Page 17

Barrie woke up and instantly froze. It was the same sound from the boat. A ripple of fear rushed through him. He cracked his eyes open, but his bedroom was still dark. It was the middle of the night. Pale moonlight drifted through the sheer curtains. He sat up, scanning his room.

It was dark and shadowy. He strained to listen closer. The noise grew louder.

Thump. Thump.

The heavy footsteps again.

His heart stuttered in his chest. It sounded like they were coming from under his bed. How was that possible? Nothing big enough to make those sounds could fit under there. He was probably just hearing things again, he thought, annoyed at himself for being so jumpy. He was about to drift off back to sleep when, suddenly, he felt warm breath tickle the back of his neck.

He jolted upright, rigid with fear.

He scanned his room, but it was empty. Nobody was there. But it started to feel cold—unnaturally cold. His breath came out like fog, as if it was winter. And then he heard it again—

Thump. Thump.

The sound was definitely coming from under his bed. Something—or someone—was under there making that noise. Shivering, Barrie leaned over his bed to peer under it and squinted into the thick darkness. He couldn’t see anything.

Blindly, he felt around under the bed, looking for the source of the noise. His fingers brushed dust bunnies, wrinkled comic books, a football, an old pizza crust….Ugh. He really had to clean his room.

Then his fingers brushed metal.

Cold metal.

Terrified and barely breathing, Barrie moved his fingers over the object. It curved around into the shape of a hook. He grasped it and pulled it out from under the bed.

It was Captain Hook’s hook.

How did it get under the bed?

Barrie scanned his memory. He clearly remembered stashing it under his pillow after he made his wish. Maybe he accidentally knocked it off the bed in his sleep?

That was the only explanation.

Still feeling unsettled, he straightened up, clutching the hook. He listened closer, but the thumping noise was gone. He was probably hearing things. He shook his head. Everything was still. Everything was fine. He started to drift off again, when suddenly—

A shadowy hook slashed out at him from under the bed, whizzing by his ear.

Zing!

Barrie jumped back, holding the hook to his chest.

“What the—”

Another hook shot out. Then another. Then another. Barrie curled up against his headboard, trying to make himself smaller. The hooks slashed at him one by one, cutting through the air. Barrie dropped his hook and grabbed his pillow, holding it out in front of him for protection.

“Stop! Don’t! Leave me alone!”

The hooks dug into the pillow, shredded the casing. Feathers rained down around him like confetti in the dim moonlight.

“It’s a dream,” Barrie whispered to himself, trembling. “It’s just a dream.”

Then, a large shadow slithered out from under the bed. The shadow grew taller and taller, forming into the shape of a man. He loomed over the foot of the bed and raised his left arm—the outline caught the moonlight.

It ended in a bloody stump.

Barrie blinked at the shadow. “C-C-Captain Hook?”

The shadow drew its sword. Barrie cowered back in fear.