The Children of Fear (16 page)

“No,” Leah crooned. “You are not creatures of evil. You are creatures of nature. Do not allow yourselves to be used this way, my brothers and sisters.”

“Kill him, kill him, kill him!” Corey chanted. His cheeks were flushed a deep red. His breath came in ragged pants.

The rattlesnake's forked black tongue rapidly darted in and out of its mouth.

Then it opened its mouth wide to reveal pointed white fangs. Glistening with venom.

Luke swallowed hard.

“Don't move,” Leah whispered as she moved closer to Luke.

The rattlesnake struck.

Leah grabbed it by the head just as its fangs skimmed Luke's throat.

Luke's stomach turned over. He started to shake. He felt as though ice water ran through his veins instead of blood.

Leah slowly turned the snake toward her. Their eyes locked. “No, my brother,” she whispered. “This is not what you are meant to do.”

Slowly, the snake closed its jaws.

Leah placed the snake on her shoulder, and it glided around her neck. “Thank you,” she said.

“No!” Corey shrieked. “They are my friends! Mine! They have to do what
I
say!”

“No, Corey. It is not right to use these creatures for evil,” Leah said calmly. She extended her hand toward the snake wrapped around Luke's thigh.

It crept up her arm, and Luke released the breath he had been holding.

Leah walked away from him. As she did, the other snakes slithered off Luke's body. They began to climb over her, coiling themselves around her.

“I hate you!” Corey screamed. “I hate you both!”

He raced up the stairs and rushed out of the house.

Trembling, Luke sank to the floor and stared at his sister as the snakes slithered over her.

“It was Corey all along,” Luke said breathlessly. “He killed everyone.”

“I know,” Leah said. “I realized the truth when you lost control of the horses. Until then, I didn't know that Corey had inherited the power from Father.”

Luke rubbed his hands over his face. “How did you escape?” he asked suddenly. “What happened?”

“I didn't escape. I convinced the doctor that I had a gift with animals—nothing more. He released me.”

“What are we going to do about Corey?” Luke asked.

“We can't do anything but wait for him to return.”

Luke decided that he and Leah would stay at the Green farm, would live in the bright yellow house with the white curtains.

Always watching.

Always waiting for Corey to return.

Knowing that when he did return, the fear would return with him.

“Where do you get your ideas?”

That's the question that R.L. Stine is asked most often. “I don't know where my ideas come from,” he says. “But I do know that I have a lot more scary stories in my mind that I can't wait to write.”

So far, he has written nearly five dozen mysteries and thrillers for young people, all of them bestsellers.

Bob grew up in Columbus, Ohio. Today he lives in an apartment near Central Park in New York City with his wife, Jane, and son, Matt.

Books by R.L. Stine

The Fear Street Saga

THE BETRAYAL
THE SECRET
THE BURNING
FEAR STREET SAGA COLLECTOR'S EDITION

Fear Street Sagas

A NEW FEAR
HOUSE OF WHISPERS
FORBIDDEN SECRETS
THE SIGN OF FEAR
THE HIDDEN EVIL
DAUGHTERS OF SILENCE
CHILDREN OF FEAR

Available from ARCHWAY Paperbacks

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

An ARCHWAY PAPERBACK
Original

An Archway Paperback published by
POCKET BOOKS, a division of Simon & Schuster Inc.
1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020
www.SimonandSchuster.com

Copyright © 1997 by Parachute Press, Inc.

CHILDREN OF FEAR
WRITTEN BY BRANDON ALEXANDER

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information address Pocket Books, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020

ISBN: 0-671-00294-5
ISBN13: 978-1-4424-7374-4 (eBook)

First Archway Paperback printing June 1997

FEAR STREET is a registered trademark of Parachute Press, Inc.

AN ARCHWAY PAPERBACK and colophon are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster Inc.

Cover art by Lisa Falkenstern