The monster let out a deafening roar. I covered my ears and kept running.
Its four clawed hands swiped at Dad. Missed.
We hurtled past it.
Only to face two giant birds, at least ten feet tall. They looked like cranes. They squawked and flapped their enormous wings. It sounded like canvas tents flapping in a strong wind.
“Ohh! Help!”
Was that me shrieking like that?
Was I really being wrapped in their hot, flapping wings? Smothered? Choked?
“No—please!”
How did I break away?
Was I being chased now by six growling piglike creatures with sharp, pointed teeth curling from their twisted mouths?
The screams and terrified shrieks of my family rose over the beating birds’ wings, the monstrous growls and grunts.
I heard Dad cry out. And in the dim light, I saw him struggling to free himself from the four-armed creature.
“No!” I screamed as I felt something warm wrap around my ankle. A fur-covered snake!
I screamed again and kicked wildly, sending it flying into the darkness.
But before I could move away, another furry snake spun around my leg, tightening quickly.
I bent and pulled at it as it hissed in protest.
I tossed it aside.
“Run! Run!” the voice on the loudspeaker boomed. “Twenty seconds to live!”
More monsters loomed in front of us. Disgusting yellow lizardlike creatures with dark flicking tongues like bullwhips. A hopping furry ball that roared as it hopped, sharp teeth poking out of three mouths.
Hissing snakes, enormous buzzing insects with glowing red eyes, more grunting pig monsters. Then a giant bearlike creature came at us on two legs. It tossed its dark, round head back and laughed like a hyena as its paws punched the air.
“Help me!” I heard Luke shriek. And then I saw him disappear, wrapped inside the beating wings of one of the giant birds.
The bird cawed in triumph as its wings tightened around my brother.
“Ten seconds!” the voice boomed.
“No!” I cried. I lunged toward the bird, grasped the beating wing, and pulled it open.
Luke slid out, and we both began to run.
Monsters growled, and flapped, and grunted, and roared.
“Are we… going to make it?” Luke asked in a tiny voice.
I didn’t have a chance to answer.
Two powerful paws grabbed me around the waist, hoisted me high in the air, then slammed me to the floor.
I landed hard on my stomach. My forehead hit the floor.
Dizzy and hurt, I looked up in time to see an enormous elephantlike creature about to flatten me with its huge furry back foot.
I’m not going to make it, I realized.
I’m not going to make it.
24
The enormous flat foot lowered over me slowly, steadily. The monster was taking its time.
It all seemed to be happening in slow motion.
I wanted to move. I wanted to roll out from under it.
But the fall had taken my breath away. I lay there gasping, watching the monster foot coming down to crush me.
“Ohhh.” I couldn’t catch my breath. I couldn’t squirm away.
I could feel the heat of the monster foot. I could smell its putrid sweat.
The foot pressed down on my stomach.
I shut my eyes and waited for the pain.
The jarring blast of a buzzer made my eyes shoot open.
The monster raised its heavy foot from my body. The floor shook under its weight as it began to lumber away.
Am I alive? I wondered.
Or am I only dreaming that I’m still alive?
Is that creature really leaving without crushing me?
The buzzer echoed in my ear. Then it abruptly stopped. The loudspeaker crackled on.
“Time’s up!” a woman’s voice said. The voice of the HorrorLand MC who had led us to this terrifying obstacle course.
“Time is up. What a thrilling race!” she gushed.
I groaned and started to pull myself up. In the dim light, I saw that all of the monsters had vanished.
“That was a tough battle,” the MC continued over the loudspeaker. “Do we have any survivors?”
“Yes, we do,” the deep, booming voice replied.
“How many survivors do we have in there?” the woman asked.
“Three,” the booming voice replied. “Three survivors out of five.”
25
A cold chill ran down my body.
I opened my mouth in a silent cry of shock and leaped to my feet.
Three out of five?
Did that mean that two of us were dead?
My chest still ached. My knees were trembling. I squinted into the dim light, searching desperately for the others.
Halfway across the room, I saw Luke and Clay. They were huddled together, walking as if in a daze toward the far wall.
“Hey!” I tried to call to them. But my voice came out a choked whisper.
Where were Mom and Dad?
Were they both killed by the monsters?
Three out of five. Three out of five.
“Nooooooooo!” I finally found my voice and let out a horrified wail that echoed off the walls.
“Excuse me. A slight mistake,” the deep voice boomed. “Make that five out of five survivors.”
“Five out of five!” the HorrorLand MC exclaimed. “A new record. We’ve never had a perfect score before. Let’s give them a round of applause, everyone!”
I took a deep breath and held it, trying to stop my trembling.
They’re okay! I thought happily. Mom and Dad are okay.
And then I saw them. They had their arms around Luke and Clay and were making their way toward me.
“We’re okay!” I cried, rushing to them, my arms outstretched. “We’re okay!”
All five of us huddled in the center of the dark room, hugging each other and sobbing.
Dad’s arm was bleeding from a deep gash. One of the monsters had clawed him.
Aside from that, we were shaken but not hurt.
“Now what?” Luke asked in a trembling voice. “Are they going to let us go?”
“They can’t get away with this,” Dad said angrily. “They can’t do this to people and get away with it. I don’t care if it is TV!”
“Those monsters were real!” I exclaimed with a shudder. “It wasn’t a fake. They were really trying to kill us.”
“How do we get out?” Luke demanded. “Will they let us out?”
We all started chattering at once, our voices high and frightened.
Suddenly, the ceiling lights flashed on, flooding the room with bright light. And the MC’s voice broke through our frightened conversation. “Let’s bring our winners out with a round of applause!” she announced cheerfully.
We all cried out as the floor began to tilt beneath us. I grabbed on to Dad, and we started to slide.
The floor tilted down like a sliding board. And we slid out of the room—and landed in the plaza outside.
Still feeling dazed, I jumped quickly to my feet as the HorrorLand MC hurried to greet us. The big crowd of Horrors behind her was clapping and cheering.
“You can’t do this to us!” I screeched.
I was so angry, I didn’t know what I was doing. I just totally freaked.
I leaped at the woman, grabbed the top of her mask, and started to pull it off with both hands.
“You can’t do this! You can’t!” I shrieked. “Let me see your face! Let me see who you really are!”
Using all of my strength, I gave the mask a hard tug.
Then I screamed and let go as I realized the truth.
26
She wasn’t wearing a mask!
The monstrous green face was her face.
She wasn’t wearing a monster costume. None of the Horrors were wearing costumes, I realized.
I stepped back, rais
ing my hands in horror as if trying to shield myself. “You—you’re really monsters!” I stammered.
They nodded back at me, pleased grins on their ugly faces. Their yellow eyes bobbed gleefully.
“You—you’re all monsters!” I screamed. “But—but you said this was a TV show,” I stammered to the Horror MC.
Her bulging yellow eyes gazed at me. “We’re happy to say it is the top-rated show on The Monster Channel,” she said cheerily. “Thanks to great contestants like you and your family. The Monster Channel is watched by nearly two million monsters all over the world.”
“But—but—” I stammered, taking another step back.
“People don’t always take us seriously,” she continued. “People come to HorrorLand and think it’s all a big joke. People laugh at the signs around the park. They laugh at the rides and attractions. But it’s all very serious to us. All of it.”
My father stepped up beside me, shaking a fist angrily. “But you can’t do this to innocent people!” he shouted. “You can’t bring people into this park to torture them, and—and—”
“Oh, I’m sorry. Our time is up,” the MC interrupted, shaking her enormous green head. “I’m sad to say it’s time to say good-bye to our special guests for this week.”
“Now, wait—” Dad shouted, raising both hands for quiet.
The crowd of Horrors silently pushed forward. We had no choice but to start moving with them.
“Let me show you people the way we say good-bye on HorrorLand Hidden Camera,” the MC said.
Dad tried to hold back, to resist, but several Horrors bumped against him. They were bumping all of us now, pushing us toward what appeared to be a round purple pond just beyond the plaza.
We couldn’t fight back. There were too many of them.
We couldn’t run. They had us surrounded.
They drove us like sheepdogs herding cattle. In a few seconds, we were standing at the edge of the purple pond.
A foul smell rose up from the pond. The purple liquid bubbled and gurgled, making a sick sucking sound.
“Let us go!” Luke cried shrilly. “We want to go home!”
The HorrorLand MC ignored his frantic pleas and stepped to the edge of the gurgling pond. “Saying good-bye is always sad,” she said. “So we try to have a little fun with our farewells.”
“Just let us go!” Luke insisted. Dad put a hand on his shoulder to try to comfort him.
We all stared at the MC as she raised a large rock in one hand and held it over the disgusting, bubbling pond. “Watch,” she instructed us with a smile.
She let the rock drop into the pond.
As soon as it touched the thick surface, it was pulled down with a loud sucking sound.
“See how easy it is to say good-bye?” the Horror said, turning to us. “Now, will you jump in—or do you want to be pushed?”
27
Silently, the Horrors began moving in on us. Closer. Closer.
Backing up, Clay tripped over my foot and nearly fell into the gurgling purple pit. I grabbed him and held on to him until he regained his balance.
All five of us were standing at the edge of the pit.
The sour odor swept over me. I felt sick. The thick purple slime lapped up at my ankles as if reaching out to grab me.
“Mom! Dad!” I cried. I didn’t know what I expected them to do. We were all helpless.
I knew we weren’t going to escape this time.
Without realizing it, we were all holding hands.
“Will you jump in—or do you want to be pushed?” The MC repeated her question.
“I’m real sorry,” Dad murmured to us, ignoring her. “I’m real sorry I brought you here. I—I didn’t know…” His voice broke. He lowered his eyes.
“Dad, it’s not your fault!” I told him, squeezing his hand.
And as I squeezed his hand, I had an idea.
A wild idea. A stupid idea. A really crazy idea.
I knew I had to try it. It was the only idea I had.
“People laugh at everything in the park,” the HorrorLand MC had told us. “But it’s all very serious to us,” she’d said.
All very serious…
Very serious…
She stood right in front of me now, waiting for us to jump to our deaths, eager for us to get sucked down into the purple slime.
I knew this was my last chance. I knew it was crazy.
But I knew I had to try it.
I stepped up to the MC, reached out, and pinched her arm as hard as I could.
28
Her mouth opened wide, and she let out a startled gasp.
She tried to pull her arm away. But I held on and pinched harder. “The Mad Pincher strikes again!” I shouted, remembering Luke’s annoying cry.
Her yellow eyes rolled around crazily. “No!” she pleaded.
Harder. Harder.
And then I was the one to cry out as her mouth opened wide, and, with a loud whoosh, a rush of air escaped her lips.
I leaped back.
As the air rushed from her mouth, she appeared to deflate, just like a balloon.
I gaped in amazement as she folded helplessly to the ground.
An angry cry rose up from the crowd of Horrors. “Inflate her!” one of them yelled. “Inflate her immediately!”
They began moving in on us, growling and grumbling menacingly.
“Pinch them!” I shouted to my family. “Pinch them! The ‘No Pinching’ signs that we thought were so stupid—they were serious! The Horrors deflate if they’re pinched!”
A Horror stepped up, arms outstretched to push me into the pond. I pinched his arm hard, and a few seconds later, he deflated.
I heard the whoosh of air escaping to my right and saw that Luke had deflated one, too.
Whoosh! Another one deflated and folded to the pavement.
That’s all it took.
The plaza filled with frightened cries and gasps of horror.
The alarmed Horrors turned and ran. Stampeded is a better word. They scattered through the park, screaming as they ran.
Taking a long, deep breath, I happily watched them flee. “See? I always come through in a pinch!” I said, amazing myself by making a joke.
I don’t think anyone else in my family heard me. They were shouting for joy, hugging each other, jumping up and down.
“Let’s get out of here!” I shouted. I started running toward the front gate. The others followed close behind.
The gate was open now. I guess the Horrors had opened it, figuring the only place we were heading was to the bottom of the purple pond.
Without looking back, we ran out into the empty parking lot.
And stopped.
“No car,” I murmured.
In all the excitement, I had forgotten that our car had been blown up.
I let out a weary sigh. I felt as if I were deflating, just like the Horrors. “Now what?” I asked, staring across the enormous flat parking lot.
“It’s too far to walk!” Luke wailed. “How do we get out of here?”
“The buses!” Mom cried, pointing. I turned my eyes to the row of purple-and-green buses parked on the side of the lot. They glowed under the bright afternoon sun.
“Yeah!” Dad cried excitedly. “Maybe we can start one up and get away from here!”
We started jogging over the pavement to the buses. “Cross your fingers,” Dad called, leading the way. “Maybe they leave the keys in them. It’s our only chance!”
“Hurry!” Luke shouted suddenly. “They’re coming!”
My heart leaped in my chest. I turned back toward the gate.
Sure enough, the Horrors were pouring out of the park, chasing after us. “Give up! You cannot escape!” one of them screamed.
“No one ever escapes!” another Horror shouted.
“Hurry!” Luke cried. “Hurry! They’re going to catch us!”
29
With the Horrors close behind, shouting and threatening us, we ran full sp
eed toward the row of buses.
My heart was pounding almost as loud as my sneakers against the pavement. My throat ached, and I had a sharp pain in my side.
But I kept running.
“You cannot escape!”
“Stop now!”
“Give up!”
The angry cries of the Horrors sounded even closer. But I didn’t turn back to see if they were catching up.
The door to the first bus was open. Dad got there first and scrambled up the steps and inside.
Mom stepped in, followed by the two boys.
I pulled myself inside and the bus door slid shut behind me. “Dad—the keys!” I choked out.
“Yes! They’re here!” he cried happily. “Hold on! We’re getting away!”
The engine coughed, then started up with a roar. Dad lowered his foot on the gas pedal, and the bus shot forward. I stumbled down the aisle and fell into a seat behind Luke and Clay.
“Hurry! They’re coming! They’re coming!” Luke and Clay were screaming in unison.
I could hear the angry shouts of the Horrors through the closed bus windows.
“We’re okay!” Dad cried, leaning over the big steering wheel. “We’re okay! We’re outta here!”
“Yes!” I shouted happily. “Yes!”
We all started to cheer. We kept cheering until we were out of the parking lot and back on the highway.
We laughed and celebrated all the way home.
The drive took hours and hours, but we didn’t care. We were safe! We had escaped!
It was night when Dad pulled the bus up our driveway. “Home, sweet home!” I cried joyfully.
We all piled eagerly out of the bus. I took a deep breath and stretched. The air smelled so sweet and fresh. A full moon made the front lawn shine.
Then I saw him. It was a Horror, and he was clinging to the back of our bus. “Oh, no!” I cried out.
“What are you doing there?” Dad demanded.
“Did you ride there the whole way home?” Luke asked in disbelief.
I shrank back as the Horror let go of the bus and slid to the ground. His yellow eyes studied us menacingly. He moved toward us quickly.