The Birthday Party of No Return! by R. L. Stine Page B

He started to grab my sleeve. But he pulled his hand away when he saw the sleeve was smeared with cake icing.
    I followed him to his bedroom. He had rock posters all over his walls, from floor to ceiling. Some of them belonged to his parents and went all the way back to the 1970s. Very cool.
    â€œI think I still have the instruction sheet that came with my claw,” Cory said. He began pawing through a desk drawer.
    â€œYes. Here.” He pulled out a square white sheet of paper and handed it to me. “You didn’t read this?” he asked.
    I shook my head. “No. My dog took it and ate it.”
    My eyes scanned the page of small type. There weren’t many instructions. But I gasped when I found the one important rule:
    â€œ This rare vulture claw will bring you good luck forever ,” I read. “ But you must follow one rule. You must never KISS the claw. Kissing it is forbidden. ”
    â€œOh, wow,” I murmured. “Oh, wow.”
    I stared at those words. I read them again. My heart started to pound like crazy. I suddenly felt cold all over.
    I kept reading:
    â€œ If you kiss the claw, your luck will turn bad. And you will have very bad dreams, and your whole life will turn into a nightmare. ”
    The instruction sheet trembled in my hand. I shut my eyes. I pictured myself kissing the claw. Many times.
    When I opened my eyes, Cory was staring hard at me. “You kissed your claw — didn’t you?” he said.
    I nodded. “A lot,” I muttered.
    â€œBad luck,” Cory said.
    â€œYeah. Bad luck,” I said. “Bad luck all the time.” I sighed again. “Where did you get your claw?”
    He shrugged. “Beats me. It just came in the mail.”
    â€œMe, too,” I said. “Wish I’d read the instructions.”
    â€œLee? Where are you?” Mom called from the kitchen. “We have to go!”
    â€œComing!” I shouted. I started toward the bedroom door. But Cory grabbed my arm.
    â€œI just want to ask you one more question,” he said.
    I turned and waited for him to ask it.
    â€œWhy did you give your claw to me as a birthday present?” he asked. “To give me bad luck?”
    My mouth dropped open. I could feel my face grow hot, and I knew I was blushing.
    â€œSorry,” I said. “It was a stupid idea. I … I didn’t want you to have real bad luck.” I shook my head. “Really. I’m sorry.”
    His eyes went cold. He blew out a long whoosh of air. “Kind of a dirty trick,” he said. “You’re supposed to be my friend.”
    I opened my mouth to answer. But my eyes went to the open window.
    The sky darkened suddenly. I saw an ugly creature soar toward the window. It filled the window. Huge. Let out a raw bleating sound.
    An enormous gray and black vulture.
    It stepped onto the window ledge, cawing loudly. It raised one leg. The leg had no claw at the end!
    Just a black stump. A ragged, ugly bump.
    I uttered a cry as the huge bird lowered its head — and bolted into the room.
    â€œLook out!” I screamed.
    No time to duck. Or run.
    It raised its wings high. Lowered its massive beak — and dove at me.

I screamed and covered my head.
    Cory laughed. “I’m not going to hit you,” he said. “You don’t have to duck.”
    I blinked. I lowered my arms. I gazed at Cory. He stood staring at me, a puzzled expression on his face.
    â€œLee — what was that about?”
    â€œWell … I …”
    No ugly bleating vulture in the room.
    I was seeing things again. Another hallucination. I should have known.
    â€œAre you okay?” Cory asked.
    My whole body was trembling. “Not really,” I said. “This claw is messing up my brain.” I reached into my pocket and felt the claw. “I have to get rid of it.”
    He nodded. “Yeah. As fast as you can.”
    I apologized again for wrecking his birthday party.