by R. L. Stine
No. No. No …
Snarling furiously, they stepped over the candy - and bared their teeth,
red eyes glowing, preparing to attack me again.
87 “Nooooo!” I let out a howl of terror. As the dogs leaped, I dove to
the floor. I grabbed a candy bar in each hand.
And tossed them in the air.
I rolled away as both dogs jumped up, snapping their jaws at the flying
candy.
The dogs caught the candy bars in their teeth. They finally stopped
growling as they bit down. Started to chew.
Yes!
I saw my chance. I bolted for the open door. As I ran, I scooped two
more candy bars off the floor and tossed them to the dogs.
“Trick-or-treat, guys!” I choked out.
And then I was gone. Out the door and running full speed around the side
of the house.
88 “Cal?” I called to him as I burst down the steeply sloping front
lawn. “Cal? Are you still here?”
I didn’t see him.
I didn’t stop running. I raced into the street, glancing back to see if
the dogs were coming after me.
No. Not yet.
I turned and ran down the block. Crossed a street. And kept running.
One down, I thought. One frightened person saved.
How much time do I have left?
I stopped beneath a street lamp to check my watch. I raised it to my
eyes and stared.
“Oh, no.” A sigh escaped my throat as I saw that my watch had stopped.
The second hand stood frozen at twelve.
I shook the watch. Pounded it against my wrist.
It wouldn’t move.
Did the watch break when I fell down the ravine? I wondered. Or did time
stop when I died?
No time to think about it. I had to save two more people. And I had to
do it fast.
I saw a group of costumed kids running eagerly to a house across the
street. They were laughing and joking with each other. One boy was
stuffing his face with candy - right through a monster mask.
Kids having fun, I thought sadly.
89 They rang the doorbell and yelled, “Trick-or-treat!” Watching them, I
wondered if I would ever have fun again. If I would ever be normal
again. If I would ever be alive …
A wave of despair washed over me. I can’t do this, I decided. I might as
well give up now.
Where will I even find frightened people I can help?
It’s Halloween night. Everyone is out having fun. No one is in trouble.
Two kids in vampire costumes came roaring by on bikes, their capes
flying up behind them. I jumped into a hedge to get out of their way.
They laughed and kept pedaling hard.
I shook my head sadly. I’ll go home, I decided. I’ll take one last look
at my house. At my family.
I don’t know how much time I have left. Probably just enough time to say
goodbye.
I trudged around the corner and started down the next block. Lost in my
sad thoughts, I didn’t pay much attention to the houses and yards I passed.
Glancing up, I found myself at a dead end. Woods stretched in both
directions. A dark, old house loomed between tangled trees.
The haunted house!
The house where Cal and I had abandoned Vinnie.
I stepped into the tall weeds at the front of the yard. And peered up at
the house.
90 Dark and silent.
A windowpane was missing in an upstairs window. The wind blew in,
fluttering dark curtains.
A TV antenna tilted over the roof like a broken bird. Part of the
chimney had crumbled away, leaving bricks scattered over the driveway.
Did something move in the front window? Did I see a flash of light? A face?
“Vinnie.” I murmured his name.
Cal and I heard him scream, I remembered. But we left him there anyway.
We left him there and ran away.
Was Vinnie still here? Still in this frightening house?
I had to find out. I stepped through the tall weeds, making my way to
the front door.
The house had been empty for years. Clumps of grass and weeds rose up
nearly to my waist. I stumbled over rocks and old bottles and other junk.
All the neighborhood kids believed the house was haunted. Some of them
said they saw strange, shimmering lights in the house late at night.
Kids claimed they heard howls and moans that couldn’t be made by humans.
Cal and I always had so much fun locking kids in the house. Were they
scared? Some of them still haven’t stopped screaming!
That was back in the days when things were
91 still funny. Now, as I approached the house, I remembered the fun we
had - but I didn’t laugh.
“Vinnie?” I called. My voice came out muffled, soft.
I stepped onto the rotting porch. The damp floorboards creaked and sank
under my shoes. “Vinnie?”
I heard something from inside. A moan? A cry?
I took a deep breath and pushed open the front door.
The attack came so fast, I couldn’t even scream.
92 I heard a SCREE SCREE SCREE.
Something hit my forehead and bounced off.
Stunned, I stumbled back onto the porch.
I rubbed my head and heard frantic fluttering.
Shadows - many shadows - flew over me.
Bats!
Were they attacking?
Blinking away the pain, I heard the SCREE SCREE again. The fluttering
sounds had moved to the trees.
I waited for a moment, catching my breath. Then I peered cautiously
through the front doorway. The house seemed empty now.
The front room stood dark. I couldn’t see a thing.
Holding on to the door frame, I stepped inside.
93 “Vinnie?” I called in a choked whisper. I cleared my throat and
called again. “Vinnie - are you here?”
“Brandon?”
My name floated to me, weak and hoarse, from somewhere deep in the house.
“Brandon - is that you?”
My eyes adjusted slowly to the darkness. I followed the sound of
Vinnie’s voice, through a long, dark hallway that led straight back.
“Vinnie - where are you?” I called. My words echoed down the long hall.
“I’m back here,” came his reply. “But don’t come in. Don’t come in,
Brandon!”
“Huh?” I let out a startled gasp.
“Get away as fast as you can!” Vinnie warned in a trembling, little
voice. “It - it’s so big, Brandon. And so ugly.”
I stopped at a closed door at the end of the hall. “What is big?” I
called in.
“Go away!” Vinnie cried from the other side of the door. “It’s too late
for me. But you can still escape.”
I raised my hand to the cold doorknob. “Escape from what, Vinnie?” I
demanded.
I waited. A shiver ran down my back. A gust of cold air from somewhere
in the house chilled me all over.
“Vinnie?” I called in.
I waited again. Then I turned the knob and
94 pushed in the door. I stepped into a dark room cluttered with old
furniture. Couches and tall chairs, most of them covered in sheets and
blankets.
I blinked in the gray light.
“Don’t - ” Vinnie cried.
He sat hunched on a tall, stiff wooden chair.<
br />
I squinted to see if he was tied down. No. Nothing holding him there.
“Come on,” I urged, waving him over to me. “Let’s get out of here.”
“I … can’t,” he choked out. His face was twisted in fright. He had
chewed his bottom lip until it bled.
“Hurry. Come with me!” I cried.
“I can’t!” he cried. “It … won’t let me leave.”
“There’s nothing here,” I argued. “The house is empty. Come on, Vinnie - “
“It’s here!” he whimpered. “It’s a ghost. The stories are true, Brandon.
Only, it’s more horrible than you can imagine. It’s not like a movie
ghost. It - “
He stopped short, and his eyes bulged with fright. He raised a trembling
finger to his lips.
I listened. And I heard it.
I heard heavy, rhythmic thuds from behind me in the long hall. Echoing
thuds.
Such heavy, steady footsteps.
Closer … closer.
95 “Get away,” Vinnie moaned. He clasped and unclasped his hands.
“Hurry, Brandon.”
“Not without you,” I told him.
The footsteps thudded in my ears.
“No. Run - before it’s too late!” Vinnie cried in a terrified whisper.
A heavy thud made me spin around.
It was too late!
96 Vinnie didn’t move. He sat hunched in the stiff chair, trembling, his
hands tightly clasped.
THUD. THUD.
Heavy footsteps made the floorboards creak.
I dove behind a couch and dropped to my hands and knees.
“Vinnie - hide!” I whispered.
He didn’t move.
My hand bumped something hard and cold. I gasped.
Only a flashlight.
I rolled it out of my way and peered out from behind the couch.
And stared at a ghost.
A man. A very large man. Dressed in a loosely
97 flowing robe. All gray from head to foot. No color. Gray hair, gray
eyes, gray skin, gray robe.
Gray bare feet slapped the floor as he moved across the room. THUD. THUD.
I froze behind the couch, gaping in amazement. And as the gray ghost
moved closer, I saw that his head was split. Split in half, right down
the middle. As if a hatchet had sliced his skull.
The gray eyes rolled wildly on each side of the crack. His nose was
split in two. The crack ran down past his lips and stopped at his chin.
As he stepped into the gray light and lowered his head toward Vinnie, I
could see inside his skull.
I could see gray brains, bubbling, bubbling inside the opening in the
skull.
His belly bouncing beneath the robe, the huge, ugly ghost lowered his
cracked head. Brought his face close to Vinnie.
What is he going to do? I wondered.
I have to save Vinnie. I have to frighten away that ghost.
But how?
On my hands and knees behind the couch, I watched the ghost lower his
face to Vinnie. “Unh … unh … ” The split lips opened in a low grunt.
“Unh … “
Vinnie whimpered in terror. He sat trembling on the chair. Staring
straight ahead.
Suddenly, I had an idea. A desperate idea.
98 Maybe a stupid idea. But the only idea I had.
I’ll try going headless, I decided. I’ll pop out headless and rush at
the big ghost. Maybe … just maybe, it will startle the ghost long
enough for me to pull Vinnie away.
I sat down on the floor. My hands trembling, I pulled my coat up over my
head and zipped it all the way.
I hesitated. If this doesn’t work, I thought, I might be headless forever.
My head was hidden beneath my coat. I couldn’t see a thing.
But I didn’t need to see. I could hear the ghost’s disgusting grunts. I
knew where it was standing.
I took a deep breath.
Then I jumped to my feet, shot my arms out at my sides, and burst out
headless into the room, shrieking as I ran.
99 My cry echoed off the walls.
Halfway across the room, I shot my head up through the top of the coat
to see.
The gray ghost stared at me, his split mouth open. On both sides of the
deep rut down his face, his gray eyes bulged.
He tossed back his ugly head and uttered a cry of his own.
And then he raised his hands to his jaw - and tugged the head off his
shoulders.
The head screamed. The eyes rolled crazily.
Holding the screaming head in both hands, the ghost raised it high over
his shoulders.
I staggered back. Whimpering in terror, Vinnie covered his face with his
hands.
Another shrill scream escaped the ghost’s head.
100 And then to my shock, the big ghost turned away from us. Turned
heavily. And still holding up its screaming head, it staggered away.
It staggered heavily to the door. And disappeared into the long hallway.
I could hear the screams ringing through the hall, growing fainter and
fainter as the ghost retreated.
“Vinnie - ” I gasped, diving to his chair. “Vinnie - I did it! I scared
him away!”
“No,” he murmured. He still had his face buried in his hands. “No, you
don’t understand.”
“Huh? Let’s go!” I urged, tugging Vinnie’s arm. “Open your eyes! Get up!
Let’s go! I scared away the ghost!”
“No,” Vinnie said, finally lowering his hands. “No, Brandon.” He shook
his head. “You don’t understand. That wasn’t the ghost.”
“Huh?” I stared at him, totally confused.
“That wasn’t the ghost,” Vinnie repeated. “That was the ghost’s pet.”
101 My mouth dropped open. I stared at my cousin, trying to make sense
of his words. “P-pet?” I stammered.
Vinnie nodded, his face so pale and twisted in fear.
“Well, then … where is the ghost?” I asked.
Before Vinnie could answer, I felt something move.
The floor.
The floor curled beneath my feet.
I heard a loud rumble - and the walls began to slide in - to close in on
us.
“What’s going on?” I cried.
“Don’t you see?” Vinnie wailed. “The whole house is the ghost! The whole
house is evil. It - it’s been holding me here! It won’t let me move!”
102 “Let’s get out of here!” I started toward Vinnie. Reached out to
pull him from his chair - and the floor buckled.
I stumbled. Then fell to my knees as the floor turned soft. It seemed to
melt under my feet.
“I don’t think I can make it over to you!” I cried.
“Don’t try, Brandon. It’s useless. We’re doomed!” Vinnie wailed.
I crawled toward Vinnie - and the wooden planks beneath me rocked and
rolled, tossing me like a beach ball on an ocean wave.
“I’m not going to give up!” I dragged myself across the floor on my
belly. Inched my way toward Vinnie - and felt the floor heave up. It
hurled me across the room. Slammed me hard into the wall.
“Brandon - watch out!”
I rolled away from the wall - as it moved in on me.
I froze, terrified, as all the walls moved. Creaking loudly. Moving fast
now. Moving in to crush us to death.
“Vinnie, get out of that chair!” I cried. “We have to
get out of here!”
“I can’t,” he wailed.
I reached out to the arm of a couch. Used it to pull myself up. Held on
to the couch as support to make my way to Vinnie.
The floor pitched violently. The couch bounced up and down as I clung to
it.
103 I inched my way forward.
The walls closed in. The room was getting smaller. Smaller.
If I stretch out my arms, I could touch a wall with each hand, I
realized with horror.
I glanced at Vinnie. He cowered in the chair. Frozen with fear.
I was almost there. Almost to Vinnie. Just a few feet away.
“Give me your hand, Vinnie!” I shouted as the floor hurled me backwards.
Vinnie shook his head no.
“Please, Vinnie! Do it! Give me your - “
“Oh, noooo!” Vinnie gazed up at the ceiling and moaned.
I stared up at it too - and saw it rumbling down toward me.
The floor quaked wildly - and sent me crashing to my knees. I fell hard
- on top of the flashlight. As the floor rocked, the flashlight rolled
away.
I stabbed my hand out, desperate for something to hold on to. And I
grabbed the flashlight.
Another frantic thought crashed into my terrified mind.
How will the ghost react to light?
Ghosts live in darkness, don’t they? I asked myself.
This house is so dark.
If I shined the light …
104 Could I force the ghost to retreat? Could I distract it long enough
to let Vinnie and me escape?
Light. Yes … light.
The floor bounced me against the wall. The ceiling was inches away from
my head now.
In front of me, Vinnie’s chair spun, whirling faster and faster. Vinnie
gripped the chair arms, and spun so fast, he became a blur.
“Help … ,” he murmured weakly. “Oh, help … “
“No!” I gasped as the flashlight bounced out of my hand.
I dropped to the pulsing, curling floor - and grabbed it again.
It’s worth a try, I told myself. It’s our only hope.
I slid my hand up the side of the flashlight - and clicked it on.
And cried out in horror when nothing happened.
The batteries were dead.
“No! No! No!” I screamed, so frustrated and angry.
I slammed the flashlight against the floor.
And the light flashed on.
It flickered, weak at first. I shook the flashlight hard, and the light
brightened.
Struggling to stand on the throbbing, tossing floor, I raised the
flashlight and swept the beam of light over the wall.
Would it work?
