Terrors Read Free Page A

Mephisto a powerful master of the dark arts, he knew the secret that it took to summon up all the Demon Hordeof Hades. It wasn’t easy for him, he could only do it when the stars of the Pleiades were in perfect alignment and the forces of good were at a low ebb. But as the Crimson Wizard himself was all too aware, the forces of good were busily engaged in defeating the Axis powers in Europe and Asia, so they were not available to aid the Crimson Wizard in holding off Dr. Mephisto and the Horde of Hades.

    Arlie knew that the Horde of Hades were shown in one of the stories in his newest Crimson Wizard comic book. The radio dial gave off a little light and Arlie turned the pages, looking for the Horde of Hades. He found the story and lay in bed studying the drawings while he listened to the radio. He knew how the story came out in the comic book but it might be different on the radio. He liked theCrimson Wizard’s voice on the radio. Whenever the Crimson Wizard spoke there was an echo in his voice. It sounded like the Crimson Wizard was far away and up close at the same time.
    When the story ended on the radio Arlie lay in bed trying to see into the tunnel in the corner but all he could see was a black place.
    Soon he heard a key in the doorway of the apartment. He remembered when he wasstronger and could go out of the apartment. He played stickball with some other kids in the cement courtyard outside the building, the same courtyard where you could see the trains when they went past.
    He used to walk to school, too. He walked with his best friend. His best friend was named Buddy Bill McIlhenny.
    The McIlhennys lived upstairs in another apartment. Buddy Bill lived there withhis mom and dad and two sisters. Arlie wished he could live with his own mom and dad and sisters instead of his Aunt Cora and his Uncle Mort and Aunt Mary but he knew that could never be. He didn’t have any brothers or sisters and his mom was dead so he knew he would never have any but at least he knew his dad was in the Black Forest fighting Nazis and when he came back from the war Arlie would livewith him.
    When Arlie first got sick and couldn’t go to school or play in the courtyard Buddy Bill visited him almost every day. They traded comic books and talked about school and the war and Buddy Bill’s sisters and their other friends. But Arlie got sicker and Buddy Bill didn’t visit him as often as he did at first and then he stopped visiting him.
    It was wintertime now. Last winter Arlieand Buddy Bill had made a snowman in the courtyard but this winter Arlie had not been able to go outside at all. He couldn’t even get to the window and look down into the courtyard to see if Buddy Bill had made a snowman without him.
    He knew what the hallway looked like and he remembered the smell in the hallway and on the stairs. Some apartment houses had elevators in them but Arlie’s housedidn’t have an elevator so you had to walk up and down flights of stairs when you went out or got home. But Arlie hadn’t been out of the apartment in a long time.
    He heard the door open and he knew that Uncle Mort and Aunt Mary were home. He heard their voices and Aunt Cora’s talking in the Old Country language.
    The door of his own room opened and Uncle Mort and Aunt Mary came in together. AuntMary knelt next to Arlie’s bed and put her hand on his forehead and her cheek against his cheek. Her hand and her face felt cool and smooth and her cheek was soft.
    He could see her dark lips even in his room. The radio was still turned on and the light from the dial made Aunt Mary’s face show up clearly.
    He could smell her, too. There were different smells on her. He could smell her hair andher perfume. He liked the way Aunt Mary smelled. His Aunt Cora sometimes smelled of cooking and his Uncle Mort didn’t seem to have a smell, but Aunt Mary smelled like sweet flowers. He tried to remember if his mom had smelled like sweet flowers but he couldn’t remember. Maybe old