Terrors Read Online Free Page A

to Arlie, too, and he was telling him that he could come into the tunnel and they would have an adventure together. The insidious Dr. Mephisto was up to his old tricks again and Arliecould help the Crimson Wizard defeat the Demon Horde of Hades.
    Arlie couldn’t get out of bed to go to the tunnel. He couldn’t get out of bed at all without somebody picking him up, his Aunt Cora or his Uncle Mort or some other grownup. He tried, though, and all of a sudden he could move. His arms and legs didn’t exactly work right, it felt more as if he was leaving his body right in the bed,right under the comforter, and he could kind of float toward the tunnel.
    The Crimson Wizard was gesturing to him and Arlie was moving slowly toward the tunnel. He was near the end of his bed now, and then even though his room was really dark he could see the copy of
Haunted Adventures
there, with the picture of the wolf and the castle on the cover and the stories inside it by Eduardo del Lobo,Marcus Billingham, Joseph Lester, and Clarissa Norman. Somehow Arlie knew that if he went into the tunnel with the Crimson Wizard and his other heroes he would never come back. He would never get to grow up and marry a lady who smelled like flowers or write a story that they would print in
Haunted Adventures
.
    He said, “I can’t come with you, Crimson Wizard.”
    He turned around and he saw himselflying in bed, his head on the pillow, the comforter over him. His eyes were closed and he wasn’t moving. It felt almost as if he was swimming through the air. He got back to his body and got back inside it. He pushed himself upright against the pillow and reached over and turned on the radio on his night table.
    When the light behind the radio dial came on the tunnel in Arlie’s wall disappeared.They were playing music on the radio. In a minute Arlie’s Aunt Cora came into his room. She was wearing a nightgown and her hair wasn’t in a bun, it was in a braid. He’d never seen Aunt Cora’s hair like that before. Uncle Mort and Aunt Mary were behind her. They were both wearing bathrobes.
    Aunt Cora ran over to Arlie and put her arms around him and he put his arms around her and hugged her andshe started to cry. Uncle Mort and Aunt Mary started talking in the Old Country language. Uncle Mort went out of Arlie’s room and in a minute Arlie could hear his voice, he was talking on the telephone in a voice that he always used to talk on the telephone.
    Without letting go of Arlie, Aunt Cora said something to Aunt Mary in the Old Country language and Aunt Mary went out of the room and soonshe came back with a tray and a glass for Arlie. Aunt Cora held it for him and he sipped at it. It was hot milk with honey mixed in it. It tasted good, Aunt Cora had made it for him before when he felt cold or couldn’t sleep and he always liked it.
    When Aunt Cora finally let Arlie go, he crawled to the end of his bed for his copy of
Haunted Adventures
and brought it back with him and got backunder the comforter. Aunt Cora and Aunt Mary talked to each other very fast in the Old Country language.
    Arlie heard the doorbell ring and heard Uncle Mort go and open it. There was more talking in the Old Country language and Arlie recognized Uncle Mort’s and Dr. Goldsmith’s voices. Dr. Goldsmith came into Arlie’s room wearing a hat with snow on the brim and an overcoat with snow on the shoulders.He was carrying his black doctor bag.
    He took off his coat and put it on Arlie’s chair, then his hat and put it on top of the coat. He opened his doctor bag and took out his
stethoscope
and put the tips in his ears and the round part on Arlie’s chest. It was colder than anything Arlie had ever felt, even ice cream or even snow.
    Dr. Goldsmith leaned back. He looked surprised.
    He took a thermometerout of his doctor bag and shook it and took Arlie’s temperature.
    He got one of his flat wooden things and looked around inside Arlie’s mouth. He took his little flashlight and looked inside