Dark Ride

by Todd Loyd

  Still, Clyde heads for the box. His flashlight cuts through the low-lit rooms, but as he reaches his destination, the light from his flashlight begins to waiver and then goes out. Clyde thinks, I changed those batteries just yesterday. Cheap off-brand. You get what you pay for.

  There is no reason for Clyde to continue. The emergency lights in the ride would not give enough of a glow for him to be able to see the components of the box. Great. Just great, he thinks.

  In one last attempt at light, Clyde bangs the flashlight against his open palm, but nothing happens. After unscrewing the base of the light, he yanks out the batteries and replaces them in a different order inside the chamber. He knows it is probably futile, but he tries anyway. This, also, has no effect, and Clyde thinks, All right, bub, what ya gonna do now? Go back to the kids? Fool with the box anyways? Maybe I can get Gwen to bring her flashlight in, get the power back on, and get those kids on their way.

  Once again, Clyde second guesses his decision to let the kids stay behind, but he assures himself that he made the right move. Since there were four of them, he told himself nothing was going to happen. There is safety in numbers, he concludes. He decides to get the light from Gwen, so he pulls his radio from his waistband and holds the instrument to his mouth.

  “Gwen, you out there?”

  After a pause, she answers, “Go ahead, Clyde.”

  “My flashlight is dead. You got yours on ya?”

  “What's going on in there, Clyde? Whatcha need a flashlight for?”

  “Well, I can't see anything in the box unless I have more light. Bring yours in here.”

  “I don't understand, Clyde. Did you get out of the train?”

  “Gwen, the power's out. I just—”

  “Clyde, what are you talking about? The ride has been running fine.”

  “Gwen, I assure you, the power is out in here.”

  There is another pause, and Gwen says, “Clyde, I don't understand. The carts are rolling on the tracks, the music is on, and all the strobes out here are flashing fine. I expected you guys to roll out here any minute.”

  “Okay, Gwen, this isn't funny. There are four kids in here stuck up in the Giant's lair.”

  No response comes from Gwen. Clyde grows agitated at the young employee.

  “Gwen! Gwen, come back!”

  Looking at the radio, he sees the battery light has changed color to red. He tells himself, This is getting ridiculous. Violently, Clyde bangs the radio against his hand, snaps off the back of the radio, and flips the square battery out of place. After waiting ten seconds, he replaces it into its position. A green light glows on top of the radio for a second but then switches to red.

  “Blast!” says Clyde, who consoles himself a little by thinking, At least I'll never have to fool with these stinkin’ radios again after this weekend. But then a twinge of finality hits him, and he regrets the thought. He is actually thankful to have been kept busy all night because the problems of the ride have been somewhat of a distraction from the reality that his life in the park is about to end.

  Clyde tells himself, Calm down, old fellow. We've been through worse than this. Maybe I'll just mess with that box, light or no light.

  Turning back to the area where the box hangs on the wall, he chuckles to himself and thinks, I guess someone's having one last joke on the old man.

  Chapter 29

  There has been no sound from the boys and the last few minutes have been tense. Amy is waiting, nervously biting her fingernails and cracking her knuckles—a habit inherited from her mom. She begins to think about the words of the narrator, and as she wonders, What did he mean by peril? The hair on the back of her neck begins to tingle. But, she consoles herself by thinking, Come on, Amy, there's no way he was talking about you.

  The only sound is the dull hum of the emergency lights. Tracks on the floor end abruptly at the gingerbread house. At first, Amy guesses that the structure is some sort of hub where they keep extra carts but then realizes it is too small. With the mysterious disappearance of the door, she decides to move on and takes the only set of doors available to her.

  She finds herself in another room. Standing just inside the doors of the new space, she takes inventory of the surroundings and scans for another door that could get her out of here.

  “Lucky, do you get the feeling we're just getting more lost? When we see the boys, I'm telling Mason you're with me. Would you like that? Serves him right, troublemaker.”

  Amy wonders if the power had come back on. The new room looks alive. Bird sounds and chirping cricket noises reverberate in the room, and there are dozens and dozens of trees.

  Taking the stick she acquired from the bonfire, she strikes the side of one of the larger trees and says, Man, that thing is solid. Whoever designed this room outdid themselves.At this point, Amy's neck begins to tingle. An overwhelming sensation that someone is following her envelopes her. She can't explain how she knows, she just does. It is the same feeling she got every time she played hide-and-go-seek with her sisters at home. She thinks, Maybe it's the boys—or Clyde? But, what if it isn't? If she had not already been scared, she probably would have simply called out to the pursuer, but the words of the narrator, “Realize her peril and at once take flight,” had made an impression. She tells herself, Hide, Amy—now!

  A particularly large tree trunk is on the right side of the room. Quickly, Amy and Lucky duck behind its cover, and Amy hears the doors she entered quietly open again followed by clicks on the floor and then the sound of sniffing and panting. She realizes this is not the boys and certainly not Clyde. While trembling and gripping the stick, Amy thinks, Do I dare sneak a peek? She hears deep breaths and more panting coming closer to her.

  She asks herself, Should I run? No, wait, whoever it is will—

  The panting stops. There are no more clicks on the floor.

  Did they leave? Amy wonders. She decides to take a quick glance and stands upright and carefully looks around the corner of the tree. The first thing she sees is a pair of eyes—enormous green eyes staring directly at her. Amy dashes toward doors at the rear of the room. However, before she can makes much headway, her pursuer cuts off her path to the door. They stand looking directly at each other in full view. In front of Amy is the most hideous creature she has ever laid eyes on, a wolf standing upright wearing a black coat and a stovetop black hat. It has wild eyes and a gaping mouth full of awful fangs. Amy thinks it can't be real, that this has to be a prank.

  With her throat full of bile, Amy can't scream. Instead she yells, “What do you want?”

  “You.”

  The eerie voice of her costumed tormentor shakes her to her core, and she asks, “Why?”

  In a thick snarling accent, it answers, “Because you are the girl and I am the Wolf. You are what I have always craved.”

  The wolf steps closer.

  “Stop right there. I don't understand.” Amy thinks, This has to be a prank? and then asks, “What's going on? Are you an employee? Why do you want…. ?”

  The wolf does not stop.

  Amy contemplates, Run? No, I can’t outrun it.

  Suddenly, with wild abandon and fury, the wolf snarls and leaps at Amy. Her only option available is to defend herself. Amy drops Lucky to the floor and instinctively swings the stick, which cracks against the attacker's gaping jaws.

  It makes a hideous yelp followed by an ear-splitting howl.

  Amy thinks, Run. Don't look back—just run. The doors are just ahead.

  She runs.

  Chapter 30

  The boys try to open the door on the little ginger bread house, but it's locked. Chomping on a last bit of candy, Scotty wipes his hands against his knit shirt. Mason, who is watching his friend with disgust, mockingly asks, “Finished?”

  “Yep.”

  “That was disgusting,” responds Mason.

  “All right,” Jack says, “Let's move. We've wasted too much time in here.” Jack motions to a set of doors to the right side of the r
oom. “Okay, she had to go that way.”

  The words of the narrator have bothered Jack, and Mason's attempts at dismissing the rhyme have done little to comfort him. To Jack, there's no way around it—somehow, someway the ride has spoken to them. However, Jack doesn't have time to sit and mull over any possibilities. In spite of the lingering questions simmering in his head, his attention is focused elsewhere. Right now, they have to find Amy.

  Since it took a lot of effort to get through the first set of doors, Jack prayed that this next set would let them through without putting up a fight. Thankfully, the doors open without a struggle, and the boys walk through.

  “Whoa, this is amazing,” says Scotty, wide-eyed and looking at the various trees.

  “Jack, what is going on in here?” asks Mason. “Where are we?”

  “I don't know. This is new to me.” He pauses, then calls,

  “Amy!”The other two boys call.

  “She's not in here,” Mason declares. “For all we know, she never has been.”

  “Then where did she go?” Scotty asks.

  Mason starts, “Maybe she—”

  “Guys,” says Scotty.

  “What, Scotty?” answers Jack.

  “She's been here.”

  Scotty points at a particularly large tree. There at the base, Lucky, the large blue bear leans up against the trunk.

  “Lucky!” Mason shouts.

  “Okay, guys, we know she's been here,” Jack announces. “That means we're on the right track.”

  Scotty pushes his glasses back up the bridge of his nose and asks, “Why did she leave him here?”

  “Who knows,” replies Mason, who reaches down and lifts the bear before handing it to Scotty.

  Jack says, “Mason, really? Let's just leave it here.”

  “No way, Jack. Lucky is with us.”

  “Whatever, Mason. Then why don't you carry him?”

  “Carnahan doesn't mind. Plus, I need my hands free just in case Clyde comes charging at us with a chainsaw.”

  “Give it a rest, Mason. That's getting old.”

  “I'm just sayin’.”

  “And I'm sayin’ that we need to get to the next room—like now.”

  “Okay, okay, fearless leader. Your wish is our command,” says Mason as he jokingly bows.

  Looking back at Scotty, Jack cannot help but pity the boy, who's now lugging Mason's pet around.

  After opening the next set of doors, the trio sees more trees.

  “Whoever built this place spent a fortune on landscaping,” Mason points out.

  As Jack passes a particularly large trunk, he hears Mason yell, “Duck!” and sees a stick fly just above Scotty's head. Jack recoils and falls on his backside.

  “Stop!” Scotty cries.

  Jack looks up to see Amy breathing hard with wild eyes and holding a large stick in her left hand.

  “Amy, what's going on?” Scotty asks. “You nearly took my head off.”

  The girl's shoulders ease after she recognizes who else is in the room with her.

  “Are you okay, sis?” Scotty asks, trying to calm her.

  “No, I'm not okay!” She carefully points and says, “He's—he's over there.”

  “Who's over there, Amy?” Mason asks. “There's nothing over there.”

  “Over there. He was just over there. When you came in, he ran. You weren't watching. He ran behind you. He's waiting for another chance, I'm sure. Waiting to get me. With his big teeth and his scary eyes and….” Tears begin to stream down her face.

  Jack wants nothing more than to embrace Amy and to tell her how foolish he was, but instead he just says, “Amy, you have to tell us what happened.”

  “A creature attacked me. It's a giant man-wolf, Jack.”

  Mason looks at Jack with a disbelieving face and sees that even Jack is having a hard time with this revelation. Jack wants to believe but doesn't see the evidence. He thinks, Is Amy losing her mind? Her imagination is running wild. Maybe she saw a shadow or something?“Maybe we should have a look,” Mason announces flippantly.

  “No,” begs Amy.

  “Amy, I want to believe you. I really do. But you have to know how crazy this sounds,” Jack explains. “I've got your back, Mason. Let's check it out.”

  Scotty sheepishly agrees. “We'll all go.”

  Amy is clearly hesitant, but there is strength in numbers. She continues to wield the stick as she follows the three older boys.

  Carefully, they creep. A thought comes into Jack's mind: What if she is telling the truth?

  The large tree gets closer, and Mason raises his fist mockingly and says, “Come out, come out wherever you are, Mr. Wolf.” He peers around the tree and yells, “There he is!”

  The other three immediately jump back in fear until they hear the uncontrollable laughter of Mason.

  “I got you guys good! There's no wolf here. You should have seen the look—”

  “I am not lying, Mason Chick! It was here.”

  “Oh, Amy, get over it,” responds Mason, still chuckling. “I'm not buying.”

  “Okay. So, we have Amy. Let's go,” says Scotty, who begins to walk back towards the doors they entered.

  Just then, Amy cries out in alarm. “No! He's there!” She's pointing to a spot somewhere amongst the trees ahead of Scotty.

  Jack glares in that direction and wonders, Does she see him? Before any of the boys can spot the predator, though, Amy bolts for the set of doors behind them.

  “Amy!” Scotty calls. “No, we're leaving!”

  But, she is already through the doors.

  “Guess we'd better grab her,” says Mason, who turns and pursues her.

  Scotty reluctantly follows.

  After peering in the direction that Amy pointed, Jack slowly decides to leave. However, just as he turns away, Jack catches a glimpse of two beady eyes glowing in the dark for a split second. He's convinced, now, that Amy had seen a wolf, and he runs to the doors following the others.

  Chapter 31

  Jack joins the others in the next room. Inside, there are more trees and a large wooden tub containing a small pool of water.

  Amy is breathing hard.

  “Calm down, sis,” says Scotty. “We need to get out of here and go back.”

  In a panic, Amy waves her arms wildly, still frightened. “I'm not going back that way, bar the doors—bar the doors now.”

  Mason laughs and asks, “With what?”

  Jack suggests, “Mason, let's move that trough thing in front of the doors.”

  “Jack, you don't believe—”

  “Come on, Mason, just do it, please,” Jack urges. The glowing green eyes haunt Jack. He knows Amy is telling the truth.

  The boys struggle with the heavy object.

  “Oh, that's cute. Look, a broken candle, a chef's hat, and an apron.” Scotty is pointing at the three objects gathered in a corner of the room. “Three men in a tub—just like the nursery rhyme.”

  Jack observes Scotty's excitement and considers that all those years of reading fables are finally paying off.

  Finally, the wooden trough is heaved in front of the door.

  “That thing's a lot heavier than it looks,” gasps Jack.

  “Happy now, Amy? No wolf can get in here,” says Mason, thick with irritation.

  Jack, panting from the exertion, decides it's time for some clarity. Calmly, in as pleasant a voice as he can muster, he asks, “So what happened?”

  Amy tells them about leaving the cart, entering the ride, and her run-in with the wolf. Mason's frustration with Amy spills out, and he says, “The wolf? Are you really sticking to that story?” Mason's voice drips with disbelief.

  Jack sees red flush on Amy's face as she answers him, “Mason, he was real. He attacked me and said he wanted to get me. I thought it was just some dude in a costume, but when he opened his mouth, those terrible fangs—”

  “He said? The wolf spoke to you? Oh, Amy, you're killing me.” Raising his pointer finger to his he
ad, Mason spins it, insinuating Amy is cuckoo.

  “You have to believe me!”

  “Sis, you do have to realize this is a little hard to swallow.”

  “Oh great. My own brother thinks I'm delusional.”

  “Remember when you broke my Barbie doll in two, Mason?”

  “What does that have to do with anything?”

  “Everything! You know what, Mason? I have no clue what my brother sees in you andwhy he follows you around like a puppy dog. For that matter, I have no idea what anyone sees in you. You're a selfish, arrogant snot who thinks he can bully whoever he chooses because his dad's a rich lawyer.”

  Jack intercedes by saying, “Amy, this is not helping.”

  “And what is it with you, Jack? Just because Mason steps out of the cart, you go running to him. You guys are the whole reason we are in this mess in the first place, and now I sit here and tell you what happened, and you all have the gall to think I am lying?”

  “Amy, I believe you,” says Jack, trying to relax her.

  Mason throws his hands up in the air in disbelief. “Oh come on!”

  “Mason, obviously something happened. Look at her. She's freaked out about something.”

  Even though Jack had seen the eyes, something in his head tells him not to mention it. Mason and Scotty would think he was loony if he told them.

  “Mason,” Scotty says and then carefully clears his throat. “My sister is not crazy. She would not be this upset. Jack's right, she had to have seen something.”

  The words of Jack and Scotty seem to have a calming effect on Mason.

  “Okay, I'm sorry. Maybe you did see something, but I still don't believe you saw a wolf. Some dude in a really good costume, maybe, but not a wolf.”