House of a Thousand Screams (8 page)

A
t breakfast Mom cupped my chin in her hand and frowned. “Are you feeling all right?” she asked. “You're a bit pale.”

I stared at my plate. “I didn't sleep too well.”

Mom clucked her tongue. “Did you stay up late reading those scary books again? I've warned you about that, Jill. No wonder you're imagining poltergeists.”

I didn't say anything. What good would it do?

I stumbled through school that day in a daze. Who knows what kind of dumb things I said in class. I couldn't concentrate. I didn't even notice if anyone made fun of me.

I couldn't stop thinking about tonight. I had a
feeling tonight would be the end of it. One way or another.

Finally the school day was over. Freddy and I walked home together.

When we reached our house, we stood on the lawn for a minute. Staring at it.

“It looked so cool when we got here,” Freddy said sadly.

I nodded. It had seemed like such a great place to live.

But not anymore. Now it looked dark, mean. The windows glared down at us in the afternoon sun. The door stood waiting. Ready to open and swallow us whole.

I hitched my backpack up and stepped forward. “Remember our plan,” I warned Freddy. “Whatever Mom does, we stick with her. If she's cooking, we help her cook. If she's reading, we get a book and join her. We don't let her out of our sight.”

“I know,” Freddy answered. “She won't get away from
me.”

As soon as we walked through the front door I put the magic glasses on. No poltergeists in the hall.

“Mom?” I called. “We're home.”

Silence answered me.

Freddy slid off his backpack and let it drop by the hall table. “Isn't she here?” he asked nervously.

“Maybe she's upstairs, or in the basement.” I tried to sound reassuring. “Mom!” I called again, louder.

Still no answer.

“She probably ran to the store or something,” Freddy suggested. His voice shook a little.

We found her note in the kitchen, beside a vase of flowers.

Jill and Freddy,

Dad surprised me with flowers this afternoon. It's the anniversary of the day we met. Isn't he sweet! We're off to dinner and a movie. Back by eleven. There's a lasagna in the oven. Don't get into mischief.

Love, Mom

“So much for the great plan,” Freddy groaned. “Now what are we going to do? We're all alone!”

He looked as if he was about to cry. I licked my lips, trying to think of something to cheer him up. And to cheer
me
up, if you want the truth. We had a long, scary evening to get through! Somehow, we had to pass the time. And then I got an idea.

I started rummaging through the cupboards. “We'll have our own party!” I exclaimed. I threw a bag of popcorn in the microwave. I got a tray out and piled it with cookies and M&Ms. When the microwave dinged, I poured the hot popcorn into a big bowl. I put it in the center of the tray.

“Ta-da!” I sang, plopping the tray in front of
Freddy. “I declare today official Pig-Out Day! Grab some sodas and let's take this stuff to the den.”

Freddy's eyes lit up at the sight of all that junk food. Mom wouldn't like it, but I didn't care. This was an emergency.

In the den I set the tray on the coffee table.

“What are we going to do?” Freddy asked.

“Let's watch that video of Uncle Solly again,” I told him. “Remember how much fun it was?”

Freddy took the tape from the closet and we slipped it into the VCR. We plopped onto the couch to watch.

I'd forgotten I was still wearing the magic glasses. But the moment Uncle Solly started doing his tricks, I remembered. Boy, did I remember!

My mouth fell open in shock. I slipped the glasses on and off again. Could I really be seeing what I was seeing?

“What's the matter with you?” Freddy asked, staring at me.

“Th-the video,” I stuttered. “It's different!”

With the glasses on, everything had changed. All around Uncle Solly, perched on his table and his shoulders and at the end of his magic wand, were—

Poltergeists!

T
he hairy little creatures jumped and capered across the TV screen. And their faces! They looked so different from my memories of last night. They were cheerful. Even cute!

I handed the glasses to Freddy. His eyes grew round as he watched. He grabbed my arm.

“That's it! Don't you see?” he practically yelled. “That's how come Uncle Solly's magic looked so real. Because it
was
real! It's poltergeist magic!”

I gasped.

If Freddy was right, the poltergeists weren't haunting Uncle Solly. Not at all.

They were helping him!

I took the glasses back and stared at the screen.

It was true! Everywhere a fishbowl or a box hung in
the air, there was a poltergeist underneath it, pointing at it.

The poltergeists were helping Uncle Solly do his act!

“ ‘Take care of the little people,' ” I murmured.

“Huh?” Freddy asked.

“What Uncle Solly used to say. ‘Take care of the little people and you're set for life.' He was trying to tell us, Freddy,” I said slowly. “The poltergeists—they must be the little people he meant. Uncle Solly knew we'd move to this house someday when he was gone.”

“You mean he wanted us to make
friends
with the poltergeists?” Freddy demanded.

I nodded. My mind was working on overdrive.

Maybe we'd been wrong about this whole thing from the beginning. Maybe the hairy little men weren't poltergeists at all! After all, a poltergeist is a kind of ghost, right? These creatures didn't seem like ghosts to me. Magic, yes. Spirits—no. These little guys were very much alive.

This changed everything. If we were right about who the little people were—and if we could make friends with them—we wouldn't have to be afraid. Mom could keep her house. We could all stay here together!

Then I noticed a long, thin stream of mist. It leaked upward from the tiny crack between two floorboards.
The stream wavered, swelled. Then it formed into the shape of a little man!

One by one, they appeared around us. One slipped like slime from a wall plug. It slopped out in a pool on the floor. The head and then the shoulders and finally the rest of the creature emerged from the pool. This one had red hair with black speckles.

Another shot like a laser beam from the light switch. It bounced around the room. Then it stopped suddenly. A fresh, whole creature balanced on the edge of our popcorn bowl. Its gaze was glued to the television screen.

“Freddy,” I whispered. “They're here.”

Soon there were dozens of them in the room. They perched on lamps and chairs and tables, all watching the videotape with sad expressions on their tiny faces.

Freddy and I took turns watching them through the glasses. They paid no attention to us at all.

Then they started making those noises again.
Peeps, peeps, peeeeps.
This time though, they sounded different to us.

“I—I think they're crying,” Freddy whispered.

“Me too,” I agreed. “They must miss Uncle Solly.”

“Maybe they don't understand why he's gone,” Freddy said.

“Maybe.” That gave me an idea. “And maybe that's why they've been so mean to us! They think we're intruders.”

How could we make friends with them?

Then I got another idea.

“Freddy,” I whispered. “Go get your magic stuff. Put on your cape and your top hat. Then bring your tricks back down here.”

“Why?” Freddy asked. Then his eyes lit up. “Oh, I get it.”

He slipped quietly out of the room. I heard him running up the stairs to his room. The creatures were so wrapped up in Uncle Solly's video, they didn't even seem to notice.

I was alone. Surrounded by little people. The hair rose all over my arms and legs. “Hurry, Freddy,” I whispered through clenched teeth.

Nervously I grabbed an Oreo off the tray. I wasn't even hungry. It was more like I wanted something to do.

I heard a curious
peeps
in my ear.

My gaze slid to the side. I caught my breath. There was a tiny man on my shoulder! It was the zebra-striped one I'd noticed earlier.

He stared curiously at my cookie. He didn't seem threatening. I held the cookie up for him to inspect.

The creature blinked rapidly. Then he poked his tubelike mouth into the cookie and began slurping the filling out of the center.

He didn't stop until all the creamy filling was gone. Then he sat back and starting
peepsing
happily. His
little eyes gleamed. But for some reason they didn't scare me anymore.

My heart beat fast. We
could
make friends with them!

Freddy stepped into the den, decked out in his magician's outfit. His top hat sat at a tilt on his head.

“Should I start now?” he asked.

“No, let the video finish,” I decided. “They might get mad if we turn it off.”

Freddy sat back down and watched. When the tape reached the part with the puppet in the box, the little people began
peepsing
like crazy and pointing to the screen. I could have sworn I saw fear on their little faces. What could that mean?

The video finally ended. The creatures began jabbering again. I poked Freddy.

“Now,” I said.

Freddy swallowed hard. He stood in front of the TV and announced in a shaky voice, “Ladies and gentlemen, the great Frederico!”

He bowed and waved his wand.

The little people stopped
peepsing
and watched him with bright, curious eyes.

“See?” Freddy said. “Nothing in my hands. And nothing up my sleeve.” He wiped his hands together, made a fist of one, then produced a handkerchief from his fist.

But Freddy was nervous. He fumbled it. The
plastic thumb he'd hidden the silk in fell from his hand and bounced on the floor.

A loud chorus of
peepsing
followed that. The little guys rolled around, holding their bellies and chirping.

“What are they doing?” Freddy asked.

I grinned. “I think they're laughing at you.”

Freddy blushed and pulled out a deck of cards. He made a fan with the cards. But once again he fumbled it. The entire deck spilled to the floor!

Freddy looked miserable. He was proud of his act. But he was just too nervous to get it right.

The little people didn't seem to mind though. They thought he was a riot!

Then one of them jumped and landed on Freddy's shoulder.

“Freddy,” I said quietly, “one of them is sitting on you. Wave your hand at the cards on the floor and see what happens.”

Freddy held out a shaking hand, passed it above the cards, and said, “Abracadabra!”

The creature flicked his fingers. The cards shot up from the floor and smacked Freddy square in the nose.

“Ow!” He rubbed his nose, glaring at me.

Uh-oh! “Don't get mad,” I warned him. “Laugh like it's a great joke.”

“Ha-ha,” Freddy said halfheartedly.

“Louder!” I insisted. “Make it sound like you mean it.”

To help him out, I laughed too. At first it was hard. But then the whole situation struck us just right. Suddenly, we were laughing for real.

The little guys
peepsed
happily. More of them jumped on Freddy. The cards began to dance around him in the air. He waved his hands. The cards followed his movements!

“Wow!” he declared. I clapped my hands.

The creatures helped Freddy with trick after trick. In no time, they lost all their shyness. They swung from our fingers. They danced up and down our arms.

This is great! I thought. Our troubles are over. We'll never have to be scared again!

Boy, was I wrong.

In the middle of Freddy's act, a shuddering howl ripped through the air. My breath caught in my throat. Fear turned my backbone to a blade of ice.

What was that?

The little people froze in their tracks. We all stared in terror at the open den door.

From the hallway something tumbled into the room.

Something blue.

It was no bigger than a basketball. It stood on crooked hind legs. Its long arms were covered with matted blue fur.

The thing raised its hairy arms and shrieked. Claws glinted in the light. Red eyes smoldered from the matted hair of its face. Slime dripped from its long,
greenish fangs. The slime smoked and hissed where it hit the floor.

I gasped. I'd seen this nightmare before. Only a few minutes ago, as a matter of fact.

It was the evil-looking puppet from the box.

But it was no puppet.

It was alive!