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Informationen zum Autor P.J. Night Klappentext The next installment in Night's chilling You're Invited to a Creepover series.Nate Carlson was psyched to take his metal detector to the beach. The walk to the beach was a short one because the beach was right behind his house. “The beach is my backyard!” Nate used to tell his friends when he was little. He supposed he got that line from his parents, who said it all the time. It was true, anyway, and pretty awesome. There was a small lawn between his house and the beach, but that was it. Nate felt that wonderful familiar feeling of anticipation as he approached the sand. It was a cloudy, windy day, so he had the beach to himself. Slipping off his shoes, Nate stepped onto the cool sand. He switched on the metal detector and started walking, scanning the sand back and forth. A large black bird swooped near his head. As he ducked, he thought of his twin sister, Lissa. That bird would have sent her running home. Birds totally creeped her out, especially when they flapped too close to her head. He looked up to see a few of them circling above. The others were dive-bombing the water, catching food. They would drop straight down out of the sky, beak forward, disappear into the water, then come up with a crab struggling in their beaks. It was cool to watch. He had never noticed this type of bird before, but then again, he never paid much attention to birds. Beep, beep, beep! Nate’s thoughts about birds were interrupted by the sound of the metal detector going off. Nate bent down and dug around a little. All he found was an old, crushed tin can. He left it there and kept walking, looking at the variety of shells along the tide line. His favorite were the jackknife clams, which were long and thin, and the jingle shells, which his mother called “angels’ toenails” because of their golden shiny hue. Nate’s mom said a lot of things that, in Nate’s opinion, were pretty corny. Beep, beep, beep! He dropped to his knees and dug around, not finding anything at all. But when he scanned the spot again, the detector kept beeping. He dug deeper—still nothing. But when he scanned the spot again, beep, beep, beep! He dug deeper than he had before, the sand growing colder and damper the deeper he went. He felt around in the sand for something, anything, but couldn’t find the source of what was setting off the detector. But still … Beep, beep, beep! He had dug maybe three feet down with his bare hands when a tiny flash of gold caught his eye. He fished around until his fingers closed around something. Pulling his hand free, Nate looked in his palm and saw it: A small, perfect ruby ring. This may actually be treasure , Nate thought. He sat and stared at it as he brushed the sand off with the bottom of his shirt, squinting to get a better look. He realized that the late afternoon sun had gone down, and the sky had suddenly grown quite dark. A strange feeling settled over him just then. He looked around—had anyone seen him find this ring? Should he show someone? The strange feeling grew deeper, and on some level, Nate realized he felt very nervous all of a sudden. Were there rules of buried treasure? Should he call the police? What is going on with me? Nate wondered, trying to dismiss the feeling and focus, instead, on his discovery. But before he could do either, a loud crack startled him. He looked up to see a brilliant flash of lightning over the ocean. I’d better get home fast , Nate thought. He had promised his parents he’d never use the metal detector outside on the beach in stormy weather. The sun had been shining just a few moments ago, but a storm was definitely coming. Nate knew it wasn’t safe to be outside with the metal detector during a lightning storm. Quickly shoving the ring deep in his pocket, he ran to gather his shoes and head inside. I am the...
