"This can't be happening," I whispered. But it was.

The pieces—the shreds of Grool—they were sliding across the desktop. Slithering. Rolling together.

Coming back together.

Forming a brown ball. A sponge.

It didn't take long. A minute at the most.

And now the Grool stared up at me again. And it vibrated so hard that my desk actually began to rock.

Its cruel snicker cut through my shocked silence. Heh, heh, heh.

"Shut up! Shut up!" I screamed. But it snickered even louder.

Frantic, I grabbed a dirty sock from the clothes hamper. I used it to pick up the Grool. And then I hurled the thing back into the cage.

Heh, heh, heh.

With a cry, I threw myself face down on my bed and covered my ears. "Will I have this bad luck for the rest of my life? Is there anything I can do?"

I was so frightened. So angry. So confused.

I couldn't even pretend to be my usual cheery self.

When Aunt Louise took me and Daniel out to an ice-cream parlor, I couldn't even finish a small butterscotch sundae. Usually, I'm good for a triple decker.

But how could I ever be happy again? I was stuck with the Grool—forever.

"Wake up, Kat! Wake up!" A frantic voice whispered in my ear. I slowly raised my head off the pillow. "Huh?"

Daniel was waving his bookbag back and forth about an inch above my head. "Get that away!" I shouted, grabbing for it.

"Hey, I'm only trying to help you," he replied, snatching the pack away. "You're going to be late for school. You'd better get moving!"

He ran out of the room.

I tore the covers off and raced to the closet. I slipped on my Save the Earth sweatshirt and purple flowered leggings. Then I remembered.

"Daniel, you little dweeb!" I bellowed. "We have no school today! There's a teachers' conference!"

He peeked back intomy room.

"Got you!" he gloated.

I hurled a pillow at his head and hit him in the face. A nice shot.

"You're a bad sport," he said, laughing. "Carlo's coming over after breakfast. We can play Mega Monster Warriors."

I slammed the door in his face.

Daniel's stupid tricks usually don't bother me too much. And a day off from school always puts me in a great mood.

But how could I enjoy myself? I just kept wondering what bad thing was going to happen next.

What bad luck would the evil Grool bring today?

After breakfast, I hung around on the back porch, reading a magazine. And trying to ignore Daniel's and Carlo's shrieks and wild laughter as they played computer games.

I really missed Killer. He usually sits next to me when I read.

After about an hour, I got bored. I decided to go up to my room and work on my social studies assignment.

I had to write an essay for Mrs. Vanderhoff. My Family and What They Mean to Me.

But I kept thinking about the Grool and how it was totally ruining my family.

So far, all I had written was: "I'm Kat Merton and my family means an awful lot to me."

Not exactly grade-A material. And the paper was due tomorrow morning.

I decided to take a break. I went to the kitchen and poured myself a glass of chocolate milk and grabbed a handful of oatmeal cookies.

On my way back upstairs, I peeked into the den. Things seemed very quiet in there.

I didn't see Carlo. Only Daniel, playing Underwater Adventure Quest. "Where is Carlo?" I asked.

"Um," Daniel replied, his eyes glued to the submarines and torpedoes flashing across the computer screen.

"Was my question too hard for you?" I asked sarcastically. "I'll go slower now. Where... is... Carlo?"

"Home," he mumbled.

"Did he get mad because you sank more enemy submarines than he did?" I joked. Daniel didn't answer.

I headed upstairs to my room. I set down my milk and cookies. I couldn't help but glance at the gerbil cage.

It wasn't what I saw that made a prickle of fear run down my back. It was what I didn't see.

The cage stood empty. The Grool was gone. Escaped.