I'm back and updating as often as I can. This chapter was revised because my editor (nin atar) said it was too unlikely that Erik would get away with setting up so much without getting caught. I thank those reviewing this story, it is very fun to write and even more fun when others read it.
Erik woke, refreshed and completely awake. This was a rare thing, but he had had a particularly good night's sleep. It seemed he had woken up a little earlier than usual and decided to take a shower. He put his mask on and hurried down the ladder with a change of clothes over his shoulder. Once Erik got to the bathroom, he flung his clothes for the day on the toilet and reached through the shower curtain to turn on the water.
The bathroom had all the essentials: toilet, sink, mirror, and a shower-bath. Yellowish tiles covered the floor and the walls were a plain white. A few of the tiles in the floor were a little cracked and the bath obviously wasn't brand new. Small cobwebs had lodged themselves in all the corners of the room and several beady black spiders scuttled restlessly around their nests.
Testing the water and finding it satisfactory, Erik removed his mask, placing it on the counter, undressed and got into the shower. He was scarcely humming as he washed his hair. Anyone who had known Erik for any space of time before he met Myra would never have recognized him. He hadn't been in such a good mood since, since he was born. When Myra came into his life, marvelous and strange things had began happening to Erik. In short, the eternal winter that had reigned in his heart had started to thaw.
He turned off the water and took a towel out from the cabinet. Fluffing his hair with the towel, Erik put his mask on and dressed himself in his favorite color, black. In truth, he most likely didn't own anything that wasn't black. He had believed it reflected his mood and personality better than any other color.
Erik threw the used towel unceremoniously over a holder, grabbed his pajamas and went back up to his room. On the way, he popped his head through his mother's doorway to make sure she was awake.
"I don't need a wake-up call in the morning, thank you." Clementina snapped at him, as soon as she noticed his head in the door. He slipped back out and continued his ascent to the little room.
Quickly and quietly, Erik took out a roll of blueprint paper from a drawer in his desk and rolled it out flat. Grabbing a white chalk pencil, he began hurriedly scribbling on it. Already drawn was a blueprint of the entire school, containing notes of all the heating pipes, water pipes, and electrical wiring. He drew a few arrows, pointing out the routes he was going to take, made indecipherable drawings and often checked in his backpack to see if he had the needed equipment. Once he was satisfied with the blueprint, Erik studied it carefully. Muttering to himself, he traced the route with his index finger, tapping certain places in the floor where his drawings were. "This is going to take quite some time to set up." he thought, glancing once more over the dark blue paper. "I hope I won't have to skip too many classes."
Rolling up the blueprint and shoving it in his bag, Erik groped under his bed for a moment and pulled out some electrical wires. Stuffing that too into his backpack, which was now full to bursting, he swung it over his shoulder and ambled downstairs.
His mother was already waiting for him in the car with the engine purring. The ride was silent, Erik simply looked out the window, watching the colors fly by, refining his plot. He had barely entered the school when he heard a familiar voice.
"Hey, Erik, wait up!" It was Myra. He was a little surprised to have run into her. He stopped and turned to face her.
"Funny, we don't see each other often this time of day." he said, casually.
"Yes. I just had something I wanted to tell you." She caught her breath. It always seemed like she was running to catch him, like the last bird in a flock that tries to catch up to the rest. To Erik's eyes, she looked like the walking dead. Her eyes were bright red with dark shadows under her eyes and she was as pale as a ghost. He settled on being polite.
"Are you alright?" he asked, in a concerned tone that was most unlike him. "You look a bit pale."
"Oh, I'm fine." Myra said, tucking a hair behind her ear. "I just didn't get much sleep last night."
"What did you want to tell me?"
"Well, I had something of a premonition. I think something big is going to happen today." Erik would have given her a skeptical look if she hadn't said this in such seriousness.
"Was this premonition of yours good or bad?" he answered, trusting her sixth sense.
"I'm not sure. I think it could be either, it just depends on how you look at it." replied Myra.
"I see." Erik wondered if it could have something to do with the trick he was planning. "I have to go. I'll see you at lunch alright?" he said, walking away.
"Yeah, see 'ya." she called, hurrying off in the opposite direction.
Disregarding the bell, Erik hurried down the hallway, purposely scuffing his feet. He found the group of loose floor tiles he had been looking for and bent down to examine what was underneath them. "Just as I had hoped." he thought, slightly smiling to himself.
He unzipped his bag and took out some wires, odd rectangles of reflective metal and stands for them. Also, he attached some mismated contraption to the floor tiles he had removed. Setting those aside, he cast furtive glances up and down the corridor. After listening intently for a moment, Erik concluded that the coast was clear and began working.
He was less than half-way done with that portion of preparation when the bell rang. Hurriedly replacing the floor tiles, he stood to one side of the hallway as the rest of students passed him without a glance. Only after the second bell had rung did he feel safe to begin working again.
It wasn't long before an authoritative voice sounded behind him.
"And what do you think you're doing?" Erik looked up to see the gangly form of the old tenth grade science teacher. His thin grey hair was pressed down tightly to his head and the light glinted off his bald forehead. He was glaring at Erik over thick-rimmed bifocals.
"Um, well, you see, Mr. Creasy, sir," Erik began, trying not to look overly guilty while slipping the floor tiles back in place behind his back, "I was just going to the bathroom when I noticed these tiles were loose, so I, um, wanted to, er, put them back into place." he stammered.
Leaning to see behind him, Mr. Creasy scrutinized the tiles Erik had indicated.
"They don't look loose to me." he answered, looking suspicious.
"But they are, sir." Erik protested. "Only I've put them back into place so well you can't tell they were loose."
"Let me be frank with you, my boy." The old man took him around the shoulder and forcefully led him down the hallway. Erik hastily scooped up the remainder of his materials and discreetly shoved them in his jacket pocket. "I don't believe a word of what you just said. But if you tell me what you were really up to, I might let you off easy."
"I'm afraid I can't do that, sir." he answered, shaking himself of the old man's deathlike grip. "I'm under oath not to tell a soul."
"Oh, so someone's put you up to this, have they?" Mr. Creasy asked, happily. Erik made a show of looking like he'd said too much. "Well, then, if you tell me who it was then I'll let you go on your way."
Erik looked around hesitantly, as though he might be watched. Looking defeated, he began to speak in a somewhat regretting tone.
"They didn't tell me their names." he began. "One of them had brown hair and a tattoo of a skull on his left shoulder. The other one had red spiky hair and a glare that could freeze your blood." Erik shivered slightly, hoping his lies were convincing enough. "They told me I wouldn't be disturbed and not to worry about a hall pass. I suppose they lied about that." Mr. Creasy pushed his glasses up his nose and looked at Erik in a way that showed he was satisfied.
"You did the right thing, ma' boy." He patted him on the back. "Now, go on back to class."
Erik walked down the hallway in the direction of his English class, not daring to look back to see if the teacher had left. Secretly, he thanked his luck at getting caught by one of the softer teachers in the school. Only after he had turned the corner did he stop and listen intently at the fading footsteps of Mr. Creasy. Once he was sure the old man was out of hearing distance, he crept stealthily back to his post.
This time, he hastened to do as much as he could and was able to finish his work on the floor before the bell rang again, signaling that he had missed yet another period. Erik was greatly thankful that, being one in a class of around thirty, he wasn't missed.
Following the crowd a little, he stopped outside the janitor's closet. Behind his back, he checked to see if it was locked; it wasn't. After the second bell had rung and the corridor was clear of all other human life, Erik opened the door and searched for a ladder. He found one quickly and brought it out, knocking over as little as he possibly could. Moving it over to a predetermined place underneath the ceiling, he climbed up it and removed the tile, placing it on the top of the ladder. This particular ceiling was made up of many removable foam-like tiles, perfect for what he had in mind.
Climbing back down, he retrieved a length of rope, measured how much he would need, and tied a noose on one end. Poking a hole through one end of the foam tile from the ceiling, he slipped a very thin cord through it and tied the cord tightly to the rope with the noose. Next he poked a slanted hole in the other side of the foam tile so that the thin cord came down from the top, yet exited through the side. Neatly coiling up the rope, he placed it inside the ceiling and replaced the tile. The thin cord stretched over to the next tile down the hallway. Removing two more tiles, he placed irregular metal mechanisms that contained two long thin stainless-steel poles that poked through the foam with small metal bars that pressed into the grey foam and some complicated masses of ropes and pulleys that were stowed inside the ceiling.
Next, slinging his backpack over his shoulder, Erik began the laborious task of moving the ladder one tile down, moving the cord to the next tile, then moving the ladder again, until he was all the way to the hallway that leads to the lunch kitchen, and without passing the front office. Luckily, no wandering student or teacher had caught him yet. The bell rang again, and Erik closed up the ladder and leaned it precariously against the wall. Once again, he simply stood there and let the other students pass. A pack of girls looked at him, then whispered behind their hands to their friends, giggling in a suppressed way. He did his best not to heed them.
Again, after the second bell rang, Erik took out the ladder and reached up to get the cord. This time, however, he took it down with him. Leaning the ladder against the wall, he brought out transparent nails which he nailed at intervals into the wall, taking them all the way into the cafeteria. Then he draped the cord carefully over the nails and flung it over the flagpole.
Erik stood back, admiring his handiwork. He gave a small, malicious chuckle as he thought of the two unfortunate bullies. Just then, the bell rang for lunch. Conveniently in the area, Erik waited only a moment before getting into line for food. There was still very few people about when he traversed the tables to get to the one in the very back he and Myra had made their own. It wasn't very long before Myra pushed her way through the lunchroom and sat down next to him.
"After lunch." she said, her voice barely above a whisper. "It will happen after lunch." It took Erik a moment to realize what she was saying, but he remembered her talk about a premonition. Perhaps it really did have to do with his trick, that was happening after lunch too.
"I can't wait." he answered, maintaining the sense of confidentiality by whispering. "What do you think will happen?"
"I don't know. What do you think?"
"I'm not sure." he replied, resting his head on his hand in what he hoped was a thoughtful expression. Erik decided to give her a hint. "But I think it might have something to do with that." He pointed at the thin cord that he had draped over the flagpole for easy access.
"I didn't see that before." Myra answered, following it's progress with her eyes. "What do you think it does?" she asked. "Do you think we should follow it and see what it leads to?"
"No," said Erik, "I think it would be much more amusing to let this thing run its course."
"Amusing?" she asked, looking at him suspiciously. "Why do you say amusing?"
"Hm?" He pretended to look like he didn't understand. "Crap, I didn't say that, did I?" Erik thought in dismay.
"You said 'it would be more amusing to let this thing run it's course.' " Myra repeated his words. ("It looks like I did." he thought. "Great work Erik, way to blow your cover.") She continued, "Why did you use the word amusing?"
"Did I?" answered Erik, trying to sound casual. "I meant to say 'interesting'. It was just a little slip of the tongue." He said, and started eating his lunch.
"Oh," she said, also beginning to eat, "I see."
They ate in silence for a little while, Myra seemed to be lost in thought.
"You said you didn't get much sleep." Erik said, seemingly interrupting her thoughts. "Why was that?"
"Oh, no reason really." she answered. "My body just felt like being an insomniac for the night, nothing I could do."
"Ah ha." Erik had not forgotten his desire to invite Myra over his house, but he hadn't yet decided on asking her. In a moment's pause, he resolved to ask her.
"Um, I've been thinking of asking you . . ." Erik paused again, looking downward, a little embarrassed at what he was about to say.
"Yes, what?" She encouraged him to continue.
"Ifyouwouldliketocomeovermyhouseforalittlewhile." He had said the words so quickly, wanting to get them over with. Now, however, he was shaming himself for rushing and making the request almost undecipherable.
"I," Myra paused, for a moment, and Erik wondered if she was about to refuse. "I would be delighted to come. When were you thinking of getting together?"
"This weekend, actually." he answered, greatly relieved that he hadn't been rejected. "Would after school on Friday be alright?"
"Well, today's Wednesday, so I think that should be sufficient warning for my Mom."she agreed.
"Great." he answered, his good mood returning.
The bell rang, Erik's cue to disappear. He hurried to throw his trash away and grabbed the cord. It slipped noiselessly over the smooth transparent nails. As silently and quickly as a shadow, Erik slipped through the hallway with the thin cord wrapped around his hand.