Secret Admirer (16 page)

She shut her eyes and waited.

Waited.

When she opened her eyes, Katy knelt over her, the flashlight raised. But now Katy was staring at the other end of the catwalk.

Selena turned her head to see Eddy at the top of the ladder.

“Put down the flashlight!” he told Katy softly.

“Go away!” Katy snarled. “This has nothing to do with you!”

“Let her go,” Eddy said gently. He began to inch out on the catwalk toward the girls.

“Leave us alone!” Katy cried. She rose to her feet. “I'll take care of you, too,” she muttered.

“Don't be stupid, Katy,” Eddy called. “You don't want to kill three people. You
know
you don't want to kill Selena and me.”

“You don't know what I want!” Katy replied in an angry, trembling voice. She stood up and took a step toward Eddy.

“Then why don't you explain?” Eddy called to her.

“I will,” Katy sneered. “If you'll come closer.”

Eddy took another step toward her. Now they were only a few feet apart.

Selena felt too afraid to move. Horrified, she watched as Katy and Eddy faced each other. Katy was so intent on Eddy that she seemed to have forgotten Selena.

“Put down the flashlight, Katy,” Eddy instructed her gently. “Let's go down to the stage.”

“You'd like that,” Katy shot back. “That way you'd be in control. But up here, I'm in control.”

Without warning, she swung the flashlight at Eddy's head.

Selena shrieked—and Eddy ducked. He thrust his hands out and windmilled his arms. He hit the railing on the catwalk. Looked like he was about to topple over it. He teetered on the edge.

It's all over,
Selena thought.
Katy is going to kill us all
.

Then she saw Eddy regain his balance. He grabbed for the flashlight. Missed, as Katy stepped away.

With an angry grunt, she swung the flashlight again.

This time Eddy slipped. He went down with a yell, landing on the beam.

Katy swung the flashlight again.

Selena's scream drowned put the loud
thunk
as the metal flashlight found its target.

Eddy ducked back, losing his balance. He slipped off the beam. Now hanging onto it by his fingertips. His body swaying above the stage.

Katy began to chop at Eddy's hands with the flashlight. He cried out, but still held on.

He's going to die!
Selena realized.
Unless I help him!

But could she do it?

She took a deep breath, then began to crawl toward Katy.

Katy whacked at Eddy's fingers again and again.

Selena heard Eddy's cries of pain. She knew he couldn't hold on much longer.

She couldn't be careful anymore. She had to get there fast. She forced herself to stand. Without looking down, she dove toward Katy.

Katy's flashlight was raised high in the air, ready to come down again on Eddy's hands.

Selena grabbed it.

“Let go!” Katy screeched. She tried to pull away from Selena's grasp—and lost her balance.

Selena yanked on the flashlight with all her strength. It flew out of Katy's hands and clattered onto the stage far below.

Katy grasped Selena's arms with both hands. And for a moment the two girls wrestled, teetering on the narrow walk.

Selena couldn't balance. She knew that in another moment both she and Katy would fall off, fall onto the hard stage.

And then she
was
falling, falling backward, Katy on top of her. She ‘seemed to fall forever. Waiting for the stage to smash into her. Waiting for blackness.

“Huh?” Selena felt the catwalk under her back. A crushing weight on her stomach.

She gazed up. Katy was sprawled on top of her.

“Whooooa!” Eddy cried out as he landed on top of both of them, pinning them to the safety of the catwalk.

Selena couldn't breathe.

“Let me go!” Katy cried, struggling furiously. “Let me go!”

“Hold on, Selena,” Eddy cried. He climbed to his feet and, pulling Katy roughly up, dragged her along the catwalk. They disappeared into the prop room.

Selena stared after them, her body numb with shock. After a moment, she climbed shakily to her feet. Without Katy, the catwalk seemed safe. Walking on it seemed easy.

Slowly, she made her way to the prop room. Eddy had pulled off Danny's ropes and was using them to tie up Katy.

“How did you know I was here?” Selena asked Eddy.

“You sounded so upset on the phone, I took a guess you might come here.”

“Lucky guess!” Selena cried. With a burst of emotion, she ran over and wrapped her arms around Eddy. She kissed him.

He held her close. When he pulled back, she saw the startled expression on his face. “You're not
acting
now—are you?” he demanded.

Selena pressed her face against his. “No. I'm not acting,” she replied. “Thank goodness, this show is over!”

“Hey, don't say that,” Eddy protested. He slid his arm around her. “This may only be Act One!”

R.L. Stine invented the teen horror genre with Fear Street, the bestselling teen horror series of all time. He also changed the face of children's publishing with the mega-successful Goosebumps series, which
Guinness World Records
cites as the Best-Selling Children's Book Series ever, and went on to become a worldwide multimedia phenomenon. The first two books in his new series Mostly Ghostly,
Who Let the Ghosts Out?
and
Have You Met My Ghoulfriend?,
are
New York Times
bestsellers. He's thrilled to be writing for teens again in the brand-new Fear Street Nights books.

R.L. Stine has received numerous awards of recognition, including several Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards and Disney Adventures Kids' Choice Awards, and he has been selected by kids as one of their favorite authors in the National Education Association Read Across America. He lives in New York City with his wife, Jane, and their dog, Nadine.

D
EAR
R
EADERS
,

W
ELCOME TO
FEAR STREET—
WHERE YOUR WORST NIGHTMARES LIVE
! I
T'S A TERRIFYING PLACE FOR
S
HADYSIDE
H
IGH STUDENTS—AND FOR
YOU!

D
ID YOU KNOW THAT THE SUN NEVER SHINES ON THE OLD MANSIONS OF
F
EAR
S
TREET
? N
O BIRDS CHIRP IN THE
F
EAR
S
TREET WOODS
. A
ND AT NIGHT, EERIE MOANS AND HOWLS RING THROUGH THE TANGLED TREES
.

I'
VE WRITTEN NEARLY A HUNDRED
F
EAR
S
TREET NOVELS, AND
I
AM THRILLED THAT MILLIONS OF READERS HAVE ENJOYED ALL THE FRIGHTS AND CHILLS IN THE BOOKS
. W
HEREVER
I
GO, KIDS ASK ME WHEN
I'
M GOING TO WRITE A NEW
F
EAR
S
TREET TRILOGY
.

W
ELL, NOW
I
HAVE SOME EXCITING NEWS
. I
HAVE WRITTEN A BRAND-NEW
F
EAR
S
TREET TRILOGY
. T
HE THREE NEW BOOKS ARE CALLED
FEAR STREET NIGHTS. T
HE SAGA OF
S
IMON AND
A
NGELICA
F
EAR AND THE UNSPEAKABLE EVIL THEY CAST OVER THE TEENAGERS OF
S
HADYSIDE WILL CONTINUE IN THESE NEW BOOKS
. Y
ES
, S
IMON AND
A
NGELICA
F
EAR ARE BACK TO BRING TERROR TO THE TEENS OF
S
HADYSIDE
.

FEAR STREET NIGHTS
IS AVAILABLE NOW
.… D
ON'T MISS IT
. I'
M VERY EXCITED TO RETURN TO
F
EAR
S
TREET—AND
I
HOPE YOU WILL BE THERE WITH ME FOR ALL THE GOOD, SCARY FUN
!

feel the fear.

FEAR STREET® NIGHTS

A brand-new Fear Street trilogy by the master of horror

R. L. STINE

In Stores Now

Simon Pulse

Published by Simon & Schuster

F
EAR
S
TREET
is a registered trademark of Parachute Press, Inc.

a division of MI5

by Robert Muchamore

The kid playing GameBoy on the steps. That skater punk who cut you off. The girl reading a book at the front of the bus.

You may walk right by. You don't even notice them. But they're all secret agents. CHERUB employs more than two hundred fifty agents, all under the age of seventeen.

They hack into computers.
They spy on terrorists.
And they're always watching.
Because no one suspects them.

To find out how, check out
www.cherubcampus.com
. And pick up
The Recruit
and
The Dealer
by Robert Muchamore

From Simon Pulse · Published by Simon & Schuster