We clapped politely, but in my mind, I was sizing up the competition, and I knew the others were doing the same. I glanced to the back row and my friend was smiling, but a little less broadly. I knew what he was thinking. Brodie was a tool, and Katy and Liam had already won a million. They didn’t need another million dollars.
“All right,” Katy said, and her voice was a soft, almost-shy drawl. “I guess I read mine next.” She tore open her envelope, scanned it, and began to read. “House Guests, your first task will be a competition to determine where everyone sleeps. This summer, our House Guests will be staying in the most haunted plantation in America.”
Everyone groaned.
I twirled my foot more rapidly, thinking hard. Hauntings? Seriously? I didn’t believe in ghosts, but this place was rather creepy. Was that the shtick that Jimmy had mentioned? A haunted house?
Katy continued to read. “This plantation is called The Magnolias. It was built in 1796, and since that time, its history has been tragic. Every single family that has owned this house has met a terrible death. From fire in 1803 to an outbreak of the measles in 1840 to loss in the Civil War. After the Civil War, it changed hands once more, and from there on out, grisly rumors of hauntings and vengeful ghosts began.” Katy looked up from her card and gave Liam a wide-eyed stare. Then she continued reading. “The person that wins the Power Play will stay in the Power Room, which you will find quite luxurious. After that, contestants can either stay in the Mirror Room or the Queen Room. Both rooms have their own particular charm. Contestants that do not fare so well in the competition must stay in the Hanging Room in the attic. No less than three different people have hung themselves in the attic here in The Magnolias over the past century, and rumors are that their ghosts remain still. And since we currently have two extra contestants, those who come in last place this week will sleep on the couches.”
“I think I’d rather sleep on the couches than in the attic,” someone muttered behind me.
Katy flipped over the card. “That’s all mine says.” She wrinkled her nose again. “I guess we’re living in a haunted house.”
Oh great.
Katy nudged her brother. “Brodie, what does yours say?”
He grinned and began to tear open his envelope, reading. “Contestants will compete in the Power Play right now. You will all proceed to the backyard of the plantation once you have finished reading this card, and the first Power Play competition will begin. The winner of the Power Play will not only win Power for the week and his or her private room, but they will also win the chance to choose their partner. That’s right, everyone’s playing in partners this season.” He read the dramatic words slowly, a grin spreading across his face. “The person in Power will choose their partner; everyone else will be forced to pair up randomly.” Brodie looked over at me and winked. “Maybe I’ll get lucky and hook up with you, huh?”
Ugh. I thwacked his arm with one of my now-heel-less shoes, unamused. “Not all of us consider that luck.”
Brodie simply wiggled his eyebrows at me, as if convinced I’d fall for his charm, and tore his card in half. “That’s all it says. Shall we head to the backyard?”
“Let’s go!” A woman called behind me, and then everyone was cheering again.
House Guests had officially started for the summer.
CHAPTER TWO
“Were the other guests pleased to see me? That’s like asking a hard-partying rock star if she’s pleased to have a hangover. And trust me, I already know the answer to that.” — Brodie Short, Day 1
The backyard of The Magnolias seemed more like something from a war compound than a TV show. There was a lovely yard, of course, with a tree or two along the edges to give the house some sort of ambiance. There was even a small pool and a hot tub off to one side. I guessed that they still wanted us to wear bikinis despite the haunted house theme. The far end of the yard, though, had been cordoned off with a twenty-foot-high, solid wall topped with barbed wire and cameras. Jeez. I curled my bare toes as we stepped onto the grass and I realized it wasn’t real grass but Astroturf.
The majority of the backyard had been converted into a challenge area and roped off. A stop sign was planted to one side, and it had a card dangling from a peg that had READ ME FIRST written on the back. As I trailed behind the others, I noticed that Brodie had sprinted toward the sign, and I tried not to roll my eyes. Overachiever. I studied the roped-off challenge area instead.
The grass had been covered with an enormous, reddish mat, and I could see that stations had been set up in a strategic circle. Big fake vampire heads sat across from each station, mouths gaping open like muppets waiting to be fed. Each station also had a block, and each block was encircled by what looked like a bubbling pool of blood.
Cute. They were really going all out with this whole ‘horror’ theme.
Brodie cleared his throat obnoxiously and began to read. “Contestants! Get ready for your first challenge. Your first task as a House Guest will be to feed a very hungry vampire. And what do vampires eat? Blood, of course. Everyone will proceed to a station and wait for the buzzer. Once the buzzer has gone off, you can retrieve your special ‘vampire feeding’ hula hoop from your pool of blood. These hula hoops are specially made so that they fill up with blood when you dunk them. You must dunk your hula hoop, and then hula. When you do, it will spray blood into your waiting vampire’s mouth. Each vampire has a small bag at the base of his throat. The first person to fill up their bag with blood wins Power for the week and the right to choose their partner. Does everyone understand the rules?”
One girl raised her hand, like we were in class. “Um, is it real blood?” Her voice was high-pitched and whiny.
Brodie gave her a devilish look that I recognized as flirtation. “Guess we’ll find out soon enough, won’t we?”
I had to hold back the urge to make a gagging noise. We hadn’t been in the house for five minutes and already the guy had tried to romance me and now this chick. He was so obvious.
“Do you think they’re really going to have this much real blood for a TV show? Really?” someone else muttered.
“Why don’t we just head out to our stations already?” Liam said. He grabbed Katy’s hand and pulled her forward, and they went under the cordoned rope, moving out into the challenge area. I followed them and noticed that everyone else did as well.