The Beast From the East by R. L. Stine Read Free Book Online

gave him one last look and took off.
    Long shadows fell across the ground. I gazed at the sky. The orange was
turning into deep pink. Almost sundown.
    I plunged into the darkening woods.
    All around me I could hear small animals skittering through the carpet of
leaves on the forest floor. As if hurrying home before sunset.
    Home. Where they were safe.
    The wind howled loudly through the trees. I stumbled and almost fell over a
rotted tree stump.
    The woods were closing in on me. Time was closing in on me.
    And then I saw a beast hiding behind an umbrella bush. His shoulders slumped
forward. His head bobbed gently up and down.
    He was sound asleep.
    Here’s my chance, I thought.
    I moved slowly toward him. The beast shifted position.
    I stopped. Held my breath.
    He quieted down again. He must have moved in his sleep.
    This is it, I thought. My chance. In a second, he’ll be the Beast from the
East.
    I rushed forward.
    And gasped.
    The earth dropped away.
    Nothing under me.
    Nothing but air.
    I fell quickly. Sank straight down.
    Down… down… down…
    Screaming all the way.

 
 
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    I hit solid ground.
    Hard.
    The air burst from my lungs.
    My shoulder jammed against a sharp rock.
    I cried out. Rubbed my arm.
    Struggling to catch my breath, I pulled myself up and stared around me.
    Too dark. I couldn’t see a thing.
    It’s over, I thought. The game is over.
    “Hey—is anyone up there?” I called. “Can anyone hear me?”
    I stopped and listened for an answer. Any answer.
    Silence.
    I forced myself to my feet. My shoulder ached. I rolled it back and forth a
couple of times to keep it from getting stiff.
    I reached out and patted the walls around me. Solid dirt. I was in some sort
of deep pit. The kind people dig to trap animals.
    Now I was the trapped animal.
    I ran my hands quickly over the walls. Maybe I could find something to hold
onto. Some way to climb out.
    Yuck! What was that?
    My hand touched something cold sticking out of the side of the pit.
    I clenched my teeth and forced myself to touch it again. It stayed firm under
my fingers. A root, I thought excitedly.
    It’s not alive.
    I ran my hand further up the wall. The roots were everywhere. As high up as I
could feel. Perfect!
    I raised my foot and stepped onto the lowest root. It held.
    Footholds! I could climb out of the pit.
    My hands grabbed the highest root I could reach. I pulled myself up. I heard
a crumbling of loose dirt.
    I pressed myself against the wall as more dirt sifted down the side of the
pit, spraying my face.
    I squeezed my eyes shut. Waited for the dirt to stop falling. Then I found
the next root and began climbing again.
    How much time did I have left? How much time before the sun went down?
    My shoulder ached. But I had a long way to go. I rested briefly against the
wall. Then I continued climbing.
    Snap!
    The root shattered under my right foot. My leg dangled in the air.
    Snap!
    The root under my right hand popped loose.
    “Hey!” I cried out as I felt myself fall.
    I landed hard on the floor of the pit. I lay still for a moment, trying to
catch my breath.
    I gazed up. A last bit of pink sky glowed over the mouth of the pit.
    In the fading light, I looked around. I saw the useless roots on the sides of
the deep hole. I glanced down.
    Oh, no.
    There was just enough sunlight to see the ground beneath me.
    It was brown.
    And square.
    A Free Lunch square.
    I was trapped. Trapped on a Free Lunch square. The beasts could eat me—anytime they wanted.
    I froze in panic. And heard rumbling footsteps above me.
    I huddled in a corner of the pit. Pressed my back against the dirt.
    “This way!” I heard Fleg shout. “She’s down here!”

 
 
22
     
     
    Fleg appeared in the opening above me. His flabby chin hung down. His eyes
locked onto mine.
    “Found you!” he cried.
    Spork slid next to Fleg. He grinned down at me and drooled yellow drool. It
splattered beside my boot.
    “Something down there smells