Read Online Werewolf Skin by R. L. Stine - Free Book Online Page B

leave without finding
out the truth about them.
    So I watched the two houses for a while longer. No sign of anyone moving
about.
    I pushed myself away from the tree and quickly made my way through the
Marlings’ overgrown backyard.
    I ducked behind bushes and kept my eyes on my aunt and uncle’s house. The blinds on their bedroom windows were shut.
    Holding my breath, I darted to the Marlings’ bedroom window. I grabbed the
windowsill and peered inside. Dark. I couldn’t see anything.
    “Here goes,” I murmured softly. “Good luck, Alex.”
    I lifted myself up onto the sill, then lowered my legs into the room. It took
a few seconds for my eyes to adjust to the dim light.
    And then what I saw shocked me nearly as much as learning that my aunt and
uncle were werewolves.
    I saw nothing.
    The bedroom was completely bare. Not a stick of furniture. No artwork or
mirrors on the wall. No carpet over the dust-covered floorboards.
    Turning to the bedroom door, I spotted the two wolf skins. They were neatly
folded and piled side by side in front of the closet.
    Taking a deep breath, I moved cautiously to the open doorway. I poked my head
out into the hall. Also unlit and bare.
    “Anyone home?” I choked out in a tiny voice. “Hello? Anyone home?”
    Silence.
    I crept down the hall toward the front of the house. I peered into each room.
    They were all bare and empty, covered with a thick layer of dust.
    I stepped into the middle of the living room. No furniture. No lights. No
sign that anyone had lived here in years!
    “Oh, wow!” I cried out as I realized the truth. My voice echoed off the bare
walls.
    No one lives here, I told myself. There are no Marlings!
    My aunt and uncle had made them up. They used this house to hide their wolf
skins. They’d made up the Marlings to keep people out of the house.
    No Marlings. No Marlings. No Marlings.
    It was all a lie!
    I have to warn Hannah, I decided. No one is safe around here.
    I pictured my aunt and uncle devouring that helpless little rabbit last
night. I pictured them wrestling with that baby deer.
    I have to tell Hannah and her family, I decided. And then we have to run away
from here—as far as we can.
    I turned and made my way quickly through the empty house. Then I lowered
myself out the bedroom window into the backyard.
    The morning sun was still a red ball, low over the treetops. The early dew
glistened over the grass.
    “Hannah, I hope you’re awake,” I murmured. “If not, I’ll have to wake you
up.”
    I turned away from the Marlings’ window and began to run across the back
toward Hannah’s house.
    I went about six or seven steps. Then I stopped with a gasp as Aunt Marta’s
voice rang out behind me. “ Alex—what on earth are you doing out
there? ”

 
 
27
     
     
    I spun around. My knees nearly collapsed. The ground tilted up, then down.
    Aunt Marta stood in the kitchen doorway. “Alex—why are you up so early?
It’s Saturday morning.” She narrowed her eyes at me suspiciously.
    “I—well…” I was shaking so hard, I couldn’t speak!
    “Where are you going in such a hurry?” my aunt demanded. I saw Uncle Colin
standing behind her in the kitchen.
    “To… Hannah’s,” I managed to reply. “To talk about… uh… our costumes
for trick-or-treating tonight.”
    I watched her face. Did she believe me?
    I didn’t think so.
    “It’s too early to be running over to Hannah’s,” she scolded. She motioned
for me to come inside. “Come in, Alex. Come get some breakfast first.”
    I hesitated. My mind whirred.
    Should I make a run for it? Run to the street and keep going?
    How far would I get before they caught me? My aunt and uncle were both
werewolves. If they caught me—what would they do to me? Would I be their
breakfast?
    No. I decided not to run. Not just yet, anyway. Not until I had a chance to
talk to Hannah.
    I felt Aunt Marta’s eyes on me as I made my way slowly into the house. Uncle
Colin muttered good morning. He