Party Games by R. L. Stine Page A

his arm. Her eyes remained shut. “Who did this?” Kerry shouted. “Who killed Patti?” He shook her body by the shoulders. “Patti—who did this? Who? I’ll kill him! I swear I’ll kill him.” He was shaking her, shrieking at the top of his lungs.
    Brendan motioned me over. “Can you help Kerry?” he whispered. “Maybe take him downstairs? He’s totally freaking. We have to leave everything as we found it. When the police come…” His voice trailed off.
    â€œI-I’ll try,” I stammered.
    â€œI’ll bring everyone else downstairs,” Brendan whispered. “We have to figure out what to do.”
    â€œWhy was she twisted like that?” Kerry demanded, his eyes locked on Brendan. “Who twisted her legs like that?”
    Brendan lowered himself beside Kerry. “I’m so sorry,” he said softly. “I’ll do everything I can, Kerry. Everything—”
    â€œI should know not to get mixed up with anyone named Fear. There’s a killer in this house,” Kerry declared. “A killer.”
    Brendan gently lifted Patti’s body from Kerry’s arms. He set her down. Then he helped Kerry to his feet. “Go with Rachel,” he said. “Kerry? Can you hear me?”
    Kerry’s eyes stared blankly at the green wall. He didn’t respond.
    â€œKerry, go with Rachel,” Brendan repeated. “We’ll meet you downstairs.”
    I put one arm around Kerry’s waist and started to guide him to the door. I expected him to pull back, to fight me, or demand to stay in the room with Patti. To my surprise, he let me lead him past the other kids and into the hall.
    I held onto him, and we walked together to the stairway at the end of the hall. Kerry muttered to himself, his eyes glassy, off in the distance as if he was somewhere else, seeing something I couldn’t.
    â€œThe Fear family,” he murmured, turning his face to me. “There’s a curse. A curse on the whole family, even Brendan.”
    â€œWatch your step,” I said. I grabbed him as he started to stumble.
    â€œThere’s a curse on this house, too,” Kerry said. “You know the story, Rachel. You have to know the story. How the Fear family had a hunting party here on the island. Like a hundred years ago. They had a hunting party and hunted all their servants. You know the story, right?”
    â€œWell—”
    â€œThey made their servants run through the woods, and they hunted them. They shot them all. They killed all their servants. Just for a game. And they buried them somewhere in the woods.”
    He let out a soft cry. “It’s true. It has to be true. And now look. Look what happened here. Patti. Poor Patti. Because of the curse on the Fear family.”
    â€œThat’s just a story. It can’t be true,” I said.
    I suddenly pictured the mannequin that looked like Brendan swinging on the rope. Was that really a warning to Brendan? And now, Patti was dead.
    A heavy feeling of dread weighed me down. Brendan has been warned. Patti is dead. Does this mean we are ALL in danger?
    I led Kerry into the ballroom. The food table had been cleared. The waiters had left the room. But the bar table still had drinks.
    The candles in the chandeliers had all been doused. Pale beams of light from spotlights in the ceiling filled the room with a silvery glow.
    Two rows of folding chairs had been set up facing the fireplace. I sat Kerry down in a seat in the back row and brought him a glass of water. He stared at it as if he’d never seen water before.
    â€œPatti…” he murmured. “Patti. Not you, Patti. Not you. I never should have brought you here.” He raised his sad, wet eyes to me. “It’s my fault, isn’t it?”
    â€œNo,” I answered. “Of course not. Don’t think like that, Kerry.” I motioned to the glass. “Have some water. Do you want