The Secret (15 page)

Elizabeth was cowering in a corner by the hearth. Frank Goode stood before her, an ax raised over her head.

The ax that he had used to murder Simon's parents.

The blade was stained blood-red in the firelight.

Simon cried out as Frank let the ax fall.

S
imon tried to cry out, but the sound caught in his throat.

Elizabeth uttered a high-pitched howl.

The ax blade made a whistling, slicing sound as it fell.

It grazed Elizabeth's head, chopping off a clump of her hair.

As she began to sob, Frank tossed his head back and laughed.

“Just teasing you, Elizabeth,” he said. “But the next one is for real.”

Elizabeth pressed herself against the wall and panted. Without realizing it, she had wrapped her hand around the pendant she had found in the garden.

Frank turned to Simon and smiled.

“The Fiers nearly won,” he said. “Your family nearly managed to destroy the Goodes forever. That is
what your ancestors wanted, is it not? To wipe us from the face of the earth?”

Gripped with the horror of the scene he had walked in on, Simon struggled to breathe. The last trickles of his father's blood onto the floor roared like a rushing waterfall in Simon's ears.

Frank took a step toward him.

“In the end, though,” Frank continued slowly, calmly, “the Goodes will survive. I am the last of my family—but that is enough. I have served my ancestors well. I have lived to destroy the Fiers.”

He took another step toward Simon, the ax blade red and gleaming in the firelight.

Simon's trembling hand squeezed the handle of the silver dagger, hidden under his coat. He hoped Old Aggie had been telling the truth about the dagger's power.

Frank hoisted the ax high. With a loud grunt, he swung the ax down toward Simon's head.

Elizabeth's scream pierced the air.

Simon ducked out of the way as the ax blade dug deeply into the tabletop.

Simon had the advantage and drew the dagger from under his coat, lunged forward, and scratched the blade across Frank's arm.

A tiny red line, as thin as a hair, appeared along Frank's forearm. He stared at it, then at Simon. He burst out laughing.

“Is that how you hope to stop me, Simon?” he cried. “With a scratch from a dagger?”

Simon stood panting, his chest heaving.

Frank laughed.

With every sound Frank uttered, Simon felt his
heart grow colder. He raged with hate for Frank and for every Goode who had ever lived.

Frank turned back to Elizabeth. “If you are going to fight me, Simon, I will have to take care of your little sister first,” he said.

Elizabeth had darted away from the corner. But there was nowhere for her to run.

Frank easily pulled the ax blade from the tabletop and took a step toward Elizabeth. Then another.

“Simon—
help me!”
Elizabeth cried.
“Help me!”

Frank took another step toward her. He started to raise the ax.

The old woman's magic—it hadn't worked! Simon realized.

I am not strong enough to pull the ax from Frank's grip. I am not strong enough to fight him.

I foolishly counted on Old Aggie's magic.

And now Elizabeth and I are going to die.

Across the room Frank uttered a triumphant roar as he moved in on Elizabeth, his ax blade raised high.

“S
imon—
stop him!”

Elizabeth's terrified cry rang in Simon's ears.

He started to leap at Frank, hoping to pull him down from behind.

But Simon stopped halfway across the kitchen.

And stared in amazement as the ax fell from Frank's hand, ringing against the stone hearth.

Frank's eyes rolled back in his head. He uttered a startled cry and crumpled to the floor.

Elizabeth's eyes flew open. Her entire body was trembling.

Simon bent over Frank's body and examined him.

Dead. Frank was dead. The poison had worked.

Simon ran to comfort his sister. He wrapped his arms around her and held her until she stopped shaking. “We are safe now,” he whispered. “We are both safe.”

Elizabeth nodded, crying softly, and buried her head in his chest.

Simon gazed over her shoulder at the gruesome scene in the kitchen. His mother and father lay in congealing pools of blood.

They had always been kind, good people, Simon knew. They were kind and took in a starving drifter—and he murdered them in return.

Kate had never harmed anyone in her life. And she had been brutally, coldly murdered, too.

Goodness is weakness,
Simon told himself. That is clear to me now.

Goodness is weakness.

Only evil can fight evil.

Elizabeth and I will leave this house, he decided, holding his sister, letting her cry. This house holds only memories of horror for me.

Elizabeth's tears slowed. “Simon,” she said, “you saved my life.” She touched the silver amulet again. “We are orphans now. You and I are the only ones left alive. I—I cannot help feeling that this amulet had something to do with saving us.”

The silver disk flashed in the firelight. The deep blue stones glowed like human eyes.

Elizabeth pulled the pendant over her head. She gazed at it, then held it out to Simon.

“I want you to have it,” she said. “Please—take it. Its power saved me. From now on, that power must be yours.”

Simon bent forward, and Elizabeth slid the silver chain over his head.

Immediately he felt warm. He closed his eyes, but instead of darkness he saw flames, hoc red fire.

The flames faded quickly, and then Simon saw only Elizabeth's tear-stained face, watching him.

He led his sister away from the scene of horror, out of the kitchen, into the cool night air. He thought of the flames, and Old Aggie's words echoed in his mind.

“The letters in your name spell fire—and that is how your family will come to its end. By fire.”

I will not let it happen, Simon thought grimly as he and Elizabeth stared at the full moon rising. Old Aggie's prediction will not come true.

I have the power to stop it. I can change the future.

The last Goode is dead, he thought with satisfaction. The feud is over now. The curse has been erased. All except for the fire, the fire in my name …

The amulet burned against his chest as he thought about the fire, the letters in his name. And then, suddenly, he knew—he knew exactly what he had to do.

It is simple, he thought. I will change my name.

I will change the letters, so that they will no longer spell
fire
. That will end the curse once and for all.

Elizabeth gripped his hand tightly. She is still afraid, he thought sadly. She does not understand that there is no need to be afraid anymore.

There are no more Goodes. No more feud. No more curse. We are safe. This time, it really is over.

I am the one who can beat the ancient curse. I am powerful. I will change the future, beginning with my name.

I am no longer Simon Fier.

Now and forever I will be known as
Simon FEAR
.

T
he candle burned low as Nora continued to write. She dreaded the moment when the candle would sputter and die.

But even more she dreaded the dawn.

She glanced at the page she had just written and sighed. If only Simon had been right, she thought. If only it had all stopped right there. Then everything would be different. Perhaps I might even be happy now, living with the man I love. Maybe he would still be alive ….

She broke off her thoughts and wiped the tears from her eyes. There is no time for crying now, she told herself. I have much more to write.

The story is far from over.

For now comes the tale of Simon Fear—the most horrifying chapter of all.

“Where do you get your ideas?” That's the question that R. L. Stine is asked most often. “I don't know where my ideas come from,” he says. “But I do know that I have a lot more scary stories in my mind that I can't wait to write.”

So far, R.L. has written nearly three dozen mysteries and thrillers for young people, all of them bestsellers.

R.L. grew up in Columbus, Ohio. Today he lives in an apartment near Central Park in New York City with his wife, Jane, and thirteen-year-old son, Matt.

THE NIGHTMARES NEVER END … WHEN YOU VISIT

Next … THE FEAR STREET SAGA: THE BURNING
(Coming October 1993)

Young Simon falls in love with the beautiful and wealthy debutante Angelica Pierce—and he'll do
anything
in his powers to make her his wife. But then, after moving his family to Shadyside, Simon discovers that only a precious few will escape the Fear Mansion's gruesome horror alive! And so it is left to Nora to tell the truth and bury the family curse … before it buries her!