Stop! he commanded. You cannot remove the ring.
I stopped.
This is only the beginning, he said. Kid stuff.
The real evil is still to come.
Don’t try to get rid of me. You can’t do it.
Soon you won’t even want to do it.
The ring is controlling me! I thought.
I felt a chill—as if my heart were slowly being covered with ice.
But what’s going to happen? I wondered.
What if I keep getting more and more evil?
What am I going to do next?
I was eating breakfast on Saturday morning. Amanda sat across the table from me, eyeing me warily.
Bad things had happened to her all week. Someone tore up her homework. Someone replaced her favorite shampoo with corn oil. Someone put a couple of slugs in her spaghetti sauce.
That someone was me, of course. But I never admitted to any of the terrible things I did. “I didn’t do it!” I claimed, over and over.
Amanda watched me from over her cereal bowl. She didn’t know what to think.
I didn’t know what to think, either.
I didn’t want to do any of those things. But I did them anyway.
Amanda was lucky. I was much meaner to the kids at school.
One girl brought in her expensive new laptop computer. I poured soda all over it. It doesn’t work anymore.
I set the class hamster loose—and then locked a stray cat in the room with him.
Danny, who always fed the hamster, found the hamster’s mangled little body under a desk.
I hated myself for doing those things. But I couldn’t stop myself!
I had no control.
Every day the ring’s power over me grew stronger. And every day, my evil grew.
I finished my cereal and went out to the porch to check on Chirpy.
Poor Chirpy, I thought. He lay on the floor of his cage, breathing weakly. His broken wing was still bandaged.
“Come on, Chirpy—eat,” I urged. I tried to stuff a few seeds into his beak. He didn’t swallow them.
Someone knocked on the porch door. “Beth! You ready to go?”
“Hi, Danny.” I opened the door. He leaned his bike against the wall and came in.
“Come on!” he cried. “You’re not wearing that to the bike-a-thon, are you?”
I glanced down and realized I was still in my pajamas!
The bike-a-thon. Oh, no.
I can’t go to the bike-a-thon, I thought. What if I do something really bad there?
What if I hurt somebody?
“Danny, I can’t go,” I said. “I—I’m sick. See—I’m still in my pajamas!”
“You’re not sick.” Danny didn’t believe me. “Come on—you have to go! It’s for charity! You can’t let everybody down!”
“No, Danny, really. I’m not feeling well.”
I can’t go, I thought desperately. I can’t!
There will be so many kids there. So many people to hurt.
So many ways to be evil.
I glanced down at the ring. If only I could get it off!
Every night before I went to sleep I tried and tried to pull the ring off.
And every night that evil face stared me down. You can’t escape, he said.
“Who are you?” I asked the face in the ring.
He never answered.
How did he get inside the ring? I wondered.
Why does he want to make me hurt people?
He never told me. But whenever I tried to take off the ring, his voice echoed inside my head.
You are in my power now, he said.
And I knew it was true. So I tried to stay as far away from people as I could.
“I won’t let you miss it,” Danny insisted. “It will be fun! And besides, everyone is waiting for you!”
“Danny, I can’t,” I insisted. “Really. They’ll get along without me.”
Danny gazed at me with his big brown eyes. “Beth,” he said quietly. “I never knew you were so selfish.”
I lowered my head. The black ring caught my eye. The smoky face seemed to grin at me.
That’s right, Beth. I heard his voice inside my head. G. Go …
Danny pushed me into the house. “Get in there and put on your bike shorts. I’ll wait for you right here.”
I went inside.
“And hurry up!” Danny called.
I went up to my room and got dressed. Maybe everything will be okay, I thought. I’ll just ride my bike. I’ll be helping charity.
I should go, I realized. I’ll fight the evil. I’m strong. I can resist it.
A few minutes later I grabbed my bike from the garage and met Danny out front.
“I knew you’d do it.” Danny grinned at me.
We rode to Marchfield High School, where the bike-a-thon began. The school sat perched on top of a steep hill. I stared down the twisting, winding hill.
The first leg of the bike-a-thon would be tricky, I realized. All downhill—but lots of steep curves. It would be easy to wipe out down there, I thought.
Dozens of kids had gathered for the race. I knew some of them—they were from my school.
And then a last biker sped into the parking lot. He braked suddenly, spraying gravel everywhere.
Anthony?
“Hey, geeks!” he cried. “Are you losers doing this too?”
“I thought bike-a-thons were for goody-goodies,” I reminded him.
“They are—sort of,” Anthony replied. “But I’ve got a new bike, and I want to show it off.”
I stared at his shiny, fancy new bike. It was sleek and black, and looked much faster than any other bike there.
“Some jerk wrecked my bike last week,” Anthony said.
“Oh, really?” I said, looking away. “That’s terrible.”
“I still haven’t found out who did it,” he went on. “But whoever it was—I’m going to show him. I’m going to show him I’m not scared. And my new bike is even better than my old one. I’m going to come in first today.”
“Good for you,” I snapped.
A tall woman blew a whistle. “Kids! Kids! Gather around for a minute. I want to explain the rules to you.”
Everyone left their bikes in the parking lot and gathered around the front steps of the school.
I hung back.
Anthony will be leading the pack down that hill, I decided.
If he wipes out, everyone will crash.
My heart began to pound with excitement.
There will lots of injuries, I thought. Lots of wonderful crashes.
Lots of screams.
How easy would it be to take the brakes off Anthony’s bike?
I held the black ring in the sunlight. The evil face smiled at me.
Yes, it commanded. Yes! Do it!
The tall woman was pointing out the bike route on a big map. The other kids all listened carefully.
I slipped away from the group. I sneaked over to Anthony’s bike.
I studied the hand brakes. All I have to do is snap off the cord, I decided.
Once Anthony starts down the hill, he won’t be able to stop. He won’t be able to slow down.
He’ll speed to the bottom.
Then he’ll crash. And all the kids behind him will smash right into him.
They’ll all crash too.
It will be so horrible.
It will be so great!
I reached for the brake cord and prepared to snap it off.
Should I? I thought wickedly.
The face in the ring nodded.
Go for it, Beth. Do it! DO IT!
My fingers began to tingle. They felt cold.
The cold feeling rose up my arm. It spread through my whole body.
Oh, no, I thought. It’s happening again.
I’m going out of control.
My fingers touched the brake cord.
The evil welled up in me. I tried to press it back down.
No! I
screamed at myself. Don’t let it take over!
My fingers wrapped around the cord.
Come on, a voice in my head said. It will be so easy. And so much fun!
No! I thought. No!
What am I doing?
I shook my head hard. Snap out of it! I thought.
I don’t want to do this! The ring wants me to!
I snatched my hand away from the bike. No! I won’t do it!
I can’t let this happen!
The ring began to burn on my finger. I refused to look at the face.
I’ve got to get out of here, I realized. I can’t resist the power of the ring!
I jumped on my bike and began pedaling frantically.
“Beth—wait!” I heard Danny call. “Where are you going?”
I didn’t answer. I didn’t even look back.
I knew I had to get away from there.
I’ve got to get rid of this ring, I thought.
I pedaled furiously toward home. A strong wind seemed to come from nowhere. It blew against me, pushing me back.
I struggled to bike against the wind. My bike barely moved. My legs felt heavy.
It’s the evil, I realized. It’s trying to stop me!
“No!” I cried. “I won’t let you control me!”
The powerful force pushed me back. I could barely breathe in the powerful rush of wind. It was trying to make me hurt all those kids!
I shut my eyes and pumped my legs as hard as I could. I won’t! I vowed. I won’t give up!
I kept pedaling, using all my strength.
At last, exhausted, I rolled into my driveway. I let my bike drop onto the grass and hurried inside.
I ran straight to the basement. This ring is coming off now! I declared.
I tore over to Dad’s workbench. I stopped.
Chirpy’s cage sat on a table next to the bench.
Chirpy lay inside the cage. His eyes were closed.
I tapped on the cage. “Chirpy? Chirpy?”
He didn’t move.
Chirpy was dead.
Mom must have brought him down here so I wouldn’t find him when I got home, I realized. She wanted to tell me about it first.
Poor little bird, I thought sadly. I tried my best to save him.
Then I felt the ring burning on my finger again.
No time to worry about Chirpy now, I thought. I can’t think of anything else—not until this ring is off.
I opened Dad’s toolbox and shuffled through his tools. Pliers, screwdrivers … aha! Metal cutters!
Just what I need, I thought. This ought to do the trick.
I grabbed the metal cutters and raised them to the ring.
“I’ll cut you off,” I growled at the face.
The tip of the cutters touched the ring.
Suddenly, the ring began to glow.
It warmed on my finger.
“No!” I warned. “You can’t stop me!”
I gripped the ring with the metal cutters. The ring glowed even more brightly. The shiny black jewel began to feel hot.
Black smoke poured out of the ring. Thick, choking smoke. Waves of smoke.
I couldn’t help it. I dropped the metal cutters.
I coughed and began to choke as smoke filled the room.
Can’t breathe … can’t breathe …
I raised the ring to my face. “Stop it!” I pleaded. “Stop!”
The smoke filled my throat. Tears stung my eyes.
“I can’t see!” I choked out. “Can’t breathe!”
The ring scalded my hand.
And then the face floated up. Floated out of the ring.
Just a smoky, shifting, ghostly form. The smoke surrounded a gaunt face. The face in the ring, now huge. Empty eyes, a nose, and an evil mouth. All made out of smoke.
The face rose over me. And opened its mouth wide.
Wider. Wider.
As if to swallow me whole.
I shrank back against the workbench, my heart thudding in my chest.
My eyes burned as I stared through the swirling smoke, stared up in horror at the floating face.
“My evil has outgrown the ring!” he bellowed. “Now I need a living body to survive. Now I will possess you!”
“No!” I shrieked. “Please—”
“You can’t escape,” the face warned. “No one can!”
Through the choking smoke, I eyed the basement steps.
Could I make a run for it?
The creature seemed to read my mind. “Don’t try to run away,” he rasped. “I will possess you as I possessed your teacher.”
“Miss Gold!” I gasped. Once again, I remembered how strange she’d looked at the carnival. How powerful and evil she was.
“When the police captured your teacher, I slipped off her finger,” the creature explained. “She was no use to me anymore. Now I have prepared you. The things you have done until now were only little tests. You thought they were evil. To me they were nothing!”
He laughed again, a horrible, raspy laugh.
My body shuddered, gripped in terror.
“Now you are ready, Beth,” he said. “Ready for me to leave the ring once again. I will live inside you. Together we can do some REAL evil!”
“No!” I protested. “I won’t let you! I’ll fight you! I’ll fight you the whole way!”
“You have no choice,” the face roared. “You wear the ring. And now, I will wear you!”
“No … no …” I begged.
“I must have life!” the creature boomed.
The black mist floated down on me. So cold. So cold.
The face hovered, closer, closer …
The ring, I thought. I’ve got to get it off!
I stared wildly through the smoke. Something flashed. Something metal, lying on the workbench.
A saw.
That’s it, I thought. I have no choice.
There’s only one way to get rid of the ring.
I have to cut off my finger.
I reached for the saw as the black mist surrounded me. Colder, colder …
I gripped the wooden handle. I took a deep breath.
I held the saw to my ring finger—and prepared to cut it off.
I gulped and held my breath.
My hand shook as I pressed the saw against my finger.
The black smoke swirled around me. I tried not to breathe it in.
The face pressed toward mine.
So cold … so cold …
My body was filling up with cold.
You have to do it! I told myself. Before the evil takes you over!
Then I saw the dead bird, lying on its side. Wait a minute, I thought.
Maybe there’s another way.
The bird …
I dropped the saw. It clattered to the floor.
I tugged at the ring with all my might. The ring felt lighter with the face no longer inside.
Come off, I begged. Come off!
WHOOSH!
To my shock, the ring slipped off my finger.
Yes! I thought.
I reached for Chirpy and jammed the ring on his foot.
Above me, the face contorted into a horrible scowl. “NOOOOO!” he screeched. “Nooooooooo!”
The face rose up toward the ceiling. The cold melted out of my body. I rubbed my hands together. I began to warm up.
The smoke hung in the air. I could see the evil face in the swirling mist, fighting to keep away from the bird.
Then, with a final scream, the smoky face was sucked into the body of the dead bird.
It was as if I’d turned on a fan and blown it all away.
I took a deep breath in the clear air. I watched Chirpy closely.
Did it work? I wondered. Did I get rid of him?
Chirpy’s body stirred slightly. Oh, no, I thought. I hope the evil won’t come alive inside Chirpy!
But Chirpy only shuddered once. Then he gave a choking gasp and fell still.
I poked the bird. Dead.
I began to tremble all over. I can’t believe it, I thought.
Did I really kill the evil spirit?
There’s only one way to find out, I realized.
Very carefully, I reached into the cage and plucked out the black ring.
I gazed into the jewel.
“Yes!” I cried.
The ring was perfectly clear. No smoky face inside the jewel.
It sparkled and shone like a black diamond.
The evil needed life, I realized. But I gave him death.
And it killed him. It worked!
I started to giggle. Soon I was laughing with joy.
“I did it! I did it!” I shouted. “I killed the evil spirit! I freed myself!”
I danced around the basement, whooping with happiness.
“I got rid of the evil!” I sang. “I did it myself! Yes! Yes! Yes!”
I paused, panting. Still, I thought, I’d better make sure.
I decided to bury Chirpy and the ring in a deep hole. Then I’d never have to worry about evil again.
I found a small wooden box. I placed poor Chirpy’s stiff body inside.
“Good-bye, Chirpy,” I said. “I’m sorry I couldn’t save you. But thanks for saving me.”
I set the black ring beside him. Then I nailed the box shut.
I grabbed a shovel and took the little casket outside behind the garage. I started to dig. I dug as deep a hole as I could.
I set the box in the hole and covered it with dirt. Then I marked the grave with a stick.
I’d better tell Mom that Chirpy is buried there, I thought. That way she won’t dig it up to plant flowers or something.
Wiping the dirt from my hands, I hummed as I headed inside. Mom and Amanda were gone, I realized. They’d been gone the whole time.
They must be out shopping, I thought.
I remembered all the mean things I’d done to Amanda that week. I felt sorry about it. From now on I’m going to be extra-nice to her, I promised myself.
I heard a car door slam. Amanda raced into the house. Mom followed.
“Beth!” Amanda cried. “Beth—look! Look what Mom bought me!”
I smiled and asked, “What is it?”
Amanda held her hands behind her back. She was hiding whatever it was from me. She wanted to surprise me.
That’s so cute, I thought.
“Mom knew I was upset about my Barbies being ruined,” Amanda explained. “So she bought me a present!”
She held out one hand. “Look! It’s a black ring—just like yours!”
I gasped. Amanda held the ring up to show me. The black jewel flashed.