Case File 13 #3 (21 page)

“He's breathing,” Carter said. “But just barely.”

“You must get him to Father Tree,” Mr. Grunwald said. “Now!”

“Can you drive us?” Angelo asked, eyeing the mashed-up front of the car.

“No time,” the German said. “
Männchen
is going.” He pointed into the woods behind the cabin. “Straight and down. Father Tree will be near
Türöffnung
. But be careful while doorway is open. Do not get sucked in or you will never come out. And do not take
Männchen
near doorway.
Türöffnung
will destroy him.”

“Okay,” Carter said, breaking into a trot.

Nick looked at Angelo. “You know trying to get through the woods is probably suicidal.”

Angelo nodded. “If I'm going to die, I want to do it as a Monsterteer.” Together they ran and caught up with Carter.

“So, uh, what's our plan?” Carter whispered as they entered the darkness of the woods.

“You mean other than getting destroyed by our Evil Twins?” Nick said, searching the shadowy forest around them.

Carter pushed so close against him their shoulders touched. “I was kind of hoping dying was Plan B. Or C. Or maybe even Z.”

“One of you better come up with the plan,” Angelo said. “I'm fresh out.”

“All right.” Carter stepped on a branch and all three boys jumped at the sound of the crack. “The first thing is don't step on any more sticks.”

Nick wiped his sweat-covered hands on the front of his jeans. “You're not inspiring a lot of confidence in me. Does any of this look familiar to either of you? Which way should we go?”

Immediately Angelo and Carter pointed in opposite directions.

“I remember that rock,” Angelo said, pointing to a half-buried boulder. Nick thought he might vaguely recognize it. But he wasn't sure.

“I never forget a cookie,” Carter said. “And I'm telling you, the cookie trail went that way.”

Two minutes in and they were already arguing. “Come on, guys,” Nick said. “We have to work together here.”

“All right,” Angelo said. “Maybe it was a different rock. I have to admit, I'm not positive, and Carter does have a good memory for food.”

“That's better,” Nick said. “Now, what do we do if we see a doppelgänger?”

“Run,” Carter said. “As fast as we can. And hope it's someone like Old Man Dashner. Did you see how he was jogging? If he went any slower he'd be going backward.”

“Down,” Angelo whispered. The three of them dropped to the ground. Angelo pointed into the trees thirty or forty feet ahead. “Something's coming.”

Nick squinted into the darkness. He didn't see anything. Then he had it. A shadow was moving stealthily through the trees. He tried to make out what it was, but from this distance all he could make out was a figure a little shorter than him.

“Nick,” a voice called out. “Angelo, Carter. Where are you guys?” The figure got closer.

Carter stood up. “Tiffany? What are you doing here?”

“Oh, thank goodness,” Tiffany said, breaking into a grin. “Angie told me I'd find you guys up here. But I think I turned the wrong way and got lost.”

“What are you doing here?” Nick asked.

“An excellent question.” Tiffany adjusted her sunglasses. “I couldn't imagine what you guys would be doing at a remote location like this, but Angie was insistent that I come.” She brushed a pine needle out of her hair and wrinkled her nose. “Did you meet that crazy man back by the road? He totally freaked me out. So what are you guys doing here anyway?”

Angelo narrowed his eyes. “Step into the sunlight.”

Tiffany smiled uncertainly. “What?”

Nick looked from Angelo to Tiffany, understanding dawning on him. How could Angie possibly have told Tiffany where to find them? And even if she did, how would Tiffany get here? “Let me see your shadow,” he said.

“Why are you acting this way?” Tiffany took a step back, deeper into the shade of the trees. “I came here to help you.”

Angelo picked up a thick branch off the ground. “Step into the light now.”

Tiffany looked around, then shouted, “Here! They're over here!”

Nick broke into a run with Carter and Angelo right next to him. Tree branches slapped his face and arms, and it was hard to keep his footing on the uneven ground. Behind them, Tiffany continued to shout.

“Left,” Angelo called as a man in a pair of blue coveralls appeared on their right. Nick recognized him as the guy who worked at the local gas station.

“Get back here, you kids!” the man yelled.

A few seconds later Angelo's mom appeared from behind a huge birch. Angelo
began to slow, but Nick grabbed his arm. “Not real.”

The next ten minutes were a blur of running and turning. Every time they thought they had escaped, another doppelgänger showed up. The woods seemed to be filled with them. Angelo fought them off with his branch when they got too close, but there were more coming and no time to stop.

Nick's legs ached and his lungs burned. “Can't . . . go . . . . much . . . longer,” he gasped.

Just then, three quick
pops
sounded like gunshots in the quiet of the woods. Nick turned to see their three Evil Twins standing less than twenty feet away. Without losing a beat, the three doppelgängers raced toward them.

Angelo pointed to a thick stand of saplings to the right. “That way.”

Nick ran into the trees, covering his face against the stinging needles. Without any warning, the ground dropped out from under him. Whirling his arms, he tried to keep his balance, but he was going too fast and the drop was too steep.

“Look out!” Carter shouted, piling into him.

Angelo grabbed the two of them and might have stopped them from falling, but at that moment Evil Nick, Carter, and Angelo came flying through the trees as well, and suddenly all six of them were rolling, sliding, and flipping down a steep, rocky slope.

Nick's leg caught on a root and a sharp pain raced up his leg. Carter—or was it his Evil Twin?—slammed against a tree and cartwheeled down the slope. Either Angelo or his doppelgänger reached for Nick, but he missed his grip and flipped past like a rag doll. Slipping and tumbling, Nick spotted Carter Junior rolling down the hill next to him. He reached out to grab the homunculus and at that moment, something slammed against Nick's head and everything went gray.

When he came to, Nick was lying in the crevice of a deep valley. Every part of his body ached, and for a minute everything was a blur. Rubbing his eyes, he recognized the gently burbling creek to his left. This was where they'd first found the homunculus.

“Give him to me,” a voice said.

Nick turned to see Carter standing a few feet away. Nick tried to stand, but his right leg collapsed under him. “What are you talking about?” he asked.

“Carter Junior,” Carter said. “Give him to me quick.”

Nick looked down and realized he was holding the homunculus.

“It's h-him.” Carter pointed to his left, and as Nick looked in that direction all his pain disappeared, overshadowed by terror.

The creature standing less than ten yards away was at least twelve feet tall, with a thick body and long arms. Its skin was rough and brown like tree bark, and its limbs were long and gnarled. Leaves and vines wrapped around it in a sort of cloak. But what Nick couldn't stop staring at was the creature's face—or at least where its face should have been.

There was a puckered knot hole that might once have been a mouth and a gaping black hole where a nose had been . . . what? Ripped off maybe? But above those was only blank, brown emptiness.

“It doesn't have any eyes,” Nick whispered.

The creature must have heard him, because at that moment it lifted a dark glass orb in its twisted fingers. From inside the orb, a single golden eye glared balefully down at them. The eye swiveled between the three boys before fixating on Nick. The knot hole ripped open to reveal jagged black teeth.

“What are you doing here?” a deep voice rumbled. This was the Father Tree.

Carter looked toward it, his face white and his arms shaking. “We, um, brought back your, uh . . .”

The creature held out its orb and Carter stumbled back a step. In Nick's hands, Carter Junior opened his eyes and tried to sit up. The eye in the orb swiveled toward them and the mouth opened again. The cracked black teeth were terrible. “Bring it to me.”

Realizing he couldn't walk, Nick started to hand the homunculus to the Father Tree. But at that moment, another Carter stepped forward.

“Don't give it to him!” The second Carter pointed to the giant redwood they'd seen the first time they were here. It looked every bit as big as Nick remembered. But now, where the markings had been before, there was a doorway as black as night. Twigs and
pine needles fluttered across the forest floor and disappeared into the doorway with a sound like an insect being zapped by a hot lightbulb.

The second Carter glared at the first Carter. “You're my Evil Twin. You're trying to send Carter Junior through the doorway.”

“That's a lie,” the first Carter said. He turned to Nick. “Quick, give him to me so we can give him to the Father Tree and close the door.”

One of them was the real Carter and one of them was his doppelgänger. But which was which? Nick looked for their shadows, but the sunlight was blocked by the giant redwood, casting the whole valley in shadow.

“Don't you recognize me?” one of the Carters said.

The other Carter held out his hands. “Come on, dude, I'm your friend.”

Angelo walked out of a small grove of trees, rubbing his head. “Which one of them is real?” Nick asked.

Angelo looked from one Carter to the other, before pointing to his right. “He is.”

“No,” said another Angelo, entering the grove from the other side. “
He
is.”

Nick looked back and forth. Now there were two Carters and two Angelos.

“Quick,” both the Carters said at once, “give him to me while we have our Evil Twins outnumbered.”

Nick looked back and forth. It was like listening to a stereo recording of Carter's voice coming from the left and right, in the exact same tone and inflection.

One of the Angelos started forward, and the other one did too. “Don't go near my friends,” the first Angelo said.

“Nice try,” the second one said. “But they aren't going to fall for it.”

Nick tried to get to his feet again, but his leg screamed in agony and he dropped back to the ground. Inside the redwood, the doorway began making a loud sucking noise like a vacuum caught on a piece of curtain. Nick knew time was short, but what could he do?

The first Carter stepped forward. His eyes met Nick's. “You have to believe me.”

In that moment he knew. Carter was right. They hadn't believed in him enough before. But now was the time to start. Nick handed the homunculus to the Carter he felt sure was real.

As soon as he had Carter Junior, the first Carter spun around, eyes wide with glee. “I've got it!” he screamed to the Angelos. “Throw the real Carter in the doorway!” Before Nick or Angelo could respond, Evil Angelo darted forward. He grabbed the second Carter and tugged him toward the opening in the tree.

“No!” Carter screamed, his eyes wide with terror. He tried to twist away, but Evil
Angelo's grip was too strong. The real Angelo ran to help him as Nick tried to force his injured leg to hold his weight. But it was too late.

Carter grabbed the edge of the door, his mouth an O of horror. “No!” he screamed before being sucked inside with a sickening
zap!

Nick's chest froze. What had he done? “Carter!” he shouted.

Evil Angelo laughed gleefully. “One down, two to go.” He turned to Evil Carter. “Put that nasty little thing into the doorway and let's get this over with.”

Still holding the homunculus, the first Carter turned and handed Carter Junior back to Nick with a wink. “Sorry,” he whispered, “I had to find out which Angelo was the doppelgänger.” He turned to the real Angelo and shouted, “It's me, dude. Get him!”

Realizing he'd been tricked, Evil Angelo turned to run. But the real Angelo dove, knocking his double's legs out from under him. Together he and Carter dragged the doppelgänger to the
Türöffnung
.

“Stop,” Evil Angelo cried, scratching and kicking. “We can make a deal. I'll copy someone else. I'll give you power. I'll do anything you want.”

“What I want is for you to get lost,” the real Angelo said. Together, he and Carter heaved the doppelgänger into the air and flung him into the doorway.

Evil Angelo let out a howl of rage just before he disappeared into the dark opening with a sound like an engine roaring to life.

Nick was so focused on the battle that he never noticed the person sneaking up behind him until a pair of hands grabbed Carter Junior and tried to rip him from Nick's grasp. Nick spun around to find his Evil Twin right next to him.