“Yes,” said AJ. “There was no actual sacrifice. The fishing boats would just plummet into a large hole, supposedly into Hell.”
“I can feel us climbing,” said Greg. “I think we’re going up a hill.”
AJ listened to the gentle clack-clacking. “We’re on a chain-lift. The sacrificial chamber is at the top.”
“It’s getting windy,” said Tasha.
“I can see something up ahead,” said Ashley.
To AJ’s relief, his vision started to return. His inherited blindness wasn’t something that should just keep coming and going like this, and he wondered if it was actually blood loss or brain damage. Was death closing in on him?
Ahead of the boat, a rectangle of light grew and grew. The final cavern was coming into view.
AJ’s mind turned to Sam. Would he find her here?
“YOU HAVE PREVAILED AGAINST THE ELEMENTS, MORTALS. WELCOME TO MY CHAMBER.”
Everyone jolted at the sudden booming voice, but it soon became apparent that it was Woden’s recorded welcome. It had a slightly stilted delivery that gave away its pre-rehearsed quality.
The boat levelled out at the top of the hill and then entered a chamber larger than all that had come before. AJ knew that it took up the entire upper floor of Frenzy. It was impressive. Even in 2019, it was impressive.
“This was all part of the original ride?” Greg asked. “This must have cost a fortune.”
“Like I said” – wearily, AJ looked up at the high engraved ceilings – “it was the… the last roll of the… dice.”
Woden’s face glared down at them again, as it had done in the lower chamber, but this time it was even more colossal. A giant head from a being tall enough to hold up the sky. It was also more real than the one before. The man-made facade of plaster and cheap stone had somehow transformed into flesh and sinewy vines.
Fire burned all around them, close enough to bathe the fishing boat in an uncomfortable heat, but the majority of the inferno was ahead. A crucible of flame growing from out of the river. A whirlpool of fiery death.
Tasha brushed her dreads back off her forehead and started panting. “So this is where we die, huh?”
“Not dying,” said AJ, although he wasn’t sure whether to include himself in that. He felt sleepy and cold, despite the fire and excitement. His stump was no longer bleeding, and he could no longer feel his pulse beating through it. Even the exposed bone seemed to have lost colour. It had gone from grey-white to an almost translucent colour.
Blood streaked Ashley face, making her look like a Celtic warrior. Only the fear on her face broke he illusion. “W-What happens now?”
“We save Samantha and get out of here,” said Greg. “Look!” He pointed to one side, to a gap in the fire. There, standing on a raised platform, stood the druid from the very first room. The withered old man held Samantha in his arms, unconscious, ready to throw her into the fire.
“THIS IS MY DOMAIN AND NO ONE MAY ESCAPE IT. SACRIFICE YOUR LIVES TO ME WILLINGLY AND YOUR FAMILIES SHALL SURVIVE. REFUSE, AND ONLY DEATH WILL COME TO YOUR HOMELAND.”
AJ couldn’t take his eyes off Samantha. She was right there, only metres away. Maybe he could get to her.
Ashley gripped the lap bar. “This is all still part of the ride, right?”
“No” said AJ, he was having to concentrate hard to get his words out. His tongue felt too big in his mouth, like a slab of cold fish. “It’s like… like something has taken over the ride, brought it to life. I don’t, I don’t… I don’t think this has anything to do with… Donal McCann. He thought the ride was blasphemous. Wanted to destroy it, not control it. It… It feels like his spirit is trapped here. Not in charge of what’s happening.”
“He’s just hanging around the place dressed as a giant snake then?” said Greg. “There’s a perfectly rational explanation for that, I’m sure.”
“Not one I can think of,” said Tasha.
The boat came to an abrupt stop. The fire flared all around them, increasing the heat in the chamber. Ahead, the crucible of fire spread out, revealing a massive sinkhole in the water. Woden’s giant visage began to laugh.
“WELCOME TO AN ETERNITY IN MY GROVE.”
The rear of the boat began to rise up, tipping them forward against the lap restraints. The massive whirlpool beckoned them.
“We’re going to fall in,” cried Ashley.
“No,” said AJ. “Not yet.”
The hole opened wider. The boat tilted at a forty-five degree angle, perched right against it. They began to creep forward. Falling. But then they stopped.
“ARE THERE ANY AMONG YOU PREPARED TO SACRIFICE YOURSELVES? OR WILL YOU ALL DIE AS COWARDS?”
“What do we do?” Greg asked.
AJ struggled to hold his head up and it ended up flopping about left and right. “Nothing. At the bottom is the exit room. It’s our… way out.”
“Unless it’s sealed up. You think this place is just going to let us walk out of here?”
“No, I don’t. Not unless we figure out what it wants from us.”
The boat jolted forward, and it looked like they were about to go down the hole and finish the ride. A whoosh of air hit them in the face, and something clunked. AJ saw a metal pole spring up beside the boat and lock into place. It was the manual brake. Something had engaged it and trapped the boat in place. Keeping them there.
The ride wasn’t finished with them yet.
A man appeared in the flames suddenly to their right. He was badly burnt and reached out to them as if begging for their help. “They said I burned them.” He spoke with a cracked and ruined voice. “They said I killed them all.”
It was hard to see the man’s features through the bubbling flesh, but AJ knew who he was looking at. He could almost feel who this man was. “Donal McCann?”
“I never meant to hurt anyone,” he said. “This place is evil. I needed to destroy it. I brought the petrol, ready to burn it to the ground. I hid it all in this room. I was going to come back at night. I never meant for them to burn. It wasn’t me. It wasn’t me! They don’t know the truth.”
The flames rose all around, licking at the cavernous ceiling. Figures appeared on either side of the boat, shimmering spirits howling in silent agony. The other people who died there.
“It was the boy,” said Donal’s spirit. “The boy killed us all.”
The spirits howled even louder. Then they scattered to the edges of the room as a new spirit entered the flames. It was the young boy who had helped AJ earlier. This time, he didn’t seem like an innocent victim. He was a twisted spiral of hate and malice. Evil. A vile odour filled the cavern, and when he blinked, he blinked with the vertical eyelids of a snake.
“It was Billy Scott,” said AJ in shock, some of his sleepiness scattering. “H-He was the one who set the fire. D-Donal McCann was innocent.”
Greg frowned at AJ. “What are you talking about?”
“Can’t you see? Don’t you see him?”
“See who? All I see is a shitload of a fire, a massive stone head, and a big bloody hole…”
“The boy,” said AJ. He stared at Billy Scott in the flames. The boy hissed, a forked tongue slithering between his lips. “You don’t see him?”
“I don’t see anyone,” said Greg.
“Me neither,” said both girls.
AJ blinked, rubbed at his eyes, then looked back into the flames. Billy Scott was still there, glaring like an embodiment of hatred. All of the other spirits were still present, but they cowered at the edges of the room. The druid figure moved towards the hole with Samantha.
AJ threw out an arm. “No! Sam!”
“We have to get her,” said Greg. “He’s going to throw her down the hole.”
“Why?” asked Ashley. “Why?”
AJ managed to tumble out of the boat and make it onto the platform. The heat chewed at his flesh, and he thought he would have no choice but to retreat, unable to bear the agony, but then his body adjusted and the pain became
less extreme. Sweat burst from his pores. “S-Sam!”
Greg leapt out of the boat behind AJ, shielding his face with his arm. “Jesus. I’m boiling alive.”
“Greg! Get back in the boat.”
“No way. You’re too weak. I need to help Sam.”
AJ felt the weakness in his own legs and couldn’t argue. Samantha needed rescuing, and AJ couldn’t do it alone. “Come on. Quick!”
They raced along the edge of the platform, heading towards the mechanically moving druid. It was clear that the figure wasn’t actually alive. It was an animatronic being wielded by a supernatural force. A tool of evil.
Donal McCann appeared in their path and blocked them. “No! You can’t die here. The old one, he needs more souls. You must not die in this chamber.”
AJ paused and asked, “Why?” Greg looked back at him confused. He still couldn’t see the spirits.
Donal’s spirit flickered like a grainy VHS. “You can’t die in Woden’s chamber. He can have no more offerings. If Billy offers more innocent lives to the old one, he will break free of this place and spread his evil across the land like a plague.”
Greg looked at AJ. “Why did you stop?”
“Th-The spirits. They’re trapped here. Killed as offerings to Woden. Billy Scott wants to sacrifice us too.”
“What? I don’t understand.”
“This place…” said Donal. “It’s a temple to the old god, built by fools who didn’t know any better. They used his image without knowing its power. The evil called out to all those who entered, hoping to find a soul dark enough to obey its commands.”
AJ swallowed a lump in his throat. “Billy Scott.”
“It spoke to the boy. Told him to light the match. The boy is Woden’s servant. He can’t be allowed to offer more lives.”
Greg shoved AJ. “Come on! Sam needs us.”
AJ wanted to stay and learn more from Donal, but Sam had no time left. She was stirring in the druid’s arms, but he was right at the edge of the platform now, about to throw her in. She had no idea she was about to die.
AJ knew he couldn’t climb the platform in time. He could barely stand. He put his hand on Greg’s back and pushed. “Go! Save her.”
Greg patted AJ’s arm and then took off like a rocket. It was a miracle he had any strength left, but Greg didn’t stop until his muscles were about to burst.
AJ shambled forward, every step a challenge, and he watched Greg hurtle up the incline, rushing towards the druid. It was unclear whether he would make it in time.
“Come on, Greg! Faster.”
Greg blew out his cheeks and picked up speed. He made it to the top of the platform right as the druid stopped at the edge. There was only a split second to act, but he was right there. Right there, about to reach out and—
“Feel the burn, you son-of-a-bitch.”
The druid spun around and dropped Sam on the ground. Greg was moving too quickly to stop, so he dropped his shoulder and prepared for a collision. He was going to barge the animatronic villain right off the ledge and into the flames.
The druid stepped jerkily, and quickly, to the left — a stiff-jointed matador avoiding a charging bull. Greg rushed right on by, colliding with nothing but air.
What happened next happened in slow motion. AJ felt himself yelling, but he knew there was nothing he could do. Unable to stop, Greg hurtled off the edge of the platform. He seemed to run across the thin air for a moment, like a cartoon animal, but then he fell. His large, perfectly honed body disappeared into the fiery chasm and, just like that, he was gone.
Ashley stood up in the boat and screamed Greg’s name. AJ fell to his knees, struck in the guts by the sight of his friend falling to his death. Another friend dead.
The entire cavern rumbled. The massive Woden head vibrated and pulsed. It seemed to grow more real – a mirage becoming solid.
To the sound of everyone yelling out in anguish, Sam finally woke up. She was lying on her side, but she rose up on one elbow to look down at them.
The druid watched her from behind.
AJ stumbled forward, knowing he could never reach her in time but unwilling not to try. Sam saw him, confusion in her eyes. “AJ? AJ, what’s happening.”
AJ felt his body shutting off. His vision began to darken. Once again, Sam was unaware of the danger behind her, and he was standing there, powerless to help.
Sam must have sensed the druid behind her because she turned and saw it. “Oh! Oh, God. AJ, help!”
AJ made it to the edge of the platform, looking up at the sheer edge, wishing he could leap ten feet and get to her before the druid caught her and shoved her to her death.
There was only one thing that could save her.
“Y-You have to jump.”
“What?”
AJ stumbled, his vision growing worse. He opened up his arms. “Jump, Sam. Jump now. I’ll catch you.”
The druid reached down and grabbed her ponytail. It started dragging her backwards. She scrabbled to get to her feet, but she was off balance and unable to get up. The druid dragged her to the edge of the platform.
“No!” AJ was too weak to move. Calling out took the last of his breath.
Behind him, Ashley and Tasha screamed. He glanced back and saw the serpent rising up behind them – Billy’s twisted visage. He was about to watch the last of his friends die.
Sam yowled as the druid continued to drag her, but then she fell back down on her haunches as something else appeared on the platform.
Donal McCann appeared and grabbed the druid figure. It released Sam as it was unexpectedly yanked backwards, and she managed to scurry away. It was only a minor reprieve, however, as the possessed animatronic speared its entire arm through Donal’s ethereal torso. He might have been a ghost, but the poor man wailed in pain. Then dissipated into nothingness.
The druid turned back to Sam.
Sam scrambled to the edge of the platform. She took only one breath before throwing herself off.
AJ’s vision swirled. He opened up his body and prayed. Not to Woden, but to the God he had always known. The God who had replaced ancient evils like Woden.
A sudden, massive weight struck AJ. His lungs flattened, and the wind escaped him as he was crushed against the unyielding ground. He lay there for a second, checking if anything hurt. Everything did, but that wasn’t his concern. He felt a body in his arms. “Sam? Sam, are you okay?”
“AJ? I want to go home.”
He nodded. “Don’t worry. You’re going home right now.”
Somehow, AJ found the strength to get up. He pulled Sam next to him and bundled her towards the boat. The serpent still rose up from the river, but it was yet to attack. Perhaps it had been waiting for Sam’s death that had never arrived. It was staring at AJ with utter hatred in its eyes. “Fuck you, Billy.”
The snake lashed out, and AJ shoved Sam into the boat. Tasha and Ashley grabbed her and pulled her to safety.
AJ was too weak to move, which was why the serpent was able to clamp its jaws around his shoulder. He felt the stabbing of white-hot fangs, but he didn’t care. He only cared about the three people in the boat.
AJ still had his feet on the ground, and he pushed in the direction of the river. His body rattled like a weightless doll as the serpent thrashed, tossing him this way and that. His friends tried to grab him and pull him onboard, but it was useless.
Sam reached out furthest, managing to touch his cheek. “AJ! AJ, please!”
He turned his head and managed to smile. “Go home, Sam.”
Using the last ounces of his strength, AJ kicked out a leg and managed to hit the manual brake on the tracks. There was a screeching grind of metal and the boat crept forward. Just an inch at first, but then it gathered speed like a rolling stone, gliding along the tracks towards the gaping hole.
Sam tried to grab hold of AJ, but the serpent was already yanking him away. The screams of his friends faded as they plummeted down the final, long drop, just as the ride makers
would have originally wanted. AJ looked up at the serpent, at the beast that was really a wicked, undead child loyal to the ancient god Woden.
I doubt the ride makers intended this.
Chapter Twenty-Four
AJ collapsed to the floor, the last of his blood draining out of him. It congealed against the stone as the flames curdled it. The spirits of the place watched him fearfully, but they didn’t help.
The druid clomped towards him, making no effort to rush. Why would it? AJ was done for. He would be dead any moment with or without their help.
The serpent recoiled and shrank until it was once again a small boy. Somehow, the child was more terrifying than the snake.
AJ tried to get up, but he stumbled and fell. There was a hole in his shoulder and it stopped him from working, like shoving a spike into the spokes of a gear.
“You’re god is dead, you idiot. You threw people’s lives away for nothing.”
Billy said nothing. He just stared with those hate-filled eyes.
“You’ll stay trapped here forever. My friends are gone. They escaped you.”
Billy stopped approaching. A malicious smirk crept onto his lips and he hissed. “I only need one. One more offering to break the bonds that bind us.”
AJ’s heart stopped in his chest. The pain seized him, but terror kept him alert. He tried to put things together, and all he could think of was that Billy needed to kill a certain number of innocent people. When Ben had died, the icy tundra became real. When Greg had died, the cavern shook and Woden’s visage came closer to reality. Would one more death be enough to free the evil god forever? Would AJ’s death doom the world?
The cavern rumbled again, and the stone beneath AJ’s knees changed. Grass and sinewy weeds began to burst forth and take root. Vines dangled from the ceiling. Bats flittered back and forth.
Billy grinned from ear to ear, his mouth filled with sharp dagger-like teeth. “Behold the return of the god of the forest. Soon he shall go forth and remove mankind’s stain upon the grove. Nature shall reclaim this earth.”
AJ couldn’t be responsible for the end of civilisation. He couldn’t allow his murder to be the catalyst for extinction.
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