House of Whispers
Page 10
David was fighting. Inside he was struggling as hard as she was.
“Your precious David belongs to me,” Angelica continued. “For as long as he amuses Hannah, that is. When she tires of him, I will add him to my little menagerie.”
Amy saw something flicker in David’s good eye. A flash of awareness. If Amy could reach him, if she could break him free of Angelica’s control, they might have a chance.
She twisted around so that she stood in front of David. As she turned, her ring slipped outside her dress.
The ring on the gold chain David had given her. The symbol of their love for each other.
Amy threw her arms around him. She concentrated every thought on him. Every feeling. Calling to him in every way she knew how.
Her power surged deep inside her. Then it sprang free and raged like wildfire through her veins.
“David,” she begged. “Look at me.”
He started to glance down.
“David,” Angelica snapped. “You will look only at me. You will hear only my voice.”
His face stiffened into a blank mask again. His gaze fastened on Angelica.
“Kill her, David,” Angelica commanded. “Kill Amy now!”
“No, David,” Amy whispered. “Look at me. Remember who you are. Remember I love you.”
She reached up her free hand and stroked his cheek. A white flame leapt to life where she touched him. It ran up her arm to her neck. Then it travelled to the gold ring.
When the flame hit the gold it blazed so brightly Amy could hardly look at it.
David blinked. He dropped Amy’s arm. He backed a few steps away from her.
Then, with a smooth, deadly movement, he pulled out his revolver.
And pointed it at Amy.
Chapter
22
Amy stared straight into the muzzle of the gun.
She could not even scream.
It is over, she thought. She waited for the bullet to slam into her face.
Then David swung the revolver past her. Straight toward Angelica.
The world seemed to explode.
Pinwheels danced across Amy’s vision, and her ears rang. But she could still hear the sound of Angelica’s scream.
Amy turned and saw Angelica fall to her knees. A red stain spread across the shoulder of her gown.
“Come on!” David shouted. He hauled her outside and they ran for the garden gate.
As they ran, the garden itself had turned against them. Branches clutched at their clothes. Ivy wrapped itself around their feet.
“Angelica is still trying to stop us!” Amy yelled. “This is her dark magic.”
“Hurry,” David urged. “Once we are back in my garden, perhaps we will be safe.”
Amy ran faster, her chest burning, her legs aching.
Then something grabbed Amy’s foot. She crashed to the ground. Ivy slithered up her body.
David tore it away. But it sprouted again, growing faster than he could destroy it.
It wrapped around her neck. Pulling tighter and tighter.
Amy could not breathe.
She clawed at the ivy. Trying to dig her fingernails under it so she could rip it away.
Too tight. Too tight.
A roaring sound filled her ears.
Black spots appeared before her eyes.
Too tight . . .
Chapter
23
“Hang on, Amy!” David cried. “Don’t give up now!”
David jerked the ivy away from her neck—just enough for her to suck in a short breath.
“No!” she screamed. She would not lose now!
“No!” she screamed again—and the ivy burst into flame.
My power, Amy thought. Mine.
A line of bright white fire spread from it.
The fire raced the length of the garden. It formed a wall protecting Amy and David from Angelica and her evil.
David lifted Amy to her feet. He supported her with his good arm as they stumbled to the gate.
The moment they crossed into David’s garden, everything grew still.
Amy stopped and stared back at the Fear garden. Angelica stood on the far side of the flame barrier. No wound marked her shoulder. No blood stained her gown.
Their eyes locked. Then Amy turned away.
♦ ♦ ♦
The carriage rolled quietly down the street.
“Are you sure we must leave home, David?” Mrs. Hathaway asked softly.
“Very sure,” he replied.
Amy stared out the window. Watching the hulking Fear mansion grow smaller and smaller behind them.
She remembered the first time she saw it. Deep inside she had known there was something wrong in the house even then.
Fear. It was the perfect name for the house and the woman who lived there.
“I wish I could have said good-bye to Julia,” Amy murmured.
“Julia belongs to the Fears,” David said. “No one can help her.”
Amy sat back in her seat. Poor Julia, she thought. At least the girl had not witnessed Amy’s confrontation with Angelica. If she were lucky, she might never find out about her mother’s evil.
She leaned her head back against the seat. The farther they travelled from that terrible house, the lighter her heart became.
“Let’s all make a vow,” Amy suggested.
“What kind?” Mrs. Hathaway asked.
“I have seen enough horrible things to last me the rest of my life,” Amy replied. “And I want to leave them behind.”
“I think I understand,” David said.
“We will never speak the name Fear again,” Amy declared.
They reached out and clasped hands, sealing the pact.
About the Author
“Where do you get your ideas?”
That’s the question that R.L. Stine is asked most often. “I don’t know where my ideas come from,” he says. “But I do know that I have a lot more scary stories in my mind that I can’t wait to write.”
So far, he has written over a hundred mysteries and thrillers for young people, all of them best-sellers.
Bob grew up in Columbus, Ohio. Today he lives in an apartment near Central Park in New York City with his wife, Jane.
Have you read these
books?
WHAT HOLLY HEARD
THE FACE
SECRET ADMIRER
THE PERFECT DATE
THE CONFESSION
THE BOY NEXT DOOR
NIGHT GAMES
RUNAWAY
KILLER’S KISS
ALL-NIGHT PARTY
THE RICH GIRL
CAT
FEAR HALL:
THE BEGINNING
FEAR HALL:
THE CONCLUSION
By
R.L. STINE
Available from Simon & Schuster
COLLECTOR’S EDITIONS
Do you dare to read them all?
#1 The Beginning
#2 Nightmares
#3 Secrets
#4 Dangerous Girls
#5 Evil Powers
#6 Summer Horror
#7 Deadly Games
#8 Lessons in Terror
#9 Creatures of the Night
#10 Fear Park
#11 The House of Evil
#12 Cheerleaders
Available from Simon and Schuster
Books by R.L. Stine
Fear Street
ALL-NIGHT PARTY
BAD DREAMS
THE BEST FRIEND
THE BEST FRIEND 2: SPECIAL EDITION
THE BOY NEXT DOOR
THE CHEATER
COLLEGE WEEKEND
THE CONFESSION
THE DARE
DEAD END
DOUBLE DATE
THE FACE
FINAL GRADE
THE FIRE GAME
FIRST DATE
HALLOWEEN PARTY
HAUNTED
INTO THE DARK
KILLER’S KISS
/> THE KNIFE
LET’S PARTY
LIGHTS OUT
THE MIND READER
MISSING
THE NEW BOY
THE NEW GIRL
NIGHT GAMES
ONE EVIL SUMMER
THE OVERNIGHT
THE PERFECT DATE
THE PROM QUEEN
THE RICH GIRL
THE RUNAWAY
SECRET ADMIRER
THE SECRET BEDROOM
SKI WEEKEND
THE SLEEPWALKER
THE STEPSISTER
THE STEPSISTER 2
SUNBURN
THE SURPRISE PARTY
SWITCHED
THE THRILL CLUB
TRAPPED
TRUTH OR DARE
WHAT HOLLY HEARD
WHO KILLED THE HOME-COMING QUEEN?
THE WRONG NUMBER
WRONG NUMBER 2
Fear Park
THE FIRST SCREAM
THE LOUDEST SCREAM
THE LAST SCREAM
Fear Street Cheerleaders
THE FIRST EVIL
THE SECOND EVIL
THE THIRD EVIL
THE NEW EVIL
CHEERLEADERS: THE EVIL LIVES! (A Fear Street Superchiller)
Fear Street Duet
FEAR HALL: THE BEGINNING
FEAR HALL: THE CONCLUSION
Fear Street Trilogies
The Cataluna Chronicles
THE EVIL MOON #1
THE DARK SECRET #2
THE DEADLY FIRE #3
99 Fear Street: The House of Evil
THE FIRST HORROR
THE SECOND HORROR
THE THIRD HORROR
Fear Street Saga
THE BETRAYAL #1
THE SECRET #2
THE BURNING #3
THE AWAKENING EVIL
CHILDREN OF FEAR
DANCE OF DEATH
DAUGHTERS OF SILENCE
FORBIDDEN SECRETS
HEART OF THE HUNTER
THE HIDDEN EVIL
HOUSE OF WHISPERS
THE SIGN OF FEAR
A NEW FEAR
Fear Street Super Chillers
BAD MOONLIGHT
BROKEN HEARTS
THE DEAD LIFEGUARD
GOODNIGHT KISS
GOODNIGHT KISS 2
HIGH TIDE
THE NEW YEAR’S PARTY
PARTY SUMMER
SILENT NIGHT
SILENT NIGHT #2
SILENT NIGHT #3
Other novels
HOW I BROKE UP WITH ERNIE
PHONE CALLS
CURTAINS
BROKEN DATE
This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
First Simon Pulse edition February 2003
Text copyright © 1996 by Parachute Press, Inc.
Originally published as an Archway Paperback June 1996
SIMON PULSE
An imprint of Simon & Schuster
Children’s Publishing Division
1230 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10020
www.SimonandSchuster.com
All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.
ISBN 0-671-52953-6
ISBN 13: 978-1-4424-7370-6 (ebook)
FEAR STREET is a registered trademark of Parachute Press, Inc.