Read Online Don't Stay Up Late by R. L. Stine - Free Book Online Page B

“Harry? Are you still awake? It’s late.”
    No reply.
    Silence.
    I jumped as the floor up there creaked from footsteps. “Harry? Are you walking around up there? Answer me. Harry?”
    My heart started to pound as I made my way to the stairway.
    I gazed into the dim light at the top—and gasped in horror.

 
    20.
    I saw a blur of light. Two legs. A shadowy figure. Darting across the landing.
    Was it a man? An intruder?
    â€œHey—stop!” I choked out a cry. My heart was thudding so hard, I thought my chest might explode. “Stop! I see you!”
    I should have called 911. But I didn’t think. I saw the intruder flash across the landing heading toward Harry’s room. I grabbed the banister and pulled myself up the steep stairs.
    â€œStop! Who are you? What are you doing here?” I screamed all the way up.
    My legs trembling, my chest aching, I reached the landing. I gazed down the long hall. Harry’s door was wide open.
    â€œNo! Stop! Get out of there!” I screamed in a hoarse voice I’d never heard before.
    My shoes caught on the ragged carpet as I lowered my head and ran down the hall. I stumbled and nearly fell to my knees. Regained my balance and kept running.
    â€œHarry?” I shouted. “Are you okay?”
    No answer.
    I burst into his room, gasping for breath. The room was dark. The only light came from the open window. And in that gray light, I saw the intruder. His back to me as he thundered to the window. Lowered his head.
    And leaped out.
    Leaped out a second-story window.
    He didn’t make a sound.
    I bolted to the window and stuck my head out. The air felt cool against my burning-hot face. I peered down into the yard, squinting in the pale light. And I saw a twisted shadow scrabbling across the grass.
    The man bent over, legs bent like insect legs, moving to the deep shadow at the back of the yard.
    I gripped the windowsill tightly and watched as he ran. And just before he reached the black blanket of shadow, he turned. He turned and his face caught the moonlight.
    And I screamed again. Because his face wasn’t human. It was the ugly, twisted face of a demon-creature from a horror movie. Green skin. A lightbulb-shaped bald scalp with a thick stripe of black fur down the middle and sharp pig ears poking up from the sides. Blood-red eyes glaring like headlights over a long wolfish snout.
    â€œNooooooooo.” A low moan escaped my throat. I knew I was hallucinating again.
    The same creature I saw when I was sleepwalking in the woods. I was seeing it again. I was seeing something that wasn’t there. Hallucinating a demon again. Insane. Insane.
    â€œNo. Oh, please. No.”
    I turned to the bed. “Harry? Are you okay? Harry?”
    He wasn’t there.

 
    21.
    I froze, staring at the empty bed, the covers tossed to the floor. I clicked on the ceiling light. I stood there unable to move. Unable to think straight.
    Total panic.
    And a million thoughts raced through my mind at once.
    The intruder was real, not an hallucination. He was wearing a mask. Like the monster mask Nate wore for Saralynn’s video. Like the dozens of monster masks in Nate’s collection.
    He was real. He wore a mask. He was in this room. I didn’t make him up. I saw him.
    Did he grab Harry? Pull Harry from his bed and leap out the window with him?
    How was that possible?
    Get a grip, Lisa. Get control. Get control.
    I struggled to slow down my furious breathing. I turned away from the empty bed.
    Think. Got to think clearly.
    â€œHarry? Harry?” I shouted his name. Maybe he was still in the house. Maybe he could hear me.
    â€œHarry? Are you here?” Please—be here.
    But no reply.
    I stumbled out into the hall and gazed up and down. “Harry? Are you here? Please answer me! Harry?”
    No. No. The panic had me in its grip. I knew I had to try to clear my head and act rationally. But the hallway was tilting and spinning. I