Creep Street (7 page)

ou suddenly turn and race down the aisle of the church. As you run towards the front of it you notice something strange. The altar is covered in black, there are black candles, and the cross is upside down. ‘Whoops,' you think, ‘this is not a healthy place for me to be.' You swerve and go left, towards a small side door. But, just as you get close to it, someone opens it—from the other side. A man is standing in front of you. He's dressed in black, with a silver chain around his neck, and a silver emblem hanging from it. He's tall and two of his teeth seem funny: kind of long and pointy. He smiles at you but it doesn't seem a friendly smile.

Behind you Stacey calls out: ‘Quick, Dad, it's our supper for tonight.'

‘What?' you think. ‘That's me they're talking about! I don't want to be anyone's supper!'

You swerve away from the man's clutching arms and run down the side aisle. You hear the man running after you, and he sounds like he's pretty close. You see Stacey coming at you from the left, and she's very close. This is awful. Then you see a rope right in front and, at the same time, you notice one of those little fire alarm windows, with an axe behind the glass, and a sign saying
IN CASE OF FIRE
,
BREAK GLASS
. ‘Gosh,' you think, ‘I don't know if I'd get in trouble for breaking the glass when there's no fire. Maybe I should just shin up the rope.'

t's the work of a moment to attach the cable to the lid of the trunk. And the work of two minutes to wind out the winch. Just as you finish, your brother comes wandering down to where you are. ‘What are you doing?' he wants to know.

‘Nothing,' you say, quickly throwing the lever on the winch forwards. ‘Hey, look at this.'

You lead him across to a broken-down chest of drawers. It's essential to get him away from the winch so he can't see what's happening. As he examines the drawers you sneak a glance back over your shoulder. Yes, it's working!

‘Oh no, look!' you suddenly scream. ‘AAAAGHHHH!'

‘Sure, sure,' he says. ‘I know what you're trying to do. I'm not that stupid.'

‘Yes you are,' you think, but you don't say that out loud. Instead you screech, ‘Just look, please, please!'

Scornfully he turns around and stares into the shadows where you're pointing. ‘You can't fool me,' he starts to say, ‘There's nothing that can . . .'

Then he sees the lid of the trunk opening, inch by inch, as the winch slowly winds up.

‘. . . AH AH AH . . . the lid . . . AH AH AH . . .' He's backing away from you, towards the door of the attic, with one quivering finger aimed at the trunk. His face has gone the colour of cement. His finger's going like a metronome. The lid is creaking and grinding its way upwards with the best sound effects you've heard since the ‘Invasion of the Vacuum Cleaners' on TV.

‘AH AH AH . . .' that's your brother going out the attic door backwards.

‘AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH . . . CRASH!' That's your brother falling down the attic stairs.

You smile and go down to see if you can help him. No doubt about it, there's no feeling quite as sweet as revenge!

uick, Mum,' you yell, grabbing her arm, ‘let's make a break for it!'

You try to drag her down the drive with you, but to your horror you only get three steps before your legs buckle and you're lying face down on the ground.

‘Get up,' Stacey growls, kicking you in the ribs with her Doc Martens. It's a very painful kick, and you crawl back up and stagger to your feet.

‘Now,' Stacey says, ‘come with us and don't try any funny business.'

You follow her and her mother. You're limping along, barely able to walk, but you don't dare fall behind. You find yourself going towards a big old grey castle, built of stone, with a drawbridge across the moat. As you approach the entrance, the air feels colder, a dark cloud comes across the sun, and a musty smell drifts into your nostrils. You and your mum are walking so slowly that you have fallen a bit behind, but the other two don't seem to mind. Maybe they realise you're too affected by the drug to run far, even if you could make another attempt to get away.

Stacey and her mother are halfway across the bridge and you're about to start over it. Then suddenly you notice a little button next to the drawbridge. It's red and it's got a sign on it saying
DON'T PRESS
. Of course you don't hesitate. You press the button as hard as you can. After all, you figure, you can't be worse off than you are already. Can you?

ou turn the TV on and swing the aerial around till you get a picture. An old movie's showing. You can tell it's an old movie because when the man kisses the woman they both keep their clothes on. Boy, is that ever an old movie! As you watch more closely you realise what it is. It's
King Kong
. And that gives you an idea. By now you're so desperate to get out of there that any idea seems like a good idea. So, without giving yourself time to get scared, you pick up the TV and carry it to the door.

You take a deep breath, then, in one move, you fling back the bolt and throw the door open. There's the monster standing ready for you. He towers over you like a great statue. Only he's a living statue, living and breathing and hungry.

Before he can move, you quickly turn the TV around and hold it up where he can see it. He's lifting his huge right paw, to club you to death before he has you for his daily intake of fibre and iron and vitamin B.

That hot breath blows over you again, like a blast from a volcano. But, just as he opens his terrible mouth in a ravenous snarl, he catches sight of the TV. His expression changes. For a moment he's frozen there, his arm raised high. Then his arm falls to his side. He seems entranced by the images on the little screen.

He sits down on the top step and puts his chin on his hands. Every time King Kong roars in the movie this monster growls back. But it's a nice growl, a friendly growl. The change in him is amazing. There's only one possible explanation for this. He's in love. He's in love and it's beautiful. He's in love and when that movie ends and King Kong vanishes off the screen, you're going to be very, very unpopular.

There's only one thing to do. You go sneaking up the stairs and get your ass out of there! You race down to the video shop and get every monster movie you can find. Keeping this creature happy is going to be a full-time job!