Free The Evil Lives! by R.L. Stine Page A

now?”
    â€œNo,” Amanda admitted. “But if we wait, I might never do it. Let’s get it over with.”
    â€œRight.” Janine turned onto Fear Street and drove several blocks until she reached the Fear Street Cemetery.
    Amanda took the flashlight from the glove compartment and climbed out of the car. She turned on the light and gazed over the low stone wall into the graveyard.
    Away from the street, up on a hill, were the neat, even rows of tombstones in the new section of the cemetery. In the spring and summer, the grass would be green and clipped, Amanda thought. Flower beds would bloom with color.
    She shifted her gaze lower, to the old section. The crumbling gravestones tilted and sagged, as if the earth were trying to drag them down. Weeds and brambles grew wild. Branches torn from trees lay scattered across the graves like dark, twisted bones.
    A cold wind gusted down the street. Amanda pulled up the hood of her sweatshirt. “Come on,” she murmured. “Let’s do this fast and get out of here.”
    â€œReal fast,” Janine agreed, her teeth chattering.
    Mud mixed with snow had turned the narrow path into a swampy mess. Amanda walked slowly, shining the flashlight beam over the old gravestones. Age and weather had worn the names and dates from some of them.
    Amanda’s breath steamed in the chilly air as she stepped through the muck under her feet. The wind made her eyes tear. Every time a branch creaked, her heart leaped with fear.
    Maybe this wasn’t such a great idea, she told herself. I’m cold and I’m scared, and I don’t even know what I’m looking for. What can Sarah Fear’s grave tell me, anyway?
    Behind her, Janine gasped.
    Amanda spun around. “What? What?”
    â€œI thought I heard something,” Janine whispered. “Listen.”
    Amanda held her breath. Bare branches creaked in a light wind. Dead leaves rustled as they scattered over the gravestones. Amanda’s heartbeat thudded in her chest.
    Janine shrugged. “I guess I’m freaked.”
    â€œYou’re not the only one,” Amanda admitted. “Five minutes, okay? If we don’t find it by then, we’ll get out of here.”
    Janine nodded.
    Amanda turned around and walked a few more feet. The flashlight picked out a small grouping of headstones on her right. Four of them were worn so badly she couldn’t make out the names.
    But she could read the fifth one clearly, SARAH FEAR: 1875–1899.
    â€œJanine!” she called. “I found . . .” She broke off,staring in shock as the flashlight beam dipped down to the bottom of the stone.
    The grave was open!
    Mounds of dirt were heaped on either side of it. But not neatly. Not as if it had been dug with shovels.
    It’s like something burst up from the earth, Amanda thought.
    Amanda’s hand shook.
    The flashlight beam wavered, creating weird shadows. Beside her, Janine gasped. “Look! Look in the grave!”
    Clutching the flashlight with both hands, Amanda aimed the beam into the dark, gaping hole.
    A wooden coffin lay deep in the muddy earth. Rotting. Worm-eaten.
    Open.
    And empty.

Chapter 17

A NASTY FALL
    A manda stared down, terrified. How could this happen? How could the grave be empty? It was impossible, unless . . .
    Janine clutched Amanda’s arm. “Listen!” she whispered. “Somebody’s coming!”
    Amanda didn’t need to hold her breath to hear the sound. A snapping twig. A soft thump. Another snap.
    Footsteps.
    Another twig snapped. Another footfall squished on the muddy path.
    It can’t be true, Amanda thought.
    But the grave is open. The coffin is empty.
    â€œIt’s the Evil!” Janine repeated, tugging frantically at Amanda’s arm. “Come on! Run! Run before it gets us!”
    Amanda’s legs unlocked. She spun away from theopen grave and crashed into Janine, who was still trying to pull her