There's Something Out There (2 page)

Jenna paused. She took a deep breath and looked at each one of her friends for a moment before she continued.

“There was no sign of the creature. No sign of whatever it had been eating, or the blood that had soaked into the ground. There weren't even any tracks. The girl started to feel embarrassed. Foolish. Had she imagined it? Was it all a dream? And then … she saw … this.”

Jenna reached behind her back and, in one fast move, whipped her arm around, her hand held high. The enormous talon gleamed in the beam from the flashlights. Once more, everyone screamed, just as she'd known they would.

“Stuck in the tree … the claw of the Marked Monster!” she announced.

“
Ewww!
What is that?” Brittany shrieked.

“Jenna, wow. That was the scariest story, no doubt,” Jenna's best friend, Maggie, said, shivering. “I'm not going to sleep at all tonight.”

“True,” Laurel chimed in. “Way to go, Jenna. You totally win that round.”

Jenna grinned at her friends. For the last three years, they'd been having sleepovers at least twice a month, and this was always her favorite part: telling scary stories. After the girls had eaten pizza and popcorn, after they'd watched movies and given each other pedicures, after everyone else in the house was asleep, they turned out all the lights, lit up their flashlights, and tried to freak each other out. Sometimes Jenna spent the entire week before a slumber party trying to think up a scary story to top the last one she'd told, spending hours searching for creepy tales on the Internet. That's where she had learned all about the Marked Monster. Jenna had even read a description of its haunting shriek.

Brittany's face wrinkled up in disgust as she stared at the claw. “That is too gross. Where did you get it?”

“What do you mean, where did I get?” Jenna replied. “I just told you. I pulled it out of the pine tree in the clearing behind my house.”

“Wait—that was
you
?” Brittany asked. “
You
are the girl in that story?”

“Well, duh,” Jenna said. “Really? You guys didn't get
that? We've only camped out in that clearing, like, a hundred times.”

Brittany shook her head. “No way. That story is not true. You probably just got the claw at the Halloween store or something.”

“You wish I did,” Jenna shot back. “I mean, yeah, I didn't see the Marked Monster in the woods or anything—that part I made up. But I did find its claw in the tree. Trust me, the claw is the real deal. Here. See for yourself.”

She leaned forward and dropped the claw in Brittany's lap. Brittany jumped up so fast that the claw clattered across the floor. “Get that nasty bird toenail away from me! It's probably covered in germs!”

Everyone cracked up then, and Brittany's face got all red. “You think it's so funny?” she asked, but when she started laughing, the other girls knew she wasn't really mad. “Here you go. Why don't you spend some quality time with it?”

She scooped the claw off the floor and tossed it toward Maggie, who shrieked as she caught it and immediately chucked it toward Laurel.

“Ack! Get it away! I don't want it!” Laurel cried, throwing it wildly toward Jenna.

Too wildly.

There was no way for Jenna to catch the talon as it soared toward her; there wasn't even enough time for her to move out of the way. She heard the rip of her sleeve; she felt the burn as the talon sliced through her skin; and they all heard the
thunk
as the talon smacked against the wall behind her and plunged to the floor.

Jenna sucked in her breath sharply and grabbed her arm. She felt something hot and wet soaking through her torn sleeve.

“Oh no, no, no, are you okay?” Laurel asked in a rush. “Oh, Jenna, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean—”

“No, it's cool. It was just an accident,” Jenna said, biting the inside of her cheek as she tried not to cry. She didn't want to be a big baby about it. It was just a little cut.

But it really, really hurt.

Maggie and Brittany leaped into action.

“I'll get a clean T-shirt for you to wear,” Maggie said.

“Mags, where's your first-aid kit?” Brittany asked. “Or some Band-Aids or something?”

“Come with me; I'll show you,” Maggie said, and the two girls hurried out of the room.

“What can I do?” Laurel asked, hovering around Jenna. “Do you want some ice or something to drink or—”

Jenna forced a laugh. “Laurel, it's okay. Don't worry about it.”

“I just feel so, so bad,” Laurel continued. Her hands fluttered nervously in the air. “I'm so bad at sports, I don't know what I was
thinking
—”

“Chill,” Brittany ordered as she walked back into the rec room. “It's not Jenna's job to make you feel better right now.”

Jenna flashed Laurel an extra smile. Brittany could always be counted on to tell it like it was, but sometimes, Jenna secretly thought, Brittany could
try
to be a little nicer. It wouldn't kill her—especially since they'd known Laurel for only a few months. She had moved to Lewisville in the middle of the school year, and even though she'd made friends pretty quickly, Jenna secretly suspected that Laurel still felt like the new kid. That would be one explanation for why she was always scurrying around, so quick to say “Yes!” or “Sorry!” like she thought she was about to lose all her friends.

“Here, Jenna,” Maggie said, holding out a T-shirt.

“Thanks,” Jenna said. She turned to face the wall as
she pulled off her pajama top and changed into Maggie's T-shirt, careful not to get any blood on the sleeve. Jenna had barely gotten a look at the injury before Brittany slapped a piece of gauze over it.

“I'm applying pressure,” Brittany said importantly. “To stop the blood.”

“Yes. Thank you,” Jenna said, hiding a smile as she took the gauze from Brittany.

“Does it hurt really bad?” Laurel asked anxiously. “I'm so sorry.”

“It's okay,” Jenna replied. She lifted up a corner of the gauze to peek at the cut. It was bleeding less already. In fact, Jenna thought it didn't look that much worse than a cat scratch. “See? Almost all better. No big deal.”

She didn't mention that it still hurt and that the pain was radiating deep into her muscle.

“Oh. That really isn't a big deal,” Brittany said. She sounded a little disappointed. “I don't even think you need a Band-Aid.”

“Yep. It looks like I'm gonna live,” Jenna joked, and all the girls laughed. “Let's go get some—”

There was a sudden silence.

“Um, what?” asked Maggie. “Let's get some what?”

“Shhhhh,” Jenna whispered as her face went pale. “Did you guys hear that?”

“Hear what?” asked Laurel, taking a step closer to the other girls.

“I swear I just heard, like, a growling sound or something,” Jenna replied softly, holding up her hand. “Just—listen—”

All the girls were quiet, their heads tilted toward the window. And then it came again, a soft
rrrrrrrrrRRRRRRRRRRRRR
that grew to a crescendo and made the hair on the back of Jenna's neck stand up. She looked quickly at her friends and could tell right away, from the scared expression in their eyes, that they had heard it too.

rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
.

Suddenly a shadow darted across the closed curtains. With a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, Jenna realized:
There was something outside the window
.

“Did you see that?” she asked hoarsely. She pointed at the window.

“What?” Laurel asked.

But Maggie caught Jenna's eye and nodded.

So she'd seen it too.

Jenna crept closer to the window. She pressed herself flat against the wall and waited for something—for the growl to come again, for the shadow to pass by the window once more.

Then she snuck a glance at her friends, all huddled together in the middle of the room.

“I'm going to open the curtains,” Jenna whispered.

“No! Don't!” Laurel begged.

“I have to,” Jenna replied. “We need to know what's out there.” She glanced at Maggie and Brittany, but neither one met her gaze. That's when Jenna knew that she was on her own.

She took a deep breath, mentally counted to three—
one, two, three
—and yanked open the curtains to see what was roaming around out there in the middle of the night.

She came face-to-face with a dark, hulking form on the other side of the window. Nothing but a thin pane of glass separated them.

As the creature slammed against the window, everyone screamed so loudly that Jenna couldn't even hear her own voice in all the commotion. She raced back to the middle of the room, where her friends were frozen in fear.

Then the door banged open, and the room was flooded with light.

“Girls! Girls! What on earth is going on?” Maggie's mom, Mrs. Marcuzzi, cried.

“There's a monster out there!” Maggie shrieked, pointing at the window.

Mrs. Marcuzzi sighed heavily as she strode across the room.

“No, Mom, don't—” Maggie begged.

But Mrs. Marcuzzi was already at the window. “It's
Rocko!” she exclaimed, and started to laugh. “Lou?” she called to Maggie's dad. “The Jacobsons' dog got out again.”

“Oh, for Pete's sake.” Mr. Marcuzzi's voice came from the hallway. “I'll take him home.”

“Here, Dad,” Maggie spoke up. “You want my flashlight?”

“Rocko's a big dog, but he's nothing to be afraid of,” Mrs. Marcuzzi said to the girls. “You know that, Maggie.”

“Mom, have you
seen
Rocko's teeth?” Maggie argued. “They're huge. And he's all slobbery. Besides, we didn't
know
it was only Rocko.”

“Yeah,” added Laurel. “What if it was the—the Marked Monster?”

As Mrs. Marcuzzi laughed again, Brittany shot Laurel a dirty look. This time, Jenna was with Brittany. Laurel should've known better than to say that. Now Mrs. Marcuzzi was going to go all
Mom
on them.

“The Marked Monster! Are those stories still going around?” Mrs. Marcuzzi said, shaking her head. “I haven't thought about the Marked Monster in ages.”

“It's just a stupid story Jenna told,” Brittany said.

“What do you know about the Marked Monster, Mrs. M.?” Jenna asked.

“Maybe I'll tell you girls over breakfast,” Mrs. Marcuzzi replied. “But I don't see any reason to scare you more than you already are.”

Suddenly everyone heard a loud
thud
from outside, and the sound of Mr. Marcuzzi shouting. With a look of alarm, Mrs. Marcuzzi ran over to the window, with the girls following right behind her.

Mr. Marcuzzi had fallen backward in the mud, and Rocko had jumped up on him and was covering his face with slobbery dog kisses!

“Oh no. This is not good,” Mrs. Marcuzzi said, but even she had to laugh. Maggie and her mom had the same loud, infectious laugh—just like they had the same dark, curly hair—and the sound always made Jenna laugh even harder. “Maggie, I'm going to go outside and help your dad. I think this calls for some hot chocolate—what do you think, girls? Sound good?”

“I'm on it,” Maggie said through her giggles. “Come on—we have marshmallows
and
whipped cream!”

“What's going on?” Maggie's little sister, Sarah, asked from the hallway as she rubbed her eyes sleepily.

“Nothing. Go back to bed,” Maggie said rudely as she walked right past Sarah.

“Rocko got out and scared your sister and her friends,” Mrs. Marcuzzi explained, “so Daddy's trying to put him on a leash and take him home. But Maggie is right. You need to go back to bed, sweetie.”

“Well, I
was
in bed, but they woke me up,” Sarah complained. “Now I can't sleep.”

Mrs. Marcuzzi sighed. “Go to the kitchen,” she said. “The girls are going to make some hot chocolate. A cup of warm milk will help you get back to sleep.”

Sarah flashed Maggie a smug grin as she joined the rest of the girls in the hallway.

“Mom. No,” Maggie said firmly. “You
promised
. This is
my
sleepover. Sarah is
not
allowed to crash it!”

“It's just five minutes,” Mrs. Marcuzzi said. “I've got to go out to help your father with that dog. Go. And don't fight.”

Maggie sighed heavily as she stormed off to the kitchen. Jenna followed behind her, smiling a little at Sarah as she passed her. As usual, Jenna felt torn when Maggie and Sarah started fighting. On the one hand, Maggie was Jenna's best friend, so of course she was always going to take her side—no matter what.

But on the other hand, Jenna was a little sister
too—so she knew where Sarah was coming from. Jenna's big brother, Jason, was always ordering Jenna to go to her room or stop bugging him, even if she was minding her own business, like reading a magazine in the living room while he played video games with his friends. It was totally unfair, but at this point, Jenna was used to it.