by Jareth Stark
“Hold on Joey!” Brad screamed over his son’s cries. “We’re nearing the drop!”
Seconds later, they were rushing down the chute, wind rushing through their hair, water pouring over the side of the boat.
“I thought you said the kid was seven?” the man asked as he helped them exit the ride. “Never seen a kid freak out like that before in my life!”
Brad didn’t respond. He grabbed hold of Joey’s wrist and pulled him sternly through the crowd. People parted for them and looked on disapprovingly as Brad dragged his crying child into a quieter zone of the park.
He was done talking to his kid. If he wanted to whine and moan, he was free to do whatever he wanted. Brad was done.
“Everything okay Mr Bradley?” Officer Jones asked, appearing at the side of him.
The sound of his voice startled Brad and he back stepped, eyes wide. “Where did you come from?” he asked. “What is this thing? I’m done, you hear me, done!”
“We’re almost at the end of the simulation Brad. You took Joey into the Crazy House just before you lost him. Do you remember?”
Brad did remember. He also remembered Joey running away from him, and him struggling to find him. He didn’t want to go back in there. He didn’t want to go through that again.
“No,” he told Officer Jones. “I’m not going in there. Take me out of this simulation. You said you could take me out at any time.”
“If I withdraw you now Mr Bradley, we’re going to have to go through all this again. And I for one am rather wet from the rain. Looks like you and your kid are too. Let’s get this over with and we can retreat with information that will help us find your son.”
Brad wasn’t being given much choice. The rain that was falling was getting heavier too; he watched with exasperation as Joey jumped, clearly scared, as lightning ripped through the sky.
“A storm is coming Mr Bradley. Let’s go inside.”
Brad grabbed hold of his son’s wrist, more tightly this time, and dragged him through the park to the Crazy House. “Stop crying!” he told him again, the dragon inside him bursting to get out. “I am so sick of listening to the sound of you wailing.”
Chapter Seven
“In,” Brad said to Joey, pushing him inside the Crazy House.
Joey did as he was told, turning around sheepishly to look at his father. Brad knew what was about to happen and there was nothing he could do to stop it, not if the software was using his mind in order to create the simulation he was being forced to endure.
They walked slowly up to the distorting mirrors, Brad pushing Joey along in front of him. The mirrors had been laid out in the style of a maze, and they needed to manoeuvre their way through them in order to escape, in order for this damn simulation to be over.
Brad knew what was coming but he still flinched when he looked into the first mirror. There he was, his hair dripping wet, his mouth turned into a large scowl. Joey was beside him, Bubsy clutched to his chest, his eyes looking at the floor. His clothes were soaked from the rain and the log flume, and he was about as unhappy as any kid his age could be. Brad could see red marks appearing on his wrists from where he had grabbed him. The kid deserved it, he told himself.
“Walk Joey, I won’t tell you again!”
Joey shuffled his feet along, and used his lone hand to reach out in front of him, trying to feel his way through the maze. He was scared, Brad could see it in his eyes, but he didn’t care. It was time for the kid to actually do something, rather than being carted around by him or his mother everywhere. She’d ruined the boy. Stopped him from growing up. It was her own fault she’d missed out on his baby years; stunting him now was not the solution. It wasn’t good for anyone.
As Brad rounded the corner of the maze, the mirror in front of him changed unexpectedly. Rather than the elongated version of himself he swore he’d seen the first time he’d entered the Crazy House, the image reflected back at him was of a man, his long hair drawn gaunt around his face, his eyes sunken, his irises red. He was holding a stuffed rabbit. One of its eyes was missing, and its head was hanging loosely to the side, almost as if it had been ripped off.
Brad screamed silently, his eyes wide with panic. Joey wasn’t standing next to him. Instead, there was a raven, crouching at the side of a grave, pecking at the worms in the floor beneath it. It pulled one out and began slurping it through its beak.
Brad closed his eyes tightly, willing the image to fade, but when he opened them, it was still there. The sight petrified him. Was this his future? Was this what was going to happen if Joey remained with his mother? He lost all track of where he was, and even when he closed his eyes, the image remained, burning itself permanently into his brain.
“Aaaargh!” he screamed, as much from frustration as from anything else. His heartbeat was pumping loudly through his chest, as if a thousand soldiers with drums were following him. And his skin had returned to the cold, clammy texture he’d felt before. This simulation software couldn’t be legal. Surely there were safeguards in places preventing the police from manipulating people in this way, from fucking them up for life.
Brad tentatively walked around the corner and reopened his eyes. He was in a different part of the maze now, but the gaunt looking man was still looking back at him. There was no stuffed rabbit in his hand this time, though; this time he was holding a red balloon. It was a birthday balloon with the number 4 etched on it in bright yellow. As he stood and stared at the mirror, the balloon deflated, falling limp by his side.
“What the fuck is going on?” Brad shouted. “This isn’t like before. What the fuck is this place?”
“Language sir,” said an old woman, passing him from the opposite direction. “There are children in here ya know. You don’t want to be going around talking like that.”
“Fuck you,” he muttered under his breath. “Fuck you all!” He watched as she floated out of the maze, her long grey hair almost flying behind her.
Brad continued walking, his head swimming with the visions in front of him. The gaunt, scowling figure appeared in every mirror he walked past, but it wasn’t him, it couldn’t be. He didn’t look like that. He had a job, friends, a busy life. Sure he had a ton of problems with his wife and kid, but that wouldn’t turn him into the shell of himself that was being reflected back. The police had done this on purpose, he knew they had. They wanted to scare him. They wanted to work him up, incriminate him. Make it look like he’d done something to Joey. His bitch of an ex wife had put them up to it. He knew it. It was all part of her plan.
As Brad wrestled with his thoughts, he tried desperately to ignore the images being reflected back at him in the mirrors. “This wasn’t how this was supposed to end,” he shouted. “I didn’t want it to end like this.”
But the reflections of him didn’t change. Every mirror he looked in reflected the same character, each one becoming more disturbing than the last. A crazy skeleton riding on the back of a horse, blood running down its sides; another graveyard, this time with bunnies on every headstone; him, cackling loudly with a spade in his hands.
Brad began to hit every mirror he came across, the glass shattering with every punch. Deep, dark cuts formed in his flesh as blood poured from his wounds, covering the floor he was standing on.
“Where the fuck is the way out of this place!”
“Language sir, I won’t tell you again.”
Brad stared as the old woman passed him for a second time. How did she get here again so fast? The visions were getting stronger. Where the hell was the way out.
Brad punched and punched his way through the maze of mirrors until, finally, the bright lights of the park came back into view. They faded for a second, and then returned brighter still.
Brad ripped off his sweater and wrapped it around his wounds, stemming the blood. But where was Joey?
“You little shit. Running off from me again. I’m done with you, you can go and be with your mother. See if I care.”
But he did car
e. Deep down Brad did care. It was his ex who had the problem. It was she who had changed Joey into a stupid wuss of a kid. He could make things right. If only he could get Joey out of there, out of her clutches, away from the crazy and the coddling, and stupid Derek. God damn stupid Derek. Brad was sure he had played a part in this as well.
Brad walked forcefully up and down the park, seeking out his son. The rain had begun to force many families home, them no longer willing to withstand the harsh Halloween weather. Thunder cracked in the distance, and Brad’s ears pricked as a crack of lightning hit a nearby tree, singing its trunk and forcing it to the ground. “Joey, come to Daddy,” he said in a low, menacing voice.
As Brad rounded the candy floss stall, he saw something he recognised. Joey’s stuffed purple rabbit was lying on the ground. “I know you’re around here somewhere,” he said, picking it up, gripping it around its neck. “Come on Joey, Daddy just wants to talk. I’m gonna drive you home. You just need to come out.”
Brad wiped his eyes as the rain continued to pour. It was hard to see anything clearly, and the grassy floor beneath him had begun to turn to mud. Every step he took made a loud squelching sound making it hard for him to hear a thing. Why don’t you cry now you little shit? Then I’d be able to hear you. Where was the god damn police officer when he needed him? Wasn’t it their job to find him? They could clearly see where he’d disappeared.
He continued to scour the area surrounding the candy floss stall. There was a coconut shy to his left; the owner was shutting it down. To the right, he could see the exit. A few visitors were mulling around, despite the heavy rain, but he couldn’t see any kids. None that looked like a werewolf anyway.
In front of him, Brad could see the bright lights of the carousel. The ride was still running, the horses moving slowly up and down, the monotonous brassy music blasting out to anyone within walking distance. He walked towards it, slowly, defiantly.
He knew where his son was.
Chapter Eight
The carousel was travelling slow enough for Brad to jump on. It was a relief to be out of the rain, and the protection the roof gave him made it easier for him to see. Joey was here somewhere. He knew he was.
And then he heard it; a whimpering coming from one of the carriages that had been added to the ride purely for the little kids who couldn’t hold onto a horse on their own.
Instinct drew Brad to quickly look back to the exit of the park. He saw her red hair first, and then he saw the look on her face. Had she spotted him? Did she know what he was about to do?
With no time to spare, he hot footed his way towards the carriage. Joey was there, curled into a ball on the floor, whimpering softly. “No-one can save you Joey. No-one can make you happy other than yourself. And in the real world, most adults are shit too. You can’t depend on them for anything. It’s a lesson you should have learnt when you were a baby.”
At the sound of Brad’s voice, Joey pushed himself as far into the corner of the carriage as he could, trying to lengthen the distance between himself and his father. He looked smaller than he’d ever looked before, he knew what was coming. His darkness was swallowing him up. It was all Brad could see.
Brad quietly climbed into the carriage with Joey, and ducked his head as the attendant checked the ride for any last passengers. It was time to close it down, Brad knew the darkness was descending.
As the ride came to a halt, Brad bade his time as the lights were turned off, and the entrance gate was locked. The second he saw the attendant walking away from the carousel, Brad smiled. And this time, when the strange visions appeared, he didn’t worry. When the rust appeared on the carriage it evoked a sense of bliss, a sense of calm. Brad understood what was to be done. He understood the visions and what they had been signalling to him. It was time.
Joey whimpered again, and opened his mouth to scream.
But it was too late.
“I told you to stop crying Joey. How many times have I told you tonight to fucking enjoy yourself and stop crying. Well it’s too late. You’ll be fucking happy very soon. I’m gonna make sure of it.”
Blocking out everything around him, Brad pushed his knee on top of his son’s chest, preventing him from moving or screaming. He laughed at the sight of Joey struggling to breathe, trying desperately to push him off, but he had no chance. With complete control over the young child underneath him, Brad closed his cold, bony, fingers around his son’s throat and squeezed tightly. It was so easy. Why had he not thought to do this before?
Brad kept his fingers tightly intertwined as Joey’s face turned red and puffed out. And when the blood vessels in his eyeballs burst, and his head lolled to the side, he knew it was over. The child was at peace. His kid wouldn’t cry or whine again.
She hadn’t won, he had.
Brad sat in silence at the side of the carriage, feeling a welcome calmness wash over his whole body.
“Oh my God Brad, what the hell are you doing?”
The sound of his bitch ex drew him out of his serene space, and the wrath he’d been feeling all night intensified.
He watched as she ran, in slow motion, over to her son, cradling him to her breast and crying into his hair. Despite him being cold, blood continued to run out of Joey’s ears and nose, and as she held him, it covered her too.
“Covered in his blood. How poetic,” Brad muttered.
As she looked at him with the familiar daggers in her eyes, he knew there would be no way out. Not for him. Not if she survived. She loved her kid so much she could be with him. It was clear they were meant for each other. Everything Brad had done for them had never been good enough. They’d always been ungrateful; the pair of them deserved each other.
With his anger powering him, Brad lunged at her and punched her right in the middle of her face. There was a loud crack as her nose broke, blood gushing out over the carriage, covering the body of her son.
But she wasn’t as weak as he thought she was. The years she’d spent in bed had powered her, enabled her to regain her strength. This had been her plan from the start. Exhaust her husband, divorce him and when the time was right, end things.
With as much energy as she could muster, Ellen lunged forward and grabbed hold of Brad’s hair. With her free hand, she dug her car keys out of her pocket and aimed directly for his eyes.
But he was too strong.
“Fuck you,” Brad replied calmly, shielding his face with his forearm.
She could try all she wanted, but she didn’t have years of pent up rage powering her. Did she seriously think she’d be able to hurt him? That was the funniest thing he’d heard all evening. So funny, in fact, that Brad couldn’t help laughing. Large, belly deep laughs erupted from his body, and her wary expression told him all he needed to know. She looked at him like he was crazy. Well, whose fault was that?
Sensing her distraction, Brad took advantage. He grabbed hold of her by the ears and forced her head back against the front of the carriage, enjoying the cracking sound her skull made as it hit the metal. Despite the sweatiness of his hands, he kept his grip tight, and whacked her head against the metal again, and again.
Ellen screamed loudly, desperate for help to arrive, but there was no-one there. No-one she could manipulate into believing Brad was the bad guy. Whack. It was too late. Whack. She’d gone too far. Whack.
It was over.
He had wanted to do this ever since the day she left, ever since the day she’d left him for Derek, taking his boy with her. He wasn’t going to let go. As Ellen’s screams grew quiet, her blood began to pour more thickly from the base of her skull, congealing in her hair, and running over her shoulders. Finally the power was his. She would shame him no more.
“You wanted to be with your son,” he told her. “You wanted to take him from me. Well now you’ve got your wish. I hope you’re happy.”
Chapter Nine
Brad sat in the carriage with Ellen and Joey for a long while, relishing the peace and quiet. He watched closely over h
is ex wife and his child as they slept soundly, their faces looking peaceful and serene.
The sight of them like this made him smile. This was how it was meant to be, how him and Ellen had imagined it when she was newly pregnant. They would have a happy child who would be the light of both of their lives. Joey was going to be his name. He was going to bring them even closer together than they already were. It had taken a few years, but they had finally made it.
Brad slowly stepped out of the carriage and walked back through the rain to his car. It was the only one left in the large field that had been used as a makeshift car park for the duration of the Halloween events. He was alone; he had time.
Slowly, methodically, he pulled the key fob from his pocket and unlocked the trunk of his car. After pulling out a couple of blankets that he’d packed especially for the occasion, he picked up the brand new spade he’d purchased earlier that afternoon, and carried it back to the park, whistling to himself happily as he walked.
At the back of the carousel was a wire fence that had been cut open a few weeks before by some kids in the area. Brad had seen it the first time he’d surveyed the park. Before he’d decided to bring Joey here for a supposedly fun evening. He crawled through the gap and began to dig.
Rain lashed down from the heavens as Brad worked, cleaning him, washing away the horrors that he’d experienced over the years. It was back breaking work, but it needed to be done. Ellen and Joey needed him to dig them a nice, comfy resting place. Somewhere where they could relax and be at peace, away from all the negative influences of the outside world. Away from Derek, away from the small town manipulation, away from the sadness and the anger. Brad could give that to them. They deserved it.
When the hole was big enough, Brad walked back to the carousel and wrapped his ex wife carefully in a blanket. He lifted her up onto his shoulder and carried her through the wire fence, over to her resting place. He kissed her softly on the forehead and laid her gently inside.