Why did my brother, Jackson, and I agree to go to that scary park? We thought long and hard about it. Then we realized we didn’t want to spend our whole lives running from the Thought Police. We needed answers: Where did our powers come from? Why do we have these powers? And did the invitation have something to do with the strange new powers we had?

We were on a mission. We had to find out. But as we looked out on the park from our hotel room in the Stagger Inn, we agreed it could also be fun.

But where were the other Very Special Guests?

We asked the Horror at the front desk, a huge guy with green fur and yellow horns. He shrugged. “I think they all got eaten alive,” he said. He licked his lips. “Yum.”

Jackson and I laughed. “You’re really not going to tell us where they are?”

“I just did,” the Horror replied.

A woman burst up to the desk. “Can you help me?” she asked the Horror. “There’s blood pouring from the sink in my bathroom.”

The Horror stared at her. “You were expecting ginger ale?”

Jackson and I hurried away. “I don’t think he wants to be too helpful,” I said.

“Just doing his job, I guess,” Jackson replied.

We stepped outside onto a wide plaza. It was crowded with kids and families. I saw a row of shops and food carts. A Horror was handing out helium balloons shaped like human skulls.

A blue-furred Horror stood behind a table with a sign that read: SMALL BITES.

“What kind of food are you selling?” I asked.

“It’s not food,” he said. “Come over here and I’ll BITE you!”

Some kids laughed. Jackson and I kept moving.

“Where should we start?” I said.

“Let’s check out the Doom Slide,” Jackson said. “Some kids at school told me it was awesome.”

“But we came here to learn about where our powers come from,” I said. “And why Madame Doom gave us those cards welcoming us to HorrorLand.”

“Sure,” Jackson agreed. “But while we’re here, we can have some fun, right? Let’s find the Doom Slide.”

“What’s so cool about it?” I asked.

“These kids said there are a whole bunch of slides. And if you choose the wrong one, you just keep sliding forever.”

I rolled my eyes. “Oooh, scary!” I said. “And you believe in the tooth fairy, too — right?”

Jackson didn’t answer. Instead, he narrowed his eyes at me and concentrated.

“Hey!” I felt myself float a few inches off the pavement. “Put me down, Jackson! Give me a break!”

He lowered me to the ground. “Okay, okay,” I said. “We’ll check out the Doom Slide.”

I gave Jackson a shove. “We said we’re not going to use our new powers. Remember? We don’t want people to see that we’re weird?”

Jackson shoved me back. “What’s the use of having them if we don’t use them?”

“I’m trying to read your mind,” I told him. “But I can’t. Because I can only read minds that are bigger than an M&M!”

“Remind me to laugh,” Jackson said.

We stepped up to a big map of the park. A little yellow square with an arrow read: YOU ARE HERE. (BUT FOR HOW LONG?)

I spotted the Doom Slide on the map. It was just on the other side of the carnival rides.

Jackson and I crossed the plaza. We started to walk toward Wolfsbane Forest. I could hear low growls on the other side of the trees. Then I heard kids shrieking. I couldn’t tell if they were afraid or if they were having fun.

“Jillian — stop —” Jackson said suddenly. He grabbed my arm. He pointed back to the plaza.

“Oh, wow,” I said. We both stared at a fortune-teller’s booth.

“Madame Doom!” Jackson cried.

“How weird,” I said. “She’s here, too?”

The wooden figure of Madame Doom sat behind a glass window, staring out at us.

“They must have these booths all over the place,” Jackson said.

“Maybe,” I said. I felt myself drawn to it, as if Madame Doom was pulling me to her.

Jackson and I both stepped up to the booth. It was glass on three sides. It had no roof. It was open on top.

The wooden Madame Doom was chipped and cracked. The paint on her face was faded and peeling. She sat in front of a red curtain.

“Look — the left eyebrow is chipped off,” I said, pointing. “Jackson, I swear. It’s the same one we saw back home!”

Jackson squinted at the fortune-teller’s faded face. “That’s way crazy. How can the same one be in both places?”

“Do you have a quarter?” I asked. “I want to see our fortune.”

Jackson made a face. “Last time it was some stupid thing about taking care of our teeth.”

“Just put a quarter in,” I said. “Come on. Do it. You want to get to the Doom Slide, don’t you?”

He grumbled some more as he fumbled in his jeans pocket. Finally, he pulled out a quarter and slid it into the slot.

The wooden mannequin creaked to life. The painted eyes blinked. The head rolled back, then forward. The wooden hand dropped down to her side. When it came back into view, it held a small white card.

I pulled the card from between the hard fingers. Raised it to my face and read it.

“Well?” Jackson demanded. “What does it say?”

I held it up to him. The card read: ESCAPE HORRORLAND.