by R. L. Stine
Whoa. Traci Wayne actually touched me?
Maybe life wasn't so bad after all.
Traci grinned at me. “I didn't know you were so strong. Have you been secretly practicing or something?”
Please, ghoul—let me speak. Please don't mess this up for me!
“Jabbba hubbba hubbba.”
Traci narrowed her eyes at me. “Excuse me?”
“Jabbba gummma.”
“Your brother plays soccer, right?” Traci asked. “Colin is like the big star for the middle school, right?”
“Hubbbba gubbbba.”
I wanted to be cool. I really did. This was my big moment. My one big chance to impress Traci.
But I couldn't help myself. I started bending my knees, bouncing up and down really fast like a monkey. And then I twirled around in a circle— and I licked her face!
Oh no. Oh noooooooo. Oh no. Oh no.
I licked Traci Wayne's face.
“Eeuuuuw.” She pulled back in horror. “Max, you're so gross. You're a total freak!” She spun away and went running back to her friends.
Was she going to tell them what I did?
My life was over. I knew Traci would never speak to me again. And once word got around school that I licked her face, kids would be laughing at me for the rest of the year. Maybe the rest of my life.
I couldn't help it. I was possessed by a ghoul.
What could I do?
21
I CALLED AARON AS soon as I got home. “I have to talk to you,” I said breathlessly. “Listen to me, please. Before I go berserk again.”
“Yeah. You were weird in class this morning,” Aaron said. “What was up with all that running around the room?”
“That's what I'm trying to explain,” I said. “I think you're the only one who will believe me.”
“How was your after-school thing?” Aaron asked. I could hear him crunching on something. He likes to eat an entire bag of pistachios before dinner. He says it helps his appetite.
I know he's weird, but he's all I've got.
“I knocked everyone down and kicked the winning goal,” I said.
He laughed. “In your dreams, dude.”
“No. Really—” I protested.
“Internet chess is way cool,” Aaron interrupted. “I could really get into it.”
“Did you win?” I asked.
“I didn't move,” Aaron replied. “I sat there the whole hour planning my first move. Then I went home.”
“Cool.” I could hear Colin clomping up the stairs. I quickly closed my bedroom door. I sat down on the edge of my bed. “Aaron, you've got to listen to me. I'm not making this up. I've been possessed by a thing called a Berserker Ghoul.”
Silence at the other end. Then he finally said, “Really?”
“Yeah. Really. That's why I went nuts this morning. It wasn't me. It was the ghoul.”
Silence again. I knew Aaron was thinking hard about this. “Which movie is this? I forget,” he said.
“I'm not describing a movie, Aaron. It's my life. An evil ghost sent this ghoul to destroy me so that I'll beg the ghost to let me help him.”
Would Aaron believe me? He was my best friend. He had to believe me, right?
Aaron burst out laughing. “Awesome,” he said. “Are you writing this stuff in your journal? Ms. McDonald will totally spaz out. Hey, maybe I'll write that ghoul idea too. Oh, wow. Wouldn't that be ultracool if you and I handed in our journals and they were both exactly the same?”
He cackled at that idea for nearly five minutes.
“Uh … Aaron?” I had the feeling that maybe I wasn't getting through to him.
“Mom's calling me,” Aaron said. “Dinnertime. We're having SpaghettiOs. You know. All those little Os. I try to spell words with them. Later, dude. Let's work on our journals tonight.” He hung up.
I stared at the phone, shaking my head. Then I angrily heaved it at the wall. It bounced hard and landed on my pillow.
“Take it easy,” Nicky said. He and Tara appeared suddenly on either side of me. “You're totally stressed.”
“Of course I'm totally stressed,” I snapped. “This ghoul is going to ruin my life. And even my best friend won't believe me.”
“We believe you, Maxie,” Tara said. She wrapped her hand around the bullet-shaped silver pendant I wear around my neck. She tucked the pendant into my T-shirt. “You're all sweaty. You've really got to relax.”
“How can I relax?” I screamed. “Any moment, I might go berserk again. I never know when this thing is going to wake up. I'm not in control of my own body. Do you know what that feels like?”
Nicky lowered his eyes. “Tara and I don't have bodies,” he said softly.
“We're not talking about you,” I said. “We're talking about me. You got me into this mess. What am I going to do about this ghoul? I know Phears is going to leave him inside me until I turn you two in.”
Tara shrugged. “No problem.”
I stared at her. “Huh? No problem?”
“I have a plan,” Tara said, her dark eyes flashing. “A perfect plan. We can get Phears to take that ghoul away. Easy.”
I jumped to my feet. “Well? Maybe you'd like to share it with me?”
Before she could answer, my bedroom door swung open and Colin strode in. The ghosts vanished. Colin glanced around. “Hey, Fat Face, who were you talking to?”
“Uh … well …”
“I heard you talking to someone,” Colin said. “Who was it?”
“I was … uh … talking on the phone,” I said.
He squinted at me. “The phone? But … the phone is way over there on your bed.”
“Yeah, I know,” I said. “I was talking long distance.”
He squinted harder at me. “Mom says to come downstairs for dinner,” he said.
I followed him into the kitchen. Dad was already at the table, tossing the salad. Mom turned from the oven when I came in. “Max, I got a call from Mrs. Wright at school this afternoon.”
“It's all a big misunderstanding,” I said.
“Ooh, big word for such a little man,” Colin said. He rolled up his dinner napkin and snapped it at me, hitting me in the forehead.
“She wants to see your dad and me at school,” Mom continued.
“I didn't do it. Really,” I lied.
Dad growled at me. “I warned you, Max …”
“Hey, I've got some good news,” I said. “Guess what, Dad? Coach Freeley asked me to be on the soccer team. I'm going to start the game on Saturday.”
A smile crossed Dad's face. “Hey, another soccer star in the family!” He reached across the table to slap me a high five. “I'm gonna have two all-stars in the family!”
“You're lying, right?” Colin asked, grinning at me. “You just wanted to change the subject?”
“Coach begged me to join the team,” I told Dad. “I'm starting practice tomorrow afternoon.”
Dad grinned at me. “I knew you weren't a helpless, pathetic wimp!”
I grinned back at Dad. “Thanks for the compliment.”
Colin grinned at me. “I know you're lying.”
We all grinned at each other.
“Pass the salad,” Mom said, joining us at the table. “I don't know why everyone is grinning. Max is in big trouble in school again, and I just don't know what to do.”
“Give the kid a break,” Dad said, heaping meat loaf on his plate. “He has to concentrate on soccer now.”
Wow. Can you believe it? Dad actually taking my side?
Things were definitely looking up. I spooned potatoes onto my plate, then took the meat loaf platter from Dad. I was feeling pretty happy.
But then I felt something stir inside me.
Something shifted in my brain. And I suddenly knew what I was going to do. I was going to heave the meat loaf platter against the wall. Then I was going to pick up everyone's dinner plate and toss them, too.
Oh, wow. I can't stop myself. I feel myself slipping out of contro
l.
Here goes …
“Jabba jabba gumma!”
22
THE NEXT MORNING, MOM called the school and said I'd be late. Then she took me to see Dr. Welles.
Dr. Welles has an office with two other doctors in a bright new building a few blocks from the mall. He is a nice young doctor with long blond hair that always falls in front of his eyes when he examines you. He seems like a really cool guy, and I'm sure he's a good doctor. I mean, he's got a lot of certificates on his wall.
But what can a doctor do about a Berserker Ghoul?
“Maybe you need vitamins or something,” Mom said as she pulled our car into the parking lot. “Maybe your system is missing something.” She kept chewing her bottom lip and looking really worried. “Maybe you do need to change schools and get away for a while.”
Oh, wow.
Last night, it took nearly an hour to clean up the mess I made throwing all the food against the kitchen wall. Mom and Dad both grabbed me and hugged me till I calmed down. Even Colin looked worried.
I felt so bad. Once I could talk again, I apologized over and over. Mom was sure Dr. Welles would find out what was wrong with me.
And now here I was wearing one of those crinkly blue paper robes. Sitting on his examining table while he poked his cold stethoscope against my chest and made me take deep breaths.
His hair fell over his eyes as he leaned down to study my face. “Your eyeballs look a little yellow,” he said softly.
That's because there's a ghoul looking out my eyes, Doc.
I didn't say it. I wanted to say it. But what would be the point?
“We'll do a blood test. Check for hepatitis,” he said. He smiled at me. “Hey, Max, did you hear about the really dumb guy who stayed up all night studying for his blood test?”
“Ha, ha.” I tried to laugh. But every time I remembered last night … every time I thought about the ghoul inside me … I didn't want to laugh. I wanted to scream. Or cry.
After I got dressed, Mom met me in Dr. Welles' office. She sat down across from his desk and clasped her hands tightly in her lap. “Well? What do you think, Doctor?”
“Everything checks out okay,” Dr. Welles told her, brushing back his hair. “Maybe Max should get more exercise.”
Exercise?
I have a gross jabbering ghoul inside my body—and he wants me to get more exercise?
A few minutes later, Mom and I were driving home. Mom patted my head. “Do you feel any better, Maxie?”
“Oh, yes,” I lied. “I feel a lot better, Mom.”
I'll feel better—until the ghoul wakes up and makes me go berserk again. I suddenly felt really sorry for myself. The ghoul had jumped from Colin to me. Now wasn't it someone else's turn? Why didn't it jump to someone else?
Because Phears wants it inside you.
I answered the question myself.
Because Phears wants to break you.
Well, I felt pretty much broken. Where was Phears, anyway? We drove past two fat brown rabbits on a front lawn, and I shuddered. Phears could be inside one of those rabbits.
Phears could be coming back for me at any time….
Mom pulled the car up the driveway. “I'll wait in the car,” she said. “Run upstairs and get your backpack. Then I'll drive you to school.”
I ran up to my room and found my backpack at the side of my bed. The cat in the wall was crying again. I banged my fist on the wall. “Go away! Go away!”
“Don't scare it away, Max!” a voice cried. I turned to see Nicky and Tara on the edge of my bed.
“The cat is driving me crazy,” I said.
“But we need it,” Tara said. She pulled me over to my desk chair. “Sit down. I want to tell you my plan.”
“I can't,” I told her. “Mom is waiting for me in the car.”
“But my plan is so simple,” Tara said. “It won't take long to explain.”
“We need that cat,” Nicky said, pointing to the wall. “It's Phears' cat.”
I swallowed. “You're kidding me, right? Why do we need Phears' cat?”
“Because we can make a deal with him,” Tara said.
“Make a deal with that evil ghost?”
Nicky and Tara both nodded. “Lulu told us Phears loves his cat more than anything. So we make a deal. We'll give Phears his cat—if he'll send the Berserker Ghoul away. And if he'll tell us what he knows about our mom and dad.”
I stared at them, thinking hard. Make a deal with Phears? “Well … it might work,” I said.
The cat meowed again, a mournful sound.
“There's only one problem,” I continued. “How do we get the cat?”
“That's no problem,” Nicky said.
“Yeah. No problem,” Tara agreed. “It will be easy. You go in the tunnel and bring it out.”
23
SATURDAY TURNED OUT TO be a chilly, gray November afternoon. I could see my breath steam up in front of me as I trotted across the grass to the soccer field behind school.
Some of the guys on our team were already warming up, doing stretching exercises, kicking soccer balls back and forth. I saw the visiting team's school bus pull up to the teachers' parking lot. The Terrible Tiger Cubs were here to play. Everyone said they were the best elementary school team in town.
A small crowd had gathered at the bleachers to watch the game. Traci Wayne sat at the top with some of her cool friends. She waved to me, and I waved back and shouted hi. Then I realized she was waving to Robby Marx, who was coming up behind me.
I tossed my jacket onto the pile of jackets on the bench and picked up a yellow and white Battling Bulldogs team jersey. When I looked up, I saw my dad at the sidelines, waving for my attention. “Kill 'em, Max!” he shouted. “Kill 'em! Break 'em apart! Kill 'em, boy!”
Dad isn't exactly what you'd call a good sport.
Colin stood beside Dad, hands stuffed in his jacket, a big grin on his face. He expected me to totally mess up, and I knew he was probably right.
The sky grew darker. Black clouds rolled overhead. I shut my eyes and prayed the game would be rained out.
When I opened them, Coach Freeley was standing in front of me, a big grin on his face. “You're our secret weapon, Max,” he said, slapping me on the back. “No one expects you to be the monster you are!”
“Uh … thanks, Coach.”
“Get out there, Max. Be aggressive. Be a monster!” He slapped me on the back again, then turned and trotted off to greet the visiting team.
Be a monster.
Great advice.
My whole body shuddered. What if I got out on the field and the Berserker Ghoul didn't take over like the other day? The ghoul had been sleeping for days. What if it decided to keep on sleeping and left me stranded out there on my own?
I can't play soccer. I'll get creamed!
Feeling panic sweep over my body, I glanced around. “Nicky? Tara? Are you here?”
Where were they? They promised to be here. They promised to help me during the game.
“Nicky? Tara?”
I couldn't believe they weren't here. How could they do this to me?
We'd made a deal. They help me look like a good soccer player on the field. And I risk my life and go back into that terrifying tunnel and carry out Phears' cat.
The whistle blew for us to line up. The match was about to begin.
I turned and saw Dad shaking his fists in the air. “Kill 'em, Max! Break 'em! Kill! Kill!”
24
THE MATCH STARTED. I tried to stay away from the ball. But my teammates kept passing it to me. They expected me to go berserk, knock players onto their butts, charge the net, and score—the way I did in that crazy practice.
But the Berserker Ghoul was still asleep.
It was just me—me all by myself out there— and I totally sucked. A couple of times, I tripped over the ball and went sailing onto my stomach on the hard ground. Once, the ball bounced right through my legs. Three times, I tried to take a shot—and kick
ed the ball behind me instead of in front of me!
Yikes.
After a few more stumbles and missed kicks, Coach Freeley took me out of the game and sent in Robby Marx. “What's wrong, Max?” Coach asked, leading me to the bench. He slapped a water bottle into my hand. “You saving it for the end again? That's okay. Take a breather. Don't forget. You're my secret weapon.”
Yeah. I'm the secret weapon. And so far, I was keeping it really secret!
I glanced up to the top of the bleachers. Traci Wayne was cheering for the team. I sure hadn't given her anything to cheer about. She'll never talk to me now, I thought. None of the cool kids will ever talk to me.
My dad was still standing on the sidelines, silent now, hands balled into fists at his sides. Colin had that obnoxious grin on his face. Suddenly, he turned to me and mouthed the word loser.
Despite the cold weather, sweat poured down my forehead. “Nicky? Tara? Are you here?” I called.
Where were they? They promised!
Three minutes left to play. The Battling Bulldogs were losing 2 to 1. Cold raindrops started to drip down from the black sky.
I sat shivering on the bench. A hand squeezed my shoulder. I looked up to see Coach Freeley, clipboard in one hand. “Get in there, Max,” he growled. “Go crazy.”
“Jabbba gummma gumma,” I said.
Yes!
I felt the ghoul shift inside me. The field took on a yellow glow, bright as sunshine. My feet pounded the ground, but I felt as if I was floating.
“Jabbbba hubbbba!” A battle cry roared out of my open mouth.
I head-butted one player and sent him tumbling to the wet ground. Oh, wow. One of our players!
I bumped a Tiger Cub out of the way. Kicked him hard in the leg. Stole the ball from him and moved it toward the goal.
Another roar escaped my throat. I could see the startled faces of my teammates. And I could hear my dad over the shouts of the crowd: “Kill! Kill! Kill!”
I faded away into a yellow cloud as the Berserker Ghoul totally took over my brain and my body. I felt so helpless … so alone inside my own body!
I felt jolt after jolt as the ghoul banged into the other players, bumped them hard and sent them sprawling onto the grass. I heard cries all around me and felt another hard bump as my shoe sent the ball flying—into the net!
