Chapter Two
Max's POV
"Are you sure you're going to be alright?" asked Mrs. Mart—mom for around the uh...one, two...six thousandth time.
I rolled my eyes. "Mom. He's a plumber. What's he gonna do, grab the drain pipe and slam it into our stomachs?"
Fang snickered. But Mom just sat there, wide-eyed. "I'm kidding," I said.
She seemed to breathe out in relief. "Well you know my number if anything goes wrong."
"Yeah, sure," I said.
"Okay, are you sure you're going—"
I stopped her and opened the door. "We'll be fine," I said.
She nodded and left.
Fifteen minutes later, the doorbell rang. A fat guy with a black beard came in. He was dressed in a blue plumber's outfit that read "Terry's Plumbing – We Erase the Scum!"
How nice, I thought. Very catchy.
He smiled at me. "Is this the Batchelder household?"
"That would be us."
"Ah, then I have the right address." His voice didn't sound all that fat. How does one sound fat? I have no idea.
"Yep," I said, and was just turning around to go upstairs when he said, "You're slated for extermination."
Fang's POV
"Wrong, again," I said to Nudge.
"Um...P."
"No P's," I said, drawing a pair of feet on the hangman. "You lose."
"Let's play again," said Nudge.
I was just about to answer when a huge, startling boom shook the house. Total jumped up to the ceiling and slammed into it. He yelped and Angel cried out. "What the he—heck was that?" I exclaimed, remembering my language.
"Don't know, but there's things all over the place," said Iggy.
"I'll go check it out. Lock the door, close the windows, and don't make a sound."
I went into the hallway and looked from my left to my right. I headed off towards the stairs. I heard voices.
I didn't dare try to look at them; they would've seen me. From what I could hear it was a man and a girl, a young one. Max, said my Voice.
No bleeping DUH, I thought.
"What?" I heard Max say.
"Heh, you're slated. You're going to die, right here, right now. And when Jeb comes back, he'll die too. And your mom, and you're pretty little sister."
"No. I'll stop you. We'll all stop—" Max began, then she screamed. I had to bite my lip to keep from crying out myself. I dared a peek around the corner.
There lie Max, in a pile of blood, across the kitchen counter.
My eyes took in the sight, and I felt paralyzed by fear. Her head was lolled to one side and her eyes were closed. "Take this wreck to the basement," the guy in the plumber outfit said.
So today was the day the plumbers attacked.
I was debating wether to rescue Max or tell the others what was going on, when I felt a prick enter my arm. I began to feel weak, and felt myself letting go of consciousness.
The last thing I heard was "Good night, sweetheart."
