The Five Masks of Dr. Screem Read Online Free PDF

A wave of fear swept over me. “Make them disappear
forever
?” I asked.
    Bella nodded. “Forever,” she said.
    “But … h-how can we bring our parents back?” I stammered.
    Bella frowned again. Her dark eyes went dull.
    “You can’t,” she said in a whisper.

11
    “Huh?” I uttered a gasp. I felt my heart skip a beat.
    “What do you
mean
we can’t?” Peter cried. “We
have
to do something. We
have
to bring them back!”
    “You can’t bring your parents back because you won’t help me,” Bella said. “If you change your minds and go on the hunt for the five masks …”
    I started to breathe again. “If we go on the hunt …”
    “If you recapture all five masks,” Bella said, “Screem will lose their evil magic for another year.”
    “And our house will come back? And our parents?” Peter demanded.
    “It’s the only way,” she said. She brushed her straight black hair back over her shoulder. Her red fingernails glowed in the firelight.
    “Here. This will help.” She disappeared into the library.
    Peter and I gazed at each other but didn’t speak. I could tell he was thinking the same thing I was.
    The hunt for the masks was crazy. But we had to do it. We had to defeat Screem and get our parents back! Screem’s evil magic was real. It wasn’t some kind of Halloween joke.
    If we wanted to get our lives back to normal, we had to go after him. We had to collect the masks and keep them from him till Halloween was over.
    Bella came back into the room. Her long dress trailed behind her. She held a narrow sheet of paper in one hand.
    “Here.” She pushed it into my hand. “This is a list for you. A list of the five masks.”
    I raised the paper and read the list out loud: “
Ugly insect; mummy; Himalayan snow wolf; human skull; alien pig creature
.”
    “But where do we find them?” Peter asked. “Where do we start?”
    “Yes, this is crazy!” I said. “Screem could hide the masks
anywhere
. Where do we begin? We don’t have a clue where to search.”
    She narrowed her eyes at me. “You’ll find them, Monica. In fact, sometimes they will find you.
Keeping
them will be harder than finding them. Screem is very tricky. Will you beable to bring them back to me? That’s the question.”
    I didn’t really understand what she meant. But I was too jumpy to stand there and talk about it anymore. I wanted to get moving.
    Mainly, I wanted to get this night over. I knew there were horrors ahead. But maybe … maybe Peter and I could find the five masks and bring back Mom and Dad.
    I glanced down. Without realizing it, I had my fingers crossed on both hands.
    I didn’t have any pockets. So I handed the list of masks to Peter. He tucked it into his pocket.
    “Let’s go,” I said. I started for the door. He followed close behind.
    “Wait.” Bella hurried after us. “Final instructions.”
    We turned at the front door.
    “You have until dawn,” she said. “You must bring the five masks back here, back to me. If you grab one, Screem will try his best to take it away from you.”
    “How — how can we stop him?” I stuttered.
    “Wear the masks you capture,” Bella answered. “If you wear a mask, he cannot take it away. Slide one over another. When you are wearing them all, Screem will be powerless.”
    Powerless
.
    Was she telling the truth? I hoped so.
    I grabbed the doorknob and pulled open the front door. A blast of cold wind pushed against Peter and me.
    I ducked my head against the wind and stepped outside.
    But Bella’s shout made me stop. “Oh, yes,” she called. “One thing I forgot to tell you …”

12
    Bella stepped into the doorway. The wind made her long dress swirl around her. She appeared to fade in the gray light.
    “Remember this warning,” she said. “Screem has many powers. But his most impressive power is his ability to lie.”
    The swirling wind made it hard to hear her. “Did you say
lie
?” I shouted.
    She nodded. “Screem is the best liar on earth.