Sneaking out of the house was easy. Convincing his friends to go to the abandoned theme park? That was the hard part. Terry begged and he pleaded with them.
"But it's Halloween! Our last Halloween before we graduate! Don't you want to do something exciting!" He raved on like this for over two hours before his three friends agreed to go.
"But only for a little bit." Laylah, his best friend, insisted. With the "mom friend" on board, everyone else was ready to go. They biked across town, passing by trick-or-treaters in creepy and cute costumes, heavily decorated houses, and glowing jack-o'-lanterns. The holiday was in full swing and the night was filled with screams and laughter. When they reached the edge of the neighborhood, where the sidewalk ended and the woods began, they could already see the Ferris wheel and roller coasters peeking out over the tops of the trees. The woods were creepy at night, and the four friends hesitated for a moment l, before entering the dark, quiet woods. Terry had the foresight to bring a large flashlight, but it almost did nothing at all, only illuminating a small bit of the trail in front of them.
The park was surrounded by a massive fence that was ridiculously hard to climb, but luckily, Terry knew where a hole was. He got off his bike and guided his friends to the spot.
"You've done this before, haven't you?" Laylah said accusingly.
He gave her a mischievous grin before ducking under the fence. The friends stayed close together as they made their way through the rides and stalls. Every inch of the park was faded, water damaged, and covered in a layer of grime.
"Where are we going?" His friend Thomas asked in a harsh whisper.
"I'm looking for the switches to turn all this on." Terry said.
"Is that a good idea?" Their friend Markus pipped in.
"Of course it is!" Terry laughed. "All my ideas are good."
It was difficult to navigate in the dark but he has been there enough times that he was able to find the power set up. The large switches were dusty and covered with old webs. He had no idea if any of it still worked, but it was worth a shot. He forced each rusty switch up and one by one all the attractions came alive with light and music. They all stared in awe and finally he saw his friends eyes light up with the same excitement he started the night with.
"What do you want to do first?" He asked eagerly.
"The towers drop!" Thomas yelled, throwing his hands in the air and taking off towards the ride. They raced after him giggling the way teens did when they knew they were going to be in trouble later. Laylah made Thomas double and triple check the controls to make sure they were working properly and so he knew exactly how they worked. They gave the ride a few test runs, watching it go up and down, totally empty. Finally she agreed to let them on and they strapped in tight. Just in case.
He grabbed Laylah's hand, held his breath, and watched Markus flip the switch.
The ride jerked and started to creep upward at a slow pass. The three laughed nervously as their legs dangled in the air. Markus Cheered from the ground as they ascended. They reached the top, and stopped. He looked out over the park seeing the bright rainbow of rides, and on the horizon, the lights from the town. Laylah and Thomas grabbed either of his hands, then they dropped. The scream that was turned from his throat quickly turned into a whoop as they were caught and pulled back up, then dropped down again. Terry looked at his friend's grinning faces, and in that moment the night was perfect. In the next moment, the ride shrieked and grinding harshly to a stop.
“What the hell!?” Laylah yelled.
“I don’t know what happened!” Markus shouted back up.
“Get us down!” Thomas was jerking against his restraints in a panic.
Terry was breathing fast and his heart felt like it was going to bust out of his chest watching Markus struggle with the controls. The ride started moving again, but to his horror, it was going back up. “Nonononono”
“I’m not doing it” Markus’s hands were away from the controls and his expression was unreadable as his figure grew smaller and smaller.
“Just try something!” Terry’s voice cracked as he yelled. “Anything!”
The ride stopped at the top, the sound of metal scraping against metal. Then it dropped. For the first time, Terry screamed. The three teens' piercing screams cut through the air and drowned out any other sound. He closed his eyes against the wind, reached out blindly, grabbing his friends hands to squeeze. He waited for the end.
“YES!”” Markus' voice screamed out and they came to a screeching stop, the straps cutting into Terry’s shoulders. HE opened his eyes and saw they were still several feet off the ground. Laylah and Thomas were both crying.
“We gotta get out of this thing.” He said struggling with removing his belts. The others were dazed for a moment but quickly followed suit. They had to jump down and the concrete sent pain shooting up his legs.
“This was stupid.” Terry said between breaths. “I’m so sorry guys, lets get the hell out of here.”
Laylah grabbed his arm as they ran towards the power building to turn everything off before they got into more trouble. His heart didn’t stop racing the entire time. When they made it to the building herr went inside and started flipping switches. . nothing happened. No matter what he did, the rides outside kept moving and singing. He shouted in frustration and slammed his hands against the controls.
“Forget it.” Thomas said. “Lets just leave, please.”
“yeah, yeah alright.” Terry relented. They moved towards the exit at a slower, but still anxious pace. It was strange, but it seemed like the rides were getting louder, moving faster. Figures moved in the shadows and he froze in place.
“Terry?” Laylah said. “Terry, come on.”
“Somethings wrong.” He said in a weak voice, hands shaking. The figures around them were getting clearer. All around were the vague images of clowns and performers dancing and running about. His friends started to notice and they crowded close together.
“What the hell is happening?” Markus whispered.
“On the count of three, run.” Terry whispered back. “One… two… THREE!”
They bolted, running as fast as their legs could carry them. Terry ran until his legs ached and his lungs burned. He told himself not to look back, but he glanced over his shoulder and saw they were being pursued. The clownish creatures looked less and less human with each passing moment, their eye sockets looked hollow, fangs grew in their mouths, and some of them had started running on all fours. Somewhere, he heard children crying. Softly at first, but growing louder and louder until they become heart wrenching wails.
The fence was just ahead. Markus ducked through the hole, then Laylah. Terry could hear Thomas gasping for breath beside him. Neither slowed down and hit the wire fence at full speed and frantically tried to steady themselves. Terry ducked through the fence first and grabbed Thomas’s arm to pull him through. There was resistance, and he looked to see one of the beastly clowns clawing at Thomas’s legs, holding him back.
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