The Horror by Rodman Philbrick

Author:Rodman Philbrick
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781497685369
Publisher: Open Road Media

21

Lucy stopped by after breakfast. She had an oversized T-shirt on over her bathing suit and a beach towel slung over her shoulder. Her dark ponytail was pulled through the back of her baseball cap.

She squinted at me under the brim of the cap. “What’s the matter with you? You’re looking kind of pale.” Her eyes widened. “More ghost stuff?”

I told her about the mirror and how I’d seen the old lady bending over Katie. But when I got to the part about the spiders, Lucy started laughing so hard she fell down holding her stomach.

“Stop it,” I said, “or I won’t tell you the rest.”

“I can’t help it,” she gasped, clutching her side. “You shooing the spiders out the window and poor Katie with bugs in that beautiful red hair, it’s very funny.”

“There’s more,” I said.

Lucy suddenly looked serious. “I should have known,” she said.

“When I got back to my room the mirror started glowing again,” I said, describing the message and the image of the attic stairs.

Lucy shivered a little even though the sun was hot. “What does it mean?” she asked.

“I guess Bobby thinks I can find something in the attic that will help him. Somehow.”

“How do you know it’s Bobby?” asked Lucy, squinting at the house intently. “It might be another trick. The house trying to get you into the attic.”

I shivered. “Maybe you’re right. Whatever, I’m not going up into that attic, no matter what.”

“Forget it,” Lucy suggested. “What you need is a dip in the lake.”

She raced me to the lake and won, but only because I tripped over my Nikes like an idiot and fell flat on my face. I made up for it by outswimming her to the raft and back.

The water was warm and clear and it seemed to make my head clear, too. What was I doing letting bad dream stuff ruin my summer vacation?

The house was haunted, sure, but it hadn’t hurt us yet. All it could do was try to scare us away. And a thing can’t scare you if you won’t let it, right?

Right?

I came back from the lake feeling refreshed. Nothing was going to scare me—not a lot of noises in the night, or spooky laughter in the walls. No way.

“Come on in,” I said to Lucy. “I’ll ask Katie if you can stay for lunch.”

I knew something was wrong as soon as we entered the front hall. The house seemed to suck up sunlight like a black hole. Dust hung in the air, making the place look even more dreary than usual.

“It doesn’t look like anyone has changed a thing in this place for a hundred years,” Lucy said in a hushed voice. “This house doesn’t need a ghost to be creepy.”

“Katie!” I called out. “We’re home!”

“Sally!” I called out. “Are you here?”

There was no answer.

“What’s that?” Lucy whispered.

I listened. At first I didn’t hear it. Then it came again.

A moan, from deep inside the walls.

A ghostly moan, like something trapped in a tomb.

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