by R. L. Stine
But as they rounded the last curve, Kelsey knew something was wrong. She faced a dead end – a sooty brick wall that rose at least twenty feet high. No parking lot.
“This is really strange,” she said, glancing around the alley. It was dark and dingy. Totally deserted. “I’m sure there was a parking lot here last summer.”
“Maybe they bricked it up during the winter,” Drew suggested. “Let’s just get out of here.”
Kelsey started back the way they came. Drew followed. But when they reached the other end of the alley – nothing looked the same! Even the Italian restaurant was gone.
Kelsey eyes darted left and right.
“Hey! What’s going on?” she cried. “This is so weird. Where are we?”
“I don’t know,” Drew answered, searching for a street sign. “This has to be the way we came in.”
“The restaurant was right on this corner,” Kelsey said. “I know it was.”
Kelsey stared at the spot where the restaurant should have been. In its place stood an old shingled house with boarded-up windows.
“I don’t get it,” she mumbled to herself. She’d been coming to this town practically forever. She knew every square inch of it. But suddenly she had no idea where she was.
She glanced around. The alley now led into a street. When Kelsey looked down the street, she noticed a few rundown shacks. Nothing more. In the other direction the street was dark and gloomy and lined with battered houses and abandoned storefronts.
“All right,” Kelsey said, trying to stay calm. “The beach must be that way.” She pointed to her right. “So that means our house must be this way.” Kelsey motioned to the gloomy street.
“That way?” Drew gasped. “I’ve never even seen that street before. It’s totally creepy. We’re not going down there.”
“I’m telling you, that’s the way we have to go,” Kelsey insisted and began jogging down the dreary block. “Come on!”
Drew followed her for about three blocks – until she stopped.
“Wait,” Kelsey said, out of breath. “This can’t be right.”
“I told you this wasn’t the way to go,” Drew muttered. “There aren’t any creepy old buildings like these anywhere near our house.”
“I know. I know,” Kelsey replied. “We’d better ask somebody for directions.”
“Like who?” Drew asked.
Good question, Kelsey realized. She gazed up and down the street. There was no one to ask. She and Drew were all alone.
“Where is everybody anyway?” Drew asked. “There should be tons of people everywhere – we’re right by the beach.”
“The beach,” Kelsey repeated. “That’s it. We should head for the beach. Then we’ll be able to find our way home.”
Before Drew could reply, Kelsey took off down a side street. A street she was certain headed toward the shore. But when she reached the next corner, her heart sank.
Nothing but shabby houses. Gutted storefronts. Every way she turned.
No people. No beach.
Kelsey was beginning to think that she and Drew would be lost forever. Tiny beads of sweat formed on her forehead. She wiped them away with the back of her hand.
“This is getting really scary,” Drew said when he caught up to her. He glanced down and kicked a jagged piece of glass on the sidewalk.
“What was that?” Kelsey jumped back.
“Just a broken piece of glass,” Drew answered.
“No. That – listen,” Kelsey replied.
A dog.
Kelsey caught sight of it first.
A big, mangy yellow dog.
She gasped. It was the biggest dog she had ever seen. And it was headed straight for them.
“Let’s get out of here!” she screamed.
They crossed the street and charged ahead, but the dog ran faster. Gaining on them. Its wild barks echoed in Kelsey’s ears.
Kelsey and Drew stopped on the next corner to catch their breath. They ducked into a darkened doorway, pressing their backs against the door’s iron gate. Gasping for air.
They listened.
Silence.
“Do you think it’s gone?” Drew asked.
“I-I don’t know,” Kelsey stammered. “I’ll check.” She poked her head out from their hiding place.
A pair of crazed yellowed eyes met hers.
The dog sat on its haunches – just a few feet away. It growled. A low growl that exposed two decayed fangs – dripping with saliva.
“Run!” Kelsey cried, grabbing Drew’s hand.
The two bolted from the doorway. They flew down the street, holding hands, with Kelsey in the lead.
Kelsey glanced behind her. The dog tore after them. Howling now. And snapping its jaws hungrily.
Kelsey turned down a narrow alleyway. It looked just like the first alley. Only darker. Much darker. And the farther they ran, the narrower it grew.
They dodged around splintered pieces of wood. Shards of glass.
The wild beast charged up behind them, snarling. Its wet, gray tongue hung from its mouth. Kelsey could almost feel the animal’s sharp teeth sink into her ankles.
“Faster!” she screamed. “Run faster!”
With a burst of speed the two raced ahead, leaving the dog a few yards behind.
The alley curved sharply to the right. Drew nearly stumbled as the two took the turn.
And then Kelsey stopped. What lay ahead of her was suddenly as terrifying as the wild dog behind her.
Another dead end.
There was no way out.
“We’re trapped!” Kelsey shrieked. “We’re trapped!”
4
Kelsey and Drew pressed their backs against the building. Waiting. Waiting for the vicious dog to appear.
Kelsey held her breath and listened.
No barking. No snarling.
“Maybe we lost him,” she whispered.
“I don’t think so,” Drew whispered back.
Kelsey silently agreed. The alley went only one way. That dog would have to be pretty stupid to lose track of us, she thought.
“But why isn’t he attacking?” she asked Drew.
“I don’t know,” he replied, shaking his head.
The two waited in silence. The blood pounded in Kelsey’s head.
Another minute passed – the longest minute in Kelsey’s life – with no sign of the dog. “We can’t just stand here, Drew,” Kelsey said, finally breaking the quiet. “I’m going to check.”
Kelsey tiptoed to the curve in the alley. She peeked around the corner. Slowly.
The alley stood deserted.
No dog.
“It’s gone!” Kelsey gasped.
“This is so weird,” Drew replied, making his way to her side. “How could it just disappear like that?”
“I don’t know. And I don’t care. Let’s get out of here. Now,” Kelsey answered. “Um, you go first.”
“Gee, thanks a lot,” Drew said as he started down the alley.
They walked quickly but carefully.
Listening.
Listening for any sign of the deadly beast. But the only sound they heard was the soft thumping of their own feet.
The alley seemed even darker than before. And for the first time Kelsey noticed how sour it smelled. The stench flooded her nostrils and made her sick.
“Look!” Drew exclaimed. He stopped short, and Kelsey slammed into him.
“What?” she asked. Her heart skipped a beat. She was afraid to hear the answer.
“I can’t believe it!” Drew shouted. “Look where we are!”
Kelsey inched alongside Drew and peered out of the dark alleyway – into bright sunlight.
She knew immediately where she was. But she glanced up at the street sign for proof.
Thirteenth Street.
Less than a block away from their house.
“I thought we were totally lost,” Drew said as he started toward their street. He let out a long sigh. “And all the time
we were less than a block away from home. That’s the last time I follow you,” he added.
Kelsey was about to shoot back a smart remark of her own when she remembered something strange. Really strange.
“Drew, do you remember what the fortuneteller told you? You know, about getting into trouble if you follow me all the time? You don’t think…”
A shiver of fear crept down Kelsey’s spine. She stopped to glance back at the alleyway.
But it was gone!
You will believe. You will know fear. The fortuneteller’s words echoed in Kelsey’s mind.
I’m going crazy, Kelsey thought. The alley is there. It must be there. I probably can’t see it from this angle – that’s all.
“Come on, Kelsey,” Drew called. “We’re really late!”
Kelsey broke into a run. The two raced the rest of the way home. As they neared their house, they spotted their parents sitting outside on the front porch.
“Where have you been?” Kelsey’s mother asked.
“Do you know how late it is?” Drew’s mother added.
“Sorry,” Kelsey apologized. “We got…” She was about to say lost, but she stopped herself. If she told them they were lost, she knew what would happen. Their parents would never allow them to go out by themselves anymore. “We were having so much fun on the boardwalk, we lost track of the time.”
“We won’t do it again,” Drew added. “We promise.”
“All right.” Her mother forgave her more quickly than she ever did at home.
That was one of the best things about being on vacation. Parents were so much easier to get along with.
“Come inside and wash your hands for dinner,” Drew’s mother instructed. Then their parents led the way inside.
As Kelsey climbed the porch steps, she thought about the old fortuneteller again. Now that she was safe at home, the whole thing seemed pretty dumb.
“Fool!” Kelsey heard the echo of the old gypsy woman’s voice. Only this time she started to laugh at herself – for acting like one.
Kelsey was about to step through the front door when something caught her eye. Something falling from the sky. Fluttering. Fluttering. Down. Down. Down.
Drew spotted it, too. “What is that?” he asked, squinting as he gazed up.
“I can’t tell,” Kelsey replied, watching the object float down on a breeze.
And then it landed right at Kelsey’s feet.
She gasped.
It was the card.
The card that the old gypsy woman had tossed into the air.
Kelsey trembled as she stared at it. As she stared down into the face of the Fool.
5
That night Kelsey sat on her bed, alone in her room, staring at the Fool card.
“You are the Fool, Madame Whatever-your-name-is,” Kelsey muttered. “And you are not going to scare me. No way.”
Kelsey turned the card over and over in her hand. Then she ripped it in half. Then ripped it in half again. And again. “So there!” she declared when she was through.
She scooped up every last bit of paper and dumped it all into the wastepaper basket near her dresser.
“Tomorrow will be a much better day,” she promised herself as she slipped between the sheets. Then she closed her eyes.
She pictured herself at the beach with Drew. They would spend the whole day there, she decided. Swimming in the ocean. Collecting shells. Playing volleyball. Lying in the sun.
Kelsey could imagine the warmth of the sun on her skin as she snuggled into her pillow. It felt good – even in her imagination.
Then she started to drift off to sleep – pretending that she was already on the beach.
But something tickled her left foot. She rubbed at it with her right one.
But the tickle returned.
Now it moved up the back of her leg.
Kelsey brushed her leg against the sheet. But it didn’t work. The tickle kept moving – moving up her leg.
Only now it wasn’t a tickle. It felt prickly.
Kelsey brushed her leg with her foot. But the prickly feeling didn’t go away.
It started to spread.
Over her legs. Her arms. Her whole body.
She tried to ignore it.
She fluffed her pillow and rolled over on her side. But that didn’t work, either.
Now it felt as though her whole bed had come alive. With tiny little legs.
Millions of them.
Skittering across her body.
Crawling into her hair. Stinging her skin.
She shot up in bed. She stared at the sheets. At her body. But it was too dark to see.
And then she felt it.
A tiny set of legs creeping across her cheek.
And she knew what it was.
Sand crabs! Even in the dark, she knew. She hated sand crabs – they terrified her!
She shrieked with horror.
Her hands flew to her legs. Her arms. Her face. Frantically trying to brush the creatures away.
“Get off!” she cried. “Get off!”
But within seconds they swarmed over her entire body.
Kelsey grew frightened. So frightened that she couldn’t breathe.
She tried to scream. But all that came out was a choked whimper – as she felt one of the disgusting little creatures start to crawl inside her ear.
6
Kelsey leaped out of bed.
She threw her head from side to side. “Get out!” she screamed. “Get out!”
The stinging in her ear stopped. But her hair felt alive. Alive with the horrible creatures.
She scratched her head. Scratched until her scalp turned raw.
She had to look in the mirror. She had to see the crabs. To see where they were. To get them off.
She nipped on the light switch and headed for the mirror over her dresser. She didn’t want to look. She didn’t want to see those disgusting crabs – with their hideous pincers creeping on her skin.
But she forced herself to look.
And then she screamed.
No sand crabs.
Not in her hair. Not on her face.
Nowhere.
She spun around to face her bed – expecting to see it crawling with sand crabs.
Nothing there, either. Nothing but her clean blue sheets and plump white pillow.
Kelsey quickly pulled back the cover. No creatures hiding anywhere.
What is going on? she wondered. What is wrong with me? She glanced over at her clock – 2:00 a.m. Suddenly she felt exhausted.
She checked her bed once more before dropping into it. But she couldn’t fall asleep. Her skin still felt tingly. Still felt as if thousands of tiny legs were creeping all over it.
She thought about the creatures. She pictured them swarming all over her body. A low groan escaped her lips.
What if they come back? She shuddered.
She propped up her pillows and decided to stay up all night. But she was tired. So tired. And before she knew it, she drifted off to sleep.
The early dawn light fell upon Kelsey’s face and woke her up. She turned over her pillow and tried to fall back asleep – but she heard something. Something nearby.
Her eyes popped open and searched the room.
There it was.
On the floor.
A sand crab. A single sand crab.
Kelsey watched in horror as it skittered across her floor and darted under her bed.
Oh, no! She gasped. What if there were millions of sand crabs. Millions of them under her bed. Waiting for her.
Her heart pounded in her chest. Her temples throbbed. But she knew she had to look. She had to know.
Kelsey checked the floor carefully before she slid out of bed. Then she kneeled down and peered underneath the bed, into the darkness.
She spotted her slippers. An old Teen magazine. And a lot of dust.
Then she saw it.
Not the sand crab. Not even a thousand sand crabs.
It was something much more horrible.
Kelsey’s lower lip trembled. Her hands began to shake.
She squeezed her eyes shut, hoping that when she opened them, the terrible thing would be gone. Just the way all those sand crabs had disappeared.
But when she opened her eyes, it was still there.
The Fool card that she had ripped to shreds.
There it was.
Under her bed.
All in one piece.
A ray of sunlight filtered through her window and fell upon the card. And Kelsey could see the Fool’s menacing grin – the menacing grin that was meant just for her.
7
“So were the crabs real or not?” Drew asked.
Kelsey told Drew all about her terrible night as the two walked to the beach the next morning.
“I told you!” Kelsey yelled. “They weren’t real. Well, one of them was real. But not the others.”
“So – why were you afraid?”
“Look!” Kelsey said, shoving the Fool card right in his face.
“So?” Drew pushed her hand away.
“So!” Kelsey couldn’t believe that he could be so dumb. “I told you. I tore it up into a million pieces and threw it into the garbage can! Now look at this thing. It isn’t even bent or creased.”
“This just doesn’t make any sense,” Drew said as they reached the beach and started tromping through the sand.
“Wow, Drew. When did you become such a genius?”
“Very funny,” Drew grumbled. “So – what are you going to do?”
“Well, I am definitely not going to let that old gypsy and her stupid curse scare me,” Kelsey declared. “And now I am going to get rid of this card-forever.”
Kelsey headed directly to the ocean. She stood on the shore for a few moments and watched the waves roll in.
“What are you doing?” Drew asked.
“Watch,” she told him. She held up the Fool card and tore it again and again and again – until she couldn’t tear it anymore.
Then, with Drew by her side, she waded out into the water. When the first wave broke around her knees, she scattered some of the bits of paper over the water.
She and Drew watched as the foam carried them away.
When the next wave hit, she did the same thing, scattering a little more of what was left of the card. Wave after wave, she did the same thing – until nothing was left.