32 - The Barking Ghost by R.L. Stine - (ebook by Undead)

from here—fast!”
    I felt the dog clamp its jaw tighter on my ankle.
    Had he understood what I’d said?
    “They’re not going to let us get away,” Fergie said softly.
    Snarling and growling, the dogs backed us up against the door to the shack.
    “Whoa!” I cried out as the dogs leaped at the side of the shack.
    “I don’t believe it!” Fergie screamed.
    The dogs jumped right through the wooden wall. They disappeared inside.
    “That’s impossible!” Fergie cried.
    “Tell that to the dogs,” I murmured.
    I had seen them do it before—in my own kitchen.
    “They’re ghosts or something!” Fergie cried.
    I grabbed her arm. “Let’s get out of here! Whatever happens… we can’t go
in that shack!”
    We’d taken only a few steps when the dogs came tearing out through the shack
wall.
    They edged in close, pressing us up against the shack again. Before we could
struggle or try to get away, the dogs rose up on their hind legs.
    Standing up, they were taller than us! Fergie and I exchanged terrified
glances.
    The dogs staggered forward. Pressed their front paws against our chests. And
shoved us backwards into the shack.
    We screamed as we started to fall.
    The shack had no floor.
    We fell, hurtling down. Tumbling as we fell.
    Down, down, down.
    Into a deep, black hole.
    A deep, black hole that didn’t seem to end.

 
 
25
     
     
    I landed softly on my feet. I didn’t even feel it.
    Had we fallen into some kind of well? Or a tunnel dug deep under the shack?
    I couldn’t tell.
    I took a deep breath and gazed around the heavy blackness. “Fergie—are you
okay?” I called. My voice came out tiny and shrill.
    “I—I guess,” she replied after a few seconds. “Cooper— look!”
    I started to reply that it was too dark to see anything. But then I glimpsed
the two pairs of red eyes, glaring at us through the darkness.
    I gasped.
    “Don’t move!” instructed a dry whisper of a voice.
    “Who are you?” I managed to choke out. “What do you want?”
    “Why did you dogs bring us here?” Fergie demanded.
    “We are not dogs,” the voice growled. “We are people.”
    “But—but—” I sputtered.
    “Silence!” the voice commanded. “Silence while you are in the Changing Room.”
    “The what ?” I cried.
    The red eyes flared.
    “Centuries ago, my friend and I had an evil spell cast upon us,” the voice
continued, ignoring my question. “The spell forced us to roam these woods as
dogs. Ghost dogs.”
    “Too bad,” I muttered. “But what do you want us for?”
    The dogs snickered. It sounded more like dry coughing than laughter.
    “You are in the Changing Room,” the voice told us. “For nearly a hundred
years, we have tried to get two people in here. And now we have succeeded.”
    “And—?” I demanded.
    “We’re going to change places with you,” the voice said casually.
    “Excuse me?” Fergie cried. “You’re going to what ?”
    “We will take your places,” the voice repeated. “And you shall take ours. You
will be the ghost dogs. You will roam these woods as we did—forever!”
    “No way!” I cried. I wanted to run.
    But where?
    I was surrounded by heavy blackness on all sides.
    “Fergie—” I started.
    But I heard her gasp. And then I began to feel warm. As if someone had
covered me with a heavy blanket.
    The warmth swept over my body.
    Simmering heat. As if I were in an oven.
    Warmer. Warmer. Until sweat dripped down my face, and I was panting in the
heat.
    I can’t stand it anymore! I thought. I’m going to melt!
    I opened my mouth to scream. But the sounds that escaped my throat weren’t
mine.
    In fact, they didn’t sound human at all.

 
 
26
     
     
    I opened my eyes to bright sunshine.
    The woods around me appeared fuzzy. I struggled to focus.
    I yawned. Then I stretched my entire body and shook myself awake.
    Yes! That stretch felt good.
    I sniffed the air and shook myself again. Wow! Something smelled delicious.
    My stomach growled. I suddenly