Last Laugh by K. R. Alexander

Author:K. R. Alexander [R. Alexander, K.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Published: 2023-09-28T00:00:00+00:00

“Grandma!” I call out. I rush to her side, then yell, louder, “Genevieve, come quick!”

I don’t even get the sentence out before she’s there.

“I thought I told you to wait outside?” I manage, anger and fear messing up my thoughts—I should be grateful, not angry, that she was here so quickly.

“You were taking too long,” Genevieve says. She quickly walks over and hovers the back of her hand over Grandma’s lips, then presses her fingers to her forehead. “She’s alive. But she seems sick. Where are all the clowns?”

“That’s not important,” I say. “Call Mom and Dad. I’m calling 911.”

She immediately gets on the phone, and I dial for an ambulance. I barely hear what the person on the other end of the phone says, just as I barely know what I say in return.

I can’t take my eyes off Grandma.

I’ve never seen her like this before. Her skin is waxy and coated with a light sheen of sweat, her lips purple and thin. She’s always been so strong, even with her cane or walker—years of being a dancer made her a fighter, the perfect blend of grace and strength no matter her age.

But right now, she doesn’t just look old. She looks like she’s been drained of life.

Almost like I’d imagine a vampire’s victim to look.

Honestly, I glance at her neck, just to make sure. There’s no bite mark, but stranger things have been happening.

It also keeps me from looking around at all the empty shelves.

I want to wonder where all the clown dolls went. I want to think that she threw them out.

But I know better.

I know the truth.

They’ve been released. By me.

And now, they’re on the prowl.

Soon, the room is filled with paramedics and my parents—I’m so out of it I don’t even know who arrives first. I just know that in no time at all, both Genevieve and I are rushed out of the house and Grandma is taken away in an ambulance with Mom at her side.

“I want to be with her,” Genevieve persists.

“Not right now,” Dad says. “She’ll be okay, but the paramedics say she’s very dehydrated and needs a lot of rest. You can visit her when she’s feeling better.”

I stare numbly out the window.

“Do they know what happened to her?” Genevieve asks.

“Not yet, sweetie,” Dad says. “But they will soon, I’m sure.”

“She was just at the doctor’s,” I say. “Why didn’t they see this coming?”

Dad sighs. “I don’t have any answers, Victor. But we will soon.”

We don’t say anything else for the rest of the ride.

When we’re back home, I head straight to my room and start my game. I should do homework, but I can’t concentrate.

It’s only when Genevieve comes in a few minutes later that I realize I’m so out of it, I didn’t even get past the start screen. I’ve just been staring at the edge of the TV, thinking.

“It’s the clowns,” she says matter-of-factly.

I pull down my headphones to look at her.

“What?”

“The clowns. They’re the reason she’s sick.”

“What are you talking about?”

She sits down on the bed, looking at me like I’m an idiot.

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