The Second Horror (3 page)

The overhead light clicked on. Mr. McCloy rushed to Brandt’s side. “What’s wrong? What happened?” He grabbed Brandt’s trembling shoulders and tried to calm him. Brandt swallowed hard. “My—my neck—” he managed to choke out. He rubbed the spot with his hand. It still felt cold. “You hurt your neck? You have a stiff neck?” Brandt’s father demanded, his voice clogged with sleep. “Let me see it” Brandt leaned forward. “Something—bit my neck,” he said. “Can you see where?” “I don’t see anything,” Mr. McCloy replied, lowering his head and squinting at the back of Brandt’s neck. “Another r-raccoon?” Brandt stammered. “I hope not,” his father muttered. He searched the room with his eyes. Then he bent down and checked under the bed. He pulled open the closet door and riffled through Brandt’s clothes. He checked under the desk, inside boxes—all over the room. Mr. McCloy let out a weary, relieved sigh. “Must have been a dream, Brandt. A nightmare.” Brandt rubbed the back of his neck. It felt okay now. His hand moved to the scar on his cheek. “It was so real, Dad. I really thought—” “You’re nervous about school tomorrow. That’s all,” Mr. McCloy assured him. “Try to get some sleep, okay?” “Okay.” Mr. McCloy switched off the light as he left the room. Brandt settled down in the darkness. He pulled the covers up to his chin. “A dream,” he muttered softly. “Just a stupid dream.” He had almost drifted off to sleep, when he felt a cold rush of air on his face again.

Brandt heard the roar of a vacuum cleaner as he started downstairs the next morning. Peeking into the living room, he was startled to see a short, squat, gray-haired woman vacuuming. Brandt had never seen her before. “Hi,” he called, but the woman didn’t glance up. Brandt figured she couldn’t hear him over the roar. He went into the kitchen. “Good morning, Brandt,” his father greeted him from the table. “Did you manage to get some sleep last night?” “A little,” Brandt replied. “Who’s that woman in the living room?” “Her name is Mrs. Nordstrom,” Mrs. McCloy told him. “She’s going to help me unpack and get the house into shape. Did you meet her? She’s very nice.” “I tried to say hello, but she had the vacuum cleaner going,” Brandt explained. “Where did she come from?” “Mr. Hankers recommended her the other day,” Mrs. McCloy said. “I was going to phone her this morning to see if she wanted a job. But she showed up before I even got a chance to call. I guess Mr. Hankers called her for me.” “She used to work for the previous owners of the house,” Mr. McCloy added.

“Do you want juice this morning, Brandt?” his mother asked. She opened a carton on the counter and pulled out a couple of juice glasses. “Just a little? Since it’s your first day at your new school?” “No, thanks,” Brandt said. He never ate breakfast, and his mother knew it. But she couldn’t stop pestering him about it anyway. He sat down at the table while his father read the newspaper and drank his coffee. His mother began to store the juice glasses in a cabinet. “I keep thinking about last night,” Brandt said. “That—that bite on my neck …” Raising his head from the newspaper, Mr. McCloy glanced across the room to his wife. She turned from the cabinet and met her husband’s gaze with a worried expression. “I don’t think it was a nightmare,” Brandt continued thoughtfully. “It seemed too real.” “Brandt—” His mother sat down at the table, absentmindedly gripping two glasses in her hands. “Do you really think there was someone in your room last night?” Mr. McCloy demanded, his eyes locked on Brandt. “I checked everywhere. Even under the bed.” “No—not a person,” Brandt replied, running a hand back through his dark, wavy hair. “But something. A spirit of some kind.” He smiled. “Maybe the house is haunted.” Brandt’s father chuckled. He set down his newspaper. “Maybe my research is rubbing off on you—playing on your imagination. After all, you’ve grown up in all kinds of strange places, hearing me talk about magic and spirits—” “Maybe,” Brandt admitted. “But I don’t think so.” Mr. McCloy rubbed his hands together and smiled. “Hmmm. It’s kind of tempting. Exciting. What if there is some kind of spirit right here in our own house?” Brandt’s mother flashed him a disgusted look. “Can’t we be serious? There aren’t gbqcts and spirits floating around everywhere in the world, you know? I’m sure the house is perfectly safe,” she insisted. “Maybe it’s haunted, and maybe it’s not,” Mr. McCloy said firmly. “There could be other explanations.” “But you’ll check it out?” Brandt asked. “Of course. How could I resist?” “Thanks, Dad.” Brandt’s mother glanced at the kitchen clock. “You’d better get going, Brandt,” she said. Brandt stood up. “I wanted to get there a little early. I was thinking I might try to meet a few kids before my first class.” “Just don’t overdo it, Brandt,” his father warned. “Remember—” “I know, I know. I’ll be careful,” Brandt groaned. He grabbed his backpack from the hall table and started out the door. The day was bright and warm for October, but the McCloys’ front yard lay in dark shadow. The trees and bushes were so thick they nearly blocked out the sunlight. Some of the leaves on the trees had turned yellow and red, but they clung to their branches as if for dear life. Brandt pulled the collar of his jeans jacket close around his neck. He started across the front yard, through the thicket of bushes and trees. This grass is so tall, he thought, kicking a path through the high blades. Mowing it is going to be a nightmare. Maybe that guy Hankers will do it.

As he moved toward the sidewalk, he gazed at the sunlight that fell onto the street. As soon as my front yard ends, the sunlight begins, he thought. Weird. He was stepping onto the sidewalk, when something pushed him, hard, from behind. An icy hand tightened itself on his shoulder.

With a startled gasp, Brandt spun around. And stared into the face of a girl about his age. “I’m sorry. I tripped,” she explained, blushing. “I didn’t mean to grab you.” She was small and pretty, blond, with bright blue eyes. She wore a short gray plaid wool skirt over black tights, and an oversize pale blue sweater. Brandt relaxed. “You scared me,” he confessed. “Do you live around here?” She nodded. “I’m Abbie Ayler,” she told him, straightening her sweater. “I’m not usually such a total klutz. How’s the new house? I saw you moving in the other day.” “It’s okay,” Brandt replied. “A little run-down though.” He told her his name. “Are you heading for school?” “Yeah, but I’m not going your way,” Abbie replied. “You’re going to Shadyside High, right?” Brandt nodded. “You don’t go there?” “No. Darwin Academy.” She made a face. “It’s a girls school.” “Oh,” Brandt said. “Too bad.” Abbie laughed. “Tell me about it.” She tossed back her blond hair. “So, it’s hard to move, huh? Makes you a little nervous? Or do you always jump three feet in the air when someone grabs your shoulder?” “I’m a little stressed,” Brandt admitted with a shrug. “It’s dark in your yard, isn’t it?” Abbie said, her blue eyes catching the sunlight. “All those big old trees.” “Yeah. Pretty dark.” “I suppose you’ve heard the stories about the house,” she said quietly. “Stories? What kind of stories?” Brandt demanded. Abbie shrugged. “I don’t know. Stories about the people who used to live here. I think something bad happened to them.” “Huh? What happened?” “I’m not really sure,” Abbie replied, staring up at the house. “People tell different stories. You know how it is.” “Did you know the family who lived here before?” Brandt asked, switching his backpack to his other shoulder. “Not really,” Abbie told him. “I saw the two girls once, I think. They were twins, but they didn’t look exactly alike. Anyway, they didn’t stay long.” “Why not?” Brandt asked. Abbie hesitated. “I heard one of the girls died.” “That’s awful,” Brandt exclaimed. “You mean she died right in my house?” Abbie nodded. “Yeah. I guess. Pretty horrible, huh?” She didn’t give him time to reply. “My uncle—he says there’s some kind of curse on the house. Like it’s evil or something.” Evil?

Brandt felt a cold chill. He thought of the raccoon that attacked him. And he thought of the cold lips on the back of his neck, the teeth that dug into his skin. “But I’m sure that’s just a lot of silly gossip,” Abbie added, seeing the troubled expression on Brandt’s face. “I mean, people tell all kinds of weird stories about Fear Street.” She let out an awkward laugh. “You’ll have to tell me some of the stories sometime,” Brandt told her. She’s really great looking, he thought. I think I’m going to like having her for a neighbor! But her words continued to trouble him. He glanced up at the house, resting in the shadows of the huge, dark trees. Then something caught his eye. Something moved in an upstairs window. Something dark. It swung heavily behind the glass. Brandt stared harder. The dark shape swayed in the window of his parents’ room. Brandt blinked and stared again, afraid to believe his own eyes. It couldn’t be true. But it was. His father’s body was hanging in the window.

Brandt heard Abbie scream. He turned to see her pointing up at the window. She saw it too. Without saying a word, Brandt ran blindly through the tall grass, up onto the porch, into the house. Abbie followed close behind. “Dad!” Brandt screamed frantically as he flew up the stairs. “Dad!” He stumbled and fell against the wall, then burst into his parents’ room. “Dad!” “Brandt? What on earth is the matter?” Mrs. McCloy stood calmly by the bed, plumping up a pillow. “What’s wrong, Brandt?” “Huh?” Brandt uttered a choked cry. The bathroom door opened. Brandt gaped in shock as his father stepped out “What’s going on?” Mr. McCloy demanded sharply. “I saw you leave for school.” Brandt turned to the window. One of his father’s suits was hanging there. “Oh, wow,” Brandt muttered. He heard giggling behind him. Abbie stepped up beside him, her eyes on the suit. Brandt burst out laughing too. “A suit!” he cried. “It’s only a suit!” “Brandt—have you totally lost it?” his mother demanded. His parents stared at him as if he had gone completely mad. “I’m sorry,” Brandt said, finally pulling himself together. “We thought you were that suit, Dad.” Mr. McCloy frowned and shook his head. “I don’t get it.” “This is Abbie,” Brandt told his parents. “She’s a neighbor.” “It’s nice to meet you, Abbie,” Mrs. McCloy said. “But, Brandt, I wish you wouldn’t bring guests into our bedroom like this. I haven’t even made the bed yet.” “I’m sorry, Mom,” Brandt said. “It was a mistake. A major mistake.” He and Abbie exchanged amused glances.

“We’d better get going,” Abbie said, starting out of the room. “It was nice to meet you.” Brandt and Abbie ran downstairs and outside the house, laughing all the way. “I really thought it was a man hanging in the window,” Abbie exclaimed. “Your parents must think I’m crazy! Or else very rude.” “I could’ve sworn it was my dad,” Brandt admitted. “I—I was so scared.” He smiled at her. He wondered if she liked him. Or did she just think he was weird? “Would you like to get together on Saturday afternoon?” he asked her. “Maybe we could study together or something.” “Yeah. Great,” Abbie replied, smiling back at him. “I’ll come over around two, okay?” “Okay!” Brandt glanced at his watch. “Oh, man. I’m off to a great start. Late for my first day of school!” He waved to her and hurried down Fear Street to catch the bus to Shadyside High.

Brandt stood in line at the cafeteria, tray in hand. The odor of brussels sprouts floated out of the kitchen. The girl ahead of him in line wrinkled her nose and said sarcastically, “Smells great, huh? I’ll bet you never had food like this at your old school.” “At my old school we had steak every day,” Brandt joked. “We begged for salad and green beans and brussels sprouts. But they gave us French fries instead.” The girl smiled. She was tall and pretty, with straight black hair to her shoulders and dramatic blue eyes under heavy black eyebrows. She wore faded jeans, torn at both knees, and a cropped white sweater. “I heard there was a new kid,” she said, examining Brandt with her dramatic eyes. “You’re him, huh?” Brandt grinned. “Yeah. I’m all new. The new, improved me. I moved here on Saturday.” He introduced himself. “Welcome to Shadyside, Brandt,” the girl said. “I’m Jinny Thompson.” The line began to move, and Jinny added, “You’d better let me take you on a guided tour of the steam trays. I’d hate for you to get sick on your first day at school.” Brandt picked out a knife and a fork and set them on his tray. A girl with short auburn hair squeezed between him and Jinny. “Let me cut in, Jinny,” she insisted. “The line’s really long, and I’m starving. I had half a Snickers bar for breakfast. That’s all. Really.” The red-haired girl stood a couple of inches shorter than Jinny. She had a bulky black sweater pulled down almost to her knees over bright green leggings. She’s really cute too, Brandt thought. He reached behind him, pulled a tray from the stack, and handed it to Jinny’s friend. “Thanks.” She flashed him a toothy smile. “You must be the new kid.” “His name is Brandt Something-or-Other, and he’s very nice,” Jinny told her. “But I’m sure it will wear off after a while. It always does.” She grinned at Brandt to let him know she was teasing. “This is my friend Meg. Meg Morris.” “What’s up with the trays? Why are they always wet?” Meg demanded, staring in disgust at the plastic lunch tray. “Lunch hasn’t even started, and the trays are all wet. Why is that?”

“It’s a special kind of plastic,” Brandt joked. “It stays wet no matter what you do to it.” Both girls laughed. Meg had a funny, high-pitched laugh that sounded more like whistling than laughing. The line began to move. Jinny opened a refrigerator case and took out a salad wrapped in cellophane. “Check out this lettuce,” she said, showing the salad to Brandt. “It must have turned brown, so they bleached it white.” “So why are you eating it?” he asked. “Wait till you see what the other choices are,” Meg said, rolling her eyes. Jinny and Meg told Brandt more than he wanted to know about the food in the cafeteria. He managed to get through the line with a ham and cheese sandwich and a carton of milk. He followed Meg and Jinny to a table in the back of the room. A tall, blond, athletic-looking boy ambled over, a basketball tucked under one arm. He sat next to Jinny and draped his other arm casually around the shoulders of her white sweater. “Hey, Jin,” he said. “Hey, Meg.” He narrowed his eyes at Brandt and nodded to him. “Jon Burks, this is Brandt McCloy,” Jinny announced. “He’s new. Be nice to him.” “Why wouldn’t I be nice to him?” Jon replied, pretending to be insulted. “I’m a nice guy. Ask anybody.” He spun the basketball on his finger. “You play ball?” he asked Brandt. “Not really,” Brandt replied. “You ought to try out for the team,” Jen suggested. “We need tall guys.” Mom would go totally ballistic if I told her I wanted to play basketball, Brandt thought. She’s always nagging me to be careful. But he found himself thinking: I wonder if I could make the team? I’m good at sports. I never played in a league or anything. Just fooled around on the playground with my friends. It might be fun to play on a team. And I’d get to meet a lot of guys. I’ll go to a few practices, he decided. It can’t hurt. Then maybe I’ll try out. Mom and Dad never have to know. “Hey, Brandt.” Jon snapped his fingers, interrupting Brandt’s thoughts. “You still with us?” “What time is practice?” Brandt asked. “You’re going to try out? That’s excellent!” Meg exclaimed. Jinny rolled her eyes. “Don’t let Jon push you around, Brandt.” “We have practice every afternoon at three-thirty,” Jon told Brandt, ignoring Jinny. “And tryouts are next week.” He turned to Jinny and asked, “You’re meeting me after practice—right?” Jinny shook her head. “No way. With all that French homework and the term paper to get started?” “You’re worried about homework?” Jon shook his head in disbelief. “That’s a new one.” He glanced suspiciously at Brandt. Then he stood up abruptly. “I hope you get all your homework done before Friday,” he said. “Don’t forget—we’re going out Friday night. I had to really fight to get the car.” “I won’t forget,” Jinny promised. “No problem.” Jon left without saying good bye, dribbling his basketball across the cafeteria floor. “What’s with him?” Meg asked.