Carnival World Boxed Set (Episodes 1-3) Read online

  “Yes, yes. They’ll be here soon,” The old woman went on.

  “How are they going to get here? The road’s all busted,” asked Sam.

  Sam was a cute kid, but Nicole really wanted him to shut up. He was just causing problems. Didn’t he see that they were safe now, that they’d been saved?

  Mrs. Shanks wagged a plump finger at Sam. “I bet you like games, don’t you precious?”

  She led Sam toward the TV and plopped him down in front of it. She handed him a boxy black controller.

  “Can I watch Cartoon Network?” he asked.

  “Sam, be nice,” groaned his sister. She was stretched out on the sofa next to Maddie and Justin.

  Mrs. Shanks only laughed and turned on the videogame console.

  Sam stared at the controls and the box. “What’s ColecoVision 5? It doesn’t look like an Xbox.”

  “Sam,” Summer whined again, “Just play it, okay?”

  The game started. To Nicole it looked like a fairly new game; she could tell by the graphics. She didn’t recognize it, though she didn’t play many video games outside of Guitar Hero and Dance Dance Revolution. Sam fiddled with the controls, then seemed to get the hang of it. At least it would keep him from asking silly questions.

  Nicole looked down at the glasses of lemonade. She wasn’t that thirsty and the glasses were warm to the touch. Maybe they’d just come out of the dishwasher or something.

  She didn’t want a drink anyway. What she really wanted was a shower. She just wanted to wash away all the grime and misery of last night and this morning. Her eyes drifted to the pool. She remembered the water being clean and warm, before.

  “Can I go for a swim?” Without waiting for an answer, she opened the door and strode toward it.

  Moments later the others joined her at the edge.

  The pool was fenced off by a rusty gate. The plastic furniture looked old and cracked. But the water was clear and the tiles still blue. It was a diving pool, ten-feet deep all around with no shallow end. There was no diving board. She’d heard it was a mistake; the owners originally wanted a regular pool with a shallow end but the order somehow got mixed up and they were too cheap to fix it.

  The water was low. There was at least a foot between the surface and the lip of the pool. Nicole didn’t care. She always loved taking a swim whenever she and Darien were there. One time, late at night, they snuck out of their room and Nicole jumped in wearing nothing but Darien’s football jersey.

  She slipped off her shoes and socks. Her mom wouldn’t approve. Only trashy poor girls went swimming without a bathing suit. It didn’t matter. She’d towel off before her mother arrived.

  How’s she going to get here? The road’s busted.

  Sam’s complaint echoed in her head. She pushed it to the back of her mind and dove in. The water was freezing. It was all she could do to keep from screaming underwater. She stayed under and swam toward the chrome ladder. She reached it and arched her head as she came up. She imagined herself in the pages of Sports Illustrated — a perfect cover-girl pose. She gazed back at the others. Darien was already taking off his shirt.

  “How is it?” yelled Maddie.

  “It’s fine,” Nicole answered with a straight face.

  Maddie and Justin took off their clothes without hesitation. Maddie wore a black sports bra and matching black cotton undies. Justin had on a pair of gray boxer briefs and Nicole had to admit that he looked good in them. The boy was surprisingly built. One after the other, they jumped in. Both were screaming when they came up.

  “Arrgh! It’s cold!” cried Maddie.

  Nicole laughed.

  Ryan put his metal “sword” to the side. He took off his Dawn of the Dead t-shirt and shoes. Then he flipped into the pool.

  Show off.

  “Bracing,” was his comment after he came back to the surface and shook his head like a dog.

  “You won’t even notice after a few seconds,” Nicole said.

  She kicked away from the wall, then paddled to the center of the pool. If she closed her eyes she was almost back home. This was just like a pool party with Tina, Kristy and Caitlin.

  “Come on, Summer!” yelled Darien.

  That snapped Nicole back to reality.

  Summer was standing by a plastic chair. She had her shoes and socks off. Her bare toes skimmed the pool’s edge.

  Darien started a chant, “Summer! Summer!”

  The others joined in.

  Summer gave them a cute and innocent smile that made Nicole want to vomit. Then she plugged her nose and stepped off from the side. She screamed about how cold the water was as she came up. Maddie and Justin paddled beside her and the three chattered like birds.

  Nicole floated on her back and looked up at the hot sun. Everything had been so perfect. Then she came along and ruined it. Stupid cow.

  Someone swam too close to her and splashed water in her mouth. Nicole opened her eyes to see Summer treading water near her.

  “Sorry,” she offered meekly. Her blonde hair trailed around her like seaweed.

  Nicole snapped. All she could see was that stupid face of hers, with her big blue eyes and pouty lips. Nicole wanted to smash her face in. Instead she shoved Summer’s head down under the water.

  Kiss the bottom of the pool, bitch!

  Summer struggled beneath her, but Nicole kept her down. Ten seconds underwater ought to be enough to teach her a lesson. Maybe twenty or thirty seconds more would really show her who’s boss, who’s better.

  Summer’s flailing hands found the top of Nicole’s head. She had just a split second to take a breath before Summer dragged Nicole down with her. The water was still freezing cold and it crushed the air out of her.

  Eventually, Summer broke free of her grasp and kicked for the surface. Nicole tried to follow, but Summer kept her head pressed beneath the surface.

  Flailing about underwater, Nicole could hear Summer’s muffled gasps just above her. Her hands slapped the surface until she finally came up, though Summer still had a hand atop her head. Nicole weakly tried to tear it away, but Summer pushed her back down.

  In an instant Nicole was starving for air. Her breath came out of her body. She couldn’t help it — she had to breathe back in, and choked down a mouthful of water. Then Summer wasn’t holding her anymore and she swam to the surface.

  Nicole gasped for air and coughed loudly. She heard Ryan laughing his head off at the other end of the pool.

  Darien was next to her. “What’s gotten into you?”

  Angry that he wasn’t appalled by what Summer did, she splashed water at him and reached for the safety of the ladder. But her hand found only more water.

  Swirling around in a panic, she looked for it. “Where is it? Where’s the ladder?”

  Chapter Four

  Sam played the video game, but his heart really wasn’t in it. He couldn’t concentrate on it. Something was wrong. He could feel it in his belly, just like when he had a bad dream.

  He didn’t like the old couple one bit. There was something bad about the way they’d looked at his group. It wasn’t like when he went to visit his grandparents and they smothered him with hugs, kisses and cookies. His grandma made the best oatmeal-raisin cookies in the world.

  For a minute there, when the couple first greeted them, he thought maybe he’d get a cookie but after being in the motel his hunger had evaporated. He didn’t like the smell of the place. It made his nostrils twitch and he had to fight off the urge to cover his nose with his shirt.

  It reminded him of the time he’d forgotten a half-eaten ham sandwich under his bed. After a week, the smell was terrible, like sour milk. That was the odor that wafted to his nose now.

  Several flies buzzed around his head and he batted at them. He hated flies. They always reminded him of something rotting. There had been flies in his room after the ham sandwich incident.

  He then heard a door open behind him and hushed voices.

  “What are you doing?” It was Mr
s. Shanks.

  Based on the way they spoke, Sam knew they didn’t want him to hear what they were saying. He slowly turned toward the harsh whispers coming from the next room. The room where smoke leaked out from under the door.

  “I’m just lowering the water,” said Mr. Shanks.

  “It’s low enough already, you fool!”

  Getting to his feet, Sam jostled the table and his lemonade spilled all over. He ignored it and tiptoed toward the door. Something was definitely wrong.

  “Get out there and watch them,” Mrs. Shanks hissed.

  “What about the boy?”

  “Oh, we won’t be forgetting him. Young ones make the tastiest little morsels.”

  Sam turned back to where he’d been sitting. He noticed the flies had stopped buzzing. He looked at the coffee table and saw a puddle of yellow liquid — it was the lemonade he’d spilled. The flies were in the liquid, and they weren’t moving. They all appeared dead, save for one that staggered from the liquid and fell over, its legs up in the air and curling into themselves.

  Poison!

  The lemonade that Mrs. Shanks had given him was poisoned. His heart leapt into his throat. He had to get out of there. He had to hide before they came out of the room and found him. But where?

  Summer swam around the pool’s edge, trying to find a way out. Justin and Ryan swam alongside her. The ladder was gone. Someone had obviously taken it.

  Darien swam along the other side with Maddie, looking for the same thing. A way out.

  Pushing herself up along the wall, Summer tried to reach for the pool lip, but it was too far. It hadn’t been when she first dived in. She was sure the water level had only been a foot below. Now it seemed at least three feet, if not more. Too far to simply lift an arm and grab hold of the side.

  Nicole floated in the middle of the pool. She coughed and cried, “Help! Mrs. Shanks, please!”

  “They’re not coming!” Summer shouted.

  “What?”

  “Who do you think took the ladder? Who lowered the water level?”

  Earlier, Summer had felt a suction beneath her feet. She didn’t realize it had been the water draining out until it was too late. The pool was ten feet deep. The edge of the pool was now three feet above them. That meant the depth was still seven feet, well over even Darien’s head.

  “Why would they do that?” asked Darien.

  “Who cares why, you idiot?” Ryan sneered.

  “Come over here and say that!”

  “Shut up, both of you!” yelled Summer. “Now’s not the time. We’re kind of in a predicament, if you haven’t noticed.”

  “You’re one to talk!” shouted Nicole. “I can barely keep afloat because of you.”

  Summer wanted to tell her to piss off. But the truth of it held her tongue. Nicole looked pathetic. She was barely keeping her chin above water. Their little dunking match had wiped Nicole out but Summer didn’t have the heart to tell Nicole she lived in the water. She was on the swim team and could hold her breath for a long time. In fact, Summer figured the girl deserved whatever she got for trying to dunk her in the first place.

  But being the better person, she managed a weak, “I’m sorry.”

  Then she heard her brother’s scream and every ounce of energy drained out of her, just like the water from the pool.

  “Summer!”

  “Sam!”

  Mr. Shanks called out. “There he is!”

  “Sam!” she shouted again as she leapt at the pool’s edge, but it might as well have been a mile away. Her fingers didn’t even reach the top. She tried again, and again, until she could barely get in any air.

  “Summer, stop,” Maddie said as she grabbed Summer to stop her from trying it again. “You’ll just tire yourself out.”

  “She’s right.” Darien was next to her.

  Summer glanced up at the edge. She had an idea.

  I knew it!

  As Ryan treaded water, he tried not to shiver. His black jeans were soaked through and heavy, so it was hard to keep himself afloat. His legs were fatigued.

  Everything had smelled like a trap. This was a classic scenario. He should’ve said something. He didn’t know why he didn’t speak up. At first he’d been unsure. Maybe they really had been rescued. Maybe everything was really okay.

  Ryan didn’t care that he wasn’t making any sense, or that he was thinking in video game terms. Hell, he was just moments away from drowning. It was either this or thinking about which one of them would go belly up first. Nicole? Summer? Maddie? Himself?

  He was in bad shape. His jeans clung to his legs and were like lead weights, but the girls looked worse off, especially Nicole. Her underwater wrestling match with Summer had been fun to watch but exhausting for both of them. Nicole had gotten the worst of it. She was whimpering with her head just barely above the surface.

  And it was cold. They’d ignored the chill when they’d been splashing around and having fun. But now they were trapped inside this pool and the cold was numbing them, squeezing their insides. It was tiring them out faster than treading water. Soon the cold would take them down one by one. Even Darien would sink eventually, despite his athletic prowess.

  It hit him then. They were going to die. He was going to die. He was going to drown, a slow agonizing death. He was helpless to do anything about it. And then all he could think about was his father laughing at him, at his weakness and his inability to prevent his own terrible demise. He wanted to scream one last curse at the old man before the water took him.

  He glanced to the side and saw Summer talking and gesticulating to Darien. They swam over to the side. Then Darien ducked beneath the surface and Summer positioned herself over him. Slowly Summer begin to rise out of the water.

  Ryan watched and silently prayed that what they were doing would work. The water was still about seven feet deep. Darien was a little over six feet tall. Standing on his shoulders, Summer should be able to climb out of the pool. Summer rose higher and higher. She wobbled slightly, nearly losing her balance. But she was almost there.

  “You’re almost there!” Justin yelled.

  And she was. Hopefully Darien could hold his breath for just a little while longer. If he could just hold on... Summer’s fingers were just inches from the pool’s edge.

  It looked almost too easy. A simple idea.

  Ryan had ignored his intuition before, but not this time. “Be careful!” he shouted to Summer.

  His warning came too late. A stone whizzed through the air and glanced off Summer’s head. She toppled back into the water. Ryan and Justin quickly swam over to her. Darien surfaced sputtering, probably wondering what the hell was going on.

  Justin reached Summer first. He lifted her head up. They could all see that her eyes were closed. A small trickle of blood ran down her forehead and dripped into the pool. The water surrounding Justin and Summer turned pink.

  “I think she’s okay,” he said. “Just stunned.”

  Ryan wanted to scream. She wasn’t okay. None of them were okay. They were all dead. Unless a miracle happened.

  As Sam rushed out of the office, he called for Summer. She was by the pool, he knew — he could hear them all shouting from within the water. They couldn’t get out. His sister wasn’t going to be able to save him. What was he going to do?

  He ran away just as the Shanks came bounding out of the office, yelling and screaming. He hid behind a large hedge as Mr. Shanks rumbled past him.

  He needed to help them in the pool. But how? He was only little. Too little to help anyone, least of all his sister and the rest of them.

  Maybe if he thought of it like a video game he wouldn’t be so scared. It was just like the games he played. He had to get to a certain spot without the bad guys getting to him. When he thought about it that way, it didn’t sound so daunting, so impossible. He could do it.

  Slowly, he crept out of his hiding spot. He didn’t see the Shanks. He crawled back toward the office, staying low and always searching
the area. He’d be like one of those chameleon lizards. Although the impulse to run pumped through him, he fought it back down. He couldn’t leave his sister. He had to be brave and rescue her for once.

  He snuck around the corner and peaked inside the hotel office. No one was there. He tiptoed over to the counter.

  Mr. Shanks had been behind there when his wife yelled at him. Maybe there was something that could help. He came around and saw a large valve on the floor.

  He gripped it and tried to turn it. It wouldn’t move. He put all his weight into it, but still it wouldn’t budge. He glared at it, then taking in a deep breath and gritting his teeth, he gripped the valve and cranked on it.

  Finally it made a reeling noise and turned. Sam twisted it some more. He heard the noise of rushing water beneath him. So he turned it some more. Now maybe Summer could get out of the pool.

  Tired, he let go of the valve and sat down hard. He took some deep breaths. That had been difficult, laborious work. He needed to move fast so the weird old couple didn’t catch him, but he had to sit down for a bit to reenergize.

  “There you are!”

  A hand clamped down on him and he screamed.

  The sucking sensation pulled at Maddie’s feet. The force of it almost yanked her under. She paddled away from the vent to get away.

  “Careful!” she yelled. “They’re draining the pool again.”

  “You okay, Mads?” asked her brother.

  “No sweat, it’s just like junior lifeguards.”

  She glanced over at Darien, who cradled Summer in his arms. “How is she?”

  “She’s just knocked out.” He didn’t sound that confident in his words. And by the pallor of Summer’s face and the shallow cut on her head, Maddie wasn’t too sure, either.

  Ryan swam over to her and Justin.

  “Any thoughts, fearless leader?” asked Justin.

  Maddie hissed at her brother, “Don’t start.”

  Ryan stared up at the pool ledge. She could see him trying to work it out. Trying to piece together a plan to get them out. She just hoped he’d put it together a little faster so they all didn’t drown.