Beast from Beneath the Cafeteria!
Page 5
“Hey! What just happened?” cried Holly. “Our puck is gone!”
Jeff turned and skated back down the walk. “Why would they take our puck?”
“Ha!” sniffed Liz. “Because this is Grover’s Mill, and that’s the kind of weird and zoney people that live here?”
“Sounds good to me,” said Mike.
“Yeah,” said Sean. “I’m convinced.”
Holly frowned. “I think the guy was wearing something on his face. A mask, like this.” She stretched out her fingers and then brought the tips together and held them in front of her face.
“Nice,” said Sean. “Looks good on you.”
“I think we should ask for our puck back. Right now,” said Liz, taking control.
Jeff gulped, thinking again of the odd reddish glow from the shadows. And that smell of dirt.
The five kids charged right up the front walk of the pretty blue house. Jeff tapped on the door. It creaked and swung open. “Hello?” said Jeff, not really wanting an answer.
No answer.
“They’ve got to be here.” Sean pushed on the door and the five kids stepped into the house.
“Don’t they have any lights?” said Mike, nearly stumbling in the darkness.
“Lights? What about furniture?” said Liz. “These rooms are completely empty!”
“Well, except for the dirt,” said Holly, moving into the living room. “I mean, the mud is so thick you could sit on it!”
Thick, slimy mud streaked the floors. And mounds of rocks and wet dirt were piled up in the corners of what was supposed to be the dining room.
“Nice outdoorsy style,” said Liz. “Let’s hike back to the kitchen.”
The kids stepped slowly through the rooms until they came to the cellar door. The mud on the floor was even thicker there, and wetter.
“This is pretty spooky,” muttered Jeff.
“The mess,” said Sean. “It’s coming from down there. From the basement.”
Suddenly—Thump! Thump! Thump!
“What was that?” gasped Jeff.
Too late. The cellar door burst open and a horde of towering shapes stormed after the kids!
“Check-out time!” screamed Liz.
The figures wore long hooded robes. Their faces were hidden. But their eyes glowed. Red.
And they were grunting! “Grok!”
“That word!” yelled Sean. “I think it means—something not good!” He skated into the living room, leaping over a low pile of rocks.
“Everybody back to my house!” cried Mike. “Except you guys with the hoods!”
That sounded good to Jeff. He bolted for the front door, as if he were sliding for third and the shortstop was inches from tagging him out. Baseball was really his game.
But the hooded shapes were everywhere!
Suddenly—“Help!”
It was Holly! Her skates spun out on the mud and the hooded men rushed at her. Before Jeff could think twice, he dived over next to Holly and began to kick at the men in hoods.
The wheels on his skates were spinning!
“Grok!” the hooded men grunted.
“Get away from us, you, you, guys!” screamed Holly, swatting at their hooded heads.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
The next instant Holly and Jeff were alone in the room. They heard stamping and stomping from down below. The cellar.
Jeff’s heart was pounding. He was trying to catch his breath. Holly was breathing hard, too.
“We’re alone,” gasped Jeff.
“Liz? Sean? Mike?” cried Holly. The rooms echoed. No answer.
Holly turned to Jeff, her eyes wide with fear. “Where did everyone go?”
Jeff looked out the window. Sunny Saturday morning. A few minutes ago they were all playing street hockey. Now this. He shook his head. “This can’t be happening.”
“I know,” said Holly, taking a deep breath. “It’s totally crazy. But still, did you see their eyes? Little red dots. Like something from one of my dad’s movies.”
Jeff thought of her father’s movies. Todd Vickers, horror moviemaker, owner of Humongous Horror Studios. Jeff wished this were just a movie. But something told him it wasn’t. It was real.
Holly turned to him. “They’re aliens, Jeff. I know it!”
Whoa! he thought. Sure, zombies from Mars had attacked Grover’s Mill once, but that was weeks ago!
Holly pointed to the back of the house. “Come on. There’s only one way to find out what’s going on. We have to go down there. Into the cellar.”
The two kids stepped slowly downstairs, trying to make as little noise as possible with their skates.
The cellar below was divided into two rooms. One was supposed to be the playroom, the other was the room with the furnace and stuff.
Rocks were piled up high against the walls there, too.
A faint red light shone under the far door.
Jeff and Holly rolled quietly across the room.
Then they heard sounds.
Voices, low and grumbling.
Suddenly, the door swung open.
Errrk!
And they weren’t alone!
3
Trapped!
The two kids squeezed flat in the shadows behind the door. They held their breaths.
“Our work is nearly complete, Commander Exetor!” growled a low voice.
“Mighty Zoll will be pleased,” answered another voice. “This planet will soon be ours!”
Holly clutched at Jeff’s arm tight. He nearly winced with pain. They both peeked around the door. Five hooded figures stood in the middle of the cellar.
They all wore long robes, almost like bathrobes, but different! And some kind of shiny silver things hung from their belts. Tiny red eyes burned from deep beneath their hoods.
They do look like movie aliens, thought Jeff. Maybe Holly was right.
“And what of the earthlings, Commander Exetor?” snorted another creature.
Jeff swallowed hard. Earthlings? Well, that did it. If he’d learned one thing from Mr. Vickers’ horror movies it was that earthlings don’t call other earthlings earthlings!
He turned to Holly. “You’re right,” he whispered. “They’re … not from around here!”
Holly swallowed, too. She formed a word with her lips. “Aliens!”
Yes, that was the word Jeff was thinking of, too.
Then, in the flickering red light, the one called Exetor removed his hood. Holly nearly choked into Jeff’s shoulder. “The nose!”
Jeff gulped, trying to keep down his breakfast.
The nose. It was more like a snout. Long and thick like a pig’s. But the really gross part was at the end of it. Little whiskers twitched in the air.
Holly moaned. She did that thing with her fingers on her face. “Uggg-ly, with a capital Ug!”
Jeff nodded. “They look like moles. Mole aliens.”
“Ugly mole aliens,” Holly whispered. “Don’t forget ugly.”
Jeff nodded again.
Exetor gave some kind of command and three of the moles disappeared into the shadows.
A moment later they returned, each pushing a giant glass tube to the center of the room.
The tubes stood about six feet high and three feet wide. They glowed with bluish light.
Jeff stared in horror and began to shake. He grabbed Holly’s arm.
“Oh my gosh!” gasped Holly.
In the glow, standing upright, one in each tube, were … Liz, Sean, and Mike! They were straining to get out of the tubes.
“Sleep tight!” snorted Exetor. He pushed buttons on the outside of the tubes. An instant later, a pink gas filled the tubes and the three kids stopped moving.
“Jeff!” Holly hissed. “They can’t do this!”
“Wait!” Jeff whispered. “We can’t help them if we’re captured, too.” He held her back.
Exetor stepped over to a shiny square plate on the wall. He pushed his face against it so that his snout touched it.
Eeeee! The plate turned blue, and a panel in the floor opened up, revealing a set of glowing stairs beneath. Red light flooded into the room from below.
Exetor raised his giant hands into the air. “No one will stop the mighty Zoll! Zoll shall soon be here! Mighty Zoll will control this planet!”
VLORRRT! A second later, the three tubes carrying Liz, Mike, and Sean lowered through the floor of the cellar and disappeared.
The creatures snorted and followed them.
The floor closed up.
The cellar was empty.
Their friends were gone!
Buy Attack of the Alien Mole Invaders! Now!
About the Author
Over the last two decades, Tony Abbott has written dozens of mysteries, comics, and adventure books for young readers aged six to fourteen, with series including Danger Guys, the Time Surfers, the Weird Zone, Underworlds, Goofballs, and the long-running fantasy series the Secrets of Droon. He is also the author of the fantasy epic Kringle and the realistic novels Firegirl (winner of the 2006 Golden Kite Award for Fiction), The Postcard (winner of the 2008 Edgar Award for Best Juvenile Mystery), and Lunch-Box Dream. Among his latest novels is The Forbidden Stone, the first installment of the twelve-book saga the Copernicus Legacy. Tony has taught on the faculty of Lesley University’s MFA program in creative writing, is a frequent conference speaker and visitor to schools, and presents workshops to creative writers of all ages. His websites include www.tonyabbottbooks.com, www.thecopernicuslegacy.com, and the literary blog www.fridaybookreport.com.
All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 1996 by Robert T. Abbott
Cover design by Connie Gabbert
ISBN: 978-1-4804-8653-9
This edition published in 2014 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.
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New York, NY 10014
www.openroadmedia.com
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