Fear Games Read online

  The Nightmare Room Thrillogy 1

  Fear Games

  R.L. Stine

  Contents

  Part One

  This Winter

  1

  “I can do magic,” April Powers said. “Evil magic.”

  2

  April waved her hands again. “Komoo…apaka…namoo,” she whispered.

  3

  Dear April Powers.

  4

  Merrilee finished reading the letter over April’s shoulder. “Wow,” she…

  Part Two

  The Year 1680 Ravenswoode, a Tiny English Village

  5

  “Witch! Witch!”

  6

  They stared down at her, eyes cold as stone. Bodies…

  7

  The next morning dawned gray and chilly for spring. Katherine…

  8

  The chicken took a few steps toward her. Its claws…

  9

  With a horrified cry, Deborah dropped to her knees. “Please,…

  10

  Deborah rushed to the doorway and pressed up beside her…

  Part Three

  A Tropical Island This Spring

  11

  April leaned on the deck railing of the boat and…

  12

  April felt her face grow hot again. “I—I don’t understand,”…

  13

  Bright red blood spurted from Martine’s ears. She spread her…

  14

  The rope bridge swayed in the warm breeze. Below the…

  15

  “We’re going to win this thing,” Marlin declared after the…

  16

  April landed hard on her stomach. The ropes bounced beneath…

  17

  After lunch, most of the other kids headed to the…

  18

  “But the bones were in a perfect circle,” April explained.

  19

  The next morning, high clouds covered the sky. A cool…

  20

  Josh and Rick ran into the center of the room.

  21

  April could feel Donald Marks’s eyes on her as she…

  22

  That night, Donald Marks gathered everyone together in the meeting…

  23

  The sun had gone down, but the air was still…

  24

  The others stopped. Kristen gasped. The flashlight slipped from Anthony’s…

  25

  He held the compass up so the others could see.

  26

  Another choppp rang out through the trees. This one to…

  27

  The machete trembled in Marlin’s hand. He raised it in…

  28

  “I’ll bet this is all part of the Life Games,”…

  29

  “He’ll be here any second,” Anthony said, yawning. His red…

  30

  Her sneakers thudded over the wet sand. The low red…

  31

  “What took you so long?” April asked Marlin. “We got…

  32

  All part of the games, April thought. Being eliminated is…

  33

  The water bubbled furiously around her. Her ears rang with…

  34

  A short while later, April saw Marlin and Anthony running…

  About the Author

  Other Books by R.L. Stine

  Copyright

  About the Publisher

  Welcome…

  Hello, I’m R.L. Stine. Welcome to a very special Nightmare Room book.

  It’s about a girl named April Powers who joins eleven other kids on a tropical island. The kids are there to play survival games—for a prize of $100,000. But they soon discover that someone else is on the island, someone who doesn’t want them to survive!

  When I started to write this story I realized that it was too big and too frightening to tell in one book. April’s story had to be told in three books instead of one.

  And so the THRILLOGY was born.

  Welcome to my special nightmare….

  Part One

  This Winter

  1

  “I can do magic,” April Powers said. “Evil magic.”

  Her friend Andy Butler snickered. “Cool,” he said. “Make me disappear. I don’t want to take the algebra test this afternoon.”

  April didn’t smile. “I’m not wasting my magical powers on you. I’m saving them. For Pam.”

  Andy swept a hand over his short, dark hair. “Pam? What did Pam do this time?”

  “What didn’t she do,” April muttered. “She’s always on my case. She thinks she’s Miss Perfect.”

  “Pam is perfect!” Andy teased.

  “She’s a perfect idiot,” April said, scowling.

  They were standing outside the door to the lunchroom. Down the hall, two teachers perched on ladders. They were struggling to hang a purple and gold banner across the hall: GO, APPLEGATE RED DEER!

  In the crowded lunchroom, trays clattered, chairs scraped, voices rang off the yellow tile walls. And the slightly sour aroma of fish sticks and macaroni and cheese floated into the hall.

  April tugged at the long red-plastic earring that always dangled from her left ear. Then she shook her head to straighten her dark bangs. She kept her eyes on the stairs, searching for Pam Largent.

  “Do you believe it?” she asked Andy. “Pam told Ricky Jason that I like him and want to go to the valentine’s dance with him. Isn’t that gross?”

  “But you do like Ricky,” Andy insisted.

  April rolled her brown eyes. “You don’t get it. It was just her way of making me look like a jerk. Everyone knows that Ricky likes Pam. Pam said it only to make Ricky laugh.”

  “You’re right. I don’t get it,” Andy said. He flashed a thumbs-up to two guys who pushed past them into the lunchroom. “Hey—save me a seat!”

  “Pam loves to make me look bad,” April continued, watching the stairs. “She has to compete in everything. And she always has to win. When I decided to do my term paper on magic spells through history, guess what topic Pam picked?”

  “I give up,” Andy said.

  April groaned. “Magic spells through history,” she said. “Just so she can do it better than me.”

  She tugged at her earring. She always did it when she was tense or angry. “I’m not a violent person. You know that. Actually; I hate violence. But I’d like to rip Pam’s face off and hang it from that banner up there!”

  Andy laughed. “You’re sick.”

  “I don’t think that’s sick,” April said. “I think it’s only fair. But don’t worry. I’m not going to get violent. I’m going to going to use magic instead.”

  “If you can’t stand her, why do you spend so much time with Pam?” Andy asked.

  “You know. Because our parents are all such good friends. I don’t have a choice. Every time I turn around—HEY!” She saw the blond ponytail bouncing behind Pam’s head as Pam appeared on the stairs.

  April gave Andy a shove. “Beat it, okay? Get lost. Time for me to do my nasty little spell.”

  “Can’t I watch?” Andy asked.

  April didn’t answer. She hurried down the hall to meet Pam.

  Pam was the tallest girl at Applegate Middle School. She complained about it: “I’m a freak! The boys are all scared of me!”

  But April knew that Pam liked being the tallest, the prettiest, the blondest, the smartest, the funniest…and on and on.

  “Were you waiting for me?” Pam asked. Her normally creamy white cheeks were pink. Beads of sweat glistened on her forehead.

  She had gym just before lunch on Mondays.

  April couldn’t keep a grin from spreading across her face. “I want to show you something.”

 
“I’m starving!” Pam declared, striding past April to the lunchroom door. “What kind of salad do they have today?”

  “No, wait.” April hurried to block her path. “It won’t take long. I—I learned some magic.”

  Pam stopped. Her blue eyes studied April. She laughed. “You want to show me card tricks now? Isn’t that a little babyish?”

  “I learned some spells,” April said. “I was doing research for my term paper. I found a dusty old book in the stacks at the library. I learned how to do some totally amazing things. I—I have powers, Pam. I’m not kidding.”

  Pam pressed her hand against April’s forehead. “You’re running a temperature, right? Should I take you to the nurse?”

  She hates this, April thought. She hates the idea that I can do something she can’t. This is perfect!

  April dragged Pam into the lunchroom. She could see Andy watching from a table against the wall.

  “Do you pull a bunny from a hat, or what?” Pam asked impatiently. “I am so not into magic tricks.”

  “It’s not tricks,” April replied. “I told you, I learned spells. And these spells are going to get me an A on my term paper.”

  “Why are you so hung up about grades?” Pam asked.

  “Just watch.” April tugged Pam closer to the lunch line. “Let’s pick someone, okay? Someone I can cast a spell on.”

  Both girls gazed around the crowded room.

  “How about Merrilee Crane over there?” April said. She pointed to the short, chubby girl with curly red hair who had just carried her lunch tray to the woman at the cash register.

  Pam sighed and rolled her eyes. “Okay, fine. Merrilee. Just do it fast, okay?”

  Merrilee paid for her lunch, then started across the room with her tray.

  “Keep your eye on her,” April said in a whisper. She began to mutter strange words to herself. She began to mutter strange words to herself. “Amanoo…keela…”

  2

  April waved her hands again. “Komoo…apaka…namoo,” she whispered.

  Several kids let out cries as the lunch tray spun from Merrilee’s hands. The tray flew up into the air—and came crashing down on the floor. The plates clattered loudly and food spilled around Merrilee’s feet.

  Merrilee’s mouth dropped open in shock. She raised her hands in the air helplessly.

  “Hahakoo…Bellem…” April whispered.

  And across the room, Merrilee started to spin. Slowly at first, her arms still above her head. And then faster, spinning awkwardly, stumbling into the spilled food.

  “Help me—somebody!” Merrilee screamed. Her face twisted in horror, red hair flying wildly as she spun. “Please—help me!”

  She uttered a groan as she slammed hard into the tile wall. Then her body appeared to collapse. And she slumped to the floor and didn’t move.

  April turned to catch the shocked expression on Pam’s face. Pam had gone pale. Her blue eyes bulged. She was panting rapidly, clenching her hands into tight fists.

  “You—you—” Her eyes burned into April’s. “How—?”

  Pam didn’t wait for an answer. “You’re a witch!” Pam shrieked. Then she whirled away from April and took off, running from the room.

  The lunchroom had grown silent. April could hear Pam’s thudding footsteps as she ran down the hall.

  Against the wall, kids were helping Merrilee to her feet. She kept shaking her head, blinking her eyes, her expression dazed, confused.

  Thinking about Pam, April couldn’t keep a smile of triumph from spreading across her face.

  After school, April started to walk home. A snowstorm that morning had left a powdery dusting of white on the ground. Just enough snow to make the ground slick and shiny. The sky was gray, the sun hidden behind a thick covering of clouds.

  “April—wait up!”

  April spun around to see Merrilee running across the street, waving both arms. Merrilee’s backpack bounced on the shoulders of her blue parka. Her black Skechers kept sliding on the powdery snow.

  As Merrilee caught up to April, both girls burst out laughing. They slapped each other high-fives.

  “I can’t believe it!” Merrilee cried. “I totally can’t believe it!”

  “Pam went for it,” April said, her dark eyes glowing gleefully. “We hooked her like a fish on a line!”

  Merrilee brushed her coppery hair down with one hand. “You’re a genius! A genius! Did Pam really think you were casting a spell on me?”

  April nodded, giggling. “She turned purple. I thought she was going to lose her breakfast!”

  “But she knows we’re friends—right?” Merrilee said. “Didn’t she guess that maybe we cooked the whole thing up and rehearsed it?”

  April shook her head. “It was too good a performance. I couldn’t believe it when you started to spin out of control. How did you do that?”

  “I used to take ballet lessons when I was little,” Merrilee replied. She sighed. “Unfortunately, I’m not built like a ballet dancer now.”

  “Well, you’re a great twirler,” April said. “And I loved it when you stepped into your own food.”

  “That part was an accident,” Merrilee admitted. “I didn’t mean to do that. It took me an hour to wash the glop off my shoes!”

  They waited for a van filled with teenagers to pass. Then they crossed the street.

  “Come to my house and hang out for a while,” April said. “I think there’s some chocolate cake in the fridge. We can celebrate our great victory over the evil forces of Pam.”

  Merrilee laughed, “You know what she’s doing right now, don’t you? She’s in the library, searching the shelves for old spell books. She has to top you. She’s going to come to school tomorrow and turn everyone into frogs!”

  “Croak-croak,” April said. She turned up her driveway and started to search for the house key in her bag. “I’m sure Pam has figured out our little joke by now. She’ll be too embarrassed to come to school tomorrow.”

  Merrilee snickered. “Pam? Embarrassed? You’re kidding—right?”

  April pulled a stack of mail from the mailbox. Then she opened the front door and led the way into the house. “Take off your wet shoes,” she told Merrilee. “You know how crazy Mom is about her wood floors.”

  April pulled off her coat and backpack and tossed them onto the front stairs. She shuffled through the mail. “Hey—what’s this?” She held up a long brown envelope.

  Merrilee was brushing her hair in front of the hall mirror. She turned. “You have mail? I never get mail. Never.”

  April examined the envelope. “It’s from something called The Academy. What is that? Ever hear of it?”

  Merrilee stepped up beside her friend. “Is it a school?”

  “Probably just some company trying to sell phonics workbooks,” April said. She started to set the envelope down.

  “Open it up!” Merrilee cried. “Let’s see what it’s about.”

  April tore open the envelope and pulled out several sheets of heavy white paper. She unfolded them and squinted at the long letter on top. Her eyes scanned the page.

  “Weird,” she muttered as she started to read. “This is totally weird….”

  3

  Dear April Powers:

  We have exciting news for you!

  The board of directors of The Academy is pleased to inform you that you have been selected from a list of hundreds of honor students.

  We wish to invite you to become a member of The Academy at our two-week meeting this spring.

  Along with eleven other top students from around the United States, you will be joined by leading figures and celebrities from the fields of government, education, entertainment, sports, and business. A list of these leaders is enclosed.

  The meeting will be held on a beautiful, private tropical island in the Caribbean Sea. You and your new friends will have time to use the white sandy beach, explore rock caves, and swim in the warm aqua waters of this tropical paradise.

 
The island is uninhabited. But comfortable housing has been built, along with many conveniences.

  We have designed your two-week stay as a thrilling, once-in-a-lifetime experience. The Academy begins as a meeting of invited strangers—but ends as a community of friends.

  As a new student member of The Academy, you will have a chance to meet and build lasting friendships with the other eleven new student members.

  You will also listen to talks by the visiting celebrities and leaders. And you will get to know them all personally at meals and other activities.

  And there is more to your Academy stay than making friends and learning from national leaders. You will also be invited to join in a competition we call Life Games.

  Life Games are fun, surprising, and very challenging. You have been chosen because you are an achiever. You enjoy the thrill of competing against others.

  Once the games get started, you won’t want them to end!

  You will find the Life Games on our island to be exciting—and very rewarding. The winning student team will divide a prize of $100,000.

  We are enclosing a reservation form and pages of questions and answers. Of course, all expenses will be paid by The Academy.

  To be invited to join The Academy is an honor that few students can share. So we know you will want to join us this spring.

  We can promise you that it will be a thrilling, educational, and rewarding experience. We guarantee you will remember these two weeks for the rest of your life!

  Yours truly,

  Donald Marks

  Director