Later that night, when everyone was discussing where they'd sleep, I was busy unpacking all my new equipment. In just over two hours, I turned the old, dusty disused science room into a science lab at least as good as the one back at the castle had been.
It was around nine o'clock. I decided to get started. I had two and a half months to do something that me and Ben had taken nine months to complete. I started by making a generator. After all, we couldn't exactly tap into the local power grid. They'd wonder why there was electricity running into an old, abandoned school.
I set up two natural power sources. I attached small windmill turbines outside everywhere where they wouldn't be noticed, then put solar panels up on the roof. I hooked it all up, and, as the turbines were blown into life, the lights in the room flickered on.
"Let there be light." I muttered, grinning. I collapsed back in the office chair that had been left in the room (and which I'd cleaned thoroughly) and stared around at the equipment. The least I could do tonight was finishing setting up. I started plugging in the computers, connecting everything to everything, setting up all the electronics and making sure they worked.
Then, I went to the old wooden bookshelf that had been left behind and tested to make sure it was secure. Then, I began filling it with all the chemicals that I had acquired earlier that day. Some of them needed to be refrigerated, and I remembered seeing a refrigerator in what had been the staff-room.
I walked quietly down the stairs. It was late at night, and the others were probably asleep. I was far too excited to be tired, though. I eventually got down to the bottom floor, and went into the old staff room. I looked around for a moment, then saw a small, dusty mini-fridge in one corner. I stared dubiously at it, wondering if it would work. No time for that now.
I picked up the fridge carefully, putting both hands underneath it and lifting it with a straight back so that I wouldn't injure myself. Then, I slowly made my way back up to the science room, being careful not to trip. I walked into the room, and plugged the fridge in, opening the door hopefully. The fridge hummed softly and the light inside turned on.
I quickly filled it with the chemicals that needed to go in there, and then went over to the set of books I'd bought, and filled the bottom few shelves of the bookcase with them. The room was looking pretty good. I fell back onto the chair, and felt exhaustion finally catch up with me. I got back up, and picked one of the books off the bookcase. I turned off all the lights apart from the book light I'd set up one the desk and wheeled the chair over.
I was reading until about five o'clock the next morning, then I fell asleep. Andy came and woke me up around two hours later when everyone else was getting up. "You did sleep last night, didn't you?" she asked me warily. I nodded.
"Uh-huh. Slept like a log." For two hours, that is. I went downstairs and ate breakfast with the others, telling them about how I'd set everything up last night and could get to work on the formula now. Scarlett didn't seem very happy that I'd been up most of the night sorting it out, but she let it slide.
When I'd finished, I made my way back upstairs to the lab, so I could get to work. I put the book that I'd been reading last night back on the shelf, and began powering everything up. It took a while for everything to get ready and warm up, but luckily it had been really windy last night and really sunny this morning, so there was quite a lot of electricity stored. Enough for what I needed to do, at least.
I began typing away at one of the laptops, writing up notes of what I remembered from when I'd last worked on the formula with Ben. I stared at what little I had to go on, not even sure that it was correct with the amount that he had tampered with it. I quickly deleted it all, realising that I'd have to start from scratch completely.
I sighed heavily. I had two and a half months, a lab full of equipment that I hardly knew how to use and an old abandoned school as a base. I put the coffee machine on. It was going to be a long two and a half months.
***
I glanced over at my clock. It was three am, but I'd finally sorted out the phones so that they couldn't be traced. I looked around for a moment, and spotted my new coffee machine. I took the cup off my desk (yes, I'd thought to buy a coffee machine and two cups), and poured myself a cup. I still wasn't too keen on coffee, but it was keeping me alert while I was working.
I typed slowly at one of the computers, my fingers feeling lazy and heavy. I shook my head, blinking fast. I took a deep breath and stood up. I went over to the bookcase and opened a book. I took it back over to my desk, staring at the pages. For a long time, I took none of the words in, then forced myself to concentrate.
The chemical element hey loser! is common in yes, you. Although this is key in the making of the you're a baby, it can cause serious side effects. To stop this reaction from happening, don't be such a loser.
I blinked hard, rubbed my eyes with a knuckle, then stared back at the page, intent on getting the first part of the formula started tonight. I took another gulp of coffee, and began reading again.
The electrons can be used to power up Are you going to cry? and sometimes even Baby gonna cry?.
I sighed in frustration and tipped back the last of the coffee. I sat up straighter, my eyes wide and forced myself to continue reading.
Occasionally this can cause a reaction that means sausage. And, if the experiment has been set up properly, you can even go home to your mum and dad. Extensive evidence suggests that you miss them. If you continue on this course, you'll become a coffee addicted nutter. Of course, one misguided step could mean that you end up actually doing something right in your life. Blah. Blah, blah blah. Sausage. Parrot. Blah blah. Candle. Balloon. Blah. Blahblahblahblah. Six. You are the six. You have six years to live. Ha! Loser! You're going to spend the last six years of your life as a coffee adicted nutter. The resulting explosion should be small, but can still be dangerous, so make sure you have correct safety equipment on and a bucket of water nearby, just in case!
I stared at the empty coffee cup, as though it were the cup's fault. "Hey, don't blame me." it snorted.
I jerked a little in my chair. "I need to sleep." I proclaimed.
"Probably." agreed the coffee pot. "Want another cup'pa coffee first though? This one's on the house!"
"I'm not going to talk to a coffee machine." I said, staring at the floor. I stood up, feeling slightly light-headed. I picked up the book, and it complained. I took it over to the bookshelf and put it back. The book whined at me as I shoved it in with the others. "Shut up, you're not real!" I half-shouted.
"I'm real." the book sounded insulted.
"We just don't actually talk." another textbook said.
"Uh huh," agreed a third. "You're just under a lot of stress and staying up late drinking coffee and reading science textbooks isn't helping. You just feel a horrible weight on your shoulders 'cause your friends' lives depend on you."
I knew that the book was my subconscious trying to think up an explanation as to why the inanimate objects in the room had suddenly started talking. I was willing to agree with it. I still wasn't in the best of shape, still covered in cuts and bruises and I still had broken ribs, and I still had a deep graze in my wrist from the bullet. I was tired, and stressed and injured.
So you decided to make books talk, a small voice in my brain said. I ignored it. I turned and went over to my desk.
"Hey! Get back here and read us!" the books complained. I sat down heavily.
"Love me." my laptop begged in a deep, sorrowful voice.
"I'm cracking up." I muttered.
"Yes." the coffee machine agreed. "Want another cup?"
"Love me!" the laptop said, louder this time.
"Read us!" the books shouted in unison. I put my fingers in my ears.
"It's not real, it's not real, you're hallucinating." I told myself repeatedly.
"LOVE ME!"
"READ US!"
"Want another cup'pa coffee?"
"It's not my fault you're nutty-"
"Off your rocker-"
"'Round the bend-"
"I just want a hug."
"I'm lonely."
"SHUT UP!" I shouted at the top of my voice. Everything in the room suddenly fell silent. The lights flickered and went out, and I felt myself rise a few feet off the ground. I felt drained quickly; I still hadn't got round to taking the bracelet off. "Damnit," I muttered to myself, quickly restoring gravity. I hit the ground with a loud thump, still on the chair. I turned the lamp back on, jumping when I saw the others at the door.
"What are you doing, kid?" Tony asked tiredly, rubbing his eyes. I got the feeling he hadn't yet realised that he was just wearing a pair of boxer shorts and a vest.
"Eli." Scarlett said crossly.
"I, uh, had another nightmare." I lied.
"You need to sleep. And so do we." Scarlett said.
"I was sleeping." I said, glaring at them all. "I had a nightmare and just woke up." Scarlett raised an eyebrow to show she didn't believe me.
"If you're going to have more nightmares, Aiden can stay with you." she offered.
"I can?" Aiden asked warily.
"You can." Mackenzie said.
"No, I think I'm fine. I've, uh, conquered my sleep demons."
"Right." Scarlett said. "I'm going back to bed."
"Finally." Andy muttered. "Something that makes sense." They all trudged back out of the room, muttering 'goodnight's as they left. I turned towards my coffee cup.
"That was your fault." I whispered. It didn't reply. Good, I thought. Maybe now the inanimate objects in the room will stay that way.
I laid down on the floor, because I couldn't be bothered to set up a bed tonight. A second later, I got up and turned my desk light off. "Goodnight." I muttered to myself, laying down again, covering myself with the suit jacket that I was still wearing for some reason.
"'Night." I heard the books chirp in unison. My shoulders went slack. I had really hoped they'd shut up.
"Goodnight." everything else in the room said in unison. There was a long pause, which was broken by the laptop.
"Can I have a hug?"
***
I woke up pretty late the next morning. I sat up, one hand on my throbbing head. I rubbed my tired eyes and looked at the clock. It was eleven in the morning. I stood up, vaguely recalling what had happened last night. I turned to the laptop.
"You don't talk, do you?" I whispered. It didn't reply. "Good laptop." I muttered, gingerly wrapping my arms around it.
"What are you doing?" I heard Andy ask from the door.
"I, uh, I-" I felt my face go red. "I was just checking something on the desk."
"I knew you were a weird one," she muttered, shaking her head in mock horror. "But I never thought you'd have a relationship with a laptop."
"What do you want?" I snapped, glaring at the coffee cup.
"Alright." she raised her hands defensively. "I can see someone woke up on the wrong side of the..." she looked down to where my jacket was laying. "... floor. Scarlett said you have to come and have breakfast, then we're sorting out the clothes and things that Tony bought. And bedrooms. So far, we've just kind of lumped it, but I'd like to have my own... classroom."
"Oh, right." I muttered, feeling even more embarrassed. "Tell Scarlett I'll be down in a second." Andy nodded and headed for the door. "Sorry I shouted at you." I said to my shoes.
"It's okay." Andy said softly. "You just need to get some more sleep." I nodded sullenly. After she'd left, I picked up the jacket and pulled it on. It could be quite chilly in the school, I'd already noticed, and the last thing I needed was a cold or the flu. Then, I hurried down the stairs after her.
They had made a make-shift table. They'd used some old cardboard boxes, tapped them up and put a blanket over them. They'd found another fridge, so the milk that was sat next to the cereal on the table was perfectly useable. I sat down next to Mackenzie and grabbed one of the plastic bowls, and a box of cereal.
"When did you get bowls?" I asked curiously, pouring in some cereal and milk.
"Yesterday, when we went shopping." Scarlett said sharply. I glanced up, frowning. She didn't seem happy with me.
"Oh, right." I muttered. "I forgot." I picked up a plastic spoon and began eating. I hadn't realised how hungry I was until then. When I was finished eating, I put the bowl and spoon back down on the table. Scarlett stood up and dropped all of the washing up in the sink in the corner. I guessed we were in what used to be the school cafeteria.
Scarlett came back over, frowning slightly. "Your hair's getting long." she commented, absently running a hand through Tony's hair. She seemed to suddenly realise what she was doing, went red and sat down opposite me. Tony looked pretty red-faced too. I realised that she was right, Tony's hair had got pretty long.
I tried not to laugh.
"Um, right." Scarlett muttered. "We need to sort out rooms and clothes. I think Eli get's the two science rooms, that's a given. One to work in, one to sleep in. Right?"
I nodded. "I might need to commandeer another one of the rooms every once in a while, but not very often. Just when there's too much stuff in the lab."
"That's fine." Scarlett said. "Should we go with boys on the top floor and girls on the bottom, just to make things simpler?" she asked. We all nodded in agreement. "Well, we can all squable over who gets which room later, but right now we can sort out the clothes. Tony?" she asked, going slightly scarlet again.
"Right." Tony stood up and cleared his throat. "I'll go and get it. I'm pretty good at estimating size; my dad was a tailor. But if it doesn't fit, I'll take you back up the shops later to get something in your size." He walked out of the room and came back a moment later, carrying four or five big carrier bags. "Youngest first." he muttered, grinning at the annoyed look on my face. He passed me three of the big clothes-shop-bags, that always come in huge sizes.
"Obviously, we can get some more later, but this should do for now." I looked inside and checked the sizes. He'd got it all right, down to the centimetre. He'd even, somehow, managed to get my underwear just right. In the bags were a mixture of t-shirts, jeans, hooded jumpers, boxers and socks. There was even a few hats and a pair of sunglasses. I picked up one of the hats that looked just like Andy's, but more colourful.
"Really?" I asked. "Do I really need hats?"
"I read up on Patrick Monroe." he told me, passing the other two bags to Mackenzie. "It turns out he has quite a record, a very good background. I actually found some profiles that Wyatt had left behind for us to read and memorize in case any under cover Hunters ask us questions."
"Oh." I said. "And the hats?"
"You went to a skateboarding club when you were nine. Quite the little skater dude, you are. And, evidently, not a nerd. You were kicked out of five schools."
"I'm twelve!" I said indignantly. Tony nodded.
"I was kicked out of seven by your age." he told me, as Andy and Mackenzie looked through Mackenzie's stuff.
"Can we get on with the clothes?" Scarlett asked, giving Tony a look that clearly said don't tell him that!
"Of course." he said. He disappeared into the room off to the left again and came back with more bags. He passed two to Mackenzie, and four to Aiden.
"Hey!" I said. "Why do they get more bags than me?" I asked with mock indignition.
"Because your clothes are tiny because you're thin and short." Tony replied. I shrugged.
"Fair point." I said. The rest of the clothes were dished out, then I went up to my second room, the one where I'd dumped the stuff I didn't need. I'd have to look through the stuff and chuck most of it, and turn the room into a proper bedroom, but, on the upside, there was a door that connected the lab and my bedroom.
I stared around at the piled- high equipment and furniture. I had another long day of sorting stuff out ahead of me.