What Scares You the Most?

  The cold, wet world stretched green all around her. So green, she thought.

  Where is the boat? Where are my friends?

  Can I move?

  And then she snapped back to her senses. And realized she had to move.

  She raised her arms and kicked—and forced herself to the surface. She bobbed up, gasping for air. The waves tossed her hard.

  “Help me!” She heard a cry. Recognized Anthony’s voice.

  But he seemed so far away.

  “Help me!”

  Paddling hard, April turned toward the voice. But a wave roared over her.

  Choking, sputtering, she was thrown beneath the surface, back into the green world.

  No! She forced herself up. The current pulled her away from shore—then pushed her hard to the rocks.

  How can I swim in this? she wondered. The waves are so powerful—and the undertow…

  “Help!” She heard Anthony’s cry again, closer this time.

  April turned in time to see the shattered boat roll forward, carried on a high wave.

  It’s coming right at me! she realized. It’s going to hit me!

  She sucked in a deep breath—and dove under the surface again. She saw the dark shadow of the boat roll over her.

  When she pulled herself up, the boat bobbed beside her, broken and bent.

  April saw Kristen climbing onto the rocks onshore with the radio from the boat in her hands.

  Then she spotted Anthony, fighting the waves, struggling to stay afloat. He uttered another cry for help, weaker this time. And then she let out a terrified gasp as he disappeared under a rushing whitecap.

  With a groan, April threw herself toward Anthony. “I…I’m coming!” she choked out. A wave crashed over her, filling her mouth with salty foam.

  Choking, she pulled herself through the tossing waters.

  Yes! Anthony bobbed up from below the surface, thrashing, sputtering.

  Using all her strength, April forced herself forward. And now she had her arm around Anthony’s chest and was swimming hard, struggling to pull Anthony to shore.

  “Come on, Anthony! We can make it! We can make it!” April groaned.

  Her arms ached. She struggled to breathe. Holding on to Anthony, she fought the waves.

  The rocks rose up in front of her. And then, Kristen was grabbing April by the shoulders and pulling them both onto the rocks. “You okay?” Kristen asked in a tiny voice. “Are you?”

  April brushed the salty water from her eyes and swept her hands back through her dark hair. She opened her mouth to answer Kristen. But she was panting too hard to speak.

  Anthony sprawled lifelessly on his back. His eyes were shut. His head tilted at a strange, awkward angle.

  “Anthony?” April cried. “Anthony? Can you open your eyes? Can you hear me?”

  He opened his mouth in a low groan. Slowly, he pulled himself up to a sitting position. Water ran down his face.

  “Anthony?” April cried. “Say something! Tell us you’re okay!”

  He opened his mouth. And then his eyes bulged wide. “Something is…wrong,” he choked out.

  Then he started to cough. Cough after wracking cough shook his body. His eyes bulged even wider.

  Something pink bubbled in his mouth.

  He coughed harder, a choking cough.

  And a slimy pink blob flew onto his lap.

  “A jellyfish!” April cried.

  “Ohhhh, gross!” Kristen groaned.

  Anthony coughed again. His whole body heaved. Another fat pink jellyfish slid from his open mouth. It plopped softly on top of the first jellyfish.

  April and Kristen gaped in horror as Anthony’s slender body twisted and heaved. Another jellyfish bubbled in his mouth, then dropped to the rocky ground.

  Finally, Anthony’s body relaxed. He breathed heavily, wheezing with each breath. He stared down wide-eyed at the pile of jellyfish he had coughed up and moaned.

  Staring at the glistening fat jellyfish, a wave of nausea swept over April. She shut her eyes and held her breath.

  “Marlin—” April suddenly remembered. “Where is he?”

  Kristen pulled April to her feet. She pointed around the curve in the rock wall. “He must have swum to shore over there.”

  “We…have to find him.” As she tried to run, April felt waterlogged, heavy. Her legs didn’t want to move.

  She turned and saw the boat spinning in the water again. Spinning crazily, as if moved by an invisible force.

  And then suddenly, it tilted straight up—and slid down. The boat sank beneath the surface and didn’t return.

  April’s soaked sneakers thudded over the rocks as she followed Kristen around the curve.

  April glanced around the shore. “I don’t see him,” she muttered. “Hey—Marlin?” April called. “Marlin?”

  “He has to be here. Where did he go?” Kristen asked in a trembling voice.

  Anthony staggered toward them. “Do you see him?”

  April shook her head.

  “I know I saw him swimming to shore,” Anthony said.

  “Then where is he?” Kristen demanded shrilly. “He’s the best swimmer of all of us! The best!”

  April’s throat tightened with fear. She glanced over the rocks, glowing dully under the cloudy sky.

  No sign of him.

  She turned back to the water. Wave after wave rolled to the shore, sending up white sprays of foam.

  No sign of him in the ocean either.

  A chill of fear ran down April’s back.

  He’s gone, she thought. He has disappeared.

  4

  April kept staring out at the ocean. Was that Marlin’s head bobbing behind that rolling wave?

  No. Just a seagull, out for a wild ride.

  “Where is he?” she murmured, “Where?”

  Shivering, Kristen hugged herself. “Maybe we should go back to the village and change into dry clothes,” she suggested. “Then we can search for him.”

  “No!” Anthony cried. He was on his feet now, his pale face almost ghostlike. His wet clothes clung to him. His shoes sloshed as he made his way over the sand to them.

  “We have to find him—now,” Anthony insisted. “I’m not going back until we find him.”

  “You’re right,” April agreed. And then her voice broke. “I—I just don’t understand it. You saw him swimming to shore?”

  Anthony nodded.

  “So where could he be?” April asked.

  Kristen and Anthony stared back at her blankly.

  “Maybe he saw something somewhere?” Kristen suggested weakly.

  “He definitely wouldn’t go back into the water,” April said. “There was no reason to go back in.”

  “That means he’s definitely onshore,” Kristen said. “Maybe we should go back to camp and wait for him. April, you know how he wanders off sometimes. You had to go rescue him on the rocks, remember? That’s how we won the loyalty contest?”

  “I…have a bad feeling about this,” April said softly. She pulled a chunk of seaweed from the collar of her T-shirt and tossed it to the ground.

  “What kind of bad feeling?” Kristen asked, shivering, water dripping off her.

  “We don’t have time for bad feelings,” Anthony said, shaking his head. “We’ve got to find Marlin.” He spun around and began following the beach as it curved in front of the rocks.

  April and Kristen trooped after him.

  “Marlin? Hey, Marlin? Maaaaaarlinnnnnn?” They shouted his name as they walked.

  April felt a cold raindrop on her forehead. “He couldn’t have gone far,” she said.

  After a few minutes, Kristen stopped. “Maybe we should split up. You know, search in different directions.”

  “Maybe one of us should search the rocks. And one of us should search the beach. And one of us—”

  “No,” Anthony interrupted. “I think we should stick together—just for safety.”

  Kristen turned to April. “I agree wit
h Anthony,” April said.

  The rain started to patter down, pushed by a gusting wind. They climbed the sloping hill of blue rocks and gazed down from the top.

  No sign of Marlin.

  Then, trudging wearily over the wet sand, heads bowed in the rain, they searched the beach again.

  No Marlin.

  April sighed. “If he is waiting for us back at the village, I’ll kill him!” she exclaimed.

  She picked up the radio Kristen had rescued and started to carry it to the village. She thought about how nice it would be to change into dry clothes and get under some shelter. But her thoughts kept returning to Marlin.

  “I don’t know why I bothered saving that,” Kristen said, walking beside April. “It’s not going to work. We don’t have any batteries.”

  April let out a sigh. She pulled back her arm and prepared to heave it into the ocean.

  “No—wait.” Anthony grabbed her arm. “I have some batteries in my cabin. The ones I used for my tape player.”

  April tucked the radio back under her arm. “I’m so exhausted, I can’t think straight.”

  The dock came into view, still empty, still bobbing in the rough waves. They turned and started to jog to the cabins.

  “Marlin? Are you here?” April shouted. “Marlin?”

  No reply.

  Trudging through the rain, they searched every building. The cabins were dark and empty.

  Anthony’s pale features tightened with fear. “How could he disappear into thin air?” he asked in a tiny, frightened voice.

  5

  They sloshed through the puddled sand to their cabins. April squeezed her hair. It drizzled water like a soaked sponge.

  She dried it as best she could and changed into a pair of snug leggings and a heavy sweatshirt. She realized she was shivering.

  “Why is it suddenly so cold?” she asked Kristen.

  Kristen shrugged. She had pulled on two T-shirts and a vest over faded jeans. “At least the rain has finally stopped,” she said.

  They made their way to the mess hall. It was early afternoon, but the cloud-filled sky was dark as night.

  “Oh!”

  April saw a boy walking quickly toward the back of the mess hall. At first, she thought it was Marlin, and her heart jumped.

  But then he turned around, and April saw that it was Anthony wearing one of Marlin’s jackets.

  Marlin, where are you? April wondered, gazing toward the ocean. There are only three of us left, and it’s very scary without you.

  Anthony huddled over the electrical generator. “This can’t be too complicated,” he said. “Let’s try this.”

  He flipped a switch on the side. Silence. And then the generator hummed to life.

  April heard a whirring sound inside the big metal structure.

  And then the whole thing rattled and hummed as it came to life.

  “Yes! I’m a genius!” Anthony exclaimed. He slapped the two girls high-fives.

  Kristen rolled her eyes. “Anthony, all you did was flick a switch.”

  “But now we have power,” he said excitedly. “We have electricity.”

  He turned and ran to the front of the mess hall. April and Kristen hurried after him.

  Inside, he clicked the switch, and the ceiling light flashed on. “Yes!”

  He turned to them, his eyes wide. “Where is the boat radio? Here. I brought batteries.”

  April groaned. “I left it in the cabin.”

  She took off, running to her cabin. It was suddenly very still out. No breeze at all. Not a leaf quivered on the palm trees at the edge of the forest.

  Halfway to the cabin, she stopped.

  Her skin prickled. Why did she have the feeling someone was watching her?

  “Marlin?”

  She gazed into the trees. No. No one there.

  Shaking off the strange feeling, she ran to the cabin, picked up the radio, and carried it to Kristen and Anthony.

  Anthony slid the batteries into the back. The three of them huddled around as he turned the power switch. The radio crackled to life.

  “We’re outta here!” Anthony declared. “We’ll contact someone on the main island. We’ll explain what’s happening. And they’ll be here in minutes.”

  He grinned at the two girls. “What’s the first thing you’re going to eat when we get to some food?”

  “Pizza!” Both April and Kristen answered at once. They burst out laughing.

  Then all three of them turned back to the radio. Anthony handed April the microphone. Slowly, he began turning the dial, searching for a frequency.

  “What should I say?” April asked. “Should I say mayday or something, like in the movies?”

  “Just say hello,” Kristen answered.

  “Yeah. Keep saying hello until someone answers,” Anthony said.

  April stared at the crackling radio. The microphone trembled in her hand.

  She raised the mike to her mouth. “Hello? Hello? Hello? Can anyone hear me?”

  The radio whistled. The sound rose and fell as Anthony turned the dial.

  “Hello? Hello?” April realized she was shouting into the microphone. “Hello? Anyone? Please?”

  All three of them snapped to attention when they heard a voice.

  A woman’s voice. Very distant. Almost buried in the crackling static.

  “Hello?” April called to the woman. “Hello? Can you hear me?”

  April struggled to hear. But the woman’s voice disappeared behind the static.

  “Hello? Can you hear me?” April turned to Anthony. “Can you turn the volume up?”

  Anthony shook his head. “I’ve got it cranked up as high as it will go.”

  And then the static faded. April and the others could hear the woman clearly. Her voice lifted and fell.

  “She’s singing!” Kristen exclaimed.

  Yes.

  The woman was singing in a low, throaty voice.

  Singing a slow, sad song in a foreign language April didn’t recognize.

  “What’s going on?” April cried, staring at the radio speaker. And then she froze.

  She recognized the voice.

  She had heard that voice—here on the island.

  A chill spread over the back of her neck. “It…it’s the same woman,” April murmured.

  Anthony’s mouth dropped open.

  Kristen turned to her. “Excuse me?”

  “It’s the singing I heard before,” April said. “The same song, the same strange words.”

  They listened to the song, so slow and sad. No music. Just a woman singing alone.

  Kristen shuddered. “Change the frequency—quick,” she told Anthony.

  April didn’t wait for him. She grabbed the dial and turned it.

  They heard static again.

  And then the woman returned, singing in her low, throaty voice.

  April gave the dial a hard turn. “Hello? Hello?” she called into the microphone.

  The whistling and static faded. And the woman was back again.

  “No!” April cried.

  She turned the dial.

  The woman was still there, singing her strange, sad song.

  “Please!” April cried, feeling herself lose control. “Please—get off! Stop! Stop singing!”

  Another frequency. The woman was there too.

  Another.

  The woman continued her song.

  “Stop it! Stop it!” April screamed.

  “She’s everywhere!” Kristen cried. “She’s on every frequency!”

  Anthony shook his head, his face twisted in confusion. “But—that’s impossible!” he muttered.

  And then through the tiny radio speaker, they heard the woman start to laugh. A deep, cold, cruel laugh.

  “Turn it off!” Kristen cried, holding her ears. “April—turn it off!”

  April clicked off the radio and tossed the microphone to the floor.

  But to their horror, the laughter continued.

&nb
sp; Icy laughter, sharp as icicles…echoing off the walls, ringing in their ears.

  6

  April pulled the blanket up to her chin. Why is it so cold? she wondered.

  This is a tropical island. It’s supposed to be summer all year long.

  She shut her eyes and tried not to think about anything at all.

  The rest of the day had gone by in a blur.

  When the woman’s terrifying laughter finally stopped, April and her friends tried the radio again. They knew it was their only hope.

  But now it fell completely silent. Not even whistles or static.

  Chilled, they had tried to light a fire in the mess hall fireplace. But every time the logs started to catch, a powerful wind blew down the chimney and put the fire out.

  April, Kristen, and Anthony stared at the fireplace in disbelief.

  “It’s like…we’re cursed or something,” Anthony muttered, his voice cracking.

  “Still think this is part of the Life Games competition?” Kristen asked him.

  Anthony only shrugged in reply.

  They hadn’t eaten all day. In the mess hall kitchen, they made a desperate search of every cabinet.

  They actually cheered when April found a small box of crackers on a bottom shelf. They divided the crackers evenly, then devoured them in seconds.

  “What about tomorrow?” April had asked, licking the last salty crumb off her finger.

  “We’ll think of something,” Kristen said softly. “I know we will.”

  Anthony stared into the dark fireplace and didn’t say a word.

  Now, late at night, April shivered in her cot, her stomach growling and churning. We should win the bravery contest just for surviving today, she thought bitterly.

  And then her thoughts turned even darker: Will anyone come to rescue us? How long can we survive without any food?

  She wondered what her parents were doing right now. And she thought about her friend Pam. Pam had been so jealous, so eager to go to the island.

  Pam doesn’t know how lucky she is, April thought.

  And then the singing began again.

  7

  April raised her head from the pillow and listened.

  Yes. The same song. The same slow, sad song.

  The woman’s voice was soft and distant, but April could hear it so clearly.