ONEThe Magic ShopRussell Crannaker glanced up and down the alley.He was alone.Perfect. He could practice in peace.Putting up his arms, Russell staggered forward. He rolled back his eyes so only the whites were showing. Then he began to moan.Fantastic! He was going to be great as Frankenstein's monster-the best ever.Russell relaxed and grinned. Halloween should be all right this year after all.He moaned and lurched forward again.Frankenstein. Boy, would he love to actually be Frankenstein's monster for a while. Then he'd show that Eddie a thing or two. He could see it now: Eddie kneeling in front of him, whining, begging, pleading for mercy.He could even hear Eddie's voice: "Please, Russell. Please don't hurt me. Please. Please!"Russell smiled. It was a pleasant daydream. But his smile quickly turned to a frown.Something was wrong.Eddie was still talking!"Oh, no! Save me, save me! It's the horrible Crankenstein! Hey, Crannaker, what's up? You lose your marbles?"Russell opened his eyes and turned pale. Eddie, six inches taller than Russell and made mostly of mouth and muscle, was standing at the end of the alley. "Come here, twink," he sneered. "I'll make you really look like Frankenstein."Russell started to shake. So far that day, Eddie had poked him, punched him, called him names, and smashed him in the face with a cream-filled cupcake. Under the circumstances, only one thing made sense.Russell did it.He ran."Hey, Crannaker!" bellowed Eddie. "Whassa matter? You afraid?"Afraid? Of course he was afraid! These days he lived in fear of what Eddie might do next.He rounded the back corner of the alley and tripped over a row of garbage cans. One fell, spreading trash from wall to wall. Eddie, racing around the corner after him, struck something slimy and slid to his seat. "I'll get you for this, Crannaker!" he roared.I've got to get out of here, Russell thought desperately. Got to get away...now!He was off like a shot, barreling down some back street. Without thinking, without looking, he turned another corner, and then another.Suddenly everything was quiet.Russell stopped. Where was Eddie?He looked around.To his surprise, he was alone. Not only that, he was on a street that was completely new to him. That bothered him a little, but it was no real problem. He knew Kennituck Falls fairly well. He couldn't be far from a main street.He walked to the next corner, figuring that would take him back to where he had started.It didn't.He turned right again-and then again. He was confused now. And scared. Not scared the way he had been when Eddie was after him. He was scared because Kennituck Falls was too small to get lost in....It was starting to get dark. A fog began to rise, the mist curling around his feet like snakes made out of smoke.Russell stopped again. He had reached a dead-end street. It was lined with shops he had never seen before. They were closed-all except one. Directly ahead of him, a light burning in its window,

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Excerpted from The Monster's Ring by Bruce Coville
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