by B. A. Frade
“And if I’d won rock-paper-scissors,” Liv went on, “I would have taken the bucket to the lake and fished out the book. You didn’t have anything to do with waking the beast.”
“That’s where you’re wrong.” I took my slingshot out of my backpack and toyed with the stretchy band. “Earlier, while you were getting firewood, I was launching rocks at the boulder on the island.”
“What does that have to do with the swamp beast?” Jenna wanted to know.
“I didn’t hit the boulder. I think—I know—I hit the swamp beast. It must have been on the island. I hit it, and it woke up.”
“How do you know?” Liv asked curiously.
I sighed. “The last rock I launched had a starburst of mica on one side. That same rock is now lodged in the swamp beast’s head. I saw it there.”
“Oh.” Liv was quiet. Then she murmured, “The rowboat. You think the monster… I don’t know, called it up from the lake bed so it could get off the island?”
“I don’t know. Maybe. Anyway, I just thought you guys should know that I’m to blame. And that I’m really sorry.”
They were all silent. Then Liv slapped her hands on her knees and stood up. “Here’s the thing: What matters now is not how this all started, but how it’s going to end.”
“Okay,” Jenna said, a hint of hope sneaking into her voice. “What’s your plan?”
Liv turned to me and grinned. “We’re going to break into Mom’s lab.”
Chapter Twenty
I stared at Liv, certain I had heard her wrong. “Who are you, and what have you done with my twin sister?”
“It’s the best solution to the murderous pollution,” she said, paraphrasing the Scaremaster. “Mom’s lab is full of chemicals. We just sneak in, take some—”
I jumped up. “Now I know you’re an imposter! Liv doesn’t break and enter, or steal!”
“It’s not stealing—okay, it is,” she said. “But it’s a matter of life and death!”
“We don’t know that for sure,” I argued. “Maybe the swamp beast isn’t even after us anymore.”
“Mwooooahhh!”
We all froze at the moaning sound coming from the woods. Snort growled.
“Okay, so it is still after us,” I amended. “And according to the Scaremaster, it won’t stop until we defeat it, or it… anyway, you’re crazy if you think I’m breaking into Mom’s lab. Even if we find something that can destroy the swamp beast, she’ll kill us when she finds out we’ve been in there!”
Liv’s lips set in a determined line. “So we have to make sure she doesn’t find out. Now, where’s the key?”
Because there were some potentially dangerous and explosive chemicals in her lab, Mom locked it whenever she wasn’t in it. She kept one copy of the key with her at all times and another hidden in a secret spot that only she knew about. At least, she thought she was the only one who knew about it.
I feigned ignorance. “What key?”
“Mwooooahhh!”
I hurried over to a planter of flowers, lifted it, and picked up the key resting beneath it. “Hey, look what I found purely by accident!”
“Awesome. Give it to me.” Liv moved to take it, but I held it out of her reach.
“Not so fast! Tell us your plan first!”
“Mwooooahhh!”
The swamp beast stepped into our backyard wearing what was left of our tent like a cape. As we stared in terror, it tore off the remnant and threw it to the ground. Then it bellowed like thunder.
“Here’s the plan,” Josh cried. “Get inside!”
The back door was unlocked. We shoved our way in and slammed it behind us.
“This way.” Liv started to lead us to the hall to Mom’s lab.
“Wait!” I pointed at our feet. “Shoes. Bad enough we’ll have Mom killing us, we don’t need Dad joining in when he gets home tomorrow.”
We shed our filthy footwear and continued down the hall. “I just want to go on the record as saying this is a terrible idea,” I said.
Jenna and Josh hung back. “Um, you sure this is okay, Liv?” Jenna asked. “I don’t want you guys getting in trouble.”
“Trust me.” Liv shot me a smile. “I’ve got it all figured out.”
I had to smile back. “Where have I heard that lie before?”
“Key?”
I hesitated and then slapped it into her outstretched palm. “Key.” She inserted it into the lock. Before she turned it, she looked at us over her shoulder.
“Anything that’s up high or in a locked glass case is off-limits,” she warned. “Look for stuff that’s just sitting out on the counters. It should be safe.”
“Probably,” I muttered.
“You got a better idea for destroying the swamp beast?”
Unfortunately, I didn’t. She nodded and gave the key a twist. The knob turned, and we were in. I tried to coax Snort inside, but she refused to cross the threshold. “You’re smarter than I am,” I whispered as I closed the door behind me.
“Whoa.” Josh looked around the space with wide, admiring eyes, taking in the long black center island with petri dishes, papers, and beakers scattered around the microscope, Bunsen burners, and sink. “What is all this stuff?”
“Chemicals and chemistry equipment,” I said vaguely, smacking his hand away from a bottle marked with a “triple X” for “XXXtra dangerous.” “Don’t touch anything over here”—I indicated a wall of vials, jars, and plastic containers filled with colorful liquids and mysterious powders—“or over there.” I pointed to my mom’s desk, computer, and file cabinet.
“Hey, maybe we can use this!” Josh held up a big plastic jug.
I rolled my eyes. “Read the label. It’s distilled water.”
“So?”
“It’s water.”
“But it’s distilled. Doesn’t that make it all chemically and stuff?”
“No.”
“Oh.”
“Aidan.” Liv beckoned me over. I left Josh examining a bottle of rubbing alcohol and joined her.
“Do you remember that gas from earlier today?” she asked.
I flushed. “Sorry. I had a burrito for lunch.”
She rolled her eyes. “No, I’m talking about the gas Mom made.”
I recalled the greenish haze that had hung in the air behind Mom that afternoon and nodded.
“I think I found the solution that caused it.” She moved to one side and pointed to a large covered vat. “Smell it.”
I cracked the corner of the lid. Inside was a yellow-green liquid. I took a whiff and recoiled. “Ew. What is it?”
“Not sure,” she admitted. “But she wouldn’t have left it sitting out if it was harmful. Plus, she wasn’t wearing her safety goggles or mask when she was mixing it earlier today.”
“Which means… what, exactly?”
“We take it and hope it destroys the swamp beast.”
“And if it doesn’t?”
She lifted one shoulder and let it drop. “Then most likely the monster destroys us before Mom finds out we were in her lab.”
“Okay, so a win-win situation. Let’s head to the backyard and get this party started.” I picked up the vat and started toward the hall when a noise outside the door made me pause. “Guys. Come here.”
Liv, Josh, and Jenna came over. We leaned our heads toward the door. The noise came again. We looked at one another, and I asked a pertinent follow-up question.
“Did we lock the back door?”
Chapter Twenty-One
Turns out we should have locked the back door.
“Mwooooahhh!”
“It’s in the house!” Josh whispered in a panic.
Something heavy and wet-sounding thudded against the door. We jumped back. The vat’s contents sloshed violently to one side and threw my hold off balance. The vat slipped from my grasp, crashed to the floor, and burst open. The yellow-green liquid fountained up and splashed down around and on us. Moments later, a green gas filled the air.
>
That curse word Mom said earlier in the day? I said it now. The liquid didn’t harm us, but it smelled truly awful, and though it didn’t seem possible, the gas smelled worse than the liquid. I fumbled my way to the wall and hit a switch. The powerful overhead fan came on. Within seconds, most of the haze was sucked out of the room. The remains of the liquid slowly spread across the floor, forming a milky yellow puddle.
“So much for Plan A,” Josh murmured dismally.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
“Anyone got a Plan B?”
Thud. Thud. “Rowf!”
“Rowf?” Jenna whispered.
I mouthed, “Snort,” and put a finger to my lips.
Snort barked a second time. The thudding stopped. I strained my ears and heard toenails clicking against the hardwood floor of the hallway. The clicks faded away, grew louder, and faded again, accompanied by short little barks. I realized our wonderful, loyal dog was dancing up close to the swamp beast and darting back, trying to lure it away so we could escape. I vowed to give her triple dog treats if we got out of this alive.
When. I meant when.
Outside the door, lumbering, moist footfalls squelched on the floor. I pictured the swamp beast following Snort. When the hall fell silent, Liv opened the door a crack and peeked out. She signaled the all clear, and we slipped out. And almost slipped in the slime-and-sludge trail left behind by the monster.
“Gross,” Jenna said, picking her way past the filth in her bare feet. “Your dad is going to freak if we don’t clean this up before he gets back.”
“Good thing he has all those industrial-sized bottles of cleaner in your front hall closet,” Josh added.
“Yeah,” Liv said. “Those should do the trick—assuming we’re around to use them.”
I’d been edging down the hallway as they talked. Now I paused. Their conversation started bouncing around in my head, lighting up an idea like a pinball game. It all made so much sense I couldn’t believe I hadn’t thought of it before. Actually, I couldn’t believe Liv hadn’t thought of it, because it was really more up her alley. But the minute it came to me, I knew I’d struck gold.
“Guys,” I said. “I know how to destroy the monster.”
They stopped and stared at me. “Really?” Jenna asked. “How?”
I grinned. “We clean it to death.”
It took a second for the simple brilliance of my idea to take root. When it did, their reaction was awesome. Liv’s jaw literally dropped. Josh pumped his fist and stage-whispered, “Yes!” Jenna… Jenna kissed me. On the cheek. I flushed to the roots. Yeah. Their reaction was awesome.
The moment was ruined by a loud crash from the living room. I’d forgotten the swamp beast was inside with us. The others had too, judging by their expressions.
“We’ve got to get it out of here!” Liv said. “Come on!”
“Wait.” Yet another brilliant idea hit me. “We should attack it here, in the house.”
“What?” Liv rounded on me. “Are you crazy?”
“Hear me out!”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “Go on. Convince me that we should let a murderous rampaging monster have free rein of our home!”
“Make it quick, though,” Josh said with an anxious glance toward the living room.
“The swamp beast feeds on sticks and stones and other nature things, right? There’s none of that stuff in here. Plus,” I added, warming to my plan, “we know the layout. It doesn’t. We can sneak attack, ambush, hide, and refuel while it’s turning in circles trying to figure out where we went.”
Liv regarded me for a beat. Then she uncrossed her arms and threw them around me. “That’s my brother!” She pulled back, and we did a fist-bump explosion. With enthusiasm.
And then we got to work.
Chapter Twenty-Two
I’d done my part by coming up with the brilliant ideas, so I let Liv do hers by coming up with a brilliant plan for implementing them. She did not disappoint.
“First,” she said, “we need to get to the cleaning supplies. Once we have our weapons, we come at the swamp beast from every doorway of the living room and fire away.”
“What if it doesn’t stay in the living room?” Josh asked.
“Tracking it down shouldn’t be difficult,” Jenna observed with a glance back at the filthy hallway.
“Getting to the front hall closet, though,” I said. “That may be a little bit challenging.”
Josh and Jenna looked anxious, and I understood why. The closet was next to the living room. The living room was where the swamp beast was. Ergo, to get the cleaning supplies, we had to get past the monster.
But Liv had thought that through too. “Those supplies are our backup weapons. The closet isn’t the only place where cleaners live in this house,” she said with a grin.
I stared at her and then smacked my forehead. “Of course! Bathrooms, kitchen, laundry room—they have stuff too. Or so I’ve been told. I try not to do much cleaning.”
“Or any, personal or household,” Liv added with an eye roll. “Josh, take the kitchen. Jenna, you hit the laundry room. Aidan and I will get stuff from the bathrooms. Don’t forget to check under the sinks.”
“Why?” I asked.
She rolled her eyes. “That’s where the cleaning supplies are.”
“Seriously?”
She ignored me and waved her index fingers, flight attendant style, down the two halls that branched off from our spot in opposite directions. At the end of one was the kitchen and laundry room. The other hall split again, one fork heading to Liv’s and my wing and the other toward the guest room. The guest room had its own separate bathroom. “Grab whatever cleaning products you can. Soap, window cleaner, toilet bowl cleaner, anything. Then meet back here.”
Josh and Jenna set off together down the kitchen and laundry room hall, staying low to the ground and on tiptoe. Liv and I moved the same way down the other hall. When we reached the fork, she motioned me to take our bathroom. I nodded, and she disappeared down the other branch to the guest room.
To get to our bathroom, I could either go through Liv’s room or cross through our hangout room and go through my room. With my mind on the swamp beast lurking in my house, I went on autopilot. Instead of taking the more direct route through Liv’s room, I tiptoed into the hangout room and headed for my door.
Turns out going through Liv’s room would have been safer as well as more direct. Our hangout room was connected to the main living room by a door. Standing in that doorway was a hulking nightmare of mud, sticks, decay, and creepy-crawlies. For a long second, I stared at it, not breathing, waiting for it to come finish me off.
Then I realized I was looking at its backside. Why did it take me so long? You try differentiating between the front and back of a pile of muck. I slunk away, twisted the knob of my door, and slipped in, closing the door softly behind me and letting out my breath at the same time.
On autopilot again, I nearly made the mistake of turning on my light. While giving myself a big pat on the back for not doing so, I tripped over a pair of pants I’d left on my floor. I broke my fall by grabbing my desk chair. The chair flipped and jostled the desk. Dirty dishes piled on the desk toppled over and hit the hardwood floor with a mighty crash. So did I.
I scrambled up and listened to the silence that followed. Maybe the swamp beast didn’t hear that, I thought.
Thhhh-UCK. Thhhh-UCK. Thhhh-UCK.
So much for wishful thinking. The mud-sucking footsteps stopped outside my door. I heard thick, heavy breathing that wasn’t my own. The knob turned. I didn’t wait to see who was behind door number one. I darted into the bathroom, slamming and locking the door behind me. In the feeble light emanating from a tiny nightlight by the sink, I armed myself, starting with the personal hygiene products around the double sinks.
“Soap,” I muttered, making a hammock of my shirt to carry everything. “Hand sanitizer. Toothpaste? Why not. Floss? Never touch the stuff.”
I dre
w back the shower curtain and grabbed bottles of shampoo and body wash. I left the conditioner, though. Somehow, I didn’t think the monster cared if its sludge was silky and manageable.
I was about to sneak out through Liv’s room with my arsenal when I remembered to check under the sink. “Huh. What do you know? Cleaning supplies. How long have those been there, I wonder?”
I added a spray bottle of blue window cleaner and something called Bowl-Be-Clean (not for cereal bowls, I found out later) to my stash. I could hear the swamp beast moving around in my room, which made me feel creepy and angry at the same time. I left through Liv’s room and hurried back to the meeting spot.
I found the others crouched over their supplies. They looked relieved when they saw me. “We heard the slam,” Jenna said. “Was it the monster?”
“Yeah, it’s in my room,” I confirmed.
“Can it get into the bathroom?” Liv asked.
I shook my head. “I locked the door.”
“Perfect.” She stood up. “It’s trapped.”
“Unless it breaks the door down,” I suggested.
She gave me a look. “Not helpful.”
“Sorry.”
Then she holstered a spray bottle and tore off the lid of a container of candy-colored pod-style dishwasher soap. “Time to scrub-a-dub-dub.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
We devised a simple attack-and-defend strategy. Liv and I would attack the beast in my room; Jenna and Josh would defend the two possible escape routes, my door into the hangout room and the one from the hangout room into the living room. If the monster got past the living room, well… chances were we wouldn’t be around to worry about that.
Liv approached from her room. From there, she’d go through the bathroom, unlocking the door to get to my room. With the beast out of the living room, the front hall closet was accessible, so Jenna helped herself to more cleaning supplies and then took up a position by the main living room door. Josh and I, meanwhile, armed ourselves to the teeth and sneaked into the hangout room.
“Whoa,” Josh breathed.
The place was a disaster zone. Filth and muck spattered the overturned furniture. The curtains had been slashed, no doubt by the prickers embedded in the beast’s arms. Poison ivy leaves, pieces of fungus, and wriggling insects littered the floor. Looking around, I had the distinct feeling our cleanup chores weren’t going to end with the swamp beast.
