A few seconds later, my arms stretched out. My hands returned. My skin turned back to its original color.
“I’m a human again!” I shouted, jumping up and down. “I’m totally human! I don’t want anyone to ever call me Monster again!”
Stepping over the puddles of egg yolk, we started toward the door.
“Can you believe it?” Daisy said. “We just saved the world from evil aliens.”
“No one will ever believe it,” I said.
DeWayne stopped me at the door. “Yes, they will,” he said. “I’ve got proof.”
He held up his cell phone and grinned. “I’ve been snapping photos the whole time. I’ve got Mrs. Hardesty, the monsters, Mr. Wong — everything. Got it all right here.”
“You do?” I cried. I gave him a hard slap on the back. “That’s awesome. Let me see.”
I took the phone from him and flipped it open. I scrolled through his snapshots. All feet. Just shoes. DeWayne’s shoes. Picture after picture.
I handed the phone back to him. “DeWayne, did you ever take pictures before with this phone?” I asked.
“No. It’s a new phone.”
He glanced through the snapshots. Then he shook his head sadly. “Guess we don’t have proof….”
* * *
“Michael, I’ve never seen you eat like that!” Mom exclaimed at dinner. “Be careful. Don’t eat the place mat!”
Dad laughed. “Guess you worked up an appetite, huh?” he said. “Did you have a busy day?”
“Yeah. Kind of busy,” I said.
Of course, I didn’t tell them about Commander Xannx or Hyborg-Xrxuz. Or their monsters. Or saving the whole planet from evil aliens.
I had no proof.
“What’s for dessert?” I asked.
Mom sliced large pieces of cake for the three of us. I grabbed my fork and started to shovel it into my mouth.
I’d never been so starving in my life. And this cake tasted awesome! The three of us ate in silence for a while.
“Isn’t it good?” Mom said. “Mrs. Hardesty brought it over yesterday.”
“Huh?” I tried to talk, but I had a mouthful of cake.
“Wasn’t that nice of her to bring us dessert?” Mom said. “She said she made it with her own special eggs!”
Several kids received mysterious invitations to be Very Special Guests at HorrorLand theme park. They looked forward to a week of scary fun. But the scares quickly became TOO REAL when Slappy the evil dummy, Dr. Maniac, and other menacing villains started to appear.
Two Very Special Guests — Britney Crosby and Molly Molloy — disappeared in a café with a mirrored wall. The others have been trying desperately to find them. The park guides — called Horrors — have been no help at all.
Except for one Horror, named Byron. He warned the kids they were all in danger. He said he’d help them escape from HorrorLand. He gave them tokens, which turned out to be tracking devices.
Was he trying to protect them? Most of the kids didn’t like the idea of being spied on. They gave away their tokens.
Byron told them to meet him at the Bat Barn and he’d explain what was going on. But he didn’t show up — and the kids were attacked by bats. The Bat Barn was supposed to be a fun attraction. But these bats were REAL!
Michael Munroe arrived the day before. And now he finds himself in a terrifying battle in the Bat Barn with the other Very Special Guests. He continues the story….
Red-eyed bats shrieked as they darted and swooped over us. I ducked as a bat whistled past my head, then soared up to the rafters of the barn.
Kids screamed and covered their faces. I swung both arms hard and swatted a bat off a girl’s shoulder.
“The bats are REAL!” someone screamed.
“It’s supposed to be a JOKE!” a boy cried.
A fat creature thudded into my chest, wings flapping furiously. Sharp claws dug into my T-shirt. I gripped the bat with both hands and flung it off me.
My new friend, Abby Martin, pressed her hands over her face. She screamed as a bat danced on her head, pulling at her hair. With a loud cry, I slapped it away.
My second day as a Very Special Guest at HorrorLand. It wasn’t exactly what I had imagined.
Where was that Horror, Byron? The tall one with the yellow horns? He told us to meet him here.
We didn’t have time to think about him. The screeching, glowing-eyed bats were out for blood.
The barn was big and dark. The doors had closed behind us. The only light came from a narrow window high in the roof of the barn.
In the darkness, it seemed like a thousand wings were beating around us. A thousand shrill creatures zooming low, tearing and biting at us.
Abby screamed again. I lurched toward her and stumbled over a pile of straw. Suddenly, I had an idea. Could I stop the bat attack?
The kids back home call me Monster. Believe me, I know a lot about monsters — because I WAS one! My parents and I would still be monsters. But I led them to Mr. Wong’s house. Talk about luck! There was enough of the disgusting egg yolk left to turn us back to humans.
It’s a long story. But ever since, I always carry my lucky dog whistle with me. I pulled it out of my jeans pocket and raised it to my mouth.
Would it be lucky now?
Yes! Seconds later, the shrill bat cries stopped. A strange hush fell over the barn.
The bats appeared to freeze in midair. They stopped their furious flapping. They glided up to the rafters.
They didn’t come back down.
The other kids were blinking, shaking and shivering, gazing around in confusion. Carly Beth and Sabrina dropped to their knees in the straw. Robby spun around in a circle, hands raised. The bats were gone, but he was still fighting them off.
“Hey, Michael —” Matt strode up to me. “How did you do that? How did you stop the bats?”
I raised my dog whistle. “Had this in my jeans,” I said. “Thought I’d give it a try. I guess the sound hurt them or confused them or something.”
“Good work, Michael,” Abby said. Her hands trembled as she tugged at her long black hair, trying to smooth it down. She slapped me a high five. “That was scary.”
Billy Deep and his sister, Sheena, stared at the rafters. “They’re still up there,” Sheena murmured. “Think they’ll attack again?”
“We’re outta here,” Matt said. He pushed past me and led the way to the barn doors. He shoved one open.
Late afternoon sunlight poured in. We followed him to a small grassy field beside the barn.
Sabrina gazed around. “Where is Byron?” she asked. “He was supposed to meet us here.”
“Must’ve gotten hung up,” Robby said.
“What if it was an ambush?” I said. I tapped the dog whistle against my palm. My skin still tingled from the touch of the bat claws.
“What if this dude Byron planned the whole thing?” I asked.
“You mean he told us to come here knowing the bats would attack?” Abby asked.
“No way!” Matt replied, shaking his head. “Byron is our only friend here.”
“Matt’s right,” Billy said. “He’s the only Horror who told us the truth. Byron warned us we were all invited here for a reason. He told us we were all in danger.”
“But Byron is the one who gave us those tokens, right?” I said. “And they turned out to be tracking devices. He wanted to spy on us.”
I pointed to the Bat Barn. “And now he sent us here to be creamed by screaming bats!”
“Don’t accuse Byron,” Matt said, narrowing his eyes at me.
I started to lose it. “Sorry if Byron is your hero — but I’ll accuse whoever I want!” I snapped.
Matt clenched his hands into fists. He was a big dude, almost as big as me. “You just got here, Michael,” he said, sneering. “You don’t know enough to start mouthing off.”
I should’ve just shut up. But that would be a first.
“I know enough to fight back when I’m in trouble,??
? I said. “I don’t just stand around like you — shaking like a wimp, waiting for someone to come help me!”
“Stop it, you two!” Sabrina cried. “We don’t have time —”
Too late.
Matt rushed at me. I timed it just right — and gave him a hard BUMP with my chest.
His eyes went wide with surprise. He stumbled back. And landed on his butt in a wide patch of mud.
With a furious cry, he leaped to his feet. Grabbed me by the shoulders. Pulled me down into the mud. And we started wrestling.
“Stop it! Stop it!” Sabrina grabbed my shoulders and tried to pull me off Matt. But she wasn’t strong enough.
I grabbed Matt’s head and pushed his face into the mud.
He came up sputtering.
“What are you fighting for?” Abby cried. “We’re in danger! We have to stay on the same side!”
Matt spit a mouthful of mud in my face. I pushed his shoulders down and pinned him to the ground.
“Stop! Stop the fight!”
I heard two voices I didn’t recognize.
I raised my head. Turned — and saw two black-and-orange-uniformed Monster Police running toward us, swinging wooden clubs.
“Dudes — RUN!” Billy screamed.
I jumped to my feet and helped pull Matt up from the mud.
Why were we fighting? I couldn’t remember.
As they stampeded toward us, the Monster Police waved their sticks and screamed at us to stop. I knew they wouldn’t hurt us. I mean, we were guests at the park — right?
But I took off anyway. We all did. We ran in different directions.
I was close behind Abby for a while. But then I lost her in the crowd. And then I lost myself in the crowd!
Where was I? I was running full speed now along a wire fence. On the other side, I saw kids on a beach. The kids were screaming and laughing, sinking into the sand.
Finally, I saw a sign: QUICKSAND BEACH. DROP IN ANYTIME!
It looked like fun. I spun around. I’d lost the two Monster Policemen.
I took a few minutes to catch my breath. Then I made my way back to Stagger Inn.
* * *
A short while later, everyone gathered in my room on the thirteenth floor. Matt and I stared at each other with our hands in our jeans pockets. Then we both apologized at once. We even shook hands.
“We’re cool?” I asked.
“We’re cool,” Matt said.
“Look, we’re all scared and stressed out,” Carly Beth said. “But we have to stick together.”
She sighed and dropped down onto the edge of my bed next to her friend Sabrina. “Sabrina and I didn’t believe any of this,” she said. “You know. About the missing girls and the other park.”
“But we do now,” Sabrina said.
“Look, Abby and I just got here yesterday,” I said. “We don’t know why everyone is so nervous. Tell us what’s up.”
They all started talking at once. Finally, Matt said he’d try to explain everything.
“As soon as I arrive,” he started, “this Horror named Byron runs up to me. He says I’m in danger. And he gives me this.”
Matt pulled a gray plastic card from his wallet. “It’s a room key card,” he said. “But it’s not from HorrorLand. And it seems to have special powers. It helped me win at the carnival games. And it opens doors that regular key cards don’t open —”
“Our first day, my sister, Sheena, and I met these two girls,” Billy Deep interrupted. “Molly Molloy and Britney Crosby. Then they disappeared. Gone. Poof. We’ve been searching for them ever since.”
“The Horrors won’t help us,” Sheena said. “They say the girls were never here.”
“We saw them in a café with a big mirrored wall,” Matt said. “This key card opened the door to the café. But when we went inside, the girls were gone.”
“The mirror was soft, like liquid,” Sheena explained. “I stuck my arm into it — and I disappeared, too. It’s all very hazy. But I think I ended up in a different park.”
“Byron keeps leaving us hints about another park,” Matt said. He held up the two pieces of an old park guide. One showed a carousel with flames shooting out of it. It was called The Wheel of Fire. The other showed a hall of mirrors, called Mirror Mansion.
“Strange characters keep following us here,” Robby said. “Trying to frighten us. We’ve all had scary problems back home. And they’ve followed us to the park!”
“When we looked into a piece of mirror, we saw Britney and Molly on that burning carousel,” Billy said.
“I think we’re in real danger,” Carly Beth said. “We need to make a plan. We need to get out of this park.”
“Whoa. Wait a sec,” I said. “Tell me more about the mirrors. All this stuff about mirrors is really interesting.”
“I searched my whole room,” Abby said. “I couldn’t find a mirror anywhere. Whoever heard of a hotel room without mirrors?”
Again, everyone started talking at once. None of us had mirrors in our rooms.
“This is totally disturbing,” I said. “It means we have to find a mirror. Mirrors must be a very important clue.”
“We have to find Byron first,” Matt said. “He’s the only one who can tell us what’s going on.”
I didn’t want to fight with Matt again. I could see he wanted to be leader of the group. And that was okay with me.
But once I get something in my head, I can’t get it out. And right then, mirrors were definitely in my head.
So we split up. They all went out to search for Byron. And I went on a hunt for a mirror. We planned to meet in Matt’s room in two hours.
I searched every inch of my room first. The other kids were right. No mirror. Nothing even shiny enough to be used as a mirror.
I was dying to know why.
What if I just ask someone for a mirror? I thought.
It seemed like a good plan. I took the dark, creaky elevator down to the hotel lobby. The elevator had thick cobwebs hanging from its roof. Eerie organ music played all the way down.
But I wasn’t in the mood for that kind of scary fun. I was on a mission.
I stepped up to the front desk. A green-skinned Horror with curly green hair and one brown eye and one blue eye stood behind the counter. He wore a bright purple tuxedo and lacy white shirt. A very colorful dude.
His name tag read: BOOMER. He looked up from his laptop. “Help you?”
“Yes,” I said. “Do you have a mirror I could borrow?”
“A mirror?” he replied, squinting at me with his brown eye.
“Yes, do you have a mirror?” I repeated.
He smiled. “Sure thing,” he said. “No problem.”
I blinked. That was easy.
Then Boomer’s smile grew wider. He leaned closer over the counter. “With your face, sonny, are you sure you want a mirror?” He burst out laughing.
Ha-ha.
I didn’t crack a smile. “Yes,” I said. “I couldn’t find a mirror in my room.”
“Of course not,” he said.
“I don’t get it,” I said. “Why aren’t there any mirrors here?”
Boomer lowered his voice to a whisper. “Because a lot of our guests are vampires,” he said. “It makes them sad to pass a mirror and not see their reflection. We’re just trying to be considerate, see?”
I felt myself start to get steamed. “Boomer,” I said, “I’m not going to get a straight answer from you — am I?”
He shook his head. “No, you’re not,” he replied.
“Well … can you tell me where I might find a mirror?” I asked.
He thought for a moment. “Have you tried Mirror Lake?”
“Excuse me?” I said. “Mirror Lake? Is that in this park?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. I just made it up.” He laughed again.
Ha-ha. The dude was a riot.
“Thanks a bunch,” I said. I turned and walked out of the hotel. I knew I’d find a mirror somewhere in Horro
rLand.
I tried the shops first. Clothing stores always have mirrors. I walked into a shop called FUR GET IT. They had T-shirts and caps “made of genuine werewolf fur.”
I tried on a cap. It was way itchy. I asked the salesclerk behind the counter for a mirror so I could see how the cap looked.
“Sorry, kid,” he said. “No mirrors here. We’re very superstitious. What if we broke one? Seven years’ bad luck.”
That made me think of Mrs. Hardesty — or whatever her real name was. She was superstitious, too.
I tried the mask store across the road. No mirrors.
I tried three more shops. No mirrors anywhere.
This was definitely a mystery that needed to be solved.
I began stopping people who passed by. “Do you have a mirror I could borrow? It’s really important.”
Most of them thought I was crazy. Or they thought it was some kind of HorrorLand joke. They just kept walking.
I was ready to give up. The sun was sinking behind the trees of Wolfsbane Forest. I felt tired and hungry. And angry that I couldn’t find such a simple thing as a mirror.
I guess my nickname — Monster — is a good one. When things don’t go my way, I can feel my anger start to boil up.
I turned back toward the hotel. My brain was spinning with the story of the two girls who disappeared in the café with the soft, liquid mirror.
Then a small black-and-white sign caught my eye. It was on the wall of a low white building, set back from the street. The building had a narrow white door and no windows.
The sign read: OFF-LIMITS. STAFF ONLY. DO NOT ENTER.
I read the sign three times. Then I stepped up to the narrow door. Was the door locked?
Normally, I would have obeyed the sign. But right now I was feeling angry and frustrated. I don’t like mysteries. I wanted to solve this one quickly.
I turned the knob. The door opened easily. Did someone forget to lock it?
I stepped inside and closed it behind me. I was in a tiny square hallway. In front of me — a concrete stairway leading steeply down.
A sign above the stairway read: DO NOT ENTER.
I peered down the stairs. Too dark to see anything down there. Silence. No sounds floating up.