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

down, swatted away a swarm of flies, and picked up the dead rabbit. “It’s stiff.”
    Destiny turned and, holding the rabbit corpse in both hands, started to the back of the house.
    â€œGood morning,” a voice called.
    Destiny looked up to see her dad jogging toward them, perspiration drenching the front of his gray sweatshirt. She whipped the rabbit behind her back.
    â€œI had a nice run this morning,” he said, mopping his forehead with his hand. “Hey, you two are up awfully early.”
    â€œUh…I guess we got used to camp time,” Destiny said.
    â€œYeah. Up at the crack of dawn,” Livvy added.
    â€œIt’ll take a while to get back to our old lazy routine,” Destiny said. “You know. Staying out till two, sleeping till noon.”
    He continued to squint at them. “Maybe you should come running with me in the morning. It really gives me energy for the whole day.”
    â€œMaybe,” Destiny said, gripping the rabbit corpse behind her.
    â€œHey, can you help me?” a voice called from the house.
    They all turned to see Mikey, in his blue-and-white striped pajamas, standing at the front door. “Eddy escaped again,” he shouted.
    As Mikey ran across the lawn, Destiny let the rabbit fall to the grass behind her.
    â€œThat dumb hamster?” Livvy said. “How does he get out of his cage?”
    Mikey shrugged. “I don’t know. I was playing with him last night. Maybe I left the door open. I—hey, what’s that?” Mikey pushed Destiny out of the way and stared down at the dead rabbit. “Oh, gross. What happened to it?”
    Destiny spun around and pretended to be surprised. “Oh, my—what is it? A rabbit?”
    â€œLooks like someone ran it over or something,” Livvy said.
    Their dad strode over and squatted beside Mikey. He scratched his graying hair as he studied the rabbit corpse. Then he grabbed it and turned it onto its back. “Nasty,” he said. “Very nasty.”
    Destiny gazed at her father’s face. Does he suspect what really happened?
    Dr. Weller turned the rabbit over again.“Maybe a fox did this. Hmmmm. Or maybe it’s that virus everyone is talking about.”
    Destiny bent down, pretending to be concerned. “Virus?”
    Her dad nodded.
    Mikey gave Dr. Weller a shove that almost toppled him over. “The stupid rabbit’s dead. What about Eddy?”
    â€œOh. Eddy.” Dr. Weller jumped to his feet. “Come on. Let’s go find the escaped convict!” He and Mikey went running into the house.
    Destiny turned to Livvy. “Dad believes in that virus, but we know how the rabbit died. I…I’m so confused. I don’t know what to think. We’ve got to talk to someone. You know. Find out more about what’s been going on around here.”
    Livvy crossed her arms in front of her. “There’s no way we’re going to tell Ari what we did.”
    â€œOf course not,” Destiny said. “But he knows so much about what’s been happening in Dark Springs. Maybe he could help us. Maybe—”
    â€œI promised Bree I’d hang out with her today,” Livvy said. “Besides, I feel perfectly fine this morning. I think it was a virus, and nowI’m almost back to normal.”
    Destiny sighed. “Well, I don’t feel normal. Every time I think about that rabbit—”
    â€œOkay, okay. You go see Ari. He has a big crush on you anyway. So go talk to him. And listen to all his crazy ideas. But don’t tell him anything about us, Dee. Don’t even hint. You know what a total gossip he is. If you tell him anything, the whole school will know!”
    Destiny stared at her twin. “Don’t worry. We’ll keep our secret—no matter what.”
    Â 
    Ari’s house was a ten-minute drive from Destiny’s. She took the old banged-up Honda Civic Dad had driven to near-death, then