Read Online [Janitors 01] Janitors by Tyler Whitesides - Free Book Online Page B

as a flicker. Spencer’s stomach began to twist nervously.
    Then, without a sound, the lights turned off. The fan in the back of the room gradually slowed and Mrs. Natcher looked up from the black screen of her computer with an annoyed look, as though the power outage was planned. Well—it was, but Mrs. Natcher had no way of knowing that.
    Spencer hit the button on his watch and the seconds started rolling.
    Dez immediately jumped to his feet and did some awkward dance move while chanting, “Power’s out! Power’s out! Wahoo!”
    The classroom had one large window in the wall, but Mrs. Natcher kept it covered with outdated paisley curtains. Under the curtains was a shade that she’d pulled down the first time the overhead projector was used and she’d never put it up again.
    “Everyone sit down,” Mrs. Natcher said. “The power will return at any moment.” She crossed the room to pull up the window shade and let in the now-needed sunlight.
    Spencer waited until Mrs. Natcher’s back was turned. The class was still in mild chaos, and he attracted no extra attention as he slipped out the door.
    It took Spencer longer than he wanted to find Daisy in the dim hallway. At the sight of Marv, Daisy had retreated to hide in a remote corner, clutching Baybee as if it were her own child. Spencer wandered several halls before they found each other.
    Three precious minutes had passed by the time they stood before the boys’ bathroom with a wrinkled “out of order” sign thumbtacked to the wooden door. Spencer was holding the little gray flashlight in his hand, but he was afraid to turn it on. Baybee dangled in Daisy’s grip by one plastic arm, the doll’s diaper crooked from Daisy’s run down the hall.
    Here, by the gym, it was rather dark. Spencer knew that without a window in the restroom, it would be pitch-black inside. Not willing to waste any more time, Spencer clicked the flashlight’s switch with his thumb. A dull, yellow glow appeared at the end of the small bulb. As Mr. Hadley had explained, it wasn’t even bright enough to illuminate the door two feet away.
    Spencer was reaching out for the door when suddenly a bright white beam of light shot from the flashlight, angling sideways across the hallway. Spencer and Daisy jerked around to see the beam land on a winged vulture-bat. It was hanging upside down from the ceiling, but when the light touched it, the creature took flight. Spencer’s light tracked the jagged flight pattern masterfully, even though the flashlight was motionless in his hand.
    The flying beast dove and touched the ground. Wriggling forward, it disappeared through the gap under the gym door. The flashlight returned to its dull glow in Spencer’s hand.
    “What happened?” hissed Daisy in his ear.
    “Mr. Hadley said that other magical objects would draw out the light. I guess that means creatures too.” Spencer finally pushed open the bathroom door. A small card fell to the hard floor. Hadley must have used it to stop the door from latching.
    Spencer picked up the card. “Come on,” he urged, using the Indiglo feature on his watch to see that five minutes had passed. Daisy didn’t move. “What’s wrong?”
    She hesitated. “I’ve never been in a boys’ bathroom before.”
    “Oh, please,” Spencer muttered. “They’re just like girls’ bathrooms, except we have couches and entertainment systems with surround sound.”
    “Really?” Daisy asked, her gullibility setting in again.
    Daisy stepped into the bathroom and Spencer inserted the card over the latch and carefully shut the door over it, plunging the restroom into nearly complete darkness. In the dim light from the flashlight’s weak bulb, Spencer saw two urinals on the wall next to a single stall. There was one sink with an old soap dispenser and a roll of paper towels.
    Suddenly, the flashlight flared to life. The white beam split the darkness, pinpointing its target near the sink. Then the beam flashed a different