“April had an accident,” Kristen replied. “We’ll tell you about it later. First we have to get her dried off.”
The two boys glared suspiciously at April.
“An accident?” Anthony asked. “How could you have an accident? We really needed to win that race.”
Marlin put a hand on Anthony’s shoulder. “Easy, man. Accidents happen. You can see she’s drenched. Give her a break.”
April turned to see Marks approaching. “I was about to send the coast guard out for you two,” he said. “What happened?”
“Jared rammed my kayak,” April said, her voice still hoarse and clogged. “He tipped me over, and I fell out. Kristen came back to save me.”
Marks studied them both. His face settled into a hard frown. “The other team told me they won fair and square,” he said finally. “But Jared cheated, didn’t he?”
Marks turned to Abby, who was piling the kayaks back into the equipment shed. “Get the other team,” he called. “Tell them to get out here—right away.”
Jared, Clark, and their two teammates soon joined them. They were looking very pleased with themselves, having won the kayak race. Jared kept grinning at April, as if he had won a tremendous victory.
But Marks’s words quickly made their smiles fade. “You won the kayak race,” he told them. “But did you forget that the second Life Games competition is for honesty?”
“Whoa. Hold on—” Jared started to say.
But Marks cut him off with a sharp look. “The honesty competition is won by Team Three—April, Kristen, Marlin, and Anthony,” he announced, staring hard at Jared. “Your team is eliminated.”
April felt a shiver. That word again. Eliminated.
Her teammates began cheering, shouting, slapping high fives and hugging each other—a wild celebration.
We made it to the final game, April realized. She gazed at her happy teammates. If we win this game, we’ll split a hundred thousand dollars.
Can we do it?
Late that night, April was awakened from a sound sleep by noises. She sat up on her cot, rubbing her eyes, listening.
Voices outside. A loud bump.
From the dock?
She had been sleeping in shorts and a sleeveless T-shirt. She pulled on sneakers and ran outside without lacing them.
It was a hot, damp night. Not a breeze. The trees didn’t move.
Turning to the dock, she saw two beams of light. From the boats.
Was someone taking the boats out at this time of night?
“April, what’s up?” Kristen crept up behind her.
“I’m not sure,” April replied.
She saw Anthony and Marlin step out from their cabin across the path. “Hey—someone’s in the boats!” Marlin exclaimed.
The four of them began jogging toward the dock.
As they came closer, April saw Marks and Rick. Rick jumped onto the boat on the left. Marks hopped on after him.
“Where are they going?” Kristen asked in a shrill whisper.
“Hey—the other kids are on the second boat,” Marlin said, pointing.
The twin beams of light swept over the village, then across the trees. The boat motors roared as the boats pulled away from the dock.
“Hey, wait!” Anthony cried. “I don’t believe this!”
“They’re leaving! They’re all leaving!” April shouted.
“Why are they leaving us here?”
As she passed Marks’s office, she glanced in through the window. Empty. He had taken all his stuff.
The doors of the meeting lodge and the mess hall had been left wide open. Empty inside.
They’re taking everything with them! she realized.
The dark water churned. The engine roar grew fainter as the boats sped off into the darkness.
April and her friends ran to the dock. “Wait! Wait!” They began waving frantically and shouting.
“Come back! Hey—where are you going?”
A few seconds later, the boats had melted into the night blackness.
Silence now, except for the gentle wash of the waves against the dock pilings.
“They can’t do this!” Marlin cried, shaking his head. “They took everything and left us here. How are we supposed to survive?”
“I don’t understand,” Kristen said in a tiny voice. “The letter Marks wrote to us didn’t say anything about being stranded on this island. No adults. Nobody!”
“They’re not coming back,” Anthony muttered. “They took everything. They left the island bare!” He kicked the sand angrily. “We’re stranded here. With no food. And no way to get home.”
“Is Marks crazy?” Kristen asked. “This can’t be part of the competition. Why did he do it?”
No one had an answer. They stared out at the water for a long time. Then they turned and started trudging slowly back to their cabins.
And as April made her way, gazing at the empty, abandoned village, she heard something…a voice on the wind….
She stopped and tilted her head to listen.
What was it?
A woman humming?
TO BE CONTINUED…
About the Author
R.L. STINE says he has a great job. “My job is to give kids the CREEPS!” With his scary books, R.L. has terrified kids all over the world. He has sold over 300 million books, making him the best-selling children’s author in history.
These days, R.L. is dishing out new frights in his series THE NIGHTMARE ROOM. When he isn’t working, he likes to read old mysteries, watch SpongeBob Squarepants on TV, and take his dog, Nadine, for long walks around New York City, where he lives with his wife, Jane, and son, Matthew.
Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.
Read all the books in the NIGHTMARE room
series by R.L. Stine
#1 Don’t Forget Me
#2 Locker 13
#3 My Name Is Evil
#4 Liar Liar
#5 Dear Diary, I’m Dead
#6 They Call Me Creature
#7 The Howler
#8 Shadow Girl
#9 Camp Nowhere
Copyright
THE NIGHTMARE ROOM THRILLOGY #1: FEAR GAMES. Copyright © 2001 by Parachute Publishing, L.L.C. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
Adobe Digital Edition June 2009 ISBN 978-0-06-190475-2
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
About the Publisher
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R.L. Stine, Fear Gam
es
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