Cheerleaders: The New Evil Read online

  UP FROM THE DEPTHS . . .

  The smoke rose up, spinning, spinning like a cyclone, and a sour stench filled the air. Corky gasped as the sickening odor swept over her.

  She grabbed on to Kimmy and watched in horror as the black smoke whirled up.

  The ice blistered and burned. The smoke spewed up, thicker, faster, swirling up over the shivering trees, up to the clouds.

  “What have we done?” Corky cried, clinging to Kimmy.

  “The evil!” Kimmy wailed.

  “We brought the evil to life!” Corky realized. “We’ve unleashed it!”

  Contents

  Part One: Party Time

  Chapter 1: The Crash Dummy

  Chapter 2: The Evil is Back

  Chapter 3: Surprise at the River

  Chapter 4: Night Visitor

  Chapter 5: Darkness at Debra’s

  Chapter 6: “Come Forward, Spirit”

  Chapter 7: Accident in the Gym

  Chapter 8: A Shock from Lauren

  Chapter 9: Boom

  Chapter 10: Poison Ivy?

  Chapter 11: A Hot Routine

  Chapter 12: Ivy on Thin Ice

  Chapter 13: A Surprise from Santa

  Chapter 14: Party Time

  Chapter 15: The Evil Comes Forward

  Part Two: Game Time

  Chapter 16: The Games Begin

  Chapter 17: Who is it?

  Chapter 18: The Evil Eye

  Chapter 19: Lena Flips

  Chapter 20: A Big Drink

  Chapter 21: Out the Window

  Chapter 22: Something Weird

  Chapter 23: The Evil is Revealed

  Part Three: Good-Bye Time

  Chapter 24: An Invitation from Alex

  Chapter 25: Kimmy on Ice

  Chapter 26: Another Corpse

  Chapter 27: Everybody Drowns

  Chapter 28: Team Spirit

  Chapter 29: “The Gang’s All Here”

  Chapter 30: Grabbed

  Chapter 31: Defeated

  About the Author

  PART ONE

  PARTY TIME

  Chapter 1

  THE CRASH DUMMY

  HOOP—there it is!

  HOOP—there it is!

  TWOOOOOOOOO points!

  Corky Corcoran laughed and clapped her hands. “Let’s do it again!” she called to her two friends, Kimmy Bass and Hannah Miles, who had taken off running.

  The three cheerleaders stopped in the middle of the empty student parking lot, a few feet from Kimmy’s snow-covered car. Kimmy tossed a wet snowball at Hannah. Laughing, Hannah ducked and the snowball exploded against the car trunk.

  Putting their arms around one another’s shoulders, they enthusiastically repeated the cheer they’d been practicing in the gym.

  HOOP—there it is!

  HOOP—there it is!

  TWOOOOOOOOO points!

  Hannah pulled free and performed a perfect cartwheel, her red wool scarf flying up behind her.

  “Show-off!” Kimmy cried, her round cheeks even pinker than usual.

  Hannah laughed and tossed a handful of snow back in Kimmy’s direction. Then the three girls burst into the other cheer they’d worked out that afternoon.

  Where are we putting it?

  IN YOUR FACE!

  Where are we keeping it?

  IN YOUR FACE!

  Slam it, Tigers! Slam it!

  The girls jumped up and down in the long, empty parking lot. Behind them the wind whipped around the brick school building, sending sprays of snow cascading off the window ledges.

  Corky waved to Debra Kern and Heather Diehl, two other cheerleaders. They had just emerged from the gym and were hurrying through the snow toward Heather’s car at the far end of the lot. “See you guys tomorrow!” Corky called.

  The gusting wind carried away Debra’s reply.

  Corky pulled her hood over her blond hair and turned back to Kimmy and Hannah. “We’ve been cheering since school let out. Why are we standing out here doing more?” she cried.

  “To keep warm?” Hannah suggested.

  Kimmy shivered. She pulled a red and white wool ski cap on over her crimped black hair. “The car will be warmer,” she suggested, slapping her gloves together. “If I can start her up.”

  Heading to the blue Canary, Corky slipped on a patch of ice. Kimmy caught her before she could fall, “Careful,” she warned Corky. “Don’t break your leg until after the Holiday Tournament.”

  “I’ll try not to,” Corky replied dryly. As Kimmy brushed snow off the windshield with her gloves, Corky gazed up at the sky. Dark as night. It had been snowing on and off for three days, and the heavy, low clouds appeared to be ready to deliver more.

  Hannah slid into the passenger seat. Corky tossed her bag in first, then climbed into the back. She shut the door quickly. “It’s colder in the car!” she declared, her breath steaming the window.

  “The heater will warm things up,” Kimmy said, sliding behind the wheel. It took her several tries to get the key in the ignition with her gloves on.

  Kimmy let out a cheer as the car started right up. The tires crunched over the snow as she drove slowly past Shadyside High onto Park Drive.

  Hannah reached out and clicked on the radio. “I love this song!” she cried, cranking up the volume. She pulled off her white wool cap and shook out her straight, black hair.

  “Put on your seat belt,” Kimmy told Hannah.

  “No need,” Hannah replied, bobbing in time to the music. “It’s only a ten-minute drive to my house.”

  “But the streets are really slippery,” Kimmy insisted, leaning over the wheel to see better through the icy windshield. “Haven’t you seen the commercials on TV with those test dummies crashing through the windshield?”

  Hannah laughed gleefully. “I love those guys!” she shouted over the music. “Kimmy, you’re such a worrier.”

  “Whatever,” Kimmy muttered, and concentrated on her driving.

  Her hands shoved into her coat pockets, Corky settled back against the seat. Out the window, snow-covered houses and yards slid past, all white and gray, as if someone had drained away all the color.

  Maybe we’ll have a white Christmas, Corky thought.

  Kimmy’s voice broke into her thoughts. “Wasn’t it a great practice? I think we’re all really together. Finally.”

  “The new cheers are great,” Hannah agreed. “If Naomi hadn’t lost her contact lens—again!—we could have worked out the ending to the pyramid too.”

  “Hey, don’t get on Naomi’s case,” Corky cut in. Naomi Klein was the new cheerleader on the squad, replacing Ronnie Mitchell, who’d switched to a different school. Naomi was really smart and talented, with a lot of good ideas.

  Corky pictured Naomi. She was pretty and enthusiastic, with long, carrot-colored hair that flew around when she cheered. A trained gymnast, Naomi brought a lot of new energy and expertise to the squad.

  “Well, does she have to lose her contact every day?” Hannah complained. “I mean, can’t she glue it in or something?”

  Kimmy laughed.

  Hannah is jealous of Naomi, Corky realized. Last year, Hannah was the exciting new star. Now Naomi had taken her place.

  “Naomi’s ideas for the fire baton routine were excellent,” Kimmy commented, carefully steering the car out of a little skid. “I think Ms. Closter resents Naomi.”

  Ms. Closter was the new cheerleader coach. She replaced Miss Green, who had moved away.

  “Huh? Why would Ms. Closter resent Naomi?” Corky asked, tracing a pattern over the fogged window.

  “Because Naomi’s routines are better than hers,” Kimmy replied.

  Hannah leaned forward to crank up the volume on the radio.
“This song is so incredible!” she declared. “Have you heard the unplugged version? It’s great too!”

  Through the haze on the windshield, Corky saw the red glare of a traffic light. Kimmy eased the car to a stop, turning the wheel as the tires started to slide into the left lane. “Why don’t they salt these streets?” she complained over the booming music.

  “Are you seeing Alex after the basketball game Friday night?” Hannah asked Corky, turning to the backseat.

  Corky nodded. “Yeah. I guess.”

  “Dumb question,” Kimmy muttered. “What else would she be doing?”

  Corky felt her face grow hot and knew she was blushing. She’d been going with Alex for a month, but she still felt uncomfortable talking about him, even with her best friends.

  It’s not like Alex and I have any agreement, Corky thought wistfully. We just sort of end up getting together most weekends.

  Alex was one of the most popular guys at Shadyside High. Too popular, Corky told herself. On Saturday, she had seen him at the mall kidding around with Deena Martinson. The week before Kimmy had reported seeing Alex’s car parked in Janie Simpson’s driveway.

  “I was helping her with her English,” Alex had explained when Corky confronted him later in her front yard. He had grinned at her, his blue eyes lighting up. “Jealous?”

  “No way!” Corky had insisted, giving him a hard, playful shove that sent him sprawling in the snow.

  The next moment the two were wrestling in the snow, laughing and shouting happily.

  It was hard to stay angry at Alex, Corky realized. He was so good-looking, with that great blond hair and those dark blue eyes that crinkled up when he smiled. And he was a real brain. And he was the center on the basketball team. A shoo-in for all-state this season. And . . . and . . .

  “Hey!” Kimmy’s shout interrupted Corky’s day-dreams about Alex. The car skidded hard, then slid to a stop at the curb as a large van roared past.

  “Did you see how fast that guy was going?” Kimmy complained, watching the van in the rearview mirror. “Is he crazy or what? He was sliding all over the street!” The tires spun as she started the car up again.

  “Maybe you should drop me at Corky’s,” Hannah shouted after a minute. “I just remembered. My parents are at some meeting. No one will be home.” She turned back to Corky. “What’s your mom serving for dinner tonight?”

  Corky laughed. “I don’t know. But why don’t you invite yourself over?”

  “Okay. Thanks,” Hannah replied, turning back to the front.

  “So I’m driving to your house?” Kimmy called back to Corky. “Hey, I really can’t hear a thing. Hannah, could you turn it down a little?”

  “What? I can’t hear you. The music is too loud!” Hannah joked.

  As Hannah leaned forward to turn down the radio, Kimmy let out a frightened cry.

  The car swerved.

  “Kimmy—what is it?” she managed to call out.

  The car bolted forward.

  “The brakes!” Kimmy squealed.

  The car went into a spin. Corky screamed.

  The wide tree trunk came up so quickly, covering the windshield in darkness.

  A hard jolt tossed Corky against the seat, then forward, hard.

  It all happened in an instant. The crunch of metal jarred her ears.

  Corky saw Hannah fly forward.

  Her head hit the windshield with a sickening crack.

  The glass shattered and broke into tiny pellets. The car bounced.

  Corky heard Kimmy gasp as she was thrown against the steering wheel. Then Kimmy’s sharp whisper: “No—no—no . . .”

  Corky checked on Hannah. Hannah’s body. Through the shattered windshield. Her legs dangling down over the dashboard. The top of her body sprawled over the car hood.

  Chapter 2

  THE EVIL IS BACK

  “The evil is back,” Kimmy murmured, shutting her eyes.

  Corky swallowed hard. “Kimmy—no!” she whispered.

  Two doctors in green surgical scrubs hurried past, their faces yellow under the harsh fluorescent lights.

  The waiting room at Shadyside General blazed with heat, but Corky hadn’t removed her down jacket. She sat huddled beside Kimmy on a vinyl couch, tensing every time a doctor or nurse passed, waiting for news about Hannah.

  “I could feel it in the car,” Kimmy murmured, her face pale, her chin trembling. “I could feel the evil.” She shuddered.

  “Kimmy—stop it,” Corky pleaded. She placed a hand on the sleeve of Kimmy’s sweater. “Your brakes gave out. That’s all.”

  “It was the evil!” Kimmy wailed.

  An old man rolled slowly past, bent over in a wheelchair. He gazed over at Kimmy, then continued wheeling himself down a long corridor.

  “Kimmy, the brakes froze. That’s all,” Corky insisted firmly. “It’s not your fault. It’s not anyone’s fault. We just have to pray that Hannah’s going to be okay.”

  Kimmy lowered her eyes to the floor. Her crimped black hair had fallen over her forehead, but she made no attempt to brush it away. She clutched her chest where she had hit the steering wheel. But the doctor told her she had no broken ribs.

  “The evil—” she whispered.

  “The evil is gone,” Corky said sharply. “We drowned it. In the river—remember? It’s under the ice now. Buried deep in the frozen river.”

  Kimmy didn’t reply.

  “You can’t blame the evil spirit every time something bad happens,” Corky told her friend. “You have to forget about it. Sometimes bad things happen. They can’t be helped.”

  Corky’s words rang hollow in her own ears. She felt the same way that Kimmy did. Whenever anything went wrong, Corky found herself wondering if the evil had returned.

  She couldn’t forget it. She remembered it every day of her life.

  She remembered another Shadyside cheerleader, Jennifer Daly, who had died when the cheerleaders’ bus had crashed into the Fear Street Cemetery. An evil spirit awakened from its resting place in a hundred-year-old grave. The evil swarmed into Jennifer, took possession of her body, and brought her back to life.

  The spirit used Jennifer’s body to perform its evil. It murdered Corky’s sister Bobbi. And it murdered others.

  After a terrifying struggle, Corky thought she had defeated the evil. Jennifer was buried. But the evil was still loose. It moved on to Kimmy. Then to Corky. It forced them to carry out its vicious acts of terror.

  Finally, I drowned it, Corky remembered with a shudder. I freed myself. I drowned the evil. That was the only way to defeat it.

  But even though I forced it from my body, I couldn’t get rid of the memories of it. They stayed with me. The fear stayed with me.

  The fear that it might return. The fear that it might take over my mind again, use me again, force me to become evil again.

  Corky turned back to Kimmy. Kimmy was hugging her coat tightly. Her eyes watered with tears. Her round cheeks were crimson.

  “Kimmy—Hannah will be okay,” Corky assured her. “You just have to keep saying that. Her parents are upstairs with her. They’ll come down any minute and tell us she’s going to be okay.”

  Clutching her coat still tighter, Kimmy stared straight ahead. She didn’t seem to hear Corky.

  I’m glad Kimmy’s parents are on their way, Corky thought, patting her friend’s arm. I think maybe Kimmy is in shock or something.

  “Debra thinks the evil will come back,” Kimmy murmured, a single teardrop rolling slowly down one cheek.

  Debra Kern was the only other girl who knew the whole story of the ancient evil.

  “Debra has always been weird,” Corky replied sharply. “A few days after I met her, I found her trying to cast a sleep spell on her dog.”

  Kimmy didn’t smile. “Debra knows a lot about a lot of weird stuff,” she said in a flat, dead voice.

  “You’ve been spending too much time with Debra,” Corky told her friend. “Reading those dusty old books of hers, st
udying all that strange stuff. Just because Debra is into that stuff again doesn’t mean—”

  “I’m really interested in it too,” Kimmy confessed. “After what happened to us . . .” Her voice trailed off.

  Corky glanced up as Hannah’s parents approached them. Mrs. Miles had Hannah’s dark hair and dark eyes. She clung tightly to her husband’s arm. Mr. Miles was short and chubby. His gray overcoat came down nearly to the floor. His eyes were red-rimmed and watery.

  As they stepped into the waiting room, Corky jumped to her feet and hurried over to them. “How is Hannah?” she cried. “Is she going to be okay?”

  Mrs. Miles let out a loud sob.

  Chapter 3

  SURPRISE AT THE RIVER

  Down the floor,

  Shoot two more!

  Down the floor,

  Shoot two more!

  Go, TIGERS!

  Corky leapt into the spread eagle that finished the cheer. She came down awkwardly and twisted her ankle.

  Down the row, she watched Debra start her spread eagle late, change her mind midair, and drop back to the ground without completing it.

  After the accident, cheerleader practices had been canceled. Now, two days later, everyone was feeling rusty, Corky, who had just been elected co-captain, realized.

  Ms. Closter blew her whistle, a shrill note of disapproval. “Whoa! Just whoa!” she called, raising both hands as she stepped toward the cheerleaders.

  The coach was a short, pencil-thin woman of thirty or thirty-five, Corky guessed. She always wore a long white T-shirt that came nearly to her knees over gray leggings. She had a plain, slender face with gray eyes that were somehow always unhappy. She wore a dark blue and gold Notre Dame cap backward over her short brown hair.

  “You’re cheering like the walking wounded today,” she scolded, tossing her whistle back over her shoulder.

  “Let’s try it again!” Kimmy shouted. Her round cheeks were bright pink. She had a line of sweat on her top lip even though they had barely begun to practice. “Let’s really shout!”

  As co-captain with Corky, Kimmy saw it as her job to cheer the others on when their energy was low. That day they all were like lumps in their gray sweats and T-shirts. No energy at all.