Some park visitors cheered us as we passed by.

They probably thought it

was a parade or something.
The Horrors walked us across Zombie Plaza. I saw shops, and food carts,
and game booths. Other kids were having fun. Why couldn’t we?
We came to the Haunted Theater. Above the entrance, the marquee read:
MONDO THE MAGICAL.
Were they taking us into a magic show?
No. The Horrors guided us into a little shop at the side of the theater. The
shop was called MONDO’S TRICKS AND TREATS.
I guessed Mondo was selling his magic tricks there. The shelves were
filled. I passed a display of boxes that read: A MONDO EXCLUSIVE! PULL A HAT
OUT OF A RABBIT!
No time to look at the store. The Horrors pushed us behind a curtain
toward a little room in back. At the far wall, a steep staircase led straight
down.
Our shoes clattered on the metal stairs. No one spoke.
The stairs led to another flight of stairs. And then another. I realized we
were now three floors beneath the park.
My throat suddenly felt dry. Despite the hot air down there, my hands
were cold.
This was way scary. What did they plan to do with us? Just lock us up and
keep us down there?
We stepped out into bright lights. A huge room with furry orange and
green chairs and couches. Sunlight-yellow wallpaper with blue fish all over it.
A big zebra-skin rug. A purple-and-white polka-dot table with big claws on
the legs. A floor lamp with red and white stripes like a barber pole.
So many colors, it was almost blinding down there! And all the furniture
was totally weird looking and crazy.
“Where are we?” I demanded. “Where have you taken us?”
“You will be safe here,” Ned said. “Unless you get on the wrong side of
The Keeper. Be careful with him. Do everything he tells you. He is called The
Keeper, but there is one thing he can’t keep. He can’t keep his cool!”
“You can’t do this!” Matt screamed. “Let us out — now!”
“See you soon,” Ned said. The door slammed shut behind him.

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