I slid through the crack in the carton and began the long, long walk
across the basement.
How long did it take to climb up to my brother’s room?
I don’t know, but it seemed to take forever.
By the time I made my way across Jason’s bedroom floor, my whole body
pulsed and throbbed. I wanted to spin a web and disappear inside it for
a long rest.
But I forced myself to keep going. Using my last ounce of strength, I
dragged myself up his bedspread until I stood on his shoulder.
Jason slept soundly on his side, his mouth slightly open, his curly dark
hair matted against the pillow.
88 “I’m sorry about this, Jason,” I said silently. “But I need your
body. I would never do this to my own brother if it wasn’t a total
emergency.”
I scuttled onto his cheek. It felt warm and soft under my hairy spider
body.
I pressed myself against his skin and concentrated … concentrated …
In a few seconds, I felt myself slipping down, down into darkness.
Jason didn’t move.
He didn’t wake up.
I’ll give you back your body, I promised silently. As soon as I’ve
captured my own body back, I’ll return this one to you.
I sat up. Brushed back the curly dark hair. Opened Jason’s eyes.
“Wow,” I uttered. A human word. In Jason’s voice.
“I’m human again!”
I jumped out of bed - and nearly crashed into the wall.
Jason’s body was so heavy.
Be careful, Spencer, I warned myself. You were just a tiny spider. Take
your time. Get used to this big, human body.
But, no.
No time to get used to it, I realized. The ghoul said he was going to
find a new body - and destroy mine!
89 I may already be too late.
I ran from the bedroom and raced down the hall. “Mom! Dad!” I cried.
“Help me! Mom! Dad!”
I stopped halfway down the hall - as a scream of horror rose up from the
kitchen.
90 I lurched down the stairs, stumbling, carrying my new, heavy body
like a big sack of flour. I stopped in the kitchen doorway.
Mom and Dad stood bathed in the light from the open refrigerator door.
Their faces were twisted in horror and shock. Their mouths hung open as
they saw all the spilled food, broken glass, empty jars and bottles.
“Oh, wow,” I murmured.
Mom turned to me. “Jason - who did this?”
“I have to tell you - ” I started to explain.
“Who did this? Who? Have you seen Spencer?” Mom demanded.
“I’m Spencer!” I declared. “I had to borrow Jason’s body.”
“Jason - this is no time for jokes!” Dad cried angrily. “Look at this
horrible mess!”
91 “I’m not joking!” I insisted. “You’ve got to listen to me! I’m
Spencer. A ghoul stole my body. So I had to take Jason’s body. I - “
“Not now, Jason,” Mom interrupted. She turned to Dad. “I told Spencer
not to let him watch any more monster movies.”
“You’ve got to listen to me!” I shrieked at the top of Jason’s lungs. “I
have to get my body back before the ghoul destroys it. I need your help!”
“Go to your room,” Dad snapped. He waved me to the steps. “Go. Now.
We’ll talk later. Mom and I have a big cleanup on our hands. Someone
must have broken into the house.”
“But - but - but - ” I sputtered.
I could see they weren’t going to listen. So I turned and ran upstairs.
I pulled on a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt. Then I grabbed Jason’s
parka and raced out the front door.
Someone has got to listen to me! I told myself. Someone has got to do
something.
I ran to the corner and stopped with a gasp. My shoes crunched over
broken glass.
Two cars parked at the curb had their windshields shattered. The hoods
and trunks were bent and battered, as if someone had taken a
sledgehammer to them.
I trotted past, staring up at the houses and garages. Flames rose out of
a car in the next driveway. Garbage cans were overturned.
92 The door to the next house stood wide open. I heard a baby crying
inside.
The front windows of the house after that were shattered. Bright orange
flames blazed from the curtains.
On the corner, flames shot out of a mailbox. Two more cars were
battered, their windshields smashed to tiny shards of glass.
From down the street, I heard angry cries and frightened shrieks. Shrill
wails of panic filled the air. I saw people running in bathrobes and
pajamas.
At the end of the block, the woods were on fire. I saw a van on its
side, tires slashed. Heavy black smoke made me choke and cover my eyes.
Squinting through the smoke, I saw the ghoul. A shadowy figure moving
through the flames, moving from house to house, destroying everything in
his path.
In the distance, I heard the rise and fall of sirens. Sirens on all
sides. Fire engines … The police.
This is all my fault, I thought, gripped with horror. All my fault. I
knocked over that double gravestone. I gave him a way out of the graveyard.
The ghoul darted across the street. He rocked a car until he tilted it
onto its side. His high, shrill laughter rose over the screams of horror
from people in their houses.
93 All my fault … all my fault …
The words repeated in my mind.
And then I saw me - my body - charge up to a fireman who was fighting
one of the blazes. The ghoul reached out and snatched an ax from his hand.
“Hey! Give that back to me!” The fireman bolted forward to grab it back.
But the ghoul swung it wildly at him. The fireman backed off.
The ghoul dashed down the street and swung the ax at a mailbox post.
The post snapped in two. The mailbox clattered to the street.
He charged up to a garage and began chopping away at the garage door.
Splintering it. Swinging again.
And then I heard a fierce cry: “Drop that ax!”
I spun around and saw two dark-uniformed police officers, their faces
grim, their eyes reflecting the flames of the house next door.
“Drop the ax!” the officer repeated. He had a hand on his gun holster.
The ghoul in my body whirled around. The dark, empty eyes glared at the
two policemen. And then he swung the ax, swung the ax at an officer’s head.
“Drop it - or we’ll shoot!” the officer boomed.
“No!” I cried, hurtling over to them. “No! Don’t shoot! That’s my body!”
94 “Get away, kid!” an officer yelled.
The ghoul swung the ax again.
“Don’t shoot him!” I screamed.
“We have no choice!” the policeman cried.
I froze in horror as they raised their guns.
95 Nooooo!” I wailed. “That’s my body! It’s mine! Don’t destroy it!”
Both officers turned to me.
“Are you crazy, kid?”
“Get away from here - now!”
The officers and I turned back to the ghoul.
He had vanished.
I lowered my hands to my knees and struggled to catch my breath. The two
officers took off to search for the ghoul.
I hear
d screams over the fence, coming from the next yard. Frank
Foreman’s yard. I leaped over the fence and saw the ghoul demolishing
the Foremans’ tool shed with the ax.
I ducked behind a tree and watched him, trying
96 to figure out the best way to get my body back from him.
In seconds the shed sat in splinters. “Hmmmm,” the ghoul murmured.
“Firewood.”
Then before I could cry out, the ghoul lit a match and set the pile ablaze.
The dry wood shot up in flames instantly.
The ghoul stared deep into the fire, the flames reflecting in the dark
holes that were once my eyes.
The fire blazed up, with flames leaping to the branches of a nearby
tree. A tree that hung directly over the Foremans’ house!
Oh, no! The Foremans’ house is going to catch on fire! I realized. I’d
better go in and warn them!
As I darted from my hiding spot, Frank Foreman charged out his back door.
“What are you doing?” he screamed at the ghoul in my body. “Spencer, I’m
going to kill you!”
The ghoul whirled around.
He studied Frank. Then he smiled his evil smile. “Now, that kid has a
good body. Strong, muscular. That’s the body for Oswald Manse!”
Frank bolted across the backyard. “I’m going to pound you into the
ground, Spencer! But first I’m going to break every bone in your body!”
“NO!” I ran in front of Frank to block him. “Call the police! Call the
fire department. Get help!”
As I argued with Frank, the fire spread across
97 the lawn. I could feel the heat through my sneakers.
Then with a sudden burst, flames shot up in front of us.
“Whoa!” Frank leaped away.
“I know who you are.” The ghoul grabbed my jacket and jerked me away
from the flames. “I’m going to take over Frank’s body,” he whispered in
my ear. “Then I’m going to throw your body into the flames - and we’ll
watch it burn.”
98 The fire roared in front of us. The wood planks of the shed crackled
in the scorching blaze.
The ghoul stepped up to the fire. He reached his arms out to the leaping
flames. “Want to watch your hands burn?” he sneered. “Say good-bye to
your fingers, Spencer!”
“Nooooo!” I screamed. I grabbed the ghoul’s arm and jerked him back.
“You’re sick!” Frank tackled the ghoul. He pinned his shoulders to the
ground. “Jason.” He turned to me. “I’ll hold him here. Get your parents!”
I started for help - but stopped when I heard Frank moan. “My head - it
hurts. It hurts so much!”
“Let him go!” I lunged for Frank and pulled him off the ghoul. “He’s
trying to steal your body!”
99 “You’re as crazy as your brother!” Frank jerked away from me. “I’m
calling the cops!” He charged out of the backyard.
The ghoul chased after him - but stopped when he saw Frank wave down a
police car.
I watched the ghoul turn quickly, jump over some bushes, and disappear
from sight.
I have to get my body back. But how? I asked myself. I need some help.
But no one will believe me. No one will listen to me.
“Whoa,” I murmured out loud. A face flashed into my mind. Audra’s face.
Audra was with me in the graveyard. She saw me tilt over that double
gravestone. She saw Frank and his pals tie me to a grave.
Maybe Audra will listen to me, I thought. Maybe Audra will believe me.
If there are two of us, people will have to listen.
Audra is my last hope … my last hope.
I raced down the street. Past burning houses and screaming people.
Audra’s block was bathed in darkness. The ghoul hadn’t reached it - yet.
I sprinted up the steps to Audra’s house.
I peered into the front window. No lights on. Everyone must be asleep.
I ran around to the back of the house. Audra’s bedroom faced the yard.
I gazed into her window. I could see her inside, covers pulled up to her
chin, sleeping peacefully
100 on her back, her long black hair spread over the pillow.
“Audra,” I called softly. “Audra, wake up.”
She couldn’t hear me.
I knocked on the window. She lifted her head off the pillow and squinted
at me.
“Let me in. Please.”
Audra slipped out of bed. She pushed open the window, and I climbed inside.
“Audra - it’s me, Spencer,” I choked out, frantic to tell her my story,
frantic for her to believe me. “I know I look like Jason. I had to
borrow Jason’s body. You see - the ghouls escaped. I mean - “
She rubbed her sleepy eyes. “Jason, you’re not making any sense.”
“I’m not Jason! I’m Spencer!” I cried. “A ghoul stole my body! You’ve
got to believe me! You’ve got to help me!”
“You’re crazy.” Audra’s voice trembled. She took a step back.
She reached behind her and clicked on a table lamp. Light flooded the room.
“Please! You have to help me!” I gazed pleadingly into her eyes.
Her eyes.
Not pale green eyes flecked with gold.
No irises … no irises at all.
Just holes in the center of Audra’s eyes. Deep black holes.
101 I stared into the gaping black hollows that were once Audra’s
beautiful eyes. “I know the truth. You’re a ghoul!” I cried. “You’ve
taken over Audra’s body.”
And then I remembered the faint voice I heard in the cemetery. The voice
calling to me: “Help me. Help me … please.”
“Audra is trapped up in the cemetery! Isn’t she?” I shouted. “She’s up
there now. That was Audra calling me. Wasn’t it?”
“That doesn’t matter anymore. Does it?” The ghoul grinned at me. “It’s
Audra’s turn to stay in the graveyard. And it’s my chance to be alive!”
“Nooooo!” A hoarse cry of protest burst from my throat. I dove for the
window.
But two strong hands seized my shoulders - and yanked me back into the
room. “Sorry,” the
102 ghoul whispered. “I can’t let you go. I’m never going back to that
grave again. I don’t want to be Martin Manse anymore. I’m Audra now!”
“Martin Manse!” I gasped.
“Yes!” The ghoul spun me around.
I watched in horror as the black circles of his eyes turned to liquid.
Spread like pools of ink. Filled up his eyes. Filled them - until the
whites were completely gone.
The ghoul inhaled deeply. Then, grabbing my waist, he lifted me off my
feet - and hurled me across the room.
“Ohhhh.” I uttered a groan of pain as my head slammed hard against the
wall.
I crumbled to the floor.
The world tilted away … tilted away …
I saw a flash of bright red … blood-red … and then everything faded
… faded to black.
103 Pain throbbed through my head, down my neck.
I struggled to open my eyes.
A knock on the bedroom door snapped me alert.
“Audra - what was that noise?” her mother called from the hall. “I heard
a loud thud.”
The door swung open.
The ghoul rushed toward Audra’s mother. “Would you believe it, Mom? I
; fell out of bed.”
“Are you okay?” her mother asked her.
This is my chance, I thought.
Shaking off the pain, I pulled myself to my feet.
I lurched out the window.
I could hear their startled cries behind me.
I glanced back once to see if the ghoul was following me. I didn’t see
him, so I took off.
I raced up the steep slope of Highgrave Hill.
104 The grass was slick and wet with early morning dew. The moon was
fading in a brightening sky.
Below me, I heard the wail of sirens. I could see walls of flame.
Black smoke choked the sky.
Gasping, my heart throbbing in my chest, I ran up to the graveyard gate.
I have to find Audra. Together we’ll beat those two ghouls. We’ll get
our bodies back, I thought. I know we can do this together!
I burst through the gate - and stopped.
The graveyard ghouls hovered over their tombstones. “Bodies. Bodies,”
they moaned. “We want bodies too.”
A boy about my age floated toward me. The skin on one of his cheeks hung
loosely off the bone. “I want your body,” he rasped.
“No!” an old woman cried. “His body is mine!”
“I want your body,” the other ghouls moved in.
They formed a circle around me. Joined their bony hands. And began their
eerie dance. “I want your body,” they chanted as their legs shuffled
stiffly.
I suddenly felt dizzy.
My legs weakened. I couldn’t move.
Their dance of death held me in a trance.
“Stop!” I cried. “Don’t do this to me!”
“You’re a ghoul,” the boy rasped. “You’re just like us. You’re a
graveyard ghoul!”
105 “NO!” I cried. And with a burst of energy I broke free from their
spell.
I charged through the circle. “Audra?” I shouted. “Are you here? Audra?”
Silence.
“Audra?” I called, running through the rows of graves. “Audra? It’s me!
I - “
“Jason?” I heard her voice, soft and weak. “Over here. Under the big
willow tree.”
I turned and charged toward the voice.
And stumbled over a gravestone.
It toppled to the ground with a heavy THUD, and I fell on top of it.
“Oh, no. Not another one,” I muttered.
I started to scramble to my feet. In the fading moonlight, the words
engraved on the stone caught my eye: defeat death only by living.
What does that mean? I wondered.
I stood up, pulling dead leaves from my hair.