Read Spooksville 17: The Thing in the Closet Online
Authors: Christopher Pike
Spooksville 17: The Thing in the Closet (5 page)
'Wait!' he cried. 'You can't just leave me. I'm scared.'
Sally paused and shook her head sadly. 'Then it will probably come for you tonight. There is nothing we can do for you. I mean, we tried to warn you but it is hopeless. We're really sorry, George.'
'It was nice knowing you, George,' Watch added.
They all turned to leave again.
'Wait!' George begged. 'You have to stay. You have to protect me.'
Sally stopped. 'But you are the only one who can protect yourself. I already explained that, George. It is only when you get frightened that it can get you.'
'But you shouldn't have told me about it,' George protested. 'I wasn't afraid until you woke me up.'
Sally acted indignant. 'We came here to try to help you. And you don't even have a word of thanks for us. I mean, it is the middle of the night and we all have homework to do tomorrow. We don't have to do this, you know. We're not getting paid.'
George was instantly apologetic. 'I am sorry. I am grateful you stopped by, really, thanks.
But you have to stay with me.'
'But if we stay with you,' Watch said, 'then we will not be able to warn other kids in town.
They could die while we wait here trying to protect you. Surely you don't want their deaths on your conscience?'
George stuttered. 'No. But . . .'
'And we have to go and talk to Cindy's mother,' Sally interrupted. 'Explain to her that her daughter is gone. It is not a task we take lightly or look forward to.'
George tried to catch his breath. 'Did the monster really kill her?'
'It ate her alive,' Bryce said darkly. 'Ate her brains.'
'And then swallowed her beating heart whole,' Sally added.
George moaned. 'Oh no. That's so terrible.'
'It's a hard world,' Sally said sympathetically.
George struggled. 'But why aren't you guys more upset? She was your friend and all.'
'In this town we have learned not to become too attached to one another,' Adam explained.
'It is better that way. For example, should you be horribly killed in the next few hours, we won't feel too bad.'
'But I will feel bad,' George protested.
'You'll be dead, George,' Watch said. 'You won't feel a thing.' He turned away, and they followed his lead. 'We have done what we can for you. Have a good night.'
'How can I have a good night now?' George wailed. But they didn't stop for him this time.
They just kept walking until they were out of his sight, around the side of his house. They stopped in the dark for a hasty conference.
'That guy isn't going to get to sleep tonight,' Sally said.
'You handled him brilliantly,' Watch remarked.
'Thank you,' Sally said. 'Terror is my speciality.'
'Now we have to keep him under observation without letting him see us,' Adam said.
'Where should we hide? Up in the tree in his back yard?'
Watch shook his head. 'That is too far away. If the thing in the closet does appear and grab him, we won't have time to react. We have to be right outside his window.'
'He might see us,' Bryce warned.
'We will have to risk it,' Watch said.
'I don't think it is much of a risk,' Sally said. 'George will be obsessed with his closet from now until the sun comes up. He isn't going to know what's going on outside his window.'
'What are we going to do if the thing does appear?' Tira asked quietly.
Adam frowned. 'That is the question of the night. We are operating on the assumption that we will be able to control this thing. But what if it is stronger than the five of us put together?'
'Then we are in trouble,' Bryce said.
Watch was not so certain. 'There might be some way to render it harmless.'
'Such as?' Sally asked.
'I have no idea,' Watch said.
'You are a big help,' Sally said.
'Whatever happens,' Adam said, 'we cannot just let it steal George. We have to try to rescue him.'
But Watch shook his head. 'It is more important we enter the realm of the creature, if we are to save Cindy. We can worry about George later.'
'And ourselves?' Sally asked.
But no one had an answer for that question.
They knew what they were attempting was deadly.
Together they quietly crept back into George's back yard and peered through his bedroom window. George had turned on the light and was going through his closet, searching for faults in the wood where a monster might enter. He did this for perhaps half an hour before he finally turned off his light and went back to bed. Like Cindy — they assumed —
he had wedged the back of a chair against the closet door knob. But the way he tossed and turned in bed, it didn't look as if he were going to fall asleep any time before the sun rose.
'I wouldn't be surprised if this guy ruptured the back end of the house with his fear,' Sally whispered.
'I feel sorry for him,' Tira said quietly.
'So do I,' Adam admitted.
'Sympathy is a dangerous emotion in this town,' Sally said.
'Shh,' Watch warned. 'You are as worried about Cindy as the rest of us, Sally. Why else would you be here?'
'True,' Sally said. 'But if we do save her, please don't tell her I was worried. I don't want to ruin a perfectly bad relationship.'
They settled down to watch George, the closet, each other. Another hour went by. During that time they began to despair that the green light would show up at all, although George continued to fume and fret in his creaky bed. Certainly they couldn't blame him for not keeping the fear vibes at a high enough level.
Then, finally, a faint green glow shone beneath his closet door.
'There it is!' Sally hissed.
'Stay calm and quiet,' Watch warned. 'The green glow alone does not mean the rupture to the other realm has been created. Remember, Cindy did not see it the first night.'
'George sure sees the light,' Adam said softly. 'Look, he is sitting up in bed. He is shaking with fear.'
Tira sighed. 'I wish we could help him.'
'We can only help Cindy by not helping George,' Bryce reiterated.
They watched as George slowly got out of bed and tried to turn on the light switch. But the power appeared to be dead; the room remained dark. Yet the green glow grew in brilliance as George stood trembling in the middle of his floor. He was now obviously too scared to even run for the door. He knew the monster they had described for him had come for his brains. They could hear him whimpering pitifully.
Carefully, Watch reached up and began to slide open the window.
'We have to be ready to move any second,' he whispered.
'Where are we moving to?' Sally wanted to know.
'We are following the monster straight into its hellish realm,' Bryce said.
Something began to rattle around deep inside the closet The chair wedged against the door knob shook.
'I didn't know that was an essential part of the plan,' Sally protested.
'Shh,' Watch warned. 'Stay ready.'
Something banged hard on the closet door.
George let out a choked cry.
The chair shook and fell on its side.
The closet door swung open.
Sickly green light flooded the bedroom.
George turned green. He tried to scream and couldn't.
Something big and horrible rushed out of the closet.
'Let's go!' Watch shouted.
The next few seconds were chaos. The first problem was that they all tried — with the exception of Sally — to climb through the window at the same time. Naturally they all got in each other's way; the window was only so big. Then there was the distraction of the thing grabbing George. It upset their concentration, to say the least.
Yet the monster appeared ill-defined, like thick cloud on moving goo. It was large, much larger than a man, and it was green in colour, the same green as the sickly glow. The thing seemed to have several arms, at least four, and its wicked eyes shone with a fiery light Yet it seemed to float towards George, rather than walk. They could not be sure it had legs.
Still, it moved very fast. Before even one of them could get all the way through the window, it had a hold on George.
The poor guy fainted in its arms.
'Stop!' Adam cried as he stood upright in the room. Watch was at his side in a moment.
Tira and Bryce were still bumping into each other in the window. Sally could have been outside doing her nails.
'Grab it!' Watch yelled.
'Where?' Adam shouted back.
'Anywhere!' Watch said.
The thing in the closet already had a firm hold on George. It had swept him off his feet and was turning back in the direction of the closet For that reason, Adam and Watch both ended up jumping on the creature's back. It was solid enough; it felt them and they certainly felt it Adam caught a glimpse of a wide angry mouth filled with dripping teeth.
Then the thing threw back its shoulder and he went flying towards the far side of the room.
Luckily he landed on George's bed. Nevertheless, for a moment, Adam was stunned. He watched in a daze as Sally finally came through the window and kicked the monster in the butt. It was a good thing. The monster was in the middle of trying to take a bite out of Watch's head.
'Take that, you ugly slime!' Sally yelled as she struck the creature. Her blow seemed to hurt it. The monster dropped Watch — but not George — and tried to grab Sally. But now Bryce came to her aid. From somewhere he had found a baseball bat. As the monster bent to snatch Sally, Bryce smacked it over the head as hard as he could. The blow did real damage. The creature staggered back and even its hold on George began to slip. The unconscious boy dropped to the floor. Clearly the creature was not used to so much resistance. Turning, it clawed its way towards the closet, and the wide green opening at the back.
Adam jumped up off the bed and shouted to the others.
'Don't let it get away! Go after it!'
Adam was the first to follow his own advice. He chased the creature into the closet, straight into the brilliant green glow. Watch and Sally were at his heels. Bryce and Tira tried to follow as well, but before they could reach the rear of the closet the rupture into the other dimension closed.
Leaving them panting in the dark with nowhere to go.