The Second Evil

First Archway Paperback printing September 1992

The sale of this book without its cover is unauthorized. If you purchased this book without a cover, you should be aware that it was reported to the publisher as “unsold and destroyed.” Neither the author nor the publisher has received payment for the sale of this “stripped book.”

Have you read the latest FEAR STREET® books?

ONE EVIL SUMMER

THE MIND READER

WRONG NUMBER 2

TRUTH OR DARE

DEAD END

FINAL GRADE

SWITCHED

COLLEGE WEEKEND

THE STEPSISTER 2

WHAT HOLLY HEARD

THE FACE

SECRET ADMIRER

by
R.L. STINE

Available from Archway Paperbacks

Published by Pocket Books

Something Evil Is After the Shadyside High Cheerleaders!

First there was the terrible accident that left cheerleader captain Jennifer paralyzed.

Then Bobbi Corcoran was scalded to death in the locker room shower.

Corky, Bobbi's sister, fought the evil and succeeded in burying it in the Fear Street cemetery … forever.

Or so she thought.

But the horrifying and fatal “accidents” have started again. What can Corky do, now that she knows …

THE EVIL IS BACK!

Books by R. L. Stine

Fear Street

THE NEW GIRL

THE SURPRISE PARTY

THE OVERNIGHT

MISSING

THE WRONG NUMBER

THE SLEEPWALKER

HAUNTED

HALLOWEEN PARTY

THE STEPSISTER

SKI WEEKEND

THE FIRE GAME

LIGHTS OUT

THE SECRET BEDROOM

THE KNIFE

PROM QUEEN

FIRST DATE

THE BEST FRIEND

THE CHEATER

SUNBURN

THE NEW BOY

THE DARE

BAD DREAMS

DOUBLE DATE

THE THRILL CLUB

ONE EVIL SUMMER

THE MIND READER

WRONG NUMBER 2

TRUTH OR DARE

DEAD END

FINAL GRADE

SWITCHED

COLLEGE WEEKEND

THE STEPSISTER 2

WHAT HOLLY HEARD

THE FACE

SECRET ADMIRER

THE PERFECT DATE

Fear Street Super Chillers

PARTY SUMMER

SILENT NIGHT

GOODNIGHT KISS

BROKEN HEARTS

SILENT NIGHT 2

THE DEAD LIFEGUARD

CHEERLEADERS: THE NEW EVIL

BAD MOONLIGHT

THE NEW YEAR'S PARTY

The Fear Street Saga

THE BETRAYAL

THE SECRET

THE BURNING

Fear Street Cheerleaders

THE FIRST EVIL

THE SECOND EVIL

THE THIRD EVIL

99 Fear Street: The House of Evil

THE FIRST HORROR

THE SECOND HORROR

THE THIRD HORROR

The Cataluna Chronicles

THE EVIL MOON

THE DARK SECRET

THE DEADLY FIRE

Fear Street Sagas

A NEW FEAR

Other Novels

HOW I BROKE UP WITH ERNIE

PHONE CALLS

CURTAINS

BROKEN DATE

Available from ARCHWAY Paperbacks

For orders other than by individual consumers, Pocket Books grants a discount on the purchase of
10 or more
copies of single titles for special markets or premium use. For further details, please write to the Vice-President of Special Markets, Pocket Books, 1633 Broadway, New York, NY 10019-6785 8th Floor.

For information on how individual consumers can place orders, please write to Mail Order Department, Simon & Schuster, Inc., 200 Old Tappan Road, Old Tappan, NJ 07675.

The sale of this book without its cover is unauthorized. If you purchased this book without a cover, you should be aware that it was reported to the publisher as “unsold and destroyed.” Neither the author nor the publisher has received payment for the sale of this “stripped book.”

R.L. STINE

AN ARCHWAY PAPERBACK
published by POCKET BOOKS
New York London Toronto sydney Tokyo Singapore

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

AN ARCHWAY PAPERBACK
Original

Copyright © 1992 by Parachute Press, Inc.

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.

For information address Pocket Books, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020
www.SimonandSchuster.com

ISBN: 0-671-75118-2

ISBN 13: 978-0-671-75118-0

eISBN 978-1-439-12096-5

First Archway Paperback printing September 1992

15   14   13   12   11

FEAR STREET is a registered tarademark of Parachute Press, Inc.

AN ARCHWAY PAPERBACK and colophon are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster Inc.

Cover art by Edwin Herder

Printed in the U.S.A.

IL 7 +

Where Is the Evil?

K
immy Bass slowed her car to a stop at Division Street and tapped her fingers impatiently on the wheel. “I never make this light,” she complained.

Her friend Debra Kern stared out the passenger window at a boy in a blue windbreaker, walking a large Doberman across the street. “What's your hurry?” she asked, wiping steam off the window with her wool-gloved hand.

“You're always in such a hurry,” Veronica (Ronnie) Mitchell chimed in from the backseat.

The light changed. Kimmy pushed hard on the gas pedal and the pale blue Camry lurched across the intersection. “I'm not in a hurry. I just don't like to stop,” Kimmy said.

Debra shivered even though the heater was on high. She was very thin, and no matter how many T-shirts and sweaters she wore, she was always cold.

Ronnie looked completely lost inside the fake raccoon coat that had once belonged to her mother, but it kept her really warm. With her curly red hair, tiny snub of a nose, and freckles, she appeared to be about twelve.

Outside, the wind picked up, blowing dead brown leaves across the road. It was cold for late November. Heavy clouds hovered low in the evening sky, threatening snow.

“Want to do something Saturday night?” Kimmy asked, making a sharp turn onto Old Mill Road. “Hang out or something?”

Debra smoothed her straight blond hair with a quick toss of her head. Her blue eyes, normally pale and icy, lit up. “No. I actually have a date Saturday night.”

“Hey, with who?” Ronnie asked, leaning over the front seat, catching the coy look on Debra's face.

“Eric Bishop,” Debra said after a suspenseful pause.

Kimmy reacted with surprise. “Eric? Isn't he going with Cari Taylor?”

Debra's face assumed a smug grin. “Not anymore.” She trailed her gloved finger along the steamed-up window, drawing a star across the glass.

Ronnie settled back in her seat. “Eric Bishop!” she exclaimed. “He's definitely okay.” She snuggled inside the big, furry coat. “Could you turn the heat down a bit?”

Kimmy ignored her.

“Who are you interested in these days?” Debra asked Kimmy, adjusting her seat belt.

“I don't know,” Kimmy replied wistfully. “Nobody, really.”

“You're not still hung up on Chip, are you?” Debra asked, turning to study Kimmy's round face. In the light of the passing streetlights, she could see Kimmy's cheeks redden.

“No way!” Kimmy protested loudly. “Corky is welcome to him. Really.”

Debra stared hard at her. Ronnie hummed to herself.

“Really!” Kimmy repeated. “I mean it. I'm over Chip. I'm glad he dumped me.”

“Chip seems to like Corcorans,” Debra said dryly, turning back to the houses passing outside the window. “First Bobbi, now her sister Corky.”

The mention of Bobbi's name brought a chill to the car. Debra reached out to turn up the heat, but saw it was up all the way.

“Bobbi was so great looking,” Ronnie said thoughtfully.

“She was the best cheerleader I ever saw,” Debra added.

“I was so jealous of her,” Kimmy admitted. “I still can't believe she's dead.”

“Poor Corky,” Debra said, lowering her voice nearly to a whisper. “She really looked up to her sister. I can't imagine what it would be like. I mean, if
my
sister died, I'd …” Her voice trailed off.

“Corky's been kind of weird lately,” Kimmy said, keeping her eyes on the twin beams of white light ahead of her. “She barely talks to anyone.”

“I was jealous of her and her sister too,” Ronnie confessed. “I mean, they were so perfect with their perfect blond hair, and their perfect white teeth, and their perfect figures.”

“I've tried being friendly with Corky,” Kimmy said. “But she just keeps that sad expression on her face and isn't friendly at all. That's why I thought maybe the three of us could—”

“We've got to get Corky back on the cheerleader squad,” Debra said, interrupting. “It was so strange when she quit last month. If she'd quit right when her sister died, I'd understand. But she waited a while to drop out.”

“We'll get her back to normal,” Ronnie said. “At least I hope she'll listen to us.”

Kimmy made a right turn onto Fear Street, The sky immediately appeared to darken. Gusting winds swept around the small car.

“Too bad you're not in sixth period study hall. In the library,” Debra said. “You should have seen Suki Thomas with Gary Brandt. Well, Suki was giving Gary a sex ed. class. They didn't even bother to go back to the stacks.”