What Holly Heard (14 page)

She raised the hammer.

“Well, now you do!”

Miriam stiffened. “No, Ruth! Please!”

Ruth stood over her, beaming in triumph.

She swung the hammer.

T
he hammer hit air.

Miriam screamed.

Ruth laughed. “See how weak you are?”

“Ruth—put down the hammer,” Miriam pleaded. “I'll help you. I promise I will.”

Ruth's smile faded. She raised the hammer again. Fingered the claw.

She's so crazy, Miriam thought, feeling a wave of terror sweep over her. She murdered her own pets. Murdered them so I'd think Noah and Mei were murderers.

She'll do anything.

Anything.

“Ruth, please—”

“No one understood,” Ruth muttered. “No one
understood about me and Gary. Gary is special. But no one understood.”

She started to say more—but a noise in the hallway made her stop.

Miriam turned as a figure lurched into the room.

Jed!

“Hey—what's going on?” Jed demanded, gazing from Miriam to Ruth.

“Oh, thank goodness!” Miriam cried.

I'm saved, she thought, letting out a long sigh of relief.

Jed is here. I'm going to be okay.

“Jed, quick! Grab her!” Miriam screamed. “She killed Holly!”

Jed uttered a startled groan. He dived for Ruth.

Ruth stepped aside. She pulled back her arm—and heaved the hammer at Jed.

“Noooo!” Miriam screamed.

The handle of the hammer hit Jed in the side of the head.

Jed's eyes bulged. His mouth dropped open and didn't close.

He toppled forward, his expression still stunned, crumpling in a heap on the bedroom carpet.

He didn't move.

Ruth raised her eyes to Miriam. “You're next,” she said softly.

C
rumpled facedown on the floor, Jed uttered a groan. He didn't move.

Ruth stepped over him and moved quickly toward Miriam. She picked up the deadly hammer as she advanced.

Miriam's knee throbbed with pain. She knew she couldn't step down on her right leg.

But she couldn't stand there and let Ruth murder her.

“I'm sorry, Miriam. I really am,” Ruth said without any feeling at all.

She swung the hammer.

Miriam ducked away.

Pulled herself up and along the wall with both hands.

Hobbled and hopped to the window.

Turned in time to see Ruth moving in on her, hammer poised.

“I'm sorry. So sorry,” Ruth murmured. “I won't have any friends left after tonight—will I? Not even my two hamsters. My two real friends.”

“Ruth—please—!” Miriam begged. “I'm your friend. You've got to believe me.”

Jed groaned again. He raised his head from the carpet.

Ruth turned to watch him.

The break Miriam needed.

She lunged to the shelf. Grabbed up the glass hamster cage in both hands.

Raised it.

Raised it.

And brought it down over Ruth's head.

Miriam shut her eyes against the crash of shattering glass and bending metal.

Ruth didn't utter a cry.

The hammer fell from her hand. It landed on her foot.

And then Ruth slumped to the floor beside it.

Miriam stared down at the shards of glass. The room blurred. Her knee throbbed.

She grabbed the back of the desk chair to hold herself up.

It's over, she thought.

It's all over.

So why do I feel so bad?

Her chest heaved as she struggled to catch her
breath. She pushed herself away from the chair and dropped down beside Jed.

He stirred. Sat up. Rubbed his head with one hand.

“Whoa,” he murmured.

“Are you okay?” Miriam demanded. She put both hands around his shoulders. She pulled herself close. Held him tight.

“Jed—are you okay?”

He blinked several times. Pressed his cheek against hers. “Yeah. I'm okay,” he replied. Then he added, “Now.”

“Jed, I'm so sorry,” Miriam whispered, holding on to him. “I'm so sorry … about everything.”

“Me too,” he murmured.

“I—I can't believe I doubted you. I can't believe I really believed that
you
killed Holly.”

Jed uttered a choked cry. He gently pushed Miriam back. “I—I have to tell you something,” he stammered.

“Jed—what?”

“I
did
kill Holly.”

M
iriam inhaled sharply. “Huh? What do you mean?”

“Miriam, you have no idea how many times I've wanted to tell you what's been going on with me. That's why I followed you from the game tonight. I'd lost everything, and I wanted to make sure I didn't lose you, too.”

Miriam's heart started to pound harder. She waited for Jed to continue, dreading what he was about to say.

Jed took a deep breath. “I might as well just say it. About four weeks ago I started taking steroids.”

“Oh, wow,” Miriam murmured. “Steroids.”

He nodded. “Yeah, I know. It was really stupid. I know.”

“Why, Jed?”

“I wanted scholarships. I wanted a
lot
of them. I wanted every major basketball power kicking down my door. I knew I was good. But I needed to be
great.
The pills would give me that edge.”

He shook his head. “And for a while they did. I felt strong. Really strong. My confidence soared. I'd never felt so
powerful
before. But it didn't last long.”

“The side effects,” Miriam guessed.

“Yeah. Between the migraines and anxiety attacks and mood swings, I was a walking nutcase,” he admitted. “There were times when I really thought I
was
going to kill someone.”

Miriam squeezed his hand. “What happened?”

“Gary happened,” Jed replied. “He knew I was out of control. He tried to get me off the pills, but I ignored him.”

Miriam frowned. She squeezed his arm. “I'm confused. What does any of this have to do with Holly?”

Jed looked at his feet. “Gary would've done anything for Holly. And she kept asking him what was going on with me. So he finally told her. But I guess he felt guilty, because he also told me that Holly knew.”

Jed paused and shook his head. “The day she was killed,” he continued, “I knew Holly was staying after school. I was going to be there working out. I asked her to wait for me in the gym. I wanted to talk to her. I was going to ask her not to tell you about the steroids.”

Jed lowered his eyes, avoiding Miriam's stare. “The steroids messed me up. Holly was waiting for me in
the gym. But it took me a long time to get my head together. And by that time—”

He uttered a choked sob. “I was fifteen minutes late. And that's when Ruth killed Holly. If I hadn't been so messed up. If I hadn't been late, I would have been there. And … maybe Holly would still be alive.”

Miriam pulled Jed close and held him. “You can't think like that,” she whispered.

Ruth groaned behind them.

“We've got to call the police,” Miriam said. “Right away.”

But Jed held on to her, pressing his face against hers. “Does this mean—you—you're going to keep seeing me? If I promise never to take another pill. Will you—will you stay with me?”

Miriam sighed and held on to him. “That's the latest gossip,” she whispered.

“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, he has written over fifty mysteries and thrillers for young people, all of them bestsellers.

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

THE NIGHTMARES NEVER END … WHEN YOU VISIT

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THE FACE

(Now Available)

Martha can't remember anything about that day. Not the smallest detail. The doctors say it will all come back to her in time….

But someone can't wait for Martha to remember. She draws his face over and over. She can't control her hand. Who is this boy? What does he want from her?

Martha doesn't know. But she's going to find the answer. Even if it means confronting her painful past … and facing the dead.