The Nightmare Man by Joseph Lidster Read Free Book Online Page A

what was going on. He was preparing a burger for the elderly Sarah Jane.
    ‘Go easy on the sauce,’ she screeched.
    ‘But I don’t get it!’ said Clyde. ‘Where’s Luke?’
    ‘Oh, he’s such a clever boy. He’s working for the government now, says he’s going to be an astronaut!’ Sarah Jane leaned forward and whispered. ‘I went to space once.’
    Clyde already knew this. He’d heard about Sarah Jane’s adventures in time and space with the Doctor. He’d met the Doctor himself. He’d even been in the TARDIS!
    ‘Yeah, I know,’ he said. ‘With the Doctor.’
    ‘Oh, I told you?’ Sarah Jane looked upset. ‘I get confused. The Social reckon I’m losing it! They want to put me in a home. I told them: I’ve got a home, thank you very much!’
    Clyde looked at her and felt his heart breaking. He’d seen this sort of thing before. A friend of his Nan’s had moved into a retirement home called “Lavender Lawns”. He’d been to visit her a few times and some of the residents there were... confused. It happened to some people as they got older and it was always very sad. Clyde realised that it had happened to Sarah Jane.
    ‘This can’t be real,’ he said, shaking his head. He reached over the counter and took Sarah Jane’s hand. ‘Where’s Luke? He’ll know what to do.’
    ‘He went away and he never came back. Like the little ducks!’ Suddenly Sarah Jane began to cackle. ‘Quack, quack, quack!’
    Clyde stared at her. How could this be happening? He looked up at the clock. Tick-tock, tick-tock.
    In the nightmare school corridor, Luke was crouched up in a ball, covering his ears. Mocking laughter was echoing around him, taunting him.
    ‘It isn’t real. It isn’t real. This is just a stupid dream!’
    He was so close to giving up. He was so scared, so alone. What could he do? But he was brave. Luke Smith had done so much with his life that he wasn’t just going to give up now. He jumped to his feet, desperately trying to ignore the laughter. And he shouted out loud. ‘Nightmare Man!’
    Back in the real world, the Nightmare Man was just stepping into the driveway of 13, Bannerman Road. He was jumping about, smelling flowers and feeling the bark on the trees. This was his first time in the real world and he was loving it.
    ‘Nightmare Man!’ Luke’s voice sounded in his head.
    ‘Oh, your mind is so strong,’ he replied. He was genuinely impressed by Luke. ‘Your mind is echoing across the dimensions.’
    ‘Come back and face me.’
    The Nightmare Man waggled his head, pretending to think about it. ‘Mmm...no.’
    ‘What’s the matter?’ Luke continued. ‘You scared?’
    The Nightmare Man knew what Luke was trying to do. He knew about the other aliens Luke had fought. The ones who would have got angry at being accused of being scared. The Nightmare Man, though, like Luke, wasn’t stupid. ‘I’m just happy,’ he called back. ‘You’ve taken my place and I’ve taken yours. You’ve made the monster real, Luke.’
    Giggling and humming Brahms’ Lullaby , he skipped off down the driveway and into Bannerman Road.
    Luke was screaming up at the ceiling. ‘No! Come back! Come back!’
    But there was no reply. He was lost. Trapped and alone in the nightmare corridor.
    He stopped shouting and fell to his knees. He realised that there was nothing he could do. There was no hope. The Nightmare Man had won.

Chapter Fifteen
    The longest night
    Luke Smith might have given up all hope but his mum certainly hadn’t! She was running between Mr Smith and K-9, checking that the USB cable was attached properly.
    ‘Ready?’ she asked.
    ‘Ready,’ replied her robot dog.
    ‘Ready,’ replied her huge alien supercomputer.
    And Mr Smith started to power up. On his screen, an image of K-9 appeared, getting brighter and brighter. Sparks crashed and flashed across Mr Smith as he transferred power over to K-9. The lights in the attic flickered as he started taking electrical power from the whole