already seen. And
they all had fangs…
But before Patricia could raise the camera
and start taking pictures, she noticed something else.
What is…that?
On the floor, toward the
other end of the room, there was a big trapdoor, with large metal
hinges and a lifting ring. Why would they
have a trapdoor in the floor? she wondered.
It couldn’t lead to a basement because she knew the only thing
under the boathouse was water.
What could be down there?
Well, that was one question
she couldn’t answer, because the trapdoor had a large, heavy-duty
padlock on it. There was no way she could use the library card
on that —it needed
a key.
And then she noticed something else.
More shelves, she saw. On the next wall. Only these shelves
contained glass bottles instead of glass tanks, and the bottles
were filled with this mucky-looking stuff.
Yuck! Patricia thought when she picked up one of the bottles to have
a closer look. The bottle was heavy and felt slightly warm, and
when she shook it, the gunk in the bottle barely moved at
all. What is that stuff? she wondered. It looks like mud, only
it’s yellow. It had a small label on it
that read REAGENT 7c . Reagent, she remembered. One of the
words they’d looked up in her father’s dictionary. In fact, all of
the yellow bottles had labels with the same word. But then, when
she looked closer, she noticed a few bottles full of green gunk,
and these bottles had a different label.
COUNTER-REAGENT , they read. Another one of the words they’d looked
up.
This was all very interesting, not to
mention weird, but Patricia knew she better take her pictures and
get out of here. It was getting really late. So she reached up to
put the yellow bottle back on the shelf and—
NOOOOO! she thought, her heart suddenly beating wildly in
her chest.
The heavy bottle slipped out of her fingers
and fell—
crash!
— right on the floor where
it shattered into hundreds of pieces.
“ Now you’ve really done it!” Patricia
said aloud. “I’m going to get in all
kinds of trouble for this!”
The yellow muck in the bottle spread quickly
across the floor. At once, a faint creeky smell filled the room.
Frantic, Patricia rushed about, looking for a mop and bucket to
clean up the mess, but there were none. All she could find, in a
small closet, were a few paper towels. She grabbed the towels, then
immediately knelt down and started picking up the big pieces of
broken glass, careful not to cut herself. And when she wiped at the
gunk on the floor—more bad luck.
The stuff was staining the wooden floor
yellow!
I better just leave
it, she thought. Maybe they’ll think the bottle just fell off the
shelf. There was no way she’d be able to
clean it up properly. She put the paper towels in the
wastebasket. Just take the pictures and
get out of here! she thought. So she turned
toward one of the shelves with the glass tanks, raised the camera,
and—
thunk!
Patricia froze.
thunk! she heard again.
Her heart beat violently against the inside
of her chest. What was that noise?
Then she looked down, and her eyes went wide
as big silver dollars.
The yellow gunk on the floor, she saw now,
was seeping down through the cracks in the trapdoor! And the
trapdoor—
thunk!
— was where the thunking
sound was coming from!
But then came another sound, a much louder
one:
Ka-CRACK!
Patricia shrieked to herself. The trapdoor
slammed up an inch with the sound, and that’s when she realized the
most frightening thing of all—
Something’s under that door, and it’s trying
to get out!
And when she heard the sound again—
Ka-CRACK!
— the padlock broke off, and
the trapdoor violently flew open, and Patricia thought her heart
would stop when she saw what was now climbing up into the
room…
««—»»
“Oh, I’m sorry, Terri, but Patricia can’t
come to the phone now,” Patricia’s mother said. “She’s not feeling
well.”
Terri’s eyes thinned as she held the phone
to her ear.
they all had fangs…
But before Patricia could raise the camera
and start taking pictures, she noticed something else.
What is…that?
On the floor, toward the
other end of the room, there was a big trapdoor, with large metal
hinges and a lifting ring. Why would they
have a trapdoor in the floor? she wondered.
It couldn’t lead to a basement because she knew the only thing
under the boathouse was water.
What could be down there?
Well, that was one question
she couldn’t answer, because the trapdoor had a large, heavy-duty
padlock on it. There was no way she could use the library card
on that —it needed
a key.
And then she noticed something else.
More shelves, she saw. On the next wall. Only these shelves
contained glass bottles instead of glass tanks, and the bottles
were filled with this mucky-looking stuff.
Yuck! Patricia thought when she picked up one of the bottles to have
a closer look. The bottle was heavy and felt slightly warm, and
when she shook it, the gunk in the bottle barely moved at
all. What is that stuff? she wondered. It looks like mud, only
it’s yellow. It had a small label on it
that read REAGENT 7c . Reagent, she remembered. One of the
words they’d looked up in her father’s dictionary. In fact, all of
the yellow bottles had labels with the same word. But then, when
she looked closer, she noticed a few bottles full of green gunk,
and these bottles had a different label.
COUNTER-REAGENT , they read. Another one of the words they’d looked
up.
This was all very interesting, not to
mention weird, but Patricia knew she better take her pictures and
get out of here. It was getting really late. So she reached up to
put the yellow bottle back on the shelf and—
NOOOOO! she thought, her heart suddenly beating wildly in
her chest.
The heavy bottle slipped out of her fingers
and fell—
crash!
— right on the floor where
it shattered into hundreds of pieces.
“ Now you’ve really done it!” Patricia
said aloud. “I’m going to get in all
kinds of trouble for this!”
The yellow muck in the bottle spread quickly
across the floor. At once, a faint creeky smell filled the room.
Frantic, Patricia rushed about, looking for a mop and bucket to
clean up the mess, but there were none. All she could find, in a
small closet, were a few paper towels. She grabbed the towels, then
immediately knelt down and started picking up the big pieces of
broken glass, careful not to cut herself. And when she wiped at the
gunk on the floor—more bad luck.
The stuff was staining the wooden floor
yellow!
I better just leave
it, she thought. Maybe they’ll think the bottle just fell off the
shelf. There was no way she’d be able to
clean it up properly. She put the paper towels in the
wastebasket. Just take the pictures and
get out of here! she thought. So she turned
toward one of the shelves with the glass tanks, raised the camera,
and—
thunk!
Patricia froze.
thunk! she heard again.
Her heart beat violently against the inside
of her chest. What was that noise?
Then she looked down, and her eyes went wide
as big silver dollars.
The yellow gunk on the floor, she saw now,
was seeping down through the cracks in the trapdoor! And the
trapdoor—
thunk!
— was where the thunking
sound was coming from!
But then came another sound, a much louder
one:
Ka-CRACK!
Patricia shrieked to herself. The trapdoor
slammed up an inch with the sound, and that’s when she realized the
most frightening thing of all—
Something’s under that door, and it’s trying
to get out!
And when she heard the sound again—
Ka-CRACK!
— the padlock broke off, and
the trapdoor violently flew open, and Patricia thought her heart
would stop when she saw what was now climbing up into the
room…
««—»»
“Oh, I’m sorry, Terri, but Patricia can’t
come to the phone now,” Patricia’s mother said. “She’s not feeling
well.”
Terri’s eyes thinned as she held the phone
to her ear.
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