Hyde and Shriek (9 page)

Norman was one of the first ones there. He ran inside. I knew where he was headed. He wanted to start up his reactor, so it would be running at full power by the time the fair got under way. It would be at full power, all right. I checked my watch. It was nine thirty. The fair started at ten. In a couple minutes, I'd go inside so I could watch the panic when the reactor started to melt. Then I'd get out before the radiation escaped.

Sebastian showed up, along with Rory. They went in the front with the rest of the crowd. Rory was holding his big brother's hand. It was so sweet, it made me sick.

But there was no sign yet of the one person I really wanted to destroy. Finally, I saw her. Dawn. She was walking toward the school. But she didn't go inside. She went around toward the back of the building. She was carrying something in one hand, but I couldn't tell what it was. Not that it mattered.

This was too perfect. I headed after her. I didn't know what I was going to do, but I knew I was going to make sure she lost her smile. I was feeling powerful. The very thought of the evil I planned gave me enough strength to face her, no matter how happy and cheerful she might be. An old expression came to mind:
I'll wipe that smile off your face.
How true.

 

Twenty-four

CAUGHT LIKE A RAT

Dawn was standing with her back to me, near the Dumpster. I knew the best approach was a straight-out attack. If I started shouting at her, she'd get angry enough to shout back, especially if I caught her by surprise. It would be lovely.

I took a deep breath, then let her have it. “You! I've had enough trouble with you. Go to the office immediately.” That should do it.

She flinched at the sound of my voice, then spun to face me. I couldn't wait to see the look of terror on her face. I knew the memory of it alone would be enough to satisfy me for hours.

“Oh, hello,” she said. She held out her hand, offering me a bouquet of flowers. “These are for you.”

“No!”
I shouted, taking a step away from her. Dizziness flicked at the edges of my mind, but I fought it off. “It won't work,” I told her. I was stronger than ever and able to fight off her pathetic attack.

“I love you,” Dawn said.

Her words struck like a slap to my face. I staggered, but I didn't give up. “I hate you,” I snarled back. She flinched. I could feel her losing her control. Time to unleash a stream of words that would crush her completely.

As I opened my mouth, there was a sudden motion behind her. Three faces popped up from inside the Dumpster—Norman, Sebastian, and Rory. “We love you, too,” they said.

Too much. The dizziness hit me with the force of a falling tree.

Goodness.

I looked up from the ground. “Did I faint?” I asked.

“Sort of,” Dawn said. “You kind of crumpled. But you're okay now.”

“Thanks.” I still felt weak. I looked at the three kids climbing out of the Dumpster. “And thank you,” I said.

“You're welcome,” Norman said. “It was Dawn's idea. But she figured she might need some help. We went in the front so you wouldn't get suspicious, then went right out the rear door.”

“Yeah,” Dawn said. “I was pretty sure you'd follow me back here. But I didn't know if I could be good enough to make you change all by myself. So I asked them to come along.” She paused and shook her head. “The funny thing is, when I told them about you, they believed me right away.”

“We've seen a lot of strange things in this town,” Sebastian said.

“Tons,” Rory added.

Wow. They'd really come through for me. They'd kept me from hurting Dawn and they'd changed me back to Jackie. But they hadn't solved my problem. I was still in danger of becoming Hyde at any instant. “We have to try something,” I said.

“The bird in the cage?” Dawn asked.

“Yeah.” I guess she'd figured out what I'd started to tell her at the porch.

“What bird?” Sebastian asked. “What cage?”

I explained to him about Dawn's illusion with the picture on the stick. “When you see both sides fast enough, they blend into one image. So, maybe if I can change back and forth fast enough, I might end up being both at once. And if I'm lucky, that will make me Miss Clevis again.”

“Fascinating hypothesis,” Norman said. “And subject to immediate verification.”

“What?” Sebastian asked.

“We can try it right now,” Dawn said. “We just have to be mean to her until she changes to Ms. Hyde. And then, the second she changes, be nice again.”

“What if it doesn't work?” Sebastian asked.

“Then we'd better hope we end up with Jackie,” Dawn said, “because if we end up with Ms. Hyde, we're going to be real sorry.”

“Ready?” I asked.

 

Twenty-five

REACTORS

They stood around me in a half circle. “You're all going to have to be as mean as you can,” Dawn said. “And then as nice as you can.”

“I'm not sure I can be mean,” Sebastian said.

“Trust me,” Dawn told him. “You can be mean.”

“Thanks a lot. I'm not sure I can be nice, either,” he said.

“Look. We've all got both inside us,” Norman said. “Just do your best.”

“Yes,” I said. “Just try your best. And whatever happens, thanks for helping me.”

The four of them, who'd just rescued me, opened their mouths and let me have it. They called me names and made fun of me. It was shocking hearing such bitter, angry words from such nice people. In an instant, the dizziness came.

Curses.

Where was I? Why were these little monsters talking to me? Those awful smiles. I wanted to smash them all. All that sickening talk about love. What awful beasts they were. I wanted to …

Goodness.

I must have fallen again. Why were they shouting? They're so mean. Such angry faces. I could cry. How could they say such terrible things about me?

Drat!

Disgusting animals. That's what they were. Those smiles.

Wonderful smiles.

I hated them.

I …

Silence. They stood staring at me. I wanted to hug them. And I wanted to kick myself for getting into this mess. I was happy. And I was angry. Both at once! That meant I couldn't be Jackie. And I couldn't be Ms. Hyde.

“It worked,” I said.

“Yes, it did, Miss Clevis,” Dawn said. She smiled. It was a lovely smile.

Before I could thank them, an alarm sound shrieked from the gym. All heads turned.

Norman and I shouted the same words at the same time. “The reactor!”

We raced into the building and hurried to the gym. Everyone stood staring at Norman's reactor. He ran up to it and said, “Nothing to be alarmed about, folks. It's just overheating.”

“What about radiation?” Sebastian asked.

“It's just a simulation,” Norman said. “You don't think a kid could get his hands on uranium, do you? And you don't think I'd be stupid enough to build a real reactor, do you? I'd never put everyone in danger. Only a complete fool would think that.”

Or a person with no good inside her, I realized. Ms. Hyde was capable of believing Norman would do something extremely dangerous, but I wasn't. Not me—Miss Clevis.

“A simulation?” Sebastian asked.

Norman nodded.

“So it's just like my virtual reality exhibit,” Sebastian said. “It's a simulation, too. Just like yours. Just as good.”

“Just as good?”
Norman screamed. “It's a glove. It's a glove and sunglasses. That's not a simulation—that's the remains of a garage sale.”

“I added some more wires,” Sebastian said.

I smiled at them. They were so cute. I knelt down and thanked Rory.

“Does this mean I get an A in science?” he asked.

“For the rest of your life,” I said. “Or at least through the sixth grade. As long as you earn it.”

Whack!

I looked across the room. Mr. Brickner was yelling at a student and whacking his cane on a table. I walked over and put my arm around his shoulder.

“Have you tried kindness?” I asked.

He glared at me for an instant, like a goat that wanted to do damage with his horns, but I just smiled. And I kept smiling until he had no choice but to smile back. No choice at all.

Mr. Rubinitski came up to me. “You're here. I'd heard you got married.”

“No, I was just out sick. You could say I wasn't myself for a couple days. But I'm fine now.”

I walked back over to Dawn. “I really don't know how to thank you,” I told her.

“I'm just glad I could help,” she said. “And I even got a chance to be bad for a little bit.”

“I guess you did. But don't start liking it, okay?”

“Don't worry,” she said. “That's not the way I'm made. I don't have it in me to be bad.”

“I hope I don't either.” But I knew Ms. Hyde was gone. Well, not gone, but shoved back inside me with Jackie to balance her. It was scary. And it was something I was sure I'd think about a lot from now on. But not right now.

It felt so wonderful to be me again. I was exhausted, but I still enjoyed the science fair. Norman took first place. No big surprise. Dawn got third, which was great. Sebastian got to give his mom back her glove right after the fair.

And I got to be me again. As far as I was concerned, that was pretty good.

 

Kids can be such monsters … literally! Especially at Washington Irving Elementary. Read on for a sneak peek at

The Vanishing Vampire
.…

I was on my way home from a movie when the dark thing fell on me. I'd been walking quickly, hurrying to the safety of home. Lewington isn't a dangerous place to live, but I'd just watched the late showing of
Creepers from the Crypt.
I couldn't fight the urge to rush through the empty streets. Images from the film chased me as I went, threatening to leap from my mind and become real.

Just one block back, I'd split up with my friend Norman. He'd headed left on Maple. I'd stayed on Spruce, walking past that huge oak whose roots were slowly breaking up the sidewalk by the vacant lot.

I heard nothing. I saw very little. Later, thinking back, I remembered the eyes and the teeth. At the time, I just knew darkness was dropping toward me. And it wasn't only in the night; the darkness filled my mind and took me away.

The darkness inside me lifted as I woke, leaving me wondering why I wasn't in bed. I was somewhere hard and cold. There was dirty concrete beneath my fingers. I sat up slowly, feeling the world spin. I held very still, waiting for it to stop.

I stood. The world spun again, but with less force. I put one hand out and touched the rough bark of the tree.

The tree. Something dark? Something falling? I couldn't quite remember.

I turned toward home, unsure of what had happened. I'd passed out or fainted. No. “Guys don't faint,” I mumbled to myself.

Behind, I heard the scraping slap of sneakers on the sidewalk. Someone was calling a name. Someone was calling me. I turned, moving cautiously, afraid that the world would follow my motion and start to spin again.

It was Norman. He was running toward me, one finger pushing up the glasses that were always sliding down his nose. “Splat, hey, Splat, you okay?”

They call me Splat. It's a long, stupid story. My name's Sebastian. Sebastian Claypool. That name is a short, stupid story. Before I was born, Mom and Dad were listening to a lot of music written by Johann Sebastian Bach. Dad thought Johann would be a strange name for a kid. So,
blam,
they hang Sebastian on me. Thanks, Dad.

It could have been worse. They also liked the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley.

Norman reached me and stood there, taking deep breaths like a catfish dragged onto shore. Running was not a big part of his life. The night had grown chilly, and the air turned to swirls of fog as it left Norman's nostrils. “I looked back and you were on the ground,” he said. “Did you trip?”