Monsterstreet #4 Read online

  Dedication

  For Rosemary Stimola and Ben Rosenthal,

  who made my dreams come true

  Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Dedication

  1. The Lucky Ones

  2. The Grand Tour

  3. Trust Fall

  4. Campfire Tales

  5. Double Feature

  6. Camp Games

  7. Weird

  8. Missing

  9. No Evidence

  10. Vanished

  11. Not the First Time

  12. Fog Lights

  13. Haunted

  14. Contact

  15. No Escape

  16. Vanished

  17. Tug-of-War

  18. Portal

  19. Cocoons

  20. Junk Food

  21. A Twist on a Twist

  22. The Thing About Hope

  23. Escape

  24. Escape

  25. Goodbyes

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Back Ad

  Copyright

  About the Publisher

  1

  The Lucky Ones

  Harper peered out the window of the bus at the thick gray fog. It had been following them the entire drive. She watched the pine trees pass in the mist like phantoms, thinking it felt more like Halloween outside than the week after Fourth of July.

  I hope the weather clears up, she thought. Otherwise my one chance to go to Camp Moon Lake is going to be ruined!

  She glanced around the bus at all the jittery campers. A group of boys nearby were shooting spitballs through straws, and the girls across the aisle were shouting at them to stop. Most of the other kids were playing games or taking selfies with their smartphones.

  There wasn’t a single empty seat. Harper had to take the very last one in the back of the bus after her parents had been late dropping her off in town. And they were late for the same reason they were always late. . . .

  They had been arguing.

  Again.

  Even worse, they had told her that her going away to camp would give them some time to “figure things out.” She was pretty sure she knew what that meant. Her friend Josie’s parents had said the same thing last year. And now they lived in different houses, basically on two different planets, with Josie having to go back and forth every other weekend. Josie had told Harper that the divorce felt like she had been abducted from the home she’d always known and that she hadn’t had a good night’s sleep since.

  Needless to say, Harper was afraid the same thing would happen to her as soon as camp was over.

  “Have you ever been to Camp Moon Lake before?” the girl sitting next to Harper asked. She looked about nine—a few years younger than Harper—and was wearing pink bows in her pigtails.

  “No. First time,” Harper answered, noticing that the thick lenses of the girl’s glasses made her eyes look twice as big as they actually were.

  “I can’t believe I got in,” the girl said. “My cousin has applied every summer for the past five years and never made it past the first round of the lottery. She said it’s the hardest summer camp in the world to get into.”

  “When you really think about it, it does sort of feel like we won the golden ticket to Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory,” Harper mused aloud.

  “Exactly!” the girl replied, then paused. “I—I am kind of nervous, though. I’ve never stayed away from my parents overnight before.”

  “There’s nothing to worry about,” Harper said, encouraging her. “Besides, you’ve already made one friend.”

  The girl looked up at Harper and smiled.

  “Thanks,” the girl said. “I’m Darla.”

  “I’m Harper.”

  “It’s nice to meet you,” Darla replied. “So what do you think we’ll be doing all week? Everything’s so top secret. I mean, my parents had to sign a form that promised I wouldn’t ever tell anyone what happens at camp—including them.”

  “Mine too,” Harper said, pushing a strand of her dark hair behind her ear. “I was surprised they signed it. But they were so excited that I had actually gotten in, they didn’t seem to mind. We must be doing really fun, out-of-this-world stuff, because the welcome letter said, ‘We GUARANTEE that Camp Moon Lake will be the best week of your life!’”

  Just then, the boy sitting in front of them turned around. He had been writing in his notepad the entire drive but apparently had also been eavesdropping on Harper and Darla’s conversation.

  “My neighbor told me something about why the camp is so secretive,” he said softly, taking a puff from his inhaler. His pale skin made him look like he hadn’t seen the sun all summer.

  “What did your neighbor say?” Harper asked, thinking the boy reminded her of Edward Scissorhands.

  The boy glanced over his shoulder to make sure no one else was listening.

  “Just that a bunch of kids were murdered at Camp Moon Lake a few years ago. But there was a giant cover-up so that the camp’s reputation wouldn’t be tainted and parents would still let their kids keep coming here.”

  “Your neighbor probably made that up,” Harper said, unsure if she could trust the boy.

  “I don’t think so. He said it was a bloodbath. But they never found any of the bodies. Just the blood.”

  “Camp Moon Lake is supposed to be the most magical summer camp on earth,” Darla said, confused. “It says so in the brochure.”

  “And you’re just going to take the brochure’s word for it?” the boy asked, challenging her.

  Darla was silent. She looked a bit horrified.

  The boy took another puff from his inhaler.

  “So you’re telling us that someone was going around killing people with an ax or something and dragging their bodies off into the woods?” Harper questioned.

  The boy shrugged. “Maybe. All I know is, I looked up the camp online, and there’s mostly all new staff this year. Even weirder, there’s absolutely no info about what goes on here. I mean, at some point through the years, some kid would have spilled the beans. But for some reason, they haven’t. Or their tracks have been covered. And come to think of it, I’ve never actually met anyone who’s been to Camp Moon Lake, have you?”

  “If you really think that people were murdered here, then why did you come?” Harper asked.

  “My parents made me,” he replied. “They said any kid in the world should be doing backflips to get to go to Camp Moon Lake and that I was one of the ‘Lucky Ones.’ Whatever that means.”

  He’s right, Harper thought. No one in their right mind would turn down an invitation to come to Camp Moon Lake.

  Still unsure, Harper gestured to the boy’s notepad. “Are you doing homework for summer school or something?”

  “Oh, this?” he said. “It’s just a new story I’m working on. I’m going to write books for a living when I grow up. Scary ones sell the best, so that’s probably what I’m going for. I’m Brodie, by the way.”

  “I’m Harper. And this is Darla.”

  Harper gave a wave, deciding the boy had made up the story about the camp murders and was just trying to scare her and Darla.

  It was then that Harper noticed something enormous looming out the front window of the bus.

  A giant wooden sign. Held up by two massive pillars.

  The sign read:

  WELCOME TO CAMP MOON LAKE

  THE MOST MAGICAL SUMMER CAMP ON EARTH

  As the bus drove beneath it, the fog swirled around the pillars. For a moment, Harper thought they were made of gold, but she decided it must have been the way the wood looked in the mist.

  Wow, she thought. If the entrance is that fancy, then what’s the rest of the camp going to be like?


  A few moments later, the bus stopped in the middle of the campground next to several wooded trailheads. All the kids, including Harper, pressed their hands and faces against the windows trying to capture their first glimpse of Camp Moon Lake. But it was too misty to see anything.

  The bus driver called over the speakers, “Looks like fog is in the forecast for the rest of the week. We get a lot of it from the coast this time of year. Best if you all stick together when you’re walking around the campground so you don’t get lost.”

  He pulled his hat lower over his eyes, then he stepped off the bus and disappeared into the mist.

  Harper didn’t know why—maybe it was Brodie’s story or the fact that she was feeling cold in the middle of summer—but the fog gave her an unsettled feeling, like it was hiding something.

  Something dark.

  And unfriendly.

  And that’s when she saw a girl run out of the mist covered in blood, screaming for her life.

  2

  The Grand Tour

  Harper’s stomach tightened into knots.

  The girl’s face and hair were drenched with blood. Her arms and legs were gashed up, with crimson fluid dripping down her skin. Even her shirt and shorts were soaked dark red.

  But worst of all was the desperate, panicked look in the girl’s eyes—like she knew she was about to die.

  If I go out there to help her, whatever got her will get me too, Harper thought, debating whether to stay on the bus or aid the girl.

  Harper hurried toward the front of the bus to assist the ravaged victim but stopped when she heard a loud clattering below.

  Whatever’s out there is trying to come in through the luggage compartment! she thought in dread, deciding she should close the door to the bus.

  Then . . .

  Harper heard the girl yell from outside.

  “Food fight!”

  Harper saw several other girls and boys chasing after each other. Throwing food.

  And that’s when she realized the girl wasn’t covered in blood.

  She was drenched in . . .

  Ketchup! Harper thought, feeling incredibly silly.

  She watched as the kids disappeared behind a nearby cabin, their laughter echoing across the campground.

  “This camp is going to be awesome!” Darla said, excited by the food fight.

  A moment later, a redheaded woman with a whistle around her neck stepped onto the bus. She was wearing a slime-green hat with the yellow camp logo on it, and her socks were pulled up to her knees. The driver lagged behind her and sat back down in his seat.

  “Hi, kids! Welcome to Camp Moon Lake—the most magical summer camp on earth! I’m Counselor Fuller, and I’m thrilled to get to spend this week with you all,” the woman at the front of the bus said. She had a warm, soothing voice, and her smile made Harper feel immediately welcomed. “As you just saw, the campers who arrived this morning are finishing up their afternoon food fight. That said, we have a lot of exciting things planned this week. Follow me, and I’ll give you the grand tour! But first, I need to take your cell phones.”

  “How come?” asked a tall girl at the front of the bus. Harper had noticed her posting pictures on her Instagram account during the drive. The name tag beneath her long brown hair read, Regina. The girl sitting next to her was Tabitha. They looked like clones in their blue T-shirts and black gym shorts. Harper figured they were probably cheerleaders or something.

  Counselor Fuller smiled patiently. The smile never seemed to leave her face.

  “Camp policy,” she replied. “We can’t have photos of all the fun things we do getting out to the public, can we? It would take away from the same mystique that made you want to come here in the first place. Your parents are aware of this policy and have all signed release forms.”

  Brodie leaned over and whispered in Harper’s ear, “Or they don’t want any pictures of ax murderers getting out to the public.”

  Harper nudged him.

  She, Brodie, and Darla followed the swarm of kids off the bus. Those like Harper who had phones reluctantly placed them in what looked like a miniature vault with a lock on it. The kids who weren’t allowed or old enough to have phones yet—like Darla—went on their way, no better off or worse than before.

  They waited while their bags were unloaded from the storage compartment under the bus.

  As soon as Darla’s suitcase hit the ground, she reached for it but had trouble lifting it on her own.

  “Here, I’ll help you,” Brodie offered, picking it up for her. “I have a little sister back home, so I’m used to it.”

  “Thanks,” Darla said with a smile.

  Even if I can’t trust Brodie, at least he’s nice, Harper thought, surprised by his act of kindness.

  “Oh, don’t worry about your luggage,” Counselor Fuller called over to them from the entrance to a trailhead.

  “You want us to just leave it here?” Harper asked.

  “The camp valets will carry it to your cabins for you,” Counselor Fuller replied.

  Camp valets? Harper thought in astonishment. Is this a summer camp for kids or a resort for the rich and famous?

  As they followed Counselor Fuller down the wooded trail, there were other grinning counselors at multiple snack stations handing out free snow cones to the new arrivals. Best of all, there wasn’t even a line, and they had just enough of each flavor. It was almost as if they already knew which kind each kid would want.

  While they walked, Brodie stared down at his purple, grape-flavored snow cone.

  “This is probably gut juice,” he said. “You know, from all the kids who have died here.”

  “You’re ridiculous,” Harper replied. “If anyone had actually died here, they would have closed down the camp for good. Besides, this place is like the Disney World of summer camps. It’s too magical for anything bad to happen.”

  As they continued the grand tour, Counselor Fuller showed them the go-kart racing track, a multiloop roller coaster, stables with exotic animals like giraffes and zebras, and the outdoor movie theater where they could watch a new double feature every night. The marquee for the evening read, “Back to the Future and The Goonies.” They even passed by a water park with its own wave pool, lazy river, bumper boats, and nexus of waterslides.

  “This place is incredible!” Darla gushed. “It’s beyond anything I dreamed.”

  “Yeah,” Harper agreed, hardly believing it herself. “It’s pretty amazing.”

  Brodie took a puff from his inhaler and looked around, as if searching for clues. He seemed ultraparanoid, like a twelve-year-old Sherlock Holmes.

  Nearby, a woman in a white dress waved to the campers as she walked into a giant black building. She looked older, like their grandparents’ age, and she had a big smile on her face, just like the rest of the counselors.

  “That’s Nurse Betty,” Counselor Fuller said, waving back. “She’s been at Camp Moon Lake for a very long time. She’ll take care of you if you get hurt or feel sick at any point during the week. Don’t hesitate to pay her a visit in her office at the mess hall if you need anything.”

  “I’m sure I’ll be spending a lot of time there,” Brodie said, taking another puff from his inhaler. “Even though that’s probably where they hide all the dead bodies. Just like in The ’Burbs.”

  Harper ignored him.

  “My parents love old movies, so that’s why I reference them all the time,” Brodie added.

  “It’s kind of weird,” Harper said, then continued walking.

  Even though she couldn’t see the horizon because of the fog, she sensed that the sun was setting because the world seemed to be getting a bit darker.

  Counselor Fuller soon stopped beside the cove of the lake next to a sign that read Ropes Course.

  There were all sorts of interesting structures and bridges scattered about the field near the cove, all made of what looked like telephone poles, rope nets, and railroad ties.

  But there was one thing t
hat stood out from everything else. A wooden ladder attached to a giant thick pole reached so high into the sky, the top of it was lost in the fog. For all Harper knew, it could have gone all the way up into outer space.

  “Wow,” Darla said with awe. “What’s that?”

  “The highest zip line in the world,” Counselor Fuller revealed proudly. “The launching platform is at the very top of the support pole, about three hundred feet in the air, and the zip line runs across the entire lake.”

  Harper peered up, feeling a knot of nervousness form in her stomach at the thought of climbing that high, much less soaring over the water on a metal wire.

  It was then she saw something that seemed out of place.

  Something that turned her blood ice-cold.

  Blocking off the entrance of the zip line were several ribbons of yellow caution tape.

  The same kind used to mark off crime scenes.

  And places where murders happened.

  “See. I told you,” she heard Brodie whisper in her ear. “This camp is a death trap.”

  3

  Trust Fall

  “What happened there?” Harper asked, expecting the worst.

  “Oh, that,” Counselor Fuller said, still smiling. “The zip line is blocked off because of the fog. We can’t have campers near the water in these conditions. Safety is our priority here at Camp Moon Lake.”

  Harper felt relieved that there was a logical explanation and a bit silly for letting her imagination get the best of her.

  Counselor Fuller continued to the center of the ropes course and stopped next to a small edifice the size of a refrigerator box. There were five steps leading to the top of it.

  “This is a trust table. All of camp life is built on trust,” Counselor Fuller began. “And it’s our tradition here at Camp Moon Lake for each camper to participate in a trust fall upon arrival. Now, can anyone tell me what a tr—”

  Before she could finish, her walkie-talkie buzzed, and she stepped off to the side to answer it. She whispered something to the person on the other end of the line, then hurried back to the campers.

  “I’m sorry. I have to go help set up something for the Opening Night Campfire,” she said. “Does anyone here know how to explain a trust fall to the rest of the group?”