All We Have To Fear

by Gary D. Snyder

Chapter 4:

When Jimmy arrived back at the school at 7:30 PM he found that he was not the first one there. The students who had volunteered for various roles inside the haunted house had already arrived and were in costume, rehearsing their parts in the pale light cast by the streetlights in front of the school. "Hey, Neutron," a pale, ragged figure with darkened eye sockets and glowing red eyes greeted him.

Jimmy had to look twice to convince himself that it was Nick. "Hey, Nick. Nice…umm…what are you, anyway?"

Nick shrugged. "A zombie. Not as cool as a vampire, but I'm not much for formal wear. Hey, check it out." Fixing his eyes in a glazed stare, Nick shambled slowly towards Jimmy, his arms stretched out stiffly before him. "Bra-a-ains," he moaned.

Even though he knew it was Nick, Jimmy backed away nervously. "Pretty good, Nick. That should really work…later…when the customers get here…" As Nick continued to advance Jimmy felt a surge of irrational fear. "Nick? Okay, that's enough. Save it for the show." As Jimmy's fear rose to panic Nick suddenly stopped and broke into laughter.

"That was great," he guffawed as relief washed over Jimmy. "You should have seen your face." Nick peered closer at Jimmy's face. "Hey, are you okay? You looked kind of funny."

Jimmy shook his head. "I'm fine," he said. "It must just be the streetlights."

"No," Nick insisted. "I mean, you really looked scared for a minute."

"How did he look?" Carl asked, coming up behind Nick.

Nick couldn't resist. "Well," he answered slowly, "he looked kind of like…" Nick suddenly whirled about and began advancing on Carl just as he had on Jimmy moment before. "…you do! Bra-a-ains," he continued menacingly, his face set in an ominous sneer. "Need….bra a ains…."

Carl merely looked puzzled. "Do you want me to go look for some?" Frustrated by Carl's complete lack of reaction Nick walked off, shaking his head and muttering in disgust. Carl watched him go and then turned to Jimmy. "What was he so mad about?"

"I guess he thought you should have been scared." Jimmy thought about it. "Come to think of it, you should have been. I knew it was only Nick and he managed to scare me. For a few seconds I even thought he actually was a zombie."

"Is that what he is?" Carl took another look at him. "I thought he was one of those musician guys. You know, the ones that want to rock and roll all night and party every day."

Jimmy looked curiously at Carl. "So you really aren't scared?" He pointed to the group of skeletons, ghosts, zombies, and vampires mingling near the entrance to the haunted house. "Not by any of those guys?"

Carl studied them carefully and shook his head. "Nope."

Jimmy scratched his head. This doesn't make any sense, he thought. Everyone is scared of something. And Carl is scared of everything. "And you don't feel anything when you look at them?"

"Well…" Carl answered, considering it. "Butch in that white sheet over there kind of makes me hungry for marshmallows."

"I just don't get it," Jimmy mumbled. "The phobifier must be working for me to have been scared like that. What's going on?"

He didn't have time to puzzle over this odd turn of events as Miss Fowl and most of the other kids began to arrive and it was necessary for him to oversee the final details. He assigned the role-players to specific rooms and locations inside the maze and turned up the lights inside the haunted house to allow them to find their way to their respective places. Once everyone was in place he turned the lights back down to a dim glow and assigned the remaining students to the various other tasks of selling and collecting tickets, handing out flyers to any passers-by, and even policing the front lawns. Principal Willoughby had made it very clear that the fundraiser was not to make a mess of the school grounds and Jimmy was taking no chances in case the principal happened to stop by. It was ten minutes to eight and he was breathing a sigh of relief when Libby came up to him from her place at the entrance, looking worried.

"Jimmy?" she asked.

Libby's tone instantly put Jimmy on alert. "What's up?"

"Well…I don't know everything about this haunted house thing…but…" She lookedembarrassed and concerned at the same time. "Did you…well…did you put an air conditioner inside the house?"

Jimmy looked surprised. "An air conditioner? With the temperatures this low? Absolutely not. Why?"

"Maybe you'd better come and check." Libby headed back towards the house. "It'd be easier than me trying to explain it."

Bewildered, Jimmy followed her to the entrance and immediately saw – or rather felt – what Libby had meant. A cool rush of air from the darkened mouth of the haunted house flowed over and around him, chilling his skin and causing the cobwebs hanging overhead to billow outward. As Jimmy stood there he became aware that the outdraft carried the smell of freshly-dug earth and that, just on the edge of hearing, he thought that could hear a low, guttural moan from deep within. He shivered without realizing it.

Libby shivered as well. "I know what you mean. It's pretty creepy. But it's the cobwebs that really creep me out, because I hate spiders. Nice scary touch, though."

Startled, Jimmy looked up at the silken tatters wafting in the breeze. "But there weren't any cobwebs," he said. He turned his attention back to the entrance to the house. "And I didn't put in anything to circulate the air like this."

"Then what's going on?" Libby asked. "Where did the webs come from? And what's making this wind?"

Jimmy shrugged helplessly. "I'm not sure. For every action there's an equal and opposite reaction. Maybe the structure heated up during the day and now that it's cooling off the internal and external pressures are–"

Libby never found out what Jimmy's theory was. He was interrupted by a rush of people who poured out of the house and nearly knocked them over in their haste to exit. Jimmy grabbed one of the last to exit, wanting answers, and saw that it was Britney. She was wrapped in a mock burial shroud and crying hysterically. "I'm not going back in," she sobbed. "I'm not. I'm not."

Jimmy shook her. "Britney! Snap out of it! What's going on?"
Britney only blubbered in response and Jimmy looked helplessly at Libby. Libby gently patted her arm and spoke soothingly. "It's okay, Brit," she said. "You don't have to go back in. Just let us know what happened."

Libby's sympathy seemed to reach Britney, whose sobs diminished. Finally, in a small voice, she sniffled, "I was…lying in that fake coffin…and waiting to scare people who came in…just like I was supposed to. I thought of how scared people would be…by someone sitting up in a coffin like that. I remember that it seemed to be taking a long time for anyone to come…and how uncomfortable it was…so I tried to get a little more comfortable."

"Go on," Libby urged.

"And then…" Britney went on intently, "I realized why it was so uncomfortable in there…" She drew in deep breath and looked terrified. "It was because…because…"

"Yes?" asked Jimmy.

"Because someone was in the coffin with me!"

Jimmy and Libby looked at each other, startled. It was Jimmy who spoke first. "It was probably just Nick, pulling a practical joke, Britney," he said. "He was just trying to scare you, just like he tried to scare me earlier." And did a darned good job of it, he thought.

"Yeah, Brit," Libby agreed. "Someone was just playing a joke on you."

Britney stared at the two of them, her eyes wide and shaking her head in denial. "No," she insisted, her voice choked with fear. "The coffin was empty when I got in, and no one got in with me. It was just…there…from out of nowhere."

"That's preposterous!" Jimmy protested. "That can't happen. It's scientifically impossible."

Libby nodded doubtfully. "Yeah, Britney. It does sound pretty far-fetched. You were probably just scared and imagined the whole thing."

Britney backed away from them, their doubt of her story restoring some of her reason and spirit. She shook her head defiantly, her eyes wild and her lips half-curling in a knowing smile. "You'll see," she whispered hoarsely. "You'll see I was right."

"What do you mean?" Jimmy asked. "Why will we?"

"Because," Britney whispered, as she turned to run off, "I could hear it following me out."

Libby and Jimmy watched her disappear down the street. "I don't like the sound of that," Libby ventured.

Jimmy said nothing, his ears straining. From inside the haunted house he could hear, or thought he could hear, a faint shuffling sound. As he continued to listen the sound was repeated, growing gradually louder until there could be no mistaking that someone or something approaching. "I like the sound of that even less," he faltered, moving farther away from the entrance.

Libby joined him. As they both watched a tall shape materialized in the shadowy opening and shambled towards them, its arms outstretched and its dead eyes fixing them with a cold, inhuman stare. "Bra-a-ains," it groaned hoarsely as it lurched towards them.

Jimmy and Libby stared, too frightened for the moment to move. At least it's not spiders, Libby thought in some corner of her mind. As the horror before them shuffled closer to her and Jimmy she caught a glimpse of something else moving behind it. Something very large, she realized with a sinking feeling, with many legs.

End of Chapter 4

Author's Notes:

The hard part with writing a chapter with many people is that it's nearly impossible to involve everyone and still focus on the main thread of the story so that several characters are left out. For fans of Sheen, Carl, and Miss Fowl they'll have plenty to do in the upcoming chapters. As for Cindy, she has a special part to play in all this and will definitely pop up again.

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