7

I cried out and pulled Luke and Clay back.

The wolf slithered out, holding its head low, glaring up at us with wide red eyes, its mouth open hungrily.

"It — it's real!" Clay declared, swallowing hard. I had my hand on his shoulder. I could feel him trembling.

The wolf let out a low growl.

Then it slid back behind the cottage wall.

"I think it's some kind of robot or something," I told Clay.

"Let's go somewhere else," Clay replied, suddenly very pale.

"What does that sign up there say?" Luke asked. He went running over the dark cobblestones to the sign, and Clay and I followed.

The sign read: NO PINCHING.

Luke laughed. "That's stupid."

"What a dumb sign!" Clay agreed.

"That sign was meant just for you, Luke!" I exclaimed. I gave him a hard pinch on the arm.

"Hey! Can't you read?" he shouted angrily, pointing to the sign.

I saw a green Horror watching us from down the street. Then I saw a family making its way behind the row of cottages. There was a mother, a father, and a little girl. The little girl was crying, for some reason. The parents had their hands on her shoulders and looked very upset.

A wolf howl cut through the air.

"Let's find some rides!" Clay suggested.

"Some scary rides!" Luke added.

Walking side by side, keeping close together, we made our way out of the Werewolf Village. The street widened into a round plaza. Bright sunlight returned as soon as we stepped out of the village.

Several purple-and-green buildings surrounded the plaza. I saw a few more families and several green-costumed Horrors keeping an eye on everything. A pudgy Horror behind a purple-and-green cart was selling ice cream cones — black ice cream!

"Yuck!" Luke declared, making a face.

We hurried past the cart, past another NO PINCHING sign, and stopped in front of what appeared to be a tall purple mountain.

"It's a ride!" I told them.

A doorway was cut into the side of the mountain. And above the doorway was a sign: DOOM SLIDE. WILL YOU BE THE ONE TO SLIDE FOREVER?

"Cool!" Luke cried, slapping Clay a high five.

"I'll bet you climb to the top, then slide all the way down," I said, pointing to the top of the mountain-shaped building.

"Let's go!" Luke cried excitedly.

We ran to the building, then through the open doorway in its side. It was dark and cold inside. A wide ramp curved up toward the top.

I could hear kids squealing and laughing, but I couldn't see them. The three of us half-walked, half-ran up the ramp, eager to get to the top.

About halfway up, we stopped to read another sign: WARNING! — YOU MAY BE THE ONE TO SLIDE TO YOUR DOOM!

Now I could hear kids screaming as they slid down. But it was too dark to see anything. "Are you scared, Clay?" I asked, noticing his tight expression.

"No way!" he insisted, embarrassed by my question. "I've seen these things before. They're like really huge sliding boards. You just sit on them and slide down."

"Hurry!" Luke shouted, running ahead of us.

"Hey — wait up!" I called. I followed them to the top of the ramp. We found ourselves on a wide platform. A row of long, curving sliding boards stretched to the end of the platform. The sliding boards were numbered from one to ten.

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