by Ellen Oh
The drums began to beat again, but how was that possible? She thought it was a deserted island, or was it? Could there be inhabitants? And if so, where were they? What were they doing? Were they watching them, waiting to spring a trap? Harper didn’t want to continue. She wanted to wake up and get away from this nightmarish island, but she couldn’t pull herself awake. She could only follow Monty as he stepped into a clearing and finally stopped. Before them stood a bizarre formation of palm trees that had twisted and bent themselves into unnatural positions, giving the appearance of Medusa’s writhing serpentine hair. Harper recognized the trees immediately. This was Gorgon Grove.
The longer she stared at the hideous trees, the greater was the dread that rose within her. She sensed that they were trespassing on an ancient land. Something was out there—filled with malice that hit her like tidal waves. The trees themselves seemed to be warning them to leave, to run for their very lives. They shouldn’t be here. The warped trunks seemed to shimmer and then undulate.
Peering closely, she noted that the largest of the trees had a blackened trunk, as if it had been struck many times by lightning. But on further inspection, Harper realized that the tree trunk was dotted with blood and what looked like human hair. There were even torn fingernails gouged into the bark. Repulsed, she took an involuntary step back.
Someone grabbed her arm, causing her to start violently and wake up.
NIGHTMARES AND MORE NIGHTMARES
Saturday, October 28—Later that morning
It took a long minute before Harper realized it was Dayo shaking her awake.
“Harper, you okay?” Dayo asked, a concerned frown on her face.
Rubbing her eyes, she nodded and sat up. “I had a bad nightmare.”
“I’ll say,” Dayo said as she bounced off the bed. “You were breathing really loudly and shaking. What was it about?”
“I was in that horrible tree place.”
Dayo shuddered. “That explains everything.” She started changing into her clothes. “I’m done with the bathroom, so you should get ready now.”
Harper stared blankly at Dayo, who shook her head and snorted.
“We’re going to meet Olivia this morning, remember?”
Harper groaned and ran into the bathroom, chased by Dayo’s chuckles.
At nine a.m. sharp, Harper, Dayo, Leo, and Michael were riding in a white hotel van through the winding roads of the resort grounds. Dayo was all about punctuality.
“So, what happened last night, Leo?” Harper said. “Why didn’t you wake us?”
Leo looked puzzled. “It didn’t come last night,” he said. “And I slept well last night, too.”
“No, she just visited me instead,” Michael said.
Leo looked upset. “No . . . not again. What does it want? How can we make it go away?”
“Don’t worry, Leo,” Harper said. “She’s just a little lost ghost baby. We’re gonna help her find her way back to where she belongs.”
“Why would you help a ghost? You’re supposed to get rid of it!”
“This is how, dummy,” Harper rolled her eyes.
“How do I know this is going to work?”
“She’s not bothering you, right?”
Leo had no response.
“Aren’t you going to thank us?” Harper said.
“Why?” Leo snapped. “You’re the reason I got like this.”
Harper raised an eyebrow.
“I mean, thank you,” he said grudgingly.
“Well, you also have to promise never to pull another prank on us ever again,” Harper said.
“Yeah, no pranks, you big meanie!” Michael said.
Leo was quiet for a long moment.
“Then I’m gonna tell that little ghost girl to keep haunting you . . . ,” Harper said.
“Okay! I promise never to prank you guys again.”
The cousins shook on their agreement just as the van reached a large house overlooking a secluded beach cove. Something about the area had Harper buzzing with alarm.
As they approached the house, Olivia came running out of the front door, followed by a tall woman with dark brown hair pulled into a tight bun. She was wearing white slacks and a navy vest belted at the waist. Her lips were smiling even though her eyes were not.
“Hi, guys, this is my mom! She wanted to meet you all before she went into the office,” Olivia said. She quickly introduced everyone and ended with Leo. “You remember Leo, right?”
“Yes, of course,” Mrs. Bennington said with a wide smile. “Your parents were the best thing to happen to our resort.” Her eyes sized up everyone else and then turned back to her daughter. “So, how are all of you enjoying the island?”
“It’s beautiful,” Dayo said.
“Yeah, and the food is the bestest,” Michael said, holding two thumbs up.
Mrs. Bennington leaned down with a genuine smile to caress Michael’s cheek. “I’m so glad. We hire the best chefs in the business. Like your uncle.”
Straightening up, she pulled out her car keys and put on her sunglasses. “Well, it was very nice to meet you all,” she said with a polite smile. “Please enjoy yourselves. And Olivia, don’t forget, I want you at the hotel for dinner with the Garlands.”
Olivia nodded and gave her mother a kiss on the cheek. They all watched as Mrs. Bennington got into a silver Mercedes-Benz and drove off.
Olivia turned to the kids with a bright smile. “Are you guys hungry? My chef made lots of food for us.”
They followed her to the back of the house, where a large buffet table had been set with platters of food. Pancakes, crepes, and waffles, as well as eggs, bacon, and hash browns were piled up, along with a mound of fresh fruit.
As the others loaded up their plates, Harper grabbed two of her own, filling one with pancakes and fruit and the other one with eggs, bacon, and potatoes.
Olivia started giggling. “Do you always eat from two plates?”
“I don’t like different types of food touching each other,” Harper explained.
“But it’s all breakfast foods,” Olivia said.
“Sweet and savory shouldn’t mix.”
Dayo rolled her eyes. “Harper, you could always just eat from one plate at a time.”
“But that would be a waste,” Harper said. “I want to eat them all together.”
“Then it shouldn’t matter if they touch,” Olivia laughed.
“Ew, gross,” Harper said. She took a big bite of her eggs and bacon and chased it with a maple syrup–covered pancake.
After breakfast, they played games and then changed into swimming gear before the snorkeling instructor arrived.
The instructor, Tomas, was a dark-skinned young guy with a dazzling smile and eyes that were full of mischief. He spoke with a lilting accent and said he was from Saint Lucia. They all liked him immediately.
“Mrs. Bennington sent over these rash-guard shirts from the store for you all. They are yours to keep, so put them on now. They will prevent you from getting sunburned,” Tomas said. He then gave them all flotation devices that wrapped around their waists, except for Michael, who got a flotation vest instead.
“But I’m a good swimmer!” Michael whined.
“And I believe you,” Tomas said. “But sometimes the undercurrent can get tricky, and even strong swimmers could get pulled under. So, it would be better to be safe than turn into a mermaid, right, little man?”
“How do you turn into a mermaid?”
“Well, you take in too much water and can’t come back to land,” Tomas said as he put the vest on Michael. “But you would miss land too much—your friends and family and ice cream. You can’t eat ice cream if you’re a mermaid.”
“I love ice cream,” Michael said.
“Oh, I see. You love it more than your family?” Harper asked jokingly.
Michael laughed. “No, silly.”
They all lined up for their snorkeling gear and listened as Tomas told them where they could and couldn
’t go. “You must stay in the cove. You see the rope with all the colorful buoys? Do not pass that rope, got it?”
Harper did a thumbs-up as she put on the full face mask. The rope was at the mouth of the cove, which led into the ocean. The difference in the waves within the cove and outside the cove was enough to persuade Harper to avoid the rope area.
She followed the others into the shallows, and they waded up to their hips before they all put their faces into the water. Immediately she was transported into another world. Tiny colorful fish fluttered by her nose as she moved through the crystal-blue water. She could see Tomas swimming next to Michael, keeping him close by his side. Knowing her brother was safe, Harper began to explore.
Dayo and Olivia were up ahead. They turned to her and motioned for her to come. Harper kicked her fins to follow them, then she caught a quick movement in the corner of her eye. It was an octopus. Fascinated, she followed it as it slunk along the sandy floor, using its long tentacles to grab on to rocks and pull itself forward. Harper was right behind the octopus when it suddenly jerked forward and propelled itself quickly through the water, launching itself like a bullet. Harper wondered what had happened, and then she noticed the water turning dark around her. Something pale glimmered in the water—she turned toward it and then reeled back aghast. It was a dead body, held down in the water with heavy rocks. She immediately swam away, but something grabbed her by the ankle. She stared in horror at the pale dead hand that was now holding her tight. Harper kicked wildly, trying to shake the hand off. Instead, the body came loose from the rocks and a slew of corpses erupted from the bottom of the sea. Screaming inside her face mask, Harper kicked violently at the dead thing and swam for her life.
She broke the surface of the water and pulled off her mask, gasping for air, as Leo stared back at her.
“Harper, you’re beyond the cove,” he said. “We’ve got to go back.”
“I saw something,” she wheezed. She pointed down.
Leo immediately dove below but came right back up. “There’s nothing there.”
Harper didn’t argue. She just wanted to get away as quickly as possible. She followed Leo back to the rope and into the safety of the cove.
After another spectacular lunch and an afternoon filled with more fun activities, they left to go home before dinner. Olivia told them that there would be more activities at the hotel the next day and made plans to meet them there.
But Harper couldn’t shake the image of those dead bodies. Back at the house, Harper pulled Dayo aside to tell her what happened. Horrified by the vision, the girls went on Aunt Caroline’s computer to do more research.
“Okay, so you know all about Montgomery Bennington and how he found the island and made all these hotels,” Dayo said. “What we don’t know are all the juicy backstories.”
Over the years, Razu Island had been known for mysterious disappearances. When the resort was popular, the disappearances were not so noticeable, but after Monty’s death, the hotel didn’t attract as many tourists. For a small island with a population of no more than a thousand locals, the disappearances began to look suspicious.
It was during Monty’s grandson’s ownership that the real tragedy occurred. Todd Bennington inherited the hotel chain at the age of twenty. For the first few years of Todd’s reign, there were no mysterious disappearances or deaths. But then tragedy struck. Sixteen people were murdered, including a young family. Their bodies were hideously dismembered and left at Gorgon Grove. The worst part was the death of a young child.
While the hotel’s reputation suffered, Todd had his own tragedies. The year after the murders, the resort was closed and Todd’s first son, born that spring, died of unknown causes. The following year, he caused a scandal by deserting his pregnant wife, Clarissa, and disappearing.
Clarissa Bennington came from a small town in Florida to work as a waitress in the hotel restaurant. It caused a scandal when Todd married her. The board of directors called her a gold digger and tried to ignore her existence. Ironically, it was the same board of directors who praised her when she was able to make the hotel chain successful again.
“Wow, this place is a mess,” Dayo said, rubbing her eyes. “Poor Olivia. She had it real rough. But you gotta respect Olivia’s mom for saving this place.”
“I don’t think I like her,” Harper said abruptly. “She gives me the creeps.”
“That’s not nice to say about Olivia’s mom,” Dayo said. “I mean, she is kind of cold, but I’m sure she’s a good mom.”
“Just because you’re a good mom doesn’t make you a good person,” Harper said.
“Yeah, I hear you,” Dayo said. “So, the murderers have to be the monsters, right?”
“Yep.” Harper grabbed her phone to call her grandma. The call went straight to voice mail. Harper sighed and got back on the computer and wrote up a long message in an email to her grandmother.
“Well, all we can do is wait,” she said.
“I hope she gets back to you sooner than she usually does,” Dayo said.
“I’ll call my aunt if she doesn’t respond,” Harper said. She shuddered as she thought of the dead bodies in the water. “In fact, I’ll call her right away.”
THE TREES OF GORGON GROVE
Sunday, October 29
The next day Harper’s mom took Kelly, Harper, Dayo, and Michael to the little town not far from the resort. Leo stayed home to play video games. The bus drove them to a local market crowded with tourists looking at pink flamingo earrings and seashell souvenirs.
Yuna and Kelly stopped at a jewelry stall, while Harper and Dayo followed Michael as they wandered between the narrow aisles crowded with shoppers. He made a beeline for a stand filled with colorful wooden toy boats. He picked up a sturdy-looking red-and-blue tugboat, pretending it was fighting large tidal waves. A little girl with curly blond hair came over to watch him.
“That’s my favorite,” she said.
“Me too,” Michael replied.
“Look, it even has a real propeller, and towlines to tow a bigger boat. Here, like this.” The girl grabbed a large freight ship and attached it to the end of the tugboat.
“Cool!” Michael said. “I’m gonna ask my Mom if I can have this.”
“That’s a very good choice,” the girl said seriously. Harper smothered a laugh. The little girl couldn’t have been older than Michael, and yet she had the practiced assurance of an experienced salesperson.
“I’m almost six. How old are you?” she asked.
“I’m five,” Michael said. “I like chocolate ice cream.”
“Me too!”
They both beamed at each other and giggled.
“I’m Kayla. What’s your name?”
“Michael,” he replied. “You’re so lucky to have all these boats.”
“My dad makes them, so I have lots,” she said. She then turned to her mom and yelled, “Mommy, this little boy wants to buy the tugboat.”
Her mother came over, a smile creasing her plump round face. “Well, it seems like he has excellent taste, then,” she said. “My husband carves them by hand, and the tugboats are our top sellers. Hard to keep in stock.”
The woman winked cheerfully at Harper. Suddenly, she paled and stood staring at a young teenage boy who’d walked in with his family. Harper turned to look also. He was a fairly nondescript teen with dirty-blond hair and a sullen expression on his face, following his parents around and clearly unhappy. The only thing Harper noticed that was unusual was that the boy had a strange triangular bruise on his neck right under his chin and close to his right ear.
The parents approached the owner to ask a question, but the owner couldn’t help staring. Then she tore her gaze away and abruptly announced that the stall was closing.
Harper wanted to purchase the boat, but the woman waved her away, telling her to keep the boat. Then she shooed everyone out and pulled her curtain closed.
Harper couldn’t understand what had spooked the woman so badly.
But her eyes were drawn once again to the sullen teenager as he slouched on a bench outside. The sun was shining brightly on his face, making the bruise vivid. It looked like a claw mark.
Something about the mark made Harper think of the monsters that the little ghost girl had been talking about. What did the mark mean? Was he in danger? She walked over to ask him.
“Hey, what happened to your neck?” she asked.
He looked up at her in surprise and then shrugged. “I just woke up this morning with it. I have no idea how I got it except I had a really bad nightmare. Maybe I hit myself with something, I don’t know.”
“What kind of nightmare?” Harper asked.
“None of your business, nosy,” he snapped. He got up to his feet and stalked off.
Dayo came over, holding Michael’s hand. “What was that about?”
“I don’t know,” Harper said. “But it’s related somehow. I can feel it.”
Someone shouted their names. When they turned to see who it was, Kelly came over with a cheerful grin. “Come on, guys, there’s a Smoothie Hut around the corner. Let’s go get some tropical fruit drinks.”
Michael whooped with joy and happily held Kelly’s hand to run ahead.
“You know, the beach sure makes Kelly happy,” Dayo said.
“You mean she acts more human?” Harper asked.
“I heard that!” Kelly yelled at them.
Soon after, they headed back to the house, and Yuna took Michael to his watersport class, while Harper and Dayo huddled together in the dining room over milk and a plate of pastries.
“I think we have to go to Gorgon Grove,” Harper said. “I feel like the answer is there.”
Dayo shuddered. “Do we have to? That place gives me the creeps. Can’t we try your grandma again?”
“I’ve tried twice. Grandma’s not answering, and neither is my aunt Youjin,” Harper said. “Service is so bad here on the island. You don’t have to go if you don’t want to.”
“Oh yes I do,” Dayo said. “If you’re going, I’m going.”