Ready for a Scare? (12 page)

“No, I'm not.” Paige's voice sounded tight. Unnatural.

“What's going on?” The happy warmth of just seconds ago grew cold. “You don't sound like you.”

“I need help.” The words drew out of her slowly.

“Paige, what's wrong? You're scaring me.” Kelly's voice quivered. “Please, tell me.”

“She's here.”

“Who?” Kelly cried, squeezing the phone in frustration.

“She has me trapped,” Paige explained in a hollow tone.

“Who does? Where?”

A burst of static obscured the line, muffling Paige's reply.

“Paige, I didn't hear you! Where are you?” Kelly screamed, pronouncing each word so Paige could better understand.

“I'm in your basement.”

Paige was here? In her own house?

“Help me.” Paige's voice now a lifeless monotone. “Save me from her. Hurry.”

“You're really in my—”

The line cut off.

“Paige? Paige, are you still there?” Kelly didn't bother to hide her desperation.

No answer. Paige was gone.

On the glowing touchpad, she quickly found redial and pressed. She listened as the numbers clicked in. Ringing. The phone kept ringing. Paige wasn't picking up.

Or couldn't pick up.

Someone was down there with her.

Kelly cradled the purple phone in her palm, testing its weight as if checking to be sure it was real. She began to rock slowly. Heel to toe. Back and forth. The rhythm soothed her, allowing her to block all the jumbled thoughts. Heel to toe. Back and forth.

“Where is she?” Gavin asked. He'd picked the flashlight up off the counter and was now shining the light at her face. “Are you okay?”

She stopped rocking and shielded her eyes from the spotlight with her free hand. Her gaze darted toward the door by the desk, hidden in the darkness. “She says
she's down there. In the basement.”

“So let's go.” He turned toward the door.

“No.” She reached out and actually touched his arm to stop him.

“Huh? Why?” Shadows danced across his confused face.

“She's not alone. Someone is with her. Someone has her trapped.”

“But shouldn't we help her?” Gavin asked. For the first time, she heard panic in his voice.

“Yes, but . . .” One big part of her wanted to race across the kitchen and fling open that door and pull her friend to safety. But then there was that other part of her. The part that had listened to countless “never open the door to strangers” lectures from her parents, the part that had seen those late-night scary movies where opening a door meant walking right into evil, and the part that was
scared
.

Her thoughts were interrupted as a strange whirring that filled the kitchen. Then a beep. And another. In a rush, the lights flooded on and the appliances came back to life.

In the brightness, she immediately knew what to do. Paige was her best friend. She
had
to help her.

She moved quickly to the basement door.

“So we're going down?” Gavin asked, his voice loud. He stood by her side.

“Shh,” she warned. “And yes.” She had decided.

She peered at the crack at the bottom of the door. No light seeped out of it. The basement was dark, even with the power back on. Her hand rested on the doorknob.

Fear overcame her. She couldn't turn it. What was she walking into? Was she being stupid? Anything could be waiting for her behind that door.

“Weapon,” she whispered. “We need a weapon.”

Her eyes scanned the area by them. An umbrella stood propped by the back door. It was pointy but seemed silly. She knew there were mops and brooms in the cleaning closet off the back mudroom leading to the garage, but she couldn't imagine what good those would do. She had no idea what she was looking for.

Gavin raised his eyebrows. “You—you think we'll need a weapon?” he stammered.

“I don't know what we'll need,” she shot back, her anxiety peaking. “I don't know who is down there.”

“Or if it's human,” he added quietly.

She froze. He had that intense, disturbing look again. She edged away.

She glanced down at Chrissie's phone, still cradled in her left hand. She pushed the keypad, and it blinked to life. Carefully she dialed the numbers 9-1-1.

Positioning her left thumb over the send button just in case, she twisted the knob. The basement door swung open, and she stepped down into the darkness.

She tentatively took the first step. Her stomach twisted, and she paused. Was she really doing this?

Yes. Yes, she was. She had to help Paige. And Paige might know where her brother was, and Chrissie, and everyone else.
Come on, Kelly,
she coached herself.

Her hand reached for the light switch, but before she could touch it, the lights flashed on themselves and then—

“Surprise!”

Kelly screamed and reeled backward. She dropped the cell phone and frantically reached for the banister. Her knees wobbled from the shock. What was going on?

“Surprise!” the voices yelled again.

She stared dumbfounded at the smiling faces beaming
up at her from the bottom of the stairs. Paige, June, Spencer, Chrissie, Ryan, Spencer's mom, and his brother, Charlie.

“Wh-what?” She couldn't understand what they were all doing in her basement. Together. Looking so . . . happy.

“Happy birthday!” they all cried.

Her brain took a few seconds to compute the meaning of what was going on. Then she noticed the balloons and streamers decorating the usually blah basement.

“Go downstairs.” Gavin gave her a gentle nudge from behind.

She glanced over her shoulder and gave him a questioning look. She still was too scared and confused to speak.

“It's a surprise party,” he explained. “For your birthday.”

“Really?” Her voice came out as a squeak. “Seriously?”

Gavin smiled widely. “Seriously.” She noticed that it was the first time she'd seen him smile. His face looked different now. Warmer. Friendlier.

“Get down here!” June commanded good-naturedly. She hurried up the stairs and grabbed Kelly's hand. Kelly let June lead her. She stood surrounded by her friends.

“I had no idea . . .” Her voice trailed off, still amazed.

“Of course, silly,” Paige teased. “That's why it's called a
surprise
party.”

“We have cupcakes.” Charlie, wearing his truck-printed pajamas, tugged at Kelly's pant leg. “And they're chocolate!”

She looked down at him and rumpled his staticky brown hair. “Really? I love cupcakes.”

“Sit down, birthday girl,” Mrs. Stone, Spencer's mom, said. She led the group to the sofa. Kelly sank into the cushions, letting her body relax for the first time in hours. She took in the display of cupcakes, chips and dip, and hot chocolate on the table in front of them.

“This is amazing.” She looked at all her friends, no longer in pajamas but in warm winter clothes, gathered around. Then her eyes stopped at Chrissie, all happy and bubbly. “Wait. I don't get it. You were outside. And then you weren't. And you were acting all strange and wouldn't answer when I called you. . . . ” Her gaze moved to Ryan, smirking as he shoved a cupcake into his mouth. “Hey, and you! Why wouldn't you answer me? I was so scared.”

“Gotcha!” everyone shrieked at once.

“Huh?” Kelly said.

“We totally scared you,” Spencer explained. “You're no
longer the Master of Scares, are you? You were
terrified
.”

“We got you good!” Paige sang out, bouncing from foot to foot gleefully.

A joke. It was all a joke, Kelly now realized.

She nodded slowly. “Oh, wow. I was so freaked out.” She thought back over the events of the night. “So it was all fake?”

“Yep,” June said, sitting next to her. “And you fell for it all.”

“I'm a good actor, aren't I?” Chrissie beamed proudly.

“Not as good as I am!” Ryan countered.

“Hey, I taught you everything you know. Who showed you how to do the zombie stare? I'm so good, I should open an acting school,” Chrissie bragged.

“But I don't understand. . . . ” Kelly tried to quickly tie all the pieces together but couldn't.

“When we saw how bummed you were at not having a party tonight, we came up with the idea of a surprise party. I told Chrissie, and she was cool with it,” Paige explained. “She clued in Ryan.”

“Then we decided that it was time to scare the Master of Scares,” Spencer continued. “But it was Ryan who came up with the most genius idea.”

Kelly stared at her little brother. He gloated and reached for his second cupcake. “How?” she asked.

“He showed me the article you were reading earlier about Mary Owens,” Chrissie said. “Before the sleepover even started, we came up with a plan.”

“We pretended that the summoning of Miss Mary worked,” June added.

“Wait, so you didn't see anyone behind me?” Kelly asked.

“Of course not,” June scoffed. “And then we started disappearing. Me first. Spencer found this program that made our screens turn that wacky red. Scared you, right?”

“Yeah,” she admitted. “But who was Chrissie talking to on the phone?” She turned to the older girl. “You know, when you were acting all sad and weird.”

“I should get an Academy Award, don't you think?” Chrissie beamed. “I was talking to Paige. Totally made all that stuff up to play with your mind.”

“Actually, I was more awesome. Right, Kel?” Ryan asked. “I mean, you so fell for my zombie routine.”

She punched him playfully on the arm. “That was so mean!”

Ryan laughed, and Kelly looked around the room.
That was when she noticed Gavin, standing slightly behind the others. “How does Gavin fit in? I mean, no offense, but I barely even know you.”

“That was perfect, I must say.” Spencer grinned, clearly pleased with himself. “I had invited Gav to stay over before I even knew about this whole webcam thing. His dad and brother had to go out of town. Anyway, we decided that since you didn't really know him, he could totally mess with you. We really wanted you to believe he was possessed.”

“I believed that,” she agreed.

Gavin chuckled, and Kelly cringed. “Sorry. You were way creepy. Especially when you came running out of the bushes. What was that about?”

“That wasn't planned,” Spencer admitted. “You see, we each made our way over here, one by one, and sneaked into the basement through the side door, so you wouldn't hear us enter the house. Chrissie unlocked it for us. Charlie heard about it and really wanted to come too. And my mom wouldn't let us do all this without an adult, so that's why she is here.” Spencer grimaced.

“I played along, but I was always looking out for you, Kelly honey,” Mrs. Stone said. Her pale-blue eyes
twinkled. Clearly she'd enjoyed herself.

Chrissie took over. “I made the boot prints to nowhere. Then I doubled back on the same prints—not easy, if you want to know—and hid in the mudroom off the kitchen to watch you. But when I saw you wandering aimlessly in the storm outside at night, well, I got scared that you would get hurt or frostbitten or something. We knew we had to get you back inside and to the party.”

“So you sent Gavin after me?” she asked.

“Yeah,” Gavin continued. “I snuck back out the side door and into the backyard. My appearing was creepy and still kept you scared. I really didn't mean to chase you like that, but when you just took off, I had no choice.” He grinned. “You're fast. And boy, was it cold out there.”

“And then?” Kelly asked, still working overtime to connect the dots.

“Well, I wasn't expecting the cat attack, that's for sure!”

Ryan and her friends laughed. Ezra's flying leaps were legendary.

“But I did manage to get you to the basement,” Gavin explained.

“It helped that I called you,” Paige interjected. “I used Mrs. Stone's phone. I figured there was no way
you'd recognize her cell number on the caller ID.”

Kelly shook her head. “Not at all. You sounded so . . . scared.”

“Chrissie's not the only actor in the family, right?” Paige grinned; then her face softened. “And, hey, it's nice to know you'd come save me. You know, if anything ever happened for real.”

“Of course,” Kelly murmured, nodding at her friend.

“And that's the whole story,” June concluded.

“Wow.” She was completely in awe. She thought through their complicated plans, then smiled. “I've taught you all well. Good scare. No, excellent scare!”

“Ha-ha,” Ryan said, smirking. “You'd think—”

Everyone stopped speaking as the familiar ringtone sounded. Instinctively Kelly froze, still freaked out by the haunting melody. Why was the haunting melody playing again? Her eyes darted about the basement.