Bad Moonlight (6 page)
Authors: R.L. Stine
Caroline shrugged. “That's okay. We can party
anywhere
tonight! We're all totally pumped!”
As Caroline turned away, Danielle spotted Kit across the stage. As he coiled the cables, the muscles in his arms flexed under his black T-shirt.
Danielle couldn't forget the look in Kit's eyes when he watched her sing. She wanted to feel that spark again.
She headed toward Kit. But she was halfway across the stage when strong hands grabbed her and spun her around.
“Joey!”
“You're all mine now!” he exclaimed. He tightened his grip and pulled her toward him.
Before Danielle could stop him, he kissed her on the mouth.
She shoved him hard and pulled her face away. “Cut it out, Joey!” she demanded.
“Come on, Danny,” he said with a leer. “You know you're hot for my bod!”
“No way!” Danielle protested.
Across the stage she saw Kit make a disgusted face.
He picked up the coiled cables and disappeared backstage.
Great, Danielle thought. I hope Kit doesn't think I
do
like Joey.
“Okay, everybody!” Billy called out, waving a small piece of paper over his head. “I've got our check. We're not millionaires yet, but I think we can spring for a few cheeseburgers at the coffee shop.”
Laughing and joking, Danielle and the others finished packing up and left the club.
Danielle realized she couldn't stand the thought of sitting around a table talking. She suddenly felt like running.
Running for miles in the cool night air. Running free.
“Hey, I'm still really wired,” she told Caroline as they crossed the street to the hotel. “I think I'll take a quick walk. Order me a cheeseburger, rare.”
Veering away from the group, Danielle started down the sidewalk at a brisk pace. In a couple of minutes she'd passed the shops and small office buildings.
The sidewalks ended, and Danielle found herself walking along a dirt path next to a field. Nothing grew in the field except tall weeds.
Moonlight shimmered over the field, turning the weeds silver-gray.
Danielle raised her head and stared up at the full moon.
“Go!”
Danielle whispered to herself.
She started to run.
Her shoes pounded the ground as she ran under the moonlight.
The weeds whipped at her legs and dress, but she didn't slow down.
She couldn't slow down.
The moonlight, she thought. Something about the moonlight.
Makes me feel so strange and new.
A shape loomed in front of her. A wall. Big stones with wrought-iron bars sunk into the top. The wall stood at least five feet high.
Stop, Danielle thought.
Stop!
She couldn't stop.
She ran at the stone wall. She felt the muscles in her legs tighten and bunch like springs.
And then, she leaped. Off the ground. Soaring into the air.
Over the wall. So easily. Like a dog. Or a horse.
She landed on all fours.
How did I do that?
Breathing hard, Danielle lifted her head and gazed around. She recognized this place. The park where she had kissed Kit. She had run around the outskirts of town and back to the park.
Feeling winded, Danielle braced her hands on the ground. Started to push herself to her feet.
The moonlight washed over her hands.
Only . . . they weren't
her
hands!
Her nails! Her nails had grown by inches. And they were thick and crusty, curling under like claws.
Danielle held the ugly, thick claws in front of her face and stared at them in silent horror.
Bad Moonlight, shining down on me.
She heard a sound. Back in the field. Rustling. Breathing. Footsteps.
Someone had followed her!
She leaped to her feet, raising her ugly claws.
“Joey!” Danielle cried. “What are you
doing
here?”
“A
nybody see Joey?” Billy asked the next morning. Danielle sat with Dee, Mary Beth, and Caroline in the hotel coffee shop.
Mary Beth yawned and brushed back her carrot-colored hair. “Try his room,” she suggested.
“Right.” Frowning, Billy hurried away from their table.
“Who's got the ham omelette?” the waitress asked.
“I do. And coffee,” Mary Beth added. Dark circles ringed her green eyes. “Lots and lots of coffee.”
The waitress thumped the plate down and strode off toward the coffeemakers.
“It's a good thing we don't have a show to do tonight,” Mary Beth muttered. “I'd probably nod out during the first song.”
“How late were you guys up, anyway?” Danielle asked.
“Too late,” Caroline groaned, pushing her blond hair behind her ears. “I'll be glad to get in the van and sleep all the way back to Shadyside.”
“Coffee,” the waitress announced, hefting the glass pot.
Danielle picked up her cup and saw a fresh cut on her forefinger. Another split callus.
“What happened to
you
last night?” Dee demanded. “You never came back to the coffee shop.”
“I know.” Danielle remembered starting off on a walk. Nothing else. “I guess I was more tired than I thought. I really conked out.”
“Tell me about it,” Caroline replied, rolling her eyes. “I was afraid we'd get a complaint from the hotel about your snoring.”
“Joey hasn't shown yet?” Billy asked, returning to their table. Kit trailed behind him. “Joey has to bring the van around so we can pack up.”
“So you're surprised he's sleeping late?” Caroline said. “Joey is the best sleeper in the band. He even sleeps while he's driving!”
Kit shook his head. “He wasn't in our room when I got up.”
Billy turned to Danielle. “He took off a couple of minutes after you did last night. You didn't run into him, did you?”
Danielle shook her head. “No. I didn't see him.”
Dee set her glass down, splashing orange juice onto
the table. “Joey said something about you when he left,” she told Danielle.
“About me?”
Dee nodded. Danielle noticed that Dee's hand shook as she mopped up the juice.
“You okay, Dee?” Billy asked.
“Yeah.” Dee glanced at Danielle, then lowered her eyes. “Just fine.”
“About Joey,” Kit reminded everyone.
“Maybe he forgot something over at the club,” Caroline suggested.
“Good thinking,” Billy told her.
“Managers.” Mary Beth sighed. “They think musicians are brainless.”
“Yeah.” Caroline laughed and waved Billy and Kit away from the table. “Go get Joey and let us finish our breakfast.”
“Aren't you eating, Danielle?” Mary Beth asked, forking up eggs and ham. “You use up a lot of strength during a performance, you know. You shouldn't let yourself get weak or anything.”
“I won't,” Danielle assured her. “I'm just not hungry right now.”
It
is
weird, Danielle thought. I usually eat like crazy after a performance.
I can't still be tired after all those hours I slept, she told herself. But she felt as if she had run a marathon. Every muscle ached.
She glanced across the table at Dee. Dee's brown-gold eyes darted nervously away.
Maybe she feels guilty about the way she treats me,
Danielle thought. Maybe there's a way for us to be friends after all.
They finished breakfast. Then the four band members met Billy and Kit in the lobby. Their bags were already there.
“Did you find Joey?” Dee asked.
Billy shook his head, annoyed. “He wasn't at the club. He's not in his room. He'd better show soonâor he's out of a job.”
Danielle turned toward the elevator, where Caroline and Kit were whispering intently. Danielle felt a stab of jealousy. Was something going on between the two of them?
She hoped not. Kit attracted her like a magnet.
“We might as well pack up and move out,” Billy decided. “Maybe we'll find Joey walking along the road somewhere.”
“You know we won't!” Dee broke in sharply.
Danielle glanced at her in surprise. What did Dee mean?
Before Billy could respond, Dee grabbed her duffel bag and rushed out the door.
“What's Dee's problem?” Danielle asked. “We all know she can't stand Joey. Why is she so upset about him?”
Billy shrugged. “Beats me.” He turned to Kit and Caroline. “Okay, guys, we're out of here!”
Out on the street Kit and Billy secured the instruments and other equipment to the top of the van. The girls loaded the bags inside.
Danielle started to climb aboard, but stopped as a police car sped by, its siren blaring.
A second black-and-white cruiser followed, wheeling around the corner, its siren like a wild animal howl.
A few seconds later a red-and-white ambulance went screaming by.
“They're heading for the park!” Kit shouted, shielding his eyes as he watched them. “Come on. Let's go see what's up.”
He locked the van and trotted in the direction of the park. Danielle and the others followed close behind.
Two police cars and an ambulance, Danielle thought with a shudder. They were sure in a hurry. It's got to be something bad.
As they approached the park, Danielle saw that she and her friends weren't the only curious ones. A few dozen people stood around, craning their necks and asking questions. Two grim-faced police officers tried to keep them back, without much luck.
Dee ran ahead and caught up with Kit. Danielle saw them push their way through the crowd.
“Everybody back!” one of the officers shouted. “Keep your distance!”
A scream rang out.
“That sounded like Dee!” Caroline exclaimed. “What did she see?”
Danielle's heart started to pound.
“I'm not going any farther,” Mary Beth declared, stopping a few feet from the edge of the crowd. “Look at all these people. This is sick.”
Caroline stopped too. Her face had grown pale. She bit her lower lip tensely.
Danielle kept walking.
“Everybody back! We've got a crime scene here!” an angry police officer shouted. “Get back!”
Danielle reached the edge of the crowd. As she did, a gap opened up and she could see why Dee had screamed.
What was that heaped on the ground?
A body? A human body?
Torn to pieces?
Its clothingâits
skin
âhad all been ripped and shredded.
Clawed to death.
This person had to be clawed to death by a wild animal, Danielle thought.
And then she saw the corpse's face.
Joey's face.
