Free R. L. Stine_Mostly Ghostly 03 by One Night in Doom House Page A

splattered.
    Snow sprayed onto Morgo's face. He let out a startled cry. Morgo turned and sent a wave of heat shooting over Colin.
    My brother's eyes bulged wide in surprise. His hands shot out. His clothes started to melt.
    Morgo frantically brushed snow off his forehead. His face twisted in pain.
    He narrowed his eyes at me, gave me an icy stare—and vanished in a puff of white steam.
    I turned back to Colin. He stood there quivering in shock—and totally naked! His melted clothes were a red and blue puddle around his bare feet.
    “Max—you creep!” he shouted, shaking his fist at me. “How did you do that?”
    “Uh … one of my new magic tricks,” I said. “I’m still working on it.”
    Colin flashed me one more horrified look. Then he whirled around and ran to his room.
    The room quickly cooled off. I took a few deep breaths. My heartbeat started to return to normal.
    Mr. Morgo was gone. He had his precious life pods. Did that mean I was safe? Or would he come back to punish me for taking them?
    Maybe I was okay for now. But I knew Nicky and Tara weren’t.
    I knew that Doom House wasn’t safe. It wasn’t a fake haunted house. Those ghosts were real. They had to be the ghosts that Phears had helped to escape.
    Morgo seemed to be their new leader. And let's not kid around—he was evil. The other ghosts were evil too.
No way
would they help Nicky and Tara.
    My two friends were walking into a trap.
    Could I rescue them from that haunted house? I knew I had to try.
    I still had my parka and boots on. I clumped into the hall. I could hear Colin in his room, slamming his dresser drawers, getting dressed again.
    I made my way down the steps and headed to the front door. Before I could open the door, Mom jumped in front of me.
    “Sorry, Maxie,” she said, shaking her head. “You can’t go outside. It isn’t safe.”

26
    “TAKE OFF YOUR COAT,” Mom said. “It isn’t safe out there.”
    “Not safe? Mom, what are you talking about?”
    “I just talked to Mr. Mullin,” she said. “His car melted. Right in the driveway. It just melted.”
    So what
else
is new?
    “Things are melting all over the neighborhood,” Mom said. “People think it's sunspots.”
    Sunspots?
You’re kidding!
    “Mom—look outside,” I said. “It's cloudy now. There won’t be any sunspots.”
    She shook her head and pressed her back against the door. “No. You’re not going outside until they say it's okay on TV.”
    “Mom, I really have to go. Some friends of mine are waiting for me and—”
    She crossed her tiny arms in front of her. She shook her head again. “No way.”
    I tried to stare her down. But she wouldn’t blink.
    I sighed. “Okay. But this is stupid,” I said. I turned and stomped back upstairs to my room.
    I didn’t take off my parka or boots. I started to pace back and forth, curling my hands into fists. Nicky and Tara needed me. Every second counted.
    After a minute or two, I stepped to my bedroom door. I could hear Mom in the kitchen, humming to herself as she started to make dinner. My chance to escape.
    Sorry, Mom. I’ll watch out for sunspots.
    I crept down the stairs, bolted out the front door, and closed it silently behind me.
    The sun was going down. The sky was a deep purple. The gusting wind made the snow swirl around me.
    I lowered my head against the wind and ran to the bus stop on Powell Avenue. I just missed a bus. I watched it rumble off down the next block. I stood there shivering, waiting for the next one.
    Twenty minutes later, the next bus rolled up. I swiped my bus card through the fare machine and took a seat in the back. I was the only passenger.
    By the time I reached Doom House on the other side of town, the sky was solid black. Low-hanging clouds covered the moon and stars.
    No streetlights here. And no lights in the windows of the old mansion. The scrape of my boots as I made my way up the long driveway was theonly sound I heard, except for the whistle of the wind through the