12. Town Square Scares

TOWN SQUARE SCARES 12 "Antonio, your quick thinking bought us some time," said Sam. Sam, Lucy, and Antonio were walking home from school. The air was cold. Antonio pulled his jacket tighter— but not too tight. Squeakers was still in his pocket. "Yeah, but not a lot of time. We'll be in the exact same situation tomorrow," Antonio said. "The school will be knocked down!" "We can't let that happen," Lucy said.

Sam's mind raced. This was Orson's most wicked plan yet— and he had no idea how to stop it! The friends stopped in front of Sam's house. "Everyone, think hard," Sam said. "We have to come up with a plan!" Antonio gently patted his pocket. "I'll look after this fur ball. Who knows maybe she'll give me an idea!" "I'm going to the town hall," Lucy said. "Maybe I can find some helpful information about the school." "Okay," Sam said. "Let's meet at school early tomorrow morning." The three friends split up. That night, Sam could barely eat his dinner. He was too nervous. "I'm going to go to bed early," he told his mom.

His mom smiled. "Of course, honey. I bet you're stressed with everything going on at school." Sam thought to himself, Mom, if you only knew the truth... Sam fell asleep the second his head hit the pillow. But before he knew it, he was up and he was walking through Eerie's town square. It was the middle of the night. The streets were quiet. Too quiet. The town was different. Sam had a twisted feeling in his stomach. It was the same feeling he got when the school was about to attack. But now, he had that feeling in downtown Eerie.

The town suddenly roared to monstrous life! The grocery store's doors slammed open and shut. They had become a chomping mouth! Tall streetlamps bent down and reached for Sam. Sam dodged them! Buildings swayed. The mailbox clanged and envelopes flew out. SLAM! REARGHH!

A fire hydrant burst, spewing water. The water took the form of terrifying liquid tentacles! Every bit of the town roared to life. The monstrous town of Eerie was behaving like the monstrous school, Eerie Elementary! Stoplights turned completely red— and the red beams formed one giant spotlight. It shone directly on Sam! BA-BOOM!

Suddenly, everything went quiet. Everything had gone back to normal. But only for a moment... At the end of Main Street, two huge headlights flashed on. Sam was bathed in blinding white light. It was the wrecking ball. It hung from a crane. The crane was atop a truck. And the truck was speeding toward Sam! Sam stood frozen in the street. The truck had changed. The headlights looked like narrow eyes. The bumper formed a thin mustache. It was a face. It was the face of Orson Eerie.