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

basement. You still have the blue mixture, don’t you?”
    Kermit narrowed his eyes, trying to remember. “I think so,” he told them. “A
lot of stuff got wrecked, remember? But I think I have it.”
    “He has to have it!” Evan cried. “He has to!”
    Evan climbed to his feet. “Come on. Hurry.”
    They heard sirens. Loud and near.
    Kermit peered around the lumber pile toward the street. “A police car!” he
whispered. “They’re cruising this block.”
    “You’d better wait here,” Andy warned Evan.
    Evan shook his head. “No way. I’m coming with you. I want to get that blue
mixture as fast as I can.”
    He ducked his head. “We can walk through the backyards. No one will see us.”
    “But, Evan—” Andy started to protest.
    She stopped when Evan stepped away from the lumber pile and started loping
quickly across the backyard toward Kermit’s house.
    Dogface greeted them in the driveway. The sheepdog barked happily, jumping up
on Kermit, nearly knocking him to the ground.
    “Shhh. Quiet, boy! Quiet!” Kermit cried, petting the dog, trying to stop his
barks. “We don’t want anyone to hear us.”
    Dogface gazed up at Evan—and got very quiet. The dog slumped across the
driveway. It stared up suspiciously at Evan, panting hard, its stubby tail
wagging furiously.
    Evan’s eyes darted up and down the driveway. No car. “Your mom isn’t home
yet, Kermit,” he said.
    “She must be working late,” Kermit replied. “That’s good news. This is our
lucky day!”
    Evan let out a bitter laugh. “For sure. Lucky day,” he muttered.
    Kermit and Andy hurried to the kitchen door. Evan started to follow. Then he
remembered he didn’t fit in the house.
    “Wait right there,” Andy instructed him. “Make sure no one sees you.”
    Evan nodded. “Hurry—please!”
    He watched them disappear through the door. Then he sat down behind the
house. He motioned for Dogface to come over to him. He felt like holding on to
something.
    But the big dog just stared back and wouldn’t budge.
    The whole town is looking for me, Evan thought unhappily. The whole town is
looking for a giant me. But they’ll never find the giant me. Because in a
few seconds, I’ll shrink back to normal size.
    Then everything will be okay again.
    He raised his eyes to the house. What is keeping Andy and Kermit? he
wondered. Can’t they find the bottle of blue liquid?
    He took a deep breath. Don’t panic, Evan, he instructed himself. They’ve only
been in the house a few seconds. They’ll be out soon. And everything will be
okay.
    To pass the time, he counted slowly to ten. Then he counted slowly to ten
again.
    He was about to start counting one more time when the screen door flew open. Kermit stepped out, carrying the blue beaker.
Andy followed right behind.
    “Found it!” Kermit cried happily.
    Evan jumped to his knees. He reached out eagerly. “Quick—let me have it.”
    Kermit stretched up his hand. Evan grabbed for the glass beaker.
    It slipped out of his grasp.
    It started to fall.
    “Ohhh!” Evan let out a horrified moan—and caught the beaker just before it
crashed against the driveway.
    “Wow! Nice catch!” Kermit exclaimed.
    Evan’s heart had leaped to his mouth. He took a deep breath. He grasped the
beaker tightly in his hand. “Close one,” he murmured. The beaker was so tiny in
his hand, like something made for a dollhouse.
    They heard sirens in the distance.
    The search for the giant Evan was still on.
    “I—I hope this mixture works,” Evan declared.
    He raised the beaker. Tilted it upside down over his other hand. Waited.
    And waited.
    Finally, a tiny blue drop of liquid dripped on to Evan’s palm.
    Nothing more.
    He shook the beaker. Hard. Harder. The way he shook a ketchup bottle when the ketchup stuck.
    Then he raised the beaker to his eye and peered inside.
    A few seconds later, he let out a long, sad sigh. He tossed the bottle
disgustedly onto the grass. “It’s empty,” Evan