House of Dark Shadows Read Online Free PDF Page B

called.
    â€œWhat?” David said, almost beside him.
    Xander jumped. David was standing at the foot of the stairs, having stepped out of the dining room.
    â€œDavid!” Xander yelled, because he had to yell something.
    His eyes snapped back to the figure in the upstairs doorway, but it was gone.
    â€œWhat do you want?” David asked.
    â€œI . . . were you just upstairs?”
    â€œI haven’t looked up there yet.”
    â€œBut I just saw you up there.”
    David gave him a funny look. “Not me. Look at this.” He stepped closer to show what he held in his hand. At first Xander thought it was a flashlight, and then he recognized it: a toy light-saber. The plastic red tube that represented the laser had broken off, but the cylindrical handle, with its decorative rings and On/ Off switch, was unmistakable. It was old.
    â€œSome kid must have lived here a long time ago,” David said.
    â€œOr came in to play.”
    Xander heard excited voices coming from . . . somewhere.
    â€œI really love it, Ed. I do,” his mom said.
    â€œEven with all the work?”
    â€œYes, yes. How else could we afford something this big?
    If we ever got into a house like this, it would have to be a fixer-upper.”
    His parents were upstairs, but the voices seemed to be drifting from everywhere at once: the library, the kitchen, the second floor. Relief washed over him when they appeared in the upstairs hallway. Mom leaned over the railing. “It’s big, boys. Seven bedrooms!”
    â€œSeven?” David said. “What would we do with that many?” “You can each have your own, for starters,” Dad said. “Your mother’s counting servants’ quarters up here . . .”
    â€œServants!” David said, tickled at the idea.
    â€œThat doesn’t mean we’re going to get any,” Dad said. “Besides, that room needs a lot of work, so we can’t use it. For now, anyway.”
    In his excitement, David ran halfway up the stairs. “So, can we live here?”
    Dad looked at Mom to answer. “We’ll see what we can do.” Xander felt his stomach roll over on itself. He wanted to get out of the house, but he didn’t like the idea of going outside alone. He thought of the shoe prints he’d seen. “Dad, can I show you something outside? It might be important.”
    Dad looked at him curiously. He gave Mom a quick kiss and clomped down the stairs. “What is it?” he asked.
    Mom stopped him. “Ed, where’s Victoria?” she said with that hint of worry mothers seem capable of conjuring at a moment’s notice.
    Everything he felt about the house made Xander panic. Instantly, he yelled, “Toria! Toria!”
    His dad gave him a puzzled look, then called for his daughter. Silence. Not even the creaking, which had seemed so loud and constant a few minutes before.
    â€œToria!” Dad called again. He looked up to Mom.
    She said, “I haven’t seen her since we came in.”
    â€œCheck up there,” he said. He came the rest of the way down the stairs and turned into the dining room.
    Xander went the other direction, through the library. He circled around and met up with Dad in the kitchen. When they returned to the foyer, Mom was coming off the last step, worry and hope etched on her face.
    â€œNot down here,” Dad informed her. His voice had risen a notch. He appeared more concerned than Mom now.
    â€œEd—” she started.
    Footsteps came from upstairs, running, growing louder.
    All of them looked. The footsteps grew closer. They sound like Toria’s , Xander thought. A little girl’s. Please let it be her.
    When the footsteps could not possibly get any closer, she still did not appear, but the pounding continued. Again, Xander glanced toward the dining room, the kitchen, the library. Considering the tricks of sound he had witnessed, he no longer assumed his sister was upstairs.