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to the office, I passed my locker. What was that on the floor in front of it?
    I squinted hard, trying to make out what I was seeing.
    Did someone leave something there?
    Staring hard, I bumped into two little girls carrying some kind of science display. “Watch where you’re going!” one of them cried.
    “You almost broke it!” the other girl yelled.
    “Sorry,” I muttered.
    I hurried past them. My heart started to pound even harder in my chest. I could barely catch my breath.
    What is that in front of my locker door?
    I stepped up to it and dropped to the floor.
    “Nooooooo.”
    A shrill howl of horror escaped my throat.
    I grabbed the sides of my head. And stared down at the little pile …
    … the little pile of bones on the floor.

13
    No. No. No.
    The bones had been picked clean. They gleamed as if they had never had any meat on them.
    I pictured the ebony rabbit, so soft and pretty.
    Then I pictured the green imp, gripping the rabbit between its big hands. Sinking its teeth into the rabbit’s belly.
    Chewing. Chewing.
    Chewing and swallowing the beautiful rabbit chunk by chunk. Then licking the bones clean. Licking them until they shone.
    Leaning over the carefully stacked bones, I felt sick.
    My stomach lurched. I clamped a hand over my mouth.
    I shut my eyes and held my breath, waiting for the tight feeling in my throat to pass.
    I pictured my dad.
    What could I say to him? How could I explain?
    Would he lose his job because of this?
    I opened my eyes and forced myself to stand up straight.
    Words on my locker door came into focus.
    Words scrawled in red paint. A message I had seen before: READ MY LETTER: WHO WILL DROP FIRST?
    “I’m not going to take this,” I muttered. I clenched my hands into tight fists.
    “That ugly green creature won’t get away with this.”
    My hand trembled as I unlocked my locker and pulled open the door. Carefully, I cupped my hands and lifted the pile of bones onto my locker floor.
    I picked up the imp’s tail. It still felt warm, even though it was no longer attached. I wrapped it like a garden hose and shoved it to the back of the top shelf.
    Even if the imp opens my locker again, he’s too short to reach it, I thought.
    Then I closed the locker and hurried to Ms. Simpkin’s office.
    Several kids were bunched in front of the counter. I pushed my way into the middle of them and calledto the secretary. “I’ve got to see Ms. Simpkin—right away!”
    The secretary, a large, gray-haired woman in a flowery dress, was on the phone. She motioned with one hand for me to wait.
    “But it’s an emergency!” I shouted. “A valuable rabbit has been eaten and—”
    The woman lowered the phone from her ear. “The principal isn’t in. She’s away at a meeting this afternoon.”
    “Huh?” I stared at her in disbelief. “This is an emergency!”
    She had returned to her phone call. The other kids were staring at me.
    I spun away from the counter and ran out of the office. My mind was whirring. I didn’t even pay any attention to where I was going.
    I shoved open the front doors of the school and leaped outside. I gazed out at a bright, sunny day. A gust of cold wind reminded me it was November.
    What am I doing out here? I asked myself.
    Where am I going?
    Home. That was the answer.
    I’m going to tell Mom and Dad. I’m going to tell them the whole story—and this time I’m going to make them believe it.
    I’m going to tell them how this whole school lives in terror because of that evil creature.
    I stopped at the bottom of the front steps.
    Another blast of wind made the flag on the flagpole snap. The sound—right above me head—made me look up.
    I squinted at the flapping flag—and at the dark object at the top of the pole.
    Dark object?
    What was that up there?
    “I don’t believe it!” I cried.
    I realized I was staring up at the ebony rabbit. It was tied to the top of the flagpole.
    Was it alive?
    I knew I should go into the school. Find the janitors. Have