For a moment I wondered if we should just go back home. Come clean and ask for their help. But what could they do? Call the police? What help were they going to be in a situation like this?
No. There was no turning back now. We had to press on. We had to figure out a way to get back in the game.
Finally, we reached the address Maddy had given us. It was a cybercafé—the kind of place that served coffee and rented computer time by the hour. From what I’d read, these places used to be hot spots for people to come play video games together. But now most people played from their homes on their own consoles and computers, and there was hardly anyone there. A few people looked up from their laptops, observing us uninterestedly before returning to their work.
Lilli looked down at the paper she’d been given by Maddy. “It says to go to the bathroom,” she said.
I raised an eyebrow. “The boys’ bathroom? Or the girls’?” Either way, that was a little weird, right?
“It doesn’t say. Come on. Walk casually.”
We headed to the back of the café, where a glowing neon sign indicated the restroom. Thankfully, there was only one, and it was gender-neutral. That made things easier at least.
We pushed open the door and stepped inside. It was a single stall. Sink and toilet and not much else. Lilli locked the door behind us, then looked down at the paper again.
“Okay,” she said. “Do you see a book called Grays Sports Almanac anywhere?”
My eyes scanned the bathroom, at first coming up blank. “Maybe under the sink,” I said, dropping down to open the cabinet doors. Sure enough, a well-worn copy of the book was sitting inside. I pulled it out, triumphant. “Now what?”
“Go to page twenty-three,” Lilli read. “And you’ll find the day’s password. Flush the toilet three times and then say it loudly.”
“Oh-kay…” That was a little weird. But whatever. I flipped the book to page twenty-three. Inside was a scrap of paper.
33, 4
“I guess that’s the password?” I said, confused.
“Try it,” Lilli said. “Flush three times and yell.”
I did as she suggested. Of course the toilet didn’t totally flush the second and third time, as the bowl was still refilling from the first flush. Was that okay? Or was I supposed to wait between flushes?
Why was I flushing toilets, anyway?
“Thirty-three, four!” I shouted as loud as I could.
There was no answer.
I groaned. “This is so stupid. Why are we doing this again?”
“Um, to escape the bad guys with guns who want to get us?”
“Oh right.” I pursed my lips. “I don’t get it, though. Why didn’t that work? Is that not the password?”
Lilli grabbed the book from me. “Maybe it’s not,” she said. “Maybe it’s the code.”
“What?”
She ran her finger down page twenty-three. “Line thirty-three,” she murmured. “Word four.”
“Oh!” I cried, my heart pounding with excitement. “I get it now. Like a secret code. Cool. What does it say?”
“Um. The?”
“The?” I frowned. “You must have counted wrong.”
“I counted twice. The word thirty-three down and four over is the.”
“What kind of secret password is that?”
“Maybe I was wrong,” Lilli replied, sounding disappointed.
“Let’s try it anyway,” I said, mostly ’cause I wanted to make her feel better. I flushed the toilet three more times. (Talk about a waste of water.) “The!” I yelled out, knowing I sounded kind of ridiculous.
But then, out of nowhere, the door behind the toilet slid open, revealing a black passageway beyond. Maybe not so ridiculous, after all.
“Whoa!” Lilli exclaimed. “I can’t believe that actually worked!”
“You’re a genius,” I told her. “Now, come on. Let’s see what’s back here.”
We unlocked the bathroom door, then stepped into the dark passageway, my pulse skittering at every step. Lilli shined her phone flashlight into the darkness, and our shadows leered and danced in front of us as if taunting our nerves.
Finally, the passageway dead-ended at a lone door. Lilli looked down again at the paper Maddy had given us.
“One more thing,” she said. “It says to knock the Zelda theme song.” She frowned. “Do we know the Zelda theme song?”
“Uh, are you kidding?” I asked. “I can knock the Zelda theme song in my sleep!” Once again, my classic video game knowledge came in handy! And here people had said playing those old games was a waste of time.
I reached up and banged out the theme song. Which was actually more difficult to do than I thought it would be. But in the end, a voice boomed behind the door.
“Who goes there?” it asked, sounding echoey and distorted. As if the person was speaking through a voice-changing machine. Whoever was behind the door clearly didn’t want to be recognized. I guessed that made sense, if they were part of some kind of secret hacker cell. Still, it didn’t do anything to calm my nerves. I tried to remind myself that Maddy would never send us into danger. Whoever was there was a good guy. We had to trust that.
“Um, my name’s Ian,” I called through the door. “My sister is Lilli. Do you know Maddy? She said you’d be able to help us. We’re… well, we’re in a bit of trouble.”
For a moment, nothing happened. Then, slowly, the door slid open, revealing a dark room beyond. I glanced at Lilli. She shrugged, then took a step forward. No turning back now.
We walked into the room, which turned out to be small and circular, with low ceilings and walls covered in red velvet. As if we’d stepped into a vampire’s lair.
But it wasn’t a vampire that sat in the center of the room, gazing at us with a big smile on her face.
It was Starr.
I stared at Starr, eyes bulging from my head. “W-wait,” I stammered. “You’re Alpha Burn?”
She grinned. “What, were you expecting a dude?”
“No! Just someone
