Free Nightmare Hour by R. L. Stine

other, playing a game.
    Julie handed the mask back to me. We stared at each other. No one spoke.
    I raised the mask close to my face and studied it, turning it inside out. Just a cloth mask. Nothing special about it. Nothing unusual.
    â€œYou know what we’re seeing through the mask, don’t you?” Julie asked in a trembling voice. “We’re seeing kids from the past . Maybe kids who were down in this basement a hundred years ago.”
    The old, black phone rang. I stared at it. Were we receiving a phone call from the past?
    It was Julie’s mother, telling her she had to come home.
    Bill and Valerie decided to leave too. I followed them all upstairs and said good-bye, still gripping the mask tightly in my hand.
    â€œAre you going to put the mask on again?” Bill asked as he headed out the door.
    A shiver ran down my back. “No,” I told him. “No way.”
    Â 
    But I couldn’t resist.
    After dinner I was supposed to be doing homework, but I crept down to the basement instead.
    I pulled the black mask from its hiding place, the bottom drawer of an old stand-up desk. I sat down on the edge of the couch.
    My heart started to race as I put on the mask.
    I saw them immediately. The four kids. They sat crosslegged on the floor in their stiff, heavy clothes, playing the old board game.
    â€œHey! Can you hear me?” I called out. “Turn around!”
    They continued to play the game.
    â€œHello!” I shouted. “Hello?”
    No reaction. The blond boy shook the dice in his hand, rolled them, and moved his marker over the game board. The four kids concentrated on the game.
    I cupped my hands around my mouth and shouted at the top of my lungs. “Hey! Listen to me! Can you--”
    I stopped when I saw someone else in the basement. A tall, shadowy figure back by the furnace.
    A man. Hiding behind the furnace.
    What was he doing there? Did the four kids know he was hiding back there, spying on them, keeping in the deep shadows?
    No. They didn’t look up from their game.
    â€œHey! Look out!” I shouted, my voice hoarse from fear. “There’s someone there! Someone behind you! Hey!”
    One of the girls rolled the dice, then moved her marker along the game board.
    I squinted to see the man better. He was a pretty old guy, long and lanky. He had baggy blue work overalls over a red long-sleeved shirt. He wore thick eyeglasses and was bald, except for tufts of white hair that stood straight up at his ears.
    What was he holding in his hand? What was that?
    A wrench?
    A big metal wrench.
    What was he going to do with it? Was he going to hit them with it?
    I was breathing hard, my hands pressed against the sides of my face. I have to warn them!
    What would happen if I crossed the room and tried to touch one of them?
    I’ll try it.
    Before I could move, a deafening roar rang in my ears. The whole basement shook violently. I gripped the arm of the couch, struggling to keep my balance.
    What was that? An explosion?
    I saw all four kids were knocked onto their backs.
    I heard a cracking sound. The sound of wood splitting.
    Louder. Louder…
    â€œNoooooo!” One of the girls opened her mouth in a terrified cry.
    â€œHelp!” the other girl shrieked, struggling to sit up.
    The cracking sound spread over the basement, then became a loud snap as the wood beam above their heads split.
    The heavy beam crashed down on them. Bounced once. Twice.
    And then the whole ceiling collapsed in an avalanche of wood and plaster.
    Crushing them…crushing them all…burying them.
    â€œ Noooooooooooo .” A scream of horror burst from my chest.
    I couldn’t bear to watch.
    I shut my eyes. My hands clawed at the sides of the mask.
    I finally tugged it off and let it fall to the floor. I bent forward and hugged myself tightly. My stomach heaved. I struggled to keep my dinner down.
    It took a long time to find the courage to open my eyes. When I did,