Killer team

Chapter 9: return of the mysterious kid

They looked around the place and found no sign telling them where Adam went.

"Where did he go?" Alizay asked.

"I'm not sure," Tyler said. "It's not like him to just suddenly dart off like that."

"Well, the elevator's still here," Maralyssa said.

"So?" JJ said, somewhat annoyed.

"So, we know he didn't use it," Maralyssa replied.

"Should we split up?" Alizay asked.

"No," Tyler said quickly. "He's not very safe around people who aren't me. If he saw one of you wandering around, he would probably attack. We should look for him together."

"Alrighty, then," Alizay said, sounding a little disappointed.

They hopped in the elevator and set it to go for the 3rd floor.

After jamming to the song "Swish, Swish," they reached the recreational center. They looked there and didn't find Adam.

"Ok, let's—" JJ started before being interrupted by Alizay.

"Hold up," she said. "Where's Tyler?"

They then heard the song "Turtle crusher," and found him in the dance room. Caleb and Alizay grabbed him off and dragged him towards the elevator.

"Come on, now!" Tyler exclaimed. "I was about to beat my record!"

"Too bad," Maralyssa said. "We've gotta find Adam."

They went to the elevator and set it to go to the 2nd floor. They got off the elevator after partying to the song "Believer."

They searched the gym first.

"Should we try to open that door?" Alizay asked, noticing the mysterious door.

"Go on ahead," JJ said, not wanting to have any more creepy visions.

Alizay grabbed the door. When she opened it, she screamed. The others came to see what was going on, and what they saw made their eyes go big.

There was a scrawny girl with stringy, black hair next to a whiteboard. On the board was a list of various items on one side and circles, arrows, and other stuff on the other side. The girl's eyes were closed, but she was still alive (but just barely).

"Are you okay?" Maralyssa asked gently as she started walking towards the girl.

The girl opened one eye and started to panic (but not very much). She tried to get up and run, but her legs were too weak.

"JJ," Maralyssa said. "Get the book, please."

"With pleasure," JJ said as he grabbed a book out of her purse.

She flipped to a page and looked at JJ. "Together?"

"Together!"

They muttered in Latin for a minute, then stopped. The girl started to get less and less scrawny, and her hair less and less stringy. She had the strength to stand up, but she didn't run away. Instead, she grabbed Maralyssa around her neck and brought her in for a hug.

"Why are you here?" Maralyssa asked the girl.

"I knew too much," the girl whispered.

"About what?" Maralyssa asked.

The girl looked around, then said, "I know about what they do to their players."

"You, too?" Caleb asked.

The girl nodded.

"You mean the inj—" Caleb managed to say before the girl nodded again. "And the ladies..."

"You nailed it, kiddo," the girl said.

"What's your name, anyway?" Alizay asked.

"Name's Lei," the girl started. "Sophie Lei."

"Sophie," Alizay started, "do you know a Kayla Darnell?"

"Course I do," Sophie replied. "She was my best friend. She went missing one day, and all the teachers could do was pretend that she never even existed. And when the students started doing the same, I knew something was up. One day, when everyone left, I snuck up to the top floor and hacked into the computer in the office. After four hours of reading all sorts of bad stuff, I came across the truth. They were..."

She couldn't finish that last sentence. She broke down to the floor, crying. Maralyssa comforted her the best she could (she's not exactly the comforting type).

"Listen," she said quietly to Sophie. "We need you to go down those stairs, out the doors, and then you need to get help. Can you do that?"

"I guess," Sophie said. She then ran off.

"Well," Tyler started as he ran back to them (no one really noticed that he was gone), "he's not in the gym, the chess room, the Art room, the coding room, the bathrooms, the cooking classroom, wood class, the locker rooms, or any of the other rooms up here. Shall we check the last floor?"

Just then, screaming was heard. They all ran downstairs to see what happened. Sophie was seen running out the door and off school grounds (keycard in hand). No one (or thing) was seen chasing her, which made them wonder why she was screaming and running away. They then heard a soft growling behind them. They turned around slowly and saw Adam.

"Hey, Adam," Tyler said quietly. "How ya doing?"

Adam calmed down a little. Tyler slowly raised a hand and stroked his head.

"There, there," Tyler whispered. "It's ok. I'm here..."

Adam started growling again.

"What, now?!" Alizay exclaimed.

Suddenly, a ceiling tile fell and shattered on the ground. Then, a teen boy came out of the ceiling. He was a healthy-sized kid (not too skinny, but not fat) with neat, blue-dyed hair. He was wearing a light blue shirt and a black leather jacket. He was also wearing suit pants and suit shoes.

"Wyatt Kellogg?!" everyone but Alizay asked/exclaimed.

"That's Mysterious Kid to you," he said.

"Yogurt!" Alizay exclaimed as she ran to his side and gave him a kiss in his cheek.

"YOGURT?" the others exclaimed.

"I'm pretty sure you mean 'Puddin'," JJ said.

"No, I mean 'yogurt'," Alizay said sharply.

"I'm not even gonna ask," Caleb muttered.

"Why is your hair blue?" JJ asked. "Why isn't it green, like the Joker?"

"Look here, you knuckle-dragger!" Alizay exclaimed in anger. "This whole thing isn't a freaking movie, you idiot!"

"Aw, man," Tyler said.

"Too bad, it's not a movie," Maralyssa said. "Get over it!"

"No, it's not that," Tyler said. "It's this one guy, Steve. I was gonna play Angry Birds Multiplayer with him, but he got all rude and said this: 'I so can't talk right now, I'm really in the middle of an important fight in this game and I don't have any time to talk or play with you! I really just need to ******* concentrate plz!!!'"

"Harsh!" JJ exclaimed.

"Ooh, dang!" Caleb exclaimed.

"We'll murder his family later," Maralyssa whispered.

"Rough life?" Tyler asked.

"Pretty much," Maralyssa answered.

"Ok, everyone SHUT UP!" Wyatt yelled.

They did as they were told.

"What's going on?" Tyler asked (to break the silence).

"I'm taking her away from all this," Wyatt answered.

"But why?" Maralyssa asked. "What's the point? Why don't you think she can take care of herself?"

"Ok, ok," Wyatt said. "You want answers? I'll tell you everything."