The Creepy Doll: An Up2U Horror Adventure - Up2U Adventures Set 3 Read online

  UP2U

  A d v e n t u r e s

  H O R R O R

  The

  Th C reepy

  Creepy Dol

  Do lll

  by Scarlet Varlow illustrated by Aleksandar Zolotic

  The Creepy Doll

  A n U p2 U H orror Adv e n t u r e

  by Scarlet Varlow

  illustrated by Aleksandar Zolotic

  An Imprint of Magic Wagon

  abdopublishing.com

  For my daughter Lily, who is just as responsible for this story as I am. —SV

  For my daughter, to remain courageous and inquisitive. —AZ

  abdopublishing.com

  Published by Magic Wagon, a division of ABDO, PO Box 398166, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55439. Copyright © 2018 by Abdo Consulting Group, Inc.

  International copyrights reserved in all countries. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher.

  Calico™ is a trademark and logo of Magic Wagon.

  Printed in the United States of America, North Mankato, Minnesota.

  052017

  092017

  Written by Scarlet Varlow

  Illustrated by Aleksandar Zolotic

  Edited by Bridget O’Brien

  Design Contributors: Christina Doffing and Laura Mitchell Publisher’s Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Names: Varlow, Scarlet, author. | Zolotic, Aleksandar, illustrator.

  Title: The creepy doll: an Up2U horror adventure / by Scarlet Varlow ; illustrated by Aleksandar Zolotic.

  Other titles: An Up2U horror adventure

  Description: Minneapolis, MN : Magic Wagon, 2018. | Series: Up2U adventures Summary: Lily is excited to visit her cousin River’s home, until her adventure turns into a nightmare when she finds a creepy doll under the house, but when her relatives disappear, it’s up to Lily to find them and the reader to choose the solution.

  Identifiers: LCCN 2017930885 | ISBN 9781532130298 (lib. bdg.) |

  ISBN 9781614798668 (ebook) | ISBN 9781614798712 (Read-to-me ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Ghost stories. | Plot-your-own stories. | Horror tales.

  Classification: DDC [Fic]--dc23

  LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2017930885

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  The Phone Cal ............................................................................4

  Something Scary........................................................................1

  Arriving in Florida ..................................................................16

  The Old Photograph ..........................................................25

  Hide ‘n Sneak ..............................................................................33

  The Dol ............................................................................................40

  Gone ......................................................................................................50

  Ending 1: Through the Trapdoor .........................59

  Ending 2: Playing Dol s .....................................................66

  Ending 3: Cracked ................................................................73

  Write Your Own Ending ................................................80

  Chapter

  1

  The Phone Cal

  Before that awful rain-soaked Monday in

  July, Lily LaRue thought she knew exactly what

  a bad day felt like.

  “Days like that are just a part of life,” Dad

  was always saying. “We wouldn’t know how good

  being happy feels if we were never sad.”

  But Monday wasn’t like other bad days—it

  was especially bad. Lily knew it the moment she

  saw Mom’s face after picking up the phone that

  rang, harshly, right in the middle of breakfast.

  As Mom listened to whoever was on the

  other end of the call, the corners of her mouth

  4

  turned down. Her eyebrows pulled together in the middle. And then she stepped into the other

  room.

  “Uh-oh,” Lily said, her mouth full of waffles

  and syrup.

  She looked at Dad, hoping he’d offer her a

  comforting smile. But he was too busy looking

  to the other room where Mom had gone. It was

  easy to see he was concerned. This made Lily’s

  stomach flutter nervously.

  “Dad?” Lily tried again. “Is Mom okay?” But

  still he didn’t say anything.

  Outside, the rain fell in sharp taps against

  the glass of the kitchen window. It always rained

  in July where Lily lived, in the mountains of

  Arizona.

  Lily usually loved monsoon season. But today,

  the dark gray sky and ominous booms of thunder

  made her feel like she was trapped in a ghost

  story. Something was wrong. She could feel it.

  5

  “I’ll go check,” Dad finally replied. He was

  already halfway out of his chair. He joined Mom.

  Lily was left alone with her waffles and the

  rain. “Weird,” she said out loud. She took a

  sip of juice and swung her legs back and forth

  underneath the table. “Weird, weird, weird.”

  A long time went by. Lily thought she could

  hear her mother making other phone calls. Her

  voice a low, urgent hush.

  Another clap of thunder made the house

  rumble.

  6

  You are not afraid of thunder, Lily told herself.

  She was embarrassed she’d jumped at the sound.

  A famous explorer wouldn’t be scared.

  Before she could be proven wrong by another

  flash of light and rolling boom of noise, her

  parents came back into the kitchen. Mom didn’t

  look better. In fact, she looked worse. Dad didn’t

  look very happy either. They sat at the table

  beside Lily, but neither of them picked up their

  forks again.

  7

  “Who was that on the phone?” Lily asked quietly. She didn’t want to upset anyone further,

  but she was unable to hide her curiosity for

  another second.

  “That was your aunt Roxanne,” Dad said. “We

  have some bad news about Grandma.”

  Mom’s face was a funny color, like she wasn’t

  feeling very well.

  Suddenly Lily didn’t feel like eating waffles

  anymore. She let her fork fall down on the plate,

  not caring that the handle landed in a smear of

  maple syrup.

  Grandma was one of her favorite people in the

  whole entire world, with her long nails and her

  red lipstick and her sweater pockets filled with

  butterscotch candies. Lily hadn’t seen Grandma

  in five months because of how far away she lived.

  “What about Grandma?” Lily managed to

  say, and that’s when Mom started crying. The

  sight of it shocked Lily so much she had to resist

  8

  the urge to flee the room and hide under the covers of her bed. “Dad, I’m scared.”

  “I’m sorry, honey,” Mom said through her

 
tears. She moved to take Lily’s hand in hers. “I

  don’t mean to scare you. I’m just very sad, is all.

  Grandma had a heart attack, and it doesn’t look

  like she’s going to get better.” Her voice cracked

  at the end of her sentence. She cleared her throat

  as more tears slipped down her cheeks.

  So many thoughts flashed through Lily’s

  mind at once. What did all of this even mean?

  Dad continued to explain, while Mom

  sniffled and rubbed Lily’s hand.

  “Your mom and I will need to travel

  to California as soon as we can,” he said.

  “Unfortunately, we won’t be able to take you

  with us, because they won’t let kids into that

  part of the hospital. And there’s nobody here

  who can watch you for the amount of time we’ll

  be away.”

  9

  Lily’s eyes widened in panic. If they couldn’t take her with but there was nobody to watch

  her, did that mean that she’d be home all alone?

  During monsoon season? Lily took pride in being

  able to do things herself, even creating meals

  from whatever she could find in the refrigerator.

  But the idea of being all alone in their house for

  more than a few hours was chilling.

  “Are you going to leave me here?” Lily asked,

  feeling very small. “By myself?”

  “Of course not,” Mom assured her, giving

  Lily’s hand a little squeeze. “But you’re going to

  have to do something kind of scary.”

  10

  Chapter

  2

  Something Scary

  Everything became too much. Lily couldn’t

  even bring herself to ask what her mother possibly

  had in mind. Knowing that it was “scary” was

  bad enough.

  Before Mom could say another word, Lily

  started to cry.

  “It’s alright, Lily,” Dad said. He pulled his

  chair closer to hers. “The scary thing Mom is

  talking about is just an airplane, that’s all.”

  Lily looked up and wiped away her tears. “An

  airplane? I’ve never been on one of those.”

  “We know you haven’t,” Mom said gently.

  11

  “But you’re going to have to ride one all by yourself sometime in the next day or two,” Dad

  said.

  “But you said I couldn’t come with you.” Lily

  sniffled. “Do I get to see Grandma after all?”

  It was starting to sink in. Grandma’s heart

  attack meant there’d be a time, soon, that Lily

  would never see her again.

  The thought made Lily want to scream,

  throw her plate across the kitchen, kick her feet

  on the tile floor like she did when she was little.

  Instead, she sat up straight, trying to be strong

  for Mom. Grandma was Mom’s mother, after all.

  Mom must have been devastated over this news.

  “No, I’m afraid not,” Dad said. “But you will

  get to see your cousin River in Florida.”

  Despite the bad news, Lily couldn’t help but

  feel a flash of happiness. River had been her

  favorite cousin ever since she could remember.

  Whenever they saw each other, it was like no time

  12

  had passed at all. They loved having sleepovers, exploring the woods in Lily’s backyard, and going

  to the swimming pool. But all their lives, it had

  been River’s family who visited Arizona from

  Florida. Never the other way around.

  Lily hardly cared that going to stay with River

  meant she’d have to ride an airplane all by herself.

  Lily wanted to be a famous explorer, someone

  who wasn’t afraid to see new lands, have new

  experiences, and discover new things. Traveling

  to Florida could be a great way to spend a chunk

  of her summer vacation.

  Lily listened to her mom explain everything:

  Grandma was still alive as of now, but her

  condition was worsening by the hour. And it was

  crucial that Dad drive them to California as soon

  as possible. Mom promised to call Lily on the

  phone so she could talk to Grandma.

  “Got it,” Lily said, even though she was still a

  little scared. “I’ll go pack my bags.”

  13

  The next morning, Lily was on the airplane, waiting nervously for takeoff. While she waited

  for the flight attendant to return with her drink,

  Lily looked out the window at all the rain.

  Lily remembered the times Grandma took

  her exploring in the woods behind her house.

  They’d find cool little creatures, bugs, and plants.

  Grandma knew all about them. Then she’d make

  Lily lunch and tell her stories.

  The last time Lily hugged Grandma good-

  bye, Lily started crying because she didn’t want

  to leave. Grandma gave her a charm bracelet

  and squeezed her tight, the smell of her flowery

  perfume heavy in Lily’s nose. She said, “Don’t be

  sad, Lily. I’ll see you again real soon, I promise!

  Before you know it.”

  But Lily hadn’t seen Grandma since then.

  And from what Mom and Dad said, she would

  never get to see Grandma again. It just wasn’t fair.

  She promised!

  14

  A lump grew in Lily’s throat, and she felt

  tears stinging her eyes. The flight attendant

  came back with the soda and thought Lily was

  crying because she was scared of the plane. Lily

  didn’t correct her. She felt too embarrassed. Plus,

  she knew if she opened her mouth and tried

  to talk about Grandma, she’d only cry

  harder.

  Just remember, Lily told

  herself as the plane

  pulled onto the

  runway. You’re

  going to see

  River. You’re

  going on an

  adventure.

  Chapter

  3

  Arriving in Florida

  Lily closed her eyes as the plane engines

  rumbled louder. Suddenly, the plane started to

  go much faster, faster than Lily could have ever

  imagined.

  Pretend you’re in a rocket ship, she told herself, keeping her eyes closed. In her lap, her hands

  were squeezed tightly around the can of soda.

  Pretend you’re going to explore outer space.

  The plane continued to zoom across the

  runway. Then Lily felt it lift up into the air. Her

  stomach flopped as she opened one eye to look

  out the window. Sure enough, they were going

  16

  higher and higher by the minute. At first she was afraid, but seeing how calm everybody else on

  the plane was made Lily feel better.

  The plane evened out and soared through the

  air, leaving Lily to drink her soda and eat trail

  mix. She read a book until her eyelids started

  feeling droopy and heavy.

  Just a little nap, she thought as she closed her eyes. I had to get up so early this morning, and I don’t want to be tired for River!

  But by the time Lily opened her eyes again, it

  was already time for the plane to land. So much

  for a little nap!

  Lower and lower the
plane flew, until

  Lily could see cars driving on the freeway and

  buildings and trees and the airport below.

  The plane jerked hard as it touched down on

  the ground. Lily found herself closing her

  eyes again in order to keep from getting too

  scared.

  17

  Soon, everybody was getting out of their seats. The flight attendant who gave Lily

  the soda before came over right away to

  help. First, she took Lily’s suitcase out of the

  overhead compartment, then she led Lily into

  the airport.

  Lily took a deep breath through her nose.

  Florida even smelled different from Arizona. She

  remembered how far away Florida was on the

  map of the United States. Lily couldn’t believe

  she was so far from Mom, Dad, and Grandma.

  Lily stepped on to the escalator. She

  immediately spotted Aunt Chelsea, Uncle Tyler,

  and River. They were waiting at the bottom of

  the stairs. Uncle Tyler gripped a small bunch

  of balloons. Aunt Chelsea held a flower. River

  waved a big, glittering sign that said Welcome, Lily!

  “That’s my family!” Lily squealed, pointing at

  the group. The flight attendant smiled.

  18

  “Lily!” River shrieked, dropping the sign and running at her cousin with her arms out.

  River’s hair was much longer than Lily

  remembered. River looked taller too. Lily

  wondered if she looked any different to River.

  The two girls hugged tight. Lily heard

  Uncle Tyler and Aunt Chelsea thank the flight

  attendant for bringing Lily safely. Before she

  knew it, they were walking out of the airport

  and into the Florida weather. It was extremely

  hot, just like it was in Arizona, but the air here

  was wet and heavy. Lily wasn’t sure she cared for

  it. It made everything feel sweaty.

  “Welcome to Florida, Lily LaRue,” Uncle

  Tyler said with a big smile. “Something tells

  me you’ll remember this trip for the rest of your

  life.”

  The first thing they did was go out for a big

  early dinner. The restaurant served seafood in

  metal buckets. Instead of plates, there was a huge

  19

  piece of thick, brown paper on the table. There were also napkins, hot sauce, and a few baskets

  of cheese biscuits.