My Friends Are Dead People by Tony Ortiz Page A

that read:
     
    MONSTER MASH
    2:00 – SOLD OUT 4:00 -
SOLD OUT
    6:00 – SOLD OUT 8:00 –
SOLD OUT
     
    We all heard the music booming from within
an orange-and-white-striped circus tent behind a cornfield.
    “ Please, Jacoby,” begged
Lin. “Can we just stick our heads inside for one second? Just one
tiny look. No bat dance, I promise.”
    “ Lin, I told you not
until–” Jacoby paused to let a loud foot-stomping thud tremble by
us. “We had better get moving.”
    No one argued as we followed Jacoby back
over the bridge, startled by the unexplained ground jolt.
    “ Katie, Jesse, stay very
close,” he said, without turning around. “I don’t want to lose you.
The games commemorate Jack. Many of the fans like to play pranks on
newcomers. You are an obvious target to them. I can’t have you two
wandering off. Is that clear?”
    Katie nodded.
    “ What kind of pranks?” I
wondered hesitantly.
    “ Jesse, it doesn’t matter.
If they come in close contact with you or give you more than a
glance, they will know you’re human and kill you.”
     

CHAPTER TEN
    KALA ’S FATE
     
    “ Jesse, you’ll be fine,”
concluded Jacoby. “Just stick with us and don’t make yourselves too
conspicuous. They won’t question you two if you don’t give them a
reason. Alright?”
    It wasn’t alright at all. I
suddenly lost all interest in seeing what went on inside the
stadium. We could always give the Monster Mash a try. There was
even a Magic Potential cubicle, a warlock scholar speaking about the Hidden History of Samhain , and a stage featuring The
Magician’s Greatest Bloody Performance .
They all sounded like better choices to me than risking my life to
see the game. But if we had to go, I had to take precautions. I
wasn’t about to just stand there waiting to be killed. I eyed an
insurance booth advertising curse security plans as we passed
it.
    “ Jesse, don’t worry,”
Jacoby said, sensing my mood, as we walked along the stadium, “no
one will even look our way.”
    I could see what he meant,
as I watched Dorian paying a trembling merchant at a souvenir
stand five Red Pops for five black wristbands, with Kala’s name
printed on it.
    “ Cool!” said Katie when he
got back.
    Dorian handed them out, and everyone tied
them around their wrists.
    The ground vibrations and
noise from within the stadium rumbled more intensely. Just as I
looked up, a large bolt of light flashed high up in the air,
followed by thunderous BOO’s .
    Jacoby came up to one of the entryways, set
between the stone legs of a giant spider.
     
    ENTRANCE TO THE LOWER LEVEL
    SECTION GHOUL 1-50
     
    “ I believe this is the
best place to enter,” he told us, touching the side of a cracked
urn that rested on the ground.
    After seeing Lin touch it, Katie and I did
the same thing before entering. The long dark tunnel amplified the
roar of the crowd. I could see a section of the stadium seats
through an opening ahead. There was another flash of light; this
one lasted a lot longer and illuminated the whole tunnel. A huge
disfigured creature flew by the entrance, and the sound of a
witch’s cackling chased after it.
    A hooded skeleton was slumped on a stool by
the entrance, mumbling into his collar bone, as if it was a
walkie-talkie. When we arrived, he bowed his skull even lower and
droned in a tired voice, “Read out loud.”
    Written on the wall behind the skeleton was
some kind of declaration.
     
    Jack O’Games
    I swear to keep my magic inside my pocket.
If I get caught, I agree to twenty-four hours of whatever
punishment the Haunt House subjects me to. I will not in any way
assist the samhain players and understand that the same punishment
would apply. I am not a human in disguise. I am a samhain. I am
aware that if I enter in violation, I will be killed. May I come
in?
     
    Jacoby was just finishing up reciting the
inscription. “. . . if I enter in violation, I will be killed. May
I come in?”
    “ Trick or treat?” asked
the