Dangerous Girls by R.L. Stine Read Free Book Online

blood…satisfied the craving, the new craving, their frightening new hunger.
    Destiny heard a rustling in the trees.
    Was someone there?
    She didn’t care. She had to drink. She couldn’t stop.
    Finally, the rabbit corpse lay like a crumpled bag in their hands. Destiny heaved it into the hedges. She felt the thick, warm blood rolling down her cheeks, her chin.
    Still on all fours, she stared at her sister. Panting hard. The sweet metallic taste on her tongue, on her lips.
    Like an animal, she thought. Like a wild beast.
    A hoarse groan escaped from Destiny’s lips. And then finally, she found her voice. “Livvy,” she whispered. “Livvy, what has happened to us?”

Chapter Ten
“We’ll Get Back to Normal”
    A short while later, Destiny and Livvy were in the long T-shirts they slept in, standing awkwardly across from each other in their room. Destiny had turned on all the lights—the lamps, the ceiling lights, even the desk lamp—frightened that the darkness might swallow them up or turn them into creatures again.
    â€œI…don’t know what to say,” she whispered.
    â€œOh, Destiny!” Livvy cried, and flung her arms around her sister. She pressed her face against Destiny’s cheek and let her tears fall with her sister’s.
    â€œI’m so scared,” Livvy said, when they finally let go of each other. “That was so…horrible.”
    Destiny pulled Livvy over to her bed. They sat down together. Livvy clasped her hands tightly in her lap. Destiny kept rubbing her face. She had taken a long, hot shower. Had shewashed all the blood away?
    â€œI’m not sure what happened out there,” she said. “I just suddenly felt so hungry.”
    â€œMe too,” Livvy whispered. “It was like…I couldn’t help myself. I couldn’t stop myself.”
    Destiny nodded. She bit her lip to keep more tears from coming.
    â€œWe killed that little rabbit,” Livvy said, tugging at her long, wet hair. “We ripped it apart, Dee, and we—we drank…” Her voice faded.
    Destiny didn’t reply. She stared hard at a spot on her sister’s neck. “Let me see that.” She scooted closer and brushed a tangle of Livvy’s hair out of the way.
    â€œDee, what is it?”
    â€œA little red mark.” Destiny rubbed her finger over it. “A tiny scab.”
    â€œOh my God!” Livvy whispered. “Dee, you’ve got one too.”
    Destiny uttered a soft cry. They stared at each other, the two sisters suddenly so close, yet each lost in their own horrifying thoughts.
    Tiny throat wounds…the overwhelming urge to feed on animal blood…Ari’s story about vampires loose in the woods…animals drained of their blood…
    The terrifying word— vampire —hung silently between them. Destiny refused to say it.
    â€œIt’s the virus,” Destiny said, breaking the silence. She coiled her hair around her finger, tangling it and untangling it. “That’s it.”
    â€œVirus? What are you talking about? You mean the virus Ana-Li was talking about?”
    Destiny nodded. “We caught it.”
    â€œI guess that’s possible,” Livvy said, shaking her head. “But I don’t feel sick. Do you?”
    â€œNo,” Destiny whispered. “But these marks on our necks…maybe we should talk to Ari,” she said, thinking out loud. “We could swear him to secrecy, and—”
    â€œAre you crazy?” Livvy jumped to her feet. “We can’t tell anyone what we did. It’s so…sick. It has to be a secret. We can’t let anyone know.”
    â€œBut Ari knows about these things,” Destiny argued. “You heard him tonight, talking about the deer in the woods. He’s a total expert on everything strange happening in the world.”
    â€œDee, Ari lives in a total fantasy world. He spends all his time at the