Free Phantom of the Auditorium by R. L. Stine

but I felt chilled just the same. As we walked to school, I kept seeing shadows moving close as if reaching for us. But when I turned to see them, they vanished.
    Brooke, you have too much imagination,
I scolded myself.
    I wished my heart would stop thudding like a bass drum.
    I wished I were home, watching TV with Jeremy. I had a bad feeling about our little adventure. A very bad feeling.
    We didn’t waste any time trying the doors. We climbed into school through the same home ec room window. Then, once again we made our way silently down the dark halls to the auditorium.
    One row of lights had been left on at the back of the seats. The stage lay dark and bare, except for the gray brick backdrop against the back wall.
    Zeke led the way down the center aisle. He had given us each a flashlight. We clicked them on as we made our way to the stage. The beams of light played over the empty rows of seats. I raised mine to the stage and swept it from side to side.
    No one up there. No sign of anything unusual.
    “Zeke, this is a waste of time,” I said, whispering even though no one could hear us.
    He raised a finger to his lips. “We’re going down below the stage,” Zeke said quietly, his eyes straight ahead. “And we’re going to find him, Brooke. This time, we’re going to find him.”
    I had never seen Zeke so serious, so determined. A chill of fear went slowly down my back. But I decided not to argue with him.
    “Uh … maybe I should stay up on the stage while you two go down,” Brian suggested. “I could stand guard.”
    “Stand guard against what?” Zeke demanded, raising his flashlight to Brian’s face.
    I could see Brian’s frightened expression. “Against … anyone who might come,” he replied weakly.
    “All three of us have to go down,” Zeke insisted. “If we do find the Phantom, I want two witnesses — you and Brooke.”
    “But the Phantom is a
ghost
— right?” Brian demanded. “How do we find a ghost?”
    Zeke glared at him. “We’ll find him.”
    Brian shrugged. We could both see that there was no point in arguing with Zeke tonight.
    The floorboards on the stage creaked as we made our way to the trapdoor. Our flashlights moved over the outline of the square platform in the floor.
    Brian and I huddled close together in the center of the square. Zeke stomped hard on the little wooden peg, then jumped beside us.
    We heard the familiar clanking sound. Then the gentle hum as the platform started to lower. The stage appeared to rise up all around us. In a few seconds, we were surrounded by four black walls.
    The light from our flashlights washed over the walls as we sank lower and lower under the stage. My heart felt as if it were sinking, too — down to my knees!
    The three of us stood pressed together in the center of the platform. The clanking and grinding sounds grew louder as we went down. Finally, we hit the bottom with a hard
thud.
    For a few seconds, none of us moved.
    Zeke was the first to step off the platform. He raised his flashlight and swept it slowly around. We were in the middle of a large, empty chamber. It tunneled out in two directions.
    “Here, Phantom! Here, boy!” Zeke called softly, as if calling his dog. “Here, Phantom. Where
are
you, Phantom?” he called in a singsong voice.
    I stepped off the platform and gave him a shove. “Stop it,” I insisted. “I thought you were serious about this. Why are you making a joke of it?”
    “Just trying to keep you from getting too scared,” Zeke replied. But, of course, I knew the truth. He was trying to keep
himself
from getting too scared.
    I turned back to Brian. In the dim light, he looked scared enough for both of us! “There’s no one down here. Can we go back up now?” he pleaded.
    “No way,” Zeke told him. “Follow me. Keep your light down on the ground so we can see where we’re going.”
    Walking side by side, Brian and I followed Zeke into the chamber. We stepped into a long tunnel, took a few steps,