No Survivors
Authors: R.L. Stine
No Survivors
Shielding his eyes from the glare of the sun, Donaldâ¦
This Summer
The flames of the campfire danced high in a warmâ¦
Some kids laughed. Others muttered to each other.
Silence now. Except for the whisper of the wind andâ¦
The morning sun was still a low red ball overâ¦
April grabbed Kristen's arm. “She's in the tree! She's watchingâ¦
April examined the robot bird in her hands. “That snakeâ¦
“Tonight we light the first torch for one of ourâ¦
The Year 1680 The Port of Plymouth, England
Deborah Andersen wrapped her mother's black cloak around her. Theâ¦
“AAAAIIIIIIII!”
Deborah let out a cry when she saw her cottage.
As Deborah screamed, the calf raised its eyes to herâallâ¦
Tears streamed down the faces of the silent boys.
The town constable's office was in a small stone buildingâ¦
This Summer The Island
“I'm chokingâ¦choking!”
The morning sun poured down its warm light on theâ¦
“Go! Go! Go!”
“No sssssurvivors!”
At lunch, Donald Marks announced a free afternoon for everyone.
Both girls spun around.
April felt her jaw drop in disbelief. Pam just calledâ¦
“Whoa!”
“Someone is in this cave,” April said. She suddenly feltâ¦
“Marlin! It's you l” April cried.
April fought back tears. Pam was right. She had ledâ¦
“Are you totally crazy?” Kristen shrieked.
Kristen knelt beside Pam. “Stay calm,” she said. “We'll getâ¦
The rocks rumbled and cracked beneath them.
April let out a gasp. Why is she staring atâ¦
The woman in the blue cloak took a step towardâ¦
“I'm your daughter!” Kristen insisted.
“AAAAAAAGGGGGH!”
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Hello, I'm R.L. Stine. Welcome to part three of a very special
Nightmare Room
story.
It's about a girl named April Powers who joins eleven other kids on a tropical island. The kids are there to play survival gamesâfor a prize of $100,000. But they soon discover that someone else is on the island, someone who doesn't
want
them to survive!
When I started to write this story, I realized that it was too big and too frightening to tell in one book. April's story had to be told in
three
books instead of one.
And so the THRILLOGY was born.
Welcome to my
special
nightmareâ¦
Shielding his eyes from the glare of the sun, Donald Marks stood near the top of the hill of blue rocks. He gazed up at the woman standing by the cave opening.
“I have kept my promise,” he said. He pointed to the sparkling ocean below. Moving steadily over the waves, a white boat approached the island's dock. “I have brought your daughter back to the island.”
Katherine stood with her arms crossed tightly in front of her. Despite the tropical afternoon heat, she wore a heavy blue cloak.
Her face is so pale, Marks thought. It nearly disappears in the sunlight. Her long blond-brown hair fluttered behind the cape in the light breeze off the ocean.
She frowned at him. “We shall see,” she said in a dry voice that sounded more like a cough.
Marks mopped his bald head with the back of his hand. “It's going to be a cheerful family reunion, huh?”
The woman let out a cold laugh. “Three hundred years ago my daughter vowed revenge. Now she's coming here to kill me.”
“That can't be right.” Marks tried to sound confident. “I know these kids. None of them are killers.”
“You know nothing about it,” Katherine told him.
“My daughter used magic to take on a new body. She thinks I won't recognize her. But I will. I'll find a way to force her to reveal herself.” Her features hardened. “I shall be ready for her.”
“And you will keep your promise to me?” Marks asked. “You will allow all the others to leave?” Katherine didn't reply.
“Answer me,” he insisted. “You can deal with your daughter any way you please. But I want all the others to leave the island alive. Do you promise?”
She took a long time. But finally, she said, “I promise.”
He left quickly. She watched him make his way down the hill of blue stones. A heavyset man trembling with fear. Then she turned her eyes to the white boat. She knew it was bringing the Academy kids back to the island.
And she knew it was bringing her daughter.
Katherine kept her eyes on the boat until it pulled up to the dock. Then she picked up a sharp stone from the ground.
“I promise,” she muttered softly to herself.
“I promiseâ¦I promiseâ¦I promise.”
A thin, bitter smile crossed her face. “What good are promises?”
She carried the stone to the side of the cave where she lived. And using the stone as chalk, she scratched two words into the rock wall of the cave:
NO SURVIVORS
This Summer
The flames of the campfire danced high in a warm breeze. In the inky night sky, a million stars flickered.
April Powers glanced around the circle of kids. Their faces glowed orange in the firelight.
April counted ten kids in all. Nine who had been on the island for the first Life Games competitions last spring. And Pam Largent, who had tagged along with April.
Pam and April weren't exactly friends. But their parents were. For as long as she could remember, April kept getting stuck with Pam.
Back home, Pam had been so jealous that April had been invited by The Academy to compete in their Life Gamesâespecially when April's team won. Pam admitted she would do
anything
to be a part of the games. Then, when April was invited back for this reunion, Pam made sure she got asked along.
So now, here she was. Chatting nonstop with everyone. Working hard to impress the other kids.
Eager to be the most popular and the most successful.
April watched Pam across the campfire. Pam was flirting with Anthony Thomas. April could hear her teasing Anthony about his red hair.
April sighed. She hadn't wanted to come to the reunion. The island frightened her. The last time she was here, her team barely made it off alive.
And she left with a souvenir. April's hand touched the spot on her temple where there was now a blue crescent moon.
April counted the kids again. Nine. Only nine out of twelve had returned. Where were the other three?
Where was Marlin Davis, a member of April's team? April's friend. Marlin had vanished. He had promised to write to April, but he never did.
Marlin's mother said he was still on the island. But how could that be? April and the others had returned home nearly two months ago.
April turned to Kristen Wood. Kristen sat crosslegged beside her. She stared thoughtfully into the fire.
Kristen, Marlin, and Anthony had all been on April's team.
After they left the island, strange things had happened to both April and Kristen. April had terrifying dreams. She found herself wandering in the middle of the nightâwith no memory of leaving her house. She heard sounds and smelled things from the island.
She saw the woman in the blue cloak.
Are Kristen and I the only ones here who realize that something is very wrong? April wondered.
As if something had followed them home from the island.
As if something had pulled them back here.
Staring at the darting yellow flames, April remembered the terrifying woman in the blue cloak. She lived in the caves high on a rocky hill overlooking the shore.
She had captured April. April didn't remember how.
She remembered waking up with the woman hovering over her, sucking away her breath. Sucking away her strengthâ¦
The woman had touched her temple. The woman's touch burned. Later April saw the blue crescent moon where the woman touched her.
Despite the waves of heat from the fire, April shivered.
Back home, her memory had been fogged. Erased. It took weeks and weeks until it all suddenly came back to her.
Did that frightening woman have Marlin up at her cave? Did she have Dolores and Jared, the other two missing kids?
April swore she would never return to this place. But she had to learn the truth. She had to find out what happened to her friend Marlin.
Until she solved the mystery, she knew the island
would haunt her. It would never let her live in peace.
The fire popped noisily. A few kids laughed.
Pam had moved close to a young man holding a video camera. There were camera guys everywhere. This whole island reunion was being taped for TV.
Pam chattered away, smiling into the camera.
She really wants to be a star, April thought bitterly. I wish my mom hadn't forced me to bring Pam along.
Clark Jones and Kendra Willis started tossing a tennis ball back and forth across the fire. Anthony made a grab for it, and the ball bounced into the fire. Everyone laughed.
Another TV guy, a tall, lanky young man with a long blond ponytail, captured it all on video.
April leaned close to Kristen. “Are we the only ones who aren't here to have a good time?” she whispered.
Kristen nodded. “None of the others realizes the danger⦔
April turned as everyone started to cheer. Donald Marks came lumbering across the sand, followed by Mira and Blake, two new assistants.
All three of them wore khaki shorts and white T-shirts with
ACADEMY STAFF
printed on the front in bold black letters.
Marks was the director of The Academy. He was a huge man with a round, bald head and bushy black eyebrows over round, dark eyes.
He had a bulging stomach that bounced as he
strode over the sand to the campfire. And a booming voice with a hearty laugh that came from deep in his belly.
He stepped into the circle of kids, wiping sweat off his broad forehead with a handkerchief. “Hot night,” he said. “It's great to see you all. Great to be back on the island.”
The cameraman with the blond ponytail moved in close to Marks. Marks waved him back. “No closeupsâplease!” he said, laughing.
He turned back to the circle of kids. “I hope you will all just act natural. Ignore the cameras, okay? It won't be easy. They are everywhere. But just pretend these guys don't exist.”
That will be hard for Pam, April thought. She's been following the video guys around since the moment we arrived.
“You're all going to be TV stars,” Marks said, grinning at them. “We are going to hold our Life Games competitions again for the cameras. And once again, there is a big cash prize to the winner.”
Everyone except April and Kristen cheered at that announcement. I don't care about winning more money, April thought. I just want to learn what is really going on here.
“Some kids are missing,” Clark said, shouting over the crackling campfire. “Are you going to make new teams?”
Marks mopped his forehead again. “We have
some changes in the rules to make it more exciting this time,” he announced. “No teams. Everyone is on his own.”
That brought another big cheer.
A grin spread over Marks's round face. “Watch out,” he said. “Because of the TV cameras, we've made it more excitingâand more dangerous.”
“How is it more dangerous?” Kendra asked.
Marks stepped closer to the fire. The darting flames cast an orange glow over his face. His tiny round eyes reflected the light.
He lowered his voice as if sharing a secret. “We have someone new on the island,” he said. “We are not alone here anymore.”
He grinned into the video camera. “We have a witch living on the island,” Marks said. “You will recognize her by her blue cloak.”
April felt a chill freeze her back.
Marks's grin grew wider. “If you see herârun!” he declared. “She isn't friendly. In fact, she is your enemy.”
It grew very silent. Even the fire seemed to hush.
“Every day,” Marks continued, speaking softly, “the witch is going to eliminate one kid. Until there is only one of you left. By the time these Life Games end, only one of you will survive!”