Party Games (8 page)

I turned the corner, following the waiter's directions. He said the restroom would be halfway down the hall on the right. Even this far from the ballroom, I could still hear the
boom boom boom
of the drumbeat from the pounding dance music.

I took a few steps—then stopped when I heard a hoarse cry. At first, I wasn't sure if I'd really heard it or not. I thought it might be part of the music drifting down the hall.

I took a few more steps and heard the cry more clearly.

“Help me! Is anyone there? Please—help me!”

A young man's voice. Randy, the boat pilot? Yes. It sounded like him.

My breath caught in my throat. I heard him again, a muffled voice from somewhere nearby.

“Can anyone hear me? Help me!
Please
—somebody.”

I forced myself to breathe again and lurched toward the sound of the cries.

“Oh.” I let out a soft cry as two black-uniformed servants stepped in front of me.

They eyed me suspiciously. I recognized Antonio instantly. The other one was tall and broad-shouldered, big like a football player, with curly blond hair. He had a cigarette dangling from his lips. “Can I help you?” he asked.

“I … heard the shouts,” I said. “It sounded like Randy. The boat pilot. Like he was calling for help.”

“I didn't hear anything,” the server said. He turned to Antonio. “Did you hear anything?”

Antonio shook his head. “No. I didn't hear anything. Are you looking for the ladies' room?”

“Yes,” I said. “But I heard someone. Really. He was calling for help. He … he sounded so frightened.”

“We'll check into it,” Antonio said.

“Yeah. Right away,” his partner added.

They stood side by side, blocking my path. Antonio pointed. “The ladies' room—it's right down there. On the right. You can't miss it.”

“But—but—” I sputtered.

“We're on it. Really. No worries,” Antonio said.

I could see there was no point arguing with them. I turned and started to walk away. I was halfway down the hall when I heard Antonio's shout:

“Enjoy the party. Have a good one.”

 

12.

GHOST STORIES

 

The dance music was still pumping when I returned to the party room. I saw Eric dancing with April. He was going berserk, jerking his body around like a spastic robot, and she was standing there watching him, her hand to her mouth, obviously embarrassed.

Eric, of course,
cannot
be embarrassed.

April is shy and quiet. Eric isn't her type at all. I wondered how he was able to drag her onto the dance floor. He probably
did
drag her.

Morgan and Kenny, Brendan's cousins, were slouched in a corner by themselves in their matching Benson School sweatshirts, beer glasses in their hands. I felt bad. They didn't know anyone here, and they seemed totally uncomfortable. Morgan kept glancing at his phone, then shoving it back in his pocket.

Maybe Brendan wasn't kidding about them. Maybe they really
were
antisocial.

I searched for Brendan. I was desperate to tell him about Randy's cries for help and the two servers who had no intention of helping him. But I didn't have a chance. The music cut off abruptly, and Brendan stood at the front of the room, waving his arms above his head to get everyone's attention.

It took a while for everyone to get quiet. Someone had spilled a plate of macaroni and cheese on the floor, and a waiter stooped to clean it up. Eric was still doing his insane dance moves even though the music had stopped.

It was a little bit funny, but he wasn't impressing April. She had already crept away from him, shaking her head, her hands balled into tight fists. He was so clueless, he didn't even realize she had left.

“I want to start,” Brendan said. “You know. Get things rolling.”

We gathered in a tight group in front of him. Only his cousins held back, murmuring to themselves, not smiling.

Brendan rubbed his hands together and flashed us a mad-scientist, gleeful grin. “My devious mind has a lot of ideas for tonight,” he said. “I've planned some awesome games.”

“Stop him! He's a crazy Fear!” Eric shouted. “We're all going to DIE!”

I laughed and so did a few other kids.

Brendan rolled his eyes. “Why do I put up with you?”

“Because I'm an awesome dude?” Eric answered.

“No,” Brendan said. “That's not it.”

“Because you feel sorry for him?” Spider Webb shouted.

“Yes,” Brendan said. “You got it.” He waited for everyone to stop laughing. Eric laughed, too. Eric is obnoxious but there's something lovable about him, too. I'd always wondered if it was possible to have a serious conversation with Eric. I'd never seen him be serious, even in school.
Especially
in school.

“We're going to start with a real old game from back in the day,” Brendan announced. “Later, I'm going to tell you about a game I've been developing. I've been working hard on it, and I think it's way cool.”

A waiter walked down the line of kids with a tray of beer glasses. Brendan took a glass off the tray and drank half of it down. “The first game is old,” he said, licking his lips. “Like it goes back to the nineteenth century. A scavenger hunt.”

A few kids groaned.

“I thought we were going to play Spin the Bottle,” Eric said.

“Yes, you should let Eric play Spin the Bottle,” Kerry shouted to Brendan. “It's the only way he'll ever get a girl to kiss him.”

More laughter.

“Not funny,” Eric muttered.

Brendan waved everyone quiet. “I know, I know. You all probably think a scavenger hunt is a game for kids. But not in this old house. Once you leave this ballroom, you're in a different world. You'll find miles of dark, twisting hallways on all the floors. Some of the rooms haven't been opened for years. Some of the rooms have mysterious objects, masks, figures … weird things we can't even recognize.

“My ancestors were strange. Everyone knows that. And over the years, their interests and hobbies caused them to collect many things most people have never seen. Maybe there are things you won't
want
to see.”

“Oooowooooo.”
Kerry did a ghostlike howl.

“Call the Ghost Hunters.”

“Brendan is trying to scare us.”

“Next he'll tell us the house is haunted,” Patti said.

“The house
is
haunted,” Brendan said. “Do you really think an old mansion like this doesn't have its ghosts? My dad said when he was a teenager, he took his girlfriend up to the attic, and they both saw a ghost. The room suddenly turned cold as ice. And he and his girlfriend saw someone in the doorway.

“It was a young woman in a long, old-fashioned dress, like from the 1800s. She was all silver, glowing in a silvery light. Like it was shining out of her, so bright my dad said he had to look away. And when he turned back, she was gone. Dad said he was badly shaken. It was too bold and too real. He never went up to the attic again.”

Silence for a moment.

Then Eric murmured, “Good one, Brendan.”

That got a pretty big laugh from everyone. “Eric,” Brendan said, “maybe you'd like to
start
in the attic.”

Eric stuck his chin out. “Dare me? Do you? Dare me to start in the attic? Your dad's fake ghost story doesn't scare me, dude.”

Brendan frowned at him. “Fake ghost story? Eric, you know my father. Oliver Fear. The most serious man on earth. I don't think he has ever cracked a joke. I don't even think he ever
laughed
at a joke. And believe me, he never made up a story in his life. If he says he saw a ghost in the attic…”

“We're all shivering and shaking,” Eric said. He did a wild shimmy, shivering and shaking his whole body.

“Eric, I'll come with you.” Delia Rodgers spoke up. “To the attic. I'm desperate to see a ghost.”

Eric's eyes went wide. “Seriously?” Delia had never paid any attention to him before.

She tugged at a strand of her white-blonde hair. “I watch
Ghost Hunters
every week,” she said. “It's my favorite show.”

“Maybe you'll see ghosts on your scavenger hunt,” Brendan said. “This is the Fear family, after all. I know you all know the stories. We're evil.”

“Speak for yourself,” Morgan chimed in.

“Brendan is the
most
evil,” cousin Kenny said.

Brendan ignored them. He held up a white envelope. “You all were given these envelopes at the door. Take them out now. This is your list of the things you need to find for the scavenger hunt.”

I tore open my envelope and gazed down the list of objects:

A bird skeleton

A jar of silver bullets

A mummy's finger

A black flower

A stuffed rabbit

A live tarantula

Raven feathers

A silver urn filled with ashes

Totally weird.

“You'll have to do a lot of exploring,” Brendan said over the muttered conversations around the room. “The objects you need to find have been hidden all over the house. And I have to apologize that a lot of the rooms and halls are dark. This is a summer house, and some of the generators have been turned off. Of course, finding things in the dark is more fun—right?”

“Do you really have a mummy's finger in this house?” April asked.

Brendan nodded. “Doesn't every house have a mummy's finger?”

“Hey, how come Geena's name is at the bottom of my list?” Eric demanded. “You mean I have to find Geena?”

“Eric, you're at the bottom of
my
list,” Geena said, waving her piece of paper in front of him.

“That's because you're partners,” Brendan said. “We're going to divide into twos. Your partner's name is at the bottom of the page.”

“You mean I have to go into a dark room with Eric?” Geena cried.

Patti pointed to Spider at the end of the line of kids. I guessed she and Spider were going to be partners. Could she stand to be separated from Kerry for an hour or more?

“Hey, Kenny and I are partners?” cousin Morgan said.

“No one else could stand to be with you,” Brendan said.

“I can't stand to be with him, either,” Kenny said.

They gave each other playful shoves.

“Your cousins are cute,” Delia said to Brendan. “If you shut your eyes.”

Laughter all around.

I raised my list and gazed at the name at the bottom of the page:

Brendan
.

Brendan wanted me to be his partner.

I knew this was an awesome party!

Eric bumped up next to me. “Rachel, who's your partner? Want to trade with Geena? Geena doesn't like me. You and I—?”

“I don't think so,” I said. “Brendan is my partner.”

Eric's eyes went wide. He shouted: “Hey, Brendan—no fair. You can't be in the game. You know where everything is hidden.”

“No, I don't,” Brendan said. “I didn't hide the objects. Some of the workers hid everything before you all arrived. I'm like you. I'm clueless. Really. I don't know where anything is.”

Some kids grumbled about that. “Brendan, who's your partner?” Spider called.

“Rachel,” Brendan said.

“Ooh, Brendan—are you going to take Rachel up to the attic?” Delia said.

That got a pretty good laugh. I could feel myself blushing. “No. I'm taking
Brendan
to the attic,” I said. It was a lame joke. But it made Brendan smile.

“Okay, partner up, guys. We'll meet back here in two hours,” Brendan said. “The team that collects the most items wins. If anyone gets lost, just scream for help. Probably, no one will hear you. But it'll make you feel better.”

He started toward me, but Kerry stepped in his way. “Brendan, a live tarantula?” Kerry said, waving his list. “How are Delia and I supposed to bring it back here? In our hands?”

“It's just a baby,” Brendan said. “It's in a glass cage.”

Eric and Geena were huddled together, going over their list. “This stuff is hidden on all the floors?” Geena asked.

“Everywhere but the basement,” Brendan said. “The basement is filled with summer stuff. So we can't use it.”

“Wait! Before we start, Brendan, can I ask you a question?” April said. All eyes turned to her. She held her scavenger hunt list in one hand. “Do you have dead squirrels on the list?”

Brendan squinted at her. “Excuse me?”

“Dead squirrels,” April repeated. “Because I had one at home. A dead squirrel in my bed. Was that part of your game?”

Brendan's mouth had dropped open. “I don't know what you're talking about, April. Why would there be a dead squirrel?”

“I had a dead raccoon,” Geena said.

“Me, too!” Patti cried before I had a chance to chime in.

“Did everyone coming to this party get a dead animal?” April demanded.

Brendan was blinking rapidly, his face all tight, as if he was struggling to understand.

“I didn't get a dead animal,” Kerry said.

“Neither did I,” Eric and Spider said in unison.

“I … I don't know anything about this,” Brendan said finally. “I can't believe it. Really. Do you think…? Do you think someone was trying to ruin my party? I mean … someone wanted you to
blame
me for putting them there?”

“Are you telling us the truth?” Patti demanded.

“Of course I didn't do it,” Brendan replied. “No way. That's horrible. Where would I get dead animals? Do you think I collect them or something? How would I get them into your houses?”

Everyone started talking at once.

“Why would I do that?” Brendan shouted over the voices. “Why would I do a thing like that right before my party? I … I can't believe someone did that to you.”