Who Let the Ghosts Out? Read online

  I glanced back and saw him floating in place, watching me escape. “Trade places with me!” he called.

  I turned and ran. The solid black wall stood up ahead. Still no opening back to my room.

  Gripping the box, I stopped running. Panting hard, I stood and stared at the wall. I had Nicky's box. But now I seemed to be stuck here. No escape from the tunnel.

  With a groan, I sank to the floor. I sat down cross-legged with the box between my knees.

  “Hey—!” I cried out when I felt the pull. A strong force, pulling me into the black wall.

  I grabbed the shoe box. I tried to stand up. But the force was too powerful. I felt like a tiny tack being pulled by a powerful magnet.

  Phears!

  The thought of his name sent a shiver down my back.

  Somehow Phears had followed me. And now he was pulling me toward him, pulling me into the wall.

  The force tugged me by the feet. I struggled to stand up, but it was too powerful. I couldn't fight it.

  Flat on my back, gripping the box in both hands, I slid feetfirst toward the opening. Desperate to pull free, I dug my sneakers into the floor. I twisted my body and shoved one hand onto the floor.

  Gripping the floor, digging in my heels, I slowed my slide. But the force was too powerful to resist.

  I heard a thud. Felt a crushing blow at the back of my head.

  I remember the pain. I remember collapsing lifelessly to the tunnel floor. I remember the blackness sweeping over me.

  That's all I remember.

  21

  I CAME BACK TO life slowly, blinking, my head aching. I struggled to focus my eyes.

  Where was I?

  The back of my head throbbed with pain. Lying flat on my back, I squinted across the room. I saw a dresser with a lamp on it, a Lara Croft poster on the wall behind it.

  I sat up with a groan. I slapped the mattress with both hands. I was in my own bed, in my bedroom. Or was this some kind of trick? Had Phears pulled me into a parallel universe? (I saw an episode of Outer Limits that was like that.)

  Leaning on my elbows, I pulled myself up higher.

  “Awesome. Check out Sleeping Beauty,” a girl's voice said. Tara popped into view beside the bed.

  “Our hero,” Nicky declared. He appeared on the other side of the bed.

  I blinked again. “Am I really home?”

  “Yeah, thanks to us,” Nicky said. “We pulled you out of the tunnel. But it took all our strength away. After we got you in bed, we vaporized for hours.”

  “Why did you fight us like that?” Tara demanded. “We were trying to save your life. We were trying to pull you to safety, and you gave us such a hard time. What was up with that?”

  “I had to hit you on the head to make you stop battling us,” Nicky said.

  “I…I thought you were Phears,” I said. “I'm sorry, guys.”

  “No problem,” Nicky said. He held up the shoe box and grinned at me. “You the man, Max. You the man!”

  I climbed out of bed, grinning. “Yes. I found that box.”

  “I knew you were secretly brave,” Tara said.

  “Am I?” I asked weakly.

  Nicky slapped me a high five. “You the man!” he repeated. “This is so awesome! I know the box belongs to me, but I can't remember what's in it. Maybe it has some clues about Mom and Dad—or how we ended up as ghosts.”

  “You didn't open it?” I asked.

  “We were too weak,” Nicky said. “Besides, we wanted to wait for you. Let's open it now.” He pulled off the lid and dumped the contents onto my bed.

  “Wow! Look at all this stuff!” Nicky exclaimed. “Hey—I'm starting to remember some of it. It's a bunch of junk I collected.”

  I leaned forward to examine the contents of the box. I saw a small square mirror, two comic books, a sealed glass bottle that appeared to be empty, a red plastic ball, a wristwatch with a totally blank face, a framed photograph, a glowing red ring …

  “Wow! Check out that ring!” I said. I picked it up and studied it. “What makes it glow like that?”

  Nicky frowned at it. “I don't know. I don't remember that ring at all.”

  “It looks like a real magician's ring,” I said. “Can I wear it on Halloween when I do my magic act?”

  “No problem,” Nicky said. “But aren't you grounded for Halloween?”

  “Mom will probably let me go,” I said. “Especially when she sees how neat my room is. Good job, guys.”

  Nicky scratched his head and stared down at all the stuff. “I hid this box away for a reason,” he said. “But I can't remember why. And how did it end up in that tunnel?”

  Tara picked up the framed photograph, and her eyes grew wide. “Oh, wow. Look, Nicky. It's Mom and Dad.”

  They gazed at the photo with sad smiles. “They look so young in this picture,” Nicky said.

  He turned the frame so I could see it. I saw a young couple, both with wavy dark hair, standing on an ocean beach. The man was very tanned and had bright blue eyes. He had his arm around his wife, who was thin and much shorter than him, and had an awesome smile.

  “They look really nice,” I said. I could see that Nicky and Tara were near tears.

  “We've got to find them,” Tara whispered. “What if they're in trouble?”

  Nicky gripped the photo tightly in his hands and studied it. “I'm starting to remember things,” he said. “It's like the photo is giving off clues.”

  “What do you remember?” Tara asked.

  “Mom and Dad were scientists. Yes. I can see them wearing white lab coats. They were scientists …and they studied …they studied … ghosts! Yes. I remember. Ghosts!”

  “Ghosts?” I said. “For real?”

  He nodded. “Paranormal activities. The supernatural.”

  “Cool,” I said. “That's amazing.”

  “I remember now …, ” Nicky said, gripping the photo tightly. “They thought they could capture ghosts. No, wait. Maybe they did capture ghosts.”

  “Did they capture them in that tunnel?” I asked.

  Nicky shut his eyes and squeezed the photo frame in his hands. “That's all the photo is telling me. I can't get any more from it.”

  “Let me hold it,” Tara said. She grabbed the photo from Nicky and raised it close to her face.

  I heard thudding footsteps. “Hey, Maxie— what's up?” Colin burst into the room. He took a few steps, then froze. His mouth dropped open. “Hey—that picture! It's floating in mid-air!”

  I grabbed it away from Tara. “Oh …uh… yeah,” I said, thinking quickly. “Someone sent it to me airmail.”

  Colin stared at it in my hands. “Weird.”

  “What do you want, Colin?” I asked.

  He pointed to the Halloween costume I had draped over my desk chair. The big furry bear costume I planned to wear for trick-or-treating.

  “Maxie, remember I said you could come trick-or-treating with my friends?”

  “Yeah, I remember,” I said. “Mom said I couldn't go trick-or-treating with just Aaron. I had to go with some bigger kids.”

  “Well, you can't come with me and my friends,” Colin said. “Because that stupid bear costume is too dorky. We'd be embarrassed to be seen with you.”

  “But … but …, ” I sputtered. “You picked it out for me!”

  Colin shrugged. “Too bad. Your costume sucks big-time.”

  “But that means I can't go trick-or-treating!” I cried.

  Colin laughed his nastiest laugh. “Tough cheese.”

  Behind him, I glimpsed Nicky and Tara floating across the room to the bear costume. “Let's give Colin a little Halloween thrill,” Nicky said.

  “We don't want to scare him too badly,” Tara said.

  “Of course we do,” Nicky replied.

  I watched Nicky slide into the costume and pull on the mask. Slowly, the bear began to rise from the chair.

  I pointed, and Colin spun around.

  The bear stood up tall and stretched h
is big furry forelegs over his head.

  “N-no—!” Colin stammered. His eyes nearly bulged out of his head. “It—it's walking! But that's impossible! No!”

  The bear stretched its forelegs straight out and came staggering toward Colin.

  Colin let out a frightened shriek and tore out of the room. “Mom! Help! Mom! Help me!”

  Tara and I laughed as the bear chased Colin down the hall. I ran out to watch. Colin made the stairs, turned, and saw the bear lurching after him.

  “Mom! Help me!”

  He started down the stairs. Lost his balance and tumbled all the way down. At the bottom, he jumped to his feet and kept running, screaming the whole way.

  I heard the back door slam. “He's gone,” Tara said. “Did you see the look on his face?”

  Nicky came loping back. “I kinda get the idea your brother is afraid of bears,” he said.

  Laughing together, we returned to my room. The bear costume draped itself over the chair again, and Nicky slid out.

  Nicky and Tara are really cool, I thought. I could never get Colin like that on my own.

  The phone rang, and I picked it up.

  “Hi, Max? This is Traci.”

  Traci Wayne calling me? Was I dreaming?

  “Unngh unnngh,” I said. I was in total shock.

  “Max, I know I said I'd help you with your magic act. But is there any way I can get out of it?”

  “Unnngh. Get out of it? Why?” I choked.

  “I really don't want to stand that close to you. You're dangerous.”

  I took a deep breath. Think fast, Max. What can you say to win her over?

  “Traci, you won't have to be close to me. I swear.”

  She groaned. “Okay. What do I have to do?”

  “You just have to stand on the trapdoor on the stage. When I raise a curtain in front of you, the trapdoor will go down and you'll disappear. That's all.”

  “That's all? You promise? And you won't fall on me or drop food on me or embarrass me in front of the whole school?”

  “Traci, it'll be a piece of cake. Really. It'll be fun. The trick is totally simple. It'll only take a minute or two. Nothing will go wrong. I promise.”

  Boy, was I wrong!

  22

  HALLOWEEN NIGHT. CAN YOU imagine how stressed out I was?

  I mean, what if I totally messed up?

  What if Joey flew away before I could slide him down my jacket sleeve? What if I dropped the eggs I was juggling and looked like a total klutz in front of two hundred kids? What if the Disappearing Girl trick didn't work, proving to Traci that I am a jerk for life?

  Halloween night, and my parents ungrounded me. Mrs. Wright was onstage in the auditorium. All the kids in school were there in their costumes—all except Aaron. He was grounded for Halloween—because he electrified his sister's fairy costume as a surprise and gave her second-degree burns.

  It took Mrs. Wright a long time to get the kids quiet. She waved her hands above her head and kept shouting into the microphone. Finally, everyone calmed down.

  “We have a special surprise,” Mrs. Wright said. The loudspeakers squealed. She backed away from the mike. “Give it up for some Halloween magic from the Great Max!”

  My big moment. I took a deep breath and pushed my cart of tricks onto the stage. Some kids clapped, some booed and hissed—just to be funny.

  Someone heaved a rubber bat toward the stage. It hit a kid in the front row in the back of the head. He picked it up and heaved it onto the auditorium balcony. That got a really big cheer.

  I signaled the guy in the audio booth, and my music started up. It was a hip-hop beat with lots of scratching. A good rhythm for juggling.

  “Here's how I'd like to start out my egg-citing egg-stravaganza!” I shouted. I picked up four hard-boiled eggs from the tabletop, stepped to the edge of the stage, waited for the beat, and started juggling.

  The audience grew quiet as I did my two-inthe-air-at-all-times move. But then a boy in the back row shouted, “Max—did you lay those eggs?”

  Kids burst out laughing, and I lost my rhythm. Two eggs landed at my feet with a loud craaaack. One egg bounced off my knee and into the front row. I held on to the other egg.

  Kids were booing and laughing.

  Easy, Max, I told myself. Remember the number one magician's rule: Don't panic.

  “I meant to do that!” I shouted. “And now, for my best juggling trick …” I began tossing the egg from hand to hand. “One-egg juggling!”

  Some kids thought that was funny. Someone tossed a plastic jack-o'-lantern onto the stage. I put the egg down and did some of my easy tricks. I pulled an endless string of handkerchiefs from my coat sleeve. Then I produced a bouquet of flowers from my magic wand.

  That went over pretty well. Kids applauded. “Go, Max!” a girl shouted.

  “Yeah. Go home!” someone else shouted.

  I ignored the laughter and lifted Joey from my upside-down top hat. That quieted them down a little. I held up the pigeon and announced, “I will now make this bird disappear in front of your eyes!”

  I held Joey higher and prepared to let him slide down my wide coat sleeve. But he jumped out of my hands and hopped onto the stage.

  “Great trick! Do it again!” that same boy in the back row shouted. Ha, ha. Big joke.

  I bent down to pick Joey up. But he hopped out of my reach. I stepped forward, grabbed for him again. And again, Joey took two hops away from me.

  The whole auditorium erupted in laughter. I could feel my face turning bright red. I made another grab for the stupid pigeon. Missed.

  I was ruined, I knew.

  My life was over.

  I could see Traci at the side of the stage, laughing at me and shaking her head.

  “Your act is bombing,” a voice beside me said. Nicky!

  “No biggie. We'll help you out,” Tara said. She swooped down and picked up Joey. She held him in the air and slowly moved him across the stage.

  The kids grew very quiet now. How could a pigeon float like that without moving its wings?

  I waved my arms toward the bird to make it look like I was making him fly.

  I glanced back and saw Nicky pick up the two eggs from the floor. He held them up and made them float too.

  Silence in the auditorium. I think they were all amazed by what they were seeing. A floating pigeon and two floating eggs?

  “Now for our best trick,” Tara said, setting Joey down.

  She and Nicky grabbed me around the waist— and lifted me off the floor.

  Kids gasped as I floated up and hung six inches off the ground.

  “Wow. You weigh a ton!” Tara groaned.

  Nicky grasped me under the arms. Tara had my waist. I stretched my arms straight out, and they made it look as if I was flying across the stage—like Superman.

  The auditorium was silent for a moment. Then the kids went nuts, cheering and screaming.

  “He can fly!” I heard Mrs. Wright exclaim.

  “Max, what planet are you from?” a kid screamed from the audience.

  “Weirdo! Weirdo! Weirdo!” Someone started the chant, and the whole audience picked it up.

  “Weirdo! Weirdo! Weirdo!”

  “Put me down—!” I whispered.

  “Don't fight us,” Tara said. “We're doing you a favor.”

  “You'll be famous after this,” Nicky said.

  The two ghosts turned me around and made me fly to the other side of the stage. Traci was standing there at the edge of the curtain, her hands over her mouth. “You're bizarre!” she cried. “You're some kind of alien! I'm outta here!” She turned and ran backstage.

  “But, Traci—our trick—” I called.

  Nicky and Tara turned me, made me spin high in the air, then flew me across the stage again.

  “Stop!” I pleaded. “You're scaring me!”

  Kids were on their feet, cheering.

  Halfway across the stage, Tara cried, “You're too heavy. I can't hold you anymo
re!” She dropped me. I fell hard, landed on my face and my stomach. I actually said, “Oooof!” which I thought only happened in comic books.

  I couldn't breathe for a moment. I guess I had the wind knocked out of me. I think I heard Nicky say to Tara, “We'd better go.” But my head was spinning and the stage tilted up and down under me, so I didn't really know what was going on.

  I only knew that while I was sprawled on the stage, I saw a fat brown cockroach crawl out from under the curtain. The cockroach slithered quickly toward me, its antennae straight up. And as it moved, it began to grow.

  I watched the insect plump up until it was the size of a chipmunk. A cockroach as big as a chipmunk! And now it didn't crawl—it waddled!

  I watched it inflate until it grew as big as a cocker spaniel! Its antennae stretched as long as my arms, and the armor on its wet brown back crackled as it moved.

  The kids in the auditorium had stopped cheering. As the cockroach inflated, they screamed and shrieked—and stampeded to the exits.

  In front of me, the cockroach let out a loud burp. It stretched even bigger, almost as tall as me now, and I could see its gaping mouth, filled with a thick glob of yellow saliva.

  I knew what was happening. I knew Phears was about to pay another visit.

  And at that moment, my memory snapped back. I suddenly remembered Phears' first visit— Buster turned inside out. It all came back in a horrifying rush. Gasping, I struggled to my feet—in time to see the black cloud rise up from the enormous insect.

  Kids were still screaming in horror and running for the doors. I saw Mrs. Wright at the side of the stage, gulping in fright. She turned and ran.

  And I was all alone … all alone as Phears floated over me.

  “Don't move, Max!” he boomed. “Stay right there. My cockroach is very hungry.”

  23

  “NO—PLEASE!” I BEGGED. I raised both hands in front of me as if to shield myself. “Don't let that thing eat me. I already helped you once. Just let me go home.”

  “But you're not going home—ever again!” Phears shouted. His voice echoed off the walls of the empty auditorium.

  Behind him, the cockroach hacked up a disgusting slimeball. Its antennae quivered. Then the insect lowered a spiny tongue and lapped up what it had just coughed out.