Read Online Dudes, the School Is Haunted! by R. L. Stine - Free Book Online Page A

I couldn’t
move.
    Kids were cheering and laughing. A boy drank a whole cup of the smelly black
liquid—and then spewed it into the air.
    Loud cheers.
    A girl spit loudly and sprayed black gunk into the face of the girl beside
her. A boy sprayed the black liquid up like a fountain.
    “We cover ourselves in blackness!” a boy boomed in a loud, deep voice. “We
cover ourselves because there’s no color in the moon! No color in the stars! No
color on the earth!”
    A girl spit black gunk over the hair of a short boy with glasses. The black
liquid rolled slowly down his forehead and over his glasses. He bent to fill his
cup, drank, and spit a gob of it down the front of the girl’s coat.
    Laughing and cheering, hooting at the top of their lungs, they sprayed each
other. Spit and sprayed the hot black gunk until they were all drenched, all
dripping, covered in oily blackness.
    “No color in the cup! No color in the drink!”
    And then the hands gripped me tighter. And Ben and I were pulled to the top
of the hill.
    I gazed down the other side. And saw a steep drop. And down below, at the
bottom…
    Too dark.
    I couldn’t see a thing. But I could hear the loud bubbling. I could see thick
steam floating up, wave after wave of it. And I could smell the sharp, sour odor—so strong, I started to gag.
    “The Black Pit!” someone cried. “Into the Black Pit!”
    Lots of kids cheered.
    Ben and I were pushed to the edge of the dropoff.
    “Jump! Jump! Jump!” some kids began to chant.
    “Jump into the Black Pit!”
    “But—why?” I shrieked. “Why are you doing this?”
    “Cover yourself in blackness!” a girl screamed. “Cover yourself like us!”
    Kids laughed and cheered.
    Ben turned to me, his face twisted in fear. “It—it’s boiling hot down
there,” he stammered, gazing into the bubbling pit below. “And it smells like
dead animals!”
    “Jump! Jump! Jump!” kids began to chant.
    My eyes swept over them. Laughing. Cheering. The black goo running down their
faces, down their clothes. The kids tossed their heads back and spewed gobs of
black liquid into the air.
    “Jump! Jump! Jump!”
    Suddenly, the chanting and laughter stopped. I heard screams.
    Strong hands grabbed me around the waist from behind. And shoved me hard—into the steaming pit.

 
 
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    No.
    I didn’t fall. I didn’t go over the side.
    The hands held on to me. Spun me around.
    I squinted into a familiar face. Seth!
    “Run!” he cried. “We came to rescue you!”
    I turned and saw Mary and Eloise guiding Ben down the hill.
    “Let’s go!” Seth cried.
    We started to run. But we didn’t get far.
    The other kids had been startled at first. But they quickly got over their
surprise. And formed a tight circle around us.
    “They’ve trapped us!” I cried. “How can we break through?”
    We stopped and stared at them as they began to circle us, moving silently,
their faces smeared with the black liquid, their clothing drenched and stained.
    “I thought we could outrun them,” Seth started. “But—”
    1 lowered my gaze to a pile of dead leaves on the ground. And an idea flashed
into my mind.
    I shoved my hand into the pocket of my khakis.
    “Get ready,” I warned the others.
    Ben turned to me. “Get ready for what?” he demanded.
    “Get ready,” I repeated. “Get ready to move.”

 
 
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    “Okay!” I cried.
    I raised the lighter. Clicked it once. Twice.
    A yellow flame shot up.
    “Owww!” a girl cried.
    Several other kids cried out. Some shielded their eyes or turned away from
the flame.
    “Too bright!” a girl screamed.
    “My eyes! It hurts my eyes!”
    “Grab it! Grab it!” a boy wailed.
    But I wasn’t finished.
    I lowered the flame to the pile of leaves at our feet. The leaves caught
instantly, with a loud WHOOOOSH. Bright orange flames roared up.
    “Nooooo!” The kids covered their eyes and cried out in pain.
    “Let’s go!” I called to Ben and the others. But I didn’t