Bad Dreams by R.L. Stine Read Free Book Online

started laughing too, partly from relief and partly from embarrassment.
    â€œI guess I got you,” Dawn said, splashing water at Maggie’s head.
    â€œYou did this on purpose, didn’t you!” Maggie demanded, splashing Dawn back.
    Dawn backstroked out of Maggie’s splashing range. “No way!” she insisted. “How was I supposed to know you’d be such a jerk! Look at you! You’ve got all your clothes on!”
    Maggie reluctantly admitted to herself that it was pretty funny.
    Dawn threw her head back, laughing. She had a contagious laugh, and soon Maggie felt herself losing it as well. The two girls laughed till they nearly cried, their voices echoing off the high tile ceiling.
    Tuesday night. Maggie struggled to fall asleep.
    Staring up at the canopy over her head, she tried to clear her mind, to relax her muscles, to relax—relax.
    As her eyes closed, she felt a force pulling her down.
    It was as if she were being dragged down into the darkness.
    A darkness that became a swirling gray haze.
    As the haze circled around her, she drifted lower. Down toward a square of pink.
    Focus! Focus! The square of pink became a canopy on an old-fashioned four-poster.
    Under the canopy, Maggie could hear someone in the bed. Someone moaning, “No—no—”
    Maggie drifted down through the pink canopy. Into the bed.
    She saw the girl, who was tossing fitfully beneath pink blankets.
    The girl with the ash-blond hair.
    Maggie knew she was dreaming, but somehow that made the dream twice as frightening.
    It was cold in the room, but there were beads of sweat glistening on the girl’s bare shoulders. She lay still now, her head turned away.
    If only Maggie could see her face!
    Maggie wanted to call to the girl to turn around. But when she opened her mouth, no sound came out.
    This girl was in trouble. Maggie knew it.
    And then she knew why. It came over her suddenly, like a shadow rolling across her body.
    She and the girl were not alone. There was someone else in the room!
    Maggie whirled. And saw—
    The glint of a knife blade in the darkness!
    Then all at once the darkness exploded violently as a figure leaped forward.
    The blond girl tried to twist away. And her skull smacked against the headboard. Then the knife came slashing down through the air.
    Maggie jerked so sharply in her sleep that shewoke herself up. She lay in her bed in the darkness, gasping in air, her heart thudding, her eyes still shut.
    Just a dream, she told herself. Just a dream, just a dream, just a—
    An image from the nightmare loomed in her mind. The pink canopy! The same pink canopy she saw when she opened her eyes. The canopy.
Her
canopy.
    The girl in the dream was sleeping in
her
bed!
    The realization made Maggie’s heart start to pound even harder. What did it mean?
    I’m just stressed out, she told herself, gripping the bed-sheet. I’m sleeping in a new bed. So I’m dreaming about it. That’s all.
    But then another frightening thought came to her—one she’d had before. Maybe the dream was a warning. Maybe her own subconscious mind was trying to warn her about something through the dream.
    But what?
What?
    She closed her eyes and rolled over onto her side, gazing at the window.
    Only then did Maggie feel the presence of the intruder. Her eyes popped open. Her mouth contorted into a silent scream.
    The girl stood blanketed in darkness next to Maggie’s bed, staring straight down at her, straight down into her face.
    With a desperate gasp, Maggie jerked backward, banging her head against the headboard. She couldn’t get away.
    The girl reached out to grab her.

chapter

8
    M aggie opened her mouth to scream.
    â€œIt’s me, it’s me, it’s me!” the girl kept repeating in a desperate whisper.
    Maggie stopped yelling and covered her mouth, her shoulders heaving.
    The girl leaned closer, close enough for Maggie to see her face.