Read Online 13 - Piano Lessons Can Be Murder by R.L. Stine - (ebook by Undead) - Free Book Online

down on the coffee table and leaned against the
arm of the couch. “I told you I was going to take piano lessons at the Shreek
School, remember? Then you got this strange look on your face, and you ran
away.”
    Kim sighed. She had the white hot chocolate mug in her lap. I saw that she
was gripping it tightly in both hands. “Jerry, I really don’t want to talk about
it,” she said softly. “It’s too… too scary.”
    “Scary?” I asked.
    “Don’t you know the stories about the Shreek School?” she asked.

 
 
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    I laughed. I’m not sure why. Maybe it was the serious expression on Kim’s
face. “Stories? What kind of stories?”
    “I really don’t want to tell you,” she said. She took a long sip from the
white mug, then returned it to her lap.
    “I just moved here, remember?” I told her. “So I haven’t heard any stories.
What are they about?”
    “Things about the school,” she muttered. She climbed off the piano bench and
walked to the window, carrying the mug in one hand.
    “What kinds of things?” I demanded. “Come on, Kim— tell me!”
    “Well… things like, there are monsters there,” she replied, staring out the
window into my snowy back yard. “Real monsters that live in the basement.”
    “Monsters?” I laughed.
    Kim spun around. “It’s not funny,” she snapped.
    “I’ve seen the monsters,” I told her, shaking my head.
    Her face filled with surprise. “You’ve what ?”
    “I’ve seen the monsters,” I repeated. “They’re floor sweepers.”
    “Huh?” Her mouth dropped open. She nearly spilled hot chocolate down the
front of her sweatshirt. “Floor sweepers?”
    “Yeah. Mr. Toggle built them. He works at the school. He’s some kind of
mechanical genius. He builds all kinds of things.”
    “But—” she started.
    “I saw one my first day at the school,” I continued. “I thought it was some
kind of monster. It made this weird whining sound, and it was coming right at
me. I practically dropped my teeth! But it was one of Mr. Toggle’s floor
cleaners.”
    Kim tilted her head, staring at me thoughtfully. “Well, you know how stories
get started,” she said. “I knew they probably weren’t true. They probably
all have simple explanations like that.”
    “All?” I asked. “There are more?”
    “Well…” She hesitated. “There were stories about how kids went in for
lessons and never came out again. How they vanished, just disappeared.”
    “That’s impossible,” I said.
    “Yeah, I guess,” she quickly agreed.
    Then I remembered the tiny voice from the cabinet, calling out for help.
    It had to be some invention of Mr. Toggle’s, I told myself. It had to be.
    Damaged equipment, he said. He didn’t seem the least bit excited or upset
about it.
    “It’s funny how scary stories get started,” Kim said, walking back to the
piano bench.
    “Well, the piano school building is creepy and old,” I said. “It really looks
like some kind of haunted mansion. I guess that’s probably why some of the
stories got started.”
    “Probably,” she agreed.
    “The school isn’t haunted, but that piano is!” I told her. I don’t know what
made me say it. I hadn’t told anyone about the ghost and the piano. I knew no
one would believe me.
    Kim gave a little start and stared at the piano. “This piano is haunted? What
do you mean? How do you know?”
    “Late at night, I hear someone playing it,” I told her. “A woman. I saw her
once.”
    Kim laughed. “You’re putting me on—right?”
    I shook my head. “No, I’m serious, Kim. I saw this woman. Late at night. She
plays the same sad melody over and over.”
    “Jerry, come on!” Kim pleaded, rolling her eyes.
    “The woman talked to me. Her skin fell off. It—it was so frightening, Kim.
Her face disappeared. Her skull, it stared at me. And she warned me to stay away. Stay away.”
    I felt a shiver. Somehow I had shut that scary scene out of my mind for a few
days. But now, as I