Dance of Death by R.L. Stine Read Free Book Online Page A

mouth and dripped down from his chin.
    He licked his lips once. Twice. Then he smiled.
    Madeline gasped at the sight of her blood smeared across his perfect white teeth. Justin ran his tongue across them. Madeline felt herself gag and pressed her hands over her mouth.
    Justin flipped her hand over and pried Madeline’s fingers open. One rose thorn was embedded in the very center of her palm.
    â€œOh, no,” Justin cried. He yanked the thorn out. Madeline felt the terrible pain in her arm begin to ease a little, though her head still swam.
    Justin raised her hand. Madeline felt his teeth bite into the flesh of her palm.
    â€œJustin!” she cried. “What are you doing?”
    Justin fastened his lips to the wound he created. And then he began to suck Madeline’s blood.

Chapter
    11

    Shadowbrook, New York, 1793
    T obias opened his journal and began to write.
    Ever since I saw Justin drink Honoria’s blood, all I want to do is finish translating these old papers. I locked myself in my laboratory so I could work on them undisturbed.
    I won’t even let Honoria come in to see me. I haven’t come out for days and days. I’m not sure how many.
    I know Honoria is hurt. Our wedding is coming closer and closer. But I can’t stop working, not even for her. Until I’ve solved the mystery, I can’t rest.
    Oh, my Honoria. Do you understand what I’m doing? Why I am behaving this way?
    I’m trying to save us both. Trying to find a way out of all this. And the only way to do it is to uncover the true meaning of these papers.
    What is the secret of eternal life? Why is blood the key?
    Justin is acting more and more strangely. He comes to see me several times a day.
    Each time, I can feel him watching. Waiting. It’s almost as if he knows something. Something that he isn’t telling me.
    It only makes me more dtetermined to finish translating the papers. When I’m done, this horrible nightmare will all be over. I can marry Honoria. We can start a new life, somewhere far away.
    Far away from Justin’s evil.
    There, I’ve written it. The words I’ve been afraid to say. Justin’s evil.
    I don’t know what is happening to Justin. But I do know that all goodness has left him. He no longer wants to uncover the secret of eternal life to help others. He wants to keep it all for himself.
    I don’t understand how he could have changed so much. But I do know one thing.
    I know that Justin is turning into something monstrous.
    I don’t want what is happening to him to happen to me.
    Exhausted, Tobias set his pen down. He dropped his head into his hands.
    I can’t go on this way, he thought. I can’t go on much longer.
    When he closed his eyes, images of the strange, ancient writing danced inside his head.
    I’m so close. So close to uncovering the secret. So close to being able to take Honoria far away from here.
    The thought of Honoria strengthened Tobias’s resolve to continue working. He lifted his head and pushed his journal aside. He began to study the papers again.
    It is best if the innocent participates willingly, he translated. But it isn’t absolutely necessary. The thing that is most important is that the blood transfer take place.
    Tobias wrinkled his forehead. This still doesn’t make any sense, he thought wearily. And I’ve been working on it for days.
    Why wouldn’t someone be willing to undergo a procedure which would enable them to live forever? And why did the word translate as “innocent” instead of “patient?”
    After the blood transfer, the soul of the innocent begins to fall under the power of the—
    Here a word Tobias couldn’t translate appeared in the manuscript. He flipped through his notes.
    The first part of the word was soul, he was sure of that. He recognized it from where it appeared earlier in the manuscript.
    After the blood transfer, the soul of the innocent begins to fall