The familiar lobby was there and so were the familiar stairs. Shelbourne glanced back outside and through the glass window, saw the Ratbirds waiting. But he'll deal with them later. Right now he had to get Code 6. Once he got Code 6, he had to run to Flint's lab and take the Time Machine. After that, he had to fly to Tokyo and deal with everything there.
First, he made sure no one saw him. When there was no one around, he sprinted up the stairs. At the top, he saw the wide, long hallway. At the end of the hallway was a big oak door. A golden plaque hung from the door. The words Mayor E. Devereaux were inscribed on the plaque. Shelbourne wondered what they did with his plaque.
"Probably burnt it." He sighed. Slowly, he pressed his ear to the door. He heard Earl talking on the phone. Now he had to get inside the room, without Earl seeing him. But Earl was the type of person, who noticed everything.
"Time to use the old 'knock and call out trick'." Shelbourne cackled. He knocked on the door, then called Earl's name. From the inside, he heard Earl approaching the door. Quickly, Shelbourne opened another door in the hallway and hid in that room. It turned out to be the janitor's closet.
"Yes? Hello?" Earl's voice boomed from outside as he had opened the door to his room. Shelbourne heard him walk down the hallway. Smiling evilly, he opened the door to the janitor's closet and peeked out. Earl had probably gone downstairs. Still grinning, Shelbourne tiptoed out of the closet and into the Mayor's office room.
The room looked just like Shelbourne had left it. Except the table was filled with Earl's things. Then Shelbourne saw his dark blue laptop. He clenched his fists at his sides and couldn't believe Earl had been using his laptop. But he didn't take it. Instead he came over to the desk and saw a steaming cup of dark coffee.
"Here we go." Shelbourne replied and took out the injection liquid bottle. He poured in a few drops into the coffee and then stepped back. Earl would drink this and then his evil mind will begin to work. Quickly, he hid the bottle into his pocket.
"Uh, hello?" Shelbourne heard a voice behind him. He turned around and saw Earl standing there. Shelbourne slowly turned around. His trench hat shadowed his eyes, so Earl still didn't know who he was. But when he looked down at his trench coat he groaned. It was shredded. His pockets were still there and parts from the sleeves and shoulders.
"Hello, Earl." Shelbourne said.
"Who are you? What are you doing in my office?" Earl snarled. Then Earl pulled out a gun out of his pocket and pointed it at Shelbourne. Shelbourne wasn't surprised. It was the same gun Earl used as a police officer.
"Sit." Earl then instructed and pointed at the chair in front of the desk. Still pointing the gun at Shelbourne, he sat down at the desk himself. Shelbourne sat across from Earl and glared at Earl through the rim of his hat.
"Don't you recognize me?" Shelbourne snapped and Earl narrowed his eyes.
"Take your hat off." Earl ordered and lowered the gun. Not taking his eyes off Earl, Shelbourne took the trench hat off and Earl didn't say anything. There was a stiff silence.
Shelbourne watched Earl's expression. But Earl just blinked at him calmly. Then Earl sighed and began to rummage through one of his drawers. He pulled out a sheet of paper. Then he handed it to Shelbourne. Nervously, Shelbourne took the paper. There was a blurry picture of a man in a dark blue trench coat. Then there was his name, age, hair and eye color and his criminal record.
"Why are you here Shelbourne?" Earl asked and stirred his coffee.
But Shelbourne didn't answer. He was staring at the section of the paper that marked 'family'. There was his wife, Angelica. When he glanced at her last name, his eyes widened. It said 'Angelica Rita Shelbourne'. Confused, Shelbourne didn't understand. She didn't change her last name when they got married. But it turned out she did, and never told him.
Then there were his kids. There was Marie, and then Brent as an adopted child. He read lower and saw another name. Next to the name were the words: Once this child's biological parents have both passed away, Albert Shelbourne is to take the child into custody. But when Shelbourne glanced at the name, it was marked out with a black sharpie.
"Why is this marked out?" Shelbourne asked Earl, even if he knew he was going off topic.
"The child's parents have chosen someone else to take the child into custody. You got a criminal record and now no one trusts you." Earl replied. Shelbourne watched Earl stir his coffee and waited for him to actually take a sip. But Earl just kept stirring.
"I know what you want, Shelbourne." Earl growled and stirred his coffee faster.
"W-what do you mean?" Shelbourne stammered. He still wanted to know about the child he was supposed to take in custody. But now he wasn't worried about that. Earl seemed to know his plan. How though?
"Read the third point at bottom part of that paper, under the 'crimes' section." Earl was now tapping a pen against the table.
Gulping, Shelbourne read the third point under the 'crimes' section and now knew how Earl knew his plan. It said: 'Albert Shelbourne has poisoned Joe Towne July 2009. Mr. Towne seems to have disappeared after the poisoning.'
"You can't fool me, Shelbourne. I saw you pour something into my coffee. Now leave this town, before I force you out." Earl told him and poured his coffee into the garbage can. Shelbourne didn't have to be told twice.
He got up and made his way out of the Mayor's office. As he left, many questions bubbled in his mind. Who was this child? How did Earl know all that? Why hadn't Earl thrown him in jail?
xxx
The engine of the plane rumbled as it raced down the runway. Flint, Steve and the henchmen sat on top of suitcases in the luggage compartment. The plane lifted up into the air and they all gripped the suitcases they were sitting on.
"What if there is a turbulence and the plane ends up shaking for an hour? What if we crash? We have no seatbelts!" Jag gripped the suitcase so hard, that his knuckles turned white. Rolling his eyes, Esto looked away.
"Jag has aviatophobia." Esto explained to Flint.
"But isn't that the fear of flight? Then why is he okay in a helicopter?" Flint asked and glanced at Jag, nervously.
"Well, he says he feels safe in our helicopter. Other helicopter and planes, he's too scared to approach." Reg explained from where he sat staring out the window. No one said anything for quite some time. Flint watched Jag; who was now sitting there with his eyes shut tight and taking deep breaths.
Flint thought about all the things he was scared of. None of them were so severe that they were phobias. He was scared of the things people were normally scared of: big spiders, being alone in a dark room. But then he was also afraid of losing his lab coat and his dad. If Tim died, Flint would probably jump off a cliff.
"What happens when we get to Tokyo?" Reg asked from where he sat.
"I dunno. I guess we keep our eyes open for the Codes." Esto sighed and lay back on a pile of suitcases.
"Tokyo is a huge city." Flint pointed out.
"I know. But what I think what we should do is get Flint's invention back from Shelbourne and then make sure the Codes don't trigger the weird food and disaster machine. Then we get Sam and hand the Codes over to the police." Esto replied, from where he lay.
"You're saying like its oh-so simple." Jag snapped from where he sat huddled on the suitcase with his eyes closed.
"Can we change the subject? I know some phrases in Japanese!" Reg grinned and Esto just sighed. He couldn't stand it when people changed the subject.
"Okay, what are they?" Esto asked and Reg smiled.
"'Konnichi wa' and 'Nante ittan-dayo?" Reg beamed.
"Say wha—?" Esto sat up and looked over at Reg.
Flint laughed and even Steve smiled. The only phrase Flint knew was the first one Reg had said. It meant 'hello'. The other one, he didn't know. Never heard of it. He only knew how to say hello and that was it.
"The first one means 'hello' and the second one is 'What did you say?" Reg explained. Esto nodded and smiled. Then he lay back down and closed his eyes. They had a long flight. Flint thought about it and then lay down too and soon drifted off into a deep sleep.
He was dreaming while he slept. Normally, he didn't remember his dreams, but this time it was clear as can be. Maybe it wasn't even a dream. But his mother was there. She wasn't a ghost or anything. And they were walking down some path. His mother was wearing what she normally wore: her beige pants, and white blouse with orange flowers. Her curly brown hair was tied back.
"Flint, I want you to watch your steps." She whispered. He walked along her and wished he could give her a big hug. But something kept him from doing that.
"What do you mean?" he asked her and she side-glanced at him. Then she turned away.
"You must think before doing something, or saying something." She whispered. Her voice was soft, but there was some worry there too. Flint didn't think this was a dream anymore. He felt like this was a message of some sort. Normally he didn't dream of his mother.
"I know that mom." He told her and she smiled.
"I know that you know. But there will come a time, when you'll have to make a quick choice. It will come at the darkest hour. When the cities lights will blink out and all you have is a dagger at your throat. Don't rush, Flint. Use the time, while you have it." She sighed and Flint saw a tear roll down his mother's cheek.
When he touched her arm, she stopped in her tracks and turned to face him. Her face was lined with fresh tears. She reached out and brought Flint into a tight hug. To him, the hug felt real. After a few seconds, she let him go and then looked him straight in the eyes.
"Flint, you must listen to me. Shelbourne will find out the secrets that have been hidden from him. I have tried my best to keep them away, when I was alive. But Shelbourne is one step from finding out the most important one. He will use them like weapons." Fran replied quietly and Flint looked back at her.
"What s-secrets?" Flint stammered and his eyes widened.
"I must go now, Flint. But I promise I'll watch over you. Just be careful." She replied and hugged him one last time, before she began to fade away.
"Mom! What secrets?" he cried and tried to take his mother's hand, but she vanished and he stood there alone on the path. Soon the path vanished and Flint woke up.
He was still in the luggage compartment. Esto was asleep and so was Jag. Steve was looking out the window with Reg. Flint curled up into a tight ball and let his mother's words wash over him. Slowly, he took off his lab coat and draped it over himself like a blanket.
He was Flint Lockwood. And he wasn't going to let a group of people in trench coats stop him.