The Scream of the Haunted Mask Read online

  The theater lights faded. A bright yellow spotlight shone down on the curtain onstage. Music blared from the speakers. The show was starting.

  Matt climbed to his feet and crouched down. He tapped Billy’s shoulder. “Come on. They’re not watching,” he whispered. “Let’s go look for Byron.”

  He glared at me. “Wish us luck,” he whispered. “We’ll need it.”

  The two boys began creeping to the aisle.

  Two Horrors quickly moved to block the aisle. The boys had no choice. They sank back into their seats. They stared straight ahead at the stage. I could see they were really upset.

  Mondo the Magical strutted onstage. He was a chubby little man with a shiny bald head and a big crooked nose. He wore a tight-fitting tuxedo with a big red bow tie and had a long purple cape draped over his back.

  He took a deep bow. Everyone clapped. He held an egg in his hand. Waved it around in a circle. And it disappeared.

  Then he pulled two eggs from his ear. He waved them around, and suddenly, he held four eggs. He waved the four eggs, and they all disappeared.

  Sabrina leaned close to me. “Pretty lame,” she whispered.

  “You’ll like this one better,” Mondo announced.

  Sabrina and I gasped. How did he hear that?

  Mondo’s assistant was a young woman with long blond hair and bright red lips. She wore a glittery costume of reds and yellows. She wheeled a steaming cauldron onstage.

  Mondo waved his hands over the cauldron. He formed one hand into a cup. And then he pulled a live rabbit out of his fist!

  Sabrina and I clapped. That was a pretty good trick. Billy and Matt stared straight ahead. I could tell they weren’t thinking about the magic act.

  “Here is a trick that only Mondo can do!” Mondo announced. “A trick no other magician has even dreamed of!”

  He lifted the bunny rabbit in the palm of one hand. Then he appeared to reach his other hand down the rabbit’s mouth. And he pulled a hat out of the rabbit!

  I laughed hard. What a funny idea, pulling a hat out of a rabbit. Yes, that had to be a first.

  Mondo took another deep bow. When he stood up, his eyes bulged. He grabbed his throat and began to make loud choking sounds.

  Some kids gasped. The audience grew very silent.

  Mondo reached two fingers into his mouth — and pulled out a Ping-Pong ball. He made more choking sounds. He pulled out another Ping-Pong ball. Then another. And another.

  Pretty soon, a dozen Ping-Pong balls bounced across the stage, all pulled from Mondo’s mouth.

  “Mondo has a big mouth,” he said. “Anyone like to play tennis?” He opened his mouth wide and pulled out a tennis ball.

  Sabrina poked me. “He’s pulling them from his sleeve,” she whispered.

  “Here’s one you won’t be able to figure out!” Mondo boomed.

  Could he hear Sabrina’s whisper?

  The assistant rolled a tall box onstage. It looked like a coffin standing on end.

  “Say good-bye to my assistant, Rhonda,” Mondo said. “She is going to disappear forever!”

  Mondo pulled open the lid. Then he banged the four sides of the box with his cane. “Solid wood,” he said.

  He pointed for his assistant to get into the box. “Good-bye, Rhonda,” he said. “It’s been great!”

  Rhonda waved good-bye to the audience. Then she tossed back her long blond hair and stepped into the box. Mondo blew her a kiss. Then he closed the lid.

  “We’ll never see Rhonda again,” Mondo said. “Who wants to be my new assistant? I need a new assistant every day!”

  He pulled out a yellow blanket and wrapped it around the box. “Everyone count with me!” he said. He led the count: “One … two … THREE!”

  He pulled the blanket off the box and tossed it away. Then he grabbed the handle — and tugged the lid open.

  “Empty!” he cried.

  A big puff of black smoke.

  As the smoke cleared, Mondo let out a startled gasp.

  A dark-haired girl stood in the box. She wore a pale blue T-shirt and faded jeans. She kept blinking and shaking her head.

  She stepped out of the box.

  A hush fell over the theater.

  And then I saw Billy jump to his feet. “My sister!” he gasped. “SHEENA!”

  “I … I don’t understand,” Mondo muttered. He wiped sweat off his bald head and gaped at the girl. “How did you —? I mean — where?”

  Was this part of the act? I didn’t think so. He gazed out into the audience. He looked as if he suddenly remembered we were there. “Thank you! Thank you!” he cried. Then he ran off the stage without taking a bow.

  All the theater doors swung open, and everyone left. I watched Billy and Matt run onto the stage to greet Sheena. Billy actually hugged his sister! “You’re back! I can see you!” he said.

  I started to the exit. There were a million things I wanted to do in the park. But Sabrina pulled me to the stage. “We have to see what’s up with these kids,” she said.

  Sheena still looked a little unsteady and confused. Matt stood there staring at her as if she was a ghost or something.

  And Billy started tossing question after question at the poor girl: “Where were you? Do you know where you were? Did you see Britney and Molly? Were they okay? Did you talk to them? How did you get back?”

  Sheena sat down on the edge of the stage. She kept twirling a strand of her dark hair between her fingers. “It’s … hard to remember everything,” she said softly.

  “Well, try!” Billy insisted. He and Matt dropped down beside her. Sabrina and I stayed near the first row of seats.

  “At first, everything was green,” Sheena said. “Like a thick green fog. Then I realized it was the Monster Blood. Remember? I got vacuumed up with all that Monster Blood?”

  I turned to Sabrina. “Monster Blood?” I whispered. “What’s going on here?”

  “I was covered in that sticky goo,” Sheena continued. “I … pulled it away from my eyes. And finally I could see clearly.”

  “Where were you?” Billy demanded.

  “In some other part of HorrorLand, I think,” Sheena replied. “Some part we haven’t seen. I looked all around. I didn’t recognize anything.”

  “What did you see?” Matt asked.

  “There was a strange carousel,” Sheena said. “The carousel horses were on fire. They didn’t burn. But they had flames shooting out of them.”

  Billy turned to Matt, very excited. “The same carousel we saw in the mirror!” he cried.

  “Sheena,” Matt said, “did you see Britney and Molly riding the burning carousel?”

  She nodded. “Yes. I saw them. I waved to them. And they waved back.”

  “Did you talk to them?” Matt asked.

  Sheena shook her head. “I couldn’t get close enough,” she said. “I started running to them. But I couldn’t get any closer. I ran and ran. But the carousel stayed just as far away from me. It was unreal — like being in a dream.”

  “Then what happened?” Matt asked.

  “A door opened in front of me. It appeared out of nowhere,” Sheena said. “I stepped through it. And here I was. Back!”

  I turned to Sabrina. “She has to be making this up,” I whispered. “It’s some kind of scary HorrorLand joke — right?”

  But the two boys weren’t laughing. “We’ve got to search the park and find that carousel,” Matt said. He pulled Sheena to her feet. “Come on. If we find Byron, he’ll know where it is.”

  “But where is Byron?” Sheena asked.

  “A few Horrors dragged him away,” Billy said. “We think they’re hiding him somewhere in this theater.”

  Matt pointed to a blue door on the rear wall. “That must lead backstage,” he said.

  He started to jog toward the door. Then he stopped and turned to Sabrina and me. “Come with us. Hurry!” he called.

  I shook my head. These kids were creeping me out. I didn’t want to join their game. I
shivered as a brief image of the Haunted Mask flickered in my mind.

  “Sabrina and I just got here,” I said. “I think we want to check out some rides instead.”

  Sabrina frowned at me. “Carly Beth, what’s your problem? These guys are totally cute,” she whispered.

  “Didn’t we have enough scares back home?” I whispered back.

  Matt stepped to the edge of the stage and gazed down at us. “You’re special guests, right? Like us?”

  “Right,” Sabrina said.

  “Well, Byron warned us we’re all in danger,” Matt said. “That means you, too.”

  “Come on,” Sabrina said. She dragged me onstage.

  We followed the others through the stage door. It led to a long, dark hall with cobwebs clinging to the walls. Our shoes echoed loudly on the concrete floor as we hurried down the hall.

  We came to the end and saw two rooms. One room had a gold star on the door. A dressing room. The other door had a sign that read: STORAGE. KEEP OUT.

  “Hello? Anyone back here?” Sheena called.

  Silence.

  The dressing room door was open. We peeked inside. No one there. Mondo’s black top hat sat on a chair. Jars of makeup were lined up in front of the mirror. His cane leaned against one wall.

  “Let’s check out the storage room,” Sheena said. She pulled open the door, a dim overhead light switched on, and we jammed ourselves inside.

  A fluttering sound made me jump. “Someone is here!”

  Matt pointed to the wire cages under a small window. “Mondo’s pigeons,” he said.

  Other magic props were stuffed into a tall bookshelf that reached from the floor to the ceiling. Plastic eggs and rubber chickens and fake flowers and wooden bowling pins and white gloves and decks of cards and red-and-blue handkerchiefs. A skull grinned at us from the top shelf.

  Mondo’s tuxedo jacket hung on a wooden coat rack. I could see a fake bouquet of flowers poking out of one sleeve.

  “Byron?” Matt called. “Are you here?”

  “We’re wasting our time,” Billy said. “Come on. Let’s go.”

  We turned and started to the door.

  “Wait! Stop!” I cried.

  Something on the floor in front of the bookshelf caught my eye. I bent and picked it up. It was a brass name tag. I held it so everyone could see it.

  The name engraved on the tag was BYRON.

  Matt took the name tag from my hand and studied it. “Byron was here,” he said.

  “Maybe he left it for us to find,” Billy said. “He wants us to find him and rescue him.”

  “But where do we go next?” Sheena asked.

  The pigeons fluttered in their cages. They started to warble and coo. Like they were excited, too.

  “Wait. There’s something else,” I said. I reached down to the bottom shelf, where a folded sheet of paper stuck out.

  “Be careful,” Sabrina said. “It looks very old.”

  The paper was yellow and stained. It crinkled as I unfolded it. “It must be from an old park guide,” I said. “Look.” I held it up carefully.

  “I don’t believe it!” Matt cried. “Check it out!”

  The page showed a drawing of a white carousel. Red and orange flames shot off the carousel horses.

  “It’s the same carousel!” Sheena cried. “The one I saw Britney and Molly riding!”

  “But it looks really old,” Billy said.

  I studied the drawing. “There’s a sign next to the carousel,” I said. “The page is torn, but I think I can read it.”

  I read the sign to them: “ ‘Ride the Wheel of Fire! It’s Smokin’ Hot!’ ”

  “I bet Byron left this for us, too,” Matt said. “He wants us to find this ride. He knows that Britney and Molly are there.”

  “It should be easy enough to find,” Sabrina said.

  “Let’s go. Those girls may be in real danger,” Sheena said. She pushed past us and strode back into the hall.

  Matt took the old drawing from me. Then he and Billy followed Sheena.

  I had no choice. I followed them out of the Haunted Theater and into the bright sunlight.

  The park was crowded. We had to duck and dodge and push our way through Zombie Plaza. I bumped right into a purple-faced Horror with a big metal box strapped to his chest.

  He staggered back as I bounced off him. Then he opened the box and pulled out something that looked like a hot dog. “Free Monster Dogs!” he shouted. “Free Monster Dogs! Only one dollar!”

  He squinted at me. He had one brown eye and one black eye. “Got a dollar, miss? I’ll give you a free Monster Dog for a buck.”

  I stared at the lumpy brown meat inside the bun. “What’s in a Monster Dog?” I asked.

  “If you’re a dog lover, you don’t want to know,” he said.

  I think he was joking. I didn’t want to find out. The others were far ahead of me. I saw Sabrina hurrying to keep up with Matt.

  I ducked past a booth with a sign that read NOSE TATTOOS across the front. A Horror leaned on the counter, holding up a long tattoo needle. He had a blue spider tattoo spread over his nose. A smaller sign read: EYEBALLS PIERCED. WHILE-YOU-WAIT.

  That made me laugh. I knew it! Everything here was a big joke! Why was Sabrina forcing me to join these kids on their crazy mission?

  When I caught up to them, they were studying a big sign. I quickly saw that it was a park directory.

  “Over here,” Matt said, pointing. “It lists all the HorrorLand rides.”

  My eyes scanned the long list. Some of the rides caught my eye: The Doom Slide … The Bottomless Canoe Ride … The Free-fall Bungee Ride …

  Matt shook his head unhappily. “No Wheel of Fire,” he muttered.

  “It has to be here,” Sheena said. “I saw it!” She started at the top of the list and began reading them out loud.

  “Maybe it’s a new ride,” Billy said. “They’re always opening and closing attractions here. Maybe they closed this one a long time ago and just reopened it.”

  “He’s right,” Sheena agreed. “Let’s search the carnival area.” She pointed. “I think it’s that way. Across from Good-bye Land.”

  They started back through the crowd in Zombie Plaza. I pulled Sabrina aside. “Are you sure you want to do this?” I asked.

  “Well … yeah,” Sabrina replied. “Carly Beth, what is your problem? How come you keep wanting to leave? And why did you lie to them? Why didn’t you tell them you had a very scary experience, too?”

  I shrugged. “I just don’t trust them,” I said. “You can’t trust anyone at HorrorLand. Or any thing. I didn’t come here to solve a big mystery about missing girls. I came here to laugh and have fun, Sabrina. And to forget …”

  Sabrina turned away. “Where are they? We’re going to lose them in the crowd.”

  I started to reply — but my breath caught in my throat.

  I shielded my eyes from the bright sunlight and stared at the shop across the plaza from us. The shop was called MAKE A FACE! A mask store.

  I gazed into the window and saw a dozen green ugly masks hanging there.

  And in the middle of them … staring out at me … staring out at me alone — I saw THE HAUNTED MASK!

  “No!” I cried out. I grabbed Sabrina’s arm.

  She let out a squeal. I guess I grabbed her too hard.

  I loosened my grip on her arm. “Sabrina — look!” I choked out.

  She saw it, too. “Carly Beth, what’s the big deal?” she asked. She tugged me toward the little shop.

  I pulled back. I wanted to be finished with the Haunted Mask. How could it have followed me to HorrorLand?

  The bright sunlight nearly blinded me. I raised a hand to shield my eyes again. The shop window came into focus.

  And I saw that it wasn’t the Haunted Mask. Just another scary green mask with its mouth wide open in a silent scream.

  “I … I thought …” I started. But my mouth was suddenly too dry to talk.

  Sabrina rolled
her eyes. “I know what you thought,” she said. “You thought it was the Haunted Mask. But you’ve got to calm down, Carly Beth. The mask is buried deep outside the stable at Tumbledown Farms.”

  I nodded. “Yes. I know. But … come on. I’ve just got to take a look inside. I’ve got to be sure.”

  My chest felt all fluttery. But I forced myself to walk up to the shop.

  We stepped inside. It was a small shop. The walls and shelves were covered with ugly masks.

  A Horror stepped out from behind the counter to greet us. She had long black hair tied behind her head in a ponytail, and pale yellow eyes. The curled horns on top of her hair were tinted pink.

  “Hi, girls,” she said. “Can I sell you a mask today?”

  “We’re just looking,” Sabrina said.

  The Horror pulled a hairy wolf mask off the wall and held it out. “You might like this one, Carly Beth,” she said.

  I gasped. “You know my name?”

  She nodded. “You’re a very special guest, right?”

  Something about the way she said that gave me a chill.

  “Try these on,” the Horror said. She handed masks to Sabrina and me. “They just came in. Kind of funny, don’t you think? Know what they are? Vampire mice! See the fangs?”

  I didn’t really want to put the mask on. But the Horror was watching us so intently. I tugged it down over my head.

  Yuck. It felt warm inside, like human skin. And the mouse fur on the outside felt totally real. My heart started to pound.

  I pulled it off quickly and handed it back to the shopkeeper. Then I helped Sabrina remove hers.

  “Cool mask,” Sabrina said. She rubbed her hand over a mask that looked like a crying baby. “This totally feels like baby skin,” Sabrina said. “How do you make them so real?”

  The Horror smiled. “That’s a big secret.”

  All of the ugly faces on the wall were starting to freak me out. “Sabrina, I think we should go,” I said.

  I started to turn away — then stopped. Something in the back room caught my eye.

  “Yes. Go check out the back room,” the Horror said. “Lots more interesting masks back there.”

  Sabrina and I stepped into the tiny room. The wall was covered with masks. They weren’t monster masks or animal faces. They all looked like kids.