Camp Fear Ghouls (10 page)

Then she disappeared under the water again.

I took off for the shore.

Get help, I thought. Have to get help.

My whole body was numb with cold. That's why I didn't feel the creature wrapped around my ankle.

I began to wade ashore—and felt a tug on my leg.

I glanced down—and saw it.

A giant, scaly black tentacle, winding its way up my thigh.

Dragging me back into the water!

“N
o!” I cried.

I shook my leg. The slimy tentacle held on tight, dragging me down. I clawed at the shore. Grasping at sticks. Roots. Anything!

But it was useless. The more I struggled, the harder the lake monster pulled.

The tentacle rose higher. Wrapped itself around my waist.

I could see the creature now. Some sort of hideous octopus. With throbbing veins pulsing against its slimy skin.

I beat at the tentacle with my fists. Trying to struggle free.

The creature tightened its grip.

Three more tentacles shot up from the water. Swaying wildly. Grasping for my body.

Whack! My flailing hand slammed against something on the ground. Something sharp.

My fingers closed around a jagged rock.

I lifted it—and pounded it against the creature's tentacle. Pounded as hard as I could.

A high-pitched howl of pain echoed through the Fear Street Woods. Fear Lake bubbled and foamed.

The tentacle around my waist loosened.

Then it slid back into the lake—and Caroline surfaced!

Sputtering and coughing, she swam for the shore. I waded out to meet her. The two of us collapsed on the muddy bank.

My body throbbed where the creature grabbed me. I ached all over. But I was alive. And we had made it across the lake!

Amy and the other Camp Fear Ghouls stepped out of the woods and stood in a semicircle around us. I could barely raise my head to look at them.

“We did it,” I croaked. “We earned all our badges. Now we're going.”

“Oh!” Amy said with an apologetic smile. “Did we say if you passed all your tests we would
let you go?”

I bolted up. I stared Amy straight in the eye. “Yes!” I cried. “That's what you said!”

“Oh, nooo,” Amy cooed. “What we meant to say was—if you passed all your tests, we
wouldn't
let you go!”

“N
o!” Caroline shrieked. “You have to let us go. That was the deal!”

“Deal?” Amy repeated. “The Camp Fear Ghouls don't make deals!”

Priscilla placed one hand over her heart. “It's time for the crossing-over ceremony.”

Trudy leaned her rotting face close to mine and whispered, “You will now become Camp Fear Ghouls—for all eternity!”

The hideous ghouls herded us back to the campfire. They shoved us to the ground. Then they moved in a slow circle around us—and began to sing.

“Thirteen girls went off to camp;

The woods were dark, the ground was damp.”

My heart hammered in my chest. I had to do something. Before it was too late.

But the song. It was so soothing. . . .

I felt myself beginning to sway back and forth.

No! I thought. I have to get us out of here!

I tried to stand. But I couldn't! I couldn't do anything—except listen.

The troop continued singing.

“Thirteen families dressed in black.

Thirteen girls who never came back.”

They're putting us in some kind of trance, I realized. I can't let them!

I pressed my hands to my ears. “Don't listen, Caroline!” I shouted.

I squeezed my eyes closed as the ghouls sang about rotting eyes and hungry worms.

I tried to think of school. My family. My room at home. But no matter what I did, my mind kept coming back to the words of the ghouls' song.

“Thirteen bodies in the ground.

Thirteen heads that never were found.”

A dark, evil feeling filled my body. The same feeling I had during Prank Night. It filled my head. It clouded my brain.

Bad thoughts. Evil thoughts formed in my mind.

Beside me, Caroline moaned.

I turned to her—and in the flickering firelight, I saw her face . . . changing!

Her eyes bulged. They began to turn yellow. Then they rolled up into her head.

Her lips curled into an ugly sneer.

A gaping sore opened on her forehead. Her skin began to wither and peel away.

“No!” I screamed at the Camp Fear Ghouls. “I won't let you do this!”

I lunged for Caroline. I grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her—hard!

“Don't listen to it!” I ordered Caroline. “Think of something else. Sing a different song!”

The ghouls' song seemed to get louder. Faster.

“Thirteen girls who want revenge.”

Desperately, I sang the first thing that popped into my head.

“We're the very best of friends!” I shouted over the ghouls' song. “We'll be best friends till the end!”

Caroline blinked at me.

“Sing, Caroline! Sing! B-E-S-T, best friends!” I screamed. Then I started the whole thing again. “We're the very best of friends! We'll be best friends till the end.”

“B-E-S-T,” Caroline murmured through swollen lips. “Best friends.”

“That's it!” I yelled. “Come on, Caroline, one more time!”

Caroline joined in. We sang our song again.

Was it working?

I peered at Caroline's hideous face.

As I stared, the sore on her forehead began to fade.

Then it vanished!

It was working. The cheer really was working!

The ghouls stopped singing.

“No!” Amy screeched. “Noooo!”

Caroline and I sang the cheer again—this time bellowing it at the top of our lungs. “We're the very best of friends—•”

“Stop!” the ghouls wailed.

“We'll be best friends till the end.”

Caroline's face returned to normal.

She grinned at me and shouted, “B-E-S-T, best—”

She didn't finish. Her smile faded. She stared over my shoulder in horror.

I whipped around to the campfire behind me.

My mouth suddenly went dry. “Whoa,” I whispered.

There, floating above the flames, was Pearl!

P
earl hovered over us. She wore her troop uniform—purple sash and all.

But I could see right through her to the trees surrounding the clearing.

Pearl wasn't a ghoul anymore. She was a ghost!

“You have failed!” she bellowed.

“No!” I shrieked. “We passed!”

“Not you.” Pearl slowly turned her head to stare at the troop.
“You!”
She pointed a ghostly finger at Amy and the Camp Fear Ghouls. “You have all failed!”

Amy shrank back in fear. “Wh-what are you doing here?” she stammered. “We destroyed you. Just like we destroyed Rose!”

Pearl's voice boomed over the trees. “Fool! You destroyed my body. But you cannot destroy
me!
I am the leader. I must
always
be part of the thirteen!”

“I told you we couldn't get rid of her,” Trudy whispered to Amy. “But you wouldn't listen.”

“Shut up!” Amy growled.

Pearl floated closer to Amy. “Amy is the most to blame. Because of her, we do not have the correct number of members. But you all did as Amy told you. You all broke the rules.” Pearl suddenly bellowed,
“Now you all must pay!”

Amy dropped to her knees. “No!”

“Yes!” Pearl pointed her skeletal hand at Amy and ordered, “Camp Fear Ghouls, COUNT OFF!”

Amy clasped her hands together. “Please, don't make me!”

Pearl sucked in a huge breath of air, then roared, “ONE!”

The Camp Fear Ghouls stared up at Pearl. Total fear showed on their disgusting faces.

What were they afraid of? What would happen if they counted off?

Pearl floated closer to Amy. “I said, ONE!”

Amy covered her head and moaned, “TWO!”

“THREE!” Priscilla whimpered.

“FOUR!” Trudy cried.

Thunder rumbled in the distance. The ghouls kept counting.

“FIVE!”

“SIX!”

I watched their faces, trying to put it together.

There were supposed to be thirteen girls in the troop. That was the key, I knew. But the key to what?

The thunder crashed again. Closer to camp this time.

Violet was the last of the ghouls to count off. “TWELVE!”

The troop turned to face Caroline and me.

Pearl hovered over me. “Say it!” she ordered.

“THIRTEEN!” I shouted.

Lightning struck a tree a few feet away. The night sky exploded with light.

“Now you!” Pearl pointed at Caroline.

I turned to Caroline. She stood frozen, her eyes wide with fear.

“Caroline,” I whispered. “Say it.”

Caroline stared blankly ahead, shivering.

I grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her. “Say it, Caroline!” I ordered. “Say ‘fourteen!' “

But Caroline didn't say a thing.

“S
ay it!” I screamed. “Say it!”

Caroline's whole body trembled. Her eyes remained fixed on Pearl.

I shook her again. “Caroline! You have to do it! Please! You have to yell—”

Caroline blinked her eyes. “FOURTEEN!” she shouted.

Crraaaack!
A lightning bolt sizzled down into the camp.

Dazzling white light flashed all around. The ground heaved under me. Caroline and I flew through the air.
Whump!
We hit the ground with a bone-jarring thud.

Amy and the other Camp Fear Ghouls screeched in agony. I rolled over and peered toward them.

But there was no one there.

The Camp Fear Ghouls had disappeared.

“They're gone,” I gasped. “The ghouls are gone!”

“Not all of them,” Caroline corrected me. She clutched my arm and pointed.

Pearl remained, floating above the flames of the campfire.