Conner had never thought he’d be so grateful for his eccentric stalkers. Usually he found just the mention of the Book Huggers quite repulsive, but now he looked upon the girls as if they were each wearing a superhero’s cape. They were his only hope of rescuing Alex and saving the Otherworld.
“I never thought I’d say this, but I’m genuinely happy to see you guys,” Conner said with a thankful smile. “Now you’ve got to saw off the rest of these bars and let me down! It’s kind of an emergency!”
Wendy started sawing the bars around Conner’s legs, but Mindy held up a hand to stop her.
“As much as it pains me to see you like this, I’m afraid we can’t help you just yet,” Mindy said. “You see, we’ve had questions about you and your sister for a long time now—questions only you can answer. So if you want us to scratch your back, you’ve got to scratch ours first.”
“Are you crazy?” Conner snapped. “I just said it’s an emergency! People are going to get hurt unless you help me down!”
“PEOPLE HAVE ALREADY BEEN HURT!” Mindy yelled, and slammed her hands on the nearest table. “Do you know what it’s like to have your parents, peers, and school administrators treat you like a lunatic? It’s HURTFUL! Do you know what it’s like to be the laughingstock of conspiracy blogs and chat rooms? It’s also HURTFUL! Do you know what it’s like to get blocked on social media personally by the mayor, the governor, state representatives, and the Pentagon? It’s really HURTFUL! Despite our overwhelming catalog of evidence, our valid suspicions and valiant quest for the truth have left us humiliated, stigmatized, and institutionalized at every turn—but still the Book Huggers persist! Now, if you ever want your feet to touch the ground, you’re going to give us the information we desire and deserve! You’ve kept the truth from us for four years, Conner Bailey, but your web of deception ends today!”
Despite their uncomfortable restraints, everyone in the Rose Main Reading Room froze and stared at the Book Huggers in silence. Even Hero was taken aback by the teenagers’ emotional display.
“Okay, fine,” Conner said. “I’ll tell you everything you want to know as long as you help me down afterward.”
The Book Huggers were so anxious to finally get answers, they practically vibrated. They shined a reading lamp directly in Conner’s face and their interrogation began.
“I’m going to ask you a series of questions and I want you to respond with either a yes or a no,” Mindy instructed as she paced below him.
“Wouldn’t it be faster if I just told you everything—”
“I’ll ask the questions!” Mindy roared. “In the sixth grade, you and your sister missed school for two weeks. According to a note we found in the nurse’s office, which a source confirmed was written in your mother’s handwriting, you and Alex were both absent due to chicken pox. But you weren’t really sick with chicken pox, were you?”
“No,” Conner said with a sigh.
“Precisely what I predicted,” Cindy said.
“In the seventh grade, your sister allegedly moved to Vermont to attend a school for advanced learners,” Mindy said. “Shortly before her departure, we witnessed Alex talking to a book in the school library and whispering covert messages like ‘Take me back’ and ‘I don’t want to be here anymore.’ The transferral paperwork we obtained indicated she was going to live with her grandmother, but after a thorough scan through public documents, we discovered your grandmother didn’t own any property in Vermont. So, Alex never moved to Vermont, did she?”
“No,” Conner replied with a massive eye roll.
“I knew that was a lie!” Lindy said with a fist pump.
“In the eighth grade, you and Bree abandoned our school trip on the way home from Germany,” Mindy said. “Bree has claimed several different motives for committing the stunt, ranging from underground concerts to food festivals. But you didn’t run off for music or cuisine, did you?”
“No,” Conner said.
Wendy used the handsaw like a guitar, indicating she had known all along.
“The following year you never returned to school,” Mindy said. “Mrs. Peters informed us that you had transferred to Vermont to live with your grandmother and sister, but we all know you didn’t move to Vermont, either, right?”
“No,” Conner said, and began to lose his patience. “Will you please get to the point? You’re wasting time!”
“One more question,” Mindy said. “Recently, the girls and I were innocently walking by your house on Sycamore Drive when we saw a group of strange people in the window. We were afraid your house was being robbed, so we took a closer look—and that’s when we saw pirates and a massive ship appear out of a beam of light connected to your binder! We were told they were just actors and set pieces, but they weren’t actors and set pieces, were they?”
“No!” Conner snapped. “You guys were spying on my house? That’s illegal!”
“This leads us to believe that everything from your strange school absences, to your phony transfers, to your European excursion, and even the evacuation happening right now in New York City, are all related!” Mindy declared. “Admit it! You and your sister have been involved in an interdimensional conspiracy for years, and the Book Huggers have been right to question you every step of the way!”
“YES!” Conner shouted. “YOU’VE BEEN RIGHT ABOUT EVERYTHING! FOR THE LAST FOUR YEARS MY SISTER AND I HAVE BEEN TRAVELING BACK AND FORTH BETWEEN THE FAIRY-TALE WORLD, THE WORLDS OF CLASSIC LITERATURE, AND THE WORLDS OF MY CREATIVE WRITING! THAT IS THE TRUTH—ARE YOU PSYCHOPATHS HAPPY NOW?”
Judging by the sheer bliss surfacing in their faces, the Book Huggers were more than happy. They jumped for joy, glad tears filled their eyes, and Wendy climbed down to join the girls in a massive group hug. After years of mistreatment, disrespect, and false diagnoses, the Book Huggers’ entire existence had finally been validated.
When their embrace was over, Lindy removed a folded piece of paper from her pocket and read a chart printed on it.
“All right, time to see who won the Bailey Twins Disappearance Pool,” she said.
“What is the Bailey Twins Disappearance Pool?” Conner asked.
“We made bets in the sixth grade about where you and Alex were sneaking off to,” Mindy explained.
“I guessed alien abduction, tunnel to China, and wizards,” Lindy read from the chart. “Mindy had Illuminati, Bigfoot’s cave, and vampires. Cindy predicted an international kidnapping ring, lost continent of Lemuria, and the mines of mole people. Wendy had government espionage facility, Swedish cover band, and—well, what do you know—worlds of fiction! Wendy wins!”
Mindy, Lindy, and Cindy each handed Wendy twenty bucks.
“I was really hoping for the lost continent of Lemuria, but I’m not mad at worlds of fiction,” Cindy said.
“How do you get to the worlds of fiction, anyway?” Lindy asked.
“There’s lots of different methods,” Conner said. “Like that enormous hole in the back of the room leading to a forest.”