The Curse of the Were-Hyena by Bruce Hale

Author:Bruce Hale
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Disney Book Group
Published: 2016-08-15T04:00:00+00:00

BY THE TIME Benny and I made it home, yawning and stumbling, the sky was just beginning to lighten in the east. I tumbled through my window and collapsed into bed without even taking off my clothes.

When my dad came in, it felt like I had barely closed my eyes.

“Wake up, sleepyhead,” he said, shaking my shoulder.

“Gnnf,” I replied, turning over.

Dad whisked the covers back. Seeing I was fully dressed, he said, “You know, there’s this new invention called pajamas. You might want to check ’em out.”

“Umza mumza,” I mumbled.

My tongue was a pulverized sausage, and my eyelids were stuck together with superglue. When I pried them apart, I saw him standing by my bed in his work uniform: crisp, white long-sleeved shirt, nice slacks, and shiny work shoes. Dad always says computer programmers don’t need to dress up, so that’s why he does.

“Let’s go, buddy,” he said. “Your grandma won’t be coming over until after school, so I whipped up some breakfast. Let’s move it.”

I never knew it was possible to shower and eat while asleep, but somehow I managed it. This, I thought, must be why grown-ups drink coffee.

“Come on,” said my dad, twirling his car keys around a finger, “I’ll drop you and Benny at school.”

A few minutes later, as we were waiting for Benny to come out of his house, my dad glanced up from his smartphone. “You know, whenever you want to talk more about what’s going on with Veronica and your mom, I’m here.”

“Yeah, I know,” I said. The window glass felt cool against my forehead.

“It won’t be easy—for any of us—but it’s your sister’s dream come true.”

“I know.” I stared at Benny’s front door.

“We need to be supportive,” said my dad, scrubbing a hand over his lower face.

“I’m happy for her,” I said. “Really.” And I was. But my brain was still stuck on last night’s failure in the graveyard—how it hadn’t exactly made me a hero, and how if we didn’t do something drastic, Mr. Chu would be overtaken by his inner monster tonight.

“Is something else on your mind, buddy?” said my dad.

I bit my lip. Time to do something drastic.

“Yeah,” I said. “There is.” Then I took a deep breath and proceeded to spill everything about Mr. Chu’s curse, about all we’d learned, and about how we were trying to save him.

Benny arrived partway through my tale. During the brief ride to school, he chimed in with details. When we were finished, my dad stopped the car across the street from the school and stared at us, shaking his head.

“Boys,” he said, “that’s the best Halloween story I’ve ever heard. But you’re a week too late.”

“But, Dad, it’s not a story!” I said.

He chuckled, reaching across me to open the passenger door. “With your imaginations, you boys should be screenwriters.”

“We’re telling the truth, Mr. Rivera,” said Benny. “Honest. Something’s horribly wrong with Mr. Chu, and we have to stop it. Today.”

“I’m sure he just caught some kind of bug,” said my dad.

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