The Haunted Amusement Park
Tags: Short Story, Fiction, Horror, Writing, Thriller

You felt an icy chill lick your skin as the sense of familiarity crawled from the depths of your unconscious. You hadn’t wanted to come back as the guilt from way back then manifested itself in the form of dreams and spontaneous thoughts in your mind.

“Please… don’t leave.”

The whisper from that dreadful night was lost amongst the howling of the wind, but it was as though she spoke through a loudspeaker as those words were forever ingrained in the depths of your soul.

“We shouldn’t be here,” you said to the friend a few feet ahead.

Your friend turned and met your nervous countenance with one of sadness and guilt and said reassuringly, “Nothing is going to happen this time. We’ll be extra careful.”

“No.” The word left your lips before you had a chance to stop it. You hadn’t meant to sound as harsh as you did, but you couldn’t hide the growing fear spreading like wildfire inside. You were simply concerned for the safety of your friend and yourself.

“We’ll be in and out. I promise.”

You watched your friend smile at you and disappear behind the iron gates of the eerily quiet amusement park. Rumours of this strange and abandoned carnival had been the talk of the town as sightings of deceased children and adults had been reported to be still wandering the premises and enjoying its festivities. That alone had ignited a spark of curiosity in you and your friends at the time, and what started as a bit of teenage fun ended in horrific tragedy.

You slipped through the gates and called your friend’s name, but there was no response. When you felt the familiar chill, you folded your arms and ran deeper into the carnival.

The murmurs and whispers you heard were all reminiscent of that night, but you trod on as the farther you went, the more you began to believe that facing your guilt and fears would provide some closure. You saw your friend standing in front of a dark rollercoaster, its seats extremely tattered and safety bars in their upward positions.

Your eyes closed for a brief moment, but it only took that moment for it to all come rushing back.

“Rock…”

“Paper…”

“SCISSORS!”

There was laughter, squeals, and low hoots as the winners nudged the losers closer and closer to the eerie roller coaster.

“You promised! Losers have to do it,” one said.

“Are you chickening out?” another one chimed in.

“I’m not,” a girl said annoyingly.

Her male counterpart had already begun approaching the ride. He hopped over the few obstacles in his way and stared for a few seconds at the ripped seats.

“Five seconds,” he said, then turned to his friends, “Right?”

“I don’t want to do it,” she said sternly.

“You’ll be fine,” you said. “It’s only for five seconds.”

Your friend sighed softly, then followed the boy. The two friends looked at each other and took a seat in separate compartments of the ride.

“Pull down the lap bar,” your friend encouraged.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” you said.

“The worst thing that’ll happen is that it’ll break,” another countered.

You heard the loud creak of the safety bars coming down, which was followed by a similar sound. Your male friend sat comfortably in his seat, smiling widely at your friends. However, the other looked extremely uncomfortable as her eyes kept wandering and hands rubbing together constantly.

“Okay, five seconds is up,” you shouted.

“You got the pictures, right?” you heard a friend asked another.

“Yeah, I did. I’m posting it to Instagram right now!”

You were the first to sense that something was wrong. The boy had his lap bar up and was about to stand until an ear-splitting groan pierced the still, cold air. Your friends had stopped talking amongst themselves, their amused countenance instantly replaced with one of sheer terror as the wheels spun and spun and spun.

You didn’t know who screamed. Perhaps it was you, but that was the least of your concerns. The ride was eagerly following its designated course on its tracks and increasing in speed at an exponential rate. You felt your blood run cold as you saw the shadow of a falling figure once the rollercoaster followed the giant, impending circle.

The ride showed no signs of stopping. A loud, sickening crack rang in your eardrums. You weren’t sure if your friends had heard it, but whatever happened was confirmed once the ride came to a full stop in front of the terrified crowd.

It was as if the ride hadn’t moved at all.

Her body was beyond repair. There were multiple areas with skin completely ripped from her being, exposing the raw meat that your friend now was. Parts of her bone were exposed with dry and fresh blood trailing its surface. Her eyes had been completely rolled inwards, and her mouth hung open as if she was a vegetable.

It took a moment for you to realize that your male friend was nowhere to be seen.

“W-w-we have to get out of here.”

“Oh my God,” you heard another whisper loudly.

You felt the robust and adamant pull on your arm, but your feet stayed rooted to the spot. The image of your deceased friend was forever burned in your memory as tears came like waterworks from your red eyes.

“Let’s go… WE NEED TO GO.”

Another was screaming for an ambulance.

Your feet had just begun to move alongside your friends but had stopped when you heard a calming whisper.

“Please… don’t leave.” It had come from behind you, but there was no one behind. No one alive at least.

A familiar tune made your eyes snap open.

Laughter blended conversation and screams polluted your surroundings. You spun around in confusion as adults with children and snacks were walking in all directions. None were paying any attention to you. Your gaze landed on the active rollercoaster, it’s macabre decor exposed by the glowing lights from all directions.

“Please… don’t leave.”

You recognized the male voice.

“Stay…” a familiar female voice chimed in. “Stay… and play my game.”