“YAAAAIIIIII!”
Captain Ben let out a ferocious howl as the bone smashed into his chest — and pierced right through him!
It was stuck inside him. The sharp end of the bone poked out his back.
Captain Ben howled in agony. He grabbed the front of the bone with both hands — and tried to pull it out of his chest.
“YAAAAAIIII!” Another scream echoed off the water. He tugged so hard at the bone, he pulled himself overboard!
Sheena and I hugged each other and watched him splash into the water. He slapped at the surface for a few seconds. Then he sank out of sight.
He didn’t come up.
Suddenly, tall waves rocked our boat. The sea began to toss and swirl all around us.
“Billy — look!” Sheena cried. “The Scarlet Skull … it’s CRACKING APART!”
Yes. The old ship began to crack and crumble. The sails fell apart, pieces flying away like a million feathers.
The masts split and fell. The ship walls crumbled to sawdust and dropped into the sea.
Within moments, not a trace of the ship remained.
“Dr. D — !” I shouted. “Dr. D! Where are you?”
Sheena gasped. “He … he went down with the ship! He’s GONE!”
I gripped the rail and stared out at the tossing waters.
“Dr. D! Dr. D!” I shouted his name again and again.
No sign of him.
Sheena covered her face. Her shoulders trembled up and down.
And then I saw a hand reach up to the deck. It grabbed the side of the boat. Another hand appeared beside it.
I leaned down and helped Dr. D into the boat. He climbed to his feet quickly, shivering and shaking off water.
“You’re safe!” Sheena cried. We both rushed to hug him. “You’re safe! You’re safe!”
“No time,” he muttered. “We’re not safe.”
He turned and watched the shredded sails sinking into the tossing waters. “Let’s get the treasure chest down below. We’ve got to get out of here.”
We pushed the chest to the lower cabin. Then Sheena and I jammed in beside Dr. D and he started the Cassandra.
Walls of water rose all around us. Our boat tilted up high, then slammed back to the surface.
“We have to find that black cloud,” Dr. D said, gripping the wheel with both hands. He pushed the throttle forward as far as it would go.
“The black cloud?” I cried. “You want to find it again?”
“When we went through it, we entered a Dead Zone,” Dr. D explained. “That’s what the old legends say. And I’m starting to believe them! We have to go through it again and get to the other side. This isn’t our world. We’re in the world of the DEAD!”
My mouth dropped open. A shiver shook my whole body.
Dr. D is a scientist. I knew he never believed any of this stuff. But we had all seen it with our own eyes!
“That’s why the pirates came to life?” Sheena asked.
Dr. D nodded. “And that’s why in over two hundred years, no one has ever found the Scarlet Skull. It lies in the realm of the dead. And we will, too — unless we can travel back through that cloud.”
The Cassandra roared forward. Above us, a pale full moon drifted low over the ocean. Were we traveling in the right direction? Was there a way back to our world?
We didn’t speak. We stared straight ahead. The pale moonlight made the waves glimmer gray and dark green.
And then suddenly, the moon vanished. The light died. The water faded to black.
Total darkness. A thick, choking blackness.
I tried to speak. But the darkness swallowed all sound.
We found it, I thought. We found the black cloud, and we’re sailing through it!
When a full white moon finally appeared in the sky, all three of us cheered.
We hugged one another, laughing and shouting. And did a wild, happy dance on the deck. It was the best celebration of my life!
“The treasure!” Dr. D cried. “We’re safe now. Let’s check it out.”
I led the way down the steps to the cabin — and gasped in shock.
“Gone!” I cried. “The chest — it’s gone!”
Dr. D scratched his head. “Oh, well,” he said. “We came back safe — but empty-handed.”
Just a typical day in the life of the Undersea Mutant! I thought.
And then I spotted something sparkle on the cabin floor. The skull! The red-jeweled skull!
“Check it out!” I shouted. “We didn’t come back empty-handed!” I reached down to pick it up.
“Billy — DON’T!” Sheena cried. “Don’t touch it! Did you forget? It bites!”
“Don’t be crazy,” I said. “We’re back in the land of the living. Now it’s just a plain, ordinary jewel.”
I picked it up — and opened my mouth in a deafening howl of agony. “YOOOWWWWWWWWW! It BIT me! It BIT me!”
Sheena leaped back in horror — and screamed at the top of her lungs.
I laughed and tossed the big jewel from hand to hand. “Just kidding,” I said. “This time, I really gotcha, Sheena!”
I handed the scarlet skull to Dr. D. “Guess this adventure is over,” I said.
“Guess it is,” he replied. “I’m going to radio the base and let them know we’re okay.”
We followed him up to the control cabin. He switched on the radio and turned a few dials. “Dr. D to base,” he said into the microphone. “Dr. D to base. Can anyone hear me?”
We heard a crackling sound. And then from the speaker, we heard low voices:
“The bones, they crack; the bones, they creep.
The men come alive in the briny deep.
You ended our death, you ended our sleep.
The men come alive in the briny deep.”
DEAR BILLY & SHEENA DEEP:
You are in DEEP trouble now! Don’t SCREAM — but you have won a free, weeklong stay at HORRORLAND Theme Park, the SCARIEST Place on Earth!
Bring your PARENTS. Bring your swimsuits and your diving gear. And be sure to bring some shark food (like your hands and feet!).
We’ve enclosed FREE PASSES to our HUNGRY CROCS PIGGYBACK RIDE — where having fun is a SNAP!
And you’ll enjoy a visit to the BAT BARN CAFÉ. Join our thirsty vampires there for a WARM DRINK!
You don’t need a ticket for the 20-MILE SWIM-FOR-YOUR-LIFE RIDE. We know you’ll find it BREATHTAKING!
Your luxury room at the STAGGER INN offers 24-hour TOMB service. Oops. Of course, we mean ROOM service!
Come be our guest. We look forward to SCARING you!
Please RSVP to:
Di Kwickley, Guest Relations
My sister, Sheena, and I were thrilled. Sheena was so excited about going to HorrorLand, she was nice to me for a whole week!
A lot of our friends had been there, and they told us all about it. They said it was the most awesome park on earth.
Sheena and I spent the morning just walking around the park, taking it all in. Believe it or not, the first thing I wanted to do was go on The Bottomless Canoe Ride.
I know, I know. Sheena and I just had a horrifying time on the water. I guess that’s one reason we were so happy to be in a place where the scares weren’t real.
But we never made it to the Bottomless Canoe.
After lunch, we trotted through the hotel lobby — and saw two very unhappy girls at the front desk. They were about our age. Both were tall and thin with coppery hair.
One wore a pale green T-shirt over white tennis shorts. The other wore a short red-and-yellow sundress.
“But that’s impossible!” the girl in the sundress cried. She pounded her hand on the front desk.
The Horror behind the desk shrugged. “Go figure.”
“That’s what you told us the last time!” the girl cried. “It has to be a mistake!”
Sheena and I stopped to watch. What was their problem?
The girls stepped away from the desk. One of them was trembling. T
he other one tried to comfort her. “Of course it’s a mistake,” she said.
Sheena can never resist trouble. She pulled me over to the two girls. “What’s wrong?” she asked.
They both jumped. I guess we startled them. “My parents are missing,” the one in the sundress said.
“No big deal,” Sheena said. “Our parents are missing, too.”
They both gasped.
“Yeah,” I added. “Who needs parents?”
I meant it as a joke. You know. Trying to get them to lighten up. But they didn’t laugh.
They told us their names. Britney Crosby and Molly Molloy.
“Your parents are missing, too? For real?” Britney asked.
“Nothing is real here,” I said.
We led them farther away from the dude behind the front desk. “Don’t be upset,” Sheena said. “Our family checked in this morning. Outside my room, I heard some Horrors talking in the hall. They said they always sneak the parents away. To a hotel of their own.”
“They did it to us,” I said. “We went to our parents’ room, and they were gone.”
Molly shook her head. “You mean it’s a joke?” she asked. “And then the Horrors lie and say your parents checked out and went home without you?”
Sheena nodded. “They do it to all the kids. It’s one of their favorite scares. It’s like everything else here. A big fake.”
Britney let out a sigh. “I knew my parents wouldn’t just leave,” she said.
“You’ve never been here before?” I asked.
Britney and Molly shook their heads. “Britney got a special invitation,” Molly said. “We were totally psyched.”
“Us, too,” I said.
I could see Britney was still worrying about something. “My dad left his new digital camera in their room,” she said. She pulled it out of her bag.
“Can’t you just return it when you see him?” I asked.
“You don’t understand,” Britney said. “He left a picture in it. It was crazy. A … a picture of Slappy.”
“Who?” Sheena and I both asked at once.
“A ventriloquist’s dummy,” Molly said.
“From back home,” Britney added. “No way that picture could be in the camera. No way Slappy could be here in HorrorLand.”
I stared at them. Britney was trembling. Molly looked really upset, too.
A ventriloquist’s dummy? What’s the big deal?
“Can we see it?” Sheena asked. “Show us.”
Again, Britney glanced at Molly. They were definitely stressed. I figured there was something about this dummy they weren’t telling us.
Britney raised the camera and clicked it on. She pressed a button and squinted at the view screen. “Weird,” she muttered.
Molly grabbed Britney’s arm. “What’s wrong?”
Britney pressed the button again. Then again.
“The photo is gone!” she said. “No — wait!”
She let out a gasp. She held the camera up to her friend. “I don’t believe it, Molly! Look!”
Sheena and I edged up behind Molly so we could see the photo, too. I squinted at the little screen.
And there we were in the photo … Britney, Molly, and Sheena and me. And the dummy was standing right behind us!
“How did you take this picture of us?” Sheena asked Britney. “The camera was in your bag.” Sheena had her face all scrunched up, the way she does when she’s puzzled.
Britney didn’t answer. She stared at the screen. She was breathing really hard. She looked totally frightened. She glanced all around the lobby as if that dummy could be hiding in any corner. Imagine being afraid of an old ventriloquist’s dummy!
Finally, Molly took the camera from her. “It must be some kind of HorrorLand trick,” she said softly. “Forget about it. We came here to have fun.”
“You got that right!” I said. “Here we are in the most awesome theme park on earth. Let’s go out and go crazy!”
“I think I’m already going crazy,” Britney muttered. She shuddered. Then she tucked the camera into her bag. “You’re right. It’s some kind of joke. Let’s try to have some fun.”
The two girls followed Sheena and me out into the park.
It was a sunny, breezy day. Zombie Plaza was crowded with families hurrying in all directions. I heard screams and laughter all around.
A Horror walked by carrying a bunch of helium balloons, all black. His purple tail bounced up and down as he struggled to hold on to the long strings in the strong gusts of wind.
“How about a balloon?” he asked, stepping in front of us. “What color would you like? Black?”
Before we could answer, a blast of wind sent him stumbling away.
A female Horror came by wearing a black-and-white signboard. The big letters on the front read: FUN! THRILLS! THE FREE-FALL BUNGIE RIDE! The sign on her back read: ONE-WAY TICKETS ONLY!
She stopped and called to the four of us, “Want to try it? It doesn’t hurt at all until you land!”
We laughed. I could see Britney and Molly were starting to cheer up.
“My friend Jason back home said we had to try The Bottomless Canoe Ride,” Britney said. “He said you get really wet.”
“Sheena and I were just talking about that ride!” I said.
Britney pointed across the plaza. “It’s over there on the other side of Quicksand Beach.”
“Yo! Quicksand Beach! Yesss!” I cried. I pumped my fists in the air. “We’ve got to try that first. Think they have real quicksand?”
Sheena gave me a shove. “Haven’t you had enough sand traps?”
“There’s no such thing as enough,” I said. I took off, running toward the big sign that read:
QUICKSAND BEACH. SINK … OR SINK!
As we ran closer, I could see kids up to their waists in the sand. They were screaming and frantically struggling to climb out.
I knew it had to be totally awesome.
We stepped up to the entrance booth. Sheena held back. “Billy, you’re totally nuts. I can’t believe you want to do this after what we went through with that sand pit.”
“This time, it’s just a joke,” I replied.
A Horror leaned out of the booth. He asked our shoe sizes. Then he pulled out four pairs of blue rubber shoes and set them on the counter. “These are for walking on the quicksand,” he said. “Of course, you won’t walk very far!”
Molly tugged nervously at a strand of her hair. “What happens when we sink?” she asked him.
He handed her a pair of shoes. “If you go under, hold your breath as long as you can,” he said. “Sometimes it helps.”
We stepped out onto the wet yellow sand. Molly grabbed my arm. “He was joking — right?”
“Everything is a joke here — remember?” I said.
I took five or six steps. The rubber shoes made a squish squish squish sound. Clumps of sand stuck to the soles.
Quicksand Beach was a large square area of sand facing a tiny green pond. It was kind of like a big sandbox. The beach was fenced off on three sides. To keep innocent people from wandering onto it, I guessed.
“It’s so soft and mushy, it’s hard to balance,” Molly said. She had her arms stuck out at her sides, like she was on a tightrope. “It’s like walking on pudding,” she said.
“It’s kind of quiet here,” Britney said.
I gazed around. The kids we saw earlier were gone. We were the only ones on the beach now.
Squish squish …
“WHOOOAAA!” I let out a shout as I felt myself start to sink.
The shoes were stuck in the mucky, wet sand. In seconds, my ankles disappeared. Then the sand rose up like a goopy ocean wave over my calves.
“Help!” Sheena twisted and squirmed, but she started to sink, too. It took only a few seconds for her knees to disappear. She was dropping fast!
I turned my head and saw Britney and Molly waving their arms frantically. They’d already sunk to their waists.
“Ar
e we having fun yet?” Sheena asked.
I laughed. “It feels kinda weird, doesn’t it? It’s so lumpy and wet. I didn’t expect it to be so hot!”
“I … I don’t like this!” Molly cried. “It’s like sinking in vomit!”
“Thanks for sharing that,” I groaned.
I saw a human hand poking up from below the surface. I had to study it twice. It looked so real!
Sheena slapped my shoulder and pointed. “Check those out,” she said. I followed her gaze and saw yellow bones — skeletons of small animals — trapped in the quicksand.
“Those skeletons …” Sheena said. “They look like … rat skeletons!”
“Totally fake,” I said. But — whoa. I sank to my armpits in the mucky sand. I had to raise my arms high to keep them above the surface.
I tried to kick my legs, tried to raise my knees. But I had sunk too deep. Every move I made forced me to sink lower.
“Hellllp — !” I heard Britney’s shrill cry. “Isn’t anyone going to rescue us?”
“Yeah. Who’s gonna pull us out?” Molly’s voice shook.
I felt myself drop. The sand rose up to my chin. A sharp, sour smell invaded my nostrils.
“Billy, help — ” Sheena whispered. “This isn’t fun. We’re … gonna go under!”
“Isn’t anyone w-watching us?” Molly sputtered.
I started to answer and got a mouthful of sticky, wet sand.
When I finished coughing and choking, I heard the voices.
Low voices. Nearby.
Low voices of men chanting in unison …
“The bones, they crack; the bones, they creep.
The men come alive in the briny deep.
You ended our death, you ended our sleep.
The men come alive in the briny deep.”
“Nooooo.” I heard Sheena moan beside me.
I tried to turn to her. But my face was sinking into the wet sand.
My brain whirred. I knew Captain Ben’s dead pirates couldn’t be here in HorrorLand. No way.
So how could we hear the same frightening chant? The same low voices?
I sucked in a deep breath and held it. The hot sand covered my nose. Everything went black as my head sank under the surface.
Can’t see. Can’t breathe.