The Evil Lives! (8 page)

Natalie sat on the bench behind them, braiding her long dark hair so it wouldn't flop in her eyes.

Natalie looks so worried, Amanda thought. Is she afraid she'll break down and cry or something? Nobody would blame her.

“Okay, guys!” Amanda called out. “Finish warming up so we can talk about the cheers. Where's Janine, anyway?”

“Over there,” Keesha told her, pointing toward the team bench. “With Brandon.”

Amanda frowned with concern as she walked down the line toward her friend. Janine had been so quiet all week. So depressed she'd even lost her appetite.
Her round face looked almost thin now, and her eyes had dark smudges under them.

“Hey, Amanda.” Brandon gazed up as Amanda sat down next to Janine. “I've been trying to cheer Janine up,” he said. “Told every joke I could think of. Can't get a single laugh out of her.”

“You must be losing your touch,” Amanda replied.

“Never!” he cried dramatically.

Amanda nudged her friend. “You'd better cheer up,” she warned. “If you don't, Brandon will put another snake in your bag.”

“No way.” Brandon cackled. “I already did that. I've got something even better in mind.”

Amanda laughed. “Even worse, you mean.”

Someone in the band blasted out a sour note on the trumpet, and Amanda stood up. As she did, she spotted Judd, sitting farther down on the bench. He flashed her a thumbs-up.

Amanda gave him a wave, then glanced away. He probably thinks I'm mad at him, she told herself. I wish I could explain, but I can't. How can I tell him I'm afraid he might be possessed by an evil spirit?

She turned back to Janine. “It's almost time. Let's get back to the others. Are you going to be all right?” she asked as they walked toward the squad.

“I don't know. Maybe.” Janine stopped walking. “I talked to a counselor,” she announced quietly. “About Natalie. I didn't know what else to do. Natalie is so furious with me, I just had to talk to somebody about it.”

“What did the counselor say?”

“She told me Natalie would eventually be my friend again,” Janine replied. “That it's natural for
her to be angry and to blame somebody, and I'm a good target. She said I should give it time.”

Amanda nodded. “That makes sense.”

“I guess so.” Janine sighed. “I just wish I knew how much time. It's really hard having Natalie hate me so much.”

“I don't think she really hates you,” Amanda declared. “She'll get over this.”

Amanda approached the bench where everyone was sitting and gathered them all in a loose huddle. “Okay, guys, let's do this right,” she told them. “If we go out there like zombies, we'll be letting the team down. They're playing Waynesbridge tonight in Luke's honor. They want to win, so let's get everybody back in the right spirit. Put everything you have into it.”

“Amanda's right,” Victoria agreed. “Let's cheer the roof off this place.”

Keesha and Janine nodded.

Amanda glanced at Natalie, who still had a worried expression on her face. “Are you going to be okay with this?” she asked sympathetically.

“What? Oh—yes,” Natalie replied. “The pep rally is a good idea. But I've been thinking,” she added. “And I finally decided—I'm going to tell the principal that we called up an evil spirit. She needs to know.”

Victoria gasped. “Why?”

“What does that have to do with anything?” Keesha demanded. “Besides, we didn't really call one up.”

“I think we did,” Natalie argued. “You saw the way Luke threw himself onto the edge of the bleachers. It was like some weird force made him do it. Something evil.”

She really believes we called up the Evil, Amanda thought, staring at Natalie's determined face. Is she right? Did the Evil possess Luke?

Does it possess Judd?

“This whole spirit thing is nuts, Natalie,” Keesha declared. “And if you tell Ms. Oakley about it, she'll think
you're
nuts.”

“Or she'll start asking all kinds of questions,” Victoria added. “We could get in major trouble.”

“I don't care about that,” Natalie told her. “And neither should you, Vicki.”

Victoria and Keesha kept arguing with her. Amanda didn't know what to think. She glanced at Janine, who hadn't said anything. She just listened carefully, her eyes on Natalie.

“Don't try to talk me out of it anymore,” Natalie insisted. “One boy has already died. I think Ms. Oakley should know about it. And I'm going to tell her—right after the pep rally.”

A drumroll from the band broke into the conversation. Amanda tried to push the whole thing from her mind. “Okay. Let's go!” she cried. “And remember—give it everything you've got!”

The drumroll ended. The squad ran into the center of the floor and began their first cheer.

“Tigers claw, tigers roar.

Tigers run—Tigers SCORE!”

As the cheerleaders continued, the crowd joined in, but not as loudly as usual. They're about as lively as a bunch of wet noodles, Amanda thought.

Doing back walkovers toward the bleachers, the
cheerleaders picked up their pompoms, then raced to the center of the floor and continued the cheer.

The chanting grew a little louder.

When the cheer ended, the band struck up a march, the kind that usually got the crowd into a foot-stomping frenzy. Amanda kept the squad out on the floor, where they marched in time to the beat and urged the crowd to join in.

The gym roof didn't exactly blow off, but the yelling grew louder and the stomping feet shook the bleachers.

We're doing it, Amanda thought. They're coming alive.

The band finished and the cheerleaders ran back to their bench. Miss Daly clapped Amanda on the shoulder again. “Good job.”

Amanda grinned. Finally, she thought. We finally got a “good” out of her.

The new principal, Ms. Oakley, a short woman with iron-gray hair, stepped onto a low platform at one end of the court and blew into the microphone.

“As everyone knows, the Tigers lost a teammate last week,” she began quietly. “Of course, Luke Stone was more than a basketball player. He was a son. A friend. A student. Someone we all cared about.”

Amanda glanced over at Natalie and saw Victoria put an arm around her shoulders. Natalie sat stiffly, with her eyes squeezed shut.

“Still, Luke loved basketball,” the principal continued. “Being a Tiger was an important part of his life. And that's why we decided to honor him by dedicating tonight's game to him. We know the Tigers will play their best, but they need our support. Let's give it to them, the way Luke would have wanted.”

The principal stepped down and everyone clapped. Another drumroll sounded and the cheerleaders ran out to begin their second routine.

“Okay everybody, let's do it!” Amanda cried. “Let's make it perfect!”

“Tigers on the loose,

Tigers on the prowl,

You better run for cover

When you hear the Tigers growl!”

In perfect formation, the cheerleaders did back handsprings, landed on their feet, and cartwheeled forward.

The routine ended with all the cheerleaders in splits, arms high above their heads. Breathless, Amanda smiled up at the crowd. It went great, she thought. Better than ever.

Then she noticed the silence. No clapping or cheering. No whistling.

What's going on?

Suddenly, screams of horror echoed through the huge gym.

Amanda hopped to her feet, confused and frightened. What was happening?

Amanda gazed up at the stands. Kids were on their feet, shrieking, pointing down at the cheerleaders.

Amanda turned quickly to the rest of the squad. All of them were on their feet.

All except Natalie.

Natalie sat where she'd landed, in a split.

“Natalie—?” Amanda cried. Then she gasped.

Over the cries of the crowd, Amanda heard a loud
crack, crack.

Natalie's arms flew up above her head—and snapped back.

Her elbows—Amanda realized to her horror—her elbows were bending the wrong wayl

And then with two more loud
cracks,
Natalie's arms broke off and dropped to the floor.

“Ohhh!” people moaned and cried out.

Amanda uttered a sickened cry—as Natalie's face split apart. The skin opened and her skull began to crack.

Crack . . . Crack . . .

Crack. . . .

S
uch an eerie silence.

Everyone gaped, sick with horror as a bright red lake of blood pooled around Natalie.

Then the screaming broke out again. A white-faced Ms. Oakley shouted into the microphone, ordering everyone to stay calm and file out through the far doors.

No one paid attention. Screams drowned out the principal's voice as the kids began scrambling down from the bleachers. Gagging and crying, they stampeded across the floor in every direction, desperate to get out of the gym.

Amanda wanted to run, too, but she couldn't make herself move. She stood frozen with shock as the hysterical crowd swarmed around her.

“Amanda!” Victoria shrieked. She clamped her
hands on Amanda's shoulders and clung to her. Tears ran down her face and her teeth chattered so hard she could barely speak. “First Luke and now poor Natalie. It's so horrible! What is going on?”

“I don't know.” Amanda put her arms around the taller cheerleader and began walking her toward one of the doors. “Come on, Vicki, let's go home. We can't . . .” She paused, swallowing hard. “. . . We can't help Natalie now.”

Victoria sobbed as she and Amanda pushed their way through the hysterical crowd. Out of the corner of her eye, Amanda spotted Keesha.

The tiny cheerleader sat slumped on one of the benches, her eyes squeezed shut. Her shoulders shook as she cried. Andrew sat beside her, holding her tightly.

The rest of the basketball team had scattered, lost in the churning, hysterical mass of people struggling to get out.

When Amanda and Victoria had pushed halfway across the floor, Amanda caught sight of Janine. She stopped suddenly, confused and frightened by the expression on her best friend's face.

Janine stood still, staring at the spot where Natalie lay. The crowd surged around her, bumping and shoving, but Janine didn't move.

The look in her eyes gave Amanda a chill. No tears. No terror.

She seems so calm, Amanda thought.

Almost cold.

How can Janine look like that? Is she in shock? Or is it something else?

“Why are you stopping?” Victoria cried. “We'll be trampled if we don't keep going.”

“You go ahead,” Amanda told her.

“But . . .”

“Go on, Vicki.” Amanda gave her a little push. “I'll be out soon.”

As Victoria let the rush of people carry her away, Amanda turned back to Janine.

Janine hadn't moved.

Coach Davis fought his way through the crowd and covered Natalie with a large piece of canvas.

Janine watched, still perfectly calm.

She has to be in shock, Amanda told herself. That's what it is. She's just in shock because of Natalie's death. Not everyone cries and screams when something terrible happens. Everybody reacts differently.

But as she gazed at her friend, she couldn't stop the frightening thoughts that swirled through her mind.

Luke got the starting position. Then he died.

And Brandon took his place.

Natalie threatened to tell the principal about calling up the evil spirit.

Now she was dead. Her skull cracked in half while the whole school looked on.

Before she could talk to the principal.

Amanda's pulse pounded in her ears as she stared at Janine.

Both deaths helped her, she realized. And there was no way Janine could have killed Luke and Natalie—they both died too horribly.

But an evil spirit could have killed them. An evil spirit living inside Janine's body.

Could this be true? Amanda wondered. Is the Evil inside Janine, not Judd?

Amanda felt herself begin to shake. Did we really
call up the Evil? If we did, is it just going to keep killing and killing?

And who will be next?

I don't know for sure if the Evil is really here, Amanda reminded herself. I can't just accuse Janine of being possessed. Not yet. I have to find out if it's true.

But how do I find out?

And what if it
is
true?

As if she suddenly felt Amanda's eyes on her, Janine turned and stared at her.

Amanda's mouth went dry. Her heart raced even faster. Why is she looking at me like that?

Does she know what I've been thinking? Am I the next one to die?

Eyeing Amanda steadily, Janine began to walk toward her.