روزی در سرزمین وحشت فصل 22

One Day at Horrorland - Chapter 22

We huddled together as the Horrors marched silently toward us. The only sound was the soft thud of their monster feet on the pavement, and their long purple tails dragging on the ground.

“There are hundreds of them!” Mom murmured. She grabbed Dad’s arm with one hand. She slipped her other arm around my shoulders and pulled me closer.

We had our backs against the iron fence. We stared helplessly at the grinning green faces, the bulging yellow eyes, which appeared to be laughing cruelly at us.

Finally, they stopped a few feet in front of us.

The plaza was still and silent. Terrifyingly silent.

The sun was still hidden behind the big cloud. Two large blackbirds swooped low in the gray sky.

We stared at the Horrors, and they stared back at us.

I swallowed hard, leaning against my mother. I could feel her entire body trembling.

I took a deep breath and then cried out: “What do you want?” The sound of my own voice startled me.

One of the Horrors, a young woman, stepped forward.

Frightened, I tried to back up. But my back was already pressing against the fence.

“What do you want?” I repeated in a trembling voice.

The costumed Horror stared at us one by one. “I want to thank you,” she said in a cheery voice.

“Huh?” I uttered.

“I’m the HorrorLand MC. We all want to thank you for being our guests today.” She flashed us a warm smile.

“You mean we can go?” Luke demanded, half hidden behind my dad.

“Of course,” the Horror said, grinning warmly. “But first we all want to thank you for appearing on HorrorLand Hidden Camera.” The dozens of Horrors behind her broke into applause and loud cheers.

“Huh? You mean this is some kind of show?” Dad demanded, frowning.

“See the cameras?” the MC asked. She gestured up to two tall poles in the plaza.

Raising my eyes to the top, I saw two TV cameras.

“You mean we were on TV?” Luke cried.

“Since the moment you arrived,” the MC replied. “Our hidden cameras followed you everywhere. From the hilarious scene where we blew up your car, our cameras were with you. And I know our home audience loved the terrified expressions on your faces and all of your horrified screams as you took our HorrorLand rides!” “Now, wait a minute,” Dad said angrily. He took a step forward. His hands were balled into tense fists at his sides. “You say this is a TV show? How come I’ve never seen it?” “We’re seen every weekend on The Monster Channel,” the Horror replied.

“Oh,” Dad replied quickly, lowering his eyes. “We don’t have cable.”

“You should get it,” the Horror told him. “You’re missing a lot of great scary shows on The Monster Channel.” The Horrors all clapped and cheered.

“Well, you’ve been very good sports,” the MC continued, her yellow eyes bouncing in front of her head as she talked. “We’ve enjoyed having you. And to show our appreciation, we have a brand-new car waiting for you in the parking lot!” More cheers and applause from the Horrors.

“A new car? Excellent!” Luke exclaimed.

“Does that mean we can leave?” Clay asked timidly.

The Horror nodded. “Yes, it’s time for you to leave. The real exit is right over there, through that doorway.” She pointed to a tall green building near the end of the fence. I saw a yellow door on the side.

“Take the yellow door,” the Horror instructed. “And thanks again for appearing on HorrorLand Hidden Camera!” As all the Horrors clapped their big green hands, we stepped away from the fence and hurried toward the exit. “I can’t believe we were on TV the whole time!” Mom declared.

“And we’re getting a new car!” Luke exclaimed happily. He started jumping up and down. Then he leaped onto Clay’s back, nearly knocking him over.

I laughed. It was good to see the old Luke back with us.

“We’ve got to get cable!” Luke told Dad. “I want to see The Monster Channel. It’s got to be awesome!” “We’ll have to order it so we can see ourselves,” Mom said.

I reached the yellow door first and pulled it open. I stepped into an enormous room, with white walls that shone under the bright white lights from the ceiling.

“Is this the exit?” I cried.

As soon as we were all inside, the door slammed shut with a bang that made my heart skip.

Then all the lights went out.

“Welcome to the HorrorLand Challenge!” boomed a deep, frightening voice over a loudspeaker.

“Huh?” I gazed blindly around, trying to see something—anything—in the total darkness.

“You have one minute to go through the Monster Obstacle Course,” the voice thundered. “Please keep in mind that the games are now over. This is real. You’re playing for your life!”