Scream of the Evil Genie Read online

  WHOOSH.

  You hear a hissing sound, then feel a burst of steam or smoke or something. When you open your eyes, you find that the whole room is filling up with a white cloud.

  You can’t see a thing.

  And you start to cough. You can’t breathe! It’s the smoke. It’s filling your lungs! It’s going to smother you!

  She tricked me, you think, as you struggle and gasp for air.

  The genie tricked me!

  Turn to PAGE 120.

  “Help me!” a tiny voice begs from inside the soda can. “Get me out of here — right now!”

  Your heart skips a beat as you peer into the can. You gasp.

  Inside the can is a tiny living person with blond hair and pink sweatpants.

  It’s your mom! Except that she’s only five inches tall!

  “Mom?” you shriek.

  “Get me out of here!” your mother calls from inside the can. “I’m trapped!”

  You glance around the dark family room to see if anyone’s watching. No one is. The music is blaring so loudly, no one else seems to hear your mom talking inside the can.

  “Get me out,” your mom cries, “or you’re going to be in big trouble!”

  You don’t know whether to laugh or cry. Your mom has shrunk to the size of a pencil, but she’s still scolding you.

  “Okay,” you assure your mom. “I’ll get you out.”

  But how? She’s too big to fit through the hole. And you really don’t want to use up your last wish getting her out. “Should I use a can opener?” you wonder out loud.

  Suddenly, someone grabs your arm.

  “NO!” Jenna shouts in your ear.

  Turn to PAGE 58.

  WHOOOSH!

  An instant of pure darkness. Then silence.

  The whole world seems to come to a stop.

  Did the Earth stop spinning? Did the stars go out?

  Finally, you can see again. You open your eyes. You glance at Randy, who has collapsed on the floor. He gives you a weak smile and a thumbs-up.

  You sigh with relief.

  The huge metallic insect is gone….

  You creep over to the window and peek out.

  No monster out there.

  Did it work? Is it really gone?

  Turn to PAGE 16.

  You try to figure out what just happened. Your eyes search the family room for clues. You spot James. He must have snuck out of the pantry in the smoke. He’s lounging in a big leather chair, wearing a velvet robe and reading the newspaper.

  He snaps his fingers. “You there,” he calls. “Bring me a glass of iced tea.”

  What’s going on here? you wonder. Then you glance down at your clothes. You aren’t wearing jeans anymore.

  You’re wearing black pants, a white jacket, and white gloves. There’s a silver tray in your hand.

  The truth hits you quickly, like a kick in the stomach.

  James finally found the right can of cola, and Jenna popped out. Then he must have made his own wish and switched places with you! You’re his servant now.

  “Oh,” James adds. “Don’t get any ideas about hunting around for that cola can with the delightful young lady inside. I’ve hidden it nicely.” He laughs. A not-very-nice laugh.

  Oh, well, you think as you trudge to the kitchen. You have to serve James because you were too lazy to open all those cola cans yourself. Looks as if it serves you right!

  THE END

  Bats! you think.

  Those six pairs of eyes, glowing in the darkness, must be bats.

  Except that they’re too big for bats. Bats have tiny little eyes. These eyes look like they belong to …

  To what? Bears? Wolves?

  You freeze. Terrified. You want to turn and run, but you don’t dare move. What if the six pairs of eyes suddenly attack?

  And besides …

  If you go out, you’ll have to face the beast in the jungle. And the growling is getting louder …

  Suddenly, from deep in the cave, you hear breathing.

  Then movement. The eyes are coming toward you!

  Turn to PAGE 125.

  This is getting weird. Way too weird.

  She’s really done it! Jenna has turned into your mom!

  You’re not at all sure you like it….

  “Rando.” You try again. “That’s not really Mom. Our mom is blond, and she’s forty years old, and she wears pink sweatpants. Remember?”

  “Give me a break!” Randy punches you lightly on the shoulder. “I’m not in the mood for games.”

  “I’m serious!” you whisper loudly. “That’s not Mom! That’s some kind of genie who just came out of a cola can. She gave me three wishes, and I wished she’d be our mom. And now she is.”

  “Very funny,” Randy says. But he doesn’t laugh.

  “I’ll prove it to you,” you tell him.

  You reach over and grab the cola can sitting on the coffee table in front of him. It’s the can you just opened — the can Jenna popped out of. But it’s not open anymore.

  You stare down at it. How can this be? you wonder. The can is sealed up and it feels full.

  “Hey — careful with that,” Jenna warns.

  Turn to PAGE 42.

  The cola can! Where is the cola can?

  As if in answer to your silent question, roars come echoing out of the jungle again.

  It sounds as if the beast has moved to the trees at the very edge of the beach. What kind of beast is it? you wonder.

  Your heart starts to pound wildly. Your blood pumps so hard in your veins, you can feel it throbbing in your neck.

  You’ve got to find that cola can!

  “What am I supposed to do now?” you whisper.

  Talking to yourself out loud makes you feel a little less scared. So you decide to keep it up.

  “Think, stupid,” you scold yourself. “If the cola can is somewhere around here, where would it be?”

  “Probably in that jungle,” you answer yourself.

  You’re not sure why you think that, but you do. Something tells you that all the island’s secrets are hidden in and among those dense trees.

  But so is the beast that keeps roaring.

  What are you going to do?

  If you decide to explore the jungle, turn to PAGE 7.

  If you stay in the water, out of danger, turn to PAGE 32.

  “You stole my ring!” Jenna growls.

  “Yes!” you shout at her. “And I wish to go home! Now!”

  Jenna throws her head back and lets out a terrible, moaning wail. You watch in awe as she begins to change.

  Her whole face, body, and clothes slowly shrink back to normal size. She doesn’t have razor-sharp fangs anymore. She transforms back to the way she was when you first met her.

  Then her body starts to fade away — disappearing into a cloud of white gas.

  “I suppose you’re happy now,” she whines. “Now that I have to squeeze back into that stupid can!”

  You shut your eyes and brace yourself, not sure what’s going to happen next. You recognize the familiar spinning feeling. Your wish is being granted.

  But how will it turn out?

  You never really got exactly what you wished for. What will happen this time?

  Go on to PAGE 121.

  “Follow me!” you shout to Peter.

  Peter is too terrified to answer you, but he nods. You make a dash for it, knocking people out of your way as you go. You make it through the entrance to the food court and up an escalator before you look back.

  You glance down and see that the crowd below you is beginning to scatter. They must have given up searching for you.

  You and Peter keep your heads down as you weave in and out of the shoppers. You manage to make it to the parking lot without anyone recognizing you.

  You’ve never been so happy to see a car in your whole life! You and Peter jump into the waiting Rolls Royce.

  “Home!” you tell Manny. “Hurry — let’s go home!”
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  “No way.” Peter shakes his head. “Take me to my house. I’m not hanging out with you anymore. It’s too dangerous!”

  You plead with Peter to change his mind, but he won’t. So Manny drops Peter off at his own house. Then the driver takes you back to the mansion.

  You dread seeing James. You know you’ll be in trouble for sneaking out. You wonder what James will do.

  Find out how much trouble you’re in on PAGE 35.

  You give the driver Peter’s address. Then you cast your eyes around the back seat. You spot a cell phone. Plus a mini-bar, a TV, a laptop, and a CD player.

  You grab the remote and notice a bulging wallet on top of the TV. Your eyes widen. It’s filled with hundred-dollar bills!

  “Uh, excuse me.” You lean forward to talk to the driver.

  “My name is Manny,” he tells you.

  “Sorry,” you say. “I don’t know how I could have forgotten. So … um … Manny. Is the money in this wallet back here mine?”

  “Of course,” Manny replies.

  All right! This will buy a lot of fries at the food court!

  You tuck the wallet into your pocket, then pick up the cell phone and punch in Peter’s number.

  “Peter!” you yell into the phone. “You won’t believe where I’m calling from! Wait for me in front of your house!”

  When the car pulls into Peter’s driveway, Peter is standing by the curb. He watches as you climb out of the car.

  You look up just in time to see his jaw drop open and his eyes bulge out as if they’re going to pop.

  “Peter, are you okay?” you ask.

  But all Peter can do is scream! “AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!”

  Find out what’s wrong with Peter on PAGE 109.

  “Thanks,” you tell the guy. You clutch the cola can tightly. You dart around to the back of the house and dash inside. The bug doesn’t follow.

  Yet.

  “Jenna!” you call. “Jenna, where are you?”

  “What’s going on?” Randy rushes into the kitchen. Jenna is right behind him.

  “Just wait,” you tell your big brother. “You’ll see.”

  “What’s up?” Jenna asks. Then she spots the can in your hand. “You got it! That’s the one! You got it!”

  You let out a long sigh of relief. You have the right cola can.

  “Okay, give it to me,” Jenna orders you. “I’ve got to hold the can to get back inside. Then you can wish that you’d never met me — and everything will be all right.”

  “But what about the monster?” you cry. “That thing is headed this way! It will eat us all!”

  “Don’t worry,” Jenna says. “Trust me.”

  Trust her?

  Turn to PAGE 21.

  You wait for Jenna to make her wish.

  She fixes her eyes on you for a moment. Then she raises her arms above her head and throws her head back. “I wish that you were the genie, and I was free!” she bellows in a deep, booming voice.

  “No!” you scream. But it’s too late.

  A jolt of electricity shoots through your hands, from the cola can, as Jenna says those terrifying words.

  “NO!” you shriek again, collapsing in horror. But before you hit the ground, you feel yourself flying apart! It’s as if your body is breaking into millions of tiny particles.

  Jenna has vanished. And you have become a white gas cloud. Now you know how a tornado feels! You have no substance, but twist and swirl with great speed and power.

  Finally, you spin faster and faster. The gas-cloud you’ve turned into gets narrower and narrower. You’ve twisted into a funnel shape, and started pouring down into the cola can.

  You can’t call for help — you can’t speak! And you can’t move — your body is all squished up. In the dark, cramped cola can, you can’t see or hear anything.

  Except the horrifying silence.

  Turn to PAGE 132.

  For sale? Did your parents move without you? Then it dawns on you. Maybe your whole family has moved with you to Beverly Hills. Now that you’re famous.

  Which means the cola can is gone!

  Not sure what else to do, you climb back into your car.

  “Take me back to the TV studio,” you instruct the driver.

  Maybe the cola can is there, you think. Maybe there’s some way the can travels with you when the genie grants a wish.

  Good theory. And guess what? You’re right!

  The cola can is sitting in your dressing room right this very moment. It’s in a mini-bar in the corner of the room.

  Too bad you’re not there right now….

  Too bad there’s so much traffic on the freeway….

  When you pull into the studio parking lot an hour later, you see Murphy, the guy who holds cue cards on your TV show. He’s standing in the middle of a crowd — showing off his new Ferrari!

  “That’s strange,” your driver says. “Murphy didn’t have a Ferrari when he came to work this morning. He’s not rich.”

  Then you notice a cola can in Murphy’s hand …

  Turn to PAGE 55.

  But you can’t stop your brother from blurting out his wish.

  “I wish I could have the wildest, most amazing party ever,” he says. “And I wish it was happening right now!”

  WHOOSH!

  You feel a sudden rush of dizziness, and for a moment the world seems to go black.

  When you open your eyes, it’s nighttime.

  And your house is full of happy, noisy, partying high-school kids!

  This isn’t so bad, you think. Randy could have wished for something a lot worse.

  You glance around the family room. You’re standing in exactly the same spot you were before.

  But the room has changed. It’s lit by candles. Music blares from the stereo system, and mobs of kids are pressed against you, trying to shove and dance their way through the crowd. Everyone’s drinking cola …

  Hey! you suddenly think. Where’s that cola can? The one Jenna came out of? The one she told you to be careful with. It was on the coffee table a minute ago.

  Now it’s gone!

  Turn to PAGE 38.

  You glance at Stephanie. She’s frozen in place, staring at the Mortal Revenge fighters.

  “AAAAAIIIIIEEEEE!!!!”

  The thug in front lets out a piercing shriek and leaps forward. With a sharp, fast kick to your jaw, he knocks you to the ground. Then he spins and moves into a new striking pose, hovering above you. The other two creeps laugh.

  You rub your jaw. It stings.

  “I’ll hold them off while you get away!” Stephanie cries. She bends over, grabs a garbage can lid, and hurls it at your attackers.

  While they’re looking away, you scramble to your feet and see an old, abandoned warehouse nearby — a good place to hide. You dash toward the door, yank it open, and duck inside.

  And come face-to-face with the most terrifying sight of your life.

  Your whole body shakes as you stare at the hideous creature. A four-armed ninja fighter — with the head of a rat!

  Foamy saliva drips from the rat-man’s mouth. He swings his arms wildly, holding a samurai sword in each of his four hands.

  If you run back out into the street, turn to PAGE 52.

  If you stay and try to fight the beast, turn to PAGE 105.

  Use up a wish just to get rid of this guy? you think. You only have two left!

  Nah. No way.

  “No,” you tell the big ugly genie. “I wish that — ”

  You hesitate, thinking about how to phrase it. What you really want, more than anything in the world, is for your first wish to work out just fine. You want to be rich — but normal. You want to be able to go visit your friends. Without being followed. Or being afraid.

  But before you can say another word, the genie snaps his fingers.

  POOF!

  In a cloud of blue smoke, a giant fanged rattlesnake appears in the room. It raises itself up into striking position and hovers over your head
. Venom drips from its fangs, and nearly splashes you.

  You freeze in absolute terror. Every muscle in your body locks. You don’t dare move.

  The snake leans forward, hissing right in your face!

  Turn to PAGE 10.

  You’ve come this far. You’re not going to turn back now.

  As you step into the clearing, your mouth falls open. You can’t believe what you see.

  There. Right smack in the middle of the jungle. Five modern vending machines! They’re arranged in a semi-circle around a tree stump, their lighted fronts glowing in the jungle shade.

  A juice machine. A coffee machine. A candy machine. A milk machine. And a cola machine.

  A cola machine!

  “Yes!” you cry. Your face breaks into a huge grin.

  Until you notice what’s sitting on top of the cola machine. Then your stomach tightens again. It more than tightens. You panic. You’re face-to-face with the beast you heard roaring.

  And it’s a tiger! A huge, angry tiger. A real one, with striped fur, sharp teeth and claws. Crouching. Ready to strike.

  “Ignore the tiger,” the parrot tells you.

  Your heart pounds wildly. Is the parrot actually talking to you? Does it know what it’s saying?

  Or is it just repeating words it’s learned before?

  Do you dare to take the advice of a parrot?

  The tiger leans forward. Drool drips from its sharp teeth.

  If you turn and run back to the beach, turn to PAGE 134.

  If you ignore the tiger and go for the cola, turn to PAGE 67.

  “So you don’t know where you are,” you begin. You try puzzling this out. “And you don’t know how long you’ve been here. And you’ve come here from different points in time. Is that it?”

  The teenage boy smiles. “That’s about right!”

  “And you’ve never gotten any older?”