11 - The Haunted Mask Page 5

  No. The voices were unfamiliar. They were arguing about where to trick-or-treat next. One of them wanted to go home and call a friend.

  How about a little scare for you guys? Carly Beth thought, a smile spreading across her face. How about something to remember this Halloween night?

  She waited, listening, until they were a few feet away. She could see them now. Two mummies, their faces wrapped in gauze.

  Closer, closer. She waited for the perfect moment.

  Then she burst from the shadows, uttering an angry animal howl that shattered the air.

  The two boys gasped and jumped back.

  “Hey—!” One of them tried to shout, but his voice caught in his throat.

  The other one dropped his bag of candy.

  As he started to pick it up, Carly Beth moved quickly. She grabbed the bag from his hand, jerked it away from him, and started to run.

  “Come back!”

  “That’s mine!”

  “Hey—”

  Their voices were high and shrill, filled with fear and surprise. As she ran across the street, Carly Beth glanced back to see if they were following her.

  No. They were too frightened. They stood huddled together on the corner, shouting after her.

  Holding the stolen candy bag tightly in her free hand, Carly Beth tossed back her head and laughed. A cruel laugh, a triumphant laugh. A laugh she had never heard before.

  She emptied the boy’s candy into her own bag, then tossed his bag onto the ground.

  She felt good, really good. Really strong. And ready for more fun.

  Come on, Chuck and Steve, she thought. It’s YOUR turn next!

  17

  Carly Beth found Chuck and Steve a few minutes later.

  They were across the street from her, standing in the light of someone’s driveway, examining the contents of their trick-or-treat bags.

  Carly Beth ducked behind the wide trunk of an old tree near the sidewalk. Her heart began to pound as she spied on them.

  Neither boy had bothered to put on a real costume. Chuck had a red bandanna tied around his head and a black mask over his eyes. Steve had blackened his cheeks and forehead with big smudges and wore an old tennis hat and a torn raincoat.

  Is he supposed to be a bum? Carly Beth wondered.

  She watched them sift through their bags. They had been out for quite a while, she saw. Their bags appeared pretty full.

  Suddenly, Steve glanced up in her direction.

  Carly Beth jerked her head back behind the tree trunk.

  Had he seen her?

  No.

  Don’t blow it now, she told herself. You’ve waited so long for this moment. You’ve waited so long to pay them back for all the scares.

  Carly Beth watched the two boys make their way up to the front porch of the next house. Nearly tripping over the broomstick, she darted away from the tree. She ran across the street and ducked low behind a hedge.

  When they come back down the drive, I’ll leap out. I’ll pounce on them. I’ll scare them to death, she thought.

  The low hedge smelled piney and sweet. It was still wet from the morning’s rain. The wind made the leaves tremble. What was that strange whistling sound?

  It took Carly Beth a while to realize it was her own breathing.

  She suddenly began to have doubts.

  This isn’t going to work, she thought, crouching lower behind the trembling hedge.

  I am a complete jerk. Chuck and Steve aren’t going to be scared by a stupid mask.

  I’m going to jump out at them, and they’re going to laugh at me. As they always do.

  They’re going to laugh and say, “Oh, hi, Carly Beth. Looking good!” Or something like that.

  And then they’ll tell everyone in school how I thought I was so scary and how they recognized me immediately and what a total jerk I am. And everyone will have a good laugh at my expense.

  Why did I ever think this would work? What made me think it was such a hot idea?

  Crouched behind the hedge, Carly Beth could feel her anger grow. Anger at herself. Anger at the two boys.

  Her face felt burning hot inside the ugly mask. Her heart thudded loudly. Her rapid breaths whistled against the flat nose.

  Chuck and Steve were approaching. She could hear their sneakers crunch over the gravel driveway.

  Carly Beth tensed her leg muscles and prepared to pounce.

  Okay, she thought, taking a deep breath, here goes!

  18

  It all seemed to happen in slow motion.

  The two boys moved slowly past the hedge. They were talking excitedly to each other. But to Carly Beth, their voices seemed low and far away.

  She pulled herself up, stepped out from the hedge, and screamed at the top of her lungs.

  Even in the dim light, she could see their reactions clearly.

  Their eyes went wide. Their mouths dropped open. Their hands shot up above their heads.

  Steve cried out. Chuck grabbed the sleeve of Steve’s coat.

  Carly Beth’s scream echoed over the dark front lawn. The sound seemed to hover in the air.

  Everything moved so slowly. So slowly, Carly Beth could see Chuck’s eyebrows quiver. She could see his chin tremble.

  She could see the fear shimmer in Steve’s eyes as they moved from her mask up to the head on the broomstick.

  She waved the broomstick menacingly.

  Steve uttered a frightened whimper.

  Chuck gaped at Carly Beth, his frightened eyes locked on hers. “Carly Beth—is that you?” he finally managed to choke out.

  Carly Beth uttered an animal growl, but didn’t reply.

  “Who are you?” Steve demanded, his voice trembling.

  “It—it’s Carly Beth—I think!” Chuck told him. “Is it you in there, Carly Beth?”

  Steve let out a tense laugh. “You—scared us!”

  “Carly Beth—is it you?” Chuck demanded again.

  Carly Beth waved the broomstick. She pointed up to the head. “That’s Carly Beth’s head,” she told them. Her voice was a deep, throaty rasp.

  “Huh?” Both boys gazed up at it uncertainly.

  “That’s Carly Beth’s head,” she repeated slowly, waving it toward them. The painted eyes of the sculpted face appeared to glare down at them. “Poor Carly Beth didn’t want to give up her head tonight. But I took it anyway.”

  Both boys stared up at the head.

  Chuck continued to grip Steve’s coat sleeve.

  Steve uttered another tense laugh. He stared at Carly Beth, his expression confused. “You’re Carly Beth, right? How are you making that weird voice?”

  “That’s your friend Carly Beth,” she growled, pointing up to the head on the broomstick. “That’s all that’s left of her!”

  Chuck swallowed hard. His eyes were trained on the bobbing head. Steve stared intently at Carly Beth’s mask.

  “Hand over your candy,” Carly Beth snarled, surprised by the vicious tone in her voice.

  “Huh?” Steve cried.

  “Hand it over. Now. Or I’ll put your heads on the stick.”

  Both boys laughed, shrill giggles.

  “I’m not joking!” Carly Beth roared.

  Her angry words cut their laughter short.

  “Carly Beth—give us a break,” Chuck muttered uncertainly, his eyes still narrowed in fear.

  “Yeah. Really,” Steve said softly.

  “Hand over your bags,” Carly Beth insisted coldly. “Or your heads will adorn my stick.”

  She lowered the broomstick toward them menacingly.

  And as she lowered it, all three of them stared up at the dark-eyed face. All three of them studied the frozen face, the face that looked so real, that looked so much like Carly Beth Caldwell.

  A sudden breeze swirled around them, making the head bob on the stick.

  And then, all three of them saw the eyes blink.

  Once. Twice.

  The brown eyes blinked.

  And the
lips on the head parted, making a dry scraping sound.

  Frozen in horror, Carly Beth stared up at the face along with the two boys.

  And all three of them saw the lips move. And heard the dry, crackling sound.

  All three of them saw the dark lips squeeze together, then part.

  All three of them saw the bobbing head form the silent words: “Help me. Help me.”

  19

  In her horror, Carly Beth let go of the broomstick. It hit the ground beside Chuck. The head rolled under the hedge.

  “It—it talked!” Steve cried.

  Chuck uttered a low whimper.

  Without another word, both boys dropped their candy bags and took off, their sneakers thudding loudly on the sidewalk.

  The wind swirled around Carly Beth as if holding her in place.

  She felt like tossing her head back and howling.

  She felt like tearing off her coat and flying through the night.

  She felt like climbing a tree, leaping onto a roof, roaring up at the starless, black sky.

  She stood frozen for a long moment, letting the wind sweep around her. The boys were gone. They had fled in terror.

  Terror!

  Carly Beth had succeeded. She had scared them nearly to death.

  She knew she’d never forget the horrified looks on their faces, the fear and disbelief that glowed in their dark eyes.

  And she would never forget her feeling of triumph. The thrilling sweetness of revenge.

  For a brief moment, she realized, she had felt the fear, too.

  She had imagined that the head on the stick had come to life, had blinked its eyes, had spoken silently to them.

  For a brief moment, she had caught the fear. She had fallen under the spell of her own trickery.

  But, of course, the head hadn’t come alive, she assured herself now. Of course the lips hadn’t moved, hadn’t made their silent plea: “Help me. Help me.”

  It had to be shadows, she knew. Shadows cast by the light of the moon, floating out from behind the shifting, black clouds.

  Where was the head?

  Where was the broomstick she had dropped?

  It didn’t matter now. They were no longer of any use to her.

  Carly Beth had won her victory.

  And now she was running. Running wildly over the front lawns. Jumping over shrubs and hedges. Flying over the dark, hard ground.

  She was running blindly, the houses whirring past on both sides. The blustery wind swirled, and she swirled with it, rising over the sidewalks, rushing through tall weeds, blowing with the wind like a helpless leaf.

  Holding her bulging candy bag, she ran past startled trick or treaters, past glowing pumpkins, past rattling skeletons.

  She ran until her breath gave out.

  Then she stopped, panting loudly, and shut her eyes, waiting for her heart to stop pounding, for the blood to stop pulsing at her temples.

  And a hand grabbed her shoulder roughly from behind.

  20

  Startled, Carly Beth shrieked and spun around. “Sabrina!” she cried breathlessly.

  Grinning, Sabrina let go of her shoulder. “I’ve been looking for you for hours,” Sabrina scolded. “Where’d you go?”

  “I—I guess I got lost,” Carly Beth replied, still struggling to catch her breath.

  “One minute you were there. The next minute, you disappeared,” Sabrina said, adjusting her mask over her dark hair.

  “How’d you do?” Carly Beth asked, trying to speak in her normal voice.

  “I ripped my catsuit,” Sabrina complained, frowning. She pulled at the Lycra material on one leg to show Carly Beth. “Snagged it on a stupid mailbox.”

  “Bad news,” Carly Beth sympathized.

  “Did you scare anyone with that mask?” Sabrina demanded, still fingering the tear in the catsuit leg.

  “Yeah. A few kids,” Carly Beth replied casually.

  “It’s really gross,” Sabrina said.

  “That’s why I picked it.”

  They both laughed.

  “Did you get a lot of candy?” Sabrina asked. She picked up Carly Beth’s bag and looked inside. “Wow! What a haul!”

  “I hit a lot of houses,” Carly Beth said.

  “Let’s go back to my house and check out the loot,” Sabrina suggested.

  “Yeah. Okay.” Carly Beth followed her friend across the street.

  “Unless you want to trick-or-treat some more,” Sabrina offered, stopping in the middle of the street.

  “No. I’ve done enough,” Carly Beth said. She laughed to herself. I did everything I wanted to do tonight.

  They started walking again. They were walking against the wind, but Carly Beth didn’t feel at all chilled.

  Two girls in frilly dresses, their faces brightly made up, funny, blonde, moplike wigs on their heads, ran by. One of them slowed when she caught sight of Carly Beth’s mask. She uttered a soft gasp, then hurried after her friend.

  “Did you see Steve and Chuck?” Sabrina asked. “I searched everywhere for them.” She groaned. “That’s all I did tonight. I spent the whole night looking for everybody. You. Steve and Chuck. How come we never got together?”

  Carly Beth shrugged. “I saw them,” she told her friend. “A few minutes ago. Back there.” She motioned with her head. “They’re such scaredy-cats.”

  “Huh? Steve and Chuck?” Sabrina’s expression turned to surprise.

  “Yeah. They got one look at my mask and they took off,” Carly Beth told her, laughing. “They were screaming like babies.”

  Sabrina joined in the laughter. “I don’t believe it!” she exclaimed. “They always act so tough. And—”

  “I called after them, but they just kept running,” Carly Beth told her, grinning.

  “Weird!” Sabrina declared.

  “Yeah. Weird,” Carly Beth agreed.

  “Did they know it was you?” Sabrina asked.

  Carly Beth shrugged. “I don’t know. They took one look at me, and they ran like rabbits.”

  “They told me they planned to scare you,” Sabrina revealed. “They were going to sneak up behind you and make scary noises or something.”

  Carly Beth snickered. “It’s hard to sneak up behind someone when you’re running for your life!”

  Sabrina’s house came into view. Carly Beth shifted the candy bag to her other hand.

  “I got some good stuff,” Sabrina said, peering into her bag as she walked. “I had to get a lot. I have to share it with my cousin. She has the flu and couldn’t trick-or-treat tonight.”

  “I’m not sharing any of mine,” Carly Beth said. “Noah went out with his pals. He’ll probably come home with a year’s supply.”

  “Mrs. Connelly gave cookies and popcorn again this year,” Sabrina said, sighing. “I’ll just have to throw it all out. Mom won’t let me eat anything that isn’t wrapped. She’s afraid some ghoul will put poison in it. I had to throw out a lot of good stuff last year.”

  Sabrina knocked on her front door. A few seconds later, her mother opened it and the girls entered. “That’s some mask, Carly Beth,” she said, studying it. “How’d you girls do?”

  “Okay, I think,” Sabrina replied.

  “Well, just remember—”

  “I know. I know, Mom,” Sabrina interrupted impatiently. “Throw out everything that isn’t wrapped. Even the fruit.”

  As soon as Mrs. Mason had gone back to the den, the two girls turned over their bags and dumped all the candy onto the living room rug.

  “Hey, look—a big Milky Way!” Sabrina declared, pulling it out of the pile. “My favorite!”

  “I hate these!” Carly Beth said, holding up an enormous blue jawbreaker. “The last time I tried sucking one of these, I cut my tongue to pieces.” She tossed it onto Sabrina’s pile.

  “Thanks a bunch,” Sabrina said sarcastically. She tugged off her mask and dropped it onto the carpet. Her face was flushed. She shook out her black hair.

  “There. Th
at feels better,” Sabrina said. “Wow. That mask was hot.” She raised her eyes to Carly Beth. “Don’t you want to take off your mask? You must be boiling inside it!”

  “Yeah. Good idea.” Carly Beth had actually forgotten she was wearing a mask.

  She reached up with both hands and tugged at the ears. “Ouch!” The mask didn’t budge.

  She pulled it by the top of the head. Then she tried stretching it out and tugging it from the cheeks.

  “Ouch!”

  “What’s wrong?” Sabrina asked, concentrating on sorting her candy into piles.

  Carly Beth didn’t reply. She tried prying the mask off at the neck. Then she tugged it up by the ears again.

  “Carly Beth—what’s wrong?” Sabrina asked, looking up from her candy.

  “Help me!” Carly Beth pleaded in a shrill, frightened voice. “Please—help me! The mask—it won’t come off!”

  21

  On her knees on the carpet, Sabrina glanced up from her piles of candy bars. “Carly Beth, stop clowning around.”

  “I’m not!” Carly Beth insisted, her voice shrill with panic.

  “Aren’t you tired of scaring people tonight?” Sabrina demanded. She picked up a clear plastic bag of candy corn. “Wonder if Mom will let me keep this. It’s wrapped.”

  “I’m not trying to scare you. I’m serious!” Carly Beth cried. She tugged at the ears of the mask, but couldn’t get a good grip.

  Sabrina tossed down the bag of candy corn and climbed to her feet. “You really can’t get the mask off?”

  Carly Beth pulled hard on the chin. “Ouch!” She cried out in pain. “It—it’s stuck to my skin or something. Help me.”

  Sabrina laughed. “We’re going to look pretty stupid if we have to call the fire department to get you out of your mask!”

  Carly Beth didn’t find it funny. She gripped the top of the mask with both hands and pulled with all her strength. The mask didn’t budge.

  Sabrina’s grin faded. She stepped over to her friend. “You’re not goofing—are you. You’re really stuck.”

  Carly Beth nodded. “Well, come on,” she urged impatiently. “Help me pull it off.”