Ghost Town by Phoebe Rivers Read Free Book Online Page B

flickering electric candles. Doors on squeaky hinges swung open by themselves.
    Lily giggled next to me. “Do you love it?”
    â€œIt’s great.” I gulped and kept close to her shadowy figure.
    A low, painful moan echoed around us. Sticky spider webs brushed against my skin. I shivered. I really didn’t want to be here.
    Through a dark curtain, a zombie leaped out, making us shriek. Decomposed skin hung in pieces from its obviously fake head. I giggled nervously. Then I heard whispering. Again. Whispering behind me. I swiveled about. Other visitors? I peered into the darkness.
    Nothing.
    We walked on. More whispers. Closer now. Warm breath draped my neck. I spun around. Through the darkness, a face appeared. A skull with deep, empty eye sockets. Bony fingers touched me. I shrunk in fear . . . until Lily reached over and grabbed the skeleton’s hands.
    â€œLook, Sara!” she called. “We’re doing the monster mash.” She pretended to waltz with the fake skeleton. I realized that Lily knew I was scared and she was trying to distract me.
    I laughed. I was annoyed at myself for being so timid, but grateful to Lily for being so cool about it.
    She let go of the skeleton’s hand and grabbed mine. “Onward!”
    We ascended a dramatic curved staircase in the dim light. Fabric-draped walls reached up to animpossibly high ceiling. Portraits of men in Victorian-style clothing hung on the walls, their eyes tracking our every step. Mournful music played on a faraway organ. My eyes strained to glimpse the second-floor landing. Something was up there.
    Something that glimmered and moved.
    A woman in a long, pale dress.
    The lights began to flicker.
    I slowed my steps. Was it a spirit? The woman who died here?
    She floated down the stairs. Toward me.
    â€œWatch out, Sara!” Lily suddenly shrieked. She yanked my arm so hard, I fell to my knees—just in time to see the huge brass chandelier above me crash down! I screamed and covered my head. There was no time to move.
    Lily doubled over in laughter. I peeked through my hands. The chandelier hung several feet over our heads, suspended by a thick cable. Then the cable magically pulled the chandelier back into place. An amazing special effect.
    â€œI knew that would scare you!” Lily cried. “It’s my favorite part. So cool, right?”
    I grinned and finally relaxed. It was all a joke. Nothing in here was real. Even the woman on the stairs was just bedsheets and pulleys—not a spirit.
    When we emerged in the blinding sunlight after more silly scares, Lily and I were laughing so hard I thought I’d have to find a bathroom.
    Lily walked like a zombie toward David. “I repeat—so not scary. But Sara totally fell for the dropping chandelier. You gotta tell him, Sara, how you ducked for cover. Totally awesome.”
    But I couldn’t speak.
    There was someone leaving the haunted house.
    Someone I recognized.
    The old man with the cane floated out the side door, swirling around an oblivious group of people leaving the haunted house. They didn’t see him, but I did. Because he was dead.
    I began to shiver despite the sun beating down. My eyes remained glued to him.
    â€œHey, Sara,” Lily coaxed.
    He moved toward me. Then he opened his mouth and let out an anguished wail: Sara!

CHAPTER 7
    He knows my name!
    Every muscle in my body tensed. The blood stopped flowing through my veins. I was numb with fear.
    He shimmered a few feet in front of me, yet he seemed to be everywhere.
    Sara, Sara . . . The sound was more a rumble than a voice. And my name sounded like a moan.
    He needed me.
    Sara, Sa—ra!
    He reached for me, groping the air. The numbness fell away. Dizziness invaded my body. My legs shook, and I feared I would fall.
    â€œHey, what’s wrong? You don’t look good.” Lily was by my side.
    I didn’t trust myself to speak. My eyes remained locked on the old man’s