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Authors: R.L. Stine

BOOK: Midnight Games

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She petted Candy Shutt's head, smoothing back her red hair.

“I don't understand,” I said. “Why did you make it look like
I
was the murderer?”

“To distract everyone,” she replied, still petting Candy's head. “To throw suspicion off Jamie so I could do my work.”

She moved quickly, spinning away from the poor dead girl's head, and grabbed me by the shoulders. “Enough talk,” she said, scowling at me. “You've outlived your usefulness, Cousin dear. And we can't allow you to tell everyone the truthâcan we?”

“Wh-what are you doing?” I demanded.

But I didn't need to ask. I knew what she was doing. She was backing me up to the open kiln.

Her fingers tightened around my arms. She pushed me with incredible strength.

“I have a lot more thieves to deal with,” she said. “The Night People. They all stole from me, from my house. They all must die.”

“Let me goâplease!” I begged. “I didn't steal anything! I wasn't around then! Pleaseâstop!”

Gripping my arms, she gave me a hard shove. BackÂ .Â .Â . backÂ .Â .Â .

I tried to dig my heels in. But my sneakers slid over the concrete floor.

BackÂ .Â .Â . backÂ .Â .Â .

Her dark eyes glowed with excitement.

I could feel the heat of the kiln burning my back.

“PleaseâAngelica, pleaseâ”

She gave me one last, powerful shove and sent me toppling backward.

A wave of burning heat washed over
me. As I fell back, toward the open kiln door, I reached out. Reached out with both hands searching for something to grab on to.

My right hand clasped the amulet. As I fell back, I pulled it off Angelica's throat. It clattered to the floor.

I kicked out with my feet. Squirmed away from the kiln. I hit the floor hard on my elbows and knees. My skin burned. I wondered if my clothes would burst into flame.

I saw Angelica bend down to retrieve the pendant.

My one chance. I knew I had only a few seconds.

I jumped up. Dove forward. And shoved her with all my might.

The amulet flew from her hand as Angelica sailed into the kiln.

A scream of horror like the howl of a wild animal burst from inside the kiln. I covered my ears, but I couldn't drown out the horrifying sound.

It seemed to go on for hours. An endless, shrill scream of pain.

Orange and red flames rose high, shooting out in all directions. And then, behind the flames, I saw thick swirls of greenÂ .Â .Â . a green cloud, putrid, so sour-smelling that I had to hold my breath. Choking clouds of green gas, puff after puff, until the garage was filled.

My eyes watered. The odor made me retch.

I gasped as Jamie's body staggered out from the flaming kiln. She stumbled forward, collapsed in a smoldering heap on the floor. And didn't move.

Choking, retching, I dropped onto my knees beside her. Was it Jamie now? Or Angelica?

The howl of pain continued inside the kiln. The green gas spewed out from the open door.

Jamie opened her eyes. She blinked up at me. “Dana? What's going on? Where am I?” She squinted at me. “Heyâwhat are
you
doing in Shadyside?”

“Jamie?” I cried. “I live with you now. I moved here last month. Don't you remember?”

She sat up. “You live here? Why don't I remember that?”

She doesn't remember anything, I realized. But she seems okay.

From inside the kiln, the screaming came to an abrupt stop. The putrid, green gas slowly faded away.

I've killed her, I thought joyfully. I've destroyed Angelica Fear. She was consumed in the fire.

And then I saw the amulet. Its blue jewels gleamed up at me from the floor. The
real
amulet. Angelica's secret to immortality. The amulet with all its evil magic.

What should I do with it?

I didn't have to think for long. I decided to grab it and toss it into the kiln after Angelica. Let it burn up with her and be gone forever.

I picked the pendant up from the floor and
swung it in the air by the chain. And as I started to swing it into the open kiln door, I heard a fluttering sound at the garage window and saw movement behind me. A darting black shadow.

“Look out!” Jamie cried.

I turned in time to see a huge blackbird come swooping at me. Screeching, it raised its talons.

As it dove toward me, it turned its head, and I saw its missing eye. A dark socket on one side.

I let out a cry as the enormous bird grabbed the amulet from my hand. Grasped it in one gnarled talon. With another screech, it turned in midair. And flapping its wide, papery wings, it swooped out through the open garage window, carrying the amulet with it.

Stunned, I stayed there on my knees on the garage floor. Jamie climbed slowly to her feet. I could see the confusion in her eyes as she grabbed my hands and pulled me up.

“DanaâI don't understand,” she started. But then she saw where I was staring, and she stopped.

I was staring at the three heads on the
pedestals, the heads of the murdered girls. Their eyelids began to blink. Their mouths opened. They licked their dry, shriveled lips with purple-black tongues.

And then, as I grabbed Jamie and held on to her in terror, all three heads began to cry out in unison:

“The evil lives! The evil lives!”

TO BE CONTINUED

in
FEAR STREET NIGHTS #3:

DARKEST DAWN

Here's a sneak peek at

FEAR STREET NIGHTS #3:

DARKEST DAWN

The evil isn't dead yetÂ .Â .Â .Â .

Both girls were screaming now,
screaming and crying, and frantically pulling at their hair.

They probably wouldn't make it to the dance.

I decided it was time for me to leave. I raised my wings and took off, floating high above Jamie's house.

They still hadn't seen me. If they had, they would have screamed some more. They would have recognized me, the blackbird with one eye missing.

And they would know that the EVIL lives, the evil still haunts them.

At least, they consider me evil. I have a different point of view. I think I'm on the side of justice. I only want what is fair.

After all, they invaded my house last year. They broke into the Fear Mansion and looted it. They gleefully stole our possessions.

Didn't anyone ever teach these kids that crime doesn't pay?

Well, that's what I plan to do. I plan to teach them that important lesson.

Dana and Jamie think they have killed the evil. Burned it in that fiery kiln in Jamie's garage. They think they can relax now.

But I'm still here.

I'm closer to them than ever.

And I have the amulet. The jeweled pendant that gives me so much power.

They won't get away with their crime. I'll see to that.

I'm not evil. What an ugly word that is. I desire only
justice
.

Trying to burn us away gives me even more reason to seek my revenge.

Even more reason to kill them one by one.

About the Author

R.L. Stine invented the teen horror genre with Fear Street, the bestselling teen horror series of all time. He also changed the face of children's publishing with the mega-successful Goosebumps series, which
Guinness World Records
cites as the Best-Selling Children's Books ever, and went on to become a worldwide multimedia phenomenon. The first two books in his new series Mostly Ghostly,
Who Let the Ghosts Out?
and
Have You Met My Ghoulfriend?
are
New York Times
bestsellers. He's thrilled to be writing for teens again in the brand-new Fear Street Nights books.

R.L. Stine has received numerous awards of recognition, including several Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards and Disney Adventures Kids' Choice Awards, and he has been selected by kids as one of their favorite authors in the National Education Association Read Across America. He lives in New York City with his wife, Jane, and their dog, Nadine.

D
ON'T MISS A SINGLE

#1: Moonlight Secrets

#2: Midnight Games

#3: Darkest Dawn

AND THESE OTHER CHILLING TALES FROM

FEAR STREET:
^Â®

All-Night Party

The Confession

Killer's Kiss

The Perfect Date

The Rich Girl

The Stepsister

A Parachute Press Book

This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author's imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.