19

"But, Luke, what if they mess up?" I asked him. "What if the machines get goofed up? What if the timing gets off? Let's say the floor underneath us got stuck. Then what?"

Luke didn't reply. He stared back at me thoughtfully.

"What would have happened to us if the floor hadn't dropped away at the right moment?" I demanded.

Luke shrugged. "They make sure everything works okay," he answered finally.

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah. Sure."

"Is it possible to really be scared to death?" Clay asked me, a solemn expression on his face. "I mean, I know it happens in books and movies. But does it happen in real life?"

"I don't know. Maybe," I replied.

"I'll bet people could get scared to death in that House of Mirrors," Clay continued seriously.

"No way!" Luke insisted. "Listen to me. This is just a place for fun. Scary fun."

He was watching something over my shoulder. I turned to see one of the guys in a green Horror costume walking by, carrying a huge bouquet of black balloons.

Luke hurried up beside the Horror. "Hey, has anyone ever died here in this park?" Luke asked.

The Horror kept walking. The black balloons bobbed above his head. "Only once," he told Luke.

"One person died here?" Luke asked.

The Horror shook his big green head. "No. Not what I meant."

"What did you mean?" Luke demanded.

"A person can only die once here," the Horror said. "No one has ever died twice."

"Do you mean people have really died here?" I shouted.

But the Horror walked quickly on, the black balloons bouncing against each other, floating darkly against the clear blue sky.

The Horror's answer made me shiver. It wasn't just his words. It was the cold tone of his voice, the way he made it sound like a warning.

"He was joking — right?" Clay asked in a trembling voice. He scratched his blond hair nervously.

"Yeah. I guess," I replied.

A family walked past us, heading toward the House of Mirrors. They had two little boys with them, both about five or six, and both of them were crying.

"I've seen so many crying kids in this park!" I commented.

"They're just wimps," Luke replied. "Scaredy-cats. Let's go find another ride or something."

"No. I really think we should find Mom and Dad," I told him.

"Yeah. Let's go find them," Clay said eagerly. The poor kid. I think he was really scared. But he was trying his best not to let my brother see how frightened he was.

"Aw, what's the hurry?" Luke protested. "Let them find us."

"But they're probably really worried," I insisted. I started walking toward the front gate.

"Dad will only make us leave," Luke grumbled. But he followed anyway. And Clay gratefully came along, keeping close to my side.

Following the trail, we passed by a rickety, old wooden roller coaster. It rose up as high as a four-story building, casting a wide, dark shadow over the walk. A sign in front read: OUT OF ORDER. DO YOU DARE TO RIDE IT ANYWAY?

The gate was open. There was no attendant.

"Hey, Lizzy, want to ride it?" Luke asked, staring at the beat-up old cars parked at the bottom of the tracks.

"No way!" Clay and I replied in unison. We kept on walking.

The trail curved under thick trees, and we were suddenly in the shade. A sign read: BEWARE OF TREE SNAKES.

Clay covered his head with his hands. All three of us raised our eyes to the trees.

Were there really snakes up there?

It was too dark to see anything. The leaves were so thick, no sunlight filtered through.

Suddenly, I heard a gentle hissing sound.

At first I thought it was just the rustle of the leaves.

But then the hissing grew louder — until all of the trees seemed to be hissing down at us.

"Run!" I cried.

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