Say Cheese - And Die Screaming! Read online

  I turned and aimed the lens at Reena. Then I pretended to take her picture and pushed the shutter button.

  The flash went off — a bright white. I heard a metal hum — and a square of paper came sliding out of the front of the camera.

  “What’s that?” Sammy cried. “You broke it! Ha-ha! You broke your new camera!” He did a little dance around Reena and me.

  I pulled out the square. It was cardboard and had a smooth, glossy front.

  “Julie didn’t break it,” Mom said. “Haven’t you ever seen one of these? It’s a self-developing camera.”

  “A what?” Sammy said.

  “Watch. The picture slides out. Then it will slowly develop,” Mom said. “These used to be popular before digital cameras.”

  We all stared at the little square in my hand. It began to darken. Then colors appeared. Slowly, the picture developed, and we could see Reena.

  “Nice colors,” I said. “Very soft. This is awesome!”

  “Oh, wow,” Reena groaned. “It’s a nice shot — but I have red-eye.”

  I studied the photo. Yes, Reena looked great. I don’t think she can take a bad picture. But her eyes were glowing bright red.

  Sammy laughed at Reena. “You look like a freak!” Then he grabbed for the camera again. “Let me take a picture!”

  I spun away from him. “It isn’t a toy, Sammy.” I tugged Reena to the stairs. “Come to my room. Bet I can get rid of the red-eye.”

  “On the computer?” Reena asked.

  I nodded. “Yes. I’ll scan the picture into my computer and fix the red-eye.”

  We hurried up to my room and closed the door so Sammy wouldn’t follow us.

  I scanned the picture into the computer. I have a professional program called PhotoMaster Plus I’m learning how to use.

  I gazed at the picture on the screen and began to adjust it. “Weird,” I muttered.

  “What’s up?” Reena asked. She put her hands on my shoulders and leaned over me.

  “I can’t darken your eyes,” I said. “I should be able to fade the red glow. But it won’t adjust at all.”

  “OH, HELP! OWWWWW! MY EYES — !” Reena shrieked.

  I gasped and spun around.

  Reena raised her hands to her eyes. And started to scream at the top of her lungs. “MY EYES! HELP ME! MY EYES!”

  I let out another gasp. And jumped up from the chair. “What’s wrong?”

  Reena pressed her hands over her eyes. “HELP ME! Julie — my eyes are BURNING! Oh, HELP ME!”

  I grabbed her hands gently and tugged them down. When I saw her eyes, my breath caught in my throat.

  Her eyes were glowing red like fire!

  “Help me!” she moaned. “Oh, it hurts! It really hurts!”

  “M-maybe the flash was too bright,” I stammered. “You were standing so close to the camera.”

  I pulled Reena into my bathroom. I soaked a washcloth with cold water and pressed it over her eyes.

  “It isn’t helping!” she shrieked. “My eyes — they’re BURNING! It hurts SO MUCH!”

  I took the cloth away. Her eyes were still glowing bright red.

  “Here. More cold water,” I said. I placed the washcloth back on her face. Then I pulled her downstairs to Mom. “Her eyes are burning. They’re all red,” I told her.

  “Let me see.” Mom pulled the cloth away. She blinked a few times when she saw the red glow. “Something irritated them badly,” she said. “Do you have allergies?”

  Reena shook her head. Her whole body was trembling. “NO! No allergies! Please — HELP ME!”

  “I have some eye drops in my room,” Mom said. “Julie, they’re on my dresser.”

  We tried the eye drops. They didn’t help at all.

  “Call Reena’s parents,” Mom said. “Maybe they can get her to an eye doctor. I’ve never seen anything like this!”

  Mrs. Jacobs arrived a few minutes later. We helped Reena into the car. “Call me later,” I said. “When the burning stops.”

  I watched them drive away. I had a tight feeling in my stomach. I couldn’t get Reena’s frightened screams out of my ears.

  In my bedroom, I picked up the snapshot. I stared at Reena’s smiling face with the red, glowing eyes.

  How totally weird, I thought.

  * * *

  After dinner, I was still thinking about Reena. I suddenly remembered I had an assignment from Mr. Webb. I was supposed to be at the gym, shooting the girls’ basketball game for the yearbook.

  I grabbed two of my cameras and stuffed them in my bag. Then I jumped on my bike and raced to the gym.

  I got there just in time. The game was nearly over. Our Tigers were losing to the Bay Meadow Stingrays.

  I saw Karla Mayer, our best player. She stole the ball and dribbled down the floor. She stopped at the line and sent up an easy three-pointer.

  The bleachers were about half full of kids. Most of them started to stomp their feet and chant, “Karla kills! Karla kills! Karla kills!”

  I decided to take some shots from the top of the bleachers. I took out my best digital camera and hurried up the steep steps. I let out a sharp cry as a red-and-white sneaker stuck out and tripped me.

  “Ow.” I fell and banged my knee hard. I turned and saw who was wearing the sneaker — Becka. She and Greta grinned at me.

  “Not too klutzy, are you?” Becka said. She laughed.

  “Ju-Ju, too bad. Did you fall on your camera?” Greta shouted over the noise of the crowd.

  I should have ignored them. Instead, I said, “Becka, don’t you have awfully big feet for a girl?”

  Then I glanced at my camera. Oh, wow. I really did fall on it. The lens was cracked.

  Shaking my head, I climbed to the top of the bleachers.

  I gazed at the scoreboard. The Tigers were losing 36 to 45. Karla would have to go to work. Good photo ops.

  I reached into my bag for the other camera — and let out a cry. “Oh, no!” The weird, old camera. I didn’t mean to bring it.

  Well … I had no choice. I had to use it.

  I knew I couldn’t snap dozens of shots with the old thing. I needed to wait for one or two great moments.

  I had to get a long shot of Karla running down the floor. Could the old camera do it? I raised it to my face — then groaned.

  David Blank! He had a blue baseball cap pulled down over his red hair. But I still recognized him easily.

  What was he doing here?

  David was on the floor next to the players’ bench. He had two cameras strapped around his neck. And he was snapping photo after photo.

  “You creep!” I shouted out loud. He knew this was my assignment.

  David would do anything to win our contest. But this just wasn’t fair.

  The Stingrays scored again. The crowd grew quiet. Everyone was waiting for Karla to make a move.

  I glanced down the bleachers. Becka was on her cell phone. Greta was searching for something in her bag. They weren’t even watching the game.

  I held the old camera ready. A few seconds later, Karla came dribbling full speed down the center of the floor.

  This was my shot. I kept her in the view screen as she flew toward the basket. She leaped high and sent a layup to the hoop.

  I pushed the shutter button just as her feet left the floor. The camera flashed. The square of film came sliding out.

  I gazed at the photo, watching it develop.

  “Weird!” I cried. “How did I mess up?”

  The picture showed Karla’s arm all by itself.

  Where was the rest of her body? Her face?

  How could I just capture her arm?

  A loud CRAAAAACK made the kids in the bleachers gasp.

  And rising over that, I heard a high wail, a long, shrill scream of pain.

  I turned — and saw Karla dangling from the basket rim.

  Hanging by her arm!

  Karla shrieked and cried. Tears rolled down her face.

  Even from the top of the ble
achers, I could see that her arm was horribly broken. It hung there at a totally strange angle.

  Players from both teams stood beneath her, screaming and crying. Kids were covering their eyes. The coaches hurried to lower her to the floor.

  The referee kept blowing her whistle, again and again, like a siren.

  Wailing in agony, Karla lay sprawled on her back on the gym floor, the bones of her arm poking out through her skin.

  Gasping for breath, I realized I had the snapshot clenched tightly in my hand. I raised it to my face and stared at it.

  Stared at Karla’s arm, all by itself.

  And suddenly, I felt sick.

  Four paramedics in white uniforms arrived a short while later. They couldn’t keep the shock off their faces when they saw Karla. Coach Ambers was down on the floor beside her, trying to hold Karla still.

  Karla was silent now. I thought maybe she was in shock or something.

  The gym had emptied out. Both teams had been sent to the locker rooms.

  The medics lifted Karla onto a stretcher. I could see that her arm was bent almost backwards.

  I tucked the photo into my bag. The referee had left the gym. But I could still hear her shrill whistle ringing in my ear.

  I thought about Reena. About her red-eye. And then I pictured Karla’s arm again.

  A deep shudder ran down my body.

  Maybe I should have listened to that woman’s warning.

  Maybe I should have left the camera in her garage.

  This CAN’T be a coincidence! There’s something evil about this old camera….

  I didn’t see David until he was right in front of me. He grabbed the old camera from my hand.

  “Hey!” I cried out, and tried to take it back.

  But he swiped it out of my reach. “Whoa! This is totally awesome!” he said. “Where did you get this? Let me try it!”

  “NO!” I screamed. I made another grab for it.

  Too late.

  David aimed the camera at me — and FLASHED it in my face.

  I shut my eyes. I could still see the white flash with my eyes closed.

  I heard the film slide out from the camera.

  When I opened my eyes, David was staring at the camera. He laughed. “Is this a toy? This is Sammy’s camera, right?”

  “It’s very old,” I said. “I have to take it back. There’s something wrong with it.”

  David rolled it around in his hand. “Look. Something popped out of it. Does it squirt water, too?”

  “You’re not funny,” I said. And then I saw what he was looking at. The square of film. It didn’t slide all the way out. It was stuck halfway in the camera.

  “See? It’s broken,” I said. “I’m going to return it —”

  I stopped. My breath caught in my throat.

  A sharp pain wrapped around my middle.

  It felt as if I were wearing a heavy belt. And the belt kept tightening and tightening … and tightening.

  I made a groaning sound.

  I couldn’t breathe.

  I doubled over. The pain shot around me.

  I felt as if I’d been cut in half!

  “Julie? Julie?” I felt David’s hands on my shoulders. “Are you okay? What’s wrong?”

  I couldn’t straighten up. I couldn’t talk. Or breathe.

  Cut in half … cut in half …

  Suddenly, I realized what I had to do.

  Fighting the pain, I struggled to raise myself. I grabbed the camera.

  The pain tightened around my middle.

  “Julie? Do you need help?”

  I could hear David’s voice. It sounded far away.

  “Julie? Does something hurt?” he cried. “Should I get someone?”

  I couldn’t answer. The pain tightened my jaw, tightened every muscle.

  I saw red. Then black. I knew I was about to pass out.

  Gritting my teeth, I grabbed the film square. And I tugged it hard, pulled it the rest of the way out of the camera.

  Will it work?

  Will the pain go away now?

  I gritted my teeth and waited … waited …

  No.

  The photo fell from my hand. I bent double, squeezing my sides. The pain tightened around me. It felt like a hot wire burning into my skin.

  And then … the pain vanished.

  It didn’t fade away slowly. It just disappeared. So suddenly, I gasped and jerked up straight, blinking in surprise.

  I took in a long, deep breath, then another. I rubbed a hand around my waist. It felt perfectly fine again.

  “Are you okay now?” David asked. He had gone so pale, his freckles had faded into his skin. “Julie?”

  I didn’t answer. I gripped the camera tightly against my chest. Then I spun away from David and ran across the gym floor.

  “Hey!” David shouted after me. “What’s your problem?”

  I didn’t answer. I kept running until I was outside in the parking lot, breathing in the cool, fresh night air.

  I knew what my problem was. It was the camera.

  First Reena, then Karla … then me.

  The camera was evil. It hurt people.

  I had to get rid of it. I had to take it back to that strange woman.

  I held the camera tightly against me and pedaled my bike home, riding with one hand. A car rolled past with loud music pouring out of the open windows. A girl waved to me from the passenger seat. But I didn’t wave back.

  I tossed my bike against the side of the garage. Breathing hard, I ran into the house through the kitchen door.

  I planned to hurry up to my room and hide the camera before anyone saw me. But Sammy jumped out as I stepped into the living room. He had an ugly rubber skeleton mask over his face.

  “Take my picture — or you die!” he rasped. He struck a pose with both hands raised and curled like claws.

  “Sammy, since when is it Halloween?” I asked.

  “I’m not Sammy. I’m the Silver Skull. Take my picture. Or I’ll crush you with my Skull Vision.”

  I shuddered. Poor Sammy. If I took his picture with this evil camera, he probably would become a skeleton!

  “Out of my way.” I didn’t mean to push him so hard. But I was desperate to get the camera hidden away in my room.

  “Hey — you’re skeleton meat!” Sammy shouted, waving his fist angrily. “You will feel the wrath of the Silver Skull!”

  That made me laugh. He’s a spoiled brat, but he’s cute.

  I crossed my room and pulled open the closet door. In the back, I had a tall heap of dirty clothes that I’d forgotten about.

  I buried the camera under the mountain of jeans and shirts. No way Sammy would find it there.

  My heart was pounding like a drum. I knew I wouldn’t feel normal again until I returned the evil thing. At least it couldn’t do any more harm buried under a ton of smelly clothes.

  I dropped onto my bed with a weary sigh. I pulled my cell phone out, clicked it open, and called Reena. “Are your eyes better?” I asked.

  “No, they’re not,” Reena answered sharply. “All thanks to you!”

  “Excuse me?”

  “You heard me,” Reena snapped. “My eyes are still glowing like a freak. And still burning.”

  “Oh, I’m so sorry,” I moaned.

  “I can’t read. I can’t watch TV. I can’t do my homework!” Reena shouted. “And I can’t go to school because I can’t let anyone see me like this!”

  “Reena, I’m really sorry —” I repeated.

  “Sorry?” Reena cried. “Sorry? Julie, that woman warned you not to take the camera. But you think you know it all. You think you can do whatever you want. Well … look what you did to me!”

  “Reena, please —” I begged.

  “The doctor never saw anything like this!” Reena screamed. “You — you ruined my life, Julie!”

  “But — why are you talking to me like this?” I cried. “We’re friends and —”

  “No, we’re not,” Re
ena replied. “We’re not friends anymore. No way.”

  I couldn’t believe she said that. I realized my whole body was trembling. I could barely hold the phone to my ear.

  I could hear her sobbing into the phone.

  “Reena, listen to me,” I pleaded. “I’m taking the camera back to that house tomorrow. Will you come with me? We can ask that woman about your eyes.”

  “Julie, get lost!” Reena said in a low, cold voice. And she clicked off her phone.

  * * *

  The next day, school dragged on forever. I kept thinking about the camera hidden away in my closet. And I really missed Reena.

  Her telling me to get lost tied my stomach in knots every time I thought about it.

  After school, I ran all the way home. I wanted to get there before Sammy.

  I dove into my closet and tossed the dirty clothes aside. Then I grabbed the camera and headed to the garage to get my bike.

  Wouldn’t you know it? Flat tire.

  I didn’t care. The camera was going to be returned today if I had to crawl!

  I stuffed it into my backpack and started to walk. A cool wind blew in my face. It made the tall trees in the front yards sway and creak. The sun kept disappearing behind dark clouds.

  I was pretty sure I remembered how to get there. I walked past my school. Some boys from my class were tossing Frisbees on the front lawn.

  Past the school, I turned and walked down the steep hill toward Fairfax Park. A few kids I didn’t recognize were taking turns skateboarding down the hill.

  I wished I was having fun, too.

  I felt a couple of cold raindrops on my forehead as I stepped into the park. The dark clouds spread across the sky. The wind grew colder.

  Turn around, a voice in my head whispered. Julie, go home.

  “No!” I said out loud. I kept walking.

  The trees swayed and whispered as I made my way through the park. The wind swirled, but the rain held off.

  I hurried through the park. Then walked through a neighborhood of small, square houses.

  Was I on the right street? Yes. I could see the woman’s redbrick house halfway down the next block.

  I waited for a yellow school bus to pass. Then I started to cross the street.

  I took a few steps and stopped when I heard a cough behind me.

  I spun around. No one there.