by R. L. Stine
Their gold coins had been strung as necklaces around their necks. The coins caught the light of the torches and made the faces of the winners appear to glow as they marched by.
Dierdre marched second in line. She seemed so happy and excited! Her coins jangled at her throat. Her smile never faded.
Jan and I waved and called to her, but she marched right past.
A counselor’s voice suddenly boomed over the loudspeaker: “Let’s hear it for our winners who are taking the Winners Walk tonight!”
A deafening cheer rose up from the kids watching the parade. We all clapped and shouted and whistled until the winners had marched past and the final torches had floated out of sight.
“Only the Best!” the voice shouted over the loudspeaker.
“Only the Best!” we all chanted back. “Only the Best!”
That ended the Winners Walk parade. The lights came on. We all scrambled toward the dorms. The boys ran in one direction, the girls in the other.
“The torches were really cool,” I said to Jan as we followed the crowd of girls down the path to the dorm.
“I only need two more King Coins,” Jan replied. “Maybe I can win them tomorrow. Are you playing in the softball tournament?”
“No. Tennis,” I told her.
“There are too many good tennis players,” Jan replied. “It’ll be too hard to win a coin. You should play softball, too.”
“Well … maybe,” I replied.
Ivy was already waiting for us in the room. “Where’s Dierdre?” she demanded as Jan and I entered.
“We didn’t see her,” Jan replied.
“Probably hanging out with the other winners,” I added.
“I found two bags of tortilla chips, but I couldn’t find any salsa,” Ivy reported, holding up the bags.
“Do we have anything to drink?” I asked.
Ivy held up two cans of Diet Coke.
“Wow! Great party!” Jan exclaimed, laughing.
“Maybe we should invite some girls in from other rooms,” I suggested.
“No way! Then we’d have to share the Cokes!” Jan protested.
We all laughed.
The three of us joked and kidded around for about half an hour, waiting for Dierdre. We sat down on the floor and opened one of the bags of tortilla chips.
Without realizing it, we finished off the whole bag. Then we passed around one of the cans of soda.
“Where is she?” Jan demanded, glancing at her watch.
“It’s nearly time for lights-out,” Ivy sighed. “We won’t have much time for a party.”
“Maybe Dierdre forgot we were having a party,” I suggested, crinkling up the tortilla chip bag and tossing it toward the trash basket.
I missed. Basketball is definitely not my sport.
“But the party was her idea!” Ivy replied. She climbed to her feet and started pacing back and forth. “Where can she be? Everyone is inside by now.”
“Let’s go find her,” I said. The words just popped out of my mouth. That happens to me sometimes. I get a bright idea before I know what I’m saying.
“Yes! Let’s go!” Ivy eagerly agreed.
“Whoa! Hold it,” Jan said, stepping in front of us, blocking our way to the door. “We’re not allowed. You know the rules, Ivy. We’re not allowed outside after ten.”
“We’ll sneak out, find Dierdre, and sneak back in,” Ivy replied. “Come on, Jan. What could happen?”
“Right. What could happen?” I chimed in.
Jan was outnumbered. “Okay, okay. But I hope we don’t get caught,” she muttered. She followed Ivy and me to the door.
“What could happen?” I murmured to myself, leading the way into the empty hall.
“What could happen?” I repeated as we sneaked out the door, into the night.
“What could happen?”
I didn’t know it. But the answer to the question was: A LOT!
13
The night had grown warmer. And steamier. As I crept out the door, I felt as if I were stepping into a hot shower.
A mosquito buzzed around my head. I tried to clap it between my hands. Missed.
Jan, Ivy, and I edged our way around the side of the building. My shoes slid on the dew-wet grass. Bright spotlights shone down from the trees, lighting the path.
We crept in the shadows.
“Where should we look first?” Ivy whispered.
“Let’s start at the lodge,” I suggested. “Maybe all of tonight’s winners are partying there.”
“I don’t hear any partying,” Jan whispered. “It’s so quiet out here!”
She was right. The only sounds I could hear were the steady chirp of crickets and the whisper of the warm wind through the trees.
Keeping in the shadows, we followed the path toward the lodge. We passed the swimming pool, empty and silent. The water shimmered like silver under the bright spotlights.
It was such a hot, wet night, I imagined myself jumping into the pool with all my clothes on.
But we were on a mission: to find Dierdre. No time to think about late-night swims.
Staying close together, we passed the row of Ping-Pong tables. They made me think of Elliot. I wondered what he was doing. Probably tucked into bed.
Like any sensible person.
We were approaching the first row of tennis courts when Ivy suddenly cried out, “Whoa! Get back!” She grabbed me and shoved me hard against the fence.
I heard soft footsteps on the path. Someone humming.
The three of us held our breath as a counselor walked past. He had curly black hair and wore dark blue sunglasses even though it was night. He wore the white T-shirt and white shorts that made up the counselor’s uniform.
We pressed our backs against the tennis court fence. “That’s Billy,” Jan whispered. “He’s kind of cute. He’s always so happy.”
“He won’t be too happy if he catches us,” Ivy whispered. “We’ll be in major trouble.”
Humming to himself, snapping his fingers, Billy walked past us. The path curved around the other side of the tennis courts. I watched him until he disappeared.
I took a deep breath. I hadn’t been breathing the whole time!
“Where’s he going?” Ivy wondered.
“Maybe he’s going to the party at the lodge,” I suggested.
“Why don’t we ask him?” Jan joked.
“For sure,” I muttered.
We checked out the path in both directions. Then we started walking again.
We made our way past the tennis courts. The spotlights in the trees cast long shadows across the path. The shadows shifted and moved as the tree limbs bobbed in the wind. They looked like dark creatures crawling and slithering over the ground.
Despite the heat of the night, I shivered.
It was kind of creepy walking over these moving shadows. I had the feeling one of them might reach up, grab me, and pull me down.
Weird thought, huh?
I turned back in time to see the lights in the dorm windows start to go out. Lights-out.
I tapped Jan on the shoulder. She turned and watched the dorm, too. As the lights all went out, the building seemed to disappear in front of our eyes. It faded into the black of the night sky.
“M-maybe this wasn’t such a good idea,” I whispered.
Ivy didn’t reply. She bit her lower lip. Her eyes were darting around the darkness.
Jan laughed. “Don’t wimp out now,” she scolded. “We’re almost to the lodge.”
We cut through the soccer field. The main lodge stood on a low, sloping hill, hidden by wide, old maple and oak trees.
We didn’t have to climb very far up the hill to see that the lodge was as dark as the dorm.
“No party up there,” I whispered.
Ivy sighed, disappointed. “Well, where could Dierdre be?”
“We could try the boys’ dorm!” I joked.
They both laughed.
Our laughter was cut short by a loud
fluttering sound very close by.
“What’s that?” Ivy cried.
“Ohhh!” I let out a low moan as I raised my eyes and saw them.
The sky was thick with bats. Dozens of black bats.
Fluttering over the spotlights in the old trees. And then — swooping down to get us!
14
I couldn’t help myself. I let out a scream. Then I shielded my face with both hands.
I heard Jan and Ivy gasp.
The fluttering grew louder. Closer.
I could feel the bats’ hot breath on the back of my neck. Then I could feel them clawing at my hair, tearing at my face.
I’ve got a real good imagination when it comes to bats.
“Wendy, it’s okay,” Jan whispered. She tugged my hands from my face. She pointed. “Look.”
I followed her gaze up to the fluttering black wings. The bats were swooping low. But they weren’t swooping at us. They were swooping down and landing on the swimming pool at the bottom of the hill.
In the bright spotlights, I could see them dart into the water — for less than a second. Then sweep back up to the sky.
“I — I don’t like bats,” I whispered.
“Neither do I,” Ivy confessed. “I know they’re supposed to be good. I know they eat insects and stuff. But I still think they’re creepy.”
“Well, they won’t bother us,” Jan said. “They’re just taking a drink.” She gave Ivy and me a push to get us started down the hill.
We were lucky. Nobody had heard me scream. But we had walked only a few steps when we spotted another counselor coming down the path. I recognized her. She had straight white-blond hair that tumbled down to her waist from under a blue baseball cap.
Without making a sound, all three of us dove behind a tall evergreen shrub and crouched down.
Did she see us?
I held my breath.
She kept walking.
“Where are these counselors going?” Ivy whispered.
“Let’s follow her,” I suggested.
“Stay far back,” Jan instructed.
We slowly climbed back to our feet. And stepped out from behind the shrub.
And stopped when we heard the low rumbling sound.
As the rumbling grew louder, the ground began to shake.
I caught the frightened expressions on my two friends’ faces. Ivy and Jan were just as scared as I was.
The ground shook harder, so hard that we dropped to our knees. I leaned on all fours, holding on to the grass. The ground trembled and shook. The rumbling became a roar.
I shut my eyes.
The sound slowly faded.
The ground gave a final tremble, then remained still.
I opened my eyes and turned to Ivy and Jan. They started to stand. Slowly.
“I hate when that happens!” Jan muttered.
“What is it?” I whispered. I stood up on shaky legs.
“Nobody knows,” Jan replied, brushing at the grass stains on her knees. “It just happens. A few times a day.”
“I think we should give up on Dierdre,” Ivy said quietly. “I want to go back. To the dorm.”
“Yeah. I’m with you,” I replied wearily. “We can have our celebration with Dierdre tomorrow.”
“She can tell us all about where she was tonight and what she did,” Jan said.
“This was a crazy idea,” I muttered.
“It was your idea!” Jan exclaimed.
“Most of my ideas are crazy!” I replied.
Hiding in the shadows, we made our way down to the path. I gazed toward the pool. The bats had disappeared. Maybe the rumbling sound had scared them back into the woods.
The crickets had stopped chirping. The air remained hot, but silent and still.
The only sound was the scrape of our sneakers on the soft dirt path.
And then — before we could move or hide — we heard someone else’s footsteps.
Rapid footsteps. Running hard. Running toward us.
I stopped short when I heard a girl’s desperate cry. “Help me! Please — somebody! Help me!”
15
A hot gust of wind shook the trees, making their eerie dark shadows dance.
I leaped back, startled by the girl’s terrified cries.
“Help me! Please!”
She came running around from the side of the tennis courts. She wore tight blue short-shorts and a magenta midriff top.
Her arms were stretched out in front of her. Her long hair flew wildly behind her head.
I recognized her as soon as she burst into view.
The little red-haired girl with all the freckles. The one who had hidden in the woods and warned Elliot and me not to come into the camp.
“Help me!”
She ran right into me, sobbing hard. I threw my arms around her tiny shoulders and held her. “You’re okay,” I whispered. “You’re okay.”
“No!” she shrieked. She tugged away from me.
“What’s wrong?” Ivy demanded. “Why are you out here?”
“Why aren’t you in bed?” Jan added, stepping up beside me.
The little girl didn’t answer. Her entire body trembled.
She grabbed my hand and pulled me behind the bushes beside the path. Jan and Ivy followed.
“I’m not okay,” she started, wiping the tears off her freckled cheeks with both hands. “I’m not. I — I —”
“What’s your name?” Jan asked in a whisper.
“Why are you out here?” Ivy repeated.
I heard the flutter of bat wings again, low overhead. But I stared at the little girl and forced myself to ignore them.
“My name — it’s Alicia,” the girl replied, sobbing. “We’ve got to go. Fast!”
“Huh?” I cried. “Take a deep breath, Alicia. You’re okay. Really.”
“No!” she cried again, shaking her head.
“You’re safe now. You’re with us,” I insisted.
“We’re not safe,” she cried. “No one. No one here. I tried to warn people. I tried to tell you …” Her words were cut off once again by her loud sobs.
“What is it?” Ivy demanded.
“What did you try to warn us about?” Jan asked, leaning down to the crying girl.
“I — I saw something terrible!” Alicia stammered. “I —”
“What did you see?” I asked impatiently.
“I followed them,” Alicia replied. “And I saw it. Something horrible. I — I can’t talk about it. We just have to run. We have to tell the others. Everyone. We have to run. We have to get away from here.”
She let out a long breath. Her entire body trembled again.
“But why do we have to run?” I asked, placing my hands gently on her shoulders.
I felt so bad. I wanted to calm her. I wanted to tell her that everything would be okay. But I didn’t know how to convince her.
What had she seen? What had frightened her so much?
Had she had a bad dream?
“We have to go now!” she repeated shrilly. Her red hair was matted to her face by her tears. She grabbed my arm and pulled hard. “Hurry! We’ve got to run! I saw it!”
“Saw what?” I cried.
Alicia had no time to reply.
A dark-haired counselor stepped up in front of the bushes. “Caught you!” he cried.
16
I froze. My entire body went cold.
The counselor’s dark eyes flashed in the light of a spotlight. “What are you doing out here?” he demanded.
I sucked in a deep breath and started to answer.
But another voice replied before I could. “Kind of nosy, aren’t you?” It was another counselor. A woman with short black hair.
Breathing hard, trying not to make a sound, I ducked lower behind the bushes. My two friends dropped to their knees.
“You aren’t following me — are you?” the first counselor teased.
“Why would I follow you? Maybe you’re following me!” the woman t
eased back.
They didn’t see us, I realized happily. We were two feet away from them. But they didn’t see us behind the bushes. A few seconds later, the two counselors strolled off together. My friends and I waited a long while, listening hard until we could no longer hear their voices. Then we climbed slowly to our feet.
“Alicia?” I asked. “Are you okay?” “Alicia?” Ivy and Jan cried. The little girl had vanished.
We sneaked back into the dorm through a side door. Luckily, there were no counselors patrolling the halls. No one in sight.
“Dierdre — are you back?” Jan called as we stepped into our room.
No reply.
I clicked on the light. Dierdre’s bunk remained empty.
“Better turn off the light,” Ivy warned. “It’s after lights-out.”
I clicked the light back off. Then I stumbled toward my bunk, waiting for my eyes to adjust to the darkness.
“Where is Dierdre?” Ivy asked. “I’m a little worried about her. Maybe we should tell a counselor that she’s missing.”
“What counselor?” Jan asked, slumping onto her bed. “There’s no one around. The counselors are all out somewhere.”
“I’m sure she’s partying somewhere and forgot all about us,” I said, yawning. I bent to pull down the covers on my bed.
“What do you think that little girl saw?” Ivy asked, peering out the window.
“Alicia? I think she had a bad dream,” I replied.
“But she was so frightened!” Jan said, shaking her head. “And what was she doing outside?”
“And why did she run away from us like that?” Ivy added.
“Weird,” I mumbled.
“Weird is right,” Jan agreed. “Weird is the word of the night.” She made her way to the dresser. “I’m getting changed for bed. Big day tomorrow. I’ve got to win two more King Coins.”
“Me, too,” Ivy said, yawning.
Jan pulled out a dresser drawer. “Oh, no!” she shrieked. “No! I don’t believe it!”
17
“Jan — what is it?” I cried.
Ivy and I tore across the room to the dresser.
Jan continued to stare down into the open drawer. “It’s so dark,” she said. “I opened Dierdre’s drawer by mistake. And — and — it’s empty!”
