Ten

THE SCHOOL WAS EMPTY at that hour. Endless ranks of lockers, shiny floors reflecting the red exit lights, a far-off hum.

I went straight for the main entrance. And even though I'd been going to that school for weeks, still I got kind of lost. I mean, I knew where I was, but it seemed like the distances were all wrong and the doors weren't where I expected.

It was dark in some of the hallways. A couple hours before, there were crowds of kids, yelling and talking and hanging around. Now it was like I was trapped in some Egyptian tomb and couldn't find my way out.

Turning around, I went back the way I'd come. Only I ended up in another hallway where one fluorescent light bulb was buzzing and throbbing with sickly white light.

Then I heard a metallic squeak. It came. It went. It came back. I don't know why, but I headed toward the sound.

I passed the main Admin suite, where Frankengoon had his office. Maybe it was him, rocking back and forth in his chair, squeaking up and down.

But then I found myself in the gym wing and thought, It's somebody using the workout equipment. Weights or a Nautilus or a rowing machine.

I went round the corner and saw the source of the squeak. It was a janitor, doing the floor. He stuck his mop in the squeezer and yanked down the handle. He moved real slow, like he was trying to get every drop of dirty water out of the mop.

As I came down the hall, he looked up and let go of the squeezer handle. "It's you," he said, and I felt a sick rising in my stomach. I'd never seen him before. Not that I paid much attention to janitors, but this one I would have remembered.

He was kind of hunched over, and his left eye seemed to be bigger than his right. When he talked, there was a hissing sound too, like air escaping from a tire. "You all done with our friend?"

"What are you—"

"Mr. Knacke," he murmured. "Our mutual friend." He set the mop down. A shiny slick covered a swath of the floor, like he was mopping with black coffee.

"Look, I just need to get home, OK? I'm all turned around. Which way is the main entrance?"

"What's your rush?" he said, straightening up as best he could. As he moved, light from behind shone on the dark wet floor. And I saw myself there, reflected, but all bent and smeary. "What do you got waiting for you at home, Zee?"

Hearing him say my name was way too freaky. I panicked, I guess. I had to get out of there and away from him. And so I ran. Fast.

Maybe I needed that jolt of cold fear. Because after seeing the guy with the mop, my mind was all clear and I went straight for the right doorway. It wasn't till I'd gotten off the school grounds, panting and trying to get my heart to slow down, that I realized where I'd heard that voice before. The guy with the mop was the disgusting guy on the phone the other night. He knew my name, he knew my number, and he knew where I lived.