Read Online Spring-Heeled Jack by Wyll Andersen - Free Book Online Page B

focused. He felt a tingle
on the back of his hand and slowly the Queen of Spades began to appear. His
hand began to heat up and he curled his fingers into a fist around
the broken trinket. Soon his hand began to burn. He felt the item
take form in his hands. He opened his eyes, and released his grip.
What used to be a pile of white and black rubble was now a ring
embedded with a design that looked like a “Z” overlapping a “Y”:
The symbol of the Zebulon Corporation.
    He picked up the ring and held it in
his palm. Of all things, why a Zebulon ring? What did it mean and
why’d the professor have a destroyed one?
    Atticus planned to leave his professor
alone for the rest of the evening, but now he had a special
something to return, and it wasn’t something that could wait until
tomorrow.

Chapter 7
     
    Atticus didn’t intend to eavesdrop,
but it happened anyway.
    He snuck past the receptionist by
saying he was going to visit with his chemistry teacher, Professor
Banner. He didn’t lie. Atticus actually did have plans to visit his
professor so he could apologize for missing class. He was one of
Atticus’ favorite teachers and he figured he’d
understand.
    Banner was a young professor, only in
his late thirties, but he was a brilliant man. He was exceptionally
tall, standing roughly 6”5, but he was a quite slender. He was also
a much more laid back teacher, preferring to wear just a nice dress
shirt and black slacks as opposed to suits or formal
attire.
    Atticus confronted him at his desk.
“Good evening, Professor Banner.”
    “ Good evening, Mr.
Whaelord.” The professor was hard at work grading exams and reading
thesis essays. He was always doing something to keep his mind
working.
    “ I-I just wanted to
apologize for missing class today. You see, I wasn’t feeling the
best”
    “ After Mr. Nelson’s passing?
I understand.”
    “ Y-Yes,” Atticus said. “You
do?”
    Banner nodded, his eyes still glued to
his papers. “I know you two were friends. After a loss like that, I
almost wouldn’t want you to attend class. Bad for the brain, you
know? I assumed that’s why you missed.”
    Atticus was at a loss for words.
“T-Thank you?”
    The professor dropped his pen and
looked up at Atticus, his eyes peering over his tiny oval reading
glasses. He said, “Mr. Whaelord, Atticus, just make sure you have a
note delivered to me next time. Assumptions can only take one so
far.”
    Assumptions can only take one so far,
Atticus thought. That phrase struck his as a rather odd thing for
the professor to say, but perhaps it was just some sagely advice he
wanted to give to his student.
    Atticus nodded and said, “Yes,
sir.”
    Banner smiled and went back to his
work. “I know it’s hard to lose someone like that. Just promise me
that you won’t blame yourself, alright?”
    “ What do you
mean?”
    “ Mr. Nelson’s passing,” he
said. “This is a very tough time in most students’ lives. We adults
put so much on your plate and sometimes the weight becomes
unbearable. Tragedies like this occur, and sometimes we don’t’ see
how much someone is struggling until it’s too late.” The professor
took off his glasses and lowered his head. “I know all about that
kind of pressure.”
    It dawned on Atticus that Professor
Banner thought Mike killed himself. Why would he think otherwise?
Atticus wanted to jump in and tell him that wasn’t the case, but he
stopped himself.
    “ Alright, Professor,” he
said. “Thank you.”
    Atticus said his farewells, picked up
his missing assignment and then went on his way. Now that he had an
alibi, it was time for him to find Varnum.
    He reached into his pocket and pulled
out the Zebulon Ring. Atticus still couldn’t figure out why the
professor would have one. At first, he figured that since Zebulon
owned Fortuna Prep maybe that’s why; but as far as he knew, no
other teachers had rings. Then Atticus thought that perhaps it
wasn’t the professor’s ring at all. Maybe