What Scares You the Most?, Page 6

  Pam was so excited about going to the island with me, she forgot about the bones, April realized.

  She pictured the rock cave again.

  Something terrifying happened there, April thought.

  I don’t want to go back. I really don’t want to go back.

  20

  It had rained all afternoon, and the street was puddled with deep circles of water. Reflecting the moonlight, the puddles glowed like spotlights.

  Down the block, the clock in the library tower chimed midnight. A van filled with teenagers roared past April. Its tires splashed a wave of water over her. “Get out of the street!” a boy yelled from the back of the van.

  Startled, she cried out and jumped to the curb.

  Her bare feet sank into the soft mud at the side of the road. She shivered and pulled her hair back with both hands.

  Another car sped closer. The headlights rolled over April. She covered her eyes from the bright light and kept walking.

  Trees showered cold rainwater down on her head. She shivered again as she crossed the street. The pavement felt cold and rough under her feet.

  The street was deserted now. Down the block a traffic light changed from red to green.

  Green for go, April thought.

  I’m going. I’m going—where?

  Moving away from the street into the darkness of the trees, April hoisted herself onto the low stone wall that bordered Franklin Park. When we were little, my friends and I played in this park every day, she remembered.

  She crossed the playground, moving behind the long row of swings. She pushed each swing until she had set them all in motion.

  A gust of wind rustled the trees. April searched for swaying palm trees.

  “But there are no palm trees in Ohio,” she told herself in a whisper.

  She trotted over the grass, past the softball diamond. Blades of grass stuck wetly to the soles of her feet.

  The stone climbing-hill gleamed like ivory under the bright moonlight. I haven’t climbed this hill since I was six, April thought.

  She gazed up at the small black cave-hole cut into the top of the hill. Yes! You slip into that cave opening up there and then there’s a slide that takes you down to the bottom of the hill, she remembered.

  She lowered herself onto her hands and knees and climbed onto the hill. The stones, still damp from the afternoon rain, felt smooth and cold.

  “YAAAAAAY!” A happy, childlike cry escaped her throat. She started to climb up the hill.

  This seemed so high and steep to me when I was a kid, April thought. But it’s totally babyish. I’m nearly to the top.

  She reached a hand up to grab the bottom of the cave opening—and pulled herself into the round black hole.

  Into the cave, she thought.

  Into the stone cave…into the blackness.

  She hesitated. It’s going to carry me away. If I go inside, I will fall forever.

  I will fall through the darkness and never be seen again.

  The wind blew into the hole, making a dull whistling sound.

  April realized her whole body was shaking. “Please—please don’t make me go in the cave!” she begged.

  Then she saw the flashing red light.

  At first, she thought it was a burning torch.

  Who is carrying a torch through the forest? she wondered. Is it someone on my team?

  And then she saw the black-and-white patrol car on the other side of the low wall. The light on top of the car flashed red-blue, red-blue, red-blue.

  Two dark-uniformed officers jumped the wall and were jogging through the playground toward April.

  “Hey!” one of them called to her. He was very young, she saw, with tiny, dark eyes and the shadow of a black mustache.

  “What are you doing up there?” his partner, a woman officer, shouted.

  “Climbing!” April called back.

  The two officers stopped beneath April at the bottom of the hill. Beneath their caps, they frowned at her. “It’s late,” the woman said softly. “The park is closed.”

  April squinted down at them, suddenly dizzy.

  “Why are you here?” the officer asked again.

  The words rang in April’s ears. “Why am I climbing this hill to the cave?” she asked out loud.

  She uttered a gasp. “I don’t know.”

  “You’re in your pajamas,” the woman officer said. “And you’re barefoot.”

  April gazed down at her red-and-white-striped pajamas. I’m out in my pajamas? But—why? she asked herself.

  “I—I thought I was home in bed,” she told the officers. “I—I didn’t know…”

  And then she glimpsed a figure, half hidden by the side of the patrol car.

  Pam!

  “Pam—what are you doing here?” April called in a trembling voice.

  Pam took a few steps closer, her hands in her jacket pockets. Her blond hair fluttered in the wind.

  “I—I followed you,” Pam said. “I saw you go out, April. And I was so worried. So I followed you. What are you doing out here? Why did you leave the house?”

  “I don’t know,” April told her. “I don’t know I don’t know I don’t know I don’t know.”

  21

  And then she was back on the island.

  It had to be a dream, right? But why were the colors so vivid, everything so real, as if she could reach out and touch the trees, the sandy ground, the blue rocks.

  She felt so hungry, her stomach gnawed. Too weak to walk, she crawled over the rocks. Her throat ached from dryness, as if she’d been eating sand.

  I have to find food, she thought. I have to find food or I’ll starve.

  She picked up a small brown coconut off the ground. Yes! She pounded it against a tree trunk. Pounded it. Pounded it.

  I’m too weak, she realized. Too weak to crack it open.

  She stared at the coconut between her hands. She could practically taste the sweet milk inside, the chunky meat.

  It’s like the mystery I’m trying to solve, she thought as she dreamed. So close…I’m so close. But I can’t get to it. It’s locked away from me.

  Then Marlin appeared. He sat cross-legged in front of her.

  How long had he been there?

  His dark eyes reflected the moonlight. April saw two crescent moons in his eyes.

  “Marlin—where have you been?” she asked.

  “I disappeared,” he answered in a low, flat voice that wasn’t his.

  “But where?” she asked.

  “I disappeared here. On the island,” he told her. “I am going to stay here forever.”

  April saw a flash of blue inside a cave. Was someone watching them?

  “It’s time for you to come home,” she told Marlin.

  “No. I disappeared here,” he replied.

  “You have to come home,” April insisted. “You have to come home—now.”

  He gazed blankly at her. She could see the crescent moons in his eyes. But he had no expression now. No life.

  “Come home, Marlin,” she said.

  She reached for him. Grabbed his arm and tugged.

  And Marlin’s arm came off in her hand.

  It’s stone, she realized. Blue stone.

  And then Marlin’s head rolled off his shoulders. The stone head dropped to the rocky ground and broke in half.

  Marlin’s other arm broke off. His whole body cracked into chunks of stone.

  And April woke up screaming. Screaming again.

  Another nightmare about the island.

  “You’re up early,” Mrs. Powers said. She stood at the sink, pouring herself a mug of coffee.

  “Couldn’t sleep,” April muttered, yawning. “Another nightmare.” She dropped onto a wooden stool at the kitchen counter.

  “Your dad and I are terribly, terribly worried about you,” Mrs. Powers said. She carried her coffee to the counter and perched next to April.

  Mom looks more tired than usual, April thought. Dark circles around
her eyes. April noticed strands of white running through her mother’s wavy blond hair.

  “That crazy thing you did last night,” her mother said, studying her carefully.

  She is studying me like one of her lab specimens, April thought. Mrs. Powers was a lab technician at an animal research lab.

  “The police officers said you didn’t remember going out in your pajamas like that. They said you couldn’t answer their questions. You looked dazed.”

  April nodded sadly. “I wish I could explain.”

  “Thank goodness Pam followed you,” her mother said. “At least you had a good friend watching out for you.”

  “Yeah,” April muttered.

  “It’s so frightening. I’m going to make an appointment for you with Dr. Jackson,” Mrs. Powers said. “You’ll go after school.”

  She ran a hand tenderly through April’s hair. “And we canceled your interview with that TV show for tonight. You’re okay with that—right?”

  “Fine,” April whispered. She shut her eyes and saw Marlin’s stony body cracking apart again.

  “I know being on TV is a lot of fun for you,” Mrs. Powers said, pouring April a glass of grape juice. “But maybe we should stop all the interviews for a while.”

  “Fine,” April repeated.

  Mrs. Powers shook her head. “You had such a fabulous, exciting time. I can’t understand what’s giving you bad dreams and making you do crazy things.”

  “I can’t either,” April said softly. She sipped the grape juice.

  “Do you think you should stay home from school today?” her mother asked.

  April shook her head. “No. I’ll be fine. Really.”

  She glanced at the clock. “But it’s so early, know what I’m going to do? I’m going for a jog before I get dressed for school.”

  “You sure?” her mother asked.

  “Yeah. It will help clear my head,” April said. “I always feel better after I run.”

  She changed into shorts, a tank top, and running shoes. Then she clipped her CD player to her waist, and headed back downstairs.

  She bumped into Pam at the front door. Pam yawned. “I guess I overslept a little. Are you feeling okay? Going for a jog?”

  April nodded.

  “I was using your Discman yesterday. Hope you don’t mind,” Pam said. “I left a new CD in it for you. Totally awesome. Let me know if you like it.”

  April nodded again. She didn’t feel like talking to Pam. She pushed open the door and stepped outside.

  It was a bright fall morning. A red sun, just peeking over the trees, made the lawns shimmer like emeralds.

  April did warm-up exercises for a few minutes in her driveway. Then she adjusted the headphones over her ears as she started to jog.

  The Millers across the street waved to her as they climbed into their SUV to go to work. April turned the corner and picked up speed.

  The morning air feels so fresh and cool, she thought.

  She pushed Play on the disc player and fiddled with the volume dial as she ran.

  Her running shoes thudded over the sidewalk. She could feel her leg muscles begin to loosen up.

  When the music didn’t start, she found the volume control again and turned it higher.

  April heard singing. She listened for a few moments, jogging at a fast, steady pace.

  What is this CD? she wondered.

  And then she stopped with a gasp—and listened to the woman’s voice coming through the headphones.

  The same eerie voice she had heard on the island.

  “No! No!” April cried. “Please, leave me alone!”

  22

  The woman’s voice lingered in April’s ears.

  The same slow, sad song in that strange language. The same woman with her low, throaty voice.

  “No! No! It can’t be!” April wailed. “This can’t be happening to me!”

  She ripped the disc player from her waist and heaved it to the ground. Her legs were trembling too hard to jog.

  She held on to a lamppost, struggling to calm her racing heart. Then she turned and began walking unsteadily home.

  An hour later April stood in the front hall at school, arguing with Pam.

  “Pam—I begged you to cancel the assembly!” April said. “I—I really don’t want to talk about the island. You know that I—I—”

  Pam rolled her eyes. “April, the whole school is waiting to hear you,” she said.

  She took April’s hand and began tugging her to the auditorium. “I went to so much trouble setting this up,” Pam said. “I did this whole thing for you.”

  “But I—I just can’t,” April protested. “You know I’ve been having problems. And—”

  Pam didn’t seem to hear her. She tugged April to the auditorium.

  I should have stayed home today, April thought. But I thought coming to school would take my mind off the island.

  I completely forgot about the assembly Pam set up.

  How can I do this? What if something terrible happens to me in front of the whole school?

  “It will be easy,” Pam said, holding open the auditorium door. “Just talk about what the games were like and what you did on the island. Then Mrs. Harper wants to give you some kind of medal or something.”

  She pushed April into the auditorium.

  April swallowed hard as she saw that all the seats were filled. The whole school was there.

  A man raised a camera as she walked in, then flashed her picture. Blinking from the sudden light, April followed Pam to the stage. Kids broke into applause as they saw her.

  “Well, our special guest has arrived,” Mrs. Harper, the junior high principal, announced, beaming. She motioned to April, and the applause grew even louder.

  She was standing at a podium in the center of the stage. And surrounding her were four tall cardboard cutouts of palm trees.

  “We even built a set for you this morning, April!” Mrs. Harper said. “To make you feel at home.”

  April stared at the brightly painted palm trees. A chill ran down her back. She took a deep breath and made her way across the stage to the podium.

  “I think many of you know April Powers,” Mrs. Harper said, leaning over the microphone. “Well, April recently returned from an exciting adventure on a tropical island. And this morning, we’ve asked her to tell you all about it.”

  Another round of applause as April stepped behind the podium. She felt a tingle of nervousness in her chest. Her mouth was suddenly dry.

  But she was a good speaker. She didn’t get stage fright.

  She and Pam competed on the debate team to see who could speak the best. Of course, Pam had to win every competition. But April believed she was just as good a speaker.

  Gripping the edges of the podium, she leaned forward and began to tell about her trip to the island. She started at the beginning, with the invitation letter she received from the organization called The Academy.

  She told her audience about the boat ride to the island. About meeting Donald Marks, The Academy leader. About her teammates and the Life Games competition.

  As she talked, April started to relax. It’s going very well, she told herself. I think the kids are really enjoying my stories.

  As she talked about the kayak race around the island, she glanced at the clock at the side of the stage. Have I really been talking for twenty minutes? she asked herself.

  She took a long sip of water from the glass on the podium. “I guess the strangest thing about the island,” she continued, “was the blue rocks. There were hills of these rocks. They were smooth and dark blue. And the strangest thing about them was they were always cold to the touch—even under the broiling hot sun.”

  “We had a rock-climbing contest on those rocks,” April said. “A race up to the caves at the top. And I—”

  April stopped when she heard the loud chop.

  It seemed to have come from behind her.

  She turned to the sound—and saw a chop mark in on
e of the cardboard palm trees.

  Chop.

  Another loud, cutting sound. This one to her right.

  She spun to see that another tree had a cut in its trunk.

  Chop. Chop.

  Chop.

  The frightening sound repeated.

  “Just like that night!” she cried into the microphone. “Just like that night in the forest!”

  April didn’t want to look at the cardboard trees with their ugly chop marks.

  She closed her eyes tightly—and a picture formed in her mind. She could see herself on the island. She was walking through the woods with Kristen, Marlin and Anthony.

  They were lost. Hopelessly lost. And then they heard it.

  Chop.

  Chop.

  Chop.

  The chopping sounds surrounded them. Echoed through the forest. Came at them from everywhere at once!

  Chop.

  Chop.

  Chop.

  “It—it’s happening again!” April screamed.

  She opened her eyes and saw Pam at the side of the stage, staring at her, mouth hanging open in shock. April saw the puzzled faces of kids in the audience.

  I’ve got to try to continue, she thought. The whole school is watching me.

  She cleared her throat. “A terrible storm came up,” she began, shouting over the chopping sounds all around. “The storm came out of nowhere and—”

  The stage lights flickered overhead.

  Lightning! April thought.

  Lightning overhead.

  A dim, frightening memory floated at the edge of her mind.

  I saw lightning flashing over someone. Someone stood close to me—someone terrifying—and lightning flashed.

  The stage lights flickered again.

  April turned to the side of the stage—and saw her!

  The woman! The woman in the blue cloak!

  Running across the stage to capture her.

  “Come with me!” the woman called. “April, come with me now!”

  23

  “THERE SHE IS! THERE SHE IS!” April shrieked into the microphone. She pointed with a trembling finger at the advancing woman.

  “Now I remember!” April cried. “Now I remember everything!”