“Th-They’re all gone,” said AJ wearily. The exertion had drained him. “I promise.”
Tasha slapped Greg’s arm, and then showed him a black mess in her palm. “Okay, now they’re all gone.”
Ashley made for the door. “Come on then, let’s get—” More spiders erupted from the cracked wood, an endless supply. She leapt back and rejoined the others.
“Okay, okay,” said Greg, talking to the ceiling. “We get it, we’re not supposed to leave. No more spiders, okay?” He around, as if talking directly with the ride. After a moment, when it was clear the walls wouldn’t suddenly speak back to him, he turned to AJ. “Before we go back into the ride, let’s just cover our bases. We’ve been attacked by rats, a giant snake, and a pack of wolves. D’you want to give us an idea of what to expect next?”
“All I know,” said AJ slowly, “is that it’s a frozen landscape. One of the lifeless plains we fishermen must journey through in order to prove ourselves worthy of Woden’s favour.”
“So it won’t be a spot of ice skating then?” said Tasha.
“Afraid not. Are we ready to do this?”
Everyone nodded, so AJ gripped the handle to the ride’s exit and prepared to open it. Greg gripped the edge to help, and together they yanked the exit open. Dust and dirt fell away, and the steel frame dragged along the ground. Screeeeech!
“Easier than the last door,” said AJ.
“Maybe that’s because the ride wants us back in,” said Ashley. “Are we sure we want to be doing this? Maybe we should try and find another way out again.”
“No more spiders,” said Greg.
AJ felt in his gut that trying to escape would be wrong. “What if Sam is still in here?” he said. “We make it to the end of the ride and we can go out through the exit platform. We stay in this corridor and who knows what we’ll find.”
“Spiders,” said Greg.
“Yeah,” said AJ, “spiders.”
“We agreed to go through with this,” said Greg. “Let’s just stick to the plan. I’ll protect you, Ash, I promise.”
Ashley folded her arms, but she nodded. “I trust you.”
They opened the door fully, and an icy blast hit them all in the face. Greg, wearing a workout vest, began shivering immediately. “They really worked hard to set the scene, didn’t they?”
They entered an icy tundra that could have been sliced from the artic itself. Although Frenzy had been notable for its realism, AJ suspected this was something else. The air chilled in front of their mouths, and the floor was slippery. This wasn’t mere ride theming. It was make-believe becoming reality.
A campfire lay ahead, near the river, but it was unlit. A group of people lay around it, frozen solid. AJ noticed, with disgust, that some of the people had been butchered for food. Great slabs of human meat hung on wooden spits above the burnt-out campfire. The smell of it lingered in the icy air.
“Those…” Tasha covered her mouth. “Those look like dead bodies.”
“This place is getting more real,” said AJ. “Somehow, it’s becoming real.”
“I feel like we’re falling into Hell,” Ashley mumbled through a hand across her mouth. Her ankle no longer seemed to trouble her at all. She hobbled along at a speed not far off walking. Fear was a great analgesic.
“So let’s start climbing our way out,” said AJ. “Look over there.”
The fishing boat awaited them. Its side door was open, beckoning them to climb inside.
“I can’t even work out what a bad idea is any more,” said Tasha. “Once we get back in that boat, we’re going to be helpless.”
“We’ve been helpless this whole time,” said Greg.
“I’ll go first.” AJ trod carefully on the ice, being careful not to slip. He knew once he climbed inside the boat that there would be no turning back. He knew what was coming next. And he was willing to die so that his friends didn’t have to.
Chapter Twenty-Two
The lap bar lowered back into place and AJ realised that the soft padding of the cushions had changed. It was no longer black plastic over plump filling, it was flesh. Soft, warm flesh. The others hadn’t seemed to have noticed, and he didn’t alert them to it, but all the same, it filled him with dread. The ride had been changing ever since they’d first stepped inside. Ever since the druid statue had come to life.
The air brakes hissed and the fishing boat jolted. Rather than shoot forward, they floated steadily, moving away from the icy tundra and towards a deep black tunnel ahead. Steam erupted from somewhere inside the tunnel entrance, causing droplets of water to dribble from the top of the opening.
“I always dreamed of taking my kids to a theme park,” said AJ. “I thought my life would go differently.”
“Yeah, well,” said Greg. “Life isn’t always what we choose.”
“Tell me about it,” said Ashley.
Tasha tutted at them all. “Seriously, guys. We can re-evaluate our lives later. I’m just focusing on staying alive. Or dying quickly.”
The fishing boat entered the darkness of the tunnel.
But it was not all dark.
They passed by a featureless embankment lit only by the soft white glow of the people standing there. AJ quickly counted them and saw eight. Eight people bathed in light steadily floating by. He saw a man in a denim jacket standing on his own. He saw a teenaged couple leaning against one another. They all looked so sad. They all watched without doing or saying anything.
They just watched.
“It’s the people who died here,” said AJ.
Greg frowned at him.
With a lizard-like hiss, the ghosts scattered. There was a faintly audible residue of sound, like faraway screaming.
“What’s happening?” Greg asked frantically.
AJ shook his head. “I don’t know.”
The water exploded, and by now they all knew what to expect. The serpent broke free of the water and thrashed its head about. It whipped at the fishing boat and everyone ducked.
“Why is this thing trying to kill us?” Ashley cowered in the footwell. “We’re riding, aren’t we? Isn’t that what we’re supposed to do? It doesn’t make any sense.”
“What the hell is it?” Greg asked.
“It’s not part of the original ride,” said AJ. “It’s not part of Frenzy.”
“Then what?”
“It’s Donal McCann,” said Tasha. “If it’s not part of the original ride, then it’s something else that came to rest here. It’s Donal’s spirit. His evil spirit.”
Greg swore. “You’re just making shit up.”
“No!” said AJ. “I think she’s right. We just saw the eight innocent victims, but Donal was number nine. The spirits scattered as soon as the snake appeared. It’s Donal. They’re afraid of him.”
The snake hissed and threw up more water.
“Please, make it stop,” Ashley begged.
Greg rose up and placed himself across her. “It’s okay. I got you.”
The snake struck again. Everyone ducked, but AJ took a knock on the side of the head that sent him dizzy. If it wasn’t for the lap restraint, he might’ve fallen out of the boat.
Greg swore again. “Why is it attacking?”
“Because Donal McCann was a psychopath,” said Tasha. “People don’t get better when they’re dead. Once a nutcase, always a nutcase.”
The snake rose again, fangs piercings the shadows, each one the length of a forearm. AJ knew that one bite could kill any one of them. He couldn’t let that happen.
“Donal! Donal, you will not harm these people.”
The snake reared back, hissed, but didn’t strike. It seemed to study AJ curiously. Was it really Donal?
“Donal McCann, let us go in peace.”
Greg grunted. “Really? Your plan is to ask the snake nicely not to eat us?”
But the snake wasn’t attacking. It was still studying AJ, seeming to contemplate the situation.
“Donal, we are sorry for disturb
ing you. We wish only to leave.”
“It’s working,” said Ashley. “It’s not attack—”
The serpent struck the boat and almost managed to lift it off the hidden tracks beneath the water. Everyone barely held on, gripping the lap bar for dear life.
“Fuck sake,” said Greg. “We need another plan.”
“That was all I had,” said AJ.
The boat rocked back and forth, still reeling from the hit, but it continued along the river. Somehow, despite the lack of light, AJ felt his eyes blur. His vision was betraying him again.
But right now, he didn’t need it.
He forced the lap restraint upwards, pushing with his one hand so hard that either his arm would break or the bar would yield. The bar submitted first. Like a muscle tearing, the bar gave way suddenly, springing upwards and becoming loose.
AJ stood.
Greg tried to grab him. “What the hell are you doing, man?”
“Fighting my retirement match.” He leapt from the side of the boat, hoping to make it to whatever platform the ghosts had been standing on. For a moment it felt like he would never find solid ground again. He was just floating through the darkness.
Then he struck something hard. His knees thudded down but at the wrong angle. His body slumped over the edge of some kind of concrete platform with his legs dangling in the river. Although it had been impossible to judge in the dark, he hadn’t jumped far enough. Now he was losing his grip, in danger of sinking backwards into the water. He only had one hand with which to hold on, so he dug in with his elbows.
It still wasn’t enough.
The serpent could have attacked him, but it had gone silent. The thrashing in the water had stopped.
“AJ,” Greg shouted. “AJ, man, I can hardly see you. Are you okay?”
“I… Yeah, I’m… I’m slip—” His words died in his throat as a heart-stopping chill came over him. The darkness lit around him, and all of a sudden he could see clearly. The shadows departed to reveal the image of a young boy. The same young boy who had stood holding hands with his father on the platform only minutes ago.
This is it. This is the moment I die. In a dark ride, abandoned and forgotten. Another grizzly footnote in Frenzy’s history.
The boy looked down at AJ. He looked so sad. The kind of sad that made AJ’s eyes well up for no discernible reason. The only feeling he could describe was tragic.
This boy was tragedy.
It made AJ think of all the beaming kids in the crowd at his wrestling matches. Every night he had put his body on the line for them – for the kids. He risked his health to see young people smiling. Enjoying themselves. Erasing the pain of the childhood he never had himself. This child had never had a childhood either.
The boy offered a tiny hand to AJ. If AJ took it, he would have to lift his good hand from the concrete. He would lose the only thing anchoring him in place.
Greg called out again. So did the others in the boat. “AJ? Are you okay?”
AJ ignored them. He let go of the concrete and threw out his hand. His palm connected with the child’s icy flesh and he felt his heart stop in his chest. For a brief moment he was in agony, like his ribcage was about to burst open, but then he was flying through the air, yanked upwards by a monumental force.
He returned to earth softly, as if he were a feather on the wind. He turned to the boy and smiled. “You’re Billy Scott?”
The boy nodded. A grin crept across his face.
Then he changed.
The child tiny body erupted, the frail body giving way to a growing serpent. With a hiss, it struck at AJ, but he managed to throw himself forward into a roll as if ducking a lariat in the ring. He instantly twisted back to face the other way.
Seeing the small boy’s form possessed and perverted in this way filled AJ with anger. Even now, in the afterlife, Billy Scott was being tortured. “Leave him alone, you bastard. He’s nine years old. Nine years old, and you took his life away from him. Adults are supposed to look after children, not hurt them. Children are supposed to play and learn and never worry about anything.” AJ was filled with a rage he had never felt before, not even in the ring when pricks like Tractor got on his last nerve. He leapt up and dropkicked the serpent, planting both feet firmly into its flank. The serpent roared, not out of pain, for it was thick and monstrous, but in anger. Anger at having been assaulted by something so tiny and inconsequential. But ‘Bright Lights’ AJ Star had made a career out of being the underdog. He’d beaten monsters before, and he would do it again. He was Hulk Hogan body slamming Andre the Giant. He was Rey Mysterio Jr taking on Kevin Nash.
No, I’m just a guy trying to keep his friends alive.
That’s enough.
The fishing boat was still bobbing along the river, barely visible in the shadows. AJ wasn’t sure how much longer it had to go until it made it out of the darkness, but he thought he could see a pair of flaming torches in the distance maybe thirty metres away. He wished it was thirty centimetres.
AJ returned his focus to the serpent, wheeling around and sidestepping. The snake was large and cumbersome. While it fought to keep AJ in its sights, it had to constantly whip itself around. While it was tracking him, it couldn’t strike. All the while, AJ’s friends continued bobbing towards those distant torches – towards safety.
“That’s it, Damien,” he said, recalling the name of Jake the Snake’s pet. “Keep your beady eyes on me.”
The giant snake struck, but it was nowhere near the mark as AJ skipped aside easily. His vision was failing, and the serpent appeared to him only as a blur, but that somehow helped. With no ability to focus on detail, AJ could make out the only thing he needed to focus on, which was getting away from the milky-skinned abomination trying to devour him.
The fishing boat was halfway to safety.
Just a little longer.
AJ dodged again. The serpent whipped itself horizontally and almost took his head off, but he lay flat, as though he had just Irish-whipped an opponent against the ropes. He quickly hopped up and did a cartwheel, bringing himself right up alongside the beast’s thick trunk. Out of instinct, he threw a punch, but his fist thudded harmlessly against the rubbery flesh. It succeeded in angering his enemy though, and the serpent lashed out unexpectedly, twisting around like a coiled rope.
AJ tried to spring aside but found himself surrounded by slithery flesh. The serpent’s body tightened around him like a noose. AJ bellowed as his body closed in on itself, crushed by the giant constricting serpent. He felt his injured shoulder finally disintegrate into bone fragments and torn muscle. The pain reached a point where it was almost spiritual, like his soul itself was screaming.
The serpent lowered its head to within biting distance of AJ’s face. Its burning eyes were full of malevolence, the kind of hatred that came from years of being twisted and tormented. At that moment, AJ knew he was looking into the eyes of Donal McCann. Somehow, his twisted soul had remained inside this ride.
“Why did you kill all those people? Children, teenagers? You couldn’t have truly thought you were doing God’s work.”
There was a flicker of recognition in the serpent’s eyes. The words had gone in, caused a reaction. AJ realised he had been fighting this thing as a ‘face’, dodging and diving to avoid its crushing blows, but that had been the wrong strategy. He wanted to get away from this thing, not fight it, but heroes never ran. Villains retreated.
AJ summoned the ‘heel’ persona he had honed during his years in the ring. His expression fell into a cocky smirk. All self-doubt drifted away. He shoved his thumb into the serpent’s eye, trying to pop it like a pus-filled blister.
The serpent recoiled, unwittingly lengthening its body and allowing AJ to slip out of its grasp. He crumpled to the ground, his entire body broken, bones no longer working in synergy, organs no longer functioning – but he was able to run. And that was all he needed.
In the darkness, AJ spotted a grey blur of shadow – his friends on the fishin
g boat. They were right at the end of the tunnel, yelling out for him but unable to see him. The light of the flaming torches illuminated their terrified faces. Even Greg looked defeated – not just a blubbering mess, but a ruined man. A man without hope.
AJ pumped his legs, putting every last ounce of remaining energy into his thighs. He heard the snake screeching behind him – felt the ground shake.
It was coming for him.
The serpent was ready to devour him.
AJ made it to the end of the platform and leapt. The rush of hot air at his back could only have been from the serpent’s snapping jaws. Once again, he was weightless, floating through the darkness towards a small cone of light around his friends.
They were the light in his darkness.
His friends.
Chapter Twenty-Three
AJ hit the boat awkwardly, knocking heads with Greg. It was such a minor pain compared to the pain in the rest of his body that it barely even registered, and Greg wasn’t upset either. He gathered AJ to the safety of the bench beside him, and started grabbing at him desperately. “AJ! Shit, you’re okay. I thought that thing—”
“Get down,” Tasha shouted.
The serpent sliced its fangs right across the top of the boat. Everyone threw themselves down.
Then they were away. Into the darkness of the tunnel. Away from the serpent and its pitch-black lair.
“There’s light,” said Tasha. “Thank God.”
AJ remained in darkness though. “I can’t see,” he said. “My eyes.”
Nobody said anything. It was a statement that had no obvious reply. Greg changed the subject. “Are we heading to the last room now?”
AJ nodded. “Woden’s sacrificial chamber. It’s where Donal McCann set the fire. It’s where Woden will demand a sacrifice to save the lands from famine.”
“What sacrifice?” asked Ashley.
“The lives of the fishermen brave enough to reach the sacrificial chamber.”
“That would be us,” said Greg.
Ashley chuckled nervously. “But it’s just pretend, right? I mean, this whole thing is the story of the ride.”
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