Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter One
In my town, being twelve was like being in prison.
I had been twelve for three hundred and sixty-three days, ten hours, fourteen minutes and nine seconds. In two days I’d be thirteen.
I couldn’t wait.
From the moment I had reached my twelfth birthday, I was watched all the time. I couldn’t even go to the toilet without being watched. Okay, maybe it wasn’t quite that bad. But trust me, if you were twelve, Redrock was the worst place to live in.
It was a miracle I had got out on my own that day. My parents thought I was with my friend, Jack. They didn’t know that his parents had taken him to London for his birthday. He was going to be twelve the very next day.
I had told my parents that Jack and his mum were waiting for me at the end of our drive. I felt bad for lying. But I had to get out. I just wanted to be on my own for a bit. I had been watched every minute for almost a year. I knew how a prisoner must feel. It meant you never had your own space. You were never alone
Now, I had to hurry back. The quickest way back home was through the churchyard. I didn’t want to go in, but I had no choice.
I walked past rows of crumbling gravestones. At the other end of the graveyard I reached The Wall.
The Wall was made from smooth white stones. It looked out of place in the old graveyard with its old grey church. Half of the stones had writing carved on them. The other half were bare. I wondered whose names would end up on them. Not mine. I was two days away from being twelve. Then I would be safe. Two days until I got my life back.
There was a name carved on each stone. Each name was different. But all the stones said the same thing after the name. Missing, aged 12.
No bodies had ever been found. These stones were for the missing Redrock children.
I reached up and traced my fingers over the oldest stone. In memory of Charlie Hay. Missing, aged 12, June 1974. Not forgotten.
The curse on the town began in 1974, after Charlie went missing. Children vanished. Only children who were twelve years old. No one knew why. No one knew where or how the children were taken.
And no one ever talked about Charlie Hay. I asked my dad what happened the day Charlie went missing, but Dad wouldn’t say anything. Dad and Charlie were best friends, back then. No wonder he didn’t like talking about it.
I turned to go. The graveyard scared me. It reminded me that there might be a crazy serial killer in Redrock and I was still twelve years old.
Chapter Two
It was not going to be easy to get back into my home.
I worked my way around to the back of the house, looking for an open door or window. Of course, I could have rung the doorbell.
But then I would have had to explain why Jack and his mum weren’t with me. I was not allowed to be on my own. Every Redrock child that had been taken had vanished when they were on their own. That was why no one had ever been able to work out who, or what, took the children
I went around the corner of my house and collided with my mother. She had just put the washing on the line.
She frowned. “What are you doing?”
“I, uh. . . wanted to use the back door for a change,” I muttered.
Mum’s frown deepened. “How long have you been back? Why are you on your own?”
“Only a few seconds,” I said. I didn’t answer the second question.
“I’m going to call Jack’s mother and ask why she didn’t hand you over to me.” Mum narrowed her eyes. “It’s not like her.”
“It was only for a couple of seconds,” I repeated. All hell would break loose if my mum called Jack’s mum. “And I’m safe, aren’t I?” I said. I picked up the laundry basket. If I amazed Mum by how helpful I was being, she might stop asking questions.
I pretended not to notice the look of surprise on her face and I walked into the kitchen. My dad was cooking a stir-fry.
“Hey, Scott. You do know you have a laundry basket in your hand?” he joked.
I pulled a face and dropped the basket on the floor. I went into the lounge where my sister was watching TV. “Where’s Jack?” she asked, with a hopeful look on her face.
Sometimes, I thought she liked Jack more than she liked me.
“Not here,” I said and I picked up the remote control and changed channels.
“Mum!” Emily shouted.
I threw a cushion at her. She threw it back. Before I could chuck it again, she jumped on me. It was amazing how heavy an eight-year-old girl could be. She balled her hands into fists and started punching my chest.
“You’re such a pain, Scott,” she yelled. “All you ever do is boss me about.”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” I said, pushing her off. She stared up at me, her hair in a tangle over her face. I knew I should calm her down. Emily got really bad asthma attacks. Getting upset made it much worse.
I knew I should leave her alone. But, as I left the room, I turned and said, “I’m going now so you can cry.” Then, I shut the door as she screamed.
I went upstairs to my room and turned on my games console. I lost track of time. When there was a knock on my door, I thought it was Emily, back for round two. I picked up a pillow off my bed and held it above my head to hit her.
But it wasn’t Emily standing there. It was my dad. He looked at me. His face was very serious.
“It’s Emily,” he said. “She’s sick.”
Chapter Three
Had Emily got sick because I had teased her?
“What’s wrong with her?” I asked, trying not to look guilty.
“She’s having a bad asthma attack,” said Dad. His dark hair fell untidily over his face. “We have to get her to hospital right now. Come on!”
I did not want to go to the hospital. My parents might ask me what I had been doing with Emily.
“I don’t want to go,” I said. “I’ll stay here.”
“Not on your own,” said Dad.
“Molly will come over from next door,” I said.” Dad did not look pleased. But he nodded his head. There was no time to argue. “Call her now,” he said
Molly came over with a teddy bear. “Emily might like him. I broke my arm when I was nine and he came to hospital with me,” she said. “He’s my good luck bear.”
Mum tucked the bear against Emily’s side. Emily looked terrible. Her skin was pale and there were horrible noises coming from her chest. I looked away as Dad lifted her into his arms to carry her out to the car. Then I hurried across the room, leaned down and kissed her cheek. “Get better soon,” I muttered.
Mum and Dad walked towards the door. Just before they left, Mum turned around. “Don’t leave him alone,” she reminded Molly. “Not for a second.”
We watched TV until midnight. There was still no news from the hospital. Molly fell asleep on the sofa. I decided that there was no harm in going to my room. Usually, Mum or Dad slept in there with me on the camp bed. I did not want to ask Molly to do that. How could anything bad happen? Every door and every window was locked.
I made my way up the stairs and lay on top of my bed with my eyes shut. I didn’t get undressed. There was no point: I couldn’t sleep. I was worrying about Emily. When she was two she had such a bad asthma attack that she nearly died. What if that happened again?
I didn’t fall asleep. But when I opened my eyes again the room felt different. I didn’t know why.
I sat up and l
ooked around. My desk was still covered in drawing paper and pens. My shelves hadn’t changed. My console control was on the floor where it had been left.
And then I felt it.
A warm breath on the back of my neck.
Chapter Four
I turned my head. Behind me, I could see the dark outline of a man in a hat. I tried to jump off my bed but my legs and arms felt as if they were pinned down. I wanted to cry for help but I couldn’t make a sound.
The man leaned over me. His breath was stale. “It’s a bit like feeling dead, isn’t it?” he whispered. “You can’t move, you can’t talk. But at least you can breathe. Not like your poor sister.”
There was a crushing feeling in my chest. I tried to breathe but couldn’t draw in any air. The band of pain grew tighter. I couldn’t bear it.
“I’m going to die,” I thought.
Suddenly my airways opened and I gasped.
“It’s not nice, is it?” the man said. His voice was close to my ear. “But you can fix it for her. You can make Emily’s illness go away. Then she will be as healthy as you.”
He clicked his fingers and I found I could talk. “How?” I said.
“By playing a game with me,” he replied. He spoke in a rasping voice. It sounded amused. “How about it? Just one night. One game, and if you beat me I will give you whatever you want. Of course, you don’t have to cure your sister. You can have anything: money, fame, adventure. . .”
I thought about having a huge house with sports cars parked outside. If I were super rich, I could pay for the best doctors in the world to make Emily better.
Then I remembered the crushing pain of not being able to breathe.
If I won, I could make sure that Emily never felt that kind of pain ever again.
I wanted to agree. But this had to be a trap. This was what happened to the kids in Redrock: this strange man offered to play a game. I thought of all the other twelve-year-olds who must have been given this offer and who never came back.
“What happens to me if I lose?” I asked.
“No one ever dies. I can promise you that,” replied the man.
“But I won’t come home again?” I asked
The stranger shrugged. “Maybe your sister won’t come home this time either,” he said.
Before I knew what I was doing, the words were out of my mouth. “Done,” I said. “I’ll play.”
Moonlight poured in through my window. It lit up the man. He had a pale face with dark, dead eyes. It was a face that looked as if it had never smiled. But he’d painted on a bright red grin that stretched from one cheek to the other.
He opened up his oversized jacket and closed it around me. Then, the room began to spin.
Chapter Five
I fell onto something soft and wet. I was in a huge orange dome. There was a wooden table in the middle of the dome. Sitting round the edge of the table were twelve life size dolls. Their eyes stared ahead.
I could have sworn I saw one of them blink.
“Scott?” said a voice. “You too, huh?”
I looked up in shock and saw my friend Jack leaning against a pillar. Next to him were Anna and Tom, twins who were in our class at school.
Tom was a total geek. He was always sucking up to our teacher. He made the rest of us look like slackers. Anna was lazy. She copied everything off Tom in class. She got him to do her homework. She wasn’t stupid. She was just smart enough to get someone else to do the work.
Jack reached out his hand to pull me up off the floor.
“I thought you were in London?” I asked.
“He came to me in my hotel room,” said Jack. His dark hair was rumpled and he was wearing red pyjamas. “He said if I play he’ll give me anything I want. I’m glad you’re all here as well. We can help each other, right?”
A laugh cut through the air. It was the man. “I said if you win you can have anything you want. But there can be only one winner. There’s no such thing as friends in the Prankster’s game.”
Then the man called the Prankster snapped his fingers. An opening appeared in the dome. We followed him out and stepped into darkness. The only light came from the dome. I glanced back at it. It was an enormous pumpkin.
“A pumpkin? Isn’t that a bit corny?” Anna asked, sounding bored. She rolled her eyes and shook back her long blonde hair.
I found myself liking her a bit more. She had guts, talking like that to the Prankster.
He snapped his fingers again. A shower of golden sparks appeared in the dark. They formed a group of glowing words.
Beyond the valley lies
A beacon near the skies.
Here can be claimed the prize,
But only by the wise.
The losers will rue the day
They ever decided to play.
Forever will they regret
The day that they said “yes”.
So I had to be the first one to the beacon to win. “That’s all we’ve got to do? Get to the beacon first?” I asked the Prankster. He was watching us. He folded his arms and I noticed that his hands were covered in long red scars.
“Whoever gets to the beacon first wins the game,” he said. “Get there before sunrise, or you will all lose. I will be waiting for you.” He gave a low mocking bow and walked away into the night.
Tom looked upset. “I don’t like the sound of what happens to the losers.”
We all went silent. None of us wanted to look at each other.
I could tell that we were all going to do whatever it took to win.
Chapter Six
My eyes had got used to the gloom. Now I could see what was around me. In the distance, I saw a mountain and on the top of it was a column. That had to be the beacon.
I couldn’t look at Jack, knowing that this was goodbye. I raced down the slope that led to dense woodland.
Someone shoved me from behind and I crashed onto the ground. It knocked the air out of me.
“Loser,” Anna sneered. She leaped over me and raced ahead. Tom was sticking close to her heels.
I rolled over and found Jack looming over me. I wondered if he would shout at me for taking off. Instead he tugged me up on my feet.
“Come on,” he said. “Stick with me. I’ll protect you from her.”
We hurried down the hillside, leaving the giant pumpkin behind. “So,” I puffed. “What made you agree to play the game?”
Jack leaped over a ditch. “I’ve always wanted to be president of the United States. It was too good an offer to turn down.”
I stared at him and almost fell into the ditch. “Really?”
“No, you idiot.” Jack laughed. “I’m doing it for Emily. If I win I’m going to make sure she gets cured.”
Whoa. I knew Jack had always loved Emily, but you have to love someone a lot to do this for them. I tried to forget that for a tiny moment I had been tempted to choose money rather than a cure for Emily.
We reached the tree line and I pointed out a narrow path. “That way,” I said.
Before Jack could respond, we heard a noise that gave me goosebumps.
It was a scream.
Anna’s scream.
Chapter Seven
We followed the sound, twisting to avoid branches. “Anna!” Jack yelled. “Where are you?”
I understood why he was shouting but it added to my fear. Whatever was making Anna scream now knew where we were, too.
“I’m here,” shrieked Anna from up ahead. “Help me.”
We rounded a bend and came into a clearing. I could see clearly in the moonlight. I skidded to a halt at what was in front of us.
Anna was kneeling on a wooden platform. Above the platform was a gallows. From the gallows hung a rope with a noose. Tom was hanging from the noose. Above the wooden post circled a flock of ravens. They cawed to each other before swooping at us, their wings brushing against our heads.
I ducked and covered my head with my arms.
“Help us,” Anna cried. She struggle
d to hold Tom up to take the pressure of the rope off his neck.
“What happened?” Jack yelled. He jumped onto the platform to help Anna.
Glowing words were fading in the air: a message from the Prankster. I stood up and ignored the ravens who were madly beating their wings.
I read the words aloud.
You must choose,
Who must lose.
Say it quick,
The clock does tick.
It took me a moment to understand. Tom had chosen the hangman’s rope for himself, not one of us. “You saved us?”I asked.
Anna looked down at me. Her eyes flashed with anger. “Of course he didn’t,” she snapped. “He chose you, and the moment he did, the rope went around his neck.”
Chapter Eight
I put my hands over my ears. All I could hear was the harsh cries of the birds. I needed to think. This didn’t make sense. Not if the Prankster were to be believed. I repeated his promise in my mind. No one ever dies.
I had to keep playing the game. Tom might have lost but he would be okay. He had to be. The Prankster had promised. No one would die.
“I’m sorry,” I muttered. “I’ve got to keep going.” I didn’t dare look at Jack, who was helping to hold Tom up. As I stumbled away I heard Anna say, “I’ll win, Tom, I promise, and when I do I’ll wish for you to be free.”
My heart began to pound. If Anna won, Jack and I would be stuck here forever.
Behind me, I heard a long drawn out scream. I glanced over my shoulder. What I saw made me freeze.
Tom’s face was changing. His nose lengthened and sharpened. He reached up to touch his face but before his fingers made contact with his skin they closed together. His fingertips began to sprout quills. He flapped his arms as they grew glistening black feathers. “No!” he shouted. His voice broke and out of his mouth sounded a harsh caw. His body began to shrink until his jumper swallowed him up. Anna and Jack stared helplessly, as Tom’s clothes fell into a heap on the ground. A moment later, a raven emerged and hopped over to Anna.
Deadly Game Page 1
