The Face Page 10

  I saw Ivan gasp too.

  “Dr. Corben was such a good teacher. And I learned so quickly,” Adriana continued, her strange smile returning. “I gave you hypnotic suggestions, Martha. To keep you from remembering. I hypnotized you to keep you from remembering the truth.”

  “I don’t believe it,” I murmured, my hands still pressing against my cheeks. “And you left that message, that ugly phone message.”

  “I wanted you to feel guilty,” Adriana said. “I wanted you to feel deep down that you were the murderer.” The strange smile faded slowly.

  “But then you started to remember,” she murmured, lowering her eyes. “Then you started drawing Sean’s face over and over. That was your memory, trying to force its way back. That was your subconscious mind, guiding your hand.”

  She scowled at me, narrowing her eyes coldly. “I kept hypnotizing you. Kept giving you hypnotic suggestions. Tried to push your memories back. But … but …”

  Adriana opened her mouth and let out a cry, a horrifying cry of pain and anger.

  “Sean died because of you, Martha. I can’t let you go on living your perfect life as if nothing happened!”

  Before I could move, Adriana dived to the floor.

  She pulled the coiled-up silver wire from the bag.

  Ivan moved to stop her. He lunged toward his sister.

  She spun quickly. Raised a knee.

  Caught him in the pit of the stomach.

  He groaned. His eyes bulged in surprise. In pain.

  He crumbled to the floor.

  “Adriana—no!” I tried to shout, but my voice came out in a hoarse croak.

  I started to back away.

  Too late.

  Adriana grabbed me. Grabbed me roughly.

  Whirled me around.

  I saw the cold hatred in her eyes.

  And before I could cry out, she had the silver wire around my throat.

  And pulled it tight.

  I felt it cut into my skin.

  I couldn’t breathe.

  I couldn’t breathe at all.

  chapter 26

  The wire cut into my throat.

  Adriana pulled the wire tighter. Tighter.

  I raised my hands. Tried to grab her.

  But I could feel my strength flowing away. Emptying out. My life emptying out.

  I made another weak grab for Adriana.

  Staggered forward.

  I backed her into the desk. We both crashed hard against it, sending papers flying all over.

  I twisted around. Tried to pull away.

  But I couldn’t escape.

  Ivan? Where was Ivan?

  Still doubled over on the floor.

  “Aaaaach.” A final choking gasp escaped my throat.

  I felt so weak. So weak and frightened.

  No breath.

  No breath left.

  I shut my eyes.

  Saw only white. Such a clean, pure white.

  “Unh unh unnnnh.”

  What was that strange sound?

  “Unnnnh. Unnnh.”

  The sound of me dying?

  No. Breathing.

  I was breathing again. Sucking in breath after breath.

  “Unnnnh. Unnnnh.” Breathing noisily.

  The silver cord had loosened. Enough so that I could breathe.

  I opened my eyes.

  What had happened to Adriana? Why had she stopped strangling me? Why had she stopped? Why was I still alive?

  I struggled to focus. The bright, pure white faded so slowly … slowly.

  I sucked in another chestful of air.

  Adriana?

  She was staring down at the desktop. She had let go of the silver cord.

  She stared at the desktop, her hands at her sides.

  I blinked the pure white away. I had to see what she was staring at.

  I finally focused. And saw the face.

  My drawing of Sean’s face. The drawing had tumbled out of the pad.

  Adriana stared at the face as if hypnotized.

  “Adriana—?”

  She didn’t move. Didn’t blink. Didn’t breathe.

  She stared at my drawing. Stared at Sean. And he appeared to stare back at her.

  They stared at each other, Adriana and the dead boy, the boy she had loved.

  Ivan stepped up behind her and removed the wire from her hand. He grabbed her wrists and held her in place.

  But she didn’t move.

  “Call for help,” Ivan said softly.

  I turned away, rubbing my throat. I will, I thought. I’ll call the police. I knew they would get help for Adriana.

  I knew I was okay now. Knew we were all okay. Knew the nightmare was over.

  I slumped into Ivan’s arms. We held each other, so tightly.

  And still Adriana didn’t move.

  She stared unblinking, hypnotized by the face.

  The face that had puzzled me, upset me—horrified me for so long.

  The face that had saved my life.

  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 fifty mysteries and thrillers for young people, all of them bestsellers.

  Bob grew up in Columbus, Ohio. Today he lives in an apartment near Central Park in New York City with his wife, Jane, and fifteen-year-old son, Matt.

  THE NIGHTMARES NEVER END … WHEN YOU VISIT

  Next …

  SECRET ADMIRER

  (Coming in mid-February 1996)

  Selena is on top of the world. Everyone at Shadyside High can see that she’s going to be a famous actress someday. Everyone admires her. But someone admires her too much.

  When Selena starts receiving bouquets of dead flowers from a person called “The Sun,” she treats them as a joke. But The Sun makes it clear that this is no laughing matter. First, Selena’s understudy is injured in a suspicious “accident.” Then a speeding car nearly kills Selena herself.

  Anonymous notes tell her that “The Sun” is responsible.

  Now Selena’s number-one fan has become her number-one nightmare.

  A car to die for…

  The Evil Moon

  The Dark Secret

  The Deadly Fire

  Where the terror began…

  The Betrayal

  The Secret

  The Burning

  When the cheers turn to screams…

  The First Evil

  The Second Evil

  The Third Evil

  Three trilogies from

  R.L. STINE you won’t want to miss.

  Available from Archway Paperbacks

  Published by Pocket Books

 

 

  R.L. Stine, The Face

 

 

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