The Evil Lives! by R.L. Stine

died, the fury just kept pouring out of her. I could actually see it and feel it! She was dead, but it was alive. And it was the Evil!”
    â€œAmanda, you were only in the grave for a few seconds,” Janine told her. “You must have blacked out and had some kind of nightmare or something.”
    â€œLook at me!” Amanda shouted, grabbing her hair and wringing the water from it. “I’m soaking wet. How do you think I got that way?”
    Dustin shrugged. “There’s water down in the grave.”
    â€œNo. I was in the ocean,” Amanda insisted. “I saw the Evil being born.” She paused, frustrated. They don’t believe me. Do they think I’m lying? Or crazy?
    She glanced at the grave. “Okay, if you don’t believe me about the time travel, look at the grave. It’s empty. So is the coffin. How do you explain that?” she demanded. “What happened to this grave?”
    Dustin and Janine shrugged.
    â€œSarah’s evil spirit must have gone to Shadyside,” Amanda said. “She went after Jane—she was so angry at Jane. And the Evil took over Jane’s body and made her kill people.” She stared into Janine’s eyes. “We called up that Evil. It burst out of this grave.”
    â€œI don’t know what to think,” Janine admitted with a sigh. “This whole thing is really creeping me out. And so is this horrible cemetery. Let’s go.”
    Turning their backs on the empty grave, Janine andDustin hurried away. Amanda followed. By the time they reached the street, she was shivering violently. She was soaked to the skin and covered with mud. Mud that reeked of decay and death.
    Jane’s death. And Sarah’s death.
    Except Sarah isn’t truly dead, Amanda reminded herself. Not as long as the Evil lives.
    And it does live.
    On the street, Dustin said a quick good-bye and hurried to his car.
    â€œI guess he doesn’t want to get back together anymore,” Amanda murmured as she climbed into Janine’s car. “That’s one way to get rid of him—make him think I’m nuts.”
    Janine didn’t reply. She started the car and pulled away from the curb so quickly the tires squealed.
    Amanda turned to her. “What about you? I suppose you think I’m nuts too.”
    â€œNo way,” Janine protested. “But this is so weird. I’m totally confused.”
    â€œSo am I,” Amanda admitted. “But I know what I saw. Sarah’s Evil was so strong. Too strong to die. And it came back through Jane’s grave.”
    Janine’s fingers tightened anxiously on the steering wheel. “But if it really is back, what can we do?”
    â€œI’m not sure. But we have to be careful,” Amanda warned. “The Evil is inside someone. We just don’t know who.”
    Janine nodded and bit her lip nervously as she turned the car into Amanda’s driveway.
    â€œDon’t go all the way to the house,” Amanda told her. “If my parents hear the car, they’ll come to the door. I don’t want them to see me like this. I’ll walk up the driveway and sneak in the back.”
    Janine stopped the car at the foot of the drive. Amanda climbed out. As Janine pulled away, Amanda started toward the house.
    And stopped.
    A set of footprints led up the drive.
    Clumps of thick, moist earth had scattered around each print.
    Amanda gasped.
    It looks like mud from the grave.
    But it doesn’t have to be, she told herself. It probably isn’t.
    Amanda continued up the drive. But she kept one eye on the footprints.
    Halfway toward the back, the prints stopped.
    Amanda’s heart seemed to stop too.
    The muddy footprints led straight up to her bedroom window.

Chapter 22

A VISITOR
    A manda backed away from the footprints. Her heart was racing now, and her legs felt shaky.
    Something rustled in the hedge behind her. Amanda jumped, then sped down the walk and