Attack of the Beastly Babysitter

by R. L. Stine

Zoe glares at you. “Wrong answer!”

  The crowd of creatures drag you to the table beside Stinko. They strap you down.

  “I think we should make examples of these two,” the giant rat in the lab coat says ominously.

  “Yes!” Zoe’s rat whiskers twitch with excitement. “Let’s force-feed them the Switch Cheese. And then let’s do some experiments! Let them see how it feels to be lab animals!”

  All the mutant rat-people let out horrible, shrill squeaks. You shudder. That must be mutant laughter! you realize.

  Sorry. It looks as if you made a bad cheese — uh, choice. You thought you could end this adventure without eating any Switch Cheese. But that theory was full of holes!

  Well, better hold your nose and get it over with. Because this is very definitely

  THE END!

  “Where’s Dare?” Stinko whispers.

  As usual, Dare is nowhere in sight. You sigh. “His favorite game must be hide-and-seek,” you murmur.

  “Right,” Dare declares. Your eyes widen.

  The tattooed man rises up from the tiles on the floor!

  This guy is amazing! you admit to yourself. Scary — but amazing.

  You peer at Dare. The spot where the spider tattoo used to be is empty. Dare has another invisible spot on his tattooed body.

  Aha! Each time Dare loses a tattoo, you realize, he loses a piece of himself.

  This fills you with courage. “What are you without your tattoos?” you demand. “Are you just a big nothing?”

  Dare ignores your question. Instead, he swirls around. “Now you see me,” Dare crows, waving his colorful cape. “Now you don’t.”

  “Quit showing off, Dare!” you yell. “We want to go home!”

  “To find your way home,” Dare’s voice taunts, “you’ll have to find the way out!”

  Go to PAGE 66.

  You face the hideous monster, Dare. Is there any way out?

  The elevator is still moving. There are no escape hatches.

  Stinko whimpers behind you. Dare links his only arm through Stinko’s arm and pulls your brother away from you.

  “You can’t hide from me. You’ve already taken too much of my time — and too much of me. I will win the game. I always win in the end.”

  “Let me go!” Stinko screams. He slaps at Dare’s tattooed shoulder.

  A shrunken Cyclops head in a hangman’s noose comes off in Stinko’s hand. Stinko screams and throws the hideous head to the floor. The one-eyed head rolls to a corner of the elevator and stops. It stares up at Dare.

  “There’s one last game to play,” Dare hisses. “The most dangerous game of all. I call it ‘All or Nothing.’ You’ll call it ‘All for Nothing.’ Are you ready to play?”

  Well, are you?

  If you’re ready to play the most dangerous game, turn to PAGE 111.

  If you stall and pick up the shrunken head, turn to PAGE 124.

  “Come on, Stinko!” you exclaim. “Here’s our chance!” You grab Stinko’s hand and race to the fluttering edge of the tent.

  Stinko gets down on his hands and knees and crawls out the opening. You follow right behind him.

  Outside the tent, things are not what you expected. You thought you’d crawl to freedom — but you didn’t think you’d be this free!

  There’s nothing above the tent.

  There’s nothing below the tent.

  When you look back, even the tent is gone!

  You’ve crawled out to the Edge of Nowhere! Will you drop off the edge?

  Play the Edge of Nowhere game. The game will decide your fate! All you need are a coin and a tabletop. Place the coin at the table edge closest to you. Flick the coin to the other side of the table. Try to flick it as close to the edge as possible without letting it slide off the other side.

  If you flick your coin over the edge, turn to PAGE 35.

  If you flick your coin close to the edge but not over, turn to PAGE 78.

  If you flick your coin and it doesn’t come anywhere near the edge, try again. You don’t want to be stuck on the Edge of Nowhere, do you?

  You freeze, not daring to breathe. Please don’t find me, you beg silently.

  The shrill alarm grows louder. You glance toward the sound. At that moment there’s a slight break in the drifting mist.

  David! David is making that horrible screech!

  And he’s pointing straight at you!

  He betrayed you!

  Dozens of hippies swarm around David. “That way!” a skinny guy in a vest screams. “Don’t let the kid get away!”

  You clasp the railing and rush forward.

  Oh, no! Zoe and the others are heading directly toward you. You glance back over your shoulder. The hippies are crowding onto the bridge. David is leading them right to you.

  The bridge shakes under the weight of all the hippies piling onto it. It swings and sways. Mist swirls around you. Sometimes you see your pursuers, sometimes you don’t.

  Yikes! A hand grabs for you. You leap out of reach.

  And right over the side of the bridge.

  Oops! Klutzy move. You’ll have to pay for that one. Yep. You’re plummeting into a bottomless pit. You’re falling and falling and falling —

  And when you scream, “This is really the pits!” you mean it.

  THE END

  Dare steps toward you. All the tattoos seem to be spinning in your direction.

  “Yikes!” you exclaim. You skate away from Dare and his evil army of living tattoos.

  But you forgot you’re only wearing one skate now. Instead of gliding, you trip over your blade.

  The skate in your hand goes flying. The blade hits a hissing snake on Dare’s ankle and sinks into the skin.

  You watch in horror as the snake throws its slithering body forward. The skate blade digs in deeper.

  Hissing and writhing, the snake tattoo falls from Dare’s left ankle to the icy ground.

  Right before your eyes, it disappears!

  Go to PAGE 26.

  Were you being questioned by an enormous cat?

  Before you can ask, the creature vanishes. Light streams into the dim cave. You hear screams and squeals coming from just beyond the entrance.

  You’re not sure, but one of those squeals sounds a lot like Stinko’s voice!

  You stuff the tape into your pocket and run out of the cave.

  Bingo! The cave opens onto a balcony overlooking the Bottomless Ball Pit. Zoe is nowhere in sight. You just might make it out of this place after all!

  And there he is! Stinko! He’s grinning broadly, preparing to dive into the ball pit.

  You dash down the steps two at a time. You hurry to the edge of the pit. “Stinko!” you shout. But he can’t hear you over all the cheers and squeals. He dives into the pool.

  You rush to the edge.

  But Stinko has vanished!

  Go to PAGE 128.

  “GAMES?” a deep voice behind you says. “If you want to play games, then I’m your guy!”

  You and Stinko whirl around.

  Zoe has vanished! In her place stands a tall, slim man wrapped in a long cape. His face, his body, and the cape are completely covered with tattoos! It’s hard to tell where his body ends and his amazing cape begins!

  “Where did you come from?” you demand.

  “From Fun and Games KidsCare,” the tattooed man explains. “Zoe’s in charge of fun. I handle the games.”

  “Where’s Zoe?” Stinko asks.

  “Where the fun is,” the man replies.

  You can’t tear your eyes away from the horrifying tattoos. Snakes slither up his arms. Dragons breathe flames across his chest. A Cyclops monster swings from a hangman’s noose on one shoulder. Spiders, bats, and rats creep from his tattooed head to his tattooed feet.

  The tattooed man swirls his cape. The tattoos dance wildly, making you dizzy. “They call me Dare,” he tells you with a grin. “Ready to play games?”

  Turn to PAGE 7.

  “No!” you scream.
“No! No! No!” You step out off the X and lunge forward.

  Dare yanks back his Stinko arm and slams you on the side of the head.

  The hit sends you reeling backward. To stop yourself from falling, you grab the beast tattoo’s horn.

  To your shock, the horn pulls off in your hand. And with the horn comes the whole tattoo!

  Once the beast has been torn from Dare’s chest, the rest of the tattoos crumble.

  Shrivel.

  Dissolve.

  “Aaaahhhhhhh!” Dare shrieks in agony. “You’ve destroyed me! I’m NOTHING! NOTHING! NOTHING!”

  Yes! You did it! You beat Dare at his own game!

  Go to PAGE 81.

  “Not so fast!” Dare’s voice repeats. “You’re not out of the game yet!”

  A grating noise makes your teeth ache. Then daylight suddenly streams into your eyes. You peer up. Dare stands over you, grinning. He’s holding a wooden box top in his hands.

  “What the … ?” you sputter, sitting up and rubbing your eyes. You gaze around.

  Hey! You’re not in a black hole at all.

  You’re inside the box that was in the middle of the tattooed tent! You recognize those tattooed walls.

  You’re back where you started!

  Turn to PAGE 134.

  Good work! You made it through the maze!

  You emerge into a room full of huge tiled columns.

  “I never thought we’d get out of there,” Stinko admits. “How did you find the way?”

  “It was easy,” you tell him. “I just followed that rat.” You point to a fat black rat scurrying away. “I figured he would know where he was going.”

  “Hey! I’ve seen that rat before,” Stinko says.

  “Where?” you ask.

  Before he can answer you, one of the huge columns turns!

  It’s Dare!

  “Here’s where you’ve seen this rat before!” Dare announces. He holds out the palm of his left hand. The rat runs onto Dare’s palm and settles into the skin.

  It turns back into a rat tattoo!

  “You bore me,” Dare tells the rat. He peels it off of his palm, dangling it by its tail. It’s a living rat again!

  “I’ve got to hand it to you,” Dare says. “You won my maze game.” He blows on the twirling rodent. It disappears.

  So does the palm of Dare’s hand!

  Turn to PAGE 40.

  You give up. You blew it. You never should have trusted a kid with a furry claw instead of fingers!

  “Eat the cheese!” David squeaks.

  “Be one of us.” Zoe pushes you to the ground and shoves the cheese under your nose. “Be all you can be.”

  Zoe presses the chunk of Switch Cheese against your mouth. You struggle, but Zoe just presses down harder. Dry crumbs stick to your lips. Your tongue darts out. You can’t help it. You swallow.

  Tingles shoot through your body. Fur sprouts from your skin. Your hands become claws. Your teeth sharpen.

  The more you turn into a rat, the better the Switch Cheese tastes. When you’ve finished the hunk of cheese, Zoe pats your head and steps back.

  You gaze up at her. She and David salute you.

  Then a terrifying sight appears.

  Stinko. Dressed in an army uniform.

  It isn’t his rat face, his long twitchy tail, or his wiggling whiskers that fill you with disgust and horror.

  No, it’s the unbelievable, terrifying reality that in the rat-people’s army — your kid brother outranks you!

  THE END

  You try to look at Dare, but his body is too horrifying. Instead, you lock onto his eyes.

  Weird, you think. His eyes don’t match. One is green, but the other is blue.

  You feel dizzy. His eyes seem to spin. The word all appears in his green eye. In the blue eye you see the word nothing.

  Now you know.

  The choice is in his eyes!

  Your mind spins, too. Questions swirl around in your head. Is this a trap? Why does the choice seem so obvious?

  If you take ALL, will you win all?

  If you take NOTHING, will you win nothing?

  What could this monster, Dare, have up his remaining sleeve?

  Use the Spinner on PAGE 136 to help you make the ALL or NOTHING choice. Follow the directions at the top of the page.

  If your finger lands on ALL, go to PAGE 54.

  If your finger lands on NOTHING, go to PAGE 122.

  “Let me go!” you scream. You wrestle to break Dare’s grip on your arm. But he clutches you tightly.

  “Welcome back,” Dare says.

  Stinko skates by. Dare snags him, too. “You’ve made it to another level,” he remarks. “Time for the next game. And this game is very cool. Freezing, in fact!”

  Dare reaches under his cape and pulls out a silver spray gun. On the barrel it says: INSTANT ICE MAKER.

  Before you can protest, he takes aim and sprays Stinko. Stinko instantly freezes.

  He’s an ice statue!

  “Stinko!” you cry.

  Dare turns the ice gun on you.

  Turn to PAGE 28.

  You’re not going to risk running smack into Zoe. You glance around, searching for another way back to Stinko.

  You spot a path at the edge of the canyon. Maybe it will lead you back to the cave entrance. You scuffle through the thick vegetation and start following the path.

  “Eeeeeeee!” A shrill, shrieking alarm stops you in your tracks. You peer through the mist and trees.

  David! He’s making that awful sound! His face twists in a nasty grimace.

  His teeth. They’re fangs!

  “Eeeeeeeeee!” he trills again.

  You knew you couldn’t trust him! You start to run.

  “The kid!” you hear Zoe cry. “Over there!”

  Roots grab at your feet. Leaves smack your face. You glance back.

  Oh, no! Zoe has been joined by dozens of pointy-nosed hippies. They’re right behind you!

  If you stay on the path, they will catch you for sure. You stare at the canyon. It’s much narrower here. It might be ten feet across, maybe less. Maybe more.

  Can you jump across?

  There’s no time for choices now. Just do it. Leap to PAGE 91.

  The Dare ice melts first.

  “Aha!” Dare cheers. “I win the Cool Contest. And that was just a warm-up!”

  What now? you wonder.

  Dare turns his back to you and spreads his cape open like butterfly wings. A fire-breathing dragon tattoo on the cape spits out a blowtorch blast of flames. The thick coat of ice on you and Stinko melts instantly.

  Oh, no! The ice beneath your feet also thaws. You and Stinko are suddenly neck deep in freezing, swirling water!

  You dog-paddle furiously. You strain to keep your head above the water.

  A large stone castle looms over you. You realize you’re in a moat circling the castle. Your gaze rises up … and up.

  It lands on Dare, high in a turret.

  “Look at that!” Stinko whimpers behind you.

  You turn in the cold water.

  Whoa! A giant dragon hovers at the edge of the ice. You recognize it as the dragon tattoo from Dare’s cape!

  Somehow, it slid off the cape and into real life!

  And it’s getting ready to blast you again!

  Go to PAGE 51.

  Your stomach lurches as you gape at the bizarre creatures. Some have human bodies with rat heads. Some have rat bodies and human faces. Others are a disgusting mix of both!

  Two gigantic all-rat rats stand at the head of the table. They wear lab coats that fit awkwardly over their huge, furry bodies. Their whiskers twitch as they shove their pointy faces at Stinko.

  “Leave me alone,” Stinko whimpers.

  The little stinker may drive you crazy, but you can’t let those monster mutants hurt him.

  You jump down, landing with a soft thud. “What are you doing to Stinko?” you demand. You lunge through the crowd of rats.

 
Instantly, dozens of hands and claws clutch you.

  You’re caught!

  You can’t escape, so flip to PAGE 8.

  You decide to let the Sand Blob suck you up. Wherever you end up has got to be better than this awful desert!

  You stop resisting. You and Stinko fly forward with the raging sand and wind.

  “The Sand Blob is swallowing us!” Stinko shrieks.

  You’re sucked into the Sand Blob. The roaring stops. The black hole closes behind you. You are in total darkness now.

  “It’s squashing me!” Stinko moans.

  You know exactly what he means. The blackness presses in all around you. You can practically feel it. It’s like walls, pushing you down … flattening you….

  “I’m sorry,” you tell Stinko. “I guess we lose this time. The Sand Blob got us in —”

  THE

  “Not so fast!” a familiar deep voice calls out. “Turn to PAGE 102!”

  You heard him! Turn to PAGE 102!

  You swallow hard. “All right,” you declare. “I’m ready. All or nothing!”

  Dare is a sickening sight to see. His tattooed cape is gone. His tattooed form shrivels as each tattoo wears itself out trying to hold Dare together.

  Many of Dare’s dangers are gone. The dragon, the snake, the rat, the cyclone, and now even the shrunken Cyclops head have all been peeled away.

  What could be worse than all of those things you’ve already destroyed?

  Don’t worry. Dare is about to show you.

  Go to PAGE 92.

  Zoe must have guessed what you’re thinking. “Don’t worry,” she assures you. “All you have to do to return to normal is eat a little more Switch Cheese.”

  Zoe holds the Switch Cheese in front of you and Stinko. You each gobble up the cheese. Instantly, the change takes place.