06 - Eye of the Fortuneteller Read online

  EYE OF THE

  FORTUNETELLER

  Ghosts of Fear Street - 06

  R.L. Stine

  (An Undead Scan v1.5)

  1

  Kelsey Moore tried to scream, but the scream stuck in her throat. The giant Sea Serpent whipped her from side to side. It moved so fast that she could barely hold on. And then the green monster began to dive.

  Kelsey tightened her grip. The Sea Serpent plunged down. Down. Down.

  Kelsey screamed.

  She screamed as the Sea Serpent, the biggest, wildest roller coaster at the beach, rounded the last corner and suddenly jerked to a stop.

  “Wow!” Drew gasped. “I’m glad that’s over.”

  “What a gyp,” Kelsey said as she and Drew climbed out of their seats. “I can’t believe we stood in line for twenty minutes for that. It wasn’t scary at all.”

  “A gyp!” Drew cried. “Are you crazy? It was totally scary.”

  “No, it wasn’t,” Kelsey said as they headed for the exit. “Did you ever ride the Exterminator at Echo Ridge? That’s a scary ride.”

  “If it wasn’t scary, how come you were screaming?” Drew asked.

  “Me? Screaming?” Kelsey laughed. “You were the one who was screaming.”

  “I was not,” Drew lied.

  “Were, too,” Kelsey replied. “The same way you screamed on the merry-go-round.”

  “Very funny,” Drew shot back. “I screamed on the merry-go-round when we were six years old.”

  “Yeah, I know,” Kelsey said. “It scared you so much, you haven’t been on it since.”

  Drew reached out and yanked Kelsey’s ponytail.

  “Cut it out!” she yelled. But she wasn’t really angry. Kelsey and Drew were best friends—and cousins. Cousins who looked practically liked twins.

  They both had the same curly blond hair, the same freckles, the same green eyes. They even had the same last name. And they were the same age, too. Twelve. But Kelsey liked to brag that she was older—even if it was only by three weeks.

  Every year their parents rented a house together at the beach. And every year Kelsey had to drag Drew on all the rides. She loved them. He hated them.

  It had taken Kelsey two whole summers to convince Drew to ride the Sea Serpent. And after all that, it was a total letdown.

  “I’m telling you,” Kelsey said. “I’ve had scarier walks to school.”

  “I know. I know. You live on Fear Street. There are ghosts and monsters there every day,” Drew replied.

  “The stories about Fear Street are true,” Kelsey insisted. “Really strange things happen to people who live there.”

  “Nothing weird has happened to you,” Drew pointed out.

  “Not yet,” Kelsey said. But she had plenty of stories to tell about the ghosts that haunted her neighborhood. And she told them to Drew about twice a day.

  Drew rolled his eyes. “Okay. You’re from Fear Street. Nothing scares you. Nothing except sand crabs.”

  “They don’t scare me,” Kelsey lied. “I just think they’re gross, that’s all. So what do you want to do now?” she asked, changing the subject.

  “Go on the bumper cars?” Drew suggested.

  “We can’t,” Kelsey replied. “We don’t have enough money left.”

  “What are you talking about?” Drew started digging through his pockets. “We had almost ten dollars each.”

  “Drew, we’ve been on about a hundred rides,” Kelsey began. “And we spent a fortune trying to win that stupid prize you wanted.”

  “It’s not stupid,” Drew insisted. “That video game costs eighty bucks in the store. We could win it down here for only a quarter.”

  “If we could win it for a quarter, how come we’ve already spent fifty of them trying to get it? Besides, there’s no way to win anything on those giant wheel games. They’re rigged.”

  “That’s not what you said last year,” Drew reminded her. “Remember when you made us spend all our money trying to win that pink baby elephant?”

  “Oh, yeah,” Kelsey replied. “I remember—we didn’t win one single game.”

  “Well, this time it’s going to be different. This time we’re going to win that video game,” Drew declared.

  “Okay, okay,” Kelsey gave in. “But we should head home now. It’s almost time for dinner. We’ll try to win it tomorrow—when we can get more money.”

  Kelsey and Drew headed toward the part of the boardwalk that led to the exit.

  “I have a little change left,” Drew said, still searching through his pockets. “Let’s buy some saltwater taffy—” Drew turned to Kelsey, but she was gone.

  “Kelsey?”

  “Over here,” she called from around a corner. “Check this out.”

  “What is it?” Drew asked, turning the bend.

  Kelsey stood in front of a creepy old shack. It was made of wood. Splintered, rotted wood that smelled ancient and moldy.

  The small building sagged—the right side stood higher than the left. Kelsey tried to peer through one of the grimy windows, but it was covered with thick iron bars. Heavy black curtains draped the panes.

  “I don’t know what this is,” Kelsey said, circling the strange old shack. “I’ve never seen it before.”

  Kelsey glanced up and spotted a sign that hung over the doorway. “The Amazing Zandra,” she read, trying to sound spooky. “It’s a stupid gypsy fortune-telling place—only the Amazing Zandra is ‘Out to Lunch’.” Kelsey pointed to the sign.

  Drew pressed his nose up against the window in the door to peek inside. He leaped back, crashing into Kelsey.

  “Ouch!” she cried out, rubbing her foot. “What’s the matter with you?”

  “Take a look,” Drew whispered.

  Kelsey pressed her nose up against the dirty window. She peered into the dark room. Squinting.

  Then she saw it.

  A skeleton.

  A human skeleton. It stared at her with its hollow eyes.

  She inhaled sharply. Then laughed.

  “It’s just a skeleton. A prop,” she told Drew. “Fortunetellers use stuff like that all the time. To make you think they’re spooky and mysterious.”

  Kelsey jiggled the doorknob. The door opened with a loud click. “Let’s go in!”

  “No way,” Drew told her, stepping back from the door. “We don’t have time. We’ll be late for dinner.”

  “You’re such a chicken,” Kelsey taunted.

  “I am not,” Drew shot back. “There’s just no reason to go in. Fortunetellers are fakes. Everyone knows that. They can’t really tell the future.”

  Kelsey pulled the door open wide enough to stick her head inside. The air inside the shack felt icy cold. It sent a chill down her spine.

  She glanced around the room. A layer of thick dust carpeted the floor. Old books were scattered everywhere.

  Kelsey’s gaze shifted to the far wall of the shack, where bookshelves rose from the floor to the ceiling. On them sat tons and tons of stuffed animals.

  Kelsey stared at the animals. They weren’t like the ones she had in her room.

  These were real animals.

  Real dead animals.

  “You’re not going to believe what’s in here,” Kelsey whispered. “Let’s go in.”

  “No way!” Drew repeated. Then he tugged Kelsey back. “Let’s go. We’ll be here all summer. We can come back another time.”

  Kelsey sighed. “Oh, all right, but—”

  “Stay. Stay,” a raspy voice called from the back of the shack.

  Kelsey and Drew turned in time to see a very old woman make her way to the front of the shack. She pointed a wrinkled, gnarled finger at them. “Come,” she said. “Come in.”
<
br />   Kelsey stared at the woman. She wore a red flowered dress that hung down to the floor. Her face was lined with wrinkles. And her mouth twisted in a half sneer. But it was her earrings that Kelsey gaped at.

  Dozens of gold rings dangled from each ear. Heavy gold earrings that pulled on her lobes and made them hang low.

  She fixed her dark eyes on Kelsey as she spoke again.

  Kelsey gasped. The woman had one blue eye and one eye the color of coal.

  “Come,” the woman beckoned. “Come inside. There is much to tell. Come, Kelsey and Drew.”

  All the color drained from Drew’s face. “Kelsey, how does she know our names?” he murmured. “How does she know?”

  2

  “She probably heard us talking,” Kelsey whispered to Drew.

  “But we just walked around the shack. She wasn’t there,” he replied.

  “Maybe she heard us through the windows or something,” Kelsey answered. “Trust me, these fortunetellers are all fakes. You said so yourself.”

  “Come, children,” the gypsy woman continued, opening the door wider. “Come inside.” Then she gazed over her shoulder. “I have something for you.”

  “Um, thanks. But we can’t,” Drew said. “We really have to get home.”

  The gypsy ignored him. And so did Kelsey. She followed the old woman inside. Drew lunged for Kelsey’s arm and tried to pull her back, but Kelsey jerked free.

  “You have some pretty neat things in here,” Kelsey said to the woman as she stepped inside.

  “These are not my things,” she replied. Then she sat down behind a round table. “Sit.” She motioned to two chairs. “You may call me Madame Valda.”

  “I thought she was supposed to be the Amazing Zandra,” Drew whispered as the two took their seats at the table.

  Kelsey shrugged as she watched the gypsy set a folded velvet cloth on the table in front of her. It was blood-red and held something inside it.

  “Madame Valda will tell your fortune now,” the gypsy announced. Then she opened the cloth to reveal a deck of cards.

  “But we don’t have any money to pay you, uh, Madame Gypsy,” Drew said, standing.

  “Madame Valda,” the old woman corrected sharply. “I will do it for nothing,” her voice softened. “Sit! It is a great honor to have Madame Valda tell your fortune.”

  “Sit!” Kelsey echoed.

  Drew sat. Madame Valda spread the deck of cards out on the table. She began to sing softly in a language Kelsey had never heard.

  Kelsey watched as the fortuneteller swirled her head around in a circle. She’d seen fortunetellers in the movies do this. They closed their eyes and sang themselves into some kind of trance.

  Only Madame Valda wasn’t closing her eyes.

  She stared straight ahead. Straight at Kelsey.

  This is really creepy, Kelsey thought. A nervous giggle escaped her lips.

  Madame Valda didn’t seem to notice—or she didn’t care.

  She continued to sing.

  She continued to stare.

  Directly into Kelsey’s eyes.

  Kelsey stared back. She felt as if she were in some kind of trance, too. She couldn’t stop gazing into the woman’s weird eyes.

  Finally Madame Valda’s chant came to an end, and she shifted her gaze to the deck of cards on the table.

  Kelsey let out a long sigh. She didn’t realize she’d been holding her breath.

  Madame Valda flipped over three cards. They all had strange symbols on them. Symbols that Kelsey had never seen before.

  The gypsy studied the cards for a moment, then turned to Drew.

  “Drew Moore,” she said. “I see that you are sometimes more a follower than a leader. You must be careful to guard against that. It will get you into trouble. Especially when you let Kelsey make all the decisions.”

  Kelsey shot a quick glance at Drew. His jaw dropped and his eyes grew wide.

  Kelsey squirmed in her chair. How did she know Drew’s last name? she wondered. How? Kelsey knew she never said it. And neither did Drew. Not outside. And not inside.

  Then she spotted it. Drew’s beach pass. Pinned to his shirt. With his name printed in big red letters, Drew T. Moore. Kelsey laughed out loud as she stared down at her own badge. Then she pointed it out to Drew.

  “What is funny?” The old woman snarled.

  “Um. Nothing,” Kelsey replied.

  “Then why do you laugh?” the old woman pressed.

  “Well, it’s just that your fortunetelling powers aren’t all that, um, mysterious,” Kelsey confessed.

  Drew kicked Kelsey under the table.

  “Do you think Madame Valda is a fake?” The old woman’s voice rose to a screech.

  “I know Madame Valda is a fake,” Kelsey replied, imitating the gypsy’s accent.

  “You have insulted the famous Madame Valda,” the fortuneteller roared. She jerked to her feet and loomed over Kelsey. “Apologize now, or live the rest of your life in fear.”

  “In fear of what?” Kelsey asked, staring directly into Madame Valda’s dark eye. “I’m not afraid of you.”

  “Oh, yes, you are!” Madame Valda cried. “I am the most powerful fortuneteller who ever lived. And I know all your fears, you foolish child. All your fears!”

  “Just say you’re sorry and let’s go,” Drew said, pushing his chair from the table. Then he added in a whisper, “She’s worse than scary—she’s nuts.”

  “No,” Kelsey told Drew. “I am not afraid.”

  Madame Valda’s eyes flickered. She leaned in, closer to Kelsey. Kelsey could feel the gypsy’s hot breath on her face. Then she whispered, “Only a fool is not afraid.”

  Before Kelsey could reply, the old woman reached down and flipped over the next card in the deck. She threw it down onto the table in front of Kelsey.

  It looked like a joker.

  Kelsey read the words on the bottom of the card—the Fool.

  “The cards never lie! You are the fool, and I curse you for the rest of your life. Now get out!” she cried. “Get out. Now!”

  Kelsey and Drew jumped up and bolted for the door. Madame Valda’s voice thundered behind them. “You will believe. You will know fear.”

  As soon as Kelsey’s and Drew’s feet hit the boardwalk, they broke into a run.

  But Madame Valda’s voice trailed after them. “Fear! Fear! Fear!” she cried out over their pounding sneakers. “You will know fear!”

  Kelsey and Drew ran faster. But Madame Valda’s voice seemed as close as before. Kelsey glanced back. “Oh, no!” she cried. “She is crazy! She’s coming after us!”

  3

  Kelsey’s heart pounded as she ran faster.

  Her lungs felt as if they were about to explode.

  She turned back—and there was Madame Valda. Right behind her!

  This is unreal, Kelsey’s mind whirled. How could an old lady run so fast?

  “She’s right behind us!” Drew cried out, panting.

  “Leave us alone!” Kelsey screamed over her shoulder.

  Madame Valda’s right eye burned into Kelsey—and Kelsey stopped running.

  “Run! Run!” Drew screamed.

  But Kelsey couldn’t move. She felt paralyzed. Frozen in place by the dark eye of the fortuneteller.

  The gypsy reached out and clutched Kelsey’s shoulder with her bony fingers. A sharp pain shot down Kelsey’s arm. She tried to jerk away, but Madame Valda held her tightly.

  The old gypsy laughed. A hideous laugh.

  “Not afraid!” she cackled. “Oh, yes. You will be afraid!” She whisked the Fool card before Kelsey’s eyes, then tossed it in the air.

  “Fool! Fool! Fool!” she cried. “Only a fool is not afraid!”

  Kelsey and Drew watched as the card flew up. And up. And up. Until it faded to a white flicker in the sky. Then it was gone.

  Kelsey wrenched free of Madame Valda’s grip, and she and Drew flew down the boardwalk. She ran so fast, her lungs burned in her chest. She quickly glanced b
ack—to see if the fortuneteller was still following them.

  But Madame Valda was gone.

  “Drew! Stop!” Kelsey grabbed her cousin’s arm. “Look! Madame Valda. She disappeared.”

  Drew spun around. Kelsey was right. Madame Valda had simply vanished.

  “How did she run so fast?” Drew asked, out of breath.

  “I don’t know,” Kelsey replied, shaking her head. “Do you think she really was a fortuneteller? I mean, a real fortuneteller? With real powers?”

  “Come on, Kelsey,” Drew replied. “Now you sound as crazy as that old hag.”

  “Yeah, you’re right,” Kelsey said. But she didn’t sound as if she meant it. “So, um, you don’t think she put a curse on us, right?” Kelsey asked.

  “Not on me,” Drew answered. “I was nice to her, remember?”

  “Thanks a lot.” Kelsey punched Drew in the arm.

  “Come on, Kelsey,” Drew said. “She probably isn’t even a real gypsy.”

  Kelsey knew that Drew was probably right. But she kept picturing the fortuneteller’s strange eyes. And she kept hearing her voice. That horrible voice screaming, “Fool! Fool! Fool!”

  “Forget the fortuneteller.” Drew headed toward the exit. “We’ve got real problems. We’re late for dinner.”

  Kelsey checked her watch. “Oh, no!” she groaned. “We’re already a half hour late. Mom’s going to kill us!”

  Kelsey and Drew hurried out the exit. They were only eight blocks from the beach house. If they ran, they’d be home in five minutes.

  “Let’s take the shortcut home,” Kelsey suggested as she dashed ahead of Drew. “It’s right there.” She pointed ahead. “The alley that runs behind the Italian restaurant.”

  Drew followed Kelsey past the restaurant and into the narrow, winding alley.

  “Where does this go?” Drew asked as they sprinted around the alley’s turns and curves.

  “To the parking lot on Eighteenth Street,” Kelsey answered. “Then we’ll be only two blocks from home.”

  But as they rounded the last curve, Kelsey knew something was wrong. She faced a dead end—a sooty brick wall that rose at least twenty feet high. No parking lot.

  “This is really strange,” she said, glancing around the alley. It was dark and dingy. Totally deserted. “I’m sure there was a parking lot here last summer.”