What Scares You the Most? (6 page)

“April—what is it? April—please stop!” Pam grabbed April by the shoulders. “Stop!”

Something horrible happened on the island, April told herself, staring at the pile of bones. And now it has followed me home!

She heard footsteps in the hall. Her mom and dad burst into the doorway. “What's going on?” Mr. Powers asked.

“The bones—” April pointed.

Pam stepped in front of her. “I'm really sorry,” she said to April's parents. “Alfy is always dragging things into the house. For some reason, those bones upset April.”

“It—it's the
smell
too!” April cried, trembling.

“Smell?” Mrs. Powers sniffed loudly. “What smell?”

All four of them sniffed.

“It's…gone,” April murmured.

Pam bent down and started to collect the bones. “I'll get these out of here right away,” she said. “Alfy
thought he was bringing you a present.”

April realized her parents were staring at her. “All the excitement has made you a little tense, hasn't it?” her mother said softly.

April nodded. “I guess.”

“I know you've been having nightmares about the island. Maybe we should cancel some of the interviews you have scheduled,” Mr. Powers suggested.

“Maybe,” April said. She tried to force the pile of bones from her mind.

“Oh. I almost forgot. You have mail,” Mrs. Powers said. She handed April a square cream-colored envelope. “From The Academy.”

April stared at the envelope in her hands. “What could it be? It looks kind of like an invitation.”

Mrs. Powers laughed. “Well, you'll never know unless you open it.”

“Yes, open it,” Pam said eagerly, peering over April's shoulder.

April carefully pulled open the envelope. Then she unfolded the note inside.

“It
is
an invitation,” she said.

“To what?” Pam asked.

“A reunion,” April said, her eyes scanning the letter. She gazed up at her mother. “Donald Marks is having a reunion of all the kids from the island.”

“A reunion? When?” Mrs. Powers asked.

“In two weeks,” April said, reading. “On the island. It says they'll fly me there for free.”

“Whoa! That's totally cool!” Pam exclaimed.

“It says it's going to be taped for TV. And…it's a chance for everyone to get together one more time to celebrate the fun we had.”

“Wow. That's awesome,” Pam said. Then her expression changed. “But you said you didn't want to go back there, didn't you? You know what? If you'd like, I'd be willing to go in your place.”

April looked up from the invitation and glared at Pam. “Go in my place?”

“Of
course
April wants to go,” Mrs. Powers broke in. “But it does seem a shame to leave Pam here by herself. Maybe Pam could go to the reunion too.”

Pam's eyes grew wide. “Do you really think so?”

“I'll bet Marks wouldn't mind,” April's mom said. “Why don't I call and ask? There's a phone number on the invitation—right?”

“Yes, but—” April started to say.

Why on earth did Mom suggest that? April asked herself angrily. This is why Pam has been so nice to me. She was so jealous that I got to go to the island. Now she wants to horn in on it.

“Uh…Pam is right. I don't think I want to go,” April said, keeping her eyes on the invitation.

“April, you have to go,” Mrs. Powers said sternly. “You're one of the grand prize winners—remember? You have to be there. You can't disappoint everyone.”

“And you want to be on TV—right?” Pam chimed in.

April opened her mouth to protest.

But her mom pulled the invitation from her hand. Then she turned and hurried out of the room. “I'm going to call Marks right now and see if Pam can go too.”

“Wow! Thanks!” Pam said excitedly. “That would be so totally cool!” She flashed April a big grin, then followed Mrs. Powers downstairs.

April dropped onto the edge of her bed with a sigh. She stared down at the pile of bones on the carpet.

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.

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.”

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!”