I used to love roller coasters until a year ago.
Me and my friend, Gemma, decided to visit an amusement park together during a weekend. A long, tiring week of senior year had made us both drained mentally and physically, and this trip could really freshen us up.
On Sunday, we both got into Gemma’s car and drove thirty minutes until the rides and rollercoasters could be seen and heard, and the delicious smell of popcorn, cotton candy and fast food filled our nostrils.
We were both pretty excited, so we grabbed our bags and keys, jumped out of the car and practically run-walked towards the entrance. We paid for the tickets and smiled at each other.
“Where do you wanna go first?” Gemma asked, her dirty blond hair hidden under her blue cap.
“I don’t know,” I answered truthfully, looking around and admiring everything. Whoever built this place really did their best. It was crowded, and there were games, food stalls and attractions all over the place.
“Maybe we should try the Sky-Screamer?” she asked, a mischievous smile spreading across her face.
“Let’s go,” I began walking towards the direction of the giant beast. There were already people on the ride, screaming and laughing, some even holding their phones even though they were a few hundred feet in the air.
While waiting in line, which took approximately 20 minutes, me and Gemma got ice-cream and talked about school, boys and other 17-year-old girl things. Gemma told me about her boyfriend, which I found annoying since I didn’t have one myself.
Anyway, we tried the ride and it was great. The air hitting us as we were spinning round and round a few hundred feet off the ground was amazing; I could see everyone and everything and even took a few photos.
After that, I suggested we try a roller coaster. “Obviously,” Gemma had replied. “What kind of trip would it be without a rollercoaster?”
We went for a very tall roller coaster. My friend told me, in an annoyed voice, that it was called a mega coaster. Honestly, I was kind of shitting myself because the ride was probably between 150-200 feet in the air.
We waited in line for almost an hour. People in line were annoying, but what could we do? We talked and played games on our phones while occasionally glancing up to see people’s reactions as the coaster threw them down towards the ground. The terrified look on their faces made my stomach drop.
Once it was finally me and Gemma’s turn, I began feeling queasy. Pre-ride stress, Gemma told me. But, seriously, I felt like I was going to piss my pants - the ride was so tall.
Once me and Gemma took our seats and an attendant strapped us in, I looked at her face, trying to see if she felt uneasy, too. It seems like she did, as her face was pale and her eyes wide.
I laughed through the nerves. “It’s going to be fine,” I assured her, trying to convince myself. “…Right?”
Gemma swallowed as looking back at the line, and now I noticed a scared look on her face.
“…I’m having second thoughts,” she chuckled nervously. “It’s… really tall.”
I nodded just as the attendant pressed the button and the coaster lurched forward. There were no screams or cries before the ride began as it was only adults.
The roller coaster made its way to the top slowly, and as we’re going up, Gemma grabs my hand, looking at me like she’d seen a ghost.
“It’s okay,” I whispered at her just as we were at the top. For a moment the coaster stopped, just a brief moment before the ride would go down. I looked down - big mistake. It’s as if we were standing on the Grand Canyon; Everyone looked tiny and so did all the other rides. I felt like I was in the clouds.
I closed my eyes and braced myself for impact. One, two…
Nothing happened.
I opened my eyes and looked at my friend. She stared right back.
“What the fuck?” she whispered, her hand clutching mine tightly. She looked down and her eyes just got wider and her face paler. “Why aren’t we going?”
I looked back at the people behind us and they all seemed fine, just normal people waiting for the ride to actually start.
As me and Gemma were almost at the very front of the coaster, we were very high up. I looked up at the darkening sky, clouds covering the sun.
For a moment I closed my eyes, and when I opened them again, the sky had changed. I couldn’t feel Gemma’s hand anymore.
Panic settling in, I looked around, but all I could see was myself in a tiny roller coaster, held down by a single metal belt, my hands pale and shaking as I grab the railing. My throat closes in as I look down, and it really fucking feels like I’m at the top of the world and I’m about to fall.
My stomach drops and I feel like vomiting. My heart races, but nothing happens. I don’t go down. Nobody screams.
There is nothing but silence and gloominess around me.
I look at the sky again, just to get my attention off the incredible distance between me and the ground. I regret getting on here. My brain screams, Off! Off! Off!
As I’m staring at the sky in pure fear, I notice a tiny speck of red, just a little dot. The ride lurches beneath me suddenly and I jump, giving a little gasp.
The ride is escalating still, and I’m holding on for dear life on both sides of the railing, trying to contain myself and figure out what the fuck is happening and why the fuck everyone else disappeared.
As I go up, feeling tears in my eyes, the red speck gets larger and larger until eventually, it is just a dark space in the air. I see clouds around me, and can’t even see the ground anymore. My heart shakes and I sob out loud.
The red space gets bigger and clearer. I see fire, lava, everywhere. The ground, made of tiny, sharp, burning rocks is being walked on by lots of people. They look like skeletons, but they’re burning. They’re crying and making sounds like an animal in desperation.
I tell myself, This is just a dream, Sydney. Close your eyes, it will be okay.
But my eyes won’t close, no matter how hard I try. I watch the people as they run around, trying to avoid being burnt, but they can’t. Lava is everywhere. So are the large bloodhounds. They’re chasing the burnt skeletons, growling and spitting after them.
And, finally, at the side, near a lava-fall, he stands, alone and enjoying the scene - Satan himself. He holds nothing in his hands, but stands bare-chested on the burnt rocks, staring right at me. My heart leaps and for a second I believe that I’m dead.
Satan looks at me and his eyes are scary, really fucking scary, and I can’t look away physically, so he stares and stares and I let him. A sinister smile spreads across his face, making him look like a creepy-pasta monster.
The sounds of lava and wailing people, screaming in utter agony whether they’re being eaten alive, burned alive, or beaten alive by demons, fills the air. It overwhelms my ears and everything goes dark.
The ride lurches beneath me once again, and I feel Gemma’s hand again, and we’re plummeting towards the ground in what feels like 500 mph, and soon enough I find myself out of breath with the attendant taking off my belt.
I stay seated, staring into other people getting into the ride. Gemma gets off silently and pokes me on the shoulder.
“Let’s go,” she says quietly, pulling me off the ride. My legs feel like rubber and my throat is dry. My face is still tear-stained.
“Hey, are you crying?” she asks, letting go of my hand and taking a closer look at my face, frowning. “I was scared shitless but not to that extent. Do you feel sick?”
I shake my head, still not looking at her. I begin walking away straight to Gemma’s car.
All through the ride home she asks me dumb questions and I ignore her, staring into space as light rain pours down at the ground, attacking Gemma’s car’s roof.
This was over a year ago, and me and her have completely stopped talking. I’ve never told her what happened. She wouldn’t understand.
The thing is, the day after, as I watched the news, the lady explained how someone had gotten on the ride and never gotten back. They say a bunch of bullshit such as “It’s logically impossible,” and “How could this happen, not even a trace of them was found.”
But I know what really happened. They saw what I saw, but they weren’t as lucky as I was. Satan himself had gotten hands on that person that sat in my seat the day after I had.
So my question is, is hell really underground and heaven in the sky?