The Attack of the Aqua Apes

  CONTENTS

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  About R.L. Stine

  LOOKING FOR MOPE SPOOKY ADVENTURES

  ON FEAR STREET? DON’T MISS:

  HIDE AND SHRIEK

  —AND—

  WHO’S BEEN SLEEPING IN MY GRAVE?

  1

  “You have the power to create life!” That was what the ad in the back of the comic book claimed.

  “Pretty cool,” Scott Adams said as he studied the ad carefully.

  Scott sat on the porch steps in front of his house, reading comic books with his best friend, Glen Brody.

  “Check this out!” Scott handed Glen the ad. It showed a picture of a mad scientist. He was peering into a giant tank of water full of strange-looking creatures. Creatures called “aqua apes.”

  “ ‘Aqua apes?’ ” Glen laughed. He pulled off his glasses and polished them on his flannel shirt. “What are those? Swimming monkeys?”

  “I don’t know.” Scott shrugged. “They look more like lizards to me.”

  “Well, what are you supposed to do with them?” Glen asked.

  “You grow ’em. That’s what’s so cool. They come from magic crystals. See?” Scott pointed to the packet of magic crystals in the mad scientist’s hand.

  “Oh, right.” Glen rolled his eyes. “Swimming monkeys from magic crystals. I don’t think so.”

  “Yeah, well, they say it’s guaranteed. Or you get your money back,” Scott said. “They wouldn’t say that if it didn’t work.”

  “Maybe.” Glen didn’t sound convinced.

  “You want to send away for them?” Scott asked.

  “No way,” Glen replied.

  “Come on. What have we got to lose?”

  “Three dollars and ninety-five cents,” Glen answered. “Plus postage and handling.”

  Scott knew it would be hard to convince Glen to spend the money—but he had to. You see, almost all the kids in school could tell creepy stories—stories about totally weird things that happened to them. Like being chased by ghosts in the Fear Street Cemetery. Or getting attacked by half-human, half-animal creatures in the Fear Street Woods.

  But Scott didn’t have a single story to tell. Not one. Which, when you think of it, was the weirdest thing of all. Because everyone knew that if you lived near Fear Street, scary things happened to you. Period.

  But Scott had lived near Fear Street his entire life. And he didn’t have a single creepy story to tell.

  Until—maybe now. If he could just convince Glen to send away for the magic crystals. . . .

  “Such a small price to pay for ‘the power to create life.’ ???? Scott repeated the ad’s promise in his best mad scientist voice. He wished he looked more like a mad scientist. It was hard to be really scary with blond hair, blue eyes, and freckles.

  “Forget it,” Glen declared. “First of all, I’ve never seen a swimming monkey. Not even in the zoo. And second of all, it’s impossible to grow a living animal from a ‘magic crystal.’ In case nobody told you this yet, you need a mommy monkey and a daddy monkey to get a baby monkey.”

  “They’re not monkeys!” Scott protested. “They’re . . .” Scott struggled to come up with an answer. “They’re . . . something else.”

  “Yeah, apes. Aqua apes.” Glen pointed to the words. “Same thing as swimming monkeys.”

  “Well, I’m getting them,” Scott insisted, grabbing the comic book out of Glen’s hands.

  “So get ’em,” Glen answered. He shoved his curly brown hair off his forehead.

  “I will,” Scott assured him. “As soon as you lend me some money.”

  “I’m not paying for some stupid water monkeys. You’re the one who wants them.”

  “I’m not asking you to pay for them. Just the postage and the handling,” Scott said. “And I wouldn’t even ask you for that. But you did eat up half of my allowance yesterday at the Ice Cream Castle. Remember—your sundae to celebrate the last day of summer vacation?”

  “Okay. Okay,” Glen said. Then he stuck his fingers in his mouth and made gagging sounds. “I’ll give it back to you.”

  “You’re so gross!” Scott slid away from Glen as fast as he could. The last time Glen pulled this stunt he really did throw up. “Just forget it,” Scott said miserably.

  “Oh, all right,” Glen groaned. “I’ll pay for half.”

  Glen reached into his pocket and pulled out his money. He counted out three dollars and shoved it into Scott’s hand. “Go ahead. Order the swimming monkeys. But when the magic crystals don’t come to life, I’m not waiting for this stupid company to send my money back. You’re gonna give it to me.”

  “Fine,” Scott agreed. “But what if they do come to life?”

  “Then I’ll be a monkey’s uncle.” Glen cracked himself up. “Get it?”

  “Ha, ha,” Scott said, not at all amused by Glen’s lame joke. “You’ll see.”

  In a few weeks I’ll finally have a cool story to tell at school, Scott thought. And maybe even scary, too.

  Scott had no idea just how scary his story would be.

  2

  “No!” Scott shouted. “No!”

  Scott couldn’t believe his bad luck. It was the first day in three weeks that he hadn’t been home to wait for the mailman. And sure enough, that was the day his package arrived.

  But that wasn’t the bad part. The bad part was that the mailman had just handed over Scott’s package to Scott’s older sister, Kelly.

  Kelly thought she was the coolest thing on earth. She constantly reminded Scott she was almost thirteen. Almost a real teenager. Not a baby like Scott—even though Scott was only a year younger.

  Scott and Glen chased Kelly around the kitchen table.

  “We can do this the easy way, or we can do it the hard way,” Scott said, closing in on Kelly.

  He shoved his open hand out. “Now, give it to me.” But he knew she wouldn’t. Kelly never did anything the easy way.

  “How do you even know this package is for you?” she teased.

  Scott inched closer to her. “Because my name is on it,” he said as he ripped the package from her grip.

  “Jerk!” she huffed, punching him in the arm.

  Scott ignored her. He couldn’t wait to open the package. The minute the brown wrapping was off, Glen held out an open palm.

  “What?” Scott said, staring down at it.

  “You might as well just give me my three bucks back right now,” Glen answered. “I told you it was gonna be a total rip-off.”

  Scott hated to admit it, but Glen was probably right. The box didn’t look anything like the ad in the comic book.

  There was no picture of a mad scientist.

  No magic crystals in his hand.

  Only lots of goofy-looking creatures. With antennae popping up from their heads. And pink and blue bows tied to them. They swam around in a fishbowl, wearing silly grins.

  “Maybe they sent the wrong box,” Scott suggested, turning it around in his hands.

  Kelly snatched it from him. “Ooooh, ‘the power to create life,’ ???? she re
ad from the box.

  “Give that back to me,” Scott demanded.

  But Kelly just laughed. “You two are such losers. What’s the matter? Can’t find any real friends to play with so you have to grow some?”

  Then she tossed the box on the table and strolled out of the kitchen.

  “So are we going to make these things, or what?” Glen asked, opening the box.

  “I guess.” Scott sat down at the kitchen table and watched Glen slide a small round tank from the box.

  Another disappointment. The tank was nowhere near as big as the one the mad scientist held in the ad. It was too small for even a goldfish. And it was made of plastic.

  The only cool thing about it was that it had a lid with a light you could turn on and off. And the bottom of the tank looked like the surface of the moon—with a big crater in the center of it.

  Next, Glen pulled out some aqua ape food and the package of magic crystals. It was smaller than a packet of sugar.

  This is going to be a total failure, Scott thought to himself. Then he asked, “How big are the ape things supposed to get anyway?”

  Glen flipped through the instructions. “It says that happy, healthy adult aqua apes can grow up to half an inch long.”

  “A half an inch?” Scott moaned. “The ones in the ad were monsters.”

  “The instructions say we need distilled water,” Glen said, continuing to read. “Got any?”

  “No,” Scott answered. “And I am not going to spend any more money to buy some either.”

  “Then you’re not going to grow any aqua apes,” Glen informed him. “Because it says right here that you have to use distilled water.”

  “I have a better idea,” Scott said, suddenly feeling more enthusiastic. “Let’s go down to the Fear Street Woods and scoop some water from the lake.”

  “Are you crazy?” Glen exclaimed. “Haven’t you heard about the gross things that live in Fear Lake? I know a guy who drank some of the lake water on a dare—he had to go in the hospital. Who knows what we’ll get if we use that water?”

  “Exactly!” Scott smiled his mad scientist smile. “Who knows what we’ll get!”

  3

  The moment Scott came to the end of Park Drive, his heart started to beat a little faster. With just one step he would cross the imaginary safety line into dangerous territory—Fear Street.

  Even in the middle of the day, Fear Street was dark and scary. Enormous old trees lined both sides of the street. And as the sunlight tried to sneak between some of the huge branches, it cast strange shadows on the ground below. Shadows that looked like they could swallow you up.

  Once you’ve walked down Fear Street, Scott thought, you know all the creepy stories you’ve heard about it are true.

  “The adventure is about to begin!” Scott announced to Glen. He took a deep breath and started toward the Fear Street Woods. They were creepier than Fear Street. Scarier, too.

  The trees in the woods grew thick and gnarled—with black twisted branches that seemed to reach out. Reach out to strangle you.

  Glen hesitated.

  “Well, are you coming, or what?”

  “This is a really stupid idea,” Glen replied.

  “It is not. You’re just chicken,” Scott taunted. Then he started flapping his arms and squawking at Glen. “Bawk, bawk, bawk!”

  “I am not chicken,” Glen insisted.

  “Then come on.”

  “There.” Glen stepped into the woods. “Are you happy now?”

  “This way.” Scott pointed to the path ahead. The path that led directly to Fear Lake. “We’d better hurry. These woods get real dark, real early.”

  As they followed the trail, Scott noticed how quiet the woods were. He couldn’t hear any birds chirping or bugs humming. Or any sound of life at all. Creepy. Really creepy.

  Scott kept his eyes glued to the trail. He had to make sure they stayed on the right path. No way was he getting lost in the Fear Street Woods.

  “Can we hurry it up?” Glen asked. He followed Scott so closely that he stepped on the back of one of his sneakers.

  “Do you have to walk on top of me?” Scott complained, yanking his sneaker back up. “The lake’s right through there,” he added, pointing straight ahead. “Relax.”

  “I’m telling you, this is a big mistake,” Glen muttered as they reached the muddy banks of the lake.

  “Just give me the tank,” Scott ordered.

  Glen pulled the little plastic tank out of his backpack and shoved it into Scott’s hands.

  Scott pulled off the top and handed it to Glen. Then he stepped up to the edge of the lake and dipped the open tank into the icy cold water.

  Other than being really, really cold, Scott didn’t notice anything weird about the Fear Lake water. It wasn’t gross, or smelly, or anything. In fact, it was clear. And Scott couldn’t help feeling a little bit disappointed.

  Scott held the tank out in front of him. “Okay, now pour in the magic crystals,” he instructed Glen.

  “I don’t see why we can’t do this part back at your house,” Glen complained. “It’s starting to get dark.”

  “Bawk, bawk, bawk,” Scott replied.

  Glen fumbled around in his backpack for the little packet of crystals. When he found it, he carefully tore the corner open.

  “What do they look like?” Scott asked.

  “Like sugar grains,” Glen answered. He held the packet under Scott’s nose for him to see.

  “Pour ’em in,” Scott ordered. He held the tank steady.

  “Here goes nothing,” Glen said. He shook the magic crystals into the tank.

  The moment the first crystal hit the water from Fear Lake, Scott felt the tips of his fingers start to tingle.

  Then the tiny tingling turned into a surge of electricity. It raced up his arms and snaked through his entire body.

  He began to shake. Slightly at first. Then wildly.

  He tried to loosen his grip on the tank. But his fingers were stuck.

  The tank began to crackle with electricity. Scott could see tiny lightning bolts shooting through the water. The water bubbled and churned.

  Scott’s heart pounded so hard and so fast, he was terrified it would explode.

  He opened his mouth to scream.

  To scream for Glen to help him.

  But no sound came out.

  4

  “Glen!” The name finally burst free from Scott’s throat. “Help me!”

  But the moment Scott screamed, the shock stopped.

  His arms and legs grew still.

  The water in the tank settled quietly.

  “What’s wrong?” Glen asked. “What happened?”

  “I’m not exactly sure,” Scott tried to explain. “When you poured in the crystals, a horrible shock raced through my whole body. It was the worst thing I’ve ever felt.”

  “Let’s put the top on the tank and get out of here!” Glen cried.

  Glen shoved the top on. Then he turned and charged into the woods, back toward the street.

  “Wait for me!” Scott screamed, dashing after him.

  They didn’t stop until they made it back to Scott’s house and up the stairs to his room.

  Scott carefully placed the tank in the center of his desk.

  Then they both sat down on Scott’s bed. Panting.

  When they finally caught their breath, Scott bent down to peer into the water. “Oh, wow!” he shouted. “They’re alive! It worked! We created aqua apes!”

  Scott studied the aqua apes in the water. They were just little white specks. No bigger than dust specks in a beam of sunlight. But they were alive.

  At first they appeared to be floating aimlessly. But when Scott squinted for a better view, he could see that they were actually wiggling. Wiggling in different directions.

  The aqua apes didn’t look anything like the picture in the ad—or even the picture on the box. But they were alive. And maybe they would grow into something cool.

&nbs
p; “I don’t see anything,” Glen complained.

  Glen was sitting on the middle of Scott’s bed. “You have to get closer,” Scott told him. “They’re real small.”

  Glen didn’t budge.

  “You’re not going to get a shock,” Scott told him. “I carried the tank all the way back here and nothing happened.”

  Glen stood up and crossed over to the tank. “I still can’t see them,” he insisted. “Where’s your magnifying glass?”

  Scott pulled a magnifying glass out of the top drawer of his desk and handed it to Glen.

  “Pretty cool, huh?” Scott asked, as Glen studied the little creatures.

  “Yeah,” Glen agreed. “They are pretty cool. But wh—”

  Glen’s voice trailed off as he watched little air bubbles suddenly start floating up from the bottom of the tank.

  “What’s going on?” Scott asked. He grabbed the magnifying glass from Glen and peered into the bottom of the tank. The bubbles were shooting up from a crystal. A large black crystal.

  “What is that?” Glen asked. “I didn’t see it when we poured the packet in.”

  “I don’t know,” Scott answered.

  The black crystal continued to fizz.

  Scott and Glen watched it for a long time, waiting. Waiting for something more to happen.

  But nothing did.

  The black crystal simply continued to fizz.

  * * *

  The black crystal was still fizzing when Scott went to bed that night. He left the light on in the tank so he could watch it as he dozed off.

  But the aqua apes were way too small for him to see from his bed. He couldn’t even make out the black crystal from that far away. But he could see the air bubbles rising from it. Scott began counting the bubbles as they rose to the surface.

  The numbers raced through his head faster and faster. His vision blurred as he focused on the bubbles.

  Then the light in the tank went out. Scott figured the bulb in the tank lid had blown. He’d check it out in the morning.

  Scott pulled the covers up to his neck. As he rolled over to go to sleep, the light in the tank flashed on. And this time it glowed much brighter than before.