Series 2000- Headless Halloween Read online

  A dozen hands poked up. Now a dozen more, shimmering yellow and green in

  the moonlight.

  69 Hands reaching up from the ground. Grabbing, grabbing at air. Pushing

  the dirt aside … stretching … stretching …

  And then heads. Human heads. Hair caked with dirt. Skin loose, hanging

  from their skulls.

  Head after head poked up from the dirt.

  They stared at me with pleading eyes, faces twisted, mouths hanging open

  as if in pain.

  “Take me with you,” one of them called in a dry whisper.

  “No. Take me!” another croaked.

  “Take me with you. Take me with you.” The chant went up.

  And they reached for me - all of them - reaching from under the dirt,

  hands curling and uncurling, eyes, vacant sunken eyes, pleading, pleading.

  “Take me with you.”

  How can this be happening? How can dead people poke up from the dirt?

  Were they really dead? What was going on here? I wondered.

  I shut my eyes. Forced myself to spin away from the ugly, frightening

  sight.

  And then, with a lurching start, I ran. Ran full speed, leaning forward,

  my arms outstretched.

  My legs felt wobbly and weak. My throat tightened until my breath

  escaped in wheezing gasps.

  But I ran, ran blindly, ran without slowing. Followed the curving path

  through the trees.

  70 And then stopped with a cry as the trees ended.

  As the ground ended.

  And I stared at a deep gash in the ground. A break. A split in the earth.

  The ravine?

  Yes!

  I had found it. I had returned to it.

  Raven’s Ravine stretched darkly in front of me.

  “Oh, thank goodness,” I sighed.

  I bent forward, lowering my hands to my knees. And waited to catch my

  breath. Waited for my head to stop spinning, for my temples to stop

  throbbing.

  I stood there hunched over for a minute, maybe two. Breathing …

  breathing … and staring at the narrow ravine.

  I jumped it once, I told myself. I can jump it again.

  And then I’ll be home. Then I’ll be away from this empty, frightening place.

  Finally starting to feel normal, I stood up straight. And stepped to the

  edge of the ravine.

  “No problem,” I murmured. “I can jump this easily.”

  I lowered my gaze down the side of the steep cliff to the dark rocks below.

  And cried out when I saw a body. A boy - sprawled at the bottom. Lying

  on his stomach. Arms and feet spread over the rocks as if hugging them.

  71 Cal?

  Cal?

  My whole body trembling, I dropped to my knees. Leaned over the side to

  see better.

  Cal?

  Cal must have followed me out of Mr. Benson’s house. He must have tried

  to jump the ravine too.

  And missed. Missed.

  And now my friend - my best friend - lay there, crushed, stretched out

  over the rocks, lifeless and unmoving.

  “Cal?” I called down to him, my voice hoarse and trembling.

  “Cal? Are you alive? Can you hear me?”

  No.

  “Cal? Can you move? Can you - “

  Whoa.

  Wait.

  I grasped the dirt edge of the ravine and leaned farther over the side.

  Leaned until I nearly fell in.

  “Cal?”

  No.

  Not Cal.

  Squinting hard, leaning as far as I could, I saw that it wasn’t Cal

  sprawled on the rocks below.

  Not Cal. Not Cal. Not Cal.

  It was me.

  72 My breath burst from my chest like an explosion.

  My whole body lurched from the shock.

  And before I could pull back from the edge, I started to fall.

  As I toppled forward, strong hands grabbed my shoulders. Someone pulled

  me back. Hoisted me back onto solid ground. And flung me - flung me with

  incredible strength - onto my back.

  Whimpering in shock, my chest heaving up and down, I stared up at Norb.

  “Problem?” he asked calmly, eyeing me through the ugly mask.

  Over his shoulder, I saw the others appear. Max in his skeleton costume,

  the vampire, the girl

  73 dressed as a monkey. Still in costume, they stepped out of the woods

  and made their way to the ravine’s edge.

  I forced myself to sit up. “What …” I choked out. I couldn’t finish my

  thought.

  They all laughed. Norb stood over me, hands on his waist.

  I tried again. “What … happened?”

  Norb shook his head. “Brandon, don’t you get it?”

  “No,” I told him. “What is happening? Down there … ” I pointed to the

  ravine.

  “It’s you,” he said flatly.

  “I know. But - ” I swallowed.

  “You didn’t make it,” he said softly.

  “Huh?”

  “You tried to jump the ravine, and you didn’t make it.” He hunched down

  next to me. “Try to remember.”

  “I - I can’t,” I stammered. “I jumped and … ” I thought hard. I

  remembered landing hard … everything going dark.

  Was it true?

  I didn’t make it across the ravine?

  “You died,” Norb said flatly, with no emotion at all. “Your body died

  down there, Brandon. But your spirit made it to the other side.”

  “The other side,” a girl murmured.

  “The other side … The other side …”

  74 “My spirit!” I gasped.

  Norb nodded. “You’ve joined us on the other side.”

  “No. No way,” I murmured weakly. I shook my head. “I don’t believe it.”

  “You’re with us now, Brandon,” Norb repeated. “You will stay with us on

  the other side.”

  “Forever,” the skeleton chimed in.

  “Forever,” a girl repeated.

  “No!” I protested. I grabbed the front of Norb’s jacket with both hands.

  “No!” I cried. “You’ve got to let me go. Please - let me go!”

  He shook his head. “Can’t.”

  “I promise I’ll be good. I’ll never scare anyone again! Promise!” I wailed.

  They all laughed. Cold, scornful laughter.

  “Can’t do,” Norb said softly.

  He brushed my hands away. “You’re frightened - aren’t you?” he demanded.

  “Yes,” I confessed. “I’m frightened.”

  “Now you know what it feels like,” he replied. “Now you’re on the other

  end. You know what it feels like to be really scared.”

  “I promise I’ll never frighten anyone again!” I cried. “Listen to me. I

  promise - “

  The others burst into laughter once more.

  I couldn’t resist looking again. My legs trembling, I crawled back to

  the ravine’s edge - and peered down.

  75 Peered down at my own body. Stretched over the rocks. So still. So

  horribly still.

  “What can I do?” I demanded, turning back to Norb. “There has to be

  something I can do to get back.”

  He stared at me for what seemed like hours. “Maybe … ” he said finally.

  “Tell me!” I screamed. “Please - I’m begging you! I can’t stay here on

  the other side! I have to go back! Tell me what I can do!”

  Norb’s eyes flashed behind the mask. “There’s only one way,” he said.

  76 What? I scrambled over to him and grab
bed his jacket again. “Tell me

  what I have to do. I’ll do anything!”

  “It won’t be easy - for you,” Norb replied.

  “I’ll do it,” I promised. “Whatever it is.”

  “You have to help people,” he said.

  “Huh?” I waited desperately for him to continue.

  A gust of cold air swirled around us. A clump of dirt broke off the edge

  of the ravine and tumbled to the rocks below.

  A picture flashed into my mind. A terrifying picture. I saw myself

  falling down to the rocks, falling like a clump of dirt.

  “You have to help people who are frightened,” Norb continued finally.

  “You have to rescue them.

  78 Three people. You have to find three frightened people and help them.”

  I stared at him. “Is that all?”

  He nodded. “It won’t be easy!” he said again, his voice just above a

  whisper.

  “I can do it,” I vowed. “And after I do it … ?”

  “You can stay on your side,” he replied. “You can go back to your life.”

  “Th-thanks,” I stammered. “I - “

  “Don’t thank me,” Norb replied coldly. “If you fail, you won’t feel like

  thanking me. If you fail, you will never see your family or friends

  again. You will stay with us on the other side.”

  “I won’t fail,” I told him.

  He snickered. “Oh, yeah?” he sneered. “Oh, yeah? We’ll see about that.”

  And then he shot up both arms - and gave me a hard shove over the side

  of the ravine.

  77

  20

  I screamed all the way down.

  I landed on my side on the sharp, jagged rocks at the bottom of the

  ravine. Bounced once. Then lay still.

  I shut my eyes and waited for the crushing pain.

  But to my surprise, I felt nothing.

  I opened my eyes, my heart still pounding in my chest. And stared at the

  body sprawled facedown on the rocks beside me.

  My body.

  I grabbed it by the shoulders and turned it over.

  A wave of nausea rolled over me. I couldn’t bear to look at myself. I

  let go of the body. It fell back onto the rocks with a soft PLOP.

  I’m dead, I thought, hugging myself. Struggling to fight down the nausea.

  I’m really dead.

  79 How can I help people without my body? I wondered.

  How can I rescue three frightened people if I’m a ghost?

  I need my body, I told myself. If I’m a ghost, I’ll terrify people. I

  won’t be able to help them.

  I raised my eyes to the top of the ravine. “Hey!” I called up. “Are you

  still there? Norb? Are you up there?”

  No reply.

  I heard giggling, hushed whispers.

  I cupped my hands around my mouth and shouted. “I can hear you. I know

  you’re up there!”

  Finally, Norb’s masked face appeared over the cliff’s edge. “What do you

  want, Brandon? Do I have to give you another push to get you started?”

  More giggling behind him.

  “I need my body!” I cried. “How can I help anyone without my body?”

  Norb frowned down at me. “You can have it back for one hour,” he announced.

  “Only one hour? But - but - ” I sputtered.

  “Yes. You have only one hour. One hour to save three frightened people.”

  “And if I can’t do it in one hour?” I asked in a trembling voice.

  No reply.

  Norb vanished from view. Silence up there now.

  It didn’t matter. I knew the answer to my question.

  81 If I didn’t rescue three people in one hour, I’d return to the other

  side. And stay there … forever.

  But how do I get my body back? I wondered.

  “Norb, I need your help,” I shouted. “How do I - “

  Suddenly I felt so warm, so snug.

  I gazed down at the ground - my body wasn’t there.

  I’m back to being me! I realized. I’m not dead anymore.

  I stood up and tested it. Wriggled my hands. Bent my knees. I coughed.

  Laughed. Shook my whole body.

  It felt so wonderful to be me again!

  “Only one hour,” I reminded myself.

  I stepped up to the cliff wall, dug my hands into the hard, rocky dirt,

  and started to pull myself up to the top.

  I was about halfway up when I heard the furious animal snarls.

  80

  21

  The snarls became an angry howl. My heart stopped. I clung to the side

  of the ravine.

  Two animals now, growling furiously.

  I recognized the sound. Mr. Benson’s attack dogs.

  Were they waiting for me at the top?

  I pulled myself up higher. My legs trembled so hard, I nearly toppled

  back down.

  Above me, the dogs growled and barked angrily. Darkness rolled over me

  as the moon vanished behind clouds once again.

  Rocks crumbled at my feet and fell to the ravine’s bottom. I heard them

  hit the ground below. And again, I pictured myself falling, falling to

  my death.

  82 I shook away the image and I forced myself to the top.

  The shrill howls of the dogs sent chill after chill down my back. I

  stepped onto the flat ground - and prepared myself for their attack.

  No.

  No dogs waiting. No dogs tensed for attack at the ravine’s edge.

  Mr. Benson’s old house rose up darkly in front of me. The angry dogs

  were inside.

  Above their howls, I heard a terrified cry. A human cry.

  Cal?

  Was Cal still in the house? Did time stand still while I was on the

  other side?

  I lurched across the backyard, my shoes slipping on the frosty, wet grass.

  Another hoarse cry of terror floated out from the open kitchen window.

  Yes. Cal.

  I recognized Cal’s voice.

  I dove to the window. Leaned over the ledge and peered into the dark house.

  The two sleek gray dogs, snarling and barking, had Cal backed into a

  corner. He had his hands raised in front of him, as if trying to shield

  himself.

  The dogs bared their teeth. One of them angled back on its haunches,

  preparing to leap.

  Cal lowered his hands. His eyes met mine.

  84 “Brandon!” he gasped. “Where did you go? Help me! Hurry!”

  I lifted myself over the window ledge.

  “Help me!” Cal pleaded. “They’re going to tear me to pieces!”

  I landed hard on my feet on the kitchen floor. “What can I do?” I cried.

  “Get them off! Get them away!” Cal shrieked.

  “I - I’ll try!” I stammered.

  I took a few steps toward the angry dogs.

  One of them turned and bared its teeth at me, a deep growl bursting from

  its throat.

  And then the other one swung around, its eyes glowing red. Both dogs

  studied me now. Cal stayed pressed in the corner, his big chest heaving

  up and down, his arms still raised as a shield.

  Low, menacing growls from both dogs.

  “Whoa - ” I murmured.

  They moved quickly.

  Lowering their heads, they shot across the room - and sprang at me!

  [83]

  22

  I tried to duck under them.

  Too late.

  Heavy paws hit me hard. My chest. My shoulder.

  I staggered back against the sink.

  And howled in pain as one of the snarling creatur
es sank its teeth into

  my ankle.

  As I slid to the floor, I glimpsed Cal frozen in the corner, his eyes

  wide with fright.

  “Run!” I screamed. “Get out of here! Go!”

  A dog leaped at me again. Pushed me onto my back on the floor. The other

  dog tore at my jeans cuff.

  “Get out of here!” I shouted again.

  Finally, Cal moved. He took a few unsteady steps toward the back door.

  85 “Go!” I shrieked as both dogs tore at me with their teeth.

  “B-But … you?” Cal stammered.

  “Don’t worry about me!” I cried. “You can’t help me! Get out! Out!”

  He hesitated another second. “I’ll get help,” he said.

  He shoved open the back door with both hands and disappeared outside.

  A dog paw slashed across my face. Twisting and pulling, the other dog

  tore at my jeans.

  Gasping, I struggled to wrestle free.

  They won’t stop until they’ve torn me apart, I realized. I’ll never be

  able to save anyone!

  I’ve got to get them off me. I have to find a way to distract them.

  I kicked out at the snarling dog at my feet.

  It uttered an enraged howl - and dug its teeth harder into my jeans leg.

  Over my gasping breaths, I heard a loud RRRIP as the creature pulled the

  jeans apart.

  The other dog stood on my chest, pinning me to the floor.

  How can I distract them? I asked myself. How?

  And then I spotted the trick-or-treat bag on the kitchen counter. The

  bag Cal and I had taken from the little kid.

  There was still some candy in the bag, I remembered.

  86 And dogs like candy - right?

  In my panic, my mind whirred from thought to thought.

  Get the bag to the dogs. Show the candy to them.

  Maybe … maybe they’ll go for the candy. Maybe they’ll let go long

  enough for me to escape.

  The kitchen counter stood in the middle of the room. Miles away …

  With a groan, I shoved the big dog off my chest.

  I rolled onto my side.

  Then I kicked out hard with both legs. Kicked the other dog off me. It

  tilted up its head, roaring in rage.

  I rolled again. Jumped to my feet.

  Dove for the counter.

  Yes. Yes!

  I grabbed the bag in both hands - and heaved it to the floor.

  The bag landed on its side. Candy bars rolled onto the floor.

  Would the dogs go for it? Would they go for the candy?

  I stared at the floor as they approached it. Sniffed it.