I glanced down and saw red. Red blood.

Flowing over my left hand.

As I threw the Grool, I slammed the hand down on my desk—onto the sharp point of a pair of scissors!

"Ohhh!" I moaned, checking out my hand. A deep, nasty cut.

I wrapped some tissues around the cut to slow the bleeding. Then I spotted the Grool down on the floor.

Dead, I hoped. I bent down.

"Gross!" I yelped. The Grool was breathing and throbbing—faster and harder than ever before.

Whoa-ahhh. Whoa-ahhh. I leaned in closer.

Heh, heh, heh.

"Hey, what's that?" I murmured. Heh, heh, heh.

I guess you'd call the noise a laugh. A dry, cruel snicker that sounded more like a cough.

Then, as I listened to that evil laugh, the Grool began changing.

Its color suddenly brightened—from dull brown to light pink. As I stared in amazement, the Grool turned bright tomato-red.

As red as the blood on my cut hand.

My hand! Yuck! Blood seeped through the tissues and dripped slowly onto the floor.

I needed help with this. Mom's help.

"Mom!" I called, leaping up. "I need a Band-Aid. A big one!"

As I hurried down the hall, a jumble of questions ran through my mind.

Why did the Grool change color? I wondered. And that laugh—I'd never heard it before. What did it mean? Was it really laughing?

Did I hurt the Grool when I threw it against my bedroom wall? Is that why it turned red?

So many frightening questions....

I listened at the door, cupping my hand around my ear. Voices. Inside my room.

"Who's there?" I called out shakily. The door flew open.

"It's the ghost of the Grool," Daniel whispered in a spooky voice. "Owoooooooo."

Daniel and Carlo stood over the gerbil cage, giggling. "Oh, I'm so scared," I sneered. "Did you find Killer?"

"No," Daniel replied sadly. "Carlo and I searched all over the neighborhood. Mom says the police will find him."

I turned my eyes to the gerbil cage. "How did the Grool get back in there?"

"I found it on the floor, so I stuck it back in the cage," Daniel replied. "How did it get out?"

"Beats me." I shrugged. I didn't feel like explaining.

Carlo, who'd been studying the Grool closely, stared at me. "Hey, what happened to your hand?" he asked, pointing to my bandage.

I didn't want to tell them.

"Oh, uh, nothing," I replied. "Just a little cut. Why are you guys standing there staring at the Grool?"

"Carlo still wants to borrow it," Daniel explained, tapping the side of the cage to get the creature's attention. "I told him no."

Carlo turned to me. "Please," he begged. "I promise I'll be careful. Please, please, please, please..."

That stupid Grool! "Oh, take it and keep it!" I snapped.

"Excellent!" Carlo's eyes lit up, and he reached eagerly into the plastic cage to grab his prize.

"Wait!" Daniel cried, grabbing Carlo's arm to stop him. "Kat, remember what the Encyclopedia of the Weird said."

Daniel began reciting the Grool entry from memory, staring at me all the while. "You cannot give a Grool away. Anyone who gives the Grool away will DIE

within one day."

A feeling of dread grew in my stomach.

But I couldn't believe that stupid book. Could I?

Did the encyclopedia say that Grools laugh? Or change color? No.

Carlo and Daniel stared at me. Waiting for my decision. Should I give the sponge creature to Carlo?

I studied the Grool.

"Don't do it, Kat," Daniel urged. "Please don't give it away. It's too dangerous." I knew only one thing. I wanted to get the Grool away from me as quickly as I

could. And if Carlo wanted it so badly, I decided, let him have it! "Go ahead, Carlo," I said. "Take the gross, disgusting thing."

Daniel grabbed the Grool out of the cage and held it tightly. "No!" he cried. "Carlo is not taking it. I don't care what you say. I won't let him take it!"

"Now who's the scaredy-cat?" I asked, giving Daniel a poke in the arm. "I'm trying to save you!" Daniel exclaimed. "Don't you understand?"

Poor Daniel. He seemed so serious, so frightened. I decided to give him a break. "Well, okay. Carlo, I guess you'd better not take the Grool," I announced. Daniel heaved a sigh of relief.

Carlo frowned. "Okay. Bye. I'm out of here."

"I'll go with you," Daniel said, tossing the Grool back into the cage. "Come on, let's ride our bikes to the park. Maybe Killer's there." As he hurried out of the bedroom, Daniel turned and gave me a thumbs-up.

After the boys left, I collapsed on my bed. What's going to happen next? I wondered.

I lifted my eyes to the plastic cage and glared at the Grool. I felt a deep hatred for the little creature.

"If one more bad thing happens around here, I'll bury you," I promised it. "I'll bury you so far in the ground that no one will ever find you or see you again. Ever."

It was a promise I would soon have to keep.