Free The Taste of Night by R.L. Stine

ride.
    But the feeling of walking home through the park…the sparkling fireflies…her sister stepping out of the darkness…transforming into the gigantic hawk…All so real.
    So real she thought she could still feel those bonelikeclaws wrapped tightly around her waist. She could still feel the suffocating rush of wind as the giant bird carried her into the sky.
    Could still feel Livvy’s fangs…
    Does my twin sister really have fangs ?
    A soft cry escaped Destiny’s throat. Yes, it was a dream. But the rest of my life is real…and it’s a nightmare.
    â€œDee! Dee!” She heard Mikey calling from downstairs. She jumped out of bed, gazing at the clock radio on her bedtable.
    Oh, no. Late. I have to give Mikey breakfast and get him off to day camp. She brushed her teeth, pushed back her hair with her hands, and went running down to the kitchen in her nightshirt.
    â€œWhere’s Dad?” she asked Mikey.
    He was dressed in denim shorts that came down past his knees and a blue-and-red Camp Redhawk T-shirt about five sizes too big for him. He gripped a stuffed lion in one hand. He’d had it since he was a baby. These days it looked more like a washcloth than a lion.
    He shrugged. “Work. He woke me up. Then he left. I’m hungry. And so is Lester.” He waved Lester the Lion in Destiny’s face.
    She popped two frozen waffles into the toaster. “We’re a little late. You’ll have to eat your waffles fast.”
    â€œTake the crust off,” he said, sitting down at the table, plopping Lester in front of him.
    Destiny turned to him. “Crust on waffles?”
    â€œYeah. Take off the crust.”
    He had become the fussiest eater. He suddenly had rules for everything. And he found something wrong with everything put in front of him. A few nights ago, he had even refused to eat the french fries at Burger King because they were “too curled up.”
    She poured him a glass of orange juice and handed it to him. “No pulp,” she said before he could ask.
    He tasted it gingerly, a tiny sip. “Too cold.”
    â€œWhat are you doing at day camp today?” she asked, brushing back his thick mop of hair with one hand.
    â€œI’m not going to day camp,” Mikey replied. He pounded Lester on the tabletop for emphasis.
    â€œYou have to go,” Destiny said, lifting the waffles from the toaster. “Ow. Hot. There’s no one here to take care of you.”
    â€œYou can take care of me,” he said.
    â€œNo, I can’t, Mikey. You know that I’m starting my summer job today, remember?”
    â€œWell, I can’t go to camp. Hey—you forgot to cut off the crusts. And I don’t want butter. I want syrup.”
    Destiny took the plate back and carefully pulled the edges off the waffles. “And why can’t you go to camp?”
    â€œBecause they’re showing a movie at the theater.” He took another swallow of orange juice.
    â€œYou like movies,” Destiny said, handing the plate back to him. “So what’s the problem?”
    â€œIt…it’s cold and creepy in the theater,” he replied. “There might be vampires in there.”
    Â 
    Destiny stopped in front of the diner and checked her hair and lipstick in her reflection in the front window. The name FOUR CORNERS DINER was painted in fancy gold script across the wide window.
    Destiny chuckled. It seemed an odd name for the little restaurant since it was located in the middle of the block. Surrounding it on both sides were small, two-story brick and shingle buildings that contained clothing stores, a bank, a CD store—shops that catered to Community College students.
    She turned and glanced at the campus. Four square, granite buildings around a narrow rectangle of patchy grass and trees. Not the most beautiful campus in the world.
    Destiny let out a sigh. I made the right decision, she told herself. I