My Name Is Evil (13 page)

In shock I jerked up both hands—and long, angry flames shot out from all my fingertips.

Screams of fright rang out across the room.

And then the screams were drowned out … drowned out by the wails and howls of the animals.

Dogs howled and struggled to tear free of their leashes.

Cats began to hiss. So loud and shrill … hissing in rage … the most terrifying sound I ever heard … like rushing water … like air escaping … the hiss of evil, of true menace.

And then I stumbled back as the hissing cats began to claw furiously through their cages and carrying cases.

Across from me a black cat's eyes glowed bright yellow. With an almost human cry it swiped a claw at its owner. Then sank its fangs into her leg.

Screaming in panic, she struggled furiously to kick the cat off.

I turned to see a Dalmatian puppy begin to froth at the mouth. Its eyes spun wildly in its head. It tossed back its head and let out a fierce roar.

“No,” I whispered. “Nooooo.”

A snake curled itself around a girl's waist, tightening, twisting. The girl screamed, tugging at it helplessly with both hands, red in the face, struggling to breathe.

White mice, squealing, snapping their fat pink tails behind them like whips, stampeded across the floor.

Two wild, snarling dogs attacked each other. Their snapping teeth ripped off huge chunks of fur and skin. Bright red blood puddled beneath them as they battled.

Cats clawed at their owners. Dogs frothed and howled.

Kids scrambled over the floor, wrestling, fighting, frantically struggling to escape their howling, raging pets.

My hand still burned. Flames crackled from my fingertips.

I saw Judy against the back wall. Her hands were raised high as if in surrender. Her mouth was open in an endless scream of horror.

I pointed to her and called. “Judy—! Judy—!”

And to my shock the animals all turned. Turned away from their noisy, angry battles. Broke away from their horrified owners.

The animals all turned. And moved forward as if following orders. They circled Judy. A tight circle of frothing, growling creatures. Chests heaving. Eyes glowing with menace.

They began closing in on her.

Lowering their heads. Arching their backs. Snapping frothy jaws. Drooling hungrily. Preparing to attack.

Closing in. The circle growing tighter … tighter.

Judy hunched helplessly in the middle. Trembling. Her entire body shuddering.

They're going to kill her, I realized.

They're moving in for the kill. And it's all my fault.

What can I do? What?

Suddenly I knew. I had to leave. If I left the hall, maybe … just maybe … the animals would return to normal. And Judy would be saved.

So I spun away. Stumbled shakily, dizzily out the door—and started to run.

Out of the building. Back into the cold morning, still foggy and gray.

Past the parking lot and the bike rack. Around the side of the building.

Into the woods. Into the clean, sharp-smelling woods. Into the darkness, the safe darkness under the autumn-bare trees. Twigs and leaves cracking and snapping beneath my shoes.

I followed a twisting, bramble-choked path that curved through the old trees and the low, tangled shrubs. I ran … ran blindly … ran till I couldn't hear the cries from the building any longer.

And then I stopped just beyond a line of evergreen shrubs. Stopped to catch my breath.

And heard the thud of rapid, approaching footsteps.

The kids in the gym—they're following me! I realized.

They're coming to get me!

With a sharp gasp I ducked low behind the evergreen shrubs. Brambles clung to my sweatshirt sleeves. Wet leaves stuck to my shoes.

I couldn't stop my wheezing breaths.

I struggled to hear the footsteps. Had anyone seen me?

What were they going to do to me when they caught me?

My side ached. My chest felt about to burst.

I peered over the top of the shrub.

“Glen—!” My cry came out in a hoarse whisper. “Glen—it's only you!”

I was so glad to see him. I jumped to my feet, my heart pounding.

His denim jacket flapped around him as he ran. “Are you okay?” he asked, his eyes studying me. “I heard—”

“It was so horrible!” I cried. “I—I'm evil. I—I just did a terrible thing. I can't ever go back. I—I have no friends now. I have no life!”

He raised a finger to his lips. “Sshhhhh. Try to calm down, Maggie.”

“How can I?” I shrieked. “I'll never calm down. Never! Don't you understand, Glen? I'm all alone now. A freak! A horrible, evil freak!”

He kept his finger to his lips. “Maggie, I'm still your friend.”

“But—but—” I protested.

“It's you and me now,” he said softly. “You and me against all of them.”

“But my friends,” I whispered. “My friends … Jackie and Judy and Jilly—”

Glen's expression changed. His eyes grew cold. His whole face tightened. “They deserved it,” he rasped. “They deserved everything they got.”

I swallowed hard, startled by the change in his voice, the icy expression on his face.

“But, Glen—”

“They're total phonies,” he sneered. “Good riddance to them, Maggie. That's what you should be saying. Good riddance.”

“No, you're wrong,” I protested. “Those girls have been my friends for a long, long time. And—”

“All three of them are so cruel, so cold,” Glen continued, ignoring my words. “And they're so totally jealous of you, Maggie. Didn't you see how jealous they were?”

“No,” I replied sharply. “That isn't true. They—”

“They've always been jealous of you,” Glen insisted. “I can't believe you're so blind to them. They were never your friends. Never.”

He shut his angry eyes for a moment. I saw that he was grinding his teeth, his jaw working back and forth tensely.

When he opened his eyes, he appeared even angrier.

“You should never have trusted those three,” he said, shaking his head. “Never. Believe me, they can't be trusted. Know what, Maggie? I'll bet Jackie hid her necklace in your dresser drawer just to make you look bad.”

“Huh?” I let out a gasp and staggered back, away from him. A wave of fear swept over me. My whole body trembled.

“Glen—!” I cried. “How—how did you know about Jackie's necklace? I never told you about that!”

Glen stared at me without blinking. “What difference does it make?” he said finally. “It's you and me now. Us against them.”

“But—how did you know about that?” I repeated.

Dizzying thoughts flashed through my brain. Glen knew about the necklace in my dresser drawer. And he was always there … always there right after something horrible happened.

I gasped. I couldn't hold the words back. “It was you all along—wasn't it!” I whispered. “You—you're evil!”

To my surprise, Glen tossed back his head and laughed, a cold, cruel laugh. “Of course it was me!” he said. “Did you really think you had powers?”

“Y-yes,” I answered. “I—I had that strange feeling each time. My hands burned. Flames shot out. I did think I had powers.”

“No way,” Glen said, grinning a sick, ugly grin. “It was all me. I shared some of my powers with you. You don't have any powers, Maggie.”

And then, the grin fading, he added bitterly, “You're just a normal girl. A normal, average girl. You're not like me.”

I stared hard at him, stared hard until he blurred into the dark shrubs and trees.

Suddenly I remembered. I remembered my birthday. The carnival. Before I went in to see the fortune-teller, Glen held my hand. He was goofing around, and he kissed my hand.

The hand the fortune-teller read.

Miss Elizabeth—she saw Glen's evil on my hand! She sensed his evil. Because he held my hand and spread his evil onto me.

And in the mall. When I ran into the fortune-teller in the mall … I had squeezed Glen's hand on the way to the mall, just before I saw her.

Miss Elizabeth never saw my evil on my hand. Because both times she was reading Glen's evil!

The sky darkened. The shadows of the trees lengthened over us.

Glen's eyes sparkled in the fading light. “You're figuring it out—aren't you?” he said softly. “You're figuring out how I did everything. And you understand—right? You understand why I had to pay those sisters back.”

“Because of what Jackie did to you onstage in front of the whole school?” I asked. “Because of the Tarzan costume? Because none of them would stop teasing you about it?”

He nodded.

“But—but—what about your lawn mower?” I asked. “Your lawn mower went out of control and crashed. You almost cut off your foot.”

Glen snickered. “Good one, huh? I faked that one. I wanted everyone to think you were responsible. I wanted everyone to think you were evil. Then I could get my revenge on those sisters—and everyone would blame you!”

He seemed so excited now, so pleased with himself. “You are so helpless, Maggie. You have no powers of any kind. But I can give you powers. I can share my powers with you. With just a touch.”

He swiped his hand at me.

“No—!” I cried. “I don't want them! I don't want any powers, Glen. I just want—”

He didn't seem to hear my protests. “It's you and me now,” he said, his eyes glowing in the shadowy light. “Just you and me against all of them.”

He reached his hand out. “Come on. Share the power. Shake hands. Shake hands again, Maggie. It's you and me now. We'll show those sisters.”

“No!” I cried again. “I—I won't!”

Eyes glowing wildly, he grabbed for my hand.

But I spun away from him. Stumbled over a fallen tree branch. Caught my balance and started to run.

“You can't run away from it!” he called after me.

And I gasped as I felt a force, a powerful force holding me, pushing against me, holding me back.

“Nooooo!” I howled, and slammed my fists against the invisible wall in front of me. I dug my shoes into the dirt. I lowered my shoulder and pushed hard against the wall I couldn't see.

But he was holding me, using his strange power to hold me prisoner.

I ducked low. Tried to spin free.

But the invisible wall was all around.

“I warned you, Maggie!” he called. “You can't escape! You can't!”

And then dead leaves rushed up from the ground. Clumps of wet, dead leaves swooped up, swirled like a tornado—and swept over me. Weeds slapped at my face. Twigs and limbs snapped and swung at my waist, my legs.

“Stop!” I wailed. “Please—stop!”

The twigs, and weeds, and wet leaves stopped their wild whirl and sank around my shoes. And as they dropped back to the ground, I heard footsteps, hurrying toward us along the curving path.

Three grim-faced figures marching in a single row. The three Mullen sisters—swinging their fists as they walked. So angry. All three of them, so furious I could see it on their faces and in their stiff-legged, menacing steps.

I'm trapped, I realized.

Glen behind me, using his evil to hold me here in place. And the sisters marching, advancing on me with such fury.

Trapped. Trapped …

What am I going to do?