Hyde and Shriek (10 page)

“I don't know.” I tried to remember. “Don't tell anyone, but I think I passed out.”

“Wow, that's bad. It could mean all kinds of things.” He pushed up his glasses again. “You should probably get a CAT scan. I wouldn't rule out a brain tumor—though, of course, blood sugar is generally a factor in these cases, and the glucose level by itself isn't always enough of an indicator to determine—”

“Norman.” I tried to stop him. Once he got going, he was like a bus rolling down a hill. If I caught him while he was just inching along, there was hope. But after he picked up some speed and really started barreling along the Highway of Fascinating Facts, there was no way to slow him down. “Hold on. I just got a little dizzy, that's all.”

“What'd you eat?” he asked.

I thought back. That part of my night was clear enough. I'd had my usual popcorn—the Tub-of-Fun size that lasts about a quarter of the way through the movie. I'd washed it down with a cherry cola. Then I'd had a pack or two of caramel chews and as many of Norman's gummy eyes as he'd let me steal. Nothing there to make a kid lose touch with the world. I told Norman the list of snacks.

He seemed to be in deep thought. I imagined him running some kind of chemical tests in his mind, looking for a reaction between the assorted snacks. This could take all night. I just wanted to get home. “Look, thanks for coming over, but I'm fine.”

“Are you sure?”

I nodded. Except for the dizziness, which had almost totally faded, I felt perfectly normal. Actually, I felt pretty good. Everything was starting to look very sharp and clear. As I nodded, I noticed a slight tingling on the left side of my neck. The skin below my jaw felt numb. I rubbed the spot.

“You probably should go to a doctor or something if it happens again.”

“Yes, Mother,” I kidded him. Having Norman for a friend was almost like having a third parent. I noticed that the tingling in my neck was going away.

“Okay.” He started to leave, then said, “See you tomorrow?”

“Sure. Maybe they got some new comics at the shop. We can check that out.” The tingling was completely gone. Everything felt fine.

“Great,” Norman said. “I'll see you then.” He turned and walked back toward Maple.

“Thanks,” I called after him. As he walked away, he seemed, for a moment, to stay in sharp focus. It was almost like my eyes were some kind of zoom lens. But as soon as I was aware of it, the illusion snapped away.

I headed home. Whatever had happened was weird,
really
weird. I took my hand from my neck, squinting as I walked into the glare of a streetlight.

My fingers felt like they were still sticky from the movie snacks. That was weird. I looked down at my hand. For a second, I couldn't tell what I was seeing. The light was so bright. Then I saw it.

There was blood on my fingers.

 

Starscape Books by David Lubar

NOVELS

Flip

Hidden Talents

True Talents

NATHAN ABERCROMBIE, ACCIDENTAL ZOMBIE SERIES

My Rotten Life

Dead Guy Spy

Goop Soup

The Big Stink

Enter the Zombie

STORY COLLECTIONS

Attack of the Vampire Weenies and Other Warped and Creepy Tales

The Battle of the Red Hot Pepper Weenies and Other Warped and Creepy Tales

Beware the Ninja Weenies and Other Warped and Creepy Tales

The Curse of the Campfire Weenies and Other Warped and Creepy Tales

In the Land of the Lawn Weenies and Other Warped and Creepy Tales

Invasion of the Road Weenies and Other Warped and Creepy Tales

 

About the Author

David Lubar grew up in Morristown, New Jersey. His books include
Hidden Talents,
an ALA Best Book for Young Adults;
True Talents; Flip,
a VOYA Best Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror selection; the Weenies short-story collections
Attack of the Vampire Weenies, In the Land of the Lawn Weenies, Invasion of the Road Weenies, The Curse of the Campfire Weenies, The Battle of the Red Hot Pepper Weenies,
and
Beware the Ninja Weenies;
and the Nathan Abercrombie, Accidental Zombie series. He lives in Nazareth, Pennsylvania. You can visit him on the Web at
www.davidlubar.com
.

 

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously.

HYDE AND SHRIEK

Copyright © 2012 by David Lubar

The Vanishing Vampire
excerpt copyright © 1997 by David Lubar

All rights reserved.

Cover art by Marcos Calo

Illustrations by Marcos Calo

A Starscape Book

Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC

175 Fifth Avenue

New York, NY 10010

www.tor-forge.com

The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:

Lubar, David.

    Hyde and shriek / David Lubar. — 1st ed.

            p. cm.

    “A Tom Doherty Associates Book.”

    ISBN 978-0-7653-3081-9 (hardcover)

    ISBN 978-1-4299-9312-8 (e-book)

  1.  Teachers—Fiction.   2.  Schools—Fiction.   3.  Shapeshifting—Fiction.   4.  Science fiction.   I.  Stevenson, Robert Louis, 1850–1894. Strange case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde.   II.  Title.

    PZ7.L96775Hyd 2013

    [Fic]—dc23

2012024889

e-ISBN 9781429993128

First Edition: January 2013