The changing of Winter | ✔

|15| - The Nighmare

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It was four days before I had another chance to sneak into the Bs' room. During that time, I kept to myself and twitched with anticipation. I couldn't wait to get the vials. I'd go straight to Nurse Karen, get a shot, and be home two hours later.

Wednesday after classes, Mr. Jones announced that there was going to be an assembly near the koi pond. The students were all going to learn an 'Aloha' song to greet their guests on Visitors' Day. It was just the distraction I needed.

I caught the first few notes from Mr. Jones's ukulele as I entered the Bs' room. I knew that song from my family trip to Hawaii. There were at least three verses. I felt confident that I had plenty of time.

Moving the crate was impossible. It was too heavy. So I had brought an empty backpack. It would be easier to simply take all the vials and put them in the pack. I'd seen Brooke carrying them out of the research center and I wasn't hunched over, so the crate must have also stored the notebooks and research details the doctors had complied.

I didn't need the notes. Not now. I'll send someone, the police maybe, to get the notes later. All I wanted was the cure.

Everyone was going to be so proud that I solved the mystery. I was going to be a hero. It felt good to be right. I couldn't wait to tell Jesse.

Just as I did before, I used my skeleton key to enter the room. I went straight to the crate. And ...

It was gone.

Where the crate had once stood, a normal table now sat.

For a long minute, I wondered if I imagined the whole thing. I've been having so many new zombitus symptoms lately, my mind might be playing tricks on me. Then again ... the utter humiliation of having my notebook read aloud had felt all too real.

As I backed into the wall, my spirits dropped. I was back at the beginning of an unsolved mystery.

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The night before Visitors' Day, I had a dream.

I was inside Mr. Jones's bungalow, searching for the cure. Ever since the Bs' room turned up empty. I've been thinking that Mr. Jones might have come to claim the crate.

So there I was, tiptoeing up to the coffin in the corner, when suddenly, Mr. Jones popped out.

I screamed.

"I saved you," Mr. Jones said as he climbed out. Even though the coffin was child-size, he seemed to fit just fine. Blood dripped down his chin sharp-fanged teeth. "I saved you, and still ... you suspect me."

He reached out and grabbed my hand. I struggled, but he wouldn't let go. His hand tightened around my wrist like a clamp. He circled abound me, and I felt my heart begin to race. "When Brett was chasing you, I was the one who made him leave you alone. I am the one who makes sure you are safe."

My feet dragged along the carpet as my legs stiffened.

I couldn't bend. I couldn't speak either. My voice was stuck in a long groan.

"You have turned your back on your friends," he told me. As he loomed over me, I backed closer and closer to the small black coffin.

I was scared now.

Mr. Jones ripped the skeleton key from around my neck.

"Handy little toy. It opens all locks," he said. "Bolts them shut, too"

"Uhhhh-uhhhh!" I groaned for help.

"They won't come," he told me. "They've saved you before. They won't save you again."

I didn't have zombie brain fog. My memories were crystal clear.

Jesse had pretended to be my boyfriend to get me away from Brett and the Bs outside the caslte tower. He'd even tried to get Brett to chase him instead of me.

And Joy had no reason to step in to get my private notebook back from the Bs. But she'd done it just the same.

"No one will save you this time," Mr. Jones repeated as he shoved me backward. I struggled against him, but my feet slid across the bamboo rug. "You are alone."

"No!" I cried.

Inches from the coffin, Mr. Jones scooped me up like a child in his arms and dumped me into the box.

"No one will believe you. No matter what you say." He slammed the lid and then used my own key to lock me in. "You are alone," he repeated.

Alone. The word echoed through the blackness. I could smell the stink of my own flesh decaying. I gasped for fresh air.

"Alone." Joy's voice reverberated in my ears.

"Alone." Said Jesse.

"Alone." Said Danny.

"Alone." Said Chiara.

"Alone." Said Brett.

"Alone." Said the Bs.

"NOO!" I cried out. I tried to raise my arms to pound on the wooden coffin, but they were pinned to my sides. My legs were stuck straight. My breath felt hot and shallow. The bottom of the coffin opened and the next thing I knew, I was falling into an endless darkness.

With a start, I woke up. And that's when I realized something very important. If I didn't find the cure, I'd be alone forever.

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