18 - Monster Blood II

  “But what?” Evan replied in a trembling voice. “What can we do?”

  Then, suddenly, he had an idea.

  23

  “Come with me!” Evan cried, tugging Andy’s arm.

  She hesitated, staring up at the giant hamster. “Where?”

  “I have an idea,” Evan told her. “But we have to hurry!”

  Cuddles lumbered over to Mr. Murphy’s desk. The hamster’s heavy footsteps made the floor sag.

  “Here, fella! Here!” Mr. Murphy was tossing handfuls of sunflower seeds up to Cuddles. Cuddles glared down at him. The seeds were too small to bother with.

  “Hurry!” Evan pleaded. He pulled Andy through the frightened crowd of kids and teachers at the door. Then he began running full speed toward the auditorium.

  “We can’t just run away! We have to do something!” Andy cried.

  “We’re not running away,” Evan called back to her, turning a corner. “My father’s sculpture—it’s in the auditorium.”

  “Huh?” Andy’s eyes narrowed in confusion. “Evan—have you totally lost it? Why do you want to look at your father’s sculpture now?”

  He burst through the auditorium doors and ran past the dark rows of seats toward the stage. Several pieces of sculpture had been set up there.

  “Evan—I don’t get it!” Andy cried, right behind him.

  “Look,” Evan said breathlessly. He pointed to his father’s work near the back of the stage. “My dad’s sculpture. It’s just like a hamster wheel—see?”

  Her mouth dropped open as she stared at it.

  “It’s a big metal wheel and it spins,” Evan explained as they pulled themselves up onto the stage. “Come on. Help me drag it back to Murphy’s room. It’s big enough for Cuddles.”

  “Whoa!” Andy cried. “You want to bring Cuddles a wheel? What for?”

  “To distract him,” Evan replied, grabbing one side of the big sculpture. “If we can get Cuddles running on this wheel, it will give us time to figure out where to keep him. And it will stop him from chewing the whole school to pieces.”

  Andy grabbed hold of the other side, one hand on the wheel, one hand on the platform. “Maybe Cuddles will run so hard, he’ll lose weight. Maybe he’ll shrink back to his normal size,” she said.

  Luckily, the platform was on wheels. They rolled the sculpture toward the stage door at the side. “I just want to distract him,” Evan said, tugging hard. “I just want to give us time to think, to make a plan.”

  “Wow! This is heavy!” Andy cried. They rolled it into the hall. “Heavy enough for Cuddles, I guess.”

  “I hope,” Evan replied solemnly.

  By the time they rolled the sculpture to the classroom, the crowd of frightened kids and teachers had grown even bigger. “Make way! Make way!” they both shouted, pushing their way through the crowd.

  They set the wheel down in the center of the floor and gazed over at Cuddles. The hamster had two teachers cornered, their backs pressed against the chalkboard. It was gnashing its huge teeth at them, slapping its pink paws together as if eager to fight them.

  Evan gasped when he saw Mr. Murphy’s desk, crushed flat on the floor.

  “I—I called the police!” Mr. Murphy cried, his face beaded with large drops of sweat. “I begged them to come. But when I said it was a giant hamster, they didn’t believe me! They thought it was a practical joke!”

  “Stand back, everyone!” Evan cried shrilly. “Stand back—please! Let Cuddles see the wheel!”

  The giant hamster turned suddenly. The two teachers scrambled away from the wall. Kids and teachers screamed and hurried toward the door.

  “Maybe he’ll run on the wheel for a while,” Andy explained to Mr. Murphy. “Then we can figure out what to do with him!”

  “He—he sees it!” Mr. Murphy cried breathlessly, all of his chins quivering at once.

  Cuddles stared down at the wheel. His stub of a tail thudded loudly against the chalkboard. He dropped heavily to all fours and took a lumbering step toward the wheel.

  “He sees it. He’s going to it,” Evan murmured softly.

  A hush fell over the room as everyone stared at the hamster.

  Will Cuddles climb inside? Evan wondered, holding his breath.

  Will he run on the wheel?

  Will my plan work?

  24

  The hamster sniffed the wheel. Its pink nose twitched. It uttered a low grunt.

  Then it raised itself back onto its hind legs. The hamster’s massive shadow fell over the room.

  With another disgusting grunt, it picked the sculpture up in its front paws and raised it to its face.

  “No!” Evan cried. “Cuddles—no!”

  The metal clanged as Cuddles bit into the wheel. Evan saw deep tooth marks in the aluminum. Cuddles bit down again. Then, seeing that he couldn’t chew the wheel up, he pulled it apart, holding the sculpture in his paws and twisting it furiously with his teeth.

  Then he tossed the mangled wheel away. It slammed into a window, shattering it into a thousand pieces.

  “Back to the drawing board,” Andy muttered to Evan.

  Evan shook his head glumly. That plan was a bust, he told himself. Now what?

  He didn’t have time to think about it.

  He heard shrill cries and shrieks of terror.

  “Put him down! Cuddles—put him down!” Mr. Murphy was screaming.

  Evan turned and saw that the giant hamster had picked up a kid.

  Conan!

  Cuddles held Conan in both paws and was raising him toward his gaping mouth.

  “Drop! Drop!” Mr. Murphy was shouting.

  Conan thrashed his arms and legs. “Help me! Ohhh, hellllp me!” he shrieked. He started to cry. Gasping sobs. Tears rolled down his red cheeks.

  “Helllllp! Mommmmmy! Mommmmmy! Hellllp me!”

  Normally Evan would have enjoyed watching Conan cry like a baby. But this was too serious. Cuddles could chew Conan in half! Evan realized.

  He grabbed Andy. “Where’s the Monster Blood?”

  “Huh? In my locker. I hid it under a bunch of stuff in my locker. Why?”

  “I need it,” Evan said. “Come on. I have another idea.”

  “I hope it’s better than the last one,” Andy muttered.

  They hurried to the door, then glanced back.

  Cuddles was playing with Conan, tossing him from paw to paw, licking him with his huge, pink tongue. Conan was wailing his head off.

  Evan led the way to Andy’s locker. “I’m going to eat some Monster Blood,” he told her, thinking out loud. “I’ll eat a lot. I’ll grow bigger than Cuddles.”

  “I get it,” Andy said, running beside him. “You’ll turn yourself into a giant. You’ll make yourself as big as Cuddles.”

  “No,” Evan replied. “Bigger. Much bigger. I’ll make myself so big that Cuddles will look hamster size. Then I’ll stuff him in the supply closet and lock the door.”

  “It’s a stupid plan,” Andy said.

  “I know,” Evan agreed.

  “But it’s worth a try,” Andy added.

  Evan swallowed hard and didn’t reply. He was staring across the hall at Andy’s locker.

  “Oh, no!” Andy cried out when she saw what Evan was gaping at.

  The locker door bulged as if about to burst open. And green goo poured out from the sides and the bottom.

  “The Monster Blood—it outgrew my locker!” Andy cried.

  Evan ran up to it and grabbed the door handle. He started to tug. “Is it locked?”

  “No,” Andy replied, hanging back.

  Evan tugged. He tugged harder. With a loud groan, he tugged with both hands. “It won’t open!” he cried.

  “Let me try it,” Andy said.

  But before she could step forward, the locker door burst open with a loud whoooosh.

  Sticky, green gunk splashed over Evan.

  He didn’t have a chance to cry out.

  It poured over him like a tall, cresting oce
an wave.

  An ocean wave of Monster Blood.

  It’s burying me! Evan realized.

  The huge, sticky glob splashed out of the locker, plopped over him, smothering him, choking him.

  It’s sucking me in! I can’t move!

  I can’t move!

  25

  Evan shut his eyes as the heavy, green gunk rolled over his head. He shot his arms out, trying to push it away.

  As it swept over him, he fell to his knees. Kicking and thrashing, it forced him down to the floor.

  I’m stuck inside, he thought. Stuck inside…

  He felt hands grab his ankles.

  The hands tugged hard.

  He began to slide. Over the floor. Over the thick layer of Monster Blood.

  “I’ve got you!” he heard Andy cry. “I’ve got you out!”

  He opened his eyes. He saw her pulling him, tugging him out of the thick green gunk by the ankles.

  It clung to his clothes and his skin. But he was out.

  “Thanks,” he murmured weakly. He climbed shakily to his feet.

  He could hear Conan screaming and crying back in the classroom. There was still time to save him, Evan realized.

  He pulled a hunk of Monster Blood off the quivering green mound—and jammed it into his mouth.

  “I’m going to be sick,” Andy groaned, holding her stomach.

  Evan swallowed and reached for another mouthful. “It doesn’t taste bad,” he told her. “A little lemony.”

  “Don’t eat too much!” she cried, half-covering her eyes as she watched him swallow another mouthful.

  “I have to grow big enough so that Cuddles is hamster size compared to me,” Evan said. He grabbed another hunk.

  He could already feel himself start to grow. His head was already over the tops of the lockers.

  Back in the classroom, Conan let out another terrified wail.

  “Let’s go!” Evan boomed. His voice thundered deeply in his new, larger body. He could feel himself growing taller. Taller.

  He had to lower his head to get through the classroom door.

  Kids and teachers moved out of his way, crying out their surprise and alarm.

  He crossed the room, passed Mr. Murphy, and stepped up to the giant hamster. “I’m as big as Cuddles!” Evan called down to Andy.

  He reached out and lifted Conan from Cuddles’ paws. Cuddles reached out to take Conan back. But Evan lowered him gently to the floor.

  “Hellllp me! Helllp me!” Conan ran bawling from the room.

  Evan turned to face the hamster. They stared at each other eye to eye.

  Cuddles’ huge pink nose twitched. He sniffed Evan, inhaling so hard that Evan was nearly sucked forward.

  Evan took a step back.

  Keep growing! he urged himself. I’ve got to keep growing!

  Cuddles eyed him warily, still sniffing. His watery black eyes stared hard as if trying to figure out if Evan was friend or foe.

  “Don’t you remember me, Cuddles?” Evan said softly. “Remember, I’m the one who fed you after school every day?”

  Keep growing! he silently urged himself.

  Why aren’t I growing any taller?

  Down below, he could see Andy, Mr. Murphy, and the others huddled against the far wall, staring up at the two giants in hushed terror.

  Keep growing! Keep growing!

  There was no way he could pick Cuddles up now, Evan realized. They were exactly the same height. And Cuddles outweighed him by at least a ton!

  Keep growing!

  “What’s wrong, Andy?” Evan called down to her in a trembling voice. “I ate tons of the stuff. Why did I stop growing?”

  “I don’t know!” she called up to him. Her voice sounded as tiny as a mouse’s squeak.

  He saw that she had the blue can in her hand. She was turning it over, reading the label. “I don’t know, Evan!” she shouted. “I don’t know why you’re not growing!”

  Then, as Evan turned back to face Cuddles, the hamster reached out and grabbed his waist with both front paws.

  “Ow!” Evan cried as the hamster tried to lift him off the floor.

  Gazing up, he saw the gaping hamster mouth open, the sharp white teeth emerge.

  Evan squirmed desperately, pulling himself loose. Then he wrapped both arms around the hamster’s middle.

  They started to wrestle. Evan fought hard, but the hamster overpowered him. Cuddles rolled Evan onto his back on the floor.

  Evan spun quickly away, climbed to his feet, and pulled the hamster down.

  The two giants wrestled over the floor, surrounded by the shrill screams of teachers and kids.

  Grow bigger! Grow bigger—now! Evan pleaded.

  But it was too late, he saw.

  The hamster lowered its hot, furry body over him. Evan could feel the creature’s booming heartbeat as it pressed him to the floor.

  Then its teeth rose up over Evan’s head.

  The hamster’s mouth opened wide.

  The teeth swung down.

  A wave of hot, sour hamster breath blew down over Evan.

  He shut his eyes.

  “Sorry,” he murmured to Andy.

  He held his breath and waited for the teeth to clamp down.

  26

  Evan heard a pop, like the sound of a cork flying off a bottle.

  Still sprawled on his back on the floor, Evan opened his eyes.

  “Huh?” Cuddles had disappeared. Vanished.

  Evan stared up at the startled faces of kids and teachers against the wall. “Wh-where’s Cuddles?” he stammered.

  Andy stood frozen like a statue, her mouth open.

  Evan slowly realized that she was nearly as big as he was. In fact, everyone was about his size.

  He pulled himself up to a sitting position. “Hey—I’m back to my normal size!” he cried. He shook his head hard as if trying to shake away his close call with the giant hamster.

  “There’s Cuddles!” Andy cried, pointing.

  Evan turned to see Cuddles huddled against the wall. “He’s a little hamster again!” Evan exclaimed happily. He took three quick steps, bent down, and grabbed Cuddles between his hands. “Gotcha!”

  Holding the hamster in front of him, he turned back to Andy and the others. “What happened? Why did we shrink back?”

  Andy was studying the blue Monster Blood can. Suddenly she tossed back her dark hair, her brown eyes lit up, and she started to laugh. “It’s the expiration date!” she cried happily. “The expiration date on the can—it’s today! The Monster Blood stops working today! The magic has worn out!”

  Evan let out a whoop of joy.

  Mr. Murphy, a wide grin on his round face, hurried over and put his arm around Evan’s shoulders. “Fine job, Evan! Fine job!” he exclaimed. “You saved the school. I’m proud of you!”

  “Thanks, Mr. Murphy,” Evan replied awkwardly.

  “You’ll never make a basketball player now that you’re short again,” Mr. Murphy said, smiling. “But that was quite a good match with Cuddles. Have you ever thought of trying out for the wrestling team?”

  Andy came to Evan’s house for dinner that night. He greeted her at the door, eager to tell her how all the kids had apologized for not believing him about the Monster Blood.

  But before he could say anything, she held up a large brown envelope and grinned at him.

  “What’s that?” he asked, following her into the living room.

  “It’s a present my parents sent me from Europe,” she replied, her grin growing wider. “You won’t believe what it is.”

  She started to pull open the envelope. But the front doorbell rang.

  Evan hurried to see who it was.

  “Mr. Murphy!” he cried in surprise.

  “Hi, Evan,” the teacher said, his round body nearly filling the entire front stoop. “Hope I’m not interrupting your dinner.”

  “No,” Evan replied. “Want to come in?”

  “No thanks,” Mr. Murphy replied. His
expression turned solemn. “I came by because I thought you should have some sort of reward, Evan. You were a real hero at school today.”

  “Aw, not really,” Evan said awkwardly. He could feel his face growing hot and knew he was blushing.

  What kind of reward? Evan wondered, staring back at the teacher. A cash reward?

  Mr. Murphy raised the hamster cage into Evan’s view. “I’ve decided to reward you with Cuddles,” the teacher said. “I know how fond of him you are.”

  “No, please!” Evan started to plead.

  “It’s a small token,” Mr. Murphy said. “To show how grateful I am. How grateful we all are.”

  “Please—no—!”

  But before Evan realized it, the hamster cage was in his hand, and Mr. Murphy was waddling back down the driveway to his car.

  “He gave you Cuddles?” Andy asked as Evan returned to the living room carrying the cage. He set it down on the coffee table.

  “It’s my reward,” Evan told her, rolling his eyes. “Do you believe it?”

  “Well, you won’t believe this!” Andy declared. “Look what my parents found in Europe!”

  She reached into the envelope and pulled out a blue plastic can. “It’s Monster Blood!”

  “Oh, no!” Evan wailed.

  “They wrote that they remembered how much fun I had with the old can,” Andy said, holding up the blue container. “So when they saw this can in a toy store in Germany, they decided to send me a new one.”

  Evan’s eyes went wide with fear. “You—you’re not going to open it?” he demanded warily.

  “Already did,” Andy replied. “Just to take a look. But I’m not going to use it. Really. I promise.”

  Evan started to say something—but he was interrupted by his mother’s call from the kitchen. “Dinnertime, you two! Wash your hands and come to the table!”

  Andy set the can of Monster Blood down on the desk in the corner. They obediently hurried to wash their hands.

  They had a lively dinner. There was lots to talk about. They laughed and joked about all that had happened at school. It was easy to laugh about it now that it was all over.

  After dinner, Evan and Andy returned to the living room.