The Nightmare Room

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The Nightmare Room #4: Liar Liar

Chapter One

When I was little, a kid told me that everyone has an exact double somewhere in the world. I told the kid he was crazy.

I'm twelve now. And I just saw my exact double. Of course, I didn't believe my eyes. He didn't just look like me-he was me!

I wasn't staring into a mirror. I was staring at a boy with my face -- my straight, brown hair, my blue eyes, my sort-of crooked smile. My FACE! My BODY! I was staring at ME! ME!

I know, I know. I sound a little crazed.

But you'd be crazed too if you had an exact double, and you didn't know who he was or where he came from.

I'm going to take a deep breath. That's what my dad always tells me to do. “Take a deep breath, Ross,” he says.

My dad is a studio exec-one of the bosses at Mango Pictures. He spends his day arguing with movie producers, directors, and movie stars. He says he takes about a million deep breaths a day. It helps keep him calm.

So, I'm going to take a deep breath. And I'm going to start my story at the beginning. Or maybe a little before the beginning.

By the way, I lied about the blue eyes.

I don't have blue eyes. Actually, they're dark gray. Which is almost blue-right?I guess I'll start my story at school. I go to Beverly Hills Middle School, which is only a few blocks from my house.

I know what you're thinking. I'm so lucky to have a dad in the movie business and live in a big house in Beverly Hills with a swimming pool and a tennis court, and our own screening room in the basement.

The Nightmare Room #5: Dear Diary, I'm Dead

Chapter One

Dear diary, My hands are shaking so badly, I don't know if I can write in you today. I was so scared last night. I'm still trembling.

Maybe I should start at the beginning. You know my friends Chip and Shawn and I have been talking about camping out in Full Moon Woods for nearly a year. Well, last night we finally did it.

What a mistake!

We thought it was going to be cool. We loaded all our gear into my dad's van, and he dropped us off at the dirt path that leads into the woods.

“Stick to the path, Alex,” Dad called. “It will lead you to the creek. I'll pick you up right here tomorrow morning.” The tires spun in the dirt as he drove away.

It was a cloudy afternoon. As soon as we stepped into the woods, it grew even darker. Our backpacks were bulging. And the canvas tent weighed a ton.

But we didn't mind. We were finally on our own in the woods. We walked quickly, following the path, making our way toward the creek.

Shawn started to sing an old Beatles song. Chip and I joined in. I loved the way our voices echoed off the trees.

“We should have brought our guitars,” I said. All three of us play guitar, and we're starting a band.

Chip laughed. “Great idea, Alex. Where would we plug them in?”

“We'd need a very long extension cord!” I replied.

We were laughing and singing, enjoying the fresh cool air and the crunch of our shoes over the carpet of fat brown leaves.

The path ended, but we kept walking. I was pretty sure the creek was straight ahead. It grew even darker, and a cold wind swirled around us.

The Nightmare Room #6: They Call Me Creature

Chapter One

"CAW CAW CAW CAW!"

"It's okay, Mr. Crow," I said softly. I finished bandaging the bird and set it down gently in its cage.

"CAWW CAWWWW" It struggled to flutter its broken wing. "Dad, do you think it will heal?"

Dad didn't answer. He turned the page of the magazine he was reading.

"Dad? What do you think?"

He picked up a pencil and circled a sentence on the page.

"Dad?"

"Did you say something, Laura?" My father glanced up and squinted at me through his thick, black-framed glasses.

"Do you think the wing will heal?" I asked again.

"What wing?" Dad returned to the magazine and started scribbling notes in the margin.

I caught the surprise on my friend Ellen's face. She hadn't seen Dad's new faraway personality.

Far away.

That was the best way to describe my father these days. Even when we were in the same room together, he seemed to be someplace else.

Lucky, the big stray cat I'd found in the woods, bumped past me, nearly knocking over the birdcage. He began licking Dad's hand with his long tongue.

Dad jerked his hand away. "Please take the cat out. I'm trying to concentrate." He circled more sentences, pressing so hard, the pencil point broke with a sharp snap.

"Where am I supposed to put him?" I sighed. I can't use the shed anymore since you're working in there."

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Excerpted from The Nightmare Room: The Nightmare Continues! by R. L. Stine
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