The Attack of the Aqua Apes (2 page)

T
he moment Scott came to the end of Park Drive, his heart started to beat a little faster. With just one step he would cross the imaginary safety line into dangerous territory—Fear Street.

Even in the middle of the day, Fear Street was dark and scary. Enormous old trees lined both sides of the street. And as the sunlight tried to sneak between some of the huge branches, it cast strange shadows on the ground below. Shadows that looked like they could swallow you up.

Once you've walked down Fear Street
, Scott thought,
you know all the creepy stories you've heard about it are true.

“The adventure is about to begin!” Scott announced to Glen. He took a deep breath and started toward the Fear Street Woods. They were creepier than Fear Street. Scarier, too.

The trees in the woods grew thick and gnarled—with black twisted branches that seemed to reach out. Reach out to strangle you.

Glen hesitated.

“Well, are you coming, or what?”

“This is a really stupid idea,” Glen replied.

“It is not. You're just chicken,” Scott taunted. Then he started flapping his arms and squawking at Glen.
“Bawk, bawk, bawk!”

“I am not chicken,” Glen insisted.

“Then come on.”

“There.” Glen stepped into the woods. “Are you happy now?”

“This way.” Scott pointed to the path ahead. The path that led directly to Fear Lake. “We'd better hurry. These woods get real dark, real early.”

As they followed the trail, Scott noticed how quiet the woods were. He couldn't hear any birds chirping or bugs humming. Or any sound of life at all. Creepy. Really creepy.

Scott kept his eyes glued to the trail. He had to
make sure they stayed on the right path. No way was he getting lost in the Fear Street Woods.

“Can we hurry it up?” Glen asked. He followed Scott so closely that he stepped on the back of one of his sneakers.

“Do you have to walk on top of me?” Scott complained, yanking his sneaker back up. “The lake's right through there,” he added, pointing straight ahead. “Relax.”

“I'm telling you, this is a big mistake,” Glen muttered as they reached the muddy banks of the lake.

“Just give me the tank,” Scott ordered.

Glen pulled the little plastic tank out of his backpack and shoved it into Scott's hands.

Scott pulled off the top and handed it to Glen. Then he stepped up to the edge of the lake and dipped the open tank into the icy cold water.

Other than being really, really cold, Scott didn't notice anything weird about the Fear Lake water. It wasn't gross, or smelly, or anything. In fact, it was clear. And Scott couldn't help feeling a little bit disappointed.

Scott held the tank out in front of him. “Okay, now pour in the magic crystals,” he instructed Glen.

“I don't see why we can't do this part back at your house,” Glen complained. “It's starting to get dark.”

“Bawk, bawk, bawk,”
Scott replied.

Glen fumbled around in his backpack for the little packet of crystals. When he found it, he carefully tore the corner open.

“What do they look like?” Scott asked.

“Like sugar grains,” Glen answered. He held the packet under Scott's nose for him to see.

“Pour 'em in,” Scott ordered. He held the tank steady.

“Here goes nothing,” Glen said. He shook the magic crystals into the tank.

The moment the first crystal hit the water from Fear Lake, Scott felt the tips of his fingers start to tingle.

Then the tiny tingling turned into a surge of electricity. It raced up his arms and snaked through his entire body.

He began to shake. Slightly at first. Then wildly.

He tried to loosen his grip on the tank. But his fingers were stuck.

The tank began to crackle with electricity. Scott could see tiny lightning bolts shooting
through the water. The water bubbled and churned.

Scott's heart pounded so hard and so fast, he was terrified it would explode.

He opened his mouth to scream.

To scream for Glen to help him.

But no sound came out.

“G
len!” The name finally burst free from Scott's throat. “Help me!”

But the moment Scott screamed, the shock stopped.

His arms and legs grew still.

The water in the tank settled quietly.

“What's wrong?” Glen asked. “What happened?”

“I'm not exactly sure,” Scott tried to explain. “When you poured in the crystals, a horrible shock raced through my whole body. It was the worst thing I've ever felt.”

“Let's put the top on the tank and get out of here!” Glen cried.

Glen shoved the top on. Then he turned and charged into the woods, back toward the street.

“Wait for me!” Scott screamed, dashing after him.

They didn't stop until they made it back to Scott's house and up the stairs to his room.

Scott carefully placed the tank in the center of his desk.

Then they both sat down on Scott's bed. Panting.

When they finally caught their breath, Scott bent down to peer into the water. “Oh, wow!” he shouted. “They're alive! It worked! We created aqua apes!”

Scott studied the aqua apes in the water. They were just little white specks. No bigger than dust specks in a beam of sunlight. But they
were
alive.

At first they appeared to be floating aimlessly. But when Scott squinted for a better view, he could see that they were actually wiggling. Wiggling in different directions.

The aqua apes didn't look anything like the picture in the ad—or even the picture on the box. But they were alive. And maybe they would grow into something cool.

“I don't see anything,” Glen complained.

Glen was sitting on the middle of Scott's bed. “You have to get closer,” Scott told him. “They're real small.”

Glen didn't budge.

“You're not going to get a shock,” Scott told him. “I carried the tank all the way back here and nothing happened.”

Glen stood up and crossed over to the tank. “I still can't see them,” he insisted. “Where's your magnifying glass?”

Scott pulled a magnifying glass out of the top drawer of his desk and handed it to Glen.

“Pretty cool, huh?” Scott asked, as Glen studied the little creatures.

“Yeah,” Glen agreed. “They are pretty cool. But wh—”

Glen's voice trailed off as he watched little air bubbles suddenly start floating up from the bottom of the tank.

“What's going on?” Scott asked. He grabbed the magnifying glass from Glen and peered into the bottom of the tank. The bubbles were shooting up from a crystal. A large black crystal.

“What is that?” Glen asked. “I didn't see it when we poured the packet in.”

“I don't know,” Scott answered.

The black crystal continued to fizz.

Scott and Glen watched it for a long time, waiting. Waiting for something more to happen.

But nothing did.

The black crystal simply continued to fizz.

*   *   *

The black crystal was still fizzing when Scott went to bed that night. He left the light on in the tank so he could watch it as he dozed off.

But the aqua apes were way too small for him to see from his bed. He couldn't even make out the black crystal from that far away. But he could see the air bubbles rising from it. Scott began counting the bubbles as they rose to the surface.

The numbers raced through his head faster and faster. His vision blurred as he focused on the bubbles.

Then the light in the tank went out. Scott figured the bulb in the tank lid had blown. He'd check it out in the morning.

Scott pulled the covers up to his neck. As he rolled over to go to sleep, the light in the tank flashed on. And this time it glowed much brighter than before.

Scott turned toward it.
I should just get up and
turn it off
, he thought. But before he could even throw back the covers, the light blinked off by itself again.

Then on.

Then off.

It continued to blink on and off until Scott slid out of bed. The moment his feet hit the floor, the light in the tank flared on and stayed on.

He walked toward the desk slowly. Cautiously. As he stepped closer, he noticed that the black crystal at the bottom of the tank was bubbling furiously. The water began churning. It turned from clear to murky. Then dark.

Scott reached out to turn off the light in the tank. But before his finger touched the switch, he jerked his hand away. What if he got another shock?

The light clicked on and off again. Scott stood by the tank. Waiting. But this time it didn't flash on again.

Scott stood in total darkness. He wanted a light on in his room—now.

He stumbled over to the wall. As he felt his way toward the switch for the ceiling light, a short burst of light flooded the room—as bright and as quick as a streak of lightning. And then a
loud bang exploded in the room—as loud as a clap of thunder.

Scott whirled around to face the tank. He could hear the water churning.

Another flash of lightning shot through the water.

Then the lid began to rumble. And before Scott could move, the lid blasted from the tank and shot up to the ceiling with a
crash!

W
here is it? Where is it?
Scott ran his hands up and down the wall, feeling for the light switch. Glen was right, he thought. Using the water from Fear Lake was a big mistake.

Scott's fingers finally hit the light switch. He snapped it on.

He scanned the room. The lid of the tank lay on the floor. But from where he stood, everything else seemed normal. The water in the tank appeared calm and clear again. Nothing was out of place.

Scott stooped to pick up the lid. There had to be a logical explanation for what had happened.

Maybe something was wrong with the batteries, Scott thought. He pried open the lid of the tank to check. Sure enough, the batteries were oozing an oily liquid.

Scott crossed over to his desk to check on his aqua apes. The little creatures seemed to be alive and well. Only they were all huddled together at one end of the tank—as if they were trying to hide.

And the black crystal that had been bubbling and fizzing all day was gone.

Scott stared into the water. Searching for it.

He sat up for what seemed like hours, waiting for it to reappear. But it never did. And so, finally, Scott turned off his light and went to sleep.

*   *   *

“Scott! Wake up!” His mother nudged him hard.

Scott rolled over and pulled the blankets tighter around himself. He couldn't wake up. Not yet. He felt as if he'd just closed his eyes.

“Come on, Scott.” His mother nudged him again. “You're going to be late for school if you don't get a move on.”

“I'm up,” he mumbled. “I'm up.”

“Your eyes aren't even open,” she scolded.

Scott rolled over and opened them for her. “Happy?” he grumbled.

“No,” she answered. “I want to see you up.”

Scott pulled himself to a sitting position.

That seemed to satisfy his mother.

“Good,” she said as she headed for the door. “Now hurry up and get dressed so you can have a decent breakfast before you leave.”

The moment Scott's mother left the room, Scott plopped back down and closed his eyes again.

“Mommy said move it, you little twerp,” Kelly growled as she passed his open door. “Ma,” Kelly screamed loudly over her shoulder. “The little twerp is still in bed.”

“I am not!” Scott screamed back as he jumped out from under the covers. He stumbled over to check on the aqua apes.

They were still really small. But they didn't look like tiny little white dust specks anymore. They looked like
bigger
little white dust specks!

They're growing. Cool!
Scott grabbed a sweatshirt from his dresser. When he had it halfway over his head, he heard a faint tapping sound.
What is that?
he wondered. He yanked the sweatshirt down.