Nightmare Read Free Page A

shake violently,
nearly forcing the three of us off our feet.
    It was clever, this techno-paranormal wizardry.
    I walked at a brisk pace, mostly to keep up with my terrified
and sprinting friends, in an attempt to keep them from feeling
ridiculous. I felt no fear at anything we'd seen or done. It was all
too much like being inside a special effects-filled movie on the
big screen. It may have contained a few vague references to the
reality of the paranormal-evidence of someone's attempt at realworld research-but there was nothing genuinely supernatural
about any of it.
    The hallway grew narrower at the far end, and I followed Jill
and Angela through a small door, spilling out into yet another
dark room. This one was decorated as the house's living room.
    I knew we had to be near the end of the attraction, as double
front doors lay directly ahead of us. But first, of course, we would
have to face whatever artificial "thrills" awaited us here.
    From their pale-white faces and wide-eyed expressions, I could
see that my friends were ready to get out of there. I knew that in
another minute or two, they would be outside in the warm night
air, laughing it all off, pretending to have never been afraid at all.
But right now I was sure they were sweating.
    Which I suddenly realized was odd, because I was feeling a
distinct cold sensation running through my entire body, hair to toenails. I had an abrupt chill, but resisted the urge to hug
myself, knowing this was probably just a cleverly directed airflow
built into the room.

    Still, it felt oddly authentic, just like a cold spot. A real cold
spot, a phenomenon I knew very well.
    No lights ever came on in the room, but my eyes had adjusted
enough to the darkness by now that I could make out most of
the room's mundane details-a dilapidated rocking chair, a crumbling fireplace against one wall, curtains barely clinging to the
windows on either side of the front doors.
    I was taken aback for the first time when a mist suddenly
entered the room and began to swirl about. It didn't come down
through the chimney or blow in through a crack in the windows,
it passed through the wall to my left. Yet this white mist didn't
billow or blow, it flowed with intention, like living wind. It swirled
up all around me like a tiny whirlwind, and I was surprised to
find that it was no hologram or trick of lights. It was a tangible
substance that I could feel touching my skin, ever so lightly.
    Only a few times before had I experienced anything like it,
and those occasions were genuine hauntings.
    Okay, Ghost Town, I thought as the mist swirled through my
hair, moving it about. I don't know how you're pulling this off, but
bravo. This is your best trick yet.
    A faint voice whispered in my ear, a female voice. I couldn't
make out what it was saying, but if it was a special effect, it was
impossibly good, because it couldn't have been coming from
speakers hidden in the ceiling or the walls. It was right beside
me, in the center of the room.
    My heart thumped heavily as I rewound the voice in my head
and thought for just a moment that it might have said my name. I instinctively grabbed my own chest, trying to coax my heart to
keep beating.

    My breath was visible as I exhaled, almost gasping.
    The mist suddenly twisted and flew away from me and then
doubled back, bearing straight down on me. Just as it was about
to touch me again, it coalesced for a fraction of a second, a threedimensional white face emerging from the vapor before the entire
cloud passed through me.
    I froze in place, trying to breathe, but it was as if my lungs
had been submerged in ice. At the same moment the fog passed
through my body, the very same moment I saw the face in the
cloud, I heard the female voice whisper one last time, so faint I
knew I must've been the only one to hear it. It was as if a pair of
lips were less than an inch from my right ear.
    "The nightmare is coming," the voice