Peter And The Dark Side — Darren Pillsbury

After being picked on incessantly by the school bully, shouted at by his sadistic teacher, and deserted by his best friend, Peter wishes that �" for just once in his life, just once �" he was bad.

Somebody people are afraid of. A rule breaker and troublemaker. A stone cold villain.

Then he finds out, be careful what you wish for…

Story #11 in the PETER AND THE MONSTERS saga!

Sequel to the following books:
Peter And The Gingerbread Men - Story #10
Peter And The Frankenstein - Story #9
PETER AND THE FRANKENSTEIN (Volume Three) contains "Peter And The Dark Side" as well as stories 9-13.
PETER AND THE WEREWOLVES (Volume Two)
PETER AND THE VAMPIRES (Volume One)


Excerpt from PETER AND THE DARK SIDE:


As they were walking down the hall to class, Stan Grupkin, one of Tad's thugs, walked by and shoved Dill into a locker. WHAM!

Dill turned and saw Stan walking away, laughing.

A little spark of anger flared inside him, but Dill snuffed it out automatically. It was habit by now. He just felt weary, like, Great…same as always.

And then Peter walked up behind Stan and kicked him hard in the back of the knee.

“PETER!” Dill screamed.

Stan's leg buckled out from under him and he went down on all fours. It would have been totally cool to watch if it hadn't been the same as Peter signing both their death warrants.

“What are you doing?!” Dill shrieked as he ran over to his friend.

Stan got up from the ground and whirled around, his eyes murderous. “Who did that?!” he demanded.

The hall went oddly quiet. Every kid waited, knowing that they were about to see Peter Normal get beaten to a pulp.

Peter stood there with a little smile. “I did.”

Stan walked right up in his face. “You stupid piece of crap,” he snarled. “I'm going to �" ”

Peter's arm whipped through the air.

SLAP!

There was a collective gasp from the entire hallway. The loudest one came from Dill.

He had just witnessed the impossible. It was like the sun had smashed into the moon and exploded into 4th of July fireworks.

Stan Grupkin clutched his cheek, his eyes wide.

“You're going to what?” Peter asked quietly.

“You…you…” Stan stammered.

“You slapped him!” Dill whimpered under his breath. He was alternately caught between one of the greatest thrills of his entire life, and seeing a vision of his coffin being lowered into a cold, muddy grave next to Peter's.

Suddenly, Peter's other hand whizzed through the air.

SLAP!

The whole hallway burst into a low roar.

Stan staggered back, his eyes watering with tears now.

Dill's own eyes were bigger than dinner plates. They had to be.

THIS WAS NOT HAPPENING. IT COULD NOT BE HAPPENING. IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE.

Peter stepped closer to Stan and asked in a quiet voice, “You're going to what?”

Stan backed away. “I �" ”

Peter's hand was so fast it was just a blur.

SLAP!

“You're going to what, Stan?” Peter asked, his voice more challenging.

“I �" ”

SLAP!

“You're going to WHAT, Stan?” Peter said, almost laughing.

The hallway was thundering with kids cheering and gasping and exclaiming in disbelief.

“Peter!” Dill hissed as he moved forward, but not fast enough.

SLAP!

“You're going to WHAT, STAN?” Peter jeered as he advanced threateningly.

Stan cowered. “Sto�" ”

SLAP!

“YOU'RE GOING TO WHAT, STAN?”

“No �" ” Stan whimpered.

SLAP!

“YOU'RE GOING TO WHAT, STAN?!”

“PETER, STOP!” Dill shrieked. He threw himself on Peter's arm, and saw something as he glimpsed his friend's face.

It was just for a second �" and it might have been some weird sort of optical illusion �" but Dill could have sworn that Peter's eyes were completely white. That there was no black spot, or gray around them, but just pure white.