The Al Scrego Horror House

Welcome to Your Nightmare

The dark mysterious room came to life with graveyard music screeching, eerily, in the background. Cobwebs and skeletons hung from the ceiling while white mist hovered across the floor, rising, filling the air as spurts of colored mists of red, purple and black squirted from dark secret areas tainting the white misty air. The room, had suddenly turned into a ghastly spook.

A hand tapped Famie on her shoulder. She spontaneously sprung forward, procuring a loud scream.

Famie, scared stiff spun around, her hair frizzed. A grotesque figure sprung from the ceiling. The teenage girl darted forward bumping into her sister, Rafena.

Rafena jumped. She darted forward, awkwardly, stepping on Otto's shoe.

"Ouch! Watch where you're going," Otto bellowed, goose bumps on his skin. He propelled forward smashing into Ron's back.

"Ouch!" Ron exclaimed, darting forward with great momentum, almost knocking Brian off his feet.

Terrified, Brian shouted. "Watch it! I didn't volunteer to be at the front you know."

Brian led the group into an unknown world of terror occupied by monsters, eerie music and corpses. He did not volunteer to lead the group through the Al Scrego horror house. He was pushed to the front of the line, and did not put up a fuss the way the others did. He had experienced horror houses before.

"It's even more scary at the back of the line," Brian grinned, "especially when the monsters sneak up from behind. Goodluck to the guys at the back," Brian grinned, teasingly.

The excitement was now brewing as the daring Cottonfield kids take their next step through the Orlando Al Scrego horror house - Welcome to your nightmare.

The daredevils formed a chain linking one person to the next. The person behind placed their hands on the person's shoulder in front of them, keeping the group in a line and from getting lost.

Brian led the group followed by Ron, Otto, Rafena, Famie and some other daredevils who were already terrified, hiding at the back of the line, thinking they were safe. Only if they knew what there destinies were.

"This is hilarious!" Ron shouted, his voice echoed down the corridor. "I wanna see some real action, man. Like spook me out, man. Come on and spook me out, baby! You bunch of ugly retarded monsters," Ron said teasing the a grotesque looking creature. It was a gargoyle, wickedly, eyeing the daredevils.

Ron had spoken too soon. Now, the real action begins.

"Muhahahaha!" a loud voice echoed which trailed off and suddenly intensified again, then trailing off. "Muhahahaha! Haaaaaeeeeeaaahhhhoooooeeheee!" the voice screeched blending in with the creepy graveyard music, which grew louder and louder and then came to sudden stop like a dead cat bounce. There was silence everywhere. Nobody dare ushered a word. There were heavy breathing coming from the daredevils, especially from the so-called daredevils hiding out at the back of the line.

Somebody at the back of the line gasped loudly as though she was about to die, anticipating what the next surprise could be. "Ahhhhh!" the person exclaimed.

Suddenly and unexpectedly a more up-beat and lively song started to play. It was not as creepy as the graveyard music. The daredevils felt some relief, now marching to a different beat. They were now marching to the theme from the Munsters. Suddenly, an old wooden door swung opened, slamming against the wall.

"Muhahahahaha," a voice laughed, teasing the daredevils. The voice grew loud in intensity and pitch.

Stunned, the daredevils gasped hanging on to the person in front of them. Their eyes protruded from their eye socket. Luckily for them nothing had fallen out.

Instantly, the daredevils became terrified when four monsters appeared in front of them, enticing the leader of the group, Brian, to follow them. The teenager who was now fourteen years old was totally confused. Who should he follow? What should he do?

Terrified, the daredevils clung even tighter to the person in front of them.

A mummy appeared. It was King Tut. "Let me, Tutenkhamen, take you through my pyramids and I will entice you with my precious jewelry! Akhhahahakhakhakha."

"No! No! Hee Hee Hehehe," A medieval witch laughed, wickedly. "Hop on my broom stick and I will take you on a trip back to the dark ages. Heheheheheheeee!"

"You know what you could do with your broom stick!" somebody from the back of the line shouted.

"And let me take you on a tour to paradise," An angel said, in a calm soothing voice. "You will love the garden of Eden once we get there."

Relief came from the back of the line. "Oh! An angel."

A monster dressed as a poltergeist scowled. "Let me take you through the burning fire."

"Not the burning bush, that's hell," a voice from the back of the line screamed."

Brian led the group and he had to make a decision. He was about to create a nightmare for the others to live through. He turned around and saw the grim faces, as their eyes peered through the darkness. The Al Scrego horror house was more terrifying that the daredevils had ever imagined. Brian was aware of the horrific screams coming from the back of the line.

"How about the pyramids," Brian said as the monsters called him, teasingly. "I've always wanted to visit the pyramids," Brian said, nervously.

"No!" a voice cried from the back of the line. "I'm scared of mummies. Let's follow the angel."

Brian jumped. "I'm scared of mummies, too." Brian quickly made up his mind, not wanting to find out what mummies really looked like when unrolled from their wrappings.

"Paradise it will be!" Brian declared, loudly. "Let's follow the angel to the garden of Eden."

Ron frowned. "Are you crazy? I want some real action."

Brian ignored Ron and took the route to paradise.

The cries from the back of the line quieted down as Brian followed the angel dressed in white.

"That sure is an awful ugly looking angel," Otto said.

"Well, at least it's an angel," Brian replied. "Be thankful!"

Ron swallowed, "Ooops! I sure hope it's not Satan."

"It could be," Famie gasped. "Satan was the bad angel who was kicked out from heaven."

Rafena shuddered staring at the evil looking angel. "I think we're in trouble now."

"Let me take you to the Pearly gates," the angel said in an even more sweetened tone of voice.

"The Pearly gates," a voice from the back exclaimed. "We're going to heaven. This tour will be fun from here on."

Famie whispered, "That's right. The Pearly gates--this means we'll be knocking on heaven's door. This should be a cake walk."

Brian followed the angel through dark alleys and narrow corridors as creepy looking creatures appeared and disappeared.

"Let me take you to the pearly gates," the angel laughed, cynically. "Hahahahaha! To get to the pearly gates you must go through hell. I am the angel, Satan, and I will take you through hell."

"Oh, no, it's the devil!" somebody wailed from the back of the line.

The atmosphere had suddenly changed as the creepy looking angel disappeared from sight. Screams from the back of the line grew exponentially.

Brian was on his own steering the group through the dark corridors of the Al Scrego horror house creating a nightmare, which they will never forget.

A mummy sneaked up from behind. "Muhahahaha!" The mummy laughed energetically.

Suddenly, something fell out from the ceiling slamming on the floor.It was a Poltergeist. Ron felt a strong vice like grip on his shoulders.

"Ahhhhhhh!" Ron's shouted. Bewildered, he turned around, his hands thrown in the air. "What are you doing? Trying to freak me out?"

"That wasn't me. It was that monster," Rafena grapsed, pointing.

The daredevils started to run. They scattered around the room. The light at the end of the tunnel was far from their reach as they encounter cobwebs and skeletons hanging from the ceilings and witches and monsters jumping out from mysterious dark corners. The spooky halls and corridors became longer and winding, endlessly.

A voice wailed from the back of the line. "It's a bad dream or something, man." Another person at the back tried calming the person down as the journey continued.

There was no stopping now. Shortly after a skeleton popped out of a coffin and the screams grew exponentially. The skeleton smiled and waved. His teeth rattled, blending in with the theme from the Munsters. The person at the back of the line screamed the loudest as though it was an emergency. The daredevils watched in fear, as the corpse went back to rest. The lid on the coffin slowly closed.

The daredevils reconnected forming the chain, clinging to one another, fearing the unknown, fearing that they could end up somewhere in the boon docks of the horror house.

The spooky halls became spookier as Brian created the unforgettable nightmare for the daredevils.

"This is definitely not the road to paradise!" Famie shrieked.

"We've been fooled by Satan," Rafena said, terrified.

"It's more like the road to hell," shouted someone from the back of the line.

Suddenly, the screams died down. The monsters and witches disappeared and white light peered into the darkness. There was light coming from the end of the tunnel. They've made it to heaven's door. There was an angel dressed in white, calling the daredevils, waiting at the door. "You've reached the pearly gates. Congratulations."

Some of the daredevils sighed with relief while others wanted more. Some were still shivering with fright in their eyes and shivers up their back.

The daring daredevils found themselves in a room with a big sign that said 'Welcome to the Shop of Horrors.' The letters of the sign were slimy green with black trimmings and red gooey stuff dripping. White sunlight from the windows invaded as the music changed from the theme from the Munsters to the Monstermash.

Famie sighed. "The Monstermash--I could live with this song."

They found themselves in the souvenir room and there were friendly faces smiling and laughing. Some of the daredevils were relieved while others were still pumped up from all of the excitement, still wanting more.

Famie rubbed her eyes. "I guess the ride to paradise isn't all that smooth," Famie complained.

"A bit too bumpy for me," Otto admitted.

"The ride to hell might have been safer," Brian said.

Rafena shrieked. "You're the one that created that horrible nightmare and made us live through it!"

"Next time pick Egypt," Famie said.

"I'm never going through the ride to paradise-ever-ever-again," Rafena declare.

"That's scary," Famie moaned, glancing at the souvenir pictures displayed on the computer screens.

"Yuk!" Rafena growled, glancing at a picture.

Otto laughed out loud. "Holly smolly, our faces looked as though we went to hell and came back."

"We did go to hell and come back--we were attacked by vampires," Famie wailed. She frowned. "Can't they take better pictures than that."

"Not in Brian's case," Rafena chuckled.

Brian ignored the remark.

"I'd really like to buy a souvenir picture," Famie said. "But--but these are the ugliest creatures--I meant--these are the ugliest pictures I've seen in my life," she said scornfully. "Hey Ron! That's a nice smile on your face--you'd make a good companion for cheetah." Famie laughed.

Ron grinned. He peered at the picture. He then turned to Famie. "You were the one screaming for your life as though it was an emergency--the washroom's over there," he pointed.

"That wasn't me freaking out," Famie retorted. "That was Rafena."

"No, it wasn't!" Rafena shot back. "It was that girl at the back of the line."

Otto laughed, staring at the picture. "Hey Rafena, you were the girl at the back of the line? Besides, you look as though your head got stuck in a light bulb socket and got electrocuted."

Ron laughed. "She looks more like a cat with her tail stuck in the oven. Meow! Meow!" Ron teased.

A voice broke out from behind. "Where's that crazy sister of mine. Her silly screaming totally freaked me out, man?" It was a tall lanky boy chatting with another boy who was almost as tall as he was.

Ron turned to the boys. "That was Rafena, freaking out like that."

Rafena took offense. "That wasn't me. It was that crazy chick at the back of the line freaking out everybody.

"That crazy girl's my sister," the tall lanky boy said in a strong southern accent.

Rafena apologized. "Oh, I'm sorry."

The lanky boy shrugged. "Oh, no need to apologize. She freaked me out too."

Ron introduced himself to the two boys. The tall lanky boy was Almos and the other boy was Toma, his cousin.

"Keisha was right behind me," Tomas declared, still a bit shaky from the nightmare Brian just put him through. He looked at Brian with his eye brows wrinkled.

Puzzled, Otto walked over and joined Famie. "Those two boys are delirious. They think their sister was with them in the horror house."

Otto pointed to the picture. "I just solved the problem. Look at the picture. There's only seven of us. That boy's gotta great imagination."

Famie counted the people in the picture. "You're right. There's Brian, you, Ron, Rafena, those two crazy boys and me."

"Mystery solved-those boys are delirious," Otto said assertively.

"Where's that crazy sister of mine?" Almos said, impatiently, looking at his cousin, Tomas.

"A say she was behind me," said Almos.

As the Cottonfield kids were about to leave, the two boys complained to the clerk. "After we got ambushed by those crazy monsters and witches, she ended up behind me--I'm--I'm positive she was behind me all the time," Tomas said. "She better not be playing no prank on us."

Curiosity caught Rafena's attention as she tuned into the conversation.

Puzzled, the clerk said, "Since she's not out here, then she's probably still in the horror house."

"It's been ten minutes, man," Almos grumbled. "Waz up? Could somebody please have a look, we gotta get going, man."

"You sure your sister was in there with you?" Ron asked.

"Of course am sure," Almos replied impatiently.

Otto interrupted, "Pictures don't lie." He pointed to the souvenir picture. "There's only seven people in the picture. The five of us and the two of you."

Puzzled, Almos and Tomas peered at the pictures.

Tomas wailed, "These pictures are lying. Something fishy going on round here."

The clerk glanced at the pictures on the computer screens, carefully examining them. "According to the pictures, there were only seven people in the horror house."

The clerk's eyes lifted from the computer screen and fell on the Cottonfield kids. She then continued, "Those five kids over there," the clerk pointed, "and the two of you." Her eyebrows wrinkled. "The missing person in action you're talking about must have been a spook."

Another clerk chuckled, which annoyed Almos and Tomas.

"Pictures don't lie. There's only seven people in these pictures," the clerk said confidently.

Almos became angry. "Yo calling me a liar?"

A bright smirk appeared on the clerk's face. "Oh no, I'm not saying anything. Show me where in these pictures you see your sister."

Rafena listened attentively as Almos and Tomas put up a fuss. The clerk called over a guard passing by and explained the situation. The guard then directed a question to the Cottonfield kids. "Anybody saw another person in the horror house."

Famie spoke up. "It was dark in there and I couldn't really tell you who was behind us. I just remember seeing some real freaky witches and monsters who scared the livings daylight out of everybody. But there was a lot of screaming coming from the back of the line."

Almos, Tomas and the guard discussed the situation and a few moments later, the guard reluctantly walked into the haunted house to have a look. He came back shaking his head. "Sorry, your sister's not in there."

Rafena then spoke up, still shaking from all the excitement. "I'm pretty sure I saw another girl in there and the last time I saw her was when a Poltergeist monster appeared out of nowhere."

The clerk giggled. "Pictures don't lie. You were probably so terrified, that you're mistaking one of the monsters or witches for his sister."

Almos and Tomas were about to contest, but Rafena continued, "You remember when that monster reached out and grabbed us and everybody scattered, breaking the chain--that's when I remember seeing another girl. She was more terrified than me."

Otto remarked, "You sure it was a girl and not a witch?"

Worried, the tall lanky boy crossed his eyes, peering into Otto's face. "I know my sister looks like a witch, and she hollers like an elephant but she's still missing in action, man."

"Maybe she's outside," Tomas said. "I'm pretty sure she was behind me and she was there with us most of the time."

The discussions quickly came to an end. The two boys left their names and phone number as they hurried outside hoping to find their sister, Keisha.

"We'll give you a call if your sister shows up," one of the clerks said.

The other clerk laughed. "We'll keep an eye out for a spook we haven't seen before."

The other clerk laughed, "Those boys have lost their marbles."

Rafena spoke up. "Those boys are not confused. There was another girl in there," she said confidently.

The clerk grew impatient. She looked at Rafena, nervously, and blurted out, "You're all confused. Just have a look at the picture--just have a look. Pictures don't lie."

Angry, Rafena wailed, "Who you calling confused, you retard!"

The clerk's eyes blazed with anger. "Go home and get some rest. If you can't handle the Al Scrego Horror house, then you should stay home with your mommy or go to the horror house down the street--it's for wimps."

The clerk furiously crumbled the paper with Almos's phone number and pelted it at the garbage bin hitting the wall. It bounced of the wall, landing on the floor.

"You'll never make it as a baseball player," Rafena remarked in a low taunting voice.

Rafena was furious and was about to say something to the clerk when Famie called out, "Hurry up guys. Let's go check out the other rides."

Otto stood there eyeing the pictures.

"These pictures are awful," Brian commented.

"I wouldn't waste a nickel on any of them," Ron added.

Otto thought that having one of the pictures will be a good memory and as they were leaving, he pointed to one of the souvenir pictures on the computer screen. For a moment, he debated on whether he should purchase the picture. He pulled out his wallet from his back pocket. He hesitated and put the wallet back in his pocket.

"Let's go guys," Famie called out reminding the others, "we're going to the water slides next."

Otto started to head for the door, when he quickly turned around and walked towards the clerk who were already furious. He pulled out his wallet and said, pointing to the picture, "I'll take that one."

Still furious, the clerk threw the picture at Otto.

Otto was not too happy with the Clerk's action. "Maybe Rafena was right-maybe there was another girl in the horror house," Otto said to the clerk. "It's a mystery and I will get to the bottom of the matter."

The clerk shook her head, frantically. "Just get out of here."

As they were about to exit the door, Otto stopped. He turned around and headed towards the garbage bin. He bent down and picked up the crumbled paper with the boys phone number.

"Let's go!" Famie called.

The Cottonfield kids headed off to the water slides.

The boys and girls had an adventurous day, which reminded them of their younger adventurous days back in Cottonfield. They headed back to the rented vacation condo to recharge for the next day.

Below is a Sample from chapter 15

Brian pulled Ron back. "Get over here."

They watched as a lady in a vampire costume walked through the side door. The boys sensing something wasn't right paid close attention to what was going on.

"She's a talking to that man in the delivery truck," Brian said in a low voice. "You think she's the monster involved in the missing pearl."

Ron ran his eyes from the lady to the man and to the truck. "Anything's possible."

The boys moved closer pretending they were just looking around.

"You got the stuff," the man said.

"Of course, honey" the lady replied. She turned noticing the boys. "The shipment was all there." She handed him a paper which he then pulled out a pen and signed it."

"It's been a very busy day," the lady said cheerfully as she placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Stand in front of me," Brian said. "I'm going to snap some pictures."