Free 50 - Calling All Creeps! by R.L. Stine - (ebook by Undead)

stretched into long, toothy snouts.
    “Prove it! Prove it!” they chanted. “Prove that you’re a Creep!”
    I stared at them, unable to move, unable to run. What could I do?
    “Prove you’re a Creep!” they demanded. “Prove it—now!”
    Eyes flashing wildly, purple bumps quivering all over their bodies, they
slithered toward me.
    And I knew I was doomed.

 
 
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    “Prove it! Prove it!”
    Their long, bumpy tongues flicked at me as they chanted.
    “Prove that you’re one of us! Change now! Let us see you change like us!”
    I swallowed hard. They were chanting for me to change, staring, waiting.
    They’d have to wait a long, long time!
    “Change! Change! Change!”
    They were about to learn the truth about me.
    I decided I had to confess. And beg them for mercy. “Uh… guys…?” I
started.
    But then a girl’s shout rose over the chanting of the Creeps. “Stop at once!”
she cried.
    We all turned to see Iris come running out from behind a tall evergreen. The
four Creeps uttered grunts of surprise. Their eyes rolled wildly in their purple
lizard heads.
    “I am the Commander’s second-in-command!”
    Iris declared, her long earrings jangling wildly. “I am his sergeant!”
    The Creeps pulled their long, bumpy tongues into their snouts. They stared at
Iris, suddenly silent.
    “The Commander and I do not choose to transform now,” Iris told them sternly.
“We do not have time. We must bake the cookies now. We must prepare the seeds
for the bake sale.”
    “Yaaaay!” The Creeps cheered Iris.
    “Thank you, Sergeant,” Brenda said. “I am glad you like my plan.”
    “Your plan will work,” Iris replied. “We will turn the whole school into
Creeps like us. Quickly. Let us hurry to my house and bake the cookies.”
    The four lizard creatures offered up another cheer. They slapped tongues.
Then they quickly began to change back into kids.
    The purple on their skin faded. The quivering bumps slid into their skin.
Their snouts shrunk and their faces twisted back into the faces of the kids I
knew.
    As they changed back, I leaned close to Iris and whispered in her ear. “Iris—you’re really one of them?”
    “Yes, Commander,” she replied, keeping her eyes on the four Creeps. “Do not
worry. This new plan will not fail.”
    I opened my mouth to say something, but no sound came out. I couldn’t believe
it. Iris—a Creep!
    We began making our way through the woods. Iris led the way to her house.
    The afternoon sun was sinking behind the bare trees. The air suddenly felt
cold and heavy. I couldn’t stop the chills that rolled down my back.
    I’d had a close call in the woods. Iris had saved me. But I knew my troubles
weren’t over.
    I was in terrible danger.
    So were all the kids at school.
    We stepped into Iris’ kitchen. Why did Iris save me? I wondered. She knows
I’m not one of them. She knows I’m not a Creep.
    So, why did she rescue me from the other four Creeps?
    As the four of them took out flour and eggs and other ingredients, I pulled
Iris aside. “You know I’m not a Creep,” I whispered. “Why did you rescue me?”
    “I’m not a Creep either,” she whispered back. “But I saw you were in big
trouble.”
    “How did you know—?” I started. I glanced back into the kitchen to make
sure the Creeps weren’t watching us.
    “You were supposed to meet me on the playground—remember?” Iris whispered.
“I saw them drag you into the woods. I followed you. I heard everything. And I
saw everything.”
    “Well, thanks for saving me,” I replied. “But now you are in danger too.”
    She nodded. “I know. But I had to save you—didn’t I?”
    “How are we going to save the rest of the school?” I whispered.
    “Good question,” Iris replied. “We have to bake the cookies now. We don’t
have a choice. When we get to the bake sale, we’ll figure out a way to keep kids
from eating them.”
    “Yeah. Sure.” I rolled my eyes.
    How would we keep kids from