He tapped his foot impatiently, wanting to be done with the ride. “We never should have come here,” he said under his breath.
“Your father wanted to,” his mother said. “We’re going to try to hit everything before we leave.” She sounded just as thrilled as Andrew.
“Besides,” his father said, stepping forward in line. “This is one of the best rides here. When I was your age, I nearly wet my pants on this thing. They probably added even more scares. It’ll give you nightmares and then some.” He smiled like a kid about to count his trick or treat candy.
“You didn’t mean the ride,” Tim said, whispering. “You meant the park itself, didn’t you? You meant we should never have come to Dream Woods.”
Andrew opened his mouth to answer but closed it quickly when he saw the man in the trench coat in the distance, standing off to the side of the entrance to the Haunted Tunnels. Though Andrew had never seen the man in reality, he knew exactly who it was. His appearance perfectly matched the seedy man his parents and his own imagination had conjured when he was a child.
Raymond nodded and waved. Only his eyes were visible beneath the collar. He wore leather gloves over fingers that were much too long.
Andrew swallowed. His tongue had become sandpaper. He pointed to Raymond and elbowed his brother. “Do you see him?”
“See who?” Tim asked.
Fuck, Andrew thought. You’re losing your mind. This place is making you crazy.
He pointed again. “That man over there, in the long trench coat and the collar covering most of his face. He’s got a hat on, almost looks like one of those old things gangsters in the mob used to where. Do you see him or not?”
Tim paused, looked closely at the spot where Andrew pointed, and shook his head. “I don’t see anyone. Do you?”
Yes, I do and I might be going nuts. “Do you remember the man Mom and Dad made up when we were little to scare us? They said he hung around our yard and he’d snatch us up if we ever left.”
“You mean Raymond?”
Andrew nodded and tensed. He hated hearing the name spoken aloud, especially in such close proximity. “Yeah, that’s the one.”
“What about him?”
Andrew closed his eyes, breathed deeply, couldn’t believe what he was about to say. “You don’t think there’s any way he could be, like, real, do you?”
Tim looked at him like he was wearing a straightjacket, yet there was something like concern in his brother’s eyes. “Is that who you think you saw over there?” Tim pointed to where Raymond stood, though his brother still saw nothing.
Raymond waited patiently as he had the night before, just outside the door to their room. Andrew shook his head. “No, of course not. That would be stupid. Just like everything about this place.” He jabbed his brother in the ribs. “Let’s get this dumb ride over with. I wish I’d brought my headphones.”
Suddenly Tim became the source of all his fear, all his anxiety and anger. He wanted to find the nearest toilet and dunk Tim’s head into the bowl, flushing over and over again and reveling in his brother’s screams. Had his parents not been so close he would have punched Tim in the stomach and watched him fall to the ground, laughing as the little brat started to cry.
The line moved up. He gritted his teeth and wiped away sweat, stepping a few more feet closer to the entrance of the Haunted Tunnels, the last place in the world he wanted to be, aside from Dream Woods itself.
From across the way, raising a deformed hand, Raymond waved.
***
“How long does this thing take?” Audra checked her phone and wished the ride was over, though it hadn’t even started yet.
“I can’t remember,” Vince said, rubbing his eyes. The bags surrounding the lids were so dark they blended in with the shadows, two black holes in her husband’s face. It would be easier if they were always like that, if Vince constantly had a hangover. Then she wouldn’t need to see the way he looked at her, the love in his stare that made her guilt nearly boil over.
We should have another one.
Audra’s throat tightened. If Vince remembered saying it, he gave no indication. Somehow that was worse, like she’d been given a private glance at his mind, something he wasn’t ready to share with her.
She fidgeted in her seat. They’d strapped themselves in and were waiting as an attendant fiddled with some unseen machinery. Every now and then the man turned around and smiled.
She tried to tell herself his face was just a normal face, not some drooping second skin that threatened to slide off at any moment. She squinted in the darkness, tried to make out details.
It’s not just Doris. It’s all of them. They’re all hiding something and no one else seems to notice.
There was still time to leave. The ride had not yet started. She could pretend she was sick. It wasn’t that far from the truth. The way she felt now, her skin was must have been so pale it was practically glowing. She could wait outside in the heat and sweat through her clothes and it would still beat this cold and dark cavern.
She could run away and not look back.
She could make it past the highway this time.
Someone tapped her on the shoulder. She nearly screamed.
“Mom,” Tim said. “Do you have any snacks? I’m getting shaky.”
“Sure thing,” she said, trying to catch her breath. She reached into her purse and pulled out a granola bar. “We’ll get some lunch soon enough. Sound good?”
“Okay.” Tim took and bar and started chewing. She watched for a moment in the darkness. He was spacing out, looking at nothing in particular. Moments like these offered her time to reflect. He was a good boy who had been dealt a bad deck of cards in life and sometimes she wondered if even he was enough to make her stay.
“Keep your hands in the car at all times,” the attendant said. He was swallowed by the darkness, his voice the only thing left.
The ride began. There was a loud clicking and grinding noise. The car shifted, bouncing around like they were going off-roading instead of riding a theme park attraction. Eventually it evened out and they began to move forward at a steady pace.
Whereas the other rides seated people close together, the Haunted Tunnels was more personal. They only let one group in at a time. Audra swore she saw more people in tow but each time she turned around there was only Tim, finishing his granola bar, and Andrew, looking equal parts furious and terrified.
And to her left, Vince watched intently, preparing himself for the impending scares.
The ride curved to the left and began a slight incline. Along the way light bulbs hung from an invisible ceiling, though they didn’t offer much illumination. Audra had the feeling there were actors all along the edges of the track, waiting for an opportune moment to jump out.
She wished they would and get it over with. She’d been on her fair share of spooky rides back home at fairs and carnivals. They were all the same. You had some cheesy music, a few strobe lights that threatened seizures should you look long enough, and a few tall men with hockey masks on, ready to pop up every few steps.
But this ride—it was off somehow. For starters, there was no music as all, just the steady hum of the car moving along the track. There weren’t even any sound effects, no shrill screams or deep laughs, no chains or shackles.
It was three or four minutes in now and still no one had jumped out at them. Surely there should have been a few gags by now. Perhaps the workers were biding their time, waiting for the Carters to let their guards down.
The car turned another corner and something moved up ahead.
At first she thought it was a trick of the eyes but Vince grabbed onto her knee and squeezed. Whatever it was, he’d seen it too. The car slowed, took its time as it neared the shape.
She could tell the thing was large, half the size of a car at least, and it was shaped oddly. If she focused hard enough, she could just make out four limbs and a head the size of a small child. If it was a costume, it must have been
a two-man operation. She imagined a cheap horse costume, two actors frolicking by the track. She nearly laughed out of relief but then the car began to speed up and the thing came closer to them.
Audra swore she saw teeth and a misshapen mouth that was open wide, ready to eat the car like it was a delicacy but then the thing, whatever the hell it was, passed by and was lost within the shadows.
She looked back. “Did you see that?”
“Sure did,” Vince said. “That’s just the beginning. Wait until you see what’s next.”
She held onto the railing like she’d fall onto the track if she let go, her fingers filling with pins and needles. The car was speeding much too fast now. It felt like they’d taken a detour to the nearest highway.
She imagined Doris slipping the attendant twenty dollars, asking if he could derail the Carter family. What was one more urban legend to add to the Scream Woods catalogue?
“Did it go this fast when you were on it last?” Audra said.
Vince cocked his head. He couldn’t hear her. The engine had started groaning too loudly.
We’re going to die, she thought. You won’t have to run away after all.
The car rose to the highest peak yet and just as it seemed they would plummet into nothingness, there was a distorted sound beneath them. It seemed like the engine was failing and a few moments later they were slowing to a stop.
The sudden absence of sound was deafening. Her heart threatened to burst out of her rib cage, beating too fast and too hard. She held her chest, willed her pulse to slow down.
“Why the hell did it stop?” Andrew said from behind.
“That’s a good question,” Vince said. He looked around in the darkness. “I wonder if it’s a trick. You know how sometimes roller coasters will send you backwards once you think they’re done? Maybe it’s the same with this.”
“If you say so,” Andrew said.
A few moments passed. They waited for the jig to be up but the more time went on, the more it felt like there was no jig.
“I think something’s wrong,” Audra said. “I think it may be broken or something.”
Vince nudged her. “I’m telling you. Give it another couple minutes and things will be popping out left and right. They’re trying to make us antsy. They want us to be hungry for more.”
“I could have believed that a few minutes ago but now it seems a little absurd, don’t you think?”
“Audra, I’ve been on it before.”
“And do you remember it breaking down the last time?”
He didn’t answer her.
She looked around, tried to make sense of her surroundings. The darkness was disorienting. It played tricks with her. She would see things moving in her peripherals but when she turned her head there was only a thick black blanket and the occasional floaters swimming across her vision.
“You worry so much,” Vince said. “Have some faith for a change.”
“This isn’t about faith. This is about knowing when to throw in the towel and see what’s really in front of you.” She wanted to take the words back because they applied to more than just their current predicament. They felt heavy on her tongue and they seemed to hang in the air.
Vince looked at her with his dark and exhausted eyes. She wanted to step out of the car and make a run for it. The entrance couldn’t be more than a five or ten-minute trek.
“Well I can’t see anything in front of me,” Tim said from behind.
She knew the truth then as her husband’s eyes bored into her and as her two sons kicked their feet impatiently. There was something wrong with Dream Woods.
It hadn’t taken Doris or the attendant or either of their wrinkly fake faces to convince her.
It was the way she felt at that precise moment. Trapped. She felt trapped inside the Haunted Tunnels and somehow, without knowing or understanding what it all meant, she knew the park could sense this. It wanted to keep her there because it knew something the others did not.
It knew she felt this way each and every day. It knew she went for walks sometimes just to get out of the house, though it didn’t help much. Even when she went shopping by herself, two or three towns over, her chest was still held in a vice grip.
Even when she’d left that night and made it to the highway, nothing had loosened within her. If anything the grip had tightened. She felt like a tea kettle, moments away from a sizzling boil at all times.
And now, in the darkness, next to her family, she’d never felt more trapped in her life.
The walls closed in. The darkness swarmed around her. It was a living thing, gelatinous and heavy. It fell upon her, threatened to make her mind bubble out of her ears and nostrils.
The park knew her secrets and fears and it was using them to its full advantage.
Tell him, she thought. Tell him it’s over. Tell him you love him and it’s really not his fault in the least. Tell him you tried to keep on your best face just like these fucking Dream Woods workers are keeping on their faces but it’s pointless. You can’t keep this up forever. Sooner or later you’re going to explode.
She cleared her throat, opened her mouth.
The engine roared to life. The brakes squealed and unlocked.
The car began to move again, slowly at first but then picking up to a normal pace.
“See,” Vince said. “What’d I tell you? Have some faith once in a while.”
She nodded and felt faint. The rest of the ride was generic and predictable, nothing remotely scary about any of the gags. Actors jumped out of crevices and threatened to turn the car over, holding plastic knives and axes. Dummies fell from above, fake shrieks sounding through half-broken speakers. Audra didn’t jump once. It was far from shocking, light years away from terrifying.
Nothing close to how she’d felt in the dark with three living reminders of how bad a mother and wife she was.
Chapter Twelve
They did some more sightseeing after the Haunted Tunnels, spending too much money on trinkets that would probably gather dust in boxes over the years. But Vince would proudly display his postcards and the Dream Woods coffee mug he’d purchased. He thought about putting up a shelf in the bedroom for all his knick-knacks, a shrine to immortalize his favorite place on Earth.
An hour later, they headed for the next attraction, the one that made Vince’s skin buzz with excitement.
This was it. The moment Vince had been waiting nearly three decades for.
The almighty dinosaurs.
“After you,” he said, holding open the massive wooden door and waving on Audra and the boys.
There was no car or moving vehicle this time. They had free range of a mock jungle the size of the cul-de-sac where the Carters lived. He knew some of the plants and trees must have been fake but whoever was in charge of setting them up was a genius. They looked more lifelike than the mountains that surrounded Dream Woods. He reached out to the nearest leaf, caressed it with the back of his hand. It was certainly not plastic.
Along the sides of the park were plaques, fake warnings for the tourists.
Do not feed dinosaurs. Be wary of raptors.
If within sight of T. rex, stand still and do not breathe.
“Where are they?” Tim asked. “The dinosaurs, I mean.” He was pale, his hair a sweaty mess.
“They’ll come out soon enough.” Vince took the lead.
“That’s what you said about the Haunted Tunnels,” Andrew said. “I can’t take another half hour of nothing.”
“He’s right,” Audra said. “It’s getting late, we’re all tired, and Tim needs his insulin.”
“So give it to him,” Vince said. “No one’s going to say anything here.” He gestured to their surroundings. It appeared they were the only ones in the dinosaur park. Come to think of it, they were the only ones on the last three rides. It felt like more people had gone home or left for the day. It didn’t sit right with him. The place should have been packed, as it had been the day before. If anything, today s
hould have been ten times more insane now that it was officially the weekend.
Something was wrong.
Stop. Don’t let Audra get to you. She’s trying to spoil the fun. There’s nothing going on. The only thing wrong is that you haven’t seen a dinosaur yet.
“His insulin is at the hotel, Vince. We should go back, have some food, and maybe relax a little. We can come back tomorrow.”
Vince ground his teeth and curled his hands into fists. Some part of him knew Audra was right. His son was sick and they were all exhausted. But the rest of him couldn’t disagree more. She was trying to take this moment away from him. He’d waited half his fucking life for this, had spent a good chunk of his personal savings to take his family for a vacation and this was how they repaid him?
The last time he’d come here, his parents had both been healthy, not dead and under six feet of earth. They’d had strokes within six months of each other a few years back. He had no siblings, no family to speak of except for the three people standing behind him.
And even that structure was ready to topple over.
He turned around and looked at Audra. “You just don’t want to be here.”
“What?”
“That’s right. You didn’t want to come here in the first place and now you’re trying to ruin it for me. You know how much this place means to me and you know I’ve wanted to come back here for years. Once it opened again I finally had my chance but you didn’t care, did you? You don’t care about much these days aside from yourself.”
That’s right. Let it all out. She brought this on herself. Feels good, doesn’t it?
The sane part of his mind begged him to stop. Something inside him wasn’t right and it wasn’t the heat or the hunger. It was something much deeper than that.
“Tell me I’m wrong,” he said. “Tell me you don’t hate it here.”
“You’re overreacting. You sound like a child.”
Child. The word jogged his memory. He remembered then what he’d said the night before. It came at him like an uppercut to his jaw. He felt stupid for being so naïve, for thinking for a moment that he was married to someone who loved him back. “You’re so fucking selfish.”
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