Read Online The Haunted Mask II by R. L. Stine - Free Book Online

of the camera.
    “Your trick-or-treat bag!” Mom cried. “You forgot your trick-or-treat bag.”
She rummaged around in the front closet until she found the shopping bag with
little pumpkins all over both sides.
    I knew I couldn’t manage the cane and the shopping bag. But I took it from
her anyway. I’ll throw the bag away when I get outside, I decided. I didn’t plan
to trick-or-treat. I knew it would take me half an hour just to walk up
someone’s driveway!
    Dad burst back into the living room. “Say cheese!” he cried, raising his
little camera.
    I tried to twist my wormy lips into a smile.
    Dad flashed the camera once. Then three more times.
    Blinded by flashbulb lights, I said good-bye and made my way out the door.
The white circles followed me into the night. I nearly fell off the front stoop.
    I grabbed the railing and waited for my heart to stop pounding. Slowly the
flashes of light faded from my eyes, and I began to pull myself down the
driveway.
    It was a clear, cold night. No wind at all. The nearly bare trees stood as
still as statues.
    I limped onto the sidewalk and started in the direction of the Carpenter
mansion. There was no moon. But the street appeared brighter than usual. Most houses had all of
their front lights on to welcome trick-or-treaters.
    I stuffed the shopping bag into a trash can at the foot of our neighbors’
driveway. Then I continued down the block, my cane tap-tapping on the sidewalk.
    My back began to ache. My old legs trembled. I leaned over the cane,
breathing hard.
    After half a block, I had to take a rest against a lamppost. Luckily, the
Carpenter mansion was on the next block.
    As I started on my way, two little girls came hurrying down the sidewalk,
followed by their father. One girl wore colorful butterfly wings. The other wore
lots of makeup, a gold crown, and a long fancy dress.
    “Ooh, he’s ugly,” the butterfly whispered to her friend as they came near.
    “Yuck!” I heard the princess reply. “Look at the green stuff in his nose.”
    I leaned close to them, opened my lips in a snarl, and rasped, “Get out of
my way!”
    The little girls both let out frightened squeals and took off down the
sidewalk. Their father flashed me an angry stare and hurried after them.
    “Heh-heh-heh.” An evil cackle escaped my lips.
    Seeing their frightened faces gave me new energy. Leaning on my cane, I
tap-tapped my way across the street.
    A few minutes later, the Carpenter mansion came into view. The huge old house
stood dark and empty. Its stone turrets rose up to the purple night sky like
castle towers.
    Huddled under a streetlamp at the bottom of the weed-choked front yard stood
my soccer team. My Hogs. My first graders.
    My victims.
    They were all in costumes. I saw Power Rangers and Ninja Turtles. Mummies and
monsters. Two ghosts, a Beauty, and a Beast.
    But I recognized them anyway. I recognized them because they were shoving
each other, grabbing at trick-or-treat bags, shouting and fighting.
    I leaned against my cane, watching them from halfway down the block. My heart
started to pound. My whole body trembled.
    This was it. My big moment.
    “Okay, guys,” I murmured softly to myself. “It’s show time!”

 
 
21
     
     
    I was trembling with excitement as I dragged myself up to them. I stepped
into the light, my wormy lips twisted in a frightening sneer.
    I stared from one to another, giving them a chance to see my terrifying face.
Giving them a chance to see the spiders crawling through my hair. The wormhole
in my tooth. The patch of skull poking up through my rutted scalp.
    They grew quiet. I could feel their eyes on me. I could sense their instant
fear.
    I opened my mouth to let out a frightening growl that would send them running
for their mommies.
    But Marnie Rosen, wearing a white bride’s dress and veil, stepped up to me
before I could get it out. “Can we help you, sir?” she asked.
    “Are you lost?” one of the Power Rangers