به سرزمین وحشت وارد شو فصل 03

Enter Horror Land - Chapter 03

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 HorrorLand.

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.

Maybe they hide all the mirrors here, I told myself. Maybe I’ll find stacks and stacks of mirrors.

I knew that was dumb. But I had to find out what was down there. I took a deep breath and started down the stairs.

My shoes thudded on the concrete. The stairs seemed to go down forever.

I stopped halfway and squinted into the dim light. I still couldn’t see anything. Just a high concrete wall.

No people. No Horrors. No sounds.

I climbed the rest of the way down. Gazing all around, I found myself in an enormous cavern. It seemed to stretch for miles!

It was silent there. I could hear my footsteps echo off the concrete walls.

I came to a dark tunnel entrance in the wall. Glancing around, I saw dozens of tunnels heading off in all directions.

Fat pipes and electrical cables stretched down the tunnels. From deep in the tunnel, I could hear the hum of machinery.

I jumped when I heard a shrill BEEP BEEP BEEP.

Spinning around, I saw a row of robots shuffling out of one tunnel. Dozens of them. They looked like shiny metal wheelbarrows with heads and arms. A wheel in front and two short legs in back.

Their heads were round and covered in control buttons and dials. The heads were spinning and beeping as the wheelbarrow bodies rolled across the floor. Each wheelbarrow carried a large wooden crate.

I stood frozen, watching them. Finally, they disappeared into another tunnel.

Alone again, I moved to the next tunnel. I could see two rows of computer screens and keyboards all down the tunnel.

The controls are here underground, I realized. Everything that runs the park. The tunnels must stretch from one end of HorrorLand to the other.

It’s all electronic. Computerized. No people, I realized.

Wrong!

I gasped as a powerful hand grabbed me tightly by the shoulder and spun me around.

My mouth dropped open but no sound came out.

I stared up at a giant Horror. He must have been at least eight feet tall!

He had long black horns standing straight up from the thick brown fur of his head. He wore a black-and-orange Monster Police uniform, tight over his massive chest.

He gripped my shoulders and didn’t let go. And stared down at me with cold black eyes.

“Kid,” he boomed. “You’ve made a bad mistake.”