it, Spencer and Daisy saw that it was one of the salamander creatures. The flashlight shifted targets and Daisy backed up, fearful that the little monster would crawl up her leg in the darkness. The next time they saw the creature, it was stretching its pale body through the grate on the floor drain. Then it was gone.

With only one magical target now, the flashlight shone a steady white beam at the silver wall of the bathroom stall. All of the light honed in on one small area no larger than the head of a nail.

“There!” Daisy whispered. They had just taken a step toward the stall when the wooden door of the bathroom banged shut behind them. Spencer whirled around, but the flashlight changed to a weak glow as he faced away from the nail. Spencer felt Daisy draw closer to him. The boy’s bathroom was almost completely dark again.

But
three
people were breathing in the darkness!

“Ha ha!” laughed the intruder. “Gotcha!”

That voice was much too familiar—and the last one that Spencer or Daisy expected to hear.

“Open the door, Dez,” Spencer spoke into the darkness. They’d seen the nail and, according to Spencer’s timer, had two minutes before the lights came back. Spencer had hoped to take a closer look at the bronze nail, but there wasn’t time now.

“That’s a wimpy flashlight,” Dez said. His voice had drawn a step nearer.

Spencer reached into his pocket and felt the latex glove. Then he quickly withdrew his hand, realizing that Daisy would be stuck in the boys’ room alone with Dez if he used the glove to escape. Facing away from the nail, the little flashlight wasn’t doing much. Spencer didn’t want to arouse Dez’s curiosity further, so he switched off the light.

At seeing the dim bulb turn off, Dez laughed. “You can run, but you can’t hide!”

Spencer grabbed Daisy’s hand and jerked her against the wall as they heard Dez lunge through the blackness.

“Oh, ho.” Dez chuckled. “Not bad, lovebirds.” The big kid was swiping his arms through the darkness, dirty fingers eager to find them. Spencer held close to the wall, dragging Daisy around the urinals toward the door.

Thirty seconds left on Spencer’s watch.

They were almost to the exit, Dez still blundering behind them, when Spencer and Daisy froze. On the other side of the door, they heard a heavy sigh followed by the sound of jingling keys. Someone else was trying to get in! Someone with a big ring of keys. In Spencer’s mind, that narrowed it down to two people: Marv, or maybe Walter Jamison himself!

“Back, back!” Spencer hissed in Daisy’s ear.

“I
hear
you,” Dez whispered back, trying to make his voice low and menacing.

“Listen, Dez!” Spencer warned. “Someone’s trying to get in and we’ve got to hide fast.” Spencer was across the room, braving the germs on the bathroom wall and pushing Daisy into the stall.

“What?” Dez asked. Obviously this was the last thing he expected Spencer to say. On the other side of the door, they heard a mumbled curse. It was definitely Marv. And he seemed to be having trouble finding the right key in the darkness.

“Just get in here and shut up,” Spencer ordered.

“In where?” asked Dez, taking a step toward Spencer’s voice.

“The stall,” answered Spencer impatiently. Then, suddenly, the lights went on. Spencer blinked against the brightness and Daisy shielded her eyes. Dez stumbled across the bathroom toward them. Outside, Marv managed to get the key into the lock.

The door opened and Marv stepped in.

Chapter 15

“What’s so funny?”

The bear of a janitor glanced around the bathroom and then snorted. Marv didn’t see the three kids and the baby doll balancing silently on the cold rim of the toilet, holding on to each other and bracing themselves against the wall. The stall door was shut and latched, but Marv didn’t seem to notice details.

Spencer could barely glimpse the burly figure through the space between the hinges. Marv approached slowly until he stood only inches from the bathroom stall. On the other side of the thin wall, Spencer, Daisy, and Dez held their breath. Marv checked for the bronze nail, grunted unintelligibly, and then turned away.

The kids heard the bathroom door open, then bang closed. They heard the muffled sound of keys in the lock. Marv snorted once more, apparently trying to dislodge something from his sinuses. Then there was silence.

Of course, Dez was the first one to move. He jumped down from the toilet seat, chuckling to himself. “Good thing I told you guys to hide. We’d have been busted. That dude looked like he wanted to eat someone.”

“Quiet,” Daisy whispered. “He might still be out there.”

“Relax,” Dez said. “He didn’t see us.”

Daisy and Spencer stepped off the toilet seat as Dez unlatched the stall door. “We’ve got to get back to class,” Spencer said. “Mrs. Natcher’s going to freak when she sees that three of us are gone.”

“You’re not going anywhere,” Dez said, stepping in front of them. “I’ve still got to clean out some toilets with your heads.”

“Get out of the way,” Spencer said, brushing his hand at Dez like he was a pesky fly. A few days ago, Dez had been the most intimidating foe. But ever since the milk incident, ever since Spencer had discovered the courage to stand up for the truth, Dez seemed smaller. Indeed, compared to the wicked janitors and demented creatures that Daisy and Spencer were up against now, Dez looked about as frightening as Baybee.

“Hold it,” Dez said, unaccustomed to people ignoring his threats. Spencer and Daisy stepped past him and Spencer pulled on the bathroom door.

Locked.

Marv had locked the deadbolt, making sure to keep everyone out while unintentionally trapping Spencer, Daisy, and Dez in. Unwilling to believe, Spencer pulled again . . . and again. But the door was secure. They weren’t going anywhere.

Dez began to laugh.

“What’s so funny?” Daisy said.

“It’s perfect,” answered Dez. “It’s the perfect excuse not to go back to class . . . and to give you lovebirds endless swirlies.”

Ignoring Dez, Spencer and Daisy began brainstorming. Hitting the door and shouting for help was out of the question. Picking the lock was impossible. Daisy got on her hands and knees, putting her cheek dangerously close to the bathroom floor, and tried to peek under the door.

“Hey.” She carefully reached forward. A tiny bit of paper was visible under the door. Daisy trapped it with her fingernail and dragged it into the bathroom. It was the card that Garth Hadley had used to stop the lock. Daisy flipped it over. It was Hadley’s business card, the same kind that the BEM rep had given Spencer.

“Yes!” Spencer said, taking the card from her hand. “That’s got Hadley’s phone number on it. He told me to call if we get in trouble.”

Daisy smiled, showing her teeth in all their glory. “Hurry up,” she said, “call him. I want to get out of here.”

Spencer’s shoulders slumped. “You don’t have a cell phone?”

The girl shook her head, long braid swinging.

“Me neither.”

Behind them, Dez emitted an obnoxious, look-at-me sigh. Daisy and Spencer turned to find the boy operating a cell phone with both hands.

“All right, Dez!” Spencer said. For the first time, he was actually pleased with the bully. “If you let me borrow that for a minute, I can get us out of here.”

“Hang on,” Dez said. “I’m busy texting the sewer police. Got to tell them to expect two newcomers from toilet number one.” He grinned maliciously and snapped the phone shut. “You think I want to go back to Mrs. Natcher’s class?” Dez faked a yawn. “Yeah, right.”

Spencer and Daisy exchanged a glance. They had to get the phone from Dez before the janitors found out that they were missing from Mrs. Natcher’s class. If Marv’s threats carried any weight, he would already have figured out Spencer’s name and classroom.

“Why are you here, anyway?” Daisy asked, hands on her hips.

Dez tucked the cell phone into the pocket of his shorts and began to chant, “Spencer and Daisy, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-I-N-N . . . K-I-S-I-N-G . . .” he trailed away. “You guys came into class together this morning—late. Then, when the power went out, I figured Spencer went to find you. I usually don’t like to watch kissing, but I wanted to know where you were going.”

“So you followed us in here,” Spencer said.

Dez nodded. “Not a very romantic place for your first date, Doofus. But I thought it might be fun to crash the party. Besides, I’ve been looking for a way to get back at you.”

“For what?” Spencer asked.

“Yesterday’s little speech to the class. You can lie to
them
about seeing monsters, but I know you’re a fake.”