Read Online 25 - Attack of the Mutant by R.L. Stine - (ebook by Undead) - Free Book Online

will disintegrate you in one hundredth of a second.”
    I swallowed hard. My entire body started to tremble.
    “Do you think you can jump the first two steps?” The Galloping Gazelle asked.
    “You mean—?” I started.
    “Land on the third step,” he instructed. “Get a good running start.”
    I’ll need it, I thought, staring at the steep steps.
    I suddenly wished I hadn’t eaten so many Pop-Tarts and bowls of Frosted
Flakes for breakfast every morning. If only I were a little slimmer, a little
lighter.
    “Get a good running start and make sure you clear the first two steps,” The
Galloping Gazelle warned. “Land on the third step and keep moving. If you land
on the first or second step, you’ll disintegrate.” He motioned with his fingers.
“Poof.”
    I let out a low, frightened moan. I couldn’t help myself. I wanted to be
brave. But my body wasn’t cooperating. It was shaking and quaking as if I were
made of Jell-O.
    “I’ll go first,” the superhero said. He turned to the stairs, bent his knees,
stretched both hands forward—and leaped over the invisible disintegrator-ray.
He landed on the fifth step.
    He turned around and motioned for me to follow. “See? It’s easy,” he said
brightly.
    Easy for you! I thought darkly. Some of us don’t have dyno-legs.
    “Hurry,” he urged. “If you stop to think about it, you won’t be able to do
it.”
    I’m already thinking about it! I thought.
    How can I not think about it?
    “I—I’m not very athletic,” I murmured in a tiny, trembling voice. What an
understatement! Whenever the kids I know play any sports, I am always the last kid chosen for a team.
    “Hurry,” The Galloping Gazelle urged. He reached out both hands. “Take a good
running jump, kid. Aim for the third step. It isn’t that high. I’ll catch you.”
    The third step looked about a mile in the air to me. But I held my breath,
bent my knees, took a running leap—my best leap—
    —and I landed with a hard thud on the first step.

 
 
21
     
     
    I screamed and clamped my eyes shut as the disintegrator-ray poured through
me, and my body crumbled into thin air.
    Actually, I didn’t feel anything.
    I opened my eyes to find myself still standing on the bottom step. Still in
one chubby piece.
    “I—I—I—” I stammered.
    “I guess he doesn’t have it turned on,” The Galloping Gazelle said calmly. He
smiled at me through the mask. “You caught a break, kid.”
    I was still trembling. Cold beads of sweat rolled down my forehead. I
couldn’t speak.
    “Hope your luck holds out,” The Galloping Gazelle muttered. He turned and
started up the stairs, his cape floating behind him. “Come on. Let’s go meet our
destiny.”
    I didn’t like the sound of that. Not one bit.
    But I didn’t like anything that was going on. The Galloping Gazelle had said
that I was lucky.
    But I certainly didn’t feel lucky as I followed him up the dark stairs.
    At the top landing, he pushed open a wide metal door, and we stepped into an
amazing room.
    The room glowed with color. It was decorated like an office, the fanciest,
most luxurious office I have ever seen.
    The shaggy white carpet was soft and so thick, I sank in it nearly to my
ankles. Silky blue curtains were draped over enormous windows that overlooked
the town. Sparkly, crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling.
    Velvety couches and chairs were arranged around dark wood tables. One wall
was covered with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, each shelf filled with
leather-covered books.
    A giant TV screen—dark—stood in one corner. Beside it, a wall of
electronic equipment. Enormous oil paintings of green farm fields covered one
wall.
    A shiny, gold-plated desk stood in the middle of the room. The tall desk
chair behind it looked more like a throne than a chair.
    “Wow!” I cried, lingering near the door, my eyes taking in the splendor of
the vast room.
    “He treats himself nice,” The Galloping Gazelle commented. “But his