No Survivors by R.L. Stine Read Free Book Online

water now.”
    At Pam’s words, the tendrils of kelp began to loosen.
    April sucked in a deep breath.
    She could taste the sour, salty kelp on her tongue.
    It loosened even more. And then fell away.
    April saw Kristen on her knees, gasping for air. The thick, sticky kelp looked like a big mud puddle on the sand around her.
    The water rushed back in. But it was shallower now. Only up to their ankles. April stared at it in amazement. Just minutes ago she thought they were both going to drown.
    â€œWhat’s up with you two?” Pam demanded.
    She stood over them. Her blond hair fluttered in the wind off the ocean. She wore tan shorts and a white midriff top.
    Pam stared down at them, hands on her waist, her face puzzled. “What are you two doing out here?”
    April struggled to her feet. Her bare feet slid on the wet blanket of kelp.
    â€œPam—you saved us!” Kristen exclaimed.
    Did she? April wondered.
    Kristen grabbed Pam’s arm and pulled herself up.
    Pam jumped back, making a face. “Oooh, that stuff is totally gross! What were you doing with it?”
    â€œIt—it—” Kristen struggled to speak.
    â€œIt climbed over us,” April exclaimed, pulling a sticky tendril from her bangs. “It tried to strangle us. Then pull us under.”
    â€œHow did you make it let us go?” Kristen asked Pam.
    Pam’s face twisted in confusion. “Do what? I didn’t do anything.”
    â€œYes, you did,” Kristen insisted. “You said we could come out, and the kelp released us. You saved our lives.”
    Pam laughed. “That’s crazy. I didn’t do anything. Really.”
    April didn’t say anything. Could Pam’s words have made the kelp release them? But what else could it have been?
    Pam pulled a clump of wet leaves off Kristen’s shoulder. “I saw that you two were missing. So I came looking for you. Come on. Let’s go. It’s really late.”
    The Academy Village was dark. The torch for Clark had burned out.
    April took a shower and changed into a clean nightshirt. Then she sat on the edge of her cot and stared across the room at Pam.
    When anything frightening happened to me back home, Pam was always there, April remembered.
    She was always nearby when the strange things happened.
    And now, here she was again. On the beach. Just in time to save us from the creepy sea plant.
    Was it just a coincidence?
    A soft knock on the cabin door broke April from her thoughts. She jumped to her feet as Donald Marks poked his bald head in the door.
    â€œApril? Kristen? Are you okay?” he whispered. April nodded. “Yes. We’re fine.”
    â€œYou shouldn’t wander on your own at night,” Marks scolded.
    â€œH-how did you know?” April asked, startled. Had he seen them? Or had Pam ratted them out?
    A strange, cold smile crossed his face. Then he whispered, “You can’t keep any secrets here, April. Not an island with a witch.”
    â€œWhat do you mean?” April demanded.
    He smiled again. “Let’s just say, she’s watching you.”

15
    The morning sun poured down its warm light on the sloping rock hill. The woman in the blue cloak stepped out of the cave and raised her face to the sky. A smile crossed her pale face as she felt the sun on her skin.
    Her blond-brown hair, streaked with gray, fell in loose tangles behind her bone-thin shoulders.
    She had green cat eyes beneath white-blond eyebrows. Her lips were as white as her skin. When she smiled, her skin crinkled into a thousand tiny wrinkles.
    The chill of the cave lingered in her bones. The sun could never completely take away the chill. She had lived on this tropical island for more than three hundred years—and had not been warm for a single minute.
    She wore the heavy blue cloak all the time. It was her daughter’s cloak, and it never fully warmed her. Still smiling up at the sunlight, she cupped herlong, bony