For George and Marian Kirby Have You Met My Ghoulfriend 5 page

The fiery heat vanished as Phears turned his eyes away from me. I climbed back to my feet, my legs trembling.

“What do you have of mine, Max?” Phears demanded.

He held Nicky and Tara tightly in place. They both stared at me openmouthed, breathing hard.

“I … I have your cat!” I cried.

It was Phears' turn to let out a gasp of surprise. “You? You have Cha Cha?”

I nodded.

Would Tara's plan work? Would Phears make a deal with us for his cat?

If he didn't, we were doomed.

“Where is Cha Cha?” Phears demanded. His voice had changed. It was softer now. He couldn't hide how eager he was to see his cat. “Where is he? Are you lying, Max? It won't save your life.”

“I have the cat,” I lied. Was it still in the tunnel in the wall? I didn't hear it now. “But you'll have to make a trade.”

“Trade?” he boomed. “Give me my cat, Max. Give Cha Cha to me now, or else—”

I took a deep breath. My whole body was shaking.

I wasn't making a trade with a kid on the playground. I was trying to make a deal with an evil ghost!

The words burst out of me: “I'll give you the cat if you let Nicky and Tara go. And if you remove the Berserker Ghoul from my body.”

Phears glared at me. “Do you dare try to make a bargain with me?”

I stared back. “Let Nicky and Tara go,” I repeated. “And get this ghoul out of me.”

“And you'll give me my precious cat?” Phears said. “You'll give me back my Cha Cha?”

“That's the deal,” I said, my heart thudding in my chest.

Would he go for it? Did he love his cat enough to make a deal?

He had to. He had to!

“Sorry. No deal,” Phears said. “Say goodbye to your friends, Max.”

He turned his white-eyed stare on me, and I felt a wave of heat sweep over my body. “Please— don't burn me! Don't burn me!” I cried.

A CAT MEOWED.

I had dropped to my knees with my head covered, trying to protect myself from the fiery heat. Suddenly, the burning stopped.

The cat meowed again.

“Cha Cha!” Phears cried. “It is you!”

I climbed slowly to my feet, my skin still burning.

“Bring him to me, Max!” Phears ordered. “Cha Cha! I'm coming! Can you hear me? Bring him to me right now, Max.”

“And you'll let Nicky and Tara go? And send the Berserker Ghoul away?” I asked.

“Of course,” Phears replied. “I promise. Cha Cha! Where are you?”

I turned to Nicky and Tara. They were still held prisoner, wrapped in the disgusting fingernails. Tara nodded and smiled at me. Nicky flashed me a thumbs-up.

That cat is going to save us after all, I thought. I moved to the wall and gripped the loose panel. I heard the cat meow on the other side. I tugged the panel.

It didn't budge.

“Cha Cha? Where are you?” Phears' voice thundered behind me. “What is taking so long?”

“The cat is right here,” I said. I tightened my grip on the wall panel—and pulled.

Will the tunnel be here this time? It has to be! Please, please let it be there!

I gave another tug—and the panel slid off the wall. Yes! I could see the dark tunnel behind it. I felt a whoosh of cold air. It smelled so sour, I gagged.

With the wood panel in my hands, I staggered back to get away from the putrid smell. And as I backed up, a creature let out a wild shriek—and came flying out of the tunnel, sailing over my head.

I spun around—and saw the black cat. A ghost cat—I could see right through it. It leaped onto Phears' arm. “Cha Cha! Cha Cha!” Phears cried happily. “You're back!”

The black cat snuggled its head against Phears' cheek and purred softly. “Cha Cha, I've missed you so much,” Phears declared.

“Now let us go,” Tara cried, tugging at the coiled fingernails around her waist.

“Yes. Hurry, Phears,” I said. “You've got your cat. Now keep your promise. Get rid of the Berserker Ghoul, too.”

The cat was tucked under his chin. Phears turned to me. “Here's the lesson of the day, Max,” he said. “You should never trust an evil old ghost. I've got my cat. And I've got my two prisoners. I guess I have everything I need—and you have nothing. Thanks for the cat, Max. Now say goodbye to your friends. So sorry to see you go.”

“No!” I screamed. “You can't do that! That's not fair!”

Furious, I raised the wood panel above my head—and heaved it at Phears.

It sailed right through him. But the cat let out a startled shriek—and leaped from Phears' neck onto me! It dug its claws into my shoulder and let out another shrill shriek in my ear, holding on tight.

Phears' fingernails curled away from Nicky and Tara. The nails quickly slid back into his fingers. He came toward me, reaching out with both hands. “Give me that cat!”

I felt a tremor of fear inside me. Felt the Berserker Ghoul move—fast. The ghoul was afraid of the cat. I could feel its fear!

My right ear suddenly throbbed with pain. I grabbed it and felt a powerful whoosh of hot wind. Yellow smoke poured from my ear.

No. Not smoke. The ghoul. Frightened by the cat, the Berserker Ghoul poured out of my body in a funnel cloud of yellow smoke.

Phears grabbed the cat off my shoulder. “Give it back! Come back, Cha Cha!”

As he held the cat to his chest, I saw the yellow smoke rise above him—then dive. Yes! The ghoul poured quickly into Phears' ear! The yellow smoke swirled down into Phears' ear until it disappeared completely.

Holding on to the black cat, Phears turned to Nicky and Tara. “Jabba gubbba!” he bellowed. Then he did a wild cartwheel into the wall.

“Hubbba gubbbba!” Phears screamed. He began to spin crazily. Then he turned another cartwheel. “Gubbba gubbbbba?”

His eyes were no longer white. They had a yellow glow, bright as the sun. He bounced off the walls, jabbering nonsense words. Then he jumped out the window and went running down the street, turning somersaults, the cat clinging to his back.

“Yes—!” A major victory. Without the ghoul inside, I felt so light, so free, so … me!

“We're free!” Nicky cried. “He's gone!”

Tara shook herself hard as if she didn't believe it. “Thank you, Brainimon!” she shouted.

Nicky, Tara, and I slapped high fives all around. We shouted for joy. We couldn't stop laughing. Phears looked like such a jerk, possessed by that insane ghoul!

Was he gone for good?

I didn't want to think about that. I just wanted to celebrate being normal again.

But the celebration was cut short when Dad suddenly came striding into the room. Nicky and Tara vanished.

I took a deep breath and tried to act calm and nonchalant. “Hey, Dad, what's up?”

“Good news,” he said, grinning. “You have an interview at the Plover School first thing tomorrow morning!”

Dear Diary,

The Plover School looks more like a prison than a school. It has dark green walls and low ceilings—and some of the windows even have bars on them. I didn't hear any laughing or shouting or loud voices. I think it's because the kids have to wear gray uniforms all day, and that puts them in a dreary mood. (And the uniforms probably itch really bad too.)

I was interviewed by a man named Captain Randall. He explained that the Plover School isn't a military school. But everyone has a rank, and you have to call everyone by their rank.

Captain Randall is pretty old. I mean, he has white hair and a lot of wrinkles in his forehead. But he sat up very straight, like a soldier, and he kinda barked his questions at me.

I was a little scared before we started to talk. But once the interview started, I thought it went very well.

First, Captain Randall asked me how I liked school.

I said, “Jabbba jabbba gubbba.”

He narrowed his tiny, steel-colored eyes at me. “I didn't really hear you. Tell me, Max, what are you interested in? What are your favorite subjects?”

“Hubbba gubbba?” I replied. And then I dropped to the floor and started to roll around the room.

Captain Randall jumped to his feet. “Max, what's wrong?” he cried.

“Hubbbba jabbbba,” I said. I climbed up, lowered my head, and went crashing into the chalkboard. I hit it so hard, it cracked in two. Then I went spinning crazily around the room four or five times, knocking over chairs, tables, everything in sight.

And that pretty much ended the interview.

When I got back home, I told Nicky and Tara all about it. They both looked confused.

“So you were rejected by the Plover School?” Nicky asked.

I nodded. “Yeah. Do you believe it? They told Dad never to bring me there again. Is that cool or what?”

Tara tugged at one of her earrings. “But Max, the Berserker Ghoul flew out of your body yesterday. We saw it go.”

“Yeah, I know,” I replied.

“So … you mean another ghoul possessed your body?” Nicky asked.

“No. No other ghoul,” I said.

Then I burst out laughing. And they did too. They finally caught on to what I had done.

Hey, they don't call me Brainimon for nothing.

Of course, I can't keep this page in my diary. I don't want Ms. McDonald to see it. She'd never believe any of it. She'd accuse me of writing fiction and give me a big fat F.

So I'm ripping out this page too. So far, I've ripped out almost all the pages in this journal.

Will Phears return and bring more of his ghostly friends? Will Nicky and Tara find their parents? And will they find out what turned them into ghosts?

Sorry, Diary. I can't write about any of that. If I did, I'd have to tear out those pages too.

Maybe I'll write about how it rained today. It was a pretty good rain. I can describe the clouds and the puddles and everything. Ms. McDonald will really like that….

TO BE CONTINUED

Date: 2015-02-16; view: 514