Eerie Elementary #2: The Locker Ate Lucy! (A Branches Book) Read online

  Jack Chabert

  The

  L

  O

  c

  ke

  r

  Lucy

  !

  ATE

  By Jack Chabert

  Illustrated by Sam Ricks

  T

  h

  e

  L

  O

  c

  k

  e

  r

  Lucy

  !

  ATE

  1

  2

  Read all abouT

  Eerie Elementary!

  1: INTO THE GRAVEYARD ...............................1

  2: GONE! ...........................................................10

  3: INTO THE LOCKER ...................................14

  4: A TIGHT SPOT.............................................19

  5: LUNCHTIME .................................................25

  6: THE DARK BASEMENT ..............................32

  7: THE FACE OF ORSON EERIE....................38

  8: LUCY! ...........................................................45

  9: THE HORRIBLE TRUTH ...........................51

  10: TRAPPED! ..................................................56

  11: SLIPPERY ESCAPE ...................................60

  12: DEAD END .................................................64

  13: HANGING BY A THREAD ......................72

  14: WATERY HAND ........................................77

  15: ALL WET ....................................................86

  Table of ConTenTs

  For my Mom. Love ya! — JC

  All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of

  this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered,

  or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by

  any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the

  express written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to

  Scholastic Inc., Attention: Permissions Department, 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Chabert, Jack, author.

  The locker ate Lucy! / by Jack Chabert.

  pages cm. — (Eerie Elementary ; 2)

  Summary: Only a week into his job as hall monitor and class protector, Sam Graves and his

  friends Lucy and Antonio are trying to uncover the secrets of Eerie Elementary, their living and

  malevolent school — and then Lucy gets eaten by her locker.

  ISBN 0-545-62395-2 (pbk. : alk. paper) — ISBN 0-545-62396-0 (hardcover : alk. paper) —

  ISBN 0-545-62397-9 (ebook) 1. Elementary schools — Juvenile fiction. 2. Best friends —

  Juvenile fiction. 3. Rescues — Juvenile fiction. 4. Horror tales. [1. Schools—Fiction. 2. Best

  friends—Fiction. 3. Friendship — Fiction. 4. Rescues — Fiction. 5. Horror stories.] I. Title.

  PZ7.C3313Lo 2014

  813.6 — dc23

  2013046259

  e-ISBN 978-0-545-62397-1

  Text copyright © 2014 by Max Brallier

  Interior illustrations copyright © 2014 by Scholastic Inc.

  All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc.

  SCHOLASTIC, BRANCHES, and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered

  trademarks of Scholastic Inc.

  First Scholastic printing, September 2014

  Book Design by Will Denton

  Edited by Katie Carella

  Come on. This will just take a minute,”

  said Sam to his friends, Antonio and Lucy.

  It was Monday morning before school. They

  were standing outside the entrance to the

  town graveyard, Eerie Cemetery.

  “Sam, do we really have to do this?” Lucy

  asked. “I’ve got the willies, big time.”

  “Me, too,” Antonio said. “I’m allergic to

  graveyards.”

  “

  INTO THE GRAVEYARD

  1

  Sam Graves turned to his friends. “We need

  to figure out how to stop our evil school,

  right?” he said. “Then we have to do this. We

  have to learn as much about Eerie Elementary

  as possible. That way, we’ll be able to fight it!”

  The three friends stepped through the

  iron gate. The graveyard usually gave Sam the

  creeps, but it didn’t seem so scary now — not

  after everything that had happened. . . .

  It was one week ago that Mr. Nekobi, the

  old man who took care of Eerie Elementary,

  had chosen Sam to be the new hall monitor.

  Years ago, Mr. Nekobi had been the school’s

  hall monitor. He showed Sam the truth about

  Eerie Elementary: It was alive! The school was

  a living, breathing, evil thing.

  Then, on Friday, the school had tried to

  swallow Lucy and Antonio during the class play!

  Sam had saved them in the nick of time. The

  three friends and Mr. Nekobi were the only

  ones who knew the truth about the school.

  They had to keep everyone safe.

  “There!” Lucy said, pointing to a hill dotted

  with cracked headstones. “The book says that’s

  where the Eerie family is buried.”

  Lucy held a thick and dusty book in her

  hands: Eerie: A Town History.

  The three friends

  had spent the weekend

  at the town library

  looking for information.

  From this book, they

  learned that a family

  with the last name of

  Eerie started the town

  hundreds of years ago.

  The book said that the

  Eerie family was buried in this graveyard. It also

  said that each member of the Eerie family

  had started part of the town — the library,

  the hospital, and even the school! Sam hoped

  that by seeing the graves they might learn

  more about the school’s history.

  Sam eyed the headstones. Each headstone

  had the name Eerie on it. It felt as if the

  headstones were watching him. Sam counted

  them: twelve. “Lucy, can I see the book?” Sam

  asked.

  Lucy handed it to Sam. He flipped through

  the pages. “Guys, this is strange,” he said. “The

  book says there were thirteen members of

  the Eerie family. So there should be thirteen

  headstones. But there are only twelve. One

  family member is not buried here.”

  “Weird . . .” Antonio said. “You know, it’s

  no surprise all this creepy stuff is happening

  in a town named Eerie — ‘eerie’ does mean

  spooky and strange.”

  “Whose grave is missing, Sam?” Lucy asked.

  Sam’s eyes darted over the names on the

  headstones. Then he looked in the book.

  “Well,” Sam said. “There’s a family member

  named Orson Eerie. See his picture here?”

  Antonio
peeked over Sam’s shoulder. “Wow!

  Look at his mustache!” he said. “What is that

  thing?!”

  Sam rolled his eyes and continued, “But I

  don’t see a headstone with that name. And this

  is even weirder! Orson Eerie was born in 1871,

  but it doesn’t say when he died. There’s just a

  question mark.”

  “I wonder what happened to him,” Antonio

  said. “What else does the book say about him?”

  Sam turned the page to read more.

  “OH, NO!” Lucy yelled. “It’s 8:15! We’re

  late for school!” Lucy yanked the book from

  Sam’s hands. She stuffed it into her backpack.

  “Come on!” Antonio said to Sam.

  Sam ran after his friends. But he had an

  uneasy feeling in his stomach. As hall monitor,

  Sam could sense things that other students

  couldn’t. He could feel when something was

  wrong at Eerie Elementary. And right now,

  Sam had the feeling that something very bad

  was about to happen.

  Sam raced out of the graveyard, down the

  street, and toward the school. As the three

  friends crossed the playground, they spotted

  a large plastic thermometer on a tree branch.

  “I forgot!” Lucy called to her friends as she

  ran. “We have that weather lesson today!”

  Antonio started skipping. “Class outside!

  This is going to be a good day.”

  Sam hoped Antonio was right.

  GONE!

  2

  The three of them raced up the steps and

  into the school. Sam pulled on his hall monitor

  sash as they ran inside. “I’ll never get used to

  wearing this ugly thing,” said Sam.

  “Bright orange is totally your color!” joked

  Lucy.

  Their classmates were all lined up in the

  hallway. Ms. Grinker, their teacher, stood at

  the front of the line. “You’re late!” Ms. Grinker

  barked. “Put away your backpacks and head to

  the back of the line.”

  As Sam and his friends walked to their

  lockers, Ms. Grinker called out, “We’re going

  outside for our weather lesson now. Today’s

  weather will be the hottest ever for late

  September — 105 degrees!”

  Sam and Antonio put their backpacks away

  quickly. But Lucy was still at her locker. “Just

  one second!” Lucy said, digging through her

  backpack. “I need my sunglasses.”

  “Hurry up, Lucy!” Sam said. He and

  Antonio hopped into line.

  “Hall monitor!” Ms. Grinker called to Sam

  from the front of the line. “Please make sure

  everyone is with us.”

  “Okay,” Sam said. He turned to call Lucy,

  but when he looked down the hall, his heart

  just about stopped. Lucy’s sunglasses lay on the

  floor. Her locker was open. The hallway was

  empty.

  A feeling of fear crept over Sam. . . .

  Lucy was gone.

  Sam had a pit in his stomach the size of a

  basketball. Last week, Mr. Nekobi had told

  him that Eerie Elementary fed on students.

  And Sam had seen this with his own eyes —

  when the stage had tried to swallow his friends.

  Now Lucy was missing! Could the school have

  eaten her?

  INTO THE LOCKER

  3

  “Follow me!” Ms. Grinker called out. Then

  she began marching the students out through

  the big double doors. Sam grabbed Antonio

  from the end of the line.

  The two friends stayed behind as their

  classmates headed outside. Then Sam said,

  “Lucy’s missing! She went to her locker and

  now she’s gone!”

  Antonio turned to look at Lucy’s locker.

  He, too, knew what horrible things Eerie

  Elementary could do. He gulped and said,

  “Maybe she’s just messing with us. You know,

  hiding in her locker . . .”

  Sam and Antonio crept toward Lucy’s

  locker. Sam’s heart pounded. He wrapped his

  fingers around the half-open door. The metal

  felt warm in his hand. Sam held his breath.

  Then he yanked the door open.

  Lucy was not inside.

  But something else was: Nasty, slimy goo

  dripped down the inside of the locker. It was

  glowing. It looked like neon boogers mixed

  with bulldog slobber.

  Antonio touched it. It was sticky and wet.

  “Eww!” he said. He flicked his hand, splashing

  goo on the floor.

  “Antonio,” Sam said slowly,

  “the locker ate Lucy!”

  “We should tell Mr. Nekobi!” Antonio said.

  Sam shook his head. “There’s no time. I

  have to go in after her. I’m the hall monitor.

  It’s my job to protect the students — especially

  Lucy!”

  Antonio gulped. “Then I’m coming with

  you.”

  Sam nodded. He reached into Lucy’s locker

  and brushed aside her gym clothes. There was

  a strange hole in the back wall of the locker.

  More glowing goo dripped from the hole. Sam

  could see a narrow tunnel through the hole.

  “Are you ready?” Sam asked.

  Antonio shook his head. “Not really.”

  Sam swallowed. “No time to be scared,” he

  said. “It’s time to rescue Lucy.”

  Sam climbed through the hole. Antonio

  followed. Together, they crawled into the

  darkness, down into the depths of the school.

  Sam soon saw that the dark tunnel they

  were crawling through was actually an air

  vent. It carried cool air into the classrooms.

  Sam shivered — partly from the cool air and

  partly from fear.

  As they crawled, the inside of the air vent

  became wetter. Slimy goo dripped down the

  sides. “It feels like we’re crawling through

  someone’s nose!” Antonio said.

  A TIGHT SPOT

  4

  Each time Sam placed his hand down, it

  made a slushy sound.

  “I just wish it wasn’t so dark,” Sam said.

  CLICK

  !

  A light shone in the tunnel. Sam craned his

  neck and saw Antonio holding a cell phone.

  Antonio grinned. “My mom makes me carry it.”

  “Smart!” Sam said.

  They crawled forward through the muck.

  “So, why do you think the school took Lucy?”

  Antonio asked.

  “Shhh!” Sam said, whispering.

  “We don’t want the school to

  know we’re coming.”

  “I’ll be very extra qui —” Antonio started,

  but then —

  “AHH-CHOOO!”

  “Antonio!” Sam moaned.

  “I’m sorry! It’s hard to breathe with your

  stinky sneakers in my face!”

  SWOOSH! A wave of air whooshed through

  the vent, blowing back Sam’s hair. But this air

  was warm. It felt like someone’s hot breath!

  “The school must be trying to figure out

  where we are,” Sam whispered. “So don’t make

  a-

  a-

  a-


  a-”

  This time it was Sam who sneezed.

  “Sam!” Antonio said.

  “Sorry!”

  KLANG!

  Sam looked behind them. Lucy’s locker

  door slammed shut! The school definitely

  knew where they were. And now they were

  trapped. No turning back.

  A

  H

  H

  -CHO

  0

  O

  !

  All of the sudden, the vent began to shake.

  The metal buckled. It began to

  squeeze them!

  “We have to get out of here!” Sam said.

  The vent squeezed tighter, closing around

  them! It pressed against Sam’s shoulders. It

  pressed against his legs. Sam and Antonio

  crawled forward as fast as they could.

  The vent squeezed them harder.

  “It’s going to crush us!” Antonio screamed.

  The vent was tightening fast. Both boys

  struggled to move. When Sam placed his hand

  down, he almost tumbled forward. There was

  nothing there! Just air! The vent came to a

  sudden end.

  Well, anything is better than being crushed! Sam

  thought.

  LUNCHTIME

  5

  “Follow me,” Sam

  said. “And get ready for

  a drop!”

  Sam wriggled forward.

  Then he was falling.

  “AHHH!!” Sam screamed

  as he tumbled through the air.

  SPLAT!

  Sam splashed down on something

  gooey.

  “Heads up!” Antonio shouted. He was

  nose-diving toward Sam.

  POW!

  Antonio plowed into Sam.

  It was pitch-black. Antonio turned on his

  phone again and shone the light around. They

  were lying on a mountain of sticky gunk.

  “It looks like the nasty goo saved us!”

  Antonio said as he wiped some from his face.

  “But where are we?” Even with the light from

  the phone, they couldn’t see far ahead.