The Beast with 1000 Eyes Read Online Free Page B

the door. Her eyes bulged at me.
    â€œWho sent you?” San San called out. S he wasn’t opening the door any wider to let me inside until I answered.
    â€œNo one sent me,” I said. “I just wanted to see you. I mean, you’re my aunt, aren’t you?”
    â€œNo one comes here unless they want something,” San San said before she slammed the door shut again. For a moment, I thought all hope was lost. But then the door reopened—wide.
    â€œI’m sorry,” San San said in a hurried voice. “Come in. And hurry.”
    For a split second, my feet wouldn’t move forward. I wasn’t nervous because, of course, ninja’s don’t get nervous. Finally, I was able to go in.
    Once inside, I couldn’t believe my eyes. It looked a little bit like the rooms in Leery Castle in there, with B-Monster stuff all over the place, crazy rugs all over the floors, and photographs framed on every square inch of wall space.
    The objects inside San San’s apartment seemed frozen in time. Nothing had been updated since a dozen years ago—or more. The dining room table was covered in dingy, white lace. In the center was a bowl of dusty waxed fruit and a basket of napkins with the initial B. On the wall, I spotted at least a dozen different clocks in the shapes of all the B-Monsters I knew. There was a Crabzilla clock with moving claws that told the time.
    It was already twenty after six and class ended at seven. I had to hurry.

    â€œI’m sorry for all this high-end, super spy security,” San San said, locking her front door tight—ten times again. “Had to make sure that whoever got off the elevator was the real you. Would you excuse me while I check the doors and windows, too?”
    â€œWhy the big lockdown?”
    â€œJust precautions. I need to make sure no one is following me,” she answered under her breath.
    â€œFollowing you?” I asked. “But you haven’t gone anywhere in years, right?”
    San San sighed. “Oh, I know. But sometimes it feels as if there are eyes out there in the parking lot, in the bushes, looking up at my apartment. I know it’s probably just inside my head, but . . .”
    â€œDid you say eyes , Auntie San San? Lots and lots of eyes ?” I asked. “Oh wow. We really need to talk.”

CHAPTER 6
    LET ME EXPLAIN . . .
    â€œSo why are you here, Stella?” San San asked. “I didn’t even think you kids knew I existed.”
    â€œNo, Mom talks about you,” I explained. “She told me that she always asked but you never accepted invitations to dinner or holiday celebrations.”
    â€œI know. I guess I preferred to be alone all these years. But seeing you now—” she took a deep breath. “This is a nice thing. You remind me of myself when I was your age . . .”
    Great Auntie San San had gray hair pulled up in a tight bun, but her face was bright when she spoke.
    â€œThanks, Auntie San San. You know, I do have an important reason for being here.”
    San San furrowed her brow. “And what’s that?”
    â€œI need to talk to you about Bs.”
    San San’s eyes got wide. “Okay—shoot.”
    â€œA few of my classmates and I are B-Monster movie fans,” I said, trying not to reveal everything at once. “And we’re just . . . well, curious . . . since you were in all the movies. I’ve seen your name on some posters and in photo albums . . .”
    â€œYou want to hear stories about those days in Hollywood?” San San asked as she stood up. “Very well, I can share. Let me show you something.”
    I settled into my chair. I had a front row seat to the next B, I could feel it in my toes. I was going to get the kind of information I needed to figure out whether the Eyeball Beast was in our midst.
    San San came back into the room holding an armful of colored, leather scrapbooks. Each thick volume was bound in