Trapped in Bat Wing Hall

by RL Stine

  It’s a huge black rat — and it scurries across your sneaker! You jump back and scream.

  You can hear the rat’s sharp claws scratch across the floorboards as it disappears into the living room. You wonder what other gross creatures are crawling around this old house.

  You decide to head into the kitchen. Clomp. Clomp. Clomp. You can hear Nick, Debbie, and Connor following you.

  “If you’re afraid of a little rat,” Nick hisses in your ear, “then you’re going to be in big trouble later. Big trouble.”

  You try to ignore Nick, even though your knees shake at his warning. You spot a kerosene lamp on the kitchen table. You pick it up so you can see into the dark corners of the kitchen better.

  The kitchen is filled with cupboards, closets, and shelves. Anything could be hidden here!

  You pull open drawer after drawer. Clouds of dust make your eyes itch.

  Then in the next drawer you open, you see them.

  Bandages! But are these mummy’s bandages?

  You hope they are, shoving several in your pocket. One item off the list, you think.

  Then a hideous scream cuts through the air.

  Run to PAGE 12.

  You fly toward the ring and perch on it. You take a moment to look each of your friends directly in the eyes.

  “You have to turn the ring!” you instruct. “You have to close the door to the crypt!”

  “What’s it squeaking about?” Martin asks.

  “I don’t know,” Lara replies. “But it seems to have something to do with the ring on the door.”

  Marcie has been peering intently at the door. “I think this door used to be closed,” she says. “Maybe that’s what it’s telling us. Maybe it wants us to shut the door.”

  “Yes, yes, yes!” you squeak. You’re so happy you could kiss her, but you figure it would gross her out.

  Marcie begins to push on the door. It barely budges.

  “Let me help!” says Martin. He pushes, too, and then Lara joins in, but the door hardly moves.

  “It’s too heavy!” Marcie complains. “We can’t shut it.”

  Oh, no! What are you going to do?

  Go to PAGE 25.

  You run as fast as you can into the thicket of tall reeds. Then you duck down and gaze through the tall stalks.

  The guards have stopped. They appear to be arguing. One of them points to the thicket. Oh, no! But the others shake their heads violently. They turn around and head back for the palace.

  What happened? you wonder. Why won’t they go into the thicket?

  You shrug and decide not to worry about it. You have more important things to think about — like how to get home!

  Suddenly, you hear a rustling noise. In fact, you think, it sounds more like a rattle. You glance down and let out a wail of terror!

  A huge black snake is coiled at your feet!

  The snake’s leathery body is thicker than your two legs put together!

  The snake lifts its head and hisses. Then it opens its mouth. Wider. Wider. Wider. Its long tongue uncurls and darts out at you. Oh, no! The snake is going to swallow you whole!

  Go to PAGE 110.

  “Haunted? For real?” you ask.

  “For real,” Nick replies seriously. “That’s why we picked it. Some of the scariest stories I’ve ever heard happened in Bat Wing Hall.”

  “Like what?”

  “Like the story of the kids on Halloween night,” Nick says. “They were all dressed up. Trick-or-treating. They rang Krupnik’s doorbell. A figure dressed all in black answered, and the kids were invited inside … only they never came out!”

  “What happened?” you ask breathlessly.

  “Nobody knows,” Nick replies. “But late at night you can still hear the kids’ screams. Horrible screams. And when the moon is full — some people say they’ve seen little creatures in monster costumes roaming about inside the house! Trapped. Forever!”

  “Wow! Great story!” you say.

  “It’s not a story,” Nick tells you. “Being a member of the Horror Club can be dangerous. Very dangerous.” He pauses, then adds, “Today is Friday. We meet tonight. Do you want to come?”

  What do you think?

  Risk it and go to the Horror Club tonight, turn to PAGE 17.

  Say thanks anyway and go to PAGE 91.

  You decide to try to act like a wolf.

  Very carefully, you drop the broom. Then you get down on your hands and knees. The werewolf backs off, confused.

  So far, so good, you think. You tilt your head back and howl. A long mournful howl.

  The werewolf howls back!

  You start to crawl toward the beast, sniffing the ground like an animal. You glance up. The werewolf is staring at you intently. Will he attack? you wonder.

  You continue with your wolf act. You crawl until you are just inches away from him. You raise your head again when — he pounces!

  The beast knocks you to the ground. You stare up in terror. His vicious fangs are less than an inch from your face! His mouth opens —

  And then he starts to lick your nose!

  He thinks you are another werewolf. He likes you — a lot! He licks your cheeks, your nose, your neck, your fur. Fur?

  You hear the last gong of a chiming clock in the distance. And Nick, Debbie, and Connor’s uproarious laughter. With a sinking heart, you realize it is midnight. The game is over.

  You acted your part well. Too well. Now you’re a werewolf forever! Well, at least you made a friend!

  THE END

  You remember the Krupnik Crypt. And that the only living creature you saw was the bat that flew out of the tomb. With a gnawing fear, your mind plays over the words carved in the crypt: WHO TURNS THE STONE WILL GROW BAT BONES.

  You should have realized it was a warning. But no, you had to go ahead and turn that stupid stone!

  That must have been how this happened. You try frantically to remember everything about the crypt, any little detail that could help you. You picture the crypt and suddenly recall that you’d left the stone door open. Maybe if you turn the stone again — closing the door of the crypt — you’ll be transformed back.

  Should you return to the cemetery now? You’re not sure you can even find it in the dark.

  Or would it be better to go to sleep and wait until morning? Maybe when you wake up, you’ll be back to normal.

  If you return to the cemetery now, hurry to PAGE 27.

  If you wait until morning, turn to PAGE 53.

  It’s amazing! Marcie, Lara, and Martin are acting as if they see ghosts every day. So much for scaring them out of the mansion! You need a new plan.

  Lara eyes Professor Krupnik. “What’s it like to be a ghost?” she asks. The ghost seems startled by the question.

  “It’s — it’s — ” he stammers.

  Now Marcie and Martin swarm around him, firing questions at him. “Can you appear in other forms?” “How long have you been a ghost?” “What do you do all day?”

  To your amazement, the ghost starts to smile. He holds up his shadowy hands. “Slow down. I can answer only one question at a time.”

  He actually seems to be enjoying the attention! Maybe it’s lonely being a ghost. You get a great idea.

  “Fellow teammates,” you announce. “I nominate Professor Krupnik as the newest member of the Horror Club.” When you see the grin on the ghost’s face, you know this was the perfect solution.

  Just in time, too. After a unanimous vote, Professor Krupnik mutters some strange words and waves his arms. Whatever he did, it worked! The sun drops below the horizon — and you’re still a kid! You settle down to listen to the ghost’s scary stories, thrilled that this adventure has come to a happy

  END.

  As fast as you can fly, you head for the kitchen.

  “Stop!” Marcie shrieks, running after you.

  There’s got to be a way out! Your heart and wings are beating furiously as you search the kitchen. But the door and all the windows a
re shut. The only other way out is the doorway you flew in — and Marcie’s standing there with the flyswatter!

  “I’m not really a bat!” you plead as loudly as you can. “I’ve been transformed!”

  “You filthy beast!” Marcie screams. She heads straight for you, the flyswatter raised, ready to smash you. She manages to whack you, hard. You bang into the wall, your head spinning. One more blow like that, and it will be all over. Oh, no! Here she comes again! Your eyes dart all around the room.

  Just ahead you notice a large, standing freezer. It’s open just a crack. In desperation, you fly into the crack.

  “I’ve got you now!” Marcie cries, and slams the freezer shut.

  “Hey!” you call. “Let me out of here!”

  But there’s no answer. Marcie won’t let you out, you realize, until you’re frozen solid.

  Too bad, but you made the wrong choice. And it looks as if you’ll end this adventure as a batsicle!

  THE END

  “I have all the items on the list,” you announce as you enter the dark living room. “I found the human bone, mummy’s bandage, the witch’s broom, and I even got three hairs from a were —”

  “What are you talking about?” Nick interrupts.

  You gasp. You can’t believe your eyes.

  There sit Nick, Debbie, and Connor in a circle on the living room floor. But they’re not monsters! They look like normal kids!

  “What happened?” you cry. “Why did you change back?”

  “Change back?” Debbie asks, running a hand through her long — spider-free — hair. “Change back from what?”

  “From monsters,” you say. “Come on, you guys. I know what you really are. Don’t play any more games.”

  “Hey, Nick,” Connor says. “Your new friend is nuts. Monsters! Ha! That’s a good one.”

  “But — but the scavenger hunt. And the mummy and the skeleton,” you try to explain. The three kids stare at you with blank expressions as you stammer.

  “Listen,” Debbie tells you, standing up and leading you to their circle. “You’re just in time for Nick’s very spooky story.”

  You sit on the floor, your mind spinning.

  Turn to PAGE 90.

  They want you to search the cemetery all by yourself. You’re about to say No way, José, but then you figure that’s just what they expect you to do.

  You’ll show them!

  “Great!” you declare. “I bet I’ll find the winning object.” You even kind of mean it. After all, if the game is won by finding the scariest stuff, then your teammates just handed you an easy score. What better place to look than a cemetery? You give your teammates the thumbs-up, and hurry across the street.

  The cemetery is really old, and most of the gravestones are chipped and crumbling. As you stumble over a lumpy grave, you feel something grab at your ankle! You yelp and jump back.

  Phew! It was just a gnarled root.

  The moonlight casts an eerie glow, creating strange shadows. You carefully make your way toward a small building. There’s just enough light for you to read the words KRUPNIK CRYPT carved in the stone over the doorway.

  Here’s your chance to impress your new friends. You know you will find something scary inside a crypt. But do you have the nerve to enter?

  Find out on PAGE 69.

  “What?” you cry.

  “I’ve been imprisoned in this magic box for two centuries,” the witch goes on. “All this time I’ve waited for someone to set me free.”

  “Really?” you say doubtfully. This sounds a lot like those fairy tales your mom used to read to you when you were five years old.

  “Please help me,” the woman pleads.

  You glance at your watch. And then over to the broom. “I’d like to help you,” you say. “But I have to find a straw from a witch’s broom really fast. Otherwise, I’ll turn into a monster.”

  “Well, I’m a witch,” the woman tells you. “And I have a broom. Help me, and I’ll help you.”

  “If you’re a witch, can’t you say a spell to escape?” you ask.

  “Don’t you think I’ve already tried that?” the witch spits back. “It didn’t work.”

  Your gaze travels from the witch to the broom and back to your watch. Only fifteen minutes until midnight. What should you do?

  If you choose to help the witch, go to PAGE 95.

  If you decide to leave her in the box and grab her broom, go to PAGE 44.

  “Let’s go to the movie,” you suggest. It will give you time to think of a way to ask for help.

  You line up for tickets and popcorn and then settle into your seats. “This movie is supposed to be really scary,” Lara says with a shiver.

  As soon as the lights start to dim, you feel a familiar ache in your shoulders. With horror, you look down at your hands. The webbing is growing in between your fingers!

  “I’m going to the bathroom,” you mumble, and quickly jump out of your seat. The next instant, you’re a bat!

  You can’t stay in the aisle of the theater where someone could step on you, so you fly up to the ceiling. Down below you hear laughter.

  “Look at that!” someone cries. “A real bat! It must be a part of the movie!”

  “What a publicity stunt,” someone shouts.

  Will you tell your friends the truth about what happened to you now?

  Or would it be better to show them — back at Bat Wing Hall?

  If you tell them now, go to PAGE 22.

  If you think it’s wiser to show them, fly to PAGE 45.

  You run to the mansion as fast as you can. You don’t want to find out who or what would make a sound like that! When you’ve put some distance between you and the voice, you glance back. Nothing. Maybe you were just imagining things.

  Just to be safe, though, you quickly pull the boards away from the door and enter Bat Wing Hall. You find a good spot to hide, behind a tattered armchair — why take chances? You curl up and wait.

  Your aching muscles tell you you’ve been sitting there for a lot longer than an hour. Peering through the smudgy windows, you can see the sun has dropped low on the horizon.

  What if your friends don’t show up until after you’ve turned back into a bat?

  Turn to PAGE 14.

  The snake’s sharp fangs begin to drip with deadly venom.

  You start to back away.

  “Don’t move!” a voice behind you cries.

  You freeze. And then you hear music. A strange, joyous melody.

  The snake seems to hear the music, too. Its head starts to sway back and forth, back and forth. Almost as if it were dancing.

  “Move away slowly now,” the voice instructs you. You do as you’re told and bump into a small, round man playing a wooden flute.

  The man stops playing, and the snake slithers away.

  “It is very stupid to enter the thicket of the snake,” the man says. “You must be new here.”

  “I don’t belong here at all,” you tell him. “I ended up here by accident.”

  “This has happened before,” the man replies. “And I bet the priests want to turn you into a mummy — right?”

  “Yes,” you cry. “What can I do?”

  “I’m afraid things look hopeless for you,” he says, shaking his head. “There’s only one way out.”

  What is it? Find out on PAGE 125.

  “Upstairs,” you tell the monsters. “I’ll search there first.”

  Connor begins laughing. A low, deep laugh. “Did you hear that?” he tells the others. “Upstairs! This should be good!”

  Have you made the wrong choice? you wonder. It doesn’t matter. You have to do something. You cross your fingers that there may be a way to escape upstairs — a way out of this house of horrors.

  You head toward the main staircase in the front hall. There’s no electricity in the old mansion. Your shadow flickers in the spooky light of kerosene lanterns.

  Debbie follows close behind you. You pick up your pace — just in cas
e one of those huge tarantulas decides to jump from her hair to yours!

  The stairs are covered with a thick layer of dust. Slowly, you start to climb. One step. Then another. The wooden boards creak and groan under your weight. The staircase stretches upward into total darkness.

  Behind you, the three monsters noisily whisper to one another. You don’t know what they’re saying — and you don’t care. You just want to get out of here — now!

  You take a deep breath. It’s time.

  Time to — escape!

  You sprint forward.

  Run to PAGE 28.

  You decide your best bet is to fly into the crypt. You hope your friends will get the idea to shut the door. First, you swoop around the door to the crypt.

  “What’s it doing?” Lara asks her friends.

  “I think it’s trying to tell us the door is important,” Marcie says.

  “Yes!” you squeak. This might actually work! You fly into the crypt. Then you fly out again.

  Martin cries, “I get it! We’re supposed to close the door!”

  You squeak happily and nod. You fly out of the crypt and watch while Martin grasps the ring then pushes the door.

  Clang! The door slams shut. But nothing happens. Then you feel a tingling sensation in your wings. A moment later, you’re standing on the ground. You’re a kid again!

  “Hooray!” you cry. “It worked!”

  “Cool!” Marcie says. “But where did Martin go?”

  You glance all around, but there’s no sign of your friend.

  “Oh, no!” Lara suddenly cries. “Look!”

  Your eyes follow where she’s pointing. You see a large bat above your heads. It’s fluttering very strangely, as if it doesn’t really know how to fly. Uh-oh.

  Get the bad news on PAGE 56.