50 - Calling All Creeps! (6 page)

A heavy silence fell over the woods. A burst of wind shook snow off the
evergreens. I suddenly felt cold all over.

Brenda reached into her backpack. She pulled out a clear plastic bag and
raised it toward me. “I have the Identity Seeds with me, Commander,” she
announced.

I studied the seeds inside the bag. They looked exactly like chocolate chips.

“As you know, Commander, every student must eat a seed,” Wart said. “It takes
only one seed to turn a human into a Creep.”

“The Creeps must rule!” Jared declared loudly.

“Humans are the past!” Brenda cried, raising the bag of seeds high. “Creeps
are the future!”

All four of them cheered. And as they cheered, they began to change—into
MONSTERS!

“Creeps rule! Creeps rule!” they chanted.

I stared in horror as their faces twisted and their bodies began to
transform.

Bumps popped out all over their heads. Bumps about the size of quarters rose
up on their arms and hands.

Their skin began to darken. In seconds, they were all bright purple. The big
purple bumps trembled and shook on their skin.

Their faces stretched. Their hair disappeared into their purple skulls. Their
eyes sank into their flat, purple heads.

Long, ropy tongues flicked from between jagged rows of teeth. Bumpy purple
tongues, glistening as they whipped them from side to side.

I stared at them, unable to move, unable to run. Unable to take my eyes off
the four creatures. Bumpy lizard creatures.

Creeps.

They grunted and wheezed. Their eyes rolled wetly. Their long snouts dripped.
Their lizardy jaws snapped open and shut.

“NOOOO!” I cried out as Wart sprang at me.

I thought he was attacking.

But he scrambled past me—and grabbed the scrawny squirrel between both
purple hands. Instantly, his jaws flew open, and he stuffed the squirrel inside.

He swallowed it without chewing. The furry tail slid down last.

His bumpy tongue licked his wet lips. “Sorry there wasn’t enough to share.”
He grinned at the others.

“How was it?” Brenda hissed.

“A little dry,” Wart replied.

“I don’t like them with the skin on,” Jared chimed in.

For some reason, that made them all laugh. Ugly, dry laughs that sounded like
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?

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 carefully,” Wart continued. “After the cooks
set out the food in the morning, they take a ten-minute break. That’s our
chance. If we sneak in during their break, we can plant the seeds in the
lunchroom food.”

“Everyone eats in the lunchroom. It’s a school rule,” David chimed in. “So
every student will eat at least one seed.”

“And by nighttime, they will no longer be humans. They will all be Creeps
like us,” Jared added.

“What do you think of my plan? Will it work?” Wart asked.

They all stared at me, waiting for my answer.

“The plan sounds pretty good,” I said finally. I rubbed my chin, pretended I
was thinking hard about it. “I will talk to you all tomorrow and let you know my
decision.”

Their lizardy faces drooped with disappointment. “Tomorrow?” Wart cried
unhappily. “But we could
do
it tomorrow morning, Commander. We could
plant the seeds, and by tomorrow night—”

I raised a hand to cut him off. “Tomorrow,” I said firmly.

They were still grumbling to each other as I turned and hurried away. I
expected one of them to grab me and pull me back. But this time, they let me go.

I edged through an opening in the evergreen shrubs. Then I started to jog.
Between the bare, trembling trees. Across the street. And down the block toward
my house.

What am I going to do? I asked myself as I ran.

I can’t let them turn everyone in school into Creeps. I can’t let them drop
their Identity Seeds in the lunchroom food.

But how can I stop them?

If I tell them not to do it, they will figure out that I’m not their
Commander. They will figure out that they made a mistake.

And then what? What will they do to me if they find out I’m not a Creep? Will they gobble me up the way Wart swallowed that
poor squirrel?

My side started to ache, but I kept running. I pictured all the kids in my
school turning into bumpy, purple lizard creatures. I pictured them all in the
woods, grabbing squirrels and swallowing them whole.

I pictured us all slouching around, slapping high fives with our tongues.

Yuck!

“What am I going to do?” I asked myself out loud.

I was the only one who knew about the Creeps—and the only one who could
stop them.

And I had to act fast.

“Pass the mashed potatoes,” Dad said with a mouthful of chicken. “And the
biscuits, please.”

I passed the food down the table. I took another drumstick from the bucket.
Mom and Dad both work hard, so they don’t have time to cook. They usually pick
up something on the way home. Tonight it was a fried chicken bucket, with a
bunch of side dishes.

They are always starving when they get home. There’s no point in talking to
them until they’ve finished their first helping. They can’t even hear you over
the sound of their chewing!

I really wasn’t hungry. My stomach felt as if it were tied in tight knots. I
kept staring at the chicken and picturing squirrel.

I waited until most of the chicken had been gobbled up. Then I took a deep
breath and started my story.

“There’s something I have to tell you,” I said softly.

They both raised their eyes from their plates. Dad had a swirl of mashed
potatoes on his cheek. Mom reached over and brushed it off with her fingers.

“Are you in trouble at school again, Ricky?” she asked sternly. “Have the
kids been picking on you?”

“No. That’s not it,” I replied quickly. “I have to tell you something. I
mean, I need your help. You see—these four kids—”

“Take a deep breath,” Dad said. “Start at the beginning.”

“Calm down,” Mom added. “What’s gotten you so wired?”

“Please—let me tell it!” I cried.

They both settled back and lowered their forks to the table.

“These four kids,” I started again. “They’re not really kids. I thought they
were seventh-graders. But they’re not. They’re Creeps. They’re not kids at all.
I mean, they’re new to the school. I never saw them before this year. But I
thought…”

Mom and Dad exchanged glances. Dad opened his mouth to say something—then
changed his mind.

“They came here with a mission,” I told them. “They want to turn all the kids
in school into Creeps. They have these Identity Seeds, a big bag of them.
They’re going to feed the seeds to all the kids.”

I ran out of air. I hadn’t taken a breath. I took a long one now, and
continued my story.

“They think I’m a Creep, too. They think I’m their Commander. Because of a
message I typed on the bottom of the school newspaper. They want me to help them
turn all the kids into Creeps. Horrible monsters!”

I took another breath. I was so excited, so nervous, I felt as if my heart
had jumped to my throat.

I leaned across the table and stared first at Mom, then at Dad. “We have to
stop them!” I cried. “You have to help me. We can’t let them turn everyone into
Creeps. But what can we do? How can we let people know that they’re not really
kids? How can we stop them? You’ve got to help me. You’ve
got
to!”

I let out a long whoosh of air and dropped against the back of the chair. I
struggled to slow down my racing heart.

My parents glanced at each other again. I could see the troubled expressions
on their faces.

Dad was the first to speak. “Ricky,” he said softly, “your mom and I are
Creeps too.”

I gasped and nearly tumbled off my chair.

Mom and Dad burst out laughing.

“No. Actually we’re Martians!” Dad declared.

“No way. We’re not Martians,” Mom argued. “We’re werewolves!” She picked up a
chicken bone and pretended to chomp on it like a wolf.

“We’re Martian werewolves!” Dad cried. He tossed back his head and howled
like a wolf.

Then they both laughed loudly again. They really thought they were a riot.

“You’ve got to take me seriously!” I pleaded.

For some reason, that made them laugh even harder. Dad actually had tears in
his eyes from laughing so hard. He raised his napkin and dabbed at his eyes.

“Ricky, sometimes you come up with the greatest things,” he said. He reached
over and slapped my shoulder.

“What an imagination,” Mom commented. She shook her head. “You really should write that story down, Ricky. It could win
a prize.”

“But it isn’t a story!” I cried. I jumped to my feet and angrily tossed my
napkin onto my plate. “Why don’t you believe me?”

“Oh, we believe you—Commander!” Dad exclaimed. “Commander of the Creeps!”

They both burst out laughing again.

I uttered an angry cry, turned, and stomped out of the dining room. I could
still hear them laughing as I stormed up the stairs to my bedroom.

I slammed the door behind me. And shook my fists in the air.

I had to find some help. I had to make
someone
believe me.

I slumped onto my bed and just sat there for a long while, staring at the
darkness outside the window. I waited for my heart to stop racing, for my mind
to calm down.

But I couldn’t get calm. My whole body tingled. My brain spun.

I grabbed the phone off my bedtable and punched in Iris’ number. Iris will
listen to me, I told myself. Iris will know I’m not making up a wild story.

The phone rang three times. Four. Five.

No one home?

“Come
on,
Iris!” I begged into the ringing receiver. “Be there!”