Page 17 of Sweet Nightmare

“Me either,” I answer with a shudder. But then it dawns on me that he’s not just talking to me—he’s answering me.

Which means he can hear me, even though none of the other spirits have ever been able to.

I only have a second to wonder how that’s possible before he asks, “Why not?” His teary eyes are wide, and his little hands burn my cheeks where he cups them.

“I was bit by one when I was your age, and I haven’t gone near a snake since.”

He nods like that makes sense before whispering, “Then you should run.”

CHAPTER TEN

SPILLING ALL

THE TEE(TH)

I still can’t believe he’s replying to me. But then his words register, and a sick trepidation grows inside of me. “What does that mean? What—”

I break off as a sudden bang echoes down the hallway, followed by a loud, bone-chilling roar. One that doesn’t sound nearly as muffled as it should.

“What the fuck is that?” Luis demands, his silver eyes wide and more than a little wild.

Before I can answer, a massive shadow lumbers into view that renders both me and Luis speechless. It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen or heard of in my life. Its unnaturally large, wolf-like body has a serpentine head covered in fiery amber eyes. Hissing snakes, ready to strike, have replaced its upper extremities, and when it opens its mouth, its palate, gums, and tongue are covered in giant, knifelike teeth.

It gives a low, ominous growl, and I watch in horror as all of those teeth clatter to the floor, some of them hitting us, slicing us open, as they fall. And much to our horror, new ones immediately grow back in their place, turning its gaping maw into a brand new horror-show.

“Run, Clementine!” Luis screams as he scrambles backward. But I’m already moving, his terrified yelps adding to the frigid terror inside me as we race for the staircase at the end of the hall.

Fuck the chricklers. Screw the ghosts.

Because it seems like Uncle Carter didn’t exactly do a great job securing that loose door. Because the monster behind us is nothing short of all my worst nightmares. And right now, it has all of its many, glowing eyes currently fixated on us.

We start to run, and I’m too terrified to look behind me, but the creepy clattering sound its teeth make as they hit the floor keeps getting closer. How many times a day can one creature lose its teeth anyway?

I push harder, run faster, but I’m still not fast enough. Something strikes my shoulder, and a weird, tingling numbness flows down my arm. I glance back just in time to see one of the dozen snakes that make up the monster’s “arms” retracting—and another one coiling as it gets ready to strike at me again.

“What the fuck is that thing?” Luis yells over to me. “Besides something straight out of a horror movie?”

I’m running so hard that I don’t even have enough breath to answer as I weave to the left, trying to get out of the strike zone. It doesn’t work—the snakes are too damn long. Another one catches me on my lower back, its teeth sinking in fast and hard. I twist to the right to dislodge it and keep going.

The rattling sound that comes with every step it takes tells me that even though it managed to get free of its pen, it is still chained. But it seems like the chain is long enough to reach most, if not all, of the way down the hall. Because that seems like a really banner decision on Uncle Carter’s part.

“Run faster!” I urge Luis, just as one of the snakes grabs him by the ankle and brings him down. Luis manages to kick himself free and keeps sprinting.

One of the snake hands comes flashing toward my head. I duck to avoid it. But then the creature releases all of its teeth again in a hailstorm of sharp blades. I try to shield myself, but it’s futile. The teeth, acting as natural daggers, make quick work slicing at my skin.

Luis reaches over to pull me out of the danger zone.

I shoot him a grateful look even as I yell, “Keep going!”

The monster shrieks again, and suddenly it’s going for my best friend instead of me, its long snake-fingers wrapping around Luis’s forearm.

Luis whirls around and lets out a long, low snarl that might be the most terrifying sound I’ve ever heard him make. The monster must think so, too, because it rears back for a moment before responding in kind.

But a moment is all Luis needs to free himself. We take off one last time, aiming for the staircase. We even make it to the second step before the beast grabs onto me again. It wraps the snakes around my waist and starts pulling me backward.

A scream sticks in my throat as I desperately try to pull myself from its grasp. But it’s got a hold of me now, and it’s not letting go.

Luis positions himself on the next step and tries grabbing the snakes from around my waist, two at a time. But every time he pries two off, two more take their place in a Sisyphean nightmare.

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