But my voice was too loud. I tried it again in a whisper but even that was too loud. I was afraid I wouldn’t hear Mr. Clawson when he came to let me out. It seemed important that the principal shouldn’t hear me talking to myself.
CLICK!
What was that? I jumped up. It was right outside the door. But I hadn’t heard anyone coming.
SNICK!
That noise! I’d heard it before. I’d heard it this morning when Mrs. Parker locked the front door.
No! I ran to the door and twisted the knob. It wouldn’t turn. I was locked in! And no one but Mr. Clawson knew where I was.
“Help!” I yelled. “Help!”
I pressed my ear to the door and listened. No one answered. No one came.
But I heard whispering. Someone was out in the hall. Who? Why didn’t they answer me?
I couldn’t make out what they were saying although I listened with all my might. I closed my eyes and concentrated. The whispering voices were coming closer. And closer.
They were right outside the door. Something gave a low, evil chuckle.
I jumped back from the door as if it were hot.
The hair on the back of my neck prickled.
I looked around me. There was no place to hide.
Then the lights went out.
I was plunged into utter darkness.
Chapter 13
I’d never been afraid of the dark, but this was different.
Deep underground in that spooky basement, no particle of light reached me. I stretched my eyes wide and saw nothing at all.
Claws scratched at the outside of the locked door.
I stumbled backward, knocking over a chair. The noise echoed in the black silence.
The whispers grew louder as if the thing outside the door was pressed up against it, its lips to the crack between door and wall.
I began to hear words.
“Keep the secret, little one! Remember the three nights of the full moon. Remember the wereing or die. Keep the secret and save yourself!”
There was a werewolf out there! The werewolves knew I was one of them. They knew I turned into a monster during the three nights of the full moon.
But I had hidden from them and I hadn’t yet made my first kill. So I remained a boy the rest of the month. The werewolves were angry about that. Very angry. And unlike me, they could turn into monsters whenever they chose.
I scuttled into a corner and pressed myself into the wall. Claws raked at the door and then began to scratch around the lock.
“Remember who you are! Save yourself!”
Panic bubbled through my blood, jumping and twitching under my skin.
Had Mr. Clawson left me here for the werewolves to find?
Claws scratched at the lock.
Would they tear me to pieces? Or would they carry me off to live with them until the next full moon?
SNAP!
They’d gotten the lock open!
I threw myself toward where I thought the table was. If I could get hold of a chair maybe I could fend them off for a few minutes.
I was so scared I couldn’t think past the next minute when the monsters would be inside the room. Inside with me, in the dark where I couldn’t see them.
My fingers grasped the leg of a chair. I wouldn’t let them take me.
I heard the doorknob turn.
The door began to creak.
I scrambled to my feet, holding the chair above my head. I was ready to crash it down on the first werewolf through the door.
Slowly the door swung open.
Chapter 14
Light flashed into my eyes.
My arm jerked and the chair fell with a thunderous clatter.
A figure slipped through the door into the room.
“Gruff! What are you doing?”
It was Miss Possum. She stared at me in amazement.
“D-d-detention,” I stuttered. My eyes darted to the hallway behind her. Where were the werewolves?
“Detention? Here?” She looked surpised. “Well, Mr. Clawson must have forgotten about you,” said Miss Possum. “It’s a good thing I came down for some supplies. And then I heard noises down this way.”
She paused and peered back into the hallway, as if she’d missed something. “Strange,” she said, wrinkling her nose thoughtfully. “It sounded like an animal. I thought a cat might have gotten trapped down here.”
I inched past her and peered out the door. There was no sign of the werewolves. Could I have imagined the whole thing? Could it have been a cat, like Miss Possum thought?
“N-noises. Yes,” I said in a shaky voice. “Mr. Clawson has dog, maybe, or cat?”
“Heavens, no,” said Miss Possum. “Mr. Clawson doesn’t have a dog. He doesn’t care for animals of any kind.” She touched my elbow and smiled kindly. “I’m sure you’re anxious to get out of here,” she said, steering me toward the door. “Why don’t we go?”
I peered into the shadows down the hall. Nothing moved.
Tension began to flow out of my muscles. The darkness and the silence had spooked me, I thought. There never had been anything down here.
Then my eye caught sight of something on the floor. Without thinking I stooped and picked it up. A cold invisible finger ran down my spine.
“What’s that, Gruff?”
Reluctantly, I opened my hand and showed it to her.
“Oh,” she cried. “Fur! I knew I heard a cat scratching. We’ve got to find it, Gruff. Will you help me? It’ll starve down here.”
All my fear and dread came rushing back. No, I wanted to yell, it’s not a cat! It’s a monster that probably eats nice teachers for an afternoon snack!
But Miss Possum was already hurrying down the hall making little “psst, psst” noises and calling out “Here, kitty, here, kitty.”
I rushed after her but she disappeared around a corner before I could catch up.
“Goodness, it’s dark here!” Her voice came from deep in the shadows. “Gruff, could you get the light? The switch must be on the wall in that hallway, there’s no switch here—
“AAEEEEK! AAAA! EEEE!”
Miss Possum’s scream stood my hair on end. I dashed after her, my heart in my throat, forgetting all about the light switch.
CRASH! THUD!
The werewolves had got her!
