The Genius Files #4 by Dan Gutman

than a year. Mom and Dad paid a lot of money to get us in here. Have a little fun for once in your life.”
    Coke climbed into one of the vapor cabinets, pulling the stainless steel door down and popping his head through the hole on the top.
    Hesitantly, Pep did the same, climbing into the other vapor cabinet and sitting on a little bench inside it. The twins looked a little bit like a pair of turtles in their shells.
    Below, hot water created steam, which rose up through the vapor cabinet and was trapped inside.
    â€œThis is awesome,” Coke said. “Do you feel it?”
    â€œI think I feel my pores opening—”
    At that moment the lights flickered and went out.
    â€œOh, great,” Coke said. “A power failure.”
    As they sat in total darkness, the twins heard rustling sounds, and then the clicking of locks. Someone was just a few feet away, moving around the room.
    â€œWho’s that?”
    â€œI don’t know.”
    â€œCoke, I have a bad feeling about this.”
    When the lights went back on, the twins were confronted by the most evil, the most hated, the most horrifying sight imaginable.
    Dr. Herman Warsaw.
    â€œAhhhhhhhhhhhh!”
    The twins shrank back in terror at the sight of his face. Despite the heat, he was wearing a suit and tie.
    â€œWell, well, well,” Dr. Warsaw said, a thin sneer on his lips. “If it isn’t the McDonald twins!”
    Coke struggled to push open the door of the vapor cabinet, but Dr. Warsaw had obviously locked it securely shut when the lights were out. Pep let out a shriek.
    â€œGo ahead and yell all you want, Miss Pepsi,” Dr. Warsaw told her. “Nobody will hear you, but it’s a great way to . . . let off a little steam.”
    He took a moment to laugh at his little joke.
    â€œWhat are you doing here?” Coke demanded.
    â€œMe?” said Dr. Warsaw. “I came here for two reasons. After our little altercation back at The Infinity Room, most of my large bones and internal organs were quite damaged, to say the least. The doctors told me I might never walk again. But they suggested I come here for my rehabilitation. The mineral waters have worked wonders to heal me. I’m almost a hundred percent now.”
    â€œSo, what’s the other reason you came here?” asked Pep.
    â€œOh, to kill you, of course,” Dr. Warsaw said matter-of-factly. “The healing waters may have saved my life, but I’m sorry to say that they will have the opposite effect on yours.”
    â€œYou’re insane!”
    â€œLet us out!”
    â€œI never expected you two to make it this far,” Dr. Warsaw said quietly as he paced around the twins. “I thought I had gotten rid of you back in Cleveland at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I’ll say one thing about you brats. You are quite resourceful.”
    Coke fumbled around desperately inside the vapor cabinet, trying to find a latch or switch that would open it up. He knew that some cars had such things inthe trunk, in case people get trapped inside. No such luck this time.
    â€œLet me tell you a little story,” Dr. Warsaw said soothingly. “It’s sort of a . . . bedtime story, you might say.”
    â€œWe don’t want to hear your stupid stories!” Coke spat. “Let us out of here and if you’re lucky we won’t press charges.”
    â€œOh, you’ll be able to relate to this story,” Dr. Warsaw said. “It’s the story of the boiling frog. You see, if you drop a frog into a pot of boiling water, it will frantically try to jump out to save its own life. That makes sense, right? But if you put that same frog in a pot of cold water and put a high flame under it, the frog won’t notice that anything is wrong. It won’t be frightened. And as the temperature slowly rises, degree by degree, the frog will just sit there and allow itself to slowly boil to death