Goosebumps

Chapter 4: Neighbors Arent You They Seem Part 2

~Scarlet's POV~

We drove in Mr. Shivers (Hannah's father) car after the ice rink incident. It was very quiet. Too quiet. "What are you going to do to us?" Champ asked Mr. Shivers. "Silence" Mr. Shivers told Champ. "We can't ask questions?" Champ asked before he was interrupted. "Shut up" Mr. Shivers yelled. "Dad they were only trying to help" Hannah said to her father. "I told you to stay away, or something bad would happen. But thats the problem with kids today. They don't listen" Mr. Shivers rambled on quickly. I studied Mr. Shivers, he was very closed off, obviously hiding something. "You had to pick Abominable Snowman of Pasadena. You couldn't have picked Little Shop of Hamsters" Mr. Shivers said to my brother, well more to himself. Ah-ha! now I know who he reminds me of and he's given me multiple signs in the last few minutes. "You're him, aren't you?" I asked. "Hm?" Mr. Shivers hummed. "You're R.L. Stine" I said making my brother think, you could see the gears turning in his head. "R.L. who? I don't know who that is" Mr. Shivers lied, looking at me through the rear-view mirror, "Oh really?" I asked. If he wants to play tuff then I'll play tuff also. I sighed and looked at my brother. Zach smirked a little when he found out what I was going to do. "Well, just as well, because his books suck" I said making Hannah turn around. "What are you doing?" she asked but I ignored her. " I can't decide which one I hate more: 'Monster Blood' or 'Go Eat Worms!' " I lied, but everyone except Zach didn't know that. "Im so confused" Champ said and looked at my brother. "You see the endings coming from a mile away. Its like... stop trying to be Stephan King, man" I said knowing that it would tick Stine off. Just like i presumed, Stine hit the break, almost sending me to the front of the car, thank God that Zach was there to hold me down. Stine turned around and I put on my poker face. "Let me tell you something about Steve King. Steve King wishes that he could write like me, and I've sold way more books than him. But no one ever talks about that!" Stine yelled at me, his face turning red from anger. "Okay!" I chirped, not affected by this at all. My brother on the other hand was scared to death. "Way more books!" Stine yelled again and turned around. "Dad" Hannah said as she comforted her father. "Ahh!" Stine grunted out. "...your face is doing the red thing again" Hannah told her father. "No way!" Champ said excitedly. "Oh no" i mumbled and sat back in the car seat. "Wait, you're R.L. Stine? That's you?" Champ asked Stine. Stine looked back at him annoyed. "Really? Really? Hey, can I get a picture real quick?" Champ asked like a little four-year-old boy in a candy store for the first time. I sighed closing my eyes while I covered my face in annoyance. "No" Stine told Champ. "Come on" "No" "Come on" Champ tried to reason again as he got out his phone. "The answer's 'yes' " Champ told Stine as he leaned to the front. "I said no" Stine muttered. Champ held the phone in-front of Stine and took a picture of them. "What? I--No! Get that ting out of here" Stine yelled angrily as the picture was taken. Champ looked like a puppy when his master abandoned it, sad and lost. "I'm sorry. I just wanted a picture for my Instagram" Champ apologized. "Oh is that all?" Stine asked, suddenly calm about everything. "Can I see that?" Stine asked politely as he held his hand out. "Oh, yeah sure" Champ chirped as he handed over his phone. "Thank you" Stine said as he chucked the phone out the car window and into the street. Champs face was filled with horror as he Stine drove away. I tried my best to not laugh but it was so hard. I laughed silently in my seat for a minute.

Stine parked in his driveway and got out. I didn't realize that Zach closed the door on Champ so I walked next to Zach. "Hey what happens now?" Zach asked. "You go home, put on you p.j.'s, get your blankie you go nap-nap. In the morning, this will feel like a bad dream" Stine told us like we were little four-year-olds. Stine walked away, Hannah calling after him. "There's no time. Start packing. We're moving again" Stine ordered as he walked into his house. "So what do you wanna do now?" Champ asked my brother and I. Zach looked over at me and we shared a silent agreement. We both walked into the house, not answering Champ. "Dude" Champ muttered angrily as he followed us. You can here arguing voices in the house. It was coming from upstairs. I followed the voices and the guys followed me. I walked into a room where Stine was putting money and passports in a bag. He grabbed a statue and threw it back at us while yelling. He missed us completely. "I could have killed you" Stine said to us. "How?" "That was a terrible throw" "I've seen four year olds with better aim than you" We all pipped up. Hannah came back after hearing the noises. "What are you doing here? Go home" Stine said and tried to move us out of here. "No, no. Not until you explain whats going on" Zach ordered Stine. "No, no, no. I can't explain it" Stine told him. "We were almost just eaten by Frosty the Snowman... which should be impossible, so try" My brother told him sassily. "You took my advice: become sassy and sarcastic" I said to Zach, him looking back at me with the 'are you serious right now?' look. "Sorry" I mumbled as I stepped back. "Okay , look. Where do I begin?" Stine asked himself and thought of what he was going to say. "When I was younger, I suffered from terrible allergies that kept me indoors. And all the kids threw rocks at my window and called me names. So I created my own friends. Monsters, demons, ghouls..to terrorize my neighborhood and all the kids that made fun of me. And they became real to me. And then one day...they actually became real. My monsters literally leapt off the page. As long as the book remains locked, we're safe.. but when they open.. well, you've just seen what happens " Stine elaborated while he used majestic hand motions. "I'm allergic to dust mites" Champ said out of nowhere. "What's your point?" Stine asked confused. "I'm just saying, I have allergies too so I understand" Champ told Stine. It became dead silent as Stine just stared blankly at him. "Why am I talking to you? Hannah let's go" Stine said to his daughter as he walked out of the room. "Sorry" Hannah told us as she followed her father.