Free Let's Get Invisible by R. L. Stine Page A

ran out of my room, down the hall, and up the stairs to
the attic. My bare feet pounded on the steep wooden steps. My heart was pounding
even louder.
    As I stepped into the heat of the attic, a wave of fear swept over me.
    What if Lefty had disappeared forever ?
    With a frightened cry, I lunged into the tiny room.
    The bright light reflected in the mirror shone into my eyes.
    Shielding my eyes with one hand, I made my way to the mirror and pulled the
string. The light went out immediately.
    “Lefty?” I called anxiously.
    No reply.
    “Lefty? Are you up here? Can you hear me?”
    Fear clogged my throat. I was panting loudly, barely able to speak.
    “Lefty?”
    “Hi, Max. I’m here.” My brother’s voice came from right beside me.
    I was so happy to hear it, I turned and gave him a hug, even though I
couldn’t see him.
    “I’m okay,” he said, startled by my emotion. “Really, Max. I’m okay.”
    It took a few minutes for him to reappear.
    “What happened?” I asked, checking him out, looking him up and down as if I
hadn’t seen him for months. “You were clowning around in my room. Then you were
gone.”
    “I’m fine,” he insisted with a shrug.
    “But where did you go?” I demanded.
    “Up here,” he repeated.
    “But Lefty—” Something about him looked different. I couldn’t quite put my
finger on it. But staring at his face, I was sure that something was weird.
    “Stop staring at me like that, Max.” He shoved me away. “I’m fine. Really.”
He started dancing away from me, heading to the stairs.
    “But, Lefty—” I followed him out of the room.
    “No more questions. Okay? I’m all right.”
    “Stay away from the mirror,” I said sternly. “Do you hear me?”
    He started down the stairs.
    “I mean it, Lefty. Don’t get invisible again.”
    “Okay, okay,” he snapped. “I won’t do it anymore.”
    I checked to make sure his fingers weren’t crossed. This time they weren’t.
    Mom was waiting for us in the hall. “So there you are,” she said
impatiently. “Max, you’re not dressed!”
    “I’ll hurry,” I told her, and bolted into my room.
    “Lefty, what did you do to your hair?” I heard Mom ask my brother. “Did you
brush it differently or something?”
    “No,” I heard Lefty reply. “It’s the same, Mom. Really. Maybe your eyes are
different.”
    “Stop being such a smart mouth and get downstairs,” Mom told him.
    Something was definitely weird about Lefty. Mom had noticed it, too. But I
couldn’t figure out what.
    As I picked my jeans up off the floor and pulled them on, I started to feel a
little better. I had been so frightened, frightened that something terrible had
happened to my brother. Frightened that he’d disappeared for good, and I’d never
see him again.
    All because of that stupid mirror.
    All because it was such a thrill to get invisible.
    I suddenly thought about Erin, April, and Zack.
    They were so excited about Wednesday. About the big competition. Even April
was going to get invisible this time.
    No, I thought.
    I have to call them. I have to tell them.
    I’ve really made up my mind.
    No more mirror. No more getting invisible.
    I’ll call all three of them when I get back from Springfield. And I’ll tell
them the competition is cancelled.
    I sat down on my bed to tie my sneakers.
    Whew, I thought. That’s a load off my mind.
    And it was. Having decided not to use the mirror ever again made me feel
much, much better. All of my fear seemed to float away.
    Little did I know that the most frightening time was still to come.

 
 
18
     
     
    Imagine my surprise when Zack, Erin, and April showed up at my front door on
Wednesday morning.
    “I told you guys the competition is off,” I sputtered, staring at them in
astonishment through the screen door.
    “But Lefty called us,” Erin replied. “He said you changed your mind.” The
other two agreed.
    My mouth dropped open to my knees. “Lefty?”
    They nodded. “He called us