Read Online The Beast From the East by R. L. Stine - Free Book Online

huddled close together. The air felt damp inside. It had a sour smell that
I tried to ignore.
    I slumped against the wall of the cave and wiped the sweat off my forehead. I
tucked my feet under me. “Try to get comfortable,” I whispered to Pat. “We might
be here for a long time.”
    Something tickled my neck. I reached to scratch it.
    Something tickled my ear.
    I shivered.
    I brushed my hand against my ear and felt something crawl onto my cheek.
    “Ow!” I cried out as I felt a sharp bite on my shoulder.
    I turned to Pat. He was slapping at his ears and neck.
    Something buzzed past my ear.
    Something skittered through my hair. I shook my head hard.
    My whole body itched and tingled. Every inch of me!
    Beside me, Pat squirmed, and wriggled, scratched and slapped at himself.
    I leaped to my feet. “Help!” I cried. “What is happening? What is going on in
here?”

 
 
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    “Help!” I cried, scratching desperately. “Help us!”
    The squirrel-dog’s face poked into the entrance.
    “What is happening to us?” I cried, squirming and scratching.
    “I forgot to tell you,” the strange creature whispered. “The Hiding Cave is
also a hiding place for bugs!”
    Bugs!
    “Ohhh!” Pat let out a low moan. He rubbed his back against the cave wall.
Scratched his hair.
    The bugs were everywhere. Crawling on the walls. Flying through the air.
Buzzing. Whistling. Clicking.
    They crawled up and down my legs and arms. Over my face. In my hair.
    I picked some kind of worm off my cheek. I dragged my hand down my arms and
my bare legs, brushing bugs onto the cave floor.
    Pat squirmed next to me. “Get them off me, Ginger,” he wailed. “Helllp!”
    “Sshhh!” The squirrel-dog stuck his nose back into the cave. “Quiet! Here
comes the Beast from the East. Don’t make a sound or he’ll find you!”
    Pat and I drew closer together.
    I held my breath and tried not to move.
    I counted to ten. Silently. I pretended there were no bugs on me.
    I shut my eyes and pictured my bedroom. The posters on the wall. My
comfortable canopy bed. I thought of being under the covers. Going to sleep.
    And then I thought about bedbugs!
    I couldn’t ignore the insects crawling over me. It was impossible not to
think about them.
    I couldn’t stand it. I needed to scratch. I needed to scream !
    I couldn’t sit there another second.
    I heard a beast stomp close to the cave opening.
    I recognized Spork’s voice. “Hey—!” he snarled at the squirrel-dog. “Have
you seen strangers here?”
    Did Spork know this creature?
    Were they friends?
    “Answer me,” Spork demanded.
    I waited for the squirrel-dog’s answer. Please don’t tell them we’re hiding
in here, I prayed. Please.
    A fat, wet bug landed on my face. I picked at it with my fingers. It clung to my cheek. I pulled harder. I couldn’t tug it
loose.
    I felt a scream building up inside me.
    I couldn’t take it another second.
    My mouth opened.
    I had to scream. I had to!

 
 
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    “Ah—”
    I clamped my hand over my mouth.
    I let out a tiny squeak.
    The orange leaves rustled. Fleg’s paw pushed into the cave entrance.
    I froze. I heard Pat gasp.
    “What’s in there?” I heard Fleg ask the squirrel-dog.
    “Bugs,” the squirrel-dog replied. “Thousands of them.”
    Millions! I thought bitterly. The bugs crawled over my face, my arms, my
legs. They buzzed in my ears.
    Fleg pushed his nose into the cave.
    I stopped breathing.
    Fleg sniffed. “What’s that awful smell?” he complained.
    “Insects,” I heard the squirrel-dog answer.
    “They stink!” Fleg muttered. He let go of the leaves and they snapped back
into place. “Only bugs in there,” Fleg reported to Spork. “No humans.”
    “Of course not,” the squirrel-dog said calmly. “The humans went the other
way.”
    “Why didn’t you say so?” Fleg exploded.
    Spork shouted to the other beasts. “They’re not here! The other way, quick!
Only trel minutes left to play.”
    “I’ll