by R. L. Stine
“Lindy, wait—” Nathan grabbed her arm. “We promised Uncle Frank we wouldn’t tell anyone.”
“We have to tell!” Lindy insisted. She pulled her arm free.
“Tell us what?” her mom demanded.
“We drank Brain Juice!” Lindy blurted out.
“Lindy, please—” Nathan begged.
But Lindy wouldn’t be stopped. “Uncle Frank gave us a bottle of Brain Juice. To help us get smarter. We drank it—and … it worked. The Brain Juice turned us into geniuses!”
Mrs. Nichols’s mouth dropped open. Mr. Nichols narrowed his eyes at Lindy, studying her in silence.
Everyone remained silent for a long moment.
Then Mrs. Lopez broke the silence with a sigh. “I don’t know what kind of magic formula turned you two into geniuses,” she said softly. “But I know one thing for sure. You have to leave this school. We cannot have you here any longer.”
A few days later, Nathan and Lindy sat glumly in the den, watching themselves on the TV news.
“These two kids are in a battle with the school board,” the reporter was saying. “Are they too smart to go to school? The school says yes. Their parents say no. And so the fight continues. …”
Behind him, Nathan could hear his stepmom on the phone in the hall. “Well, our lawyer says we have a good chance,” she was saying. “Of course, we’re looking into private schools too. No. No … their Uncle Frank is in Sweden with his wife. Out in the wilderness. No way to reach him.”
The front doorbell chimed.
Nathan jumped up to answer it—but stopped.
Probably another reporter, wanting to ask the same questions. He and Lindy had been interviewed at least a dozen times!
He always thought it would be exciting and fun to be interviewed on TV and radio. But it wasn’t fun at all. Not when people thought you were freaks.
Not when you had to stay home from school because people didn’t want you there. Not when you didn’t have any friends to watch you on TV.
That Brain Juice ruined my whole life, Nathan thought bitterly. And now, everyone in the world knows about it!
He crept into the front hall and listened to his stepmom arguing with the woman at the front door. “No. No way,” she was telling the woman. “We’re not interested in a Brain Juice fruit drink. Yes. Yes. I’m sure your company makes very good, healthy drinks. But my kids don’t want to sell drinks on TV commercials.”
Nathan slunk back into the den. Over the drone of the TV, he could still hear his stepmom arguing with the woman.
“Who is out there?” Lindy asked lifelessly.
“Someone else who wants us to sell something,” Nathan groaned.
The day before, a man came to the house, saying he wanted to be their agent. He had big plans —a Smart Kids line of sneakers, a Smart-Treat candy bar, Sugar Corn Smarts cereal. … Maybe a Saturday morning cartoon show.
“We can make a fortune!” Nathan had cried. “We’ll be famous!”
“But we’ll be famous freaks,” Lindy had complained. “People will point at us. And make jokes about us. We’ll never be normal again.”
“But we’ll be rich!” Nathan argued.
Tears brimmed in Lindy’s eyes. “I … I just want to go back to school,” she wailed. “I just want to have my friends again.”
The family decided to wait. To be careful. Not to sign up for anything, at least until the school fight was settled.
But that didn’t stop people from calling. Reporters … agents … salespeople … kids who wanted help with their homework … strange people who said they were desperate and needed advice—needed someone smart to tell them what to do.
And later that afternoon, Nathan and Lindy were amusing Brenda in the backyard when a black truck pulled up the driveway. They stopped their Frisbee game to watch two tall, dark-suited men stride up to the front door.
Nathan dropped the Frisbee to the grass and followed Lindy to the house to see what they wanted.
“Mrs. Nichols, we spoke to your husband about the tests,” one of the men was saying.
“Tests?” Mrs. Nichols frowned.
“Yes,” the man replied. “We’re from the university research lab downtown. We need to take your son and daughter to the lab. We want to give them a round of tests. Intelligence tests. Other tests.”
The other man glanced at Nathan and Lindy. “We want to see just how smart you kids are. Maybe you could be useful to the government. You’d like to serve your country, wouldn’t you?”
Nathan and Lindy didn’t reply. They just stared back at the two grim-faced men.
“I—I’m not sure about this.” Their mom hesitated.
“We will only need them for a few hours,” one of the officers replied. “We’ll give them the written tests. Then they’ll be interviewed by some doctors. Oh. And, of course, the surgery.”
“Surgery?” Mrs. Nichols cried.
“Yes. We’ll need to take a few samples of brain tissue.”
“NO WAY!” Nathan and Lindy cried in unison.
They both spun away from the front steps and ran across the yard.
“Hey—aren’t you going to throw the Frisbee?” Brenda called after them.
They didn’t turn back. Running side by side, they leaped over the low hedge that divided their yard from the next—and kept going.
Past the neighbors’ house, they turned sharply and headed to the back. Nathan could hear the two men calling after them. He lowered his head like a football fullback and plowed through a narrow opening in the neighbors’ tall picket fence.
Without slowing, without saying a word, Nathan and Lindy tore through backyards. Then down a narrow alley. Across the street that led toward the main street of town. And through more backyards.
Finally, four or five blocks from home, they stopped, gasping for breath. Nathan bent over, pressed his hands against his knees, and struggled to catch his breath.
“Where are we?” Lindy choked out. “Are those two men coming after us?”
Nathan glanced around. “No. I don’t think so.” The gray shingle house ahead of them looked familiar. “Hey—that’s Wardell’s house!”
Without hesitating, they ran up to the back door. Nathan pounded on the glass. “Hey—anybody home?”
A few seconds later, Wardell pulled open the door, his eyes wide with surprise. “Hey—what’s up?” he asked.
“Can we come in?” Lindy asked breathlessly. She glanced behind her. “Someone may be chasing us.”
“Well … yeah.” Wardell stepped back to allow them in. Ellen and Stan were at the kitchen table, which was cluttered with books and papers. They both looked up in surprise.
“Lock the door!” Lindy instructed Wardell.
“What’s going on?” Wardell demanded.
Nathan shrugged. He unzipped his down jacket. Despite the cold of the day, his forehead was drenched with sweat.
“We had to get away,” Lindy said. “It’s a little crazy at our house right now.”
They walked over to the table. “What’s up?” Nathan asked, gazing at the papers and books.
An awkward silence. “Studying for the history test,” Ellen finally replied. “It’s a tough one. It covers the whole semester.”
Stan blew a large pink bub7um bubble, then sucked it back into his mouth. “You guys coming back to school?” he asked.
“Maybe,” Nathan answered.
“We don’t know,” Lindy said.
Another awkward silence.
Nathan jammed his hands into his jeans pockets. “Uh … what’s going on in school?” he asked.
“Nothing much,” Wardell said. He was still staring at them as if they were Martians.
“Same old stuff,” Ellen muttered.
“I saw you on the news,” Stan said. “That was pretty cool.” He blushed. “Actually, I mean … I thought you got a bad deal.”
“Yeah. Me too,” Ellen said softly, lowering her eyes to the table.
“We r
eally want to come back,” Lindy told them.
“I can’t believe Mrs. Lopez did that,” Ellen said, shaking her head.
“Want a Coke or something?” Wardell asked, moving to the refrigerator. “I’ve got apple juice. Gatorade.”
“Maybe we should use your phone and call home,” Nathan said, gazing out the kitchen window.
“Yeah. Sure,” Wardell said. He pointed to the phone on the kitchen wall. “You know … uh …” He hesitated.
Nathan and Lindy waited.
“Sorry if I gave you a hard time in school,” Wardell muttered, speaking rapidly. “I really didn’t mean anything. I was just goofing around. You know.”
“No problem,” Nathan told him. “It wasn’t your fault we got kicked out of school and our lives got so messed up.” His voice broke.
He suddenly felt so sad, so upset.
It’s nice being with friends, he thought. Being normal.
What if those men really do take us to their lab and slice open our brains? Then what?
He grabbed the phone off the wall and called home. His stepmom answered on the second ring. “Nathan—where are you?” she demanded. “Is Lindy with you?”
“We’re at Wardell’s house,” he replied. “Are they gone? The men from the lab? Did they leave?”
“Of course they left,” she replied. “I told them to go away.”
“You mean … they’re not going to cut open our brains?”
“No. No one is going to touch your brains,” she assured him. “Why did you run away like that? You knew I would never let those men take you away.”
“I … I guess we just panicked,” Nathan stammered. He turned around. Wardell, Stan, and Ellen were all staring at him.
“We’ll be right home,” he told his stepmom.
“Yes. Hurry,” she said. “I need you to take care of Brenda. Dad and I have to go see the school board.”
“Okay. See you in a few minutes.”
He replaced the phone on the wall. “Everything is okay,” he told Lindy. “They’re gone. Come on.”
He started to the door. “Thanks, Wardell.”
“See you guys,” Wardell replied.
“Wish we could study with you,” Lindy said sadly.
“Good luck,” Ellen called.
“Yeah. Good luck,” Stan and Wardell echoed.
Zipping their jackets against the cold wind, Nathan and Lindy made their way out the kitchen door and began jogging side by side through the backyards and alleys.
They were halfway home when two aliens stepped out from a hedge to block their way.
Nathan stopped short as the two creatures stepped forward. Lindy had her eyes on the ground and nearly ran into them.
Nathan grabbed her arm and tugged her to a stop.
Lindy finally looked up—and let out a scream of terror.
Nathan opened his mouth to scream—but the sound choked in his throat.
They’re so … ugly! he thought. I’ve never seen anything so ugly!
The big green creatures moved closer. Their yellow eyes glistened wetly. Their double mouths writhed and twitched with excitement. And as the mouths opened, Nathan saw four rows of jagged teeth.
Their shimmering, wet tentacles uncoiled rapidly and spread out to trap Nathan and Lindy. The tentacles were covered with disgusting purple pods that opened and closed like mouths.
The taller one had curled tusks. He licked them excitedly with two fat purple tongues. The fatter one bobbed up and down on his stumpy legs, his green belly slapping the grass.
“Which-who are you?” Nathan choked out. “Are those … costumes?”
Lindy huddled close to Nathan, her eyes wide with fright. They both watched gobs of sweat slide off the sleek green bodies onto the grass.
“Why would we wear costumes?” the fatter one asked his partner.
The tusked one shook his head. “We do not come from your planet,” he said, yellow eyes trained on Nathan. “So we do not look like you.”
“Thank goodness!” his companion muttered.
Lindy’s mouth dropped open. “This is a joke—right?” she whispered to Nathan. “Please—”
Nathan stared straight ahead. Trembling, he studied the two bobbing, sweating creatures. “No joke,” he whispered back. “They’re … real!”
Nathan took a deep breath. “We have to get home,” he told them, trying to sound strong. But his voice cracked on the words.
“No. You will not be going home,” the tall one replied softly. His tongues lapped at his tusks.
“What do you mean?” Lindy cried, her voice rising in fear. “What do you want? Who are you?”
“We are your new masters,” the tall one replied flatly, speaking with his top mouth.
“You are going to be good slaves for our emperor,” the fatter one gurgled.
“Slaves?” Nathan stared at them, frantic thoughts whirring through his mind. “This is a joke— right?”
“We do not joke,” the tall one replied coldly.
“If you come from another planet, how come you speak English?” Lindy demanded suspiciously.
“Your language is a crude, primitive language,” the tall one said, sneering with both mouths. “It took us only an hour or two to learn it. It is so simple. Our alphabet has seven hundred letters!”
“Our language has four hundred words for hello,” the fatter one bragged.
“They’ve got to be kidding,” Lindy whispered. “Don’t they?”
Nathan didn’t reply. His heart thudded in his chest. He had a heavy feeling of dread in the pit of his stomach.
“I don’t believe it,” he choked out. “I just don’t believe it.”
The fatter one glanced up at the tusked one. “Go ahead,” the tusked one said. “Prove it to him. Show him that we really are from another planet.”
Nathan gasped as the fatter one turned to the tree behind him and whipped one of his tentacles into the air. The tentacle slapped a bird off the bottom limb.
The bird let out a squeak—as the fat creature wrapped a tentacle around it, raised it to his bottom mouth, and bit its head off.
He made a loud swallowing sound as the bird head slid down his throat. Then he jammed the rest of the bird into his mouth and chewed. Feathers spilled over his chin and floated to the ground.
“Ohhhh, gross.” Lindy let out a moan and buried her face in Nathan’s jacket sleeve.
“Do you need any more proof?” the taller one asked.
He didn’t wait for an answer.
With one quick motion, he slid out a hot, wet tentacle. Wrapped it tightly around Lindy. And began pulling her toward his open mouths.
“NOOOOOOO!”
Lindy’s scream of horror echoed over the backyards.
“Help us!” Nathan shrieked. “Somebody— help us!”
He dove at Lindy. With both hands, he made a desperate grab for the tentacle that held her. He squeezed his fingers around it—and tugged.
Tugged with all his strength.
His hands slipped on the sweaty, wet skin.
Slowly, the tentacle loosened and slid away from Lindy.
She staggered back a few steps, then dropped to her knees.
“You can get up. And stop carrying on like that. We’re not going to eat you,” the taller creature sneered.
“Not yet,” the fatter one added, chuckling, bouncing up and down like a trained seal.
“We wouldn’t waste our Brain Energizer Fluid,” the tall one announced. “You are now too smart for us to eat you.”
“Excuse me?” Nathan cried breathlessly. Alien sweat stuck in thick gobs on his hands. He wiped them on the legs of his jeans.
“Brain—what?” Lindy gasped, climbing slowly to her feet. The tentacle left a wide wet spot around her coat.
“The liquid we gave you,” the tusked one answered. “To make you smarter.”
“But Uncle Frank—” Lindy started.
Both creatures shook their smooth heads. “He gave yo
u grape juice. We gave you the real thing.”
“But—why?” Nathan choked out.
“To make you smart enough for the emperor,” the tall one replied. “The emperor wants his slaves to be quick and sharp. He doesn’t believe that humans can be smart enough to be slaves. He sent us here to see if it was possible.”
“If you two work out well, we will come back to your planet,” the other one said. “And we will take thousands and thousands of slaves.” He pulled off a bird feather that clung to his chin.
“I am Gobbul,” the tusked one announced. “And this is my helper, Morggul. We will be your masters until we deliver you to the emperor.”
No, Nathan thought, gazing up at the two ugly alien creatures. No … no … This can’t be happening.
“You will come with us to our spacecraft,” Gobbul ordered. He pointed to the woods. The purple pods up and down his tentacles let out a whoosh of sour air. “It is a long journey to our planet. We must leave at once.”
No … no … The word repeated in Nathan’s mind.
He glanced at his stepsister. Lindy’s hand squeezed Nathan’s arm. She didn’t even realize she was doing it. Her whole body trembled in terror.
No … no … I can’t let this happen.
Think, Nathan, he ordered himself. Think of a plan. Think of a good plan to escape these creatures.
He took a deep breath and lowered his mouth to Lindy’s ear. “Run!” he whispered.
She nodded.
They spun away from the aliens—and took off.
Nathan lurched forward. He ran about three steps—and felt a thick tentacle wrap around his left ankle.
“Noooo!” He let out a furious cry as he stumbled.
The tentacle tightened around his leg.
He fell forward. Fell hard to the ground. Landed on his elbows and knees.
“Nooo!” Pain shot through his body. But he ignored it and rolled onto his back.
He kicked out both legs. Kicked free of the pod-covered tentacle. Scrambled to his feet. And, gasping for breath, leaped over a clump of low bushes—and kept running.
He could see Lindy up ahead, running through winter-dead flower beds, leaping over a low fence, then charging down a narrow alley.
Running full speed, arms stretched in front of her as if grabbing for safety, her auburn hair flying behind her like a pennant. Running in terror. Not looking back.