Read Online A Living Nightmare by Darren Shan - Free Book Online Page A

noise and the snake paused. I remembered reading somewhere once that snakes can't hear, but can feel sounds.
    The snake-boy shuffled a little bit to his left, then his right. The snake's head followed him but didn't lunge. The boy crept closer to the snake, until he was within its range. I expected it to strike and kill him, and I wanted to scream at him to run.
    But the snake-boy knew what he was doing. When he was close enough he reached out and tickled the snake beneath its chin with his weird webbed fingers. Then he bent forward and kissed it on the nose!
    The snake wrapped itself around the boy's neck. It coiled about him a couple of times, leaving its tail draped over his shoulder and down his back like a scarf.
    The boy stroked the snake and smiled. I thought he was going to walk through the crowd, letting the rest of us rub it, but he didn't. Instead he walked over to the side of the theater, away from the path to the door. He unwrapped the snake and put it down on the floor, then tickled it under its chin once more.
    The mouth opened wide this time, and I saw its fangs. The snake-boy lay down on his back a short distance away from the snake, then began wriggling toward it!
    "No," I said softly to myself. "Surely he's not going to …"
    But yes, he stuck his head in the snake's wide-open mouth!
    The snake-boy stayed inside the mouth for a few seconds, then slowly eased out. He wrapped the snake around him once more, then rolled around and around until the snake covered him completely, except for his face. He managed to hop to his feet and grin. He looked like a rolled-up carpet!
    "And that, ladies and gentlemen," said Mr. Tall from the stage behind us, "really is the end." He smiled and leaped from the stage, vanishing in midair in a puff of smoke. When it cleared, I saw him by the back of the theater, holding the exit curtains open.
    The pretty ladies and mysterious blue-hooded people were standing to his left and right, their arms filled with trays full of goodies. I was sorry I hadn't saved some of my money.
    Steve said nothing while we were waiting. I could tell from the serious look on his face that he was still thinking, and from past experience I knew there was no point trying to talk to him. When Steve went into one of his moods, nothing could jolt him out of it.
    When the rows behind us had cleared out, we made our way to the back of the theater. I brought the stuff I'd bought with me. I also lugged Steve's gifts, because he was so wrapped up in his thoughts, he would have dropped them or left them behind.
    Mr. Tall was standing at the back, holding the curtains open, smiling at everyone. The smile widened when we approached.
    "Well, boys," he said, "did you enjoy the show?"
    "It was fabulous!" I said.
    "You weren't scared?" he asked.
    "A little," I admitted, "but no more than anybody else."
    He laughed. "You're a tough pair," he said.
    There were people behind us, so we hurried on, not wanting to hold them up. Steve looked around when we entered the short corridor between the two sets of curtains, then leaned over and whispered in my ear: "Go back by yourself."
    "What?" I asked, stopping. The people who had been behind us were chatting with Mr. Tall, so there was no rush.
    "You heard," he said.
    "Why should I? "I asked.
    "Because I'm not coming," he said. "I'm staying. I don't know how things will turn out, but I have to stay. I'll follow you home later, after I've …" His voice trailed off and he pulled me forward.
    We pushed past the second set of curtains and entered the corridor with the table, the one covered by the long black cloth. The people ahead of us had their backs to us. Steve looked over his shoulder, to make sure nobody could see, then dived underneath the table and hid behind the cloth!
    "Steve!" I hissed, worried he was going to get us into trouble.
    "Go on!" he hissed back.
    "But you can't ," I began.
    "Do what I say!" he snapped. "Go, quick, before we're caught."
    I didn't like it but what