Billy Hooten by Tom Sniegoski Read Free Book Online Page A

now?
Billy wondered. Well, first of all, he doubted that Owlboy would've lost his flashlight, and second …
    If this had been a cartoon, a lightbulb would have appeared over Billy's head. Eagerly, he tore open the box, his hands fumbling for the goggles. He found them in a corner of the box and slipped them on over his glasses, tightening the strap in the back. Then he reached up and flipped the switch that would turn on the goggles’ most special feature. There was a soft hum and suddenly the darkness became as bright as day.
    “Wow!” Billy said, finally able to see his surroundings.
    He was in a kind of tunnel, the walls made of smooth black stone. Behind him was an archway with a steep set of steps leading up into more darkness. He figuredthat was where he'd fallen from, and he rubbed his back, still smarting from his tumble.
    Ahead of him, the stone tunnel curved.
Can't hurt to take a peek,
Billy thought, his curiousity getting the better of him.
Who knows, maybe Archebold will be waiting for me at the other end.
    But there was no goblin at the end of the tunnel; there was only a wooden door. Billy pushed it open and stuck his head inside what seemed to be a storeroom. There were shelves everywhere, stocked with what looked like… groceries. He guessed he was in the back room of a store.
    He approached the shelves, taking down what looked like a box of cereal.
Captain Wheezy's Crunchy Critters,
he read.
Made with real bugs!
    “Gross.”
    He put the box back and picked up a jar from the next shelf. It was filled with a thick, light-green fluid. He read the label.
Mama Pussbottom's Special Dinner Sauce. Great with intestines of all kinds!
    Billy thought he might get sick. He couldn't think of a single person he knew who would enjoy cereal made with real bugs or sauce that tasted great over intestines.
    But a monster—now, that was a different story.
    And then it hit him, and he almost dropped the jar of disgusting sauce.
    I must be in Monstros City.
    He hadn't even had a chance to wrap his brain around the idea when he heard a commotion from the room beyond. He paused, hoping that it had just been his imagination, or even the wind.
    But then he heard it again, a frantic scream for help followed by the sound of smashing glass. He remembered what he had gotten himself into the last time he'd answered a call for help, and he almost turned around.
    Almost, but not quite.
    When will I learn?
Billy scolded himself, running toward the cries.
    Cautiously, he opened the door from the storeroom and found himself in a little grocery store, almost like Bob's Market right down the street from his house.
    He slipped quietly from the back room, drawn to the sounds of commotion up front. But even with the threat of danger so close, he couldn't help reading the names of some of the items on the shelves as he moved stealthily up an aisle.
    Canned Zamm. The only meat product that bites back!
    Doc Corpuscle's Instant Blood. Just like the real thing!
    Glabrous Appendage Cream. For dry and chapped tentacles.
    Stopping at a corner display for Frizzies Bone Chips and Salsa, Billy peered around to the front of the store and almost let out a squeal of shock.
    He slapped a hand over his mouth. He had thought pig-men and goblins were bad, but now skeletons, three of them, wearing plastic masks of human faces, were terrorizing a guy who must be the store's owner. The shop guy wasn't any more normal than the three skeletons. He was short and fat, with bright red skin. And, oh yes, his head was on fire.
    Billy closed his eyes tight, then opened them again.
    Nope, his eyes weren't deceiving him. Instead of hair on the shopkeeper's round head, there were flames shooting out of it, and when Billy listened really close—over the sounds of the skeletons demanding all the money in the cash register—he could actually hear it crackling.
    The shopkeeper had opened the cash register and was handing over the money to one of the skeletons. “Here, take