BABY DON'T CUT - jason grace

Chapter Two

The storm churned into a miniature hurricane. Funnel clouds snaked toward the skywalk like the tendrills of a monster jellyfish.

Kids screamed and ran for the building. The wind snatched away their notebooks, jackets, hats and backpacks. Jason skidded across the floor.

Leo lost his balance and almost toppled over the railing, but Jason quickly grabbed ahold of his jacket and pulled him back.

"Thanks, man!" Leo yelled.

"Go, go, go!" said Coach Hedge.

Piper and Estella were holding the doors open, while Dylan was hearding the kids inside. Piper was cool and confident, while Estella's face was showing panic, but even so, she was still acting in the presence of fear.

Jason, Leo and Coach Hedge ran toward them, but it was like running through quicksand. The wind seemed to fight them, pushing them back.

Dylan pushed one more kid inside, then Piper and Estella lost their grips on the doors, causing them to slam shut, closing off the skywalk.

Piper tugged at the handles, and so Estella began doing that, too. Inside, the kids pounded on the glass, but the doors were stuck.

"Dylan, help!" Piper shouted.

Dylan just stood there with an idiotic grin plastered to his face, his cowboys jersey rippling in the wind. It looked like he was suddenly enjoying the storm.

"Please, Dylan," added Estella, fear laced in her voice.

"Sorry, girls," Dylan said. "I'm done helping."

He flicked both of his wrists, sending the girls flying in opposite directions. Piper flew backward, slamming into the doors and sliding to the skywalk deck. Estella flew a few feet away, hitting her head, and she became limp on the cold, hard ground.

"Estella! Piper!" Jason tried to charge forward, but the wind was against him, and Coach Hedge pushed him back.

"Coach," Jason said. "Let me go!"

"Jason, Leo, stay behind me," the coach ordered. "This is my fight. I should've known that was our monster. "

"What?" Leo demanded. A rogue worksheet slapped him in the face, but he swatted it away. "What monster?"

The coach's cap blew off, and sticking up above his curly hair were two bumps—like the knots cartoon characters get when they're bonked on the head. Coach Hedge lifted his baseball bat—but it wasn't a regular bat anymore. Somehow it had changed into a crudely shaped tree-branch club, with twigs and leaves still attached.

Dylan gave him that psycho happy smile. "Oh, come on, Coach. Let the boy attack me! After all, you're getting too old for this. Isn't that why they retired you to this stupid school? I've been on your team the entire season, and you didn't even know. You're losing your nose, grandpa. "

The coach made an angry sound like an animal bleating. "That's it, cupcake. You're going down. "

"You think you can protect four half-bloods at once, old man?" Dylan laughed. "Good luck. "

Dylan pointed at Leo, and a funnel cloud materialized around him. Leo flew off the skywalk like he'd been tossed. Somehow he managed to twist in midair, and slammed sideways into the canyon wall. He skidded, clawing furiously for any handhold. Finally he grabbed a thin ledge about fifty feet below the skywalk and hung there by his fingertips.

"Help!" he yelled up at them. "Rope, please? Bungee cord? Something?"

Coach Hedge cursed and tossed Jason his club. "I don't know who you are, kid, but I hope you're good. Keep that thing busy"—he stabbed a thumb at Dylan—"while I get Leo. "