Dance of Death

by R. L. Stine

Hermione Fear 1816–1833

  Katerina Fear 1835–1853

  Madeline felt the hair on the back of her neck rise. Auntie told her the truth! Justin was married four times. These are the portraits of his wives!

  Madeline stared at the dates beneath each portrait. Just as Auntie confided, the girls were seventeen when they died. Not one lived to reach her eighteenth birthday.

  They’re beautiful, Madeline thought. So beautiful.

  Madeline reached and touched one of the perfect red roses in the vase beneath Katerina’s portrait. The petals crumbled.

  They’re dead! Just like the brides.

  Just beyond the portrait of Katerina Fear, Madeline noticed a heavy gold frame peeping out from under a black velvet drapery. She ran over to it and pulled the drape down.

  A fifth portrait stood in perfect line with all the others. It was complete in almost every detail. The woman’s beautiful white wedding dress seemed to sparkle as it caught the light.

  Madeline swallowed, her heart pounding in horror. That looks just like my dress! The one that Cousin Deborah gave me.

  Madeline stared at the unfinished portrait. There was no name on the gold plate below it. But there were dates: 1856-1873.

  1856. That’s the same year I was born.

  An empty vase stood on the table below the unfinished portrait. Beside the vase stood a tall, black candle waiting to be lit.

  The portrait is waiting, Madeline thought. Waiting for the identity of the next Fear bride. The next bride to die before her eighteenth birthday.

  “Madeline,” a voice murmured.

  Madeline stumbled backward. “Who is it? Who is calling me?” she cried.

  “Leave this place, Madeline,” the voice whispered. “Leave now or you will never leave alive.”

  Madeline stared up at the four portraits. She saw the women’s lips move in the flickering candlelight.

  “Leave Shadowbrook,” the Fear brides whispered. “Leave or you will share our fate.”

  The candle sprang to life beneath the final portrait. As Madeline watched, the empty oval of the face began to fill.

  The eyes came first. Brown with long lashes, just like hers.

  Then the hair, black as a raven’s wing.

  Then the cheekbones, high and sloping.

  And a button nose offset by a determined chin.

  A soft, red mouth and the picture was complete.

  Madeline stared at her own face.

  “Leave now,” her portrait whispered to her. “Or you will be the next Fear bride to die.”

  Chapter

  21

  Madeline dashed out of the portrait gallery. The voices of the dead Fear brides rang in her head, over and over.

  Auntie was right! She was right about everything!

  I must leave this place! I don’t want to be the next Fear bride to die!

  At the top of the stairs, Madeline paused to calm herself down.

  I can’t race madly back into the ballroom. If I show that something is wrong, Justin will suspect I have learned the truth. Then I will never get away.

  I’ll confide in Cousin Deborah and Cousin Marcus, Madeline decided as she started down the staircase. They’ll help me. They’ll know what to do.

  “There you are!” Justin exclaimed as Madeline reached the bottom of the staircase. He gazed at her suspiciously. “I was starting to worry about you.”

  “I’m fine, Justin,” Madeline replied lightly. “There’s nothing to worry about.”

  She forced herself to smile as she took Justin’s arm. He didn’t release her from his side until she pleaded a headache and begged to go home early.

  Justin studied her with a disappointed expression. Madeline looked away.

  “Very well,” he said finally. He led her over to Marcus and Deborah. “Madeline is feeling unwell,” he told them. “Would you see her home? I cannot leave my guests.”

  “Of course,” Deborah told him. She raised her eyebrows at Madeline.

  Justin sent for their cloaks, then escorted them out to the front drive. He had the Simmses’ carriage brought around.

  “I hope you feel better by tomorrow,” he told Madeline as the carriage pulled up. “No bride should have a headache on her wedding day.”

  My wedding day, Madeline thought, as she let him kiss her good night. The day I seal my doom. I must be far away by then. Somewhere where you can never find me.

  “I’m sure everything will be much better by tomorrow,” she promised him. She turned and Justin helped her into the carriage. Then he strolled back into the brilliantly lit house.

  “Well, this is a surprising turn of events, I must say,” Deborah huffed, as she climbed into the carriage after Madeline.

  Marcus got in behind them and closed the door. He rapped on the roof of the carriage to signal the driver to begin the short drive to their house. As usual, he didn’t say a word.

  “I’ve never heard of a bride wanting to go home early from her own engagement party,” Cousin Deborah rattled on. “You and Justin haven’t had some foolish lovers’ quarrel, have you?”

  “Cousin Deborah,” Madeline burst out. “I can’t marry Justin Fear. He’s evil and he means to destroy me.

  Absolute silence filled the carriage for a moment. Then Deborah spoke up. “What are you talking about, you foolish girl? Justin loves you. Remember our conversation about your mother. Remember how dangerous it is to let your imagination run wild.”

  “I’m not imagining anything,” Madeline insisted. “Justin doesn’t love me. He wants to kill me, just the way he did all the others. He wants to steal my soul.”

  “That’s enough!” Cousin Marcus ordered. “Stop this nonsense at once!”

  The carriage stopped in front of the house. Marcus climbed out. He reached back, and roughly pulled Madeline after him.

  “Move, Deborah,” he snapped. “Now.”

  Then he marched Madeline to the front door. He opened the door and pushed her inside. As soon as Deborah scurried into the entryway, Marcus slammed and locked the front door.

  He never does that! Madeline thought. They never keep the doors locked.

  “These ridiculous fantasies have gone on long enough, Madeline,” Marcus said harshly. “Justin asked you to marry him. You accepted of your own free will. The marriage will be carried out.”

  Madeline ran to Deborah. “Cousin Deborah,” she pleaded, grabbing hold of her hand. “Help me, now. You told me you wanted to be my friend. I can’t marry Justin. If I do, he’ll kill me.”

  “You will marry him,” Marcus insisted. “If you don’t, all our plans will be ruined.”

  “Why do you think we took you in in the first place, you stupid girl?” Deborah taunted. “It wasn’t because we love you. It wasn’t because you are family. It was because you are beautiful. Beautiful enough for Justin Fear.”

  “Justin is prepared to make Deborah and me a large financial settlement for you,” Marcus stated.

  “Enough for us to take our proper place in Shadowbrook society,” Deborah added. “We can fix up this moldy old house. There’ll even be enough to put that horrible old woman, Auntie, in an insane asylum where she belongs. Then we’ll be rid of her forever.”

  “Auntie isn’t crazy,” Madeline told them. “She’s the only one who knows the truth.”

  “The truth is that you are going to marry Justin,” Cousin Deborah answered. “I’ll drag you to the altar myself if that’s what it takes.”

  “You’ll be married in the morning. Until then, you’ll stay in your room.” Marcus’s cold voice chilled the blood in Madeline’s veins.

  He seized Madeline by the arm and dragged her forward. Madeline fought wildly. Her legs tangled in her long skirts. She fell.

  Marcus grabbed her by the hair and began dragging her up the stairs.

  Thud!

  Thud!

  Thud!

  Madeline screamed and struggled, but she couldn’t get away. Excruciating pain ripped through her scalp. She
felt as if her head were about to be torn off her shoulders. But she didn’t stop struggling.

  Madeline tried to grab Marcus’s legs. I’ve got to stop him, she thought. Trip him. Knock him over. Make him fall down the stairs. Then maybe I can find a way to escape.

  But who will protect me? Where will I go?

  One of her blows caught Marcus behind the knee and he stumbled.

  “You’re not going to get away with that,” he cried. He turned around and raised his hand to strike her.

  “Don’t hurt her, Marcus,” Deborah shouted. “You’ll ruin everything. She’s worthless to us if she isn’t beautiful. Justin needs her beauty.”

  My beauty. Auntie said my beauty was the key.

  Without her beauty, she was useless to Justin. Without her beauty, he wouldn’t want her. She would be free.

  But am I strong enough? Am I brave enough to deliberately scar myself?

  There is another way, Madeline remembered. She could make Justin bleed. Am I strong enough to destroy him? To put an end to the soul-stealer?

  If I destroy Justin, the evil will stop forever. But to destroy him, I’ll have to be close to him. So close.

  Madeline stopped struggling. Marcus knelt down and flung her over his shoulder. Panting with exertion, he ran the rest of the way up the stairs.

  He opened the door to Madeline’s room and threw her down across the bed. Then he dashed back out into the hallway and slammed the door.

  Madeline heard the key turn in the lock. She felt a strange calmness settle over her. The calmness of despair. She wondered if this was the way condemned prisoners felt.

  Be strong, she ordered herself. Be strong or you will end up just as all Justin’s brides did. Buried under a rosebush in the garden. Justin will go on being young and handsome forever. He’ll go on stealing souls.

  I must try to sleep, Madeline thought. I will need all my strength to stop Justin.

  She closed her eyes. But the faces of the Fear brides filled her mind. They whispered their warnings to her again and again.

  Crreeaak.

  Marcus and Deborah are coming for me already! Madeline thought. They are coming to take me to Justin!

  She jumped to her feet. She squared her shoulders and stared at the door.

  The door remained tightly closed.

  Crreeaak.

  Madeline hugged her arms to her body to stop the trembling.

  The sound is coming from behind me!

  Chapter

  22

  Heart pounding, Madeline whirled around. Her mouth dropped open as she watched a panel slowly slide open in the wall of her bedroom.

  A secret passage!

  Madeline hurried over. The entrance looked just large enough for her to fit through.

  I don’t know where this leads, but anything is better than just sitting here, waiting to be taken to Justin.

  Madeline pressed herself through the tiny opening. She could hardly see a thing in the pitch-black darkness that surrounded her.

  She slowly walked forward, arms outstretched. She saw a strange glow at the very end of the corridor. An eerie yellow light.

  Madeline stumbled along the passage toward it. Something sticky and cottony brushed across her face. It covered her mouth and nose.

  She screamed, and ran toward the light. She lost her footing on the uneven floor of the passage and fell to the ground.

  Madeline scrubbed her face with her fingers. Cobwebs. It’s only old cobwebs, she realized.

  She crawled forward on her stomach. I’ve got to keep moving. I’ve got to escape from Justin, no matter what it takes.

  The ground felt wet and slimy. She felt tiny claws scamper across the back of one of her hands.

  Madeline gave a choked cry and flung her hand up. She heard a squishy splat as the creature smashed against the passage wall.

  Madeline’s harsh breathing filled the passage. Her hands were torn and bleeding. Inside her long skirts, her knees were raw.

  It’s not important, she thought. Getting away from Justin is the only thing that matters.

  The glow ahead of her grew stronger.

  I’ve got to keep going. I’m almost there.

  She rounded a bend in the passage and a strange room spread out before her.

  It looks like a scientific laboratory, she thought.

  A young man sat at a large desk in the center of the laboratory. He stared at Madeline with sorrowful eyes. His body glowed with the eerie yellow light.

  The ghost!

  Madeline tensed, waiting for the ghost to attack her.

  But he just sat there, looking sad and beaten.

  “You weren’t trying to hurt me, were you?” Madeline whispered. “You were trying to warn me. And keep me away from Justin.”

  The young man nodded. He rose and floated toward her.

  “Now you’re trying to help me get away. How? How do I do it?”

  “He can’t tell you,” came the reply. “And besides, it’s too late.”

  Chapter

  23

  Justin!

  There must be another passageway, Madeline thought.

  Justin stood on the opposite side of the laboratory. Cutting off her only escape route.

  “You’re too late again, Tobias.” Justin gloated as he sauntered into the laboratory. “I’ve tasted her blood. You know what that means. She belongs to me now.”

  Tobias! The name Auntie always called.

  The ghost of Tobias floated between Madeline and Justin.

  Even now, he’s trying to protect me, she thought.

  The ghost threw his head back. His mouth opened in a silent howl. The glow around him turned an angry red.

  He can’t speak, she realized. There was no way for him to explain what was really happening.

  “Get out of my way, Tobias,” Justin cried. “You couldn’t stop me when you were alive. You can’t stop me now. She’s mine and I’m going to take her!”

  Justin lunged at Madeline.

  The ghost flew at him. Madeline scooted around the edge of the room. She could hear Justin’s evil laughter.

  “I’m going to beat you again, Tobias,” he shouted. “I’m stronger than you are, even though you have ghostly powers.”

  Justin and the ghost of Tobias wrestled together. A tray of laboratory bottles fell over with a crash.

  Justin is right, Madeline realized as she watched their battle. He is stronger than the ghost. She could see the fight draining Tobias’s strength. Already, the glow from his body had faded to a pale light.

  Madeline began to edge toward the passageway Justin had used. I’ve got to find the way out. If only Tobias can hold Justin off long enough, I can escape!

  With a great shout, Justin plunged his fists straight through Tobias’s body.

  The ghost disappeared.

  “I’ve done it,” Justin cried. “I’ve beaten you, Tobias. Now, nothing can stop me. Madeline is mine.”

  Justin spun around to face her. His chest heaved with exertion. Sweat dripped down from his brow. His blue eyes burned with a terrible fever.

  A fever for my blood!

  How can I ever have thought he was handsome? He looks like a demon. A demon hungry for blood.

  I’ve got to get away from him. I must!

  “There’s no sense in running. You can’t escape me, Madeline,” Justin told her calmly.

  He strode toward her. Madeline backed away.

  “It doesn’t hurt, you know,” Justin continued in the same calm tone. “You won’t feel anything at all. And your beauty will help me be young forever. Wouldn’t you like that?”

  He’s completely insane, she thought. Completely evil. And there’s no one to protect me from him. I’m all alone.

  She took another step back as Justin advanced. He reached for her. His fingers twitched uncontrollably, as if he longed to wrap them around her throat.

  “Be sensible, Madeline,” Justin suggested. “Why make it harder on yourself?”

&nbs
p; Desperately, Madeline looked around for a weapon.

  Too late! Too late! Justin grabbed Madeline with his cold, cold hands.

  Madeline glimpsed a streak of white out of the corner of her eye. Then a flash of metal.

  Madeline heard a howl of fury—and someone leaped onto Justin’s back. Justin cried out and twisted around.

  It’s Auntie! Madeline thought. She has a knife. She’s trying to kill Justin!

  But is she strong enough?

  Justin shrieked like a madman. He spun in circles. Trying to fling Auntie from his back.

  He flailed at her, striking her and striking her. He tried to catch hold of her legs and pull her off.

  Auntie’s harsh panting filled the laboratory.

  She can’t do it, Madeline thought.

  She can’t use the knife. It’s taking all her strength just to hang on to Justin.

  One part of Madeline’s mind told her she should run. Race down the passage. Run for her life.

  But another part of her couldn’t bring herself to abandon Auntie.

  She tried to warn me and protect me. She’s the only real friend I have in Shadowbrook.

  I can’t abandon her to Justin. I’ve got to stay to help her.

  Madeline rushed toward them.

  Too late.

  Bellowing in fury, Justin threw himself back against the laboratory wall.

  Crack!

  Auntie’s head smashed against the hard surface. Blood spurted from beneath her veil.

  Crack!

  Justin slammed himself against the wall again and again. Auntie’s head flopped like a rag doll’s. She lost her grip on his shoulders and slumped to the ground.

  Her veil slipped off and landed in a bloody heap beside her. Madeline saw Auntie’s face clearly for the first time. She felt hypnotized by the sight.

  In the wrinkled old face Madeline saw the shadows of ruined beauty. Auntie had been lovely once. Except for the long jagged scar that ran across one cheekbone.

  Her blue eyes stared blankly at the ceiling. Madeline felt her stomach reel at the sight of the blood that spurted from the wound on Auntie’s head.

  “Old fool,” Justin gloated. He panted, trying to catch his breath. “Did you think that you could beat me?”