And the chanting voices were all I could hear.
Down … down …
I held my breath till my lungs felt about to burst. My heart pounded in my chest.
Isn’t anyone going to rescue us?
And then, with a loud WHOOOOSH, I was pulled down hard. The heavy sand fell away. I could breathe again. I could see, too. See that I was surrounded in darkness.
Faster. I was sliding on my back, straight down.
It took me a few seconds to realize I was in a narrow glass tube, smooth like a steep waterslide. I kept my arms pressed close to my sides as I shot down … harder … harder …
So hard and fast, and now it shot me back up again!
Wow! An awesome ride!
I sailed up high and burst through an opening back into bright sunlight. I could see the whole park down below. I saw the towers of the Stagger Inn … a tiny graveyard surrounded by woods … the bobbing black balloons in Zombie Plaza …
This is like flying, I thought.
And then I let out a cry as I was pulled down into the tube again. I slid back into a cold darkness.
A heartbeat later, strong hands grabbed my ankles. A grinning Horror pulled me out of the chute and set me on hard, solid ground.
My legs felt shaky. My heart was still racing.
The Horror raised an air blower — like a big electric hair dryer — and blew all the sand off me.
Two seconds later, Sheena came shooting out. Her hair stuck out wild around her head, as if she’d been struck by lightning. She had a huge grin on her face.
“Awesome!” she shouted, pumping her fist in the air. “First, it’s terrifying. Then … awesome!”
The Horror blew the sand off her. Then we both started laughing and dancing around. It was such an insane thing to be sinking in sand and then flying in the sky!
“Hey —” After a few seconds, I stopped my crazy dance. I turned back to the chutes. “Where are Britney and Molly?”
Smoothing her hair down with both hands, Sheena stepped over to me. We both stared at the bottoms of the slides.
“Oh, no! They went under the same time we did!” I cried.
“So where are they?” Sheena asked.
I had a sudden heavy feeling in my stomach.
“Something’s gone terribly wrong,” I said. “They must be trapped under the quicksand!”
I ran to the Horror. He was sitting on a low stool, hunched over a copy of Scary People magazine.
“Did you see our friends?” I cried.
The Horror shook his head. He didn’t look up from the magazine.
“But — but — ” I sputtered. “They were with us. They sank in the quicksand with us.”
“Didn’t see them,” the Horror muttered. He flicked a bee off his purple sleeve and it fluttered to the ground.
“But … they had to come out here, right?” I asked. “They couldn’t disappear into thin air!”
He turned a page of the magazine. Finally, he looked up at me. “Beats me, kid,” he said. “I only work here.”
“But — but — ” I stammered again.
He got a lopsided grin on his face. “Why don’t you try Lost and Found?” he said. He chuckled to himself and lowered his face to the magazine.
“Big help,” I muttered. I hurried back to Sheena. She was still staring at the slide.
“It’s got to be just another HorrorLand scare,” she said. “They both probably slid out somewhere else. That dude is just trying to scare us.”
I glanced all around Quicksand Beach. No sign of the two girls. “Maybe you’re right,” I said. “Maybe they’re waiting for us at the exit.”
I turned and began to lead the way out. But I stopped when I heard a low voice. A raspy voice, faint but clear — so close to my ear, it gave me a chill:
“Ahoy, mate! Do ye want to see your friends again?”
I turned to Sheena. “Did you hear that?”
Her eyes were bulging, and her mouth had dropped open. “Captain Ben?” she whispered.
Impossible.
We both knew it was impossible.
I whirled around in a circle. No one in sight. Where did the voice come from? And the pirates chanting, too? Were there hidden speakers in the sand?
Sheena shuddered. “Someone here knows what happened to us this summer,” she said in a trembling voice. “Someone is trying to scare us for real!”
We started to run. We had to get away from there.
I kept expecting to hear Captain Ben again. Or the frightening chants of his men.
Britney and Molly weren’t waiting for us at the exit. We gazed up and down Quicksand Beach. Four or five kids were sinking in the sand, laughing as they struggled to climb out.
I led the way onto Zombie Plaza. I shielded my eyes from the bright sunlight and searched for the two girls. No sign of them.
“Weird,” Sheena muttered. “Maybe they’re back at the hotel?”
“Maybe,” I said. I didn’t know what to believe.
A Horror in a black apron stood behind a little green-and-purple cart. She held up a sugar cone. “You two look like you could use some ice cream,” she said.
She was right. My throat was dry. I had hot beads of sweat running down my forehead. “What flavors do you have?” I asked.
She opened the lid and peered into the cart. “I’ve got Liver ’N’ Onions,” she said. “That’s my most popular. And … let me see … I’ve still got some Calf’s Brain Cookie Dough left.”
Yuck. “Do you have vanilla?” I asked.
She nodded. “Yes. I have Vanilla Split Pea Onion Dip.”
“No thanks,” I said.
Sheena grinned at me. “Dare you to try the liver.”
“No way,” I said. I started to walk away. But she blocked the way. “Thought you’re totally brave now. Go ahead. Try it.”
The Horror scooped a big ball of ice cream onto the top of a cone. She handed it to me. “Liver on a garlic cone!”
My stomach gurgled. The ice cream was a sick green-brown. I saw big lumps in it.
“Hold your nose while you swallow it,” the Horror said. “It helps a little.”
My hand trembled. I held the cone away from me. But Sheena pushed it up to my face. “Go ahead, Billy, lick it. Be brave. Take a lick.”
I held my breath. Then I stuck my tongue out and took a tiny lick. Ohhhhh. My stomach gurgled again.
“Hey!” I took another lick. Tasted it. Swallowed.
Then I burst out laughing. “It’s chocolate!”
The Horror began to laugh, too. “Welcome to HorrorLand,” she said.
Sheena and I shared the cone. Then we started to the hotel to find Britney and Molly.
I saw a banner strung across the plaza: THE PLAY PEN!
“That’s the games arcade,” I said. “You know. All those carnival games. It’s on the way. Let’s check it out.”
“But what about the two girls?” Sheena asked.
“They’ll be at the hotel. For sure,” I said. “I just want to see what games they have here.”
A sign over the gate read: IT’S NOT WHETHER YOU WIN OR LOSE — BUT HOW MUCH YOU SCREAM YOUR HEAD OFF!
I saw two long rows of game booths with a wide aisle in between. The aisle was jammed with people eager to play. They all seemed to be having a lot of fun.
“These games look awesome,” I said. “Check that one out.”
TARANTULA RACES.
We jogged closer. Four kids lined up in front of the booth. A Horror placed a live tarantula on each kid’s head. “Don’t let it fall off,” the Horror said. “Last kid to get bitten wins!”
Sheena rolled her eyes. “Not my idea of a fun time,” she said.
“We have a WINNER!” a Horror shouted from a game booth down the aisle. “You win a live RATTLESNAKE!” People laughed and cheered.
Across the aisle stood a game called HEAD TOSS. Two girls held real-looking human heads in their hands. The idea was to toss the head onto a tall metal
spike. If it stuck on the spike, you won a prize.
We watched them toss their heads one at a time. The heads bounced off the spikes and rolled away. The girls walked off, shrugging their shoulders.
A boy about our age stepped up to the booth. The Horror handed him a head with short blond hair.
“Do we know that boy? He looks familiar,” Sheena said. She pulled me closer.
The kid was tall and athletic-looking. He had wavy brown hair and brown eyes. He had a sleeveless black T-shirt pulled down over faded jeans.
I snickered. “You just think he’s cute.”
“He is cute,” Sheena said. “Look. Is he smiling at me? He has a great smile.”
“He isn’t smiling at you. The ugly head is smiling at you!” I said. “Why don’t you go give it a big kiss?”
Sheena slapped my arm. “How funny are you? Not!”
The boy raised the head in one hand. But before he tossed it, he reached into his jeans pocket. I thought he was reaching for a token. The games all required copper-colored HorrorLand tokens.
But no. He pulled out a small gray card. He tapped the card twice on the side of the booth.
“What’s that about?” I whispered.
Sheena shrugged. “Maybe it’s some kind of good-luck charm,” she said.
The boy tossed the head. It slid onto a spike, spun a few times — and stayed on.
“A winner!” the Horror shouted. “Hey, everybody — we have a winner!”
Sheena and I followed the boy down the row of carnival booths. He stopped at one with a red sign: SPIN THE WHEEL OF MISFORTUNE!
The big wheel was covered with bad things that could happen to a person — Headache, Itchy Where You Can’t Scratch, Spider on Your Tongue, Beheading…. Only two squares on the wheel read: WINNER.
“No way he can win this one,” I muttered. “Why does he even want to try it? You can only lose.”
The kid stepped up to the wheel. But again, he didn’t put in a token. Instead, he pulled out that gray card. He tapped it twice on the side of the booth. Then he slid it back in his pocket.
He spun the wheel hard. Click click click. It went around and around for at least a minute. And it stopped on WINNER.
The Horror scratched his head. “I don’t believe it,” he murmured. “Our first winner!”
“This dude can’t lose!” I said to Sheena.
“And did I mention he’s cute, too?” she said, grinning.
We followed him to a game called Vampire Darts. The sign read: SEND A SILVER DART INTO THE VAMPIRE’S HEART!
The Horror handed the kid a long silver dart. The target was a tiny red heart on the back wall of the booth.
The kid tapped the little gray card twice on the side of the booth. Then he aimed and tossed the dart.
And three guesses what happened. Yes. Winner again!
“This is too good to be true!” I said.
And maybe it was. Because everything changed all at once.
The Horror in the dart booth didn’t hand him a prize. Instead, he signaled to two Horrors across the aisle. The Horrors wore black-and-orange Monster Police uniforms with big silver badges on their chests. They turned instantly and began moving toward him.
The boy took off running.
“Stop right there!” one of the Horrors shouted. “Stop — now!”
They pushed past a group of kids and hurtled after the boy.
The boy ran toward us. His brown hair was flying up behind him. I could see the look of panic on his face.
“Hey!” I cried out as he bumped up against me.
He shoved something into my hand. “Hide it,” he gasped. “Quick. Hide it.”
He didn’t stop. He zigzagged through the crowd, down the long carnival aisle.
The two Monster Police tromped past Sheena and me, running hard. People screamed and jumped out of their way.
I opened my hand and studied the object the boy gave me. It was a gray plastic card. A room key card. I shoved it into my jeans pocket and kept my hand around it.
“Oh, no!” Sheena cried out as the two Monster Police caught up to the boy. One held him. The other one searched his pockets.
“This is sick! What do they want?” Sheena cried.
I knew what they were searching for — the key card.
But why? What was the big deal about a plastic card?
“Uh-oh.” I gasped. One of the two cops suddenly turned. He narrowed his eyes at Sheena and me.
Did he see the boy hand the card to me?
The cop started toward me, moving fast. His partner let go of the boy and followed.
“They’re coming over here!” Sheena cried. “What do they want? What should we do?”
Sheena and I pushed through a group of teenagers in front of the dart booth. Then we lowered our heads — and ran.
I jumped over a baby stroller — ignored the startled cries of the mom and dad — and kept going.
“Whoa!” I skidded to a stop in front of a ten-foot-tall gorilla. A man in a costume? I didn’t wait around to figure it out. The gorilla let out a roar. I squeezed right through his legs and took off.
Our sneakers pounded on the concrete. Sheena and I darted across Zombie Plaza. I kept glancing back. No sign of the two Monster Police. Did they lose us in the crowd?
Gasping for breath, I slipped into the hotel. I held the door for Sheena. We ran through the lobby, into the elevator.
We didn’t say a word till we reached my room. Then we both collapsed onto the long couch, panting, groaning, wiping sweat off our foreheads.
“Oh, wow,” Sheena muttered. “Oh, wow. Oh, wow. What was that about?”
“They were looking for this,” I said. I reached into my pocket and pulled out the plastic card. “That boy — he gave it to me when he ran past.”
“What is it?” Sheena grabbed it from my hand and studied it. “The card he kept tapping on the booths. Weird. Look — it has words on it.”
She handed it back. I turned it over in my hand. “The letter P,” I said. “The rest has all been rubbed off.”
Sheena scrunched up her face. “P? What does it stand for? Play Pen? The name of the game arcade?”
“Beats me.” I shoved it into my pocket. “He told me to hide it.”
Sheena’s mouth dropped open. “Billy — we forgot about Britney and Molly! How could we?” she cried. “I … I hope they came back to the hotel.”
I picked up the room phone. “I’ll call the hotel operator,” I said. “See if I can get their room.”
“I’m really worried,” Sheena said, hugging herself. “I hope they’re okay.”
“Me, too,” I said. I pushed 0 and waited for the operator to come on.
I heard two rings. Then a click. Then …
“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”
I pulled the phone away from my ear. “It’s just a man laughing,” I told Sheena. “Listen.”
I shoved the phone to her ear.
“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”
“What a totally nasty, evil laugh!” Sheena exclaimed. She slammed the receiver down. Then she picked it up again. “Let’s try another number.”
She pushed the number for room service.
“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”
I felt a chill run down my back. “Do you remember that laugh?” I asked.
Sheena gasped. “It sounds like Captain Ben!”
She pushed 0 again, and we both listened.
“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”
The phone fell out of Sheena’s hand. She started to tremble. She grabbed my arm. “Billy,” she whispered, “let’s get out of here!”
We stepped out into the long, dark hall. I pulled the door shut behind us. The evil laughter still rang in my ears. Every time I heard it, I felt cold all over.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“To the front desk,” Sheena said. “We’ve got to find out about Britney and Molly before we leave.”
We made our way quickly down the hall. The elevat
or doors creaked open — and a boy stepped out. The boy who gave me the weird key card.
“Hey — ” He let out a startled cry. “You guys again! You’re on the thirteenth floor, too?”
“They let you go!” I cried.
“That was totally disturbing!” he said. “Do you believe that? What was their problem?”
He said his name was Matt Daniels. I handed him back his card. “Why did those Monster Police want it so badly?” I asked.
“No clue,” he said. He turned to Sheena. “Sorry if I got you two in trouble.”
“No problem,” Sheena said. Her cheeks turned pink. She really did have a crush on him. “Where’d you get that card?”
Matt held it in front of him. “It was way weird. A Horror came up to me on the Plaza. He shoved it into my hand. He looked really nervous. He said to guard it. He said it would take me places.”
I squinted at it. “Take you where?”
Matt shrugged. “Beats me. The Horror took off before I could ask him anything. I tried using it on those games. I think it helped me win — and I didn’t even need tokens.”
“That is totally disturbing,” I said.
Matt tucked the card into his pocket. “I didn’t want to give it to those cops. The Horror told me to guard it. And … I want to see what else it can do.”
“We’re going to the front desk,” Sheena told him. “Two girls we met, Britney and Molly … They went with us to Quicksand Beach. But they didn’t come out. We want to see if they came back here.”
She flashed Matt a smile. “Want to come with us?”
Matt shrugged. “Sure,” he said.
Creaking and groaning, the elevator carried us down to the first floor. “My room is awesome,” Matt said as we waited for the doors to open. “And it’s free. Believe that? I got some kind of free invitation. I don’t know why.”
“So did we,” I said. “It’s like a big mystery. How did we get picked?”
“Britney and Molly, too,” Sheena said. “I guess we won some kind of contest. But Billy and I don’t remember entering any contest.”
“Me, either,” Matt muttered. “Weird.”
On the first floor, we stepped out into a long hall. The walls were covered in fake cobwebs. And giant spiders bobbed and spun from webs dangling from the ceiling lights.