مدرسه روح زده فصل 23

The haunted School - Chapter 23

“Pit? What kind of pit?” I screamed.

No one answered.

We stopped at the top of the hill. They kept their tight grip on Ben and me. Over Ben’s shoulder, I saw four kids approaching. As they came nearer, I saw that they were carrying four large buckets.

They set the buckets down in a row. They shoved Ben and me toward them.

Steam poured up from a dark, bubbling liquid inside. A sharp, sour aroma rose up in the steam.

A girl carried a stack of metal cups in her arms. She handed a cup to a boy. He dipped it into the thick black liquid. It made a hissing sound as the cup dipped low into the liquid.

“Ohhh!” I gasped as the boy raised the steaming cup to his lips, tilted his head back, and poured the disgusting liquid down his throat.

“No color in the cup!” a boy shouted.

“Drink the blackness!” a girl cried.

“Drink! Drink! Drink!” Kids cheered and applauded.

They lined up eagerly. And as Ben and I stared in horror, they each dipped a cup into the smelly black gunk—and then drank it down.

“No color in the drink! No color in the cup!”

“Drink! Drink the blackness!”

I tried once again to break free. But three boys held me now. I couldn’t move.

Kids were cheering and laughing. A boy drank a whole cup of the smelly black liquid—and then spewed it into the air.

Loud cheers.

A girl spit loudly and sprayed black gunk into the face of the girl beside her. A boy sprayed the black liquid up like a fountain.

“We cover ourselves in blackness!” a boy boomed in a loud, deep voice. “We cover ourselves because there’s no color in the moon! No color in the stars! No color on the earth!” A girl spit black gunk over the hair of a short boy with glasses. The black liquid rolled slowly down his forehead and over his glasses. He bent to fill his cup, drank, and spit a gob of it down the front of the girl’s coat.

Laughing and cheering, hooting at the top of their lungs, they sprayed each other. Spit and sprayed the hot black gunk until they were all drenched, all dripping, covered in oily blackness.

“No color in the cup! No color in the drink!”

And then the hands gripped me tighter. And Ben and I were pulled to the top of the hill.

I gazed down the other side. And saw a steep drop. And down below, at the bottom… Too dark.

I couldn’t see a thing. But I could hear the loud bubbling. I could see thick steam floating up, wave after wave of it. And I could smell the sharp, sour odor—so strong, I started to gag.

“The Black Pit!” someone cried. “Into the Black Pit!”

Lots of kids cheered.

Ben and I were pushed to the edge of the dropoff.

“Jump! Jump! Jump!” some kids began to chant.

“Jump into the Black Pit!”

“But—why?” I shrieked. “Why are you doing this?”

“Cover yourself in blackness!” a girl screamed. “Cover yourself like us!” Kids laughed and cheered.

Ben turned to me, his face twisted in fear. “It—it’s boiling hot down there,” he stammered, gazing into the bubbling pit below. “And it smells like dead animals!” “Jump! Jump! Jump!” kids began to chant.

My eyes swept over them. Laughing. Cheering. The black goo running down their faces, down their clothes. The kids tossed their heads back and spewed gobs of black liquid into the air.

“Jump! Jump! Jump!”

Suddenly, the chanting and laughter stopped. I heard screams.

Strong hands grabbed me around the waist from behind. And shoved me hard—into the steaming pit.