Read Online Lucas Ryan Versus: The Return by Madison Daniel - Free Book Online Page A

scream. There was no doubt this time that it was Sophia. I’d recognize that call for help anywhere.
     
    ~ She’s in trouble, Lucas. ~
     
    “Go! Now! Take me to her!” I demanded. Ripley coiled around me, clutching me like a vise with steel appendages. “Hurry!”
    In a blink of an eye we disappeared in the sky. When we reappeared we were in the middle of a classroom, but not just any classroom…Biology II.
    “Why did you take us here?” I began to ask when another scream shattered the windows around us. It hurt my ears and Ripley retreated into my arm without a word. I spun around to find Sophia in the back of the room, clutching the walls of a dark corner. Her face was pale like a ghost and tears were pouring down her cheeks. She was moving wildly but it was in slow motion as if she was underwater.
    “Soph!” I called out, and ran up to her. Her eyes grew big and round. As I reached for her, she shrieked one terrifying word.
    “SHE!”
    “She? She who?” I asked, in a panic.
    “SHE!” Sophia bellowed again. I didn’t understand. My hands reached out for her but like a candle flame, she disappeared. Vanished. What the heck was going on?
    “Soph?” I trembled. No answer though. She was gone. From behind me came a sound. It was just as annoying as it was horrifying.
     
    SCREEEEEEEEEEECH!
     
    The unmistakable sound of nails on a chalkboard. Only it was louder and more electronic sounding. Like metal against cracking glass. Before I could spin around it happened again.
     
    SCREEEEEEEEEEECH!
     
    “Mr. Ryan!” an unwelcome voice announced. My eyes focused harder revealing Ms. Strickland standing at the front of the classroom like a beautiful statue. Her eyes were alive with hate and she wore a smirk at the corner of her mouth.
    “Ms. Strickland?” I asked, without much sound. She smiled wider and took a step closer to me. It was an unnatural stride though, almost like she wasn’t flesh and bone. Mechanical, like a robot. Then another step. I wanted to turn and run but I couldn’t move. I was frozen in place as if my feet were buried in concrete. Crap.
    “I have something for you, Mr. Ryan,” she said, from the corner of her perfectly painted lips.
    “That’s okay, you can keep it.”
    Another crunch of her foot thundered inside the room as she was only a few feet from me now. “And, Mr. Ryan, you have something I need.”
    Crap, crap. She stepped right in front of me, inches from my face.
    “What are you?” I said, petrified. Her smile faded away and she brought her hands up to her face and removed her thin glasses, placing them along the top of her hair. She brought one hand down and wrapped it around my tattooed wrist. Her other hand slid along the line of her chin. I watched as her blood-red fingernails found their way to the side of her face and cheek. Then, with the movement of a ghost, she jabbed her index finger into one of her lower eyelids. I tried to look away but couldn’t. My mouth fell open, unable to say a word.
    “What am I?” she cackled, as dark black liquid streamed down her face. With a sickening crunch she jerked a convulsing spider-serpent from her eyeball and let it writhe in front of my face. Its legs clicked and clawed for my nose. Its stained little body fighting to get at me. From behind it Ms. Strickland frowned and whispered, “I’m your worst nightmare.”
     
    In a cold sweat I lurched from the safety of my bed. I had already pulled all my blankets off of me and clutched my pillow like a baby holds its mother. My heart was pounding like a drum and my hands were shaking. It took me at least thirty-seconds to calm down enough to move. I threw my pillow down and sat up at the end of my bed, letting my feet adjust to the coldness of my bedroom floor.
    “A dream…just a horrible dream…” I told myself. Brushing the cobwebs from my eyes, as well as some crust, I let a long breath escape me. My tired eyes found the clock on my wall. They took a moment to focus