by Laura Dower
I went right up to the guy.
“Is Sandra Lee at home this evening?”
The doorman gave me a bugged-out stare and, for a moment, I worried that I had the wrong address. But then he nodded and reached for the intercom.
“Ms. Lee, you have a visitor . . . no, it’s not a Grocery Town delivery, it’s . . . a young girl.”
I fidgeted with the zipper on my jacket. “It’s her niece,” I said. “Stella Min. Stella Lee Min.”
I figured our same name might help me get inside. Sure enough, a moment later, a flustered voice came through the speaker.
“Stella?” the voice cracked.
San San! I’d recognize that voice anywhere! It was the voice of a ton of Bs!
I expected the doorman to send me right up to her apartment after that, but then he pulled out this logbook and started asking me all these obscure questions. He called it a “security precaution.”
“Are you with anyone?”
“Did you pack your own bags?”
“What is the capital of East Mauritanea?”
For a split second, I felt like I was on Quizzle, that game show where you have to answer a series of questions in order to get to the top level and win buckets of cash. Only there was no cash involved here; just an old aunt who wouldn’t let me on the elevator. She was more of a hermit than I expected.
The doorman led me to the elevator. “Sorry about the interrogation,” he whispered. “She usually doesn’t let anyoneup. She has a lot of locks on her door, too.”
“She was a movie star, you know,” I said as the elevator door opened.
“You’re family, right?”
“Yes,” I said, nodding. “How did you know?”
“Are you kidding? You look exactly alike!” the doorman said.
I glanced at my reflection in the mirrored wall near the elevators and smoothed down my hair. She was beautiful, too, of course.
“Thanks for your help,” I said as I stepped onto the elevator. When we got to the penthouse floor, the doors opened onto a wide and empty hall.
“Auntie San San?” I asked, stopping in my tracks. “Hello? Are you here?”
All at once, a flurry of locks twisted and clicked, one after the other. I counted ten in all. Then a door creaked. San San appeared, peering around the side of the door. Her eyes bulged at me.
“Who sent you?” San San called out. She wasn’t opening the door any wider to let me inside until I answered.
“No one sent me,” I said. “I just wanted to see you. I mean, you’re my aunt, aren’t you?”
“No one comes here unless they want something,” San San said before she slammed the door shut again. For a moment, I thought all hope was lost. But then the door reopened—wide.
“I’m sorry,” San San said in a hurried voice. “Come in. And hurry.”
For a split second, my feet wouldn’t move forward. I wasn’t nervous because, of course, ninja’s don’t get nervous. Finally, I was able to go in.
Once inside, I couldn’t believe my eyes. It looked a little bit like the rooms in Leery Castle in there, with B-Monster stuff all over the place, crazy rugs all over the floors, and photographs framed on every square inch of wall space.
The objects inside San San’s apartment seemed frozen in time. Nothing had been updated since a dozen years ago—or more. The dining room table was covered in dingy, white lace. In the center was a bowl of dusty waxed fruit and a basket of napkins with the initial B. On the wall, I spotted at least a dozen different clocks in the shapes of all the B-Monsters I knew. There was a Crabzilla clock with moving claws that told the time.
It was already twenty after six and class ended at seven. I had to hurry.
“I’m sorry for all this high-end, super spy security,” San San said, locking her front door tight—ten times again. “Had to make sure that whoever got off the elevator was the real you. Would you excuse me while I check the doors and windows, too?”
“Why the big lockdown?”
“Just precautions. I need to make sure no one is following me,” she answered under her breath.
“Following you?” I asked. “But you haven’t gone anywhere in years, right?”
San San sighed. “Oh, I know. But sometimes it feels as if there are eyes out there in the parking lot, in the bushes, looking up at my apartment. I know it’s probably just inside my head, but . . .”
“Did you say eyes, Auntie San San? Lots and lots of eyes?” I asked. “Oh wow. We really need to talk.”
CHAPTER 6
LET ME EXPLAIN . . .
“So why areyou here, Stella?” San San asked. “I didn’t even think you kids knew I existed.”
“No, Mom talks about you,” I explained. “She told me that she always asked but you never accepted invitations to dinner or holiday celebrations.”
“I know. I guess I preferred to be alone all these years. But seeing you now—” she took a deep breath. “This is a nice thing. You remind me of myself when I was your age . . .”
Great Auntie San San had gray hair pulled up in a tight bun, but her face was bright when she spoke.
“Thanks, Auntie San San. You know, I do have an important reason for being here.”
San San furrowed her brow. “And what’s that?”
“I need to talk to you about Bs.”
San San’s eyes got wide. “Okay—shoot.”
“A few of my classmates and I are B-Monster movie fans,” I said, trying not to reveal everything at once. “And we’re just . . . well, curious . . . since you were in all the movies. I’ve seen your name on some posters and in photo albums . . .”
“You want to hear stories about those days in Hollywood?” San San asked as she stood up. “Very well, I can share. Let me show you something.”
I settled into my chair. I had a front row seat to the next B, I could feel it in my toes. I was going to get the kind of information I needed to figure out whether the Eyeball Beast was in our midst.
San San came back into the room holding an armful of colored, leather scrapbooks. Each thick volume was bound in leather, bursting with papers and photos. She propped a pile of the scrapbooks in front of me and grinned.
“These are just a few of my life stories,” San San said. “From the first Oswald Leery movie to the last. I kept a record of every film.”
“Gee,” I grinned back. “You know, I’ve seen all those movies twice and sometimes three times,” I said.
“Have you?” San San cried. “Well, I’ll be a monkey’s uncle. You’re a real fan!”
I looked down at a red leather scrapbook and cracked it open. The page showed a large photo of San San on a desert island wearing a tribal headdress and strange shoes. The next page showed her, the headdress, and the shoes being devoured by giant scorpions.
I laughed out loud. “That must have hurt,” I said.
“Not as badly as the time Slimo swallowed me! Heeeee!”
We laughed together. Great Auntie San San’s teeth were wide and white enough to be in a toothpaste commercial. I guessed they were probably dentures.
I wanted so much to tell San San that I, too, had been swallowed by Slimo. I was waiting for just the right moment to spill all the beans.
“We filmed that island scene on a set, if you can believe it,” San San said, showing me some funny photos. “Sometimes I miss the acting days. I miss all the adventure. I’ve been cooped up here in Riddle Towers for far too long.”
San San glanced away, out the window. I glanced at my cell phone timer. Forty minutes left. It was getting late so fast. I could not miss getting back to Dojo Academy in time for my ride with Mom.
“So . . . why did you stop making B-Monster movies?” I asked.
“So many reasons,” San San explained.
“Um . . . like what? Did Oswald Leery fire you?” I asked.
“Fire me? Oh noooo!” San San laughed out loud. “Oswald begged me to stay on the films, bless his heart.”
“Then why d
id you stop?” I asked. “You were a superstar!”
“The truth is just too . . .” San San sighed. “Oh, Stella, you wouldn’t believe me. Your mother never believed me, either.”
“I will believe you! I swear!” I exclaimed.
It was time to tell the truth.
“Auntie San San, I’ve done more than just watch the movies. A few months ago, Oswald Leery came to me and a couple of other kids and asked us to be this group called the Monster Squad. He told us that something weird happened when original B-Monster movies were screened. The monsters started coming to life in Riddle and that B-Monsters are real.”
My great aunt’s jaw dropped open.
“My cosmic stars, Stella Lee!” she gasped. “How on Earth did you get mixed up in all this?”
“Actually, it was you, Auntie San San,” I explained. “Oswald Leery told us that we have this ability to see B-Monsters because someone in our family worked closely with them. For me, it was you. For Jesse, this other kid in the group, it was his grandfather, Max Ranger . . .”
“Max!” San San smiled. “I knew him well!”
All at once, San San’s eyes darted around the room. She went pale and looked worried. “What aren’t you telling me?” San San asked. “Is there a B-Monster on the loose again? Which one? Is it coming for me?”
“Sit down, Auntie San San,” I said, trying to calm her down. “Let me explain . . .”
I told San San what we saw inside the castle; and about our fights with Slimo and Mega Mantis. I told her about the other three members of Monster Squad and how annoying Damon usually acted. When I finished telling her all that, I told her about my eyeball monster dream.
She stared, dumbfounded.
“Do you think I’m bananas?” I asked.
San San nodded slowly. “Of course I do, my dear, but aren’t we all? I can’t believe it has taken us this long to find each other.”
She threw her arms out wide and I jumped in for a squeeze. She smelled a little bit like pickles, but I didn’t mind. I like pickles.
“Today,” I went on, “when I saw the poster for The Beast with 1000 Eyesin this secret lab room at the castle, the same monster I saw in my dream, I got this feeling. I felt like I found the beast—and you—for a reason.”
San San reached to the bottom of the scrapbook pile and took out a blue leather album I hadn’t seen yet. On the front was a postcard replica of the The Beast with 1000 Eyesposter. San San’s image was teeny-tiny in the art, but I could still tell it was her.
We flipped through a few of the scrapbook pages together. There were great shots of the monster chasing San San through a swamp, down a dark tunnel, and into a snow-covered valley. “In the movie, the beast fell in love with me and I couldn’t shake it,” San San explained.
“The Eyeball Beast falling in love? Sounds totally gross,” I groaned.
“Yes, gross,” San San chuckled. “But this was no romance! The beast destroyed everything in its path, put people into trances, and caused floods with its tears, and then—”
Rrrrrrrrring.
San San stopped talking and turned to me with a worried look. “What was that?”
Rrrrrrrrring.
San San scrambled for her door, thinking someone was outside. I stood up to follow her, because I thought so, too, but then I realized that the ringing was actually coming from my pocket! I pulled out my cell phone.
“Auntie San San! It’s just my phone.”
The cell phone timer was up.
My time with San San was up.
The last thing I wanted to do was leave, but now I had to race to Dojo Academy before Mom got there first.
CHAPTER 7
YO, WHAT’S WITH THE EYEBALL NECKLACE?
Mom would be picking me up after class—in about ten minutes. There was no time to spare. San San opened the ten locks for me.
“Thank you so much,” I gushed on the way out.
“Wait!” San San called out. She ran into the other room. I could hear her throwing open doors and drawers. She came back a moment later and handed me a small, gold box. “I want you to have this, Stella Lee.”
I lifted the lid off the box and unwrapped the gold tissue paper inside. There was a necklace.
“It’s called an amulet,” San San said. “I had it made as a souvenir from The Beast with 1000 Eyes. The stone was just one of the beast’s prop eyes, but I liked the way it looked. And now I believe the amulet has kept me safe all these years. It’s my good luck charm. And now I want to share it with you.”
The amulet looked so real, it creeped me out a little. It looked as if it was staring at me, just like the jars of eyeballs in the lab. But it was also beautiful, like a jewel. I could understand why San San kept it all this time—and why she believed in its powers.
We headed out into the hall. San San took me by the shoulders and looked deep into my eyes.
“Stella,” San San said in a low voice, “Oswald Leery knew there was a risk when he created the Eyeball Beast. If it ever came to life, it would be very dangerous. Please be extra careful . . .”
I gulped, confused. “Are you saying I shouldn’t fight it?”
“No! Fight it! But stay tough! Don’t be scared of anything. I may have looked brave up there in the movies, but I was only acting,” San San confessed. “Not like you. I can tell, you’re the real thing. You have . . . what does Sensei call it?”
“Osu?”
“Yes! Lots of osu!”
The second alert on my cell phone alarm went off.
“Oh! I have to go!” I said.
I pulled the amulet necklace over my head and pressed the elevator button.
“Keep the amulet close to you at all times,” San San said. “It will protect you.”
Just then the elevator doors opened. I hustled in.
“Kiiiya, Ninja!” San San called to me before the doors closed.
“Kiiiya!” I called back.
When I got back down to the lobby, I raced outside and headed for the karate studio. I felt badly that I’d missed a proper practice. After all, getting the black belt was supposed to be at the top of my “to do” list. But my time with San San was more important right now.
Walking along, I imagined the Eyeball Beast that I’d seen in the movie. My stomach flip-flopped at the thought of all those eyeballs. I kept my head down and my feet in fast forward all the way to Dojo.
Whooooooooooooo. Was that the wind?
I stopped. “Hello?” I asked the night air.
Whooooooooooooo. It was the wind.
“Hello?”
My nerves were tingling.
“Hello?” I called out a third time. “Is someone there? I mean it, if you’re there please come out right away.”
Squooshy. Squooshy. Squooshy.
I looked to the left. I looked to the right. Hold on! The bushes were rustling! There was something here . . . something in the darkness . . .
Then I noticed a faint glow.
The amulet was warm. It was yellow.
Squoooooooooooosh.
Carefully, I leaned closer to the cluster of bushes near the sidewalk where I stood, and then I saw something incredible. There were little white dots of light inside that bush, peering back out at me like . . . eyeballs?
There was no time to think. I had to run, down the block, way past the bushes, all the way to Dojo Academy. It was the Eyeball Beast! For real!
When I flew into the karate studio, I thought I needed to explain what had happened and why I missed class. But Front Desk Lady was busy helping another family. So was Sensei. When Mom honked from outside, I simply flew back out the door.
All the way home, I looked for more eyeballs staring at me from between branches and bushes along the road, but I didn’t see anything again.
I fingered the amulet for luck and kept it on as I slept. The way I figured it, San San’s charm would protect me just in case that thing from the bushes showed up in my bedroom in the middle of the night.
I couldn’t wait for lunch period. I had soooo much to tell the squad.
Before I could say a word to the squad, however, Damon said, “Yo, what’s with the eyeball necklace?”
The amulet was poking out from under my shirt. Lindsey saw it, too.
“Where’d you get that?” she asked.
I told the squad about my visit with San San and the amulet.
Then I told them about what I saw in the bushes.
“You saw the B-Monster? For real?” Damon squealed. “It could have been a cat.”
“Or fireflies,” said Jesse.
“Fireflies and cats don’t go ‘squoooshy, squoooshy,’” I said.
“If you end up being right and the new B-Monster does turn out to be the Eyeball Beast, it’ll be pretty impressive,” Damon said as he raised his palm for a high five. When I went to slap it, he pulled it away at the last second. “If,” he said.
I’d show him . . .
CHAPTER 8
GLOW AWAY!
I couldn’t stop thinking about the Eyeball Beast. Would he show up at school? Would he put the student body into a trance?
During math, I got my answer.
My neck started feeling superhot.
My amulet started to glow again.
What was going on?
As soon as the bell rang, I leaped out of my chair. With one hand, I grabbed the back of Lindsey’s sweater on the way out of the classroom. With the other hand, I shoved the necklace under my shirt.
“Meet me in the stairwell. Five minutes. Tell the others,” I said. I had to run out of there quickly before someone saw my neck light up like a Christmas tree. But by the time I got to the stairwell, the amulet was back to its dull state. No glow.
“Stella!” Lindsey came busting through the stairwell’s steel doors. “What’s so urgent?”