Free Colm & the Ghost's Revenge by Kieran Mark Crowley

my time trying to impress someone so stupid that when our Maths test had a question asking us to “find x” he put a circle around it and wrote “there it is”.’
    â€˜Anyone could have made that mistake,’ Ziggy said defensively.
    â€˜And you can’t even tell a simple scary story without getting it all wrong,’ Colm continued.
    â€˜I suppose you could,’ Amy said.
    â€˜Yes, I could, actually,’ Colm said. ‘And it’d be true too. None of this my mother’s brother’s friend’s cousin’s gardener stuff. It really happened to me.’
    â€˜What frightening story could you have? The day you wet your nappy?’ Ziggy sneered.
    â€˜Yeah, and it was only two weeks ago,’ Iano said to peals of laughter.
    â€˜The time the teacher got cross with him for forgetting his homework? That was really scary, wasn’t it, Colin?’ Stephanie said.
    â€˜It’s real and it’s terrifying and my name is Colm,’ he shouted.
    There was a sharp intake of breath from the entire group, followed by a deathly silence.
    â€˜Oooh, Mr Touchy,’ someone whispered.
    Colm could hardly believe what he was doing. Was he really going to tell them the truth he’d kept hidden from everyone for so long? The truth that had given him nightmares. The truth that had changed him, turned him into a different person.
    Maybe it’d do him some good to get it off his chest. They all hated him anyway; they all thought he was a loser. It wasn’t as if they were going to think less of him. He could hardly sink lower in their estimation.
    They stared at him, with none of the hostility he’d expected. A sea of blank faces.
    He opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. Not a single one.
    He couldn’t tell them about that night. He just couldn’t do it. Life at school was bad enough as it was with them just thinking he was a bit odd. If he started going on about supernatural events and zombies and cursed books … no, the secret would have to stay with him. Colm’s heart sank. Why had he said he was going to tell them a horror story? He’d have to make one up now. What could he tell them? Nothing came to mind. When he’d stood there for thirty silent seconds, mouth open, but nothing coming out, they began to snigger.
    â€˜See, I told you he was an eejit,’ Ziggy said to a boy who hadn’t spoken during the entire time Colm had been at the party.
    There wasn’t any good explanation he could give them, no reason for standing there like a twonk, so Colm simply left the living room with the sound of harsh laughter echoing in his ears. He opened the front door and escaped into the night, gently pulling the door shut behind him. He was glad the estate was quiet for once. He didn’t want to see anybody right now. He steadied himself on the front wall of Ziggy’s house and took a deep gulp of cold air. His knees buckled. I almost told them, he said to himself. What had he been thinking?
    Wrapped up in his thoughts, he failed to notice the dark figure watching him from beneath the solitary tree on the edge of the green as he began his walk home. Or the bounty hunter who’d been tracking his progress all evening. It wasn’t as quiet out there as he thought it was. Far from it.
    A big yellow moon hung over the estate. Colm picked up the pace, trying to warm up. A rattling sound carried through the air like a whisper. He paused for a moment. Had he heard something? He was sure he had. He just didn’t know what it was. He considered looking around, but he wasn’t that far from his house. There were some dodgy characters living around here. People you didn’t want to get on the wrong side of, or any side of for that matter. He wished he hadn’t left Ziggy’s so suddenly. His mother would kill him if she knew he was out on his own after dark, even so close to home.
    He quickened his step until he