Read Online The Nightmare Game by Gillian Cross - Free Book Online

aware that the man’s sharp eyes were impossibly blue and bright. They made everything else seem far off and insignificant. Somewhere, off to his left, he could hear Emma muttering something, but that was in another world, another life. There was no room in his brain just then for anything except the face in front of him.
    What do you want? Why are you here? It was the man he’d seen on the plane, at the start of all this strangeness. Their eyes had met as they walked past each other. And after that—I was small and alone. Down on the dark ground.
    He wanted to say it, but he couldn’t get the words out. Couldn’t move at all. He could only stare.
    Then the man turned his head, breaking contact. He stepped off the pavement and went past the two of them. By the time Robert had gathered his wits enough to look around, he’d already disappeared.
    Now—when it was too late—the questions came flooding into Robert’s head. He wanted to run after the man and make him answer them. But he couldn’t. Emma was tugging frantically at his sleeve.
    â€œRob. Rob—look at Tom! What’s the matter with him?”
    Reluctantly, Robert turned back. Tom was standing very still, gazing at the empty pavement where the man had been standing.
    â€œHe’s not all right,” Emma said. “Come on!”
    She and Robert covered the last few steps at a run and Emma caught hold of Tom’s shoulder and pulled him around to face her.
    â€œTom! Wake up. You can’t go on standing there like a zombie.”
    The word hit Robert like a blow in the chest. Zombie was the word Emma and Tom had used to describe him—when he wasn’t really there. The Robert they could see had just been an empty shell, because the real Robert had been down in the cavern, with Lorn and the others.
    That couldn’t have happened to Tom. It couldn’t . Robert took hold of his arm and shook him fiercely.
    â€œDon’t do that,” Emma said.
    But Robert couldn’t help it. He had to get some reaction. “Tosh! Snap out of it!”
    Very slowly, Tom blinked and began to move, knocking Robert’s hands away.
    â€œCut it out!” he muttered shakily. “What’s your problem, Robbo?”
    â€œI thought there was something wrong,” Robert said. “I thought—”
    I thought that man had changed you. I thought he’d sent you down to the dark ground.
    â€œThere’s no time to hang around thinking,” Tom said. His voice was strange, as if he was struggling to speak clearly. “If we don’t get going, it’ll be morning before we’ve fetched the bikes. Come on.”
    Without waiting for the others to answer, he turned away and began to walk briskly up the road, toward the city center.
    â€œWhat was all that about?” Emma said.
    â€œDid you see—that man?” Robert said tentatively. He was already beginning to wonder if the whole thing had happened inside his own head. “He was—did you see him?”
    â€œOf course I saw him.” Emma scowled. “Couldn’t miss him, could I? Not with you standing there, goggling at him like a codfish and blocking his way.”
    â€œI’ve . . . seen him before.” Robert was still trying to make sense of it all. “I saw him on the plane. Remember?”
    â€œOn the plane ?” Emma looked baffled.
    â€œI told you. When I went off to the washroom, I passed a man coming the other way. It was him . As I went past, he looked straight into my eyes, the way he was looking at Tom just now. And a couple of seconds later—pow! Everything exploded and disappeared. When I woke up, I was small and lost and alone.”
    Emma gave him a long, cautious stare. “So?”
    Robert was sure she knew what he meant. But she was obviously going to make him spell it out. “Well—now he’s looked at Tom,” he muttered. “So is