Deadly Games Read Online Free Page A

didn’t you say that right away?” she grumbled. “You know we can’t keep secrets from each other.”
    â€œI’m sorry.” David was genuinely penitent. “This whole business gives me the creeps, that’s all. There’s something really scary about it. I was just hoping to fend it off for a bit.”
    â€œI know what you mean,” said Jenny with feeling. “But I think we should try to get it over with as quickly as possible.”

Chapter Four
    Jenny had been right. At just after midday, there was no one in the dim confines of the Roxy as she swept the interior with the torch beam. But even so, the twins could still feel a presence – or did the old cinema have a life of its own? The rain was now battering the leaking roof and there was a steady dripping almost like the ticking of a clock. The musty smell of disuse seemed more pervasive than ever, and out of the corner of his eye David saw something scamper through the refuse towards the stage.
    â€œA rat?” whispered Jenny fearfully.
    â€œLet’s stand by Sid’s trolley – that always seems to spark off the action.”
    But this time it didn’t and the twins stood there, listening to the dripping and the occasional stirrings and scurryings of the rodent population of the Roxy.
    â€œNothing’s going to happen,” said Jenny in despair.
    â€œUse your willpower,” David suggested tentatively.
    â€œHow?”
    â€œSay it’s going to happen. Say it’s going to happen in your mind and I’ll do the same. We’ve got to concentrate.”
    Both the twins tried to think as hard and as positively as they could, but the screen remained discouragingly blank. The wind and rain rattled and pounded the roof; there was such a creaking and groaning that the old cinema sounded like a ship under sail in a heavy storm.
    At last the screen reluctantly flickered into life with patchy and scrambled images that at first made no sense at all. Slowly, very slowly, they became sharper but this time there was no sign of May and Leslie. Instead a tall, dark shadow hurried along, lit occasionally by the passing of a tube train. Mrs Garland was handsome, with deep-set eyes, a large nose and a strong, purposeful chin. Her lips were thin and her hair, long and sleek, was caught up in a bun at the back of her neck.
    â€œFocus your mind,” said David. “Focus it harder.”
    Jenny concentrated, using as much force as she could, and the spectral figure of Mrs Garland paused in her stride and came to a halt. She turned to face them.
    â€œWe’ve reached her,” Jenny stuttered.
    â€œHow could we have done? She’s dead, she’s a ghost! It’s all over.”
    â€œShe’s listening. Hearing the future.” Were theyright to have concentrated their wills? she wondered. Where was it going to get them?
    Slowly Mrs Garland’s face began to fill the screen and they could see her bewilderment.
    â€œWe’ve done it now,” muttered David.
    Jenny realised they had employed all the wrong tactics, for David’s idea had unwittingly speeded up the process which should have been allowed to play at its own pace. And what was the
point
of them seeing it all? she wondered again. There was no way they could change the past. They couldn’t protect May and Leslie from Mrs Garland. Then an even more unpleasant thought occurred to Jenny.
    â€œDo you think she can come after us?” whispered David, sharing her thoughts as usual.
    As if on cue, the image of Mrs Garland’s face grew so large that it filled the screen.
    â€œShe looks pretty fierce,” whispered David.
    Mrs Garland’s lips opened but no words came out.
    Then both the twins could feel her speaking in their minds.
    Who are you?
    Friends
, they silently replied.
    What do you want?
    To help. Only to help
, thought Jenny and David feverishly, desperate to communicate.
    Mrs Garland opened her