روزی در سرزمین وحشت فصل 05

One Day at Horrorland - Chapter 5

I chose slide number three because three is my lucky number. Luke sat down on top of the slide next to mine, slide number two. And Clay scrambled over to the far end and dropped down onto slide number ten.

I glanced back to see what the Horrors were doing. But before I could focus on them, I felt the bottom tilt underneath me.

I let out a long, high-pitched shriek as I began to slide.

I raised my arms over my head, leaned back, and screamed all the way down. My cries echoed in the enormous dark canyon of the Doom Slide building.

It felt great. The slide curved and curved, and I swirled down in the darkness, faster and faster.

In the shadowy light, I could see Luke in the slide next to mine. He was lying on his back, staring straight up with his mouth wide open.

I tried to call out to him. But the slide curved away, and I curved with it.

Down, down.

I was sliding so fast, the darkness became a solid blur.

The slide curved up, then around, then down again. I’m a human roller coaster, I thought happily.

Down, down. Darker and darker.

I’m sliding faster than the speed of light, I thought.

I glanced from one side to the other, trying to see Luke and Clay. But it was too dark, and I was moving too fast.

Too fast.

And then, bump.

A chute opened up. I hit the ground hard, landing on the seat of my jeans.

Outside. I was back outside.

Bump.

Luke bounced out beside me. He hit the ground, still lying on his back, and made no attempt to get up. He grinned up at me. “Where am I?” “Back on the ground,” I told him, climbing to my feet. I brushed off the back of my jeans, then reached behind my head to straighten my braid. “Great ride, huh?” “Let’s go again,” Luke said, still lying there.

“We can’t go again if you don’t get up,” I said.

“Help me.” He reached up a hand.

I groaned as I tugged him to a sitting position. “Get up yourself,” I said impatiently.

“You were screaming in there,” he told me.

“I did it on purpose,” I said. “I wanted to scream.”

“Yeah. Sure.” He rolled his eyes. Then he pulled himself to his feet. “Wow. I’m a little dizzy. How fast do you think we were going?” I shrugged. “Pretty fast, I think. It’s so dark in there, it’s hard to know how fast you’re going.” And then I realized we were missing a member of our sliding party. I stared at the closed chutes on the wall of the building. “Hey—where’s Clay?” “Huh?” Luke had forgotten about him, too.

We both stared at the side of the building, waiting for Clay to pop out.

“Where is he?” Luke demanded shrilly. “He couldn’t be that much slower than us—could he?” I shook my head. I was starting to feel really nervous. I had a heavy feeling in the pit of my stomach. And my hands were suddenly cold and clammy.

“Come on, Clay,” I pleaded, staring at the wall. “Come on out.”

Luke scratched his black hair. “Where’d he go?” he asked. “Why didn’t Clay come out?” “Maybe he came out the front,” I said. “Maybe slide number ten dumps you out in front. Let’s check it out.” As we ran around the building toward the front, I scolded myself for getting scared so easily. Of course Clay came out in a different chute. He was probably waiting for us in front of the building. He was probably worried about us.

As we rounded the purple building, the wide, circular plaza came into view. I searched for Mom and Dad, but they weren’t there. I saw a couple of other families on the other side of the circle, and the pudgy green Horror leaning on his ice cream cart.

No sign of Clay.

Luke and I kept running, up to the front entrance of the Doom Slide. We stopped a few feet from the dark opening.

“He isn’t here!” Luke cried, struggling to catch his breath.

I was breathing hard, too. And the heavy feeling of dread in my stomach grew even heavier. “No. No Clay,” I muttered.

“What are we going to do?” Luke asked. His blue eyes were wide with fear.

I saw a green Horror woman standing just inside the entrance. “Hey!” I called as I ran over to her. “Did you see a kid come out of there?” I asked breathlessly.

The yellow eyes on the Horror’s mask bulged and appeared to light up. “No. This is the entrance. No one comes out here,” she replied.

“He’s blond and sort of chubby. He wears glasses,” I told her. “He’s wearing a blue T-shirt and denim shorts.” The Horror shook her head. “No. No one comes out this way. Did you check the back? Everyone comes out the back.” “He didn’t!” Luke said shrilly. “We were there. He didn’t come out.” My brother’s voice was high and squeaky. He was breathing so hard, his chest was heaving up and down. He was in a panic.

I was frightened, too. But I knew I had to stay calm. For Luke’s sake.

“He didn’t come out the back,” I told the Horror, “and he didn’t come out the front. So what happened to him?” The Horror was silent for a long moment. Then she said in a low voice just above a whisper, “Maybe your friend chose the Doom Slide.”