به سرزمین وحشت وارد شو فصل 04

Enter Horror Land - Chapter 04

I don’t scare easy. After all, I faced real monsters back home, and I defeated them all.

But this dude was a GIANT!

“I — I know I made a mistake,” I stammered.

Think fast, Michael.

“I … thought … this was the Doom Slide,” I said. “Some kids pointed me here. They said this was the Doom Slide ride.” He didn’t let go of my shoulders. He leaned over me. His breath smelled of onions. “Kid, can you read?” he asked.

I nodded. “Yeah. Oh. You mean those signs?”

“Right. The Do Not Enter signs,” he said. “You read them?”

“I thought they were a joke,” I said. “You know. Part of the Doom Slide. Like, to scare kids. Like everything else here.” His deep black eyes burned into mine. He was trying to decide if he should believe me or not.

“You could get lost down here,” he said in a low whisper. “You could get lost in these tunnels forever.” A chill tightened the back of my neck. Was he threatening me?

He let go of my shoulders. He stepped back. His shadow on the floor stretched for miles. “The signs were real,” he said. “Go back outside, kid. Walk straight to Zombie Plaza. Then follow the signs to the Doom Slide.” “Okay. Thanks,” I said. I turned and hurried to the stairs.

“Sorry if I scared you,” he called after me.

Was he kidding? I didn’t wait to find out.

We met in Matt’s room a short while later. The other kids had no luck, either. No sign of the Horror named Byron.

We were all hot and tired and jittery. We weren’t having any fun. And we weren’t getting anywhere.

What was going on in this creepy park? We still didn’t have a clue.

But we couldn’t stop discussing it.

“I had that golden token,” Robby said. “It said Panic Park — remember?” “In the vampire restaurant, I stared into the token,” Abby said. “And I started to feel strange. Like it was pulling me. Pulling me into it.” “Abby, could you see your reflection in it?” I asked. “Was it like a mirror?” Abby nodded yes.

“What happened to it?” I asked.

“A waitress took it,” Robby said. “She thought it was her tip.” “Okay. But this is cool!” I said, suddenly excited. “A coin can act like a mirror, right?” “It has to be real shiny,” Robby said.

“Come on,” I said. “Who has a shiny coin? Get ’em out.”

We all searched our pockets. I pulled out five or six coins from my jeans. They were all rubbed dull. No shiny ones.

Angrily, I tossed them onto the floor. “Anyone?” I cried.

No. We had only old scuffed coins.

Lots of groans of disappointment.

“Don’t give up,” Matt said. “We can’t give up. We’re really in danger here. And Byron is gone. There’s no one to help us.” “I’ll be right back,” I said. I hurried to my room and grabbed my laptop. I carried it back to Matt’s room.

“Let’s search the Internet for the words Panic Park,” I said. “Let’s find out everything we can about it.” I started to boot up the computer.

“You can’t,” Matt said. “There’s no Internet.”

“Our cell phones don’t work, either,” Billy said.

“There’s no way to get online,” Sheena said. “I guess they don’t use computers here.” “Are you joking?” I cried. “The whole place is run by computers! I’ve seen them!” I tapped away, but I couldn’t get online. No wireless connection. No connection of any kind.

But it didn’t matter. I suddenly knew what we had to do. I had a plan.

A dangerous plan.

“Follow me,” I said.