Silent Night 2 by R.L. Stine

she talked with him. I never dreamed I’d grow tired of him so quickly.
    â€œWould you like me to come over?” Victor asked. “Would you feel safer?”
    Reva laughed. “Who would protect me from you?”
    Victor didn’t laugh. “No. Really,” he insisted. “I could be there in ten minutes.”
    â€œI’ll be okay,” Reva told him. “Hey—I forgot to tell you about my dream. It was so weird. So scary.”
    â€œYou dreamed about Pam?” Victor guessed.
    â€œNo. Well, sort of,” Reva replied, closing themagazine. She shifted the cordless phone to her other shoulder. “It woke me up last night. It was very disturbing. I was shopping. In the dream, I mean.”
    â€œShopping?”
    â€œYeah. In some kind of big department store,” Reva continued. “Maybe it was my dad’s store. I don’t know. I didn’t really recognize it. When the dream started, the store was very crowded, very bright and noisy. I was walking from aisle to aisle, pushing through the crowds. It was very unpleasant. I remember I didn’t like it at all. But I just kept walking.
    â€œThe store seemed endless, aisle after aisle,” Reva continued. “I wanted to leave, but I couldn’t find a door. Then, suddenly, it grew very quiet. Silent. I looked around. The store was empty. No one there. Except me. Me and someone else. I heard footsteps behind me, and I knew someone was chasing me. You know how you just know things in dreams?”
    â€œYeah. Sure,” Victor replied. “Scary.”
    â€œWait. It gets worse,” Reva promised. “I started to run. I was searching for an exit, any exit. But there was only aisle after aisle. I was terrified. I ran. Ran through the aisles. But he was right behind me. Getting closer. Closer. The only sounds were his footsteps and my panting breaths. I ran and ran. It seemed like I ran forever.
    â€œAnd then he grabbed me,” Reva said.
    â€œWho?” Victor demanded breathlessly.
    â€œHe had me by the shoulders,” she continued. “He wanted to drag me away, to kidnap me. I knewhe wanted to kidnap me. But I fought and spun away. I turned around to see who it was. And—it was Santa Claus!”
    â€œHuh?”
    Reva laughed. “It was Santa Claus. Do you believe it? Ho-ho-ho!”
    â€œWeird!” Victor exclaimed. “Then what happened?”
    â€œI woke up,” Reva told him.
    Victor didn’t say anything for a long while. Reva could almost hear his brain whirring. “I guess you were worried about Pam,” he offered finally.
    â€œYeah, I guess,” Reva replied, yawning. “I never can figure out what my dreams mean. I only know it was weird.”
    â€œYou sure you don’t want me to come over?” he asked.
    Before Reva could answer, she heard a loud noise outside. She recognized the sound immediately—a car door slamming.
    â€œVictor, I’ve got to get off. Someone’s here,” she told him. She jumped up and carried the phone to her bedroom window.
    Pushing back the curtains, she peered down to the driveway. She heard the squeal of tires. A car roared away. But she couldn’t see it.
    What was that thing at the bottom of the driveway? Was it a large sack? A garbage bag? She squinted hard, trying to see.
    â€œWho is it?” Victor was asking.
    â€œI don’t know. I’ll call you later.” She turned off the phone and tossed it onto her bed.
    Then she hurried down the carpeted stairs, takingthem two at a time. Opening the coat closet, she grabbed a down jacket. She pulled it over her shoulders as she opened the front door, leapt outside, and began running to the bottom of the driveway.
    It was a clear, cold night. Her breath steamed up in front of her as she ran. Newly installed spotlights in the trees cast white cones of light over the front lawn.
    Reva gasped as she neared the street.
    Lying in the driveway,