You Are A Monster Read online

How could anyone do this to you! you wonder. What kind of a man is Dr. Nair? He is the monster—not you. If only you could get hold of that evil scientist.

  "ARRRAGH!" you roar. If you've become a monster you may as well make the best of it! You smash your shoulder against the heavy door of your bedroom. The wall shudders and shakes. Plaster falls from the ceiling. The oak planks groan and crack. You smash a great fist against the wall and punch right through it!

  "ARRRAGH!" You raise a leg and smash the door and its supporting timbers into the hall, splitting two-by-four beams as if they were twigs.

  "It's loose!" a voice screams.

  Dr. Nair runs out of a room at the end of the hall. "I warned you we couldn't hold it," he yells at the other man, who has already run out of sight.

  "ARRRAGH!" You charge after him!

  Dr. Nair bolts and races down the stairs. You're not far behind. By now you must be stronger than any man on earth, but you're no faster a runner than most. By the time you've reached the courtyard, Dr. Nair and two other men are jumping into the blue Mercedes. The engine starts. You grab the bumper and lift the back of the car off the ground. The engine roars. The car has front-wheel drive and it goes into motion. You try to get a better grip but the car races ahead, leaving you clutching the bumper in your claws. You run outside the gate in time to see the Mercedes disappear around the corner.

  Turn to page 10.

  An hour and a half later the plane lands at an airstrip on a small Caribbean island. It's immediately surrounded by armed men. For a moment you think they may be policemen, but you soon learn that they are in the private army of Buck Meyerstraub, who practically runs this tiny third-world country.

  You're packed into a limo and driven up a winding, roughly paved road to Meyerstraub's mountaintop villa. The guards bring you before the infamous crime boss, who's sitting in a reclining leather chair in a room crammed with expensive furniture and paintings. A huge window overlooks the jungle-clad slopes and valley below. In the distance is the whitecapped sea.

  Meyerstraub, overweight and pink-faced, gapes at you as you walk into the room. Two men with machine guns follow a few steps behind.

  The master criminal laughs and rubs his hands.

  "Very good, boys," he says to the guards. "This one will do just fine."

  "What do you want of me?" you demand.

  Meyerstraub laughs. "Can't you guess, Monster, or are you too vain to guess?" He leans forward; he's so close, you're tempted to lunge at him. "I want to use you to scare people. In my business it's not enough to threaten people and even kill them occasionally. To run a crime empire you have to keep people afraid of you—and you're going to help me do that."

  You shake your monstrous head as you realize you've been delivered into the hands of a madman. But there's nothing you can do—there are automatic weapons pointing at you from both sides. You'll just have to play along with this man until you have a chance to subdue him or to escape.

  Turn to page 15.

  The lumber camp you're sent to is called Twin Lakes Camp. It's in British Columbia, Canada, far from civilization. You're flown out there in a special plane under tight security.

  The lumberjacks in the camp were warned that you were coming, of course, and a few of them speak to you in a friendly fashion, though they mostly keep at a considerable distance. But one of the biggest and roughest—a man named Mike Fenwick—jeers at you. "Are you as stupid as you're ugly?" he yells.

  This angers you so, that you pick up a big ax. You know enough not to threaten him with it, much less attack him. With a little flick of the wrist you heave it through the air at a big fir tree about a hundred feet away. The blade cuts into the bark. The handle quivers a moment, but the ax is firmly planted in the tree.

  "Not a bad arm," someone says.

  "Better watch your tongue, Fenwick," someone else calls from the mess hall.

  Fenwick looks at you with hatred in his eyes. You can tell he'd like to get back at you in some way.

  Turn to page 37.

  He winces but continues with his smooth talk. "You're so good, I'm going to put you in charge of all my security forces."

  You pick Meyerstraub up and hold him with one great shaggy arm so you can free your other hand. You step toward the two guards. They back away—their faces read "fear." One of them starts to bolt.

  "ARRRAGH! Stay!" He freezes in his tracks. With your free paw you pick up their weapons.

  Meyerstraub, suspended sideways in the air, whines, "I'll make you rich. I'll pay you ten thousand dollars a month, ten thousand dollars a week! And a bonus, a big bonus."

  The last few words hardly come out as you squeeze the crime boss harder. You may be a monster, but you're not going to work for a monstrous criminal, that's for sure—not to mention that you couldn't trust this slinky character to pay you a nickel of what he's promising. Your only goal is to get off this island and back to the States, and if possible, to deliver Meyerstraub to the authorities.

  Unfortunately that's not going to be so easy. You've got Meyerstraub as a hostage, but you'll have to get past a small army of security men and persuade someone to fly you to the mainland. Maybe you should play along with him. Then sooner or later you'll find a better way to escape.

  If you tell Meyerstraub you'll accept his offer, turn to page 32.

  If you turn down Meyerstraub's offer, turn to page 104.

  "Chh, chh, cheeeeek," you say.

  "I'm afraid my technique didn't work," says Dr. Firenze. "I'm deeply sorry."

  "At least you don't look like a monster anymore," says Amanda. "You're real cute."

  "I'm glad to see you looking so healthy and, in your own way, normal," says Mrs. Vandergraft.

  "Yes, you do look fine—and so agile," her husband adds with a smile.

  "Chh, chh, cheeeeek," you respond.

  But when Dr. Firenze looks at you, his face is grave. "Now I'm afraid you have only two choices left," he says. "The jungle—or the zoo."

  The End

  "Okay. It's a deal," you tell Meyerstraub.

  "Good, good." His voice oozes charm. "I think you'll find this very rewarding—the best work a monster could get."

  You say nothing, desperately hoping that you'll find a way to get off this rotten island.

  "All right then," Meyerstraub says, "here's the plan. The man who's giving me trouble is named Vargas. He's headquartered in Key West and runs his business there with a small fleet of boats all disguised as shrimp trawlers. He's been infiltrating my organization—threatening to assault my island. He's gummed up my business. Once I control his organization, I'll be able to run things right."

  He pauses to light a cigarette. "As I told you," he says after taking a long drag, "Vargas has refused to step into line. That's why I'm arranging for you to be his nightmare."

  "Okay," you say. "Let's get on with the plan."

  Meyerstraub rubs the arm of his chair. "We're going to fly you to Key West tomorrow. And we'll see that you get access to Vargas's bedroom. Your job is easy. You don't hurt him or even touch him. You just roar, and then when he wakes up, you scare him plenty. If he jumps in his bed and hits the ceiling, that will be just about right—understood?"

  "Yeah."

  "Good. If he reaches for a gun, just grab it and twist off the barrel. Can you do that?"

  "I think so."

  "Good. Then give him one more roar. Make him quake. Then throw him on the floor. Throw the bed covers on him. Then toss my calling card on the bed and beat it out. That's all you have to do."

  "I gotcha," you say.

  Turn to page 21.

  As you near the top of the rise, you stop to rest behind a big oak tree. You're out of breath. Strong as you are, you're not in the best physical shape, because you've been locked up in that little room and not getting enough exercise.

  You're beginning to relax a little when you hear furious barking. Two big German shepherds are running straight at you!

  "ARRRAGH!" you roar.
r />   They keep coming. One of them leaps high, at your throat. You catch him in midair and cast him aside.

  The second dog hesitates.

  You advance, arms over your head, your claws waving over the attacker. "ARRRAGH!"

  The dog lies down, cringing. The other comes toward you, whimpering, with his tail between his legs.

  "Good dogs." You pat each of them. They wag their tails.

  Turn to page 16.

  "Look," the mayor says soothingly, "you're not going to be locked up in jail, or anything like that. It's to your advantage to cooperate. We will take care of you and provide for you."

  You're feeling angry, and you almost let out a roar that would knock these men out of their socks, but that wouldn't be in your best interest just now, so you sit still.

  "One thing you could do," the mayor continues, "is live in a lumber camp. You're strong. You could do a lot there and still have time to relax. There's TV, video, and plenty of good food. But you'd have to promise to stay on the farm."

  You don't feel like jumping up and down at this idea; you remain silent and just keep listening as the mayor continues.

  "There's another hope for you," he says, "but it's rather risky. There's an experimental genetic unit at Federal Hospital. The director there, Dr. Firenze, is almost as much of a genius as Dr. Nair, but Firenze isn't a mad scientist. He's a dedicated doctor, and he thinks there's a chance he can restore you to the healthy, normal person you were. But 1 have to warn you, the experiment might fail, and if it does, the consequences could be fatal."

  You're getting numb thinking about this, and you're startled when the mayor's voice booms out. "Well?"

  If you decide to go live in a lumber camp, turn to page 94.

  If you agree to submit to the genetic experiment, turn to page 24.

  During the months ahead you learn the ways of the grizzly bears. You live as they do: hunting small game, stealing honey from bees, fishing for salmon in the fast-flowing streams. Sometimes you eat the leftovers of campers, though you try to lead your group as far from human habitation as you can. You love the freedom of wandering fearlessly wherever you like, of being so strong and tough that neither rain nor cold, insects or other animals, bother you. You grow stronger and more agile as the months go by. The grizzlies, though they are generally solitary animals, seem to have grown as fond of you as you have of them.

  But the days get shorter, the nights longer and colder. First come frosty mornings. Then snow. The bears begin digging dens in rocky niches or under the stumps of huge fallen trees. For a while you're puzzled, but then you understand. They are preparing to hibernate. You're as big and tough as the strongest bear, but you can't hibernate. Your monster body doesn't work that way. In that respect, you're more like a human than like a bear.

  Sadly, you realize you will have to leave the bears and once again try to make the best of it in human company. Maybe that's just as well, you think.

  Turn to page 46.

  You look down at Meyerstraub, the crime king, He's squirming under your arm. "Do you think I'd trust you?"

  "You've got to," he wails. "You'll never get out of here alive."

  "And neither will you," you say, "if you try and stop me."

  "Look, okay What is it you want?"

  "Have a plane ready on the airstrip to take the two of us to the States. And tell your security men that if I see one weapon before we take off—or if one shot is fired—you'll die."

  "Okay. Sure, sure, Monster." Meyerstraub tries to sound cool. He's past the panic stage, and you can tell that his criminal mind is at work again, scheming to turn the tables in his favor.

  Turn to page 110.

  Meyerstraub lies in the aisle. He's pale and sweating but unhurt. Miraculously, nothing vital was hit. The plane accelerates and finally takes off. Another burst of gunfire goes wild. You see bullets falling short as the jet speeds away.

  Phew! You pull a blanket down from the overhead rack and press it against your wound to stop the flow of blood.

  Suddenly Meyerstraub is pointing a pistol at you—he must have hidden it on board. "You're going to jump out of this plane, Monster!"

  "Look—Behind you!" you yell.

  It's the oldest trick in the book, but it works. Meyerstraub starts to look behind him. He catches on and snaps his eyes back on you, but your paw comes down on his hand, and knocks the gun away.

  The crime king cringes on the floor.

  You stick your monstrous head inside the cockpit. Shaking, the pilot looks back at you.

  You growl slightly and the pilot returns to the controls. A moment later you're on the radio alerting the FBI. "I'm bringing in Meyerstraub," you tell them.

  Now you can sit back and relax. You'll soon be dealing with the police again, but this time they should be pretty friendly. After all, you're bringing in the biggest crime boss of them all.

  As they tell you later when you land, "You're the greatest, Monster."

  The End

  Once you reach the street it's bedlam—people scream and point at you. Others run. Horns honk. Down the block, someone yells at a policeman.

  You eye a truck that's stopped at a red light. You run to it, pull open the back door, and jump in. The van is half filled with boxes of electronic equipment. The addresses on the labels show that the boxes are bound for Florida. You move forward so people won't see you as the truck climbs the ramp to the Interstate—the driver never even notices you.

  You're headed for Florida. Of course there will be just as many problems there as there are here. You know you'll never get any peace living with people. You'll just have to take to the wilderness. In Florida, that means the vast, watery region around Lake Okeechobee. Your future now looks pretty certain: You're going to be a swamp monster!

  The End

  You dodge out of the way, grab a huge log, and hold it over your head. Fenwick shuts down his chain saw and runs. He scrambles up a ridge and then turns to face you. You haven't moved a step.

  "I missed you this time, but I'll get you," he yells over his shoulder. "Sooner or later, I'll get you!"

  He disappears over the ridge, leaving you standing there stunned. For the first time you have lost all hope that you will ever lead a normal life.

  The sun has already dropped behind the mountains to the west. You're certainly ready to quit— you've done about ten times more work than anyone else today. With a heavy heart you start back to camp.

  You're in no hurry to get back, so you follow the footpath that reaches camp by a roundabout way. Just as you reach a bend in the trail, you're startled by a noise. A huge male grizzly bear rears up in your path. He lets out a roar that splits your ears.

  Maybe you interrupted his meal. Maybe he's just ornery. But he clearly doesn't want you to pass. A low growl builds in his throat—he seems ready to attack. A wave of fear sweeps over you. Then you remember: You are a monster!

  Turn to page 28.

  You have to hunch over to fit in the cabana. There you wait anxiously, wondering whether Amanda's parents will be as friendly as she has been to you. You just hope no one will open the cabana door. You couldn't not be frightening, even if you tried.

  The minutes pass. You begin to wonder whether you should stay in the cabana—for all you know, Amanda's father has called the police by now. Then you hear sounds outside.

  "Come on out." It's Amanda's cheery voice.

  You throw open the door and blink your eyes in the sunshine. Standing on the terrace are Amanda's parents, the butler, the cook. and the maid. You hang your head, sure that they will all scream, or worse, call the police. Mrs. Vandergraft throws her hand up and lets forth a little gasp. The maid and the cook grab each other for support. The butler backs up so fast, you're afraid he'll fall in the pool.

  Turn to page 114.

  While you keep his body firmly in your grip, he uses his public-address system to order the plane readied and all security men to stand clear and keep their weapons out of sight.

>   The pilot phones in that he'll have the plane ready in ten minutes. Meyerstraub's chauffeur will drive you to the airstrip in the same limo that brought you to his villa.

  Now comes the dangerous part. Though you have Meyerstraub firmly under your arm, there's the danger that a sharpshooter could pick you off with a carefully aimed bullet. Another thing is, you can't be sure that one of Meyerstraub's henchmen wouldn't be happy to see you break the crime king's neck. There's always a lot of jealousy and infighting in a criminal organization like this. You'll just have to take the chance, you realize.

  Swiftly you stride out the door to the waiting limo. Meyerstraub is still tucked under your arm, wrapped halfway around your waist like a sash.

  Turn to page 42.

  Very quietly you step over to the phone that's farthest from Vargas's bed. Keeping one eye on the sleeping form. you dial the police.

  When they answer, you whisper, "I'm being held hostage in the bedroom of Guillermo Vargas. Thirty Sea Pine Drive, by two armed men working for Buck Meyerstraub."

  "Hang on," the police dispatcher says, "we'll have the place surrounded."

  While the dispatcher is giving instructions, you watch Vargas stirring restlessly in his bed.

  "Is Vargas there?" the dispatcher asks.

  "Yes, but he's asleep." you whisper.

  "Be careful."

  "Right."

  "Who are you, by the way?"

  "It's a long story, but I'm very big and ugly, so tell your men not to shoot when they come in the bedroom."

  "As long as you come out with your hands up, no one will shoot."

  "They're paws." you say. Suddenly there's a scream. Vargas has woken up and seen you!

  "Gotta go." you say into the phone.