Pitch Madness SJ-8: LUMA

Genre: YA Horror

Word Count: 90,000

Pitch: An underground club held at an abandoned island amusement park. Abbey and Callie aren’t supposed to be there. The island is now populated by creatures with a carnivorous appetite. A night they may not survive.

Excerpt: 

An ocean of bodies moved like seaweed across the warehouse floor. It might have looked as though they were drowning except for their rhythmic movement that fused with the beat. Some looked as though they’d accepted their fate as they swayed back and forth, while others seemed to fight the inevitable. Their arms flailed about, their faces contorted with exertion as they gasped for a last breath. At least that’s how it looked to the eyes watching from above.

In the center of the floor, Abbey tilted her head back and danced. She raised her arms over her head and her long, periwinkle hair drifted with her movements. Blue and green lights bounced through the smoky air, pulsing with the rhythm of the music. Bodies brushed against hers, but she didn’t mind. Here, dancing among hundreds of others, she fit in. She belonged. No one could take that away from her.

“We need to go,” Callie yelled in her ear.

A stab of irritation shot through her and Abbey’s eyes flew open. She missed the beat of the song, which caused a ripple in the dancers around her. Callie was upset, though only someone who’d known her since third grade would be able to pick up the telltale signs: twirling a strand of hair around her pointer finger; the flush high on her cheekbones.

“Did you and Eric have another fight?” Abbey didn’t want to leave. Not yet. Callie promised her it would be the two of them, but Eric had shown up and Abbey spent the night dancing alone.

CLUE: Mr. Boddy is found in the hall, facedown, drool pooling on the glistening floor near his face. Bits of yarn stick to the lapels of his wool blazer.