[Goosebumps 09] - Welcome to Camp Nightmare
Page 9
Beside him were Jay and Roger!
Colin stepped out of the woods, followed by Tommy and Chris. All smiling and happy and okay.
“What—what’s going on here?” I stammered. I was totally stunned. I felt dizzy.
I didn’t get it. I really didn’t get it.
And then my mom and dad stepped out from the trees. Mom rushed up and gave me a hug. Dad patted the top of my head. “I knew you’d pass, Billy,” he said. I could see happy tears in his eyes.
Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore. I pushed Mom gently away. “Passed what!?” I demanded. “What is this? What’s going on?”
Uncle Al put his arm around my shoulders and guided me away from the group of campers. Mom and Dad followed close behind.
“This isn’t really a summer camp,” Uncle Al explained, still grinning at me, his face bright pink. “It’s a government testing lab.”
“Huh?” I swallowed hard.
“You know your parents are scientists, Billy,” Uncle Al continued. “Well, they’re about to leave on a very important expedition. And this time they wanted to take you along with them.”
“How come you didn’t tell me?” I asked my parents.
“We couldn’t!” Mom exclaimed.
“According to government rules, Billy,” Uncle Al continued, “children aren’t allowed to go on official expeditions unless they pass certain tests. That’s what you’ve been doing here. You’ve been taking tests.”
“Tests to see what?” I demanded, still dazed.
“Well, we wanted to see if you could obey orders,” Uncle Al explained. “You passed when you refused to go to the Forbidden Bunk.” He held up two fingers. “Second, we had to test your bravery. You demonstrated that by rescuing Larry.” He held up a third finger. “Third, we had to see if you knew when not to follow orders. You passed that test by refusing to hunt for Dawn and Dori.”
“And everyone was in on it?” I asked. “All the campers? The counselors? Everyone? They were all actors?”
Uncle Al nodded. “They all work here at the testing lab.” His expression turned serious. “You see, Billy, your parents want to take you to a very dangerous place, perhaps the most dangerous place in the known universe. So we had to make sure you can handle it.”
The most dangerous place in the universe?
“Where?” I asked my parents. “Where are you taking me?”
“It’s a very strange planet called Earth,” Dad replied, glancing at Mom. “It’s very far from here. But it could be exciting. The inhabitants there are weird and unpredictable, and no one has ever studied them.”
Laughing, I stepped between my mom and dad and put my arms around them. “Earth?! It sounds pretty weird. But it could never be as dangerous or exciting as Camp Nightmoon!” I exclaimed.
“We’ll see,” Mom replied quietly. “We’ll see.”
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