The Nightmare Man

Read The Nightmare Man for Free Online Page B

Book: Read The Nightmare Man for Free Online
Authors: Joseph Lidster
to be a way out. He knew that he just needed to stay calm. He felt for his own hands and legs and arms. He was real. He existed. He could breathe, so there was air. This was a real place. He just needed to be logical.
    And that’s when the real terror started. Again, it was just noise, but it was so much noise. Metallic voices screaming out the end of the world and his mum crying. It was one of his worst memories – one of his real-life nightmares! The Daleks’ invasion of Earth! And there were more! Maria’s voice sounded over the Daleks, saying how she was leaving for America. Her voice saying goodbye, echoing and getting louder. The time Clyde had been possessed and had been made to forget who Luke was. His best friend calling him a freak. The voices were overlapping, getting louder and louder. It was terrifying!
    Luke started to panic, his breathing getting faster and faster. Suddenly, there, in the distance, he could see one of the blood-red doors from his nightmare. He had no choice. He ran towards it. Anywhere had to be better than here! He reached the door and pushed through it. As it slammed shut behind him, he realised he was in the nightmare school corridor. All grey. All twisted. Children’s laughter taunted him, as did the sound of his mum humming Brahms’ Lullaby . The voices from his real-life nightmares mingled with the laughter and the lullaby.
    ‘It’s not real…’ he whispered to himself.
    But the endless noise just got louder...
    In the attic, Sarah Jane was searching through a box of alien objects. ‘We’ve got to find a way to talk to him!’
    She held up what looked like an ordinary piece of concrete. It was actually all that remained of an alien invader who’d tried to take over the people of Chiswick by disguising itself as a bridge. It had been telepathically controlling people. Sarah Jane and the gang had managed to defeat it and now…she looked at the rock. Through a small crack, she could see alien wires. There had to be some way they could…
    Sarah Jane stopped. She put down the rock. She stood there, frozen.
    ‘Mistress?’ asked K-9. He could sense her fear levels rising.
    ‘I forgot,’ she whispered, appalled at herself. ‘Clyde and Rani…’
    She’d just remembered that they hadn’t gone home after the party! She’d been so scared about Luke that she hadn’t thought about them. They were in the house and so was the Nightmare Man!
    She started to run.
    In Luke’s bedroom, the Nightmare Man was resting his hand against Clyde’s forehead.
    ‘Oh, yes, bring on the nightmares…’ he said, smiling.
    And Clyde blinked. For a moment he couldn’t remember where he was. He looked around, taking in his surroundings. He was in a burger bar but, strangely, it looked like he was working there! He was wearing a horrible pink uniform and he was holding a spatula. But he didn’t work in a burger bar. He knew he didn’t.
    ‘Hello?’ he called out. ‘Anyone there?’
    Suddenly, there was a whirring noise from the main doorway. Clyde looked over and there, on an old lady’s mobility scooter, was an old lady. She had old lady clothes and old lady hair. And there was something wrong about her. Something broken. She smiled as she drove her scooter towards the counter where Clyde was working.
    Clyde let out a small yelp as he suddenly realised who she was. She looked older and she looked strange, but it was her. It was Sarah Jane Smith!
    ‘You still serving burgers?’ she said. ‘I always knew you were a stupid boy.’
    Clyde just stared at her, horrified. How could this have happened?
    In Luke’s bedroom, the Nightmare Man was laughing as he fed on Clyde’s fear and confusion. He could feel Rani’s terror as well. Two children already under his spell and a whole world waiting…
    ‘Oops,’ he said to himself, laughing, as he heard Sarah Jane rushing towards the bedroom. He took a step back, then simply stepped through the wall.
    The door burst open and Sarah Jane ran in.

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