Moonlight Secrets by R.L. Stine Page B

from Candy’s house. The car slid silently to the curb and stopped at the driveway.
    I peered up at the house through the car window. Completely dark.
    I saw Candy’s BMW parked in the drive at the side.
    We climbed out of the car, closing the doors silently and quickly so the roof light would go out. A strong gust of cold greeted us as if trying to push us away.
    The three of us huddled together at the bottom of the drive, gazing up at the dark house. Trees shook and rattled in the wind. The rain began to patter down harder.
    Nikki leaned against Shark. She had her arm tucked around his. Her hair blew behind her in the gusting wind. I saw that she was shivering, too.
    She turned to Shark. “Are we really doing this?”
    Shark pulled away from her and took a few steps up the asphalt drive. He wiped rainwater off his forehead. “Look. It’s going to be easy,” he said. He pointed.
    Squinting into the darkness, I saw the canvas tarp over one side of the house. Their house-painting job was still underway.
    â€œWhy is it going to be easy?” I asked.
    Then I saw the ladder, and I answered my own question.
    A tall ladder leaned against the side of the house, tilting from the driveway up over the slanting roof.
    â€œIt’s a piece of cake!” Shark declared, suddenly excited. “They left a ladder for us. A piece of cake! Let’s go do this thing!”
    Nikki held back. “Are you just going to climb into her bedroom? Won’t she wake up?”
    Shark pointed again. “That’s her room up there. The one in the front. We’ll climb into a room in the back. Then we can sneak into Candy’s room quietly.”
    My breath caught in my throat. I suddenly had doubts. Lots of them.
    I suddenly didn’t want to be here.
    â€œShark, we didn’t bring a flashlight or anything,” I whispered, my eyes on the dark house. “How will we find her room?”
    â€œI’ve been up there before. We can figure it out,” he said.
    â€œBut . . . how will we find the amulet in the dark?” Nikki asked.
    â€œNo problem,” Shark told her. “She wears it every day. So she probably leaves it out somewhere. We’ll find it.”
    He snickered. “She’ll wake up tomorrow morning, and it’ll be gone. And when she comes to school, she’ll see the big grins on our faces. And she’ll know what a loser she is.”
    Was Shark really that sure of himself? Was he really that confident?
    Or was he saying all that to cover up the fact that he was terrified too?
    No time to think about it.
    My jacket was soaked through. The cold rain pattered down harder.
    Shielding my eyes with one hand, I followed Shark and Nikki up the driveway.
    Shark and I each grabbed a side of the ladder. Luckily, it was aluminum and light enough for us to carry. We made our way to the back of the house.
    No lights on back here, either. I spotted a partly open window on the second floor.
    We carefully lowered the ladder to the back wall near that window.
    Shark brushed raindrops from his hair. His expression was grim. His eyes were on the half-open window. “Here goes,” he said softly.
    He grabbed the sides of the ladder and started to climb.

25
    I followed Shark up the ladder. My legs felt rubbery and weak. I’d never broken into a house before.
    I took a deep breath and held it, trying to slow my racing heart. Candy is all alone in there, I told myself. Her parents are away. We have her outnumbered three to one.
    But she has the amulet.
    My hands slipped on the wet metal ladder. I grabbed on tight and kept climbing. I glanced down and saw Nikki right behind me.
    Above me, I saw Shark struggling with the window. He shoved it open and disappeared inside the house.
    A few seconds later, I swung a leg over the windowsill and stepped inside. I turned and helped Nikki climb off the ladder.
    The three of us stood very still. We were all breathing hard.