دوستام منو هیولا صدا می زنند فصل 05

My Friends Call Me Monster - Chapter 5

And that’s how Daisy, DeWayne, and I ended up sneaking into Mrs. Hardesty’s house with the black cat.

My two friends didn’t really want to do it. Sneaking into a teacher’s house is kind of scary. But it didn’t take much to convince them.

Daisy had shampooed her hair ten times. But it still had bugs crawling in it. And DeWayne said he had to throw out his jeans and T-shirt. His mother refused to wash anything that smelly.

So we all had a good reason for getting even with Mrs. Hardesty.

We knew how superstitious she was. She talked all the time about how black cats really do bring bad luck. She told us that once you have the bad luck, it’s hard to shake it off.

So what could be better?

A black cat suddenly appears in her basement. And she FREAKS. She totally freaks!

The black cat was always around our neighborhood. No one knew who it belonged to. I think it had a hundred and nine lives! I saw it wherever I went.

So we gathered up the cat and hurried to Mrs. Hardesty’s house after school. We knew she was staying late for some parent meetings. We made sure her blue Civic wasn’t in the driveway. And none of the neighbors were watching.

The back door was unlocked. We walked right into the kitchen.

Down to the basement. We tried to be as silent as possible. The cat kept pacing back and forth inside the carrier.

We planned to be fast. Get in. Free the cat. Get out.

But it didn’t work that way.

We heard thumps and moans and groans coming from one of the rooms. My heart did a flip-flop in my chest.

Someone else was down there.

We stumbled up the stairs as fast as we could. Something fell out of my jeans pocket, but I didn’t go back for it. The cat was meowing like crazy.

We made it back upstairs, breathing hard. Were we being chased?

I turned and stared down into the dark basement. No. No one on the stairs.

I gripped the basement door and leaned against it, waiting for my heart to stop pounding. “It’s okay,” I finally said. “We’re okay.” Daisy glanced around. “Let the cat out,” she told DeWayne. “And let’s go.”

DeWayne set the carrying case on the floor. He reached for the clasp.

“No. Wait,” I said. “The attic. Let’s take it up to the attic.”

They both squinted at me. “Why?”

“It’ll be scarier,” I said. “Think about it. Mrs. H is sitting in the living room. She hears something creeping down the attic stairs. She opens the attic door — and there is BAD LUCK staring her in the face!” I laughed. I could just picture it.

DeWayne shook his head. “Monster, you are too bad!” he said.

“Too stupid,” Daisy muttered. “I can’t believe I’m doing this. If we get caught …” She shivered, then hugged herself.

“We won’t get caught,” I said. I glanced out the front window. No sign of the teacher’s car. “You know how long those parent meetings take. We have all afternoon.” We had to explore a little to find the attic steps. The door stood at the end of the hall next to Mrs. Hardesty’s bedroom.

We opened the door. The attic was pitch-black. As we climbed, the air grew warmer. It smelled stale, kind of musty.

The cat thumped the side of the carrier. It was eager to get out.

I stepped into the attic. It was huge. The walls were knotty pine. Two tiny windows faced the front. They let in narrow beams of light.

The attic was filled with furniture covered with bedsheets. An old typewriter and a black plastic radio sat on a wooden crate. A long brown leather couch stood sideways in the middle of the floor. The sheet had fallen off one side of it.

Something big and tall and almost round stood near us at the top of the stairs. It was totally covered by a sheet. It was at least six feet tall. What could it be? Some kind of sculpture?

I started to lift the sheet to take a peek. But Daisy pulled me away. “No time to sightsee,” she whispered. “It’s hot up here. Let’s hurry.” DeWayne set the carrier down in front of the long couch. He opened the front.

The cat stepped out quickly. It took three or four steps, then stretched its legs, tilting its head from side to side. It glanced around the long room for a few seconds. Then it just stood there, staring up at us with its blue eyes.

“Mission accomplished,” I said. “This is way perfect. I can’t wait —”

That’s when I heard the car door slam outside.

My mouth dropped open. I saw Daisy’s eyes go wide. The three of us froze. So did the cat!

I dove to one of the tiny windows and peered down at the driveway.

I groaned. “Oh, wow. It’s Mrs. Hardesty! She’s home.”

DeWayne looked sick. Daisy let out a cry. “How do we get out of here?”

I watched Mrs. H step up to her front door.

“We’re kinda trapped,” I said.