by Robert Gray
Pots of fire ignited down the walls, one after another, revealing a slimy, gray tunnel. As the light filled the room, I could see wet-looking insects squirm along the rocks, searching for a way back into darkness.
This was so not the office I had visited before, and I wondered how the place managed to disguise its true identity. It must be another portal world, I figured. Getting in seemed easy enough, but I reminded myself The Source had let me in. I doubted they’d be so kind when I was ready to leave.
The tunnel led me deeper underground, to The Source’s lair, no doubt. And as I made my way down, the growing urge to turn back made me tremble more and more violently, as if my arms and legs were rebelling against my determination to continue. But I couldn’t go back, despite my body’s warnings and my brain’s less than subtle reminders that I wouldn’t leave this place alive. Not until I had Carly Beth.
A giant steel door covered with a patchwork of rust and dripping with slime greeted me at the end of the tunnel. As I searched for the handle, a skull floated to the surface, awakening, it seemed, from a long slumber. Its eyes filled with green flames that made the whole door glow.
“Oh my,” the skull said. “You shouldn’t have come. There’s nothing beyond this door but death.”
“But I have to save my friend,” I said. “You need to let me through.”
“Oh, you must be Eve. I heard them talking about you. It’s their fault I’m here, you know. They tricked me, and they’ll do the same to you, or worse. Maybe make you the doormat.”
“I’m so sorry. It must be adorable being a door, but I need to get, um, behind you. My best friend is in trouble.”
“I wish someone would’ve saved me, but it’s too late for that now.” Green flames ran down the skull’s cheeks as he cried. “Too late for me.”
When the door composed itself … as well as a door could compose itself, I supposed, he said, “Of course, I’ll let you in. I have no choice. I’m just a door.”
The skull dropped his voice to a whisper. “But be careful, Eve. The Source is dangerous …”
The door creaked open.
“… Very dangerous.”
A rush of ice-cold air wrapped around me as I entered into darkness. I couldn’t see a thing, so I kept my hands in front of me and inched my way in, expecting, most fearfully, that at any moment I would plunge to my death.
My hands brushed against an old, familiar friend, spider webs, and as I worked my way deeper, pushing aside web after web, the room opened into a giant cavern filled with a hazy red light that shimmered along the greasy rock walls.
A spider web curtained the wall at the far end of the cavern. The web was so big it could’ve covered my house. As I moved toward it, I could make out a body trapped at the center.
“Carly Beth!” I screamed, racing for her.
She was still unconscious. Worse, I just announced to everyone I had arrived. I realized my mistake when I saw the spider girls—Stacey, Becca and Jasper—scurrying down the web. An even bigger spider followed them, it’s smooth, black abdomen bouncing like an adorable ball. It also wore one of those lifeless human masks, that of Stacey’s mom. Underneath one of her hairy legs, I saw my spell book … I mean The Book of Shrieks.
“Come to join the party, Eve?” Mrs. Maxwell asked.
I took a step forward and lifted my chin. “I came for my friend. Let her go.”
The spiders cackled and hissed. Then, Mrs. Maxwell said, “You don’t make demandsss to me. Not in my housss.”
“Are you The Source?” I asked. I know Stacey said no, but really, can you trust a girl that can change into a spider? I didn’t think so.
“The SSSource wouldn’t dare belittle itssself by appearing before a malodorousss human like you.”
I guess Stacey wasn’t lying … Wait a sec? Did Mrs. Maxwell just say I smell bad? That ugly, no good—
“Then who are you?” I demanded.
The spider raised her head to the ceiling, and when I followed her gaze, I saw all sorts of insect-ish creatures: worms, and winged beasts, and creeping husks with a dozen or more needle-like legs, all wearing expressionless human faces and squirming around the cavern’s dripping stalactites.
“We are all Itsss children. We all ssserve The SSSource.”
It was freezing in here, and my legs shook uncontrollably, but even colder were the thousands of eyes staring down at me. Compared to my current situation, being a human doormat didn’t sound so bad.
“SSSoon, everyone will know The SSSource.” Mrs. Maxwell scuttled over to Carly Beth and ran one of her razor-sharp legs along Carly Beth’s neck. “But what you need to be conssserned with now isss cooperating with usss.”
What other choice did I have? I walked toward the giant web and forced myself not to look or listen to all those hungry creatures watching me.
Mrs. Maxwell handed me the book and said, “Yessss, show me.”
Stacey and her spidery stooges gathered around, too, as if getting ready for some twisted version of Story Time.
I opened the book and turned the pages—and then flipped through faster.
Okay, book, if I’m supposed to be able to control you, now would be a really good time to show me that, I thought. But nothing happened.
I glanced up at Mrs. Maxwell’s black bulbous eyes.
“It’s … not working,” I managed.
“You ssstupid human. You mussst be doing sssomething wrong.”
Even with the trouble I faced, Mrs. Maxwell’s words infuriated me. All my life I had hated being a human. But now, I didn’t feel ashamed. I couldn’t help who I was, and, to be honest, I liked myself just fine, human or not.
“I’m not a stupid human,” I said. “My name is Eve Hallows. And you better remember it.”
When I gazed down at the book again, a single word appeared, blurry at first, as if rising up from water. Then the word became crystal clear.
DUCK!
So I did, just as a giant spidery leg sliced the air above me, right where my neck would’ve been.
“You little—”
I didn’t give Mrs. Maxwell the chance to finish her sentence. I yelled, “NOW!”
All of a sudden, the spider flew backward into Stacey, Becca, and Jasper—all of their legs thrashing at the air.
“Grab the book! I’ll get Carly Beth!” Griff roared.
When I had dropped off Steve and Lucy at the pizza shop, I told Griff about my plan to bring him here. Warren had said I must go alone … so, well, I did. How was I supposed to know an invisible man had followed me?
Griff lifted Carly Beth up and draped her over his invisible shoulder. Then, we ran for the door. I turned back to see the spiders had regrouped and were scurrying toward us. But it wasn’t just the spiders we had to worry about, because above, those insect mutations rolled like an ocean wave toward the door.
“They’re gonna block off the exit!”
“Hurry!” Griff yelled, and I could see Carly Beth bouncing harder ahead of me.
But we weren’t fast enough.
Dozens of snapping and chirping creatures already covered the door.
“Let’s go back the way we came. Maybe there’s another exit,” I said.
“No good,” Griff said. “Spiders are coming, and they don’t look too happy.”
Whatever small hope I had of us escaping flickered out. We were trapped.
“I’m so sorry I dragged you into this.”
“It was my pleasure,” Griff said. “You are the bravest human I’ve ever known.”
“Aren’t I the only human you’ve ever known?”
At this, Griff said nothing, which would’ve been funny under different circumstances.
“I will ssswallow you whole and ssspend eternity digesssting your remainsss,” Mrs. Maxwell hissed. She was close enough now I could see her tiny sharp teeth dripping with green-gray goo.
I took a few steps back, feeling a strange vibration that started in my fingertips and snaked up my right arm. I
gripped my arm with my free hand in an attempt to stop the shaking, because I refused to allow Mrs. Maxwell see me scared. But when I glanced down at my quivering hand, I realized fear had nothing to do with this. The book jolted as if shocked by lightning, so I held the book tighter, but that just seemed to make it angrier, and it shot out from my grasp and punched the ground, stirring up a cloud of dust.
The book swelled as if taking in a huge lungful of air. Then, it began to scream, a high-pitched wail that shook the entire cavern and sent jagged pieces of rock crashing to the ground.
I pressed my hands to my ears for fear my eardrums would explode. The book had a different effect on the insects. They flailed about, colliding into each other as they tried to escape deeper into the cavern. But the screams were everywhere, and no matter where the creatures hid, those adorable shrieks followed.
“Now’s our chance. C’mon,” Griff said.
As soon as I grabbed the book, it fell silent. The insects, still too disoriented to understand the ear-splitting screams had stopped, banged about as we ran for the door as fast as we could.
“You did it!” the skull door said. “I knew you could do it. You were amazing. I mean I couldn’t see anything from my view, but I’m sure you were amazing.”
I stood just past the threshold of the The Source’s lair while the skull complimented me, which would’ve been nice and all if Mrs. Maxwell hadn’t regained herself. She swirled around until her black eyes locked onto me.
“I’m gonna KILL YOU!” she screamed and hurtled toward us to make good on her promise.
“Uh, Excuse me, Mr. Skull, sir, but could you—”
“The name’s Edgar. I’d shake your hand, but I don’t have any … I’ve waited years to say that joke.”
The giant spider closed in on us, now only a few feet away.
“Could you please shut the door!” I yelled.
The door slammed, and I heard the spider squish against the other side with an echoing thud.
“No need to be rude,” Edgar said. “I mean really.”
I rushed up and kissed the skull on the cheek. “Thank you.”
“Oh, well, I, um … You’re welcome!” Edgar called to us as we dashed for the exit.
“It’s trying to trap us,” Griff called out.
I didn’t know what he was talking about, at first, but then I noticed the walls, ceiling, and floor. They stretched and bent as if being sucked back into the lair. Ahead, I could see the exit shrinking, too.
“We’re not gonna make it!”
“Jump!” Griff yelled.
He shifted Carly Beth to his front so he could protect her fall, and we leaped through the door and rolled out onto the street.
The hole closed with a soft pop, returning The Source’s hive back into a normal office building.
I staggered to my feet and coughed up at least a pound of dirt. “You … okay?” I managed.
“Yeah,” Griff said, dusting the webs off Carly Beth. “But I think somebody should call an exterminator. That place has got one serious infestation problem.”
THIRTY-THREE
IT’S NOT OVER UNTIL THE WERE-PIG HOWLS
Carly Beth woke during our bus ride back to Ghoulicious, and I told her about everything she missed.
“At least I can’t say I’m bored when I hang out with you,” Carly Beth said, gazing out the bus window. “Figures, full moon.”
The moon, silvery-yellow and swollen, hung just above the distant mountains. I wondered if the human and monster worlds shared the same moon, and if so, did it prefer one over the other? Or did it worry about both worlds equally? Kind of like me, I thought.
“Yeah, I try to keep things exciting,” I said.
I thought also about what happened to Warren as I watched the moon disappear behind a blur of trees. Griff figured Warren was at The Source’s lair, probably still knocking into other insects. But I didn’t think so. He must’ve dropped the book off to Mrs. Maxwell, but after that …?
“I think people will have a new respect for McDougal on Monday.” Carly Beth said. “So what does that mean for your dad? Is he stuck being the principal?”
The tone of her voice told me she wasn’t so much asking if my dad would stay principal, but if my family and I would be staying here. “I don’t know,” I said, feeling a little defeated that I could confront something as terrible as The Source, but I couldn’t look my friend in the eye and tell her that we were heading back to Gravesville.
I still had The Book of Shrieks under my arm. The last time I looked at it, the pages were blank. Griff said I should hold onto it for now, at least until we got back to Gravesville and URNS could have some of their mad scientists look at it.
Though it seemed dangerous to have the book when so many bad creatures wanted it, it also seemed right that I should hang onto it. I felt a little bit of the book was in me, and maybe a little of me was in the book. Like we were joined together in some strange way. It also helped that the book didn’t seem to like The Source. Maybe that would make Warren and the others think twice before trying to take it from me again.
When we reached Ghoulicious, the lights were still on inside, though the sign in the window said CLOSED. I could see Steve and Lucy huddled around a table, sleeping, while Mrs. Reynolds worked the floor frantically with a mop. I guess she had the same nervous cleaning obsession as my mom.
Carly Beth stepped off the bus and, noticing that I hadn’t followed, asked, “Are you coming?”
“Nah, I’m kind of tired. I think I’ll go home, you know, make sure my parents are okay and everything.”
“But you have to tell Steve and Lucy what happened. I mean—” She stopped and gave me an understanding smile. “You probably don’t want to talk about it right now. I get it.”
“Don’t worry,” Griff said. “I’ll fill them up with the juicy details.”
We said our goodnights, and I hugged and thanked Griff for saving us. Carly Beth did the same, then hugged me.
“Thanks, girl. You know, for everything,” Carly Beth said.
And this got me all teary-eyed and emotional, and I hugged Carly Beth even tighter.
“Thank Steve and Lucy for me. Tell them—”
“C’mon, let’s go. Meter’s ticking,” Hal—or whatever his name was—said, tapping an imaginary watch on his wrist. “I’ve got seventy-six dollars and a date with a one-armed bandit.”
As the bus pulled away, I saw Mrs. Reynolds rush out of the pizza place and throw her arms around Carly Beth. It made me think about all those nasty thoughts I had about the humans, how they were scary and cruel and …
And how wrong I had been.
As I stood in front of my house, an adorable feeling overcame me. I’d never seen the house this dark. Usually, Mom left on the porch light. And speaking of Mom, shouldn’t my family have been home by now? Maybe Warren did show up at the school, after all.
I opened the front door and called out, “Hello? I’m home. Anyone here?”
“Trick or Treat, Eve. Miss me?”
I peered into the dark room and saw him standing there, looking all human.
“Warren?”
Before I could scream for help, Warren leaped forward and covered my mouth with the palm of his hand.
“Shhh,” he said. “Screaming will only make me kill you faster.”
I realized from his empty gaze that he wasn’t kidding, so I relaxed my body, letting him know he had control.
“Are you going to stay quiet if I pull my hand away?”
I nodded.
“Good girl.” He let go of my mouth. “Now, give me the book.”
I did.
He flipped through the pages. Still blank.
“All this trouble for a stupid book,” he said. “I hope The Source rewards me well. What do you think, Eve?”
“I think you’re a big jerk,” I said. “But that’s my opinion.”
“Hmm,” Warren eyes pointed up and he frowned. Maybe he was pondering his jerkine
ss, I thought, but then, he pulled out a huge knife from inside his jacket—the blade shaped like a question mark, though there was no question about what that knife could do to me.
“Sorry, Eve, but I’m still gonna need your hands.”
Wolf entered the room, snorting at the racket that woke him up.
“Wolf. Get back into your room,” I pleaded.
But Wolf was in a stubborn mood, and he even started sniffing around Warren’s feet, which amused Warren enough to put down the knife and pick up Wolf.
“He’s a vicious were-pig,” I warned. “You better put him down before he bites your head off.”
Warren laughed. “Were-pig, huh? Looks like you two have a lot in common. You both like to think you’re monsters.”
“Put him down!”
“As you wish.” He threw Wolf to the floor and tried to stomp on him with the heel of his sneaker, but Wolf scampered out of the room, squealing.
“Filthy mutt. I’m gonna slice him for bacon when I’m done with you.”
I was so mad I swung my fist at Warren’s chest, but he caught me by the wrist and forced me down to the floor.
He picked up his knife, and said, “Maybe I can get some bacon from your hide, too.”
I reached toward the windowsill in an attempt to pull myself up. How fitting … I could see that perfect Halloween moon outside, and I was going to die underneath it.
Warren lifted the blade to his shoulder; the point glared down at me. “You are pretty, Eve. It’s a shame it has to be this way.”
“Yeah, too bad for me.”
“Now, give me your hand.” He grabbed my forearm and pulled me toward a wooden end table, a suitable chopping block for his purpose.
I tried to squirm away. I even tried to kick and bite. I mean, when you’re about to lose your hands, you can’t hold anything back, right? But Warren managed to grip me in such a way that I couldn’t move and leveled the blade on my wrist.
“I never wanted you to hate me, Eve. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Hey, I’ll even grant you a last request. Name it.”