Wanted Read Online Free PDF Page B

grin on its carved face, the other a menacing frown. All the lights in the house were on. I could hear music pouring out, but I didn’t recognize it.
    I stepped into the living room. It was already jammed with kids in costumes. I quickly spotted two more vampires. They both had fangs. I’d totally forgotten about fangs.
    How could I?
    I saw green-faced monsters and a Frankenstein with bolts in his head. I pushed my way past weird purple and blue creatures. One of them had two heads. Three boys wore animal heads. Were they cows? I couldn’t tell.
    The living room was so full it was hard to walk anywhere. I kept bumping into people as I searched for Polly. Polly was always a princess in a white bride’s dress and the same sparkly silver tiara every year.
    But I couldn’t find her.
    I searched for Marcus in his gorilla costume and Brad in his ugly old-man gear. No sign of them.
    â€œHey — sorry.” A curly-horned beast bumped into me hard, nearly knocking me over.
    How come I didn’t recognize anyone?
    The music was strange. Not really party music. Kind of slow and sad with lots of violins.
    That’s not the kind of music Polly usually plays. She plays bouncy, babyish music.
    â€œHave you seen Polly?” I asked a ghost in a long bedsheet.
    The ghost stared back at me through two ragged eyeholes.
    â€œWhere is Polly’s mom?” I asked.
    The ghost just stared and didn’t reply.
    â€œHey, everyone, we’re going to play Eat the Wheel ,” a voice from the front of the room shouted. I couldn’t see her, but I knew it wasn’t Polly’s voice.
    â€œ Eat the Wheel ,” someone repeated. “Cool. Eat the Wheel. Eat the Wheel. ”
    What kind of stupid game was that? How come I’d never heard of it?
    Polly? Where are you?
    And where are my friends?
    An eight-foot-tall gorilla shouldn’t be too hard to spot in a crowd.
    Polly’s mom always stood at the front door to greet everyone and collect the five dollars. I turned back to the door. Some kids in yellow-green insect costumes were entering. But no sign of Mrs. Martin.
    And no sign of her accordion, which she always leaned at the side of the fireplace.
    Where was she?
    â€œ Eat the Wheel ?” a boy beside me said. “Where do we get our tri-wiggles? Who has the tri-wiggles?”
    I suddenly felt dizzy. I didn’t understand what he was saying. And I’d never heard of that game. Had Polly found some kind of new game for everyone to play? That wasn’t at all like her.
    â€œHave you seen Polly?” I asked another girl vampire.
    She opened her mouth and made her fangs poke out.
    â€œPolly?” I repeated. “I can’t find Polly.”
    The other vampire said something in a voice too soft to hear.
    Two boys in pirate costumes started to argue. As they raised their voices, I realized I didn’t understand their language. I take Spanish in school, but it wasn’t Spanish. It was a weird language with a lot of clicking and whistling.
    A group of kids suddenly started to sing. They were also singing in a language I’d never heard.
    Kids laughed as if it was the funniest song ever.
    I shut my eyes. I tried to cover my ears with my hands. I suddenly didn’t feel well at all.
    This was totally upsetting. No Polly. No friends. No one I recognized. All talking about some weird game and talking and singing in a strange, funny-sounding language.
    Am I at the wrong party?
    I knew that was impossible. I knew Polly’s house almost as well as my own.
    So what was happening?
    The room suddenly grew silent. The singing and talking stopped. The music stopped.
    I opened my eyes in time to see the kids move into a circle. Without saying a word, they formed a wide circle around me.
    They were all staring at me through their masks, glaring menacingly. I didn’t have a chance to move. They tightened the circle around me.
    And started to circle me, moving slowly at