�But what are we to do?� asked Chris. �The only thing we can do is to keep going and hope that we eventually find our way out to the main office. How much food have we got left?�
�Just a few granola bars, Mr. Chris,� Dan said, holding them out. �It�s good Bando stuff, but it�s kind of dry and it gets to you after a while.� He smiled sadly, and took a bite. �Well, we�ll just have to make the best of it.� He passed the other bar to Chris, who bit down on its hardness and swallowed it slowly, trying to make it last.
Bizarre-smelling fumes were swirling around them, products of the various art rooms, and it was beginning to affect the Students. Chris sometimes thought he heard wild laughter, and Dan could have sworn that every time he looked back, there was a pair of glowing eyes following them. He had told Chris about them, but he just laughed them off. Dan looked back, saw the familiar eyes, and then suddenly it all came together. He grabbed Chris�s arm to stop him.
�What is it, Dan? Have you found a way out?� Chris asked eagerly.
�It�s those eyes!� said Dan. �They�re . . .�
�Will you cut it out with the eyes already?� said Chris. �I told you, it�s a hallucination.�
�No,� hissed Dan. �It�s Mattapp. We thought he lost him, but he must have followed us through the back door. I remember the eyes now. Remember that band party, where he was so high on weed he couldn�t walk straight? His eyes looked just like that - the same crazed, vacant look, that same weird glow-y thing going on. It�s him, I know it is.�
�OK,� said Chris uncertainly. �How about we just pretend that these fumes finally knocked us out, and we�ll see what these �eyes� do.� He staggered in a very exaggerated manner, then fell heavily to the floor. Dan looked at him without understanding , then gave a short gasp as Chris pulled him down next to him.
For a while, nothing happened. Dan was about to announce how ridiculous the whole thing was, and that he must have been wrong after all, when they heard the soft padding of little feet.
�It�s mine,� a voice whispered. �Those filthy little thieveses stole it from uss. It wass mine, the porn wass mine, and they tooks it from us. But now they�ve taken too big a dose of drugses, and we�ll gets it back.� A crouching, slinking form emerged from the gloom.
Dan quickly snapped his eyes shut and did his best to pretend he was passed out. There was the quiet rustling of clothes, then a sudden screech from the creature as Chris grabbed its arm and flipped it neatly over his head. Dan got up to join Chris, then saw a maddened fury light up the eyes of Mattapp. It rushed crazily at Chris, clawing at his jacket. Dan swung a fist and connected solidly with Mattapp�s head, but it seemed to do more damage to his fist than to the head. Mattapp hissed furiously and jumped on Chris, bearing him to the ground. Dan tried to grab him, but he was as slippery as an eel and soon had his arms locked around Dan�s throat. Dan realized that he was in some serious trouble, but then suddenly he heard the clicking of latches being undone. Chris had pulled out his trombone and was holding it to Mattapp�s ear.
�This is J.R.,� he said mockingly. �Remember it, Mattapp? You�ve seen it before, and if you don�t let go of Dan lickety-split, you�re going to find it blaring in your ear.�
Mattapp snapped helplessly at the air, and for a moment Dan thought that he might get strangled regardless. The arms around his neck tightened, just noticeably, and Chris shoved the bell closer to Mattapp�s head. Dan held his breath, then let it out in a sigh of relief as Mattapp let go. Dan was quickly on his feet and tied a loop of rope around Mattapp�s neck while Chris held the trombone on him.
�Now,� said Chris pleasantly. �Now that we�re all out in the open with each other, why don�t we see if we arrange something to our mutual advantage. You take us to the Main Office, which I�m sure you�ve been to before, and we don�t slit your lying throat. That sounds perfectly reasonable to me,� he ended sweetly. �What do you think?�
Mattapp started to protest vigorously, but Dan tugged sharply on the noose, strangling off the reply. �Good,� said Chris. �I�m glad we agree.� He beckoned to Dan and skipped off down the hallway. Dan followed, jerking meanly on the rope every now and again just for the fun of it.
They had not got far before Mattapp set up a horrible racket, weeping and gnashing his teeth.
�Take it off us!� he yelled. �It was made by good musicianses, which we can�t stands because we�ll never be one despites our practicing 24/7.� He tugged furiously at the rope. �Take it off us!� Chris glowered at him, then reluctantly called a halt.
�It�s no good, Mr. Chris,� said Dan. �Every janitor in the building�ll hear this and know that there are people on-campus after hours. We should just tie him up and leave him.�
�No!� howled Mattapp. �We�ve got 25 ounces of weed in our pocketses. If they catches us, we�ll never see daylight again. Don�t leaves us. . .please?� he whimpered piteously.
�I�m sorry,� said Chris. �I can�t take it off you. There�s no promise you can make that I could trust.�
�Exactly,� said Dan. �He�d slit our throats in our sleep.�
�We will swear on . . .on. . . on the precious!� Mattapp said brightly, latching on to what seemed a good idea to him.
�On the precious?� Chris said, shocked. �The Disk is treacherous, Mattapp, and it will twist your words. But since you are a sniveling traitor anyway, I guess that�s all right. What will you swear?�
�We swears . . . to be good,� Mattapp bit out sadly. �We swears to serve the master of the precious. I will be good little Matthew, like my mother always wanted me to be.� He looked dejected and pitiable. Dan felt his heart soften, then realized it was probably a trick and hardened it again. Chris, however, had not caught the loophole in Mattapp�s words.
�Very well, Matthew,� he said. He nodded, and Dan reluctantly took the rope off his neck, though he held it in a ready lasso should Mattapp bolt. He noticed that Mattapp�s eyes were slowly returning to normal, a sign perhaps that his high was wearing off. Chris continued, �You will lead us through these fumes and take us to the Main Office. Let�s be off now.� He started off, singing a jaunty tune, but Dan noticed that he never took his eyes off Mattapp. Perhaps, Dan thought, he hadn�t been as taken in by Mattapp as he had first believed.