The slick touched crippled Adam just as he lit the fuse and began to crawl away from the water. Far across the black reservoir, Watch seemed to finally understand what they were trying to do. He let out a high-pitched howl.

But there was nothing he could do to stop them.

The balloon rose high into the sky.

Adam crawled clear of the oil.

The dynamite exploded. The reservoir caught fire.

It lit up the sky. It lit up the heavens.

The temperature began to climb. In the hills and in the city.

All over Spooksville, the original Cryo creatures began to melt.

And those they had changed returned to normal.

Even Adam. The feeling returned to his whole body.

Even Watch. Who had not been normal to begin with.

Epilogue

When it was all over, and the fire had finally begun to die down, the gang rode the four-wheel-drive truck back to town. This time Bum drove. He didn’t have a license either, but he seemed familiar with stick shifts. Cindy sat up front with Bum. Adam and Sally were in back with Watch.

The last thing Watch remembered was thawing out the block of ice.

He didn’t even remember the cold man.

But he believed everything they told him. And he seemed unmoved by the fact he had almost killed all of them. Sally frowned at his lack of feeling on the matter.

“I think you’re still a little cold,” she said.

“I always have been,” Watch agreed. “But what I still want to know is why these creatures showed up now? Who put them here?”

“I think that’s a riddle for another day,” Bum said from the front.

“I hope I never live to see the day those things return,” Cindy said.

“Hey, let’s look on the bright side,” Adam said. “We had another incredible adventure and we came out winners. We should celebrate.”

“Yeah,” Watch said. “Let’s go get some ice cream.”

A silence fell over the truck.

None of them thought that was a good idea.

About the Author

Little is known about Christopher Pike, although he is supposed to be a strange man. It is rumored that he was born in New York but grew up in Los Angeles. He has been seen in Santa Barbara lately, so he probably lives there now. But no one really knows what he looks like, or how old he is. It is possible that he is not a real person, but an eccentric creature visiting from another world. When he is not writing, he sits and stares at the walls of his huge haunted house. A short, ugly troll wanders around him in the dark and whispers scary stories in his ear.

Christopher Pike is one of this planet’s best-selling authors of young adult fiction.

Books by Christopher Pike

Spooksville #1 The Secret Path

Spooksville #2: The Howling Ghost

Spooksville #3: The Haunted Cave

Spooksville #4: Aliens in the Sky

Spooksville #5: The Cold People