The Runaway
By R.l. Stine
3.5/5
()
About this ebook
Shadyside. It sounded like such a nice town, the perfect place for a runaway like Felicia. Nobody here would know about her dark powers. Nobody would know what she’s done. For once, she could be a normal girl. She could be safe.
But someone in Shadyside discovers Felicia’s secret. Someone finds out about the awful things her powers made her do. Felicia doesn’t want to run away again. But if she stays, she might lose control. And then people would start to die.
R.l. Stine
R.L. Stine has more than 350 million English language books in print, plus international editions in 32 languages, making him one of the most popular children’s authors in history. Besides Goosebumps, R.L. Stine has written other series, including Fear Street, Rotten School, Mostly Ghostly, The Nightmare Room, and Dangerous Girls. R.L. Stine lives in New York with his wife, Jane, and his Cavalier King Charles spaniel, Minnie. Visit him online at rlstine.com.
Read more from R.L. Stine
The Beginning Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The First Horror Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Third Horror Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Gaslighted: Slappy the Ventriloquist Dummy vs. Aloysius Pendergast Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Dangerous Girls Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Drop Dead Gorgeous Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Second Horror Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5It's the First Day of School...Forever! Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Scream and Scream Again!: Spooky Stories from Mystery Writers of America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nightmare Hour TV Tie-in Edition Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Beast 2 Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Beast Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nightmare Hour: Time for Terror Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Temptation: Goodnight Kiss; Goodnight Kiss 2; "The Vampire Club" Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Night of the Werecat Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Conclusion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Be a Vampire Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related to The Runaway
Titles in the series (22)
Wrong Number 2 Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The New Girl Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Rich Girl Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Halloween Party Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Secret Admirer Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Perfect Date Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Confession Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Missing Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Switched Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5First Date Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Surprise Party Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Who Killed the Homecoming Queen? Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5All-Night Party Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Killer's Kiss Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Best Friend Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Third Evil Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Runaway Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Overnight Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Second Evil Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Night Games Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The First Evil Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Wrong Number Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related ebooks
The Perfect Date Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5All-Night Party Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Confession Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Killer's Kiss Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Evil Lives! Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Conclusion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dead Lifeguard Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wrong Number 2 Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Best Friend Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Rich Girl Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Who Killed the Homecoming Queen? Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Switched Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5First Date Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Midnight Games Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bad Dreams Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Heart of the Hunter Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5College Weekend Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Sign of Fear Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Stepsister Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Awakening Evil Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Party Summer Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dare Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Secret Bedroom Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The New Year's Party Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5High Tide Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Secret Admirer Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Face Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Night Games Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Hidden Evil Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dance of Death Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
YA Mysteries & Thrillers For You
Thunderhead Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Firekeeper's Daughter Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This Savage Song Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Delicious Monsters Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The New Girl Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Monday's Not Coming Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ace of Spades Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Chain Letter: Chain Letter; The Ancient Evil Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sadie: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Allegedly Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Five Total Strangers Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Grimmer Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Cellar Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This Is Where It Ends Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Suicide Notes from Beautiful Girls Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Midnight Club Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/514 Ways To Die Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Cabin Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Identity Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Truly Devious: A Mystery Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pretty Little Liars Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Clown in a Cornfield Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Study in Charlotte Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Devil in Ohio Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5White Smoke Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Awake Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Z for Zachariah Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I Will Find You Again Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Burn for Burn Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for The Runaway
26 ratings1 review
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pretty good. I genuinely liked Nick and Felicia. I liked the reveals, albeit one was very predictable.
Book preview
The Runaway - R.l. Stine
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP
Someone Knows Her Secret . . .
The contents of the desk lay scattered on the floor. Along with pages torn from Felicia’s schoolbooks. Her clothes. Her cassette tapes. Everything she owned.
Who did this? Who hates me so much?
Felicia picked up her favorite pullover shirt. Shredded.
I can’t stay here. I can’t stay in this room. She turned—and uttered a low moan of terror.
Dripping red letters covered the wall.
Is that blood? Felicia thought.
She focused on the message, struggling to read the smeared letters.
Her heart pounded in her ears as she realized what the message said.
RUNAWAY! GET OUT NOW! I KNOW EVERYTHING!
chapter 1
WELCOME TO SHADYSIDE, the sign read.
Felicia Fletcher trudged along in the late-afternoon gloom. Dark clouds hung low and heavy, threatening to drench her again.
Shadyside,
she whispered. Never heard of it.
She wiped her hands on her jeans. It didn’t help. She was soaked. Her jeans heavy with rain. Her sneakers soft and squishy. Her brown ponytail dripping icy water down her back.
Felicia peered past the WELCOME sign. A bridge spanned a swiftly flowing river. The water swept crumpled leaves and twisted branches along.
Felicia shifted the heavy red backpack on her shoulders. She pulled her navy blue baseball cap lower over her blue eyes.
Shadyside. Felicia liked the name. Maybe I can be safe here, she thought. Maybe I can start over in Shadyside.
A lump rose in Felicia’s throat. She didn’t want to start over. She wanted to go home. Home where she had friends and people who cared about her.
But she couldn’t. She couldn’t ever go home. Not after what she did.
Don’t start to cry again, Felicia, she ordered herself. You’re soaking wet as it is. She turned and stared in the opposite direction. Should she try Shadyside—or keep moving?
Felicia wished she could forget what happened. Forget everything and everyone from the past. Start fresh.
But the memories would never disappear. The laboratory. The wires. The doctors.
Dr. Shanks especially.
His greasy gray beard and loud voice. Felicia remembered the first time she ever met him. They led her into the lab. The bright fluorescent lights hurt her eyes. They sat her down in a straight-backed wooden chair, the most uncomfortable chair she’d ever felt.
They crowded around her, working, working, working. A skinny man with glasses attached sticky electrodes to her temples. Green, black, red, blue, and yellow wires ran from the electrodes into a large computer terminal. The assistants barked orders back and forth.
Trial run on module four,
a gray-haired woman in a white coat called.
Go module four,
the skinny one with glasses replied. He flipped a switch, and one of the machines began a loud, rhythmic beeping. Pulse is seventy-nine, blood pressure one-twenty.
Is that good?
Felicia asked.
They ignored her. They always ignored her questions.
The skinny one with glasses moved a table in front of Felicia. Another assistant pushed in her chair.
Tell Dr. Shanks that the subject is ready,
the gray-haired woman ordered.
My name is Felicia,
she reminded them. Why can’t you ever use my name?
The gray-haired woman regarded her coldly, saying nothing. She picked up a clipboard and began making notes.
It’s spelled F-E-L-I-C-I-A,
Felicia grumbled.
The gray-haired woman stopped writing and stared at her.
Did I go too fast?
Felicia asked sarcastically.
The woman set the pencil and clipboard down and left the room.
Seconds later, a bald man with a thick beard strode into the exam room, his white lab coat swishing with each step. He stood over six feet tall, with a large belly. He had a long, crooked nose, and deep-set eyes.
Angry eyes, Felicia thought. No laughter in there. Only a big, cold, dark nothing.
Felicia,
he said, folding his arms across his chest. How are you today?
Fine.
Fine. I am Dr. Shanks. I’m running this phase of the experiment. Unlike Dr. Cooper, I will not tolerate any sarcasm. You have to understand, Felicia. You are here to learn, but to teach as well. We need to learn from you. So you must clear your mind and concentrate. If you refuse to obey that one simple rule, you will be finished here at Ridgely College. Is that clear?
A jolt of anger shot through Felicia. Who does this guy think he is? They need me a lot more than I need them.
Felicia gazed into Dr. Shanks’s sunken eyes. He didn’t turn away. He stared right back. You need to learn to control your talents. If you don’t, you will put others, and yourself, in danger.
Felicia shivered. I understand,
she finally replied.
Fine. Let us begin.
Dr. Shanks pulled a pencil from his coat pocket and placed it on the table in front of Felicia. Move the pencil across the table, please.
What?
Move the pencil across the table, please,
Dr. Shanks repeated.
I-I don’t know if I can,
Felicia stammered. She heard the machine’s beeps increase with her heart rate. Her palms began to sweat.
That is unacceptable,
Dr. Shanks replied. Move the pencil across the table, please.
"I can’t just do it, you know!"
Dr. Shanks slammed his palm down on the table. "What did I just explain to you? This is not a game. This isn’t even a test. This is your life, young lady!"
Don’t yell at me!
she screamed. I can’t help it! I’m not one of your stupid machines! You can’t just turn me on and off whenever you want! Get out of my face!
Dr. Shanks drew in a deep breath. He leaned forward on the table, placing a hand on either edge. Leaned so close Felicia could feel his breath hitting her face. Smell the mix of onions and spearmint.
Young lady, whether you know it or not, you are blessed with one of the most remarkable talents on the face of this planet. I advise you to cooperate and concentrate. If you don’t, there are more important people who are waiting to see how your abilities work. And believe me, their tests will be much more painful than this. Is that clear?
Felicia wanted to rip the itchy electrodes off her temples and run out of the lab. No, she told herself. I have to be strong. I have to try.
Because she knew Dr. Shanks wasn’t lying. Her father had told her the same thing—a long line of doctors waited to put her strange talents to the test. Shanks would not be the worst.
She stared at the pencil.
Concentrate,
he ordered.
She focused on it. The pink eraser. The yellow paint. The sharp, black point.
In the background, the beeping grew faster. Felicia’s heart hammered in her chest. Full of anger. Full of fear.
Do it, she told herself. Just do it.
You’re not concentrating!
Dr. Shanks whispered.
But she was. Felicia hurled all her energy toward the pencil. And she felt something.
Something growing inside her. Slowly inflating. Like a balloon.
Concentrate,
Dr. Shanks repeated. His voice dug deep into her brain.
Her power grew.
She pushed harder.
The machines beeped faster and faster. Felicia felt the blood rushing through her veins.
Heart rate one-ten,
came a voice from nowhere. B.P. one-eighty.
Felicia’s fingernails bit into her hands. The moisture on her palms could have been sweat—or blood.
Concentrate,
came the voice.
The doctor’s voice. The enemy’s voice.