Say Cheese - And Die Screaming! Read online

I stood there frozen, two cameras strapped around my neck. Kids’ voices rang out from the pool….

  “Everybody start swimming!”

  “Is this a race?”

  “Hey, Tanya, did you wear it? Did you wear your string bikini?”

  “Don’t we need a lifeguard?”

  I let out a cry as someone grabbed my hand. “Mr. Webb! Hi!”

  “Everyone is ready for you, Julie,” he said. “I just want to say congratulations again on winning the contest. I know you’re going to do an excellent job up there.”

  We both raised our eyes to the high board.

  If he only knew he is sending me up there to my doom.

  Mr. Webb smiled at me and motioned me to the ladder. Then he flashed me a thumbs-up. “Break a leg!”

  Oh, wow. Break a leg? I could break every bone in my body!

  I turned and walked quickly to the ladder. Some kids in my class shouted to me from the pool.

  “Julie, are you going to dive?”

  “I’ll catch you!”

  “Take my picture now! In case you don’t make it to the top!”

  Ha-ha.

  David stepped out from behind the ladder. He had three cameras strapped around his neck.

  He stared at me hard. His face was tight with worry.

  “Julie, are you sure you want me to do this?” he asked.

  I nodded. “I told you last night, David. I just discovered I’m totally terrified of heights.”

  “But … you worked so hard to win our contest,” he said.

  “No biggie,” I said. I gave him a little push toward the ladder. “Go. Do it. Take the picture, David. Have fun.”

  I stepped back and watched. David grabbed the railing and began to climb the ladder.

  The kids in the pool pointed and shouted as David started his climb. His shoes clanged on the metal rungs of the ladder. Each thud rang in my ears.

  Mr. Webb came running over to me. He grabbed my shoulder. “Julie, what’s going on?” he demanded. “Why is David doing this instead of you?”

  I sighed. “It’s a very long story, Mr. Webb.”

  Mr. Webb wanted to ask me more questions. But I turned to watch David. He was halfway to the top, climbing slowly and steadily.

  David will be safe up there, I told myself. The evil camera didn’t take a picture of him falling. So he won’t fall.

  By staying down on the ground, I hoped I was breaking the camera’s spell.

  That was my big plan.

  If I didn’t go up on the diving board, the photo of me falling could not happen. I was defeating the camera’s magic. Keeping its prediction from coming true.

  Kids in the pool grew quiet as David stepped out onto the platform. He leaned against the railing and raised one of his cameras.

  “People! Listen to me, people!” Mr. Webb shouted. “Raise your eyes to David and smile. Don’t move. He’s up high enough to get you all in.”

  I gazed up at David from the bottom of the ladder. High above me, he steadied himself against the metal rail.

  Mr. Webb cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted to David. “At the count of three …”

  He turned back to the kids in the pool. “Smile, everyone! Smile up at David. This is going to be classic!”

  Typical. David is always David. He didn’t wait for Mr. Webb to count to three. He stepped out onto the diving board. Then he raised his camera and started clicking away.

  David dropped to his knees at the edge of the diving board to get closer to the kids. Then he leaned way forward to get the kids in the shallow end into the shot.

  I realized I had stopped breathing.

  He isn’t going to fall, I told myself. The picture shows ME falling — not David.

  I let my breath out slowly.

  David changed cameras and clicked a dozen more shots.

  Then the big showoff stood up on the edge of the diving board. “That’s a wrap!” he shouted down to everyone. “Don’t clap — just throw money!”

  Kids laughed and groaned and shouted stuff back at him.

  And then — typical David again. He decided to salute the crowd and take a deep bow.

  I shut my eyes. I couldn’t look.

  Was he falling?

  No.

  When I opened my eyes, he was starting toward the ladder. He saw me and smiled. He gave me a quick wave.

  Then he made a quick spin to take one more look at the crowd below. And that’s when he lost his balance.

  “He’s FALLING!” I screamed.

  Kids and teachers shrieked in horror. I saw some kids drop to their knees and cover their eyes. The screams were deafening.

  As he started to drop, David reached out and grabbed the side of the diving board with both hands.

  Yes! He managed to hold on.

  I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move a muscle. Just stared up at him, hands pressed against my cheeks, watching him dangle from the side of the board.

  How long could he hold on?

  “Help is on the way!” a teacher with a cell phone shouted. “Hang on! Help is on the way!”

  I realized I had no choice. I stood at the bottom of the ladder. I took a deep breath and grabbed the railings.

  My legs felt weak and trembly. I ignored them and pulled myself up.

  Rung after rung.

  “I’m coming!” I cried. “David — hold on!”

  I didn’t know if he could hear me over the screams of the kids and teachers below.

  I pulled myself up another rung…. Another …

  I reached the platform. I could see David’s fingers gripping the sides of the diving board.

  I dropped to my hands and knees. “Hold on, David!”

  My heart pounded so hard, my chest ached. Crawling, I forced myself out onto the diving board.

  I leaned over the side and grabbed David’s wrists. I gripped them tightly. “I’ve got you!” I cried. “Swing your legs up. I’m holding you. Swing your legs onto the diving board.”

  David swung his body hard. One foot bumped the board — then dropped back down.

  I felt a hard jolt but kept ahold of his wrists.

  He tried again. This time, one leg sprawled over the board.

  I gave a hard tug. Yes! Now he had one leg safely on the board. “Almost there, David. Almost …”

  One more tug. Yes! I did it. I pulled him onto the edge of the board.

  One more and he’d be safe. One more … I gave another pull, yanking him with all my strength.

  I pulled so hard, I lost my balance.

  “NOOOOOO!” A shrill scream escaped my throat as I felt myself start to fall.

  And the thought flew through my mind: The camera has WON!

  No!

  On his stomach on the diving board, David swung his hands out — and grabbed me. Grabbed me before I could fall.

  My knees banged the board. I fell facedown onto it. Pain shot up my body. But I was safe.

  We both were safe.

  We held on to each other, panting hard. Then we carefully stood up and started toward the ladder.

  David grinned at me. “Julie, maybe we should be a team!”

  “Yeah. Maybe,” I agreed.

  I heard the cheers of the kids down below. They were on their feet, staring up at David and me. They screamed and whistled and clapped happily.

  I lowered myself slowly to the ground. I saw Mr. Webb and several other teachers running toward me.

  But I didn’t want to talk to anyone.

  I just wanted to know one thing: Did I defeat the evil camera?

  * * *

  I ran home. Up to my room. I felt crazy. Dizzy. As if I were floating two feet off the ground. My whole body tingled.

  I left the photos from the camera spread out on my desk. I lurched across the room and grabbed them.

  Reena’s picture was on top. I raised it close and squinted hard at it.

  No red-eye. The red glow had disappeared from the photo.

  Karla�
��s picture had changed, too. It showed her jumping off the floor to shoot a layup.

  “Yes!” I cried, pumping a fist in the air. “Yes!”

  I dropped her photo and gazed at the one with Becka and Greta. Their skin was normal — not green! And in the last photo, my brother, Sammy, had his normal face. No yellow, spiky bee hair covering his face!

  I did a little dance around my room. I pumped my fists in the air some more.

  Had I really defeated the camera?

  I grabbed my cell phone and dialed Mom at the hospital. “How is Sammy?” I asked.

  I knew what Mom would say: “Sammy is fine. All that weird yellow hair suddenly fell out. Becka and Greta are back to normal, too. Your dad and I are bringing Sammy home.”

  I knew it. I knew it!

  The photo showed me falling headfirst to my death. But I kept it from coming true. And that broke the camera’s magic.

  And because I broke its magic, every horrible thing the camera did was reversed.

  Now I had one more job. Now I had to destroy the camera so that no one else would ever find it and use it.

  I thought I knew just how to do it.

  I cleared all the junk off my dresser and tossed it onto the bed. Then I carefully dug the camera out from its hiding place in my closet.

  This was my idea….

  The camera did terrible things to everyone it photographed. So all I had to do was make the camera take a picture of itself. And it would do something terrible to ITSELF!

  Simple, right?

  I knew it would work.

  I set the camera down on my dresser top. And I pointed the lens at the mirror.

  I checked the viewfinder. Perfect. The camera was set to take a perfect picture of itself in the mirror.

  Now I had to make sure I didn’t get in the snapshot.

  I took a metal coat hanger from my closet. I stretched it out until it was almost a straight line.

  Then I stood way to the side. I leaned way back. No way my reflection was going to show in the mirror.

  Slowly … carefully … I stretched the hanger toward the camera.

  And I lowered the end of the hanger … lowered it … until it pushed down on the shutter button.

  FLASH!

  Yes! The camera snapped a photo of itself in the mirror.

  Would my plan work?

  Holding my breath, I grabbed the square of film from the slot. I held it close to my face and stared at it as it developed.

  “Come on … come on …”

  And then I gasped. “Huh?”

  I stared at the picture. Was I seeing double?

  I looked down — and screamed.

  “Oh, nooooooo!”

  I stared at TWO evil cameras on my dresser, side by side!

  Several kids received mysterious invitations to be Very Special Guests at HorrorLand Theme Park. They looked forward to a week of scary fun. But the scares quickly became TOO REAL when Slappy the evil dummy, Dr. Maniac, and other menacing villains from the kids’ past started to appear.

  Two Very Special Guests — Britney Crosby and Molly Molloy — disappeared in a café with a mirrored wall. The other kids have been trying desperately to find them. The park guides — called Horrors — have been no help at all.

  Except for one Horror, named Byron. He warned the kids they were all in danger. He said he’d help them escape from HorrorLand.

  Escape where?

  The kids keep finding clues about another theme park, called Panic Park. They don’t know how to find Panic Park. But they know that mirrors play a big part in the mystery.

  Why are there no mirrors anywhere in HorrorLand?

  To find answers, Michael Munroe leads them down to the secret forbidden tunnels under HorrorLand. They are caught — and chased by Horrors. To help their escape, they let a bunch of ugly monsters out of their cages.

  Now Michael has also vanished. The others are desperate to find him — and find their way out of the real horrors of HorrorLand!

  Julie continues the story …

  My first day in HorrorLand, and I couldn’t wait to start taking pictures. I brought three cameras with me. Including the awesome new digital camera my dad bought me after I won the photo contest against David Blank.

  Poor Sammy. When the invitation came to be a Very Special Guest at HorrorLand, he was totally psyched. But Mom and Dad had him signed up for four weeks of day camp.

  Of course, he begged and cried and whined and pleaded and threw a tantrum. But … there was no way he could come with me.

  I was glad I didn’t have to take the little pest along. I wanted to hang out with the other Very Special Guests. And I wanted to take a ton of scary photos.

  I unpacked my suitcase. Then I hurried out of Stagger Inn and headed to Zombie Plaza. It was a bright, sunny day, kind of hot and sticky.

  Crowds of people jammed the plaza. I saw a row of small shops. At one end stood a creepy-looking building that resembled a castle. A marquee over the entrance read: HAUNTED THEATER.

  I walked past a long line of people in front of a purple-and-green ice cream cart. No. Not ice cream. Big letters on the front of the cart read: NOSE CONES.

  A Horror in a long purple apron was handing out ice cream cones shaped like human noses. “Everyone — come pick your nose!” he shouted. “Pick your nose! It’s yummy!”

  I snapped a few shots of him. He was funny. He slapped a frozen nose onto his nose and posed for me.

  Across the plaza, I spotted a fortune-teller’s booth. Behind the glass sat an old woman carved out of wood. She was dressed in a red velvet dress and had a turban on her head. MADAME DOOM.

  I walked closer and raised my camera. I snapped a photo of the booth. But when I checked my picture out on the view screen, I had a surprise.

  Standing next to the booth was a ventriloquist’s dummy. He had big eyes, bright red lips, and an evil smile. He appeared to be standing up all on his own.

  “Weird,” I muttered. I turned back to Madame Doom’s booth. No dummy standing there.

  I flashed another picture.

  The grinning dummy was there again! In this photo, he had one hand raised, as if he was waving to me!

  But how could that be? Why couldn’t I see him standing there?

  I started over to the booth. But a loud clang made me stop. Startled, I nearly dropped my camera.

  I spun around and saw a large grate in the middle of the walkway. The grate flew open, and a bald head popped up from underground.

  At first, I thought it was a man. He had bright blue eyes. Human eyes.

  But then I saw the pointed pig ears on top of his head, standing straight up.

  And as he hoisted himself up through the grate opening, I gasped. His body was fat and covered with dark fur — like a gorilla.

  What was a human head doing on that animal body?

  He pulled himself onto the walkway. Then he turned and helped tug another creature out of the hole. The second creature looked just like him!

  They both had big padded claws with curled talons, like bear paws.

  They gnashed their teeth and growled. Thick yellow drool spilled from their mouths and plopped on the pavement.

  Some people screamed and ran away. I saw two little girls start to cry. Their parents picked them up and hurried off with them.

  Other people stared at the ugly creatures and laughed.

  It had to be a HorrorLand joke — right?

  I raised my camera. I snapped a few shots.

  I stopped when I realized the two creatures had their bright blue eyes locked on me. They grunted to each other. Raised their talons …

  … and came running at me, roaring like angry beasts.

  I froze.

  I dropped the camera, and it dangled at my waist from its strap.

  Before I could move, I heard angry shouts: “Back! Get BACK!”

  Four Horrors ran between me and the monsters. The Horrors carried long pointed sticks.

  “Back!” t
hey yelled. “Back! Get back!”

  They jabbed the sticks at the two furry creatures.

  The creatures snarled in rage. They swiped at the sticks with their big bear paws.

  One creature grabbed a stick out of a Horror’s hand — and hurled it into the crowd.

  More people screamed and ran.

  I raised my camera and snapped a few more shots. “This has to be some kind of show,” I told myself. “The monsters are fake.”

  But why did the Horrors appear so frightened? Were they just good actors?

  The groans and roars of the monsters rang out over the screams of the crowd. The Horrors jabbed the pointed sticks into the creatures’ bellies.

  “Back! Get back — NOW!”

  “DOWN! Get back down there!”

  I snapped picture after picture.

  One of the monsters grabbed his belly and moaned. He backed into the open grate and disappeared down the hole. It took another few minutes to push and poke the other creature back down where he came from.

  The Horrors rushed to slam the grate shut.

  Two more Horrors came running over. They both seemed very alarmed.

  “The monsters are still loose down there!” one of them cried. “We can’t get them back in their cages.”

  “Those stupid kids who set them free — let’s find them!” his partner shouted.

  If this is all a show to scare people, I thought, they’re doing a really good job.

  I started to walk away. But I suddenly realized that all six Horrors were watching me.

  Before I could move, they came running. They formed a circle around me. Two of the Horrors raised their pointed sticks.

  A tall Horror with bright green fur and yellow eyes stretched out his hand. “Give me your camera,” he growled.

  I laughed. “You’re joking — right?”

  His yellow eyes darkened. “It’s not a joke,” he said. “Give me your camera — now!”

  “You’re not funny,” I said. “You can’t take my camera.”

  I tried to stuff it into my backpack.

  But the Horror grabbed the camera out of my hand.

  “Ow!” I screamed as the strap snapped and whipped my arm.

  The Horror fumbled with the camera to open it. He tore out the memory card and tossed it as far as he could. Then he handed the camera back to me.