they were, but he stayed to help because he’d said he would. Plus my dad always says that . . .
“A WU IS ONLY AS GOOD AS THEIR WORD.”
But still, I wondered why now was the time we had to take action. It wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to wait a little bit before facing the zombie werewolf.
“So have things got worse?” I asked, trying to keep my voice casual.3
Regina lowered her voice. “We are in desperate need of help, and soon. I think we’re running out of time. The zombie werewolf is getting stronger. At least it’s definitely getting louder. It could break out of our basement at ANY MOMENT!”
“Erm, have you thought about telling your parents?” said Bernard. “That sounds like something they might want to know about.”
Regina waved her hand in the air like she was flicking a fly out of the way. “We’ve tried. But they never believe us.”
“All they do is say that we shouldn’t go in the basement because it is off-limits,” added Ralph darkly.
“Probably because there is a zombie werewolf down there,” said Bernard. “That makes sense to make it off limits.” Then he furrowed his brow and I knew he was thinking extra hard. “How far away is your basement from the rest of the house? Are there windows? Stairs? How many exits are there?”
“See! These are the kinds of things we need to think about,” said Regina enthusiastically. “You should all come over this weekend so you can see for yourselves what we’re dealing with.”
“If we make it to the weekend,” Ralph muttered. Then he looked straight at me. “And if you’re not too scared to come over, Sam Wu.”
“I’m NOT too scared,” I said, even though my heart was beating very fast. “Of course we’re coming over. We’re going to come over and we’re going to solve the mystery of the zombie werewolf. Once and for all.” I gave Ralph a triumphant look.
He looked back at me sceptically, and I expected a signature Ralph snort, but at least he didn’t do that.
Zoe sighed loudly. “Well, I guess that’s settled then. Your parents can call our parents?”
Regina and Ralph nodded.
“I still don’t think you’ll be able to do anything useful,” said Ralph, “but Regina is convinced.”
“Ralph, you know we don’t have any other options,” said Regina. “They’re our only hope!”
Ralph snorted this time but didn’t say anything else.
And I tried NOT to panic.
My parents were thrilled that I was going over to Ralph’s house.
“I told you that things would work out, Sam,” said my dad at breakfast on Saturday. “I knew that you and Ralph would become friends eventually. I’m proud of you.”
I didn’t know how to explain to my dad that this was a MUCH BIGGER SITUATION than the history between Ralph and me. So I just took another bite of my congee4 and tried to enjoy it. If things didn’t go well today, it might just be the last time I ever ate it.
Now that it was actually time to face a zombie werewolf, I was starting to have SERIOUS second thoughts about going over to Ralph and Regina’s house.
What was I thinking? I should have listened to Zoe and Bernard. And now if anything bad happened, it was all going to be my fault. I might be leading everyone into certain doom!
My little sister Lucy came twirling into the kitchen, with her cat Butterbutt right behind her. I realized I needed a moment alone with Lucy, to ask her to look after my pet snake Fang in case the zombie werewolf got me. Lucy is one of the few people brave enough to handle my ferocious, man-eating snake5.
Luckily, just then the phone rang. My dad answered and started speaking in Cantonese6, so I knew it was probably family in Hong Kong which meant he’d be a while.
“Lucy,” I said, putting on my most grown-up voice. “I have something important to ask you. But you can’t tell anyone, okay?”
“Okay!” said Lucy, with her mouth full of congee. “I love secrets!”
“Lucy, it’s serious,” I said.
“You think everything is serious,” she said, swinging her legs under her chair and kicking me.
“This time it really is!” I said. “Do you want to know or not?”
“Of course I want to know. I like to know EVERYTHING.” She grinned.
It was true. Lucy was always getting involved in whatever me and my friends were doing. But this time it was too risky.
“I’ve got to go on a mission today. And it’s a dangerous one. Maybe the most dangerous one I’ve ever done,” I said.
“Can I come? I love missions!” she said, taking another big slurp of her congee.
“Lower your voice!” I said, looking around to make sure nobody had heard her. “And no, it’s too dangerous. It could be a matter of life and death.” I paused. “Which is why I need you to promise me something.” I took a deep breath. I didn’t want to scare Lucy, but there was nobody else I could ask. “If something happens to me, will you look after Fang?”
“What might happen to you?” said Lucy, looking sceptical.
“Just promise me. It’s important.”
“Okay, okay,” said Lucy. “I’ll look after Fang,”
“There’s also a box under my bed. It’s where I keep my most valuable possessions. You can have those too.”
“Cool!” said Lucy, starting to stand up.
“Wait!” I said. “You don’t get them now! Only if something happens to me.”
“Okay,
