The Mystery of the Zorse's Mask (8 page)

“Footsteps!” Leo exclaims, pointing to the storefront window.

We swivel toward the large storefront window. Our lights join together to illuminate the darkened glass, reflecting back to us—but not before a shadowy figure shifts across the window.

Someone is out there.

Chapter 9

Monster Mash

“If we can see him, he can see us!” I warn. “Duck down!”

“Turn off your lights!” Becca adds as we all drop to the floor.

It's so dark I can barely see my friends crouched beside me. And when I blink in blackness, ordinary shapes seem sinister: a clothes rack towers like a ferocious dragon and a store mannequin grabs for me with skeletal claws.

“Is he still out there?” Becca whispers beside me.

I lift my head toward the front window but can't see anything except the glow from a streetlight. Leo's goggles have night vision, so I ask, “Can you see anyone out the window?”

“No one is there,” he answers.

“But that doesn't mean he's gone,” I say uneasily.

“He?” Becca questions. “So you think it's a man?”

“Not sure. I could only make out a shadowy figure distorted against the window—no face, only darkness.”

“It might have been a security guard,” Leo suggests.

“Devin would have told me if there were a guard,” Becca says.

“I'll go out the back and look around.” Leo starts to rise, but I pull him down.

“Don't!” I say. “The shadow dude could be armed and dangerous.”

“I'm not afraid,” Leo assures, straining his neck to see over the table we're hiding behind. “I think he's gone anyway.”

“Unless he went around the back,” Becca says ominously. “Leo, you were the last inside. Did you lock the door?”

“I was more interested in unlocking it. I'll check to make sure it's locked,” Leo says, rising.

“Be careful,” Becca warns.

“I'm always careful.” He hurries down the aisle.

“I don't think it's a security guard out there,” I whisper to Becca. “A guard would have a flashlight and keys. It might be a thief.”

Light illuminates Becca's face when she clicks on her phone. “I'm calling 911.”

“And tell them someone is trying to break into a store we already broke into? They'll call the manager, who doesn't know that his assistant manager left us a key.”

“A key that didn't fit,” Becca adds.

“Which makes us look like thieves,” I say.

Becca groans. “What's taking Leo so long anyway?”

I'm wondering the same thing. I hope he hasn't done anything dumb, like confront the shadow dude. Leo's so logical that he forgets to be afraid. I kind of admire that.

Beside me, I feel Becca trembling. It's weird how stress has reversed our personalities. Usually Becca is the confident, nurturing one, but now I'm comforting her. And Leo has gone all superhero instead of nerdy sidekick.

“I really hate the dark,” Becca says as she moves closer to me. “Let's talk, so I forget to be afraid. Want to hear a secret? Something not even the Sparklers know?”

Secret
—my favorite word. “Tell me.”

“Okay. But if the other Sparklers knew, they'd tease me. You can't tell anyone.”

“I would never do that,” I promise.

Becca sucks in a deep breath. “I can't go to sleep at night without a light.”

“That's not embarrassing. Lots of people use a night-light.”

“Do you?” she asks in an eager voice, like she hopes I'll say yes.

I love being in the dark (except when a scary shadow dude is outside). Darkness is like an invisible cloak that makes me feel brave and bold. When the lights go out, my other senses heighten; voices come in clearer, smells sharpen, and touch can lead to interesting discoveries.

Becca is waiting for my answer. I know she's nervous, so I say, “I have a night-light,” which is true. My night-light is in the bottom of my dresser, still in the box my Aunt Louise gave me for my birthday. I never used it.

“What does it look like?”

“Um … just a light bulb.”

“Mine is supercute. It's shaped like a dog with a wagging tail that changes colors. The light shines across my walls like a rainbow and … What's that noise?” Becca suddenly grips my arm. “Did you hear it?”

“What?” I touch my ear, listening.

“A scratchy sound,” Becca says.

I lift my head toward the front of the store. Reflections and shadows waver, and I imagine someone bursting into the store so fast Becca doesn't have time to call 911.

My heart pounds, my courage stampeding away. I can't stop staring at the window, although there's no one there now. But he may still be out there—and we're trapped in here.

We huddle in an aisle between clothing racks. When I shift to get more comfortable, my elbow bumps into something soft. I look up at a distorted face with bloodshot eyes and fangs. I'm ready to scream until I realize it's just a Halloween mask on a mannequin. The mask is spongy latex, so it really looks eerily real—like a twisted human face. The hanging eye even blinks.

Who knew a thrift store could be so creepy?

“I'm freaking out,” Becca confides. “Talk about something not scary.”

“Like what?”

“School, kittens, or the Sparklers—we still need a fund-raiser idea.”

“You said something
not
scary,” I tease, and when she laughs, her ponytail tickles across my arm. The yellow part of her leopard-print ponytail tie shimmers in the dark—which gives me an idea.

“We could sell animal-print hair ties,” I suggest.

“Except the other girls can't sew.” She looks at me hopefully. “Can you?”

“No. But you could teach me.”

“It'll be quicker to sew them myself.” She sighs. “Chloe has all these big ideas—volunteering to collect canned goods, candy sale fund-raisers, and now we're manning a booth—but guess who ends up doing the work?”

I point to her.

“Tragically true,” she says wearily. “I had already volunteered to help out with the Humane Society Fund-raiser but now I have double the responsibilities. Chloe is too busy bossing everyone around to do actual work. Sophia has drama club practice. And Tyla puts things off until it's too late. I love the girls, but they make me crazy. That's why I almost—” Becca breaks off, then leans close to whisper in my ear. “I was going to quit the Sparklers.”

“Wow,” I say, shocked.

“I was tired of being bossed around. I get that enough at home. But when I told Chloe, she begged me to stay. I said I would on one condition.”

“What?”

I can barely make out her hand pointing toward me. “That you join the Sparklers. All but one person wanted you to join, so we compromised on your becoming a temporary member and helping with the fund-raiser.”

“Let me guess,” I say. “Tyla voted against me.”

“Don't take it personally. She is just naturally disagreeable. But I got my way. And I made sure you had a silver necklace too.”

Even though I'm trapped inside a store with a scary dude outside, I smile.

Since Becca confided in me, I want to share with her. So I tell her about losing our home, moving to the apartment, and Dad's disappointing job search.

“You must miss your house so much,” she says sympathetically.

“I miss Handsome more,” I tell her. “But the worse part is that if Dad can't find a job soon, we'll have to leave Sun Flower.”

“No!” She clutches my hand. “I can't lose both Zed and you.”

“It may not happen—it all depends on Dad finding a job.” I hesitate. “But he needs help, so I thought we could make finding him a job a CCSC project.”

“I'd love to help. I'll ask around about jobs,” she offers. “My friends have friends, who have friends, who have friends—someone is sure to know of a job.”

“Thanks!” I hug her. “And I'll tell Leo—”

“Tell Leo what?” Leo asks as he crouches beside us.

“You're safe!” I exclaim, relieved. “What took you so long?”

“After I locked the back door, I looked out the window but didn't see anyone. I also made sure the front door was locked.” He tilts his head. “What did you want to tell me?”

Keeping my voice low, I say, “Well, my dad has been out of work, and I thought maybe the CCSC could help him find a job.”

“I can look online,” Leo offers. “I'll limit the search to local—”

“What was that?” I interrupt and jump at a metallic sound.

“It came from the back of the store!” Becca cries softly.

Leo pushes up his night vision goggles and looks around. “Someone's jiggling the doorknob. It's locked, but that won't keep him out long.”

“That's it! I'm calling 911.” Light flashes from Becca's hand as she clicks on her phone. “I don't care if we get in trouble—we'll be safer in jail.”

“They put kids in juvenile hall, not jail,” Leo says.

“Safer there than in here with a monster outside,” Becca says.

Her words trigger an idea.

“Don't call yet, Becca.” I put my hand over her phone. “I'll be right back.”

Before she can argue, I hurry away.

It's tempting to turn on my light, but I resist and feel my way down the aisle and over to a familiar table. I sort through a pile until I find what I'm looking for, then feel my way back.

The back door rattles again, with more force.

I scoot down between Becca and Leo. “Take these,” I say, then I explain my idea.

Once we're ready, we stay close to each other as we feel our way down aisles, until we near the back door.

The rattling has stopped, replaced with a pinging metallic sound.

“He's picking the lock!” Leo whispers.

“Hurry,” I say, slipping the latex mask over my face. “Let's do this.”

“Mine's on,” Becca answers in a muffled voice.

Leo drops his goggles, and they clunk on the ground. Then he slips on the mask I choose for him. “I'm ready,” he tells me.

“Count of three, we go together,” I say in a hushed voice, hoping this works. Because if it doesn't, the intruder will know we're here.

“One … two …” I fit the mask over my face. “Three!”

We jump to our feet then rush to the back door's window.

I'm wearing a zombie mask, Becca is a werewolf, and Leo is a vampire.

We squash our monster faces against the glass.

Outside, someone shrieks.

Chapter 10

Clue in Blue

The shriek echoes like an unearthly creature and is completely unidentifiable as man, woman, or kid. I rush to the window and peer through my mask at a shadowy figure hurrying away. The figure falls, staggers up from the ground, then limps off.

I want to rush after him like the investigators in my spy books. They'd pursue the villain until they took him down, snapped on handcuffs, and hauled him off to jail. But the intruder is probably an adult (maybe carrying a gun or knife), and we're just kids.

We stay safely inside the store.

“He's gone.” I rip off my itchy mask and turn my flash cap back on, so I can see my friends. “We scared him good.”

“We sure did.” Becca looks terrifying and hairy in her werewolf mask. “He was so scared, I bet he wet his pants.”

“The masks were a great idea, Kelsey.” Leo holds his vampire mask out by two fingers. “I'm coming back when the store is open to buy this one for Halloween. I'll have to practice saying, ‘I vant to suck your blood.'”

“Zombies prefer brains for lunch.” I jiggle my mask, so the hanging eyeball bobs like a yo-yo.

Becca takes off her mask. “It's soft like puppy fur,” she says, running her fingers over the werewolf face like he's a cute pet she wants to take home.

Leo presses his hands against the window to peer out. “I wanted to follow him, but according to my calculations, the risks outweighed the results. Did you notice he was limping?”