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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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THE NIGHTMARE ROOM
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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
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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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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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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
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