Read an Excerpt
Chapter One
"Hey-wait up!"
Tristan Gottschalk hurried to catch up to his friends. His shoes thudded against the hard floor. The sound echoed down the long, empty hall.
He wrapped his arm around Ray Davidoffs neck and tightened it into a choke hold. "Come on! WWF Smackdown!"
Ray jerked free of Tristan's hold. "You don't have the guts to challenge Stone Cold Ray!" he bellowed. He grabbed Tristan's arm in an armlock and shoved it up behind Tristan's back until he screamed.
Wrestling playfully, the two boys slammed into the metal lockers along the wall.
Rosa Martinez pulled Ray off Tristan. "Grow up," she said. "Let's just get out of here."
Bella Chester agreed. "The school is so creepy when everyone is gone. I can't believe we missed the late bus."
"It's dark out already," Rosa said. "And why do they dim the lights in this school so early?"
Ray laughed. "Big Bad Rosa. Since when are you afraid of the dark?"
Rosa gave him a hard shove. "I told you not to call me that. I'm tall — I'm not big!"
"You're bigger than me!" Ray cried.
Rosa scowled at him. "Can I help it if you're a shrimp?"
Tristan laughed. "You're calling Stone Cold Ray a shrimp? just because my dog is taller than he is?"
"Hey!" Ray frowned at them both. "I had a growth spurt last month. Dad says I could grow another six inches this year."
"Why are we talking about this?" Bella asked. "Hear how our voices carry down the hall? Everyone can hear our stupid conversation."
"But there's no one here," Rosa said. "The school is empty. Everyone has gone home."
"Love the echo," Ray said. He tossed back his headand let out a long, high animal howl.
Tristan laughed. "The cry of the wolf!" He joined in and they howled together.
"Give us a break," Bella groaned. She swept back her long, curly red hair. "That's not funny. Don't you watch the news on TV? Haven't you heard about the animal attacks?"
Ray sneered. "You mean you believe that junk about werewolves prowling the town? Those are just rumors. A bunch of really bored people probably made it up."
"But did you see the two cats that were attacked?" Bella replied. "They were torn apart and eaten. There was nothing left of them but their heads. Two cat heads lying in the dirt with big paw-prints all around."
"Yuck," Rosa said, making a face. "Shut up about that."
"Yeah. You're making me hungry!" Ray exclaimed.
He and Tristan cupped their hands around their mouths and howled again.
"I can't believe Mr. Moon kept us after school so long," Rosa said, ignoring them.
"Yeah. Why did he ask us to help out with his science experiments?" Bella asked. "We're not the brains in the class."
"Maybe he likes us," Rosa said.
"Ha-ha," Ray replied sarcastically. "You're kidding-right?"
They stopped at their lockers. Bella dropped some books onto her locker floor. Then she pulled out her black fleece jacket.
"I hate Mr. Moon's smile," she said. "It's like he has five hundred teeth."
"Mr. Moon looks like a vampire in an old movie," Rosa said. She pulled a red wool cap down over her short black hair. "With his hair slicked straight back like that. And those heavy eyebrows. And those beady, round eyes."
Tristan glanced down the hall. "Quiet. He can probably hear every word we're saying."
"No way," Ray said. "I'll bet you he's still in the lab injecting weird things into bird eggs."
"I think those experiments are kind of cool," Tristan said. He hiked his backpack over the shoulders of his jean jacket. "I mean, I like the idea of putting strange things in eggs and then seeing what you get."
"Don't ever invite me to your house for breakfast!" Rosa exclaimed.
They all laughed.
Rosa always cracked them up.
Ray slapped Rosa a high-five.
They slammed their lockers shut and locked them. Then they made their way through the dimly lit hall to the back exit of the school.
The four of us have been friends for a long time, Tristan thought. But Mr. Moon doesn't know that. We're not even in the same science class.
So why did he pick us to help with his experiments today?
They passed an orange-and-black poster about a school Halloween party.
"Wow. Almost Halloween," Rosa said. "Are we trick-or-treating this is year?"
Bella twisted her face, thinking hard. Whenever she did this, her green cat eyes seemed to disappear into her freckles. "I don't know," she replied. "Are we too old? How old is too old to trick-or-treat?"
"I think twelve is too old," Tristan replied. "And we're all twelve."
"Who cares?" Ray said. "We still want candyright? So, that means we're not too old. We should go out."
He bumped Bella against the wall. "Unless you're afraid of the werewolves!"
"I'm not afraid of the werewolves," Bella said, bumping him back. "But if we go out, it means we need costumes."
"Why don't we have a party this year?" Ray asked. "A costume party would be awesome. I'll put tattoos all over my chest and arms and come as Stone Cold Ray."
