They Call Me Creature
Read They Call Me Creature Online
Authors: R.L. Stine
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Go ahead and scream.
No one can hear you. You're no longer in the safe world you know.
You've taken a terrifying step â¦
into the darkest corners of your imagination.
You've opened the door to â¦
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Welcomeâ¦
I'm R.L. Stine. Let me introduce you to the newest visitor to The Nightmare Room. That's Laura Atkins, the tall, pretty girl surrounded by animals. Those are strays Laura found in the woods behind her house.
Laura loves the woods and its creatures. It's where she feels most at home. Unfortunately, there's a creature lurking in the woods that Laura will be sorry she met. In fact, there are several creatures hiding among the trees that don't belong there. That don't belong
anywhere
.
Laura's father has been acting strangely. He used to love walking in the woods with her. But now he orders her to stay away. Does he know something that Laura doesn't? Does he know that the path through the woods leads directly to ⦠THE NIGHTMARE ROOM?
Contents
Preview: The Nightmare Room #7 The Howler
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They call me Creature.
But I'm not. I'm a human being. I'm a person.
I was born human. I lived most of my life as a human. I am still a human.
I act like a person. I think like a person.
I am not a creature!
Yes, sometimes I get urges. I get such powerful cravings.
When the feeling comes over me, I can't help myself. I can't control myself.
I get so hungry. So hungry ⦠as if my whole body needs to feed. And feed and feed.
As I prowl the woods, I must kill for food. I must slash and tear and chew. I fill my belly and keep on feeding. I let the warm juices run down my chin.
Afterward, I force myself to look in a mirror. And I cry out in pain, in sorrow. In shame.
Creature
â¦
you ugly creature.
â¦
I wasn't always like this. I didn't always have to hide my face.
Now I live in the shadows. I have no friends. No one I can trust.
I am so lonely.
I am so tempted to talk to someone. So eager to tell my story to someone who will listen.
But I cannot let my guard down. No one must know. No one must ever know what I am.
That's why I force myself to look in the mirror.
I stare at my face and then I remember.
I remember. I remember.
I remember why they call me
Creature
.
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“CAW CAW CAW CAW!”
“It's okay, Mr. Crow,” I said softly. I finished bandaging the bird and set it down gently in its cage.
“CAWW CAWWW!” It struggled to flutter its broken wing. “Dad, do you think it will heal?”
Dad didn't answer. He turned the page of the magazine he was reading.
“Dad? What do you think?”
He picked up a pencil and circled a sentence on the page.
“Dad?”
“Did you say something, Laura?” My father glanced up and squinted at me through his thick, black-framed glasses.
“Do you think the wing will heal?” I asked again.
“What wing?” Dad returned to the magazine and started scribbling notes in the margin.
I caught the surprise on my friend Ellen's face. She hadn't seen Dad's new faraway personality.
Far away.
That was the best way to describe my father these days. Even when we were in the same room together, he seemed to be someplace else.
Lucky, the big stray cat I'd found in the woods, bumped past me, nearly knocking over the bird cage. He began licking Dad's hand with his long tongue.
Dad jerked his hand away. “Please take the cat out. I'm trying to concentrate.” He circled more sentences, pressing so hard, the pencil point broke with a sharp snap.
“Where am I supposed to put him?” I sighed. “I can't use the shed anymore since you're working in there.”
Dad stared at the crow and Lucky, as if seeing them for the first time. “Why can't I live in a house, Laura? Why do I have to live in a zoo?”
“You're a vet!” I cried. “You're supposed to love animalsâremember?”
Ellen forced a laugh. But I could see she was really embarrassed. She had never seen Dad and me yelling at each other. She hadn't seen Dad since ⦠since he changed.
I had stopped inviting my friends over because I never knew what Dad was going to say or do. But Ellen was my best friend, and I missed hanging out with her. So I asked her to come over today. But maybe it was a big mistake.
I picked up the cage in one hand and Lucky in the other. I took them both down the hall to my room and shut the door.
I swung my camera around my neck. “Come on, Ellen,” I said. “Let's get to the woods.”
Our house sits on the edge of a quiet country road. Our back lawn is deep and lush and ends at the woods. So I've always considered the woods and the little streams that flow through it part of my backyard.
That's where I feel the happiest. It's so beautiful in the woods, so peaceful and filled with life.
In the mornings before I go to school, I stand in the center of our lawn and stare out at tall, leafy trees that seem to stretch on forever. Then I breathe in the morning scent of fresh pine. I love that smell.
I checked out my camera, making sure I had put in a new film cartridge.
Ellen brushed back her straight, black hair. She loves her hair. She's always pushing it back, pulling it to the side, sweeping her hands through it.
I'm totally jealous of her hair. Mine is long, and red-brown. It's totally unmanageable.
Ellen's eyes flashed. “Are we going into the woods because of your science project? Or because you want to see that boy you met there last week?”
I let out a groan. “Because of my project,” I said. “Life isn't only about boys, you know.”
“Well, you're the one who was talking about him all morning. âI wonder if I'll see him again. I wonder where he lives. I wonder if he has a girlfriend.â¦'” She laughed.
“Okay. Okay.” I had to admit it. I had been thinking about Joe a lot since I ran into him by Luker Pond.
“It's just that boys don't usually notice me,” I said. “And he seemed so nice. And when I told him about my science project, he seemed really interested.”
“Then we have two projects,” Ellen stated. “The science project and the boy project! Let's go.”
“We just have to find Georgie,” I said.
“You're going into the woods?” Dad frowned at me. “You need other interests, Laura. Why don't you go to the movies?”
I sighed. Dad has loved the woods his whole life. That's where I get it from. Since I was little, he and I always roamed the woods for hours and hours, exploring, talking, laughing. We could always talk about
anything
.
Now he spent his time locked up in the little shed in our backyard. And he was always silent or grouchy.
“I have to work on my science project,” I said. I followed Ellen through the back door.
She's tall and skinny and all legs, like a deer. With her big, dark eyes and sort of innocent, round face, Ellen reminds me of a delicate, graceful doe.
If she's a doe, I'm a fox. My red-brown hair is kind of like fox fur. I'm short and quick, and I have wide-apart brown eyes and a foxy smile.
I'm always comparing all the kids I know to animals. I guess it's because I love animals so much.
Ellen and I stepped out into a cool, crisp spring day. A string of puffy clouds floated low over the trees. The air smelled fresh and sweet.
“Sorry about Dad,” I said to Ellen. “He's so different ever since he left his job at the animal hospital. I'm kind of worried about him.”
“Maybe you should call your mother. Ask her for some advice,” Ellen suggested.
“I did call her. But she said I needed to be patient. She said leaving a job is a big deal, and he probably needs time to adjust.”
“That makes sense,” Ellen said.
I frowned. “I wish my mom was here. I really miss her. Phone calls and e-mail just aren't the same.”
My mom moved to Chicago after she and Dad divorced five years ago. They gave me a choiceâand I chose to live with Dad.