by Chase Wilder
Descend into the mine on this page.
In your haste, you kick open one of the crates and coffee beans spill out onto the floor. This makes such a loud, whooshing noise that you don’t hear the rattlesnake until it’s right by your foot. You look down as it sinks its fangs into your ankle.
Ouch! The pain is so intense it nearly knocks your socks off. You swear you can feel the venom sweeping through your veins.
Guy surges forward and snatches you up in his arms. “Don’t worry, kid,” he says. “We’ve got twenty minutes to find you some antivenom.”
“I thought you said a quarter of an hour,” you say. Your leg is already burning up.
“Twenty was me being kind,” Guy admits.
Fifteen minutes. As Guy whisks you away along the ship corridors, you already know you’ll be late. Very late.
RUN AGAIN?
OR JUST GO BACK?
You pull hard on the brake, but it snaps off in your hand. You’re accelerating faster than ever!
“Hey, Barry?” You hold the broken brake up to show him.
Barry spins around to see what’s going on and the movement knocks the cart down another shaft.
“We’re going to have to hold on tight now!” Barry shouts.
You hurtle through darkness. The only light is that from your flashlights and, sometimes, a strange green glow from the tunnel walls. In places, one of the rails has rusted away. You and Barry have to lean the cart up on one wheel to avoid crashing.
At the same time, you’re speeding faster and faster. Any moment now, you’re going to miss a sharp turn and end up pasted across the mine’s wall.
Then—moonlight!
Sighing with relief, you emerge out of the mine onto a short wooden bridge. All too short! Once, coal was dumped here. Today, there’s nothing to stop you from sailing off the end of the bridge and crashing to your death on the rocks below.
Aaaaaaaaahhhhh—
This place really needs some health and safety warnings!
RUN AGAIN?
OR JUST GO BACK?
Climbing the rock face is harder than it looks. Before long your arms are aching, your fingertips are ragged, and you’re scrabbling to find toeholds for your feet.
Every so often, you slip and nearly fall to your death. At least the spray from the waterfall is cool, even if it does make the rocks slippery.
Still, you have to keep going. You’ve come so far. You try to picture the mask, waiting in the temple. Waiting for you.
The screeching cry of some giant animal echoes down the mountain and out across the swamp. You’ve heard it several times now. Maybe the mask isn’t the only thing waiting for you.
Don’t think about that. Just keep climbing.
The spray from the waterfall is getting worse. You can barely keep a grip on the rock. Looking left, you notice the water is crashing against a ledge sticking out from the rock face. There’s some kind of platform hidden behind the waterfall.
You clamber sideways to the platform. Your arms sag with relief as soon as your feet touch down. There’s a large stone door here, engraved with the image of the mask. It must be a door to the temple.
You press against the door. Some ancient stone mechanism begins to grind within.
Wait. The door isn’t opening. Instead, the platform beneath your feet is retracting into the cliff face. You clutch at the door, but there’s nothing to hold onto. Suddenly, you’re standing on nothing. And then you’re falling.
You knew you should have learned how to fly!
RUN AGAIN?
OR JUST GO BACK?
You climb up through the narrow gap. The rock is slippery. You wedge your fingernails into any crack you can find. Whoops! Watch your footing.
“You’re doing great!” shouts Barry from below.
It’s a long climb. Soon you can’t see Barry’s flashlight below you. But there’s light coming from up above you, a faint green glow. Maybe that’s the mask? Barry said it had strange properties.
With the last of your strength you pull yourself up out of the gap into a narrow tunnel.
“I made it!” you shout down to Barry.
When you don’t hear anything back, you try shining your flashlight as a signal, but it no longer works.
So where’s that green glow coming from?
Turn to this page.
Creeping across the temple floor, you snatch up the mask. It’s heavier than it looks. You’re half expecting the altar to sink into the floor, triggering some terrible trap. Shouldn’t there be a huge boulder, rolling out from a secret compartment to flatten you into the paving cracks?
“Well done!” Scarlett calls from above. She is peering through the hole in the roof! You wonder how she scaled the temple so quickly. And how she still hasn’t broken a sweat.
“I’ll throw down a rope,” she calls. “And then you can bring me the mask.”
You look toward the chamber exit behind you. Scarlett notices.
“You do realize this whole temple is one large death trap?” she says. She’s still smiling. “To be honest, I wasn’t even sure there was a safe way to enter. Right now, I’m your best chance of getting out of that room alive.”
“And maybe my best chance of never seeing the mask again,” you mutter.
Scarlett looks hurt. “I haven’t got the foggiest idea what you mean.”
A rope drops to the stone floor beside you. Scarlett ties the other end around her waist. “We don’t have all day,” she says. “This temple has a guardian, you know. Let’s get our skates on.”
She looks nervous. You remember everything you’ve heard about demon monkeys and feel a little jittery yourself.
You stare at the mask in your hands. The mask stares back.
If you accept Scarlett’s deal, turn to this page.
To risk the temple’s traps, turn to this page.
You set off for the top deck. Rainwater is flushing down from overhead. The only light you have is the pocket flashlight in your hand, so you don’t see the fire hose until it’s too late.
The hose has fallen from a reel on the tilted wall and lies across the corridor like a rubbery python. Your boots get tangled in its coils and you smack down hard on the floor. The paneling gives way and you keep falling, down into darkness. All tangled up!
You crash through two more floors before you hit the water. Bad news is the hose comes with you. Its coils wrap snugly around you, pinning your arms to your sides. Looks like you’re stuck here for a while! Bubble, bubble, bubble …
RUN AGAIN?
OR JUST GO BACK?
Continuing on down the tunnel, you realize the green glow is phosphorescence—a naturally occurring slime oozing from the rock. That explains the strange smell. The bad news is that the slime only covers a narrow stretch of the shaft. Soon you’ve moved past it and have to edge into pitch-black. You trip over a rail sleeper and fall flat on your face.
This won’t work. You’re worried you’ll walk straight into a hole. And you can’t help feeling there’s something spooky waiting in the darkness.
Then you remember that Guy gave you a little cardboard book of matches back at the hotel before you arrived at the swamp. You feel through your pockets. A few coins. A broken flashlight. Success!
You’re about to strike a match when you remember that smell. You’ve left the slime behind, but the stench is worse than ever. If it’s gas, lighting a match could be a really bad idea.
Still, why stop living dangerously all of a sudden? To strike that match, go to this page.
Or to push on in the darkness, go to this page.
“OK, I’ll bring you the mask.”
Maybe Scarlett is right. The roof probably is the safest way out of this temple.
“Grab the rope!” Scarlett shouts. “We’re on a tight schedule here!”
You tuck the mask down the back of your jeans—which feels pretty careless, but it’s not like you have a display case on you—and take hold of the rope.
As you start t
o climb, Scarlett seems relieved. “To think I thought you’d be a problem,” she says. “Instead, you’ve been an absolute asset. If you like, I’ll tell—”
Scarlett is cut off mid-sentence by a horrible animal scream. In fact, she’s so shocked that she lets the rope unspool in her hands, sending you crashing back down to the stone floor.
It hurts. A lot.
“Sorry!” Scarlett yells. You think she’s going to tell you to start climbing again, but she’s too busy staring up the mountainside. She looks terrified.
Something crashes down on the roof of the temple. It’s a very large something. And very heavy. The ceiling begins to crack and crumble. In a few seconds, the whole thing is going to fall down on top of you.
Through the widening hole in the roof, you catch a glimpse of a dark, hairy body. You sprint for the chamber exit.
Run to this page.
When you return to the path, you’re astonished to see Scarlett Fox. “Hello there!” she says, all smiles. “I’ve missed you!”
She pretends to be surprised to see you, but you get the feeling she was watching you by the waterfall. You had a weird feeling somebody was.
You, on the other hand, are very surprised that she’s here at exactly the same time as you are. Are you still on the same expedition, technically? Is she still obliged to keep you safe? Why isn’t she even slightly sweaty?
“You’ve done so very well to make it this far,” Scarlett says. She tries to make it sound like a compliment, but to you it sounds like a threat. “Why don’t you pop down here and we’ll join forces?”
You hesitate.
Scarlett looks hurt. “Oh dear. I have the strangest feeling you don’t quite trust me.”
To go with her up the mountain, head to this page.
To sprint off alone, run to this page.
The match flares into life. As the light spreads along the tunnel wall, it reveals two messages scrawled in what looks like red paint. The first says:
BEWARE THE CURSE OF THE MASK!
The second reads:
FEAR THE DEMON MONKEY!
You sigh. Would it have been too much trouble to write: Mask This Way? You’re wondering what these grim messages mean when—FLUUMPH!
That smell was gas! Clever you. Bursts of angry flames roar from the tunnel walls, blocking your path, but you can now see a second, much narrower shaft leading off to the left.
You look at those messages again. Someone was definitely trying to warn you off. Which means you must be on the right track with at least one of these tunnels.
To take the main tunnel and try to avoid the jets of fire, turn to this page.
To squeeze through the shaft, go to this page.
Clinging onto the fallen tree, you flap around in the fierce current. Try as you might, you can’t pull yourself clear of the river. Your head dunks under. Bubble, bubble, bubble. You roll over on your back. You kick and fluster.
Before you know it, the demon monkey is standing over you. It no longer seems angry. If anything, it seems amused. You’ve never seen a giant, skull-faced demon monkey laugh, but there’s a first time for everything. You must look pretty funny, squirming away.
The demon monkey plucks you from your log, swings you over one shoulder, and carries you off to a mountain lair. Looking at the piles of neatly polished bones scattered around the rocky ledge, you naturally assume you’re on the menu.
Well, you can relax. Waiting at the back of the demon monkey’s lair is her young demon monkey son. He too has a skull face, but on him it looks almost cute.
The demon monkey mother points at you, then at her son. She growls something you almost understand. You’re to be her son’s new playmate, so you’d better start being funny again. Pronto.
Know any jokes?
RUN AGAIN?
OR JUST GO BACK?
A few feet into the narrow shaft, you have to drop to your knees and crawl. Thankfully, it’s a short tunnel and there’s light at the end.
But without warning, you hit a slippery patch. Suddenly, you’re sliding headfirst down a tight chute. That circle of light is growing bigger. You can see the end of the tunnel, and then … nothing! The tunnel drops into a broad gorge.
You manage to stop yourself from plunging into the fierce river below by flinging out your arms and grabbing the walls of the tunnel. You stop, gasping for air, and peer over the ledge. There’s an underground river down there. It pours out through a hole in the rock face. To your right, you see a fragile makeshift bridge, leading over the gorge.
Weirdly, you feel closer than ever to finding that mask. And you’re pretty sure that bridge is your best bet. The only question is how quickly to cross.
Do you sprint? Go to this page.
Or should you try a crawl? Go to this page.
You decide you and Scarlett can help each other, even if you don’t trust each other. It doesn’t hurt having another pair of hands to tear through the overgrown path, either. Even better, Scarlett has a small machete in her backpack, which she uses to slice gracefully through the more stubborn obstacles.
“I must say, I’d love to hear more about your adventures,” she says. “I would never have imagined you’d have such impressive survival skills.” She does actually sound impressed. In fact, she seems so friendly that you find it hard to keep treating her with suspicion. When you tell her how you made it to the mountain, she laughs and gasps in all the right places. In short, she’s a perfect audience.
The climb passes a lot more easily than you were expecting. You come around a last bend in the path … and there it is, the temple!
The entrance is a large stone face, looking like an even scarier version of the mask. Its evil-looking eyes are inset with green stones that glow in the sunlight. Sharp teeth jut down above the front door. You’ll need to walk in through its mouth.
You’re about to do so, but Scarlett grabs your elbow. “Let’s use those survival skills of yours.”
You wonder why she’s being so quiet. You’re alone here, aren’t you?
Scarlett points at a stone grate set in the path, just beneath the entrance. It takes three jabs with her little crowbar to get it open and expose a cramped-looking pipe.
“You want me to crawl in there?” you ask.
“You’ve got the perfect frame to explore this temple,” Scarlett says cheerfully. “To be perfectly honest, I’m quite envious.”
If you agree to climb in, go to this page.
If you’d rather use the front door, turn to this page.
The bee proves hard to follow, darting left and right and ducking in and out of bushes. You and Guy run around, pointing madly every time it buzzes back into view. Guy’s having a great time and, as worried as you are about swampy dangers, so are you.
The bee leads you to a marshy area busy with insects. Your bee meets up with some friends. They seem to be burrowing down into the moist earth.
“Jackpot!” Guy exclaims. “Let’s get digging!”
Doing your best to push the bees aside, you drive your hands into the earth, pulling up handfuls of mud, until you’ve created a small well. At the bottom of the hole, water is bubbling up.
“These are Mason bees,” Guy explains. “Fresh water is a magnet for these guys. Which makes them a magnet for adventurers like us.” He winks.
You fill the collapsible pail with clear water, thinking about food. A few fleshy earthworms are flailing around in the pile of mud you’ve just created.
“Do you think we could catch a fish?” you ask, looking around for Guy. He’s at the edge of the clearing, bent over a fallen log. Bees mill around him, but he seems to be sniffing the bark.
“You’d be more likely to catch an alligator,” he says. “And they are way too hard to peel, believe me. I tried cooking a gator in its skin once, like a baked potato. It took three days and it was still cold in the middle.”
He stands up, grinning as the buzzing gets louder. “Good news is, I’ve just found dessert. There’s a
hive in this log. Should we crack it open?”
What’s a little bee sting? To break into the hive for some honey, turn to this page.
To take your water back to camp and look for food there, turn to this page.
You edge into the darkness. You can’t see anything. If anybody was looking, they wouldn’t be able to see you. They also wouldn’t be able to see that big hole just behind you. To be fair, you don’t see it, either. All you know is the floor has disappeared.
“Aaaahhhhh!”
Your scream bounces around the shaft in much the same way that you do. You hit the ground hard. Ouch!
Wait. Maybe you’re not alone. Things are moving in the darkness. The air around you is alive. Whispering. Fluttering.
Something swoops down and bites your neck! Then another something swoops for another bite.
Bats! Vampire bats.
You flail around, trying to scare them away. Unfortunately, they don’t seem as scared as you are. You can’t fend them off for long, and there’s now no way of climbing up the shaft you came down. You can’t even see it.
Did these miners never hear about glowing exit signs?
Ah, well. Maybe being swarmed by vampire bats will give you special superpowers. That would be cool. Let’s go with that. You’re a super-bat hero now. Yeah. That’s what happens. Not, um, a truly horrible death. Definitely not that.
RUN AGAIN?
“I’m disappointed,” Scarlett says. “I thought you were more adventurous than that.”
Ouch! But it’s a thin line between adventure and recklessness, isn’t it? Determined to show you’re not afraid, you march up to the front door.
“You’re going to just walk in?” Scarlett asks, and you nod.
