The Attack of the Aqua Apes (10 page)

“L
isten,” Scott said to Glen three days later. He shook the cookie jar near Glen's ear.

Glen listened. “I don't hear a thing,” he told Scott.

Scott shook the jar again, closer to Glen's ear. “Do you hear it now?” Scott asked.

Glen started to shake his head no. But he stopped himself. “Yeah,” he answered. “It hardly sounds like anything at all.”

“I think it worked,” Scott said. “I think Mac's dried up into a little crystal again.”

“I don't know,” Glen replied nervously.

“It's been three whole days since he's been out
of water.” Scott was trying to convince himself as much as Glen.

“Why can't we just throw this stupid cookie jar in the garbage and forget about it?”

“Because we've got to make sure that he's really gone,” Scott told Glen. “And we'll never know for sure unless we look.”

“I don't want to look!” Glen insisted.

“We've got to do it, Glen,” Scott said, even though he didn't want to look either. “If we don't, we'll always be afraid Mac's going to come after us.”

Scott took a deep breath and started peeling off the tape.

Glen jumped off the bed in a panic. “What if he
isn't
a crystal, huh? What if he's in there just trying to psych us out?”

“What do you mean?” Scott stopped peeling the tape.

“What if he's clinging to the sides of the stupid thing so we can't hear him moving around when we shake it?”

“There's nothing in there for him to cling to,” Scott answered. And just to make sure he shook the jar again—as hard as he could.

Scott started peeling off the tape again. And
with every layer he unwrapped, he could see Glen turning whiter and whiter.

What if Glen was right? What if opening the jar was a big mistake?

Scott's hands were trembling as he pulled off the last piece of tape.

“If you open that up,” Glen warned, “and he's in there—we're dead.”

Scott knew that was true. But he had to do it. He had to know once and for all that Mac was out of their lives for good.

Scott held his breath. But as he pulled the lid off, the air that was trapped inside of his chest escaped in a huge sigh of relief.

“Glen!” Scott cried out excitedly. “It worked!”

“We did it!” Glen exclaimed. He high-fived Scott. “We got rid of Mac!”

For a minute the two boys sat on the bed, staring into the jar. Scott couldn't believe that it was finally over. He couldn't believe that the only thing left of the monster they had created was a tiny little black crystal.

“So what are we going to do with it?” Glen asked, finally breaking the silence.

“Nothing,” Scott answered, as he reached for the lid of the jar. “We're never going to do anything with it ever again.” Scott closed the
cookie jar. “Until the day we die, Mac is staying a crystal. And he's staying right here.”

Scott buried the jar in the back of his closet.

The battle was finally over.

The swimming, waving, disgusting little pig-monkey of a monster was definitely out of their lives for good.

“D
on't even think about it!”

“Aw, come on, Glen,” Scott begged. “Look how cool this is.” Scott bit the inside of his lip so he wouldn't crack up in Glen's face.

Glen didn't even bother glancing at the ad Scott was waving in front of his nose. He just stared at Scott—as if he were insane.

“Wonder worms, Glen,” Scott said, as he pointed to the ad in the comic book. “We've got to get them!”

“Are you out of your mind?”

Scott cracked up. He couldn't keep a straight face any longer. “Gotcha!”

“Not funny.” Glen sighed. “Are we going to the mall or what?” he asked.

“Yeah. Yeah.” Scott laughed as he threw the comic book down on his bed. “We're going. Just let me get my jacket.”

Things are finally back to normal, Scott thought as he made his way to the closet. The video game place at the mall even had a new manager, so he and Glen could hang out there again.

Scott pulled open his closet door.

“Nooooo!” Scott screamed.

Nothing in his closet was where it had been when Scott took off for school that morning. All his clothes were hanging neatly. And all the shoes were lined up on the floor.

And the cookie jar was nowhere to be seen.

“What?
What?”
Glen yelled.

“My mother cleaned my closet!” Scott exclaimed. He didn't have to say another word for Glen to know exactly what the problem was.

“Mom!” Scott hollered, as he and Glen raced out of the room and down the stairs. “Mom!”

“I'm in the kitchen,” she called back.

“Mom!” Scott ran into the kitchen with Glen right behind. “Mom,” Scott repeated, trying to
sound calm. “Did you by any chance clean my room today?” He already knew the answer.

His mother laughed. “So you noticed,” she said over her shoulder as she bent down to get something out of the cabinet under the sink. “Maybe you can try to keep it that way for a while, huh?”

“Yeah.” He told her what she wanted to hear, just so she would answer his next question. “When you were cleaning my room, did you find a cookie jar in my closet?”

“Yes,” she answered, pouring detergent into the dishwasher. “As a matter of fact, I did. And do you mind telling me what my cookie jar was doing in the bottom of your closet?”

Scott ignored his mother's question and asked another one of his own. One that was much more important. “You didn't open it, did you?”

“Yes. I did.” His mother stared at him as if he were nuts. She closed the dishwasher door. “But there was nothing in it.”

“Are you sure?” Glen asked.

“I didn't see anything,” she told him. “Just some crumbs. What are all these questions about?”

Scott ignored her again. “Well, what did you
do with it?” he asked. “What did you do with the cookie jar?”

“It's in the dishwasher,” she answered, pushing the button to turn the dishwasher on.

“No!” Scott and Glen screamed. But it was already too late. They could already hear the sound of water spraying inside the machine.

“You two definitely need a hobby,” Scott's mother said, as she turned and headed out of the room.

Scott and Glen stood frozen in horror.

They stared at the machine.

They stared as a giant monkey claw slammed out of the door of the dishwasher. Mac's giant monkey claw.

And he was definitely not waving.

R.L. STINE
IS ONE OF THE BEST-SELLING AUTHORS IN AMERICA AND HAS SOLD MORE THAN 300 MILLION BOOKS. HIS SERIES INCLUDE FEAR STREET, GHOSTS OF FEAR STREET, FEAR STREET SAGAS, GOOSEBUMPS, AND GOOSEBUMPS HORRORLAND. HE LIVES IN NEW YORK CITY WITH HIS WIFE, JANE.

This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author's imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

ALADDIN

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This Aladdin paperback edition October 2009

The Attack of the Aqua Apes
copyright © 1995 by Parachute Press, Inc.

The Attack of the Aqua Apes
written by A. G. Cascone

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Designed by Karin Paprocki

Library of Congress Control Number 2009928750

ISBN 978-1-4169-9136-6

ISBN 13: 978-1-4424-8619-5 (eBook)

These titles were previously published individually by Pocket Books.