Don't Stay Up Late

  He begged to stay up late. But I told him firmly he was going to sleep on time tonight. He made a pouty face, sticking out his bottom lip. It made me laugh, and he started to laugh, too.

  I tucked him in at exactly eight o’clock with a stern command to go right to sleep. He yawned. I could see he was tired. He shouldn’t be a problem tonight, I thought.

  Downstairs by myself, I kind of wished I’d kept Harry with me. The house was silent except for the hum of the fridge in the kitchen and the click click click of the clock on the mantel. The silence made me even more tense, more alert.

  I took out my phone and plugged in the earbuds. Maybe some music would help distract me from the horrible silence. But then I thought better of it, and tucked the phone back into my bag. I needed to stay alert.

  Sitting stiffly on the couch, my eyes kept darting to the stairway, expecting the ugly creature to be hunched there again. I’d finished my homework. I had nothing to do. I needed something to entertain me.

  I called Saralynn but it went right to voicemail. I picked up the spider picture book and riffled through it. It wasn’t any fun without Harry to ooh and ahh over every creepy spider.

  “I should quit this job,” I murmured to myself. It’s too dangerous, I thought. It’s crazy to stay here. The creature is real, and he’s already killed someone.

  I jumped to my feet and started to pace, as if trying to escape my frightening thoughts. I hugged myself as I walked back and forth. Pale moonlight washed in from the living room window. Outside, all was as still as death. Not a leaf moved, no tree branch swayed, no car headlights swept over Fear Street.

  Maybe the stories about this street are true.

  I stopped pacing and gazed at the bookshelves against the back wall. A stack of white albums caught my eye. I stepped closer and saw that they were photo albums.

  I’m not a snoop but I needed something to do. I pulled the top photo album off the shelf and carried it to the couch.

  Curious, I spread it open on my lap. The first page held a large wedding photo. Brenda and the guy she married. What happened to him? When did they split up? I wondered. He was a good-looking guy, very clean-cut, very all-American, tanned, blue-eyed, short brown hair, a nice smile.

  I turned a few pages. There was baby Harry. He was only a few months old and he already had curly blond hair. Photos of Brenda and husband playing with the baby. An outdoor photo of the three of them in a park, walking Harry in a stroller.

  A few pages later, I stopped at a large photo of a crowded picnic. Blankets spread on the grass. Picnic baskets. Kids throwing a Frisbee. A family reunion, maybe. No sign of the husband. I spotted Brenda sitting cross-legged in the grass, a Coke bottle raised in one hand.

  And then on the next page, a posed picture from the picnic. Everyone huddled in a group, grinning at the camera, kids sitting on the grass, adults behind them.

  And … wait.

  My mouth dropped open as I stared at the face in the middle row on the far right.

  No. That’s impossible.

  Nate?

  Yes. Nate’s face. Nate, maybe a few years younger, standing with his arm around a girl in a red sweater.

  “Oh, wow,” I muttered, my heart starting to thump in my chest. “That’s Saralynn.”

  Yes. Saralynn. Her hair shorter. Saralynn and Nate grinning at the camera.

  But how could this be?

  Why were Saralynn and Nate in Brenda’s photo album?

  37.

  I gazed at the photo for a long moment. Were my eyes playing tricks on me? No. Saralynn and Nate grinned out at me from the family picnic scene.

  Brenda stood on the other side of the group, with one hand resting on Harry’s head. Harry had a plastic sand shovel in one hand. One of his knees had a big bandage on it.

  I turned the page, hoping to find other photos with Saralynn and Nate. But the next page had photos of Harry on a school playground. In one shot, he was hanging upside down on a jungle gym. Brenda stood in the background, hands on hips, looking very tense. I guess she didn’t like to see him hanging like that.

  I shuffled quickly through the rest of the album. But my two friends didn’t appear again.

  My two friends? Really?

  My head spinning, I shut the album and returned it to its place on the bookshelf.

  Why were the two of them there? Why? I had to find out.

  I tried phoning Nate first. The phone rang and rang and didn’t go to voicemail. I tried Saralynn again, and again her phone went directly to voicemail.

  “Call me,” I said. “I have a question.”

  Then I dropped onto the couch, pressed the back of my head against the cushion, and tried to figure out what I’d just seen.

  Brenda returned home a little before ten. “Everything okay?” she asked, dropping her briefcase on the floor and hurrying over to me. Her face was tight with worry.

  “Very quiet tonight,” I said. “I got Harry to sleep early. He was tired.”

  She dropped onto the couch beside me. “Lisa, I’m so sorry about what happened here Monday. I’ve been worried about you all day. After … after Monday, I thought maybe you wouldn’t want to come back.”

  “Well…” I started. “I was a little afraid—”

  “You must have been terrified,” she said. “Something so horrible happening right across the street. Were you scared tonight?” She answered her own question. “Of course you were. I’m scared to be here, too.”

  “Well, I kept expecting—” I started again. But again she interrupted me, her dark eyes wide with concern.

  “I hope you’ll stay on the job, Lisa. I know you must be tempted to get as far away from here as you can. But I hope you’ll stay for Harry’s sake. He’s quite fond of you already. Really. He talks about you all the time. Even though you haven’t been here long.…”

  “I’m fond of him, too,” I said. “He’s a very sweet kid. And he makes me laugh.”

  I suddenly realized how attached to Harry I was. I really did care about the kid. And I wanted to protect him.

  “So you’ll stay?” Brenda asked.

  “Okay,” I said softly.

  She smiled and patted my arm. “I’m so glad.”

  I opened my mouth to ask her about the photo album. I was desperate to know about that picnic photo. But I realized Brenda would think I was snooping. Not a good idea to tell her I was going through her photo album. So I said goodnight and headed for home.

  I didn’t get any answers until I finally reached Saralynn a little after midnight. “Where were you?” I whispered into the phone.

  My mom thought I had gone to sleep at eleven. But I’d been trying to reach either Nate or Saralynn for the past hour.

  She groaned. “I had to go to my cousin’s house. She lives so far out of town, my phone had no bars. Would you believe I’m just starting my chem homework? I’m going to be up all night.”

  “I have to ask you something,” I said. “You have to tell me the answer. I’m going crazy.”

  “I’ll try,” she said. Then she remembered where I was tonight. “Hey, how’d it go at Harry’s house? Everything okay?”

  “Yeah, no problem. But I was tense the whole time. Like my stomach was tied in a tight knot.”

  “I’d be totally freaked,” Saralynn said. “I mean, I wasn’t there, but I still can’t stop thinking about poor Summer. You know, they’re having grief counselors in school tomorrow if you want to talk to someone about it.”

  “I just want you to answer one question,” I said.

  “Shoot.”

  “I didn’t have anything to do, so I was looking through one of Brenda’s photo albums. And there was this photo of you and Nate at a big family picnic.”

  Silence for a moment. Then, Saralynn spoke slowly: “Uh … yeah. I know.”

  “What were you two doing there?” I asked. “I mean, I was so totally shocked.”

  Another silence. Like she was thinking hard, trying to decide how to answer. br />
  “I told Nate we should tell you,” she said finally. “I don’t know why he was acting so weird about it.”

  “Weird about what?” I demanded. “What did you want to tell me?”

  “Nate and I are related to Brenda,” Saralynn said. “The three of us … we’re like second cousins or something.”

  I blinked. My brain was trying to download this information. “I don’t understand,” I said finally. “You and Nate and Brenda are all cousins? Why did you want to keep that a secret?”

  “I didn’t want to keep it a secret,” Saralynn replied. “It wasn’t my idea. But Nate … I couldn’t get Nate to explain. Sometimes he’s just weird about family things.”

  “Weird?” My head was spinning. “I don’t get it. I really don’t.”

  That explains why Nate and Saralynn seem so close, I told myself. They don’t have crushes on each other or anything like that. They’re cousins.

  “That picnic photo must have been a surprise,” Saralynn said.

  “Uh … yeah,” I said. “You have me all confused, Saralynn. I thought I could trust Nate. Now I’m not sure. Why would he keep that secret from me? And we are friends. Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “I kept pleading with him to tell you. But he said something about confusing you. He didn’t make any sense.”

  “Maybe you and Nate shouldn’t come to Brenda’s house Friday night,” I said. “I don’t really want you there if I can’t trust you.”

  “Can’t trust us? That’s harsh.”

  “I’m sorry,” I said. “I didn’t mean to sound that way. But—”

  “We really do want to help you,” Saralynn said. “We care about you. I can’t explain about Nate. But we want to be there for you.”

  She sounded sincere. I felt bad that I had snapped at her. But I felt so bewildered by Nate keeping that secret. It didn’t make any sense at all.

  What other secrets does Nate have?

  “Isaac wants to come Friday night, too,” Saralynn said. “He said he’d come to Brenda’s right after his band practice.”

  “Well…” I said.

  “We’re your friends, Lisa. Let us help you,” Saralynn pleaded.

  “Okay, I guess,” I relented.

  “Awesome,” she said. “It’ll be like a party. We’ll have fun, and we’ll take care of Harry, and we’ll make you feel safe.”

  “Okay,” I repeated. But I still had a heavy feeling of dread tightening my throat.

  I hope I’m not making a big mistake.

  38.

  Friday afternoon, I picked Harry up at Alice’s. Harry had his backpack all packed and appeared eager to go as soon as I showed up.

  “Where’s Alice?” I asked.

  “In the basement,” he said and pointed to the door that led to the basement. “Can we have mac and cheese tonight?”

  “No problem,” I said.

  “And can I stay up late?”

  “No way, Harry.” I brushed his hair off his forehead. His blond hair was so curly and awesome, it was hard to keep your hands off it. To tell the truth, I was totally jealous of his hair. Mine is straight and thin and I never know what to do with it.

  Alice appeared from the basement, her face in a tight scowl. When she saw me, she forced a smile. But I could see that she was tense and tired.

  “Tough day?” I asked.

  She walked to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of water. “No. Just the same old same old.” She took a long drink.

  “Lisa says I can have mac and cheese,” Harry told her.

  Alice squinted at him. “I made that for you for lunch.”

  He shrugged. “So?”

  I laughed. Alice didn’t seem amused. She rolled her eyes and took another long drink of water. She waved us to the door. “Go,” she said. “Have fun. But, Harry—don’t forget you have to practice your cursive tonight.”

  He nodded. “First I have to play my Xbox game.”

  Alice turned to me. “Make him practice his handwriting. He writes like a gorilla. Brenda can’t even read his printing.”

  “Oooofoooofoooof.” Harry made gorilla grunts and scratched his armpits like a monkey.

  Normally, Alice would have laughed. But today she just let out another long sigh and waved us to the kitchen door again.

  I took Harry home and made him practice his handwriting first thing. Then I made him his precious mac and cheese and we both had an early dinner.

  “Can I stay up late if I promise not to tell Mom?” he asked in his sweetest, tiniest voice.

  “No way,” I told him. “My friends are coming by tonight. We need to study. We have a big test coming up.”

  He made a disgusted face and spat a macaroni noodle across the table at me. “You’re very rude,” I said.

  “But I’m cute,” was his reply.

  Nate and Saralynn showed up together a little after six thirty. Harry was glad to see them. He gave them both hugs. Nate picked him up and swung him around. I realized they’d known Harry his whole life.

  I felt a stab of anger, anger at Nate for keeping that secret. But I forced it away.

  Nate studied me. “Everything back to normal?” he asked.

  I nodded. “So far, so good.”

  Saralynn stood over the table and finished the macaroni left on Harry’s plate. “Do you have mac and cheese for breakfast, too?” she asked Harry.

  “Sometimes,” he said. He grinned. “And sometimes for a snack.”

  We all played his Candy Catastrophe game for a while. I could see that Saralynn and Nate were letting him win.

  A little before eight, I powered the game off. Everybody booed. “Be quiet,” I said. “Harry has to be in bed by eight. That’s the rules.”

  To my surprise, he jumped up and ran to the stairs without even saying goodnight to Nate and Saralynn. He didn’t seem sleepy, but he changed into his SpongeBob pajamas and let me tuck him in without a word of complaint.

  When I returned downstairs, Saralynn was on the floor playing Candy Catastrophe with the sound muted. Nate leaned forward on the couch, his thumbs moving over his phone keyboard.

  “Isaac’s band rehearsal must be running late,” he told me. “He said he’d be here by now.”

  I dropped down next to him on the couch. He slid an arm around my shoulder and pulled me close. We kissed, but I ended it quickly. “I have to talk to you,” I said.

  He leaned back. He glanced at his phone. No reply from Isaac. He turned back to me. “This was a good idea, right? Our coming over to keep you company?”

  “Sure. Fine,” I said. “It’s not what I want to talk about. Why didn’t you tell me that you and Saralynn are Brenda’s cousins?”

  Saralynn glanced up from her game, as if she was eager to hear Nate’s answer, too.

  He wrinkled his nose. Then he shrugged. “I … well … I didn’t want to interfere in your job.”

  I narrowed my eyes at him. He was trying to act casual, but he twitched his nose again, and he kept picking at a callus on the palm of his hand.

  “Does that make any sense at all?” I said. “I don’t think so.”

  Nate shrugged. “Sorry. Guess I was wrong. I just didn’t think it mattered.”

  I shook my head. He still isn’t making any sense. Something is missing here.

  I studied him. He looked so uncomfortable. He lowered his eyes to his phone.

  “You should have told me,” I said. “I really don’t see the issue here. Why would I care that you’re related?”

  “Sorry,” he muttered.

  “Should we do some prep for the chem final?” Saralynn suggested. She turned off the Xbox. “I’m kind of freaked about it. I mean, I didn’t exactly keep the workbook up to date.”

  “Mine is a disaster,” I said. “Because I missed those weeks of school.”

  “You can share mine,” Nate said. He pawed through his backpack, found the notebook, and tossed it to Saralynn.

  We studied for about an hour, sometimes together, s
ometimes on our own. It was about a quarter to ten when Nate jumped up. “When is Brenda getting home?”

  “She’s going to be late tonight,” I said. “Maybe eleven. Where are you going?”

  He was halfway to the front door. “Isaac didn’t answer my texts. He should be here by now.”

  “You’re going to find him?” Saralynn asked.

  He nodded. “I’m going to run over to his house and see what’s up with him. I’ll be back in a few minutes. Try not to miss me too much.”

  He disappeared into the front entryway. I heard the front door slam behind him.

  “Does he seem tense to you?” I asked Saralynn.

  She turned the page in the chem notebook. “He seems like Nate. You never know what you’re going to get.”

  I squinted at her. “I guess I don’t know him very well. I mean, we’ve only been going out for a month. Is he … moody?”

  “Sometimes,” she answered. “It’s not like he’s got a mental problem or anything. I mean, sometimes he’s more up than other times. Nothing to worry about. He just gets in different moods.”

  I nodded. We studied in silence for a while. Then I thought of something else. “Did you finish that horror video you were doing in Nate’s backyard?”

  She shook her head. “No. It sucked. I mean it was totally lame. I’m in major trouble. I have to think of a new project before the semester is up.”

  I shook my head. “Whoa. That’s a drag. Do you have any ideas?”

  Saralynn started to answer.

  But my scream cut her off.

  Gazing to the top of the stairs, I saw him. The demon-creature. He had his long fingers curled around the banister. He was leaning toward us. His red eyes were glowing. His green-tinted skin caught the light from the ceiling. His snout was open in a toothy grin.

  I screamed again. And pointed with a trembling hand.

  Saralynn squirmed around to face the direction I pointed. “Lisa? What’s wrong? What do you see?”

  “He’s there!” I choked out. “The creature. At the top of the stairs!”

  Her eyes went wide. She started to breathe in short, hard bursts.