Funhouse
Page 12
Stunned, he fell to his knees, releasing his end of the rope.
Tess ran. She raced into the next chamber, where the metal saucers whirled. She knew she had only a second or two. Bending quickly, she reached down with both hands and, stretching her arms across, grabbed at the middle circle and pulled upward. It came up out of the floor easily, just as Guy Joe had said.
She heard footsteps behind her. Lifting the circle, using what little strength she had left, she tossed it into the next passageway. It landed with a sharp clink and then fell silent.
Tess ran across the wooden walkway to the opposite side of the circles. Then, swinging the chain belt with careful aim, she smashed the overhead light in the ceiling, throwing the tunnel into absolute darkness. She crouched there, trembling violently, waiting.
“I’ll get you for this, Tess Landers!” Guy Joe’s voice, full of rage, cried as he entered the tunnel. “You’ll be very—”
He never finished the threat. Consumed with rage and blinded by the sudden, unexpected darkness, his voice became a scream of terror as the hole Tess had created swallowed him up.
Chapter 28
TESS WOULD HEAR GUY Joe’s scream in her sleep for many nights to come.
Crouching in the corner, trembling violently, she covered her face with her hands.
“Tess! Tess, where are you?” Tess heard a voice cry out, frantic with worry. Sam.
“Here! I’m here! Be careful—there’s a saucer missing!”
In spite of the darkness, Sam made his way across the chamber, and a moment later he was kneeling at her side. “You okay?” Lifting her gently, he put his arms around her.
“How did you know I was here?”
“Gina. She called me. She got this weird package at the hospital today. From Guy Joe. A couple of journals. One was his and the other one was an old one, written by some woman.” Sam began leading Tess out of the Funhouse, using one of the wooden walkways. The rain had stopped, and the half moon cast a faint glow over the beach. “I didn’t have any idea what she was talking about, but she was scared. For you. She told me to find you, right away. I’d just hung up when Doss called me and said you and Guy Joe were here and that Guy Joe looked funny, sort of freaked out. So here I am.”
So Doss had noticed something strange, after all. And hadn’t ignored it. She would have to remember to thank him.
“Where’s Guy Joe?” Sam asked.
“Down there.” Tess pointed to a spot on the beach. Guy Joe was unconscious. He looked so helpless, so innocent, lying there on the sand, that Tess found it hard to believe that tonight’s horror had actually happened. “We’d better call another ambulance. But,” Tess added softly, “this will be the last one.”
Epilogue
THEY THINK I’M UNCONSCIOUS. But I heard every word they said. Dr. Oliver said to that man who’s supposed to be my father, “We’ve had our hands full lately with these kids, haven’t we? Buddy Slaughter tells me Trudy is just about hysterical after what happened at her birthday party.”
I had finally found out what I’d been afraid I’d never know. Trudy’s father was the “Buddy” Lila had written about. The only one who hadn’t suffered at my hands.
Okay. No sweat. I’d go wherever they sent me. I’d weave little baskets and play Ping-Pong with the other loonies and I’d talk to the shrinks.
But I’d get out some day. And when I did, the eighth man on the board would be waiting. Buddy Slaughter, the man who had stolen everything from me, would be waiting.
So I could wait, too. …
A Biography of Diane Hoh
Diane Hoh (b. 1937) is a bestselling author of young-adult fiction. Born in Warren, Pennsylvania, Hoh grew up with eight siblings and parents who encouraged her love of reading from an early age. After high school, she spent a year at St. Bonaventure University before marrying and raising three children. She and her family moved often, finally settling in Austin, Texas.
Hoh sold two stories to Young Miss magazine, but did not attempt anything longer until her children were fully grown. She began her first novel, Loving That O’Connor Boy (1985), after seeing an ad in a publishing trade magazine requesting submissions for a line of young-adult fiction. Although the manuscript was initially rejected, Hoh kept writing, and she soon completed her second full-length novel, Brian’s Girl (1985). One year later, her publisher reversed course, buying both novels and launching Hoh’s career as a young-adult author.
After contributing novels to two popular series, Cheerleaders and the Girls of Canby Hall, Hoh found great success writing thrillers, beginning with Funhouse (1990), a Point Horror novel that became a national bestseller. Following its success, Hoh created the Nightmare Hall series, whose twenty-nine novels chronicle a university plagued by dark secrets. After concluding Nightmare Hall with 1995’s The Voice in the Mirror, Hoh wrote Virus (1996), which introduced the seven-volume Med Center series, which charts the challenges and mysteries of a hospital in Massachusetts.
In 1998, Hoh had a runaway hit with Titanic: The Long Night, a story of two couples—one rich, one poor—and their escape from the doomed ocean liner. That same year, Hoh released Remembering the Titanic, which picked up the story one year later. Together, the two were among Hoh’s most popular titles. She continues to live and write in Austin.
An eleven-year-old Hoh with her best friend, Margy Smith. Hoh’s favorite book that year was Lad: A Dog by Albert Payson Terhune.
A card from Hoh’s mother written upon the publication of her daughter’s first book. Says Hoh, “This meant everything to me. My mother was a passionate reader, as was my dad.”
Hoh and her mother in Ireland in 1985. Hoh recalls, “I kissed the Blarney Stone, which she said was redundant because I already had the ‘gift of gab.’ Later, I would use some of what we saw there in Titanic: The Long Night as Paddy, Brian, and Katie deported from Ireland.”
An unused publicity photo of Hoh.
Hoh with her daughter Jenny in Portland, Oregon, in 2008. Says Hoh, “While there, I received a call from a young filmmaker in Los Angeles who wanted to make The Train into a film. They ran out of money before the project got off the ground. Such is life.”
Hoh in 1991, addressing a class at the junior high she had attended in Warren, Pennsylvania.
A 1995 photo taken in Austin, Texas, with Hoh’s grandchildren. Says Hoh, “Although my deadlines for Nightmare Hall were tight, I made time for my grandchildren: Mike, Alex, and Rachel. I'm so glad they live here.”
A current photo of Hoh at home in Austin, Texas.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this ebook onscreen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
copyright © 1990 by Diane Hoh
cover design by Andrea Uva
978-1-4532-4811-9
This edition published in 2012 by Open Road Integrated Media
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EBOOKS BY DIANE HOH
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