the beasties (week 2)

Title: the beasties
Author: William Sleator
Pages: 198
Genre: Horror

Doug and Colette have been invited to a conference with the beasties. The beasties tell them to come at midnight, but if they don't come they will never be safe again. Doug asks them if they actually are the beasties, but without hesitation the beastie snaps back at him that they are called the family and not the beasties. The beastie they have met shows them the way out so that they can get home. Doug and Colette argues whether to go or not to go. It ends up with that only Colette goes and Doug stays at home. The next morning Doug is anxious to see if anything bad happened to Colette, but she is perfectly fine, except she is acting weird like some kind of brainwash. Doug keeps asking Colette questions all day long but she refuses to answer them. Doug can't sleep, because he is thinking of what the conference was about and what eventually could happen to him. Right before he is about to sleep, something grabs his arm and legs while they were putting something sticky in his mouth. They took to the tunnels and into a room with many beasties looking at him. One of the beasties could talk basic English with Doug. All of a sudden everybody stood up and she demanded Doug to stand up too. The queen of the beasties came from a tunnel to the meeting. The queen demanded Doug to stand on a table so everybody could see him. Colette sat there and waited, but because she went to the conference the night before she was trusted in the so called family. The queen told him that they would not do anything yet but he had to help his sister with a mission. Doug was very confused but he had to follow Colette and the beastie. Colette and the beastie were friends and Colette called her for "Finger". Doug and Colette had to study a map so they could get to the logging site. Doug and Colettes  mission is to get to the logging site and draw a map of where the machinery is and where the people sleep. The next day Doug and Colette starts their trip to the logging site.

Who are the beasties(the family)? The beasties are some kind of humans besides they living in tunnels underground and they are not very tall. If somebody finds their home and they does not show up for the conference, they will mostly take a limb from you.

Good Quote: Fingers say: "Your fresh young synapses will exactly rembering the location of all weapon and machine, and you will remembering also exactly which rooms in the sleeping place are the humans - there are not many humans there now, because of their fear." She laughed again, and again Colette joined her.