4. Killer Spiders!

Chapter 4 Killer Spiders! Since Brian and Lucy had followed the footprints, Bradley and Nate walked in the opposite direction. The foggy mist made it hard to see the dark floor. They stumbled into covered furniture and fake trees. Thick, sticky cobwebs hung from the branches. Nate almost bumped into a long snake hanging from a tree branch. "It's a python!" Nate cried. "They can swallow a kid whole!"

"Nate, it's a fake snake," Bradley said. He patted the snake's rubber belly. "This guy can't swallow anything!" "There should be a law against scaring little kids," Nate grumbled. Bradley continued walking, feeling his way in the dark, misty place. Nate walked right behind him, holding on to Bradley's shirt. They came to another fake tree. A sign on it said PULL THE WITCH'S BROOM HANDLE. Bradley looked up. One branch was a broom. The handle had been painted white, and it glowed in the dark. "Should we pull it?" he asked Nate. "No way!" Nate said. "If you do, I'll bet we fall right into that witch's oven!" Bradley laughed. He reached up and tugged on the broom handle. They heard a creak. Then hundreds of tiny spiders dropped into their hair and faces. "KILLER SPIDERS!" Nate screamed. "RUN!"

Bradley spit out a spider that had landed in his mouth. "They're plastic, Nate," he said. "Tiny plastic spiders." "Boy, do I hate Halloween!" Nate said. He shook a bunch of the spiders out of his hair. "Shhhh," Bradley said. He clamped a hand over Nate's mouth. "Do you hear something?" It was like a voice coming from underwater. It sounded hollow and scary. "People are yelling!" Nate said.

"Maybe it's Luke and those other kids," Bradley said. "Or it could be your brother and Lucy," Nate said. "Maybe the witch is cooking them!" "Can you tell where the sounds are coming from?" Bradley asked. They both peered into the gloomy room. All they saw was mist, darkness, and the twinkly ceiling lights. "Look, there's an exit sign!" Nate said. He took Bradley's shoulders and turned him around. Bradley saw the red exit sign high on one of the walls. "We can get out of here!" Nate said. "I've got my allowance money. I'll buy us ice cream at Ellie's Diner!" "We can't just leave, Nate," Bradley said. "What about those missing kids? Besides, we're supposed to meet Brian and Lucy in a few minutes." Suddenly they heard another yell. This time it was closer. Bradley recognized Lucy's voice yelling, "BRIAN!"

"It's Lucy!" Bradley said. "Maybe she and Brian found those other kids." Bradley shouted back, "Lucy, where are you?" "Over here!" came Lucy's voice. "Follow the green footprints!" "Okay!" Bradley shouted. To Nate he said, "Help me find those footprints again." "How do we know that's really Lucy?" Nate asked. "It could be the witch, pretending to be Lucy!" "It's Lucy," Bradley said. He tugged Nate toward where he thought the voice had come from. They kept walking through the darkness. Soon Bradley could make out the glowing footprints. "Here they are," he said. "Here who are?" Nate whispered. "The footprints," Bradley said. They followed the glowing green prints. But a minute later, the footprints stopped. So did Bradley. Nate bumped into him. "What's wrong?" Nate asked. Bradley felt Nate's breath on the back of his neck.

"No more footprints," Bradley said in a low voice. "They just ended." Bradley looked up. Even the twinkling lights were gone. He and Nate were standing in total darkness. No tiny lights, no glowing footprints. Just the misty fog and blackness all around them. "I don't like this," Nate murmured. "Whoever invented Halloween should go to jail!" "It's like a cave," Bradley whispered. He remembered one time when he and Brian were playing ghost in their grandmother's attic. Bradley had hidden behind an old mattress, and Brian shut off the light to scare him. The attic felt—and smelled—just like this! "This is weird," Bradley said. He reached his arms straight out into the darkness. His fingers touched something soft and smooth. It felt like velvet cloth. Suddenly a black curtain parted. Bradley gulped. A bright light revealed Lucy standing like a statue. Behind her was a giant ogre's mouth. The mouth was wide open, showing large white teeth.