Cats began to hiss. So loud and shrill … hissing in rage … the most terrifying sound I ever heard … like rushing water … like air escaping … the hiss of evil, of true menace.
And then I stumbled back as the hissing cats began to claw furiously through their cages and carrying cases.
Across from me a black cat’s eyes glowed bright yellow. With an almost human cry it swiped a claw at its owner. Then sank its fangs into her leg.
Screaming in panic, she struggled furiously to kick the cat off.
I turned to see a Dalmatian puppy begin to froth at the mouth. Its eyes spun wildly in its head. It tossed back its head and let out a fierce roar.
“No,” I whispered. “Nooooo.”
A snake curled itself around a girl’s waist, tightening, twisting. The girl screamed, tugging at it helplessly with both hands, red in the face, struggling to breathe.
White mice, squealing, snapping their fat pink tails behind them like whips, stampeded across the floor.
Two wild, snarling dogs attacked each other. Their snapping teeth ripped off huge chunks of fur and skin. Bright red blood puddled beneath them as they battled.
Cats clawed at their owners. Dogs frothed and howled.
Kids scrambled over the floor, wrestling, fighting, frantically struggling to escape their howling, raging pets.
My hand still burned. Flames crackled from my fingertips.
I saw Judy against the back wall. Her hands were raised high as if in surrender. Her mouth was open in an endless scream of horror.
I pointed to her and called. “Judy—! Judy—!”
And to my shock the animals all turned. Turned away from their noisy, angry battles. Broke away from their horrified owners.
The animals all turned. And moved forward as if following orders. They circled Judy. A tight circle of frothing, growling creatures. Chests heaving. Eyes glowing with menace.
They began closing in on her.
Lowering their heads. Arching their backs. Snapping frothy jaws. Drooling hungrily. Preparing to attack.
Closing in. The circle growing tighter … tighter.
Judy hunched helplessly in the middle. Trembling. Her entire body shuddering.
They’re going to kill her, I realized.
They’re moving in for the kill. And it’s all my fault.
What can I do? What?
Suddenly I knew. I had to leave. If I left the hall, maybe … just maybe … the animals would return to normal. And Judy would be saved.
So I spun away. Stumbled shakily, dizzily out the door—and started to run.
Out of the building. Back into the cold morning, still foggy and gray.
Past the parking lot and the bike rack. Around the side of the building.
Into the woods. Into the clean, sharp-smelling woods. Into the darkness, the safe darkness under the autumn-bare trees. Twigs and leaves cracking and snapping beneath my shoes.
I followed a twisting, bramble-choked path that curved through the old trees and the low, tangled shrubs. I ran … ran blindly … ran till I couldn’t hear the cries from the building any longer.
And then I stopped just beyond a line of evergreen shrubs. Stopped to catch my breath.
And heard the thud of rapid, approaching footsteps.
The kids in the gym—they’re following me! I realized.
They’re coming to get me!
With a sharp gasp I ducked low behind the evergreen shrubs. Brambles clung to my sweatshirt sleeves. Wet leaves stuck to my shoes.
I couldn’t stop my wheezing breaths.
I struggled to hear the footsteps. Had anyone seen me?
What were they going to do to me when they caught me?
My side ached. My chest felt about to burst.
I peered over the top of the shrub.
“Glen—!” My cry came out in a hoarse whisper. “Glen—it’s only you!”
I was so glad to see him. I jumped to my feet, my heart pounding.
His denim jacket flapped around him as he ran. “Are you okay?” he asked, his eyes studying me. “I heard—”
“It was so horrible!” I cried. “I—I’m evil. I—I just did a terrible thing. I can’t ever go back. I—I have no friends now. I have no life!”
He raised a finger to his lips. “Sshhhhh. Try to calm down, Maggie.”
“How can I?” I shrieked. “I’ll never calm down. Never! Don’t you understand, Glen? I’m all alone now. A freak! A horrible, evil freak!”
He kept his finger to his lips. “Maggie, I’m still your friend.”
“But—but—” I protested.
“It’s you and me now,” he said softly. “You and me against all of them.”
“But my friends,” I whispered. “My friends … Jackie and Judy and Jilly—”
Glen’s expression changed. His eyes grew cold. His whole face tightened. “They deserved it,” he rasped. “They deserved everything they got.”
I swallowed hard, startled by the change in his voice, the icy expression on his face.
“But, Glen—”
“They’re total phonies,” he sneered. “Good riddance to them, Maggie. That’s what you should be saying. Good riddance.”
“No, you’re wrong,” I protested. “Those girls have been my friends for a long, long time. And—”
“All three of them are so cruel, so cold,” Glen continued, ignoring my words. “And they’re so totally jealous of you, Maggie. Didn’t you see how jealous they were?”
“No,” I replied sharply. “That isn’t true. They—”
“They’ve always been jealous of you,” Glen insisted. “I can’t believe you’re so blind to them. They were never your friends. Never.”
He shut his angry eyes for a moment. I saw that he was grinding his teeth, his jaw working back and forth tensely.
When he opened his eyes, he appeared even angrier.
“You should never have trusted those three,” he said, shaking his head. “Never. Believe me, they can’t be trusted. Know what, Maggie? I’ll bet Jackie hid her necklace in your dresser drawer just to make you look bad.”
“Huh?” I let out a gasp and staggered back, away from him. A wave of fear swept over me. My whole body trembled.
“Glen—!” I cried. “How—how did you know about Jackie’s necklace? I never told you about that!”
Glen stared at me without blinking. “What difference does it make?” he said finally. “It’s you and me now. Us against them.”
“But—how did you know about that?” I repeated.
Dizzying thoughts flashed through my brain. Glen knew about the necklace in my dresser drawer. And he was always there … always there right after something horrible happened.
I gasped. I couldn’t hold the words back. “It was you all along—wasn’t it!” I whispered. “You—you’re evil!”
To my surprise, Glen tossed back his head and laughed, a cold, cruel laugh. “Of course it was me!” he said. “Did you really think you had powers?”
“Y-yes,” I answered. “I—I had that strange feeling each time. My hands burned. Flames shot out. I did think I had powers.”
“No way,” Glen said, grinning a sick, ugly grin. “It was all me. I shared some of my powers with you. You don’t have any powers, Maggie.”
And then, the grin fading, he added bitterly, “You’re just a normal girl. A normal, average girl. You’re not like me.”
I stared hard at him, stared hard until he blurred into the dark shrubs and trees.
Suddenly I remembered. I remembered my birthday. The carnival. Before I went in to see the fortune-teller, Glen held my hand. He was goofing around, and he kissed my hand.
The hand the fortune-teller read.
Miss Elizabeth—she saw Glen’s evil on my hand! She sensed his evil. Because he held my hand and spread his evil onto me.
And in the mall. When I ran into the fortune-teller in the mall … I had squeezed Glen’s hand on the way to the mall, just before I saw her
.
Miss Elizabeth never saw my evil on my hand. Because both times she was reading Glen’s evil!
The sky darkened. The shadows of the trees lengthened over us.
Glen’s eyes sparkled in the fading light. “You’re figuring it out—aren’t you?” he said softly. “You’re figuring out how I did everything. And you understand—right? You understand why I had to pay those sisters back.”
“Because of what Jackie did to you onstage in front of the whole school?” I asked. “Because of the Tarzan costume? Because none of them would stop teasing you about it?”
He nodded.
“But—but—what about your lawn mower?” I asked. “Your lawn mower went out of control and crashed. You almost cut off your foot.”
Glen snickered. “Good one, huh? I faked that one. I wanted everyone to think you were responsible. I wanted everyone to think you were evil. Then I could get my revenge on those sisters—and everyone would blame you!”
He seemed so excited now, so pleased with himself. “You are so helpless, Maggie. You have no powers of any kind. But I can give you powers. I can share my powers with you. With just a touch.”
He swiped his hand at me.
“No—!” I cried. “I don’t want them! I don’t want any powers, Glen. I just want—”
He didn’t seem to hear my protests. “It’s you and me now,” he said, his eyes glowing in the shadowy light. “Just you and me against all of them.”
He reached his hand out. “Come on. Share the power. Shake hands. Shake hands again, Maggie. It’s you and me now. We’ll show those sisters.”
“No!” I cried again. “I—I won’t!”
Eyes glowing wildly, he grabbed for my hand.
But I spun away from him. Stumbled over a fallen tree branch. Caught my balance and started to run.
“You can’t run away from it!” he called after me.
And I gasped as I felt a force, a powerful force holding me, pushing against me, holding me back.
“Nooooo!” I howled, and slammed my fists against the invisible wall in front of me. I dug my shoes into the dirt. I lowered my shoulder and pushed hard against the wall I couldn’t see.
But he was holding me, using his strange power to hold me prisoner.
I ducked low. Tried to spin free.
But the invisible wall was all around.
“I warned you, Maggie!” he called. “You can’t escape! You can’t!”
And then dead leaves rushed up from the ground. Clumps of wet, dead leaves swooped up, swirled like a tornado—and swept over me. Weeds slapped at my face. Twigs and limbs snapped and swung at my waist, my legs.
“Stop!” I wailed. “Please—stop!”
The twigs, and weeds, and wet leaves stopped their wild whirl and sank around my shoes. And as they dropped back to the ground, I heard footsteps, hurrying toward us along the curving path.
Three grim-faced figures marching in a single row. The three Mullen sisters—swinging their fists as they walked. So angry. All three of them, so furious I could see it on their faces and in their stiff-legged, menacing steps.
I’m trapped, I realized.
Glen behind me, using his evil to hold me here in place. And the sisters marching, advancing on me with such fury.
Trapped. Trapped …
What am I going to do?
I stared in horror at the sisters as they made their way toward us through the woods.
Jackie with her long hair flying behind her, beaded necklace bobbing up and down at her throat.
Judy, her clothes ripped and stained—but alive, alive!—marching in the middle, her eyes narrowed in anger.
Jilly, leaning on a crutch, struggling to keep up, her blond hair bouncing against her back, shaking her head, a scowl on her pale face.
They were my best friends, I thought bitterly. And now …
They think I am ruining their lives. All three of them—they believe I am trying to destroy them.
And so they are coming after me.
And in a few seconds … they will get me.
I took a deep breath and turned to Glen. “Okay!” I called in a whisper. I glanced over my shoulder, watching the sisters come closer.
“Okay, Glen. It’s you and me,” I whispered.
I reached out my hand to him. “I’ll share the power. Let me have some of the power.”
I could feel the invisible wall fade away. I took a step toward Glen. Then another. I could move again.
His eyes burned into mine. “You’re serious? You’ll help me destroy them for good?”
“Yes,” I whispered, holding out my hand. “Yes. Hurry. I want the power again. They’re almost here! Hurry!”
He stepped forward. Reached out to me. Grabbed my hand.
And squeezed it hard.
“Thank you!” I cried. “Yes! Thank you!”
“There they are!” Jackie cried, pointing.
“Maggie—” Jilly called, breathless from pulling herself through the woods with a crutch.
“Stay back!” I warned. I raised my hand, the hand Glen had just squeezed. “I’m warning you! Stay back!”
“This has to stop!” Judy shouted. “Those animals—they wanted to kill me!”
“Yes. This has to stop,” Jackie repeated. “Now!”
I turned to Glen in time to see a cruel grin spread over his face. “The evil hasn’t started yet!” he declared.
“It was Glen!” I cried, turning back to the sisters. “It was Glen the whole time! He has the powers! He—he was using me!”
“Yes!” Glen shouted, beaming with pride. “Yes, it was me all along! My power! My magic! But I made you believe your friend was evil. I made you believe!”
I saw the shock on the sisters’ faces. But I didn’t wait for them to react. I knew I had to act quickly.
I spun around to face Glen. I raised my hand and waved it at him.
I concentrated all my thoughts … concentrated … concentrated … my arms tingled. Once again, my hands started to burn …
Glen opened his mouth in a cry of surprise. He was so stunned. He had no time to fight back.
And then he started to spin. Twirling like a top, he whirled around and around on one foot.
“Hey—!” He managed to call out. He tried to point at me. Tried to use his powers to stop me.
But I made him spin faster … faster. So fast he was sending up clouds of dirt and dead leaves.
“Thanks for sharing the power, Glen!” I shouted. “Thanks for sharing!”
And then I concentrated harder—and sent him flying off the ground. Higher … above the trees …
Spinning, his arms thrashing the air. Twirling faster and faster inside a cyclone of leaves, and twigs, and dirt.
And then I changed my thought. Concentrated …
I sent Glen crashing to the ground. He landed hard on his stomach. Let out a whoosh of air. Bounced once. Twice.
And before he could move, I changed my thought again. Pointed my finger down at him.
And watched his body shrink … shrink …
… until he was a tiny, brown-and-white-striped chipmunk.
His tiny paws scrabbled over the dirt. He glanced up at me once with his round, black eyes. And then he scuttled around a fallen log and vanished under a blanket of dead leaves.
Finally I lowered my hand to my side. I started to breathe again.
Jackie rushed up to hug me. “You tricked him?”
I nodded.
“It’s all over? The horror is over?” Judy asked. “It was Glen the whole time? Glen’s evil powers?”
“Yes,” I whispered. “He—he used me.”
And then we were all hugging each other, all four of us at once. Hugging and laughing and crying all at the same time.
Finally, I let out a long sigh. “I can feel the power slipping away. I’m starting to feel normal.”
“No—wait!” Jackie cried. “Before the power is gone for good—one favor!”
“Huh?
What kind of favor?” I asked.
“Can you change our algebra grades?”
I laughed. Then I shut my eyes and concentrated … concentrated …
“Guess what?” I told them. “All four of us just made the Honor Roll!”
Go Deeper Into This
Nightmare…
From the moment a fortune-teller looks at Maggie O’Connor’s hand and exclaims: “You bring EVIL,” Maggie is plunged into a true Nightmare Room experience. To her horror, everyone believes Maggie is the cause of hideous accidents. Her friends shun her and her life spins out of control.
Is she the victim of an evil fate? Could a fortune-teller really predict Maggie’s fate just by looking at her palm? Or is Maggie the only one who can explain what happened to her?
Palmistry—The Art Of Reading Palms
Maggie’s troubles begin when she has her palm read at a carnival. Can your palm really indicate the kind of person you are—or predict your future? Many people believe it can. They believe that the lines and patterns on our hands are similar to a map of our lives. They show us directions and qualities that guide us as we grow and change.
Take a look at your hand—look at the one you write with. That’s your dominant hand. It’s the one that has the most important information on it. There are three basic lines on your palm: the heart line, the head line, and the life line. These lines don’t change much over your life.
The heart line describes your ability to feel emotions. If you have a deep heart line, it probably means you’re pretty emotional and very caring. If you have a shallow heart line it could mean you are a fairly calm person.
The head line reveals how thoughtful and intelligent you are and also your general personality type. A deep head line shows you are very thoughtful and a very warm and caring person. A light head line doesn’t say you’re dumb, it indicates that you’re very sensitive. It may also indicate that you need more sleep than most people.
The life line shows your energy and vitality. A deep life line indicates strength and energy and the ability to face and solve problems. A shallow life line indicates someone who is very receptive to life and likes to argue.
Look closer at your hand. Some of the lines on your hand are broken lines. They just stop. Broken lines show change and inconsistency. A broken heart line may mean the end of a relationship (bye-bye, boyfriend). A broken head line may mean that you are dissatisfied with your life and want to change things. A broken life line may mean it’s time to see a doctor.