by R. L. Stine
She looked down the ravine. It wasn’t as deep or as steep as she had imagined.
He was lying at the bottom, his body twisted, his head in such a weird position, as if it had come off and been carelessly replaced by someone who didn’t know which way a head was supposed to fit.
She took a couple of cautious steps down the slope.
He didn’t move. His mouth was opened wide. His eyes were closed. His head was bent nearly sideways. It appeared to be resting on his shoulder.
“No!”
Had he broken his neck?
She felt sick. Everything started to spin. She sank to the ground and waited for the woods to stop moving.
What should I do? she wondered. This isn’t really happening—is it? Her mind was spinning faster than the trees. She wanted to wake up and forget this dream. She wanted to run away. She wanted to stop the panic she felt. If only she could think clearly…
Before she realized what she was doing, she was on her feet, tumbling and sliding down the side of the ravine. At the bottom she stood over the unmoving body, staring at the chain with its three silver skulls that seemed to stare back at her.
His mouth was locked open in an expression of horror. He seemed to be saying, “You did this to me. You killed me, Della.”
“No!” she screamed. “Get up! Get up!”
She grabbed his arm and started to pull him up. The arm felt limp and lifeless. She dropped it, feeling a wave of revulsion roll up from her stomach.
“Get up! Get up!”
It was so dark, so hard to see. If only everything would stop spinning. If only she could breathe normally, think normally.
What should she do? What??
He’s got to be alive, she thought. This can’t be happening. It can’t.
Her hands shaking, she sank to her knees in the dry leaves and reached for his hand. She moved her fingers around his wrist, trying to find a pulse.
Where is it? Where is it? Come on—there’s got to be a pulse.…
Yes!
She found it. The soft, insistent thudding in his wrist, so fast, so strong. Yes. He had a pulse. He was alive. He—
No.
She shuddered. It was her own pulse she was feeling.
Her hands were shaking. She reached for his throat. She had seen this in movies. You find a pulse by pressing on the side of the throat.
The head rolled lifelessly back. She pressed hard against the throat. Nothing. She moved her fingers. Nothing.
Nothing. Nothing. Nothing.
She grabbed up his wrist.
Nothing.
“Ohh.” She climbed to her feet, her hands covering her face.
He was dead. She had killed him.
Self-defense, she thought. It was self-defense.
But what did that matter? She had killed a man, another human being.
Now what?
Now her life would be ruined.
Now her parents would know she went on the overnight without Mr. Abner. Now all of the parents would know. She thought of Maia, of the promise she had made Maia that nothing would go wrong.
And now everything had gone wrong.
The whole town would know that she had killed a man. For the rest of her life she’d be haunted by this moment. Her life was ruined, ruined.
No.
Why ruin her life for this… this creep?
Why ruin all of their lives?
She turned her back to him so she could think better. Her mind was racing crazily, she realized. It was so hard to think clearly, to think in a straight line.
But she knew she had decided.
She wasn’t going to tell anyone about him.
There was no reason to tell. And there was every reason not to tell.
It was an accident, anyway. Just an accident. He could have slipped and fallen down the ravine and hit his head and broken his neck or whatever he did to himself all by himself.
Suddenly she knew what she would do. It was easy, actually. And it was smart. She was being smart.
And she wasn’t just protecting herself. She was protecting her friends. They didn’t deserve to have their lives ruined forever because of this… accident.
She bent over and filled her arms with dry leaves, dead leaves from the winter just passed. Then she dropped the leaves over his legs. Another armful of leaves. She dropped them over his boots. Another armful.
It won’t take long to cover him with leaves, she thought. Then I’ll go back to camp and pretend this never happened.
She scooped up another armful of leaves. As she started to drop them onto his chest, she looked up to the top of the ravine.
Ricky and Maia were staring down at her.
CHAPTER 6
“He attacked me!” Della cried, struggling up the side of the steep ravine. “I didn’t mean to do it! I mean, I didn’t mean to push him. He just fell, you see. It was an accident!”
Maia looked even more upset than Della, but she hurried forward and put an arm around Della’s shoulder, helping her away from the ravine and trying to calm her. “Take your time,” she whispered into Della’s ear. “Take your time. Tell it slowly.”
“Who is that guy?” Ricky demanded, standing on the edge of the ravine, peering down at the half-covered body.
“I don’t know,” Della said, forcing herself to stop shaking, to stop breathing so hard and fast. “That’s what I’m trying to tell you. He just came at me. He wanted to… he wanted to… I pushed him away, and he fell. He—He’s dead. He’s really dead.”
Maia let go of her shoulder and backed away.
“Della, you promised me—” she started, but she was too upset to finish her sentence. “My parents—they’re going to…”
Pete came up from behind Della and put a hand on her shoulder. “Take it easy. It’s over now,” he said gently. “We’ll figure out what to do.”
Della smiled at him. She was beginning to feel a little calmer.
“This is really gross,” she heard Suki telling Gary. “I’ve never seen a dead body before.”
“But who is he? What was he doing out here?” Ricky demanded, looking very serious for once.
“Just some creep,” Della muttered, shivering.
“But what was he doing out here all by himself?” Ricky repeated, his voice high and whiny.
“Ricky, how should I know?” she snapped. “He wasn’t a close personal friend, you know. He was some guy who attacked me in the woods. He didn’t tell me his life story first.”
“Sorry,” Ricky said softly. “You don’t have to shout.”
Shout? She felt like screaming at the top of her lungs.
“Are you sure he’s dead?” Gary asked suddenly.
“What?”
“Are you sure he’s dead?”
“Well, yes,” Della said, picturing again in her mind her frantic, unsuccessful attempts to find a pulse. Thinking about it, she began to feel dizzy again. She sat down on the ground, leaning back on her hands, closing her eyes.
“Maybe we should double-check,” Gary said.
“I just don’t believe this is happening,” Maia cried. “All of our lives wrecked because of a stupid overnight.”
“Just shut up, Maia!” Della screamed, losing control, not caring.
“But my parents are going to kill me!” Maia insisted. Della looked up at her. Tears were streaming down her cheeks.
Why is she crying? Della wondered. How can she have the nerve to cry? I’m the one who just killed a man!
“Chill out, Maia,” Suki said sharply. “This isn’t going to do any of our reputations any good.”
“I don’t feel so well,” Ricky said. “My stomach…” He ran into the trees.
“I’m going down there,” Gary said.
“What for?” Suki grabbed his arm.
But he pulled out of her grasp and slid down the side of the ravine. “Wait—I’ll go with you,” Pete said. But he made no attempt to follow.
Della stood up and watched Gar
y make his way to the bottom of the ravine. The wind had picked up, blowing the leaves she had piled on top of the young man, making it look as if he were moving. Somewhere off in the distance she heard crows cawing loudly. The crows made her think of buzzards. She pictured large black buzzards voraciously attacking the stranger, pulling him apart.
She shook her head hard, trying to erase the hideous picture from her mind. Gary was bending over the body now, brushing away some of the leaves Della had piled on.
“He feels cold,” Gary shouted up to them, his voice trembling, sounding higher than usual.
No one said anything. Ricky returned, sweating hard, looking very shaken.
“I can’t find a pulse,” Gary called up.
“What are we going to do?” Ricky asked, sitting down on the ground, crossing his legs and propping his head up with his hands.
“We’re going to finish covering him with leaves,” Suki said, as if it had all been decided.
“We are?” Maia asked, more hopeful than surprised. “We’re going to pretend we don’t know about this?”
“What do you think, Della?” Pete asked, standing very close to her, starting to put his arm around her shoulders, then hesitating.
“Can we keep a secret like this?” Della asked, staring off into the trees, not looking at them.
“We have to,” Maia insisted.
“Yeah, we have to,” Ricky repeated glumly, his head down.
Gary reappeared, breathing heavily, looking shaken. “No pulse at all,” he said.
“We’ve decided to cover him up and pretend it didn’t happen,” Suki told Gary.
“I guess.” Gary shook his head. “Anyone disagree with that plan?”
No one replied.
“Let’s go,” Gary said, looking at Pete.
“I’ll help,” Della said, starting after them.
“No.” Pete held up a hand. “Gary and I can do this.”
They disappeared down into the ravine. Della didn’t watch, but she could hear the scratch and rustle of leaves as they buried the young man’s body in them. She knew it was a sound she would never forget.
A few minutes later all six of them headed back to camp in silence. Somehow Della was surprised to find the tents, the backpacks, the equipment, and firewood all just as they’d left them. Her whole world had changed in that instant back on the edge of the ravine. She found herself expecting everything to be different now. It was reassuring, somehow, to see the campsite looking the same.
Maybe everything will go on as before, she thought. Maybe the secret will be left behind here on Fear Island and the memory of it will eventually fade.
“Let’s pack up and get out of here,” Suki said, picking up her backpack.
“Right,” Maia agreed. “I don’t want to spend another second on this horrible island.”
“No, wait,” Della insisted. “We can’t go back now. Our parents will all want to know why we came back so early, why we didn’t spend the night.”
“She’s right,” Gary said quickly.
“You mean we have to spend the whole night here?” Maia cried. “No! I won’t! I won’t!” She picked up her backpack and angrily heaved it at the pile of firewood.
“Maia, if you don’t chill out, we’ll cover you with leaves too,” Suki threatened.
Maia gasped. Ricky laughed. He was looking a little more like his usual self.
“Let’s everybody try to stay calm,” Gary said. “Della’s right. We have to stay here till tomorrow. We have to make everything look like normal. We can’t give our parents any reason to suspect that the overnight wasn’t a great success.”
“What a bummer,” Suki muttered. “I don’t think anyone’s in the mood for this anymore.”
“I know,” Gary replied. “But we have no choice—do we? We have to stay.”
“But I’m so cold,” Maia whined.
“Let’s get the fire going,” Gary said. “A warm fire will make everyone feel better.”
“A warm dinner will make me feel better,” Ricky said. “Especially since I just blew lunch!”
They built a large fire and roasted hot dogs over it. Della was surprised to find that she hadn’t lost her appetite. No one said much. Even Ricky ate in silence, hungrily wolfing down his food.
It was a clear, cool night. The wind gusted and swirled, making the campfire flicker and bend. Della looked up to find the sky filled with bright yellow and white stars. “How are you doing?” Pete asked, scooting down onto the blanket beside her.
“Okay, I guess.” She smiled at him. He really was being nice to her. Gary and Suki sat across the campfire from her, sharing a blanket but not saying anything as they ate.
Maia sat as close to the fire as she could get. She was rubbing her hands together, trying to warm them. “I just can’t get warmed up,” she said, seeing Della and Pete staring at her.
“Guess no one wants to tell ghost stories around the fire tonight,” Ricky quipped after they were finished eating. It was his first attempt at a joke, and it received the same silent reception most of his jokes received.
“I think we should get to sleep as early as possible,” Maia said. “Then when we wake up, it’ll be time to go home.” She shook her head miserably, staring into the orange glow of the fire. “I just want it to be time to go home.”
She stood up and started to drag her blanket toward the girls’ tent.
“No—wait,” Gary called, taking his arm off Suki’s shoulder. “First we have to take an oath.”
“Huh? What kind of oath?” Ricky asked, wrapped in his blanket so that only his face showed.
“An oath of secrecy,” Gary said. “The secret of Fear Island must stay here forever. We all have to hold hands and swear to it.”
The wind howled as the six of them stood solemnly in a circle. They each reached a hand forward over the fire. All six hands touched together.
Suki pulled her hand away. “This is stupid,” she said.
“No, it isn’t. A ceremony makes it official,” Gary told her.
Suki rolled her eyes, but put her hand back with the others. They all leaned together, their faces orange in the firelight. “The secret shall be kept,” Gary said slowly, his voice a whisper.
And as he said it, a rush of wind blew out the fire.
Maia screamed. It took a few seconds to get her calmed down. Pete and Suki quickly got the fire relit. Maia was the only one who had reacted, but everyone seemed pretty shaken now.
“At least there isn’t a full moon,” Ricky said. “We probably don’t have to worry about werewolves.” His joke was half-hearted. No one reacted.
They piled up their backpacks near the fire since there was no room for them in the small tents. Then Della led Maia to the girls’ tent. As she reached the opening, she turned and saw Gary wandering away from the campsite with Suki, their arms around each other’s waists.
Inside the tent the air was warm and wet. Della began to unroll her sleeping bag, then stopped. Outside she could hear the wind and the rustling of leaves.
The rustling of leaves, leaves being dropped over a young man’s body. Buried in leaves. In leaves. Buried in the rustling leaves.
“No!” She held her hands over her ears, but the sound of the rustling leaves didn’t go away.
“You okay?” Maia asked, climbing into her sleeping bag fully dressed.
“What?” It was hard to hear Maia over the sound of the leaves. So many leaves, dry, brown leaves, piled so high.
“I asked if you’re okay.”
“Yeah, sure. I guess.”
“We never should have come here,” Maia said. “I knew we never should have done this.” She turned her head away from Della.
Della didn’t say anything. She finished unrolling her sleeping bag, listening to the wind and the leaves, thinking about the young man, feeling his forehead pressed against her cheek again, smelling the leather of his bomber jacket, then seeing him fall backward as she shoved him, shoved him, shoved him
to his death.
She forced herself to think about something else. Gary. No. She couldn’t think about Gary either. He was off in the woods now, making out with Suki. Why had she agreed to go on this overnight? The whole point was to try to make things up with Gary. But that was out of the question now. Finished. Done. Done for.
Like the young man in the woods.
Stop it, Della. Stop thinking about it.
No, I can’t. I can’t. I’ll never be able to stop.
A few hours later she awoke from a dreamless sleep. Her arm tingled and felt numb. She realized she’d been sleeping on it. She pulled it out of the sleeping bag and tried to shake it back to life.
Her face felt wet and cold. Everything felt damp. She sat up, her eyes adjusting to the darkness. Maia was asleep, curled deep in her sleeping bag. Suki was asleep too, breathing noisily through her open mouth. When did she come in?
Della swept a hand back through her hair. Wet, wet, wet. Weren’t tents supposed to keep out the dew?
She heard a sound just outside the tent. A chill ran down her back. Was someone out there?
She listened.
The wind had died down. It was silent now.
A crackling twig broke the silence. Was it a footstep? She heard a scraping sound. Yes. Someone was there.
Was anyone else awake?
She listened. Another crackling noise, like a footstep on twigs or dry leaves.
She pulled herself up, her arm still tingling. She was wide awake now.
“Maia! Suki! Wake up!” she whispered. “Maia—please! Somebody—wake up!”
Her two tentmates stirred. “What time is it?” Maia finally asked, her voice raspy from sleep.
“Ssshh,” Della warned. “Listen. I think there’s someone out there.”
That startled Suki and Maia into consciousness. They both climbed onto their knees. “Huh? Probably the wind,” Suki whispered. But she looked as frightened as Maia.
“What should we do?” Maia asked, pulling her sleeping bag around her to keep warm.
“Sssh. Listen,” Della whispered.
They heard a crunching sound. A sound like a shoe scraping over dirt. Then another sound.
What was that? A cough?
