Free The Third Horror by R.L. Stine

closing the door behind her.
    "Checked, double-checked, triple-checked," Emie reported, giving Bo a comical salute.
    Kody liked Emie. He was funny. He looked sort of like a squirrel, with short brown hair, pouchy cheeks, and two front teeth that stuck out.
    He and Bo leaned against the attic wall, studying the black metal machine that Emie christened the Goo Works.
    In addition to the Goo Works, the attic room was cluttered with cameras, cables, and lights. The lights
     
    were already on, so bright they drowned out the morning sunlight beaming through the closed window.
    Crew members huddled around the equipment, talking quietly, sipping from cardboard coiFee cups, waiting for the shoot to begin.
    Kody hesitated at the door. Bo and Ernie were concentrating so intently on their work, they hadn't noticed her come in.
    Finally Bo turaed around, and a smile crossed his face. "Right on time. How are you today, Kody? You look terrific. But how are you underneath the makeup?"
    Kody smiled back at him. "Underneath the makeup, Fm a quivering mess!" she confessed. "It is my first day of shooting, after all."
    "Hey, leave the quivering mess to me!" Ernie declared. "Quivering messes are my job." He patted the machine.
    "Ernie is going to explain the goo machine as soon as Rob arrives," Bo said, studying his clipboard. "Remember, we rehearsed this scene back in L.A.?"
    Kody nodded. "I have to scream a lot," she remembered.
    "A lot," Bo agreed. "Hope you're in good voice this morning, dear."
    The attic door opened and Rob entered. He greeted everyone cheerily and flashed Kody a warm smile as he walked over to her.
    "Where w^ere you last night?" Kody whispered. "Why did you drive away and leave me?"

     
    "Huh?" Rob's face was confused. "You told me to go on without you. Don't you remember?"
    "I what?" Kody cried, equally confused.
    "You ran out to the car. You told me to leave. To go back to the hotel."
    "I did not!" Kody whispered, very confused.
    "But you did!" Rob insisted. "I never would've driven off if you hadn't told me to!"
    "Let's get to work, kids," Bo scolded.
    "Oh. Right. Sorry," Rob replied, blushing. "What's up?"
    "You're going to be up—up to your knees in green goo," Bo told him. "Come over here, guys. I want to block this out quickly. Once the goo starts pumping, we have to get it right."
    "That's for sure," Ernie added. "If we have to do a second take, it'll take hours to clean this stuff off the floor first."
    "Better alert that cleaning woman we hired!" Bo joked. "Tell her she may be getting a lot of overtime."
    Bo positioned Kody and Rob for the scene, moving them to spots marked in chalk on the floor, then checking with the camera operator to make sure they looked okay.
    He instructed the crew to move some lights. Then he returned to Kody and Rob.
    "A quick run-through, okay? You rehearsed this yesterday on your own, right?"
    "Kind of," Kody lied. "I'm pretty sure I've got it."
    Bo's eyes narrowed at her disapprovingly. "Kind of?"

     
    "It's getting close to our break," Ernie called from behind the machine.
    "Let's get started," Bo replied impatiently. He pointed down at the floor. "See those ducts? Don't stand on them," he instructed.
    "Those are the goo ducts?" Rob asked.
    Bo nodded. "Ernie has four of them hidden in the floor."
    "When I throw the switch, the green stuff" is going to come pouring up," Ernie told them. "Now, don't be surprised. It's going to come pumping up really fast."
    "Be surprised," Bo corrected him. "Be very surprised, okay, kids?" He put a hand on Kody's shoulder. "I want you to be more than surprised when that goo starts flowing. I want you to be terrified, got it?"
    "It's thick and it should be a little warm," Ernie told them. "It looks real lumpy, like oatmeal. But don't worry. It doesn't smell. It has no odor at all."
    Kody let out a sigh of relief. Rob laughed, nervous laughter.
    She felt glad that Rob was nervous too.
    What if I mess up? she asked herself. They say it'll take hours to