The Next Level
“Aiden, wake up!”
“Whazzuh?” Aiden mumbled. He wasn’t a morning person, Josh had noticed.
“Wake up, I need to talk to you!”
Aiden rubbed his eyes, sat up, and gave a huge yawn. He looked at Josh as if surprised to see him there. “Oh! Josh? What are you doing in here?”
“I just woke you up, duh!” Josh was frustrated at how long the process was taking.
“Manners, dude,” Aiden reminded him, sounding like a cooler version of his mom.
“Sorry, it’s just that this is super important.”
“I think I might need a cup of coffee for this conversa—”
“Forget the coffee,” Josh interrupted. “Just listen, okay? It’s about Larry.”
Aiden suddenly looked wide awake, even without caffeine. “What about him?”
“Well, this morning, I was thinking about the video game, you know, Monster Mashers?”
“Yeah?”
“And, well, I thought maybe if I put in some cheat codes, I could unlock some hidden levels. You know, maybe learn something new about Mr. Midnight that way.”
“Yeah?” Aiden repeated.
“So I searched online for Monster Mashers cheat codes.”
“Did you find any?”
“No.”
“Oh.” Aiden looked disappointed.
“But I did find this.” He handed a slip of paper to Aiden. On it was written “Crystal Fanny Rap.”
“And this is?” Aiden asked, looking skeptical and suppressing a smile.
“That’s the company that developed the software for the game.”
“Wait,” Aiden sounded confused. “I thought it was a SuperStar game.”
“That’s the publisher. This other company developed the game. You know, designed it, wrote the software, all that stuff.”
“So?”
“Look at it again. And keep in mind that the company is based in Romania.”
Aiden stared at the paper, squinting in concentration. After a good thirty seconds, he shrugged. “I still don’t get it.”
“Try rearranging the letters in your head.”
It took no more than a quick glance at the paper, and suddenly everything clicked into place for Aiden. Josh could see the moment of revelation on his face.
“It’s an anagram,” said Aiden.
“A what?”
“An anagram. When letters are rearranged to spell something different. This company is an anagram of ‘Larry Fancypants.’”
“Yeah, I figured that out. I just didn’t know there was a word for it.”
“Get dressed.” Aiden’s voice was serious. “We have to go see Siegfried.”
“Now?” Josh asked, surprised.
“Yes.” Aiden hopped out of bed. “Right now.” He grabbed a pair of jeans from the dresser and headed for his bathroom.
Halfway there, he stopped dead in his tracks when Josh said, “And I found out more about Mira.”
Aiden turned very slowly and said, “Oh, yeah? So, uh, find anything interesting?”
Sitting down at the foot of Aiden’s bed and holding up the book he had been toting around all morning, just waiting for it to be late enough to wake him up, Josh said, “Nick let me borrow the game and this guide that he bought. It mostly tells about the levels and the best strategies to get through them, but there’s also a chapter about the bosses. Their history, favorite foods, things like that. There’s nothing about Lord Wallachia or his wraith—which is kind of weird, if you ask me—but there’s a section about Mira.”
There were several quiet seconds before Aiden asked, “Is it long?”
“No, not really.”
“Okay, read it to me while I get ready.”
Josh cleared his throat and began reading. “'Once a generation, the spirit of Mira is born into a human female. Werewolves are not immortal, but the soul of Mira lives on indefinitely through this rebirth. During each full moon, Mira turns a human male into a werewolf. Like all werewolves, she smells like a dog when wet. Since she doesn't care about blending into human society, she relies solely on her animalistic instincts. This means she only eats raw meat and refuses to use a litter box.'“
Aiden's head, toothbrush sticking out of his mouth, appeared around the door. “That's it? There's nothing in there about why Mira turns people into werewolves?”
Josh flipped through the book quickly, but it was just for show. He had already searched for that very topic. “Nope. Nothing. Leaving that for Monster Mashers 2, maybe?”
Aiden grunted. “Maybe.” He disappeared behind the door again and said, “Go finish getting ready.”
Five minutes later, Josh walked into the kitchen to find Aiden pouring coffee into a travel mug and Mrs. F-G staring in confusion into the pantry.
“Ready?” Aiden asked. Josh nodded.
“But you haven’t had breakfast yet,” Mrs. F-G said to Aiden in alarm. She knew that Josh had already eaten, as she’d given him a bowl of mushy oatmeal a while ago. The stuff had been tough to choke down, even with all the brown sugar he mixed in, but he’d managed it. Josh didn’t want to make Mrs. F-G feel any worse than she already did.
“Coffee’s fine for now,” Aiden answered. “Don’t worry about it, Ann.” She nodded and went back to studying the pantry.
Josh followed Aiden to the foyer. Aiden started to reach for the door, then turned to Josh and asked, “Did you ask your mom?”
“Ask me what?” Josh’s mom said as she came in from the dining room, Jackson on her hip.
“Oops,” Josh said. “I guess I forgot. Sorry, Mom.”
“It’s okay, Joshua, but what did you want to ask me?”
“Um, can I please go to Staffing Solutions with Aiden?”
“Another meeting?” she asked Aiden. “You’ve had a lot of those lately.”
“Yeah, I’m helping out with a special project that they’re working on,” Aiden explained. “Don’t worry, though. It won’t affect my work here.”
“I’m sure it won’t,” she said with a smile. “But are you sure it’s okay for Joshua to go with you? He won’t be in the way?”
“Nope, not at all. In fact, I think he'll be a big help.”
“Well, all right, then. Have fun, you two!”
They said goodbye and hurried out the door.
* * * *
As they walked toward the Staffing Solutions entrance, two guys were coming out. Josh noticed that Aiden did a double take when he saw them. It was a natural reaction, given their clothes. One looked normal. Well, normal for the 1940s, maybe. His dark blue suit and matching fedora made him look like a detective from one of those old movies Josh’s dad liked to watch. The other guy looked more appropriate for the 1640s. His outfit would best be described as a bright red robe cinched in at the waist with a rope belt laden with a number of leather pouches.
“Hey, Underhill,” said Aiden with a grin. “You get a new partner?”
The 1640s guy, the one named Underhill, took a step forward. He didn’t match Aiden’s grin with one of his own. He nodded and said, “Yeah. Bruce Nichols, this is—” There was a brief pause. When he spoke again, his voice had dropped an octave or so, giving the words special significance. “—Aiden Lynch.”
Nichols’s face, already looking a bit grim, became even more so, his reaction confirming Josh’s speculation that they knew something about Aiden that he didn’t. And, judging by the confused surprise on Aiden’s face, he was in the dark as well. Nichols extended a hand and mumbled, “Good to meet you, Lynch.”
A silence settled over the scene, interrupted only by the occasional honking car from the streets around them.
“So, um,” said Josh, trying to come up with anything to say to break the quiet. There was, after all, only one topic he could think of that he might have in common with strangers from the Imaginary World. Plus, Nichols’s detective outfit and the use of the word “partner” made Josh think that maybe they were Imaginary police. “So are you two working the Mr. Midnight case?”
For a brief second, Underhill’s eyes bulged out and his mouth made a large, perfect circle. When he recovered himself, he said with narrowed eyes, “What do you know about the case?”
“Josh here has helped uncover a few facts,” explained Aiden. “And his housekeeper is one of the victims.”
Underhill nodded. “Yes, Josh, we’re working the case. We’re not making a whole lot of progress, but we’re working it.”
“And we should get back to it,” said Nichols.
“Right,” agreed Underhill.
Handshakes were exchanged, but not with Josh, who wasn’t old enough to be part of the handshake club yet. Recalling his manners so that Aiden wouldn’t have to scold him, Josh said, “It was nice to meet you, Mr. Underhill. And Mr. Nichols.”
“Mr. Parker,” corrected Underhill. “The name’s Underhill Parker.”
“Oh, sorry. Mr. Parker.”
Once the pair had gone on their way, Josh asked, “So, what’s their story?”
“I’ll explain later.” Aiden pushed through the door.
Josh glanced back at the two mismatched figures as they made their way up the sidewalk then followed Aiden inside. Lindsay and Britney were already peeking over their cubicles, one looking pleased and the other disappointed.
“Hey, Cleo,” Aiden said.
“He’s already waiting for you.” Cleo pointed toward the conference room. “Do I get to hang out with Josh today?”
“Nope,” Aiden answered. “He’s a necessary part of this meeting.” Josh felt himself swell with pride.
“Well, then, you’d both better get in there.” Cleo gave them a strained smile.
As they walked to the conference room, Josh whispered to Aiden, “How’d he know we were coming? Does he have ESP or something?”
“No,” Aiden answered with a trace of amusement on his face. “I called him while you were getting dressed.”
They entered the conference room to find Siegfried staring out the window, looking at what Josh guessed were the dwindling figures of the mismatched partners.
“So,” Siegfried barked. “What was so important that we had to meet ASAP?”
“Josh can explain that in a second,” Aiden answered. “But first, what were Parker and Nichols doing here?”
Siegfried looked at Aiden in annoyance. “We’ll get to that in a second. I want to hear what the boy has to say. You said he uncovered some important information.”
“He has,” Aiden said with a sigh. He turned to Josh, handing him the slip of paper from earlier that morning. “Go ahead and show him.”
Josh took a nervous step toward Siegfried, quite terrified of this imposing figure. “I, uh, found out some information about Monster Mashers, you know, that video game with the wraith and, uh, Lord Wallachia? Where he wants to take over the world?”
“I know the game,” Siegfried barked.
“Well, I, uh, looked it up online, trying to figure out some cheat codes—”
“Cheat codes?” Siegfried interrupted with a frown. “Cheating is for cowards, boy.”
“It’s just, like, a video game term,” Josh explained. “Anyway, I didn’t find any ch—uh, any codes, but I did find out that this company made the game.” With a trembling hand, he held the small piece of paper out to Siegfried, who snatched it up and studied it silently. When enough time had passed for Siegfried to solve the puzzle and he still said nothing, Josh continued, “It’s an anagram. That means the letters are—”
“I know what an anagram is,” growled Siegfried.
Josh fell silent, backing up until he bumped into the wall.
“Well, this changes things, doesn’t it?” Siegfried said, his expression dark.
“What do you mean?” Josh asked, looking from Siegfried to Aiden.
Siegfried continued to stare at the name on the paper, his expression growing darker by the second.
“We’d been hoping someone was trying to frame Larry,” Aiden explained, his voice flat. “But now, it looks like Larry really is in league with Mr. Midnight.” He looked depressed.
Although he felt bad for Aiden, Josh wasn’t as surprised as the others were at this turn of events. He’d never really trusted Larry. With his suave manner and big ego, Larry had always reminded Josh of a certain group of jocks at school. Those guys were full of themselves, bullied boys like Josh, and always got the attention of the prettiest girls.
“All right,” Siegfried said, his voice grave. “This just confirms what I was already planning to do. Aiden, we’re taking things to the next level.”
“That’s why Parker and Nichols were here?”
“Affirmative.”
“Okay,” Aiden said, his air of depression lifting, at least for now. “So…what’s the next level?”
Siegfried sat in the chair at the head of the conference table and leaned forward, partially obscured by a large wooden box sitting on the table in front of him. “Parker and Nichols have been looking into Larry’s current whereabouts. They were also looking for Steve Lickerman. They found no leads in either case. In the Lickerman disappearance, all signs pointed to an abduction by Mr. Midnight, which would be an escalation on his part.”
“So what does all that mean?” asked Aiden.
“I’ll tell you what it means if you’d keep your trap shut for two seconds,” shot back Siegfried. He opened the box and withdrew a short, golden dagger, one that matched the Sunguard gauntlets perfectly. “They’re no longer insisting that Mr. Midnight be taken alive. They approved use of a Sunblade for lethal purposes if necessary.”
Josh felt a shiver pass down his spine. From the corner of his eye, he thought he saw Aiden tremble, as if he’d just experienced the same sensation.
“Um, who are ‘they,’ exactly?” asked Josh.
“The Imagine Nation Security Council,” said Aiden at the same exact time that Siegfried said, “Nobody.”
Aiden’s hands stayed at his sides when Siegfried held the dagger out toward him. “You can’t be serious,” he said.
“You think I’m not serious?” barked Siegfried. His right hand reached into the box as he said, “It gets a lot more serious than that. They were waiting for more evidence of a connection between Larry and Midnight.” Siegfried nodded to Josh and said, “And I think we just got it. So…”
His hand came out from the box holding a wooden stake.