13. The Horror!

THE HORROR! 13 From his spot, Sam could see the zigzagged path they would need to take to escape the maze. He tried to take a picture of every twist and turn with his mind. They needed to take a left after the swings, a right before the tetherball, continue past the slides, and then take a final right after the merry-go-round. Then they'd finally be at the school steps! "We can do this!" Sam cried. "Let's go!"

"We'll be out of this creepy-crawly maze in no time!" Antonio said. The three friends raced through the maze. Eerie Elementary knew that Sam and his friends were close to escaping. The monstrous school did everything it could to stop them. Vines lashed out at them. The ground became wet and mucky. Sam, Lucy, and Antonio just kept running. "Left!" Sam called out as they raced past the howling swings. "Next right!" Sam shouted as they dove beneath the whirling tetherball.

"Around this corner!" Sam yelled as they dashed past the merry-go-round. Finally, they were out. They burst free from the maze. The school steps were just ahead of them. "We did it!" Lucy shouted. "We escaped!"

The steps were just a few feet away. But what Sam saw next almost made his heart stop. The entire jungle gym had come to life! The huge wooden and plastic structure was as tall as a house— and it was marching toward the school. Sam gulped. He had been right: Orson Eerie had led Sam and his friends into the swamp on purpose to distract them from his REAL plan. Orson Eerie was going to use the jungle gym to march inside the school! He was going to feast on students!