Free The Howler by R. L. Stine

thinking hard. Thinking about the suit…the whispers….
    Thinking about the ghosts from Scott’s house.
    And then I slapped my forehead. “I’ve been so stupid!” I cried out loud. “I’ve been so totally stupid!”

27
    “Don’t you understand? Don’t you see how stupid I’ve been?” I asked.
    Vanessa frowned. Justin and Ed shook their heads.
    I’d invited them over after school. I knew they wouldn’t like what I had planned. But I needed their help. I couldn’t do it alone.
    “The Howler,” I said. “I forgot all about the Howler.”
    I pointed out the window. “It’s still up in Scott’s attic. I left it there. I was so scared of the ghosts. We all were so scared…I forgot about it. But now we have to get it back.”
    Vanessa gazed out at Scott’s house through the bedroom window. “Go back up there?”
    “You’re kidding—right?” Ed said. “Remember we said we’d never go near Scott’s attic again?”
    “Remember what happened when we opened the closet door?” Justin added.
    “Of course I remember,” I said. “But those ghosts are gone now. They aren’t up in Scott’s attic anymore. They’re in my house.”
    They all gasped and started to ask a million questions. So I told them everything that had happened. The paint smears. The whispers at dinner. The suit rising up in the darkness.
    “Weird,” Ed muttered.
    “Aren’t you scared?” Justin asked.
    “Terrified,” I replied. “But it’s all worth it if I can reach Ian.”
    Vanessa’s eyes burned into mine. “That’s why you want to go back to Scott’s attic? That’s why you want to bring the Howler down?”
    I nodded. “I’ve been driving myself crazy for a year, trying everything to reach my cousin. And the Howler has been sitting up there for days.”
    “Do you think you can reach Ian with it?” Ed asked.
    “I have to try,” I said.
    I started to the door. “So—let’s go,” I said. “Who’s coming with me?”
    They didn’t move.
    “Don’t all volunteer at once,” I said. “Come on. I have to get it back. And I don’t want to go alone. It’s perfectly safe. It’s safer in that attic than it is in my room.”
    “Do you really think so?” Vanessa asked.
    “I’m sure of it,” I said.

28
    Scott greeted us at his kitchen door. He appeared very surprised to see us. And when I told him why we came, he was even more surprised.
    He scratched his thick nest of black hair. “You really want to go back to the attic? What about the ghosts?”
    “They’re not up there anymore,” I said. “I told you the other night—they moved to my house. I just want to get the Howler and take it home.”
    Scott snickered at me. “If you’re not afraid of the ghosts up there, Spencer, why did you bring three friends?”
    “Okay, okay. I was afraid to do it alone,” I admitted. “I thought it would be safer if a bunch of us went up there.”
    “My parents aren’t home,” Scott said. “If something bad happens…”
    “I’m just going to grab the Howler and get out of here,” I said. “Nothing bad will happen.”
    Scott shrugged. “Whatever.” He led the way up the stairs.
    I helped him pull down the attic trapdoor. He jumped back behind Ed and Justin. “I’m not going first,” he said.
    “No problem,” I said. “The ghosts aren’t up there. You’ll see.” I started up the stairs.
    My three friends followed. Scott climbed up last.
    I gazed around the attic. Afternoon sunlight washed in through the dust-smeared window. Where the sunlight ended, deep shadows spread over the room.
    I could see the Howler where we left it, beside the closet. The closet door stood wide open.
    “Could we grab the Howler and get out of here?” Justin asked. His voice cracked from fear.
    I didn’t have a chance to answer him.
    A high shriek—deafening and shrill as a whistle—burst across the room.
    I pressed my hands over my ears as the shriek grew louder, higher. A sharp pain shot through my head—behind my