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

need to say it. They
were already running over the dark grass. I lowered my head and ran after them.
    I heard kids screaming and crying behind us.
    “I can’t see! I can’t see!”
    “Somebody—do something!”
    “Put out the fire!”
    I glanced back. The pile of burning leaves sent up a darting wall of
red-orange light. So bright against the black night sky.
    Covering their eyes, the kids were scrambling away, running in all
directions. No one was chasing after us.
    Trotting hard through the foggy night, Seth and the two girls led us away
from the hill. “We tried to warn you about the others,” Mary said breathlessly.
“But you ran away. You wouldn’t listen.”
    “They’ve lost their minds,” Seth added sadly. “They can’t think straight
anymore.”
    “They’re like some kind of wild gang now,” Eloise added. “They have their own
laws. Their own strange traditions. They cover themselves in black goo every
night. It’s—it’s really frightening.”
    “That’s why the five of us stay in the school,” Eloise explained. “We’re
afraid of them too.”
    “They do horrible, crazy things,” Mary said. “They’ve given up all hope. They
don’t care what they do.”
    I shivered. The gray moon had disappeared behind clouds again, and the air
grew cold. The three gray kids seemed to fade with the moonlight.
    I heard shouts. From nearby. Excited voices.
    “They’re coming back!” I cried.
    “We’d better hurry,” Seth said. “Follow us.”
    He and the two girls turned and began running toward the street. Ben and I
followed, keeping in the deep shadow of the tall hedges that lined the yards.
    I heard the shouts again, from close behind us.
    “Where are you taking us?” Ben asked in a breathless whisper.
    “Back to the school,” Seth replied.
    “To help us get out of this place?” I cried. “To help us back to our own
world?”
    “No,” Seth replied without slowing his stride. “We told you, Tommy. We can’t
help you go back. But you’ll be safer in the school with us.”
    “A lot safer,” Mary added.
    Jogging hard, Ben and I followed them through dark yards and over empty
streets. The bare trees cracked and groaned overhead. The only other sound was
the steady THUD of our shoes as we ran.
    I didn’t hear the other kids’ voices. But I knew they had to be nearby. Still
searching for us.
    I breathed a sigh of relief when the little school building came into view.
Ben and I hurried inside. We followed Seth and the two girls back to the large
classroom. Mona and Eddie were waiting there for us.
    I sat down at a desk and struggled to catch my breath. When I looked up, I
found all five kids staring wide-eyed at Ben and me.
    “What’s wrong?” I demanded.
    They didn’t answer for a long moment. Then, finally, Eloise said, “You’d
better check yourself out in the mirror.” She pointed to a tall mirror near the
elevator alcove.
    Ben and I made our way quickly to the mirror.
    My heart was pounding by the time I stepped in front of it. A heavy feeling
of dread swept over me.
    I knew what I was about to see.
    But I prayed I was wrong.
    I took a deep breath—and gazed into the mirror.

 
 
26
     
     
    “Nooooo.” Ben opened his mouth in a sorrowful moan.
    We stared at two gray figures.
    My khakis, my shirt. Gray now. My hair. My eyes. All of me. All in shades of
gray.
    “We’re almost one of them,” Ben murmured. He uttered another moan. “What are
the school colors here? Gray and gray?” He tried to laugh. But I saw his whole
body tremble.
    “No—wait!” I cried. “Ben, look. We still have a little time!”
    I pointed into the mirror.
    My ears were gray. And the gray had spread over my lips and chin. But my
cheeks still held their color. My cheeks and my nose.
    Ben’s face was the same. “That’s all that’s left,” he sighed. “The front of
my face.”
    “We’re sorry,” Mary said, stepping up behind us. “We’re really sorry. In a
few minutes,