Page 57

Non andare lì, Ysabel!

Tonight is all about restarting my life, but I can't do that if I keep going back to the past.

Excited shrieks and cries from other guests give me something new to focus on, and I realize the front act for tonight's concert (also for free,natch) is about to start.

"It's really them! It's them!"

The stage setup is at the back of the fountain, and while I'm also a huge fan of the girl group from Korea that's just started singing and dancing in front of the crowd—-

I think I need to be alone for now, instead of being lost in a screaming sea of people.

I think I need to go to a place that's a lot more quiet and just think.

I think I need...that.

What seems like a massive garage shed has been repurposed and turned into an indoor horror maze...with a twist.

Answer right, and you get out alive.

Answer wrong, and you won't be breathing for long!

Apprehension skitters down my spine as I read the words that have been spelled out with incandescent light bulbs on a signboard right above its doorway. Since this is afamiglia-organized event that's held in afamiglia-owned property——should I be worried and take that warning literally?

But on the other hand, I did say I want tothink,so...

Forza, Ysabel!

I march up determinedly to the entrance, and the clown manning the doors looks at me threateningly.

"You sure you're ready for this, little girl?"

"Bring it on, Pennywise with Black Lips."

He almost drops his act by grinning, but Mr. Fake Pennywise quickly recovers and rings the web-covered bells behind him. Its funereal chime seems to serve as a cue since all sorts of noise follow right after it.

Thunder rumbles, chains rattle, and ghosts moan as the shed doors slowly creak open all on their own, and my heart still races even though I know all of this is make-believe.

"See you on the other side, little girl."

The clown's whisper is the last thing I hear as I enter, and my heart jumps to my throat when the doors abruptly slam shut behind me.

Uh-oh.

I suddenly find myself wondering what I've gotten myself into. There's an exit sign just a few steps away from me, but since it's also labeledCOWARD'S WAY OUT—-

Pride keeps me from being a wimp, and I force myself to move forward to the first room, which is completely dark and empty except for the light bulb glowing inside a fortune-telling machine, and a bald man stares at me with eerily realistic eyes from behind the glass walls of its prison.

"Hello, stranger." Its voice is low and heavy, and more demonic than robotic. "I will ask you a question, and if you answer right, I shall let you pass unharmed. But if you answer wrong, a monster shall come and devour you. Do you agree?"

The cover on the machine's control panel slides open to reveal a wireless keyboard underneath, and it even comes with customizedYesandNobuttons that glow red in the dark.

I click'Yes',and Creepy Mr. Bald peels his mouth open with a smile that highlights the viciously sharp edges of his blood-stained teeth.

"Do you know of a 1972 movie that revolves around a Victorian gentleman's obsession with understanding the supernatural phenomenon that only seems to appear in photos of people on death's door? Please type your answer in twenty seconds."

I know this!

"You typed'The Asphyx.'That is correct. You may go...for now."