Professor Gargoyle

FOURTEEN





When the lunch bell rang, Robert skipped the cafeteria and went to the school computer center to do more research. Naturally Lovecraft Middle School had a first-rate facility with dozens of brand-new computers, printers, scanners, and tablets. The teacher, Mr. Padapolous, asked Robert to sign in using a digital touch screen.

Robert chose a computer in a far corner of the room, where no one could see what he was doing, and searched the Web for information on Crawford Tillinghast. He found a lot of weird articles in scientific journals. They had titles like “Ecology of the Hyphalosaurus Species” and “Meditation: A Pinhole in the Time-Space Continuum?” and they were impossible to understand.

But eventually he found an article in a 1983 issue of The Dunwich Gazette with the headline:


EXPLOSION ROCKS TILLINGHAST

MANSION, EIGHTEEN PERISH


The article explained that the mansion had been built by Crawford Tillinghast’s grandfather in the early twentieth century. The house was enormous and featured fifteen bedrooms, ten bathrooms, three kitchens, a ballroom, a piano room, and an observatory. Tillinghast employed three scientists and they lived in the mansion along with their families; at the bottom of the page was a group photo of everyone who lived in the mansion.

It was Robert’s first look at Crawford Tillinghast. He was tall and thin and dressed in a white suit. Sitting in a large chair, surrounded by his employees and their spouses and their children, he looked like the grandfather of a large, happy family.

The article didn’t describe the nature of their scientific experiments. It simply said that a machine in the basement laboratory had malfunctioned, causing a massive explosion that claimed the lives of all eighteen residents, including Tillinghast himself. Much of the building was spared, but the bodies of the employees were never recovered.

“There you are,” Glenn said, dropping into the chair beside Robert. “I thought we were meeting in the library.”

It was a funny thing: Just twenty-four hours ago, the sudden arrival of Glenn Torkells would have terrified Robert. Now, he was frustrated Glenn hadn’t come sooner.

“I didn’t like the way Ms. Lavinia was looking at me. I’m starting to wonder if she’s part of it.”

“Part of what?”

“All of it. Professor Goyle, the Price twins, Pip and Squeak. It’s all connected, Glenn. Something really big is happening here.”

Robert shared his findings from earlier that morning. He explained his new theory—that the haunts from Tillinghast Mansion had somehow been recycled, along with the doors and bricks and floor tiles, into the new Lovecraft Middle School.

“That’s impossible,” Glenn said.

“All of this stuff is impossible,” Robert told him. “A tentacle pulling you inside a locker is impossible. But it happened, Glenn. We saw it.”

His voice had become louder without his realizing it. Mr. Padapolous got up from his desk and walked over to the boys. Glenn tilted the computer monitor so the teacher couldn’t see what they were doing.

Mr. Padapolous frowned. “These machines are for school use only,” he said. “If you want to play video games, you can come back at three o’clock for Computer Club.”

“We understand,” Robert said. “We’re just researching a little local history.”

The teacher shuffled back to his desk. Robert wondered if Mr. Padapolous was friendly with Professor Goyle, if Mr. Padapolous was friendly with Ms. Lavinia.

Maybe Mr. Padapolous was part of it, too.

Glenn tapped the computer screen. “So what did you learn about this guy Tillinghast?”

Robert studied the photograph, studied Tillinghast’s shock of white hair. “When I was spying on Goyle, he mentioned a Master. A person in charge of a plan. I’m starting to think Tillinghast is that Master. Somehow he survived and he’s controlling all these strange forces.”

Glenn studied the photograph, too. “The guy definitely looks like a grade-A weirdo. Though, in 1983, I guess a lot of people did. Who are all these other people?”

“Scientists. His employees. And their families. They all lived in the mansion together.”

Glenn pointed to a girl on the edge of the portrait. She had short, dark brown hair that fell past her shoulders and a mouthful of metal braces. “This one’s cute,” he said. “The rest look like maniacs.”

Robert took a closer look and blinked.

Glenn was pointing to Karina Ortiz.