UNDERNEATH THE SPIDER’S ABDOMEN, Sophie blinked hard several times, trying to clear the last of the fuzziness left over from the dream. The throbbing in her head had dulled to a faint ache. As it faded away, she pressed her ear against the bathroom door. There was still someone in the kitchen. She heard the squeaking of a chair, the shutting of a cabinet, the whoosh of the sink—one person, she thought. She hoped it was Mr. Nightmare.

Reaching up, she unlocked the door and twisted the knob. The spider woman lifted one leg and pushed the door open. She then shuffled out, carefully placing the tips of her eight legs silently on the floor.

“Creepy,” Monster noted.

Clustering by the door, the rabbits crouched, ready. Sophie laid her hand on the pink rabbit’s back. “Wait until he sees the spider, then we’ll go out.”

In the kitchen, a glass shattered on the floor, and a man screamed.

“I’m thinking he saw her,” Monster said. He darted out of the bathroom, and Sophie tiptoed behind him. From the hallway, she could see half the kitchen: the stove, the sink, and part of the table. It had a bowl with a spoon in it. He’d been eating.

“Aw, don’t look so surprised, Eugene,” the spider lady said. “You had to know I’d find you. Why else dream about me?”

Mr. Nightmare’s voice shook. “You aren’t her.”

“I am close enough.”

Dropping to hands and knees, Sophie peeked around the corner into the kitchen—the door to the basement was directly behind Mr. Nightmare. The back door to the yard was behind the spider woman.

Now the spider’s many legs clicked on the kitchen floor. “I suppose I have you to thank for my appearance. Is this how you truly see me, Eugene?”

“It is what you are.”

“Am I poisonous?” the spider lady asked.

“Just your words.” He shuffled backwards, as if trying to inch away, and hit the sink counter.

“Interesting,” she said. “Do I feature in all your dreams?”

His eyes were fixed on the spider woman. “Always.”

“Then, in a way, I have already caught you. And this is only a formality.” With a cry, the spider launched herself forward. Mr. Nightmare grabbed a skillet from the stove and hurled it at her head. It hit the side of her face, and she reared back.

“Inside, now!” Mr. Nightmare shouted.

The back door banged open, and the muscle man charged through and rammed into the off-balance spider lady. She crashed into the wall. A clock fell from the wall and smashed onto the floor.

“She needs help,” Sophie said.

Brushing past her, the rabbits charged into the kitchen. They swarmed over the muscle man. Sophie stepped forward to follow, and Monster caught her leg with his tentacles. “How about a fire extinguisher?” He pointed beside the stove.

She nodded. If she ran fast enough, she could make it. He’d see her, but— Before she could complete the thought, Monster shot across the kitchen, keeping low, and leaped onto the counter. He plucked the fire extinguisher off the wall and aimed it at the muscle man.

He fired, and white foam sprayed out of the extinguisher and into the man’s face. The man roared, and Sophie ran toward him. She pulled a dreamcatcher out of her pocket and pressed it against his back. The rabbits hopped away. Wiping foam from his face, the man spun and knocked Sophie sideways into a chair. She dropped the dreamcatcher, and it skittered across the linoleum.

The pink rabbit shot across the floor, picked up the dreamcatcher in his mouth, and ran toward the muscle man. He leaped onto his foot and pressed the dreamcatcher to his ankles.

Seizing the moment of distraction, the spider woman scurried toward Mr. Nightmare and caught him in her front legs. Mr. Nightmare screamed, and the muscle man turned to help him—then faded away, along with the pink rabbit.

Web shot out from the base of the spider’s abdomen. Quickly, she began wrapping Mr. Nightmare in the threads, flopping him over as she wound the strands around his torso.

“Don’t do this, Jasmine,” Mr. Nightmare pleaded with her. “You and me, we could be a formidable team, especially the way you are now. If you were to be my partner and help me showcase the monsters, prices would skyrocket. We’d be rich, powerful—everything you’ve ever wanted would be ours.”

“I want my child,” the spider woman said. “I want the moments I lost—the morning breakfasts, the walks to the school bus, the afternoons of homework, the bedtime books, the weekend cuddles, the laughter, the tears . . .”

Sophie wasn’t sure what they were talking about, but she did know this was her chance. She stepped closer to Mr. Nightmare and the spider woman. “And I want my parents back. Where are they? And where are Ethan and Madison?”

Mr. Nightmare turned his head to face her. His arms were secured to his sides with threads, and he couldn’t move his body, but he seemed suddenly more confident, now that he saw Sophie. “Ahhh . . . Betty! I assume I have you to thank for dreaming my Jasmine to life?”

“Where are my parents and the other kids?” Sophie asked.

He smirked. “Hidden, where you won’t find them.”

“Tell me, or I’ll ask her to bite you,” Sophie threatened.

The spider loomed over him. She wore a smile on her beautiful face. “He’s not very tasty, but I do owe you. I’d be happy to oblige.”

Mr. Nightmare matched her smile. “She plans to bite me anyway. She always does. I’ve had this dream before, and I can handle a few bites. So no, I don’t think I’m going to tell you.”

Monster began to growl, and the spider lady hissed. Spittle rained on Mr. Nightmare’s face. He couldn’t wipe it away, and he didn’t flinch.

“You’ll tell me or—” Sophie began.

“Or what? You can’t keep me wrapped up forever, and she won’t kill me,” he said. The woman flopped him onto his stomach and then his back again as she continued winding him in thread. “You dreamed her up, which means she’s your creation, and you don’t have the heart for killing.”

The spider woman stroked his cheek with one foot. “Do you really want to test that theory? I have my own free will.”

His eyes were fixed on Sophie’s. “You haven’t won. You won’t find them without my help, and I won’t help you unless you send this atrocity back into a dream and free me.”

Was it true? She refused to believe it.

“You have no other choice,” Mr. Nightmare said.

“Actually, I do.” Switching directions, she strode across the kitchen to the phone. She picked it up, and before she could reconsider, she dialed 911. “Hi. The kids you’re looking for, the ones who went missing today, are at 263 Windsor Street, Eastfield.” She hung up without answering any questions and then stared at the phone, not quite believing she’d done it. As the phone began to ring, she backed away. They’d come now, and then so would the Watchmen, but at least he would never kidnap anyone again. They’d stopped him; they’d won, almost. Squaring her shoulders, she marched past Mr. Nightmare to the basement door. She paused only to pick up the dreamcatcher that held the muscle man and the pink rabbit.

“Come back!” Mr. Nightmare yelled.

The spider lady wrapped his mouth in threads as Sophie and Monster hurried downstairs.