فصل 22

Monster Blood 2 - Chapter 22

“Andy—will you hurry up?”

Evan had agreed to meet Andy at her aunt’s house the next morning so they could go to school early. But Andy had found a spot on her jeans and had gone back up to her room to change.

And now they were no longer early.

“Sorry,” she said, hurtling down the stairs two steps at a time. She had changed her entire outfit. Now she had on a red-and-black-striped vest over a yellow T-shirt, pulled down over pale blue shorts.

“Didn’t you leave out a color?” Evan demanded sarcastically, grabbing Andy’s backpack for her and hurrying to the front door.

She made a face at him. “I like bright colors. It suits my personality.”

“Your personality is late!” he declared.

She followed him out the door and down the front lawn to the sidewalk. “At least I have a personality!” she cried. “What’s your hurry, anyway?” Evan didn’t answer. He adjusted his backpack on his shoulder, then began running toward school.

“Hey—wait up!” Andy called, running after him.

“How much Monster Blood did you give Cuddles, anyway?” Evan demanded without slowing his pace. “The whole can?” “No way!” Andy called breathlessly. “Just a spoonful. He seemed to like it.” “I guess he liked being as big as a dog, too,” Evan said, turning the corner. The tall, redbrick school building came into view.

“Maybe he’s back to normal today,” Andy said.

But as they came near the building, it was easy to tell that things were not normal.

Evan heard a loud crash from the side of the building. It sounded like glass shattering.

Then he heard excited shouts. Loud kids’ voices filled with alarm.

“What’s going on?” Andy cried.

They dove up the stairs and burst into the building. Running full speed, they turned the corner and made their way to the science classroom.

Evan reached it a few steps ahead of Andy. Hearing excited shouts and cries, he lurched into the room—and then stopped with a startled cry.

“No! Oh, please—no!”

“Stand back! Everyone stand back!” a red-faced Mr. Murphy was screaming.

Cuddles uttered a loud grunt and flailed his giant legs wildly in the air.

“He—he’s ten feet tall!” Evan heard Andy scream at his side.

“Al-almost!” Evan stammered.

The grunting, groaning hamster towered over Mr. Murphy. Its pink paws batted the air. Its monstrous mouth opened wide, revealing two enormous, sharp white teeth.

“Back! Everyone back!” Mr. Murphy shrieked.

The terrified kids in the classroom pressed back against the walls.

Mr. Murphy picked up a wooden chair in one hand, the torn dog leash in the other. Holding the chair by the back, he came at the grunting monster like a lion tamer.

“Down, Cuddles! Get down! Sit! Sit!”

He poked the wooden chair up at the giant hamster and snapped the dog leash like a whip.

Cuddles’ watery black eyes, as big as soccer balls, glared down at the red-faced teacher. The hamster didn’t seem terribly impressed with Mr. Murphy’s lion-tamer act.

“Down, Cuddles! Get down!” The teacher’s chins quivered, and his big belly bounced up and down beneath his tight gray knit polo shirt.

Cuddles pulled back his huge lips and bared his white teeth. He let out a growl that made the light fixtures shake.

Terrified cries rang out through the room. Evan glanced back to see a horrified crowd of teachers and students jammed in the doorway.

“Down, Cuddles!”

Mr. Murphy shoved the wooden chair up at the raging hamster. He cracked the dog-leash whip near the hamster’s throbbing, fur-covered belly.

The huge black eyes stared down angrily at Mr. Murphy. The pink hamster paws clawed in the air.

Andy grabbed Evan’s shoulder and held on tight. “This is terrible!” she cried. “Terrible!” Evan started to reply—but frightened shrieks drowned out his words.

Cuddles grabbed the chair with both paws.

“Drop! Drop!” Mr. Murphy screamed. He struggled to hold on to the chair.

Cuddles pulled the chair. Mr. Murphy desperately held tight. He let the leash fall so he could hold on to the chair with both hands.

The teacher and Cuddles had a short tug-of-war.

Cuddles won easily. The hamster pulled the chair up, nearly jerking Mr. Murphy’s arms out of their sockets.

With a loud groan, the teacher toppled heavily to the floor.

Kids screamed.

Two teachers rushed forward to help the gasping Mr. Murphy to his feet.

Evan stared up as the hamster raised the wooden chair to its mouth. The enormous white teeth opened quickly. The pink nose twitched. The watery black eyes blinked.

Then Cuddles chewed the wooden chair to pieces.

Splinters rained down on the floor.

The chomping teeth sounded like a lumberjack’s ax biting into a tree.

Evan froze in horror along with everyone else in the room.

Andy was squeezing his shoulder so hard, it hurt. “This is our fault,” she murmured.

“Our fault?” Evan cried. “Our fault?”

She ignored his sarcasm. He saw the fear in her eyes as she stared up at the hamster. Cuddles had turned the chair into toothpicks!

“We’ve got to do something, Evan,” she whispered, huddled close to him.

“But what?” Evan replied in a trembling voice. “What can we do?”

Then, suddenly, he had an idea.