مترسک شبگرد فصل 11

The Scarecrow Walks at Midnight - Chapter 11

“Who—who’s there?” I choked out, my voice a hushed whisper.

No reply.

Scrape. Scrape. Scrape.

The soft, scratchy footsteps came closer.

“Who is it?” I cried shrilly.

No reply.

I stared into the darkness. I couldn’t see a thing.

Scrape. Scrape.

Whoever—or whatever—was moving steadily toward me.

I took a step back. Then another.

I tried to cry out, but my throat was choked with fear.

I let out a terrified gasp as I backed into something. In my panic, it took me a few seconds to realize that it was only a wooden ladder. The ladder that led up to the hayloft.

The footsteps crunched closer. Closer.

“Please—” I uttered in a tiny, choked voice. “Please—don’t—”

Closer. Closer. Scraping toward me through the heavy darkness.

I gripped the sides of the ladder. “Please—leave me alone!”

Before I realized what I was doing, I was pulling myself up the ladder. My arms trembled, and my legs felt as if they each weighed a thousand pounds.

But I scrambled rung by rung toward the hayloft, away from the frightening, scraping footsteps down below.

When I reached the top, I lay flat on the hayloft floor. I struggled to listen, to hear the footsteps over the loud pounding of my heart.

Was I being followed? Was the thing chasing me up the ladder?

I held my breath. I listened.

Scrabbling sounds. Scraping footsteps.

“Go away!” I screamed frantically. “Whoever you are—go away!”

But the sounds continued, dry and scratchy. Like straw brushing against straw.

Scrambling to my knees, I turned to the small, square hayloft window. Sunlight filtered in through the window. The light made the hay strewn over the floor gleam like slender strands of gold.

My heart still pounding, I crawled to the window.

Yes! The heavy rope was still tied to the side. The rope that Mark and I always used to swing down to the ground.

I can get out of here! I told myself happily.

I can grab the rope and swing out of the hayloft. I can escape!

Eagerly, I grabbed the rope with both hands.

Then I poked my head out the window and gazed down to the ground.

And let out a scream of surprise and horror.