He jogged right past. He didn’t seem to hear her.
Corky wanted to ask him why he hadn’t said hi the night before. It wasn’t like Jay, she knew. He wasn’t at all shy. He never cared if he interrupted Alex and her.
“Two’s company, three’s a party!” That’s what Jay always said.
So what was his problem last night? Corky wondered. Thinking about his strange, glowing eyes gave Corky a chill.
Alex hadn’t seemed the same either. His kisses were so much rougher, so much harder.
Am I imagining that Alex and Jay seem different? Corky asked herself. Is it just me? Just the fact that I’m uncomfortable being in this strange town—knowing that the evil may have followed us here?
She glanced up at the section of seats that had been covered in the boiling tar. Most of the tar had been cleaned up. But many seats were still stained with black marks.
Stop it, Corky! she scolded herself.
I’m not going to think about that today. No way. We have a game to win. I’m going to concentrate on the game. I’m going to concentrate on having fun.
The players finished their second lap, picked up basketballs, and began their regular warm-ups. Across the floor, Corky saw the Lions cheerleaders come running out of their locker room in their blue and gold uniforms.
Her sleek black hair drifting behind her, Lena lowered her hands to the bench and began doing stretching exercises. She is really beautiful, Corky thought. And look how limber she is. Wow!
“I hate her. I really hate her.”
Corky turned to find Ivy standing behind her, arms crossed tightly over her chest, a disapproving frown on her face as she stared across the floor at Lena. Lauren hurried over to join them.
Corky laughed. “Why do you hate Lena, Ivy? Because she’s pretty and a really great cheerleader?”
“That’s good for starters,” Ivy replied dryly. “I just hate that girl. She’s such a show-off. I mean, she really thinks she’s a star.”
As if responding to Ivy’s words, Lena stepped onto the floor and started performing back flips.
Perfect each time, Corky observed.
“I hate her!” Ivy repeated.
Lena finished her back flips and smiled across the court at Corky and Ivy. “Go Lions!” she shouted as if challenging them.
“Go Tigers!” Ivy and Lauren shouted back.
Corky bent to retie her sneaker lace. A loud, angry shout on the court made her raise her head.
“Get out of my face!” Jay screamed at the coach.
Corky saw the startled expression on the man’s face. “Hey, Landers—I only said to pick it up a little!”
Jay’s face had become bright red. His eyes glowed angrily. “You’ve been riding me all morning!” he screamed. He furiously tossed his basketball to the side. It hit a metal folding chair and sent it clattering to the floor. “Get out of my face! I mean it!”
“Hey—cool your jets, Jay. Let’s talk about this!” Coach Hall replied, motioning with both hands for Jay to back off and calm down. He put his hand on Jay’s back and started to lead him off the floor.
“Get your paws off me!” Jay shrieked. He pulled away from the coach and went running off the floor toward the locker rooms.
Coach Hall, shaking his head, went after him.
I’ve never seen Jay like this, Corky thought, swallowing hard. What is his problem?
She caught Alex’s eye. He shrugged, a bewildered expression on his face. “I guess he had a bad breakfast!” he shouted to her.
Corky glanced up at the scoreboard clock. Eleven o’clock. The second half of the game against the Lions would begin in an hour. A few early-bird fans were already making their way up the aisles to their seats.
We’re the best,
Better than the rest!
We’re the best,
Better than the rest!
Corky turned to see that an impromptu cheerleader competition had begun. Lena and the other Lions cheerleaders had lined up and offered a challenge across the floor.
Kimmy quickly called the Tigers into a huddle. Then they lined up to answer the challenge.
We’re the Tigers
And all we have to say
is: We’re the BEST
In every way!
We’re the Tigers
And all we have to say
is: Look out, Lions—
Tigers are on their way!
Corky and her teammates ended with a shout. Then they watched Lena call instructions to the Lions, who stepped forward to answer the Tiger challenge.
Two points more AND
Two points more AND
Two points more AND
Two points more AND—
Each time the cheerleaders called out And, Lena performed a crisp, clean backflip.
Corky watched in total admiration. Lena had to be the best cheerleader Corky had ever seen.
Two points more AND
Two points more AND
Two points more AND
Two points more AND—
WINNNNNNN, LIONS!
As the Lions cheerleaders clapped, Lena did another backflip, landing perfectly on her feet. Then another backflip.
Then, even though the cheer had ended, she stood straight, swung her arms up, and performed another backflip, her long hair flying.
“Do you believe her?” Kimmy whispered to Corky.
Another backflip. Another. The basketball players had all stopped their warm-ups to watch.
Another backflip.
And then Lena’s trembling voice rang out over the court. “Somebody—help me!”
Another backflip.
Corky watched the terror on Lena’s face as she flipped again.
“Help me! Please! I can’t stop!”
Chapter 20
A BIG DRINK
Two Lions cheerleaders grabbed for Lena. But she flipped away from them, her black hair flying, her long legs stretching up together, her sneakers landing hard.
Hoarse screams escaped her throat. Her eyes rolled wildly as she performed another backflip. Then another.
Alarmed voices rang out as players and cheerleaders from both schools hurried across the floor.
“Grab her!”
“Somebody hold her down!”
“Why is she doing that?”
“Make her stop!”
“Why is she screaming?”
Three basketball players finally pinned Lena to the floor. Her arms shot forward. Her legs kicked as if going into a flip. As the three boys struggled to hold her down, Lena tossed her head back—her eyes rolling around frantically—and uttered scream after scream.
Corky saw the Lions coach run toward the phones along the back wall, probably to call for an ambulance. A crowd of players, cheerleaders, and onlookers formed a circle around Lena. They talked softly, shaking their heads in disbelief as Lena thrashed her arms and legs, trying hard to break free to perform more backflips.
“Noooo!”
Several kids cried out as Lena hurtled away from her captors. She tossed her hair back, raised her hands high, and did another arching backflip.
Then another.
As she flipped herself over, her shrill screams pierced the air.
“Stop her! Somebody stop her!” Corky shrieked. Glancing back, she saw Ivy, hanging back, away from the circle of horrified onlookers, arms casually crossed over her chest.
“Hey!” Corky cried out in dismay as she saw the pleased grin frozen on Ivy’s face.
♦ ♦ ♦
“We won!” Ivy cried happily, jumping up and down.
“Glad this one is over!” Kimmy muttered to Corky, wiping sweat off her forehead with the back of her hand.
Me too, Corky thought with a sigh.
The Tigers won the game easily. It was a low-scoring low-energy half, Corky had to admit. The band tried extra hard to get everyone clapping and cheering. But the cheerleaders on both sides couldn’t get into the game.
They were all too
shaken by what had happened to Lena.
Corky couldn’t erase the sound of Lena’s terrified screams from her mind. She couldn’t forget that she and Kimmy and Debra had called the evil back. The sight of Lena struggling, struggling with all her might to free herself as the medics strapped her down to a gurney and rolled her to the ambulance stayed in Gorky’s mind.
No one had recovered from that sight yet.
During the game spectators milled around, talking, not paying much attention.
Alex played his usual strong game. He was the top scorer of both teams. But Corky could see the strained, tight-lipped expression on his face, even after he scored a basket.
And she knew Alex had to be unhappy that Jay wasn’t in the game.
Jay sat glumly on the bench, resting his head in his hands, watching the play move from one end to the other. Corky guessed that the coach had benched him because of his outburst before the game.
What a shame, Corky thought. Jay is usually the team cheerleader, calling out encouragement to the others, shouting wisecracks, slapping high-fives after every play.
But not today. Today he sat on the far end of the bench, staring unhappily at the game, not moving, not smiling, not talking to anyone.
“On to the second round!” Ms. Closter shouted. “Hope you girls have some voice left! I’m so hoarse! My throat is killing me!”
The cheerleaders and both teams headed off the floor. Corky and Debra found themselves leading the way to the back hall that led to their locker rooms.
“Corky, we have to talk,” Debra said, staring meaningfully into Corky’s eyes. “What happened to Lena—it could be caused by only one thing.”
“I know,” Corky replied. She pushed through the swinging doors. Into the outer hallway.
She stopped when she saw the body sprawled on its back across the concrete floor. “Noooo!” A horrified wail escaped Corky’s mouth.
Debra grabbed her arm, squeezing hard. “I—don’t believe it!”
Corky heard startled cries behind her as cheerleaders and players jammed into the narrow hall to see what had happened.
She shrank back, Debra still squeezing her arm, and stared down at the grotesque form on the floor.
The Tigers coach lay with his arms stretched out. The neck of an enormous green water bottle from a cooler had been shoved into his mouth.
The huge bottle rested on his face. Empty.
The water had all drained out into his body, Corky saw.
The coach had drowned. His belly and chest were bloated. Like a big water balloon.
What have we done? Corky thought, turning her head away. What have we done?
She heard cries and moans all around her.
Debra leaned close. Her voice trembled as she murmured in Gorky’s ear. “The evil—it’s right here. Right here beside us now.”
Chapter 21
OUT THE WINDOW
“We’re going to win this tournament for Coach Hall!” Alex cried, raising a fist in the air.
Several kids let out a cheer. But the response was halfhearted, Corky saw. Three hours later they were all still dazed and upset. The shock hadn’t begun to wear off. Both players and cheerleaders remained silent, still deep in their own troubled thoughts.
“We’re not going to let this stop the Tigers!” Alex continued, trying to rouse them. “The police will find the killer. And we’re going to show everyone that we’re not quitters!”
Sweat dripped down Alex’s face. His thick blond hair was matted to his forehead. His eyes flashed wildly, excitedly.
Corky glanced around the dimly lit locker room. Her friends huddled in twos and threes, some leaning against the gray lockers, some hunched close together on the low benches.
The blue-uniformed New Foster police officers had questioned each of them. Two officers were still questioning Ms. Closter near the locker room doorway.
Upstairs, Coach Hall’s bloated body lay sprawled on its back as officers searched the arena for clues. Corky wondered if they had removed the water bottle from his mouth.
It’s so sick, so sick, she thought, forcing back a wave of nausea. She leaned close to Kimmy. “I just want to go home,” she whispered.
Kimmy’s eyes were red rimmed and bloodshot. She slumped on the bench beside Corky, her face pale and expressionless. “Me too,” she whispered back.
Corky overheard two basketball players murmuring to each other against the wall behind her. “Who would kill the coach? He was such a good guy.”
“It had to be someone really strong.”
“Yeah. Those water bottles weigh a ton!”
“It had to be a psycho. A total psycho.”
Corky swallowed hard. The killer wasn’t human, she knew. The killer had inhuman strength because he—or she—was inhabited by the evil.
Forcing back the dread that made her stomach turn and rumble, Corky gazed around the room at the dazed faces.
Only Alex seemed to have shaken away his shock. He continued to deliver his emotional pep talk, thrusting his fist above his head, his blue eyes wild, his voice hoarse and breathless.
Why is Alex doing this? Corky wondered, studying him as he shouted. He tried to rouse the others to cheer with him. How did he get over his shock so quickly?
And then her eyes stopped on Jay.
Jay stood beside Alex, one foot on the low bench in front of him, his Mighty Ducks cap pulled low on his forehead, a white towel wrapped around his neck.
Corky gasped as she realized Jay was staring back at her. His eyes were narrowed, his expression cold and hard.
“Kimmy, do you see Jay?” she whispered. “Why is he staring like that?”
“Maybe he’s just upset,” Kimmy replied, raising her eyes to the front of the locker room, where Jay continued to stare, unblinking, unmoving. “Maybe he’s just as frightened as the rest of us.”
“But why does Jay look so different? He doesn’t look like Jay at all,” Corky insisted. “He—he’s really scaring me.”
“We’re all scared,” Kimmy replied softly, lowering her eyes to the floor.”
Corky remembered how angry Jay had been before the game.
“You don’t think that Jay—” she started to say.
Kimmy interrupted her. “We just have to get home, Corky. We have to get away from here. Before we all die.”
♦ ♦ ♦
The police didn’t allow them to leave the arena until evening. After one set of officers questioned them, another set appeared.
After stopping for dinner at a fast-food place in town, the cheerleaders wearily made their way to their rooms.
“Too late to call home,” Corky whispered to Kimmy. “My parents wouldn’t drive up here this late.”
Kimmy glanced at the bathroom, where Ivy was taking a shower. “We’ll wake up early and call,” she said. “Did you tell Debra?”
Corky nodded. “Debra wanted to run away—tonight. Just leave all our stuff and try to hitch a ride home.”
“That’s crazy,” Kimmy replied, frowning. “We’ll be safe till morning. Then we’ll call our parents to come get us.”
“But what about all the others?” Corky whispered, pulling on her long nightshirt. “Shouldn’t we warn them too?”
“Would they believe us?” Kimmy demanded. “If we told them there was an evil spirit here, would any of them believe us?”
Corky stared back at Kimmy thoughtfully. “No. I guess not,” she replied finally.
A chill ran down her back. She could feel the goose bumps rise on her arms. She climbed into bed, shivering, and pulled the blankets up to her chin. “I guess not,” she repeated.
The bathroom door swung open, and Ivy emerged, stepping out of a cloud of steam, one towel wrapped around her body, another around her hair. “I feel much better,” she announced. “Much, much better.”
♦ ♦ ♦
Corky couldn’t sleep.
She had the shivers and couldn’t get warm enough to stop them. Staring up at the cei
ling, she listened to trucks rumble by out on the highway—and she pictured the horrors at the arena again and again.
Closing her eyes didn’t make them go away. She still saw poor Lena, her face twisted in horror as she did backflip after backflip, unable to stop, unable to control her own body.
She heard Lena’s helpless shrieks. They repeated and repeated in Corky’s head until Corky covered her ears with both hands.
She saw Jay’s angry outburst. Saw him shout at Coach Hall, heave the basketball into the seats. So strange for someone so laid-back, so good-natured.
She saw Coach Hall lying bloated and beached on the hallway floor with the huge green water bottle jammed in his mouth and down his throat.
She couldn’t stop these scenes. She couldn’t force them away. It was, she realized, as if she had been possessed, possessed by these pictures of horror.
Desperate for sleep, Corky shut her eyes and tried to count sheep, silent white sheep.
But a sound from across the room made the sheep vanish.
Corky opened her eyes and gazed through the darkness to see someone moving. Ivy. In the shimmering pink and blue light from the parking lot, Corky watched Ivy pull on a sweater and jeans.
Adjusting the sweater sleeves, Ivy turned toward Corky’s bed. Corky instantly shut her eyes, pretended to sleep. A few moments later she opened them again.
Moving silently, with quick, eager movements, Ivy pulled on her shoes, brushed out her long hair, stepped to the window.
Corky raised her head from the pillow to watch.
It must be about four in the morning, she realized. What is going on? Why is Ivy sneaking out?
The window slid open.
Corky sat up a little straighter, squinting into the pink and blue light.
Silently, Ivy raised one leg over the windowsill. Then she leaned forward, pulled up the other leg, and disappeared out the window.
Corky lowered her feet to the floor. “Kimmy?” she called, her voice a hoarse whisper. “Kimmy—did you see that? Ivy sneaked out.”
Silence. Kimmy didn’t move.
“Kimmy?” Corky called a little louder. “Kimmy?”