Authors: R.L. Stine
First Evil
Chapter 5: Death of a Cheerleader
Chapter 10: Horror in the Hall
Chapter 11: Who Was Screaming?
Chapter 14: Kimmy Has a Problem
Chapter 15: The Accusations Fly
Chapter 20: Corky Figures It Out
Chapter 22: Jennifer's Surprise
Chapter 23: “I'm Not Jennifer”
Chapter 1
“Y
ou are evil,” Corky said in a hushed whisper. “You are truly evil.”
The words made Bobbi grin, her green eyes lighting up with pleasure. She gripped the rat tighter around its rib cage.
“Where are you going to put it?” Corky asked, still rubbing the sleep from her eyes. The floorboards felt cold beneath her bare feet. “Right in front of Sean's door?”
Bobbi nodded and tiptoed down the narrow hall toward their brother's room. Her blond hair was still tangled from sleep. Both girls were in long, cotton nightshirts.
“Sean is terrified of rats,” Corky whispered, her eyes on her little brother's door, expecting him to burst out and ruin Bobbi's little surprise.
“I know,” Bobbi said with an evil snicker. She carefully set the rat down in the center of the doorway. When Sean came out for breakfast, he'd have to walk right into it.
“It looks so real,” Corky whispered. “It doesn't look like rubber.” The floor creaked noisily and Corky stopped. She set one hand against the peeling wallpaper and leaned on it.
“It's the hair that makes it,” Bobbi replied. Having set down the realistic-looking creature, she and her sister started to back away, their eyes on Sean's closed door. “It's very good rat hair. Very authentic.”
“Girls? What are you doing?” Their mother's voice interrupted them from downstairs, startling them both. “Are you dressed yet? You're going to be late. Come down for breakfast. And make sure Sean is up.”
“Don't worry,” Bobbi whispered, grinning at her sister, “Sean will be wide-awake real soon!”
Chuckling about Bobbi's little joke, both girls descended the creaking staircase and joined their parents in the kitchen. Mr. Corcoran, their handsome, young-looking father, was already at the table, wiping egg off his chin with a paper napkin.
“Yuck. Not poached eggs again,” Bobbi groaned.
Mrs. Corcoran turned around, a pale reflection of her vibrant, blond daughters. She stared at their nightshirts, frowning. “That's how you're going to school?”
“Yeah,” Bobbi answered quickly. “All the girls are wearing nightshirts. It's sort of a trend.”
“Why do we have to have poached eggs?” Corky asked, pouring herself a half glass of orange juice.
“You need a lot of energy,” their mother replied, dumping two runny eggs on two pieces of toast with a plastic spatula.
Mr. Corcoran yawned loudly. “I don't sleep well in this house.”
“No one does,” Corky muttered, taking her place at the breakfast table. The two eggs on her plate stared up at her like giant, runny eyes. “It's the ghosts.”
“Yeah. This place is definitely haunted,” Bobbi quickly agreed.
“Haunted? That's ridiculous.” Mrs. Corcoran set down a plate in front of Bobbi, who made a disgusted face.
“This girl I met at schoolâLisa Blumeâshe told me that
all
the houses on Fear Street are haunted,” Corky said, poking her eggs with her fork, watching the yellow run over the toast.
“Just because a house is old and creaky it doesn't mean it's haunted,” Mr. Corcoran replied.
“I think someone was murdered in my room,” Bobbi said, glancing across the table at her sister. Bobbi was the one with the wild imagination. “Someone keeps whispering to me late at night, whispering and crying.”
“Probably the wind,” their father said, straightening his tie with one hand and taking a sip from his coffee cup with the other.
“Yeah, sure. The wind,” Bobbi said sarcastically.
Sitting across from each other, Corky and Bobbi looked like twins, even though Bobbi was a year older. Both had blond hair, very light, very fine, which they wore brushed straight to their shoulders or sometimes
in ponytails or single braids. Both had lively green eyes, creamy, pale skin, and high cheekbones like models.
Bobbi was seventeen but nearly two inches shorter than her younger sister, which annoyed her no end. Corky, on the other hand, was envious of her sister's figure. Corky was tall but boyish. Sometimes she felt gawky and wished she'd hurry up and fill out.
“Well, your brother is certainly not having any trouble sleeping in this house,” Mrs. Corcoran said, heading toward the front stairs. “Didn't you wake him up?”
They heard a deafening scream, a hideous scream of terror from upstairs. Sean had obviously discovered the rat.
“I think he's up,” Bobbi said dryly.
Both girls collapsed in laughter, lowering their heads to the table.
“What did you two do?” Mrs. Corcoran demanded. She hurried to the rescue.
“We didn't do it! The ghost did it!” Bobbi called after her.
Mr. Corcoran simply shook his head. He was used to having his daughters play tricks on Sean. They loved to take advantage of their brother's trusting personality.
Taking another sip of coffee, Mr. Corcoran sighed, wondering what hideous thing they had just done to make poor Sean scream like that.
The girls were still snickering when Sean entered the kitchen, fully dressed in faded jeans and a red Gap T-shirt, swinging the rat by the tail. “It didn't fool me at all,” he told his sisters.
“You always scream like that when you get up, right?” Bobbi teased.
“I just did that so you wouldn't be disappointed,” Sean said, avoiding their eyes.
Mrs. Corcoran followed him into the kitchen and rested her hands on his slender shoulders. “This house is creepy enough,” she scolded the girls. “Do we really need
rats?
”
Sean set the rat down on the breakfast table. Mrs. Corcoran quickly grabbed it away. “Not on the table. Please!”
“It's not as disgusting as these eggs,” Bobbi griped.
Sean glanced from one plate to another. “Looks like rat puke.”
“Seanâ
please!
” his mother exclaimed.
“Another delightful Corcoran family breakfast,” their father said, pulling himself up and scraping his chair noisily back along the faded, old linoleum.
“Have your breakfast,” Mrs. Corcoran told the girls, glancing at the clock. “Don't you have cheerleader tryouts this afternoon?”
“
If
they'll let us try out,” Corky said glumly. The light in her emerald eyes faded. “The squad is already full. They say they picked everyone last spring. Before we moved here.”
“But you girls are the best!” their mother declared, plopping two eggs onto a plate for Sean. “You were both all-state back home in Missouri. You practically took your squad to the national championships.”
“You both stink,” Sean said flatly.
“No one asked your opinion,” Mr. Corcoran told Sean. “HeyâI'm outta here.” He gave his wife a quick kiss on the cheek and disappeared out the
kitchen door. “Good luck this afternoon, girls!” they heard him call from outside.
“We'll need it,” Corky muttered.
“When you jump up, everyone can see your underpants,” Sean said nastily.
“Seanâeat your eggs,” Mrs. Corcoran replied sharply. She pushed the plate closer to him, then glanced down at the girls, concern wrinkling her pale face. “They
should
let you try out at least. When they see how good you areâ”
“Miss Green said it was up to the girls on the squad,” Corky said.
“Who's Miss Green? The advisor?” their mother asked, pouring herself a cup of coffee.
“Yeah. We met her and we met the squad captainâJennifer something-or-other,” Bobbi said. “She seemed really nice.”
“So they'll let you try out?” Mrs. Corcoran asked, motioning for Sean to eat faster.
“Maybe,” Corky said doubtfully.
“We'll see after school,” Bobbi said. She took a final bite of toast, pushed her chair back, and hurried upstairs to get dressed.
“You two could put Shadyside High on the map,” Mrs. Corcoran yelled after her.
Corky laughed. “Mom, if it were up to you, we'd have it made.”
“But you stink,” Sean said quietly. Then he opened his mouth wide so Corky could see the yellow egg inside.
“You're gross,” Corky said, frowning.
“You stink,” he replied. It seemed to be the refrain of the morning.
“Knock it off,” their mother scolded, rolling her eyes. “Hurry. Get dressed. You're all going to be late.”
Corky took a last sip of orange juice, then headed upstairs, trying to decide what to wear. The kids at Shadyside were a lot more into clothes than her friends back in Missouri. She had the feeling that she'd need some new things, some short skirts, some tights, some leggings.
“Oh!”