50 - Calling All Creeps! by R.L. Stine - (ebook by Undead) Read Free Book Online Page A

choking.
    All four of them flicked out their long, bumpy tongues and slapped each
other’s tongues, as if slapping high fives.
    I took a deep breath. My legs felt so weak, I thought I might fall to the
ground. “I—I have to go now,” I stammered.
    In her purple fingers, Brenda raised the bag of seeds in front of my face.
“Only one week left, Commander,” she said. “How will we plant them inside the students? We have
waited so long for you. Do you have a plan?”
    “Yes. My plan is to get out of here—now!” I replied.
    I turned to leave. But they had me surrounded. Their wet eyes studied me.
Their purple chests heaved noisily in and out. The bumps on their skin quivered.
    Wart made a little bow, like a servant. “But if you leave, Commander, when
will the Creeps meet again?” he asked softly.
    “Yes. We must meet again soon. We must make a plan,” David added solemnly.
    “Before the week is out, every student at Harding Middle School must eat an
Identity Seed,” Brenda declared.
    The others nodded.
    “The Creeps will rule,” Wart said softly. “The student humans will all become
Creeps!”
    Their tongues flicked out again and slapped each other in a four-tongued high
five.
    I’ve got to get away from them—now! I told myself.
    I’ve got to report them. I’ve got to tell someone at school who they are—and what they’re planning to do.
    But—how?

 
 
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    I decided to play along with them. To stall. To act as serious as they were.
    If they figure out that I’m not their Commander, they’ll do something horrible to me! I realized.
    I pictured the squirrel tail sliding down Wart’s throat.
    And I started to gag.
    How can I get away from them? I wondered.
    As soon as I escaped, I could report them to someone—to anyone who
would listen!
    “Brenda, let me see those seeds,” I said, trying to sound as if I were giving
an order. My voice came out strong and steady. But my hand trembled as I reached
for the bag.
    I took the bag and carefully unwrapped the twist-tie on top. Then I raised
the bag to my face, studied the seeds for a long time, and took a deep sniff.
    No. Definitely not chocolate chips.
    The seeds had a faintly sour smell. Not terrible. But not sweet or chocolatey
either.
    “One for each kid,” I murmured, eyeing them carefully. “One seed for each.”
    The four Creeps nodded their purple heads. “At least one for each student,”
Brenda said. “That’s all it will take to turn them all into Creeps.” She snapped
her long rows of jagged teeth.
    It’s not going to happen, I decided.
    No way.
    I’m not going to let it happen. I’m going to get help. I’m going to stop
them.
    But first I had to get out of the woods.
    “Well, we Creeps will meet again soon,” I said. I handed the seed bag back to
Brenda. “We must all think of the best plan. And then we will call each other,
and pick a good time, and meet again.”
    I turned and took two steps toward the street.
    That’s as far as I got.
    Wart’s long, bumpy tongue wrapped around my neck. He turned me around by
pulling in his tongue. “But, Commander—I have a good plan!” he
declared.
    “Good,” I said, trying not to gag again. I could still feel the wet, bumpy
tongue on my skin. “We will meet soon and talk about your plan.”
    “No— now !” Wart insisted. “Commander, we must talk now. We can put my plan into action tomorrow morning!”
    “Huh? Tomorrow?” I gasped. “I think we’d better wait a day,” I started. “You
see, if we all wait—”
    They eyed me suspiciously. Their purple jaws opened and closed.
    I turned back to Wart. “What’s your plan?”
    He took a deep, wheezing breath and began. “Tomorrow morning, we get to
school very early. The lunchroom cooks all arrive early. They prepare lunch
first thing in the morning.”
    “Yes. That gives the chocolate pudding plenty of time for the crust to
harden!” I joked.
    No one laughed.
    “I’ve been studying the kitchen