فصل 16

Monster Blood 2 - Chapter 16

Andy froze in the center of the room, her eyes wide with horror.

Evan nearly dropped the can of Monster Blood. The sticky green substance tightened its grip on his fingers, making loud sucking sounds.

But Evan only cared about the sounds coming from downstairs.

“I’m home!” he heard Conan shout.

“We’re home, too!” It was a woman’s voice, probably Conan’s mother.

“They’re all home,” Evan whispered.

“We’re dead meat!” Andy murmured.

“I’m going upstairs,” Conan called to his parents.

Evan let out a terrified cry as he heard Conan’s heavy footsteps on the stairs. “Andy—wh-what do we do?” he stammered.

“The window!” she replied.

They both lunged toward the open window and peered out. A narrow concrete ledge stretched just beneath the window.

Without hesitating, Andy raised a leg over the windowsill and climbed out onto the ledge. “Evan—hurry!” she whispered, gesturing frantically.

Evan was still desperately trying to pull his fingers from the bubbling green goo. Andy reached in through the window and grabbed him by the shoulder. “Evan—!” He heard Conan’s footsteps in the upstairs hall just outside the bedroom.

Using his free hand for support, Evan scrambled out the window and joined Andy on the narrow ledge.

“D-don’t look down,” Andy instructed in a trembling whisper.

Evan didn’t obey. He glanced down. The ground seemed very far below.

They each stood on a side of the window—Andy to the left, Evan the right. They pressed their bodies against the brick wall—and listened.

They heard Conan step into the room.

Did he notice that the light had been turned on?

No way to tell.

Loud rap music suddenly jarred the silence. Conan had turned on his boom box. He started chanting off-key along with the music.

Evan pressed as tightly against the side of the house as he could.

Go back downstairs, Conan, he pleaded silently. Please—go back downstairs!

How will Andy and I ever get away from here? he wondered, feeling all of his muscles tighten in panic.

Despite the hot night air, a cold chill ran down Evan’s back. He shuddered so hard, he nearly toppled off the ledge.

The blue can stuck to his hand. The Monster Blood sucked at his fingers. But he couldn’t worry about that now.

He could hear Conan moving around inside the room. Was he dancing to the loud music?

Evan glanced across the window at Andy. Her eyes were shut. Her face was clenched in a tight frown.

“Andy—!” Evan whispered. He knew that Conan couldn’t hear a whisper over the booming music. “Andy—it’ll be okay. As soon as he leaves, we’ll jump inside and sneak down the stairs.” Andy nodded without opening her eyes. “Did I ever tell you I’m afraid of heights?” she whispered.

“No,” Evan replied.

“Well, remind me to tell you!”

“We’ll be okay,” he murmured.

Clinging to the side of the house, Evan kept repeating those words to himself. “We’ll be okay. We’ll be okay. We’ll be okay.” Then Trigger started to bark.

A low bark of surprise at first. And then a louder series of barks, insistent barks, excited barks.

Evan swallowed hard. He glanced down to the ground.

Trigger was peering up at him, jumping against the side of the house, as if trying to reach the ledge. The dog barked louder with each jump.

“Trigger—no!” Evan called down in a frantic whisper.

That only made the dog bark more furiously.

Did Conan hear it? Could he hear Trigger’s ferocious barks over the music?

“Trigger—stop! Go home! Go home!”

Suddenly the music stopped.

Trigger’s excited barks rose up even louder against the new silence.

Conan must hear them now, Evan realized.

The cocker spaniel threw himself wildly against the side of the house, trying to get up to Evan and Andy. Despite Evan’s frantic signals to be quiet, the dumb dog barked his head off.

Evan’s breath caught in his throat as he heard Conan making his way to the window.

A second later, Conan stuck his head out. “What’s going on?” he shouted.

Evan’s knees buckled. He started to fall.