The postman didn’t ring twice this morning – in fact, he didn’t ring at all. I found him cowering behind a bush in the front garden, blubbing that he never wanted to sleep again. I thought it a bit odd, to be honest, until I opened the package he had for me…
My author copies of Scream Street 9: Terror of the Nightwatchman had arrived, and I can only presume that the sheer horror of what happens to Luke, Resus and Cleo in this book had somehow seeped out of the envelope and into the petrified postie.
In SS9, Luke and Resus are woken with the news that Cleo has been kidnapped, Following a trailer of what they believe to be her kidnapper’s blood, they find themselves in a strange GHOUL community hidden deep inside a jungle. From there, a terrifying figure known as The Nightwatchman has been taking children from their beds while they have nightmares – then using powerful magic to keep them asleep so he can feed off their fear. If Luke and Resus want to save their friend, they’re going to have to go inside Cleo’s worst nightmare themselves.
Here’s a taster of the action…
By the time Luke pulled himself onto the wide branch opposite Resus, he was out of breath and his arms felt like they were on fire. “Where did you learn to climb like that?” he puffed.
Resus was perched, cross-legged on his branch. “Vampires are naturally good at this sort of stuff,” he said. “It comes from centuries of trying to escape angry mobs with pitchforks and torches.”
Luke clambered warily to his feet, clinging tightly on to the tree trunk. There was a stiff breeze, and it felt as if the tree was swaying violently – although Resus didn’t seem to have any problems balancing.
“Can you see anything?” Luke asked, trying not to look down. He closed his eyes and pressed his face tightly against the rough bark.
Resus swung himself up onto a higher branch. “Not a lot,” he replied, “unless you mean more trees, that is.” The jungle stretched as far as he could see in every direction, with no sign of civilisation. But suddenly the vampire’s attention was caught by something off to the left.
“What is it?” hissed Luke. “What can you see?”
Resus frowned. “Probably nothing,” he replied. “I thought I saw a tiny glow of light for a moment, but it must just be my mind playing tricks on me.”
“Well, my mind isn’t playing tricks,” said Luke. “It knows I’m far higher than it ever wanted me to be.”
Resus skipped over to Luke’s branch and grinned. “Don’t tell me the wicked werewolf is afraid of heights?” he teased.
Luke swallowed hard. “I’ll just feel better when my feet are back on solid gr-” He stopped, staring at something behind his friend.
“What’s the matter?” asked Resus.
“Remember I said this place must be swarming with all kinds of birds?” Luke whispered. “Well, look behind you…”
Resus slowly twisted round on his branch to see a large black bird perched nearby, watching them intently. He let out a sigh of relief. “It’s just a raven! You had me going for a minute! There are ravens all over Scream Street…”
“Exactly!” replied Luke. “But, we’re not in Scream Street – and I don’t remember learning that they liked to hang out in the jungle.”
“It can’t be that unusual,” said Resus, pointing. “Look, there’s another one over there. And another. Maybe they followed us through the Hex Hatch.”
Sure enough, there were now several of them perched in the trees around the boys, all peering intently at them with dark, beady eyes.
“This isn’t good…” Luke said quietly.
“They’re just birds,” said Resus. “What harm can they do?”
As if on cue, the ravens all took off from their perches and launched themselves towards Luke and Resus, screeching wildly. Within seconds, the pair were lost in a churning cloud of black feathers.
Luke shielded his face as powerful wings batted against him and jagged claws scratched at his skin. “Resus!” he cried, but all he could see were more and more dark birds descending.
The vampire had pulled his cloak over his head and was trying to curl up into a ball. Ravens were pecking and tearing at his cloak with their sharp beaks.
Luke knew they had to get down from the tree. If they could get to the ground, they might be able to run deeper into the jungle where the ravens couldn’t follow. He cautiously reached out with a scratched, bleeding hand and dug the fake vampire nails into the tree trunk. Moving blindly, he swung himself off his branch. “Resus, we have to – Aargh!”
It was a few seconds before Luke realised he was falling. The fake nails had simply slipped from his fingers and he could still see them, lodged in the bark, before they were lost from view as the ravens dived after him. A grim thought flashed across his mind as he wondered who would reach the ground first.
“LUKE!” shouted Resus.
To Luke, everything seemed to happen in slow motion. As he crashed through the smaller branches, his vision was filled by the rapidly approaching flock of birds, their beaks wide. For a brief moment, the ravens appeared to merge together to form a snarling, shadowy creature with blazing white eyes…
Does Luke survive the fall? The only way to find out is to read Scream Street 9: Terror of the Nightwatchman – out in the UK on 4th October.
Tommy
