Chapter One

I'm mute, and I got pulled into a horror game where the only way I can talk to the boss is sign language.

He swore up and down that he could read ASL. Go ahead, he said. Say whatever you want.

I told him I needed to look for clues. He asked if I wanted to touch his abs.

I told him I needed to leave. He grabbed a fistful of my shirt and rolled me up in his blankets.

After he'd misread my signing for the eight hundredth time, I lost it and signed some truly filthy things at him.

He lit up. "Baby, stop complimenting me. Any more and I'll float right up to heaven."

Chapter One

[Welcome to Hush Hollow.]

[Starting players: 7]

[Objective: Survive, find the final clue, and escape.]

[Difficulty: SSS]

[Be careful, players. Whatever you do, don't let him hear you!]

I'd only just fallen asleep when a flash of white light went off in my head, and somehow I ended up inside a horror game.

Before I could even process it, a line of red text appeared in front of me: Congratulations! You've drawn your character card: the mayor of Hush Hollow's youngest daughter.

I looked around. A punk with bleached-blond hair and a chip on his shoulder was yelling at the top of his lungs: "What the hell is this? What kind of dump is this?!"

The words were barely out of his mouth when a bolt of lightning struck him. A gust of wind swept him up into the air, then slammed him into the ground.

He lay there coughing up blood. A few seconds later, he was gone.

Another line of blood-red text appeared overhead.

[Those who break the town's rules will be executed.]

[Players remaining: 6]

[Players, please value your lives and survive to the end.]

Next to me, a girl with black hair and a white dress had clapped a hand over her mouth and sunk to the ground in terror. She didn't make a single sound.

The six of us stared at one another. Everyone moved carefully, lifting their feet as if a single noise might kill them.

At the same time, lines of livestream comments began scrolling across the sky above the town.

LOL, didn't even read the rules before he started yelling. That's what you get.

A death right at the start means the death curse is already triggered. If they don't break it fast, nobody's getting out.

These guys all look like noobs. This round's a free loss.

The comments streamed past in unison, and we stared up at the sky, lost.

Then a man with long hair pulled back in a little ponytail waved his hand in front of us and spoke in a low voice. "I've played this game before. This is my third time in. We need to figure out how to survive, or we're all dead."

Hearing he was a veteran, everyone relaxed a little.

A tall guy stood with his arms crossed. "So what do we do now?"

"Shh. Let's introduce ourselves first, and say what our character cards are." A woman with short hair and a lot of attitude spoke up.

I looked over our group. By rights it should have been four men and three women. Now one was dead, which left three and three.

The man with the ponytail went first. "I'm Rhett. My character's the sheriff's deputy."

The girl in the white dress spoke next. "I'm Lillian. I'm the mayor's eldest daughter."

I glanced over at her. She must be my character's sister.

The tall guy was Chase. His character was the town bully.

The short-haired woman was Monica. Her character was the mayor's wife.

That left me and a man who hadn't said a word yet. He slowly lifted his head, and that was when we noticed the blood spattered across his face.

He said he and the blond punk who'd just died were roommates. They'd been in the middle of a game when they got sucked in.

His name was Ryan, and he was a pro paintball player.

As soon as he finished, every eye turned to me. I quietly took two steps back.

They stared at me impatiently. "What about you?"

I raised my hands and signed in the air. I'm Willow. I'm the mayor's youngest daughter.

Everyone looked blank. The tall guy blinked. "You're mute?"

I nodded. Ryan got excited. "Then you're perfect for this game!"

To my surprise, the short-haired woman knew ASL. She jumped in to translate.

"She says her name is Willow, and she's the mayor's youngest daughter."

Soon it was time to pick rooms. A line of blood-red text appeared.

[Rooms will be assigned by drawing lots.]

Ladies first, we lined up and drew.

Ryan and I each got a single room. Chase and Lillian drew a room together, and so did Monica and Rhett.

The comments started scrolling like crazy again.

Chase and Lillian are screwed. That room's crawling with ghosts. Hardly anyone goes in there without screaming.

Wait, single room? Oh no. I saw it, Willow drew the one at the very end.

Isn't that the Big Boss's room???