Creeped Out Read Online Free Page B

but still, this dog looked nasty. It let out a fierce, low growl, and Jasper’s heart leapt in his chest. The dog was huge, with sharp, gleaming teeth. Jasper wasn’t scared of dogs, but this one looked, well, vicious. It was a trained guard dog, and what it was probably trained to do was ferociously rip you to pieces.
    Dogs can sense fear , Jasper told himself. He didn’t like his chances in a one-on-one fight. He looked at the trees – but he knew he could never climb one in time. The dog would get to him first.
    Jasper took a deep breath and crouched down, his hand held out towards the dog. He tried to treat it like a friendly puppy. ‘Hiya, pup,’ he said as calmly as he could.
    The dog growled more loudly, its teeth still bared.
    Jasper held his breath. He had a bad feeling he was about to get torn apart. ‘Good dog?’ Jasper said hopefully. He tried to imagine it was one of his dogs at home, but they were both fat labradors. It wasn’t quite the same.
    The dog snapped its jaws shut and cocked its head to one side. It seemed to be deciding whether or not to bite him.

    â€˜Not,’ Jasper whispered.
    The dog sat down and whined at Jasper, licking his outstretched hand. Jasper slowly let his breath out and gave the dog a pat.
    â€˜You are a good dog, aren’t you, fella?’ Jasper murmured as he rubbed the dog’s head.
    It was so nice to encounter something that was friendly . Jasper suddenly felt homesick. He missed creatures that didn’t want to eat him. He missed his dogs. He missed good food. He missed his bedroom, with the walls covered in comics he’d drawn. He missed his cosy bed. He missed his mum. He even missed his sisters.
    He had been writing letters home to his mum every couple of weeks as promised. Each letter was more of a lie than the last. When she dropped him off at Monstrum House she had told him to be careful – but she had no idea just how hard that was in a school crawling with monsters.
    Jasper didn’t like lying to his mum, but he also didn’t want her to worry about him. What good would come of telling her about being shoved in monster-infested rooms or being made to stand in the snow for hours? Would she even believe him?
    Jasper wanted to make his mum proud. If he could just make it through his first year without being expelled, he knew she’d be happy.
    The funny thing was, Jasper wasn’t such a bad student at this school. He was actually OK at the classes. In a funny way, Monstrum House suited him – the stuff they learnt came easily to him. It just made more sense than normal school.
    â€˜I bet Mondrag doesn’t pat you much, does he, fella?’ Jasper asked, as the dog rubbed its muzzle against him. He ruffled the dog’s ears, then gently pushed it away.
    He sighed and got up. ‘I still have ages to go through this course,’ he muttered. ‘And chances are the thug brigade are already on the prowl, waiting to catch me out of bed and give me more penalty points.’
    Jasper was about to start his run along the path through the forest again, when the dog barked sharply. Jasper stopped and turned. The dog barked again, and gripped the bottom of Jasper’s hoodie firmly in its mouth.
    The dog pulled at it, wrenching Jasper away from the path. Jasper resisted. He wasn’t sure this was such a good idea. How did he know where the dog would take him? After all, it had been trained by Mondrag. What if it was a trap?
    But there were no rules to say you had to run the penalty course along the path, it’s just what everyone did. Perhaps there was another way through the forest.
    The dog barked again, and Jasper realised he didn’t have much of a choice. He didn’t want to argue with those teeth.
    â€˜OK, OK,’ Jasper gave in, and followed the dog into the trees, away from the well-worn track.
    It was darker and denser in the forest than Jasper had thought possible, and he