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Monster Blood Chapter 07

Trigger yipped loudly, startled by the man’s booming voice.

Evan gripped the leash, pulled Trigger close. “Uh… how much is this?” he asked, holding up the can of Monster Blood.

“Not for sale,” the owner said, lowering his voice, his mustache seeming to frown unpleasantly with the rest of his face.

“Huh? It was on the shelf here,” Evan said, pointing.

“It’s too old,” the man insisted. “Probably no good anymore.”

“Well, I’ll take it, anyway,” Evan said. “Can I have it for less since it’s so old?”

“What is it?” Andy asked, appearing in the doorway.

“I don’t know,” Evan told her. “It looks cool. It’s called Monster Blood.”

“It’s not for sale,” the man insisted.

Andy pushed past him and took the can from Evan’s hand. “Ooh, I want one, too,” she said, turning the can around in her hand.

“There’s only one,” Evan told her.

“You sure?” She began searching the shelves.

“It’s no good, I’m telling you,” the owner insisted, sounding exasperated.

“I need one, too,” Andy said to Evan.

“Sorry,” Evan replied, taking the can back. “I saw it first.”

“I’ll buy it from you,” Andy said.

“Why don’t you two share it?” the owner suggested.

“You mean you’ll sell it to us?” Evan asked eagerly.

The man shrugged and scratched his ear.

“How much?” Evan asked.

“You sure you don’t have another one?” Andy demanded, going back to the shelf, pushing a pile of stuffed pandas out of her way. “Or maybe two? I could keep one and give one to my cousin.”

“Two dollars, I guess,” the man told Evan. “But I’m telling you, it’s no good. It’s too old.”

“I don’t care,” Evan said, reaching into his shirt pocket for the ten-dollar bill.

“Well, don’t bring it back to me complaining,” the man said grumpily, and headed toward the cash register at the front of the store.

A few minutes later, Evan walked out into the bright daylight carrying the blue can. Trigger panted excitedly, wagging his stubby tail, pleased to be out of the dark, dusty store. Andy followed them out, an unhappy expression on her face.

“You didn’t buy the lunchbox?” Evan asked.

“Don’t change the subject,” she snapped. “I’ll pay you five dollars for it.” She reached for the can of Monster Blood.

“No way,” Evan replied. He laughed. “You really like to get your way, don’t you!”

“I’m an only child,” she said. “What can I tell you? I’m spoiled.”

“Me, too,” Evan said.

“I have an idea,” Andy said, pulling her bike off the storefront wall. “Let’s share it.”

“Share it?” Evan said, shaking his head. “For sure. I’ll share it the way you shared your bike.”

“You want to ride the bike home? Here.” She shoved it at him.

“No way,” he said, pushing it back toward her. “I wouldn’t ride your stupid bike now. It’s a girl’s bike, anyway.”

“It is not,” she insisted. “How is it a girl’s bike?”

Evan ignored the question and, pulling at Trigger’s leash to keep the old dog moving, started walking back toward his aunt’s.

“How is it a girl’s bike?” Andy repeated, walking the bike beside him.

“Tell you what,” Evan said. “Let’s go back to my aunt’s house and open up the can. I’ll let you mess with it for a while.”

“Gee, swell,” Andy said sarcastically. “You’re a great guy, Evan.”

“I know,” he said, grinning.

Kathryn was seated in the big armchair in the living room when Evan and Andy arrived. Who is she talking to? he wondered, hearing her voice. She seemed to be arguing excitedly with someone.

Leading Andy into the room, Evan saw that it was just Sarabeth, the black cat. As Evan entered, the cat turned and haughtily walked out of the room.

Kathryn stared at Evan and Andy, a look of surprise on her face. “This is Andy,” Evan said, gesturing to his new friend.

“What have you got there?” Kathryn asked, ignoring Andy and reaching a large hand out for the blue can of Monster Blood.

Evan reluctantly handed it to her. Frowning, she rolled it around in her hand, stopping to read the label, moving her lips as she read. She held the can for the longest time, seeming to study it carefully, then finally handed it back to Evan.

As Evan took it back and started to his room with Andy, he heard Kathryn say something to him in a low whisper. He couldn’t quite hear what she had said. It sounded like, “Be careful.” But he wasn’t sure.

He turned to see Sarabeth staring at him from the doorway, her yellow eyes glowing in the dim light.

“My aunt is completely deaf,” Evan explained to Andy as they climbed the stairs.

“Does that mean you can play your stereo as loud as you want?” Andy asked.

“I don’t think Aunt Kathryn has a stereo,” Evan said.

“That’s too bad,” Andy said, walking around Evan’s room, pulling back the window curtains and looking down on Trigger, huddled unhappily in his pen.

“Is she really your great-aunt?” Andy asked. “She doesn’t look very old.”

“It’s the black hair,” Evan replied, setting the can of Monster Blood on the desk in the center of the room. “It makes her look young.”

“Hey—look at all these old books on magic stuff!” Andy exclaimed. “I wonder why your aunt has all these.”

She pulled one of the heavy, old volumes from the shelf and blew away a layer of dust from the top. “Maybe your aunt plans to come up here and cast a spell on you while you’re sleeping, and turn you into a newt.”

“Maybe,” Evan replied, grinning. “What is a newt, anyway?”

Andy shrugged. “Some kind of lizard, I think.” She flipped through the yellowed pages of the old book. “I thought you said there was nothing to do here,” she told Evan. “You could read all these cool books.”

“Thrills and chills,” Evan said sarcastically.

Replacing the book on the shelf, Andy came over to the desk and stood next to Evan, her eyes on the can of Monster Blood. “Open it up. It’s so old. It’s probably all disgusting and rotten.”

“I hope so,” Evan said. He picked up the can and studied it. “No instructions.”

“Just pull the top off,” she said impatiently.

He tugged at it. It wouldn’t budge.

“Maybe you need a can opener or something,” she said.

“Very helpful,” he muttered, studying the label again. “Look at this. No instructions. No ingredients. Nothing.”

“Of course not. It’s Monster Blood!” she exclaimed, imitating Count Dracula. She grabbed Evan’s neck and pretended to strangle him.

He laughed. “Stop! You’re not helping.”

He slammed the can down on the desktop—and the lid popped off.

“Hey—look!” he cried.

She let go of his neck, and they both peered inside the can.