How to Save Your School From Soul Stealing Demons

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

MONDAY, OCTOBER 14TH
6:06 AM
VANTERBEST HIGH, WATTS'S LOCKER

On Saturday, I call Watts and tell him about the bat. With the revelation, he makes a new hypothesis: the dream we all shared was more help from Miguel, but was likely tainted by Bozzanath somehow, hence the deadly ending.

He gets Renny and Ambrose into a four-way call with us to relay the info, but nothing much comes from it—Ambrose doesn't own a sledgehammer, and Watts still has no idea what the book he was reading was. Just more mysteries we have yet to solve.

My appetite makes a surprising and sudden return on Sunday, and carries into Monday morning. I don't know the reason, but I'm not about to complain about being able to keep my food down.

Part of me thinks it's because I don't have to lie about baseball anymore. But that's ridiculous, right? Disappointing Mom and Dad like that was the total opposite of what I wanted. I don't think I've ever been further from Miguel in their eyes.

Whatever the reason, I find myself biting into a granola bar as Watts shuts his locker. I point my chin down the hall behind him, where Renny is making a beeline for us with Ambrose trailing casually behind her.

The wounds on her face have started to scab, much like the ones on my neck. I'm at least able to hide mine a little by wearing a hoodie, but Renny's injuries are on full display against the pale skin of her cheek, and they draw more than a few curious looks as she strides up to us.

Her eyes are trained on me once she reaches Watts's locker. "It could be a trap."

"What?" I ask through the bite of granola.

"Homecoming. What if Hemani does know, and wanted you to think she didn't? What if they're trying to lure us to the dance?"

"That's..." I sigh, crumpling the wrapper in my hand. "Okay, it's possible. But what are the chances?"

She laughs. "What are the chances of any of this?" With a shake of her head, she pulls out a folded paper from the back pocket of her jeans. "Look, I'm not saying she's involved for sure, but we have to consider every possibility. And we only have..." She unfolds the square, eyes scanning the page before she holds it out so the rest of us can see. "Five days."

It's a poster about the dance. In big letters it says, "Joel Vanterbest High Presents: Under the Sea! A Homecoming Dance You'll Never Forget." Beneath that is the date: Saturday, October 19th. And at the bottom, ticket prices and when they'll be on sale.

"That's... soon," I say with a sigh. I know what she means about considering all the angles, but I don't want to believe Hemani could be involved.

Without a word, Watts reaches out and takes the poster from Renny. He's staring at it, brows furrowed, eyes re-reading it over and over. The three of us wait for him to say something, but he just keeps looking, like he's searching for something.

"Uh... Watts?" Renny prompts.

His head shoots up. "Can I cut this?"

Her eyebrows raise. "Cut it?"

He nods, kneeling on the floor and swinging his backpack in front of him. He opens one of the front pockets and pulls out a pair of scissors, looking back up at Renny for permission.

"Uh... yeah, go for it. There's like, a billion of them all over the halls."

He gets to work as soon as she says so, cutting straight under Joel Vanterbest High and tossing the bottom information to the side. Then, he starts cutting out each individual letter. Above him, the three of us shoot each other wary looks—obviously, I'm not the only one who has no clue what he's doing.