The Hidden Door by Liz Botts Page B

its rightful place.
    Just as the stone head meets the body, I hear more crunching from the bushes. With a terrible growl, The Vampire is upon us. "I knew I would find you here."
    Justin freezes and turns toward him. His mouth is agape, and he doesn't look scared at all. Rather he looks supremely ticked off. I'm so confused I fo rget to be scared for a moment.
    The Vampire freezes momentarily too, but recovers before we do. He charges at Justin, knocking into him with such force that Justin is thrown backwards. The gargoyle's head falls to the hard dirt with a dull thump.
    "Freeze!"
    I whirl around only to be blinded by a bright flashlight shining in my eyes. When the light shifts I am both relieved and scared to see three uniformed police officers standing just a f ew feet away.
    "Help him," I squeak, gesturing frantically toward the bushes where Justin and T he Vampire continue to scuffle.
    Two police officers move quickly to control that situation while the third police officer asks me sternly what is going on. My eyes still glued to the ground where Justin now sits slumped against the base of the gargoyle statue, I explain what has happened this evening.
    I have no idea if I make any sense, and the police officer only makes agreeable noises now and again as I stumble through the story. Apparently he believes me because he calls the other two officers over to give them an abbreviated rundown of the events.
    One officer holds a now cuffed Vampire with one hand. Justin pushes himself off the ground and approaches our group.
    "I can't believe you would do this," he says, addressing The Vampire directly. "I mean, I knew you were losing it, but to do this? You've hurt people. This isn't some game, Dad."
    One of the officers reaches up and pulls off the mask, and sure enough, there is J ustin's dad glaring back at us.
    My mouth drops to the ground. I cannot believe what I am witnessing. Clearly more has been going on in the past year than Justin wa s even able to tell me tonight.
    â€œBut— but…why?” I stammer.
    Justin’s father glowers at me, his eyes wild. “You stupid girl! If you are the one to break the curse your luck will be divine forever. I need that luck! And you stole it! Both of you stole my luck!”
    I goggle at him, anger seeping into my body. “I’m the stupid one? Why on earth would you choose to dress up as a vampire? I think that’s stupid.”
    Justin’s dad barks a harsh laugh. “I am the incarnation of Vlad the Impaler. Finding the head would have given me the luck I need to unleash my true power.”
    We don't have any time to ask any more questions of his dad, though, because the police are hustling him off to the squad car.
    The third policeman nods toward Justin. "Why don't you go ahead and return that head to its rightful place, son?"
    With trembling hands, Justin lifts the head off the ground, gently brushing dirt from its features, then sets it atop the statue. Certainly someone will need to properly reattach it, but for now this is good enough. Like the rest of the unanswered questions from tonight, we can worry about them in the morning.
    The police officer leaves, leaving Justin and I alone with the now complete gargoyle.
    I look at Justin, feeling suddenly empty. "So...I guess that's the end of our big adventure."
    Justin grabs my hand and grins. "Nah," he says. "Our biggest adventure is just beginning.”

Also by Liz Botts:

    â€œLook out!”
    I was drawn out of my Kyle and Claudia contemplation just in time to see a basketball hurtling toward my head. Well, a basketball and Josh Larson. Josh knocked the ball away just as it was about to make contact and landed hard on the bleacher in front of me, wincing in pain.
    â€œOh my gosh!” Claudia jumped to her feet. “Josh! Are you okay? That was so brave.”
    I stared at him mutely as he glanced up at me. There wasn’t a chance to say anything anyway because his coach rushed