The Haunted Mask II Read Online Free PDF Page A

dropped the mask, plunged my hand into the carton, and pulled out another
one. A disgusting pig face with thick gobs of green stuff dripping from its snout.
    “That one looks like Carly Beth!” Chuck joked.
    “These are scarier than the mask Carly Beth had last year,” I said.
    I pulled another one from the box. A furry animal face, sort of like a
gorilla, except that it had two long pointed fangs sliding down past its chin.
    I dropped it and grabbed up another mask. Then another. A hideous bald head
with one eye hanging down by a thread and an arrow through the forehead.
    I tossed it to Chuck and pulled out another one.
    “This is amazing!” I cried happily. “These will terrify those kids. How will
I ever choose the best one?”
    Chuck let out a disgusted groan and dropped the mask he was holding into the
box. “They feel like real skin. They’re so warm.”
    I didn’t pay any attention to him. I was busy digging down to the bottom of
the carton. I wanted to check out each mask before I made my choice.
    I wanted the scariest, grossest mask in the box. I wanted a mask that would
give those first graders more nightmares than they had given me!
    I pulled out a mask of a girl’s face with a lizard’s head poking out from her
mouth.
    No. Not scary enough.
    I pulled out a mask of a snarling wolf, its lips pulled back to show two jagged rows of pointed teeth.
    Too wimpy.
    I pulled out an ugly mask of a leering old man, his mouth twisted in an evil
grin. One long, crooked tooth stuck down over his lower lip.
    The mask had long, stringy yellow hair that drooped down over the old man’s
craggy forehead. I could see big black spiders climbing in the hair and in the
ears. A chunk of forehead was missing, revealing a patch of gray skull
underneath.
    Not bad, I thought.
    This one even smelled bad!
    I started to put it back when I heard a creaking sound again.
    Louder this time.
    The ceiling above my head groaned.
    I gasped. It really sounded like a footstep. Someone walking around up there.
    But the store had appeared dark and empty. Chuck and I had both stared into
the window for a long time. If anyone was hiding there in the darkness, we would
have seen them.
    Another creak made me suck in a mouthful of air.
    I froze, listening hard. I could hear the steady drip drip of water
across the dark basement. I could hear the trapdoor rattling outside.
    And I could hear my own shallow breathing.
    The ceiling squeaked. I swallowed hard.
    It’s an old building, I told myself. All old buildings squeak and creak.
Especially on a windy night.
    A scraping footstep made me gasp out loud.
    “Chuck—did you hear that?”
    Gripping the old-man mask, I listened hard.
    “Did you hear that?” I whispered. “Do you think someone else is in the
building?”
    Silence.
    Another scraping footstep.
    “Chuck?” I whispered. “Hey—Chuck?”
    My heart pounding, I turned to him.
    “Chuck?”
    He was gone.

 
 
9
     
     
    “Chuck?”
    A stab of fear made my breath catch in my throat.
    I heard the hard thud of sneakers against concrete, and turned to the stairs.
In the dim light, I saw Chuck disappear out through the trapdoor.
    As soon as he reached the alley, he poked his head back in. “Steve—get out!” he called down in a loud whisper. “Hurry! Get out of there!”
    Too late.
    A ceiling light flashed on.
    As I blinked against the bright light, I saw a man move quickly across the
basement. He swept along the wall, pulled a long, black cord—and the trapdoor
slammed shut with a deafening clang.
    “Oh!” I uttered a weak cry as he turned angrily to me.
    I was trapped.
    Chuck got out. But I was trapped. Trapped in the basement with this guy.
    And what a weird-looking guy! To begin with, he wore a long black cape that
swept behind him as he crossed the room to me.
    Is that a Halloween costume? I wondered.
    Does he wear a black cape all the time?
    Beneath the billowing cape, he wore a black suit, kind of old-fashioned