CHAPTER THREE:

Werewolf Town

The park was enormous! Judging by the size of the map erected in the center of the entrance, just to get to the other side of the park could take a half-hour. Chloe was jumping with glee as she waved her digital video camera around, shooting everything and anything in sight.

"Would you look at that!" she exclaimed as she tugged on Lex's sleeve which he was attempting to roll up. It had gotten to be quite a bit hotter than it was before. Lex sighed.

"Chloe, don't you understand how serious this is?"

Chloe smiled.

"Yeah. We get to have fun for the day for free!"

Lex stopped her, Pete walking up behind them.

"Lana's car couldn't have just blown up for no reason. Somebody must have planted something in it – an explosive, perhaps. It could have been someone out to get me because of a business entanglement – or Lana because she owns the Talon with me. We have to be very cautious."

"Yeah…alright. I understand."

"Good," Lex muttered as he reached into his pocket and felt for his cell phone. "I still have my cell. They won't take that away from me. Don't go waving your camera around too much. They could probably confiscate that as well."

Hurrying to hide the camera, Chloe slipped it into her purse she was carrying and pretended nothing had happened.

"Alright. Let's just act like that wasn't there. Now," Chloe spewed. "Can we please, please go on a ride?"

Pete hurried up to meet them.

"Hey –" he started. "Clark and Lana are going to sit over there at the entrance for a while. Getting over what just happened."

"Can't blame them," Lex said as he glanced back over his shoulder at them. "A car's a big piece of real estate to lose in one second."

"Yeah," Pete muttered. "Too bad I never got to keep any of mine."

Chloe chuckled. Most of Pete's "hotrods" got trashed – like his Kryptonite-fueled racer. She remembered when he'd stumbled into the Torch, upset to the point where he couldn't even look at her.

A first in my mind.

As the three of them strode across the Pavilion, Lex stopped to examine the park map.

"Would you look at that?" he muttered as he ran his hand across his forehead, wiping early beads of sweat from his brow. "This park is enormous. Check out the names for some of these rides…"

The list was long, and appeared to be etched in blood. A cool effect in Chloe's opinion.

"The Death Dragon, Coaster of Doom –"

"Ohmygosh!" Chloe exclaimed. "Can we go on that one first?"

Lex and Pete both looked at her in the same exact moment.

"Sounds too scary for me." Lex said, and Pete agreed.

"Oh, come on!" she protested, and she dragged Lex by the arm towards a section of path that branched off, cutting through some creepy woods. The trees had no leaves and everything seemed dead. Pete wondered if the trees were real or if they were just synthetic.

"Eew! Gross!" Chloe said enthusiastically as they caught a glimpse of a decapitated head hanging from a hook off one of the tree branches. A sign up ahead stated in blood DO NOT ENTER WOODS. DANGER.

Lex was not impressed. This was too gross for him. He had to admit he liked a good scare every once and a while, but seeing severed heads that looked almost too real wasn't something he would have paid money for. It was a good thing they got in for free.

In an instant, Chloe started laughing. Pete glanced over at her as they walked.

"Look at the sign up ahead!" she said as she pointed. Pete looked. It appeared to be made of old wood that was rotting. Probably created in a factory by an artist to look authentic. On the wood, burned in, were the words WEREWOLF VILLAGE – BEWARE. DO NOT GO INTO THE HOUSES. "This is awesome!"

The houses were one against another, leaving no alleys or openings of any kind. It was reminiscent of an old western city in a black and white film. Except the weird part was, everything seemed to be black and white. There was no color at all in any of the buildings. Not even the trees had color. With no leaves, the dead trees looked like hands with icy nails reaching into the sky.

"Can we go into one of the houses just for fun?" Chloe asked as she pulled out her camera.

Lex took the camera from her.

"I thought I told you to put this away."

"There's nobody around!"

"So? There could be cameras…"

"Get out!"

Lex sighed. Chloe was just too excited to be reasoned with.

"If somebody shows, you hide it as fast as your hands can. I don't want any of our electronic things confiscated. Something's not right here."

"What are you talking about? It's all part of the mood."

"No," Lex went on. "It's not. Did you see a single camera in the entrance booth?"

Pete shook his head.

"Nope. None."

"And did you see any computers anywhere?"

Chloe thought for a moment then shook her head.

"No…"

"Exactly. Universal would have had cameras all over the place even if the setting were a scary movie. And I'm sure every theme park in the nation has access to a computer for records. I even think it's code now."

"Okay…I'm a bit creeped out now." Chloe muttered as they slowly strolled through Werewolf Village.

Something creaked and made Pete jump. Chloe shot out a hand and grabbed his shoulder.

"What was that?"

Lex grinned.

"A werewolf, of course."

Chloe gave a disgusted frown.

"Lex – stop it. You just scare the crap out of me and now you pull my leg."

"Well, that's what the sign said. I guess they're all in their houses."

Suddenly one of the house doors opened. Nothing was behind it, but the door swung heavily forward revealing a staircase built into a sloping hallway. A voice echoed out.

"Come on in." it rasped. "Come in and visit. I don't get many visitors these days…come and have a bite."

Chloe shuddered.

"No way. I'm out of here."

"Suit yourself. I'm going to try it."

"Lex – no!"

"It's just an amusement park, like you said."

"No!"

But before Chloe or Pete could do anything more, Lex strolled towards the open door and stepped inside.