Unknown

i

Go ahead and scream

No one can hear you Yoursquore no

longer in the safe world you know

Yoursquove taken a terrifying step

into the darkest corners of your

imagination

Yoursquove opened the door to

iii

Locker 13

AVON BOOKS

R L S T I N E

An Imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers

Locker 13

Copyright copy 2000 by Parachute Publishing LLC

Go Deeper Into This Nightmare copy 2000 Parachute Publishing LLC

All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in

the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews

RL Stine asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

Adobe Acrobat E-reader edition v 1 March 2001 ISBN 0-06-621428-9First print edition 2000 ISBN 0-06-440900-7

v

Welcome

Irsquom RL Stine and I want to introduce you toLuke Greene Hersquos that short wiry seventh-graderstanding in front of his locker

Some kids tease Luke about being too supersti-tious He wears a lucky shirt to school and he nevergoes anywhere without a lucky rabbitrsquos foot tucked inhis pocket

Luke doesnrsquot mind being teased He says you cannever have enough good luck

Thatrsquos why hersquos so unhappy about his new lockerItrsquos the first day of school and Luke has been givenLocker 13

Luke is staring at the locker in horrormdashand hehas reason to be worried Now hersquos going to need allthe lucky shirts and four-leaf clovers and good-luckcharms he can find

Because when he turns the lock and pulls openLocker 13 Luke will actually be opening the doorto THE NIGHTMARE ROOM

Contents

One

Two

Three

Four

Five

Six

Seven

Eight

Nine

Ten

Eleven

Twelve

Thirteen

Fourteen

Fifteen

Sixteen

Seventeen

Eighteen

Nineteen

Twenty

Twenty-one

Twenty-two

Twenty-three

Twenty-four

Twenty-five

Twenty-six

Twenty-seven

Go Deeper into this Nightmare

About the Author

Take a Look at Whatrsquos Ahead

Credits

About the Publisher

1

ldquoHey Lukemdashgood luckrdquo Who called to me The hall was jammed with

kids excited about the first day of school I was excit-ed too My first day in seventh grade My first day atShawnee Valley Junior High

I just knew this was going to be an awesome yearOf course I didnrsquot take any chances I wore my

lucky shirt Itrsquos a faded green T-shirt kind ofstretched out and the pocket is a little torn But noway Irsquod start a school year without my lucky shirt

And I had my lucky rabbitrsquos foot in the pocket ofmy baggy khakis Itrsquos black and very soft and furryItrsquos a key chain but I donrsquot want to ruin the good luckby hanging keys on it

Why is it so lucky Well itrsquos a black rabbitrsquos footwhich is very rare And I found it last November onmy birthday And after I found it my parents gave methe new computer I wanted So it brought me goodluckmdashright

I glanced up at the red-and-black computer-printed

banner hanging over the hall GO SQUIRES SUPPORT

YOUR TEAMAll of the boysrsquo teams at Shawnee Valley are called

the Squires Donrsquot ask me how they got that weirdname The banner made my heart race just a little Itreminded me that I had to find the basketball coachand ask when he was having tryouts

I had a whole list of things I wanted to do (1)check out the computer lab (2) find out about the bas-ketball team (3) see if I could take any kind of specialswimming program after school I never went to aschool with a swimming pool before And since swim-ming is my other big sport I was pretty pumped aboutit

ldquoLukemdashhirdquoI spun around to find my friend Hannah Marcum

behind me looking as cheerful and enthusiastic asalways Hannah has short coppery hair the color of abright new penny green eyes and a great smile Mymother always calls her Sunshine which totallyembarrasses both of us

ldquoYour pocket is tornrdquo she said She tugged at it rip-ping it a little more

ldquoHeymdashget offrdquo I backed away ldquoItrsquos my lucky shirtrdquoldquoDid you find your locker assignment yetrdquo She

pointed to a group of kids studying a chart taped to thewall They were all standing on tiptoe trying to seeover each other ldquoItrsquos posted over there Guess whatMy locker is the first one outside the lunchroom Irsquoll be

2

first for lunch every dayrdquoldquoOooh luckyrdquo I said ldquoAnd I got Gruen for Englishrdquo Hannah gushed

ldquoHersquos the best Hersquos so funny Everyone says you canrsquotstop laughing Did you get him toordquo

ldquoNordquo I said ldquoI got WarrenrdquoHannah made a face ldquoYoursquore doomedrdquoldquoShut uprdquo I said ldquoDonrsquot say things like thatrdquo I

squeezed my rabbitrsquos foot three times I pushed my way through the crowd to the locker

chart This is going to be an excellent year I told myselfJunior High is so not like elementary school

ldquoHey manmdashhowrsquos it goingrdquo Darnell Cross slappedme a high five

ldquoWhatrsquos uprdquo I replied ldquoCheck it out You got the lucky lockerrdquo Darnell

said I squinted at the chart ldquoHuh What do you meanrdquoI ran my eyes down the list of names until I came

to mine Luke Greene And then I followed the dottedline to my locker number

And gaspedldquoNo wayrdquo I said out loud ldquoThat canrsquot be rightrdquoI blinked a few times then focused on the chart

againYes Locker 13Luke Greene 1313My breath caught in my throat I started to choke

3

I turned away from the chart hoping no one couldsee how upset I was

How can this be happening to me I wonderedLocker 13 My whole year is ruined before it begins

My heart pounded so hard my chest ached Iforced myself to start breathing again

I turned and found Hannah still standing thereldquoWherersquos your lockerrdquo she asked ldquoIrsquoll walk youthererdquo

ldquoUh well I can deal with itrdquo I saidShe squinted at me ldquoExcuse merdquo ldquoI can deal with itrdquo I repeated shakily ldquoItrsquos

Locker thirteen but I can handle it ReallyrdquoHannah laughed ldquoLuke yoursquore such a supersti-

tious geekrdquoI frowned at her ldquoYou mean that in a nice waymdash

rightrdquo I jokedShe laughed again and shoved me into a crowd of

kids I wish she wouldnrsquot shove me so much Shersquosreally strong

I apologized to the kids I stumbled into ThenHannah and I started down the crowded hallchecking the locker numbers searching for num-ber 13

Just past the science lab Hannah stopped sud-denly and grabbed something up from the floor

ldquoHey wow Look what I foundrdquo She held up a five-dollar bill ldquoMmmmmmdashyesrdquo

4

She raised it to her lips and kissed it ldquoFive bucksYayrdquo

I sighed and shook my head ldquoHannah howcome yoursquore always so luckyrdquo

She didnrsquot answer that question It seemed like a simple question but it wasnrsquot And if she had told me the answer I think I would

have run awaymdashrun as far as I could from ShawneeValley Junior High and never come back

5

Letrsquos skip ahead two months Seventh grade was not bad so far I made some new

friends I made real progress on the computer anima-tion piece I had been working on for nearly two yearsAnd I actually won a spot on the basketball team

It was early November about two weeks into theseason And I was late for practice

Guys were already on the floor doing stretchingexercises bouncing basketballs to each other takingshort layups I crept to the locker room hoping no onewould notice me

ldquoLukemdashget dressed Yoursquore laterdquo Coach Bendixshouted

I started to call ldquoSorry I got hung up in the com-puter labrdquo But that was no kind of excuse So I justgave Coach a nod and started jogging full speed to thelocker room to get changed

My stomach felt kind of tight I realized I wasnrsquotlooking forward to practice today For a little guy Irsquom apretty good basketball player Irsquove got a good outside

6

shot and pretty fast hands on defense I was so excited to make the team But I wasnrsquot

counting on one problemmdashan eighth grader namedStretch Johannsen

Stretchrsquos real name is Shawn But everyone in theworld calls him Stretchmdasheven his parents You mightwonder how he got that name But if you saw him youwouldnrsquot wonder

Stretch had some kind of a growth spurt last year inseventh grade and he became a big blond giant prac-tically overnight Hersquos taller than anyone in the highschool He has shoulders like a wrestler and long armsI mean really long arms like a chimpanzee He canreach halfway across the gym

And thatrsquos why everyone started calling himStretch

I think a better name for him would be OstrichThatrsquos because he has long skinny legs like bird legsand a huge chest thatrsquos so wide it makes his pale blue-eyed head look as tiny as an egg

But I would never try my nickname on him I donrsquotthink I can run fast enough Stretch doesnrsquot have muchof a sense of humor In fact hersquos a pretty mean guyalways trash-talking and shoving people aroundmdashandnot just on the basketball floor

I think once he got over the shock of being a gianthe decided to be really impressed with himself

Like being a giant is some kind of special talent orsomething

7

But donrsquot get me started Irsquom always analyzingpeople thinking too hard about them about every-thing Hannah is always telling me I think too muchBut I donrsquot get it How do you stop thinking

Last week after a practice Coach Bendix saidnearly the same thing ldquoYoursquove got to play oninstinct Luke There isnrsquot time to think before everymoverdquo

Which I guess is another reason why I ride thebench Of course Irsquom only in seventh grade Sounless another giant forward tries out for the SquiresIrsquoll probably get to play next yearmdashafter Stretchgraduates

But for now itrsquos really embarrassing not to get toplay Especially since my parents come to everygame to cheer me on I sit on the team bench andwatch Mom and Dad up in the gym bleachers juststaring at me Staring

It doesnrsquot make you feel great Even the time-outs are painful Stretch always

comes trotting over to the team bench He wipes thesweat off his face and bodymdashand then throws thetowel onto me Like Irsquom some kind of towel boy

During one time-out late in the first game he tooka long gulp of Gatorade and spit it onto my uniformshirt I looked up and saw my parents watching fromthe bleachers

8

Sad Really sad Our team the Squires won our first two games

mainly because Stretch wouldnrsquot let anyone elsehandle the ball It was great to winmdashbut I wasalready starting to feel like a loser I wanted to play

Maybe if I have a really strong practice todayCoach Bendix will try me out at guard I told myselfOr maybe even as a backup center I laced up myshoes and triple-knotted them for luck Then I shutmy eyes and counted to seven three times

Just something I doI straightened my red-and-black uniform shorts

slammed the gym locker shut and trotted out of thelocker room and onto the floor Guys were at the farend taking three-point shots everyone shooting atonce The balls bounced off each other bounced offthe hoop The backboard rang out with a steadythud thud thud

Some of the shots actually dropped inldquoLuke get busyrdquo Coach yelled motioning me to

the basket ldquoGet some rebounds Make some shotsGet looserdquo

I flashed him a thumbs-up and ran to join theothers I saw Stretch leap up and make a highrebound To my surprise he spun around andheaved the ball at me ldquoLukemdashthink fastrdquo

I wasnrsquot expecting it The ball sailed through my

9

hands I had to chase it to the wall I dribbled backto find Stretch waiting ldquoGo ahead man Shootrdquo

I swallowed hardmdashand sent up a two-handedshot

ldquoHe shootsmdashhe missesrdquo Stretch shouted Someguys laughed

My shot bounced off the rim Stretch took threefast strides reached up his long arms and grabbedthe rebound in midair He tossed it back to meldquoShoot againrdquo

My next shot brushed the bottom of the netldquoHe shootsmdashhe missesrdquo Stretch repeated as if

that was the funniest thing anyone ever said Moreloud laughter

Stretch took the rebound and tossed me the ballldquoAgainrdquo he ordered

Everyone was watching now I sent up a one-handed layup that almost dropped in It rolledaround the rim then fell off

ldquoHe shootsmdashhe missesrdquoI could feel sweat rolling down my forehead

Why canrsquot I get lucky here I asked myself Comeon Lukemdashjust one lucky shot I slapped my lefthand rapidly against the leg of my shorts seventimes

Stretch bounced the ball to me ldquoGo champYoursquore O for three You got a streak goingrdquo Morelaughter

I shut my eyes for a second Then I sailed this

10

one highmdashand gasped as it sank through the hoopStretch grinned and shook his head The other

guys all cheered as if Irsquod just won the state juniorhigh tournament

I grabbed the ball and dribbled away from themI didnrsquot want to give Stretch a chance to ruin my vic-tory I knew he would keep me shooting till I wasone for three hundred

I turned to see if Coach Benson had watched myshot He leaned against the wall talking to two otherteachers He hadnrsquot seen it

I dribbled across the floor then back toward theothers Then I made a big mistake

A really big mistake A mistake that ruined mylife at Shawnee Valley Junior High

ldquoHey Stretchmdashthink fastrdquo I shouted And Iheaved the ball at him as hard as I could

What was I thinkingI didnrsquot see that he had bent down on one knee

to tie his sneaker lace I froze in horrormdashand watched the ball fly at

him It hit him hard on the side of the head knockedhim over and sent him tumbling to the floor

ldquoHeymdashrdquo he cried out stunned He shook hishead dizzily I saw bright red blood start to flow fromhis nose

ldquoStretchmdashIrsquom sorryrdquo I shrieked ldquoI didnrsquot seeyou I didnrsquot meanmdashrdquo

I lurched forward running to help him up

11

ldquoMy contactsrdquo he cried ldquoYou knocked out mycontactsrdquo

And then I heard a soft squish under my shoeI stopped Lifted my foot Stretchrsquos contact lens

lay flat as a pancake on the gym floorEveryone saw itStretch was on his feet now Blood rolled down

his lips his chin He didnrsquot pay any attention to it He had his eyes

narrowed on me He lumbered forward clenchingand unclenching his giant fists

I was doomed

12

Stretch reached under my arms and lifted me upHe was so huge and strong he picked me off thefloor like I was a ventriloquistrsquos dummy

ldquoWhoa It was an accidentrdquo I whisperedldquoHerersquos another accidentrdquo he said When he

talked he spit blood in my face He tightened his gripunder my arms

He raised me higher and gazed up at the basketIs he going to make a three-point shot with me Iwondered

Yes He is Hersquos going to slam dunk meBehind me I heard shouts A whistle blowing

Running footstepsldquoTake it outside Stretchrdquo I heard Coach Bendix

shoutHuhStretch slowly lowered me to the floor My knees

started to buckle but I managed to stay on my feet Stretch rubbed a hand across his bloody nose

then wiped it on the front of my jersey

13

ldquoTake it outsiderdquo Coach repeated edgingbetween us ldquoLetrsquos pair up everybody One on oneStretchmdashyou and Lukerdquo

ldquoNo wayrdquo Stretch mutteredldquoHersquos your backuprdquo Coach said poking Stretch

in the chest with his whistle ldquoYoursquove got to teachLuke Irsquom putting you in charge of Lukersquos develop-mentrdquo

Stretch snickered ldquoDevelopment He doesnrsquothave any developmentrdquo

ldquoGo to my office Get some tissues and stop thatnosebleedrdquo Coach instructed Stretch ldquoThen takeLuke to the practice court behind the playgroundShow him some moves Teach him somethingrdquo

Stretch stared at the floor for a few seconds as ifthinking it over But he knew better than to arguewith Coach Bendix He nodded at me ldquoLetrsquos goChamprdquo

What choice did I have Even though I knew itwas pain time for me I turned and followed him out-side

It was late afternoon pretty cold to be outside inbasketball shorts and a sleeveless jersey Since it wasNovember the big red sun had already loweredbehind the houses across the street from the play-ground

I shiveredStretch didnrsquot give me much of a chance to get

14

ready He pounded the ball hard on the asphalt courtand came racing at me like a stampeding bull

I tried to slide to the side But Stretch lowered hisshoulder and slammed it hard into my gut

ldquoOhhhrdquo I groaned and slumped backldquoDefenserdquo he shouted ldquoGet your hands up

Champ Get ready Here I come againrdquoldquoNomdashwaitmdashrdquo I pleadedThe ball thundered in front of him as he drove

into me again This time he kept his body up straightThe force of the collision sent me sprawling to theasphalt

ldquoDefenserdquo he shouted ldquoShow me somethingBlock me At least slow me down a littlerdquo

Groaning again I climbed to my feet I felt as ifIrsquod been hit by a truck

Stretch dribbled around me circling me his eyeslocked angrily on me His nosebleed had stoppedbut he still had dried blood caked under his nose

I rubbed my chest ldquoI I think I broke a ribrdquo Iwhispered

With a wild shout he slammed into me againThis time I flew backmdashand smashed into the thickwooden post that held up the backboard

ldquoYoursquore going to pay for those contacts Champrdquohe called hulking over me so I couldnrsquot stand updribbling the ball inches from my feet

ldquoYeah Okayrdquo I said trying to rub the pain frommy chest ldquoI said I was sorryrdquo

15

ldquoYoursquore gonna be more sorryrdquo he said Hebounced the ball hard against my bare leg ldquoGet uprdquo

I didnrsquot move ldquoIt was an accidentrdquo I insisted ldquoIreally didnrsquot see you bend down Reallyrdquo

He picked at the caked blood under his noseldquoGet up Letrsquos go Irsquom supposed to teach you some-thingrdquo He laughed really loud Irsquom not sure whyThen he swept a huge hand back through his shortwhite-blond hair and waited for me to stand up Sohe could teach me more lessons

I climbed shakily to my feet I felt so dizzy I hadto grab the wooden post My head ached My ribsached

ldquoCan we uh play a different gamerdquoI asked weakly

ldquoYeah Surerdquo he said ldquoHeymdashthink fastrdquoHe was standing so close and he heaved the ball

so hard it felt like a cannonball as it shot into mystomach

I stumbled back And let out a sharp gaspAnd then realized I couldnrsquot breatheI struggled hard to suck in some air No no air I canrsquot get air I saw bright yellow stars The yellow darkened to

redPain shot through my chest The pain spread

growing sharper sharper I was down on my back now staring up at the

16

17

sky staring up at the dancing red stars I wanted toscream But I had no air

Canrsquot breathe canrsquot breathe at all The stars faded away The color faded from the

sky All black All black nowAnd as I sank into the blackness I heard a voiceA beautiful soft voice from far far away Calling

my nameAn angel I realized Yes Through the blackness I heard an angel call-

ing my nameAnd I knew that I had died

ldquoLuke LukerdquoThe blackness lifted I blinked up at the afternoon

sky The voice was closer now And I recognized itldquoLukerdquoMy chest ached as I took a deep breathHeymdashwhen had I started to breathe againI lifted my head and saw Hannah running across

the basketball court She wore a blue windbreakerunzipped and it flapped up over her shoulders likewings Her red hair glowed in the late afternoon sunlike a halo

Not an angel Just Hannah She turned angrily to Stretch as she ran past him

ldquoWhat did you do to Lukemdashkill himrdquoStretch giggled ldquoProbablyrdquoHannah dropped onto her knees beside me Her

windbreaker fell over my face She tugged it awayldquoAre you alive Can you speakrdquo

ldquoYeah Irsquom okayrdquo I muttered I felt like a jerk Ahelpless jerk

18

Stretch walked up behind Hannah ldquoWhorsquos sherdquohe sneered at me ldquoYour girlfriendrdquo

Hannah spun around to face him ldquoHeymdashIrsquoveseen your girlfriendrdquo

Stretchrsquos mouth dropped open ldquoHuh Whorsquosthatrdquo

ldquoGodzillardquo Hannah declaredI tried to laugh but it made my ribs hurtThe next thing I knew Hannah was on her feet

shoving Stretchrsquos shoulders with both hands forcinghim to back up ldquoEver hear of picking on someoneyour own sizerdquo she demanded

Stretch laughed ldquoNo Tell me about itrdquo Hebacked away from her and raised his big meaty fistsHe grinned and started dancing like a fighter ldquoComeon You want a piece of me You want a piece ofmerdquo Imitating someone in a movie I guess

ldquoOne on onerdquo Hannah challenged Stretch tossed back his head and laughed His

blue eyes rolled around in his tiny head ldquoYou wanta piece of merdquo

ldquoFreestyle shootingrdquo Hannah said tearing off thewindbreaker She tossed it to the side of the courtldquoCome on Stretch Twenty shots each Any kind ofshotrdquo She stared up at him ldquoYoursquoll lose ReallyYoursquoll see Yoursquoll lose to a girlrdquo

His smile faded ldquoYoursquore on the girlsrsquo basketballteammdashrightrdquo

Hannah nodded ldquoIrsquom the centerrdquo

19

Stretch started to dribble the ball slowly in frontof him ldquoTwenty shots Layups or three-pointrdquo

Hannah shrugged ldquoAny kind Yoursquoll loserdquoI climbed to my feet and went over to the side of

the court to watch I still felt a little shaky but I knewI was okay

Stretch didnrsquot hesitate He raised the ball andpushed up a one-handed shot from half-court Theball hit the backboard then the rimmdashand droppedin ldquoOne for onerdquo he said He ran to retrieve the ballldquoIrsquoll keep shooting until I missrdquo

He missed his next shot an easy layup fromunder the basket

Hannahrsquos turn I crossed my fingers and countedto seven three times

ldquoGo Hannahrdquo I cheered holding up my crossedfingers

Hannah sank a basket from the foul line Thenshe drove under the basket and shot another one infrom underneath

My mouth dropped open as she sank eight morebaskets without a miss ldquoWow Go Hannahrdquo

Stretch just stood there looking dumb I couldnrsquottell what he was thinking His face was a total blank

ldquoTen for tenrdquo Hannah declared She bounced theball to Stretch ldquoYou go Just to keep it interestingrdquo

Hannah glanced at me grinned and flashed mea thumbs-up

Stretch wasnrsquot smiling anymore He had a grim

20

determined look on his face as he drove in close toshoot He dropped four straight baskets then missedone from in front of the foul line

He muttered something under his breath andbounced the ball to Hannah

Hannah sank eight more in a row She turned toStretch ldquoEighteen for eighteenrdquo

But he was already jogging back to the gym ascowl on his face

ldquoIrsquom not finishedrdquo Hannah called after himStretch turned back to me ldquoHey Champmdashmaybe

you should take a lesson from your girlfriend Ormaybe you should play on her teamrdquo Shaking hishead he disappeared into the school

A strong wind began to blow across the play-ground It was dark as evening now I picked upHannahrsquos windbreaker and reached out to hand it toher But she took another shot ldquoNineteenrdquo And thenanother ldquoTwenty Yay I winrdquo

I gaped at her ldquoHannahmdashyou never miss Howdo you do thatrdquo

She shrugged ldquoJust luckyrdquoI shivered We started jogging back to the school

ldquoAsk me how lucky I amrdquo I muttered ldquoI made a newenemy today A huge enemyrdquo

Hannah stopped and grabbed my arm ldquoHeymdashItotally forgot why I was looking for you I wanted totell you the coolest newsrdquo

I held the school door open ldquoYeah Whatrdquo

21

Hannahrsquos green eyes flashed ldquoYou know thosephotos I took of my dog I sent them to a magazine inNew York And guess what They paid me five hun-dred dollars for them Theyrsquore going to publish themmdashand do a big story about me Isnrsquot that so totally coolrdquo

ldquoWow Totallyrdquo I saidAnd thatrsquos when I decided my luck had to changeWhy should Hannah have all the luck I can be

lucky too I told myselfItrsquos all attitude Thatrsquos what it takes The right atti-

tudeI changed into my street clothes I made my way

upstairs to stop at my locker Locker 13 Basketball practice had run so late the halls were

empty My shoes clonked noisily on the hard floorMost of the lights had already been turned off

This school is creepy when itrsquos empty I decided Istopped in front of my locker feeling a chill at the backof my neck

I always felt a little weirded-out in front of thelocker For one thing it wasnrsquot with all the otherseventh-grade lockers It was down at the end of theback hall by itself just past a janitorrsquos supply closet

Up and down the hall all the other lockers hadbeen painted over the summer They were all asmooth silvery gray But no one had touched locker13 The old green paint was peeling and had largepatches scraped off Deep scratches crisscrossed upand down the door

22

The locker smelled damp And sour As if it hadonce been filled with rotting leaves or dead fish orsomething

Thatrsquos okay I can deal with this I told myself I took a deep breath New attitude Luke New

attitude Your luck is going to changeI opened my backpack and pulled out a fat black

marker Then I closed the locker door And rightabove the number 13 I wrote the word LUCKY in bigbold capital letters

I stepped back to admire my work LUCKY 13ldquoYessssrdquo I felt better alreadyI shoved the black marker into my backpack and

started to zip it up And thatrsquos when I heard thebreathing

Soft soft breaths So soft I thought I imaginedthem From inside the locker

I crept closer and pressed my ear against the doorI heard a soft hiss Then more breathingThe backpack slipped out of my hands and thud-

ded to the floor I froze And heard another soft hiss inside the locker It

ended in a short cry The back of my neck prickled My breath caught

in my throatWithout realizing it my hand had gripped the

locker handleShould I open the door Should I

23

My hand tightened on the handle I forced myselfto start breathing again

Irsquom imagining this I told myself There canrsquot be anyone breathing inside my lockerI lifted the handle Pulled open the doorldquoHeymdashrdquo I cried out in shock And stared down at

a black catThe cat gazed up at me its eyes red in the dim

hall light The black fur stood up on its back Itpulled back its lips and hissed again

A black catA black cat inside my lockerIrsquom imagining this I thought I blinked hard trying to blink the cat awayA black cat inside locker 13 Could there be any

worse luckldquoHowmdashhow did you get in thererdquo I choked outThe cat hissed again and arched its back It gazed

up at me coldly Then it leaped from the locker floor It darted over

24

my shoes down the hall Running rapidly silentlyHead down tail straight up it turned the first cornerand disappeared

I stared after it my heart pounding I could stillfeel its furry body brushing against my leg I realizedI was still gripping the locker handle

My head spun with questions How long had thecat been in there How did it get inside the lockeddoor Why was there a black cat in my locker Why

I turned and checked out the floor of the lockerJust to make sure there werenrsquot any other creatureshiding in there Then still feeling confused I closedthe door carefully locked it and stepped back

LUCKY 13The black letters appeared to glowldquoYeah Luckyrdquo I muttered picking up my back-

pack ldquoReal lucky A black cat in my lockerrdquo I held my lucky rabbitrsquos foot and kept squeezing

it tightly all the way homeThings are going to change I told myself Things

have got to change

But in the next few weeks my luck didnrsquot changeat all

One day after school I was on my way to the com-puter lab when I ran into Hannah ldquoWhere are yougoingrdquo she asked ldquoWant to come watch my basket-ball gamerdquo

ldquoI canrsquotrdquo I replied ldquoI promised to install some

25

new modems for Mrs Coffey the computer teacherrdquoldquoMr Computer Geek strikes againrdquo she said She

started jogging toward the gymldquoDid you get your science test backrdquo I called

after herShe stopped and turned around with a grin on her

face ldquoYou wonrsquot believe it Luke I didnrsquot have timeto study I had to guess on every question And guesswhat I got a hundred I got them all rightrdquo

ldquoThatrsquos excellentrdquo I called Irsquod studied for thattest for a solid week and I got a seventy-four

I made my way into the computer lab and wavedto Mrs Coffey She was hunched over her desk sort-ing through a tall stack of disks ldquoHey howrsquos itgoingrdquo she called

The computer lab is my second home Ever sinceMrs Coffey learned that I can repair computers andupgrade them and install things in them Irsquove beenher favorite student

And I have to admit I really like her tooWhenever I donrsquot have basketball practice I checkin at the computer lab to talk with her and see whatneeds to be fixed

ldquoLuke how is your animation project comingalongrdquo she asked setting down the disks Shebrushed back her blond hair She has the nicestsmile Everyone likes her because she always seemsto enjoy her classes so much

ldquoIrsquom almost ready to show it to yourdquo I said I sat

26

down in front of a computer and started to removethe back ldquoI think itrsquos really cool And itrsquos going muchfaster now I found a new way to move pixelsaroundrdquo

Her eyes grew wide ldquoReallyrdquoldquoItrsquos a very cool inventionrdquo I said carefully slid-

ing the insides from the computer ldquoThe program ispretty simple I think a lot of animators might like itrdquo

I set down my screwdriver and gazed across theroom at her ldquoMaybe you could help me You knowShow it to people Get it copyrighted or somethingrdquo

ldquoMayberdquo she said She stood up smoothing thehem of her blue sweater over her jeans She came upbehind me and watched as I removed the old modemldquoYoursquore really skillful Luke I think yoursquore going tomake a lot of money with computers some dayrdquo

ldquoYeah Mayberdquo I replied awkwardly ldquoThanksrdquo Ididnrsquot really know what to say Mrs Coffey is so awe-some She is the only teacher who really encouragesme and thinks Irsquom somebody

ldquoI canrsquot wait to show you my animationrdquo I said ldquoWell I have some big newsrdquo she said sud-

denly I turned and caught the excited smile on herface ldquoYoursquore the first person to hear it Luke Can youkeep a secretrdquo

ldquoYeah Okayrdquo I saidldquoI just got the most wonderful job At a really big

software company in Chicago Irsquom leaving school nextweekrdquo

27

The next afternoon I couldnrsquot check in at the com-puter lab I had to hurry to the swimming poolbehind the gym

Swimming is my other big sport I spent all lastsummer working with an instructor at our local poolHe was fast enough to make the Olympic tryouts afew years ago And he really improved my stroke andshowed me a lot of secrets for getting my speed up

So I looked forward to the tryouts for the Squiresswim team I couldnrsquot wear my lucky swimsuitbecause it didnrsquot fit anymore But I wore my luckyshirt to school that day And as I changed for thepool I silently counted to seven three times

As I left the locker room I heard shouts andlaughter echoing off the tile pool walls Feeling myheart start to race I stepped into the steamy air ofthe indoor pool The floor was puddled with warmwater I inhaled the sharp chlorine smell I love thatsmell

Then I bent down and kissed the top of the divingboard I know It sounds weird But itrsquos just some-thing I always do

I turned to the pool Three or four guys werealready in the water At the shallow end I sawStretch He was violently splashing two other guysHe had them cornered at the end of the pool His bighands slapped the water sending up tall waves overthem They pleaded with him to give them a break

Coach Swanson blew his whistle then shouted

28

bull bull bull

for Stretch to cut the horseplay Stretch gave the twoguys one more vicious splash

Then he turned and saw me ldquoHey Champmdashrdquo heshouted his voice booming off the tiles ldquoYoursquoreearly Drowning lessons are next week Ha ha Niceswim trunks Are those your girlfriendrsquos Ha hardquo

A few other guys laughed tooI decided to ignore them I was feeling pretty con-

fident About twenty guys were trying out I knewthere were only six spots open on the team But afterall my work last summer I thought I could make thetop six

We all warmed up for a bit taking easy laps lim-bering up our muscles getting used to the warmwater After a few minutes Coach Swanson made usall climb out and line up at the deep end of the pool

ldquoOkay guys Irsquove got to get to my night job by fiveso wersquore going to keep this simplerdquo the coachannounced ldquoYou have one chance One chanceonly You hear the whistle you do a speed dive intothe pool You do two complete laps any stroke youwant Irsquoll take the first six guys And two alternatesAny questionsrdquo

There werenrsquot anyEveryone leaned forward preparing to dive

Stretch lined up next to me He elbowed me hard inthe side ldquoGive me some room Champ Donrsquot crowdmerdquo

29

Okay so hersquoll come in first I figured rubbing thepain from my side That leaves five other places onthe team

Irsquom good enough I told myself I know I am Iknow I am

The whistle blew All down the row bodiestensed then plunged forward

I started my divemdashand slippedThe pool floormdashso wet My feet slid on the tile Oh noI hit the water with a loud smack A belly flop No kind of dive Struggling to recover I raised my head And saw

everyone way ahead of me One unlucky slip I lowered my head determined to catch up I

started stroking easily forcing myself to be calm Iremembered the slow steady straight-legged kick myinstructor had taught me

I sped up I passed some guys Hit the wall andstarted back

I can do this I told myself I can still make theteam

Faster At the end of the second lap the finish was a furi-

ous blur Blue water Thrashing arms and legs Loudbreaths Bobbing heads

I tried to shut out everything and concentrate on

30

my stroke ignore everyone else and swimAt last my hand hit the pool wall I ducked under

then surfaced blowing out water I wiped my hairaway from my eyes The taste of chlorine was in mymouth Water running down my face I glancedaround

I didnrsquot finish last Some guys were still swim-ming I squinted down the line of swimmers who hadfinished How many How many were ahead of me

ldquoLukemdashyoursquore seventhrdquo Coach Swansonannounced He made a large check on his clipboardldquoFirst alternate See you at practicerdquo

I was still too out-of-breath to replySeventhI let out a long sigh I felt so disappointed I could

do better than seventh I knew If only I hadnrsquotslipped

As I started to trudge back to the locker roomStretch strode up beside me ldquoHey Champrdquo Heslapped my bare back with his open hand so hard itmade a loud smack ldquoThanks for making me look sogoodrdquo

I got dressed quickly standing in a corner bymyself A few guys came over to say congratulationsBut I didnrsquot feel I deserved it

Across the locker room Stretch was still in hisswim trunks He was having a great time smacking

31

guys with his towel really making the towel snapagainst their bare skin laughing his head off

I tossed my towel in the basket Then I steppedup to the mirror over the sinks to comb my hair Aceiling lightbulb was out and I had to lean over thesink to see

I had just started to comb my wet hair backmdashwhen I saw the jagged crack along the length of theglass

ldquoWhoardquo I stopped combing and stepped backA broken mirror Seven years bad luck for some-

oneI reached into my khakis pocket and squeezed

my rabbitrsquos foot three times Then I turned back tothe mirror and began combing my hair again

Something was wrong I blinked Once TwiceA red light Some kind of red glare in the mirror

glassI squinted into the glassmdashand let out a cryThe red glare was coming from a pair of eyesmdash

two red eyes glowing like hot coalsTwo angry red eyes floating in the glass Floating

beside my reflectionI could see my confused expression as I stared at

the frightening red eyes as I watched the eyesslide across the glass slide slide closer until their red glow covered my eyes

32

My horrified reflection stared out at me with thefiery glowing eyes

And I opened my mouth and let out a long terri-fied scream

33

Over my scream I heard heavy footsteps behindme And then I heard a voicemdashStretchrsquos voiceldquoHeymdashget used to itrdquo

I spun around He grinned at me ldquoGet used to itChamp Thatrsquos your face It makes other peoplescream toordquo

ldquoNordquo I cried ldquoNo Itrsquos not Donrsquot you seemdashrdquoCoach Swanson burst in behind Stretch ldquoLukemdash

whatrsquos wrongrdquoldquoMy eyesrdquo I cried ldquoLook Are they red Are

theyrdquoCoach Swanson and Stretch exchanged glances ldquoWhat is his problemrdquo Stretch murmuredCoach Swanson stepped up close and examined

my eyes ldquoWhatrsquos wrong with you Luke Itrsquos just thechlorine from the pool Your eyes will be okay in a lit-tle whilerdquo

ldquoChlorine Huh Nordquo I insisted Then I glancedinto the mirror And saw my normal brown eyes gaz-ing back at me

34

No glowing eyes No red eyes burning in the glasslike an evil movie monster

ldquoUh well rdquo I rubbed my eyes They didnrsquotburn or anything They felt okay

I turned back to Stretch and Coach Swanson Ididnrsquot know what to say to them They were both stillstaring at me as if I were nuts

And maybe I was Black cats jumping out of my locker Glowing red

eyes in the mirrorldquoWell see you at practicerdquo I saidStretch laughed ldquoNot if I see you first Ha hardquoI laughed too It wasnrsquot funny but I wanted to

sound calm again normalAs I followed them out of the locker room I real-

ized I was trembling Why were these strange things happening to me

35

After dinner I was supposed to go to the mall withHannah She wanted to buy me some computer soft-ware for my birthday But she wanted me to pick itout

That was really nice of her But at the last minuteI decided not to go

I was still feeling weird from the swim tryoutsAnd I wanted to work on my animation project If Iworked really hard I might be able to get it finishedin time to show Mrs Coffey before she left school

I went up to my room and booted up the anima-tion But I couldnrsquot concentrate I kept staring at thefour-leaf clover inside a block of clear Lucite I keepon my desk And I kept jumping up and running tothe mirror to check my eyes

Perfectly normal Not glowingSo what happened What happened to me in that

locker room I asked myself I tried to convincemyself there was something wrong with the mirror

36

The red glow was because of the way the light hit thecrack in the mirror Or something

No That didnrsquot make senseThe phone rang a little before ten orsquoclock And it

was Hannah sounding very breathless and excitedldquoLukemdashyou shouldrsquove come You shouldrsquove

comerdquoI had to hold the phone away from my ear

Hannah was shouting so loud ldquoWhy What hap-penedrdquo I asked

ldquoI won itrdquo she declared ldquoDo you believe it Iwonrdquo

ldquoExcuse me Hannahmdashwhat are you talkingaboutrdquo

ldquoYou know the raffle at the mall That huge redSUV Itrsquos been on display there for a monthThousands of people put tickets in the boxThousands AndmdashandmdashI just happened to be walk-ing by when they had the drawing tonight Andmdashrdquo

ldquoYou didnrsquotrdquo I shriekedldquoYes Yes I won it I won the SUVrdquo ldquoWowrdquo I slumped onto my bed I actually felt

faint My heart was pounding as if I had wonldquoYou shouldrsquove seen me when they called out my

namerdquo Hannah gushed ldquoI screamed I just stoodthere and screamedrdquo

She screamed again shrieked at the top of herlungs A long high joyful scream

37

ldquoHannahmdashthatrsquos so awesomerdquo I said I donrsquotthink she heard me She was still screaming

ldquoMy family is so happy Luke You should seethem They are dancing around the living roomrdquo

ldquoThatrsquos so greatrdquo I saidHannah lowered her voice ldquoI just feel bad about

one thing Luke I was so crazed I was so berserk Iforgot why I was at the mall I forgot all about buy-ing you a birthday giftrdquo

I stood up I picked up the block with the four-leafclover inside and smoothed it between my handsldquoThatrsquos okayrdquo I told Hannah ldquoI just decided what Ireally want for my birthdayrdquo

ldquoWhatrsquos thatrdquo she askedldquoI want your luckrdquoHannah laughed She thought I was kidding But

of course I was seriousldquoAre you going to school tomorrowrdquo she askedldquoHuh Yeah sure Why notrdquoldquoTomorrow is Friday the thirteenthrdquo she said ldquoI

know how superstitious you are I thought maybeyoursquod stay home and hide under the bed all dayrdquo

ldquoHa hardquo I said But I felt a cold tingle at the backof my neck ldquoIrsquoll be thererdquo I told Hannah ldquoIrsquom nottotally wacko you knowrdquo

But Irsquoll wear my lucky shirt I thought And Irsquolltake my four-leaf clover in my backpack And Irsquoll askMom to pack my lucky sandwich for lunchmdashpeanutbutter and mayonnaise

38

ldquoI have to go to school tomorrowrdquo I told HannahldquoI have basketball practice after schoolrdquo

ldquoHowrsquos practice goingrdquo Hannah askedI chuckled ldquoNot bad So far I havenrsquot gotten any

splinters from sitting on the benchrdquoHannah laughed I could hear shouts and wild

laughter in the background ldquoIrsquove got to gordquo she saidshouting over the racket ldquoMy family is still celebrat-ing my winning the SUV Byerdquo

She clicked off before I could reply

That night I dreamed about locker 13In the dream I stepped up to the locker Someone

had taped a calendar to the door I came closer andsaw that Friday the thirteenth had been circled inred

I started to rip the calendar off the locker doorBut I stopped when I heard loud breathing Hoarsewheezing sounds Like someone was having troublebreathing

I touched the locker door And it was burning hotI screamed in shock and pulled my hand awayAgain I heard the hoarse breathing from inside

the locker And then I heard a tiny voice cry outldquoPlease get me outrdquo

In the dream I knew I was dreaming I wanted tolift myself out of the dream But I was stuck thereAnd I knew I had no choice I had to pull open thelocker door and see who was in there

39

ldquoPlease I want out Get me outrdquo the tinyfrightened voice called

Even though I knew I was dreaming I still felt sofrightened Real fear that makes you shake whetheryoursquore awake or asleep

I watched myself grip the door handle Slowlymdashso slowlymdashI pulled the locker door open

And I stared in horror at the figure huddled insidethe locker Because it was ME

It was me inside the locker hugging myself trem-bling all over It was memdashand my eyes started toglow My eyes glowed out from the dark locker red asfire

And as I stared at myself stared at those ugly evilred eyes I watched my face begin to change Iwatched hair grow out of my nostrils Long braids ofthick black hair sliding out of my nosemdashdown downto the locker floor

Beneath the shining red eyes thick blacktwisted ropes of hair were pouring from my nose Outof the locker Piling onto the hall floor Curlingaround me as I watched

Yes The long hair flowed from my nose andsnaked around me as I watched in horror Curledaround me covering me in warm scratchy hairCovering me like a big furry coat and then tighten-ing Tightening Tightening around my chestTightening around my face Wrapping me like amummy Wrapping me in my ghastly nose hair

40

I woke up one hand tightly wrapped around theLucite block with the four-leaf clover Gray morningsunlight seeped through my bedroom window Myroom was so cold cold as a freezer

ldquoLuke what are you doing up there Yoursquore laterdquoMomrsquos voice shattered the frozen silence

ldquoA dreamrdquo I murmured A hoarse laugh escapedmy throat My eyes darted around the room NormalEverything normal

ldquoHurry Luke Itrsquos really laterdquo Momrsquos voicesounded so good to me

I followed her order I hurried I got showereddressed ate breakfast and arrived at school withabout two minutes to spare The halls were prettyempty Most kids had already gone to their home-rooms

I glanced at the clock on the tile wall Then joggedto the end of the back hall to toss my jacket into mylocker

But a few feet from my locker I stopped with agasp

What was that on the door to locker 13I crept closer A calendarYes Someone had taped a calendar to the door

And and today Friday the thirteenth was cir-cled in red

41

ldquoMy dreamrdquo I murmuredThat horrifying dream Itrsquos coming true I realized

Irsquom going to open the door and itrsquos going to cometrue

42

I stared at the calendar at the number 13 circledin red marker

Last nightrsquos dream played itself again through mymind I shuddered My legs and arms itched I couldpractically feel the disgusting hair curling around myskin

With an angry cry I ripped the calendar off thedoor and crumpled it in my hand

Now I expected to hear the heavy breathing frominside the locker And the tiny criesmdashmy criesmdashbeg-ging to be let out

But I didnrsquot wait ldquoIrsquom not opening itrdquo I said outloud

No way am I going to allow the dream to cometrue

I tossed the wadded-up calendar sheet to thefloor Then I spun around and began running toclass The hall was empty My shoes thudded loudlyon the hard floor as I ran

Irsquoll keep my coat with me I decided Irsquoll just drag

43

it around with me all day I donrsquot need to open thelocker

The bell rang as I reached my homeroom doorMr Perkins looked up as I burst into the roomldquoGood morning Lukerdquo he said ldquoRunning a little latethis morningrdquo

ldquoA littlerdquo I replied breathlessly Unzipping myjacket I started to my seat

ldquoWould you like time to go hang your coat in yourlockerrdquo Mr Perkins asked

ldquoUh no Thatrsquos okayrdquo I lowered my backpackto the floor and dropped into the chair ldquoIrsquoll just keep itrdquo

A few kids were staring at me Mr Perkins noddedand turned back to the papers he was reading

I took a deep breath and settled back against thechair I rubbed the right sleeve of my lucky shirtseven times

That dream is not going to come true I toldmyself No way I wonrsquot let it

Of course I wasnrsquot thinking clearly How couldthat crazy dream come true

If I had stopped for one second to think about itI would have realized the whole idea was insane

But today was Friday the thirteenth And I nevercan think clearly on Friday the thirteenth I admit itIrsquom always a little crazy on that unlucky day

I glanced up to see that Mr Perkins had beenreading the morning announcements I hadnrsquot heard

44

a word he said I pulled the four-leaf clover from mybackpack twirled it in my hand and wished for goodluck for the rest of the day

At noon I found Hannah at a table against theback wall of the lunchroom She was sitting all byherself staring down at her brown lunchbag whichshe hadnrsquot opened

ldquoHi Whassuprdquo I dropped across from herldquoHirdquo she said softly without raising her eyes

ldquoHowrsquos it goingrdquoldquoWell pretty okay for a Friday the thirteenthrdquo I

said Actually the morning had flown by without anyproblems at all

I expected Hannah to make some kind of jokeabout how superstitious I am But she didnrsquot say aword

I pulled the sandwich from my bag and started tounwrap the foil ldquoMy lucky sandwichrdquo I saidldquoPeanut butter and mayonnaiserdquo

ldquoYumrdquo she said rolling her eyes She finallylooked at me She appeared tired Her eyes werebloodshot red as if shersquod been crying Her hair wasa mess and her face was gray

ldquoHow come yoursquore wearing your coatrdquo sheasked

ldquoOh uh no reasonrdquo I said ldquoI was kind ofcoldrdquo

She nodded glumly

45

ldquoDid you come to school in the new SUVrdquo Iasked

She shook her head ldquoWe donrsquot have it yet Dadhas to go fill out a lot of papersrdquo She let out a longsigh

I lowered my sandwich ldquoAre you feeling okayrdquo Iasked

She didnrsquot answer Instead she sighed again andstared down at the table

I poked her lunchbag with one finger ldquoWhat doyou have for lunchrdquo

She shrugged ldquoJust some fruit Irsquom not very hun-gryrdquo She opened the bag reached a hand in andpulled out a bright yellow banana

She struggled with the skin Then finally peeled itopen

ldquoOh yuckrdquo Her face twisted in disgust Shedropped the banana to the table

Inside the skin the banana was completely rot-ten Just a soft pile of black mush A horrible soursmellmdashlike ripe vomitmdashfloated up from it

Hannah shoved the banana away ldquoSick Thatrsquosreally sickrdquo

ldquoThe skin is perfectly freshrdquo I said ldquoHow couldthe banana be so rottenrdquo

ldquoI think I have an applerdquo Hannah said glumlyShe tore the bag apart and pulled out a red appleShe twirled it between her handsmdashthen stopped witha gasp

46

I saw the deep dark hole on the side of the appleAnd as we both stared at it a fat brown wormmdashatleast two inches longmdashcurled out from inside Andthen another And another

The worms dropped from the apple onto thetabletop

ldquoI donrsquot believe thisrdquo Hannah shrieked Shescraped her chair back so hard it toppled over

And before I could say anything she was runningfrom the room

After school I looked for Hannah on my way tobasketball practice I was worried about her She hadacted so weird at lunch Not like herself at all

I reminded myself that it was Friday the thir-teenth And sometimes people act a little weird onthis day

But not Hannah Hannah is the least supersti-tious person I know She walks under ladders all thetime and she hugs black cats and doesnrsquot think athing of it

And why should she Hannah has to be the luck-iest person on earth

Lockers slammed as kids prepared to go home Istarted to the gym then turned back I donrsquot want tocarry my coat and backpack to the gym I decidedIrsquom going to stuff them in my locker

I hesitated as the locker came into view at the endof the hall I read the words on the door LUCKY 13 Of

47

course I remembered my nightmaremdashand the calen-dar from my nightmare taped on the locker door

But I had to open the locker I didnrsquot want to carrymy stuff around with me for the rest of the year

ldquoHey Lukerdquo I saw Darnell Cross waving to mefrom the doorway to the science lab ldquoAre the Squiresgoing to beat Davenportrdquo

ldquoTheyrsquore not so toughrdquo I called back ldquoWe couldtake themrdquo

ldquoYou going to playrdquo Darnell asked He grinnedbecause he already knew the answer

ldquoAs soon as I grow taller than Stretchrdquo I repliedHe laughed and disappeared back into the lab I stepped up to locker 13 I brought my face close

to the door ldquoAnyone in thererdquo I called inSilenceldquoJust checkingrdquo I said I grabbed the door handle

I was feeling pretty confident Friday the thirteenthwas two-thirds over and so far nothing terriblyunlucky had happened to me

I squeezed my rabbitrsquos foot for luck Then I tooka deep breathmdashand pulled open the locker

48

Nothing unusual inside the locker I realized I was still gripping the rabbitrsquos foot

inside my pocket I let go of it and slipped my back-pack off my shoulders

I studied the locker carefully A bunch of booksand notebooks on the top shelf where I had leftthem My old gray sweatshirt lay crumpled on thelocker floor

No black cats No one breathing or crying orshooting piles of hair from his nose

I let out a long sigh of relief Then I tossed thebackpack on top of the balled-up sweatshirt Shovedmy jacket onto the hook on the back wall

I started to slam the door shut when I spottedsomething at my feet

My shoe kicked it and it rolled against the lockerbottom then bounced back

A ballI bent down and picked it up I raised it close to

my face

49

ldquoWhoardquo Not a ball A tiny yellow skull a littlelarger than a Ping-Pong ball

It had an open-mouthed grin revealing two rowsof gray teeth I ran my finger over the teeth Theywere hard and bumpy

I squeezed it The little skull was made of somekind of hard rubber

The eyesmdashsunken deep in the socketsmdashwere redglass They glowed in the hall lights like tiny rubies

ldquoWhere did you come fromrdquo I asked itI turned back to the locker Did the skull fall out

of the locker How did it get in there Was someoneplaying some kind of Friday the thirteenth headgame with me

I decided that had to be the answerI rolled the skull around in my hand a few times

I poked my finger against the glowing red glass eyes Then I tucked it into my pants pocket I slammed

the locker shutmdashand headed to practice

ldquoLook alive Heads up Look aliverdquo CoachBendix was shouting

I ran out of the locker room and grabbed a bas-ketball off the ball rack I began dribbling around thefloor

We were having one of Coachrsquos free-for-all prac-tices That meant we had to keep moving keepplayingmdashrun dribble pass shoot play defense Do

50

everything all at once in a big free-for-all I dribbled slowly across the floor concentrating

hard Trying not to lose the dribble I saw Stretch turntoward me He stuck out both hands and moved for-ward ready to block me

I decided to try and fake him out I dribbled leftmdashand moved right I edged past him easily Movedunder the basket And sent up a shot that sailedacross the gym and dropped in

ldquoHeymdashone for onerdquo I cried happilyldquoLucky shotrdquo Stretch calledI took the ball and moved back to the top of the

key I sent up a two-handed jumpshot It soared overthe rimmdashand dropped through the basket with a softswish

ldquoYesrdquo I pumped my fists in the airI didnrsquot have long to celebrate I turned and saw

Stretch barreling toward me dribbling hard leaningforward with grim determination

Hersquos going to charge right over me I realized Hersquosgoing to flatten me

Guys backed out of his way as Stretch flew acrossthe floor

ldquoLook out Lukerdquo someone shoutedI froze for a moment Then I ducked to the left

Stuck out my hand and slapped the ball away fromStretch

He made a wild grab for it But I dribbled it out of

51

his reach Then I spun around and sent a wild highshot into the air The ball hit the glass backboardmdashand sank through the net

ldquoWowrdquoldquoWay to go LukerdquoldquoThree for threerdquoThe other players were in shockStretch shook his head ldquoFeeling lucky today

Think fastrdquo He pulled back his long armmdashandheaved the ball at my chest with all his strength

I caught it easily Dribbled it three times Shotmdashand dropped another basket

Stretch scowled ldquoI donrsquot believe thisrdquo he mut-tered shaking his head

I donrsquot either I thought to myself Irsquove never shotfour baskets in a row in my life

I turned and saw Coach Bendix watching me Wasthis my big chance Stretch and another player werepassing the ball back and forth moving across thefloor

I shot forward Intercepted Stretchrsquos pass Droveto the basket And sent up an easy layup ldquoTwopointsrdquo I cried

With an angry grunt Stretch reached for therebound But I pushed it out of his hands Grabbed itSpun Shot again ldquoTwo pointsrdquo

Stretch cried out angrily He bumped me hard

52

from behind I think he would have flattened me onthe spot But he saw that Coach Bendix was runningover to us

Coach slapped me on the back ldquoWay to goLukerdquo he boomed ldquoWay to show real improvementIrsquom impressed Keep it up okay Irsquom going to give yousome playing time next Fridayrdquo

ldquoHeymdashthanksrdquo I replied breathlesslyI saw Stretch scowl Saw his face turn an angry

redI grabbed a ball and dribbled away I wanted to

shout and jump for joy Had my luck finally changedIt seemed that way Suddenly I could pass and

jump and shoot and play defense like I never couldbefore It was as if I was possessed or somethingPossessed by an all-star athlete

In the locker room after practice Stretch ignoredme But other guys slapped me on the back andflashed me a thumbs-up

ldquoLookinrsquo good LukerdquoldquoWay to go manrdquoldquoGo SquiresrdquoI was feeling really happy Like a new person As I

changed into my street clothes I felt the little skull inmy pants pocket I pulled it out and gazed at itsmoothing my thumb over the hard rubber

ldquoAre you my new good-luck charmrdquo I asked itThe tiny red eyes glowed back at me I kissed it

gave it a smack on top of its yellow head and shoved

53

it back into my pants pocketThat skull is going everywhere with me I decided

Itrsquos got to be lucky Itrsquos got to beAs I walked home I kept reliving my great bas-

ketball triumph I pictured my long perfect jump-shots again And I saw myself stealing the ball fromStretchrsquos hands driving right past him and scoringEmbarrassing him Embarrassing Stretch again andagain

Wow What a dayIt was a cold gray afternoon Dark clouds hung

low over the nearly bare trees It felt more like winterthan fall

A few blocks from home I crossed a streetmdashandheard a short cry

A long low evergreen hedge ran across the frontyard on the corner I stopped gazing over the hedgeHad the cry come from the yard

I listened hard Down the block a car doorslammed A dog started to bark The wind made awhistling sound through the phone lines overhead

And then I heard itmdashanother sharp crymdashlongerthis time

A baby It sounded like a babyrsquos cryldquoOwwwww OwwwwwwrdquoI lowered my gaze to the hedgemdashand saw the

creature making the shrill criesA cat No A small orange-and-white kitten

54

It appeared to be stuck in the prickly brambles ofthe hedge

ldquoOwwwww OwwwwwwrdquoCarefully I bent down and gently lifted the cat out

with both hands As I cupped my hands around it itstopped crying immediately But it was still breathinghard its white chest moving rapidly up and down Irubbed its head trying to soothe it

ldquoYoursquore okay little kittenrdquo I whisperedAnd then I heard another cry A loud shriekI looked up to see a large woman running at me

angrily Her face was bright red and she waved herarms furiously

ldquoOh nordquo I muttered I nearly dropped the catWhy is she so angryWhat have I done

55

ldquoThe kittenmdashrdquo she cried shoving through abreak in the hedge

ldquoImdashIrsquom sorryrdquo I stammered ldquoI didnrsquot know ImdashrdquoldquoWhere did you find herrdquo the woman demanded

her face still bright red ldquoIn in the hedgerdquoldquoOh thank you Thank yourdquo the woman said

She took the kitten from my hands and raised it toher cheek ldquoSasha where did you gordquo

Irsquom not in trouble I finally realized The womanis happymdashnot angry

ldquoSasha has been missing for two daysrdquo thewoman told me pressing the kitten against her faceldquoI offered a reward and everything I almost gave uphoperdquo

I let out a long sigh of relief ldquoShe was right thererdquoI said pointing ldquoIn the hedge I think she wascaught in itrdquo

ldquoWell shersquos fine now thanks to yourdquo Still press-ing the kitten to her cheek the woman pushed

56

through the hedge and started to the house ldquoWhat isyour namerdquo

ldquoLukerdquoldquoWell follow me Luke Irsquoll get your reward for

yourdquoldquoHuh Reward No Reallyrdquo I started to back

awayldquoYou saved Sasharsquos liferdquo the woman said ldquoYou

did a wonderful thing And I insist you take thereward I offeredrdquo

I saw that I had no choice I followed her to herkitchen door

A few minutes later she counted out five twenty-dollar bills and pressed them into my hand ldquoThankyou Luke You really did your good deed for todayrdquo

A hundred dollarsA hundred dollars rewardMy luck really is starting to change I decidedWhen I got home a big surprise awaited me Mom had made my favorite dinnermdashmeat loaf

mashed potatoes and gravy And a coconut cake fordessert

ldquoItrsquos not even my birthdayrdquo I exclaimedldquoI just felt like doing something nice for you

todayrdquo Mom said She brushed back my hair withone hand ldquoI know Friday the thirteenth is always ahard day for yourdquo

ldquoNot todayrdquo I told her grinning ldquoNot todayrdquo

57

After my second slice of coconut cake I went upto my room and started my homework I spent aboutan hour writing out the answers to my scienceassignment

It shouldnrsquot have taken that long But I kept tak-ing out the twenty-dollar bills counting them againand dreaming about what I could buy with them

After science I worked on my computer anima-tion Irsquod been having trouble with the last section Icouldnrsquot get anything to move the way I wanted

But tonight my good luck continued I had notrouble at all The images all slid together perfectly Ialmost finished the project

A little after nine I decided to give Hannah a callShersquod acted so weird at lunch that afternoon Ithought maybe she was sick or something

I called to see if she was feeling better But I couldtell by the way she answered the phone that she stillwasnrsquot her old self

I tried to cheer her up I told her about my tri-umph at basketball practice And about the hundred-dollar reward for finding the lost kitten

ldquoVery coolrdquo Hannah said But her voice showedno enthusiasm at all

ldquoAnd then Mom made all of my favorite things fordinnerrdquo I exclaimed

ldquoLuckyrdquo Hannah mutteredldquoWhatrsquos your problemrdquo I demanded ldquoWhatrsquos

wrong with you todayrdquo

58

A long silence at her endFinally she said ldquoI guess Irsquom just in a bad mood

I fell off my bike on the way home this afternoonrdquoI groaned ldquoOh no Are you okayrdquoldquoNot reallyrdquo she replied ldquoI scraped all the skin

off my right hand And I twisted my ankle prettybadrdquo

ldquoWowrdquo I muttered ldquoBad newsrdquoldquoEspecially since I have a basketball game tomor-

rowrdquo Hannah sighedldquoThink yoursquoll be able to playrdquo I askedldquoMayberdquo she said glumly ldquoMaybe Irsquoll come watch your gamerdquo I saidThere was a long silence And then Hannah said

ldquoLuke therersquos something something I have to tellyourdquo

ldquoExcuse merdquo I said She was whispering so lowI could barely hear her

ldquoI really should tell you something But rdquoI pressed the phone tighter to my ear ldquoWhat

What is itrdquo ldquoWell rdquoAnother long silenceldquoI canrsquotrdquo she said finally I heard a click and the

line went silentThe next morning my good luck came to an end

59

At least I thought my good luck had endedWhen I arrived at my science class I searched

my backpack for the homework questions Not thereI took everything outmdashevery paper every bookevery pencil

Not there I had spent over an hour on thatassignment last night And Irsquod left it at home

Now I was in major trouble Miss Creamer didnrsquotaccept late homework And homework counted forfifty percent of the grade in her class

My stomach tightened with dread as she enteredthe science lab to begin class

How could I be so stupid ldquoGood morning everyonerdquo she began ldquoI have an

announcement to make Itrsquos about last nightrsquos home-workrdquo

The room grew silentldquoI have to apologize to all of yourdquo Miss Creamer

continued ldquoI gave the wrong assignment Thosewerenrsquot the right questions Irsquom really sorry You

60

donrsquot have to turn it in Just tear it up and throw itawayrdquo

Cheers rang out Some kids gleefully ripped theirpapers into shreds A big celebration

Yes More good luck for me I thought happilyI was on a hot streak Later when Miss Creamer

handed back last weekrsquos test I had the only A in theclass

In the lunchroom I grabbed the last slice of pizzaon the counter

All the kids behind me in line groaned Darnellcame up and offered to pay me five dollars for it Butno deal

After school I stopped by the computer lab to seeMrs Coffey She told me her plans had suddenlychanged She wouldnrsquot be leaving school for anothertwo weeks

I cheered That meant I had time to finish mycomputer animation project and show it to her beforeI left

ldquoLuke I was talking about you to my friend whoowns Linkups You knowmdashthe computer store onHighlands I told him about how you can do any-thing with computers fix them upgrade them Hesaid you might be able to come into the store onSaturdays and help out in the service departmentrdquo

I gasped ldquoReallyrdquoShe nodded ldquoHersquos a really nice guy and hersquos

always looking for people who can fix machines He

61

said he couldnrsquot give you a real job since yoursquore onlytwelve But he could pay you five dollars an hourrdquo

ldquoWow I cried ldquoThatrsquos awesome Thanks MrsCoffeyrdquo

I practically flew down the stairs to the gym Iwanted to flap my arms and take off So many greatthings were happening to me I couldnrsquot believe it

Hannahrsquos basketball game had already startedwhen I stepped into the gym I found a seat in thebleachers and glanced up at the scoreboard TheSquirettes were already losing ten to two

Whatrsquos going on I wondered How can Hannahrsquosteam be losing so badly The team they were play-ingmdashthe Bee Stingers from Elwood Middle Schoolmdashwere the worst team in the city

I turned and glanced around the bleachers Therewere only about twenty kids watching the game Andfour or five parents clustered together at the top ofthe bleachers

ldquoGo Sharonrdquo one of the mothers yelledBut the gym was pretty quiet I guess because the

Squirettes were playing so badlyI leaned forward and tried to concentrate on the

game Sharon McCombs the tallest girl in the Shawnee

Valley eighth grade tossed the ball in A pass Thenanother pass which was almost stolen by a BeeStinger

Hannah grabbed the ball She turned and started

62

to dribble to the basket After about three steps shetripped The ball bounced away as she fell flat on herstomach

A Bee Stinger grabbed it just before it went out ofbounds She dribbled all the way down the floormdashand scored easily before Hannah had even pickedherself up off the floor Twelve to two

I cupped my hands around my mouth ldquoGet rsquoemHannahrdquo I shouted

She didnrsquot look up She was fiddling with thewhite bandage on her hand

A minute later Hannah had the ball again Inclose She jumped and shot And missed Missed thenet the backboard Missed everything

I leaned on my hands and watched the game insilence Hannah missed six or seven shots in a rowShe tripped over the ball hit the floor hard and gota huge bright red floor burn on her knee Her pass-es to her teammates went wild She kept losing theball to the other team Tripping over her own feetBumping into other players

It was sad She didnrsquot look like Hannah at allThe half-time score was Bee Stingers twenty-five

Squirettes five When the team came out to start the second half

Hannah sat down on the bench and didnrsquot play Whatrsquos going on I wondered I climbed down from the bleachers and walked

over to her on the bench

63

ldquoLuke you came to a bad-news gamerdquo she saidshaking her head

ldquoWhatrsquos wrongrdquo I asked ldquoYoursquore hurt Fromyour bike accident yesterdayrdquo

She watched the Bee Stingers score another bas-ket Then she turned to me ldquoNo Itrsquos not because ofmy accidentrdquo she whispered Her eyes were dullwatery Her skin was so pale

ldquoSo what is itrdquo I askedHannah frowned ldquoItrsquos all because I lost my good-

luck charmrdquo she said I gaped at her ldquoHuhrdquoldquoItrsquos what brought me all that amazing great

luckrdquo Hannah said ldquoI have to find it As soon as Ilost it my luck changedrdquo

My mouth dropped open I realized my heart hadstarted to pound

ldquoItrsquos a tiny skullrdquo Hannah continued ldquoA little yel-low skull ImdashI never went anywhere without itrdquo

She tugged at the bandage on her hand Then sheraised her eyes to me ldquoYou havenrsquot seen it any-where have you Lukerdquo

64

My legs suddenly felt weak I gripped the back ofthe bench and stared at Hannah I could feel my facegrowing red

I could feel the skull in my jeans pocket I knew Ishould pull it out and hand it to her

But how could II needed the good luck too Hannah had enjoyed

so much good luck for so long Mine had just startedFor the first time in my life I was having a little goodluck

How could I go back to being a loser againHannahrsquos watery eyes locked on mine ldquoHave you

seen it Lukerdquo she repeated ldquoHave you seen it any-whererdquo

My face burned So many frantic thoughtswhirred through my head

I really needed that good-luck charm Ever sinceI found it my life had changed I was a new person

But Hannah was my friend My best friend in the

65

whole world She was always there for me when Ineeded her

I couldnrsquot lie to hermdashcould IldquoNordquo I said ldquoI havenrsquot seen it anywhererdquoHannahrsquos eyes remained on me for a few seconds

more Then she nodded slowly and turned back tothe game

My heart was pounding hard now I had a heavyfeeling in the pit of my stomach ldquoWhere did you loseitrdquo I asked

She didnrsquot reply She cupped her hands aroundher mouth and cheered on her teammates

I backed away from the bench I felt like a totalcreep I jammed my hand into my pocket Wrappedmy fingers around the rubber skull

Give it back to her Luke a voice in my headurged The voice of goodness The voice of friend-ship

But I knew I wasnrsquot going to give it back I wasalready trotting out of the gym and down the hall tothe exit

I need it a little while longer I told myself Just alittle while

Long enough to win the basketball champi-onship Long enough to get really good grades for thefirst time in my life Long enough to impress myfriends to get on the swim team to make aname for myself long enough to be a winner

I squeezed the little skull all the way home Irsquoll

66

give it back to Hannah in a couple of weeks I toldmyself Two weeks thatrsquos all Maybe three And thenIrsquoll give it back to her And she can have her goodluck again No harm done

No harm donemdashright

The phone was ringing when I stepped in thekitchen door I tossed down my backpack and ran toanswer it

To my surprise it was Mrs Coffey ldquoLuke Irsquom glad I caught yourdquo she said ldquoI have

some really good news You know my friend at thecomputer storerdquo

ldquoYesrdquoldquoI spoke to him after you left the computer lab

And he said you could start work at his store onSaturdayrdquo

ldquoThatrsquos greatrdquo I exclaimedldquoBut thatrsquos not my good newsrdquo Mrs Coffey con-

tinued ldquoHe has a friend who is putting together ashow of computer animation And his friend is veryinterested in seeing your workrdquo

ldquoReallyrdquo I criedldquoHe needs short pieces for his animation show

right awayrdquo she said ldquoIf he likes your piece he saidhe will pay a thousand dollars for itrdquo

ldquoWowrdquo ldquoIs it finished Lukerdquo Mrs Coffey asked ldquoIs it

ready to show to himrdquo

67

I thought hard ldquoAlmostrdquo I said ldquoI need two moredays on it Maybe threerdquo

ldquoWell try to hurryrdquo Mrs Coffey said ldquoI think hehas most of the pieces he needs Hersquos going to beshowing them all over the country It would be ashame to miss outmdashrdquo

ldquoIt sure wouldrdquo I interrupted ldquoIrsquoll get right towork on it Mrs Coffey And thanks Thanks a lotrdquo

Excited I hurried up to my room and turned onthe computer Maybe I can get some work done on itbefore dinner I decided

I heard Mom come in downstairs I called hi toher and said I was working on my computer project

A few minutes later the phone rang again I heardMom talking for a while Then I heard her running upthe stairs She burst into my room ran up behind meand wrapped me in a big hug

ldquoHuh Whatrsquos that forrdquo I criedldquoThat was Mariorsquos Steakhouse on the phonerdquo

Mom said grinning ldquoYou know Your favorite restau-rant You won Luke Remember that drawing we allentered the last time we were there Well you wonit They picked your card You won dinner for thewhole family Twelve dinners One a month for thenext yearrdquo

ldquoWowrdquo I jumped up from the computerLaughing and cheering Mom and I did a happy littledance around the room

ldquoI canrsquot believe you won that drawing That is so

68

terrificrdquo Mom exclaimed ldquoWersquore going to have tostart calling you Lucky Lukerdquo

ldquoYeah Lucky Lukerdquo I repeated ldquoI like thatThatrsquos me Lucky Lukerdquo

I worked on my animation until nearly midnightI stared into the glow of the monitor until I couldnrsquotsee straight and the images became a fuzzy blur

ldquoAlmost finishedrdquo I said yawningI changed into pajamas brushed my teeth got

ready for sleep But just before I climbed into bed Ipulled out my lucky little skull for one last look

I held it gently in my hand and studied it rubbingmy fingers over the smooth top of the skull The tinyred jewel eyes glowed brightly

I rubbed my fingers over the hard bumpy teeth Itwirled the skull in my hand

ldquoMy little good-luck charmrdquo I whisperedI set it down carefully on my dresser in front of

the mirror Then I turned out the lights and climbedinto bed

I settled back on my pillows pulling the quilt upto my chin I yawned loudly The mattress creakedunder me Waiting for sleep I stared into the dark-ness

The curtains were pulled so no light washed infrom the street The room was completely blackexcept for a faint red glow

The glow of the two red eyes in the skull Like tiny

69

match flames against the blacknessAnd then I saw two more glowing spots of red

light Larger Behind the tiny skull eyesTwo circles of light in the mirror glass Two flame-

red circles the size of tennis ballsAnd as their light grew brighter more intense

I could see a form in the dresser mirror Deep nostril holes two rows of jagged grin-

ning teethA skull A red-eyed skullNot tiny A huge grinning yellow-boned skull

that filled the mirrorFilled the mirror And stared out at me with those

fiery flame-red eyesI sat straight up Squeezed the quilt And gaped in

horror as the jagged teeth moved The jaw slid open And the enormous skull mouthed the words

mouthed them so clearly ldquoLucky Lukerdquo

70

The giant glowing skull leaned forward as if topush out of the mirror The jaw worked up and downThe red glow seemed to bathe the whole room inflames

I opened my mouth in a horrified screamI screamed and then screamed againThe ceiling light flashed onldquoLukemdashwhatrsquos wrongrdquoBlinking in the sudden light I saw my dad burst

breathlessly into the room His pajama shirt wastwisted One pajama pants leg rode up to his kneeHis hair was tangled from sleep standing straight upon one side

ldquoWhat is itrdquo he repeatedldquoImdashImdashrdquo I pointed to the mirror My head spun

with confusion I couldnrsquot find wordsldquoThe skullmdashrdquo I finally choked outBrushing back his hair Dad crossed the room to

my dresser I stared into the glass

71

Nothing nowNothing in there except the reflection of my

room As he came near I could see Dadrsquos worriedface reflected in the glass

ldquoIs this what you were screaming aboutrdquo Dadasked He picked up the little yellow skull and heldit out to me ldquoThis skullrdquo

ldquoN-nordquo I stammeredI was thinking hard trying to figure out what I

had seenIt couldnrsquot have been the reflection of the little

skull I saw in the glass NoThe skull that loomed in the mirror was enor-

mous its eyes as big as basketballsDad still squinted at me from the dresser holding

the little skull up in front of himldquoI guess I had a bad dreamrdquo I said softly settling

back onto my pillows ldquoItmdashit was so weird I dreamedI saw a giant skull with flaming eyes But it wasso realrdquo

Dad shook his head ldquoWell if this little skull isgiving you bad dreams want me to take it awayrdquo Hestarted to the door

ldquoNordquo I screamed I jumped out of bed to block his path He looked

startled as I grabbed the skull from his handldquoItrsquos itrsquos a good-luck charmrdquo I said ldquoItrsquos

brought me a lot of good luckrdquo

72

Dad frowned as he gazed at the little skull in myhand ldquoYou sure Luke It doesnrsquot look good to me Itlooks evilrdquo

ldquoEvilrdquo I laughed ldquoNo way Dad No way Trustmerdquo

He clicked off the light on his way out A shortwhile later I fell asleep gripping the skull tightly inone hand

A few days later I screamed my head off again

73

This time it was for funA bunch of us were on our skates up on Killer

Hill Itrsquos actually Miller Hill But we call it Killer Hillbecause itrsquos up at the top where Broad Street scoopsstraight downmdasha steep steep slope down threeblocks to Miller Street

Miller Street has the most traffic in ShawneeValley So the idea is we come skating down BroadStreet full speed We come rocketing down the steepslope as fast as we canmdashand try to skate rightthrough the traffic on Miller

It makes all the car drivers totally crazy You canalways hear tires squealing horns honking driversscreaming as kids come skating right at them

Yes Itrsquos really dangerous Most kids wonrsquot eventhink of trying it But for a guy with my kind of goodluck whatrsquos the big deal

It was a sunny cold Sunday afternoon Froststuck to the tops of the cars My breath smoked upin front of me as I skated to the top of Killer Hill

74

I met Darnell up there He was having troublewith the brake on one of his skates Finally he justripped the brake off and tossed it in a trash canldquoWhy do I need brakesrdquo he said grinning at meldquoThey only slow you downrdquo

Stretch and some of his pals appeared a few min-utes later Stretch was wearing some kind of yellowsweats He looked like Big Bird on skates

He lowered his shoulder and tried to bump me offmy feet But I skated away easily And he didnrsquot tryagain

Things have been a little different betweenStretch and me since I took his place on the basket-ball team Hersquos my backup now He gets to play onlywhen Irsquom tired and need a short rest And I think hersquosin shock over it

Stretch still tries to give me a hard time But Idonrsquot think his heart is in it He knows hersquos a loserHe knows hersquos not one of the lucky peoplemdashlike me

ldquoYou ready to skaterdquo Darnell called He pulledon his helmet Then he stood in the middle of thestreet leaning forward hands on his knees

I gazed down the steep hill to the traffic belowEven though it was Sunday afternoon cars and vanssped along Miller as if it were the afternoon rushhour

I adjusted my knee pads ldquoReadyrdquo I said I movedbeside Darnell

Stretch skated in front of us He grinned at me

75

ldquoHow about a racerdquoI shook my head ldquoYoursquore too slow Darnell and I

donrsquot want to have to wait for you down thererdquoldquoHa ha When did you get so funny Champrdquo

Stretch reached into the pocket of his yellow sweatsHe held up a ten-dollar bill ldquoLetrsquos make it a real raceTen bucks each Winner takes allrdquo

He stuck the money in front of my face I shovedit away ldquoI donrsquot take candy from babiesrdquo I saidldquoKeep your moneyrdquo

Stretch gritted his teeth His pale face turned anangry red He leaned close ldquoYou gonna race me ornotrdquo he growled

I squeezed the rubber skull in my pocket I knewthere was no way I could lose ldquoOkayrdquo I said ldquoButIrsquom going to make it fairrdquo

I pulled a wool scarf from my coat pocket andstarted to wrap it around my head ldquoJust to give you achance Irsquoll skate blindfoldedrdquo

Stretch snickered ldquoYoursquore joking right Yoursquoregoing to skate through all those cars blindfoldedrdquo

ldquoDonrsquot do it Lukerdquo a voice calledI turned to see Hannah waving to me She was

hobbling up the sidewalk on crutches Her right foothad a large white bandage over it ldquoDonrsquot do itrdquo shecalled shrilly

I spun away from the guys and skated over to her

76

ldquoHannahmdashwhat happenedrdquo I asked motioning tothe crutches

She sighed and leaned heavily on them ldquoItrsquos myanklerdquo she said ldquoRemember when I fell off my bikeWe thought it was just a sprain But my ankle keepsswelling up like a water balloon I had to have itdrained three timesrdquo

ldquoYuckrdquo I said staring down at the bandageThe wind fluttered her red hair She shook her

head sadly ldquoThe doctors canrsquot figure out whatrsquoswrong ImdashI might need surgery I donrsquot know AndMom says if it doesnrsquot get better I canrsquot go on thejunior high overnight on Wednesdayrdquo

ldquoWow Thatrsquos bad newsrdquo I murmured Everyonelooks forward to the overnight The whole junior highgoes to a campground by the lake and everyonestays up and parties all night

I couldnrsquot take my eyes off Hannahrsquos bandagedankle Is this my fault I suddenly wondered Did Ireally take away her good luck Hannah has hadnothing but bad luck ever since I found the skull

Irsquom going to give it back to her I silentlypromised Real soon Real soon

ldquoYou skating or notrdquo Stretch called ldquoOr are youjust going to stand there and talk with your girl-friendrdquo

ldquoIrsquom comingrdquo I said I started to wrap the scarfaround my eyes

77

ldquoLuke donrsquotrdquo Hannah insisted ldquoDonrsquot do itblindfolded Itmdashitrsquos crazyrdquo

ldquoNo problemrdquo I said ldquoIrsquom a superhero HannahCars will bounce right off merdquo

I skated away from her ldquoYoursquore wrongrdquo she called ldquoLuke listen to me

The good luckmdashit doesnrsquot last foreverrdquoI laughed What was she talking aboutI skated up beside Darnell and grabbed his arm

to steady myself I pulled the scarf over my eyes untilI saw only black

ldquoYoursquore crazyrdquo he muttered ldquoYou could getkilled manrdquo

ldquoNo wayrdquo I declared ldquoIrsquom going to win twentybucks from you twordquo

I heard Stretch skate up beside me ldquoYoursquore doingthis for realrdquo he asked ldquoYoursquore going to skate into allthose cars blindfoldedrdquo

ldquoYou going to talk or skaterdquo I asked him ldquoFirstone past Miller Street without stopping wins themoneyrdquo

ldquoLukemdashdonrsquot be crazyrdquo Hannah calledIt was the last thing I heard before the three of us

took off I leaned forward skating straight and hard I

heard Stretch and Darnell beside me theirRollerblades scraping the pavement

As we picked up speed I could hear the traffic onMiller I heard a horn honk Heard someone shout

I skated down down laughing through thedarkness

78

ldquoLukemdashloooook outrdquoI heard Darnellrsquos scream I heard the squeal of

tires Horns honkedI tossed back my head and laughed I roared

through Miller Street the blade wheels whistling overthe pavement

Then as I turned my skates and came to a slowstop I ripped the scarf away And saw Darnell stand-ing on the curb on the other side of Miller His mouthwas open He shook his head

Stretch came skating around me ldquoYou crazyjerkrdquo he shouted ldquoYou were almost killed threetimesrdquo

I calmly held out my hand ldquoMoney pleaserdquoldquoYou lucky jerkrdquo Stretch muttered He slapped

the ten-dollar bill into my gloved hand ldquoYoursquorecrazy Really Yoursquore just plain crazyrdquo

I laughed ldquoThanks for the compliment And theten bucksrdquo

79

Grumbling to himself Stretch skated back up tohis friends

Darnell waited for the traffic to clear then skatedover to me He wiped sweat off his forehead ldquoYouwere almost killedrdquo he said his voice shaking ldquoWhydid you do it Lukerdquo

I grinned at him ldquoBecause I canrdquo

The weather turned warm for our overnight camp-out Even though the trees were bare the woodssmelled fresh and sweet almost like spring Highwhite clouds dotted the bright blue afternoon skyTwigs and dead leaves crackled and crunched underour feet as we hiked through the tall trees to thecamping grounds

I squeezed the small skull in one hand as Iwalked weighted down by the heavy pack on myback Some kids were singing a Beatles song Behindme a group of girls were telling really bad knock-knock jokes laughing shrilly after each one

Coach Bendix and Ms Raymond another gymteacher led the way along the twisting path throughthe trees I was about halfway back in the line ofkids

I turned and found Hannah beside me She woreher blue windbreaker with the hood pulled up overher head She was leaning on one crutch as shewalked struggling to keep up ldquoDo you have anywaterrdquo she asked

80

I slowed down ldquoYour parents let you come Isyour ankle betterrdquo

ldquoNot reallyrdquo she replied frowning ldquoBut I toldthem I had to come anyway I wouldnrsquot miss it Doyou have any water Irsquom dyingrdquo

ldquoYeah Surerdquo I reached for the bottle of water inmy pack ldquoDidnrsquot you bring anyrdquo

Hannah sighed ldquoMy water bottle had a leak orsomething It poured out and soaked all the extraclothes in my pack Now I donrsquot have a thing towearrdquo

I handed her the water bottle Leaning on the crutch she pushed back the wind-

breaker hood and I saw her face for the first timeHer skin was covered with big red splotchesldquoHannah whatrsquos thatrdquo I cried ldquoYour facemdashrdquoldquoDonrsquot look at merdquo she snapped She turned her

back and took a long gulp of waterldquoBut what is itrdquo I demanded ldquoPoison ivyrdquoldquoNo I donrsquot think sordquo she said still facing away

from me ldquoI woke up with it Some kind of red rashAll over my bodyrdquo She sighed ldquoI donrsquot get a breakrdquo

She handed the water bottle back to me andpulled the blue plastic hood over her head ldquoThanksfor the waterrdquo

ldquoDoes it itchrdquo I askedShe let out an angry cry ldquoI really donrsquot want to

talk about itrdquo She grabbed the crutch tightly swungit hard in front of her and hurried ahead of me drag-

81

ging her bandaged foot over the dirt pathShersquos having so much bad luck I guess itrsquos my

fault I thought squeezing the skull in my pocket But why are all these terrible things happening to

her Why isnrsquot there enough good luck for both of usI didnrsquot have much time to think about it Behind me I heard shrill frightened screams I

saw kids running off the path Screaming Calling forhelp

I spun around and headed toward them the heavypack bouncing on my back ldquoWhatrsquos going onrdquo Icried ldquoWhatrsquos wrongrdquo

More shrill screamsAnd then I saw the two enormous brown snakes

Swinging down from a low tree limb Blocking thepath

The same color as the tree they twisted their longbodies thicker than garden hoses and snapped theirjaws

I didnrsquot hesitate I dived forward stretching out myarms

ldquoLukemdashwhat are you doing Stay away fromthemrdquo I heard Coach Bendix shout

The kidsrsquo frightened screams rang through thewoods

ldquoGet away from themrdquo Coach orderedBut I knew nothing could hurt me I knew my good

luck would keep me safe

82

I shot my hands out And grabbed both snakesone in each hand

I wrapped my fingers around their thick bodiesThen with a hard tug I wrenched them off the treelimb And raised them high

ldquoWhoardquoI didnrsquot realize how long they were And how strongI let out a startled cry as both snakes wriggled

loose I saw the tiny black eyes flash Saw the jawsopen

Then both snake heads came crashing towardme jaws snappingmdashsnapping so furiously beneaththe flashing eyes snapping like bear traps

83

I felt a rush of air as they snappedmdashsnappedmdashsnapped their sharp-toothed jaws Heads swingingwildly Whole bodies swinging and shaking Thickwhite drool clinging to their pointed teeth

Shrill screams rose all around me I stared atthe snapping heads the glimmering black eyesmdashuntil it seemed that the snakes were screamingtoo

And thenmdashthey flew from my handsWriggled free with strong tosses of their heavy

bodies And plunged to the ground Disappearingso quickly Blending into the hard brown dirtVanishing beneath the carpet of fat brown leavestwigs and fallen limbs

As kids surrounded me I stood hunched overgasping for breath I smoothed my open handsover my ears my cheeks my whole face

I waited for the pain of the snakebites to spreadover me

But no No sting No throbbing No pain

84

They had snapped so close I felt their breathon my skin

But they hadnrsquot bitten me ldquoYoursquore so luckyrdquo Coach Bendix was saying He

had a hand on my shoulder and was examining myface ldquoI never saw anyone so lucky Why did you doit Luke Those snakes are deadly poisonousDeadly Why did you do itrdquo

I stared at him but didnrsquot answer I didnrsquot knowwhat to say

How could I explain it to him How could Iexplain to anyone what it felt like to be so incrediblyawesomely lucky

All around kids were cheering Congratulatingme Talking about me how brave I had been

Leaning against a tree I saw Hannah She stoodby herself crutch under one arm She was the onlyone not smiling not cheering

I saw the red blotches on Hannahrsquos faceWatched as she transfered the crutch to her otherarm And saw her scowling at me her eyes nar-rowed She shook her head and scowled

And in that moment I realized that she was jeal-ous Jealous of my good luck

Jealous that she was no longer the hero She wasno longer the lucky one

Too bad Hannah I thought watching her angryexpression I had felt sorry for her I had felt reallyguilty too

85

But no moreIrsquove got the luck now Hannah I thought And Irsquom

going to keep it

ldquoLetrsquos go guys Wersquove got another game to winrdquoI cried I gave Sam Mulroney a playful towel slap

Locker doors slammed Guys finished lacing uptheir basketball shoes

ldquoDid you see those Deaver Mills guysrdquo Mulroneyasked peeking into the gym through a crack in thelocker room door ldquoTheyrsquore monsters They must feedthose guys whole steaks five times a dayrdquo

ldquoBig doesnrsquot mean goodrdquo I said ldquoThey look likecows Theyrsquore so slowrdquo

ldquoWersquoll dribble circles around themrdquo Jay Boxersaid

ldquoJust feed me the ballrdquo I instructed them ldquoNomatter where I am Feed me the ball Irsquoll put it in Irsquomfeeling lucky today guys Real luckyrdquo

ldquoHey Champmdashrdquo Stretch called pulling on his jer-sey ldquoYoursquore not a ball hog or anythingmdashare yourdquo

Guys used to laugh when Stretch shouted insultsat me But not anymore Everyone was on my sidenow Everyone wanted to be on the winnerrsquos side

ldquoHey Stretchmdashwhat do they call yourdquo I shoutedback ldquoA bench hogrdquo

Everybody laughedStretch laughed too Now that I was a winner he

was starting to be a little nicer to me He even gave

86

me some dribbling tips after one practice The guys all headed out to the gym I could hear

the shouts of the crowd in the bleachers And thesteady thud of basketballs on the floor as the DeaverMills Lions warmed up

ldquoTime to kill me some Lionsrdquo I muttered I finishedlacing my sneakers

Then I stood up Started to swing my gym lockerclosed

And slammed my left hand in the doorldquoHeyrdquo I cried out in surprise as pain shot up my

arm I shook the hand hard trying to shake the pain

away My wrist throbbed I moved my fingers tiltedmy hand back and forth It moved okay Not broken

But the hand was red and already starting to swellldquoNo time for thisrdquo I muttered I slammed the locker shut with my right hand

And still shaking my left hand hurried out into thegym

The crowd cheered as I ran onto the floor I sawsome of the Deaver Mills players whisper to eachother and point at me They knew who the star playerwas They knew who was going to wipe the floor withthem today

We huddled close around Coach Bendix ldquoTake itslow with these guysrdquo he instructed ldquoFeel them outGet their rhythm Letrsquos rattle them show them we canplay defenserdquo

87

ldquoJust get me the ballrdquo I chimed in ldquoIrsquom going tobe loose under the basket all dayrdquo

We gave our team cheer and trotted out to the cen-ter of the floor I searched the bleachers for HannahShe said she would try to come to the game today

I spotted her at the side of the bleachers hunchedin a wheelchair Her bad foot was propped up and ithad an even bigger bandage over it

I guess it isnrsquot getting better I thought I felt a pangof guilt

Poor Hannah I looked for my parents Then I remembered they

werenrsquot coming today They had to stay home for a fur-niture delivery

I turned away from the crowd I had a game toplay Time to get my game face on No time to thinkabout Hannah and her problems

I went up for the opening jump I tapped the ballto Mulroney and the game was underway

He dribbled to half-court then sent a high pass tome

ldquoWhoamdashrdquo The ball flew right through my handsand bounced out of bounds

ldquoMulroneymdashtoo hardrdquo I called ldquoWho were youthrowing atrdquo

He shrugged and started trotting to the Lionsrsquobasket

ldquoGet in there Luke Get going Look aliverdquo I heardCoach Bendix shouting

88

The Deaver guard came dribbling slowly towardme I darted up to him stuck out my hand to steal theballmdashand missed

He moved past me easily and sent up an easylayup for two points

ldquoWeirdrdquo I muttered I shook my left hand Thepain had dulled to an ache but the hand was prettyswollen

I moved down the court Caught a pass Spunaway from the Lion defender Went in for an easy shot

And missedldquoHuhrdquoI heard the crowd groan Startled voices all aroundMulroney slapped me on the shoulder ldquoTake it

easy manrdquo he said ldquoPlay your game Just play yourgamerdquo

A few seconds later I drove in for a shotmdashand wasfouled I moved to the foul linemdashand missed both foulshots

More groans and muttering from the bleachers Isaw Coach Bendix shake his head

A bounce pass from Jay Boxer sailed right throughmy legs Some of the Lionsrsquo players had a good laughover that one

Then I missed three more shots in a rowMulroney flashed me a thumbs-up ldquoNo probrdquo he

called ldquoPlay your game Luke Wersquoll get rsquoemrdquoThe Lions were winning twelve to four I took another pass and moved under the basket I

89

leaped high for a slam dunk My arm hit the rim hard I cried out in pain And

watched the ball sail over the backboardldquoWhoa This isnrsquot happeningrdquo I muttered picking

myself up off the floor ldquoNo wayrdquoAt the other end of the floor I grabbed a rebound

off the backboard I dodged past a huge Lion playerDribbled away from him easily Picked up speedBrought the ball onto our side of the court

Eyed the basket Prepared to stop short and put upa three-pointer

And tripped Felt one sneaker bump the otherTripped over my own shoe

And watched the ball sail into a Lionrsquos hands as Istumbled I fell forward onto my stomach My armsand legs were out flat on the floor ldquoOOOFrdquo

I heard startled gasps from the bleachers Andlaughter

Yes Some people were laughing at meldquoWhat is going onrdquo I cried I forced myself to my feet Shook off the pain ldquoThis isnrsquot happening It canrsquot berdquoI reached into the pocket of my uniform shorts

Reached for my good-luck skullFumbled in the pocket Searched both pocketsldquoHeymdashrdquoNo No No wayThe skull was gone

90

Fumbling frantically in both pockets I began run-ning for the team bench ldquoTime out Time outrdquo Iscreamed

Had the skull fallen out of my pocketI squinted hard searching the gleaming polished

floor No sign of itldquoTime outrdquo I pleadedI heard a whistle blow on the sidelinesI had to find itmdashnow I couldnrsquot play without itMy eyes swept over the floor I began to run full

speed to the bench I didnrsquot see the huge Lions playermdashuntil we collidedI plowed right into him Caught him flat-footed He

let out a startled ldquoOofrdquo And we cracked headsldquoYaaaiiiirdquo I let out a scream of agony as blinding

red pain shot around my head The red shimmered togold Brighter brighter bright as the sun

I felt my legs giving out Felt myself collapsingcrumbling into a deep deep bottomless darkness

91

I woke up to pinpoints of yellow light They flick-ered high above me Each time they flashed a waveof pain rolled over my forehead down the back of myneck

I blinked hard Blinked until I realized I was star-ing up at the lights on the gym rafters

I lay on my back on the gym floor one kneeraised my hands flat at my sides I squinted up atthe high raftersmdashuntil faces blocked my view

Playersrsquo faces And then a few worried-lookingadults And then Coach Bendixrsquos face looming overme bobbing over me like a parade balloon

ldquoWhatmdashrdquo One word escaped my throat My drythroat So dry I couldnrsquot swallow

ldquoStay still Lukerdquo Coach ordered speaking softlyHis dark eyes peered down into mine studying meldquoYoursquove had a bad concussion Donrsquot try to moveWersquore sending you to the emergency roomrdquo

ldquoHuh Nordquo I gasped I rolled onto my side I lurched to my feet The

floor tilted from side to side as if I were on a rockingboat

ldquoDonrsquot move Lukerdquo Coach reached for meBut I staggered out of his grasp Stumbled

through the circle of people that had formed aroundme

ldquoNo No hospitalrdquo I croaked

92

I had to find that skull That was all I needed andthen I would be okay again

The skull I stumbled over someonersquos shoe Staggered

toward the locker room The gleaming wood floorswaying beneath me

ldquoLukemdashcome backrdquoNo No way I shoved open the locker room door

with one shoulder And sliding a hand against thelockers moved to the back row Lurched to my gymlocker Pulled open the door so hard it slammedagainst the frame

ldquoWhere is it WhererdquoI frantically pawed through my street clothes

Searched and then tossed everything onto the floor ldquoWhere WhererdquoNot in my khakis pockets Not in my shirt pocket

Not in my sweatshirtThe locker floor No Nothing down thereStumbling over the pile of clothes on the floor I

lurched back down the row of gym lockers Ranthrough the gym out the doors and up the stairsInto the long empty hall

My sneakers squeaked on the hard floor as I ranThe walls and ceiling appeared to close in on methen slide back into place

To my locker To locker 13

93

It took me three tries to get the combination rightBut finally I unlocked it and flung open the door

And jammed my hand into one coat pocket andthen the other

ldquoWhere is it I have to have it Where WhererdquoAnd then a long happy sigh escaped my parched

throat as my hand closed around it YessssI was so happyI had the skull in my hand I squeezed it tightly

So happy So happyI pulled it out of the coat pocket Raised it in front

of me Raised it close to examine it And let out a cry of horror

94

The eyes They were dark Not red not glowingAnd the face had changed The bump-toothed

grin was gone The open mouth was curled down ina fierce angry scowl

ldquoNomdashitrsquos impossiblerdquo I gaspedI held the skull up to the light The red jewel eyes

were gone The deep round sockets were empty Theskull scowled down at me dark and menacing

What does this mean I wondered How did thishappen

Before I could think about it clearly I glimpsedsomething in the open locker A soft glow A slowmoving light growing larger as if moving closer

The light split into two Two circles of red lightDown low Very low near the locker floor

I gripped the skull tightly in my fist and stared asthe red lights glimmered closer The whole lockershimmered The dark walls reflected the two lightsBrighter bright as fire now

95

Two red eyes I realized Two glowing eyes float-ing from the blackness of locker 13

I jumped back as a black cat stepped silently outas if floating A black cat with fiery red eyes Thesame black cat as before

It pulled back its lips bared pointed white teethand hissed at me

My back hit the wall I blinked against the bright-ness of those two circles of red light

And as I trembled in horror squeezing the skullsqueezing it so tightly my hand achedmdashthe cat roseup off the floor

And melted into another formMelted and grew taller Taller The cat became

a human figure dressed all in black wrapped in abroad black coat down to the floor its face hidden inthe darkness of a black hood

Hidden All hidden except for the eyesmdashthosehorrifying fiery eyes

ldquoWh-who are you What do you wantrdquo I startledmyself by crying out those words I didnrsquot think Icould speak

My whole body trembled I pressed myselfagainst the wall to keep from falling to my knees

The hooded figure stepped silently away from theopen locker A hoarse rasp burst out from under thehood a whisper like the crackle of dead leaves ldquoTheluck has run out Lukerdquo

ldquoNordquo I gasped

96

A bony hand swung out from the sleeve of theblack coatmdashand swiped the skull away from me

ldquoNordquo I cried in protest ldquoNo NordquoldquoThe luck is overrdquo ldquoWho are yourdquo I shrieked in a tight terrified

voice ldquoWh-who How did you get in my lockerWhat do you wantrdquo I screamed in total panic

ldquoThe luck is overrdquoldquoIt canrsquot berdquo I cried ldquoIt canrsquot be I need itrdquoldquoOver rdquo the hooded figure rasped ldquoOver

over rdquoThe red eyes glowed from under the hood The

bony hand held the tiny skull in front of the broadblack coat

ldquoI need that luckrdquo I wailed ldquoI need that skullrdquoAnd I grabbed it back Grabbed it out of the bony

handldquoI need it I have to have itrdquoI raised the skull in front of me Stared hard at it What was wrong with it Something wriggling on

it wriggling in my hand crawling over mypalm

ldquoOhhhhrdquo I let out a moan as I saw The skull wascovered crawling crawling with hundreds ofmaggots

97

The skull fell from my hand and bounced acrossthe floor I frantically shook my hand scraped itagainst the wall brushing the disgusting maggots offmy skin

Under the black hood the red eyes glowed brighterldquoYou enjoyed a lot of good luck Lukerdquo the figure saidin his hoarse croak ldquoBut the luck has ended And nowyou must pay for itrdquo

ldquoHuh Payrdquo I felt my throat tighten I stared at thefiery eyes trying to see a face trying to see who wasspeaking to me from under that hood

ldquoLukemdashIrsquom so sorryrdquo a voice called I turned to find Hannah wheeling herself rapidly

down the hall leaning forward in her wheelchair turn-ing the wheels with both hands

ldquoHannahmdash Whatmdashrdquo I couldnrsquot find any wordsldquoIrsquom so sorryrdquo she repeated As she wheeled herself

closer I saw tears brimming in her eyes rolling downher red-blotched face

ldquoSorryrdquo I repeated my head spinning in confusion

98

ldquoHe made me do itrdquo she wailed ldquoYou have tobelieve me Luke I didnrsquot want to Really But hemade merdquo

She grabbed my hand Squeezed it tightly Herhand was as cold as ice Tears rolled down hercheeks

ldquoVery touchingrdquo the hooded figure rasped coldlyldquoHannahmdashhe made you do whatrdquo I askedldquoHemdashhe made me give you the skullrdquo Hannah

stammered still squeezing my hand ldquoHuhrdquo I let out a startled cry ldquoYou gave it to me

But I thought I found it I thoughtmdashrdquoldquoI had the good luck for a long timerdquo Hannah

said wiping her wet cheeks with both handsldquoRemember when I had so much good luck Then itran out The skull went dark And he forced memdashheforced me to pass the skull on to yourdquo

I stared at her in disbelief ldquoBut who is herdquo Icried ldquoHow can he do thisrdquo

ldquoHavenrsquot you guessedrdquo the hooded figureboomed The red eyes glowed like two angry sunsldquoHavenrsquot you figured it out yet Luke I am the FateMaster I decide who has good luck and who has badrdquo

ldquoNordquo I whispered ldquoThatrsquos crazyrdquoldquoItrsquos the truthrdquo Hannah said her voice breaking

ldquoHe controls me And now yourdquoldquoLukerdquo the evil figure whispered lowering him-

self toward me ldquoDid you really think you could haveall that good luck without paying for itrdquo

99

ldquoI didnrsquot want to give the skull to yourdquo Hannahwhispered holding on to my arm ldquoI gave you achance to hand it back to me remember Rememberduring my game I asked if you had seen itrdquo

I nodded sadly feeling my face grow hotldquoI knew you had it Why didnrsquot you give it back

thenrdquo Hannah demanded ldquoI gave you a chance toreturn it I didnrsquot want you to keep itrdquo

ldquoToo late for that nowrdquo the Fate Master raspedldquoNow you are BOTH minerdquo

ldquoNo wayrdquo I protested ldquoI donrsquot believe any ofthis This canrsquot be happening Itmdashitrsquos some kind ofbad jokerdquo

ldquoItrsquos not a jokerdquo Hannah whispered ldquoLook atmerdquo She pointed to her red-blotched face her ban-daged foot the wheelchair

ldquoNordquo I insisted ldquoIt wonrsquot happen to me I wonrsquotlet it IrsquollmdashIrsquoll make my own luckrdquo

The bulky black coat shook as the Fate Masteruttered a hoarse laugh It sounded more like drycoughing than laughter ldquoYoung man do you reallythink you can go up against FATE I control EVERY-THING that happens Do you really think you candefy FATErdquo

ldquoI donrsquot care what you sayrdquo I screamed ldquoIrsquom notgoing to be some kind of slave You canrsquot control meYou canrsquotrdquo

100

The Fate Master sighed The red eyes faded insidethe hood ldquoDo I really have to prove myself to youOkay So be itrdquo

He leaned closer So close that I could see intothe hood I could see that he had no face Just twoglowing eyes floating in blackness

ldquoLukemdashthat concussion you had in the gymrdquo herasped ldquoIrsquom afraid itrsquos much worse than you thoughtFeel your earsrdquo

ldquoHuhrdquo My hands shot up to my ears I felt wet-ness

Warm wetnessI lowered my hands My fingers dripped with

bloodMy ears were bleedingI felt the warm blood pour down my earlobes

trickle down the sides of my faceFrantically I pressed the palms of my hands

against my ears ldquoThat wonrsquot stop the bleeding Lukerdquo the Fate

Master whispered ldquoThat blood wonrsquot clot Itrsquos justgoing to keep pouring out Bad luck Irsquom afraid Verybad luckrdquo

ldquoNomdashpleaserdquo I pleaded ldquoMake it stoprdquoThe eyes flared ldquoDo you believe in me now Do

you believe that you belong to merdquoldquoOkayrdquo I said ldquoOkay I believe yourdquo

101

ldquoYour fate is in my handsmdashboth of you You mustpay for the good luck you had You must suffer badluck nowmdashrdquo

ldquoNomdashpleaserdquo I begged ldquoI need more timeThings are just starting to go right for me The basket-ball team my animation the swim team Irsquolldo anything I need more timerdquo

ldquoNO MORE TIMErdquo The hoarse rasp echoed offthe tile walls Angry flames shot out from the black-ness of the hood

ldquoButmdashrdquo I started shrinking back beside HannahldquoI control yourdquo the Fate Master boomed ldquoI decide

your luck from now on Do you want me to go easy onthe two of you DO yourdquo

ldquoY-yesrdquo I stammered ldquoIrsquoll do anythingAnythingrdquo

The Fate Master was silent for a long momentThe eyes faded as if retreating into the distance thenglowed brightly again ldquoIf you want me to go easy onyou bothrdquo he said finally ldquoherersquos what you haveto do rdquo

102

ldquoPass the skull on to anotherrdquo the Fate Masterordered

ldquoHuh Youmdashyou want me to give it to someoneelserdquo I stammered

The eyes sparked beneath the hood ldquoPass it tothat big kid the one called Stretch Irsquove had my eye onhim I will give him good luck for two months Then Iwill claim him as minerdquo

ldquoNo I canrsquot do thatrdquo I protested ldquoIt isnrsquot right Itisnrsquotmdashrdquo

The Fate Master uttered a furious growl ldquoThenyou will suffer bad luck your whole life You and every-one in your familyrdquo

I shivered in fear My mind spun I felt the warmblood start to trickle from my ears again

Could I do it Could I trap Stretch the way I hadbeen trapped

I felt Hannah tug my arm ldquoYou have to do itLukerdquo she whispered ldquoItrsquos our only chance BesidesStretch has been asking for itmdashhasnrsquot he Hersquos not a

103

friend of yours Hersquos an enemy Stretch has been ask-ing for it all yearrdquo

True Stretch wasnrsquot my friend But could I beresponsible for ruining Stretchrsquos life For turning himover to the Fate Master

Hannah gazed up at me from the wheelchair withpleading eyes ldquoDo itrdquo she whispered ldquoSave usLuke Do itrdquo

I turned to the Fate Master ldquoOkayrdquo I choked outldquoIrsquoll do itrdquo

The eyes flashed from red to sunlight yellowThe big coat opened and appeared to fly up Itraised itself over me like giant bat wings Floatedover me then floated down

I felt myself covered in a heavy darkness I couldnrsquot move It spread over me blacker

blackerI felt so cold So cold and lost As if I had been

buried buried deep in the cold cold groundAnd then I blinked and saw pinpoints of light

Flickering white lights that grew brighter so bright Ihad to squint

It took me a while to realize I was back in the gymBack on the gym floor A crowd huddled around meTight expressions worried faces

Someone leaned over me A face came into focusCoach Bendix stared down at me the whistle hangingfrom his neck

104

ldquoCoachmdashrdquo I tried to speak but the word came outa whisper

ldquoDonrsquot move Lukerdquo he said softly ldquoYoursquove had aconcussion but yoursquore going to be okayrdquo

ldquoA concussionrdquoldquoLie stillrdquo he instructed ldquoAn ambulance is on the

wayrdquoA concussionIt didnrsquot happen I realized The hooded figure with the glowing eyes The

Fate Master stepping out of locker 13 Taking awaymy good luck Ordering me to pass the skull toStretch

It didnrsquot happenIt was a dream A nightmare caused by my con-

cussionI jumped to my feet The floor swayed beneath

me The bleachers appeared to tilt to one side thenthe other

I saw Hannah in her wheelchair at the side of thebleachers

Shersquos still in the gym I told myself happily Wenever left the gym It didnrsquot happen None of it hap-pened

I felt so happy So freeBefore I even realized it I was running Running

to the doorldquoLuke HeymdashLuke Stoprdquo I heard Coach Bendix

calling to me

105

And then I was out the gym doors And racingthrough the dark empty hallways Running fullspeed

So happy And so eager to get away from thereAway from the school Away from my nightmare

Did I stop at my lockerI must have stopped there because I had my

jacket on when I burst outside Into the frosty nightair I saw a tiny sliver of a moon high in a purple-black sky I stopped for a second to breathe in thecold fresh air

Then I ran across the teachersrsquo parking lot to thebike rack Irsquod ridden my bike to school And now Iplanned to put the pedal to the metalmdashto race all theway home

ldquoYesrdquo So happy I felt so happy I could havedanced all the way home

I jumped on my bike Grabbed the handlebarsWhoa Something wrong A scraping sound I climbed off and glanced down A flat tire No

Two flat tiresldquoOh wowrdquo I murmured How did that happenNo big deal Irsquoll get the bike tomorrow I decided

I started to jog across the parking lot heading to thestreet My sneaker felt loose I squatted down to tiethe shoe lacemdashand it ripped between my hands

No problem I told myself I have plenty ofshoelaces at home I started walking turned onto thesidewalk crossed the street Behind me I could hear

106

shouts and cheers coming from the gym I guessedthat the game had started up again

ldquoGo Stretchrdquo I murmured As I made my way down the next block it began

to rain Softly at first But the wind picked up andthen the rain started coming down in sheets

I zipped my jacket and leaned into the wind Butthe rain drove me back wave after wave of freezingwater

I heard a crackling sound nearbymdashand sawjagged white lightning streak across the front yardacross the street A deafening boom of thunder shookthe ground

I pressed forward Trees creaked and nearly bentsideways in the torrents of wind and rain I couldnrsquotmove I ducked under a broad-trunked tree for safety

But a loud crack of lightning sent a tree branchcrashing to my feet

ldquoOhhrdquo I cried out A close callI jumped over the fallen branch Sharp pieces of

the limb scratched my arm as I struggled to raceaway Another jagged bolt of lightning crackled a fewfeet in front of me sizzling over the wet grass

Squinting through the downpour I saw smokesnake over the lawn The grass was burned blackwhere the lightning had spread

The wind shoved me backward Sheet after sheet

107

of rain washed over me I choked Struggled tobreathe

And then just beyond the rain just beyondthe heavy waves of dark water I saw two glowinglights two red eyes like dark headlights Two evil eyes moving with me watching me

The Fate MasterIt wasnrsquot a dream I suddenly knew that my flat

tiresmdashthe stormmdashthe lightning the pounding rainmdashit was all a show A show of strength

I staggered up my driveway Slipped on the wetgravel Sprawled facedown on the soaked stones

ldquoNooooo rdquoI struggled to my feet Stumbled onto the front

stoop A deafening shattering crash made me spin

around I saw one of the oak trees in front of thehouse split in half It appeared to move in slowmotion One half shivered but stayed upright Theother half of the broad old tree came crashing ontothe roof of the house

Windows shattered Roof tiles came slidingdown

I covered my head with one hand And pushedthe doorbell Frantically pushed the bell ldquoLet me inMom Dadrdquo I pounded on the front door with bothfists

Where were they

108

The lights were all on Why didnrsquot they open thedoor

A crash of thunder made me jump and cry outAbove the front stoop rainwater poured like a water-fall over the sides of the gutters Waves of rain rattledthe living room window and battered the bricks of thefront wall

ldquoLet me inrdquo I screamed over another roar ofthunder I pounded the front door until my fist ached

Then I heard a window slide open I turned to ourneighborrsquos house Through the curtains of rain I sawMrs Gillis poke her head out the bedroom windowShe shouted something But I couldnrsquot hear her overthe roar of rain

ldquoTheyrsquore not homerdquo I finally heard her shoutldquoThey had to go to the hospital Lukerdquo

ldquoWhat What did you sayrdquo My heart jumpedHad I heard correctly

ldquoItrsquos your dad He fell down the stairs Hersquos okayBut they took him to the emergency roomrdquo

ldquoNordquo I cried I beat my fists against the doorldquoNo No Nordquo

The Fate Master was putting on a show for meHe was showing me who was boss Giving me a littletaste of what the rest of my life could be like

ldquoOkayrdquo I shouted cupping my hands around mymouth Water pounded me washed over me bat-

109

tered me against the house ldquoOkaymdashyou winrdquo Iscreamed ldquoIrsquoll do it Irsquoll do whatever you sayrdquo

And I didThe next morning I gave the skull to Stretch

110

I found Stretch at his locker before school startedGiving him the yellow skull was the easiest thing inthe world

Stretch was leaning into his locker searching theshelf for something His backpack stood open on thefloor I pulled the skull from my jeans pocketmdashanddropped it into his backpack

He didnrsquot see anything He didnrsquot even know hehad it

ldquoHey Stretchmdashhowrsquos it goingrdquo I asked trying tosound calm natural As if I hadnrsquot just done some-thing terrible to him Something that would ruin hislife forever

ldquoYomdashhey Champrdquo He slapped me a hard highfive so hard my hand stung ldquoHowrsquos your headman It looks as ugly as everrdquo He laughed

I stared at him ldquoMy headrdquoldquoThat was a nasty collisionrdquo he said ldquoYour head

must be hard as a rock You feeling okayrdquoldquoYeah Not badrdquo I replied

111

Stretch snickered ldquoWell thanks for letting me getsome playing timerdquo He started to close up his back-pack

I stared at the backpack picturing the skull insideit The skull I had passed on to Stretch The tiny redeyes were probably glowing again Stretch was goingto have a lot of good luck for a while But then

ldquoMaybe you and I can practice together laterrdquoStretch said slamming his locker shut ldquoI can giveyou some more pointers Make you look like youknow what yoursquore doingrdquo

ldquoYeah Mayberdquo I saidStretchrsquos expression turned serious ldquoActually

yoursquore not bad manrdquo he said ldquoI mean it You are soimproved I mean yoursquore almost pretty goodReallyrdquo

I donrsquot believe this I thought Stretch is actuallypaying me a compliment

I shrugged ldquoIt was just luckrdquo I mutteredJust luck Ha haldquoNo wayrdquo Stretch insisted ldquoLuck had nothing to

do with it man It was hard work and skill No kid-ding It isnrsquot luck Yoursquore goodrdquo

I swallowed hard I suddenly felt like a totalcreep

Stretch was being so nice to me And what had Idone to him I just gave him a life of bad luck a lifeof slavery to the Fate Master

112

ldquoWhoa Forgot my science notebookrdquo Stretchgroaned He dropped his backpack to the floor andturned to unlock his locker

I stared down at the backpack feeling dizzy feel-ing sick

What am I going to do I asked myself What amI going to do

My bad luck continued all dayI answered the wrong questions on my algebra test

and got an F Miss Wakely warned me that Irsquod have todo extra work if I didnrsquot want to fail the course

At lunch the milk in my milk carton was lumpy andsour I didnrsquot notice until I had gulped down a bigmouthful Then I nearly puked my guts up in front ofeveryone

After lunch I started to comb my hair in the boysrsquoroommdashand a huge clump came out on the comb Igasped in horror and tugged out another clump of hair

Irsquom going to lose all my hair I realizedAs I hurried out of the bathroom I caught my shirt

on a nail and ripped one sleeve off I was so upset Ibumped into Miss Wakely from behind Her coffeecup flew out of her hand and scalding hot coffeesplashed all over her

I found Hannah after school She came rollingslowly down the hall in her wheelchair Her foot wasstill bandaged Her face was still covered in red

113

blotches And I saw that one of her eyes was swollenshut

ldquoHannahmdashIrsquove got to talk to yourdquo I criedldquoDid you pass it onrdquo she asked in a loud whisper ldquoHuhrdquoldquoIrsquove lost my voicerdquo she whispered ldquoDid you

pass the skull on to Stretch Wersquove got to change ourluck I can barely see My skin itches like crazy I canbarely talk ImdashI canrsquot go on like this Lukerdquo

ldquoIrsquove got to find the Fate Masterrdquo I said Hannah grabbed my torn shirtsleeve ldquoYoursquove got

to do what he said Yoursquove got to obey him Itrsquos ouronly chancerdquo

ldquoHow do I find himrdquo I askedldquoHe will find yourdquo Hannah whispered ldquoHe

appears in places of bad luck You knowmdashbrokenmirrors wherever the number thirteen is writtenrdquo

ldquoCome with merdquo I said I led the way to my lockerI waved to some guys heading to the pool for swimteam practice I wanted to be with them But this wasmore important

ldquoWersquove got to talk to the Fate Masterrdquo I toldHannah ldquoMaybe hersquoll come through my lockeragainrdquo

Hannah groaned in pain as she wheeled herselfbehind me ldquoMy foot hurts so muchrdquo she whispered

ldquoHe promised to end the bad luckrdquo I saidI turned the combination lock then pulled open

114

my locker door A burst of sour air choked the hall Igagged then held my breath

ldquoLookmdashrdquo Hannah choked out She pointed to thefloor of the locker

It was littered with dead birds A pile of brown-and-gray sparrows all dead and decaying

ldquoHe left us a presentrdquo I murmured ldquoWhere is heIs he going to appearrdquo

We didnrsquot have to wait long A few moments later I saw the glow of the red

eyes at the back of the locker And then the dark fig-ure stepped over the pile of dead birds and floatedout hunched beneath the black hood

ldquoHave you done what I askedrdquo he rasped thefiery eyes burning into mine ldquoHave you given me anew slaverdquo

ldquoYesrdquo I replied avoiding his stare ldquoThat was ourdeal right And now will you stop torturing us Willyou end our bad luck as you promisedrdquo

The hood bobbed up and down ldquoNordquo he saidsoftly

Hannah and I both uttered cries of protestldquoDid you really think you could make a deal with

the Fate Masterrdquo he boomed The open coat floatedup like bat wings ldquoI donrsquot make bargains with any-one I donrsquot make promises You will take whateverFate dishes outrdquo

ldquoYou promisedmdashrdquo Hannah shriekedThe evil figure snickered ldquoFirst you enjoy good

115

luck Then you must pay for it You cannot break thepattern You should know that You should know thatyou cannot bargain with Fate You will pay for yourgood luck for the rest of your liferdquo

ldquoNo Waitmdash Waitrdquo Hannah pleaded reachingup from the wheelchair grasping at the black cloakgrasping frantically with both hands

But the Fate Master spun around swirling thefoul air He stomped heavily on the dead birds as hestrode back into locker 13

In a second he had vanished Dead birds littered the floor of the hall the floor

of my lockerI turned to Hannah Her shoulders heaved up

and down Loud sobs escaped her throat ldquoHepromised rdquo

ldquoItrsquos okayrdquo I said softly ldquoI didnrsquot keep mypromise eitherrdquo

I pulled the yellow skull from my jeans pocket Hannah gasped ldquoYou didnrsquot give it to StretchrdquoI squeezed the skull in my fist ldquoYes I gave it to

him But I took it back before Stretch even saw it Icouldnrsquot do it Stretch was too nice to me ImdashIcouldnrsquot I couldnrsquot ruin someonersquos liferdquo

Hannah shook her head Tears spilled from herswollen eyes ldquoNow what are we going to do LukeWersquore doomed Now we donrsquot stand a chancerdquo

116

I bounced the basketball hard against the drive-way Drove toward the backboard and sent up ahook shot It bounced off the rim back into myhands I spun hard and sent up a two-handed shotthat dropped through the net

Overhead clouds covered the moon The garagelights sent white cones of light over the drivewayBehind me the house was dark except for a squareof orange light from my bedroom window upstairs

I glanced at the roof Men had worked all day torepair the broken and missing shingles The fallentree had been hauled away One windowmdashbroken inthe stormmdashwas still covered with cardboard

All my fault I realized All the damage to thehouse was my fault

My dad was walking with a cane He had a badlysprained knee from his fall down the stairs But hewas okay for now

That was all my fault too I knew All my bad luck

117

I heaved the ball angrily at the backboard Itthudded high bounced back to the driveway Ipicked it up and shot it through the hoop

Luck luck luck The word ran through my mind like an ugly

chantAnd then I heard Stretchrsquos words again Stretch

actually saying something nice to me ldquoLuck hadnothing to do with it Luke It was hard work andskillrdquo

Hard work and skillNot luckldquoYou cannot break the patternrdquo the Fate Master

had said ldquoFirst you have the good luckmdashthen youpay for itrdquo

The pattern You cannot break the patternNot luck Hard work and skillI shot the ball again Dribbled then shot again

Even though it was a cold frosty night sweat poureddown my forehead I wanted to work harder Harder

And as I practiced those words repeated andrepeated in my mind And I knew what I had to doI knew the only way I could end the bad luck forHannah and for me

The only way I could defeat the Fate MasterI shot again Again I moved to the foul line and

put up several foul shotsI didnrsquot stop when I saw the kitchen light flash on

The back door swung open Dad stepped into the

118

yard wearing his bathrobe leaning on his caneldquoLukemdashwhat are you doingrdquo he called ldquoItrsquos after

eleven orsquoclockrdquoldquoPracticingrdquo I said sending up another jump

shot Walking unsteadily he came up to the edge of the

driveway ldquoButmdashitrsquos so late Why are you doing thisrdquoldquoIrsquom going to win without luckrdquo I replied I sent

up another shot and watched it drop through thehoop ldquoIrsquom going to win with skill I shouted ldquoI canbreak the pattern I can win without luckrdquo

And then without realizing it I was screaming atthe top of my lungs ldquoI DONrsquoT NEED LUCK IDONrsquoT NEED LUCKrdquo

119

My plan was simple Maybe too simple But I had to give it a tryI didnrsquot tell it to Hannah She was pretty much

destroyed I didnrsquot want to give her any more toworry about

I knew I didnrsquot have much timemdashmaybe a day ortwo at the most

As soon as the Fate Master discovered that I stillhad the skull that I hadnrsquot passed it on to Stretch hewould come after me full force

My plan It was to break the pattern To win To win big To have a major success

Without luck Without needing any good luckIf I could win with my own hard work with my

own skill my own talentmdashit would be a defeat for theFate Master I would break his rule I would breakthe pattern

And maybe just maybe that would freeHannah and me

120

And thatrsquos why I practiced on my drivewayPracticed in the dark in the cold until after midnightHard work and skill

Hard work and skillShawnee Valley played Forest Grove this after-

noon The last game of the season My last chance to win without luckAs I changed into my team uniform I knew I had

to be great I had to be a winner today I had to winthe game for my team

And if I didIf I did maybe the nightmare would be overI was so nervous I had to lace up my sneakers

three times I kept knotting them up My fingers justwouldnrsquot work

ldquoGo Squires Go SquiresrdquoGuys were pounding their fists on the lockers

shouting jumping up and down getting pumpedgetting ready

Stretch gave me a playful slap as he jogged pastldquoTry not to bump heads today Champ We gonnabeat these clownsrdquo

I flashed him a thumbs-up ldquoTheyrsquore dead meatrdquoI shouted

I tucked in my jersey slammed the gym lockershut and trotted out into the gym I blinked underthe bright lights A big crowd nearly filled the bleach-ers They were stamping their feet in time to somemarching music over the loudspeaker

121

I searched for Hannah but didnrsquot see herThe last game of the year I thought as I picked up

a basketball from the rack My last chance I swallowed hard trying to force down my fearWas the Fate Master here Did he know that I

lied to him That I didnrsquot give the skull to StretchI donrsquot care about that I told myself Irsquom going to

be a winner today without his good luck Irsquom going to break the pattern Irsquom going to break the Fate MasterI dribbled up to Coach Bendix He slapped me on

the shoulder as I passed ldquoHave a great game Lukerdquohe called ldquoKeep it slow and steady Remembermdashjustfocus Focusrdquo

ldquoOkay Coachrdquo I called ldquoIrsquom ready I feel goodReal strong I think Irsquom going tomdashrdquo

I felt a strong blast of cold air It swept throughthe gym like an invisible ocean wave

And then I saw Coachrsquos expression change verysuddenly He was grinning at me flashing me athumbs-up And then his hand came down His facewent slack His eyes appeared to fade to glaze overas if a curtain had been drawn over them

As if hersquod been hypnotized or somethingldquoHey Lukerdquo he said motioning me back to him

He frowned narrowing his eyes at me ldquoWhat is itrdquo I asked keeping up my dribbleldquoTake the benchrdquo he ordered pointing to the

team bench with his whistle

122

ldquoHuhrdquo I gaped at himldquoThe benchrdquo he repeated his face a blank now

his eyes vacant dull ldquoYou canrsquot play todayrdquoldquoHeymdashno wayrdquo I protested ldquoWhat do you mean

Irsquove got to playrdquoHe shook his head ldquoYou canrsquot play today Luke

Your concussionmdashremember I need a doctorrsquos noteHave you been examined You canrsquot play until yoursquoreexaminedrdquo

My mouth hung open ldquoCoach Irsquove been prac-ticing so hard Please Yoursquove got to let me in the gametodayrdquo I pleaded My heart pounded so hard I feltdizzy My head throbbed ldquoCoach I have to playItrsquos the last gamerdquo

He shook his head ldquoSorryrdquo He motioned to thebench ldquoWe have to follow the rulesrdquo

Whose rules I thought bitterly The Fate Masterrsquosrules

Coach Bendix gazed at me with those glazedblank eyes ldquoSorry Yoursquove already played your lastgame Lukerdquo

ldquoButmdashbutmdashrdquo I sputteredldquoYoursquoll get rsquoem next yearrdquo he said He blew his

whistle ldquoStretchmdashyoursquore in Yoursquore playing thewhole gamerdquo

I stood there I didnrsquot move I stood in the middleof the floor with my hands on my waist Waiting formy heart to stop racing Waiting for my legs to stoptrembling

123

Then I turned and slowly trudged to the bench Irsquod lost today Score one round for the Fate

Master No way I could break the pattern today I was a

loser today But I wasnrsquot finished I could still winIf I had time

124

ldquoGive the skull to Stretchrdquo Hannah pleadedldquoMaybe the Fate Master will go easy on usrdquo

It was the next day We were huddled at the backof the lunchroom I could see Stretch laughing andkidding around with his friends at a table near thefront The Squires had won the game by two pointsand Stretch had been a hero

ldquoI canrsquot do itrdquo I said shaking my head ldquoBesidesyou heard what the Fate Master said He doesnrsquotmake deals It wonrsquot help to pass it to Stretchrdquo

Hannah let out a sigh She had her head buriedin her hands ldquoThen what are we going to dordquo

ldquoIrsquoll find a way to defeat himrdquo I said I bit into myham sandwich ldquoHeymdashrdquo I felt something hard

ldquoOh nordquo I moaned I spit out a tooth In a panic I moved my tongue around the inside

of my mouth ldquoMy teethrdquo I groaned ldquoTheyrsquore allloose Irsquom going to lose all my teethrdquo

Hannah didnrsquot lift her head She whispered some-thing too low for me to hear

125

ldquoIrsquove got to gordquo I said jumping up ldquoI have someideas Hannah Donrsquot give up hope I have someideasrdquo

I ran past Stretchrsquos table where the guys werelaughing and blowing straw wrappers at each otherStretch called out to me but I didnrsquot stop

I made my way to the computer lab The doorwas closed I pulled it open and burst breathlesslyinto the brightly lit room

ldquoMrs Coffey Mrs Coffey Itrsquos memdashLukerdquo I felt another tooth swing loose in my mouth I

gritted my teeth trying to press it down into placeA chubby young man Irsquod never seen before came

out of the supply room He had short black hair ontop of a round pudgy face and bright red cheeks Helooked like an apple with eyes He wore a red plaidshirt over black denims

ldquoIs Mrs Coffey hererdquo I demanded ldquoI need to talkto herrdquo

He set down the disk drive he was carryingldquoShersquos gonerdquo he said

ldquoYou mean she went to lunchrdquo I askedHe shook his round head ldquoNo She left school

She got another jobrdquoldquoImdashI knowrdquo I stammered ldquoBut I thoughtmdashrdquoldquoIrsquom Ron Handlemanrdquo he said ldquoIrsquom taking over

the computer lab Do you have a class with merdquoldquoUh nordquo I said ldquoBut I have a project I was

supposed to show Mrs Coffey She was going to send

126

it to someone who might put it in a show Itrsquos com-puter animation you see Irsquove been working on it fortwo years and and rdquo In my panic the wordspoured out of me I had to stop to take a breath

ldquoSlow downrdquo Mr Handleman said ldquoShe proba-bly left me a note about it She left me a stack ofnotesrdquo He glanced around the cluttered worktableldquoI put them somewhererdquo

How could Mrs Coffey leave without seeing myproject I asked myself How could she do that tome

Didnrsquot she realize how important it was Thiscould be my big triumph If my computer animationis accepted for a showmdashbecause of my hard workonly because of my skill and hard workmdashit wouldbreak the pattern It might defeat the Fate Master

Didnrsquot she realizeldquoUh can you look at my computer anima-

tionrdquo I askedMr Handlemanrsquos cheeks grew redder ldquoWhenrdquoldquoTonightrdquo I asked my heart poundingldquoWell I donrsquot think sordquo he replied ldquoNot

tonight I mean this is my first day I have so muchto do here Maybe next week rdquo

ldquoNordquo I screamed ldquoYou have to look at it PleaseItrsquos very importantrdquo

ldquoIrsquod love to see itrdquo he said picking up the diskdrive starting across the room with it ldquoBut I have toget organized Maybe rdquo

127

ldquoPleaserdquo I cried ldquoFind Mrs Coffeyrsquos note Wersquovegot to get it to the man whorsquos putting together thecomputer art show Pleaserdquo

He narrowed his eyes at me He probably thoughtI was crazy

But I didnrsquot care I needed a victory I knew therewasnrsquot much time

ldquoOkayrdquo Mr Handleman said finally ldquoBring it infirst thing tomorrow morning Irsquoll try to look at it dur-ing lunchrdquo

Not good enough Tomorrow might be too late Irealized

ldquoHow late will you be here this afternoonrdquo Iasked breathlessly

ldquoPretty laterdquo he replied ldquoSince itrsquos my first dayImdashrdquo

ldquoIrsquoll run home after school and get itrdquo I said ldquoIrsquollbring it to you before you leave tonight Could you I mean would you look at it this afternoonPleaserdquo

ldquoOkay I guess Irsquoll be here till at least fiverdquo hesaid

ldquoYesssrdquo I cried pumping my fist in the air Iturned and raced out of the computer lab

I can win I told myself I can defeat the FateMaster My animation project is good I know it isIrsquove worked for two years on it Irsquove put so much hardwork into it

I donrsquot need luck I donrsquot need good luck at all

128

After school I ran all the way home I burst intothe kitchen tossed down my backpack and startedto my room I stopped halfway to the stairs when Iheard voices from the living room

ldquoLukemdashis that yourdquo Mom calledMom and Dad were both there sitting in the

dark Dad leaned heavily on his cane Mom had herhands clasped tightly in her lap

I stopped in the living room doorway ldquoWhy areyou both home so earlyrdquo I asked

ldquoI had to come home I couldnrsquot workrdquo Dad saidsoftly ldquoThat fall I took It was worse than we thoughtLooks like Irsquom going to need surgeryrdquo

ldquoOh nordquo I muttered My fault It was all my faultBut I didnrsquot really have time to talk to them I had

to get to my computer I wanted to check out the ani-mation one more time before I made a copy for MrHandleman Then I had to rush back to school

ldquoBut why are you sitting in the darkrdquo I askedldquoWhy donrsquot you turn on some lightsrdquo

ldquoWe canrsquotrdquo Mom said shaking her head ldquoTherersquossome kind of trouble with the power lines to ourblock The electricity is off We have no power Nopower at allrdquo

129

I let out a horrified scream ldquoNooooo My com-puterrdquo

ldquoYoursquoll have to wait till the power comes backonrdquo Dad said

ldquoButmdashbutmdashrdquo I sputteredldquoWersquore having so much bad luck all of a suddenrdquo

Dad murmuredldquoWe may have to leave the house tonightrdquo Mom

said sighing unhappily ldquoWithout electricity we haveno heat We may have to check into a hotel or some-thingrdquo

ldquoOh nordquo I tugged at my hair A big clump of itcame out in my hand

I was losing my hair Losing my teeth How couldI fight back How

ldquoHe canrsquot do this to merdquo I screamed ldquoHe canrsquotHe canrsquotrdquo I turned and grabbed the banister andpulled myself up the stairs

ldquoLuke What are you sayingrdquoldquoWhere are you goingrdquo

130

I didnrsquot answer I dived into my room andslammed the door shut behind me

Breathing hard I stared at my computer Staredat the dark monitor screen

Useless Totally useless Frustrated I kicked the side of my desk

ldquoOwwwrdquo I didnrsquot mean to kick it that hard Sharppain throbbed up my leg up my side

ldquoOh waitrdquo I suddenly remembered I alreadymade a copy

Yes I made a backup copy of my project On myZip drive Yes

I fumbled frantically through the pile of disks onmy desk And grabbed the Zip disk

I still have a chance I told myself The FateMaster thought he shut me down But I still have achance

I stuffed the disk into my jacket pocket I hurledmyself down the stairs two at a time ldquoBye I have togo back to schoolrdquo I shouted to my parents

ldquoWhyrdquoldquoWhatrsquos going on Luke We need you hererdquoldquoHeymdashcome back and explainrdquoI heard their cries but I burst out the front door

and kept running ldquoIrsquoll stop the bad luckrdquo I said out loud ldquoIrsquoll stop

it Irsquoll stop the Fate MastermdashnowrdquoI found Mr Handleman in the computer lab

leaning over a keyboard typing an e-mail message

131

He spun around when I shouted hi to himI held up the disk ldquoHere it is Please Yoursquove got

to check it outrdquoHe motioned for me to sit down next to him ldquoI

spoke to the producer of the computer showrdquo hesaid ldquoHe called me this afternoon He said that if Iliked your animation I should send it over to himright awayrdquo

ldquoExcellentrdquo I cried ldquoThatrsquos great newsrdquoldquoArenrsquot you going to take your coat offrdquoldquoNordquo I answered breathlessly I shoved the disk

into the Zip drive ldquoNo time You have to see thisRight awayrdquo

He laughed ldquoSlow down Take a deep breathrdquoldquoIrsquoll breathe after you see itrdquo I said He leaned back in his chair and used his hands

as a headrest ldquoYoursquove been working on this for twoyearsrdquo

I nodded I found the file in the disk directory and double-

clicked it ldquoHere goesrdquo I said I was so nervous themouse trembled in my hand My chest was so tightit felt about to burst

Is it possible to explode from excitement I leanedforward to watch

The screen was solid black ldquoItrsquos starting nowrdquo Iwhispered

I stared at the black screen waiting for the brightburst of color at the beginning

132

Waiting Finally a dim glow spread over the screen Two circles of light Two red circles glowed in the

center of the darknessTwo red glowing eyes The eyes stared out unblinking unmoving

Blank round circles of shimmering redMr Handleman cleared his throat His eyes

remained locked on the monitor screen ldquoAre thoseeyesrdquo he asked ldquoDo they move or anythingrdquo

I opened my mouth to answer but no soundcame out

I stared frozen in horror at the glowing eyes Theevil eyes

And knew I had been defeated again Mr Handelmanrsquos cheeks were bright red now ldquoIs

this all there isrdquo he askedldquoYesrdquo I whispered ldquoThatrsquos allrdquoMy project was gone My two years of work were

lost The fiery eyes stared out at me in triumphI climbed to my feet and slumped out of the roomI trudged down the empty hall head down hands

shoved deep in my pockets Irsquove lost I realized Irsquoma loser forever now Hannah and me both Bad luckfor the rest of our lives

I turned a cornermdashand almost bumped intoCoach Swanson ldquoHey Lukemdashhowrsquos it goingrdquo heasked

133

I muttered a reply under my breathldquoI was going to call you tonightrdquo he said ldquoAndy

Mason is sick You have to swim in his place tomor-rowrdquo

I raised my head ldquoHuh Swimrdquo I had nearly for-gotten that I was on the swim team

ldquoSee you after school at the poolrdquo the coach saidldquoGood luckrdquo

Irsquoll need it I thought glumlyBut then I realized I was being given one more

chanceOne more chance to win without luck One more

chance to defeat FateOne last chance

The next morning I wore a baseball cap to schoolso no one could see the bald patches on my headWhen I brushed my teeth that morning anothertooth came sliding out between my lips

My tongue was covered with hard white bumpsMy arms and legs itched I was starting to get thesame red blotches on my skin as Hannah

Somehow I made it through the school day All Icould think about was the swim team race Wasthere any way that I might win That I might breakthe pattern and win the race and defeat the FateMaster

I didnrsquot have much hope But I knew I had to tryI knew I had to give it everything I had left

134

A few seconds after I lowered myself into the poolto warm up Coach Swansonrsquos whistle rang outechoing off the tile walls ldquoPractice laps everyonerdquothe coach shouted ldquoDo them half-speed Letrsquos seesome warm-up lapsrdquo

At the other end of the pool I saw Stretch kick offand begin swimming with steady strong strokes Idid a surface dive and started to follow him Thewarm water felt good on my itchy skin

I kicked hard Picked up speedAs I raised my head to suck in a deep breath the

water suddenly churned hard I swallowed a big mouthful Started to chokeI sputtered struggling to clear my throat strug-

gling to breatheAnd then to my horror my stomach heaved hard

ldquoGuuurrrrrrprdquo My lunch came hurling upI couldnrsquot hold it back I vomited a thick dark

puddle into the clear waterldquoOoh grossrdquoldquoSickrdquoldquoYuck Oh wowmdashhersquos puking his guts uprdquoA sick sour smell rose up from the water I heard

kids shouting and groaning in disgustAnd then I heard Coach Swansonrsquos whistle And

the coach shouting at me ldquoYoursquore outta there LukeGet out Yoursquore sick Yoursquore not going to swimtodayrdquo

135

No I thought This canrsquot happen again This ismy last chance

ldquoCoach Irsquom okayrdquo I shouted ldquoI just swal-lowed some water I can swimmdashreallyrdquo

Coach Swanson glanced around the pool AndyMason was in street clothes Joe Bork the other alter-nate didnrsquot show up

ldquoYoursquove got to let me swimrdquo I pleadedThe coach shrugged his shoulders ldquoTherersquos no

one else I guess Irsquove got no choicerdquoIrsquom going to do this I thought Irsquom going to win

today Irsquom going to do whatever it takes to winThe race got off to a good start I did a speed dive

at the whistle and found myself gliding strokingeasily in the lead

Swimming steadily keeping up a smooth rhythmI stayed in the lead until the waves began

Waves They tossed up in front of me rolledrapidly toward me splashed over me Wave afterwave Pushing me back Slowing my pace

136

Stroking harder to keep my rhythm I turned tothe side and glanced at the other swimmers The poolwas smooth the water flat for them

The waves were just for me A strong currentpushed at me slowing me shoving me back

I ducked under the waves Let them splash androll over me And swam harder

HarderldquoOhrdquo Something brushed my legI felt something curl around an ankle Something

bumped my waist I felt something slide around myknee

With another gasp I turnedmdashand saw the gray-green creatures Eels Were they eels

Wrapping around my legs Twining over mywaist

Long fat eels The water churned with themI cried out I saw the other swimmers gliding swiftly through

clear water They didnrsquot even notice my dark churn-ing water They didnrsquot even see the gleaming wetcreatures slithering between my legs Tighteningaround my ankles my legs

Slapping me slapping me hard slappingme back

ldquoNordquo I burst free I kept swimmingInto thick pink clusters of jellyfish The jellyfish

ballooned around me Stung my arms Stung mylegs Prickled the skin of my back

137

I cried out in pain The sticky creatures swarmedover me stinging stinging me again and again

I could see the other swimmers moving smoothlyahead of me now Gliding in smooth clear waters asI felt jolt after jolt of pain from the billowing jellyfishthat clustered over me

I slapped the water Slapped and kickedAnd let out another cry of pain as the water siz-

zled and boiled Scalding hot now It steamed andbubbled And my skin burned My skin is going toburn right off me I thought struggling to breatheStruggling to keep my arms moving through thescalding steam Kicking kicking hard

The other swimmers ahead of me now Moving sospeedily so steadily

I shut my eyes and swam Yoursquore not going tobeat me I thought Irsquom going to win going to win

And the thought gave me a final surge of energyI shot forward to the wall Plunged like a speed-

ing torpedo to the finishMy hand hit the wall I slapped the wallGasping gasping my chest heaving in

agony And knew that I had lostToo slow Too slowI knew that I had lost again

138

Water poured down my face I shut my eyes andstruggled to catch my breath

I heard a loud whistle Then I felt a hand on myshoulder A slap ldquoWay to go Lukerdquo

I opened my eyes to see the coach He grabbed myhand and pumped it hard Then he slapped me a highfive ldquoYou won You came from behind What a raceLuke Check out the time You set a school recordrdquo

ldquoHuh I did I wonrdquo He helped me out of the pool Guys were cheering

and yelling congratulationsBut the cheering was cut short by a deafening cry

from the middle of the pool A shrill wail that rose likean ambulance siren Higher higher until I wasforced to cover my ears

And then a mountain of water rose up from thepool Red and steaming like a volcano The water roseupmdashhigher highermdashlike a bubbling boiling red tidalwave And all the while the deafening wail rang outwith it

139

Everyone was screaming We all were screamingAnd then as suddenly as it rose up the molten

red mountain collapsed back into the poolCollapsed with a soft splash The pool was flat andsmooth again And silent Silent except for ourstunned gasps and cries

I turned to see Hannah running along the side ofthe pool Hannah out of her wheelchair RunningRunning wildly waving her arms excitedly laughingher red hair flying behind her

ldquoLukemdashyou did it Wersquore free You defeated FateLukemdashyou defeated Faterdquo

But it wasnrsquot enough Not enough for meI changed into my street clothes in seconds Then

I dragged Hannah down the hall to my locker Locker13

I stopped at the janitorrsquos closet And I grabbed ahuge sledgehammer

Hannah cheered as I raised the sledgehammer tothe locker and smashed it smashed it smashed it

Working feverishly I pried the battered lockerfrom the wall Kicked it onto its side Raised thesledgehammer again Smashed it crushed it smashed it

The battered locker door swung open I heard alow groan from deep inside

Hannah and I both leaped back as a skull rolledout onto the floor

140

Not a tiny skull A human-sized skull with glow-ing red eyes

The eyes glowed for only a few seconds Then theskull uttered a final groan a groan of agony ofdefeat And the eyes faded to darkness Empty dark-ness

I took a deep breath Ran up to itmdashand kickedthe skull down the hall

ldquoGoalrdquo Hannah yelledWe walked out of the school building arm in arm

Into the bright afternoon sunlight I took a long deep breath The air smelled so

fresh so sweet The houses the trees the skymdashthey all looked so

beautifulI stopped at the bottom of the sidewalk And bent

down to pick something upldquoHey check it outrdquo I showed it to Hannah ldquoIs

this my lucky dayrdquo I cried ldquoI found a pennyrdquo

141

142

Luke Greene is very superstitious so naturallyhersquos not happy when hersquos assigned Locker 13 atschool But amazingly a lucky charm he finds in thelocker changes his luck from bad to great NowLukersquos luck is so good he canrsquot lose No matter whathe does his lucky charm makes him come out ontop

But Luke discovers that his good luck comes witha very high price Will he pay it Or will he be lostlike others before him in the horror that is Locker 13

About Locker 13

The Locker 13 in Luke Greenersquos story does notexist anymore and it is unclear if anyone who hadthe locker in previous years suffered the same fate asLuke

People who have had unbelievably nightmarishexperiences often keep silent about them (Lukedidnrsquot tell his story to many peoplemdashonly his friend

Go Deeper Into This

Nightmare

Hannah and RL Stine know what happened) So itis possible that what happened to Erica Chass in thesame school 12 years earlier could be related toLocker 13

Erica Chass was a popular seventh grader inShawnee Valley Junior High She had good gradeswas a star soccer player and had lots of friends Thenone day everything seemed to change Erica blew offsoccer nearly failed out of school and was fearfuland shy with even her best friends She dressed onlyin black and always wore a necklace with a smallcharm in the shape of a skull

Then one day Erica moved away She didnrsquot saygood bye She just didnrsquot show up for school one dayand never came back

But some people who went to that school in thosedays insist thatrsquos not the end of Ericarsquos story

The following year a new girl joined the eighthgrade at Shawnee Her name was Alyssa GwynneShe was bright cheerful and a terrific soccer playermdashand she looked exactly like Erica ldquoYou would havesworn they were twinsrdquo says Tracey Holt who knewthem bothmdashldquoNo it was like the old Erica camebackrdquo says another friend Debra Wyle

What was the relationship between Erica andAlyssa Could they really be the same person Andwhat is the connection to the Locker 13 legendMaybe there isnrsquot one but several people havementioned that Alyssa had a necklace that she wore

143

every daymdasha necklace with a tiny charmmdashof askull

About Superstition

Most of our superstitions go back to a time whenpeople believed that witches and witchcraft wereeverywhere People in the middle ages seemed to livein terror that evil magic or witches would harm theircrops bring illness or other disaster to their livesMany of the superstitions that have lasted to ourtime go back to these ancient fears

Break a mirrormdashseven years bad luck Thissuperstition relates to the idea that our reflection is apart of ourselves Harm the reflection and you willharm the original According to the thinking of themiddle ages it takes seven years for the body torebuild itself after itrsquos been harmed So thatrsquos why thebad luck lasts for seven years Luckily there is a cureWash the broken mirror pieces in a south runningriver and the evil is washed away too

Itrsquos bad luck to walk under a ladder This goesback to a time when hanging was a common form ofpunishment It seems that the gallows were prettyhigh so a ladder was often rested against the side ofthe gallows platform Walking under this ladder wasliterally dangerous Be in the wrong place at thewrong time and a rotting dead body could fall onyou If you happen to be careless enough to walk

144

under a ladder you can change the bad luck Justcross your fingers until you see a dog

Black cats bring bad luck There are a lots ofsuperstitions about cats Letrsquos face it cats can becreepymdashand black cats are the creepiest Oneancient superstition about cats is that they will stealthe breath out of babies Where did this idea comefrom

Watch a cat as it settles itself into your lap Beforesnuggling up the cat will often sniff you in themouth At a time when so many babies died the cattheory is as logical as any other

Now for some superstitions that yoursquove probablynever heard of

If you find a knife in the road you will havebad luck

Donrsquot point at the moon (The man in the moondoesnrsquot like it and will bring you bad luck)

Donrsquot brush your hair after sunsetmdashespecial-ly if you have family who spends time on thesea (Brushing your hair at that time will mean dis-aster and death for themmdashand bad luck for you)

If a child hits a parent the childrsquos hand willwag over his grave and dogs will ldquowaterrdquo it

145

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

RL STINE says he has a great job ldquoMy job is to givekids the CREEPSrdquo With his scary books RL hasterrified kids all over the world He has sold over 300million books making him the best-selling childrenrsquosauthor in history

These days RL is dishing out new frights in hisseries THE NIGHTMARE ROOM When he isnrsquotworking he likes to read old mysteries watchSpongeBob Squarepants on TV and take his dogNadine for long walks around New York City wherehe lives with his wife Jane and son Matthew

ldquoI love taking my readers to scary placesrdquo RLsays ldquoDo you know the scariest place of all Itrsquos yourMINDrdquo

ldquoHey check it out A fortune-tellerrdquo Jilly saidShe pointed to a small black tent that stood besidean ice cream cart ldquoCan we do it I love fortune-tellersrdquo

ldquoNo wayrdquo I said ldquoThey make me nervous Idonrsquot even like watching them in moviesrdquo

ldquoCome on Maggie Itrsquos your birthdayrdquo her sisterJackie said pulling me to the tent ldquoYou have tohave your fortune told on your birthdayrdquo

ldquoLetrsquos see what the fortune-teller says about youand Glenrdquo Judy the third sister teased

ldquoI donrsquot think sordquo I saidBut as usual they didnrsquot give me a choice A few

seconds later we were standing at the doorway tothe dark tent

ldquoWersquoll all have our fortunes toldrdquo Jackie saidldquoMy treatrdquo

ldquoThis is so coolrdquo Jilly whispered ldquoDo you thinkits a real psychic Do you think she can really tellthe futurerdquo

The three sisters started into the tent I held backstaring at the red-and-black hand-lettered sign MISSELIZABETH FORTUNE-TELLER ONE DOLLAR

Take a look at whatrsquos ahead inTHE NIGHTMARE ROOM 3

Liar Liar

I suddenly realized that my heart was racing Why do I feel so weird I wondered Why do I

have such a bad feeling about thisI followed my friends into the tent The air inside

felt hot and steamy Two electric lanterns on the backtent wall splashed gray light over the fortune-tellerrsquossmall table

Miss Elizabeth sat hunched with her elbows onthe table head in her hands staring into a red glassball She didnrsquot look up as we stepped inside Icouldnrsquot tell if she was concentrating on the red ballor if she was asleep

The tent was completely bare except for her tableand two wooden chairs and a large black-and-whiteposter of a human hand The hand was divided intosections There was a lot of writing all over the postertoo small for me to read in the smoky gray light

As she stared into the red glass ball the fortune-teller muttered to herself She was a middle-agedwoman slender with bony arms poking out from thesleeves of her red dress and very large pale whitehands Squinting into the light I saw that the polishon her long fingernails matched the red of her dress

ldquoHel-lordquo Jackie called breaking the silenceMiss Elizabeth finally looked up She was kind of

pretty She had big round black eyes and dramaticred-lipsticked lips Her hair was long and wavy solidblack except for a wide white streak down themiddle

Her eyes moved from one of us to the other Shedidnrsquot smile ldquoWalter we have visitorsldquo sheannounced in a hoarse scratchy voice

I glanced around searching for WalterldquoWalter is my late husbandrdquo the fortune-teller

announced ldquoHe helps me channel information fromthe spiritsrdquo

Jackie and I exchanged glances ldquoWersquod like you to tell our fortunesrdquo Jilly saidMiss Elizabeth nodded solemnly ldquoOne dollar

eachrdquo She held out her long pale hand ldquoFour dol-lars pleaserdquo

Jackie fumbled in her bag and pulled out fourcrumpled dollar bills She handed them to the for-tune-teller who shoved them into a pocket of her reddress

ldquoWho wants to go firstrdquo Again her eyes movedslowly over our faces

ldquoIrsquoll gordquo Jilly volunteered She dropped into thechair across the table from Miss Elizabeth

The fortune-teller lowered her head again to gazeinto the red ball ldquoWalter bring me the words of thespirit world about this young womanrdquo

I suddenly felt a chill at the back of my neck Iknew I shouldnrsquot be frightened The woman had tobe a fakemdashright Otherwise she wouldnrsquot be workingin a tacky carnival like this one

But she was so serious So solemn She didnrsquotseem to be putting on an act

Or was I just being gullible againNow she took Jillyrsquos hand She pulled it up close to

her face and began to study Jillyrsquos palm Muttering toherself she moved her long finger back and forth fol-lowing the lines of the palm tracing them with herbright red fingernail

Jackie leaned close to me ldquoThis is coolrdquo she whis-pered

Judy sighed ldquoThis is going to take foreverrdquoJackie raised a finger to her lips and motioned for

Judy to shush The woman studied Jillyrsquos palm for a long time

squeezing the hand as she gazed at it murmuring toWalter in the red glass ball Finally she raised her eyesto Jilly ldquoYou are artisticrdquo she said in her scratchyvoice

ldquoYesrdquo Jilly declaredldquoYou are a dancerrdquo Miss Elizabeth continued

ldquoYou study the dance You are a hard workerrdquoldquoWhoa I donrsquot believe thisrdquo Jilly gushed ldquoHow do

you knowmdashrdquoldquoYou have much talentrdquo the fortune-teller mur-

mured ignoring Jillyrsquos question ldquoMuch talent Butsometimes I see your artistic side gets in the wayof your practical side You are you are rdquo

She shut her eyes ldquoHelp me Walterrdquo she whis-pered Then she opened her eyes again and raisedthem to Jillyrsquos palm ldquoYou are a very social person Yourfriends mean a lot to you Especially boy friendsrdquo

Jackie and Judy laughed Jilly flashed them anangry scowl ldquoImdashI donrsquot believe thisrdquo she told thefortune-teller ldquoYou have everything rightrdquo

ldquoIt is my giftrdquo Miss Elizabeth replied softlyldquoWill I make the new dance companyrdquo Jilly

asked her ldquoTry-outs are next week Can you tell meif I will be acceptedrdquo

Miss Elizabeth stared into the glass ballldquoWalterrdquo she whispered

I held my breath waiting for the answer Jilly andI were both trying out for the dance company And Iknew there was only room for one of us

ldquoWalter can find no answerrdquo the fortune-tellertold Jilly ldquoHe only groansrdquo She let go of Jillyrsquos hand

ldquoHemdashgroanedrdquo Jilly asked ldquoWhyrdquoldquoYour time is uprdquo Miss Elizabeth said She

motioned to us ldquoWho is nextrdquoJackie shoved Judy forward Judy dropped into

the chair and held her hand out to Miss ElizabethJilly came running over to join Jackie and me at

the edge of the tent ldquoIsnrsquot she amazingrdquo she whis-pered

ldquoYes she isrdquo I had to admit How did she know somany true things about Jilly I was beginning tobelieve Miss Elizabeth really had powers

And now I didnrsquot feel afraid or nervous I was eagerto see what the fortune-teller would say about me

She squeezed Judyrsquos hand and gazed deep intoJudyrsquos dark eyes ldquoYou have great love in yourdquo she

announced ldquoGreat love for animalsrdquoJudy gasped ldquoY-yesrdquoldquoYou care for them You work rdquoldquoYesrdquo Judy said ldquoI work in an animal shelter after

school Thatrsquos amazingrdquoMiss Elizabeth ran a red fingernail down Judyrsquos

palm ldquoYou also have an animal that you care aboutvery much A dog No A catrdquo

ldquoYes My cat Plumperrdquo Judy turned to us her face filled with astonish-

ment ldquoDo you believe this Shersquos right about every-thingrdquo

ldquoI know Itrsquos so coolrdquo Jilly exclaimed She sweptback her blond hair with a toss of her head She keptbouncing up and down She seemed too excited tostand still

The fortune-teller spent a few more minutes withJudy She told Judy that she would have a long suc-cessful life She said Judy would have a big familysomeday

ldquoOf kids Of animalsrdquo Judy asked Miss Elizabeth didnrsquot answer Next came Jackiersquos turn Once again Miss

Elizabeth was right on target with everything shesaid ldquoWowrdquo Jackie kept muttering ldquoWowrdquo

Finally I found myself in the chair across fromthe fortune-teller Suddenly I felt so nervous Mymouth was dry My legs were shaking

Miss Elizabeth looked older from close up

When she smiled at me the thick makeup on herface cracked Tiny drops of sweat glistened at herhairline

ldquoWhat is your namerdquo she asked in a whisperldquoMaggierdquo I told herShe nodded solemnly and took my hand She

raised my palm close to her face and squinted downat it in the gray light

I held my breath And waited What would shesee

She squeezed my hand Brought it closer to herface

And then then her eyes bulged wide Shelet out a loud gasp

With a violent jerk she tossed my hand awayAnd jumped to her feet Her chair fell behind her

clattering to the tent floorShe stared at memdashstared in open-mouthed

horrorAnd then she screamedldquoGet OUT Get AWAY from hererdquoldquoHuh Waitmdashrdquo I choked outldquoGet OUT You bring EVIL You bring EVIL with

you Get OUT of hererdquo

Credits

Cover illustration by Vince NataleCover design by John Fontana

About the PublisherAustraliaHarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty Ltd 25 Ryde Road (PO Box 321)Pymble NSW 2073 Australia httpwwwharpercollinscomau

CanadaHarperCollins Publishers Ltd55 Avenue Road Suite 2900Toronto ON M5R 3L2 Canadahttpwwwharpercanadacom

New ZealandHarperCollinsPublishers (New Zealand)PO Box 1Auckland New Zealandhttpwwwharpercollinsconz

United KingdomHarperCollins Publishers Ltd77-85 Fulham Palace RoadLondon W6 8JB UKhttpwwwfireandwatercouk

United StatesHarperCollins Childrenrsquos Books A Division of HarperCollins Publishers1350 Avenue of the Americas New York NY 10019wwwharperchildrenscom

These stories are my scariest ever says RL Stinebecause I wrote them at the Nightmare Hour

When the lights fade the world that we know as real slipsinto shadowmdashand the cold moonlit world of evil dreams

enters your mind and takes over

These ten terrifying tales will make you shiver at any hourIllustrated by ten outstanding artists

I really enjoy your workhellipthank you for creating newnightmares for me mdashKenny age 12 NY

They are horrifying storiesmdashthey even gave me thecreeps mdashSofia age 14 LA

My favorite book is Nightmare Hour mdashJeffrie age 9 WI

Winner of Disney Adventures magazinersquos first everKidsrsquo Choice Award for Best HorrorMystery book

0-06-028688-1 $995 Hardcover0-06-440842-6 $499 Paperback

Available wherever books are sold

Join RL Stine and all your friends in The Nightmare Room

wwwthenightmareroomcom

Ten New Stories by rl stineNightmare Hour

Join RL Stine and all your friends in

ROOMTHE

Step inside wwwthenightmareroomcom

and open the door to terror

You can share with RL Stine your most terrifying dreams and experiences If your stories are terrifying enough for RL Stine youcould star in your own NIGHTMARE ROOMbook

Log on to THE NIGHTMARE ROOM nowand read RL Stinersquos brand-new spine-tinglingstorymdasha story so terrifying that it canrsquot be soldin bookstores

Log on to wwwthenightmareroomcom

where you will truly enter

THE NIGHTMARE ROOM

wwwthenightmareroomcom

THE NIGHTMARE ROOM 3My Name Is EvilMaggie has her palm read at a carnival and then the terrifying accidents beginIs Maggie cursed Will she have to live forever in THE NIGHTMARE ROOM

THE NIGHTMARE ROOM 4Liar LiarRoss looks across the room and sees himself standing there But Ross doesnrsquothave a twin This party has taken Rossto THE NIGHTMARE ROOM

$399 Paperback Available wherever books are sold

Join RL Stine and all your friends in THE NIGHTMARE ROOMwwwthenightmareroomcom

What can happen next in

ROOMTHE

i

Go ahead and scream

No one can hear you Yoursquore no

longer in the safe world you know

Yoursquove taken a terrifying step

into the darkest corners of your

imagination

Yoursquove opened the door to

iii

Locker 13

AVON BOOKS

R L S T I N E

An Imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers

Locker 13

Copyright copy 2000 by Parachute Publishing LLC

Go Deeper Into This Nightmare copy 2000 Parachute Publishing LLC

All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in

the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews

RL Stine asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

Adobe Acrobat E-reader edition v 1 March 2001 ISBN 0-06-621428-9First print edition 2000 ISBN 0-06-440900-7

v

Welcome

Irsquom RL Stine and I want to introduce you toLuke Greene Hersquos that short wiry seventh-graderstanding in front of his locker

Some kids tease Luke about being too supersti-tious He wears a lucky shirt to school and he nevergoes anywhere without a lucky rabbitrsquos foot tucked inhis pocket

Luke doesnrsquot mind being teased He says you cannever have enough good luck

Thatrsquos why hersquos so unhappy about his new lockerItrsquos the first day of school and Luke has been givenLocker 13

Luke is staring at the locker in horrormdashand hehas reason to be worried Now hersquos going to need allthe lucky shirts and four-leaf clovers and good-luckcharms he can find

Because when he turns the lock and pulls openLocker 13 Luke will actually be opening the doorto THE NIGHTMARE ROOM

Contents

One

Two

Three

Four

Five

Six

Seven

Eight

Nine

Ten

Eleven

Twelve

Thirteen

Fourteen

Fifteen

Sixteen

Seventeen

Eighteen

Nineteen

Twenty

Twenty-one

Twenty-two

Twenty-three

Twenty-four

Twenty-five

Twenty-six

Twenty-seven

Go Deeper into this Nightmare

About the Author

Take a Look at Whatrsquos Ahead

Credits

About the Publisher

1

ldquoHey Lukemdashgood luckrdquo Who called to me The hall was jammed with

kids excited about the first day of school I was excit-ed too My first day in seventh grade My first day atShawnee Valley Junior High

I just knew this was going to be an awesome yearOf course I didnrsquot take any chances I wore my

lucky shirt Itrsquos a faded green T-shirt kind ofstretched out and the pocket is a little torn But noway Irsquod start a school year without my lucky shirt

And I had my lucky rabbitrsquos foot in the pocket ofmy baggy khakis Itrsquos black and very soft and furryItrsquos a key chain but I donrsquot want to ruin the good luckby hanging keys on it

Why is it so lucky Well itrsquos a black rabbitrsquos footwhich is very rare And I found it last November onmy birthday And after I found it my parents gave methe new computer I wanted So it brought me goodluckmdashright

I glanced up at the red-and-black computer-printed

banner hanging over the hall GO SQUIRES SUPPORT

YOUR TEAMAll of the boysrsquo teams at Shawnee Valley are called

the Squires Donrsquot ask me how they got that weirdname The banner made my heart race just a little Itreminded me that I had to find the basketball coachand ask when he was having tryouts

I had a whole list of things I wanted to do (1)check out the computer lab (2) find out about the bas-ketball team (3) see if I could take any kind of specialswimming program after school I never went to aschool with a swimming pool before And since swim-ming is my other big sport I was pretty pumped aboutit

ldquoLukemdashhirdquoI spun around to find my friend Hannah Marcum

behind me looking as cheerful and enthusiastic asalways Hannah has short coppery hair the color of abright new penny green eyes and a great smile Mymother always calls her Sunshine which totallyembarrasses both of us

ldquoYour pocket is tornrdquo she said She tugged at it rip-ping it a little more

ldquoHeymdashget offrdquo I backed away ldquoItrsquos my lucky shirtrdquoldquoDid you find your locker assignment yetrdquo She

pointed to a group of kids studying a chart taped to thewall They were all standing on tiptoe trying to seeover each other ldquoItrsquos posted over there Guess whatMy locker is the first one outside the lunchroom Irsquoll be

2

first for lunch every dayrdquoldquoOooh luckyrdquo I said ldquoAnd I got Gruen for Englishrdquo Hannah gushed

ldquoHersquos the best Hersquos so funny Everyone says you canrsquotstop laughing Did you get him toordquo

ldquoNordquo I said ldquoI got WarrenrdquoHannah made a face ldquoYoursquore doomedrdquoldquoShut uprdquo I said ldquoDonrsquot say things like thatrdquo I

squeezed my rabbitrsquos foot three times I pushed my way through the crowd to the locker

chart This is going to be an excellent year I told myselfJunior High is so not like elementary school

ldquoHey manmdashhowrsquos it goingrdquo Darnell Cross slappedme a high five

ldquoWhatrsquos uprdquo I replied ldquoCheck it out You got the lucky lockerrdquo Darnell

said I squinted at the chart ldquoHuh What do you meanrdquoI ran my eyes down the list of names until I came

to mine Luke Greene And then I followed the dottedline to my locker number

And gaspedldquoNo wayrdquo I said out loud ldquoThat canrsquot be rightrdquoI blinked a few times then focused on the chart

againYes Locker 13Luke Greene 1313My breath caught in my throat I started to choke

3

I turned away from the chart hoping no one couldsee how upset I was

How can this be happening to me I wonderedLocker 13 My whole year is ruined before it begins

My heart pounded so hard my chest ached Iforced myself to start breathing again

I turned and found Hannah still standing thereldquoWherersquos your lockerrdquo she asked ldquoIrsquoll walk youthererdquo

ldquoUh well I can deal with itrdquo I saidShe squinted at me ldquoExcuse merdquo ldquoI can deal with itrdquo I repeated shakily ldquoItrsquos

Locker thirteen but I can handle it ReallyrdquoHannah laughed ldquoLuke yoursquore such a supersti-

tious geekrdquoI frowned at her ldquoYou mean that in a nice waymdash

rightrdquo I jokedShe laughed again and shoved me into a crowd of

kids I wish she wouldnrsquot shove me so much Shersquosreally strong

I apologized to the kids I stumbled into ThenHannah and I started down the crowded hallchecking the locker numbers searching for num-ber 13

Just past the science lab Hannah stopped sud-denly and grabbed something up from the floor

ldquoHey wow Look what I foundrdquo She held up a five-dollar bill ldquoMmmmmmdashyesrdquo

4

She raised it to her lips and kissed it ldquoFive bucksYayrdquo

I sighed and shook my head ldquoHannah howcome yoursquore always so luckyrdquo

She didnrsquot answer that question It seemed like a simple question but it wasnrsquot And if she had told me the answer I think I would

have run awaymdashrun as far as I could from ShawneeValley Junior High and never come back

5

Letrsquos skip ahead two months Seventh grade was not bad so far I made some new

friends I made real progress on the computer anima-tion piece I had been working on for nearly two yearsAnd I actually won a spot on the basketball team

It was early November about two weeks into theseason And I was late for practice

Guys were already on the floor doing stretchingexercises bouncing basketballs to each other takingshort layups I crept to the locker room hoping no onewould notice me

ldquoLukemdashget dressed Yoursquore laterdquo Coach Bendixshouted

I started to call ldquoSorry I got hung up in the com-puter labrdquo But that was no kind of excuse So I justgave Coach a nod and started jogging full speed to thelocker room to get changed

My stomach felt kind of tight I realized I wasnrsquotlooking forward to practice today For a little guy Irsquom apretty good basketball player Irsquove got a good outside

6

shot and pretty fast hands on defense I was so excited to make the team But I wasnrsquot

counting on one problemmdashan eighth grader namedStretch Johannsen

Stretchrsquos real name is Shawn But everyone in theworld calls him Stretchmdasheven his parents You mightwonder how he got that name But if you saw him youwouldnrsquot wonder

Stretch had some kind of a growth spurt last year inseventh grade and he became a big blond giant prac-tically overnight Hersquos taller than anyone in the highschool He has shoulders like a wrestler and long armsI mean really long arms like a chimpanzee He canreach halfway across the gym

And thatrsquos why everyone started calling himStretch

I think a better name for him would be OstrichThatrsquos because he has long skinny legs like bird legsand a huge chest thatrsquos so wide it makes his pale blue-eyed head look as tiny as an egg

But I would never try my nickname on him I donrsquotthink I can run fast enough Stretch doesnrsquot have muchof a sense of humor In fact hersquos a pretty mean guyalways trash-talking and shoving people aroundmdashandnot just on the basketball floor

I think once he got over the shock of being a gianthe decided to be really impressed with himself

Like being a giant is some kind of special talent orsomething

7

But donrsquot get me started Irsquom always analyzingpeople thinking too hard about them about every-thing Hannah is always telling me I think too muchBut I donrsquot get it How do you stop thinking

Last week after a practice Coach Bendix saidnearly the same thing ldquoYoursquove got to play oninstinct Luke There isnrsquot time to think before everymoverdquo

Which I guess is another reason why I ride thebench Of course Irsquom only in seventh grade Sounless another giant forward tries out for the SquiresIrsquoll probably get to play next yearmdashafter Stretchgraduates

But for now itrsquos really embarrassing not to get toplay Especially since my parents come to everygame to cheer me on I sit on the team bench andwatch Mom and Dad up in the gym bleachers juststaring at me Staring

It doesnrsquot make you feel great Even the time-outs are painful Stretch always

comes trotting over to the team bench He wipes thesweat off his face and bodymdashand then throws thetowel onto me Like Irsquom some kind of towel boy

During one time-out late in the first game he tooka long gulp of Gatorade and spit it onto my uniformshirt I looked up and saw my parents watching fromthe bleachers

8

Sad Really sad Our team the Squires won our first two games

mainly because Stretch wouldnrsquot let anyone elsehandle the ball It was great to winmdashbut I wasalready starting to feel like a loser I wanted to play

Maybe if I have a really strong practice todayCoach Bendix will try me out at guard I told myselfOr maybe even as a backup center I laced up myshoes and triple-knotted them for luck Then I shutmy eyes and counted to seven three times

Just something I doI straightened my red-and-black uniform shorts

slammed the gym locker shut and trotted out of thelocker room and onto the floor Guys were at the farend taking three-point shots everyone shooting atonce The balls bounced off each other bounced offthe hoop The backboard rang out with a steadythud thud thud

Some of the shots actually dropped inldquoLuke get busyrdquo Coach yelled motioning me to

the basket ldquoGet some rebounds Make some shotsGet looserdquo

I flashed him a thumbs-up and ran to join theothers I saw Stretch leap up and make a highrebound To my surprise he spun around andheaved the ball at me ldquoLukemdashthink fastrdquo

I wasnrsquot expecting it The ball sailed through my

9

hands I had to chase it to the wall I dribbled backto find Stretch waiting ldquoGo ahead man Shootrdquo

I swallowed hardmdashand sent up a two-handedshot

ldquoHe shootsmdashhe missesrdquo Stretch shouted Someguys laughed

My shot bounced off the rim Stretch took threefast strides reached up his long arms and grabbedthe rebound in midair He tossed it back to meldquoShoot againrdquo

My next shot brushed the bottom of the netldquoHe shootsmdashhe missesrdquo Stretch repeated as if

that was the funniest thing anyone ever said Moreloud laughter

Stretch took the rebound and tossed me the ballldquoAgainrdquo he ordered

Everyone was watching now I sent up a one-handed layup that almost dropped in It rolledaround the rim then fell off

ldquoHe shootsmdashhe missesrdquoI could feel sweat rolling down my forehead

Why canrsquot I get lucky here I asked myself Comeon Lukemdashjust one lucky shot I slapped my lefthand rapidly against the leg of my shorts seventimes

Stretch bounced the ball to me ldquoGo champYoursquore O for three You got a streak goingrdquo Morelaughter

I shut my eyes for a second Then I sailed this

10

one highmdashand gasped as it sank through the hoopStretch grinned and shook his head The other

guys all cheered as if Irsquod just won the state juniorhigh tournament

I grabbed the ball and dribbled away from themI didnrsquot want to give Stretch a chance to ruin my vic-tory I knew he would keep me shooting till I wasone for three hundred

I turned to see if Coach Benson had watched myshot He leaned against the wall talking to two otherteachers He hadnrsquot seen it

I dribbled across the floor then back toward theothers Then I made a big mistake

A really big mistake A mistake that ruined mylife at Shawnee Valley Junior High

ldquoHey Stretchmdashthink fastrdquo I shouted And Iheaved the ball at him as hard as I could

What was I thinkingI didnrsquot see that he had bent down on one knee

to tie his sneaker lace I froze in horrormdashand watched the ball fly at

him It hit him hard on the side of the head knockedhim over and sent him tumbling to the floor

ldquoHeymdashrdquo he cried out stunned He shook hishead dizzily I saw bright red blood start to flow fromhis nose

ldquoStretchmdashIrsquom sorryrdquo I shrieked ldquoI didnrsquot seeyou I didnrsquot meanmdashrdquo

I lurched forward running to help him up

11

ldquoMy contactsrdquo he cried ldquoYou knocked out mycontactsrdquo

And then I heard a soft squish under my shoeI stopped Lifted my foot Stretchrsquos contact lens

lay flat as a pancake on the gym floorEveryone saw itStretch was on his feet now Blood rolled down

his lips his chin He didnrsquot pay any attention to it He had his eyes

narrowed on me He lumbered forward clenchingand unclenching his giant fists

I was doomed

12

Stretch reached under my arms and lifted me upHe was so huge and strong he picked me off thefloor like I was a ventriloquistrsquos dummy

ldquoWhoa It was an accidentrdquo I whisperedldquoHerersquos another accidentrdquo he said When he

talked he spit blood in my face He tightened his gripunder my arms

He raised me higher and gazed up at the basketIs he going to make a three-point shot with me Iwondered

Yes He is Hersquos going to slam dunk meBehind me I heard shouts A whistle blowing

Running footstepsldquoTake it outside Stretchrdquo I heard Coach Bendix

shoutHuhStretch slowly lowered me to the floor My knees

started to buckle but I managed to stay on my feet Stretch rubbed a hand across his bloody nose

then wiped it on the front of my jersey

13

ldquoTake it outsiderdquo Coach repeated edgingbetween us ldquoLetrsquos pair up everybody One on oneStretchmdashyou and Lukerdquo

ldquoNo wayrdquo Stretch mutteredldquoHersquos your backuprdquo Coach said poking Stretch

in the chest with his whistle ldquoYoursquove got to teachLuke Irsquom putting you in charge of Lukersquos develop-mentrdquo

Stretch snickered ldquoDevelopment He doesnrsquothave any developmentrdquo

ldquoGo to my office Get some tissues and stop thatnosebleedrdquo Coach instructed Stretch ldquoThen takeLuke to the practice court behind the playgroundShow him some moves Teach him somethingrdquo

Stretch stared at the floor for a few seconds as ifthinking it over But he knew better than to arguewith Coach Bendix He nodded at me ldquoLetrsquos goChamprdquo

What choice did I have Even though I knew itwas pain time for me I turned and followed him out-side

It was late afternoon pretty cold to be outside inbasketball shorts and a sleeveless jersey Since it wasNovember the big red sun had already loweredbehind the houses across the street from the play-ground

I shiveredStretch didnrsquot give me much of a chance to get

14

ready He pounded the ball hard on the asphalt courtand came racing at me like a stampeding bull

I tried to slide to the side But Stretch lowered hisshoulder and slammed it hard into my gut

ldquoOhhhrdquo I groaned and slumped backldquoDefenserdquo he shouted ldquoGet your hands up

Champ Get ready Here I come againrdquoldquoNomdashwaitmdashrdquo I pleadedThe ball thundered in front of him as he drove

into me again This time he kept his body up straightThe force of the collision sent me sprawling to theasphalt

ldquoDefenserdquo he shouted ldquoShow me somethingBlock me At least slow me down a littlerdquo

Groaning again I climbed to my feet I felt as ifIrsquod been hit by a truck

Stretch dribbled around me circling me his eyeslocked angrily on me His nosebleed had stoppedbut he still had dried blood caked under his nose

I rubbed my chest ldquoI I think I broke a ribrdquo Iwhispered

With a wild shout he slammed into me againThis time I flew backmdashand smashed into the thickwooden post that held up the backboard

ldquoYoursquore going to pay for those contacts Champrdquohe called hulking over me so I couldnrsquot stand updribbling the ball inches from my feet

ldquoYeah Okayrdquo I said trying to rub the pain frommy chest ldquoI said I was sorryrdquo

15

ldquoYoursquore gonna be more sorryrdquo he said Hebounced the ball hard against my bare leg ldquoGet uprdquo

I didnrsquot move ldquoIt was an accidentrdquo I insisted ldquoIreally didnrsquot see you bend down Reallyrdquo

He picked at the caked blood under his noseldquoGet up Letrsquos go Irsquom supposed to teach you some-thingrdquo He laughed really loud Irsquom not sure whyThen he swept a huge hand back through his shortwhite-blond hair and waited for me to stand up Sohe could teach me more lessons

I climbed shakily to my feet I felt so dizzy I hadto grab the wooden post My head ached My ribsached

ldquoCan we uh play a different gamerdquoI asked weakly

ldquoYeah Surerdquo he said ldquoHeymdashthink fastrdquoHe was standing so close and he heaved the ball

so hard it felt like a cannonball as it shot into mystomach

I stumbled back And let out a sharp gaspAnd then realized I couldnrsquot breatheI struggled hard to suck in some air No no air I canrsquot get air I saw bright yellow stars The yellow darkened to

redPain shot through my chest The pain spread

growing sharper sharper I was down on my back now staring up at the

16

17

sky staring up at the dancing red stars I wanted toscream But I had no air

Canrsquot breathe canrsquot breathe at all The stars faded away The color faded from the

sky All black All black nowAnd as I sank into the blackness I heard a voiceA beautiful soft voice from far far away Calling

my nameAn angel I realized Yes Through the blackness I heard an angel call-

ing my nameAnd I knew that I had died

ldquoLuke LukerdquoThe blackness lifted I blinked up at the afternoon

sky The voice was closer now And I recognized itldquoLukerdquoMy chest ached as I took a deep breathHeymdashwhen had I started to breathe againI lifted my head and saw Hannah running across

the basketball court She wore a blue windbreakerunzipped and it flapped up over her shoulders likewings Her red hair glowed in the late afternoon sunlike a halo

Not an angel Just Hannah She turned angrily to Stretch as she ran past him

ldquoWhat did you do to Lukemdashkill himrdquoStretch giggled ldquoProbablyrdquoHannah dropped onto her knees beside me Her

windbreaker fell over my face She tugged it awayldquoAre you alive Can you speakrdquo

ldquoYeah Irsquom okayrdquo I muttered I felt like a jerk Ahelpless jerk

18

Stretch walked up behind Hannah ldquoWhorsquos sherdquohe sneered at me ldquoYour girlfriendrdquo

Hannah spun around to face him ldquoHeymdashIrsquoveseen your girlfriendrdquo

Stretchrsquos mouth dropped open ldquoHuh Whorsquosthatrdquo

ldquoGodzillardquo Hannah declaredI tried to laugh but it made my ribs hurtThe next thing I knew Hannah was on her feet

shoving Stretchrsquos shoulders with both hands forcinghim to back up ldquoEver hear of picking on someoneyour own sizerdquo she demanded

Stretch laughed ldquoNo Tell me about itrdquo Hebacked away from her and raised his big meaty fistsHe grinned and started dancing like a fighter ldquoComeon You want a piece of me You want a piece ofmerdquo Imitating someone in a movie I guess

ldquoOne on onerdquo Hannah challenged Stretch tossed back his head and laughed His

blue eyes rolled around in his tiny head ldquoYou wanta piece of merdquo

ldquoFreestyle shootingrdquo Hannah said tearing off thewindbreaker She tossed it to the side of the courtldquoCome on Stretch Twenty shots each Any kind ofshotrdquo She stared up at him ldquoYoursquoll lose ReallyYoursquoll see Yoursquoll lose to a girlrdquo

His smile faded ldquoYoursquore on the girlsrsquo basketballteammdashrightrdquo

Hannah nodded ldquoIrsquom the centerrdquo

19

Stretch started to dribble the ball slowly in frontof him ldquoTwenty shots Layups or three-pointrdquo

Hannah shrugged ldquoAny kind Yoursquoll loserdquoI climbed to my feet and went over to the side of

the court to watch I still felt a little shaky but I knewI was okay

Stretch didnrsquot hesitate He raised the ball andpushed up a one-handed shot from half-court Theball hit the backboard then the rimmdashand droppedin ldquoOne for onerdquo he said He ran to retrieve the ballldquoIrsquoll keep shooting until I missrdquo

He missed his next shot an easy layup fromunder the basket

Hannahrsquos turn I crossed my fingers and countedto seven three times

ldquoGo Hannahrdquo I cheered holding up my crossedfingers

Hannah sank a basket from the foul line Thenshe drove under the basket and shot another one infrom underneath

My mouth dropped open as she sank eight morebaskets without a miss ldquoWow Go Hannahrdquo

Stretch just stood there looking dumb I couldnrsquottell what he was thinking His face was a total blank

ldquoTen for tenrdquo Hannah declared She bounced theball to Stretch ldquoYou go Just to keep it interestingrdquo

Hannah glanced at me grinned and flashed mea thumbs-up

Stretch wasnrsquot smiling anymore He had a grim

20

determined look on his face as he drove in close toshoot He dropped four straight baskets then missedone from in front of the foul line

He muttered something under his breath andbounced the ball to Hannah

Hannah sank eight more in a row She turned toStretch ldquoEighteen for eighteenrdquo

But he was already jogging back to the gym ascowl on his face

ldquoIrsquom not finishedrdquo Hannah called after himStretch turned back to me ldquoHey Champmdashmaybe

you should take a lesson from your girlfriend Ormaybe you should play on her teamrdquo Shaking hishead he disappeared into the school

A strong wind began to blow across the play-ground It was dark as evening now I picked upHannahrsquos windbreaker and reached out to hand it toher But she took another shot ldquoNineteenrdquo And thenanother ldquoTwenty Yay I winrdquo

I gaped at her ldquoHannahmdashyou never miss Howdo you do thatrdquo

She shrugged ldquoJust luckyrdquoI shivered We started jogging back to the school

ldquoAsk me how lucky I amrdquo I muttered ldquoI made a newenemy today A huge enemyrdquo

Hannah stopped and grabbed my arm ldquoHeymdashItotally forgot why I was looking for you I wanted totell you the coolest newsrdquo

I held the school door open ldquoYeah Whatrdquo

21

Hannahrsquos green eyes flashed ldquoYou know thosephotos I took of my dog I sent them to a magazine inNew York And guess what They paid me five hun-dred dollars for them Theyrsquore going to publish themmdashand do a big story about me Isnrsquot that so totally coolrdquo

ldquoWow Totallyrdquo I saidAnd thatrsquos when I decided my luck had to changeWhy should Hannah have all the luck I can be

lucky too I told myselfItrsquos all attitude Thatrsquos what it takes The right atti-

tudeI changed into my street clothes I made my way

upstairs to stop at my locker Locker 13 Basketball practice had run so late the halls were

empty My shoes clonked noisily on the hard floorMost of the lights had already been turned off

This school is creepy when itrsquos empty I decided Istopped in front of my locker feeling a chill at the backof my neck

I always felt a little weirded-out in front of thelocker For one thing it wasnrsquot with all the otherseventh-grade lockers It was down at the end of theback hall by itself just past a janitorrsquos supply closet

Up and down the hall all the other lockers hadbeen painted over the summer They were all asmooth silvery gray But no one had touched locker13 The old green paint was peeling and had largepatches scraped off Deep scratches crisscrossed upand down the door

22

The locker smelled damp And sour As if it hadonce been filled with rotting leaves or dead fish orsomething

Thatrsquos okay I can deal with this I told myself I took a deep breath New attitude Luke New

attitude Your luck is going to changeI opened my backpack and pulled out a fat black

marker Then I closed the locker door And rightabove the number 13 I wrote the word LUCKY in bigbold capital letters

I stepped back to admire my work LUCKY 13ldquoYessssrdquo I felt better alreadyI shoved the black marker into my backpack and

started to zip it up And thatrsquos when I heard thebreathing

Soft soft breaths So soft I thought I imaginedthem From inside the locker

I crept closer and pressed my ear against the doorI heard a soft hiss Then more breathingThe backpack slipped out of my hands and thud-

ded to the floor I froze And heard another soft hiss inside the locker It

ended in a short cry The back of my neck prickled My breath caught

in my throatWithout realizing it my hand had gripped the

locker handleShould I open the door Should I

23

My hand tightened on the handle I forced myselfto start breathing again

Irsquom imagining this I told myself There canrsquot be anyone breathing inside my lockerI lifted the handle Pulled open the doorldquoHeymdashrdquo I cried out in shock And stared down at

a black catThe cat gazed up at me its eyes red in the dim

hall light The black fur stood up on its back Itpulled back its lips and hissed again

A black catA black cat inside my lockerIrsquom imagining this I thought I blinked hard trying to blink the cat awayA black cat inside locker 13 Could there be any

worse luckldquoHowmdashhow did you get in thererdquo I choked outThe cat hissed again and arched its back It gazed

up at me coldly Then it leaped from the locker floor It darted over

24

my shoes down the hall Running rapidly silentlyHead down tail straight up it turned the first cornerand disappeared

I stared after it my heart pounding I could stillfeel its furry body brushing against my leg I realizedI was still gripping the locker handle

My head spun with questions How long had thecat been in there How did it get inside the lockeddoor Why was there a black cat in my locker Why

I turned and checked out the floor of the lockerJust to make sure there werenrsquot any other creatureshiding in there Then still feeling confused I closedthe door carefully locked it and stepped back

LUCKY 13The black letters appeared to glowldquoYeah Luckyrdquo I muttered picking up my back-

pack ldquoReal lucky A black cat in my lockerrdquo I held my lucky rabbitrsquos foot and kept squeezing

it tightly all the way homeThings are going to change I told myself Things

have got to change

But in the next few weeks my luck didnrsquot changeat all

One day after school I was on my way to the com-puter lab when I ran into Hannah ldquoWhere are yougoingrdquo she asked ldquoWant to come watch my basket-ball gamerdquo

ldquoI canrsquotrdquo I replied ldquoI promised to install some

25

new modems for Mrs Coffey the computer teacherrdquoldquoMr Computer Geek strikes againrdquo she said She

started jogging toward the gymldquoDid you get your science test backrdquo I called

after herShe stopped and turned around with a grin on her

face ldquoYou wonrsquot believe it Luke I didnrsquot have timeto study I had to guess on every question And guesswhat I got a hundred I got them all rightrdquo

ldquoThatrsquos excellentrdquo I called Irsquod studied for thattest for a solid week and I got a seventy-four

I made my way into the computer lab and wavedto Mrs Coffey She was hunched over her desk sort-ing through a tall stack of disks ldquoHey howrsquos itgoingrdquo she called

The computer lab is my second home Ever sinceMrs Coffey learned that I can repair computers andupgrade them and install things in them Irsquove beenher favorite student

And I have to admit I really like her tooWhenever I donrsquot have basketball practice I checkin at the computer lab to talk with her and see whatneeds to be fixed

ldquoLuke how is your animation project comingalongrdquo she asked setting down the disks Shebrushed back her blond hair She has the nicestsmile Everyone likes her because she always seemsto enjoy her classes so much

ldquoIrsquom almost ready to show it to yourdquo I said I sat

26

down in front of a computer and started to removethe back ldquoI think itrsquos really cool And itrsquos going muchfaster now I found a new way to move pixelsaroundrdquo

Her eyes grew wide ldquoReallyrdquoldquoItrsquos a very cool inventionrdquo I said carefully slid-

ing the insides from the computer ldquoThe program ispretty simple I think a lot of animators might like itrdquo

I set down my screwdriver and gazed across theroom at her ldquoMaybe you could help me You knowShow it to people Get it copyrighted or somethingrdquo

ldquoMayberdquo she said She stood up smoothing thehem of her blue sweater over her jeans She came upbehind me and watched as I removed the old modemldquoYoursquore really skillful Luke I think yoursquore going tomake a lot of money with computers some dayrdquo

ldquoYeah Mayberdquo I replied awkwardly ldquoThanksrdquo Ididnrsquot really know what to say Mrs Coffey is so awe-some She is the only teacher who really encouragesme and thinks Irsquom somebody

ldquoI canrsquot wait to show you my animationrdquo I said ldquoWell I have some big newsrdquo she said sud-

denly I turned and caught the excited smile on herface ldquoYoursquore the first person to hear it Luke Can youkeep a secretrdquo

ldquoYeah Okayrdquo I saidldquoI just got the most wonderful job At a really big

software company in Chicago Irsquom leaving school nextweekrdquo

27

The next afternoon I couldnrsquot check in at the com-puter lab I had to hurry to the swimming poolbehind the gym

Swimming is my other big sport I spent all lastsummer working with an instructor at our local poolHe was fast enough to make the Olympic tryouts afew years ago And he really improved my stroke andshowed me a lot of secrets for getting my speed up

So I looked forward to the tryouts for the Squiresswim team I couldnrsquot wear my lucky swimsuitbecause it didnrsquot fit anymore But I wore my luckyshirt to school that day And as I changed for thepool I silently counted to seven three times

As I left the locker room I heard shouts andlaughter echoing off the tile pool walls Feeling myheart start to race I stepped into the steamy air ofthe indoor pool The floor was puddled with warmwater I inhaled the sharp chlorine smell I love thatsmell

Then I bent down and kissed the top of the divingboard I know It sounds weird But itrsquos just some-thing I always do

I turned to the pool Three or four guys werealready in the water At the shallow end I sawStretch He was violently splashing two other guysHe had them cornered at the end of the pool His bighands slapped the water sending up tall waves overthem They pleaded with him to give them a break

Coach Swanson blew his whistle then shouted

28

bull bull bull

for Stretch to cut the horseplay Stretch gave the twoguys one more vicious splash

Then he turned and saw me ldquoHey Champmdashrdquo heshouted his voice booming off the tiles ldquoYoursquoreearly Drowning lessons are next week Ha ha Niceswim trunks Are those your girlfriendrsquos Ha hardquo

A few other guys laughed tooI decided to ignore them I was feeling pretty con-

fident About twenty guys were trying out I knewthere were only six spots open on the team But afterall my work last summer I thought I could make thetop six

We all warmed up for a bit taking easy laps lim-bering up our muscles getting used to the warmwater After a few minutes Coach Swanson made usall climb out and line up at the deep end of the pool

ldquoOkay guys Irsquove got to get to my night job by fiveso wersquore going to keep this simplerdquo the coachannounced ldquoYou have one chance One chanceonly You hear the whistle you do a speed dive intothe pool You do two complete laps any stroke youwant Irsquoll take the first six guys And two alternatesAny questionsrdquo

There werenrsquot anyEveryone leaned forward preparing to dive

Stretch lined up next to me He elbowed me hard inthe side ldquoGive me some room Champ Donrsquot crowdmerdquo

29

Okay so hersquoll come in first I figured rubbing thepain from my side That leaves five other places onthe team

Irsquom good enough I told myself I know I am Iknow I am

The whistle blew All down the row bodiestensed then plunged forward

I started my divemdashand slippedThe pool floormdashso wet My feet slid on the tile Oh noI hit the water with a loud smack A belly flop No kind of dive Struggling to recover I raised my head And saw

everyone way ahead of me One unlucky slip I lowered my head determined to catch up I

started stroking easily forcing myself to be calm Iremembered the slow steady straight-legged kick myinstructor had taught me

I sped up I passed some guys Hit the wall andstarted back

I can do this I told myself I can still make theteam

Faster At the end of the second lap the finish was a furi-

ous blur Blue water Thrashing arms and legs Loudbreaths Bobbing heads

I tried to shut out everything and concentrate on

30

my stroke ignore everyone else and swimAt last my hand hit the pool wall I ducked under

then surfaced blowing out water I wiped my hairaway from my eyes The taste of chlorine was in mymouth Water running down my face I glancedaround

I didnrsquot finish last Some guys were still swim-ming I squinted down the line of swimmers who hadfinished How many How many were ahead of me

ldquoLukemdashyoursquore seventhrdquo Coach Swansonannounced He made a large check on his clipboardldquoFirst alternate See you at practicerdquo

I was still too out-of-breath to replySeventhI let out a long sigh I felt so disappointed I could

do better than seventh I knew If only I hadnrsquotslipped

As I started to trudge back to the locker roomStretch strode up beside me ldquoHey Champrdquo Heslapped my bare back with his open hand so hard itmade a loud smack ldquoThanks for making me look sogoodrdquo

I got dressed quickly standing in a corner bymyself A few guys came over to say congratulationsBut I didnrsquot feel I deserved it

Across the locker room Stretch was still in hisswim trunks He was having a great time smacking

31

guys with his towel really making the towel snapagainst their bare skin laughing his head off

I tossed my towel in the basket Then I steppedup to the mirror over the sinks to comb my hair Aceiling lightbulb was out and I had to lean over thesink to see

I had just started to comb my wet hair backmdashwhen I saw the jagged crack along the length of theglass

ldquoWhoardquo I stopped combing and stepped backA broken mirror Seven years bad luck for some-

oneI reached into my khakis pocket and squeezed

my rabbitrsquos foot three times Then I turned back tothe mirror and began combing my hair again

Something was wrong I blinked Once TwiceA red light Some kind of red glare in the mirror

glassI squinted into the glassmdashand let out a cryThe red glare was coming from a pair of eyesmdash

two red eyes glowing like hot coalsTwo angry red eyes floating in the glass Floating

beside my reflectionI could see my confused expression as I stared at

the frightening red eyes as I watched the eyesslide across the glass slide slide closer until their red glow covered my eyes

32

My horrified reflection stared out at me with thefiery glowing eyes

And I opened my mouth and let out a long terri-fied scream

33

Over my scream I heard heavy footsteps behindme And then I heard a voicemdashStretchrsquos voiceldquoHeymdashget used to itrdquo

I spun around He grinned at me ldquoGet used to itChamp Thatrsquos your face It makes other peoplescream toordquo

ldquoNordquo I cried ldquoNo Itrsquos not Donrsquot you seemdashrdquoCoach Swanson burst in behind Stretch ldquoLukemdash

whatrsquos wrongrdquoldquoMy eyesrdquo I cried ldquoLook Are they red Are

theyrdquoCoach Swanson and Stretch exchanged glances ldquoWhat is his problemrdquo Stretch murmuredCoach Swanson stepped up close and examined

my eyes ldquoWhatrsquos wrong with you Luke Itrsquos just thechlorine from the pool Your eyes will be okay in a lit-tle whilerdquo

ldquoChlorine Huh Nordquo I insisted Then I glancedinto the mirror And saw my normal brown eyes gaz-ing back at me

34

No glowing eyes No red eyes burning in the glasslike an evil movie monster

ldquoUh well rdquo I rubbed my eyes They didnrsquotburn or anything They felt okay

I turned back to Stretch and Coach Swanson Ididnrsquot know what to say to them They were both stillstaring at me as if I were nuts

And maybe I was Black cats jumping out of my locker Glowing red

eyes in the mirrorldquoWell see you at practicerdquo I saidStretch laughed ldquoNot if I see you first Ha hardquoI laughed too It wasnrsquot funny but I wanted to

sound calm again normalAs I followed them out of the locker room I real-

ized I was trembling Why were these strange things happening to me

35

After dinner I was supposed to go to the mall withHannah She wanted to buy me some computer soft-ware for my birthday But she wanted me to pick itout

That was really nice of her But at the last minuteI decided not to go

I was still feeling weird from the swim tryoutsAnd I wanted to work on my animation project If Iworked really hard I might be able to get it finishedin time to show Mrs Coffey before she left school

I went up to my room and booted up the anima-tion But I couldnrsquot concentrate I kept staring at thefour-leaf clover inside a block of clear Lucite I keepon my desk And I kept jumping up and running tothe mirror to check my eyes

Perfectly normal Not glowingSo what happened What happened to me in that

locker room I asked myself I tried to convincemyself there was something wrong with the mirror

36

The red glow was because of the way the light hit thecrack in the mirror Or something

No That didnrsquot make senseThe phone rang a little before ten orsquoclock And it

was Hannah sounding very breathless and excitedldquoLukemdashyou shouldrsquove come You shouldrsquove

comerdquoI had to hold the phone away from my ear

Hannah was shouting so loud ldquoWhy What hap-penedrdquo I asked

ldquoI won itrdquo she declared ldquoDo you believe it Iwonrdquo

ldquoExcuse me Hannahmdashwhat are you talkingaboutrdquo

ldquoYou know the raffle at the mall That huge redSUV Itrsquos been on display there for a monthThousands of people put tickets in the boxThousands AndmdashandmdashI just happened to be walk-ing by when they had the drawing tonight Andmdashrdquo

ldquoYou didnrsquotrdquo I shriekedldquoYes Yes I won it I won the SUVrdquo ldquoWowrdquo I slumped onto my bed I actually felt

faint My heart was pounding as if I had wonldquoYou shouldrsquove seen me when they called out my

namerdquo Hannah gushed ldquoI screamed I just stoodthere and screamedrdquo

She screamed again shrieked at the top of herlungs A long high joyful scream

37

ldquoHannahmdashthatrsquos so awesomerdquo I said I donrsquotthink she heard me She was still screaming

ldquoMy family is so happy Luke You should seethem They are dancing around the living roomrdquo

ldquoThatrsquos so greatrdquo I saidHannah lowered her voice ldquoI just feel bad about

one thing Luke I was so crazed I was so berserk Iforgot why I was at the mall I forgot all about buy-ing you a birthday giftrdquo

I stood up I picked up the block with the four-leafclover inside and smoothed it between my handsldquoThatrsquos okayrdquo I told Hannah ldquoI just decided what Ireally want for my birthdayrdquo

ldquoWhatrsquos thatrdquo she askedldquoI want your luckrdquoHannah laughed She thought I was kidding But

of course I was seriousldquoAre you going to school tomorrowrdquo she askedldquoHuh Yeah sure Why notrdquoldquoTomorrow is Friday the thirteenthrdquo she said ldquoI

know how superstitious you are I thought maybeyoursquod stay home and hide under the bed all dayrdquo

ldquoHa hardquo I said But I felt a cold tingle at the backof my neck ldquoIrsquoll be thererdquo I told Hannah ldquoIrsquom nottotally wacko you knowrdquo

But Irsquoll wear my lucky shirt I thought And Irsquolltake my four-leaf clover in my backpack And Irsquoll askMom to pack my lucky sandwich for lunchmdashpeanutbutter and mayonnaise

38

ldquoI have to go to school tomorrowrdquo I told HannahldquoI have basketball practice after schoolrdquo

ldquoHowrsquos practice goingrdquo Hannah askedI chuckled ldquoNot bad So far I havenrsquot gotten any

splinters from sitting on the benchrdquoHannah laughed I could hear shouts and wild

laughter in the background ldquoIrsquove got to gordquo she saidshouting over the racket ldquoMy family is still celebrat-ing my winning the SUV Byerdquo

She clicked off before I could reply

That night I dreamed about locker 13In the dream I stepped up to the locker Someone

had taped a calendar to the door I came closer andsaw that Friday the thirteenth had been circled inred

I started to rip the calendar off the locker doorBut I stopped when I heard loud breathing Hoarsewheezing sounds Like someone was having troublebreathing

I touched the locker door And it was burning hotI screamed in shock and pulled my hand awayAgain I heard the hoarse breathing from inside

the locker And then I heard a tiny voice cry outldquoPlease get me outrdquo

In the dream I knew I was dreaming I wanted tolift myself out of the dream But I was stuck thereAnd I knew I had no choice I had to pull open thelocker door and see who was in there

39

ldquoPlease I want out Get me outrdquo the tinyfrightened voice called

Even though I knew I was dreaming I still felt sofrightened Real fear that makes you shake whetheryoursquore awake or asleep

I watched myself grip the door handle Slowlymdashso slowlymdashI pulled the locker door open

And I stared in horror at the figure huddled insidethe locker Because it was ME

It was me inside the locker hugging myself trem-bling all over It was memdashand my eyes started toglow My eyes glowed out from the dark locker red asfire

And as I stared at myself stared at those ugly evilred eyes I watched my face begin to change Iwatched hair grow out of my nostrils Long braids ofthick black hair sliding out of my nosemdashdown downto the locker floor

Beneath the shining red eyes thick blacktwisted ropes of hair were pouring from my nose Outof the locker Piling onto the hall floor Curlingaround me as I watched

Yes The long hair flowed from my nose andsnaked around me as I watched in horror Curledaround me covering me in warm scratchy hairCovering me like a big furry coat and then tighten-ing Tightening Tightening around my chestTightening around my face Wrapping me like amummy Wrapping me in my ghastly nose hair

40

I woke up one hand tightly wrapped around theLucite block with the four-leaf clover Gray morningsunlight seeped through my bedroom window Myroom was so cold cold as a freezer

ldquoLuke what are you doing up there Yoursquore laterdquoMomrsquos voice shattered the frozen silence

ldquoA dreamrdquo I murmured A hoarse laugh escapedmy throat My eyes darted around the room NormalEverything normal

ldquoHurry Luke Itrsquos really laterdquo Momrsquos voicesounded so good to me

I followed her order I hurried I got showereddressed ate breakfast and arrived at school withabout two minutes to spare The halls were prettyempty Most kids had already gone to their home-rooms

I glanced at the clock on the tile wall Then joggedto the end of the back hall to toss my jacket into mylocker

But a few feet from my locker I stopped with agasp

What was that on the door to locker 13I crept closer A calendarYes Someone had taped a calendar to the door

And and today Friday the thirteenth was cir-cled in red

41

ldquoMy dreamrdquo I murmuredThat horrifying dream Itrsquos coming true I realized

Irsquom going to open the door and itrsquos going to cometrue

42

I stared at the calendar at the number 13 circledin red marker

Last nightrsquos dream played itself again through mymind I shuddered My legs and arms itched I couldpractically feel the disgusting hair curling around myskin

With an angry cry I ripped the calendar off thedoor and crumpled it in my hand

Now I expected to hear the heavy breathing frominside the locker And the tiny criesmdashmy criesmdashbeg-ging to be let out

But I didnrsquot wait ldquoIrsquom not opening itrdquo I said outloud

No way am I going to allow the dream to cometrue

I tossed the wadded-up calendar sheet to thefloor Then I spun around and began running toclass The hall was empty My shoes thudded loudlyon the hard floor as I ran

Irsquoll keep my coat with me I decided Irsquoll just drag

43

it around with me all day I donrsquot need to open thelocker

The bell rang as I reached my homeroom doorMr Perkins looked up as I burst into the roomldquoGood morning Lukerdquo he said ldquoRunning a little latethis morningrdquo

ldquoA littlerdquo I replied breathlessly Unzipping myjacket I started to my seat

ldquoWould you like time to go hang your coat in yourlockerrdquo Mr Perkins asked

ldquoUh no Thatrsquos okayrdquo I lowered my backpackto the floor and dropped into the chair ldquoIrsquoll just keep itrdquo

A few kids were staring at me Mr Perkins noddedand turned back to the papers he was reading

I took a deep breath and settled back against thechair I rubbed the right sleeve of my lucky shirtseven times

That dream is not going to come true I toldmyself No way I wonrsquot let it

Of course I wasnrsquot thinking clearly How couldthat crazy dream come true

If I had stopped for one second to think about itI would have realized the whole idea was insane

But today was Friday the thirteenth And I nevercan think clearly on Friday the thirteenth I admit itIrsquom always a little crazy on that unlucky day

I glanced up to see that Mr Perkins had beenreading the morning announcements I hadnrsquot heard

44

a word he said I pulled the four-leaf clover from mybackpack twirled it in my hand and wished for goodluck for the rest of the day

At noon I found Hannah at a table against theback wall of the lunchroom She was sitting all byherself staring down at her brown lunchbag whichshe hadnrsquot opened

ldquoHi Whassuprdquo I dropped across from herldquoHirdquo she said softly without raising her eyes

ldquoHowrsquos it goingrdquoldquoWell pretty okay for a Friday the thirteenthrdquo I

said Actually the morning had flown by without anyproblems at all

I expected Hannah to make some kind of jokeabout how superstitious I am But she didnrsquot say aword

I pulled the sandwich from my bag and started tounwrap the foil ldquoMy lucky sandwichrdquo I saidldquoPeanut butter and mayonnaiserdquo

ldquoYumrdquo she said rolling her eyes She finallylooked at me She appeared tired Her eyes werebloodshot red as if shersquod been crying Her hair wasa mess and her face was gray

ldquoHow come yoursquore wearing your coatrdquo sheasked

ldquoOh uh no reasonrdquo I said ldquoI was kind ofcoldrdquo

She nodded glumly

45

ldquoDid you come to school in the new SUVrdquo Iasked

She shook her head ldquoWe donrsquot have it yet Dadhas to go fill out a lot of papersrdquo She let out a longsigh

I lowered my sandwich ldquoAre you feeling okayrdquo Iasked

She didnrsquot answer Instead she sighed again andstared down at the table

I poked her lunchbag with one finger ldquoWhat doyou have for lunchrdquo

She shrugged ldquoJust some fruit Irsquom not very hun-gryrdquo She opened the bag reached a hand in andpulled out a bright yellow banana

She struggled with the skin Then finally peeled itopen

ldquoOh yuckrdquo Her face twisted in disgust Shedropped the banana to the table

Inside the skin the banana was completely rot-ten Just a soft pile of black mush A horrible soursmellmdashlike ripe vomitmdashfloated up from it

Hannah shoved the banana away ldquoSick Thatrsquosreally sickrdquo

ldquoThe skin is perfectly freshrdquo I said ldquoHow couldthe banana be so rottenrdquo

ldquoI think I have an applerdquo Hannah said glumlyShe tore the bag apart and pulled out a red appleShe twirled it between her handsmdashthen stopped witha gasp

46

I saw the deep dark hole on the side of the appleAnd as we both stared at it a fat brown wormmdashatleast two inches longmdashcurled out from inside Andthen another And another

The worms dropped from the apple onto thetabletop

ldquoI donrsquot believe thisrdquo Hannah shrieked Shescraped her chair back so hard it toppled over

And before I could say anything she was runningfrom the room

After school I looked for Hannah on my way tobasketball practice I was worried about her She hadacted so weird at lunch Not like herself at all

I reminded myself that it was Friday the thir-teenth And sometimes people act a little weird onthis day

But not Hannah Hannah is the least supersti-tious person I know She walks under ladders all thetime and she hugs black cats and doesnrsquot think athing of it

And why should she Hannah has to be the luck-iest person on earth

Lockers slammed as kids prepared to go home Istarted to the gym then turned back I donrsquot want tocarry my coat and backpack to the gym I decidedIrsquom going to stuff them in my locker

I hesitated as the locker came into view at the endof the hall I read the words on the door LUCKY 13 Of

47

course I remembered my nightmaremdashand the calen-dar from my nightmare taped on the locker door

But I had to open the locker I didnrsquot want to carrymy stuff around with me for the rest of the year

ldquoHey Lukerdquo I saw Darnell Cross waving to mefrom the doorway to the science lab ldquoAre the Squiresgoing to beat Davenportrdquo

ldquoTheyrsquore not so toughrdquo I called back ldquoWe couldtake themrdquo

ldquoYou going to playrdquo Darnell asked He grinnedbecause he already knew the answer

ldquoAs soon as I grow taller than Stretchrdquo I repliedHe laughed and disappeared back into the lab I stepped up to locker 13 I brought my face close

to the door ldquoAnyone in thererdquo I called inSilenceldquoJust checkingrdquo I said I grabbed the door handle

I was feeling pretty confident Friday the thirteenthwas two-thirds over and so far nothing terriblyunlucky had happened to me

I squeezed my rabbitrsquos foot for luck Then I tooka deep breathmdashand pulled open the locker

48

Nothing unusual inside the locker I realized I was still gripping the rabbitrsquos foot

inside my pocket I let go of it and slipped my back-pack off my shoulders

I studied the locker carefully A bunch of booksand notebooks on the top shelf where I had leftthem My old gray sweatshirt lay crumpled on thelocker floor

No black cats No one breathing or crying orshooting piles of hair from his nose

I let out a long sigh of relief Then I tossed thebackpack on top of the balled-up sweatshirt Shovedmy jacket onto the hook on the back wall

I started to slam the door shut when I spottedsomething at my feet

My shoe kicked it and it rolled against the lockerbottom then bounced back

A ballI bent down and picked it up I raised it close to

my face

49

ldquoWhoardquo Not a ball A tiny yellow skull a littlelarger than a Ping-Pong ball

It had an open-mouthed grin revealing two rowsof gray teeth I ran my finger over the teeth Theywere hard and bumpy

I squeezed it The little skull was made of somekind of hard rubber

The eyesmdashsunken deep in the socketsmdashwere redglass They glowed in the hall lights like tiny rubies

ldquoWhere did you come fromrdquo I asked itI turned back to the locker Did the skull fall out

of the locker How did it get in there Was someoneplaying some kind of Friday the thirteenth headgame with me

I decided that had to be the answerI rolled the skull around in my hand a few times

I poked my finger against the glowing red glass eyes Then I tucked it into my pants pocket I slammed

the locker shutmdashand headed to practice

ldquoLook alive Heads up Look aliverdquo CoachBendix was shouting

I ran out of the locker room and grabbed a bas-ketball off the ball rack I began dribbling around thefloor

We were having one of Coachrsquos free-for-all prac-tices That meant we had to keep moving keepplayingmdashrun dribble pass shoot play defense Do

50

everything all at once in a big free-for-all I dribbled slowly across the floor concentrating

hard Trying not to lose the dribble I saw Stretch turntoward me He stuck out both hands and moved for-ward ready to block me

I decided to try and fake him out I dribbled leftmdashand moved right I edged past him easily Movedunder the basket And sent up a shot that sailedacross the gym and dropped in

ldquoHeymdashone for onerdquo I cried happilyldquoLucky shotrdquo Stretch calledI took the ball and moved back to the top of the

key I sent up a two-handed jumpshot It soared overthe rimmdashand dropped through the basket with a softswish

ldquoYesrdquo I pumped my fists in the airI didnrsquot have long to celebrate I turned and saw

Stretch barreling toward me dribbling hard leaningforward with grim determination

Hersquos going to charge right over me I realized Hersquosgoing to flatten me

Guys backed out of his way as Stretch flew acrossthe floor

ldquoLook out Lukerdquo someone shoutedI froze for a moment Then I ducked to the left

Stuck out my hand and slapped the ball away fromStretch

He made a wild grab for it But I dribbled it out of

51

his reach Then I spun around and sent a wild highshot into the air The ball hit the glass backboardmdashand sank through the net

ldquoWowrdquoldquoWay to go LukerdquoldquoThree for threerdquoThe other players were in shockStretch shook his head ldquoFeeling lucky today

Think fastrdquo He pulled back his long armmdashandheaved the ball at my chest with all his strength

I caught it easily Dribbled it three times Shotmdashand dropped another basket

Stretch scowled ldquoI donrsquot believe thisrdquo he mut-tered shaking his head

I donrsquot either I thought to myself Irsquove never shotfour baskets in a row in my life

I turned and saw Coach Bendix watching me Wasthis my big chance Stretch and another player werepassing the ball back and forth moving across thefloor

I shot forward Intercepted Stretchrsquos pass Droveto the basket And sent up an easy layup ldquoTwopointsrdquo I cried

With an angry grunt Stretch reached for therebound But I pushed it out of his hands Grabbed itSpun Shot again ldquoTwo pointsrdquo

Stretch cried out angrily He bumped me hard

52

from behind I think he would have flattened me onthe spot But he saw that Coach Bendix was runningover to us

Coach slapped me on the back ldquoWay to goLukerdquo he boomed ldquoWay to show real improvementIrsquom impressed Keep it up okay Irsquom going to give yousome playing time next Fridayrdquo

ldquoHeymdashthanksrdquo I replied breathlesslyI saw Stretch scowl Saw his face turn an angry

redI grabbed a ball and dribbled away I wanted to

shout and jump for joy Had my luck finally changedIt seemed that way Suddenly I could pass and

jump and shoot and play defense like I never couldbefore It was as if I was possessed or somethingPossessed by an all-star athlete

In the locker room after practice Stretch ignoredme But other guys slapped me on the back andflashed me a thumbs-up

ldquoLookinrsquo good LukerdquoldquoWay to go manrdquoldquoGo SquiresrdquoI was feeling really happy Like a new person As I

changed into my street clothes I felt the little skull inmy pants pocket I pulled it out and gazed at itsmoothing my thumb over the hard rubber

ldquoAre you my new good-luck charmrdquo I asked itThe tiny red eyes glowed back at me I kissed it

gave it a smack on top of its yellow head and shoved

53

it back into my pants pocketThat skull is going everywhere with me I decided

Itrsquos got to be lucky Itrsquos got to beAs I walked home I kept reliving my great bas-

ketball triumph I pictured my long perfect jump-shots again And I saw myself stealing the ball fromStretchrsquos hands driving right past him and scoringEmbarrassing him Embarrassing Stretch again andagain

Wow What a dayIt was a cold gray afternoon Dark clouds hung

low over the nearly bare trees It felt more like winterthan fall

A few blocks from home I crossed a streetmdashandheard a short cry

A long low evergreen hedge ran across the frontyard on the corner I stopped gazing over the hedgeHad the cry come from the yard

I listened hard Down the block a car doorslammed A dog started to bark The wind made awhistling sound through the phone lines overhead

And then I heard itmdashanother sharp crymdashlongerthis time

A baby It sounded like a babyrsquos cryldquoOwwwww OwwwwwwrdquoI lowered my gaze to the hedgemdashand saw the

creature making the shrill criesA cat No A small orange-and-white kitten

54

It appeared to be stuck in the prickly brambles ofthe hedge

ldquoOwwwww OwwwwwwrdquoCarefully I bent down and gently lifted the cat out

with both hands As I cupped my hands around it itstopped crying immediately But it was still breathinghard its white chest moving rapidly up and down Irubbed its head trying to soothe it

ldquoYoursquore okay little kittenrdquo I whisperedAnd then I heard another cry A loud shriekI looked up to see a large woman running at me

angrily Her face was bright red and she waved herarms furiously

ldquoOh nordquo I muttered I nearly dropped the catWhy is she so angryWhat have I done

55

ldquoThe kittenmdashrdquo she cried shoving through abreak in the hedge

ldquoImdashIrsquom sorryrdquo I stammered ldquoI didnrsquot know ImdashrdquoldquoWhere did you find herrdquo the woman demanded

her face still bright red ldquoIn in the hedgerdquoldquoOh thank you Thank yourdquo the woman said

She took the kitten from my hands and raised it toher cheek ldquoSasha where did you gordquo

Irsquom not in trouble I finally realized The womanis happymdashnot angry

ldquoSasha has been missing for two daysrdquo thewoman told me pressing the kitten against her faceldquoI offered a reward and everything I almost gave uphoperdquo

I let out a long sigh of relief ldquoShe was right thererdquoI said pointing ldquoIn the hedge I think she wascaught in itrdquo

ldquoWell shersquos fine now thanks to yourdquo Still press-ing the kitten to her cheek the woman pushed

56

through the hedge and started to the house ldquoWhat isyour namerdquo

ldquoLukerdquoldquoWell follow me Luke Irsquoll get your reward for

yourdquoldquoHuh Reward No Reallyrdquo I started to back

awayldquoYou saved Sasharsquos liferdquo the woman said ldquoYou

did a wonderful thing And I insist you take thereward I offeredrdquo

I saw that I had no choice I followed her to herkitchen door

A few minutes later she counted out five twenty-dollar bills and pressed them into my hand ldquoThankyou Luke You really did your good deed for todayrdquo

A hundred dollarsA hundred dollars rewardMy luck really is starting to change I decidedWhen I got home a big surprise awaited me Mom had made my favorite dinnermdashmeat loaf

mashed potatoes and gravy And a coconut cake fordessert

ldquoItrsquos not even my birthdayrdquo I exclaimedldquoI just felt like doing something nice for you

todayrdquo Mom said She brushed back my hair withone hand ldquoI know Friday the thirteenth is always ahard day for yourdquo

ldquoNot todayrdquo I told her grinning ldquoNot todayrdquo

57

After my second slice of coconut cake I went upto my room and started my homework I spent aboutan hour writing out the answers to my scienceassignment

It shouldnrsquot have taken that long But I kept tak-ing out the twenty-dollar bills counting them againand dreaming about what I could buy with them

After science I worked on my computer anima-tion Irsquod been having trouble with the last section Icouldnrsquot get anything to move the way I wanted

But tonight my good luck continued I had notrouble at all The images all slid together perfectly Ialmost finished the project

A little after nine I decided to give Hannah a callShersquod acted so weird at lunch that afternoon Ithought maybe she was sick or something

I called to see if she was feeling better But I couldtell by the way she answered the phone that she stillwasnrsquot her old self

I tried to cheer her up I told her about my tri-umph at basketball practice And about the hundred-dollar reward for finding the lost kitten

ldquoVery coolrdquo Hannah said But her voice showedno enthusiasm at all

ldquoAnd then Mom made all of my favorite things fordinnerrdquo I exclaimed

ldquoLuckyrdquo Hannah mutteredldquoWhatrsquos your problemrdquo I demanded ldquoWhatrsquos

wrong with you todayrdquo

58

A long silence at her endFinally she said ldquoI guess Irsquom just in a bad mood

I fell off my bike on the way home this afternoonrdquoI groaned ldquoOh no Are you okayrdquoldquoNot reallyrdquo she replied ldquoI scraped all the skin

off my right hand And I twisted my ankle prettybadrdquo

ldquoWowrdquo I muttered ldquoBad newsrdquoldquoEspecially since I have a basketball game tomor-

rowrdquo Hannah sighedldquoThink yoursquoll be able to playrdquo I askedldquoMayberdquo she said glumly ldquoMaybe Irsquoll come watch your gamerdquo I saidThere was a long silence And then Hannah said

ldquoLuke therersquos something something I have to tellyourdquo

ldquoExcuse merdquo I said She was whispering so lowI could barely hear her

ldquoI really should tell you something But rdquoI pressed the phone tighter to my ear ldquoWhat

What is itrdquo ldquoWell rdquoAnother long silenceldquoI canrsquotrdquo she said finally I heard a click and the

line went silentThe next morning my good luck came to an end

59

At least I thought my good luck had endedWhen I arrived at my science class I searched

my backpack for the homework questions Not thereI took everything outmdashevery paper every bookevery pencil

Not there I had spent over an hour on thatassignment last night And Irsquod left it at home

Now I was in major trouble Miss Creamer didnrsquotaccept late homework And homework counted forfifty percent of the grade in her class

My stomach tightened with dread as she enteredthe science lab to begin class

How could I be so stupid ldquoGood morning everyonerdquo she began ldquoI have an

announcement to make Itrsquos about last nightrsquos home-workrdquo

The room grew silentldquoI have to apologize to all of yourdquo Miss Creamer

continued ldquoI gave the wrong assignment Thosewerenrsquot the right questions Irsquom really sorry You

60

donrsquot have to turn it in Just tear it up and throw itawayrdquo

Cheers rang out Some kids gleefully ripped theirpapers into shreds A big celebration

Yes More good luck for me I thought happilyI was on a hot streak Later when Miss Creamer

handed back last weekrsquos test I had the only A in theclass

In the lunchroom I grabbed the last slice of pizzaon the counter

All the kids behind me in line groaned Darnellcame up and offered to pay me five dollars for it Butno deal

After school I stopped by the computer lab to seeMrs Coffey She told me her plans had suddenlychanged She wouldnrsquot be leaving school for anothertwo weeks

I cheered That meant I had time to finish mycomputer animation project and show it to her beforeI left

ldquoLuke I was talking about you to my friend whoowns Linkups You knowmdashthe computer store onHighlands I told him about how you can do any-thing with computers fix them upgrade them Hesaid you might be able to come into the store onSaturdays and help out in the service departmentrdquo

I gasped ldquoReallyrdquoShe nodded ldquoHersquos a really nice guy and hersquos

always looking for people who can fix machines He

61

said he couldnrsquot give you a real job since yoursquore onlytwelve But he could pay you five dollars an hourrdquo

ldquoWow I cried ldquoThatrsquos awesome Thanks MrsCoffeyrdquo

I practically flew down the stairs to the gym Iwanted to flap my arms and take off So many greatthings were happening to me I couldnrsquot believe it

Hannahrsquos basketball game had already startedwhen I stepped into the gym I found a seat in thebleachers and glanced up at the scoreboard TheSquirettes were already losing ten to two

Whatrsquos going on I wondered How can Hannahrsquosteam be losing so badly The team they were play-ingmdashthe Bee Stingers from Elwood Middle Schoolmdashwere the worst team in the city

I turned and glanced around the bleachers Therewere only about twenty kids watching the game Andfour or five parents clustered together at the top ofthe bleachers

ldquoGo Sharonrdquo one of the mothers yelledBut the gym was pretty quiet I guess because the

Squirettes were playing so badlyI leaned forward and tried to concentrate on the

game Sharon McCombs the tallest girl in the Shawnee

Valley eighth grade tossed the ball in A pass Thenanother pass which was almost stolen by a BeeStinger

Hannah grabbed the ball She turned and started

62

to dribble to the basket After about three steps shetripped The ball bounced away as she fell flat on herstomach

A Bee Stinger grabbed it just before it went out ofbounds She dribbled all the way down the floormdashand scored easily before Hannah had even pickedherself up off the floor Twelve to two

I cupped my hands around my mouth ldquoGet rsquoemHannahrdquo I shouted

She didnrsquot look up She was fiddling with thewhite bandage on her hand

A minute later Hannah had the ball again Inclose She jumped and shot And missed Missed thenet the backboard Missed everything

I leaned on my hands and watched the game insilence Hannah missed six or seven shots in a rowShe tripped over the ball hit the floor hard and gota huge bright red floor burn on her knee Her pass-es to her teammates went wild She kept losing theball to the other team Tripping over her own feetBumping into other players

It was sad She didnrsquot look like Hannah at allThe half-time score was Bee Stingers twenty-five

Squirettes five When the team came out to start the second half

Hannah sat down on the bench and didnrsquot play Whatrsquos going on I wondered I climbed down from the bleachers and walked

over to her on the bench

63

ldquoLuke you came to a bad-news gamerdquo she saidshaking her head

ldquoWhatrsquos wrongrdquo I asked ldquoYoursquore hurt Fromyour bike accident yesterdayrdquo

She watched the Bee Stingers score another bas-ket Then she turned to me ldquoNo Itrsquos not because ofmy accidentrdquo she whispered Her eyes were dullwatery Her skin was so pale

ldquoSo what is itrdquo I askedHannah frowned ldquoItrsquos all because I lost my good-

luck charmrdquo she said I gaped at her ldquoHuhrdquoldquoItrsquos what brought me all that amazing great

luckrdquo Hannah said ldquoI have to find it As soon as Ilost it my luck changedrdquo

My mouth dropped open I realized my heart hadstarted to pound

ldquoItrsquos a tiny skullrdquo Hannah continued ldquoA little yel-low skull ImdashI never went anywhere without itrdquo

She tugged at the bandage on her hand Then sheraised her eyes to me ldquoYou havenrsquot seen it any-where have you Lukerdquo

64

My legs suddenly felt weak I gripped the back ofthe bench and stared at Hannah I could feel my facegrowing red

I could feel the skull in my jeans pocket I knew Ishould pull it out and hand it to her

But how could II needed the good luck too Hannah had enjoyed

so much good luck for so long Mine had just startedFor the first time in my life I was having a little goodluck

How could I go back to being a loser againHannahrsquos watery eyes locked on mine ldquoHave you

seen it Lukerdquo she repeated ldquoHave you seen it any-whererdquo

My face burned So many frantic thoughtswhirred through my head

I really needed that good-luck charm Ever sinceI found it my life had changed I was a new person

But Hannah was my friend My best friend in the

65

whole world She was always there for me when Ineeded her

I couldnrsquot lie to hermdashcould IldquoNordquo I said ldquoI havenrsquot seen it anywhererdquoHannahrsquos eyes remained on me for a few seconds

more Then she nodded slowly and turned back tothe game

My heart was pounding hard now I had a heavyfeeling in the pit of my stomach ldquoWhere did you loseitrdquo I asked

She didnrsquot reply She cupped her hands aroundher mouth and cheered on her teammates

I backed away from the bench I felt like a totalcreep I jammed my hand into my pocket Wrappedmy fingers around the rubber skull

Give it back to her Luke a voice in my headurged The voice of goodness The voice of friend-ship

But I knew I wasnrsquot going to give it back I wasalready trotting out of the gym and down the hall tothe exit

I need it a little while longer I told myself Just alittle while

Long enough to win the basketball champi-onship Long enough to get really good grades for thefirst time in my life Long enough to impress myfriends to get on the swim team to make aname for myself long enough to be a winner

I squeezed the little skull all the way home Irsquoll

66

give it back to Hannah in a couple of weeks I toldmyself Two weeks thatrsquos all Maybe three And thenIrsquoll give it back to her And she can have her goodluck again No harm done

No harm donemdashright

The phone was ringing when I stepped in thekitchen door I tossed down my backpack and ran toanswer it

To my surprise it was Mrs Coffey ldquoLuke Irsquom glad I caught yourdquo she said ldquoI have

some really good news You know my friend at thecomputer storerdquo

ldquoYesrdquoldquoI spoke to him after you left the computer lab

And he said you could start work at his store onSaturdayrdquo

ldquoThatrsquos greatrdquo I exclaimedldquoBut thatrsquos not my good newsrdquo Mrs Coffey con-

tinued ldquoHe has a friend who is putting together ashow of computer animation And his friend is veryinterested in seeing your workrdquo

ldquoReallyrdquo I criedldquoHe needs short pieces for his animation show

right awayrdquo she said ldquoIf he likes your piece he saidhe will pay a thousand dollars for itrdquo

ldquoWowrdquo ldquoIs it finished Lukerdquo Mrs Coffey asked ldquoIs it

ready to show to himrdquo

67

I thought hard ldquoAlmostrdquo I said ldquoI need two moredays on it Maybe threerdquo

ldquoWell try to hurryrdquo Mrs Coffey said ldquoI think hehas most of the pieces he needs Hersquos going to beshowing them all over the country It would be ashame to miss outmdashrdquo

ldquoIt sure wouldrdquo I interrupted ldquoIrsquoll get right towork on it Mrs Coffey And thanks Thanks a lotrdquo

Excited I hurried up to my room and turned onthe computer Maybe I can get some work done on itbefore dinner I decided

I heard Mom come in downstairs I called hi toher and said I was working on my computer project

A few minutes later the phone rang again I heardMom talking for a while Then I heard her running upthe stairs She burst into my room ran up behind meand wrapped me in a big hug

ldquoHuh Whatrsquos that forrdquo I criedldquoThat was Mariorsquos Steakhouse on the phonerdquo

Mom said grinning ldquoYou know Your favorite restau-rant You won Luke Remember that drawing we allentered the last time we were there Well you wonit They picked your card You won dinner for thewhole family Twelve dinners One a month for thenext yearrdquo

ldquoWowrdquo I jumped up from the computerLaughing and cheering Mom and I did a happy littledance around the room

ldquoI canrsquot believe you won that drawing That is so

68

terrificrdquo Mom exclaimed ldquoWersquore going to have tostart calling you Lucky Lukerdquo

ldquoYeah Lucky Lukerdquo I repeated ldquoI like thatThatrsquos me Lucky Lukerdquo

I worked on my animation until nearly midnightI stared into the glow of the monitor until I couldnrsquotsee straight and the images became a fuzzy blur

ldquoAlmost finishedrdquo I said yawningI changed into pajamas brushed my teeth got

ready for sleep But just before I climbed into bed Ipulled out my lucky little skull for one last look

I held it gently in my hand and studied it rubbingmy fingers over the smooth top of the skull The tinyred jewel eyes glowed brightly

I rubbed my fingers over the hard bumpy teeth Itwirled the skull in my hand

ldquoMy little good-luck charmrdquo I whisperedI set it down carefully on my dresser in front of

the mirror Then I turned out the lights and climbedinto bed

I settled back on my pillows pulling the quilt upto my chin I yawned loudly The mattress creakedunder me Waiting for sleep I stared into the dark-ness

The curtains were pulled so no light washed infrom the street The room was completely blackexcept for a faint red glow

The glow of the two red eyes in the skull Like tiny

69

match flames against the blacknessAnd then I saw two more glowing spots of red

light Larger Behind the tiny skull eyesTwo circles of light in the mirror glass Two flame-

red circles the size of tennis ballsAnd as their light grew brighter more intense

I could see a form in the dresser mirror Deep nostril holes two rows of jagged grin-

ning teethA skull A red-eyed skullNot tiny A huge grinning yellow-boned skull

that filled the mirrorFilled the mirror And stared out at me with those

fiery flame-red eyesI sat straight up Squeezed the quilt And gaped in

horror as the jagged teeth moved The jaw slid open And the enormous skull mouthed the words

mouthed them so clearly ldquoLucky Lukerdquo

70

The giant glowing skull leaned forward as if topush out of the mirror The jaw worked up and downThe red glow seemed to bathe the whole room inflames

I opened my mouth in a horrified screamI screamed and then screamed againThe ceiling light flashed onldquoLukemdashwhatrsquos wrongrdquoBlinking in the sudden light I saw my dad burst

breathlessly into the room His pajama shirt wastwisted One pajama pants leg rode up to his kneeHis hair was tangled from sleep standing straight upon one side

ldquoWhat is itrdquo he repeatedldquoImdashImdashrdquo I pointed to the mirror My head spun

with confusion I couldnrsquot find wordsldquoThe skullmdashrdquo I finally choked outBrushing back his hair Dad crossed the room to

my dresser I stared into the glass

71

Nothing nowNothing in there except the reflection of my

room As he came near I could see Dadrsquos worriedface reflected in the glass

ldquoIs this what you were screaming aboutrdquo Dadasked He picked up the little yellow skull and heldit out to me ldquoThis skullrdquo

ldquoN-nordquo I stammeredI was thinking hard trying to figure out what I

had seenIt couldnrsquot have been the reflection of the little

skull I saw in the glass NoThe skull that loomed in the mirror was enor-

mous its eyes as big as basketballsDad still squinted at me from the dresser holding

the little skull up in front of himldquoI guess I had a bad dreamrdquo I said softly settling

back onto my pillows ldquoItmdashit was so weird I dreamedI saw a giant skull with flaming eyes But it wasso realrdquo

Dad shook his head ldquoWell if this little skull isgiving you bad dreams want me to take it awayrdquo Hestarted to the door

ldquoNordquo I screamed I jumped out of bed to block his path He looked

startled as I grabbed the skull from his handldquoItrsquos itrsquos a good-luck charmrdquo I said ldquoItrsquos

brought me a lot of good luckrdquo

72

Dad frowned as he gazed at the little skull in myhand ldquoYou sure Luke It doesnrsquot look good to me Itlooks evilrdquo

ldquoEvilrdquo I laughed ldquoNo way Dad No way Trustmerdquo

He clicked off the light on his way out A shortwhile later I fell asleep gripping the skull tightly inone hand

A few days later I screamed my head off again

73

This time it was for funA bunch of us were on our skates up on Killer

Hill Itrsquos actually Miller Hill But we call it Killer Hillbecause itrsquos up at the top where Broad Street scoopsstraight downmdasha steep steep slope down threeblocks to Miller Street

Miller Street has the most traffic in ShawneeValley So the idea is we come skating down BroadStreet full speed We come rocketing down the steepslope as fast as we canmdashand try to skate rightthrough the traffic on Miller

It makes all the car drivers totally crazy You canalways hear tires squealing horns honking driversscreaming as kids come skating right at them

Yes Itrsquos really dangerous Most kids wonrsquot eventhink of trying it But for a guy with my kind of goodluck whatrsquos the big deal

It was a sunny cold Sunday afternoon Froststuck to the tops of the cars My breath smoked upin front of me as I skated to the top of Killer Hill

74

I met Darnell up there He was having troublewith the brake on one of his skates Finally he justripped the brake off and tossed it in a trash canldquoWhy do I need brakesrdquo he said grinning at meldquoThey only slow you downrdquo

Stretch and some of his pals appeared a few min-utes later Stretch was wearing some kind of yellowsweats He looked like Big Bird on skates

He lowered his shoulder and tried to bump me offmy feet But I skated away easily And he didnrsquot tryagain

Things have been a little different betweenStretch and me since I took his place on the basket-ball team Hersquos my backup now He gets to play onlywhen Irsquom tired and need a short rest And I think hersquosin shock over it

Stretch still tries to give me a hard time But Idonrsquot think his heart is in it He knows hersquos a loserHe knows hersquos not one of the lucky peoplemdashlike me

ldquoYou ready to skaterdquo Darnell called He pulledon his helmet Then he stood in the middle of thestreet leaning forward hands on his knees

I gazed down the steep hill to the traffic belowEven though it was Sunday afternoon cars and vanssped along Miller as if it were the afternoon rushhour

I adjusted my knee pads ldquoReadyrdquo I said I movedbeside Darnell

Stretch skated in front of us He grinned at me

75

ldquoHow about a racerdquoI shook my head ldquoYoursquore too slow Darnell and I

donrsquot want to have to wait for you down thererdquoldquoHa ha When did you get so funny Champrdquo

Stretch reached into the pocket of his yellow sweatsHe held up a ten-dollar bill ldquoLetrsquos make it a real raceTen bucks each Winner takes allrdquo

He stuck the money in front of my face I shovedit away ldquoI donrsquot take candy from babiesrdquo I saidldquoKeep your moneyrdquo

Stretch gritted his teeth His pale face turned anangry red He leaned close ldquoYou gonna race me ornotrdquo he growled

I squeezed the rubber skull in my pocket I knewthere was no way I could lose ldquoOkayrdquo I said ldquoButIrsquom going to make it fairrdquo

I pulled a wool scarf from my coat pocket andstarted to wrap it around my head ldquoJust to give you achance Irsquoll skate blindfoldedrdquo

Stretch snickered ldquoYoursquore joking right Yoursquoregoing to skate through all those cars blindfoldedrdquo

ldquoDonrsquot do it Lukerdquo a voice calledI turned to see Hannah waving to me She was

hobbling up the sidewalk on crutches Her right foothad a large white bandage over it ldquoDonrsquot do itrdquo shecalled shrilly

I spun away from the guys and skated over to her

76

ldquoHannahmdashwhat happenedrdquo I asked motioning tothe crutches

She sighed and leaned heavily on them ldquoItrsquos myanklerdquo she said ldquoRemember when I fell off my bikeWe thought it was just a sprain But my ankle keepsswelling up like a water balloon I had to have itdrained three timesrdquo

ldquoYuckrdquo I said staring down at the bandageThe wind fluttered her red hair She shook her

head sadly ldquoThe doctors canrsquot figure out whatrsquoswrong ImdashI might need surgery I donrsquot know AndMom says if it doesnrsquot get better I canrsquot go on thejunior high overnight on Wednesdayrdquo

ldquoWow Thatrsquos bad newsrdquo I murmured Everyonelooks forward to the overnight The whole junior highgoes to a campground by the lake and everyonestays up and parties all night

I couldnrsquot take my eyes off Hannahrsquos bandagedankle Is this my fault I suddenly wondered Did Ireally take away her good luck Hannah has hadnothing but bad luck ever since I found the skull

Irsquom going to give it back to her I silentlypromised Real soon Real soon

ldquoYou skating or notrdquo Stretch called ldquoOr are youjust going to stand there and talk with your girl-friendrdquo

ldquoIrsquom comingrdquo I said I started to wrap the scarfaround my eyes

77

ldquoLuke donrsquotrdquo Hannah insisted ldquoDonrsquot do itblindfolded Itmdashitrsquos crazyrdquo

ldquoNo problemrdquo I said ldquoIrsquom a superhero HannahCars will bounce right off merdquo

I skated away from her ldquoYoursquore wrongrdquo she called ldquoLuke listen to me

The good luckmdashit doesnrsquot last foreverrdquoI laughed What was she talking aboutI skated up beside Darnell and grabbed his arm

to steady myself I pulled the scarf over my eyes untilI saw only black

ldquoYoursquore crazyrdquo he muttered ldquoYou could getkilled manrdquo

ldquoNo wayrdquo I declared ldquoIrsquom going to win twentybucks from you twordquo

I heard Stretch skate up beside me ldquoYoursquore doingthis for realrdquo he asked ldquoYoursquore going to skate into allthose cars blindfoldedrdquo

ldquoYou going to talk or skaterdquo I asked him ldquoFirstone past Miller Street without stopping wins themoneyrdquo

ldquoLukemdashdonrsquot be crazyrdquo Hannah calledIt was the last thing I heard before the three of us

took off I leaned forward skating straight and hard I

heard Stretch and Darnell beside me theirRollerblades scraping the pavement

As we picked up speed I could hear the traffic onMiller I heard a horn honk Heard someone shout

I skated down down laughing through thedarkness

78

ldquoLukemdashloooook outrdquoI heard Darnellrsquos scream I heard the squeal of

tires Horns honkedI tossed back my head and laughed I roared

through Miller Street the blade wheels whistling overthe pavement

Then as I turned my skates and came to a slowstop I ripped the scarf away And saw Darnell stand-ing on the curb on the other side of Miller His mouthwas open He shook his head

Stretch came skating around me ldquoYou crazyjerkrdquo he shouted ldquoYou were almost killed threetimesrdquo

I calmly held out my hand ldquoMoney pleaserdquoldquoYou lucky jerkrdquo Stretch muttered He slapped

the ten-dollar bill into my gloved hand ldquoYoursquorecrazy Really Yoursquore just plain crazyrdquo

I laughed ldquoThanks for the compliment And theten bucksrdquo

79

Grumbling to himself Stretch skated back up tohis friends

Darnell waited for the traffic to clear then skatedover to me He wiped sweat off his forehead ldquoYouwere almost killedrdquo he said his voice shaking ldquoWhydid you do it Lukerdquo

I grinned at him ldquoBecause I canrdquo

The weather turned warm for our overnight camp-out Even though the trees were bare the woodssmelled fresh and sweet almost like spring Highwhite clouds dotted the bright blue afternoon skyTwigs and dead leaves crackled and crunched underour feet as we hiked through the tall trees to thecamping grounds

I squeezed the small skull in one hand as Iwalked weighted down by the heavy pack on myback Some kids were singing a Beatles song Behindme a group of girls were telling really bad knock-knock jokes laughing shrilly after each one

Coach Bendix and Ms Raymond another gymteacher led the way along the twisting path throughthe trees I was about halfway back in the line ofkids

I turned and found Hannah beside me She woreher blue windbreaker with the hood pulled up overher head She was leaning on one crutch as shewalked struggling to keep up ldquoDo you have anywaterrdquo she asked

80

I slowed down ldquoYour parents let you come Isyour ankle betterrdquo

ldquoNot reallyrdquo she replied frowning ldquoBut I toldthem I had to come anyway I wouldnrsquot miss it Doyou have any water Irsquom dyingrdquo

ldquoYeah Surerdquo I reached for the bottle of water inmy pack ldquoDidnrsquot you bring anyrdquo

Hannah sighed ldquoMy water bottle had a leak orsomething It poured out and soaked all the extraclothes in my pack Now I donrsquot have a thing towearrdquo

I handed her the water bottle Leaning on the crutch she pushed back the wind-

breaker hood and I saw her face for the first timeHer skin was covered with big red splotchesldquoHannah whatrsquos thatrdquo I cried ldquoYour facemdashrdquoldquoDonrsquot look at merdquo she snapped She turned her

back and took a long gulp of waterldquoBut what is itrdquo I demanded ldquoPoison ivyrdquoldquoNo I donrsquot think sordquo she said still facing away

from me ldquoI woke up with it Some kind of red rashAll over my bodyrdquo She sighed ldquoI donrsquot get a breakrdquo

She handed the water bottle back to me andpulled the blue plastic hood over her head ldquoThanksfor the waterrdquo

ldquoDoes it itchrdquo I askedShe let out an angry cry ldquoI really donrsquot want to

talk about itrdquo She grabbed the crutch tightly swungit hard in front of her and hurried ahead of me drag-

81

ging her bandaged foot over the dirt pathShersquos having so much bad luck I guess itrsquos my

fault I thought squeezing the skull in my pocket But why are all these terrible things happening to

her Why isnrsquot there enough good luck for both of usI didnrsquot have much time to think about it Behind me I heard shrill frightened screams I

saw kids running off the path Screaming Calling forhelp

I spun around and headed toward them the heavypack bouncing on my back ldquoWhatrsquos going onrdquo Icried ldquoWhatrsquos wrongrdquo

More shrill screamsAnd then I saw the two enormous brown snakes

Swinging down from a low tree limb Blocking thepath

The same color as the tree they twisted their longbodies thicker than garden hoses and snapped theirjaws

I didnrsquot hesitate I dived forward stretching out myarms

ldquoLukemdashwhat are you doing Stay away fromthemrdquo I heard Coach Bendix shout

The kidsrsquo frightened screams rang through thewoods

ldquoGet away from themrdquo Coach orderedBut I knew nothing could hurt me I knew my good

luck would keep me safe

82

I shot my hands out And grabbed both snakesone in each hand

I wrapped my fingers around their thick bodiesThen with a hard tug I wrenched them off the treelimb And raised them high

ldquoWhoardquoI didnrsquot realize how long they were And how strongI let out a startled cry as both snakes wriggled

loose I saw the tiny black eyes flash Saw the jawsopen

Then both snake heads came crashing towardme jaws snappingmdashsnapping so furiously beneaththe flashing eyes snapping like bear traps

83

I felt a rush of air as they snappedmdashsnappedmdashsnapped their sharp-toothed jaws Heads swingingwildly Whole bodies swinging and shaking Thickwhite drool clinging to their pointed teeth

Shrill screams rose all around me I stared atthe snapping heads the glimmering black eyesmdashuntil it seemed that the snakes were screamingtoo

And thenmdashthey flew from my handsWriggled free with strong tosses of their heavy

bodies And plunged to the ground Disappearingso quickly Blending into the hard brown dirtVanishing beneath the carpet of fat brown leavestwigs and fallen limbs

As kids surrounded me I stood hunched overgasping for breath I smoothed my open handsover my ears my cheeks my whole face

I waited for the pain of the snakebites to spreadover me

But no No sting No throbbing No pain

84

They had snapped so close I felt their breathon my skin

But they hadnrsquot bitten me ldquoYoursquore so luckyrdquo Coach Bendix was saying He

had a hand on my shoulder and was examining myface ldquoI never saw anyone so lucky Why did you doit Luke Those snakes are deadly poisonousDeadly Why did you do itrdquo

I stared at him but didnrsquot answer I didnrsquot knowwhat to say

How could I explain it to him How could Iexplain to anyone what it felt like to be so incrediblyawesomely lucky

All around kids were cheering Congratulatingme Talking about me how brave I had been

Leaning against a tree I saw Hannah She stoodby herself crutch under one arm She was the onlyone not smiling not cheering

I saw the red blotches on Hannahrsquos faceWatched as she transfered the crutch to her otherarm And saw her scowling at me her eyes nar-rowed She shook her head and scowled

And in that moment I realized that she was jeal-ous Jealous of my good luck

Jealous that she was no longer the hero She wasno longer the lucky one

Too bad Hannah I thought watching her angryexpression I had felt sorry for her I had felt reallyguilty too

85

But no moreIrsquove got the luck now Hannah I thought And Irsquom

going to keep it

ldquoLetrsquos go guys Wersquove got another game to winrdquoI cried I gave Sam Mulroney a playful towel slap

Locker doors slammed Guys finished lacing uptheir basketball shoes

ldquoDid you see those Deaver Mills guysrdquo Mulroneyasked peeking into the gym through a crack in thelocker room door ldquoTheyrsquore monsters They must feedthose guys whole steaks five times a dayrdquo

ldquoBig doesnrsquot mean goodrdquo I said ldquoThey look likecows Theyrsquore so slowrdquo

ldquoWersquoll dribble circles around themrdquo Jay Boxersaid

ldquoJust feed me the ballrdquo I instructed them ldquoNomatter where I am Feed me the ball Irsquoll put it in Irsquomfeeling lucky today guys Real luckyrdquo

ldquoHey Champmdashrdquo Stretch called pulling on his jer-sey ldquoYoursquore not a ball hog or anythingmdashare yourdquo

Guys used to laugh when Stretch shouted insultsat me But not anymore Everyone was on my sidenow Everyone wanted to be on the winnerrsquos side

ldquoHey Stretchmdashwhat do they call yourdquo I shoutedback ldquoA bench hogrdquo

Everybody laughedStretch laughed too Now that I was a winner he

was starting to be a little nicer to me He even gave

86

me some dribbling tips after one practice The guys all headed out to the gym I could hear

the shouts of the crowd in the bleachers And thesteady thud of basketballs on the floor as the DeaverMills Lions warmed up

ldquoTime to kill me some Lionsrdquo I muttered I finishedlacing my sneakers

Then I stood up Started to swing my gym lockerclosed

And slammed my left hand in the doorldquoHeyrdquo I cried out in surprise as pain shot up my

arm I shook the hand hard trying to shake the pain

away My wrist throbbed I moved my fingers tiltedmy hand back and forth It moved okay Not broken

But the hand was red and already starting to swellldquoNo time for thisrdquo I muttered I slammed the locker shut with my right hand

And still shaking my left hand hurried out into thegym

The crowd cheered as I ran onto the floor I sawsome of the Deaver Mills players whisper to eachother and point at me They knew who the star playerwas They knew who was going to wipe the floor withthem today

We huddled close around Coach Bendix ldquoTake itslow with these guysrdquo he instructed ldquoFeel them outGet their rhythm Letrsquos rattle them show them we canplay defenserdquo

87

ldquoJust get me the ballrdquo I chimed in ldquoIrsquom going tobe loose under the basket all dayrdquo

We gave our team cheer and trotted out to the cen-ter of the floor I searched the bleachers for HannahShe said she would try to come to the game today

I spotted her at the side of the bleachers hunchedin a wheelchair Her bad foot was propped up and ithad an even bigger bandage over it

I guess it isnrsquot getting better I thought I felt a pangof guilt

Poor Hannah I looked for my parents Then I remembered they

werenrsquot coming today They had to stay home for a fur-niture delivery

I turned away from the crowd I had a game toplay Time to get my game face on No time to thinkabout Hannah and her problems

I went up for the opening jump I tapped the ballto Mulroney and the game was underway

He dribbled to half-court then sent a high pass tome

ldquoWhoamdashrdquo The ball flew right through my handsand bounced out of bounds

ldquoMulroneymdashtoo hardrdquo I called ldquoWho were youthrowing atrdquo

He shrugged and started trotting to the Lionsrsquobasket

ldquoGet in there Luke Get going Look aliverdquo I heardCoach Bendix shouting

88

The Deaver guard came dribbling slowly towardme I darted up to him stuck out my hand to steal theballmdashand missed

He moved past me easily and sent up an easylayup for two points

ldquoWeirdrdquo I muttered I shook my left hand Thepain had dulled to an ache but the hand was prettyswollen

I moved down the court Caught a pass Spunaway from the Lion defender Went in for an easy shot

And missedldquoHuhrdquoI heard the crowd groan Startled voices all aroundMulroney slapped me on the shoulder ldquoTake it

easy manrdquo he said ldquoPlay your game Just play yourgamerdquo

A few seconds later I drove in for a shotmdashand wasfouled I moved to the foul linemdashand missed both foulshots

More groans and muttering from the bleachers Isaw Coach Bendix shake his head

A bounce pass from Jay Boxer sailed right throughmy legs Some of the Lionsrsquo players had a good laughover that one

Then I missed three more shots in a rowMulroney flashed me a thumbs-up ldquoNo probrdquo he

called ldquoPlay your game Luke Wersquoll get rsquoemrdquoThe Lions were winning twelve to four I took another pass and moved under the basket I

89

leaped high for a slam dunk My arm hit the rim hard I cried out in pain And

watched the ball sail over the backboardldquoWhoa This isnrsquot happeningrdquo I muttered picking

myself up off the floor ldquoNo wayrdquoAt the other end of the floor I grabbed a rebound

off the backboard I dodged past a huge Lion playerDribbled away from him easily Picked up speedBrought the ball onto our side of the court

Eyed the basket Prepared to stop short and put upa three-pointer

And tripped Felt one sneaker bump the otherTripped over my own shoe

And watched the ball sail into a Lionrsquos hands as Istumbled I fell forward onto my stomach My armsand legs were out flat on the floor ldquoOOOFrdquo

I heard startled gasps from the bleachers Andlaughter

Yes Some people were laughing at meldquoWhat is going onrdquo I cried I forced myself to my feet Shook off the pain ldquoThis isnrsquot happening It canrsquot berdquoI reached into the pocket of my uniform shorts

Reached for my good-luck skullFumbled in the pocket Searched both pocketsldquoHeymdashrdquoNo No No wayThe skull was gone

90

Fumbling frantically in both pockets I began run-ning for the team bench ldquoTime out Time outrdquo Iscreamed

Had the skull fallen out of my pocketI squinted hard searching the gleaming polished

floor No sign of itldquoTime outrdquo I pleadedI heard a whistle blow on the sidelinesI had to find itmdashnow I couldnrsquot play without itMy eyes swept over the floor I began to run full

speed to the bench I didnrsquot see the huge Lions playermdashuntil we collidedI plowed right into him Caught him flat-footed He

let out a startled ldquoOofrdquo And we cracked headsldquoYaaaiiiirdquo I let out a scream of agony as blinding

red pain shot around my head The red shimmered togold Brighter brighter bright as the sun

I felt my legs giving out Felt myself collapsingcrumbling into a deep deep bottomless darkness

91

I woke up to pinpoints of yellow light They flick-ered high above me Each time they flashed a waveof pain rolled over my forehead down the back of myneck

I blinked hard Blinked until I realized I was star-ing up at the lights on the gym rafters

I lay on my back on the gym floor one kneeraised my hands flat at my sides I squinted up atthe high raftersmdashuntil faces blocked my view

Playersrsquo faces And then a few worried-lookingadults And then Coach Bendixrsquos face looming overme bobbing over me like a parade balloon

ldquoWhatmdashrdquo One word escaped my throat My drythroat So dry I couldnrsquot swallow

ldquoStay still Lukerdquo Coach ordered speaking softlyHis dark eyes peered down into mine studying meldquoYoursquove had a bad concussion Donrsquot try to moveWersquore sending you to the emergency roomrdquo

ldquoHuh Nordquo I gasped I rolled onto my side I lurched to my feet The

floor tilted from side to side as if I were on a rockingboat

ldquoDonrsquot move Lukerdquo Coach reached for meBut I staggered out of his grasp Stumbled

through the circle of people that had formed aroundme

ldquoNo No hospitalrdquo I croaked

92

I had to find that skull That was all I needed andthen I would be okay again

The skull I stumbled over someonersquos shoe Staggered

toward the locker room The gleaming wood floorswaying beneath me

ldquoLukemdashcome backrdquoNo No way I shoved open the locker room door

with one shoulder And sliding a hand against thelockers moved to the back row Lurched to my gymlocker Pulled open the door so hard it slammedagainst the frame

ldquoWhere is it WhererdquoI frantically pawed through my street clothes

Searched and then tossed everything onto the floor ldquoWhere WhererdquoNot in my khakis pockets Not in my shirt pocket

Not in my sweatshirtThe locker floor No Nothing down thereStumbling over the pile of clothes on the floor I

lurched back down the row of gym lockers Ranthrough the gym out the doors and up the stairsInto the long empty hall

My sneakers squeaked on the hard floor as I ranThe walls and ceiling appeared to close in on methen slide back into place

To my locker To locker 13

93

It took me three tries to get the combination rightBut finally I unlocked it and flung open the door

And jammed my hand into one coat pocket andthen the other

ldquoWhere is it I have to have it Where WhererdquoAnd then a long happy sigh escaped my parched

throat as my hand closed around it YessssI was so happyI had the skull in my hand I squeezed it tightly

So happy So happyI pulled it out of the coat pocket Raised it in front

of me Raised it close to examine it And let out a cry of horror

94

The eyes They were dark Not red not glowingAnd the face had changed The bump-toothed

grin was gone The open mouth was curled down ina fierce angry scowl

ldquoNomdashitrsquos impossiblerdquo I gaspedI held the skull up to the light The red jewel eyes

were gone The deep round sockets were empty Theskull scowled down at me dark and menacing

What does this mean I wondered How did thishappen

Before I could think about it clearly I glimpsedsomething in the open locker A soft glow A slowmoving light growing larger as if moving closer

The light split into two Two circles of red lightDown low Very low near the locker floor

I gripped the skull tightly in my fist and stared asthe red lights glimmered closer The whole lockershimmered The dark walls reflected the two lightsBrighter bright as fire now

95

Two red eyes I realized Two glowing eyes float-ing from the blackness of locker 13

I jumped back as a black cat stepped silently outas if floating A black cat with fiery red eyes Thesame black cat as before

It pulled back its lips bared pointed white teethand hissed at me

My back hit the wall I blinked against the bright-ness of those two circles of red light

And as I trembled in horror squeezing the skullsqueezing it so tightly my hand achedmdashthe cat roseup off the floor

And melted into another formMelted and grew taller Taller The cat became

a human figure dressed all in black wrapped in abroad black coat down to the floor its face hidden inthe darkness of a black hood

Hidden All hidden except for the eyesmdashthosehorrifying fiery eyes

ldquoWh-who are you What do you wantrdquo I startledmyself by crying out those words I didnrsquot think Icould speak

My whole body trembled I pressed myselfagainst the wall to keep from falling to my knees

The hooded figure stepped silently away from theopen locker A hoarse rasp burst out from under thehood a whisper like the crackle of dead leaves ldquoTheluck has run out Lukerdquo

ldquoNordquo I gasped

96

A bony hand swung out from the sleeve of theblack coatmdashand swiped the skull away from me

ldquoNordquo I cried in protest ldquoNo NordquoldquoThe luck is overrdquo ldquoWho are yourdquo I shrieked in a tight terrified

voice ldquoWh-who How did you get in my lockerWhat do you wantrdquo I screamed in total panic

ldquoThe luck is overrdquoldquoIt canrsquot berdquo I cried ldquoIt canrsquot be I need itrdquoldquoOver rdquo the hooded figure rasped ldquoOver

over rdquoThe red eyes glowed from under the hood The

bony hand held the tiny skull in front of the broadblack coat

ldquoI need that luckrdquo I wailed ldquoI need that skullrdquoAnd I grabbed it back Grabbed it out of the bony

handldquoI need it I have to have itrdquoI raised the skull in front of me Stared hard at it What was wrong with it Something wriggling on

it wriggling in my hand crawling over mypalm

ldquoOhhhhrdquo I let out a moan as I saw The skull wascovered crawling crawling with hundreds ofmaggots

97

The skull fell from my hand and bounced acrossthe floor I frantically shook my hand scraped itagainst the wall brushing the disgusting maggots offmy skin

Under the black hood the red eyes glowed brighterldquoYou enjoyed a lot of good luck Lukerdquo the figure saidin his hoarse croak ldquoBut the luck has ended And nowyou must pay for itrdquo

ldquoHuh Payrdquo I felt my throat tighten I stared at thefiery eyes trying to see a face trying to see who wasspeaking to me from under that hood

ldquoLukemdashIrsquom so sorryrdquo a voice called I turned to find Hannah wheeling herself rapidly

down the hall leaning forward in her wheelchair turn-ing the wheels with both hands

ldquoHannahmdash Whatmdashrdquo I couldnrsquot find any wordsldquoIrsquom so sorryrdquo she repeated As she wheeled herself

closer I saw tears brimming in her eyes rolling downher red-blotched face

ldquoSorryrdquo I repeated my head spinning in confusion

98

ldquoHe made me do itrdquo she wailed ldquoYou have tobelieve me Luke I didnrsquot want to Really But hemade merdquo

She grabbed my hand Squeezed it tightly Herhand was as cold as ice Tears rolled down hercheeks

ldquoVery touchingrdquo the hooded figure rasped coldlyldquoHannahmdashhe made you do whatrdquo I askedldquoHemdashhe made me give you the skullrdquo Hannah

stammered still squeezing my hand ldquoHuhrdquo I let out a startled cry ldquoYou gave it to me

But I thought I found it I thoughtmdashrdquoldquoI had the good luck for a long timerdquo Hannah

said wiping her wet cheeks with both handsldquoRemember when I had so much good luck Then itran out The skull went dark And he forced memdashheforced me to pass the skull on to yourdquo

I stared at her in disbelief ldquoBut who is herdquo Icried ldquoHow can he do thisrdquo

ldquoHavenrsquot you guessedrdquo the hooded figureboomed The red eyes glowed like two angry sunsldquoHavenrsquot you figured it out yet Luke I am the FateMaster I decide who has good luck and who has badrdquo

ldquoNordquo I whispered ldquoThatrsquos crazyrdquoldquoItrsquos the truthrdquo Hannah said her voice breaking

ldquoHe controls me And now yourdquoldquoLukerdquo the evil figure whispered lowering him-

self toward me ldquoDid you really think you could haveall that good luck without paying for itrdquo

99

ldquoI didnrsquot want to give the skull to yourdquo Hannahwhispered holding on to my arm ldquoI gave you achance to hand it back to me remember Rememberduring my game I asked if you had seen itrdquo

I nodded sadly feeling my face grow hotldquoI knew you had it Why didnrsquot you give it back

thenrdquo Hannah demanded ldquoI gave you a chance toreturn it I didnrsquot want you to keep itrdquo

ldquoToo late for that nowrdquo the Fate Master raspedldquoNow you are BOTH minerdquo

ldquoNo wayrdquo I protested ldquoI donrsquot believe any ofthis This canrsquot be happening Itmdashitrsquos some kind ofbad jokerdquo

ldquoItrsquos not a jokerdquo Hannah whispered ldquoLook atmerdquo She pointed to her red-blotched face her ban-daged foot the wheelchair

ldquoNordquo I insisted ldquoIt wonrsquot happen to me I wonrsquotlet it IrsquollmdashIrsquoll make my own luckrdquo

The bulky black coat shook as the Fate Masteruttered a hoarse laugh It sounded more like drycoughing than laughter ldquoYoung man do you reallythink you can go up against FATE I control EVERY-THING that happens Do you really think you candefy FATErdquo

ldquoI donrsquot care what you sayrdquo I screamed ldquoIrsquom notgoing to be some kind of slave You canrsquot control meYou canrsquotrdquo

100

The Fate Master sighed The red eyes faded insidethe hood ldquoDo I really have to prove myself to youOkay So be itrdquo

He leaned closer So close that I could see intothe hood I could see that he had no face Just twoglowing eyes floating in blackness

ldquoLukemdashthat concussion you had in the gymrdquo herasped ldquoIrsquom afraid itrsquos much worse than you thoughtFeel your earsrdquo

ldquoHuhrdquo My hands shot up to my ears I felt wet-ness

Warm wetnessI lowered my hands My fingers dripped with

bloodMy ears were bleedingI felt the warm blood pour down my earlobes

trickle down the sides of my faceFrantically I pressed the palms of my hands

against my ears ldquoThat wonrsquot stop the bleeding Lukerdquo the Fate

Master whispered ldquoThat blood wonrsquot clot Itrsquos justgoing to keep pouring out Bad luck Irsquom afraid Verybad luckrdquo

ldquoNomdashpleaserdquo I pleaded ldquoMake it stoprdquoThe eyes flared ldquoDo you believe in me now Do

you believe that you belong to merdquoldquoOkayrdquo I said ldquoOkay I believe yourdquo

101

ldquoYour fate is in my handsmdashboth of you You mustpay for the good luck you had You must suffer badluck nowmdashrdquo

ldquoNomdashpleaserdquo I begged ldquoI need more timeThings are just starting to go right for me The basket-ball team my animation the swim team Irsquolldo anything I need more timerdquo

ldquoNO MORE TIMErdquo The hoarse rasp echoed offthe tile walls Angry flames shot out from the black-ness of the hood

ldquoButmdashrdquo I started shrinking back beside HannahldquoI control yourdquo the Fate Master boomed ldquoI decide

your luck from now on Do you want me to go easy onthe two of you DO yourdquo

ldquoY-yesrdquo I stammered ldquoIrsquoll do anythingAnythingrdquo

The Fate Master was silent for a long momentThe eyes faded as if retreating into the distance thenglowed brightly again ldquoIf you want me to go easy onyou bothrdquo he said finally ldquoherersquos what you haveto do rdquo

102

ldquoPass the skull on to anotherrdquo the Fate Masterordered

ldquoHuh Youmdashyou want me to give it to someoneelserdquo I stammered

The eyes sparked beneath the hood ldquoPass it tothat big kid the one called Stretch Irsquove had my eye onhim I will give him good luck for two months Then Iwill claim him as minerdquo

ldquoNo I canrsquot do thatrdquo I protested ldquoIt isnrsquot right Itisnrsquotmdashrdquo

The Fate Master uttered a furious growl ldquoThenyou will suffer bad luck your whole life You and every-one in your familyrdquo

I shivered in fear My mind spun I felt the warmblood start to trickle from my ears again

Could I do it Could I trap Stretch the way I hadbeen trapped

I felt Hannah tug my arm ldquoYou have to do itLukerdquo she whispered ldquoItrsquos our only chance BesidesStretch has been asking for itmdashhasnrsquot he Hersquos not a

103

friend of yours Hersquos an enemy Stretch has been ask-ing for it all yearrdquo

True Stretch wasnrsquot my friend But could I beresponsible for ruining Stretchrsquos life For turning himover to the Fate Master

Hannah gazed up at me from the wheelchair withpleading eyes ldquoDo itrdquo she whispered ldquoSave usLuke Do itrdquo

I turned to the Fate Master ldquoOkayrdquo I choked outldquoIrsquoll do itrdquo

The eyes flashed from red to sunlight yellowThe big coat opened and appeared to fly up Itraised itself over me like giant bat wings Floatedover me then floated down

I felt myself covered in a heavy darkness I couldnrsquot move It spread over me blacker

blackerI felt so cold So cold and lost As if I had been

buried buried deep in the cold cold groundAnd then I blinked and saw pinpoints of light

Flickering white lights that grew brighter so bright Ihad to squint

It took me a while to realize I was back in the gymBack on the gym floor A crowd huddled around meTight expressions worried faces

Someone leaned over me A face came into focusCoach Bendix stared down at me the whistle hangingfrom his neck

104

ldquoCoachmdashrdquo I tried to speak but the word came outa whisper

ldquoDonrsquot move Lukerdquo he said softly ldquoYoursquove had aconcussion but yoursquore going to be okayrdquo

ldquoA concussionrdquoldquoLie stillrdquo he instructed ldquoAn ambulance is on the

wayrdquoA concussionIt didnrsquot happen I realized The hooded figure with the glowing eyes The

Fate Master stepping out of locker 13 Taking awaymy good luck Ordering me to pass the skull toStretch

It didnrsquot happenIt was a dream A nightmare caused by my con-

cussionI jumped to my feet The floor swayed beneath

me The bleachers appeared to tilt to one side thenthe other

I saw Hannah in her wheelchair at the side of thebleachers

Shersquos still in the gym I told myself happily Wenever left the gym It didnrsquot happen None of it hap-pened

I felt so happy So freeBefore I even realized it I was running Running

to the doorldquoLuke HeymdashLuke Stoprdquo I heard Coach Bendix

calling to me

105

And then I was out the gym doors And racingthrough the dark empty hallways Running fullspeed

So happy And so eager to get away from thereAway from the school Away from my nightmare

Did I stop at my lockerI must have stopped there because I had my

jacket on when I burst outside Into the frosty nightair I saw a tiny sliver of a moon high in a purple-black sky I stopped for a second to breathe in thecold fresh air

Then I ran across the teachersrsquo parking lot to thebike rack Irsquod ridden my bike to school And now Iplanned to put the pedal to the metalmdashto race all theway home

ldquoYesrdquo So happy I felt so happy I could havedanced all the way home

I jumped on my bike Grabbed the handlebarsWhoa Something wrong A scraping sound I climbed off and glanced down A flat tire No

Two flat tiresldquoOh wowrdquo I murmured How did that happenNo big deal Irsquoll get the bike tomorrow I decided

I started to jog across the parking lot heading to thestreet My sneaker felt loose I squatted down to tiethe shoe lacemdashand it ripped between my hands

No problem I told myself I have plenty ofshoelaces at home I started walking turned onto thesidewalk crossed the street Behind me I could hear

106

shouts and cheers coming from the gym I guessedthat the game had started up again

ldquoGo Stretchrdquo I murmured As I made my way down the next block it began

to rain Softly at first But the wind picked up andthen the rain started coming down in sheets

I zipped my jacket and leaned into the wind Butthe rain drove me back wave after wave of freezingwater

I heard a crackling sound nearbymdashand sawjagged white lightning streak across the front yardacross the street A deafening boom of thunder shookthe ground

I pressed forward Trees creaked and nearly bentsideways in the torrents of wind and rain I couldnrsquotmove I ducked under a broad-trunked tree for safety

But a loud crack of lightning sent a tree branchcrashing to my feet

ldquoOhhrdquo I cried out A close callI jumped over the fallen branch Sharp pieces of

the limb scratched my arm as I struggled to raceaway Another jagged bolt of lightning crackled a fewfeet in front of me sizzling over the wet grass

Squinting through the downpour I saw smokesnake over the lawn The grass was burned blackwhere the lightning had spread

The wind shoved me backward Sheet after sheet

107

of rain washed over me I choked Struggled tobreathe

And then just beyond the rain just beyondthe heavy waves of dark water I saw two glowinglights two red eyes like dark headlights Two evil eyes moving with me watching me

The Fate MasterIt wasnrsquot a dream I suddenly knew that my flat

tiresmdashthe stormmdashthe lightning the pounding rainmdashit was all a show A show of strength

I staggered up my driveway Slipped on the wetgravel Sprawled facedown on the soaked stones

ldquoNooooo rdquoI struggled to my feet Stumbled onto the front

stoop A deafening shattering crash made me spin

around I saw one of the oak trees in front of thehouse split in half It appeared to move in slowmotion One half shivered but stayed upright Theother half of the broad old tree came crashing ontothe roof of the house

Windows shattered Roof tiles came slidingdown

I covered my head with one hand And pushedthe doorbell Frantically pushed the bell ldquoLet me inMom Dadrdquo I pounded on the front door with bothfists

Where were they

108

The lights were all on Why didnrsquot they open thedoor

A crash of thunder made me jump and cry outAbove the front stoop rainwater poured like a water-fall over the sides of the gutters Waves of rain rattledthe living room window and battered the bricks of thefront wall

ldquoLet me inrdquo I screamed over another roar ofthunder I pounded the front door until my fist ached

Then I heard a window slide open I turned to ourneighborrsquos house Through the curtains of rain I sawMrs Gillis poke her head out the bedroom windowShe shouted something But I couldnrsquot hear her overthe roar of rain

ldquoTheyrsquore not homerdquo I finally heard her shoutldquoThey had to go to the hospital Lukerdquo

ldquoWhat What did you sayrdquo My heart jumpedHad I heard correctly

ldquoItrsquos your dad He fell down the stairs Hersquos okayBut they took him to the emergency roomrdquo

ldquoNordquo I cried I beat my fists against the doorldquoNo No Nordquo

The Fate Master was putting on a show for meHe was showing me who was boss Giving me a littletaste of what the rest of my life could be like

ldquoOkayrdquo I shouted cupping my hands around mymouth Water pounded me washed over me bat-

109

tered me against the house ldquoOkaymdashyou winrdquo Iscreamed ldquoIrsquoll do it Irsquoll do whatever you sayrdquo

And I didThe next morning I gave the skull to Stretch

110

I found Stretch at his locker before school startedGiving him the yellow skull was the easiest thing inthe world

Stretch was leaning into his locker searching theshelf for something His backpack stood open on thefloor I pulled the skull from my jeans pocketmdashanddropped it into his backpack

He didnrsquot see anything He didnrsquot even know hehad it

ldquoHey Stretchmdashhowrsquos it goingrdquo I asked trying tosound calm natural As if I hadnrsquot just done some-thing terrible to him Something that would ruin hislife forever

ldquoYomdashhey Champrdquo He slapped me a hard highfive so hard my hand stung ldquoHowrsquos your headman It looks as ugly as everrdquo He laughed

I stared at him ldquoMy headrdquoldquoThat was a nasty collisionrdquo he said ldquoYour head

must be hard as a rock You feeling okayrdquoldquoYeah Not badrdquo I replied

111

Stretch snickered ldquoWell thanks for letting me getsome playing timerdquo He started to close up his back-pack

I stared at the backpack picturing the skull insideit The skull I had passed on to Stretch The tiny redeyes were probably glowing again Stretch was goingto have a lot of good luck for a while But then

ldquoMaybe you and I can practice together laterrdquoStretch said slamming his locker shut ldquoI can giveyou some more pointers Make you look like youknow what yoursquore doingrdquo

ldquoYeah Mayberdquo I saidStretchrsquos expression turned serious ldquoActually

yoursquore not bad manrdquo he said ldquoI mean it You are soimproved I mean yoursquore almost pretty goodReallyrdquo

I donrsquot believe this I thought Stretch is actuallypaying me a compliment

I shrugged ldquoIt was just luckrdquo I mutteredJust luck Ha haldquoNo wayrdquo Stretch insisted ldquoLuck had nothing to

do with it man It was hard work and skill No kid-ding It isnrsquot luck Yoursquore goodrdquo

I swallowed hard I suddenly felt like a totalcreep

Stretch was being so nice to me And what had Idone to him I just gave him a life of bad luck a lifeof slavery to the Fate Master

112

ldquoWhoa Forgot my science notebookrdquo Stretchgroaned He dropped his backpack to the floor andturned to unlock his locker

I stared down at the backpack feeling dizzy feel-ing sick

What am I going to do I asked myself What amI going to do

My bad luck continued all dayI answered the wrong questions on my algebra test

and got an F Miss Wakely warned me that Irsquod have todo extra work if I didnrsquot want to fail the course

At lunch the milk in my milk carton was lumpy andsour I didnrsquot notice until I had gulped down a bigmouthful Then I nearly puked my guts up in front ofeveryone

After lunch I started to comb my hair in the boysrsquoroommdashand a huge clump came out on the comb Igasped in horror and tugged out another clump of hair

Irsquom going to lose all my hair I realizedAs I hurried out of the bathroom I caught my shirt

on a nail and ripped one sleeve off I was so upset Ibumped into Miss Wakely from behind Her coffeecup flew out of her hand and scalding hot coffeesplashed all over her

I found Hannah after school She came rollingslowly down the hall in her wheelchair Her foot wasstill bandaged Her face was still covered in red

113

blotches And I saw that one of her eyes was swollenshut

ldquoHannahmdashIrsquove got to talk to yourdquo I criedldquoDid you pass it onrdquo she asked in a loud whisper ldquoHuhrdquoldquoIrsquove lost my voicerdquo she whispered ldquoDid you

pass the skull on to Stretch Wersquove got to change ourluck I can barely see My skin itches like crazy I canbarely talk ImdashI canrsquot go on like this Lukerdquo

ldquoIrsquove got to find the Fate Masterrdquo I said Hannah grabbed my torn shirtsleeve ldquoYoursquove got

to do what he said Yoursquove got to obey him Itrsquos ouronly chancerdquo

ldquoHow do I find himrdquo I askedldquoHe will find yourdquo Hannah whispered ldquoHe

appears in places of bad luck You knowmdashbrokenmirrors wherever the number thirteen is writtenrdquo

ldquoCome with merdquo I said I led the way to my lockerI waved to some guys heading to the pool for swimteam practice I wanted to be with them But this wasmore important

ldquoWersquove got to talk to the Fate Masterrdquo I toldHannah ldquoMaybe hersquoll come through my lockeragainrdquo

Hannah groaned in pain as she wheeled herselfbehind me ldquoMy foot hurts so muchrdquo she whispered

ldquoHe promised to end the bad luckrdquo I saidI turned the combination lock then pulled open

114

my locker door A burst of sour air choked the hall Igagged then held my breath

ldquoLookmdashrdquo Hannah choked out She pointed to thefloor of the locker

It was littered with dead birds A pile of brown-and-gray sparrows all dead and decaying

ldquoHe left us a presentrdquo I murmured ldquoWhere is heIs he going to appearrdquo

We didnrsquot have to wait long A few moments later I saw the glow of the red

eyes at the back of the locker And then the dark fig-ure stepped over the pile of dead birds and floatedout hunched beneath the black hood

ldquoHave you done what I askedrdquo he rasped thefiery eyes burning into mine ldquoHave you given me anew slaverdquo

ldquoYesrdquo I replied avoiding his stare ldquoThat was ourdeal right And now will you stop torturing us Willyou end our bad luck as you promisedrdquo

The hood bobbed up and down ldquoNordquo he saidsoftly

Hannah and I both uttered cries of protestldquoDid you really think you could make a deal with

the Fate Masterrdquo he boomed The open coat floatedup like bat wings ldquoI donrsquot make bargains with any-one I donrsquot make promises You will take whateverFate dishes outrdquo

ldquoYou promisedmdashrdquo Hannah shriekedThe evil figure snickered ldquoFirst you enjoy good

115

luck Then you must pay for it You cannot break thepattern You should know that You should know thatyou cannot bargain with Fate You will pay for yourgood luck for the rest of your liferdquo

ldquoNo Waitmdash Waitrdquo Hannah pleaded reachingup from the wheelchair grasping at the black cloakgrasping frantically with both hands

But the Fate Master spun around swirling thefoul air He stomped heavily on the dead birds as hestrode back into locker 13

In a second he had vanished Dead birds littered the floor of the hall the floor

of my lockerI turned to Hannah Her shoulders heaved up

and down Loud sobs escaped her throat ldquoHepromised rdquo

ldquoItrsquos okayrdquo I said softly ldquoI didnrsquot keep mypromise eitherrdquo

I pulled the yellow skull from my jeans pocket Hannah gasped ldquoYou didnrsquot give it to StretchrdquoI squeezed the skull in my fist ldquoYes I gave it to

him But I took it back before Stretch even saw it Icouldnrsquot do it Stretch was too nice to me ImdashIcouldnrsquot I couldnrsquot ruin someonersquos liferdquo

Hannah shook her head Tears spilled from herswollen eyes ldquoNow what are we going to do LukeWersquore doomed Now we donrsquot stand a chancerdquo

116

I bounced the basketball hard against the drive-way Drove toward the backboard and sent up ahook shot It bounced off the rim back into myhands I spun hard and sent up a two-handed shotthat dropped through the net

Overhead clouds covered the moon The garagelights sent white cones of light over the drivewayBehind me the house was dark except for a squareof orange light from my bedroom window upstairs

I glanced at the roof Men had worked all day torepair the broken and missing shingles The fallentree had been hauled away One windowmdashbroken inthe stormmdashwas still covered with cardboard

All my fault I realized All the damage to thehouse was my fault

My dad was walking with a cane He had a badlysprained knee from his fall down the stairs But hewas okay for now

That was all my fault too I knew All my bad luck

117

I heaved the ball angrily at the backboard Itthudded high bounced back to the driveway Ipicked it up and shot it through the hoop

Luck luck luck The word ran through my mind like an ugly

chantAnd then I heard Stretchrsquos words again Stretch

actually saying something nice to me ldquoLuck hadnothing to do with it Luke It was hard work andskillrdquo

Hard work and skillNot luckldquoYou cannot break the patternrdquo the Fate Master

had said ldquoFirst you have the good luckmdashthen youpay for itrdquo

The pattern You cannot break the patternNot luck Hard work and skillI shot the ball again Dribbled then shot again

Even though it was a cold frosty night sweat poureddown my forehead I wanted to work harder Harder

And as I practiced those words repeated andrepeated in my mind And I knew what I had to doI knew the only way I could end the bad luck forHannah and for me

The only way I could defeat the Fate MasterI shot again Again I moved to the foul line and

put up several foul shotsI didnrsquot stop when I saw the kitchen light flash on

The back door swung open Dad stepped into the

118

yard wearing his bathrobe leaning on his caneldquoLukemdashwhat are you doingrdquo he called ldquoItrsquos after

eleven orsquoclockrdquoldquoPracticingrdquo I said sending up another jump

shot Walking unsteadily he came up to the edge of the

driveway ldquoButmdashitrsquos so late Why are you doing thisrdquoldquoIrsquom going to win without luckrdquo I replied I sent

up another shot and watched it drop through thehoop ldquoIrsquom going to win with skill I shouted ldquoI canbreak the pattern I can win without luckrdquo

And then without realizing it I was screaming atthe top of my lungs ldquoI DONrsquoT NEED LUCK IDONrsquoT NEED LUCKrdquo

119

My plan was simple Maybe too simple But I had to give it a tryI didnrsquot tell it to Hannah She was pretty much

destroyed I didnrsquot want to give her any more toworry about

I knew I didnrsquot have much timemdashmaybe a day ortwo at the most

As soon as the Fate Master discovered that I stillhad the skull that I hadnrsquot passed it on to Stretch hewould come after me full force

My plan It was to break the pattern To win To win big To have a major success

Without luck Without needing any good luckIf I could win with my own hard work with my

own skill my own talentmdashit would be a defeat for theFate Master I would break his rule I would breakthe pattern

And maybe just maybe that would freeHannah and me

120

And thatrsquos why I practiced on my drivewayPracticed in the dark in the cold until after midnightHard work and skill

Hard work and skillShawnee Valley played Forest Grove this after-

noon The last game of the season My last chance to win without luckAs I changed into my team uniform I knew I had

to be great I had to be a winner today I had to winthe game for my team

And if I didIf I did maybe the nightmare would be overI was so nervous I had to lace up my sneakers

three times I kept knotting them up My fingers justwouldnrsquot work

ldquoGo Squires Go SquiresrdquoGuys were pounding their fists on the lockers

shouting jumping up and down getting pumpedgetting ready

Stretch gave me a playful slap as he jogged pastldquoTry not to bump heads today Champ We gonnabeat these clownsrdquo

I flashed him a thumbs-up ldquoTheyrsquore dead meatrdquoI shouted

I tucked in my jersey slammed the gym lockershut and trotted out into the gym I blinked underthe bright lights A big crowd nearly filled the bleach-ers They were stamping their feet in time to somemarching music over the loudspeaker

121

I searched for Hannah but didnrsquot see herThe last game of the year I thought as I picked up

a basketball from the rack My last chance I swallowed hard trying to force down my fearWas the Fate Master here Did he know that I

lied to him That I didnrsquot give the skull to StretchI donrsquot care about that I told myself Irsquom going to

be a winner today without his good luck Irsquom going to break the pattern Irsquom going to break the Fate MasterI dribbled up to Coach Bendix He slapped me on

the shoulder as I passed ldquoHave a great game Lukerdquohe called ldquoKeep it slow and steady Remembermdashjustfocus Focusrdquo

ldquoOkay Coachrdquo I called ldquoIrsquom ready I feel goodReal strong I think Irsquom going tomdashrdquo

I felt a strong blast of cold air It swept throughthe gym like an invisible ocean wave

And then I saw Coachrsquos expression change verysuddenly He was grinning at me flashing me athumbs-up And then his hand came down His facewent slack His eyes appeared to fade to glaze overas if a curtain had been drawn over them

As if hersquod been hypnotized or somethingldquoHey Lukerdquo he said motioning me back to him

He frowned narrowing his eyes at me ldquoWhat is itrdquo I asked keeping up my dribbleldquoTake the benchrdquo he ordered pointing to the

team bench with his whistle

122

ldquoHuhrdquo I gaped at himldquoThe benchrdquo he repeated his face a blank now

his eyes vacant dull ldquoYou canrsquot play todayrdquoldquoHeymdashno wayrdquo I protested ldquoWhat do you mean

Irsquove got to playrdquoHe shook his head ldquoYou canrsquot play today Luke

Your concussionmdashremember I need a doctorrsquos noteHave you been examined You canrsquot play until yoursquoreexaminedrdquo

My mouth hung open ldquoCoach Irsquove been prac-ticing so hard Please Yoursquove got to let me in the gametodayrdquo I pleaded My heart pounded so hard I feltdizzy My head throbbed ldquoCoach I have to playItrsquos the last gamerdquo

He shook his head ldquoSorryrdquo He motioned to thebench ldquoWe have to follow the rulesrdquo

Whose rules I thought bitterly The Fate Masterrsquosrules

Coach Bendix gazed at me with those glazedblank eyes ldquoSorry Yoursquove already played your lastgame Lukerdquo

ldquoButmdashbutmdashrdquo I sputteredldquoYoursquoll get rsquoem next yearrdquo he said He blew his

whistle ldquoStretchmdashyoursquore in Yoursquore playing thewhole gamerdquo

I stood there I didnrsquot move I stood in the middleof the floor with my hands on my waist Waiting formy heart to stop racing Waiting for my legs to stoptrembling

123

Then I turned and slowly trudged to the bench Irsquod lost today Score one round for the Fate

Master No way I could break the pattern today I was a

loser today But I wasnrsquot finished I could still winIf I had time

124

ldquoGive the skull to Stretchrdquo Hannah pleadedldquoMaybe the Fate Master will go easy on usrdquo

It was the next day We were huddled at the backof the lunchroom I could see Stretch laughing andkidding around with his friends at a table near thefront The Squires had won the game by two pointsand Stretch had been a hero

ldquoI canrsquot do itrdquo I said shaking my head ldquoBesidesyou heard what the Fate Master said He doesnrsquotmake deals It wonrsquot help to pass it to Stretchrdquo

Hannah let out a sigh She had her head buriedin her hands ldquoThen what are we going to dordquo

ldquoIrsquoll find a way to defeat himrdquo I said I bit into myham sandwich ldquoHeymdashrdquo I felt something hard

ldquoOh nordquo I moaned I spit out a tooth In a panic I moved my tongue around the inside

of my mouth ldquoMy teethrdquo I groaned ldquoTheyrsquore allloose Irsquom going to lose all my teethrdquo

Hannah didnrsquot lift her head She whispered some-thing too low for me to hear

125

ldquoIrsquove got to gordquo I said jumping up ldquoI have someideas Hannah Donrsquot give up hope I have someideasrdquo

I ran past Stretchrsquos table where the guys werelaughing and blowing straw wrappers at each otherStretch called out to me but I didnrsquot stop

I made my way to the computer lab The doorwas closed I pulled it open and burst breathlesslyinto the brightly lit room

ldquoMrs Coffey Mrs Coffey Itrsquos memdashLukerdquo I felt another tooth swing loose in my mouth I

gritted my teeth trying to press it down into placeA chubby young man Irsquod never seen before came

out of the supply room He had short black hair ontop of a round pudgy face and bright red cheeks Helooked like an apple with eyes He wore a red plaidshirt over black denims

ldquoIs Mrs Coffey hererdquo I demanded ldquoI need to talkto herrdquo

He set down the disk drive he was carryingldquoShersquos gonerdquo he said

ldquoYou mean she went to lunchrdquo I askedHe shook his round head ldquoNo She left school

She got another jobrdquoldquoImdashI knowrdquo I stammered ldquoBut I thoughtmdashrdquoldquoIrsquom Ron Handlemanrdquo he said ldquoIrsquom taking over

the computer lab Do you have a class with merdquoldquoUh nordquo I said ldquoBut I have a project I was

supposed to show Mrs Coffey She was going to send

126

it to someone who might put it in a show Itrsquos com-puter animation you see Irsquove been working on it fortwo years and and rdquo In my panic the wordspoured out of me I had to stop to take a breath

ldquoSlow downrdquo Mr Handleman said ldquoShe proba-bly left me a note about it She left me a stack ofnotesrdquo He glanced around the cluttered worktableldquoI put them somewhererdquo

How could Mrs Coffey leave without seeing myproject I asked myself How could she do that tome

Didnrsquot she realize how important it was Thiscould be my big triumph If my computer animationis accepted for a showmdashbecause of my hard workonly because of my skill and hard workmdashit wouldbreak the pattern It might defeat the Fate Master

Didnrsquot she realizeldquoUh can you look at my computer anima-

tionrdquo I askedMr Handlemanrsquos cheeks grew redder ldquoWhenrdquoldquoTonightrdquo I asked my heart poundingldquoWell I donrsquot think sordquo he replied ldquoNot

tonight I mean this is my first day I have so muchto do here Maybe next week rdquo

ldquoNordquo I screamed ldquoYou have to look at it PleaseItrsquos very importantrdquo

ldquoIrsquod love to see itrdquo he said picking up the diskdrive starting across the room with it ldquoBut I have toget organized Maybe rdquo

127

ldquoPleaserdquo I cried ldquoFind Mrs Coffeyrsquos note Wersquovegot to get it to the man whorsquos putting together thecomputer art show Pleaserdquo

He narrowed his eyes at me He probably thoughtI was crazy

But I didnrsquot care I needed a victory I knew therewasnrsquot much time

ldquoOkayrdquo Mr Handleman said finally ldquoBring it infirst thing tomorrow morning Irsquoll try to look at it dur-ing lunchrdquo

Not good enough Tomorrow might be too late Irealized

ldquoHow late will you be here this afternoonrdquo Iasked breathlessly

ldquoPretty laterdquo he replied ldquoSince itrsquos my first dayImdashrdquo

ldquoIrsquoll run home after school and get itrdquo I said ldquoIrsquollbring it to you before you leave tonight Could you I mean would you look at it this afternoonPleaserdquo

ldquoOkay I guess Irsquoll be here till at least fiverdquo hesaid

ldquoYesssrdquo I cried pumping my fist in the air Iturned and raced out of the computer lab

I can win I told myself I can defeat the FateMaster My animation project is good I know it isIrsquove worked for two years on it Irsquove put so much hardwork into it

I donrsquot need luck I donrsquot need good luck at all

128

After school I ran all the way home I burst intothe kitchen tossed down my backpack and startedto my room I stopped halfway to the stairs when Iheard voices from the living room

ldquoLukemdashis that yourdquo Mom calledMom and Dad were both there sitting in the

dark Dad leaned heavily on his cane Mom had herhands clasped tightly in her lap

I stopped in the living room doorway ldquoWhy areyou both home so earlyrdquo I asked

ldquoI had to come home I couldnrsquot workrdquo Dad saidsoftly ldquoThat fall I took It was worse than we thoughtLooks like Irsquom going to need surgeryrdquo

ldquoOh nordquo I muttered My fault It was all my faultBut I didnrsquot really have time to talk to them I had

to get to my computer I wanted to check out the ani-mation one more time before I made a copy for MrHandleman Then I had to rush back to school

ldquoBut why are you sitting in the darkrdquo I askedldquoWhy donrsquot you turn on some lightsrdquo

ldquoWe canrsquotrdquo Mom said shaking her head ldquoTherersquossome kind of trouble with the power lines to ourblock The electricity is off We have no power Nopower at allrdquo

129

I let out a horrified scream ldquoNooooo My com-puterrdquo

ldquoYoursquoll have to wait till the power comes backonrdquo Dad said

ldquoButmdashbutmdashrdquo I sputteredldquoWersquore having so much bad luck all of a suddenrdquo

Dad murmuredldquoWe may have to leave the house tonightrdquo Mom

said sighing unhappily ldquoWithout electricity we haveno heat We may have to check into a hotel or some-thingrdquo

ldquoOh nordquo I tugged at my hair A big clump of itcame out in my hand

I was losing my hair Losing my teeth How couldI fight back How

ldquoHe canrsquot do this to merdquo I screamed ldquoHe canrsquotHe canrsquotrdquo I turned and grabbed the banister andpulled myself up the stairs

ldquoLuke What are you sayingrdquoldquoWhere are you goingrdquo

130

I didnrsquot answer I dived into my room andslammed the door shut behind me

Breathing hard I stared at my computer Staredat the dark monitor screen

Useless Totally useless Frustrated I kicked the side of my desk

ldquoOwwwrdquo I didnrsquot mean to kick it that hard Sharppain throbbed up my leg up my side

ldquoOh waitrdquo I suddenly remembered I alreadymade a copy

Yes I made a backup copy of my project On myZip drive Yes

I fumbled frantically through the pile of disks onmy desk And grabbed the Zip disk

I still have a chance I told myself The FateMaster thought he shut me down But I still have achance

I stuffed the disk into my jacket pocket I hurledmyself down the stairs two at a time ldquoBye I have togo back to schoolrdquo I shouted to my parents

ldquoWhyrdquoldquoWhatrsquos going on Luke We need you hererdquoldquoHeymdashcome back and explainrdquoI heard their cries but I burst out the front door

and kept running ldquoIrsquoll stop the bad luckrdquo I said out loud ldquoIrsquoll stop

it Irsquoll stop the Fate MastermdashnowrdquoI found Mr Handleman in the computer lab

leaning over a keyboard typing an e-mail message

131

He spun around when I shouted hi to himI held up the disk ldquoHere it is Please Yoursquove got

to check it outrdquoHe motioned for me to sit down next to him ldquoI

spoke to the producer of the computer showrdquo hesaid ldquoHe called me this afternoon He said that if Iliked your animation I should send it over to himright awayrdquo

ldquoExcellentrdquo I cried ldquoThatrsquos great newsrdquoldquoArenrsquot you going to take your coat offrdquoldquoNordquo I answered breathlessly I shoved the disk

into the Zip drive ldquoNo time You have to see thisRight awayrdquo

He laughed ldquoSlow down Take a deep breathrdquoldquoIrsquoll breathe after you see itrdquo I said He leaned back in his chair and used his hands

as a headrest ldquoYoursquove been working on this for twoyearsrdquo

I nodded I found the file in the disk directory and double-

clicked it ldquoHere goesrdquo I said I was so nervous themouse trembled in my hand My chest was so tightit felt about to burst

Is it possible to explode from excitement I leanedforward to watch

The screen was solid black ldquoItrsquos starting nowrdquo Iwhispered

I stared at the black screen waiting for the brightburst of color at the beginning

132

Waiting Finally a dim glow spread over the screen Two circles of light Two red circles glowed in the

center of the darknessTwo red glowing eyes The eyes stared out unblinking unmoving

Blank round circles of shimmering redMr Handleman cleared his throat His eyes

remained locked on the monitor screen ldquoAre thoseeyesrdquo he asked ldquoDo they move or anythingrdquo

I opened my mouth to answer but no soundcame out

I stared frozen in horror at the glowing eyes Theevil eyes

And knew I had been defeated again Mr Handelmanrsquos cheeks were bright red now ldquoIs

this all there isrdquo he askedldquoYesrdquo I whispered ldquoThatrsquos allrdquoMy project was gone My two years of work were

lost The fiery eyes stared out at me in triumphI climbed to my feet and slumped out of the roomI trudged down the empty hall head down hands

shoved deep in my pockets Irsquove lost I realized Irsquoma loser forever now Hannah and me both Bad luckfor the rest of our lives

I turned a cornermdashand almost bumped intoCoach Swanson ldquoHey Lukemdashhowrsquos it goingrdquo heasked

133

I muttered a reply under my breathldquoI was going to call you tonightrdquo he said ldquoAndy

Mason is sick You have to swim in his place tomor-rowrdquo

I raised my head ldquoHuh Swimrdquo I had nearly for-gotten that I was on the swim team

ldquoSee you after school at the poolrdquo the coach saidldquoGood luckrdquo

Irsquoll need it I thought glumlyBut then I realized I was being given one more

chanceOne more chance to win without luck One more

chance to defeat FateOne last chance

The next morning I wore a baseball cap to schoolso no one could see the bald patches on my headWhen I brushed my teeth that morning anothertooth came sliding out between my lips

My tongue was covered with hard white bumpsMy arms and legs itched I was starting to get thesame red blotches on my skin as Hannah

Somehow I made it through the school day All Icould think about was the swim team race Wasthere any way that I might win That I might breakthe pattern and win the race and defeat the FateMaster

I didnrsquot have much hope But I knew I had to tryI knew I had to give it everything I had left

134

A few seconds after I lowered myself into the poolto warm up Coach Swansonrsquos whistle rang outechoing off the tile walls ldquoPractice laps everyonerdquothe coach shouted ldquoDo them half-speed Letrsquos seesome warm-up lapsrdquo

At the other end of the pool I saw Stretch kick offand begin swimming with steady strong strokes Idid a surface dive and started to follow him Thewarm water felt good on my itchy skin

I kicked hard Picked up speedAs I raised my head to suck in a deep breath the

water suddenly churned hard I swallowed a big mouthful Started to chokeI sputtered struggling to clear my throat strug-

gling to breatheAnd then to my horror my stomach heaved hard

ldquoGuuurrrrrrprdquo My lunch came hurling upI couldnrsquot hold it back I vomited a thick dark

puddle into the clear waterldquoOoh grossrdquoldquoSickrdquoldquoYuck Oh wowmdashhersquos puking his guts uprdquoA sick sour smell rose up from the water I heard

kids shouting and groaning in disgustAnd then I heard Coach Swansonrsquos whistle And

the coach shouting at me ldquoYoursquore outta there LukeGet out Yoursquore sick Yoursquore not going to swimtodayrdquo

135

No I thought This canrsquot happen again This ismy last chance

ldquoCoach Irsquom okayrdquo I shouted ldquoI just swal-lowed some water I can swimmdashreallyrdquo

Coach Swanson glanced around the pool AndyMason was in street clothes Joe Bork the other alter-nate didnrsquot show up

ldquoYoursquove got to let me swimrdquo I pleadedThe coach shrugged his shoulders ldquoTherersquos no

one else I guess Irsquove got no choicerdquoIrsquom going to do this I thought Irsquom going to win

today Irsquom going to do whatever it takes to winThe race got off to a good start I did a speed dive

at the whistle and found myself gliding strokingeasily in the lead

Swimming steadily keeping up a smooth rhythmI stayed in the lead until the waves began

Waves They tossed up in front of me rolledrapidly toward me splashed over me Wave afterwave Pushing me back Slowing my pace

136

Stroking harder to keep my rhythm I turned tothe side and glanced at the other swimmers The poolwas smooth the water flat for them

The waves were just for me A strong currentpushed at me slowing me shoving me back

I ducked under the waves Let them splash androll over me And swam harder

HarderldquoOhrdquo Something brushed my legI felt something curl around an ankle Something

bumped my waist I felt something slide around myknee

With another gasp I turnedmdashand saw the gray-green creatures Eels Were they eels

Wrapping around my legs Twining over mywaist

Long fat eels The water churned with themI cried out I saw the other swimmers gliding swiftly through

clear water They didnrsquot even notice my dark churn-ing water They didnrsquot even see the gleaming wetcreatures slithering between my legs Tighteningaround my ankles my legs

Slapping me slapping me hard slappingme back

ldquoNordquo I burst free I kept swimmingInto thick pink clusters of jellyfish The jellyfish

ballooned around me Stung my arms Stung mylegs Prickled the skin of my back

137

I cried out in pain The sticky creatures swarmedover me stinging stinging me again and again

I could see the other swimmers moving smoothlyahead of me now Gliding in smooth clear waters asI felt jolt after jolt of pain from the billowing jellyfishthat clustered over me

I slapped the water Slapped and kickedAnd let out another cry of pain as the water siz-

zled and boiled Scalding hot now It steamed andbubbled And my skin burned My skin is going toburn right off me I thought struggling to breatheStruggling to keep my arms moving through thescalding steam Kicking kicking hard

The other swimmers ahead of me now Moving sospeedily so steadily

I shut my eyes and swam Yoursquore not going tobeat me I thought Irsquom going to win going to win

And the thought gave me a final surge of energyI shot forward to the wall Plunged like a speed-

ing torpedo to the finishMy hand hit the wall I slapped the wallGasping gasping my chest heaving in

agony And knew that I had lostToo slow Too slowI knew that I had lost again

138

Water poured down my face I shut my eyes andstruggled to catch my breath

I heard a loud whistle Then I felt a hand on myshoulder A slap ldquoWay to go Lukerdquo

I opened my eyes to see the coach He grabbed myhand and pumped it hard Then he slapped me a highfive ldquoYou won You came from behind What a raceLuke Check out the time You set a school recordrdquo

ldquoHuh I did I wonrdquo He helped me out of the pool Guys were cheering

and yelling congratulationsBut the cheering was cut short by a deafening cry

from the middle of the pool A shrill wail that rose likean ambulance siren Higher higher until I wasforced to cover my ears

And then a mountain of water rose up from thepool Red and steaming like a volcano The water roseupmdashhigher highermdashlike a bubbling boiling red tidalwave And all the while the deafening wail rang outwith it

139

Everyone was screaming We all were screamingAnd then as suddenly as it rose up the molten

red mountain collapsed back into the poolCollapsed with a soft splash The pool was flat andsmooth again And silent Silent except for ourstunned gasps and cries

I turned to see Hannah running along the side ofthe pool Hannah out of her wheelchair RunningRunning wildly waving her arms excitedly laughingher red hair flying behind her

ldquoLukemdashyou did it Wersquore free You defeated FateLukemdashyou defeated Faterdquo

But it wasnrsquot enough Not enough for meI changed into my street clothes in seconds Then

I dragged Hannah down the hall to my locker Locker13

I stopped at the janitorrsquos closet And I grabbed ahuge sledgehammer

Hannah cheered as I raised the sledgehammer tothe locker and smashed it smashed it smashed it

Working feverishly I pried the battered lockerfrom the wall Kicked it onto its side Raised thesledgehammer again Smashed it crushed it smashed it

The battered locker door swung open I heard alow groan from deep inside

Hannah and I both leaped back as a skull rolledout onto the floor

140

Not a tiny skull A human-sized skull with glow-ing red eyes

The eyes glowed for only a few seconds Then theskull uttered a final groan a groan of agony ofdefeat And the eyes faded to darkness Empty dark-ness

I took a deep breath Ran up to itmdashand kickedthe skull down the hall

ldquoGoalrdquo Hannah yelledWe walked out of the school building arm in arm

Into the bright afternoon sunlight I took a long deep breath The air smelled so

fresh so sweet The houses the trees the skymdashthey all looked so

beautifulI stopped at the bottom of the sidewalk And bent

down to pick something upldquoHey check it outrdquo I showed it to Hannah ldquoIs

this my lucky dayrdquo I cried ldquoI found a pennyrdquo

141

142

Luke Greene is very superstitious so naturallyhersquos not happy when hersquos assigned Locker 13 atschool But amazingly a lucky charm he finds in thelocker changes his luck from bad to great NowLukersquos luck is so good he canrsquot lose No matter whathe does his lucky charm makes him come out ontop

But Luke discovers that his good luck comes witha very high price Will he pay it Or will he be lostlike others before him in the horror that is Locker 13

About Locker 13

The Locker 13 in Luke Greenersquos story does notexist anymore and it is unclear if anyone who hadthe locker in previous years suffered the same fate asLuke

People who have had unbelievably nightmarishexperiences often keep silent about them (Lukedidnrsquot tell his story to many peoplemdashonly his friend

Go Deeper Into This

Nightmare

Hannah and RL Stine know what happened) So itis possible that what happened to Erica Chass in thesame school 12 years earlier could be related toLocker 13

Erica Chass was a popular seventh grader inShawnee Valley Junior High She had good gradeswas a star soccer player and had lots of friends Thenone day everything seemed to change Erica blew offsoccer nearly failed out of school and was fearfuland shy with even her best friends She dressed onlyin black and always wore a necklace with a smallcharm in the shape of a skull

Then one day Erica moved away She didnrsquot saygood bye She just didnrsquot show up for school one dayand never came back

But some people who went to that school in thosedays insist thatrsquos not the end of Ericarsquos story

The following year a new girl joined the eighthgrade at Shawnee Her name was Alyssa GwynneShe was bright cheerful and a terrific soccer playermdashand she looked exactly like Erica ldquoYou would havesworn they were twinsrdquo says Tracey Holt who knewthem bothmdashldquoNo it was like the old Erica camebackrdquo says another friend Debra Wyle

What was the relationship between Erica andAlyssa Could they really be the same person Andwhat is the connection to the Locker 13 legendMaybe there isnrsquot one but several people havementioned that Alyssa had a necklace that she wore

143

every daymdasha necklace with a tiny charmmdashof askull

About Superstition

Most of our superstitions go back to a time whenpeople believed that witches and witchcraft wereeverywhere People in the middle ages seemed to livein terror that evil magic or witches would harm theircrops bring illness or other disaster to their livesMany of the superstitions that have lasted to ourtime go back to these ancient fears

Break a mirrormdashseven years bad luck Thissuperstition relates to the idea that our reflection is apart of ourselves Harm the reflection and you willharm the original According to the thinking of themiddle ages it takes seven years for the body torebuild itself after itrsquos been harmed So thatrsquos why thebad luck lasts for seven years Luckily there is a cureWash the broken mirror pieces in a south runningriver and the evil is washed away too

Itrsquos bad luck to walk under a ladder This goesback to a time when hanging was a common form ofpunishment It seems that the gallows were prettyhigh so a ladder was often rested against the side ofthe gallows platform Walking under this ladder wasliterally dangerous Be in the wrong place at thewrong time and a rotting dead body could fall onyou If you happen to be careless enough to walk

144

under a ladder you can change the bad luck Justcross your fingers until you see a dog

Black cats bring bad luck There are a lots ofsuperstitions about cats Letrsquos face it cats can becreepymdashand black cats are the creepiest Oneancient superstition about cats is that they will stealthe breath out of babies Where did this idea comefrom

Watch a cat as it settles itself into your lap Beforesnuggling up the cat will often sniff you in themouth At a time when so many babies died the cattheory is as logical as any other

Now for some superstitions that yoursquove probablynever heard of

If you find a knife in the road you will havebad luck

Donrsquot point at the moon (The man in the moondoesnrsquot like it and will bring you bad luck)

Donrsquot brush your hair after sunsetmdashespecial-ly if you have family who spends time on thesea (Brushing your hair at that time will mean dis-aster and death for themmdashand bad luck for you)

If a child hits a parent the childrsquos hand willwag over his grave and dogs will ldquowaterrdquo it

145

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

RL STINE says he has a great job ldquoMy job is to givekids the CREEPSrdquo With his scary books RL hasterrified kids all over the world He has sold over 300million books making him the best-selling childrenrsquosauthor in history

These days RL is dishing out new frights in hisseries THE NIGHTMARE ROOM When he isnrsquotworking he likes to read old mysteries watchSpongeBob Squarepants on TV and take his dogNadine for long walks around New York City wherehe lives with his wife Jane and son Matthew

ldquoI love taking my readers to scary placesrdquo RLsays ldquoDo you know the scariest place of all Itrsquos yourMINDrdquo

ldquoHey check it out A fortune-tellerrdquo Jilly saidShe pointed to a small black tent that stood besidean ice cream cart ldquoCan we do it I love fortune-tellersrdquo

ldquoNo wayrdquo I said ldquoThey make me nervous Idonrsquot even like watching them in moviesrdquo

ldquoCome on Maggie Itrsquos your birthdayrdquo her sisterJackie said pulling me to the tent ldquoYou have tohave your fortune told on your birthdayrdquo

ldquoLetrsquos see what the fortune-teller says about youand Glenrdquo Judy the third sister teased

ldquoI donrsquot think sordquo I saidBut as usual they didnrsquot give me a choice A few

seconds later we were standing at the doorway tothe dark tent

ldquoWersquoll all have our fortunes toldrdquo Jackie saidldquoMy treatrdquo

ldquoThis is so coolrdquo Jilly whispered ldquoDo you thinkits a real psychic Do you think she can really tellthe futurerdquo

The three sisters started into the tent I held backstaring at the red-and-black hand-lettered sign MISSELIZABETH FORTUNE-TELLER ONE DOLLAR

Take a look at whatrsquos ahead inTHE NIGHTMARE ROOM 3

Liar Liar

I suddenly realized that my heart was racing Why do I feel so weird I wondered Why do I

have such a bad feeling about thisI followed my friends into the tent The air inside

felt hot and steamy Two electric lanterns on the backtent wall splashed gray light over the fortune-tellerrsquossmall table

Miss Elizabeth sat hunched with her elbows onthe table head in her hands staring into a red glassball She didnrsquot look up as we stepped inside Icouldnrsquot tell if she was concentrating on the red ballor if she was asleep

The tent was completely bare except for her tableand two wooden chairs and a large black-and-whiteposter of a human hand The hand was divided intosections There was a lot of writing all over the postertoo small for me to read in the smoky gray light

As she stared into the red glass ball the fortune-teller muttered to herself She was a middle-agedwoman slender with bony arms poking out from thesleeves of her red dress and very large pale whitehands Squinting into the light I saw that the polishon her long fingernails matched the red of her dress

ldquoHel-lordquo Jackie called breaking the silenceMiss Elizabeth finally looked up She was kind of

pretty She had big round black eyes and dramaticred-lipsticked lips Her hair was long and wavy solidblack except for a wide white streak down themiddle

Her eyes moved from one of us to the other Shedidnrsquot smile ldquoWalter we have visitorsldquo sheannounced in a hoarse scratchy voice

I glanced around searching for WalterldquoWalter is my late husbandrdquo the fortune-teller

announced ldquoHe helps me channel information fromthe spiritsrdquo

Jackie and I exchanged glances ldquoWersquod like you to tell our fortunesrdquo Jilly saidMiss Elizabeth nodded solemnly ldquoOne dollar

eachrdquo She held out her long pale hand ldquoFour dol-lars pleaserdquo

Jackie fumbled in her bag and pulled out fourcrumpled dollar bills She handed them to the for-tune-teller who shoved them into a pocket of her reddress

ldquoWho wants to go firstrdquo Again her eyes movedslowly over our faces

ldquoIrsquoll gordquo Jilly volunteered She dropped into thechair across the table from Miss Elizabeth

The fortune-teller lowered her head again to gazeinto the red ball ldquoWalter bring me the words of thespirit world about this young womanrdquo

I suddenly felt a chill at the back of my neck Iknew I shouldnrsquot be frightened The woman had tobe a fakemdashright Otherwise she wouldnrsquot be workingin a tacky carnival like this one

But she was so serious So solemn She didnrsquotseem to be putting on an act

Or was I just being gullible againNow she took Jillyrsquos hand She pulled it up close to

her face and began to study Jillyrsquos palm Muttering toherself she moved her long finger back and forth fol-lowing the lines of the palm tracing them with herbright red fingernail

Jackie leaned close to me ldquoThis is coolrdquo she whis-pered

Judy sighed ldquoThis is going to take foreverrdquoJackie raised a finger to her lips and motioned for

Judy to shush The woman studied Jillyrsquos palm for a long time

squeezing the hand as she gazed at it murmuring toWalter in the red glass ball Finally she raised her eyesto Jilly ldquoYou are artisticrdquo she said in her scratchyvoice

ldquoYesrdquo Jilly declaredldquoYou are a dancerrdquo Miss Elizabeth continued

ldquoYou study the dance You are a hard workerrdquoldquoWhoa I donrsquot believe thisrdquo Jilly gushed ldquoHow do

you knowmdashrdquoldquoYou have much talentrdquo the fortune-teller mur-

mured ignoring Jillyrsquos question ldquoMuch talent Butsometimes I see your artistic side gets in the wayof your practical side You are you are rdquo

She shut her eyes ldquoHelp me Walterrdquo she whis-pered Then she opened her eyes again and raisedthem to Jillyrsquos palm ldquoYou are a very social person Yourfriends mean a lot to you Especially boy friendsrdquo

Jackie and Judy laughed Jilly flashed them anangry scowl ldquoImdashI donrsquot believe thisrdquo she told thefortune-teller ldquoYou have everything rightrdquo

ldquoIt is my giftrdquo Miss Elizabeth replied softlyldquoWill I make the new dance companyrdquo Jilly

asked her ldquoTry-outs are next week Can you tell meif I will be acceptedrdquo

Miss Elizabeth stared into the glass ballldquoWalterrdquo she whispered

I held my breath waiting for the answer Jilly andI were both trying out for the dance company And Iknew there was only room for one of us

ldquoWalter can find no answerrdquo the fortune-tellertold Jilly ldquoHe only groansrdquo She let go of Jillyrsquos hand

ldquoHemdashgroanedrdquo Jilly asked ldquoWhyrdquoldquoYour time is uprdquo Miss Elizabeth said She

motioned to us ldquoWho is nextrdquoJackie shoved Judy forward Judy dropped into

the chair and held her hand out to Miss ElizabethJilly came running over to join Jackie and me at

the edge of the tent ldquoIsnrsquot she amazingrdquo she whis-pered

ldquoYes she isrdquo I had to admit How did she know somany true things about Jilly I was beginning tobelieve Miss Elizabeth really had powers

And now I didnrsquot feel afraid or nervous I was eagerto see what the fortune-teller would say about me

She squeezed Judyrsquos hand and gazed deep intoJudyrsquos dark eyes ldquoYou have great love in yourdquo she

announced ldquoGreat love for animalsrdquoJudy gasped ldquoY-yesrdquoldquoYou care for them You work rdquoldquoYesrdquo Judy said ldquoI work in an animal shelter after

school Thatrsquos amazingrdquoMiss Elizabeth ran a red fingernail down Judyrsquos

palm ldquoYou also have an animal that you care aboutvery much A dog No A catrdquo

ldquoYes My cat Plumperrdquo Judy turned to us her face filled with astonish-

ment ldquoDo you believe this Shersquos right about every-thingrdquo

ldquoI know Itrsquos so coolrdquo Jilly exclaimed She sweptback her blond hair with a toss of her head She keptbouncing up and down She seemed too excited tostand still

The fortune-teller spent a few more minutes withJudy She told Judy that she would have a long suc-cessful life She said Judy would have a big familysomeday

ldquoOf kids Of animalsrdquo Judy asked Miss Elizabeth didnrsquot answer Next came Jackiersquos turn Once again Miss

Elizabeth was right on target with everything shesaid ldquoWowrdquo Jackie kept muttering ldquoWowrdquo

Finally I found myself in the chair across fromthe fortune-teller Suddenly I felt so nervous Mymouth was dry My legs were shaking

Miss Elizabeth looked older from close up

When she smiled at me the thick makeup on herface cracked Tiny drops of sweat glistened at herhairline

ldquoWhat is your namerdquo she asked in a whisperldquoMaggierdquo I told herShe nodded solemnly and took my hand She

raised my palm close to her face and squinted downat it in the gray light

I held my breath And waited What would shesee

She squeezed my hand Brought it closer to herface

And then then her eyes bulged wide Shelet out a loud gasp

With a violent jerk she tossed my hand awayAnd jumped to her feet Her chair fell behind her

clattering to the tent floorShe stared at memdashstared in open-mouthed

horrorAnd then she screamedldquoGet OUT Get AWAY from hererdquoldquoHuh Waitmdashrdquo I choked outldquoGet OUT You bring EVIL You bring EVIL with

you Get OUT of hererdquo

Credits

Cover illustration by Vince NataleCover design by John Fontana

About the PublisherAustraliaHarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty Ltd 25 Ryde Road (PO Box 321)Pymble NSW 2073 Australia httpwwwharpercollinscomau

CanadaHarperCollins Publishers Ltd55 Avenue Road Suite 2900Toronto ON M5R 3L2 Canadahttpwwwharpercanadacom

New ZealandHarperCollinsPublishers (New Zealand)PO Box 1Auckland New Zealandhttpwwwharpercollinsconz

United KingdomHarperCollins Publishers Ltd77-85 Fulham Palace RoadLondon W6 8JB UKhttpwwwfireandwatercouk

United StatesHarperCollins Childrenrsquos Books A Division of HarperCollins Publishers1350 Avenue of the Americas New York NY 10019wwwharperchildrenscom

These stories are my scariest ever says RL Stinebecause I wrote them at the Nightmare Hour

When the lights fade the world that we know as real slipsinto shadowmdashand the cold moonlit world of evil dreams

enters your mind and takes over

These ten terrifying tales will make you shiver at any hourIllustrated by ten outstanding artists

I really enjoy your workhellipthank you for creating newnightmares for me mdashKenny age 12 NY

They are horrifying storiesmdashthey even gave me thecreeps mdashSofia age 14 LA

My favorite book is Nightmare Hour mdashJeffrie age 9 WI

Winner of Disney Adventures magazinersquos first everKidsrsquo Choice Award for Best HorrorMystery book

0-06-028688-1 $995 Hardcover0-06-440842-6 $499 Paperback

Available wherever books are sold

Join RL Stine and all your friends in The Nightmare Room

wwwthenightmareroomcom

Ten New Stories by rl stineNightmare Hour

Join RL Stine and all your friends in

ROOMTHE

Step inside wwwthenightmareroomcom

and open the door to terror

You can share with RL Stine your most terrifying dreams and experiences If your stories are terrifying enough for RL Stine youcould star in your own NIGHTMARE ROOMbook

Log on to THE NIGHTMARE ROOM nowand read RL Stinersquos brand-new spine-tinglingstorymdasha story so terrifying that it canrsquot be soldin bookstores

Log on to wwwthenightmareroomcom

where you will truly enter

THE NIGHTMARE ROOM

wwwthenightmareroomcom

THE NIGHTMARE ROOM 3My Name Is EvilMaggie has her palm read at a carnival and then the terrifying accidents beginIs Maggie cursed Will she have to live forever in THE NIGHTMARE ROOM

THE NIGHTMARE ROOM 4Liar LiarRoss looks across the room and sees himself standing there But Ross doesnrsquothave a twin This party has taken Rossto THE NIGHTMARE ROOM

$399 Paperback Available wherever books are sold

Join RL Stine and all your friends in THE NIGHTMARE ROOMwwwthenightmareroomcom

What can happen next in

ROOMTHE

iii

Locker 13

AVON BOOKS

R L S T I N E

An Imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers

Locker 13

Copyright copy 2000 by Parachute Publishing LLC

Go Deeper Into This Nightmare copy 2000 Parachute Publishing LLC

All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in

the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews

RL Stine asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

Adobe Acrobat E-reader edition v 1 March 2001 ISBN 0-06-621428-9First print edition 2000 ISBN 0-06-440900-7

v

Welcome

Irsquom RL Stine and I want to introduce you toLuke Greene Hersquos that short wiry seventh-graderstanding in front of his locker

Some kids tease Luke about being too supersti-tious He wears a lucky shirt to school and he nevergoes anywhere without a lucky rabbitrsquos foot tucked inhis pocket

Luke doesnrsquot mind being teased He says you cannever have enough good luck

Thatrsquos why hersquos so unhappy about his new lockerItrsquos the first day of school and Luke has been givenLocker 13

Luke is staring at the locker in horrormdashand hehas reason to be worried Now hersquos going to need allthe lucky shirts and four-leaf clovers and good-luckcharms he can find

Because when he turns the lock and pulls openLocker 13 Luke will actually be opening the doorto THE NIGHTMARE ROOM

Contents

One

Two

Three

Four

Five

Six

Seven

Eight

Nine

Ten

Eleven

Twelve

Thirteen

Fourteen

Fifteen

Sixteen

Seventeen

Eighteen

Nineteen

Twenty

Twenty-one

Twenty-two

Twenty-three

Twenty-four

Twenty-five

Twenty-six

Twenty-seven

Go Deeper into this Nightmare

About the Author

Take a Look at Whatrsquos Ahead

Credits

About the Publisher

1

ldquoHey Lukemdashgood luckrdquo Who called to me The hall was jammed with

kids excited about the first day of school I was excit-ed too My first day in seventh grade My first day atShawnee Valley Junior High

I just knew this was going to be an awesome yearOf course I didnrsquot take any chances I wore my

lucky shirt Itrsquos a faded green T-shirt kind ofstretched out and the pocket is a little torn But noway Irsquod start a school year without my lucky shirt

And I had my lucky rabbitrsquos foot in the pocket ofmy baggy khakis Itrsquos black and very soft and furryItrsquos a key chain but I donrsquot want to ruin the good luckby hanging keys on it

Why is it so lucky Well itrsquos a black rabbitrsquos footwhich is very rare And I found it last November onmy birthday And after I found it my parents gave methe new computer I wanted So it brought me goodluckmdashright

I glanced up at the red-and-black computer-printed

banner hanging over the hall GO SQUIRES SUPPORT

YOUR TEAMAll of the boysrsquo teams at Shawnee Valley are called

the Squires Donrsquot ask me how they got that weirdname The banner made my heart race just a little Itreminded me that I had to find the basketball coachand ask when he was having tryouts

I had a whole list of things I wanted to do (1)check out the computer lab (2) find out about the bas-ketball team (3) see if I could take any kind of specialswimming program after school I never went to aschool with a swimming pool before And since swim-ming is my other big sport I was pretty pumped aboutit

ldquoLukemdashhirdquoI spun around to find my friend Hannah Marcum

behind me looking as cheerful and enthusiastic asalways Hannah has short coppery hair the color of abright new penny green eyes and a great smile Mymother always calls her Sunshine which totallyembarrasses both of us

ldquoYour pocket is tornrdquo she said She tugged at it rip-ping it a little more

ldquoHeymdashget offrdquo I backed away ldquoItrsquos my lucky shirtrdquoldquoDid you find your locker assignment yetrdquo She

pointed to a group of kids studying a chart taped to thewall They were all standing on tiptoe trying to seeover each other ldquoItrsquos posted over there Guess whatMy locker is the first one outside the lunchroom Irsquoll be

2

first for lunch every dayrdquoldquoOooh luckyrdquo I said ldquoAnd I got Gruen for Englishrdquo Hannah gushed

ldquoHersquos the best Hersquos so funny Everyone says you canrsquotstop laughing Did you get him toordquo

ldquoNordquo I said ldquoI got WarrenrdquoHannah made a face ldquoYoursquore doomedrdquoldquoShut uprdquo I said ldquoDonrsquot say things like thatrdquo I

squeezed my rabbitrsquos foot three times I pushed my way through the crowd to the locker

chart This is going to be an excellent year I told myselfJunior High is so not like elementary school

ldquoHey manmdashhowrsquos it goingrdquo Darnell Cross slappedme a high five

ldquoWhatrsquos uprdquo I replied ldquoCheck it out You got the lucky lockerrdquo Darnell

said I squinted at the chart ldquoHuh What do you meanrdquoI ran my eyes down the list of names until I came

to mine Luke Greene And then I followed the dottedline to my locker number

And gaspedldquoNo wayrdquo I said out loud ldquoThat canrsquot be rightrdquoI blinked a few times then focused on the chart

againYes Locker 13Luke Greene 1313My breath caught in my throat I started to choke

3

I turned away from the chart hoping no one couldsee how upset I was

How can this be happening to me I wonderedLocker 13 My whole year is ruined before it begins

My heart pounded so hard my chest ached Iforced myself to start breathing again

I turned and found Hannah still standing thereldquoWherersquos your lockerrdquo she asked ldquoIrsquoll walk youthererdquo

ldquoUh well I can deal with itrdquo I saidShe squinted at me ldquoExcuse merdquo ldquoI can deal with itrdquo I repeated shakily ldquoItrsquos

Locker thirteen but I can handle it ReallyrdquoHannah laughed ldquoLuke yoursquore such a supersti-

tious geekrdquoI frowned at her ldquoYou mean that in a nice waymdash

rightrdquo I jokedShe laughed again and shoved me into a crowd of

kids I wish she wouldnrsquot shove me so much Shersquosreally strong

I apologized to the kids I stumbled into ThenHannah and I started down the crowded hallchecking the locker numbers searching for num-ber 13

Just past the science lab Hannah stopped sud-denly and grabbed something up from the floor

ldquoHey wow Look what I foundrdquo She held up a five-dollar bill ldquoMmmmmmdashyesrdquo

4

She raised it to her lips and kissed it ldquoFive bucksYayrdquo

I sighed and shook my head ldquoHannah howcome yoursquore always so luckyrdquo

She didnrsquot answer that question It seemed like a simple question but it wasnrsquot And if she had told me the answer I think I would

have run awaymdashrun as far as I could from ShawneeValley Junior High and never come back

5

Letrsquos skip ahead two months Seventh grade was not bad so far I made some new

friends I made real progress on the computer anima-tion piece I had been working on for nearly two yearsAnd I actually won a spot on the basketball team

It was early November about two weeks into theseason And I was late for practice

Guys were already on the floor doing stretchingexercises bouncing basketballs to each other takingshort layups I crept to the locker room hoping no onewould notice me

ldquoLukemdashget dressed Yoursquore laterdquo Coach Bendixshouted

I started to call ldquoSorry I got hung up in the com-puter labrdquo But that was no kind of excuse So I justgave Coach a nod and started jogging full speed to thelocker room to get changed

My stomach felt kind of tight I realized I wasnrsquotlooking forward to practice today For a little guy Irsquom apretty good basketball player Irsquove got a good outside

6

shot and pretty fast hands on defense I was so excited to make the team But I wasnrsquot

counting on one problemmdashan eighth grader namedStretch Johannsen

Stretchrsquos real name is Shawn But everyone in theworld calls him Stretchmdasheven his parents You mightwonder how he got that name But if you saw him youwouldnrsquot wonder

Stretch had some kind of a growth spurt last year inseventh grade and he became a big blond giant prac-tically overnight Hersquos taller than anyone in the highschool He has shoulders like a wrestler and long armsI mean really long arms like a chimpanzee He canreach halfway across the gym

And thatrsquos why everyone started calling himStretch

I think a better name for him would be OstrichThatrsquos because he has long skinny legs like bird legsand a huge chest thatrsquos so wide it makes his pale blue-eyed head look as tiny as an egg

But I would never try my nickname on him I donrsquotthink I can run fast enough Stretch doesnrsquot have muchof a sense of humor In fact hersquos a pretty mean guyalways trash-talking and shoving people aroundmdashandnot just on the basketball floor

I think once he got over the shock of being a gianthe decided to be really impressed with himself

Like being a giant is some kind of special talent orsomething

7

But donrsquot get me started Irsquom always analyzingpeople thinking too hard about them about every-thing Hannah is always telling me I think too muchBut I donrsquot get it How do you stop thinking

Last week after a practice Coach Bendix saidnearly the same thing ldquoYoursquove got to play oninstinct Luke There isnrsquot time to think before everymoverdquo

Which I guess is another reason why I ride thebench Of course Irsquom only in seventh grade Sounless another giant forward tries out for the SquiresIrsquoll probably get to play next yearmdashafter Stretchgraduates

But for now itrsquos really embarrassing not to get toplay Especially since my parents come to everygame to cheer me on I sit on the team bench andwatch Mom and Dad up in the gym bleachers juststaring at me Staring

It doesnrsquot make you feel great Even the time-outs are painful Stretch always

comes trotting over to the team bench He wipes thesweat off his face and bodymdashand then throws thetowel onto me Like Irsquom some kind of towel boy

During one time-out late in the first game he tooka long gulp of Gatorade and spit it onto my uniformshirt I looked up and saw my parents watching fromthe bleachers

8

Sad Really sad Our team the Squires won our first two games

mainly because Stretch wouldnrsquot let anyone elsehandle the ball It was great to winmdashbut I wasalready starting to feel like a loser I wanted to play

Maybe if I have a really strong practice todayCoach Bendix will try me out at guard I told myselfOr maybe even as a backup center I laced up myshoes and triple-knotted them for luck Then I shutmy eyes and counted to seven three times

Just something I doI straightened my red-and-black uniform shorts

slammed the gym locker shut and trotted out of thelocker room and onto the floor Guys were at the farend taking three-point shots everyone shooting atonce The balls bounced off each other bounced offthe hoop The backboard rang out with a steadythud thud thud

Some of the shots actually dropped inldquoLuke get busyrdquo Coach yelled motioning me to

the basket ldquoGet some rebounds Make some shotsGet looserdquo

I flashed him a thumbs-up and ran to join theothers I saw Stretch leap up and make a highrebound To my surprise he spun around andheaved the ball at me ldquoLukemdashthink fastrdquo

I wasnrsquot expecting it The ball sailed through my

9

hands I had to chase it to the wall I dribbled backto find Stretch waiting ldquoGo ahead man Shootrdquo

I swallowed hardmdashand sent up a two-handedshot

ldquoHe shootsmdashhe missesrdquo Stretch shouted Someguys laughed

My shot bounced off the rim Stretch took threefast strides reached up his long arms and grabbedthe rebound in midair He tossed it back to meldquoShoot againrdquo

My next shot brushed the bottom of the netldquoHe shootsmdashhe missesrdquo Stretch repeated as if

that was the funniest thing anyone ever said Moreloud laughter

Stretch took the rebound and tossed me the ballldquoAgainrdquo he ordered

Everyone was watching now I sent up a one-handed layup that almost dropped in It rolledaround the rim then fell off

ldquoHe shootsmdashhe missesrdquoI could feel sweat rolling down my forehead

Why canrsquot I get lucky here I asked myself Comeon Lukemdashjust one lucky shot I slapped my lefthand rapidly against the leg of my shorts seventimes

Stretch bounced the ball to me ldquoGo champYoursquore O for three You got a streak goingrdquo Morelaughter

I shut my eyes for a second Then I sailed this

10

one highmdashand gasped as it sank through the hoopStretch grinned and shook his head The other

guys all cheered as if Irsquod just won the state juniorhigh tournament

I grabbed the ball and dribbled away from themI didnrsquot want to give Stretch a chance to ruin my vic-tory I knew he would keep me shooting till I wasone for three hundred

I turned to see if Coach Benson had watched myshot He leaned against the wall talking to two otherteachers He hadnrsquot seen it

I dribbled across the floor then back toward theothers Then I made a big mistake

A really big mistake A mistake that ruined mylife at Shawnee Valley Junior High

ldquoHey Stretchmdashthink fastrdquo I shouted And Iheaved the ball at him as hard as I could

What was I thinkingI didnrsquot see that he had bent down on one knee

to tie his sneaker lace I froze in horrormdashand watched the ball fly at

him It hit him hard on the side of the head knockedhim over and sent him tumbling to the floor

ldquoHeymdashrdquo he cried out stunned He shook hishead dizzily I saw bright red blood start to flow fromhis nose

ldquoStretchmdashIrsquom sorryrdquo I shrieked ldquoI didnrsquot seeyou I didnrsquot meanmdashrdquo

I lurched forward running to help him up

11

ldquoMy contactsrdquo he cried ldquoYou knocked out mycontactsrdquo

And then I heard a soft squish under my shoeI stopped Lifted my foot Stretchrsquos contact lens

lay flat as a pancake on the gym floorEveryone saw itStretch was on his feet now Blood rolled down

his lips his chin He didnrsquot pay any attention to it He had his eyes

narrowed on me He lumbered forward clenchingand unclenching his giant fists

I was doomed

12

Stretch reached under my arms and lifted me upHe was so huge and strong he picked me off thefloor like I was a ventriloquistrsquos dummy

ldquoWhoa It was an accidentrdquo I whisperedldquoHerersquos another accidentrdquo he said When he

talked he spit blood in my face He tightened his gripunder my arms

He raised me higher and gazed up at the basketIs he going to make a three-point shot with me Iwondered

Yes He is Hersquos going to slam dunk meBehind me I heard shouts A whistle blowing

Running footstepsldquoTake it outside Stretchrdquo I heard Coach Bendix

shoutHuhStretch slowly lowered me to the floor My knees

started to buckle but I managed to stay on my feet Stretch rubbed a hand across his bloody nose

then wiped it on the front of my jersey

13

ldquoTake it outsiderdquo Coach repeated edgingbetween us ldquoLetrsquos pair up everybody One on oneStretchmdashyou and Lukerdquo

ldquoNo wayrdquo Stretch mutteredldquoHersquos your backuprdquo Coach said poking Stretch

in the chest with his whistle ldquoYoursquove got to teachLuke Irsquom putting you in charge of Lukersquos develop-mentrdquo

Stretch snickered ldquoDevelopment He doesnrsquothave any developmentrdquo

ldquoGo to my office Get some tissues and stop thatnosebleedrdquo Coach instructed Stretch ldquoThen takeLuke to the practice court behind the playgroundShow him some moves Teach him somethingrdquo

Stretch stared at the floor for a few seconds as ifthinking it over But he knew better than to arguewith Coach Bendix He nodded at me ldquoLetrsquos goChamprdquo

What choice did I have Even though I knew itwas pain time for me I turned and followed him out-side

It was late afternoon pretty cold to be outside inbasketball shorts and a sleeveless jersey Since it wasNovember the big red sun had already loweredbehind the houses across the street from the play-ground

I shiveredStretch didnrsquot give me much of a chance to get

14

ready He pounded the ball hard on the asphalt courtand came racing at me like a stampeding bull

I tried to slide to the side But Stretch lowered hisshoulder and slammed it hard into my gut

ldquoOhhhrdquo I groaned and slumped backldquoDefenserdquo he shouted ldquoGet your hands up

Champ Get ready Here I come againrdquoldquoNomdashwaitmdashrdquo I pleadedThe ball thundered in front of him as he drove

into me again This time he kept his body up straightThe force of the collision sent me sprawling to theasphalt

ldquoDefenserdquo he shouted ldquoShow me somethingBlock me At least slow me down a littlerdquo

Groaning again I climbed to my feet I felt as ifIrsquod been hit by a truck

Stretch dribbled around me circling me his eyeslocked angrily on me His nosebleed had stoppedbut he still had dried blood caked under his nose

I rubbed my chest ldquoI I think I broke a ribrdquo Iwhispered

With a wild shout he slammed into me againThis time I flew backmdashand smashed into the thickwooden post that held up the backboard

ldquoYoursquore going to pay for those contacts Champrdquohe called hulking over me so I couldnrsquot stand updribbling the ball inches from my feet

ldquoYeah Okayrdquo I said trying to rub the pain frommy chest ldquoI said I was sorryrdquo

15

ldquoYoursquore gonna be more sorryrdquo he said Hebounced the ball hard against my bare leg ldquoGet uprdquo

I didnrsquot move ldquoIt was an accidentrdquo I insisted ldquoIreally didnrsquot see you bend down Reallyrdquo

He picked at the caked blood under his noseldquoGet up Letrsquos go Irsquom supposed to teach you some-thingrdquo He laughed really loud Irsquom not sure whyThen he swept a huge hand back through his shortwhite-blond hair and waited for me to stand up Sohe could teach me more lessons

I climbed shakily to my feet I felt so dizzy I hadto grab the wooden post My head ached My ribsached

ldquoCan we uh play a different gamerdquoI asked weakly

ldquoYeah Surerdquo he said ldquoHeymdashthink fastrdquoHe was standing so close and he heaved the ball

so hard it felt like a cannonball as it shot into mystomach

I stumbled back And let out a sharp gaspAnd then realized I couldnrsquot breatheI struggled hard to suck in some air No no air I canrsquot get air I saw bright yellow stars The yellow darkened to

redPain shot through my chest The pain spread

growing sharper sharper I was down on my back now staring up at the

16

17

sky staring up at the dancing red stars I wanted toscream But I had no air

Canrsquot breathe canrsquot breathe at all The stars faded away The color faded from the

sky All black All black nowAnd as I sank into the blackness I heard a voiceA beautiful soft voice from far far away Calling

my nameAn angel I realized Yes Through the blackness I heard an angel call-

ing my nameAnd I knew that I had died

ldquoLuke LukerdquoThe blackness lifted I blinked up at the afternoon

sky The voice was closer now And I recognized itldquoLukerdquoMy chest ached as I took a deep breathHeymdashwhen had I started to breathe againI lifted my head and saw Hannah running across

the basketball court She wore a blue windbreakerunzipped and it flapped up over her shoulders likewings Her red hair glowed in the late afternoon sunlike a halo

Not an angel Just Hannah She turned angrily to Stretch as she ran past him

ldquoWhat did you do to Lukemdashkill himrdquoStretch giggled ldquoProbablyrdquoHannah dropped onto her knees beside me Her

windbreaker fell over my face She tugged it awayldquoAre you alive Can you speakrdquo

ldquoYeah Irsquom okayrdquo I muttered I felt like a jerk Ahelpless jerk

18

Stretch walked up behind Hannah ldquoWhorsquos sherdquohe sneered at me ldquoYour girlfriendrdquo

Hannah spun around to face him ldquoHeymdashIrsquoveseen your girlfriendrdquo

Stretchrsquos mouth dropped open ldquoHuh Whorsquosthatrdquo

ldquoGodzillardquo Hannah declaredI tried to laugh but it made my ribs hurtThe next thing I knew Hannah was on her feet

shoving Stretchrsquos shoulders with both hands forcinghim to back up ldquoEver hear of picking on someoneyour own sizerdquo she demanded

Stretch laughed ldquoNo Tell me about itrdquo Hebacked away from her and raised his big meaty fistsHe grinned and started dancing like a fighter ldquoComeon You want a piece of me You want a piece ofmerdquo Imitating someone in a movie I guess

ldquoOne on onerdquo Hannah challenged Stretch tossed back his head and laughed His

blue eyes rolled around in his tiny head ldquoYou wanta piece of merdquo

ldquoFreestyle shootingrdquo Hannah said tearing off thewindbreaker She tossed it to the side of the courtldquoCome on Stretch Twenty shots each Any kind ofshotrdquo She stared up at him ldquoYoursquoll lose ReallyYoursquoll see Yoursquoll lose to a girlrdquo

His smile faded ldquoYoursquore on the girlsrsquo basketballteammdashrightrdquo

Hannah nodded ldquoIrsquom the centerrdquo

19

Stretch started to dribble the ball slowly in frontof him ldquoTwenty shots Layups or three-pointrdquo

Hannah shrugged ldquoAny kind Yoursquoll loserdquoI climbed to my feet and went over to the side of

the court to watch I still felt a little shaky but I knewI was okay

Stretch didnrsquot hesitate He raised the ball andpushed up a one-handed shot from half-court Theball hit the backboard then the rimmdashand droppedin ldquoOne for onerdquo he said He ran to retrieve the ballldquoIrsquoll keep shooting until I missrdquo

He missed his next shot an easy layup fromunder the basket

Hannahrsquos turn I crossed my fingers and countedto seven three times

ldquoGo Hannahrdquo I cheered holding up my crossedfingers

Hannah sank a basket from the foul line Thenshe drove under the basket and shot another one infrom underneath

My mouth dropped open as she sank eight morebaskets without a miss ldquoWow Go Hannahrdquo

Stretch just stood there looking dumb I couldnrsquottell what he was thinking His face was a total blank

ldquoTen for tenrdquo Hannah declared She bounced theball to Stretch ldquoYou go Just to keep it interestingrdquo

Hannah glanced at me grinned and flashed mea thumbs-up

Stretch wasnrsquot smiling anymore He had a grim

20

determined look on his face as he drove in close toshoot He dropped four straight baskets then missedone from in front of the foul line

He muttered something under his breath andbounced the ball to Hannah

Hannah sank eight more in a row She turned toStretch ldquoEighteen for eighteenrdquo

But he was already jogging back to the gym ascowl on his face

ldquoIrsquom not finishedrdquo Hannah called after himStretch turned back to me ldquoHey Champmdashmaybe

you should take a lesson from your girlfriend Ormaybe you should play on her teamrdquo Shaking hishead he disappeared into the school

A strong wind began to blow across the play-ground It was dark as evening now I picked upHannahrsquos windbreaker and reached out to hand it toher But she took another shot ldquoNineteenrdquo And thenanother ldquoTwenty Yay I winrdquo

I gaped at her ldquoHannahmdashyou never miss Howdo you do thatrdquo

She shrugged ldquoJust luckyrdquoI shivered We started jogging back to the school

ldquoAsk me how lucky I amrdquo I muttered ldquoI made a newenemy today A huge enemyrdquo

Hannah stopped and grabbed my arm ldquoHeymdashItotally forgot why I was looking for you I wanted totell you the coolest newsrdquo

I held the school door open ldquoYeah Whatrdquo

21

Hannahrsquos green eyes flashed ldquoYou know thosephotos I took of my dog I sent them to a magazine inNew York And guess what They paid me five hun-dred dollars for them Theyrsquore going to publish themmdashand do a big story about me Isnrsquot that so totally coolrdquo

ldquoWow Totallyrdquo I saidAnd thatrsquos when I decided my luck had to changeWhy should Hannah have all the luck I can be

lucky too I told myselfItrsquos all attitude Thatrsquos what it takes The right atti-

tudeI changed into my street clothes I made my way

upstairs to stop at my locker Locker 13 Basketball practice had run so late the halls were

empty My shoes clonked noisily on the hard floorMost of the lights had already been turned off

This school is creepy when itrsquos empty I decided Istopped in front of my locker feeling a chill at the backof my neck

I always felt a little weirded-out in front of thelocker For one thing it wasnrsquot with all the otherseventh-grade lockers It was down at the end of theback hall by itself just past a janitorrsquos supply closet

Up and down the hall all the other lockers hadbeen painted over the summer They were all asmooth silvery gray But no one had touched locker13 The old green paint was peeling and had largepatches scraped off Deep scratches crisscrossed upand down the door

22

The locker smelled damp And sour As if it hadonce been filled with rotting leaves or dead fish orsomething

Thatrsquos okay I can deal with this I told myself I took a deep breath New attitude Luke New

attitude Your luck is going to changeI opened my backpack and pulled out a fat black

marker Then I closed the locker door And rightabove the number 13 I wrote the word LUCKY in bigbold capital letters

I stepped back to admire my work LUCKY 13ldquoYessssrdquo I felt better alreadyI shoved the black marker into my backpack and

started to zip it up And thatrsquos when I heard thebreathing

Soft soft breaths So soft I thought I imaginedthem From inside the locker

I crept closer and pressed my ear against the doorI heard a soft hiss Then more breathingThe backpack slipped out of my hands and thud-

ded to the floor I froze And heard another soft hiss inside the locker It

ended in a short cry The back of my neck prickled My breath caught

in my throatWithout realizing it my hand had gripped the

locker handleShould I open the door Should I

23

My hand tightened on the handle I forced myselfto start breathing again

Irsquom imagining this I told myself There canrsquot be anyone breathing inside my lockerI lifted the handle Pulled open the doorldquoHeymdashrdquo I cried out in shock And stared down at

a black catThe cat gazed up at me its eyes red in the dim

hall light The black fur stood up on its back Itpulled back its lips and hissed again

A black catA black cat inside my lockerIrsquom imagining this I thought I blinked hard trying to blink the cat awayA black cat inside locker 13 Could there be any

worse luckldquoHowmdashhow did you get in thererdquo I choked outThe cat hissed again and arched its back It gazed

up at me coldly Then it leaped from the locker floor It darted over

24

my shoes down the hall Running rapidly silentlyHead down tail straight up it turned the first cornerand disappeared

I stared after it my heart pounding I could stillfeel its furry body brushing against my leg I realizedI was still gripping the locker handle

My head spun with questions How long had thecat been in there How did it get inside the lockeddoor Why was there a black cat in my locker Why

I turned and checked out the floor of the lockerJust to make sure there werenrsquot any other creatureshiding in there Then still feeling confused I closedthe door carefully locked it and stepped back

LUCKY 13The black letters appeared to glowldquoYeah Luckyrdquo I muttered picking up my back-

pack ldquoReal lucky A black cat in my lockerrdquo I held my lucky rabbitrsquos foot and kept squeezing

it tightly all the way homeThings are going to change I told myself Things

have got to change

But in the next few weeks my luck didnrsquot changeat all

One day after school I was on my way to the com-puter lab when I ran into Hannah ldquoWhere are yougoingrdquo she asked ldquoWant to come watch my basket-ball gamerdquo

ldquoI canrsquotrdquo I replied ldquoI promised to install some

25

new modems for Mrs Coffey the computer teacherrdquoldquoMr Computer Geek strikes againrdquo she said She

started jogging toward the gymldquoDid you get your science test backrdquo I called

after herShe stopped and turned around with a grin on her

face ldquoYou wonrsquot believe it Luke I didnrsquot have timeto study I had to guess on every question And guesswhat I got a hundred I got them all rightrdquo

ldquoThatrsquos excellentrdquo I called Irsquod studied for thattest for a solid week and I got a seventy-four

I made my way into the computer lab and wavedto Mrs Coffey She was hunched over her desk sort-ing through a tall stack of disks ldquoHey howrsquos itgoingrdquo she called

The computer lab is my second home Ever sinceMrs Coffey learned that I can repair computers andupgrade them and install things in them Irsquove beenher favorite student

And I have to admit I really like her tooWhenever I donrsquot have basketball practice I checkin at the computer lab to talk with her and see whatneeds to be fixed

ldquoLuke how is your animation project comingalongrdquo she asked setting down the disks Shebrushed back her blond hair She has the nicestsmile Everyone likes her because she always seemsto enjoy her classes so much

ldquoIrsquom almost ready to show it to yourdquo I said I sat

26

down in front of a computer and started to removethe back ldquoI think itrsquos really cool And itrsquos going muchfaster now I found a new way to move pixelsaroundrdquo

Her eyes grew wide ldquoReallyrdquoldquoItrsquos a very cool inventionrdquo I said carefully slid-

ing the insides from the computer ldquoThe program ispretty simple I think a lot of animators might like itrdquo

I set down my screwdriver and gazed across theroom at her ldquoMaybe you could help me You knowShow it to people Get it copyrighted or somethingrdquo

ldquoMayberdquo she said She stood up smoothing thehem of her blue sweater over her jeans She came upbehind me and watched as I removed the old modemldquoYoursquore really skillful Luke I think yoursquore going tomake a lot of money with computers some dayrdquo

ldquoYeah Mayberdquo I replied awkwardly ldquoThanksrdquo Ididnrsquot really know what to say Mrs Coffey is so awe-some She is the only teacher who really encouragesme and thinks Irsquom somebody

ldquoI canrsquot wait to show you my animationrdquo I said ldquoWell I have some big newsrdquo she said sud-

denly I turned and caught the excited smile on herface ldquoYoursquore the first person to hear it Luke Can youkeep a secretrdquo

ldquoYeah Okayrdquo I saidldquoI just got the most wonderful job At a really big

software company in Chicago Irsquom leaving school nextweekrdquo

27

The next afternoon I couldnrsquot check in at the com-puter lab I had to hurry to the swimming poolbehind the gym

Swimming is my other big sport I spent all lastsummer working with an instructor at our local poolHe was fast enough to make the Olympic tryouts afew years ago And he really improved my stroke andshowed me a lot of secrets for getting my speed up

So I looked forward to the tryouts for the Squiresswim team I couldnrsquot wear my lucky swimsuitbecause it didnrsquot fit anymore But I wore my luckyshirt to school that day And as I changed for thepool I silently counted to seven three times

As I left the locker room I heard shouts andlaughter echoing off the tile pool walls Feeling myheart start to race I stepped into the steamy air ofthe indoor pool The floor was puddled with warmwater I inhaled the sharp chlorine smell I love thatsmell

Then I bent down and kissed the top of the divingboard I know It sounds weird But itrsquos just some-thing I always do

I turned to the pool Three or four guys werealready in the water At the shallow end I sawStretch He was violently splashing two other guysHe had them cornered at the end of the pool His bighands slapped the water sending up tall waves overthem They pleaded with him to give them a break

Coach Swanson blew his whistle then shouted

28

bull bull bull

for Stretch to cut the horseplay Stretch gave the twoguys one more vicious splash

Then he turned and saw me ldquoHey Champmdashrdquo heshouted his voice booming off the tiles ldquoYoursquoreearly Drowning lessons are next week Ha ha Niceswim trunks Are those your girlfriendrsquos Ha hardquo

A few other guys laughed tooI decided to ignore them I was feeling pretty con-

fident About twenty guys were trying out I knewthere were only six spots open on the team But afterall my work last summer I thought I could make thetop six

We all warmed up for a bit taking easy laps lim-bering up our muscles getting used to the warmwater After a few minutes Coach Swanson made usall climb out and line up at the deep end of the pool

ldquoOkay guys Irsquove got to get to my night job by fiveso wersquore going to keep this simplerdquo the coachannounced ldquoYou have one chance One chanceonly You hear the whistle you do a speed dive intothe pool You do two complete laps any stroke youwant Irsquoll take the first six guys And two alternatesAny questionsrdquo

There werenrsquot anyEveryone leaned forward preparing to dive

Stretch lined up next to me He elbowed me hard inthe side ldquoGive me some room Champ Donrsquot crowdmerdquo

29

Okay so hersquoll come in first I figured rubbing thepain from my side That leaves five other places onthe team

Irsquom good enough I told myself I know I am Iknow I am

The whistle blew All down the row bodiestensed then plunged forward

I started my divemdashand slippedThe pool floormdashso wet My feet slid on the tile Oh noI hit the water with a loud smack A belly flop No kind of dive Struggling to recover I raised my head And saw

everyone way ahead of me One unlucky slip I lowered my head determined to catch up I

started stroking easily forcing myself to be calm Iremembered the slow steady straight-legged kick myinstructor had taught me

I sped up I passed some guys Hit the wall andstarted back

I can do this I told myself I can still make theteam

Faster At the end of the second lap the finish was a furi-

ous blur Blue water Thrashing arms and legs Loudbreaths Bobbing heads

I tried to shut out everything and concentrate on

30

my stroke ignore everyone else and swimAt last my hand hit the pool wall I ducked under

then surfaced blowing out water I wiped my hairaway from my eyes The taste of chlorine was in mymouth Water running down my face I glancedaround

I didnrsquot finish last Some guys were still swim-ming I squinted down the line of swimmers who hadfinished How many How many were ahead of me

ldquoLukemdashyoursquore seventhrdquo Coach Swansonannounced He made a large check on his clipboardldquoFirst alternate See you at practicerdquo

I was still too out-of-breath to replySeventhI let out a long sigh I felt so disappointed I could

do better than seventh I knew If only I hadnrsquotslipped

As I started to trudge back to the locker roomStretch strode up beside me ldquoHey Champrdquo Heslapped my bare back with his open hand so hard itmade a loud smack ldquoThanks for making me look sogoodrdquo

I got dressed quickly standing in a corner bymyself A few guys came over to say congratulationsBut I didnrsquot feel I deserved it

Across the locker room Stretch was still in hisswim trunks He was having a great time smacking

31

guys with his towel really making the towel snapagainst their bare skin laughing his head off

I tossed my towel in the basket Then I steppedup to the mirror over the sinks to comb my hair Aceiling lightbulb was out and I had to lean over thesink to see

I had just started to comb my wet hair backmdashwhen I saw the jagged crack along the length of theglass

ldquoWhoardquo I stopped combing and stepped backA broken mirror Seven years bad luck for some-

oneI reached into my khakis pocket and squeezed

my rabbitrsquos foot three times Then I turned back tothe mirror and began combing my hair again

Something was wrong I blinked Once TwiceA red light Some kind of red glare in the mirror

glassI squinted into the glassmdashand let out a cryThe red glare was coming from a pair of eyesmdash

two red eyes glowing like hot coalsTwo angry red eyes floating in the glass Floating

beside my reflectionI could see my confused expression as I stared at

the frightening red eyes as I watched the eyesslide across the glass slide slide closer until their red glow covered my eyes

32

My horrified reflection stared out at me with thefiery glowing eyes

And I opened my mouth and let out a long terri-fied scream

33

Over my scream I heard heavy footsteps behindme And then I heard a voicemdashStretchrsquos voiceldquoHeymdashget used to itrdquo

I spun around He grinned at me ldquoGet used to itChamp Thatrsquos your face It makes other peoplescream toordquo

ldquoNordquo I cried ldquoNo Itrsquos not Donrsquot you seemdashrdquoCoach Swanson burst in behind Stretch ldquoLukemdash

whatrsquos wrongrdquoldquoMy eyesrdquo I cried ldquoLook Are they red Are

theyrdquoCoach Swanson and Stretch exchanged glances ldquoWhat is his problemrdquo Stretch murmuredCoach Swanson stepped up close and examined

my eyes ldquoWhatrsquos wrong with you Luke Itrsquos just thechlorine from the pool Your eyes will be okay in a lit-tle whilerdquo

ldquoChlorine Huh Nordquo I insisted Then I glancedinto the mirror And saw my normal brown eyes gaz-ing back at me

34

No glowing eyes No red eyes burning in the glasslike an evil movie monster

ldquoUh well rdquo I rubbed my eyes They didnrsquotburn or anything They felt okay

I turned back to Stretch and Coach Swanson Ididnrsquot know what to say to them They were both stillstaring at me as if I were nuts

And maybe I was Black cats jumping out of my locker Glowing red

eyes in the mirrorldquoWell see you at practicerdquo I saidStretch laughed ldquoNot if I see you first Ha hardquoI laughed too It wasnrsquot funny but I wanted to

sound calm again normalAs I followed them out of the locker room I real-

ized I was trembling Why were these strange things happening to me

35

After dinner I was supposed to go to the mall withHannah She wanted to buy me some computer soft-ware for my birthday But she wanted me to pick itout

That was really nice of her But at the last minuteI decided not to go

I was still feeling weird from the swim tryoutsAnd I wanted to work on my animation project If Iworked really hard I might be able to get it finishedin time to show Mrs Coffey before she left school

I went up to my room and booted up the anima-tion But I couldnrsquot concentrate I kept staring at thefour-leaf clover inside a block of clear Lucite I keepon my desk And I kept jumping up and running tothe mirror to check my eyes

Perfectly normal Not glowingSo what happened What happened to me in that

locker room I asked myself I tried to convincemyself there was something wrong with the mirror

36

The red glow was because of the way the light hit thecrack in the mirror Or something

No That didnrsquot make senseThe phone rang a little before ten orsquoclock And it

was Hannah sounding very breathless and excitedldquoLukemdashyou shouldrsquove come You shouldrsquove

comerdquoI had to hold the phone away from my ear

Hannah was shouting so loud ldquoWhy What hap-penedrdquo I asked

ldquoI won itrdquo she declared ldquoDo you believe it Iwonrdquo

ldquoExcuse me Hannahmdashwhat are you talkingaboutrdquo

ldquoYou know the raffle at the mall That huge redSUV Itrsquos been on display there for a monthThousands of people put tickets in the boxThousands AndmdashandmdashI just happened to be walk-ing by when they had the drawing tonight Andmdashrdquo

ldquoYou didnrsquotrdquo I shriekedldquoYes Yes I won it I won the SUVrdquo ldquoWowrdquo I slumped onto my bed I actually felt

faint My heart was pounding as if I had wonldquoYou shouldrsquove seen me when they called out my

namerdquo Hannah gushed ldquoI screamed I just stoodthere and screamedrdquo

She screamed again shrieked at the top of herlungs A long high joyful scream

37

ldquoHannahmdashthatrsquos so awesomerdquo I said I donrsquotthink she heard me She was still screaming

ldquoMy family is so happy Luke You should seethem They are dancing around the living roomrdquo

ldquoThatrsquos so greatrdquo I saidHannah lowered her voice ldquoI just feel bad about

one thing Luke I was so crazed I was so berserk Iforgot why I was at the mall I forgot all about buy-ing you a birthday giftrdquo

I stood up I picked up the block with the four-leafclover inside and smoothed it between my handsldquoThatrsquos okayrdquo I told Hannah ldquoI just decided what Ireally want for my birthdayrdquo

ldquoWhatrsquos thatrdquo she askedldquoI want your luckrdquoHannah laughed She thought I was kidding But

of course I was seriousldquoAre you going to school tomorrowrdquo she askedldquoHuh Yeah sure Why notrdquoldquoTomorrow is Friday the thirteenthrdquo she said ldquoI

know how superstitious you are I thought maybeyoursquod stay home and hide under the bed all dayrdquo

ldquoHa hardquo I said But I felt a cold tingle at the backof my neck ldquoIrsquoll be thererdquo I told Hannah ldquoIrsquom nottotally wacko you knowrdquo

But Irsquoll wear my lucky shirt I thought And Irsquolltake my four-leaf clover in my backpack And Irsquoll askMom to pack my lucky sandwich for lunchmdashpeanutbutter and mayonnaise

38

ldquoI have to go to school tomorrowrdquo I told HannahldquoI have basketball practice after schoolrdquo

ldquoHowrsquos practice goingrdquo Hannah askedI chuckled ldquoNot bad So far I havenrsquot gotten any

splinters from sitting on the benchrdquoHannah laughed I could hear shouts and wild

laughter in the background ldquoIrsquove got to gordquo she saidshouting over the racket ldquoMy family is still celebrat-ing my winning the SUV Byerdquo

She clicked off before I could reply

That night I dreamed about locker 13In the dream I stepped up to the locker Someone

had taped a calendar to the door I came closer andsaw that Friday the thirteenth had been circled inred

I started to rip the calendar off the locker doorBut I stopped when I heard loud breathing Hoarsewheezing sounds Like someone was having troublebreathing

I touched the locker door And it was burning hotI screamed in shock and pulled my hand awayAgain I heard the hoarse breathing from inside

the locker And then I heard a tiny voice cry outldquoPlease get me outrdquo

In the dream I knew I was dreaming I wanted tolift myself out of the dream But I was stuck thereAnd I knew I had no choice I had to pull open thelocker door and see who was in there

39

ldquoPlease I want out Get me outrdquo the tinyfrightened voice called

Even though I knew I was dreaming I still felt sofrightened Real fear that makes you shake whetheryoursquore awake or asleep

I watched myself grip the door handle Slowlymdashso slowlymdashI pulled the locker door open

And I stared in horror at the figure huddled insidethe locker Because it was ME

It was me inside the locker hugging myself trem-bling all over It was memdashand my eyes started toglow My eyes glowed out from the dark locker red asfire

And as I stared at myself stared at those ugly evilred eyes I watched my face begin to change Iwatched hair grow out of my nostrils Long braids ofthick black hair sliding out of my nosemdashdown downto the locker floor

Beneath the shining red eyes thick blacktwisted ropes of hair were pouring from my nose Outof the locker Piling onto the hall floor Curlingaround me as I watched

Yes The long hair flowed from my nose andsnaked around me as I watched in horror Curledaround me covering me in warm scratchy hairCovering me like a big furry coat and then tighten-ing Tightening Tightening around my chestTightening around my face Wrapping me like amummy Wrapping me in my ghastly nose hair

40

I woke up one hand tightly wrapped around theLucite block with the four-leaf clover Gray morningsunlight seeped through my bedroom window Myroom was so cold cold as a freezer

ldquoLuke what are you doing up there Yoursquore laterdquoMomrsquos voice shattered the frozen silence

ldquoA dreamrdquo I murmured A hoarse laugh escapedmy throat My eyes darted around the room NormalEverything normal

ldquoHurry Luke Itrsquos really laterdquo Momrsquos voicesounded so good to me

I followed her order I hurried I got showereddressed ate breakfast and arrived at school withabout two minutes to spare The halls were prettyempty Most kids had already gone to their home-rooms

I glanced at the clock on the tile wall Then joggedto the end of the back hall to toss my jacket into mylocker

But a few feet from my locker I stopped with agasp

What was that on the door to locker 13I crept closer A calendarYes Someone had taped a calendar to the door

And and today Friday the thirteenth was cir-cled in red

41

ldquoMy dreamrdquo I murmuredThat horrifying dream Itrsquos coming true I realized

Irsquom going to open the door and itrsquos going to cometrue

42

I stared at the calendar at the number 13 circledin red marker

Last nightrsquos dream played itself again through mymind I shuddered My legs and arms itched I couldpractically feel the disgusting hair curling around myskin

With an angry cry I ripped the calendar off thedoor and crumpled it in my hand

Now I expected to hear the heavy breathing frominside the locker And the tiny criesmdashmy criesmdashbeg-ging to be let out

But I didnrsquot wait ldquoIrsquom not opening itrdquo I said outloud

No way am I going to allow the dream to cometrue

I tossed the wadded-up calendar sheet to thefloor Then I spun around and began running toclass The hall was empty My shoes thudded loudlyon the hard floor as I ran

Irsquoll keep my coat with me I decided Irsquoll just drag

43

it around with me all day I donrsquot need to open thelocker

The bell rang as I reached my homeroom doorMr Perkins looked up as I burst into the roomldquoGood morning Lukerdquo he said ldquoRunning a little latethis morningrdquo

ldquoA littlerdquo I replied breathlessly Unzipping myjacket I started to my seat

ldquoWould you like time to go hang your coat in yourlockerrdquo Mr Perkins asked

ldquoUh no Thatrsquos okayrdquo I lowered my backpackto the floor and dropped into the chair ldquoIrsquoll just keep itrdquo

A few kids were staring at me Mr Perkins noddedand turned back to the papers he was reading

I took a deep breath and settled back against thechair I rubbed the right sleeve of my lucky shirtseven times

That dream is not going to come true I toldmyself No way I wonrsquot let it

Of course I wasnrsquot thinking clearly How couldthat crazy dream come true

If I had stopped for one second to think about itI would have realized the whole idea was insane

But today was Friday the thirteenth And I nevercan think clearly on Friday the thirteenth I admit itIrsquom always a little crazy on that unlucky day

I glanced up to see that Mr Perkins had beenreading the morning announcements I hadnrsquot heard

44

a word he said I pulled the four-leaf clover from mybackpack twirled it in my hand and wished for goodluck for the rest of the day

At noon I found Hannah at a table against theback wall of the lunchroom She was sitting all byherself staring down at her brown lunchbag whichshe hadnrsquot opened

ldquoHi Whassuprdquo I dropped across from herldquoHirdquo she said softly without raising her eyes

ldquoHowrsquos it goingrdquoldquoWell pretty okay for a Friday the thirteenthrdquo I

said Actually the morning had flown by without anyproblems at all

I expected Hannah to make some kind of jokeabout how superstitious I am But she didnrsquot say aword

I pulled the sandwich from my bag and started tounwrap the foil ldquoMy lucky sandwichrdquo I saidldquoPeanut butter and mayonnaiserdquo

ldquoYumrdquo she said rolling her eyes She finallylooked at me She appeared tired Her eyes werebloodshot red as if shersquod been crying Her hair wasa mess and her face was gray

ldquoHow come yoursquore wearing your coatrdquo sheasked

ldquoOh uh no reasonrdquo I said ldquoI was kind ofcoldrdquo

She nodded glumly

45

ldquoDid you come to school in the new SUVrdquo Iasked

She shook her head ldquoWe donrsquot have it yet Dadhas to go fill out a lot of papersrdquo She let out a longsigh

I lowered my sandwich ldquoAre you feeling okayrdquo Iasked

She didnrsquot answer Instead she sighed again andstared down at the table

I poked her lunchbag with one finger ldquoWhat doyou have for lunchrdquo

She shrugged ldquoJust some fruit Irsquom not very hun-gryrdquo She opened the bag reached a hand in andpulled out a bright yellow banana

She struggled with the skin Then finally peeled itopen

ldquoOh yuckrdquo Her face twisted in disgust Shedropped the banana to the table

Inside the skin the banana was completely rot-ten Just a soft pile of black mush A horrible soursmellmdashlike ripe vomitmdashfloated up from it

Hannah shoved the banana away ldquoSick Thatrsquosreally sickrdquo

ldquoThe skin is perfectly freshrdquo I said ldquoHow couldthe banana be so rottenrdquo

ldquoI think I have an applerdquo Hannah said glumlyShe tore the bag apart and pulled out a red appleShe twirled it between her handsmdashthen stopped witha gasp

46

I saw the deep dark hole on the side of the appleAnd as we both stared at it a fat brown wormmdashatleast two inches longmdashcurled out from inside Andthen another And another

The worms dropped from the apple onto thetabletop

ldquoI donrsquot believe thisrdquo Hannah shrieked Shescraped her chair back so hard it toppled over

And before I could say anything she was runningfrom the room

After school I looked for Hannah on my way tobasketball practice I was worried about her She hadacted so weird at lunch Not like herself at all

I reminded myself that it was Friday the thir-teenth And sometimes people act a little weird onthis day

But not Hannah Hannah is the least supersti-tious person I know She walks under ladders all thetime and she hugs black cats and doesnrsquot think athing of it

And why should she Hannah has to be the luck-iest person on earth

Lockers slammed as kids prepared to go home Istarted to the gym then turned back I donrsquot want tocarry my coat and backpack to the gym I decidedIrsquom going to stuff them in my locker

I hesitated as the locker came into view at the endof the hall I read the words on the door LUCKY 13 Of

47

course I remembered my nightmaremdashand the calen-dar from my nightmare taped on the locker door

But I had to open the locker I didnrsquot want to carrymy stuff around with me for the rest of the year

ldquoHey Lukerdquo I saw Darnell Cross waving to mefrom the doorway to the science lab ldquoAre the Squiresgoing to beat Davenportrdquo

ldquoTheyrsquore not so toughrdquo I called back ldquoWe couldtake themrdquo

ldquoYou going to playrdquo Darnell asked He grinnedbecause he already knew the answer

ldquoAs soon as I grow taller than Stretchrdquo I repliedHe laughed and disappeared back into the lab I stepped up to locker 13 I brought my face close

to the door ldquoAnyone in thererdquo I called inSilenceldquoJust checkingrdquo I said I grabbed the door handle

I was feeling pretty confident Friday the thirteenthwas two-thirds over and so far nothing terriblyunlucky had happened to me

I squeezed my rabbitrsquos foot for luck Then I tooka deep breathmdashand pulled open the locker

48

Nothing unusual inside the locker I realized I was still gripping the rabbitrsquos foot

inside my pocket I let go of it and slipped my back-pack off my shoulders

I studied the locker carefully A bunch of booksand notebooks on the top shelf where I had leftthem My old gray sweatshirt lay crumpled on thelocker floor

No black cats No one breathing or crying orshooting piles of hair from his nose

I let out a long sigh of relief Then I tossed thebackpack on top of the balled-up sweatshirt Shovedmy jacket onto the hook on the back wall

I started to slam the door shut when I spottedsomething at my feet

My shoe kicked it and it rolled against the lockerbottom then bounced back

A ballI bent down and picked it up I raised it close to

my face

49

ldquoWhoardquo Not a ball A tiny yellow skull a littlelarger than a Ping-Pong ball

It had an open-mouthed grin revealing two rowsof gray teeth I ran my finger over the teeth Theywere hard and bumpy

I squeezed it The little skull was made of somekind of hard rubber

The eyesmdashsunken deep in the socketsmdashwere redglass They glowed in the hall lights like tiny rubies

ldquoWhere did you come fromrdquo I asked itI turned back to the locker Did the skull fall out

of the locker How did it get in there Was someoneplaying some kind of Friday the thirteenth headgame with me

I decided that had to be the answerI rolled the skull around in my hand a few times

I poked my finger against the glowing red glass eyes Then I tucked it into my pants pocket I slammed

the locker shutmdashand headed to practice

ldquoLook alive Heads up Look aliverdquo CoachBendix was shouting

I ran out of the locker room and grabbed a bas-ketball off the ball rack I began dribbling around thefloor

We were having one of Coachrsquos free-for-all prac-tices That meant we had to keep moving keepplayingmdashrun dribble pass shoot play defense Do

50

everything all at once in a big free-for-all I dribbled slowly across the floor concentrating

hard Trying not to lose the dribble I saw Stretch turntoward me He stuck out both hands and moved for-ward ready to block me

I decided to try and fake him out I dribbled leftmdashand moved right I edged past him easily Movedunder the basket And sent up a shot that sailedacross the gym and dropped in

ldquoHeymdashone for onerdquo I cried happilyldquoLucky shotrdquo Stretch calledI took the ball and moved back to the top of the

key I sent up a two-handed jumpshot It soared overthe rimmdashand dropped through the basket with a softswish

ldquoYesrdquo I pumped my fists in the airI didnrsquot have long to celebrate I turned and saw

Stretch barreling toward me dribbling hard leaningforward with grim determination

Hersquos going to charge right over me I realized Hersquosgoing to flatten me

Guys backed out of his way as Stretch flew acrossthe floor

ldquoLook out Lukerdquo someone shoutedI froze for a moment Then I ducked to the left

Stuck out my hand and slapped the ball away fromStretch

He made a wild grab for it But I dribbled it out of

51

his reach Then I spun around and sent a wild highshot into the air The ball hit the glass backboardmdashand sank through the net

ldquoWowrdquoldquoWay to go LukerdquoldquoThree for threerdquoThe other players were in shockStretch shook his head ldquoFeeling lucky today

Think fastrdquo He pulled back his long armmdashandheaved the ball at my chest with all his strength

I caught it easily Dribbled it three times Shotmdashand dropped another basket

Stretch scowled ldquoI donrsquot believe thisrdquo he mut-tered shaking his head

I donrsquot either I thought to myself Irsquove never shotfour baskets in a row in my life

I turned and saw Coach Bendix watching me Wasthis my big chance Stretch and another player werepassing the ball back and forth moving across thefloor

I shot forward Intercepted Stretchrsquos pass Droveto the basket And sent up an easy layup ldquoTwopointsrdquo I cried

With an angry grunt Stretch reached for therebound But I pushed it out of his hands Grabbed itSpun Shot again ldquoTwo pointsrdquo

Stretch cried out angrily He bumped me hard

52

from behind I think he would have flattened me onthe spot But he saw that Coach Bendix was runningover to us

Coach slapped me on the back ldquoWay to goLukerdquo he boomed ldquoWay to show real improvementIrsquom impressed Keep it up okay Irsquom going to give yousome playing time next Fridayrdquo

ldquoHeymdashthanksrdquo I replied breathlesslyI saw Stretch scowl Saw his face turn an angry

redI grabbed a ball and dribbled away I wanted to

shout and jump for joy Had my luck finally changedIt seemed that way Suddenly I could pass and

jump and shoot and play defense like I never couldbefore It was as if I was possessed or somethingPossessed by an all-star athlete

In the locker room after practice Stretch ignoredme But other guys slapped me on the back andflashed me a thumbs-up

ldquoLookinrsquo good LukerdquoldquoWay to go manrdquoldquoGo SquiresrdquoI was feeling really happy Like a new person As I

changed into my street clothes I felt the little skull inmy pants pocket I pulled it out and gazed at itsmoothing my thumb over the hard rubber

ldquoAre you my new good-luck charmrdquo I asked itThe tiny red eyes glowed back at me I kissed it

gave it a smack on top of its yellow head and shoved

53

it back into my pants pocketThat skull is going everywhere with me I decided

Itrsquos got to be lucky Itrsquos got to beAs I walked home I kept reliving my great bas-

ketball triumph I pictured my long perfect jump-shots again And I saw myself stealing the ball fromStretchrsquos hands driving right past him and scoringEmbarrassing him Embarrassing Stretch again andagain

Wow What a dayIt was a cold gray afternoon Dark clouds hung

low over the nearly bare trees It felt more like winterthan fall

A few blocks from home I crossed a streetmdashandheard a short cry

A long low evergreen hedge ran across the frontyard on the corner I stopped gazing over the hedgeHad the cry come from the yard

I listened hard Down the block a car doorslammed A dog started to bark The wind made awhistling sound through the phone lines overhead

And then I heard itmdashanother sharp crymdashlongerthis time

A baby It sounded like a babyrsquos cryldquoOwwwww OwwwwwwrdquoI lowered my gaze to the hedgemdashand saw the

creature making the shrill criesA cat No A small orange-and-white kitten

54

It appeared to be stuck in the prickly brambles ofthe hedge

ldquoOwwwww OwwwwwwrdquoCarefully I bent down and gently lifted the cat out

with both hands As I cupped my hands around it itstopped crying immediately But it was still breathinghard its white chest moving rapidly up and down Irubbed its head trying to soothe it

ldquoYoursquore okay little kittenrdquo I whisperedAnd then I heard another cry A loud shriekI looked up to see a large woman running at me

angrily Her face was bright red and she waved herarms furiously

ldquoOh nordquo I muttered I nearly dropped the catWhy is she so angryWhat have I done

55

ldquoThe kittenmdashrdquo she cried shoving through abreak in the hedge

ldquoImdashIrsquom sorryrdquo I stammered ldquoI didnrsquot know ImdashrdquoldquoWhere did you find herrdquo the woman demanded

her face still bright red ldquoIn in the hedgerdquoldquoOh thank you Thank yourdquo the woman said

She took the kitten from my hands and raised it toher cheek ldquoSasha where did you gordquo

Irsquom not in trouble I finally realized The womanis happymdashnot angry

ldquoSasha has been missing for two daysrdquo thewoman told me pressing the kitten against her faceldquoI offered a reward and everything I almost gave uphoperdquo

I let out a long sigh of relief ldquoShe was right thererdquoI said pointing ldquoIn the hedge I think she wascaught in itrdquo

ldquoWell shersquos fine now thanks to yourdquo Still press-ing the kitten to her cheek the woman pushed

56

through the hedge and started to the house ldquoWhat isyour namerdquo

ldquoLukerdquoldquoWell follow me Luke Irsquoll get your reward for

yourdquoldquoHuh Reward No Reallyrdquo I started to back

awayldquoYou saved Sasharsquos liferdquo the woman said ldquoYou

did a wonderful thing And I insist you take thereward I offeredrdquo

I saw that I had no choice I followed her to herkitchen door

A few minutes later she counted out five twenty-dollar bills and pressed them into my hand ldquoThankyou Luke You really did your good deed for todayrdquo

A hundred dollarsA hundred dollars rewardMy luck really is starting to change I decidedWhen I got home a big surprise awaited me Mom had made my favorite dinnermdashmeat loaf

mashed potatoes and gravy And a coconut cake fordessert

ldquoItrsquos not even my birthdayrdquo I exclaimedldquoI just felt like doing something nice for you

todayrdquo Mom said She brushed back my hair withone hand ldquoI know Friday the thirteenth is always ahard day for yourdquo

ldquoNot todayrdquo I told her grinning ldquoNot todayrdquo

57

After my second slice of coconut cake I went upto my room and started my homework I spent aboutan hour writing out the answers to my scienceassignment

It shouldnrsquot have taken that long But I kept tak-ing out the twenty-dollar bills counting them againand dreaming about what I could buy with them

After science I worked on my computer anima-tion Irsquod been having trouble with the last section Icouldnrsquot get anything to move the way I wanted

But tonight my good luck continued I had notrouble at all The images all slid together perfectly Ialmost finished the project

A little after nine I decided to give Hannah a callShersquod acted so weird at lunch that afternoon Ithought maybe she was sick or something

I called to see if she was feeling better But I couldtell by the way she answered the phone that she stillwasnrsquot her old self

I tried to cheer her up I told her about my tri-umph at basketball practice And about the hundred-dollar reward for finding the lost kitten

ldquoVery coolrdquo Hannah said But her voice showedno enthusiasm at all

ldquoAnd then Mom made all of my favorite things fordinnerrdquo I exclaimed

ldquoLuckyrdquo Hannah mutteredldquoWhatrsquos your problemrdquo I demanded ldquoWhatrsquos

wrong with you todayrdquo

58

A long silence at her endFinally she said ldquoI guess Irsquom just in a bad mood

I fell off my bike on the way home this afternoonrdquoI groaned ldquoOh no Are you okayrdquoldquoNot reallyrdquo she replied ldquoI scraped all the skin

off my right hand And I twisted my ankle prettybadrdquo

ldquoWowrdquo I muttered ldquoBad newsrdquoldquoEspecially since I have a basketball game tomor-

rowrdquo Hannah sighedldquoThink yoursquoll be able to playrdquo I askedldquoMayberdquo she said glumly ldquoMaybe Irsquoll come watch your gamerdquo I saidThere was a long silence And then Hannah said

ldquoLuke therersquos something something I have to tellyourdquo

ldquoExcuse merdquo I said She was whispering so lowI could barely hear her

ldquoI really should tell you something But rdquoI pressed the phone tighter to my ear ldquoWhat

What is itrdquo ldquoWell rdquoAnother long silenceldquoI canrsquotrdquo she said finally I heard a click and the

line went silentThe next morning my good luck came to an end

59

At least I thought my good luck had endedWhen I arrived at my science class I searched

my backpack for the homework questions Not thereI took everything outmdashevery paper every bookevery pencil

Not there I had spent over an hour on thatassignment last night And Irsquod left it at home

Now I was in major trouble Miss Creamer didnrsquotaccept late homework And homework counted forfifty percent of the grade in her class

My stomach tightened with dread as she enteredthe science lab to begin class

How could I be so stupid ldquoGood morning everyonerdquo she began ldquoI have an

announcement to make Itrsquos about last nightrsquos home-workrdquo

The room grew silentldquoI have to apologize to all of yourdquo Miss Creamer

continued ldquoI gave the wrong assignment Thosewerenrsquot the right questions Irsquom really sorry You

60

donrsquot have to turn it in Just tear it up and throw itawayrdquo

Cheers rang out Some kids gleefully ripped theirpapers into shreds A big celebration

Yes More good luck for me I thought happilyI was on a hot streak Later when Miss Creamer

handed back last weekrsquos test I had the only A in theclass

In the lunchroom I grabbed the last slice of pizzaon the counter

All the kids behind me in line groaned Darnellcame up and offered to pay me five dollars for it Butno deal

After school I stopped by the computer lab to seeMrs Coffey She told me her plans had suddenlychanged She wouldnrsquot be leaving school for anothertwo weeks

I cheered That meant I had time to finish mycomputer animation project and show it to her beforeI left

ldquoLuke I was talking about you to my friend whoowns Linkups You knowmdashthe computer store onHighlands I told him about how you can do any-thing with computers fix them upgrade them Hesaid you might be able to come into the store onSaturdays and help out in the service departmentrdquo

I gasped ldquoReallyrdquoShe nodded ldquoHersquos a really nice guy and hersquos

always looking for people who can fix machines He

61

said he couldnrsquot give you a real job since yoursquore onlytwelve But he could pay you five dollars an hourrdquo

ldquoWow I cried ldquoThatrsquos awesome Thanks MrsCoffeyrdquo

I practically flew down the stairs to the gym Iwanted to flap my arms and take off So many greatthings were happening to me I couldnrsquot believe it

Hannahrsquos basketball game had already startedwhen I stepped into the gym I found a seat in thebleachers and glanced up at the scoreboard TheSquirettes were already losing ten to two

Whatrsquos going on I wondered How can Hannahrsquosteam be losing so badly The team they were play-ingmdashthe Bee Stingers from Elwood Middle Schoolmdashwere the worst team in the city

I turned and glanced around the bleachers Therewere only about twenty kids watching the game Andfour or five parents clustered together at the top ofthe bleachers

ldquoGo Sharonrdquo one of the mothers yelledBut the gym was pretty quiet I guess because the

Squirettes were playing so badlyI leaned forward and tried to concentrate on the

game Sharon McCombs the tallest girl in the Shawnee

Valley eighth grade tossed the ball in A pass Thenanother pass which was almost stolen by a BeeStinger

Hannah grabbed the ball She turned and started

62

to dribble to the basket After about three steps shetripped The ball bounced away as she fell flat on herstomach

A Bee Stinger grabbed it just before it went out ofbounds She dribbled all the way down the floormdashand scored easily before Hannah had even pickedherself up off the floor Twelve to two

I cupped my hands around my mouth ldquoGet rsquoemHannahrdquo I shouted

She didnrsquot look up She was fiddling with thewhite bandage on her hand

A minute later Hannah had the ball again Inclose She jumped and shot And missed Missed thenet the backboard Missed everything

I leaned on my hands and watched the game insilence Hannah missed six or seven shots in a rowShe tripped over the ball hit the floor hard and gota huge bright red floor burn on her knee Her pass-es to her teammates went wild She kept losing theball to the other team Tripping over her own feetBumping into other players

It was sad She didnrsquot look like Hannah at allThe half-time score was Bee Stingers twenty-five

Squirettes five When the team came out to start the second half

Hannah sat down on the bench and didnrsquot play Whatrsquos going on I wondered I climbed down from the bleachers and walked

over to her on the bench

63

ldquoLuke you came to a bad-news gamerdquo she saidshaking her head

ldquoWhatrsquos wrongrdquo I asked ldquoYoursquore hurt Fromyour bike accident yesterdayrdquo

She watched the Bee Stingers score another bas-ket Then she turned to me ldquoNo Itrsquos not because ofmy accidentrdquo she whispered Her eyes were dullwatery Her skin was so pale

ldquoSo what is itrdquo I askedHannah frowned ldquoItrsquos all because I lost my good-

luck charmrdquo she said I gaped at her ldquoHuhrdquoldquoItrsquos what brought me all that amazing great

luckrdquo Hannah said ldquoI have to find it As soon as Ilost it my luck changedrdquo

My mouth dropped open I realized my heart hadstarted to pound

ldquoItrsquos a tiny skullrdquo Hannah continued ldquoA little yel-low skull ImdashI never went anywhere without itrdquo

She tugged at the bandage on her hand Then sheraised her eyes to me ldquoYou havenrsquot seen it any-where have you Lukerdquo

64

My legs suddenly felt weak I gripped the back ofthe bench and stared at Hannah I could feel my facegrowing red

I could feel the skull in my jeans pocket I knew Ishould pull it out and hand it to her

But how could II needed the good luck too Hannah had enjoyed

so much good luck for so long Mine had just startedFor the first time in my life I was having a little goodluck

How could I go back to being a loser againHannahrsquos watery eyes locked on mine ldquoHave you

seen it Lukerdquo she repeated ldquoHave you seen it any-whererdquo

My face burned So many frantic thoughtswhirred through my head

I really needed that good-luck charm Ever sinceI found it my life had changed I was a new person

But Hannah was my friend My best friend in the

65

whole world She was always there for me when Ineeded her

I couldnrsquot lie to hermdashcould IldquoNordquo I said ldquoI havenrsquot seen it anywhererdquoHannahrsquos eyes remained on me for a few seconds

more Then she nodded slowly and turned back tothe game

My heart was pounding hard now I had a heavyfeeling in the pit of my stomach ldquoWhere did you loseitrdquo I asked

She didnrsquot reply She cupped her hands aroundher mouth and cheered on her teammates

I backed away from the bench I felt like a totalcreep I jammed my hand into my pocket Wrappedmy fingers around the rubber skull

Give it back to her Luke a voice in my headurged The voice of goodness The voice of friend-ship

But I knew I wasnrsquot going to give it back I wasalready trotting out of the gym and down the hall tothe exit

I need it a little while longer I told myself Just alittle while

Long enough to win the basketball champi-onship Long enough to get really good grades for thefirst time in my life Long enough to impress myfriends to get on the swim team to make aname for myself long enough to be a winner

I squeezed the little skull all the way home Irsquoll

66

give it back to Hannah in a couple of weeks I toldmyself Two weeks thatrsquos all Maybe three And thenIrsquoll give it back to her And she can have her goodluck again No harm done

No harm donemdashright

The phone was ringing when I stepped in thekitchen door I tossed down my backpack and ran toanswer it

To my surprise it was Mrs Coffey ldquoLuke Irsquom glad I caught yourdquo she said ldquoI have

some really good news You know my friend at thecomputer storerdquo

ldquoYesrdquoldquoI spoke to him after you left the computer lab

And he said you could start work at his store onSaturdayrdquo

ldquoThatrsquos greatrdquo I exclaimedldquoBut thatrsquos not my good newsrdquo Mrs Coffey con-

tinued ldquoHe has a friend who is putting together ashow of computer animation And his friend is veryinterested in seeing your workrdquo

ldquoReallyrdquo I criedldquoHe needs short pieces for his animation show

right awayrdquo she said ldquoIf he likes your piece he saidhe will pay a thousand dollars for itrdquo

ldquoWowrdquo ldquoIs it finished Lukerdquo Mrs Coffey asked ldquoIs it

ready to show to himrdquo

67

I thought hard ldquoAlmostrdquo I said ldquoI need two moredays on it Maybe threerdquo

ldquoWell try to hurryrdquo Mrs Coffey said ldquoI think hehas most of the pieces he needs Hersquos going to beshowing them all over the country It would be ashame to miss outmdashrdquo

ldquoIt sure wouldrdquo I interrupted ldquoIrsquoll get right towork on it Mrs Coffey And thanks Thanks a lotrdquo

Excited I hurried up to my room and turned onthe computer Maybe I can get some work done on itbefore dinner I decided

I heard Mom come in downstairs I called hi toher and said I was working on my computer project

A few minutes later the phone rang again I heardMom talking for a while Then I heard her running upthe stairs She burst into my room ran up behind meand wrapped me in a big hug

ldquoHuh Whatrsquos that forrdquo I criedldquoThat was Mariorsquos Steakhouse on the phonerdquo

Mom said grinning ldquoYou know Your favorite restau-rant You won Luke Remember that drawing we allentered the last time we were there Well you wonit They picked your card You won dinner for thewhole family Twelve dinners One a month for thenext yearrdquo

ldquoWowrdquo I jumped up from the computerLaughing and cheering Mom and I did a happy littledance around the room

ldquoI canrsquot believe you won that drawing That is so

68

terrificrdquo Mom exclaimed ldquoWersquore going to have tostart calling you Lucky Lukerdquo

ldquoYeah Lucky Lukerdquo I repeated ldquoI like thatThatrsquos me Lucky Lukerdquo

I worked on my animation until nearly midnightI stared into the glow of the monitor until I couldnrsquotsee straight and the images became a fuzzy blur

ldquoAlmost finishedrdquo I said yawningI changed into pajamas brushed my teeth got

ready for sleep But just before I climbed into bed Ipulled out my lucky little skull for one last look

I held it gently in my hand and studied it rubbingmy fingers over the smooth top of the skull The tinyred jewel eyes glowed brightly

I rubbed my fingers over the hard bumpy teeth Itwirled the skull in my hand

ldquoMy little good-luck charmrdquo I whisperedI set it down carefully on my dresser in front of

the mirror Then I turned out the lights and climbedinto bed

I settled back on my pillows pulling the quilt upto my chin I yawned loudly The mattress creakedunder me Waiting for sleep I stared into the dark-ness

The curtains were pulled so no light washed infrom the street The room was completely blackexcept for a faint red glow

The glow of the two red eyes in the skull Like tiny

69

match flames against the blacknessAnd then I saw two more glowing spots of red

light Larger Behind the tiny skull eyesTwo circles of light in the mirror glass Two flame-

red circles the size of tennis ballsAnd as their light grew brighter more intense

I could see a form in the dresser mirror Deep nostril holes two rows of jagged grin-

ning teethA skull A red-eyed skullNot tiny A huge grinning yellow-boned skull

that filled the mirrorFilled the mirror And stared out at me with those

fiery flame-red eyesI sat straight up Squeezed the quilt And gaped in

horror as the jagged teeth moved The jaw slid open And the enormous skull mouthed the words

mouthed them so clearly ldquoLucky Lukerdquo

70

The giant glowing skull leaned forward as if topush out of the mirror The jaw worked up and downThe red glow seemed to bathe the whole room inflames

I opened my mouth in a horrified screamI screamed and then screamed againThe ceiling light flashed onldquoLukemdashwhatrsquos wrongrdquoBlinking in the sudden light I saw my dad burst

breathlessly into the room His pajama shirt wastwisted One pajama pants leg rode up to his kneeHis hair was tangled from sleep standing straight upon one side

ldquoWhat is itrdquo he repeatedldquoImdashImdashrdquo I pointed to the mirror My head spun

with confusion I couldnrsquot find wordsldquoThe skullmdashrdquo I finally choked outBrushing back his hair Dad crossed the room to

my dresser I stared into the glass

71

Nothing nowNothing in there except the reflection of my

room As he came near I could see Dadrsquos worriedface reflected in the glass

ldquoIs this what you were screaming aboutrdquo Dadasked He picked up the little yellow skull and heldit out to me ldquoThis skullrdquo

ldquoN-nordquo I stammeredI was thinking hard trying to figure out what I

had seenIt couldnrsquot have been the reflection of the little

skull I saw in the glass NoThe skull that loomed in the mirror was enor-

mous its eyes as big as basketballsDad still squinted at me from the dresser holding

the little skull up in front of himldquoI guess I had a bad dreamrdquo I said softly settling

back onto my pillows ldquoItmdashit was so weird I dreamedI saw a giant skull with flaming eyes But it wasso realrdquo

Dad shook his head ldquoWell if this little skull isgiving you bad dreams want me to take it awayrdquo Hestarted to the door

ldquoNordquo I screamed I jumped out of bed to block his path He looked

startled as I grabbed the skull from his handldquoItrsquos itrsquos a good-luck charmrdquo I said ldquoItrsquos

brought me a lot of good luckrdquo

72

Dad frowned as he gazed at the little skull in myhand ldquoYou sure Luke It doesnrsquot look good to me Itlooks evilrdquo

ldquoEvilrdquo I laughed ldquoNo way Dad No way Trustmerdquo

He clicked off the light on his way out A shortwhile later I fell asleep gripping the skull tightly inone hand

A few days later I screamed my head off again

73

This time it was for funA bunch of us were on our skates up on Killer

Hill Itrsquos actually Miller Hill But we call it Killer Hillbecause itrsquos up at the top where Broad Street scoopsstraight downmdasha steep steep slope down threeblocks to Miller Street

Miller Street has the most traffic in ShawneeValley So the idea is we come skating down BroadStreet full speed We come rocketing down the steepslope as fast as we canmdashand try to skate rightthrough the traffic on Miller

It makes all the car drivers totally crazy You canalways hear tires squealing horns honking driversscreaming as kids come skating right at them

Yes Itrsquos really dangerous Most kids wonrsquot eventhink of trying it But for a guy with my kind of goodluck whatrsquos the big deal

It was a sunny cold Sunday afternoon Froststuck to the tops of the cars My breath smoked upin front of me as I skated to the top of Killer Hill

74

I met Darnell up there He was having troublewith the brake on one of his skates Finally he justripped the brake off and tossed it in a trash canldquoWhy do I need brakesrdquo he said grinning at meldquoThey only slow you downrdquo

Stretch and some of his pals appeared a few min-utes later Stretch was wearing some kind of yellowsweats He looked like Big Bird on skates

He lowered his shoulder and tried to bump me offmy feet But I skated away easily And he didnrsquot tryagain

Things have been a little different betweenStretch and me since I took his place on the basket-ball team Hersquos my backup now He gets to play onlywhen Irsquom tired and need a short rest And I think hersquosin shock over it

Stretch still tries to give me a hard time But Idonrsquot think his heart is in it He knows hersquos a loserHe knows hersquos not one of the lucky peoplemdashlike me

ldquoYou ready to skaterdquo Darnell called He pulledon his helmet Then he stood in the middle of thestreet leaning forward hands on his knees

I gazed down the steep hill to the traffic belowEven though it was Sunday afternoon cars and vanssped along Miller as if it were the afternoon rushhour

I adjusted my knee pads ldquoReadyrdquo I said I movedbeside Darnell

Stretch skated in front of us He grinned at me

75

ldquoHow about a racerdquoI shook my head ldquoYoursquore too slow Darnell and I

donrsquot want to have to wait for you down thererdquoldquoHa ha When did you get so funny Champrdquo

Stretch reached into the pocket of his yellow sweatsHe held up a ten-dollar bill ldquoLetrsquos make it a real raceTen bucks each Winner takes allrdquo

He stuck the money in front of my face I shovedit away ldquoI donrsquot take candy from babiesrdquo I saidldquoKeep your moneyrdquo

Stretch gritted his teeth His pale face turned anangry red He leaned close ldquoYou gonna race me ornotrdquo he growled

I squeezed the rubber skull in my pocket I knewthere was no way I could lose ldquoOkayrdquo I said ldquoButIrsquom going to make it fairrdquo

I pulled a wool scarf from my coat pocket andstarted to wrap it around my head ldquoJust to give you achance Irsquoll skate blindfoldedrdquo

Stretch snickered ldquoYoursquore joking right Yoursquoregoing to skate through all those cars blindfoldedrdquo

ldquoDonrsquot do it Lukerdquo a voice calledI turned to see Hannah waving to me She was

hobbling up the sidewalk on crutches Her right foothad a large white bandage over it ldquoDonrsquot do itrdquo shecalled shrilly

I spun away from the guys and skated over to her

76

ldquoHannahmdashwhat happenedrdquo I asked motioning tothe crutches

She sighed and leaned heavily on them ldquoItrsquos myanklerdquo she said ldquoRemember when I fell off my bikeWe thought it was just a sprain But my ankle keepsswelling up like a water balloon I had to have itdrained three timesrdquo

ldquoYuckrdquo I said staring down at the bandageThe wind fluttered her red hair She shook her

head sadly ldquoThe doctors canrsquot figure out whatrsquoswrong ImdashI might need surgery I donrsquot know AndMom says if it doesnrsquot get better I canrsquot go on thejunior high overnight on Wednesdayrdquo

ldquoWow Thatrsquos bad newsrdquo I murmured Everyonelooks forward to the overnight The whole junior highgoes to a campground by the lake and everyonestays up and parties all night

I couldnrsquot take my eyes off Hannahrsquos bandagedankle Is this my fault I suddenly wondered Did Ireally take away her good luck Hannah has hadnothing but bad luck ever since I found the skull

Irsquom going to give it back to her I silentlypromised Real soon Real soon

ldquoYou skating or notrdquo Stretch called ldquoOr are youjust going to stand there and talk with your girl-friendrdquo

ldquoIrsquom comingrdquo I said I started to wrap the scarfaround my eyes

77

ldquoLuke donrsquotrdquo Hannah insisted ldquoDonrsquot do itblindfolded Itmdashitrsquos crazyrdquo

ldquoNo problemrdquo I said ldquoIrsquom a superhero HannahCars will bounce right off merdquo

I skated away from her ldquoYoursquore wrongrdquo she called ldquoLuke listen to me

The good luckmdashit doesnrsquot last foreverrdquoI laughed What was she talking aboutI skated up beside Darnell and grabbed his arm

to steady myself I pulled the scarf over my eyes untilI saw only black

ldquoYoursquore crazyrdquo he muttered ldquoYou could getkilled manrdquo

ldquoNo wayrdquo I declared ldquoIrsquom going to win twentybucks from you twordquo

I heard Stretch skate up beside me ldquoYoursquore doingthis for realrdquo he asked ldquoYoursquore going to skate into allthose cars blindfoldedrdquo

ldquoYou going to talk or skaterdquo I asked him ldquoFirstone past Miller Street without stopping wins themoneyrdquo

ldquoLukemdashdonrsquot be crazyrdquo Hannah calledIt was the last thing I heard before the three of us

took off I leaned forward skating straight and hard I

heard Stretch and Darnell beside me theirRollerblades scraping the pavement

As we picked up speed I could hear the traffic onMiller I heard a horn honk Heard someone shout

I skated down down laughing through thedarkness

78

ldquoLukemdashloooook outrdquoI heard Darnellrsquos scream I heard the squeal of

tires Horns honkedI tossed back my head and laughed I roared

through Miller Street the blade wheels whistling overthe pavement

Then as I turned my skates and came to a slowstop I ripped the scarf away And saw Darnell stand-ing on the curb on the other side of Miller His mouthwas open He shook his head

Stretch came skating around me ldquoYou crazyjerkrdquo he shouted ldquoYou were almost killed threetimesrdquo

I calmly held out my hand ldquoMoney pleaserdquoldquoYou lucky jerkrdquo Stretch muttered He slapped

the ten-dollar bill into my gloved hand ldquoYoursquorecrazy Really Yoursquore just plain crazyrdquo

I laughed ldquoThanks for the compliment And theten bucksrdquo

79

Grumbling to himself Stretch skated back up tohis friends

Darnell waited for the traffic to clear then skatedover to me He wiped sweat off his forehead ldquoYouwere almost killedrdquo he said his voice shaking ldquoWhydid you do it Lukerdquo

I grinned at him ldquoBecause I canrdquo

The weather turned warm for our overnight camp-out Even though the trees were bare the woodssmelled fresh and sweet almost like spring Highwhite clouds dotted the bright blue afternoon skyTwigs and dead leaves crackled and crunched underour feet as we hiked through the tall trees to thecamping grounds

I squeezed the small skull in one hand as Iwalked weighted down by the heavy pack on myback Some kids were singing a Beatles song Behindme a group of girls were telling really bad knock-knock jokes laughing shrilly after each one

Coach Bendix and Ms Raymond another gymteacher led the way along the twisting path throughthe trees I was about halfway back in the line ofkids

I turned and found Hannah beside me She woreher blue windbreaker with the hood pulled up overher head She was leaning on one crutch as shewalked struggling to keep up ldquoDo you have anywaterrdquo she asked

80

I slowed down ldquoYour parents let you come Isyour ankle betterrdquo

ldquoNot reallyrdquo she replied frowning ldquoBut I toldthem I had to come anyway I wouldnrsquot miss it Doyou have any water Irsquom dyingrdquo

ldquoYeah Surerdquo I reached for the bottle of water inmy pack ldquoDidnrsquot you bring anyrdquo

Hannah sighed ldquoMy water bottle had a leak orsomething It poured out and soaked all the extraclothes in my pack Now I donrsquot have a thing towearrdquo

I handed her the water bottle Leaning on the crutch she pushed back the wind-

breaker hood and I saw her face for the first timeHer skin was covered with big red splotchesldquoHannah whatrsquos thatrdquo I cried ldquoYour facemdashrdquoldquoDonrsquot look at merdquo she snapped She turned her

back and took a long gulp of waterldquoBut what is itrdquo I demanded ldquoPoison ivyrdquoldquoNo I donrsquot think sordquo she said still facing away

from me ldquoI woke up with it Some kind of red rashAll over my bodyrdquo She sighed ldquoI donrsquot get a breakrdquo

She handed the water bottle back to me andpulled the blue plastic hood over her head ldquoThanksfor the waterrdquo

ldquoDoes it itchrdquo I askedShe let out an angry cry ldquoI really donrsquot want to

talk about itrdquo She grabbed the crutch tightly swungit hard in front of her and hurried ahead of me drag-

81

ging her bandaged foot over the dirt pathShersquos having so much bad luck I guess itrsquos my

fault I thought squeezing the skull in my pocket But why are all these terrible things happening to

her Why isnrsquot there enough good luck for both of usI didnrsquot have much time to think about it Behind me I heard shrill frightened screams I

saw kids running off the path Screaming Calling forhelp

I spun around and headed toward them the heavypack bouncing on my back ldquoWhatrsquos going onrdquo Icried ldquoWhatrsquos wrongrdquo

More shrill screamsAnd then I saw the two enormous brown snakes

Swinging down from a low tree limb Blocking thepath

The same color as the tree they twisted their longbodies thicker than garden hoses and snapped theirjaws

I didnrsquot hesitate I dived forward stretching out myarms

ldquoLukemdashwhat are you doing Stay away fromthemrdquo I heard Coach Bendix shout

The kidsrsquo frightened screams rang through thewoods

ldquoGet away from themrdquo Coach orderedBut I knew nothing could hurt me I knew my good

luck would keep me safe

82

I shot my hands out And grabbed both snakesone in each hand

I wrapped my fingers around their thick bodiesThen with a hard tug I wrenched them off the treelimb And raised them high

ldquoWhoardquoI didnrsquot realize how long they were And how strongI let out a startled cry as both snakes wriggled

loose I saw the tiny black eyes flash Saw the jawsopen

Then both snake heads came crashing towardme jaws snappingmdashsnapping so furiously beneaththe flashing eyes snapping like bear traps

83

I felt a rush of air as they snappedmdashsnappedmdashsnapped their sharp-toothed jaws Heads swingingwildly Whole bodies swinging and shaking Thickwhite drool clinging to their pointed teeth

Shrill screams rose all around me I stared atthe snapping heads the glimmering black eyesmdashuntil it seemed that the snakes were screamingtoo

And thenmdashthey flew from my handsWriggled free with strong tosses of their heavy

bodies And plunged to the ground Disappearingso quickly Blending into the hard brown dirtVanishing beneath the carpet of fat brown leavestwigs and fallen limbs

As kids surrounded me I stood hunched overgasping for breath I smoothed my open handsover my ears my cheeks my whole face

I waited for the pain of the snakebites to spreadover me

But no No sting No throbbing No pain

84

They had snapped so close I felt their breathon my skin

But they hadnrsquot bitten me ldquoYoursquore so luckyrdquo Coach Bendix was saying He

had a hand on my shoulder and was examining myface ldquoI never saw anyone so lucky Why did you doit Luke Those snakes are deadly poisonousDeadly Why did you do itrdquo

I stared at him but didnrsquot answer I didnrsquot knowwhat to say

How could I explain it to him How could Iexplain to anyone what it felt like to be so incrediblyawesomely lucky

All around kids were cheering Congratulatingme Talking about me how brave I had been

Leaning against a tree I saw Hannah She stoodby herself crutch under one arm She was the onlyone not smiling not cheering

I saw the red blotches on Hannahrsquos faceWatched as she transfered the crutch to her otherarm And saw her scowling at me her eyes nar-rowed She shook her head and scowled

And in that moment I realized that she was jeal-ous Jealous of my good luck

Jealous that she was no longer the hero She wasno longer the lucky one

Too bad Hannah I thought watching her angryexpression I had felt sorry for her I had felt reallyguilty too

85

But no moreIrsquove got the luck now Hannah I thought And Irsquom

going to keep it

ldquoLetrsquos go guys Wersquove got another game to winrdquoI cried I gave Sam Mulroney a playful towel slap

Locker doors slammed Guys finished lacing uptheir basketball shoes

ldquoDid you see those Deaver Mills guysrdquo Mulroneyasked peeking into the gym through a crack in thelocker room door ldquoTheyrsquore monsters They must feedthose guys whole steaks five times a dayrdquo

ldquoBig doesnrsquot mean goodrdquo I said ldquoThey look likecows Theyrsquore so slowrdquo

ldquoWersquoll dribble circles around themrdquo Jay Boxersaid

ldquoJust feed me the ballrdquo I instructed them ldquoNomatter where I am Feed me the ball Irsquoll put it in Irsquomfeeling lucky today guys Real luckyrdquo

ldquoHey Champmdashrdquo Stretch called pulling on his jer-sey ldquoYoursquore not a ball hog or anythingmdashare yourdquo

Guys used to laugh when Stretch shouted insultsat me But not anymore Everyone was on my sidenow Everyone wanted to be on the winnerrsquos side

ldquoHey Stretchmdashwhat do they call yourdquo I shoutedback ldquoA bench hogrdquo

Everybody laughedStretch laughed too Now that I was a winner he

was starting to be a little nicer to me He even gave

86

me some dribbling tips after one practice The guys all headed out to the gym I could hear

the shouts of the crowd in the bleachers And thesteady thud of basketballs on the floor as the DeaverMills Lions warmed up

ldquoTime to kill me some Lionsrdquo I muttered I finishedlacing my sneakers

Then I stood up Started to swing my gym lockerclosed

And slammed my left hand in the doorldquoHeyrdquo I cried out in surprise as pain shot up my

arm I shook the hand hard trying to shake the pain

away My wrist throbbed I moved my fingers tiltedmy hand back and forth It moved okay Not broken

But the hand was red and already starting to swellldquoNo time for thisrdquo I muttered I slammed the locker shut with my right hand

And still shaking my left hand hurried out into thegym

The crowd cheered as I ran onto the floor I sawsome of the Deaver Mills players whisper to eachother and point at me They knew who the star playerwas They knew who was going to wipe the floor withthem today

We huddled close around Coach Bendix ldquoTake itslow with these guysrdquo he instructed ldquoFeel them outGet their rhythm Letrsquos rattle them show them we canplay defenserdquo

87

ldquoJust get me the ballrdquo I chimed in ldquoIrsquom going tobe loose under the basket all dayrdquo

We gave our team cheer and trotted out to the cen-ter of the floor I searched the bleachers for HannahShe said she would try to come to the game today

I spotted her at the side of the bleachers hunchedin a wheelchair Her bad foot was propped up and ithad an even bigger bandage over it

I guess it isnrsquot getting better I thought I felt a pangof guilt

Poor Hannah I looked for my parents Then I remembered they

werenrsquot coming today They had to stay home for a fur-niture delivery

I turned away from the crowd I had a game toplay Time to get my game face on No time to thinkabout Hannah and her problems

I went up for the opening jump I tapped the ballto Mulroney and the game was underway

He dribbled to half-court then sent a high pass tome

ldquoWhoamdashrdquo The ball flew right through my handsand bounced out of bounds

ldquoMulroneymdashtoo hardrdquo I called ldquoWho were youthrowing atrdquo

He shrugged and started trotting to the Lionsrsquobasket

ldquoGet in there Luke Get going Look aliverdquo I heardCoach Bendix shouting

88

The Deaver guard came dribbling slowly towardme I darted up to him stuck out my hand to steal theballmdashand missed

He moved past me easily and sent up an easylayup for two points

ldquoWeirdrdquo I muttered I shook my left hand Thepain had dulled to an ache but the hand was prettyswollen

I moved down the court Caught a pass Spunaway from the Lion defender Went in for an easy shot

And missedldquoHuhrdquoI heard the crowd groan Startled voices all aroundMulroney slapped me on the shoulder ldquoTake it

easy manrdquo he said ldquoPlay your game Just play yourgamerdquo

A few seconds later I drove in for a shotmdashand wasfouled I moved to the foul linemdashand missed both foulshots

More groans and muttering from the bleachers Isaw Coach Bendix shake his head

A bounce pass from Jay Boxer sailed right throughmy legs Some of the Lionsrsquo players had a good laughover that one

Then I missed three more shots in a rowMulroney flashed me a thumbs-up ldquoNo probrdquo he

called ldquoPlay your game Luke Wersquoll get rsquoemrdquoThe Lions were winning twelve to four I took another pass and moved under the basket I

89

leaped high for a slam dunk My arm hit the rim hard I cried out in pain And

watched the ball sail over the backboardldquoWhoa This isnrsquot happeningrdquo I muttered picking

myself up off the floor ldquoNo wayrdquoAt the other end of the floor I grabbed a rebound

off the backboard I dodged past a huge Lion playerDribbled away from him easily Picked up speedBrought the ball onto our side of the court

Eyed the basket Prepared to stop short and put upa three-pointer

And tripped Felt one sneaker bump the otherTripped over my own shoe

And watched the ball sail into a Lionrsquos hands as Istumbled I fell forward onto my stomach My armsand legs were out flat on the floor ldquoOOOFrdquo

I heard startled gasps from the bleachers Andlaughter

Yes Some people were laughing at meldquoWhat is going onrdquo I cried I forced myself to my feet Shook off the pain ldquoThis isnrsquot happening It canrsquot berdquoI reached into the pocket of my uniform shorts

Reached for my good-luck skullFumbled in the pocket Searched both pocketsldquoHeymdashrdquoNo No No wayThe skull was gone

90

Fumbling frantically in both pockets I began run-ning for the team bench ldquoTime out Time outrdquo Iscreamed

Had the skull fallen out of my pocketI squinted hard searching the gleaming polished

floor No sign of itldquoTime outrdquo I pleadedI heard a whistle blow on the sidelinesI had to find itmdashnow I couldnrsquot play without itMy eyes swept over the floor I began to run full

speed to the bench I didnrsquot see the huge Lions playermdashuntil we collidedI plowed right into him Caught him flat-footed He

let out a startled ldquoOofrdquo And we cracked headsldquoYaaaiiiirdquo I let out a scream of agony as blinding

red pain shot around my head The red shimmered togold Brighter brighter bright as the sun

I felt my legs giving out Felt myself collapsingcrumbling into a deep deep bottomless darkness

91

I woke up to pinpoints of yellow light They flick-ered high above me Each time they flashed a waveof pain rolled over my forehead down the back of myneck

I blinked hard Blinked until I realized I was star-ing up at the lights on the gym rafters

I lay on my back on the gym floor one kneeraised my hands flat at my sides I squinted up atthe high raftersmdashuntil faces blocked my view

Playersrsquo faces And then a few worried-lookingadults And then Coach Bendixrsquos face looming overme bobbing over me like a parade balloon

ldquoWhatmdashrdquo One word escaped my throat My drythroat So dry I couldnrsquot swallow

ldquoStay still Lukerdquo Coach ordered speaking softlyHis dark eyes peered down into mine studying meldquoYoursquove had a bad concussion Donrsquot try to moveWersquore sending you to the emergency roomrdquo

ldquoHuh Nordquo I gasped I rolled onto my side I lurched to my feet The

floor tilted from side to side as if I were on a rockingboat

ldquoDonrsquot move Lukerdquo Coach reached for meBut I staggered out of his grasp Stumbled

through the circle of people that had formed aroundme

ldquoNo No hospitalrdquo I croaked

92

I had to find that skull That was all I needed andthen I would be okay again

The skull I stumbled over someonersquos shoe Staggered

toward the locker room The gleaming wood floorswaying beneath me

ldquoLukemdashcome backrdquoNo No way I shoved open the locker room door

with one shoulder And sliding a hand against thelockers moved to the back row Lurched to my gymlocker Pulled open the door so hard it slammedagainst the frame

ldquoWhere is it WhererdquoI frantically pawed through my street clothes

Searched and then tossed everything onto the floor ldquoWhere WhererdquoNot in my khakis pockets Not in my shirt pocket

Not in my sweatshirtThe locker floor No Nothing down thereStumbling over the pile of clothes on the floor I

lurched back down the row of gym lockers Ranthrough the gym out the doors and up the stairsInto the long empty hall

My sneakers squeaked on the hard floor as I ranThe walls and ceiling appeared to close in on methen slide back into place

To my locker To locker 13

93

It took me three tries to get the combination rightBut finally I unlocked it and flung open the door

And jammed my hand into one coat pocket andthen the other

ldquoWhere is it I have to have it Where WhererdquoAnd then a long happy sigh escaped my parched

throat as my hand closed around it YessssI was so happyI had the skull in my hand I squeezed it tightly

So happy So happyI pulled it out of the coat pocket Raised it in front

of me Raised it close to examine it And let out a cry of horror

94

The eyes They were dark Not red not glowingAnd the face had changed The bump-toothed

grin was gone The open mouth was curled down ina fierce angry scowl

ldquoNomdashitrsquos impossiblerdquo I gaspedI held the skull up to the light The red jewel eyes

were gone The deep round sockets were empty Theskull scowled down at me dark and menacing

What does this mean I wondered How did thishappen

Before I could think about it clearly I glimpsedsomething in the open locker A soft glow A slowmoving light growing larger as if moving closer

The light split into two Two circles of red lightDown low Very low near the locker floor

I gripped the skull tightly in my fist and stared asthe red lights glimmered closer The whole lockershimmered The dark walls reflected the two lightsBrighter bright as fire now

95

Two red eyes I realized Two glowing eyes float-ing from the blackness of locker 13

I jumped back as a black cat stepped silently outas if floating A black cat with fiery red eyes Thesame black cat as before

It pulled back its lips bared pointed white teethand hissed at me

My back hit the wall I blinked against the bright-ness of those two circles of red light

And as I trembled in horror squeezing the skullsqueezing it so tightly my hand achedmdashthe cat roseup off the floor

And melted into another formMelted and grew taller Taller The cat became

a human figure dressed all in black wrapped in abroad black coat down to the floor its face hidden inthe darkness of a black hood

Hidden All hidden except for the eyesmdashthosehorrifying fiery eyes

ldquoWh-who are you What do you wantrdquo I startledmyself by crying out those words I didnrsquot think Icould speak

My whole body trembled I pressed myselfagainst the wall to keep from falling to my knees

The hooded figure stepped silently away from theopen locker A hoarse rasp burst out from under thehood a whisper like the crackle of dead leaves ldquoTheluck has run out Lukerdquo

ldquoNordquo I gasped

96

A bony hand swung out from the sleeve of theblack coatmdashand swiped the skull away from me

ldquoNordquo I cried in protest ldquoNo NordquoldquoThe luck is overrdquo ldquoWho are yourdquo I shrieked in a tight terrified

voice ldquoWh-who How did you get in my lockerWhat do you wantrdquo I screamed in total panic

ldquoThe luck is overrdquoldquoIt canrsquot berdquo I cried ldquoIt canrsquot be I need itrdquoldquoOver rdquo the hooded figure rasped ldquoOver

over rdquoThe red eyes glowed from under the hood The

bony hand held the tiny skull in front of the broadblack coat

ldquoI need that luckrdquo I wailed ldquoI need that skullrdquoAnd I grabbed it back Grabbed it out of the bony

handldquoI need it I have to have itrdquoI raised the skull in front of me Stared hard at it What was wrong with it Something wriggling on

it wriggling in my hand crawling over mypalm

ldquoOhhhhrdquo I let out a moan as I saw The skull wascovered crawling crawling with hundreds ofmaggots

97

The skull fell from my hand and bounced acrossthe floor I frantically shook my hand scraped itagainst the wall brushing the disgusting maggots offmy skin

Under the black hood the red eyes glowed brighterldquoYou enjoyed a lot of good luck Lukerdquo the figure saidin his hoarse croak ldquoBut the luck has ended And nowyou must pay for itrdquo

ldquoHuh Payrdquo I felt my throat tighten I stared at thefiery eyes trying to see a face trying to see who wasspeaking to me from under that hood

ldquoLukemdashIrsquom so sorryrdquo a voice called I turned to find Hannah wheeling herself rapidly

down the hall leaning forward in her wheelchair turn-ing the wheels with both hands

ldquoHannahmdash Whatmdashrdquo I couldnrsquot find any wordsldquoIrsquom so sorryrdquo she repeated As she wheeled herself

closer I saw tears brimming in her eyes rolling downher red-blotched face

ldquoSorryrdquo I repeated my head spinning in confusion

98

ldquoHe made me do itrdquo she wailed ldquoYou have tobelieve me Luke I didnrsquot want to Really But hemade merdquo

She grabbed my hand Squeezed it tightly Herhand was as cold as ice Tears rolled down hercheeks

ldquoVery touchingrdquo the hooded figure rasped coldlyldquoHannahmdashhe made you do whatrdquo I askedldquoHemdashhe made me give you the skullrdquo Hannah

stammered still squeezing my hand ldquoHuhrdquo I let out a startled cry ldquoYou gave it to me

But I thought I found it I thoughtmdashrdquoldquoI had the good luck for a long timerdquo Hannah

said wiping her wet cheeks with both handsldquoRemember when I had so much good luck Then itran out The skull went dark And he forced memdashheforced me to pass the skull on to yourdquo

I stared at her in disbelief ldquoBut who is herdquo Icried ldquoHow can he do thisrdquo

ldquoHavenrsquot you guessedrdquo the hooded figureboomed The red eyes glowed like two angry sunsldquoHavenrsquot you figured it out yet Luke I am the FateMaster I decide who has good luck and who has badrdquo

ldquoNordquo I whispered ldquoThatrsquos crazyrdquoldquoItrsquos the truthrdquo Hannah said her voice breaking

ldquoHe controls me And now yourdquoldquoLukerdquo the evil figure whispered lowering him-

self toward me ldquoDid you really think you could haveall that good luck without paying for itrdquo

99

ldquoI didnrsquot want to give the skull to yourdquo Hannahwhispered holding on to my arm ldquoI gave you achance to hand it back to me remember Rememberduring my game I asked if you had seen itrdquo

I nodded sadly feeling my face grow hotldquoI knew you had it Why didnrsquot you give it back

thenrdquo Hannah demanded ldquoI gave you a chance toreturn it I didnrsquot want you to keep itrdquo

ldquoToo late for that nowrdquo the Fate Master raspedldquoNow you are BOTH minerdquo

ldquoNo wayrdquo I protested ldquoI donrsquot believe any ofthis This canrsquot be happening Itmdashitrsquos some kind ofbad jokerdquo

ldquoItrsquos not a jokerdquo Hannah whispered ldquoLook atmerdquo She pointed to her red-blotched face her ban-daged foot the wheelchair

ldquoNordquo I insisted ldquoIt wonrsquot happen to me I wonrsquotlet it IrsquollmdashIrsquoll make my own luckrdquo

The bulky black coat shook as the Fate Masteruttered a hoarse laugh It sounded more like drycoughing than laughter ldquoYoung man do you reallythink you can go up against FATE I control EVERY-THING that happens Do you really think you candefy FATErdquo

ldquoI donrsquot care what you sayrdquo I screamed ldquoIrsquom notgoing to be some kind of slave You canrsquot control meYou canrsquotrdquo

100

The Fate Master sighed The red eyes faded insidethe hood ldquoDo I really have to prove myself to youOkay So be itrdquo

He leaned closer So close that I could see intothe hood I could see that he had no face Just twoglowing eyes floating in blackness

ldquoLukemdashthat concussion you had in the gymrdquo herasped ldquoIrsquom afraid itrsquos much worse than you thoughtFeel your earsrdquo

ldquoHuhrdquo My hands shot up to my ears I felt wet-ness

Warm wetnessI lowered my hands My fingers dripped with

bloodMy ears were bleedingI felt the warm blood pour down my earlobes

trickle down the sides of my faceFrantically I pressed the palms of my hands

against my ears ldquoThat wonrsquot stop the bleeding Lukerdquo the Fate

Master whispered ldquoThat blood wonrsquot clot Itrsquos justgoing to keep pouring out Bad luck Irsquom afraid Verybad luckrdquo

ldquoNomdashpleaserdquo I pleaded ldquoMake it stoprdquoThe eyes flared ldquoDo you believe in me now Do

you believe that you belong to merdquoldquoOkayrdquo I said ldquoOkay I believe yourdquo

101

ldquoYour fate is in my handsmdashboth of you You mustpay for the good luck you had You must suffer badluck nowmdashrdquo

ldquoNomdashpleaserdquo I begged ldquoI need more timeThings are just starting to go right for me The basket-ball team my animation the swim team Irsquolldo anything I need more timerdquo

ldquoNO MORE TIMErdquo The hoarse rasp echoed offthe tile walls Angry flames shot out from the black-ness of the hood

ldquoButmdashrdquo I started shrinking back beside HannahldquoI control yourdquo the Fate Master boomed ldquoI decide

your luck from now on Do you want me to go easy onthe two of you DO yourdquo

ldquoY-yesrdquo I stammered ldquoIrsquoll do anythingAnythingrdquo

The Fate Master was silent for a long momentThe eyes faded as if retreating into the distance thenglowed brightly again ldquoIf you want me to go easy onyou bothrdquo he said finally ldquoherersquos what you haveto do rdquo

102

ldquoPass the skull on to anotherrdquo the Fate Masterordered

ldquoHuh Youmdashyou want me to give it to someoneelserdquo I stammered

The eyes sparked beneath the hood ldquoPass it tothat big kid the one called Stretch Irsquove had my eye onhim I will give him good luck for two months Then Iwill claim him as minerdquo

ldquoNo I canrsquot do thatrdquo I protested ldquoIt isnrsquot right Itisnrsquotmdashrdquo

The Fate Master uttered a furious growl ldquoThenyou will suffer bad luck your whole life You and every-one in your familyrdquo

I shivered in fear My mind spun I felt the warmblood start to trickle from my ears again

Could I do it Could I trap Stretch the way I hadbeen trapped

I felt Hannah tug my arm ldquoYou have to do itLukerdquo she whispered ldquoItrsquos our only chance BesidesStretch has been asking for itmdashhasnrsquot he Hersquos not a

103

friend of yours Hersquos an enemy Stretch has been ask-ing for it all yearrdquo

True Stretch wasnrsquot my friend But could I beresponsible for ruining Stretchrsquos life For turning himover to the Fate Master

Hannah gazed up at me from the wheelchair withpleading eyes ldquoDo itrdquo she whispered ldquoSave usLuke Do itrdquo

I turned to the Fate Master ldquoOkayrdquo I choked outldquoIrsquoll do itrdquo

The eyes flashed from red to sunlight yellowThe big coat opened and appeared to fly up Itraised itself over me like giant bat wings Floatedover me then floated down

I felt myself covered in a heavy darkness I couldnrsquot move It spread over me blacker

blackerI felt so cold So cold and lost As if I had been

buried buried deep in the cold cold groundAnd then I blinked and saw pinpoints of light

Flickering white lights that grew brighter so bright Ihad to squint

It took me a while to realize I was back in the gymBack on the gym floor A crowd huddled around meTight expressions worried faces

Someone leaned over me A face came into focusCoach Bendix stared down at me the whistle hangingfrom his neck

104

ldquoCoachmdashrdquo I tried to speak but the word came outa whisper

ldquoDonrsquot move Lukerdquo he said softly ldquoYoursquove had aconcussion but yoursquore going to be okayrdquo

ldquoA concussionrdquoldquoLie stillrdquo he instructed ldquoAn ambulance is on the

wayrdquoA concussionIt didnrsquot happen I realized The hooded figure with the glowing eyes The

Fate Master stepping out of locker 13 Taking awaymy good luck Ordering me to pass the skull toStretch

It didnrsquot happenIt was a dream A nightmare caused by my con-

cussionI jumped to my feet The floor swayed beneath

me The bleachers appeared to tilt to one side thenthe other

I saw Hannah in her wheelchair at the side of thebleachers

Shersquos still in the gym I told myself happily Wenever left the gym It didnrsquot happen None of it hap-pened

I felt so happy So freeBefore I even realized it I was running Running

to the doorldquoLuke HeymdashLuke Stoprdquo I heard Coach Bendix

calling to me

105

And then I was out the gym doors And racingthrough the dark empty hallways Running fullspeed

So happy And so eager to get away from thereAway from the school Away from my nightmare

Did I stop at my lockerI must have stopped there because I had my

jacket on when I burst outside Into the frosty nightair I saw a tiny sliver of a moon high in a purple-black sky I stopped for a second to breathe in thecold fresh air

Then I ran across the teachersrsquo parking lot to thebike rack Irsquod ridden my bike to school And now Iplanned to put the pedal to the metalmdashto race all theway home

ldquoYesrdquo So happy I felt so happy I could havedanced all the way home

I jumped on my bike Grabbed the handlebarsWhoa Something wrong A scraping sound I climbed off and glanced down A flat tire No

Two flat tiresldquoOh wowrdquo I murmured How did that happenNo big deal Irsquoll get the bike tomorrow I decided

I started to jog across the parking lot heading to thestreet My sneaker felt loose I squatted down to tiethe shoe lacemdashand it ripped between my hands

No problem I told myself I have plenty ofshoelaces at home I started walking turned onto thesidewalk crossed the street Behind me I could hear

106

shouts and cheers coming from the gym I guessedthat the game had started up again

ldquoGo Stretchrdquo I murmured As I made my way down the next block it began

to rain Softly at first But the wind picked up andthen the rain started coming down in sheets

I zipped my jacket and leaned into the wind Butthe rain drove me back wave after wave of freezingwater

I heard a crackling sound nearbymdashand sawjagged white lightning streak across the front yardacross the street A deafening boom of thunder shookthe ground

I pressed forward Trees creaked and nearly bentsideways in the torrents of wind and rain I couldnrsquotmove I ducked under a broad-trunked tree for safety

But a loud crack of lightning sent a tree branchcrashing to my feet

ldquoOhhrdquo I cried out A close callI jumped over the fallen branch Sharp pieces of

the limb scratched my arm as I struggled to raceaway Another jagged bolt of lightning crackled a fewfeet in front of me sizzling over the wet grass

Squinting through the downpour I saw smokesnake over the lawn The grass was burned blackwhere the lightning had spread

The wind shoved me backward Sheet after sheet

107

of rain washed over me I choked Struggled tobreathe

And then just beyond the rain just beyondthe heavy waves of dark water I saw two glowinglights two red eyes like dark headlights Two evil eyes moving with me watching me

The Fate MasterIt wasnrsquot a dream I suddenly knew that my flat

tiresmdashthe stormmdashthe lightning the pounding rainmdashit was all a show A show of strength

I staggered up my driveway Slipped on the wetgravel Sprawled facedown on the soaked stones

ldquoNooooo rdquoI struggled to my feet Stumbled onto the front

stoop A deafening shattering crash made me spin

around I saw one of the oak trees in front of thehouse split in half It appeared to move in slowmotion One half shivered but stayed upright Theother half of the broad old tree came crashing ontothe roof of the house

Windows shattered Roof tiles came slidingdown

I covered my head with one hand And pushedthe doorbell Frantically pushed the bell ldquoLet me inMom Dadrdquo I pounded on the front door with bothfists

Where were they

108

The lights were all on Why didnrsquot they open thedoor

A crash of thunder made me jump and cry outAbove the front stoop rainwater poured like a water-fall over the sides of the gutters Waves of rain rattledthe living room window and battered the bricks of thefront wall

ldquoLet me inrdquo I screamed over another roar ofthunder I pounded the front door until my fist ached

Then I heard a window slide open I turned to ourneighborrsquos house Through the curtains of rain I sawMrs Gillis poke her head out the bedroom windowShe shouted something But I couldnrsquot hear her overthe roar of rain

ldquoTheyrsquore not homerdquo I finally heard her shoutldquoThey had to go to the hospital Lukerdquo

ldquoWhat What did you sayrdquo My heart jumpedHad I heard correctly

ldquoItrsquos your dad He fell down the stairs Hersquos okayBut they took him to the emergency roomrdquo

ldquoNordquo I cried I beat my fists against the doorldquoNo No Nordquo

The Fate Master was putting on a show for meHe was showing me who was boss Giving me a littletaste of what the rest of my life could be like

ldquoOkayrdquo I shouted cupping my hands around mymouth Water pounded me washed over me bat-

109

tered me against the house ldquoOkaymdashyou winrdquo Iscreamed ldquoIrsquoll do it Irsquoll do whatever you sayrdquo

And I didThe next morning I gave the skull to Stretch

110

I found Stretch at his locker before school startedGiving him the yellow skull was the easiest thing inthe world

Stretch was leaning into his locker searching theshelf for something His backpack stood open on thefloor I pulled the skull from my jeans pocketmdashanddropped it into his backpack

He didnrsquot see anything He didnrsquot even know hehad it

ldquoHey Stretchmdashhowrsquos it goingrdquo I asked trying tosound calm natural As if I hadnrsquot just done some-thing terrible to him Something that would ruin hislife forever

ldquoYomdashhey Champrdquo He slapped me a hard highfive so hard my hand stung ldquoHowrsquos your headman It looks as ugly as everrdquo He laughed

I stared at him ldquoMy headrdquoldquoThat was a nasty collisionrdquo he said ldquoYour head

must be hard as a rock You feeling okayrdquoldquoYeah Not badrdquo I replied

111

Stretch snickered ldquoWell thanks for letting me getsome playing timerdquo He started to close up his back-pack

I stared at the backpack picturing the skull insideit The skull I had passed on to Stretch The tiny redeyes were probably glowing again Stretch was goingto have a lot of good luck for a while But then

ldquoMaybe you and I can practice together laterrdquoStretch said slamming his locker shut ldquoI can giveyou some more pointers Make you look like youknow what yoursquore doingrdquo

ldquoYeah Mayberdquo I saidStretchrsquos expression turned serious ldquoActually

yoursquore not bad manrdquo he said ldquoI mean it You are soimproved I mean yoursquore almost pretty goodReallyrdquo

I donrsquot believe this I thought Stretch is actuallypaying me a compliment

I shrugged ldquoIt was just luckrdquo I mutteredJust luck Ha haldquoNo wayrdquo Stretch insisted ldquoLuck had nothing to

do with it man It was hard work and skill No kid-ding It isnrsquot luck Yoursquore goodrdquo

I swallowed hard I suddenly felt like a totalcreep

Stretch was being so nice to me And what had Idone to him I just gave him a life of bad luck a lifeof slavery to the Fate Master

112

ldquoWhoa Forgot my science notebookrdquo Stretchgroaned He dropped his backpack to the floor andturned to unlock his locker

I stared down at the backpack feeling dizzy feel-ing sick

What am I going to do I asked myself What amI going to do

My bad luck continued all dayI answered the wrong questions on my algebra test

and got an F Miss Wakely warned me that Irsquod have todo extra work if I didnrsquot want to fail the course

At lunch the milk in my milk carton was lumpy andsour I didnrsquot notice until I had gulped down a bigmouthful Then I nearly puked my guts up in front ofeveryone

After lunch I started to comb my hair in the boysrsquoroommdashand a huge clump came out on the comb Igasped in horror and tugged out another clump of hair

Irsquom going to lose all my hair I realizedAs I hurried out of the bathroom I caught my shirt

on a nail and ripped one sleeve off I was so upset Ibumped into Miss Wakely from behind Her coffeecup flew out of her hand and scalding hot coffeesplashed all over her

I found Hannah after school She came rollingslowly down the hall in her wheelchair Her foot wasstill bandaged Her face was still covered in red

113

blotches And I saw that one of her eyes was swollenshut

ldquoHannahmdashIrsquove got to talk to yourdquo I criedldquoDid you pass it onrdquo she asked in a loud whisper ldquoHuhrdquoldquoIrsquove lost my voicerdquo she whispered ldquoDid you

pass the skull on to Stretch Wersquove got to change ourluck I can barely see My skin itches like crazy I canbarely talk ImdashI canrsquot go on like this Lukerdquo

ldquoIrsquove got to find the Fate Masterrdquo I said Hannah grabbed my torn shirtsleeve ldquoYoursquove got

to do what he said Yoursquove got to obey him Itrsquos ouronly chancerdquo

ldquoHow do I find himrdquo I askedldquoHe will find yourdquo Hannah whispered ldquoHe

appears in places of bad luck You knowmdashbrokenmirrors wherever the number thirteen is writtenrdquo

ldquoCome with merdquo I said I led the way to my lockerI waved to some guys heading to the pool for swimteam practice I wanted to be with them But this wasmore important

ldquoWersquove got to talk to the Fate Masterrdquo I toldHannah ldquoMaybe hersquoll come through my lockeragainrdquo

Hannah groaned in pain as she wheeled herselfbehind me ldquoMy foot hurts so muchrdquo she whispered

ldquoHe promised to end the bad luckrdquo I saidI turned the combination lock then pulled open

114

my locker door A burst of sour air choked the hall Igagged then held my breath

ldquoLookmdashrdquo Hannah choked out She pointed to thefloor of the locker

It was littered with dead birds A pile of brown-and-gray sparrows all dead and decaying

ldquoHe left us a presentrdquo I murmured ldquoWhere is heIs he going to appearrdquo

We didnrsquot have to wait long A few moments later I saw the glow of the red

eyes at the back of the locker And then the dark fig-ure stepped over the pile of dead birds and floatedout hunched beneath the black hood

ldquoHave you done what I askedrdquo he rasped thefiery eyes burning into mine ldquoHave you given me anew slaverdquo

ldquoYesrdquo I replied avoiding his stare ldquoThat was ourdeal right And now will you stop torturing us Willyou end our bad luck as you promisedrdquo

The hood bobbed up and down ldquoNordquo he saidsoftly

Hannah and I both uttered cries of protestldquoDid you really think you could make a deal with

the Fate Masterrdquo he boomed The open coat floatedup like bat wings ldquoI donrsquot make bargains with any-one I donrsquot make promises You will take whateverFate dishes outrdquo

ldquoYou promisedmdashrdquo Hannah shriekedThe evil figure snickered ldquoFirst you enjoy good

115

luck Then you must pay for it You cannot break thepattern You should know that You should know thatyou cannot bargain with Fate You will pay for yourgood luck for the rest of your liferdquo

ldquoNo Waitmdash Waitrdquo Hannah pleaded reachingup from the wheelchair grasping at the black cloakgrasping frantically with both hands

But the Fate Master spun around swirling thefoul air He stomped heavily on the dead birds as hestrode back into locker 13

In a second he had vanished Dead birds littered the floor of the hall the floor

of my lockerI turned to Hannah Her shoulders heaved up

and down Loud sobs escaped her throat ldquoHepromised rdquo

ldquoItrsquos okayrdquo I said softly ldquoI didnrsquot keep mypromise eitherrdquo

I pulled the yellow skull from my jeans pocket Hannah gasped ldquoYou didnrsquot give it to StretchrdquoI squeezed the skull in my fist ldquoYes I gave it to

him But I took it back before Stretch even saw it Icouldnrsquot do it Stretch was too nice to me ImdashIcouldnrsquot I couldnrsquot ruin someonersquos liferdquo

Hannah shook her head Tears spilled from herswollen eyes ldquoNow what are we going to do LukeWersquore doomed Now we donrsquot stand a chancerdquo

116

I bounced the basketball hard against the drive-way Drove toward the backboard and sent up ahook shot It bounced off the rim back into myhands I spun hard and sent up a two-handed shotthat dropped through the net

Overhead clouds covered the moon The garagelights sent white cones of light over the drivewayBehind me the house was dark except for a squareof orange light from my bedroom window upstairs

I glanced at the roof Men had worked all day torepair the broken and missing shingles The fallentree had been hauled away One windowmdashbroken inthe stormmdashwas still covered with cardboard

All my fault I realized All the damage to thehouse was my fault

My dad was walking with a cane He had a badlysprained knee from his fall down the stairs But hewas okay for now

That was all my fault too I knew All my bad luck

117

I heaved the ball angrily at the backboard Itthudded high bounced back to the driveway Ipicked it up and shot it through the hoop

Luck luck luck The word ran through my mind like an ugly

chantAnd then I heard Stretchrsquos words again Stretch

actually saying something nice to me ldquoLuck hadnothing to do with it Luke It was hard work andskillrdquo

Hard work and skillNot luckldquoYou cannot break the patternrdquo the Fate Master

had said ldquoFirst you have the good luckmdashthen youpay for itrdquo

The pattern You cannot break the patternNot luck Hard work and skillI shot the ball again Dribbled then shot again

Even though it was a cold frosty night sweat poureddown my forehead I wanted to work harder Harder

And as I practiced those words repeated andrepeated in my mind And I knew what I had to doI knew the only way I could end the bad luck forHannah and for me

The only way I could defeat the Fate MasterI shot again Again I moved to the foul line and

put up several foul shotsI didnrsquot stop when I saw the kitchen light flash on

The back door swung open Dad stepped into the

118

yard wearing his bathrobe leaning on his caneldquoLukemdashwhat are you doingrdquo he called ldquoItrsquos after

eleven orsquoclockrdquoldquoPracticingrdquo I said sending up another jump

shot Walking unsteadily he came up to the edge of the

driveway ldquoButmdashitrsquos so late Why are you doing thisrdquoldquoIrsquom going to win without luckrdquo I replied I sent

up another shot and watched it drop through thehoop ldquoIrsquom going to win with skill I shouted ldquoI canbreak the pattern I can win without luckrdquo

And then without realizing it I was screaming atthe top of my lungs ldquoI DONrsquoT NEED LUCK IDONrsquoT NEED LUCKrdquo

119

My plan was simple Maybe too simple But I had to give it a tryI didnrsquot tell it to Hannah She was pretty much

destroyed I didnrsquot want to give her any more toworry about

I knew I didnrsquot have much timemdashmaybe a day ortwo at the most

As soon as the Fate Master discovered that I stillhad the skull that I hadnrsquot passed it on to Stretch hewould come after me full force

My plan It was to break the pattern To win To win big To have a major success

Without luck Without needing any good luckIf I could win with my own hard work with my

own skill my own talentmdashit would be a defeat for theFate Master I would break his rule I would breakthe pattern

And maybe just maybe that would freeHannah and me

120

And thatrsquos why I practiced on my drivewayPracticed in the dark in the cold until after midnightHard work and skill

Hard work and skillShawnee Valley played Forest Grove this after-

noon The last game of the season My last chance to win without luckAs I changed into my team uniform I knew I had

to be great I had to be a winner today I had to winthe game for my team

And if I didIf I did maybe the nightmare would be overI was so nervous I had to lace up my sneakers

three times I kept knotting them up My fingers justwouldnrsquot work

ldquoGo Squires Go SquiresrdquoGuys were pounding their fists on the lockers

shouting jumping up and down getting pumpedgetting ready

Stretch gave me a playful slap as he jogged pastldquoTry not to bump heads today Champ We gonnabeat these clownsrdquo

I flashed him a thumbs-up ldquoTheyrsquore dead meatrdquoI shouted

I tucked in my jersey slammed the gym lockershut and trotted out into the gym I blinked underthe bright lights A big crowd nearly filled the bleach-ers They were stamping their feet in time to somemarching music over the loudspeaker

121

I searched for Hannah but didnrsquot see herThe last game of the year I thought as I picked up

a basketball from the rack My last chance I swallowed hard trying to force down my fearWas the Fate Master here Did he know that I

lied to him That I didnrsquot give the skull to StretchI donrsquot care about that I told myself Irsquom going to

be a winner today without his good luck Irsquom going to break the pattern Irsquom going to break the Fate MasterI dribbled up to Coach Bendix He slapped me on

the shoulder as I passed ldquoHave a great game Lukerdquohe called ldquoKeep it slow and steady Remembermdashjustfocus Focusrdquo

ldquoOkay Coachrdquo I called ldquoIrsquom ready I feel goodReal strong I think Irsquom going tomdashrdquo

I felt a strong blast of cold air It swept throughthe gym like an invisible ocean wave

And then I saw Coachrsquos expression change verysuddenly He was grinning at me flashing me athumbs-up And then his hand came down His facewent slack His eyes appeared to fade to glaze overas if a curtain had been drawn over them

As if hersquod been hypnotized or somethingldquoHey Lukerdquo he said motioning me back to him

He frowned narrowing his eyes at me ldquoWhat is itrdquo I asked keeping up my dribbleldquoTake the benchrdquo he ordered pointing to the

team bench with his whistle

122

ldquoHuhrdquo I gaped at himldquoThe benchrdquo he repeated his face a blank now

his eyes vacant dull ldquoYou canrsquot play todayrdquoldquoHeymdashno wayrdquo I protested ldquoWhat do you mean

Irsquove got to playrdquoHe shook his head ldquoYou canrsquot play today Luke

Your concussionmdashremember I need a doctorrsquos noteHave you been examined You canrsquot play until yoursquoreexaminedrdquo

My mouth hung open ldquoCoach Irsquove been prac-ticing so hard Please Yoursquove got to let me in the gametodayrdquo I pleaded My heart pounded so hard I feltdizzy My head throbbed ldquoCoach I have to playItrsquos the last gamerdquo

He shook his head ldquoSorryrdquo He motioned to thebench ldquoWe have to follow the rulesrdquo

Whose rules I thought bitterly The Fate Masterrsquosrules

Coach Bendix gazed at me with those glazedblank eyes ldquoSorry Yoursquove already played your lastgame Lukerdquo

ldquoButmdashbutmdashrdquo I sputteredldquoYoursquoll get rsquoem next yearrdquo he said He blew his

whistle ldquoStretchmdashyoursquore in Yoursquore playing thewhole gamerdquo

I stood there I didnrsquot move I stood in the middleof the floor with my hands on my waist Waiting formy heart to stop racing Waiting for my legs to stoptrembling

123

Then I turned and slowly trudged to the bench Irsquod lost today Score one round for the Fate

Master No way I could break the pattern today I was a

loser today But I wasnrsquot finished I could still winIf I had time

124

ldquoGive the skull to Stretchrdquo Hannah pleadedldquoMaybe the Fate Master will go easy on usrdquo

It was the next day We were huddled at the backof the lunchroom I could see Stretch laughing andkidding around with his friends at a table near thefront The Squires had won the game by two pointsand Stretch had been a hero

ldquoI canrsquot do itrdquo I said shaking my head ldquoBesidesyou heard what the Fate Master said He doesnrsquotmake deals It wonrsquot help to pass it to Stretchrdquo

Hannah let out a sigh She had her head buriedin her hands ldquoThen what are we going to dordquo

ldquoIrsquoll find a way to defeat himrdquo I said I bit into myham sandwich ldquoHeymdashrdquo I felt something hard

ldquoOh nordquo I moaned I spit out a tooth In a panic I moved my tongue around the inside

of my mouth ldquoMy teethrdquo I groaned ldquoTheyrsquore allloose Irsquom going to lose all my teethrdquo

Hannah didnrsquot lift her head She whispered some-thing too low for me to hear

125

ldquoIrsquove got to gordquo I said jumping up ldquoI have someideas Hannah Donrsquot give up hope I have someideasrdquo

I ran past Stretchrsquos table where the guys werelaughing and blowing straw wrappers at each otherStretch called out to me but I didnrsquot stop

I made my way to the computer lab The doorwas closed I pulled it open and burst breathlesslyinto the brightly lit room

ldquoMrs Coffey Mrs Coffey Itrsquos memdashLukerdquo I felt another tooth swing loose in my mouth I

gritted my teeth trying to press it down into placeA chubby young man Irsquod never seen before came

out of the supply room He had short black hair ontop of a round pudgy face and bright red cheeks Helooked like an apple with eyes He wore a red plaidshirt over black denims

ldquoIs Mrs Coffey hererdquo I demanded ldquoI need to talkto herrdquo

He set down the disk drive he was carryingldquoShersquos gonerdquo he said

ldquoYou mean she went to lunchrdquo I askedHe shook his round head ldquoNo She left school

She got another jobrdquoldquoImdashI knowrdquo I stammered ldquoBut I thoughtmdashrdquoldquoIrsquom Ron Handlemanrdquo he said ldquoIrsquom taking over

the computer lab Do you have a class with merdquoldquoUh nordquo I said ldquoBut I have a project I was

supposed to show Mrs Coffey She was going to send

126

it to someone who might put it in a show Itrsquos com-puter animation you see Irsquove been working on it fortwo years and and rdquo In my panic the wordspoured out of me I had to stop to take a breath

ldquoSlow downrdquo Mr Handleman said ldquoShe proba-bly left me a note about it She left me a stack ofnotesrdquo He glanced around the cluttered worktableldquoI put them somewhererdquo

How could Mrs Coffey leave without seeing myproject I asked myself How could she do that tome

Didnrsquot she realize how important it was Thiscould be my big triumph If my computer animationis accepted for a showmdashbecause of my hard workonly because of my skill and hard workmdashit wouldbreak the pattern It might defeat the Fate Master

Didnrsquot she realizeldquoUh can you look at my computer anima-

tionrdquo I askedMr Handlemanrsquos cheeks grew redder ldquoWhenrdquoldquoTonightrdquo I asked my heart poundingldquoWell I donrsquot think sordquo he replied ldquoNot

tonight I mean this is my first day I have so muchto do here Maybe next week rdquo

ldquoNordquo I screamed ldquoYou have to look at it PleaseItrsquos very importantrdquo

ldquoIrsquod love to see itrdquo he said picking up the diskdrive starting across the room with it ldquoBut I have toget organized Maybe rdquo

127

ldquoPleaserdquo I cried ldquoFind Mrs Coffeyrsquos note Wersquovegot to get it to the man whorsquos putting together thecomputer art show Pleaserdquo

He narrowed his eyes at me He probably thoughtI was crazy

But I didnrsquot care I needed a victory I knew therewasnrsquot much time

ldquoOkayrdquo Mr Handleman said finally ldquoBring it infirst thing tomorrow morning Irsquoll try to look at it dur-ing lunchrdquo

Not good enough Tomorrow might be too late Irealized

ldquoHow late will you be here this afternoonrdquo Iasked breathlessly

ldquoPretty laterdquo he replied ldquoSince itrsquos my first dayImdashrdquo

ldquoIrsquoll run home after school and get itrdquo I said ldquoIrsquollbring it to you before you leave tonight Could you I mean would you look at it this afternoonPleaserdquo

ldquoOkay I guess Irsquoll be here till at least fiverdquo hesaid

ldquoYesssrdquo I cried pumping my fist in the air Iturned and raced out of the computer lab

I can win I told myself I can defeat the FateMaster My animation project is good I know it isIrsquove worked for two years on it Irsquove put so much hardwork into it

I donrsquot need luck I donrsquot need good luck at all

128

After school I ran all the way home I burst intothe kitchen tossed down my backpack and startedto my room I stopped halfway to the stairs when Iheard voices from the living room

ldquoLukemdashis that yourdquo Mom calledMom and Dad were both there sitting in the

dark Dad leaned heavily on his cane Mom had herhands clasped tightly in her lap

I stopped in the living room doorway ldquoWhy areyou both home so earlyrdquo I asked

ldquoI had to come home I couldnrsquot workrdquo Dad saidsoftly ldquoThat fall I took It was worse than we thoughtLooks like Irsquom going to need surgeryrdquo

ldquoOh nordquo I muttered My fault It was all my faultBut I didnrsquot really have time to talk to them I had

to get to my computer I wanted to check out the ani-mation one more time before I made a copy for MrHandleman Then I had to rush back to school

ldquoBut why are you sitting in the darkrdquo I askedldquoWhy donrsquot you turn on some lightsrdquo

ldquoWe canrsquotrdquo Mom said shaking her head ldquoTherersquossome kind of trouble with the power lines to ourblock The electricity is off We have no power Nopower at allrdquo

129

I let out a horrified scream ldquoNooooo My com-puterrdquo

ldquoYoursquoll have to wait till the power comes backonrdquo Dad said

ldquoButmdashbutmdashrdquo I sputteredldquoWersquore having so much bad luck all of a suddenrdquo

Dad murmuredldquoWe may have to leave the house tonightrdquo Mom

said sighing unhappily ldquoWithout electricity we haveno heat We may have to check into a hotel or some-thingrdquo

ldquoOh nordquo I tugged at my hair A big clump of itcame out in my hand

I was losing my hair Losing my teeth How couldI fight back How

ldquoHe canrsquot do this to merdquo I screamed ldquoHe canrsquotHe canrsquotrdquo I turned and grabbed the banister andpulled myself up the stairs

ldquoLuke What are you sayingrdquoldquoWhere are you goingrdquo

130

I didnrsquot answer I dived into my room andslammed the door shut behind me

Breathing hard I stared at my computer Staredat the dark monitor screen

Useless Totally useless Frustrated I kicked the side of my desk

ldquoOwwwrdquo I didnrsquot mean to kick it that hard Sharppain throbbed up my leg up my side

ldquoOh waitrdquo I suddenly remembered I alreadymade a copy

Yes I made a backup copy of my project On myZip drive Yes

I fumbled frantically through the pile of disks onmy desk And grabbed the Zip disk

I still have a chance I told myself The FateMaster thought he shut me down But I still have achance

I stuffed the disk into my jacket pocket I hurledmyself down the stairs two at a time ldquoBye I have togo back to schoolrdquo I shouted to my parents

ldquoWhyrdquoldquoWhatrsquos going on Luke We need you hererdquoldquoHeymdashcome back and explainrdquoI heard their cries but I burst out the front door

and kept running ldquoIrsquoll stop the bad luckrdquo I said out loud ldquoIrsquoll stop

it Irsquoll stop the Fate MastermdashnowrdquoI found Mr Handleman in the computer lab

leaning over a keyboard typing an e-mail message

131

He spun around when I shouted hi to himI held up the disk ldquoHere it is Please Yoursquove got

to check it outrdquoHe motioned for me to sit down next to him ldquoI

spoke to the producer of the computer showrdquo hesaid ldquoHe called me this afternoon He said that if Iliked your animation I should send it over to himright awayrdquo

ldquoExcellentrdquo I cried ldquoThatrsquos great newsrdquoldquoArenrsquot you going to take your coat offrdquoldquoNordquo I answered breathlessly I shoved the disk

into the Zip drive ldquoNo time You have to see thisRight awayrdquo

He laughed ldquoSlow down Take a deep breathrdquoldquoIrsquoll breathe after you see itrdquo I said He leaned back in his chair and used his hands

as a headrest ldquoYoursquove been working on this for twoyearsrdquo

I nodded I found the file in the disk directory and double-

clicked it ldquoHere goesrdquo I said I was so nervous themouse trembled in my hand My chest was so tightit felt about to burst

Is it possible to explode from excitement I leanedforward to watch

The screen was solid black ldquoItrsquos starting nowrdquo Iwhispered

I stared at the black screen waiting for the brightburst of color at the beginning

132

Waiting Finally a dim glow spread over the screen Two circles of light Two red circles glowed in the

center of the darknessTwo red glowing eyes The eyes stared out unblinking unmoving

Blank round circles of shimmering redMr Handleman cleared his throat His eyes

remained locked on the monitor screen ldquoAre thoseeyesrdquo he asked ldquoDo they move or anythingrdquo

I opened my mouth to answer but no soundcame out

I stared frozen in horror at the glowing eyes Theevil eyes

And knew I had been defeated again Mr Handelmanrsquos cheeks were bright red now ldquoIs

this all there isrdquo he askedldquoYesrdquo I whispered ldquoThatrsquos allrdquoMy project was gone My two years of work were

lost The fiery eyes stared out at me in triumphI climbed to my feet and slumped out of the roomI trudged down the empty hall head down hands

shoved deep in my pockets Irsquove lost I realized Irsquoma loser forever now Hannah and me both Bad luckfor the rest of our lives

I turned a cornermdashand almost bumped intoCoach Swanson ldquoHey Lukemdashhowrsquos it goingrdquo heasked

133

I muttered a reply under my breathldquoI was going to call you tonightrdquo he said ldquoAndy

Mason is sick You have to swim in his place tomor-rowrdquo

I raised my head ldquoHuh Swimrdquo I had nearly for-gotten that I was on the swim team

ldquoSee you after school at the poolrdquo the coach saidldquoGood luckrdquo

Irsquoll need it I thought glumlyBut then I realized I was being given one more

chanceOne more chance to win without luck One more

chance to defeat FateOne last chance

The next morning I wore a baseball cap to schoolso no one could see the bald patches on my headWhen I brushed my teeth that morning anothertooth came sliding out between my lips

My tongue was covered with hard white bumpsMy arms and legs itched I was starting to get thesame red blotches on my skin as Hannah

Somehow I made it through the school day All Icould think about was the swim team race Wasthere any way that I might win That I might breakthe pattern and win the race and defeat the FateMaster

I didnrsquot have much hope But I knew I had to tryI knew I had to give it everything I had left

134

A few seconds after I lowered myself into the poolto warm up Coach Swansonrsquos whistle rang outechoing off the tile walls ldquoPractice laps everyonerdquothe coach shouted ldquoDo them half-speed Letrsquos seesome warm-up lapsrdquo

At the other end of the pool I saw Stretch kick offand begin swimming with steady strong strokes Idid a surface dive and started to follow him Thewarm water felt good on my itchy skin

I kicked hard Picked up speedAs I raised my head to suck in a deep breath the

water suddenly churned hard I swallowed a big mouthful Started to chokeI sputtered struggling to clear my throat strug-

gling to breatheAnd then to my horror my stomach heaved hard

ldquoGuuurrrrrrprdquo My lunch came hurling upI couldnrsquot hold it back I vomited a thick dark

puddle into the clear waterldquoOoh grossrdquoldquoSickrdquoldquoYuck Oh wowmdashhersquos puking his guts uprdquoA sick sour smell rose up from the water I heard

kids shouting and groaning in disgustAnd then I heard Coach Swansonrsquos whistle And

the coach shouting at me ldquoYoursquore outta there LukeGet out Yoursquore sick Yoursquore not going to swimtodayrdquo

135

No I thought This canrsquot happen again This ismy last chance

ldquoCoach Irsquom okayrdquo I shouted ldquoI just swal-lowed some water I can swimmdashreallyrdquo

Coach Swanson glanced around the pool AndyMason was in street clothes Joe Bork the other alter-nate didnrsquot show up

ldquoYoursquove got to let me swimrdquo I pleadedThe coach shrugged his shoulders ldquoTherersquos no

one else I guess Irsquove got no choicerdquoIrsquom going to do this I thought Irsquom going to win

today Irsquom going to do whatever it takes to winThe race got off to a good start I did a speed dive

at the whistle and found myself gliding strokingeasily in the lead

Swimming steadily keeping up a smooth rhythmI stayed in the lead until the waves began

Waves They tossed up in front of me rolledrapidly toward me splashed over me Wave afterwave Pushing me back Slowing my pace

136

Stroking harder to keep my rhythm I turned tothe side and glanced at the other swimmers The poolwas smooth the water flat for them

The waves were just for me A strong currentpushed at me slowing me shoving me back

I ducked under the waves Let them splash androll over me And swam harder

HarderldquoOhrdquo Something brushed my legI felt something curl around an ankle Something

bumped my waist I felt something slide around myknee

With another gasp I turnedmdashand saw the gray-green creatures Eels Were they eels

Wrapping around my legs Twining over mywaist

Long fat eels The water churned with themI cried out I saw the other swimmers gliding swiftly through

clear water They didnrsquot even notice my dark churn-ing water They didnrsquot even see the gleaming wetcreatures slithering between my legs Tighteningaround my ankles my legs

Slapping me slapping me hard slappingme back

ldquoNordquo I burst free I kept swimmingInto thick pink clusters of jellyfish The jellyfish

ballooned around me Stung my arms Stung mylegs Prickled the skin of my back

137

I cried out in pain The sticky creatures swarmedover me stinging stinging me again and again

I could see the other swimmers moving smoothlyahead of me now Gliding in smooth clear waters asI felt jolt after jolt of pain from the billowing jellyfishthat clustered over me

I slapped the water Slapped and kickedAnd let out another cry of pain as the water siz-

zled and boiled Scalding hot now It steamed andbubbled And my skin burned My skin is going toburn right off me I thought struggling to breatheStruggling to keep my arms moving through thescalding steam Kicking kicking hard

The other swimmers ahead of me now Moving sospeedily so steadily

I shut my eyes and swam Yoursquore not going tobeat me I thought Irsquom going to win going to win

And the thought gave me a final surge of energyI shot forward to the wall Plunged like a speed-

ing torpedo to the finishMy hand hit the wall I slapped the wallGasping gasping my chest heaving in

agony And knew that I had lostToo slow Too slowI knew that I had lost again

138

Water poured down my face I shut my eyes andstruggled to catch my breath

I heard a loud whistle Then I felt a hand on myshoulder A slap ldquoWay to go Lukerdquo

I opened my eyes to see the coach He grabbed myhand and pumped it hard Then he slapped me a highfive ldquoYou won You came from behind What a raceLuke Check out the time You set a school recordrdquo

ldquoHuh I did I wonrdquo He helped me out of the pool Guys were cheering

and yelling congratulationsBut the cheering was cut short by a deafening cry

from the middle of the pool A shrill wail that rose likean ambulance siren Higher higher until I wasforced to cover my ears

And then a mountain of water rose up from thepool Red and steaming like a volcano The water roseupmdashhigher highermdashlike a bubbling boiling red tidalwave And all the while the deafening wail rang outwith it

139

Everyone was screaming We all were screamingAnd then as suddenly as it rose up the molten

red mountain collapsed back into the poolCollapsed with a soft splash The pool was flat andsmooth again And silent Silent except for ourstunned gasps and cries

I turned to see Hannah running along the side ofthe pool Hannah out of her wheelchair RunningRunning wildly waving her arms excitedly laughingher red hair flying behind her

ldquoLukemdashyou did it Wersquore free You defeated FateLukemdashyou defeated Faterdquo

But it wasnrsquot enough Not enough for meI changed into my street clothes in seconds Then

I dragged Hannah down the hall to my locker Locker13

I stopped at the janitorrsquos closet And I grabbed ahuge sledgehammer

Hannah cheered as I raised the sledgehammer tothe locker and smashed it smashed it smashed it

Working feverishly I pried the battered lockerfrom the wall Kicked it onto its side Raised thesledgehammer again Smashed it crushed it smashed it

The battered locker door swung open I heard alow groan from deep inside

Hannah and I both leaped back as a skull rolledout onto the floor

140

Not a tiny skull A human-sized skull with glow-ing red eyes

The eyes glowed for only a few seconds Then theskull uttered a final groan a groan of agony ofdefeat And the eyes faded to darkness Empty dark-ness

I took a deep breath Ran up to itmdashand kickedthe skull down the hall

ldquoGoalrdquo Hannah yelledWe walked out of the school building arm in arm

Into the bright afternoon sunlight I took a long deep breath The air smelled so

fresh so sweet The houses the trees the skymdashthey all looked so

beautifulI stopped at the bottom of the sidewalk And bent

down to pick something upldquoHey check it outrdquo I showed it to Hannah ldquoIs

this my lucky dayrdquo I cried ldquoI found a pennyrdquo

141

142

Luke Greene is very superstitious so naturallyhersquos not happy when hersquos assigned Locker 13 atschool But amazingly a lucky charm he finds in thelocker changes his luck from bad to great NowLukersquos luck is so good he canrsquot lose No matter whathe does his lucky charm makes him come out ontop

But Luke discovers that his good luck comes witha very high price Will he pay it Or will he be lostlike others before him in the horror that is Locker 13

About Locker 13

The Locker 13 in Luke Greenersquos story does notexist anymore and it is unclear if anyone who hadthe locker in previous years suffered the same fate asLuke

People who have had unbelievably nightmarishexperiences often keep silent about them (Lukedidnrsquot tell his story to many peoplemdashonly his friend

Go Deeper Into This

Nightmare

Hannah and RL Stine know what happened) So itis possible that what happened to Erica Chass in thesame school 12 years earlier could be related toLocker 13

Erica Chass was a popular seventh grader inShawnee Valley Junior High She had good gradeswas a star soccer player and had lots of friends Thenone day everything seemed to change Erica blew offsoccer nearly failed out of school and was fearfuland shy with even her best friends She dressed onlyin black and always wore a necklace with a smallcharm in the shape of a skull

Then one day Erica moved away She didnrsquot saygood bye She just didnrsquot show up for school one dayand never came back

But some people who went to that school in thosedays insist thatrsquos not the end of Ericarsquos story

The following year a new girl joined the eighthgrade at Shawnee Her name was Alyssa GwynneShe was bright cheerful and a terrific soccer playermdashand she looked exactly like Erica ldquoYou would havesworn they were twinsrdquo says Tracey Holt who knewthem bothmdashldquoNo it was like the old Erica camebackrdquo says another friend Debra Wyle

What was the relationship between Erica andAlyssa Could they really be the same person Andwhat is the connection to the Locker 13 legendMaybe there isnrsquot one but several people havementioned that Alyssa had a necklace that she wore

143

every daymdasha necklace with a tiny charmmdashof askull

About Superstition

Most of our superstitions go back to a time whenpeople believed that witches and witchcraft wereeverywhere People in the middle ages seemed to livein terror that evil magic or witches would harm theircrops bring illness or other disaster to their livesMany of the superstitions that have lasted to ourtime go back to these ancient fears

Break a mirrormdashseven years bad luck Thissuperstition relates to the idea that our reflection is apart of ourselves Harm the reflection and you willharm the original According to the thinking of themiddle ages it takes seven years for the body torebuild itself after itrsquos been harmed So thatrsquos why thebad luck lasts for seven years Luckily there is a cureWash the broken mirror pieces in a south runningriver and the evil is washed away too

Itrsquos bad luck to walk under a ladder This goesback to a time when hanging was a common form ofpunishment It seems that the gallows were prettyhigh so a ladder was often rested against the side ofthe gallows platform Walking under this ladder wasliterally dangerous Be in the wrong place at thewrong time and a rotting dead body could fall onyou If you happen to be careless enough to walk

144

under a ladder you can change the bad luck Justcross your fingers until you see a dog

Black cats bring bad luck There are a lots ofsuperstitions about cats Letrsquos face it cats can becreepymdashand black cats are the creepiest Oneancient superstition about cats is that they will stealthe breath out of babies Where did this idea comefrom

Watch a cat as it settles itself into your lap Beforesnuggling up the cat will often sniff you in themouth At a time when so many babies died the cattheory is as logical as any other

Now for some superstitions that yoursquove probablynever heard of

If you find a knife in the road you will havebad luck

Donrsquot point at the moon (The man in the moondoesnrsquot like it and will bring you bad luck)

Donrsquot brush your hair after sunsetmdashespecial-ly if you have family who spends time on thesea (Brushing your hair at that time will mean dis-aster and death for themmdashand bad luck for you)

If a child hits a parent the childrsquos hand willwag over his grave and dogs will ldquowaterrdquo it

145

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

RL STINE says he has a great job ldquoMy job is to givekids the CREEPSrdquo With his scary books RL hasterrified kids all over the world He has sold over 300million books making him the best-selling childrenrsquosauthor in history

These days RL is dishing out new frights in hisseries THE NIGHTMARE ROOM When he isnrsquotworking he likes to read old mysteries watchSpongeBob Squarepants on TV and take his dogNadine for long walks around New York City wherehe lives with his wife Jane and son Matthew

ldquoI love taking my readers to scary placesrdquo RLsays ldquoDo you know the scariest place of all Itrsquos yourMINDrdquo

ldquoHey check it out A fortune-tellerrdquo Jilly saidShe pointed to a small black tent that stood besidean ice cream cart ldquoCan we do it I love fortune-tellersrdquo

ldquoNo wayrdquo I said ldquoThey make me nervous Idonrsquot even like watching them in moviesrdquo

ldquoCome on Maggie Itrsquos your birthdayrdquo her sisterJackie said pulling me to the tent ldquoYou have tohave your fortune told on your birthdayrdquo

ldquoLetrsquos see what the fortune-teller says about youand Glenrdquo Judy the third sister teased

ldquoI donrsquot think sordquo I saidBut as usual they didnrsquot give me a choice A few

seconds later we were standing at the doorway tothe dark tent

ldquoWersquoll all have our fortunes toldrdquo Jackie saidldquoMy treatrdquo

ldquoThis is so coolrdquo Jilly whispered ldquoDo you thinkits a real psychic Do you think she can really tellthe futurerdquo

The three sisters started into the tent I held backstaring at the red-and-black hand-lettered sign MISSELIZABETH FORTUNE-TELLER ONE DOLLAR

Take a look at whatrsquos ahead inTHE NIGHTMARE ROOM 3

Liar Liar

I suddenly realized that my heart was racing Why do I feel so weird I wondered Why do I

have such a bad feeling about thisI followed my friends into the tent The air inside

felt hot and steamy Two electric lanterns on the backtent wall splashed gray light over the fortune-tellerrsquossmall table

Miss Elizabeth sat hunched with her elbows onthe table head in her hands staring into a red glassball She didnrsquot look up as we stepped inside Icouldnrsquot tell if she was concentrating on the red ballor if she was asleep

The tent was completely bare except for her tableand two wooden chairs and a large black-and-whiteposter of a human hand The hand was divided intosections There was a lot of writing all over the postertoo small for me to read in the smoky gray light

As she stared into the red glass ball the fortune-teller muttered to herself She was a middle-agedwoman slender with bony arms poking out from thesleeves of her red dress and very large pale whitehands Squinting into the light I saw that the polishon her long fingernails matched the red of her dress

ldquoHel-lordquo Jackie called breaking the silenceMiss Elizabeth finally looked up She was kind of

pretty She had big round black eyes and dramaticred-lipsticked lips Her hair was long and wavy solidblack except for a wide white streak down themiddle

Her eyes moved from one of us to the other Shedidnrsquot smile ldquoWalter we have visitorsldquo sheannounced in a hoarse scratchy voice

I glanced around searching for WalterldquoWalter is my late husbandrdquo the fortune-teller

announced ldquoHe helps me channel information fromthe spiritsrdquo

Jackie and I exchanged glances ldquoWersquod like you to tell our fortunesrdquo Jilly saidMiss Elizabeth nodded solemnly ldquoOne dollar

eachrdquo She held out her long pale hand ldquoFour dol-lars pleaserdquo

Jackie fumbled in her bag and pulled out fourcrumpled dollar bills She handed them to the for-tune-teller who shoved them into a pocket of her reddress

ldquoWho wants to go firstrdquo Again her eyes movedslowly over our faces

ldquoIrsquoll gordquo Jilly volunteered She dropped into thechair across the table from Miss Elizabeth

The fortune-teller lowered her head again to gazeinto the red ball ldquoWalter bring me the words of thespirit world about this young womanrdquo

I suddenly felt a chill at the back of my neck Iknew I shouldnrsquot be frightened The woman had tobe a fakemdashright Otherwise she wouldnrsquot be workingin a tacky carnival like this one

But she was so serious So solemn She didnrsquotseem to be putting on an act

Or was I just being gullible againNow she took Jillyrsquos hand She pulled it up close to

her face and began to study Jillyrsquos palm Muttering toherself she moved her long finger back and forth fol-lowing the lines of the palm tracing them with herbright red fingernail

Jackie leaned close to me ldquoThis is coolrdquo she whis-pered

Judy sighed ldquoThis is going to take foreverrdquoJackie raised a finger to her lips and motioned for

Judy to shush The woman studied Jillyrsquos palm for a long time

squeezing the hand as she gazed at it murmuring toWalter in the red glass ball Finally she raised her eyesto Jilly ldquoYou are artisticrdquo she said in her scratchyvoice

ldquoYesrdquo Jilly declaredldquoYou are a dancerrdquo Miss Elizabeth continued

ldquoYou study the dance You are a hard workerrdquoldquoWhoa I donrsquot believe thisrdquo Jilly gushed ldquoHow do

you knowmdashrdquoldquoYou have much talentrdquo the fortune-teller mur-

mured ignoring Jillyrsquos question ldquoMuch talent Butsometimes I see your artistic side gets in the wayof your practical side You are you are rdquo

She shut her eyes ldquoHelp me Walterrdquo she whis-pered Then she opened her eyes again and raisedthem to Jillyrsquos palm ldquoYou are a very social person Yourfriends mean a lot to you Especially boy friendsrdquo

Jackie and Judy laughed Jilly flashed them anangry scowl ldquoImdashI donrsquot believe thisrdquo she told thefortune-teller ldquoYou have everything rightrdquo

ldquoIt is my giftrdquo Miss Elizabeth replied softlyldquoWill I make the new dance companyrdquo Jilly

asked her ldquoTry-outs are next week Can you tell meif I will be acceptedrdquo

Miss Elizabeth stared into the glass ballldquoWalterrdquo she whispered

I held my breath waiting for the answer Jilly andI were both trying out for the dance company And Iknew there was only room for one of us

ldquoWalter can find no answerrdquo the fortune-tellertold Jilly ldquoHe only groansrdquo She let go of Jillyrsquos hand

ldquoHemdashgroanedrdquo Jilly asked ldquoWhyrdquoldquoYour time is uprdquo Miss Elizabeth said She

motioned to us ldquoWho is nextrdquoJackie shoved Judy forward Judy dropped into

the chair and held her hand out to Miss ElizabethJilly came running over to join Jackie and me at

the edge of the tent ldquoIsnrsquot she amazingrdquo she whis-pered

ldquoYes she isrdquo I had to admit How did she know somany true things about Jilly I was beginning tobelieve Miss Elizabeth really had powers

And now I didnrsquot feel afraid or nervous I was eagerto see what the fortune-teller would say about me

She squeezed Judyrsquos hand and gazed deep intoJudyrsquos dark eyes ldquoYou have great love in yourdquo she

announced ldquoGreat love for animalsrdquoJudy gasped ldquoY-yesrdquoldquoYou care for them You work rdquoldquoYesrdquo Judy said ldquoI work in an animal shelter after

school Thatrsquos amazingrdquoMiss Elizabeth ran a red fingernail down Judyrsquos

palm ldquoYou also have an animal that you care aboutvery much A dog No A catrdquo

ldquoYes My cat Plumperrdquo Judy turned to us her face filled with astonish-

ment ldquoDo you believe this Shersquos right about every-thingrdquo

ldquoI know Itrsquos so coolrdquo Jilly exclaimed She sweptback her blond hair with a toss of her head She keptbouncing up and down She seemed too excited tostand still

The fortune-teller spent a few more minutes withJudy She told Judy that she would have a long suc-cessful life She said Judy would have a big familysomeday

ldquoOf kids Of animalsrdquo Judy asked Miss Elizabeth didnrsquot answer Next came Jackiersquos turn Once again Miss

Elizabeth was right on target with everything shesaid ldquoWowrdquo Jackie kept muttering ldquoWowrdquo

Finally I found myself in the chair across fromthe fortune-teller Suddenly I felt so nervous Mymouth was dry My legs were shaking

Miss Elizabeth looked older from close up

When she smiled at me the thick makeup on herface cracked Tiny drops of sweat glistened at herhairline

ldquoWhat is your namerdquo she asked in a whisperldquoMaggierdquo I told herShe nodded solemnly and took my hand She

raised my palm close to her face and squinted downat it in the gray light

I held my breath And waited What would shesee

She squeezed my hand Brought it closer to herface

And then then her eyes bulged wide Shelet out a loud gasp

With a violent jerk she tossed my hand awayAnd jumped to her feet Her chair fell behind her

clattering to the tent floorShe stared at memdashstared in open-mouthed

horrorAnd then she screamedldquoGet OUT Get AWAY from hererdquoldquoHuh Waitmdashrdquo I choked outldquoGet OUT You bring EVIL You bring EVIL with

you Get OUT of hererdquo

Credits

Cover illustration by Vince NataleCover design by John Fontana

About the PublisherAustraliaHarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty Ltd 25 Ryde Road (PO Box 321)Pymble NSW 2073 Australia httpwwwharpercollinscomau

CanadaHarperCollins Publishers Ltd55 Avenue Road Suite 2900Toronto ON M5R 3L2 Canadahttpwwwharpercanadacom

New ZealandHarperCollinsPublishers (New Zealand)PO Box 1Auckland New Zealandhttpwwwharpercollinsconz

United KingdomHarperCollins Publishers Ltd77-85 Fulham Palace RoadLondon W6 8JB UKhttpwwwfireandwatercouk

United StatesHarperCollins Childrenrsquos Books A Division of HarperCollins Publishers1350 Avenue of the Americas New York NY 10019wwwharperchildrenscom

These stories are my scariest ever says RL Stinebecause I wrote them at the Nightmare Hour

When the lights fade the world that we know as real slipsinto shadowmdashand the cold moonlit world of evil dreams

enters your mind and takes over

These ten terrifying tales will make you shiver at any hourIllustrated by ten outstanding artists

I really enjoy your workhellipthank you for creating newnightmares for me mdashKenny age 12 NY

They are horrifying storiesmdashthey even gave me thecreeps mdashSofia age 14 LA

My favorite book is Nightmare Hour mdashJeffrie age 9 WI

Winner of Disney Adventures magazinersquos first everKidsrsquo Choice Award for Best HorrorMystery book

0-06-028688-1 $995 Hardcover0-06-440842-6 $499 Paperback

Available wherever books are sold

Join RL Stine and all your friends in The Nightmare Room

wwwthenightmareroomcom

Ten New Stories by rl stineNightmare Hour

Join RL Stine and all your friends in

ROOMTHE

Step inside wwwthenightmareroomcom

and open the door to terror

You can share with RL Stine your most terrifying dreams and experiences If your stories are terrifying enough for RL Stine youcould star in your own NIGHTMARE ROOMbook

Log on to THE NIGHTMARE ROOM nowand read RL Stinersquos brand-new spine-tinglingstorymdasha story so terrifying that it canrsquot be soldin bookstores

Log on to wwwthenightmareroomcom

where you will truly enter

THE NIGHTMARE ROOM

wwwthenightmareroomcom

THE NIGHTMARE ROOM 3My Name Is EvilMaggie has her palm read at a carnival and then the terrifying accidents beginIs Maggie cursed Will she have to live forever in THE NIGHTMARE ROOM

THE NIGHTMARE ROOM 4Liar LiarRoss looks across the room and sees himself standing there But Ross doesnrsquothave a twin This party has taken Rossto THE NIGHTMARE ROOM

$399 Paperback Available wherever books are sold

Join RL Stine and all your friends in THE NIGHTMARE ROOMwwwthenightmareroomcom

What can happen next in

ROOMTHE

Locker 13

Copyright copy 2000 by Parachute Publishing LLC

Go Deeper Into This Nightmare copy 2000 Parachute Publishing LLC

All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in

the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews

RL Stine asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

Adobe Acrobat E-reader edition v 1 March 2001 ISBN 0-06-621428-9First print edition 2000 ISBN 0-06-440900-7

v

Welcome

Irsquom RL Stine and I want to introduce you toLuke Greene Hersquos that short wiry seventh-graderstanding in front of his locker

Some kids tease Luke about being too supersti-tious He wears a lucky shirt to school and he nevergoes anywhere without a lucky rabbitrsquos foot tucked inhis pocket

Luke doesnrsquot mind being teased He says you cannever have enough good luck

Thatrsquos why hersquos so unhappy about his new lockerItrsquos the first day of school and Luke has been givenLocker 13

Luke is staring at the locker in horrormdashand hehas reason to be worried Now hersquos going to need allthe lucky shirts and four-leaf clovers and good-luckcharms he can find

Because when he turns the lock and pulls openLocker 13 Luke will actually be opening the doorto THE NIGHTMARE ROOM

Contents

One

Two

Three

Four

Five

Six

Seven

Eight

Nine

Ten

Eleven

Twelve

Thirteen

Fourteen

Fifteen

Sixteen

Seventeen

Eighteen

Nineteen

Twenty

Twenty-one

Twenty-two

Twenty-three

Twenty-four

Twenty-five

Twenty-six

Twenty-seven

Go Deeper into this Nightmare

About the Author

Take a Look at Whatrsquos Ahead

Credits

About the Publisher

1

ldquoHey Lukemdashgood luckrdquo Who called to me The hall was jammed with

kids excited about the first day of school I was excit-ed too My first day in seventh grade My first day atShawnee Valley Junior High

I just knew this was going to be an awesome yearOf course I didnrsquot take any chances I wore my

lucky shirt Itrsquos a faded green T-shirt kind ofstretched out and the pocket is a little torn But noway Irsquod start a school year without my lucky shirt

And I had my lucky rabbitrsquos foot in the pocket ofmy baggy khakis Itrsquos black and very soft and furryItrsquos a key chain but I donrsquot want to ruin the good luckby hanging keys on it

Why is it so lucky Well itrsquos a black rabbitrsquos footwhich is very rare And I found it last November onmy birthday And after I found it my parents gave methe new computer I wanted So it brought me goodluckmdashright

I glanced up at the red-and-black computer-printed

banner hanging over the hall GO SQUIRES SUPPORT

YOUR TEAMAll of the boysrsquo teams at Shawnee Valley are called

the Squires Donrsquot ask me how they got that weirdname The banner made my heart race just a little Itreminded me that I had to find the basketball coachand ask when he was having tryouts

I had a whole list of things I wanted to do (1)check out the computer lab (2) find out about the bas-ketball team (3) see if I could take any kind of specialswimming program after school I never went to aschool with a swimming pool before And since swim-ming is my other big sport I was pretty pumped aboutit

ldquoLukemdashhirdquoI spun around to find my friend Hannah Marcum

behind me looking as cheerful and enthusiastic asalways Hannah has short coppery hair the color of abright new penny green eyes and a great smile Mymother always calls her Sunshine which totallyembarrasses both of us

ldquoYour pocket is tornrdquo she said She tugged at it rip-ping it a little more

ldquoHeymdashget offrdquo I backed away ldquoItrsquos my lucky shirtrdquoldquoDid you find your locker assignment yetrdquo She

pointed to a group of kids studying a chart taped to thewall They were all standing on tiptoe trying to seeover each other ldquoItrsquos posted over there Guess whatMy locker is the first one outside the lunchroom Irsquoll be

2

first for lunch every dayrdquoldquoOooh luckyrdquo I said ldquoAnd I got Gruen for Englishrdquo Hannah gushed

ldquoHersquos the best Hersquos so funny Everyone says you canrsquotstop laughing Did you get him toordquo

ldquoNordquo I said ldquoI got WarrenrdquoHannah made a face ldquoYoursquore doomedrdquoldquoShut uprdquo I said ldquoDonrsquot say things like thatrdquo I

squeezed my rabbitrsquos foot three times I pushed my way through the crowd to the locker

chart This is going to be an excellent year I told myselfJunior High is so not like elementary school

ldquoHey manmdashhowrsquos it goingrdquo Darnell Cross slappedme a high five

ldquoWhatrsquos uprdquo I replied ldquoCheck it out You got the lucky lockerrdquo Darnell

said I squinted at the chart ldquoHuh What do you meanrdquoI ran my eyes down the list of names until I came

to mine Luke Greene And then I followed the dottedline to my locker number

And gaspedldquoNo wayrdquo I said out loud ldquoThat canrsquot be rightrdquoI blinked a few times then focused on the chart

againYes Locker 13Luke Greene 1313My breath caught in my throat I started to choke

3

I turned away from the chart hoping no one couldsee how upset I was

How can this be happening to me I wonderedLocker 13 My whole year is ruined before it begins

My heart pounded so hard my chest ached Iforced myself to start breathing again

I turned and found Hannah still standing thereldquoWherersquos your lockerrdquo she asked ldquoIrsquoll walk youthererdquo

ldquoUh well I can deal with itrdquo I saidShe squinted at me ldquoExcuse merdquo ldquoI can deal with itrdquo I repeated shakily ldquoItrsquos

Locker thirteen but I can handle it ReallyrdquoHannah laughed ldquoLuke yoursquore such a supersti-

tious geekrdquoI frowned at her ldquoYou mean that in a nice waymdash

rightrdquo I jokedShe laughed again and shoved me into a crowd of

kids I wish she wouldnrsquot shove me so much Shersquosreally strong

I apologized to the kids I stumbled into ThenHannah and I started down the crowded hallchecking the locker numbers searching for num-ber 13

Just past the science lab Hannah stopped sud-denly and grabbed something up from the floor

ldquoHey wow Look what I foundrdquo She held up a five-dollar bill ldquoMmmmmmdashyesrdquo

4

She raised it to her lips and kissed it ldquoFive bucksYayrdquo

I sighed and shook my head ldquoHannah howcome yoursquore always so luckyrdquo

She didnrsquot answer that question It seemed like a simple question but it wasnrsquot And if she had told me the answer I think I would

have run awaymdashrun as far as I could from ShawneeValley Junior High and never come back

5

Letrsquos skip ahead two months Seventh grade was not bad so far I made some new

friends I made real progress on the computer anima-tion piece I had been working on for nearly two yearsAnd I actually won a spot on the basketball team

It was early November about two weeks into theseason And I was late for practice

Guys were already on the floor doing stretchingexercises bouncing basketballs to each other takingshort layups I crept to the locker room hoping no onewould notice me

ldquoLukemdashget dressed Yoursquore laterdquo Coach Bendixshouted

I started to call ldquoSorry I got hung up in the com-puter labrdquo But that was no kind of excuse So I justgave Coach a nod and started jogging full speed to thelocker room to get changed

My stomach felt kind of tight I realized I wasnrsquotlooking forward to practice today For a little guy Irsquom apretty good basketball player Irsquove got a good outside

6

shot and pretty fast hands on defense I was so excited to make the team But I wasnrsquot

counting on one problemmdashan eighth grader namedStretch Johannsen

Stretchrsquos real name is Shawn But everyone in theworld calls him Stretchmdasheven his parents You mightwonder how he got that name But if you saw him youwouldnrsquot wonder

Stretch had some kind of a growth spurt last year inseventh grade and he became a big blond giant prac-tically overnight Hersquos taller than anyone in the highschool He has shoulders like a wrestler and long armsI mean really long arms like a chimpanzee He canreach halfway across the gym

And thatrsquos why everyone started calling himStretch

I think a better name for him would be OstrichThatrsquos because he has long skinny legs like bird legsand a huge chest thatrsquos so wide it makes his pale blue-eyed head look as tiny as an egg

But I would never try my nickname on him I donrsquotthink I can run fast enough Stretch doesnrsquot have muchof a sense of humor In fact hersquos a pretty mean guyalways trash-talking and shoving people aroundmdashandnot just on the basketball floor

I think once he got over the shock of being a gianthe decided to be really impressed with himself

Like being a giant is some kind of special talent orsomething

7

But donrsquot get me started Irsquom always analyzingpeople thinking too hard about them about every-thing Hannah is always telling me I think too muchBut I donrsquot get it How do you stop thinking

Last week after a practice Coach Bendix saidnearly the same thing ldquoYoursquove got to play oninstinct Luke There isnrsquot time to think before everymoverdquo

Which I guess is another reason why I ride thebench Of course Irsquom only in seventh grade Sounless another giant forward tries out for the SquiresIrsquoll probably get to play next yearmdashafter Stretchgraduates

But for now itrsquos really embarrassing not to get toplay Especially since my parents come to everygame to cheer me on I sit on the team bench andwatch Mom and Dad up in the gym bleachers juststaring at me Staring

It doesnrsquot make you feel great Even the time-outs are painful Stretch always

comes trotting over to the team bench He wipes thesweat off his face and bodymdashand then throws thetowel onto me Like Irsquom some kind of towel boy

During one time-out late in the first game he tooka long gulp of Gatorade and spit it onto my uniformshirt I looked up and saw my parents watching fromthe bleachers

8

Sad Really sad Our team the Squires won our first two games

mainly because Stretch wouldnrsquot let anyone elsehandle the ball It was great to winmdashbut I wasalready starting to feel like a loser I wanted to play

Maybe if I have a really strong practice todayCoach Bendix will try me out at guard I told myselfOr maybe even as a backup center I laced up myshoes and triple-knotted them for luck Then I shutmy eyes and counted to seven three times

Just something I doI straightened my red-and-black uniform shorts

slammed the gym locker shut and trotted out of thelocker room and onto the floor Guys were at the farend taking three-point shots everyone shooting atonce The balls bounced off each other bounced offthe hoop The backboard rang out with a steadythud thud thud

Some of the shots actually dropped inldquoLuke get busyrdquo Coach yelled motioning me to

the basket ldquoGet some rebounds Make some shotsGet looserdquo

I flashed him a thumbs-up and ran to join theothers I saw Stretch leap up and make a highrebound To my surprise he spun around andheaved the ball at me ldquoLukemdashthink fastrdquo

I wasnrsquot expecting it The ball sailed through my

9

hands I had to chase it to the wall I dribbled backto find Stretch waiting ldquoGo ahead man Shootrdquo

I swallowed hardmdashand sent up a two-handedshot

ldquoHe shootsmdashhe missesrdquo Stretch shouted Someguys laughed

My shot bounced off the rim Stretch took threefast strides reached up his long arms and grabbedthe rebound in midair He tossed it back to meldquoShoot againrdquo

My next shot brushed the bottom of the netldquoHe shootsmdashhe missesrdquo Stretch repeated as if

that was the funniest thing anyone ever said Moreloud laughter

Stretch took the rebound and tossed me the ballldquoAgainrdquo he ordered

Everyone was watching now I sent up a one-handed layup that almost dropped in It rolledaround the rim then fell off

ldquoHe shootsmdashhe missesrdquoI could feel sweat rolling down my forehead

Why canrsquot I get lucky here I asked myself Comeon Lukemdashjust one lucky shot I slapped my lefthand rapidly against the leg of my shorts seventimes

Stretch bounced the ball to me ldquoGo champYoursquore O for three You got a streak goingrdquo Morelaughter

I shut my eyes for a second Then I sailed this

10

one highmdashand gasped as it sank through the hoopStretch grinned and shook his head The other

guys all cheered as if Irsquod just won the state juniorhigh tournament

I grabbed the ball and dribbled away from themI didnrsquot want to give Stretch a chance to ruin my vic-tory I knew he would keep me shooting till I wasone for three hundred

I turned to see if Coach Benson had watched myshot He leaned against the wall talking to two otherteachers He hadnrsquot seen it

I dribbled across the floor then back toward theothers Then I made a big mistake

A really big mistake A mistake that ruined mylife at Shawnee Valley Junior High

ldquoHey Stretchmdashthink fastrdquo I shouted And Iheaved the ball at him as hard as I could

What was I thinkingI didnrsquot see that he had bent down on one knee

to tie his sneaker lace I froze in horrormdashand watched the ball fly at

him It hit him hard on the side of the head knockedhim over and sent him tumbling to the floor

ldquoHeymdashrdquo he cried out stunned He shook hishead dizzily I saw bright red blood start to flow fromhis nose

ldquoStretchmdashIrsquom sorryrdquo I shrieked ldquoI didnrsquot seeyou I didnrsquot meanmdashrdquo

I lurched forward running to help him up

11

ldquoMy contactsrdquo he cried ldquoYou knocked out mycontactsrdquo

And then I heard a soft squish under my shoeI stopped Lifted my foot Stretchrsquos contact lens

lay flat as a pancake on the gym floorEveryone saw itStretch was on his feet now Blood rolled down

his lips his chin He didnrsquot pay any attention to it He had his eyes

narrowed on me He lumbered forward clenchingand unclenching his giant fists

I was doomed

12

Stretch reached under my arms and lifted me upHe was so huge and strong he picked me off thefloor like I was a ventriloquistrsquos dummy

ldquoWhoa It was an accidentrdquo I whisperedldquoHerersquos another accidentrdquo he said When he

talked he spit blood in my face He tightened his gripunder my arms

He raised me higher and gazed up at the basketIs he going to make a three-point shot with me Iwondered

Yes He is Hersquos going to slam dunk meBehind me I heard shouts A whistle blowing

Running footstepsldquoTake it outside Stretchrdquo I heard Coach Bendix

shoutHuhStretch slowly lowered me to the floor My knees

started to buckle but I managed to stay on my feet Stretch rubbed a hand across his bloody nose

then wiped it on the front of my jersey

13

ldquoTake it outsiderdquo Coach repeated edgingbetween us ldquoLetrsquos pair up everybody One on oneStretchmdashyou and Lukerdquo

ldquoNo wayrdquo Stretch mutteredldquoHersquos your backuprdquo Coach said poking Stretch

in the chest with his whistle ldquoYoursquove got to teachLuke Irsquom putting you in charge of Lukersquos develop-mentrdquo

Stretch snickered ldquoDevelopment He doesnrsquothave any developmentrdquo

ldquoGo to my office Get some tissues and stop thatnosebleedrdquo Coach instructed Stretch ldquoThen takeLuke to the practice court behind the playgroundShow him some moves Teach him somethingrdquo

Stretch stared at the floor for a few seconds as ifthinking it over But he knew better than to arguewith Coach Bendix He nodded at me ldquoLetrsquos goChamprdquo

What choice did I have Even though I knew itwas pain time for me I turned and followed him out-side

It was late afternoon pretty cold to be outside inbasketball shorts and a sleeveless jersey Since it wasNovember the big red sun had already loweredbehind the houses across the street from the play-ground

I shiveredStretch didnrsquot give me much of a chance to get

14

ready He pounded the ball hard on the asphalt courtand came racing at me like a stampeding bull

I tried to slide to the side But Stretch lowered hisshoulder and slammed it hard into my gut

ldquoOhhhrdquo I groaned and slumped backldquoDefenserdquo he shouted ldquoGet your hands up

Champ Get ready Here I come againrdquoldquoNomdashwaitmdashrdquo I pleadedThe ball thundered in front of him as he drove

into me again This time he kept his body up straightThe force of the collision sent me sprawling to theasphalt

ldquoDefenserdquo he shouted ldquoShow me somethingBlock me At least slow me down a littlerdquo

Groaning again I climbed to my feet I felt as ifIrsquod been hit by a truck

Stretch dribbled around me circling me his eyeslocked angrily on me His nosebleed had stoppedbut he still had dried blood caked under his nose

I rubbed my chest ldquoI I think I broke a ribrdquo Iwhispered

With a wild shout he slammed into me againThis time I flew backmdashand smashed into the thickwooden post that held up the backboard

ldquoYoursquore going to pay for those contacts Champrdquohe called hulking over me so I couldnrsquot stand updribbling the ball inches from my feet

ldquoYeah Okayrdquo I said trying to rub the pain frommy chest ldquoI said I was sorryrdquo

15

ldquoYoursquore gonna be more sorryrdquo he said Hebounced the ball hard against my bare leg ldquoGet uprdquo

I didnrsquot move ldquoIt was an accidentrdquo I insisted ldquoIreally didnrsquot see you bend down Reallyrdquo

He picked at the caked blood under his noseldquoGet up Letrsquos go Irsquom supposed to teach you some-thingrdquo He laughed really loud Irsquom not sure whyThen he swept a huge hand back through his shortwhite-blond hair and waited for me to stand up Sohe could teach me more lessons

I climbed shakily to my feet I felt so dizzy I hadto grab the wooden post My head ached My ribsached

ldquoCan we uh play a different gamerdquoI asked weakly

ldquoYeah Surerdquo he said ldquoHeymdashthink fastrdquoHe was standing so close and he heaved the ball

so hard it felt like a cannonball as it shot into mystomach

I stumbled back And let out a sharp gaspAnd then realized I couldnrsquot breatheI struggled hard to suck in some air No no air I canrsquot get air I saw bright yellow stars The yellow darkened to

redPain shot through my chest The pain spread

growing sharper sharper I was down on my back now staring up at the

16

17

sky staring up at the dancing red stars I wanted toscream But I had no air

Canrsquot breathe canrsquot breathe at all The stars faded away The color faded from the

sky All black All black nowAnd as I sank into the blackness I heard a voiceA beautiful soft voice from far far away Calling

my nameAn angel I realized Yes Through the blackness I heard an angel call-

ing my nameAnd I knew that I had died

ldquoLuke LukerdquoThe blackness lifted I blinked up at the afternoon

sky The voice was closer now And I recognized itldquoLukerdquoMy chest ached as I took a deep breathHeymdashwhen had I started to breathe againI lifted my head and saw Hannah running across

the basketball court She wore a blue windbreakerunzipped and it flapped up over her shoulders likewings Her red hair glowed in the late afternoon sunlike a halo

Not an angel Just Hannah She turned angrily to Stretch as she ran past him

ldquoWhat did you do to Lukemdashkill himrdquoStretch giggled ldquoProbablyrdquoHannah dropped onto her knees beside me Her

windbreaker fell over my face She tugged it awayldquoAre you alive Can you speakrdquo

ldquoYeah Irsquom okayrdquo I muttered I felt like a jerk Ahelpless jerk

18

Stretch walked up behind Hannah ldquoWhorsquos sherdquohe sneered at me ldquoYour girlfriendrdquo

Hannah spun around to face him ldquoHeymdashIrsquoveseen your girlfriendrdquo

Stretchrsquos mouth dropped open ldquoHuh Whorsquosthatrdquo

ldquoGodzillardquo Hannah declaredI tried to laugh but it made my ribs hurtThe next thing I knew Hannah was on her feet

shoving Stretchrsquos shoulders with both hands forcinghim to back up ldquoEver hear of picking on someoneyour own sizerdquo she demanded

Stretch laughed ldquoNo Tell me about itrdquo Hebacked away from her and raised his big meaty fistsHe grinned and started dancing like a fighter ldquoComeon You want a piece of me You want a piece ofmerdquo Imitating someone in a movie I guess

ldquoOne on onerdquo Hannah challenged Stretch tossed back his head and laughed His

blue eyes rolled around in his tiny head ldquoYou wanta piece of merdquo

ldquoFreestyle shootingrdquo Hannah said tearing off thewindbreaker She tossed it to the side of the courtldquoCome on Stretch Twenty shots each Any kind ofshotrdquo She stared up at him ldquoYoursquoll lose ReallyYoursquoll see Yoursquoll lose to a girlrdquo

His smile faded ldquoYoursquore on the girlsrsquo basketballteammdashrightrdquo

Hannah nodded ldquoIrsquom the centerrdquo

19

Stretch started to dribble the ball slowly in frontof him ldquoTwenty shots Layups or three-pointrdquo

Hannah shrugged ldquoAny kind Yoursquoll loserdquoI climbed to my feet and went over to the side of

the court to watch I still felt a little shaky but I knewI was okay

Stretch didnrsquot hesitate He raised the ball andpushed up a one-handed shot from half-court Theball hit the backboard then the rimmdashand droppedin ldquoOne for onerdquo he said He ran to retrieve the ballldquoIrsquoll keep shooting until I missrdquo

He missed his next shot an easy layup fromunder the basket

Hannahrsquos turn I crossed my fingers and countedto seven three times

ldquoGo Hannahrdquo I cheered holding up my crossedfingers

Hannah sank a basket from the foul line Thenshe drove under the basket and shot another one infrom underneath

My mouth dropped open as she sank eight morebaskets without a miss ldquoWow Go Hannahrdquo

Stretch just stood there looking dumb I couldnrsquottell what he was thinking His face was a total blank

ldquoTen for tenrdquo Hannah declared She bounced theball to Stretch ldquoYou go Just to keep it interestingrdquo

Hannah glanced at me grinned and flashed mea thumbs-up

Stretch wasnrsquot smiling anymore He had a grim

20

determined look on his face as he drove in close toshoot He dropped four straight baskets then missedone from in front of the foul line

He muttered something under his breath andbounced the ball to Hannah

Hannah sank eight more in a row She turned toStretch ldquoEighteen for eighteenrdquo

But he was already jogging back to the gym ascowl on his face

ldquoIrsquom not finishedrdquo Hannah called after himStretch turned back to me ldquoHey Champmdashmaybe

you should take a lesson from your girlfriend Ormaybe you should play on her teamrdquo Shaking hishead he disappeared into the school

A strong wind began to blow across the play-ground It was dark as evening now I picked upHannahrsquos windbreaker and reached out to hand it toher But she took another shot ldquoNineteenrdquo And thenanother ldquoTwenty Yay I winrdquo

I gaped at her ldquoHannahmdashyou never miss Howdo you do thatrdquo

She shrugged ldquoJust luckyrdquoI shivered We started jogging back to the school

ldquoAsk me how lucky I amrdquo I muttered ldquoI made a newenemy today A huge enemyrdquo

Hannah stopped and grabbed my arm ldquoHeymdashItotally forgot why I was looking for you I wanted totell you the coolest newsrdquo

I held the school door open ldquoYeah Whatrdquo

21

Hannahrsquos green eyes flashed ldquoYou know thosephotos I took of my dog I sent them to a magazine inNew York And guess what They paid me five hun-dred dollars for them Theyrsquore going to publish themmdashand do a big story about me Isnrsquot that so totally coolrdquo

ldquoWow Totallyrdquo I saidAnd thatrsquos when I decided my luck had to changeWhy should Hannah have all the luck I can be

lucky too I told myselfItrsquos all attitude Thatrsquos what it takes The right atti-

tudeI changed into my street clothes I made my way

upstairs to stop at my locker Locker 13 Basketball practice had run so late the halls were

empty My shoes clonked noisily on the hard floorMost of the lights had already been turned off

This school is creepy when itrsquos empty I decided Istopped in front of my locker feeling a chill at the backof my neck

I always felt a little weirded-out in front of thelocker For one thing it wasnrsquot with all the otherseventh-grade lockers It was down at the end of theback hall by itself just past a janitorrsquos supply closet

Up and down the hall all the other lockers hadbeen painted over the summer They were all asmooth silvery gray But no one had touched locker13 The old green paint was peeling and had largepatches scraped off Deep scratches crisscrossed upand down the door

22

The locker smelled damp And sour As if it hadonce been filled with rotting leaves or dead fish orsomething

Thatrsquos okay I can deal with this I told myself I took a deep breath New attitude Luke New

attitude Your luck is going to changeI opened my backpack and pulled out a fat black

marker Then I closed the locker door And rightabove the number 13 I wrote the word LUCKY in bigbold capital letters

I stepped back to admire my work LUCKY 13ldquoYessssrdquo I felt better alreadyI shoved the black marker into my backpack and

started to zip it up And thatrsquos when I heard thebreathing

Soft soft breaths So soft I thought I imaginedthem From inside the locker

I crept closer and pressed my ear against the doorI heard a soft hiss Then more breathingThe backpack slipped out of my hands and thud-

ded to the floor I froze And heard another soft hiss inside the locker It

ended in a short cry The back of my neck prickled My breath caught

in my throatWithout realizing it my hand had gripped the

locker handleShould I open the door Should I

23

My hand tightened on the handle I forced myselfto start breathing again

Irsquom imagining this I told myself There canrsquot be anyone breathing inside my lockerI lifted the handle Pulled open the doorldquoHeymdashrdquo I cried out in shock And stared down at

a black catThe cat gazed up at me its eyes red in the dim

hall light The black fur stood up on its back Itpulled back its lips and hissed again

A black catA black cat inside my lockerIrsquom imagining this I thought I blinked hard trying to blink the cat awayA black cat inside locker 13 Could there be any

worse luckldquoHowmdashhow did you get in thererdquo I choked outThe cat hissed again and arched its back It gazed

up at me coldly Then it leaped from the locker floor It darted over

24

my shoes down the hall Running rapidly silentlyHead down tail straight up it turned the first cornerand disappeared

I stared after it my heart pounding I could stillfeel its furry body brushing against my leg I realizedI was still gripping the locker handle

My head spun with questions How long had thecat been in there How did it get inside the lockeddoor Why was there a black cat in my locker Why

I turned and checked out the floor of the lockerJust to make sure there werenrsquot any other creatureshiding in there Then still feeling confused I closedthe door carefully locked it and stepped back

LUCKY 13The black letters appeared to glowldquoYeah Luckyrdquo I muttered picking up my back-

pack ldquoReal lucky A black cat in my lockerrdquo I held my lucky rabbitrsquos foot and kept squeezing

it tightly all the way homeThings are going to change I told myself Things

have got to change

But in the next few weeks my luck didnrsquot changeat all

One day after school I was on my way to the com-puter lab when I ran into Hannah ldquoWhere are yougoingrdquo she asked ldquoWant to come watch my basket-ball gamerdquo

ldquoI canrsquotrdquo I replied ldquoI promised to install some

25

new modems for Mrs Coffey the computer teacherrdquoldquoMr Computer Geek strikes againrdquo she said She

started jogging toward the gymldquoDid you get your science test backrdquo I called

after herShe stopped and turned around with a grin on her

face ldquoYou wonrsquot believe it Luke I didnrsquot have timeto study I had to guess on every question And guesswhat I got a hundred I got them all rightrdquo

ldquoThatrsquos excellentrdquo I called Irsquod studied for thattest for a solid week and I got a seventy-four

I made my way into the computer lab and wavedto Mrs Coffey She was hunched over her desk sort-ing through a tall stack of disks ldquoHey howrsquos itgoingrdquo she called

The computer lab is my second home Ever sinceMrs Coffey learned that I can repair computers andupgrade them and install things in them Irsquove beenher favorite student

And I have to admit I really like her tooWhenever I donrsquot have basketball practice I checkin at the computer lab to talk with her and see whatneeds to be fixed

ldquoLuke how is your animation project comingalongrdquo she asked setting down the disks Shebrushed back her blond hair She has the nicestsmile Everyone likes her because she always seemsto enjoy her classes so much

ldquoIrsquom almost ready to show it to yourdquo I said I sat

26

down in front of a computer and started to removethe back ldquoI think itrsquos really cool And itrsquos going muchfaster now I found a new way to move pixelsaroundrdquo

Her eyes grew wide ldquoReallyrdquoldquoItrsquos a very cool inventionrdquo I said carefully slid-

ing the insides from the computer ldquoThe program ispretty simple I think a lot of animators might like itrdquo

I set down my screwdriver and gazed across theroom at her ldquoMaybe you could help me You knowShow it to people Get it copyrighted or somethingrdquo

ldquoMayberdquo she said She stood up smoothing thehem of her blue sweater over her jeans She came upbehind me and watched as I removed the old modemldquoYoursquore really skillful Luke I think yoursquore going tomake a lot of money with computers some dayrdquo

ldquoYeah Mayberdquo I replied awkwardly ldquoThanksrdquo Ididnrsquot really know what to say Mrs Coffey is so awe-some She is the only teacher who really encouragesme and thinks Irsquom somebody

ldquoI canrsquot wait to show you my animationrdquo I said ldquoWell I have some big newsrdquo she said sud-

denly I turned and caught the excited smile on herface ldquoYoursquore the first person to hear it Luke Can youkeep a secretrdquo

ldquoYeah Okayrdquo I saidldquoI just got the most wonderful job At a really big

software company in Chicago Irsquom leaving school nextweekrdquo

27

The next afternoon I couldnrsquot check in at the com-puter lab I had to hurry to the swimming poolbehind the gym

Swimming is my other big sport I spent all lastsummer working with an instructor at our local poolHe was fast enough to make the Olympic tryouts afew years ago And he really improved my stroke andshowed me a lot of secrets for getting my speed up

So I looked forward to the tryouts for the Squiresswim team I couldnrsquot wear my lucky swimsuitbecause it didnrsquot fit anymore But I wore my luckyshirt to school that day And as I changed for thepool I silently counted to seven three times

As I left the locker room I heard shouts andlaughter echoing off the tile pool walls Feeling myheart start to race I stepped into the steamy air ofthe indoor pool The floor was puddled with warmwater I inhaled the sharp chlorine smell I love thatsmell

Then I bent down and kissed the top of the divingboard I know It sounds weird But itrsquos just some-thing I always do

I turned to the pool Three or four guys werealready in the water At the shallow end I sawStretch He was violently splashing two other guysHe had them cornered at the end of the pool His bighands slapped the water sending up tall waves overthem They pleaded with him to give them a break

Coach Swanson blew his whistle then shouted

28

bull bull bull

for Stretch to cut the horseplay Stretch gave the twoguys one more vicious splash

Then he turned and saw me ldquoHey Champmdashrdquo heshouted his voice booming off the tiles ldquoYoursquoreearly Drowning lessons are next week Ha ha Niceswim trunks Are those your girlfriendrsquos Ha hardquo

A few other guys laughed tooI decided to ignore them I was feeling pretty con-

fident About twenty guys were trying out I knewthere were only six spots open on the team But afterall my work last summer I thought I could make thetop six

We all warmed up for a bit taking easy laps lim-bering up our muscles getting used to the warmwater After a few minutes Coach Swanson made usall climb out and line up at the deep end of the pool

ldquoOkay guys Irsquove got to get to my night job by fiveso wersquore going to keep this simplerdquo the coachannounced ldquoYou have one chance One chanceonly You hear the whistle you do a speed dive intothe pool You do two complete laps any stroke youwant Irsquoll take the first six guys And two alternatesAny questionsrdquo

There werenrsquot anyEveryone leaned forward preparing to dive

Stretch lined up next to me He elbowed me hard inthe side ldquoGive me some room Champ Donrsquot crowdmerdquo

29

Okay so hersquoll come in first I figured rubbing thepain from my side That leaves five other places onthe team

Irsquom good enough I told myself I know I am Iknow I am

The whistle blew All down the row bodiestensed then plunged forward

I started my divemdashand slippedThe pool floormdashso wet My feet slid on the tile Oh noI hit the water with a loud smack A belly flop No kind of dive Struggling to recover I raised my head And saw

everyone way ahead of me One unlucky slip I lowered my head determined to catch up I

started stroking easily forcing myself to be calm Iremembered the slow steady straight-legged kick myinstructor had taught me

I sped up I passed some guys Hit the wall andstarted back

I can do this I told myself I can still make theteam

Faster At the end of the second lap the finish was a furi-

ous blur Blue water Thrashing arms and legs Loudbreaths Bobbing heads

I tried to shut out everything and concentrate on

30

my stroke ignore everyone else and swimAt last my hand hit the pool wall I ducked under

then surfaced blowing out water I wiped my hairaway from my eyes The taste of chlorine was in mymouth Water running down my face I glancedaround

I didnrsquot finish last Some guys were still swim-ming I squinted down the line of swimmers who hadfinished How many How many were ahead of me

ldquoLukemdashyoursquore seventhrdquo Coach Swansonannounced He made a large check on his clipboardldquoFirst alternate See you at practicerdquo

I was still too out-of-breath to replySeventhI let out a long sigh I felt so disappointed I could

do better than seventh I knew If only I hadnrsquotslipped

As I started to trudge back to the locker roomStretch strode up beside me ldquoHey Champrdquo Heslapped my bare back with his open hand so hard itmade a loud smack ldquoThanks for making me look sogoodrdquo

I got dressed quickly standing in a corner bymyself A few guys came over to say congratulationsBut I didnrsquot feel I deserved it

Across the locker room Stretch was still in hisswim trunks He was having a great time smacking

31

guys with his towel really making the towel snapagainst their bare skin laughing his head off

I tossed my towel in the basket Then I steppedup to the mirror over the sinks to comb my hair Aceiling lightbulb was out and I had to lean over thesink to see

I had just started to comb my wet hair backmdashwhen I saw the jagged crack along the length of theglass

ldquoWhoardquo I stopped combing and stepped backA broken mirror Seven years bad luck for some-

oneI reached into my khakis pocket and squeezed

my rabbitrsquos foot three times Then I turned back tothe mirror and began combing my hair again

Something was wrong I blinked Once TwiceA red light Some kind of red glare in the mirror

glassI squinted into the glassmdashand let out a cryThe red glare was coming from a pair of eyesmdash

two red eyes glowing like hot coalsTwo angry red eyes floating in the glass Floating

beside my reflectionI could see my confused expression as I stared at

the frightening red eyes as I watched the eyesslide across the glass slide slide closer until their red glow covered my eyes

32

My horrified reflection stared out at me with thefiery glowing eyes

And I opened my mouth and let out a long terri-fied scream

33

Over my scream I heard heavy footsteps behindme And then I heard a voicemdashStretchrsquos voiceldquoHeymdashget used to itrdquo

I spun around He grinned at me ldquoGet used to itChamp Thatrsquos your face It makes other peoplescream toordquo

ldquoNordquo I cried ldquoNo Itrsquos not Donrsquot you seemdashrdquoCoach Swanson burst in behind Stretch ldquoLukemdash

whatrsquos wrongrdquoldquoMy eyesrdquo I cried ldquoLook Are they red Are

theyrdquoCoach Swanson and Stretch exchanged glances ldquoWhat is his problemrdquo Stretch murmuredCoach Swanson stepped up close and examined

my eyes ldquoWhatrsquos wrong with you Luke Itrsquos just thechlorine from the pool Your eyes will be okay in a lit-tle whilerdquo

ldquoChlorine Huh Nordquo I insisted Then I glancedinto the mirror And saw my normal brown eyes gaz-ing back at me

34

No glowing eyes No red eyes burning in the glasslike an evil movie monster

ldquoUh well rdquo I rubbed my eyes They didnrsquotburn or anything They felt okay

I turned back to Stretch and Coach Swanson Ididnrsquot know what to say to them They were both stillstaring at me as if I were nuts

And maybe I was Black cats jumping out of my locker Glowing red

eyes in the mirrorldquoWell see you at practicerdquo I saidStretch laughed ldquoNot if I see you first Ha hardquoI laughed too It wasnrsquot funny but I wanted to

sound calm again normalAs I followed them out of the locker room I real-

ized I was trembling Why were these strange things happening to me

35

After dinner I was supposed to go to the mall withHannah She wanted to buy me some computer soft-ware for my birthday But she wanted me to pick itout

That was really nice of her But at the last minuteI decided not to go

I was still feeling weird from the swim tryoutsAnd I wanted to work on my animation project If Iworked really hard I might be able to get it finishedin time to show Mrs Coffey before she left school

I went up to my room and booted up the anima-tion But I couldnrsquot concentrate I kept staring at thefour-leaf clover inside a block of clear Lucite I keepon my desk And I kept jumping up and running tothe mirror to check my eyes

Perfectly normal Not glowingSo what happened What happened to me in that

locker room I asked myself I tried to convincemyself there was something wrong with the mirror

36

The red glow was because of the way the light hit thecrack in the mirror Or something

No That didnrsquot make senseThe phone rang a little before ten orsquoclock And it

was Hannah sounding very breathless and excitedldquoLukemdashyou shouldrsquove come You shouldrsquove

comerdquoI had to hold the phone away from my ear

Hannah was shouting so loud ldquoWhy What hap-penedrdquo I asked

ldquoI won itrdquo she declared ldquoDo you believe it Iwonrdquo

ldquoExcuse me Hannahmdashwhat are you talkingaboutrdquo

ldquoYou know the raffle at the mall That huge redSUV Itrsquos been on display there for a monthThousands of people put tickets in the boxThousands AndmdashandmdashI just happened to be walk-ing by when they had the drawing tonight Andmdashrdquo

ldquoYou didnrsquotrdquo I shriekedldquoYes Yes I won it I won the SUVrdquo ldquoWowrdquo I slumped onto my bed I actually felt

faint My heart was pounding as if I had wonldquoYou shouldrsquove seen me when they called out my

namerdquo Hannah gushed ldquoI screamed I just stoodthere and screamedrdquo

She screamed again shrieked at the top of herlungs A long high joyful scream

37

ldquoHannahmdashthatrsquos so awesomerdquo I said I donrsquotthink she heard me She was still screaming

ldquoMy family is so happy Luke You should seethem They are dancing around the living roomrdquo

ldquoThatrsquos so greatrdquo I saidHannah lowered her voice ldquoI just feel bad about

one thing Luke I was so crazed I was so berserk Iforgot why I was at the mall I forgot all about buy-ing you a birthday giftrdquo

I stood up I picked up the block with the four-leafclover inside and smoothed it between my handsldquoThatrsquos okayrdquo I told Hannah ldquoI just decided what Ireally want for my birthdayrdquo

ldquoWhatrsquos thatrdquo she askedldquoI want your luckrdquoHannah laughed She thought I was kidding But

of course I was seriousldquoAre you going to school tomorrowrdquo she askedldquoHuh Yeah sure Why notrdquoldquoTomorrow is Friday the thirteenthrdquo she said ldquoI

know how superstitious you are I thought maybeyoursquod stay home and hide under the bed all dayrdquo

ldquoHa hardquo I said But I felt a cold tingle at the backof my neck ldquoIrsquoll be thererdquo I told Hannah ldquoIrsquom nottotally wacko you knowrdquo

But Irsquoll wear my lucky shirt I thought And Irsquolltake my four-leaf clover in my backpack And Irsquoll askMom to pack my lucky sandwich for lunchmdashpeanutbutter and mayonnaise

38

ldquoI have to go to school tomorrowrdquo I told HannahldquoI have basketball practice after schoolrdquo

ldquoHowrsquos practice goingrdquo Hannah askedI chuckled ldquoNot bad So far I havenrsquot gotten any

splinters from sitting on the benchrdquoHannah laughed I could hear shouts and wild

laughter in the background ldquoIrsquove got to gordquo she saidshouting over the racket ldquoMy family is still celebrat-ing my winning the SUV Byerdquo

She clicked off before I could reply

That night I dreamed about locker 13In the dream I stepped up to the locker Someone

had taped a calendar to the door I came closer andsaw that Friday the thirteenth had been circled inred

I started to rip the calendar off the locker doorBut I stopped when I heard loud breathing Hoarsewheezing sounds Like someone was having troublebreathing

I touched the locker door And it was burning hotI screamed in shock and pulled my hand awayAgain I heard the hoarse breathing from inside

the locker And then I heard a tiny voice cry outldquoPlease get me outrdquo

In the dream I knew I was dreaming I wanted tolift myself out of the dream But I was stuck thereAnd I knew I had no choice I had to pull open thelocker door and see who was in there

39

ldquoPlease I want out Get me outrdquo the tinyfrightened voice called

Even though I knew I was dreaming I still felt sofrightened Real fear that makes you shake whetheryoursquore awake or asleep

I watched myself grip the door handle Slowlymdashso slowlymdashI pulled the locker door open

And I stared in horror at the figure huddled insidethe locker Because it was ME

It was me inside the locker hugging myself trem-bling all over It was memdashand my eyes started toglow My eyes glowed out from the dark locker red asfire

And as I stared at myself stared at those ugly evilred eyes I watched my face begin to change Iwatched hair grow out of my nostrils Long braids ofthick black hair sliding out of my nosemdashdown downto the locker floor

Beneath the shining red eyes thick blacktwisted ropes of hair were pouring from my nose Outof the locker Piling onto the hall floor Curlingaround me as I watched

Yes The long hair flowed from my nose andsnaked around me as I watched in horror Curledaround me covering me in warm scratchy hairCovering me like a big furry coat and then tighten-ing Tightening Tightening around my chestTightening around my face Wrapping me like amummy Wrapping me in my ghastly nose hair

40

I woke up one hand tightly wrapped around theLucite block with the four-leaf clover Gray morningsunlight seeped through my bedroom window Myroom was so cold cold as a freezer

ldquoLuke what are you doing up there Yoursquore laterdquoMomrsquos voice shattered the frozen silence

ldquoA dreamrdquo I murmured A hoarse laugh escapedmy throat My eyes darted around the room NormalEverything normal

ldquoHurry Luke Itrsquos really laterdquo Momrsquos voicesounded so good to me

I followed her order I hurried I got showereddressed ate breakfast and arrived at school withabout two minutes to spare The halls were prettyempty Most kids had already gone to their home-rooms

I glanced at the clock on the tile wall Then joggedto the end of the back hall to toss my jacket into mylocker

But a few feet from my locker I stopped with agasp

What was that on the door to locker 13I crept closer A calendarYes Someone had taped a calendar to the door

And and today Friday the thirteenth was cir-cled in red

41

ldquoMy dreamrdquo I murmuredThat horrifying dream Itrsquos coming true I realized

Irsquom going to open the door and itrsquos going to cometrue

42

I stared at the calendar at the number 13 circledin red marker

Last nightrsquos dream played itself again through mymind I shuddered My legs and arms itched I couldpractically feel the disgusting hair curling around myskin

With an angry cry I ripped the calendar off thedoor and crumpled it in my hand

Now I expected to hear the heavy breathing frominside the locker And the tiny criesmdashmy criesmdashbeg-ging to be let out

But I didnrsquot wait ldquoIrsquom not opening itrdquo I said outloud

No way am I going to allow the dream to cometrue

I tossed the wadded-up calendar sheet to thefloor Then I spun around and began running toclass The hall was empty My shoes thudded loudlyon the hard floor as I ran

Irsquoll keep my coat with me I decided Irsquoll just drag

43

it around with me all day I donrsquot need to open thelocker

The bell rang as I reached my homeroom doorMr Perkins looked up as I burst into the roomldquoGood morning Lukerdquo he said ldquoRunning a little latethis morningrdquo

ldquoA littlerdquo I replied breathlessly Unzipping myjacket I started to my seat

ldquoWould you like time to go hang your coat in yourlockerrdquo Mr Perkins asked

ldquoUh no Thatrsquos okayrdquo I lowered my backpackto the floor and dropped into the chair ldquoIrsquoll just keep itrdquo

A few kids were staring at me Mr Perkins noddedand turned back to the papers he was reading

I took a deep breath and settled back against thechair I rubbed the right sleeve of my lucky shirtseven times

That dream is not going to come true I toldmyself No way I wonrsquot let it

Of course I wasnrsquot thinking clearly How couldthat crazy dream come true

If I had stopped for one second to think about itI would have realized the whole idea was insane

But today was Friday the thirteenth And I nevercan think clearly on Friday the thirteenth I admit itIrsquom always a little crazy on that unlucky day

I glanced up to see that Mr Perkins had beenreading the morning announcements I hadnrsquot heard

44

a word he said I pulled the four-leaf clover from mybackpack twirled it in my hand and wished for goodluck for the rest of the day

At noon I found Hannah at a table against theback wall of the lunchroom She was sitting all byherself staring down at her brown lunchbag whichshe hadnrsquot opened

ldquoHi Whassuprdquo I dropped across from herldquoHirdquo she said softly without raising her eyes

ldquoHowrsquos it goingrdquoldquoWell pretty okay for a Friday the thirteenthrdquo I

said Actually the morning had flown by without anyproblems at all

I expected Hannah to make some kind of jokeabout how superstitious I am But she didnrsquot say aword

I pulled the sandwich from my bag and started tounwrap the foil ldquoMy lucky sandwichrdquo I saidldquoPeanut butter and mayonnaiserdquo

ldquoYumrdquo she said rolling her eyes She finallylooked at me She appeared tired Her eyes werebloodshot red as if shersquod been crying Her hair wasa mess and her face was gray

ldquoHow come yoursquore wearing your coatrdquo sheasked

ldquoOh uh no reasonrdquo I said ldquoI was kind ofcoldrdquo

She nodded glumly

45

ldquoDid you come to school in the new SUVrdquo Iasked

She shook her head ldquoWe donrsquot have it yet Dadhas to go fill out a lot of papersrdquo She let out a longsigh

I lowered my sandwich ldquoAre you feeling okayrdquo Iasked

She didnrsquot answer Instead she sighed again andstared down at the table

I poked her lunchbag with one finger ldquoWhat doyou have for lunchrdquo

She shrugged ldquoJust some fruit Irsquom not very hun-gryrdquo She opened the bag reached a hand in andpulled out a bright yellow banana

She struggled with the skin Then finally peeled itopen

ldquoOh yuckrdquo Her face twisted in disgust Shedropped the banana to the table

Inside the skin the banana was completely rot-ten Just a soft pile of black mush A horrible soursmellmdashlike ripe vomitmdashfloated up from it

Hannah shoved the banana away ldquoSick Thatrsquosreally sickrdquo

ldquoThe skin is perfectly freshrdquo I said ldquoHow couldthe banana be so rottenrdquo

ldquoI think I have an applerdquo Hannah said glumlyShe tore the bag apart and pulled out a red appleShe twirled it between her handsmdashthen stopped witha gasp

46

I saw the deep dark hole on the side of the appleAnd as we both stared at it a fat brown wormmdashatleast two inches longmdashcurled out from inside Andthen another And another

The worms dropped from the apple onto thetabletop

ldquoI donrsquot believe thisrdquo Hannah shrieked Shescraped her chair back so hard it toppled over

And before I could say anything she was runningfrom the room

After school I looked for Hannah on my way tobasketball practice I was worried about her She hadacted so weird at lunch Not like herself at all

I reminded myself that it was Friday the thir-teenth And sometimes people act a little weird onthis day

But not Hannah Hannah is the least supersti-tious person I know She walks under ladders all thetime and she hugs black cats and doesnrsquot think athing of it

And why should she Hannah has to be the luck-iest person on earth

Lockers slammed as kids prepared to go home Istarted to the gym then turned back I donrsquot want tocarry my coat and backpack to the gym I decidedIrsquom going to stuff them in my locker

I hesitated as the locker came into view at the endof the hall I read the words on the door LUCKY 13 Of

47

course I remembered my nightmaremdashand the calen-dar from my nightmare taped on the locker door

But I had to open the locker I didnrsquot want to carrymy stuff around with me for the rest of the year

ldquoHey Lukerdquo I saw Darnell Cross waving to mefrom the doorway to the science lab ldquoAre the Squiresgoing to beat Davenportrdquo

ldquoTheyrsquore not so toughrdquo I called back ldquoWe couldtake themrdquo

ldquoYou going to playrdquo Darnell asked He grinnedbecause he already knew the answer

ldquoAs soon as I grow taller than Stretchrdquo I repliedHe laughed and disappeared back into the lab I stepped up to locker 13 I brought my face close

to the door ldquoAnyone in thererdquo I called inSilenceldquoJust checkingrdquo I said I grabbed the door handle

I was feeling pretty confident Friday the thirteenthwas two-thirds over and so far nothing terriblyunlucky had happened to me

I squeezed my rabbitrsquos foot for luck Then I tooka deep breathmdashand pulled open the locker

48

Nothing unusual inside the locker I realized I was still gripping the rabbitrsquos foot

inside my pocket I let go of it and slipped my back-pack off my shoulders

I studied the locker carefully A bunch of booksand notebooks on the top shelf where I had leftthem My old gray sweatshirt lay crumpled on thelocker floor

No black cats No one breathing or crying orshooting piles of hair from his nose

I let out a long sigh of relief Then I tossed thebackpack on top of the balled-up sweatshirt Shovedmy jacket onto the hook on the back wall

I started to slam the door shut when I spottedsomething at my feet

My shoe kicked it and it rolled against the lockerbottom then bounced back

A ballI bent down and picked it up I raised it close to

my face

49

ldquoWhoardquo Not a ball A tiny yellow skull a littlelarger than a Ping-Pong ball

It had an open-mouthed grin revealing two rowsof gray teeth I ran my finger over the teeth Theywere hard and bumpy

I squeezed it The little skull was made of somekind of hard rubber

The eyesmdashsunken deep in the socketsmdashwere redglass They glowed in the hall lights like tiny rubies

ldquoWhere did you come fromrdquo I asked itI turned back to the locker Did the skull fall out

of the locker How did it get in there Was someoneplaying some kind of Friday the thirteenth headgame with me

I decided that had to be the answerI rolled the skull around in my hand a few times

I poked my finger against the glowing red glass eyes Then I tucked it into my pants pocket I slammed

the locker shutmdashand headed to practice

ldquoLook alive Heads up Look aliverdquo CoachBendix was shouting

I ran out of the locker room and grabbed a bas-ketball off the ball rack I began dribbling around thefloor

We were having one of Coachrsquos free-for-all prac-tices That meant we had to keep moving keepplayingmdashrun dribble pass shoot play defense Do

50

everything all at once in a big free-for-all I dribbled slowly across the floor concentrating

hard Trying not to lose the dribble I saw Stretch turntoward me He stuck out both hands and moved for-ward ready to block me

I decided to try and fake him out I dribbled leftmdashand moved right I edged past him easily Movedunder the basket And sent up a shot that sailedacross the gym and dropped in

ldquoHeymdashone for onerdquo I cried happilyldquoLucky shotrdquo Stretch calledI took the ball and moved back to the top of the

key I sent up a two-handed jumpshot It soared overthe rimmdashand dropped through the basket with a softswish

ldquoYesrdquo I pumped my fists in the airI didnrsquot have long to celebrate I turned and saw

Stretch barreling toward me dribbling hard leaningforward with grim determination

Hersquos going to charge right over me I realized Hersquosgoing to flatten me

Guys backed out of his way as Stretch flew acrossthe floor

ldquoLook out Lukerdquo someone shoutedI froze for a moment Then I ducked to the left

Stuck out my hand and slapped the ball away fromStretch

He made a wild grab for it But I dribbled it out of

51

his reach Then I spun around and sent a wild highshot into the air The ball hit the glass backboardmdashand sank through the net

ldquoWowrdquoldquoWay to go LukerdquoldquoThree for threerdquoThe other players were in shockStretch shook his head ldquoFeeling lucky today

Think fastrdquo He pulled back his long armmdashandheaved the ball at my chest with all his strength

I caught it easily Dribbled it three times Shotmdashand dropped another basket

Stretch scowled ldquoI donrsquot believe thisrdquo he mut-tered shaking his head

I donrsquot either I thought to myself Irsquove never shotfour baskets in a row in my life

I turned and saw Coach Bendix watching me Wasthis my big chance Stretch and another player werepassing the ball back and forth moving across thefloor

I shot forward Intercepted Stretchrsquos pass Droveto the basket And sent up an easy layup ldquoTwopointsrdquo I cried

With an angry grunt Stretch reached for therebound But I pushed it out of his hands Grabbed itSpun Shot again ldquoTwo pointsrdquo

Stretch cried out angrily He bumped me hard

52

from behind I think he would have flattened me onthe spot But he saw that Coach Bendix was runningover to us

Coach slapped me on the back ldquoWay to goLukerdquo he boomed ldquoWay to show real improvementIrsquom impressed Keep it up okay Irsquom going to give yousome playing time next Fridayrdquo

ldquoHeymdashthanksrdquo I replied breathlesslyI saw Stretch scowl Saw his face turn an angry

redI grabbed a ball and dribbled away I wanted to

shout and jump for joy Had my luck finally changedIt seemed that way Suddenly I could pass and

jump and shoot and play defense like I never couldbefore It was as if I was possessed or somethingPossessed by an all-star athlete

In the locker room after practice Stretch ignoredme But other guys slapped me on the back andflashed me a thumbs-up

ldquoLookinrsquo good LukerdquoldquoWay to go manrdquoldquoGo SquiresrdquoI was feeling really happy Like a new person As I

changed into my street clothes I felt the little skull inmy pants pocket I pulled it out and gazed at itsmoothing my thumb over the hard rubber

ldquoAre you my new good-luck charmrdquo I asked itThe tiny red eyes glowed back at me I kissed it

gave it a smack on top of its yellow head and shoved

53

it back into my pants pocketThat skull is going everywhere with me I decided

Itrsquos got to be lucky Itrsquos got to beAs I walked home I kept reliving my great bas-

ketball triumph I pictured my long perfect jump-shots again And I saw myself stealing the ball fromStretchrsquos hands driving right past him and scoringEmbarrassing him Embarrassing Stretch again andagain

Wow What a dayIt was a cold gray afternoon Dark clouds hung

low over the nearly bare trees It felt more like winterthan fall

A few blocks from home I crossed a streetmdashandheard a short cry

A long low evergreen hedge ran across the frontyard on the corner I stopped gazing over the hedgeHad the cry come from the yard

I listened hard Down the block a car doorslammed A dog started to bark The wind made awhistling sound through the phone lines overhead

And then I heard itmdashanother sharp crymdashlongerthis time

A baby It sounded like a babyrsquos cryldquoOwwwww OwwwwwwrdquoI lowered my gaze to the hedgemdashand saw the

creature making the shrill criesA cat No A small orange-and-white kitten

54

It appeared to be stuck in the prickly brambles ofthe hedge

ldquoOwwwww OwwwwwwrdquoCarefully I bent down and gently lifted the cat out

with both hands As I cupped my hands around it itstopped crying immediately But it was still breathinghard its white chest moving rapidly up and down Irubbed its head trying to soothe it

ldquoYoursquore okay little kittenrdquo I whisperedAnd then I heard another cry A loud shriekI looked up to see a large woman running at me

angrily Her face was bright red and she waved herarms furiously

ldquoOh nordquo I muttered I nearly dropped the catWhy is she so angryWhat have I done

55

ldquoThe kittenmdashrdquo she cried shoving through abreak in the hedge

ldquoImdashIrsquom sorryrdquo I stammered ldquoI didnrsquot know ImdashrdquoldquoWhere did you find herrdquo the woman demanded

her face still bright red ldquoIn in the hedgerdquoldquoOh thank you Thank yourdquo the woman said

She took the kitten from my hands and raised it toher cheek ldquoSasha where did you gordquo

Irsquom not in trouble I finally realized The womanis happymdashnot angry

ldquoSasha has been missing for two daysrdquo thewoman told me pressing the kitten against her faceldquoI offered a reward and everything I almost gave uphoperdquo

I let out a long sigh of relief ldquoShe was right thererdquoI said pointing ldquoIn the hedge I think she wascaught in itrdquo

ldquoWell shersquos fine now thanks to yourdquo Still press-ing the kitten to her cheek the woman pushed

56

through the hedge and started to the house ldquoWhat isyour namerdquo

ldquoLukerdquoldquoWell follow me Luke Irsquoll get your reward for

yourdquoldquoHuh Reward No Reallyrdquo I started to back

awayldquoYou saved Sasharsquos liferdquo the woman said ldquoYou

did a wonderful thing And I insist you take thereward I offeredrdquo

I saw that I had no choice I followed her to herkitchen door

A few minutes later she counted out five twenty-dollar bills and pressed them into my hand ldquoThankyou Luke You really did your good deed for todayrdquo

A hundred dollarsA hundred dollars rewardMy luck really is starting to change I decidedWhen I got home a big surprise awaited me Mom had made my favorite dinnermdashmeat loaf

mashed potatoes and gravy And a coconut cake fordessert

ldquoItrsquos not even my birthdayrdquo I exclaimedldquoI just felt like doing something nice for you

todayrdquo Mom said She brushed back my hair withone hand ldquoI know Friday the thirteenth is always ahard day for yourdquo

ldquoNot todayrdquo I told her grinning ldquoNot todayrdquo

57

After my second slice of coconut cake I went upto my room and started my homework I spent aboutan hour writing out the answers to my scienceassignment

It shouldnrsquot have taken that long But I kept tak-ing out the twenty-dollar bills counting them againand dreaming about what I could buy with them

After science I worked on my computer anima-tion Irsquod been having trouble with the last section Icouldnrsquot get anything to move the way I wanted

But tonight my good luck continued I had notrouble at all The images all slid together perfectly Ialmost finished the project

A little after nine I decided to give Hannah a callShersquod acted so weird at lunch that afternoon Ithought maybe she was sick or something

I called to see if she was feeling better But I couldtell by the way she answered the phone that she stillwasnrsquot her old self

I tried to cheer her up I told her about my tri-umph at basketball practice And about the hundred-dollar reward for finding the lost kitten

ldquoVery coolrdquo Hannah said But her voice showedno enthusiasm at all

ldquoAnd then Mom made all of my favorite things fordinnerrdquo I exclaimed

ldquoLuckyrdquo Hannah mutteredldquoWhatrsquos your problemrdquo I demanded ldquoWhatrsquos

wrong with you todayrdquo

58

A long silence at her endFinally she said ldquoI guess Irsquom just in a bad mood

I fell off my bike on the way home this afternoonrdquoI groaned ldquoOh no Are you okayrdquoldquoNot reallyrdquo she replied ldquoI scraped all the skin

off my right hand And I twisted my ankle prettybadrdquo

ldquoWowrdquo I muttered ldquoBad newsrdquoldquoEspecially since I have a basketball game tomor-

rowrdquo Hannah sighedldquoThink yoursquoll be able to playrdquo I askedldquoMayberdquo she said glumly ldquoMaybe Irsquoll come watch your gamerdquo I saidThere was a long silence And then Hannah said

ldquoLuke therersquos something something I have to tellyourdquo

ldquoExcuse merdquo I said She was whispering so lowI could barely hear her

ldquoI really should tell you something But rdquoI pressed the phone tighter to my ear ldquoWhat

What is itrdquo ldquoWell rdquoAnother long silenceldquoI canrsquotrdquo she said finally I heard a click and the

line went silentThe next morning my good luck came to an end

59

At least I thought my good luck had endedWhen I arrived at my science class I searched

my backpack for the homework questions Not thereI took everything outmdashevery paper every bookevery pencil

Not there I had spent over an hour on thatassignment last night And Irsquod left it at home

Now I was in major trouble Miss Creamer didnrsquotaccept late homework And homework counted forfifty percent of the grade in her class

My stomach tightened with dread as she enteredthe science lab to begin class

How could I be so stupid ldquoGood morning everyonerdquo she began ldquoI have an

announcement to make Itrsquos about last nightrsquos home-workrdquo

The room grew silentldquoI have to apologize to all of yourdquo Miss Creamer

continued ldquoI gave the wrong assignment Thosewerenrsquot the right questions Irsquom really sorry You

60

donrsquot have to turn it in Just tear it up and throw itawayrdquo

Cheers rang out Some kids gleefully ripped theirpapers into shreds A big celebration

Yes More good luck for me I thought happilyI was on a hot streak Later when Miss Creamer

handed back last weekrsquos test I had the only A in theclass

In the lunchroom I grabbed the last slice of pizzaon the counter

All the kids behind me in line groaned Darnellcame up and offered to pay me five dollars for it Butno deal

After school I stopped by the computer lab to seeMrs Coffey She told me her plans had suddenlychanged She wouldnrsquot be leaving school for anothertwo weeks

I cheered That meant I had time to finish mycomputer animation project and show it to her beforeI left

ldquoLuke I was talking about you to my friend whoowns Linkups You knowmdashthe computer store onHighlands I told him about how you can do any-thing with computers fix them upgrade them Hesaid you might be able to come into the store onSaturdays and help out in the service departmentrdquo

I gasped ldquoReallyrdquoShe nodded ldquoHersquos a really nice guy and hersquos

always looking for people who can fix machines He

61

said he couldnrsquot give you a real job since yoursquore onlytwelve But he could pay you five dollars an hourrdquo

ldquoWow I cried ldquoThatrsquos awesome Thanks MrsCoffeyrdquo

I practically flew down the stairs to the gym Iwanted to flap my arms and take off So many greatthings were happening to me I couldnrsquot believe it

Hannahrsquos basketball game had already startedwhen I stepped into the gym I found a seat in thebleachers and glanced up at the scoreboard TheSquirettes were already losing ten to two

Whatrsquos going on I wondered How can Hannahrsquosteam be losing so badly The team they were play-ingmdashthe Bee Stingers from Elwood Middle Schoolmdashwere the worst team in the city

I turned and glanced around the bleachers Therewere only about twenty kids watching the game Andfour or five parents clustered together at the top ofthe bleachers

ldquoGo Sharonrdquo one of the mothers yelledBut the gym was pretty quiet I guess because the

Squirettes were playing so badlyI leaned forward and tried to concentrate on the

game Sharon McCombs the tallest girl in the Shawnee

Valley eighth grade tossed the ball in A pass Thenanother pass which was almost stolen by a BeeStinger

Hannah grabbed the ball She turned and started

62

to dribble to the basket After about three steps shetripped The ball bounced away as she fell flat on herstomach

A Bee Stinger grabbed it just before it went out ofbounds She dribbled all the way down the floormdashand scored easily before Hannah had even pickedherself up off the floor Twelve to two

I cupped my hands around my mouth ldquoGet rsquoemHannahrdquo I shouted

She didnrsquot look up She was fiddling with thewhite bandage on her hand

A minute later Hannah had the ball again Inclose She jumped and shot And missed Missed thenet the backboard Missed everything

I leaned on my hands and watched the game insilence Hannah missed six or seven shots in a rowShe tripped over the ball hit the floor hard and gota huge bright red floor burn on her knee Her pass-es to her teammates went wild She kept losing theball to the other team Tripping over her own feetBumping into other players

It was sad She didnrsquot look like Hannah at allThe half-time score was Bee Stingers twenty-five

Squirettes five When the team came out to start the second half

Hannah sat down on the bench and didnrsquot play Whatrsquos going on I wondered I climbed down from the bleachers and walked

over to her on the bench

63

ldquoLuke you came to a bad-news gamerdquo she saidshaking her head

ldquoWhatrsquos wrongrdquo I asked ldquoYoursquore hurt Fromyour bike accident yesterdayrdquo

She watched the Bee Stingers score another bas-ket Then she turned to me ldquoNo Itrsquos not because ofmy accidentrdquo she whispered Her eyes were dullwatery Her skin was so pale

ldquoSo what is itrdquo I askedHannah frowned ldquoItrsquos all because I lost my good-

luck charmrdquo she said I gaped at her ldquoHuhrdquoldquoItrsquos what brought me all that amazing great

luckrdquo Hannah said ldquoI have to find it As soon as Ilost it my luck changedrdquo

My mouth dropped open I realized my heart hadstarted to pound

ldquoItrsquos a tiny skullrdquo Hannah continued ldquoA little yel-low skull ImdashI never went anywhere without itrdquo

She tugged at the bandage on her hand Then sheraised her eyes to me ldquoYou havenrsquot seen it any-where have you Lukerdquo

64

My legs suddenly felt weak I gripped the back ofthe bench and stared at Hannah I could feel my facegrowing red

I could feel the skull in my jeans pocket I knew Ishould pull it out and hand it to her

But how could II needed the good luck too Hannah had enjoyed

so much good luck for so long Mine had just startedFor the first time in my life I was having a little goodluck

How could I go back to being a loser againHannahrsquos watery eyes locked on mine ldquoHave you

seen it Lukerdquo she repeated ldquoHave you seen it any-whererdquo

My face burned So many frantic thoughtswhirred through my head

I really needed that good-luck charm Ever sinceI found it my life had changed I was a new person

But Hannah was my friend My best friend in the

65

whole world She was always there for me when Ineeded her

I couldnrsquot lie to hermdashcould IldquoNordquo I said ldquoI havenrsquot seen it anywhererdquoHannahrsquos eyes remained on me for a few seconds

more Then she nodded slowly and turned back tothe game

My heart was pounding hard now I had a heavyfeeling in the pit of my stomach ldquoWhere did you loseitrdquo I asked

She didnrsquot reply She cupped her hands aroundher mouth and cheered on her teammates

I backed away from the bench I felt like a totalcreep I jammed my hand into my pocket Wrappedmy fingers around the rubber skull

Give it back to her Luke a voice in my headurged The voice of goodness The voice of friend-ship

But I knew I wasnrsquot going to give it back I wasalready trotting out of the gym and down the hall tothe exit

I need it a little while longer I told myself Just alittle while

Long enough to win the basketball champi-onship Long enough to get really good grades for thefirst time in my life Long enough to impress myfriends to get on the swim team to make aname for myself long enough to be a winner

I squeezed the little skull all the way home Irsquoll

66

give it back to Hannah in a couple of weeks I toldmyself Two weeks thatrsquos all Maybe three And thenIrsquoll give it back to her And she can have her goodluck again No harm done

No harm donemdashright

The phone was ringing when I stepped in thekitchen door I tossed down my backpack and ran toanswer it

To my surprise it was Mrs Coffey ldquoLuke Irsquom glad I caught yourdquo she said ldquoI have

some really good news You know my friend at thecomputer storerdquo

ldquoYesrdquoldquoI spoke to him after you left the computer lab

And he said you could start work at his store onSaturdayrdquo

ldquoThatrsquos greatrdquo I exclaimedldquoBut thatrsquos not my good newsrdquo Mrs Coffey con-

tinued ldquoHe has a friend who is putting together ashow of computer animation And his friend is veryinterested in seeing your workrdquo

ldquoReallyrdquo I criedldquoHe needs short pieces for his animation show

right awayrdquo she said ldquoIf he likes your piece he saidhe will pay a thousand dollars for itrdquo

ldquoWowrdquo ldquoIs it finished Lukerdquo Mrs Coffey asked ldquoIs it

ready to show to himrdquo

67

I thought hard ldquoAlmostrdquo I said ldquoI need two moredays on it Maybe threerdquo

ldquoWell try to hurryrdquo Mrs Coffey said ldquoI think hehas most of the pieces he needs Hersquos going to beshowing them all over the country It would be ashame to miss outmdashrdquo

ldquoIt sure wouldrdquo I interrupted ldquoIrsquoll get right towork on it Mrs Coffey And thanks Thanks a lotrdquo

Excited I hurried up to my room and turned onthe computer Maybe I can get some work done on itbefore dinner I decided

I heard Mom come in downstairs I called hi toher and said I was working on my computer project

A few minutes later the phone rang again I heardMom talking for a while Then I heard her running upthe stairs She burst into my room ran up behind meand wrapped me in a big hug

ldquoHuh Whatrsquos that forrdquo I criedldquoThat was Mariorsquos Steakhouse on the phonerdquo

Mom said grinning ldquoYou know Your favorite restau-rant You won Luke Remember that drawing we allentered the last time we were there Well you wonit They picked your card You won dinner for thewhole family Twelve dinners One a month for thenext yearrdquo

ldquoWowrdquo I jumped up from the computerLaughing and cheering Mom and I did a happy littledance around the room

ldquoI canrsquot believe you won that drawing That is so

68

terrificrdquo Mom exclaimed ldquoWersquore going to have tostart calling you Lucky Lukerdquo

ldquoYeah Lucky Lukerdquo I repeated ldquoI like thatThatrsquos me Lucky Lukerdquo

I worked on my animation until nearly midnightI stared into the glow of the monitor until I couldnrsquotsee straight and the images became a fuzzy blur

ldquoAlmost finishedrdquo I said yawningI changed into pajamas brushed my teeth got

ready for sleep But just before I climbed into bed Ipulled out my lucky little skull for one last look

I held it gently in my hand and studied it rubbingmy fingers over the smooth top of the skull The tinyred jewel eyes glowed brightly

I rubbed my fingers over the hard bumpy teeth Itwirled the skull in my hand

ldquoMy little good-luck charmrdquo I whisperedI set it down carefully on my dresser in front of

the mirror Then I turned out the lights and climbedinto bed

I settled back on my pillows pulling the quilt upto my chin I yawned loudly The mattress creakedunder me Waiting for sleep I stared into the dark-ness

The curtains were pulled so no light washed infrom the street The room was completely blackexcept for a faint red glow

The glow of the two red eyes in the skull Like tiny

69

match flames against the blacknessAnd then I saw two more glowing spots of red

light Larger Behind the tiny skull eyesTwo circles of light in the mirror glass Two flame-

red circles the size of tennis ballsAnd as their light grew brighter more intense

I could see a form in the dresser mirror Deep nostril holes two rows of jagged grin-

ning teethA skull A red-eyed skullNot tiny A huge grinning yellow-boned skull

that filled the mirrorFilled the mirror And stared out at me with those

fiery flame-red eyesI sat straight up Squeezed the quilt And gaped in

horror as the jagged teeth moved The jaw slid open And the enormous skull mouthed the words

mouthed them so clearly ldquoLucky Lukerdquo

70

The giant glowing skull leaned forward as if topush out of the mirror The jaw worked up and downThe red glow seemed to bathe the whole room inflames

I opened my mouth in a horrified screamI screamed and then screamed againThe ceiling light flashed onldquoLukemdashwhatrsquos wrongrdquoBlinking in the sudden light I saw my dad burst

breathlessly into the room His pajama shirt wastwisted One pajama pants leg rode up to his kneeHis hair was tangled from sleep standing straight upon one side

ldquoWhat is itrdquo he repeatedldquoImdashImdashrdquo I pointed to the mirror My head spun

with confusion I couldnrsquot find wordsldquoThe skullmdashrdquo I finally choked outBrushing back his hair Dad crossed the room to

my dresser I stared into the glass

71

Nothing nowNothing in there except the reflection of my

room As he came near I could see Dadrsquos worriedface reflected in the glass

ldquoIs this what you were screaming aboutrdquo Dadasked He picked up the little yellow skull and heldit out to me ldquoThis skullrdquo

ldquoN-nordquo I stammeredI was thinking hard trying to figure out what I

had seenIt couldnrsquot have been the reflection of the little

skull I saw in the glass NoThe skull that loomed in the mirror was enor-

mous its eyes as big as basketballsDad still squinted at me from the dresser holding

the little skull up in front of himldquoI guess I had a bad dreamrdquo I said softly settling

back onto my pillows ldquoItmdashit was so weird I dreamedI saw a giant skull with flaming eyes But it wasso realrdquo

Dad shook his head ldquoWell if this little skull isgiving you bad dreams want me to take it awayrdquo Hestarted to the door

ldquoNordquo I screamed I jumped out of bed to block his path He looked

startled as I grabbed the skull from his handldquoItrsquos itrsquos a good-luck charmrdquo I said ldquoItrsquos

brought me a lot of good luckrdquo

72

Dad frowned as he gazed at the little skull in myhand ldquoYou sure Luke It doesnrsquot look good to me Itlooks evilrdquo

ldquoEvilrdquo I laughed ldquoNo way Dad No way Trustmerdquo

He clicked off the light on his way out A shortwhile later I fell asleep gripping the skull tightly inone hand

A few days later I screamed my head off again

73

This time it was for funA bunch of us were on our skates up on Killer

Hill Itrsquos actually Miller Hill But we call it Killer Hillbecause itrsquos up at the top where Broad Street scoopsstraight downmdasha steep steep slope down threeblocks to Miller Street

Miller Street has the most traffic in ShawneeValley So the idea is we come skating down BroadStreet full speed We come rocketing down the steepslope as fast as we canmdashand try to skate rightthrough the traffic on Miller

It makes all the car drivers totally crazy You canalways hear tires squealing horns honking driversscreaming as kids come skating right at them

Yes Itrsquos really dangerous Most kids wonrsquot eventhink of trying it But for a guy with my kind of goodluck whatrsquos the big deal

It was a sunny cold Sunday afternoon Froststuck to the tops of the cars My breath smoked upin front of me as I skated to the top of Killer Hill

74

I met Darnell up there He was having troublewith the brake on one of his skates Finally he justripped the brake off and tossed it in a trash canldquoWhy do I need brakesrdquo he said grinning at meldquoThey only slow you downrdquo

Stretch and some of his pals appeared a few min-utes later Stretch was wearing some kind of yellowsweats He looked like Big Bird on skates

He lowered his shoulder and tried to bump me offmy feet But I skated away easily And he didnrsquot tryagain

Things have been a little different betweenStretch and me since I took his place on the basket-ball team Hersquos my backup now He gets to play onlywhen Irsquom tired and need a short rest And I think hersquosin shock over it

Stretch still tries to give me a hard time But Idonrsquot think his heart is in it He knows hersquos a loserHe knows hersquos not one of the lucky peoplemdashlike me

ldquoYou ready to skaterdquo Darnell called He pulledon his helmet Then he stood in the middle of thestreet leaning forward hands on his knees

I gazed down the steep hill to the traffic belowEven though it was Sunday afternoon cars and vanssped along Miller as if it were the afternoon rushhour

I adjusted my knee pads ldquoReadyrdquo I said I movedbeside Darnell

Stretch skated in front of us He grinned at me

75

ldquoHow about a racerdquoI shook my head ldquoYoursquore too slow Darnell and I

donrsquot want to have to wait for you down thererdquoldquoHa ha When did you get so funny Champrdquo

Stretch reached into the pocket of his yellow sweatsHe held up a ten-dollar bill ldquoLetrsquos make it a real raceTen bucks each Winner takes allrdquo

He stuck the money in front of my face I shovedit away ldquoI donrsquot take candy from babiesrdquo I saidldquoKeep your moneyrdquo

Stretch gritted his teeth His pale face turned anangry red He leaned close ldquoYou gonna race me ornotrdquo he growled

I squeezed the rubber skull in my pocket I knewthere was no way I could lose ldquoOkayrdquo I said ldquoButIrsquom going to make it fairrdquo

I pulled a wool scarf from my coat pocket andstarted to wrap it around my head ldquoJust to give you achance Irsquoll skate blindfoldedrdquo

Stretch snickered ldquoYoursquore joking right Yoursquoregoing to skate through all those cars blindfoldedrdquo

ldquoDonrsquot do it Lukerdquo a voice calledI turned to see Hannah waving to me She was

hobbling up the sidewalk on crutches Her right foothad a large white bandage over it ldquoDonrsquot do itrdquo shecalled shrilly

I spun away from the guys and skated over to her

76

ldquoHannahmdashwhat happenedrdquo I asked motioning tothe crutches

She sighed and leaned heavily on them ldquoItrsquos myanklerdquo she said ldquoRemember when I fell off my bikeWe thought it was just a sprain But my ankle keepsswelling up like a water balloon I had to have itdrained three timesrdquo

ldquoYuckrdquo I said staring down at the bandageThe wind fluttered her red hair She shook her

head sadly ldquoThe doctors canrsquot figure out whatrsquoswrong ImdashI might need surgery I donrsquot know AndMom says if it doesnrsquot get better I canrsquot go on thejunior high overnight on Wednesdayrdquo

ldquoWow Thatrsquos bad newsrdquo I murmured Everyonelooks forward to the overnight The whole junior highgoes to a campground by the lake and everyonestays up and parties all night

I couldnrsquot take my eyes off Hannahrsquos bandagedankle Is this my fault I suddenly wondered Did Ireally take away her good luck Hannah has hadnothing but bad luck ever since I found the skull

Irsquom going to give it back to her I silentlypromised Real soon Real soon

ldquoYou skating or notrdquo Stretch called ldquoOr are youjust going to stand there and talk with your girl-friendrdquo

ldquoIrsquom comingrdquo I said I started to wrap the scarfaround my eyes

77

ldquoLuke donrsquotrdquo Hannah insisted ldquoDonrsquot do itblindfolded Itmdashitrsquos crazyrdquo

ldquoNo problemrdquo I said ldquoIrsquom a superhero HannahCars will bounce right off merdquo

I skated away from her ldquoYoursquore wrongrdquo she called ldquoLuke listen to me

The good luckmdashit doesnrsquot last foreverrdquoI laughed What was she talking aboutI skated up beside Darnell and grabbed his arm

to steady myself I pulled the scarf over my eyes untilI saw only black

ldquoYoursquore crazyrdquo he muttered ldquoYou could getkilled manrdquo

ldquoNo wayrdquo I declared ldquoIrsquom going to win twentybucks from you twordquo

I heard Stretch skate up beside me ldquoYoursquore doingthis for realrdquo he asked ldquoYoursquore going to skate into allthose cars blindfoldedrdquo

ldquoYou going to talk or skaterdquo I asked him ldquoFirstone past Miller Street without stopping wins themoneyrdquo

ldquoLukemdashdonrsquot be crazyrdquo Hannah calledIt was the last thing I heard before the three of us

took off I leaned forward skating straight and hard I

heard Stretch and Darnell beside me theirRollerblades scraping the pavement

As we picked up speed I could hear the traffic onMiller I heard a horn honk Heard someone shout

I skated down down laughing through thedarkness

78

ldquoLukemdashloooook outrdquoI heard Darnellrsquos scream I heard the squeal of

tires Horns honkedI tossed back my head and laughed I roared

through Miller Street the blade wheels whistling overthe pavement

Then as I turned my skates and came to a slowstop I ripped the scarf away And saw Darnell stand-ing on the curb on the other side of Miller His mouthwas open He shook his head

Stretch came skating around me ldquoYou crazyjerkrdquo he shouted ldquoYou were almost killed threetimesrdquo

I calmly held out my hand ldquoMoney pleaserdquoldquoYou lucky jerkrdquo Stretch muttered He slapped

the ten-dollar bill into my gloved hand ldquoYoursquorecrazy Really Yoursquore just plain crazyrdquo

I laughed ldquoThanks for the compliment And theten bucksrdquo

79

Grumbling to himself Stretch skated back up tohis friends

Darnell waited for the traffic to clear then skatedover to me He wiped sweat off his forehead ldquoYouwere almost killedrdquo he said his voice shaking ldquoWhydid you do it Lukerdquo

I grinned at him ldquoBecause I canrdquo

The weather turned warm for our overnight camp-out Even though the trees were bare the woodssmelled fresh and sweet almost like spring Highwhite clouds dotted the bright blue afternoon skyTwigs and dead leaves crackled and crunched underour feet as we hiked through the tall trees to thecamping grounds

I squeezed the small skull in one hand as Iwalked weighted down by the heavy pack on myback Some kids were singing a Beatles song Behindme a group of girls were telling really bad knock-knock jokes laughing shrilly after each one

Coach Bendix and Ms Raymond another gymteacher led the way along the twisting path throughthe trees I was about halfway back in the line ofkids

I turned and found Hannah beside me She woreher blue windbreaker with the hood pulled up overher head She was leaning on one crutch as shewalked struggling to keep up ldquoDo you have anywaterrdquo she asked

80

I slowed down ldquoYour parents let you come Isyour ankle betterrdquo

ldquoNot reallyrdquo she replied frowning ldquoBut I toldthem I had to come anyway I wouldnrsquot miss it Doyou have any water Irsquom dyingrdquo

ldquoYeah Surerdquo I reached for the bottle of water inmy pack ldquoDidnrsquot you bring anyrdquo

Hannah sighed ldquoMy water bottle had a leak orsomething It poured out and soaked all the extraclothes in my pack Now I donrsquot have a thing towearrdquo

I handed her the water bottle Leaning on the crutch she pushed back the wind-

breaker hood and I saw her face for the first timeHer skin was covered with big red splotchesldquoHannah whatrsquos thatrdquo I cried ldquoYour facemdashrdquoldquoDonrsquot look at merdquo she snapped She turned her

back and took a long gulp of waterldquoBut what is itrdquo I demanded ldquoPoison ivyrdquoldquoNo I donrsquot think sordquo she said still facing away

from me ldquoI woke up with it Some kind of red rashAll over my bodyrdquo She sighed ldquoI donrsquot get a breakrdquo

She handed the water bottle back to me andpulled the blue plastic hood over her head ldquoThanksfor the waterrdquo

ldquoDoes it itchrdquo I askedShe let out an angry cry ldquoI really donrsquot want to

talk about itrdquo She grabbed the crutch tightly swungit hard in front of her and hurried ahead of me drag-

81

ging her bandaged foot over the dirt pathShersquos having so much bad luck I guess itrsquos my

fault I thought squeezing the skull in my pocket But why are all these terrible things happening to

her Why isnrsquot there enough good luck for both of usI didnrsquot have much time to think about it Behind me I heard shrill frightened screams I

saw kids running off the path Screaming Calling forhelp

I spun around and headed toward them the heavypack bouncing on my back ldquoWhatrsquos going onrdquo Icried ldquoWhatrsquos wrongrdquo

More shrill screamsAnd then I saw the two enormous brown snakes

Swinging down from a low tree limb Blocking thepath

The same color as the tree they twisted their longbodies thicker than garden hoses and snapped theirjaws

I didnrsquot hesitate I dived forward stretching out myarms

ldquoLukemdashwhat are you doing Stay away fromthemrdquo I heard Coach Bendix shout

The kidsrsquo frightened screams rang through thewoods

ldquoGet away from themrdquo Coach orderedBut I knew nothing could hurt me I knew my good

luck would keep me safe

82

I shot my hands out And grabbed both snakesone in each hand

I wrapped my fingers around their thick bodiesThen with a hard tug I wrenched them off the treelimb And raised them high

ldquoWhoardquoI didnrsquot realize how long they were And how strongI let out a startled cry as both snakes wriggled

loose I saw the tiny black eyes flash Saw the jawsopen

Then both snake heads came crashing towardme jaws snappingmdashsnapping so furiously beneaththe flashing eyes snapping like bear traps

83

I felt a rush of air as they snappedmdashsnappedmdashsnapped their sharp-toothed jaws Heads swingingwildly Whole bodies swinging and shaking Thickwhite drool clinging to their pointed teeth

Shrill screams rose all around me I stared atthe snapping heads the glimmering black eyesmdashuntil it seemed that the snakes were screamingtoo

And thenmdashthey flew from my handsWriggled free with strong tosses of their heavy

bodies And plunged to the ground Disappearingso quickly Blending into the hard brown dirtVanishing beneath the carpet of fat brown leavestwigs and fallen limbs

As kids surrounded me I stood hunched overgasping for breath I smoothed my open handsover my ears my cheeks my whole face

I waited for the pain of the snakebites to spreadover me

But no No sting No throbbing No pain

84

They had snapped so close I felt their breathon my skin

But they hadnrsquot bitten me ldquoYoursquore so luckyrdquo Coach Bendix was saying He

had a hand on my shoulder and was examining myface ldquoI never saw anyone so lucky Why did you doit Luke Those snakes are deadly poisonousDeadly Why did you do itrdquo

I stared at him but didnrsquot answer I didnrsquot knowwhat to say

How could I explain it to him How could Iexplain to anyone what it felt like to be so incrediblyawesomely lucky

All around kids were cheering Congratulatingme Talking about me how brave I had been

Leaning against a tree I saw Hannah She stoodby herself crutch under one arm She was the onlyone not smiling not cheering

I saw the red blotches on Hannahrsquos faceWatched as she transfered the crutch to her otherarm And saw her scowling at me her eyes nar-rowed She shook her head and scowled

And in that moment I realized that she was jeal-ous Jealous of my good luck

Jealous that she was no longer the hero She wasno longer the lucky one

Too bad Hannah I thought watching her angryexpression I had felt sorry for her I had felt reallyguilty too

85

But no moreIrsquove got the luck now Hannah I thought And Irsquom

going to keep it

ldquoLetrsquos go guys Wersquove got another game to winrdquoI cried I gave Sam Mulroney a playful towel slap

Locker doors slammed Guys finished lacing uptheir basketball shoes

ldquoDid you see those Deaver Mills guysrdquo Mulroneyasked peeking into the gym through a crack in thelocker room door ldquoTheyrsquore monsters They must feedthose guys whole steaks five times a dayrdquo

ldquoBig doesnrsquot mean goodrdquo I said ldquoThey look likecows Theyrsquore so slowrdquo

ldquoWersquoll dribble circles around themrdquo Jay Boxersaid

ldquoJust feed me the ballrdquo I instructed them ldquoNomatter where I am Feed me the ball Irsquoll put it in Irsquomfeeling lucky today guys Real luckyrdquo

ldquoHey Champmdashrdquo Stretch called pulling on his jer-sey ldquoYoursquore not a ball hog or anythingmdashare yourdquo

Guys used to laugh when Stretch shouted insultsat me But not anymore Everyone was on my sidenow Everyone wanted to be on the winnerrsquos side

ldquoHey Stretchmdashwhat do they call yourdquo I shoutedback ldquoA bench hogrdquo

Everybody laughedStretch laughed too Now that I was a winner he

was starting to be a little nicer to me He even gave

86

me some dribbling tips after one practice The guys all headed out to the gym I could hear

the shouts of the crowd in the bleachers And thesteady thud of basketballs on the floor as the DeaverMills Lions warmed up

ldquoTime to kill me some Lionsrdquo I muttered I finishedlacing my sneakers

Then I stood up Started to swing my gym lockerclosed

And slammed my left hand in the doorldquoHeyrdquo I cried out in surprise as pain shot up my

arm I shook the hand hard trying to shake the pain

away My wrist throbbed I moved my fingers tiltedmy hand back and forth It moved okay Not broken

But the hand was red and already starting to swellldquoNo time for thisrdquo I muttered I slammed the locker shut with my right hand

And still shaking my left hand hurried out into thegym

The crowd cheered as I ran onto the floor I sawsome of the Deaver Mills players whisper to eachother and point at me They knew who the star playerwas They knew who was going to wipe the floor withthem today

We huddled close around Coach Bendix ldquoTake itslow with these guysrdquo he instructed ldquoFeel them outGet their rhythm Letrsquos rattle them show them we canplay defenserdquo

87

ldquoJust get me the ballrdquo I chimed in ldquoIrsquom going tobe loose under the basket all dayrdquo

We gave our team cheer and trotted out to the cen-ter of the floor I searched the bleachers for HannahShe said she would try to come to the game today

I spotted her at the side of the bleachers hunchedin a wheelchair Her bad foot was propped up and ithad an even bigger bandage over it

I guess it isnrsquot getting better I thought I felt a pangof guilt

Poor Hannah I looked for my parents Then I remembered they

werenrsquot coming today They had to stay home for a fur-niture delivery

I turned away from the crowd I had a game toplay Time to get my game face on No time to thinkabout Hannah and her problems

I went up for the opening jump I tapped the ballto Mulroney and the game was underway

He dribbled to half-court then sent a high pass tome

ldquoWhoamdashrdquo The ball flew right through my handsand bounced out of bounds

ldquoMulroneymdashtoo hardrdquo I called ldquoWho were youthrowing atrdquo

He shrugged and started trotting to the Lionsrsquobasket

ldquoGet in there Luke Get going Look aliverdquo I heardCoach Bendix shouting

88

The Deaver guard came dribbling slowly towardme I darted up to him stuck out my hand to steal theballmdashand missed

He moved past me easily and sent up an easylayup for two points

ldquoWeirdrdquo I muttered I shook my left hand Thepain had dulled to an ache but the hand was prettyswollen

I moved down the court Caught a pass Spunaway from the Lion defender Went in for an easy shot

And missedldquoHuhrdquoI heard the crowd groan Startled voices all aroundMulroney slapped me on the shoulder ldquoTake it

easy manrdquo he said ldquoPlay your game Just play yourgamerdquo

A few seconds later I drove in for a shotmdashand wasfouled I moved to the foul linemdashand missed both foulshots

More groans and muttering from the bleachers Isaw Coach Bendix shake his head

A bounce pass from Jay Boxer sailed right throughmy legs Some of the Lionsrsquo players had a good laughover that one

Then I missed three more shots in a rowMulroney flashed me a thumbs-up ldquoNo probrdquo he

called ldquoPlay your game Luke Wersquoll get rsquoemrdquoThe Lions were winning twelve to four I took another pass and moved under the basket I

89

leaped high for a slam dunk My arm hit the rim hard I cried out in pain And

watched the ball sail over the backboardldquoWhoa This isnrsquot happeningrdquo I muttered picking

myself up off the floor ldquoNo wayrdquoAt the other end of the floor I grabbed a rebound

off the backboard I dodged past a huge Lion playerDribbled away from him easily Picked up speedBrought the ball onto our side of the court

Eyed the basket Prepared to stop short and put upa three-pointer

And tripped Felt one sneaker bump the otherTripped over my own shoe

And watched the ball sail into a Lionrsquos hands as Istumbled I fell forward onto my stomach My armsand legs were out flat on the floor ldquoOOOFrdquo

I heard startled gasps from the bleachers Andlaughter

Yes Some people were laughing at meldquoWhat is going onrdquo I cried I forced myself to my feet Shook off the pain ldquoThis isnrsquot happening It canrsquot berdquoI reached into the pocket of my uniform shorts

Reached for my good-luck skullFumbled in the pocket Searched both pocketsldquoHeymdashrdquoNo No No wayThe skull was gone

90

Fumbling frantically in both pockets I began run-ning for the team bench ldquoTime out Time outrdquo Iscreamed

Had the skull fallen out of my pocketI squinted hard searching the gleaming polished

floor No sign of itldquoTime outrdquo I pleadedI heard a whistle blow on the sidelinesI had to find itmdashnow I couldnrsquot play without itMy eyes swept over the floor I began to run full

speed to the bench I didnrsquot see the huge Lions playermdashuntil we collidedI plowed right into him Caught him flat-footed He

let out a startled ldquoOofrdquo And we cracked headsldquoYaaaiiiirdquo I let out a scream of agony as blinding

red pain shot around my head The red shimmered togold Brighter brighter bright as the sun

I felt my legs giving out Felt myself collapsingcrumbling into a deep deep bottomless darkness

91

I woke up to pinpoints of yellow light They flick-ered high above me Each time they flashed a waveof pain rolled over my forehead down the back of myneck

I blinked hard Blinked until I realized I was star-ing up at the lights on the gym rafters

I lay on my back on the gym floor one kneeraised my hands flat at my sides I squinted up atthe high raftersmdashuntil faces blocked my view

Playersrsquo faces And then a few worried-lookingadults And then Coach Bendixrsquos face looming overme bobbing over me like a parade balloon

ldquoWhatmdashrdquo One word escaped my throat My drythroat So dry I couldnrsquot swallow

ldquoStay still Lukerdquo Coach ordered speaking softlyHis dark eyes peered down into mine studying meldquoYoursquove had a bad concussion Donrsquot try to moveWersquore sending you to the emergency roomrdquo

ldquoHuh Nordquo I gasped I rolled onto my side I lurched to my feet The

floor tilted from side to side as if I were on a rockingboat

ldquoDonrsquot move Lukerdquo Coach reached for meBut I staggered out of his grasp Stumbled

through the circle of people that had formed aroundme

ldquoNo No hospitalrdquo I croaked

92

I had to find that skull That was all I needed andthen I would be okay again

The skull I stumbled over someonersquos shoe Staggered

toward the locker room The gleaming wood floorswaying beneath me

ldquoLukemdashcome backrdquoNo No way I shoved open the locker room door

with one shoulder And sliding a hand against thelockers moved to the back row Lurched to my gymlocker Pulled open the door so hard it slammedagainst the frame

ldquoWhere is it WhererdquoI frantically pawed through my street clothes

Searched and then tossed everything onto the floor ldquoWhere WhererdquoNot in my khakis pockets Not in my shirt pocket

Not in my sweatshirtThe locker floor No Nothing down thereStumbling over the pile of clothes on the floor I

lurched back down the row of gym lockers Ranthrough the gym out the doors and up the stairsInto the long empty hall

My sneakers squeaked on the hard floor as I ranThe walls and ceiling appeared to close in on methen slide back into place

To my locker To locker 13

93

It took me three tries to get the combination rightBut finally I unlocked it and flung open the door

And jammed my hand into one coat pocket andthen the other

ldquoWhere is it I have to have it Where WhererdquoAnd then a long happy sigh escaped my parched

throat as my hand closed around it YessssI was so happyI had the skull in my hand I squeezed it tightly

So happy So happyI pulled it out of the coat pocket Raised it in front

of me Raised it close to examine it And let out a cry of horror

94

The eyes They were dark Not red not glowingAnd the face had changed The bump-toothed

grin was gone The open mouth was curled down ina fierce angry scowl

ldquoNomdashitrsquos impossiblerdquo I gaspedI held the skull up to the light The red jewel eyes

were gone The deep round sockets were empty Theskull scowled down at me dark and menacing

What does this mean I wondered How did thishappen

Before I could think about it clearly I glimpsedsomething in the open locker A soft glow A slowmoving light growing larger as if moving closer

The light split into two Two circles of red lightDown low Very low near the locker floor

I gripped the skull tightly in my fist and stared asthe red lights glimmered closer The whole lockershimmered The dark walls reflected the two lightsBrighter bright as fire now

95

Two red eyes I realized Two glowing eyes float-ing from the blackness of locker 13

I jumped back as a black cat stepped silently outas if floating A black cat with fiery red eyes Thesame black cat as before

It pulled back its lips bared pointed white teethand hissed at me

My back hit the wall I blinked against the bright-ness of those two circles of red light

And as I trembled in horror squeezing the skullsqueezing it so tightly my hand achedmdashthe cat roseup off the floor

And melted into another formMelted and grew taller Taller The cat became

a human figure dressed all in black wrapped in abroad black coat down to the floor its face hidden inthe darkness of a black hood

Hidden All hidden except for the eyesmdashthosehorrifying fiery eyes

ldquoWh-who are you What do you wantrdquo I startledmyself by crying out those words I didnrsquot think Icould speak

My whole body trembled I pressed myselfagainst the wall to keep from falling to my knees

The hooded figure stepped silently away from theopen locker A hoarse rasp burst out from under thehood a whisper like the crackle of dead leaves ldquoTheluck has run out Lukerdquo

ldquoNordquo I gasped

96

A bony hand swung out from the sleeve of theblack coatmdashand swiped the skull away from me

ldquoNordquo I cried in protest ldquoNo NordquoldquoThe luck is overrdquo ldquoWho are yourdquo I shrieked in a tight terrified

voice ldquoWh-who How did you get in my lockerWhat do you wantrdquo I screamed in total panic

ldquoThe luck is overrdquoldquoIt canrsquot berdquo I cried ldquoIt canrsquot be I need itrdquoldquoOver rdquo the hooded figure rasped ldquoOver

over rdquoThe red eyes glowed from under the hood The

bony hand held the tiny skull in front of the broadblack coat

ldquoI need that luckrdquo I wailed ldquoI need that skullrdquoAnd I grabbed it back Grabbed it out of the bony

handldquoI need it I have to have itrdquoI raised the skull in front of me Stared hard at it What was wrong with it Something wriggling on

it wriggling in my hand crawling over mypalm

ldquoOhhhhrdquo I let out a moan as I saw The skull wascovered crawling crawling with hundreds ofmaggots

97

The skull fell from my hand and bounced acrossthe floor I frantically shook my hand scraped itagainst the wall brushing the disgusting maggots offmy skin

Under the black hood the red eyes glowed brighterldquoYou enjoyed a lot of good luck Lukerdquo the figure saidin his hoarse croak ldquoBut the luck has ended And nowyou must pay for itrdquo

ldquoHuh Payrdquo I felt my throat tighten I stared at thefiery eyes trying to see a face trying to see who wasspeaking to me from under that hood

ldquoLukemdashIrsquom so sorryrdquo a voice called I turned to find Hannah wheeling herself rapidly

down the hall leaning forward in her wheelchair turn-ing the wheels with both hands

ldquoHannahmdash Whatmdashrdquo I couldnrsquot find any wordsldquoIrsquom so sorryrdquo she repeated As she wheeled herself

closer I saw tears brimming in her eyes rolling downher red-blotched face

ldquoSorryrdquo I repeated my head spinning in confusion

98

ldquoHe made me do itrdquo she wailed ldquoYou have tobelieve me Luke I didnrsquot want to Really But hemade merdquo

She grabbed my hand Squeezed it tightly Herhand was as cold as ice Tears rolled down hercheeks

ldquoVery touchingrdquo the hooded figure rasped coldlyldquoHannahmdashhe made you do whatrdquo I askedldquoHemdashhe made me give you the skullrdquo Hannah

stammered still squeezing my hand ldquoHuhrdquo I let out a startled cry ldquoYou gave it to me

But I thought I found it I thoughtmdashrdquoldquoI had the good luck for a long timerdquo Hannah

said wiping her wet cheeks with both handsldquoRemember when I had so much good luck Then itran out The skull went dark And he forced memdashheforced me to pass the skull on to yourdquo

I stared at her in disbelief ldquoBut who is herdquo Icried ldquoHow can he do thisrdquo

ldquoHavenrsquot you guessedrdquo the hooded figureboomed The red eyes glowed like two angry sunsldquoHavenrsquot you figured it out yet Luke I am the FateMaster I decide who has good luck and who has badrdquo

ldquoNordquo I whispered ldquoThatrsquos crazyrdquoldquoItrsquos the truthrdquo Hannah said her voice breaking

ldquoHe controls me And now yourdquoldquoLukerdquo the evil figure whispered lowering him-

self toward me ldquoDid you really think you could haveall that good luck without paying for itrdquo

99

ldquoI didnrsquot want to give the skull to yourdquo Hannahwhispered holding on to my arm ldquoI gave you achance to hand it back to me remember Rememberduring my game I asked if you had seen itrdquo

I nodded sadly feeling my face grow hotldquoI knew you had it Why didnrsquot you give it back

thenrdquo Hannah demanded ldquoI gave you a chance toreturn it I didnrsquot want you to keep itrdquo

ldquoToo late for that nowrdquo the Fate Master raspedldquoNow you are BOTH minerdquo

ldquoNo wayrdquo I protested ldquoI donrsquot believe any ofthis This canrsquot be happening Itmdashitrsquos some kind ofbad jokerdquo

ldquoItrsquos not a jokerdquo Hannah whispered ldquoLook atmerdquo She pointed to her red-blotched face her ban-daged foot the wheelchair

ldquoNordquo I insisted ldquoIt wonrsquot happen to me I wonrsquotlet it IrsquollmdashIrsquoll make my own luckrdquo

The bulky black coat shook as the Fate Masteruttered a hoarse laugh It sounded more like drycoughing than laughter ldquoYoung man do you reallythink you can go up against FATE I control EVERY-THING that happens Do you really think you candefy FATErdquo

ldquoI donrsquot care what you sayrdquo I screamed ldquoIrsquom notgoing to be some kind of slave You canrsquot control meYou canrsquotrdquo

100

The Fate Master sighed The red eyes faded insidethe hood ldquoDo I really have to prove myself to youOkay So be itrdquo

He leaned closer So close that I could see intothe hood I could see that he had no face Just twoglowing eyes floating in blackness

ldquoLukemdashthat concussion you had in the gymrdquo herasped ldquoIrsquom afraid itrsquos much worse than you thoughtFeel your earsrdquo

ldquoHuhrdquo My hands shot up to my ears I felt wet-ness

Warm wetnessI lowered my hands My fingers dripped with

bloodMy ears were bleedingI felt the warm blood pour down my earlobes

trickle down the sides of my faceFrantically I pressed the palms of my hands

against my ears ldquoThat wonrsquot stop the bleeding Lukerdquo the Fate

Master whispered ldquoThat blood wonrsquot clot Itrsquos justgoing to keep pouring out Bad luck Irsquom afraid Verybad luckrdquo

ldquoNomdashpleaserdquo I pleaded ldquoMake it stoprdquoThe eyes flared ldquoDo you believe in me now Do

you believe that you belong to merdquoldquoOkayrdquo I said ldquoOkay I believe yourdquo

101

ldquoYour fate is in my handsmdashboth of you You mustpay for the good luck you had You must suffer badluck nowmdashrdquo

ldquoNomdashpleaserdquo I begged ldquoI need more timeThings are just starting to go right for me The basket-ball team my animation the swim team Irsquolldo anything I need more timerdquo

ldquoNO MORE TIMErdquo The hoarse rasp echoed offthe tile walls Angry flames shot out from the black-ness of the hood

ldquoButmdashrdquo I started shrinking back beside HannahldquoI control yourdquo the Fate Master boomed ldquoI decide

your luck from now on Do you want me to go easy onthe two of you DO yourdquo

ldquoY-yesrdquo I stammered ldquoIrsquoll do anythingAnythingrdquo

The Fate Master was silent for a long momentThe eyes faded as if retreating into the distance thenglowed brightly again ldquoIf you want me to go easy onyou bothrdquo he said finally ldquoherersquos what you haveto do rdquo

102

ldquoPass the skull on to anotherrdquo the Fate Masterordered

ldquoHuh Youmdashyou want me to give it to someoneelserdquo I stammered

The eyes sparked beneath the hood ldquoPass it tothat big kid the one called Stretch Irsquove had my eye onhim I will give him good luck for two months Then Iwill claim him as minerdquo

ldquoNo I canrsquot do thatrdquo I protested ldquoIt isnrsquot right Itisnrsquotmdashrdquo

The Fate Master uttered a furious growl ldquoThenyou will suffer bad luck your whole life You and every-one in your familyrdquo

I shivered in fear My mind spun I felt the warmblood start to trickle from my ears again

Could I do it Could I trap Stretch the way I hadbeen trapped

I felt Hannah tug my arm ldquoYou have to do itLukerdquo she whispered ldquoItrsquos our only chance BesidesStretch has been asking for itmdashhasnrsquot he Hersquos not a

103

friend of yours Hersquos an enemy Stretch has been ask-ing for it all yearrdquo

True Stretch wasnrsquot my friend But could I beresponsible for ruining Stretchrsquos life For turning himover to the Fate Master

Hannah gazed up at me from the wheelchair withpleading eyes ldquoDo itrdquo she whispered ldquoSave usLuke Do itrdquo

I turned to the Fate Master ldquoOkayrdquo I choked outldquoIrsquoll do itrdquo

The eyes flashed from red to sunlight yellowThe big coat opened and appeared to fly up Itraised itself over me like giant bat wings Floatedover me then floated down

I felt myself covered in a heavy darkness I couldnrsquot move It spread over me blacker

blackerI felt so cold So cold and lost As if I had been

buried buried deep in the cold cold groundAnd then I blinked and saw pinpoints of light

Flickering white lights that grew brighter so bright Ihad to squint

It took me a while to realize I was back in the gymBack on the gym floor A crowd huddled around meTight expressions worried faces

Someone leaned over me A face came into focusCoach Bendix stared down at me the whistle hangingfrom his neck

104

ldquoCoachmdashrdquo I tried to speak but the word came outa whisper

ldquoDonrsquot move Lukerdquo he said softly ldquoYoursquove had aconcussion but yoursquore going to be okayrdquo

ldquoA concussionrdquoldquoLie stillrdquo he instructed ldquoAn ambulance is on the

wayrdquoA concussionIt didnrsquot happen I realized The hooded figure with the glowing eyes The

Fate Master stepping out of locker 13 Taking awaymy good luck Ordering me to pass the skull toStretch

It didnrsquot happenIt was a dream A nightmare caused by my con-

cussionI jumped to my feet The floor swayed beneath

me The bleachers appeared to tilt to one side thenthe other

I saw Hannah in her wheelchair at the side of thebleachers

Shersquos still in the gym I told myself happily Wenever left the gym It didnrsquot happen None of it hap-pened

I felt so happy So freeBefore I even realized it I was running Running

to the doorldquoLuke HeymdashLuke Stoprdquo I heard Coach Bendix

calling to me

105

And then I was out the gym doors And racingthrough the dark empty hallways Running fullspeed

So happy And so eager to get away from thereAway from the school Away from my nightmare

Did I stop at my lockerI must have stopped there because I had my

jacket on when I burst outside Into the frosty nightair I saw a tiny sliver of a moon high in a purple-black sky I stopped for a second to breathe in thecold fresh air

Then I ran across the teachersrsquo parking lot to thebike rack Irsquod ridden my bike to school And now Iplanned to put the pedal to the metalmdashto race all theway home

ldquoYesrdquo So happy I felt so happy I could havedanced all the way home

I jumped on my bike Grabbed the handlebarsWhoa Something wrong A scraping sound I climbed off and glanced down A flat tire No

Two flat tiresldquoOh wowrdquo I murmured How did that happenNo big deal Irsquoll get the bike tomorrow I decided

I started to jog across the parking lot heading to thestreet My sneaker felt loose I squatted down to tiethe shoe lacemdashand it ripped between my hands

No problem I told myself I have plenty ofshoelaces at home I started walking turned onto thesidewalk crossed the street Behind me I could hear

106

shouts and cheers coming from the gym I guessedthat the game had started up again

ldquoGo Stretchrdquo I murmured As I made my way down the next block it began

to rain Softly at first But the wind picked up andthen the rain started coming down in sheets

I zipped my jacket and leaned into the wind Butthe rain drove me back wave after wave of freezingwater

I heard a crackling sound nearbymdashand sawjagged white lightning streak across the front yardacross the street A deafening boom of thunder shookthe ground

I pressed forward Trees creaked and nearly bentsideways in the torrents of wind and rain I couldnrsquotmove I ducked under a broad-trunked tree for safety

But a loud crack of lightning sent a tree branchcrashing to my feet

ldquoOhhrdquo I cried out A close callI jumped over the fallen branch Sharp pieces of

the limb scratched my arm as I struggled to raceaway Another jagged bolt of lightning crackled a fewfeet in front of me sizzling over the wet grass

Squinting through the downpour I saw smokesnake over the lawn The grass was burned blackwhere the lightning had spread

The wind shoved me backward Sheet after sheet

107

of rain washed over me I choked Struggled tobreathe

And then just beyond the rain just beyondthe heavy waves of dark water I saw two glowinglights two red eyes like dark headlights Two evil eyes moving with me watching me

The Fate MasterIt wasnrsquot a dream I suddenly knew that my flat

tiresmdashthe stormmdashthe lightning the pounding rainmdashit was all a show A show of strength

I staggered up my driveway Slipped on the wetgravel Sprawled facedown on the soaked stones

ldquoNooooo rdquoI struggled to my feet Stumbled onto the front

stoop A deafening shattering crash made me spin

around I saw one of the oak trees in front of thehouse split in half It appeared to move in slowmotion One half shivered but stayed upright Theother half of the broad old tree came crashing ontothe roof of the house

Windows shattered Roof tiles came slidingdown

I covered my head with one hand And pushedthe doorbell Frantically pushed the bell ldquoLet me inMom Dadrdquo I pounded on the front door with bothfists

Where were they

108

The lights were all on Why didnrsquot they open thedoor

A crash of thunder made me jump and cry outAbove the front stoop rainwater poured like a water-fall over the sides of the gutters Waves of rain rattledthe living room window and battered the bricks of thefront wall

ldquoLet me inrdquo I screamed over another roar ofthunder I pounded the front door until my fist ached

Then I heard a window slide open I turned to ourneighborrsquos house Through the curtains of rain I sawMrs Gillis poke her head out the bedroom windowShe shouted something But I couldnrsquot hear her overthe roar of rain

ldquoTheyrsquore not homerdquo I finally heard her shoutldquoThey had to go to the hospital Lukerdquo

ldquoWhat What did you sayrdquo My heart jumpedHad I heard correctly

ldquoItrsquos your dad He fell down the stairs Hersquos okayBut they took him to the emergency roomrdquo

ldquoNordquo I cried I beat my fists against the doorldquoNo No Nordquo

The Fate Master was putting on a show for meHe was showing me who was boss Giving me a littletaste of what the rest of my life could be like

ldquoOkayrdquo I shouted cupping my hands around mymouth Water pounded me washed over me bat-

109

tered me against the house ldquoOkaymdashyou winrdquo Iscreamed ldquoIrsquoll do it Irsquoll do whatever you sayrdquo

And I didThe next morning I gave the skull to Stretch

110

I found Stretch at his locker before school startedGiving him the yellow skull was the easiest thing inthe world

Stretch was leaning into his locker searching theshelf for something His backpack stood open on thefloor I pulled the skull from my jeans pocketmdashanddropped it into his backpack

He didnrsquot see anything He didnrsquot even know hehad it

ldquoHey Stretchmdashhowrsquos it goingrdquo I asked trying tosound calm natural As if I hadnrsquot just done some-thing terrible to him Something that would ruin hislife forever

ldquoYomdashhey Champrdquo He slapped me a hard highfive so hard my hand stung ldquoHowrsquos your headman It looks as ugly as everrdquo He laughed

I stared at him ldquoMy headrdquoldquoThat was a nasty collisionrdquo he said ldquoYour head

must be hard as a rock You feeling okayrdquoldquoYeah Not badrdquo I replied

111

Stretch snickered ldquoWell thanks for letting me getsome playing timerdquo He started to close up his back-pack

I stared at the backpack picturing the skull insideit The skull I had passed on to Stretch The tiny redeyes were probably glowing again Stretch was goingto have a lot of good luck for a while But then

ldquoMaybe you and I can practice together laterrdquoStretch said slamming his locker shut ldquoI can giveyou some more pointers Make you look like youknow what yoursquore doingrdquo

ldquoYeah Mayberdquo I saidStretchrsquos expression turned serious ldquoActually

yoursquore not bad manrdquo he said ldquoI mean it You are soimproved I mean yoursquore almost pretty goodReallyrdquo

I donrsquot believe this I thought Stretch is actuallypaying me a compliment

I shrugged ldquoIt was just luckrdquo I mutteredJust luck Ha haldquoNo wayrdquo Stretch insisted ldquoLuck had nothing to

do with it man It was hard work and skill No kid-ding It isnrsquot luck Yoursquore goodrdquo

I swallowed hard I suddenly felt like a totalcreep

Stretch was being so nice to me And what had Idone to him I just gave him a life of bad luck a lifeof slavery to the Fate Master

112

ldquoWhoa Forgot my science notebookrdquo Stretchgroaned He dropped his backpack to the floor andturned to unlock his locker

I stared down at the backpack feeling dizzy feel-ing sick

What am I going to do I asked myself What amI going to do

My bad luck continued all dayI answered the wrong questions on my algebra test

and got an F Miss Wakely warned me that Irsquod have todo extra work if I didnrsquot want to fail the course

At lunch the milk in my milk carton was lumpy andsour I didnrsquot notice until I had gulped down a bigmouthful Then I nearly puked my guts up in front ofeveryone

After lunch I started to comb my hair in the boysrsquoroommdashand a huge clump came out on the comb Igasped in horror and tugged out another clump of hair

Irsquom going to lose all my hair I realizedAs I hurried out of the bathroom I caught my shirt

on a nail and ripped one sleeve off I was so upset Ibumped into Miss Wakely from behind Her coffeecup flew out of her hand and scalding hot coffeesplashed all over her

I found Hannah after school She came rollingslowly down the hall in her wheelchair Her foot wasstill bandaged Her face was still covered in red

113

blotches And I saw that one of her eyes was swollenshut

ldquoHannahmdashIrsquove got to talk to yourdquo I criedldquoDid you pass it onrdquo she asked in a loud whisper ldquoHuhrdquoldquoIrsquove lost my voicerdquo she whispered ldquoDid you

pass the skull on to Stretch Wersquove got to change ourluck I can barely see My skin itches like crazy I canbarely talk ImdashI canrsquot go on like this Lukerdquo

ldquoIrsquove got to find the Fate Masterrdquo I said Hannah grabbed my torn shirtsleeve ldquoYoursquove got

to do what he said Yoursquove got to obey him Itrsquos ouronly chancerdquo

ldquoHow do I find himrdquo I askedldquoHe will find yourdquo Hannah whispered ldquoHe

appears in places of bad luck You knowmdashbrokenmirrors wherever the number thirteen is writtenrdquo

ldquoCome with merdquo I said I led the way to my lockerI waved to some guys heading to the pool for swimteam practice I wanted to be with them But this wasmore important

ldquoWersquove got to talk to the Fate Masterrdquo I toldHannah ldquoMaybe hersquoll come through my lockeragainrdquo

Hannah groaned in pain as she wheeled herselfbehind me ldquoMy foot hurts so muchrdquo she whispered

ldquoHe promised to end the bad luckrdquo I saidI turned the combination lock then pulled open

114

my locker door A burst of sour air choked the hall Igagged then held my breath

ldquoLookmdashrdquo Hannah choked out She pointed to thefloor of the locker

It was littered with dead birds A pile of brown-and-gray sparrows all dead and decaying

ldquoHe left us a presentrdquo I murmured ldquoWhere is heIs he going to appearrdquo

We didnrsquot have to wait long A few moments later I saw the glow of the red

eyes at the back of the locker And then the dark fig-ure stepped over the pile of dead birds and floatedout hunched beneath the black hood

ldquoHave you done what I askedrdquo he rasped thefiery eyes burning into mine ldquoHave you given me anew slaverdquo

ldquoYesrdquo I replied avoiding his stare ldquoThat was ourdeal right And now will you stop torturing us Willyou end our bad luck as you promisedrdquo

The hood bobbed up and down ldquoNordquo he saidsoftly

Hannah and I both uttered cries of protestldquoDid you really think you could make a deal with

the Fate Masterrdquo he boomed The open coat floatedup like bat wings ldquoI donrsquot make bargains with any-one I donrsquot make promises You will take whateverFate dishes outrdquo

ldquoYou promisedmdashrdquo Hannah shriekedThe evil figure snickered ldquoFirst you enjoy good

115

luck Then you must pay for it You cannot break thepattern You should know that You should know thatyou cannot bargain with Fate You will pay for yourgood luck for the rest of your liferdquo

ldquoNo Waitmdash Waitrdquo Hannah pleaded reachingup from the wheelchair grasping at the black cloakgrasping frantically with both hands

But the Fate Master spun around swirling thefoul air He stomped heavily on the dead birds as hestrode back into locker 13

In a second he had vanished Dead birds littered the floor of the hall the floor

of my lockerI turned to Hannah Her shoulders heaved up

and down Loud sobs escaped her throat ldquoHepromised rdquo

ldquoItrsquos okayrdquo I said softly ldquoI didnrsquot keep mypromise eitherrdquo

I pulled the yellow skull from my jeans pocket Hannah gasped ldquoYou didnrsquot give it to StretchrdquoI squeezed the skull in my fist ldquoYes I gave it to

him But I took it back before Stretch even saw it Icouldnrsquot do it Stretch was too nice to me ImdashIcouldnrsquot I couldnrsquot ruin someonersquos liferdquo

Hannah shook her head Tears spilled from herswollen eyes ldquoNow what are we going to do LukeWersquore doomed Now we donrsquot stand a chancerdquo

116

I bounced the basketball hard against the drive-way Drove toward the backboard and sent up ahook shot It bounced off the rim back into myhands I spun hard and sent up a two-handed shotthat dropped through the net

Overhead clouds covered the moon The garagelights sent white cones of light over the drivewayBehind me the house was dark except for a squareof orange light from my bedroom window upstairs

I glanced at the roof Men had worked all day torepair the broken and missing shingles The fallentree had been hauled away One windowmdashbroken inthe stormmdashwas still covered with cardboard

All my fault I realized All the damage to thehouse was my fault

My dad was walking with a cane He had a badlysprained knee from his fall down the stairs But hewas okay for now

That was all my fault too I knew All my bad luck

117

I heaved the ball angrily at the backboard Itthudded high bounced back to the driveway Ipicked it up and shot it through the hoop

Luck luck luck The word ran through my mind like an ugly

chantAnd then I heard Stretchrsquos words again Stretch

actually saying something nice to me ldquoLuck hadnothing to do with it Luke It was hard work andskillrdquo

Hard work and skillNot luckldquoYou cannot break the patternrdquo the Fate Master

had said ldquoFirst you have the good luckmdashthen youpay for itrdquo

The pattern You cannot break the patternNot luck Hard work and skillI shot the ball again Dribbled then shot again

Even though it was a cold frosty night sweat poureddown my forehead I wanted to work harder Harder

And as I practiced those words repeated andrepeated in my mind And I knew what I had to doI knew the only way I could end the bad luck forHannah and for me

The only way I could defeat the Fate MasterI shot again Again I moved to the foul line and

put up several foul shotsI didnrsquot stop when I saw the kitchen light flash on

The back door swung open Dad stepped into the

118

yard wearing his bathrobe leaning on his caneldquoLukemdashwhat are you doingrdquo he called ldquoItrsquos after

eleven orsquoclockrdquoldquoPracticingrdquo I said sending up another jump

shot Walking unsteadily he came up to the edge of the

driveway ldquoButmdashitrsquos so late Why are you doing thisrdquoldquoIrsquom going to win without luckrdquo I replied I sent

up another shot and watched it drop through thehoop ldquoIrsquom going to win with skill I shouted ldquoI canbreak the pattern I can win without luckrdquo

And then without realizing it I was screaming atthe top of my lungs ldquoI DONrsquoT NEED LUCK IDONrsquoT NEED LUCKrdquo

119

My plan was simple Maybe too simple But I had to give it a tryI didnrsquot tell it to Hannah She was pretty much

destroyed I didnrsquot want to give her any more toworry about

I knew I didnrsquot have much timemdashmaybe a day ortwo at the most

As soon as the Fate Master discovered that I stillhad the skull that I hadnrsquot passed it on to Stretch hewould come after me full force

My plan It was to break the pattern To win To win big To have a major success

Without luck Without needing any good luckIf I could win with my own hard work with my

own skill my own talentmdashit would be a defeat for theFate Master I would break his rule I would breakthe pattern

And maybe just maybe that would freeHannah and me

120

And thatrsquos why I practiced on my drivewayPracticed in the dark in the cold until after midnightHard work and skill

Hard work and skillShawnee Valley played Forest Grove this after-

noon The last game of the season My last chance to win without luckAs I changed into my team uniform I knew I had

to be great I had to be a winner today I had to winthe game for my team

And if I didIf I did maybe the nightmare would be overI was so nervous I had to lace up my sneakers

three times I kept knotting them up My fingers justwouldnrsquot work

ldquoGo Squires Go SquiresrdquoGuys were pounding their fists on the lockers

shouting jumping up and down getting pumpedgetting ready

Stretch gave me a playful slap as he jogged pastldquoTry not to bump heads today Champ We gonnabeat these clownsrdquo

I flashed him a thumbs-up ldquoTheyrsquore dead meatrdquoI shouted

I tucked in my jersey slammed the gym lockershut and trotted out into the gym I blinked underthe bright lights A big crowd nearly filled the bleach-ers They were stamping their feet in time to somemarching music over the loudspeaker

121

I searched for Hannah but didnrsquot see herThe last game of the year I thought as I picked up

a basketball from the rack My last chance I swallowed hard trying to force down my fearWas the Fate Master here Did he know that I

lied to him That I didnrsquot give the skull to StretchI donrsquot care about that I told myself Irsquom going to

be a winner today without his good luck Irsquom going to break the pattern Irsquom going to break the Fate MasterI dribbled up to Coach Bendix He slapped me on

the shoulder as I passed ldquoHave a great game Lukerdquohe called ldquoKeep it slow and steady Remembermdashjustfocus Focusrdquo

ldquoOkay Coachrdquo I called ldquoIrsquom ready I feel goodReal strong I think Irsquom going tomdashrdquo

I felt a strong blast of cold air It swept throughthe gym like an invisible ocean wave

And then I saw Coachrsquos expression change verysuddenly He was grinning at me flashing me athumbs-up And then his hand came down His facewent slack His eyes appeared to fade to glaze overas if a curtain had been drawn over them

As if hersquod been hypnotized or somethingldquoHey Lukerdquo he said motioning me back to him

He frowned narrowing his eyes at me ldquoWhat is itrdquo I asked keeping up my dribbleldquoTake the benchrdquo he ordered pointing to the

team bench with his whistle

122

ldquoHuhrdquo I gaped at himldquoThe benchrdquo he repeated his face a blank now

his eyes vacant dull ldquoYou canrsquot play todayrdquoldquoHeymdashno wayrdquo I protested ldquoWhat do you mean

Irsquove got to playrdquoHe shook his head ldquoYou canrsquot play today Luke

Your concussionmdashremember I need a doctorrsquos noteHave you been examined You canrsquot play until yoursquoreexaminedrdquo

My mouth hung open ldquoCoach Irsquove been prac-ticing so hard Please Yoursquove got to let me in the gametodayrdquo I pleaded My heart pounded so hard I feltdizzy My head throbbed ldquoCoach I have to playItrsquos the last gamerdquo

He shook his head ldquoSorryrdquo He motioned to thebench ldquoWe have to follow the rulesrdquo

Whose rules I thought bitterly The Fate Masterrsquosrules

Coach Bendix gazed at me with those glazedblank eyes ldquoSorry Yoursquove already played your lastgame Lukerdquo

ldquoButmdashbutmdashrdquo I sputteredldquoYoursquoll get rsquoem next yearrdquo he said He blew his

whistle ldquoStretchmdashyoursquore in Yoursquore playing thewhole gamerdquo

I stood there I didnrsquot move I stood in the middleof the floor with my hands on my waist Waiting formy heart to stop racing Waiting for my legs to stoptrembling

123

Then I turned and slowly trudged to the bench Irsquod lost today Score one round for the Fate

Master No way I could break the pattern today I was a

loser today But I wasnrsquot finished I could still winIf I had time

124

ldquoGive the skull to Stretchrdquo Hannah pleadedldquoMaybe the Fate Master will go easy on usrdquo

It was the next day We were huddled at the backof the lunchroom I could see Stretch laughing andkidding around with his friends at a table near thefront The Squires had won the game by two pointsand Stretch had been a hero

ldquoI canrsquot do itrdquo I said shaking my head ldquoBesidesyou heard what the Fate Master said He doesnrsquotmake deals It wonrsquot help to pass it to Stretchrdquo

Hannah let out a sigh She had her head buriedin her hands ldquoThen what are we going to dordquo

ldquoIrsquoll find a way to defeat himrdquo I said I bit into myham sandwich ldquoHeymdashrdquo I felt something hard

ldquoOh nordquo I moaned I spit out a tooth In a panic I moved my tongue around the inside

of my mouth ldquoMy teethrdquo I groaned ldquoTheyrsquore allloose Irsquom going to lose all my teethrdquo

Hannah didnrsquot lift her head She whispered some-thing too low for me to hear

125

ldquoIrsquove got to gordquo I said jumping up ldquoI have someideas Hannah Donrsquot give up hope I have someideasrdquo

I ran past Stretchrsquos table where the guys werelaughing and blowing straw wrappers at each otherStretch called out to me but I didnrsquot stop

I made my way to the computer lab The doorwas closed I pulled it open and burst breathlesslyinto the brightly lit room

ldquoMrs Coffey Mrs Coffey Itrsquos memdashLukerdquo I felt another tooth swing loose in my mouth I

gritted my teeth trying to press it down into placeA chubby young man Irsquod never seen before came

out of the supply room He had short black hair ontop of a round pudgy face and bright red cheeks Helooked like an apple with eyes He wore a red plaidshirt over black denims

ldquoIs Mrs Coffey hererdquo I demanded ldquoI need to talkto herrdquo

He set down the disk drive he was carryingldquoShersquos gonerdquo he said

ldquoYou mean she went to lunchrdquo I askedHe shook his round head ldquoNo She left school

She got another jobrdquoldquoImdashI knowrdquo I stammered ldquoBut I thoughtmdashrdquoldquoIrsquom Ron Handlemanrdquo he said ldquoIrsquom taking over

the computer lab Do you have a class with merdquoldquoUh nordquo I said ldquoBut I have a project I was

supposed to show Mrs Coffey She was going to send

126

it to someone who might put it in a show Itrsquos com-puter animation you see Irsquove been working on it fortwo years and and rdquo In my panic the wordspoured out of me I had to stop to take a breath

ldquoSlow downrdquo Mr Handleman said ldquoShe proba-bly left me a note about it She left me a stack ofnotesrdquo He glanced around the cluttered worktableldquoI put them somewhererdquo

How could Mrs Coffey leave without seeing myproject I asked myself How could she do that tome

Didnrsquot she realize how important it was Thiscould be my big triumph If my computer animationis accepted for a showmdashbecause of my hard workonly because of my skill and hard workmdashit wouldbreak the pattern It might defeat the Fate Master

Didnrsquot she realizeldquoUh can you look at my computer anima-

tionrdquo I askedMr Handlemanrsquos cheeks grew redder ldquoWhenrdquoldquoTonightrdquo I asked my heart poundingldquoWell I donrsquot think sordquo he replied ldquoNot

tonight I mean this is my first day I have so muchto do here Maybe next week rdquo

ldquoNordquo I screamed ldquoYou have to look at it PleaseItrsquos very importantrdquo

ldquoIrsquod love to see itrdquo he said picking up the diskdrive starting across the room with it ldquoBut I have toget organized Maybe rdquo

127

ldquoPleaserdquo I cried ldquoFind Mrs Coffeyrsquos note Wersquovegot to get it to the man whorsquos putting together thecomputer art show Pleaserdquo

He narrowed his eyes at me He probably thoughtI was crazy

But I didnrsquot care I needed a victory I knew therewasnrsquot much time

ldquoOkayrdquo Mr Handleman said finally ldquoBring it infirst thing tomorrow morning Irsquoll try to look at it dur-ing lunchrdquo

Not good enough Tomorrow might be too late Irealized

ldquoHow late will you be here this afternoonrdquo Iasked breathlessly

ldquoPretty laterdquo he replied ldquoSince itrsquos my first dayImdashrdquo

ldquoIrsquoll run home after school and get itrdquo I said ldquoIrsquollbring it to you before you leave tonight Could you I mean would you look at it this afternoonPleaserdquo

ldquoOkay I guess Irsquoll be here till at least fiverdquo hesaid

ldquoYesssrdquo I cried pumping my fist in the air Iturned and raced out of the computer lab

I can win I told myself I can defeat the FateMaster My animation project is good I know it isIrsquove worked for two years on it Irsquove put so much hardwork into it

I donrsquot need luck I donrsquot need good luck at all

128

After school I ran all the way home I burst intothe kitchen tossed down my backpack and startedto my room I stopped halfway to the stairs when Iheard voices from the living room

ldquoLukemdashis that yourdquo Mom calledMom and Dad were both there sitting in the

dark Dad leaned heavily on his cane Mom had herhands clasped tightly in her lap

I stopped in the living room doorway ldquoWhy areyou both home so earlyrdquo I asked

ldquoI had to come home I couldnrsquot workrdquo Dad saidsoftly ldquoThat fall I took It was worse than we thoughtLooks like Irsquom going to need surgeryrdquo

ldquoOh nordquo I muttered My fault It was all my faultBut I didnrsquot really have time to talk to them I had

to get to my computer I wanted to check out the ani-mation one more time before I made a copy for MrHandleman Then I had to rush back to school

ldquoBut why are you sitting in the darkrdquo I askedldquoWhy donrsquot you turn on some lightsrdquo

ldquoWe canrsquotrdquo Mom said shaking her head ldquoTherersquossome kind of trouble with the power lines to ourblock The electricity is off We have no power Nopower at allrdquo

129

I let out a horrified scream ldquoNooooo My com-puterrdquo

ldquoYoursquoll have to wait till the power comes backonrdquo Dad said

ldquoButmdashbutmdashrdquo I sputteredldquoWersquore having so much bad luck all of a suddenrdquo

Dad murmuredldquoWe may have to leave the house tonightrdquo Mom

said sighing unhappily ldquoWithout electricity we haveno heat We may have to check into a hotel or some-thingrdquo

ldquoOh nordquo I tugged at my hair A big clump of itcame out in my hand

I was losing my hair Losing my teeth How couldI fight back How

ldquoHe canrsquot do this to merdquo I screamed ldquoHe canrsquotHe canrsquotrdquo I turned and grabbed the banister andpulled myself up the stairs

ldquoLuke What are you sayingrdquoldquoWhere are you goingrdquo

130

I didnrsquot answer I dived into my room andslammed the door shut behind me

Breathing hard I stared at my computer Staredat the dark monitor screen

Useless Totally useless Frustrated I kicked the side of my desk

ldquoOwwwrdquo I didnrsquot mean to kick it that hard Sharppain throbbed up my leg up my side

ldquoOh waitrdquo I suddenly remembered I alreadymade a copy

Yes I made a backup copy of my project On myZip drive Yes

I fumbled frantically through the pile of disks onmy desk And grabbed the Zip disk

I still have a chance I told myself The FateMaster thought he shut me down But I still have achance

I stuffed the disk into my jacket pocket I hurledmyself down the stairs two at a time ldquoBye I have togo back to schoolrdquo I shouted to my parents

ldquoWhyrdquoldquoWhatrsquos going on Luke We need you hererdquoldquoHeymdashcome back and explainrdquoI heard their cries but I burst out the front door

and kept running ldquoIrsquoll stop the bad luckrdquo I said out loud ldquoIrsquoll stop

it Irsquoll stop the Fate MastermdashnowrdquoI found Mr Handleman in the computer lab

leaning over a keyboard typing an e-mail message

131

He spun around when I shouted hi to himI held up the disk ldquoHere it is Please Yoursquove got

to check it outrdquoHe motioned for me to sit down next to him ldquoI

spoke to the producer of the computer showrdquo hesaid ldquoHe called me this afternoon He said that if Iliked your animation I should send it over to himright awayrdquo

ldquoExcellentrdquo I cried ldquoThatrsquos great newsrdquoldquoArenrsquot you going to take your coat offrdquoldquoNordquo I answered breathlessly I shoved the disk

into the Zip drive ldquoNo time You have to see thisRight awayrdquo

He laughed ldquoSlow down Take a deep breathrdquoldquoIrsquoll breathe after you see itrdquo I said He leaned back in his chair and used his hands

as a headrest ldquoYoursquove been working on this for twoyearsrdquo

I nodded I found the file in the disk directory and double-

clicked it ldquoHere goesrdquo I said I was so nervous themouse trembled in my hand My chest was so tightit felt about to burst

Is it possible to explode from excitement I leanedforward to watch

The screen was solid black ldquoItrsquos starting nowrdquo Iwhispered

I stared at the black screen waiting for the brightburst of color at the beginning

132

Waiting Finally a dim glow spread over the screen Two circles of light Two red circles glowed in the

center of the darknessTwo red glowing eyes The eyes stared out unblinking unmoving

Blank round circles of shimmering redMr Handleman cleared his throat His eyes

remained locked on the monitor screen ldquoAre thoseeyesrdquo he asked ldquoDo they move or anythingrdquo

I opened my mouth to answer but no soundcame out

I stared frozen in horror at the glowing eyes Theevil eyes

And knew I had been defeated again Mr Handelmanrsquos cheeks were bright red now ldquoIs

this all there isrdquo he askedldquoYesrdquo I whispered ldquoThatrsquos allrdquoMy project was gone My two years of work were

lost The fiery eyes stared out at me in triumphI climbed to my feet and slumped out of the roomI trudged down the empty hall head down hands

shoved deep in my pockets Irsquove lost I realized Irsquoma loser forever now Hannah and me both Bad luckfor the rest of our lives

I turned a cornermdashand almost bumped intoCoach Swanson ldquoHey Lukemdashhowrsquos it goingrdquo heasked

133

I muttered a reply under my breathldquoI was going to call you tonightrdquo he said ldquoAndy

Mason is sick You have to swim in his place tomor-rowrdquo

I raised my head ldquoHuh Swimrdquo I had nearly for-gotten that I was on the swim team

ldquoSee you after school at the poolrdquo the coach saidldquoGood luckrdquo

Irsquoll need it I thought glumlyBut then I realized I was being given one more

chanceOne more chance to win without luck One more

chance to defeat FateOne last chance

The next morning I wore a baseball cap to schoolso no one could see the bald patches on my headWhen I brushed my teeth that morning anothertooth came sliding out between my lips

My tongue was covered with hard white bumpsMy arms and legs itched I was starting to get thesame red blotches on my skin as Hannah

Somehow I made it through the school day All Icould think about was the swim team race Wasthere any way that I might win That I might breakthe pattern and win the race and defeat the FateMaster

I didnrsquot have much hope But I knew I had to tryI knew I had to give it everything I had left

134

A few seconds after I lowered myself into the poolto warm up Coach Swansonrsquos whistle rang outechoing off the tile walls ldquoPractice laps everyonerdquothe coach shouted ldquoDo them half-speed Letrsquos seesome warm-up lapsrdquo

At the other end of the pool I saw Stretch kick offand begin swimming with steady strong strokes Idid a surface dive and started to follow him Thewarm water felt good on my itchy skin

I kicked hard Picked up speedAs I raised my head to suck in a deep breath the

water suddenly churned hard I swallowed a big mouthful Started to chokeI sputtered struggling to clear my throat strug-

gling to breatheAnd then to my horror my stomach heaved hard

ldquoGuuurrrrrrprdquo My lunch came hurling upI couldnrsquot hold it back I vomited a thick dark

puddle into the clear waterldquoOoh grossrdquoldquoSickrdquoldquoYuck Oh wowmdashhersquos puking his guts uprdquoA sick sour smell rose up from the water I heard

kids shouting and groaning in disgustAnd then I heard Coach Swansonrsquos whistle And

the coach shouting at me ldquoYoursquore outta there LukeGet out Yoursquore sick Yoursquore not going to swimtodayrdquo

135

No I thought This canrsquot happen again This ismy last chance

ldquoCoach Irsquom okayrdquo I shouted ldquoI just swal-lowed some water I can swimmdashreallyrdquo

Coach Swanson glanced around the pool AndyMason was in street clothes Joe Bork the other alter-nate didnrsquot show up

ldquoYoursquove got to let me swimrdquo I pleadedThe coach shrugged his shoulders ldquoTherersquos no

one else I guess Irsquove got no choicerdquoIrsquom going to do this I thought Irsquom going to win

today Irsquom going to do whatever it takes to winThe race got off to a good start I did a speed dive

at the whistle and found myself gliding strokingeasily in the lead

Swimming steadily keeping up a smooth rhythmI stayed in the lead until the waves began

Waves They tossed up in front of me rolledrapidly toward me splashed over me Wave afterwave Pushing me back Slowing my pace

136

Stroking harder to keep my rhythm I turned tothe side and glanced at the other swimmers The poolwas smooth the water flat for them

The waves were just for me A strong currentpushed at me slowing me shoving me back

I ducked under the waves Let them splash androll over me And swam harder

HarderldquoOhrdquo Something brushed my legI felt something curl around an ankle Something

bumped my waist I felt something slide around myknee

With another gasp I turnedmdashand saw the gray-green creatures Eels Were they eels

Wrapping around my legs Twining over mywaist

Long fat eels The water churned with themI cried out I saw the other swimmers gliding swiftly through

clear water They didnrsquot even notice my dark churn-ing water They didnrsquot even see the gleaming wetcreatures slithering between my legs Tighteningaround my ankles my legs

Slapping me slapping me hard slappingme back

ldquoNordquo I burst free I kept swimmingInto thick pink clusters of jellyfish The jellyfish

ballooned around me Stung my arms Stung mylegs Prickled the skin of my back

137

I cried out in pain The sticky creatures swarmedover me stinging stinging me again and again

I could see the other swimmers moving smoothlyahead of me now Gliding in smooth clear waters asI felt jolt after jolt of pain from the billowing jellyfishthat clustered over me

I slapped the water Slapped and kickedAnd let out another cry of pain as the water siz-

zled and boiled Scalding hot now It steamed andbubbled And my skin burned My skin is going toburn right off me I thought struggling to breatheStruggling to keep my arms moving through thescalding steam Kicking kicking hard

The other swimmers ahead of me now Moving sospeedily so steadily

I shut my eyes and swam Yoursquore not going tobeat me I thought Irsquom going to win going to win

And the thought gave me a final surge of energyI shot forward to the wall Plunged like a speed-

ing torpedo to the finishMy hand hit the wall I slapped the wallGasping gasping my chest heaving in

agony And knew that I had lostToo slow Too slowI knew that I had lost again

138

Water poured down my face I shut my eyes andstruggled to catch my breath

I heard a loud whistle Then I felt a hand on myshoulder A slap ldquoWay to go Lukerdquo

I opened my eyes to see the coach He grabbed myhand and pumped it hard Then he slapped me a highfive ldquoYou won You came from behind What a raceLuke Check out the time You set a school recordrdquo

ldquoHuh I did I wonrdquo He helped me out of the pool Guys were cheering

and yelling congratulationsBut the cheering was cut short by a deafening cry

from the middle of the pool A shrill wail that rose likean ambulance siren Higher higher until I wasforced to cover my ears

And then a mountain of water rose up from thepool Red and steaming like a volcano The water roseupmdashhigher highermdashlike a bubbling boiling red tidalwave And all the while the deafening wail rang outwith it

139

Everyone was screaming We all were screamingAnd then as suddenly as it rose up the molten

red mountain collapsed back into the poolCollapsed with a soft splash The pool was flat andsmooth again And silent Silent except for ourstunned gasps and cries

I turned to see Hannah running along the side ofthe pool Hannah out of her wheelchair RunningRunning wildly waving her arms excitedly laughingher red hair flying behind her

ldquoLukemdashyou did it Wersquore free You defeated FateLukemdashyou defeated Faterdquo

But it wasnrsquot enough Not enough for meI changed into my street clothes in seconds Then

I dragged Hannah down the hall to my locker Locker13

I stopped at the janitorrsquos closet And I grabbed ahuge sledgehammer

Hannah cheered as I raised the sledgehammer tothe locker and smashed it smashed it smashed it

Working feverishly I pried the battered lockerfrom the wall Kicked it onto its side Raised thesledgehammer again Smashed it crushed it smashed it

The battered locker door swung open I heard alow groan from deep inside

Hannah and I both leaped back as a skull rolledout onto the floor

140

Not a tiny skull A human-sized skull with glow-ing red eyes

The eyes glowed for only a few seconds Then theskull uttered a final groan a groan of agony ofdefeat And the eyes faded to darkness Empty dark-ness

I took a deep breath Ran up to itmdashand kickedthe skull down the hall

ldquoGoalrdquo Hannah yelledWe walked out of the school building arm in arm

Into the bright afternoon sunlight I took a long deep breath The air smelled so

fresh so sweet The houses the trees the skymdashthey all looked so

beautifulI stopped at the bottom of the sidewalk And bent

down to pick something upldquoHey check it outrdquo I showed it to Hannah ldquoIs

this my lucky dayrdquo I cried ldquoI found a pennyrdquo

141

142

Luke Greene is very superstitious so naturallyhersquos not happy when hersquos assigned Locker 13 atschool But amazingly a lucky charm he finds in thelocker changes his luck from bad to great NowLukersquos luck is so good he canrsquot lose No matter whathe does his lucky charm makes him come out ontop

But Luke discovers that his good luck comes witha very high price Will he pay it Or will he be lostlike others before him in the horror that is Locker 13

About Locker 13

The Locker 13 in Luke Greenersquos story does notexist anymore and it is unclear if anyone who hadthe locker in previous years suffered the same fate asLuke

People who have had unbelievably nightmarishexperiences often keep silent about them (Lukedidnrsquot tell his story to many peoplemdashonly his friend

Go Deeper Into This

Nightmare

Hannah and RL Stine know what happened) So itis possible that what happened to Erica Chass in thesame school 12 years earlier could be related toLocker 13

Erica Chass was a popular seventh grader inShawnee Valley Junior High She had good gradeswas a star soccer player and had lots of friends Thenone day everything seemed to change Erica blew offsoccer nearly failed out of school and was fearfuland shy with even her best friends She dressed onlyin black and always wore a necklace with a smallcharm in the shape of a skull

Then one day Erica moved away She didnrsquot saygood bye She just didnrsquot show up for school one dayand never came back

But some people who went to that school in thosedays insist thatrsquos not the end of Ericarsquos story

The following year a new girl joined the eighthgrade at Shawnee Her name was Alyssa GwynneShe was bright cheerful and a terrific soccer playermdashand she looked exactly like Erica ldquoYou would havesworn they were twinsrdquo says Tracey Holt who knewthem bothmdashldquoNo it was like the old Erica camebackrdquo says another friend Debra Wyle

What was the relationship between Erica andAlyssa Could they really be the same person Andwhat is the connection to the Locker 13 legendMaybe there isnrsquot one but several people havementioned that Alyssa had a necklace that she wore

143

every daymdasha necklace with a tiny charmmdashof askull

About Superstition

Most of our superstitions go back to a time whenpeople believed that witches and witchcraft wereeverywhere People in the middle ages seemed to livein terror that evil magic or witches would harm theircrops bring illness or other disaster to their livesMany of the superstitions that have lasted to ourtime go back to these ancient fears

Break a mirrormdashseven years bad luck Thissuperstition relates to the idea that our reflection is apart of ourselves Harm the reflection and you willharm the original According to the thinking of themiddle ages it takes seven years for the body torebuild itself after itrsquos been harmed So thatrsquos why thebad luck lasts for seven years Luckily there is a cureWash the broken mirror pieces in a south runningriver and the evil is washed away too

Itrsquos bad luck to walk under a ladder This goesback to a time when hanging was a common form ofpunishment It seems that the gallows were prettyhigh so a ladder was often rested against the side ofthe gallows platform Walking under this ladder wasliterally dangerous Be in the wrong place at thewrong time and a rotting dead body could fall onyou If you happen to be careless enough to walk

144

under a ladder you can change the bad luck Justcross your fingers until you see a dog

Black cats bring bad luck There are a lots ofsuperstitions about cats Letrsquos face it cats can becreepymdashand black cats are the creepiest Oneancient superstition about cats is that they will stealthe breath out of babies Where did this idea comefrom

Watch a cat as it settles itself into your lap Beforesnuggling up the cat will often sniff you in themouth At a time when so many babies died the cattheory is as logical as any other

Now for some superstitions that yoursquove probablynever heard of

If you find a knife in the road you will havebad luck

Donrsquot point at the moon (The man in the moondoesnrsquot like it and will bring you bad luck)

Donrsquot brush your hair after sunsetmdashespecial-ly if you have family who spends time on thesea (Brushing your hair at that time will mean dis-aster and death for themmdashand bad luck for you)

If a child hits a parent the childrsquos hand willwag over his grave and dogs will ldquowaterrdquo it

145

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

RL STINE says he has a great job ldquoMy job is to givekids the CREEPSrdquo With his scary books RL hasterrified kids all over the world He has sold over 300million books making him the best-selling childrenrsquosauthor in history

These days RL is dishing out new frights in hisseries THE NIGHTMARE ROOM When he isnrsquotworking he likes to read old mysteries watchSpongeBob Squarepants on TV and take his dogNadine for long walks around New York City wherehe lives with his wife Jane and son Matthew

ldquoI love taking my readers to scary placesrdquo RLsays ldquoDo you know the scariest place of all Itrsquos yourMINDrdquo

ldquoHey check it out A fortune-tellerrdquo Jilly saidShe pointed to a small black tent that stood besidean ice cream cart ldquoCan we do it I love fortune-tellersrdquo

ldquoNo wayrdquo I said ldquoThey make me nervous Idonrsquot even like watching them in moviesrdquo

ldquoCome on Maggie Itrsquos your birthdayrdquo her sisterJackie said pulling me to the tent ldquoYou have tohave your fortune told on your birthdayrdquo

ldquoLetrsquos see what the fortune-teller says about youand Glenrdquo Judy the third sister teased

ldquoI donrsquot think sordquo I saidBut as usual they didnrsquot give me a choice A few

seconds later we were standing at the doorway tothe dark tent

ldquoWersquoll all have our fortunes toldrdquo Jackie saidldquoMy treatrdquo

ldquoThis is so coolrdquo Jilly whispered ldquoDo you thinkits a real psychic Do you think she can really tellthe futurerdquo

The three sisters started into the tent I held backstaring at the red-and-black hand-lettered sign MISSELIZABETH FORTUNE-TELLER ONE DOLLAR

Take a look at whatrsquos ahead inTHE NIGHTMARE ROOM 3

Liar Liar

I suddenly realized that my heart was racing Why do I feel so weird I wondered Why do I

have such a bad feeling about thisI followed my friends into the tent The air inside

felt hot and steamy Two electric lanterns on the backtent wall splashed gray light over the fortune-tellerrsquossmall table

Miss Elizabeth sat hunched with her elbows onthe table head in her hands staring into a red glassball She didnrsquot look up as we stepped inside Icouldnrsquot tell if she was concentrating on the red ballor if she was asleep

The tent was completely bare except for her tableand two wooden chairs and a large black-and-whiteposter of a human hand The hand was divided intosections There was a lot of writing all over the postertoo small for me to read in the smoky gray light

As she stared into the red glass ball the fortune-teller muttered to herself She was a middle-agedwoman slender with bony arms poking out from thesleeves of her red dress and very large pale whitehands Squinting into the light I saw that the polishon her long fingernails matched the red of her dress

ldquoHel-lordquo Jackie called breaking the silenceMiss Elizabeth finally looked up She was kind of

pretty She had big round black eyes and dramaticred-lipsticked lips Her hair was long and wavy solidblack except for a wide white streak down themiddle

Her eyes moved from one of us to the other Shedidnrsquot smile ldquoWalter we have visitorsldquo sheannounced in a hoarse scratchy voice

I glanced around searching for WalterldquoWalter is my late husbandrdquo the fortune-teller

announced ldquoHe helps me channel information fromthe spiritsrdquo

Jackie and I exchanged glances ldquoWersquod like you to tell our fortunesrdquo Jilly saidMiss Elizabeth nodded solemnly ldquoOne dollar

eachrdquo She held out her long pale hand ldquoFour dol-lars pleaserdquo

Jackie fumbled in her bag and pulled out fourcrumpled dollar bills She handed them to the for-tune-teller who shoved them into a pocket of her reddress

ldquoWho wants to go firstrdquo Again her eyes movedslowly over our faces

ldquoIrsquoll gordquo Jilly volunteered She dropped into thechair across the table from Miss Elizabeth

The fortune-teller lowered her head again to gazeinto the red ball ldquoWalter bring me the words of thespirit world about this young womanrdquo

I suddenly felt a chill at the back of my neck Iknew I shouldnrsquot be frightened The woman had tobe a fakemdashright Otherwise she wouldnrsquot be workingin a tacky carnival like this one

But she was so serious So solemn She didnrsquotseem to be putting on an act

Or was I just being gullible againNow she took Jillyrsquos hand She pulled it up close to

her face and began to study Jillyrsquos palm Muttering toherself she moved her long finger back and forth fol-lowing the lines of the palm tracing them with herbright red fingernail

Jackie leaned close to me ldquoThis is coolrdquo she whis-pered

Judy sighed ldquoThis is going to take foreverrdquoJackie raised a finger to her lips and motioned for

Judy to shush The woman studied Jillyrsquos palm for a long time

squeezing the hand as she gazed at it murmuring toWalter in the red glass ball Finally she raised her eyesto Jilly ldquoYou are artisticrdquo she said in her scratchyvoice

ldquoYesrdquo Jilly declaredldquoYou are a dancerrdquo Miss Elizabeth continued

ldquoYou study the dance You are a hard workerrdquoldquoWhoa I donrsquot believe thisrdquo Jilly gushed ldquoHow do

you knowmdashrdquoldquoYou have much talentrdquo the fortune-teller mur-

mured ignoring Jillyrsquos question ldquoMuch talent Butsometimes I see your artistic side gets in the wayof your practical side You are you are rdquo

She shut her eyes ldquoHelp me Walterrdquo she whis-pered Then she opened her eyes again and raisedthem to Jillyrsquos palm ldquoYou are a very social person Yourfriends mean a lot to you Especially boy friendsrdquo

Jackie and Judy laughed Jilly flashed them anangry scowl ldquoImdashI donrsquot believe thisrdquo she told thefortune-teller ldquoYou have everything rightrdquo

ldquoIt is my giftrdquo Miss Elizabeth replied softlyldquoWill I make the new dance companyrdquo Jilly

asked her ldquoTry-outs are next week Can you tell meif I will be acceptedrdquo

Miss Elizabeth stared into the glass ballldquoWalterrdquo she whispered

I held my breath waiting for the answer Jilly andI were both trying out for the dance company And Iknew there was only room for one of us

ldquoWalter can find no answerrdquo the fortune-tellertold Jilly ldquoHe only groansrdquo She let go of Jillyrsquos hand

ldquoHemdashgroanedrdquo Jilly asked ldquoWhyrdquoldquoYour time is uprdquo Miss Elizabeth said She

motioned to us ldquoWho is nextrdquoJackie shoved Judy forward Judy dropped into

the chair and held her hand out to Miss ElizabethJilly came running over to join Jackie and me at

the edge of the tent ldquoIsnrsquot she amazingrdquo she whis-pered

ldquoYes she isrdquo I had to admit How did she know somany true things about Jilly I was beginning tobelieve Miss Elizabeth really had powers

And now I didnrsquot feel afraid or nervous I was eagerto see what the fortune-teller would say about me

She squeezed Judyrsquos hand and gazed deep intoJudyrsquos dark eyes ldquoYou have great love in yourdquo she

announced ldquoGreat love for animalsrdquoJudy gasped ldquoY-yesrdquoldquoYou care for them You work rdquoldquoYesrdquo Judy said ldquoI work in an animal shelter after

school Thatrsquos amazingrdquoMiss Elizabeth ran a red fingernail down Judyrsquos

palm ldquoYou also have an animal that you care aboutvery much A dog No A catrdquo

ldquoYes My cat Plumperrdquo Judy turned to us her face filled with astonish-

ment ldquoDo you believe this Shersquos right about every-thingrdquo

ldquoI know Itrsquos so coolrdquo Jilly exclaimed She sweptback her blond hair with a toss of her head She keptbouncing up and down She seemed too excited tostand still

The fortune-teller spent a few more minutes withJudy She told Judy that she would have a long suc-cessful life She said Judy would have a big familysomeday

ldquoOf kids Of animalsrdquo Judy asked Miss Elizabeth didnrsquot answer Next came Jackiersquos turn Once again Miss

Elizabeth was right on target with everything shesaid ldquoWowrdquo Jackie kept muttering ldquoWowrdquo

Finally I found myself in the chair across fromthe fortune-teller Suddenly I felt so nervous Mymouth was dry My legs were shaking

Miss Elizabeth looked older from close up

When she smiled at me the thick makeup on herface cracked Tiny drops of sweat glistened at herhairline

ldquoWhat is your namerdquo she asked in a whisperldquoMaggierdquo I told herShe nodded solemnly and took my hand She

raised my palm close to her face and squinted downat it in the gray light

I held my breath And waited What would shesee

She squeezed my hand Brought it closer to herface

And then then her eyes bulged wide Shelet out a loud gasp

With a violent jerk she tossed my hand awayAnd jumped to her feet Her chair fell behind her

clattering to the tent floorShe stared at memdashstared in open-mouthed

horrorAnd then she screamedldquoGet OUT Get AWAY from hererdquoldquoHuh Waitmdashrdquo I choked outldquoGet OUT You bring EVIL You bring EVIL with

you Get OUT of hererdquo

Credits

Cover illustration by Vince NataleCover design by John Fontana

About the PublisherAustraliaHarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty Ltd 25 Ryde Road (PO Box 321)Pymble NSW 2073 Australia httpwwwharpercollinscomau

CanadaHarperCollins Publishers Ltd55 Avenue Road Suite 2900Toronto ON M5R 3L2 Canadahttpwwwharpercanadacom

New ZealandHarperCollinsPublishers (New Zealand)PO Box 1Auckland New Zealandhttpwwwharpercollinsconz

United KingdomHarperCollins Publishers Ltd77-85 Fulham Palace RoadLondon W6 8JB UKhttpwwwfireandwatercouk

United StatesHarperCollins Childrenrsquos Books A Division of HarperCollins Publishers1350 Avenue of the Americas New York NY 10019wwwharperchildrenscom

These stories are my scariest ever says RL Stinebecause I wrote them at the Nightmare Hour

When the lights fade the world that we know as real slipsinto shadowmdashand the cold moonlit world of evil dreams

enters your mind and takes over

These ten terrifying tales will make you shiver at any hourIllustrated by ten outstanding artists

I really enjoy your workhellipthank you for creating newnightmares for me mdashKenny age 12 NY

They are horrifying storiesmdashthey even gave me thecreeps mdashSofia age 14 LA

My favorite book is Nightmare Hour mdashJeffrie age 9 WI

Winner of Disney Adventures magazinersquos first everKidsrsquo Choice Award for Best HorrorMystery book

0-06-028688-1 $995 Hardcover0-06-440842-6 $499 Paperback

Available wherever books are sold

Join RL Stine and all your friends in The Nightmare Room

wwwthenightmareroomcom

Ten New Stories by rl stineNightmare Hour

Join RL Stine and all your friends in

ROOMTHE

Step inside wwwthenightmareroomcom

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where you will truly enter

THE NIGHTMARE ROOM

wwwthenightmareroomcom

THE NIGHTMARE ROOM 3My Name Is EvilMaggie has her palm read at a carnival and then the terrifying accidents beginIs Maggie cursed Will she have to live forever in THE NIGHTMARE ROOM

THE NIGHTMARE ROOM 4Liar LiarRoss looks across the room and sees himself standing there But Ross doesnrsquothave a twin This party has taken Rossto THE NIGHTMARE ROOM

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Join RL Stine and all your friends in THE NIGHTMARE ROOMwwwthenightmareroomcom

What can happen next in

ROOMTHE

v

Welcome

Irsquom RL Stine and I want to introduce you toLuke Greene Hersquos that short wiry seventh-graderstanding in front of his locker

Some kids tease Luke about being too supersti-tious He wears a lucky shirt to school and he nevergoes anywhere without a lucky rabbitrsquos foot tucked inhis pocket

Luke doesnrsquot mind being teased He says you cannever have enough good luck

Thatrsquos why hersquos so unhappy about his new lockerItrsquos the first day of school and Luke has been givenLocker 13

Luke is staring at the locker in horrormdashand hehas reason to be worried Now hersquos going to need allthe lucky shirts and four-leaf clovers and good-luckcharms he can find

Because when he turns the lock and pulls openLocker 13 Luke will actually be opening the doorto THE NIGHTMARE ROOM

Contents

One

Two

Three

Four

Five

Six

Seven

Eight

Nine

Ten

Eleven

Twelve

Thirteen

Fourteen

Fifteen

Sixteen

Seventeen

Eighteen

Nineteen

Twenty

Twenty-one

Twenty-two

Twenty-three

Twenty-four

Twenty-five

Twenty-six

Twenty-seven

Go Deeper into this Nightmare

About the Author

Take a Look at Whatrsquos Ahead

Credits

About the Publisher

1

ldquoHey Lukemdashgood luckrdquo Who called to me The hall was jammed with

kids excited about the first day of school I was excit-ed too My first day in seventh grade My first day atShawnee Valley Junior High

I just knew this was going to be an awesome yearOf course I didnrsquot take any chances I wore my

lucky shirt Itrsquos a faded green T-shirt kind ofstretched out and the pocket is a little torn But noway Irsquod start a school year without my lucky shirt

And I had my lucky rabbitrsquos foot in the pocket ofmy baggy khakis Itrsquos black and very soft and furryItrsquos a key chain but I donrsquot want to ruin the good luckby hanging keys on it

Why is it so lucky Well itrsquos a black rabbitrsquos footwhich is very rare And I found it last November onmy birthday And after I found it my parents gave methe new computer I wanted So it brought me goodluckmdashright

I glanced up at the red-and-black computer-printed

banner hanging over the hall GO SQUIRES SUPPORT

YOUR TEAMAll of the boysrsquo teams at Shawnee Valley are called

the Squires Donrsquot ask me how they got that weirdname The banner made my heart race just a little Itreminded me that I had to find the basketball coachand ask when he was having tryouts

I had a whole list of things I wanted to do (1)check out the computer lab (2) find out about the bas-ketball team (3) see if I could take any kind of specialswimming program after school I never went to aschool with a swimming pool before And since swim-ming is my other big sport I was pretty pumped aboutit

ldquoLukemdashhirdquoI spun around to find my friend Hannah Marcum

behind me looking as cheerful and enthusiastic asalways Hannah has short coppery hair the color of abright new penny green eyes and a great smile Mymother always calls her Sunshine which totallyembarrasses both of us

ldquoYour pocket is tornrdquo she said She tugged at it rip-ping it a little more

ldquoHeymdashget offrdquo I backed away ldquoItrsquos my lucky shirtrdquoldquoDid you find your locker assignment yetrdquo She

pointed to a group of kids studying a chart taped to thewall They were all standing on tiptoe trying to seeover each other ldquoItrsquos posted over there Guess whatMy locker is the first one outside the lunchroom Irsquoll be

2

first for lunch every dayrdquoldquoOooh luckyrdquo I said ldquoAnd I got Gruen for Englishrdquo Hannah gushed

ldquoHersquos the best Hersquos so funny Everyone says you canrsquotstop laughing Did you get him toordquo

ldquoNordquo I said ldquoI got WarrenrdquoHannah made a face ldquoYoursquore doomedrdquoldquoShut uprdquo I said ldquoDonrsquot say things like thatrdquo I

squeezed my rabbitrsquos foot three times I pushed my way through the crowd to the locker

chart This is going to be an excellent year I told myselfJunior High is so not like elementary school

ldquoHey manmdashhowrsquos it goingrdquo Darnell Cross slappedme a high five

ldquoWhatrsquos uprdquo I replied ldquoCheck it out You got the lucky lockerrdquo Darnell

said I squinted at the chart ldquoHuh What do you meanrdquoI ran my eyes down the list of names until I came

to mine Luke Greene And then I followed the dottedline to my locker number

And gaspedldquoNo wayrdquo I said out loud ldquoThat canrsquot be rightrdquoI blinked a few times then focused on the chart

againYes Locker 13Luke Greene 1313My breath caught in my throat I started to choke

3

I turned away from the chart hoping no one couldsee how upset I was

How can this be happening to me I wonderedLocker 13 My whole year is ruined before it begins

My heart pounded so hard my chest ached Iforced myself to start breathing again

I turned and found Hannah still standing thereldquoWherersquos your lockerrdquo she asked ldquoIrsquoll walk youthererdquo

ldquoUh well I can deal with itrdquo I saidShe squinted at me ldquoExcuse merdquo ldquoI can deal with itrdquo I repeated shakily ldquoItrsquos

Locker thirteen but I can handle it ReallyrdquoHannah laughed ldquoLuke yoursquore such a supersti-

tious geekrdquoI frowned at her ldquoYou mean that in a nice waymdash

rightrdquo I jokedShe laughed again and shoved me into a crowd of

kids I wish she wouldnrsquot shove me so much Shersquosreally strong

I apologized to the kids I stumbled into ThenHannah and I started down the crowded hallchecking the locker numbers searching for num-ber 13

Just past the science lab Hannah stopped sud-denly and grabbed something up from the floor

ldquoHey wow Look what I foundrdquo She held up a five-dollar bill ldquoMmmmmmdashyesrdquo

4

She raised it to her lips and kissed it ldquoFive bucksYayrdquo

I sighed and shook my head ldquoHannah howcome yoursquore always so luckyrdquo

She didnrsquot answer that question It seemed like a simple question but it wasnrsquot And if she had told me the answer I think I would

have run awaymdashrun as far as I could from ShawneeValley Junior High and never come back

5

Letrsquos skip ahead two months Seventh grade was not bad so far I made some new

friends I made real progress on the computer anima-tion piece I had been working on for nearly two yearsAnd I actually won a spot on the basketball team

It was early November about two weeks into theseason And I was late for practice

Guys were already on the floor doing stretchingexercises bouncing basketballs to each other takingshort layups I crept to the locker room hoping no onewould notice me

ldquoLukemdashget dressed Yoursquore laterdquo Coach Bendixshouted

I started to call ldquoSorry I got hung up in the com-puter labrdquo But that was no kind of excuse So I justgave Coach a nod and started jogging full speed to thelocker room to get changed

My stomach felt kind of tight I realized I wasnrsquotlooking forward to practice today For a little guy Irsquom apretty good basketball player Irsquove got a good outside

6

shot and pretty fast hands on defense I was so excited to make the team But I wasnrsquot

counting on one problemmdashan eighth grader namedStretch Johannsen

Stretchrsquos real name is Shawn But everyone in theworld calls him Stretchmdasheven his parents You mightwonder how he got that name But if you saw him youwouldnrsquot wonder

Stretch had some kind of a growth spurt last year inseventh grade and he became a big blond giant prac-tically overnight Hersquos taller than anyone in the highschool He has shoulders like a wrestler and long armsI mean really long arms like a chimpanzee He canreach halfway across the gym

And thatrsquos why everyone started calling himStretch

I think a better name for him would be OstrichThatrsquos because he has long skinny legs like bird legsand a huge chest thatrsquos so wide it makes his pale blue-eyed head look as tiny as an egg

But I would never try my nickname on him I donrsquotthink I can run fast enough Stretch doesnrsquot have muchof a sense of humor In fact hersquos a pretty mean guyalways trash-talking and shoving people aroundmdashandnot just on the basketball floor

I think once he got over the shock of being a gianthe decided to be really impressed with himself

Like being a giant is some kind of special talent orsomething

7

But donrsquot get me started Irsquom always analyzingpeople thinking too hard about them about every-thing Hannah is always telling me I think too muchBut I donrsquot get it How do you stop thinking

Last week after a practice Coach Bendix saidnearly the same thing ldquoYoursquove got to play oninstinct Luke There isnrsquot time to think before everymoverdquo

Which I guess is another reason why I ride thebench Of course Irsquom only in seventh grade Sounless another giant forward tries out for the SquiresIrsquoll probably get to play next yearmdashafter Stretchgraduates

But for now itrsquos really embarrassing not to get toplay Especially since my parents come to everygame to cheer me on I sit on the team bench andwatch Mom and Dad up in the gym bleachers juststaring at me Staring

It doesnrsquot make you feel great Even the time-outs are painful Stretch always

comes trotting over to the team bench He wipes thesweat off his face and bodymdashand then throws thetowel onto me Like Irsquom some kind of towel boy

During one time-out late in the first game he tooka long gulp of Gatorade and spit it onto my uniformshirt I looked up and saw my parents watching fromthe bleachers

8

Sad Really sad Our team the Squires won our first two games

mainly because Stretch wouldnrsquot let anyone elsehandle the ball It was great to winmdashbut I wasalready starting to feel like a loser I wanted to play

Maybe if I have a really strong practice todayCoach Bendix will try me out at guard I told myselfOr maybe even as a backup center I laced up myshoes and triple-knotted them for luck Then I shutmy eyes and counted to seven three times

Just something I doI straightened my red-and-black uniform shorts

slammed the gym locker shut and trotted out of thelocker room and onto the floor Guys were at the farend taking three-point shots everyone shooting atonce The balls bounced off each other bounced offthe hoop The backboard rang out with a steadythud thud thud

Some of the shots actually dropped inldquoLuke get busyrdquo Coach yelled motioning me to

the basket ldquoGet some rebounds Make some shotsGet looserdquo

I flashed him a thumbs-up and ran to join theothers I saw Stretch leap up and make a highrebound To my surprise he spun around andheaved the ball at me ldquoLukemdashthink fastrdquo

I wasnrsquot expecting it The ball sailed through my

9

hands I had to chase it to the wall I dribbled backto find Stretch waiting ldquoGo ahead man Shootrdquo

I swallowed hardmdashand sent up a two-handedshot

ldquoHe shootsmdashhe missesrdquo Stretch shouted Someguys laughed

My shot bounced off the rim Stretch took threefast strides reached up his long arms and grabbedthe rebound in midair He tossed it back to meldquoShoot againrdquo

My next shot brushed the bottom of the netldquoHe shootsmdashhe missesrdquo Stretch repeated as if

that was the funniest thing anyone ever said Moreloud laughter

Stretch took the rebound and tossed me the ballldquoAgainrdquo he ordered

Everyone was watching now I sent up a one-handed layup that almost dropped in It rolledaround the rim then fell off

ldquoHe shootsmdashhe missesrdquoI could feel sweat rolling down my forehead

Why canrsquot I get lucky here I asked myself Comeon Lukemdashjust one lucky shot I slapped my lefthand rapidly against the leg of my shorts seventimes

Stretch bounced the ball to me ldquoGo champYoursquore O for three You got a streak goingrdquo Morelaughter

I shut my eyes for a second Then I sailed this

10

one highmdashand gasped as it sank through the hoopStretch grinned and shook his head The other

guys all cheered as if Irsquod just won the state juniorhigh tournament

I grabbed the ball and dribbled away from themI didnrsquot want to give Stretch a chance to ruin my vic-tory I knew he would keep me shooting till I wasone for three hundred

I turned to see if Coach Benson had watched myshot He leaned against the wall talking to two otherteachers He hadnrsquot seen it

I dribbled across the floor then back toward theothers Then I made a big mistake

A really big mistake A mistake that ruined mylife at Shawnee Valley Junior High

ldquoHey Stretchmdashthink fastrdquo I shouted And Iheaved the ball at him as hard as I could

What was I thinkingI didnrsquot see that he had bent down on one knee

to tie his sneaker lace I froze in horrormdashand watched the ball fly at

him It hit him hard on the side of the head knockedhim over and sent him tumbling to the floor

ldquoHeymdashrdquo he cried out stunned He shook hishead dizzily I saw bright red blood start to flow fromhis nose

ldquoStretchmdashIrsquom sorryrdquo I shrieked ldquoI didnrsquot seeyou I didnrsquot meanmdashrdquo

I lurched forward running to help him up

11

ldquoMy contactsrdquo he cried ldquoYou knocked out mycontactsrdquo

And then I heard a soft squish under my shoeI stopped Lifted my foot Stretchrsquos contact lens

lay flat as a pancake on the gym floorEveryone saw itStretch was on his feet now Blood rolled down

his lips his chin He didnrsquot pay any attention to it He had his eyes

narrowed on me He lumbered forward clenchingand unclenching his giant fists

I was doomed

12

Stretch reached under my arms and lifted me upHe was so huge and strong he picked me off thefloor like I was a ventriloquistrsquos dummy

ldquoWhoa It was an accidentrdquo I whisperedldquoHerersquos another accidentrdquo he said When he

talked he spit blood in my face He tightened his gripunder my arms

He raised me higher and gazed up at the basketIs he going to make a three-point shot with me Iwondered

Yes He is Hersquos going to slam dunk meBehind me I heard shouts A whistle blowing

Running footstepsldquoTake it outside Stretchrdquo I heard Coach Bendix

shoutHuhStretch slowly lowered me to the floor My knees

started to buckle but I managed to stay on my feet Stretch rubbed a hand across his bloody nose

then wiped it on the front of my jersey

13

ldquoTake it outsiderdquo Coach repeated edgingbetween us ldquoLetrsquos pair up everybody One on oneStretchmdashyou and Lukerdquo

ldquoNo wayrdquo Stretch mutteredldquoHersquos your backuprdquo Coach said poking Stretch

in the chest with his whistle ldquoYoursquove got to teachLuke Irsquom putting you in charge of Lukersquos develop-mentrdquo

Stretch snickered ldquoDevelopment He doesnrsquothave any developmentrdquo

ldquoGo to my office Get some tissues and stop thatnosebleedrdquo Coach instructed Stretch ldquoThen takeLuke to the practice court behind the playgroundShow him some moves Teach him somethingrdquo

Stretch stared at the floor for a few seconds as ifthinking it over But he knew better than to arguewith Coach Bendix He nodded at me ldquoLetrsquos goChamprdquo

What choice did I have Even though I knew itwas pain time for me I turned and followed him out-side

It was late afternoon pretty cold to be outside inbasketball shorts and a sleeveless jersey Since it wasNovember the big red sun had already loweredbehind the houses across the street from the play-ground

I shiveredStretch didnrsquot give me much of a chance to get

14

ready He pounded the ball hard on the asphalt courtand came racing at me like a stampeding bull

I tried to slide to the side But Stretch lowered hisshoulder and slammed it hard into my gut

ldquoOhhhrdquo I groaned and slumped backldquoDefenserdquo he shouted ldquoGet your hands up

Champ Get ready Here I come againrdquoldquoNomdashwaitmdashrdquo I pleadedThe ball thundered in front of him as he drove

into me again This time he kept his body up straightThe force of the collision sent me sprawling to theasphalt

ldquoDefenserdquo he shouted ldquoShow me somethingBlock me At least slow me down a littlerdquo

Groaning again I climbed to my feet I felt as ifIrsquod been hit by a truck

Stretch dribbled around me circling me his eyeslocked angrily on me His nosebleed had stoppedbut he still had dried blood caked under his nose

I rubbed my chest ldquoI I think I broke a ribrdquo Iwhispered

With a wild shout he slammed into me againThis time I flew backmdashand smashed into the thickwooden post that held up the backboard

ldquoYoursquore going to pay for those contacts Champrdquohe called hulking over me so I couldnrsquot stand updribbling the ball inches from my feet

ldquoYeah Okayrdquo I said trying to rub the pain frommy chest ldquoI said I was sorryrdquo

15

ldquoYoursquore gonna be more sorryrdquo he said Hebounced the ball hard against my bare leg ldquoGet uprdquo

I didnrsquot move ldquoIt was an accidentrdquo I insisted ldquoIreally didnrsquot see you bend down Reallyrdquo

He picked at the caked blood under his noseldquoGet up Letrsquos go Irsquom supposed to teach you some-thingrdquo He laughed really loud Irsquom not sure whyThen he swept a huge hand back through his shortwhite-blond hair and waited for me to stand up Sohe could teach me more lessons

I climbed shakily to my feet I felt so dizzy I hadto grab the wooden post My head ached My ribsached

ldquoCan we uh play a different gamerdquoI asked weakly

ldquoYeah Surerdquo he said ldquoHeymdashthink fastrdquoHe was standing so close and he heaved the ball

so hard it felt like a cannonball as it shot into mystomach

I stumbled back And let out a sharp gaspAnd then realized I couldnrsquot breatheI struggled hard to suck in some air No no air I canrsquot get air I saw bright yellow stars The yellow darkened to

redPain shot through my chest The pain spread

growing sharper sharper I was down on my back now staring up at the

16

17

sky staring up at the dancing red stars I wanted toscream But I had no air

Canrsquot breathe canrsquot breathe at all The stars faded away The color faded from the

sky All black All black nowAnd as I sank into the blackness I heard a voiceA beautiful soft voice from far far away Calling

my nameAn angel I realized Yes Through the blackness I heard an angel call-

ing my nameAnd I knew that I had died

ldquoLuke LukerdquoThe blackness lifted I blinked up at the afternoon

sky The voice was closer now And I recognized itldquoLukerdquoMy chest ached as I took a deep breathHeymdashwhen had I started to breathe againI lifted my head and saw Hannah running across

the basketball court She wore a blue windbreakerunzipped and it flapped up over her shoulders likewings Her red hair glowed in the late afternoon sunlike a halo

Not an angel Just Hannah She turned angrily to Stretch as she ran past him

ldquoWhat did you do to Lukemdashkill himrdquoStretch giggled ldquoProbablyrdquoHannah dropped onto her knees beside me Her

windbreaker fell over my face She tugged it awayldquoAre you alive Can you speakrdquo

ldquoYeah Irsquom okayrdquo I muttered I felt like a jerk Ahelpless jerk

18

Stretch walked up behind Hannah ldquoWhorsquos sherdquohe sneered at me ldquoYour girlfriendrdquo

Hannah spun around to face him ldquoHeymdashIrsquoveseen your girlfriendrdquo

Stretchrsquos mouth dropped open ldquoHuh Whorsquosthatrdquo

ldquoGodzillardquo Hannah declaredI tried to laugh but it made my ribs hurtThe next thing I knew Hannah was on her feet

shoving Stretchrsquos shoulders with both hands forcinghim to back up ldquoEver hear of picking on someoneyour own sizerdquo she demanded

Stretch laughed ldquoNo Tell me about itrdquo Hebacked away from her and raised his big meaty fistsHe grinned and started dancing like a fighter ldquoComeon You want a piece of me You want a piece ofmerdquo Imitating someone in a movie I guess

ldquoOne on onerdquo Hannah challenged Stretch tossed back his head and laughed His

blue eyes rolled around in his tiny head ldquoYou wanta piece of merdquo

ldquoFreestyle shootingrdquo Hannah said tearing off thewindbreaker She tossed it to the side of the courtldquoCome on Stretch Twenty shots each Any kind ofshotrdquo She stared up at him ldquoYoursquoll lose ReallyYoursquoll see Yoursquoll lose to a girlrdquo

His smile faded ldquoYoursquore on the girlsrsquo basketballteammdashrightrdquo

Hannah nodded ldquoIrsquom the centerrdquo

19

Stretch started to dribble the ball slowly in frontof him ldquoTwenty shots Layups or three-pointrdquo

Hannah shrugged ldquoAny kind Yoursquoll loserdquoI climbed to my feet and went over to the side of

the court to watch I still felt a little shaky but I knewI was okay

Stretch didnrsquot hesitate He raised the ball andpushed up a one-handed shot from half-court Theball hit the backboard then the rimmdashand droppedin ldquoOne for onerdquo he said He ran to retrieve the ballldquoIrsquoll keep shooting until I missrdquo

He missed his next shot an easy layup fromunder the basket

Hannahrsquos turn I crossed my fingers and countedto seven three times

ldquoGo Hannahrdquo I cheered holding up my crossedfingers

Hannah sank a basket from the foul line Thenshe drove under the basket and shot another one infrom underneath

My mouth dropped open as she sank eight morebaskets without a miss ldquoWow Go Hannahrdquo

Stretch just stood there looking dumb I couldnrsquottell what he was thinking His face was a total blank

ldquoTen for tenrdquo Hannah declared She bounced theball to Stretch ldquoYou go Just to keep it interestingrdquo

Hannah glanced at me grinned and flashed mea thumbs-up

Stretch wasnrsquot smiling anymore He had a grim

20

determined look on his face as he drove in close toshoot He dropped four straight baskets then missedone from in front of the foul line

He muttered something under his breath andbounced the ball to Hannah

Hannah sank eight more in a row She turned toStretch ldquoEighteen for eighteenrdquo

But he was already jogging back to the gym ascowl on his face

ldquoIrsquom not finishedrdquo Hannah called after himStretch turned back to me ldquoHey Champmdashmaybe

you should take a lesson from your girlfriend Ormaybe you should play on her teamrdquo Shaking hishead he disappeared into the school

A strong wind began to blow across the play-ground It was dark as evening now I picked upHannahrsquos windbreaker and reached out to hand it toher But she took another shot ldquoNineteenrdquo And thenanother ldquoTwenty Yay I winrdquo

I gaped at her ldquoHannahmdashyou never miss Howdo you do thatrdquo

She shrugged ldquoJust luckyrdquoI shivered We started jogging back to the school

ldquoAsk me how lucky I amrdquo I muttered ldquoI made a newenemy today A huge enemyrdquo

Hannah stopped and grabbed my arm ldquoHeymdashItotally forgot why I was looking for you I wanted totell you the coolest newsrdquo

I held the school door open ldquoYeah Whatrdquo

21

Hannahrsquos green eyes flashed ldquoYou know thosephotos I took of my dog I sent them to a magazine inNew York And guess what They paid me five hun-dred dollars for them Theyrsquore going to publish themmdashand do a big story about me Isnrsquot that so totally coolrdquo

ldquoWow Totallyrdquo I saidAnd thatrsquos when I decided my luck had to changeWhy should Hannah have all the luck I can be

lucky too I told myselfItrsquos all attitude Thatrsquos what it takes The right atti-

tudeI changed into my street clothes I made my way

upstairs to stop at my locker Locker 13 Basketball practice had run so late the halls were

empty My shoes clonked noisily on the hard floorMost of the lights had already been turned off

This school is creepy when itrsquos empty I decided Istopped in front of my locker feeling a chill at the backof my neck

I always felt a little weirded-out in front of thelocker For one thing it wasnrsquot with all the otherseventh-grade lockers It was down at the end of theback hall by itself just past a janitorrsquos supply closet

Up and down the hall all the other lockers hadbeen painted over the summer They were all asmooth silvery gray But no one had touched locker13 The old green paint was peeling and had largepatches scraped off Deep scratches crisscrossed upand down the door

22

The locker smelled damp And sour As if it hadonce been filled with rotting leaves or dead fish orsomething

Thatrsquos okay I can deal with this I told myself I took a deep breath New attitude Luke New

attitude Your luck is going to changeI opened my backpack and pulled out a fat black

marker Then I closed the locker door And rightabove the number 13 I wrote the word LUCKY in bigbold capital letters

I stepped back to admire my work LUCKY 13ldquoYessssrdquo I felt better alreadyI shoved the black marker into my backpack and

started to zip it up And thatrsquos when I heard thebreathing

Soft soft breaths So soft I thought I imaginedthem From inside the locker

I crept closer and pressed my ear against the doorI heard a soft hiss Then more breathingThe backpack slipped out of my hands and thud-

ded to the floor I froze And heard another soft hiss inside the locker It

ended in a short cry The back of my neck prickled My breath caught

in my throatWithout realizing it my hand had gripped the

locker handleShould I open the door Should I

23

My hand tightened on the handle I forced myselfto start breathing again

Irsquom imagining this I told myself There canrsquot be anyone breathing inside my lockerI lifted the handle Pulled open the doorldquoHeymdashrdquo I cried out in shock And stared down at

a black catThe cat gazed up at me its eyes red in the dim

hall light The black fur stood up on its back Itpulled back its lips and hissed again

A black catA black cat inside my lockerIrsquom imagining this I thought I blinked hard trying to blink the cat awayA black cat inside locker 13 Could there be any

worse luckldquoHowmdashhow did you get in thererdquo I choked outThe cat hissed again and arched its back It gazed

up at me coldly Then it leaped from the locker floor It darted over

24

my shoes down the hall Running rapidly silentlyHead down tail straight up it turned the first cornerand disappeared

I stared after it my heart pounding I could stillfeel its furry body brushing against my leg I realizedI was still gripping the locker handle

My head spun with questions How long had thecat been in there How did it get inside the lockeddoor Why was there a black cat in my locker Why

I turned and checked out the floor of the lockerJust to make sure there werenrsquot any other creatureshiding in there Then still feeling confused I closedthe door carefully locked it and stepped back

LUCKY 13The black letters appeared to glowldquoYeah Luckyrdquo I muttered picking up my back-

pack ldquoReal lucky A black cat in my lockerrdquo I held my lucky rabbitrsquos foot and kept squeezing

it tightly all the way homeThings are going to change I told myself Things

have got to change

But in the next few weeks my luck didnrsquot changeat all

One day after school I was on my way to the com-puter lab when I ran into Hannah ldquoWhere are yougoingrdquo she asked ldquoWant to come watch my basket-ball gamerdquo

ldquoI canrsquotrdquo I replied ldquoI promised to install some

25

new modems for Mrs Coffey the computer teacherrdquoldquoMr Computer Geek strikes againrdquo she said She

started jogging toward the gymldquoDid you get your science test backrdquo I called

after herShe stopped and turned around with a grin on her

face ldquoYou wonrsquot believe it Luke I didnrsquot have timeto study I had to guess on every question And guesswhat I got a hundred I got them all rightrdquo

ldquoThatrsquos excellentrdquo I called Irsquod studied for thattest for a solid week and I got a seventy-four

I made my way into the computer lab and wavedto Mrs Coffey She was hunched over her desk sort-ing through a tall stack of disks ldquoHey howrsquos itgoingrdquo she called

The computer lab is my second home Ever sinceMrs Coffey learned that I can repair computers andupgrade them and install things in them Irsquove beenher favorite student

And I have to admit I really like her tooWhenever I donrsquot have basketball practice I checkin at the computer lab to talk with her and see whatneeds to be fixed

ldquoLuke how is your animation project comingalongrdquo she asked setting down the disks Shebrushed back her blond hair She has the nicestsmile Everyone likes her because she always seemsto enjoy her classes so much

ldquoIrsquom almost ready to show it to yourdquo I said I sat

26

down in front of a computer and started to removethe back ldquoI think itrsquos really cool And itrsquos going muchfaster now I found a new way to move pixelsaroundrdquo

Her eyes grew wide ldquoReallyrdquoldquoItrsquos a very cool inventionrdquo I said carefully slid-

ing the insides from the computer ldquoThe program ispretty simple I think a lot of animators might like itrdquo

I set down my screwdriver and gazed across theroom at her ldquoMaybe you could help me You knowShow it to people Get it copyrighted or somethingrdquo

ldquoMayberdquo she said She stood up smoothing thehem of her blue sweater over her jeans She came upbehind me and watched as I removed the old modemldquoYoursquore really skillful Luke I think yoursquore going tomake a lot of money with computers some dayrdquo

ldquoYeah Mayberdquo I replied awkwardly ldquoThanksrdquo Ididnrsquot really know what to say Mrs Coffey is so awe-some She is the only teacher who really encouragesme and thinks Irsquom somebody

ldquoI canrsquot wait to show you my animationrdquo I said ldquoWell I have some big newsrdquo she said sud-

denly I turned and caught the excited smile on herface ldquoYoursquore the first person to hear it Luke Can youkeep a secretrdquo

ldquoYeah Okayrdquo I saidldquoI just got the most wonderful job At a really big

software company in Chicago Irsquom leaving school nextweekrdquo

27

The next afternoon I couldnrsquot check in at the com-puter lab I had to hurry to the swimming poolbehind the gym

Swimming is my other big sport I spent all lastsummer working with an instructor at our local poolHe was fast enough to make the Olympic tryouts afew years ago And he really improved my stroke andshowed me a lot of secrets for getting my speed up

So I looked forward to the tryouts for the Squiresswim team I couldnrsquot wear my lucky swimsuitbecause it didnrsquot fit anymore But I wore my luckyshirt to school that day And as I changed for thepool I silently counted to seven three times

As I left the locker room I heard shouts andlaughter echoing off the tile pool walls Feeling myheart start to race I stepped into the steamy air ofthe indoor pool The floor was puddled with warmwater I inhaled the sharp chlorine smell I love thatsmell

Then I bent down and kissed the top of the divingboard I know It sounds weird But itrsquos just some-thing I always do

I turned to the pool Three or four guys werealready in the water At the shallow end I sawStretch He was violently splashing two other guysHe had them cornered at the end of the pool His bighands slapped the water sending up tall waves overthem They pleaded with him to give them a break

Coach Swanson blew his whistle then shouted

28

bull bull bull

for Stretch to cut the horseplay Stretch gave the twoguys one more vicious splash

Then he turned and saw me ldquoHey Champmdashrdquo heshouted his voice booming off the tiles ldquoYoursquoreearly Drowning lessons are next week Ha ha Niceswim trunks Are those your girlfriendrsquos Ha hardquo

A few other guys laughed tooI decided to ignore them I was feeling pretty con-

fident About twenty guys were trying out I knewthere were only six spots open on the team But afterall my work last summer I thought I could make thetop six

We all warmed up for a bit taking easy laps lim-bering up our muscles getting used to the warmwater After a few minutes Coach Swanson made usall climb out and line up at the deep end of the pool

ldquoOkay guys Irsquove got to get to my night job by fiveso wersquore going to keep this simplerdquo the coachannounced ldquoYou have one chance One chanceonly You hear the whistle you do a speed dive intothe pool You do two complete laps any stroke youwant Irsquoll take the first six guys And two alternatesAny questionsrdquo

There werenrsquot anyEveryone leaned forward preparing to dive

Stretch lined up next to me He elbowed me hard inthe side ldquoGive me some room Champ Donrsquot crowdmerdquo

29

Okay so hersquoll come in first I figured rubbing thepain from my side That leaves five other places onthe team

Irsquom good enough I told myself I know I am Iknow I am

The whistle blew All down the row bodiestensed then plunged forward

I started my divemdashand slippedThe pool floormdashso wet My feet slid on the tile Oh noI hit the water with a loud smack A belly flop No kind of dive Struggling to recover I raised my head And saw

everyone way ahead of me One unlucky slip I lowered my head determined to catch up I

started stroking easily forcing myself to be calm Iremembered the slow steady straight-legged kick myinstructor had taught me

I sped up I passed some guys Hit the wall andstarted back

I can do this I told myself I can still make theteam

Faster At the end of the second lap the finish was a furi-

ous blur Blue water Thrashing arms and legs Loudbreaths Bobbing heads

I tried to shut out everything and concentrate on

30

my stroke ignore everyone else and swimAt last my hand hit the pool wall I ducked under

then surfaced blowing out water I wiped my hairaway from my eyes The taste of chlorine was in mymouth Water running down my face I glancedaround

I didnrsquot finish last Some guys were still swim-ming I squinted down the line of swimmers who hadfinished How many How many were ahead of me

ldquoLukemdashyoursquore seventhrdquo Coach Swansonannounced He made a large check on his clipboardldquoFirst alternate See you at practicerdquo

I was still too out-of-breath to replySeventhI let out a long sigh I felt so disappointed I could

do better than seventh I knew If only I hadnrsquotslipped

As I started to trudge back to the locker roomStretch strode up beside me ldquoHey Champrdquo Heslapped my bare back with his open hand so hard itmade a loud smack ldquoThanks for making me look sogoodrdquo

I got dressed quickly standing in a corner bymyself A few guys came over to say congratulationsBut I didnrsquot feel I deserved it

Across the locker room Stretch was still in hisswim trunks He was having a great time smacking

31

guys with his towel really making the towel snapagainst their bare skin laughing his head off

I tossed my towel in the basket Then I steppedup to the mirror over the sinks to comb my hair Aceiling lightbulb was out and I had to lean over thesink to see

I had just started to comb my wet hair backmdashwhen I saw the jagged crack along the length of theglass

ldquoWhoardquo I stopped combing and stepped backA broken mirror Seven years bad luck for some-

oneI reached into my khakis pocket and squeezed

my rabbitrsquos foot three times Then I turned back tothe mirror and began combing my hair again

Something was wrong I blinked Once TwiceA red light Some kind of red glare in the mirror

glassI squinted into the glassmdashand let out a cryThe red glare was coming from a pair of eyesmdash

two red eyes glowing like hot coalsTwo angry red eyes floating in the glass Floating

beside my reflectionI could see my confused expression as I stared at

the frightening red eyes as I watched the eyesslide across the glass slide slide closer until their red glow covered my eyes

32

My horrified reflection stared out at me with thefiery glowing eyes

And I opened my mouth and let out a long terri-fied scream

33

Over my scream I heard heavy footsteps behindme And then I heard a voicemdashStretchrsquos voiceldquoHeymdashget used to itrdquo

I spun around He grinned at me ldquoGet used to itChamp Thatrsquos your face It makes other peoplescream toordquo

ldquoNordquo I cried ldquoNo Itrsquos not Donrsquot you seemdashrdquoCoach Swanson burst in behind Stretch ldquoLukemdash

whatrsquos wrongrdquoldquoMy eyesrdquo I cried ldquoLook Are they red Are

theyrdquoCoach Swanson and Stretch exchanged glances ldquoWhat is his problemrdquo Stretch murmuredCoach Swanson stepped up close and examined

my eyes ldquoWhatrsquos wrong with you Luke Itrsquos just thechlorine from the pool Your eyes will be okay in a lit-tle whilerdquo

ldquoChlorine Huh Nordquo I insisted Then I glancedinto the mirror And saw my normal brown eyes gaz-ing back at me

34

No glowing eyes No red eyes burning in the glasslike an evil movie monster

ldquoUh well rdquo I rubbed my eyes They didnrsquotburn or anything They felt okay

I turned back to Stretch and Coach Swanson Ididnrsquot know what to say to them They were both stillstaring at me as if I were nuts

And maybe I was Black cats jumping out of my locker Glowing red

eyes in the mirrorldquoWell see you at practicerdquo I saidStretch laughed ldquoNot if I see you first Ha hardquoI laughed too It wasnrsquot funny but I wanted to

sound calm again normalAs I followed them out of the locker room I real-

ized I was trembling Why were these strange things happening to me

35

After dinner I was supposed to go to the mall withHannah She wanted to buy me some computer soft-ware for my birthday But she wanted me to pick itout

That was really nice of her But at the last minuteI decided not to go

I was still feeling weird from the swim tryoutsAnd I wanted to work on my animation project If Iworked really hard I might be able to get it finishedin time to show Mrs Coffey before she left school

I went up to my room and booted up the anima-tion But I couldnrsquot concentrate I kept staring at thefour-leaf clover inside a block of clear Lucite I keepon my desk And I kept jumping up and running tothe mirror to check my eyes

Perfectly normal Not glowingSo what happened What happened to me in that

locker room I asked myself I tried to convincemyself there was something wrong with the mirror

36

The red glow was because of the way the light hit thecrack in the mirror Or something

No That didnrsquot make senseThe phone rang a little before ten orsquoclock And it

was Hannah sounding very breathless and excitedldquoLukemdashyou shouldrsquove come You shouldrsquove

comerdquoI had to hold the phone away from my ear

Hannah was shouting so loud ldquoWhy What hap-penedrdquo I asked

ldquoI won itrdquo she declared ldquoDo you believe it Iwonrdquo

ldquoExcuse me Hannahmdashwhat are you talkingaboutrdquo

ldquoYou know the raffle at the mall That huge redSUV Itrsquos been on display there for a monthThousands of people put tickets in the boxThousands AndmdashandmdashI just happened to be walk-ing by when they had the drawing tonight Andmdashrdquo

ldquoYou didnrsquotrdquo I shriekedldquoYes Yes I won it I won the SUVrdquo ldquoWowrdquo I slumped onto my bed I actually felt

faint My heart was pounding as if I had wonldquoYou shouldrsquove seen me when they called out my

namerdquo Hannah gushed ldquoI screamed I just stoodthere and screamedrdquo

She screamed again shrieked at the top of herlungs A long high joyful scream

37

ldquoHannahmdashthatrsquos so awesomerdquo I said I donrsquotthink she heard me She was still screaming

ldquoMy family is so happy Luke You should seethem They are dancing around the living roomrdquo

ldquoThatrsquos so greatrdquo I saidHannah lowered her voice ldquoI just feel bad about

one thing Luke I was so crazed I was so berserk Iforgot why I was at the mall I forgot all about buy-ing you a birthday giftrdquo

I stood up I picked up the block with the four-leafclover inside and smoothed it between my handsldquoThatrsquos okayrdquo I told Hannah ldquoI just decided what Ireally want for my birthdayrdquo

ldquoWhatrsquos thatrdquo she askedldquoI want your luckrdquoHannah laughed She thought I was kidding But

of course I was seriousldquoAre you going to school tomorrowrdquo she askedldquoHuh Yeah sure Why notrdquoldquoTomorrow is Friday the thirteenthrdquo she said ldquoI

know how superstitious you are I thought maybeyoursquod stay home and hide under the bed all dayrdquo

ldquoHa hardquo I said But I felt a cold tingle at the backof my neck ldquoIrsquoll be thererdquo I told Hannah ldquoIrsquom nottotally wacko you knowrdquo

But Irsquoll wear my lucky shirt I thought And Irsquolltake my four-leaf clover in my backpack And Irsquoll askMom to pack my lucky sandwich for lunchmdashpeanutbutter and mayonnaise

38

ldquoI have to go to school tomorrowrdquo I told HannahldquoI have basketball practice after schoolrdquo

ldquoHowrsquos practice goingrdquo Hannah askedI chuckled ldquoNot bad So far I havenrsquot gotten any

splinters from sitting on the benchrdquoHannah laughed I could hear shouts and wild

laughter in the background ldquoIrsquove got to gordquo she saidshouting over the racket ldquoMy family is still celebrat-ing my winning the SUV Byerdquo

She clicked off before I could reply

That night I dreamed about locker 13In the dream I stepped up to the locker Someone

had taped a calendar to the door I came closer andsaw that Friday the thirteenth had been circled inred

I started to rip the calendar off the locker doorBut I stopped when I heard loud breathing Hoarsewheezing sounds Like someone was having troublebreathing

I touched the locker door And it was burning hotI screamed in shock and pulled my hand awayAgain I heard the hoarse breathing from inside

the locker And then I heard a tiny voice cry outldquoPlease get me outrdquo

In the dream I knew I was dreaming I wanted tolift myself out of the dream But I was stuck thereAnd I knew I had no choice I had to pull open thelocker door and see who was in there

39

ldquoPlease I want out Get me outrdquo the tinyfrightened voice called

Even though I knew I was dreaming I still felt sofrightened Real fear that makes you shake whetheryoursquore awake or asleep

I watched myself grip the door handle Slowlymdashso slowlymdashI pulled the locker door open

And I stared in horror at the figure huddled insidethe locker Because it was ME

It was me inside the locker hugging myself trem-bling all over It was memdashand my eyes started toglow My eyes glowed out from the dark locker red asfire

And as I stared at myself stared at those ugly evilred eyes I watched my face begin to change Iwatched hair grow out of my nostrils Long braids ofthick black hair sliding out of my nosemdashdown downto the locker floor

Beneath the shining red eyes thick blacktwisted ropes of hair were pouring from my nose Outof the locker Piling onto the hall floor Curlingaround me as I watched

Yes The long hair flowed from my nose andsnaked around me as I watched in horror Curledaround me covering me in warm scratchy hairCovering me like a big furry coat and then tighten-ing Tightening Tightening around my chestTightening around my face Wrapping me like amummy Wrapping me in my ghastly nose hair

40

I woke up one hand tightly wrapped around theLucite block with the four-leaf clover Gray morningsunlight seeped through my bedroom window Myroom was so cold cold as a freezer

ldquoLuke what are you doing up there Yoursquore laterdquoMomrsquos voice shattered the frozen silence

ldquoA dreamrdquo I murmured A hoarse laugh escapedmy throat My eyes darted around the room NormalEverything normal

ldquoHurry Luke Itrsquos really laterdquo Momrsquos voicesounded so good to me

I followed her order I hurried I got showereddressed ate breakfast and arrived at school withabout two minutes to spare The halls were prettyempty Most kids had already gone to their home-rooms

I glanced at the clock on the tile wall Then joggedto the end of the back hall to toss my jacket into mylocker

But a few feet from my locker I stopped with agasp

What was that on the door to locker 13I crept closer A calendarYes Someone had taped a calendar to the door

And and today Friday the thirteenth was cir-cled in red

41

ldquoMy dreamrdquo I murmuredThat horrifying dream Itrsquos coming true I realized

Irsquom going to open the door and itrsquos going to cometrue

42

I stared at the calendar at the number 13 circledin red marker

Last nightrsquos dream played itself again through mymind I shuddered My legs and arms itched I couldpractically feel the disgusting hair curling around myskin

With an angry cry I ripped the calendar off thedoor and crumpled it in my hand

Now I expected to hear the heavy breathing frominside the locker And the tiny criesmdashmy criesmdashbeg-ging to be let out

But I didnrsquot wait ldquoIrsquom not opening itrdquo I said outloud

No way am I going to allow the dream to cometrue

I tossed the wadded-up calendar sheet to thefloor Then I spun around and began running toclass The hall was empty My shoes thudded loudlyon the hard floor as I ran

Irsquoll keep my coat with me I decided Irsquoll just drag

43

it around with me all day I donrsquot need to open thelocker

The bell rang as I reached my homeroom doorMr Perkins looked up as I burst into the roomldquoGood morning Lukerdquo he said ldquoRunning a little latethis morningrdquo

ldquoA littlerdquo I replied breathlessly Unzipping myjacket I started to my seat

ldquoWould you like time to go hang your coat in yourlockerrdquo Mr Perkins asked

ldquoUh no Thatrsquos okayrdquo I lowered my backpackto the floor and dropped into the chair ldquoIrsquoll just keep itrdquo

A few kids were staring at me Mr Perkins noddedand turned back to the papers he was reading

I took a deep breath and settled back against thechair I rubbed the right sleeve of my lucky shirtseven times

That dream is not going to come true I toldmyself No way I wonrsquot let it

Of course I wasnrsquot thinking clearly How couldthat crazy dream come true

If I had stopped for one second to think about itI would have realized the whole idea was insane

But today was Friday the thirteenth And I nevercan think clearly on Friday the thirteenth I admit itIrsquom always a little crazy on that unlucky day

I glanced up to see that Mr Perkins had beenreading the morning announcements I hadnrsquot heard

44

a word he said I pulled the four-leaf clover from mybackpack twirled it in my hand and wished for goodluck for the rest of the day

At noon I found Hannah at a table against theback wall of the lunchroom She was sitting all byherself staring down at her brown lunchbag whichshe hadnrsquot opened

ldquoHi Whassuprdquo I dropped across from herldquoHirdquo she said softly without raising her eyes

ldquoHowrsquos it goingrdquoldquoWell pretty okay for a Friday the thirteenthrdquo I

said Actually the morning had flown by without anyproblems at all

I expected Hannah to make some kind of jokeabout how superstitious I am But she didnrsquot say aword

I pulled the sandwich from my bag and started tounwrap the foil ldquoMy lucky sandwichrdquo I saidldquoPeanut butter and mayonnaiserdquo

ldquoYumrdquo she said rolling her eyes She finallylooked at me She appeared tired Her eyes werebloodshot red as if shersquod been crying Her hair wasa mess and her face was gray

ldquoHow come yoursquore wearing your coatrdquo sheasked

ldquoOh uh no reasonrdquo I said ldquoI was kind ofcoldrdquo

She nodded glumly

45

ldquoDid you come to school in the new SUVrdquo Iasked

She shook her head ldquoWe donrsquot have it yet Dadhas to go fill out a lot of papersrdquo She let out a longsigh

I lowered my sandwich ldquoAre you feeling okayrdquo Iasked

She didnrsquot answer Instead she sighed again andstared down at the table

I poked her lunchbag with one finger ldquoWhat doyou have for lunchrdquo

She shrugged ldquoJust some fruit Irsquom not very hun-gryrdquo She opened the bag reached a hand in andpulled out a bright yellow banana

She struggled with the skin Then finally peeled itopen

ldquoOh yuckrdquo Her face twisted in disgust Shedropped the banana to the table

Inside the skin the banana was completely rot-ten Just a soft pile of black mush A horrible soursmellmdashlike ripe vomitmdashfloated up from it

Hannah shoved the banana away ldquoSick Thatrsquosreally sickrdquo

ldquoThe skin is perfectly freshrdquo I said ldquoHow couldthe banana be so rottenrdquo

ldquoI think I have an applerdquo Hannah said glumlyShe tore the bag apart and pulled out a red appleShe twirled it between her handsmdashthen stopped witha gasp

46

I saw the deep dark hole on the side of the appleAnd as we both stared at it a fat brown wormmdashatleast two inches longmdashcurled out from inside Andthen another And another

The worms dropped from the apple onto thetabletop

ldquoI donrsquot believe thisrdquo Hannah shrieked Shescraped her chair back so hard it toppled over

And before I could say anything she was runningfrom the room

After school I looked for Hannah on my way tobasketball practice I was worried about her She hadacted so weird at lunch Not like herself at all

I reminded myself that it was Friday the thir-teenth And sometimes people act a little weird onthis day

But not Hannah Hannah is the least supersti-tious person I know She walks under ladders all thetime and she hugs black cats and doesnrsquot think athing of it

And why should she Hannah has to be the luck-iest person on earth

Lockers slammed as kids prepared to go home Istarted to the gym then turned back I donrsquot want tocarry my coat and backpack to the gym I decidedIrsquom going to stuff them in my locker

I hesitated as the locker came into view at the endof the hall I read the words on the door LUCKY 13 Of

47

course I remembered my nightmaremdashand the calen-dar from my nightmare taped on the locker door

But I had to open the locker I didnrsquot want to carrymy stuff around with me for the rest of the year

ldquoHey Lukerdquo I saw Darnell Cross waving to mefrom the doorway to the science lab ldquoAre the Squiresgoing to beat Davenportrdquo

ldquoTheyrsquore not so toughrdquo I called back ldquoWe couldtake themrdquo

ldquoYou going to playrdquo Darnell asked He grinnedbecause he already knew the answer

ldquoAs soon as I grow taller than Stretchrdquo I repliedHe laughed and disappeared back into the lab I stepped up to locker 13 I brought my face close

to the door ldquoAnyone in thererdquo I called inSilenceldquoJust checkingrdquo I said I grabbed the door handle

I was feeling pretty confident Friday the thirteenthwas two-thirds over and so far nothing terriblyunlucky had happened to me

I squeezed my rabbitrsquos foot for luck Then I tooka deep breathmdashand pulled open the locker

48

Nothing unusual inside the locker I realized I was still gripping the rabbitrsquos foot

inside my pocket I let go of it and slipped my back-pack off my shoulders

I studied the locker carefully A bunch of booksand notebooks on the top shelf where I had leftthem My old gray sweatshirt lay crumpled on thelocker floor

No black cats No one breathing or crying orshooting piles of hair from his nose

I let out a long sigh of relief Then I tossed thebackpack on top of the balled-up sweatshirt Shovedmy jacket onto the hook on the back wall

I started to slam the door shut when I spottedsomething at my feet

My shoe kicked it and it rolled against the lockerbottom then bounced back

A ballI bent down and picked it up I raised it close to

my face

49

ldquoWhoardquo Not a ball A tiny yellow skull a littlelarger than a Ping-Pong ball

It had an open-mouthed grin revealing two rowsof gray teeth I ran my finger over the teeth Theywere hard and bumpy

I squeezed it The little skull was made of somekind of hard rubber

The eyesmdashsunken deep in the socketsmdashwere redglass They glowed in the hall lights like tiny rubies

ldquoWhere did you come fromrdquo I asked itI turned back to the locker Did the skull fall out

of the locker How did it get in there Was someoneplaying some kind of Friday the thirteenth headgame with me

I decided that had to be the answerI rolled the skull around in my hand a few times

I poked my finger against the glowing red glass eyes Then I tucked it into my pants pocket I slammed

the locker shutmdashand headed to practice

ldquoLook alive Heads up Look aliverdquo CoachBendix was shouting

I ran out of the locker room and grabbed a bas-ketball off the ball rack I began dribbling around thefloor

We were having one of Coachrsquos free-for-all prac-tices That meant we had to keep moving keepplayingmdashrun dribble pass shoot play defense Do

50

everything all at once in a big free-for-all I dribbled slowly across the floor concentrating

hard Trying not to lose the dribble I saw Stretch turntoward me He stuck out both hands and moved for-ward ready to block me

I decided to try and fake him out I dribbled leftmdashand moved right I edged past him easily Movedunder the basket And sent up a shot that sailedacross the gym and dropped in

ldquoHeymdashone for onerdquo I cried happilyldquoLucky shotrdquo Stretch calledI took the ball and moved back to the top of the

key I sent up a two-handed jumpshot It soared overthe rimmdashand dropped through the basket with a softswish

ldquoYesrdquo I pumped my fists in the airI didnrsquot have long to celebrate I turned and saw

Stretch barreling toward me dribbling hard leaningforward with grim determination

Hersquos going to charge right over me I realized Hersquosgoing to flatten me

Guys backed out of his way as Stretch flew acrossthe floor

ldquoLook out Lukerdquo someone shoutedI froze for a moment Then I ducked to the left

Stuck out my hand and slapped the ball away fromStretch

He made a wild grab for it But I dribbled it out of

51

his reach Then I spun around and sent a wild highshot into the air The ball hit the glass backboardmdashand sank through the net

ldquoWowrdquoldquoWay to go LukerdquoldquoThree for threerdquoThe other players were in shockStretch shook his head ldquoFeeling lucky today

Think fastrdquo He pulled back his long armmdashandheaved the ball at my chest with all his strength

I caught it easily Dribbled it three times Shotmdashand dropped another basket

Stretch scowled ldquoI donrsquot believe thisrdquo he mut-tered shaking his head

I donrsquot either I thought to myself Irsquove never shotfour baskets in a row in my life

I turned and saw Coach Bendix watching me Wasthis my big chance Stretch and another player werepassing the ball back and forth moving across thefloor

I shot forward Intercepted Stretchrsquos pass Droveto the basket And sent up an easy layup ldquoTwopointsrdquo I cried

With an angry grunt Stretch reached for therebound But I pushed it out of his hands Grabbed itSpun Shot again ldquoTwo pointsrdquo

Stretch cried out angrily He bumped me hard

52

from behind I think he would have flattened me onthe spot But he saw that Coach Bendix was runningover to us

Coach slapped me on the back ldquoWay to goLukerdquo he boomed ldquoWay to show real improvementIrsquom impressed Keep it up okay Irsquom going to give yousome playing time next Fridayrdquo

ldquoHeymdashthanksrdquo I replied breathlesslyI saw Stretch scowl Saw his face turn an angry

redI grabbed a ball and dribbled away I wanted to

shout and jump for joy Had my luck finally changedIt seemed that way Suddenly I could pass and

jump and shoot and play defense like I never couldbefore It was as if I was possessed or somethingPossessed by an all-star athlete

In the locker room after practice Stretch ignoredme But other guys slapped me on the back andflashed me a thumbs-up

ldquoLookinrsquo good LukerdquoldquoWay to go manrdquoldquoGo SquiresrdquoI was feeling really happy Like a new person As I

changed into my street clothes I felt the little skull inmy pants pocket I pulled it out and gazed at itsmoothing my thumb over the hard rubber

ldquoAre you my new good-luck charmrdquo I asked itThe tiny red eyes glowed back at me I kissed it

gave it a smack on top of its yellow head and shoved

53

it back into my pants pocketThat skull is going everywhere with me I decided

Itrsquos got to be lucky Itrsquos got to beAs I walked home I kept reliving my great bas-

ketball triumph I pictured my long perfect jump-shots again And I saw myself stealing the ball fromStretchrsquos hands driving right past him and scoringEmbarrassing him Embarrassing Stretch again andagain

Wow What a dayIt was a cold gray afternoon Dark clouds hung

low over the nearly bare trees It felt more like winterthan fall

A few blocks from home I crossed a streetmdashandheard a short cry

A long low evergreen hedge ran across the frontyard on the corner I stopped gazing over the hedgeHad the cry come from the yard

I listened hard Down the block a car doorslammed A dog started to bark The wind made awhistling sound through the phone lines overhead

And then I heard itmdashanother sharp crymdashlongerthis time

A baby It sounded like a babyrsquos cryldquoOwwwww OwwwwwwrdquoI lowered my gaze to the hedgemdashand saw the

creature making the shrill criesA cat No A small orange-and-white kitten

54

It appeared to be stuck in the prickly brambles ofthe hedge

ldquoOwwwww OwwwwwwrdquoCarefully I bent down and gently lifted the cat out

with both hands As I cupped my hands around it itstopped crying immediately But it was still breathinghard its white chest moving rapidly up and down Irubbed its head trying to soothe it

ldquoYoursquore okay little kittenrdquo I whisperedAnd then I heard another cry A loud shriekI looked up to see a large woman running at me

angrily Her face was bright red and she waved herarms furiously

ldquoOh nordquo I muttered I nearly dropped the catWhy is she so angryWhat have I done

55

ldquoThe kittenmdashrdquo she cried shoving through abreak in the hedge

ldquoImdashIrsquom sorryrdquo I stammered ldquoI didnrsquot know ImdashrdquoldquoWhere did you find herrdquo the woman demanded

her face still bright red ldquoIn in the hedgerdquoldquoOh thank you Thank yourdquo the woman said

She took the kitten from my hands and raised it toher cheek ldquoSasha where did you gordquo

Irsquom not in trouble I finally realized The womanis happymdashnot angry

ldquoSasha has been missing for two daysrdquo thewoman told me pressing the kitten against her faceldquoI offered a reward and everything I almost gave uphoperdquo

I let out a long sigh of relief ldquoShe was right thererdquoI said pointing ldquoIn the hedge I think she wascaught in itrdquo

ldquoWell shersquos fine now thanks to yourdquo Still press-ing the kitten to her cheek the woman pushed

56

through the hedge and started to the house ldquoWhat isyour namerdquo

ldquoLukerdquoldquoWell follow me Luke Irsquoll get your reward for

yourdquoldquoHuh Reward No Reallyrdquo I started to back

awayldquoYou saved Sasharsquos liferdquo the woman said ldquoYou

did a wonderful thing And I insist you take thereward I offeredrdquo

I saw that I had no choice I followed her to herkitchen door

A few minutes later she counted out five twenty-dollar bills and pressed them into my hand ldquoThankyou Luke You really did your good deed for todayrdquo

A hundred dollarsA hundred dollars rewardMy luck really is starting to change I decidedWhen I got home a big surprise awaited me Mom had made my favorite dinnermdashmeat loaf

mashed potatoes and gravy And a coconut cake fordessert

ldquoItrsquos not even my birthdayrdquo I exclaimedldquoI just felt like doing something nice for you

todayrdquo Mom said She brushed back my hair withone hand ldquoI know Friday the thirteenth is always ahard day for yourdquo

ldquoNot todayrdquo I told her grinning ldquoNot todayrdquo

57

After my second slice of coconut cake I went upto my room and started my homework I spent aboutan hour writing out the answers to my scienceassignment

It shouldnrsquot have taken that long But I kept tak-ing out the twenty-dollar bills counting them againand dreaming about what I could buy with them

After science I worked on my computer anima-tion Irsquod been having trouble with the last section Icouldnrsquot get anything to move the way I wanted

But tonight my good luck continued I had notrouble at all The images all slid together perfectly Ialmost finished the project

A little after nine I decided to give Hannah a callShersquod acted so weird at lunch that afternoon Ithought maybe she was sick or something

I called to see if she was feeling better But I couldtell by the way she answered the phone that she stillwasnrsquot her old self

I tried to cheer her up I told her about my tri-umph at basketball practice And about the hundred-dollar reward for finding the lost kitten

ldquoVery coolrdquo Hannah said But her voice showedno enthusiasm at all

ldquoAnd then Mom made all of my favorite things fordinnerrdquo I exclaimed

ldquoLuckyrdquo Hannah mutteredldquoWhatrsquos your problemrdquo I demanded ldquoWhatrsquos

wrong with you todayrdquo

58

A long silence at her endFinally she said ldquoI guess Irsquom just in a bad mood

I fell off my bike on the way home this afternoonrdquoI groaned ldquoOh no Are you okayrdquoldquoNot reallyrdquo she replied ldquoI scraped all the skin

off my right hand And I twisted my ankle prettybadrdquo

ldquoWowrdquo I muttered ldquoBad newsrdquoldquoEspecially since I have a basketball game tomor-

rowrdquo Hannah sighedldquoThink yoursquoll be able to playrdquo I askedldquoMayberdquo she said glumly ldquoMaybe Irsquoll come watch your gamerdquo I saidThere was a long silence And then Hannah said

ldquoLuke therersquos something something I have to tellyourdquo

ldquoExcuse merdquo I said She was whispering so lowI could barely hear her

ldquoI really should tell you something But rdquoI pressed the phone tighter to my ear ldquoWhat

What is itrdquo ldquoWell rdquoAnother long silenceldquoI canrsquotrdquo she said finally I heard a click and the

line went silentThe next morning my good luck came to an end

59

At least I thought my good luck had endedWhen I arrived at my science class I searched

my backpack for the homework questions Not thereI took everything outmdashevery paper every bookevery pencil

Not there I had spent over an hour on thatassignment last night And Irsquod left it at home

Now I was in major trouble Miss Creamer didnrsquotaccept late homework And homework counted forfifty percent of the grade in her class

My stomach tightened with dread as she enteredthe science lab to begin class

How could I be so stupid ldquoGood morning everyonerdquo she began ldquoI have an

announcement to make Itrsquos about last nightrsquos home-workrdquo

The room grew silentldquoI have to apologize to all of yourdquo Miss Creamer

continued ldquoI gave the wrong assignment Thosewerenrsquot the right questions Irsquom really sorry You

60

donrsquot have to turn it in Just tear it up and throw itawayrdquo

Cheers rang out Some kids gleefully ripped theirpapers into shreds A big celebration

Yes More good luck for me I thought happilyI was on a hot streak Later when Miss Creamer

handed back last weekrsquos test I had the only A in theclass

In the lunchroom I grabbed the last slice of pizzaon the counter

All the kids behind me in line groaned Darnellcame up and offered to pay me five dollars for it Butno deal

After school I stopped by the computer lab to seeMrs Coffey She told me her plans had suddenlychanged She wouldnrsquot be leaving school for anothertwo weeks

I cheered That meant I had time to finish mycomputer animation project and show it to her beforeI left

ldquoLuke I was talking about you to my friend whoowns Linkups You knowmdashthe computer store onHighlands I told him about how you can do any-thing with computers fix them upgrade them Hesaid you might be able to come into the store onSaturdays and help out in the service departmentrdquo

I gasped ldquoReallyrdquoShe nodded ldquoHersquos a really nice guy and hersquos

always looking for people who can fix machines He

61

said he couldnrsquot give you a real job since yoursquore onlytwelve But he could pay you five dollars an hourrdquo

ldquoWow I cried ldquoThatrsquos awesome Thanks MrsCoffeyrdquo

I practically flew down the stairs to the gym Iwanted to flap my arms and take off So many greatthings were happening to me I couldnrsquot believe it

Hannahrsquos basketball game had already startedwhen I stepped into the gym I found a seat in thebleachers and glanced up at the scoreboard TheSquirettes were already losing ten to two

Whatrsquos going on I wondered How can Hannahrsquosteam be losing so badly The team they were play-ingmdashthe Bee Stingers from Elwood Middle Schoolmdashwere the worst team in the city

I turned and glanced around the bleachers Therewere only about twenty kids watching the game Andfour or five parents clustered together at the top ofthe bleachers

ldquoGo Sharonrdquo one of the mothers yelledBut the gym was pretty quiet I guess because the

Squirettes were playing so badlyI leaned forward and tried to concentrate on the

game Sharon McCombs the tallest girl in the Shawnee

Valley eighth grade tossed the ball in A pass Thenanother pass which was almost stolen by a BeeStinger

Hannah grabbed the ball She turned and started

62

to dribble to the basket After about three steps shetripped The ball bounced away as she fell flat on herstomach

A Bee Stinger grabbed it just before it went out ofbounds She dribbled all the way down the floormdashand scored easily before Hannah had even pickedherself up off the floor Twelve to two

I cupped my hands around my mouth ldquoGet rsquoemHannahrdquo I shouted

She didnrsquot look up She was fiddling with thewhite bandage on her hand

A minute later Hannah had the ball again Inclose She jumped and shot And missed Missed thenet the backboard Missed everything

I leaned on my hands and watched the game insilence Hannah missed six or seven shots in a rowShe tripped over the ball hit the floor hard and gota huge bright red floor burn on her knee Her pass-es to her teammates went wild She kept losing theball to the other team Tripping over her own feetBumping into other players

It was sad She didnrsquot look like Hannah at allThe half-time score was Bee Stingers twenty-five

Squirettes five When the team came out to start the second half

Hannah sat down on the bench and didnrsquot play Whatrsquos going on I wondered I climbed down from the bleachers and walked

over to her on the bench

63

ldquoLuke you came to a bad-news gamerdquo she saidshaking her head

ldquoWhatrsquos wrongrdquo I asked ldquoYoursquore hurt Fromyour bike accident yesterdayrdquo

She watched the Bee Stingers score another bas-ket Then she turned to me ldquoNo Itrsquos not because ofmy accidentrdquo she whispered Her eyes were dullwatery Her skin was so pale

ldquoSo what is itrdquo I askedHannah frowned ldquoItrsquos all because I lost my good-

luck charmrdquo she said I gaped at her ldquoHuhrdquoldquoItrsquos what brought me all that amazing great

luckrdquo Hannah said ldquoI have to find it As soon as Ilost it my luck changedrdquo

My mouth dropped open I realized my heart hadstarted to pound

ldquoItrsquos a tiny skullrdquo Hannah continued ldquoA little yel-low skull ImdashI never went anywhere without itrdquo

She tugged at the bandage on her hand Then sheraised her eyes to me ldquoYou havenrsquot seen it any-where have you Lukerdquo

64

My legs suddenly felt weak I gripped the back ofthe bench and stared at Hannah I could feel my facegrowing red

I could feel the skull in my jeans pocket I knew Ishould pull it out and hand it to her

But how could II needed the good luck too Hannah had enjoyed

so much good luck for so long Mine had just startedFor the first time in my life I was having a little goodluck

How could I go back to being a loser againHannahrsquos watery eyes locked on mine ldquoHave you

seen it Lukerdquo she repeated ldquoHave you seen it any-whererdquo

My face burned So many frantic thoughtswhirred through my head

I really needed that good-luck charm Ever sinceI found it my life had changed I was a new person

But Hannah was my friend My best friend in the

65

whole world She was always there for me when Ineeded her

I couldnrsquot lie to hermdashcould IldquoNordquo I said ldquoI havenrsquot seen it anywhererdquoHannahrsquos eyes remained on me for a few seconds

more Then she nodded slowly and turned back tothe game

My heart was pounding hard now I had a heavyfeeling in the pit of my stomach ldquoWhere did you loseitrdquo I asked

She didnrsquot reply She cupped her hands aroundher mouth and cheered on her teammates

I backed away from the bench I felt like a totalcreep I jammed my hand into my pocket Wrappedmy fingers around the rubber skull

Give it back to her Luke a voice in my headurged The voice of goodness The voice of friend-ship

But I knew I wasnrsquot going to give it back I wasalready trotting out of the gym and down the hall tothe exit

I need it a little while longer I told myself Just alittle while

Long enough to win the basketball champi-onship Long enough to get really good grades for thefirst time in my life Long enough to impress myfriends to get on the swim team to make aname for myself long enough to be a winner

I squeezed the little skull all the way home Irsquoll

66

give it back to Hannah in a couple of weeks I toldmyself Two weeks thatrsquos all Maybe three And thenIrsquoll give it back to her And she can have her goodluck again No harm done

No harm donemdashright

The phone was ringing when I stepped in thekitchen door I tossed down my backpack and ran toanswer it

To my surprise it was Mrs Coffey ldquoLuke Irsquom glad I caught yourdquo she said ldquoI have

some really good news You know my friend at thecomputer storerdquo

ldquoYesrdquoldquoI spoke to him after you left the computer lab

And he said you could start work at his store onSaturdayrdquo

ldquoThatrsquos greatrdquo I exclaimedldquoBut thatrsquos not my good newsrdquo Mrs Coffey con-

tinued ldquoHe has a friend who is putting together ashow of computer animation And his friend is veryinterested in seeing your workrdquo

ldquoReallyrdquo I criedldquoHe needs short pieces for his animation show

right awayrdquo she said ldquoIf he likes your piece he saidhe will pay a thousand dollars for itrdquo

ldquoWowrdquo ldquoIs it finished Lukerdquo Mrs Coffey asked ldquoIs it

ready to show to himrdquo

67

I thought hard ldquoAlmostrdquo I said ldquoI need two moredays on it Maybe threerdquo

ldquoWell try to hurryrdquo Mrs Coffey said ldquoI think hehas most of the pieces he needs Hersquos going to beshowing them all over the country It would be ashame to miss outmdashrdquo

ldquoIt sure wouldrdquo I interrupted ldquoIrsquoll get right towork on it Mrs Coffey And thanks Thanks a lotrdquo

Excited I hurried up to my room and turned onthe computer Maybe I can get some work done on itbefore dinner I decided

I heard Mom come in downstairs I called hi toher and said I was working on my computer project

A few minutes later the phone rang again I heardMom talking for a while Then I heard her running upthe stairs She burst into my room ran up behind meand wrapped me in a big hug

ldquoHuh Whatrsquos that forrdquo I criedldquoThat was Mariorsquos Steakhouse on the phonerdquo

Mom said grinning ldquoYou know Your favorite restau-rant You won Luke Remember that drawing we allentered the last time we were there Well you wonit They picked your card You won dinner for thewhole family Twelve dinners One a month for thenext yearrdquo

ldquoWowrdquo I jumped up from the computerLaughing and cheering Mom and I did a happy littledance around the room

ldquoI canrsquot believe you won that drawing That is so

68

terrificrdquo Mom exclaimed ldquoWersquore going to have tostart calling you Lucky Lukerdquo

ldquoYeah Lucky Lukerdquo I repeated ldquoI like thatThatrsquos me Lucky Lukerdquo

I worked on my animation until nearly midnightI stared into the glow of the monitor until I couldnrsquotsee straight and the images became a fuzzy blur

ldquoAlmost finishedrdquo I said yawningI changed into pajamas brushed my teeth got

ready for sleep But just before I climbed into bed Ipulled out my lucky little skull for one last look

I held it gently in my hand and studied it rubbingmy fingers over the smooth top of the skull The tinyred jewel eyes glowed brightly

I rubbed my fingers over the hard bumpy teeth Itwirled the skull in my hand

ldquoMy little good-luck charmrdquo I whisperedI set it down carefully on my dresser in front of

the mirror Then I turned out the lights and climbedinto bed

I settled back on my pillows pulling the quilt upto my chin I yawned loudly The mattress creakedunder me Waiting for sleep I stared into the dark-ness

The curtains were pulled so no light washed infrom the street The room was completely blackexcept for a faint red glow

The glow of the two red eyes in the skull Like tiny

69

match flames against the blacknessAnd then I saw two more glowing spots of red

light Larger Behind the tiny skull eyesTwo circles of light in the mirror glass Two flame-

red circles the size of tennis ballsAnd as their light grew brighter more intense

I could see a form in the dresser mirror Deep nostril holes two rows of jagged grin-

ning teethA skull A red-eyed skullNot tiny A huge grinning yellow-boned skull

that filled the mirrorFilled the mirror And stared out at me with those

fiery flame-red eyesI sat straight up Squeezed the quilt And gaped in

horror as the jagged teeth moved The jaw slid open And the enormous skull mouthed the words

mouthed them so clearly ldquoLucky Lukerdquo

70

The giant glowing skull leaned forward as if topush out of the mirror The jaw worked up and downThe red glow seemed to bathe the whole room inflames

I opened my mouth in a horrified screamI screamed and then screamed againThe ceiling light flashed onldquoLukemdashwhatrsquos wrongrdquoBlinking in the sudden light I saw my dad burst

breathlessly into the room His pajama shirt wastwisted One pajama pants leg rode up to his kneeHis hair was tangled from sleep standing straight upon one side

ldquoWhat is itrdquo he repeatedldquoImdashImdashrdquo I pointed to the mirror My head spun

with confusion I couldnrsquot find wordsldquoThe skullmdashrdquo I finally choked outBrushing back his hair Dad crossed the room to

my dresser I stared into the glass

71

Nothing nowNothing in there except the reflection of my

room As he came near I could see Dadrsquos worriedface reflected in the glass

ldquoIs this what you were screaming aboutrdquo Dadasked He picked up the little yellow skull and heldit out to me ldquoThis skullrdquo

ldquoN-nordquo I stammeredI was thinking hard trying to figure out what I

had seenIt couldnrsquot have been the reflection of the little

skull I saw in the glass NoThe skull that loomed in the mirror was enor-

mous its eyes as big as basketballsDad still squinted at me from the dresser holding

the little skull up in front of himldquoI guess I had a bad dreamrdquo I said softly settling

back onto my pillows ldquoItmdashit was so weird I dreamedI saw a giant skull with flaming eyes But it wasso realrdquo

Dad shook his head ldquoWell if this little skull isgiving you bad dreams want me to take it awayrdquo Hestarted to the door

ldquoNordquo I screamed I jumped out of bed to block his path He looked

startled as I grabbed the skull from his handldquoItrsquos itrsquos a good-luck charmrdquo I said ldquoItrsquos

brought me a lot of good luckrdquo

72

Dad frowned as he gazed at the little skull in myhand ldquoYou sure Luke It doesnrsquot look good to me Itlooks evilrdquo

ldquoEvilrdquo I laughed ldquoNo way Dad No way Trustmerdquo

He clicked off the light on his way out A shortwhile later I fell asleep gripping the skull tightly inone hand

A few days later I screamed my head off again

73

This time it was for funA bunch of us were on our skates up on Killer

Hill Itrsquos actually Miller Hill But we call it Killer Hillbecause itrsquos up at the top where Broad Street scoopsstraight downmdasha steep steep slope down threeblocks to Miller Street

Miller Street has the most traffic in ShawneeValley So the idea is we come skating down BroadStreet full speed We come rocketing down the steepslope as fast as we canmdashand try to skate rightthrough the traffic on Miller

It makes all the car drivers totally crazy You canalways hear tires squealing horns honking driversscreaming as kids come skating right at them

Yes Itrsquos really dangerous Most kids wonrsquot eventhink of trying it But for a guy with my kind of goodluck whatrsquos the big deal

It was a sunny cold Sunday afternoon Froststuck to the tops of the cars My breath smoked upin front of me as I skated to the top of Killer Hill

74

I met Darnell up there He was having troublewith the brake on one of his skates Finally he justripped the brake off and tossed it in a trash canldquoWhy do I need brakesrdquo he said grinning at meldquoThey only slow you downrdquo

Stretch and some of his pals appeared a few min-utes later Stretch was wearing some kind of yellowsweats He looked like Big Bird on skates

He lowered his shoulder and tried to bump me offmy feet But I skated away easily And he didnrsquot tryagain

Things have been a little different betweenStretch and me since I took his place on the basket-ball team Hersquos my backup now He gets to play onlywhen Irsquom tired and need a short rest And I think hersquosin shock over it

Stretch still tries to give me a hard time But Idonrsquot think his heart is in it He knows hersquos a loserHe knows hersquos not one of the lucky peoplemdashlike me

ldquoYou ready to skaterdquo Darnell called He pulledon his helmet Then he stood in the middle of thestreet leaning forward hands on his knees

I gazed down the steep hill to the traffic belowEven though it was Sunday afternoon cars and vanssped along Miller as if it were the afternoon rushhour

I adjusted my knee pads ldquoReadyrdquo I said I movedbeside Darnell

Stretch skated in front of us He grinned at me

75

ldquoHow about a racerdquoI shook my head ldquoYoursquore too slow Darnell and I

donrsquot want to have to wait for you down thererdquoldquoHa ha When did you get so funny Champrdquo

Stretch reached into the pocket of his yellow sweatsHe held up a ten-dollar bill ldquoLetrsquos make it a real raceTen bucks each Winner takes allrdquo

He stuck the money in front of my face I shovedit away ldquoI donrsquot take candy from babiesrdquo I saidldquoKeep your moneyrdquo

Stretch gritted his teeth His pale face turned anangry red He leaned close ldquoYou gonna race me ornotrdquo he growled

I squeezed the rubber skull in my pocket I knewthere was no way I could lose ldquoOkayrdquo I said ldquoButIrsquom going to make it fairrdquo

I pulled a wool scarf from my coat pocket andstarted to wrap it around my head ldquoJust to give you achance Irsquoll skate blindfoldedrdquo

Stretch snickered ldquoYoursquore joking right Yoursquoregoing to skate through all those cars blindfoldedrdquo

ldquoDonrsquot do it Lukerdquo a voice calledI turned to see Hannah waving to me She was

hobbling up the sidewalk on crutches Her right foothad a large white bandage over it ldquoDonrsquot do itrdquo shecalled shrilly

I spun away from the guys and skated over to her

76

ldquoHannahmdashwhat happenedrdquo I asked motioning tothe crutches

She sighed and leaned heavily on them ldquoItrsquos myanklerdquo she said ldquoRemember when I fell off my bikeWe thought it was just a sprain But my ankle keepsswelling up like a water balloon I had to have itdrained three timesrdquo

ldquoYuckrdquo I said staring down at the bandageThe wind fluttered her red hair She shook her

head sadly ldquoThe doctors canrsquot figure out whatrsquoswrong ImdashI might need surgery I donrsquot know AndMom says if it doesnrsquot get better I canrsquot go on thejunior high overnight on Wednesdayrdquo

ldquoWow Thatrsquos bad newsrdquo I murmured Everyonelooks forward to the overnight The whole junior highgoes to a campground by the lake and everyonestays up and parties all night

I couldnrsquot take my eyes off Hannahrsquos bandagedankle Is this my fault I suddenly wondered Did Ireally take away her good luck Hannah has hadnothing but bad luck ever since I found the skull

Irsquom going to give it back to her I silentlypromised Real soon Real soon

ldquoYou skating or notrdquo Stretch called ldquoOr are youjust going to stand there and talk with your girl-friendrdquo

ldquoIrsquom comingrdquo I said I started to wrap the scarfaround my eyes

77

ldquoLuke donrsquotrdquo Hannah insisted ldquoDonrsquot do itblindfolded Itmdashitrsquos crazyrdquo

ldquoNo problemrdquo I said ldquoIrsquom a superhero HannahCars will bounce right off merdquo

I skated away from her ldquoYoursquore wrongrdquo she called ldquoLuke listen to me

The good luckmdashit doesnrsquot last foreverrdquoI laughed What was she talking aboutI skated up beside Darnell and grabbed his arm

to steady myself I pulled the scarf over my eyes untilI saw only black

ldquoYoursquore crazyrdquo he muttered ldquoYou could getkilled manrdquo

ldquoNo wayrdquo I declared ldquoIrsquom going to win twentybucks from you twordquo

I heard Stretch skate up beside me ldquoYoursquore doingthis for realrdquo he asked ldquoYoursquore going to skate into allthose cars blindfoldedrdquo

ldquoYou going to talk or skaterdquo I asked him ldquoFirstone past Miller Street without stopping wins themoneyrdquo

ldquoLukemdashdonrsquot be crazyrdquo Hannah calledIt was the last thing I heard before the three of us

took off I leaned forward skating straight and hard I

heard Stretch and Darnell beside me theirRollerblades scraping the pavement

As we picked up speed I could hear the traffic onMiller I heard a horn honk Heard someone shout

I skated down down laughing through thedarkness

78

ldquoLukemdashloooook outrdquoI heard Darnellrsquos scream I heard the squeal of

tires Horns honkedI tossed back my head and laughed I roared

through Miller Street the blade wheels whistling overthe pavement

Then as I turned my skates and came to a slowstop I ripped the scarf away And saw Darnell stand-ing on the curb on the other side of Miller His mouthwas open He shook his head

Stretch came skating around me ldquoYou crazyjerkrdquo he shouted ldquoYou were almost killed threetimesrdquo

I calmly held out my hand ldquoMoney pleaserdquoldquoYou lucky jerkrdquo Stretch muttered He slapped

the ten-dollar bill into my gloved hand ldquoYoursquorecrazy Really Yoursquore just plain crazyrdquo

I laughed ldquoThanks for the compliment And theten bucksrdquo

79

Grumbling to himself Stretch skated back up tohis friends

Darnell waited for the traffic to clear then skatedover to me He wiped sweat off his forehead ldquoYouwere almost killedrdquo he said his voice shaking ldquoWhydid you do it Lukerdquo

I grinned at him ldquoBecause I canrdquo

The weather turned warm for our overnight camp-out Even though the trees were bare the woodssmelled fresh and sweet almost like spring Highwhite clouds dotted the bright blue afternoon skyTwigs and dead leaves crackled and crunched underour feet as we hiked through the tall trees to thecamping grounds

I squeezed the small skull in one hand as Iwalked weighted down by the heavy pack on myback Some kids were singing a Beatles song Behindme a group of girls were telling really bad knock-knock jokes laughing shrilly after each one

Coach Bendix and Ms Raymond another gymteacher led the way along the twisting path throughthe trees I was about halfway back in the line ofkids

I turned and found Hannah beside me She woreher blue windbreaker with the hood pulled up overher head She was leaning on one crutch as shewalked struggling to keep up ldquoDo you have anywaterrdquo she asked

80

I slowed down ldquoYour parents let you come Isyour ankle betterrdquo

ldquoNot reallyrdquo she replied frowning ldquoBut I toldthem I had to come anyway I wouldnrsquot miss it Doyou have any water Irsquom dyingrdquo

ldquoYeah Surerdquo I reached for the bottle of water inmy pack ldquoDidnrsquot you bring anyrdquo

Hannah sighed ldquoMy water bottle had a leak orsomething It poured out and soaked all the extraclothes in my pack Now I donrsquot have a thing towearrdquo

I handed her the water bottle Leaning on the crutch she pushed back the wind-

breaker hood and I saw her face for the first timeHer skin was covered with big red splotchesldquoHannah whatrsquos thatrdquo I cried ldquoYour facemdashrdquoldquoDonrsquot look at merdquo she snapped She turned her

back and took a long gulp of waterldquoBut what is itrdquo I demanded ldquoPoison ivyrdquoldquoNo I donrsquot think sordquo she said still facing away

from me ldquoI woke up with it Some kind of red rashAll over my bodyrdquo She sighed ldquoI donrsquot get a breakrdquo

She handed the water bottle back to me andpulled the blue plastic hood over her head ldquoThanksfor the waterrdquo

ldquoDoes it itchrdquo I askedShe let out an angry cry ldquoI really donrsquot want to

talk about itrdquo She grabbed the crutch tightly swungit hard in front of her and hurried ahead of me drag-

81

ging her bandaged foot over the dirt pathShersquos having so much bad luck I guess itrsquos my

fault I thought squeezing the skull in my pocket But why are all these terrible things happening to

her Why isnrsquot there enough good luck for both of usI didnrsquot have much time to think about it Behind me I heard shrill frightened screams I

saw kids running off the path Screaming Calling forhelp

I spun around and headed toward them the heavypack bouncing on my back ldquoWhatrsquos going onrdquo Icried ldquoWhatrsquos wrongrdquo

More shrill screamsAnd then I saw the two enormous brown snakes

Swinging down from a low tree limb Blocking thepath

The same color as the tree they twisted their longbodies thicker than garden hoses and snapped theirjaws

I didnrsquot hesitate I dived forward stretching out myarms

ldquoLukemdashwhat are you doing Stay away fromthemrdquo I heard Coach Bendix shout

The kidsrsquo frightened screams rang through thewoods

ldquoGet away from themrdquo Coach orderedBut I knew nothing could hurt me I knew my good

luck would keep me safe

82

I shot my hands out And grabbed both snakesone in each hand

I wrapped my fingers around their thick bodiesThen with a hard tug I wrenched them off the treelimb And raised them high

ldquoWhoardquoI didnrsquot realize how long they were And how strongI let out a startled cry as both snakes wriggled

loose I saw the tiny black eyes flash Saw the jawsopen

Then both snake heads came crashing towardme jaws snappingmdashsnapping so furiously beneaththe flashing eyes snapping like bear traps

83

I felt a rush of air as they snappedmdashsnappedmdashsnapped their sharp-toothed jaws Heads swingingwildly Whole bodies swinging and shaking Thickwhite drool clinging to their pointed teeth

Shrill screams rose all around me I stared atthe snapping heads the glimmering black eyesmdashuntil it seemed that the snakes were screamingtoo

And thenmdashthey flew from my handsWriggled free with strong tosses of their heavy

bodies And plunged to the ground Disappearingso quickly Blending into the hard brown dirtVanishing beneath the carpet of fat brown leavestwigs and fallen limbs

As kids surrounded me I stood hunched overgasping for breath I smoothed my open handsover my ears my cheeks my whole face

I waited for the pain of the snakebites to spreadover me

But no No sting No throbbing No pain

84

They had snapped so close I felt their breathon my skin

But they hadnrsquot bitten me ldquoYoursquore so luckyrdquo Coach Bendix was saying He

had a hand on my shoulder and was examining myface ldquoI never saw anyone so lucky Why did you doit Luke Those snakes are deadly poisonousDeadly Why did you do itrdquo

I stared at him but didnrsquot answer I didnrsquot knowwhat to say

How could I explain it to him How could Iexplain to anyone what it felt like to be so incrediblyawesomely lucky

All around kids were cheering Congratulatingme Talking about me how brave I had been

Leaning against a tree I saw Hannah She stoodby herself crutch under one arm She was the onlyone not smiling not cheering

I saw the red blotches on Hannahrsquos faceWatched as she transfered the crutch to her otherarm And saw her scowling at me her eyes nar-rowed She shook her head and scowled

And in that moment I realized that she was jeal-ous Jealous of my good luck

Jealous that she was no longer the hero She wasno longer the lucky one

Too bad Hannah I thought watching her angryexpression I had felt sorry for her I had felt reallyguilty too

85

But no moreIrsquove got the luck now Hannah I thought And Irsquom

going to keep it

ldquoLetrsquos go guys Wersquove got another game to winrdquoI cried I gave Sam Mulroney a playful towel slap

Locker doors slammed Guys finished lacing uptheir basketball shoes

ldquoDid you see those Deaver Mills guysrdquo Mulroneyasked peeking into the gym through a crack in thelocker room door ldquoTheyrsquore monsters They must feedthose guys whole steaks five times a dayrdquo

ldquoBig doesnrsquot mean goodrdquo I said ldquoThey look likecows Theyrsquore so slowrdquo

ldquoWersquoll dribble circles around themrdquo Jay Boxersaid

ldquoJust feed me the ballrdquo I instructed them ldquoNomatter where I am Feed me the ball Irsquoll put it in Irsquomfeeling lucky today guys Real luckyrdquo

ldquoHey Champmdashrdquo Stretch called pulling on his jer-sey ldquoYoursquore not a ball hog or anythingmdashare yourdquo

Guys used to laugh when Stretch shouted insultsat me But not anymore Everyone was on my sidenow Everyone wanted to be on the winnerrsquos side

ldquoHey Stretchmdashwhat do they call yourdquo I shoutedback ldquoA bench hogrdquo

Everybody laughedStretch laughed too Now that I was a winner he

was starting to be a little nicer to me He even gave

86

me some dribbling tips after one practice The guys all headed out to the gym I could hear

the shouts of the crowd in the bleachers And thesteady thud of basketballs on the floor as the DeaverMills Lions warmed up

ldquoTime to kill me some Lionsrdquo I muttered I finishedlacing my sneakers

Then I stood up Started to swing my gym lockerclosed

And slammed my left hand in the doorldquoHeyrdquo I cried out in surprise as pain shot up my

arm I shook the hand hard trying to shake the pain

away My wrist throbbed I moved my fingers tiltedmy hand back and forth It moved okay Not broken

But the hand was red and already starting to swellldquoNo time for thisrdquo I muttered I slammed the locker shut with my right hand

And still shaking my left hand hurried out into thegym

The crowd cheered as I ran onto the floor I sawsome of the Deaver Mills players whisper to eachother and point at me They knew who the star playerwas They knew who was going to wipe the floor withthem today

We huddled close around Coach Bendix ldquoTake itslow with these guysrdquo he instructed ldquoFeel them outGet their rhythm Letrsquos rattle them show them we canplay defenserdquo

87

ldquoJust get me the ballrdquo I chimed in ldquoIrsquom going tobe loose under the basket all dayrdquo

We gave our team cheer and trotted out to the cen-ter of the floor I searched the bleachers for HannahShe said she would try to come to the game today

I spotted her at the side of the bleachers hunchedin a wheelchair Her bad foot was propped up and ithad an even bigger bandage over it

I guess it isnrsquot getting better I thought I felt a pangof guilt

Poor Hannah I looked for my parents Then I remembered they

werenrsquot coming today They had to stay home for a fur-niture delivery

I turned away from the crowd I had a game toplay Time to get my game face on No time to thinkabout Hannah and her problems

I went up for the opening jump I tapped the ballto Mulroney and the game was underway

He dribbled to half-court then sent a high pass tome

ldquoWhoamdashrdquo The ball flew right through my handsand bounced out of bounds

ldquoMulroneymdashtoo hardrdquo I called ldquoWho were youthrowing atrdquo

He shrugged and started trotting to the Lionsrsquobasket

ldquoGet in there Luke Get going Look aliverdquo I heardCoach Bendix shouting

88

The Deaver guard came dribbling slowly towardme I darted up to him stuck out my hand to steal theballmdashand missed

He moved past me easily and sent up an easylayup for two points

ldquoWeirdrdquo I muttered I shook my left hand Thepain had dulled to an ache but the hand was prettyswollen

I moved down the court Caught a pass Spunaway from the Lion defender Went in for an easy shot

And missedldquoHuhrdquoI heard the crowd groan Startled voices all aroundMulroney slapped me on the shoulder ldquoTake it

easy manrdquo he said ldquoPlay your game Just play yourgamerdquo

A few seconds later I drove in for a shotmdashand wasfouled I moved to the foul linemdashand missed both foulshots

More groans and muttering from the bleachers Isaw Coach Bendix shake his head

A bounce pass from Jay Boxer sailed right throughmy legs Some of the Lionsrsquo players had a good laughover that one

Then I missed three more shots in a rowMulroney flashed me a thumbs-up ldquoNo probrdquo he

called ldquoPlay your game Luke Wersquoll get rsquoemrdquoThe Lions were winning twelve to four I took another pass and moved under the basket I

89

leaped high for a slam dunk My arm hit the rim hard I cried out in pain And

watched the ball sail over the backboardldquoWhoa This isnrsquot happeningrdquo I muttered picking

myself up off the floor ldquoNo wayrdquoAt the other end of the floor I grabbed a rebound

off the backboard I dodged past a huge Lion playerDribbled away from him easily Picked up speedBrought the ball onto our side of the court

Eyed the basket Prepared to stop short and put upa three-pointer

And tripped Felt one sneaker bump the otherTripped over my own shoe

And watched the ball sail into a Lionrsquos hands as Istumbled I fell forward onto my stomach My armsand legs were out flat on the floor ldquoOOOFrdquo

I heard startled gasps from the bleachers Andlaughter

Yes Some people were laughing at meldquoWhat is going onrdquo I cried I forced myself to my feet Shook off the pain ldquoThis isnrsquot happening It canrsquot berdquoI reached into the pocket of my uniform shorts

Reached for my good-luck skullFumbled in the pocket Searched both pocketsldquoHeymdashrdquoNo No No wayThe skull was gone

90

Fumbling frantically in both pockets I began run-ning for the team bench ldquoTime out Time outrdquo Iscreamed

Had the skull fallen out of my pocketI squinted hard searching the gleaming polished

floor No sign of itldquoTime outrdquo I pleadedI heard a whistle blow on the sidelinesI had to find itmdashnow I couldnrsquot play without itMy eyes swept over the floor I began to run full

speed to the bench I didnrsquot see the huge Lions playermdashuntil we collidedI plowed right into him Caught him flat-footed He

let out a startled ldquoOofrdquo And we cracked headsldquoYaaaiiiirdquo I let out a scream of agony as blinding

red pain shot around my head The red shimmered togold Brighter brighter bright as the sun

I felt my legs giving out Felt myself collapsingcrumbling into a deep deep bottomless darkness

91

I woke up to pinpoints of yellow light They flick-ered high above me Each time they flashed a waveof pain rolled over my forehead down the back of myneck

I blinked hard Blinked until I realized I was star-ing up at the lights on the gym rafters

I lay on my back on the gym floor one kneeraised my hands flat at my sides I squinted up atthe high raftersmdashuntil faces blocked my view

Playersrsquo faces And then a few worried-lookingadults And then Coach Bendixrsquos face looming overme bobbing over me like a parade balloon

ldquoWhatmdashrdquo One word escaped my throat My drythroat So dry I couldnrsquot swallow

ldquoStay still Lukerdquo Coach ordered speaking softlyHis dark eyes peered down into mine studying meldquoYoursquove had a bad concussion Donrsquot try to moveWersquore sending you to the emergency roomrdquo

ldquoHuh Nordquo I gasped I rolled onto my side I lurched to my feet The

floor tilted from side to side as if I were on a rockingboat

ldquoDonrsquot move Lukerdquo Coach reached for meBut I staggered out of his grasp Stumbled

through the circle of people that had formed aroundme

ldquoNo No hospitalrdquo I croaked

92

I had to find that skull That was all I needed andthen I would be okay again

The skull I stumbled over someonersquos shoe Staggered

toward the locker room The gleaming wood floorswaying beneath me

ldquoLukemdashcome backrdquoNo No way I shoved open the locker room door

with one shoulder And sliding a hand against thelockers moved to the back row Lurched to my gymlocker Pulled open the door so hard it slammedagainst the frame

ldquoWhere is it WhererdquoI frantically pawed through my street clothes

Searched and then tossed everything onto the floor ldquoWhere WhererdquoNot in my khakis pockets Not in my shirt pocket

Not in my sweatshirtThe locker floor No Nothing down thereStumbling over the pile of clothes on the floor I

lurched back down the row of gym lockers Ranthrough the gym out the doors and up the stairsInto the long empty hall

My sneakers squeaked on the hard floor as I ranThe walls and ceiling appeared to close in on methen slide back into place

To my locker To locker 13

93

It took me three tries to get the combination rightBut finally I unlocked it and flung open the door

And jammed my hand into one coat pocket andthen the other

ldquoWhere is it I have to have it Where WhererdquoAnd then a long happy sigh escaped my parched

throat as my hand closed around it YessssI was so happyI had the skull in my hand I squeezed it tightly

So happy So happyI pulled it out of the coat pocket Raised it in front

of me Raised it close to examine it And let out a cry of horror

94

The eyes They were dark Not red not glowingAnd the face had changed The bump-toothed

grin was gone The open mouth was curled down ina fierce angry scowl

ldquoNomdashitrsquos impossiblerdquo I gaspedI held the skull up to the light The red jewel eyes

were gone The deep round sockets were empty Theskull scowled down at me dark and menacing

What does this mean I wondered How did thishappen

Before I could think about it clearly I glimpsedsomething in the open locker A soft glow A slowmoving light growing larger as if moving closer

The light split into two Two circles of red lightDown low Very low near the locker floor

I gripped the skull tightly in my fist and stared asthe red lights glimmered closer The whole lockershimmered The dark walls reflected the two lightsBrighter bright as fire now

95

Two red eyes I realized Two glowing eyes float-ing from the blackness of locker 13

I jumped back as a black cat stepped silently outas if floating A black cat with fiery red eyes Thesame black cat as before

It pulled back its lips bared pointed white teethand hissed at me

My back hit the wall I blinked against the bright-ness of those two circles of red light

And as I trembled in horror squeezing the skullsqueezing it so tightly my hand achedmdashthe cat roseup off the floor

And melted into another formMelted and grew taller Taller The cat became

a human figure dressed all in black wrapped in abroad black coat down to the floor its face hidden inthe darkness of a black hood

Hidden All hidden except for the eyesmdashthosehorrifying fiery eyes

ldquoWh-who are you What do you wantrdquo I startledmyself by crying out those words I didnrsquot think Icould speak

My whole body trembled I pressed myselfagainst the wall to keep from falling to my knees

The hooded figure stepped silently away from theopen locker A hoarse rasp burst out from under thehood a whisper like the crackle of dead leaves ldquoTheluck has run out Lukerdquo

ldquoNordquo I gasped

96

A bony hand swung out from the sleeve of theblack coatmdashand swiped the skull away from me

ldquoNordquo I cried in protest ldquoNo NordquoldquoThe luck is overrdquo ldquoWho are yourdquo I shrieked in a tight terrified

voice ldquoWh-who How did you get in my lockerWhat do you wantrdquo I screamed in total panic

ldquoThe luck is overrdquoldquoIt canrsquot berdquo I cried ldquoIt canrsquot be I need itrdquoldquoOver rdquo the hooded figure rasped ldquoOver

over rdquoThe red eyes glowed from under the hood The

bony hand held the tiny skull in front of the broadblack coat

ldquoI need that luckrdquo I wailed ldquoI need that skullrdquoAnd I grabbed it back Grabbed it out of the bony

handldquoI need it I have to have itrdquoI raised the skull in front of me Stared hard at it What was wrong with it Something wriggling on

it wriggling in my hand crawling over mypalm

ldquoOhhhhrdquo I let out a moan as I saw The skull wascovered crawling crawling with hundreds ofmaggots

97

The skull fell from my hand and bounced acrossthe floor I frantically shook my hand scraped itagainst the wall brushing the disgusting maggots offmy skin

Under the black hood the red eyes glowed brighterldquoYou enjoyed a lot of good luck Lukerdquo the figure saidin his hoarse croak ldquoBut the luck has ended And nowyou must pay for itrdquo

ldquoHuh Payrdquo I felt my throat tighten I stared at thefiery eyes trying to see a face trying to see who wasspeaking to me from under that hood

ldquoLukemdashIrsquom so sorryrdquo a voice called I turned to find Hannah wheeling herself rapidly

down the hall leaning forward in her wheelchair turn-ing the wheels with both hands

ldquoHannahmdash Whatmdashrdquo I couldnrsquot find any wordsldquoIrsquom so sorryrdquo she repeated As she wheeled herself

closer I saw tears brimming in her eyes rolling downher red-blotched face

ldquoSorryrdquo I repeated my head spinning in confusion

98

ldquoHe made me do itrdquo she wailed ldquoYou have tobelieve me Luke I didnrsquot want to Really But hemade merdquo

She grabbed my hand Squeezed it tightly Herhand was as cold as ice Tears rolled down hercheeks

ldquoVery touchingrdquo the hooded figure rasped coldlyldquoHannahmdashhe made you do whatrdquo I askedldquoHemdashhe made me give you the skullrdquo Hannah

stammered still squeezing my hand ldquoHuhrdquo I let out a startled cry ldquoYou gave it to me

But I thought I found it I thoughtmdashrdquoldquoI had the good luck for a long timerdquo Hannah

said wiping her wet cheeks with both handsldquoRemember when I had so much good luck Then itran out The skull went dark And he forced memdashheforced me to pass the skull on to yourdquo

I stared at her in disbelief ldquoBut who is herdquo Icried ldquoHow can he do thisrdquo

ldquoHavenrsquot you guessedrdquo the hooded figureboomed The red eyes glowed like two angry sunsldquoHavenrsquot you figured it out yet Luke I am the FateMaster I decide who has good luck and who has badrdquo

ldquoNordquo I whispered ldquoThatrsquos crazyrdquoldquoItrsquos the truthrdquo Hannah said her voice breaking

ldquoHe controls me And now yourdquoldquoLukerdquo the evil figure whispered lowering him-

self toward me ldquoDid you really think you could haveall that good luck without paying for itrdquo

99

ldquoI didnrsquot want to give the skull to yourdquo Hannahwhispered holding on to my arm ldquoI gave you achance to hand it back to me remember Rememberduring my game I asked if you had seen itrdquo

I nodded sadly feeling my face grow hotldquoI knew you had it Why didnrsquot you give it back

thenrdquo Hannah demanded ldquoI gave you a chance toreturn it I didnrsquot want you to keep itrdquo

ldquoToo late for that nowrdquo the Fate Master raspedldquoNow you are BOTH minerdquo

ldquoNo wayrdquo I protested ldquoI donrsquot believe any ofthis This canrsquot be happening Itmdashitrsquos some kind ofbad jokerdquo

ldquoItrsquos not a jokerdquo Hannah whispered ldquoLook atmerdquo She pointed to her red-blotched face her ban-daged foot the wheelchair

ldquoNordquo I insisted ldquoIt wonrsquot happen to me I wonrsquotlet it IrsquollmdashIrsquoll make my own luckrdquo

The bulky black coat shook as the Fate Masteruttered a hoarse laugh It sounded more like drycoughing than laughter ldquoYoung man do you reallythink you can go up against FATE I control EVERY-THING that happens Do you really think you candefy FATErdquo

ldquoI donrsquot care what you sayrdquo I screamed ldquoIrsquom notgoing to be some kind of slave You canrsquot control meYou canrsquotrdquo

100

The Fate Master sighed The red eyes faded insidethe hood ldquoDo I really have to prove myself to youOkay So be itrdquo

He leaned closer So close that I could see intothe hood I could see that he had no face Just twoglowing eyes floating in blackness

ldquoLukemdashthat concussion you had in the gymrdquo herasped ldquoIrsquom afraid itrsquos much worse than you thoughtFeel your earsrdquo

ldquoHuhrdquo My hands shot up to my ears I felt wet-ness

Warm wetnessI lowered my hands My fingers dripped with

bloodMy ears were bleedingI felt the warm blood pour down my earlobes

trickle down the sides of my faceFrantically I pressed the palms of my hands

against my ears ldquoThat wonrsquot stop the bleeding Lukerdquo the Fate

Master whispered ldquoThat blood wonrsquot clot Itrsquos justgoing to keep pouring out Bad luck Irsquom afraid Verybad luckrdquo

ldquoNomdashpleaserdquo I pleaded ldquoMake it stoprdquoThe eyes flared ldquoDo you believe in me now Do

you believe that you belong to merdquoldquoOkayrdquo I said ldquoOkay I believe yourdquo

101

ldquoYour fate is in my handsmdashboth of you You mustpay for the good luck you had You must suffer badluck nowmdashrdquo

ldquoNomdashpleaserdquo I begged ldquoI need more timeThings are just starting to go right for me The basket-ball team my animation the swim team Irsquolldo anything I need more timerdquo

ldquoNO MORE TIMErdquo The hoarse rasp echoed offthe tile walls Angry flames shot out from the black-ness of the hood

ldquoButmdashrdquo I started shrinking back beside HannahldquoI control yourdquo the Fate Master boomed ldquoI decide

your luck from now on Do you want me to go easy onthe two of you DO yourdquo

ldquoY-yesrdquo I stammered ldquoIrsquoll do anythingAnythingrdquo

The Fate Master was silent for a long momentThe eyes faded as if retreating into the distance thenglowed brightly again ldquoIf you want me to go easy onyou bothrdquo he said finally ldquoherersquos what you haveto do rdquo

102

ldquoPass the skull on to anotherrdquo the Fate Masterordered

ldquoHuh Youmdashyou want me to give it to someoneelserdquo I stammered

The eyes sparked beneath the hood ldquoPass it tothat big kid the one called Stretch Irsquove had my eye onhim I will give him good luck for two months Then Iwill claim him as minerdquo

ldquoNo I canrsquot do thatrdquo I protested ldquoIt isnrsquot right Itisnrsquotmdashrdquo

The Fate Master uttered a furious growl ldquoThenyou will suffer bad luck your whole life You and every-one in your familyrdquo

I shivered in fear My mind spun I felt the warmblood start to trickle from my ears again

Could I do it Could I trap Stretch the way I hadbeen trapped

I felt Hannah tug my arm ldquoYou have to do itLukerdquo she whispered ldquoItrsquos our only chance BesidesStretch has been asking for itmdashhasnrsquot he Hersquos not a

103

friend of yours Hersquos an enemy Stretch has been ask-ing for it all yearrdquo

True Stretch wasnrsquot my friend But could I beresponsible for ruining Stretchrsquos life For turning himover to the Fate Master

Hannah gazed up at me from the wheelchair withpleading eyes ldquoDo itrdquo she whispered ldquoSave usLuke Do itrdquo

I turned to the Fate Master ldquoOkayrdquo I choked outldquoIrsquoll do itrdquo

The eyes flashed from red to sunlight yellowThe big coat opened and appeared to fly up Itraised itself over me like giant bat wings Floatedover me then floated down

I felt myself covered in a heavy darkness I couldnrsquot move It spread over me blacker

blackerI felt so cold So cold and lost As if I had been

buried buried deep in the cold cold groundAnd then I blinked and saw pinpoints of light

Flickering white lights that grew brighter so bright Ihad to squint

It took me a while to realize I was back in the gymBack on the gym floor A crowd huddled around meTight expressions worried faces

Someone leaned over me A face came into focusCoach Bendix stared down at me the whistle hangingfrom his neck

104

ldquoCoachmdashrdquo I tried to speak but the word came outa whisper

ldquoDonrsquot move Lukerdquo he said softly ldquoYoursquove had aconcussion but yoursquore going to be okayrdquo

ldquoA concussionrdquoldquoLie stillrdquo he instructed ldquoAn ambulance is on the

wayrdquoA concussionIt didnrsquot happen I realized The hooded figure with the glowing eyes The

Fate Master stepping out of locker 13 Taking awaymy good luck Ordering me to pass the skull toStretch

It didnrsquot happenIt was a dream A nightmare caused by my con-

cussionI jumped to my feet The floor swayed beneath

me The bleachers appeared to tilt to one side thenthe other

I saw Hannah in her wheelchair at the side of thebleachers

Shersquos still in the gym I told myself happily Wenever left the gym It didnrsquot happen None of it hap-pened

I felt so happy So freeBefore I even realized it I was running Running

to the doorldquoLuke HeymdashLuke Stoprdquo I heard Coach Bendix

calling to me

105

And then I was out the gym doors And racingthrough the dark empty hallways Running fullspeed

So happy And so eager to get away from thereAway from the school Away from my nightmare

Did I stop at my lockerI must have stopped there because I had my

jacket on when I burst outside Into the frosty nightair I saw a tiny sliver of a moon high in a purple-black sky I stopped for a second to breathe in thecold fresh air

Then I ran across the teachersrsquo parking lot to thebike rack Irsquod ridden my bike to school And now Iplanned to put the pedal to the metalmdashto race all theway home

ldquoYesrdquo So happy I felt so happy I could havedanced all the way home

I jumped on my bike Grabbed the handlebarsWhoa Something wrong A scraping sound I climbed off and glanced down A flat tire No

Two flat tiresldquoOh wowrdquo I murmured How did that happenNo big deal Irsquoll get the bike tomorrow I decided

I started to jog across the parking lot heading to thestreet My sneaker felt loose I squatted down to tiethe shoe lacemdashand it ripped between my hands

No problem I told myself I have plenty ofshoelaces at home I started walking turned onto thesidewalk crossed the street Behind me I could hear

106

shouts and cheers coming from the gym I guessedthat the game had started up again

ldquoGo Stretchrdquo I murmured As I made my way down the next block it began

to rain Softly at first But the wind picked up andthen the rain started coming down in sheets

I zipped my jacket and leaned into the wind Butthe rain drove me back wave after wave of freezingwater

I heard a crackling sound nearbymdashand sawjagged white lightning streak across the front yardacross the street A deafening boom of thunder shookthe ground

I pressed forward Trees creaked and nearly bentsideways in the torrents of wind and rain I couldnrsquotmove I ducked under a broad-trunked tree for safety

But a loud crack of lightning sent a tree branchcrashing to my feet

ldquoOhhrdquo I cried out A close callI jumped over the fallen branch Sharp pieces of

the limb scratched my arm as I struggled to raceaway Another jagged bolt of lightning crackled a fewfeet in front of me sizzling over the wet grass

Squinting through the downpour I saw smokesnake over the lawn The grass was burned blackwhere the lightning had spread

The wind shoved me backward Sheet after sheet

107

of rain washed over me I choked Struggled tobreathe

And then just beyond the rain just beyondthe heavy waves of dark water I saw two glowinglights two red eyes like dark headlights Two evil eyes moving with me watching me

The Fate MasterIt wasnrsquot a dream I suddenly knew that my flat

tiresmdashthe stormmdashthe lightning the pounding rainmdashit was all a show A show of strength

I staggered up my driveway Slipped on the wetgravel Sprawled facedown on the soaked stones

ldquoNooooo rdquoI struggled to my feet Stumbled onto the front

stoop A deafening shattering crash made me spin

around I saw one of the oak trees in front of thehouse split in half It appeared to move in slowmotion One half shivered but stayed upright Theother half of the broad old tree came crashing ontothe roof of the house

Windows shattered Roof tiles came slidingdown

I covered my head with one hand And pushedthe doorbell Frantically pushed the bell ldquoLet me inMom Dadrdquo I pounded on the front door with bothfists

Where were they

108

The lights were all on Why didnrsquot they open thedoor

A crash of thunder made me jump and cry outAbove the front stoop rainwater poured like a water-fall over the sides of the gutters Waves of rain rattledthe living room window and battered the bricks of thefront wall

ldquoLet me inrdquo I screamed over another roar ofthunder I pounded the front door until my fist ached

Then I heard a window slide open I turned to ourneighborrsquos house Through the curtains of rain I sawMrs Gillis poke her head out the bedroom windowShe shouted something But I couldnrsquot hear her overthe roar of rain

ldquoTheyrsquore not homerdquo I finally heard her shoutldquoThey had to go to the hospital Lukerdquo

ldquoWhat What did you sayrdquo My heart jumpedHad I heard correctly

ldquoItrsquos your dad He fell down the stairs Hersquos okayBut they took him to the emergency roomrdquo

ldquoNordquo I cried I beat my fists against the doorldquoNo No Nordquo

The Fate Master was putting on a show for meHe was showing me who was boss Giving me a littletaste of what the rest of my life could be like

ldquoOkayrdquo I shouted cupping my hands around mymouth Water pounded me washed over me bat-

109

tered me against the house ldquoOkaymdashyou winrdquo Iscreamed ldquoIrsquoll do it Irsquoll do whatever you sayrdquo

And I didThe next morning I gave the skull to Stretch

110

I found Stretch at his locker before school startedGiving him the yellow skull was the easiest thing inthe world

Stretch was leaning into his locker searching theshelf for something His backpack stood open on thefloor I pulled the skull from my jeans pocketmdashanddropped it into his backpack

He didnrsquot see anything He didnrsquot even know hehad it

ldquoHey Stretchmdashhowrsquos it goingrdquo I asked trying tosound calm natural As if I hadnrsquot just done some-thing terrible to him Something that would ruin hislife forever

ldquoYomdashhey Champrdquo He slapped me a hard highfive so hard my hand stung ldquoHowrsquos your headman It looks as ugly as everrdquo He laughed

I stared at him ldquoMy headrdquoldquoThat was a nasty collisionrdquo he said ldquoYour head

must be hard as a rock You feeling okayrdquoldquoYeah Not badrdquo I replied

111

Stretch snickered ldquoWell thanks for letting me getsome playing timerdquo He started to close up his back-pack

I stared at the backpack picturing the skull insideit The skull I had passed on to Stretch The tiny redeyes were probably glowing again Stretch was goingto have a lot of good luck for a while But then

ldquoMaybe you and I can practice together laterrdquoStretch said slamming his locker shut ldquoI can giveyou some more pointers Make you look like youknow what yoursquore doingrdquo

ldquoYeah Mayberdquo I saidStretchrsquos expression turned serious ldquoActually

yoursquore not bad manrdquo he said ldquoI mean it You are soimproved I mean yoursquore almost pretty goodReallyrdquo

I donrsquot believe this I thought Stretch is actuallypaying me a compliment

I shrugged ldquoIt was just luckrdquo I mutteredJust luck Ha haldquoNo wayrdquo Stretch insisted ldquoLuck had nothing to

do with it man It was hard work and skill No kid-ding It isnrsquot luck Yoursquore goodrdquo

I swallowed hard I suddenly felt like a totalcreep

Stretch was being so nice to me And what had Idone to him I just gave him a life of bad luck a lifeof slavery to the Fate Master

112

ldquoWhoa Forgot my science notebookrdquo Stretchgroaned He dropped his backpack to the floor andturned to unlock his locker

I stared down at the backpack feeling dizzy feel-ing sick

What am I going to do I asked myself What amI going to do

My bad luck continued all dayI answered the wrong questions on my algebra test

and got an F Miss Wakely warned me that Irsquod have todo extra work if I didnrsquot want to fail the course

At lunch the milk in my milk carton was lumpy andsour I didnrsquot notice until I had gulped down a bigmouthful Then I nearly puked my guts up in front ofeveryone

After lunch I started to comb my hair in the boysrsquoroommdashand a huge clump came out on the comb Igasped in horror and tugged out another clump of hair

Irsquom going to lose all my hair I realizedAs I hurried out of the bathroom I caught my shirt

on a nail and ripped one sleeve off I was so upset Ibumped into Miss Wakely from behind Her coffeecup flew out of her hand and scalding hot coffeesplashed all over her

I found Hannah after school She came rollingslowly down the hall in her wheelchair Her foot wasstill bandaged Her face was still covered in red

113

blotches And I saw that one of her eyes was swollenshut

ldquoHannahmdashIrsquove got to talk to yourdquo I criedldquoDid you pass it onrdquo she asked in a loud whisper ldquoHuhrdquoldquoIrsquove lost my voicerdquo she whispered ldquoDid you

pass the skull on to Stretch Wersquove got to change ourluck I can barely see My skin itches like crazy I canbarely talk ImdashI canrsquot go on like this Lukerdquo

ldquoIrsquove got to find the Fate Masterrdquo I said Hannah grabbed my torn shirtsleeve ldquoYoursquove got

to do what he said Yoursquove got to obey him Itrsquos ouronly chancerdquo

ldquoHow do I find himrdquo I askedldquoHe will find yourdquo Hannah whispered ldquoHe

appears in places of bad luck You knowmdashbrokenmirrors wherever the number thirteen is writtenrdquo

ldquoCome with merdquo I said I led the way to my lockerI waved to some guys heading to the pool for swimteam practice I wanted to be with them But this wasmore important

ldquoWersquove got to talk to the Fate Masterrdquo I toldHannah ldquoMaybe hersquoll come through my lockeragainrdquo

Hannah groaned in pain as she wheeled herselfbehind me ldquoMy foot hurts so muchrdquo she whispered

ldquoHe promised to end the bad luckrdquo I saidI turned the combination lock then pulled open

114

my locker door A burst of sour air choked the hall Igagged then held my breath

ldquoLookmdashrdquo Hannah choked out She pointed to thefloor of the locker

It was littered with dead birds A pile of brown-and-gray sparrows all dead and decaying

ldquoHe left us a presentrdquo I murmured ldquoWhere is heIs he going to appearrdquo

We didnrsquot have to wait long A few moments later I saw the glow of the red

eyes at the back of the locker And then the dark fig-ure stepped over the pile of dead birds and floatedout hunched beneath the black hood

ldquoHave you done what I askedrdquo he rasped thefiery eyes burning into mine ldquoHave you given me anew slaverdquo

ldquoYesrdquo I replied avoiding his stare ldquoThat was ourdeal right And now will you stop torturing us Willyou end our bad luck as you promisedrdquo

The hood bobbed up and down ldquoNordquo he saidsoftly

Hannah and I both uttered cries of protestldquoDid you really think you could make a deal with

the Fate Masterrdquo he boomed The open coat floatedup like bat wings ldquoI donrsquot make bargains with any-one I donrsquot make promises You will take whateverFate dishes outrdquo

ldquoYou promisedmdashrdquo Hannah shriekedThe evil figure snickered ldquoFirst you enjoy good

115

luck Then you must pay for it You cannot break thepattern You should know that You should know thatyou cannot bargain with Fate You will pay for yourgood luck for the rest of your liferdquo

ldquoNo Waitmdash Waitrdquo Hannah pleaded reachingup from the wheelchair grasping at the black cloakgrasping frantically with both hands

But the Fate Master spun around swirling thefoul air He stomped heavily on the dead birds as hestrode back into locker 13

In a second he had vanished Dead birds littered the floor of the hall the floor

of my lockerI turned to Hannah Her shoulders heaved up

and down Loud sobs escaped her throat ldquoHepromised rdquo

ldquoItrsquos okayrdquo I said softly ldquoI didnrsquot keep mypromise eitherrdquo

I pulled the yellow skull from my jeans pocket Hannah gasped ldquoYou didnrsquot give it to StretchrdquoI squeezed the skull in my fist ldquoYes I gave it to

him But I took it back before Stretch even saw it Icouldnrsquot do it Stretch was too nice to me ImdashIcouldnrsquot I couldnrsquot ruin someonersquos liferdquo

Hannah shook her head Tears spilled from herswollen eyes ldquoNow what are we going to do LukeWersquore doomed Now we donrsquot stand a chancerdquo

116

I bounced the basketball hard against the drive-way Drove toward the backboard and sent up ahook shot It bounced off the rim back into myhands I spun hard and sent up a two-handed shotthat dropped through the net

Overhead clouds covered the moon The garagelights sent white cones of light over the drivewayBehind me the house was dark except for a squareof orange light from my bedroom window upstairs

I glanced at the roof Men had worked all day torepair the broken and missing shingles The fallentree had been hauled away One windowmdashbroken inthe stormmdashwas still covered with cardboard

All my fault I realized All the damage to thehouse was my fault

My dad was walking with a cane He had a badlysprained knee from his fall down the stairs But hewas okay for now

That was all my fault too I knew All my bad luck

117

I heaved the ball angrily at the backboard Itthudded high bounced back to the driveway Ipicked it up and shot it through the hoop

Luck luck luck The word ran through my mind like an ugly

chantAnd then I heard Stretchrsquos words again Stretch

actually saying something nice to me ldquoLuck hadnothing to do with it Luke It was hard work andskillrdquo

Hard work and skillNot luckldquoYou cannot break the patternrdquo the Fate Master

had said ldquoFirst you have the good luckmdashthen youpay for itrdquo

The pattern You cannot break the patternNot luck Hard work and skillI shot the ball again Dribbled then shot again

Even though it was a cold frosty night sweat poureddown my forehead I wanted to work harder Harder

And as I practiced those words repeated andrepeated in my mind And I knew what I had to doI knew the only way I could end the bad luck forHannah and for me

The only way I could defeat the Fate MasterI shot again Again I moved to the foul line and

put up several foul shotsI didnrsquot stop when I saw the kitchen light flash on

The back door swung open Dad stepped into the

118

yard wearing his bathrobe leaning on his caneldquoLukemdashwhat are you doingrdquo he called ldquoItrsquos after

eleven orsquoclockrdquoldquoPracticingrdquo I said sending up another jump

shot Walking unsteadily he came up to the edge of the

driveway ldquoButmdashitrsquos so late Why are you doing thisrdquoldquoIrsquom going to win without luckrdquo I replied I sent

up another shot and watched it drop through thehoop ldquoIrsquom going to win with skill I shouted ldquoI canbreak the pattern I can win without luckrdquo

And then without realizing it I was screaming atthe top of my lungs ldquoI DONrsquoT NEED LUCK IDONrsquoT NEED LUCKrdquo

119

My plan was simple Maybe too simple But I had to give it a tryI didnrsquot tell it to Hannah She was pretty much

destroyed I didnrsquot want to give her any more toworry about

I knew I didnrsquot have much timemdashmaybe a day ortwo at the most

As soon as the Fate Master discovered that I stillhad the skull that I hadnrsquot passed it on to Stretch hewould come after me full force

My plan It was to break the pattern To win To win big To have a major success

Without luck Without needing any good luckIf I could win with my own hard work with my

own skill my own talentmdashit would be a defeat for theFate Master I would break his rule I would breakthe pattern

And maybe just maybe that would freeHannah and me

120

And thatrsquos why I practiced on my drivewayPracticed in the dark in the cold until after midnightHard work and skill

Hard work and skillShawnee Valley played Forest Grove this after-

noon The last game of the season My last chance to win without luckAs I changed into my team uniform I knew I had

to be great I had to be a winner today I had to winthe game for my team

And if I didIf I did maybe the nightmare would be overI was so nervous I had to lace up my sneakers

three times I kept knotting them up My fingers justwouldnrsquot work

ldquoGo Squires Go SquiresrdquoGuys were pounding their fists on the lockers

shouting jumping up and down getting pumpedgetting ready

Stretch gave me a playful slap as he jogged pastldquoTry not to bump heads today Champ We gonnabeat these clownsrdquo

I flashed him a thumbs-up ldquoTheyrsquore dead meatrdquoI shouted

I tucked in my jersey slammed the gym lockershut and trotted out into the gym I blinked underthe bright lights A big crowd nearly filled the bleach-ers They were stamping their feet in time to somemarching music over the loudspeaker

121

I searched for Hannah but didnrsquot see herThe last game of the year I thought as I picked up

a basketball from the rack My last chance I swallowed hard trying to force down my fearWas the Fate Master here Did he know that I

lied to him That I didnrsquot give the skull to StretchI donrsquot care about that I told myself Irsquom going to

be a winner today without his good luck Irsquom going to break the pattern Irsquom going to break the Fate MasterI dribbled up to Coach Bendix He slapped me on

the shoulder as I passed ldquoHave a great game Lukerdquohe called ldquoKeep it slow and steady Remembermdashjustfocus Focusrdquo

ldquoOkay Coachrdquo I called ldquoIrsquom ready I feel goodReal strong I think Irsquom going tomdashrdquo

I felt a strong blast of cold air It swept throughthe gym like an invisible ocean wave

And then I saw Coachrsquos expression change verysuddenly He was grinning at me flashing me athumbs-up And then his hand came down His facewent slack His eyes appeared to fade to glaze overas if a curtain had been drawn over them

As if hersquod been hypnotized or somethingldquoHey Lukerdquo he said motioning me back to him

He frowned narrowing his eyes at me ldquoWhat is itrdquo I asked keeping up my dribbleldquoTake the benchrdquo he ordered pointing to the

team bench with his whistle

122

ldquoHuhrdquo I gaped at himldquoThe benchrdquo he repeated his face a blank now

his eyes vacant dull ldquoYou canrsquot play todayrdquoldquoHeymdashno wayrdquo I protested ldquoWhat do you mean

Irsquove got to playrdquoHe shook his head ldquoYou canrsquot play today Luke

Your concussionmdashremember I need a doctorrsquos noteHave you been examined You canrsquot play until yoursquoreexaminedrdquo

My mouth hung open ldquoCoach Irsquove been prac-ticing so hard Please Yoursquove got to let me in the gametodayrdquo I pleaded My heart pounded so hard I feltdizzy My head throbbed ldquoCoach I have to playItrsquos the last gamerdquo

He shook his head ldquoSorryrdquo He motioned to thebench ldquoWe have to follow the rulesrdquo

Whose rules I thought bitterly The Fate Masterrsquosrules

Coach Bendix gazed at me with those glazedblank eyes ldquoSorry Yoursquove already played your lastgame Lukerdquo

ldquoButmdashbutmdashrdquo I sputteredldquoYoursquoll get rsquoem next yearrdquo he said He blew his

whistle ldquoStretchmdashyoursquore in Yoursquore playing thewhole gamerdquo

I stood there I didnrsquot move I stood in the middleof the floor with my hands on my waist Waiting formy heart to stop racing Waiting for my legs to stoptrembling

123

Then I turned and slowly trudged to the bench Irsquod lost today Score one round for the Fate

Master No way I could break the pattern today I was a

loser today But I wasnrsquot finished I could still winIf I had time

124

ldquoGive the skull to Stretchrdquo Hannah pleadedldquoMaybe the Fate Master will go easy on usrdquo

It was the next day We were huddled at the backof the lunchroom I could see Stretch laughing andkidding around with his friends at a table near thefront The Squires had won the game by two pointsand Stretch had been a hero

ldquoI canrsquot do itrdquo I said shaking my head ldquoBesidesyou heard what the Fate Master said He doesnrsquotmake deals It wonrsquot help to pass it to Stretchrdquo

Hannah let out a sigh She had her head buriedin her hands ldquoThen what are we going to dordquo

ldquoIrsquoll find a way to defeat himrdquo I said I bit into myham sandwich ldquoHeymdashrdquo I felt something hard

ldquoOh nordquo I moaned I spit out a tooth In a panic I moved my tongue around the inside

of my mouth ldquoMy teethrdquo I groaned ldquoTheyrsquore allloose Irsquom going to lose all my teethrdquo

Hannah didnrsquot lift her head She whispered some-thing too low for me to hear

125

ldquoIrsquove got to gordquo I said jumping up ldquoI have someideas Hannah Donrsquot give up hope I have someideasrdquo

I ran past Stretchrsquos table where the guys werelaughing and blowing straw wrappers at each otherStretch called out to me but I didnrsquot stop

I made my way to the computer lab The doorwas closed I pulled it open and burst breathlesslyinto the brightly lit room

ldquoMrs Coffey Mrs Coffey Itrsquos memdashLukerdquo I felt another tooth swing loose in my mouth I

gritted my teeth trying to press it down into placeA chubby young man Irsquod never seen before came

out of the supply room He had short black hair ontop of a round pudgy face and bright red cheeks Helooked like an apple with eyes He wore a red plaidshirt over black denims

ldquoIs Mrs Coffey hererdquo I demanded ldquoI need to talkto herrdquo

He set down the disk drive he was carryingldquoShersquos gonerdquo he said

ldquoYou mean she went to lunchrdquo I askedHe shook his round head ldquoNo She left school

She got another jobrdquoldquoImdashI knowrdquo I stammered ldquoBut I thoughtmdashrdquoldquoIrsquom Ron Handlemanrdquo he said ldquoIrsquom taking over

the computer lab Do you have a class with merdquoldquoUh nordquo I said ldquoBut I have a project I was

supposed to show Mrs Coffey She was going to send

126

it to someone who might put it in a show Itrsquos com-puter animation you see Irsquove been working on it fortwo years and and rdquo In my panic the wordspoured out of me I had to stop to take a breath

ldquoSlow downrdquo Mr Handleman said ldquoShe proba-bly left me a note about it She left me a stack ofnotesrdquo He glanced around the cluttered worktableldquoI put them somewhererdquo

How could Mrs Coffey leave without seeing myproject I asked myself How could she do that tome

Didnrsquot she realize how important it was Thiscould be my big triumph If my computer animationis accepted for a showmdashbecause of my hard workonly because of my skill and hard workmdashit wouldbreak the pattern It might defeat the Fate Master

Didnrsquot she realizeldquoUh can you look at my computer anima-

tionrdquo I askedMr Handlemanrsquos cheeks grew redder ldquoWhenrdquoldquoTonightrdquo I asked my heart poundingldquoWell I donrsquot think sordquo he replied ldquoNot

tonight I mean this is my first day I have so muchto do here Maybe next week rdquo

ldquoNordquo I screamed ldquoYou have to look at it PleaseItrsquos very importantrdquo

ldquoIrsquod love to see itrdquo he said picking up the diskdrive starting across the room with it ldquoBut I have toget organized Maybe rdquo

127

ldquoPleaserdquo I cried ldquoFind Mrs Coffeyrsquos note Wersquovegot to get it to the man whorsquos putting together thecomputer art show Pleaserdquo

He narrowed his eyes at me He probably thoughtI was crazy

But I didnrsquot care I needed a victory I knew therewasnrsquot much time

ldquoOkayrdquo Mr Handleman said finally ldquoBring it infirst thing tomorrow morning Irsquoll try to look at it dur-ing lunchrdquo

Not good enough Tomorrow might be too late Irealized

ldquoHow late will you be here this afternoonrdquo Iasked breathlessly

ldquoPretty laterdquo he replied ldquoSince itrsquos my first dayImdashrdquo

ldquoIrsquoll run home after school and get itrdquo I said ldquoIrsquollbring it to you before you leave tonight Could you I mean would you look at it this afternoonPleaserdquo

ldquoOkay I guess Irsquoll be here till at least fiverdquo hesaid

ldquoYesssrdquo I cried pumping my fist in the air Iturned and raced out of the computer lab

I can win I told myself I can defeat the FateMaster My animation project is good I know it isIrsquove worked for two years on it Irsquove put so much hardwork into it

I donrsquot need luck I donrsquot need good luck at all

128

After school I ran all the way home I burst intothe kitchen tossed down my backpack and startedto my room I stopped halfway to the stairs when Iheard voices from the living room

ldquoLukemdashis that yourdquo Mom calledMom and Dad were both there sitting in the

dark Dad leaned heavily on his cane Mom had herhands clasped tightly in her lap

I stopped in the living room doorway ldquoWhy areyou both home so earlyrdquo I asked

ldquoI had to come home I couldnrsquot workrdquo Dad saidsoftly ldquoThat fall I took It was worse than we thoughtLooks like Irsquom going to need surgeryrdquo

ldquoOh nordquo I muttered My fault It was all my faultBut I didnrsquot really have time to talk to them I had

to get to my computer I wanted to check out the ani-mation one more time before I made a copy for MrHandleman Then I had to rush back to school

ldquoBut why are you sitting in the darkrdquo I askedldquoWhy donrsquot you turn on some lightsrdquo

ldquoWe canrsquotrdquo Mom said shaking her head ldquoTherersquossome kind of trouble with the power lines to ourblock The electricity is off We have no power Nopower at allrdquo

129

I let out a horrified scream ldquoNooooo My com-puterrdquo

ldquoYoursquoll have to wait till the power comes backonrdquo Dad said

ldquoButmdashbutmdashrdquo I sputteredldquoWersquore having so much bad luck all of a suddenrdquo

Dad murmuredldquoWe may have to leave the house tonightrdquo Mom

said sighing unhappily ldquoWithout electricity we haveno heat We may have to check into a hotel or some-thingrdquo

ldquoOh nordquo I tugged at my hair A big clump of itcame out in my hand

I was losing my hair Losing my teeth How couldI fight back How

ldquoHe canrsquot do this to merdquo I screamed ldquoHe canrsquotHe canrsquotrdquo I turned and grabbed the banister andpulled myself up the stairs

ldquoLuke What are you sayingrdquoldquoWhere are you goingrdquo

130

I didnrsquot answer I dived into my room andslammed the door shut behind me

Breathing hard I stared at my computer Staredat the dark monitor screen

Useless Totally useless Frustrated I kicked the side of my desk

ldquoOwwwrdquo I didnrsquot mean to kick it that hard Sharppain throbbed up my leg up my side

ldquoOh waitrdquo I suddenly remembered I alreadymade a copy

Yes I made a backup copy of my project On myZip drive Yes

I fumbled frantically through the pile of disks onmy desk And grabbed the Zip disk

I still have a chance I told myself The FateMaster thought he shut me down But I still have achance

I stuffed the disk into my jacket pocket I hurledmyself down the stairs two at a time ldquoBye I have togo back to schoolrdquo I shouted to my parents

ldquoWhyrdquoldquoWhatrsquos going on Luke We need you hererdquoldquoHeymdashcome back and explainrdquoI heard their cries but I burst out the front door

and kept running ldquoIrsquoll stop the bad luckrdquo I said out loud ldquoIrsquoll stop

it Irsquoll stop the Fate MastermdashnowrdquoI found Mr Handleman in the computer lab

leaning over a keyboard typing an e-mail message

131

He spun around when I shouted hi to himI held up the disk ldquoHere it is Please Yoursquove got

to check it outrdquoHe motioned for me to sit down next to him ldquoI

spoke to the producer of the computer showrdquo hesaid ldquoHe called me this afternoon He said that if Iliked your animation I should send it over to himright awayrdquo

ldquoExcellentrdquo I cried ldquoThatrsquos great newsrdquoldquoArenrsquot you going to take your coat offrdquoldquoNordquo I answered breathlessly I shoved the disk

into the Zip drive ldquoNo time You have to see thisRight awayrdquo

He laughed ldquoSlow down Take a deep breathrdquoldquoIrsquoll breathe after you see itrdquo I said He leaned back in his chair and used his hands

as a headrest ldquoYoursquove been working on this for twoyearsrdquo

I nodded I found the file in the disk directory and double-

clicked it ldquoHere goesrdquo I said I was so nervous themouse trembled in my hand My chest was so tightit felt about to burst

Is it possible to explode from excitement I leanedforward to watch

The screen was solid black ldquoItrsquos starting nowrdquo Iwhispered

I stared at the black screen waiting for the brightburst of color at the beginning

132

Waiting Finally a dim glow spread over the screen Two circles of light Two red circles glowed in the

center of the darknessTwo red glowing eyes The eyes stared out unblinking unmoving

Blank round circles of shimmering redMr Handleman cleared his throat His eyes

remained locked on the monitor screen ldquoAre thoseeyesrdquo he asked ldquoDo they move or anythingrdquo

I opened my mouth to answer but no soundcame out

I stared frozen in horror at the glowing eyes Theevil eyes

And knew I had been defeated again Mr Handelmanrsquos cheeks were bright red now ldquoIs

this all there isrdquo he askedldquoYesrdquo I whispered ldquoThatrsquos allrdquoMy project was gone My two years of work were

lost The fiery eyes stared out at me in triumphI climbed to my feet and slumped out of the roomI trudged down the empty hall head down hands

shoved deep in my pockets Irsquove lost I realized Irsquoma loser forever now Hannah and me both Bad luckfor the rest of our lives

I turned a cornermdashand almost bumped intoCoach Swanson ldquoHey Lukemdashhowrsquos it goingrdquo heasked

133

I muttered a reply under my breathldquoI was going to call you tonightrdquo he said ldquoAndy

Mason is sick You have to swim in his place tomor-rowrdquo

I raised my head ldquoHuh Swimrdquo I had nearly for-gotten that I was on the swim team

ldquoSee you after school at the poolrdquo the coach saidldquoGood luckrdquo

Irsquoll need it I thought glumlyBut then I realized I was being given one more

chanceOne more chance to win without luck One more

chance to defeat FateOne last chance

The next morning I wore a baseball cap to schoolso no one could see the bald patches on my headWhen I brushed my teeth that morning anothertooth came sliding out between my lips

My tongue was covered with hard white bumpsMy arms and legs itched I was starting to get thesame red blotches on my skin as Hannah

Somehow I made it through the school day All Icould think about was the swim team race Wasthere any way that I might win That I might breakthe pattern and win the race and defeat the FateMaster

I didnrsquot have much hope But I knew I had to tryI knew I had to give it everything I had left

134

A few seconds after I lowered myself into the poolto warm up Coach Swansonrsquos whistle rang outechoing off the tile walls ldquoPractice laps everyonerdquothe coach shouted ldquoDo them half-speed Letrsquos seesome warm-up lapsrdquo

At the other end of the pool I saw Stretch kick offand begin swimming with steady strong strokes Idid a surface dive and started to follow him Thewarm water felt good on my itchy skin

I kicked hard Picked up speedAs I raised my head to suck in a deep breath the

water suddenly churned hard I swallowed a big mouthful Started to chokeI sputtered struggling to clear my throat strug-

gling to breatheAnd then to my horror my stomach heaved hard

ldquoGuuurrrrrrprdquo My lunch came hurling upI couldnrsquot hold it back I vomited a thick dark

puddle into the clear waterldquoOoh grossrdquoldquoSickrdquoldquoYuck Oh wowmdashhersquos puking his guts uprdquoA sick sour smell rose up from the water I heard

kids shouting and groaning in disgustAnd then I heard Coach Swansonrsquos whistle And

the coach shouting at me ldquoYoursquore outta there LukeGet out Yoursquore sick Yoursquore not going to swimtodayrdquo

135

No I thought This canrsquot happen again This ismy last chance

ldquoCoach Irsquom okayrdquo I shouted ldquoI just swal-lowed some water I can swimmdashreallyrdquo

Coach Swanson glanced around the pool AndyMason was in street clothes Joe Bork the other alter-nate didnrsquot show up

ldquoYoursquove got to let me swimrdquo I pleadedThe coach shrugged his shoulders ldquoTherersquos no

one else I guess Irsquove got no choicerdquoIrsquom going to do this I thought Irsquom going to win

today Irsquom going to do whatever it takes to winThe race got off to a good start I did a speed dive

at the whistle and found myself gliding strokingeasily in the lead

Swimming steadily keeping up a smooth rhythmI stayed in the lead until the waves began

Waves They tossed up in front of me rolledrapidly toward me splashed over me Wave afterwave Pushing me back Slowing my pace

136

Stroking harder to keep my rhythm I turned tothe side and glanced at the other swimmers The poolwas smooth the water flat for them

The waves were just for me A strong currentpushed at me slowing me shoving me back

I ducked under the waves Let them splash androll over me And swam harder

HarderldquoOhrdquo Something brushed my legI felt something curl around an ankle Something

bumped my waist I felt something slide around myknee

With another gasp I turnedmdashand saw the gray-green creatures Eels Were they eels

Wrapping around my legs Twining over mywaist

Long fat eels The water churned with themI cried out I saw the other swimmers gliding swiftly through

clear water They didnrsquot even notice my dark churn-ing water They didnrsquot even see the gleaming wetcreatures slithering between my legs Tighteningaround my ankles my legs

Slapping me slapping me hard slappingme back

ldquoNordquo I burst free I kept swimmingInto thick pink clusters of jellyfish The jellyfish

ballooned around me Stung my arms Stung mylegs Prickled the skin of my back

137

I cried out in pain The sticky creatures swarmedover me stinging stinging me again and again

I could see the other swimmers moving smoothlyahead of me now Gliding in smooth clear waters asI felt jolt after jolt of pain from the billowing jellyfishthat clustered over me

I slapped the water Slapped and kickedAnd let out another cry of pain as the water siz-

zled and boiled Scalding hot now It steamed andbubbled And my skin burned My skin is going toburn right off me I thought struggling to breatheStruggling to keep my arms moving through thescalding steam Kicking kicking hard

The other swimmers ahead of me now Moving sospeedily so steadily

I shut my eyes and swam Yoursquore not going tobeat me I thought Irsquom going to win going to win

And the thought gave me a final surge of energyI shot forward to the wall Plunged like a speed-

ing torpedo to the finishMy hand hit the wall I slapped the wallGasping gasping my chest heaving in

agony And knew that I had lostToo slow Too slowI knew that I had lost again

138

Water poured down my face I shut my eyes andstruggled to catch my breath

I heard a loud whistle Then I felt a hand on myshoulder A slap ldquoWay to go Lukerdquo

I opened my eyes to see the coach He grabbed myhand and pumped it hard Then he slapped me a highfive ldquoYou won You came from behind What a raceLuke Check out the time You set a school recordrdquo

ldquoHuh I did I wonrdquo He helped me out of the pool Guys were cheering

and yelling congratulationsBut the cheering was cut short by a deafening cry

from the middle of the pool A shrill wail that rose likean ambulance siren Higher higher until I wasforced to cover my ears

And then a mountain of water rose up from thepool Red and steaming like a volcano The water roseupmdashhigher highermdashlike a bubbling boiling red tidalwave And all the while the deafening wail rang outwith it

139

Everyone was screaming We all were screamingAnd then as suddenly as it rose up the molten

red mountain collapsed back into the poolCollapsed with a soft splash The pool was flat andsmooth again And silent Silent except for ourstunned gasps and cries

I turned to see Hannah running along the side ofthe pool Hannah out of her wheelchair RunningRunning wildly waving her arms excitedly laughingher red hair flying behind her

ldquoLukemdashyou did it Wersquore free You defeated FateLukemdashyou defeated Faterdquo

But it wasnrsquot enough Not enough for meI changed into my street clothes in seconds Then

I dragged Hannah down the hall to my locker Locker13

I stopped at the janitorrsquos closet And I grabbed ahuge sledgehammer

Hannah cheered as I raised the sledgehammer tothe locker and smashed it smashed it smashed it

Working feverishly I pried the battered lockerfrom the wall Kicked it onto its side Raised thesledgehammer again Smashed it crushed it smashed it

The battered locker door swung open I heard alow groan from deep inside

Hannah and I both leaped back as a skull rolledout onto the floor

140

Not a tiny skull A human-sized skull with glow-ing red eyes

The eyes glowed for only a few seconds Then theskull uttered a final groan a groan of agony ofdefeat And the eyes faded to darkness Empty dark-ness

I took a deep breath Ran up to itmdashand kickedthe skull down the hall

ldquoGoalrdquo Hannah yelledWe walked out of the school building arm in arm

Into the bright afternoon sunlight I took a long deep breath The air smelled so

fresh so sweet The houses the trees the skymdashthey all looked so

beautifulI stopped at the bottom of the sidewalk And bent

down to pick something upldquoHey check it outrdquo I showed it to Hannah ldquoIs

this my lucky dayrdquo I cried ldquoI found a pennyrdquo

141

142

Luke Greene is very superstitious so naturallyhersquos not happy when hersquos assigned Locker 13 atschool But amazingly a lucky charm he finds in thelocker changes his luck from bad to great NowLukersquos luck is so good he canrsquot lose No matter whathe does his lucky charm makes him come out ontop

But Luke discovers that his good luck comes witha very high price Will he pay it Or will he be lostlike others before him in the horror that is Locker 13

About Locker 13

The Locker 13 in Luke Greenersquos story does notexist anymore and it is unclear if anyone who hadthe locker in previous years suffered the same fate asLuke

People who have had unbelievably nightmarishexperiences often keep silent about them (Lukedidnrsquot tell his story to many peoplemdashonly his friend

Go Deeper Into This

Nightmare

Hannah and RL Stine know what happened) So itis possible that what happened to Erica Chass in thesame school 12 years earlier could be related toLocker 13

Erica Chass was a popular seventh grader inShawnee Valley Junior High She had good gradeswas a star soccer player and had lots of friends Thenone day everything seemed to change Erica blew offsoccer nearly failed out of school and was fearfuland shy with even her best friends She dressed onlyin black and always wore a necklace with a smallcharm in the shape of a skull

Then one day Erica moved away She didnrsquot saygood bye She just didnrsquot show up for school one dayand never came back

But some people who went to that school in thosedays insist thatrsquos not the end of Ericarsquos story

The following year a new girl joined the eighthgrade at Shawnee Her name was Alyssa GwynneShe was bright cheerful and a terrific soccer playermdashand she looked exactly like Erica ldquoYou would havesworn they were twinsrdquo says Tracey Holt who knewthem bothmdashldquoNo it was like the old Erica camebackrdquo says another friend Debra Wyle

What was the relationship between Erica andAlyssa Could they really be the same person Andwhat is the connection to the Locker 13 legendMaybe there isnrsquot one but several people havementioned that Alyssa had a necklace that she wore

143

every daymdasha necklace with a tiny charmmdashof askull

About Superstition

Most of our superstitions go back to a time whenpeople believed that witches and witchcraft wereeverywhere People in the middle ages seemed to livein terror that evil magic or witches would harm theircrops bring illness or other disaster to their livesMany of the superstitions that have lasted to ourtime go back to these ancient fears

Break a mirrormdashseven years bad luck Thissuperstition relates to the idea that our reflection is apart of ourselves Harm the reflection and you willharm the original According to the thinking of themiddle ages it takes seven years for the body torebuild itself after itrsquos been harmed So thatrsquos why thebad luck lasts for seven years Luckily there is a cureWash the broken mirror pieces in a south runningriver and the evil is washed away too

Itrsquos bad luck to walk under a ladder This goesback to a time when hanging was a common form ofpunishment It seems that the gallows were prettyhigh so a ladder was often rested against the side ofthe gallows platform Walking under this ladder wasliterally dangerous Be in the wrong place at thewrong time and a rotting dead body could fall onyou If you happen to be careless enough to walk

144

under a ladder you can change the bad luck Justcross your fingers until you see a dog

Black cats bring bad luck There are a lots ofsuperstitions about cats Letrsquos face it cats can becreepymdashand black cats are the creepiest Oneancient superstition about cats is that they will stealthe breath out of babies Where did this idea comefrom

Watch a cat as it settles itself into your lap Beforesnuggling up the cat will often sniff you in themouth At a time when so many babies died the cattheory is as logical as any other

Now for some superstitions that yoursquove probablynever heard of

If you find a knife in the road you will havebad luck

Donrsquot point at the moon (The man in the moondoesnrsquot like it and will bring you bad luck)

Donrsquot brush your hair after sunsetmdashespecial-ly if you have family who spends time on thesea (Brushing your hair at that time will mean dis-aster and death for themmdashand bad luck for you)

If a child hits a parent the childrsquos hand willwag over his grave and dogs will ldquowaterrdquo it

145

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

RL STINE says he has a great job ldquoMy job is to givekids the CREEPSrdquo With his scary books RL hasterrified kids all over the world He has sold over 300million books making him the best-selling childrenrsquosauthor in history

These days RL is dishing out new frights in hisseries THE NIGHTMARE ROOM When he isnrsquotworking he likes to read old mysteries watchSpongeBob Squarepants on TV and take his dogNadine for long walks around New York City wherehe lives with his wife Jane and son Matthew

ldquoI love taking my readers to scary placesrdquo RLsays ldquoDo you know the scariest place of all Itrsquos yourMINDrdquo

ldquoHey check it out A fortune-tellerrdquo Jilly saidShe pointed to a small black tent that stood besidean ice cream cart ldquoCan we do it I love fortune-tellersrdquo

ldquoNo wayrdquo I said ldquoThey make me nervous Idonrsquot even like watching them in moviesrdquo

ldquoCome on Maggie Itrsquos your birthdayrdquo her sisterJackie said pulling me to the tent ldquoYou have tohave your fortune told on your birthdayrdquo

ldquoLetrsquos see what the fortune-teller says about youand Glenrdquo Judy the third sister teased

ldquoI donrsquot think sordquo I saidBut as usual they didnrsquot give me a choice A few

seconds later we were standing at the doorway tothe dark tent

ldquoWersquoll all have our fortunes toldrdquo Jackie saidldquoMy treatrdquo

ldquoThis is so coolrdquo Jilly whispered ldquoDo you thinkits a real psychic Do you think she can really tellthe futurerdquo

The three sisters started into the tent I held backstaring at the red-and-black hand-lettered sign MISSELIZABETH FORTUNE-TELLER ONE DOLLAR

Take a look at whatrsquos ahead inTHE NIGHTMARE ROOM 3

Liar Liar

I suddenly realized that my heart was racing Why do I feel so weird I wondered Why do I

have such a bad feeling about thisI followed my friends into the tent The air inside

felt hot and steamy Two electric lanterns on the backtent wall splashed gray light over the fortune-tellerrsquossmall table

Miss Elizabeth sat hunched with her elbows onthe table head in her hands staring into a red glassball She didnrsquot look up as we stepped inside Icouldnrsquot tell if she was concentrating on the red ballor if she was asleep

The tent was completely bare except for her tableand two wooden chairs and a large black-and-whiteposter of a human hand The hand was divided intosections There was a lot of writing all over the postertoo small for me to read in the smoky gray light

As she stared into the red glass ball the fortune-teller muttered to herself She was a middle-agedwoman slender with bony arms poking out from thesleeves of her red dress and very large pale whitehands Squinting into the light I saw that the polishon her long fingernails matched the red of her dress

ldquoHel-lordquo Jackie called breaking the silenceMiss Elizabeth finally looked up She was kind of

pretty She had big round black eyes and dramaticred-lipsticked lips Her hair was long and wavy solidblack except for a wide white streak down themiddle

Her eyes moved from one of us to the other Shedidnrsquot smile ldquoWalter we have visitorsldquo sheannounced in a hoarse scratchy voice

I glanced around searching for WalterldquoWalter is my late husbandrdquo the fortune-teller

announced ldquoHe helps me channel information fromthe spiritsrdquo

Jackie and I exchanged glances ldquoWersquod like you to tell our fortunesrdquo Jilly saidMiss Elizabeth nodded solemnly ldquoOne dollar

eachrdquo She held out her long pale hand ldquoFour dol-lars pleaserdquo

Jackie fumbled in her bag and pulled out fourcrumpled dollar bills She handed them to the for-tune-teller who shoved them into a pocket of her reddress

ldquoWho wants to go firstrdquo Again her eyes movedslowly over our faces

ldquoIrsquoll gordquo Jilly volunteered She dropped into thechair across the table from Miss Elizabeth

The fortune-teller lowered her head again to gazeinto the red ball ldquoWalter bring me the words of thespirit world about this young womanrdquo

I suddenly felt a chill at the back of my neck Iknew I shouldnrsquot be frightened The woman had tobe a fakemdashright Otherwise she wouldnrsquot be workingin a tacky carnival like this one

But she was so serious So solemn She didnrsquotseem to be putting on an act

Or was I just being gullible againNow she took Jillyrsquos hand She pulled it up close to

her face and began to study Jillyrsquos palm Muttering toherself she moved her long finger back and forth fol-lowing the lines of the palm tracing them with herbright red fingernail

Jackie leaned close to me ldquoThis is coolrdquo she whis-pered

Judy sighed ldquoThis is going to take foreverrdquoJackie raised a finger to her lips and motioned for

Judy to shush The woman studied Jillyrsquos palm for a long time

squeezing the hand as she gazed at it murmuring toWalter in the red glass ball Finally she raised her eyesto Jilly ldquoYou are artisticrdquo she said in her scratchyvoice

ldquoYesrdquo Jilly declaredldquoYou are a dancerrdquo Miss Elizabeth continued

ldquoYou study the dance You are a hard workerrdquoldquoWhoa I donrsquot believe thisrdquo Jilly gushed ldquoHow do

you knowmdashrdquoldquoYou have much talentrdquo the fortune-teller mur-

mured ignoring Jillyrsquos question ldquoMuch talent Butsometimes I see your artistic side gets in the wayof your practical side You are you are rdquo

She shut her eyes ldquoHelp me Walterrdquo she whis-pered Then she opened her eyes again and raisedthem to Jillyrsquos palm ldquoYou are a very social person Yourfriends mean a lot to you Especially boy friendsrdquo

Jackie and Judy laughed Jilly flashed them anangry scowl ldquoImdashI donrsquot believe thisrdquo she told thefortune-teller ldquoYou have everything rightrdquo

ldquoIt is my giftrdquo Miss Elizabeth replied softlyldquoWill I make the new dance companyrdquo Jilly

asked her ldquoTry-outs are next week Can you tell meif I will be acceptedrdquo

Miss Elizabeth stared into the glass ballldquoWalterrdquo she whispered

I held my breath waiting for the answer Jilly andI were both trying out for the dance company And Iknew there was only room for one of us

ldquoWalter can find no answerrdquo the fortune-tellertold Jilly ldquoHe only groansrdquo She let go of Jillyrsquos hand

ldquoHemdashgroanedrdquo Jilly asked ldquoWhyrdquoldquoYour time is uprdquo Miss Elizabeth said She

motioned to us ldquoWho is nextrdquoJackie shoved Judy forward Judy dropped into

the chair and held her hand out to Miss ElizabethJilly came running over to join Jackie and me at

the edge of the tent ldquoIsnrsquot she amazingrdquo she whis-pered

ldquoYes she isrdquo I had to admit How did she know somany true things about Jilly I was beginning tobelieve Miss Elizabeth really had powers

And now I didnrsquot feel afraid or nervous I was eagerto see what the fortune-teller would say about me

She squeezed Judyrsquos hand and gazed deep intoJudyrsquos dark eyes ldquoYou have great love in yourdquo she

announced ldquoGreat love for animalsrdquoJudy gasped ldquoY-yesrdquoldquoYou care for them You work rdquoldquoYesrdquo Judy said ldquoI work in an animal shelter after

school Thatrsquos amazingrdquoMiss Elizabeth ran a red fingernail down Judyrsquos

palm ldquoYou also have an animal that you care aboutvery much A dog No A catrdquo

ldquoYes My cat Plumperrdquo Judy turned to us her face filled with astonish-

ment ldquoDo you believe this Shersquos right about every-thingrdquo

ldquoI know Itrsquos so coolrdquo Jilly exclaimed She sweptback her blond hair with a toss of her head She keptbouncing up and down She seemed too excited tostand still

The fortune-teller spent a few more minutes withJudy She told Judy that she would have a long suc-cessful life She said Judy would have a big familysomeday

ldquoOf kids Of animalsrdquo Judy asked Miss Elizabeth didnrsquot answer Next came Jackiersquos turn Once again Miss

Elizabeth was right on target with everything shesaid ldquoWowrdquo Jackie kept muttering ldquoWowrdquo

Finally I found myself in the chair across fromthe fortune-teller Suddenly I felt so nervous Mymouth was dry My legs were shaking

Miss Elizabeth looked older from close up

When she smiled at me the thick makeup on herface cracked Tiny drops of sweat glistened at herhairline

ldquoWhat is your namerdquo she asked in a whisperldquoMaggierdquo I told herShe nodded solemnly and took my hand She

raised my palm close to her face and squinted downat it in the gray light

I held my breath And waited What would shesee

She squeezed my hand Brought it closer to herface

And then then her eyes bulged wide Shelet out a loud gasp

With a violent jerk she tossed my hand awayAnd jumped to her feet Her chair fell behind her

clattering to the tent floorShe stared at memdashstared in open-mouthed

horrorAnd then she screamedldquoGet OUT Get AWAY from hererdquoldquoHuh Waitmdashrdquo I choked outldquoGet OUT You bring EVIL You bring EVIL with

you Get OUT of hererdquo

Credits

Cover illustration by Vince NataleCover design by John Fontana

About the PublisherAustraliaHarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty Ltd 25 Ryde Road (PO Box 321)Pymble NSW 2073 Australia httpwwwharpercollinscomau

CanadaHarperCollins Publishers Ltd55 Avenue Road Suite 2900Toronto ON M5R 3L2 Canadahttpwwwharpercanadacom

New ZealandHarperCollinsPublishers (New Zealand)PO Box 1Auckland New Zealandhttpwwwharpercollinsconz

United KingdomHarperCollins Publishers Ltd77-85 Fulham Palace RoadLondon W6 8JB UKhttpwwwfireandwatercouk

United StatesHarperCollins Childrenrsquos Books A Division of HarperCollins Publishers1350 Avenue of the Americas New York NY 10019wwwharperchildrenscom

These stories are my scariest ever says RL Stinebecause I wrote them at the Nightmare Hour

When the lights fade the world that we know as real slipsinto shadowmdashand the cold moonlit world of evil dreams

enters your mind and takes over

These ten terrifying tales will make you shiver at any hourIllustrated by ten outstanding artists

I really enjoy your workhellipthank you for creating newnightmares for me mdashKenny age 12 NY

They are horrifying storiesmdashthey even gave me thecreeps mdashSofia age 14 LA

My favorite book is Nightmare Hour mdashJeffrie age 9 WI

Winner of Disney Adventures magazinersquos first everKidsrsquo Choice Award for Best HorrorMystery book

0-06-028688-1 $995 Hardcover0-06-440842-6 $499 Paperback

Available wherever books are sold

Join RL Stine and all your friends in The Nightmare Room

wwwthenightmareroomcom

Ten New Stories by rl stineNightmare Hour

Join RL Stine and all your friends in

ROOMTHE

Step inside wwwthenightmareroomcom

and open the door to terror

You can share with RL Stine your most terrifying dreams and experiences If your stories are terrifying enough for RL Stine youcould star in your own NIGHTMARE ROOMbook

Log on to THE NIGHTMARE ROOM nowand read RL Stinersquos brand-new spine-tinglingstorymdasha story so terrifying that it canrsquot be soldin bookstores

Log on to wwwthenightmareroomcom

where you will truly enter

THE NIGHTMARE ROOM

wwwthenightmareroomcom

THE NIGHTMARE ROOM 3My Name Is EvilMaggie has her palm read at a carnival and then the terrifying accidents beginIs Maggie cursed Will she have to live forever in THE NIGHTMARE ROOM

THE NIGHTMARE ROOM 4Liar LiarRoss looks across the room and sees himself standing there But Ross doesnrsquothave a twin This party has taken Rossto THE NIGHTMARE ROOM

$399 Paperback Available wherever books are sold

Join RL Stine and all your friends in THE NIGHTMARE ROOMwwwthenightmareroomcom

What can happen next in

ROOMTHE

Contents

One

Two

Three

Four

Five

Six

Seven

Eight

Nine

Ten

Eleven

Twelve

Thirteen

Fourteen

Fifteen

Sixteen

Seventeen

Eighteen

Nineteen

Twenty

Twenty-one

Twenty-two

Twenty-three

Twenty-four

Twenty-five

Twenty-six

Twenty-seven

Go Deeper into this Nightmare

About the Author

Take a Look at Whatrsquos Ahead

Credits

About the Publisher

1

ldquoHey Lukemdashgood luckrdquo Who called to me The hall was jammed with

kids excited about the first day of school I was excit-ed too My first day in seventh grade My first day atShawnee Valley Junior High

I just knew this was going to be an awesome yearOf course I didnrsquot take any chances I wore my

lucky shirt Itrsquos a faded green T-shirt kind ofstretched out and the pocket is a little torn But noway Irsquod start a school year without my lucky shirt

And I had my lucky rabbitrsquos foot in the pocket ofmy baggy khakis Itrsquos black and very soft and furryItrsquos a key chain but I donrsquot want to ruin the good luckby hanging keys on it

Why is it so lucky Well itrsquos a black rabbitrsquos footwhich is very rare And I found it last November onmy birthday And after I found it my parents gave methe new computer I wanted So it brought me goodluckmdashright

I glanced up at the red-and-black computer-printed

banner hanging over the hall GO SQUIRES SUPPORT

YOUR TEAMAll of the boysrsquo teams at Shawnee Valley are called

the Squires Donrsquot ask me how they got that weirdname The banner made my heart race just a little Itreminded me that I had to find the basketball coachand ask when he was having tryouts

I had a whole list of things I wanted to do (1)check out the computer lab (2) find out about the bas-ketball team (3) see if I could take any kind of specialswimming program after school I never went to aschool with a swimming pool before And since swim-ming is my other big sport I was pretty pumped aboutit

ldquoLukemdashhirdquoI spun around to find my friend Hannah Marcum

behind me looking as cheerful and enthusiastic asalways Hannah has short coppery hair the color of abright new penny green eyes and a great smile Mymother always calls her Sunshine which totallyembarrasses both of us

ldquoYour pocket is tornrdquo she said She tugged at it rip-ping it a little more

ldquoHeymdashget offrdquo I backed away ldquoItrsquos my lucky shirtrdquoldquoDid you find your locker assignment yetrdquo She

pointed to a group of kids studying a chart taped to thewall They were all standing on tiptoe trying to seeover each other ldquoItrsquos posted over there Guess whatMy locker is the first one outside the lunchroom Irsquoll be

2

first for lunch every dayrdquoldquoOooh luckyrdquo I said ldquoAnd I got Gruen for Englishrdquo Hannah gushed

ldquoHersquos the best Hersquos so funny Everyone says you canrsquotstop laughing Did you get him toordquo

ldquoNordquo I said ldquoI got WarrenrdquoHannah made a face ldquoYoursquore doomedrdquoldquoShut uprdquo I said ldquoDonrsquot say things like thatrdquo I

squeezed my rabbitrsquos foot three times I pushed my way through the crowd to the locker

chart This is going to be an excellent year I told myselfJunior High is so not like elementary school

ldquoHey manmdashhowrsquos it goingrdquo Darnell Cross slappedme a high five

ldquoWhatrsquos uprdquo I replied ldquoCheck it out You got the lucky lockerrdquo Darnell

said I squinted at the chart ldquoHuh What do you meanrdquoI ran my eyes down the list of names until I came

to mine Luke Greene And then I followed the dottedline to my locker number

And gaspedldquoNo wayrdquo I said out loud ldquoThat canrsquot be rightrdquoI blinked a few times then focused on the chart

againYes Locker 13Luke Greene 1313My breath caught in my throat I started to choke

3

I turned away from the chart hoping no one couldsee how upset I was

How can this be happening to me I wonderedLocker 13 My whole year is ruined before it begins

My heart pounded so hard my chest ached Iforced myself to start breathing again

I turned and found Hannah still standing thereldquoWherersquos your lockerrdquo she asked ldquoIrsquoll walk youthererdquo

ldquoUh well I can deal with itrdquo I saidShe squinted at me ldquoExcuse merdquo ldquoI can deal with itrdquo I repeated shakily ldquoItrsquos

Locker thirteen but I can handle it ReallyrdquoHannah laughed ldquoLuke yoursquore such a supersti-

tious geekrdquoI frowned at her ldquoYou mean that in a nice waymdash

rightrdquo I jokedShe laughed again and shoved me into a crowd of

kids I wish she wouldnrsquot shove me so much Shersquosreally strong

I apologized to the kids I stumbled into ThenHannah and I started down the crowded hallchecking the locker numbers searching for num-ber 13

Just past the science lab Hannah stopped sud-denly and grabbed something up from the floor

ldquoHey wow Look what I foundrdquo She held up a five-dollar bill ldquoMmmmmmdashyesrdquo

4

She raised it to her lips and kissed it ldquoFive bucksYayrdquo

I sighed and shook my head ldquoHannah howcome yoursquore always so luckyrdquo

She didnrsquot answer that question It seemed like a simple question but it wasnrsquot And if she had told me the answer I think I would

have run awaymdashrun as far as I could from ShawneeValley Junior High and never come back

5

Letrsquos skip ahead two months Seventh grade was not bad so far I made some new

friends I made real progress on the computer anima-tion piece I had been working on for nearly two yearsAnd I actually won a spot on the basketball team

It was early November about two weeks into theseason And I was late for practice

Guys were already on the floor doing stretchingexercises bouncing basketballs to each other takingshort layups I crept to the locker room hoping no onewould notice me

ldquoLukemdashget dressed Yoursquore laterdquo Coach Bendixshouted

I started to call ldquoSorry I got hung up in the com-puter labrdquo But that was no kind of excuse So I justgave Coach a nod and started jogging full speed to thelocker room to get changed

My stomach felt kind of tight I realized I wasnrsquotlooking forward to practice today For a little guy Irsquom apretty good basketball player Irsquove got a good outside

6

shot and pretty fast hands on defense I was so excited to make the team But I wasnrsquot

counting on one problemmdashan eighth grader namedStretch Johannsen

Stretchrsquos real name is Shawn But everyone in theworld calls him Stretchmdasheven his parents You mightwonder how he got that name But if you saw him youwouldnrsquot wonder

Stretch had some kind of a growth spurt last year inseventh grade and he became a big blond giant prac-tically overnight Hersquos taller than anyone in the highschool He has shoulders like a wrestler and long armsI mean really long arms like a chimpanzee He canreach halfway across the gym

And thatrsquos why everyone started calling himStretch

I think a better name for him would be OstrichThatrsquos because he has long skinny legs like bird legsand a huge chest thatrsquos so wide it makes his pale blue-eyed head look as tiny as an egg

But I would never try my nickname on him I donrsquotthink I can run fast enough Stretch doesnrsquot have muchof a sense of humor In fact hersquos a pretty mean guyalways trash-talking and shoving people aroundmdashandnot just on the basketball floor

I think once he got over the shock of being a gianthe decided to be really impressed with himself

Like being a giant is some kind of special talent orsomething

7

But donrsquot get me started Irsquom always analyzingpeople thinking too hard about them about every-thing Hannah is always telling me I think too muchBut I donrsquot get it How do you stop thinking

Last week after a practice Coach Bendix saidnearly the same thing ldquoYoursquove got to play oninstinct Luke There isnrsquot time to think before everymoverdquo

Which I guess is another reason why I ride thebench Of course Irsquom only in seventh grade Sounless another giant forward tries out for the SquiresIrsquoll probably get to play next yearmdashafter Stretchgraduates

But for now itrsquos really embarrassing not to get toplay Especially since my parents come to everygame to cheer me on I sit on the team bench andwatch Mom and Dad up in the gym bleachers juststaring at me Staring

It doesnrsquot make you feel great Even the time-outs are painful Stretch always

comes trotting over to the team bench He wipes thesweat off his face and bodymdashand then throws thetowel onto me Like Irsquom some kind of towel boy

During one time-out late in the first game he tooka long gulp of Gatorade and spit it onto my uniformshirt I looked up and saw my parents watching fromthe bleachers

8

Sad Really sad Our team the Squires won our first two games

mainly because Stretch wouldnrsquot let anyone elsehandle the ball It was great to winmdashbut I wasalready starting to feel like a loser I wanted to play

Maybe if I have a really strong practice todayCoach Bendix will try me out at guard I told myselfOr maybe even as a backup center I laced up myshoes and triple-knotted them for luck Then I shutmy eyes and counted to seven three times

Just something I doI straightened my red-and-black uniform shorts

slammed the gym locker shut and trotted out of thelocker room and onto the floor Guys were at the farend taking three-point shots everyone shooting atonce The balls bounced off each other bounced offthe hoop The backboard rang out with a steadythud thud thud

Some of the shots actually dropped inldquoLuke get busyrdquo Coach yelled motioning me to

the basket ldquoGet some rebounds Make some shotsGet looserdquo

I flashed him a thumbs-up and ran to join theothers I saw Stretch leap up and make a highrebound To my surprise he spun around andheaved the ball at me ldquoLukemdashthink fastrdquo

I wasnrsquot expecting it The ball sailed through my

9

hands I had to chase it to the wall I dribbled backto find Stretch waiting ldquoGo ahead man Shootrdquo

I swallowed hardmdashand sent up a two-handedshot

ldquoHe shootsmdashhe missesrdquo Stretch shouted Someguys laughed

My shot bounced off the rim Stretch took threefast strides reached up his long arms and grabbedthe rebound in midair He tossed it back to meldquoShoot againrdquo

My next shot brushed the bottom of the netldquoHe shootsmdashhe missesrdquo Stretch repeated as if

that was the funniest thing anyone ever said Moreloud laughter

Stretch took the rebound and tossed me the ballldquoAgainrdquo he ordered

Everyone was watching now I sent up a one-handed layup that almost dropped in It rolledaround the rim then fell off

ldquoHe shootsmdashhe missesrdquoI could feel sweat rolling down my forehead

Why canrsquot I get lucky here I asked myself Comeon Lukemdashjust one lucky shot I slapped my lefthand rapidly against the leg of my shorts seventimes

Stretch bounced the ball to me ldquoGo champYoursquore O for three You got a streak goingrdquo Morelaughter

I shut my eyes for a second Then I sailed this

10

one highmdashand gasped as it sank through the hoopStretch grinned and shook his head The other

guys all cheered as if Irsquod just won the state juniorhigh tournament

I grabbed the ball and dribbled away from themI didnrsquot want to give Stretch a chance to ruin my vic-tory I knew he would keep me shooting till I wasone for three hundred

I turned to see if Coach Benson had watched myshot He leaned against the wall talking to two otherteachers He hadnrsquot seen it

I dribbled across the floor then back toward theothers Then I made a big mistake

A really big mistake A mistake that ruined mylife at Shawnee Valley Junior High

ldquoHey Stretchmdashthink fastrdquo I shouted And Iheaved the ball at him as hard as I could

What was I thinkingI didnrsquot see that he had bent down on one knee

to tie his sneaker lace I froze in horrormdashand watched the ball fly at

him It hit him hard on the side of the head knockedhim over and sent him tumbling to the floor

ldquoHeymdashrdquo he cried out stunned He shook hishead dizzily I saw bright red blood start to flow fromhis nose

ldquoStretchmdashIrsquom sorryrdquo I shrieked ldquoI didnrsquot seeyou I didnrsquot meanmdashrdquo

I lurched forward running to help him up

11

ldquoMy contactsrdquo he cried ldquoYou knocked out mycontactsrdquo

And then I heard a soft squish under my shoeI stopped Lifted my foot Stretchrsquos contact lens

lay flat as a pancake on the gym floorEveryone saw itStretch was on his feet now Blood rolled down

his lips his chin He didnrsquot pay any attention to it He had his eyes

narrowed on me He lumbered forward clenchingand unclenching his giant fists

I was doomed

12

Stretch reached under my arms and lifted me upHe was so huge and strong he picked me off thefloor like I was a ventriloquistrsquos dummy

ldquoWhoa It was an accidentrdquo I whisperedldquoHerersquos another accidentrdquo he said When he

talked he spit blood in my face He tightened his gripunder my arms

He raised me higher and gazed up at the basketIs he going to make a three-point shot with me Iwondered

Yes He is Hersquos going to slam dunk meBehind me I heard shouts A whistle blowing

Running footstepsldquoTake it outside Stretchrdquo I heard Coach Bendix

shoutHuhStretch slowly lowered me to the floor My knees

started to buckle but I managed to stay on my feet Stretch rubbed a hand across his bloody nose

then wiped it on the front of my jersey

13

ldquoTake it outsiderdquo Coach repeated edgingbetween us ldquoLetrsquos pair up everybody One on oneStretchmdashyou and Lukerdquo

ldquoNo wayrdquo Stretch mutteredldquoHersquos your backuprdquo Coach said poking Stretch

in the chest with his whistle ldquoYoursquove got to teachLuke Irsquom putting you in charge of Lukersquos develop-mentrdquo

Stretch snickered ldquoDevelopment He doesnrsquothave any developmentrdquo

ldquoGo to my office Get some tissues and stop thatnosebleedrdquo Coach instructed Stretch ldquoThen takeLuke to the practice court behind the playgroundShow him some moves Teach him somethingrdquo

Stretch stared at the floor for a few seconds as ifthinking it over But he knew better than to arguewith Coach Bendix He nodded at me ldquoLetrsquos goChamprdquo

What choice did I have Even though I knew itwas pain time for me I turned and followed him out-side

It was late afternoon pretty cold to be outside inbasketball shorts and a sleeveless jersey Since it wasNovember the big red sun had already loweredbehind the houses across the street from the play-ground

I shiveredStretch didnrsquot give me much of a chance to get

14

ready He pounded the ball hard on the asphalt courtand came racing at me like a stampeding bull

I tried to slide to the side But Stretch lowered hisshoulder and slammed it hard into my gut

ldquoOhhhrdquo I groaned and slumped backldquoDefenserdquo he shouted ldquoGet your hands up

Champ Get ready Here I come againrdquoldquoNomdashwaitmdashrdquo I pleadedThe ball thundered in front of him as he drove

into me again This time he kept his body up straightThe force of the collision sent me sprawling to theasphalt

ldquoDefenserdquo he shouted ldquoShow me somethingBlock me At least slow me down a littlerdquo

Groaning again I climbed to my feet I felt as ifIrsquod been hit by a truck

Stretch dribbled around me circling me his eyeslocked angrily on me His nosebleed had stoppedbut he still had dried blood caked under his nose

I rubbed my chest ldquoI I think I broke a ribrdquo Iwhispered

With a wild shout he slammed into me againThis time I flew backmdashand smashed into the thickwooden post that held up the backboard

ldquoYoursquore going to pay for those contacts Champrdquohe called hulking over me so I couldnrsquot stand updribbling the ball inches from my feet

ldquoYeah Okayrdquo I said trying to rub the pain frommy chest ldquoI said I was sorryrdquo

15

ldquoYoursquore gonna be more sorryrdquo he said Hebounced the ball hard against my bare leg ldquoGet uprdquo

I didnrsquot move ldquoIt was an accidentrdquo I insisted ldquoIreally didnrsquot see you bend down Reallyrdquo

He picked at the caked blood under his noseldquoGet up Letrsquos go Irsquom supposed to teach you some-thingrdquo He laughed really loud Irsquom not sure whyThen he swept a huge hand back through his shortwhite-blond hair and waited for me to stand up Sohe could teach me more lessons

I climbed shakily to my feet I felt so dizzy I hadto grab the wooden post My head ached My ribsached

ldquoCan we uh play a different gamerdquoI asked weakly

ldquoYeah Surerdquo he said ldquoHeymdashthink fastrdquoHe was standing so close and he heaved the ball

so hard it felt like a cannonball as it shot into mystomach

I stumbled back And let out a sharp gaspAnd then realized I couldnrsquot breatheI struggled hard to suck in some air No no air I canrsquot get air I saw bright yellow stars The yellow darkened to

redPain shot through my chest The pain spread

growing sharper sharper I was down on my back now staring up at the

16

17

sky staring up at the dancing red stars I wanted toscream But I had no air

Canrsquot breathe canrsquot breathe at all The stars faded away The color faded from the

sky All black All black nowAnd as I sank into the blackness I heard a voiceA beautiful soft voice from far far away Calling

my nameAn angel I realized Yes Through the blackness I heard an angel call-

ing my nameAnd I knew that I had died

ldquoLuke LukerdquoThe blackness lifted I blinked up at the afternoon

sky The voice was closer now And I recognized itldquoLukerdquoMy chest ached as I took a deep breathHeymdashwhen had I started to breathe againI lifted my head and saw Hannah running across

the basketball court She wore a blue windbreakerunzipped and it flapped up over her shoulders likewings Her red hair glowed in the late afternoon sunlike a halo

Not an angel Just Hannah She turned angrily to Stretch as she ran past him

ldquoWhat did you do to Lukemdashkill himrdquoStretch giggled ldquoProbablyrdquoHannah dropped onto her knees beside me Her

windbreaker fell over my face She tugged it awayldquoAre you alive Can you speakrdquo

ldquoYeah Irsquom okayrdquo I muttered I felt like a jerk Ahelpless jerk

18

Stretch walked up behind Hannah ldquoWhorsquos sherdquohe sneered at me ldquoYour girlfriendrdquo

Hannah spun around to face him ldquoHeymdashIrsquoveseen your girlfriendrdquo

Stretchrsquos mouth dropped open ldquoHuh Whorsquosthatrdquo

ldquoGodzillardquo Hannah declaredI tried to laugh but it made my ribs hurtThe next thing I knew Hannah was on her feet

shoving Stretchrsquos shoulders with both hands forcinghim to back up ldquoEver hear of picking on someoneyour own sizerdquo she demanded

Stretch laughed ldquoNo Tell me about itrdquo Hebacked away from her and raised his big meaty fistsHe grinned and started dancing like a fighter ldquoComeon You want a piece of me You want a piece ofmerdquo Imitating someone in a movie I guess

ldquoOne on onerdquo Hannah challenged Stretch tossed back his head and laughed His

blue eyes rolled around in his tiny head ldquoYou wanta piece of merdquo

ldquoFreestyle shootingrdquo Hannah said tearing off thewindbreaker She tossed it to the side of the courtldquoCome on Stretch Twenty shots each Any kind ofshotrdquo She stared up at him ldquoYoursquoll lose ReallyYoursquoll see Yoursquoll lose to a girlrdquo

His smile faded ldquoYoursquore on the girlsrsquo basketballteammdashrightrdquo

Hannah nodded ldquoIrsquom the centerrdquo

19

Stretch started to dribble the ball slowly in frontof him ldquoTwenty shots Layups or three-pointrdquo

Hannah shrugged ldquoAny kind Yoursquoll loserdquoI climbed to my feet and went over to the side of

the court to watch I still felt a little shaky but I knewI was okay

Stretch didnrsquot hesitate He raised the ball andpushed up a one-handed shot from half-court Theball hit the backboard then the rimmdashand droppedin ldquoOne for onerdquo he said He ran to retrieve the ballldquoIrsquoll keep shooting until I missrdquo

He missed his next shot an easy layup fromunder the basket

Hannahrsquos turn I crossed my fingers and countedto seven three times

ldquoGo Hannahrdquo I cheered holding up my crossedfingers

Hannah sank a basket from the foul line Thenshe drove under the basket and shot another one infrom underneath

My mouth dropped open as she sank eight morebaskets without a miss ldquoWow Go Hannahrdquo

Stretch just stood there looking dumb I couldnrsquottell what he was thinking His face was a total blank

ldquoTen for tenrdquo Hannah declared She bounced theball to Stretch ldquoYou go Just to keep it interestingrdquo

Hannah glanced at me grinned and flashed mea thumbs-up

Stretch wasnrsquot smiling anymore He had a grim

20

determined look on his face as he drove in close toshoot He dropped four straight baskets then missedone from in front of the foul line

He muttered something under his breath andbounced the ball to Hannah

Hannah sank eight more in a row She turned toStretch ldquoEighteen for eighteenrdquo

But he was already jogging back to the gym ascowl on his face

ldquoIrsquom not finishedrdquo Hannah called after himStretch turned back to me ldquoHey Champmdashmaybe

you should take a lesson from your girlfriend Ormaybe you should play on her teamrdquo Shaking hishead he disappeared into the school

A strong wind began to blow across the play-ground It was dark as evening now I picked upHannahrsquos windbreaker and reached out to hand it toher But she took another shot ldquoNineteenrdquo And thenanother ldquoTwenty Yay I winrdquo

I gaped at her ldquoHannahmdashyou never miss Howdo you do thatrdquo

She shrugged ldquoJust luckyrdquoI shivered We started jogging back to the school

ldquoAsk me how lucky I amrdquo I muttered ldquoI made a newenemy today A huge enemyrdquo

Hannah stopped and grabbed my arm ldquoHeymdashItotally forgot why I was looking for you I wanted totell you the coolest newsrdquo

I held the school door open ldquoYeah Whatrdquo

21

Hannahrsquos green eyes flashed ldquoYou know thosephotos I took of my dog I sent them to a magazine inNew York And guess what They paid me five hun-dred dollars for them Theyrsquore going to publish themmdashand do a big story about me Isnrsquot that so totally coolrdquo

ldquoWow Totallyrdquo I saidAnd thatrsquos when I decided my luck had to changeWhy should Hannah have all the luck I can be

lucky too I told myselfItrsquos all attitude Thatrsquos what it takes The right atti-

tudeI changed into my street clothes I made my way

upstairs to stop at my locker Locker 13 Basketball practice had run so late the halls were

empty My shoes clonked noisily on the hard floorMost of the lights had already been turned off

This school is creepy when itrsquos empty I decided Istopped in front of my locker feeling a chill at the backof my neck

I always felt a little weirded-out in front of thelocker For one thing it wasnrsquot with all the otherseventh-grade lockers It was down at the end of theback hall by itself just past a janitorrsquos supply closet

Up and down the hall all the other lockers hadbeen painted over the summer They were all asmooth silvery gray But no one had touched locker13 The old green paint was peeling and had largepatches scraped off Deep scratches crisscrossed upand down the door

22

The locker smelled damp And sour As if it hadonce been filled with rotting leaves or dead fish orsomething

Thatrsquos okay I can deal with this I told myself I took a deep breath New attitude Luke New

attitude Your luck is going to changeI opened my backpack and pulled out a fat black

marker Then I closed the locker door And rightabove the number 13 I wrote the word LUCKY in bigbold capital letters

I stepped back to admire my work LUCKY 13ldquoYessssrdquo I felt better alreadyI shoved the black marker into my backpack and

started to zip it up And thatrsquos when I heard thebreathing

Soft soft breaths So soft I thought I imaginedthem From inside the locker

I crept closer and pressed my ear against the doorI heard a soft hiss Then more breathingThe backpack slipped out of my hands and thud-

ded to the floor I froze And heard another soft hiss inside the locker It

ended in a short cry The back of my neck prickled My breath caught

in my throatWithout realizing it my hand had gripped the

locker handleShould I open the door Should I

23

My hand tightened on the handle I forced myselfto start breathing again

Irsquom imagining this I told myself There canrsquot be anyone breathing inside my lockerI lifted the handle Pulled open the doorldquoHeymdashrdquo I cried out in shock And stared down at

a black catThe cat gazed up at me its eyes red in the dim

hall light The black fur stood up on its back Itpulled back its lips and hissed again

A black catA black cat inside my lockerIrsquom imagining this I thought I blinked hard trying to blink the cat awayA black cat inside locker 13 Could there be any

worse luckldquoHowmdashhow did you get in thererdquo I choked outThe cat hissed again and arched its back It gazed

up at me coldly Then it leaped from the locker floor It darted over

24

my shoes down the hall Running rapidly silentlyHead down tail straight up it turned the first cornerand disappeared

I stared after it my heart pounding I could stillfeel its furry body brushing against my leg I realizedI was still gripping the locker handle

My head spun with questions How long had thecat been in there How did it get inside the lockeddoor Why was there a black cat in my locker Why

I turned and checked out the floor of the lockerJust to make sure there werenrsquot any other creatureshiding in there Then still feeling confused I closedthe door carefully locked it and stepped back

LUCKY 13The black letters appeared to glowldquoYeah Luckyrdquo I muttered picking up my back-

pack ldquoReal lucky A black cat in my lockerrdquo I held my lucky rabbitrsquos foot and kept squeezing

it tightly all the way homeThings are going to change I told myself Things

have got to change

But in the next few weeks my luck didnrsquot changeat all

One day after school I was on my way to the com-puter lab when I ran into Hannah ldquoWhere are yougoingrdquo she asked ldquoWant to come watch my basket-ball gamerdquo

ldquoI canrsquotrdquo I replied ldquoI promised to install some

25

new modems for Mrs Coffey the computer teacherrdquoldquoMr Computer Geek strikes againrdquo she said She

started jogging toward the gymldquoDid you get your science test backrdquo I called

after herShe stopped and turned around with a grin on her

face ldquoYou wonrsquot believe it Luke I didnrsquot have timeto study I had to guess on every question And guesswhat I got a hundred I got them all rightrdquo

ldquoThatrsquos excellentrdquo I called Irsquod studied for thattest for a solid week and I got a seventy-four

I made my way into the computer lab and wavedto Mrs Coffey She was hunched over her desk sort-ing through a tall stack of disks ldquoHey howrsquos itgoingrdquo she called

The computer lab is my second home Ever sinceMrs Coffey learned that I can repair computers andupgrade them and install things in them Irsquove beenher favorite student

And I have to admit I really like her tooWhenever I donrsquot have basketball practice I checkin at the computer lab to talk with her and see whatneeds to be fixed

ldquoLuke how is your animation project comingalongrdquo she asked setting down the disks Shebrushed back her blond hair She has the nicestsmile Everyone likes her because she always seemsto enjoy her classes so much

ldquoIrsquom almost ready to show it to yourdquo I said I sat

26

down in front of a computer and started to removethe back ldquoI think itrsquos really cool And itrsquos going muchfaster now I found a new way to move pixelsaroundrdquo

Her eyes grew wide ldquoReallyrdquoldquoItrsquos a very cool inventionrdquo I said carefully slid-

ing the insides from the computer ldquoThe program ispretty simple I think a lot of animators might like itrdquo

I set down my screwdriver and gazed across theroom at her ldquoMaybe you could help me You knowShow it to people Get it copyrighted or somethingrdquo

ldquoMayberdquo she said She stood up smoothing thehem of her blue sweater over her jeans She came upbehind me and watched as I removed the old modemldquoYoursquore really skillful Luke I think yoursquore going tomake a lot of money with computers some dayrdquo

ldquoYeah Mayberdquo I replied awkwardly ldquoThanksrdquo Ididnrsquot really know what to say Mrs Coffey is so awe-some She is the only teacher who really encouragesme and thinks Irsquom somebody

ldquoI canrsquot wait to show you my animationrdquo I said ldquoWell I have some big newsrdquo she said sud-

denly I turned and caught the excited smile on herface ldquoYoursquore the first person to hear it Luke Can youkeep a secretrdquo

ldquoYeah Okayrdquo I saidldquoI just got the most wonderful job At a really big

software company in Chicago Irsquom leaving school nextweekrdquo

27

The next afternoon I couldnrsquot check in at the com-puter lab I had to hurry to the swimming poolbehind the gym

Swimming is my other big sport I spent all lastsummer working with an instructor at our local poolHe was fast enough to make the Olympic tryouts afew years ago And he really improved my stroke andshowed me a lot of secrets for getting my speed up

So I looked forward to the tryouts for the Squiresswim team I couldnrsquot wear my lucky swimsuitbecause it didnrsquot fit anymore But I wore my luckyshirt to school that day And as I changed for thepool I silently counted to seven three times

As I left the locker room I heard shouts andlaughter echoing off the tile pool walls Feeling myheart start to race I stepped into the steamy air ofthe indoor pool The floor was puddled with warmwater I inhaled the sharp chlorine smell I love thatsmell

Then I bent down and kissed the top of the divingboard I know It sounds weird But itrsquos just some-thing I always do

I turned to the pool Three or four guys werealready in the water At the shallow end I sawStretch He was violently splashing two other guysHe had them cornered at the end of the pool His bighands slapped the water sending up tall waves overthem They pleaded with him to give them a break

Coach Swanson blew his whistle then shouted

28

bull bull bull

for Stretch to cut the horseplay Stretch gave the twoguys one more vicious splash

Then he turned and saw me ldquoHey Champmdashrdquo heshouted his voice booming off the tiles ldquoYoursquoreearly Drowning lessons are next week Ha ha Niceswim trunks Are those your girlfriendrsquos Ha hardquo

A few other guys laughed tooI decided to ignore them I was feeling pretty con-

fident About twenty guys were trying out I knewthere were only six spots open on the team But afterall my work last summer I thought I could make thetop six

We all warmed up for a bit taking easy laps lim-bering up our muscles getting used to the warmwater After a few minutes Coach Swanson made usall climb out and line up at the deep end of the pool

ldquoOkay guys Irsquove got to get to my night job by fiveso wersquore going to keep this simplerdquo the coachannounced ldquoYou have one chance One chanceonly You hear the whistle you do a speed dive intothe pool You do two complete laps any stroke youwant Irsquoll take the first six guys And two alternatesAny questionsrdquo

There werenrsquot anyEveryone leaned forward preparing to dive

Stretch lined up next to me He elbowed me hard inthe side ldquoGive me some room Champ Donrsquot crowdmerdquo

29

Okay so hersquoll come in first I figured rubbing thepain from my side That leaves five other places onthe team

Irsquom good enough I told myself I know I am Iknow I am

The whistle blew All down the row bodiestensed then plunged forward

I started my divemdashand slippedThe pool floormdashso wet My feet slid on the tile Oh noI hit the water with a loud smack A belly flop No kind of dive Struggling to recover I raised my head And saw

everyone way ahead of me One unlucky slip I lowered my head determined to catch up I

started stroking easily forcing myself to be calm Iremembered the slow steady straight-legged kick myinstructor had taught me

I sped up I passed some guys Hit the wall andstarted back

I can do this I told myself I can still make theteam

Faster At the end of the second lap the finish was a furi-

ous blur Blue water Thrashing arms and legs Loudbreaths Bobbing heads

I tried to shut out everything and concentrate on

30

my stroke ignore everyone else and swimAt last my hand hit the pool wall I ducked under

then surfaced blowing out water I wiped my hairaway from my eyes The taste of chlorine was in mymouth Water running down my face I glancedaround

I didnrsquot finish last Some guys were still swim-ming I squinted down the line of swimmers who hadfinished How many How many were ahead of me

ldquoLukemdashyoursquore seventhrdquo Coach Swansonannounced He made a large check on his clipboardldquoFirst alternate See you at practicerdquo

I was still too out-of-breath to replySeventhI let out a long sigh I felt so disappointed I could

do better than seventh I knew If only I hadnrsquotslipped

As I started to trudge back to the locker roomStretch strode up beside me ldquoHey Champrdquo Heslapped my bare back with his open hand so hard itmade a loud smack ldquoThanks for making me look sogoodrdquo

I got dressed quickly standing in a corner bymyself A few guys came over to say congratulationsBut I didnrsquot feel I deserved it

Across the locker room Stretch was still in hisswim trunks He was having a great time smacking

31

guys with his towel really making the towel snapagainst their bare skin laughing his head off

I tossed my towel in the basket Then I steppedup to the mirror over the sinks to comb my hair Aceiling lightbulb was out and I had to lean over thesink to see

I had just started to comb my wet hair backmdashwhen I saw the jagged crack along the length of theglass

ldquoWhoardquo I stopped combing and stepped backA broken mirror Seven years bad luck for some-

oneI reached into my khakis pocket and squeezed

my rabbitrsquos foot three times Then I turned back tothe mirror and began combing my hair again

Something was wrong I blinked Once TwiceA red light Some kind of red glare in the mirror

glassI squinted into the glassmdashand let out a cryThe red glare was coming from a pair of eyesmdash

two red eyes glowing like hot coalsTwo angry red eyes floating in the glass Floating

beside my reflectionI could see my confused expression as I stared at

the frightening red eyes as I watched the eyesslide across the glass slide slide closer until their red glow covered my eyes

32

My horrified reflection stared out at me with thefiery glowing eyes

And I opened my mouth and let out a long terri-fied scream

33

Over my scream I heard heavy footsteps behindme And then I heard a voicemdashStretchrsquos voiceldquoHeymdashget used to itrdquo

I spun around He grinned at me ldquoGet used to itChamp Thatrsquos your face It makes other peoplescream toordquo

ldquoNordquo I cried ldquoNo Itrsquos not Donrsquot you seemdashrdquoCoach Swanson burst in behind Stretch ldquoLukemdash

whatrsquos wrongrdquoldquoMy eyesrdquo I cried ldquoLook Are they red Are

theyrdquoCoach Swanson and Stretch exchanged glances ldquoWhat is his problemrdquo Stretch murmuredCoach Swanson stepped up close and examined

my eyes ldquoWhatrsquos wrong with you Luke Itrsquos just thechlorine from the pool Your eyes will be okay in a lit-tle whilerdquo

ldquoChlorine Huh Nordquo I insisted Then I glancedinto the mirror And saw my normal brown eyes gaz-ing back at me

34

No glowing eyes No red eyes burning in the glasslike an evil movie monster

ldquoUh well rdquo I rubbed my eyes They didnrsquotburn or anything They felt okay

I turned back to Stretch and Coach Swanson Ididnrsquot know what to say to them They were both stillstaring at me as if I were nuts

And maybe I was Black cats jumping out of my locker Glowing red

eyes in the mirrorldquoWell see you at practicerdquo I saidStretch laughed ldquoNot if I see you first Ha hardquoI laughed too It wasnrsquot funny but I wanted to

sound calm again normalAs I followed them out of the locker room I real-

ized I was trembling Why were these strange things happening to me

35

After dinner I was supposed to go to the mall withHannah She wanted to buy me some computer soft-ware for my birthday But she wanted me to pick itout

That was really nice of her But at the last minuteI decided not to go

I was still feeling weird from the swim tryoutsAnd I wanted to work on my animation project If Iworked really hard I might be able to get it finishedin time to show Mrs Coffey before she left school

I went up to my room and booted up the anima-tion But I couldnrsquot concentrate I kept staring at thefour-leaf clover inside a block of clear Lucite I keepon my desk And I kept jumping up and running tothe mirror to check my eyes

Perfectly normal Not glowingSo what happened What happened to me in that

locker room I asked myself I tried to convincemyself there was something wrong with the mirror

36

The red glow was because of the way the light hit thecrack in the mirror Or something

No That didnrsquot make senseThe phone rang a little before ten orsquoclock And it

was Hannah sounding very breathless and excitedldquoLukemdashyou shouldrsquove come You shouldrsquove

comerdquoI had to hold the phone away from my ear

Hannah was shouting so loud ldquoWhy What hap-penedrdquo I asked

ldquoI won itrdquo she declared ldquoDo you believe it Iwonrdquo

ldquoExcuse me Hannahmdashwhat are you talkingaboutrdquo

ldquoYou know the raffle at the mall That huge redSUV Itrsquos been on display there for a monthThousands of people put tickets in the boxThousands AndmdashandmdashI just happened to be walk-ing by when they had the drawing tonight Andmdashrdquo

ldquoYou didnrsquotrdquo I shriekedldquoYes Yes I won it I won the SUVrdquo ldquoWowrdquo I slumped onto my bed I actually felt

faint My heart was pounding as if I had wonldquoYou shouldrsquove seen me when they called out my

namerdquo Hannah gushed ldquoI screamed I just stoodthere and screamedrdquo

She screamed again shrieked at the top of herlungs A long high joyful scream

37

ldquoHannahmdashthatrsquos so awesomerdquo I said I donrsquotthink she heard me She was still screaming

ldquoMy family is so happy Luke You should seethem They are dancing around the living roomrdquo

ldquoThatrsquos so greatrdquo I saidHannah lowered her voice ldquoI just feel bad about

one thing Luke I was so crazed I was so berserk Iforgot why I was at the mall I forgot all about buy-ing you a birthday giftrdquo

I stood up I picked up the block with the four-leafclover inside and smoothed it between my handsldquoThatrsquos okayrdquo I told Hannah ldquoI just decided what Ireally want for my birthdayrdquo

ldquoWhatrsquos thatrdquo she askedldquoI want your luckrdquoHannah laughed She thought I was kidding But

of course I was seriousldquoAre you going to school tomorrowrdquo she askedldquoHuh Yeah sure Why notrdquoldquoTomorrow is Friday the thirteenthrdquo she said ldquoI

know how superstitious you are I thought maybeyoursquod stay home and hide under the bed all dayrdquo

ldquoHa hardquo I said But I felt a cold tingle at the backof my neck ldquoIrsquoll be thererdquo I told Hannah ldquoIrsquom nottotally wacko you knowrdquo

But Irsquoll wear my lucky shirt I thought And Irsquolltake my four-leaf clover in my backpack And Irsquoll askMom to pack my lucky sandwich for lunchmdashpeanutbutter and mayonnaise

38

ldquoI have to go to school tomorrowrdquo I told HannahldquoI have basketball practice after schoolrdquo

ldquoHowrsquos practice goingrdquo Hannah askedI chuckled ldquoNot bad So far I havenrsquot gotten any

splinters from sitting on the benchrdquoHannah laughed I could hear shouts and wild

laughter in the background ldquoIrsquove got to gordquo she saidshouting over the racket ldquoMy family is still celebrat-ing my winning the SUV Byerdquo

She clicked off before I could reply

That night I dreamed about locker 13In the dream I stepped up to the locker Someone

had taped a calendar to the door I came closer andsaw that Friday the thirteenth had been circled inred

I started to rip the calendar off the locker doorBut I stopped when I heard loud breathing Hoarsewheezing sounds Like someone was having troublebreathing

I touched the locker door And it was burning hotI screamed in shock and pulled my hand awayAgain I heard the hoarse breathing from inside

the locker And then I heard a tiny voice cry outldquoPlease get me outrdquo

In the dream I knew I was dreaming I wanted tolift myself out of the dream But I was stuck thereAnd I knew I had no choice I had to pull open thelocker door and see who was in there

39

ldquoPlease I want out Get me outrdquo the tinyfrightened voice called

Even though I knew I was dreaming I still felt sofrightened Real fear that makes you shake whetheryoursquore awake or asleep

I watched myself grip the door handle Slowlymdashso slowlymdashI pulled the locker door open

And I stared in horror at the figure huddled insidethe locker Because it was ME

It was me inside the locker hugging myself trem-bling all over It was memdashand my eyes started toglow My eyes glowed out from the dark locker red asfire

And as I stared at myself stared at those ugly evilred eyes I watched my face begin to change Iwatched hair grow out of my nostrils Long braids ofthick black hair sliding out of my nosemdashdown downto the locker floor

Beneath the shining red eyes thick blacktwisted ropes of hair were pouring from my nose Outof the locker Piling onto the hall floor Curlingaround me as I watched

Yes The long hair flowed from my nose andsnaked around me as I watched in horror Curledaround me covering me in warm scratchy hairCovering me like a big furry coat and then tighten-ing Tightening Tightening around my chestTightening around my face Wrapping me like amummy Wrapping me in my ghastly nose hair

40

I woke up one hand tightly wrapped around theLucite block with the four-leaf clover Gray morningsunlight seeped through my bedroom window Myroom was so cold cold as a freezer

ldquoLuke what are you doing up there Yoursquore laterdquoMomrsquos voice shattered the frozen silence

ldquoA dreamrdquo I murmured A hoarse laugh escapedmy throat My eyes darted around the room NormalEverything normal

ldquoHurry Luke Itrsquos really laterdquo Momrsquos voicesounded so good to me

I followed her order I hurried I got showereddressed ate breakfast and arrived at school withabout two minutes to spare The halls were prettyempty Most kids had already gone to their home-rooms

I glanced at the clock on the tile wall Then joggedto the end of the back hall to toss my jacket into mylocker

But a few feet from my locker I stopped with agasp

What was that on the door to locker 13I crept closer A calendarYes Someone had taped a calendar to the door

And and today Friday the thirteenth was cir-cled in red

41

ldquoMy dreamrdquo I murmuredThat horrifying dream Itrsquos coming true I realized

Irsquom going to open the door and itrsquos going to cometrue

42

I stared at the calendar at the number 13 circledin red marker

Last nightrsquos dream played itself again through mymind I shuddered My legs and arms itched I couldpractically feel the disgusting hair curling around myskin

With an angry cry I ripped the calendar off thedoor and crumpled it in my hand

Now I expected to hear the heavy breathing frominside the locker And the tiny criesmdashmy criesmdashbeg-ging to be let out

But I didnrsquot wait ldquoIrsquom not opening itrdquo I said outloud

No way am I going to allow the dream to cometrue

I tossed the wadded-up calendar sheet to thefloor Then I spun around and began running toclass The hall was empty My shoes thudded loudlyon the hard floor as I ran

Irsquoll keep my coat with me I decided Irsquoll just drag

43

it around with me all day I donrsquot need to open thelocker

The bell rang as I reached my homeroom doorMr Perkins looked up as I burst into the roomldquoGood morning Lukerdquo he said ldquoRunning a little latethis morningrdquo

ldquoA littlerdquo I replied breathlessly Unzipping myjacket I started to my seat

ldquoWould you like time to go hang your coat in yourlockerrdquo Mr Perkins asked

ldquoUh no Thatrsquos okayrdquo I lowered my backpackto the floor and dropped into the chair ldquoIrsquoll just keep itrdquo

A few kids were staring at me Mr Perkins noddedand turned back to the papers he was reading

I took a deep breath and settled back against thechair I rubbed the right sleeve of my lucky shirtseven times

That dream is not going to come true I toldmyself No way I wonrsquot let it

Of course I wasnrsquot thinking clearly How couldthat crazy dream come true

If I had stopped for one second to think about itI would have realized the whole idea was insane

But today was Friday the thirteenth And I nevercan think clearly on Friday the thirteenth I admit itIrsquom always a little crazy on that unlucky day

I glanced up to see that Mr Perkins had beenreading the morning announcements I hadnrsquot heard

44

a word he said I pulled the four-leaf clover from mybackpack twirled it in my hand and wished for goodluck for the rest of the day

At noon I found Hannah at a table against theback wall of the lunchroom She was sitting all byherself staring down at her brown lunchbag whichshe hadnrsquot opened

ldquoHi Whassuprdquo I dropped across from herldquoHirdquo she said softly without raising her eyes

ldquoHowrsquos it goingrdquoldquoWell pretty okay for a Friday the thirteenthrdquo I

said Actually the morning had flown by without anyproblems at all

I expected Hannah to make some kind of jokeabout how superstitious I am But she didnrsquot say aword

I pulled the sandwich from my bag and started tounwrap the foil ldquoMy lucky sandwichrdquo I saidldquoPeanut butter and mayonnaiserdquo

ldquoYumrdquo she said rolling her eyes She finallylooked at me She appeared tired Her eyes werebloodshot red as if shersquod been crying Her hair wasa mess and her face was gray

ldquoHow come yoursquore wearing your coatrdquo sheasked

ldquoOh uh no reasonrdquo I said ldquoI was kind ofcoldrdquo

She nodded glumly

45

ldquoDid you come to school in the new SUVrdquo Iasked

She shook her head ldquoWe donrsquot have it yet Dadhas to go fill out a lot of papersrdquo She let out a longsigh

I lowered my sandwich ldquoAre you feeling okayrdquo Iasked

She didnrsquot answer Instead she sighed again andstared down at the table

I poked her lunchbag with one finger ldquoWhat doyou have for lunchrdquo

She shrugged ldquoJust some fruit Irsquom not very hun-gryrdquo She opened the bag reached a hand in andpulled out a bright yellow banana

She struggled with the skin Then finally peeled itopen

ldquoOh yuckrdquo Her face twisted in disgust Shedropped the banana to the table

Inside the skin the banana was completely rot-ten Just a soft pile of black mush A horrible soursmellmdashlike ripe vomitmdashfloated up from it

Hannah shoved the banana away ldquoSick Thatrsquosreally sickrdquo

ldquoThe skin is perfectly freshrdquo I said ldquoHow couldthe banana be so rottenrdquo

ldquoI think I have an applerdquo Hannah said glumlyShe tore the bag apart and pulled out a red appleShe twirled it between her handsmdashthen stopped witha gasp

46

I saw the deep dark hole on the side of the appleAnd as we both stared at it a fat brown wormmdashatleast two inches longmdashcurled out from inside Andthen another And another

The worms dropped from the apple onto thetabletop

ldquoI donrsquot believe thisrdquo Hannah shrieked Shescraped her chair back so hard it toppled over

And before I could say anything she was runningfrom the room

After school I looked for Hannah on my way tobasketball practice I was worried about her She hadacted so weird at lunch Not like herself at all

I reminded myself that it was Friday the thir-teenth And sometimes people act a little weird onthis day

But not Hannah Hannah is the least supersti-tious person I know She walks under ladders all thetime and she hugs black cats and doesnrsquot think athing of it

And why should she Hannah has to be the luck-iest person on earth

Lockers slammed as kids prepared to go home Istarted to the gym then turned back I donrsquot want tocarry my coat and backpack to the gym I decidedIrsquom going to stuff them in my locker

I hesitated as the locker came into view at the endof the hall I read the words on the door LUCKY 13 Of

47

course I remembered my nightmaremdashand the calen-dar from my nightmare taped on the locker door

But I had to open the locker I didnrsquot want to carrymy stuff around with me for the rest of the year

ldquoHey Lukerdquo I saw Darnell Cross waving to mefrom the doorway to the science lab ldquoAre the Squiresgoing to beat Davenportrdquo

ldquoTheyrsquore not so toughrdquo I called back ldquoWe couldtake themrdquo

ldquoYou going to playrdquo Darnell asked He grinnedbecause he already knew the answer

ldquoAs soon as I grow taller than Stretchrdquo I repliedHe laughed and disappeared back into the lab I stepped up to locker 13 I brought my face close

to the door ldquoAnyone in thererdquo I called inSilenceldquoJust checkingrdquo I said I grabbed the door handle

I was feeling pretty confident Friday the thirteenthwas two-thirds over and so far nothing terriblyunlucky had happened to me

I squeezed my rabbitrsquos foot for luck Then I tooka deep breathmdashand pulled open the locker

48

Nothing unusual inside the locker I realized I was still gripping the rabbitrsquos foot

inside my pocket I let go of it and slipped my back-pack off my shoulders

I studied the locker carefully A bunch of booksand notebooks on the top shelf where I had leftthem My old gray sweatshirt lay crumpled on thelocker floor

No black cats No one breathing or crying orshooting piles of hair from his nose

I let out a long sigh of relief Then I tossed thebackpack on top of the balled-up sweatshirt Shovedmy jacket onto the hook on the back wall

I started to slam the door shut when I spottedsomething at my feet

My shoe kicked it and it rolled against the lockerbottom then bounced back

A ballI bent down and picked it up I raised it close to

my face

49

ldquoWhoardquo Not a ball A tiny yellow skull a littlelarger than a Ping-Pong ball

It had an open-mouthed grin revealing two rowsof gray teeth I ran my finger over the teeth Theywere hard and bumpy

I squeezed it The little skull was made of somekind of hard rubber

The eyesmdashsunken deep in the socketsmdashwere redglass They glowed in the hall lights like tiny rubies

ldquoWhere did you come fromrdquo I asked itI turned back to the locker Did the skull fall out

of the locker How did it get in there Was someoneplaying some kind of Friday the thirteenth headgame with me

I decided that had to be the answerI rolled the skull around in my hand a few times

I poked my finger against the glowing red glass eyes Then I tucked it into my pants pocket I slammed

the locker shutmdashand headed to practice

ldquoLook alive Heads up Look aliverdquo CoachBendix was shouting

I ran out of the locker room and grabbed a bas-ketball off the ball rack I began dribbling around thefloor

We were having one of Coachrsquos free-for-all prac-tices That meant we had to keep moving keepplayingmdashrun dribble pass shoot play defense Do

50

everything all at once in a big free-for-all I dribbled slowly across the floor concentrating

hard Trying not to lose the dribble I saw Stretch turntoward me He stuck out both hands and moved for-ward ready to block me

I decided to try and fake him out I dribbled leftmdashand moved right I edged past him easily Movedunder the basket And sent up a shot that sailedacross the gym and dropped in

ldquoHeymdashone for onerdquo I cried happilyldquoLucky shotrdquo Stretch calledI took the ball and moved back to the top of the

key I sent up a two-handed jumpshot It soared overthe rimmdashand dropped through the basket with a softswish

ldquoYesrdquo I pumped my fists in the airI didnrsquot have long to celebrate I turned and saw

Stretch barreling toward me dribbling hard leaningforward with grim determination

Hersquos going to charge right over me I realized Hersquosgoing to flatten me

Guys backed out of his way as Stretch flew acrossthe floor

ldquoLook out Lukerdquo someone shoutedI froze for a moment Then I ducked to the left

Stuck out my hand and slapped the ball away fromStretch

He made a wild grab for it But I dribbled it out of

51

his reach Then I spun around and sent a wild highshot into the air The ball hit the glass backboardmdashand sank through the net

ldquoWowrdquoldquoWay to go LukerdquoldquoThree for threerdquoThe other players were in shockStretch shook his head ldquoFeeling lucky today

Think fastrdquo He pulled back his long armmdashandheaved the ball at my chest with all his strength

I caught it easily Dribbled it three times Shotmdashand dropped another basket

Stretch scowled ldquoI donrsquot believe thisrdquo he mut-tered shaking his head

I donrsquot either I thought to myself Irsquove never shotfour baskets in a row in my life

I turned and saw Coach Bendix watching me Wasthis my big chance Stretch and another player werepassing the ball back and forth moving across thefloor

I shot forward Intercepted Stretchrsquos pass Droveto the basket And sent up an easy layup ldquoTwopointsrdquo I cried

With an angry grunt Stretch reached for therebound But I pushed it out of his hands Grabbed itSpun Shot again ldquoTwo pointsrdquo

Stretch cried out angrily He bumped me hard

52

from behind I think he would have flattened me onthe spot But he saw that Coach Bendix was runningover to us

Coach slapped me on the back ldquoWay to goLukerdquo he boomed ldquoWay to show real improvementIrsquom impressed Keep it up okay Irsquom going to give yousome playing time next Fridayrdquo

ldquoHeymdashthanksrdquo I replied breathlesslyI saw Stretch scowl Saw his face turn an angry

redI grabbed a ball and dribbled away I wanted to

shout and jump for joy Had my luck finally changedIt seemed that way Suddenly I could pass and

jump and shoot and play defense like I never couldbefore It was as if I was possessed or somethingPossessed by an all-star athlete

In the locker room after practice Stretch ignoredme But other guys slapped me on the back andflashed me a thumbs-up

ldquoLookinrsquo good LukerdquoldquoWay to go manrdquoldquoGo SquiresrdquoI was feeling really happy Like a new person As I

changed into my street clothes I felt the little skull inmy pants pocket I pulled it out and gazed at itsmoothing my thumb over the hard rubber

ldquoAre you my new good-luck charmrdquo I asked itThe tiny red eyes glowed back at me I kissed it

gave it a smack on top of its yellow head and shoved

53

it back into my pants pocketThat skull is going everywhere with me I decided

Itrsquos got to be lucky Itrsquos got to beAs I walked home I kept reliving my great bas-

ketball triumph I pictured my long perfect jump-shots again And I saw myself stealing the ball fromStretchrsquos hands driving right past him and scoringEmbarrassing him Embarrassing Stretch again andagain

Wow What a dayIt was a cold gray afternoon Dark clouds hung

low over the nearly bare trees It felt more like winterthan fall

A few blocks from home I crossed a streetmdashandheard a short cry

A long low evergreen hedge ran across the frontyard on the corner I stopped gazing over the hedgeHad the cry come from the yard

I listened hard Down the block a car doorslammed A dog started to bark The wind made awhistling sound through the phone lines overhead

And then I heard itmdashanother sharp crymdashlongerthis time

A baby It sounded like a babyrsquos cryldquoOwwwww OwwwwwwrdquoI lowered my gaze to the hedgemdashand saw the

creature making the shrill criesA cat No A small orange-and-white kitten

54

It appeared to be stuck in the prickly brambles ofthe hedge

ldquoOwwwww OwwwwwwrdquoCarefully I bent down and gently lifted the cat out

with both hands As I cupped my hands around it itstopped crying immediately But it was still breathinghard its white chest moving rapidly up and down Irubbed its head trying to soothe it

ldquoYoursquore okay little kittenrdquo I whisperedAnd then I heard another cry A loud shriekI looked up to see a large woman running at me

angrily Her face was bright red and she waved herarms furiously

ldquoOh nordquo I muttered I nearly dropped the catWhy is she so angryWhat have I done

55

ldquoThe kittenmdashrdquo she cried shoving through abreak in the hedge

ldquoImdashIrsquom sorryrdquo I stammered ldquoI didnrsquot know ImdashrdquoldquoWhere did you find herrdquo the woman demanded

her face still bright red ldquoIn in the hedgerdquoldquoOh thank you Thank yourdquo the woman said

She took the kitten from my hands and raised it toher cheek ldquoSasha where did you gordquo

Irsquom not in trouble I finally realized The womanis happymdashnot angry

ldquoSasha has been missing for two daysrdquo thewoman told me pressing the kitten against her faceldquoI offered a reward and everything I almost gave uphoperdquo

I let out a long sigh of relief ldquoShe was right thererdquoI said pointing ldquoIn the hedge I think she wascaught in itrdquo

ldquoWell shersquos fine now thanks to yourdquo Still press-ing the kitten to her cheek the woman pushed

56

through the hedge and started to the house ldquoWhat isyour namerdquo

ldquoLukerdquoldquoWell follow me Luke Irsquoll get your reward for

yourdquoldquoHuh Reward No Reallyrdquo I started to back

awayldquoYou saved Sasharsquos liferdquo the woman said ldquoYou

did a wonderful thing And I insist you take thereward I offeredrdquo

I saw that I had no choice I followed her to herkitchen door

A few minutes later she counted out five twenty-dollar bills and pressed them into my hand ldquoThankyou Luke You really did your good deed for todayrdquo

A hundred dollarsA hundred dollars rewardMy luck really is starting to change I decidedWhen I got home a big surprise awaited me Mom had made my favorite dinnermdashmeat loaf

mashed potatoes and gravy And a coconut cake fordessert

ldquoItrsquos not even my birthdayrdquo I exclaimedldquoI just felt like doing something nice for you

todayrdquo Mom said She brushed back my hair withone hand ldquoI know Friday the thirteenth is always ahard day for yourdquo

ldquoNot todayrdquo I told her grinning ldquoNot todayrdquo

57

After my second slice of coconut cake I went upto my room and started my homework I spent aboutan hour writing out the answers to my scienceassignment

It shouldnrsquot have taken that long But I kept tak-ing out the twenty-dollar bills counting them againand dreaming about what I could buy with them

After science I worked on my computer anima-tion Irsquod been having trouble with the last section Icouldnrsquot get anything to move the way I wanted

But tonight my good luck continued I had notrouble at all The images all slid together perfectly Ialmost finished the project

A little after nine I decided to give Hannah a callShersquod acted so weird at lunch that afternoon Ithought maybe she was sick or something

I called to see if she was feeling better But I couldtell by the way she answered the phone that she stillwasnrsquot her old self

I tried to cheer her up I told her about my tri-umph at basketball practice And about the hundred-dollar reward for finding the lost kitten

ldquoVery coolrdquo Hannah said But her voice showedno enthusiasm at all

ldquoAnd then Mom made all of my favorite things fordinnerrdquo I exclaimed

ldquoLuckyrdquo Hannah mutteredldquoWhatrsquos your problemrdquo I demanded ldquoWhatrsquos

wrong with you todayrdquo

58

A long silence at her endFinally she said ldquoI guess Irsquom just in a bad mood

I fell off my bike on the way home this afternoonrdquoI groaned ldquoOh no Are you okayrdquoldquoNot reallyrdquo she replied ldquoI scraped all the skin

off my right hand And I twisted my ankle prettybadrdquo

ldquoWowrdquo I muttered ldquoBad newsrdquoldquoEspecially since I have a basketball game tomor-

rowrdquo Hannah sighedldquoThink yoursquoll be able to playrdquo I askedldquoMayberdquo she said glumly ldquoMaybe Irsquoll come watch your gamerdquo I saidThere was a long silence And then Hannah said

ldquoLuke therersquos something something I have to tellyourdquo

ldquoExcuse merdquo I said She was whispering so lowI could barely hear her

ldquoI really should tell you something But rdquoI pressed the phone tighter to my ear ldquoWhat

What is itrdquo ldquoWell rdquoAnother long silenceldquoI canrsquotrdquo she said finally I heard a click and the

line went silentThe next morning my good luck came to an end

59

At least I thought my good luck had endedWhen I arrived at my science class I searched

my backpack for the homework questions Not thereI took everything outmdashevery paper every bookevery pencil

Not there I had spent over an hour on thatassignment last night And Irsquod left it at home

Now I was in major trouble Miss Creamer didnrsquotaccept late homework And homework counted forfifty percent of the grade in her class

My stomach tightened with dread as she enteredthe science lab to begin class

How could I be so stupid ldquoGood morning everyonerdquo she began ldquoI have an

announcement to make Itrsquos about last nightrsquos home-workrdquo

The room grew silentldquoI have to apologize to all of yourdquo Miss Creamer

continued ldquoI gave the wrong assignment Thosewerenrsquot the right questions Irsquom really sorry You

60

donrsquot have to turn it in Just tear it up and throw itawayrdquo

Cheers rang out Some kids gleefully ripped theirpapers into shreds A big celebration

Yes More good luck for me I thought happilyI was on a hot streak Later when Miss Creamer

handed back last weekrsquos test I had the only A in theclass

In the lunchroom I grabbed the last slice of pizzaon the counter

All the kids behind me in line groaned Darnellcame up and offered to pay me five dollars for it Butno deal

After school I stopped by the computer lab to seeMrs Coffey She told me her plans had suddenlychanged She wouldnrsquot be leaving school for anothertwo weeks

I cheered That meant I had time to finish mycomputer animation project and show it to her beforeI left

ldquoLuke I was talking about you to my friend whoowns Linkups You knowmdashthe computer store onHighlands I told him about how you can do any-thing with computers fix them upgrade them Hesaid you might be able to come into the store onSaturdays and help out in the service departmentrdquo

I gasped ldquoReallyrdquoShe nodded ldquoHersquos a really nice guy and hersquos

always looking for people who can fix machines He

61

said he couldnrsquot give you a real job since yoursquore onlytwelve But he could pay you five dollars an hourrdquo

ldquoWow I cried ldquoThatrsquos awesome Thanks MrsCoffeyrdquo

I practically flew down the stairs to the gym Iwanted to flap my arms and take off So many greatthings were happening to me I couldnrsquot believe it

Hannahrsquos basketball game had already startedwhen I stepped into the gym I found a seat in thebleachers and glanced up at the scoreboard TheSquirettes were already losing ten to two

Whatrsquos going on I wondered How can Hannahrsquosteam be losing so badly The team they were play-ingmdashthe Bee Stingers from Elwood Middle Schoolmdashwere the worst team in the city

I turned and glanced around the bleachers Therewere only about twenty kids watching the game Andfour or five parents clustered together at the top ofthe bleachers

ldquoGo Sharonrdquo one of the mothers yelledBut the gym was pretty quiet I guess because the

Squirettes were playing so badlyI leaned forward and tried to concentrate on the

game Sharon McCombs the tallest girl in the Shawnee

Valley eighth grade tossed the ball in A pass Thenanother pass which was almost stolen by a BeeStinger

Hannah grabbed the ball She turned and started

62

to dribble to the basket After about three steps shetripped The ball bounced away as she fell flat on herstomach

A Bee Stinger grabbed it just before it went out ofbounds She dribbled all the way down the floormdashand scored easily before Hannah had even pickedherself up off the floor Twelve to two

I cupped my hands around my mouth ldquoGet rsquoemHannahrdquo I shouted

She didnrsquot look up She was fiddling with thewhite bandage on her hand

A minute later Hannah had the ball again Inclose She jumped and shot And missed Missed thenet the backboard Missed everything

I leaned on my hands and watched the game insilence Hannah missed six or seven shots in a rowShe tripped over the ball hit the floor hard and gota huge bright red floor burn on her knee Her pass-es to her teammates went wild She kept losing theball to the other team Tripping over her own feetBumping into other players

It was sad She didnrsquot look like Hannah at allThe half-time score was Bee Stingers twenty-five

Squirettes five When the team came out to start the second half

Hannah sat down on the bench and didnrsquot play Whatrsquos going on I wondered I climbed down from the bleachers and walked

over to her on the bench

63

ldquoLuke you came to a bad-news gamerdquo she saidshaking her head

ldquoWhatrsquos wrongrdquo I asked ldquoYoursquore hurt Fromyour bike accident yesterdayrdquo

She watched the Bee Stingers score another bas-ket Then she turned to me ldquoNo Itrsquos not because ofmy accidentrdquo she whispered Her eyes were dullwatery Her skin was so pale

ldquoSo what is itrdquo I askedHannah frowned ldquoItrsquos all because I lost my good-

luck charmrdquo she said I gaped at her ldquoHuhrdquoldquoItrsquos what brought me all that amazing great

luckrdquo Hannah said ldquoI have to find it As soon as Ilost it my luck changedrdquo

My mouth dropped open I realized my heart hadstarted to pound

ldquoItrsquos a tiny skullrdquo Hannah continued ldquoA little yel-low skull ImdashI never went anywhere without itrdquo

She tugged at the bandage on her hand Then sheraised her eyes to me ldquoYou havenrsquot seen it any-where have you Lukerdquo

64

My legs suddenly felt weak I gripped the back ofthe bench and stared at Hannah I could feel my facegrowing red

I could feel the skull in my jeans pocket I knew Ishould pull it out and hand it to her

But how could II needed the good luck too Hannah had enjoyed

so much good luck for so long Mine had just startedFor the first time in my life I was having a little goodluck

How could I go back to being a loser againHannahrsquos watery eyes locked on mine ldquoHave you

seen it Lukerdquo she repeated ldquoHave you seen it any-whererdquo

My face burned So many frantic thoughtswhirred through my head

I really needed that good-luck charm Ever sinceI found it my life had changed I was a new person

But Hannah was my friend My best friend in the

65

whole world She was always there for me when Ineeded her

I couldnrsquot lie to hermdashcould IldquoNordquo I said ldquoI havenrsquot seen it anywhererdquoHannahrsquos eyes remained on me for a few seconds

more Then she nodded slowly and turned back tothe game

My heart was pounding hard now I had a heavyfeeling in the pit of my stomach ldquoWhere did you loseitrdquo I asked

She didnrsquot reply She cupped her hands aroundher mouth and cheered on her teammates

I backed away from the bench I felt like a totalcreep I jammed my hand into my pocket Wrappedmy fingers around the rubber skull

Give it back to her Luke a voice in my headurged The voice of goodness The voice of friend-ship

But I knew I wasnrsquot going to give it back I wasalready trotting out of the gym and down the hall tothe exit

I need it a little while longer I told myself Just alittle while

Long enough to win the basketball champi-onship Long enough to get really good grades for thefirst time in my life Long enough to impress myfriends to get on the swim team to make aname for myself long enough to be a winner

I squeezed the little skull all the way home Irsquoll

66

give it back to Hannah in a couple of weeks I toldmyself Two weeks thatrsquos all Maybe three And thenIrsquoll give it back to her And she can have her goodluck again No harm done

No harm donemdashright

The phone was ringing when I stepped in thekitchen door I tossed down my backpack and ran toanswer it

To my surprise it was Mrs Coffey ldquoLuke Irsquom glad I caught yourdquo she said ldquoI have

some really good news You know my friend at thecomputer storerdquo

ldquoYesrdquoldquoI spoke to him after you left the computer lab

And he said you could start work at his store onSaturdayrdquo

ldquoThatrsquos greatrdquo I exclaimedldquoBut thatrsquos not my good newsrdquo Mrs Coffey con-

tinued ldquoHe has a friend who is putting together ashow of computer animation And his friend is veryinterested in seeing your workrdquo

ldquoReallyrdquo I criedldquoHe needs short pieces for his animation show

right awayrdquo she said ldquoIf he likes your piece he saidhe will pay a thousand dollars for itrdquo

ldquoWowrdquo ldquoIs it finished Lukerdquo Mrs Coffey asked ldquoIs it

ready to show to himrdquo

67

I thought hard ldquoAlmostrdquo I said ldquoI need two moredays on it Maybe threerdquo

ldquoWell try to hurryrdquo Mrs Coffey said ldquoI think hehas most of the pieces he needs Hersquos going to beshowing them all over the country It would be ashame to miss outmdashrdquo

ldquoIt sure wouldrdquo I interrupted ldquoIrsquoll get right towork on it Mrs Coffey And thanks Thanks a lotrdquo

Excited I hurried up to my room and turned onthe computer Maybe I can get some work done on itbefore dinner I decided

I heard Mom come in downstairs I called hi toher and said I was working on my computer project

A few minutes later the phone rang again I heardMom talking for a while Then I heard her running upthe stairs She burst into my room ran up behind meand wrapped me in a big hug

ldquoHuh Whatrsquos that forrdquo I criedldquoThat was Mariorsquos Steakhouse on the phonerdquo

Mom said grinning ldquoYou know Your favorite restau-rant You won Luke Remember that drawing we allentered the last time we were there Well you wonit They picked your card You won dinner for thewhole family Twelve dinners One a month for thenext yearrdquo

ldquoWowrdquo I jumped up from the computerLaughing and cheering Mom and I did a happy littledance around the room

ldquoI canrsquot believe you won that drawing That is so

68

terrificrdquo Mom exclaimed ldquoWersquore going to have tostart calling you Lucky Lukerdquo

ldquoYeah Lucky Lukerdquo I repeated ldquoI like thatThatrsquos me Lucky Lukerdquo

I worked on my animation until nearly midnightI stared into the glow of the monitor until I couldnrsquotsee straight and the images became a fuzzy blur

ldquoAlmost finishedrdquo I said yawningI changed into pajamas brushed my teeth got

ready for sleep But just before I climbed into bed Ipulled out my lucky little skull for one last look

I held it gently in my hand and studied it rubbingmy fingers over the smooth top of the skull The tinyred jewel eyes glowed brightly

I rubbed my fingers over the hard bumpy teeth Itwirled the skull in my hand

ldquoMy little good-luck charmrdquo I whisperedI set it down carefully on my dresser in front of

the mirror Then I turned out the lights and climbedinto bed

I settled back on my pillows pulling the quilt upto my chin I yawned loudly The mattress creakedunder me Waiting for sleep I stared into the dark-ness

The curtains were pulled so no light washed infrom the street The room was completely blackexcept for a faint red glow

The glow of the two red eyes in the skull Like tiny

69

match flames against the blacknessAnd then I saw two more glowing spots of red

light Larger Behind the tiny skull eyesTwo circles of light in the mirror glass Two flame-

red circles the size of tennis ballsAnd as their light grew brighter more intense

I could see a form in the dresser mirror Deep nostril holes two rows of jagged grin-

ning teethA skull A red-eyed skullNot tiny A huge grinning yellow-boned skull

that filled the mirrorFilled the mirror And stared out at me with those

fiery flame-red eyesI sat straight up Squeezed the quilt And gaped in

horror as the jagged teeth moved The jaw slid open And the enormous skull mouthed the words

mouthed them so clearly ldquoLucky Lukerdquo

70

The giant glowing skull leaned forward as if topush out of the mirror The jaw worked up and downThe red glow seemed to bathe the whole room inflames

I opened my mouth in a horrified screamI screamed and then screamed againThe ceiling light flashed onldquoLukemdashwhatrsquos wrongrdquoBlinking in the sudden light I saw my dad burst

breathlessly into the room His pajama shirt wastwisted One pajama pants leg rode up to his kneeHis hair was tangled from sleep standing straight upon one side

ldquoWhat is itrdquo he repeatedldquoImdashImdashrdquo I pointed to the mirror My head spun

with confusion I couldnrsquot find wordsldquoThe skullmdashrdquo I finally choked outBrushing back his hair Dad crossed the room to

my dresser I stared into the glass

71

Nothing nowNothing in there except the reflection of my

room As he came near I could see Dadrsquos worriedface reflected in the glass

ldquoIs this what you were screaming aboutrdquo Dadasked He picked up the little yellow skull and heldit out to me ldquoThis skullrdquo

ldquoN-nordquo I stammeredI was thinking hard trying to figure out what I

had seenIt couldnrsquot have been the reflection of the little

skull I saw in the glass NoThe skull that loomed in the mirror was enor-

mous its eyes as big as basketballsDad still squinted at me from the dresser holding

the little skull up in front of himldquoI guess I had a bad dreamrdquo I said softly settling

back onto my pillows ldquoItmdashit was so weird I dreamedI saw a giant skull with flaming eyes But it wasso realrdquo

Dad shook his head ldquoWell if this little skull isgiving you bad dreams want me to take it awayrdquo Hestarted to the door

ldquoNordquo I screamed I jumped out of bed to block his path He looked

startled as I grabbed the skull from his handldquoItrsquos itrsquos a good-luck charmrdquo I said ldquoItrsquos

brought me a lot of good luckrdquo

72

Dad frowned as he gazed at the little skull in myhand ldquoYou sure Luke It doesnrsquot look good to me Itlooks evilrdquo

ldquoEvilrdquo I laughed ldquoNo way Dad No way Trustmerdquo

He clicked off the light on his way out A shortwhile later I fell asleep gripping the skull tightly inone hand

A few days later I screamed my head off again

73

This time it was for funA bunch of us were on our skates up on Killer

Hill Itrsquos actually Miller Hill But we call it Killer Hillbecause itrsquos up at the top where Broad Street scoopsstraight downmdasha steep steep slope down threeblocks to Miller Street

Miller Street has the most traffic in ShawneeValley So the idea is we come skating down BroadStreet full speed We come rocketing down the steepslope as fast as we canmdashand try to skate rightthrough the traffic on Miller

It makes all the car drivers totally crazy You canalways hear tires squealing horns honking driversscreaming as kids come skating right at them

Yes Itrsquos really dangerous Most kids wonrsquot eventhink of trying it But for a guy with my kind of goodluck whatrsquos the big deal

It was a sunny cold Sunday afternoon Froststuck to the tops of the cars My breath smoked upin front of me as I skated to the top of Killer Hill

74

I met Darnell up there He was having troublewith the brake on one of his skates Finally he justripped the brake off and tossed it in a trash canldquoWhy do I need brakesrdquo he said grinning at meldquoThey only slow you downrdquo

Stretch and some of his pals appeared a few min-utes later Stretch was wearing some kind of yellowsweats He looked like Big Bird on skates

He lowered his shoulder and tried to bump me offmy feet But I skated away easily And he didnrsquot tryagain

Things have been a little different betweenStretch and me since I took his place on the basket-ball team Hersquos my backup now He gets to play onlywhen Irsquom tired and need a short rest And I think hersquosin shock over it

Stretch still tries to give me a hard time But Idonrsquot think his heart is in it He knows hersquos a loserHe knows hersquos not one of the lucky peoplemdashlike me

ldquoYou ready to skaterdquo Darnell called He pulledon his helmet Then he stood in the middle of thestreet leaning forward hands on his knees

I gazed down the steep hill to the traffic belowEven though it was Sunday afternoon cars and vanssped along Miller as if it were the afternoon rushhour

I adjusted my knee pads ldquoReadyrdquo I said I movedbeside Darnell

Stretch skated in front of us He grinned at me

75

ldquoHow about a racerdquoI shook my head ldquoYoursquore too slow Darnell and I

donrsquot want to have to wait for you down thererdquoldquoHa ha When did you get so funny Champrdquo

Stretch reached into the pocket of his yellow sweatsHe held up a ten-dollar bill ldquoLetrsquos make it a real raceTen bucks each Winner takes allrdquo

He stuck the money in front of my face I shovedit away ldquoI donrsquot take candy from babiesrdquo I saidldquoKeep your moneyrdquo

Stretch gritted his teeth His pale face turned anangry red He leaned close ldquoYou gonna race me ornotrdquo he growled

I squeezed the rubber skull in my pocket I knewthere was no way I could lose ldquoOkayrdquo I said ldquoButIrsquom going to make it fairrdquo

I pulled a wool scarf from my coat pocket andstarted to wrap it around my head ldquoJust to give you achance Irsquoll skate blindfoldedrdquo

Stretch snickered ldquoYoursquore joking right Yoursquoregoing to skate through all those cars blindfoldedrdquo

ldquoDonrsquot do it Lukerdquo a voice calledI turned to see Hannah waving to me She was

hobbling up the sidewalk on crutches Her right foothad a large white bandage over it ldquoDonrsquot do itrdquo shecalled shrilly

I spun away from the guys and skated over to her

76

ldquoHannahmdashwhat happenedrdquo I asked motioning tothe crutches

She sighed and leaned heavily on them ldquoItrsquos myanklerdquo she said ldquoRemember when I fell off my bikeWe thought it was just a sprain But my ankle keepsswelling up like a water balloon I had to have itdrained three timesrdquo

ldquoYuckrdquo I said staring down at the bandageThe wind fluttered her red hair She shook her

head sadly ldquoThe doctors canrsquot figure out whatrsquoswrong ImdashI might need surgery I donrsquot know AndMom says if it doesnrsquot get better I canrsquot go on thejunior high overnight on Wednesdayrdquo

ldquoWow Thatrsquos bad newsrdquo I murmured Everyonelooks forward to the overnight The whole junior highgoes to a campground by the lake and everyonestays up and parties all night

I couldnrsquot take my eyes off Hannahrsquos bandagedankle Is this my fault I suddenly wondered Did Ireally take away her good luck Hannah has hadnothing but bad luck ever since I found the skull

Irsquom going to give it back to her I silentlypromised Real soon Real soon

ldquoYou skating or notrdquo Stretch called ldquoOr are youjust going to stand there and talk with your girl-friendrdquo

ldquoIrsquom comingrdquo I said I started to wrap the scarfaround my eyes

77

ldquoLuke donrsquotrdquo Hannah insisted ldquoDonrsquot do itblindfolded Itmdashitrsquos crazyrdquo

ldquoNo problemrdquo I said ldquoIrsquom a superhero HannahCars will bounce right off merdquo

I skated away from her ldquoYoursquore wrongrdquo she called ldquoLuke listen to me

The good luckmdashit doesnrsquot last foreverrdquoI laughed What was she talking aboutI skated up beside Darnell and grabbed his arm

to steady myself I pulled the scarf over my eyes untilI saw only black

ldquoYoursquore crazyrdquo he muttered ldquoYou could getkilled manrdquo

ldquoNo wayrdquo I declared ldquoIrsquom going to win twentybucks from you twordquo

I heard Stretch skate up beside me ldquoYoursquore doingthis for realrdquo he asked ldquoYoursquore going to skate into allthose cars blindfoldedrdquo

ldquoYou going to talk or skaterdquo I asked him ldquoFirstone past Miller Street without stopping wins themoneyrdquo

ldquoLukemdashdonrsquot be crazyrdquo Hannah calledIt was the last thing I heard before the three of us

took off I leaned forward skating straight and hard I

heard Stretch and Darnell beside me theirRollerblades scraping the pavement

As we picked up speed I could hear the traffic onMiller I heard a horn honk Heard someone shout

I skated down down laughing through thedarkness

78

ldquoLukemdashloooook outrdquoI heard Darnellrsquos scream I heard the squeal of

tires Horns honkedI tossed back my head and laughed I roared

through Miller Street the blade wheels whistling overthe pavement

Then as I turned my skates and came to a slowstop I ripped the scarf away And saw Darnell stand-ing on the curb on the other side of Miller His mouthwas open He shook his head

Stretch came skating around me ldquoYou crazyjerkrdquo he shouted ldquoYou were almost killed threetimesrdquo

I calmly held out my hand ldquoMoney pleaserdquoldquoYou lucky jerkrdquo Stretch muttered He slapped

the ten-dollar bill into my gloved hand ldquoYoursquorecrazy Really Yoursquore just plain crazyrdquo

I laughed ldquoThanks for the compliment And theten bucksrdquo

79

Grumbling to himself Stretch skated back up tohis friends

Darnell waited for the traffic to clear then skatedover to me He wiped sweat off his forehead ldquoYouwere almost killedrdquo he said his voice shaking ldquoWhydid you do it Lukerdquo

I grinned at him ldquoBecause I canrdquo

The weather turned warm for our overnight camp-out Even though the trees were bare the woodssmelled fresh and sweet almost like spring Highwhite clouds dotted the bright blue afternoon skyTwigs and dead leaves crackled and crunched underour feet as we hiked through the tall trees to thecamping grounds

I squeezed the small skull in one hand as Iwalked weighted down by the heavy pack on myback Some kids were singing a Beatles song Behindme a group of girls were telling really bad knock-knock jokes laughing shrilly after each one

Coach Bendix and Ms Raymond another gymteacher led the way along the twisting path throughthe trees I was about halfway back in the line ofkids

I turned and found Hannah beside me She woreher blue windbreaker with the hood pulled up overher head She was leaning on one crutch as shewalked struggling to keep up ldquoDo you have anywaterrdquo she asked

80

I slowed down ldquoYour parents let you come Isyour ankle betterrdquo

ldquoNot reallyrdquo she replied frowning ldquoBut I toldthem I had to come anyway I wouldnrsquot miss it Doyou have any water Irsquom dyingrdquo

ldquoYeah Surerdquo I reached for the bottle of water inmy pack ldquoDidnrsquot you bring anyrdquo

Hannah sighed ldquoMy water bottle had a leak orsomething It poured out and soaked all the extraclothes in my pack Now I donrsquot have a thing towearrdquo

I handed her the water bottle Leaning on the crutch she pushed back the wind-

breaker hood and I saw her face for the first timeHer skin was covered with big red splotchesldquoHannah whatrsquos thatrdquo I cried ldquoYour facemdashrdquoldquoDonrsquot look at merdquo she snapped She turned her

back and took a long gulp of waterldquoBut what is itrdquo I demanded ldquoPoison ivyrdquoldquoNo I donrsquot think sordquo she said still facing away

from me ldquoI woke up with it Some kind of red rashAll over my bodyrdquo She sighed ldquoI donrsquot get a breakrdquo

She handed the water bottle back to me andpulled the blue plastic hood over her head ldquoThanksfor the waterrdquo

ldquoDoes it itchrdquo I askedShe let out an angry cry ldquoI really donrsquot want to

talk about itrdquo She grabbed the crutch tightly swungit hard in front of her and hurried ahead of me drag-

81

ging her bandaged foot over the dirt pathShersquos having so much bad luck I guess itrsquos my

fault I thought squeezing the skull in my pocket But why are all these terrible things happening to

her Why isnrsquot there enough good luck for both of usI didnrsquot have much time to think about it Behind me I heard shrill frightened screams I

saw kids running off the path Screaming Calling forhelp

I spun around and headed toward them the heavypack bouncing on my back ldquoWhatrsquos going onrdquo Icried ldquoWhatrsquos wrongrdquo

More shrill screamsAnd then I saw the two enormous brown snakes

Swinging down from a low tree limb Blocking thepath

The same color as the tree they twisted their longbodies thicker than garden hoses and snapped theirjaws

I didnrsquot hesitate I dived forward stretching out myarms

ldquoLukemdashwhat are you doing Stay away fromthemrdquo I heard Coach Bendix shout

The kidsrsquo frightened screams rang through thewoods

ldquoGet away from themrdquo Coach orderedBut I knew nothing could hurt me I knew my good

luck would keep me safe

82

I shot my hands out And grabbed both snakesone in each hand

I wrapped my fingers around their thick bodiesThen with a hard tug I wrenched them off the treelimb And raised them high

ldquoWhoardquoI didnrsquot realize how long they were And how strongI let out a startled cry as both snakes wriggled

loose I saw the tiny black eyes flash Saw the jawsopen

Then both snake heads came crashing towardme jaws snappingmdashsnapping so furiously beneaththe flashing eyes snapping like bear traps

83

I felt a rush of air as they snappedmdashsnappedmdashsnapped their sharp-toothed jaws Heads swingingwildly Whole bodies swinging and shaking Thickwhite drool clinging to their pointed teeth

Shrill screams rose all around me I stared atthe snapping heads the glimmering black eyesmdashuntil it seemed that the snakes were screamingtoo

And thenmdashthey flew from my handsWriggled free with strong tosses of their heavy

bodies And plunged to the ground Disappearingso quickly Blending into the hard brown dirtVanishing beneath the carpet of fat brown leavestwigs and fallen limbs

As kids surrounded me I stood hunched overgasping for breath I smoothed my open handsover my ears my cheeks my whole face

I waited for the pain of the snakebites to spreadover me

But no No sting No throbbing No pain

84

They had snapped so close I felt their breathon my skin

But they hadnrsquot bitten me ldquoYoursquore so luckyrdquo Coach Bendix was saying He

had a hand on my shoulder and was examining myface ldquoI never saw anyone so lucky Why did you doit Luke Those snakes are deadly poisonousDeadly Why did you do itrdquo

I stared at him but didnrsquot answer I didnrsquot knowwhat to say

How could I explain it to him How could Iexplain to anyone what it felt like to be so incrediblyawesomely lucky

All around kids were cheering Congratulatingme Talking about me how brave I had been

Leaning against a tree I saw Hannah She stoodby herself crutch under one arm She was the onlyone not smiling not cheering

I saw the red blotches on Hannahrsquos faceWatched as she transfered the crutch to her otherarm And saw her scowling at me her eyes nar-rowed She shook her head and scowled

And in that moment I realized that she was jeal-ous Jealous of my good luck

Jealous that she was no longer the hero She wasno longer the lucky one

Too bad Hannah I thought watching her angryexpression I had felt sorry for her I had felt reallyguilty too

85

But no moreIrsquove got the luck now Hannah I thought And Irsquom

going to keep it

ldquoLetrsquos go guys Wersquove got another game to winrdquoI cried I gave Sam Mulroney a playful towel slap

Locker doors slammed Guys finished lacing uptheir basketball shoes

ldquoDid you see those Deaver Mills guysrdquo Mulroneyasked peeking into the gym through a crack in thelocker room door ldquoTheyrsquore monsters They must feedthose guys whole steaks five times a dayrdquo

ldquoBig doesnrsquot mean goodrdquo I said ldquoThey look likecows Theyrsquore so slowrdquo

ldquoWersquoll dribble circles around themrdquo Jay Boxersaid

ldquoJust feed me the ballrdquo I instructed them ldquoNomatter where I am Feed me the ball Irsquoll put it in Irsquomfeeling lucky today guys Real luckyrdquo

ldquoHey Champmdashrdquo Stretch called pulling on his jer-sey ldquoYoursquore not a ball hog or anythingmdashare yourdquo

Guys used to laugh when Stretch shouted insultsat me But not anymore Everyone was on my sidenow Everyone wanted to be on the winnerrsquos side

ldquoHey Stretchmdashwhat do they call yourdquo I shoutedback ldquoA bench hogrdquo

Everybody laughedStretch laughed too Now that I was a winner he

was starting to be a little nicer to me He even gave

86

me some dribbling tips after one practice The guys all headed out to the gym I could hear

the shouts of the crowd in the bleachers And thesteady thud of basketballs on the floor as the DeaverMills Lions warmed up

ldquoTime to kill me some Lionsrdquo I muttered I finishedlacing my sneakers

Then I stood up Started to swing my gym lockerclosed

And slammed my left hand in the doorldquoHeyrdquo I cried out in surprise as pain shot up my

arm I shook the hand hard trying to shake the pain

away My wrist throbbed I moved my fingers tiltedmy hand back and forth It moved okay Not broken

But the hand was red and already starting to swellldquoNo time for thisrdquo I muttered I slammed the locker shut with my right hand

And still shaking my left hand hurried out into thegym

The crowd cheered as I ran onto the floor I sawsome of the Deaver Mills players whisper to eachother and point at me They knew who the star playerwas They knew who was going to wipe the floor withthem today

We huddled close around Coach Bendix ldquoTake itslow with these guysrdquo he instructed ldquoFeel them outGet their rhythm Letrsquos rattle them show them we canplay defenserdquo

87

ldquoJust get me the ballrdquo I chimed in ldquoIrsquom going tobe loose under the basket all dayrdquo

We gave our team cheer and trotted out to the cen-ter of the floor I searched the bleachers for HannahShe said she would try to come to the game today

I spotted her at the side of the bleachers hunchedin a wheelchair Her bad foot was propped up and ithad an even bigger bandage over it

I guess it isnrsquot getting better I thought I felt a pangof guilt

Poor Hannah I looked for my parents Then I remembered they

werenrsquot coming today They had to stay home for a fur-niture delivery

I turned away from the crowd I had a game toplay Time to get my game face on No time to thinkabout Hannah and her problems

I went up for the opening jump I tapped the ballto Mulroney and the game was underway

He dribbled to half-court then sent a high pass tome

ldquoWhoamdashrdquo The ball flew right through my handsand bounced out of bounds

ldquoMulroneymdashtoo hardrdquo I called ldquoWho were youthrowing atrdquo

He shrugged and started trotting to the Lionsrsquobasket

ldquoGet in there Luke Get going Look aliverdquo I heardCoach Bendix shouting

88

The Deaver guard came dribbling slowly towardme I darted up to him stuck out my hand to steal theballmdashand missed

He moved past me easily and sent up an easylayup for two points

ldquoWeirdrdquo I muttered I shook my left hand Thepain had dulled to an ache but the hand was prettyswollen

I moved down the court Caught a pass Spunaway from the Lion defender Went in for an easy shot

And missedldquoHuhrdquoI heard the crowd groan Startled voices all aroundMulroney slapped me on the shoulder ldquoTake it

easy manrdquo he said ldquoPlay your game Just play yourgamerdquo

A few seconds later I drove in for a shotmdashand wasfouled I moved to the foul linemdashand missed both foulshots

More groans and muttering from the bleachers Isaw Coach Bendix shake his head

A bounce pass from Jay Boxer sailed right throughmy legs Some of the Lionsrsquo players had a good laughover that one

Then I missed three more shots in a rowMulroney flashed me a thumbs-up ldquoNo probrdquo he

called ldquoPlay your game Luke Wersquoll get rsquoemrdquoThe Lions were winning twelve to four I took another pass and moved under the basket I

89

leaped high for a slam dunk My arm hit the rim hard I cried out in pain And

watched the ball sail over the backboardldquoWhoa This isnrsquot happeningrdquo I muttered picking

myself up off the floor ldquoNo wayrdquoAt the other end of the floor I grabbed a rebound

off the backboard I dodged past a huge Lion playerDribbled away from him easily Picked up speedBrought the ball onto our side of the court

Eyed the basket Prepared to stop short and put upa three-pointer

And tripped Felt one sneaker bump the otherTripped over my own shoe

And watched the ball sail into a Lionrsquos hands as Istumbled I fell forward onto my stomach My armsand legs were out flat on the floor ldquoOOOFrdquo

I heard startled gasps from the bleachers Andlaughter

Yes Some people were laughing at meldquoWhat is going onrdquo I cried I forced myself to my feet Shook off the pain ldquoThis isnrsquot happening It canrsquot berdquoI reached into the pocket of my uniform shorts

Reached for my good-luck skullFumbled in the pocket Searched both pocketsldquoHeymdashrdquoNo No No wayThe skull was gone

90

Fumbling frantically in both pockets I began run-ning for the team bench ldquoTime out Time outrdquo Iscreamed

Had the skull fallen out of my pocketI squinted hard searching the gleaming polished

floor No sign of itldquoTime outrdquo I pleadedI heard a whistle blow on the sidelinesI had to find itmdashnow I couldnrsquot play without itMy eyes swept over the floor I began to run full

speed to the bench I didnrsquot see the huge Lions playermdashuntil we collidedI plowed right into him Caught him flat-footed He

let out a startled ldquoOofrdquo And we cracked headsldquoYaaaiiiirdquo I let out a scream of agony as blinding

red pain shot around my head The red shimmered togold Brighter brighter bright as the sun

I felt my legs giving out Felt myself collapsingcrumbling into a deep deep bottomless darkness

91

I woke up to pinpoints of yellow light They flick-ered high above me Each time they flashed a waveof pain rolled over my forehead down the back of myneck

I blinked hard Blinked until I realized I was star-ing up at the lights on the gym rafters

I lay on my back on the gym floor one kneeraised my hands flat at my sides I squinted up atthe high raftersmdashuntil faces blocked my view

Playersrsquo faces And then a few worried-lookingadults And then Coach Bendixrsquos face looming overme bobbing over me like a parade balloon

ldquoWhatmdashrdquo One word escaped my throat My drythroat So dry I couldnrsquot swallow

ldquoStay still Lukerdquo Coach ordered speaking softlyHis dark eyes peered down into mine studying meldquoYoursquove had a bad concussion Donrsquot try to moveWersquore sending you to the emergency roomrdquo

ldquoHuh Nordquo I gasped I rolled onto my side I lurched to my feet The

floor tilted from side to side as if I were on a rockingboat

ldquoDonrsquot move Lukerdquo Coach reached for meBut I staggered out of his grasp Stumbled

through the circle of people that had formed aroundme

ldquoNo No hospitalrdquo I croaked

92

I had to find that skull That was all I needed andthen I would be okay again

The skull I stumbled over someonersquos shoe Staggered

toward the locker room The gleaming wood floorswaying beneath me

ldquoLukemdashcome backrdquoNo No way I shoved open the locker room door

with one shoulder And sliding a hand against thelockers moved to the back row Lurched to my gymlocker Pulled open the door so hard it slammedagainst the frame

ldquoWhere is it WhererdquoI frantically pawed through my street clothes

Searched and then tossed everything onto the floor ldquoWhere WhererdquoNot in my khakis pockets Not in my shirt pocket

Not in my sweatshirtThe locker floor No Nothing down thereStumbling over the pile of clothes on the floor I

lurched back down the row of gym lockers Ranthrough the gym out the doors and up the stairsInto the long empty hall

My sneakers squeaked on the hard floor as I ranThe walls and ceiling appeared to close in on methen slide back into place

To my locker To locker 13

93

It took me three tries to get the combination rightBut finally I unlocked it and flung open the door

And jammed my hand into one coat pocket andthen the other

ldquoWhere is it I have to have it Where WhererdquoAnd then a long happy sigh escaped my parched

throat as my hand closed around it YessssI was so happyI had the skull in my hand I squeezed it tightly

So happy So happyI pulled it out of the coat pocket Raised it in front

of me Raised it close to examine it And let out a cry of horror

94

The eyes They were dark Not red not glowingAnd the face had changed The bump-toothed

grin was gone The open mouth was curled down ina fierce angry scowl

ldquoNomdashitrsquos impossiblerdquo I gaspedI held the skull up to the light The red jewel eyes

were gone The deep round sockets were empty Theskull scowled down at me dark and menacing

What does this mean I wondered How did thishappen

Before I could think about it clearly I glimpsedsomething in the open locker A soft glow A slowmoving light growing larger as if moving closer

The light split into two Two circles of red lightDown low Very low near the locker floor

I gripped the skull tightly in my fist and stared asthe red lights glimmered closer The whole lockershimmered The dark walls reflected the two lightsBrighter bright as fire now

95

Two red eyes I realized Two glowing eyes float-ing from the blackness of locker 13

I jumped back as a black cat stepped silently outas if floating A black cat with fiery red eyes Thesame black cat as before

It pulled back its lips bared pointed white teethand hissed at me

My back hit the wall I blinked against the bright-ness of those two circles of red light

And as I trembled in horror squeezing the skullsqueezing it so tightly my hand achedmdashthe cat roseup off the floor

And melted into another formMelted and grew taller Taller The cat became

a human figure dressed all in black wrapped in abroad black coat down to the floor its face hidden inthe darkness of a black hood

Hidden All hidden except for the eyesmdashthosehorrifying fiery eyes

ldquoWh-who are you What do you wantrdquo I startledmyself by crying out those words I didnrsquot think Icould speak

My whole body trembled I pressed myselfagainst the wall to keep from falling to my knees

The hooded figure stepped silently away from theopen locker A hoarse rasp burst out from under thehood a whisper like the crackle of dead leaves ldquoTheluck has run out Lukerdquo

ldquoNordquo I gasped

96

A bony hand swung out from the sleeve of theblack coatmdashand swiped the skull away from me

ldquoNordquo I cried in protest ldquoNo NordquoldquoThe luck is overrdquo ldquoWho are yourdquo I shrieked in a tight terrified

voice ldquoWh-who How did you get in my lockerWhat do you wantrdquo I screamed in total panic

ldquoThe luck is overrdquoldquoIt canrsquot berdquo I cried ldquoIt canrsquot be I need itrdquoldquoOver rdquo the hooded figure rasped ldquoOver

over rdquoThe red eyes glowed from under the hood The

bony hand held the tiny skull in front of the broadblack coat

ldquoI need that luckrdquo I wailed ldquoI need that skullrdquoAnd I grabbed it back Grabbed it out of the bony

handldquoI need it I have to have itrdquoI raised the skull in front of me Stared hard at it What was wrong with it Something wriggling on

it wriggling in my hand crawling over mypalm

ldquoOhhhhrdquo I let out a moan as I saw The skull wascovered crawling crawling with hundreds ofmaggots

97

The skull fell from my hand and bounced acrossthe floor I frantically shook my hand scraped itagainst the wall brushing the disgusting maggots offmy skin

Under the black hood the red eyes glowed brighterldquoYou enjoyed a lot of good luck Lukerdquo the figure saidin his hoarse croak ldquoBut the luck has ended And nowyou must pay for itrdquo

ldquoHuh Payrdquo I felt my throat tighten I stared at thefiery eyes trying to see a face trying to see who wasspeaking to me from under that hood

ldquoLukemdashIrsquom so sorryrdquo a voice called I turned to find Hannah wheeling herself rapidly

down the hall leaning forward in her wheelchair turn-ing the wheels with both hands

ldquoHannahmdash Whatmdashrdquo I couldnrsquot find any wordsldquoIrsquom so sorryrdquo she repeated As she wheeled herself

closer I saw tears brimming in her eyes rolling downher red-blotched face

ldquoSorryrdquo I repeated my head spinning in confusion

98

ldquoHe made me do itrdquo she wailed ldquoYou have tobelieve me Luke I didnrsquot want to Really But hemade merdquo

She grabbed my hand Squeezed it tightly Herhand was as cold as ice Tears rolled down hercheeks

ldquoVery touchingrdquo the hooded figure rasped coldlyldquoHannahmdashhe made you do whatrdquo I askedldquoHemdashhe made me give you the skullrdquo Hannah

stammered still squeezing my hand ldquoHuhrdquo I let out a startled cry ldquoYou gave it to me

But I thought I found it I thoughtmdashrdquoldquoI had the good luck for a long timerdquo Hannah

said wiping her wet cheeks with both handsldquoRemember when I had so much good luck Then itran out The skull went dark And he forced memdashheforced me to pass the skull on to yourdquo

I stared at her in disbelief ldquoBut who is herdquo Icried ldquoHow can he do thisrdquo

ldquoHavenrsquot you guessedrdquo the hooded figureboomed The red eyes glowed like two angry sunsldquoHavenrsquot you figured it out yet Luke I am the FateMaster I decide who has good luck and who has badrdquo

ldquoNordquo I whispered ldquoThatrsquos crazyrdquoldquoItrsquos the truthrdquo Hannah said her voice breaking

ldquoHe controls me And now yourdquoldquoLukerdquo the evil figure whispered lowering him-

self toward me ldquoDid you really think you could haveall that good luck without paying for itrdquo

99

ldquoI didnrsquot want to give the skull to yourdquo Hannahwhispered holding on to my arm ldquoI gave you achance to hand it back to me remember Rememberduring my game I asked if you had seen itrdquo

I nodded sadly feeling my face grow hotldquoI knew you had it Why didnrsquot you give it back

thenrdquo Hannah demanded ldquoI gave you a chance toreturn it I didnrsquot want you to keep itrdquo

ldquoToo late for that nowrdquo the Fate Master raspedldquoNow you are BOTH minerdquo

ldquoNo wayrdquo I protested ldquoI donrsquot believe any ofthis This canrsquot be happening Itmdashitrsquos some kind ofbad jokerdquo

ldquoItrsquos not a jokerdquo Hannah whispered ldquoLook atmerdquo She pointed to her red-blotched face her ban-daged foot the wheelchair

ldquoNordquo I insisted ldquoIt wonrsquot happen to me I wonrsquotlet it IrsquollmdashIrsquoll make my own luckrdquo

The bulky black coat shook as the Fate Masteruttered a hoarse laugh It sounded more like drycoughing than laughter ldquoYoung man do you reallythink you can go up against FATE I control EVERY-THING that happens Do you really think you candefy FATErdquo

ldquoI donrsquot care what you sayrdquo I screamed ldquoIrsquom notgoing to be some kind of slave You canrsquot control meYou canrsquotrdquo

100

The Fate Master sighed The red eyes faded insidethe hood ldquoDo I really have to prove myself to youOkay So be itrdquo

He leaned closer So close that I could see intothe hood I could see that he had no face Just twoglowing eyes floating in blackness

ldquoLukemdashthat concussion you had in the gymrdquo herasped ldquoIrsquom afraid itrsquos much worse than you thoughtFeel your earsrdquo

ldquoHuhrdquo My hands shot up to my ears I felt wet-ness

Warm wetnessI lowered my hands My fingers dripped with

bloodMy ears were bleedingI felt the warm blood pour down my earlobes

trickle down the sides of my faceFrantically I pressed the palms of my hands

against my ears ldquoThat wonrsquot stop the bleeding Lukerdquo the Fate

Master whispered ldquoThat blood wonrsquot clot Itrsquos justgoing to keep pouring out Bad luck Irsquom afraid Verybad luckrdquo

ldquoNomdashpleaserdquo I pleaded ldquoMake it stoprdquoThe eyes flared ldquoDo you believe in me now Do

you believe that you belong to merdquoldquoOkayrdquo I said ldquoOkay I believe yourdquo

101

ldquoYour fate is in my handsmdashboth of you You mustpay for the good luck you had You must suffer badluck nowmdashrdquo

ldquoNomdashpleaserdquo I begged ldquoI need more timeThings are just starting to go right for me The basket-ball team my animation the swim team Irsquolldo anything I need more timerdquo

ldquoNO MORE TIMErdquo The hoarse rasp echoed offthe tile walls Angry flames shot out from the black-ness of the hood

ldquoButmdashrdquo I started shrinking back beside HannahldquoI control yourdquo the Fate Master boomed ldquoI decide

your luck from now on Do you want me to go easy onthe two of you DO yourdquo

ldquoY-yesrdquo I stammered ldquoIrsquoll do anythingAnythingrdquo

The Fate Master was silent for a long momentThe eyes faded as if retreating into the distance thenglowed brightly again ldquoIf you want me to go easy onyou bothrdquo he said finally ldquoherersquos what you haveto do rdquo

102

ldquoPass the skull on to anotherrdquo the Fate Masterordered

ldquoHuh Youmdashyou want me to give it to someoneelserdquo I stammered

The eyes sparked beneath the hood ldquoPass it tothat big kid the one called Stretch Irsquove had my eye onhim I will give him good luck for two months Then Iwill claim him as minerdquo

ldquoNo I canrsquot do thatrdquo I protested ldquoIt isnrsquot right Itisnrsquotmdashrdquo

The Fate Master uttered a furious growl ldquoThenyou will suffer bad luck your whole life You and every-one in your familyrdquo

I shivered in fear My mind spun I felt the warmblood start to trickle from my ears again

Could I do it Could I trap Stretch the way I hadbeen trapped

I felt Hannah tug my arm ldquoYou have to do itLukerdquo she whispered ldquoItrsquos our only chance BesidesStretch has been asking for itmdashhasnrsquot he Hersquos not a

103

friend of yours Hersquos an enemy Stretch has been ask-ing for it all yearrdquo

True Stretch wasnrsquot my friend But could I beresponsible for ruining Stretchrsquos life For turning himover to the Fate Master

Hannah gazed up at me from the wheelchair withpleading eyes ldquoDo itrdquo she whispered ldquoSave usLuke Do itrdquo

I turned to the Fate Master ldquoOkayrdquo I choked outldquoIrsquoll do itrdquo

The eyes flashed from red to sunlight yellowThe big coat opened and appeared to fly up Itraised itself over me like giant bat wings Floatedover me then floated down

I felt myself covered in a heavy darkness I couldnrsquot move It spread over me blacker

blackerI felt so cold So cold and lost As if I had been

buried buried deep in the cold cold groundAnd then I blinked and saw pinpoints of light

Flickering white lights that grew brighter so bright Ihad to squint

It took me a while to realize I was back in the gymBack on the gym floor A crowd huddled around meTight expressions worried faces

Someone leaned over me A face came into focusCoach Bendix stared down at me the whistle hangingfrom his neck

104

ldquoCoachmdashrdquo I tried to speak but the word came outa whisper

ldquoDonrsquot move Lukerdquo he said softly ldquoYoursquove had aconcussion but yoursquore going to be okayrdquo

ldquoA concussionrdquoldquoLie stillrdquo he instructed ldquoAn ambulance is on the

wayrdquoA concussionIt didnrsquot happen I realized The hooded figure with the glowing eyes The

Fate Master stepping out of locker 13 Taking awaymy good luck Ordering me to pass the skull toStretch

It didnrsquot happenIt was a dream A nightmare caused by my con-

cussionI jumped to my feet The floor swayed beneath

me The bleachers appeared to tilt to one side thenthe other

I saw Hannah in her wheelchair at the side of thebleachers

Shersquos still in the gym I told myself happily Wenever left the gym It didnrsquot happen None of it hap-pened

I felt so happy So freeBefore I even realized it I was running Running

to the doorldquoLuke HeymdashLuke Stoprdquo I heard Coach Bendix

calling to me

105

And then I was out the gym doors And racingthrough the dark empty hallways Running fullspeed

So happy And so eager to get away from thereAway from the school Away from my nightmare

Did I stop at my lockerI must have stopped there because I had my

jacket on when I burst outside Into the frosty nightair I saw a tiny sliver of a moon high in a purple-black sky I stopped for a second to breathe in thecold fresh air

Then I ran across the teachersrsquo parking lot to thebike rack Irsquod ridden my bike to school And now Iplanned to put the pedal to the metalmdashto race all theway home

ldquoYesrdquo So happy I felt so happy I could havedanced all the way home

I jumped on my bike Grabbed the handlebarsWhoa Something wrong A scraping sound I climbed off and glanced down A flat tire No

Two flat tiresldquoOh wowrdquo I murmured How did that happenNo big deal Irsquoll get the bike tomorrow I decided

I started to jog across the parking lot heading to thestreet My sneaker felt loose I squatted down to tiethe shoe lacemdashand it ripped between my hands

No problem I told myself I have plenty ofshoelaces at home I started walking turned onto thesidewalk crossed the street Behind me I could hear

106

shouts and cheers coming from the gym I guessedthat the game had started up again

ldquoGo Stretchrdquo I murmured As I made my way down the next block it began

to rain Softly at first But the wind picked up andthen the rain started coming down in sheets

I zipped my jacket and leaned into the wind Butthe rain drove me back wave after wave of freezingwater

I heard a crackling sound nearbymdashand sawjagged white lightning streak across the front yardacross the street A deafening boom of thunder shookthe ground

I pressed forward Trees creaked and nearly bentsideways in the torrents of wind and rain I couldnrsquotmove I ducked under a broad-trunked tree for safety

But a loud crack of lightning sent a tree branchcrashing to my feet

ldquoOhhrdquo I cried out A close callI jumped over the fallen branch Sharp pieces of

the limb scratched my arm as I struggled to raceaway Another jagged bolt of lightning crackled a fewfeet in front of me sizzling over the wet grass

Squinting through the downpour I saw smokesnake over the lawn The grass was burned blackwhere the lightning had spread

The wind shoved me backward Sheet after sheet

107

of rain washed over me I choked Struggled tobreathe

And then just beyond the rain just beyondthe heavy waves of dark water I saw two glowinglights two red eyes like dark headlights Two evil eyes moving with me watching me

The Fate MasterIt wasnrsquot a dream I suddenly knew that my flat

tiresmdashthe stormmdashthe lightning the pounding rainmdashit was all a show A show of strength

I staggered up my driveway Slipped on the wetgravel Sprawled facedown on the soaked stones

ldquoNooooo rdquoI struggled to my feet Stumbled onto the front

stoop A deafening shattering crash made me spin

around I saw one of the oak trees in front of thehouse split in half It appeared to move in slowmotion One half shivered but stayed upright Theother half of the broad old tree came crashing ontothe roof of the house

Windows shattered Roof tiles came slidingdown

I covered my head with one hand And pushedthe doorbell Frantically pushed the bell ldquoLet me inMom Dadrdquo I pounded on the front door with bothfists

Where were they

108

The lights were all on Why didnrsquot they open thedoor

A crash of thunder made me jump and cry outAbove the front stoop rainwater poured like a water-fall over the sides of the gutters Waves of rain rattledthe living room window and battered the bricks of thefront wall

ldquoLet me inrdquo I screamed over another roar ofthunder I pounded the front door until my fist ached

Then I heard a window slide open I turned to ourneighborrsquos house Through the curtains of rain I sawMrs Gillis poke her head out the bedroom windowShe shouted something But I couldnrsquot hear her overthe roar of rain

ldquoTheyrsquore not homerdquo I finally heard her shoutldquoThey had to go to the hospital Lukerdquo

ldquoWhat What did you sayrdquo My heart jumpedHad I heard correctly

ldquoItrsquos your dad He fell down the stairs Hersquos okayBut they took him to the emergency roomrdquo

ldquoNordquo I cried I beat my fists against the doorldquoNo No Nordquo

The Fate Master was putting on a show for meHe was showing me who was boss Giving me a littletaste of what the rest of my life could be like

ldquoOkayrdquo I shouted cupping my hands around mymouth Water pounded me washed over me bat-

109

tered me against the house ldquoOkaymdashyou winrdquo Iscreamed ldquoIrsquoll do it Irsquoll do whatever you sayrdquo

And I didThe next morning I gave the skull to Stretch

110

I found Stretch at his locker before school startedGiving him the yellow skull was the easiest thing inthe world

Stretch was leaning into his locker searching theshelf for something His backpack stood open on thefloor I pulled the skull from my jeans pocketmdashanddropped it into his backpack

He didnrsquot see anything He didnrsquot even know hehad it

ldquoHey Stretchmdashhowrsquos it goingrdquo I asked trying tosound calm natural As if I hadnrsquot just done some-thing terrible to him Something that would ruin hislife forever

ldquoYomdashhey Champrdquo He slapped me a hard highfive so hard my hand stung ldquoHowrsquos your headman It looks as ugly as everrdquo He laughed

I stared at him ldquoMy headrdquoldquoThat was a nasty collisionrdquo he said ldquoYour head

must be hard as a rock You feeling okayrdquoldquoYeah Not badrdquo I replied

111

Stretch snickered ldquoWell thanks for letting me getsome playing timerdquo He started to close up his back-pack

I stared at the backpack picturing the skull insideit The skull I had passed on to Stretch The tiny redeyes were probably glowing again Stretch was goingto have a lot of good luck for a while But then

ldquoMaybe you and I can practice together laterrdquoStretch said slamming his locker shut ldquoI can giveyou some more pointers Make you look like youknow what yoursquore doingrdquo

ldquoYeah Mayberdquo I saidStretchrsquos expression turned serious ldquoActually

yoursquore not bad manrdquo he said ldquoI mean it You are soimproved I mean yoursquore almost pretty goodReallyrdquo

I donrsquot believe this I thought Stretch is actuallypaying me a compliment

I shrugged ldquoIt was just luckrdquo I mutteredJust luck Ha haldquoNo wayrdquo Stretch insisted ldquoLuck had nothing to

do with it man It was hard work and skill No kid-ding It isnrsquot luck Yoursquore goodrdquo

I swallowed hard I suddenly felt like a totalcreep

Stretch was being so nice to me And what had Idone to him I just gave him a life of bad luck a lifeof slavery to the Fate Master

112

ldquoWhoa Forgot my science notebookrdquo Stretchgroaned He dropped his backpack to the floor andturned to unlock his locker

I stared down at the backpack feeling dizzy feel-ing sick

What am I going to do I asked myself What amI going to do

My bad luck continued all dayI answered the wrong questions on my algebra test

and got an F Miss Wakely warned me that Irsquod have todo extra work if I didnrsquot want to fail the course

At lunch the milk in my milk carton was lumpy andsour I didnrsquot notice until I had gulped down a bigmouthful Then I nearly puked my guts up in front ofeveryone

After lunch I started to comb my hair in the boysrsquoroommdashand a huge clump came out on the comb Igasped in horror and tugged out another clump of hair

Irsquom going to lose all my hair I realizedAs I hurried out of the bathroom I caught my shirt

on a nail and ripped one sleeve off I was so upset Ibumped into Miss Wakely from behind Her coffeecup flew out of her hand and scalding hot coffeesplashed all over her

I found Hannah after school She came rollingslowly down the hall in her wheelchair Her foot wasstill bandaged Her face was still covered in red

113

blotches And I saw that one of her eyes was swollenshut

ldquoHannahmdashIrsquove got to talk to yourdquo I criedldquoDid you pass it onrdquo she asked in a loud whisper ldquoHuhrdquoldquoIrsquove lost my voicerdquo she whispered ldquoDid you

pass the skull on to Stretch Wersquove got to change ourluck I can barely see My skin itches like crazy I canbarely talk ImdashI canrsquot go on like this Lukerdquo

ldquoIrsquove got to find the Fate Masterrdquo I said Hannah grabbed my torn shirtsleeve ldquoYoursquove got

to do what he said Yoursquove got to obey him Itrsquos ouronly chancerdquo

ldquoHow do I find himrdquo I askedldquoHe will find yourdquo Hannah whispered ldquoHe

appears in places of bad luck You knowmdashbrokenmirrors wherever the number thirteen is writtenrdquo

ldquoCome with merdquo I said I led the way to my lockerI waved to some guys heading to the pool for swimteam practice I wanted to be with them But this wasmore important

ldquoWersquove got to talk to the Fate Masterrdquo I toldHannah ldquoMaybe hersquoll come through my lockeragainrdquo

Hannah groaned in pain as she wheeled herselfbehind me ldquoMy foot hurts so muchrdquo she whispered

ldquoHe promised to end the bad luckrdquo I saidI turned the combination lock then pulled open

114

my locker door A burst of sour air choked the hall Igagged then held my breath

ldquoLookmdashrdquo Hannah choked out She pointed to thefloor of the locker

It was littered with dead birds A pile of brown-and-gray sparrows all dead and decaying

ldquoHe left us a presentrdquo I murmured ldquoWhere is heIs he going to appearrdquo

We didnrsquot have to wait long A few moments later I saw the glow of the red

eyes at the back of the locker And then the dark fig-ure stepped over the pile of dead birds and floatedout hunched beneath the black hood

ldquoHave you done what I askedrdquo he rasped thefiery eyes burning into mine ldquoHave you given me anew slaverdquo

ldquoYesrdquo I replied avoiding his stare ldquoThat was ourdeal right And now will you stop torturing us Willyou end our bad luck as you promisedrdquo

The hood bobbed up and down ldquoNordquo he saidsoftly

Hannah and I both uttered cries of protestldquoDid you really think you could make a deal with

the Fate Masterrdquo he boomed The open coat floatedup like bat wings ldquoI donrsquot make bargains with any-one I donrsquot make promises You will take whateverFate dishes outrdquo

ldquoYou promisedmdashrdquo Hannah shriekedThe evil figure snickered ldquoFirst you enjoy good

115

luck Then you must pay for it You cannot break thepattern You should know that You should know thatyou cannot bargain with Fate You will pay for yourgood luck for the rest of your liferdquo

ldquoNo Waitmdash Waitrdquo Hannah pleaded reachingup from the wheelchair grasping at the black cloakgrasping frantically with both hands

But the Fate Master spun around swirling thefoul air He stomped heavily on the dead birds as hestrode back into locker 13

In a second he had vanished Dead birds littered the floor of the hall the floor

of my lockerI turned to Hannah Her shoulders heaved up

and down Loud sobs escaped her throat ldquoHepromised rdquo

ldquoItrsquos okayrdquo I said softly ldquoI didnrsquot keep mypromise eitherrdquo

I pulled the yellow skull from my jeans pocket Hannah gasped ldquoYou didnrsquot give it to StretchrdquoI squeezed the skull in my fist ldquoYes I gave it to

him But I took it back before Stretch even saw it Icouldnrsquot do it Stretch was too nice to me ImdashIcouldnrsquot I couldnrsquot ruin someonersquos liferdquo

Hannah shook her head Tears spilled from herswollen eyes ldquoNow what are we going to do LukeWersquore doomed Now we donrsquot stand a chancerdquo

116

I bounced the basketball hard against the drive-way Drove toward the backboard and sent up ahook shot It bounced off the rim back into myhands I spun hard and sent up a two-handed shotthat dropped through the net

Overhead clouds covered the moon The garagelights sent white cones of light over the drivewayBehind me the house was dark except for a squareof orange light from my bedroom window upstairs

I glanced at the roof Men had worked all day torepair the broken and missing shingles The fallentree had been hauled away One windowmdashbroken inthe stormmdashwas still covered with cardboard

All my fault I realized All the damage to thehouse was my fault

My dad was walking with a cane He had a badlysprained knee from his fall down the stairs But hewas okay for now

That was all my fault too I knew All my bad luck

117

I heaved the ball angrily at the backboard Itthudded high bounced back to the driveway Ipicked it up and shot it through the hoop

Luck luck luck The word ran through my mind like an ugly

chantAnd then I heard Stretchrsquos words again Stretch

actually saying something nice to me ldquoLuck hadnothing to do with it Luke It was hard work andskillrdquo

Hard work and skillNot luckldquoYou cannot break the patternrdquo the Fate Master

had said ldquoFirst you have the good luckmdashthen youpay for itrdquo

The pattern You cannot break the patternNot luck Hard work and skillI shot the ball again Dribbled then shot again

Even though it was a cold frosty night sweat poureddown my forehead I wanted to work harder Harder

And as I practiced those words repeated andrepeated in my mind And I knew what I had to doI knew the only way I could end the bad luck forHannah and for me

The only way I could defeat the Fate MasterI shot again Again I moved to the foul line and

put up several foul shotsI didnrsquot stop when I saw the kitchen light flash on

The back door swung open Dad stepped into the

118

yard wearing his bathrobe leaning on his caneldquoLukemdashwhat are you doingrdquo he called ldquoItrsquos after

eleven orsquoclockrdquoldquoPracticingrdquo I said sending up another jump

shot Walking unsteadily he came up to the edge of the

driveway ldquoButmdashitrsquos so late Why are you doing thisrdquoldquoIrsquom going to win without luckrdquo I replied I sent

up another shot and watched it drop through thehoop ldquoIrsquom going to win with skill I shouted ldquoI canbreak the pattern I can win without luckrdquo

And then without realizing it I was screaming atthe top of my lungs ldquoI DONrsquoT NEED LUCK IDONrsquoT NEED LUCKrdquo

119

My plan was simple Maybe too simple But I had to give it a tryI didnrsquot tell it to Hannah She was pretty much

destroyed I didnrsquot want to give her any more toworry about

I knew I didnrsquot have much timemdashmaybe a day ortwo at the most

As soon as the Fate Master discovered that I stillhad the skull that I hadnrsquot passed it on to Stretch hewould come after me full force

My plan It was to break the pattern To win To win big To have a major success

Without luck Without needing any good luckIf I could win with my own hard work with my

own skill my own talentmdashit would be a defeat for theFate Master I would break his rule I would breakthe pattern

And maybe just maybe that would freeHannah and me

120

And thatrsquos why I practiced on my drivewayPracticed in the dark in the cold until after midnightHard work and skill

Hard work and skillShawnee Valley played Forest Grove this after-

noon The last game of the season My last chance to win without luckAs I changed into my team uniform I knew I had

to be great I had to be a winner today I had to winthe game for my team

And if I didIf I did maybe the nightmare would be overI was so nervous I had to lace up my sneakers

three times I kept knotting them up My fingers justwouldnrsquot work

ldquoGo Squires Go SquiresrdquoGuys were pounding their fists on the lockers

shouting jumping up and down getting pumpedgetting ready

Stretch gave me a playful slap as he jogged pastldquoTry not to bump heads today Champ We gonnabeat these clownsrdquo

I flashed him a thumbs-up ldquoTheyrsquore dead meatrdquoI shouted

I tucked in my jersey slammed the gym lockershut and trotted out into the gym I blinked underthe bright lights A big crowd nearly filled the bleach-ers They were stamping their feet in time to somemarching music over the loudspeaker

121

I searched for Hannah but didnrsquot see herThe last game of the year I thought as I picked up

a basketball from the rack My last chance I swallowed hard trying to force down my fearWas the Fate Master here Did he know that I

lied to him That I didnrsquot give the skull to StretchI donrsquot care about that I told myself Irsquom going to

be a winner today without his good luck Irsquom going to break the pattern Irsquom going to break the Fate MasterI dribbled up to Coach Bendix He slapped me on

the shoulder as I passed ldquoHave a great game Lukerdquohe called ldquoKeep it slow and steady Remembermdashjustfocus Focusrdquo

ldquoOkay Coachrdquo I called ldquoIrsquom ready I feel goodReal strong I think Irsquom going tomdashrdquo

I felt a strong blast of cold air It swept throughthe gym like an invisible ocean wave

And then I saw Coachrsquos expression change verysuddenly He was grinning at me flashing me athumbs-up And then his hand came down His facewent slack His eyes appeared to fade to glaze overas if a curtain had been drawn over them

As if hersquod been hypnotized or somethingldquoHey Lukerdquo he said motioning me back to him

He frowned narrowing his eyes at me ldquoWhat is itrdquo I asked keeping up my dribbleldquoTake the benchrdquo he ordered pointing to the

team bench with his whistle

122

ldquoHuhrdquo I gaped at himldquoThe benchrdquo he repeated his face a blank now

his eyes vacant dull ldquoYou canrsquot play todayrdquoldquoHeymdashno wayrdquo I protested ldquoWhat do you mean

Irsquove got to playrdquoHe shook his head ldquoYou canrsquot play today Luke

Your concussionmdashremember I need a doctorrsquos noteHave you been examined You canrsquot play until yoursquoreexaminedrdquo

My mouth hung open ldquoCoach Irsquove been prac-ticing so hard Please Yoursquove got to let me in the gametodayrdquo I pleaded My heart pounded so hard I feltdizzy My head throbbed ldquoCoach I have to playItrsquos the last gamerdquo

He shook his head ldquoSorryrdquo He motioned to thebench ldquoWe have to follow the rulesrdquo

Whose rules I thought bitterly The Fate Masterrsquosrules

Coach Bendix gazed at me with those glazedblank eyes ldquoSorry Yoursquove already played your lastgame Lukerdquo

ldquoButmdashbutmdashrdquo I sputteredldquoYoursquoll get rsquoem next yearrdquo he said He blew his

whistle ldquoStretchmdashyoursquore in Yoursquore playing thewhole gamerdquo

I stood there I didnrsquot move I stood in the middleof the floor with my hands on my waist Waiting formy heart to stop racing Waiting for my legs to stoptrembling

123

Then I turned and slowly trudged to the bench Irsquod lost today Score one round for the Fate

Master No way I could break the pattern today I was a

loser today But I wasnrsquot finished I could still winIf I had time

124

ldquoGive the skull to Stretchrdquo Hannah pleadedldquoMaybe the Fate Master will go easy on usrdquo

It was the next day We were huddled at the backof the lunchroom I could see Stretch laughing andkidding around with his friends at a table near thefront The Squires had won the game by two pointsand Stretch had been a hero

ldquoI canrsquot do itrdquo I said shaking my head ldquoBesidesyou heard what the Fate Master said He doesnrsquotmake deals It wonrsquot help to pass it to Stretchrdquo

Hannah let out a sigh She had her head buriedin her hands ldquoThen what are we going to dordquo

ldquoIrsquoll find a way to defeat himrdquo I said I bit into myham sandwich ldquoHeymdashrdquo I felt something hard

ldquoOh nordquo I moaned I spit out a tooth In a panic I moved my tongue around the inside

of my mouth ldquoMy teethrdquo I groaned ldquoTheyrsquore allloose Irsquom going to lose all my teethrdquo

Hannah didnrsquot lift her head She whispered some-thing too low for me to hear

125

ldquoIrsquove got to gordquo I said jumping up ldquoI have someideas Hannah Donrsquot give up hope I have someideasrdquo

I ran past Stretchrsquos table where the guys werelaughing and blowing straw wrappers at each otherStretch called out to me but I didnrsquot stop

I made my way to the computer lab The doorwas closed I pulled it open and burst breathlesslyinto the brightly lit room

ldquoMrs Coffey Mrs Coffey Itrsquos memdashLukerdquo I felt another tooth swing loose in my mouth I

gritted my teeth trying to press it down into placeA chubby young man Irsquod never seen before came

out of the supply room He had short black hair ontop of a round pudgy face and bright red cheeks Helooked like an apple with eyes He wore a red plaidshirt over black denims

ldquoIs Mrs Coffey hererdquo I demanded ldquoI need to talkto herrdquo

He set down the disk drive he was carryingldquoShersquos gonerdquo he said

ldquoYou mean she went to lunchrdquo I askedHe shook his round head ldquoNo She left school

She got another jobrdquoldquoImdashI knowrdquo I stammered ldquoBut I thoughtmdashrdquoldquoIrsquom Ron Handlemanrdquo he said ldquoIrsquom taking over

the computer lab Do you have a class with merdquoldquoUh nordquo I said ldquoBut I have a project I was

supposed to show Mrs Coffey She was going to send

126

it to someone who might put it in a show Itrsquos com-puter animation you see Irsquove been working on it fortwo years and and rdquo In my panic the wordspoured out of me I had to stop to take a breath

ldquoSlow downrdquo Mr Handleman said ldquoShe proba-bly left me a note about it She left me a stack ofnotesrdquo He glanced around the cluttered worktableldquoI put them somewhererdquo

How could Mrs Coffey leave without seeing myproject I asked myself How could she do that tome

Didnrsquot she realize how important it was Thiscould be my big triumph If my computer animationis accepted for a showmdashbecause of my hard workonly because of my skill and hard workmdashit wouldbreak the pattern It might defeat the Fate Master

Didnrsquot she realizeldquoUh can you look at my computer anima-

tionrdquo I askedMr Handlemanrsquos cheeks grew redder ldquoWhenrdquoldquoTonightrdquo I asked my heart poundingldquoWell I donrsquot think sordquo he replied ldquoNot

tonight I mean this is my first day I have so muchto do here Maybe next week rdquo

ldquoNordquo I screamed ldquoYou have to look at it PleaseItrsquos very importantrdquo

ldquoIrsquod love to see itrdquo he said picking up the diskdrive starting across the room with it ldquoBut I have toget organized Maybe rdquo

127

ldquoPleaserdquo I cried ldquoFind Mrs Coffeyrsquos note Wersquovegot to get it to the man whorsquos putting together thecomputer art show Pleaserdquo

He narrowed his eyes at me He probably thoughtI was crazy

But I didnrsquot care I needed a victory I knew therewasnrsquot much time

ldquoOkayrdquo Mr Handleman said finally ldquoBring it infirst thing tomorrow morning Irsquoll try to look at it dur-ing lunchrdquo

Not good enough Tomorrow might be too late Irealized

ldquoHow late will you be here this afternoonrdquo Iasked breathlessly

ldquoPretty laterdquo he replied ldquoSince itrsquos my first dayImdashrdquo

ldquoIrsquoll run home after school and get itrdquo I said ldquoIrsquollbring it to you before you leave tonight Could you I mean would you look at it this afternoonPleaserdquo

ldquoOkay I guess Irsquoll be here till at least fiverdquo hesaid

ldquoYesssrdquo I cried pumping my fist in the air Iturned and raced out of the computer lab

I can win I told myself I can defeat the FateMaster My animation project is good I know it isIrsquove worked for two years on it Irsquove put so much hardwork into it

I donrsquot need luck I donrsquot need good luck at all

128

After school I ran all the way home I burst intothe kitchen tossed down my backpack and startedto my room I stopped halfway to the stairs when Iheard voices from the living room

ldquoLukemdashis that yourdquo Mom calledMom and Dad were both there sitting in the

dark Dad leaned heavily on his cane Mom had herhands clasped tightly in her lap

I stopped in the living room doorway ldquoWhy areyou both home so earlyrdquo I asked

ldquoI had to come home I couldnrsquot workrdquo Dad saidsoftly ldquoThat fall I took It was worse than we thoughtLooks like Irsquom going to need surgeryrdquo

ldquoOh nordquo I muttered My fault It was all my faultBut I didnrsquot really have time to talk to them I had

to get to my computer I wanted to check out the ani-mation one more time before I made a copy for MrHandleman Then I had to rush back to school

ldquoBut why are you sitting in the darkrdquo I askedldquoWhy donrsquot you turn on some lightsrdquo

ldquoWe canrsquotrdquo Mom said shaking her head ldquoTherersquossome kind of trouble with the power lines to ourblock The electricity is off We have no power Nopower at allrdquo

129

I let out a horrified scream ldquoNooooo My com-puterrdquo

ldquoYoursquoll have to wait till the power comes backonrdquo Dad said

ldquoButmdashbutmdashrdquo I sputteredldquoWersquore having so much bad luck all of a suddenrdquo

Dad murmuredldquoWe may have to leave the house tonightrdquo Mom

said sighing unhappily ldquoWithout electricity we haveno heat We may have to check into a hotel or some-thingrdquo

ldquoOh nordquo I tugged at my hair A big clump of itcame out in my hand

I was losing my hair Losing my teeth How couldI fight back How

ldquoHe canrsquot do this to merdquo I screamed ldquoHe canrsquotHe canrsquotrdquo I turned and grabbed the banister andpulled myself up the stairs

ldquoLuke What are you sayingrdquoldquoWhere are you goingrdquo

130

I didnrsquot answer I dived into my room andslammed the door shut behind me

Breathing hard I stared at my computer Staredat the dark monitor screen

Useless Totally useless Frustrated I kicked the side of my desk

ldquoOwwwrdquo I didnrsquot mean to kick it that hard Sharppain throbbed up my leg up my side

ldquoOh waitrdquo I suddenly remembered I alreadymade a copy

Yes I made a backup copy of my project On myZip drive Yes

I fumbled frantically through the pile of disks onmy desk And grabbed the Zip disk

I still have a chance I told myself The FateMaster thought he shut me down But I still have achance

I stuffed the disk into my jacket pocket I hurledmyself down the stairs two at a time ldquoBye I have togo back to schoolrdquo I shouted to my parents

ldquoWhyrdquoldquoWhatrsquos going on Luke We need you hererdquoldquoHeymdashcome back and explainrdquoI heard their cries but I burst out the front door

and kept running ldquoIrsquoll stop the bad luckrdquo I said out loud ldquoIrsquoll stop

it Irsquoll stop the Fate MastermdashnowrdquoI found Mr Handleman in the computer lab

leaning over a keyboard typing an e-mail message

131

He spun around when I shouted hi to himI held up the disk ldquoHere it is Please Yoursquove got

to check it outrdquoHe motioned for me to sit down next to him ldquoI

spoke to the producer of the computer showrdquo hesaid ldquoHe called me this afternoon He said that if Iliked your animation I should send it over to himright awayrdquo

ldquoExcellentrdquo I cried ldquoThatrsquos great newsrdquoldquoArenrsquot you going to take your coat offrdquoldquoNordquo I answered breathlessly I shoved the disk

into the Zip drive ldquoNo time You have to see thisRight awayrdquo

He laughed ldquoSlow down Take a deep breathrdquoldquoIrsquoll breathe after you see itrdquo I said He leaned back in his chair and used his hands

as a headrest ldquoYoursquove been working on this for twoyearsrdquo

I nodded I found the file in the disk directory and double-

clicked it ldquoHere goesrdquo I said I was so nervous themouse trembled in my hand My chest was so tightit felt about to burst

Is it possible to explode from excitement I leanedforward to watch

The screen was solid black ldquoItrsquos starting nowrdquo Iwhispered

I stared at the black screen waiting for the brightburst of color at the beginning

132

Waiting Finally a dim glow spread over the screen Two circles of light Two red circles glowed in the

center of the darknessTwo red glowing eyes The eyes stared out unblinking unmoving

Blank round circles of shimmering redMr Handleman cleared his throat His eyes

remained locked on the monitor screen ldquoAre thoseeyesrdquo he asked ldquoDo they move or anythingrdquo

I opened my mouth to answer but no soundcame out

I stared frozen in horror at the glowing eyes Theevil eyes

And knew I had been defeated again Mr Handelmanrsquos cheeks were bright red now ldquoIs

this all there isrdquo he askedldquoYesrdquo I whispered ldquoThatrsquos allrdquoMy project was gone My two years of work were

lost The fiery eyes stared out at me in triumphI climbed to my feet and slumped out of the roomI trudged down the empty hall head down hands

shoved deep in my pockets Irsquove lost I realized Irsquoma loser forever now Hannah and me both Bad luckfor the rest of our lives

I turned a cornermdashand almost bumped intoCoach Swanson ldquoHey Lukemdashhowrsquos it goingrdquo heasked

133

I muttered a reply under my breathldquoI was going to call you tonightrdquo he said ldquoAndy

Mason is sick You have to swim in his place tomor-rowrdquo

I raised my head ldquoHuh Swimrdquo I had nearly for-gotten that I was on the swim team

ldquoSee you after school at the poolrdquo the coach saidldquoGood luckrdquo

Irsquoll need it I thought glumlyBut then I realized I was being given one more

chanceOne more chance to win without luck One more

chance to defeat FateOne last chance

The next morning I wore a baseball cap to schoolso no one could see the bald patches on my headWhen I brushed my teeth that morning anothertooth came sliding out between my lips

My tongue was covered with hard white bumpsMy arms and legs itched I was starting to get thesame red blotches on my skin as Hannah

Somehow I made it through the school day All Icould think about was the swim team race Wasthere any way that I might win That I might breakthe pattern and win the race and defeat the FateMaster

I didnrsquot have much hope But I knew I had to tryI knew I had to give it everything I had left

134

A few seconds after I lowered myself into the poolto warm up Coach Swansonrsquos whistle rang outechoing off the tile walls ldquoPractice laps everyonerdquothe coach shouted ldquoDo them half-speed Letrsquos seesome warm-up lapsrdquo

At the other end of the pool I saw Stretch kick offand begin swimming with steady strong strokes Idid a surface dive and started to follow him Thewarm water felt good on my itchy skin

I kicked hard Picked up speedAs I raised my head to suck in a deep breath the

water suddenly churned hard I swallowed a big mouthful Started to chokeI sputtered struggling to clear my throat strug-

gling to breatheAnd then to my horror my stomach heaved hard

ldquoGuuurrrrrrprdquo My lunch came hurling upI couldnrsquot hold it back I vomited a thick dark

puddle into the clear waterldquoOoh grossrdquoldquoSickrdquoldquoYuck Oh wowmdashhersquos puking his guts uprdquoA sick sour smell rose up from the water I heard

kids shouting and groaning in disgustAnd then I heard Coach Swansonrsquos whistle And

the coach shouting at me ldquoYoursquore outta there LukeGet out Yoursquore sick Yoursquore not going to swimtodayrdquo

135

No I thought This canrsquot happen again This ismy last chance

ldquoCoach Irsquom okayrdquo I shouted ldquoI just swal-lowed some water I can swimmdashreallyrdquo

Coach Swanson glanced around the pool AndyMason was in street clothes Joe Bork the other alter-nate didnrsquot show up

ldquoYoursquove got to let me swimrdquo I pleadedThe coach shrugged his shoulders ldquoTherersquos no

one else I guess Irsquove got no choicerdquoIrsquom going to do this I thought Irsquom going to win

today Irsquom going to do whatever it takes to winThe race got off to a good start I did a speed dive

at the whistle and found myself gliding strokingeasily in the lead

Swimming steadily keeping up a smooth rhythmI stayed in the lead until the waves began

Waves They tossed up in front of me rolledrapidly toward me splashed over me Wave afterwave Pushing me back Slowing my pace

136

Stroking harder to keep my rhythm I turned tothe side and glanced at the other swimmers The poolwas smooth the water flat for them

The waves were just for me A strong currentpushed at me slowing me shoving me back

I ducked under the waves Let them splash androll over me And swam harder

HarderldquoOhrdquo Something brushed my legI felt something curl around an ankle Something

bumped my waist I felt something slide around myknee

With another gasp I turnedmdashand saw the gray-green creatures Eels Were they eels

Wrapping around my legs Twining over mywaist

Long fat eels The water churned with themI cried out I saw the other swimmers gliding swiftly through

clear water They didnrsquot even notice my dark churn-ing water They didnrsquot even see the gleaming wetcreatures slithering between my legs Tighteningaround my ankles my legs

Slapping me slapping me hard slappingme back

ldquoNordquo I burst free I kept swimmingInto thick pink clusters of jellyfish The jellyfish

ballooned around me Stung my arms Stung mylegs Prickled the skin of my back

137

I cried out in pain The sticky creatures swarmedover me stinging stinging me again and again

I could see the other swimmers moving smoothlyahead of me now Gliding in smooth clear waters asI felt jolt after jolt of pain from the billowing jellyfishthat clustered over me

I slapped the water Slapped and kickedAnd let out another cry of pain as the water siz-

zled and boiled Scalding hot now It steamed andbubbled And my skin burned My skin is going toburn right off me I thought struggling to breatheStruggling to keep my arms moving through thescalding steam Kicking kicking hard

The other swimmers ahead of me now Moving sospeedily so steadily

I shut my eyes and swam Yoursquore not going tobeat me I thought Irsquom going to win going to win

And the thought gave me a final surge of energyI shot forward to the wall Plunged like a speed-

ing torpedo to the finishMy hand hit the wall I slapped the wallGasping gasping my chest heaving in

agony And knew that I had lostToo slow Too slowI knew that I had lost again

138

Water poured down my face I shut my eyes andstruggled to catch my breath

I heard a loud whistle Then I felt a hand on myshoulder A slap ldquoWay to go Lukerdquo

I opened my eyes to see the coach He grabbed myhand and pumped it hard Then he slapped me a highfive ldquoYou won You came from behind What a raceLuke Check out the time You set a school recordrdquo

ldquoHuh I did I wonrdquo He helped me out of the pool Guys were cheering

and yelling congratulationsBut the cheering was cut short by a deafening cry

from the middle of the pool A shrill wail that rose likean ambulance siren Higher higher until I wasforced to cover my ears

And then a mountain of water rose up from thepool Red and steaming like a volcano The water roseupmdashhigher highermdashlike a bubbling boiling red tidalwave And all the while the deafening wail rang outwith it

139

Everyone was screaming We all were screamingAnd then as suddenly as it rose up the molten

red mountain collapsed back into the poolCollapsed with a soft splash The pool was flat andsmooth again And silent Silent except for ourstunned gasps and cries

I turned to see Hannah running along the side ofthe pool Hannah out of her wheelchair RunningRunning wildly waving her arms excitedly laughingher red hair flying behind her

ldquoLukemdashyou did it Wersquore free You defeated FateLukemdashyou defeated Faterdquo

But it wasnrsquot enough Not enough for meI changed into my street clothes in seconds Then

I dragged Hannah down the hall to my locker Locker13

I stopped at the janitorrsquos closet And I grabbed ahuge sledgehammer

Hannah cheered as I raised the sledgehammer tothe locker and smashed it smashed it smashed it

Working feverishly I pried the battered lockerfrom the wall Kicked it onto its side Raised thesledgehammer again Smashed it crushed it smashed it

The battered locker door swung open I heard alow groan from deep inside

Hannah and I both leaped back as a skull rolledout onto the floor

140

Not a tiny skull A human-sized skull with glow-ing red eyes

The eyes glowed for only a few seconds Then theskull uttered a final groan a groan of agony ofdefeat And the eyes faded to darkness Empty dark-ness

I took a deep breath Ran up to itmdashand kickedthe skull down the hall

ldquoGoalrdquo Hannah yelledWe walked out of the school building arm in arm

Into the bright afternoon sunlight I took a long deep breath The air smelled so

fresh so sweet The houses the trees the skymdashthey all looked so

beautifulI stopped at the bottom of the sidewalk And bent

down to pick something upldquoHey check it outrdquo I showed it to Hannah ldquoIs

this my lucky dayrdquo I cried ldquoI found a pennyrdquo

141

142

Luke Greene is very superstitious so naturallyhersquos not happy when hersquos assigned Locker 13 atschool But amazingly a lucky charm he finds in thelocker changes his luck from bad to great NowLukersquos luck is so good he canrsquot lose No matter whathe does his lucky charm makes him come out ontop

But Luke discovers that his good luck comes witha very high price Will he pay it Or will he be lostlike others before him in the horror that is Locker 13

About Locker 13

The Locker 13 in Luke Greenersquos story does notexist anymore and it is unclear if anyone who hadthe locker in previous years suffered the same fate asLuke

People who have had unbelievably nightmarishexperiences often keep silent about them (Lukedidnrsquot tell his story to many peoplemdashonly his friend

Go Deeper Into This

Nightmare

Hannah and RL Stine know what happened) So itis possible that what happened to Erica Chass in thesame school 12 years earlier could be related toLocker 13

Erica Chass was a popular seventh grader inShawnee Valley Junior High She had good gradeswas a star soccer player and had lots of friends Thenone day everything seemed to change Erica blew offsoccer nearly failed out of school and was fearfuland shy with even her best friends She dressed onlyin black and always wore a necklace with a smallcharm in the shape of a skull

Then one day Erica moved away She didnrsquot saygood bye She just didnrsquot show up for school one dayand never came back

But some people who went to that school in thosedays insist thatrsquos not the end of Ericarsquos story

The following year a new girl joined the eighthgrade at Shawnee Her name was Alyssa GwynneShe was bright cheerful and a terrific soccer playermdashand she looked exactly like Erica ldquoYou would havesworn they were twinsrdquo says Tracey Holt who knewthem bothmdashldquoNo it was like the old Erica camebackrdquo says another friend Debra Wyle

What was the relationship between Erica andAlyssa Could they really be the same person Andwhat is the connection to the Locker 13 legendMaybe there isnrsquot one but several people havementioned that Alyssa had a necklace that she wore

143

every daymdasha necklace with a tiny charmmdashof askull

About Superstition

Most of our superstitions go back to a time whenpeople believed that witches and witchcraft wereeverywhere People in the middle ages seemed to livein terror that evil magic or witches would harm theircrops bring illness or other disaster to their livesMany of the superstitions that have lasted to ourtime go back to these ancient fears

Break a mirrormdashseven years bad luck Thissuperstition relates to the idea that our reflection is apart of ourselves Harm the reflection and you willharm the original According to the thinking of themiddle ages it takes seven years for the body torebuild itself after itrsquos been harmed So thatrsquos why thebad luck lasts for seven years Luckily there is a cureWash the broken mirror pieces in a south runningriver and the evil is washed away too

Itrsquos bad luck to walk under a ladder This goesback to a time when hanging was a common form ofpunishment It seems that the gallows were prettyhigh so a ladder was often rested against the side ofthe gallows platform Walking under this ladder wasliterally dangerous Be in the wrong place at thewrong time and a rotting dead body could fall onyou If you happen to be careless enough to walk

144

under a ladder you can change the bad luck Justcross your fingers until you see a dog

Black cats bring bad luck There are a lots ofsuperstitions about cats Letrsquos face it cats can becreepymdashand black cats are the creepiest Oneancient superstition about cats is that they will stealthe breath out of babies Where did this idea comefrom

Watch a cat as it settles itself into your lap Beforesnuggling up the cat will often sniff you in themouth At a time when so many babies died the cattheory is as logical as any other

Now for some superstitions that yoursquove probablynever heard of

If you find a knife in the road you will havebad luck

Donrsquot point at the moon (The man in the moondoesnrsquot like it and will bring you bad luck)

Donrsquot brush your hair after sunsetmdashespecial-ly if you have family who spends time on thesea (Brushing your hair at that time will mean dis-aster and death for themmdashand bad luck for you)

If a child hits a parent the childrsquos hand willwag over his grave and dogs will ldquowaterrdquo it

145

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

RL STINE says he has a great job ldquoMy job is to givekids the CREEPSrdquo With his scary books RL hasterrified kids all over the world He has sold over 300million books making him the best-selling childrenrsquosauthor in history

These days RL is dishing out new frights in hisseries THE NIGHTMARE ROOM When he isnrsquotworking he likes to read old mysteries watchSpongeBob Squarepants on TV and take his dogNadine for long walks around New York City wherehe lives with his wife Jane and son Matthew

ldquoI love taking my readers to scary placesrdquo RLsays ldquoDo you know the scariest place of all Itrsquos yourMINDrdquo

ldquoHey check it out A fortune-tellerrdquo Jilly saidShe pointed to a small black tent that stood besidean ice cream cart ldquoCan we do it I love fortune-tellersrdquo

ldquoNo wayrdquo I said ldquoThey make me nervous Idonrsquot even like watching them in moviesrdquo

ldquoCome on Maggie Itrsquos your birthdayrdquo her sisterJackie said pulling me to the tent ldquoYou have tohave your fortune told on your birthdayrdquo

ldquoLetrsquos see what the fortune-teller says about youand Glenrdquo Judy the third sister teased

ldquoI donrsquot think sordquo I saidBut as usual they didnrsquot give me a choice A few

seconds later we were standing at the doorway tothe dark tent

ldquoWersquoll all have our fortunes toldrdquo Jackie saidldquoMy treatrdquo

ldquoThis is so coolrdquo Jilly whispered ldquoDo you thinkits a real psychic Do you think she can really tellthe futurerdquo

The three sisters started into the tent I held backstaring at the red-and-black hand-lettered sign MISSELIZABETH FORTUNE-TELLER ONE DOLLAR

Take a look at whatrsquos ahead inTHE NIGHTMARE ROOM 3

Liar Liar

I suddenly realized that my heart was racing Why do I feel so weird I wondered Why do I

have such a bad feeling about thisI followed my friends into the tent The air inside

felt hot and steamy Two electric lanterns on the backtent wall splashed gray light over the fortune-tellerrsquossmall table

Miss Elizabeth sat hunched with her elbows onthe table head in her hands staring into a red glassball She didnrsquot look up as we stepped inside Icouldnrsquot tell if she was concentrating on the red ballor if she was asleep

The tent was completely bare except for her tableand two wooden chairs and a large black-and-whiteposter of a human hand The hand was divided intosections There was a lot of writing all over the postertoo small for me to read in the smoky gray light

As she stared into the red glass ball the fortune-teller muttered to herself She was a middle-agedwoman slender with bony arms poking out from thesleeves of her red dress and very large pale whitehands Squinting into the light I saw that the polishon her long fingernails matched the red of her dress

ldquoHel-lordquo Jackie called breaking the silenceMiss Elizabeth finally looked up She was kind of

pretty She had big round black eyes and dramaticred-lipsticked lips Her hair was long and wavy solidblack except for a wide white streak down themiddle

Her eyes moved from one of us to the other Shedidnrsquot smile ldquoWalter we have visitorsldquo sheannounced in a hoarse scratchy voice

I glanced around searching for WalterldquoWalter is my late husbandrdquo the fortune-teller

announced ldquoHe helps me channel information fromthe spiritsrdquo

Jackie and I exchanged glances ldquoWersquod like you to tell our fortunesrdquo Jilly saidMiss Elizabeth nodded solemnly ldquoOne dollar

eachrdquo She held out her long pale hand ldquoFour dol-lars pleaserdquo

Jackie fumbled in her bag and pulled out fourcrumpled dollar bills She handed them to the for-tune-teller who shoved them into a pocket of her reddress

ldquoWho wants to go firstrdquo Again her eyes movedslowly over our faces

ldquoIrsquoll gordquo Jilly volunteered She dropped into thechair across the table from Miss Elizabeth

The fortune-teller lowered her head again to gazeinto the red ball ldquoWalter bring me the words of thespirit world about this young womanrdquo

I suddenly felt a chill at the back of my neck Iknew I shouldnrsquot be frightened The woman had tobe a fakemdashright Otherwise she wouldnrsquot be workingin a tacky carnival like this one

But she was so serious So solemn She didnrsquotseem to be putting on an act

Or was I just being gullible againNow she took Jillyrsquos hand She pulled it up close to

her face and began to study Jillyrsquos palm Muttering toherself she moved her long finger back and forth fol-lowing the lines of the palm tracing them with herbright red fingernail

Jackie leaned close to me ldquoThis is coolrdquo she whis-pered

Judy sighed ldquoThis is going to take foreverrdquoJackie raised a finger to her lips and motioned for

Judy to shush The woman studied Jillyrsquos palm for a long time

squeezing the hand as she gazed at it murmuring toWalter in the red glass ball Finally she raised her eyesto Jilly ldquoYou are artisticrdquo she said in her scratchyvoice

ldquoYesrdquo Jilly declaredldquoYou are a dancerrdquo Miss Elizabeth continued

ldquoYou study the dance You are a hard workerrdquoldquoWhoa I donrsquot believe thisrdquo Jilly gushed ldquoHow do

you knowmdashrdquoldquoYou have much talentrdquo the fortune-teller mur-

mured ignoring Jillyrsquos question ldquoMuch talent Butsometimes I see your artistic side gets in the wayof your practical side You are you are rdquo

She shut her eyes ldquoHelp me Walterrdquo she whis-pered Then she opened her eyes again and raisedthem to Jillyrsquos palm ldquoYou are a very social person Yourfriends mean a lot to you Especially boy friendsrdquo

Jackie and Judy laughed Jilly flashed them anangry scowl ldquoImdashI donrsquot believe thisrdquo she told thefortune-teller ldquoYou have everything rightrdquo

ldquoIt is my giftrdquo Miss Elizabeth replied softlyldquoWill I make the new dance companyrdquo Jilly

asked her ldquoTry-outs are next week Can you tell meif I will be acceptedrdquo

Miss Elizabeth stared into the glass ballldquoWalterrdquo she whispered

I held my breath waiting for the answer Jilly andI were both trying out for the dance company And Iknew there was only room for one of us

ldquoWalter can find no answerrdquo the fortune-tellertold Jilly ldquoHe only groansrdquo She let go of Jillyrsquos hand

ldquoHemdashgroanedrdquo Jilly asked ldquoWhyrdquoldquoYour time is uprdquo Miss Elizabeth said She

motioned to us ldquoWho is nextrdquoJackie shoved Judy forward Judy dropped into

the chair and held her hand out to Miss ElizabethJilly came running over to join Jackie and me at

the edge of the tent ldquoIsnrsquot she amazingrdquo she whis-pered

ldquoYes she isrdquo I had to admit How did she know somany true things about Jilly I was beginning tobelieve Miss Elizabeth really had powers

And now I didnrsquot feel afraid or nervous I was eagerto see what the fortune-teller would say about me

She squeezed Judyrsquos hand and gazed deep intoJudyrsquos dark eyes ldquoYou have great love in yourdquo she

announced ldquoGreat love for animalsrdquoJudy gasped ldquoY-yesrdquoldquoYou care for them You work rdquoldquoYesrdquo Judy said ldquoI work in an animal shelter after

school Thatrsquos amazingrdquoMiss Elizabeth ran a red fingernail down Judyrsquos

palm ldquoYou also have an animal that you care aboutvery much A dog No A catrdquo

ldquoYes My cat Plumperrdquo Judy turned to us her face filled with astonish-

ment ldquoDo you believe this Shersquos right about every-thingrdquo

ldquoI know Itrsquos so coolrdquo Jilly exclaimed She sweptback her blond hair with a toss of her head She keptbouncing up and down She seemed too excited tostand still

The fortune-teller spent a few more minutes withJudy She told Judy that she would have a long suc-cessful life She said Judy would have a big familysomeday

ldquoOf kids Of animalsrdquo Judy asked Miss Elizabeth didnrsquot answer Next came Jackiersquos turn Once again Miss

Elizabeth was right on target with everything shesaid ldquoWowrdquo Jackie kept muttering ldquoWowrdquo

Finally I found myself in the chair across fromthe fortune-teller Suddenly I felt so nervous Mymouth was dry My legs were shaking

Miss Elizabeth looked older from close up

When she smiled at me the thick makeup on herface cracked Tiny drops of sweat glistened at herhairline

ldquoWhat is your namerdquo she asked in a whisperldquoMaggierdquo I told herShe nodded solemnly and took my hand She

raised my palm close to her face and squinted downat it in the gray light

I held my breath And waited What would shesee

She squeezed my hand Brought it closer to herface

And then then her eyes bulged wide Shelet out a loud gasp

With a violent jerk she tossed my hand awayAnd jumped to her feet Her chair fell behind her

clattering to the tent floorShe stared at memdashstared in open-mouthed

horrorAnd then she screamedldquoGet OUT Get AWAY from hererdquoldquoHuh Waitmdashrdquo I choked outldquoGet OUT You bring EVIL You bring EVIL with

you Get OUT of hererdquo

Credits

Cover illustration by Vince NataleCover design by John Fontana

About the PublisherAustraliaHarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty Ltd 25 Ryde Road (PO Box 321)Pymble NSW 2073 Australia httpwwwharpercollinscomau

CanadaHarperCollins Publishers Ltd55 Avenue Road Suite 2900Toronto ON M5R 3L2 Canadahttpwwwharpercanadacom

New ZealandHarperCollinsPublishers (New Zealand)PO Box 1Auckland New Zealandhttpwwwharpercollinsconz

United KingdomHarperCollins Publishers Ltd77-85 Fulham Palace RoadLondon W6 8JB UKhttpwwwfireandwatercouk

United StatesHarperCollins Childrenrsquos Books A Division of HarperCollins Publishers1350 Avenue of the Americas New York NY 10019wwwharperchildrenscom

These stories are my scariest ever says RL Stinebecause I wrote them at the Nightmare Hour

When the lights fade the world that we know as real slipsinto shadowmdashand the cold moonlit world of evil dreams

enters your mind and takes over

These ten terrifying tales will make you shiver at any hourIllustrated by ten outstanding artists

I really enjoy your workhellipthank you for creating newnightmares for me mdashKenny age 12 NY

They are horrifying storiesmdashthey even gave me thecreeps mdashSofia age 14 LA

My favorite book is Nightmare Hour mdashJeffrie age 9 WI

Winner of Disney Adventures magazinersquos first everKidsrsquo Choice Award for Best HorrorMystery book

0-06-028688-1 $995 Hardcover0-06-440842-6 $499 Paperback

Available wherever books are sold

Join RL Stine and all your friends in The Nightmare Room

wwwthenightmareroomcom

Ten New Stories by rl stineNightmare Hour

Join RL Stine and all your friends in

ROOMTHE

Step inside wwwthenightmareroomcom

and open the door to terror

You can share with RL Stine your most terrifying dreams and experiences If your stories are terrifying enough for RL Stine youcould star in your own NIGHTMARE ROOMbook

Log on to THE NIGHTMARE ROOM nowand read RL Stinersquos brand-new spine-tinglingstorymdasha story so terrifying that it canrsquot be soldin bookstores

Log on to wwwthenightmareroomcom

where you will truly enter

THE NIGHTMARE ROOM

wwwthenightmareroomcom

THE NIGHTMARE ROOM 3My Name Is EvilMaggie has her palm read at a carnival and then the terrifying accidents beginIs Maggie cursed Will she have to live forever in THE NIGHTMARE ROOM

THE NIGHTMARE ROOM 4Liar LiarRoss looks across the room and sees himself standing there But Ross doesnrsquothave a twin This party has taken Rossto THE NIGHTMARE ROOM

$399 Paperback Available wherever books are sold

Join RL Stine and all your friends in THE NIGHTMARE ROOMwwwthenightmareroomcom

What can happen next in

ROOMTHE

Nineteen

Twenty

Twenty-one

Twenty-two

Twenty-three

Twenty-four

Twenty-five

Twenty-six

Twenty-seven

Go Deeper into this Nightmare

About the Author

Take a Look at Whatrsquos Ahead

Credits

About the Publisher

1

ldquoHey Lukemdashgood luckrdquo Who called to me The hall was jammed with

kids excited about the first day of school I was excit-ed too My first day in seventh grade My first day atShawnee Valley Junior High

I just knew this was going to be an awesome yearOf course I didnrsquot take any chances I wore my

lucky shirt Itrsquos a faded green T-shirt kind ofstretched out and the pocket is a little torn But noway Irsquod start a school year without my lucky shirt

And I had my lucky rabbitrsquos foot in the pocket ofmy baggy khakis Itrsquos black and very soft and furryItrsquos a key chain but I donrsquot want to ruin the good luckby hanging keys on it

Why is it so lucky Well itrsquos a black rabbitrsquos footwhich is very rare And I found it last November onmy birthday And after I found it my parents gave methe new computer I wanted So it brought me goodluckmdashright

I glanced up at the red-and-black computer-printed

banner hanging over the hall GO SQUIRES SUPPORT

YOUR TEAMAll of the boysrsquo teams at Shawnee Valley are called

the Squires Donrsquot ask me how they got that weirdname The banner made my heart race just a little Itreminded me that I had to find the basketball coachand ask when he was having tryouts

I had a whole list of things I wanted to do (1)check out the computer lab (2) find out about the bas-ketball team (3) see if I could take any kind of specialswimming program after school I never went to aschool with a swimming pool before And since swim-ming is my other big sport I was pretty pumped aboutit

ldquoLukemdashhirdquoI spun around to find my friend Hannah Marcum

behind me looking as cheerful and enthusiastic asalways Hannah has short coppery hair the color of abright new penny green eyes and a great smile Mymother always calls her Sunshine which totallyembarrasses both of us

ldquoYour pocket is tornrdquo she said She tugged at it rip-ping it a little more

ldquoHeymdashget offrdquo I backed away ldquoItrsquos my lucky shirtrdquoldquoDid you find your locker assignment yetrdquo She

pointed to a group of kids studying a chart taped to thewall They were all standing on tiptoe trying to seeover each other ldquoItrsquos posted over there Guess whatMy locker is the first one outside the lunchroom Irsquoll be

2

first for lunch every dayrdquoldquoOooh luckyrdquo I said ldquoAnd I got Gruen for Englishrdquo Hannah gushed

ldquoHersquos the best Hersquos so funny Everyone says you canrsquotstop laughing Did you get him toordquo

ldquoNordquo I said ldquoI got WarrenrdquoHannah made a face ldquoYoursquore doomedrdquoldquoShut uprdquo I said ldquoDonrsquot say things like thatrdquo I

squeezed my rabbitrsquos foot three times I pushed my way through the crowd to the locker

chart This is going to be an excellent year I told myselfJunior High is so not like elementary school

ldquoHey manmdashhowrsquos it goingrdquo Darnell Cross slappedme a high five

ldquoWhatrsquos uprdquo I replied ldquoCheck it out You got the lucky lockerrdquo Darnell

said I squinted at the chart ldquoHuh What do you meanrdquoI ran my eyes down the list of names until I came

to mine Luke Greene And then I followed the dottedline to my locker number

And gaspedldquoNo wayrdquo I said out loud ldquoThat canrsquot be rightrdquoI blinked a few times then focused on the chart

againYes Locker 13Luke Greene 1313My breath caught in my throat I started to choke

3

I turned away from the chart hoping no one couldsee how upset I was

How can this be happening to me I wonderedLocker 13 My whole year is ruined before it begins

My heart pounded so hard my chest ached Iforced myself to start breathing again

I turned and found Hannah still standing thereldquoWherersquos your lockerrdquo she asked ldquoIrsquoll walk youthererdquo

ldquoUh well I can deal with itrdquo I saidShe squinted at me ldquoExcuse merdquo ldquoI can deal with itrdquo I repeated shakily ldquoItrsquos

Locker thirteen but I can handle it ReallyrdquoHannah laughed ldquoLuke yoursquore such a supersti-

tious geekrdquoI frowned at her ldquoYou mean that in a nice waymdash

rightrdquo I jokedShe laughed again and shoved me into a crowd of

kids I wish she wouldnrsquot shove me so much Shersquosreally strong

I apologized to the kids I stumbled into ThenHannah and I started down the crowded hallchecking the locker numbers searching for num-ber 13

Just past the science lab Hannah stopped sud-denly and grabbed something up from the floor

ldquoHey wow Look what I foundrdquo She held up a five-dollar bill ldquoMmmmmmdashyesrdquo

4

She raised it to her lips and kissed it ldquoFive bucksYayrdquo

I sighed and shook my head ldquoHannah howcome yoursquore always so luckyrdquo

She didnrsquot answer that question It seemed like a simple question but it wasnrsquot And if she had told me the answer I think I would

have run awaymdashrun as far as I could from ShawneeValley Junior High and never come back

5

Letrsquos skip ahead two months Seventh grade was not bad so far I made some new

friends I made real progress on the computer anima-tion piece I had been working on for nearly two yearsAnd I actually won a spot on the basketball team

It was early November about two weeks into theseason And I was late for practice

Guys were already on the floor doing stretchingexercises bouncing basketballs to each other takingshort layups I crept to the locker room hoping no onewould notice me

ldquoLukemdashget dressed Yoursquore laterdquo Coach Bendixshouted

I started to call ldquoSorry I got hung up in the com-puter labrdquo But that was no kind of excuse So I justgave Coach a nod and started jogging full speed to thelocker room to get changed

My stomach felt kind of tight I realized I wasnrsquotlooking forward to practice today For a little guy Irsquom apretty good basketball player Irsquove got a good outside

6

shot and pretty fast hands on defense I was so excited to make the team But I wasnrsquot

counting on one problemmdashan eighth grader namedStretch Johannsen

Stretchrsquos real name is Shawn But everyone in theworld calls him Stretchmdasheven his parents You mightwonder how he got that name But if you saw him youwouldnrsquot wonder

Stretch had some kind of a growth spurt last year inseventh grade and he became a big blond giant prac-tically overnight Hersquos taller than anyone in the highschool He has shoulders like a wrestler and long armsI mean really long arms like a chimpanzee He canreach halfway across the gym

And thatrsquos why everyone started calling himStretch

I think a better name for him would be OstrichThatrsquos because he has long skinny legs like bird legsand a huge chest thatrsquos so wide it makes his pale blue-eyed head look as tiny as an egg

But I would never try my nickname on him I donrsquotthink I can run fast enough Stretch doesnrsquot have muchof a sense of humor In fact hersquos a pretty mean guyalways trash-talking and shoving people aroundmdashandnot just on the basketball floor

I think once he got over the shock of being a gianthe decided to be really impressed with himself

Like being a giant is some kind of special talent orsomething

7

But donrsquot get me started Irsquom always analyzingpeople thinking too hard about them about every-thing Hannah is always telling me I think too muchBut I donrsquot get it How do you stop thinking

Last week after a practice Coach Bendix saidnearly the same thing ldquoYoursquove got to play oninstinct Luke There isnrsquot time to think before everymoverdquo

Which I guess is another reason why I ride thebench Of course Irsquom only in seventh grade Sounless another giant forward tries out for the SquiresIrsquoll probably get to play next yearmdashafter Stretchgraduates

But for now itrsquos really embarrassing not to get toplay Especially since my parents come to everygame to cheer me on I sit on the team bench andwatch Mom and Dad up in the gym bleachers juststaring at me Staring

It doesnrsquot make you feel great Even the time-outs are painful Stretch always

comes trotting over to the team bench He wipes thesweat off his face and bodymdashand then throws thetowel onto me Like Irsquom some kind of towel boy

During one time-out late in the first game he tooka long gulp of Gatorade and spit it onto my uniformshirt I looked up and saw my parents watching fromthe bleachers

8

Sad Really sad Our team the Squires won our first two games

mainly because Stretch wouldnrsquot let anyone elsehandle the ball It was great to winmdashbut I wasalready starting to feel like a loser I wanted to play

Maybe if I have a really strong practice todayCoach Bendix will try me out at guard I told myselfOr maybe even as a backup center I laced up myshoes and triple-knotted them for luck Then I shutmy eyes and counted to seven three times

Just something I doI straightened my red-and-black uniform shorts

slammed the gym locker shut and trotted out of thelocker room and onto the floor Guys were at the farend taking three-point shots everyone shooting atonce The balls bounced off each other bounced offthe hoop The backboard rang out with a steadythud thud thud

Some of the shots actually dropped inldquoLuke get busyrdquo Coach yelled motioning me to

the basket ldquoGet some rebounds Make some shotsGet looserdquo

I flashed him a thumbs-up and ran to join theothers I saw Stretch leap up and make a highrebound To my surprise he spun around andheaved the ball at me ldquoLukemdashthink fastrdquo

I wasnrsquot expecting it The ball sailed through my

9

hands I had to chase it to the wall I dribbled backto find Stretch waiting ldquoGo ahead man Shootrdquo

I swallowed hardmdashand sent up a two-handedshot

ldquoHe shootsmdashhe missesrdquo Stretch shouted Someguys laughed

My shot bounced off the rim Stretch took threefast strides reached up his long arms and grabbedthe rebound in midair He tossed it back to meldquoShoot againrdquo

My next shot brushed the bottom of the netldquoHe shootsmdashhe missesrdquo Stretch repeated as if

that was the funniest thing anyone ever said Moreloud laughter

Stretch took the rebound and tossed me the ballldquoAgainrdquo he ordered

Everyone was watching now I sent up a one-handed layup that almost dropped in It rolledaround the rim then fell off

ldquoHe shootsmdashhe missesrdquoI could feel sweat rolling down my forehead

Why canrsquot I get lucky here I asked myself Comeon Lukemdashjust one lucky shot I slapped my lefthand rapidly against the leg of my shorts seventimes

Stretch bounced the ball to me ldquoGo champYoursquore O for three You got a streak goingrdquo Morelaughter

I shut my eyes for a second Then I sailed this

10

one highmdashand gasped as it sank through the hoopStretch grinned and shook his head The other

guys all cheered as if Irsquod just won the state juniorhigh tournament

I grabbed the ball and dribbled away from themI didnrsquot want to give Stretch a chance to ruin my vic-tory I knew he would keep me shooting till I wasone for three hundred

I turned to see if Coach Benson had watched myshot He leaned against the wall talking to two otherteachers He hadnrsquot seen it

I dribbled across the floor then back toward theothers Then I made a big mistake

A really big mistake A mistake that ruined mylife at Shawnee Valley Junior High

ldquoHey Stretchmdashthink fastrdquo I shouted And Iheaved the ball at him as hard as I could

What was I thinkingI didnrsquot see that he had bent down on one knee

to tie his sneaker lace I froze in horrormdashand watched the ball fly at

him It hit him hard on the side of the head knockedhim over and sent him tumbling to the floor

ldquoHeymdashrdquo he cried out stunned He shook hishead dizzily I saw bright red blood start to flow fromhis nose

ldquoStretchmdashIrsquom sorryrdquo I shrieked ldquoI didnrsquot seeyou I didnrsquot meanmdashrdquo

I lurched forward running to help him up

11

ldquoMy contactsrdquo he cried ldquoYou knocked out mycontactsrdquo

And then I heard a soft squish under my shoeI stopped Lifted my foot Stretchrsquos contact lens

lay flat as a pancake on the gym floorEveryone saw itStretch was on his feet now Blood rolled down

his lips his chin He didnrsquot pay any attention to it He had his eyes

narrowed on me He lumbered forward clenchingand unclenching his giant fists

I was doomed

12

Stretch reached under my arms and lifted me upHe was so huge and strong he picked me off thefloor like I was a ventriloquistrsquos dummy

ldquoWhoa It was an accidentrdquo I whisperedldquoHerersquos another accidentrdquo he said When he

talked he spit blood in my face He tightened his gripunder my arms

He raised me higher and gazed up at the basketIs he going to make a three-point shot with me Iwondered

Yes He is Hersquos going to slam dunk meBehind me I heard shouts A whistle blowing

Running footstepsldquoTake it outside Stretchrdquo I heard Coach Bendix

shoutHuhStretch slowly lowered me to the floor My knees

started to buckle but I managed to stay on my feet Stretch rubbed a hand across his bloody nose

then wiped it on the front of my jersey

13

ldquoTake it outsiderdquo Coach repeated edgingbetween us ldquoLetrsquos pair up everybody One on oneStretchmdashyou and Lukerdquo

ldquoNo wayrdquo Stretch mutteredldquoHersquos your backuprdquo Coach said poking Stretch

in the chest with his whistle ldquoYoursquove got to teachLuke Irsquom putting you in charge of Lukersquos develop-mentrdquo

Stretch snickered ldquoDevelopment He doesnrsquothave any developmentrdquo

ldquoGo to my office Get some tissues and stop thatnosebleedrdquo Coach instructed Stretch ldquoThen takeLuke to the practice court behind the playgroundShow him some moves Teach him somethingrdquo

Stretch stared at the floor for a few seconds as ifthinking it over But he knew better than to arguewith Coach Bendix He nodded at me ldquoLetrsquos goChamprdquo

What choice did I have Even though I knew itwas pain time for me I turned and followed him out-side

It was late afternoon pretty cold to be outside inbasketball shorts and a sleeveless jersey Since it wasNovember the big red sun had already loweredbehind the houses across the street from the play-ground

I shiveredStretch didnrsquot give me much of a chance to get

14

ready He pounded the ball hard on the asphalt courtand came racing at me like a stampeding bull

I tried to slide to the side But Stretch lowered hisshoulder and slammed it hard into my gut

ldquoOhhhrdquo I groaned and slumped backldquoDefenserdquo he shouted ldquoGet your hands up

Champ Get ready Here I come againrdquoldquoNomdashwaitmdashrdquo I pleadedThe ball thundered in front of him as he drove

into me again This time he kept his body up straightThe force of the collision sent me sprawling to theasphalt

ldquoDefenserdquo he shouted ldquoShow me somethingBlock me At least slow me down a littlerdquo

Groaning again I climbed to my feet I felt as ifIrsquod been hit by a truck

Stretch dribbled around me circling me his eyeslocked angrily on me His nosebleed had stoppedbut he still had dried blood caked under his nose

I rubbed my chest ldquoI I think I broke a ribrdquo Iwhispered

With a wild shout he slammed into me againThis time I flew backmdashand smashed into the thickwooden post that held up the backboard

ldquoYoursquore going to pay for those contacts Champrdquohe called hulking over me so I couldnrsquot stand updribbling the ball inches from my feet

ldquoYeah Okayrdquo I said trying to rub the pain frommy chest ldquoI said I was sorryrdquo

15

ldquoYoursquore gonna be more sorryrdquo he said Hebounced the ball hard against my bare leg ldquoGet uprdquo

I didnrsquot move ldquoIt was an accidentrdquo I insisted ldquoIreally didnrsquot see you bend down Reallyrdquo

He picked at the caked blood under his noseldquoGet up Letrsquos go Irsquom supposed to teach you some-thingrdquo He laughed really loud Irsquom not sure whyThen he swept a huge hand back through his shortwhite-blond hair and waited for me to stand up Sohe could teach me more lessons

I climbed shakily to my feet I felt so dizzy I hadto grab the wooden post My head ached My ribsached

ldquoCan we uh play a different gamerdquoI asked weakly

ldquoYeah Surerdquo he said ldquoHeymdashthink fastrdquoHe was standing so close and he heaved the ball

so hard it felt like a cannonball as it shot into mystomach

I stumbled back And let out a sharp gaspAnd then realized I couldnrsquot breatheI struggled hard to suck in some air No no air I canrsquot get air I saw bright yellow stars The yellow darkened to

redPain shot through my chest The pain spread

growing sharper sharper I was down on my back now staring up at the

16

17

sky staring up at the dancing red stars I wanted toscream But I had no air

Canrsquot breathe canrsquot breathe at all The stars faded away The color faded from the

sky All black All black nowAnd as I sank into the blackness I heard a voiceA beautiful soft voice from far far away Calling

my nameAn angel I realized Yes Through the blackness I heard an angel call-

ing my nameAnd I knew that I had died

ldquoLuke LukerdquoThe blackness lifted I blinked up at the afternoon

sky The voice was closer now And I recognized itldquoLukerdquoMy chest ached as I took a deep breathHeymdashwhen had I started to breathe againI lifted my head and saw Hannah running across

the basketball court She wore a blue windbreakerunzipped and it flapped up over her shoulders likewings Her red hair glowed in the late afternoon sunlike a halo

Not an angel Just Hannah She turned angrily to Stretch as she ran past him

ldquoWhat did you do to Lukemdashkill himrdquoStretch giggled ldquoProbablyrdquoHannah dropped onto her knees beside me Her

windbreaker fell over my face She tugged it awayldquoAre you alive Can you speakrdquo

ldquoYeah Irsquom okayrdquo I muttered I felt like a jerk Ahelpless jerk

18

Stretch walked up behind Hannah ldquoWhorsquos sherdquohe sneered at me ldquoYour girlfriendrdquo

Hannah spun around to face him ldquoHeymdashIrsquoveseen your girlfriendrdquo

Stretchrsquos mouth dropped open ldquoHuh Whorsquosthatrdquo

ldquoGodzillardquo Hannah declaredI tried to laugh but it made my ribs hurtThe next thing I knew Hannah was on her feet

shoving Stretchrsquos shoulders with both hands forcinghim to back up ldquoEver hear of picking on someoneyour own sizerdquo she demanded

Stretch laughed ldquoNo Tell me about itrdquo Hebacked away from her and raised his big meaty fistsHe grinned and started dancing like a fighter ldquoComeon You want a piece of me You want a piece ofmerdquo Imitating someone in a movie I guess

ldquoOne on onerdquo Hannah challenged Stretch tossed back his head and laughed His

blue eyes rolled around in his tiny head ldquoYou wanta piece of merdquo

ldquoFreestyle shootingrdquo Hannah said tearing off thewindbreaker She tossed it to the side of the courtldquoCome on Stretch Twenty shots each Any kind ofshotrdquo She stared up at him ldquoYoursquoll lose ReallyYoursquoll see Yoursquoll lose to a girlrdquo

His smile faded ldquoYoursquore on the girlsrsquo basketballteammdashrightrdquo

Hannah nodded ldquoIrsquom the centerrdquo

19

Stretch started to dribble the ball slowly in frontof him ldquoTwenty shots Layups or three-pointrdquo

Hannah shrugged ldquoAny kind Yoursquoll loserdquoI climbed to my feet and went over to the side of

the court to watch I still felt a little shaky but I knewI was okay

Stretch didnrsquot hesitate He raised the ball andpushed up a one-handed shot from half-court Theball hit the backboard then the rimmdashand droppedin ldquoOne for onerdquo he said He ran to retrieve the ballldquoIrsquoll keep shooting until I missrdquo

He missed his next shot an easy layup fromunder the basket

Hannahrsquos turn I crossed my fingers and countedto seven three times

ldquoGo Hannahrdquo I cheered holding up my crossedfingers

Hannah sank a basket from the foul line Thenshe drove under the basket and shot another one infrom underneath

My mouth dropped open as she sank eight morebaskets without a miss ldquoWow Go Hannahrdquo

Stretch just stood there looking dumb I couldnrsquottell what he was thinking His face was a total blank

ldquoTen for tenrdquo Hannah declared She bounced theball to Stretch ldquoYou go Just to keep it interestingrdquo

Hannah glanced at me grinned and flashed mea thumbs-up

Stretch wasnrsquot smiling anymore He had a grim

20

determined look on his face as he drove in close toshoot He dropped four straight baskets then missedone from in front of the foul line

He muttered something under his breath andbounced the ball to Hannah

Hannah sank eight more in a row She turned toStretch ldquoEighteen for eighteenrdquo

But he was already jogging back to the gym ascowl on his face

ldquoIrsquom not finishedrdquo Hannah called after himStretch turned back to me ldquoHey Champmdashmaybe

you should take a lesson from your girlfriend Ormaybe you should play on her teamrdquo Shaking hishead he disappeared into the school

A strong wind began to blow across the play-ground It was dark as evening now I picked upHannahrsquos windbreaker and reached out to hand it toher But she took another shot ldquoNineteenrdquo And thenanother ldquoTwenty Yay I winrdquo

I gaped at her ldquoHannahmdashyou never miss Howdo you do thatrdquo

She shrugged ldquoJust luckyrdquoI shivered We started jogging back to the school

ldquoAsk me how lucky I amrdquo I muttered ldquoI made a newenemy today A huge enemyrdquo

Hannah stopped and grabbed my arm ldquoHeymdashItotally forgot why I was looking for you I wanted totell you the coolest newsrdquo

I held the school door open ldquoYeah Whatrdquo

21

Hannahrsquos green eyes flashed ldquoYou know thosephotos I took of my dog I sent them to a magazine inNew York And guess what They paid me five hun-dred dollars for them Theyrsquore going to publish themmdashand do a big story about me Isnrsquot that so totally coolrdquo

ldquoWow Totallyrdquo I saidAnd thatrsquos when I decided my luck had to changeWhy should Hannah have all the luck I can be

lucky too I told myselfItrsquos all attitude Thatrsquos what it takes The right atti-

tudeI changed into my street clothes I made my way

upstairs to stop at my locker Locker 13 Basketball practice had run so late the halls were

empty My shoes clonked noisily on the hard floorMost of the lights had already been turned off

This school is creepy when itrsquos empty I decided Istopped in front of my locker feeling a chill at the backof my neck

I always felt a little weirded-out in front of thelocker For one thing it wasnrsquot with all the otherseventh-grade lockers It was down at the end of theback hall by itself just past a janitorrsquos supply closet

Up and down the hall all the other lockers hadbeen painted over the summer They were all asmooth silvery gray But no one had touched locker13 The old green paint was peeling and had largepatches scraped off Deep scratches crisscrossed upand down the door

22

The locker smelled damp And sour As if it hadonce been filled with rotting leaves or dead fish orsomething

Thatrsquos okay I can deal with this I told myself I took a deep breath New attitude Luke New

attitude Your luck is going to changeI opened my backpack and pulled out a fat black

marker Then I closed the locker door And rightabove the number 13 I wrote the word LUCKY in bigbold capital letters

I stepped back to admire my work LUCKY 13ldquoYessssrdquo I felt better alreadyI shoved the black marker into my backpack and

started to zip it up And thatrsquos when I heard thebreathing

Soft soft breaths So soft I thought I imaginedthem From inside the locker

I crept closer and pressed my ear against the doorI heard a soft hiss Then more breathingThe backpack slipped out of my hands and thud-

ded to the floor I froze And heard another soft hiss inside the locker It

ended in a short cry The back of my neck prickled My breath caught

in my throatWithout realizing it my hand had gripped the

locker handleShould I open the door Should I

23

My hand tightened on the handle I forced myselfto start breathing again

Irsquom imagining this I told myself There canrsquot be anyone breathing inside my lockerI lifted the handle Pulled open the doorldquoHeymdashrdquo I cried out in shock And stared down at

a black catThe cat gazed up at me its eyes red in the dim

hall light The black fur stood up on its back Itpulled back its lips and hissed again

A black catA black cat inside my lockerIrsquom imagining this I thought I blinked hard trying to blink the cat awayA black cat inside locker 13 Could there be any

worse luckldquoHowmdashhow did you get in thererdquo I choked outThe cat hissed again and arched its back It gazed

up at me coldly Then it leaped from the locker floor It darted over

24

my shoes down the hall Running rapidly silentlyHead down tail straight up it turned the first cornerand disappeared

I stared after it my heart pounding I could stillfeel its furry body brushing against my leg I realizedI was still gripping the locker handle

My head spun with questions How long had thecat been in there How did it get inside the lockeddoor Why was there a black cat in my locker Why

I turned and checked out the floor of the lockerJust to make sure there werenrsquot any other creatureshiding in there Then still feeling confused I closedthe door carefully locked it and stepped back

LUCKY 13The black letters appeared to glowldquoYeah Luckyrdquo I muttered picking up my back-

pack ldquoReal lucky A black cat in my lockerrdquo I held my lucky rabbitrsquos foot and kept squeezing

it tightly all the way homeThings are going to change I told myself Things

have got to change

But in the next few weeks my luck didnrsquot changeat all

One day after school I was on my way to the com-puter lab when I ran into Hannah ldquoWhere are yougoingrdquo she asked ldquoWant to come watch my basket-ball gamerdquo

ldquoI canrsquotrdquo I replied ldquoI promised to install some

25

new modems for Mrs Coffey the computer teacherrdquoldquoMr Computer Geek strikes againrdquo she said She

started jogging toward the gymldquoDid you get your science test backrdquo I called

after herShe stopped and turned around with a grin on her

face ldquoYou wonrsquot believe it Luke I didnrsquot have timeto study I had to guess on every question And guesswhat I got a hundred I got them all rightrdquo

ldquoThatrsquos excellentrdquo I called Irsquod studied for thattest for a solid week and I got a seventy-four

I made my way into the computer lab and wavedto Mrs Coffey She was hunched over her desk sort-ing through a tall stack of disks ldquoHey howrsquos itgoingrdquo she called

The computer lab is my second home Ever sinceMrs Coffey learned that I can repair computers andupgrade them and install things in them Irsquove beenher favorite student

And I have to admit I really like her tooWhenever I donrsquot have basketball practice I checkin at the computer lab to talk with her and see whatneeds to be fixed

ldquoLuke how is your animation project comingalongrdquo she asked setting down the disks Shebrushed back her blond hair She has the nicestsmile Everyone likes her because she always seemsto enjoy her classes so much

ldquoIrsquom almost ready to show it to yourdquo I said I sat

26

down in front of a computer and started to removethe back ldquoI think itrsquos really cool And itrsquos going muchfaster now I found a new way to move pixelsaroundrdquo

Her eyes grew wide ldquoReallyrdquoldquoItrsquos a very cool inventionrdquo I said carefully slid-

ing the insides from the computer ldquoThe program ispretty simple I think a lot of animators might like itrdquo

I set down my screwdriver and gazed across theroom at her ldquoMaybe you could help me You knowShow it to people Get it copyrighted or somethingrdquo

ldquoMayberdquo she said She stood up smoothing thehem of her blue sweater over her jeans She came upbehind me and watched as I removed the old modemldquoYoursquore really skillful Luke I think yoursquore going tomake a lot of money with computers some dayrdquo

ldquoYeah Mayberdquo I replied awkwardly ldquoThanksrdquo Ididnrsquot really know what to say Mrs Coffey is so awe-some She is the only teacher who really encouragesme and thinks Irsquom somebody

ldquoI canrsquot wait to show you my animationrdquo I said ldquoWell I have some big newsrdquo she said sud-

denly I turned and caught the excited smile on herface ldquoYoursquore the first person to hear it Luke Can youkeep a secretrdquo

ldquoYeah Okayrdquo I saidldquoI just got the most wonderful job At a really big

software company in Chicago Irsquom leaving school nextweekrdquo

27

The next afternoon I couldnrsquot check in at the com-puter lab I had to hurry to the swimming poolbehind the gym

Swimming is my other big sport I spent all lastsummer working with an instructor at our local poolHe was fast enough to make the Olympic tryouts afew years ago And he really improved my stroke andshowed me a lot of secrets for getting my speed up

So I looked forward to the tryouts for the Squiresswim team I couldnrsquot wear my lucky swimsuitbecause it didnrsquot fit anymore But I wore my luckyshirt to school that day And as I changed for thepool I silently counted to seven three times

As I left the locker room I heard shouts andlaughter echoing off the tile pool walls Feeling myheart start to race I stepped into the steamy air ofthe indoor pool The floor was puddled with warmwater I inhaled the sharp chlorine smell I love thatsmell

Then I bent down and kissed the top of the divingboard I know It sounds weird But itrsquos just some-thing I always do

I turned to the pool Three or four guys werealready in the water At the shallow end I sawStretch He was violently splashing two other guysHe had them cornered at the end of the pool His bighands slapped the water sending up tall waves overthem They pleaded with him to give them a break

Coach Swanson blew his whistle then shouted

28

bull bull bull

for Stretch to cut the horseplay Stretch gave the twoguys one more vicious splash

Then he turned and saw me ldquoHey Champmdashrdquo heshouted his voice booming off the tiles ldquoYoursquoreearly Drowning lessons are next week Ha ha Niceswim trunks Are those your girlfriendrsquos Ha hardquo

A few other guys laughed tooI decided to ignore them I was feeling pretty con-

fident About twenty guys were trying out I knewthere were only six spots open on the team But afterall my work last summer I thought I could make thetop six

We all warmed up for a bit taking easy laps lim-bering up our muscles getting used to the warmwater After a few minutes Coach Swanson made usall climb out and line up at the deep end of the pool

ldquoOkay guys Irsquove got to get to my night job by fiveso wersquore going to keep this simplerdquo the coachannounced ldquoYou have one chance One chanceonly You hear the whistle you do a speed dive intothe pool You do two complete laps any stroke youwant Irsquoll take the first six guys And two alternatesAny questionsrdquo

There werenrsquot anyEveryone leaned forward preparing to dive

Stretch lined up next to me He elbowed me hard inthe side ldquoGive me some room Champ Donrsquot crowdmerdquo

29

Okay so hersquoll come in first I figured rubbing thepain from my side That leaves five other places onthe team

Irsquom good enough I told myself I know I am Iknow I am

The whistle blew All down the row bodiestensed then plunged forward

I started my divemdashand slippedThe pool floormdashso wet My feet slid on the tile Oh noI hit the water with a loud smack A belly flop No kind of dive Struggling to recover I raised my head And saw

everyone way ahead of me One unlucky slip I lowered my head determined to catch up I

started stroking easily forcing myself to be calm Iremembered the slow steady straight-legged kick myinstructor had taught me

I sped up I passed some guys Hit the wall andstarted back

I can do this I told myself I can still make theteam

Faster At the end of the second lap the finish was a furi-

ous blur Blue water Thrashing arms and legs Loudbreaths Bobbing heads

I tried to shut out everything and concentrate on

30

my stroke ignore everyone else and swimAt last my hand hit the pool wall I ducked under

then surfaced blowing out water I wiped my hairaway from my eyes The taste of chlorine was in mymouth Water running down my face I glancedaround

I didnrsquot finish last Some guys were still swim-ming I squinted down the line of swimmers who hadfinished How many How many were ahead of me

ldquoLukemdashyoursquore seventhrdquo Coach Swansonannounced He made a large check on his clipboardldquoFirst alternate See you at practicerdquo

I was still too out-of-breath to replySeventhI let out a long sigh I felt so disappointed I could

do better than seventh I knew If only I hadnrsquotslipped

As I started to trudge back to the locker roomStretch strode up beside me ldquoHey Champrdquo Heslapped my bare back with his open hand so hard itmade a loud smack ldquoThanks for making me look sogoodrdquo

I got dressed quickly standing in a corner bymyself A few guys came over to say congratulationsBut I didnrsquot feel I deserved it

Across the locker room Stretch was still in hisswim trunks He was having a great time smacking

31

guys with his towel really making the towel snapagainst their bare skin laughing his head off

I tossed my towel in the basket Then I steppedup to the mirror over the sinks to comb my hair Aceiling lightbulb was out and I had to lean over thesink to see

I had just started to comb my wet hair backmdashwhen I saw the jagged crack along the length of theglass

ldquoWhoardquo I stopped combing and stepped backA broken mirror Seven years bad luck for some-

oneI reached into my khakis pocket and squeezed

my rabbitrsquos foot three times Then I turned back tothe mirror and began combing my hair again

Something was wrong I blinked Once TwiceA red light Some kind of red glare in the mirror

glassI squinted into the glassmdashand let out a cryThe red glare was coming from a pair of eyesmdash

two red eyes glowing like hot coalsTwo angry red eyes floating in the glass Floating

beside my reflectionI could see my confused expression as I stared at

the frightening red eyes as I watched the eyesslide across the glass slide slide closer until their red glow covered my eyes

32

My horrified reflection stared out at me with thefiery glowing eyes

And I opened my mouth and let out a long terri-fied scream

33

Over my scream I heard heavy footsteps behindme And then I heard a voicemdashStretchrsquos voiceldquoHeymdashget used to itrdquo

I spun around He grinned at me ldquoGet used to itChamp Thatrsquos your face It makes other peoplescream toordquo

ldquoNordquo I cried ldquoNo Itrsquos not Donrsquot you seemdashrdquoCoach Swanson burst in behind Stretch ldquoLukemdash

whatrsquos wrongrdquoldquoMy eyesrdquo I cried ldquoLook Are they red Are

theyrdquoCoach Swanson and Stretch exchanged glances ldquoWhat is his problemrdquo Stretch murmuredCoach Swanson stepped up close and examined

my eyes ldquoWhatrsquos wrong with you Luke Itrsquos just thechlorine from the pool Your eyes will be okay in a lit-tle whilerdquo

ldquoChlorine Huh Nordquo I insisted Then I glancedinto the mirror And saw my normal brown eyes gaz-ing back at me

34

No glowing eyes No red eyes burning in the glasslike an evil movie monster

ldquoUh well rdquo I rubbed my eyes They didnrsquotburn or anything They felt okay

I turned back to Stretch and Coach Swanson Ididnrsquot know what to say to them They were both stillstaring at me as if I were nuts

And maybe I was Black cats jumping out of my locker Glowing red

eyes in the mirrorldquoWell see you at practicerdquo I saidStretch laughed ldquoNot if I see you first Ha hardquoI laughed too It wasnrsquot funny but I wanted to

sound calm again normalAs I followed them out of the locker room I real-

ized I was trembling Why were these strange things happening to me

35

After dinner I was supposed to go to the mall withHannah She wanted to buy me some computer soft-ware for my birthday But she wanted me to pick itout

That was really nice of her But at the last minuteI decided not to go

I was still feeling weird from the swim tryoutsAnd I wanted to work on my animation project If Iworked really hard I might be able to get it finishedin time to show Mrs Coffey before she left school

I went up to my room and booted up the anima-tion But I couldnrsquot concentrate I kept staring at thefour-leaf clover inside a block of clear Lucite I keepon my desk And I kept jumping up and running tothe mirror to check my eyes

Perfectly normal Not glowingSo what happened What happened to me in that

locker room I asked myself I tried to convincemyself there was something wrong with the mirror

36

The red glow was because of the way the light hit thecrack in the mirror Or something

No That didnrsquot make senseThe phone rang a little before ten orsquoclock And it

was Hannah sounding very breathless and excitedldquoLukemdashyou shouldrsquove come You shouldrsquove

comerdquoI had to hold the phone away from my ear

Hannah was shouting so loud ldquoWhy What hap-penedrdquo I asked

ldquoI won itrdquo she declared ldquoDo you believe it Iwonrdquo

ldquoExcuse me Hannahmdashwhat are you talkingaboutrdquo

ldquoYou know the raffle at the mall That huge redSUV Itrsquos been on display there for a monthThousands of people put tickets in the boxThousands AndmdashandmdashI just happened to be walk-ing by when they had the drawing tonight Andmdashrdquo

ldquoYou didnrsquotrdquo I shriekedldquoYes Yes I won it I won the SUVrdquo ldquoWowrdquo I slumped onto my bed I actually felt

faint My heart was pounding as if I had wonldquoYou shouldrsquove seen me when they called out my

namerdquo Hannah gushed ldquoI screamed I just stoodthere and screamedrdquo

She screamed again shrieked at the top of herlungs A long high joyful scream

37

ldquoHannahmdashthatrsquos so awesomerdquo I said I donrsquotthink she heard me She was still screaming

ldquoMy family is so happy Luke You should seethem They are dancing around the living roomrdquo

ldquoThatrsquos so greatrdquo I saidHannah lowered her voice ldquoI just feel bad about

one thing Luke I was so crazed I was so berserk Iforgot why I was at the mall I forgot all about buy-ing you a birthday giftrdquo

I stood up I picked up the block with the four-leafclover inside and smoothed it between my handsldquoThatrsquos okayrdquo I told Hannah ldquoI just decided what Ireally want for my birthdayrdquo

ldquoWhatrsquos thatrdquo she askedldquoI want your luckrdquoHannah laughed She thought I was kidding But

of course I was seriousldquoAre you going to school tomorrowrdquo she askedldquoHuh Yeah sure Why notrdquoldquoTomorrow is Friday the thirteenthrdquo she said ldquoI

know how superstitious you are I thought maybeyoursquod stay home and hide under the bed all dayrdquo

ldquoHa hardquo I said But I felt a cold tingle at the backof my neck ldquoIrsquoll be thererdquo I told Hannah ldquoIrsquom nottotally wacko you knowrdquo

But Irsquoll wear my lucky shirt I thought And Irsquolltake my four-leaf clover in my backpack And Irsquoll askMom to pack my lucky sandwich for lunchmdashpeanutbutter and mayonnaise

38

ldquoI have to go to school tomorrowrdquo I told HannahldquoI have basketball practice after schoolrdquo

ldquoHowrsquos practice goingrdquo Hannah askedI chuckled ldquoNot bad So far I havenrsquot gotten any

splinters from sitting on the benchrdquoHannah laughed I could hear shouts and wild

laughter in the background ldquoIrsquove got to gordquo she saidshouting over the racket ldquoMy family is still celebrat-ing my winning the SUV Byerdquo

She clicked off before I could reply

That night I dreamed about locker 13In the dream I stepped up to the locker Someone

had taped a calendar to the door I came closer andsaw that Friday the thirteenth had been circled inred

I started to rip the calendar off the locker doorBut I stopped when I heard loud breathing Hoarsewheezing sounds Like someone was having troublebreathing

I touched the locker door And it was burning hotI screamed in shock and pulled my hand awayAgain I heard the hoarse breathing from inside

the locker And then I heard a tiny voice cry outldquoPlease get me outrdquo

In the dream I knew I was dreaming I wanted tolift myself out of the dream But I was stuck thereAnd I knew I had no choice I had to pull open thelocker door and see who was in there

39

ldquoPlease I want out Get me outrdquo the tinyfrightened voice called

Even though I knew I was dreaming I still felt sofrightened Real fear that makes you shake whetheryoursquore awake or asleep

I watched myself grip the door handle Slowlymdashso slowlymdashI pulled the locker door open

And I stared in horror at the figure huddled insidethe locker Because it was ME

It was me inside the locker hugging myself trem-bling all over It was memdashand my eyes started toglow My eyes glowed out from the dark locker red asfire

And as I stared at myself stared at those ugly evilred eyes I watched my face begin to change Iwatched hair grow out of my nostrils Long braids ofthick black hair sliding out of my nosemdashdown downto the locker floor

Beneath the shining red eyes thick blacktwisted ropes of hair were pouring from my nose Outof the locker Piling onto the hall floor Curlingaround me as I watched

Yes The long hair flowed from my nose andsnaked around me as I watched in horror Curledaround me covering me in warm scratchy hairCovering me like a big furry coat and then tighten-ing Tightening Tightening around my chestTightening around my face Wrapping me like amummy Wrapping me in my ghastly nose hair

40

I woke up one hand tightly wrapped around theLucite block with the four-leaf clover Gray morningsunlight seeped through my bedroom window Myroom was so cold cold as a freezer

ldquoLuke what are you doing up there Yoursquore laterdquoMomrsquos voice shattered the frozen silence

ldquoA dreamrdquo I murmured A hoarse laugh escapedmy throat My eyes darted around the room NormalEverything normal

ldquoHurry Luke Itrsquos really laterdquo Momrsquos voicesounded so good to me

I followed her order I hurried I got showereddressed ate breakfast and arrived at school withabout two minutes to spare The halls were prettyempty Most kids had already gone to their home-rooms

I glanced at the clock on the tile wall Then joggedto the end of the back hall to toss my jacket into mylocker

But a few feet from my locker I stopped with agasp

What was that on the door to locker 13I crept closer A calendarYes Someone had taped a calendar to the door

And and today Friday the thirteenth was cir-cled in red

41

ldquoMy dreamrdquo I murmuredThat horrifying dream Itrsquos coming true I realized

Irsquom going to open the door and itrsquos going to cometrue

42

I stared at the calendar at the number 13 circledin red marker

Last nightrsquos dream played itself again through mymind I shuddered My legs and arms itched I couldpractically feel the disgusting hair curling around myskin

With an angry cry I ripped the calendar off thedoor and crumpled it in my hand

Now I expected to hear the heavy breathing frominside the locker And the tiny criesmdashmy criesmdashbeg-ging to be let out

But I didnrsquot wait ldquoIrsquom not opening itrdquo I said outloud

No way am I going to allow the dream to cometrue

I tossed the wadded-up calendar sheet to thefloor Then I spun around and began running toclass The hall was empty My shoes thudded loudlyon the hard floor as I ran

Irsquoll keep my coat with me I decided Irsquoll just drag

43

it around with me all day I donrsquot need to open thelocker

The bell rang as I reached my homeroom doorMr Perkins looked up as I burst into the roomldquoGood morning Lukerdquo he said ldquoRunning a little latethis morningrdquo

ldquoA littlerdquo I replied breathlessly Unzipping myjacket I started to my seat

ldquoWould you like time to go hang your coat in yourlockerrdquo Mr Perkins asked

ldquoUh no Thatrsquos okayrdquo I lowered my backpackto the floor and dropped into the chair ldquoIrsquoll just keep itrdquo

A few kids were staring at me Mr Perkins noddedand turned back to the papers he was reading

I took a deep breath and settled back against thechair I rubbed the right sleeve of my lucky shirtseven times

That dream is not going to come true I toldmyself No way I wonrsquot let it

Of course I wasnrsquot thinking clearly How couldthat crazy dream come true

If I had stopped for one second to think about itI would have realized the whole idea was insane

But today was Friday the thirteenth And I nevercan think clearly on Friday the thirteenth I admit itIrsquom always a little crazy on that unlucky day

I glanced up to see that Mr Perkins had beenreading the morning announcements I hadnrsquot heard

44

a word he said I pulled the four-leaf clover from mybackpack twirled it in my hand and wished for goodluck for the rest of the day

At noon I found Hannah at a table against theback wall of the lunchroom She was sitting all byherself staring down at her brown lunchbag whichshe hadnrsquot opened

ldquoHi Whassuprdquo I dropped across from herldquoHirdquo she said softly without raising her eyes

ldquoHowrsquos it goingrdquoldquoWell pretty okay for a Friday the thirteenthrdquo I

said Actually the morning had flown by without anyproblems at all

I expected Hannah to make some kind of jokeabout how superstitious I am But she didnrsquot say aword

I pulled the sandwich from my bag and started tounwrap the foil ldquoMy lucky sandwichrdquo I saidldquoPeanut butter and mayonnaiserdquo

ldquoYumrdquo she said rolling her eyes She finallylooked at me She appeared tired Her eyes werebloodshot red as if shersquod been crying Her hair wasa mess and her face was gray

ldquoHow come yoursquore wearing your coatrdquo sheasked

ldquoOh uh no reasonrdquo I said ldquoI was kind ofcoldrdquo

She nodded glumly

45

ldquoDid you come to school in the new SUVrdquo Iasked

She shook her head ldquoWe donrsquot have it yet Dadhas to go fill out a lot of papersrdquo She let out a longsigh

I lowered my sandwich ldquoAre you feeling okayrdquo Iasked

She didnrsquot answer Instead she sighed again andstared down at the table

I poked her lunchbag with one finger ldquoWhat doyou have for lunchrdquo

She shrugged ldquoJust some fruit Irsquom not very hun-gryrdquo She opened the bag reached a hand in andpulled out a bright yellow banana

She struggled with the skin Then finally peeled itopen

ldquoOh yuckrdquo Her face twisted in disgust Shedropped the banana to the table

Inside the skin the banana was completely rot-ten Just a soft pile of black mush A horrible soursmellmdashlike ripe vomitmdashfloated up from it

Hannah shoved the banana away ldquoSick Thatrsquosreally sickrdquo

ldquoThe skin is perfectly freshrdquo I said ldquoHow couldthe banana be so rottenrdquo

ldquoI think I have an applerdquo Hannah said glumlyShe tore the bag apart and pulled out a red appleShe twirled it between her handsmdashthen stopped witha gasp

46

I saw the deep dark hole on the side of the appleAnd as we both stared at it a fat brown wormmdashatleast two inches longmdashcurled out from inside Andthen another And another

The worms dropped from the apple onto thetabletop

ldquoI donrsquot believe thisrdquo Hannah shrieked Shescraped her chair back so hard it toppled over

And before I could say anything she was runningfrom the room

After school I looked for Hannah on my way tobasketball practice I was worried about her She hadacted so weird at lunch Not like herself at all

I reminded myself that it was Friday the thir-teenth And sometimes people act a little weird onthis day

But not Hannah Hannah is the least supersti-tious person I know She walks under ladders all thetime and she hugs black cats and doesnrsquot think athing of it

And why should she Hannah has to be the luck-iest person on earth

Lockers slammed as kids prepared to go home Istarted to the gym then turned back I donrsquot want tocarry my coat and backpack to the gym I decidedIrsquom going to stuff them in my locker

I hesitated as the locker came into view at the endof the hall I read the words on the door LUCKY 13 Of

47

course I remembered my nightmaremdashand the calen-dar from my nightmare taped on the locker door

But I had to open the locker I didnrsquot want to carrymy stuff around with me for the rest of the year

ldquoHey Lukerdquo I saw Darnell Cross waving to mefrom the doorway to the science lab ldquoAre the Squiresgoing to beat Davenportrdquo

ldquoTheyrsquore not so toughrdquo I called back ldquoWe couldtake themrdquo

ldquoYou going to playrdquo Darnell asked He grinnedbecause he already knew the answer

ldquoAs soon as I grow taller than Stretchrdquo I repliedHe laughed and disappeared back into the lab I stepped up to locker 13 I brought my face close

to the door ldquoAnyone in thererdquo I called inSilenceldquoJust checkingrdquo I said I grabbed the door handle

I was feeling pretty confident Friday the thirteenthwas two-thirds over and so far nothing terriblyunlucky had happened to me

I squeezed my rabbitrsquos foot for luck Then I tooka deep breathmdashand pulled open the locker

48

Nothing unusual inside the locker I realized I was still gripping the rabbitrsquos foot

inside my pocket I let go of it and slipped my back-pack off my shoulders

I studied the locker carefully A bunch of booksand notebooks on the top shelf where I had leftthem My old gray sweatshirt lay crumpled on thelocker floor

No black cats No one breathing or crying orshooting piles of hair from his nose

I let out a long sigh of relief Then I tossed thebackpack on top of the balled-up sweatshirt Shovedmy jacket onto the hook on the back wall

I started to slam the door shut when I spottedsomething at my feet

My shoe kicked it and it rolled against the lockerbottom then bounced back

A ballI bent down and picked it up I raised it close to

my face

49

ldquoWhoardquo Not a ball A tiny yellow skull a littlelarger than a Ping-Pong ball

It had an open-mouthed grin revealing two rowsof gray teeth I ran my finger over the teeth Theywere hard and bumpy

I squeezed it The little skull was made of somekind of hard rubber

The eyesmdashsunken deep in the socketsmdashwere redglass They glowed in the hall lights like tiny rubies

ldquoWhere did you come fromrdquo I asked itI turned back to the locker Did the skull fall out

of the locker How did it get in there Was someoneplaying some kind of Friday the thirteenth headgame with me

I decided that had to be the answerI rolled the skull around in my hand a few times

I poked my finger against the glowing red glass eyes Then I tucked it into my pants pocket I slammed

the locker shutmdashand headed to practice

ldquoLook alive Heads up Look aliverdquo CoachBendix was shouting

I ran out of the locker room and grabbed a bas-ketball off the ball rack I began dribbling around thefloor

We were having one of Coachrsquos free-for-all prac-tices That meant we had to keep moving keepplayingmdashrun dribble pass shoot play defense Do

50

everything all at once in a big free-for-all I dribbled slowly across the floor concentrating

hard Trying not to lose the dribble I saw Stretch turntoward me He stuck out both hands and moved for-ward ready to block me

I decided to try and fake him out I dribbled leftmdashand moved right I edged past him easily Movedunder the basket And sent up a shot that sailedacross the gym and dropped in

ldquoHeymdashone for onerdquo I cried happilyldquoLucky shotrdquo Stretch calledI took the ball and moved back to the top of the

key I sent up a two-handed jumpshot It soared overthe rimmdashand dropped through the basket with a softswish

ldquoYesrdquo I pumped my fists in the airI didnrsquot have long to celebrate I turned and saw

Stretch barreling toward me dribbling hard leaningforward with grim determination

Hersquos going to charge right over me I realized Hersquosgoing to flatten me

Guys backed out of his way as Stretch flew acrossthe floor

ldquoLook out Lukerdquo someone shoutedI froze for a moment Then I ducked to the left

Stuck out my hand and slapped the ball away fromStretch

He made a wild grab for it But I dribbled it out of

51

his reach Then I spun around and sent a wild highshot into the air The ball hit the glass backboardmdashand sank through the net

ldquoWowrdquoldquoWay to go LukerdquoldquoThree for threerdquoThe other players were in shockStretch shook his head ldquoFeeling lucky today

Think fastrdquo He pulled back his long armmdashandheaved the ball at my chest with all his strength

I caught it easily Dribbled it three times Shotmdashand dropped another basket

Stretch scowled ldquoI donrsquot believe thisrdquo he mut-tered shaking his head

I donrsquot either I thought to myself Irsquove never shotfour baskets in a row in my life

I turned and saw Coach Bendix watching me Wasthis my big chance Stretch and another player werepassing the ball back and forth moving across thefloor

I shot forward Intercepted Stretchrsquos pass Droveto the basket And sent up an easy layup ldquoTwopointsrdquo I cried

With an angry grunt Stretch reached for therebound But I pushed it out of his hands Grabbed itSpun Shot again ldquoTwo pointsrdquo

Stretch cried out angrily He bumped me hard

52

from behind I think he would have flattened me onthe spot But he saw that Coach Bendix was runningover to us

Coach slapped me on the back ldquoWay to goLukerdquo he boomed ldquoWay to show real improvementIrsquom impressed Keep it up okay Irsquom going to give yousome playing time next Fridayrdquo

ldquoHeymdashthanksrdquo I replied breathlesslyI saw Stretch scowl Saw his face turn an angry

redI grabbed a ball and dribbled away I wanted to

shout and jump for joy Had my luck finally changedIt seemed that way Suddenly I could pass and

jump and shoot and play defense like I never couldbefore It was as if I was possessed or somethingPossessed by an all-star athlete

In the locker room after practice Stretch ignoredme But other guys slapped me on the back andflashed me a thumbs-up

ldquoLookinrsquo good LukerdquoldquoWay to go manrdquoldquoGo SquiresrdquoI was feeling really happy Like a new person As I

changed into my street clothes I felt the little skull inmy pants pocket I pulled it out and gazed at itsmoothing my thumb over the hard rubber

ldquoAre you my new good-luck charmrdquo I asked itThe tiny red eyes glowed back at me I kissed it

gave it a smack on top of its yellow head and shoved

53

it back into my pants pocketThat skull is going everywhere with me I decided

Itrsquos got to be lucky Itrsquos got to beAs I walked home I kept reliving my great bas-

ketball triumph I pictured my long perfect jump-shots again And I saw myself stealing the ball fromStretchrsquos hands driving right past him and scoringEmbarrassing him Embarrassing Stretch again andagain

Wow What a dayIt was a cold gray afternoon Dark clouds hung

low over the nearly bare trees It felt more like winterthan fall

A few blocks from home I crossed a streetmdashandheard a short cry

A long low evergreen hedge ran across the frontyard on the corner I stopped gazing over the hedgeHad the cry come from the yard

I listened hard Down the block a car doorslammed A dog started to bark The wind made awhistling sound through the phone lines overhead

And then I heard itmdashanother sharp crymdashlongerthis time

A baby It sounded like a babyrsquos cryldquoOwwwww OwwwwwwrdquoI lowered my gaze to the hedgemdashand saw the

creature making the shrill criesA cat No A small orange-and-white kitten

54

It appeared to be stuck in the prickly brambles ofthe hedge

ldquoOwwwww OwwwwwwrdquoCarefully I bent down and gently lifted the cat out

with both hands As I cupped my hands around it itstopped crying immediately But it was still breathinghard its white chest moving rapidly up and down Irubbed its head trying to soothe it

ldquoYoursquore okay little kittenrdquo I whisperedAnd then I heard another cry A loud shriekI looked up to see a large woman running at me

angrily Her face was bright red and she waved herarms furiously

ldquoOh nordquo I muttered I nearly dropped the catWhy is she so angryWhat have I done

55

ldquoThe kittenmdashrdquo she cried shoving through abreak in the hedge

ldquoImdashIrsquom sorryrdquo I stammered ldquoI didnrsquot know ImdashrdquoldquoWhere did you find herrdquo the woman demanded

her face still bright red ldquoIn in the hedgerdquoldquoOh thank you Thank yourdquo the woman said

She took the kitten from my hands and raised it toher cheek ldquoSasha where did you gordquo

Irsquom not in trouble I finally realized The womanis happymdashnot angry

ldquoSasha has been missing for two daysrdquo thewoman told me pressing the kitten against her faceldquoI offered a reward and everything I almost gave uphoperdquo

I let out a long sigh of relief ldquoShe was right thererdquoI said pointing ldquoIn the hedge I think she wascaught in itrdquo

ldquoWell shersquos fine now thanks to yourdquo Still press-ing the kitten to her cheek the woman pushed

56

through the hedge and started to the house ldquoWhat isyour namerdquo

ldquoLukerdquoldquoWell follow me Luke Irsquoll get your reward for

yourdquoldquoHuh Reward No Reallyrdquo I started to back

awayldquoYou saved Sasharsquos liferdquo the woman said ldquoYou

did a wonderful thing And I insist you take thereward I offeredrdquo

I saw that I had no choice I followed her to herkitchen door

A few minutes later she counted out five twenty-dollar bills and pressed them into my hand ldquoThankyou Luke You really did your good deed for todayrdquo

A hundred dollarsA hundred dollars rewardMy luck really is starting to change I decidedWhen I got home a big surprise awaited me Mom had made my favorite dinnermdashmeat loaf

mashed potatoes and gravy And a coconut cake fordessert

ldquoItrsquos not even my birthdayrdquo I exclaimedldquoI just felt like doing something nice for you

todayrdquo Mom said She brushed back my hair withone hand ldquoI know Friday the thirteenth is always ahard day for yourdquo

ldquoNot todayrdquo I told her grinning ldquoNot todayrdquo

57

After my second slice of coconut cake I went upto my room and started my homework I spent aboutan hour writing out the answers to my scienceassignment

It shouldnrsquot have taken that long But I kept tak-ing out the twenty-dollar bills counting them againand dreaming about what I could buy with them

After science I worked on my computer anima-tion Irsquod been having trouble with the last section Icouldnrsquot get anything to move the way I wanted

But tonight my good luck continued I had notrouble at all The images all slid together perfectly Ialmost finished the project

A little after nine I decided to give Hannah a callShersquod acted so weird at lunch that afternoon Ithought maybe she was sick or something

I called to see if she was feeling better But I couldtell by the way she answered the phone that she stillwasnrsquot her old self

I tried to cheer her up I told her about my tri-umph at basketball practice And about the hundred-dollar reward for finding the lost kitten

ldquoVery coolrdquo Hannah said But her voice showedno enthusiasm at all

ldquoAnd then Mom made all of my favorite things fordinnerrdquo I exclaimed

ldquoLuckyrdquo Hannah mutteredldquoWhatrsquos your problemrdquo I demanded ldquoWhatrsquos

wrong with you todayrdquo

58

A long silence at her endFinally she said ldquoI guess Irsquom just in a bad mood

I fell off my bike on the way home this afternoonrdquoI groaned ldquoOh no Are you okayrdquoldquoNot reallyrdquo she replied ldquoI scraped all the skin

off my right hand And I twisted my ankle prettybadrdquo

ldquoWowrdquo I muttered ldquoBad newsrdquoldquoEspecially since I have a basketball game tomor-

rowrdquo Hannah sighedldquoThink yoursquoll be able to playrdquo I askedldquoMayberdquo she said glumly ldquoMaybe Irsquoll come watch your gamerdquo I saidThere was a long silence And then Hannah said

ldquoLuke therersquos something something I have to tellyourdquo

ldquoExcuse merdquo I said She was whispering so lowI could barely hear her

ldquoI really should tell you something But rdquoI pressed the phone tighter to my ear ldquoWhat

What is itrdquo ldquoWell rdquoAnother long silenceldquoI canrsquotrdquo she said finally I heard a click and the

line went silentThe next morning my good luck came to an end

59

At least I thought my good luck had endedWhen I arrived at my science class I searched

my backpack for the homework questions Not thereI took everything outmdashevery paper every bookevery pencil

Not there I had spent over an hour on thatassignment last night And Irsquod left it at home

Now I was in major trouble Miss Creamer didnrsquotaccept late homework And homework counted forfifty percent of the grade in her class

My stomach tightened with dread as she enteredthe science lab to begin class

How could I be so stupid ldquoGood morning everyonerdquo she began ldquoI have an

announcement to make Itrsquos about last nightrsquos home-workrdquo

The room grew silentldquoI have to apologize to all of yourdquo Miss Creamer

continued ldquoI gave the wrong assignment Thosewerenrsquot the right questions Irsquom really sorry You

60

donrsquot have to turn it in Just tear it up and throw itawayrdquo

Cheers rang out Some kids gleefully ripped theirpapers into shreds A big celebration

Yes More good luck for me I thought happilyI was on a hot streak Later when Miss Creamer

handed back last weekrsquos test I had the only A in theclass

In the lunchroom I grabbed the last slice of pizzaon the counter

All the kids behind me in line groaned Darnellcame up and offered to pay me five dollars for it Butno deal

After school I stopped by the computer lab to seeMrs Coffey She told me her plans had suddenlychanged She wouldnrsquot be leaving school for anothertwo weeks

I cheered That meant I had time to finish mycomputer animation project and show it to her beforeI left

ldquoLuke I was talking about you to my friend whoowns Linkups You knowmdashthe computer store onHighlands I told him about how you can do any-thing with computers fix them upgrade them Hesaid you might be able to come into the store onSaturdays and help out in the service departmentrdquo

I gasped ldquoReallyrdquoShe nodded ldquoHersquos a really nice guy and hersquos

always looking for people who can fix machines He

61

said he couldnrsquot give you a real job since yoursquore onlytwelve But he could pay you five dollars an hourrdquo

ldquoWow I cried ldquoThatrsquos awesome Thanks MrsCoffeyrdquo

I practically flew down the stairs to the gym Iwanted to flap my arms and take off So many greatthings were happening to me I couldnrsquot believe it

Hannahrsquos basketball game had already startedwhen I stepped into the gym I found a seat in thebleachers and glanced up at the scoreboard TheSquirettes were already losing ten to two

Whatrsquos going on I wondered How can Hannahrsquosteam be losing so badly The team they were play-ingmdashthe Bee Stingers from Elwood Middle Schoolmdashwere the worst team in the city

I turned and glanced around the bleachers Therewere only about twenty kids watching the game Andfour or five parents clustered together at the top ofthe bleachers

ldquoGo Sharonrdquo one of the mothers yelledBut the gym was pretty quiet I guess because the

Squirettes were playing so badlyI leaned forward and tried to concentrate on the

game Sharon McCombs the tallest girl in the Shawnee

Valley eighth grade tossed the ball in A pass Thenanother pass which was almost stolen by a BeeStinger

Hannah grabbed the ball She turned and started

62

to dribble to the basket After about three steps shetripped The ball bounced away as she fell flat on herstomach

A Bee Stinger grabbed it just before it went out ofbounds She dribbled all the way down the floormdashand scored easily before Hannah had even pickedherself up off the floor Twelve to two

I cupped my hands around my mouth ldquoGet rsquoemHannahrdquo I shouted

She didnrsquot look up She was fiddling with thewhite bandage on her hand

A minute later Hannah had the ball again Inclose She jumped and shot And missed Missed thenet the backboard Missed everything

I leaned on my hands and watched the game insilence Hannah missed six or seven shots in a rowShe tripped over the ball hit the floor hard and gota huge bright red floor burn on her knee Her pass-es to her teammates went wild She kept losing theball to the other team Tripping over her own feetBumping into other players

It was sad She didnrsquot look like Hannah at allThe half-time score was Bee Stingers twenty-five

Squirettes five When the team came out to start the second half

Hannah sat down on the bench and didnrsquot play Whatrsquos going on I wondered I climbed down from the bleachers and walked

over to her on the bench

63

ldquoLuke you came to a bad-news gamerdquo she saidshaking her head

ldquoWhatrsquos wrongrdquo I asked ldquoYoursquore hurt Fromyour bike accident yesterdayrdquo

She watched the Bee Stingers score another bas-ket Then she turned to me ldquoNo Itrsquos not because ofmy accidentrdquo she whispered Her eyes were dullwatery Her skin was so pale

ldquoSo what is itrdquo I askedHannah frowned ldquoItrsquos all because I lost my good-

luck charmrdquo she said I gaped at her ldquoHuhrdquoldquoItrsquos what brought me all that amazing great

luckrdquo Hannah said ldquoI have to find it As soon as Ilost it my luck changedrdquo

My mouth dropped open I realized my heart hadstarted to pound

ldquoItrsquos a tiny skullrdquo Hannah continued ldquoA little yel-low skull ImdashI never went anywhere without itrdquo

She tugged at the bandage on her hand Then sheraised her eyes to me ldquoYou havenrsquot seen it any-where have you Lukerdquo

64

My legs suddenly felt weak I gripped the back ofthe bench and stared at Hannah I could feel my facegrowing red

I could feel the skull in my jeans pocket I knew Ishould pull it out and hand it to her

But how could II needed the good luck too Hannah had enjoyed

so much good luck for so long Mine had just startedFor the first time in my life I was having a little goodluck

How could I go back to being a loser againHannahrsquos watery eyes locked on mine ldquoHave you

seen it Lukerdquo she repeated ldquoHave you seen it any-whererdquo

My face burned So many frantic thoughtswhirred through my head

I really needed that good-luck charm Ever sinceI found it my life had changed I was a new person

But Hannah was my friend My best friend in the

65

whole world She was always there for me when Ineeded her

I couldnrsquot lie to hermdashcould IldquoNordquo I said ldquoI havenrsquot seen it anywhererdquoHannahrsquos eyes remained on me for a few seconds

more Then she nodded slowly and turned back tothe game

My heart was pounding hard now I had a heavyfeeling in the pit of my stomach ldquoWhere did you loseitrdquo I asked

She didnrsquot reply She cupped her hands aroundher mouth and cheered on her teammates

I backed away from the bench I felt like a totalcreep I jammed my hand into my pocket Wrappedmy fingers around the rubber skull

Give it back to her Luke a voice in my headurged The voice of goodness The voice of friend-ship

But I knew I wasnrsquot going to give it back I wasalready trotting out of the gym and down the hall tothe exit

I need it a little while longer I told myself Just alittle while

Long enough to win the basketball champi-onship Long enough to get really good grades for thefirst time in my life Long enough to impress myfriends to get on the swim team to make aname for myself long enough to be a winner

I squeezed the little skull all the way home Irsquoll

66

give it back to Hannah in a couple of weeks I toldmyself Two weeks thatrsquos all Maybe three And thenIrsquoll give it back to her And she can have her goodluck again No harm done

No harm donemdashright

The phone was ringing when I stepped in thekitchen door I tossed down my backpack and ran toanswer it

To my surprise it was Mrs Coffey ldquoLuke Irsquom glad I caught yourdquo she said ldquoI have

some really good news You know my friend at thecomputer storerdquo

ldquoYesrdquoldquoI spoke to him after you left the computer lab

And he said you could start work at his store onSaturdayrdquo

ldquoThatrsquos greatrdquo I exclaimedldquoBut thatrsquos not my good newsrdquo Mrs Coffey con-

tinued ldquoHe has a friend who is putting together ashow of computer animation And his friend is veryinterested in seeing your workrdquo

ldquoReallyrdquo I criedldquoHe needs short pieces for his animation show

right awayrdquo she said ldquoIf he likes your piece he saidhe will pay a thousand dollars for itrdquo

ldquoWowrdquo ldquoIs it finished Lukerdquo Mrs Coffey asked ldquoIs it

ready to show to himrdquo

67

I thought hard ldquoAlmostrdquo I said ldquoI need two moredays on it Maybe threerdquo

ldquoWell try to hurryrdquo Mrs Coffey said ldquoI think hehas most of the pieces he needs Hersquos going to beshowing them all over the country It would be ashame to miss outmdashrdquo

ldquoIt sure wouldrdquo I interrupted ldquoIrsquoll get right towork on it Mrs Coffey And thanks Thanks a lotrdquo

Excited I hurried up to my room and turned onthe computer Maybe I can get some work done on itbefore dinner I decided

I heard Mom come in downstairs I called hi toher and said I was working on my computer project

A few minutes later the phone rang again I heardMom talking for a while Then I heard her running upthe stairs She burst into my room ran up behind meand wrapped me in a big hug

ldquoHuh Whatrsquos that forrdquo I criedldquoThat was Mariorsquos Steakhouse on the phonerdquo

Mom said grinning ldquoYou know Your favorite restau-rant You won Luke Remember that drawing we allentered the last time we were there Well you wonit They picked your card You won dinner for thewhole family Twelve dinners One a month for thenext yearrdquo

ldquoWowrdquo I jumped up from the computerLaughing and cheering Mom and I did a happy littledance around the room

ldquoI canrsquot believe you won that drawing That is so

68

terrificrdquo Mom exclaimed ldquoWersquore going to have tostart calling you Lucky Lukerdquo

ldquoYeah Lucky Lukerdquo I repeated ldquoI like thatThatrsquos me Lucky Lukerdquo

I worked on my animation until nearly midnightI stared into the glow of the monitor until I couldnrsquotsee straight and the images became a fuzzy blur

ldquoAlmost finishedrdquo I said yawningI changed into pajamas brushed my teeth got

ready for sleep But just before I climbed into bed Ipulled out my lucky little skull for one last look

I held it gently in my hand and studied it rubbingmy fingers over the smooth top of the skull The tinyred jewel eyes glowed brightly

I rubbed my fingers over the hard bumpy teeth Itwirled the skull in my hand

ldquoMy little good-luck charmrdquo I whisperedI set it down carefully on my dresser in front of

the mirror Then I turned out the lights and climbedinto bed

I settled back on my pillows pulling the quilt upto my chin I yawned loudly The mattress creakedunder me Waiting for sleep I stared into the dark-ness

The curtains were pulled so no light washed infrom the street The room was completely blackexcept for a faint red glow

The glow of the two red eyes in the skull Like tiny

69

match flames against the blacknessAnd then I saw two more glowing spots of red

light Larger Behind the tiny skull eyesTwo circles of light in the mirror glass Two flame-

red circles the size of tennis ballsAnd as their light grew brighter more intense

I could see a form in the dresser mirror Deep nostril holes two rows of jagged grin-

ning teethA skull A red-eyed skullNot tiny A huge grinning yellow-boned skull

that filled the mirrorFilled the mirror And stared out at me with those

fiery flame-red eyesI sat straight up Squeezed the quilt And gaped in

horror as the jagged teeth moved The jaw slid open And the enormous skull mouthed the words

mouthed them so clearly ldquoLucky Lukerdquo

70

The giant glowing skull leaned forward as if topush out of the mirror The jaw worked up and downThe red glow seemed to bathe the whole room inflames

I opened my mouth in a horrified screamI screamed and then screamed againThe ceiling light flashed onldquoLukemdashwhatrsquos wrongrdquoBlinking in the sudden light I saw my dad burst

breathlessly into the room His pajama shirt wastwisted One pajama pants leg rode up to his kneeHis hair was tangled from sleep standing straight upon one side

ldquoWhat is itrdquo he repeatedldquoImdashImdashrdquo I pointed to the mirror My head spun

with confusion I couldnrsquot find wordsldquoThe skullmdashrdquo I finally choked outBrushing back his hair Dad crossed the room to

my dresser I stared into the glass

71

Nothing nowNothing in there except the reflection of my

room As he came near I could see Dadrsquos worriedface reflected in the glass

ldquoIs this what you were screaming aboutrdquo Dadasked He picked up the little yellow skull and heldit out to me ldquoThis skullrdquo

ldquoN-nordquo I stammeredI was thinking hard trying to figure out what I

had seenIt couldnrsquot have been the reflection of the little

skull I saw in the glass NoThe skull that loomed in the mirror was enor-

mous its eyes as big as basketballsDad still squinted at me from the dresser holding

the little skull up in front of himldquoI guess I had a bad dreamrdquo I said softly settling

back onto my pillows ldquoItmdashit was so weird I dreamedI saw a giant skull with flaming eyes But it wasso realrdquo

Dad shook his head ldquoWell if this little skull isgiving you bad dreams want me to take it awayrdquo Hestarted to the door

ldquoNordquo I screamed I jumped out of bed to block his path He looked

startled as I grabbed the skull from his handldquoItrsquos itrsquos a good-luck charmrdquo I said ldquoItrsquos

brought me a lot of good luckrdquo

72

Dad frowned as he gazed at the little skull in myhand ldquoYou sure Luke It doesnrsquot look good to me Itlooks evilrdquo

ldquoEvilrdquo I laughed ldquoNo way Dad No way Trustmerdquo

He clicked off the light on his way out A shortwhile later I fell asleep gripping the skull tightly inone hand

A few days later I screamed my head off again

73

This time it was for funA bunch of us were on our skates up on Killer

Hill Itrsquos actually Miller Hill But we call it Killer Hillbecause itrsquos up at the top where Broad Street scoopsstraight downmdasha steep steep slope down threeblocks to Miller Street

Miller Street has the most traffic in ShawneeValley So the idea is we come skating down BroadStreet full speed We come rocketing down the steepslope as fast as we canmdashand try to skate rightthrough the traffic on Miller

It makes all the car drivers totally crazy You canalways hear tires squealing horns honking driversscreaming as kids come skating right at them

Yes Itrsquos really dangerous Most kids wonrsquot eventhink of trying it But for a guy with my kind of goodluck whatrsquos the big deal

It was a sunny cold Sunday afternoon Froststuck to the tops of the cars My breath smoked upin front of me as I skated to the top of Killer Hill

74

I met Darnell up there He was having troublewith the brake on one of his skates Finally he justripped the brake off and tossed it in a trash canldquoWhy do I need brakesrdquo he said grinning at meldquoThey only slow you downrdquo

Stretch and some of his pals appeared a few min-utes later Stretch was wearing some kind of yellowsweats He looked like Big Bird on skates

He lowered his shoulder and tried to bump me offmy feet But I skated away easily And he didnrsquot tryagain

Things have been a little different betweenStretch and me since I took his place on the basket-ball team Hersquos my backup now He gets to play onlywhen Irsquom tired and need a short rest And I think hersquosin shock over it

Stretch still tries to give me a hard time But Idonrsquot think his heart is in it He knows hersquos a loserHe knows hersquos not one of the lucky peoplemdashlike me

ldquoYou ready to skaterdquo Darnell called He pulledon his helmet Then he stood in the middle of thestreet leaning forward hands on his knees

I gazed down the steep hill to the traffic belowEven though it was Sunday afternoon cars and vanssped along Miller as if it were the afternoon rushhour

I adjusted my knee pads ldquoReadyrdquo I said I movedbeside Darnell

Stretch skated in front of us He grinned at me

75

ldquoHow about a racerdquoI shook my head ldquoYoursquore too slow Darnell and I

donrsquot want to have to wait for you down thererdquoldquoHa ha When did you get so funny Champrdquo

Stretch reached into the pocket of his yellow sweatsHe held up a ten-dollar bill ldquoLetrsquos make it a real raceTen bucks each Winner takes allrdquo

He stuck the money in front of my face I shovedit away ldquoI donrsquot take candy from babiesrdquo I saidldquoKeep your moneyrdquo

Stretch gritted his teeth His pale face turned anangry red He leaned close ldquoYou gonna race me ornotrdquo he growled

I squeezed the rubber skull in my pocket I knewthere was no way I could lose ldquoOkayrdquo I said ldquoButIrsquom going to make it fairrdquo

I pulled a wool scarf from my coat pocket andstarted to wrap it around my head ldquoJust to give you achance Irsquoll skate blindfoldedrdquo

Stretch snickered ldquoYoursquore joking right Yoursquoregoing to skate through all those cars blindfoldedrdquo

ldquoDonrsquot do it Lukerdquo a voice calledI turned to see Hannah waving to me She was

hobbling up the sidewalk on crutches Her right foothad a large white bandage over it ldquoDonrsquot do itrdquo shecalled shrilly

I spun away from the guys and skated over to her

76

ldquoHannahmdashwhat happenedrdquo I asked motioning tothe crutches

She sighed and leaned heavily on them ldquoItrsquos myanklerdquo she said ldquoRemember when I fell off my bikeWe thought it was just a sprain But my ankle keepsswelling up like a water balloon I had to have itdrained three timesrdquo

ldquoYuckrdquo I said staring down at the bandageThe wind fluttered her red hair She shook her

head sadly ldquoThe doctors canrsquot figure out whatrsquoswrong ImdashI might need surgery I donrsquot know AndMom says if it doesnrsquot get better I canrsquot go on thejunior high overnight on Wednesdayrdquo

ldquoWow Thatrsquos bad newsrdquo I murmured Everyonelooks forward to the overnight The whole junior highgoes to a campground by the lake and everyonestays up and parties all night

I couldnrsquot take my eyes off Hannahrsquos bandagedankle Is this my fault I suddenly wondered Did Ireally take away her good luck Hannah has hadnothing but bad luck ever since I found the skull

Irsquom going to give it back to her I silentlypromised Real soon Real soon

ldquoYou skating or notrdquo Stretch called ldquoOr are youjust going to stand there and talk with your girl-friendrdquo

ldquoIrsquom comingrdquo I said I started to wrap the scarfaround my eyes

77

ldquoLuke donrsquotrdquo Hannah insisted ldquoDonrsquot do itblindfolded Itmdashitrsquos crazyrdquo

ldquoNo problemrdquo I said ldquoIrsquom a superhero HannahCars will bounce right off merdquo

I skated away from her ldquoYoursquore wrongrdquo she called ldquoLuke listen to me

The good luckmdashit doesnrsquot last foreverrdquoI laughed What was she talking aboutI skated up beside Darnell and grabbed his arm

to steady myself I pulled the scarf over my eyes untilI saw only black

ldquoYoursquore crazyrdquo he muttered ldquoYou could getkilled manrdquo

ldquoNo wayrdquo I declared ldquoIrsquom going to win twentybucks from you twordquo

I heard Stretch skate up beside me ldquoYoursquore doingthis for realrdquo he asked ldquoYoursquore going to skate into allthose cars blindfoldedrdquo

ldquoYou going to talk or skaterdquo I asked him ldquoFirstone past Miller Street without stopping wins themoneyrdquo

ldquoLukemdashdonrsquot be crazyrdquo Hannah calledIt was the last thing I heard before the three of us

took off I leaned forward skating straight and hard I

heard Stretch and Darnell beside me theirRollerblades scraping the pavement

As we picked up speed I could hear the traffic onMiller I heard a horn honk Heard someone shout

I skated down down laughing through thedarkness

78

ldquoLukemdashloooook outrdquoI heard Darnellrsquos scream I heard the squeal of

tires Horns honkedI tossed back my head and laughed I roared

through Miller Street the blade wheels whistling overthe pavement

Then as I turned my skates and came to a slowstop I ripped the scarf away And saw Darnell stand-ing on the curb on the other side of Miller His mouthwas open He shook his head

Stretch came skating around me ldquoYou crazyjerkrdquo he shouted ldquoYou were almost killed threetimesrdquo

I calmly held out my hand ldquoMoney pleaserdquoldquoYou lucky jerkrdquo Stretch muttered He slapped

the ten-dollar bill into my gloved hand ldquoYoursquorecrazy Really Yoursquore just plain crazyrdquo

I laughed ldquoThanks for the compliment And theten bucksrdquo

79

Grumbling to himself Stretch skated back up tohis friends

Darnell waited for the traffic to clear then skatedover to me He wiped sweat off his forehead ldquoYouwere almost killedrdquo he said his voice shaking ldquoWhydid you do it Lukerdquo

I grinned at him ldquoBecause I canrdquo

The weather turned warm for our overnight camp-out Even though the trees were bare the woodssmelled fresh and sweet almost like spring Highwhite clouds dotted the bright blue afternoon skyTwigs and dead leaves crackled and crunched underour feet as we hiked through the tall trees to thecamping grounds

I squeezed the small skull in one hand as Iwalked weighted down by the heavy pack on myback Some kids were singing a Beatles song Behindme a group of girls were telling really bad knock-knock jokes laughing shrilly after each one

Coach Bendix and Ms Raymond another gymteacher led the way along the twisting path throughthe trees I was about halfway back in the line ofkids

I turned and found Hannah beside me She woreher blue windbreaker with the hood pulled up overher head She was leaning on one crutch as shewalked struggling to keep up ldquoDo you have anywaterrdquo she asked

80

I slowed down ldquoYour parents let you come Isyour ankle betterrdquo

ldquoNot reallyrdquo she replied frowning ldquoBut I toldthem I had to come anyway I wouldnrsquot miss it Doyou have any water Irsquom dyingrdquo

ldquoYeah Surerdquo I reached for the bottle of water inmy pack ldquoDidnrsquot you bring anyrdquo

Hannah sighed ldquoMy water bottle had a leak orsomething It poured out and soaked all the extraclothes in my pack Now I donrsquot have a thing towearrdquo

I handed her the water bottle Leaning on the crutch she pushed back the wind-

breaker hood and I saw her face for the first timeHer skin was covered with big red splotchesldquoHannah whatrsquos thatrdquo I cried ldquoYour facemdashrdquoldquoDonrsquot look at merdquo she snapped She turned her

back and took a long gulp of waterldquoBut what is itrdquo I demanded ldquoPoison ivyrdquoldquoNo I donrsquot think sordquo she said still facing away

from me ldquoI woke up with it Some kind of red rashAll over my bodyrdquo She sighed ldquoI donrsquot get a breakrdquo

She handed the water bottle back to me andpulled the blue plastic hood over her head ldquoThanksfor the waterrdquo

ldquoDoes it itchrdquo I askedShe let out an angry cry ldquoI really donrsquot want to

talk about itrdquo She grabbed the crutch tightly swungit hard in front of her and hurried ahead of me drag-

81

ging her bandaged foot over the dirt pathShersquos having so much bad luck I guess itrsquos my

fault I thought squeezing the skull in my pocket But why are all these terrible things happening to

her Why isnrsquot there enough good luck for both of usI didnrsquot have much time to think about it Behind me I heard shrill frightened screams I

saw kids running off the path Screaming Calling forhelp

I spun around and headed toward them the heavypack bouncing on my back ldquoWhatrsquos going onrdquo Icried ldquoWhatrsquos wrongrdquo

More shrill screamsAnd then I saw the two enormous brown snakes

Swinging down from a low tree limb Blocking thepath

The same color as the tree they twisted their longbodies thicker than garden hoses and snapped theirjaws

I didnrsquot hesitate I dived forward stretching out myarms

ldquoLukemdashwhat are you doing Stay away fromthemrdquo I heard Coach Bendix shout

The kidsrsquo frightened screams rang through thewoods

ldquoGet away from themrdquo Coach orderedBut I knew nothing could hurt me I knew my good

luck would keep me safe

82

I shot my hands out And grabbed both snakesone in each hand

I wrapped my fingers around their thick bodiesThen with a hard tug I wrenched them off the treelimb And raised them high

ldquoWhoardquoI didnrsquot realize how long they were And how strongI let out a startled cry as both snakes wriggled

loose I saw the tiny black eyes flash Saw the jawsopen

Then both snake heads came crashing towardme jaws snappingmdashsnapping so furiously beneaththe flashing eyes snapping like bear traps

83

I felt a rush of air as they snappedmdashsnappedmdashsnapped their sharp-toothed jaws Heads swingingwildly Whole bodies swinging and shaking Thickwhite drool clinging to their pointed teeth

Shrill screams rose all around me I stared atthe snapping heads the glimmering black eyesmdashuntil it seemed that the snakes were screamingtoo

And thenmdashthey flew from my handsWriggled free with strong tosses of their heavy

bodies And plunged to the ground Disappearingso quickly Blending into the hard brown dirtVanishing beneath the carpet of fat brown leavestwigs and fallen limbs

As kids surrounded me I stood hunched overgasping for breath I smoothed my open handsover my ears my cheeks my whole face

I waited for the pain of the snakebites to spreadover me

But no No sting No throbbing No pain

84

They had snapped so close I felt their breathon my skin

But they hadnrsquot bitten me ldquoYoursquore so luckyrdquo Coach Bendix was saying He

had a hand on my shoulder and was examining myface ldquoI never saw anyone so lucky Why did you doit Luke Those snakes are deadly poisonousDeadly Why did you do itrdquo

I stared at him but didnrsquot answer I didnrsquot knowwhat to say

How could I explain it to him How could Iexplain to anyone what it felt like to be so incrediblyawesomely lucky

All around kids were cheering Congratulatingme Talking about me how brave I had been

Leaning against a tree I saw Hannah She stoodby herself crutch under one arm She was the onlyone not smiling not cheering

I saw the red blotches on Hannahrsquos faceWatched as she transfered the crutch to her otherarm And saw her scowling at me her eyes nar-rowed She shook her head and scowled

And in that moment I realized that she was jeal-ous Jealous of my good luck

Jealous that she was no longer the hero She wasno longer the lucky one

Too bad Hannah I thought watching her angryexpression I had felt sorry for her I had felt reallyguilty too

85

But no moreIrsquove got the luck now Hannah I thought And Irsquom

going to keep it

ldquoLetrsquos go guys Wersquove got another game to winrdquoI cried I gave Sam Mulroney a playful towel slap

Locker doors slammed Guys finished lacing uptheir basketball shoes

ldquoDid you see those Deaver Mills guysrdquo Mulroneyasked peeking into the gym through a crack in thelocker room door ldquoTheyrsquore monsters They must feedthose guys whole steaks five times a dayrdquo

ldquoBig doesnrsquot mean goodrdquo I said ldquoThey look likecows Theyrsquore so slowrdquo

ldquoWersquoll dribble circles around themrdquo Jay Boxersaid

ldquoJust feed me the ballrdquo I instructed them ldquoNomatter where I am Feed me the ball Irsquoll put it in Irsquomfeeling lucky today guys Real luckyrdquo

ldquoHey Champmdashrdquo Stretch called pulling on his jer-sey ldquoYoursquore not a ball hog or anythingmdashare yourdquo

Guys used to laugh when Stretch shouted insultsat me But not anymore Everyone was on my sidenow Everyone wanted to be on the winnerrsquos side

ldquoHey Stretchmdashwhat do they call yourdquo I shoutedback ldquoA bench hogrdquo

Everybody laughedStretch laughed too Now that I was a winner he

was starting to be a little nicer to me He even gave

86

me some dribbling tips after one practice The guys all headed out to the gym I could hear

the shouts of the crowd in the bleachers And thesteady thud of basketballs on the floor as the DeaverMills Lions warmed up

ldquoTime to kill me some Lionsrdquo I muttered I finishedlacing my sneakers

Then I stood up Started to swing my gym lockerclosed

And slammed my left hand in the doorldquoHeyrdquo I cried out in surprise as pain shot up my

arm I shook the hand hard trying to shake the pain

away My wrist throbbed I moved my fingers tiltedmy hand back and forth It moved okay Not broken

But the hand was red and already starting to swellldquoNo time for thisrdquo I muttered I slammed the locker shut with my right hand

And still shaking my left hand hurried out into thegym

The crowd cheered as I ran onto the floor I sawsome of the Deaver Mills players whisper to eachother and point at me They knew who the star playerwas They knew who was going to wipe the floor withthem today

We huddled close around Coach Bendix ldquoTake itslow with these guysrdquo he instructed ldquoFeel them outGet their rhythm Letrsquos rattle them show them we canplay defenserdquo

87

ldquoJust get me the ballrdquo I chimed in ldquoIrsquom going tobe loose under the basket all dayrdquo

We gave our team cheer and trotted out to the cen-ter of the floor I searched the bleachers for HannahShe said she would try to come to the game today

I spotted her at the side of the bleachers hunchedin a wheelchair Her bad foot was propped up and ithad an even bigger bandage over it

I guess it isnrsquot getting better I thought I felt a pangof guilt

Poor Hannah I looked for my parents Then I remembered they

werenrsquot coming today They had to stay home for a fur-niture delivery

I turned away from the crowd I had a game toplay Time to get my game face on No time to thinkabout Hannah and her problems

I went up for the opening jump I tapped the ballto Mulroney and the game was underway

He dribbled to half-court then sent a high pass tome

ldquoWhoamdashrdquo The ball flew right through my handsand bounced out of bounds

ldquoMulroneymdashtoo hardrdquo I called ldquoWho were youthrowing atrdquo

He shrugged and started trotting to the Lionsrsquobasket

ldquoGet in there Luke Get going Look aliverdquo I heardCoach Bendix shouting

88

The Deaver guard came dribbling slowly towardme I darted up to him stuck out my hand to steal theballmdashand missed

He moved past me easily and sent up an easylayup for two points

ldquoWeirdrdquo I muttered I shook my left hand Thepain had dulled to an ache but the hand was prettyswollen

I moved down the court Caught a pass Spunaway from the Lion defender Went in for an easy shot

And missedldquoHuhrdquoI heard the crowd groan Startled voices all aroundMulroney slapped me on the shoulder ldquoTake it

easy manrdquo he said ldquoPlay your game Just play yourgamerdquo

A few seconds later I drove in for a shotmdashand wasfouled I moved to the foul linemdashand missed both foulshots

More groans and muttering from the bleachers Isaw Coach Bendix shake his head

A bounce pass from Jay Boxer sailed right throughmy legs Some of the Lionsrsquo players had a good laughover that one

Then I missed three more shots in a rowMulroney flashed me a thumbs-up ldquoNo probrdquo he

called ldquoPlay your game Luke Wersquoll get rsquoemrdquoThe Lions were winning twelve to four I took another pass and moved under the basket I

89

leaped high for a slam dunk My arm hit the rim hard I cried out in pain And

watched the ball sail over the backboardldquoWhoa This isnrsquot happeningrdquo I muttered picking

myself up off the floor ldquoNo wayrdquoAt the other end of the floor I grabbed a rebound

off the backboard I dodged past a huge Lion playerDribbled away from him easily Picked up speedBrought the ball onto our side of the court

Eyed the basket Prepared to stop short and put upa three-pointer

And tripped Felt one sneaker bump the otherTripped over my own shoe

And watched the ball sail into a Lionrsquos hands as Istumbled I fell forward onto my stomach My armsand legs were out flat on the floor ldquoOOOFrdquo

I heard startled gasps from the bleachers Andlaughter

Yes Some people were laughing at meldquoWhat is going onrdquo I cried I forced myself to my feet Shook off the pain ldquoThis isnrsquot happening It canrsquot berdquoI reached into the pocket of my uniform shorts

Reached for my good-luck skullFumbled in the pocket Searched both pocketsldquoHeymdashrdquoNo No No wayThe skull was gone

90

Fumbling frantically in both pockets I began run-ning for the team bench ldquoTime out Time outrdquo Iscreamed

Had the skull fallen out of my pocketI squinted hard searching the gleaming polished

floor No sign of itldquoTime outrdquo I pleadedI heard a whistle blow on the sidelinesI had to find itmdashnow I couldnrsquot play without itMy eyes swept over the floor I began to run full

speed to the bench I didnrsquot see the huge Lions playermdashuntil we collidedI plowed right into him Caught him flat-footed He

let out a startled ldquoOofrdquo And we cracked headsldquoYaaaiiiirdquo I let out a scream of agony as blinding

red pain shot around my head The red shimmered togold Brighter brighter bright as the sun

I felt my legs giving out Felt myself collapsingcrumbling into a deep deep bottomless darkness

91

I woke up to pinpoints of yellow light They flick-ered high above me Each time they flashed a waveof pain rolled over my forehead down the back of myneck

I blinked hard Blinked until I realized I was star-ing up at the lights on the gym rafters

I lay on my back on the gym floor one kneeraised my hands flat at my sides I squinted up atthe high raftersmdashuntil faces blocked my view

Playersrsquo faces And then a few worried-lookingadults And then Coach Bendixrsquos face looming overme bobbing over me like a parade balloon

ldquoWhatmdashrdquo One word escaped my throat My drythroat So dry I couldnrsquot swallow

ldquoStay still Lukerdquo Coach ordered speaking softlyHis dark eyes peered down into mine studying meldquoYoursquove had a bad concussion Donrsquot try to moveWersquore sending you to the emergency roomrdquo

ldquoHuh Nordquo I gasped I rolled onto my side I lurched to my feet The

floor tilted from side to side as if I were on a rockingboat

ldquoDonrsquot move Lukerdquo Coach reached for meBut I staggered out of his grasp Stumbled

through the circle of people that had formed aroundme

ldquoNo No hospitalrdquo I croaked

92

I had to find that skull That was all I needed andthen I would be okay again

The skull I stumbled over someonersquos shoe Staggered

toward the locker room The gleaming wood floorswaying beneath me

ldquoLukemdashcome backrdquoNo No way I shoved open the locker room door

with one shoulder And sliding a hand against thelockers moved to the back row Lurched to my gymlocker Pulled open the door so hard it slammedagainst the frame

ldquoWhere is it WhererdquoI frantically pawed through my street clothes

Searched and then tossed everything onto the floor ldquoWhere WhererdquoNot in my khakis pockets Not in my shirt pocket

Not in my sweatshirtThe locker floor No Nothing down thereStumbling over the pile of clothes on the floor I

lurched back down the row of gym lockers Ranthrough the gym out the doors and up the stairsInto the long empty hall

My sneakers squeaked on the hard floor as I ranThe walls and ceiling appeared to close in on methen slide back into place

To my locker To locker 13

93

It took me three tries to get the combination rightBut finally I unlocked it and flung open the door

And jammed my hand into one coat pocket andthen the other

ldquoWhere is it I have to have it Where WhererdquoAnd then a long happy sigh escaped my parched

throat as my hand closed around it YessssI was so happyI had the skull in my hand I squeezed it tightly

So happy So happyI pulled it out of the coat pocket Raised it in front

of me Raised it close to examine it And let out a cry of horror

94

The eyes They were dark Not red not glowingAnd the face had changed The bump-toothed

grin was gone The open mouth was curled down ina fierce angry scowl

ldquoNomdashitrsquos impossiblerdquo I gaspedI held the skull up to the light The red jewel eyes

were gone The deep round sockets were empty Theskull scowled down at me dark and menacing

What does this mean I wondered How did thishappen

Before I could think about it clearly I glimpsedsomething in the open locker A soft glow A slowmoving light growing larger as if moving closer

The light split into two Two circles of red lightDown low Very low near the locker floor

I gripped the skull tightly in my fist and stared asthe red lights glimmered closer The whole lockershimmered The dark walls reflected the two lightsBrighter bright as fire now

95

Two red eyes I realized Two glowing eyes float-ing from the blackness of locker 13

I jumped back as a black cat stepped silently outas if floating A black cat with fiery red eyes Thesame black cat as before

It pulled back its lips bared pointed white teethand hissed at me

My back hit the wall I blinked against the bright-ness of those two circles of red light

And as I trembled in horror squeezing the skullsqueezing it so tightly my hand achedmdashthe cat roseup off the floor

And melted into another formMelted and grew taller Taller The cat became

a human figure dressed all in black wrapped in abroad black coat down to the floor its face hidden inthe darkness of a black hood

Hidden All hidden except for the eyesmdashthosehorrifying fiery eyes

ldquoWh-who are you What do you wantrdquo I startledmyself by crying out those words I didnrsquot think Icould speak

My whole body trembled I pressed myselfagainst the wall to keep from falling to my knees

The hooded figure stepped silently away from theopen locker A hoarse rasp burst out from under thehood a whisper like the crackle of dead leaves ldquoTheluck has run out Lukerdquo

ldquoNordquo I gasped

96

A bony hand swung out from the sleeve of theblack coatmdashand swiped the skull away from me

ldquoNordquo I cried in protest ldquoNo NordquoldquoThe luck is overrdquo ldquoWho are yourdquo I shrieked in a tight terrified

voice ldquoWh-who How did you get in my lockerWhat do you wantrdquo I screamed in total panic

ldquoThe luck is overrdquoldquoIt canrsquot berdquo I cried ldquoIt canrsquot be I need itrdquoldquoOver rdquo the hooded figure rasped ldquoOver

over rdquoThe red eyes glowed from under the hood The

bony hand held the tiny skull in front of the broadblack coat

ldquoI need that luckrdquo I wailed ldquoI need that skullrdquoAnd I grabbed it back Grabbed it out of the bony

handldquoI need it I have to have itrdquoI raised the skull in front of me Stared hard at it What was wrong with it Something wriggling on

it wriggling in my hand crawling over mypalm

ldquoOhhhhrdquo I let out a moan as I saw The skull wascovered crawling crawling with hundreds ofmaggots

97

The skull fell from my hand and bounced acrossthe floor I frantically shook my hand scraped itagainst the wall brushing the disgusting maggots offmy skin

Under the black hood the red eyes glowed brighterldquoYou enjoyed a lot of good luck Lukerdquo the figure saidin his hoarse croak ldquoBut the luck has ended And nowyou must pay for itrdquo

ldquoHuh Payrdquo I felt my throat tighten I stared at thefiery eyes trying to see a face trying to see who wasspeaking to me from under that hood

ldquoLukemdashIrsquom so sorryrdquo a voice called I turned to find Hannah wheeling herself rapidly

down the hall leaning forward in her wheelchair turn-ing the wheels with both hands

ldquoHannahmdash Whatmdashrdquo I couldnrsquot find any wordsldquoIrsquom so sorryrdquo she repeated As she wheeled herself

closer I saw tears brimming in her eyes rolling downher red-blotched face

ldquoSorryrdquo I repeated my head spinning in confusion

98

ldquoHe made me do itrdquo she wailed ldquoYou have tobelieve me Luke I didnrsquot want to Really But hemade merdquo

She grabbed my hand Squeezed it tightly Herhand was as cold as ice Tears rolled down hercheeks

ldquoVery touchingrdquo the hooded figure rasped coldlyldquoHannahmdashhe made you do whatrdquo I askedldquoHemdashhe made me give you the skullrdquo Hannah

stammered still squeezing my hand ldquoHuhrdquo I let out a startled cry ldquoYou gave it to me

But I thought I found it I thoughtmdashrdquoldquoI had the good luck for a long timerdquo Hannah

said wiping her wet cheeks with both handsldquoRemember when I had so much good luck Then itran out The skull went dark And he forced memdashheforced me to pass the skull on to yourdquo

I stared at her in disbelief ldquoBut who is herdquo Icried ldquoHow can he do thisrdquo

ldquoHavenrsquot you guessedrdquo the hooded figureboomed The red eyes glowed like two angry sunsldquoHavenrsquot you figured it out yet Luke I am the FateMaster I decide who has good luck and who has badrdquo

ldquoNordquo I whispered ldquoThatrsquos crazyrdquoldquoItrsquos the truthrdquo Hannah said her voice breaking

ldquoHe controls me And now yourdquoldquoLukerdquo the evil figure whispered lowering him-

self toward me ldquoDid you really think you could haveall that good luck without paying for itrdquo

99

ldquoI didnrsquot want to give the skull to yourdquo Hannahwhispered holding on to my arm ldquoI gave you achance to hand it back to me remember Rememberduring my game I asked if you had seen itrdquo

I nodded sadly feeling my face grow hotldquoI knew you had it Why didnrsquot you give it back

thenrdquo Hannah demanded ldquoI gave you a chance toreturn it I didnrsquot want you to keep itrdquo

ldquoToo late for that nowrdquo the Fate Master raspedldquoNow you are BOTH minerdquo

ldquoNo wayrdquo I protested ldquoI donrsquot believe any ofthis This canrsquot be happening Itmdashitrsquos some kind ofbad jokerdquo

ldquoItrsquos not a jokerdquo Hannah whispered ldquoLook atmerdquo She pointed to her red-blotched face her ban-daged foot the wheelchair

ldquoNordquo I insisted ldquoIt wonrsquot happen to me I wonrsquotlet it IrsquollmdashIrsquoll make my own luckrdquo

The bulky black coat shook as the Fate Masteruttered a hoarse laugh It sounded more like drycoughing than laughter ldquoYoung man do you reallythink you can go up against FATE I control EVERY-THING that happens Do you really think you candefy FATErdquo

ldquoI donrsquot care what you sayrdquo I screamed ldquoIrsquom notgoing to be some kind of slave You canrsquot control meYou canrsquotrdquo

100

The Fate Master sighed The red eyes faded insidethe hood ldquoDo I really have to prove myself to youOkay So be itrdquo

He leaned closer So close that I could see intothe hood I could see that he had no face Just twoglowing eyes floating in blackness

ldquoLukemdashthat concussion you had in the gymrdquo herasped ldquoIrsquom afraid itrsquos much worse than you thoughtFeel your earsrdquo

ldquoHuhrdquo My hands shot up to my ears I felt wet-ness

Warm wetnessI lowered my hands My fingers dripped with

bloodMy ears were bleedingI felt the warm blood pour down my earlobes

trickle down the sides of my faceFrantically I pressed the palms of my hands

against my ears ldquoThat wonrsquot stop the bleeding Lukerdquo the Fate

Master whispered ldquoThat blood wonrsquot clot Itrsquos justgoing to keep pouring out Bad luck Irsquom afraid Verybad luckrdquo

ldquoNomdashpleaserdquo I pleaded ldquoMake it stoprdquoThe eyes flared ldquoDo you believe in me now Do

you believe that you belong to merdquoldquoOkayrdquo I said ldquoOkay I believe yourdquo

101

ldquoYour fate is in my handsmdashboth of you You mustpay for the good luck you had You must suffer badluck nowmdashrdquo

ldquoNomdashpleaserdquo I begged ldquoI need more timeThings are just starting to go right for me The basket-ball team my animation the swim team Irsquolldo anything I need more timerdquo

ldquoNO MORE TIMErdquo The hoarse rasp echoed offthe tile walls Angry flames shot out from the black-ness of the hood

ldquoButmdashrdquo I started shrinking back beside HannahldquoI control yourdquo the Fate Master boomed ldquoI decide

your luck from now on Do you want me to go easy onthe two of you DO yourdquo

ldquoY-yesrdquo I stammered ldquoIrsquoll do anythingAnythingrdquo

The Fate Master was silent for a long momentThe eyes faded as if retreating into the distance thenglowed brightly again ldquoIf you want me to go easy onyou bothrdquo he said finally ldquoherersquos what you haveto do rdquo

102

ldquoPass the skull on to anotherrdquo the Fate Masterordered

ldquoHuh Youmdashyou want me to give it to someoneelserdquo I stammered

The eyes sparked beneath the hood ldquoPass it tothat big kid the one called Stretch Irsquove had my eye onhim I will give him good luck for two months Then Iwill claim him as minerdquo

ldquoNo I canrsquot do thatrdquo I protested ldquoIt isnrsquot right Itisnrsquotmdashrdquo

The Fate Master uttered a furious growl ldquoThenyou will suffer bad luck your whole life You and every-one in your familyrdquo

I shivered in fear My mind spun I felt the warmblood start to trickle from my ears again

Could I do it Could I trap Stretch the way I hadbeen trapped

I felt Hannah tug my arm ldquoYou have to do itLukerdquo she whispered ldquoItrsquos our only chance BesidesStretch has been asking for itmdashhasnrsquot he Hersquos not a

103

friend of yours Hersquos an enemy Stretch has been ask-ing for it all yearrdquo

True Stretch wasnrsquot my friend But could I beresponsible for ruining Stretchrsquos life For turning himover to the Fate Master

Hannah gazed up at me from the wheelchair withpleading eyes ldquoDo itrdquo she whispered ldquoSave usLuke Do itrdquo

I turned to the Fate Master ldquoOkayrdquo I choked outldquoIrsquoll do itrdquo

The eyes flashed from red to sunlight yellowThe big coat opened and appeared to fly up Itraised itself over me like giant bat wings Floatedover me then floated down

I felt myself covered in a heavy darkness I couldnrsquot move It spread over me blacker

blackerI felt so cold So cold and lost As if I had been

buried buried deep in the cold cold groundAnd then I blinked and saw pinpoints of light

Flickering white lights that grew brighter so bright Ihad to squint

It took me a while to realize I was back in the gymBack on the gym floor A crowd huddled around meTight expressions worried faces

Someone leaned over me A face came into focusCoach Bendix stared down at me the whistle hangingfrom his neck

104

ldquoCoachmdashrdquo I tried to speak but the word came outa whisper

ldquoDonrsquot move Lukerdquo he said softly ldquoYoursquove had aconcussion but yoursquore going to be okayrdquo

ldquoA concussionrdquoldquoLie stillrdquo he instructed ldquoAn ambulance is on the

wayrdquoA concussionIt didnrsquot happen I realized The hooded figure with the glowing eyes The

Fate Master stepping out of locker 13 Taking awaymy good luck Ordering me to pass the skull toStretch

It didnrsquot happenIt was a dream A nightmare caused by my con-

cussionI jumped to my feet The floor swayed beneath

me The bleachers appeared to tilt to one side thenthe other

I saw Hannah in her wheelchair at the side of thebleachers

Shersquos still in the gym I told myself happily Wenever left the gym It didnrsquot happen None of it hap-pened

I felt so happy So freeBefore I even realized it I was running Running

to the doorldquoLuke HeymdashLuke Stoprdquo I heard Coach Bendix

calling to me

105

And then I was out the gym doors And racingthrough the dark empty hallways Running fullspeed

So happy And so eager to get away from thereAway from the school Away from my nightmare

Did I stop at my lockerI must have stopped there because I had my

jacket on when I burst outside Into the frosty nightair I saw a tiny sliver of a moon high in a purple-black sky I stopped for a second to breathe in thecold fresh air

Then I ran across the teachersrsquo parking lot to thebike rack Irsquod ridden my bike to school And now Iplanned to put the pedal to the metalmdashto race all theway home

ldquoYesrdquo So happy I felt so happy I could havedanced all the way home

I jumped on my bike Grabbed the handlebarsWhoa Something wrong A scraping sound I climbed off and glanced down A flat tire No

Two flat tiresldquoOh wowrdquo I murmured How did that happenNo big deal Irsquoll get the bike tomorrow I decided

I started to jog across the parking lot heading to thestreet My sneaker felt loose I squatted down to tiethe shoe lacemdashand it ripped between my hands

No problem I told myself I have plenty ofshoelaces at home I started walking turned onto thesidewalk crossed the street Behind me I could hear

106

shouts and cheers coming from the gym I guessedthat the game had started up again

ldquoGo Stretchrdquo I murmured As I made my way down the next block it began

to rain Softly at first But the wind picked up andthen the rain started coming down in sheets

I zipped my jacket and leaned into the wind Butthe rain drove me back wave after wave of freezingwater

I heard a crackling sound nearbymdashand sawjagged white lightning streak across the front yardacross the street A deafening boom of thunder shookthe ground

I pressed forward Trees creaked and nearly bentsideways in the torrents of wind and rain I couldnrsquotmove I ducked under a broad-trunked tree for safety

But a loud crack of lightning sent a tree branchcrashing to my feet

ldquoOhhrdquo I cried out A close callI jumped over the fallen branch Sharp pieces of

the limb scratched my arm as I struggled to raceaway Another jagged bolt of lightning crackled a fewfeet in front of me sizzling over the wet grass

Squinting through the downpour I saw smokesnake over the lawn The grass was burned blackwhere the lightning had spread

The wind shoved me backward Sheet after sheet

107

of rain washed over me I choked Struggled tobreathe

And then just beyond the rain just beyondthe heavy waves of dark water I saw two glowinglights two red eyes like dark headlights Two evil eyes moving with me watching me

The Fate MasterIt wasnrsquot a dream I suddenly knew that my flat

tiresmdashthe stormmdashthe lightning the pounding rainmdashit was all a show A show of strength

I staggered up my driveway Slipped on the wetgravel Sprawled facedown on the soaked stones

ldquoNooooo rdquoI struggled to my feet Stumbled onto the front

stoop A deafening shattering crash made me spin

around I saw one of the oak trees in front of thehouse split in half It appeared to move in slowmotion One half shivered but stayed upright Theother half of the broad old tree came crashing ontothe roof of the house

Windows shattered Roof tiles came slidingdown

I covered my head with one hand And pushedthe doorbell Frantically pushed the bell ldquoLet me inMom Dadrdquo I pounded on the front door with bothfists

Where were they

108

The lights were all on Why didnrsquot they open thedoor

A crash of thunder made me jump and cry outAbove the front stoop rainwater poured like a water-fall over the sides of the gutters Waves of rain rattledthe living room window and battered the bricks of thefront wall

ldquoLet me inrdquo I screamed over another roar ofthunder I pounded the front door until my fist ached

Then I heard a window slide open I turned to ourneighborrsquos house Through the curtains of rain I sawMrs Gillis poke her head out the bedroom windowShe shouted something But I couldnrsquot hear her overthe roar of rain

ldquoTheyrsquore not homerdquo I finally heard her shoutldquoThey had to go to the hospital Lukerdquo

ldquoWhat What did you sayrdquo My heart jumpedHad I heard correctly

ldquoItrsquos your dad He fell down the stairs Hersquos okayBut they took him to the emergency roomrdquo

ldquoNordquo I cried I beat my fists against the doorldquoNo No Nordquo

The Fate Master was putting on a show for meHe was showing me who was boss Giving me a littletaste of what the rest of my life could be like

ldquoOkayrdquo I shouted cupping my hands around mymouth Water pounded me washed over me bat-

109

tered me against the house ldquoOkaymdashyou winrdquo Iscreamed ldquoIrsquoll do it Irsquoll do whatever you sayrdquo

And I didThe next morning I gave the skull to Stretch

110

I found Stretch at his locker before school startedGiving him the yellow skull was the easiest thing inthe world

Stretch was leaning into his locker searching theshelf for something His backpack stood open on thefloor I pulled the skull from my jeans pocketmdashanddropped it into his backpack

He didnrsquot see anything He didnrsquot even know hehad it

ldquoHey Stretchmdashhowrsquos it goingrdquo I asked trying tosound calm natural As if I hadnrsquot just done some-thing terrible to him Something that would ruin hislife forever

ldquoYomdashhey Champrdquo He slapped me a hard highfive so hard my hand stung ldquoHowrsquos your headman It looks as ugly as everrdquo He laughed

I stared at him ldquoMy headrdquoldquoThat was a nasty collisionrdquo he said ldquoYour head

must be hard as a rock You feeling okayrdquoldquoYeah Not badrdquo I replied

111

Stretch snickered ldquoWell thanks for letting me getsome playing timerdquo He started to close up his back-pack

I stared at the backpack picturing the skull insideit The skull I had passed on to Stretch The tiny redeyes were probably glowing again Stretch was goingto have a lot of good luck for a while But then

ldquoMaybe you and I can practice together laterrdquoStretch said slamming his locker shut ldquoI can giveyou some more pointers Make you look like youknow what yoursquore doingrdquo

ldquoYeah Mayberdquo I saidStretchrsquos expression turned serious ldquoActually

yoursquore not bad manrdquo he said ldquoI mean it You are soimproved I mean yoursquore almost pretty goodReallyrdquo

I donrsquot believe this I thought Stretch is actuallypaying me a compliment

I shrugged ldquoIt was just luckrdquo I mutteredJust luck Ha haldquoNo wayrdquo Stretch insisted ldquoLuck had nothing to

do with it man It was hard work and skill No kid-ding It isnrsquot luck Yoursquore goodrdquo

I swallowed hard I suddenly felt like a totalcreep

Stretch was being so nice to me And what had Idone to him I just gave him a life of bad luck a lifeof slavery to the Fate Master

112

ldquoWhoa Forgot my science notebookrdquo Stretchgroaned He dropped his backpack to the floor andturned to unlock his locker

I stared down at the backpack feeling dizzy feel-ing sick

What am I going to do I asked myself What amI going to do

My bad luck continued all dayI answered the wrong questions on my algebra test

and got an F Miss Wakely warned me that Irsquod have todo extra work if I didnrsquot want to fail the course

At lunch the milk in my milk carton was lumpy andsour I didnrsquot notice until I had gulped down a bigmouthful Then I nearly puked my guts up in front ofeveryone

After lunch I started to comb my hair in the boysrsquoroommdashand a huge clump came out on the comb Igasped in horror and tugged out another clump of hair

Irsquom going to lose all my hair I realizedAs I hurried out of the bathroom I caught my shirt

on a nail and ripped one sleeve off I was so upset Ibumped into Miss Wakely from behind Her coffeecup flew out of her hand and scalding hot coffeesplashed all over her

I found Hannah after school She came rollingslowly down the hall in her wheelchair Her foot wasstill bandaged Her face was still covered in red

113

blotches And I saw that one of her eyes was swollenshut

ldquoHannahmdashIrsquove got to talk to yourdquo I criedldquoDid you pass it onrdquo she asked in a loud whisper ldquoHuhrdquoldquoIrsquove lost my voicerdquo she whispered ldquoDid you

pass the skull on to Stretch Wersquove got to change ourluck I can barely see My skin itches like crazy I canbarely talk ImdashI canrsquot go on like this Lukerdquo

ldquoIrsquove got to find the Fate Masterrdquo I said Hannah grabbed my torn shirtsleeve ldquoYoursquove got

to do what he said Yoursquove got to obey him Itrsquos ouronly chancerdquo

ldquoHow do I find himrdquo I askedldquoHe will find yourdquo Hannah whispered ldquoHe

appears in places of bad luck You knowmdashbrokenmirrors wherever the number thirteen is writtenrdquo

ldquoCome with merdquo I said I led the way to my lockerI waved to some guys heading to the pool for swimteam practice I wanted to be with them But this wasmore important

ldquoWersquove got to talk to the Fate Masterrdquo I toldHannah ldquoMaybe hersquoll come through my lockeragainrdquo

Hannah groaned in pain as she wheeled herselfbehind me ldquoMy foot hurts so muchrdquo she whispered

ldquoHe promised to end the bad luckrdquo I saidI turned the combination lock then pulled open

114

my locker door A burst of sour air choked the hall Igagged then held my breath

ldquoLookmdashrdquo Hannah choked out She pointed to thefloor of the locker

It was littered with dead birds A pile of brown-and-gray sparrows all dead and decaying

ldquoHe left us a presentrdquo I murmured ldquoWhere is heIs he going to appearrdquo

We didnrsquot have to wait long A few moments later I saw the glow of the red

eyes at the back of the locker And then the dark fig-ure stepped over the pile of dead birds and floatedout hunched beneath the black hood

ldquoHave you done what I askedrdquo he rasped thefiery eyes burning into mine ldquoHave you given me anew slaverdquo

ldquoYesrdquo I replied avoiding his stare ldquoThat was ourdeal right And now will you stop torturing us Willyou end our bad luck as you promisedrdquo

The hood bobbed up and down ldquoNordquo he saidsoftly

Hannah and I both uttered cries of protestldquoDid you really think you could make a deal with

the Fate Masterrdquo he boomed The open coat floatedup like bat wings ldquoI donrsquot make bargains with any-one I donrsquot make promises You will take whateverFate dishes outrdquo

ldquoYou promisedmdashrdquo Hannah shriekedThe evil figure snickered ldquoFirst you enjoy good

115

luck Then you must pay for it You cannot break thepattern You should know that You should know thatyou cannot bargain with Fate You will pay for yourgood luck for the rest of your liferdquo

ldquoNo Waitmdash Waitrdquo Hannah pleaded reachingup from the wheelchair grasping at the black cloakgrasping frantically with both hands

But the Fate Master spun around swirling thefoul air He stomped heavily on the dead birds as hestrode back into locker 13

In a second he had vanished Dead birds littered the floor of the hall the floor

of my lockerI turned to Hannah Her shoulders heaved up

and down Loud sobs escaped her throat ldquoHepromised rdquo

ldquoItrsquos okayrdquo I said softly ldquoI didnrsquot keep mypromise eitherrdquo

I pulled the yellow skull from my jeans pocket Hannah gasped ldquoYou didnrsquot give it to StretchrdquoI squeezed the skull in my fist ldquoYes I gave it to

him But I took it back before Stretch even saw it Icouldnrsquot do it Stretch was too nice to me ImdashIcouldnrsquot I couldnrsquot ruin someonersquos liferdquo

Hannah shook her head Tears spilled from herswollen eyes ldquoNow what are we going to do LukeWersquore doomed Now we donrsquot stand a chancerdquo

116

I bounced the basketball hard against the drive-way Drove toward the backboard and sent up ahook shot It bounced off the rim back into myhands I spun hard and sent up a two-handed shotthat dropped through the net

Overhead clouds covered the moon The garagelights sent white cones of light over the drivewayBehind me the house was dark except for a squareof orange light from my bedroom window upstairs

I glanced at the roof Men had worked all day torepair the broken and missing shingles The fallentree had been hauled away One windowmdashbroken inthe stormmdashwas still covered with cardboard

All my fault I realized All the damage to thehouse was my fault

My dad was walking with a cane He had a badlysprained knee from his fall down the stairs But hewas okay for now

That was all my fault too I knew All my bad luck

117

I heaved the ball angrily at the backboard Itthudded high bounced back to the driveway Ipicked it up and shot it through the hoop

Luck luck luck The word ran through my mind like an ugly

chantAnd then I heard Stretchrsquos words again Stretch

actually saying something nice to me ldquoLuck hadnothing to do with it Luke It was hard work andskillrdquo

Hard work and skillNot luckldquoYou cannot break the patternrdquo the Fate Master

had said ldquoFirst you have the good luckmdashthen youpay for itrdquo

The pattern You cannot break the patternNot luck Hard work and skillI shot the ball again Dribbled then shot again

Even though it was a cold frosty night sweat poureddown my forehead I wanted to work harder Harder

And as I practiced those words repeated andrepeated in my mind And I knew what I had to doI knew the only way I could end the bad luck forHannah and for me

The only way I could defeat the Fate MasterI shot again Again I moved to the foul line and

put up several foul shotsI didnrsquot stop when I saw the kitchen light flash on

The back door swung open Dad stepped into the

118

yard wearing his bathrobe leaning on his caneldquoLukemdashwhat are you doingrdquo he called ldquoItrsquos after

eleven orsquoclockrdquoldquoPracticingrdquo I said sending up another jump

shot Walking unsteadily he came up to the edge of the

driveway ldquoButmdashitrsquos so late Why are you doing thisrdquoldquoIrsquom going to win without luckrdquo I replied I sent

up another shot and watched it drop through thehoop ldquoIrsquom going to win with skill I shouted ldquoI canbreak the pattern I can win without luckrdquo

And then without realizing it I was screaming atthe top of my lungs ldquoI DONrsquoT NEED LUCK IDONrsquoT NEED LUCKrdquo

119

My plan was simple Maybe too simple But I had to give it a tryI didnrsquot tell it to Hannah She was pretty much

destroyed I didnrsquot want to give her any more toworry about

I knew I didnrsquot have much timemdashmaybe a day ortwo at the most

As soon as the Fate Master discovered that I stillhad the skull that I hadnrsquot passed it on to Stretch hewould come after me full force

My plan It was to break the pattern To win To win big To have a major success

Without luck Without needing any good luckIf I could win with my own hard work with my

own skill my own talentmdashit would be a defeat for theFate Master I would break his rule I would breakthe pattern

And maybe just maybe that would freeHannah and me

120

And thatrsquos why I practiced on my drivewayPracticed in the dark in the cold until after midnightHard work and skill

Hard work and skillShawnee Valley played Forest Grove this after-

noon The last game of the season My last chance to win without luckAs I changed into my team uniform I knew I had

to be great I had to be a winner today I had to winthe game for my team

And if I didIf I did maybe the nightmare would be overI was so nervous I had to lace up my sneakers

three times I kept knotting them up My fingers justwouldnrsquot work

ldquoGo Squires Go SquiresrdquoGuys were pounding their fists on the lockers

shouting jumping up and down getting pumpedgetting ready

Stretch gave me a playful slap as he jogged pastldquoTry not to bump heads today Champ We gonnabeat these clownsrdquo

I flashed him a thumbs-up ldquoTheyrsquore dead meatrdquoI shouted

I tucked in my jersey slammed the gym lockershut and trotted out into the gym I blinked underthe bright lights A big crowd nearly filled the bleach-ers They were stamping their feet in time to somemarching music over the loudspeaker

121

I searched for Hannah but didnrsquot see herThe last game of the year I thought as I picked up

a basketball from the rack My last chance I swallowed hard trying to force down my fearWas the Fate Master here Did he know that I

lied to him That I didnrsquot give the skull to StretchI donrsquot care about that I told myself Irsquom going to

be a winner today without his good luck Irsquom going to break the pattern Irsquom going to break the Fate MasterI dribbled up to Coach Bendix He slapped me on

the shoulder as I passed ldquoHave a great game Lukerdquohe called ldquoKeep it slow and steady Remembermdashjustfocus Focusrdquo

ldquoOkay Coachrdquo I called ldquoIrsquom ready I feel goodReal strong I think Irsquom going tomdashrdquo

I felt a strong blast of cold air It swept throughthe gym like an invisible ocean wave

And then I saw Coachrsquos expression change verysuddenly He was grinning at me flashing me athumbs-up And then his hand came down His facewent slack His eyes appeared to fade to glaze overas if a curtain had been drawn over them

As if hersquod been hypnotized or somethingldquoHey Lukerdquo he said motioning me back to him

He frowned narrowing his eyes at me ldquoWhat is itrdquo I asked keeping up my dribbleldquoTake the benchrdquo he ordered pointing to the

team bench with his whistle

122

ldquoHuhrdquo I gaped at himldquoThe benchrdquo he repeated his face a blank now

his eyes vacant dull ldquoYou canrsquot play todayrdquoldquoHeymdashno wayrdquo I protested ldquoWhat do you mean

Irsquove got to playrdquoHe shook his head ldquoYou canrsquot play today Luke

Your concussionmdashremember I need a doctorrsquos noteHave you been examined You canrsquot play until yoursquoreexaminedrdquo

My mouth hung open ldquoCoach Irsquove been prac-ticing so hard Please Yoursquove got to let me in the gametodayrdquo I pleaded My heart pounded so hard I feltdizzy My head throbbed ldquoCoach I have to playItrsquos the last gamerdquo

He shook his head ldquoSorryrdquo He motioned to thebench ldquoWe have to follow the rulesrdquo

Whose rules I thought bitterly The Fate Masterrsquosrules

Coach Bendix gazed at me with those glazedblank eyes ldquoSorry Yoursquove already played your lastgame Lukerdquo

ldquoButmdashbutmdashrdquo I sputteredldquoYoursquoll get rsquoem next yearrdquo he said He blew his

whistle ldquoStretchmdashyoursquore in Yoursquore playing thewhole gamerdquo

I stood there I didnrsquot move I stood in the middleof the floor with my hands on my waist Waiting formy heart to stop racing Waiting for my legs to stoptrembling

123

Then I turned and slowly trudged to the bench Irsquod lost today Score one round for the Fate

Master No way I could break the pattern today I was a

loser today But I wasnrsquot finished I could still winIf I had time

124

ldquoGive the skull to Stretchrdquo Hannah pleadedldquoMaybe the Fate Master will go easy on usrdquo

It was the next day We were huddled at the backof the lunchroom I could see Stretch laughing andkidding around with his friends at a table near thefront The Squires had won the game by two pointsand Stretch had been a hero

ldquoI canrsquot do itrdquo I said shaking my head ldquoBesidesyou heard what the Fate Master said He doesnrsquotmake deals It wonrsquot help to pass it to Stretchrdquo

Hannah let out a sigh She had her head buriedin her hands ldquoThen what are we going to dordquo

ldquoIrsquoll find a way to defeat himrdquo I said I bit into myham sandwich ldquoHeymdashrdquo I felt something hard

ldquoOh nordquo I moaned I spit out a tooth In a panic I moved my tongue around the inside

of my mouth ldquoMy teethrdquo I groaned ldquoTheyrsquore allloose Irsquom going to lose all my teethrdquo

Hannah didnrsquot lift her head She whispered some-thing too low for me to hear

125

ldquoIrsquove got to gordquo I said jumping up ldquoI have someideas Hannah Donrsquot give up hope I have someideasrdquo

I ran past Stretchrsquos table where the guys werelaughing and blowing straw wrappers at each otherStretch called out to me but I didnrsquot stop

I made my way to the computer lab The doorwas closed I pulled it open and burst breathlesslyinto the brightly lit room

ldquoMrs Coffey Mrs Coffey Itrsquos memdashLukerdquo I felt another tooth swing loose in my mouth I

gritted my teeth trying to press it down into placeA chubby young man Irsquod never seen before came

out of the supply room He had short black hair ontop of a round pudgy face and bright red cheeks Helooked like an apple with eyes He wore a red plaidshirt over black denims

ldquoIs Mrs Coffey hererdquo I demanded ldquoI need to talkto herrdquo

He set down the disk drive he was carryingldquoShersquos gonerdquo he said

ldquoYou mean she went to lunchrdquo I askedHe shook his round head ldquoNo She left school

She got another jobrdquoldquoImdashI knowrdquo I stammered ldquoBut I thoughtmdashrdquoldquoIrsquom Ron Handlemanrdquo he said ldquoIrsquom taking over

the computer lab Do you have a class with merdquoldquoUh nordquo I said ldquoBut I have a project I was

supposed to show Mrs Coffey She was going to send

126

it to someone who might put it in a show Itrsquos com-puter animation you see Irsquove been working on it fortwo years and and rdquo In my panic the wordspoured out of me I had to stop to take a breath

ldquoSlow downrdquo Mr Handleman said ldquoShe proba-bly left me a note about it She left me a stack ofnotesrdquo He glanced around the cluttered worktableldquoI put them somewhererdquo

How could Mrs Coffey leave without seeing myproject I asked myself How could she do that tome

Didnrsquot she realize how important it was Thiscould be my big triumph If my computer animationis accepted for a showmdashbecause of my hard workonly because of my skill and hard workmdashit wouldbreak the pattern It might defeat the Fate Master

Didnrsquot she realizeldquoUh can you look at my computer anima-

tionrdquo I askedMr Handlemanrsquos cheeks grew redder ldquoWhenrdquoldquoTonightrdquo I asked my heart poundingldquoWell I donrsquot think sordquo he replied ldquoNot

tonight I mean this is my first day I have so muchto do here Maybe next week rdquo

ldquoNordquo I screamed ldquoYou have to look at it PleaseItrsquos very importantrdquo

ldquoIrsquod love to see itrdquo he said picking up the diskdrive starting across the room with it ldquoBut I have toget organized Maybe rdquo

127

ldquoPleaserdquo I cried ldquoFind Mrs Coffeyrsquos note Wersquovegot to get it to the man whorsquos putting together thecomputer art show Pleaserdquo

He narrowed his eyes at me He probably thoughtI was crazy

But I didnrsquot care I needed a victory I knew therewasnrsquot much time

ldquoOkayrdquo Mr Handleman said finally ldquoBring it infirst thing tomorrow morning Irsquoll try to look at it dur-ing lunchrdquo

Not good enough Tomorrow might be too late Irealized

ldquoHow late will you be here this afternoonrdquo Iasked breathlessly

ldquoPretty laterdquo he replied ldquoSince itrsquos my first dayImdashrdquo

ldquoIrsquoll run home after school and get itrdquo I said ldquoIrsquollbring it to you before you leave tonight Could you I mean would you look at it this afternoonPleaserdquo

ldquoOkay I guess Irsquoll be here till at least fiverdquo hesaid

ldquoYesssrdquo I cried pumping my fist in the air Iturned and raced out of the computer lab

I can win I told myself I can defeat the FateMaster My animation project is good I know it isIrsquove worked for two years on it Irsquove put so much hardwork into it

I donrsquot need luck I donrsquot need good luck at all

128

After school I ran all the way home I burst intothe kitchen tossed down my backpack and startedto my room I stopped halfway to the stairs when Iheard voices from the living room

ldquoLukemdashis that yourdquo Mom calledMom and Dad were both there sitting in the

dark Dad leaned heavily on his cane Mom had herhands clasped tightly in her lap

I stopped in the living room doorway ldquoWhy areyou both home so earlyrdquo I asked

ldquoI had to come home I couldnrsquot workrdquo Dad saidsoftly ldquoThat fall I took It was worse than we thoughtLooks like Irsquom going to need surgeryrdquo

ldquoOh nordquo I muttered My fault It was all my faultBut I didnrsquot really have time to talk to them I had

to get to my computer I wanted to check out the ani-mation one more time before I made a copy for MrHandleman Then I had to rush back to school

ldquoBut why are you sitting in the darkrdquo I askedldquoWhy donrsquot you turn on some lightsrdquo

ldquoWe canrsquotrdquo Mom said shaking her head ldquoTherersquossome kind of trouble with the power lines to ourblock The electricity is off We have no power Nopower at allrdquo

129

I let out a horrified scream ldquoNooooo My com-puterrdquo

ldquoYoursquoll have to wait till the power comes backonrdquo Dad said

ldquoButmdashbutmdashrdquo I sputteredldquoWersquore having so much bad luck all of a suddenrdquo

Dad murmuredldquoWe may have to leave the house tonightrdquo Mom

said sighing unhappily ldquoWithout electricity we haveno heat We may have to check into a hotel or some-thingrdquo

ldquoOh nordquo I tugged at my hair A big clump of itcame out in my hand

I was losing my hair Losing my teeth How couldI fight back How

ldquoHe canrsquot do this to merdquo I screamed ldquoHe canrsquotHe canrsquotrdquo I turned and grabbed the banister andpulled myself up the stairs

ldquoLuke What are you sayingrdquoldquoWhere are you goingrdquo

130

I didnrsquot answer I dived into my room andslammed the door shut behind me

Breathing hard I stared at my computer Staredat the dark monitor screen

Useless Totally useless Frustrated I kicked the side of my desk

ldquoOwwwrdquo I didnrsquot mean to kick it that hard Sharppain throbbed up my leg up my side

ldquoOh waitrdquo I suddenly remembered I alreadymade a copy

Yes I made a backup copy of my project On myZip drive Yes

I fumbled frantically through the pile of disks onmy desk And grabbed the Zip disk

I still have a chance I told myself The FateMaster thought he shut me down But I still have achance

I stuffed the disk into my jacket pocket I hurledmyself down the stairs two at a time ldquoBye I have togo back to schoolrdquo I shouted to my parents

ldquoWhyrdquoldquoWhatrsquos going on Luke We need you hererdquoldquoHeymdashcome back and explainrdquoI heard their cries but I burst out the front door

and kept running ldquoIrsquoll stop the bad luckrdquo I said out loud ldquoIrsquoll stop

it Irsquoll stop the Fate MastermdashnowrdquoI found Mr Handleman in the computer lab

leaning over a keyboard typing an e-mail message

131

He spun around when I shouted hi to himI held up the disk ldquoHere it is Please Yoursquove got

to check it outrdquoHe motioned for me to sit down next to him ldquoI

spoke to the producer of the computer showrdquo hesaid ldquoHe called me this afternoon He said that if Iliked your animation I should send it over to himright awayrdquo

ldquoExcellentrdquo I cried ldquoThatrsquos great newsrdquoldquoArenrsquot you going to take your coat offrdquoldquoNordquo I answered breathlessly I shoved the disk

into the Zip drive ldquoNo time You have to see thisRight awayrdquo

He laughed ldquoSlow down Take a deep breathrdquoldquoIrsquoll breathe after you see itrdquo I said He leaned back in his chair and used his hands

as a headrest ldquoYoursquove been working on this for twoyearsrdquo

I nodded I found the file in the disk directory and double-

clicked it ldquoHere goesrdquo I said I was so nervous themouse trembled in my hand My chest was so tightit felt about to burst

Is it possible to explode from excitement I leanedforward to watch

The screen was solid black ldquoItrsquos starting nowrdquo Iwhispered

I stared at the black screen waiting for the brightburst of color at the beginning

132

Waiting Finally a dim glow spread over the screen Two circles of light Two red circles glowed in the

center of the darknessTwo red glowing eyes The eyes stared out unblinking unmoving

Blank round circles of shimmering redMr Handleman cleared his throat His eyes

remained locked on the monitor screen ldquoAre thoseeyesrdquo he asked ldquoDo they move or anythingrdquo

I opened my mouth to answer but no soundcame out

I stared frozen in horror at the glowing eyes Theevil eyes

And knew I had been defeated again Mr Handelmanrsquos cheeks were bright red now ldquoIs

this all there isrdquo he askedldquoYesrdquo I whispered ldquoThatrsquos allrdquoMy project was gone My two years of work were

lost The fiery eyes stared out at me in triumphI climbed to my feet and slumped out of the roomI trudged down the empty hall head down hands

shoved deep in my pockets Irsquove lost I realized Irsquoma loser forever now Hannah and me both Bad luckfor the rest of our lives

I turned a cornermdashand almost bumped intoCoach Swanson ldquoHey Lukemdashhowrsquos it goingrdquo heasked

133

I muttered a reply under my breathldquoI was going to call you tonightrdquo he said ldquoAndy

Mason is sick You have to swim in his place tomor-rowrdquo

I raised my head ldquoHuh Swimrdquo I had nearly for-gotten that I was on the swim team

ldquoSee you after school at the poolrdquo the coach saidldquoGood luckrdquo

Irsquoll need it I thought glumlyBut then I realized I was being given one more

chanceOne more chance to win without luck One more

chance to defeat FateOne last chance

The next morning I wore a baseball cap to schoolso no one could see the bald patches on my headWhen I brushed my teeth that morning anothertooth came sliding out between my lips

My tongue was covered with hard white bumpsMy arms and legs itched I was starting to get thesame red blotches on my skin as Hannah

Somehow I made it through the school day All Icould think about was the swim team race Wasthere any way that I might win That I might breakthe pattern and win the race and defeat the FateMaster

I didnrsquot have much hope But I knew I had to tryI knew I had to give it everything I had left

134

A few seconds after I lowered myself into the poolto warm up Coach Swansonrsquos whistle rang outechoing off the tile walls ldquoPractice laps everyonerdquothe coach shouted ldquoDo them half-speed Letrsquos seesome warm-up lapsrdquo

At the other end of the pool I saw Stretch kick offand begin swimming with steady strong strokes Idid a surface dive and started to follow him Thewarm water felt good on my itchy skin

I kicked hard Picked up speedAs I raised my head to suck in a deep breath the

water suddenly churned hard I swallowed a big mouthful Started to chokeI sputtered struggling to clear my throat strug-

gling to breatheAnd then to my horror my stomach heaved hard

ldquoGuuurrrrrrprdquo My lunch came hurling upI couldnrsquot hold it back I vomited a thick dark

puddle into the clear waterldquoOoh grossrdquoldquoSickrdquoldquoYuck Oh wowmdashhersquos puking his guts uprdquoA sick sour smell rose up from the water I heard

kids shouting and groaning in disgustAnd then I heard Coach Swansonrsquos whistle And

the coach shouting at me ldquoYoursquore outta there LukeGet out Yoursquore sick Yoursquore not going to swimtodayrdquo

135

No I thought This canrsquot happen again This ismy last chance

ldquoCoach Irsquom okayrdquo I shouted ldquoI just swal-lowed some water I can swimmdashreallyrdquo

Coach Swanson glanced around the pool AndyMason was in street clothes Joe Bork the other alter-nate didnrsquot show up

ldquoYoursquove got to let me swimrdquo I pleadedThe coach shrugged his shoulders ldquoTherersquos no

one else I guess Irsquove got no choicerdquoIrsquom going to do this I thought Irsquom going to win

today Irsquom going to do whatever it takes to winThe race got off to a good start I did a speed dive

at the whistle and found myself gliding strokingeasily in the lead

Swimming steadily keeping up a smooth rhythmI stayed in the lead until the waves began

Waves They tossed up in front of me rolledrapidly toward me splashed over me Wave afterwave Pushing me back Slowing my pace

136

Stroking harder to keep my rhythm I turned tothe side and glanced at the other swimmers The poolwas smooth the water flat for them

The waves were just for me A strong currentpushed at me slowing me shoving me back

I ducked under the waves Let them splash androll over me And swam harder

HarderldquoOhrdquo Something brushed my legI felt something curl around an ankle Something

bumped my waist I felt something slide around myknee

With another gasp I turnedmdashand saw the gray-green creatures Eels Were they eels

Wrapping around my legs Twining over mywaist

Long fat eels The water churned with themI cried out I saw the other swimmers gliding swiftly through

clear water They didnrsquot even notice my dark churn-ing water They didnrsquot even see the gleaming wetcreatures slithering between my legs Tighteningaround my ankles my legs

Slapping me slapping me hard slappingme back

ldquoNordquo I burst free I kept swimmingInto thick pink clusters of jellyfish The jellyfish

ballooned around me Stung my arms Stung mylegs Prickled the skin of my back

137

I cried out in pain The sticky creatures swarmedover me stinging stinging me again and again

I could see the other swimmers moving smoothlyahead of me now Gliding in smooth clear waters asI felt jolt after jolt of pain from the billowing jellyfishthat clustered over me

I slapped the water Slapped and kickedAnd let out another cry of pain as the water siz-

zled and boiled Scalding hot now It steamed andbubbled And my skin burned My skin is going toburn right off me I thought struggling to breatheStruggling to keep my arms moving through thescalding steam Kicking kicking hard

The other swimmers ahead of me now Moving sospeedily so steadily

I shut my eyes and swam Yoursquore not going tobeat me I thought Irsquom going to win going to win

And the thought gave me a final surge of energyI shot forward to the wall Plunged like a speed-

ing torpedo to the finishMy hand hit the wall I slapped the wallGasping gasping my chest heaving in

agony And knew that I had lostToo slow Too slowI knew that I had lost again

138

Water poured down my face I shut my eyes andstruggled to catch my breath

I heard a loud whistle Then I felt a hand on myshoulder A slap ldquoWay to go Lukerdquo

I opened my eyes to see the coach He grabbed myhand and pumped it hard Then he slapped me a highfive ldquoYou won You came from behind What a raceLuke Check out the time You set a school recordrdquo

ldquoHuh I did I wonrdquo He helped me out of the pool Guys were cheering

and yelling congratulationsBut the cheering was cut short by a deafening cry

from the middle of the pool A shrill wail that rose likean ambulance siren Higher higher until I wasforced to cover my ears

And then a mountain of water rose up from thepool Red and steaming like a volcano The water roseupmdashhigher highermdashlike a bubbling boiling red tidalwave And all the while the deafening wail rang outwith it

139

Everyone was screaming We all were screamingAnd then as suddenly as it rose up the molten

red mountain collapsed back into the poolCollapsed with a soft splash The pool was flat andsmooth again And silent Silent except for ourstunned gasps and cries

I turned to see Hannah running along the side ofthe pool Hannah out of her wheelchair RunningRunning wildly waving her arms excitedly laughingher red hair flying behind her

ldquoLukemdashyou did it Wersquore free You defeated FateLukemdashyou defeated Faterdquo

But it wasnrsquot enough Not enough for meI changed into my street clothes in seconds Then

I dragged Hannah down the hall to my locker Locker13

I stopped at the janitorrsquos closet And I grabbed ahuge sledgehammer

Hannah cheered as I raised the sledgehammer tothe locker and smashed it smashed it smashed it

Working feverishly I pried the battered lockerfrom the wall Kicked it onto its side Raised thesledgehammer again Smashed it crushed it smashed it

The battered locker door swung open I heard alow groan from deep inside

Hannah and I both leaped back as a skull rolledout onto the floor

140

Not a tiny skull A human-sized skull with glow-ing red eyes

The eyes glowed for only a few seconds Then theskull uttered a final groan a groan of agony ofdefeat And the eyes faded to darkness Empty dark-ness

I took a deep breath Ran up to itmdashand kickedthe skull down the hall

ldquoGoalrdquo Hannah yelledWe walked out of the school building arm in arm

Into the bright afternoon sunlight I took a long deep breath The air smelled so

fresh so sweet The houses the trees the skymdashthey all looked so

beautifulI stopped at the bottom of the sidewalk And bent

down to pick something upldquoHey check it outrdquo I showed it to Hannah ldquoIs

this my lucky dayrdquo I cried ldquoI found a pennyrdquo

141

142

Luke Greene is very superstitious so naturallyhersquos not happy when hersquos assigned Locker 13 atschool But amazingly a lucky charm he finds in thelocker changes his luck from bad to great NowLukersquos luck is so good he canrsquot lose No matter whathe does his lucky charm makes him come out ontop

But Luke discovers that his good luck comes witha very high price Will he pay it Or will he be lostlike others before him in the horror that is Locker 13

About Locker 13

The Locker 13 in Luke Greenersquos story does notexist anymore and it is unclear if anyone who hadthe locker in previous years suffered the same fate asLuke

People who have had unbelievably nightmarishexperiences often keep silent about them (Lukedidnrsquot tell his story to many peoplemdashonly his friend

Go Deeper Into This

Nightmare

Hannah and RL Stine know what happened) So itis possible that what happened to Erica Chass in thesame school 12 years earlier could be related toLocker 13

Erica Chass was a popular seventh grader inShawnee Valley Junior High She had good gradeswas a star soccer player and had lots of friends Thenone day everything seemed to change Erica blew offsoccer nearly failed out of school and was fearfuland shy with even her best friends She dressed onlyin black and always wore a necklace with a smallcharm in the shape of a skull

Then one day Erica moved away She didnrsquot saygood bye She just didnrsquot show up for school one dayand never came back

But some people who went to that school in thosedays insist thatrsquos not the end of Ericarsquos story

The following year a new girl joined the eighthgrade at Shawnee Her name was Alyssa GwynneShe was bright cheerful and a terrific soccer playermdashand she looked exactly like Erica ldquoYou would havesworn they were twinsrdquo says Tracey Holt who knewthem bothmdashldquoNo it was like the old Erica camebackrdquo says another friend Debra Wyle

What was the relationship between Erica andAlyssa Could they really be the same person Andwhat is the connection to the Locker 13 legendMaybe there isnrsquot one but several people havementioned that Alyssa had a necklace that she wore

143

every daymdasha necklace with a tiny charmmdashof askull

About Superstition

Most of our superstitions go back to a time whenpeople believed that witches and witchcraft wereeverywhere People in the middle ages seemed to livein terror that evil magic or witches would harm theircrops bring illness or other disaster to their livesMany of the superstitions that have lasted to ourtime go back to these ancient fears

Break a mirrormdashseven years bad luck Thissuperstition relates to the idea that our reflection is apart of ourselves Harm the reflection and you willharm the original According to the thinking of themiddle ages it takes seven years for the body torebuild itself after itrsquos been harmed So thatrsquos why thebad luck lasts for seven years Luckily there is a cureWash the broken mirror pieces in a south runningriver and the evil is washed away too

Itrsquos bad luck to walk under a ladder This goesback to a time when hanging was a common form ofpunishment It seems that the gallows were prettyhigh so a ladder was often rested against the side ofthe gallows platform Walking under this ladder wasliterally dangerous Be in the wrong place at thewrong time and a rotting dead body could fall onyou If you happen to be careless enough to walk

144

under a ladder you can change the bad luck Justcross your fingers until you see a dog

Black cats bring bad luck There are a lots ofsuperstitions about cats Letrsquos face it cats can becreepymdashand black cats are the creepiest Oneancient superstition about cats is that they will stealthe breath out of babies Where did this idea comefrom

Watch a cat as it settles itself into your lap Beforesnuggling up the cat will often sniff you in themouth At a time when so many babies died the cattheory is as logical as any other

Now for some superstitions that yoursquove probablynever heard of

If you find a knife in the road you will havebad luck

Donrsquot point at the moon (The man in the moondoesnrsquot like it and will bring you bad luck)

Donrsquot brush your hair after sunsetmdashespecial-ly if you have family who spends time on thesea (Brushing your hair at that time will mean dis-aster and death for themmdashand bad luck for you)

If a child hits a parent the childrsquos hand willwag over his grave and dogs will ldquowaterrdquo it

145

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

RL STINE says he has a great job ldquoMy job is to givekids the CREEPSrdquo With his scary books RL hasterrified kids all over the world He has sold over 300million books making him the best-selling childrenrsquosauthor in history

These days RL is dishing out new frights in hisseries THE NIGHTMARE ROOM When he isnrsquotworking he likes to read old mysteries watchSpongeBob Squarepants on TV and take his dogNadine for long walks around New York City wherehe lives with his wife Jane and son Matthew

ldquoI love taking my readers to scary placesrdquo RLsays ldquoDo you know the scariest place of all Itrsquos yourMINDrdquo

ldquoHey check it out A fortune-tellerrdquo Jilly saidShe pointed to a small black tent that stood besidean ice cream cart ldquoCan we do it I love fortune-tellersrdquo

ldquoNo wayrdquo I said ldquoThey make me nervous Idonrsquot even like watching them in moviesrdquo

ldquoCome on Maggie Itrsquos your birthdayrdquo her sisterJackie said pulling me to the tent ldquoYou have tohave your fortune told on your birthdayrdquo

ldquoLetrsquos see what the fortune-teller says about youand Glenrdquo Judy the third sister teased

ldquoI donrsquot think sordquo I saidBut as usual they didnrsquot give me a choice A few

seconds later we were standing at the doorway tothe dark tent

ldquoWersquoll all have our fortunes toldrdquo Jackie saidldquoMy treatrdquo

ldquoThis is so coolrdquo Jilly whispered ldquoDo you thinkits a real psychic Do you think she can really tellthe futurerdquo

The three sisters started into the tent I held backstaring at the red-and-black hand-lettered sign MISSELIZABETH FORTUNE-TELLER ONE DOLLAR

Take a look at whatrsquos ahead inTHE NIGHTMARE ROOM 3

Liar Liar

I suddenly realized that my heart was racing Why do I feel so weird I wondered Why do I

have such a bad feeling about thisI followed my friends into the tent The air inside

felt hot and steamy Two electric lanterns on the backtent wall splashed gray light over the fortune-tellerrsquossmall table

Miss Elizabeth sat hunched with her elbows onthe table head in her hands staring into a red glassball She didnrsquot look up as we stepped inside Icouldnrsquot tell if she was concentrating on the red ballor if she was asleep

The tent was completely bare except for her tableand two wooden chairs and a large black-and-whiteposter of a human hand The hand was divided intosections There was a lot of writing all over the postertoo small for me to read in the smoky gray light

As she stared into the red glass ball the fortune-teller muttered to herself She was a middle-agedwoman slender with bony arms poking out from thesleeves of her red dress and very large pale whitehands Squinting into the light I saw that the polishon her long fingernails matched the red of her dress

ldquoHel-lordquo Jackie called breaking the silenceMiss Elizabeth finally looked up She was kind of

pretty She had big round black eyes and dramaticred-lipsticked lips Her hair was long and wavy solidblack except for a wide white streak down themiddle

Her eyes moved from one of us to the other Shedidnrsquot smile ldquoWalter we have visitorsldquo sheannounced in a hoarse scratchy voice

I glanced around searching for WalterldquoWalter is my late husbandrdquo the fortune-teller

announced ldquoHe helps me channel information fromthe spiritsrdquo

Jackie and I exchanged glances ldquoWersquod like you to tell our fortunesrdquo Jilly saidMiss Elizabeth nodded solemnly ldquoOne dollar

eachrdquo She held out her long pale hand ldquoFour dol-lars pleaserdquo

Jackie fumbled in her bag and pulled out fourcrumpled dollar bills She handed them to the for-tune-teller who shoved them into a pocket of her reddress

ldquoWho wants to go firstrdquo Again her eyes movedslowly over our faces

ldquoIrsquoll gordquo Jilly volunteered She dropped into thechair across the table from Miss Elizabeth

The fortune-teller lowered her head again to gazeinto the red ball ldquoWalter bring me the words of thespirit world about this young womanrdquo

I suddenly felt a chill at the back of my neck Iknew I shouldnrsquot be frightened The woman had tobe a fakemdashright Otherwise she wouldnrsquot be workingin a tacky carnival like this one

But she was so serious So solemn She didnrsquotseem to be putting on an act

Or was I just being gullible againNow she took Jillyrsquos hand She pulled it up close to

her face and began to study Jillyrsquos palm Muttering toherself she moved her long finger back and forth fol-lowing the lines of the palm tracing them with herbright red fingernail

Jackie leaned close to me ldquoThis is coolrdquo she whis-pered

Judy sighed ldquoThis is going to take foreverrdquoJackie raised a finger to her lips and motioned for

Judy to shush The woman studied Jillyrsquos palm for a long time

squeezing the hand as she gazed at it murmuring toWalter in the red glass ball Finally she raised her eyesto Jilly ldquoYou are artisticrdquo she said in her scratchyvoice

ldquoYesrdquo Jilly declaredldquoYou are a dancerrdquo Miss Elizabeth continued

ldquoYou study the dance You are a hard workerrdquoldquoWhoa I donrsquot believe thisrdquo Jilly gushed ldquoHow do

you knowmdashrdquoldquoYou have much talentrdquo the fortune-teller mur-

mured ignoring Jillyrsquos question ldquoMuch talent Butsometimes I see your artistic side gets in the wayof your practical side You are you are rdquo

She shut her eyes ldquoHelp me Walterrdquo she whis-pered Then she opened her eyes again and raisedthem to Jillyrsquos palm ldquoYou are a very social person Yourfriends mean a lot to you Especially boy friendsrdquo

Jackie and Judy laughed Jilly flashed them anangry scowl ldquoImdashI donrsquot believe thisrdquo she told thefortune-teller ldquoYou have everything rightrdquo

ldquoIt is my giftrdquo Miss Elizabeth replied softlyldquoWill I make the new dance companyrdquo Jilly

asked her ldquoTry-outs are next week Can you tell meif I will be acceptedrdquo

Miss Elizabeth stared into the glass ballldquoWalterrdquo she whispered

I held my breath waiting for the answer Jilly andI were both trying out for the dance company And Iknew there was only room for one of us

ldquoWalter can find no answerrdquo the fortune-tellertold Jilly ldquoHe only groansrdquo She let go of Jillyrsquos hand

ldquoHemdashgroanedrdquo Jilly asked ldquoWhyrdquoldquoYour time is uprdquo Miss Elizabeth said She

motioned to us ldquoWho is nextrdquoJackie shoved Judy forward Judy dropped into

the chair and held her hand out to Miss ElizabethJilly came running over to join Jackie and me at

the edge of the tent ldquoIsnrsquot she amazingrdquo she whis-pered

ldquoYes she isrdquo I had to admit How did she know somany true things about Jilly I was beginning tobelieve Miss Elizabeth really had powers

And now I didnrsquot feel afraid or nervous I was eagerto see what the fortune-teller would say about me

She squeezed Judyrsquos hand and gazed deep intoJudyrsquos dark eyes ldquoYou have great love in yourdquo she

announced ldquoGreat love for animalsrdquoJudy gasped ldquoY-yesrdquoldquoYou care for them You work rdquoldquoYesrdquo Judy said ldquoI work in an animal shelter after

school Thatrsquos amazingrdquoMiss Elizabeth ran a red fingernail down Judyrsquos

palm ldquoYou also have an animal that you care aboutvery much A dog No A catrdquo

ldquoYes My cat Plumperrdquo Judy turned to us her face filled with astonish-

ment ldquoDo you believe this Shersquos right about every-thingrdquo

ldquoI know Itrsquos so coolrdquo Jilly exclaimed She sweptback her blond hair with a toss of her head She keptbouncing up and down She seemed too excited tostand still

The fortune-teller spent a few more minutes withJudy She told Judy that she would have a long suc-cessful life She said Judy would have a big familysomeday

ldquoOf kids Of animalsrdquo Judy asked Miss Elizabeth didnrsquot answer Next came Jackiersquos turn Once again Miss

Elizabeth was right on target with everything shesaid ldquoWowrdquo Jackie kept muttering ldquoWowrdquo

Finally I found myself in the chair across fromthe fortune-teller Suddenly I felt so nervous Mymouth was dry My legs were shaking

Miss Elizabeth looked older from close up

When she smiled at me the thick makeup on herface cracked Tiny drops of sweat glistened at herhairline

ldquoWhat is your namerdquo she asked in a whisperldquoMaggierdquo I told herShe nodded solemnly and took my hand She

raised my palm close to her face and squinted downat it in the gray light

I held my breath And waited What would shesee

She squeezed my hand Brought it closer to herface

And then then her eyes bulged wide Shelet out a loud gasp

With a violent jerk she tossed my hand awayAnd jumped to her feet Her chair fell behind her

clattering to the tent floorShe stared at memdashstared in open-mouthed

horrorAnd then she screamedldquoGet OUT Get AWAY from hererdquoldquoHuh Waitmdashrdquo I choked outldquoGet OUT You bring EVIL You bring EVIL with

you Get OUT of hererdquo

Credits

Cover illustration by Vince NataleCover design by John Fontana

About the PublisherAustraliaHarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty Ltd 25 Ryde Road (PO Box 321)Pymble NSW 2073 Australia httpwwwharpercollinscomau

CanadaHarperCollins Publishers Ltd55 Avenue Road Suite 2900Toronto ON M5R 3L2 Canadahttpwwwharpercanadacom

New ZealandHarperCollinsPublishers (New Zealand)PO Box 1Auckland New Zealandhttpwwwharpercollinsconz

United KingdomHarperCollins Publishers Ltd77-85 Fulham Palace RoadLondon W6 8JB UKhttpwwwfireandwatercouk

United StatesHarperCollins Childrenrsquos Books A Division of HarperCollins Publishers1350 Avenue of the Americas New York NY 10019wwwharperchildrenscom

These stories are my scariest ever says RL Stinebecause I wrote them at the Nightmare Hour

When the lights fade the world that we know as real slipsinto shadowmdashand the cold moonlit world of evil dreams

enters your mind and takes over

These ten terrifying tales will make you shiver at any hourIllustrated by ten outstanding artists

I really enjoy your workhellipthank you for creating newnightmares for me mdashKenny age 12 NY

They are horrifying storiesmdashthey even gave me thecreeps mdashSofia age 14 LA

My favorite book is Nightmare Hour mdashJeffrie age 9 WI

Winner of Disney Adventures magazinersquos first everKidsrsquo Choice Award for Best HorrorMystery book

0-06-028688-1 $995 Hardcover0-06-440842-6 $499 Paperback

Available wherever books are sold

Join RL Stine and all your friends in The Nightmare Room

wwwthenightmareroomcom

Ten New Stories by rl stineNightmare Hour

Join RL Stine and all your friends in

ROOMTHE

Step inside wwwthenightmareroomcom

and open the door to terror

You can share with RL Stine your most terrifying dreams and experiences If your stories are terrifying enough for RL Stine youcould star in your own NIGHTMARE ROOMbook

Log on to THE NIGHTMARE ROOM nowand read RL Stinersquos brand-new spine-tinglingstorymdasha story so terrifying that it canrsquot be soldin bookstores

Log on to wwwthenightmareroomcom

where you will truly enter

THE NIGHTMARE ROOM

wwwthenightmareroomcom

THE NIGHTMARE ROOM 3My Name Is EvilMaggie has her palm read at a carnival and then the terrifying accidents beginIs Maggie cursed Will she have to live forever in THE NIGHTMARE ROOM

THE NIGHTMARE ROOM 4Liar LiarRoss looks across the room and sees himself standing there But Ross doesnrsquothave a twin This party has taken Rossto THE NIGHTMARE ROOM

$399 Paperback Available wherever books are sold

Join RL Stine and all your friends in THE NIGHTMARE ROOMwwwthenightmareroomcom

What can happen next in

ROOMTHE

1

ldquoHey Lukemdashgood luckrdquo Who called to me The hall was jammed with

kids excited about the first day of school I was excit-ed too My first day in seventh grade My first day atShawnee Valley Junior High

I just knew this was going to be an awesome yearOf course I didnrsquot take any chances I wore my

lucky shirt Itrsquos a faded green T-shirt kind ofstretched out and the pocket is a little torn But noway Irsquod start a school year without my lucky shirt

And I had my lucky rabbitrsquos foot in the pocket ofmy baggy khakis Itrsquos black and very soft and furryItrsquos a key chain but I donrsquot want to ruin the good luckby hanging keys on it

Why is it so lucky Well itrsquos a black rabbitrsquos footwhich is very rare And I found it last November onmy birthday And after I found it my parents gave methe new computer I wanted So it brought me goodluckmdashright

I glanced up at the red-and-black computer-printed

banner hanging over the hall GO SQUIRES SUPPORT

YOUR TEAMAll of the boysrsquo teams at Shawnee Valley are called

the Squires Donrsquot ask me how they got that weirdname The banner made my heart race just a little Itreminded me that I had to find the basketball coachand ask when he was having tryouts

I had a whole list of things I wanted to do (1)check out the computer lab (2) find out about the bas-ketball team (3) see if I could take any kind of specialswimming program after school I never went to aschool with a swimming pool before And since swim-ming is my other big sport I was pretty pumped aboutit

ldquoLukemdashhirdquoI spun around to find my friend Hannah Marcum

behind me looking as cheerful and enthusiastic asalways Hannah has short coppery hair the color of abright new penny green eyes and a great smile Mymother always calls her Sunshine which totallyembarrasses both of us

ldquoYour pocket is tornrdquo she said She tugged at it rip-ping it a little more

ldquoHeymdashget offrdquo I backed away ldquoItrsquos my lucky shirtrdquoldquoDid you find your locker assignment yetrdquo She

pointed to a group of kids studying a chart taped to thewall They were all standing on tiptoe trying to seeover each other ldquoItrsquos posted over there Guess whatMy locker is the first one outside the lunchroom Irsquoll be

2

first for lunch every dayrdquoldquoOooh luckyrdquo I said ldquoAnd I got Gruen for Englishrdquo Hannah gushed

ldquoHersquos the best Hersquos so funny Everyone says you canrsquotstop laughing Did you get him toordquo

ldquoNordquo I said ldquoI got WarrenrdquoHannah made a face ldquoYoursquore doomedrdquoldquoShut uprdquo I said ldquoDonrsquot say things like thatrdquo I

squeezed my rabbitrsquos foot three times I pushed my way through the crowd to the locker

chart This is going to be an excellent year I told myselfJunior High is so not like elementary school

ldquoHey manmdashhowrsquos it goingrdquo Darnell Cross slappedme a high five

ldquoWhatrsquos uprdquo I replied ldquoCheck it out You got the lucky lockerrdquo Darnell

said I squinted at the chart ldquoHuh What do you meanrdquoI ran my eyes down the list of names until I came

to mine Luke Greene And then I followed the dottedline to my locker number

And gaspedldquoNo wayrdquo I said out loud ldquoThat canrsquot be rightrdquoI blinked a few times then focused on the chart

againYes Locker 13Luke Greene 1313My breath caught in my throat I started to choke

3

I turned away from the chart hoping no one couldsee how upset I was

How can this be happening to me I wonderedLocker 13 My whole year is ruined before it begins

My heart pounded so hard my chest ached Iforced myself to start breathing again

I turned and found Hannah still standing thereldquoWherersquos your lockerrdquo she asked ldquoIrsquoll walk youthererdquo

ldquoUh well I can deal with itrdquo I saidShe squinted at me ldquoExcuse merdquo ldquoI can deal with itrdquo I repeated shakily ldquoItrsquos

Locker thirteen but I can handle it ReallyrdquoHannah laughed ldquoLuke yoursquore such a supersti-

tious geekrdquoI frowned at her ldquoYou mean that in a nice waymdash

rightrdquo I jokedShe laughed again and shoved me into a crowd of

kids I wish she wouldnrsquot shove me so much Shersquosreally strong

I apologized to the kids I stumbled into ThenHannah and I started down the crowded hallchecking the locker numbers searching for num-ber 13

Just past the science lab Hannah stopped sud-denly and grabbed something up from the floor

ldquoHey wow Look what I foundrdquo She held up a five-dollar bill ldquoMmmmmmdashyesrdquo

4

She raised it to her lips and kissed it ldquoFive bucksYayrdquo

I sighed and shook my head ldquoHannah howcome yoursquore always so luckyrdquo

She didnrsquot answer that question It seemed like a simple question but it wasnrsquot And if she had told me the answer I think I would

have run awaymdashrun as far as I could from ShawneeValley Junior High and never come back

5

Letrsquos skip ahead two months Seventh grade was not bad so far I made some new

friends I made real progress on the computer anima-tion piece I had been working on for nearly two yearsAnd I actually won a spot on the basketball team

It was early November about two weeks into theseason And I was late for practice

Guys were already on the floor doing stretchingexercises bouncing basketballs to each other takingshort layups I crept to the locker room hoping no onewould notice me

ldquoLukemdashget dressed Yoursquore laterdquo Coach Bendixshouted

I started to call ldquoSorry I got hung up in the com-puter labrdquo But that was no kind of excuse So I justgave Coach a nod and started jogging full speed to thelocker room to get changed

My stomach felt kind of tight I realized I wasnrsquotlooking forward to practice today For a little guy Irsquom apretty good basketball player Irsquove got a good outside

6

shot and pretty fast hands on defense I was so excited to make the team But I wasnrsquot

counting on one problemmdashan eighth grader namedStretch Johannsen

Stretchrsquos real name is Shawn But everyone in theworld calls him Stretchmdasheven his parents You mightwonder how he got that name But if you saw him youwouldnrsquot wonder

Stretch had some kind of a growth spurt last year inseventh grade and he became a big blond giant prac-tically overnight Hersquos taller than anyone in the highschool He has shoulders like a wrestler and long armsI mean really long arms like a chimpanzee He canreach halfway across the gym

And thatrsquos why everyone started calling himStretch

I think a better name for him would be OstrichThatrsquos because he has long skinny legs like bird legsand a huge chest thatrsquos so wide it makes his pale blue-eyed head look as tiny as an egg

But I would never try my nickname on him I donrsquotthink I can run fast enough Stretch doesnrsquot have muchof a sense of humor In fact hersquos a pretty mean guyalways trash-talking and shoving people aroundmdashandnot just on the basketball floor

I think once he got over the shock of being a gianthe decided to be really impressed with himself

Like being a giant is some kind of special talent orsomething

7

But donrsquot get me started Irsquom always analyzingpeople thinking too hard about them about every-thing Hannah is always telling me I think too muchBut I donrsquot get it How do you stop thinking

Last week after a practice Coach Bendix saidnearly the same thing ldquoYoursquove got to play oninstinct Luke There isnrsquot time to think before everymoverdquo

Which I guess is another reason why I ride thebench Of course Irsquom only in seventh grade Sounless another giant forward tries out for the SquiresIrsquoll probably get to play next yearmdashafter Stretchgraduates

But for now itrsquos really embarrassing not to get toplay Especially since my parents come to everygame to cheer me on I sit on the team bench andwatch Mom and Dad up in the gym bleachers juststaring at me Staring

It doesnrsquot make you feel great Even the time-outs are painful Stretch always

comes trotting over to the team bench He wipes thesweat off his face and bodymdashand then throws thetowel onto me Like Irsquom some kind of towel boy

During one time-out late in the first game he tooka long gulp of Gatorade and spit it onto my uniformshirt I looked up and saw my parents watching fromthe bleachers

8

Sad Really sad Our team the Squires won our first two games

mainly because Stretch wouldnrsquot let anyone elsehandle the ball It was great to winmdashbut I wasalready starting to feel like a loser I wanted to play

Maybe if I have a really strong practice todayCoach Bendix will try me out at guard I told myselfOr maybe even as a backup center I laced up myshoes and triple-knotted them for luck Then I shutmy eyes and counted to seven three times

Just something I doI straightened my red-and-black uniform shorts

slammed the gym locker shut and trotted out of thelocker room and onto the floor Guys were at the farend taking three-point shots everyone shooting atonce The balls bounced off each other bounced offthe hoop The backboard rang out with a steadythud thud thud

Some of the shots actually dropped inldquoLuke get busyrdquo Coach yelled motioning me to

the basket ldquoGet some rebounds Make some shotsGet looserdquo

I flashed him a thumbs-up and ran to join theothers I saw Stretch leap up and make a highrebound To my surprise he spun around andheaved the ball at me ldquoLukemdashthink fastrdquo

I wasnrsquot expecting it The ball sailed through my

9

hands I had to chase it to the wall I dribbled backto find Stretch waiting ldquoGo ahead man Shootrdquo

I swallowed hardmdashand sent up a two-handedshot

ldquoHe shootsmdashhe missesrdquo Stretch shouted Someguys laughed

My shot bounced off the rim Stretch took threefast strides reached up his long arms and grabbedthe rebound in midair He tossed it back to meldquoShoot againrdquo

My next shot brushed the bottom of the netldquoHe shootsmdashhe missesrdquo Stretch repeated as if

that was the funniest thing anyone ever said Moreloud laughter

Stretch took the rebound and tossed me the ballldquoAgainrdquo he ordered

Everyone was watching now I sent up a one-handed layup that almost dropped in It rolledaround the rim then fell off

ldquoHe shootsmdashhe missesrdquoI could feel sweat rolling down my forehead

Why canrsquot I get lucky here I asked myself Comeon Lukemdashjust one lucky shot I slapped my lefthand rapidly against the leg of my shorts seventimes

Stretch bounced the ball to me ldquoGo champYoursquore O for three You got a streak goingrdquo Morelaughter

I shut my eyes for a second Then I sailed this

10

one highmdashand gasped as it sank through the hoopStretch grinned and shook his head The other

guys all cheered as if Irsquod just won the state juniorhigh tournament

I grabbed the ball and dribbled away from themI didnrsquot want to give Stretch a chance to ruin my vic-tory I knew he would keep me shooting till I wasone for three hundred

I turned to see if Coach Benson had watched myshot He leaned against the wall talking to two otherteachers He hadnrsquot seen it

I dribbled across the floor then back toward theothers Then I made a big mistake

A really big mistake A mistake that ruined mylife at Shawnee Valley Junior High

ldquoHey Stretchmdashthink fastrdquo I shouted And Iheaved the ball at him as hard as I could

What was I thinkingI didnrsquot see that he had bent down on one knee

to tie his sneaker lace I froze in horrormdashand watched the ball fly at

him It hit him hard on the side of the head knockedhim over and sent him tumbling to the floor

ldquoHeymdashrdquo he cried out stunned He shook hishead dizzily I saw bright red blood start to flow fromhis nose

ldquoStretchmdashIrsquom sorryrdquo I shrieked ldquoI didnrsquot seeyou I didnrsquot meanmdashrdquo

I lurched forward running to help him up

11

ldquoMy contactsrdquo he cried ldquoYou knocked out mycontactsrdquo

And then I heard a soft squish under my shoeI stopped Lifted my foot Stretchrsquos contact lens

lay flat as a pancake on the gym floorEveryone saw itStretch was on his feet now Blood rolled down

his lips his chin He didnrsquot pay any attention to it He had his eyes

narrowed on me He lumbered forward clenchingand unclenching his giant fists

I was doomed

12

Stretch reached under my arms and lifted me upHe was so huge and strong he picked me off thefloor like I was a ventriloquistrsquos dummy

ldquoWhoa It was an accidentrdquo I whisperedldquoHerersquos another accidentrdquo he said When he

talked he spit blood in my face He tightened his gripunder my arms

He raised me higher and gazed up at the basketIs he going to make a three-point shot with me Iwondered

Yes He is Hersquos going to slam dunk meBehind me I heard shouts A whistle blowing

Running footstepsldquoTake it outside Stretchrdquo I heard Coach Bendix

shoutHuhStretch slowly lowered me to the floor My knees

started to buckle but I managed to stay on my feet Stretch rubbed a hand across his bloody nose

then wiped it on the front of my jersey

13

ldquoTake it outsiderdquo Coach repeated edgingbetween us ldquoLetrsquos pair up everybody One on oneStretchmdashyou and Lukerdquo

ldquoNo wayrdquo Stretch mutteredldquoHersquos your backuprdquo Coach said poking Stretch

in the chest with his whistle ldquoYoursquove got to teachLuke Irsquom putting you in charge of Lukersquos develop-mentrdquo

Stretch snickered ldquoDevelopment He doesnrsquothave any developmentrdquo

ldquoGo to my office Get some tissues and stop thatnosebleedrdquo Coach instructed Stretch ldquoThen takeLuke to the practice court behind the playgroundShow him some moves Teach him somethingrdquo

Stretch stared at the floor for a few seconds as ifthinking it over But he knew better than to arguewith Coach Bendix He nodded at me ldquoLetrsquos goChamprdquo

What choice did I have Even though I knew itwas pain time for me I turned and followed him out-side

It was late afternoon pretty cold to be outside inbasketball shorts and a sleeveless jersey Since it wasNovember the big red sun had already loweredbehind the houses across the street from the play-ground

I shiveredStretch didnrsquot give me much of a chance to get

14

ready He pounded the ball hard on the asphalt courtand came racing at me like a stampeding bull

I tried to slide to the side But Stretch lowered hisshoulder and slammed it hard into my gut

ldquoOhhhrdquo I groaned and slumped backldquoDefenserdquo he shouted ldquoGet your hands up

Champ Get ready Here I come againrdquoldquoNomdashwaitmdashrdquo I pleadedThe ball thundered in front of him as he drove

into me again This time he kept his body up straightThe force of the collision sent me sprawling to theasphalt

ldquoDefenserdquo he shouted ldquoShow me somethingBlock me At least slow me down a littlerdquo

Groaning again I climbed to my feet I felt as ifIrsquod been hit by a truck

Stretch dribbled around me circling me his eyeslocked angrily on me His nosebleed had stoppedbut he still had dried blood caked under his nose

I rubbed my chest ldquoI I think I broke a ribrdquo Iwhispered

With a wild shout he slammed into me againThis time I flew backmdashand smashed into the thickwooden post that held up the backboard

ldquoYoursquore going to pay for those contacts Champrdquohe called hulking over me so I couldnrsquot stand updribbling the ball inches from my feet

ldquoYeah Okayrdquo I said trying to rub the pain frommy chest ldquoI said I was sorryrdquo

15

ldquoYoursquore gonna be more sorryrdquo he said Hebounced the ball hard against my bare leg ldquoGet uprdquo

I didnrsquot move ldquoIt was an accidentrdquo I insisted ldquoIreally didnrsquot see you bend down Reallyrdquo

He picked at the caked blood under his noseldquoGet up Letrsquos go Irsquom supposed to teach you some-thingrdquo He laughed really loud Irsquom not sure whyThen he swept a huge hand back through his shortwhite-blond hair and waited for me to stand up Sohe could teach me more lessons

I climbed shakily to my feet I felt so dizzy I hadto grab the wooden post My head ached My ribsached

ldquoCan we uh play a different gamerdquoI asked weakly

ldquoYeah Surerdquo he said ldquoHeymdashthink fastrdquoHe was standing so close and he heaved the ball

so hard it felt like a cannonball as it shot into mystomach

I stumbled back And let out a sharp gaspAnd then realized I couldnrsquot breatheI struggled hard to suck in some air No no air I canrsquot get air I saw bright yellow stars The yellow darkened to

redPain shot through my chest The pain spread

growing sharper sharper I was down on my back now staring up at the

16

17

sky staring up at the dancing red stars I wanted toscream But I had no air

Canrsquot breathe canrsquot breathe at all The stars faded away The color faded from the

sky All black All black nowAnd as I sank into the blackness I heard a voiceA beautiful soft voice from far far away Calling

my nameAn angel I realized Yes Through the blackness I heard an angel call-

ing my nameAnd I knew that I had died

ldquoLuke LukerdquoThe blackness lifted I blinked up at the afternoon

sky The voice was closer now And I recognized itldquoLukerdquoMy chest ached as I took a deep breathHeymdashwhen had I started to breathe againI lifted my head and saw Hannah running across

the basketball court She wore a blue windbreakerunzipped and it flapped up over her shoulders likewings Her red hair glowed in the late afternoon sunlike a halo

Not an angel Just Hannah She turned angrily to Stretch as she ran past him

ldquoWhat did you do to Lukemdashkill himrdquoStretch giggled ldquoProbablyrdquoHannah dropped onto her knees beside me Her

windbreaker fell over my face She tugged it awayldquoAre you alive Can you speakrdquo

ldquoYeah Irsquom okayrdquo I muttered I felt like a jerk Ahelpless jerk

18

Stretch walked up behind Hannah ldquoWhorsquos sherdquohe sneered at me ldquoYour girlfriendrdquo

Hannah spun around to face him ldquoHeymdashIrsquoveseen your girlfriendrdquo

Stretchrsquos mouth dropped open ldquoHuh Whorsquosthatrdquo

ldquoGodzillardquo Hannah declaredI tried to laugh but it made my ribs hurtThe next thing I knew Hannah was on her feet

shoving Stretchrsquos shoulders with both hands forcinghim to back up ldquoEver hear of picking on someoneyour own sizerdquo she demanded

Stretch laughed ldquoNo Tell me about itrdquo Hebacked away from her and raised his big meaty fistsHe grinned and started dancing like a fighter ldquoComeon You want a piece of me You want a piece ofmerdquo Imitating someone in a movie I guess

ldquoOne on onerdquo Hannah challenged Stretch tossed back his head and laughed His

blue eyes rolled around in his tiny head ldquoYou wanta piece of merdquo

ldquoFreestyle shootingrdquo Hannah said tearing off thewindbreaker She tossed it to the side of the courtldquoCome on Stretch Twenty shots each Any kind ofshotrdquo She stared up at him ldquoYoursquoll lose ReallyYoursquoll see Yoursquoll lose to a girlrdquo

His smile faded ldquoYoursquore on the girlsrsquo basketballteammdashrightrdquo

Hannah nodded ldquoIrsquom the centerrdquo

19

Stretch started to dribble the ball slowly in frontof him ldquoTwenty shots Layups or three-pointrdquo

Hannah shrugged ldquoAny kind Yoursquoll loserdquoI climbed to my feet and went over to the side of

the court to watch I still felt a little shaky but I knewI was okay

Stretch didnrsquot hesitate He raised the ball andpushed up a one-handed shot from half-court Theball hit the backboard then the rimmdashand droppedin ldquoOne for onerdquo he said He ran to retrieve the ballldquoIrsquoll keep shooting until I missrdquo

He missed his next shot an easy layup fromunder the basket

Hannahrsquos turn I crossed my fingers and countedto seven three times

ldquoGo Hannahrdquo I cheered holding up my crossedfingers

Hannah sank a basket from the foul line Thenshe drove under the basket and shot another one infrom underneath

My mouth dropped open as she sank eight morebaskets without a miss ldquoWow Go Hannahrdquo

Stretch just stood there looking dumb I couldnrsquottell what he was thinking His face was a total blank

ldquoTen for tenrdquo Hannah declared She bounced theball to Stretch ldquoYou go Just to keep it interestingrdquo

Hannah glanced at me grinned and flashed mea thumbs-up

Stretch wasnrsquot smiling anymore He had a grim

20

determined look on his face as he drove in close toshoot He dropped four straight baskets then missedone from in front of the foul line

He muttered something under his breath andbounced the ball to Hannah

Hannah sank eight more in a row She turned toStretch ldquoEighteen for eighteenrdquo

But he was already jogging back to the gym ascowl on his face

ldquoIrsquom not finishedrdquo Hannah called after himStretch turned back to me ldquoHey Champmdashmaybe

you should take a lesson from your girlfriend Ormaybe you should play on her teamrdquo Shaking hishead he disappeared into the school

A strong wind began to blow across the play-ground It was dark as evening now I picked upHannahrsquos windbreaker and reached out to hand it toher But she took another shot ldquoNineteenrdquo And thenanother ldquoTwenty Yay I winrdquo

I gaped at her ldquoHannahmdashyou never miss Howdo you do thatrdquo

She shrugged ldquoJust luckyrdquoI shivered We started jogging back to the school

ldquoAsk me how lucky I amrdquo I muttered ldquoI made a newenemy today A huge enemyrdquo

Hannah stopped and grabbed my arm ldquoHeymdashItotally forgot why I was looking for you I wanted totell you the coolest newsrdquo

I held the school door open ldquoYeah Whatrdquo

21

Hannahrsquos green eyes flashed ldquoYou know thosephotos I took of my dog I sent them to a magazine inNew York And guess what They paid me five hun-dred dollars for them Theyrsquore going to publish themmdashand do a big story about me Isnrsquot that so totally coolrdquo

ldquoWow Totallyrdquo I saidAnd thatrsquos when I decided my luck had to changeWhy should Hannah have all the luck I can be

lucky too I told myselfItrsquos all attitude Thatrsquos what it takes The right atti-

tudeI changed into my street clothes I made my way

upstairs to stop at my locker Locker 13 Basketball practice had run so late the halls were

empty My shoes clonked noisily on the hard floorMost of the lights had already been turned off

This school is creepy when itrsquos empty I decided Istopped in front of my locker feeling a chill at the backof my neck

I always felt a little weirded-out in front of thelocker For one thing it wasnrsquot with all the otherseventh-grade lockers It was down at the end of theback hall by itself just past a janitorrsquos supply closet

Up and down the hall all the other lockers hadbeen painted over the summer They were all asmooth silvery gray But no one had touched locker13 The old green paint was peeling and had largepatches scraped off Deep scratches crisscrossed upand down the door

22

The locker smelled damp And sour As if it hadonce been filled with rotting leaves or dead fish orsomething

Thatrsquos okay I can deal with this I told myself I took a deep breath New attitude Luke New

attitude Your luck is going to changeI opened my backpack and pulled out a fat black

marker Then I closed the locker door And rightabove the number 13 I wrote the word LUCKY in bigbold capital letters

I stepped back to admire my work LUCKY 13ldquoYessssrdquo I felt better alreadyI shoved the black marker into my backpack and

started to zip it up And thatrsquos when I heard thebreathing

Soft soft breaths So soft I thought I imaginedthem From inside the locker

I crept closer and pressed my ear against the doorI heard a soft hiss Then more breathingThe backpack slipped out of my hands and thud-

ded to the floor I froze And heard another soft hiss inside the locker It

ended in a short cry The back of my neck prickled My breath caught

in my throatWithout realizing it my hand had gripped the

locker handleShould I open the door Should I

23

My hand tightened on the handle I forced myselfto start breathing again

Irsquom imagining this I told myself There canrsquot be anyone breathing inside my lockerI lifted the handle Pulled open the doorldquoHeymdashrdquo I cried out in shock And stared down at

a black catThe cat gazed up at me its eyes red in the dim

hall light The black fur stood up on its back Itpulled back its lips and hissed again

A black catA black cat inside my lockerIrsquom imagining this I thought I blinked hard trying to blink the cat awayA black cat inside locker 13 Could there be any

worse luckldquoHowmdashhow did you get in thererdquo I choked outThe cat hissed again and arched its back It gazed

up at me coldly Then it leaped from the locker floor It darted over

24

my shoes down the hall Running rapidly silentlyHead down tail straight up it turned the first cornerand disappeared

I stared after it my heart pounding I could stillfeel its furry body brushing against my leg I realizedI was still gripping the locker handle

My head spun with questions How long had thecat been in there How did it get inside the lockeddoor Why was there a black cat in my locker Why

I turned and checked out the floor of the lockerJust to make sure there werenrsquot any other creatureshiding in there Then still feeling confused I closedthe door carefully locked it and stepped back

LUCKY 13The black letters appeared to glowldquoYeah Luckyrdquo I muttered picking up my back-

pack ldquoReal lucky A black cat in my lockerrdquo I held my lucky rabbitrsquos foot and kept squeezing

it tightly all the way homeThings are going to change I told myself Things

have got to change

But in the next few weeks my luck didnrsquot changeat all

One day after school I was on my way to the com-puter lab when I ran into Hannah ldquoWhere are yougoingrdquo she asked ldquoWant to come watch my basket-ball gamerdquo

ldquoI canrsquotrdquo I replied ldquoI promised to install some

25

new modems for Mrs Coffey the computer teacherrdquoldquoMr Computer Geek strikes againrdquo she said She

started jogging toward the gymldquoDid you get your science test backrdquo I called

after herShe stopped and turned around with a grin on her

face ldquoYou wonrsquot believe it Luke I didnrsquot have timeto study I had to guess on every question And guesswhat I got a hundred I got them all rightrdquo

ldquoThatrsquos excellentrdquo I called Irsquod studied for thattest for a solid week and I got a seventy-four

I made my way into the computer lab and wavedto Mrs Coffey She was hunched over her desk sort-ing through a tall stack of disks ldquoHey howrsquos itgoingrdquo she called

The computer lab is my second home Ever sinceMrs Coffey learned that I can repair computers andupgrade them and install things in them Irsquove beenher favorite student

And I have to admit I really like her tooWhenever I donrsquot have basketball practice I checkin at the computer lab to talk with her and see whatneeds to be fixed

ldquoLuke how is your animation project comingalongrdquo she asked setting down the disks Shebrushed back her blond hair She has the nicestsmile Everyone likes her because she always seemsto enjoy her classes so much

ldquoIrsquom almost ready to show it to yourdquo I said I sat

26

down in front of a computer and started to removethe back ldquoI think itrsquos really cool And itrsquos going muchfaster now I found a new way to move pixelsaroundrdquo

Her eyes grew wide ldquoReallyrdquoldquoItrsquos a very cool inventionrdquo I said carefully slid-

ing the insides from the computer ldquoThe program ispretty simple I think a lot of animators might like itrdquo

I set down my screwdriver and gazed across theroom at her ldquoMaybe you could help me You knowShow it to people Get it copyrighted or somethingrdquo

ldquoMayberdquo she said She stood up smoothing thehem of her blue sweater over her jeans She came upbehind me and watched as I removed the old modemldquoYoursquore really skillful Luke I think yoursquore going tomake a lot of money with computers some dayrdquo

ldquoYeah Mayberdquo I replied awkwardly ldquoThanksrdquo Ididnrsquot really know what to say Mrs Coffey is so awe-some She is the only teacher who really encouragesme and thinks Irsquom somebody

ldquoI canrsquot wait to show you my animationrdquo I said ldquoWell I have some big newsrdquo she said sud-

denly I turned and caught the excited smile on herface ldquoYoursquore the first person to hear it Luke Can youkeep a secretrdquo

ldquoYeah Okayrdquo I saidldquoI just got the most wonderful job At a really big

software company in Chicago Irsquom leaving school nextweekrdquo

27

The next afternoon I couldnrsquot check in at the com-puter lab I had to hurry to the swimming poolbehind the gym

Swimming is my other big sport I spent all lastsummer working with an instructor at our local poolHe was fast enough to make the Olympic tryouts afew years ago And he really improved my stroke andshowed me a lot of secrets for getting my speed up

So I looked forward to the tryouts for the Squiresswim team I couldnrsquot wear my lucky swimsuitbecause it didnrsquot fit anymore But I wore my luckyshirt to school that day And as I changed for thepool I silently counted to seven three times

As I left the locker room I heard shouts andlaughter echoing off the tile pool walls Feeling myheart start to race I stepped into the steamy air ofthe indoor pool The floor was puddled with warmwater I inhaled the sharp chlorine smell I love thatsmell

Then I bent down and kissed the top of the divingboard I know It sounds weird But itrsquos just some-thing I always do

I turned to the pool Three or four guys werealready in the water At the shallow end I sawStretch He was violently splashing two other guysHe had them cornered at the end of the pool His bighands slapped the water sending up tall waves overthem They pleaded with him to give them a break

Coach Swanson blew his whistle then shouted

28

bull bull bull

for Stretch to cut the horseplay Stretch gave the twoguys one more vicious splash

Then he turned and saw me ldquoHey Champmdashrdquo heshouted his voice booming off the tiles ldquoYoursquoreearly Drowning lessons are next week Ha ha Niceswim trunks Are those your girlfriendrsquos Ha hardquo

A few other guys laughed tooI decided to ignore them I was feeling pretty con-

fident About twenty guys were trying out I knewthere were only six spots open on the team But afterall my work last summer I thought I could make thetop six

We all warmed up for a bit taking easy laps lim-bering up our muscles getting used to the warmwater After a few minutes Coach Swanson made usall climb out and line up at the deep end of the pool

ldquoOkay guys Irsquove got to get to my night job by fiveso wersquore going to keep this simplerdquo the coachannounced ldquoYou have one chance One chanceonly You hear the whistle you do a speed dive intothe pool You do two complete laps any stroke youwant Irsquoll take the first six guys And two alternatesAny questionsrdquo

There werenrsquot anyEveryone leaned forward preparing to dive

Stretch lined up next to me He elbowed me hard inthe side ldquoGive me some room Champ Donrsquot crowdmerdquo

29

Okay so hersquoll come in first I figured rubbing thepain from my side That leaves five other places onthe team

Irsquom good enough I told myself I know I am Iknow I am

The whistle blew All down the row bodiestensed then plunged forward

I started my divemdashand slippedThe pool floormdashso wet My feet slid on the tile Oh noI hit the water with a loud smack A belly flop No kind of dive Struggling to recover I raised my head And saw

everyone way ahead of me One unlucky slip I lowered my head determined to catch up I

started stroking easily forcing myself to be calm Iremembered the slow steady straight-legged kick myinstructor had taught me

I sped up I passed some guys Hit the wall andstarted back

I can do this I told myself I can still make theteam

Faster At the end of the second lap the finish was a furi-

ous blur Blue water Thrashing arms and legs Loudbreaths Bobbing heads

I tried to shut out everything and concentrate on

30

my stroke ignore everyone else and swimAt last my hand hit the pool wall I ducked under

then surfaced blowing out water I wiped my hairaway from my eyes The taste of chlorine was in mymouth Water running down my face I glancedaround

I didnrsquot finish last Some guys were still swim-ming I squinted down the line of swimmers who hadfinished How many How many were ahead of me

ldquoLukemdashyoursquore seventhrdquo Coach Swansonannounced He made a large check on his clipboardldquoFirst alternate See you at practicerdquo

I was still too out-of-breath to replySeventhI let out a long sigh I felt so disappointed I could

do better than seventh I knew If only I hadnrsquotslipped

As I started to trudge back to the locker roomStretch strode up beside me ldquoHey Champrdquo Heslapped my bare back with his open hand so hard itmade a loud smack ldquoThanks for making me look sogoodrdquo

I got dressed quickly standing in a corner bymyself A few guys came over to say congratulationsBut I didnrsquot feel I deserved it

Across the locker room Stretch was still in hisswim trunks He was having a great time smacking

31

guys with his towel really making the towel snapagainst their bare skin laughing his head off

I tossed my towel in the basket Then I steppedup to the mirror over the sinks to comb my hair Aceiling lightbulb was out and I had to lean over thesink to see

I had just started to comb my wet hair backmdashwhen I saw the jagged crack along the length of theglass

ldquoWhoardquo I stopped combing and stepped backA broken mirror Seven years bad luck for some-

oneI reached into my khakis pocket and squeezed

my rabbitrsquos foot three times Then I turned back tothe mirror and began combing my hair again

Something was wrong I blinked Once TwiceA red light Some kind of red glare in the mirror

glassI squinted into the glassmdashand let out a cryThe red glare was coming from a pair of eyesmdash

two red eyes glowing like hot coalsTwo angry red eyes floating in the glass Floating

beside my reflectionI could see my confused expression as I stared at

the frightening red eyes as I watched the eyesslide across the glass slide slide closer until their red glow covered my eyes

32

My horrified reflection stared out at me with thefiery glowing eyes

And I opened my mouth and let out a long terri-fied scream

33

Over my scream I heard heavy footsteps behindme And then I heard a voicemdashStretchrsquos voiceldquoHeymdashget used to itrdquo

I spun around He grinned at me ldquoGet used to itChamp Thatrsquos your face It makes other peoplescream toordquo

ldquoNordquo I cried ldquoNo Itrsquos not Donrsquot you seemdashrdquoCoach Swanson burst in behind Stretch ldquoLukemdash

whatrsquos wrongrdquoldquoMy eyesrdquo I cried ldquoLook Are they red Are

theyrdquoCoach Swanson and Stretch exchanged glances ldquoWhat is his problemrdquo Stretch murmuredCoach Swanson stepped up close and examined

my eyes ldquoWhatrsquos wrong with you Luke Itrsquos just thechlorine from the pool Your eyes will be okay in a lit-tle whilerdquo

ldquoChlorine Huh Nordquo I insisted Then I glancedinto the mirror And saw my normal brown eyes gaz-ing back at me

34

No glowing eyes No red eyes burning in the glasslike an evil movie monster

ldquoUh well rdquo I rubbed my eyes They didnrsquotburn or anything They felt okay

I turned back to Stretch and Coach Swanson Ididnrsquot know what to say to them They were both stillstaring at me as if I were nuts

And maybe I was Black cats jumping out of my locker Glowing red

eyes in the mirrorldquoWell see you at practicerdquo I saidStretch laughed ldquoNot if I see you first Ha hardquoI laughed too It wasnrsquot funny but I wanted to

sound calm again normalAs I followed them out of the locker room I real-

ized I was trembling Why were these strange things happening to me

35

After dinner I was supposed to go to the mall withHannah She wanted to buy me some computer soft-ware for my birthday But she wanted me to pick itout

That was really nice of her But at the last minuteI decided not to go

I was still feeling weird from the swim tryoutsAnd I wanted to work on my animation project If Iworked really hard I might be able to get it finishedin time to show Mrs Coffey before she left school

I went up to my room and booted up the anima-tion But I couldnrsquot concentrate I kept staring at thefour-leaf clover inside a block of clear Lucite I keepon my desk And I kept jumping up and running tothe mirror to check my eyes

Perfectly normal Not glowingSo what happened What happened to me in that

locker room I asked myself I tried to convincemyself there was something wrong with the mirror

36

The red glow was because of the way the light hit thecrack in the mirror Or something

No That didnrsquot make senseThe phone rang a little before ten orsquoclock And it

was Hannah sounding very breathless and excitedldquoLukemdashyou shouldrsquove come You shouldrsquove

comerdquoI had to hold the phone away from my ear

Hannah was shouting so loud ldquoWhy What hap-penedrdquo I asked

ldquoI won itrdquo she declared ldquoDo you believe it Iwonrdquo

ldquoExcuse me Hannahmdashwhat are you talkingaboutrdquo

ldquoYou know the raffle at the mall That huge redSUV Itrsquos been on display there for a monthThousands of people put tickets in the boxThousands AndmdashandmdashI just happened to be walk-ing by when they had the drawing tonight Andmdashrdquo

ldquoYou didnrsquotrdquo I shriekedldquoYes Yes I won it I won the SUVrdquo ldquoWowrdquo I slumped onto my bed I actually felt

faint My heart was pounding as if I had wonldquoYou shouldrsquove seen me when they called out my

namerdquo Hannah gushed ldquoI screamed I just stoodthere and screamedrdquo

She screamed again shrieked at the top of herlungs A long high joyful scream

37

ldquoHannahmdashthatrsquos so awesomerdquo I said I donrsquotthink she heard me She was still screaming

ldquoMy family is so happy Luke You should seethem They are dancing around the living roomrdquo

ldquoThatrsquos so greatrdquo I saidHannah lowered her voice ldquoI just feel bad about

one thing Luke I was so crazed I was so berserk Iforgot why I was at the mall I forgot all about buy-ing you a birthday giftrdquo

I stood up I picked up the block with the four-leafclover inside and smoothed it between my handsldquoThatrsquos okayrdquo I told Hannah ldquoI just decided what Ireally want for my birthdayrdquo

ldquoWhatrsquos thatrdquo she askedldquoI want your luckrdquoHannah laughed She thought I was kidding But

of course I was seriousldquoAre you going to school tomorrowrdquo she askedldquoHuh Yeah sure Why notrdquoldquoTomorrow is Friday the thirteenthrdquo she said ldquoI

know how superstitious you are I thought maybeyoursquod stay home and hide under the bed all dayrdquo

ldquoHa hardquo I said But I felt a cold tingle at the backof my neck ldquoIrsquoll be thererdquo I told Hannah ldquoIrsquom nottotally wacko you knowrdquo

But Irsquoll wear my lucky shirt I thought And Irsquolltake my four-leaf clover in my backpack And Irsquoll askMom to pack my lucky sandwich for lunchmdashpeanutbutter and mayonnaise

38

ldquoI have to go to school tomorrowrdquo I told HannahldquoI have basketball practice after schoolrdquo

ldquoHowrsquos practice goingrdquo Hannah askedI chuckled ldquoNot bad So far I havenrsquot gotten any

splinters from sitting on the benchrdquoHannah laughed I could hear shouts and wild

laughter in the background ldquoIrsquove got to gordquo she saidshouting over the racket ldquoMy family is still celebrat-ing my winning the SUV Byerdquo

She clicked off before I could reply

That night I dreamed about locker 13In the dream I stepped up to the locker Someone

had taped a calendar to the door I came closer andsaw that Friday the thirteenth had been circled inred

I started to rip the calendar off the locker doorBut I stopped when I heard loud breathing Hoarsewheezing sounds Like someone was having troublebreathing

I touched the locker door And it was burning hotI screamed in shock and pulled my hand awayAgain I heard the hoarse breathing from inside

the locker And then I heard a tiny voice cry outldquoPlease get me outrdquo

In the dream I knew I was dreaming I wanted tolift myself out of the dream But I was stuck thereAnd I knew I had no choice I had to pull open thelocker door and see who was in there

39

ldquoPlease I want out Get me outrdquo the tinyfrightened voice called

Even though I knew I was dreaming I still felt sofrightened Real fear that makes you shake whetheryoursquore awake or asleep

I watched myself grip the door handle Slowlymdashso slowlymdashI pulled the locker door open

And I stared in horror at the figure huddled insidethe locker Because it was ME

It was me inside the locker hugging myself trem-bling all over It was memdashand my eyes started toglow My eyes glowed out from the dark locker red asfire

And as I stared at myself stared at those ugly evilred eyes I watched my face begin to change Iwatched hair grow out of my nostrils Long braids ofthick black hair sliding out of my nosemdashdown downto the locker floor

Beneath the shining red eyes thick blacktwisted ropes of hair were pouring from my nose Outof the locker Piling onto the hall floor Curlingaround me as I watched

Yes The long hair flowed from my nose andsnaked around me as I watched in horror Curledaround me covering me in warm scratchy hairCovering me like a big furry coat and then tighten-ing Tightening Tightening around my chestTightening around my face Wrapping me like amummy Wrapping me in my ghastly nose hair

40

I woke up one hand tightly wrapped around theLucite block with the four-leaf clover Gray morningsunlight seeped through my bedroom window Myroom was so cold cold as a freezer

ldquoLuke what are you doing up there Yoursquore laterdquoMomrsquos voice shattered the frozen silence

ldquoA dreamrdquo I murmured A hoarse laugh escapedmy throat My eyes darted around the room NormalEverything normal

ldquoHurry Luke Itrsquos really laterdquo Momrsquos voicesounded so good to me

I followed her order I hurried I got showereddressed ate breakfast and arrived at school withabout two minutes to spare The halls were prettyempty Most kids had already gone to their home-rooms

I glanced at the clock on the tile wall Then joggedto the end of the back hall to toss my jacket into mylocker

But a few feet from my locker I stopped with agasp

What was that on the door to locker 13I crept closer A calendarYes Someone had taped a calendar to the door

And and today Friday the thirteenth was cir-cled in red

41

ldquoMy dreamrdquo I murmuredThat horrifying dream Itrsquos coming true I realized

Irsquom going to open the door and itrsquos going to cometrue

42

I stared at the calendar at the number 13 circledin red marker

Last nightrsquos dream played itself again through mymind I shuddered My legs and arms itched I couldpractically feel the disgusting hair curling around myskin

With an angry cry I ripped the calendar off thedoor and crumpled it in my hand

Now I expected to hear the heavy breathing frominside the locker And the tiny criesmdashmy criesmdashbeg-ging to be let out

But I didnrsquot wait ldquoIrsquom not opening itrdquo I said outloud

No way am I going to allow the dream to cometrue

I tossed the wadded-up calendar sheet to thefloor Then I spun around and began running toclass The hall was empty My shoes thudded loudlyon the hard floor as I ran

Irsquoll keep my coat with me I decided Irsquoll just drag

43

it around with me all day I donrsquot need to open thelocker

The bell rang as I reached my homeroom doorMr Perkins looked up as I burst into the roomldquoGood morning Lukerdquo he said ldquoRunning a little latethis morningrdquo

ldquoA littlerdquo I replied breathlessly Unzipping myjacket I started to my seat

ldquoWould you like time to go hang your coat in yourlockerrdquo Mr Perkins asked

ldquoUh no Thatrsquos okayrdquo I lowered my backpackto the floor and dropped into the chair ldquoIrsquoll just keep itrdquo

A few kids were staring at me Mr Perkins noddedand turned back to the papers he was reading

I took a deep breath and settled back against thechair I rubbed the right sleeve of my lucky shirtseven times

That dream is not going to come true I toldmyself No way I wonrsquot let it

Of course I wasnrsquot thinking clearly How couldthat crazy dream come true

If I had stopped for one second to think about itI would have realized the whole idea was insane

But today was Friday the thirteenth And I nevercan think clearly on Friday the thirteenth I admit itIrsquom always a little crazy on that unlucky day

I glanced up to see that Mr Perkins had beenreading the morning announcements I hadnrsquot heard

44

a word he said I pulled the four-leaf clover from mybackpack twirled it in my hand and wished for goodluck for the rest of the day

At noon I found Hannah at a table against theback wall of the lunchroom She was sitting all byherself staring down at her brown lunchbag whichshe hadnrsquot opened

ldquoHi Whassuprdquo I dropped across from herldquoHirdquo she said softly without raising her eyes

ldquoHowrsquos it goingrdquoldquoWell pretty okay for a Friday the thirteenthrdquo I

said Actually the morning had flown by without anyproblems at all

I expected Hannah to make some kind of jokeabout how superstitious I am But she didnrsquot say aword

I pulled the sandwich from my bag and started tounwrap the foil ldquoMy lucky sandwichrdquo I saidldquoPeanut butter and mayonnaiserdquo

ldquoYumrdquo she said rolling her eyes She finallylooked at me She appeared tired Her eyes werebloodshot red as if shersquod been crying Her hair wasa mess and her face was gray

ldquoHow come yoursquore wearing your coatrdquo sheasked

ldquoOh uh no reasonrdquo I said ldquoI was kind ofcoldrdquo

She nodded glumly

45

ldquoDid you come to school in the new SUVrdquo Iasked

She shook her head ldquoWe donrsquot have it yet Dadhas to go fill out a lot of papersrdquo She let out a longsigh

I lowered my sandwich ldquoAre you feeling okayrdquo Iasked

She didnrsquot answer Instead she sighed again andstared down at the table

I poked her lunchbag with one finger ldquoWhat doyou have for lunchrdquo

She shrugged ldquoJust some fruit Irsquom not very hun-gryrdquo She opened the bag reached a hand in andpulled out a bright yellow banana

She struggled with the skin Then finally peeled itopen

ldquoOh yuckrdquo Her face twisted in disgust Shedropped the banana to the table

Inside the skin the banana was completely rot-ten Just a soft pile of black mush A horrible soursmellmdashlike ripe vomitmdashfloated up from it

Hannah shoved the banana away ldquoSick Thatrsquosreally sickrdquo

ldquoThe skin is perfectly freshrdquo I said ldquoHow couldthe banana be so rottenrdquo

ldquoI think I have an applerdquo Hannah said glumlyShe tore the bag apart and pulled out a red appleShe twirled it between her handsmdashthen stopped witha gasp

46

I saw the deep dark hole on the side of the appleAnd as we both stared at it a fat brown wormmdashatleast two inches longmdashcurled out from inside Andthen another And another

The worms dropped from the apple onto thetabletop

ldquoI donrsquot believe thisrdquo Hannah shrieked Shescraped her chair back so hard it toppled over

And before I could say anything she was runningfrom the room

After school I looked for Hannah on my way tobasketball practice I was worried about her She hadacted so weird at lunch Not like herself at all

I reminded myself that it was Friday the thir-teenth And sometimes people act a little weird onthis day

But not Hannah Hannah is the least supersti-tious person I know She walks under ladders all thetime and she hugs black cats and doesnrsquot think athing of it

And why should she Hannah has to be the luck-iest person on earth

Lockers slammed as kids prepared to go home Istarted to the gym then turned back I donrsquot want tocarry my coat and backpack to the gym I decidedIrsquom going to stuff them in my locker

I hesitated as the locker came into view at the endof the hall I read the words on the door LUCKY 13 Of

47

course I remembered my nightmaremdashand the calen-dar from my nightmare taped on the locker door

But I had to open the locker I didnrsquot want to carrymy stuff around with me for the rest of the year

ldquoHey Lukerdquo I saw Darnell Cross waving to mefrom the doorway to the science lab ldquoAre the Squiresgoing to beat Davenportrdquo

ldquoTheyrsquore not so toughrdquo I called back ldquoWe couldtake themrdquo

ldquoYou going to playrdquo Darnell asked He grinnedbecause he already knew the answer

ldquoAs soon as I grow taller than Stretchrdquo I repliedHe laughed and disappeared back into the lab I stepped up to locker 13 I brought my face close

to the door ldquoAnyone in thererdquo I called inSilenceldquoJust checkingrdquo I said I grabbed the door handle

I was feeling pretty confident Friday the thirteenthwas two-thirds over and so far nothing terriblyunlucky had happened to me

I squeezed my rabbitrsquos foot for luck Then I tooka deep breathmdashand pulled open the locker

48

Nothing unusual inside the locker I realized I was still gripping the rabbitrsquos foot

inside my pocket I let go of it and slipped my back-pack off my shoulders

I studied the locker carefully A bunch of booksand notebooks on the top shelf where I had leftthem My old gray sweatshirt lay crumpled on thelocker floor

No black cats No one breathing or crying orshooting piles of hair from his nose

I let out a long sigh of relief Then I tossed thebackpack on top of the balled-up sweatshirt Shovedmy jacket onto the hook on the back wall

I started to slam the door shut when I spottedsomething at my feet

My shoe kicked it and it rolled against the lockerbottom then bounced back

A ballI bent down and picked it up I raised it close to

my face

49

ldquoWhoardquo Not a ball A tiny yellow skull a littlelarger than a Ping-Pong ball

It had an open-mouthed grin revealing two rowsof gray teeth I ran my finger over the teeth Theywere hard and bumpy

I squeezed it The little skull was made of somekind of hard rubber

The eyesmdashsunken deep in the socketsmdashwere redglass They glowed in the hall lights like tiny rubies

ldquoWhere did you come fromrdquo I asked itI turned back to the locker Did the skull fall out

of the locker How did it get in there Was someoneplaying some kind of Friday the thirteenth headgame with me

I decided that had to be the answerI rolled the skull around in my hand a few times

I poked my finger against the glowing red glass eyes Then I tucked it into my pants pocket I slammed

the locker shutmdashand headed to practice

ldquoLook alive Heads up Look aliverdquo CoachBendix was shouting

I ran out of the locker room and grabbed a bas-ketball off the ball rack I began dribbling around thefloor

We were having one of Coachrsquos free-for-all prac-tices That meant we had to keep moving keepplayingmdashrun dribble pass shoot play defense Do

50

everything all at once in a big free-for-all I dribbled slowly across the floor concentrating

hard Trying not to lose the dribble I saw Stretch turntoward me He stuck out both hands and moved for-ward ready to block me

I decided to try and fake him out I dribbled leftmdashand moved right I edged past him easily Movedunder the basket And sent up a shot that sailedacross the gym and dropped in

ldquoHeymdashone for onerdquo I cried happilyldquoLucky shotrdquo Stretch calledI took the ball and moved back to the top of the

key I sent up a two-handed jumpshot It soared overthe rimmdashand dropped through the basket with a softswish

ldquoYesrdquo I pumped my fists in the airI didnrsquot have long to celebrate I turned and saw

Stretch barreling toward me dribbling hard leaningforward with grim determination

Hersquos going to charge right over me I realized Hersquosgoing to flatten me

Guys backed out of his way as Stretch flew acrossthe floor

ldquoLook out Lukerdquo someone shoutedI froze for a moment Then I ducked to the left

Stuck out my hand and slapped the ball away fromStretch

He made a wild grab for it But I dribbled it out of

51

his reach Then I spun around and sent a wild highshot into the air The ball hit the glass backboardmdashand sank through the net

ldquoWowrdquoldquoWay to go LukerdquoldquoThree for threerdquoThe other players were in shockStretch shook his head ldquoFeeling lucky today

Think fastrdquo He pulled back his long armmdashandheaved the ball at my chest with all his strength

I caught it easily Dribbled it three times Shotmdashand dropped another basket

Stretch scowled ldquoI donrsquot believe thisrdquo he mut-tered shaking his head

I donrsquot either I thought to myself Irsquove never shotfour baskets in a row in my life

I turned and saw Coach Bendix watching me Wasthis my big chance Stretch and another player werepassing the ball back and forth moving across thefloor

I shot forward Intercepted Stretchrsquos pass Droveto the basket And sent up an easy layup ldquoTwopointsrdquo I cried

With an angry grunt Stretch reached for therebound But I pushed it out of his hands Grabbed itSpun Shot again ldquoTwo pointsrdquo

Stretch cried out angrily He bumped me hard

52

from behind I think he would have flattened me onthe spot But he saw that Coach Bendix was runningover to us

Coach slapped me on the back ldquoWay to goLukerdquo he boomed ldquoWay to show real improvementIrsquom impressed Keep it up okay Irsquom going to give yousome playing time next Fridayrdquo

ldquoHeymdashthanksrdquo I replied breathlesslyI saw Stretch scowl Saw his face turn an angry

redI grabbed a ball and dribbled away I wanted to

shout and jump for joy Had my luck finally changedIt seemed that way Suddenly I could pass and

jump and shoot and play defense like I never couldbefore It was as if I was possessed or somethingPossessed by an all-star athlete

In the locker room after practice Stretch ignoredme But other guys slapped me on the back andflashed me a thumbs-up

ldquoLookinrsquo good LukerdquoldquoWay to go manrdquoldquoGo SquiresrdquoI was feeling really happy Like a new person As I

changed into my street clothes I felt the little skull inmy pants pocket I pulled it out and gazed at itsmoothing my thumb over the hard rubber

ldquoAre you my new good-luck charmrdquo I asked itThe tiny red eyes glowed back at me I kissed it

gave it a smack on top of its yellow head and shoved

53

it back into my pants pocketThat skull is going everywhere with me I decided

Itrsquos got to be lucky Itrsquos got to beAs I walked home I kept reliving my great bas-

ketball triumph I pictured my long perfect jump-shots again And I saw myself stealing the ball fromStretchrsquos hands driving right past him and scoringEmbarrassing him Embarrassing Stretch again andagain

Wow What a dayIt was a cold gray afternoon Dark clouds hung

low over the nearly bare trees It felt more like winterthan fall

A few blocks from home I crossed a streetmdashandheard a short cry

A long low evergreen hedge ran across the frontyard on the corner I stopped gazing over the hedgeHad the cry come from the yard

I listened hard Down the block a car doorslammed A dog started to bark The wind made awhistling sound through the phone lines overhead

And then I heard itmdashanother sharp crymdashlongerthis time

A baby It sounded like a babyrsquos cryldquoOwwwww OwwwwwwrdquoI lowered my gaze to the hedgemdashand saw the

creature making the shrill criesA cat No A small orange-and-white kitten

54

It appeared to be stuck in the prickly brambles ofthe hedge

ldquoOwwwww OwwwwwwrdquoCarefully I bent down and gently lifted the cat out

with both hands As I cupped my hands around it itstopped crying immediately But it was still breathinghard its white chest moving rapidly up and down Irubbed its head trying to soothe it

ldquoYoursquore okay little kittenrdquo I whisperedAnd then I heard another cry A loud shriekI looked up to see a large woman running at me

angrily Her face was bright red and she waved herarms furiously

ldquoOh nordquo I muttered I nearly dropped the catWhy is she so angryWhat have I done

55

ldquoThe kittenmdashrdquo she cried shoving through abreak in the hedge

ldquoImdashIrsquom sorryrdquo I stammered ldquoI didnrsquot know ImdashrdquoldquoWhere did you find herrdquo the woman demanded

her face still bright red ldquoIn in the hedgerdquoldquoOh thank you Thank yourdquo the woman said

She took the kitten from my hands and raised it toher cheek ldquoSasha where did you gordquo

Irsquom not in trouble I finally realized The womanis happymdashnot angry

ldquoSasha has been missing for two daysrdquo thewoman told me pressing the kitten against her faceldquoI offered a reward and everything I almost gave uphoperdquo

I let out a long sigh of relief ldquoShe was right thererdquoI said pointing ldquoIn the hedge I think she wascaught in itrdquo

ldquoWell shersquos fine now thanks to yourdquo Still press-ing the kitten to her cheek the woman pushed

56

through the hedge and started to the house ldquoWhat isyour namerdquo

ldquoLukerdquoldquoWell follow me Luke Irsquoll get your reward for

yourdquoldquoHuh Reward No Reallyrdquo I started to back

awayldquoYou saved Sasharsquos liferdquo the woman said ldquoYou

did a wonderful thing And I insist you take thereward I offeredrdquo

I saw that I had no choice I followed her to herkitchen door

A few minutes later she counted out five twenty-dollar bills and pressed them into my hand ldquoThankyou Luke You really did your good deed for todayrdquo

A hundred dollarsA hundred dollars rewardMy luck really is starting to change I decidedWhen I got home a big surprise awaited me Mom had made my favorite dinnermdashmeat loaf

mashed potatoes and gravy And a coconut cake fordessert

ldquoItrsquos not even my birthdayrdquo I exclaimedldquoI just felt like doing something nice for you

todayrdquo Mom said She brushed back my hair withone hand ldquoI know Friday the thirteenth is always ahard day for yourdquo

ldquoNot todayrdquo I told her grinning ldquoNot todayrdquo

57

After my second slice of coconut cake I went upto my room and started my homework I spent aboutan hour writing out the answers to my scienceassignment

It shouldnrsquot have taken that long But I kept tak-ing out the twenty-dollar bills counting them againand dreaming about what I could buy with them

After science I worked on my computer anima-tion Irsquod been having trouble with the last section Icouldnrsquot get anything to move the way I wanted

But tonight my good luck continued I had notrouble at all The images all slid together perfectly Ialmost finished the project

A little after nine I decided to give Hannah a callShersquod acted so weird at lunch that afternoon Ithought maybe she was sick or something

I called to see if she was feeling better But I couldtell by the way she answered the phone that she stillwasnrsquot her old self

I tried to cheer her up I told her about my tri-umph at basketball practice And about the hundred-dollar reward for finding the lost kitten

ldquoVery coolrdquo Hannah said But her voice showedno enthusiasm at all

ldquoAnd then Mom made all of my favorite things fordinnerrdquo I exclaimed

ldquoLuckyrdquo Hannah mutteredldquoWhatrsquos your problemrdquo I demanded ldquoWhatrsquos

wrong with you todayrdquo

58

A long silence at her endFinally she said ldquoI guess Irsquom just in a bad mood

I fell off my bike on the way home this afternoonrdquoI groaned ldquoOh no Are you okayrdquoldquoNot reallyrdquo she replied ldquoI scraped all the skin

off my right hand And I twisted my ankle prettybadrdquo

ldquoWowrdquo I muttered ldquoBad newsrdquoldquoEspecially since I have a basketball game tomor-

rowrdquo Hannah sighedldquoThink yoursquoll be able to playrdquo I askedldquoMayberdquo she said glumly ldquoMaybe Irsquoll come watch your gamerdquo I saidThere was a long silence And then Hannah said

ldquoLuke therersquos something something I have to tellyourdquo

ldquoExcuse merdquo I said She was whispering so lowI could barely hear her

ldquoI really should tell you something But rdquoI pressed the phone tighter to my ear ldquoWhat

What is itrdquo ldquoWell rdquoAnother long silenceldquoI canrsquotrdquo she said finally I heard a click and the

line went silentThe next morning my good luck came to an end

59

At least I thought my good luck had endedWhen I arrived at my science class I searched

my backpack for the homework questions Not thereI took everything outmdashevery paper every bookevery pencil

Not there I had spent over an hour on thatassignment last night And Irsquod left it at home

Now I was in major trouble Miss Creamer didnrsquotaccept late homework And homework counted forfifty percent of the grade in her class

My stomach tightened with dread as she enteredthe science lab to begin class

How could I be so stupid ldquoGood morning everyonerdquo she began ldquoI have an

announcement to make Itrsquos about last nightrsquos home-workrdquo

The room grew silentldquoI have to apologize to all of yourdquo Miss Creamer

continued ldquoI gave the wrong assignment Thosewerenrsquot the right questions Irsquom really sorry You

60

donrsquot have to turn it in Just tear it up and throw itawayrdquo

Cheers rang out Some kids gleefully ripped theirpapers into shreds A big celebration

Yes More good luck for me I thought happilyI was on a hot streak Later when Miss Creamer

handed back last weekrsquos test I had the only A in theclass

In the lunchroom I grabbed the last slice of pizzaon the counter

All the kids behind me in line groaned Darnellcame up and offered to pay me five dollars for it Butno deal

After school I stopped by the computer lab to seeMrs Coffey She told me her plans had suddenlychanged She wouldnrsquot be leaving school for anothertwo weeks

I cheered That meant I had time to finish mycomputer animation project and show it to her beforeI left

ldquoLuke I was talking about you to my friend whoowns Linkups You knowmdashthe computer store onHighlands I told him about how you can do any-thing with computers fix them upgrade them Hesaid you might be able to come into the store onSaturdays and help out in the service departmentrdquo

I gasped ldquoReallyrdquoShe nodded ldquoHersquos a really nice guy and hersquos

always looking for people who can fix machines He

61

said he couldnrsquot give you a real job since yoursquore onlytwelve But he could pay you five dollars an hourrdquo

ldquoWow I cried ldquoThatrsquos awesome Thanks MrsCoffeyrdquo

I practically flew down the stairs to the gym Iwanted to flap my arms and take off So many greatthings were happening to me I couldnrsquot believe it

Hannahrsquos basketball game had already startedwhen I stepped into the gym I found a seat in thebleachers and glanced up at the scoreboard TheSquirettes were already losing ten to two

Whatrsquos going on I wondered How can Hannahrsquosteam be losing so badly The team they were play-ingmdashthe Bee Stingers from Elwood Middle Schoolmdashwere the worst team in the city

I turned and glanced around the bleachers Therewere only about twenty kids watching the game Andfour or five parents clustered together at the top ofthe bleachers

ldquoGo Sharonrdquo one of the mothers yelledBut the gym was pretty quiet I guess because the

Squirettes were playing so badlyI leaned forward and tried to concentrate on the

game Sharon McCombs the tallest girl in the Shawnee

Valley eighth grade tossed the ball in A pass Thenanother pass which was almost stolen by a BeeStinger

Hannah grabbed the ball She turned and started

62

to dribble to the basket After about three steps shetripped The ball bounced away as she fell flat on herstomach

A Bee Stinger grabbed it just before it went out ofbounds She dribbled all the way down the floormdashand scored easily before Hannah had even pickedherself up off the floor Twelve to two

I cupped my hands around my mouth ldquoGet rsquoemHannahrdquo I shouted

She didnrsquot look up She was fiddling with thewhite bandage on her hand

A minute later Hannah had the ball again Inclose She jumped and shot And missed Missed thenet the backboard Missed everything

I leaned on my hands and watched the game insilence Hannah missed six or seven shots in a rowShe tripped over the ball hit the floor hard and gota huge bright red floor burn on her knee Her pass-es to her teammates went wild She kept losing theball to the other team Tripping over her own feetBumping into other players

It was sad She didnrsquot look like Hannah at allThe half-time score was Bee Stingers twenty-five

Squirettes five When the team came out to start the second half

Hannah sat down on the bench and didnrsquot play Whatrsquos going on I wondered I climbed down from the bleachers and walked

over to her on the bench

63

ldquoLuke you came to a bad-news gamerdquo she saidshaking her head

ldquoWhatrsquos wrongrdquo I asked ldquoYoursquore hurt Fromyour bike accident yesterdayrdquo

She watched the Bee Stingers score another bas-ket Then she turned to me ldquoNo Itrsquos not because ofmy accidentrdquo she whispered Her eyes were dullwatery Her skin was so pale

ldquoSo what is itrdquo I askedHannah frowned ldquoItrsquos all because I lost my good-

luck charmrdquo she said I gaped at her ldquoHuhrdquoldquoItrsquos what brought me all that amazing great

luckrdquo Hannah said ldquoI have to find it As soon as Ilost it my luck changedrdquo

My mouth dropped open I realized my heart hadstarted to pound

ldquoItrsquos a tiny skullrdquo Hannah continued ldquoA little yel-low skull ImdashI never went anywhere without itrdquo

She tugged at the bandage on her hand Then sheraised her eyes to me ldquoYou havenrsquot seen it any-where have you Lukerdquo

64

My legs suddenly felt weak I gripped the back ofthe bench and stared at Hannah I could feel my facegrowing red

I could feel the skull in my jeans pocket I knew Ishould pull it out and hand it to her

But how could II needed the good luck too Hannah had enjoyed

so much good luck for so long Mine had just startedFor the first time in my life I was having a little goodluck

How could I go back to being a loser againHannahrsquos watery eyes locked on mine ldquoHave you

seen it Lukerdquo she repeated ldquoHave you seen it any-whererdquo

My face burned So many frantic thoughtswhirred through my head

I really needed that good-luck charm Ever sinceI found it my life had changed I was a new person

But Hannah was my friend My best friend in the

65

whole world She was always there for me when Ineeded her

I couldnrsquot lie to hermdashcould IldquoNordquo I said ldquoI havenrsquot seen it anywhererdquoHannahrsquos eyes remained on me for a few seconds

more Then she nodded slowly and turned back tothe game

My heart was pounding hard now I had a heavyfeeling in the pit of my stomach ldquoWhere did you loseitrdquo I asked

She didnrsquot reply She cupped her hands aroundher mouth and cheered on her teammates

I backed away from the bench I felt like a totalcreep I jammed my hand into my pocket Wrappedmy fingers around the rubber skull

Give it back to her Luke a voice in my headurged The voice of goodness The voice of friend-ship

But I knew I wasnrsquot going to give it back I wasalready trotting out of the gym and down the hall tothe exit

I need it a little while longer I told myself Just alittle while

Long enough to win the basketball champi-onship Long enough to get really good grades for thefirst time in my life Long enough to impress myfriends to get on the swim team to make aname for myself long enough to be a winner

I squeezed the little skull all the way home Irsquoll

66

give it back to Hannah in a couple of weeks I toldmyself Two weeks thatrsquos all Maybe three And thenIrsquoll give it back to her And she can have her goodluck again No harm done

No harm donemdashright

The phone was ringing when I stepped in thekitchen door I tossed down my backpack and ran toanswer it

To my surprise it was Mrs Coffey ldquoLuke Irsquom glad I caught yourdquo she said ldquoI have

some really good news You know my friend at thecomputer storerdquo

ldquoYesrdquoldquoI spoke to him after you left the computer lab

And he said you could start work at his store onSaturdayrdquo

ldquoThatrsquos greatrdquo I exclaimedldquoBut thatrsquos not my good newsrdquo Mrs Coffey con-

tinued ldquoHe has a friend who is putting together ashow of computer animation And his friend is veryinterested in seeing your workrdquo

ldquoReallyrdquo I criedldquoHe needs short pieces for his animation show

right awayrdquo she said ldquoIf he likes your piece he saidhe will pay a thousand dollars for itrdquo

ldquoWowrdquo ldquoIs it finished Lukerdquo Mrs Coffey asked ldquoIs it

ready to show to himrdquo

67

I thought hard ldquoAlmostrdquo I said ldquoI need two moredays on it Maybe threerdquo

ldquoWell try to hurryrdquo Mrs Coffey said ldquoI think hehas most of the pieces he needs Hersquos going to beshowing them all over the country It would be ashame to miss outmdashrdquo

ldquoIt sure wouldrdquo I interrupted ldquoIrsquoll get right towork on it Mrs Coffey And thanks Thanks a lotrdquo

Excited I hurried up to my room and turned onthe computer Maybe I can get some work done on itbefore dinner I decided

I heard Mom come in downstairs I called hi toher and said I was working on my computer project

A few minutes later the phone rang again I heardMom talking for a while Then I heard her running upthe stairs She burst into my room ran up behind meand wrapped me in a big hug

ldquoHuh Whatrsquos that forrdquo I criedldquoThat was Mariorsquos Steakhouse on the phonerdquo

Mom said grinning ldquoYou know Your favorite restau-rant You won Luke Remember that drawing we allentered the last time we were there Well you wonit They picked your card You won dinner for thewhole family Twelve dinners One a month for thenext yearrdquo

ldquoWowrdquo I jumped up from the computerLaughing and cheering Mom and I did a happy littledance around the room

ldquoI canrsquot believe you won that drawing That is so

68

terrificrdquo Mom exclaimed ldquoWersquore going to have tostart calling you Lucky Lukerdquo

ldquoYeah Lucky Lukerdquo I repeated ldquoI like thatThatrsquos me Lucky Lukerdquo

I worked on my animation until nearly midnightI stared into the glow of the monitor until I couldnrsquotsee straight and the images became a fuzzy blur

ldquoAlmost finishedrdquo I said yawningI changed into pajamas brushed my teeth got

ready for sleep But just before I climbed into bed Ipulled out my lucky little skull for one last look

I held it gently in my hand and studied it rubbingmy fingers over the smooth top of the skull The tinyred jewel eyes glowed brightly

I rubbed my fingers over the hard bumpy teeth Itwirled the skull in my hand

ldquoMy little good-luck charmrdquo I whisperedI set it down carefully on my dresser in front of

the mirror Then I turned out the lights and climbedinto bed

I settled back on my pillows pulling the quilt upto my chin I yawned loudly The mattress creakedunder me Waiting for sleep I stared into the dark-ness

The curtains were pulled so no light washed infrom the street The room was completely blackexcept for a faint red glow

The glow of the two red eyes in the skull Like tiny

69

match flames against the blacknessAnd then I saw two more glowing spots of red

light Larger Behind the tiny skull eyesTwo circles of light in the mirror glass Two flame-

red circles the size of tennis ballsAnd as their light grew brighter more intense

I could see a form in the dresser mirror Deep nostril holes two rows of jagged grin-

ning teethA skull A red-eyed skullNot tiny A huge grinning yellow-boned skull

that filled the mirrorFilled the mirror And stared out at me with those

fiery flame-red eyesI sat straight up Squeezed the quilt And gaped in

horror as the jagged teeth moved The jaw slid open And the enormous skull mouthed the words

mouthed them so clearly ldquoLucky Lukerdquo

70

The giant glowing skull leaned forward as if topush out of the mirror The jaw worked up and downThe red glow seemed to bathe the whole room inflames

I opened my mouth in a horrified screamI screamed and then screamed againThe ceiling light flashed onldquoLukemdashwhatrsquos wrongrdquoBlinking in the sudden light I saw my dad burst

breathlessly into the room His pajama shirt wastwisted One pajama pants leg rode up to his kneeHis hair was tangled from sleep standing straight upon one side

ldquoWhat is itrdquo he repeatedldquoImdashImdashrdquo I pointed to the mirror My head spun

with confusion I couldnrsquot find wordsldquoThe skullmdashrdquo I finally choked outBrushing back his hair Dad crossed the room to

my dresser I stared into the glass

71

Nothing nowNothing in there except the reflection of my

room As he came near I could see Dadrsquos worriedface reflected in the glass

ldquoIs this what you were screaming aboutrdquo Dadasked He picked up the little yellow skull and heldit out to me ldquoThis skullrdquo

ldquoN-nordquo I stammeredI was thinking hard trying to figure out what I

had seenIt couldnrsquot have been the reflection of the little

skull I saw in the glass NoThe skull that loomed in the mirror was enor-

mous its eyes as big as basketballsDad still squinted at me from the dresser holding

the little skull up in front of himldquoI guess I had a bad dreamrdquo I said softly settling

back onto my pillows ldquoItmdashit was so weird I dreamedI saw a giant skull with flaming eyes But it wasso realrdquo

Dad shook his head ldquoWell if this little skull isgiving you bad dreams want me to take it awayrdquo Hestarted to the door

ldquoNordquo I screamed I jumped out of bed to block his path He looked

startled as I grabbed the skull from his handldquoItrsquos itrsquos a good-luck charmrdquo I said ldquoItrsquos

brought me a lot of good luckrdquo

72

Dad frowned as he gazed at the little skull in myhand ldquoYou sure Luke It doesnrsquot look good to me Itlooks evilrdquo

ldquoEvilrdquo I laughed ldquoNo way Dad No way Trustmerdquo

He clicked off the light on his way out A shortwhile later I fell asleep gripping the skull tightly inone hand

A few days later I screamed my head off again

73

This time it was for funA bunch of us were on our skates up on Killer

Hill Itrsquos actually Miller Hill But we call it Killer Hillbecause itrsquos up at the top where Broad Street scoopsstraight downmdasha steep steep slope down threeblocks to Miller Street

Miller Street has the most traffic in ShawneeValley So the idea is we come skating down BroadStreet full speed We come rocketing down the steepslope as fast as we canmdashand try to skate rightthrough the traffic on Miller

It makes all the car drivers totally crazy You canalways hear tires squealing horns honking driversscreaming as kids come skating right at them

Yes Itrsquos really dangerous Most kids wonrsquot eventhink of trying it But for a guy with my kind of goodluck whatrsquos the big deal

It was a sunny cold Sunday afternoon Froststuck to the tops of the cars My breath smoked upin front of me as I skated to the top of Killer Hill

74

I met Darnell up there He was having troublewith the brake on one of his skates Finally he justripped the brake off and tossed it in a trash canldquoWhy do I need brakesrdquo he said grinning at meldquoThey only slow you downrdquo

Stretch and some of his pals appeared a few min-utes later Stretch was wearing some kind of yellowsweats He looked like Big Bird on skates

He lowered his shoulder and tried to bump me offmy feet But I skated away easily And he didnrsquot tryagain

Things have been a little different betweenStretch and me since I took his place on the basket-ball team Hersquos my backup now He gets to play onlywhen Irsquom tired and need a short rest And I think hersquosin shock over it

Stretch still tries to give me a hard time But Idonrsquot think his heart is in it He knows hersquos a loserHe knows hersquos not one of the lucky peoplemdashlike me

ldquoYou ready to skaterdquo Darnell called He pulledon his helmet Then he stood in the middle of thestreet leaning forward hands on his knees

I gazed down the steep hill to the traffic belowEven though it was Sunday afternoon cars and vanssped along Miller as if it were the afternoon rushhour

I adjusted my knee pads ldquoReadyrdquo I said I movedbeside Darnell

Stretch skated in front of us He grinned at me

75

ldquoHow about a racerdquoI shook my head ldquoYoursquore too slow Darnell and I

donrsquot want to have to wait for you down thererdquoldquoHa ha When did you get so funny Champrdquo

Stretch reached into the pocket of his yellow sweatsHe held up a ten-dollar bill ldquoLetrsquos make it a real raceTen bucks each Winner takes allrdquo

He stuck the money in front of my face I shovedit away ldquoI donrsquot take candy from babiesrdquo I saidldquoKeep your moneyrdquo

Stretch gritted his teeth His pale face turned anangry red He leaned close ldquoYou gonna race me ornotrdquo he growled

I squeezed the rubber skull in my pocket I knewthere was no way I could lose ldquoOkayrdquo I said ldquoButIrsquom going to make it fairrdquo

I pulled a wool scarf from my coat pocket andstarted to wrap it around my head ldquoJust to give you achance Irsquoll skate blindfoldedrdquo

Stretch snickered ldquoYoursquore joking right Yoursquoregoing to skate through all those cars blindfoldedrdquo

ldquoDonrsquot do it Lukerdquo a voice calledI turned to see Hannah waving to me She was

hobbling up the sidewalk on crutches Her right foothad a large white bandage over it ldquoDonrsquot do itrdquo shecalled shrilly

I spun away from the guys and skated over to her

76

ldquoHannahmdashwhat happenedrdquo I asked motioning tothe crutches

She sighed and leaned heavily on them ldquoItrsquos myanklerdquo she said ldquoRemember when I fell off my bikeWe thought it was just a sprain But my ankle keepsswelling up like a water balloon I had to have itdrained three timesrdquo

ldquoYuckrdquo I said staring down at the bandageThe wind fluttered her red hair She shook her

head sadly ldquoThe doctors canrsquot figure out whatrsquoswrong ImdashI might need surgery I donrsquot know AndMom says if it doesnrsquot get better I canrsquot go on thejunior high overnight on Wednesdayrdquo

ldquoWow Thatrsquos bad newsrdquo I murmured Everyonelooks forward to the overnight The whole junior highgoes to a campground by the lake and everyonestays up and parties all night

I couldnrsquot take my eyes off Hannahrsquos bandagedankle Is this my fault I suddenly wondered Did Ireally take away her good luck Hannah has hadnothing but bad luck ever since I found the skull

Irsquom going to give it back to her I silentlypromised Real soon Real soon

ldquoYou skating or notrdquo Stretch called ldquoOr are youjust going to stand there and talk with your girl-friendrdquo

ldquoIrsquom comingrdquo I said I started to wrap the scarfaround my eyes

77

ldquoLuke donrsquotrdquo Hannah insisted ldquoDonrsquot do itblindfolded Itmdashitrsquos crazyrdquo

ldquoNo problemrdquo I said ldquoIrsquom a superhero HannahCars will bounce right off merdquo

I skated away from her ldquoYoursquore wrongrdquo she called ldquoLuke listen to me

The good luckmdashit doesnrsquot last foreverrdquoI laughed What was she talking aboutI skated up beside Darnell and grabbed his arm

to steady myself I pulled the scarf over my eyes untilI saw only black

ldquoYoursquore crazyrdquo he muttered ldquoYou could getkilled manrdquo

ldquoNo wayrdquo I declared ldquoIrsquom going to win twentybucks from you twordquo

I heard Stretch skate up beside me ldquoYoursquore doingthis for realrdquo he asked ldquoYoursquore going to skate into allthose cars blindfoldedrdquo

ldquoYou going to talk or skaterdquo I asked him ldquoFirstone past Miller Street without stopping wins themoneyrdquo

ldquoLukemdashdonrsquot be crazyrdquo Hannah calledIt was the last thing I heard before the three of us

took off I leaned forward skating straight and hard I

heard Stretch and Darnell beside me theirRollerblades scraping the pavement

As we picked up speed I could hear the traffic onMiller I heard a horn honk Heard someone shout

I skated down down laughing through thedarkness

78

ldquoLukemdashloooook outrdquoI heard Darnellrsquos scream I heard the squeal of

tires Horns honkedI tossed back my head and laughed I roared

through Miller Street the blade wheels whistling overthe pavement

Then as I turned my skates and came to a slowstop I ripped the scarf away And saw Darnell stand-ing on the curb on the other side of Miller His mouthwas open He shook his head

Stretch came skating around me ldquoYou crazyjerkrdquo he shouted ldquoYou were almost killed threetimesrdquo

I calmly held out my hand ldquoMoney pleaserdquoldquoYou lucky jerkrdquo Stretch muttered He slapped

the ten-dollar bill into my gloved hand ldquoYoursquorecrazy Really Yoursquore just plain crazyrdquo

I laughed ldquoThanks for the compliment And theten bucksrdquo

79

Grumbling to himself Stretch skated back up tohis friends

Darnell waited for the traffic to clear then skatedover to me He wiped sweat off his forehead ldquoYouwere almost killedrdquo he said his voice shaking ldquoWhydid you do it Lukerdquo

I grinned at him ldquoBecause I canrdquo

The weather turned warm for our overnight camp-out Even though the trees were bare the woodssmelled fresh and sweet almost like spring Highwhite clouds dotted the bright blue afternoon skyTwigs and dead leaves crackled and crunched underour feet as we hiked through the tall trees to thecamping grounds

I squeezed the small skull in one hand as Iwalked weighted down by the heavy pack on myback Some kids were singing a Beatles song Behindme a group of girls were telling really bad knock-knock jokes laughing shrilly after each one

Coach Bendix and Ms Raymond another gymteacher led the way along the twisting path throughthe trees I was about halfway back in the line ofkids

I turned and found Hannah beside me She woreher blue windbreaker with the hood pulled up overher head She was leaning on one crutch as shewalked struggling to keep up ldquoDo you have anywaterrdquo she asked

80

I slowed down ldquoYour parents let you come Isyour ankle betterrdquo

ldquoNot reallyrdquo she replied frowning ldquoBut I toldthem I had to come anyway I wouldnrsquot miss it Doyou have any water Irsquom dyingrdquo

ldquoYeah Surerdquo I reached for the bottle of water inmy pack ldquoDidnrsquot you bring anyrdquo

Hannah sighed ldquoMy water bottle had a leak orsomething It poured out and soaked all the extraclothes in my pack Now I donrsquot have a thing towearrdquo

I handed her the water bottle Leaning on the crutch she pushed back the wind-

breaker hood and I saw her face for the first timeHer skin was covered with big red splotchesldquoHannah whatrsquos thatrdquo I cried ldquoYour facemdashrdquoldquoDonrsquot look at merdquo she snapped She turned her

back and took a long gulp of waterldquoBut what is itrdquo I demanded ldquoPoison ivyrdquoldquoNo I donrsquot think sordquo she said still facing away

from me ldquoI woke up with it Some kind of red rashAll over my bodyrdquo She sighed ldquoI donrsquot get a breakrdquo

She handed the water bottle back to me andpulled the blue plastic hood over her head ldquoThanksfor the waterrdquo

ldquoDoes it itchrdquo I askedShe let out an angry cry ldquoI really donrsquot want to

talk about itrdquo She grabbed the crutch tightly swungit hard in front of her and hurried ahead of me drag-

81

ging her bandaged foot over the dirt pathShersquos having so much bad luck I guess itrsquos my

fault I thought squeezing the skull in my pocket But why are all these terrible things happening to

her Why isnrsquot there enough good luck for both of usI didnrsquot have much time to think about it Behind me I heard shrill frightened screams I

saw kids running off the path Screaming Calling forhelp

I spun around and headed toward them the heavypack bouncing on my back ldquoWhatrsquos going onrdquo Icried ldquoWhatrsquos wrongrdquo

More shrill screamsAnd then I saw the two enormous brown snakes

Swinging down from a low tree limb Blocking thepath

The same color as the tree they twisted their longbodies thicker than garden hoses and snapped theirjaws

I didnrsquot hesitate I dived forward stretching out myarms

ldquoLukemdashwhat are you doing Stay away fromthemrdquo I heard Coach Bendix shout

The kidsrsquo frightened screams rang through thewoods

ldquoGet away from themrdquo Coach orderedBut I knew nothing could hurt me I knew my good

luck would keep me safe

82

I shot my hands out And grabbed both snakesone in each hand

I wrapped my fingers around their thick bodiesThen with a hard tug I wrenched them off the treelimb And raised them high

ldquoWhoardquoI didnrsquot realize how long they were And how strongI let out a startled cry as both snakes wriggled

loose I saw the tiny black eyes flash Saw the jawsopen

Then both snake heads came crashing towardme jaws snappingmdashsnapping so furiously beneaththe flashing eyes snapping like bear traps

83

I felt a rush of air as they snappedmdashsnappedmdashsnapped their sharp-toothed jaws Heads swingingwildly Whole bodies swinging and shaking Thickwhite drool clinging to their pointed teeth

Shrill screams rose all around me I stared atthe snapping heads the glimmering black eyesmdashuntil it seemed that the snakes were screamingtoo

And thenmdashthey flew from my handsWriggled free with strong tosses of their heavy

bodies And plunged to the ground Disappearingso quickly Blending into the hard brown dirtVanishing beneath the carpet of fat brown leavestwigs and fallen limbs

As kids surrounded me I stood hunched overgasping for breath I smoothed my open handsover my ears my cheeks my whole face

I waited for the pain of the snakebites to spreadover me

But no No sting No throbbing No pain

84

They had snapped so close I felt their breathon my skin

But they hadnrsquot bitten me ldquoYoursquore so luckyrdquo Coach Bendix was saying He

had a hand on my shoulder and was examining myface ldquoI never saw anyone so lucky Why did you doit Luke Those snakes are deadly poisonousDeadly Why did you do itrdquo

I stared at him but didnrsquot answer I didnrsquot knowwhat to say

How could I explain it to him How could Iexplain to anyone what it felt like to be so incrediblyawesomely lucky

All around kids were cheering Congratulatingme Talking about me how brave I had been

Leaning against a tree I saw Hannah She stoodby herself crutch under one arm She was the onlyone not smiling not cheering

I saw the red blotches on Hannahrsquos faceWatched as she transfered the crutch to her otherarm And saw her scowling at me her eyes nar-rowed She shook her head and scowled

And in that moment I realized that she was jeal-ous Jealous of my good luck

Jealous that she was no longer the hero She wasno longer the lucky one

Too bad Hannah I thought watching her angryexpression I had felt sorry for her I had felt reallyguilty too

85

But no moreIrsquove got the luck now Hannah I thought And Irsquom

going to keep it

ldquoLetrsquos go guys Wersquove got another game to winrdquoI cried I gave Sam Mulroney a playful towel slap

Locker doors slammed Guys finished lacing uptheir basketball shoes

ldquoDid you see those Deaver Mills guysrdquo Mulroneyasked peeking into the gym through a crack in thelocker room door ldquoTheyrsquore monsters They must feedthose guys whole steaks five times a dayrdquo

ldquoBig doesnrsquot mean goodrdquo I said ldquoThey look likecows Theyrsquore so slowrdquo

ldquoWersquoll dribble circles around themrdquo Jay Boxersaid

ldquoJust feed me the ballrdquo I instructed them ldquoNomatter where I am Feed me the ball Irsquoll put it in Irsquomfeeling lucky today guys Real luckyrdquo

ldquoHey Champmdashrdquo Stretch called pulling on his jer-sey ldquoYoursquore not a ball hog or anythingmdashare yourdquo

Guys used to laugh when Stretch shouted insultsat me But not anymore Everyone was on my sidenow Everyone wanted to be on the winnerrsquos side

ldquoHey Stretchmdashwhat do they call yourdquo I shoutedback ldquoA bench hogrdquo

Everybody laughedStretch laughed too Now that I was a winner he

was starting to be a little nicer to me He even gave

86

me some dribbling tips after one practice The guys all headed out to the gym I could hear

the shouts of the crowd in the bleachers And thesteady thud of basketballs on the floor as the DeaverMills Lions warmed up

ldquoTime to kill me some Lionsrdquo I muttered I finishedlacing my sneakers

Then I stood up Started to swing my gym lockerclosed

And slammed my left hand in the doorldquoHeyrdquo I cried out in surprise as pain shot up my

arm I shook the hand hard trying to shake the pain

away My wrist throbbed I moved my fingers tiltedmy hand back and forth It moved okay Not broken

But the hand was red and already starting to swellldquoNo time for thisrdquo I muttered I slammed the locker shut with my right hand

And still shaking my left hand hurried out into thegym

The crowd cheered as I ran onto the floor I sawsome of the Deaver Mills players whisper to eachother and point at me They knew who the star playerwas They knew who was going to wipe the floor withthem today

We huddled close around Coach Bendix ldquoTake itslow with these guysrdquo he instructed ldquoFeel them outGet their rhythm Letrsquos rattle them show them we canplay defenserdquo

87

ldquoJust get me the ballrdquo I chimed in ldquoIrsquom going tobe loose under the basket all dayrdquo

We gave our team cheer and trotted out to the cen-ter of the floor I searched the bleachers for HannahShe said she would try to come to the game today

I spotted her at the side of the bleachers hunchedin a wheelchair Her bad foot was propped up and ithad an even bigger bandage over it

I guess it isnrsquot getting better I thought I felt a pangof guilt

Poor Hannah I looked for my parents Then I remembered they

werenrsquot coming today They had to stay home for a fur-niture delivery

I turned away from the crowd I had a game toplay Time to get my game face on No time to thinkabout Hannah and her problems

I went up for the opening jump I tapped the ballto Mulroney and the game was underway

He dribbled to half-court then sent a high pass tome

ldquoWhoamdashrdquo The ball flew right through my handsand bounced out of bounds

ldquoMulroneymdashtoo hardrdquo I called ldquoWho were youthrowing atrdquo

He shrugged and started trotting to the Lionsrsquobasket

ldquoGet in there Luke Get going Look aliverdquo I heardCoach Bendix shouting

88

The Deaver guard came dribbling slowly towardme I darted up to him stuck out my hand to steal theballmdashand missed

He moved past me easily and sent up an easylayup for two points

ldquoWeirdrdquo I muttered I shook my left hand Thepain had dulled to an ache but the hand was prettyswollen

I moved down the court Caught a pass Spunaway from the Lion defender Went in for an easy shot

And missedldquoHuhrdquoI heard the crowd groan Startled voices all aroundMulroney slapped me on the shoulder ldquoTake it

easy manrdquo he said ldquoPlay your game Just play yourgamerdquo

A few seconds later I drove in for a shotmdashand wasfouled I moved to the foul linemdashand missed both foulshots

More groans and muttering from the bleachers Isaw Coach Bendix shake his head

A bounce pass from Jay Boxer sailed right throughmy legs Some of the Lionsrsquo players had a good laughover that one

Then I missed three more shots in a rowMulroney flashed me a thumbs-up ldquoNo probrdquo he

called ldquoPlay your game Luke Wersquoll get rsquoemrdquoThe Lions were winning twelve to four I took another pass and moved under the basket I

89

leaped high for a slam dunk My arm hit the rim hard I cried out in pain And

watched the ball sail over the backboardldquoWhoa This isnrsquot happeningrdquo I muttered picking

myself up off the floor ldquoNo wayrdquoAt the other end of the floor I grabbed a rebound

off the backboard I dodged past a huge Lion playerDribbled away from him easily Picked up speedBrought the ball onto our side of the court

Eyed the basket Prepared to stop short and put upa three-pointer

And tripped Felt one sneaker bump the otherTripped over my own shoe

And watched the ball sail into a Lionrsquos hands as Istumbled I fell forward onto my stomach My armsand legs were out flat on the floor ldquoOOOFrdquo

I heard startled gasps from the bleachers Andlaughter

Yes Some people were laughing at meldquoWhat is going onrdquo I cried I forced myself to my feet Shook off the pain ldquoThis isnrsquot happening It canrsquot berdquoI reached into the pocket of my uniform shorts

Reached for my good-luck skullFumbled in the pocket Searched both pocketsldquoHeymdashrdquoNo No No wayThe skull was gone

90

Fumbling frantically in both pockets I began run-ning for the team bench ldquoTime out Time outrdquo Iscreamed

Had the skull fallen out of my pocketI squinted hard searching the gleaming polished

floor No sign of itldquoTime outrdquo I pleadedI heard a whistle blow on the sidelinesI had to find itmdashnow I couldnrsquot play without itMy eyes swept over the floor I began to run full

speed to the bench I didnrsquot see the huge Lions playermdashuntil we collidedI plowed right into him Caught him flat-footed He

let out a startled ldquoOofrdquo And we cracked headsldquoYaaaiiiirdquo I let out a scream of agony as blinding

red pain shot around my head The red shimmered togold Brighter brighter bright as the sun

I felt my legs giving out Felt myself collapsingcrumbling into a deep deep bottomless darkness

91

I woke up to pinpoints of yellow light They flick-ered high above me Each time they flashed a waveof pain rolled over my forehead down the back of myneck

I blinked hard Blinked until I realized I was star-ing up at the lights on the gym rafters

I lay on my back on the gym floor one kneeraised my hands flat at my sides I squinted up atthe high raftersmdashuntil faces blocked my view

Playersrsquo faces And then a few worried-lookingadults And then Coach Bendixrsquos face looming overme bobbing over me like a parade balloon

ldquoWhatmdashrdquo One word escaped my throat My drythroat So dry I couldnrsquot swallow

ldquoStay still Lukerdquo Coach ordered speaking softlyHis dark eyes peered down into mine studying meldquoYoursquove had a bad concussion Donrsquot try to moveWersquore sending you to the emergency roomrdquo

ldquoHuh Nordquo I gasped I rolled onto my side I lurched to my feet The

floor tilted from side to side as if I were on a rockingboat

ldquoDonrsquot move Lukerdquo Coach reached for meBut I staggered out of his grasp Stumbled

through the circle of people that had formed aroundme

ldquoNo No hospitalrdquo I croaked

92

I had to find that skull That was all I needed andthen I would be okay again

The skull I stumbled over someonersquos shoe Staggered

toward the locker room The gleaming wood floorswaying beneath me

ldquoLukemdashcome backrdquoNo No way I shoved open the locker room door

with one shoulder And sliding a hand against thelockers moved to the back row Lurched to my gymlocker Pulled open the door so hard it slammedagainst the frame

ldquoWhere is it WhererdquoI frantically pawed through my street clothes

Searched and then tossed everything onto the floor ldquoWhere WhererdquoNot in my khakis pockets Not in my shirt pocket

Not in my sweatshirtThe locker floor No Nothing down thereStumbling over the pile of clothes on the floor I

lurched back down the row of gym lockers Ranthrough the gym out the doors and up the stairsInto the long empty hall

My sneakers squeaked on the hard floor as I ranThe walls and ceiling appeared to close in on methen slide back into place

To my locker To locker 13

93

It took me three tries to get the combination rightBut finally I unlocked it and flung open the door

And jammed my hand into one coat pocket andthen the other

ldquoWhere is it I have to have it Where WhererdquoAnd then a long happy sigh escaped my parched

throat as my hand closed around it YessssI was so happyI had the skull in my hand I squeezed it tightly

So happy So happyI pulled it out of the coat pocket Raised it in front

of me Raised it close to examine it And let out a cry of horror

94

The eyes They were dark Not red not glowingAnd the face had changed The bump-toothed

grin was gone The open mouth was curled down ina fierce angry scowl

ldquoNomdashitrsquos impossiblerdquo I gaspedI held the skull up to the light The red jewel eyes

were gone The deep round sockets were empty Theskull scowled down at me dark and menacing

What does this mean I wondered How did thishappen

Before I could think about it clearly I glimpsedsomething in the open locker A soft glow A slowmoving light growing larger as if moving closer

The light split into two Two circles of red lightDown low Very low near the locker floor

I gripped the skull tightly in my fist and stared asthe red lights glimmered closer The whole lockershimmered The dark walls reflected the two lightsBrighter bright as fire now

95

Two red eyes I realized Two glowing eyes float-ing from the blackness of locker 13

I jumped back as a black cat stepped silently outas if floating A black cat with fiery red eyes Thesame black cat as before

It pulled back its lips bared pointed white teethand hissed at me

My back hit the wall I blinked against the bright-ness of those two circles of red light

And as I trembled in horror squeezing the skullsqueezing it so tightly my hand achedmdashthe cat roseup off the floor

And melted into another formMelted and grew taller Taller The cat became

a human figure dressed all in black wrapped in abroad black coat down to the floor its face hidden inthe darkness of a black hood

Hidden All hidden except for the eyesmdashthosehorrifying fiery eyes

ldquoWh-who are you What do you wantrdquo I startledmyself by crying out those words I didnrsquot think Icould speak

My whole body trembled I pressed myselfagainst the wall to keep from falling to my knees

The hooded figure stepped silently away from theopen locker A hoarse rasp burst out from under thehood a whisper like the crackle of dead leaves ldquoTheluck has run out Lukerdquo

ldquoNordquo I gasped

96

A bony hand swung out from the sleeve of theblack coatmdashand swiped the skull away from me

ldquoNordquo I cried in protest ldquoNo NordquoldquoThe luck is overrdquo ldquoWho are yourdquo I shrieked in a tight terrified

voice ldquoWh-who How did you get in my lockerWhat do you wantrdquo I screamed in total panic

ldquoThe luck is overrdquoldquoIt canrsquot berdquo I cried ldquoIt canrsquot be I need itrdquoldquoOver rdquo the hooded figure rasped ldquoOver

over rdquoThe red eyes glowed from under the hood The

bony hand held the tiny skull in front of the broadblack coat

ldquoI need that luckrdquo I wailed ldquoI need that skullrdquoAnd I grabbed it back Grabbed it out of the bony

handldquoI need it I have to have itrdquoI raised the skull in front of me Stared hard at it What was wrong with it Something wriggling on

it wriggling in my hand crawling over mypalm

ldquoOhhhhrdquo I let out a moan as I saw The skull wascovered crawling crawling with hundreds ofmaggots

97

The skull fell from my hand and bounced acrossthe floor I frantically shook my hand scraped itagainst the wall brushing the disgusting maggots offmy skin

Under the black hood the red eyes glowed brighterldquoYou enjoyed a lot of good luck Lukerdquo the figure saidin his hoarse croak ldquoBut the luck has ended And nowyou must pay for itrdquo

ldquoHuh Payrdquo I felt my throat tighten I stared at thefiery eyes trying to see a face trying to see who wasspeaking to me from under that hood

ldquoLukemdashIrsquom so sorryrdquo a voice called I turned to find Hannah wheeling herself rapidly

down the hall leaning forward in her wheelchair turn-ing the wheels with both hands

ldquoHannahmdash Whatmdashrdquo I couldnrsquot find any wordsldquoIrsquom so sorryrdquo she repeated As she wheeled herself

closer I saw tears brimming in her eyes rolling downher red-blotched face

ldquoSorryrdquo I repeated my head spinning in confusion

98

ldquoHe made me do itrdquo she wailed ldquoYou have tobelieve me Luke I didnrsquot want to Really But hemade merdquo

She grabbed my hand Squeezed it tightly Herhand was as cold as ice Tears rolled down hercheeks

ldquoVery touchingrdquo the hooded figure rasped coldlyldquoHannahmdashhe made you do whatrdquo I askedldquoHemdashhe made me give you the skullrdquo Hannah

stammered still squeezing my hand ldquoHuhrdquo I let out a startled cry ldquoYou gave it to me

But I thought I found it I thoughtmdashrdquoldquoI had the good luck for a long timerdquo Hannah

said wiping her wet cheeks with both handsldquoRemember when I had so much good luck Then itran out The skull went dark And he forced memdashheforced me to pass the skull on to yourdquo

I stared at her in disbelief ldquoBut who is herdquo Icried ldquoHow can he do thisrdquo

ldquoHavenrsquot you guessedrdquo the hooded figureboomed The red eyes glowed like two angry sunsldquoHavenrsquot you figured it out yet Luke I am the FateMaster I decide who has good luck and who has badrdquo

ldquoNordquo I whispered ldquoThatrsquos crazyrdquoldquoItrsquos the truthrdquo Hannah said her voice breaking

ldquoHe controls me And now yourdquoldquoLukerdquo the evil figure whispered lowering him-

self toward me ldquoDid you really think you could haveall that good luck without paying for itrdquo

99

ldquoI didnrsquot want to give the skull to yourdquo Hannahwhispered holding on to my arm ldquoI gave you achance to hand it back to me remember Rememberduring my game I asked if you had seen itrdquo

I nodded sadly feeling my face grow hotldquoI knew you had it Why didnrsquot you give it back

thenrdquo Hannah demanded ldquoI gave you a chance toreturn it I didnrsquot want you to keep itrdquo

ldquoToo late for that nowrdquo the Fate Master raspedldquoNow you are BOTH minerdquo

ldquoNo wayrdquo I protested ldquoI donrsquot believe any ofthis This canrsquot be happening Itmdashitrsquos some kind ofbad jokerdquo

ldquoItrsquos not a jokerdquo Hannah whispered ldquoLook atmerdquo She pointed to her red-blotched face her ban-daged foot the wheelchair

ldquoNordquo I insisted ldquoIt wonrsquot happen to me I wonrsquotlet it IrsquollmdashIrsquoll make my own luckrdquo

The bulky black coat shook as the Fate Masteruttered a hoarse laugh It sounded more like drycoughing than laughter ldquoYoung man do you reallythink you can go up against FATE I control EVERY-THING that happens Do you really think you candefy FATErdquo

ldquoI donrsquot care what you sayrdquo I screamed ldquoIrsquom notgoing to be some kind of slave You canrsquot control meYou canrsquotrdquo

100

The Fate Master sighed The red eyes faded insidethe hood ldquoDo I really have to prove myself to youOkay So be itrdquo

He leaned closer So close that I could see intothe hood I could see that he had no face Just twoglowing eyes floating in blackness

ldquoLukemdashthat concussion you had in the gymrdquo herasped ldquoIrsquom afraid itrsquos much worse than you thoughtFeel your earsrdquo

ldquoHuhrdquo My hands shot up to my ears I felt wet-ness

Warm wetnessI lowered my hands My fingers dripped with

bloodMy ears were bleedingI felt the warm blood pour down my earlobes

trickle down the sides of my faceFrantically I pressed the palms of my hands

against my ears ldquoThat wonrsquot stop the bleeding Lukerdquo the Fate

Master whispered ldquoThat blood wonrsquot clot Itrsquos justgoing to keep pouring out Bad luck Irsquom afraid Verybad luckrdquo

ldquoNomdashpleaserdquo I pleaded ldquoMake it stoprdquoThe eyes flared ldquoDo you believe in me now Do

you believe that you belong to merdquoldquoOkayrdquo I said ldquoOkay I believe yourdquo

101

ldquoYour fate is in my handsmdashboth of you You mustpay for the good luck you had You must suffer badluck nowmdashrdquo

ldquoNomdashpleaserdquo I begged ldquoI need more timeThings are just starting to go right for me The basket-ball team my animation the swim team Irsquolldo anything I need more timerdquo

ldquoNO MORE TIMErdquo The hoarse rasp echoed offthe tile walls Angry flames shot out from the black-ness of the hood

ldquoButmdashrdquo I started shrinking back beside HannahldquoI control yourdquo the Fate Master boomed ldquoI decide

your luck from now on Do you want me to go easy onthe two of you DO yourdquo

ldquoY-yesrdquo I stammered ldquoIrsquoll do anythingAnythingrdquo

The Fate Master was silent for a long momentThe eyes faded as if retreating into the distance thenglowed brightly again ldquoIf you want me to go easy onyou bothrdquo he said finally ldquoherersquos what you haveto do rdquo

102

ldquoPass the skull on to anotherrdquo the Fate Masterordered

ldquoHuh Youmdashyou want me to give it to someoneelserdquo I stammered

The eyes sparked beneath the hood ldquoPass it tothat big kid the one called Stretch Irsquove had my eye onhim I will give him good luck for two months Then Iwill claim him as minerdquo

ldquoNo I canrsquot do thatrdquo I protested ldquoIt isnrsquot right Itisnrsquotmdashrdquo

The Fate Master uttered a furious growl ldquoThenyou will suffer bad luck your whole life You and every-one in your familyrdquo

I shivered in fear My mind spun I felt the warmblood start to trickle from my ears again

Could I do it Could I trap Stretch the way I hadbeen trapped

I felt Hannah tug my arm ldquoYou have to do itLukerdquo she whispered ldquoItrsquos our only chance BesidesStretch has been asking for itmdashhasnrsquot he Hersquos not a

103

friend of yours Hersquos an enemy Stretch has been ask-ing for it all yearrdquo

True Stretch wasnrsquot my friend But could I beresponsible for ruining Stretchrsquos life For turning himover to the Fate Master

Hannah gazed up at me from the wheelchair withpleading eyes ldquoDo itrdquo she whispered ldquoSave usLuke Do itrdquo

I turned to the Fate Master ldquoOkayrdquo I choked outldquoIrsquoll do itrdquo

The eyes flashed from red to sunlight yellowThe big coat opened and appeared to fly up Itraised itself over me like giant bat wings Floatedover me then floated down

I felt myself covered in a heavy darkness I couldnrsquot move It spread over me blacker

blackerI felt so cold So cold and lost As if I had been

buried buried deep in the cold cold groundAnd then I blinked and saw pinpoints of light

Flickering white lights that grew brighter so bright Ihad to squint

It took me a while to realize I was back in the gymBack on the gym floor A crowd huddled around meTight expressions worried faces

Someone leaned over me A face came into focusCoach Bendix stared down at me the whistle hangingfrom his neck

104

ldquoCoachmdashrdquo I tried to speak but the word came outa whisper

ldquoDonrsquot move Lukerdquo he said softly ldquoYoursquove had aconcussion but yoursquore going to be okayrdquo

ldquoA concussionrdquoldquoLie stillrdquo he instructed ldquoAn ambulance is on the

wayrdquoA concussionIt didnrsquot happen I realized The hooded figure with the glowing eyes The

Fate Master stepping out of locker 13 Taking awaymy good luck Ordering me to pass the skull toStretch

It didnrsquot happenIt was a dream A nightmare caused by my con-

cussionI jumped to my feet The floor swayed beneath

me The bleachers appeared to tilt to one side thenthe other

I saw Hannah in her wheelchair at the side of thebleachers

Shersquos still in the gym I told myself happily Wenever left the gym It didnrsquot happen None of it hap-pened

I felt so happy So freeBefore I even realized it I was running Running

to the doorldquoLuke HeymdashLuke Stoprdquo I heard Coach Bendix

calling to me

105

And then I was out the gym doors And racingthrough the dark empty hallways Running fullspeed

So happy And so eager to get away from thereAway from the school Away from my nightmare

Did I stop at my lockerI must have stopped there because I had my

jacket on when I burst outside Into the frosty nightair I saw a tiny sliver of a moon high in a purple-black sky I stopped for a second to breathe in thecold fresh air

Then I ran across the teachersrsquo parking lot to thebike rack Irsquod ridden my bike to school And now Iplanned to put the pedal to the metalmdashto race all theway home

ldquoYesrdquo So happy I felt so happy I could havedanced all the way home

I jumped on my bike Grabbed the handlebarsWhoa Something wrong A scraping sound I climbed off and glanced down A flat tire No

Two flat tiresldquoOh wowrdquo I murmured How did that happenNo big deal Irsquoll get the bike tomorrow I decided

I started to jog across the parking lot heading to thestreet My sneaker felt loose I squatted down to tiethe shoe lacemdashand it ripped between my hands

No problem I told myself I have plenty ofshoelaces at home I started walking turned onto thesidewalk crossed the street Behind me I could hear

106

shouts and cheers coming from the gym I guessedthat the game had started up again

ldquoGo Stretchrdquo I murmured As I made my way down the next block it began

to rain Softly at first But the wind picked up andthen the rain started coming down in sheets

I zipped my jacket and leaned into the wind Butthe rain drove me back wave after wave of freezingwater

I heard a crackling sound nearbymdashand sawjagged white lightning streak across the front yardacross the street A deafening boom of thunder shookthe ground

I pressed forward Trees creaked and nearly bentsideways in the torrents of wind and rain I couldnrsquotmove I ducked under a broad-trunked tree for safety

But a loud crack of lightning sent a tree branchcrashing to my feet

ldquoOhhrdquo I cried out A close callI jumped over the fallen branch Sharp pieces of

the limb scratched my arm as I struggled to raceaway Another jagged bolt of lightning crackled a fewfeet in front of me sizzling over the wet grass

Squinting through the downpour I saw smokesnake over the lawn The grass was burned blackwhere the lightning had spread

The wind shoved me backward Sheet after sheet

107

of rain washed over me I choked Struggled tobreathe

And then just beyond the rain just beyondthe heavy waves of dark water I saw two glowinglights two red eyes like dark headlights Two evil eyes moving with me watching me

The Fate MasterIt wasnrsquot a dream I suddenly knew that my flat

tiresmdashthe stormmdashthe lightning the pounding rainmdashit was all a show A show of strength

I staggered up my driveway Slipped on the wetgravel Sprawled facedown on the soaked stones

ldquoNooooo rdquoI struggled to my feet Stumbled onto the front

stoop A deafening shattering crash made me spin

around I saw one of the oak trees in front of thehouse split in half It appeared to move in slowmotion One half shivered but stayed upright Theother half of the broad old tree came crashing ontothe roof of the house

Windows shattered Roof tiles came slidingdown

I covered my head with one hand And pushedthe doorbell Frantically pushed the bell ldquoLet me inMom Dadrdquo I pounded on the front door with bothfists

Where were they

108

The lights were all on Why didnrsquot they open thedoor

A crash of thunder made me jump and cry outAbove the front stoop rainwater poured like a water-fall over the sides of the gutters Waves of rain rattledthe living room window and battered the bricks of thefront wall

ldquoLet me inrdquo I screamed over another roar ofthunder I pounded the front door until my fist ached

Then I heard a window slide open I turned to ourneighborrsquos house Through the curtains of rain I sawMrs Gillis poke her head out the bedroom windowShe shouted something But I couldnrsquot hear her overthe roar of rain

ldquoTheyrsquore not homerdquo I finally heard her shoutldquoThey had to go to the hospital Lukerdquo

ldquoWhat What did you sayrdquo My heart jumpedHad I heard correctly

ldquoItrsquos your dad He fell down the stairs Hersquos okayBut they took him to the emergency roomrdquo

ldquoNordquo I cried I beat my fists against the doorldquoNo No Nordquo

The Fate Master was putting on a show for meHe was showing me who was boss Giving me a littletaste of what the rest of my life could be like

ldquoOkayrdquo I shouted cupping my hands around mymouth Water pounded me washed over me bat-

109

tered me against the house ldquoOkaymdashyou winrdquo Iscreamed ldquoIrsquoll do it Irsquoll do whatever you sayrdquo

And I didThe next morning I gave the skull to Stretch

110

I found Stretch at his locker before school startedGiving him the yellow skull was the easiest thing inthe world

Stretch was leaning into his locker searching theshelf for something His backpack stood open on thefloor I pulled the skull from my jeans pocketmdashanddropped it into his backpack

He didnrsquot see anything He didnrsquot even know hehad it

ldquoHey Stretchmdashhowrsquos it goingrdquo I asked trying tosound calm natural As if I hadnrsquot just done some-thing terrible to him Something that would ruin hislife forever

ldquoYomdashhey Champrdquo He slapped me a hard highfive so hard my hand stung ldquoHowrsquos your headman It looks as ugly as everrdquo He laughed

I stared at him ldquoMy headrdquoldquoThat was a nasty collisionrdquo he said ldquoYour head

must be hard as a rock You feeling okayrdquoldquoYeah Not badrdquo I replied

111

Stretch snickered ldquoWell thanks for letting me getsome playing timerdquo He started to close up his back-pack

I stared at the backpack picturing the skull insideit The skull I had passed on to Stretch The tiny redeyes were probably glowing again Stretch was goingto have a lot of good luck for a while But then

ldquoMaybe you and I can practice together laterrdquoStretch said slamming his locker shut ldquoI can giveyou some more pointers Make you look like youknow what yoursquore doingrdquo

ldquoYeah Mayberdquo I saidStretchrsquos expression turned serious ldquoActually

yoursquore not bad manrdquo he said ldquoI mean it You are soimproved I mean yoursquore almost pretty goodReallyrdquo

I donrsquot believe this I thought Stretch is actuallypaying me a compliment

I shrugged ldquoIt was just luckrdquo I mutteredJust luck Ha haldquoNo wayrdquo Stretch insisted ldquoLuck had nothing to

do with it man It was hard work and skill No kid-ding It isnrsquot luck Yoursquore goodrdquo

I swallowed hard I suddenly felt like a totalcreep

Stretch was being so nice to me And what had Idone to him I just gave him a life of bad luck a lifeof slavery to the Fate Master

112

ldquoWhoa Forgot my science notebookrdquo Stretchgroaned He dropped his backpack to the floor andturned to unlock his locker

I stared down at the backpack feeling dizzy feel-ing sick

What am I going to do I asked myself What amI going to do

My bad luck continued all dayI answered the wrong questions on my algebra test

and got an F Miss Wakely warned me that Irsquod have todo extra work if I didnrsquot want to fail the course

At lunch the milk in my milk carton was lumpy andsour I didnrsquot notice until I had gulped down a bigmouthful Then I nearly puked my guts up in front ofeveryone

After lunch I started to comb my hair in the boysrsquoroommdashand a huge clump came out on the comb Igasped in horror and tugged out another clump of hair

Irsquom going to lose all my hair I realizedAs I hurried out of the bathroom I caught my shirt

on a nail and ripped one sleeve off I was so upset Ibumped into Miss Wakely from behind Her coffeecup flew out of her hand and scalding hot coffeesplashed all over her

I found Hannah after school She came rollingslowly down the hall in her wheelchair Her foot wasstill bandaged Her face was still covered in red

113

blotches And I saw that one of her eyes was swollenshut

ldquoHannahmdashIrsquove got to talk to yourdquo I criedldquoDid you pass it onrdquo she asked in a loud whisper ldquoHuhrdquoldquoIrsquove lost my voicerdquo she whispered ldquoDid you

pass the skull on to Stretch Wersquove got to change ourluck I can barely see My skin itches like crazy I canbarely talk ImdashI canrsquot go on like this Lukerdquo

ldquoIrsquove got to find the Fate Masterrdquo I said Hannah grabbed my torn shirtsleeve ldquoYoursquove got

to do what he said Yoursquove got to obey him Itrsquos ouronly chancerdquo

ldquoHow do I find himrdquo I askedldquoHe will find yourdquo Hannah whispered ldquoHe

appears in places of bad luck You knowmdashbrokenmirrors wherever the number thirteen is writtenrdquo

ldquoCome with merdquo I said I led the way to my lockerI waved to some guys heading to the pool for swimteam practice I wanted to be with them But this wasmore important

ldquoWersquove got to talk to the Fate Masterrdquo I toldHannah ldquoMaybe hersquoll come through my lockeragainrdquo

Hannah groaned in pain as she wheeled herselfbehind me ldquoMy foot hurts so muchrdquo she whispered

ldquoHe promised to end the bad luckrdquo I saidI turned the combination lock then pulled open

114

my locker door A burst of sour air choked the hall Igagged then held my breath

ldquoLookmdashrdquo Hannah choked out She pointed to thefloor of the locker

It was littered with dead birds A pile of brown-and-gray sparrows all dead and decaying

ldquoHe left us a presentrdquo I murmured ldquoWhere is heIs he going to appearrdquo

We didnrsquot have to wait long A few moments later I saw the glow of the red

eyes at the back of the locker And then the dark fig-ure stepped over the pile of dead birds and floatedout hunched beneath the black hood

ldquoHave you done what I askedrdquo he rasped thefiery eyes burning into mine ldquoHave you given me anew slaverdquo

ldquoYesrdquo I replied avoiding his stare ldquoThat was ourdeal right And now will you stop torturing us Willyou end our bad luck as you promisedrdquo

The hood bobbed up and down ldquoNordquo he saidsoftly

Hannah and I both uttered cries of protestldquoDid you really think you could make a deal with

the Fate Masterrdquo he boomed The open coat floatedup like bat wings ldquoI donrsquot make bargains with any-one I donrsquot make promises You will take whateverFate dishes outrdquo

ldquoYou promisedmdashrdquo Hannah shriekedThe evil figure snickered ldquoFirst you enjoy good

115

luck Then you must pay for it You cannot break thepattern You should know that You should know thatyou cannot bargain with Fate You will pay for yourgood luck for the rest of your liferdquo

ldquoNo Waitmdash Waitrdquo Hannah pleaded reachingup from the wheelchair grasping at the black cloakgrasping frantically with both hands

But the Fate Master spun around swirling thefoul air He stomped heavily on the dead birds as hestrode back into locker 13

In a second he had vanished Dead birds littered the floor of the hall the floor

of my lockerI turned to Hannah Her shoulders heaved up

and down Loud sobs escaped her throat ldquoHepromised rdquo

ldquoItrsquos okayrdquo I said softly ldquoI didnrsquot keep mypromise eitherrdquo

I pulled the yellow skull from my jeans pocket Hannah gasped ldquoYou didnrsquot give it to StretchrdquoI squeezed the skull in my fist ldquoYes I gave it to

him But I took it back before Stretch even saw it Icouldnrsquot do it Stretch was too nice to me ImdashIcouldnrsquot I couldnrsquot ruin someonersquos liferdquo

Hannah shook her head Tears spilled from herswollen eyes ldquoNow what are we going to do LukeWersquore doomed Now we donrsquot stand a chancerdquo

116

I bounced the basketball hard against the drive-way Drove toward the backboard and sent up ahook shot It bounced off the rim back into myhands I spun hard and sent up a two-handed shotthat dropped through the net

Overhead clouds covered the moon The garagelights sent white cones of light over the drivewayBehind me the house was dark except for a squareof orange light from my bedroom window upstairs

I glanced at the roof Men had worked all day torepair the broken and missing shingles The fallentree had been hauled away One windowmdashbroken inthe stormmdashwas still covered with cardboard

All my fault I realized All the damage to thehouse was my fault

My dad was walking with a cane He had a badlysprained knee from his fall down the stairs But hewas okay for now

That was all my fault too I knew All my bad luck

117

I heaved the ball angrily at the backboard Itthudded high bounced back to the driveway Ipicked it up and shot it through the hoop

Luck luck luck The word ran through my mind like an ugly

chantAnd then I heard Stretchrsquos words again Stretch

actually saying something nice to me ldquoLuck hadnothing to do with it Luke It was hard work andskillrdquo

Hard work and skillNot luckldquoYou cannot break the patternrdquo the Fate Master

had said ldquoFirst you have the good luckmdashthen youpay for itrdquo

The pattern You cannot break the patternNot luck Hard work and skillI shot the ball again Dribbled then shot again

Even though it was a cold frosty night sweat poureddown my forehead I wanted to work harder Harder

And as I practiced those words repeated andrepeated in my mind And I knew what I had to doI knew the only way I could end the bad luck forHannah and for me

The only way I could defeat the Fate MasterI shot again Again I moved to the foul line and

put up several foul shotsI didnrsquot stop when I saw the kitchen light flash on

The back door swung open Dad stepped into the

118

yard wearing his bathrobe leaning on his caneldquoLukemdashwhat are you doingrdquo he called ldquoItrsquos after

eleven orsquoclockrdquoldquoPracticingrdquo I said sending up another jump

shot Walking unsteadily he came up to the edge of the

driveway ldquoButmdashitrsquos so late Why are you doing thisrdquoldquoIrsquom going to win without luckrdquo I replied I sent

up another shot and watched it drop through thehoop ldquoIrsquom going to win with skill I shouted ldquoI canbreak the pattern I can win without luckrdquo

And then without realizing it I was screaming atthe top of my lungs ldquoI DONrsquoT NEED LUCK IDONrsquoT NEED LUCKrdquo

119

My plan was simple Maybe too simple But I had to give it a tryI didnrsquot tell it to Hannah She was pretty much

destroyed I didnrsquot want to give her any more toworry about

I knew I didnrsquot have much timemdashmaybe a day ortwo at the most

As soon as the Fate Master discovered that I stillhad the skull that I hadnrsquot passed it on to Stretch hewould come after me full force

My plan It was to break the pattern To win To win big To have a major success

Without luck Without needing any good luckIf I could win with my own hard work with my

own skill my own talentmdashit would be a defeat for theFate Master I would break his rule I would breakthe pattern

And maybe just maybe that would freeHannah and me

120

And thatrsquos why I practiced on my drivewayPracticed in the dark in the cold until after midnightHard work and skill

Hard work and skillShawnee Valley played Forest Grove this after-

noon The last game of the season My last chance to win without luckAs I changed into my team uniform I knew I had

to be great I had to be a winner today I had to winthe game for my team

And if I didIf I did maybe the nightmare would be overI was so nervous I had to lace up my sneakers

three times I kept knotting them up My fingers justwouldnrsquot work

ldquoGo Squires Go SquiresrdquoGuys were pounding their fists on the lockers

shouting jumping up and down getting pumpedgetting ready

Stretch gave me a playful slap as he jogged pastldquoTry not to bump heads today Champ We gonnabeat these clownsrdquo

I flashed him a thumbs-up ldquoTheyrsquore dead meatrdquoI shouted

I tucked in my jersey slammed the gym lockershut and trotted out into the gym I blinked underthe bright lights A big crowd nearly filled the bleach-ers They were stamping their feet in time to somemarching music over the loudspeaker

121

I searched for Hannah but didnrsquot see herThe last game of the year I thought as I picked up

a basketball from the rack My last chance I swallowed hard trying to force down my fearWas the Fate Master here Did he know that I

lied to him That I didnrsquot give the skull to StretchI donrsquot care about that I told myself Irsquom going to

be a winner today without his good luck Irsquom going to break the pattern Irsquom going to break the Fate MasterI dribbled up to Coach Bendix He slapped me on

the shoulder as I passed ldquoHave a great game Lukerdquohe called ldquoKeep it slow and steady Remembermdashjustfocus Focusrdquo

ldquoOkay Coachrdquo I called ldquoIrsquom ready I feel goodReal strong I think Irsquom going tomdashrdquo

I felt a strong blast of cold air It swept throughthe gym like an invisible ocean wave

And then I saw Coachrsquos expression change verysuddenly He was grinning at me flashing me athumbs-up And then his hand came down His facewent slack His eyes appeared to fade to glaze overas if a curtain had been drawn over them

As if hersquod been hypnotized or somethingldquoHey Lukerdquo he said motioning me back to him

He frowned narrowing his eyes at me ldquoWhat is itrdquo I asked keeping up my dribbleldquoTake the benchrdquo he ordered pointing to the

team bench with his whistle

122

ldquoHuhrdquo I gaped at himldquoThe benchrdquo he repeated his face a blank now

his eyes vacant dull ldquoYou canrsquot play todayrdquoldquoHeymdashno wayrdquo I protested ldquoWhat do you mean

Irsquove got to playrdquoHe shook his head ldquoYou canrsquot play today Luke

Your concussionmdashremember I need a doctorrsquos noteHave you been examined You canrsquot play until yoursquoreexaminedrdquo

My mouth hung open ldquoCoach Irsquove been prac-ticing so hard Please Yoursquove got to let me in the gametodayrdquo I pleaded My heart pounded so hard I feltdizzy My head throbbed ldquoCoach I have to playItrsquos the last gamerdquo

He shook his head ldquoSorryrdquo He motioned to thebench ldquoWe have to follow the rulesrdquo

Whose rules I thought bitterly The Fate Masterrsquosrules

Coach Bendix gazed at me with those glazedblank eyes ldquoSorry Yoursquove already played your lastgame Lukerdquo

ldquoButmdashbutmdashrdquo I sputteredldquoYoursquoll get rsquoem next yearrdquo he said He blew his

whistle ldquoStretchmdashyoursquore in Yoursquore playing thewhole gamerdquo

I stood there I didnrsquot move I stood in the middleof the floor with my hands on my waist Waiting formy heart to stop racing Waiting for my legs to stoptrembling

123

Then I turned and slowly trudged to the bench Irsquod lost today Score one round for the Fate

Master No way I could break the pattern today I was a

loser today But I wasnrsquot finished I could still winIf I had time

124

ldquoGive the skull to Stretchrdquo Hannah pleadedldquoMaybe the Fate Master will go easy on usrdquo

It was the next day We were huddled at the backof the lunchroom I could see Stretch laughing andkidding around with his friends at a table near thefront The Squires had won the game by two pointsand Stretch had been a hero

ldquoI canrsquot do itrdquo I said shaking my head ldquoBesidesyou heard what the Fate Master said He doesnrsquotmake deals It wonrsquot help to pass it to Stretchrdquo

Hannah let out a sigh She had her head buriedin her hands ldquoThen what are we going to dordquo

ldquoIrsquoll find a way to defeat himrdquo I said I bit into myham sandwich ldquoHeymdashrdquo I felt something hard

ldquoOh nordquo I moaned I spit out a tooth In a panic I moved my tongue around the inside

of my mouth ldquoMy teethrdquo I groaned ldquoTheyrsquore allloose Irsquom going to lose all my teethrdquo

Hannah didnrsquot lift her head She whispered some-thing too low for me to hear

125

ldquoIrsquove got to gordquo I said jumping up ldquoI have someideas Hannah Donrsquot give up hope I have someideasrdquo

I ran past Stretchrsquos table where the guys werelaughing and blowing straw wrappers at each otherStretch called out to me but I didnrsquot stop

I made my way to the computer lab The doorwas closed I pulled it open and burst breathlesslyinto the brightly lit room

ldquoMrs Coffey Mrs Coffey Itrsquos memdashLukerdquo I felt another tooth swing loose in my mouth I

gritted my teeth trying to press it down into placeA chubby young man Irsquod never seen before came

out of the supply room He had short black hair ontop of a round pudgy face and bright red cheeks Helooked like an apple with eyes He wore a red plaidshirt over black denims

ldquoIs Mrs Coffey hererdquo I demanded ldquoI need to talkto herrdquo

He set down the disk drive he was carryingldquoShersquos gonerdquo he said

ldquoYou mean she went to lunchrdquo I askedHe shook his round head ldquoNo She left school

She got another jobrdquoldquoImdashI knowrdquo I stammered ldquoBut I thoughtmdashrdquoldquoIrsquom Ron Handlemanrdquo he said ldquoIrsquom taking over

the computer lab Do you have a class with merdquoldquoUh nordquo I said ldquoBut I have a project I was

supposed to show Mrs Coffey She was going to send

126

it to someone who might put it in a show Itrsquos com-puter animation you see Irsquove been working on it fortwo years and and rdquo In my panic the wordspoured out of me I had to stop to take a breath

ldquoSlow downrdquo Mr Handleman said ldquoShe proba-bly left me a note about it She left me a stack ofnotesrdquo He glanced around the cluttered worktableldquoI put them somewhererdquo

How could Mrs Coffey leave without seeing myproject I asked myself How could she do that tome

Didnrsquot she realize how important it was Thiscould be my big triumph If my computer animationis accepted for a showmdashbecause of my hard workonly because of my skill and hard workmdashit wouldbreak the pattern It might defeat the Fate Master

Didnrsquot she realizeldquoUh can you look at my computer anima-

tionrdquo I askedMr Handlemanrsquos cheeks grew redder ldquoWhenrdquoldquoTonightrdquo I asked my heart poundingldquoWell I donrsquot think sordquo he replied ldquoNot

tonight I mean this is my first day I have so muchto do here Maybe next week rdquo

ldquoNordquo I screamed ldquoYou have to look at it PleaseItrsquos very importantrdquo

ldquoIrsquod love to see itrdquo he said picking up the diskdrive starting across the room with it ldquoBut I have toget organized Maybe rdquo

127

ldquoPleaserdquo I cried ldquoFind Mrs Coffeyrsquos note Wersquovegot to get it to the man whorsquos putting together thecomputer art show Pleaserdquo

He narrowed his eyes at me He probably thoughtI was crazy

But I didnrsquot care I needed a victory I knew therewasnrsquot much time

ldquoOkayrdquo Mr Handleman said finally ldquoBring it infirst thing tomorrow morning Irsquoll try to look at it dur-ing lunchrdquo

Not good enough Tomorrow might be too late Irealized

ldquoHow late will you be here this afternoonrdquo Iasked breathlessly

ldquoPretty laterdquo he replied ldquoSince itrsquos my first dayImdashrdquo

ldquoIrsquoll run home after school and get itrdquo I said ldquoIrsquollbring it to you before you leave tonight Could you I mean would you look at it this afternoonPleaserdquo

ldquoOkay I guess Irsquoll be here till at least fiverdquo hesaid

ldquoYesssrdquo I cried pumping my fist in the air Iturned and raced out of the computer lab

I can win I told myself I can defeat the FateMaster My animation project is good I know it isIrsquove worked for two years on it Irsquove put so much hardwork into it

I donrsquot need luck I donrsquot need good luck at all

128

After school I ran all the way home I burst intothe kitchen tossed down my backpack and startedto my room I stopped halfway to the stairs when Iheard voices from the living room

ldquoLukemdashis that yourdquo Mom calledMom and Dad were both there sitting in the

dark Dad leaned heavily on his cane Mom had herhands clasped tightly in her lap

I stopped in the living room doorway ldquoWhy areyou both home so earlyrdquo I asked

ldquoI had to come home I couldnrsquot workrdquo Dad saidsoftly ldquoThat fall I took It was worse than we thoughtLooks like Irsquom going to need surgeryrdquo

ldquoOh nordquo I muttered My fault It was all my faultBut I didnrsquot really have time to talk to them I had

to get to my computer I wanted to check out the ani-mation one more time before I made a copy for MrHandleman Then I had to rush back to school

ldquoBut why are you sitting in the darkrdquo I askedldquoWhy donrsquot you turn on some lightsrdquo

ldquoWe canrsquotrdquo Mom said shaking her head ldquoTherersquossome kind of trouble with the power lines to ourblock The electricity is off We have no power Nopower at allrdquo

129

I let out a horrified scream ldquoNooooo My com-puterrdquo

ldquoYoursquoll have to wait till the power comes backonrdquo Dad said

ldquoButmdashbutmdashrdquo I sputteredldquoWersquore having so much bad luck all of a suddenrdquo

Dad murmuredldquoWe may have to leave the house tonightrdquo Mom

said sighing unhappily ldquoWithout electricity we haveno heat We may have to check into a hotel or some-thingrdquo

ldquoOh nordquo I tugged at my hair A big clump of itcame out in my hand

I was losing my hair Losing my teeth How couldI fight back How

ldquoHe canrsquot do this to merdquo I screamed ldquoHe canrsquotHe canrsquotrdquo I turned and grabbed the banister andpulled myself up the stairs

ldquoLuke What are you sayingrdquoldquoWhere are you goingrdquo

130

I didnrsquot answer I dived into my room andslammed the door shut behind me

Breathing hard I stared at my computer Staredat the dark monitor screen

Useless Totally useless Frustrated I kicked the side of my desk

ldquoOwwwrdquo I didnrsquot mean to kick it that hard Sharppain throbbed up my leg up my side

ldquoOh waitrdquo I suddenly remembered I alreadymade a copy

Yes I made a backup copy of my project On myZip drive Yes

I fumbled frantically through the pile of disks onmy desk And grabbed the Zip disk

I still have a chance I told myself The FateMaster thought he shut me down But I still have achance

I stuffed the disk into my jacket pocket I hurledmyself down the stairs two at a time ldquoBye I have togo back to schoolrdquo I shouted to my parents

ldquoWhyrdquoldquoWhatrsquos going on Luke We need you hererdquoldquoHeymdashcome back and explainrdquoI heard their cries but I burst out the front door

and kept running ldquoIrsquoll stop the bad luckrdquo I said out loud ldquoIrsquoll stop

it Irsquoll stop the Fate MastermdashnowrdquoI found Mr Handleman in the computer lab

leaning over a keyboard typing an e-mail message

131

He spun around when I shouted hi to himI held up the disk ldquoHere it is Please Yoursquove got

to check it outrdquoHe motioned for me to sit down next to him ldquoI

spoke to the producer of the computer showrdquo hesaid ldquoHe called me this afternoon He said that if Iliked your animation I should send it over to himright awayrdquo

ldquoExcellentrdquo I cried ldquoThatrsquos great newsrdquoldquoArenrsquot you going to take your coat offrdquoldquoNordquo I answered breathlessly I shoved the disk

into the Zip drive ldquoNo time You have to see thisRight awayrdquo

He laughed ldquoSlow down Take a deep breathrdquoldquoIrsquoll breathe after you see itrdquo I said He leaned back in his chair and used his hands

as a headrest ldquoYoursquove been working on this for twoyearsrdquo

I nodded I found the file in the disk directory and double-

clicked it ldquoHere goesrdquo I said I was so nervous themouse trembled in my hand My chest was so tightit felt about to burst

Is it possible to explode from excitement I leanedforward to watch

The screen was solid black ldquoItrsquos starting nowrdquo Iwhispered

I stared at the black screen waiting for the brightburst of color at the beginning

132

Waiting Finally a dim glow spread over the screen Two circles of light Two red circles glowed in the

center of the darknessTwo red glowing eyes The eyes stared out unblinking unmoving

Blank round circles of shimmering redMr Handleman cleared his throat His eyes

remained locked on the monitor screen ldquoAre thoseeyesrdquo he asked ldquoDo they move or anythingrdquo

I opened my mouth to answer but no soundcame out

I stared frozen in horror at the glowing eyes Theevil eyes

And knew I had been defeated again Mr Handelmanrsquos cheeks were bright red now ldquoIs

this all there isrdquo he askedldquoYesrdquo I whispered ldquoThatrsquos allrdquoMy project was gone My two years of work were

lost The fiery eyes stared out at me in triumphI climbed to my feet and slumped out of the roomI trudged down the empty hall head down hands

shoved deep in my pockets Irsquove lost I realized Irsquoma loser forever now Hannah and me both Bad luckfor the rest of our lives

I turned a cornermdashand almost bumped intoCoach Swanson ldquoHey Lukemdashhowrsquos it goingrdquo heasked

133

I muttered a reply under my breathldquoI was going to call you tonightrdquo he said ldquoAndy

Mason is sick You have to swim in his place tomor-rowrdquo

I raised my head ldquoHuh Swimrdquo I had nearly for-gotten that I was on the swim team

ldquoSee you after school at the poolrdquo the coach saidldquoGood luckrdquo

Irsquoll need it I thought glumlyBut then I realized I was being given one more

chanceOne more chance to win without luck One more

chance to defeat FateOne last chance

The next morning I wore a baseball cap to schoolso no one could see the bald patches on my headWhen I brushed my teeth that morning anothertooth came sliding out between my lips

My tongue was covered with hard white bumpsMy arms and legs itched I was starting to get thesame red blotches on my skin as Hannah

Somehow I made it through the school day All Icould think about was the swim team race Wasthere any way that I might win That I might breakthe pattern and win the race and defeat the FateMaster

I didnrsquot have much hope But I knew I had to tryI knew I had to give it everything I had left

134

A few seconds after I lowered myself into the poolto warm up Coach Swansonrsquos whistle rang outechoing off the tile walls ldquoPractice laps everyonerdquothe coach shouted ldquoDo them half-speed Letrsquos seesome warm-up lapsrdquo

At the other end of the pool I saw Stretch kick offand begin swimming with steady strong strokes Idid a surface dive and started to follow him Thewarm water felt good on my itchy skin

I kicked hard Picked up speedAs I raised my head to suck in a deep breath the

water suddenly churned hard I swallowed a big mouthful Started to chokeI sputtered struggling to clear my throat strug-

gling to breatheAnd then to my horror my stomach heaved hard

ldquoGuuurrrrrrprdquo My lunch came hurling upI couldnrsquot hold it back I vomited a thick dark

puddle into the clear waterldquoOoh grossrdquoldquoSickrdquoldquoYuck Oh wowmdashhersquos puking his guts uprdquoA sick sour smell rose up from the water I heard

kids shouting and groaning in disgustAnd then I heard Coach Swansonrsquos whistle And

the coach shouting at me ldquoYoursquore outta there LukeGet out Yoursquore sick Yoursquore not going to swimtodayrdquo

135

No I thought This canrsquot happen again This ismy last chance

ldquoCoach Irsquom okayrdquo I shouted ldquoI just swal-lowed some water I can swimmdashreallyrdquo

Coach Swanson glanced around the pool AndyMason was in street clothes Joe Bork the other alter-nate didnrsquot show up

ldquoYoursquove got to let me swimrdquo I pleadedThe coach shrugged his shoulders ldquoTherersquos no

one else I guess Irsquove got no choicerdquoIrsquom going to do this I thought Irsquom going to win

today Irsquom going to do whatever it takes to winThe race got off to a good start I did a speed dive

at the whistle and found myself gliding strokingeasily in the lead

Swimming steadily keeping up a smooth rhythmI stayed in the lead until the waves began

Waves They tossed up in front of me rolledrapidly toward me splashed over me Wave afterwave Pushing me back Slowing my pace

136

Stroking harder to keep my rhythm I turned tothe side and glanced at the other swimmers The poolwas smooth the water flat for them

The waves were just for me A strong currentpushed at me slowing me shoving me back

I ducked under the waves Let them splash androll over me And swam harder

HarderldquoOhrdquo Something brushed my legI felt something curl around an ankle Something

bumped my waist I felt something slide around myknee

With another gasp I turnedmdashand saw the gray-green creatures Eels Were they eels

Wrapping around my legs Twining over mywaist

Long fat eels The water churned with themI cried out I saw the other swimmers gliding swiftly through

clear water They didnrsquot even notice my dark churn-ing water They didnrsquot even see the gleaming wetcreatures slithering between my legs Tighteningaround my ankles my legs

Slapping me slapping me hard slappingme back

ldquoNordquo I burst free I kept swimmingInto thick pink clusters of jellyfish The jellyfish

ballooned around me Stung my arms Stung mylegs Prickled the skin of my back

137

I cried out in pain The sticky creatures swarmedover me stinging stinging me again and again

I could see the other swimmers moving smoothlyahead of me now Gliding in smooth clear waters asI felt jolt after jolt of pain from the billowing jellyfishthat clustered over me

I slapped the water Slapped and kickedAnd let out another cry of pain as the water siz-

zled and boiled Scalding hot now It steamed andbubbled And my skin burned My skin is going toburn right off me I thought struggling to breatheStruggling to keep my arms moving through thescalding steam Kicking kicking hard

The other swimmers ahead of me now Moving sospeedily so steadily

I shut my eyes and swam Yoursquore not going tobeat me I thought Irsquom going to win going to win

And the thought gave me a final surge of energyI shot forward to the wall Plunged like a speed-

ing torpedo to the finishMy hand hit the wall I slapped the wallGasping gasping my chest heaving in

agony And knew that I had lostToo slow Too slowI knew that I had lost again

138

Water poured down my face I shut my eyes andstruggled to catch my breath

I heard a loud whistle Then I felt a hand on myshoulder A slap ldquoWay to go Lukerdquo

I opened my eyes to see the coach He grabbed myhand and pumped it hard Then he slapped me a highfive ldquoYou won You came from behind What a raceLuke Check out the time You set a school recordrdquo

ldquoHuh I did I wonrdquo He helped me out of the pool Guys were cheering

and yelling congratulationsBut the cheering was cut short by a deafening cry

from the middle of the pool A shrill wail that rose likean ambulance siren Higher higher until I wasforced to cover my ears

And then a mountain of water rose up from thepool Red and steaming like a volcano The water roseupmdashhigher highermdashlike a bubbling boiling red tidalwave And all the while the deafening wail rang outwith it

139

Everyone was screaming We all were screamingAnd then as suddenly as it rose up the molten

red mountain collapsed back into the poolCollapsed with a soft splash The pool was flat andsmooth again And silent Silent except for ourstunned gasps and cries

I turned to see Hannah running along the side ofthe pool Hannah out of her wheelchair RunningRunning wildly waving her arms excitedly laughingher red hair flying behind her

ldquoLukemdashyou did it Wersquore free You defeated FateLukemdashyou defeated Faterdquo

But it wasnrsquot enough Not enough for meI changed into my street clothes in seconds Then

I dragged Hannah down the hall to my locker Locker13

I stopped at the janitorrsquos closet And I grabbed ahuge sledgehammer

Hannah cheered as I raised the sledgehammer tothe locker and smashed it smashed it smashed it

Working feverishly I pried the battered lockerfrom the wall Kicked it onto its side Raised thesledgehammer again Smashed it crushed it smashed it

The battered locker door swung open I heard alow groan from deep inside

Hannah and I both leaped back as a skull rolledout onto the floor

140

Not a tiny skull A human-sized skull with glow-ing red eyes

The eyes glowed for only a few seconds Then theskull uttered a final groan a groan of agony ofdefeat And the eyes faded to darkness Empty dark-ness

I took a deep breath Ran up to itmdashand kickedthe skull down the hall

ldquoGoalrdquo Hannah yelledWe walked out of the school building arm in arm

Into the bright afternoon sunlight I took a long deep breath The air smelled so

fresh so sweet The houses the trees the skymdashthey all looked so

beautifulI stopped at the bottom of the sidewalk And bent

down to pick something upldquoHey check it outrdquo I showed it to Hannah ldquoIs

this my lucky dayrdquo I cried ldquoI found a pennyrdquo

141

142

Luke Greene is very superstitious so naturallyhersquos not happy when hersquos assigned Locker 13 atschool But amazingly a lucky charm he finds in thelocker changes his luck from bad to great NowLukersquos luck is so good he canrsquot lose No matter whathe does his lucky charm makes him come out ontop

But Luke discovers that his good luck comes witha very high price Will he pay it Or will he be lostlike others before him in the horror that is Locker 13

About Locker 13

The Locker 13 in Luke Greenersquos story does notexist anymore and it is unclear if anyone who hadthe locker in previous years suffered the same fate asLuke

People who have had unbelievably nightmarishexperiences often keep silent about them (Lukedidnrsquot tell his story to many peoplemdashonly his friend

Go Deeper Into This

Nightmare

Hannah and RL Stine know what happened) So itis possible that what happened to Erica Chass in thesame school 12 years earlier could be related toLocker 13

Erica Chass was a popular seventh grader inShawnee Valley Junior High She had good gradeswas a star soccer player and had lots of friends Thenone day everything seemed to change Erica blew offsoccer nearly failed out of school and was fearfuland shy with even her best friends She dressed onlyin black and always wore a necklace with a smallcharm in the shape of a skull

Then one day Erica moved away She didnrsquot saygood bye She just didnrsquot show up for school one dayand never came back

But some people who went to that school in thosedays insist thatrsquos not the end of Ericarsquos story

The following year a new girl joined the eighthgrade at Shawnee Her name was Alyssa GwynneShe was bright cheerful and a terrific soccer playermdashand she looked exactly like Erica ldquoYou would havesworn they were twinsrdquo says Tracey Holt who knewthem bothmdashldquoNo it was like the old Erica camebackrdquo says another friend Debra Wyle

What was the relationship between Erica andAlyssa Could they really be the same person Andwhat is the connection to the Locker 13 legendMaybe there isnrsquot one but several people havementioned that Alyssa had a necklace that she wore

143

every daymdasha necklace with a tiny charmmdashof askull

About Superstition

Most of our superstitions go back to a time whenpeople believed that witches and witchcraft wereeverywhere People in the middle ages seemed to livein terror that evil magic or witches would harm theircrops bring illness or other disaster to their livesMany of the superstitions that have lasted to ourtime go back to these ancient fears

Break a mirrormdashseven years bad luck Thissuperstition relates to the idea that our reflection is apart of ourselves Harm the reflection and you willharm the original According to the thinking of themiddle ages it takes seven years for the body torebuild itself after itrsquos been harmed So thatrsquos why thebad luck lasts for seven years Luckily there is a cureWash the broken mirror pieces in a south runningriver and the evil is washed away too

Itrsquos bad luck to walk under a ladder This goesback to a time when hanging was a common form ofpunishment It seems that the gallows were prettyhigh so a ladder was often rested against the side ofthe gallows platform Walking under this ladder wasliterally dangerous Be in the wrong place at thewrong time and a rotting dead body could fall onyou If you happen to be careless enough to walk

144

under a ladder you can change the bad luck Justcross your fingers until you see a dog

Black cats bring bad luck There are a lots ofsuperstitions about cats Letrsquos face it cats can becreepymdashand black cats are the creepiest Oneancient superstition about cats is that they will stealthe breath out of babies Where did this idea comefrom

Watch a cat as it settles itself into your lap Beforesnuggling up the cat will often sniff you in themouth At a time when so many babies died the cattheory is as logical as any other

Now for some superstitions that yoursquove probablynever heard of

If you find a knife in the road you will havebad luck

Donrsquot point at the moon (The man in the moondoesnrsquot like it and will bring you bad luck)

Donrsquot brush your hair after sunsetmdashespecial-ly if you have family who spends time on thesea (Brushing your hair at that time will mean dis-aster and death for themmdashand bad luck for you)

If a child hits a parent the childrsquos hand willwag over his grave and dogs will ldquowaterrdquo it

145

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

RL STINE says he has a great job ldquoMy job is to givekids the CREEPSrdquo With his scary books RL hasterrified kids all over the world He has sold over 300million books making him the best-selling childrenrsquosauthor in history

These days RL is dishing out new frights in hisseries THE NIGHTMARE ROOM When he isnrsquotworking he likes to read old mysteries watchSpongeBob Squarepants on TV and take his dogNadine for long walks around New York City wherehe lives with his wife Jane and son Matthew

ldquoI love taking my readers to scary placesrdquo RLsays ldquoDo you know the scariest place of all Itrsquos yourMINDrdquo

ldquoHey check it out A fortune-tellerrdquo Jilly saidShe pointed to a small black tent that stood besidean ice cream cart ldquoCan we do it I love fortune-tellersrdquo

ldquoNo wayrdquo I said ldquoThey make me nervous Idonrsquot even like watching them in moviesrdquo

ldquoCome on Maggie Itrsquos your birthdayrdquo her sisterJackie said pulling me to the tent ldquoYou have tohave your fortune told on your birthdayrdquo

ldquoLetrsquos see what the fortune-teller says about youand Glenrdquo Judy the third sister teased

ldquoI donrsquot think sordquo I saidBut as usual they didnrsquot give me a choice A few

seconds later we were standing at the doorway tothe dark tent

ldquoWersquoll all have our fortunes toldrdquo Jackie saidldquoMy treatrdquo

ldquoThis is so coolrdquo Jilly whispered ldquoDo you thinkits a real psychic Do you think she can really tellthe futurerdquo

The three sisters started into the tent I held backstaring at the red-and-black hand-lettered sign MISSELIZABETH FORTUNE-TELLER ONE DOLLAR

Take a look at whatrsquos ahead inTHE NIGHTMARE ROOM 3

Liar Liar

I suddenly realized that my heart was racing Why do I feel so weird I wondered Why do I

have such a bad feeling about thisI followed my friends into the tent The air inside

felt hot and steamy Two electric lanterns on the backtent wall splashed gray light over the fortune-tellerrsquossmall table

Miss Elizabeth sat hunched with her elbows onthe table head in her hands staring into a red glassball She didnrsquot look up as we stepped inside Icouldnrsquot tell if she was concentrating on the red ballor if she was asleep

The tent was completely bare except for her tableand two wooden chairs and a large black-and-whiteposter of a human hand The hand was divided intosections There was a lot of writing all over the postertoo small for me to read in the smoky gray light

As she stared into the red glass ball the fortune-teller muttered to herself She was a middle-agedwoman slender with bony arms poking out from thesleeves of her red dress and very large pale whitehands Squinting into the light I saw that the polishon her long fingernails matched the red of her dress

ldquoHel-lordquo Jackie called breaking the silenceMiss Elizabeth finally looked up She was kind of

pretty She had big round black eyes and dramaticred-lipsticked lips Her hair was long and wavy solidblack except for a wide white streak down themiddle

Her eyes moved from one of us to the other Shedidnrsquot smile ldquoWalter we have visitorsldquo sheannounced in a hoarse scratchy voice

I glanced around searching for WalterldquoWalter is my late husbandrdquo the fortune-teller

announced ldquoHe helps me channel information fromthe spiritsrdquo

Jackie and I exchanged glances ldquoWersquod like you to tell our fortunesrdquo Jilly saidMiss Elizabeth nodded solemnly ldquoOne dollar

eachrdquo She held out her long pale hand ldquoFour dol-lars pleaserdquo

Jackie fumbled in her bag and pulled out fourcrumpled dollar bills She handed them to the for-tune-teller who shoved them into a pocket of her reddress

ldquoWho wants to go firstrdquo Again her eyes movedslowly over our faces

ldquoIrsquoll gordquo Jilly volunteered She dropped into thechair across the table from Miss Elizabeth

The fortune-teller lowered her head again to gazeinto the red ball ldquoWalter bring me the words of thespirit world about this young womanrdquo

I suddenly felt a chill at the back of my neck Iknew I shouldnrsquot be frightened The woman had tobe a fakemdashright Otherwise she wouldnrsquot be workingin a tacky carnival like this one

But she was so serious So solemn She didnrsquotseem to be putting on an act

Or was I just being gullible againNow she took Jillyrsquos hand She pulled it up close to

her face and began to study Jillyrsquos palm Muttering toherself she moved her long finger back and forth fol-lowing the lines of the palm tracing them with herbright red fingernail

Jackie leaned close to me ldquoThis is coolrdquo she whis-pered

Judy sighed ldquoThis is going to take foreverrdquoJackie raised a finger to her lips and motioned for

Judy to shush The woman studied Jillyrsquos palm for a long time

squeezing the hand as she gazed at it murmuring toWalter in the red glass ball Finally she raised her eyesto Jilly ldquoYou are artisticrdquo she said in her scratchyvoice

ldquoYesrdquo Jilly declaredldquoYou are a dancerrdquo Miss Elizabeth continued

ldquoYou study the dance You are a hard workerrdquoldquoWhoa I donrsquot believe thisrdquo Jilly gushed ldquoHow do

you knowmdashrdquoldquoYou have much talentrdquo the fortune-teller mur-

mured ignoring Jillyrsquos question ldquoMuch talent Butsometimes I see your artistic side gets in the wayof your practical side You are you are rdquo

She shut her eyes ldquoHelp me Walterrdquo she whis-pered Then she opened her eyes again and raisedthem to Jillyrsquos palm ldquoYou are a very social person Yourfriends mean a lot to you Especially boy friendsrdquo

Jackie and Judy laughed Jilly flashed them anangry scowl ldquoImdashI donrsquot believe thisrdquo she told thefortune-teller ldquoYou have everything rightrdquo

ldquoIt is my giftrdquo Miss Elizabeth replied softlyldquoWill I make the new dance companyrdquo Jilly

asked her ldquoTry-outs are next week Can you tell meif I will be acceptedrdquo

Miss Elizabeth stared into the glass ballldquoWalterrdquo she whispered

I held my breath waiting for the answer Jilly andI were both trying out for the dance company And Iknew there was only room for one of us

ldquoWalter can find no answerrdquo the fortune-tellertold Jilly ldquoHe only groansrdquo She let go of Jillyrsquos hand

ldquoHemdashgroanedrdquo Jilly asked ldquoWhyrdquoldquoYour time is uprdquo Miss Elizabeth said She

motioned to us ldquoWho is nextrdquoJackie shoved Judy forward Judy dropped into

the chair and held her hand out to Miss ElizabethJilly came running over to join Jackie and me at

the edge of the tent ldquoIsnrsquot she amazingrdquo she whis-pered

ldquoYes she isrdquo I had to admit How did she know somany true things about Jilly I was beginning tobelieve Miss Elizabeth really had powers

And now I didnrsquot feel afraid or nervous I was eagerto see what the fortune-teller would say about me

She squeezed Judyrsquos hand and gazed deep intoJudyrsquos dark eyes ldquoYou have great love in yourdquo she

announced ldquoGreat love for animalsrdquoJudy gasped ldquoY-yesrdquoldquoYou care for them You work rdquoldquoYesrdquo Judy said ldquoI work in an animal shelter after

school Thatrsquos amazingrdquoMiss Elizabeth ran a red fingernail down Judyrsquos

palm ldquoYou also have an animal that you care aboutvery much A dog No A catrdquo

ldquoYes My cat Plumperrdquo Judy turned to us her face filled with astonish-

ment ldquoDo you believe this Shersquos right about every-thingrdquo

ldquoI know Itrsquos so coolrdquo Jilly exclaimed She sweptback her blond hair with a toss of her head She keptbouncing up and down She seemed too excited tostand still

The fortune-teller spent a few more minutes withJudy She told Judy that she would have a long suc-cessful life She said Judy would have a big familysomeday

ldquoOf kids Of animalsrdquo Judy asked Miss Elizabeth didnrsquot answer Next came Jackiersquos turn Once again Miss

Elizabeth was right on target with everything shesaid ldquoWowrdquo Jackie kept muttering ldquoWowrdquo

Finally I found myself in the chair across fromthe fortune-teller Suddenly I felt so nervous Mymouth was dry My legs were shaking

Miss Elizabeth looked older from close up

When she smiled at me the thick makeup on herface cracked Tiny drops of sweat glistened at herhairline

ldquoWhat is your namerdquo she asked in a whisperldquoMaggierdquo I told herShe nodded solemnly and took my hand She

raised my palm close to her face and squinted downat it in the gray light

I held my breath And waited What would shesee

She squeezed my hand Brought it closer to herface

And then then her eyes bulged wide Shelet out a loud gasp

With a violent jerk she tossed my hand awayAnd jumped to her feet Her chair fell behind her

clattering to the tent floorShe stared at memdashstared in open-mouthed

horrorAnd then she screamedldquoGet OUT Get AWAY from hererdquoldquoHuh Waitmdashrdquo I choked outldquoGet OUT You bring EVIL You bring EVIL with

you Get OUT of hererdquo

Credits

Cover illustration by Vince NataleCover design by John Fontana

About the PublisherAustraliaHarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty Ltd 25 Ryde Road (PO Box 321)Pymble NSW 2073 Australia httpwwwharpercollinscomau

CanadaHarperCollins Publishers Ltd55 Avenue Road Suite 2900Toronto ON M5R 3L2 Canadahttpwwwharpercanadacom

New ZealandHarperCollinsPublishers (New Zealand)PO Box 1Auckland New Zealandhttpwwwharpercollinsconz

United KingdomHarperCollins Publishers Ltd77-85 Fulham Palace RoadLondon W6 8JB UKhttpwwwfireandwatercouk

United StatesHarperCollins Childrenrsquos Books A Division of HarperCollins Publishers1350 Avenue of the Americas New York NY 10019wwwharperchildrenscom

These stories are my scariest ever says RL Stinebecause I wrote them at the Nightmare Hour

When the lights fade the world that we know as real slipsinto shadowmdashand the cold moonlit world of evil dreams

enters your mind and takes over

These ten terrifying tales will make you shiver at any hourIllustrated by ten outstanding artists

I really enjoy your workhellipthank you for creating newnightmares for me mdashKenny age 12 NY

They are horrifying storiesmdashthey even gave me thecreeps mdashSofia age 14 LA

My favorite book is Nightmare Hour mdashJeffrie age 9 WI

Winner of Disney Adventures magazinersquos first everKidsrsquo Choice Award for Best HorrorMystery book

0-06-028688-1 $995 Hardcover0-06-440842-6 $499 Paperback

Available wherever books are sold

Join RL Stine and all your friends in The Nightmare Room

wwwthenightmareroomcom

Ten New Stories by rl stineNightmare Hour

Join RL Stine and all your friends in

ROOMTHE

Step inside wwwthenightmareroomcom

and open the door to terror

You can share with RL Stine your most terrifying dreams and experiences If your stories are terrifying enough for RL Stine youcould star in your own NIGHTMARE ROOMbook

Log on to THE NIGHTMARE ROOM nowand read RL Stinersquos brand-new spine-tinglingstorymdasha story so terrifying that it canrsquot be soldin bookstores

Log on to wwwthenightmareroomcom

where you will truly enter

THE NIGHTMARE ROOM

wwwthenightmareroomcom

THE NIGHTMARE ROOM 3My Name Is EvilMaggie has her palm read at a carnival and then the terrifying accidents beginIs Maggie cursed Will she have to live forever in THE NIGHTMARE ROOM

THE NIGHTMARE ROOM 4Liar LiarRoss looks across the room and sees himself standing there But Ross doesnrsquothave a twin This party has taken Rossto THE NIGHTMARE ROOM

$399 Paperback Available wherever books are sold

Join RL Stine and all your friends in THE NIGHTMARE ROOMwwwthenightmareroomcom

What can happen next in

ROOMTHE

banner hanging over the hall GO SQUIRES SUPPORT

YOUR TEAMAll of the boysrsquo teams at Shawnee Valley are called

the Squires Donrsquot ask me how they got that weirdname The banner made my heart race just a little Itreminded me that I had to find the basketball coachand ask when he was having tryouts

I had a whole list of things I wanted to do (1)check out the computer lab (2) find out about the bas-ketball team (3) see if I could take any kind of specialswimming program after school I never went to aschool with a swimming pool before And since swim-ming is my other big sport I was pretty pumped aboutit

ldquoLukemdashhirdquoI spun around to find my friend Hannah Marcum

behind me looking as cheerful and enthusiastic asalways Hannah has short coppery hair the color of abright new penny green eyes and a great smile Mymother always calls her Sunshine which totallyembarrasses both of us

ldquoYour pocket is tornrdquo she said She tugged at it rip-ping it a little more

ldquoHeymdashget offrdquo I backed away ldquoItrsquos my lucky shirtrdquoldquoDid you find your locker assignment yetrdquo She

pointed to a group of kids studying a chart taped to thewall They were all standing on tiptoe trying to seeover each other ldquoItrsquos posted over there Guess whatMy locker is the first one outside the lunchroom Irsquoll be

2

first for lunch every dayrdquoldquoOooh luckyrdquo I said ldquoAnd I got Gruen for Englishrdquo Hannah gushed

ldquoHersquos the best Hersquos so funny Everyone says you canrsquotstop laughing Did you get him toordquo

ldquoNordquo I said ldquoI got WarrenrdquoHannah made a face ldquoYoursquore doomedrdquoldquoShut uprdquo I said ldquoDonrsquot say things like thatrdquo I

squeezed my rabbitrsquos foot three times I pushed my way through the crowd to the locker

chart This is going to be an excellent year I told myselfJunior High is so not like elementary school

ldquoHey manmdashhowrsquos it goingrdquo Darnell Cross slappedme a high five

ldquoWhatrsquos uprdquo I replied ldquoCheck it out You got the lucky lockerrdquo Darnell

said I squinted at the chart ldquoHuh What do you meanrdquoI ran my eyes down the list of names until I came

to mine Luke Greene And then I followed the dottedline to my locker number

And gaspedldquoNo wayrdquo I said out loud ldquoThat canrsquot be rightrdquoI blinked a few times then focused on the chart

againYes Locker 13Luke Greene 1313My breath caught in my throat I started to choke

3

I turned away from the chart hoping no one couldsee how upset I was

How can this be happening to me I wonderedLocker 13 My whole year is ruined before it begins

My heart pounded so hard my chest ached Iforced myself to start breathing again

I turned and found Hannah still standing thereldquoWherersquos your lockerrdquo she asked ldquoIrsquoll walk youthererdquo

ldquoUh well I can deal with itrdquo I saidShe squinted at me ldquoExcuse merdquo ldquoI can deal with itrdquo I repeated shakily ldquoItrsquos

Locker thirteen but I can handle it ReallyrdquoHannah laughed ldquoLuke yoursquore such a supersti-

tious geekrdquoI frowned at her ldquoYou mean that in a nice waymdash

rightrdquo I jokedShe laughed again and shoved me into a crowd of

kids I wish she wouldnrsquot shove me so much Shersquosreally strong

I apologized to the kids I stumbled into ThenHannah and I started down the crowded hallchecking the locker numbers searching for num-ber 13

Just past the science lab Hannah stopped sud-denly and grabbed something up from the floor

ldquoHey wow Look what I foundrdquo She held up a five-dollar bill ldquoMmmmmmdashyesrdquo

4

She raised it to her lips and kissed it ldquoFive bucksYayrdquo

I sighed and shook my head ldquoHannah howcome yoursquore always so luckyrdquo

She didnrsquot answer that question It seemed like a simple question but it wasnrsquot And if she had told me the answer I think I would

have run awaymdashrun as far as I could from ShawneeValley Junior High and never come back

5

Letrsquos skip ahead two months Seventh grade was not bad so far I made some new

friends I made real progress on the computer anima-tion piece I had been working on for nearly two yearsAnd I actually won a spot on the basketball team

It was early November about two weeks into theseason And I was late for practice

Guys were already on the floor doing stretchingexercises bouncing basketballs to each other takingshort layups I crept to the locker room hoping no onewould notice me

ldquoLukemdashget dressed Yoursquore laterdquo Coach Bendixshouted

I started to call ldquoSorry I got hung up in the com-puter labrdquo But that was no kind of excuse So I justgave Coach a nod and started jogging full speed to thelocker room to get changed

My stomach felt kind of tight I realized I wasnrsquotlooking forward to practice today For a little guy Irsquom apretty good basketball player Irsquove got a good outside

6

shot and pretty fast hands on defense I was so excited to make the team But I wasnrsquot

counting on one problemmdashan eighth grader namedStretch Johannsen

Stretchrsquos real name is Shawn But everyone in theworld calls him Stretchmdasheven his parents You mightwonder how he got that name But if you saw him youwouldnrsquot wonder

Stretch had some kind of a growth spurt last year inseventh grade and he became a big blond giant prac-tically overnight Hersquos taller than anyone in the highschool He has shoulders like a wrestler and long armsI mean really long arms like a chimpanzee He canreach halfway across the gym

And thatrsquos why everyone started calling himStretch

I think a better name for him would be OstrichThatrsquos because he has long skinny legs like bird legsand a huge chest thatrsquos so wide it makes his pale blue-eyed head look as tiny as an egg

But I would never try my nickname on him I donrsquotthink I can run fast enough Stretch doesnrsquot have muchof a sense of humor In fact hersquos a pretty mean guyalways trash-talking and shoving people aroundmdashandnot just on the basketball floor

I think once he got over the shock of being a gianthe decided to be really impressed with himself

Like being a giant is some kind of special talent orsomething

7

But donrsquot get me started Irsquom always analyzingpeople thinking too hard about them about every-thing Hannah is always telling me I think too muchBut I donrsquot get it How do you stop thinking

Last week after a practice Coach Bendix saidnearly the same thing ldquoYoursquove got to play oninstinct Luke There isnrsquot time to think before everymoverdquo

Which I guess is another reason why I ride thebench Of course Irsquom only in seventh grade Sounless another giant forward tries out for the SquiresIrsquoll probably get to play next yearmdashafter Stretchgraduates

But for now itrsquos really embarrassing not to get toplay Especially since my parents come to everygame to cheer me on I sit on the team bench andwatch Mom and Dad up in the gym bleachers juststaring at me Staring

It doesnrsquot make you feel great Even the time-outs are painful Stretch always

comes trotting over to the team bench He wipes thesweat off his face and bodymdashand then throws thetowel onto me Like Irsquom some kind of towel boy

During one time-out late in the first game he tooka long gulp of Gatorade and spit it onto my uniformshirt I looked up and saw my parents watching fromthe bleachers

8

Sad Really sad Our team the Squires won our first two games

mainly because Stretch wouldnrsquot let anyone elsehandle the ball It was great to winmdashbut I wasalready starting to feel like a loser I wanted to play

Maybe if I have a really strong practice todayCoach Bendix will try me out at guard I told myselfOr maybe even as a backup center I laced up myshoes and triple-knotted them for luck Then I shutmy eyes and counted to seven three times

Just something I doI straightened my red-and-black uniform shorts

slammed the gym locker shut and trotted out of thelocker room and onto the floor Guys were at the farend taking three-point shots everyone shooting atonce The balls bounced off each other bounced offthe hoop The backboard rang out with a steadythud thud thud

Some of the shots actually dropped inldquoLuke get busyrdquo Coach yelled motioning me to

the basket ldquoGet some rebounds Make some shotsGet looserdquo

I flashed him a thumbs-up and ran to join theothers I saw Stretch leap up and make a highrebound To my surprise he spun around andheaved the ball at me ldquoLukemdashthink fastrdquo

I wasnrsquot expecting it The ball sailed through my

9

hands I had to chase it to the wall I dribbled backto find Stretch waiting ldquoGo ahead man Shootrdquo

I swallowed hardmdashand sent up a two-handedshot

ldquoHe shootsmdashhe missesrdquo Stretch shouted Someguys laughed

My shot bounced off the rim Stretch took threefast strides reached up his long arms and grabbedthe rebound in midair He tossed it back to meldquoShoot againrdquo

My next shot brushed the bottom of the netldquoHe shootsmdashhe missesrdquo Stretch repeated as if

that was the funniest thing anyone ever said Moreloud laughter

Stretch took the rebound and tossed me the ballldquoAgainrdquo he ordered

Everyone was watching now I sent up a one-handed layup that almost dropped in It rolledaround the rim then fell off

ldquoHe shootsmdashhe missesrdquoI could feel sweat rolling down my forehead

Why canrsquot I get lucky here I asked myself Comeon Lukemdashjust one lucky shot I slapped my lefthand rapidly against the leg of my shorts seventimes

Stretch bounced the ball to me ldquoGo champYoursquore O for three You got a streak goingrdquo Morelaughter

I shut my eyes for a second Then I sailed this

10

one highmdashand gasped as it sank through the hoopStretch grinned and shook his head The other

guys all cheered as if Irsquod just won the state juniorhigh tournament

I grabbed the ball and dribbled away from themI didnrsquot want to give Stretch a chance to ruin my vic-tory I knew he would keep me shooting till I wasone for three hundred

I turned to see if Coach Benson had watched myshot He leaned against the wall talking to two otherteachers He hadnrsquot seen it

I dribbled across the floor then back toward theothers Then I made a big mistake

A really big mistake A mistake that ruined mylife at Shawnee Valley Junior High

ldquoHey Stretchmdashthink fastrdquo I shouted And Iheaved the ball at him as hard as I could

What was I thinkingI didnrsquot see that he had bent down on one knee

to tie his sneaker lace I froze in horrormdashand watched the ball fly at

him It hit him hard on the side of the head knockedhim over and sent him tumbling to the floor

ldquoHeymdashrdquo he cried out stunned He shook hishead dizzily I saw bright red blood start to flow fromhis nose

ldquoStretchmdashIrsquom sorryrdquo I shrieked ldquoI didnrsquot seeyou I didnrsquot meanmdashrdquo

I lurched forward running to help him up

11

ldquoMy contactsrdquo he cried ldquoYou knocked out mycontactsrdquo

And then I heard a soft squish under my shoeI stopped Lifted my foot Stretchrsquos contact lens

lay flat as a pancake on the gym floorEveryone saw itStretch was on his feet now Blood rolled down

his lips his chin He didnrsquot pay any attention to it He had his eyes

narrowed on me He lumbered forward clenchingand unclenching his giant fists

I was doomed

12

Stretch reached under my arms and lifted me upHe was so huge and strong he picked me off thefloor like I was a ventriloquistrsquos dummy

ldquoWhoa It was an accidentrdquo I whisperedldquoHerersquos another accidentrdquo he said When he

talked he spit blood in my face He tightened his gripunder my arms

He raised me higher and gazed up at the basketIs he going to make a three-point shot with me Iwondered

Yes He is Hersquos going to slam dunk meBehind me I heard shouts A whistle blowing

Running footstepsldquoTake it outside Stretchrdquo I heard Coach Bendix

shoutHuhStretch slowly lowered me to the floor My knees

started to buckle but I managed to stay on my feet Stretch rubbed a hand across his bloody nose

then wiped it on the front of my jersey

13

ldquoTake it outsiderdquo Coach repeated edgingbetween us ldquoLetrsquos pair up everybody One on oneStretchmdashyou and Lukerdquo

ldquoNo wayrdquo Stretch mutteredldquoHersquos your backuprdquo Coach said poking Stretch

in the chest with his whistle ldquoYoursquove got to teachLuke Irsquom putting you in charge of Lukersquos develop-mentrdquo

Stretch snickered ldquoDevelopment He doesnrsquothave any developmentrdquo

ldquoGo to my office Get some tissues and stop thatnosebleedrdquo Coach instructed Stretch ldquoThen takeLuke to the practice court behind the playgroundShow him some moves Teach him somethingrdquo

Stretch stared at the floor for a few seconds as ifthinking it over But he knew better than to arguewith Coach Bendix He nodded at me ldquoLetrsquos goChamprdquo

What choice did I have Even though I knew itwas pain time for me I turned and followed him out-side

It was late afternoon pretty cold to be outside inbasketball shorts and a sleeveless jersey Since it wasNovember the big red sun had already loweredbehind the houses across the street from the play-ground

I shiveredStretch didnrsquot give me much of a chance to get

14

ready He pounded the ball hard on the asphalt courtand came racing at me like a stampeding bull

I tried to slide to the side But Stretch lowered hisshoulder and slammed it hard into my gut

ldquoOhhhrdquo I groaned and slumped backldquoDefenserdquo he shouted ldquoGet your hands up

Champ Get ready Here I come againrdquoldquoNomdashwaitmdashrdquo I pleadedThe ball thundered in front of him as he drove

into me again This time he kept his body up straightThe force of the collision sent me sprawling to theasphalt

ldquoDefenserdquo he shouted ldquoShow me somethingBlock me At least slow me down a littlerdquo

Groaning again I climbed to my feet I felt as ifIrsquod been hit by a truck

Stretch dribbled around me circling me his eyeslocked angrily on me His nosebleed had stoppedbut he still had dried blood caked under his nose

I rubbed my chest ldquoI I think I broke a ribrdquo Iwhispered

With a wild shout he slammed into me againThis time I flew backmdashand smashed into the thickwooden post that held up the backboard

ldquoYoursquore going to pay for those contacts Champrdquohe called hulking over me so I couldnrsquot stand updribbling the ball inches from my feet

ldquoYeah Okayrdquo I said trying to rub the pain frommy chest ldquoI said I was sorryrdquo

15

ldquoYoursquore gonna be more sorryrdquo he said Hebounced the ball hard against my bare leg ldquoGet uprdquo

I didnrsquot move ldquoIt was an accidentrdquo I insisted ldquoIreally didnrsquot see you bend down Reallyrdquo

He picked at the caked blood under his noseldquoGet up Letrsquos go Irsquom supposed to teach you some-thingrdquo He laughed really loud Irsquom not sure whyThen he swept a huge hand back through his shortwhite-blond hair and waited for me to stand up Sohe could teach me more lessons

I climbed shakily to my feet I felt so dizzy I hadto grab the wooden post My head ached My ribsached

ldquoCan we uh play a different gamerdquoI asked weakly

ldquoYeah Surerdquo he said ldquoHeymdashthink fastrdquoHe was standing so close and he heaved the ball

so hard it felt like a cannonball as it shot into mystomach

I stumbled back And let out a sharp gaspAnd then realized I couldnrsquot breatheI struggled hard to suck in some air No no air I canrsquot get air I saw bright yellow stars The yellow darkened to

redPain shot through my chest The pain spread

growing sharper sharper I was down on my back now staring up at the

16

17

sky staring up at the dancing red stars I wanted toscream But I had no air

Canrsquot breathe canrsquot breathe at all The stars faded away The color faded from the

sky All black All black nowAnd as I sank into the blackness I heard a voiceA beautiful soft voice from far far away Calling

my nameAn angel I realized Yes Through the blackness I heard an angel call-

ing my nameAnd I knew that I had died

ldquoLuke LukerdquoThe blackness lifted I blinked up at the afternoon

sky The voice was closer now And I recognized itldquoLukerdquoMy chest ached as I took a deep breathHeymdashwhen had I started to breathe againI lifted my head and saw Hannah running across

the basketball court She wore a blue windbreakerunzipped and it flapped up over her shoulders likewings Her red hair glowed in the late afternoon sunlike a halo

Not an angel Just Hannah She turned angrily to Stretch as she ran past him

ldquoWhat did you do to Lukemdashkill himrdquoStretch giggled ldquoProbablyrdquoHannah dropped onto her knees beside me Her

windbreaker fell over my face She tugged it awayldquoAre you alive Can you speakrdquo

ldquoYeah Irsquom okayrdquo I muttered I felt like a jerk Ahelpless jerk

18

Stretch walked up behind Hannah ldquoWhorsquos sherdquohe sneered at me ldquoYour girlfriendrdquo

Hannah spun around to face him ldquoHeymdashIrsquoveseen your girlfriendrdquo

Stretchrsquos mouth dropped open ldquoHuh Whorsquosthatrdquo

ldquoGodzillardquo Hannah declaredI tried to laugh but it made my ribs hurtThe next thing I knew Hannah was on her feet

shoving Stretchrsquos shoulders with both hands forcinghim to back up ldquoEver hear of picking on someoneyour own sizerdquo she demanded

Stretch laughed ldquoNo Tell me about itrdquo Hebacked away from her and raised his big meaty fistsHe grinned and started dancing like a fighter ldquoComeon You want a piece of me You want a piece ofmerdquo Imitating someone in a movie I guess

ldquoOne on onerdquo Hannah challenged Stretch tossed back his head and laughed His

blue eyes rolled around in his tiny head ldquoYou wanta piece of merdquo

ldquoFreestyle shootingrdquo Hannah said tearing off thewindbreaker She tossed it to the side of the courtldquoCome on Stretch Twenty shots each Any kind ofshotrdquo She stared up at him ldquoYoursquoll lose ReallyYoursquoll see Yoursquoll lose to a girlrdquo

His smile faded ldquoYoursquore on the girlsrsquo basketballteammdashrightrdquo

Hannah nodded ldquoIrsquom the centerrdquo

19

Stretch started to dribble the ball slowly in frontof him ldquoTwenty shots Layups or three-pointrdquo

Hannah shrugged ldquoAny kind Yoursquoll loserdquoI climbed to my feet and went over to the side of

the court to watch I still felt a little shaky but I knewI was okay

Stretch didnrsquot hesitate He raised the ball andpushed up a one-handed shot from half-court Theball hit the backboard then the rimmdashand droppedin ldquoOne for onerdquo he said He ran to retrieve the ballldquoIrsquoll keep shooting until I missrdquo

He missed his next shot an easy layup fromunder the basket

Hannahrsquos turn I crossed my fingers and countedto seven three times

ldquoGo Hannahrdquo I cheered holding up my crossedfingers

Hannah sank a basket from the foul line Thenshe drove under the basket and shot another one infrom underneath

My mouth dropped open as she sank eight morebaskets without a miss ldquoWow Go Hannahrdquo

Stretch just stood there looking dumb I couldnrsquottell what he was thinking His face was a total blank

ldquoTen for tenrdquo Hannah declared She bounced theball to Stretch ldquoYou go Just to keep it interestingrdquo

Hannah glanced at me grinned and flashed mea thumbs-up

Stretch wasnrsquot smiling anymore He had a grim

20

determined look on his face as he drove in close toshoot He dropped four straight baskets then missedone from in front of the foul line

He muttered something under his breath andbounced the ball to Hannah

Hannah sank eight more in a row She turned toStretch ldquoEighteen for eighteenrdquo

But he was already jogging back to the gym ascowl on his face

ldquoIrsquom not finishedrdquo Hannah called after himStretch turned back to me ldquoHey Champmdashmaybe

you should take a lesson from your girlfriend Ormaybe you should play on her teamrdquo Shaking hishead he disappeared into the school

A strong wind began to blow across the play-ground It was dark as evening now I picked upHannahrsquos windbreaker and reached out to hand it toher But she took another shot ldquoNineteenrdquo And thenanother ldquoTwenty Yay I winrdquo

I gaped at her ldquoHannahmdashyou never miss Howdo you do thatrdquo

She shrugged ldquoJust luckyrdquoI shivered We started jogging back to the school

ldquoAsk me how lucky I amrdquo I muttered ldquoI made a newenemy today A huge enemyrdquo

Hannah stopped and grabbed my arm ldquoHeymdashItotally forgot why I was looking for you I wanted totell you the coolest newsrdquo

I held the school door open ldquoYeah Whatrdquo

21

Hannahrsquos green eyes flashed ldquoYou know thosephotos I took of my dog I sent them to a magazine inNew York And guess what They paid me five hun-dred dollars for them Theyrsquore going to publish themmdashand do a big story about me Isnrsquot that so totally coolrdquo

ldquoWow Totallyrdquo I saidAnd thatrsquos when I decided my luck had to changeWhy should Hannah have all the luck I can be

lucky too I told myselfItrsquos all attitude Thatrsquos what it takes The right atti-

tudeI changed into my street clothes I made my way

upstairs to stop at my locker Locker 13 Basketball practice had run so late the halls were

empty My shoes clonked noisily on the hard floorMost of the lights had already been turned off

This school is creepy when itrsquos empty I decided Istopped in front of my locker feeling a chill at the backof my neck

I always felt a little weirded-out in front of thelocker For one thing it wasnrsquot with all the otherseventh-grade lockers It was down at the end of theback hall by itself just past a janitorrsquos supply closet

Up and down the hall all the other lockers hadbeen painted over the summer They were all asmooth silvery gray But no one had touched locker13 The old green paint was peeling and had largepatches scraped off Deep scratches crisscrossed upand down the door

22

The locker smelled damp And sour As if it hadonce been filled with rotting leaves or dead fish orsomething

Thatrsquos okay I can deal with this I told myself I took a deep breath New attitude Luke New

attitude Your luck is going to changeI opened my backpack and pulled out a fat black

marker Then I closed the locker door And rightabove the number 13 I wrote the word LUCKY in bigbold capital letters

I stepped back to admire my work LUCKY 13ldquoYessssrdquo I felt better alreadyI shoved the black marker into my backpack and

started to zip it up And thatrsquos when I heard thebreathing

Soft soft breaths So soft I thought I imaginedthem From inside the locker

I crept closer and pressed my ear against the doorI heard a soft hiss Then more breathingThe backpack slipped out of my hands and thud-

ded to the floor I froze And heard another soft hiss inside the locker It

ended in a short cry The back of my neck prickled My breath caught

in my throatWithout realizing it my hand had gripped the

locker handleShould I open the door Should I

23

My hand tightened on the handle I forced myselfto start breathing again

Irsquom imagining this I told myself There canrsquot be anyone breathing inside my lockerI lifted the handle Pulled open the doorldquoHeymdashrdquo I cried out in shock And stared down at

a black catThe cat gazed up at me its eyes red in the dim

hall light The black fur stood up on its back Itpulled back its lips and hissed again

A black catA black cat inside my lockerIrsquom imagining this I thought I blinked hard trying to blink the cat awayA black cat inside locker 13 Could there be any

worse luckldquoHowmdashhow did you get in thererdquo I choked outThe cat hissed again and arched its back It gazed

up at me coldly Then it leaped from the locker floor It darted over

24

my shoes down the hall Running rapidly silentlyHead down tail straight up it turned the first cornerand disappeared

I stared after it my heart pounding I could stillfeel its furry body brushing against my leg I realizedI was still gripping the locker handle

My head spun with questions How long had thecat been in there How did it get inside the lockeddoor Why was there a black cat in my locker Why

I turned and checked out the floor of the lockerJust to make sure there werenrsquot any other creatureshiding in there Then still feeling confused I closedthe door carefully locked it and stepped back

LUCKY 13The black letters appeared to glowldquoYeah Luckyrdquo I muttered picking up my back-

pack ldquoReal lucky A black cat in my lockerrdquo I held my lucky rabbitrsquos foot and kept squeezing

it tightly all the way homeThings are going to change I told myself Things

have got to change

But in the next few weeks my luck didnrsquot changeat all

One day after school I was on my way to the com-puter lab when I ran into Hannah ldquoWhere are yougoingrdquo she asked ldquoWant to come watch my basket-ball gamerdquo

ldquoI canrsquotrdquo I replied ldquoI promised to install some

25

new modems for Mrs Coffey the computer teacherrdquoldquoMr Computer Geek strikes againrdquo she said She

started jogging toward the gymldquoDid you get your science test backrdquo I called

after herShe stopped and turned around with a grin on her

face ldquoYou wonrsquot believe it Luke I didnrsquot have timeto study I had to guess on every question And guesswhat I got a hundred I got them all rightrdquo

ldquoThatrsquos excellentrdquo I called Irsquod studied for thattest for a solid week and I got a seventy-four

I made my way into the computer lab and wavedto Mrs Coffey She was hunched over her desk sort-ing through a tall stack of disks ldquoHey howrsquos itgoingrdquo she called

The computer lab is my second home Ever sinceMrs Coffey learned that I can repair computers andupgrade them and install things in them Irsquove beenher favorite student

And I have to admit I really like her tooWhenever I donrsquot have basketball practice I checkin at the computer lab to talk with her and see whatneeds to be fixed

ldquoLuke how is your animation project comingalongrdquo she asked setting down the disks Shebrushed back her blond hair She has the nicestsmile Everyone likes her because she always seemsto enjoy her classes so much

ldquoIrsquom almost ready to show it to yourdquo I said I sat

26

down in front of a computer and started to removethe back ldquoI think itrsquos really cool And itrsquos going muchfaster now I found a new way to move pixelsaroundrdquo

Her eyes grew wide ldquoReallyrdquoldquoItrsquos a very cool inventionrdquo I said carefully slid-

ing the insides from the computer ldquoThe program ispretty simple I think a lot of animators might like itrdquo

I set down my screwdriver and gazed across theroom at her ldquoMaybe you could help me You knowShow it to people Get it copyrighted or somethingrdquo

ldquoMayberdquo she said She stood up smoothing thehem of her blue sweater over her jeans She came upbehind me and watched as I removed the old modemldquoYoursquore really skillful Luke I think yoursquore going tomake a lot of money with computers some dayrdquo

ldquoYeah Mayberdquo I replied awkwardly ldquoThanksrdquo Ididnrsquot really know what to say Mrs Coffey is so awe-some She is the only teacher who really encouragesme and thinks Irsquom somebody

ldquoI canrsquot wait to show you my animationrdquo I said ldquoWell I have some big newsrdquo she said sud-

denly I turned and caught the excited smile on herface ldquoYoursquore the first person to hear it Luke Can youkeep a secretrdquo

ldquoYeah Okayrdquo I saidldquoI just got the most wonderful job At a really big

software company in Chicago Irsquom leaving school nextweekrdquo

27

The next afternoon I couldnrsquot check in at the com-puter lab I had to hurry to the swimming poolbehind the gym

Swimming is my other big sport I spent all lastsummer working with an instructor at our local poolHe was fast enough to make the Olympic tryouts afew years ago And he really improved my stroke andshowed me a lot of secrets for getting my speed up

So I looked forward to the tryouts for the Squiresswim team I couldnrsquot wear my lucky swimsuitbecause it didnrsquot fit anymore But I wore my luckyshirt to school that day And as I changed for thepool I silently counted to seven three times

As I left the locker room I heard shouts andlaughter echoing off the tile pool walls Feeling myheart start to race I stepped into the steamy air ofthe indoor pool The floor was puddled with warmwater I inhaled the sharp chlorine smell I love thatsmell

Then I bent down and kissed the top of the divingboard I know It sounds weird But itrsquos just some-thing I always do

I turned to the pool Three or four guys werealready in the water At the shallow end I sawStretch He was violently splashing two other guysHe had them cornered at the end of the pool His bighands slapped the water sending up tall waves overthem They pleaded with him to give them a break

Coach Swanson blew his whistle then shouted

28

bull bull bull

for Stretch to cut the horseplay Stretch gave the twoguys one more vicious splash

Then he turned and saw me ldquoHey Champmdashrdquo heshouted his voice booming off the tiles ldquoYoursquoreearly Drowning lessons are next week Ha ha Niceswim trunks Are those your girlfriendrsquos Ha hardquo

A few other guys laughed tooI decided to ignore them I was feeling pretty con-

fident About twenty guys were trying out I knewthere were only six spots open on the team But afterall my work last summer I thought I could make thetop six

We all warmed up for a bit taking easy laps lim-bering up our muscles getting used to the warmwater After a few minutes Coach Swanson made usall climb out and line up at the deep end of the pool

ldquoOkay guys Irsquove got to get to my night job by fiveso wersquore going to keep this simplerdquo the coachannounced ldquoYou have one chance One chanceonly You hear the whistle you do a speed dive intothe pool You do two complete laps any stroke youwant Irsquoll take the first six guys And two alternatesAny questionsrdquo

There werenrsquot anyEveryone leaned forward preparing to dive

Stretch lined up next to me He elbowed me hard inthe side ldquoGive me some room Champ Donrsquot crowdmerdquo

29

Okay so hersquoll come in first I figured rubbing thepain from my side That leaves five other places onthe team

Irsquom good enough I told myself I know I am Iknow I am

The whistle blew All down the row bodiestensed then plunged forward

I started my divemdashand slippedThe pool floormdashso wet My feet slid on the tile Oh noI hit the water with a loud smack A belly flop No kind of dive Struggling to recover I raised my head And saw

everyone way ahead of me One unlucky slip I lowered my head determined to catch up I

started stroking easily forcing myself to be calm Iremembered the slow steady straight-legged kick myinstructor had taught me

I sped up I passed some guys Hit the wall andstarted back

I can do this I told myself I can still make theteam

Faster At the end of the second lap the finish was a furi-

ous blur Blue water Thrashing arms and legs Loudbreaths Bobbing heads

I tried to shut out everything and concentrate on

30

my stroke ignore everyone else and swimAt last my hand hit the pool wall I ducked under

then surfaced blowing out water I wiped my hairaway from my eyes The taste of chlorine was in mymouth Water running down my face I glancedaround

I didnrsquot finish last Some guys were still swim-ming I squinted down the line of swimmers who hadfinished How many How many were ahead of me

ldquoLukemdashyoursquore seventhrdquo Coach Swansonannounced He made a large check on his clipboardldquoFirst alternate See you at practicerdquo

I was still too out-of-breath to replySeventhI let out a long sigh I felt so disappointed I could

do better than seventh I knew If only I hadnrsquotslipped

As I started to trudge back to the locker roomStretch strode up beside me ldquoHey Champrdquo Heslapped my bare back with his open hand so hard itmade a loud smack ldquoThanks for making me look sogoodrdquo

I got dressed quickly standing in a corner bymyself A few guys came over to say congratulationsBut I didnrsquot feel I deserved it

Across the locker room Stretch was still in hisswim trunks He was having a great time smacking

31

guys with his towel really making the towel snapagainst their bare skin laughing his head off

I tossed my towel in the basket Then I steppedup to the mirror over the sinks to comb my hair Aceiling lightbulb was out and I had to lean over thesink to see

I had just started to comb my wet hair backmdashwhen I saw the jagged crack along the length of theglass

ldquoWhoardquo I stopped combing and stepped backA broken mirror Seven years bad luck for some-

oneI reached into my khakis pocket and squeezed

my rabbitrsquos foot three times Then I turned back tothe mirror and began combing my hair again

Something was wrong I blinked Once TwiceA red light Some kind of red glare in the mirror

glassI squinted into the glassmdashand let out a cryThe red glare was coming from a pair of eyesmdash

two red eyes glowing like hot coalsTwo angry red eyes floating in the glass Floating

beside my reflectionI could see my confused expression as I stared at

the frightening red eyes as I watched the eyesslide across the glass slide slide closer until their red glow covered my eyes

32

My horrified reflection stared out at me with thefiery glowing eyes

And I opened my mouth and let out a long terri-fied scream

33

Over my scream I heard heavy footsteps behindme And then I heard a voicemdashStretchrsquos voiceldquoHeymdashget used to itrdquo

I spun around He grinned at me ldquoGet used to itChamp Thatrsquos your face It makes other peoplescream toordquo

ldquoNordquo I cried ldquoNo Itrsquos not Donrsquot you seemdashrdquoCoach Swanson burst in behind Stretch ldquoLukemdash

whatrsquos wrongrdquoldquoMy eyesrdquo I cried ldquoLook Are they red Are

theyrdquoCoach Swanson and Stretch exchanged glances ldquoWhat is his problemrdquo Stretch murmuredCoach Swanson stepped up close and examined

my eyes ldquoWhatrsquos wrong with you Luke Itrsquos just thechlorine from the pool Your eyes will be okay in a lit-tle whilerdquo

ldquoChlorine Huh Nordquo I insisted Then I glancedinto the mirror And saw my normal brown eyes gaz-ing back at me

34

No glowing eyes No red eyes burning in the glasslike an evil movie monster

ldquoUh well rdquo I rubbed my eyes They didnrsquotburn or anything They felt okay

I turned back to Stretch and Coach Swanson Ididnrsquot know what to say to them They were both stillstaring at me as if I were nuts

And maybe I was Black cats jumping out of my locker Glowing red

eyes in the mirrorldquoWell see you at practicerdquo I saidStretch laughed ldquoNot if I see you first Ha hardquoI laughed too It wasnrsquot funny but I wanted to

sound calm again normalAs I followed them out of the locker room I real-

ized I was trembling Why were these strange things happening to me

35

After dinner I was supposed to go to the mall withHannah She wanted to buy me some computer soft-ware for my birthday But she wanted me to pick itout

That was really nice of her But at the last minuteI decided not to go

I was still feeling weird from the swim tryoutsAnd I wanted to work on my animation project If Iworked really hard I might be able to get it finishedin time to show Mrs Coffey before she left school

I went up to my room and booted up the anima-tion But I couldnrsquot concentrate I kept staring at thefour-leaf clover inside a block of clear Lucite I keepon my desk And I kept jumping up and running tothe mirror to check my eyes

Perfectly normal Not glowingSo what happened What happened to me in that

locker room I asked myself I tried to convincemyself there was something wrong with the mirror

36

The red glow was because of the way the light hit thecrack in the mirror Or something

No That didnrsquot make senseThe phone rang a little before ten orsquoclock And it

was Hannah sounding very breathless and excitedldquoLukemdashyou shouldrsquove come You shouldrsquove

comerdquoI had to hold the phone away from my ear

Hannah was shouting so loud ldquoWhy What hap-penedrdquo I asked

ldquoI won itrdquo she declared ldquoDo you believe it Iwonrdquo

ldquoExcuse me Hannahmdashwhat are you talkingaboutrdquo

ldquoYou know the raffle at the mall That huge redSUV Itrsquos been on display there for a monthThousands of people put tickets in the boxThousands AndmdashandmdashI just happened to be walk-ing by when they had the drawing tonight Andmdashrdquo

ldquoYou didnrsquotrdquo I shriekedldquoYes Yes I won it I won the SUVrdquo ldquoWowrdquo I slumped onto my bed I actually felt

faint My heart was pounding as if I had wonldquoYou shouldrsquove seen me when they called out my

namerdquo Hannah gushed ldquoI screamed I just stoodthere and screamedrdquo

She screamed again shrieked at the top of herlungs A long high joyful scream

37

ldquoHannahmdashthatrsquos so awesomerdquo I said I donrsquotthink she heard me She was still screaming

ldquoMy family is so happy Luke You should seethem They are dancing around the living roomrdquo

ldquoThatrsquos so greatrdquo I saidHannah lowered her voice ldquoI just feel bad about

one thing Luke I was so crazed I was so berserk Iforgot why I was at the mall I forgot all about buy-ing you a birthday giftrdquo

I stood up I picked up the block with the four-leafclover inside and smoothed it between my handsldquoThatrsquos okayrdquo I told Hannah ldquoI just decided what Ireally want for my birthdayrdquo

ldquoWhatrsquos thatrdquo she askedldquoI want your luckrdquoHannah laughed She thought I was kidding But

of course I was seriousldquoAre you going to school tomorrowrdquo she askedldquoHuh Yeah sure Why notrdquoldquoTomorrow is Friday the thirteenthrdquo she said ldquoI

know how superstitious you are I thought maybeyoursquod stay home and hide under the bed all dayrdquo

ldquoHa hardquo I said But I felt a cold tingle at the backof my neck ldquoIrsquoll be thererdquo I told Hannah ldquoIrsquom nottotally wacko you knowrdquo

But Irsquoll wear my lucky shirt I thought And Irsquolltake my four-leaf clover in my backpack And Irsquoll askMom to pack my lucky sandwich for lunchmdashpeanutbutter and mayonnaise

38

ldquoI have to go to school tomorrowrdquo I told HannahldquoI have basketball practice after schoolrdquo

ldquoHowrsquos practice goingrdquo Hannah askedI chuckled ldquoNot bad So far I havenrsquot gotten any

splinters from sitting on the benchrdquoHannah laughed I could hear shouts and wild

laughter in the background ldquoIrsquove got to gordquo she saidshouting over the racket ldquoMy family is still celebrat-ing my winning the SUV Byerdquo

She clicked off before I could reply

That night I dreamed about locker 13In the dream I stepped up to the locker Someone

had taped a calendar to the door I came closer andsaw that Friday the thirteenth had been circled inred

I started to rip the calendar off the locker doorBut I stopped when I heard loud breathing Hoarsewheezing sounds Like someone was having troublebreathing

I touched the locker door And it was burning hotI screamed in shock and pulled my hand awayAgain I heard the hoarse breathing from inside

the locker And then I heard a tiny voice cry outldquoPlease get me outrdquo

In the dream I knew I was dreaming I wanted tolift myself out of the dream But I was stuck thereAnd I knew I had no choice I had to pull open thelocker door and see who was in there

39

ldquoPlease I want out Get me outrdquo the tinyfrightened voice called

Even though I knew I was dreaming I still felt sofrightened Real fear that makes you shake whetheryoursquore awake or asleep

I watched myself grip the door handle Slowlymdashso slowlymdashI pulled the locker door open

And I stared in horror at the figure huddled insidethe locker Because it was ME

It was me inside the locker hugging myself trem-bling all over It was memdashand my eyes started toglow My eyes glowed out from the dark locker red asfire

And as I stared at myself stared at those ugly evilred eyes I watched my face begin to change Iwatched hair grow out of my nostrils Long braids ofthick black hair sliding out of my nosemdashdown downto the locker floor

Beneath the shining red eyes thick blacktwisted ropes of hair were pouring from my nose Outof the locker Piling onto the hall floor Curlingaround me as I watched

Yes The long hair flowed from my nose andsnaked around me as I watched in horror Curledaround me covering me in warm scratchy hairCovering me like a big furry coat and then tighten-ing Tightening Tightening around my chestTightening around my face Wrapping me like amummy Wrapping me in my ghastly nose hair

40

I woke up one hand tightly wrapped around theLucite block with the four-leaf clover Gray morningsunlight seeped through my bedroom window Myroom was so cold cold as a freezer

ldquoLuke what are you doing up there Yoursquore laterdquoMomrsquos voice shattered the frozen silence

ldquoA dreamrdquo I murmured A hoarse laugh escapedmy throat My eyes darted around the room NormalEverything normal

ldquoHurry Luke Itrsquos really laterdquo Momrsquos voicesounded so good to me

I followed her order I hurried I got showereddressed ate breakfast and arrived at school withabout two minutes to spare The halls were prettyempty Most kids had already gone to their home-rooms

I glanced at the clock on the tile wall Then joggedto the end of the back hall to toss my jacket into mylocker

But a few feet from my locker I stopped with agasp

What was that on the door to locker 13I crept closer A calendarYes Someone had taped a calendar to the door

And and today Friday the thirteenth was cir-cled in red

41

ldquoMy dreamrdquo I murmuredThat horrifying dream Itrsquos coming true I realized

Irsquom going to open the door and itrsquos going to cometrue

42

I stared at the calendar at the number 13 circledin red marker

Last nightrsquos dream played itself again through mymind I shuddered My legs and arms itched I couldpractically feel the disgusting hair curling around myskin

With an angry cry I ripped the calendar off thedoor and crumpled it in my hand

Now I expected to hear the heavy breathing frominside the locker And the tiny criesmdashmy criesmdashbeg-ging to be let out

But I didnrsquot wait ldquoIrsquom not opening itrdquo I said outloud

No way am I going to allow the dream to cometrue

I tossed the wadded-up calendar sheet to thefloor Then I spun around and began running toclass The hall was empty My shoes thudded loudlyon the hard floor as I ran

Irsquoll keep my coat with me I decided Irsquoll just drag

43

it around with me all day I donrsquot need to open thelocker

The bell rang as I reached my homeroom doorMr Perkins looked up as I burst into the roomldquoGood morning Lukerdquo he said ldquoRunning a little latethis morningrdquo

ldquoA littlerdquo I replied breathlessly Unzipping myjacket I started to my seat

ldquoWould you like time to go hang your coat in yourlockerrdquo Mr Perkins asked

ldquoUh no Thatrsquos okayrdquo I lowered my backpackto the floor and dropped into the chair ldquoIrsquoll just keep itrdquo

A few kids were staring at me Mr Perkins noddedand turned back to the papers he was reading

I took a deep breath and settled back against thechair I rubbed the right sleeve of my lucky shirtseven times

That dream is not going to come true I toldmyself No way I wonrsquot let it

Of course I wasnrsquot thinking clearly How couldthat crazy dream come true

If I had stopped for one second to think about itI would have realized the whole idea was insane

But today was Friday the thirteenth And I nevercan think clearly on Friday the thirteenth I admit itIrsquom always a little crazy on that unlucky day

I glanced up to see that Mr Perkins had beenreading the morning announcements I hadnrsquot heard

44

a word he said I pulled the four-leaf clover from mybackpack twirled it in my hand and wished for goodluck for the rest of the day

At noon I found Hannah at a table against theback wall of the lunchroom She was sitting all byherself staring down at her brown lunchbag whichshe hadnrsquot opened

ldquoHi Whassuprdquo I dropped across from herldquoHirdquo she said softly without raising her eyes

ldquoHowrsquos it goingrdquoldquoWell pretty okay for a Friday the thirteenthrdquo I

said Actually the morning had flown by without anyproblems at all

I expected Hannah to make some kind of jokeabout how superstitious I am But she didnrsquot say aword

I pulled the sandwich from my bag and started tounwrap the foil ldquoMy lucky sandwichrdquo I saidldquoPeanut butter and mayonnaiserdquo

ldquoYumrdquo she said rolling her eyes She finallylooked at me She appeared tired Her eyes werebloodshot red as if shersquod been crying Her hair wasa mess and her face was gray

ldquoHow come yoursquore wearing your coatrdquo sheasked

ldquoOh uh no reasonrdquo I said ldquoI was kind ofcoldrdquo

She nodded glumly

45

ldquoDid you come to school in the new SUVrdquo Iasked

She shook her head ldquoWe donrsquot have it yet Dadhas to go fill out a lot of papersrdquo She let out a longsigh

I lowered my sandwich ldquoAre you feeling okayrdquo Iasked

She didnrsquot answer Instead she sighed again andstared down at the table

I poked her lunchbag with one finger ldquoWhat doyou have for lunchrdquo

She shrugged ldquoJust some fruit Irsquom not very hun-gryrdquo She opened the bag reached a hand in andpulled out a bright yellow banana

She struggled with the skin Then finally peeled itopen

ldquoOh yuckrdquo Her face twisted in disgust Shedropped the banana to the table

Inside the skin the banana was completely rot-ten Just a soft pile of black mush A horrible soursmellmdashlike ripe vomitmdashfloated up from it

Hannah shoved the banana away ldquoSick Thatrsquosreally sickrdquo

ldquoThe skin is perfectly freshrdquo I said ldquoHow couldthe banana be so rottenrdquo

ldquoI think I have an applerdquo Hannah said glumlyShe tore the bag apart and pulled out a red appleShe twirled it between her handsmdashthen stopped witha gasp

46

I saw the deep dark hole on the side of the appleAnd as we both stared at it a fat brown wormmdashatleast two inches longmdashcurled out from inside Andthen another And another

The worms dropped from the apple onto thetabletop

ldquoI donrsquot believe thisrdquo Hannah shrieked Shescraped her chair back so hard it toppled over

And before I could say anything she was runningfrom the room

After school I looked for Hannah on my way tobasketball practice I was worried about her She hadacted so weird at lunch Not like herself at all

I reminded myself that it was Friday the thir-teenth And sometimes people act a little weird onthis day

But not Hannah Hannah is the least supersti-tious person I know She walks under ladders all thetime and she hugs black cats and doesnrsquot think athing of it

And why should she Hannah has to be the luck-iest person on earth

Lockers slammed as kids prepared to go home Istarted to the gym then turned back I donrsquot want tocarry my coat and backpack to the gym I decidedIrsquom going to stuff them in my locker

I hesitated as the locker came into view at the endof the hall I read the words on the door LUCKY 13 Of

47

course I remembered my nightmaremdashand the calen-dar from my nightmare taped on the locker door

But I had to open the locker I didnrsquot want to carrymy stuff around with me for the rest of the year

ldquoHey Lukerdquo I saw Darnell Cross waving to mefrom the doorway to the science lab ldquoAre the Squiresgoing to beat Davenportrdquo

ldquoTheyrsquore not so toughrdquo I called back ldquoWe couldtake themrdquo

ldquoYou going to playrdquo Darnell asked He grinnedbecause he already knew the answer

ldquoAs soon as I grow taller than Stretchrdquo I repliedHe laughed and disappeared back into the lab I stepped up to locker 13 I brought my face close

to the door ldquoAnyone in thererdquo I called inSilenceldquoJust checkingrdquo I said I grabbed the door handle

I was feeling pretty confident Friday the thirteenthwas two-thirds over and so far nothing terriblyunlucky had happened to me

I squeezed my rabbitrsquos foot for luck Then I tooka deep breathmdashand pulled open the locker

48

Nothing unusual inside the locker I realized I was still gripping the rabbitrsquos foot

inside my pocket I let go of it and slipped my back-pack off my shoulders

I studied the locker carefully A bunch of booksand notebooks on the top shelf where I had leftthem My old gray sweatshirt lay crumpled on thelocker floor

No black cats No one breathing or crying orshooting piles of hair from his nose

I let out a long sigh of relief Then I tossed thebackpack on top of the balled-up sweatshirt Shovedmy jacket onto the hook on the back wall

I started to slam the door shut when I spottedsomething at my feet

My shoe kicked it and it rolled against the lockerbottom then bounced back

A ballI bent down and picked it up I raised it close to

my face

49

ldquoWhoardquo Not a ball A tiny yellow skull a littlelarger than a Ping-Pong ball

It had an open-mouthed grin revealing two rowsof gray teeth I ran my finger over the teeth Theywere hard and bumpy

I squeezed it The little skull was made of somekind of hard rubber

The eyesmdashsunken deep in the socketsmdashwere redglass They glowed in the hall lights like tiny rubies

ldquoWhere did you come fromrdquo I asked itI turned back to the locker Did the skull fall out

of the locker How did it get in there Was someoneplaying some kind of Friday the thirteenth headgame with me

I decided that had to be the answerI rolled the skull around in my hand a few times

I poked my finger against the glowing red glass eyes Then I tucked it into my pants pocket I slammed

the locker shutmdashand headed to practice

ldquoLook alive Heads up Look aliverdquo CoachBendix was shouting

I ran out of the locker room and grabbed a bas-ketball off the ball rack I began dribbling around thefloor

We were having one of Coachrsquos free-for-all prac-tices That meant we had to keep moving keepplayingmdashrun dribble pass shoot play defense Do

50

everything all at once in a big free-for-all I dribbled slowly across the floor concentrating

hard Trying not to lose the dribble I saw Stretch turntoward me He stuck out both hands and moved for-ward ready to block me

I decided to try and fake him out I dribbled leftmdashand moved right I edged past him easily Movedunder the basket And sent up a shot that sailedacross the gym and dropped in

ldquoHeymdashone for onerdquo I cried happilyldquoLucky shotrdquo Stretch calledI took the ball and moved back to the top of the

key I sent up a two-handed jumpshot It soared overthe rimmdashand dropped through the basket with a softswish

ldquoYesrdquo I pumped my fists in the airI didnrsquot have long to celebrate I turned and saw

Stretch barreling toward me dribbling hard leaningforward with grim determination

Hersquos going to charge right over me I realized Hersquosgoing to flatten me

Guys backed out of his way as Stretch flew acrossthe floor

ldquoLook out Lukerdquo someone shoutedI froze for a moment Then I ducked to the left

Stuck out my hand and slapped the ball away fromStretch

He made a wild grab for it But I dribbled it out of

51

his reach Then I spun around and sent a wild highshot into the air The ball hit the glass backboardmdashand sank through the net

ldquoWowrdquoldquoWay to go LukerdquoldquoThree for threerdquoThe other players were in shockStretch shook his head ldquoFeeling lucky today

Think fastrdquo He pulled back his long armmdashandheaved the ball at my chest with all his strength

I caught it easily Dribbled it three times Shotmdashand dropped another basket

Stretch scowled ldquoI donrsquot believe thisrdquo he mut-tered shaking his head

I donrsquot either I thought to myself Irsquove never shotfour baskets in a row in my life

I turned and saw Coach Bendix watching me Wasthis my big chance Stretch and another player werepassing the ball back and forth moving across thefloor

I shot forward Intercepted Stretchrsquos pass Droveto the basket And sent up an easy layup ldquoTwopointsrdquo I cried

With an angry grunt Stretch reached for therebound But I pushed it out of his hands Grabbed itSpun Shot again ldquoTwo pointsrdquo

Stretch cried out angrily He bumped me hard

52

from behind I think he would have flattened me onthe spot But he saw that Coach Bendix was runningover to us

Coach slapped me on the back ldquoWay to goLukerdquo he boomed ldquoWay to show real improvementIrsquom impressed Keep it up okay Irsquom going to give yousome playing time next Fridayrdquo

ldquoHeymdashthanksrdquo I replied breathlesslyI saw Stretch scowl Saw his face turn an angry

redI grabbed a ball and dribbled away I wanted to

shout and jump for joy Had my luck finally changedIt seemed that way Suddenly I could pass and

jump and shoot and play defense like I never couldbefore It was as if I was possessed or somethingPossessed by an all-star athlete

In the locker room after practice Stretch ignoredme But other guys slapped me on the back andflashed me a thumbs-up

ldquoLookinrsquo good LukerdquoldquoWay to go manrdquoldquoGo SquiresrdquoI was feeling really happy Like a new person As I

changed into my street clothes I felt the little skull inmy pants pocket I pulled it out and gazed at itsmoothing my thumb over the hard rubber

ldquoAre you my new good-luck charmrdquo I asked itThe tiny red eyes glowed back at me I kissed it

gave it a smack on top of its yellow head and shoved

53

it back into my pants pocketThat skull is going everywhere with me I decided

Itrsquos got to be lucky Itrsquos got to beAs I walked home I kept reliving my great bas-

ketball triumph I pictured my long perfect jump-shots again And I saw myself stealing the ball fromStretchrsquos hands driving right past him and scoringEmbarrassing him Embarrassing Stretch again andagain

Wow What a dayIt was a cold gray afternoon Dark clouds hung

low over the nearly bare trees It felt more like winterthan fall

A few blocks from home I crossed a streetmdashandheard a short cry

A long low evergreen hedge ran across the frontyard on the corner I stopped gazing over the hedgeHad the cry come from the yard

I listened hard Down the block a car doorslammed A dog started to bark The wind made awhistling sound through the phone lines overhead

And then I heard itmdashanother sharp crymdashlongerthis time

A baby It sounded like a babyrsquos cryldquoOwwwww OwwwwwwrdquoI lowered my gaze to the hedgemdashand saw the

creature making the shrill criesA cat No A small orange-and-white kitten

54

It appeared to be stuck in the prickly brambles ofthe hedge

ldquoOwwwww OwwwwwwrdquoCarefully I bent down and gently lifted the cat out

with both hands As I cupped my hands around it itstopped crying immediately But it was still breathinghard its white chest moving rapidly up and down Irubbed its head trying to soothe it

ldquoYoursquore okay little kittenrdquo I whisperedAnd then I heard another cry A loud shriekI looked up to see a large woman running at me

angrily Her face was bright red and she waved herarms furiously

ldquoOh nordquo I muttered I nearly dropped the catWhy is she so angryWhat have I done

55

ldquoThe kittenmdashrdquo she cried shoving through abreak in the hedge

ldquoImdashIrsquom sorryrdquo I stammered ldquoI didnrsquot know ImdashrdquoldquoWhere did you find herrdquo the woman demanded

her face still bright red ldquoIn in the hedgerdquoldquoOh thank you Thank yourdquo the woman said

She took the kitten from my hands and raised it toher cheek ldquoSasha where did you gordquo

Irsquom not in trouble I finally realized The womanis happymdashnot angry

ldquoSasha has been missing for two daysrdquo thewoman told me pressing the kitten against her faceldquoI offered a reward and everything I almost gave uphoperdquo

I let out a long sigh of relief ldquoShe was right thererdquoI said pointing ldquoIn the hedge I think she wascaught in itrdquo

ldquoWell shersquos fine now thanks to yourdquo Still press-ing the kitten to her cheek the woman pushed

56

through the hedge and started to the house ldquoWhat isyour namerdquo

ldquoLukerdquoldquoWell follow me Luke Irsquoll get your reward for

yourdquoldquoHuh Reward No Reallyrdquo I started to back

awayldquoYou saved Sasharsquos liferdquo the woman said ldquoYou

did a wonderful thing And I insist you take thereward I offeredrdquo

I saw that I had no choice I followed her to herkitchen door

A few minutes later she counted out five twenty-dollar bills and pressed them into my hand ldquoThankyou Luke You really did your good deed for todayrdquo

A hundred dollarsA hundred dollars rewardMy luck really is starting to change I decidedWhen I got home a big surprise awaited me Mom had made my favorite dinnermdashmeat loaf

mashed potatoes and gravy And a coconut cake fordessert

ldquoItrsquos not even my birthdayrdquo I exclaimedldquoI just felt like doing something nice for you

todayrdquo Mom said She brushed back my hair withone hand ldquoI know Friday the thirteenth is always ahard day for yourdquo

ldquoNot todayrdquo I told her grinning ldquoNot todayrdquo

57

After my second slice of coconut cake I went upto my room and started my homework I spent aboutan hour writing out the answers to my scienceassignment

It shouldnrsquot have taken that long But I kept tak-ing out the twenty-dollar bills counting them againand dreaming about what I could buy with them

After science I worked on my computer anima-tion Irsquod been having trouble with the last section Icouldnrsquot get anything to move the way I wanted

But tonight my good luck continued I had notrouble at all The images all slid together perfectly Ialmost finished the project

A little after nine I decided to give Hannah a callShersquod acted so weird at lunch that afternoon Ithought maybe she was sick or something

I called to see if she was feeling better But I couldtell by the way she answered the phone that she stillwasnrsquot her old self

I tried to cheer her up I told her about my tri-umph at basketball practice And about the hundred-dollar reward for finding the lost kitten

ldquoVery coolrdquo Hannah said But her voice showedno enthusiasm at all

ldquoAnd then Mom made all of my favorite things fordinnerrdquo I exclaimed

ldquoLuckyrdquo Hannah mutteredldquoWhatrsquos your problemrdquo I demanded ldquoWhatrsquos

wrong with you todayrdquo

58

A long silence at her endFinally she said ldquoI guess Irsquom just in a bad mood

I fell off my bike on the way home this afternoonrdquoI groaned ldquoOh no Are you okayrdquoldquoNot reallyrdquo she replied ldquoI scraped all the skin

off my right hand And I twisted my ankle prettybadrdquo

ldquoWowrdquo I muttered ldquoBad newsrdquoldquoEspecially since I have a basketball game tomor-

rowrdquo Hannah sighedldquoThink yoursquoll be able to playrdquo I askedldquoMayberdquo she said glumly ldquoMaybe Irsquoll come watch your gamerdquo I saidThere was a long silence And then Hannah said

ldquoLuke therersquos something something I have to tellyourdquo

ldquoExcuse merdquo I said She was whispering so lowI could barely hear her

ldquoI really should tell you something But rdquoI pressed the phone tighter to my ear ldquoWhat

What is itrdquo ldquoWell rdquoAnother long silenceldquoI canrsquotrdquo she said finally I heard a click and the

line went silentThe next morning my good luck came to an end

59

At least I thought my good luck had endedWhen I arrived at my science class I searched

my backpack for the homework questions Not thereI took everything outmdashevery paper every bookevery pencil

Not there I had spent over an hour on thatassignment last night And Irsquod left it at home

Now I was in major trouble Miss Creamer didnrsquotaccept late homework And homework counted forfifty percent of the grade in her class

My stomach tightened with dread as she enteredthe science lab to begin class

How could I be so stupid ldquoGood morning everyonerdquo she began ldquoI have an

announcement to make Itrsquos about last nightrsquos home-workrdquo

The room grew silentldquoI have to apologize to all of yourdquo Miss Creamer

continued ldquoI gave the wrong assignment Thosewerenrsquot the right questions Irsquom really sorry You

60

donrsquot have to turn it in Just tear it up and throw itawayrdquo

Cheers rang out Some kids gleefully ripped theirpapers into shreds A big celebration

Yes More good luck for me I thought happilyI was on a hot streak Later when Miss Creamer

handed back last weekrsquos test I had the only A in theclass

In the lunchroom I grabbed the last slice of pizzaon the counter

All the kids behind me in line groaned Darnellcame up and offered to pay me five dollars for it Butno deal

After school I stopped by the computer lab to seeMrs Coffey She told me her plans had suddenlychanged She wouldnrsquot be leaving school for anothertwo weeks

I cheered That meant I had time to finish mycomputer animation project and show it to her beforeI left

ldquoLuke I was talking about you to my friend whoowns Linkups You knowmdashthe computer store onHighlands I told him about how you can do any-thing with computers fix them upgrade them Hesaid you might be able to come into the store onSaturdays and help out in the service departmentrdquo

I gasped ldquoReallyrdquoShe nodded ldquoHersquos a really nice guy and hersquos

always looking for people who can fix machines He

61

said he couldnrsquot give you a real job since yoursquore onlytwelve But he could pay you five dollars an hourrdquo

ldquoWow I cried ldquoThatrsquos awesome Thanks MrsCoffeyrdquo

I practically flew down the stairs to the gym Iwanted to flap my arms and take off So many greatthings were happening to me I couldnrsquot believe it

Hannahrsquos basketball game had already startedwhen I stepped into the gym I found a seat in thebleachers and glanced up at the scoreboard TheSquirettes were already losing ten to two

Whatrsquos going on I wondered How can Hannahrsquosteam be losing so badly The team they were play-ingmdashthe Bee Stingers from Elwood Middle Schoolmdashwere the worst team in the city

I turned and glanced around the bleachers Therewere only about twenty kids watching the game Andfour or five parents clustered together at the top ofthe bleachers

ldquoGo Sharonrdquo one of the mothers yelledBut the gym was pretty quiet I guess because the

Squirettes were playing so badlyI leaned forward and tried to concentrate on the

game Sharon McCombs the tallest girl in the Shawnee

Valley eighth grade tossed the ball in A pass Thenanother pass which was almost stolen by a BeeStinger

Hannah grabbed the ball She turned and started

62

to dribble to the basket After about three steps shetripped The ball bounced away as she fell flat on herstomach

A Bee Stinger grabbed it just before it went out ofbounds She dribbled all the way down the floormdashand scored easily before Hannah had even pickedherself up off the floor Twelve to two

I cupped my hands around my mouth ldquoGet rsquoemHannahrdquo I shouted

She didnrsquot look up She was fiddling with thewhite bandage on her hand

A minute later Hannah had the ball again Inclose She jumped and shot And missed Missed thenet the backboard Missed everything

I leaned on my hands and watched the game insilence Hannah missed six or seven shots in a rowShe tripped over the ball hit the floor hard and gota huge bright red floor burn on her knee Her pass-es to her teammates went wild She kept losing theball to the other team Tripping over her own feetBumping into other players

It was sad She didnrsquot look like Hannah at allThe half-time score was Bee Stingers twenty-five

Squirettes five When the team came out to start the second half

Hannah sat down on the bench and didnrsquot play Whatrsquos going on I wondered I climbed down from the bleachers and walked

over to her on the bench

63

ldquoLuke you came to a bad-news gamerdquo she saidshaking her head

ldquoWhatrsquos wrongrdquo I asked ldquoYoursquore hurt Fromyour bike accident yesterdayrdquo

She watched the Bee Stingers score another bas-ket Then she turned to me ldquoNo Itrsquos not because ofmy accidentrdquo she whispered Her eyes were dullwatery Her skin was so pale

ldquoSo what is itrdquo I askedHannah frowned ldquoItrsquos all because I lost my good-

luck charmrdquo she said I gaped at her ldquoHuhrdquoldquoItrsquos what brought me all that amazing great

luckrdquo Hannah said ldquoI have to find it As soon as Ilost it my luck changedrdquo

My mouth dropped open I realized my heart hadstarted to pound

ldquoItrsquos a tiny skullrdquo Hannah continued ldquoA little yel-low skull ImdashI never went anywhere without itrdquo

She tugged at the bandage on her hand Then sheraised her eyes to me ldquoYou havenrsquot seen it any-where have you Lukerdquo

64

My legs suddenly felt weak I gripped the back ofthe bench and stared at Hannah I could feel my facegrowing red

I could feel the skull in my jeans pocket I knew Ishould pull it out and hand it to her

But how could II needed the good luck too Hannah had enjoyed

so much good luck for so long Mine had just startedFor the first time in my life I was having a little goodluck

How could I go back to being a loser againHannahrsquos watery eyes locked on mine ldquoHave you

seen it Lukerdquo she repeated ldquoHave you seen it any-whererdquo

My face burned So many frantic thoughtswhirred through my head

I really needed that good-luck charm Ever sinceI found it my life had changed I was a new person

But Hannah was my friend My best friend in the

65

whole world She was always there for me when Ineeded her

I couldnrsquot lie to hermdashcould IldquoNordquo I said ldquoI havenrsquot seen it anywhererdquoHannahrsquos eyes remained on me for a few seconds

more Then she nodded slowly and turned back tothe game

My heart was pounding hard now I had a heavyfeeling in the pit of my stomach ldquoWhere did you loseitrdquo I asked

She didnrsquot reply She cupped her hands aroundher mouth and cheered on her teammates

I backed away from the bench I felt like a totalcreep I jammed my hand into my pocket Wrappedmy fingers around the rubber skull

Give it back to her Luke a voice in my headurged The voice of goodness The voice of friend-ship

But I knew I wasnrsquot going to give it back I wasalready trotting out of the gym and down the hall tothe exit

I need it a little while longer I told myself Just alittle while

Long enough to win the basketball champi-onship Long enough to get really good grades for thefirst time in my life Long enough to impress myfriends to get on the swim team to make aname for myself long enough to be a winner

I squeezed the little skull all the way home Irsquoll

66

give it back to Hannah in a couple of weeks I toldmyself Two weeks thatrsquos all Maybe three And thenIrsquoll give it back to her And she can have her goodluck again No harm done

No harm donemdashright

The phone was ringing when I stepped in thekitchen door I tossed down my backpack and ran toanswer it

To my surprise it was Mrs Coffey ldquoLuke Irsquom glad I caught yourdquo she said ldquoI have

some really good news You know my friend at thecomputer storerdquo

ldquoYesrdquoldquoI spoke to him after you left the computer lab

And he said you could start work at his store onSaturdayrdquo

ldquoThatrsquos greatrdquo I exclaimedldquoBut thatrsquos not my good newsrdquo Mrs Coffey con-

tinued ldquoHe has a friend who is putting together ashow of computer animation And his friend is veryinterested in seeing your workrdquo

ldquoReallyrdquo I criedldquoHe needs short pieces for his animation show

right awayrdquo she said ldquoIf he likes your piece he saidhe will pay a thousand dollars for itrdquo

ldquoWowrdquo ldquoIs it finished Lukerdquo Mrs Coffey asked ldquoIs it

ready to show to himrdquo

67

I thought hard ldquoAlmostrdquo I said ldquoI need two moredays on it Maybe threerdquo

ldquoWell try to hurryrdquo Mrs Coffey said ldquoI think hehas most of the pieces he needs Hersquos going to beshowing them all over the country It would be ashame to miss outmdashrdquo

ldquoIt sure wouldrdquo I interrupted ldquoIrsquoll get right towork on it Mrs Coffey And thanks Thanks a lotrdquo

Excited I hurried up to my room and turned onthe computer Maybe I can get some work done on itbefore dinner I decided

I heard Mom come in downstairs I called hi toher and said I was working on my computer project

A few minutes later the phone rang again I heardMom talking for a while Then I heard her running upthe stairs She burst into my room ran up behind meand wrapped me in a big hug

ldquoHuh Whatrsquos that forrdquo I criedldquoThat was Mariorsquos Steakhouse on the phonerdquo

Mom said grinning ldquoYou know Your favorite restau-rant You won Luke Remember that drawing we allentered the last time we were there Well you wonit They picked your card You won dinner for thewhole family Twelve dinners One a month for thenext yearrdquo

ldquoWowrdquo I jumped up from the computerLaughing and cheering Mom and I did a happy littledance around the room

ldquoI canrsquot believe you won that drawing That is so

68

terrificrdquo Mom exclaimed ldquoWersquore going to have tostart calling you Lucky Lukerdquo

ldquoYeah Lucky Lukerdquo I repeated ldquoI like thatThatrsquos me Lucky Lukerdquo

I worked on my animation until nearly midnightI stared into the glow of the monitor until I couldnrsquotsee straight and the images became a fuzzy blur

ldquoAlmost finishedrdquo I said yawningI changed into pajamas brushed my teeth got

ready for sleep But just before I climbed into bed Ipulled out my lucky little skull for one last look

I held it gently in my hand and studied it rubbingmy fingers over the smooth top of the skull The tinyred jewel eyes glowed brightly

I rubbed my fingers over the hard bumpy teeth Itwirled the skull in my hand

ldquoMy little good-luck charmrdquo I whisperedI set it down carefully on my dresser in front of

the mirror Then I turned out the lights and climbedinto bed

I settled back on my pillows pulling the quilt upto my chin I yawned loudly The mattress creakedunder me Waiting for sleep I stared into the dark-ness

The curtains were pulled so no light washed infrom the street The room was completely blackexcept for a faint red glow

The glow of the two red eyes in the skull Like tiny

69

match flames against the blacknessAnd then I saw two more glowing spots of red

light Larger Behind the tiny skull eyesTwo circles of light in the mirror glass Two flame-

red circles the size of tennis ballsAnd as their light grew brighter more intense

I could see a form in the dresser mirror Deep nostril holes two rows of jagged grin-

ning teethA skull A red-eyed skullNot tiny A huge grinning yellow-boned skull

that filled the mirrorFilled the mirror And stared out at me with those

fiery flame-red eyesI sat straight up Squeezed the quilt And gaped in

horror as the jagged teeth moved The jaw slid open And the enormous skull mouthed the words

mouthed them so clearly ldquoLucky Lukerdquo

70

The giant glowing skull leaned forward as if topush out of the mirror The jaw worked up and downThe red glow seemed to bathe the whole room inflames

I opened my mouth in a horrified screamI screamed and then screamed againThe ceiling light flashed onldquoLukemdashwhatrsquos wrongrdquoBlinking in the sudden light I saw my dad burst

breathlessly into the room His pajama shirt wastwisted One pajama pants leg rode up to his kneeHis hair was tangled from sleep standing straight upon one side

ldquoWhat is itrdquo he repeatedldquoImdashImdashrdquo I pointed to the mirror My head spun

with confusion I couldnrsquot find wordsldquoThe skullmdashrdquo I finally choked outBrushing back his hair Dad crossed the room to

my dresser I stared into the glass

71

Nothing nowNothing in there except the reflection of my

room As he came near I could see Dadrsquos worriedface reflected in the glass

ldquoIs this what you were screaming aboutrdquo Dadasked He picked up the little yellow skull and heldit out to me ldquoThis skullrdquo

ldquoN-nordquo I stammeredI was thinking hard trying to figure out what I

had seenIt couldnrsquot have been the reflection of the little

skull I saw in the glass NoThe skull that loomed in the mirror was enor-

mous its eyes as big as basketballsDad still squinted at me from the dresser holding

the little skull up in front of himldquoI guess I had a bad dreamrdquo I said softly settling

back onto my pillows ldquoItmdashit was so weird I dreamedI saw a giant skull with flaming eyes But it wasso realrdquo

Dad shook his head ldquoWell if this little skull isgiving you bad dreams want me to take it awayrdquo Hestarted to the door

ldquoNordquo I screamed I jumped out of bed to block his path He looked

startled as I grabbed the skull from his handldquoItrsquos itrsquos a good-luck charmrdquo I said ldquoItrsquos

brought me a lot of good luckrdquo

72

Dad frowned as he gazed at the little skull in myhand ldquoYou sure Luke It doesnrsquot look good to me Itlooks evilrdquo

ldquoEvilrdquo I laughed ldquoNo way Dad No way Trustmerdquo

He clicked off the light on his way out A shortwhile later I fell asleep gripping the skull tightly inone hand

A few days later I screamed my head off again

73

This time it was for funA bunch of us were on our skates up on Killer

Hill Itrsquos actually Miller Hill But we call it Killer Hillbecause itrsquos up at the top where Broad Street scoopsstraight downmdasha steep steep slope down threeblocks to Miller Street

Miller Street has the most traffic in ShawneeValley So the idea is we come skating down BroadStreet full speed We come rocketing down the steepslope as fast as we canmdashand try to skate rightthrough the traffic on Miller

It makes all the car drivers totally crazy You canalways hear tires squealing horns honking driversscreaming as kids come skating right at them

Yes Itrsquos really dangerous Most kids wonrsquot eventhink of trying it But for a guy with my kind of goodluck whatrsquos the big deal

It was a sunny cold Sunday afternoon Froststuck to the tops of the cars My breath smoked upin front of me as I skated to the top of Killer Hill

74

I met Darnell up there He was having troublewith the brake on one of his skates Finally he justripped the brake off and tossed it in a trash canldquoWhy do I need brakesrdquo he said grinning at meldquoThey only slow you downrdquo

Stretch and some of his pals appeared a few min-utes later Stretch was wearing some kind of yellowsweats He looked like Big Bird on skates

He lowered his shoulder and tried to bump me offmy feet But I skated away easily And he didnrsquot tryagain

Things have been a little different betweenStretch and me since I took his place on the basket-ball team Hersquos my backup now He gets to play onlywhen Irsquom tired and need a short rest And I think hersquosin shock over it

Stretch still tries to give me a hard time But Idonrsquot think his heart is in it He knows hersquos a loserHe knows hersquos not one of the lucky peoplemdashlike me

ldquoYou ready to skaterdquo Darnell called He pulledon his helmet Then he stood in the middle of thestreet leaning forward hands on his knees

I gazed down the steep hill to the traffic belowEven though it was Sunday afternoon cars and vanssped along Miller as if it were the afternoon rushhour

I adjusted my knee pads ldquoReadyrdquo I said I movedbeside Darnell

Stretch skated in front of us He grinned at me

75

ldquoHow about a racerdquoI shook my head ldquoYoursquore too slow Darnell and I

donrsquot want to have to wait for you down thererdquoldquoHa ha When did you get so funny Champrdquo

Stretch reached into the pocket of his yellow sweatsHe held up a ten-dollar bill ldquoLetrsquos make it a real raceTen bucks each Winner takes allrdquo

He stuck the money in front of my face I shovedit away ldquoI donrsquot take candy from babiesrdquo I saidldquoKeep your moneyrdquo

Stretch gritted his teeth His pale face turned anangry red He leaned close ldquoYou gonna race me ornotrdquo he growled

I squeezed the rubber skull in my pocket I knewthere was no way I could lose ldquoOkayrdquo I said ldquoButIrsquom going to make it fairrdquo

I pulled a wool scarf from my coat pocket andstarted to wrap it around my head ldquoJust to give you achance Irsquoll skate blindfoldedrdquo

Stretch snickered ldquoYoursquore joking right Yoursquoregoing to skate through all those cars blindfoldedrdquo

ldquoDonrsquot do it Lukerdquo a voice calledI turned to see Hannah waving to me She was

hobbling up the sidewalk on crutches Her right foothad a large white bandage over it ldquoDonrsquot do itrdquo shecalled shrilly

I spun away from the guys and skated over to her

76

ldquoHannahmdashwhat happenedrdquo I asked motioning tothe crutches

She sighed and leaned heavily on them ldquoItrsquos myanklerdquo she said ldquoRemember when I fell off my bikeWe thought it was just a sprain But my ankle keepsswelling up like a water balloon I had to have itdrained three timesrdquo

ldquoYuckrdquo I said staring down at the bandageThe wind fluttered her red hair She shook her

head sadly ldquoThe doctors canrsquot figure out whatrsquoswrong ImdashI might need surgery I donrsquot know AndMom says if it doesnrsquot get better I canrsquot go on thejunior high overnight on Wednesdayrdquo

ldquoWow Thatrsquos bad newsrdquo I murmured Everyonelooks forward to the overnight The whole junior highgoes to a campground by the lake and everyonestays up and parties all night

I couldnrsquot take my eyes off Hannahrsquos bandagedankle Is this my fault I suddenly wondered Did Ireally take away her good luck Hannah has hadnothing but bad luck ever since I found the skull

Irsquom going to give it back to her I silentlypromised Real soon Real soon

ldquoYou skating or notrdquo Stretch called ldquoOr are youjust going to stand there and talk with your girl-friendrdquo

ldquoIrsquom comingrdquo I said I started to wrap the scarfaround my eyes

77

ldquoLuke donrsquotrdquo Hannah insisted ldquoDonrsquot do itblindfolded Itmdashitrsquos crazyrdquo

ldquoNo problemrdquo I said ldquoIrsquom a superhero HannahCars will bounce right off merdquo

I skated away from her ldquoYoursquore wrongrdquo she called ldquoLuke listen to me

The good luckmdashit doesnrsquot last foreverrdquoI laughed What was she talking aboutI skated up beside Darnell and grabbed his arm

to steady myself I pulled the scarf over my eyes untilI saw only black

ldquoYoursquore crazyrdquo he muttered ldquoYou could getkilled manrdquo

ldquoNo wayrdquo I declared ldquoIrsquom going to win twentybucks from you twordquo

I heard Stretch skate up beside me ldquoYoursquore doingthis for realrdquo he asked ldquoYoursquore going to skate into allthose cars blindfoldedrdquo

ldquoYou going to talk or skaterdquo I asked him ldquoFirstone past Miller Street without stopping wins themoneyrdquo

ldquoLukemdashdonrsquot be crazyrdquo Hannah calledIt was the last thing I heard before the three of us

took off I leaned forward skating straight and hard I

heard Stretch and Darnell beside me theirRollerblades scraping the pavement

As we picked up speed I could hear the traffic onMiller I heard a horn honk Heard someone shout

I skated down down laughing through thedarkness

78

ldquoLukemdashloooook outrdquoI heard Darnellrsquos scream I heard the squeal of

tires Horns honkedI tossed back my head and laughed I roared

through Miller Street the blade wheels whistling overthe pavement

Then as I turned my skates and came to a slowstop I ripped the scarf away And saw Darnell stand-ing on the curb on the other side of Miller His mouthwas open He shook his head

Stretch came skating around me ldquoYou crazyjerkrdquo he shouted ldquoYou were almost killed threetimesrdquo

I calmly held out my hand ldquoMoney pleaserdquoldquoYou lucky jerkrdquo Stretch muttered He slapped

the ten-dollar bill into my gloved hand ldquoYoursquorecrazy Really Yoursquore just plain crazyrdquo

I laughed ldquoThanks for the compliment And theten bucksrdquo

79

Grumbling to himself Stretch skated back up tohis friends

Darnell waited for the traffic to clear then skatedover to me He wiped sweat off his forehead ldquoYouwere almost killedrdquo he said his voice shaking ldquoWhydid you do it Lukerdquo

I grinned at him ldquoBecause I canrdquo

The weather turned warm for our overnight camp-out Even though the trees were bare the woodssmelled fresh and sweet almost like spring Highwhite clouds dotted the bright blue afternoon skyTwigs and dead leaves crackled and crunched underour feet as we hiked through the tall trees to thecamping grounds

I squeezed the small skull in one hand as Iwalked weighted down by the heavy pack on myback Some kids were singing a Beatles song Behindme a group of girls were telling really bad knock-knock jokes laughing shrilly after each one

Coach Bendix and Ms Raymond another gymteacher led the way along the twisting path throughthe trees I was about halfway back in the line ofkids

I turned and found Hannah beside me She woreher blue windbreaker with the hood pulled up overher head She was leaning on one crutch as shewalked struggling to keep up ldquoDo you have anywaterrdquo she asked

80

I slowed down ldquoYour parents let you come Isyour ankle betterrdquo

ldquoNot reallyrdquo she replied frowning ldquoBut I toldthem I had to come anyway I wouldnrsquot miss it Doyou have any water Irsquom dyingrdquo

ldquoYeah Surerdquo I reached for the bottle of water inmy pack ldquoDidnrsquot you bring anyrdquo

Hannah sighed ldquoMy water bottle had a leak orsomething It poured out and soaked all the extraclothes in my pack Now I donrsquot have a thing towearrdquo

I handed her the water bottle Leaning on the crutch she pushed back the wind-

breaker hood and I saw her face for the first timeHer skin was covered with big red splotchesldquoHannah whatrsquos thatrdquo I cried ldquoYour facemdashrdquoldquoDonrsquot look at merdquo she snapped She turned her

back and took a long gulp of waterldquoBut what is itrdquo I demanded ldquoPoison ivyrdquoldquoNo I donrsquot think sordquo she said still facing away

from me ldquoI woke up with it Some kind of red rashAll over my bodyrdquo She sighed ldquoI donrsquot get a breakrdquo

She handed the water bottle back to me andpulled the blue plastic hood over her head ldquoThanksfor the waterrdquo

ldquoDoes it itchrdquo I askedShe let out an angry cry ldquoI really donrsquot want to

talk about itrdquo She grabbed the crutch tightly swungit hard in front of her and hurried ahead of me drag-

81

ging her bandaged foot over the dirt pathShersquos having so much bad luck I guess itrsquos my

fault I thought squeezing the skull in my pocket But why are all these terrible things happening to

her Why isnrsquot there enough good luck for both of usI didnrsquot have much time to think about it Behind me I heard shrill frightened screams I

saw kids running off the path Screaming Calling forhelp

I spun around and headed toward them the heavypack bouncing on my back ldquoWhatrsquos going onrdquo Icried ldquoWhatrsquos wrongrdquo

More shrill screamsAnd then I saw the two enormous brown snakes

Swinging down from a low tree limb Blocking thepath

The same color as the tree they twisted their longbodies thicker than garden hoses and snapped theirjaws

I didnrsquot hesitate I dived forward stretching out myarms

ldquoLukemdashwhat are you doing Stay away fromthemrdquo I heard Coach Bendix shout

The kidsrsquo frightened screams rang through thewoods

ldquoGet away from themrdquo Coach orderedBut I knew nothing could hurt me I knew my good

luck would keep me safe

82

I shot my hands out And grabbed both snakesone in each hand

I wrapped my fingers around their thick bodiesThen with a hard tug I wrenched them off the treelimb And raised them high

ldquoWhoardquoI didnrsquot realize how long they were And how strongI let out a startled cry as both snakes wriggled

loose I saw the tiny black eyes flash Saw the jawsopen

Then both snake heads came crashing towardme jaws snappingmdashsnapping so furiously beneaththe flashing eyes snapping like bear traps

83

I felt a rush of air as they snappedmdashsnappedmdashsnapped their sharp-toothed jaws Heads swingingwildly Whole bodies swinging and shaking Thickwhite drool clinging to their pointed teeth

Shrill screams rose all around me I stared atthe snapping heads the glimmering black eyesmdashuntil it seemed that the snakes were screamingtoo

And thenmdashthey flew from my handsWriggled free with strong tosses of their heavy

bodies And plunged to the ground Disappearingso quickly Blending into the hard brown dirtVanishing beneath the carpet of fat brown leavestwigs and fallen limbs

As kids surrounded me I stood hunched overgasping for breath I smoothed my open handsover my ears my cheeks my whole face

I waited for the pain of the snakebites to spreadover me

But no No sting No throbbing No pain

84

They had snapped so close I felt their breathon my skin

But they hadnrsquot bitten me ldquoYoursquore so luckyrdquo Coach Bendix was saying He

had a hand on my shoulder and was examining myface ldquoI never saw anyone so lucky Why did you doit Luke Those snakes are deadly poisonousDeadly Why did you do itrdquo

I stared at him but didnrsquot answer I didnrsquot knowwhat to say

How could I explain it to him How could Iexplain to anyone what it felt like to be so incrediblyawesomely lucky

All around kids were cheering Congratulatingme Talking about me how brave I had been

Leaning against a tree I saw Hannah She stoodby herself crutch under one arm She was the onlyone not smiling not cheering

I saw the red blotches on Hannahrsquos faceWatched as she transfered the crutch to her otherarm And saw her scowling at me her eyes nar-rowed She shook her head and scowled

And in that moment I realized that she was jeal-ous Jealous of my good luck

Jealous that she was no longer the hero She wasno longer the lucky one

Too bad Hannah I thought watching her angryexpression I had felt sorry for her I had felt reallyguilty too

85

But no moreIrsquove got the luck now Hannah I thought And Irsquom

going to keep it

ldquoLetrsquos go guys Wersquove got another game to winrdquoI cried I gave Sam Mulroney a playful towel slap

Locker doors slammed Guys finished lacing uptheir basketball shoes

ldquoDid you see those Deaver Mills guysrdquo Mulroneyasked peeking into the gym through a crack in thelocker room door ldquoTheyrsquore monsters They must feedthose guys whole steaks five times a dayrdquo

ldquoBig doesnrsquot mean goodrdquo I said ldquoThey look likecows Theyrsquore so slowrdquo

ldquoWersquoll dribble circles around themrdquo Jay Boxersaid

ldquoJust feed me the ballrdquo I instructed them ldquoNomatter where I am Feed me the ball Irsquoll put it in Irsquomfeeling lucky today guys Real luckyrdquo

ldquoHey Champmdashrdquo Stretch called pulling on his jer-sey ldquoYoursquore not a ball hog or anythingmdashare yourdquo

Guys used to laugh when Stretch shouted insultsat me But not anymore Everyone was on my sidenow Everyone wanted to be on the winnerrsquos side

ldquoHey Stretchmdashwhat do they call yourdquo I shoutedback ldquoA bench hogrdquo

Everybody laughedStretch laughed too Now that I was a winner he

was starting to be a little nicer to me He even gave

86

me some dribbling tips after one practice The guys all headed out to the gym I could hear

the shouts of the crowd in the bleachers And thesteady thud of basketballs on the floor as the DeaverMills Lions warmed up

ldquoTime to kill me some Lionsrdquo I muttered I finishedlacing my sneakers

Then I stood up Started to swing my gym lockerclosed

And slammed my left hand in the doorldquoHeyrdquo I cried out in surprise as pain shot up my

arm I shook the hand hard trying to shake the pain

away My wrist throbbed I moved my fingers tiltedmy hand back and forth It moved okay Not broken

But the hand was red and already starting to swellldquoNo time for thisrdquo I muttered I slammed the locker shut with my right hand

And still shaking my left hand hurried out into thegym

The crowd cheered as I ran onto the floor I sawsome of the Deaver Mills players whisper to eachother and point at me They knew who the star playerwas They knew who was going to wipe the floor withthem today

We huddled close around Coach Bendix ldquoTake itslow with these guysrdquo he instructed ldquoFeel them outGet their rhythm Letrsquos rattle them show them we canplay defenserdquo

87

ldquoJust get me the ballrdquo I chimed in ldquoIrsquom going tobe loose under the basket all dayrdquo

We gave our team cheer and trotted out to the cen-ter of the floor I searched the bleachers for HannahShe said she would try to come to the game today

I spotted her at the side of the bleachers hunchedin a wheelchair Her bad foot was propped up and ithad an even bigger bandage over it

I guess it isnrsquot getting better I thought I felt a pangof guilt

Poor Hannah I looked for my parents Then I remembered they

werenrsquot coming today They had to stay home for a fur-niture delivery

I turned away from the crowd I had a game toplay Time to get my game face on No time to thinkabout Hannah and her problems

I went up for the opening jump I tapped the ballto Mulroney and the game was underway

He dribbled to half-court then sent a high pass tome

ldquoWhoamdashrdquo The ball flew right through my handsand bounced out of bounds

ldquoMulroneymdashtoo hardrdquo I called ldquoWho were youthrowing atrdquo

He shrugged and started trotting to the Lionsrsquobasket

ldquoGet in there Luke Get going Look aliverdquo I heardCoach Bendix shouting

88

The Deaver guard came dribbling slowly towardme I darted up to him stuck out my hand to steal theballmdashand missed

He moved past me easily and sent up an easylayup for two points

ldquoWeirdrdquo I muttered I shook my left hand Thepain had dulled to an ache but the hand was prettyswollen

I moved down the court Caught a pass Spunaway from the Lion defender Went in for an easy shot

And missedldquoHuhrdquoI heard the crowd groan Startled voices all aroundMulroney slapped me on the shoulder ldquoTake it

easy manrdquo he said ldquoPlay your game Just play yourgamerdquo

A few seconds later I drove in for a shotmdashand wasfouled I moved to the foul linemdashand missed both foulshots

More groans and muttering from the bleachers Isaw Coach Bendix shake his head

A bounce pass from Jay Boxer sailed right throughmy legs Some of the Lionsrsquo players had a good laughover that one

Then I missed three more shots in a rowMulroney flashed me a thumbs-up ldquoNo probrdquo he

called ldquoPlay your game Luke Wersquoll get rsquoemrdquoThe Lions were winning twelve to four I took another pass and moved under the basket I

89

leaped high for a slam dunk My arm hit the rim hard I cried out in pain And

watched the ball sail over the backboardldquoWhoa This isnrsquot happeningrdquo I muttered picking

myself up off the floor ldquoNo wayrdquoAt the other end of the floor I grabbed a rebound

off the backboard I dodged past a huge Lion playerDribbled away from him easily Picked up speedBrought the ball onto our side of the court

Eyed the basket Prepared to stop short and put upa three-pointer

And tripped Felt one sneaker bump the otherTripped over my own shoe

And watched the ball sail into a Lionrsquos hands as Istumbled I fell forward onto my stomach My armsand legs were out flat on the floor ldquoOOOFrdquo

I heard startled gasps from the bleachers Andlaughter

Yes Some people were laughing at meldquoWhat is going onrdquo I cried I forced myself to my feet Shook off the pain ldquoThis isnrsquot happening It canrsquot berdquoI reached into the pocket of my uniform shorts

Reached for my good-luck skullFumbled in the pocket Searched both pocketsldquoHeymdashrdquoNo No No wayThe skull was gone

90

Fumbling frantically in both pockets I began run-ning for the team bench ldquoTime out Time outrdquo Iscreamed

Had the skull fallen out of my pocketI squinted hard searching the gleaming polished

floor No sign of itldquoTime outrdquo I pleadedI heard a whistle blow on the sidelinesI had to find itmdashnow I couldnrsquot play without itMy eyes swept over the floor I began to run full

speed to the bench I didnrsquot see the huge Lions playermdashuntil we collidedI plowed right into him Caught him flat-footed He

let out a startled ldquoOofrdquo And we cracked headsldquoYaaaiiiirdquo I let out a scream of agony as blinding

red pain shot around my head The red shimmered togold Brighter brighter bright as the sun

I felt my legs giving out Felt myself collapsingcrumbling into a deep deep bottomless darkness

91

I woke up to pinpoints of yellow light They flick-ered high above me Each time they flashed a waveof pain rolled over my forehead down the back of myneck

I blinked hard Blinked until I realized I was star-ing up at the lights on the gym rafters

I lay on my back on the gym floor one kneeraised my hands flat at my sides I squinted up atthe high raftersmdashuntil faces blocked my view

Playersrsquo faces And then a few worried-lookingadults And then Coach Bendixrsquos face looming overme bobbing over me like a parade balloon

ldquoWhatmdashrdquo One word escaped my throat My drythroat So dry I couldnrsquot swallow

ldquoStay still Lukerdquo Coach ordered speaking softlyHis dark eyes peered down into mine studying meldquoYoursquove had a bad concussion Donrsquot try to moveWersquore sending you to the emergency roomrdquo

ldquoHuh Nordquo I gasped I rolled onto my side I lurched to my feet The

floor tilted from side to side as if I were on a rockingboat

ldquoDonrsquot move Lukerdquo Coach reached for meBut I staggered out of his grasp Stumbled

through the circle of people that had formed aroundme

ldquoNo No hospitalrdquo I croaked

92

I had to find that skull That was all I needed andthen I would be okay again

The skull I stumbled over someonersquos shoe Staggered

toward the locker room The gleaming wood floorswaying beneath me

ldquoLukemdashcome backrdquoNo No way I shoved open the locker room door

with one shoulder And sliding a hand against thelockers moved to the back row Lurched to my gymlocker Pulled open the door so hard it slammedagainst the frame

ldquoWhere is it WhererdquoI frantically pawed through my street clothes

Searched and then tossed everything onto the floor ldquoWhere WhererdquoNot in my khakis pockets Not in my shirt pocket

Not in my sweatshirtThe locker floor No Nothing down thereStumbling over the pile of clothes on the floor I

lurched back down the row of gym lockers Ranthrough the gym out the doors and up the stairsInto the long empty hall

My sneakers squeaked on the hard floor as I ranThe walls and ceiling appeared to close in on methen slide back into place

To my locker To locker 13

93

It took me three tries to get the combination rightBut finally I unlocked it and flung open the door

And jammed my hand into one coat pocket andthen the other

ldquoWhere is it I have to have it Where WhererdquoAnd then a long happy sigh escaped my parched

throat as my hand closed around it YessssI was so happyI had the skull in my hand I squeezed it tightly

So happy So happyI pulled it out of the coat pocket Raised it in front

of me Raised it close to examine it And let out a cry of horror

94

The eyes They were dark Not red not glowingAnd the face had changed The bump-toothed

grin was gone The open mouth was curled down ina fierce angry scowl

ldquoNomdashitrsquos impossiblerdquo I gaspedI held the skull up to the light The red jewel eyes

were gone The deep round sockets were empty Theskull scowled down at me dark and menacing

What does this mean I wondered How did thishappen

Before I could think about it clearly I glimpsedsomething in the open locker A soft glow A slowmoving light growing larger as if moving closer

The light split into two Two circles of red lightDown low Very low near the locker floor

I gripped the skull tightly in my fist and stared asthe red lights glimmered closer The whole lockershimmered The dark walls reflected the two lightsBrighter bright as fire now

95

Two red eyes I realized Two glowing eyes float-ing from the blackness of locker 13

I jumped back as a black cat stepped silently outas if floating A black cat with fiery red eyes Thesame black cat as before

It pulled back its lips bared pointed white teethand hissed at me

My back hit the wall I blinked against the bright-ness of those two circles of red light

And as I trembled in horror squeezing the skullsqueezing it so tightly my hand achedmdashthe cat roseup off the floor

And melted into another formMelted and grew taller Taller The cat became

a human figure dressed all in black wrapped in abroad black coat down to the floor its face hidden inthe darkness of a black hood

Hidden All hidden except for the eyesmdashthosehorrifying fiery eyes

ldquoWh-who are you What do you wantrdquo I startledmyself by crying out those words I didnrsquot think Icould speak

My whole body trembled I pressed myselfagainst the wall to keep from falling to my knees

The hooded figure stepped silently away from theopen locker A hoarse rasp burst out from under thehood a whisper like the crackle of dead leaves ldquoTheluck has run out Lukerdquo

ldquoNordquo I gasped

96

A bony hand swung out from the sleeve of theblack coatmdashand swiped the skull away from me

ldquoNordquo I cried in protest ldquoNo NordquoldquoThe luck is overrdquo ldquoWho are yourdquo I shrieked in a tight terrified

voice ldquoWh-who How did you get in my lockerWhat do you wantrdquo I screamed in total panic

ldquoThe luck is overrdquoldquoIt canrsquot berdquo I cried ldquoIt canrsquot be I need itrdquoldquoOver rdquo the hooded figure rasped ldquoOver

over rdquoThe red eyes glowed from under the hood The

bony hand held the tiny skull in front of the broadblack coat

ldquoI need that luckrdquo I wailed ldquoI need that skullrdquoAnd I grabbed it back Grabbed it out of the bony

handldquoI need it I have to have itrdquoI raised the skull in front of me Stared hard at it What was wrong with it Something wriggling on

it wriggling in my hand crawling over mypalm

ldquoOhhhhrdquo I let out a moan as I saw The skull wascovered crawling crawling with hundreds ofmaggots

97

The skull fell from my hand and bounced acrossthe floor I frantically shook my hand scraped itagainst the wall brushing the disgusting maggots offmy skin

Under the black hood the red eyes glowed brighterldquoYou enjoyed a lot of good luck Lukerdquo the figure saidin his hoarse croak ldquoBut the luck has ended And nowyou must pay for itrdquo

ldquoHuh Payrdquo I felt my throat tighten I stared at thefiery eyes trying to see a face trying to see who wasspeaking to me from under that hood

ldquoLukemdashIrsquom so sorryrdquo a voice called I turned to find Hannah wheeling herself rapidly

down the hall leaning forward in her wheelchair turn-ing the wheels with both hands

ldquoHannahmdash Whatmdashrdquo I couldnrsquot find any wordsldquoIrsquom so sorryrdquo she repeated As she wheeled herself

closer I saw tears brimming in her eyes rolling downher red-blotched face

ldquoSorryrdquo I repeated my head spinning in confusion

98

ldquoHe made me do itrdquo she wailed ldquoYou have tobelieve me Luke I didnrsquot want to Really But hemade merdquo

She grabbed my hand Squeezed it tightly Herhand was as cold as ice Tears rolled down hercheeks

ldquoVery touchingrdquo the hooded figure rasped coldlyldquoHannahmdashhe made you do whatrdquo I askedldquoHemdashhe made me give you the skullrdquo Hannah

stammered still squeezing my hand ldquoHuhrdquo I let out a startled cry ldquoYou gave it to me

But I thought I found it I thoughtmdashrdquoldquoI had the good luck for a long timerdquo Hannah

said wiping her wet cheeks with both handsldquoRemember when I had so much good luck Then itran out The skull went dark And he forced memdashheforced me to pass the skull on to yourdquo

I stared at her in disbelief ldquoBut who is herdquo Icried ldquoHow can he do thisrdquo

ldquoHavenrsquot you guessedrdquo the hooded figureboomed The red eyes glowed like two angry sunsldquoHavenrsquot you figured it out yet Luke I am the FateMaster I decide who has good luck and who has badrdquo

ldquoNordquo I whispered ldquoThatrsquos crazyrdquoldquoItrsquos the truthrdquo Hannah said her voice breaking

ldquoHe controls me And now yourdquoldquoLukerdquo the evil figure whispered lowering him-

self toward me ldquoDid you really think you could haveall that good luck without paying for itrdquo

99

ldquoI didnrsquot want to give the skull to yourdquo Hannahwhispered holding on to my arm ldquoI gave you achance to hand it back to me remember Rememberduring my game I asked if you had seen itrdquo

I nodded sadly feeling my face grow hotldquoI knew you had it Why didnrsquot you give it back

thenrdquo Hannah demanded ldquoI gave you a chance toreturn it I didnrsquot want you to keep itrdquo

ldquoToo late for that nowrdquo the Fate Master raspedldquoNow you are BOTH minerdquo

ldquoNo wayrdquo I protested ldquoI donrsquot believe any ofthis This canrsquot be happening Itmdashitrsquos some kind ofbad jokerdquo

ldquoItrsquos not a jokerdquo Hannah whispered ldquoLook atmerdquo She pointed to her red-blotched face her ban-daged foot the wheelchair

ldquoNordquo I insisted ldquoIt wonrsquot happen to me I wonrsquotlet it IrsquollmdashIrsquoll make my own luckrdquo

The bulky black coat shook as the Fate Masteruttered a hoarse laugh It sounded more like drycoughing than laughter ldquoYoung man do you reallythink you can go up against FATE I control EVERY-THING that happens Do you really think you candefy FATErdquo

ldquoI donrsquot care what you sayrdquo I screamed ldquoIrsquom notgoing to be some kind of slave You canrsquot control meYou canrsquotrdquo

100

The Fate Master sighed The red eyes faded insidethe hood ldquoDo I really have to prove myself to youOkay So be itrdquo

He leaned closer So close that I could see intothe hood I could see that he had no face Just twoglowing eyes floating in blackness

ldquoLukemdashthat concussion you had in the gymrdquo herasped ldquoIrsquom afraid itrsquos much worse than you thoughtFeel your earsrdquo

ldquoHuhrdquo My hands shot up to my ears I felt wet-ness

Warm wetnessI lowered my hands My fingers dripped with

bloodMy ears were bleedingI felt the warm blood pour down my earlobes

trickle down the sides of my faceFrantically I pressed the palms of my hands

against my ears ldquoThat wonrsquot stop the bleeding Lukerdquo the Fate

Master whispered ldquoThat blood wonrsquot clot Itrsquos justgoing to keep pouring out Bad luck Irsquom afraid Verybad luckrdquo

ldquoNomdashpleaserdquo I pleaded ldquoMake it stoprdquoThe eyes flared ldquoDo you believe in me now Do

you believe that you belong to merdquoldquoOkayrdquo I said ldquoOkay I believe yourdquo

101

ldquoYour fate is in my handsmdashboth of you You mustpay for the good luck you had You must suffer badluck nowmdashrdquo

ldquoNomdashpleaserdquo I begged ldquoI need more timeThings are just starting to go right for me The basket-ball team my animation the swim team Irsquolldo anything I need more timerdquo

ldquoNO MORE TIMErdquo The hoarse rasp echoed offthe tile walls Angry flames shot out from the black-ness of the hood

ldquoButmdashrdquo I started shrinking back beside HannahldquoI control yourdquo the Fate Master boomed ldquoI decide

your luck from now on Do you want me to go easy onthe two of you DO yourdquo

ldquoY-yesrdquo I stammered ldquoIrsquoll do anythingAnythingrdquo

The Fate Master was silent for a long momentThe eyes faded as if retreating into the distance thenglowed brightly again ldquoIf you want me to go easy onyou bothrdquo he said finally ldquoherersquos what you haveto do rdquo

102

ldquoPass the skull on to anotherrdquo the Fate Masterordered

ldquoHuh Youmdashyou want me to give it to someoneelserdquo I stammered

The eyes sparked beneath the hood ldquoPass it tothat big kid the one called Stretch Irsquove had my eye onhim I will give him good luck for two months Then Iwill claim him as minerdquo

ldquoNo I canrsquot do thatrdquo I protested ldquoIt isnrsquot right Itisnrsquotmdashrdquo

The Fate Master uttered a furious growl ldquoThenyou will suffer bad luck your whole life You and every-one in your familyrdquo

I shivered in fear My mind spun I felt the warmblood start to trickle from my ears again

Could I do it Could I trap Stretch the way I hadbeen trapped

I felt Hannah tug my arm ldquoYou have to do itLukerdquo she whispered ldquoItrsquos our only chance BesidesStretch has been asking for itmdashhasnrsquot he Hersquos not a

103

friend of yours Hersquos an enemy Stretch has been ask-ing for it all yearrdquo

True Stretch wasnrsquot my friend But could I beresponsible for ruining Stretchrsquos life For turning himover to the Fate Master

Hannah gazed up at me from the wheelchair withpleading eyes ldquoDo itrdquo she whispered ldquoSave usLuke Do itrdquo

I turned to the Fate Master ldquoOkayrdquo I choked outldquoIrsquoll do itrdquo

The eyes flashed from red to sunlight yellowThe big coat opened and appeared to fly up Itraised itself over me like giant bat wings Floatedover me then floated down

I felt myself covered in a heavy darkness I couldnrsquot move It spread over me blacker

blackerI felt so cold So cold and lost As if I had been

buried buried deep in the cold cold groundAnd then I blinked and saw pinpoints of light

Flickering white lights that grew brighter so bright Ihad to squint

It took me a while to realize I was back in the gymBack on the gym floor A crowd huddled around meTight expressions worried faces

Someone leaned over me A face came into focusCoach Bendix stared down at me the whistle hangingfrom his neck

104

ldquoCoachmdashrdquo I tried to speak but the word came outa whisper

ldquoDonrsquot move Lukerdquo he said softly ldquoYoursquove had aconcussion but yoursquore going to be okayrdquo

ldquoA concussionrdquoldquoLie stillrdquo he instructed ldquoAn ambulance is on the

wayrdquoA concussionIt didnrsquot happen I realized The hooded figure with the glowing eyes The

Fate Master stepping out of locker 13 Taking awaymy good luck Ordering me to pass the skull toStretch

It didnrsquot happenIt was a dream A nightmare caused by my con-

cussionI jumped to my feet The floor swayed beneath

me The bleachers appeared to tilt to one side thenthe other

I saw Hannah in her wheelchair at the side of thebleachers

Shersquos still in the gym I told myself happily Wenever left the gym It didnrsquot happen None of it hap-pened

I felt so happy So freeBefore I even realized it I was running Running

to the doorldquoLuke HeymdashLuke Stoprdquo I heard Coach Bendix

calling to me

105

And then I was out the gym doors And racingthrough the dark empty hallways Running fullspeed

So happy And so eager to get away from thereAway from the school Away from my nightmare

Did I stop at my lockerI must have stopped there because I had my

jacket on when I burst outside Into the frosty nightair I saw a tiny sliver of a moon high in a purple-black sky I stopped for a second to breathe in thecold fresh air

Then I ran across the teachersrsquo parking lot to thebike rack Irsquod ridden my bike to school And now Iplanned to put the pedal to the metalmdashto race all theway home

ldquoYesrdquo So happy I felt so happy I could havedanced all the way home

I jumped on my bike Grabbed the handlebarsWhoa Something wrong A scraping sound I climbed off and glanced down A flat tire No

Two flat tiresldquoOh wowrdquo I murmured How did that happenNo big deal Irsquoll get the bike tomorrow I decided

I started to jog across the parking lot heading to thestreet My sneaker felt loose I squatted down to tiethe shoe lacemdashand it ripped between my hands

No problem I told myself I have plenty ofshoelaces at home I started walking turned onto thesidewalk crossed the street Behind me I could hear

106

shouts and cheers coming from the gym I guessedthat the game had started up again

ldquoGo Stretchrdquo I murmured As I made my way down the next block it began

to rain Softly at first But the wind picked up andthen the rain started coming down in sheets

I zipped my jacket and leaned into the wind Butthe rain drove me back wave after wave of freezingwater

I heard a crackling sound nearbymdashand sawjagged white lightning streak across the front yardacross the street A deafening boom of thunder shookthe ground

I pressed forward Trees creaked and nearly bentsideways in the torrents of wind and rain I couldnrsquotmove I ducked under a broad-trunked tree for safety

But a loud crack of lightning sent a tree branchcrashing to my feet

ldquoOhhrdquo I cried out A close callI jumped over the fallen branch Sharp pieces of

the limb scratched my arm as I struggled to raceaway Another jagged bolt of lightning crackled a fewfeet in front of me sizzling over the wet grass

Squinting through the downpour I saw smokesnake over the lawn The grass was burned blackwhere the lightning had spread

The wind shoved me backward Sheet after sheet

107

of rain washed over me I choked Struggled tobreathe

And then just beyond the rain just beyondthe heavy waves of dark water I saw two glowinglights two red eyes like dark headlights Two evil eyes moving with me watching me

The Fate MasterIt wasnrsquot a dream I suddenly knew that my flat

tiresmdashthe stormmdashthe lightning the pounding rainmdashit was all a show A show of strength

I staggered up my driveway Slipped on the wetgravel Sprawled facedown on the soaked stones

ldquoNooooo rdquoI struggled to my feet Stumbled onto the front

stoop A deafening shattering crash made me spin

around I saw one of the oak trees in front of thehouse split in half It appeared to move in slowmotion One half shivered but stayed upright Theother half of the broad old tree came crashing ontothe roof of the house

Windows shattered Roof tiles came slidingdown

I covered my head with one hand And pushedthe doorbell Frantically pushed the bell ldquoLet me inMom Dadrdquo I pounded on the front door with bothfists

Where were they

108

The lights were all on Why didnrsquot they open thedoor

A crash of thunder made me jump and cry outAbove the front stoop rainwater poured like a water-fall over the sides of the gutters Waves of rain rattledthe living room window and battered the bricks of thefront wall

ldquoLet me inrdquo I screamed over another roar ofthunder I pounded the front door until my fist ached

Then I heard a window slide open I turned to ourneighborrsquos house Through the curtains of rain I sawMrs Gillis poke her head out the bedroom windowShe shouted something But I couldnrsquot hear her overthe roar of rain

ldquoTheyrsquore not homerdquo I finally heard her shoutldquoThey had to go to the hospital Lukerdquo

ldquoWhat What did you sayrdquo My heart jumpedHad I heard correctly

ldquoItrsquos your dad He fell down the stairs Hersquos okayBut they took him to the emergency roomrdquo

ldquoNordquo I cried I beat my fists against the doorldquoNo No Nordquo

The Fate Master was putting on a show for meHe was showing me who was boss Giving me a littletaste of what the rest of my life could be like

ldquoOkayrdquo I shouted cupping my hands around mymouth Water pounded me washed over me bat-

109

tered me against the house ldquoOkaymdashyou winrdquo Iscreamed ldquoIrsquoll do it Irsquoll do whatever you sayrdquo

And I didThe next morning I gave the skull to Stretch

110

I found Stretch at his locker before school startedGiving him the yellow skull was the easiest thing inthe world

Stretch was leaning into his locker searching theshelf for something His backpack stood open on thefloor I pulled the skull from my jeans pocketmdashanddropped it into his backpack

He didnrsquot see anything He didnrsquot even know hehad it

ldquoHey Stretchmdashhowrsquos it goingrdquo I asked trying tosound calm natural As if I hadnrsquot just done some-thing terrible to him Something that would ruin hislife forever

ldquoYomdashhey Champrdquo He slapped me a hard highfive so hard my hand stung ldquoHowrsquos your headman It looks as ugly as everrdquo He laughed

I stared at him ldquoMy headrdquoldquoThat was a nasty collisionrdquo he said ldquoYour head

must be hard as a rock You feeling okayrdquoldquoYeah Not badrdquo I replied

111

Stretch snickered ldquoWell thanks for letting me getsome playing timerdquo He started to close up his back-pack

I stared at the backpack picturing the skull insideit The skull I had passed on to Stretch The tiny redeyes were probably glowing again Stretch was goingto have a lot of good luck for a while But then

ldquoMaybe you and I can practice together laterrdquoStretch said slamming his locker shut ldquoI can giveyou some more pointers Make you look like youknow what yoursquore doingrdquo

ldquoYeah Mayberdquo I saidStretchrsquos expression turned serious ldquoActually

yoursquore not bad manrdquo he said ldquoI mean it You are soimproved I mean yoursquore almost pretty goodReallyrdquo

I donrsquot believe this I thought Stretch is actuallypaying me a compliment

I shrugged ldquoIt was just luckrdquo I mutteredJust luck Ha haldquoNo wayrdquo Stretch insisted ldquoLuck had nothing to

do with it man It was hard work and skill No kid-ding It isnrsquot luck Yoursquore goodrdquo

I swallowed hard I suddenly felt like a totalcreep

Stretch was being so nice to me And what had Idone to him I just gave him a life of bad luck a lifeof slavery to the Fate Master

112

ldquoWhoa Forgot my science notebookrdquo Stretchgroaned He dropped his backpack to the floor andturned to unlock his locker

I stared down at the backpack feeling dizzy feel-ing sick

What am I going to do I asked myself What amI going to do

My bad luck continued all dayI answered the wrong questions on my algebra test

and got an F Miss Wakely warned me that Irsquod have todo extra work if I didnrsquot want to fail the course

At lunch the milk in my milk carton was lumpy andsour I didnrsquot notice until I had gulped down a bigmouthful Then I nearly puked my guts up in front ofeveryone

After lunch I started to comb my hair in the boysrsquoroommdashand a huge clump came out on the comb Igasped in horror and tugged out another clump of hair

Irsquom going to lose all my hair I realizedAs I hurried out of the bathroom I caught my shirt

on a nail and ripped one sleeve off I was so upset Ibumped into Miss Wakely from behind Her coffeecup flew out of her hand and scalding hot coffeesplashed all over her

I found Hannah after school She came rollingslowly down the hall in her wheelchair Her foot wasstill bandaged Her face was still covered in red

113

blotches And I saw that one of her eyes was swollenshut

ldquoHannahmdashIrsquove got to talk to yourdquo I criedldquoDid you pass it onrdquo she asked in a loud whisper ldquoHuhrdquoldquoIrsquove lost my voicerdquo she whispered ldquoDid you

pass the skull on to Stretch Wersquove got to change ourluck I can barely see My skin itches like crazy I canbarely talk ImdashI canrsquot go on like this Lukerdquo

ldquoIrsquove got to find the Fate Masterrdquo I said Hannah grabbed my torn shirtsleeve ldquoYoursquove got

to do what he said Yoursquove got to obey him Itrsquos ouronly chancerdquo

ldquoHow do I find himrdquo I askedldquoHe will find yourdquo Hannah whispered ldquoHe

appears in places of bad luck You knowmdashbrokenmirrors wherever the number thirteen is writtenrdquo

ldquoCome with merdquo I said I led the way to my lockerI waved to some guys heading to the pool for swimteam practice I wanted to be with them But this wasmore important

ldquoWersquove got to talk to the Fate Masterrdquo I toldHannah ldquoMaybe hersquoll come through my lockeragainrdquo

Hannah groaned in pain as she wheeled herselfbehind me ldquoMy foot hurts so muchrdquo she whispered

ldquoHe promised to end the bad luckrdquo I saidI turned the combination lock then pulled open

114

my locker door A burst of sour air choked the hall Igagged then held my breath

ldquoLookmdashrdquo Hannah choked out She pointed to thefloor of the locker

It was littered with dead birds A pile of brown-and-gray sparrows all dead and decaying

ldquoHe left us a presentrdquo I murmured ldquoWhere is heIs he going to appearrdquo

We didnrsquot have to wait long A few moments later I saw the glow of the red

eyes at the back of the locker And then the dark fig-ure stepped over the pile of dead birds and floatedout hunched beneath the black hood

ldquoHave you done what I askedrdquo he rasped thefiery eyes burning into mine ldquoHave you given me anew slaverdquo

ldquoYesrdquo I replied avoiding his stare ldquoThat was ourdeal right And now will you stop torturing us Willyou end our bad luck as you promisedrdquo

The hood bobbed up and down ldquoNordquo he saidsoftly

Hannah and I both uttered cries of protestldquoDid you really think you could make a deal with

the Fate Masterrdquo he boomed The open coat floatedup like bat wings ldquoI donrsquot make bargains with any-one I donrsquot make promises You will take whateverFate dishes outrdquo

ldquoYou promisedmdashrdquo Hannah shriekedThe evil figure snickered ldquoFirst you enjoy good

115

luck Then you must pay for it You cannot break thepattern You should know that You should know thatyou cannot bargain with Fate You will pay for yourgood luck for the rest of your liferdquo

ldquoNo Waitmdash Waitrdquo Hannah pleaded reachingup from the wheelchair grasping at the black cloakgrasping frantically with both hands

But the Fate Master spun around swirling thefoul air He stomped heavily on the dead birds as hestrode back into locker 13

In a second he had vanished Dead birds littered the floor of the hall the floor

of my lockerI turned to Hannah Her shoulders heaved up

and down Loud sobs escaped her throat ldquoHepromised rdquo

ldquoItrsquos okayrdquo I said softly ldquoI didnrsquot keep mypromise eitherrdquo

I pulled the yellow skull from my jeans pocket Hannah gasped ldquoYou didnrsquot give it to StretchrdquoI squeezed the skull in my fist ldquoYes I gave it to

him But I took it back before Stretch even saw it Icouldnrsquot do it Stretch was too nice to me ImdashIcouldnrsquot I couldnrsquot ruin someonersquos liferdquo

Hannah shook her head Tears spilled from herswollen eyes ldquoNow what are we going to do LukeWersquore doomed Now we donrsquot stand a chancerdquo

116

I bounced the basketball hard against the drive-way Drove toward the backboard and sent up ahook shot It bounced off the rim back into myhands I spun hard and sent up a two-handed shotthat dropped through the net

Overhead clouds covered the moon The garagelights sent white cones of light over the drivewayBehind me the house was dark except for a squareof orange light from my bedroom window upstairs

I glanced at the roof Men had worked all day torepair the broken and missing shingles The fallentree had been hauled away One windowmdashbroken inthe stormmdashwas still covered with cardboard

All my fault I realized All the damage to thehouse was my fault

My dad was walking with a cane He had a badlysprained knee from his fall down the stairs But hewas okay for now

That was all my fault too I knew All my bad luck

117

I heaved the ball angrily at the backboard Itthudded high bounced back to the driveway Ipicked it up and shot it through the hoop

Luck luck luck The word ran through my mind like an ugly

chantAnd then I heard Stretchrsquos words again Stretch

actually saying something nice to me ldquoLuck hadnothing to do with it Luke It was hard work andskillrdquo

Hard work and skillNot luckldquoYou cannot break the patternrdquo the Fate Master

had said ldquoFirst you have the good luckmdashthen youpay for itrdquo

The pattern You cannot break the patternNot luck Hard work and skillI shot the ball again Dribbled then shot again

Even though it was a cold frosty night sweat poureddown my forehead I wanted to work harder Harder

And as I practiced those words repeated andrepeated in my mind And I knew what I had to doI knew the only way I could end the bad luck forHannah and for me

The only way I could defeat the Fate MasterI shot again Again I moved to the foul line and

put up several foul shotsI didnrsquot stop when I saw the kitchen light flash on

The back door swung open Dad stepped into the

118

yard wearing his bathrobe leaning on his caneldquoLukemdashwhat are you doingrdquo he called ldquoItrsquos after

eleven orsquoclockrdquoldquoPracticingrdquo I said sending up another jump

shot Walking unsteadily he came up to the edge of the

driveway ldquoButmdashitrsquos so late Why are you doing thisrdquoldquoIrsquom going to win without luckrdquo I replied I sent

up another shot and watched it drop through thehoop ldquoIrsquom going to win with skill I shouted ldquoI canbreak the pattern I can win without luckrdquo

And then without realizing it I was screaming atthe top of my lungs ldquoI DONrsquoT NEED LUCK IDONrsquoT NEED LUCKrdquo

119

My plan was simple Maybe too simple But I had to give it a tryI didnrsquot tell it to Hannah She was pretty much

destroyed I didnrsquot want to give her any more toworry about

I knew I didnrsquot have much timemdashmaybe a day ortwo at the most

As soon as the Fate Master discovered that I stillhad the skull that I hadnrsquot passed it on to Stretch hewould come after me full force

My plan It was to break the pattern To win To win big To have a major success

Without luck Without needing any good luckIf I could win with my own hard work with my

own skill my own talentmdashit would be a defeat for theFate Master I would break his rule I would breakthe pattern

And maybe just maybe that would freeHannah and me

120

And thatrsquos why I practiced on my drivewayPracticed in the dark in the cold until after midnightHard work and skill

Hard work and skillShawnee Valley played Forest Grove this after-

noon The last game of the season My last chance to win without luckAs I changed into my team uniform I knew I had

to be great I had to be a winner today I had to winthe game for my team

And if I didIf I did maybe the nightmare would be overI was so nervous I had to lace up my sneakers

three times I kept knotting them up My fingers justwouldnrsquot work

ldquoGo Squires Go SquiresrdquoGuys were pounding their fists on the lockers

shouting jumping up and down getting pumpedgetting ready

Stretch gave me a playful slap as he jogged pastldquoTry not to bump heads today Champ We gonnabeat these clownsrdquo

I flashed him a thumbs-up ldquoTheyrsquore dead meatrdquoI shouted

I tucked in my jersey slammed the gym lockershut and trotted out into the gym I blinked underthe bright lights A big crowd nearly filled the bleach-ers They were stamping their feet in time to somemarching music over the loudspeaker

121

I searched for Hannah but didnrsquot see herThe last game of the year I thought as I picked up

a basketball from the rack My last chance I swallowed hard trying to force down my fearWas the Fate Master here Did he know that I

lied to him That I didnrsquot give the skull to StretchI donrsquot care about that I told myself Irsquom going to

be a winner today without his good luck Irsquom going to break the pattern Irsquom going to break the Fate MasterI dribbled up to Coach Bendix He slapped me on

the shoulder as I passed ldquoHave a great game Lukerdquohe called ldquoKeep it slow and steady Remembermdashjustfocus Focusrdquo

ldquoOkay Coachrdquo I called ldquoIrsquom ready I feel goodReal strong I think Irsquom going tomdashrdquo

I felt a strong blast of cold air It swept throughthe gym like an invisible ocean wave

And then I saw Coachrsquos expression change verysuddenly He was grinning at me flashing me athumbs-up And then his hand came down His facewent slack His eyes appeared to fade to glaze overas if a curtain had been drawn over them

As if hersquod been hypnotized or somethingldquoHey Lukerdquo he said motioning me back to him

He frowned narrowing his eyes at me ldquoWhat is itrdquo I asked keeping up my dribbleldquoTake the benchrdquo he ordered pointing to the

team bench with his whistle

122

ldquoHuhrdquo I gaped at himldquoThe benchrdquo he repeated his face a blank now

his eyes vacant dull ldquoYou canrsquot play todayrdquoldquoHeymdashno wayrdquo I protested ldquoWhat do you mean

Irsquove got to playrdquoHe shook his head ldquoYou canrsquot play today Luke

Your concussionmdashremember I need a doctorrsquos noteHave you been examined You canrsquot play until yoursquoreexaminedrdquo

My mouth hung open ldquoCoach Irsquove been prac-ticing so hard Please Yoursquove got to let me in the gametodayrdquo I pleaded My heart pounded so hard I feltdizzy My head throbbed ldquoCoach I have to playItrsquos the last gamerdquo

He shook his head ldquoSorryrdquo He motioned to thebench ldquoWe have to follow the rulesrdquo

Whose rules I thought bitterly The Fate Masterrsquosrules

Coach Bendix gazed at me with those glazedblank eyes ldquoSorry Yoursquove already played your lastgame Lukerdquo

ldquoButmdashbutmdashrdquo I sputteredldquoYoursquoll get rsquoem next yearrdquo he said He blew his

whistle ldquoStretchmdashyoursquore in Yoursquore playing thewhole gamerdquo

I stood there I didnrsquot move I stood in the middleof the floor with my hands on my waist Waiting formy heart to stop racing Waiting for my legs to stoptrembling

123

Then I turned and slowly trudged to the bench Irsquod lost today Score one round for the Fate

Master No way I could break the pattern today I was a

loser today But I wasnrsquot finished I could still winIf I had time

124

ldquoGive the skull to Stretchrdquo Hannah pleadedldquoMaybe the Fate Master will go easy on usrdquo

It was the next day We were huddled at the backof the lunchroom I could see Stretch laughing andkidding around with his friends at a table near thefront The Squires had won the game by two pointsand Stretch had been a hero

ldquoI canrsquot do itrdquo I said shaking my head ldquoBesidesyou heard what the Fate Master said He doesnrsquotmake deals It wonrsquot help to pass it to Stretchrdquo

Hannah let out a sigh She had her head buriedin her hands ldquoThen what are we going to dordquo

ldquoIrsquoll find a way to defeat himrdquo I said I bit into myham sandwich ldquoHeymdashrdquo I felt something hard

ldquoOh nordquo I moaned I spit out a tooth In a panic I moved my tongue around the inside

of my mouth ldquoMy teethrdquo I groaned ldquoTheyrsquore allloose Irsquom going to lose all my teethrdquo

Hannah didnrsquot lift her head She whispered some-thing too low for me to hear

125

ldquoIrsquove got to gordquo I said jumping up ldquoI have someideas Hannah Donrsquot give up hope I have someideasrdquo

I ran past Stretchrsquos table where the guys werelaughing and blowing straw wrappers at each otherStretch called out to me but I didnrsquot stop

I made my way to the computer lab The doorwas closed I pulled it open and burst breathlesslyinto the brightly lit room

ldquoMrs Coffey Mrs Coffey Itrsquos memdashLukerdquo I felt another tooth swing loose in my mouth I

gritted my teeth trying to press it down into placeA chubby young man Irsquod never seen before came

out of the supply room He had short black hair ontop of a round pudgy face and bright red cheeks Helooked like an apple with eyes He wore a red plaidshirt over black denims

ldquoIs Mrs Coffey hererdquo I demanded ldquoI need to talkto herrdquo

He set down the disk drive he was carryingldquoShersquos gonerdquo he said

ldquoYou mean she went to lunchrdquo I askedHe shook his round head ldquoNo She left school

She got another jobrdquoldquoImdashI knowrdquo I stammered ldquoBut I thoughtmdashrdquoldquoIrsquom Ron Handlemanrdquo he said ldquoIrsquom taking over

the computer lab Do you have a class with merdquoldquoUh nordquo I said ldquoBut I have a project I was

supposed to show Mrs Coffey She was going to send

126

it to someone who might put it in a show Itrsquos com-puter animation you see Irsquove been working on it fortwo years and and rdquo In my panic the wordspoured out of me I had to stop to take a breath

ldquoSlow downrdquo Mr Handleman said ldquoShe proba-bly left me a note about it She left me a stack ofnotesrdquo He glanced around the cluttered worktableldquoI put them somewhererdquo

How could Mrs Coffey leave without seeing myproject I asked myself How could she do that tome

Didnrsquot she realize how important it was Thiscould be my big triumph If my computer animationis accepted for a showmdashbecause of my hard workonly because of my skill and hard workmdashit wouldbreak the pattern It might defeat the Fate Master

Didnrsquot she realizeldquoUh can you look at my computer anima-

tionrdquo I askedMr Handlemanrsquos cheeks grew redder ldquoWhenrdquoldquoTonightrdquo I asked my heart poundingldquoWell I donrsquot think sordquo he replied ldquoNot

tonight I mean this is my first day I have so muchto do here Maybe next week rdquo

ldquoNordquo I screamed ldquoYou have to look at it PleaseItrsquos very importantrdquo

ldquoIrsquod love to see itrdquo he said picking up the diskdrive starting across the room with it ldquoBut I have toget organized Maybe rdquo

127

ldquoPleaserdquo I cried ldquoFind Mrs Coffeyrsquos note Wersquovegot to get it to the man whorsquos putting together thecomputer art show Pleaserdquo

He narrowed his eyes at me He probably thoughtI was crazy

But I didnrsquot care I needed a victory I knew therewasnrsquot much time

ldquoOkayrdquo Mr Handleman said finally ldquoBring it infirst thing tomorrow morning Irsquoll try to look at it dur-ing lunchrdquo

Not good enough Tomorrow might be too late Irealized

ldquoHow late will you be here this afternoonrdquo Iasked breathlessly

ldquoPretty laterdquo he replied ldquoSince itrsquos my first dayImdashrdquo

ldquoIrsquoll run home after school and get itrdquo I said ldquoIrsquollbring it to you before you leave tonight Could you I mean would you look at it this afternoonPleaserdquo

ldquoOkay I guess Irsquoll be here till at least fiverdquo hesaid

ldquoYesssrdquo I cried pumping my fist in the air Iturned and raced out of the computer lab

I can win I told myself I can defeat the FateMaster My animation project is good I know it isIrsquove worked for two years on it Irsquove put so much hardwork into it

I donrsquot need luck I donrsquot need good luck at all

128

After school I ran all the way home I burst intothe kitchen tossed down my backpack and startedto my room I stopped halfway to the stairs when Iheard voices from the living room

ldquoLukemdashis that yourdquo Mom calledMom and Dad were both there sitting in the

dark Dad leaned heavily on his cane Mom had herhands clasped tightly in her lap

I stopped in the living room doorway ldquoWhy areyou both home so earlyrdquo I asked

ldquoI had to come home I couldnrsquot workrdquo Dad saidsoftly ldquoThat fall I took It was worse than we thoughtLooks like Irsquom going to need surgeryrdquo

ldquoOh nordquo I muttered My fault It was all my faultBut I didnrsquot really have time to talk to them I had

to get to my computer I wanted to check out the ani-mation one more time before I made a copy for MrHandleman Then I had to rush back to school

ldquoBut why are you sitting in the darkrdquo I askedldquoWhy donrsquot you turn on some lightsrdquo

ldquoWe canrsquotrdquo Mom said shaking her head ldquoTherersquossome kind of trouble with the power lines to ourblock The electricity is off We have no power Nopower at allrdquo

129

I let out a horrified scream ldquoNooooo My com-puterrdquo

ldquoYoursquoll have to wait till the power comes backonrdquo Dad said

ldquoButmdashbutmdashrdquo I sputteredldquoWersquore having so much bad luck all of a suddenrdquo

Dad murmuredldquoWe may have to leave the house tonightrdquo Mom

said sighing unhappily ldquoWithout electricity we haveno heat We may have to check into a hotel or some-thingrdquo

ldquoOh nordquo I tugged at my hair A big clump of itcame out in my hand

I was losing my hair Losing my teeth How couldI fight back How

ldquoHe canrsquot do this to merdquo I screamed ldquoHe canrsquotHe canrsquotrdquo I turned and grabbed the banister andpulled myself up the stairs

ldquoLuke What are you sayingrdquoldquoWhere are you goingrdquo

130

I didnrsquot answer I dived into my room andslammed the door shut behind me

Breathing hard I stared at my computer Staredat the dark monitor screen

Useless Totally useless Frustrated I kicked the side of my desk

ldquoOwwwrdquo I didnrsquot mean to kick it that hard Sharppain throbbed up my leg up my side

ldquoOh waitrdquo I suddenly remembered I alreadymade a copy

Yes I made a backup copy of my project On myZip drive Yes

I fumbled frantically through the pile of disks onmy desk And grabbed the Zip disk

I still have a chance I told myself The FateMaster thought he shut me down But I still have achance

I stuffed the disk into my jacket pocket I hurledmyself down the stairs two at a time ldquoBye I have togo back to schoolrdquo I shouted to my parents

ldquoWhyrdquoldquoWhatrsquos going on Luke We need you hererdquoldquoHeymdashcome back and explainrdquoI heard their cries but I burst out the front door

and kept running ldquoIrsquoll stop the bad luckrdquo I said out loud ldquoIrsquoll stop

it Irsquoll stop the Fate MastermdashnowrdquoI found Mr Handleman in the computer lab

leaning over a keyboard typing an e-mail message

131

He spun around when I shouted hi to himI held up the disk ldquoHere it is Please Yoursquove got

to check it outrdquoHe motioned for me to sit down next to him ldquoI

spoke to the producer of the computer showrdquo hesaid ldquoHe called me this afternoon He said that if Iliked your animation I should send it over to himright awayrdquo

ldquoExcellentrdquo I cried ldquoThatrsquos great newsrdquoldquoArenrsquot you going to take your coat offrdquoldquoNordquo I answered breathlessly I shoved the disk

into the Zip drive ldquoNo time You have to see thisRight awayrdquo

He laughed ldquoSlow down Take a deep breathrdquoldquoIrsquoll breathe after you see itrdquo I said He leaned back in his chair and used his hands

as a headrest ldquoYoursquove been working on this for twoyearsrdquo

I nodded I found the file in the disk directory and double-

clicked it ldquoHere goesrdquo I said I was so nervous themouse trembled in my hand My chest was so tightit felt about to burst

Is it possible to explode from excitement I leanedforward to watch

The screen was solid black ldquoItrsquos starting nowrdquo Iwhispered

I stared at the black screen waiting for the brightburst of color at the beginning

132

Waiting Finally a dim glow spread over the screen Two circles of light Two red circles glowed in the

center of the darknessTwo red glowing eyes The eyes stared out unblinking unmoving

Blank round circles of shimmering redMr Handleman cleared his throat His eyes

remained locked on the monitor screen ldquoAre thoseeyesrdquo he asked ldquoDo they move or anythingrdquo

I opened my mouth to answer but no soundcame out

I stared frozen in horror at the glowing eyes Theevil eyes

And knew I had been defeated again Mr Handelmanrsquos cheeks were bright red now ldquoIs

this all there isrdquo he askedldquoYesrdquo I whispered ldquoThatrsquos allrdquoMy project was gone My two years of work were

lost The fiery eyes stared out at me in triumphI climbed to my feet and slumped out of the roomI trudged down the empty hall head down hands

shoved deep in my pockets Irsquove lost I realized Irsquoma loser forever now Hannah and me both Bad luckfor the rest of our lives

I turned a cornermdashand almost bumped intoCoach Swanson ldquoHey Lukemdashhowrsquos it goingrdquo heasked

133

I muttered a reply under my breathldquoI was going to call you tonightrdquo he said ldquoAndy

Mason is sick You have to swim in his place tomor-rowrdquo

I raised my head ldquoHuh Swimrdquo I had nearly for-gotten that I was on the swim team

ldquoSee you after school at the poolrdquo the coach saidldquoGood luckrdquo

Irsquoll need it I thought glumlyBut then I realized I was being given one more

chanceOne more chance to win without luck One more

chance to defeat FateOne last chance

The next morning I wore a baseball cap to schoolso no one could see the bald patches on my headWhen I brushed my teeth that morning anothertooth came sliding out between my lips

My tongue was covered with hard white bumpsMy arms and legs itched I was starting to get thesame red blotches on my skin as Hannah

Somehow I made it through the school day All Icould think about was the swim team race Wasthere any way that I might win That I might breakthe pattern and win the race and defeat the FateMaster

I didnrsquot have much hope But I knew I had to tryI knew I had to give it everything I had left

134

A few seconds after I lowered myself into the poolto warm up Coach Swansonrsquos whistle rang outechoing off the tile walls ldquoPractice laps everyonerdquothe coach shouted ldquoDo them half-speed Letrsquos seesome warm-up lapsrdquo

At the other end of the pool I saw Stretch kick offand begin swimming with steady strong strokes Idid a surface dive and started to follow him Thewarm water felt good on my itchy skin

I kicked hard Picked up speedAs I raised my head to suck in a deep breath the

water suddenly churned hard I swallowed a big mouthful Started to chokeI sputtered struggling to clear my throat strug-

gling to breatheAnd then to my horror my stomach heaved hard

ldquoGuuurrrrrrprdquo My lunch came hurling upI couldnrsquot hold it back I vomited a thick dark

puddle into the clear waterldquoOoh grossrdquoldquoSickrdquoldquoYuck Oh wowmdashhersquos puking his guts uprdquoA sick sour smell rose up from the water I heard

kids shouting and groaning in disgustAnd then I heard Coach Swansonrsquos whistle And

the coach shouting at me ldquoYoursquore outta there LukeGet out Yoursquore sick Yoursquore not going to swimtodayrdquo

135

No I thought This canrsquot happen again This ismy last chance

ldquoCoach Irsquom okayrdquo I shouted ldquoI just swal-lowed some water I can swimmdashreallyrdquo

Coach Swanson glanced around the pool AndyMason was in street clothes Joe Bork the other alter-nate didnrsquot show up

ldquoYoursquove got to let me swimrdquo I pleadedThe coach shrugged his shoulders ldquoTherersquos no

one else I guess Irsquove got no choicerdquoIrsquom going to do this I thought Irsquom going to win

today Irsquom going to do whatever it takes to winThe race got off to a good start I did a speed dive

at the whistle and found myself gliding strokingeasily in the lead

Swimming steadily keeping up a smooth rhythmI stayed in the lead until the waves began

Waves They tossed up in front of me rolledrapidly toward me splashed over me Wave afterwave Pushing me back Slowing my pace

136

Stroking harder to keep my rhythm I turned tothe side and glanced at the other swimmers The poolwas smooth the water flat for them

The waves were just for me A strong currentpushed at me slowing me shoving me back

I ducked under the waves Let them splash androll over me And swam harder

HarderldquoOhrdquo Something brushed my legI felt something curl around an ankle Something

bumped my waist I felt something slide around myknee

With another gasp I turnedmdashand saw the gray-green creatures Eels Were they eels

Wrapping around my legs Twining over mywaist

Long fat eels The water churned with themI cried out I saw the other swimmers gliding swiftly through

clear water They didnrsquot even notice my dark churn-ing water They didnrsquot even see the gleaming wetcreatures slithering between my legs Tighteningaround my ankles my legs

Slapping me slapping me hard slappingme back

ldquoNordquo I burst free I kept swimmingInto thick pink clusters of jellyfish The jellyfish

ballooned around me Stung my arms Stung mylegs Prickled the skin of my back

137

I cried out in pain The sticky creatures swarmedover me stinging stinging me again and again

I could see the other swimmers moving smoothlyahead of me now Gliding in smooth clear waters asI felt jolt after jolt of pain from the billowing jellyfishthat clustered over me

I slapped the water Slapped and kickedAnd let out another cry of pain as the water siz-

zled and boiled Scalding hot now It steamed andbubbled And my skin burned My skin is going toburn right off me I thought struggling to breatheStruggling to keep my arms moving through thescalding steam Kicking kicking hard

The other swimmers ahead of me now Moving sospeedily so steadily

I shut my eyes and swam Yoursquore not going tobeat me I thought Irsquom going to win going to win

And the thought gave me a final surge of energyI shot forward to the wall Plunged like a speed-

ing torpedo to the finishMy hand hit the wall I slapped the wallGasping gasping my chest heaving in

agony And knew that I had lostToo slow Too slowI knew that I had lost again

138

Water poured down my face I shut my eyes andstruggled to catch my breath

I heard a loud whistle Then I felt a hand on myshoulder A slap ldquoWay to go Lukerdquo

I opened my eyes to see the coach He grabbed myhand and pumped it hard Then he slapped me a highfive ldquoYou won You came from behind What a raceLuke Check out the time You set a school recordrdquo

ldquoHuh I did I wonrdquo He helped me out of the pool Guys were cheering

and yelling congratulationsBut the cheering was cut short by a deafening cry

from the middle of the pool A shrill wail that rose likean ambulance siren Higher higher until I wasforced to cover my ears

And then a mountain of water rose up from thepool Red and steaming like a volcano The water roseupmdashhigher highermdashlike a bubbling boiling red tidalwave And all the while the deafening wail rang outwith it

139

Everyone was screaming We all were screamingAnd then as suddenly as it rose up the molten

red mountain collapsed back into the poolCollapsed with a soft splash The pool was flat andsmooth again And silent Silent except for ourstunned gasps and cries

I turned to see Hannah running along the side ofthe pool Hannah out of her wheelchair RunningRunning wildly waving her arms excitedly laughingher red hair flying behind her

ldquoLukemdashyou did it Wersquore free You defeated FateLukemdashyou defeated Faterdquo

But it wasnrsquot enough Not enough for meI changed into my street clothes in seconds Then

I dragged Hannah down the hall to my locker Locker13

I stopped at the janitorrsquos closet And I grabbed ahuge sledgehammer

Hannah cheered as I raised the sledgehammer tothe locker and smashed it smashed it smashed it

Working feverishly I pried the battered lockerfrom the wall Kicked it onto its side Raised thesledgehammer again Smashed it crushed it smashed it

The battered locker door swung open I heard alow groan from deep inside

Hannah and I both leaped back as a skull rolledout onto the floor

140

Not a tiny skull A human-sized skull with glow-ing red eyes

The eyes glowed for only a few seconds Then theskull uttered a final groan a groan of agony ofdefeat And the eyes faded to darkness Empty dark-ness

I took a deep breath Ran up to itmdashand kickedthe skull down the hall

ldquoGoalrdquo Hannah yelledWe walked out of the school building arm in arm

Into the bright afternoon sunlight I took a long deep breath The air smelled so

fresh so sweet The houses the trees the skymdashthey all looked so

beautifulI stopped at the bottom of the sidewalk And bent

down to pick something upldquoHey check it outrdquo I showed it to Hannah ldquoIs

this my lucky dayrdquo I cried ldquoI found a pennyrdquo

141

142

Luke Greene is very superstitious so naturallyhersquos not happy when hersquos assigned Locker 13 atschool But amazingly a lucky charm he finds in thelocker changes his luck from bad to great NowLukersquos luck is so good he canrsquot lose No matter whathe does his lucky charm makes him come out ontop

But Luke discovers that his good luck comes witha very high price Will he pay it Or will he be lostlike others before him in the horror that is Locker 13

About Locker 13

The Locker 13 in Luke Greenersquos story does notexist anymore and it is unclear if anyone who hadthe locker in previous years suffered the same fate asLuke

People who have had unbelievably nightmarishexperiences often keep silent about them (Lukedidnrsquot tell his story to many peoplemdashonly his friend

Go Deeper Into This

Nightmare

Hannah and RL Stine know what happened) So itis possible that what happened to Erica Chass in thesame school 12 years earlier could be related toLocker 13

Erica Chass was a popular seventh grader inShawnee Valley Junior High She had good gradeswas a star soccer player and had lots of friends Thenone day everything seemed to change Erica blew offsoccer nearly failed out of school and was fearfuland shy with even her best friends She dressed onlyin black and always wore a necklace with a smallcharm in the shape of a skull

Then one day Erica moved away She didnrsquot saygood bye She just didnrsquot show up for school one dayand never came back

But some people who went to that school in thosedays insist thatrsquos not the end of Ericarsquos story

The following year a new girl joined the eighthgrade at Shawnee Her name was Alyssa GwynneShe was bright cheerful and a terrific soccer playermdashand she looked exactly like Erica ldquoYou would havesworn they were twinsrdquo says Tracey Holt who knewthem bothmdashldquoNo it was like the old Erica camebackrdquo says another friend Debra Wyle

What was the relationship between Erica andAlyssa Could they really be the same person Andwhat is the connection to the Locker 13 legendMaybe there isnrsquot one but several people havementioned that Alyssa had a necklace that she wore

143

every daymdasha necklace with a tiny charmmdashof askull

About Superstition

Most of our superstitions go back to a time whenpeople believed that witches and witchcraft wereeverywhere People in the middle ages seemed to livein terror that evil magic or witches would harm theircrops bring illness or other disaster to their livesMany of the superstitions that have lasted to ourtime go back to these ancient fears

Break a mirrormdashseven years bad luck Thissuperstition relates to the idea that our reflection is apart of ourselves Harm the reflection and you willharm the original According to the thinking of themiddle ages it takes seven years for the body torebuild itself after itrsquos been harmed So thatrsquos why thebad luck lasts for seven years Luckily there is a cureWash the broken mirror pieces in a south runningriver and the evil is washed away too

Itrsquos bad luck to walk under a ladder This goesback to a time when hanging was a common form ofpunishment It seems that the gallows were prettyhigh so a ladder was often rested against the side ofthe gallows platform Walking under this ladder wasliterally dangerous Be in the wrong place at thewrong time and a rotting dead body could fall onyou If you happen to be careless enough to walk

144

under a ladder you can change the bad luck Justcross your fingers until you see a dog

Black cats bring bad luck There are a lots ofsuperstitions about cats Letrsquos face it cats can becreepymdashand black cats are the creepiest Oneancient superstition about cats is that they will stealthe breath out of babies Where did this idea comefrom

Watch a cat as it settles itself into your lap Beforesnuggling up the cat will often sniff you in themouth At a time when so many babies died the cattheory is as logical as any other

Now for some superstitions that yoursquove probablynever heard of

If you find a knife in the road you will havebad luck

Donrsquot point at the moon (The man in the moondoesnrsquot like it and will bring you bad luck)

Donrsquot brush your hair after sunsetmdashespecial-ly if you have family who spends time on thesea (Brushing your hair at that time will mean dis-aster and death for themmdashand bad luck for you)

If a child hits a parent the childrsquos hand willwag over his grave and dogs will ldquowaterrdquo it

145

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

RL STINE says he has a great job ldquoMy job is to givekids the CREEPSrdquo With his scary books RL hasterrified kids all over the world He has sold over 300million books making him the best-selling childrenrsquosauthor in history

These days RL is dishing out new frights in hisseries THE NIGHTMARE ROOM When he isnrsquotworking he likes to read old mysteries watchSpongeBob Squarepants on TV and take his dogNadine for long walks around New York City wherehe lives with his wife Jane and son Matthew

ldquoI love taking my readers to scary placesrdquo RLsays ldquoDo you know the scariest place of all Itrsquos yourMINDrdquo

ldquoHey check it out A fortune-tellerrdquo Jilly saidShe pointed to a small black tent that stood besidean ice cream cart ldquoCan we do it I love fortune-tellersrdquo

ldquoNo wayrdquo I said ldquoThey make me nervous Idonrsquot even like watching them in moviesrdquo

ldquoCome on Maggie Itrsquos your birthdayrdquo her sisterJackie said pulling me to the tent ldquoYou have tohave your fortune told on your birthdayrdquo

ldquoLetrsquos see what the fortune-teller says about youand Glenrdquo Judy the third sister teased

ldquoI donrsquot think sordquo I saidBut as usual they didnrsquot give me a choice A few

seconds later we were standing at the doorway tothe dark tent

ldquoWersquoll all have our fortunes toldrdquo Jackie saidldquoMy treatrdquo

ldquoThis is so coolrdquo Jilly whispered ldquoDo you thinkits a real psychic Do you think she can really tellthe futurerdquo

The three sisters started into the tent I held backstaring at the red-and-black hand-lettered sign MISSELIZABETH FORTUNE-TELLER ONE DOLLAR

Take a look at whatrsquos ahead inTHE NIGHTMARE ROOM 3

Liar Liar

I suddenly realized that my heart was racing Why do I feel so weird I wondered Why do I

have such a bad feeling about thisI followed my friends into the tent The air inside

felt hot and steamy Two electric lanterns on the backtent wall splashed gray light over the fortune-tellerrsquossmall table

Miss Elizabeth sat hunched with her elbows onthe table head in her hands staring into a red glassball She didnrsquot look up as we stepped inside Icouldnrsquot tell if she was concentrating on the red ballor if she was asleep

The tent was completely bare except for her tableand two wooden chairs and a large black-and-whiteposter of a human hand The hand was divided intosections There was a lot of writing all over the postertoo small for me to read in the smoky gray light

As she stared into the red glass ball the fortune-teller muttered to herself She was a middle-agedwoman slender with bony arms poking out from thesleeves of her red dress and very large pale whitehands Squinting into the light I saw that the polishon her long fingernails matched the red of her dress

ldquoHel-lordquo Jackie called breaking the silenceMiss Elizabeth finally looked up She was kind of

pretty She had big round black eyes and dramaticred-lipsticked lips Her hair was long and wavy solidblack except for a wide white streak down themiddle

Her eyes moved from one of us to the other Shedidnrsquot smile ldquoWalter we have visitorsldquo sheannounced in a hoarse scratchy voice

I glanced around searching for WalterldquoWalter is my late husbandrdquo the fortune-teller

announced ldquoHe helps me channel information fromthe spiritsrdquo

Jackie and I exchanged glances ldquoWersquod like you to tell our fortunesrdquo Jilly saidMiss Elizabeth nodded solemnly ldquoOne dollar

eachrdquo She held out her long pale hand ldquoFour dol-lars pleaserdquo

Jackie fumbled in her bag and pulled out fourcrumpled dollar bills She handed them to the for-tune-teller who shoved them into a pocket of her reddress

ldquoWho wants to go firstrdquo Again her eyes movedslowly over our faces

ldquoIrsquoll gordquo Jilly volunteered She dropped into thechair across the table from Miss Elizabeth

The fortune-teller lowered her head again to gazeinto the red ball ldquoWalter bring me the words of thespirit world about this young womanrdquo

I suddenly felt a chill at the back of my neck Iknew I shouldnrsquot be frightened The woman had tobe a fakemdashright Otherwise she wouldnrsquot be workingin a tacky carnival like this one

But she was so serious So solemn She didnrsquotseem to be putting on an act

Or was I just being gullible againNow she took Jillyrsquos hand She pulled it up close to

her face and began to study Jillyrsquos palm Muttering toherself she moved her long finger back and forth fol-lowing the lines of the palm tracing them with herbright red fingernail

Jackie leaned close to me ldquoThis is coolrdquo she whis-pered

Judy sighed ldquoThis is going to take foreverrdquoJackie raised a finger to her lips and motioned for

Judy to shush The woman studied Jillyrsquos palm for a long time

squeezing the hand as she gazed at it murmuring toWalter in the red glass ball Finally she raised her eyesto Jilly ldquoYou are artisticrdquo she said in her scratchyvoice

ldquoYesrdquo Jilly declaredldquoYou are a dancerrdquo Miss Elizabeth continued

ldquoYou study the dance You are a hard workerrdquoldquoWhoa I donrsquot believe thisrdquo Jilly gushed ldquoHow do

you knowmdashrdquoldquoYou have much talentrdquo the fortune-teller mur-

mured ignoring Jillyrsquos question ldquoMuch talent Butsometimes I see your artistic side gets in the wayof your practical side You are you are rdquo

She shut her eyes ldquoHelp me Walterrdquo she whis-pered Then she opened her eyes again and raisedthem to Jillyrsquos palm ldquoYou are a very social person Yourfriends mean a lot to you Especially boy friendsrdquo

Jackie and Judy laughed Jilly flashed them anangry scowl ldquoImdashI donrsquot believe thisrdquo she told thefortune-teller ldquoYou have everything rightrdquo

ldquoIt is my giftrdquo Miss Elizabeth replied softlyldquoWill I make the new dance companyrdquo Jilly

asked her ldquoTry-outs are next week Can you tell meif I will be acceptedrdquo

Miss Elizabeth stared into the glass ballldquoWalterrdquo she whispered

I held my breath waiting for the answer Jilly andI were both trying out for the dance company And Iknew there was only room for one of us

ldquoWalter can find no answerrdquo the fortune-tellertold Jilly ldquoHe only groansrdquo She let go of Jillyrsquos hand

ldquoHemdashgroanedrdquo Jilly asked ldquoWhyrdquoldquoYour time is uprdquo Miss Elizabeth said She

motioned to us ldquoWho is nextrdquoJackie shoved Judy forward Judy dropped into

the chair and held her hand out to Miss ElizabethJilly came running over to join Jackie and me at

the edge of the tent ldquoIsnrsquot she amazingrdquo she whis-pered

ldquoYes she isrdquo I had to admit How did she know somany true things about Jilly I was beginning tobelieve Miss Elizabeth really had powers

And now I didnrsquot feel afraid or nervous I was eagerto see what the fortune-teller would say about me

She squeezed Judyrsquos hand and gazed deep intoJudyrsquos dark eyes ldquoYou have great love in yourdquo she

announced ldquoGreat love for animalsrdquoJudy gasped ldquoY-yesrdquoldquoYou care for them You work rdquoldquoYesrdquo Judy said ldquoI work in an animal shelter after

school Thatrsquos amazingrdquoMiss Elizabeth ran a red fingernail down Judyrsquos

palm ldquoYou also have an animal that you care aboutvery much A dog No A catrdquo

ldquoYes My cat Plumperrdquo Judy turned to us her face filled with astonish-

ment ldquoDo you believe this Shersquos right about every-thingrdquo

ldquoI know Itrsquos so coolrdquo Jilly exclaimed She sweptback her blond hair with a toss of her head She keptbouncing up and down She seemed too excited tostand still

The fortune-teller spent a few more minutes withJudy She told Judy that she would have a long suc-cessful life She said Judy would have a big familysomeday

ldquoOf kids Of animalsrdquo Judy asked Miss Elizabeth didnrsquot answer Next came Jackiersquos turn Once again Miss

Elizabeth was right on target with everything shesaid ldquoWowrdquo Jackie kept muttering ldquoWowrdquo

Finally I found myself in the chair across fromthe fortune-teller Suddenly I felt so nervous Mymouth was dry My legs were shaking

Miss Elizabeth looked older from close up

When she smiled at me the thick makeup on herface cracked Tiny drops of sweat glistened at herhairline

ldquoWhat is your namerdquo she asked in a whisperldquoMaggierdquo I told herShe nodded solemnly and took my hand She

raised my palm close to her face and squinted downat it in the gray light

I held my breath And waited What would shesee

She squeezed my hand Brought it closer to herface

And then then her eyes bulged wide Shelet out a loud gasp

With a violent jerk she tossed my hand awayAnd jumped to her feet Her chair fell behind her

clattering to the tent floorShe stared at memdashstared in open-mouthed

horrorAnd then she screamedldquoGet OUT Get AWAY from hererdquoldquoHuh Waitmdashrdquo I choked outldquoGet OUT You bring EVIL You bring EVIL with

you Get OUT of hererdquo

Credits

Cover illustration by Vince NataleCover design by John Fontana

About the PublisherAustraliaHarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty Ltd 25 Ryde Road (PO Box 321)Pymble NSW 2073 Australia httpwwwharpercollinscomau

CanadaHarperCollins Publishers Ltd55 Avenue Road Suite 2900Toronto ON M5R 3L2 Canadahttpwwwharpercanadacom

New ZealandHarperCollinsPublishers (New Zealand)PO Box 1Auckland New Zealandhttpwwwharpercollinsconz

United KingdomHarperCollins Publishers Ltd77-85 Fulham Palace RoadLondon W6 8JB UKhttpwwwfireandwatercouk

United StatesHarperCollins Childrenrsquos Books A Division of HarperCollins Publishers1350 Avenue of the Americas New York NY 10019wwwharperchildrenscom

These stories are my scariest ever says RL Stinebecause I wrote them at the Nightmare Hour

When the lights fade the world that we know as real slipsinto shadowmdashand the cold moonlit world of evil dreams

enters your mind and takes over

These ten terrifying tales will make you shiver at any hourIllustrated by ten outstanding artists

I really enjoy your workhellipthank you for creating newnightmares for me mdashKenny age 12 NY

They are horrifying storiesmdashthey even gave me thecreeps mdashSofia age 14 LA

My favorite book is Nightmare Hour mdashJeffrie age 9 WI

Winner of Disney Adventures magazinersquos first everKidsrsquo Choice Award for Best HorrorMystery book

0-06-028688-1 $995 Hardcover0-06-440842-6 $499 Paperback

Available wherever books are sold

Join RL Stine and all your friends in The Nightmare Room

wwwthenightmareroomcom

Ten New Stories by rl stineNightmare Hour

Join RL Stine and all your friends in

ROOMTHE

Step inside wwwthenightmareroomcom

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where you will truly enter

THE NIGHTMARE ROOM

wwwthenightmareroomcom

THE NIGHTMARE ROOM 3My Name Is EvilMaggie has her palm read at a carnival and then the terrifying accidents beginIs Maggie cursed Will she have to live forever in THE NIGHTMARE ROOM

THE NIGHTMARE ROOM 4Liar LiarRoss looks across the room and sees himself standing there But Ross doesnrsquothave a twin This party has taken Rossto THE NIGHTMARE ROOM

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Join RL Stine and all your friends in THE NIGHTMARE ROOMwwwthenightmareroomcom

What can happen next in

ROOMTHE

first for lunch every dayrdquoldquoOooh luckyrdquo I said ldquoAnd I got Gruen for Englishrdquo Hannah gushed

ldquoHersquos the best Hersquos so funny Everyone says you canrsquotstop laughing Did you get him toordquo

ldquoNordquo I said ldquoI got WarrenrdquoHannah made a face ldquoYoursquore doomedrdquoldquoShut uprdquo I said ldquoDonrsquot say things like thatrdquo I

squeezed my rabbitrsquos foot three times I pushed my way through the crowd to the locker

chart This is going to be an excellent year I told myselfJunior High is so not like elementary school

ldquoHey manmdashhowrsquos it goingrdquo Darnell Cross slappedme a high five

ldquoWhatrsquos uprdquo I replied ldquoCheck it out You got the lucky lockerrdquo Darnell

said I squinted at the chart ldquoHuh What do you meanrdquoI ran my eyes down the list of names until I came

to mine Luke Greene And then I followed the dottedline to my locker number

And gaspedldquoNo wayrdquo I said out loud ldquoThat canrsquot be rightrdquoI blinked a few times then focused on the chart

againYes Locker 13Luke Greene 1313My breath caught in my throat I started to choke

3

I turned away from the chart hoping no one couldsee how upset I was

How can this be happening to me I wonderedLocker 13 My whole year is ruined before it begins

My heart pounded so hard my chest ached Iforced myself to start breathing again

I turned and found Hannah still standing thereldquoWherersquos your lockerrdquo she asked ldquoIrsquoll walk youthererdquo

ldquoUh well I can deal with itrdquo I saidShe squinted at me ldquoExcuse merdquo ldquoI can deal with itrdquo I repeated shakily ldquoItrsquos

Locker thirteen but I can handle it ReallyrdquoHannah laughed ldquoLuke yoursquore such a supersti-

tious geekrdquoI frowned at her ldquoYou mean that in a nice waymdash

rightrdquo I jokedShe laughed again and shoved me into a crowd of

kids I wish she wouldnrsquot shove me so much Shersquosreally strong

I apologized to the kids I stumbled into ThenHannah and I started down the crowded hallchecking the locker numbers searching for num-ber 13

Just past the science lab Hannah stopped sud-denly and grabbed something up from the floor

ldquoHey wow Look what I foundrdquo She held up a five-dollar bill ldquoMmmmmmdashyesrdquo

4

She raised it to her lips and kissed it ldquoFive bucksYayrdquo

I sighed and shook my head ldquoHannah howcome yoursquore always so luckyrdquo

She didnrsquot answer that question It seemed like a simple question but it wasnrsquot And if she had told me the answer I think I would

have run awaymdashrun as far as I could from ShawneeValley Junior High and never come back

5

Letrsquos skip ahead two months Seventh grade was not bad so far I made some new

friends I made real progress on the computer anima-tion piece I had been working on for nearly two yearsAnd I actually won a spot on the basketball team

It was early November about two weeks into theseason And I was late for practice

Guys were already on the floor doing stretchingexercises bouncing basketballs to each other takingshort layups I crept to the locker room hoping no onewould notice me

ldquoLukemdashget dressed Yoursquore laterdquo Coach Bendixshouted

I started to call ldquoSorry I got hung up in the com-puter labrdquo But that was no kind of excuse So I justgave Coach a nod and started jogging full speed to thelocker room to get changed

My stomach felt kind of tight I realized I wasnrsquotlooking forward to practice today For a little guy Irsquom apretty good basketball player Irsquove got a good outside

6

shot and pretty fast hands on defense I was so excited to make the team But I wasnrsquot

counting on one problemmdashan eighth grader namedStretch Johannsen

Stretchrsquos real name is Shawn But everyone in theworld calls him Stretchmdasheven his parents You mightwonder how he got that name But if you saw him youwouldnrsquot wonder

Stretch had some kind of a growth spurt last year inseventh grade and he became a big blond giant prac-tically overnight Hersquos taller than anyone in the highschool He has shoulders like a wrestler and long armsI mean really long arms like a chimpanzee He canreach halfway across the gym

And thatrsquos why everyone started calling himStretch

I think a better name for him would be OstrichThatrsquos because he has long skinny legs like bird legsand a huge chest thatrsquos so wide it makes his pale blue-eyed head look as tiny as an egg

But I would never try my nickname on him I donrsquotthink I can run fast enough Stretch doesnrsquot have muchof a sense of humor In fact hersquos a pretty mean guyalways trash-talking and shoving people aroundmdashandnot just on the basketball floor

I think once he got over the shock of being a gianthe decided to be really impressed with himself

Like being a giant is some kind of special talent orsomething

7

But donrsquot get me started Irsquom always analyzingpeople thinking too hard about them about every-thing Hannah is always telling me I think too muchBut I donrsquot get it How do you stop thinking

Last week after a practice Coach Bendix saidnearly the same thing ldquoYoursquove got to play oninstinct Luke There isnrsquot time to think before everymoverdquo

Which I guess is another reason why I ride thebench Of course Irsquom only in seventh grade Sounless another giant forward tries out for the SquiresIrsquoll probably get to play next yearmdashafter Stretchgraduates

But for now itrsquos really embarrassing not to get toplay Especially since my parents come to everygame to cheer me on I sit on the team bench andwatch Mom and Dad up in the gym bleachers juststaring at me Staring

It doesnrsquot make you feel great Even the time-outs are painful Stretch always

comes trotting over to the team bench He wipes thesweat off his face and bodymdashand then throws thetowel onto me Like Irsquom some kind of towel boy

During one time-out late in the first game he tooka long gulp of Gatorade and spit it onto my uniformshirt I looked up and saw my parents watching fromthe bleachers

8

Sad Really sad Our team the Squires won our first two games

mainly because Stretch wouldnrsquot let anyone elsehandle the ball It was great to winmdashbut I wasalready starting to feel like a loser I wanted to play

Maybe if I have a really strong practice todayCoach Bendix will try me out at guard I told myselfOr maybe even as a backup center I laced up myshoes and triple-knotted them for luck Then I shutmy eyes and counted to seven three times

Just something I doI straightened my red-and-black uniform shorts

slammed the gym locker shut and trotted out of thelocker room and onto the floor Guys were at the farend taking three-point shots everyone shooting atonce The balls bounced off each other bounced offthe hoop The backboard rang out with a steadythud thud thud

Some of the shots actually dropped inldquoLuke get busyrdquo Coach yelled motioning me to

the basket ldquoGet some rebounds Make some shotsGet looserdquo

I flashed him a thumbs-up and ran to join theothers I saw Stretch leap up and make a highrebound To my surprise he spun around andheaved the ball at me ldquoLukemdashthink fastrdquo

I wasnrsquot expecting it The ball sailed through my

9

hands I had to chase it to the wall I dribbled backto find Stretch waiting ldquoGo ahead man Shootrdquo

I swallowed hardmdashand sent up a two-handedshot

ldquoHe shootsmdashhe missesrdquo Stretch shouted Someguys laughed

My shot bounced off the rim Stretch took threefast strides reached up his long arms and grabbedthe rebound in midair He tossed it back to meldquoShoot againrdquo

My next shot brushed the bottom of the netldquoHe shootsmdashhe missesrdquo Stretch repeated as if

that was the funniest thing anyone ever said Moreloud laughter

Stretch took the rebound and tossed me the ballldquoAgainrdquo he ordered

Everyone was watching now I sent up a one-handed layup that almost dropped in It rolledaround the rim then fell off

ldquoHe shootsmdashhe missesrdquoI could feel sweat rolling down my forehead

Why canrsquot I get lucky here I asked myself Comeon Lukemdashjust one lucky shot I slapped my lefthand rapidly against the leg of my shorts seventimes

Stretch bounced the ball to me ldquoGo champYoursquore O for three You got a streak goingrdquo Morelaughter

I shut my eyes for a second Then I sailed this

10

one highmdashand gasped as it sank through the hoopStretch grinned and shook his head The other

guys all cheered as if Irsquod just won the state juniorhigh tournament

I grabbed the ball and dribbled away from themI didnrsquot want to give Stretch a chance to ruin my vic-tory I knew he would keep me shooting till I wasone for three hundred

I turned to see if Coach Benson had watched myshot He leaned against the wall talking to two otherteachers He hadnrsquot seen it

I dribbled across the floor then back toward theothers Then I made a big mistake

A really big mistake A mistake that ruined mylife at Shawnee Valley Junior High

ldquoHey Stretchmdashthink fastrdquo I shouted And Iheaved the ball at him as hard as I could

What was I thinkingI didnrsquot see that he had bent down on one knee

to tie his sneaker lace I froze in horrormdashand watched the ball fly at

him It hit him hard on the side of the head knockedhim over and sent him tumbling to the floor

ldquoHeymdashrdquo he cried out stunned He shook hishead dizzily I saw bright red blood start to flow fromhis nose

ldquoStretchmdashIrsquom sorryrdquo I shrieked ldquoI didnrsquot seeyou I didnrsquot meanmdashrdquo

I lurched forward running to help him up

11

ldquoMy contactsrdquo he cried ldquoYou knocked out mycontactsrdquo

And then I heard a soft squish under my shoeI stopped Lifted my foot Stretchrsquos contact lens

lay flat as a pancake on the gym floorEveryone saw itStretch was on his feet now Blood rolled down

his lips his chin He didnrsquot pay any attention to it He had his eyes

narrowed on me He lumbered forward clenchingand unclenching his giant fists

I was doomed

12

Stretch reached under my arms and lifted me upHe was so huge and strong he picked me off thefloor like I was a ventriloquistrsquos dummy

ldquoWhoa It was an accidentrdquo I whisperedldquoHerersquos another accidentrdquo he said When he

talked he spit blood in my face He tightened his gripunder my arms

He raised me higher and gazed up at the basketIs he going to make a three-point shot with me Iwondered

Yes He is Hersquos going to slam dunk meBehind me I heard shouts A whistle blowing

Running footstepsldquoTake it outside Stretchrdquo I heard Coach Bendix

shoutHuhStretch slowly lowered me to the floor My knees

started to buckle but I managed to stay on my feet Stretch rubbed a hand across his bloody nose

then wiped it on the front of my jersey

13

ldquoTake it outsiderdquo Coach repeated edgingbetween us ldquoLetrsquos pair up everybody One on oneStretchmdashyou and Lukerdquo

ldquoNo wayrdquo Stretch mutteredldquoHersquos your backuprdquo Coach said poking Stretch

in the chest with his whistle ldquoYoursquove got to teachLuke Irsquom putting you in charge of Lukersquos develop-mentrdquo

Stretch snickered ldquoDevelopment He doesnrsquothave any developmentrdquo

ldquoGo to my office Get some tissues and stop thatnosebleedrdquo Coach instructed Stretch ldquoThen takeLuke to the practice court behind the playgroundShow him some moves Teach him somethingrdquo

Stretch stared at the floor for a few seconds as ifthinking it over But he knew better than to arguewith Coach Bendix He nodded at me ldquoLetrsquos goChamprdquo

What choice did I have Even though I knew itwas pain time for me I turned and followed him out-side

It was late afternoon pretty cold to be outside inbasketball shorts and a sleeveless jersey Since it wasNovember the big red sun had already loweredbehind the houses across the street from the play-ground

I shiveredStretch didnrsquot give me much of a chance to get

14

ready He pounded the ball hard on the asphalt courtand came racing at me like a stampeding bull

I tried to slide to the side But Stretch lowered hisshoulder and slammed it hard into my gut

ldquoOhhhrdquo I groaned and slumped backldquoDefenserdquo he shouted ldquoGet your hands up

Champ Get ready Here I come againrdquoldquoNomdashwaitmdashrdquo I pleadedThe ball thundered in front of him as he drove

into me again This time he kept his body up straightThe force of the collision sent me sprawling to theasphalt

ldquoDefenserdquo he shouted ldquoShow me somethingBlock me At least slow me down a littlerdquo

Groaning again I climbed to my feet I felt as ifIrsquod been hit by a truck

Stretch dribbled around me circling me his eyeslocked angrily on me His nosebleed had stoppedbut he still had dried blood caked under his nose

I rubbed my chest ldquoI I think I broke a ribrdquo Iwhispered

With a wild shout he slammed into me againThis time I flew backmdashand smashed into the thickwooden post that held up the backboard

ldquoYoursquore going to pay for those contacts Champrdquohe called hulking over me so I couldnrsquot stand updribbling the ball inches from my feet

ldquoYeah Okayrdquo I said trying to rub the pain frommy chest ldquoI said I was sorryrdquo

15

ldquoYoursquore gonna be more sorryrdquo he said Hebounced the ball hard against my bare leg ldquoGet uprdquo

I didnrsquot move ldquoIt was an accidentrdquo I insisted ldquoIreally didnrsquot see you bend down Reallyrdquo

He picked at the caked blood under his noseldquoGet up Letrsquos go Irsquom supposed to teach you some-thingrdquo He laughed really loud Irsquom not sure whyThen he swept a huge hand back through his shortwhite-blond hair and waited for me to stand up Sohe could teach me more lessons

I climbed shakily to my feet I felt so dizzy I hadto grab the wooden post My head ached My ribsached

ldquoCan we uh play a different gamerdquoI asked weakly

ldquoYeah Surerdquo he said ldquoHeymdashthink fastrdquoHe was standing so close and he heaved the ball

so hard it felt like a cannonball as it shot into mystomach

I stumbled back And let out a sharp gaspAnd then realized I couldnrsquot breatheI struggled hard to suck in some air No no air I canrsquot get air I saw bright yellow stars The yellow darkened to

redPain shot through my chest The pain spread

growing sharper sharper I was down on my back now staring up at the

16

17

sky staring up at the dancing red stars I wanted toscream But I had no air

Canrsquot breathe canrsquot breathe at all The stars faded away The color faded from the

sky All black All black nowAnd as I sank into the blackness I heard a voiceA beautiful soft voice from far far away Calling

my nameAn angel I realized Yes Through the blackness I heard an angel call-

ing my nameAnd I knew that I had died

ldquoLuke LukerdquoThe blackness lifted I blinked up at the afternoon

sky The voice was closer now And I recognized itldquoLukerdquoMy chest ached as I took a deep breathHeymdashwhen had I started to breathe againI lifted my head and saw Hannah running across

the basketball court She wore a blue windbreakerunzipped and it flapped up over her shoulders likewings Her red hair glowed in the late afternoon sunlike a halo

Not an angel Just Hannah She turned angrily to Stretch as she ran past him

ldquoWhat did you do to Lukemdashkill himrdquoStretch giggled ldquoProbablyrdquoHannah dropped onto her knees beside me Her

windbreaker fell over my face She tugged it awayldquoAre you alive Can you speakrdquo

ldquoYeah Irsquom okayrdquo I muttered I felt like a jerk Ahelpless jerk

18

Stretch walked up behind Hannah ldquoWhorsquos sherdquohe sneered at me ldquoYour girlfriendrdquo

Hannah spun around to face him ldquoHeymdashIrsquoveseen your girlfriendrdquo

Stretchrsquos mouth dropped open ldquoHuh Whorsquosthatrdquo

ldquoGodzillardquo Hannah declaredI tried to laugh but it made my ribs hurtThe next thing I knew Hannah was on her feet

shoving Stretchrsquos shoulders with both hands forcinghim to back up ldquoEver hear of picking on someoneyour own sizerdquo she demanded

Stretch laughed ldquoNo Tell me about itrdquo Hebacked away from her and raised his big meaty fistsHe grinned and started dancing like a fighter ldquoComeon You want a piece of me You want a piece ofmerdquo Imitating someone in a movie I guess

ldquoOne on onerdquo Hannah challenged Stretch tossed back his head and laughed His

blue eyes rolled around in his tiny head ldquoYou wanta piece of merdquo

ldquoFreestyle shootingrdquo Hannah said tearing off thewindbreaker She tossed it to the side of the courtldquoCome on Stretch Twenty shots each Any kind ofshotrdquo She stared up at him ldquoYoursquoll lose ReallyYoursquoll see Yoursquoll lose to a girlrdquo

His smile faded ldquoYoursquore on the girlsrsquo basketballteammdashrightrdquo

Hannah nodded ldquoIrsquom the centerrdquo

19

Stretch started to dribble the ball slowly in frontof him ldquoTwenty shots Layups or three-pointrdquo

Hannah shrugged ldquoAny kind Yoursquoll loserdquoI climbed to my feet and went over to the side of

the court to watch I still felt a little shaky but I knewI was okay

Stretch didnrsquot hesitate He raised the ball andpushed up a one-handed shot from half-court Theball hit the backboard then the rimmdashand droppedin ldquoOne for onerdquo he said He ran to retrieve the ballldquoIrsquoll keep shooting until I missrdquo

He missed his next shot an easy layup fromunder the basket

Hannahrsquos turn I crossed my fingers and countedto seven three times

ldquoGo Hannahrdquo I cheered holding up my crossedfingers

Hannah sank a basket from the foul line Thenshe drove under the basket and shot another one infrom underneath

My mouth dropped open as she sank eight morebaskets without a miss ldquoWow Go Hannahrdquo

Stretch just stood there looking dumb I couldnrsquottell what he was thinking His face was a total blank

ldquoTen for tenrdquo Hannah declared She bounced theball to Stretch ldquoYou go Just to keep it interestingrdquo

Hannah glanced at me grinned and flashed mea thumbs-up

Stretch wasnrsquot smiling anymore He had a grim

20

determined look on his face as he drove in close toshoot He dropped four straight baskets then missedone from in front of the foul line

He muttered something under his breath andbounced the ball to Hannah

Hannah sank eight more in a row She turned toStretch ldquoEighteen for eighteenrdquo

But he was already jogging back to the gym ascowl on his face

ldquoIrsquom not finishedrdquo Hannah called after himStretch turned back to me ldquoHey Champmdashmaybe

you should take a lesson from your girlfriend Ormaybe you should play on her teamrdquo Shaking hishead he disappeared into the school

A strong wind began to blow across the play-ground It was dark as evening now I picked upHannahrsquos windbreaker and reached out to hand it toher But she took another shot ldquoNineteenrdquo And thenanother ldquoTwenty Yay I winrdquo

I gaped at her ldquoHannahmdashyou never miss Howdo you do thatrdquo

She shrugged ldquoJust luckyrdquoI shivered We started jogging back to the school

ldquoAsk me how lucky I amrdquo I muttered ldquoI made a newenemy today A huge enemyrdquo

Hannah stopped and grabbed my arm ldquoHeymdashItotally forgot why I was looking for you I wanted totell you the coolest newsrdquo

I held the school door open ldquoYeah Whatrdquo

21

Hannahrsquos green eyes flashed ldquoYou know thosephotos I took of my dog I sent them to a magazine inNew York And guess what They paid me five hun-dred dollars for them Theyrsquore going to publish themmdashand do a big story about me Isnrsquot that so totally coolrdquo

ldquoWow Totallyrdquo I saidAnd thatrsquos when I decided my luck had to changeWhy should Hannah have all the luck I can be

lucky too I told myselfItrsquos all attitude Thatrsquos what it takes The right atti-

tudeI changed into my street clothes I made my way

upstairs to stop at my locker Locker 13 Basketball practice had run so late the halls were

empty My shoes clonked noisily on the hard floorMost of the lights had already been turned off

This school is creepy when itrsquos empty I decided Istopped in front of my locker feeling a chill at the backof my neck

I always felt a little weirded-out in front of thelocker For one thing it wasnrsquot with all the otherseventh-grade lockers It was down at the end of theback hall by itself just past a janitorrsquos supply closet

Up and down the hall all the other lockers hadbeen painted over the summer They were all asmooth silvery gray But no one had touched locker13 The old green paint was peeling and had largepatches scraped off Deep scratches crisscrossed upand down the door

22

The locker smelled damp And sour As if it hadonce been filled with rotting leaves or dead fish orsomething

Thatrsquos okay I can deal with this I told myself I took a deep breath New attitude Luke New

attitude Your luck is going to changeI opened my backpack and pulled out a fat black

marker Then I closed the locker door And rightabove the number 13 I wrote the word LUCKY in bigbold capital letters

I stepped back to admire my work LUCKY 13ldquoYessssrdquo I felt better alreadyI shoved the black marker into my backpack and

started to zip it up And thatrsquos when I heard thebreathing

Soft soft breaths So soft I thought I imaginedthem From inside the locker

I crept closer and pressed my ear against the doorI heard a soft hiss Then more breathingThe backpack slipped out of my hands and thud-

ded to the floor I froze And heard another soft hiss inside the locker It

ended in a short cry The back of my neck prickled My breath caught

in my throatWithout realizing it my hand had gripped the

locker handleShould I open the door Should I

23

My hand tightened on the handle I forced myselfto start breathing again

Irsquom imagining this I told myself There canrsquot be anyone breathing inside my lockerI lifted the handle Pulled open the doorldquoHeymdashrdquo I cried out in shock And stared down at

a black catThe cat gazed up at me its eyes red in the dim

hall light The black fur stood up on its back Itpulled back its lips and hissed again

A black catA black cat inside my lockerIrsquom imagining this I thought I blinked hard trying to blink the cat awayA black cat inside locker 13 Could there be any

worse luckldquoHowmdashhow did you get in thererdquo I choked outThe cat hissed again and arched its back It gazed

up at me coldly Then it leaped from the locker floor It darted over

24

my shoes down the hall Running rapidly silentlyHead down tail straight up it turned the first cornerand disappeared

I stared after it my heart pounding I could stillfeel its furry body brushing against my leg I realizedI was still gripping the locker handle

My head spun with questions How long had thecat been in there How did it get inside the lockeddoor Why was there a black cat in my locker Why

I turned and checked out the floor of the lockerJust to make sure there werenrsquot any other creatureshiding in there Then still feeling confused I closedthe door carefully locked it and stepped back

LUCKY 13The black letters appeared to glowldquoYeah Luckyrdquo I muttered picking up my back-

pack ldquoReal lucky A black cat in my lockerrdquo I held my lucky rabbitrsquos foot and kept squeezing

it tightly all the way homeThings are going to change I told myself Things

have got to change

But in the next few weeks my luck didnrsquot changeat all

One day after school I was on my way to the com-puter lab when I ran into Hannah ldquoWhere are yougoingrdquo she asked ldquoWant to come watch my basket-ball gamerdquo

ldquoI canrsquotrdquo I replied ldquoI promised to install some

25

new modems for Mrs Coffey the computer teacherrdquoldquoMr Computer Geek strikes againrdquo she said She

started jogging toward the gymldquoDid you get your science test backrdquo I called

after herShe stopped and turned around with a grin on her

face ldquoYou wonrsquot believe it Luke I didnrsquot have timeto study I had to guess on every question And guesswhat I got a hundred I got them all rightrdquo

ldquoThatrsquos excellentrdquo I called Irsquod studied for thattest for a solid week and I got a seventy-four

I made my way into the computer lab and wavedto Mrs Coffey She was hunched over her desk sort-ing through a tall stack of disks ldquoHey howrsquos itgoingrdquo she called

The computer lab is my second home Ever sinceMrs Coffey learned that I can repair computers andupgrade them and install things in them Irsquove beenher favorite student

And I have to admit I really like her tooWhenever I donrsquot have basketball practice I checkin at the computer lab to talk with her and see whatneeds to be fixed

ldquoLuke how is your animation project comingalongrdquo she asked setting down the disks Shebrushed back her blond hair She has the nicestsmile Everyone likes her because she always seemsto enjoy her classes so much

ldquoIrsquom almost ready to show it to yourdquo I said I sat

26

down in front of a computer and started to removethe back ldquoI think itrsquos really cool And itrsquos going muchfaster now I found a new way to move pixelsaroundrdquo

Her eyes grew wide ldquoReallyrdquoldquoItrsquos a very cool inventionrdquo I said carefully slid-

ing the insides from the computer ldquoThe program ispretty simple I think a lot of animators might like itrdquo

I set down my screwdriver and gazed across theroom at her ldquoMaybe you could help me You knowShow it to people Get it copyrighted or somethingrdquo

ldquoMayberdquo she said She stood up smoothing thehem of her blue sweater over her jeans She came upbehind me and watched as I removed the old modemldquoYoursquore really skillful Luke I think yoursquore going tomake a lot of money with computers some dayrdquo

ldquoYeah Mayberdquo I replied awkwardly ldquoThanksrdquo Ididnrsquot really know what to say Mrs Coffey is so awe-some She is the only teacher who really encouragesme and thinks Irsquom somebody

ldquoI canrsquot wait to show you my animationrdquo I said ldquoWell I have some big newsrdquo she said sud-

denly I turned and caught the excited smile on herface ldquoYoursquore the first person to hear it Luke Can youkeep a secretrdquo

ldquoYeah Okayrdquo I saidldquoI just got the most wonderful job At a really big

software company in Chicago Irsquom leaving school nextweekrdquo

27

The next afternoon I couldnrsquot check in at the com-puter lab I had to hurry to the swimming poolbehind the gym

Swimming is my other big sport I spent all lastsummer working with an instructor at our local poolHe was fast enough to make the Olympic tryouts afew years ago And he really improved my stroke andshowed me a lot of secrets for getting my speed up

So I looked forward to the tryouts for the Squiresswim team I couldnrsquot wear my lucky swimsuitbecause it didnrsquot fit anymore But I wore my luckyshirt to school that day And as I changed for thepool I silently counted to seven three times

As I left the locker room I heard shouts andlaughter echoing off the tile pool walls Feeling myheart start to race I stepped into the steamy air ofthe indoor pool The floor was puddled with warmwater I inhaled the sharp chlorine smell I love thatsmell

Then I bent down and kissed the top of the divingboard I know It sounds weird But itrsquos just some-thing I always do

I turned to the pool Three or four guys werealready in the water At the shallow end I sawStretch He was violently splashing two other guysHe had them cornered at the end of the pool His bighands slapped the water sending up tall waves overthem They pleaded with him to give them a break

Coach Swanson blew his whistle then shouted

28

bull bull bull

for Stretch to cut the horseplay Stretch gave the twoguys one more vicious splash

Then he turned and saw me ldquoHey Champmdashrdquo heshouted his voice booming off the tiles ldquoYoursquoreearly Drowning lessons are next week Ha ha Niceswim trunks Are those your girlfriendrsquos Ha hardquo

A few other guys laughed tooI decided to ignore them I was feeling pretty con-

fident About twenty guys were trying out I knewthere were only six spots open on the team But afterall my work last summer I thought I could make thetop six

We all warmed up for a bit taking easy laps lim-bering up our muscles getting used to the warmwater After a few minutes Coach Swanson made usall climb out and line up at the deep end of the pool

ldquoOkay guys Irsquove got to get to my night job by fiveso wersquore going to keep this simplerdquo the coachannounced ldquoYou have one chance One chanceonly You hear the whistle you do a speed dive intothe pool You do two complete laps any stroke youwant Irsquoll take the first six guys And two alternatesAny questionsrdquo

There werenrsquot anyEveryone leaned forward preparing to dive

Stretch lined up next to me He elbowed me hard inthe side ldquoGive me some room Champ Donrsquot crowdmerdquo

29

Okay so hersquoll come in first I figured rubbing thepain from my side That leaves five other places onthe team

Irsquom good enough I told myself I know I am Iknow I am

The whistle blew All down the row bodiestensed then plunged forward

I started my divemdashand slippedThe pool floormdashso wet My feet slid on the tile Oh noI hit the water with a loud smack A belly flop No kind of dive Struggling to recover I raised my head And saw

everyone way ahead of me One unlucky slip I lowered my head determined to catch up I

started stroking easily forcing myself to be calm Iremembered the slow steady straight-legged kick myinstructor had taught me

I sped up I passed some guys Hit the wall andstarted back

I can do this I told myself I can still make theteam

Faster At the end of the second lap the finish was a furi-

ous blur Blue water Thrashing arms and legs Loudbreaths Bobbing heads

I tried to shut out everything and concentrate on

30

my stroke ignore everyone else and swimAt last my hand hit the pool wall I ducked under

then surfaced blowing out water I wiped my hairaway from my eyes The taste of chlorine was in mymouth Water running down my face I glancedaround

I didnrsquot finish last Some guys were still swim-ming I squinted down the line of swimmers who hadfinished How many How many were ahead of me

ldquoLukemdashyoursquore seventhrdquo Coach Swansonannounced He made a large check on his clipboardldquoFirst alternate See you at practicerdquo

I was still too out-of-breath to replySeventhI let out a long sigh I felt so disappointed I could

do better than seventh I knew If only I hadnrsquotslipped

As I started to trudge back to the locker roomStretch strode up beside me ldquoHey Champrdquo Heslapped my bare back with his open hand so hard itmade a loud smack ldquoThanks for making me look sogoodrdquo

I got dressed quickly standing in a corner bymyself A few guys came over to say congratulationsBut I didnrsquot feel I deserved it

Across the locker room Stretch was still in hisswim trunks He was having a great time smacking

31

guys with his towel really making the towel snapagainst their bare skin laughing his head off

I tossed my towel in the basket Then I steppedup to the mirror over the sinks to comb my hair Aceiling lightbulb was out and I had to lean over thesink to see

I had just started to comb my wet hair backmdashwhen I saw the jagged crack along the length of theglass

ldquoWhoardquo I stopped combing and stepped backA broken mirror Seven years bad luck for some-

oneI reached into my khakis pocket and squeezed

my rabbitrsquos foot three times Then I turned back tothe mirror and began combing my hair again

Something was wrong I blinked Once TwiceA red light Some kind of red glare in the mirror

glassI squinted into the glassmdashand let out a cryThe red glare was coming from a pair of eyesmdash

two red eyes glowing like hot coalsTwo angry red eyes floating in the glass Floating

beside my reflectionI could see my confused expression as I stared at

the frightening red eyes as I watched the eyesslide across the glass slide slide closer until their red glow covered my eyes

32

My horrified reflection stared out at me with thefiery glowing eyes

And I opened my mouth and let out a long terri-fied scream

33

Over my scream I heard heavy footsteps behindme And then I heard a voicemdashStretchrsquos voiceldquoHeymdashget used to itrdquo

I spun around He grinned at me ldquoGet used to itChamp Thatrsquos your face It makes other peoplescream toordquo

ldquoNordquo I cried ldquoNo Itrsquos not Donrsquot you seemdashrdquoCoach Swanson burst in behind Stretch ldquoLukemdash

whatrsquos wrongrdquoldquoMy eyesrdquo I cried ldquoLook Are they red Are

theyrdquoCoach Swanson and Stretch exchanged glances ldquoWhat is his problemrdquo Stretch murmuredCoach Swanson stepped up close and examined

my eyes ldquoWhatrsquos wrong with you Luke Itrsquos just thechlorine from the pool Your eyes will be okay in a lit-tle whilerdquo

ldquoChlorine Huh Nordquo I insisted Then I glancedinto the mirror And saw my normal brown eyes gaz-ing back at me

34

No glowing eyes No red eyes burning in the glasslike an evil movie monster

ldquoUh well rdquo I rubbed my eyes They didnrsquotburn or anything They felt okay

I turned back to Stretch and Coach Swanson Ididnrsquot know what to say to them They were both stillstaring at me as if I were nuts

And maybe I was Black cats jumping out of my locker Glowing red

eyes in the mirrorldquoWell see you at practicerdquo I saidStretch laughed ldquoNot if I see you first Ha hardquoI laughed too It wasnrsquot funny but I wanted to

sound calm again normalAs I followed them out of the locker room I real-

ized I was trembling Why were these strange things happening to me

35

After dinner I was supposed to go to the mall withHannah She wanted to buy me some computer soft-ware for my birthday But she wanted me to pick itout

That was really nice of her But at the last minuteI decided not to go

I was still feeling weird from the swim tryoutsAnd I wanted to work on my animation project If Iworked really hard I might be able to get it finishedin time to show Mrs Coffey before she left school

I went up to my room and booted up the anima-tion But I couldnrsquot concentrate I kept staring at thefour-leaf clover inside a block of clear Lucite I keepon my desk And I kept jumping up and running tothe mirror to check my eyes

Perfectly normal Not glowingSo what happened What happened to me in that

locker room I asked myself I tried to convincemyself there was something wrong with the mirror

36

The red glow was because of the way the light hit thecrack in the mirror Or something

No That didnrsquot make senseThe phone rang a little before ten orsquoclock And it

was Hannah sounding very breathless and excitedldquoLukemdashyou shouldrsquove come You shouldrsquove

comerdquoI had to hold the phone away from my ear

Hannah was shouting so loud ldquoWhy What hap-penedrdquo I asked

ldquoI won itrdquo she declared ldquoDo you believe it Iwonrdquo

ldquoExcuse me Hannahmdashwhat are you talkingaboutrdquo

ldquoYou know the raffle at the mall That huge redSUV Itrsquos been on display there for a monthThousands of people put tickets in the boxThousands AndmdashandmdashI just happened to be walk-ing by when they had the drawing tonight Andmdashrdquo

ldquoYou didnrsquotrdquo I shriekedldquoYes Yes I won it I won the SUVrdquo ldquoWowrdquo I slumped onto my bed I actually felt

faint My heart was pounding as if I had wonldquoYou shouldrsquove seen me when they called out my

namerdquo Hannah gushed ldquoI screamed I just stoodthere and screamedrdquo

She screamed again shrieked at the top of herlungs A long high joyful scream

37

ldquoHannahmdashthatrsquos so awesomerdquo I said I donrsquotthink she heard me She was still screaming

ldquoMy family is so happy Luke You should seethem They are dancing around the living roomrdquo

ldquoThatrsquos so greatrdquo I saidHannah lowered her voice ldquoI just feel bad about

one thing Luke I was so crazed I was so berserk Iforgot why I was at the mall I forgot all about buy-ing you a birthday giftrdquo

I stood up I picked up the block with the four-leafclover inside and smoothed it between my handsldquoThatrsquos okayrdquo I told Hannah ldquoI just decided what Ireally want for my birthdayrdquo

ldquoWhatrsquos thatrdquo she askedldquoI want your luckrdquoHannah laughed She thought I was kidding But

of course I was seriousldquoAre you going to school tomorrowrdquo she askedldquoHuh Yeah sure Why notrdquoldquoTomorrow is Friday the thirteenthrdquo she said ldquoI

know how superstitious you are I thought maybeyoursquod stay home and hide under the bed all dayrdquo

ldquoHa hardquo I said But I felt a cold tingle at the backof my neck ldquoIrsquoll be thererdquo I told Hannah ldquoIrsquom nottotally wacko you knowrdquo

But Irsquoll wear my lucky shirt I thought And Irsquolltake my four-leaf clover in my backpack And Irsquoll askMom to pack my lucky sandwich for lunchmdashpeanutbutter and mayonnaise

38

ldquoI have to go to school tomorrowrdquo I told HannahldquoI have basketball practice after schoolrdquo

ldquoHowrsquos practice goingrdquo Hannah askedI chuckled ldquoNot bad So far I havenrsquot gotten any

splinters from sitting on the benchrdquoHannah laughed I could hear shouts and wild

laughter in the background ldquoIrsquove got to gordquo she saidshouting over the racket ldquoMy family is still celebrat-ing my winning the SUV Byerdquo

She clicked off before I could reply

That night I dreamed about locker 13In the dream I stepped up to the locker Someone

had taped a calendar to the door I came closer andsaw that Friday the thirteenth had been circled inred

I started to rip the calendar off the locker doorBut I stopped when I heard loud breathing Hoarsewheezing sounds Like someone was having troublebreathing

I touched the locker door And it was burning hotI screamed in shock and pulled my hand awayAgain I heard the hoarse breathing from inside

the locker And then I heard a tiny voice cry outldquoPlease get me outrdquo

In the dream I knew I was dreaming I wanted tolift myself out of the dream But I was stuck thereAnd I knew I had no choice I had to pull open thelocker door and see who was in there

39

ldquoPlease I want out Get me outrdquo the tinyfrightened voice called

Even though I knew I was dreaming I still felt sofrightened Real fear that makes you shake whetheryoursquore awake or asleep

I watched myself grip the door handle Slowlymdashso slowlymdashI pulled the locker door open

And I stared in horror at the figure huddled insidethe locker Because it was ME

It was me inside the locker hugging myself trem-bling all over It was memdashand my eyes started toglow My eyes glowed out from the dark locker red asfire

And as I stared at myself stared at those ugly evilred eyes I watched my face begin to change Iwatched hair grow out of my nostrils Long braids ofthick black hair sliding out of my nosemdashdown downto the locker floor

Beneath the shining red eyes thick blacktwisted ropes of hair were pouring from my nose Outof the locker Piling onto the hall floor Curlingaround me as I watched

Yes The long hair flowed from my nose andsnaked around me as I watched in horror Curledaround me covering me in warm scratchy hairCovering me like a big furry coat and then tighten-ing Tightening Tightening around my chestTightening around my face Wrapping me like amummy Wrapping me in my ghastly nose hair

40

I woke up one hand tightly wrapped around theLucite block with the four-leaf clover Gray morningsunlight seeped through my bedroom window Myroom was so cold cold as a freezer

ldquoLuke what are you doing up there Yoursquore laterdquoMomrsquos voice shattered the frozen silence

ldquoA dreamrdquo I murmured A hoarse laugh escapedmy throat My eyes darted around the room NormalEverything normal

ldquoHurry Luke Itrsquos really laterdquo Momrsquos voicesounded so good to me

I followed her order I hurried I got showereddressed ate breakfast and arrived at school withabout two minutes to spare The halls were prettyempty Most kids had already gone to their home-rooms

I glanced at the clock on the tile wall Then joggedto the end of the back hall to toss my jacket into mylocker

But a few feet from my locker I stopped with agasp

What was that on the door to locker 13I crept closer A calendarYes Someone had taped a calendar to the door

And and today Friday the thirteenth was cir-cled in red

41

ldquoMy dreamrdquo I murmuredThat horrifying dream Itrsquos coming true I realized

Irsquom going to open the door and itrsquos going to cometrue

42

I stared at the calendar at the number 13 circledin red marker

Last nightrsquos dream played itself again through mymind I shuddered My legs and arms itched I couldpractically feel the disgusting hair curling around myskin

With an angry cry I ripped the calendar off thedoor and crumpled it in my hand

Now I expected to hear the heavy breathing frominside the locker And the tiny criesmdashmy criesmdashbeg-ging to be let out

But I didnrsquot wait ldquoIrsquom not opening itrdquo I said outloud

No way am I going to allow the dream to cometrue

I tossed the wadded-up calendar sheet to thefloor Then I spun around and began running toclass The hall was empty My shoes thudded loudlyon the hard floor as I ran

Irsquoll keep my coat with me I decided Irsquoll just drag

43

it around with me all day I donrsquot need to open thelocker

The bell rang as I reached my homeroom doorMr Perkins looked up as I burst into the roomldquoGood morning Lukerdquo he said ldquoRunning a little latethis morningrdquo

ldquoA littlerdquo I replied breathlessly Unzipping myjacket I started to my seat

ldquoWould you like time to go hang your coat in yourlockerrdquo Mr Perkins asked

ldquoUh no Thatrsquos okayrdquo I lowered my backpackto the floor and dropped into the chair ldquoIrsquoll just keep itrdquo

A few kids were staring at me Mr Perkins noddedand turned back to the papers he was reading

I took a deep breath and settled back against thechair I rubbed the right sleeve of my lucky shirtseven times

That dream is not going to come true I toldmyself No way I wonrsquot let it

Of course I wasnrsquot thinking clearly How couldthat crazy dream come true

If I had stopped for one second to think about itI would have realized the whole idea was insane

But today was Friday the thirteenth And I nevercan think clearly on Friday the thirteenth I admit itIrsquom always a little crazy on that unlucky day

I glanced up to see that Mr Perkins had beenreading the morning announcements I hadnrsquot heard

44

a word he said I pulled the four-leaf clover from mybackpack twirled it in my hand and wished for goodluck for the rest of the day

At noon I found Hannah at a table against theback wall of the lunchroom She was sitting all byherself staring down at her brown lunchbag whichshe hadnrsquot opened

ldquoHi Whassuprdquo I dropped across from herldquoHirdquo she said softly without raising her eyes

ldquoHowrsquos it goingrdquoldquoWell pretty okay for a Friday the thirteenthrdquo I

said Actually the morning had flown by without anyproblems at all

I expected Hannah to make some kind of jokeabout how superstitious I am But she didnrsquot say aword

I pulled the sandwich from my bag and started tounwrap the foil ldquoMy lucky sandwichrdquo I saidldquoPeanut butter and mayonnaiserdquo

ldquoYumrdquo she said rolling her eyes She finallylooked at me She appeared tired Her eyes werebloodshot red as if shersquod been crying Her hair wasa mess and her face was gray

ldquoHow come yoursquore wearing your coatrdquo sheasked

ldquoOh uh no reasonrdquo I said ldquoI was kind ofcoldrdquo

She nodded glumly

45

ldquoDid you come to school in the new SUVrdquo Iasked

She shook her head ldquoWe donrsquot have it yet Dadhas to go fill out a lot of papersrdquo She let out a longsigh

I lowered my sandwich ldquoAre you feeling okayrdquo Iasked

She didnrsquot answer Instead she sighed again andstared down at the table

I poked her lunchbag with one finger ldquoWhat doyou have for lunchrdquo

She shrugged ldquoJust some fruit Irsquom not very hun-gryrdquo She opened the bag reached a hand in andpulled out a bright yellow banana

She struggled with the skin Then finally peeled itopen

ldquoOh yuckrdquo Her face twisted in disgust Shedropped the banana to the table

Inside the skin the banana was completely rot-ten Just a soft pile of black mush A horrible soursmellmdashlike ripe vomitmdashfloated up from it

Hannah shoved the banana away ldquoSick Thatrsquosreally sickrdquo

ldquoThe skin is perfectly freshrdquo I said ldquoHow couldthe banana be so rottenrdquo

ldquoI think I have an applerdquo Hannah said glumlyShe tore the bag apart and pulled out a red appleShe twirled it between her handsmdashthen stopped witha gasp

46

I saw the deep dark hole on the side of the appleAnd as we both stared at it a fat brown wormmdashatleast two inches longmdashcurled out from inside Andthen another And another

The worms dropped from the apple onto thetabletop

ldquoI donrsquot believe thisrdquo Hannah shrieked Shescraped her chair back so hard it toppled over

And before I could say anything she was runningfrom the room

After school I looked for Hannah on my way tobasketball practice I was worried about her She hadacted so weird at lunch Not like herself at all

I reminded myself that it was Friday the thir-teenth And sometimes people act a little weird onthis day

But not Hannah Hannah is the least supersti-tious person I know She walks under ladders all thetime and she hugs black cats and doesnrsquot think athing of it

And why should she Hannah has to be the luck-iest person on earth

Lockers slammed as kids prepared to go home Istarted to the gym then turned back I donrsquot want tocarry my coat and backpack to the gym I decidedIrsquom going to stuff them in my locker

I hesitated as the locker came into view at the endof the hall I read the words on the door LUCKY 13 Of

47

course I remembered my nightmaremdashand the calen-dar from my nightmare taped on the locker door

But I had to open the locker I didnrsquot want to carrymy stuff around with me for the rest of the year

ldquoHey Lukerdquo I saw Darnell Cross waving to mefrom the doorway to the science lab ldquoAre the Squiresgoing to beat Davenportrdquo

ldquoTheyrsquore not so toughrdquo I called back ldquoWe couldtake themrdquo

ldquoYou going to playrdquo Darnell asked He grinnedbecause he already knew the answer

ldquoAs soon as I grow taller than Stretchrdquo I repliedHe laughed and disappeared back into the lab I stepped up to locker 13 I brought my face close

to the door ldquoAnyone in thererdquo I called inSilenceldquoJust checkingrdquo I said I grabbed the door handle

I was feeling pretty confident Friday the thirteenthwas two-thirds over and so far nothing terriblyunlucky had happened to me

I squeezed my rabbitrsquos foot for luck Then I tooka deep breathmdashand pulled open the locker

48

Nothing unusual inside the locker I realized I was still gripping the rabbitrsquos foot

inside my pocket I let go of it and slipped my back-pack off my shoulders

I studied the locker carefully A bunch of booksand notebooks on the top shelf where I had leftthem My old gray sweatshirt lay crumpled on thelocker floor

No black cats No one breathing or crying orshooting piles of hair from his nose

I let out a long sigh of relief Then I tossed thebackpack on top of the balled-up sweatshirt Shovedmy jacket onto the hook on the back wall

I started to slam the door shut when I spottedsomething at my feet

My shoe kicked it and it rolled against the lockerbottom then bounced back

A ballI bent down and picked it up I raised it close to

my face

49

ldquoWhoardquo Not a ball A tiny yellow skull a littlelarger than a Ping-Pong ball

It had an open-mouthed grin revealing two rowsof gray teeth I ran my finger over the teeth Theywere hard and bumpy

I squeezed it The little skull was made of somekind of hard rubber

The eyesmdashsunken deep in the socketsmdashwere redglass They glowed in the hall lights like tiny rubies

ldquoWhere did you come fromrdquo I asked itI turned back to the locker Did the skull fall out

of the locker How did it get in there Was someoneplaying some kind of Friday the thirteenth headgame with me

I decided that had to be the answerI rolled the skull around in my hand a few times

I poked my finger against the glowing red glass eyes Then I tucked it into my pants pocket I slammed

the locker shutmdashand headed to practice

ldquoLook alive Heads up Look aliverdquo CoachBendix was shouting

I ran out of the locker room and grabbed a bas-ketball off the ball rack I began dribbling around thefloor

We were having one of Coachrsquos free-for-all prac-tices That meant we had to keep moving keepplayingmdashrun dribble pass shoot play defense Do

50

everything all at once in a big free-for-all I dribbled slowly across the floor concentrating

hard Trying not to lose the dribble I saw Stretch turntoward me He stuck out both hands and moved for-ward ready to block me

I decided to try and fake him out I dribbled leftmdashand moved right I edged past him easily Movedunder the basket And sent up a shot that sailedacross the gym and dropped in

ldquoHeymdashone for onerdquo I cried happilyldquoLucky shotrdquo Stretch calledI took the ball and moved back to the top of the

key I sent up a two-handed jumpshot It soared overthe rimmdashand dropped through the basket with a softswish

ldquoYesrdquo I pumped my fists in the airI didnrsquot have long to celebrate I turned and saw

Stretch barreling toward me dribbling hard leaningforward with grim determination

Hersquos going to charge right over me I realized Hersquosgoing to flatten me

Guys backed out of his way as Stretch flew acrossthe floor

ldquoLook out Lukerdquo someone shoutedI froze for a moment Then I ducked to the left

Stuck out my hand and slapped the ball away fromStretch

He made a wild grab for it But I dribbled it out of

51

his reach Then I spun around and sent a wild highshot into the air The ball hit the glass backboardmdashand sank through the net

ldquoWowrdquoldquoWay to go LukerdquoldquoThree for threerdquoThe other players were in shockStretch shook his head ldquoFeeling lucky today

Think fastrdquo He pulled back his long armmdashandheaved the ball at my chest with all his strength

I caught it easily Dribbled it three times Shotmdashand dropped another basket

Stretch scowled ldquoI donrsquot believe thisrdquo he mut-tered shaking his head

I donrsquot either I thought to myself Irsquove never shotfour baskets in a row in my life

I turned and saw Coach Bendix watching me Wasthis my big chance Stretch and another player werepassing the ball back and forth moving across thefloor

I shot forward Intercepted Stretchrsquos pass Droveto the basket And sent up an easy layup ldquoTwopointsrdquo I cried

With an angry grunt Stretch reached for therebound But I pushed it out of his hands Grabbed itSpun Shot again ldquoTwo pointsrdquo

Stretch cried out angrily He bumped me hard

52

from behind I think he would have flattened me onthe spot But he saw that Coach Bendix was runningover to us

Coach slapped me on the back ldquoWay to goLukerdquo he boomed ldquoWay to show real improvementIrsquom impressed Keep it up okay Irsquom going to give yousome playing time next Fridayrdquo

ldquoHeymdashthanksrdquo I replied breathlesslyI saw Stretch scowl Saw his face turn an angry

redI grabbed a ball and dribbled away I wanted to

shout and jump for joy Had my luck finally changedIt seemed that way Suddenly I could pass and

jump and shoot and play defense like I never couldbefore It was as if I was possessed or somethingPossessed by an all-star athlete

In the locker room after practice Stretch ignoredme But other guys slapped me on the back andflashed me a thumbs-up

ldquoLookinrsquo good LukerdquoldquoWay to go manrdquoldquoGo SquiresrdquoI was feeling really happy Like a new person As I

changed into my street clothes I felt the little skull inmy pants pocket I pulled it out and gazed at itsmoothing my thumb over the hard rubber

ldquoAre you my new good-luck charmrdquo I asked itThe tiny red eyes glowed back at me I kissed it

gave it a smack on top of its yellow head and shoved

53

it back into my pants pocketThat skull is going everywhere with me I decided

Itrsquos got to be lucky Itrsquos got to beAs I walked home I kept reliving my great bas-

ketball triumph I pictured my long perfect jump-shots again And I saw myself stealing the ball fromStretchrsquos hands driving right past him and scoringEmbarrassing him Embarrassing Stretch again andagain

Wow What a dayIt was a cold gray afternoon Dark clouds hung

low over the nearly bare trees It felt more like winterthan fall

A few blocks from home I crossed a streetmdashandheard a short cry

A long low evergreen hedge ran across the frontyard on the corner I stopped gazing over the hedgeHad the cry come from the yard

I listened hard Down the block a car doorslammed A dog started to bark The wind made awhistling sound through the phone lines overhead

And then I heard itmdashanother sharp crymdashlongerthis time

A baby It sounded like a babyrsquos cryldquoOwwwww OwwwwwwrdquoI lowered my gaze to the hedgemdashand saw the

creature making the shrill criesA cat No A small orange-and-white kitten

54

It appeared to be stuck in the prickly brambles ofthe hedge

ldquoOwwwww OwwwwwwrdquoCarefully I bent down and gently lifted the cat out

with both hands As I cupped my hands around it itstopped crying immediately But it was still breathinghard its white chest moving rapidly up and down Irubbed its head trying to soothe it

ldquoYoursquore okay little kittenrdquo I whisperedAnd then I heard another cry A loud shriekI looked up to see a large woman running at me

angrily Her face was bright red and she waved herarms furiously

ldquoOh nordquo I muttered I nearly dropped the catWhy is she so angryWhat have I done

55

ldquoThe kittenmdashrdquo she cried shoving through abreak in the hedge

ldquoImdashIrsquom sorryrdquo I stammered ldquoI didnrsquot know ImdashrdquoldquoWhere did you find herrdquo the woman demanded

her face still bright red ldquoIn in the hedgerdquoldquoOh thank you Thank yourdquo the woman said

She took the kitten from my hands and raised it toher cheek ldquoSasha where did you gordquo

Irsquom not in trouble I finally realized The womanis happymdashnot angry

ldquoSasha has been missing for two daysrdquo thewoman told me pressing the kitten against her faceldquoI offered a reward and everything I almost gave uphoperdquo

I let out a long sigh of relief ldquoShe was right thererdquoI said pointing ldquoIn the hedge I think she wascaught in itrdquo

ldquoWell shersquos fine now thanks to yourdquo Still press-ing the kitten to her cheek the woman pushed

56

through the hedge and started to the house ldquoWhat isyour namerdquo

ldquoLukerdquoldquoWell follow me Luke Irsquoll get your reward for

yourdquoldquoHuh Reward No Reallyrdquo I started to back

awayldquoYou saved Sasharsquos liferdquo the woman said ldquoYou

did a wonderful thing And I insist you take thereward I offeredrdquo

I saw that I had no choice I followed her to herkitchen door

A few minutes later she counted out five twenty-dollar bills and pressed them into my hand ldquoThankyou Luke You really did your good deed for todayrdquo

A hundred dollarsA hundred dollars rewardMy luck really is starting to change I decidedWhen I got home a big surprise awaited me Mom had made my favorite dinnermdashmeat loaf

mashed potatoes and gravy And a coconut cake fordessert

ldquoItrsquos not even my birthdayrdquo I exclaimedldquoI just felt like doing something nice for you

todayrdquo Mom said She brushed back my hair withone hand ldquoI know Friday the thirteenth is always ahard day for yourdquo

ldquoNot todayrdquo I told her grinning ldquoNot todayrdquo

57

After my second slice of coconut cake I went upto my room and started my homework I spent aboutan hour writing out the answers to my scienceassignment

It shouldnrsquot have taken that long But I kept tak-ing out the twenty-dollar bills counting them againand dreaming about what I could buy with them

After science I worked on my computer anima-tion Irsquod been having trouble with the last section Icouldnrsquot get anything to move the way I wanted

But tonight my good luck continued I had notrouble at all The images all slid together perfectly Ialmost finished the project

A little after nine I decided to give Hannah a callShersquod acted so weird at lunch that afternoon Ithought maybe she was sick or something

I called to see if she was feeling better But I couldtell by the way she answered the phone that she stillwasnrsquot her old self

I tried to cheer her up I told her about my tri-umph at basketball practice And about the hundred-dollar reward for finding the lost kitten

ldquoVery coolrdquo Hannah said But her voice showedno enthusiasm at all

ldquoAnd then Mom made all of my favorite things fordinnerrdquo I exclaimed

ldquoLuckyrdquo Hannah mutteredldquoWhatrsquos your problemrdquo I demanded ldquoWhatrsquos

wrong with you todayrdquo

58

A long silence at her endFinally she said ldquoI guess Irsquom just in a bad mood

I fell off my bike on the way home this afternoonrdquoI groaned ldquoOh no Are you okayrdquoldquoNot reallyrdquo she replied ldquoI scraped all the skin

off my right hand And I twisted my ankle prettybadrdquo

ldquoWowrdquo I muttered ldquoBad newsrdquoldquoEspecially since I have a basketball game tomor-

rowrdquo Hannah sighedldquoThink yoursquoll be able to playrdquo I askedldquoMayberdquo she said glumly ldquoMaybe Irsquoll come watch your gamerdquo I saidThere was a long silence And then Hannah said

ldquoLuke therersquos something something I have to tellyourdquo

ldquoExcuse merdquo I said She was whispering so lowI could barely hear her

ldquoI really should tell you something But rdquoI pressed the phone tighter to my ear ldquoWhat

What is itrdquo ldquoWell rdquoAnother long silenceldquoI canrsquotrdquo she said finally I heard a click and the

line went silentThe next morning my good luck came to an end

59

At least I thought my good luck had endedWhen I arrived at my science class I searched

my backpack for the homework questions Not thereI took everything outmdashevery paper every bookevery pencil

Not there I had spent over an hour on thatassignment last night And Irsquod left it at home

Now I was in major trouble Miss Creamer didnrsquotaccept late homework And homework counted forfifty percent of the grade in her class

My stomach tightened with dread as she enteredthe science lab to begin class

How could I be so stupid ldquoGood morning everyonerdquo she began ldquoI have an

announcement to make Itrsquos about last nightrsquos home-workrdquo

The room grew silentldquoI have to apologize to all of yourdquo Miss Creamer

continued ldquoI gave the wrong assignment Thosewerenrsquot the right questions Irsquom really sorry You

60

donrsquot have to turn it in Just tear it up and throw itawayrdquo

Cheers rang out Some kids gleefully ripped theirpapers into shreds A big celebration

Yes More good luck for me I thought happilyI was on a hot streak Later when Miss Creamer

handed back last weekrsquos test I had the only A in theclass

In the lunchroom I grabbed the last slice of pizzaon the counter

All the kids behind me in line groaned Darnellcame up and offered to pay me five dollars for it Butno deal

After school I stopped by the computer lab to seeMrs Coffey She told me her plans had suddenlychanged She wouldnrsquot be leaving school for anothertwo weeks

I cheered That meant I had time to finish mycomputer animation project and show it to her beforeI left

ldquoLuke I was talking about you to my friend whoowns Linkups You knowmdashthe computer store onHighlands I told him about how you can do any-thing with computers fix them upgrade them Hesaid you might be able to come into the store onSaturdays and help out in the service departmentrdquo

I gasped ldquoReallyrdquoShe nodded ldquoHersquos a really nice guy and hersquos

always looking for people who can fix machines He

61

said he couldnrsquot give you a real job since yoursquore onlytwelve But he could pay you five dollars an hourrdquo

ldquoWow I cried ldquoThatrsquos awesome Thanks MrsCoffeyrdquo

I practically flew down the stairs to the gym Iwanted to flap my arms and take off So many greatthings were happening to me I couldnrsquot believe it

Hannahrsquos basketball game had already startedwhen I stepped into the gym I found a seat in thebleachers and glanced up at the scoreboard TheSquirettes were already losing ten to two

Whatrsquos going on I wondered How can Hannahrsquosteam be losing so badly The team they were play-ingmdashthe Bee Stingers from Elwood Middle Schoolmdashwere the worst team in the city

I turned and glanced around the bleachers Therewere only about twenty kids watching the game Andfour or five parents clustered together at the top ofthe bleachers

ldquoGo Sharonrdquo one of the mothers yelledBut the gym was pretty quiet I guess because the

Squirettes were playing so badlyI leaned forward and tried to concentrate on the

game Sharon McCombs the tallest girl in the Shawnee

Valley eighth grade tossed the ball in A pass Thenanother pass which was almost stolen by a BeeStinger

Hannah grabbed the ball She turned and started

62

to dribble to the basket After about three steps shetripped The ball bounced away as she fell flat on herstomach

A Bee Stinger grabbed it just before it went out ofbounds She dribbled all the way down the floormdashand scored easily before Hannah had even pickedherself up off the floor Twelve to two

I cupped my hands around my mouth ldquoGet rsquoemHannahrdquo I shouted

She didnrsquot look up She was fiddling with thewhite bandage on her hand

A minute later Hannah had the ball again Inclose She jumped and shot And missed Missed thenet the backboard Missed everything

I leaned on my hands and watched the game insilence Hannah missed six or seven shots in a rowShe tripped over the ball hit the floor hard and gota huge bright red floor burn on her knee Her pass-es to her teammates went wild She kept losing theball to the other team Tripping over her own feetBumping into other players

It was sad She didnrsquot look like Hannah at allThe half-time score was Bee Stingers twenty-five

Squirettes five When the team came out to start the second half

Hannah sat down on the bench and didnrsquot play Whatrsquos going on I wondered I climbed down from the bleachers and walked

over to her on the bench

63

ldquoLuke you came to a bad-news gamerdquo she saidshaking her head

ldquoWhatrsquos wrongrdquo I asked ldquoYoursquore hurt Fromyour bike accident yesterdayrdquo

She watched the Bee Stingers score another bas-ket Then she turned to me ldquoNo Itrsquos not because ofmy accidentrdquo she whispered Her eyes were dullwatery Her skin was so pale

ldquoSo what is itrdquo I askedHannah frowned ldquoItrsquos all because I lost my good-

luck charmrdquo she said I gaped at her ldquoHuhrdquoldquoItrsquos what brought me all that amazing great

luckrdquo Hannah said ldquoI have to find it As soon as Ilost it my luck changedrdquo

My mouth dropped open I realized my heart hadstarted to pound

ldquoItrsquos a tiny skullrdquo Hannah continued ldquoA little yel-low skull ImdashI never went anywhere without itrdquo

She tugged at the bandage on her hand Then sheraised her eyes to me ldquoYou havenrsquot seen it any-where have you Lukerdquo

64

My legs suddenly felt weak I gripped the back ofthe bench and stared at Hannah I could feel my facegrowing red

I could feel the skull in my jeans pocket I knew Ishould pull it out and hand it to her

But how could II needed the good luck too Hannah had enjoyed

so much good luck for so long Mine had just startedFor the first time in my life I was having a little goodluck

How could I go back to being a loser againHannahrsquos watery eyes locked on mine ldquoHave you

seen it Lukerdquo she repeated ldquoHave you seen it any-whererdquo

My face burned So many frantic thoughtswhirred through my head

I really needed that good-luck charm Ever sinceI found it my life had changed I was a new person

But Hannah was my friend My best friend in the

65

whole world She was always there for me when Ineeded her

I couldnrsquot lie to hermdashcould IldquoNordquo I said ldquoI havenrsquot seen it anywhererdquoHannahrsquos eyes remained on me for a few seconds

more Then she nodded slowly and turned back tothe game

My heart was pounding hard now I had a heavyfeeling in the pit of my stomach ldquoWhere did you loseitrdquo I asked

She didnrsquot reply She cupped her hands aroundher mouth and cheered on her teammates

I backed away from the bench I felt like a totalcreep I jammed my hand into my pocket Wrappedmy fingers around the rubber skull

Give it back to her Luke a voice in my headurged The voice of goodness The voice of friend-ship

But I knew I wasnrsquot going to give it back I wasalready trotting out of the gym and down the hall tothe exit

I need it a little while longer I told myself Just alittle while

Long enough to win the basketball champi-onship Long enough to get really good grades for thefirst time in my life Long enough to impress myfriends to get on the swim team to make aname for myself long enough to be a winner

I squeezed the little skull all the way home Irsquoll

66

give it back to Hannah in a couple of weeks I toldmyself Two weeks thatrsquos all Maybe three And thenIrsquoll give it back to her And she can have her goodluck again No harm done

No harm donemdashright

The phone was ringing when I stepped in thekitchen door I tossed down my backpack and ran toanswer it

To my surprise it was Mrs Coffey ldquoLuke Irsquom glad I caught yourdquo she said ldquoI have

some really good news You know my friend at thecomputer storerdquo

ldquoYesrdquoldquoI spoke to him after you left the computer lab

And he said you could start work at his store onSaturdayrdquo

ldquoThatrsquos greatrdquo I exclaimedldquoBut thatrsquos not my good newsrdquo Mrs Coffey con-

tinued ldquoHe has a friend who is putting together ashow of computer animation And his friend is veryinterested in seeing your workrdquo

ldquoReallyrdquo I criedldquoHe needs short pieces for his animation show

right awayrdquo she said ldquoIf he likes your piece he saidhe will pay a thousand dollars for itrdquo

ldquoWowrdquo ldquoIs it finished Lukerdquo Mrs Coffey asked ldquoIs it

ready to show to himrdquo

67

I thought hard ldquoAlmostrdquo I said ldquoI need two moredays on it Maybe threerdquo

ldquoWell try to hurryrdquo Mrs Coffey said ldquoI think hehas most of the pieces he needs Hersquos going to beshowing them all over the country It would be ashame to miss outmdashrdquo

ldquoIt sure wouldrdquo I interrupted ldquoIrsquoll get right towork on it Mrs Coffey And thanks Thanks a lotrdquo

Excited I hurried up to my room and turned onthe computer Maybe I can get some work done on itbefore dinner I decided

I heard Mom come in downstairs I called hi toher and said I was working on my computer project

A few minutes later the phone rang again I heardMom talking for a while Then I heard her running upthe stairs She burst into my room ran up behind meand wrapped me in a big hug

ldquoHuh Whatrsquos that forrdquo I criedldquoThat was Mariorsquos Steakhouse on the phonerdquo

Mom said grinning ldquoYou know Your favorite restau-rant You won Luke Remember that drawing we allentered the last time we were there Well you wonit They picked your card You won dinner for thewhole family Twelve dinners One a month for thenext yearrdquo

ldquoWowrdquo I jumped up from the computerLaughing and cheering Mom and I did a happy littledance around the room

ldquoI canrsquot believe you won that drawing That is so

68

terrificrdquo Mom exclaimed ldquoWersquore going to have tostart calling you Lucky Lukerdquo

ldquoYeah Lucky Lukerdquo I repeated ldquoI like thatThatrsquos me Lucky Lukerdquo

I worked on my animation until nearly midnightI stared into the glow of the monitor until I couldnrsquotsee straight and the images became a fuzzy blur

ldquoAlmost finishedrdquo I said yawningI changed into pajamas brushed my teeth got

ready for sleep But just before I climbed into bed Ipulled out my lucky little skull for one last look

I held it gently in my hand and studied it rubbingmy fingers over the smooth top of the skull The tinyred jewel eyes glowed brightly

I rubbed my fingers over the hard bumpy teeth Itwirled the skull in my hand

ldquoMy little good-luck charmrdquo I whisperedI set it down carefully on my dresser in front of

the mirror Then I turned out the lights and climbedinto bed

I settled back on my pillows pulling the quilt upto my chin I yawned loudly The mattress creakedunder me Waiting for sleep I stared into the dark-ness

The curtains were pulled so no light washed infrom the street The room was completely blackexcept for a faint red glow

The glow of the two red eyes in the skull Like tiny

69

match flames against the blacknessAnd then I saw two more glowing spots of red

light Larger Behind the tiny skull eyesTwo circles of light in the mirror glass Two flame-

red circles the size of tennis ballsAnd as their light grew brighter more intense

I could see a form in the dresser mirror Deep nostril holes two rows of jagged grin-

ning teethA skull A red-eyed skullNot tiny A huge grinning yellow-boned skull

that filled the mirrorFilled the mirror And stared out at me with those

fiery flame-red eyesI sat straight up Squeezed the quilt And gaped in

horror as the jagged teeth moved The jaw slid open And the enormous skull mouthed the words

mouthed them so clearly ldquoLucky Lukerdquo

70

The giant glowing skull leaned forward as if topush out of the mirror The jaw worked up and downThe red glow seemed to bathe the whole room inflames

I opened my mouth in a horrified screamI screamed and then screamed againThe ceiling light flashed onldquoLukemdashwhatrsquos wrongrdquoBlinking in the sudden light I saw my dad burst

breathlessly into the room His pajama shirt wastwisted One pajama pants leg rode up to his kneeHis hair was tangled from sleep standing straight upon one side

ldquoWhat is itrdquo he repeatedldquoImdashImdashrdquo I pointed to the mirror My head spun

with confusion I couldnrsquot find wordsldquoThe skullmdashrdquo I finally choked outBrushing back his hair Dad crossed the room to

my dresser I stared into the glass

71

Nothing nowNothing in there except the reflection of my

room As he came near I could see Dadrsquos worriedface reflected in the glass

ldquoIs this what you were screaming aboutrdquo Dadasked He picked up the little yellow skull and heldit out to me ldquoThis skullrdquo

ldquoN-nordquo I stammeredI was thinking hard trying to figure out what I

had seenIt couldnrsquot have been the reflection of the little

skull I saw in the glass NoThe skull that loomed in the mirror was enor-

mous its eyes as big as basketballsDad still squinted at me from the dresser holding

the little skull up in front of himldquoI guess I had a bad dreamrdquo I said softly settling

back onto my pillows ldquoItmdashit was so weird I dreamedI saw a giant skull with flaming eyes But it wasso realrdquo

Dad shook his head ldquoWell if this little skull isgiving you bad dreams want me to take it awayrdquo Hestarted to the door

ldquoNordquo I screamed I jumped out of bed to block his path He looked

startled as I grabbed the skull from his handldquoItrsquos itrsquos a good-luck charmrdquo I said ldquoItrsquos

brought me a lot of good luckrdquo

72

Dad frowned as he gazed at the little skull in myhand ldquoYou sure Luke It doesnrsquot look good to me Itlooks evilrdquo

ldquoEvilrdquo I laughed ldquoNo way Dad No way Trustmerdquo

He clicked off the light on his way out A shortwhile later I fell asleep gripping the skull tightly inone hand

A few days later I screamed my head off again

73

This time it was for funA bunch of us were on our skates up on Killer

Hill Itrsquos actually Miller Hill But we call it Killer Hillbecause itrsquos up at the top where Broad Street scoopsstraight downmdasha steep steep slope down threeblocks to Miller Street

Miller Street has the most traffic in ShawneeValley So the idea is we come skating down BroadStreet full speed We come rocketing down the steepslope as fast as we canmdashand try to skate rightthrough the traffic on Miller

It makes all the car drivers totally crazy You canalways hear tires squealing horns honking driversscreaming as kids come skating right at them

Yes Itrsquos really dangerous Most kids wonrsquot eventhink of trying it But for a guy with my kind of goodluck whatrsquos the big deal

It was a sunny cold Sunday afternoon Froststuck to the tops of the cars My breath smoked upin front of me as I skated to the top of Killer Hill

74

I met Darnell up there He was having troublewith the brake on one of his skates Finally he justripped the brake off and tossed it in a trash canldquoWhy do I need brakesrdquo he said grinning at meldquoThey only slow you downrdquo

Stretch and some of his pals appeared a few min-utes later Stretch was wearing some kind of yellowsweats He looked like Big Bird on skates

He lowered his shoulder and tried to bump me offmy feet But I skated away easily And he didnrsquot tryagain

Things have been a little different betweenStretch and me since I took his place on the basket-ball team Hersquos my backup now He gets to play onlywhen Irsquom tired and need a short rest And I think hersquosin shock over it

Stretch still tries to give me a hard time But Idonrsquot think his heart is in it He knows hersquos a loserHe knows hersquos not one of the lucky peoplemdashlike me

ldquoYou ready to skaterdquo Darnell called He pulledon his helmet Then he stood in the middle of thestreet leaning forward hands on his knees

I gazed down the steep hill to the traffic belowEven though it was Sunday afternoon cars and vanssped along Miller as if it were the afternoon rushhour

I adjusted my knee pads ldquoReadyrdquo I said I movedbeside Darnell

Stretch skated in front of us He grinned at me

75

ldquoHow about a racerdquoI shook my head ldquoYoursquore too slow Darnell and I

donrsquot want to have to wait for you down thererdquoldquoHa ha When did you get so funny Champrdquo

Stretch reached into the pocket of his yellow sweatsHe held up a ten-dollar bill ldquoLetrsquos make it a real raceTen bucks each Winner takes allrdquo

He stuck the money in front of my face I shovedit away ldquoI donrsquot take candy from babiesrdquo I saidldquoKeep your moneyrdquo

Stretch gritted his teeth His pale face turned anangry red He leaned close ldquoYou gonna race me ornotrdquo he growled

I squeezed the rubber skull in my pocket I knewthere was no way I could lose ldquoOkayrdquo I said ldquoButIrsquom going to make it fairrdquo

I pulled a wool scarf from my coat pocket andstarted to wrap it around my head ldquoJust to give you achance Irsquoll skate blindfoldedrdquo

Stretch snickered ldquoYoursquore joking right Yoursquoregoing to skate through all those cars blindfoldedrdquo

ldquoDonrsquot do it Lukerdquo a voice calledI turned to see Hannah waving to me She was

hobbling up the sidewalk on crutches Her right foothad a large white bandage over it ldquoDonrsquot do itrdquo shecalled shrilly

I spun away from the guys and skated over to her

76

ldquoHannahmdashwhat happenedrdquo I asked motioning tothe crutches

She sighed and leaned heavily on them ldquoItrsquos myanklerdquo she said ldquoRemember when I fell off my bikeWe thought it was just a sprain But my ankle keepsswelling up like a water balloon I had to have itdrained three timesrdquo

ldquoYuckrdquo I said staring down at the bandageThe wind fluttered her red hair She shook her

head sadly ldquoThe doctors canrsquot figure out whatrsquoswrong ImdashI might need surgery I donrsquot know AndMom says if it doesnrsquot get better I canrsquot go on thejunior high overnight on Wednesdayrdquo

ldquoWow Thatrsquos bad newsrdquo I murmured Everyonelooks forward to the overnight The whole junior highgoes to a campground by the lake and everyonestays up and parties all night

I couldnrsquot take my eyes off Hannahrsquos bandagedankle Is this my fault I suddenly wondered Did Ireally take away her good luck Hannah has hadnothing but bad luck ever since I found the skull

Irsquom going to give it back to her I silentlypromised Real soon Real soon

ldquoYou skating or notrdquo Stretch called ldquoOr are youjust going to stand there and talk with your girl-friendrdquo

ldquoIrsquom comingrdquo I said I started to wrap the scarfaround my eyes

77

ldquoLuke donrsquotrdquo Hannah insisted ldquoDonrsquot do itblindfolded Itmdashitrsquos crazyrdquo

ldquoNo problemrdquo I said ldquoIrsquom a superhero HannahCars will bounce right off merdquo

I skated away from her ldquoYoursquore wrongrdquo she called ldquoLuke listen to me

The good luckmdashit doesnrsquot last foreverrdquoI laughed What was she talking aboutI skated up beside Darnell and grabbed his arm

to steady myself I pulled the scarf over my eyes untilI saw only black

ldquoYoursquore crazyrdquo he muttered ldquoYou could getkilled manrdquo

ldquoNo wayrdquo I declared ldquoIrsquom going to win twentybucks from you twordquo

I heard Stretch skate up beside me ldquoYoursquore doingthis for realrdquo he asked ldquoYoursquore going to skate into allthose cars blindfoldedrdquo

ldquoYou going to talk or skaterdquo I asked him ldquoFirstone past Miller Street without stopping wins themoneyrdquo

ldquoLukemdashdonrsquot be crazyrdquo Hannah calledIt was the last thing I heard before the three of us

took off I leaned forward skating straight and hard I

heard Stretch and Darnell beside me theirRollerblades scraping the pavement

As we picked up speed I could hear the traffic onMiller I heard a horn honk Heard someone shout

I skated down down laughing through thedarkness

78

ldquoLukemdashloooook outrdquoI heard Darnellrsquos scream I heard the squeal of

tires Horns honkedI tossed back my head and laughed I roared

through Miller Street the blade wheels whistling overthe pavement

Then as I turned my skates and came to a slowstop I ripped the scarf away And saw Darnell stand-ing on the curb on the other side of Miller His mouthwas open He shook his head

Stretch came skating around me ldquoYou crazyjerkrdquo he shouted ldquoYou were almost killed threetimesrdquo

I calmly held out my hand ldquoMoney pleaserdquoldquoYou lucky jerkrdquo Stretch muttered He slapped

the ten-dollar bill into my gloved hand ldquoYoursquorecrazy Really Yoursquore just plain crazyrdquo

I laughed ldquoThanks for the compliment And theten bucksrdquo

79

Grumbling to himself Stretch skated back up tohis friends

Darnell waited for the traffic to clear then skatedover to me He wiped sweat off his forehead ldquoYouwere almost killedrdquo he said his voice shaking ldquoWhydid you do it Lukerdquo

I grinned at him ldquoBecause I canrdquo

The weather turned warm for our overnight camp-out Even though the trees were bare the woodssmelled fresh and sweet almost like spring Highwhite clouds dotted the bright blue afternoon skyTwigs and dead leaves crackled and crunched underour feet as we hiked through the tall trees to thecamping grounds

I squeezed the small skull in one hand as Iwalked weighted down by the heavy pack on myback Some kids were singing a Beatles song Behindme a group of girls were telling really bad knock-knock jokes laughing shrilly after each one

Coach Bendix and Ms Raymond another gymteacher led the way along the twisting path throughthe trees I was about halfway back in the line ofkids

I turned and found Hannah beside me She woreher blue windbreaker with the hood pulled up overher head She was leaning on one crutch as shewalked struggling to keep up ldquoDo you have anywaterrdquo she asked

80

I slowed down ldquoYour parents let you come Isyour ankle betterrdquo

ldquoNot reallyrdquo she replied frowning ldquoBut I toldthem I had to come anyway I wouldnrsquot miss it Doyou have any water Irsquom dyingrdquo

ldquoYeah Surerdquo I reached for the bottle of water inmy pack ldquoDidnrsquot you bring anyrdquo

Hannah sighed ldquoMy water bottle had a leak orsomething It poured out and soaked all the extraclothes in my pack Now I donrsquot have a thing towearrdquo

I handed her the water bottle Leaning on the crutch she pushed back the wind-

breaker hood and I saw her face for the first timeHer skin was covered with big red splotchesldquoHannah whatrsquos thatrdquo I cried ldquoYour facemdashrdquoldquoDonrsquot look at merdquo she snapped She turned her

back and took a long gulp of waterldquoBut what is itrdquo I demanded ldquoPoison ivyrdquoldquoNo I donrsquot think sordquo she said still facing away

from me ldquoI woke up with it Some kind of red rashAll over my bodyrdquo She sighed ldquoI donrsquot get a breakrdquo

She handed the water bottle back to me andpulled the blue plastic hood over her head ldquoThanksfor the waterrdquo

ldquoDoes it itchrdquo I askedShe let out an angry cry ldquoI really donrsquot want to

talk about itrdquo She grabbed the crutch tightly swungit hard in front of her and hurried ahead of me drag-

81

ging her bandaged foot over the dirt pathShersquos having so much bad luck I guess itrsquos my

fault I thought squeezing the skull in my pocket But why are all these terrible things happening to

her Why isnrsquot there enough good luck for both of usI didnrsquot have much time to think about it Behind me I heard shrill frightened screams I

saw kids running off the path Screaming Calling forhelp

I spun around and headed toward them the heavypack bouncing on my back ldquoWhatrsquos going onrdquo Icried ldquoWhatrsquos wrongrdquo

More shrill screamsAnd then I saw the two enormous brown snakes

Swinging down from a low tree limb Blocking thepath

The same color as the tree they twisted their longbodies thicker than garden hoses and snapped theirjaws

I didnrsquot hesitate I dived forward stretching out myarms

ldquoLukemdashwhat are you doing Stay away fromthemrdquo I heard Coach Bendix shout

The kidsrsquo frightened screams rang through thewoods

ldquoGet away from themrdquo Coach orderedBut I knew nothing could hurt me I knew my good

luck would keep me safe

82

I shot my hands out And grabbed both snakesone in each hand

I wrapped my fingers around their thick bodiesThen with a hard tug I wrenched them off the treelimb And raised them high

ldquoWhoardquoI didnrsquot realize how long they were And how strongI let out a startled cry as both snakes wriggled

loose I saw the tiny black eyes flash Saw the jawsopen

Then both snake heads came crashing towardme jaws snappingmdashsnapping so furiously beneaththe flashing eyes snapping like bear traps

83

I felt a rush of air as they snappedmdashsnappedmdashsnapped their sharp-toothed jaws Heads swingingwildly Whole bodies swinging and shaking Thickwhite drool clinging to their pointed teeth

Shrill screams rose all around me I stared atthe snapping heads the glimmering black eyesmdashuntil it seemed that the snakes were screamingtoo

And thenmdashthey flew from my handsWriggled free with strong tosses of their heavy

bodies And plunged to the ground Disappearingso quickly Blending into the hard brown dirtVanishing beneath the carpet of fat brown leavestwigs and fallen limbs

As kids surrounded me I stood hunched overgasping for breath I smoothed my open handsover my ears my cheeks my whole face

I waited for the pain of the snakebites to spreadover me

But no No sting No throbbing No pain

84

They had snapped so close I felt their breathon my skin

But they hadnrsquot bitten me ldquoYoursquore so luckyrdquo Coach Bendix was saying He

had a hand on my shoulder and was examining myface ldquoI never saw anyone so lucky Why did you doit Luke Those snakes are deadly poisonousDeadly Why did you do itrdquo

I stared at him but didnrsquot answer I didnrsquot knowwhat to say

How could I explain it to him How could Iexplain to anyone what it felt like to be so incrediblyawesomely lucky

All around kids were cheering Congratulatingme Talking about me how brave I had been

Leaning against a tree I saw Hannah She stoodby herself crutch under one arm She was the onlyone not smiling not cheering

I saw the red blotches on Hannahrsquos faceWatched as she transfered the crutch to her otherarm And saw her scowling at me her eyes nar-rowed She shook her head and scowled

And in that moment I realized that she was jeal-ous Jealous of my good luck

Jealous that she was no longer the hero She wasno longer the lucky one

Too bad Hannah I thought watching her angryexpression I had felt sorry for her I had felt reallyguilty too

85

But no moreIrsquove got the luck now Hannah I thought And Irsquom

going to keep it

ldquoLetrsquos go guys Wersquove got another game to winrdquoI cried I gave Sam Mulroney a playful towel slap

Locker doors slammed Guys finished lacing uptheir basketball shoes

ldquoDid you see those Deaver Mills guysrdquo Mulroneyasked peeking into the gym through a crack in thelocker room door ldquoTheyrsquore monsters They must feedthose guys whole steaks five times a dayrdquo

ldquoBig doesnrsquot mean goodrdquo I said ldquoThey look likecows Theyrsquore so slowrdquo

ldquoWersquoll dribble circles around themrdquo Jay Boxersaid

ldquoJust feed me the ballrdquo I instructed them ldquoNomatter where I am Feed me the ball Irsquoll put it in Irsquomfeeling lucky today guys Real luckyrdquo

ldquoHey Champmdashrdquo Stretch called pulling on his jer-sey ldquoYoursquore not a ball hog or anythingmdashare yourdquo

Guys used to laugh when Stretch shouted insultsat me But not anymore Everyone was on my sidenow Everyone wanted to be on the winnerrsquos side

ldquoHey Stretchmdashwhat do they call yourdquo I shoutedback ldquoA bench hogrdquo

Everybody laughedStretch laughed too Now that I was a winner he

was starting to be a little nicer to me He even gave

86

me some dribbling tips after one practice The guys all headed out to the gym I could hear

the shouts of the crowd in the bleachers And thesteady thud of basketballs on the floor as the DeaverMills Lions warmed up

ldquoTime to kill me some Lionsrdquo I muttered I finishedlacing my sneakers

Then I stood up Started to swing my gym lockerclosed

And slammed my left hand in the doorldquoHeyrdquo I cried out in surprise as pain shot up my

arm I shook the hand hard trying to shake the pain

away My wrist throbbed I moved my fingers tiltedmy hand back and forth It moved okay Not broken

But the hand was red and already starting to swellldquoNo time for thisrdquo I muttered I slammed the locker shut with my right hand

And still shaking my left hand hurried out into thegym

The crowd cheered as I ran onto the floor I sawsome of the Deaver Mills players whisper to eachother and point at me They knew who the star playerwas They knew who was going to wipe the floor withthem today

We huddled close around Coach Bendix ldquoTake itslow with these guysrdquo he instructed ldquoFeel them outGet their rhythm Letrsquos rattle them show them we canplay defenserdquo

87

ldquoJust get me the ballrdquo I chimed in ldquoIrsquom going tobe loose under the basket all dayrdquo

We gave our team cheer and trotted out to the cen-ter of the floor I searched the bleachers for HannahShe said she would try to come to the game today

I spotted her at the side of the bleachers hunchedin a wheelchair Her bad foot was propped up and ithad an even bigger bandage over it

I guess it isnrsquot getting better I thought I felt a pangof guilt

Poor Hannah I looked for my parents Then I remembered they

werenrsquot coming today They had to stay home for a fur-niture delivery

I turned away from the crowd I had a game toplay Time to get my game face on No time to thinkabout Hannah and her problems

I went up for the opening jump I tapped the ballto Mulroney and the game was underway

He dribbled to half-court then sent a high pass tome

ldquoWhoamdashrdquo The ball flew right through my handsand bounced out of bounds

ldquoMulroneymdashtoo hardrdquo I called ldquoWho were youthrowing atrdquo

He shrugged and started trotting to the Lionsrsquobasket

ldquoGet in there Luke Get going Look aliverdquo I heardCoach Bendix shouting

88

The Deaver guard came dribbling slowly towardme I darted up to him stuck out my hand to steal theballmdashand missed

He moved past me easily and sent up an easylayup for two points

ldquoWeirdrdquo I muttered I shook my left hand Thepain had dulled to an ache but the hand was prettyswollen

I moved down the court Caught a pass Spunaway from the Lion defender Went in for an easy shot

And missedldquoHuhrdquoI heard the crowd groan Startled voices all aroundMulroney slapped me on the shoulder ldquoTake it

easy manrdquo he said ldquoPlay your game Just play yourgamerdquo

A few seconds later I drove in for a shotmdashand wasfouled I moved to the foul linemdashand missed both foulshots

More groans and muttering from the bleachers Isaw Coach Bendix shake his head

A bounce pass from Jay Boxer sailed right throughmy legs Some of the Lionsrsquo players had a good laughover that one

Then I missed three more shots in a rowMulroney flashed me a thumbs-up ldquoNo probrdquo he

called ldquoPlay your game Luke Wersquoll get rsquoemrdquoThe Lions were winning twelve to four I took another pass and moved under the basket I

89

leaped high for a slam dunk My arm hit the rim hard I cried out in pain And

watched the ball sail over the backboardldquoWhoa This isnrsquot happeningrdquo I muttered picking

myself up off the floor ldquoNo wayrdquoAt the other end of the floor I grabbed a rebound

off the backboard I dodged past a huge Lion playerDribbled away from him easily Picked up speedBrought the ball onto our side of the court

Eyed the basket Prepared to stop short and put upa three-pointer

And tripped Felt one sneaker bump the otherTripped over my own shoe

And watched the ball sail into a Lionrsquos hands as Istumbled I fell forward onto my stomach My armsand legs were out flat on the floor ldquoOOOFrdquo

I heard startled gasps from the bleachers Andlaughter

Yes Some people were laughing at meldquoWhat is going onrdquo I cried I forced myself to my feet Shook off the pain ldquoThis isnrsquot happening It canrsquot berdquoI reached into the pocket of my uniform shorts

Reached for my good-luck skullFumbled in the pocket Searched both pocketsldquoHeymdashrdquoNo No No wayThe skull was gone

90

Fumbling frantically in both pockets I began run-ning for the team bench ldquoTime out Time outrdquo Iscreamed

Had the skull fallen out of my pocketI squinted hard searching the gleaming polished

floor No sign of itldquoTime outrdquo I pleadedI heard a whistle blow on the sidelinesI had to find itmdashnow I couldnrsquot play without itMy eyes swept over the floor I began to run full

speed to the bench I didnrsquot see the huge Lions playermdashuntil we collidedI plowed right into him Caught him flat-footed He

let out a startled ldquoOofrdquo And we cracked headsldquoYaaaiiiirdquo I let out a scream of agony as blinding

red pain shot around my head The red shimmered togold Brighter brighter bright as the sun

I felt my legs giving out Felt myself collapsingcrumbling into a deep deep bottomless darkness

91

I woke up to pinpoints of yellow light They flick-ered high above me Each time they flashed a waveof pain rolled over my forehead down the back of myneck

I blinked hard Blinked until I realized I was star-ing up at the lights on the gym rafters

I lay on my back on the gym floor one kneeraised my hands flat at my sides I squinted up atthe high raftersmdashuntil faces blocked my view

Playersrsquo faces And then a few worried-lookingadults And then Coach Bendixrsquos face looming overme bobbing over me like a parade balloon

ldquoWhatmdashrdquo One word escaped my throat My drythroat So dry I couldnrsquot swallow

ldquoStay still Lukerdquo Coach ordered speaking softlyHis dark eyes peered down into mine studying meldquoYoursquove had a bad concussion Donrsquot try to moveWersquore sending you to the emergency roomrdquo

ldquoHuh Nordquo I gasped I rolled onto my side I lurched to my feet The

floor tilted from side to side as if I were on a rockingboat

ldquoDonrsquot move Lukerdquo Coach reached for meBut I staggered out of his grasp Stumbled

through the circle of people that had formed aroundme

ldquoNo No hospitalrdquo I croaked

92

I had to find that skull That was all I needed andthen I would be okay again

The skull I stumbled over someonersquos shoe Staggered

toward the locker room The gleaming wood floorswaying beneath me

ldquoLukemdashcome backrdquoNo No way I shoved open the locker room door

with one shoulder And sliding a hand against thelockers moved to the back row Lurched to my gymlocker Pulled open the door so hard it slammedagainst the frame

ldquoWhere is it WhererdquoI frantically pawed through my street clothes

Searched and then tossed everything onto the floor ldquoWhere WhererdquoNot in my khakis pockets Not in my shirt pocket

Not in my sweatshirtThe locker floor No Nothing down thereStumbling over the pile of clothes on the floor I

lurched back down the row of gym lockers Ranthrough the gym out the doors and up the stairsInto the long empty hall

My sneakers squeaked on the hard floor as I ranThe walls and ceiling appeared to close in on methen slide back into place

To my locker To locker 13

93

It took me three tries to get the combination rightBut finally I unlocked it and flung open the door

And jammed my hand into one coat pocket andthen the other

ldquoWhere is it I have to have it Where WhererdquoAnd then a long happy sigh escaped my parched

throat as my hand closed around it YessssI was so happyI had the skull in my hand I squeezed it tightly

So happy So happyI pulled it out of the coat pocket Raised it in front

of me Raised it close to examine it And let out a cry of horror

94

The eyes They were dark Not red not glowingAnd the face had changed The bump-toothed

grin was gone The open mouth was curled down ina fierce angry scowl

ldquoNomdashitrsquos impossiblerdquo I gaspedI held the skull up to the light The red jewel eyes

were gone The deep round sockets were empty Theskull scowled down at me dark and menacing

What does this mean I wondered How did thishappen

Before I could think about it clearly I glimpsedsomething in the open locker A soft glow A slowmoving light growing larger as if moving closer

The light split into two Two circles of red lightDown low Very low near the locker floor

I gripped the skull tightly in my fist and stared asthe red lights glimmered closer The whole lockershimmered The dark walls reflected the two lightsBrighter bright as fire now

95

Two red eyes I realized Two glowing eyes float-ing from the blackness of locker 13

I jumped back as a black cat stepped silently outas if floating A black cat with fiery red eyes Thesame black cat as before

It pulled back its lips bared pointed white teethand hissed at me

My back hit the wall I blinked against the bright-ness of those two circles of red light

And as I trembled in horror squeezing the skullsqueezing it so tightly my hand achedmdashthe cat roseup off the floor

And melted into another formMelted and grew taller Taller The cat became

a human figure dressed all in black wrapped in abroad black coat down to the floor its face hidden inthe darkness of a black hood

Hidden All hidden except for the eyesmdashthosehorrifying fiery eyes

ldquoWh-who are you What do you wantrdquo I startledmyself by crying out those words I didnrsquot think Icould speak

My whole body trembled I pressed myselfagainst the wall to keep from falling to my knees

The hooded figure stepped silently away from theopen locker A hoarse rasp burst out from under thehood a whisper like the crackle of dead leaves ldquoTheluck has run out Lukerdquo

ldquoNordquo I gasped

96

A bony hand swung out from the sleeve of theblack coatmdashand swiped the skull away from me

ldquoNordquo I cried in protest ldquoNo NordquoldquoThe luck is overrdquo ldquoWho are yourdquo I shrieked in a tight terrified

voice ldquoWh-who How did you get in my lockerWhat do you wantrdquo I screamed in total panic

ldquoThe luck is overrdquoldquoIt canrsquot berdquo I cried ldquoIt canrsquot be I need itrdquoldquoOver rdquo the hooded figure rasped ldquoOver

over rdquoThe red eyes glowed from under the hood The

bony hand held the tiny skull in front of the broadblack coat

ldquoI need that luckrdquo I wailed ldquoI need that skullrdquoAnd I grabbed it back Grabbed it out of the bony

handldquoI need it I have to have itrdquoI raised the skull in front of me Stared hard at it What was wrong with it Something wriggling on

it wriggling in my hand crawling over mypalm

ldquoOhhhhrdquo I let out a moan as I saw The skull wascovered crawling crawling with hundreds ofmaggots

97

The skull fell from my hand and bounced acrossthe floor I frantically shook my hand scraped itagainst the wall brushing the disgusting maggots offmy skin

Under the black hood the red eyes glowed brighterldquoYou enjoyed a lot of good luck Lukerdquo the figure saidin his hoarse croak ldquoBut the luck has ended And nowyou must pay for itrdquo

ldquoHuh Payrdquo I felt my throat tighten I stared at thefiery eyes trying to see a face trying to see who wasspeaking to me from under that hood

ldquoLukemdashIrsquom so sorryrdquo a voice called I turned to find Hannah wheeling herself rapidly

down the hall leaning forward in her wheelchair turn-ing the wheels with both hands

ldquoHannahmdash Whatmdashrdquo I couldnrsquot find any wordsldquoIrsquom so sorryrdquo she repeated As she wheeled herself

closer I saw tears brimming in her eyes rolling downher red-blotched face

ldquoSorryrdquo I repeated my head spinning in confusion

98

ldquoHe made me do itrdquo she wailed ldquoYou have tobelieve me Luke I didnrsquot want to Really But hemade merdquo

She grabbed my hand Squeezed it tightly Herhand was as cold as ice Tears rolled down hercheeks

ldquoVery touchingrdquo the hooded figure rasped coldlyldquoHannahmdashhe made you do whatrdquo I askedldquoHemdashhe made me give you the skullrdquo Hannah

stammered still squeezing my hand ldquoHuhrdquo I let out a startled cry ldquoYou gave it to me

But I thought I found it I thoughtmdashrdquoldquoI had the good luck for a long timerdquo Hannah

said wiping her wet cheeks with both handsldquoRemember when I had so much good luck Then itran out The skull went dark And he forced memdashheforced me to pass the skull on to yourdquo

I stared at her in disbelief ldquoBut who is herdquo Icried ldquoHow can he do thisrdquo

ldquoHavenrsquot you guessedrdquo the hooded figureboomed The red eyes glowed like two angry sunsldquoHavenrsquot you figured it out yet Luke I am the FateMaster I decide who has good luck and who has badrdquo

ldquoNordquo I whispered ldquoThatrsquos crazyrdquoldquoItrsquos the truthrdquo Hannah said her voice breaking

ldquoHe controls me And now yourdquoldquoLukerdquo the evil figure whispered lowering him-

self toward me ldquoDid you really think you could haveall that good luck without paying for itrdquo

99

ldquoI didnrsquot want to give the skull to yourdquo Hannahwhispered holding on to my arm ldquoI gave you achance to hand it back to me remember Rememberduring my game I asked if you had seen itrdquo

I nodded sadly feeling my face grow hotldquoI knew you had it Why didnrsquot you give it back

thenrdquo Hannah demanded ldquoI gave you a chance toreturn it I didnrsquot want you to keep itrdquo

ldquoToo late for that nowrdquo the Fate Master raspedldquoNow you are BOTH minerdquo

ldquoNo wayrdquo I protested ldquoI donrsquot believe any ofthis This canrsquot be happening Itmdashitrsquos some kind ofbad jokerdquo

ldquoItrsquos not a jokerdquo Hannah whispered ldquoLook atmerdquo She pointed to her red-blotched face her ban-daged foot the wheelchair

ldquoNordquo I insisted ldquoIt wonrsquot happen to me I wonrsquotlet it IrsquollmdashIrsquoll make my own luckrdquo

The bulky black coat shook as the Fate Masteruttered a hoarse laugh It sounded more like drycoughing than laughter ldquoYoung man do you reallythink you can go up against FATE I control EVERY-THING that happens Do you really think you candefy FATErdquo

ldquoI donrsquot care what you sayrdquo I screamed ldquoIrsquom notgoing to be some kind of slave You canrsquot control meYou canrsquotrdquo

100

The Fate Master sighed The red eyes faded insidethe hood ldquoDo I really have to prove myself to youOkay So be itrdquo

He leaned closer So close that I could see intothe hood I could see that he had no face Just twoglowing eyes floating in blackness

ldquoLukemdashthat concussion you had in the gymrdquo herasped ldquoIrsquom afraid itrsquos much worse than you thoughtFeel your earsrdquo

ldquoHuhrdquo My hands shot up to my ears I felt wet-ness

Warm wetnessI lowered my hands My fingers dripped with

bloodMy ears were bleedingI felt the warm blood pour down my earlobes

trickle down the sides of my faceFrantically I pressed the palms of my hands

against my ears ldquoThat wonrsquot stop the bleeding Lukerdquo the Fate

Master whispered ldquoThat blood wonrsquot clot Itrsquos justgoing to keep pouring out Bad luck Irsquom afraid Verybad luckrdquo

ldquoNomdashpleaserdquo I pleaded ldquoMake it stoprdquoThe eyes flared ldquoDo you believe in me now Do

you believe that you belong to merdquoldquoOkayrdquo I said ldquoOkay I believe yourdquo

101

ldquoYour fate is in my handsmdashboth of you You mustpay for the good luck you had You must suffer badluck nowmdashrdquo

ldquoNomdashpleaserdquo I begged ldquoI need more timeThings are just starting to go right for me The basket-ball team my animation the swim team Irsquolldo anything I need more timerdquo

ldquoNO MORE TIMErdquo The hoarse rasp echoed offthe tile walls Angry flames shot out from the black-ness of the hood

ldquoButmdashrdquo I started shrinking back beside HannahldquoI control yourdquo the Fate Master boomed ldquoI decide

your luck from now on Do you want me to go easy onthe two of you DO yourdquo

ldquoY-yesrdquo I stammered ldquoIrsquoll do anythingAnythingrdquo

The Fate Master was silent for a long momentThe eyes faded as if retreating into the distance thenglowed brightly again ldquoIf you want me to go easy onyou bothrdquo he said finally ldquoherersquos what you haveto do rdquo

102

ldquoPass the skull on to anotherrdquo the Fate Masterordered

ldquoHuh Youmdashyou want me to give it to someoneelserdquo I stammered

The eyes sparked beneath the hood ldquoPass it tothat big kid the one called Stretch Irsquove had my eye onhim I will give him good luck for two months Then Iwill claim him as minerdquo

ldquoNo I canrsquot do thatrdquo I protested ldquoIt isnrsquot right Itisnrsquotmdashrdquo

The Fate Master uttered a furious growl ldquoThenyou will suffer bad luck your whole life You and every-one in your familyrdquo

I shivered in fear My mind spun I felt the warmblood start to trickle from my ears again

Could I do it Could I trap Stretch the way I hadbeen trapped

I felt Hannah tug my arm ldquoYou have to do itLukerdquo she whispered ldquoItrsquos our only chance BesidesStretch has been asking for itmdashhasnrsquot he Hersquos not a

103

friend of yours Hersquos an enemy Stretch has been ask-ing for it all yearrdquo

True Stretch wasnrsquot my friend But could I beresponsible for ruining Stretchrsquos life For turning himover to the Fate Master

Hannah gazed up at me from the wheelchair withpleading eyes ldquoDo itrdquo she whispered ldquoSave usLuke Do itrdquo

I turned to the Fate Master ldquoOkayrdquo I choked outldquoIrsquoll do itrdquo

The eyes flashed from red to sunlight yellowThe big coat opened and appeared to fly up Itraised itself over me like giant bat wings Floatedover me then floated down

I felt myself covered in a heavy darkness I couldnrsquot move It spread over me blacker

blackerI felt so cold So cold and lost As if I had been

buried buried deep in the cold cold groundAnd then I blinked and saw pinpoints of light

Flickering white lights that grew brighter so bright Ihad to squint

It took me a while to realize I was back in the gymBack on the gym floor A crowd huddled around meTight expressions worried faces

Someone leaned over me A face came into focusCoach Bendix stared down at me the whistle hangingfrom his neck

104

ldquoCoachmdashrdquo I tried to speak but the word came outa whisper

ldquoDonrsquot move Lukerdquo he said softly ldquoYoursquove had aconcussion but yoursquore going to be okayrdquo

ldquoA concussionrdquoldquoLie stillrdquo he instructed ldquoAn ambulance is on the

wayrdquoA concussionIt didnrsquot happen I realized The hooded figure with the glowing eyes The

Fate Master stepping out of locker 13 Taking awaymy good luck Ordering me to pass the skull toStretch

It didnrsquot happenIt was a dream A nightmare caused by my con-

cussionI jumped to my feet The floor swayed beneath

me The bleachers appeared to tilt to one side thenthe other

I saw Hannah in her wheelchair at the side of thebleachers

Shersquos still in the gym I told myself happily Wenever left the gym It didnrsquot happen None of it hap-pened

I felt so happy So freeBefore I even realized it I was running Running

to the doorldquoLuke HeymdashLuke Stoprdquo I heard Coach Bendix

calling to me

105

And then I was out the gym doors And racingthrough the dark empty hallways Running fullspeed

So happy And so eager to get away from thereAway from the school Away from my nightmare

Did I stop at my lockerI must have stopped there because I had my

jacket on when I burst outside Into the frosty nightair I saw a tiny sliver of a moon high in a purple-black sky I stopped for a second to breathe in thecold fresh air

Then I ran across the teachersrsquo parking lot to thebike rack Irsquod ridden my bike to school And now Iplanned to put the pedal to the metalmdashto race all theway home

ldquoYesrdquo So happy I felt so happy I could havedanced all the way home

I jumped on my bike Grabbed the handlebarsWhoa Something wrong A scraping sound I climbed off and glanced down A flat tire No

Two flat tiresldquoOh wowrdquo I murmured How did that happenNo big deal Irsquoll get the bike tomorrow I decided

I started to jog across the parking lot heading to thestreet My sneaker felt loose I squatted down to tiethe shoe lacemdashand it ripped between my hands

No problem I told myself I have plenty ofshoelaces at home I started walking turned onto thesidewalk crossed the street Behind me I could hear

106

shouts and cheers coming from the gym I guessedthat the game had started up again

ldquoGo Stretchrdquo I murmured As I made my way down the next block it began

to rain Softly at first But the wind picked up andthen the rain started coming down in sheets

I zipped my jacket and leaned into the wind Butthe rain drove me back wave after wave of freezingwater

I heard a crackling sound nearbymdashand sawjagged white lightning streak across the front yardacross the street A deafening boom of thunder shookthe ground

I pressed forward Trees creaked and nearly bentsideways in the torrents of wind and rain I couldnrsquotmove I ducked under a broad-trunked tree for safety

But a loud crack of lightning sent a tree branchcrashing to my feet

ldquoOhhrdquo I cried out A close callI jumped over the fallen branch Sharp pieces of

the limb scratched my arm as I struggled to raceaway Another jagged bolt of lightning crackled a fewfeet in front of me sizzling over the wet grass

Squinting through the downpour I saw smokesnake over the lawn The grass was burned blackwhere the lightning had spread

The wind shoved me backward Sheet after sheet

107

of rain washed over me I choked Struggled tobreathe

And then just beyond the rain just beyondthe heavy waves of dark water I saw two glowinglights two red eyes like dark headlights Two evil eyes moving with me watching me

The Fate MasterIt wasnrsquot a dream I suddenly knew that my flat

tiresmdashthe stormmdashthe lightning the pounding rainmdashit was all a show A show of strength

I staggered up my driveway Slipped on the wetgravel Sprawled facedown on the soaked stones

ldquoNooooo rdquoI struggled to my feet Stumbled onto the front

stoop A deafening shattering crash made me spin

around I saw one of the oak trees in front of thehouse split in half It appeared to move in slowmotion One half shivered but stayed upright Theother half of the broad old tree came crashing ontothe roof of the house

Windows shattered Roof tiles came slidingdown

I covered my head with one hand And pushedthe doorbell Frantically pushed the bell ldquoLet me inMom Dadrdquo I pounded on the front door with bothfists

Where were they

108

The lights were all on Why didnrsquot they open thedoor

A crash of thunder made me jump and cry outAbove the front stoop rainwater poured like a water-fall over the sides of the gutters Waves of rain rattledthe living room window and battered the bricks of thefront wall

ldquoLet me inrdquo I screamed over another roar ofthunder I pounded the front door until my fist ached

Then I heard a window slide open I turned to ourneighborrsquos house Through the curtains of rain I sawMrs Gillis poke her head out the bedroom windowShe shouted something But I couldnrsquot hear her overthe roar of rain

ldquoTheyrsquore not homerdquo I finally heard her shoutldquoThey had to go to the hospital Lukerdquo

ldquoWhat What did you sayrdquo My heart jumpedHad I heard correctly

ldquoItrsquos your dad He fell down the stairs Hersquos okayBut they took him to the emergency roomrdquo

ldquoNordquo I cried I beat my fists against the doorldquoNo No Nordquo

The Fate Master was putting on a show for meHe was showing me who was boss Giving me a littletaste of what the rest of my life could be like

ldquoOkayrdquo I shouted cupping my hands around mymouth Water pounded me washed over me bat-

109

tered me against the house ldquoOkaymdashyou winrdquo Iscreamed ldquoIrsquoll do it Irsquoll do whatever you sayrdquo

And I didThe next morning I gave the skull to Stretch

110

I found Stretch at his locker before school startedGiving him the yellow skull was the easiest thing inthe world

Stretch was leaning into his locker searching theshelf for something His backpack stood open on thefloor I pulled the skull from my jeans pocketmdashanddropped it into his backpack

He didnrsquot see anything He didnrsquot even know hehad it

ldquoHey Stretchmdashhowrsquos it goingrdquo I asked trying tosound calm natural As if I hadnrsquot just done some-thing terrible to him Something that would ruin hislife forever

ldquoYomdashhey Champrdquo He slapped me a hard highfive so hard my hand stung ldquoHowrsquos your headman It looks as ugly as everrdquo He laughed

I stared at him ldquoMy headrdquoldquoThat was a nasty collisionrdquo he said ldquoYour head

must be hard as a rock You feeling okayrdquoldquoYeah Not badrdquo I replied

111

Stretch snickered ldquoWell thanks for letting me getsome playing timerdquo He started to close up his back-pack

I stared at the backpack picturing the skull insideit The skull I had passed on to Stretch The tiny redeyes were probably glowing again Stretch was goingto have a lot of good luck for a while But then

ldquoMaybe you and I can practice together laterrdquoStretch said slamming his locker shut ldquoI can giveyou some more pointers Make you look like youknow what yoursquore doingrdquo

ldquoYeah Mayberdquo I saidStretchrsquos expression turned serious ldquoActually

yoursquore not bad manrdquo he said ldquoI mean it You are soimproved I mean yoursquore almost pretty goodReallyrdquo

I donrsquot believe this I thought Stretch is actuallypaying me a compliment

I shrugged ldquoIt was just luckrdquo I mutteredJust luck Ha haldquoNo wayrdquo Stretch insisted ldquoLuck had nothing to

do with it man It was hard work and skill No kid-ding It isnrsquot luck Yoursquore goodrdquo

I swallowed hard I suddenly felt like a totalcreep

Stretch was being so nice to me And what had Idone to him I just gave him a life of bad luck a lifeof slavery to the Fate Master

112

ldquoWhoa Forgot my science notebookrdquo Stretchgroaned He dropped his backpack to the floor andturned to unlock his locker

I stared down at the backpack feeling dizzy feel-ing sick

What am I going to do I asked myself What amI going to do

My bad luck continued all dayI answered the wrong questions on my algebra test

and got an F Miss Wakely warned me that Irsquod have todo extra work if I didnrsquot want to fail the course

At lunch the milk in my milk carton was lumpy andsour I didnrsquot notice until I had gulped down a bigmouthful Then I nearly puked my guts up in front ofeveryone

After lunch I started to comb my hair in the boysrsquoroommdashand a huge clump came out on the comb Igasped in horror and tugged out another clump of hair

Irsquom going to lose all my hair I realizedAs I hurried out of the bathroom I caught my shirt

on a nail and ripped one sleeve off I was so upset Ibumped into Miss Wakely from behind Her coffeecup flew out of her hand and scalding hot coffeesplashed all over her

I found Hannah after school She came rollingslowly down the hall in her wheelchair Her foot wasstill bandaged Her face was still covered in red

113

blotches And I saw that one of her eyes was swollenshut

ldquoHannahmdashIrsquove got to talk to yourdquo I criedldquoDid you pass it onrdquo she asked in a loud whisper ldquoHuhrdquoldquoIrsquove lost my voicerdquo she whispered ldquoDid you

pass the skull on to Stretch Wersquove got to change ourluck I can barely see My skin itches like crazy I canbarely talk ImdashI canrsquot go on like this Lukerdquo

ldquoIrsquove got to find the Fate Masterrdquo I said Hannah grabbed my torn shirtsleeve ldquoYoursquove got

to do what he said Yoursquove got to obey him Itrsquos ouronly chancerdquo

ldquoHow do I find himrdquo I askedldquoHe will find yourdquo Hannah whispered ldquoHe

appears in places of bad luck You knowmdashbrokenmirrors wherever the number thirteen is writtenrdquo

ldquoCome with merdquo I said I led the way to my lockerI waved to some guys heading to the pool for swimteam practice I wanted to be with them But this wasmore important

ldquoWersquove got to talk to the Fate Masterrdquo I toldHannah ldquoMaybe hersquoll come through my lockeragainrdquo

Hannah groaned in pain as she wheeled herselfbehind me ldquoMy foot hurts so muchrdquo she whispered

ldquoHe promised to end the bad luckrdquo I saidI turned the combination lock then pulled open

114

my locker door A burst of sour air choked the hall Igagged then held my breath

ldquoLookmdashrdquo Hannah choked out She pointed to thefloor of the locker

It was littered with dead birds A pile of brown-and-gray sparrows all dead and decaying

ldquoHe left us a presentrdquo I murmured ldquoWhere is heIs he going to appearrdquo

We didnrsquot have to wait long A few moments later I saw the glow of the red

eyes at the back of the locker And then the dark fig-ure stepped over the pile of dead birds and floatedout hunched beneath the black hood

ldquoHave you done what I askedrdquo he rasped thefiery eyes burning into mine ldquoHave you given me anew slaverdquo

ldquoYesrdquo I replied avoiding his stare ldquoThat was ourdeal right And now will you stop torturing us Willyou end our bad luck as you promisedrdquo

The hood bobbed up and down ldquoNordquo he saidsoftly

Hannah and I both uttered cries of protestldquoDid you really think you could make a deal with

the Fate Masterrdquo he boomed The open coat floatedup like bat wings ldquoI donrsquot make bargains with any-one I donrsquot make promises You will take whateverFate dishes outrdquo

ldquoYou promisedmdashrdquo Hannah shriekedThe evil figure snickered ldquoFirst you enjoy good

115

luck Then you must pay for it You cannot break thepattern You should know that You should know thatyou cannot bargain with Fate You will pay for yourgood luck for the rest of your liferdquo

ldquoNo Waitmdash Waitrdquo Hannah pleaded reachingup from the wheelchair grasping at the black cloakgrasping frantically with both hands

But the Fate Master spun around swirling thefoul air He stomped heavily on the dead birds as hestrode back into locker 13

In a second he had vanished Dead birds littered the floor of the hall the floor

of my lockerI turned to Hannah Her shoulders heaved up

and down Loud sobs escaped her throat ldquoHepromised rdquo

ldquoItrsquos okayrdquo I said softly ldquoI didnrsquot keep mypromise eitherrdquo

I pulled the yellow skull from my jeans pocket Hannah gasped ldquoYou didnrsquot give it to StretchrdquoI squeezed the skull in my fist ldquoYes I gave it to

him But I took it back before Stretch even saw it Icouldnrsquot do it Stretch was too nice to me ImdashIcouldnrsquot I couldnrsquot ruin someonersquos liferdquo

Hannah shook her head Tears spilled from herswollen eyes ldquoNow what are we going to do LukeWersquore doomed Now we donrsquot stand a chancerdquo

116

I bounced the basketball hard against the drive-way Drove toward the backboard and sent up ahook shot It bounced off the rim back into myhands I spun hard and sent up a two-handed shotthat dropped through the net

Overhead clouds covered the moon The garagelights sent white cones of light over the drivewayBehind me the house was dark except for a squareof orange light from my bedroom window upstairs

I glanced at the roof Men had worked all day torepair the broken and missing shingles The fallentree had been hauled away One windowmdashbroken inthe stormmdashwas still covered with cardboard

All my fault I realized All the damage to thehouse was my fault

My dad was walking with a cane He had a badlysprained knee from his fall down the stairs But hewas okay for now

That was all my fault too I knew All my bad luck

117

I heaved the ball angrily at the backboard Itthudded high bounced back to the driveway Ipicked it up and shot it through the hoop

Luck luck luck The word ran through my mind like an ugly

chantAnd then I heard Stretchrsquos words again Stretch

actually saying something nice to me ldquoLuck hadnothing to do with it Luke It was hard work andskillrdquo

Hard work and skillNot luckldquoYou cannot break the patternrdquo the Fate Master

had said ldquoFirst you have the good luckmdashthen youpay for itrdquo

The pattern You cannot break the patternNot luck Hard work and skillI shot the ball again Dribbled then shot again

Even though it was a cold frosty night sweat poureddown my forehead I wanted to work harder Harder

And as I practiced those words repeated andrepeated in my mind And I knew what I had to doI knew the only way I could end the bad luck forHannah and for me

The only way I could defeat the Fate MasterI shot again Again I moved to the foul line and

put up several foul shotsI didnrsquot stop when I saw the kitchen light flash on

The back door swung open Dad stepped into the

118

yard wearing his bathrobe leaning on his caneldquoLukemdashwhat are you doingrdquo he called ldquoItrsquos after

eleven orsquoclockrdquoldquoPracticingrdquo I said sending up another jump

shot Walking unsteadily he came up to the edge of the

driveway ldquoButmdashitrsquos so late Why are you doing thisrdquoldquoIrsquom going to win without luckrdquo I replied I sent

up another shot and watched it drop through thehoop ldquoIrsquom going to win with skill I shouted ldquoI canbreak the pattern I can win without luckrdquo

And then without realizing it I was screaming atthe top of my lungs ldquoI DONrsquoT NEED LUCK IDONrsquoT NEED LUCKrdquo

119

My plan was simple Maybe too simple But I had to give it a tryI didnrsquot tell it to Hannah She was pretty much

destroyed I didnrsquot want to give her any more toworry about

I knew I didnrsquot have much timemdashmaybe a day ortwo at the most

As soon as the Fate Master discovered that I stillhad the skull that I hadnrsquot passed it on to Stretch hewould come after me full force

My plan It was to break the pattern To win To win big To have a major success

Without luck Without needing any good luckIf I could win with my own hard work with my

own skill my own talentmdashit would be a defeat for theFate Master I would break his rule I would breakthe pattern

And maybe just maybe that would freeHannah and me

120

And thatrsquos why I practiced on my drivewayPracticed in the dark in the cold until after midnightHard work and skill

Hard work and skillShawnee Valley played Forest Grove this after-

noon The last game of the season My last chance to win without luckAs I changed into my team uniform I knew I had

to be great I had to be a winner today I had to winthe game for my team

And if I didIf I did maybe the nightmare would be overI was so nervous I had to lace up my sneakers

three times I kept knotting them up My fingers justwouldnrsquot work

ldquoGo Squires Go SquiresrdquoGuys were pounding their fists on the lockers

shouting jumping up and down getting pumpedgetting ready

Stretch gave me a playful slap as he jogged pastldquoTry not to bump heads today Champ We gonnabeat these clownsrdquo

I flashed him a thumbs-up ldquoTheyrsquore dead meatrdquoI shouted

I tucked in my jersey slammed the gym lockershut and trotted out into the gym I blinked underthe bright lights A big crowd nearly filled the bleach-ers They were stamping their feet in time to somemarching music over the loudspeaker

121

I searched for Hannah but didnrsquot see herThe last game of the year I thought as I picked up

a basketball from the rack My last chance I swallowed hard trying to force down my fearWas the Fate Master here Did he know that I

lied to him That I didnrsquot give the skull to StretchI donrsquot care about that I told myself Irsquom going to

be a winner today without his good luck Irsquom going to break the pattern Irsquom going to break the Fate MasterI dribbled up to Coach Bendix He slapped me on

the shoulder as I passed ldquoHave a great game Lukerdquohe called ldquoKeep it slow and steady Remembermdashjustfocus Focusrdquo

ldquoOkay Coachrdquo I called ldquoIrsquom ready I feel goodReal strong I think Irsquom going tomdashrdquo

I felt a strong blast of cold air It swept throughthe gym like an invisible ocean wave

And then I saw Coachrsquos expression change verysuddenly He was grinning at me flashing me athumbs-up And then his hand came down His facewent slack His eyes appeared to fade to glaze overas if a curtain had been drawn over them

As if hersquod been hypnotized or somethingldquoHey Lukerdquo he said motioning me back to him

He frowned narrowing his eyes at me ldquoWhat is itrdquo I asked keeping up my dribbleldquoTake the benchrdquo he ordered pointing to the

team bench with his whistle

122

ldquoHuhrdquo I gaped at himldquoThe benchrdquo he repeated his face a blank now

his eyes vacant dull ldquoYou canrsquot play todayrdquoldquoHeymdashno wayrdquo I protested ldquoWhat do you mean

Irsquove got to playrdquoHe shook his head ldquoYou canrsquot play today Luke

Your concussionmdashremember I need a doctorrsquos noteHave you been examined You canrsquot play until yoursquoreexaminedrdquo

My mouth hung open ldquoCoach Irsquove been prac-ticing so hard Please Yoursquove got to let me in the gametodayrdquo I pleaded My heart pounded so hard I feltdizzy My head throbbed ldquoCoach I have to playItrsquos the last gamerdquo

He shook his head ldquoSorryrdquo He motioned to thebench ldquoWe have to follow the rulesrdquo

Whose rules I thought bitterly The Fate Masterrsquosrules

Coach Bendix gazed at me with those glazedblank eyes ldquoSorry Yoursquove already played your lastgame Lukerdquo

ldquoButmdashbutmdashrdquo I sputteredldquoYoursquoll get rsquoem next yearrdquo he said He blew his

whistle ldquoStretchmdashyoursquore in Yoursquore playing thewhole gamerdquo

I stood there I didnrsquot move I stood in the middleof the floor with my hands on my waist Waiting formy heart to stop racing Waiting for my legs to stoptrembling

123

Then I turned and slowly trudged to the bench Irsquod lost today Score one round for the Fate

Master No way I could break the pattern today I was a

loser today But I wasnrsquot finished I could still winIf I had time

124

ldquoGive the skull to Stretchrdquo Hannah pleadedldquoMaybe the Fate Master will go easy on usrdquo

It was the next day We were huddled at the backof the lunchroom I could see Stretch laughing andkidding around with his friends at a table near thefront The Squires had won the game by two pointsand Stretch had been a hero

ldquoI canrsquot do itrdquo I said shaking my head ldquoBesidesyou heard what the Fate Master said He doesnrsquotmake deals It wonrsquot help to pass it to Stretchrdquo

Hannah let out a sigh She had her head buriedin her hands ldquoThen what are we going to dordquo

ldquoIrsquoll find a way to defeat himrdquo I said I bit into myham sandwich ldquoHeymdashrdquo I felt something hard

ldquoOh nordquo I moaned I spit out a tooth In a panic I moved my tongue around the inside

of my mouth ldquoMy teethrdquo I groaned ldquoTheyrsquore allloose Irsquom going to lose all my teethrdquo

Hannah didnrsquot lift her head She whispered some-thing too low for me to hear

125

ldquoIrsquove got to gordquo I said jumping up ldquoI have someideas Hannah Donrsquot give up hope I have someideasrdquo

I ran past Stretchrsquos table where the guys werelaughing and blowing straw wrappers at each otherStretch called out to me but I didnrsquot stop

I made my way to the computer lab The doorwas closed I pulled it open and burst breathlesslyinto the brightly lit room

ldquoMrs Coffey Mrs Coffey Itrsquos memdashLukerdquo I felt another tooth swing loose in my mouth I

gritted my teeth trying to press it down into placeA chubby young man Irsquod never seen before came

out of the supply room He had short black hair ontop of a round pudgy face and bright red cheeks Helooked like an apple with eyes He wore a red plaidshirt over black denims

ldquoIs Mrs Coffey hererdquo I demanded ldquoI need to talkto herrdquo

He set down the disk drive he was carryingldquoShersquos gonerdquo he said

ldquoYou mean she went to lunchrdquo I askedHe shook his round head ldquoNo She left school

She got another jobrdquoldquoImdashI knowrdquo I stammered ldquoBut I thoughtmdashrdquoldquoIrsquom Ron Handlemanrdquo he said ldquoIrsquom taking over

the computer lab Do you have a class with merdquoldquoUh nordquo I said ldquoBut I have a project I was

supposed to show Mrs Coffey She was going to send

126

it to someone who might put it in a show Itrsquos com-puter animation you see Irsquove been working on it fortwo years and and rdquo In my panic the wordspoured out of me I had to stop to take a breath

ldquoSlow downrdquo Mr Handleman said ldquoShe proba-bly left me a note about it She left me a stack ofnotesrdquo He glanced around the cluttered worktableldquoI put them somewhererdquo

How could Mrs Coffey leave without seeing myproject I asked myself How could she do that tome

Didnrsquot she realize how important it was Thiscould be my big triumph If my computer animationis accepted for a showmdashbecause of my hard workonly because of my skill and hard workmdashit wouldbreak the pattern It might defeat the Fate Master

Didnrsquot she realizeldquoUh can you look at my computer anima-

tionrdquo I askedMr Handlemanrsquos cheeks grew redder ldquoWhenrdquoldquoTonightrdquo I asked my heart poundingldquoWell I donrsquot think sordquo he replied ldquoNot

tonight I mean this is my first day I have so muchto do here Maybe next week rdquo

ldquoNordquo I screamed ldquoYou have to look at it PleaseItrsquos very importantrdquo

ldquoIrsquod love to see itrdquo he said picking up the diskdrive starting across the room with it ldquoBut I have toget organized Maybe rdquo

127

ldquoPleaserdquo I cried ldquoFind Mrs Coffeyrsquos note Wersquovegot to get it to the man whorsquos putting together thecomputer art show Pleaserdquo

He narrowed his eyes at me He probably thoughtI was crazy

But I didnrsquot care I needed a victory I knew therewasnrsquot much time

ldquoOkayrdquo Mr Handleman said finally ldquoBring it infirst thing tomorrow morning Irsquoll try to look at it dur-ing lunchrdquo

Not good enough Tomorrow might be too late Irealized

ldquoHow late will you be here this afternoonrdquo Iasked breathlessly

ldquoPretty laterdquo he replied ldquoSince itrsquos my first dayImdashrdquo

ldquoIrsquoll run home after school and get itrdquo I said ldquoIrsquollbring it to you before you leave tonight Could you I mean would you look at it this afternoonPleaserdquo

ldquoOkay I guess Irsquoll be here till at least fiverdquo hesaid

ldquoYesssrdquo I cried pumping my fist in the air Iturned and raced out of the computer lab

I can win I told myself I can defeat the FateMaster My animation project is good I know it isIrsquove worked for two years on it Irsquove put so much hardwork into it

I donrsquot need luck I donrsquot need good luck at all

128

After school I ran all the way home I burst intothe kitchen tossed down my backpack and startedto my room I stopped halfway to the stairs when Iheard voices from the living room

ldquoLukemdashis that yourdquo Mom calledMom and Dad were both there sitting in the

dark Dad leaned heavily on his cane Mom had herhands clasped tightly in her lap

I stopped in the living room doorway ldquoWhy areyou both home so earlyrdquo I asked

ldquoI had to come home I couldnrsquot workrdquo Dad saidsoftly ldquoThat fall I took It was worse than we thoughtLooks like Irsquom going to need surgeryrdquo

ldquoOh nordquo I muttered My fault It was all my faultBut I didnrsquot really have time to talk to them I had

to get to my computer I wanted to check out the ani-mation one more time before I made a copy for MrHandleman Then I had to rush back to school

ldquoBut why are you sitting in the darkrdquo I askedldquoWhy donrsquot you turn on some lightsrdquo

ldquoWe canrsquotrdquo Mom said shaking her head ldquoTherersquossome kind of trouble with the power lines to ourblock The electricity is off We have no power Nopower at allrdquo

129

I let out a horrified scream ldquoNooooo My com-puterrdquo

ldquoYoursquoll have to wait till the power comes backonrdquo Dad said

ldquoButmdashbutmdashrdquo I sputteredldquoWersquore having so much bad luck all of a suddenrdquo

Dad murmuredldquoWe may have to leave the house tonightrdquo Mom

said sighing unhappily ldquoWithout electricity we haveno heat We may have to check into a hotel or some-thingrdquo

ldquoOh nordquo I tugged at my hair A big clump of itcame out in my hand

I was losing my hair Losing my teeth How couldI fight back How

ldquoHe canrsquot do this to merdquo I screamed ldquoHe canrsquotHe canrsquotrdquo I turned and grabbed the banister andpulled myself up the stairs

ldquoLuke What are you sayingrdquoldquoWhere are you goingrdquo

130

I didnrsquot answer I dived into my room andslammed the door shut behind me

Breathing hard I stared at my computer Staredat the dark monitor screen

Useless Totally useless Frustrated I kicked the side of my desk

ldquoOwwwrdquo I didnrsquot mean to kick it that hard Sharppain throbbed up my leg up my side

ldquoOh waitrdquo I suddenly remembered I alreadymade a copy

Yes I made a backup copy of my project On myZip drive Yes

I fumbled frantically through the pile of disks onmy desk And grabbed the Zip disk

I still have a chance I told myself The FateMaster thought he shut me down But I still have achance

I stuffed the disk into my jacket pocket I hurledmyself down the stairs two at a time ldquoBye I have togo back to schoolrdquo I shouted to my parents

ldquoWhyrdquoldquoWhatrsquos going on Luke We need you hererdquoldquoHeymdashcome back and explainrdquoI heard their cries but I burst out the front door

and kept running ldquoIrsquoll stop the bad luckrdquo I said out loud ldquoIrsquoll stop

it Irsquoll stop the Fate MastermdashnowrdquoI found Mr Handleman in the computer lab

leaning over a keyboard typing an e-mail message

131

He spun around when I shouted hi to himI held up the disk ldquoHere it is Please Yoursquove got

to check it outrdquoHe motioned for me to sit down next to him ldquoI

spoke to the producer of the computer showrdquo hesaid ldquoHe called me this afternoon He said that if Iliked your animation I should send it over to himright awayrdquo

ldquoExcellentrdquo I cried ldquoThatrsquos great newsrdquoldquoArenrsquot you going to take your coat offrdquoldquoNordquo I answered breathlessly I shoved the disk

into the Zip drive ldquoNo time You have to see thisRight awayrdquo

He laughed ldquoSlow down Take a deep breathrdquoldquoIrsquoll breathe after you see itrdquo I said He leaned back in his chair and used his hands

as a headrest ldquoYoursquove been working on this for twoyearsrdquo

I nodded I found the file in the disk directory and double-

clicked it ldquoHere goesrdquo I said I was so nervous themouse trembled in my hand My chest was so tightit felt about to burst

Is it possible to explode from excitement I leanedforward to watch

The screen was solid black ldquoItrsquos starting nowrdquo Iwhispered

I stared at the black screen waiting for the brightburst of color at the beginning

132

Waiting Finally a dim glow spread over the screen Two circles of light Two red circles glowed in the

center of the darknessTwo red glowing eyes The eyes stared out unblinking unmoving

Blank round circles of shimmering redMr Handleman cleared his throat His eyes

remained locked on the monitor screen ldquoAre thoseeyesrdquo he asked ldquoDo they move or anythingrdquo

I opened my mouth to answer but no soundcame out

I stared frozen in horror at the glowing eyes Theevil eyes

And knew I had been defeated again Mr Handelmanrsquos cheeks were bright red now ldquoIs

this all there isrdquo he askedldquoYesrdquo I whispered ldquoThatrsquos allrdquoMy project was gone My two years of work were

lost The fiery eyes stared out at me in triumphI climbed to my feet and slumped out of the roomI trudged down the empty hall head down hands

shoved deep in my pockets Irsquove lost I realized Irsquoma loser forever now Hannah and me both Bad luckfor the rest of our lives

I turned a cornermdashand almost bumped intoCoach Swanson ldquoHey Lukemdashhowrsquos it goingrdquo heasked

133

I muttered a reply under my breathldquoI was going to call you tonightrdquo he said ldquoAndy

Mason is sick You have to swim in his place tomor-rowrdquo

I raised my head ldquoHuh Swimrdquo I had nearly for-gotten that I was on the swim team

ldquoSee you after school at the poolrdquo the coach saidldquoGood luckrdquo

Irsquoll need it I thought glumlyBut then I realized I was being given one more

chanceOne more chance to win without luck One more

chance to defeat FateOne last chance

The next morning I wore a baseball cap to schoolso no one could see the bald patches on my headWhen I brushed my teeth that morning anothertooth came sliding out between my lips

My tongue was covered with hard white bumpsMy arms and legs itched I was starting to get thesame red blotches on my skin as Hannah

Somehow I made it through the school day All Icould think about was the swim team race Wasthere any way that I might win That I might breakthe pattern and win the race and defeat the FateMaster

I didnrsquot have much hope But I knew I had to tryI knew I had to give it everything I had left

134

A few seconds after I lowered myself into the poolto warm up Coach Swansonrsquos whistle rang outechoing off the tile walls ldquoPractice laps everyonerdquothe coach shouted ldquoDo them half-speed Letrsquos seesome warm-up lapsrdquo

At the other end of the pool I saw Stretch kick offand begin swimming with steady strong strokes Idid a surface dive and started to follow him Thewarm water felt good on my itchy skin

I kicked hard Picked up speedAs I raised my head to suck in a deep breath the

water suddenly churned hard I swallowed a big mouthful Started to chokeI sputtered struggling to clear my throat strug-

gling to breatheAnd then to my horror my stomach heaved hard

ldquoGuuurrrrrrprdquo My lunch came hurling upI couldnrsquot hold it back I vomited a thick dark

puddle into the clear waterldquoOoh grossrdquoldquoSickrdquoldquoYuck Oh wowmdashhersquos puking his guts uprdquoA sick sour smell rose up from the water I heard

kids shouting and groaning in disgustAnd then I heard Coach Swansonrsquos whistle And

the coach shouting at me ldquoYoursquore outta there LukeGet out Yoursquore sick Yoursquore not going to swimtodayrdquo

135

No I thought This canrsquot happen again This ismy last chance

ldquoCoach Irsquom okayrdquo I shouted ldquoI just swal-lowed some water I can swimmdashreallyrdquo

Coach Swanson glanced around the pool AndyMason was in street clothes Joe Bork the other alter-nate didnrsquot show up

ldquoYoursquove got to let me swimrdquo I pleadedThe coach shrugged his shoulders ldquoTherersquos no

one else I guess Irsquove got no choicerdquoIrsquom going to do this I thought Irsquom going to win

today Irsquom going to do whatever it takes to winThe race got off to a good start I did a speed dive

at the whistle and found myself gliding strokingeasily in the lead

Swimming steadily keeping up a smooth rhythmI stayed in the lead until the waves began

Waves They tossed up in front of me rolledrapidly toward me splashed over me Wave afterwave Pushing me back Slowing my pace

136

Stroking harder to keep my rhythm I turned tothe side and glanced at the other swimmers The poolwas smooth the water flat for them

The waves were just for me A strong currentpushed at me slowing me shoving me back

I ducked under the waves Let them splash androll over me And swam harder

HarderldquoOhrdquo Something brushed my legI felt something curl around an ankle Something

bumped my waist I felt something slide around myknee

With another gasp I turnedmdashand saw the gray-green creatures Eels Were they eels

Wrapping around my legs Twining over mywaist

Long fat eels The water churned with themI cried out I saw the other swimmers gliding swiftly through

clear water They didnrsquot even notice my dark churn-ing water They didnrsquot even see the gleaming wetcreatures slithering between my legs Tighteningaround my ankles my legs

Slapping me slapping me hard slappingme back

ldquoNordquo I burst free I kept swimmingInto thick pink clusters of jellyfish The jellyfish

ballooned around me Stung my arms Stung mylegs Prickled the skin of my back

137

I cried out in pain The sticky creatures swarmedover me stinging stinging me again and again

I could see the other swimmers moving smoothlyahead of me now Gliding in smooth clear waters asI felt jolt after jolt of pain from the billowing jellyfishthat clustered over me

I slapped the water Slapped and kickedAnd let out another cry of pain as the water siz-

zled and boiled Scalding hot now It steamed andbubbled And my skin burned My skin is going toburn right off me I thought struggling to breatheStruggling to keep my arms moving through thescalding steam Kicking kicking hard

The other swimmers ahead of me now Moving sospeedily so steadily

I shut my eyes and swam Yoursquore not going tobeat me I thought Irsquom going to win going to win

And the thought gave me a final surge of energyI shot forward to the wall Plunged like a speed-

ing torpedo to the finishMy hand hit the wall I slapped the wallGasping gasping my chest heaving in

agony And knew that I had lostToo slow Too slowI knew that I had lost again

138

Water poured down my face I shut my eyes andstruggled to catch my breath

I heard a loud whistle Then I felt a hand on myshoulder A slap ldquoWay to go Lukerdquo

I opened my eyes to see the coach He grabbed myhand and pumped it hard Then he slapped me a highfive ldquoYou won You came from behind What a raceLuke Check out the time You set a school recordrdquo

ldquoHuh I did I wonrdquo He helped me out of the pool Guys were cheering

and yelling congratulationsBut the cheering was cut short by a deafening cry

from the middle of the pool A shrill wail that rose likean ambulance siren Higher higher until I wasforced to cover my ears

And then a mountain of water rose up from thepool Red and steaming like a volcano The water roseupmdashhigher highermdashlike a bubbling boiling red tidalwave And all the while the deafening wail rang outwith it

139

Everyone was screaming We all were screamingAnd then as suddenly as it rose up the molten

red mountain collapsed back into the poolCollapsed with a soft splash The pool was flat andsmooth again And silent Silent except for ourstunned gasps and cries

I turned to see Hannah running along the side ofthe pool Hannah out of her wheelchair RunningRunning wildly waving her arms excitedly laughingher red hair flying behind her

ldquoLukemdashyou did it Wersquore free You defeated FateLukemdashyou defeated Faterdquo

But it wasnrsquot enough Not enough for meI changed into my street clothes in seconds Then

I dragged Hannah down the hall to my locker Locker13

I stopped at the janitorrsquos closet And I grabbed ahuge sledgehammer

Hannah cheered as I raised the sledgehammer tothe locker and smashed it smashed it smashed it

Working feverishly I pried the battered lockerfrom the wall Kicked it onto its side Raised thesledgehammer again Smashed it crushed it smashed it

The battered locker door swung open I heard alow groan from deep inside

Hannah and I both leaped back as a skull rolledout onto the floor

140

Not a tiny skull A human-sized skull with glow-ing red eyes

The eyes glowed for only a few seconds Then theskull uttered a final groan a groan of agony ofdefeat And the eyes faded to darkness Empty dark-ness

I took a deep breath Ran up to itmdashand kickedthe skull down the hall

ldquoGoalrdquo Hannah yelledWe walked out of the school building arm in arm

Into the bright afternoon sunlight I took a long deep breath The air smelled so

fresh so sweet The houses the trees the skymdashthey all looked so

beautifulI stopped at the bottom of the sidewalk And bent

down to pick something upldquoHey check it outrdquo I showed it to Hannah ldquoIs

this my lucky dayrdquo I cried ldquoI found a pennyrdquo

141

142

Luke Greene is very superstitious so naturallyhersquos not happy when hersquos assigned Locker 13 atschool But amazingly a lucky charm he finds in thelocker changes his luck from bad to great NowLukersquos luck is so good he canrsquot lose No matter whathe does his lucky charm makes him come out ontop

But Luke discovers that his good luck comes witha very high price Will he pay it Or will he be lostlike others before him in the horror that is Locker 13

About Locker 13

The Locker 13 in Luke Greenersquos story does notexist anymore and it is unclear if anyone who hadthe locker in previous years suffered the same fate asLuke

People who have had unbelievably nightmarishexperiences often keep silent about them (Lukedidnrsquot tell his story to many peoplemdashonly his friend

Go Deeper Into This

Nightmare

Hannah and RL Stine know what happened) So itis possible that what happened to Erica Chass in thesame school 12 years earlier could be related toLocker 13

Erica Chass was a popular seventh grader inShawnee Valley Junior High She had good gradeswas a star soccer player and had lots of friends Thenone day everything seemed to change Erica blew offsoccer nearly failed out of school and was fearfuland shy with even her best friends She dressed onlyin black and always wore a necklace with a smallcharm in the shape of a skull

Then one day Erica moved away She didnrsquot saygood bye She just didnrsquot show up for school one dayand never came back

But some people who went to that school in thosedays insist thatrsquos not the end of Ericarsquos story

The following year a new girl joined the eighthgrade at Shawnee Her name was Alyssa GwynneShe was bright cheerful and a terrific soccer playermdashand she looked exactly like Erica ldquoYou would havesworn they were twinsrdquo says Tracey Holt who knewthem bothmdashldquoNo it was like the old Erica camebackrdquo says another friend Debra Wyle

What was the relationship between Erica andAlyssa Could they really be the same person Andwhat is the connection to the Locker 13 legendMaybe there isnrsquot one but several people havementioned that Alyssa had a necklace that she wore

143

every daymdasha necklace with a tiny charmmdashof askull

About Superstition

Most of our superstitions go back to a time whenpeople believed that witches and witchcraft wereeverywhere People in the middle ages seemed to livein terror that evil magic or witches would harm theircrops bring illness or other disaster to their livesMany of the superstitions that have lasted to ourtime go back to these ancient fears

Break a mirrormdashseven years bad luck Thissuperstition relates to the idea that our reflection is apart of ourselves Harm the reflection and you willharm the original According to the thinking of themiddle ages it takes seven years for the body torebuild itself after itrsquos been harmed So thatrsquos why thebad luck lasts for seven years Luckily there is a cureWash the broken mirror pieces in a south runningriver and the evil is washed away too

Itrsquos bad luck to walk under a ladder This goesback to a time when hanging was a common form ofpunishment It seems that the gallows were prettyhigh so a ladder was often rested against the side ofthe gallows platform Walking under this ladder wasliterally dangerous Be in the wrong place at thewrong time and a rotting dead body could fall onyou If you happen to be careless enough to walk

144

under a ladder you can change the bad luck Justcross your fingers until you see a dog

Black cats bring bad luck There are a lots ofsuperstitions about cats Letrsquos face it cats can becreepymdashand black cats are the creepiest Oneancient superstition about cats is that they will stealthe breath out of babies Where did this idea comefrom

Watch a cat as it settles itself into your lap Beforesnuggling up the cat will often sniff you in themouth At a time when so many babies died the cattheory is as logical as any other

Now for some superstitions that yoursquove probablynever heard of

If you find a knife in the road you will havebad luck

Donrsquot point at the moon (The man in the moondoesnrsquot like it and will bring you bad luck)

Donrsquot brush your hair after sunsetmdashespecial-ly if you have family who spends time on thesea (Brushing your hair at that time will mean dis-aster and death for themmdashand bad luck for you)

If a child hits a parent the childrsquos hand willwag over his grave and dogs will ldquowaterrdquo it

145

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

RL STINE says he has a great job ldquoMy job is to givekids the CREEPSrdquo With his scary books RL hasterrified kids all over the world He has sold over 300million books making him the best-selling childrenrsquosauthor in history

These days RL is dishing out new frights in hisseries THE NIGHTMARE ROOM When he isnrsquotworking he likes to read old mysteries watchSpongeBob Squarepants on TV and take his dogNadine for long walks around New York City wherehe lives with his wife Jane and son Matthew

ldquoI love taking my readers to scary placesrdquo RLsays ldquoDo you know the scariest place of all Itrsquos yourMINDrdquo

ldquoHey check it out A fortune-tellerrdquo Jilly saidShe pointed to a small black tent that stood besidean ice cream cart ldquoCan we do it I love fortune-tellersrdquo

ldquoNo wayrdquo I said ldquoThey make me nervous Idonrsquot even like watching them in moviesrdquo

ldquoCome on Maggie Itrsquos your birthdayrdquo her sisterJackie said pulling me to the tent ldquoYou have tohave your fortune told on your birthdayrdquo

ldquoLetrsquos see what the fortune-teller says about youand Glenrdquo Judy the third sister teased

ldquoI donrsquot think sordquo I saidBut as usual they didnrsquot give me a choice A few

seconds later we were standing at the doorway tothe dark tent

ldquoWersquoll all have our fortunes toldrdquo Jackie saidldquoMy treatrdquo

ldquoThis is so coolrdquo Jilly whispered ldquoDo you thinkits a real psychic Do you think she can really tellthe futurerdquo

The three sisters started into the tent I held backstaring at the red-and-black hand-lettered sign MISSELIZABETH FORTUNE-TELLER ONE DOLLAR

Take a look at whatrsquos ahead inTHE NIGHTMARE ROOM 3

Liar Liar

I suddenly realized that my heart was racing Why do I feel so weird I wondered Why do I

have such a bad feeling about thisI followed my friends into the tent The air inside

felt hot and steamy Two electric lanterns on the backtent wall splashed gray light over the fortune-tellerrsquossmall table

Miss Elizabeth sat hunched with her elbows onthe table head in her hands staring into a red glassball She didnrsquot look up as we stepped inside Icouldnrsquot tell if she was concentrating on the red ballor if she was asleep

The tent was completely bare except for her tableand two wooden chairs and a large black-and-whiteposter of a human hand The hand was divided intosections There was a lot of writing all over the postertoo small for me to read in the smoky gray light

As she stared into the red glass ball the fortune-teller muttered to herself She was a middle-agedwoman slender with bony arms poking out from thesleeves of her red dress and very large pale whitehands Squinting into the light I saw that the polishon her long fingernails matched the red of her dress

ldquoHel-lordquo Jackie called breaking the silenceMiss Elizabeth finally looked up She was kind of

pretty She had big round black eyes and dramaticred-lipsticked lips Her hair was long and wavy solidblack except for a wide white streak down themiddle

Her eyes moved from one of us to the other Shedidnrsquot smile ldquoWalter we have visitorsldquo sheannounced in a hoarse scratchy voice

I glanced around searching for WalterldquoWalter is my late husbandrdquo the fortune-teller

announced ldquoHe helps me channel information fromthe spiritsrdquo

Jackie and I exchanged glances ldquoWersquod like you to tell our fortunesrdquo Jilly saidMiss Elizabeth nodded solemnly ldquoOne dollar

eachrdquo She held out her long pale hand ldquoFour dol-lars pleaserdquo

Jackie fumbled in her bag and pulled out fourcrumpled dollar bills She handed them to the for-tune-teller who shoved them into a pocket of her reddress

ldquoWho wants to go firstrdquo Again her eyes movedslowly over our faces

ldquoIrsquoll gordquo Jilly volunteered She dropped into thechair across the table from Miss Elizabeth

The fortune-teller lowered her head again to gazeinto the red ball ldquoWalter bring me the words of thespirit world about this young womanrdquo

I suddenly felt a chill at the back of my neck Iknew I shouldnrsquot be frightened The woman had tobe a fakemdashright Otherwise she wouldnrsquot be workingin a tacky carnival like this one

But she was so serious So solemn She didnrsquotseem to be putting on an act

Or was I just being gullible againNow she took Jillyrsquos hand She pulled it up close to

her face and began to study Jillyrsquos palm Muttering toherself she moved her long finger back and forth fol-lowing the lines of the palm tracing them with herbright red fingernail

Jackie leaned close to me ldquoThis is coolrdquo she whis-pered

Judy sighed ldquoThis is going to take foreverrdquoJackie raised a finger to her lips and motioned for

Judy to shush The woman studied Jillyrsquos palm for a long time

squeezing the hand as she gazed at it murmuring toWalter in the red glass ball Finally she raised her eyesto Jilly ldquoYou are artisticrdquo she said in her scratchyvoice

ldquoYesrdquo Jilly declaredldquoYou are a dancerrdquo Miss Elizabeth continued

ldquoYou study the dance You are a hard workerrdquoldquoWhoa I donrsquot believe thisrdquo Jilly gushed ldquoHow do

you knowmdashrdquoldquoYou have much talentrdquo the fortune-teller mur-

mured ignoring Jillyrsquos question ldquoMuch talent Butsometimes I see your artistic side gets in the wayof your practical side You are you are rdquo

She shut her eyes ldquoHelp me Walterrdquo she whis-pered Then she opened her eyes again and raisedthem to Jillyrsquos palm ldquoYou are a very social person Yourfriends mean a lot to you Especially boy friendsrdquo

Jackie and Judy laughed Jilly flashed them anangry scowl ldquoImdashI donrsquot believe thisrdquo she told thefortune-teller ldquoYou have everything rightrdquo

ldquoIt is my giftrdquo Miss Elizabeth replied softlyldquoWill I make the new dance companyrdquo Jilly

asked her ldquoTry-outs are next week Can you tell meif I will be acceptedrdquo

Miss Elizabeth stared into the glass ballldquoWalterrdquo she whispered

I held my breath waiting for the answer Jilly andI were both trying out for the dance company And Iknew there was only room for one of us

ldquoWalter can find no answerrdquo the fortune-tellertold Jilly ldquoHe only groansrdquo She let go of Jillyrsquos hand

ldquoHemdashgroanedrdquo Jilly asked ldquoWhyrdquoldquoYour time is uprdquo Miss Elizabeth said She

motioned to us ldquoWho is nextrdquoJackie shoved Judy forward Judy dropped into

the chair and held her hand out to Miss ElizabethJilly came running over to join Jackie and me at

the edge of the tent ldquoIsnrsquot she amazingrdquo she whis-pered

ldquoYes she isrdquo I had to admit How did she know somany true things about Jilly I was beginning tobelieve Miss Elizabeth really had powers

And now I didnrsquot feel afraid or nervous I was eagerto see what the fortune-teller would say about me

She squeezed Judyrsquos hand and gazed deep intoJudyrsquos dark eyes ldquoYou have great love in yourdquo she

announced ldquoGreat love for animalsrdquoJudy gasped ldquoY-yesrdquoldquoYou care for them You work rdquoldquoYesrdquo Judy said ldquoI work in an animal shelter after

school Thatrsquos amazingrdquoMiss Elizabeth ran a red fingernail down Judyrsquos

palm ldquoYou also have an animal that you care aboutvery much A dog No A catrdquo

ldquoYes My cat Plumperrdquo Judy turned to us her face filled with astonish-

ment ldquoDo you believe this Shersquos right about every-thingrdquo

ldquoI know Itrsquos so coolrdquo Jilly exclaimed She sweptback her blond hair with a toss of her head She keptbouncing up and down She seemed too excited tostand still

The fortune-teller spent a few more minutes withJudy She told Judy that she would have a long suc-cessful life She said Judy would have a big familysomeday

ldquoOf kids Of animalsrdquo Judy asked Miss Elizabeth didnrsquot answer Next came Jackiersquos turn Once again Miss

Elizabeth was right on target with everything shesaid ldquoWowrdquo Jackie kept muttering ldquoWowrdquo

Finally I found myself in the chair across fromthe fortune-teller Suddenly I felt so nervous Mymouth was dry My legs were shaking

Miss Elizabeth looked older from close up

When she smiled at me the thick makeup on herface cracked Tiny drops of sweat glistened at herhairline

ldquoWhat is your namerdquo she asked in a whisperldquoMaggierdquo I told herShe nodded solemnly and took my hand She

raised my palm close to her face and squinted downat it in the gray light

I held my breath And waited What would shesee

She squeezed my hand Brought it closer to herface

And then then her eyes bulged wide Shelet out a loud gasp

With a violent jerk she tossed my hand awayAnd jumped to her feet Her chair fell behind her

clattering to the tent floorShe stared at memdashstared in open-mouthed

horrorAnd then she screamedldquoGet OUT Get AWAY from hererdquoldquoHuh Waitmdashrdquo I choked outldquoGet OUT You bring EVIL You bring EVIL with

you Get OUT of hererdquo

Credits

Cover illustration by Vince NataleCover design by John Fontana

About the PublisherAustraliaHarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty Ltd 25 Ryde Road (PO Box 321)Pymble NSW 2073 Australia httpwwwharpercollinscomau

CanadaHarperCollins Publishers Ltd55 Avenue Road Suite 2900Toronto ON M5R 3L2 Canadahttpwwwharpercanadacom

New ZealandHarperCollinsPublishers (New Zealand)PO Box 1Auckland New Zealandhttpwwwharpercollinsconz

United KingdomHarperCollins Publishers Ltd77-85 Fulham Palace RoadLondon W6 8JB UKhttpwwwfireandwatercouk

United StatesHarperCollins Childrenrsquos Books A Division of HarperCollins Publishers1350 Avenue of the Americas New York NY 10019wwwharperchildrenscom

These stories are my scariest ever says RL Stinebecause I wrote them at the Nightmare Hour

When the lights fade the world that we know as real slipsinto shadowmdashand the cold moonlit world of evil dreams

enters your mind and takes over

These ten terrifying tales will make you shiver at any hourIllustrated by ten outstanding artists

I really enjoy your workhellipthank you for creating newnightmares for me mdashKenny age 12 NY

They are horrifying storiesmdashthey even gave me thecreeps mdashSofia age 14 LA

My favorite book is Nightmare Hour mdashJeffrie age 9 WI

Winner of Disney Adventures magazinersquos first everKidsrsquo Choice Award for Best HorrorMystery book

0-06-028688-1 $995 Hardcover0-06-440842-6 $499 Paperback

Available wherever books are sold

Join RL Stine and all your friends in The Nightmare Room

wwwthenightmareroomcom

Ten New Stories by rl stineNightmare Hour

Join RL Stine and all your friends in

ROOMTHE

Step inside wwwthenightmareroomcom

and open the door to terror

You can share with RL Stine your most terrifying dreams and experiences If your stories are terrifying enough for RL Stine youcould star in your own NIGHTMARE ROOMbook

Log on to THE NIGHTMARE ROOM nowand read RL Stinersquos brand-new spine-tinglingstorymdasha story so terrifying that it canrsquot be soldin bookstores

Log on to wwwthenightmareroomcom

where you will truly enter

THE NIGHTMARE ROOM

wwwthenightmareroomcom

THE NIGHTMARE ROOM 3My Name Is EvilMaggie has her palm read at a carnival and then the terrifying accidents beginIs Maggie cursed Will she have to live forever in THE NIGHTMARE ROOM

THE NIGHTMARE ROOM 4Liar LiarRoss looks across the room and sees himself standing there But Ross doesnrsquothave a twin This party has taken Rossto THE NIGHTMARE ROOM

$399 Paperback Available wherever books are sold

Join RL Stine and all your friends in THE NIGHTMARE ROOMwwwthenightmareroomcom

What can happen next in

ROOMTHE

I turned away from the chart hoping no one couldsee how upset I was

How can this be happening to me I wonderedLocker 13 My whole year is ruined before it begins

My heart pounded so hard my chest ached Iforced myself to start breathing again

I turned and found Hannah still standing thereldquoWherersquos your lockerrdquo she asked ldquoIrsquoll walk youthererdquo

ldquoUh well I can deal with itrdquo I saidShe squinted at me ldquoExcuse merdquo ldquoI can deal with itrdquo I repeated shakily ldquoItrsquos

Locker thirteen but I can handle it ReallyrdquoHannah laughed ldquoLuke yoursquore such a supersti-

tious geekrdquoI frowned at her ldquoYou mean that in a nice waymdash

rightrdquo I jokedShe laughed again and shoved me into a crowd of

kids I wish she wouldnrsquot shove me so much Shersquosreally strong

I apologized to the kids I stumbled into ThenHannah and I started down the crowded hallchecking the locker numbers searching for num-ber 13

Just past the science lab Hannah stopped sud-denly and grabbed something up from the floor

ldquoHey wow Look what I foundrdquo She held up a five-dollar bill ldquoMmmmmmdashyesrdquo

4

She raised it to her lips and kissed it ldquoFive bucksYayrdquo

I sighed and shook my head ldquoHannah howcome yoursquore always so luckyrdquo

She didnrsquot answer that question It seemed like a simple question but it wasnrsquot And if she had told me the answer I think I would

have run awaymdashrun as far as I could from ShawneeValley Junior High and never come back

5

Letrsquos skip ahead two months Seventh grade was not bad so far I made some new

friends I made real progress on the computer anima-tion piece I had been working on for nearly two yearsAnd I actually won a spot on the basketball team

It was early November about two weeks into theseason And I was late for practice

Guys were already on the floor doing stretchingexercises bouncing basketballs to each other takingshort layups I crept to the locker room hoping no onewould notice me

ldquoLukemdashget dressed Yoursquore laterdquo Coach Bendixshouted

I started to call ldquoSorry I got hung up in the com-puter labrdquo But that was no kind of excuse So I justgave Coach a nod and started jogging full speed to thelocker room to get changed

My stomach felt kind of tight I realized I wasnrsquotlooking forward to practice today For a little guy Irsquom apretty good basketball player Irsquove got a good outside

6

shot and pretty fast hands on defense I was so excited to make the team But I wasnrsquot

counting on one problemmdashan eighth grader namedStretch Johannsen

Stretchrsquos real name is Shawn But everyone in theworld calls him Stretchmdasheven his parents You mightwonder how he got that name But if you saw him youwouldnrsquot wonder

Stretch had some kind of a growth spurt last year inseventh grade and he became a big blond giant prac-tically overnight Hersquos taller than anyone in the highschool He has shoulders like a wrestler and long armsI mean really long arms like a chimpanzee He canreach halfway across the gym

And thatrsquos why everyone started calling himStretch

I think a better name for him would be OstrichThatrsquos because he has long skinny legs like bird legsand a huge chest thatrsquos so wide it makes his pale blue-eyed head look as tiny as an egg

But I would never try my nickname on him I donrsquotthink I can run fast enough Stretch doesnrsquot have muchof a sense of humor In fact hersquos a pretty mean guyalways trash-talking and shoving people aroundmdashandnot just on the basketball floor

I think once he got over the shock of being a gianthe decided to be really impressed with himself

Like being a giant is some kind of special talent orsomething

7

But donrsquot get me started Irsquom always analyzingpeople thinking too hard about them about every-thing Hannah is always telling me I think too muchBut I donrsquot get it How do you stop thinking

Last week after a practice Coach Bendix saidnearly the same thing ldquoYoursquove got to play oninstinct Luke There isnrsquot time to think before everymoverdquo

Which I guess is another reason why I ride thebench Of course Irsquom only in seventh grade Sounless another giant forward tries out for the SquiresIrsquoll probably get to play next yearmdashafter Stretchgraduates

But for now itrsquos really embarrassing not to get toplay Especially since my parents come to everygame to cheer me on I sit on the team bench andwatch Mom and Dad up in the gym bleachers juststaring at me Staring

It doesnrsquot make you feel great Even the time-outs are painful Stretch always

comes trotting over to the team bench He wipes thesweat off his face and bodymdashand then throws thetowel onto me Like Irsquom some kind of towel boy

During one time-out late in the first game he tooka long gulp of Gatorade and spit it onto my uniformshirt I looked up and saw my parents watching fromthe bleachers

8

Sad Really sad Our team the Squires won our first two games

mainly because Stretch wouldnrsquot let anyone elsehandle the ball It was great to winmdashbut I wasalready starting to feel like a loser I wanted to play

Maybe if I have a really strong practice todayCoach Bendix will try me out at guard I told myselfOr maybe even as a backup center I laced up myshoes and triple-knotted them for luck Then I shutmy eyes and counted to seven three times

Just something I doI straightened my red-and-black uniform shorts

slammed the gym locker shut and trotted out of thelocker room and onto the floor Guys were at the farend taking three-point shots everyone shooting atonce The balls bounced off each other bounced offthe hoop The backboard rang out with a steadythud thud thud

Some of the shots actually dropped inldquoLuke get busyrdquo Coach yelled motioning me to

the basket ldquoGet some rebounds Make some shotsGet looserdquo

I flashed him a thumbs-up and ran to join theothers I saw Stretch leap up and make a highrebound To my surprise he spun around andheaved the ball at me ldquoLukemdashthink fastrdquo

I wasnrsquot expecting it The ball sailed through my

9

hands I had to chase it to the wall I dribbled backto find Stretch waiting ldquoGo ahead man Shootrdquo

I swallowed hardmdashand sent up a two-handedshot

ldquoHe shootsmdashhe missesrdquo Stretch shouted Someguys laughed

My shot bounced off the rim Stretch took threefast strides reached up his long arms and grabbedthe rebound in midair He tossed it back to meldquoShoot againrdquo

My next shot brushed the bottom of the netldquoHe shootsmdashhe missesrdquo Stretch repeated as if

that was the funniest thing anyone ever said Moreloud laughter

Stretch took the rebound and tossed me the ballldquoAgainrdquo he ordered

Everyone was watching now I sent up a one-handed layup that almost dropped in It rolledaround the rim then fell off

ldquoHe shootsmdashhe missesrdquoI could feel sweat rolling down my forehead

Why canrsquot I get lucky here I asked myself Comeon Lukemdashjust one lucky shot I slapped my lefthand rapidly against the leg of my shorts seventimes

Stretch bounced the ball to me ldquoGo champYoursquore O for three You got a streak goingrdquo Morelaughter

I shut my eyes for a second Then I sailed this

10

one highmdashand gasped as it sank through the hoopStretch grinned and shook his head The other

guys all cheered as if Irsquod just won the state juniorhigh tournament

I grabbed the ball and dribbled away from themI didnrsquot want to give Stretch a chance to ruin my vic-tory I knew he would keep me shooting till I wasone for three hundred

I turned to see if Coach Benson had watched myshot He leaned against the wall talking to two otherteachers He hadnrsquot seen it

I dribbled across the floor then back toward theothers Then I made a big mistake

A really big mistake A mistake that ruined mylife at Shawnee Valley Junior High

ldquoHey Stretchmdashthink fastrdquo I shouted And Iheaved the ball at him as hard as I could

What was I thinkingI didnrsquot see that he had bent down on one knee

to tie his sneaker lace I froze in horrormdashand watched the ball fly at

him It hit him hard on the side of the head knockedhim over and sent him tumbling to the floor

ldquoHeymdashrdquo he cried out stunned He shook hishead dizzily I saw bright red blood start to flow fromhis nose

ldquoStretchmdashIrsquom sorryrdquo I shrieked ldquoI didnrsquot seeyou I didnrsquot meanmdashrdquo

I lurched forward running to help him up

11

ldquoMy contactsrdquo he cried ldquoYou knocked out mycontactsrdquo

And then I heard a soft squish under my shoeI stopped Lifted my foot Stretchrsquos contact lens

lay flat as a pancake on the gym floorEveryone saw itStretch was on his feet now Blood rolled down

his lips his chin He didnrsquot pay any attention to it He had his eyes

narrowed on me He lumbered forward clenchingand unclenching his giant fists

I was doomed

12

Stretch reached under my arms and lifted me upHe was so huge and strong he picked me off thefloor like I was a ventriloquistrsquos dummy

ldquoWhoa It was an accidentrdquo I whisperedldquoHerersquos another accidentrdquo he said When he

talked he spit blood in my face He tightened his gripunder my arms

He raised me higher and gazed up at the basketIs he going to make a three-point shot with me Iwondered

Yes He is Hersquos going to slam dunk meBehind me I heard shouts A whistle blowing

Running footstepsldquoTake it outside Stretchrdquo I heard Coach Bendix

shoutHuhStretch slowly lowered me to the floor My knees

started to buckle but I managed to stay on my feet Stretch rubbed a hand across his bloody nose

then wiped it on the front of my jersey

13

ldquoTake it outsiderdquo Coach repeated edgingbetween us ldquoLetrsquos pair up everybody One on oneStretchmdashyou and Lukerdquo

ldquoNo wayrdquo Stretch mutteredldquoHersquos your backuprdquo Coach said poking Stretch

in the chest with his whistle ldquoYoursquove got to teachLuke Irsquom putting you in charge of Lukersquos develop-mentrdquo

Stretch snickered ldquoDevelopment He doesnrsquothave any developmentrdquo

ldquoGo to my office Get some tissues and stop thatnosebleedrdquo Coach instructed Stretch ldquoThen takeLuke to the practice court behind the playgroundShow him some moves Teach him somethingrdquo

Stretch stared at the floor for a few seconds as ifthinking it over But he knew better than to arguewith Coach Bendix He nodded at me ldquoLetrsquos goChamprdquo

What choice did I have Even though I knew itwas pain time for me I turned and followed him out-side

It was late afternoon pretty cold to be outside inbasketball shorts and a sleeveless jersey Since it wasNovember the big red sun had already loweredbehind the houses across the street from the play-ground

I shiveredStretch didnrsquot give me much of a chance to get

14

ready He pounded the ball hard on the asphalt courtand came racing at me like a stampeding bull

I tried to slide to the side But Stretch lowered hisshoulder and slammed it hard into my gut

ldquoOhhhrdquo I groaned and slumped backldquoDefenserdquo he shouted ldquoGet your hands up

Champ Get ready Here I come againrdquoldquoNomdashwaitmdashrdquo I pleadedThe ball thundered in front of him as he drove

into me again This time he kept his body up straightThe force of the collision sent me sprawling to theasphalt

ldquoDefenserdquo he shouted ldquoShow me somethingBlock me At least slow me down a littlerdquo

Groaning again I climbed to my feet I felt as ifIrsquod been hit by a truck

Stretch dribbled around me circling me his eyeslocked angrily on me His nosebleed had stoppedbut he still had dried blood caked under his nose

I rubbed my chest ldquoI I think I broke a ribrdquo Iwhispered

With a wild shout he slammed into me againThis time I flew backmdashand smashed into the thickwooden post that held up the backboard

ldquoYoursquore going to pay for those contacts Champrdquohe called hulking over me so I couldnrsquot stand updribbling the ball inches from my feet

ldquoYeah Okayrdquo I said trying to rub the pain frommy chest ldquoI said I was sorryrdquo

15

ldquoYoursquore gonna be more sorryrdquo he said Hebounced the ball hard against my bare leg ldquoGet uprdquo

I didnrsquot move ldquoIt was an accidentrdquo I insisted ldquoIreally didnrsquot see you bend down Reallyrdquo

He picked at the caked blood under his noseldquoGet up Letrsquos go Irsquom supposed to teach you some-thingrdquo He laughed really loud Irsquom not sure whyThen he swept a huge hand back through his shortwhite-blond hair and waited for me to stand up Sohe could teach me more lessons

I climbed shakily to my feet I felt so dizzy I hadto grab the wooden post My head ached My ribsached

ldquoCan we uh play a different gamerdquoI asked weakly

ldquoYeah Surerdquo he said ldquoHeymdashthink fastrdquoHe was standing so close and he heaved the ball

so hard it felt like a cannonball as it shot into mystomach

I stumbled back And let out a sharp gaspAnd then realized I couldnrsquot breatheI struggled hard to suck in some air No no air I canrsquot get air I saw bright yellow stars The yellow darkened to

redPain shot through my chest The pain spread

growing sharper sharper I was down on my back now staring up at the

16

17

sky staring up at the dancing red stars I wanted toscream But I had no air

Canrsquot breathe canrsquot breathe at all The stars faded away The color faded from the

sky All black All black nowAnd as I sank into the blackness I heard a voiceA beautiful soft voice from far far away Calling

my nameAn angel I realized Yes Through the blackness I heard an angel call-

ing my nameAnd I knew that I had died

ldquoLuke LukerdquoThe blackness lifted I blinked up at the afternoon

sky The voice was closer now And I recognized itldquoLukerdquoMy chest ached as I took a deep breathHeymdashwhen had I started to breathe againI lifted my head and saw Hannah running across

the basketball court She wore a blue windbreakerunzipped and it flapped up over her shoulders likewings Her red hair glowed in the late afternoon sunlike a halo

Not an angel Just Hannah She turned angrily to Stretch as she ran past him

ldquoWhat did you do to Lukemdashkill himrdquoStretch giggled ldquoProbablyrdquoHannah dropped onto her knees beside me Her

windbreaker fell over my face She tugged it awayldquoAre you alive Can you speakrdquo

ldquoYeah Irsquom okayrdquo I muttered I felt like a jerk Ahelpless jerk

18

Stretch walked up behind Hannah ldquoWhorsquos sherdquohe sneered at me ldquoYour girlfriendrdquo

Hannah spun around to face him ldquoHeymdashIrsquoveseen your girlfriendrdquo

Stretchrsquos mouth dropped open ldquoHuh Whorsquosthatrdquo

ldquoGodzillardquo Hannah declaredI tried to laugh but it made my ribs hurtThe next thing I knew Hannah was on her feet

shoving Stretchrsquos shoulders with both hands forcinghim to back up ldquoEver hear of picking on someoneyour own sizerdquo she demanded

Stretch laughed ldquoNo Tell me about itrdquo Hebacked away from her and raised his big meaty fistsHe grinned and started dancing like a fighter ldquoComeon You want a piece of me You want a piece ofmerdquo Imitating someone in a movie I guess

ldquoOne on onerdquo Hannah challenged Stretch tossed back his head and laughed His

blue eyes rolled around in his tiny head ldquoYou wanta piece of merdquo

ldquoFreestyle shootingrdquo Hannah said tearing off thewindbreaker She tossed it to the side of the courtldquoCome on Stretch Twenty shots each Any kind ofshotrdquo She stared up at him ldquoYoursquoll lose ReallyYoursquoll see Yoursquoll lose to a girlrdquo

His smile faded ldquoYoursquore on the girlsrsquo basketballteammdashrightrdquo

Hannah nodded ldquoIrsquom the centerrdquo

19

Stretch started to dribble the ball slowly in frontof him ldquoTwenty shots Layups or three-pointrdquo

Hannah shrugged ldquoAny kind Yoursquoll loserdquoI climbed to my feet and went over to the side of

the court to watch I still felt a little shaky but I knewI was okay

Stretch didnrsquot hesitate He raised the ball andpushed up a one-handed shot from half-court Theball hit the backboard then the rimmdashand droppedin ldquoOne for onerdquo he said He ran to retrieve the ballldquoIrsquoll keep shooting until I missrdquo

He missed his next shot an easy layup fromunder the basket

Hannahrsquos turn I crossed my fingers and countedto seven three times

ldquoGo Hannahrdquo I cheered holding up my crossedfingers

Hannah sank a basket from the foul line Thenshe drove under the basket and shot another one infrom underneath

My mouth dropped open as she sank eight morebaskets without a miss ldquoWow Go Hannahrdquo

Stretch just stood there looking dumb I couldnrsquottell what he was thinking His face was a total blank

ldquoTen for tenrdquo Hannah declared She bounced theball to Stretch ldquoYou go Just to keep it interestingrdquo

Hannah glanced at me grinned and flashed mea thumbs-up

Stretch wasnrsquot smiling anymore He had a grim

20

determined look on his face as he drove in close toshoot He dropped four straight baskets then missedone from in front of the foul line

He muttered something under his breath andbounced the ball to Hannah

Hannah sank eight more in a row She turned toStretch ldquoEighteen for eighteenrdquo

But he was already jogging back to the gym ascowl on his face

ldquoIrsquom not finishedrdquo Hannah called after himStretch turned back to me ldquoHey Champmdashmaybe

you should take a lesson from your girlfriend Ormaybe you should play on her teamrdquo Shaking hishead he disappeared into the school

A strong wind began to blow across the play-ground It was dark as evening now I picked upHannahrsquos windbreaker and reached out to hand it toher But she took another shot ldquoNineteenrdquo And thenanother ldquoTwenty Yay I winrdquo

I gaped at her ldquoHannahmdashyou never miss Howdo you do thatrdquo

She shrugged ldquoJust luckyrdquoI shivered We started jogging back to the school

ldquoAsk me how lucky I amrdquo I muttered ldquoI made a newenemy today A huge enemyrdquo

Hannah stopped and grabbed my arm ldquoHeymdashItotally forgot why I was looking for you I wanted totell you the coolest newsrdquo

I held the school door open ldquoYeah Whatrdquo

21

Hannahrsquos green eyes flashed ldquoYou know thosephotos I took of my dog I sent them to a magazine inNew York And guess what They paid me five hun-dred dollars for them Theyrsquore going to publish themmdashand do a big story about me Isnrsquot that so totally coolrdquo

ldquoWow Totallyrdquo I saidAnd thatrsquos when I decided my luck had to changeWhy should Hannah have all the luck I can be

lucky too I told myselfItrsquos all attitude Thatrsquos what it takes The right atti-

tudeI changed into my street clothes I made my way

upstairs to stop at my locker Locker 13 Basketball practice had run so late the halls were

empty My shoes clonked noisily on the hard floorMost of the lights had already been turned off

This school is creepy when itrsquos empty I decided Istopped in front of my locker feeling a chill at the backof my neck

I always felt a little weirded-out in front of thelocker For one thing it wasnrsquot with all the otherseventh-grade lockers It was down at the end of theback hall by itself just past a janitorrsquos supply closet

Up and down the hall all the other lockers hadbeen painted over the summer They were all asmooth silvery gray But no one had touched locker13 The old green paint was peeling and had largepatches scraped off Deep scratches crisscrossed upand down the door

22

The locker smelled damp And sour As if it hadonce been filled with rotting leaves or dead fish orsomething

Thatrsquos okay I can deal with this I told myself I took a deep breath New attitude Luke New

attitude Your luck is going to changeI opened my backpack and pulled out a fat black

marker Then I closed the locker door And rightabove the number 13 I wrote the word LUCKY in bigbold capital letters

I stepped back to admire my work LUCKY 13ldquoYessssrdquo I felt better alreadyI shoved the black marker into my backpack and

started to zip it up And thatrsquos when I heard thebreathing

Soft soft breaths So soft I thought I imaginedthem From inside the locker

I crept closer and pressed my ear against the doorI heard a soft hiss Then more breathingThe backpack slipped out of my hands and thud-

ded to the floor I froze And heard another soft hiss inside the locker It

ended in a short cry The back of my neck prickled My breath caught

in my throatWithout realizing it my hand had gripped the

locker handleShould I open the door Should I

23

My hand tightened on the handle I forced myselfto start breathing again

Irsquom imagining this I told myself There canrsquot be anyone breathing inside my lockerI lifted the handle Pulled open the doorldquoHeymdashrdquo I cried out in shock And stared down at

a black catThe cat gazed up at me its eyes red in the dim

hall light The black fur stood up on its back Itpulled back its lips and hissed again

A black catA black cat inside my lockerIrsquom imagining this I thought I blinked hard trying to blink the cat awayA black cat inside locker 13 Could there be any

worse luckldquoHowmdashhow did you get in thererdquo I choked outThe cat hissed again and arched its back It gazed

up at me coldly Then it leaped from the locker floor It darted over

24

my shoes down the hall Running rapidly silentlyHead down tail straight up it turned the first cornerand disappeared

I stared after it my heart pounding I could stillfeel its furry body brushing against my leg I realizedI was still gripping the locker handle

My head spun with questions How long had thecat been in there How did it get inside the lockeddoor Why was there a black cat in my locker Why

I turned and checked out the floor of the lockerJust to make sure there werenrsquot any other creatureshiding in there Then still feeling confused I closedthe door carefully locked it and stepped back

LUCKY 13The black letters appeared to glowldquoYeah Luckyrdquo I muttered picking up my back-

pack ldquoReal lucky A black cat in my lockerrdquo I held my lucky rabbitrsquos foot and kept squeezing

it tightly all the way homeThings are going to change I told myself Things

have got to change

But in the next few weeks my luck didnrsquot changeat all

One day after school I was on my way to the com-puter lab when I ran into Hannah ldquoWhere are yougoingrdquo she asked ldquoWant to come watch my basket-ball gamerdquo

ldquoI canrsquotrdquo I replied ldquoI promised to install some

25

new modems for Mrs Coffey the computer teacherrdquoldquoMr Computer Geek strikes againrdquo she said She

started jogging toward the gymldquoDid you get your science test backrdquo I called

after herShe stopped and turned around with a grin on her

face ldquoYou wonrsquot believe it Luke I didnrsquot have timeto study I had to guess on every question And guesswhat I got a hundred I got them all rightrdquo

ldquoThatrsquos excellentrdquo I called Irsquod studied for thattest for a solid week and I got a seventy-four

I made my way into the computer lab and wavedto Mrs Coffey She was hunched over her desk sort-ing through a tall stack of disks ldquoHey howrsquos itgoingrdquo she called

The computer lab is my second home Ever sinceMrs Coffey learned that I can repair computers andupgrade them and install things in them Irsquove beenher favorite student

And I have to admit I really like her tooWhenever I donrsquot have basketball practice I checkin at the computer lab to talk with her and see whatneeds to be fixed

ldquoLuke how is your animation project comingalongrdquo she asked setting down the disks Shebrushed back her blond hair She has the nicestsmile Everyone likes her because she always seemsto enjoy her classes so much

ldquoIrsquom almost ready to show it to yourdquo I said I sat

26

down in front of a computer and started to removethe back ldquoI think itrsquos really cool And itrsquos going muchfaster now I found a new way to move pixelsaroundrdquo

Her eyes grew wide ldquoReallyrdquoldquoItrsquos a very cool inventionrdquo I said carefully slid-

ing the insides from the computer ldquoThe program ispretty simple I think a lot of animators might like itrdquo

I set down my screwdriver and gazed across theroom at her ldquoMaybe you could help me You knowShow it to people Get it copyrighted or somethingrdquo

ldquoMayberdquo she said She stood up smoothing thehem of her blue sweater over her jeans She came upbehind me and watched as I removed the old modemldquoYoursquore really skillful Luke I think yoursquore going tomake a lot of money with computers some dayrdquo

ldquoYeah Mayberdquo I replied awkwardly ldquoThanksrdquo Ididnrsquot really know what to say Mrs Coffey is so awe-some She is the only teacher who really encouragesme and thinks Irsquom somebody

ldquoI canrsquot wait to show you my animationrdquo I said ldquoWell I have some big newsrdquo she said sud-

denly I turned and caught the excited smile on herface ldquoYoursquore the first person to hear it Luke Can youkeep a secretrdquo

ldquoYeah Okayrdquo I saidldquoI just got the most wonderful job At a really big

software company in Chicago Irsquom leaving school nextweekrdquo

27

The next afternoon I couldnrsquot check in at the com-puter lab I had to hurry to the swimming poolbehind the gym

Swimming is my other big sport I spent all lastsummer working with an instructor at our local poolHe was fast enough to make the Olympic tryouts afew years ago And he really improved my stroke andshowed me a lot of secrets for getting my speed up

So I looked forward to the tryouts for the Squiresswim team I couldnrsquot wear my lucky swimsuitbecause it didnrsquot fit anymore But I wore my luckyshirt to school that day And as I changed for thepool I silently counted to seven three times

As I left the locker room I heard shouts andlaughter echoing off the tile pool walls Feeling myheart start to race I stepped into the steamy air ofthe indoor pool The floor was puddled with warmwater I inhaled the sharp chlorine smell I love thatsmell

Then I bent down and kissed the top of the divingboard I know It sounds weird But itrsquos just some-thing I always do

I turned to the pool Three or four guys werealready in the water At the shallow end I sawStretch He was violently splashing two other guysHe had them cornered at the end of the pool His bighands slapped the water sending up tall waves overthem They pleaded with him to give them a break

Coach Swanson blew his whistle then shouted

28

bull bull bull

for Stretch to cut the horseplay Stretch gave the twoguys one more vicious splash

Then he turned and saw me ldquoHey Champmdashrdquo heshouted his voice booming off the tiles ldquoYoursquoreearly Drowning lessons are next week Ha ha Niceswim trunks Are those your girlfriendrsquos Ha hardquo

A few other guys laughed tooI decided to ignore them I was feeling pretty con-

fident About twenty guys were trying out I knewthere were only six spots open on the team But afterall my work last summer I thought I could make thetop six

We all warmed up for a bit taking easy laps lim-bering up our muscles getting used to the warmwater After a few minutes Coach Swanson made usall climb out and line up at the deep end of the pool

ldquoOkay guys Irsquove got to get to my night job by fiveso wersquore going to keep this simplerdquo the coachannounced ldquoYou have one chance One chanceonly You hear the whistle you do a speed dive intothe pool You do two complete laps any stroke youwant Irsquoll take the first six guys And two alternatesAny questionsrdquo

There werenrsquot anyEveryone leaned forward preparing to dive

Stretch lined up next to me He elbowed me hard inthe side ldquoGive me some room Champ Donrsquot crowdmerdquo

29

Okay so hersquoll come in first I figured rubbing thepain from my side That leaves five other places onthe team

Irsquom good enough I told myself I know I am Iknow I am

The whistle blew All down the row bodiestensed then plunged forward

I started my divemdashand slippedThe pool floormdashso wet My feet slid on the tile Oh noI hit the water with a loud smack A belly flop No kind of dive Struggling to recover I raised my head And saw

everyone way ahead of me One unlucky slip I lowered my head determined to catch up I

started stroking easily forcing myself to be calm Iremembered the slow steady straight-legged kick myinstructor had taught me

I sped up I passed some guys Hit the wall andstarted back

I can do this I told myself I can still make theteam

Faster At the end of the second lap the finish was a furi-

ous blur Blue water Thrashing arms and legs Loudbreaths Bobbing heads

I tried to shut out everything and concentrate on

30

my stroke ignore everyone else and swimAt last my hand hit the pool wall I ducked under

then surfaced blowing out water I wiped my hairaway from my eyes The taste of chlorine was in mymouth Water running down my face I glancedaround

I didnrsquot finish last Some guys were still swim-ming I squinted down the line of swimmers who hadfinished How many How many were ahead of me

ldquoLukemdashyoursquore seventhrdquo Coach Swansonannounced He made a large check on his clipboardldquoFirst alternate See you at practicerdquo

I was still too out-of-breath to replySeventhI let out a long sigh I felt so disappointed I could

do better than seventh I knew If only I hadnrsquotslipped

As I started to trudge back to the locker roomStretch strode up beside me ldquoHey Champrdquo Heslapped my bare back with his open hand so hard itmade a loud smack ldquoThanks for making me look sogoodrdquo

I got dressed quickly standing in a corner bymyself A few guys came over to say congratulationsBut I didnrsquot feel I deserved it

Across the locker room Stretch was still in hisswim trunks He was having a great time smacking

31

guys with his towel really making the towel snapagainst their bare skin laughing his head off

I tossed my towel in the basket Then I steppedup to the mirror over the sinks to comb my hair Aceiling lightbulb was out and I had to lean over thesink to see

I had just started to comb my wet hair backmdashwhen I saw the jagged crack along the length of theglass

ldquoWhoardquo I stopped combing and stepped backA broken mirror Seven years bad luck for some-

oneI reached into my khakis pocket and squeezed

my rabbitrsquos foot three times Then I turned back tothe mirror and began combing my hair again

Something was wrong I blinked Once TwiceA red light Some kind of red glare in the mirror

glassI squinted into the glassmdashand let out a cryThe red glare was coming from a pair of eyesmdash

two red eyes glowing like hot coalsTwo angry red eyes floating in the glass Floating

beside my reflectionI could see my confused expression as I stared at

the frightening red eyes as I watched the eyesslide across the glass slide slide closer until their red glow covered my eyes

32

My horrified reflection stared out at me with thefiery glowing eyes

And I opened my mouth and let out a long terri-fied scream

33

Over my scream I heard heavy footsteps behindme And then I heard a voicemdashStretchrsquos voiceldquoHeymdashget used to itrdquo

I spun around He grinned at me ldquoGet used to itChamp Thatrsquos your face It makes other peoplescream toordquo

ldquoNordquo I cried ldquoNo Itrsquos not Donrsquot you seemdashrdquoCoach Swanson burst in behind Stretch ldquoLukemdash

whatrsquos wrongrdquoldquoMy eyesrdquo I cried ldquoLook Are they red Are

theyrdquoCoach Swanson and Stretch exchanged glances ldquoWhat is his problemrdquo Stretch murmuredCoach Swanson stepped up close and examined

my eyes ldquoWhatrsquos wrong with you Luke Itrsquos just thechlorine from the pool Your eyes will be okay in a lit-tle whilerdquo

ldquoChlorine Huh Nordquo I insisted Then I glancedinto the mirror And saw my normal brown eyes gaz-ing back at me

34

No glowing eyes No red eyes burning in the glasslike an evil movie monster

ldquoUh well rdquo I rubbed my eyes They didnrsquotburn or anything They felt okay

I turned back to Stretch and Coach Swanson Ididnrsquot know what to say to them They were both stillstaring at me as if I were nuts

And maybe I was Black cats jumping out of my locker Glowing red

eyes in the mirrorldquoWell see you at practicerdquo I saidStretch laughed ldquoNot if I see you first Ha hardquoI laughed too It wasnrsquot funny but I wanted to

sound calm again normalAs I followed them out of the locker room I real-

ized I was trembling Why were these strange things happening to me

35

After dinner I was supposed to go to the mall withHannah She wanted to buy me some computer soft-ware for my birthday But she wanted me to pick itout

That was really nice of her But at the last minuteI decided not to go

I was still feeling weird from the swim tryoutsAnd I wanted to work on my animation project If Iworked really hard I might be able to get it finishedin time to show Mrs Coffey before she left school

I went up to my room and booted up the anima-tion But I couldnrsquot concentrate I kept staring at thefour-leaf clover inside a block of clear Lucite I keepon my desk And I kept jumping up and running tothe mirror to check my eyes

Perfectly normal Not glowingSo what happened What happened to me in that

locker room I asked myself I tried to convincemyself there was something wrong with the mirror

36

The red glow was because of the way the light hit thecrack in the mirror Or something

No That didnrsquot make senseThe phone rang a little before ten orsquoclock And it

was Hannah sounding very breathless and excitedldquoLukemdashyou shouldrsquove come You shouldrsquove

comerdquoI had to hold the phone away from my ear

Hannah was shouting so loud ldquoWhy What hap-penedrdquo I asked

ldquoI won itrdquo she declared ldquoDo you believe it Iwonrdquo

ldquoExcuse me Hannahmdashwhat are you talkingaboutrdquo

ldquoYou know the raffle at the mall That huge redSUV Itrsquos been on display there for a monthThousands of people put tickets in the boxThousands AndmdashandmdashI just happened to be walk-ing by when they had the drawing tonight Andmdashrdquo

ldquoYou didnrsquotrdquo I shriekedldquoYes Yes I won it I won the SUVrdquo ldquoWowrdquo I slumped onto my bed I actually felt

faint My heart was pounding as if I had wonldquoYou shouldrsquove seen me when they called out my

namerdquo Hannah gushed ldquoI screamed I just stoodthere and screamedrdquo

She screamed again shrieked at the top of herlungs A long high joyful scream

37

ldquoHannahmdashthatrsquos so awesomerdquo I said I donrsquotthink she heard me She was still screaming

ldquoMy family is so happy Luke You should seethem They are dancing around the living roomrdquo

ldquoThatrsquos so greatrdquo I saidHannah lowered her voice ldquoI just feel bad about

one thing Luke I was so crazed I was so berserk Iforgot why I was at the mall I forgot all about buy-ing you a birthday giftrdquo

I stood up I picked up the block with the four-leafclover inside and smoothed it between my handsldquoThatrsquos okayrdquo I told Hannah ldquoI just decided what Ireally want for my birthdayrdquo

ldquoWhatrsquos thatrdquo she askedldquoI want your luckrdquoHannah laughed She thought I was kidding But

of course I was seriousldquoAre you going to school tomorrowrdquo she askedldquoHuh Yeah sure Why notrdquoldquoTomorrow is Friday the thirteenthrdquo she said ldquoI

know how superstitious you are I thought maybeyoursquod stay home and hide under the bed all dayrdquo

ldquoHa hardquo I said But I felt a cold tingle at the backof my neck ldquoIrsquoll be thererdquo I told Hannah ldquoIrsquom nottotally wacko you knowrdquo

But Irsquoll wear my lucky shirt I thought And Irsquolltake my four-leaf clover in my backpack And Irsquoll askMom to pack my lucky sandwich for lunchmdashpeanutbutter and mayonnaise

38

ldquoI have to go to school tomorrowrdquo I told HannahldquoI have basketball practice after schoolrdquo

ldquoHowrsquos practice goingrdquo Hannah askedI chuckled ldquoNot bad So far I havenrsquot gotten any

splinters from sitting on the benchrdquoHannah laughed I could hear shouts and wild

laughter in the background ldquoIrsquove got to gordquo she saidshouting over the racket ldquoMy family is still celebrat-ing my winning the SUV Byerdquo

She clicked off before I could reply

That night I dreamed about locker 13In the dream I stepped up to the locker Someone

had taped a calendar to the door I came closer andsaw that Friday the thirteenth had been circled inred

I started to rip the calendar off the locker doorBut I stopped when I heard loud breathing Hoarsewheezing sounds Like someone was having troublebreathing

I touched the locker door And it was burning hotI screamed in shock and pulled my hand awayAgain I heard the hoarse breathing from inside

the locker And then I heard a tiny voice cry outldquoPlease get me outrdquo

In the dream I knew I was dreaming I wanted tolift myself out of the dream But I was stuck thereAnd I knew I had no choice I had to pull open thelocker door and see who was in there

39

ldquoPlease I want out Get me outrdquo the tinyfrightened voice called

Even though I knew I was dreaming I still felt sofrightened Real fear that makes you shake whetheryoursquore awake or asleep

I watched myself grip the door handle Slowlymdashso slowlymdashI pulled the locker door open

And I stared in horror at the figure huddled insidethe locker Because it was ME

It was me inside the locker hugging myself trem-bling all over It was memdashand my eyes started toglow My eyes glowed out from the dark locker red asfire

And as I stared at myself stared at those ugly evilred eyes I watched my face begin to change Iwatched hair grow out of my nostrils Long braids ofthick black hair sliding out of my nosemdashdown downto the locker floor

Beneath the shining red eyes thick blacktwisted ropes of hair were pouring from my nose Outof the locker Piling onto the hall floor Curlingaround me as I watched

Yes The long hair flowed from my nose andsnaked around me as I watched in horror Curledaround me covering me in warm scratchy hairCovering me like a big furry coat and then tighten-ing Tightening Tightening around my chestTightening around my face Wrapping me like amummy Wrapping me in my ghastly nose hair

40

I woke up one hand tightly wrapped around theLucite block with the four-leaf clover Gray morningsunlight seeped through my bedroom window Myroom was so cold cold as a freezer

ldquoLuke what are you doing up there Yoursquore laterdquoMomrsquos voice shattered the frozen silence

ldquoA dreamrdquo I murmured A hoarse laugh escapedmy throat My eyes darted around the room NormalEverything normal

ldquoHurry Luke Itrsquos really laterdquo Momrsquos voicesounded so good to me

I followed her order I hurried I got showereddressed ate breakfast and arrived at school withabout two minutes to spare The halls were prettyempty Most kids had already gone to their home-rooms

I glanced at the clock on the tile wall Then joggedto the end of the back hall to toss my jacket into mylocker

But a few feet from my locker I stopped with agasp

What was that on the door to locker 13I crept closer A calendarYes Someone had taped a calendar to the door

And and today Friday the thirteenth was cir-cled in red

41

ldquoMy dreamrdquo I murmuredThat horrifying dream Itrsquos coming true I realized

Irsquom going to open the door and itrsquos going to cometrue

42

I stared at the calendar at the number 13 circledin red marker

Last nightrsquos dream played itself again through mymind I shuddered My legs and arms itched I couldpractically feel the disgusting hair curling around myskin

With an angry cry I ripped the calendar off thedoor and crumpled it in my hand

Now I expected to hear the heavy breathing frominside the locker And the tiny criesmdashmy criesmdashbeg-ging to be let out

But I didnrsquot wait ldquoIrsquom not opening itrdquo I said outloud

No way am I going to allow the dream to cometrue

I tossed the wadded-up calendar sheet to thefloor Then I spun around and began running toclass The hall was empty My shoes thudded loudlyon the hard floor as I ran

Irsquoll keep my coat with me I decided Irsquoll just drag

43

it around with me all day I donrsquot need to open thelocker

The bell rang as I reached my homeroom doorMr Perkins looked up as I burst into the roomldquoGood morning Lukerdquo he said ldquoRunning a little latethis morningrdquo

ldquoA littlerdquo I replied breathlessly Unzipping myjacket I started to my seat

ldquoWould you like time to go hang your coat in yourlockerrdquo Mr Perkins asked

ldquoUh no Thatrsquos okayrdquo I lowered my backpackto the floor and dropped into the chair ldquoIrsquoll just keep itrdquo

A few kids were staring at me Mr Perkins noddedand turned back to the papers he was reading

I took a deep breath and settled back against thechair I rubbed the right sleeve of my lucky shirtseven times

That dream is not going to come true I toldmyself No way I wonrsquot let it

Of course I wasnrsquot thinking clearly How couldthat crazy dream come true

If I had stopped for one second to think about itI would have realized the whole idea was insane

But today was Friday the thirteenth And I nevercan think clearly on Friday the thirteenth I admit itIrsquom always a little crazy on that unlucky day

I glanced up to see that Mr Perkins had beenreading the morning announcements I hadnrsquot heard

44

a word he said I pulled the four-leaf clover from mybackpack twirled it in my hand and wished for goodluck for the rest of the day

At noon I found Hannah at a table against theback wall of the lunchroom She was sitting all byherself staring down at her brown lunchbag whichshe hadnrsquot opened

ldquoHi Whassuprdquo I dropped across from herldquoHirdquo she said softly without raising her eyes

ldquoHowrsquos it goingrdquoldquoWell pretty okay for a Friday the thirteenthrdquo I

said Actually the morning had flown by without anyproblems at all

I expected Hannah to make some kind of jokeabout how superstitious I am But she didnrsquot say aword

I pulled the sandwich from my bag and started tounwrap the foil ldquoMy lucky sandwichrdquo I saidldquoPeanut butter and mayonnaiserdquo

ldquoYumrdquo she said rolling her eyes She finallylooked at me She appeared tired Her eyes werebloodshot red as if shersquod been crying Her hair wasa mess and her face was gray

ldquoHow come yoursquore wearing your coatrdquo sheasked

ldquoOh uh no reasonrdquo I said ldquoI was kind ofcoldrdquo

She nodded glumly

45

ldquoDid you come to school in the new SUVrdquo Iasked

She shook her head ldquoWe donrsquot have it yet Dadhas to go fill out a lot of papersrdquo She let out a longsigh

I lowered my sandwich ldquoAre you feeling okayrdquo Iasked

She didnrsquot answer Instead she sighed again andstared down at the table

I poked her lunchbag with one finger ldquoWhat doyou have for lunchrdquo

She shrugged ldquoJust some fruit Irsquom not very hun-gryrdquo She opened the bag reached a hand in andpulled out a bright yellow banana

She struggled with the skin Then finally peeled itopen

ldquoOh yuckrdquo Her face twisted in disgust Shedropped the banana to the table

Inside the skin the banana was completely rot-ten Just a soft pile of black mush A horrible soursmellmdashlike ripe vomitmdashfloated up from it

Hannah shoved the banana away ldquoSick Thatrsquosreally sickrdquo

ldquoThe skin is perfectly freshrdquo I said ldquoHow couldthe banana be so rottenrdquo

ldquoI think I have an applerdquo Hannah said glumlyShe tore the bag apart and pulled out a red appleShe twirled it between her handsmdashthen stopped witha gasp

46

I saw the deep dark hole on the side of the appleAnd as we both stared at it a fat brown wormmdashatleast two inches longmdashcurled out from inside Andthen another And another

The worms dropped from the apple onto thetabletop

ldquoI donrsquot believe thisrdquo Hannah shrieked Shescraped her chair back so hard it toppled over

And before I could say anything she was runningfrom the room

After school I looked for Hannah on my way tobasketball practice I was worried about her She hadacted so weird at lunch Not like herself at all

I reminded myself that it was Friday the thir-teenth And sometimes people act a little weird onthis day

But not Hannah Hannah is the least supersti-tious person I know She walks under ladders all thetime and she hugs black cats and doesnrsquot think athing of it

And why should she Hannah has to be the luck-iest person on earth

Lockers slammed as kids prepared to go home Istarted to the gym then turned back I donrsquot want tocarry my coat and backpack to the gym I decidedIrsquom going to stuff them in my locker

I hesitated as the locker came into view at the endof the hall I read the words on the door LUCKY 13 Of

47

course I remembered my nightmaremdashand the calen-dar from my nightmare taped on the locker door

But I had to open the locker I didnrsquot want to carrymy stuff around with me for the rest of the year

ldquoHey Lukerdquo I saw Darnell Cross waving to mefrom the doorway to the science lab ldquoAre the Squiresgoing to beat Davenportrdquo

ldquoTheyrsquore not so toughrdquo I called back ldquoWe couldtake themrdquo

ldquoYou going to playrdquo Darnell asked He grinnedbecause he already knew the answer

ldquoAs soon as I grow taller than Stretchrdquo I repliedHe laughed and disappeared back into the lab I stepped up to locker 13 I brought my face close

to the door ldquoAnyone in thererdquo I called inSilenceldquoJust checkingrdquo I said I grabbed the door handle

I was feeling pretty confident Friday the thirteenthwas two-thirds over and so far nothing terriblyunlucky had happened to me

I squeezed my rabbitrsquos foot for luck Then I tooka deep breathmdashand pulled open the locker

48

Nothing unusual inside the locker I realized I was still gripping the rabbitrsquos foot

inside my pocket I let go of it and slipped my back-pack off my shoulders

I studied the locker carefully A bunch of booksand notebooks on the top shelf where I had leftthem My old gray sweatshirt lay crumpled on thelocker floor

No black cats No one breathing or crying orshooting piles of hair from his nose

I let out a long sigh of relief Then I tossed thebackpack on top of the balled-up sweatshirt Shovedmy jacket onto the hook on the back wall

I started to slam the door shut when I spottedsomething at my feet

My shoe kicked it and it rolled against the lockerbottom then bounced back

A ballI bent down and picked it up I raised it close to

my face

49

ldquoWhoardquo Not a ball A tiny yellow skull a littlelarger than a Ping-Pong ball

It had an open-mouthed grin revealing two rowsof gray teeth I ran my finger over the teeth Theywere hard and bumpy

I squeezed it The little skull was made of somekind of hard rubber

The eyesmdashsunken deep in the socketsmdashwere redglass They glowed in the hall lights like tiny rubies

ldquoWhere did you come fromrdquo I asked itI turned back to the locker Did the skull fall out

of the locker How did it get in there Was someoneplaying some kind of Friday the thirteenth headgame with me

I decided that had to be the answerI rolled the skull around in my hand a few times

I poked my finger against the glowing red glass eyes Then I tucked it into my pants pocket I slammed

the locker shutmdashand headed to practice

ldquoLook alive Heads up Look aliverdquo CoachBendix was shouting

I ran out of the locker room and grabbed a bas-ketball off the ball rack I began dribbling around thefloor

We were having one of Coachrsquos free-for-all prac-tices That meant we had to keep moving keepplayingmdashrun dribble pass shoot play defense Do

50

everything all at once in a big free-for-all I dribbled slowly across the floor concentrating

hard Trying not to lose the dribble I saw Stretch turntoward me He stuck out both hands and moved for-ward ready to block me

I decided to try and fake him out I dribbled leftmdashand moved right I edged past him easily Movedunder the basket And sent up a shot that sailedacross the gym and dropped in

ldquoHeymdashone for onerdquo I cried happilyldquoLucky shotrdquo Stretch calledI took the ball and moved back to the top of the

key I sent up a two-handed jumpshot It soared overthe rimmdashand dropped through the basket with a softswish

ldquoYesrdquo I pumped my fists in the airI didnrsquot have long to celebrate I turned and saw

Stretch barreling toward me dribbling hard leaningforward with grim determination

Hersquos going to charge right over me I realized Hersquosgoing to flatten me

Guys backed out of his way as Stretch flew acrossthe floor

ldquoLook out Lukerdquo someone shoutedI froze for a moment Then I ducked to the left

Stuck out my hand and slapped the ball away fromStretch

He made a wild grab for it But I dribbled it out of

51

his reach Then I spun around and sent a wild highshot into the air The ball hit the glass backboardmdashand sank through the net

ldquoWowrdquoldquoWay to go LukerdquoldquoThree for threerdquoThe other players were in shockStretch shook his head ldquoFeeling lucky today

Think fastrdquo He pulled back his long armmdashandheaved the ball at my chest with all his strength

I caught it easily Dribbled it three times Shotmdashand dropped another basket

Stretch scowled ldquoI donrsquot believe thisrdquo he mut-tered shaking his head

I donrsquot either I thought to myself Irsquove never shotfour baskets in a row in my life

I turned and saw Coach Bendix watching me Wasthis my big chance Stretch and another player werepassing the ball back and forth moving across thefloor

I shot forward Intercepted Stretchrsquos pass Droveto the basket And sent up an easy layup ldquoTwopointsrdquo I cried

With an angry grunt Stretch reached for therebound But I pushed it out of his hands Grabbed itSpun Shot again ldquoTwo pointsrdquo

Stretch cried out angrily He bumped me hard

52

from behind I think he would have flattened me onthe spot But he saw that Coach Bendix was runningover to us

Coach slapped me on the back ldquoWay to goLukerdquo he boomed ldquoWay to show real improvementIrsquom impressed Keep it up okay Irsquom going to give yousome playing time next Fridayrdquo

ldquoHeymdashthanksrdquo I replied breathlesslyI saw Stretch scowl Saw his face turn an angry

redI grabbed a ball and dribbled away I wanted to

shout and jump for joy Had my luck finally changedIt seemed that way Suddenly I could pass and

jump and shoot and play defense like I never couldbefore It was as if I was possessed or somethingPossessed by an all-star athlete

In the locker room after practice Stretch ignoredme But other guys slapped me on the back andflashed me a thumbs-up

ldquoLookinrsquo good LukerdquoldquoWay to go manrdquoldquoGo SquiresrdquoI was feeling really happy Like a new person As I

changed into my street clothes I felt the little skull inmy pants pocket I pulled it out and gazed at itsmoothing my thumb over the hard rubber

ldquoAre you my new good-luck charmrdquo I asked itThe tiny red eyes glowed back at me I kissed it

gave it a smack on top of its yellow head and shoved

53

it back into my pants pocketThat skull is going everywhere with me I decided

Itrsquos got to be lucky Itrsquos got to beAs I walked home I kept reliving my great bas-

ketball triumph I pictured my long perfect jump-shots again And I saw myself stealing the ball fromStretchrsquos hands driving right past him and scoringEmbarrassing him Embarrassing Stretch again andagain

Wow What a dayIt was a cold gray afternoon Dark clouds hung

low over the nearly bare trees It felt more like winterthan fall

A few blocks from home I crossed a streetmdashandheard a short cry

A long low evergreen hedge ran across the frontyard on the corner I stopped gazing over the hedgeHad the cry come from the yard

I listened hard Down the block a car doorslammed A dog started to bark The wind made awhistling sound through the phone lines overhead

And then I heard itmdashanother sharp crymdashlongerthis time

A baby It sounded like a babyrsquos cryldquoOwwwww OwwwwwwrdquoI lowered my gaze to the hedgemdashand saw the

creature making the shrill criesA cat No A small orange-and-white kitten

54

It appeared to be stuck in the prickly brambles ofthe hedge

ldquoOwwwww OwwwwwwrdquoCarefully I bent down and gently lifted the cat out

with both hands As I cupped my hands around it itstopped crying immediately But it was still breathinghard its white chest moving rapidly up and down Irubbed its head trying to soothe it

ldquoYoursquore okay little kittenrdquo I whisperedAnd then I heard another cry A loud shriekI looked up to see a large woman running at me

angrily Her face was bright red and she waved herarms furiously

ldquoOh nordquo I muttered I nearly dropped the catWhy is she so angryWhat have I done

55

ldquoThe kittenmdashrdquo she cried shoving through abreak in the hedge

ldquoImdashIrsquom sorryrdquo I stammered ldquoI didnrsquot know ImdashrdquoldquoWhere did you find herrdquo the woman demanded

her face still bright red ldquoIn in the hedgerdquoldquoOh thank you Thank yourdquo the woman said

She took the kitten from my hands and raised it toher cheek ldquoSasha where did you gordquo

Irsquom not in trouble I finally realized The womanis happymdashnot angry

ldquoSasha has been missing for two daysrdquo thewoman told me pressing the kitten against her faceldquoI offered a reward and everything I almost gave uphoperdquo

I let out a long sigh of relief ldquoShe was right thererdquoI said pointing ldquoIn the hedge I think she wascaught in itrdquo

ldquoWell shersquos fine now thanks to yourdquo Still press-ing the kitten to her cheek the woman pushed

56

through the hedge and started to the house ldquoWhat isyour namerdquo

ldquoLukerdquoldquoWell follow me Luke Irsquoll get your reward for

yourdquoldquoHuh Reward No Reallyrdquo I started to back

awayldquoYou saved Sasharsquos liferdquo the woman said ldquoYou

did a wonderful thing And I insist you take thereward I offeredrdquo

I saw that I had no choice I followed her to herkitchen door

A few minutes later she counted out five twenty-dollar bills and pressed them into my hand ldquoThankyou Luke You really did your good deed for todayrdquo

A hundred dollarsA hundred dollars rewardMy luck really is starting to change I decidedWhen I got home a big surprise awaited me Mom had made my favorite dinnermdashmeat loaf

mashed potatoes and gravy And a coconut cake fordessert

ldquoItrsquos not even my birthdayrdquo I exclaimedldquoI just felt like doing something nice for you

todayrdquo Mom said She brushed back my hair withone hand ldquoI know Friday the thirteenth is always ahard day for yourdquo

ldquoNot todayrdquo I told her grinning ldquoNot todayrdquo

57

After my second slice of coconut cake I went upto my room and started my homework I spent aboutan hour writing out the answers to my scienceassignment

It shouldnrsquot have taken that long But I kept tak-ing out the twenty-dollar bills counting them againand dreaming about what I could buy with them

After science I worked on my computer anima-tion Irsquod been having trouble with the last section Icouldnrsquot get anything to move the way I wanted

But tonight my good luck continued I had notrouble at all The images all slid together perfectly Ialmost finished the project

A little after nine I decided to give Hannah a callShersquod acted so weird at lunch that afternoon Ithought maybe she was sick or something

I called to see if she was feeling better But I couldtell by the way she answered the phone that she stillwasnrsquot her old self

I tried to cheer her up I told her about my tri-umph at basketball practice And about the hundred-dollar reward for finding the lost kitten

ldquoVery coolrdquo Hannah said But her voice showedno enthusiasm at all

ldquoAnd then Mom made all of my favorite things fordinnerrdquo I exclaimed

ldquoLuckyrdquo Hannah mutteredldquoWhatrsquos your problemrdquo I demanded ldquoWhatrsquos

wrong with you todayrdquo

58

A long silence at her endFinally she said ldquoI guess Irsquom just in a bad mood

I fell off my bike on the way home this afternoonrdquoI groaned ldquoOh no Are you okayrdquoldquoNot reallyrdquo she replied ldquoI scraped all the skin

off my right hand And I twisted my ankle prettybadrdquo

ldquoWowrdquo I muttered ldquoBad newsrdquoldquoEspecially since I have a basketball game tomor-

rowrdquo Hannah sighedldquoThink yoursquoll be able to playrdquo I askedldquoMayberdquo she said glumly ldquoMaybe Irsquoll come watch your gamerdquo I saidThere was a long silence And then Hannah said

ldquoLuke therersquos something something I have to tellyourdquo

ldquoExcuse merdquo I said She was whispering so lowI could barely hear her

ldquoI really should tell you something But rdquoI pressed the phone tighter to my ear ldquoWhat

What is itrdquo ldquoWell rdquoAnother long silenceldquoI canrsquotrdquo she said finally I heard a click and the

line went silentThe next morning my good luck came to an end

59

At least I thought my good luck had endedWhen I arrived at my science class I searched

my backpack for the homework questions Not thereI took everything outmdashevery paper every bookevery pencil

Not there I had spent over an hour on thatassignment last night And Irsquod left it at home

Now I was in major trouble Miss Creamer didnrsquotaccept late homework And homework counted forfifty percent of the grade in her class

My stomach tightened with dread as she enteredthe science lab to begin class

How could I be so stupid ldquoGood morning everyonerdquo she began ldquoI have an

announcement to make Itrsquos about last nightrsquos home-workrdquo

The room grew silentldquoI have to apologize to all of yourdquo Miss Creamer

continued ldquoI gave the wrong assignment Thosewerenrsquot the right questions Irsquom really sorry You

60

donrsquot have to turn it in Just tear it up and throw itawayrdquo

Cheers rang out Some kids gleefully ripped theirpapers into shreds A big celebration

Yes More good luck for me I thought happilyI was on a hot streak Later when Miss Creamer

handed back last weekrsquos test I had the only A in theclass

In the lunchroom I grabbed the last slice of pizzaon the counter

All the kids behind me in line groaned Darnellcame up and offered to pay me five dollars for it Butno deal

After school I stopped by the computer lab to seeMrs Coffey She told me her plans had suddenlychanged She wouldnrsquot be leaving school for anothertwo weeks

I cheered That meant I had time to finish mycomputer animation project and show it to her beforeI left

ldquoLuke I was talking about you to my friend whoowns Linkups You knowmdashthe computer store onHighlands I told him about how you can do any-thing with computers fix them upgrade them Hesaid you might be able to come into the store onSaturdays and help out in the service departmentrdquo

I gasped ldquoReallyrdquoShe nodded ldquoHersquos a really nice guy and hersquos

always looking for people who can fix machines He

61

said he couldnrsquot give you a real job since yoursquore onlytwelve But he could pay you five dollars an hourrdquo

ldquoWow I cried ldquoThatrsquos awesome Thanks MrsCoffeyrdquo

I practically flew down the stairs to the gym Iwanted to flap my arms and take off So many greatthings were happening to me I couldnrsquot believe it

Hannahrsquos basketball game had already startedwhen I stepped into the gym I found a seat in thebleachers and glanced up at the scoreboard TheSquirettes were already losing ten to two

Whatrsquos going on I wondered How can Hannahrsquosteam be losing so badly The team they were play-ingmdashthe Bee Stingers from Elwood Middle Schoolmdashwere the worst team in the city

I turned and glanced around the bleachers Therewere only about twenty kids watching the game Andfour or five parents clustered together at the top ofthe bleachers

ldquoGo Sharonrdquo one of the mothers yelledBut the gym was pretty quiet I guess because the

Squirettes were playing so badlyI leaned forward and tried to concentrate on the

game Sharon McCombs the tallest girl in the Shawnee

Valley eighth grade tossed the ball in A pass Thenanother pass which was almost stolen by a BeeStinger

Hannah grabbed the ball She turned and started

62

to dribble to the basket After about three steps shetripped The ball bounced away as she fell flat on herstomach

A Bee Stinger grabbed it just before it went out ofbounds She dribbled all the way down the floormdashand scored easily before Hannah had even pickedherself up off the floor Twelve to two

I cupped my hands around my mouth ldquoGet rsquoemHannahrdquo I shouted

She didnrsquot look up She was fiddling with thewhite bandage on her hand

A minute later Hannah had the ball again Inclose She jumped and shot And missed Missed thenet the backboard Missed everything

I leaned on my hands and watched the game insilence Hannah missed six or seven shots in a rowShe tripped over the ball hit the floor hard and gota huge bright red floor burn on her knee Her pass-es to her teammates went wild She kept losing theball to the other team Tripping over her own feetBumping into other players

It was sad She didnrsquot look like Hannah at allThe half-time score was Bee Stingers twenty-five

Squirettes five When the team came out to start the second half

Hannah sat down on the bench and didnrsquot play Whatrsquos going on I wondered I climbed down from the bleachers and walked

over to her on the bench

63

ldquoLuke you came to a bad-news gamerdquo she saidshaking her head

ldquoWhatrsquos wrongrdquo I asked ldquoYoursquore hurt Fromyour bike accident yesterdayrdquo

She watched the Bee Stingers score another bas-ket Then she turned to me ldquoNo Itrsquos not because ofmy accidentrdquo she whispered Her eyes were dullwatery Her skin was so pale

ldquoSo what is itrdquo I askedHannah frowned ldquoItrsquos all because I lost my good-

luck charmrdquo she said I gaped at her ldquoHuhrdquoldquoItrsquos what brought me all that amazing great

luckrdquo Hannah said ldquoI have to find it As soon as Ilost it my luck changedrdquo

My mouth dropped open I realized my heart hadstarted to pound

ldquoItrsquos a tiny skullrdquo Hannah continued ldquoA little yel-low skull ImdashI never went anywhere without itrdquo

She tugged at the bandage on her hand Then sheraised her eyes to me ldquoYou havenrsquot seen it any-where have you Lukerdquo

64

My legs suddenly felt weak I gripped the back ofthe bench and stared at Hannah I could feel my facegrowing red

I could feel the skull in my jeans pocket I knew Ishould pull it out and hand it to her

But how could II needed the good luck too Hannah had enjoyed

so much good luck for so long Mine had just startedFor the first time in my life I was having a little goodluck

How could I go back to being a loser againHannahrsquos watery eyes locked on mine ldquoHave you

seen it Lukerdquo she repeated ldquoHave you seen it any-whererdquo

My face burned So many frantic thoughtswhirred through my head

I really needed that good-luck charm Ever sinceI found it my life had changed I was a new person

But Hannah was my friend My best friend in the

65

whole world She was always there for me when Ineeded her

I couldnrsquot lie to hermdashcould IldquoNordquo I said ldquoI havenrsquot seen it anywhererdquoHannahrsquos eyes remained on me for a few seconds

more Then she nodded slowly and turned back tothe game

My heart was pounding hard now I had a heavyfeeling in the pit of my stomach ldquoWhere did you loseitrdquo I asked

She didnrsquot reply She cupped her hands aroundher mouth and cheered on her teammates

I backed away from the bench I felt like a totalcreep I jammed my hand into my pocket Wrappedmy fingers around the rubber skull

Give it back to her Luke a voice in my headurged The voice of goodness The voice of friend-ship

But I knew I wasnrsquot going to give it back I wasalready trotting out of the gym and down the hall tothe exit

I need it a little while longer I told myself Just alittle while

Long enough to win the basketball champi-onship Long enough to get really good grades for thefirst time in my life Long enough to impress myfriends to get on the swim team to make aname for myself long enough to be a winner

I squeezed the little skull all the way home Irsquoll

66

give it back to Hannah in a couple of weeks I toldmyself Two weeks thatrsquos all Maybe three And thenIrsquoll give it back to her And she can have her goodluck again No harm done

No harm donemdashright

The phone was ringing when I stepped in thekitchen door I tossed down my backpack and ran toanswer it

To my surprise it was Mrs Coffey ldquoLuke Irsquom glad I caught yourdquo she said ldquoI have

some really good news You know my friend at thecomputer storerdquo

ldquoYesrdquoldquoI spoke to him after you left the computer lab

And he said you could start work at his store onSaturdayrdquo

ldquoThatrsquos greatrdquo I exclaimedldquoBut thatrsquos not my good newsrdquo Mrs Coffey con-

tinued ldquoHe has a friend who is putting together ashow of computer animation And his friend is veryinterested in seeing your workrdquo

ldquoReallyrdquo I criedldquoHe needs short pieces for his animation show

right awayrdquo she said ldquoIf he likes your piece he saidhe will pay a thousand dollars for itrdquo

ldquoWowrdquo ldquoIs it finished Lukerdquo Mrs Coffey asked ldquoIs it

ready to show to himrdquo

67

I thought hard ldquoAlmostrdquo I said ldquoI need two moredays on it Maybe threerdquo

ldquoWell try to hurryrdquo Mrs Coffey said ldquoI think hehas most of the pieces he needs Hersquos going to beshowing them all over the country It would be ashame to miss outmdashrdquo

ldquoIt sure wouldrdquo I interrupted ldquoIrsquoll get right towork on it Mrs Coffey And thanks Thanks a lotrdquo

Excited I hurried up to my room and turned onthe computer Maybe I can get some work done on itbefore dinner I decided

I heard Mom come in downstairs I called hi toher and said I was working on my computer project

A few minutes later the phone rang again I heardMom talking for a while Then I heard her running upthe stairs She burst into my room ran up behind meand wrapped me in a big hug

ldquoHuh Whatrsquos that forrdquo I criedldquoThat was Mariorsquos Steakhouse on the phonerdquo

Mom said grinning ldquoYou know Your favorite restau-rant You won Luke Remember that drawing we allentered the last time we were there Well you wonit They picked your card You won dinner for thewhole family Twelve dinners One a month for thenext yearrdquo

ldquoWowrdquo I jumped up from the computerLaughing and cheering Mom and I did a happy littledance around the room

ldquoI canrsquot believe you won that drawing That is so

68

terrificrdquo Mom exclaimed ldquoWersquore going to have tostart calling you Lucky Lukerdquo

ldquoYeah Lucky Lukerdquo I repeated ldquoI like thatThatrsquos me Lucky Lukerdquo

I worked on my animation until nearly midnightI stared into the glow of the monitor until I couldnrsquotsee straight and the images became a fuzzy blur

ldquoAlmost finishedrdquo I said yawningI changed into pajamas brushed my teeth got

ready for sleep But just before I climbed into bed Ipulled out my lucky little skull for one last look

I held it gently in my hand and studied it rubbingmy fingers over the smooth top of the skull The tinyred jewel eyes glowed brightly

I rubbed my fingers over the hard bumpy teeth Itwirled the skull in my hand

ldquoMy little good-luck charmrdquo I whisperedI set it down carefully on my dresser in front of

the mirror Then I turned out the lights and climbedinto bed

I settled back on my pillows pulling the quilt upto my chin I yawned loudly The mattress creakedunder me Waiting for sleep I stared into the dark-ness

The curtains were pulled so no light washed infrom the street The room was completely blackexcept for a faint red glow

The glow of the two red eyes in the skull Like tiny

69

match flames against the blacknessAnd then I saw two more glowing spots of red

light Larger Behind the tiny skull eyesTwo circles of light in the mirror glass Two flame-

red circles the size of tennis ballsAnd as their light grew brighter more intense

I could see a form in the dresser mirror Deep nostril holes two rows of jagged grin-

ning teethA skull A red-eyed skullNot tiny A huge grinning yellow-boned skull

that filled the mirrorFilled the mirror And stared out at me with those

fiery flame-red eyesI sat straight up Squeezed the quilt And gaped in

horror as the jagged teeth moved The jaw slid open And the enormous skull mouthed the words

mouthed them so clearly ldquoLucky Lukerdquo

70

The giant glowing skull leaned forward as if topush out of the mirror The jaw worked up and downThe red glow seemed to bathe the whole room inflames

I opened my mouth in a horrified screamI screamed and then screamed againThe ceiling light flashed onldquoLukemdashwhatrsquos wrongrdquoBlinking in the sudden light I saw my dad burst

breathlessly into the room His pajama shirt wastwisted One pajama pants leg rode up to his kneeHis hair was tangled from sleep standing straight upon one side

ldquoWhat is itrdquo he repeatedldquoImdashImdashrdquo I pointed to the mirror My head spun

with confusion I couldnrsquot find wordsldquoThe skullmdashrdquo I finally choked outBrushing back his hair Dad crossed the room to

my dresser I stared into the glass

71

Nothing nowNothing in there except the reflection of my

room As he came near I could see Dadrsquos worriedface reflected in the glass

ldquoIs this what you were screaming aboutrdquo Dadasked He picked up the little yellow skull and heldit out to me ldquoThis skullrdquo

ldquoN-nordquo I stammeredI was thinking hard trying to figure out what I

had seenIt couldnrsquot have been the reflection of the little

skull I saw in the glass NoThe skull that loomed in the mirror was enor-

mous its eyes as big as basketballsDad still squinted at me from the dresser holding

the little skull up in front of himldquoI guess I had a bad dreamrdquo I said softly settling

back onto my pillows ldquoItmdashit was so weird I dreamedI saw a giant skull with flaming eyes But it wasso realrdquo

Dad shook his head ldquoWell if this little skull isgiving you bad dreams want me to take it awayrdquo Hestarted to the door

ldquoNordquo I screamed I jumped out of bed to block his path He looked

startled as I grabbed the skull from his handldquoItrsquos itrsquos a good-luck charmrdquo I said ldquoItrsquos

brought me a lot of good luckrdquo

72

Dad frowned as he gazed at the little skull in myhand ldquoYou sure Luke It doesnrsquot look good to me Itlooks evilrdquo

ldquoEvilrdquo I laughed ldquoNo way Dad No way Trustmerdquo

He clicked off the light on his way out A shortwhile later I fell asleep gripping the skull tightly inone hand

A few days later I screamed my head off again

73

This time it was for funA bunch of us were on our skates up on Killer

Hill Itrsquos actually Miller Hill But we call it Killer Hillbecause itrsquos up at the top where Broad Street scoopsstraight downmdasha steep steep slope down threeblocks to Miller Street

Miller Street has the most traffic in ShawneeValley So the idea is we come skating down BroadStreet full speed We come rocketing down the steepslope as fast as we canmdashand try to skate rightthrough the traffic on Miller

It makes all the car drivers totally crazy You canalways hear tires squealing horns honking driversscreaming as kids come skating right at them

Yes Itrsquos really dangerous Most kids wonrsquot eventhink of trying it But for a guy with my kind of goodluck whatrsquos the big deal

It was a sunny cold Sunday afternoon Froststuck to the tops of the cars My breath smoked upin front of me as I skated to the top of Killer Hill

74

I met Darnell up there He was having troublewith the brake on one of his skates Finally he justripped the brake off and tossed it in a trash canldquoWhy do I need brakesrdquo he said grinning at meldquoThey only slow you downrdquo

Stretch and some of his pals appeared a few min-utes later Stretch was wearing some kind of yellowsweats He looked like Big Bird on skates

He lowered his shoulder and tried to bump me offmy feet But I skated away easily And he didnrsquot tryagain

Things have been a little different betweenStretch and me since I took his place on the basket-ball team Hersquos my backup now He gets to play onlywhen Irsquom tired and need a short rest And I think hersquosin shock over it

Stretch still tries to give me a hard time But Idonrsquot think his heart is in it He knows hersquos a loserHe knows hersquos not one of the lucky peoplemdashlike me

ldquoYou ready to skaterdquo Darnell called He pulledon his helmet Then he stood in the middle of thestreet leaning forward hands on his knees

I gazed down the steep hill to the traffic belowEven though it was Sunday afternoon cars and vanssped along Miller as if it were the afternoon rushhour

I adjusted my knee pads ldquoReadyrdquo I said I movedbeside Darnell

Stretch skated in front of us He grinned at me

75

ldquoHow about a racerdquoI shook my head ldquoYoursquore too slow Darnell and I

donrsquot want to have to wait for you down thererdquoldquoHa ha When did you get so funny Champrdquo

Stretch reached into the pocket of his yellow sweatsHe held up a ten-dollar bill ldquoLetrsquos make it a real raceTen bucks each Winner takes allrdquo

He stuck the money in front of my face I shovedit away ldquoI donrsquot take candy from babiesrdquo I saidldquoKeep your moneyrdquo

Stretch gritted his teeth His pale face turned anangry red He leaned close ldquoYou gonna race me ornotrdquo he growled

I squeezed the rubber skull in my pocket I knewthere was no way I could lose ldquoOkayrdquo I said ldquoButIrsquom going to make it fairrdquo

I pulled a wool scarf from my coat pocket andstarted to wrap it around my head ldquoJust to give you achance Irsquoll skate blindfoldedrdquo

Stretch snickered ldquoYoursquore joking right Yoursquoregoing to skate through all those cars blindfoldedrdquo

ldquoDonrsquot do it Lukerdquo a voice calledI turned to see Hannah waving to me She was

hobbling up the sidewalk on crutches Her right foothad a large white bandage over it ldquoDonrsquot do itrdquo shecalled shrilly

I spun away from the guys and skated over to her

76

ldquoHannahmdashwhat happenedrdquo I asked motioning tothe crutches

She sighed and leaned heavily on them ldquoItrsquos myanklerdquo she said ldquoRemember when I fell off my bikeWe thought it was just a sprain But my ankle keepsswelling up like a water balloon I had to have itdrained three timesrdquo

ldquoYuckrdquo I said staring down at the bandageThe wind fluttered her red hair She shook her

head sadly ldquoThe doctors canrsquot figure out whatrsquoswrong ImdashI might need surgery I donrsquot know AndMom says if it doesnrsquot get better I canrsquot go on thejunior high overnight on Wednesdayrdquo

ldquoWow Thatrsquos bad newsrdquo I murmured Everyonelooks forward to the overnight The whole junior highgoes to a campground by the lake and everyonestays up and parties all night

I couldnrsquot take my eyes off Hannahrsquos bandagedankle Is this my fault I suddenly wondered Did Ireally take away her good luck Hannah has hadnothing but bad luck ever since I found the skull

Irsquom going to give it back to her I silentlypromised Real soon Real soon

ldquoYou skating or notrdquo Stretch called ldquoOr are youjust going to stand there and talk with your girl-friendrdquo

ldquoIrsquom comingrdquo I said I started to wrap the scarfaround my eyes

77

ldquoLuke donrsquotrdquo Hannah insisted ldquoDonrsquot do itblindfolded Itmdashitrsquos crazyrdquo

ldquoNo problemrdquo I said ldquoIrsquom a superhero HannahCars will bounce right off merdquo

I skated away from her ldquoYoursquore wrongrdquo she called ldquoLuke listen to me

The good luckmdashit doesnrsquot last foreverrdquoI laughed What was she talking aboutI skated up beside Darnell and grabbed his arm

to steady myself I pulled the scarf over my eyes untilI saw only black

ldquoYoursquore crazyrdquo he muttered ldquoYou could getkilled manrdquo

ldquoNo wayrdquo I declared ldquoIrsquom going to win twentybucks from you twordquo

I heard Stretch skate up beside me ldquoYoursquore doingthis for realrdquo he asked ldquoYoursquore going to skate into allthose cars blindfoldedrdquo

ldquoYou going to talk or skaterdquo I asked him ldquoFirstone past Miller Street without stopping wins themoneyrdquo

ldquoLukemdashdonrsquot be crazyrdquo Hannah calledIt was the last thing I heard before the three of us

took off I leaned forward skating straight and hard I

heard Stretch and Darnell beside me theirRollerblades scraping the pavement

As we picked up speed I could hear the traffic onMiller I heard a horn honk Heard someone shout

I skated down down laughing through thedarkness

78

ldquoLukemdashloooook outrdquoI heard Darnellrsquos scream I heard the squeal of

tires Horns honkedI tossed back my head and laughed I roared

through Miller Street the blade wheels whistling overthe pavement

Then as I turned my skates and came to a slowstop I ripped the scarf away And saw Darnell stand-ing on the curb on the other side of Miller His mouthwas open He shook his head

Stretch came skating around me ldquoYou crazyjerkrdquo he shouted ldquoYou were almost killed threetimesrdquo

I calmly held out my hand ldquoMoney pleaserdquoldquoYou lucky jerkrdquo Stretch muttered He slapped

the ten-dollar bill into my gloved hand ldquoYoursquorecrazy Really Yoursquore just plain crazyrdquo

I laughed ldquoThanks for the compliment And theten bucksrdquo

79

Grumbling to himself Stretch skated back up tohis friends

Darnell waited for the traffic to clear then skatedover to me He wiped sweat off his forehead ldquoYouwere almost killedrdquo he said his voice shaking ldquoWhydid you do it Lukerdquo

I grinned at him ldquoBecause I canrdquo

The weather turned warm for our overnight camp-out Even though the trees were bare the woodssmelled fresh and sweet almost like spring Highwhite clouds dotted the bright blue afternoon skyTwigs and dead leaves crackled and crunched underour feet as we hiked through the tall trees to thecamping grounds

I squeezed the small skull in one hand as Iwalked weighted down by the heavy pack on myback Some kids were singing a Beatles song Behindme a group of girls were telling really bad knock-knock jokes laughing shrilly after each one

Coach Bendix and Ms Raymond another gymteacher led the way along the twisting path throughthe trees I was about halfway back in the line ofkids

I turned and found Hannah beside me She woreher blue windbreaker with the hood pulled up overher head She was leaning on one crutch as shewalked struggling to keep up ldquoDo you have anywaterrdquo she asked

80

I slowed down ldquoYour parents let you come Isyour ankle betterrdquo

ldquoNot reallyrdquo she replied frowning ldquoBut I toldthem I had to come anyway I wouldnrsquot miss it Doyou have any water Irsquom dyingrdquo

ldquoYeah Surerdquo I reached for the bottle of water inmy pack ldquoDidnrsquot you bring anyrdquo

Hannah sighed ldquoMy water bottle had a leak orsomething It poured out and soaked all the extraclothes in my pack Now I donrsquot have a thing towearrdquo

I handed her the water bottle Leaning on the crutch she pushed back the wind-

breaker hood and I saw her face for the first timeHer skin was covered with big red splotchesldquoHannah whatrsquos thatrdquo I cried ldquoYour facemdashrdquoldquoDonrsquot look at merdquo she snapped She turned her

back and took a long gulp of waterldquoBut what is itrdquo I demanded ldquoPoison ivyrdquoldquoNo I donrsquot think sordquo she said still facing away

from me ldquoI woke up with it Some kind of red rashAll over my bodyrdquo She sighed ldquoI donrsquot get a breakrdquo

She handed the water bottle back to me andpulled the blue plastic hood over her head ldquoThanksfor the waterrdquo

ldquoDoes it itchrdquo I askedShe let out an angry cry ldquoI really donrsquot want to

talk about itrdquo She grabbed the crutch tightly swungit hard in front of her and hurried ahead of me drag-

81

ging her bandaged foot over the dirt pathShersquos having so much bad luck I guess itrsquos my

fault I thought squeezing the skull in my pocket But why are all these terrible things happening to

her Why isnrsquot there enough good luck for both of usI didnrsquot have much time to think about it Behind me I heard shrill frightened screams I

saw kids running off the path Screaming Calling forhelp

I spun around and headed toward them the heavypack bouncing on my back ldquoWhatrsquos going onrdquo Icried ldquoWhatrsquos wrongrdquo

More shrill screamsAnd then I saw the two enormous brown snakes

Swinging down from a low tree limb Blocking thepath

The same color as the tree they twisted their longbodies thicker than garden hoses and snapped theirjaws

I didnrsquot hesitate I dived forward stretching out myarms

ldquoLukemdashwhat are you doing Stay away fromthemrdquo I heard Coach Bendix shout

The kidsrsquo frightened screams rang through thewoods

ldquoGet away from themrdquo Coach orderedBut I knew nothing could hurt me I knew my good

luck would keep me safe

82

I shot my hands out And grabbed both snakesone in each hand

I wrapped my fingers around their thick bodiesThen with a hard tug I wrenched them off the treelimb And raised them high

ldquoWhoardquoI didnrsquot realize how long they were And how strongI let out a startled cry as both snakes wriggled

loose I saw the tiny black eyes flash Saw the jawsopen

Then both snake heads came crashing towardme jaws snappingmdashsnapping so furiously beneaththe flashing eyes snapping like bear traps

83

I felt a rush of air as they snappedmdashsnappedmdashsnapped their sharp-toothed jaws Heads swingingwildly Whole bodies swinging and shaking Thickwhite drool clinging to their pointed teeth

Shrill screams rose all around me I stared atthe snapping heads the glimmering black eyesmdashuntil it seemed that the snakes were screamingtoo

And thenmdashthey flew from my handsWriggled free with strong tosses of their heavy

bodies And plunged to the ground Disappearingso quickly Blending into the hard brown dirtVanishing beneath the carpet of fat brown leavestwigs and fallen limbs

As kids surrounded me I stood hunched overgasping for breath I smoothed my open handsover my ears my cheeks my whole face

I waited for the pain of the snakebites to spreadover me

But no No sting No throbbing No pain

84

They had snapped so close I felt their breathon my skin

But they hadnrsquot bitten me ldquoYoursquore so luckyrdquo Coach Bendix was saying He

had a hand on my shoulder and was examining myface ldquoI never saw anyone so lucky Why did you doit Luke Those snakes are deadly poisonousDeadly Why did you do itrdquo

I stared at him but didnrsquot answer I didnrsquot knowwhat to say

How could I explain it to him How could Iexplain to anyone what it felt like to be so incrediblyawesomely lucky

All around kids were cheering Congratulatingme Talking about me how brave I had been

Leaning against a tree I saw Hannah She stoodby herself crutch under one arm She was the onlyone not smiling not cheering

I saw the red blotches on Hannahrsquos faceWatched as she transfered the crutch to her otherarm And saw her scowling at me her eyes nar-rowed She shook her head and scowled

And in that moment I realized that she was jeal-ous Jealous of my good luck

Jealous that she was no longer the hero She wasno longer the lucky one

Too bad Hannah I thought watching her angryexpression I had felt sorry for her I had felt reallyguilty too

85

But no moreIrsquove got the luck now Hannah I thought And Irsquom

going to keep it

ldquoLetrsquos go guys Wersquove got another game to winrdquoI cried I gave Sam Mulroney a playful towel slap

Locker doors slammed Guys finished lacing uptheir basketball shoes

ldquoDid you see those Deaver Mills guysrdquo Mulroneyasked peeking into the gym through a crack in thelocker room door ldquoTheyrsquore monsters They must feedthose guys whole steaks five times a dayrdquo

ldquoBig doesnrsquot mean goodrdquo I said ldquoThey look likecows Theyrsquore so slowrdquo

ldquoWersquoll dribble circles around themrdquo Jay Boxersaid

ldquoJust feed me the ballrdquo I instructed them ldquoNomatter where I am Feed me the ball Irsquoll put it in Irsquomfeeling lucky today guys Real luckyrdquo

ldquoHey Champmdashrdquo Stretch called pulling on his jer-sey ldquoYoursquore not a ball hog or anythingmdashare yourdquo

Guys used to laugh when Stretch shouted insultsat me But not anymore Everyone was on my sidenow Everyone wanted to be on the winnerrsquos side

ldquoHey Stretchmdashwhat do they call yourdquo I shoutedback ldquoA bench hogrdquo

Everybody laughedStretch laughed too Now that I was a winner he

was starting to be a little nicer to me He even gave

86

me some dribbling tips after one practice The guys all headed out to the gym I could hear

the shouts of the crowd in the bleachers And thesteady thud of basketballs on the floor as the DeaverMills Lions warmed up

ldquoTime to kill me some Lionsrdquo I muttered I finishedlacing my sneakers

Then I stood up Started to swing my gym lockerclosed

And slammed my left hand in the doorldquoHeyrdquo I cried out in surprise as pain shot up my

arm I shook the hand hard trying to shake the pain

away My wrist throbbed I moved my fingers tiltedmy hand back and forth It moved okay Not broken

But the hand was red and already starting to swellldquoNo time for thisrdquo I muttered I slammed the locker shut with my right hand

And still shaking my left hand hurried out into thegym

The crowd cheered as I ran onto the floor I sawsome of the Deaver Mills players whisper to eachother and point at me They knew who the star playerwas They knew who was going to wipe the floor withthem today

We huddled close around Coach Bendix ldquoTake itslow with these guysrdquo he instructed ldquoFeel them outGet their rhythm Letrsquos rattle them show them we canplay defenserdquo

87

ldquoJust get me the ballrdquo I chimed in ldquoIrsquom going tobe loose under the basket all dayrdquo

We gave our team cheer and trotted out to the cen-ter of the floor I searched the bleachers for HannahShe said she would try to come to the game today

I spotted her at the side of the bleachers hunchedin a wheelchair Her bad foot was propped up and ithad an even bigger bandage over it

I guess it isnrsquot getting better I thought I felt a pangof guilt

Poor Hannah I looked for my parents Then I remembered they

werenrsquot coming today They had to stay home for a fur-niture delivery

I turned away from the crowd I had a game toplay Time to get my game face on No time to thinkabout Hannah and her problems

I went up for the opening jump I tapped the ballto Mulroney and the game was underway

He dribbled to half-court then sent a high pass tome

ldquoWhoamdashrdquo The ball flew right through my handsand bounced out of bounds

ldquoMulroneymdashtoo hardrdquo I called ldquoWho were youthrowing atrdquo

He shrugged and started trotting to the Lionsrsquobasket

ldquoGet in there Luke Get going Look aliverdquo I heardCoach Bendix shouting

88

The Deaver guard came dribbling slowly towardme I darted up to him stuck out my hand to steal theballmdashand missed

He moved past me easily and sent up an easylayup for two points

ldquoWeirdrdquo I muttered I shook my left hand Thepain had dulled to an ache but the hand was prettyswollen

I moved down the court Caught a pass Spunaway from the Lion defender Went in for an easy shot

And missedldquoHuhrdquoI heard the crowd groan Startled voices all aroundMulroney slapped me on the shoulder ldquoTake it

easy manrdquo he said ldquoPlay your game Just play yourgamerdquo

A few seconds later I drove in for a shotmdashand wasfouled I moved to the foul linemdashand missed both foulshots

More groans and muttering from the bleachers Isaw Coach Bendix shake his head

A bounce pass from Jay Boxer sailed right throughmy legs Some of the Lionsrsquo players had a good laughover that one

Then I missed three more shots in a rowMulroney flashed me a thumbs-up ldquoNo probrdquo he

called ldquoPlay your game Luke Wersquoll get rsquoemrdquoThe Lions were winning twelve to four I took another pass and moved under the basket I

89

leaped high for a slam dunk My arm hit the rim hard I cried out in pain And

watched the ball sail over the backboardldquoWhoa This isnrsquot happeningrdquo I muttered picking

myself up off the floor ldquoNo wayrdquoAt the other end of the floor I grabbed a rebound

off the backboard I dodged past a huge Lion playerDribbled away from him easily Picked up speedBrought the ball onto our side of the court

Eyed the basket Prepared to stop short and put upa three-pointer

And tripped Felt one sneaker bump the otherTripped over my own shoe

And watched the ball sail into a Lionrsquos hands as Istumbled I fell forward onto my stomach My armsand legs were out flat on the floor ldquoOOOFrdquo

I heard startled gasps from the bleachers Andlaughter

Yes Some people were laughing at meldquoWhat is going onrdquo I cried I forced myself to my feet Shook off the pain ldquoThis isnrsquot happening It canrsquot berdquoI reached into the pocket of my uniform shorts

Reached for my good-luck skullFumbled in the pocket Searched both pocketsldquoHeymdashrdquoNo No No wayThe skull was gone

90

Fumbling frantically in both pockets I began run-ning for the team bench ldquoTime out Time outrdquo Iscreamed

Had the skull fallen out of my pocketI squinted hard searching the gleaming polished

floor No sign of itldquoTime outrdquo I pleadedI heard a whistle blow on the sidelinesI had to find itmdashnow I couldnrsquot play without itMy eyes swept over the floor I began to run full

speed to the bench I didnrsquot see the huge Lions playermdashuntil we collidedI plowed right into him Caught him flat-footed He

let out a startled ldquoOofrdquo And we cracked headsldquoYaaaiiiirdquo I let out a scream of agony as blinding

red pain shot around my head The red shimmered togold Brighter brighter bright as the sun

I felt my legs giving out Felt myself collapsingcrumbling into a deep deep bottomless darkness

91

I woke up to pinpoints of yellow light They flick-ered high above me Each time they flashed a waveof pain rolled over my forehead down the back of myneck

I blinked hard Blinked until I realized I was star-ing up at the lights on the gym rafters

I lay on my back on the gym floor one kneeraised my hands flat at my sides I squinted up atthe high raftersmdashuntil faces blocked my view

Playersrsquo faces And then a few worried-lookingadults And then Coach Bendixrsquos face looming overme bobbing over me like a parade balloon

ldquoWhatmdashrdquo One word escaped my throat My drythroat So dry I couldnrsquot swallow

ldquoStay still Lukerdquo Coach ordered speaking softlyHis dark eyes peered down into mine studying meldquoYoursquove had a bad concussion Donrsquot try to moveWersquore sending you to the emergency roomrdquo

ldquoHuh Nordquo I gasped I rolled onto my side I lurched to my feet The

floor tilted from side to side as if I were on a rockingboat

ldquoDonrsquot move Lukerdquo Coach reached for meBut I staggered out of his grasp Stumbled

through the circle of people that had formed aroundme

ldquoNo No hospitalrdquo I croaked

92

I had to find that skull That was all I needed andthen I would be okay again

The skull I stumbled over someonersquos shoe Staggered

toward the locker room The gleaming wood floorswaying beneath me

ldquoLukemdashcome backrdquoNo No way I shoved open the locker room door

with one shoulder And sliding a hand against thelockers moved to the back row Lurched to my gymlocker Pulled open the door so hard it slammedagainst the frame

ldquoWhere is it WhererdquoI frantically pawed through my street clothes

Searched and then tossed everything onto the floor ldquoWhere WhererdquoNot in my khakis pockets Not in my shirt pocket

Not in my sweatshirtThe locker floor No Nothing down thereStumbling over the pile of clothes on the floor I

lurched back down the row of gym lockers Ranthrough the gym out the doors and up the stairsInto the long empty hall

My sneakers squeaked on the hard floor as I ranThe walls and ceiling appeared to close in on methen slide back into place

To my locker To locker 13

93

It took me three tries to get the combination rightBut finally I unlocked it and flung open the door

And jammed my hand into one coat pocket andthen the other

ldquoWhere is it I have to have it Where WhererdquoAnd then a long happy sigh escaped my parched

throat as my hand closed around it YessssI was so happyI had the skull in my hand I squeezed it tightly

So happy So happyI pulled it out of the coat pocket Raised it in front

of me Raised it close to examine it And let out a cry of horror

94

The eyes They were dark Not red not glowingAnd the face had changed The bump-toothed

grin was gone The open mouth was curled down ina fierce angry scowl

ldquoNomdashitrsquos impossiblerdquo I gaspedI held the skull up to the light The red jewel eyes

were gone The deep round sockets were empty Theskull scowled down at me dark and menacing

What does this mean I wondered How did thishappen

Before I could think about it clearly I glimpsedsomething in the open locker A soft glow A slowmoving light growing larger as if moving closer

The light split into two Two circles of red lightDown low Very low near the locker floor

I gripped the skull tightly in my fist and stared asthe red lights glimmered closer The whole lockershimmered The dark walls reflected the two lightsBrighter bright as fire now

95

Two red eyes I realized Two glowing eyes float-ing from the blackness of locker 13

I jumped back as a black cat stepped silently outas if floating A black cat with fiery red eyes Thesame black cat as before

It pulled back its lips bared pointed white teethand hissed at me

My back hit the wall I blinked against the bright-ness of those two circles of red light

And as I trembled in horror squeezing the skullsqueezing it so tightly my hand achedmdashthe cat roseup off the floor

And melted into another formMelted and grew taller Taller The cat became

a human figure dressed all in black wrapped in abroad black coat down to the floor its face hidden inthe darkness of a black hood

Hidden All hidden except for the eyesmdashthosehorrifying fiery eyes

ldquoWh-who are you What do you wantrdquo I startledmyself by crying out those words I didnrsquot think Icould speak

My whole body trembled I pressed myselfagainst the wall to keep from falling to my knees

The hooded figure stepped silently away from theopen locker A hoarse rasp burst out from under thehood a whisper like the crackle of dead leaves ldquoTheluck has run out Lukerdquo

ldquoNordquo I gasped

96

A bony hand swung out from the sleeve of theblack coatmdashand swiped the skull away from me

ldquoNordquo I cried in protest ldquoNo NordquoldquoThe luck is overrdquo ldquoWho are yourdquo I shrieked in a tight terrified

voice ldquoWh-who How did you get in my lockerWhat do you wantrdquo I screamed in total panic

ldquoThe luck is overrdquoldquoIt canrsquot berdquo I cried ldquoIt canrsquot be I need itrdquoldquoOver rdquo the hooded figure rasped ldquoOver

over rdquoThe red eyes glowed from under the hood The

bony hand held the tiny skull in front of the broadblack coat

ldquoI need that luckrdquo I wailed ldquoI need that skullrdquoAnd I grabbed it back Grabbed it out of the bony

handldquoI need it I have to have itrdquoI raised the skull in front of me Stared hard at it What was wrong with it Something wriggling on

it wriggling in my hand crawling over mypalm

ldquoOhhhhrdquo I let out a moan as I saw The skull wascovered crawling crawling with hundreds ofmaggots

97

The skull fell from my hand and bounced acrossthe floor I frantically shook my hand scraped itagainst the wall brushing the disgusting maggots offmy skin

Under the black hood the red eyes glowed brighterldquoYou enjoyed a lot of good luck Lukerdquo the figure saidin his hoarse croak ldquoBut the luck has ended And nowyou must pay for itrdquo

ldquoHuh Payrdquo I felt my throat tighten I stared at thefiery eyes trying to see a face trying to see who wasspeaking to me from under that hood

ldquoLukemdashIrsquom so sorryrdquo a voice called I turned to find Hannah wheeling herself rapidly

down the hall leaning forward in her wheelchair turn-ing the wheels with both hands

ldquoHannahmdash Whatmdashrdquo I couldnrsquot find any wordsldquoIrsquom so sorryrdquo she repeated As she wheeled herself

closer I saw tears brimming in her eyes rolling downher red-blotched face

ldquoSorryrdquo I repeated my head spinning in confusion

98

ldquoHe made me do itrdquo she wailed ldquoYou have tobelieve me Luke I didnrsquot want to Really But hemade merdquo

She grabbed my hand Squeezed it tightly Herhand was as cold as ice Tears rolled down hercheeks

ldquoVery touchingrdquo the hooded figure rasped coldlyldquoHannahmdashhe made you do whatrdquo I askedldquoHemdashhe made me give you the skullrdquo Hannah

stammered still squeezing my hand ldquoHuhrdquo I let out a startled cry ldquoYou gave it to me

But I thought I found it I thoughtmdashrdquoldquoI had the good luck for a long timerdquo Hannah

said wiping her wet cheeks with both handsldquoRemember when I had so much good luck Then itran out The skull went dark And he forced memdashheforced me to pass the skull on to yourdquo

I stared at her in disbelief ldquoBut who is herdquo Icried ldquoHow can he do thisrdquo

ldquoHavenrsquot you guessedrdquo the hooded figureboomed The red eyes glowed like two angry sunsldquoHavenrsquot you figured it out yet Luke I am the FateMaster I decide who has good luck and who has badrdquo

ldquoNordquo I whispered ldquoThatrsquos crazyrdquoldquoItrsquos the truthrdquo Hannah said her voice breaking

ldquoHe controls me And now yourdquoldquoLukerdquo the evil figure whispered lowering him-

self toward me ldquoDid you really think you could haveall that good luck without paying for itrdquo

99

ldquoI didnrsquot want to give the skull to yourdquo Hannahwhispered holding on to my arm ldquoI gave you achance to hand it back to me remember Rememberduring my game I asked if you had seen itrdquo

I nodded sadly feeling my face grow hotldquoI knew you had it Why didnrsquot you give it back

thenrdquo Hannah demanded ldquoI gave you a chance toreturn it I didnrsquot want you to keep itrdquo

ldquoToo late for that nowrdquo the Fate Master raspedldquoNow you are BOTH minerdquo

ldquoNo wayrdquo I protested ldquoI donrsquot believe any ofthis This canrsquot be happening Itmdashitrsquos some kind ofbad jokerdquo

ldquoItrsquos not a jokerdquo Hannah whispered ldquoLook atmerdquo She pointed to her red-blotched face her ban-daged foot the wheelchair

ldquoNordquo I insisted ldquoIt wonrsquot happen to me I wonrsquotlet it IrsquollmdashIrsquoll make my own luckrdquo

The bulky black coat shook as the Fate Masteruttered a hoarse laugh It sounded more like drycoughing than laughter ldquoYoung man do you reallythink you can go up against FATE I control EVERY-THING that happens Do you really think you candefy FATErdquo

ldquoI donrsquot care what you sayrdquo I screamed ldquoIrsquom notgoing to be some kind of slave You canrsquot control meYou canrsquotrdquo

100

The Fate Master sighed The red eyes faded insidethe hood ldquoDo I really have to prove myself to youOkay So be itrdquo

He leaned closer So close that I could see intothe hood I could see that he had no face Just twoglowing eyes floating in blackness

ldquoLukemdashthat concussion you had in the gymrdquo herasped ldquoIrsquom afraid itrsquos much worse than you thoughtFeel your earsrdquo

ldquoHuhrdquo My hands shot up to my ears I felt wet-ness

Warm wetnessI lowered my hands My fingers dripped with

bloodMy ears were bleedingI felt the warm blood pour down my earlobes

trickle down the sides of my faceFrantically I pressed the palms of my hands

against my ears ldquoThat wonrsquot stop the bleeding Lukerdquo the Fate

Master whispered ldquoThat blood wonrsquot clot Itrsquos justgoing to keep pouring out Bad luck Irsquom afraid Verybad luckrdquo

ldquoNomdashpleaserdquo I pleaded ldquoMake it stoprdquoThe eyes flared ldquoDo you believe in me now Do

you believe that you belong to merdquoldquoOkayrdquo I said ldquoOkay I believe yourdquo

101

ldquoYour fate is in my handsmdashboth of you You mustpay for the good luck you had You must suffer badluck nowmdashrdquo

ldquoNomdashpleaserdquo I begged ldquoI need more timeThings are just starting to go right for me The basket-ball team my animation the swim team Irsquolldo anything I need more timerdquo

ldquoNO MORE TIMErdquo The hoarse rasp echoed offthe tile walls Angry flames shot out from the black-ness of the hood

ldquoButmdashrdquo I started shrinking back beside HannahldquoI control yourdquo the Fate Master boomed ldquoI decide

your luck from now on Do you want me to go easy onthe two of you DO yourdquo

ldquoY-yesrdquo I stammered ldquoIrsquoll do anythingAnythingrdquo

The Fate Master was silent for a long momentThe eyes faded as if retreating into the distance thenglowed brightly again ldquoIf you want me to go easy onyou bothrdquo he said finally ldquoherersquos what you haveto do rdquo

102

ldquoPass the skull on to anotherrdquo the Fate Masterordered

ldquoHuh Youmdashyou want me to give it to someoneelserdquo I stammered

The eyes sparked beneath the hood ldquoPass it tothat big kid the one called Stretch Irsquove had my eye onhim I will give him good luck for two months Then Iwill claim him as minerdquo

ldquoNo I canrsquot do thatrdquo I protested ldquoIt isnrsquot right Itisnrsquotmdashrdquo

The Fate Master uttered a furious growl ldquoThenyou will suffer bad luck your whole life You and every-one in your familyrdquo

I shivered in fear My mind spun I felt the warmblood start to trickle from my ears again

Could I do it Could I trap Stretch the way I hadbeen trapped

I felt Hannah tug my arm ldquoYou have to do itLukerdquo she whispered ldquoItrsquos our only chance BesidesStretch has been asking for itmdashhasnrsquot he Hersquos not a

103

friend of yours Hersquos an enemy Stretch has been ask-ing for it all yearrdquo

True Stretch wasnrsquot my friend But could I beresponsible for ruining Stretchrsquos life For turning himover to the Fate Master

Hannah gazed up at me from the wheelchair withpleading eyes ldquoDo itrdquo she whispered ldquoSave usLuke Do itrdquo

I turned to the Fate Master ldquoOkayrdquo I choked outldquoIrsquoll do itrdquo

The eyes flashed from red to sunlight yellowThe big coat opened and appeared to fly up Itraised itself over me like giant bat wings Floatedover me then floated down

I felt myself covered in a heavy darkness I couldnrsquot move It spread over me blacker

blackerI felt so cold So cold and lost As if I had been

buried buried deep in the cold cold groundAnd then I blinked and saw pinpoints of light

Flickering white lights that grew brighter so bright Ihad to squint

It took me a while to realize I was back in the gymBack on the gym floor A crowd huddled around meTight expressions worried faces

Someone leaned over me A face came into focusCoach Bendix stared down at me the whistle hangingfrom his neck

104

ldquoCoachmdashrdquo I tried to speak but the word came outa whisper

ldquoDonrsquot move Lukerdquo he said softly ldquoYoursquove had aconcussion but yoursquore going to be okayrdquo

ldquoA concussionrdquoldquoLie stillrdquo he instructed ldquoAn ambulance is on the

wayrdquoA concussionIt didnrsquot happen I realized The hooded figure with the glowing eyes The

Fate Master stepping out of locker 13 Taking awaymy good luck Ordering me to pass the skull toStretch

It didnrsquot happenIt was a dream A nightmare caused by my con-

cussionI jumped to my feet The floor swayed beneath

me The bleachers appeared to tilt to one side thenthe other

I saw Hannah in her wheelchair at the side of thebleachers

Shersquos still in the gym I told myself happily Wenever left the gym It didnrsquot happen None of it hap-pened

I felt so happy So freeBefore I even realized it I was running Running

to the doorldquoLuke HeymdashLuke Stoprdquo I heard Coach Bendix

calling to me

105

And then I was out the gym doors And racingthrough the dark empty hallways Running fullspeed

So happy And so eager to get away from thereAway from the school Away from my nightmare

Did I stop at my lockerI must have stopped there because I had my

jacket on when I burst outside Into the frosty nightair I saw a tiny sliver of a moon high in a purple-black sky I stopped for a second to breathe in thecold fresh air

Then I ran across the teachersrsquo parking lot to thebike rack Irsquod ridden my bike to school And now Iplanned to put the pedal to the metalmdashto race all theway home

ldquoYesrdquo So happy I felt so happy I could havedanced all the way home

I jumped on my bike Grabbed the handlebarsWhoa Something wrong A scraping sound I climbed off and glanced down A flat tire No

Two flat tiresldquoOh wowrdquo I murmured How did that happenNo big deal Irsquoll get the bike tomorrow I decided

I started to jog across the parking lot heading to thestreet My sneaker felt loose I squatted down to tiethe shoe lacemdashand it ripped between my hands

No problem I told myself I have plenty ofshoelaces at home I started walking turned onto thesidewalk crossed the street Behind me I could hear

106

shouts and cheers coming from the gym I guessedthat the game had started up again

ldquoGo Stretchrdquo I murmured As I made my way down the next block it began

to rain Softly at first But the wind picked up andthen the rain started coming down in sheets

I zipped my jacket and leaned into the wind Butthe rain drove me back wave after wave of freezingwater

I heard a crackling sound nearbymdashand sawjagged white lightning streak across the front yardacross the street A deafening boom of thunder shookthe ground

I pressed forward Trees creaked and nearly bentsideways in the torrents of wind and rain I couldnrsquotmove I ducked under a broad-trunked tree for safety

But a loud crack of lightning sent a tree branchcrashing to my feet

ldquoOhhrdquo I cried out A close callI jumped over the fallen branch Sharp pieces of

the limb scratched my arm as I struggled to raceaway Another jagged bolt of lightning crackled a fewfeet in front of me sizzling over the wet grass

Squinting through the downpour I saw smokesnake over the lawn The grass was burned blackwhere the lightning had spread

The wind shoved me backward Sheet after sheet

107

of rain washed over me I choked Struggled tobreathe

And then just beyond the rain just beyondthe heavy waves of dark water I saw two glowinglights two red eyes like dark headlights Two evil eyes moving with me watching me

The Fate MasterIt wasnrsquot a dream I suddenly knew that my flat

tiresmdashthe stormmdashthe lightning the pounding rainmdashit was all a show A show of strength

I staggered up my driveway Slipped on the wetgravel Sprawled facedown on the soaked stones

ldquoNooooo rdquoI struggled to my feet Stumbled onto the front

stoop A deafening shattering crash made me spin

around I saw one of the oak trees in front of thehouse split in half It appeared to move in slowmotion One half shivered but stayed upright Theother half of the broad old tree came crashing ontothe roof of the house

Windows shattered Roof tiles came slidingdown

I covered my head with one hand And pushedthe doorbell Frantically pushed the bell ldquoLet me inMom Dadrdquo I pounded on the front door with bothfists

Where were they

108

The lights were all on Why didnrsquot they open thedoor

A crash of thunder made me jump and cry outAbove the front stoop rainwater poured like a water-fall over the sides of the gutters Waves of rain rattledthe living room window and battered the bricks of thefront wall

ldquoLet me inrdquo I screamed over another roar ofthunder I pounded the front door until my fist ached

Then I heard a window slide open I turned to ourneighborrsquos house Through the curtains of rain I sawMrs Gillis poke her head out the bedroom windowShe shouted something But I couldnrsquot hear her overthe roar of rain

ldquoTheyrsquore not homerdquo I finally heard her shoutldquoThey had to go to the hospital Lukerdquo

ldquoWhat What did you sayrdquo My heart jumpedHad I heard correctly

ldquoItrsquos your dad He fell down the stairs Hersquos okayBut they took him to the emergency roomrdquo

ldquoNordquo I cried I beat my fists against the doorldquoNo No Nordquo

The Fate Master was putting on a show for meHe was showing me who was boss Giving me a littletaste of what the rest of my life could be like

ldquoOkayrdquo I shouted cupping my hands around mymouth Water pounded me washed over me bat-

109

tered me against the house ldquoOkaymdashyou winrdquo Iscreamed ldquoIrsquoll do it Irsquoll do whatever you sayrdquo

And I didThe next morning I gave the skull to Stretch

110

I found Stretch at his locker before school startedGiving him the yellow skull was the easiest thing inthe world

Stretch was leaning into his locker searching theshelf for something His backpack stood open on thefloor I pulled the skull from my jeans pocketmdashanddropped it into his backpack

He didnrsquot see anything He didnrsquot even know hehad it

ldquoHey Stretchmdashhowrsquos it goingrdquo I asked trying tosound calm natural As if I hadnrsquot just done some-thing terrible to him Something that would ruin hislife forever

ldquoYomdashhey Champrdquo He slapped me a hard highfive so hard my hand stung ldquoHowrsquos your headman It looks as ugly as everrdquo He laughed

I stared at him ldquoMy headrdquoldquoThat was a nasty collisionrdquo he said ldquoYour head

must be hard as a rock You feeling okayrdquoldquoYeah Not badrdquo I replied

111

Stretch snickered ldquoWell thanks for letting me getsome playing timerdquo He started to close up his back-pack

I stared at the backpack picturing the skull insideit The skull I had passed on to Stretch The tiny redeyes were probably glowing again Stretch was goingto have a lot of good luck for a while But then

ldquoMaybe you and I can practice together laterrdquoStretch said slamming his locker shut ldquoI can giveyou some more pointers Make you look like youknow what yoursquore doingrdquo

ldquoYeah Mayberdquo I saidStretchrsquos expression turned serious ldquoActually

yoursquore not bad manrdquo he said ldquoI mean it You are soimproved I mean yoursquore almost pretty goodReallyrdquo

I donrsquot believe this I thought Stretch is actuallypaying me a compliment

I shrugged ldquoIt was just luckrdquo I mutteredJust luck Ha haldquoNo wayrdquo Stretch insisted ldquoLuck had nothing to

do with it man It was hard work and skill No kid-ding It isnrsquot luck Yoursquore goodrdquo

I swallowed hard I suddenly felt like a totalcreep

Stretch was being so nice to me And what had Idone to him I just gave him a life of bad luck a lifeof slavery to the Fate Master

112

ldquoWhoa Forgot my science notebookrdquo Stretchgroaned He dropped his backpack to the floor andturned to unlock his locker

I stared down at the backpack feeling dizzy feel-ing sick

What am I going to do I asked myself What amI going to do

My bad luck continued all dayI answered the wrong questions on my algebra test

and got an F Miss Wakely warned me that Irsquod have todo extra work if I didnrsquot want to fail the course

At lunch the milk in my milk carton was lumpy andsour I didnrsquot notice until I had gulped down a bigmouthful Then I nearly puked my guts up in front ofeveryone

After lunch I started to comb my hair in the boysrsquoroommdashand a huge clump came out on the comb Igasped in horror and tugged out another clump of hair

Irsquom going to lose all my hair I realizedAs I hurried out of the bathroom I caught my shirt

on a nail and ripped one sleeve off I was so upset Ibumped into Miss Wakely from behind Her coffeecup flew out of her hand and scalding hot coffeesplashed all over her

I found Hannah after school She came rollingslowly down the hall in her wheelchair Her foot wasstill bandaged Her face was still covered in red

113

blotches And I saw that one of her eyes was swollenshut

ldquoHannahmdashIrsquove got to talk to yourdquo I criedldquoDid you pass it onrdquo she asked in a loud whisper ldquoHuhrdquoldquoIrsquove lost my voicerdquo she whispered ldquoDid you

pass the skull on to Stretch Wersquove got to change ourluck I can barely see My skin itches like crazy I canbarely talk ImdashI canrsquot go on like this Lukerdquo

ldquoIrsquove got to find the Fate Masterrdquo I said Hannah grabbed my torn shirtsleeve ldquoYoursquove got

to do what he said Yoursquove got to obey him Itrsquos ouronly chancerdquo

ldquoHow do I find himrdquo I askedldquoHe will find yourdquo Hannah whispered ldquoHe

appears in places of bad luck You knowmdashbrokenmirrors wherever the number thirteen is writtenrdquo

ldquoCome with merdquo I said I led the way to my lockerI waved to some guys heading to the pool for swimteam practice I wanted to be with them But this wasmore important

ldquoWersquove got to talk to the Fate Masterrdquo I toldHannah ldquoMaybe hersquoll come through my lockeragainrdquo

Hannah groaned in pain as she wheeled herselfbehind me ldquoMy foot hurts so muchrdquo she whispered

ldquoHe promised to end the bad luckrdquo I saidI turned the combination lock then pulled open

114

my locker door A burst of sour air choked the hall Igagged then held my breath

ldquoLookmdashrdquo Hannah choked out She pointed to thefloor of the locker

It was littered with dead birds A pile of brown-and-gray sparrows all dead and decaying

ldquoHe left us a presentrdquo I murmured ldquoWhere is heIs he going to appearrdquo

We didnrsquot have to wait long A few moments later I saw the glow of the red

eyes at the back of the locker And then the dark fig-ure stepped over the pile of dead birds and floatedout hunched beneath the black hood

ldquoHave you done what I askedrdquo he rasped thefiery eyes burning into mine ldquoHave you given me anew slaverdquo

ldquoYesrdquo I replied avoiding his stare ldquoThat was ourdeal right And now will you stop torturing us Willyou end our bad luck as you promisedrdquo

The hood bobbed up and down ldquoNordquo he saidsoftly

Hannah and I both uttered cries of protestldquoDid you really think you could make a deal with

the Fate Masterrdquo he boomed The open coat floatedup like bat wings ldquoI donrsquot make bargains with any-one I donrsquot make promises You will take whateverFate dishes outrdquo

ldquoYou promisedmdashrdquo Hannah shriekedThe evil figure snickered ldquoFirst you enjoy good

115

luck Then you must pay for it You cannot break thepattern You should know that You should know thatyou cannot bargain with Fate You will pay for yourgood luck for the rest of your liferdquo

ldquoNo Waitmdash Waitrdquo Hannah pleaded reachingup from the wheelchair grasping at the black cloakgrasping frantically with both hands

But the Fate Master spun around swirling thefoul air He stomped heavily on the dead birds as hestrode back into locker 13

In a second he had vanished Dead birds littered the floor of the hall the floor

of my lockerI turned to Hannah Her shoulders heaved up

and down Loud sobs escaped her throat ldquoHepromised rdquo

ldquoItrsquos okayrdquo I said softly ldquoI didnrsquot keep mypromise eitherrdquo

I pulled the yellow skull from my jeans pocket Hannah gasped ldquoYou didnrsquot give it to StretchrdquoI squeezed the skull in my fist ldquoYes I gave it to

him But I took it back before Stretch even saw it Icouldnrsquot do it Stretch was too nice to me ImdashIcouldnrsquot I couldnrsquot ruin someonersquos liferdquo

Hannah shook her head Tears spilled from herswollen eyes ldquoNow what are we going to do LukeWersquore doomed Now we donrsquot stand a chancerdquo

116

I bounced the basketball hard against the drive-way Drove toward the backboard and sent up ahook shot It bounced off the rim back into myhands I spun hard and sent up a two-handed shotthat dropped through the net

Overhead clouds covered the moon The garagelights sent white cones of light over the drivewayBehind me the house was dark except for a squareof orange light from my bedroom window upstairs

I glanced at the roof Men had worked all day torepair the broken and missing shingles The fallentree had been hauled away One windowmdashbroken inthe stormmdashwas still covered with cardboard

All my fault I realized All the damage to thehouse was my fault

My dad was walking with a cane He had a badlysprained knee from his fall down the stairs But hewas okay for now

That was all my fault too I knew All my bad luck

117

I heaved the ball angrily at the backboard Itthudded high bounced back to the driveway Ipicked it up and shot it through the hoop

Luck luck luck The word ran through my mind like an ugly

chantAnd then I heard Stretchrsquos words again Stretch

actually saying something nice to me ldquoLuck hadnothing to do with it Luke It was hard work andskillrdquo

Hard work and skillNot luckldquoYou cannot break the patternrdquo the Fate Master

had said ldquoFirst you have the good luckmdashthen youpay for itrdquo

The pattern You cannot break the patternNot luck Hard work and skillI shot the ball again Dribbled then shot again

Even though it was a cold frosty night sweat poureddown my forehead I wanted to work harder Harder

And as I practiced those words repeated andrepeated in my mind And I knew what I had to doI knew the only way I could end the bad luck forHannah and for me

The only way I could defeat the Fate MasterI shot again Again I moved to the foul line and

put up several foul shotsI didnrsquot stop when I saw the kitchen light flash on

The back door swung open Dad stepped into the

118

yard wearing his bathrobe leaning on his caneldquoLukemdashwhat are you doingrdquo he called ldquoItrsquos after

eleven orsquoclockrdquoldquoPracticingrdquo I said sending up another jump

shot Walking unsteadily he came up to the edge of the

driveway ldquoButmdashitrsquos so late Why are you doing thisrdquoldquoIrsquom going to win without luckrdquo I replied I sent

up another shot and watched it drop through thehoop ldquoIrsquom going to win with skill I shouted ldquoI canbreak the pattern I can win without luckrdquo

And then without realizing it I was screaming atthe top of my lungs ldquoI DONrsquoT NEED LUCK IDONrsquoT NEED LUCKrdquo

119

My plan was simple Maybe too simple But I had to give it a tryI didnrsquot tell it to Hannah She was pretty much

destroyed I didnrsquot want to give her any more toworry about

I knew I didnrsquot have much timemdashmaybe a day ortwo at the most

As soon as the Fate Master discovered that I stillhad the skull that I hadnrsquot passed it on to Stretch hewould come after me full force

My plan It was to break the pattern To win To win big To have a major success

Without luck Without needing any good luckIf I could win with my own hard work with my

own skill my own talentmdashit would be a defeat for theFate Master I would break his rule I would breakthe pattern

And maybe just maybe that would freeHannah and me

120

And thatrsquos why I practiced on my drivewayPracticed in the dark in the cold until after midnightHard work and skill

Hard work and skillShawnee Valley played Forest Grove this after-

noon The last game of the season My last chance to win without luckAs I changed into my team uniform I knew I had

to be great I had to be a winner today I had to winthe game for my team

And if I didIf I did maybe the nightmare would be overI was so nervous I had to lace up my sneakers

three times I kept knotting them up My fingers justwouldnrsquot work

ldquoGo Squires Go SquiresrdquoGuys were pounding their fists on the lockers

shouting jumping up and down getting pumpedgetting ready

Stretch gave me a playful slap as he jogged pastldquoTry not to bump heads today Champ We gonnabeat these clownsrdquo

I flashed him a thumbs-up ldquoTheyrsquore dead meatrdquoI shouted

I tucked in my jersey slammed the gym lockershut and trotted out into the gym I blinked underthe bright lights A big crowd nearly filled the bleach-ers They were stamping their feet in time to somemarching music over the loudspeaker

121

I searched for Hannah but didnrsquot see herThe last game of the year I thought as I picked up

a basketball from the rack My last chance I swallowed hard trying to force down my fearWas the Fate Master here Did he know that I

lied to him That I didnrsquot give the skull to StretchI donrsquot care about that I told myself Irsquom going to

be a winner today without his good luck Irsquom going to break the pattern Irsquom going to break the Fate MasterI dribbled up to Coach Bendix He slapped me on

the shoulder as I passed ldquoHave a great game Lukerdquohe called ldquoKeep it slow and steady Remembermdashjustfocus Focusrdquo

ldquoOkay Coachrdquo I called ldquoIrsquom ready I feel goodReal strong I think Irsquom going tomdashrdquo

I felt a strong blast of cold air It swept throughthe gym like an invisible ocean wave

And then I saw Coachrsquos expression change verysuddenly He was grinning at me flashing me athumbs-up And then his hand came down His facewent slack His eyes appeared to fade to glaze overas if a curtain had been drawn over them

As if hersquod been hypnotized or somethingldquoHey Lukerdquo he said motioning me back to him

He frowned narrowing his eyes at me ldquoWhat is itrdquo I asked keeping up my dribbleldquoTake the benchrdquo he ordered pointing to the

team bench with his whistle

122

ldquoHuhrdquo I gaped at himldquoThe benchrdquo he repeated his face a blank now

his eyes vacant dull ldquoYou canrsquot play todayrdquoldquoHeymdashno wayrdquo I protested ldquoWhat do you mean

Irsquove got to playrdquoHe shook his head ldquoYou canrsquot play today Luke

Your concussionmdashremember I need a doctorrsquos noteHave you been examined You canrsquot play until yoursquoreexaminedrdquo

My mouth hung open ldquoCoach Irsquove been prac-ticing so hard Please Yoursquove got to let me in the gametodayrdquo I pleaded My heart pounded so hard I feltdizzy My head throbbed ldquoCoach I have to playItrsquos the last gamerdquo

He shook his head ldquoSorryrdquo He motioned to thebench ldquoWe have to follow the rulesrdquo

Whose rules I thought bitterly The Fate Masterrsquosrules

Coach Bendix gazed at me with those glazedblank eyes ldquoSorry Yoursquove already played your lastgame Lukerdquo

ldquoButmdashbutmdashrdquo I sputteredldquoYoursquoll get rsquoem next yearrdquo he said He blew his

whistle ldquoStretchmdashyoursquore in Yoursquore playing thewhole gamerdquo

I stood there I didnrsquot move I stood in the middleof the floor with my hands on my waist Waiting formy heart to stop racing Waiting for my legs to stoptrembling

123

Then I turned and slowly trudged to the bench Irsquod lost today Score one round for the Fate

Master No way I could break the pattern today I was a

loser today But I wasnrsquot finished I could still winIf I had time

124

ldquoGive the skull to Stretchrdquo Hannah pleadedldquoMaybe the Fate Master will go easy on usrdquo

It was the next day We were huddled at the backof the lunchroom I could see Stretch laughing andkidding around with his friends at a table near thefront The Squires had won the game by two pointsand Stretch had been a hero

ldquoI canrsquot do itrdquo I said shaking my head ldquoBesidesyou heard what the Fate Master said He doesnrsquotmake deals It wonrsquot help to pass it to Stretchrdquo

Hannah let out a sigh She had her head buriedin her hands ldquoThen what are we going to dordquo

ldquoIrsquoll find a way to defeat himrdquo I said I bit into myham sandwich ldquoHeymdashrdquo I felt something hard

ldquoOh nordquo I moaned I spit out a tooth In a panic I moved my tongue around the inside

of my mouth ldquoMy teethrdquo I groaned ldquoTheyrsquore allloose Irsquom going to lose all my teethrdquo

Hannah didnrsquot lift her head She whispered some-thing too low for me to hear

125

ldquoIrsquove got to gordquo I said jumping up ldquoI have someideas Hannah Donrsquot give up hope I have someideasrdquo

I ran past Stretchrsquos table where the guys werelaughing and blowing straw wrappers at each otherStretch called out to me but I didnrsquot stop

I made my way to the computer lab The doorwas closed I pulled it open and burst breathlesslyinto the brightly lit room

ldquoMrs Coffey Mrs Coffey Itrsquos memdashLukerdquo I felt another tooth swing loose in my mouth I

gritted my teeth trying to press it down into placeA chubby young man Irsquod never seen before came

out of the supply room He had short black hair ontop of a round pudgy face and bright red cheeks Helooked like an apple with eyes He wore a red plaidshirt over black denims

ldquoIs Mrs Coffey hererdquo I demanded ldquoI need to talkto herrdquo

He set down the disk drive he was carryingldquoShersquos gonerdquo he said

ldquoYou mean she went to lunchrdquo I askedHe shook his round head ldquoNo She left school

She got another jobrdquoldquoImdashI knowrdquo I stammered ldquoBut I thoughtmdashrdquoldquoIrsquom Ron Handlemanrdquo he said ldquoIrsquom taking over

the computer lab Do you have a class with merdquoldquoUh nordquo I said ldquoBut I have a project I was

supposed to show Mrs Coffey She was going to send

126

it to someone who might put it in a show Itrsquos com-puter animation you see Irsquove been working on it fortwo years and and rdquo In my panic the wordspoured out of me I had to stop to take a breath

ldquoSlow downrdquo Mr Handleman said ldquoShe proba-bly left me a note about it She left me a stack ofnotesrdquo He glanced around the cluttered worktableldquoI put them somewhererdquo

How could Mrs Coffey leave without seeing myproject I asked myself How could she do that tome

Didnrsquot she realize how important it was Thiscould be my big triumph If my computer animationis accepted for a showmdashbecause of my hard workonly because of my skill and hard workmdashit wouldbreak the pattern It might defeat the Fate Master

Didnrsquot she realizeldquoUh can you look at my computer anima-

tionrdquo I askedMr Handlemanrsquos cheeks grew redder ldquoWhenrdquoldquoTonightrdquo I asked my heart poundingldquoWell I donrsquot think sordquo he replied ldquoNot

tonight I mean this is my first day I have so muchto do here Maybe next week rdquo

ldquoNordquo I screamed ldquoYou have to look at it PleaseItrsquos very importantrdquo

ldquoIrsquod love to see itrdquo he said picking up the diskdrive starting across the room with it ldquoBut I have toget organized Maybe rdquo

127

ldquoPleaserdquo I cried ldquoFind Mrs Coffeyrsquos note Wersquovegot to get it to the man whorsquos putting together thecomputer art show Pleaserdquo

He narrowed his eyes at me He probably thoughtI was crazy

But I didnrsquot care I needed a victory I knew therewasnrsquot much time

ldquoOkayrdquo Mr Handleman said finally ldquoBring it infirst thing tomorrow morning Irsquoll try to look at it dur-ing lunchrdquo

Not good enough Tomorrow might be too late Irealized

ldquoHow late will you be here this afternoonrdquo Iasked breathlessly

ldquoPretty laterdquo he replied ldquoSince itrsquos my first dayImdashrdquo

ldquoIrsquoll run home after school and get itrdquo I said ldquoIrsquollbring it to you before you leave tonight Could you I mean would you look at it this afternoonPleaserdquo

ldquoOkay I guess Irsquoll be here till at least fiverdquo hesaid

ldquoYesssrdquo I cried pumping my fist in the air Iturned and raced out of the computer lab

I can win I told myself I can defeat the FateMaster My animation project is good I know it isIrsquove worked for two years on it Irsquove put so much hardwork into it

I donrsquot need luck I donrsquot need good luck at all

128

After school I ran all the way home I burst intothe kitchen tossed down my backpack and startedto my room I stopped halfway to the stairs when Iheard voices from the living room

ldquoLukemdashis that yourdquo Mom calledMom and Dad were both there sitting in the

dark Dad leaned heavily on his cane Mom had herhands clasped tightly in her lap

I stopped in the living room doorway ldquoWhy areyou both home so earlyrdquo I asked

ldquoI had to come home I couldnrsquot workrdquo Dad saidsoftly ldquoThat fall I took It was worse than we thoughtLooks like Irsquom going to need surgeryrdquo

ldquoOh nordquo I muttered My fault It was all my faultBut I didnrsquot really have time to talk to them I had

to get to my computer I wanted to check out the ani-mation one more time before I made a copy for MrHandleman Then I had to rush back to school

ldquoBut why are you sitting in the darkrdquo I askedldquoWhy donrsquot you turn on some lightsrdquo

ldquoWe canrsquotrdquo Mom said shaking her head ldquoTherersquossome kind of trouble with the power lines to ourblock The electricity is off We have no power Nopower at allrdquo

129

I let out a horrified scream ldquoNooooo My com-puterrdquo

ldquoYoursquoll have to wait till the power comes backonrdquo Dad said

ldquoButmdashbutmdashrdquo I sputteredldquoWersquore having so much bad luck all of a suddenrdquo

Dad murmuredldquoWe may have to leave the house tonightrdquo Mom

said sighing unhappily ldquoWithout electricity we haveno heat We may have to check into a hotel or some-thingrdquo

ldquoOh nordquo I tugged at my hair A big clump of itcame out in my hand

I was losing my hair Losing my teeth How couldI fight back How

ldquoHe canrsquot do this to merdquo I screamed ldquoHe canrsquotHe canrsquotrdquo I turned and grabbed the banister andpulled myself up the stairs

ldquoLuke What are you sayingrdquoldquoWhere are you goingrdquo

130

I didnrsquot answer I dived into my room andslammed the door shut behind me

Breathing hard I stared at my computer Staredat the dark monitor screen

Useless Totally useless Frustrated I kicked the side of my desk

ldquoOwwwrdquo I didnrsquot mean to kick it that hard Sharppain throbbed up my leg up my side

ldquoOh waitrdquo I suddenly remembered I alreadymade a copy

Yes I made a backup copy of my project On myZip drive Yes

I fumbled frantically through the pile of disks onmy desk And grabbed the Zip disk

I still have a chance I told myself The FateMaster thought he shut me down But I still have achance

I stuffed the disk into my jacket pocket I hurledmyself down the stairs two at a time ldquoBye I have togo back to schoolrdquo I shouted to my parents

ldquoWhyrdquoldquoWhatrsquos going on Luke We need you hererdquoldquoHeymdashcome back and explainrdquoI heard their cries but I burst out the front door

and kept running ldquoIrsquoll stop the bad luckrdquo I said out loud ldquoIrsquoll stop

it Irsquoll stop the Fate MastermdashnowrdquoI found Mr Handleman in the computer lab

leaning over a keyboard typing an e-mail message

131

He spun around when I shouted hi to himI held up the disk ldquoHere it is Please Yoursquove got

to check it outrdquoHe motioned for me to sit down next to him ldquoI

spoke to the producer of the computer showrdquo hesaid ldquoHe called me this afternoon He said that if Iliked your animation I should send it over to himright awayrdquo

ldquoExcellentrdquo I cried ldquoThatrsquos great newsrdquoldquoArenrsquot you going to take your coat offrdquoldquoNordquo I answered breathlessly I shoved the disk

into the Zip drive ldquoNo time You have to see thisRight awayrdquo

He laughed ldquoSlow down Take a deep breathrdquoldquoIrsquoll breathe after you see itrdquo I said He leaned back in his chair and used his hands

as a headrest ldquoYoursquove been working on this for twoyearsrdquo

I nodded I found the file in the disk directory and double-

clicked it ldquoHere goesrdquo I said I was so nervous themouse trembled in my hand My chest was so tightit felt about to burst

Is it possible to explode from excitement I leanedforward to watch

The screen was solid black ldquoItrsquos starting nowrdquo Iwhispered

I stared at the black screen waiting for the brightburst of color at the beginning

132

Waiting Finally a dim glow spread over the screen Two circles of light Two red circles glowed in the

center of the darknessTwo red glowing eyes The eyes stared out unblinking unmoving

Blank round circles of shimmering redMr Handleman cleared his throat His eyes

remained locked on the monitor screen ldquoAre thoseeyesrdquo he asked ldquoDo they move or anythingrdquo

I opened my mouth to answer but no soundcame out

I stared frozen in horror at the glowing eyes Theevil eyes

And knew I had been defeated again Mr Handelmanrsquos cheeks were bright red now ldquoIs

this all there isrdquo he askedldquoYesrdquo I whispered ldquoThatrsquos allrdquoMy project was gone My two years of work were

lost The fiery eyes stared out at me in triumphI climbed to my feet and slumped out of the roomI trudged down the empty hall head down hands

shoved deep in my pockets Irsquove lost I realized Irsquoma loser forever now Hannah and me both Bad luckfor the rest of our lives

I turned a cornermdashand almost bumped intoCoach Swanson ldquoHey Lukemdashhowrsquos it goingrdquo heasked

133

I muttered a reply under my breathldquoI was going to call you tonightrdquo he said ldquoAndy

Mason is sick You have to swim in his place tomor-rowrdquo

I raised my head ldquoHuh Swimrdquo I had nearly for-gotten that I was on the swim team

ldquoSee you after school at the poolrdquo the coach saidldquoGood luckrdquo

Irsquoll need it I thought glumlyBut then I realized I was being given one more

chanceOne more chance to win without luck One more

chance to defeat FateOne last chance

The next morning I wore a baseball cap to schoolso no one could see the bald patches on my headWhen I brushed my teeth that morning anothertooth came sliding out between my lips

My tongue was covered with hard white bumpsMy arms and legs itched I was starting to get thesame red blotches on my skin as Hannah

Somehow I made it through the school day All Icould think about was the swim team race Wasthere any way that I might win That I might breakthe pattern and win the race and defeat the FateMaster

I didnrsquot have much hope But I knew I had to tryI knew I had to give it everything I had left

134

A few seconds after I lowered myself into the poolto warm up Coach Swansonrsquos whistle rang outechoing off the tile walls ldquoPractice laps everyonerdquothe coach shouted ldquoDo them half-speed Letrsquos seesome warm-up lapsrdquo

At the other end of the pool I saw Stretch kick offand begin swimming with steady strong strokes Idid a surface dive and started to follow him Thewarm water felt good on my itchy skin

I kicked hard Picked up speedAs I raised my head to suck in a deep breath the

water suddenly churned hard I swallowed a big mouthful Started to chokeI sputtered struggling to clear my throat strug-

gling to breatheAnd then to my horror my stomach heaved hard

ldquoGuuurrrrrrprdquo My lunch came hurling upI couldnrsquot hold it back I vomited a thick dark

puddle into the clear waterldquoOoh grossrdquoldquoSickrdquoldquoYuck Oh wowmdashhersquos puking his guts uprdquoA sick sour smell rose up from the water I heard

kids shouting and groaning in disgustAnd then I heard Coach Swansonrsquos whistle And

the coach shouting at me ldquoYoursquore outta there LukeGet out Yoursquore sick Yoursquore not going to swimtodayrdquo

135

No I thought This canrsquot happen again This ismy last chance

ldquoCoach Irsquom okayrdquo I shouted ldquoI just swal-lowed some water I can swimmdashreallyrdquo

Coach Swanson glanced around the pool AndyMason was in street clothes Joe Bork the other alter-nate didnrsquot show up

ldquoYoursquove got to let me swimrdquo I pleadedThe coach shrugged his shoulders ldquoTherersquos no

one else I guess Irsquove got no choicerdquoIrsquom going to do this I thought Irsquom going to win

today Irsquom going to do whatever it takes to winThe race got off to a good start I did a speed dive

at the whistle and found myself gliding strokingeasily in the lead

Swimming steadily keeping up a smooth rhythmI stayed in the lead until the waves began

Waves They tossed up in front of me rolledrapidly toward me splashed over me Wave afterwave Pushing me back Slowing my pace

136

Stroking harder to keep my rhythm I turned tothe side and glanced at the other swimmers The poolwas smooth the water flat for them

The waves were just for me A strong currentpushed at me slowing me shoving me back

I ducked under the waves Let them splash androll over me And swam harder

HarderldquoOhrdquo Something brushed my legI felt something curl around an ankle Something

bumped my waist I felt something slide around myknee

With another gasp I turnedmdashand saw the gray-green creatures Eels Were they eels

Wrapping around my legs Twining over mywaist

Long fat eels The water churned with themI cried out I saw the other swimmers gliding swiftly through

clear water They didnrsquot even notice my dark churn-ing water They didnrsquot even see the gleaming wetcreatures slithering between my legs Tighteningaround my ankles my legs

Slapping me slapping me hard slappingme back

ldquoNordquo I burst free I kept swimmingInto thick pink clusters of jellyfish The jellyfish

ballooned around me Stung my arms Stung mylegs Prickled the skin of my back

137

I cried out in pain The sticky creatures swarmedover me stinging stinging me again and again

I could see the other swimmers moving smoothlyahead of me now Gliding in smooth clear waters asI felt jolt after jolt of pain from the billowing jellyfishthat clustered over me

I slapped the water Slapped and kickedAnd let out another cry of pain as the water siz-

zled and boiled Scalding hot now It steamed andbubbled And my skin burned My skin is going toburn right off me I thought struggling to breatheStruggling to keep my arms moving through thescalding steam Kicking kicking hard

The other swimmers ahead of me now Moving sospeedily so steadily

I shut my eyes and swam Yoursquore not going tobeat me I thought Irsquom going to win going to win

And the thought gave me a final surge of energyI shot forward to the wall Plunged like a speed-

ing torpedo to the finishMy hand hit the wall I slapped the wallGasping gasping my chest heaving in

agony And knew that I had lostToo slow Too slowI knew that I had lost again

138

Water poured down my face I shut my eyes andstruggled to catch my breath

I heard a loud whistle Then I felt a hand on myshoulder A slap ldquoWay to go Lukerdquo

I opened my eyes to see the coach He grabbed myhand and pumped it hard Then he slapped me a highfive ldquoYou won You came from behind What a raceLuke Check out the time You set a school recordrdquo

ldquoHuh I did I wonrdquo He helped me out of the pool Guys were cheering

and yelling congratulationsBut the cheering was cut short by a deafening cry

from the middle of the pool A shrill wail that rose likean ambulance siren Higher higher until I wasforced to cover my ears

And then a mountain of water rose up from thepool Red and steaming like a volcano The water roseupmdashhigher highermdashlike a bubbling boiling red tidalwave And all the while the deafening wail rang outwith it

139

Everyone was screaming We all were screamingAnd then as suddenly as it rose up the molten

red mountain collapsed back into the poolCollapsed with a soft splash The pool was flat andsmooth again And silent Silent except for ourstunned gasps and cries

I turned to see Hannah running along the side ofthe pool Hannah out of her wheelchair RunningRunning wildly waving her arms excitedly laughingher red hair flying behind her

ldquoLukemdashyou did it Wersquore free You defeated FateLukemdashyou defeated Faterdquo

But it wasnrsquot enough Not enough for meI changed into my street clothes in seconds Then

I dragged Hannah down the hall to my locker Locker13

I stopped at the janitorrsquos closet And I grabbed ahuge sledgehammer

Hannah cheered as I raised the sledgehammer tothe locker and smashed it smashed it smashed it

Working feverishly I pried the battered lockerfrom the wall Kicked it onto its side Raised thesledgehammer again Smashed it crushed it smashed it

The battered locker door swung open I heard alow groan from deep inside

Hannah and I both leaped back as a skull rolledout onto the floor

140

Not a tiny skull A human-sized skull with glow-ing red eyes

The eyes glowed for only a few seconds Then theskull uttered a final groan a groan of agony ofdefeat And the eyes faded to darkness Empty dark-ness

I took a deep breath Ran up to itmdashand kickedthe skull down the hall

ldquoGoalrdquo Hannah yelledWe walked out of the school building arm in arm

Into the bright afternoon sunlight I took a long deep breath The air smelled so

fresh so sweet The houses the trees the skymdashthey all looked so

beautifulI stopped at the bottom of the sidewalk And bent

down to pick something upldquoHey check it outrdquo I showed it to Hannah ldquoIs

this my lucky dayrdquo I cried ldquoI found a pennyrdquo

141

142

Luke Greene is very superstitious so naturallyhersquos not happy when hersquos assigned Locker 13 atschool But amazingly a lucky charm he finds in thelocker changes his luck from bad to great NowLukersquos luck is so good he canrsquot lose No matter whathe does his lucky charm makes him come out ontop

But Luke discovers that his good luck comes witha very high price Will he pay it Or will he be lostlike others before him in the horror that is Locker 13

About Locker 13

The Locker 13 in Luke Greenersquos story does notexist anymore and it is unclear if anyone who hadthe locker in previous years suffered the same fate asLuke

People who have had unbelievably nightmarishexperiences often keep silent about them (Lukedidnrsquot tell his story to many peoplemdashonly his friend

Go Deeper Into This

Nightmare

Hannah and RL Stine know what happened) So itis possible that what happened to Erica Chass in thesame school 12 years earlier could be related toLocker 13

Erica Chass was a popular seventh grader inShawnee Valley Junior High She had good gradeswas a star soccer player and had lots of friends Thenone day everything seemed to change Erica blew offsoccer nearly failed out of school and was fearfuland shy with even her best friends She dressed onlyin black and always wore a necklace with a smallcharm in the shape of a skull

Then one day Erica moved away She didnrsquot saygood bye She just didnrsquot show up for school one dayand never came back

But some people who went to that school in thosedays insist thatrsquos not the end of Ericarsquos story

The following year a new girl joined the eighthgrade at Shawnee Her name was Alyssa GwynneShe was bright cheerful and a terrific soccer playermdashand she looked exactly like Erica ldquoYou would havesworn they were twinsrdquo says Tracey Holt who knewthem bothmdashldquoNo it was like the old Erica camebackrdquo says another friend Debra Wyle

What was the relationship between Erica andAlyssa Could they really be the same person Andwhat is the connection to the Locker 13 legendMaybe there isnrsquot one but several people havementioned that Alyssa had a necklace that she wore

143

every daymdasha necklace with a tiny charmmdashof askull

About Superstition

Most of our superstitions go back to a time whenpeople believed that witches and witchcraft wereeverywhere People in the middle ages seemed to livein terror that evil magic or witches would harm theircrops bring illness or other disaster to their livesMany of the superstitions that have lasted to ourtime go back to these ancient fears

Break a mirrormdashseven years bad luck Thissuperstition relates to the idea that our reflection is apart of ourselves Harm the reflection and you willharm the original According to the thinking of themiddle ages it takes seven years for the body torebuild itself after itrsquos been harmed So thatrsquos why thebad luck lasts for seven years Luckily there is a cureWash the broken mirror pieces in a south runningriver and the evil is washed away too

Itrsquos bad luck to walk under a ladder This goesback to a time when hanging was a common form ofpunishment It seems that the gallows were prettyhigh so a ladder was often rested against the side ofthe gallows platform Walking under this ladder wasliterally dangerous Be in the wrong place at thewrong time and a rotting dead body could fall onyou If you happen to be careless enough to walk

144

under a ladder you can change the bad luck Justcross your fingers until you see a dog

Black cats bring bad luck There are a lots ofsuperstitions about cats Letrsquos face it cats can becreepymdashand black cats are the creepiest Oneancient superstition about cats is that they will stealthe breath out of babies Where did this idea comefrom

Watch a cat as it settles itself into your lap Beforesnuggling up the cat will often sniff you in themouth At a time when so many babies died the cattheory is as logical as any other

Now for some superstitions that yoursquove probablynever heard of

If you find a knife in the road you will havebad luck

Donrsquot point at the moon (The man in the moondoesnrsquot like it and will bring you bad luck)

Donrsquot brush your hair after sunsetmdashespecial-ly if you have family who spends time on thesea (Brushing your hair at that time will mean dis-aster and death for themmdashand bad luck for you)

If a child hits a parent the childrsquos hand willwag over his grave and dogs will ldquowaterrdquo it

145

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

RL STINE says he has a great job ldquoMy job is to givekids the CREEPSrdquo With his scary books RL hasterrified kids all over the world He has sold over 300million books making him the best-selling childrenrsquosauthor in history

These days RL is dishing out new frights in hisseries THE NIGHTMARE ROOM When he isnrsquotworking he likes to read old mysteries watchSpongeBob Squarepants on TV and take his dogNadine for long walks around New York City wherehe lives with his wife Jane and son Matthew

ldquoI love taking my readers to scary placesrdquo RLsays ldquoDo you know the scariest place of all Itrsquos yourMINDrdquo

ldquoHey check it out A fortune-tellerrdquo Jilly saidShe pointed to a small black tent that stood besidean ice cream cart ldquoCan we do it I love fortune-tellersrdquo

ldquoNo wayrdquo I said ldquoThey make me nervous Idonrsquot even like watching them in moviesrdquo

ldquoCome on Maggie Itrsquos your birthdayrdquo her sisterJackie said pulling me to the tent ldquoYou have tohave your fortune told on your birthdayrdquo

ldquoLetrsquos see what the fortune-teller says about youand Glenrdquo Judy the third sister teased

ldquoI donrsquot think sordquo I saidBut as usual they didnrsquot give me a choice A few

seconds later we were standing at the doorway tothe dark tent

ldquoWersquoll all have our fortunes toldrdquo Jackie saidldquoMy treatrdquo

ldquoThis is so coolrdquo Jilly whispered ldquoDo you thinkits a real psychic Do you think she can really tellthe futurerdquo

The three sisters started into the tent I held backstaring at the red-and-black hand-lettered sign MISSELIZABETH FORTUNE-TELLER ONE DOLLAR

Take a look at whatrsquos ahead inTHE NIGHTMARE ROOM 3

Liar Liar

I suddenly realized that my heart was racing Why do I feel so weird I wondered Why do I

have such a bad feeling about thisI followed my friends into the tent The air inside

felt hot and steamy Two electric lanterns on the backtent wall splashed gray light over the fortune-tellerrsquossmall table

Miss Elizabeth sat hunched with her elbows onthe table head in her hands staring into a red glassball She didnrsquot look up as we stepped inside Icouldnrsquot tell if she was concentrating on the red ballor if she was asleep

The tent was completely bare except for her tableand two wooden chairs and a large black-and-whiteposter of a human hand The hand was divided intosections There was a lot of writing all over the postertoo small for me to read in the smoky gray light

As she stared into the red glass ball the fortune-teller muttered to herself She was a middle-agedwoman slender with bony arms poking out from thesleeves of her red dress and very large pale whitehands Squinting into the light I saw that the polishon her long fingernails matched the red of her dress

ldquoHel-lordquo Jackie called breaking the silenceMiss Elizabeth finally looked up She was kind of

pretty She had big round black eyes and dramaticred-lipsticked lips Her hair was long and wavy solidblack except for a wide white streak down themiddle

Her eyes moved from one of us to the other Shedidnrsquot smile ldquoWalter we have visitorsldquo sheannounced in a hoarse scratchy voice

I glanced around searching for WalterldquoWalter is my late husbandrdquo the fortune-teller

announced ldquoHe helps me channel information fromthe spiritsrdquo

Jackie and I exchanged glances ldquoWersquod like you to tell our fortunesrdquo Jilly saidMiss Elizabeth nodded solemnly ldquoOne dollar

eachrdquo She held out her long pale hand ldquoFour dol-lars pleaserdquo

Jackie fumbled in her bag and pulled out fourcrumpled dollar bills She handed them to the for-tune-teller who shoved them into a pocket of her reddress

ldquoWho wants to go firstrdquo Again her eyes movedslowly over our faces

ldquoIrsquoll gordquo Jilly volunteered She dropped into thechair across the table from Miss Elizabeth

The fortune-teller lowered her head again to gazeinto the red ball ldquoWalter bring me the words of thespirit world about this young womanrdquo

I suddenly felt a chill at the back of my neck Iknew I shouldnrsquot be frightened The woman had tobe a fakemdashright Otherwise she wouldnrsquot be workingin a tacky carnival like this one

But she was so serious So solemn She didnrsquotseem to be putting on an act

Or was I just being gullible againNow she took Jillyrsquos hand She pulled it up close to

her face and began to study Jillyrsquos palm Muttering toherself she moved her long finger back and forth fol-lowing the lines of the palm tracing them with herbright red fingernail

Jackie leaned close to me ldquoThis is coolrdquo she whis-pered

Judy sighed ldquoThis is going to take foreverrdquoJackie raised a finger to her lips and motioned for

Judy to shush The woman studied Jillyrsquos palm for a long time

squeezing the hand as she gazed at it murmuring toWalter in the red glass ball Finally she raised her eyesto Jilly ldquoYou are artisticrdquo she said in her scratchyvoice

ldquoYesrdquo Jilly declaredldquoYou are a dancerrdquo Miss Elizabeth continued

ldquoYou study the dance You are a hard workerrdquoldquoWhoa I donrsquot believe thisrdquo Jilly gushed ldquoHow do

you knowmdashrdquoldquoYou have much talentrdquo the fortune-teller mur-

mured ignoring Jillyrsquos question ldquoMuch talent Butsometimes I see your artistic side gets in the wayof your practical side You are you are rdquo

She shut her eyes ldquoHelp me Walterrdquo she whis-pered Then she opened her eyes again and raisedthem to Jillyrsquos palm ldquoYou are a very social person Yourfriends mean a lot to you Especially boy friendsrdquo

Jackie and Judy laughed Jilly flashed them anangry scowl ldquoImdashI donrsquot believe thisrdquo she told thefortune-teller ldquoYou have everything rightrdquo

ldquoIt is my giftrdquo Miss Elizabeth replied softlyldquoWill I make the new dance companyrdquo Jilly

asked her ldquoTry-outs are next week Can you tell meif I will be acceptedrdquo

Miss Elizabeth stared into the glass ballldquoWalterrdquo she whispered

I held my breath waiting for the answer Jilly andI were both trying out for the dance company And Iknew there was only room for one of us

ldquoWalter can find no answerrdquo the fortune-tellertold Jilly ldquoHe only groansrdquo She let go of Jillyrsquos hand

ldquoHemdashgroanedrdquo Jilly asked ldquoWhyrdquoldquoYour time is uprdquo Miss Elizabeth said She

motioned to us ldquoWho is nextrdquoJackie shoved Judy forward Judy dropped into

the chair and held her hand out to Miss ElizabethJilly came running over to join Jackie and me at

the edge of the tent ldquoIsnrsquot she amazingrdquo she whis-pered

ldquoYes she isrdquo I had to admit How did she know somany true things about Jilly I was beginning tobelieve Miss Elizabeth really had powers

And now I didnrsquot feel afraid or nervous I was eagerto see what the fortune-teller would say about me

She squeezed Judyrsquos hand and gazed deep intoJudyrsquos dark eyes ldquoYou have great love in yourdquo she

announced ldquoGreat love for animalsrdquoJudy gasped ldquoY-yesrdquoldquoYou care for them You work rdquoldquoYesrdquo Judy said ldquoI work in an animal shelter after

school Thatrsquos amazingrdquoMiss Elizabeth ran a red fingernail down Judyrsquos

palm ldquoYou also have an animal that you care aboutvery much A dog No A catrdquo

ldquoYes My cat Plumperrdquo Judy turned to us her face filled with astonish-

ment ldquoDo you believe this Shersquos right about every-thingrdquo

ldquoI know Itrsquos so coolrdquo Jilly exclaimed She sweptback her blond hair with a toss of her head She keptbouncing up and down She seemed too excited tostand still

The fortune-teller spent a few more minutes withJudy She told Judy that she would have a long suc-cessful life She said Judy would have a big familysomeday

ldquoOf kids Of animalsrdquo Judy asked Miss Elizabeth didnrsquot answer Next came Jackiersquos turn Once again Miss

Elizabeth was right on target with everything shesaid ldquoWowrdquo Jackie kept muttering ldquoWowrdquo

Finally I found myself in the chair across fromthe fortune-teller Suddenly I felt so nervous Mymouth was dry My legs were shaking

Miss Elizabeth looked older from close up

When she smiled at me the thick makeup on herface cracked Tiny drops of sweat glistened at herhairline

ldquoWhat is your namerdquo she asked in a whisperldquoMaggierdquo I told herShe nodded solemnly and took my hand She

raised my palm close to her face and squinted downat it in the gray light

I held my breath And waited What would shesee

She squeezed my hand Brought it closer to herface

And then then her eyes bulged wide Shelet out a loud gasp

With a violent jerk she tossed my hand awayAnd jumped to her feet Her chair fell behind her

clattering to the tent floorShe stared at memdashstared in open-mouthed

horrorAnd then she screamedldquoGet OUT Get AWAY from hererdquoldquoHuh Waitmdashrdquo I choked outldquoGet OUT You bring EVIL You bring EVIL with

you Get OUT of hererdquo

Credits

Cover illustration by Vince NataleCover design by John Fontana

About the PublisherAustraliaHarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty Ltd 25 Ryde Road (PO Box 321)Pymble NSW 2073 Australia httpwwwharpercollinscomau

CanadaHarperCollins Publishers Ltd55 Avenue Road Suite 2900Toronto ON M5R 3L2 Canadahttpwwwharpercanadacom

New ZealandHarperCollinsPublishers (New Zealand)PO Box 1Auckland New Zealandhttpwwwharpercollinsconz

United KingdomHarperCollins Publishers Ltd77-85 Fulham Palace RoadLondon W6 8JB UKhttpwwwfireandwatercouk

United StatesHarperCollins Childrenrsquos Books A Division of HarperCollins Publishers1350 Avenue of the Americas New York NY 10019wwwharperchildrenscom

These stories are my scariest ever says RL Stinebecause I wrote them at the Nightmare Hour

When the lights fade the world that we know as real slipsinto shadowmdashand the cold moonlit world of evil dreams

enters your mind and takes over

These ten terrifying tales will make you shiver at any hourIllustrated by ten outstanding artists

I really enjoy your workhellipthank you for creating newnightmares for me mdashKenny age 12 NY

They are horrifying storiesmdashthey even gave me thecreeps mdashSofia age 14 LA

My favorite book is Nightmare Hour mdashJeffrie age 9 WI

Winner of Disney Adventures magazinersquos first everKidsrsquo Choice Award for Best HorrorMystery book

0-06-028688-1 $995 Hardcover0-06-440842-6 $499 Paperback

Available wherever books are sold

Join RL Stine and all your friends in The Nightmare Room

wwwthenightmareroomcom

Ten New Stories by rl stineNightmare Hour

Join RL Stine and all your friends in

ROOMTHE

Step inside wwwthenightmareroomcom

and open the door to terror

You can share with RL Stine your most terrifying dreams and experiences If your stories are terrifying enough for RL Stine youcould star in your own NIGHTMARE ROOMbook

Log on to THE NIGHTMARE ROOM nowand read RL Stinersquos brand-new spine-tinglingstorymdasha story so terrifying that it canrsquot be soldin bookstores

Log on to wwwthenightmareroomcom

where you will truly enter

THE NIGHTMARE ROOM

wwwthenightmareroomcom

THE NIGHTMARE ROOM 3My Name Is EvilMaggie has her palm read at a carnival and then the terrifying accidents beginIs Maggie cursed Will she have to live forever in THE NIGHTMARE ROOM

THE NIGHTMARE ROOM 4Liar LiarRoss looks across the room and sees himself standing there But Ross doesnrsquothave a twin This party has taken Rossto THE NIGHTMARE ROOM

$399 Paperback Available wherever books are sold

Join RL Stine and all your friends in THE NIGHTMARE ROOMwwwthenightmareroomcom

What can happen next in

ROOMTHE

She raised it to her lips and kissed it ldquoFive bucksYayrdquo

I sighed and shook my head ldquoHannah howcome yoursquore always so luckyrdquo

She didnrsquot answer that question It seemed like a simple question but it wasnrsquot And if she had told me the answer I think I would

have run awaymdashrun as far as I could from ShawneeValley Junior High and never come back

5

Letrsquos skip ahead two months Seventh grade was not bad so far I made some new

friends I made real progress on the computer anima-tion piece I had been working on for nearly two yearsAnd I actually won a spot on the basketball team

It was early November about two weeks into theseason And I was late for practice

Guys were already on the floor doing stretchingexercises bouncing basketballs to each other takingshort layups I crept to the locker room hoping no onewould notice me

ldquoLukemdashget dressed Yoursquore laterdquo Coach Bendixshouted

I started to call ldquoSorry I got hung up in the com-puter labrdquo But that was no kind of excuse So I justgave Coach a nod and started jogging full speed to thelocker room to get changed

My stomach felt kind of tight I realized I wasnrsquotlooking forward to practice today For a little guy Irsquom apretty good basketball player Irsquove got a good outside

6

shot and pretty fast hands on defense I was so excited to make the team But I wasnrsquot

counting on one problemmdashan eighth grader namedStretch Johannsen

Stretchrsquos real name is Shawn But everyone in theworld calls him Stretchmdasheven his parents You mightwonder how he got that name But if you saw him youwouldnrsquot wonder

Stretch had some kind of a growth spurt last year inseventh grade and he became a big blond giant prac-tically overnight Hersquos taller than anyone in the highschool He has shoulders like a wrestler and long armsI mean really long arms like a chimpanzee He canreach halfway across the gym

And thatrsquos why everyone started calling himStretch

I think a better name for him would be OstrichThatrsquos because he has long skinny legs like bird legsand a huge chest thatrsquos so wide it makes his pale blue-eyed head look as tiny as an egg

But I would never try my nickname on him I donrsquotthink I can run fast enough Stretch doesnrsquot have muchof a sense of humor In fact hersquos a pretty mean guyalways trash-talking and shoving people aroundmdashandnot just on the basketball floor

I think once he got over the shock of being a gianthe decided to be really impressed with himself

Like being a giant is some kind of special talent orsomething

7

But donrsquot get me started Irsquom always analyzingpeople thinking too hard about them about every-thing Hannah is always telling me I think too muchBut I donrsquot get it How do you stop thinking

Last week after a practice Coach Bendix saidnearly the same thing ldquoYoursquove got to play oninstinct Luke There isnrsquot time to think before everymoverdquo

Which I guess is another reason why I ride thebench Of course Irsquom only in seventh grade Sounless another giant forward tries out for the SquiresIrsquoll probably get to play next yearmdashafter Stretchgraduates

But for now itrsquos really embarrassing not to get toplay Especially since my parents come to everygame to cheer me on I sit on the team bench andwatch Mom and Dad up in the gym bleachers juststaring at me Staring

It doesnrsquot make you feel great Even the time-outs are painful Stretch always

comes trotting over to the team bench He wipes thesweat off his face and bodymdashand then throws thetowel onto me Like Irsquom some kind of towel boy

During one time-out late in the first game he tooka long gulp of Gatorade and spit it onto my uniformshirt I looked up and saw my parents watching fromthe bleachers

8

Sad Really sad Our team the Squires won our first two games

mainly because Stretch wouldnrsquot let anyone elsehandle the ball It was great to winmdashbut I wasalready starting to feel like a loser I wanted to play

Maybe if I have a really strong practice todayCoach Bendix will try me out at guard I told myselfOr maybe even as a backup center I laced up myshoes and triple-knotted them for luck Then I shutmy eyes and counted to seven three times

Just something I doI straightened my red-and-black uniform shorts

slammed the gym locker shut and trotted out of thelocker room and onto the floor Guys were at the farend taking three-point shots everyone shooting atonce The balls bounced off each other bounced offthe hoop The backboard rang out with a steadythud thud thud

Some of the shots actually dropped inldquoLuke get busyrdquo Coach yelled motioning me to

the basket ldquoGet some rebounds Make some shotsGet looserdquo

I flashed him a thumbs-up and ran to join theothers I saw Stretch leap up and make a highrebound To my surprise he spun around andheaved the ball at me ldquoLukemdashthink fastrdquo

I wasnrsquot expecting it The ball sailed through my

9

hands I had to chase it to the wall I dribbled backto find Stretch waiting ldquoGo ahead man Shootrdquo

I swallowed hardmdashand sent up a two-handedshot

ldquoHe shootsmdashhe missesrdquo Stretch shouted Someguys laughed

My shot bounced off the rim Stretch took threefast strides reached up his long arms and grabbedthe rebound in midair He tossed it back to meldquoShoot againrdquo

My next shot brushed the bottom of the netldquoHe shootsmdashhe missesrdquo Stretch repeated as if

that was the funniest thing anyone ever said Moreloud laughter

Stretch took the rebound and tossed me the ballldquoAgainrdquo he ordered

Everyone was watching now I sent up a one-handed layup that almost dropped in It rolledaround the rim then fell off

ldquoHe shootsmdashhe missesrdquoI could feel sweat rolling down my forehead

Why canrsquot I get lucky here I asked myself Comeon Lukemdashjust one lucky shot I slapped my lefthand rapidly against the leg of my shorts seventimes

Stretch bounced the ball to me ldquoGo champYoursquore O for three You got a streak goingrdquo Morelaughter

I shut my eyes for a second Then I sailed this

10

one highmdashand gasped as it sank through the hoopStretch grinned and shook his head The other

guys all cheered as if Irsquod just won the state juniorhigh tournament

I grabbed the ball and dribbled away from themI didnrsquot want to give Stretch a chance to ruin my vic-tory I knew he would keep me shooting till I wasone for three hundred

I turned to see if Coach Benson had watched myshot He leaned against the wall talking to two otherteachers He hadnrsquot seen it

I dribbled across the floor then back toward theothers Then I made a big mistake

A really big mistake A mistake that ruined mylife at Shawnee Valley Junior High

ldquoHey Stretchmdashthink fastrdquo I shouted And Iheaved the ball at him as hard as I could

What was I thinkingI didnrsquot see that he had bent down on one knee

to tie his sneaker lace I froze in horrormdashand watched the ball fly at

him It hit him hard on the side of the head knockedhim over and sent him tumbling to the floor

ldquoHeymdashrdquo he cried out stunned He shook hishead dizzily I saw bright red blood start to flow fromhis nose

ldquoStretchmdashIrsquom sorryrdquo I shrieked ldquoI didnrsquot seeyou I didnrsquot meanmdashrdquo

I lurched forward running to help him up

11

ldquoMy contactsrdquo he cried ldquoYou knocked out mycontactsrdquo

And then I heard a soft squish under my shoeI stopped Lifted my foot Stretchrsquos contact lens

lay flat as a pancake on the gym floorEveryone saw itStretch was on his feet now Blood rolled down

his lips his chin He didnrsquot pay any attention to it He had his eyes

narrowed on me He lumbered forward clenchingand unclenching his giant fists

I was doomed

12

Stretch reached under my arms and lifted me upHe was so huge and strong he picked me off thefloor like I was a ventriloquistrsquos dummy

ldquoWhoa It was an accidentrdquo I whisperedldquoHerersquos another accidentrdquo he said When he

talked he spit blood in my face He tightened his gripunder my arms

He raised me higher and gazed up at the basketIs he going to make a three-point shot with me Iwondered

Yes He is Hersquos going to slam dunk meBehind me I heard shouts A whistle blowing

Running footstepsldquoTake it outside Stretchrdquo I heard Coach Bendix

shoutHuhStretch slowly lowered me to the floor My knees

started to buckle but I managed to stay on my feet Stretch rubbed a hand across his bloody nose

then wiped it on the front of my jersey

13

ldquoTake it outsiderdquo Coach repeated edgingbetween us ldquoLetrsquos pair up everybody One on oneStretchmdashyou and Lukerdquo

ldquoNo wayrdquo Stretch mutteredldquoHersquos your backuprdquo Coach said poking Stretch

in the chest with his whistle ldquoYoursquove got to teachLuke Irsquom putting you in charge of Lukersquos develop-mentrdquo

Stretch snickered ldquoDevelopment He doesnrsquothave any developmentrdquo

ldquoGo to my office Get some tissues and stop thatnosebleedrdquo Coach instructed Stretch ldquoThen takeLuke to the practice court behind the playgroundShow him some moves Teach him somethingrdquo

Stretch stared at the floor for a few seconds as ifthinking it over But he knew better than to arguewith Coach Bendix He nodded at me ldquoLetrsquos goChamprdquo

What choice did I have Even though I knew itwas pain time for me I turned and followed him out-side

It was late afternoon pretty cold to be outside inbasketball shorts and a sleeveless jersey Since it wasNovember the big red sun had already loweredbehind the houses across the street from the play-ground

I shiveredStretch didnrsquot give me much of a chance to get

14

ready He pounded the ball hard on the asphalt courtand came racing at me like a stampeding bull

I tried to slide to the side But Stretch lowered hisshoulder and slammed it hard into my gut

ldquoOhhhrdquo I groaned and slumped backldquoDefenserdquo he shouted ldquoGet your hands up

Champ Get ready Here I come againrdquoldquoNomdashwaitmdashrdquo I pleadedThe ball thundered in front of him as he drove

into me again This time he kept his body up straightThe force of the collision sent me sprawling to theasphalt

ldquoDefenserdquo he shouted ldquoShow me somethingBlock me At least slow me down a littlerdquo

Groaning again I climbed to my feet I felt as ifIrsquod been hit by a truck

Stretch dribbled around me circling me his eyeslocked angrily on me His nosebleed had stoppedbut he still had dried blood caked under his nose

I rubbed my chest ldquoI I think I broke a ribrdquo Iwhispered

With a wild shout he slammed into me againThis time I flew backmdashand smashed into the thickwooden post that held up the backboard

ldquoYoursquore going to pay for those contacts Champrdquohe called hulking over me so I couldnrsquot stand updribbling the ball inches from my feet

ldquoYeah Okayrdquo I said trying to rub the pain frommy chest ldquoI said I was sorryrdquo

15

ldquoYoursquore gonna be more sorryrdquo he said Hebounced the ball hard against my bare leg ldquoGet uprdquo

I didnrsquot move ldquoIt was an accidentrdquo I insisted ldquoIreally didnrsquot see you bend down Reallyrdquo

He picked at the caked blood under his noseldquoGet up Letrsquos go Irsquom supposed to teach you some-thingrdquo He laughed really loud Irsquom not sure whyThen he swept a huge hand back through his shortwhite-blond hair and waited for me to stand up Sohe could teach me more lessons

I climbed shakily to my feet I felt so dizzy I hadto grab the wooden post My head ached My ribsached

ldquoCan we uh play a different gamerdquoI asked weakly

ldquoYeah Surerdquo he said ldquoHeymdashthink fastrdquoHe was standing so close and he heaved the ball

so hard it felt like a cannonball as it shot into mystomach

I stumbled back And let out a sharp gaspAnd then realized I couldnrsquot breatheI struggled hard to suck in some air No no air I canrsquot get air I saw bright yellow stars The yellow darkened to

redPain shot through my chest The pain spread

growing sharper sharper I was down on my back now staring up at the

16

17

sky staring up at the dancing red stars I wanted toscream But I had no air

Canrsquot breathe canrsquot breathe at all The stars faded away The color faded from the

sky All black All black nowAnd as I sank into the blackness I heard a voiceA beautiful soft voice from far far away Calling

my nameAn angel I realized Yes Through the blackness I heard an angel call-

ing my nameAnd I knew that I had died

ldquoLuke LukerdquoThe blackness lifted I blinked up at the afternoon

sky The voice was closer now And I recognized itldquoLukerdquoMy chest ached as I took a deep breathHeymdashwhen had I started to breathe againI lifted my head and saw Hannah running across

the basketball court She wore a blue windbreakerunzipped and it flapped up over her shoulders likewings Her red hair glowed in the late afternoon sunlike a halo

Not an angel Just Hannah She turned angrily to Stretch as she ran past him

ldquoWhat did you do to Lukemdashkill himrdquoStretch giggled ldquoProbablyrdquoHannah dropped onto her knees beside me Her

windbreaker fell over my face She tugged it awayldquoAre you alive Can you speakrdquo

ldquoYeah Irsquom okayrdquo I muttered I felt like a jerk Ahelpless jerk

18

Stretch walked up behind Hannah ldquoWhorsquos sherdquohe sneered at me ldquoYour girlfriendrdquo

Hannah spun around to face him ldquoHeymdashIrsquoveseen your girlfriendrdquo

Stretchrsquos mouth dropped open ldquoHuh Whorsquosthatrdquo

ldquoGodzillardquo Hannah declaredI tried to laugh but it made my ribs hurtThe next thing I knew Hannah was on her feet

shoving Stretchrsquos shoulders with both hands forcinghim to back up ldquoEver hear of picking on someoneyour own sizerdquo she demanded

Stretch laughed ldquoNo Tell me about itrdquo Hebacked away from her and raised his big meaty fistsHe grinned and started dancing like a fighter ldquoComeon You want a piece of me You want a piece ofmerdquo Imitating someone in a movie I guess

ldquoOne on onerdquo Hannah challenged Stretch tossed back his head and laughed His

blue eyes rolled around in his tiny head ldquoYou wanta piece of merdquo

ldquoFreestyle shootingrdquo Hannah said tearing off thewindbreaker She tossed it to the side of the courtldquoCome on Stretch Twenty shots each Any kind ofshotrdquo She stared up at him ldquoYoursquoll lose ReallyYoursquoll see Yoursquoll lose to a girlrdquo

His smile faded ldquoYoursquore on the girlsrsquo basketballteammdashrightrdquo

Hannah nodded ldquoIrsquom the centerrdquo

19

Stretch started to dribble the ball slowly in frontof him ldquoTwenty shots Layups or three-pointrdquo

Hannah shrugged ldquoAny kind Yoursquoll loserdquoI climbed to my feet and went over to the side of

the court to watch I still felt a little shaky but I knewI was okay

Stretch didnrsquot hesitate He raised the ball andpushed up a one-handed shot from half-court Theball hit the backboard then the rimmdashand droppedin ldquoOne for onerdquo he said He ran to retrieve the ballldquoIrsquoll keep shooting until I missrdquo

He missed his next shot an easy layup fromunder the basket

Hannahrsquos turn I crossed my fingers and countedto seven three times

ldquoGo Hannahrdquo I cheered holding up my crossedfingers

Hannah sank a basket from the foul line Thenshe drove under the basket and shot another one infrom underneath

My mouth dropped open as she sank eight morebaskets without a miss ldquoWow Go Hannahrdquo

Stretch just stood there looking dumb I couldnrsquottell what he was thinking His face was a total blank

ldquoTen for tenrdquo Hannah declared She bounced theball to Stretch ldquoYou go Just to keep it interestingrdquo

Hannah glanced at me grinned and flashed mea thumbs-up

Stretch wasnrsquot smiling anymore He had a grim

20

determined look on his face as he drove in close toshoot He dropped four straight baskets then missedone from in front of the foul line

He muttered something under his breath andbounced the ball to Hannah

Hannah sank eight more in a row She turned toStretch ldquoEighteen for eighteenrdquo

But he was already jogging back to the gym ascowl on his face

ldquoIrsquom not finishedrdquo Hannah called after himStretch turned back to me ldquoHey Champmdashmaybe

you should take a lesson from your girlfriend Ormaybe you should play on her teamrdquo Shaking hishead he disappeared into the school

A strong wind began to blow across the play-ground It was dark as evening now I picked upHannahrsquos windbreaker and reached out to hand it toher But she took another shot ldquoNineteenrdquo And thenanother ldquoTwenty Yay I winrdquo

I gaped at her ldquoHannahmdashyou never miss Howdo you do thatrdquo

She shrugged ldquoJust luckyrdquoI shivered We started jogging back to the school

ldquoAsk me how lucky I amrdquo I muttered ldquoI made a newenemy today A huge enemyrdquo

Hannah stopped and grabbed my arm ldquoHeymdashItotally forgot why I was looking for you I wanted totell you the coolest newsrdquo

I held the school door open ldquoYeah Whatrdquo

21

Hannahrsquos green eyes flashed ldquoYou know thosephotos I took of my dog I sent them to a magazine inNew York And guess what They paid me five hun-dred dollars for them Theyrsquore going to publish themmdashand do a big story about me Isnrsquot that so totally coolrdquo

ldquoWow Totallyrdquo I saidAnd thatrsquos when I decided my luck had to changeWhy should Hannah have all the luck I can be

lucky too I told myselfItrsquos all attitude Thatrsquos what it takes The right atti-

tudeI changed into my street clothes I made my way

upstairs to stop at my locker Locker 13 Basketball practice had run so late the halls were

empty My shoes clonked noisily on the hard floorMost of the lights had already been turned off

This school is creepy when itrsquos empty I decided Istopped in front of my locker feeling a chill at the backof my neck

I always felt a little weirded-out in front of thelocker For one thing it wasnrsquot with all the otherseventh-grade lockers It was down at the end of theback hall by itself just past a janitorrsquos supply closet

Up and down the hall all the other lockers hadbeen painted over the summer They were all asmooth silvery gray But no one had touched locker13 The old green paint was peeling and had largepatches scraped off Deep scratches crisscrossed upand down the door

22

The locker smelled damp And sour As if it hadonce been filled with rotting leaves or dead fish orsomething

Thatrsquos okay I can deal with this I told myself I took a deep breath New attitude Luke New

attitude Your luck is going to changeI opened my backpack and pulled out a fat black

marker Then I closed the locker door And rightabove the number 13 I wrote the word LUCKY in bigbold capital letters

I stepped back to admire my work LUCKY 13ldquoYessssrdquo I felt better alreadyI shoved the black marker into my backpack and

started to zip it up And thatrsquos when I heard thebreathing

Soft soft breaths So soft I thought I imaginedthem From inside the locker

I crept closer and pressed my ear against the doorI heard a soft hiss Then more breathingThe backpack slipped out of my hands and thud-

ded to the floor I froze And heard another soft hiss inside the locker It

ended in a short cry The back of my neck prickled My breath caught

in my throatWithout realizing it my hand had gripped the

locker handleShould I open the door Should I

23

My hand tightened on the handle I forced myselfto start breathing again

Irsquom imagining this I told myself There canrsquot be anyone breathing inside my lockerI lifted the handle Pulled open the doorldquoHeymdashrdquo I cried out in shock And stared down at

a black catThe cat gazed up at me its eyes red in the dim

hall light The black fur stood up on its back Itpulled back its lips and hissed again

A black catA black cat inside my lockerIrsquom imagining this I thought I blinked hard trying to blink the cat awayA black cat inside locker 13 Could there be any

worse luckldquoHowmdashhow did you get in thererdquo I choked outThe cat hissed again and arched its back It gazed

up at me coldly Then it leaped from the locker floor It darted over

24

my shoes down the hall Running rapidly silentlyHead down tail straight up it turned the first cornerand disappeared

I stared after it my heart pounding I could stillfeel its furry body brushing against my leg I realizedI was still gripping the locker handle

My head spun with questions How long had thecat been in there How did it get inside the lockeddoor Why was there a black cat in my locker Why

I turned and checked out the floor of the lockerJust to make sure there werenrsquot any other creatureshiding in there Then still feeling confused I closedthe door carefully locked it and stepped back

LUCKY 13The black letters appeared to glowldquoYeah Luckyrdquo I muttered picking up my back-

pack ldquoReal lucky A black cat in my lockerrdquo I held my lucky rabbitrsquos foot and kept squeezing

it tightly all the way homeThings are going to change I told myself Things

have got to change

But in the next few weeks my luck didnrsquot changeat all

One day after school I was on my way to the com-puter lab when I ran into Hannah ldquoWhere are yougoingrdquo she asked ldquoWant to come watch my basket-ball gamerdquo

ldquoI canrsquotrdquo I replied ldquoI promised to install some

25

new modems for Mrs Coffey the computer teacherrdquoldquoMr Computer Geek strikes againrdquo she said She

started jogging toward the gymldquoDid you get your science test backrdquo I called

after herShe stopped and turned around with a grin on her

face ldquoYou wonrsquot believe it Luke I didnrsquot have timeto study I had to guess on every question And guesswhat I got a hundred I got them all rightrdquo

ldquoThatrsquos excellentrdquo I called Irsquod studied for thattest for a solid week and I got a seventy-four

I made my way into the computer lab and wavedto Mrs Coffey She was hunched over her desk sort-ing through a tall stack of disks ldquoHey howrsquos itgoingrdquo she called

The computer lab is my second home Ever sinceMrs Coffey learned that I can repair computers andupgrade them and install things in them Irsquove beenher favorite student

And I have to admit I really like her tooWhenever I donrsquot have basketball practice I checkin at the computer lab to talk with her and see whatneeds to be fixed

ldquoLuke how is your animation project comingalongrdquo she asked setting down the disks Shebrushed back her blond hair She has the nicestsmile Everyone likes her because she always seemsto enjoy her classes so much

ldquoIrsquom almost ready to show it to yourdquo I said I sat

26

down in front of a computer and started to removethe back ldquoI think itrsquos really cool And itrsquos going muchfaster now I found a new way to move pixelsaroundrdquo

Her eyes grew wide ldquoReallyrdquoldquoItrsquos a very cool inventionrdquo I said carefully slid-

ing the insides from the computer ldquoThe program ispretty simple I think a lot of animators might like itrdquo

I set down my screwdriver and gazed across theroom at her ldquoMaybe you could help me You knowShow it to people Get it copyrighted or somethingrdquo

ldquoMayberdquo she said She stood up smoothing thehem of her blue sweater over her jeans She came upbehind me and watched as I removed the old modemldquoYoursquore really skillful Luke I think yoursquore going tomake a lot of money with computers some dayrdquo

ldquoYeah Mayberdquo I replied awkwardly ldquoThanksrdquo Ididnrsquot really know what to say Mrs Coffey is so awe-some She is the only teacher who really encouragesme and thinks Irsquom somebody

ldquoI canrsquot wait to show you my animationrdquo I said ldquoWell I have some big newsrdquo she said sud-

denly I turned and caught the excited smile on herface ldquoYoursquore the first person to hear it Luke Can youkeep a secretrdquo

ldquoYeah Okayrdquo I saidldquoI just got the most wonderful job At a really big

software company in Chicago Irsquom leaving school nextweekrdquo

27

The next afternoon I couldnrsquot check in at the com-puter lab I had to hurry to the swimming poolbehind the gym

Swimming is my other big sport I spent all lastsummer working with an instructor at our local poolHe was fast enough to make the Olympic tryouts afew years ago And he really improved my stroke andshowed me a lot of secrets for getting my speed up

So I looked forward to the tryouts for the Squiresswim team I couldnrsquot wear my lucky swimsuitbecause it didnrsquot fit anymore But I wore my luckyshirt to school that day And as I changed for thepool I silently counted to seven three times

As I left the locker room I heard shouts andlaughter echoing off the tile pool walls Feeling myheart start to race I stepped into the steamy air ofthe indoor pool The floor was puddled with warmwater I inhaled the sharp chlorine smell I love thatsmell

Then I bent down and kissed the top of the divingboard I know It sounds weird But itrsquos just some-thing I always do

I turned to the pool Three or four guys werealready in the water At the shallow end I sawStretch He was violently splashing two other guysHe had them cornered at the end of the pool His bighands slapped the water sending up tall waves overthem They pleaded with him to give them a break

Coach Swanson blew his whistle then shouted

28

bull bull bull

for Stretch to cut the horseplay Stretch gave the twoguys one more vicious splash

Then he turned and saw me ldquoHey Champmdashrdquo heshouted his voice booming off the tiles ldquoYoursquoreearly Drowning lessons are next week Ha ha Niceswim trunks Are those your girlfriendrsquos Ha hardquo

A few other guys laughed tooI decided to ignore them I was feeling pretty con-

fident About twenty guys were trying out I knewthere were only six spots open on the team But afterall my work last summer I thought I could make thetop six

We all warmed up for a bit taking easy laps lim-bering up our muscles getting used to the warmwater After a few minutes Coach Swanson made usall climb out and line up at the deep end of the pool

ldquoOkay guys Irsquove got to get to my night job by fiveso wersquore going to keep this simplerdquo the coachannounced ldquoYou have one chance One chanceonly You hear the whistle you do a speed dive intothe pool You do two complete laps any stroke youwant Irsquoll take the first six guys And two alternatesAny questionsrdquo

There werenrsquot anyEveryone leaned forward preparing to dive

Stretch lined up next to me He elbowed me hard inthe side ldquoGive me some room Champ Donrsquot crowdmerdquo

29

Okay so hersquoll come in first I figured rubbing thepain from my side That leaves five other places onthe team

Irsquom good enough I told myself I know I am Iknow I am

The whistle blew All down the row bodiestensed then plunged forward

I started my divemdashand slippedThe pool floormdashso wet My feet slid on the tile Oh noI hit the water with a loud smack A belly flop No kind of dive Struggling to recover I raised my head And saw

everyone way ahead of me One unlucky slip I lowered my head determined to catch up I

started stroking easily forcing myself to be calm Iremembered the slow steady straight-legged kick myinstructor had taught me

I sped up I passed some guys Hit the wall andstarted back

I can do this I told myself I can still make theteam

Faster At the end of the second lap the finish was a furi-

ous blur Blue water Thrashing arms and legs Loudbreaths Bobbing heads

I tried to shut out everything and concentrate on

30

my stroke ignore everyone else and swimAt last my hand hit the pool wall I ducked under

then surfaced blowing out water I wiped my hairaway from my eyes The taste of chlorine was in mymouth Water running down my face I glancedaround

I didnrsquot finish last Some guys were still swim-ming I squinted down the line of swimmers who hadfinished How many How many were ahead of me

ldquoLukemdashyoursquore seventhrdquo Coach Swansonannounced He made a large check on his clipboardldquoFirst alternate See you at practicerdquo

I was still too out-of-breath to replySeventhI let out a long sigh I felt so disappointed I could

do better than seventh I knew If only I hadnrsquotslipped

As I started to trudge back to the locker roomStretch strode up beside me ldquoHey Champrdquo Heslapped my bare back with his open hand so hard itmade a loud smack ldquoThanks for making me look sogoodrdquo

I got dressed quickly standing in a corner bymyself A few guys came over to say congratulationsBut I didnrsquot feel I deserved it

Across the locker room Stretch was still in hisswim trunks He was having a great time smacking

31

guys with his towel really making the towel snapagainst their bare skin laughing his head off

I tossed my towel in the basket Then I steppedup to the mirror over the sinks to comb my hair Aceiling lightbulb was out and I had to lean over thesink to see

I had just started to comb my wet hair backmdashwhen I saw the jagged crack along the length of theglass

ldquoWhoardquo I stopped combing and stepped backA broken mirror Seven years bad luck for some-

oneI reached into my khakis pocket and squeezed

my rabbitrsquos foot three times Then I turned back tothe mirror and began combing my hair again

Something was wrong I blinked Once TwiceA red light Some kind of red glare in the mirror

glassI squinted into the glassmdashand let out a cryThe red glare was coming from a pair of eyesmdash

two red eyes glowing like hot coalsTwo angry red eyes floating in the glass Floating

beside my reflectionI could see my confused expression as I stared at

the frightening red eyes as I watched the eyesslide across the glass slide slide closer until their red glow covered my eyes

32

My horrified reflection stared out at me with thefiery glowing eyes

And I opened my mouth and let out a long terri-fied scream

33

Over my scream I heard heavy footsteps behindme And then I heard a voicemdashStretchrsquos voiceldquoHeymdashget used to itrdquo

I spun around He grinned at me ldquoGet used to itChamp Thatrsquos your face It makes other peoplescream toordquo

ldquoNordquo I cried ldquoNo Itrsquos not Donrsquot you seemdashrdquoCoach Swanson burst in behind Stretch ldquoLukemdash

whatrsquos wrongrdquoldquoMy eyesrdquo I cried ldquoLook Are they red Are

theyrdquoCoach Swanson and Stretch exchanged glances ldquoWhat is his problemrdquo Stretch murmuredCoach Swanson stepped up close and examined

my eyes ldquoWhatrsquos wrong with you Luke Itrsquos just thechlorine from the pool Your eyes will be okay in a lit-tle whilerdquo

ldquoChlorine Huh Nordquo I insisted Then I glancedinto the mirror And saw my normal brown eyes gaz-ing back at me

34

No glowing eyes No red eyes burning in the glasslike an evil movie monster

ldquoUh well rdquo I rubbed my eyes They didnrsquotburn or anything They felt okay

I turned back to Stretch and Coach Swanson Ididnrsquot know what to say to them They were both stillstaring at me as if I were nuts

And maybe I was Black cats jumping out of my locker Glowing red

eyes in the mirrorldquoWell see you at practicerdquo I saidStretch laughed ldquoNot if I see you first Ha hardquoI laughed too It wasnrsquot funny but I wanted to

sound calm again normalAs I followed them out of the locker room I real-

ized I was trembling Why were these strange things happening to me

35

After dinner I was supposed to go to the mall withHannah She wanted to buy me some computer soft-ware for my birthday But she wanted me to pick itout

That was really nice of her But at the last minuteI decided not to go

I was still feeling weird from the swim tryoutsAnd I wanted to work on my animation project If Iworked really hard I might be able to get it finishedin time to show Mrs Coffey before she left school

I went up to my room and booted up the anima-tion But I couldnrsquot concentrate I kept staring at thefour-leaf clover inside a block of clear Lucite I keepon my desk And I kept jumping up and running tothe mirror to check my eyes

Perfectly normal Not glowingSo what happened What happened to me in that

locker room I asked myself I tried to convincemyself there was something wrong with the mirror

36

The red glow was because of the way the light hit thecrack in the mirror Or something

No That didnrsquot make senseThe phone rang a little before ten orsquoclock And it

was Hannah sounding very breathless and excitedldquoLukemdashyou shouldrsquove come You shouldrsquove

comerdquoI had to hold the phone away from my ear

Hannah was shouting so loud ldquoWhy What hap-penedrdquo I asked

ldquoI won itrdquo she declared ldquoDo you believe it Iwonrdquo

ldquoExcuse me Hannahmdashwhat are you talkingaboutrdquo

ldquoYou know the raffle at the mall That huge redSUV Itrsquos been on display there for a monthThousands of people put tickets in the boxThousands AndmdashandmdashI just happened to be walk-ing by when they had the drawing tonight Andmdashrdquo

ldquoYou didnrsquotrdquo I shriekedldquoYes Yes I won it I won the SUVrdquo ldquoWowrdquo I slumped onto my bed I actually felt

faint My heart was pounding as if I had wonldquoYou shouldrsquove seen me when they called out my

namerdquo Hannah gushed ldquoI screamed I just stoodthere and screamedrdquo

She screamed again shrieked at the top of herlungs A long high joyful scream

37

ldquoHannahmdashthatrsquos so awesomerdquo I said I donrsquotthink she heard me She was still screaming

ldquoMy family is so happy Luke You should seethem They are dancing around the living roomrdquo

ldquoThatrsquos so greatrdquo I saidHannah lowered her voice ldquoI just feel bad about

one thing Luke I was so crazed I was so berserk Iforgot why I was at the mall I forgot all about buy-ing you a birthday giftrdquo

I stood up I picked up the block with the four-leafclover inside and smoothed it between my handsldquoThatrsquos okayrdquo I told Hannah ldquoI just decided what Ireally want for my birthdayrdquo

ldquoWhatrsquos thatrdquo she askedldquoI want your luckrdquoHannah laughed She thought I was kidding But

of course I was seriousldquoAre you going to school tomorrowrdquo she askedldquoHuh Yeah sure Why notrdquoldquoTomorrow is Friday the thirteenthrdquo she said ldquoI

know how superstitious you are I thought maybeyoursquod stay home and hide under the bed all dayrdquo

ldquoHa hardquo I said But I felt a cold tingle at the backof my neck ldquoIrsquoll be thererdquo I told Hannah ldquoIrsquom nottotally wacko you knowrdquo

But Irsquoll wear my lucky shirt I thought And Irsquolltake my four-leaf clover in my backpack And Irsquoll askMom to pack my lucky sandwich for lunchmdashpeanutbutter and mayonnaise

38

ldquoI have to go to school tomorrowrdquo I told HannahldquoI have basketball practice after schoolrdquo

ldquoHowrsquos practice goingrdquo Hannah askedI chuckled ldquoNot bad So far I havenrsquot gotten any

splinters from sitting on the benchrdquoHannah laughed I could hear shouts and wild

laughter in the background ldquoIrsquove got to gordquo she saidshouting over the racket ldquoMy family is still celebrat-ing my winning the SUV Byerdquo

She clicked off before I could reply

That night I dreamed about locker 13In the dream I stepped up to the locker Someone

had taped a calendar to the door I came closer andsaw that Friday the thirteenth had been circled inred

I started to rip the calendar off the locker doorBut I stopped when I heard loud breathing Hoarsewheezing sounds Like someone was having troublebreathing

I touched the locker door And it was burning hotI screamed in shock and pulled my hand awayAgain I heard the hoarse breathing from inside

the locker And then I heard a tiny voice cry outldquoPlease get me outrdquo

In the dream I knew I was dreaming I wanted tolift myself out of the dream But I was stuck thereAnd I knew I had no choice I had to pull open thelocker door and see who was in there

39

ldquoPlease I want out Get me outrdquo the tinyfrightened voice called

Even though I knew I was dreaming I still felt sofrightened Real fear that makes you shake whetheryoursquore awake or asleep

I watched myself grip the door handle Slowlymdashso slowlymdashI pulled the locker door open

And I stared in horror at the figure huddled insidethe locker Because it was ME

It was me inside the locker hugging myself trem-bling all over It was memdashand my eyes started toglow My eyes glowed out from the dark locker red asfire

And as I stared at myself stared at those ugly evilred eyes I watched my face begin to change Iwatched hair grow out of my nostrils Long braids ofthick black hair sliding out of my nosemdashdown downto the locker floor

Beneath the shining red eyes thick blacktwisted ropes of hair were pouring from my nose Outof the locker Piling onto the hall floor Curlingaround me as I watched

Yes The long hair flowed from my nose andsnaked around me as I watched in horror Curledaround me covering me in warm scratchy hairCovering me like a big furry coat and then tighten-ing Tightening Tightening around my chestTightening around my face Wrapping me like amummy Wrapping me in my ghastly nose hair

40

I woke up one hand tightly wrapped around theLucite block with the four-leaf clover Gray morningsunlight seeped through my bedroom window Myroom was so cold cold as a freezer

ldquoLuke what are you doing up there Yoursquore laterdquoMomrsquos voice shattered the frozen silence

ldquoA dreamrdquo I murmured A hoarse laugh escapedmy throat My eyes darted around the room NormalEverything normal

ldquoHurry Luke Itrsquos really laterdquo Momrsquos voicesounded so good to me

I followed her order I hurried I got showereddressed ate breakfast and arrived at school withabout two minutes to spare The halls were prettyempty Most kids had already gone to their home-rooms

I glanced at the clock on the tile wall Then joggedto the end of the back hall to toss my jacket into mylocker

But a few feet from my locker I stopped with agasp

What was that on the door to locker 13I crept closer A calendarYes Someone had taped a calendar to the door

And and today Friday the thirteenth was cir-cled in red

41

ldquoMy dreamrdquo I murmuredThat horrifying dream Itrsquos coming true I realized

Irsquom going to open the door and itrsquos going to cometrue

42

I stared at the calendar at the number 13 circledin red marker

Last nightrsquos dream played itself again through mymind I shuddered My legs and arms itched I couldpractically feel the disgusting hair curling around myskin

With an angry cry I ripped the calendar off thedoor and crumpled it in my hand

Now I expected to hear the heavy breathing frominside the locker And the tiny criesmdashmy criesmdashbeg-ging to be let out

But I didnrsquot wait ldquoIrsquom not opening itrdquo I said outloud

No way am I going to allow the dream to cometrue

I tossed the wadded-up calendar sheet to thefloor Then I spun around and began running toclass The hall was empty My shoes thudded loudlyon the hard floor as I ran

Irsquoll keep my coat with me I decided Irsquoll just drag

43

it around with me all day I donrsquot need to open thelocker

The bell rang as I reached my homeroom doorMr Perkins looked up as I burst into the roomldquoGood morning Lukerdquo he said ldquoRunning a little latethis morningrdquo

ldquoA littlerdquo I replied breathlessly Unzipping myjacket I started to my seat

ldquoWould you like time to go hang your coat in yourlockerrdquo Mr Perkins asked

ldquoUh no Thatrsquos okayrdquo I lowered my backpackto the floor and dropped into the chair ldquoIrsquoll just keep itrdquo

A few kids were staring at me Mr Perkins noddedand turned back to the papers he was reading

I took a deep breath and settled back against thechair I rubbed the right sleeve of my lucky shirtseven times

That dream is not going to come true I toldmyself No way I wonrsquot let it

Of course I wasnrsquot thinking clearly How couldthat crazy dream come true

If I had stopped for one second to think about itI would have realized the whole idea was insane

But today was Friday the thirteenth And I nevercan think clearly on Friday the thirteenth I admit itIrsquom always a little crazy on that unlucky day

I glanced up to see that Mr Perkins had beenreading the morning announcements I hadnrsquot heard

44

a word he said I pulled the four-leaf clover from mybackpack twirled it in my hand and wished for goodluck for the rest of the day

At noon I found Hannah at a table against theback wall of the lunchroom She was sitting all byherself staring down at her brown lunchbag whichshe hadnrsquot opened

ldquoHi Whassuprdquo I dropped across from herldquoHirdquo she said softly without raising her eyes

ldquoHowrsquos it goingrdquoldquoWell pretty okay for a Friday the thirteenthrdquo I

said Actually the morning had flown by without anyproblems at all

I expected Hannah to make some kind of jokeabout how superstitious I am But she didnrsquot say aword

I pulled the sandwich from my bag and started tounwrap the foil ldquoMy lucky sandwichrdquo I saidldquoPeanut butter and mayonnaiserdquo

ldquoYumrdquo she said rolling her eyes She finallylooked at me She appeared tired Her eyes werebloodshot red as if shersquod been crying Her hair wasa mess and her face was gray

ldquoHow come yoursquore wearing your coatrdquo sheasked

ldquoOh uh no reasonrdquo I said ldquoI was kind ofcoldrdquo

She nodded glumly

45

ldquoDid you come to school in the new SUVrdquo Iasked

She shook her head ldquoWe donrsquot have it yet Dadhas to go fill out a lot of papersrdquo She let out a longsigh

I lowered my sandwich ldquoAre you feeling okayrdquo Iasked

She didnrsquot answer Instead she sighed again andstared down at the table

I poked her lunchbag with one finger ldquoWhat doyou have for lunchrdquo

She shrugged ldquoJust some fruit Irsquom not very hun-gryrdquo She opened the bag reached a hand in andpulled out a bright yellow banana

She struggled with the skin Then finally peeled itopen

ldquoOh yuckrdquo Her face twisted in disgust Shedropped the banana to the table

Inside the skin the banana was completely rot-ten Just a soft pile of black mush A horrible soursmellmdashlike ripe vomitmdashfloated up from it

Hannah shoved the banana away ldquoSick Thatrsquosreally sickrdquo

ldquoThe skin is perfectly freshrdquo I said ldquoHow couldthe banana be so rottenrdquo

ldquoI think I have an applerdquo Hannah said glumlyShe tore the bag apart and pulled out a red appleShe twirled it between her handsmdashthen stopped witha gasp

46

I saw the deep dark hole on the side of the appleAnd as we both stared at it a fat brown wormmdashatleast two inches longmdashcurled out from inside Andthen another And another

The worms dropped from the apple onto thetabletop

ldquoI donrsquot believe thisrdquo Hannah shrieked Shescraped her chair back so hard it toppled over

And before I could say anything she was runningfrom the room

After school I looked for Hannah on my way tobasketball practice I was worried about her She hadacted so weird at lunch Not like herself at all

I reminded myself that it was Friday the thir-teenth And sometimes people act a little weird onthis day

But not Hannah Hannah is the least supersti-tious person I know She walks under ladders all thetime and she hugs black cats and doesnrsquot think athing of it

And why should she Hannah has to be the luck-iest person on earth

Lockers slammed as kids prepared to go home Istarted to the gym then turned back I donrsquot want tocarry my coat and backpack to the gym I decidedIrsquom going to stuff them in my locker

I hesitated as the locker came into view at the endof the hall I read the words on the door LUCKY 13 Of

47

course I remembered my nightmaremdashand the calen-dar from my nightmare taped on the locker door

But I had to open the locker I didnrsquot want to carrymy stuff around with me for the rest of the year

ldquoHey Lukerdquo I saw Darnell Cross waving to mefrom the doorway to the science lab ldquoAre the Squiresgoing to beat Davenportrdquo

ldquoTheyrsquore not so toughrdquo I called back ldquoWe couldtake themrdquo

ldquoYou going to playrdquo Darnell asked He grinnedbecause he already knew the answer

ldquoAs soon as I grow taller than Stretchrdquo I repliedHe laughed and disappeared back into the lab I stepped up to locker 13 I brought my face close

to the door ldquoAnyone in thererdquo I called inSilenceldquoJust checkingrdquo I said I grabbed the door handle

I was feeling pretty confident Friday the thirteenthwas two-thirds over and so far nothing terriblyunlucky had happened to me

I squeezed my rabbitrsquos foot for luck Then I tooka deep breathmdashand pulled open the locker

48

Nothing unusual inside the locker I realized I was still gripping the rabbitrsquos foot

inside my pocket I let go of it and slipped my back-pack off my shoulders

I studied the locker carefully A bunch of booksand notebooks on the top shelf where I had leftthem My old gray sweatshirt lay crumpled on thelocker floor

No black cats No one breathing or crying orshooting piles of hair from his nose

I let out a long sigh of relief Then I tossed thebackpack on top of the balled-up sweatshirt Shovedmy jacket onto the hook on the back wall

I started to slam the door shut when I spottedsomething at my feet

My shoe kicked it and it rolled against the lockerbottom then bounced back

A ballI bent down and picked it up I raised it close to

my face

49

ldquoWhoardquo Not a ball A tiny yellow skull a littlelarger than a Ping-Pong ball

It had an open-mouthed grin revealing two rowsof gray teeth I ran my finger over the teeth Theywere hard and bumpy

I squeezed it The little skull was made of somekind of hard rubber

The eyesmdashsunken deep in the socketsmdashwere redglass They glowed in the hall lights like tiny rubies

ldquoWhere did you come fromrdquo I asked itI turned back to the locker Did the skull fall out

of the locker How did it get in there Was someoneplaying some kind of Friday the thirteenth headgame with me

I decided that had to be the answerI rolled the skull around in my hand a few times

I poked my finger against the glowing red glass eyes Then I tucked it into my pants pocket I slammed

the locker shutmdashand headed to practice

ldquoLook alive Heads up Look aliverdquo CoachBendix was shouting

I ran out of the locker room and grabbed a bas-ketball off the ball rack I began dribbling around thefloor

We were having one of Coachrsquos free-for-all prac-tices That meant we had to keep moving keepplayingmdashrun dribble pass shoot play defense Do

50

everything all at once in a big free-for-all I dribbled slowly across the floor concentrating

hard Trying not to lose the dribble I saw Stretch turntoward me He stuck out both hands and moved for-ward ready to block me

I decided to try and fake him out I dribbled leftmdashand moved right I edged past him easily Movedunder the basket And sent up a shot that sailedacross the gym and dropped in

ldquoHeymdashone for onerdquo I cried happilyldquoLucky shotrdquo Stretch calledI took the ball and moved back to the top of the

key I sent up a two-handed jumpshot It soared overthe rimmdashand dropped through the basket with a softswish

ldquoYesrdquo I pumped my fists in the airI didnrsquot have long to celebrate I turned and saw

Stretch barreling toward me dribbling hard leaningforward with grim determination

Hersquos going to charge right over me I realized Hersquosgoing to flatten me

Guys backed out of his way as Stretch flew acrossthe floor

ldquoLook out Lukerdquo someone shoutedI froze for a moment Then I ducked to the left

Stuck out my hand and slapped the ball away fromStretch

He made a wild grab for it But I dribbled it out of

51

his reach Then I spun around and sent a wild highshot into the air The ball hit the glass backboardmdashand sank through the net

ldquoWowrdquoldquoWay to go LukerdquoldquoThree for threerdquoThe other players were in shockStretch shook his head ldquoFeeling lucky today

Think fastrdquo He pulled back his long armmdashandheaved the ball at my chest with all his strength

I caught it easily Dribbled it three times Shotmdashand dropped another basket

Stretch scowled ldquoI donrsquot believe thisrdquo he mut-tered shaking his head

I donrsquot either I thought to myself Irsquove never shotfour baskets in a row in my life

I turned and saw Coach Bendix watching me Wasthis my big chance Stretch and another player werepassing the ball back and forth moving across thefloor

I shot forward Intercepted Stretchrsquos pass Droveto the basket And sent up an easy layup ldquoTwopointsrdquo I cried

With an angry grunt Stretch reached for therebound But I pushed it out of his hands Grabbed itSpun Shot again ldquoTwo pointsrdquo

Stretch cried out angrily He bumped me hard

52

from behind I think he would have flattened me onthe spot But he saw that Coach Bendix was runningover to us

Coach slapped me on the back ldquoWay to goLukerdquo he boomed ldquoWay to show real improvementIrsquom impressed Keep it up okay Irsquom going to give yousome playing time next Fridayrdquo

ldquoHeymdashthanksrdquo I replied breathlesslyI saw Stretch scowl Saw his face turn an angry

redI grabbed a ball and dribbled away I wanted to

shout and jump for joy Had my luck finally changedIt seemed that way Suddenly I could pass and

jump and shoot and play defense like I never couldbefore It was as if I was possessed or somethingPossessed by an all-star athlete

In the locker room after practice Stretch ignoredme But other guys slapped me on the back andflashed me a thumbs-up

ldquoLookinrsquo good LukerdquoldquoWay to go manrdquoldquoGo SquiresrdquoI was feeling really happy Like a new person As I

changed into my street clothes I felt the little skull inmy pants pocket I pulled it out and gazed at itsmoothing my thumb over the hard rubber

ldquoAre you my new good-luck charmrdquo I asked itThe tiny red eyes glowed back at me I kissed it

gave it a smack on top of its yellow head and shoved

53

it back into my pants pocketThat skull is going everywhere with me I decided

Itrsquos got to be lucky Itrsquos got to beAs I walked home I kept reliving my great bas-

ketball triumph I pictured my long perfect jump-shots again And I saw myself stealing the ball fromStretchrsquos hands driving right past him and scoringEmbarrassing him Embarrassing Stretch again andagain

Wow What a dayIt was a cold gray afternoon Dark clouds hung

low over the nearly bare trees It felt more like winterthan fall

A few blocks from home I crossed a streetmdashandheard a short cry

A long low evergreen hedge ran across the frontyard on the corner I stopped gazing over the hedgeHad the cry come from the yard

I listened hard Down the block a car doorslammed A dog started to bark The wind made awhistling sound through the phone lines overhead

And then I heard itmdashanother sharp crymdashlongerthis time

A baby It sounded like a babyrsquos cryldquoOwwwww OwwwwwwrdquoI lowered my gaze to the hedgemdashand saw the

creature making the shrill criesA cat No A small orange-and-white kitten

54

It appeared to be stuck in the prickly brambles ofthe hedge

ldquoOwwwww OwwwwwwrdquoCarefully I bent down and gently lifted the cat out

with both hands As I cupped my hands around it itstopped crying immediately But it was still breathinghard its white chest moving rapidly up and down Irubbed its head trying to soothe it

ldquoYoursquore okay little kittenrdquo I whisperedAnd then I heard another cry A loud shriekI looked up to see a large woman running at me

angrily Her face was bright red and she waved herarms furiously

ldquoOh nordquo I muttered I nearly dropped the catWhy is she so angryWhat have I done

55

ldquoThe kittenmdashrdquo she cried shoving through abreak in the hedge

ldquoImdashIrsquom sorryrdquo I stammered ldquoI didnrsquot know ImdashrdquoldquoWhere did you find herrdquo the woman demanded

her face still bright red ldquoIn in the hedgerdquoldquoOh thank you Thank yourdquo the woman said

She took the kitten from my hands and raised it toher cheek ldquoSasha where did you gordquo

Irsquom not in trouble I finally realized The womanis happymdashnot angry

ldquoSasha has been missing for two daysrdquo thewoman told me pressing the kitten against her faceldquoI offered a reward and everything I almost gave uphoperdquo

I let out a long sigh of relief ldquoShe was right thererdquoI said pointing ldquoIn the hedge I think she wascaught in itrdquo

ldquoWell shersquos fine now thanks to yourdquo Still press-ing the kitten to her cheek the woman pushed

56

through the hedge and started to the house ldquoWhat isyour namerdquo

ldquoLukerdquoldquoWell follow me Luke Irsquoll get your reward for

yourdquoldquoHuh Reward No Reallyrdquo I started to back

awayldquoYou saved Sasharsquos liferdquo the woman said ldquoYou

did a wonderful thing And I insist you take thereward I offeredrdquo

I saw that I had no choice I followed her to herkitchen door

A few minutes later she counted out five twenty-dollar bills and pressed them into my hand ldquoThankyou Luke You really did your good deed for todayrdquo

A hundred dollarsA hundred dollars rewardMy luck really is starting to change I decidedWhen I got home a big surprise awaited me Mom had made my favorite dinnermdashmeat loaf

mashed potatoes and gravy And a coconut cake fordessert

ldquoItrsquos not even my birthdayrdquo I exclaimedldquoI just felt like doing something nice for you

todayrdquo Mom said She brushed back my hair withone hand ldquoI know Friday the thirteenth is always ahard day for yourdquo

ldquoNot todayrdquo I told her grinning ldquoNot todayrdquo

57

After my second slice of coconut cake I went upto my room and started my homework I spent aboutan hour writing out the answers to my scienceassignment

It shouldnrsquot have taken that long But I kept tak-ing out the twenty-dollar bills counting them againand dreaming about what I could buy with them

After science I worked on my computer anima-tion Irsquod been having trouble with the last section Icouldnrsquot get anything to move the way I wanted

But tonight my good luck continued I had notrouble at all The images all slid together perfectly Ialmost finished the project

A little after nine I decided to give Hannah a callShersquod acted so weird at lunch that afternoon Ithought maybe she was sick or something

I called to see if she was feeling better But I couldtell by the way she answered the phone that she stillwasnrsquot her old self

I tried to cheer her up I told her about my tri-umph at basketball practice And about the hundred-dollar reward for finding the lost kitten

ldquoVery coolrdquo Hannah said But her voice showedno enthusiasm at all

ldquoAnd then Mom made all of my favorite things fordinnerrdquo I exclaimed

ldquoLuckyrdquo Hannah mutteredldquoWhatrsquos your problemrdquo I demanded ldquoWhatrsquos

wrong with you todayrdquo

58

A long silence at her endFinally she said ldquoI guess Irsquom just in a bad mood

I fell off my bike on the way home this afternoonrdquoI groaned ldquoOh no Are you okayrdquoldquoNot reallyrdquo she replied ldquoI scraped all the skin

off my right hand And I twisted my ankle prettybadrdquo

ldquoWowrdquo I muttered ldquoBad newsrdquoldquoEspecially since I have a basketball game tomor-

rowrdquo Hannah sighedldquoThink yoursquoll be able to playrdquo I askedldquoMayberdquo she said glumly ldquoMaybe Irsquoll come watch your gamerdquo I saidThere was a long silence And then Hannah said

ldquoLuke therersquos something something I have to tellyourdquo

ldquoExcuse merdquo I said She was whispering so lowI could barely hear her

ldquoI really should tell you something But rdquoI pressed the phone tighter to my ear ldquoWhat

What is itrdquo ldquoWell rdquoAnother long silenceldquoI canrsquotrdquo she said finally I heard a click and the

line went silentThe next morning my good luck came to an end

59

At least I thought my good luck had endedWhen I arrived at my science class I searched

my backpack for the homework questions Not thereI took everything outmdashevery paper every bookevery pencil

Not there I had spent over an hour on thatassignment last night And Irsquod left it at home

Now I was in major trouble Miss Creamer didnrsquotaccept late homework And homework counted forfifty percent of the grade in her class

My stomach tightened with dread as she enteredthe science lab to begin class

How could I be so stupid ldquoGood morning everyonerdquo she began ldquoI have an

announcement to make Itrsquos about last nightrsquos home-workrdquo

The room grew silentldquoI have to apologize to all of yourdquo Miss Creamer

continued ldquoI gave the wrong assignment Thosewerenrsquot the right questions Irsquom really sorry You

60

donrsquot have to turn it in Just tear it up and throw itawayrdquo

Cheers rang out Some kids gleefully ripped theirpapers into shreds A big celebration

Yes More good luck for me I thought happilyI was on a hot streak Later when Miss Creamer

handed back last weekrsquos test I had the only A in theclass

In the lunchroom I grabbed the last slice of pizzaon the counter

All the kids behind me in line groaned Darnellcame up and offered to pay me five dollars for it Butno deal

After school I stopped by the computer lab to seeMrs Coffey She told me her plans had suddenlychanged She wouldnrsquot be leaving school for anothertwo weeks

I cheered That meant I had time to finish mycomputer animation project and show it to her beforeI left

ldquoLuke I was talking about you to my friend whoowns Linkups You knowmdashthe computer store onHighlands I told him about how you can do any-thing with computers fix them upgrade them Hesaid you might be able to come into the store onSaturdays and help out in the service departmentrdquo

I gasped ldquoReallyrdquoShe nodded ldquoHersquos a really nice guy and hersquos

always looking for people who can fix machines He

61

said he couldnrsquot give you a real job since yoursquore onlytwelve But he could pay you five dollars an hourrdquo

ldquoWow I cried ldquoThatrsquos awesome Thanks MrsCoffeyrdquo

I practically flew down the stairs to the gym Iwanted to flap my arms and take off So many greatthings were happening to me I couldnrsquot believe it

Hannahrsquos basketball game had already startedwhen I stepped into the gym I found a seat in thebleachers and glanced up at the scoreboard TheSquirettes were already losing ten to two

Whatrsquos going on I wondered How can Hannahrsquosteam be losing so badly The team they were play-ingmdashthe Bee Stingers from Elwood Middle Schoolmdashwere the worst team in the city

I turned and glanced around the bleachers Therewere only about twenty kids watching the game Andfour or five parents clustered together at the top ofthe bleachers

ldquoGo Sharonrdquo one of the mothers yelledBut the gym was pretty quiet I guess because the

Squirettes were playing so badlyI leaned forward and tried to concentrate on the

game Sharon McCombs the tallest girl in the Shawnee

Valley eighth grade tossed the ball in A pass Thenanother pass which was almost stolen by a BeeStinger

Hannah grabbed the ball She turned and started

62

to dribble to the basket After about three steps shetripped The ball bounced away as she fell flat on herstomach

A Bee Stinger grabbed it just before it went out ofbounds She dribbled all the way down the floormdashand scored easily before Hannah had even pickedherself up off the floor Twelve to two

I cupped my hands around my mouth ldquoGet rsquoemHannahrdquo I shouted

She didnrsquot look up She was fiddling with thewhite bandage on her hand

A minute later Hannah had the ball again Inclose She jumped and shot And missed Missed thenet the backboard Missed everything

I leaned on my hands and watched the game insilence Hannah missed six or seven shots in a rowShe tripped over the ball hit the floor hard and gota huge bright red floor burn on her knee Her pass-es to her teammates went wild She kept losing theball to the other team Tripping over her own feetBumping into other players

It was sad She didnrsquot look like Hannah at allThe half-time score was Bee Stingers twenty-five

Squirettes five When the team came out to start the second half

Hannah sat down on the bench and didnrsquot play Whatrsquos going on I wondered I climbed down from the bleachers and walked

over to her on the bench

63

ldquoLuke you came to a bad-news gamerdquo she saidshaking her head

ldquoWhatrsquos wrongrdquo I asked ldquoYoursquore hurt Fromyour bike accident yesterdayrdquo

She watched the Bee Stingers score another bas-ket Then she turned to me ldquoNo Itrsquos not because ofmy accidentrdquo she whispered Her eyes were dullwatery Her skin was so pale

ldquoSo what is itrdquo I askedHannah frowned ldquoItrsquos all because I lost my good-

luck charmrdquo she said I gaped at her ldquoHuhrdquoldquoItrsquos what brought me all that amazing great

luckrdquo Hannah said ldquoI have to find it As soon as Ilost it my luck changedrdquo

My mouth dropped open I realized my heart hadstarted to pound

ldquoItrsquos a tiny skullrdquo Hannah continued ldquoA little yel-low skull ImdashI never went anywhere without itrdquo

She tugged at the bandage on her hand Then sheraised her eyes to me ldquoYou havenrsquot seen it any-where have you Lukerdquo

64

My legs suddenly felt weak I gripped the back ofthe bench and stared at Hannah I could feel my facegrowing red

I could feel the skull in my jeans pocket I knew Ishould pull it out and hand it to her

But how could II needed the good luck too Hannah had enjoyed

so much good luck for so long Mine had just startedFor the first time in my life I was having a little goodluck

How could I go back to being a loser againHannahrsquos watery eyes locked on mine ldquoHave you

seen it Lukerdquo she repeated ldquoHave you seen it any-whererdquo

My face burned So many frantic thoughtswhirred through my head

I really needed that good-luck charm Ever sinceI found it my life had changed I was a new person

But Hannah was my friend My best friend in the

65

whole world She was always there for me when Ineeded her

I couldnrsquot lie to hermdashcould IldquoNordquo I said ldquoI havenrsquot seen it anywhererdquoHannahrsquos eyes remained on me for a few seconds

more Then she nodded slowly and turned back tothe game

My heart was pounding hard now I had a heavyfeeling in the pit of my stomach ldquoWhere did you loseitrdquo I asked

She didnrsquot reply She cupped her hands aroundher mouth and cheered on her teammates

I backed away from the bench I felt like a totalcreep I jammed my hand into my pocket Wrappedmy fingers around the rubber skull

Give it back to her Luke a voice in my headurged The voice of goodness The voice of friend-ship

But I knew I wasnrsquot going to give it back I wasalready trotting out of the gym and down the hall tothe exit

I need it a little while longer I told myself Just alittle while

Long enough to win the basketball champi-onship Long enough to get really good grades for thefirst time in my life Long enough to impress myfriends to get on the swim team to make aname for myself long enough to be a winner

I squeezed the little skull all the way home Irsquoll

66

give it back to Hannah in a couple of weeks I toldmyself Two weeks thatrsquos all Maybe three And thenIrsquoll give it back to her And she can have her goodluck again No harm done

No harm donemdashright

The phone was ringing when I stepped in thekitchen door I tossed down my backpack and ran toanswer it

To my surprise it was Mrs Coffey ldquoLuke Irsquom glad I caught yourdquo she said ldquoI have

some really good news You know my friend at thecomputer storerdquo

ldquoYesrdquoldquoI spoke to him after you left the computer lab

And he said you could start work at his store onSaturdayrdquo

ldquoThatrsquos greatrdquo I exclaimedldquoBut thatrsquos not my good newsrdquo Mrs Coffey con-

tinued ldquoHe has a friend who is putting together ashow of computer animation And his friend is veryinterested in seeing your workrdquo

ldquoReallyrdquo I criedldquoHe needs short pieces for his animation show

right awayrdquo she said ldquoIf he likes your piece he saidhe will pay a thousand dollars for itrdquo

ldquoWowrdquo ldquoIs it finished Lukerdquo Mrs Coffey asked ldquoIs it

ready to show to himrdquo

67

I thought hard ldquoAlmostrdquo I said ldquoI need two moredays on it Maybe threerdquo

ldquoWell try to hurryrdquo Mrs Coffey said ldquoI think hehas most of the pieces he needs Hersquos going to beshowing them all over the country It would be ashame to miss outmdashrdquo

ldquoIt sure wouldrdquo I interrupted ldquoIrsquoll get right towork on it Mrs Coffey And thanks Thanks a lotrdquo

Excited I hurried up to my room and turned onthe computer Maybe I can get some work done on itbefore dinner I decided

I heard Mom come in downstairs I called hi toher and said I was working on my computer project

A few minutes later the phone rang again I heardMom talking for a while Then I heard her running upthe stairs She burst into my room ran up behind meand wrapped me in a big hug

ldquoHuh Whatrsquos that forrdquo I criedldquoThat was Mariorsquos Steakhouse on the phonerdquo

Mom said grinning ldquoYou know Your favorite restau-rant You won Luke Remember that drawing we allentered the last time we were there Well you wonit They picked your card You won dinner for thewhole family Twelve dinners One a month for thenext yearrdquo

ldquoWowrdquo I jumped up from the computerLaughing and cheering Mom and I did a happy littledance around the room

ldquoI canrsquot believe you won that drawing That is so

68

terrificrdquo Mom exclaimed ldquoWersquore going to have tostart calling you Lucky Lukerdquo

ldquoYeah Lucky Lukerdquo I repeated ldquoI like thatThatrsquos me Lucky Lukerdquo

I worked on my animation until nearly midnightI stared into the glow of the monitor until I couldnrsquotsee straight and the images became a fuzzy blur

ldquoAlmost finishedrdquo I said yawningI changed into pajamas brushed my teeth got

ready for sleep But just before I climbed into bed Ipulled out my lucky little skull for one last look

I held it gently in my hand and studied it rubbingmy fingers over the smooth top of the skull The tinyred jewel eyes glowed brightly

I rubbed my fingers over the hard bumpy teeth Itwirled the skull in my hand

ldquoMy little good-luck charmrdquo I whisperedI set it down carefully on my dresser in front of

the mirror Then I turned out the lights and climbedinto bed

I settled back on my pillows pulling the quilt upto my chin I yawned loudly The mattress creakedunder me Waiting for sleep I stared into the dark-ness

The curtains were pulled so no light washed infrom the street The room was completely blackexcept for a faint red glow

The glow of the two red eyes in the skull Like tiny

69

match flames against the blacknessAnd then I saw two more glowing spots of red

light Larger Behind the tiny skull eyesTwo circles of light in the mirror glass Two flame-

red circles the size of tennis ballsAnd as their light grew brighter more intense

I could see a form in the dresser mirror Deep nostril holes two rows of jagged grin-

ning teethA skull A red-eyed skullNot tiny A huge grinning yellow-boned skull

that filled the mirrorFilled the mirror And stared out at me with those

fiery flame-red eyesI sat straight up Squeezed the quilt And gaped in

horror as the jagged teeth moved The jaw slid open And the enormous skull mouthed the words

mouthed them so clearly ldquoLucky Lukerdquo

70

The giant glowing skull leaned forward as if topush out of the mirror The jaw worked up and downThe red glow seemed to bathe the whole room inflames

I opened my mouth in a horrified screamI screamed and then screamed againThe ceiling light flashed onldquoLukemdashwhatrsquos wrongrdquoBlinking in the sudden light I saw my dad burst

breathlessly into the room His pajama shirt wastwisted One pajama pants leg rode up to his kneeHis hair was tangled from sleep standing straight upon one side

ldquoWhat is itrdquo he repeatedldquoImdashImdashrdquo I pointed to the mirror My head spun

with confusion I couldnrsquot find wordsldquoThe skullmdashrdquo I finally choked outBrushing back his hair Dad crossed the room to

my dresser I stared into the glass

71

Nothing nowNothing in there except the reflection of my

room As he came near I could see Dadrsquos worriedface reflected in the glass

ldquoIs this what you were screaming aboutrdquo Dadasked He picked up the little yellow skull and heldit out to me ldquoThis skullrdquo

ldquoN-nordquo I stammeredI was thinking hard trying to figure out what I

had seenIt couldnrsquot have been the reflection of the little

skull I saw in the glass NoThe skull that loomed in the mirror was enor-

mous its eyes as big as basketballsDad still squinted at me from the dresser holding

the little skull up in front of himldquoI guess I had a bad dreamrdquo I said softly settling

back onto my pillows ldquoItmdashit was so weird I dreamedI saw a giant skull with flaming eyes But it wasso realrdquo

Dad shook his head ldquoWell if this little skull isgiving you bad dreams want me to take it awayrdquo Hestarted to the door

ldquoNordquo I screamed I jumped out of bed to block his path He looked

startled as I grabbed the skull from his handldquoItrsquos itrsquos a good-luck charmrdquo I said ldquoItrsquos

brought me a lot of good luckrdquo

72

Dad frowned as he gazed at the little skull in myhand ldquoYou sure Luke It doesnrsquot look good to me Itlooks evilrdquo

ldquoEvilrdquo I laughed ldquoNo way Dad No way Trustmerdquo

He clicked off the light on his way out A shortwhile later I fell asleep gripping the skull tightly inone hand

A few days later I screamed my head off again

73

This time it was for funA bunch of us were on our skates up on Killer

Hill Itrsquos actually Miller Hill But we call it Killer Hillbecause itrsquos up at the top where Broad Street scoopsstraight downmdasha steep steep slope down threeblocks to Miller Street

Miller Street has the most traffic in ShawneeValley So the idea is we come skating down BroadStreet full speed We come rocketing down the steepslope as fast as we canmdashand try to skate rightthrough the traffic on Miller

It makes all the car drivers totally crazy You canalways hear tires squealing horns honking driversscreaming as kids come skating right at them

Yes Itrsquos really dangerous Most kids wonrsquot eventhink of trying it But for a guy with my kind of goodluck whatrsquos the big deal

It was a sunny cold Sunday afternoon Froststuck to the tops of the cars My breath smoked upin front of me as I skated to the top of Killer Hill

74

I met Darnell up there He was having troublewith the brake on one of his skates Finally he justripped the brake off and tossed it in a trash canldquoWhy do I need brakesrdquo he said grinning at meldquoThey only slow you downrdquo

Stretch and some of his pals appeared a few min-utes later Stretch was wearing some kind of yellowsweats He looked like Big Bird on skates

He lowered his shoulder and tried to bump me offmy feet But I skated away easily And he didnrsquot tryagain

Things have been a little different betweenStretch and me since I took his place on the basket-ball team Hersquos my backup now He gets to play onlywhen Irsquom tired and need a short rest And I think hersquosin shock over it

Stretch still tries to give me a hard time But Idonrsquot think his heart is in it He knows hersquos a loserHe knows hersquos not one of the lucky peoplemdashlike me

ldquoYou ready to skaterdquo Darnell called He pulledon his helmet Then he stood in the middle of thestreet leaning forward hands on his knees

I gazed down the steep hill to the traffic belowEven though it was Sunday afternoon cars and vanssped along Miller as if it were the afternoon rushhour

I adjusted my knee pads ldquoReadyrdquo I said I movedbeside Darnell

Stretch skated in front of us He grinned at me

75

ldquoHow about a racerdquoI shook my head ldquoYoursquore too slow Darnell and I

donrsquot want to have to wait for you down thererdquoldquoHa ha When did you get so funny Champrdquo

Stretch reached into the pocket of his yellow sweatsHe held up a ten-dollar bill ldquoLetrsquos make it a real raceTen bucks each Winner takes allrdquo

He stuck the money in front of my face I shovedit away ldquoI donrsquot take candy from babiesrdquo I saidldquoKeep your moneyrdquo

Stretch gritted his teeth His pale face turned anangry red He leaned close ldquoYou gonna race me ornotrdquo he growled

I squeezed the rubber skull in my pocket I knewthere was no way I could lose ldquoOkayrdquo I said ldquoButIrsquom going to make it fairrdquo

I pulled a wool scarf from my coat pocket andstarted to wrap it around my head ldquoJust to give you achance Irsquoll skate blindfoldedrdquo

Stretch snickered ldquoYoursquore joking right Yoursquoregoing to skate through all those cars blindfoldedrdquo

ldquoDonrsquot do it Lukerdquo a voice calledI turned to see Hannah waving to me She was

hobbling up the sidewalk on crutches Her right foothad a large white bandage over it ldquoDonrsquot do itrdquo shecalled shrilly

I spun away from the guys and skated over to her

76

ldquoHannahmdashwhat happenedrdquo I asked motioning tothe crutches

She sighed and leaned heavily on them ldquoItrsquos myanklerdquo she said ldquoRemember when I fell off my bikeWe thought it was just a sprain But my ankle keepsswelling up like a water balloon I had to have itdrained three timesrdquo

ldquoYuckrdquo I said staring down at the bandageThe wind fluttered her red hair She shook her

head sadly ldquoThe doctors canrsquot figure out whatrsquoswrong ImdashI might need surgery I donrsquot know AndMom says if it doesnrsquot get better I canrsquot go on thejunior high overnight on Wednesdayrdquo

ldquoWow Thatrsquos bad newsrdquo I murmured Everyonelooks forward to the overnight The whole junior highgoes to a campground by the lake and everyonestays up and parties all night

I couldnrsquot take my eyes off Hannahrsquos bandagedankle Is this my fault I suddenly wondered Did Ireally take away her good luck Hannah has hadnothing but bad luck ever since I found the skull

Irsquom going to give it back to her I silentlypromised Real soon Real soon

ldquoYou skating or notrdquo Stretch called ldquoOr are youjust going to stand there and talk with your girl-friendrdquo

ldquoIrsquom comingrdquo I said I started to wrap the scarfaround my eyes

77

ldquoLuke donrsquotrdquo Hannah insisted ldquoDonrsquot do itblindfolded Itmdashitrsquos crazyrdquo

ldquoNo problemrdquo I said ldquoIrsquom a superhero HannahCars will bounce right off merdquo

I skated away from her ldquoYoursquore wrongrdquo she called ldquoLuke listen to me

The good luckmdashit doesnrsquot last foreverrdquoI laughed What was she talking aboutI skated up beside Darnell and grabbed his arm

to steady myself I pulled the scarf over my eyes untilI saw only black

ldquoYoursquore crazyrdquo he muttered ldquoYou could getkilled manrdquo

ldquoNo wayrdquo I declared ldquoIrsquom going to win twentybucks from you twordquo

I heard Stretch skate up beside me ldquoYoursquore doingthis for realrdquo he asked ldquoYoursquore going to skate into allthose cars blindfoldedrdquo

ldquoYou going to talk or skaterdquo I asked him ldquoFirstone past Miller Street without stopping wins themoneyrdquo

ldquoLukemdashdonrsquot be crazyrdquo Hannah calledIt was the last thing I heard before the three of us

took off I leaned forward skating straight and hard I

heard Stretch and Darnell beside me theirRollerblades scraping the pavement

As we picked up speed I could hear the traffic onMiller I heard a horn honk Heard someone shout

I skated down down laughing through thedarkness

78

ldquoLukemdashloooook outrdquoI heard Darnellrsquos scream I heard the squeal of

tires Horns honkedI tossed back my head and laughed I roared

through Miller Street the blade wheels whistling overthe pavement

Then as I turned my skates and came to a slowstop I ripped the scarf away And saw Darnell stand-ing on the curb on the other side of Miller His mouthwas open He shook his head

Stretch came skating around me ldquoYou crazyjerkrdquo he shouted ldquoYou were almost killed threetimesrdquo

I calmly held out my hand ldquoMoney pleaserdquoldquoYou lucky jerkrdquo Stretch muttered He slapped

the ten-dollar bill into my gloved hand ldquoYoursquorecrazy Really Yoursquore just plain crazyrdquo

I laughed ldquoThanks for the compliment And theten bucksrdquo

79

Grumbling to himself Stretch skated back up tohis friends

Darnell waited for the traffic to clear then skatedover to me He wiped sweat off his forehead ldquoYouwere almost killedrdquo he said his voice shaking ldquoWhydid you do it Lukerdquo

I grinned at him ldquoBecause I canrdquo

The weather turned warm for our overnight camp-out Even though the trees were bare the woodssmelled fresh and sweet almost like spring Highwhite clouds dotted the bright blue afternoon skyTwigs and dead leaves crackled and crunched underour feet as we hiked through the tall trees to thecamping grounds

I squeezed the small skull in one hand as Iwalked weighted down by the heavy pack on myback Some kids were singing a Beatles song Behindme a group of girls were telling really bad knock-knock jokes laughing shrilly after each one

Coach Bendix and Ms Raymond another gymteacher led the way along the twisting path throughthe trees I was about halfway back in the line ofkids

I turned and found Hannah beside me She woreher blue windbreaker with the hood pulled up overher head She was leaning on one crutch as shewalked struggling to keep up ldquoDo you have anywaterrdquo she asked

80

I slowed down ldquoYour parents let you come Isyour ankle betterrdquo

ldquoNot reallyrdquo she replied frowning ldquoBut I toldthem I had to come anyway I wouldnrsquot miss it Doyou have any water Irsquom dyingrdquo

ldquoYeah Surerdquo I reached for the bottle of water inmy pack ldquoDidnrsquot you bring anyrdquo

Hannah sighed ldquoMy water bottle had a leak orsomething It poured out and soaked all the extraclothes in my pack Now I donrsquot have a thing towearrdquo

I handed her the water bottle Leaning on the crutch she pushed back the wind-

breaker hood and I saw her face for the first timeHer skin was covered with big red splotchesldquoHannah whatrsquos thatrdquo I cried ldquoYour facemdashrdquoldquoDonrsquot look at merdquo she snapped She turned her

back and took a long gulp of waterldquoBut what is itrdquo I demanded ldquoPoison ivyrdquoldquoNo I donrsquot think sordquo she said still facing away

from me ldquoI woke up with it Some kind of red rashAll over my bodyrdquo She sighed ldquoI donrsquot get a breakrdquo

She handed the water bottle back to me andpulled the blue plastic hood over her head ldquoThanksfor the waterrdquo

ldquoDoes it itchrdquo I askedShe let out an angry cry ldquoI really donrsquot want to

talk about itrdquo She grabbed the crutch tightly swungit hard in front of her and hurried ahead of me drag-

81

ging her bandaged foot over the dirt pathShersquos having so much bad luck I guess itrsquos my

fault I thought squeezing the skull in my pocket But why are all these terrible things happening to

her Why isnrsquot there enough good luck for both of usI didnrsquot have much time to think about it Behind me I heard shrill frightened screams I

saw kids running off the path Screaming Calling forhelp

I spun around and headed toward them the heavypack bouncing on my back ldquoWhatrsquos going onrdquo Icried ldquoWhatrsquos wrongrdquo

More shrill screamsAnd then I saw the two enormous brown snakes

Swinging down from a low tree limb Blocking thepath

The same color as the tree they twisted their longbodies thicker than garden hoses and snapped theirjaws

I didnrsquot hesitate I dived forward stretching out myarms

ldquoLukemdashwhat are you doing Stay away fromthemrdquo I heard Coach Bendix shout

The kidsrsquo frightened screams rang through thewoods

ldquoGet away from themrdquo Coach orderedBut I knew nothing could hurt me I knew my good

luck would keep me safe

82

I shot my hands out And grabbed both snakesone in each hand

I wrapped my fingers around their thick bodiesThen with a hard tug I wrenched them off the treelimb And raised them high

ldquoWhoardquoI didnrsquot realize how long they were And how strongI let out a startled cry as both snakes wriggled

loose I saw the tiny black eyes flash Saw the jawsopen

Then both snake heads came crashing towardme jaws snappingmdashsnapping so furiously beneaththe flashing eyes snapping like bear traps

83

I felt a rush of air as they snappedmdashsnappedmdashsnapped their sharp-toothed jaws Heads swingingwildly Whole bodies swinging and shaking Thickwhite drool clinging to their pointed teeth

Shrill screams rose all around me I stared atthe snapping heads the glimmering black eyesmdashuntil it seemed that the snakes were screamingtoo

And thenmdashthey flew from my handsWriggled free with strong tosses of their heavy

bodies And plunged to the ground Disappearingso quickly Blending into the hard brown dirtVanishing beneath the carpet of fat brown leavestwigs and fallen limbs

As kids surrounded me I stood hunched overgasping for breath I smoothed my open handsover my ears my cheeks my whole face

I waited for the pain of the snakebites to spreadover me

But no No sting No throbbing No pain

84

They had snapped so close I felt their breathon my skin

But they hadnrsquot bitten me ldquoYoursquore so luckyrdquo Coach Bendix was saying He

had a hand on my shoulder and was examining myface ldquoI never saw anyone so lucky Why did you doit Luke Those snakes are deadly poisonousDeadly Why did you do itrdquo

I stared at him but didnrsquot answer I didnrsquot knowwhat to say

How could I explain it to him How could Iexplain to anyone what it felt like to be so incrediblyawesomely lucky

All around kids were cheering Congratulatingme Talking about me how brave I had been

Leaning against a tree I saw Hannah She stoodby herself crutch under one arm She was the onlyone not smiling not cheering

I saw the red blotches on Hannahrsquos faceWatched as she transfered the crutch to her otherarm And saw her scowling at me her eyes nar-rowed She shook her head and scowled

And in that moment I realized that she was jeal-ous Jealous of my good luck

Jealous that she was no longer the hero She wasno longer the lucky one

Too bad Hannah I thought watching her angryexpression I had felt sorry for her I had felt reallyguilty too

85

But no moreIrsquove got the luck now Hannah I thought And Irsquom

going to keep it

ldquoLetrsquos go guys Wersquove got another game to winrdquoI cried I gave Sam Mulroney a playful towel slap

Locker doors slammed Guys finished lacing uptheir basketball shoes

ldquoDid you see those Deaver Mills guysrdquo Mulroneyasked peeking into the gym through a crack in thelocker room door ldquoTheyrsquore monsters They must feedthose guys whole steaks five times a dayrdquo

ldquoBig doesnrsquot mean goodrdquo I said ldquoThey look likecows Theyrsquore so slowrdquo

ldquoWersquoll dribble circles around themrdquo Jay Boxersaid

ldquoJust feed me the ballrdquo I instructed them ldquoNomatter where I am Feed me the ball Irsquoll put it in Irsquomfeeling lucky today guys Real luckyrdquo

ldquoHey Champmdashrdquo Stretch called pulling on his jer-sey ldquoYoursquore not a ball hog or anythingmdashare yourdquo

Guys used to laugh when Stretch shouted insultsat me But not anymore Everyone was on my sidenow Everyone wanted to be on the winnerrsquos side

ldquoHey Stretchmdashwhat do they call yourdquo I shoutedback ldquoA bench hogrdquo

Everybody laughedStretch laughed too Now that I was a winner he

was starting to be a little nicer to me He even gave

86

me some dribbling tips after one practice The guys all headed out to the gym I could hear

the shouts of the crowd in the bleachers And thesteady thud of basketballs on the floor as the DeaverMills Lions warmed up

ldquoTime to kill me some Lionsrdquo I muttered I finishedlacing my sneakers

Then I stood up Started to swing my gym lockerclosed

And slammed my left hand in the doorldquoHeyrdquo I cried out in surprise as pain shot up my

arm I shook the hand hard trying to shake the pain

away My wrist throbbed I moved my fingers tiltedmy hand back and forth It moved okay Not broken

But the hand was red and already starting to swellldquoNo time for thisrdquo I muttered I slammed the locker shut with my right hand

And still shaking my left hand hurried out into thegym

The crowd cheered as I ran onto the floor I sawsome of the Deaver Mills players whisper to eachother and point at me They knew who the star playerwas They knew who was going to wipe the floor withthem today

We huddled close around Coach Bendix ldquoTake itslow with these guysrdquo he instructed ldquoFeel them outGet their rhythm Letrsquos rattle them show them we canplay defenserdquo

87

ldquoJust get me the ballrdquo I chimed in ldquoIrsquom going tobe loose under the basket all dayrdquo

We gave our team cheer and trotted out to the cen-ter of the floor I searched the bleachers for HannahShe said she would try to come to the game today

I spotted her at the side of the bleachers hunchedin a wheelchair Her bad foot was propped up and ithad an even bigger bandage over it

I guess it isnrsquot getting better I thought I felt a pangof guilt

Poor Hannah I looked for my parents Then I remembered they

werenrsquot coming today They had to stay home for a fur-niture delivery

I turned away from the crowd I had a game toplay Time to get my game face on No time to thinkabout Hannah and her problems

I went up for the opening jump I tapped the ballto Mulroney and the game was underway

He dribbled to half-court then sent a high pass tome

ldquoWhoamdashrdquo The ball flew right through my handsand bounced out of bounds

ldquoMulroneymdashtoo hardrdquo I called ldquoWho were youthrowing atrdquo

He shrugged and started trotting to the Lionsrsquobasket

ldquoGet in there Luke Get going Look aliverdquo I heardCoach Bendix shouting

88

The Deaver guard came dribbling slowly towardme I darted up to him stuck out my hand to steal theballmdashand missed

He moved past me easily and sent up an easylayup for two points

ldquoWeirdrdquo I muttered I shook my left hand Thepain had dulled to an ache but the hand was prettyswollen

I moved down the court Caught a pass Spunaway from the Lion defender Went in for an easy shot

And missedldquoHuhrdquoI heard the crowd groan Startled voices all aroundMulroney slapped me on the shoulder ldquoTake it

easy manrdquo he said ldquoPlay your game Just play yourgamerdquo

A few seconds later I drove in for a shotmdashand wasfouled I moved to the foul linemdashand missed both foulshots

More groans and muttering from the bleachers Isaw Coach Bendix shake his head

A bounce pass from Jay Boxer sailed right throughmy legs Some of the Lionsrsquo players had a good laughover that one

Then I missed three more shots in a rowMulroney flashed me a thumbs-up ldquoNo probrdquo he

called ldquoPlay your game Luke Wersquoll get rsquoemrdquoThe Lions were winning twelve to four I took another pass and moved under the basket I

89

leaped high for a slam dunk My arm hit the rim hard I cried out in pain And

watched the ball sail over the backboardldquoWhoa This isnrsquot happeningrdquo I muttered picking

myself up off the floor ldquoNo wayrdquoAt the other end of the floor I grabbed a rebound

off the backboard I dodged past a huge Lion playerDribbled away from him easily Picked up speedBrought the ball onto our side of the court

Eyed the basket Prepared to stop short and put upa three-pointer

And tripped Felt one sneaker bump the otherTripped over my own shoe

And watched the ball sail into a Lionrsquos hands as Istumbled I fell forward onto my stomach My armsand legs were out flat on the floor ldquoOOOFrdquo

I heard startled gasps from the bleachers Andlaughter

Yes Some people were laughing at meldquoWhat is going onrdquo I cried I forced myself to my feet Shook off the pain ldquoThis isnrsquot happening It canrsquot berdquoI reached into the pocket of my uniform shorts

Reached for my good-luck skullFumbled in the pocket Searched both pocketsldquoHeymdashrdquoNo No No wayThe skull was gone

90

Fumbling frantically in both pockets I began run-ning for the team bench ldquoTime out Time outrdquo Iscreamed

Had the skull fallen out of my pocketI squinted hard searching the gleaming polished

floor No sign of itldquoTime outrdquo I pleadedI heard a whistle blow on the sidelinesI had to find itmdashnow I couldnrsquot play without itMy eyes swept over the floor I began to run full

speed to the bench I didnrsquot see the huge Lions playermdashuntil we collidedI plowed right into him Caught him flat-footed He

let out a startled ldquoOofrdquo And we cracked headsldquoYaaaiiiirdquo I let out a scream of agony as blinding

red pain shot around my head The red shimmered togold Brighter brighter bright as the sun

I felt my legs giving out Felt myself collapsingcrumbling into a deep deep bottomless darkness

91

I woke up to pinpoints of yellow light They flick-ered high above me Each time they flashed a waveof pain rolled over my forehead down the back of myneck

I blinked hard Blinked until I realized I was star-ing up at the lights on the gym rafters

I lay on my back on the gym floor one kneeraised my hands flat at my sides I squinted up atthe high raftersmdashuntil faces blocked my view

Playersrsquo faces And then a few worried-lookingadults And then Coach Bendixrsquos face looming overme bobbing over me like a parade balloon

ldquoWhatmdashrdquo One word escaped my throat My drythroat So dry I couldnrsquot swallow

ldquoStay still Lukerdquo Coach ordered speaking softlyHis dark eyes peered down into mine studying meldquoYoursquove had a bad concussion Donrsquot try to moveWersquore sending you to the emergency roomrdquo

ldquoHuh Nordquo I gasped I rolled onto my side I lurched to my feet The

floor tilted from side to side as if I were on a rockingboat

ldquoDonrsquot move Lukerdquo Coach reached for meBut I staggered out of his grasp Stumbled

through the circle of people that had formed aroundme

ldquoNo No hospitalrdquo I croaked

92

I had to find that skull That was all I needed andthen I would be okay again

The skull I stumbled over someonersquos shoe Staggered

toward the locker room The gleaming wood floorswaying beneath me

ldquoLukemdashcome backrdquoNo No way I shoved open the locker room door

with one shoulder And sliding a hand against thelockers moved to the back row Lurched to my gymlocker Pulled open the door so hard it slammedagainst the frame

ldquoWhere is it WhererdquoI frantically pawed through my street clothes

Searched and then tossed everything onto the floor ldquoWhere WhererdquoNot in my khakis pockets Not in my shirt pocket

Not in my sweatshirtThe locker floor No Nothing down thereStumbling over the pile of clothes on the floor I

lurched back down the row of gym lockers Ranthrough the gym out the doors and up the stairsInto the long empty hall

My sneakers squeaked on the hard floor as I ranThe walls and ceiling appeared to close in on methen slide back into place

To my locker To locker 13

93

It took me three tries to get the combination rightBut finally I unlocked it and flung open the door

And jammed my hand into one coat pocket andthen the other

ldquoWhere is it I have to have it Where WhererdquoAnd then a long happy sigh escaped my parched

throat as my hand closed around it YessssI was so happyI had the skull in my hand I squeezed it tightly

So happy So happyI pulled it out of the coat pocket Raised it in front

of me Raised it close to examine it And let out a cry of horror

94

The eyes They were dark Not red not glowingAnd the face had changed The bump-toothed

grin was gone The open mouth was curled down ina fierce angry scowl

ldquoNomdashitrsquos impossiblerdquo I gaspedI held the skull up to the light The red jewel eyes

were gone The deep round sockets were empty Theskull scowled down at me dark and menacing

What does this mean I wondered How did thishappen

Before I could think about it clearly I glimpsedsomething in the open locker A soft glow A slowmoving light growing larger as if moving closer

The light split into two Two circles of red lightDown low Very low near the locker floor

I gripped the skull tightly in my fist and stared asthe red lights glimmered closer The whole lockershimmered The dark walls reflected the two lightsBrighter bright as fire now

95

Two red eyes I realized Two glowing eyes float-ing from the blackness of locker 13

I jumped back as a black cat stepped silently outas if floating A black cat with fiery red eyes Thesame black cat as before

It pulled back its lips bared pointed white teethand hissed at me

My back hit the wall I blinked against the bright-ness of those two circles of red light

And as I trembled in horror squeezing the skullsqueezing it so tightly my hand achedmdashthe cat roseup off the floor

And melted into another formMelted and grew taller Taller The cat became

a human figure dressed all in black wrapped in abroad black coat down to the floor its face hidden inthe darkness of a black hood

Hidden All hidden except for the eyesmdashthosehorrifying fiery eyes

ldquoWh-who are you What do you wantrdquo I startledmyself by crying out those words I didnrsquot think Icould speak

My whole body trembled I pressed myselfagainst the wall to keep from falling to my knees

The hooded figure stepped silently away from theopen locker A hoarse rasp burst out from under thehood a whisper like the crackle of dead leaves ldquoTheluck has run out Lukerdquo

ldquoNordquo I gasped

96

A bony hand swung out from the sleeve of theblack coatmdashand swiped the skull away from me

ldquoNordquo I cried in protest ldquoNo NordquoldquoThe luck is overrdquo ldquoWho are yourdquo I shrieked in a tight terrified

voice ldquoWh-who How did you get in my lockerWhat do you wantrdquo I screamed in total panic

ldquoThe luck is overrdquoldquoIt canrsquot berdquo I cried ldquoIt canrsquot be I need itrdquoldquoOver rdquo the hooded figure rasped ldquoOver

over rdquoThe red eyes glowed from under the hood The

bony hand held the tiny skull in front of the broadblack coat

ldquoI need that luckrdquo I wailed ldquoI need that skullrdquoAnd I grabbed it back Grabbed it out of the bony

handldquoI need it I have to have itrdquoI raised the skull in front of me Stared hard at it What was wrong with it Something wriggling on

it wriggling in my hand crawling over mypalm

ldquoOhhhhrdquo I let out a moan as I saw The skull wascovered crawling crawling with hundreds ofmaggots

97

The skull fell from my hand and bounced acrossthe floor I frantically shook my hand scraped itagainst the wall brushing the disgusting maggots offmy skin

Under the black hood the red eyes glowed brighterldquoYou enjoyed a lot of good luck Lukerdquo the figure saidin his hoarse croak ldquoBut the luck has ended And nowyou must pay for itrdquo

ldquoHuh Payrdquo I felt my throat tighten I stared at thefiery eyes trying to see a face trying to see who wasspeaking to me from under that hood

ldquoLukemdashIrsquom so sorryrdquo a voice called I turned to find Hannah wheeling herself rapidly

down the hall leaning forward in her wheelchair turn-ing the wheels with both hands

ldquoHannahmdash Whatmdashrdquo I couldnrsquot find any wordsldquoIrsquom so sorryrdquo she repeated As she wheeled herself

closer I saw tears brimming in her eyes rolling downher red-blotched face

ldquoSorryrdquo I repeated my head spinning in confusion

98

ldquoHe made me do itrdquo she wailed ldquoYou have tobelieve me Luke I didnrsquot want to Really But hemade merdquo

She grabbed my hand Squeezed it tightly Herhand was as cold as ice Tears rolled down hercheeks

ldquoVery touchingrdquo the hooded figure rasped coldlyldquoHannahmdashhe made you do whatrdquo I askedldquoHemdashhe made me give you the skullrdquo Hannah

stammered still squeezing my hand ldquoHuhrdquo I let out a startled cry ldquoYou gave it to me

But I thought I found it I thoughtmdashrdquoldquoI had the good luck for a long timerdquo Hannah

said wiping her wet cheeks with both handsldquoRemember when I had so much good luck Then itran out The skull went dark And he forced memdashheforced me to pass the skull on to yourdquo

I stared at her in disbelief ldquoBut who is herdquo Icried ldquoHow can he do thisrdquo

ldquoHavenrsquot you guessedrdquo the hooded figureboomed The red eyes glowed like two angry sunsldquoHavenrsquot you figured it out yet Luke I am the FateMaster I decide who has good luck and who has badrdquo

ldquoNordquo I whispered ldquoThatrsquos crazyrdquoldquoItrsquos the truthrdquo Hannah said her voice breaking

ldquoHe controls me And now yourdquoldquoLukerdquo the evil figure whispered lowering him-

self toward me ldquoDid you really think you could haveall that good luck without paying for itrdquo

99

ldquoI didnrsquot want to give the skull to yourdquo Hannahwhispered holding on to my arm ldquoI gave you achance to hand it back to me remember Rememberduring my game I asked if you had seen itrdquo

I nodded sadly feeling my face grow hotldquoI knew you had it Why didnrsquot you give it back

thenrdquo Hannah demanded ldquoI gave you a chance toreturn it I didnrsquot want you to keep itrdquo

ldquoToo late for that nowrdquo the Fate Master raspedldquoNow you are BOTH minerdquo

ldquoNo wayrdquo I protested ldquoI donrsquot believe any ofthis This canrsquot be happening Itmdashitrsquos some kind ofbad jokerdquo

ldquoItrsquos not a jokerdquo Hannah whispered ldquoLook atmerdquo She pointed to her red-blotched face her ban-daged foot the wheelchair

ldquoNordquo I insisted ldquoIt wonrsquot happen to me I wonrsquotlet it IrsquollmdashIrsquoll make my own luckrdquo

The bulky black coat shook as the Fate Masteruttered a hoarse laugh It sounded more like drycoughing than laughter ldquoYoung man do you reallythink you can go up against FATE I control EVERY-THING that happens Do you really think you candefy FATErdquo

ldquoI donrsquot care what you sayrdquo I screamed ldquoIrsquom notgoing to be some kind of slave You canrsquot control meYou canrsquotrdquo

100

The Fate Master sighed The red eyes faded insidethe hood ldquoDo I really have to prove myself to youOkay So be itrdquo

He leaned closer So close that I could see intothe hood I could see that he had no face Just twoglowing eyes floating in blackness

ldquoLukemdashthat concussion you had in the gymrdquo herasped ldquoIrsquom afraid itrsquos much worse than you thoughtFeel your earsrdquo

ldquoHuhrdquo My hands shot up to my ears I felt wet-ness

Warm wetnessI lowered my hands My fingers dripped with

bloodMy ears were bleedingI felt the warm blood pour down my earlobes

trickle down the sides of my faceFrantically I pressed the palms of my hands

against my ears ldquoThat wonrsquot stop the bleeding Lukerdquo the Fate

Master whispered ldquoThat blood wonrsquot clot Itrsquos justgoing to keep pouring out Bad luck Irsquom afraid Verybad luckrdquo

ldquoNomdashpleaserdquo I pleaded ldquoMake it stoprdquoThe eyes flared ldquoDo you believe in me now Do

you believe that you belong to merdquoldquoOkayrdquo I said ldquoOkay I believe yourdquo

101

ldquoYour fate is in my handsmdashboth of you You mustpay for the good luck you had You must suffer badluck nowmdashrdquo

ldquoNomdashpleaserdquo I begged ldquoI need more timeThings are just starting to go right for me The basket-ball team my animation the swim team Irsquolldo anything I need more timerdquo

ldquoNO MORE TIMErdquo The hoarse rasp echoed offthe tile walls Angry flames shot out from the black-ness of the hood

ldquoButmdashrdquo I started shrinking back beside HannahldquoI control yourdquo the Fate Master boomed ldquoI decide

your luck from now on Do you want me to go easy onthe two of you DO yourdquo

ldquoY-yesrdquo I stammered ldquoIrsquoll do anythingAnythingrdquo

The Fate Master was silent for a long momentThe eyes faded as if retreating into the distance thenglowed brightly again ldquoIf you want me to go easy onyou bothrdquo he said finally ldquoherersquos what you haveto do rdquo

102

ldquoPass the skull on to anotherrdquo the Fate Masterordered

ldquoHuh Youmdashyou want me to give it to someoneelserdquo I stammered

The eyes sparked beneath the hood ldquoPass it tothat big kid the one called Stretch Irsquove had my eye onhim I will give him good luck for two months Then Iwill claim him as minerdquo

ldquoNo I canrsquot do thatrdquo I protested ldquoIt isnrsquot right Itisnrsquotmdashrdquo

The Fate Master uttered a furious growl ldquoThenyou will suffer bad luck your whole life You and every-one in your familyrdquo

I shivered in fear My mind spun I felt the warmblood start to trickle from my ears again

Could I do it Could I trap Stretch the way I hadbeen trapped

I felt Hannah tug my arm ldquoYou have to do itLukerdquo she whispered ldquoItrsquos our only chance BesidesStretch has been asking for itmdashhasnrsquot he Hersquos not a

103

friend of yours Hersquos an enemy Stretch has been ask-ing for it all yearrdquo

True Stretch wasnrsquot my friend But could I beresponsible for ruining Stretchrsquos life For turning himover to the Fate Master

Hannah gazed up at me from the wheelchair withpleading eyes ldquoDo itrdquo she whispered ldquoSave usLuke Do itrdquo

I turned to the Fate Master ldquoOkayrdquo I choked outldquoIrsquoll do itrdquo

The eyes flashed from red to sunlight yellowThe big coat opened and appeared to fly up Itraised itself over me like giant bat wings Floatedover me then floated down

I felt myself covered in a heavy darkness I couldnrsquot move It spread over me blacker

blackerI felt so cold So cold and lost As if I had been

buried buried deep in the cold cold groundAnd then I blinked and saw pinpoints of light

Flickering white lights that grew brighter so bright Ihad to squint

It took me a while to realize I was back in the gymBack on the gym floor A crowd huddled around meTight expressions worried faces

Someone leaned over me A face came into focusCoach Bendix stared down at me the whistle hangingfrom his neck

104

ldquoCoachmdashrdquo I tried to speak but the word came outa whisper

ldquoDonrsquot move Lukerdquo he said softly ldquoYoursquove had aconcussion but yoursquore going to be okayrdquo

ldquoA concussionrdquoldquoLie stillrdquo he instructed ldquoAn ambulance is on the

wayrdquoA concussionIt didnrsquot happen I realized The hooded figure with the glowing eyes The

Fate Master stepping out of locker 13 Taking awaymy good luck Ordering me to pass the skull toStretch

It didnrsquot happenIt was a dream A nightmare caused by my con-

cussionI jumped to my feet The floor swayed beneath

me The bleachers appeared to tilt to one side thenthe other

I saw Hannah in her wheelchair at the side of thebleachers

Shersquos still in the gym I told myself happily Wenever left the gym It didnrsquot happen None of it hap-pened

I felt so happy So freeBefore I even realized it I was running Running

to the doorldquoLuke HeymdashLuke Stoprdquo I heard Coach Bendix

calling to me

105

And then I was out the gym doors And racingthrough the dark empty hallways Running fullspeed

So happy And so eager to get away from thereAway from the school Away from my nightmare

Did I stop at my lockerI must have stopped there because I had my

jacket on when I burst outside Into the frosty nightair I saw a tiny sliver of a moon high in a purple-black sky I stopped for a second to breathe in thecold fresh air

Then I ran across the teachersrsquo parking lot to thebike rack Irsquod ridden my bike to school And now Iplanned to put the pedal to the metalmdashto race all theway home

ldquoYesrdquo So happy I felt so happy I could havedanced all the way home

I jumped on my bike Grabbed the handlebarsWhoa Something wrong A scraping sound I climbed off and glanced down A flat tire No

Two flat tiresldquoOh wowrdquo I murmured How did that happenNo big deal Irsquoll get the bike tomorrow I decided

I started to jog across the parking lot heading to thestreet My sneaker felt loose I squatted down to tiethe shoe lacemdashand it ripped between my hands

No problem I told myself I have plenty ofshoelaces at home I started walking turned onto thesidewalk crossed the street Behind me I could hear

106

shouts and cheers coming from the gym I guessedthat the game had started up again

ldquoGo Stretchrdquo I murmured As I made my way down the next block it began

to rain Softly at first But the wind picked up andthen the rain started coming down in sheets

I zipped my jacket and leaned into the wind Butthe rain drove me back wave after wave of freezingwater

I heard a crackling sound nearbymdashand sawjagged white lightning streak across the front yardacross the street A deafening boom of thunder shookthe ground

I pressed forward Trees creaked and nearly bentsideways in the torrents of wind and rain I couldnrsquotmove I ducked under a broad-trunked tree for safety

But a loud crack of lightning sent a tree branchcrashing to my feet

ldquoOhhrdquo I cried out A close callI jumped over the fallen branch Sharp pieces of

the limb scratched my arm as I struggled to raceaway Another jagged bolt of lightning crackled a fewfeet in front of me sizzling over the wet grass

Squinting through the downpour I saw smokesnake over the lawn The grass was burned blackwhere the lightning had spread

The wind shoved me backward Sheet after sheet

107

of rain washed over me I choked Struggled tobreathe

And then just beyond the rain just beyondthe heavy waves of dark water I saw two glowinglights two red eyes like dark headlights Two evil eyes moving with me watching me

The Fate MasterIt wasnrsquot a dream I suddenly knew that my flat

tiresmdashthe stormmdashthe lightning the pounding rainmdashit was all a show A show of strength

I staggered up my driveway Slipped on the wetgravel Sprawled facedown on the soaked stones

ldquoNooooo rdquoI struggled to my feet Stumbled onto the front

stoop A deafening shattering crash made me spin

around I saw one of the oak trees in front of thehouse split in half It appeared to move in slowmotion One half shivered but stayed upright Theother half of the broad old tree came crashing ontothe roof of the house

Windows shattered Roof tiles came slidingdown

I covered my head with one hand And pushedthe doorbell Frantically pushed the bell ldquoLet me inMom Dadrdquo I pounded on the front door with bothfists

Where were they

108

The lights were all on Why didnrsquot they open thedoor

A crash of thunder made me jump and cry outAbove the front stoop rainwater poured like a water-fall over the sides of the gutters Waves of rain rattledthe living room window and battered the bricks of thefront wall

ldquoLet me inrdquo I screamed over another roar ofthunder I pounded the front door until my fist ached

Then I heard a window slide open I turned to ourneighborrsquos house Through the curtains of rain I sawMrs Gillis poke her head out the bedroom windowShe shouted something But I couldnrsquot hear her overthe roar of rain

ldquoTheyrsquore not homerdquo I finally heard her shoutldquoThey had to go to the hospital Lukerdquo

ldquoWhat What did you sayrdquo My heart jumpedHad I heard correctly

ldquoItrsquos your dad He fell down the stairs Hersquos okayBut they took him to the emergency roomrdquo

ldquoNordquo I cried I beat my fists against the doorldquoNo No Nordquo

The Fate Master was putting on a show for meHe was showing me who was boss Giving me a littletaste of what the rest of my life could be like

ldquoOkayrdquo I shouted cupping my hands around mymouth Water pounded me washed over me bat-

109

tered me against the house ldquoOkaymdashyou winrdquo Iscreamed ldquoIrsquoll do it Irsquoll do whatever you sayrdquo

And I didThe next morning I gave the skull to Stretch

110

I found Stretch at his locker before school startedGiving him the yellow skull was the easiest thing inthe world

Stretch was leaning into his locker searching theshelf for something His backpack stood open on thefloor I pulled the skull from my jeans pocketmdashanddropped it into his backpack

He didnrsquot see anything He didnrsquot even know hehad it

ldquoHey Stretchmdashhowrsquos it goingrdquo I asked trying tosound calm natural As if I hadnrsquot just done some-thing terrible to him Something that would ruin hislife forever

ldquoYomdashhey Champrdquo He slapped me a hard highfive so hard my hand stung ldquoHowrsquos your headman It looks as ugly as everrdquo He laughed

I stared at him ldquoMy headrdquoldquoThat was a nasty collisionrdquo he said ldquoYour head

must be hard as a rock You feeling okayrdquoldquoYeah Not badrdquo I replied

111

Stretch snickered ldquoWell thanks for letting me getsome playing timerdquo He started to close up his back-pack

I stared at the backpack picturing the skull insideit The skull I had passed on to Stretch The tiny redeyes were probably glowing again Stretch was goingto have a lot of good luck for a while But then

ldquoMaybe you and I can practice together laterrdquoStretch said slamming his locker shut ldquoI can giveyou some more pointers Make you look like youknow what yoursquore doingrdquo

ldquoYeah Mayberdquo I saidStretchrsquos expression turned serious ldquoActually

yoursquore not bad manrdquo he said ldquoI mean it You are soimproved I mean yoursquore almost pretty goodReallyrdquo

I donrsquot believe this I thought Stretch is actuallypaying me a compliment

I shrugged ldquoIt was just luckrdquo I mutteredJust luck Ha haldquoNo wayrdquo Stretch insisted ldquoLuck had nothing to

do with it man It was hard work and skill No kid-ding It isnrsquot luck Yoursquore goodrdquo

I swallowed hard I suddenly felt like a totalcreep

Stretch was being so nice to me And what had Idone to him I just gave him a life of bad luck a lifeof slavery to the Fate Master

112

ldquoWhoa Forgot my science notebookrdquo Stretchgroaned He dropped his backpack to the floor andturned to unlock his locker

I stared down at the backpack feeling dizzy feel-ing sick

What am I going to do I asked myself What amI going to do

My bad luck continued all dayI answered the wrong questions on my algebra test

and got an F Miss Wakely warned me that Irsquod have todo extra work if I didnrsquot want to fail the course

At lunch the milk in my milk carton was lumpy andsour I didnrsquot notice until I had gulped down a bigmouthful Then I nearly puked my guts up in front ofeveryone

After lunch I started to comb my hair in the boysrsquoroommdashand a huge clump came out on the comb Igasped in horror and tugged out another clump of hair

Irsquom going to lose all my hair I realizedAs I hurried out of the bathroom I caught my shirt

on a nail and ripped one sleeve off I was so upset Ibumped into Miss Wakely from behind Her coffeecup flew out of her hand and scalding hot coffeesplashed all over her

I found Hannah after school She came rollingslowly down the hall in her wheelchair Her foot wasstill bandaged Her face was still covered in red

113

blotches And I saw that one of her eyes was swollenshut

ldquoHannahmdashIrsquove got to talk to yourdquo I criedldquoDid you pass it onrdquo she asked in a loud whisper ldquoHuhrdquoldquoIrsquove lost my voicerdquo she whispered ldquoDid you

pass the skull on to Stretch Wersquove got to change ourluck I can barely see My skin itches like crazy I canbarely talk ImdashI canrsquot go on like this Lukerdquo

ldquoIrsquove got to find the Fate Masterrdquo I said Hannah grabbed my torn shirtsleeve ldquoYoursquove got

to do what he said Yoursquove got to obey him Itrsquos ouronly chancerdquo

ldquoHow do I find himrdquo I askedldquoHe will find yourdquo Hannah whispered ldquoHe

appears in places of bad luck You knowmdashbrokenmirrors wherever the number thirteen is writtenrdquo

ldquoCome with merdquo I said I led the way to my lockerI waved to some guys heading to the pool for swimteam practice I wanted to be with them But this wasmore important

ldquoWersquove got to talk to the Fate Masterrdquo I toldHannah ldquoMaybe hersquoll come through my lockeragainrdquo

Hannah groaned in pain as she wheeled herselfbehind me ldquoMy foot hurts so muchrdquo she whispered

ldquoHe promised to end the bad luckrdquo I saidI turned the combination lock then pulled open

114

my locker door A burst of sour air choked the hall Igagged then held my breath

ldquoLookmdashrdquo Hannah choked out She pointed to thefloor of the locker

It was littered with dead birds A pile of brown-and-gray sparrows all dead and decaying

ldquoHe left us a presentrdquo I murmured ldquoWhere is heIs he going to appearrdquo

We didnrsquot have to wait long A few moments later I saw the glow of the red

eyes at the back of the locker And then the dark fig-ure stepped over the pile of dead birds and floatedout hunched beneath the black hood

ldquoHave you done what I askedrdquo he rasped thefiery eyes burning into mine ldquoHave you given me anew slaverdquo

ldquoYesrdquo I replied avoiding his stare ldquoThat was ourdeal right And now will you stop torturing us Willyou end our bad luck as you promisedrdquo

The hood bobbed up and down ldquoNordquo he saidsoftly

Hannah and I both uttered cries of protestldquoDid you really think you could make a deal with

the Fate Masterrdquo he boomed The open coat floatedup like bat wings ldquoI donrsquot make bargains with any-one I donrsquot make promises You will take whateverFate dishes outrdquo

ldquoYou promisedmdashrdquo Hannah shriekedThe evil figure snickered ldquoFirst you enjoy good

115

luck Then you must pay for it You cannot break thepattern You should know that You should know thatyou cannot bargain with Fate You will pay for yourgood luck for the rest of your liferdquo

ldquoNo Waitmdash Waitrdquo Hannah pleaded reachingup from the wheelchair grasping at the black cloakgrasping frantically with both hands

But the Fate Master spun around swirling thefoul air He stomped heavily on the dead birds as hestrode back into locker 13

In a second he had vanished Dead birds littered the floor of the hall the floor

of my lockerI turned to Hannah Her shoulders heaved up

and down Loud sobs escaped her throat ldquoHepromised rdquo

ldquoItrsquos okayrdquo I said softly ldquoI didnrsquot keep mypromise eitherrdquo

I pulled the yellow skull from my jeans pocket Hannah gasped ldquoYou didnrsquot give it to StretchrdquoI squeezed the skull in my fist ldquoYes I gave it to

him But I took it back before Stretch even saw it Icouldnrsquot do it Stretch was too nice to me ImdashIcouldnrsquot I couldnrsquot ruin someonersquos liferdquo

Hannah shook her head Tears spilled from herswollen eyes ldquoNow what are we going to do LukeWersquore doomed Now we donrsquot stand a chancerdquo

116

I bounced the basketball hard against the drive-way Drove toward the backboard and sent up ahook shot It bounced off the rim back into myhands I spun hard and sent up a two-handed shotthat dropped through the net

Overhead clouds covered the moon The garagelights sent white cones of light over the drivewayBehind me the house was dark except for a squareof orange light from my bedroom window upstairs

I glanced at the roof Men had worked all day torepair the broken and missing shingles The fallentree had been hauled away One windowmdashbroken inthe stormmdashwas still covered with cardboard

All my fault I realized All the damage to thehouse was my fault

My dad was walking with a cane He had a badlysprained knee from his fall down the stairs But hewas okay for now

That was all my fault too I knew All my bad luck

117

I heaved the ball angrily at the backboard Itthudded high bounced back to the driveway Ipicked it up and shot it through the hoop

Luck luck luck The word ran through my mind like an ugly

chantAnd then I heard Stretchrsquos words again Stretch

actually saying something nice to me ldquoLuck hadnothing to do with it Luke It was hard work andskillrdquo

Hard work and skillNot luckldquoYou cannot break the patternrdquo the Fate Master

had said ldquoFirst you have the good luckmdashthen youpay for itrdquo

The pattern You cannot break the patternNot luck Hard work and skillI shot the ball again Dribbled then shot again

Even though it was a cold frosty night sweat poureddown my forehead I wanted to work harder Harder

And as I practiced those words repeated andrepeated in my mind And I knew what I had to doI knew the only way I could end the bad luck forHannah and for me

The only way I could defeat the Fate MasterI shot again Again I moved to the foul line and

put up several foul shotsI didnrsquot stop when I saw the kitchen light flash on

The back door swung open Dad stepped into the

118

yard wearing his bathrobe leaning on his caneldquoLukemdashwhat are you doingrdquo he called ldquoItrsquos after

eleven orsquoclockrdquoldquoPracticingrdquo I said sending up another jump

shot Walking unsteadily he came up to the edge of the

driveway ldquoButmdashitrsquos so late Why are you doing thisrdquoldquoIrsquom going to win without luckrdquo I replied I sent

up another shot and watched it drop through thehoop ldquoIrsquom going to win with skill I shouted ldquoI canbreak the pattern I can win without luckrdquo

And then without realizing it I was screaming atthe top of my lungs ldquoI DONrsquoT NEED LUCK IDONrsquoT NEED LUCKrdquo

119

My plan was simple Maybe too simple But I had to give it a tryI didnrsquot tell it to Hannah She was pretty much

destroyed I didnrsquot want to give her any more toworry about

I knew I didnrsquot have much timemdashmaybe a day ortwo at the most

As soon as the Fate Master discovered that I stillhad the skull that I hadnrsquot passed it on to Stretch hewould come after me full force

My plan It was to break the pattern To win To win big To have a major success

Without luck Without needing any good luckIf I could win with my own hard work with my

own skill my own talentmdashit would be a defeat for theFate Master I would break his rule I would breakthe pattern

And maybe just maybe that would freeHannah and me

120

And thatrsquos why I practiced on my drivewayPracticed in the dark in the cold until after midnightHard work and skill

Hard work and skillShawnee Valley played Forest Grove this after-

noon The last game of the season My last chance to win without luckAs I changed into my team uniform I knew I had

to be great I had to be a winner today I had to winthe game for my team

And if I didIf I did maybe the nightmare would be overI was so nervous I had to lace up my sneakers

three times I kept knotting them up My fingers justwouldnrsquot work

ldquoGo Squires Go SquiresrdquoGuys were pounding their fists on the lockers

shouting jumping up and down getting pumpedgetting ready

Stretch gave me a playful slap as he jogged pastldquoTry not to bump heads today Champ We gonnabeat these clownsrdquo

I flashed him a thumbs-up ldquoTheyrsquore dead meatrdquoI shouted

I tucked in my jersey slammed the gym lockershut and trotted out into the gym I blinked underthe bright lights A big crowd nearly filled the bleach-ers They were stamping their feet in time to somemarching music over the loudspeaker

121

I searched for Hannah but didnrsquot see herThe last game of the year I thought as I picked up

a basketball from the rack My last chance I swallowed hard trying to force down my fearWas the Fate Master here Did he know that I

lied to him That I didnrsquot give the skull to StretchI donrsquot care about that I told myself Irsquom going to

be a winner today without his good luck Irsquom going to break the pattern Irsquom going to break the Fate MasterI dribbled up to Coach Bendix He slapped me on

the shoulder as I passed ldquoHave a great game Lukerdquohe called ldquoKeep it slow and steady Remembermdashjustfocus Focusrdquo

ldquoOkay Coachrdquo I called ldquoIrsquom ready I feel goodReal strong I think Irsquom going tomdashrdquo

I felt a strong blast of cold air It swept throughthe gym like an invisible ocean wave

And then I saw Coachrsquos expression change verysuddenly He was grinning at me flashing me athumbs-up And then his hand came down His facewent slack His eyes appeared to fade to glaze overas if a curtain had been drawn over them

As if hersquod been hypnotized or somethingldquoHey Lukerdquo he said motioning me back to him

He frowned narrowing his eyes at me ldquoWhat is itrdquo I asked keeping up my dribbleldquoTake the benchrdquo he ordered pointing to the

team bench with his whistle

122

ldquoHuhrdquo I gaped at himldquoThe benchrdquo he repeated his face a blank now

his eyes vacant dull ldquoYou canrsquot play todayrdquoldquoHeymdashno wayrdquo I protested ldquoWhat do you mean

Irsquove got to playrdquoHe shook his head ldquoYou canrsquot play today Luke

Your concussionmdashremember I need a doctorrsquos noteHave you been examined You canrsquot play until yoursquoreexaminedrdquo

My mouth hung open ldquoCoach Irsquove been prac-ticing so hard Please Yoursquove got to let me in the gametodayrdquo I pleaded My heart pounded so hard I feltdizzy My head throbbed ldquoCoach I have to playItrsquos the last gamerdquo

He shook his head ldquoSorryrdquo He motioned to thebench ldquoWe have to follow the rulesrdquo

Whose rules I thought bitterly The Fate Masterrsquosrules

Coach Bendix gazed at me with those glazedblank eyes ldquoSorry Yoursquove already played your lastgame Lukerdquo

ldquoButmdashbutmdashrdquo I sputteredldquoYoursquoll get rsquoem next yearrdquo he said He blew his

whistle ldquoStretchmdashyoursquore in Yoursquore playing thewhole gamerdquo

I stood there I didnrsquot move I stood in the middleof the floor with my hands on my waist Waiting formy heart to stop racing Waiting for my legs to stoptrembling

123

Then I turned and slowly trudged to the bench Irsquod lost today Score one round for the Fate

Master No way I could break the pattern today I was a

loser today But I wasnrsquot finished I could still winIf I had time

124

ldquoGive the skull to Stretchrdquo Hannah pleadedldquoMaybe the Fate Master will go easy on usrdquo

It was the next day We were huddled at the backof the lunchroom I could see Stretch laughing andkidding around with his friends at a table near thefront The Squires had won the game by two pointsand Stretch had been a hero

ldquoI canrsquot do itrdquo I said shaking my head ldquoBesidesyou heard what the Fate Master said He doesnrsquotmake deals It wonrsquot help to pass it to Stretchrdquo

Hannah let out a sigh She had her head buriedin her hands ldquoThen what are we going to dordquo

ldquoIrsquoll find a way to defeat himrdquo I said I bit into myham sandwich ldquoHeymdashrdquo I felt something hard

ldquoOh nordquo I moaned I spit out a tooth In a panic I moved my tongue around the inside

of my mouth ldquoMy teethrdquo I groaned ldquoTheyrsquore allloose Irsquom going to lose all my teethrdquo

Hannah didnrsquot lift her head She whispered some-thing too low for me to hear

125

ldquoIrsquove got to gordquo I said jumping up ldquoI have someideas Hannah Donrsquot give up hope I have someideasrdquo

I ran past Stretchrsquos table where the guys werelaughing and blowing straw wrappers at each otherStretch called out to me but I didnrsquot stop

I made my way to the computer lab The doorwas closed I pulled it open and burst breathlesslyinto the brightly lit room

ldquoMrs Coffey Mrs Coffey Itrsquos memdashLukerdquo I felt another tooth swing loose in my mouth I

gritted my teeth trying to press it down into placeA chubby young man Irsquod never seen before came

out of the supply room He had short black hair ontop of a round pudgy face and bright red cheeks Helooked like an apple with eyes He wore a red plaidshirt over black denims

ldquoIs Mrs Coffey hererdquo I demanded ldquoI need to talkto herrdquo

He set down the disk drive he was carryingldquoShersquos gonerdquo he said

ldquoYou mean she went to lunchrdquo I askedHe shook his round head ldquoNo She left school

She got another jobrdquoldquoImdashI knowrdquo I stammered ldquoBut I thoughtmdashrdquoldquoIrsquom Ron Handlemanrdquo he said ldquoIrsquom taking over

the computer lab Do you have a class with merdquoldquoUh nordquo I said ldquoBut I have a project I was

supposed to show Mrs Coffey She was going to send

126

it to someone who might put it in a show Itrsquos com-puter animation you see Irsquove been working on it fortwo years and and rdquo In my panic the wordspoured out of me I had to stop to take a breath

ldquoSlow downrdquo Mr Handleman said ldquoShe proba-bly left me a note about it She left me a stack ofnotesrdquo He glanced around the cluttered worktableldquoI put them somewhererdquo

How could Mrs Coffey leave without seeing myproject I asked myself How could she do that tome

Didnrsquot she realize how important it was Thiscould be my big triumph If my computer animationis accepted for a showmdashbecause of my hard workonly because of my skill and hard workmdashit wouldbreak the pattern It might defeat the Fate Master

Didnrsquot she realizeldquoUh can you look at my computer anima-

tionrdquo I askedMr Handlemanrsquos cheeks grew redder ldquoWhenrdquoldquoTonightrdquo I asked my heart poundingldquoWell I donrsquot think sordquo he replied ldquoNot

tonight I mean this is my first day I have so muchto do here Maybe next week rdquo

ldquoNordquo I screamed ldquoYou have to look at it PleaseItrsquos very importantrdquo

ldquoIrsquod love to see itrdquo he said picking up the diskdrive starting across the room with it ldquoBut I have toget organized Maybe rdquo

127

ldquoPleaserdquo I cried ldquoFind Mrs Coffeyrsquos note Wersquovegot to get it to the man whorsquos putting together thecomputer art show Pleaserdquo

He narrowed his eyes at me He probably thoughtI was crazy

But I didnrsquot care I needed a victory I knew therewasnrsquot much time

ldquoOkayrdquo Mr Handleman said finally ldquoBring it infirst thing tomorrow morning Irsquoll try to look at it dur-ing lunchrdquo

Not good enough Tomorrow might be too late Irealized

ldquoHow late will you be here this afternoonrdquo Iasked breathlessly

ldquoPretty laterdquo he replied ldquoSince itrsquos my first dayImdashrdquo

ldquoIrsquoll run home after school and get itrdquo I said ldquoIrsquollbring it to you before you leave tonight Could you I mean would you look at it this afternoonPleaserdquo

ldquoOkay I guess Irsquoll be here till at least fiverdquo hesaid

ldquoYesssrdquo I cried pumping my fist in the air Iturned and raced out of the computer lab

I can win I told myself I can defeat the FateMaster My animation project is good I know it isIrsquove worked for two years on it Irsquove put so much hardwork into it

I donrsquot need luck I donrsquot need good luck at all

128

After school I ran all the way home I burst intothe kitchen tossed down my backpack and startedto my room I stopped halfway to the stairs when Iheard voices from the living room

ldquoLukemdashis that yourdquo Mom calledMom and Dad were both there sitting in the

dark Dad leaned heavily on his cane Mom had herhands clasped tightly in her lap

I stopped in the living room doorway ldquoWhy areyou both home so earlyrdquo I asked

ldquoI had to come home I couldnrsquot workrdquo Dad saidsoftly ldquoThat fall I took It was worse than we thoughtLooks like Irsquom going to need surgeryrdquo

ldquoOh nordquo I muttered My fault It was all my faultBut I didnrsquot really have time to talk to them I had

to get to my computer I wanted to check out the ani-mation one more time before I made a copy for MrHandleman Then I had to rush back to school

ldquoBut why are you sitting in the darkrdquo I askedldquoWhy donrsquot you turn on some lightsrdquo

ldquoWe canrsquotrdquo Mom said shaking her head ldquoTherersquossome kind of trouble with the power lines to ourblock The electricity is off We have no power Nopower at allrdquo

129

I let out a horrified scream ldquoNooooo My com-puterrdquo

ldquoYoursquoll have to wait till the power comes backonrdquo Dad said

ldquoButmdashbutmdashrdquo I sputteredldquoWersquore having so much bad luck all of a suddenrdquo

Dad murmuredldquoWe may have to leave the house tonightrdquo Mom

said sighing unhappily ldquoWithout electricity we haveno heat We may have to check into a hotel or some-thingrdquo

ldquoOh nordquo I tugged at my hair A big clump of itcame out in my hand

I was losing my hair Losing my teeth How couldI fight back How

ldquoHe canrsquot do this to merdquo I screamed ldquoHe canrsquotHe canrsquotrdquo I turned and grabbed the banister andpulled myself up the stairs

ldquoLuke What are you sayingrdquoldquoWhere are you goingrdquo

130

I didnrsquot answer I dived into my room andslammed the door shut behind me

Breathing hard I stared at my computer Staredat the dark monitor screen

Useless Totally useless Frustrated I kicked the side of my desk

ldquoOwwwrdquo I didnrsquot mean to kick it that hard Sharppain throbbed up my leg up my side

ldquoOh waitrdquo I suddenly remembered I alreadymade a copy

Yes I made a backup copy of my project On myZip drive Yes

I fumbled frantically through the pile of disks onmy desk And grabbed the Zip disk

I still have a chance I told myself The FateMaster thought he shut me down But I still have achance

I stuffed the disk into my jacket pocket I hurledmyself down the stairs two at a time ldquoBye I have togo back to schoolrdquo I shouted to my parents

ldquoWhyrdquoldquoWhatrsquos going on Luke We need you hererdquoldquoHeymdashcome back and explainrdquoI heard their cries but I burst out the front door

and kept running ldquoIrsquoll stop the bad luckrdquo I said out loud ldquoIrsquoll stop

it Irsquoll stop the Fate MastermdashnowrdquoI found Mr Handleman in the computer lab

leaning over a keyboard typing an e-mail message

131

He spun around when I shouted hi to himI held up the disk ldquoHere it is Please Yoursquove got

to check it outrdquoHe motioned for me to sit down next to him ldquoI

spoke to the producer of the computer showrdquo hesaid ldquoHe called me this afternoon He said that if Iliked your animation I should send it over to himright awayrdquo

ldquoExcellentrdquo I cried ldquoThatrsquos great newsrdquoldquoArenrsquot you going to take your coat offrdquoldquoNordquo I answered breathlessly I shoved the disk

into the Zip drive ldquoNo time You have to see thisRight awayrdquo

He laughed ldquoSlow down Take a deep breathrdquoldquoIrsquoll breathe after you see itrdquo I said He leaned back in his chair and used his hands

as a headrest ldquoYoursquove been working on this for twoyearsrdquo

I nodded I found the file in the disk directory and double-

clicked it ldquoHere goesrdquo I said I was so nervous themouse trembled in my hand My chest was so tightit felt about to burst

Is it possible to explode from excitement I leanedforward to watch

The screen was solid black ldquoItrsquos starting nowrdquo Iwhispered

I stared at the black screen waiting for the brightburst of color at the beginning

132

Waiting Finally a dim glow spread over the screen Two circles of light Two red circles glowed in the

center of the darknessTwo red glowing eyes The eyes stared out unblinking unmoving

Blank round circles of shimmering redMr Handleman cleared his throat His eyes

remained locked on the monitor screen ldquoAre thoseeyesrdquo he asked ldquoDo they move or anythingrdquo

I opened my mouth to answer but no soundcame out

I stared frozen in horror at the glowing eyes Theevil eyes

And knew I had been defeated again Mr Handelmanrsquos cheeks were bright red now ldquoIs

this all there isrdquo he askedldquoYesrdquo I whispered ldquoThatrsquos allrdquoMy project was gone My two years of work were

lost The fiery eyes stared out at me in triumphI climbed to my feet and slumped out of the roomI trudged down the empty hall head down hands

shoved deep in my pockets Irsquove lost I realized Irsquoma loser forever now Hannah and me both Bad luckfor the rest of our lives

I turned a cornermdashand almost bumped intoCoach Swanson ldquoHey Lukemdashhowrsquos it goingrdquo heasked

133

I muttered a reply under my breathldquoI was going to call you tonightrdquo he said ldquoAndy

Mason is sick You have to swim in his place tomor-rowrdquo

I raised my head ldquoHuh Swimrdquo I had nearly for-gotten that I was on the swim team

ldquoSee you after school at the poolrdquo the coach saidldquoGood luckrdquo

Irsquoll need it I thought glumlyBut then I realized I was being given one more

chanceOne more chance to win without luck One more

chance to defeat FateOne last chance

The next morning I wore a baseball cap to schoolso no one could see the bald patches on my headWhen I brushed my teeth that morning anothertooth came sliding out between my lips

My tongue was covered with hard white bumpsMy arms and legs itched I was starting to get thesame red blotches on my skin as Hannah

Somehow I made it through the school day All Icould think about was the swim team race Wasthere any way that I might win That I might breakthe pattern and win the race and defeat the FateMaster

I didnrsquot have much hope But I knew I had to tryI knew I had to give it everything I had left

134

A few seconds after I lowered myself into the poolto warm up Coach Swansonrsquos whistle rang outechoing off the tile walls ldquoPractice laps everyonerdquothe coach shouted ldquoDo them half-speed Letrsquos seesome warm-up lapsrdquo

At the other end of the pool I saw Stretch kick offand begin swimming with steady strong strokes Idid a surface dive and started to follow him Thewarm water felt good on my itchy skin

I kicked hard Picked up speedAs I raised my head to suck in a deep breath the

water suddenly churned hard I swallowed a big mouthful Started to chokeI sputtered struggling to clear my throat strug-

gling to breatheAnd then to my horror my stomach heaved hard

ldquoGuuurrrrrrprdquo My lunch came hurling upI couldnrsquot hold it back I vomited a thick dark

puddle into the clear waterldquoOoh grossrdquoldquoSickrdquoldquoYuck Oh wowmdashhersquos puking his guts uprdquoA sick sour smell rose up from the water I heard

kids shouting and groaning in disgustAnd then I heard Coach Swansonrsquos whistle And

the coach shouting at me ldquoYoursquore outta there LukeGet out Yoursquore sick Yoursquore not going to swimtodayrdquo

135

No I thought This canrsquot happen again This ismy last chance

ldquoCoach Irsquom okayrdquo I shouted ldquoI just swal-lowed some water I can swimmdashreallyrdquo

Coach Swanson glanced around the pool AndyMason was in street clothes Joe Bork the other alter-nate didnrsquot show up

ldquoYoursquove got to let me swimrdquo I pleadedThe coach shrugged his shoulders ldquoTherersquos no

one else I guess Irsquove got no choicerdquoIrsquom going to do this I thought Irsquom going to win

today Irsquom going to do whatever it takes to winThe race got off to a good start I did a speed dive

at the whistle and found myself gliding strokingeasily in the lead

Swimming steadily keeping up a smooth rhythmI stayed in the lead until the waves began

Waves They tossed up in front of me rolledrapidly toward me splashed over me Wave afterwave Pushing me back Slowing my pace

136

Stroking harder to keep my rhythm I turned tothe side and glanced at the other swimmers The poolwas smooth the water flat for them

The waves were just for me A strong currentpushed at me slowing me shoving me back

I ducked under the waves Let them splash androll over me And swam harder

HarderldquoOhrdquo Something brushed my legI felt something curl around an ankle Something

bumped my waist I felt something slide around myknee

With another gasp I turnedmdashand saw the gray-green creatures Eels Were they eels

Wrapping around my legs Twining over mywaist

Long fat eels The water churned with themI cried out I saw the other swimmers gliding swiftly through

clear water They didnrsquot even notice my dark churn-ing water They didnrsquot even see the gleaming wetcreatures slithering between my legs Tighteningaround my ankles my legs

Slapping me slapping me hard slappingme back

ldquoNordquo I burst free I kept swimmingInto thick pink clusters of jellyfish The jellyfish

ballooned around me Stung my arms Stung mylegs Prickled the skin of my back

137

I cried out in pain The sticky creatures swarmedover me stinging stinging me again and again

I could see the other swimmers moving smoothlyahead of me now Gliding in smooth clear waters asI felt jolt after jolt of pain from the billowing jellyfishthat clustered over me

I slapped the water Slapped and kickedAnd let out another cry of pain as the water siz-

zled and boiled Scalding hot now It steamed andbubbled And my skin burned My skin is going toburn right off me I thought struggling to breatheStruggling to keep my arms moving through thescalding steam Kicking kicking hard

The other swimmers ahead of me now Moving sospeedily so steadily

I shut my eyes and swam Yoursquore not going tobeat me I thought Irsquom going to win going to win

And the thought gave me a final surge of energyI shot forward to the wall Plunged like a speed-

ing torpedo to the finishMy hand hit the wall I slapped the wallGasping gasping my chest heaving in

agony And knew that I had lostToo slow Too slowI knew that I had lost again

138

Water poured down my face I shut my eyes andstruggled to catch my breath

I heard a loud whistle Then I felt a hand on myshoulder A slap ldquoWay to go Lukerdquo

I opened my eyes to see the coach He grabbed myhand and pumped it hard Then he slapped me a highfive ldquoYou won You came from behind What a raceLuke Check out the time You set a school recordrdquo

ldquoHuh I did I wonrdquo He helped me out of the pool Guys were cheering

and yelling congratulationsBut the cheering was cut short by a deafening cry

from the middle of the pool A shrill wail that rose likean ambulance siren Higher higher until I wasforced to cover my ears

And then a mountain of water rose up from thepool Red and steaming like a volcano The water roseupmdashhigher highermdashlike a bubbling boiling red tidalwave And all the while the deafening wail rang outwith it

139

Everyone was screaming We all were screamingAnd then as suddenly as it rose up the molten

red mountain collapsed back into the poolCollapsed with a soft splash The pool was flat andsmooth again And silent Silent except for ourstunned gasps and cries

I turned to see Hannah running along the side ofthe pool Hannah out of her wheelchair RunningRunning wildly waving her arms excitedly laughingher red hair flying behind her

ldquoLukemdashyou did it Wersquore free You defeated FateLukemdashyou defeated Faterdquo

But it wasnrsquot enough Not enough for meI changed into my street clothes in seconds Then

I dragged Hannah down the hall to my locker Locker13

I stopped at the janitorrsquos closet And I grabbed ahuge sledgehammer

Hannah cheered as I raised the sledgehammer tothe locker and smashed it smashed it smashed it

Working feverishly I pried the battered lockerfrom the wall Kicked it onto its side Raised thesledgehammer again Smashed it crushed it smashed it

The battered locker door swung open I heard alow groan from deep inside

Hannah and I both leaped back as a skull rolledout onto the floor

140

Not a tiny skull A human-sized skull with glow-ing red eyes

The eyes glowed for only a few seconds Then theskull uttered a final groan a groan of agony ofdefeat And the eyes faded to darkness Empty dark-ness

I took a deep breath Ran up to itmdashand kickedthe skull down the hall

ldquoGoalrdquo Hannah yelledWe walked out of the school building arm in arm

Into the bright afternoon sunlight I took a long deep breath The air smelled so

fresh so sweet The houses the trees the skymdashthey all looked so

beautifulI stopped at the bottom of the sidewalk And bent

down to pick something upldquoHey check it outrdquo I showed it to Hannah ldquoIs

this my lucky dayrdquo I cried ldquoI found a pennyrdquo

141

142

Luke Greene is very superstitious so naturallyhersquos not happy when hersquos assigned Locker 13 atschool But amazingly a lucky charm he finds in thelocker changes his luck from bad to great NowLukersquos luck is so good he canrsquot lose No matter whathe does his lucky charm makes him come out ontop

But Luke discovers that his good luck comes witha very high price Will he pay it Or will he be lostlike others before him in the horror that is Locker 13

About Locker 13

The Locker 13 in Luke Greenersquos story does notexist anymore and it is unclear if anyone who hadthe locker in previous years suffered the same fate asLuke

People who have had unbelievably nightmarishexperiences often keep silent about them (Lukedidnrsquot tell his story to many peoplemdashonly his friend

Go Deeper Into This

Nightmare

Hannah and RL Stine know what happened) So itis possible that what happened to Erica Chass in thesame school 12 years earlier could be related toLocker 13

Erica Chass was a popular seventh grader inShawnee Valley Junior High She had good gradeswas a star soccer player and had lots of friends Thenone day everything seemed to change Erica blew offsoccer nearly failed out of school and was fearfuland shy with even her best friends She dressed onlyin black and always wore a necklace with a smallcharm in the shape of a skull

Then one day Erica moved away She didnrsquot saygood bye She just didnrsquot show up for school one dayand never came back

But some people who went to that school in thosedays insist thatrsquos not the end of Ericarsquos story

The following year a new girl joined the eighthgrade at Shawnee Her name was Alyssa GwynneShe was bright cheerful and a terrific soccer playermdashand she looked exactly like Erica ldquoYou would havesworn they were twinsrdquo says Tracey Holt who knewthem bothmdashldquoNo it was like the old Erica camebackrdquo says another friend Debra Wyle

What was the relationship between Erica andAlyssa Could they really be the same person Andwhat is the connection to the Locker 13 legendMaybe there isnrsquot one but several people havementioned that Alyssa had a necklace that she wore

143

every daymdasha necklace with a tiny charmmdashof askull

About Superstition

Most of our superstitions go back to a time whenpeople believed that witches and witchcraft wereeverywhere People in the middle ages seemed to livein terror that evil magic or witches would harm theircrops bring illness or other disaster to their livesMany of the superstitions that have lasted to ourtime go back to these ancient fears

Break a mirrormdashseven years bad luck Thissuperstition relates to the idea that our reflection is apart of ourselves Harm the reflection and you willharm the original According to the thinking of themiddle ages it takes seven years for the body torebuild itself after itrsquos been harmed So thatrsquos why thebad luck lasts for seven years Luckily there is a cureWash the broken mirror pieces in a south runningriver and the evil is washed away too

Itrsquos bad luck to walk under a ladder This goesback to a time when hanging was a common form ofpunishment It seems that the gallows were prettyhigh so a ladder was often rested against the side ofthe gallows platform Walking under this ladder wasliterally dangerous Be in the wrong place at thewrong time and a rotting dead body could fall onyou If you happen to be careless enough to walk

144

under a ladder you can change the bad luck Justcross your fingers until you see a dog

Black cats bring bad luck There are a lots ofsuperstitions about cats Letrsquos face it cats can becreepymdashand black cats are the creepiest Oneancient superstition about cats is that they will stealthe breath out of babies Where did this idea comefrom

Watch a cat as it settles itself into your lap Beforesnuggling up the cat will often sniff you in themouth At a time when so many babies died the cattheory is as logical as any other

Now for some superstitions that yoursquove probablynever heard of

If you find a knife in the road you will havebad luck

Donrsquot point at the moon (The man in the moondoesnrsquot like it and will bring you bad luck)

Donrsquot brush your hair after sunsetmdashespecial-ly if you have family who spends time on thesea (Brushing your hair at that time will mean dis-aster and death for themmdashand bad luck for you)

If a child hits a parent the childrsquos hand willwag over his grave and dogs will ldquowaterrdquo it

145

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

RL STINE says he has a great job ldquoMy job is to givekids the CREEPSrdquo With his scary books RL hasterrified kids all over the world He has sold over 300million books making him the best-selling childrenrsquosauthor in history

These days RL is dishing out new frights in hisseries THE NIGHTMARE ROOM When he isnrsquotworking he likes to read old mysteries watchSpongeBob Squarepants on TV and take his dogNadine for long walks around New York City wherehe lives with his wife Jane and son Matthew

ldquoI love taking my readers to scary placesrdquo RLsays ldquoDo you know the scariest place of all Itrsquos yourMINDrdquo

ldquoHey check it out A fortune-tellerrdquo Jilly saidShe pointed to a small black tent that stood besidean ice cream cart ldquoCan we do it I love fortune-tellersrdquo

ldquoNo wayrdquo I said ldquoThey make me nervous Idonrsquot even like watching them in moviesrdquo

ldquoCome on Maggie Itrsquos your birthdayrdquo her sisterJackie said pulling me to the tent ldquoYou have tohave your fortune told on your birthdayrdquo

ldquoLetrsquos see what the fortune-teller says about youand Glenrdquo Judy the third sister teased

ldquoI donrsquot think sordquo I saidBut as usual they didnrsquot give me a choice A few

seconds later we were standing at the doorway tothe dark tent

ldquoWersquoll all have our fortunes toldrdquo Jackie saidldquoMy treatrdquo

ldquoThis is so coolrdquo Jilly whispered ldquoDo you thinkits a real psychic Do you think she can really tellthe futurerdquo

The three sisters started into the tent I held backstaring at the red-and-black hand-lettered sign MISSELIZABETH FORTUNE-TELLER ONE DOLLAR

Take a look at whatrsquos ahead inTHE NIGHTMARE ROOM 3

Liar Liar

I suddenly realized that my heart was racing Why do I feel so weird I wondered Why do I

have such a bad feeling about thisI followed my friends into the tent The air inside

felt hot and steamy Two electric lanterns on the backtent wall splashed gray light over the fortune-tellerrsquossmall table

Miss Elizabeth sat hunched with her elbows onthe table head in her hands staring into a red glassball She didnrsquot look up as we stepped inside Icouldnrsquot tell if she was concentrating on the red ballor if she was asleep

The tent was completely bare except for her tableand two wooden chairs and a large black-and-whiteposter of a human hand The hand was divided intosections There was a lot of writing all over the postertoo small for me to read in the smoky gray light

As she stared into the red glass ball the fortune-teller muttered to herself She was a middle-agedwoman slender with bony arms poking out from thesleeves of her red dress and very large pale whitehands Squinting into the light I saw that the polishon her long fingernails matched the red of her dress

ldquoHel-lordquo Jackie called breaking the silenceMiss Elizabeth finally looked up She was kind of

pretty She had big round black eyes and dramaticred-lipsticked lips Her hair was long and wavy solidblack except for a wide white streak down themiddle

Her eyes moved from one of us to the other Shedidnrsquot smile ldquoWalter we have visitorsldquo sheannounced in a hoarse scratchy voice

I glanced around searching for WalterldquoWalter is my late husbandrdquo the fortune-teller

announced ldquoHe helps me channel information fromthe spiritsrdquo

Jackie and I exchanged glances ldquoWersquod like you to tell our fortunesrdquo Jilly saidMiss Elizabeth nodded solemnly ldquoOne dollar

eachrdquo She held out her long pale hand ldquoFour dol-lars pleaserdquo

Jackie fumbled in her bag and pulled out fourcrumpled dollar bills She handed them to the for-tune-teller who shoved them into a pocket of her reddress

ldquoWho wants to go firstrdquo Again her eyes movedslowly over our faces

ldquoIrsquoll gordquo Jilly volunteered She dropped into thechair across the table from Miss Elizabeth

The fortune-teller lowered her head again to gazeinto the red ball ldquoWalter bring me the words of thespirit world about this young womanrdquo

I suddenly felt a chill at the back of my neck Iknew I shouldnrsquot be frightened The woman had tobe a fakemdashright Otherwise she wouldnrsquot be workingin a tacky carnival like this one

But she was so serious So solemn She didnrsquotseem to be putting on an act

Or was I just being gullible againNow she took Jillyrsquos hand She pulled it up close to

her face and began to study Jillyrsquos palm Muttering toherself she moved her long finger back and forth fol-lowing the lines of the palm tracing them with herbright red fingernail

Jackie leaned close to me ldquoThis is coolrdquo she whis-pered

Judy sighed ldquoThis is going to take foreverrdquoJackie raised a finger to her lips and motioned for

Judy to shush The woman studied Jillyrsquos palm for a long time

squeezing the hand as she gazed at it murmuring toWalter in the red glass ball Finally she raised her eyesto Jilly ldquoYou are artisticrdquo she said in her scratchyvoice

ldquoYesrdquo Jilly declaredldquoYou are a dancerrdquo Miss Elizabeth continued

ldquoYou study the dance You are a hard workerrdquoldquoWhoa I donrsquot believe thisrdquo Jilly gushed ldquoHow do

you knowmdashrdquoldquoYou have much talentrdquo the fortune-teller mur-

mured ignoring Jillyrsquos question ldquoMuch talent Butsometimes I see your artistic side gets in the wayof your practical side You are you are rdquo

She shut her eyes ldquoHelp me Walterrdquo she whis-pered Then she opened her eyes again and raisedthem to Jillyrsquos palm ldquoYou are a very social person Yourfriends mean a lot to you Especially boy friendsrdquo

Jackie and Judy laughed Jilly flashed them anangry scowl ldquoImdashI donrsquot believe thisrdquo she told thefortune-teller ldquoYou have everything rightrdquo

ldquoIt is my giftrdquo Miss Elizabeth replied softlyldquoWill I make the new dance companyrdquo Jilly

asked her ldquoTry-outs are next week Can you tell meif I will be acceptedrdquo

Miss Elizabeth stared into the glass ballldquoWalterrdquo she whispered

I held my breath waiting for the answer Jilly andI were both trying out for the dance company And Iknew there was only room for one of us

ldquoWalter can find no answerrdquo the fortune-tellertold Jilly ldquoHe only groansrdquo She let go of Jillyrsquos hand

ldquoHemdashgroanedrdquo Jilly asked ldquoWhyrdquoldquoYour time is uprdquo Miss Elizabeth said She

motioned to us ldquoWho is nextrdquoJackie shoved Judy forward Judy dropped into

the chair and held her hand out to Miss ElizabethJilly came running over to join Jackie and me at

the edge of the tent ldquoIsnrsquot she amazingrdquo she whis-pered

ldquoYes she isrdquo I had to admit How did she know somany true things about Jilly I was beginning tobelieve Miss Elizabeth really had powers

And now I didnrsquot feel afraid or nervous I was eagerto see what the fortune-teller would say about me

She squeezed Judyrsquos hand and gazed deep intoJudyrsquos dark eyes ldquoYou have great love in yourdquo she

announced ldquoGreat love for animalsrdquoJudy gasped ldquoY-yesrdquoldquoYou care for them You work rdquoldquoYesrdquo Judy said ldquoI work in an animal shelter after

school Thatrsquos amazingrdquoMiss Elizabeth ran a red fingernail down Judyrsquos

palm ldquoYou also have an animal that you care aboutvery much A dog No A catrdquo

ldquoYes My cat Plumperrdquo Judy turned to us her face filled with astonish-

ment ldquoDo you believe this Shersquos right about every-thingrdquo

ldquoI know Itrsquos so coolrdquo Jilly exclaimed She sweptback her blond hair with a toss of her head She keptbouncing up and down She seemed too excited tostand still

The fortune-teller spent a few more minutes withJudy She told Judy that she would have a long suc-cessful life She said Judy would have a big familysomeday

ldquoOf kids Of animalsrdquo Judy asked Miss Elizabeth didnrsquot answer Next came Jackiersquos turn Once again Miss

Elizabeth was right on target with everything shesaid ldquoWowrdquo Jackie kept muttering ldquoWowrdquo

Finally I found myself in the chair across fromthe fortune-teller Suddenly I felt so nervous Mymouth was dry My legs were shaking

Miss Elizabeth looked older from close up

When she smiled at me the thick makeup on herface cracked Tiny drops of sweat glistened at herhairline

ldquoWhat is your namerdquo she asked in a whisperldquoMaggierdquo I told herShe nodded solemnly and took my hand She

raised my palm close to her face and squinted downat it in the gray light

I held my breath And waited What would shesee

She squeezed my hand Brought it closer to herface

And then then her eyes bulged wide Shelet out a loud gasp

With a violent jerk she tossed my hand awayAnd jumped to her feet Her chair fell behind her

clattering to the tent floorShe stared at memdashstared in open-mouthed

horrorAnd then she screamedldquoGet OUT Get AWAY from hererdquoldquoHuh Waitmdashrdquo I choked outldquoGet OUT You bring EVIL You bring EVIL with

you Get OUT of hererdquo

Credits

Cover illustration by Vince NataleCover design by John Fontana

About the PublisherAustraliaHarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty Ltd 25 Ryde Road (PO Box 321)Pymble NSW 2073 Australia httpwwwharpercollinscomau

CanadaHarperCollins Publishers Ltd55 Avenue Road Suite 2900Toronto ON M5R 3L2 Canadahttpwwwharpercanadacom

New ZealandHarperCollinsPublishers (New Zealand)PO Box 1Auckland New Zealandhttpwwwharpercollinsconz

United KingdomHarperCollins Publishers Ltd77-85 Fulham Palace RoadLondon W6 8JB UKhttpwwwfireandwatercouk

United StatesHarperCollins Childrenrsquos Books A Division of HarperCollins Publishers1350 Avenue of the Americas New York NY 10019wwwharperchildrenscom

These stories are my scariest ever says RL Stinebecause I wrote them at the Nightmare Hour

When the lights fade the world that we know as real slipsinto shadowmdashand the cold moonlit world of evil dreams

enters your mind and takes over

These ten terrifying tales will make you shiver at any hourIllustrated by ten outstanding artists

I really enjoy your workhellipthank you for creating newnightmares for me mdashKenny age 12 NY

They are horrifying storiesmdashthey even gave me thecreeps mdashSofia age 14 LA

My favorite book is Nightmare Hour mdashJeffrie age 9 WI

Winner of Disney Adventures magazinersquos first everKidsrsquo Choice Award for Best HorrorMystery book

0-06-028688-1 $995 Hardcover0-06-440842-6 $499 Paperback

Available wherever books are sold

Join RL Stine and all your friends in The Nightmare Room

wwwthenightmareroomcom

Ten New Stories by rl stineNightmare Hour

Join RL Stine and all your friends in

ROOMTHE

Step inside wwwthenightmareroomcom

and open the door to terror

You can share with RL Stine your most terrifying dreams and experiences If your stories are terrifying enough for RL Stine youcould star in your own NIGHTMARE ROOMbook

Log on to THE NIGHTMARE ROOM nowand read RL Stinersquos brand-new spine-tinglingstorymdasha story so terrifying that it canrsquot be soldin bookstores

Log on to wwwthenightmareroomcom

where you will truly enter

THE NIGHTMARE ROOM

wwwthenightmareroomcom

THE NIGHTMARE ROOM 3My Name Is EvilMaggie has her palm read at a carnival and then the terrifying accidents beginIs Maggie cursed Will she have to live forever in THE NIGHTMARE ROOM

THE NIGHTMARE ROOM 4Liar LiarRoss looks across the room and sees himself standing there But Ross doesnrsquothave a twin This party has taken Rossto THE NIGHTMARE ROOM

$399 Paperback Available wherever books are sold

Join RL Stine and all your friends in THE NIGHTMARE ROOMwwwthenightmareroomcom

What can happen next in

ROOMTHE