Free 29 - Monster Blood III by R.L. Stine - (ebook by Undead)

stream ripped the ground to his side.
    Evan dodged to the other side.
    Wow! That’s powerful! he thought, horrified. The water is strong enough to
knock me over!
    Frightened shouts rose up over the roar of the water.
    Evan plunged through the line of dark-uniformed police officers—and kept
running. “Don’t shoot!” he screamed. “Don’t shoot me! I’m not from another
planet! I’m just a boy!”
    He didn’t know if they could hear him or not.
    He dodged past several startled onlookers. A long hook-and-ladder stood in
his path.
    He stopped. Glanced back.
    Firefighters were turning the hoses. The powerful spray arced high. Water
crashed to the ground just behind Evan, loud as thunder.
    Kids and parents were running in all directions, frantic, frightened
expressions locked on their faces.
    Evan took a deep breath. Bent his knees. And leaped over the fire truck in
his path.
    He heard shouts of surprise behind him. He vaulted high over the truck.
Landed hard on the other side. Stumbled. Caught his balance.
    Then, ducking low, his arms stretched out in front of him, Evan ran.
    His long legs carried him away quickly. As he reached the street, a low tree
branch popped up as if from nowhere.
    Evan dipped his head just in time.
    Leaves scratched over his forehead, but he kept running.
    Got to watch out for tree branches, he warned himself. Got to remember that
I’m two stories tall.
    Breathing hard, he plunged across the street. The late afternoon sun was
lowering behind the trees. The shadows were longer now, and darker. Evan’s
shadow seemed a mile long as it stretched out in front of him.
    He heard the rise and fall of shrill sirens behind him. Heard angry shouts.
Heard the thud of footsteps, people running after him.
    Where can I hide? he asked himself. Where will I be safe?
    Home?
    No. That’s the first place the police will look.
    Where? Where?
    It was so hard to think clearly. They were close behind him, he knew. Chasing
him. Eager to bring him down.
    If only he could stop somewhere, close his eyes, shut them all out, and
think. Then maybe he could come up with a plan.
    But he knew he had to keep running.
    His head throbbed. His chest ached.
    His long legs were taking him quickly away from the playground. But he still
felt awkward, with his sneakers so far below him and his head so high in the
trees.
    I’ll hide out at Kermit’s house, he thought.
    Then he quickly decided that was a bad idea, too.
    “I can’t get in Kermit’s house!” he cried out loud. “I’m too big!”
    And then he had a truly frightening thought: “I can’t fit in any house!”
    Where will I sleep? he wondered. And then: Will they let me sleep?
    Can’t the police see I’m just a boy? Evan asked himself bitterly. He turned
the corner and ran past his house. The lights were all off. The door closed. No
car in the driveway.
    His parents hadn’t come home from work.
    He kept running. Running across yards. Ducking low. Trying to hide behind
shrubs and tall hedges.
    Can’t they see I’m a boy? Not a creature from another planet?
    Why do they think I’m so dangerous?
    It’s all Conan’s fault, Evan decided. Conan got the firefighters and police
all crazy with his wild stories.
    His wild, true stories.
    And now where can I run? Where can I hide?
    The answer came to him as he neared Kermit’s house. Two doors down, a lot had
been cleared. And an enormous stack of lumber had been piled at the back.
Someone was about to build a house on the lot.
    Breathing hard, sweat pouring down his broad forehead, Evan turned and ran
across the lot. He ducked behind the tall pile of lumber. And stopped.
    He dropped to his knees and leaned against the lumber stack, struggling to
catch his breath. He wiped the sweat off his forehead with the sleeve of his
T-shirt.
    Maybe I’ll hide here for a while, he thought. He lowered himself to a sitting
position.
    If I sit down and hunch my shoulders, the lumber pile hides me from the
street.