R. Stine - Red Rain

“Let’s go in, see what they’re up to,” Mark said, motioning with his head.

Pearlmutter snickered. “Catch ’em in the act.”

Lea pushed open the door. Music roared out. Bright yellow light spilled over them. The bedroom was in the front of the house. Behind it, a narrow hall had a bathroom and a long, thin dressing room on one side, a closet on the other.

“Oh, wow,” Lea murmured, her eyes moving around the room. The bunk bed and the twin bed beside it had been stripped. Bare mattresses. No pillows. Nothing on the blue-green carpet. No clothes strewn about or tortilla chip bags or soda cans.

“Hello?” Mark called, squinting into the bright light. He moved quickly to the back of the room and swung open the hall door. “Hello?”

Lea’s eyes went wide. She turned to Pearlmutter, whose knotted face revealed only confusion, and murmured in a voice that seemed to be coming from someone else, “There’s no one here.”

Saturday morning, Samuel followed Daniel onto a pale blue local Hamptons bus that took them on the old Montauk Highway to Hampton Bays. It was a warm, sunny morning, one of those beautiful May mornings with no humidity and the sweet fragrance of spring flowers in the air.

Samuel gazed out the window as they passed a green college campus. The sign said: Stonybrook Southampton. Trees were just sprouting leaves and the lilac bushes were spreading their violet flowers.

How good to be among the living, Samuel thought.

Living is so special.

Deep thoughts for a Saturday morning as the bus bumped along the narrow two-lane road, twisting past an inlet of the ocean now, sparkling waters under the clearest of blue skies.

What a shame. What a shame.

Samuel wished his brother could enjoy being among the living as much as he did. If only Daniel had the same appreciation for the spring air and the delightful aromas, the brightness of the morning, and that special vibrant green on the trees you see only in springtime.

But Daniel had a different agenda. And, of course, it had to be Samuel’s agenda as well. For he was the Burner, the Fire Man, the Punisher. And as sure as the lilacs opened every spring, Daniel had people to punish.

If Daniel could use his hypnotic powers without help, Samuel would be content to watch. And yes, enjoy. But wherever the power came from-Hell, most likely-it joined the two of them together the way no twins had ever been joined.

The bus bounced along the highway, past a model of an Indian teepee and a cigarette trading post. Some kind of Indian reservation, probably.

Samuel read somewhere that all this land had belonged to an Indian tribe. Now their territory seemed to be squashed down to a cigarette store on the old highway.

The road turned. They were rumbling through a suburban neighborhood of nice houses. The sun and the sky appeared brighter here.

Samuel and Daniel sat two seats from the back. No one else on the bus except for an elderly woman in the front seat, sound asleep with her head bobbing against the window.

Samuel thought about the big move. It had gone smoothly. And was very timely, since Mum and Pa had arrived home earlier than expected. Now they had room to spread out. And room to welcome the dozens of new kids flocking to them in order to move Up with Sag Harbor Middle School.

Monday will be the first hard day, Samuel knew.

We should rest up and enjoy our new home for the weekend. We should make sure that all the new minds are set. That the new followers are clear about the goal.

But no. Daniel had his other plans.

Pa had seen too much. Pa knew too much. Pa could ruin everything.

And so, it was important to keep Pa busy. Very busy.

And that’s why it was so urgent and important to kill Autumn Holliday.

The twins found Autumn’s house easily, on a street just off Dune Road near Hot Dog Beach. Set back on a small square of grass, it was a squat, two-story redbrick with white trim and white columns on either side of the front door.

The house was old and not very well kept up. One side had darkened, the bricks rutted and cracked. The paint was peeling from the two columns.

“Let’s be quick, boyo,” Daniel said. “We don’t want to neglect the newbies, do we?”

They climbed onto the narrow stoop, up to the screen door. Samuel pushed the doorbell and they heard it buzz inside.

Footsteps. Then Autumn pulled open the door and stared through the screen at them.

“Huh? You two? Really?” Blue eyes wide with surprise.

“Hi,” Daniel said shyly, smiling so his dimples would flash.

“Did you boys come all this way to see me? How did you find me? How did you get here?”

She pushed open the screen door before they could answer. Samuel followed Daniel into the small front room. He sniffed. The stale air smelled of coffee and cigarette smoke.

The brown leather couch on the back wall had a duct tape repair on one arm. He saw two folding chairs, a small flat-screen TV playing a cooking show. Fashion and gossip magazines were strewn over the low coffee table. A huge landscape painting of grassy sand dunes covered the wall over the couch.

“Not very fancy,” Autumn said, as if reading his thoughts. “Not like your house. Oh, this stuff isn’t ours.” She gestured around the room. “My sister and I are renting the house just till we figure out what our lives are going to be about. Oh, wow. I wish Summer was here. I’d love for her to meet you guys. I’ve told her all about you. But she’s in the city this weekend.”

“Your sister’s name is Summer?” Daniel asked.

She nodded. “Yeah. Autumn and Summer. Do you believe my parents? Good thing I don’t have a brother. Spring is such a bad-news name for a guy.” She giggled.

She’s a beautiful girl. Too bad. Oh lordy, too bad.

Autumn’s white-blond hair was like a smooth helmet, parted in the middle and cascading down to her shoulders. She wore a blue midriff top that matched her eyes and revealed several inches of creamy white skin, down to the red short shorts that showed off her long, slender legs.

Samuel’s eyes stopped at the red shoes. They were velvety with red straps at the top, had tall spiked heels, at least four or five inches high, and thick platform soles.

“You’re a giant!” Samuel blurted out.

She giggled again. “Are these awesome ? I was just trying them on when you arrived.” She pointed to the shoe box on the floor beside the coffee table. “They’re sooo expensive.”

She did some awkward strutting. The heels made tiny round imprints in the faded brown carpet. “This takes practice. It’s like being in the circus. You know. A balancing act.”

“They’re pretty,” Samuel murmured.

Daniel glared at him. They had a job to do.

“How did you boys get here?” She ruffled her hand through Daniel’s hair as she made her way to the couch, tilting one way, then the other. Finally, she dropped onto the edge of the brown cushion.

“Bus,” Daniel said, smoothing his hair back into place.

“Do your parents know you came all this way by yourselves?”

“I don’t think so.” Daniel’s reply.

Autumn fiddled with the straps on one of the shoes. “So why did you come? Just to visit? For an adventure? That’s so nice of you.”

“No. We came to kill you.”

Subtle, Daniel. Always the subtle lad.

Autumn let go of the red straps and raised her eyes to Daniel. “What did you say?”

Samuel clenched his jaw tight and started the fire in his eyes. He felt the warmth immediately. The light changed as if he were viewing the room through a filmy red filter. The warmth washed down his neck, his back, a rippling heat that swept over his whole body.