“It is written in the book,” Bella said. Her dark eyes glowed. “So it must be true.”
I grabbed Peter by the arm. “Let’s go,” I said. “This is too weird.”
“You can’t!” Bella cried. She moved quickly and blocked the doorway to the library.
Peter and I almost ran right into her. She spread her arms to keep us from sliding past her.
“You can’t keep us here!” Peter cried.
“The Hallows Book says you will stay,” Bella said. Her dark eyes flashed again. She gazed past us to the open book on the table. “You won’t leave. The book says you won’t leave.”
“I — I don’t know how you did that book trick,” I said. “But really. You have to let us go home. Why do you need our help anyway?”
Bella pointed to the old book. “It says you will stay and help me. The five masks — they will be stolen, as they are every year. You will help me get them back.”
“Five masks?” I cried.
“I know karate,” Peter blurted out. He raised a hand, as if he was going to give Bella a chop. “Better let us go.”
Her eyes went wide. “Peter, I’m not going to hurt you,” she said. “I’m not trying to hold you prisoner. The Hallows Book says that you will help me get back the masks.”
Peter lowered his hand. “I get it,” he said. He shook his head. “It’s Halloween, and you like to give kids a good scare on Halloween. It’s a big joke, right?”
Bella moved to the table. “The book isn’t a joke. It tells everything that happens.”
“What five masks are you talking about?” I asked. “Are they Halloween masks?”
“They are called the Masks of Screem. They are masks of powerful magic,” Bella said.
Peter and I exchanged glances. She was definitely a nut job.
Should we run while we had the chance?
I leaned down and gazed at the open book. To my surprise, I saw new writing on the page. A new paragraph had appeared. I read it to Peter….
“Peter and Monica didn’t trust Bella. They couldn’t decide what she wanted of them. At first, they believed her to be insane. The two youngsters wanted to run.
“But they had an important mission to accomplish. Bella desperately needed their help. In fact, the whole world needed their help.
“They could not run.”
“Too weird,” Peter said, shaking his head. He tugged off his black mask and let it fall to the floor. He wiped sweat off his face with the back of his hand.
“Definitely too weird,” I murmured.
“Let me show you the five masks,” Bella said. “They are mine now. But not for long.”
She led us to one wall of bookshelves. She reached for a red-covered book and pulled it from its shelf.
A few seconds later, I heard a humming sound. The whole shelf began to spin. As the shelf turned, the books disappeared. And a hidden compartment in the wall came into view.
Hanging in the compartment were five Halloween masks.
I uttered a gasp. The masks were ugly and frightening.
I recognized a skull … a mummy head … a hideous wolf head, its fangs bared in a silent snarl….
“Whoa. Those are majorly scary!” Peter exclaimed.
“You don’t know what you are saying,” Bella replied in a whisper. “You don’t know the meaning of scary.”
She motioned us closer. “Come here. Don’t stand back there. Take a good look at them.”
Peter stepped up. His eyes were on a furry pig-face mask with curled yellow horns poking out of the top.
I held back. My skin was prickling again. I felt cold all over.
True fear. Just looking at the masks was frightening.
And then … then … as I stared in fright …
… The mouths on all five masks dropped open — and they began to howl.