Free Dangerous Girls by R.L. Stine Page A

snapped.
    â€œExcuse me?”
    â€œJust shut up.” He stamped out of the kitchen.
    Livvy peered into the oven window. “Almost ready.”
    Destiny pulled three dinner plates from the cabinet and carried them to the kitchen table. As she set out the plates, something on the bench against the window caught her eye. “Hey, what’s that?”
    She picked it up. A fat notebook, the cover scratched and worn, pages practically bursting out. She hoisted it onto one knee to flip through it. “Livvy, look—it’s Coach Bauer’s playbook. He must have left it here last night.”
    Livvy was lifting the pizza from the oven. “He’ll come back for it.”
    â€œNo. Don’t you see? This is our excuse.”
    â€œYou mean—”
    â€œOur excuse to go see him tonight. We’ll tell him we came to return the playbook. Then we’ll tell him we’ve been hearing all these rumors about vampires, and maybe he’ll tell us something to help us.”
    Livvy stared at the playbook. Destiny could see the fear on her sister’s face.
    â€œI’m frightened too,” Destiny said. “I’m terrified. But we have to talk to someone. Coach Bauer might be our last hope.”

Chapter Sixteen
Anyone Home?
    D estiny’s sneakers crunched over the gravel driveway. She clutched the playbook against the front of her sweatshirt. The wind, suddenly cold—a hint of fall days to come—gusted and swirled, shivering the old trees around the house, making them creak and groan.
    â€œIt’s completely dark,” Livvy whispered, a few steps behind Destiny. “I don’t think he’s home.”
    â€œHe might be in back. We’ll give it a try.”
    Destiny gazed up at the two-story shingle house. A loose shutter dangled from an upstairs window. Clumps of tall weeds poked over the front stoop. Beside the front window, a rhododendron bush lay withered on its side, flattened as if trampled.
    â€œWhat a dump. The house used to look so nice when Mrs. Bauer was alive,” Livvy whispered. “Remember? She was always braggingabout her garden.”
    Destiny climbed onto the concrete stoop. She heard a dog barking, probably from the house across the street. A strong gust of wind nearly sent her tumbling off the stoop. No porch light. Her hand fumbled for the doorbell, finally found it, and pressed it.
    â€œHe’s not home,” Livvy whispered. She hugged herself. She wore a thin T-shirt.
    â€œIt’s freezing out. How did it get so cold? We were just at the swimming pool. What crazy weather! Put on your coat right now.” Destiny could hear her mother’s voice.
    She could picture Livvy stamping her feet, refusing to put on anything warm. It was the main thing Livvy and Mom argued about. It went on for years—the jacket war—and Mom never won once. Livvy was so stubborn, she’d walk to school through snow in just a T-shirt and jeans, just to win the battle.
    She glimpsed her sister, shivering, hair blowing in the gusting wind.
    At least some things never change.
    No answer. Destiny pushed the bell again and held it down. She could hear the metallic ring on the other side of the door.
    â€œHe isn’t here,” Livvy said. “Let’s go. I’m freezing.”
    Destiny put her ear to the door. No sounds inside the house. “We can’t leave Coach’s playbook out here on the stoop. Come on. The back door is probably open.” Just about everyone in Dark Springs left their back doors unlocked. “We’ll leave it for him in the kitchen.”
    Destiny led the way to the side of the house. She stepped around two bags of mulch stacked against the wall. One of the bags had come open, spilling its contents onto the grass. The bedroom windows were dark.
    She turned the knob, and the kitchen door swung open easily. The girls stepped into the dark kitchen. Destiny closed the door behind them.
    Livvy