I had done it. I ran back in front of the door to see if it would open, but as I stood there, the candlestick snapped back into place.
Looks like I’m going to have to start over.
But the clicking didn’t stop—it moved from the walls to the ceiling. When I looked up toward the sound, the ceiling slid open and a giant metal claw shot down right at me. I ducked, but it was too late. I could feel its razor-sharp talons pinch into my back.
“Somebody HELP!” I screamed as the claw began to lift me off the floor. Struggling, I screamed again. I didn’t care who heard me—I would rather get caught at this point than find out where this claw was taking me. As I wriggled, I heard a tear and I dropped down a bit. It was my shirt! The talons had hooked my shirt, not me!
As I rose up closer to the ceiling, I heard another click coming from the statue. Looking over, I saw its screaming face turn toward me.
How could this get any worse?
I asked myself, right as a small flame appeared in the statue’s mouth.
The flame grew into a mighty fireball. I struggled harder, my shirt tore a little more, but all I could do was flail helplessly in the air. The fiery glow filled the statue’seyes, and, through the shimmering light, it appeared to almost smile as it blasted the giant orange fireball right at me.
I curled up into a ball. I closed my eyes and held my breath, trying to block out the blistering heat that filled the room. For a brief moment, I felt my body consumed by flames…then I felt myself falling. Opening my eyes, I could see the floor coming up quickly. For the second time in one day.
Crashing onto the cold floor, I couldn’t move for what seemed like an eternity. Finally building up the nerve, I sat up and reached for my back. The whole back of my shirt been burned off—but the fireball just missed me.
I was done fooling around with Raven Hill. The next time I came, I was going to bring backup.
I knew that I could open the booby-trapped Staff Only door with the help of my friends, but that would mean telling them everything about Raven Hill. And I knew they’d think I’d lost my mind.
When I woke that next day, I felt like a total wreck. My bones creaked, my muscles were sore, and my back felt sunburned. On top of it all, I’d barely slept—and the sleep I did get was filled with nightmares of monsters sticking their long, bloody, nasty tongues into the jar of my lebensplasm, licking it clean. But I
had
to get out of bed and rally my friends.
When I got to school, it took what seemed like an eternity for the lunch bell to ring. I shuffled down the hallways on autopilot: Take books out of locker, go to class, put books back into locker.DO NOT ENTER. DO NOT ENTER. DO NOT ENTER. I cared about nothing else.
By lunchtime, delirium had set in. Maybe I had just dreamed of the fireball-spewing demon statue.
Nope,
my crispy back told me.
That happened.
I sat staring at my tray and chomped and chomped and chomped, trying hard not to chicken out of telling Shane, Gordon, and Ben about Raven Hill. DO NOT ENTER. DO NOT ENTER. DO NOT ENTER. I swallowed hard and gagged, once again holding back a Technicolor yawn.
Shane stopped talking about his latest paper route adventure, and asked the question on everyone’s mind: “Chris, what is wrong with you?”
Shane and Gordon stared at me from across the table. They were waiting for an answer. I looked over at Ben. He just nodded, and I knew that I could trust my friends with my secret.
I cleared my throat. Even though I’d gone over my speech a thousand times the night before, it still felt like the words were stuck in my mouth.
What if they think I’m crazy?
I thought.
I took a deep breath and said, “All of the old folks at Raven Hill Retirement Home are actually mmm…”
I tripped on the word.
“…monnnnn…”
“Monks?” asked Ben.
“
Monsters
,” I finally said.
Gordon chuckled. Ben cocked his head strangely. Shane raised one eyebrow really
Looks like I’m going to have to start over.
But the clicking didn’t stop—it moved from the walls to the ceiling. When I looked up toward the sound, the ceiling slid open and a giant metal claw shot down right at me. I ducked, but it was too late. I could feel its razor-sharp talons pinch into my back.
“Somebody HELP!” I screamed as the claw began to lift me off the floor. Struggling, I screamed again. I didn’t care who heard me—I would rather get caught at this point than find out where this claw was taking me. As I wriggled, I heard a tear and I dropped down a bit. It was my shirt! The talons had hooked my shirt, not me!
As I rose up closer to the ceiling, I heard another click coming from the statue. Looking over, I saw its screaming face turn toward me.
How could this get any worse?
I asked myself, right as a small flame appeared in the statue’s mouth.
The flame grew into a mighty fireball. I struggled harder, my shirt tore a little more, but all I could do was flail helplessly in the air. The fiery glow filled the statue’seyes, and, through the shimmering light, it appeared to almost smile as it blasted the giant orange fireball right at me.
I curled up into a ball. I closed my eyes and held my breath, trying to block out the blistering heat that filled the room. For a brief moment, I felt my body consumed by flames…then I felt myself falling. Opening my eyes, I could see the floor coming up quickly. For the second time in one day.
Crashing onto the cold floor, I couldn’t move for what seemed like an eternity. Finally building up the nerve, I sat up and reached for my back. The whole back of my shirt been burned off—but the fireball just missed me.
I was done fooling around with Raven Hill. The next time I came, I was going to bring backup.
I knew that I could open the booby-trapped Staff Only door with the help of my friends, but that would mean telling them everything about Raven Hill. And I knew they’d think I’d lost my mind.
When I woke that next day, I felt like a total wreck. My bones creaked, my muscles were sore, and my back felt sunburned. On top of it all, I’d barely slept—and the sleep I did get was filled with nightmares of monsters sticking their long, bloody, nasty tongues into the jar of my lebensplasm, licking it clean. But I
had
to get out of bed and rally my friends.
When I got to school, it took what seemed like an eternity for the lunch bell to ring. I shuffled down the hallways on autopilot: Take books out of locker, go to class, put books back into locker.DO NOT ENTER. DO NOT ENTER. DO NOT ENTER. I cared about nothing else.
By lunchtime, delirium had set in. Maybe I had just dreamed of the fireball-spewing demon statue.
Nope,
my crispy back told me.
That happened.
I sat staring at my tray and chomped and chomped and chomped, trying hard not to chicken out of telling Shane, Gordon, and Ben about Raven Hill. DO NOT ENTER. DO NOT ENTER. DO NOT ENTER. I swallowed hard and gagged, once again holding back a Technicolor yawn.
Shane stopped talking about his latest paper route adventure, and asked the question on everyone’s mind: “Chris, what is wrong with you?”
Shane and Gordon stared at me from across the table. They were waiting for an answer. I looked over at Ben. He just nodded, and I knew that I could trust my friends with my secret.
I cleared my throat. Even though I’d gone over my speech a thousand times the night before, it still felt like the words were stuck in my mouth.
What if they think I’m crazy?
I thought.
I took a deep breath and said, “All of the old folks at Raven Hill Retirement Home are actually mmm…”
I tripped on the word.
“…monnnnn…”
“Monks?” asked Ben.
“
Monsters
,” I finally said.
Gordon chuckled. Ben cocked his head strangely. Shane raised one eyebrow really
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