The Ghost Next Door Read online

  I’ll have to prove it myself, Hannah decided. I’ll study him. I’ll be scientific. I’ll observe him. I’ll spy on him.

  Yes. I’ll spy on him.

  I’ll go look in his kitchen window, she decided.

  She stepped out onto the back stoop and pushed the screen door shut behind her. It was a warm, still night. A pale sliver of moon hung above the backyard in a royal-blue sky.

  As Hannah headed across her backyard, taking long, rapid strides, crickets began to chirp loudly. Danny’s house loomed in front of her, low and dark against the sky.

  The ladder was still propped against the back wall.

  Hannah crossed the driveway that separated her yard from his. Her heart pounding, she crept across the grass and climbed the three low concrete steps onto the back stoop. The kitchen door was closed.

  She stepped up to the door, pressed her face close to the window, peered into the kitchen — and gasped.

  Hannah gasped because Danny was staring back at her from the other side of the window.

  “Oh!” she cried out and nearly toppled backward off the narrow stoop.

  Inside the house, Danny’s eyes opened wide with surprise.

  Behind him, Hannah could see a table set with bright yellow plates. A tall, slender, blond-haired woman — Danny’s mom, most likely — was pulling something out from a microwave oven onto the counter.

  The door swung open. Danny poked his head out, his expression still surprised. “Hi, Hannah. What’s up?”

  “Nothing. I — uh — nothing, really,” Hannah stammered. She could feel her cheeks grow hot, and knew she was blushing.

  Danny’s eyes burned into hers. His mouth turned up in a grin. “Well, do you want to come in or something?” he asked. “My mom is serving dinner, but —”

  “No!” she cried, much too loudly. “I don’t — I mean — I —”

  I’m acting like a total jerk! she realized.

  She swallowed hard, staring at his grinning face.

  He’s laughing at me!

  “See you!” she cried, then leapt awkwardly off the stoop, nearly stumbling to the ground. Without looking back, she took off, running at full speed back to her house.

  I’ve never been so embarrassed in my entire life! she thought miserably.

  Never!

  * * *

  When she saw Danny come out of his house the next afternoon, Hannah hid behind the garage. Watching him walk his bike down the driveway, she felt her cheeks grow hot, felt embarrassed all over again.

  If I’m going to be a spy, I’m going to have to be a lot cooler, she told herself. Last night, I lost it. I panicked.

  It won’t happen again.

  She watched him climb on his bike and, standing up, pedal to the street. Pressed against the garage wall, she waited to see which direction he turned. Then she hurried into the garage to get her bike.

  He’s heading toward town, she saw. Probably meeting those two boys. I’ll let him get a head start, then I’ll follow him.

  She waited at the foot of the driveway, straddling her bike, watching Danny until he disappeared down the next block.

  Sunlight filtered through the overhanging trees as she began pedaling, keeping a slow, steady pace as she rode after him. Mrs. Quilty was out weeding her garden as usual. This time, Hannah didn’t bother to call hello.

  A small white terrier chased her for half a block, yapping loudly with excitement, then finally giving up as Hannah pedaled away.

  The school playground came into view. Several kids were playing softball on the corner diamond. Hannah looked for Danny, but he wasn’t there.

  She continued on into town. The sun felt warm on her face. She suddenly thought about Janey. Maybe I’ll get a letter from her today, she thought.

  She wished Janey were around to help spy on Danny. The two of them would be a great spy team, Hannah knew. She wouldn’t have lost her cool like she had last night if Janey were around.

  The town square came into view. The flag above the small, white post office was fluttering in a warm breeze. Several cars were parked in front of the grocery. Two women holding grocery bags were talking at the curb.

  Hannah braked her bike and lowered her feet to the ground. She shielded her eyes from the sun with one hand and searched for Danny.

  Danny, where are you? she thought. Are you with your friends? Where did you go?

  She pedaled across the small, grassy square toward the post office. Her bike bumped over the curb and she kept going, around the side of the building to the alley.

  But the alley was silent and empty.

  “Danny, where are you?” she called aloud in a quiet singsong. “Where are you?”

  He was only a block ahead of me, she thought, scratching her short hair. Has he vanished into thin air again?

  She rode back to the square, then checked out Harder’s Ice-Cream Parlor and the diner.

  No sign of him.

  “Hannah, you’re a great spy!” she laughed.

  With a sigh of defeat, she turned around and headed for home.

  She was nearly to her house when she saw the moving shadow.

  It’s back! she realized.

  She shifted gears and started to pedal harder.

  Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the shadow sliding across Mrs. Quilty’s front lawn.

  The dark figure floated silently over the grass toward her.

  Hannah pedaled harder.

  It’s back. I didn’t imagine it.

  It’s real.

  But what can it be?

  Standing up, she pedaled harder. Harder.

  But the figure glided along with her, picking up speed, floating effortlessly.

  She turned to see its arms stretch out toward her.

  She gasped in terror.

  Her legs suddenly felt as if they weighed a thousand pounds.

  I — I can’t move! she thought.

  The shadow swept over her. She could feel the sudden cold.

  Sticklike black arms reached out for her from the human-shaped shadow.

  Its face — why can’t I see its face? Hannah wondered, struggling to keep moving.

  The shadow blocked the bright sun. The whole world was blackening beneath it.

  Got to keep moving. Got to move, Hannah told herself.

  The dark figure floated beside her, its arms outstretched.

  Gaping in horror, Hannah saw bright red eyes glowing like embers from the blackness.

  “Hannah …” it whispered. “Hannah …”

  What does it want from me?

  She struggled to keep pedaling, but her legs wouldn’t cooperate.

  “Hannah … Hannah …”

  The dry whisper seemed to circle her, to wrap her in terror.

  “Hannah …”

  “No!” she screamed as she felt herself start to fall.

  She struggled to keep her balance.

  Too late.

  She was falling. She couldn’t stop herself.

  “Hannah … Hannah …”

  She reached out her hands to break her fall.

  “Ooof!”

  She gasped in pain as she landed hard on her side.

  The bike fell on top of her.

  The shadow figure, its red eyes glowing, moved in to capture her.

  “Hannah! Hannah!”

  “Hannah! Hannah!”

  Its whisper became a shout.

  “Hannah!”

  Her side throbbed with pain. She struggled to catch her breath.

  “What do you want?” she managed to cry. “Leave me alone! Please!”

  “Hannah! It’s me!”

  She raised her head to see Danny standing above her. He straddled his bike, gripping the handlebars, staring down at her, his features tight with concern. “Hannah — are you okay?”

  “The shadow!” she cried, feeling dazed.

  Danny lowered his bike to the grass and hurried over. He lifted her bike off her and set it down beside his. Then he reached
for her hands. “Are you okay? Can you get up? I saw you fall. Did you hit a rock or something?”

  “No.” She shook her head, trying to clear it. “The shadow — he reached for me and —”

  Danny’s expression changed to bewilderment. “Huh? Who reached for you?” His eyes searched all around, then returned to her.

  “He knew my name,” Hannah said breathlessly. “He kept calling me. He followed me.”

  Danny studied her, frowning. “Did you hit your head? Do you feel dizzy, Hannah? Maybe I should go get some help.”

  “No … I … uh …” She gazed up at him. “Didn’t you see him? He was dressed in black. He had these glowing red eyes —”

  Danny shook his head, his eyes still studying her warily. “I only saw you,” he said softly. “You were riding really fast. Over the grass. I saw you fall.”

  “You didn’t see someone wearing black? A man? Chasing me?”

  Danny shook his head. “There was no one else on the street, Hannah. Just me.”

  “Maybe I did bump my head,” Hannah muttered, raising her hands to her short hair.

  Danny reached out a hand. “Can you stand? Are you hurt?”

  “I — I guess I can stand.” She allowed him to pull her to her feet.

  Her heart was still pounding. Her entire body felt shaky. Narrowing her eyes, she searched the front yards, her eyes lingering in the wide circles of shade from the neighborhood’s old trees.

  No one in sight.

  “You really didn’t see anyone?” she asked in a tiny voice.

  He shook his head. “Just you. I was watching from over there.” He pointed to the curb.

  “But I thought …” Her voice trailed off. She could feel her face grow red.

  This is embarrassing, she thought. He’s going to think I’m a total nut case.

  And then she thought, maybe I am!

  “You were going so fast,” he said, picking up her bike for her. “And there are so many shadows, from all the trees. And you were frightened. So maybe you imagined a guy dressed in black.”

  “Maybe,” Hannah replied weakly.

  But she didn’t think so….

  * * *

  High white clouds drifted over the sun the next afternoon as Hannah jogged down the driveway to the mailbox. Somewhere down the block, a dog barked.

  She pulled down the lid and eagerly reached inside.

  Her hand slid over bare metal.

  No mail. Nothing.

  Sighing with disappointment, she slammed the mailbox lid shut. Janey had promised to write every day. She had been gone for weeks, and Hannah still hadn’t received even a postcard.

  None of her friends had written to her.

  As she trudged back up the driveway, Hannah glanced at Danny’s house. The white clouds were reflected in the glass of the big living room window.

  Hannah wondered if Danny was home. She hadn’t seen him since yesterday morning after falling off her bike.

  My spying isn’t going too well, she sighed.

  Taking another glance at Danny’s front window, Hannah continued up the drive to the house.

  I’ll write to Janey again, she decided. I have to tell her about Danny and the frightening shadow figure and the weird things that have been happening.

  She could hear the twins in the den, arguing loudly about which cartoon they wanted to see. Her mother was suggesting they go outside instead.

  Hannah hurried to her room to get paper and a pen. The room felt hot and stuffy. She had tossed a pile of dirty clothes onto her desk. She decided to write her letter outside.

  A short while later, she settled under the wide maple tree in the center of the front yard. A blanket of high clouds had rolled over the sky. The sun was trying to poke out from the white glare. The old, leafy tree protected her in comforting shade.

  Hannah yawned. She hadn’t slept well the night before. Maybe I’ll take a nap later, she thought. But first, I have to write this letter.

  Leaning back against the solid trunk, she began to write.

  Dear Janey,

  How are you? I seriously hope you’ve fallen in the lake and drowned. That would be the only good excuse for not writing to me in all this time!

  How could you ABANDON me here like this? Next summer, one way or the other, I’m going to camp with you.

  Things are definitely WEIRD around here. Do you remember I told you about that boy who moved in next door? His name is Danny Anderson, and he’s kind of cute. He has red hair and freckles and SERIOUS brown eyes.

  Well, don’t laugh, Janey — but I think Danny is a GHOST!

  I can hear you laughing. But I don’t care. By the time you get back to Greenwood Falls, I’m going to have PROOF.

  Please — don’t tell the other girls in your bunk that your best friend has totally freaked until you read the rest of this. Here is my evidence so far:

  1. Danny and his family suddenly appeared in the house next door. I didn’t see them move in, even though I’ve been home every day. Neither did my parents.

  2. Danny says he goes to Maple Avenue, and he says he’s going into eighth grade just like us. But how come we’ve never seen him? He hangs out with two guys I’ve never seen before. And he didn’t know any of my friends.

  3. Sometimes he vanishes — POOF — just like that. Don’t laugh! And once he fell off the roof and landed on his feet — without making a SOUND! I’m SERIOUS, Janey.

  4. Yesterday, I was being chased by a scary shadow, and I fell off my bike. And when I looked up, the shadow was gone, and Danny was standing in his place. And —

  Uh-oh. This is starting to sound really crazy. I wish you were here so I could explain it better. It all sounds so DUMB in a letter. Like I’m really MESSED UP or something.

  I know you’re laughing at me. Well, go ahead.

  Maybe I won’t mail this letter. I mean, I don’t want you to make jokes, or remind me of it for the rest of my life.

  So, enough about me.

  How’s it going out there in the woods? I hope you were bitten by a snake and your entire body swelled up, and that’s why I haven’t heard from you.

  Otherwise, I’m going to KILL you when you get back! Really!

  WRITE!

  Love,

  Hannah

  Yawning loudly, Hannah dropped her pen to the ground. She leaned back against the tree trunk and slowly read over the letter.

  Is it too crazy to send? she wondered.

  No. I have to send it. I have to tell somebody what’s going on here. It’s all too weird to keep to myself.

  The sun had finally managed to burst through the clouds. The tree leaves above her head cast shifting shadows across the letter in her lap.

  She glanced up into bright sunlight — and gasped, startled to see a face staring back at her.

  “Danny!”

  “Hi, Hannah,” he said quietly.

  Hannah squinted up at him. His entire body was ringed by bright sunlight. He seemed to be shimmering in the light.

  “I — I didn’t see you,” Hannah stammered. “I didn’t know you were here. I —”

  “Give me the letter, Hannah,” Danny said softly but insistently. He reached out a hand for it.

  “Huh? What did you say?”

  “Give me the letter,” Danny demanded, more firmly. “Give it to me now, Hannah.”

  She gripped the letter tightly and stared up at him. She had to shield her eyes. The bright sun seemed to shine right through him.

  He hovered above her, his hand outstretched. “The letter. Hand it to me,” he insisted.

  “But — why?” Hannah asked in a tiny voice.

  “I can’t let you mail it,” Danny told her.

  “Why, Danny? It’s my letter. Why can’t I mail it to my friend?”

  “Because you found out the truth about me,” he said. “And there’s no way I’ll let you tell anyone.”

  “So, I’m right,” Hannah said softly. “You’re a ghost.”

  She shudd
ered, a wave of cold fear sweeping over her.

  When did you die, Danny?

  Why are you here? To haunt me?

  What are you going to do to me?

  Questions raced through her mind. Frightening questions.

  “Give me the letter, Hannah,” Danny insisted. “No one will ever read it. No one can know.”

  “But, Danny —” She stared up at him. Stared up at a ghost.

  The golden sunlight poured through him. He shimmered in and out of view.

  She raised a hand to shield her eyes.

  He became too bright, too bright to look at.

  “What are you going to do to me, Danny?” Hannah asked, shutting her eyes tight. “What are you going to do to me now?”

  He didn’t reply.

  When Hannah opened her eyes, she stared up into two faces instead of one.

  Two grinning faces.

  Her twin brothers pointed at her and laughed. “You were asleep,” Bill said.

  “You were snoring,” Herb told her.

  “Huh?” Hannah blinked several times, trying to clear her mind. Her neck felt stiff. Her back ached.

  “Here’s how you were snoring,” Herb said. He performed some hideous snuffling sounds.

  Both boys fell to the grass, laughing. They rolled onto each other and began an impromptu wrestling match.

  “I had a bad dream,” Hannah said, more to herself than to her brothers. They weren’t listening to her.

  She climbed to her feet and stretched her arms above her head, trying to stretch away her stiff neck. “Ow.” Falling asleep sitting up against a tree trunk was a bad idea.

  Hannah gazed toward Danny’s house. That dream was so real, she thought, feeling a cold chill down her back. So frightening.

  “Thanks for waking me up,” she told the twins. They didn’t hear her. They were racing toward the backyard.

  Hannah bent down and picked up the letter. She folded it in half and made her way up the lawn to the front door.

  Sometimes dreams tell the truth, she thought, her shoulders still aching. Sometimes dreams tell you things you couldn’t know any other way.

  I’m going to find out the truth about Danny, she vowed.

  I’m going to find out the truth if it kills me.

  * * *

  The next evening, Hannah decided to see if Danny was home. Maybe he’d like to walk to Harder’s and get ice-cream cones, she thought.