Does your hometown have an urban legend? Some forbidden lore that everyone has heard but actively avoids mentioning? I guarantee my story has any tall tale conjured up by the internet beat by a mile.
I come from a small town with a population of only around fifteen hundred people. I’m going to keep the name of the town anonymous so that no brave-hearted urban explorers attempt to come searching for it. It’s safer that way. My town’s curious case revolves around the Chuck E. Cheese’s that sits abandoned, tucked away in the desolate North side of town.
My home was a bustling metropolis for a short period before I was born, but the hype quickly fizzled out after our main factory plant, along with most of the town’s business, relocated elsewhere. Chuck E. Cheese’s, as well as most of the other successful franchises in the area, no longer had the foot traffic to keep its doors open, slowly deteriorating into the decrepit shell of a structure we’re left with today.
The buzz over the place all began when Johnny Cameron vanished about twenty-five years ago. He was only seven years old. Supposedly, Johnny and his older brother Alex hatched a scheme to sneak out and ride their bikes down to the old Chuck E. Cheese’s after their parents called it a night. They executed their plan without a hitch. No one heard the boys leave the house that night and they managed to make it to Chuck E. Cheese’s undetected. No one can say for sure what happened next.
What we do know is that the Camerons panicked when they awoke to find their sons’ beds vacant the next morning. The police were called and a town-wide search was conducted. Alex Cameron was found curled up in a ball in front of the derelict Chuck E. Cheese building muttering the same phrase over and over again; “Where a kid can be a kid. Where a kid can be a kid. Where a kid can be a kid.” That’s all anyone has ever been able to get out of him since the incident. Rumor has it he was sent to a psychiatric ward not long after. Rumor has it he’s still there.
The cops combed through every inch of that place and all they had to show for it was a single shoe, worn by Johnny the night he went missing, found half submerged in the ball pit. The years ticked by and without any trace of their son, the Cameron family quickly crumbled.
Brady Cameron couldn’t withstand the misery and grief caused by the loss of his sons. He ate a bullet from a nine millimeter a couple years after Johnny disappeared. With the rest of her family either dead, missing, or locked away in a mental asylum, Susan Cameron subsequently spiraled into a life of alcoholism and drug abuse. She could often be witnessed strung out in the same parking lot that her eldest son was found in years prior, mumbling incoherently to herself. The police found her body there one morning about a decade after her boy’s disappearance.
She’d overdosed, and a toxicology report indicated that a concoction of various drugs were coursing through her blood stream at her time of death. At least that’s what people say. Years of speculation without any clear suspect culminated into the urban legend we mull over to this day.
Many people believe there’s something sinister hiding in that Chuck E. Cheese’s, lurking amongst the long forgotten arcade games. I can tell you firsthand, they’re absolutely right. Everyone calls it the Camerons’ curse. According to legend, whoever steps foot in that place is destined to a fate worse than death and their loved ones will be plagued with unimaginable suffering for years to come.
I’ve always been a skeptic when it comes to that sort of thing. I’ve never been one to believe in ghosts or any of those cheesy “don’t call yourself at three A.M.” type videos on YouTube. I derived more pleasure from debunking myths like those. That’s how I wound up in the conundrum I’m currently in.
I was twelve at the time this occurred. I was hanging out with my best friends, Jack and Henry. We were taking a stroll around town like we usually resorted to most summer nights due to the town’s lackluster variety of entertainment.
“Hey, get off your phone and watch where you’re walking!” Jack hissed at Henry as he narrowly avoided a collision.
“Who are you texting anyway? I’ve never seen you so invested in that thing.” I chimed in as Henry slipped his phone into his pocket.
“Sorry guys. Remember that girl Jessica I was telling y’all about? I asked for her number before we got out for summer break. I think we’re really hitting it off,” Henry bragged as his face flushed with color.
“That’s awesome bro! Jessica is hot. Have y’all made plans to hang out yet?” I prodded.
I was proud of my friend. Henry typically kept to himself and tended not to socialize with many people outside of me and Jack.
“Not yet, but I think I’m going to ask her if she wants to chill at Ford Lake with me some time next week.” Henry admitted excitedly.
“I really think she li-” he was cut off mid-sentence as Jack rudely interjected.
“No way you’re talking to Jessica dude. She’s way too fine. I bet you’re texting your mommy instead. Baby want his blanky?” he cooed.
The smug grin plastered across his face said it all. Jack had managed to get under Henry’s skin and he knew it. Jack was always the kind to stir up trouble.
“Shut the fuck up you asshole! You’re just jealous she’s not talking to you!” Henry screamed as tears began welling up in his eyes.
“I could get her number if I tried bro. I just don’t fe-”
Jack spun around as he realized I’d frozen in my tracks.
“Cole hurry up,” Jack called to me.
I didn’t respond. Henry and Jack quickly forgot about their squabble as they traced my glance to identify what I was staring at. The color drained from their faces as they joined me in gawking at the abandoned Chuck E. Cheese’s across the street. Something thick permeated the air. I had trouble putting my finger on it at first.
Fear.
We stood speechless for what seemed like an eternity before Henry broke the silence.
“How did we walk this far? We haven’t even been out here for that long,” he stammered.
“I don’t know, but we should probably start heading back,” I murmured, still partially in a trance.
Just as we turned to go back, Jack pointed in front of us and screamed. “Cops!”
Sure enough, there was a police cruiser a little ways up the road crawling toward our position.
“Come on, this way!” I yelled as we all broke into a sprint.
We were out well past curfew and none of us wanted to deal with the repercussions we’d surely face if we were caught. Before I could fully grasp where I’d taken us, we found ourselves bent over catching our breaths behind the very building we’d been gaping at moments prior.
“Think they’re gone?” Henry wheezed, one hand gripping his chest.
“I don’t know, let me check,” I sputtered between heavy breaths.
My heart felt like it was ready to burst through my chest as I struggled to take in enough oxygen to satiate my burning lungs. As I made my way to peer around the corner of the building, blue light flooded the surrounding area, providing us with our answer.
Suddenly, a gravelly voice boomed over a megaphone.
“Boys, come out with your hands up. I know you’re back there.”
Officer Jenkins. He was my least favorite of the town’s miniscule police presence. We had to pray that he hadn’t caught a glimpse of our faces or he’d definitely snitch to our parents.
“What do we do?” Henry asked, terror audible in his voice.
“Well I don’t know about you, but I think I can do without twenty licks and a month of grounding,” Jack uttered as he nodded toward an employee entrance.
The yellowing “employees only” sign was barely legible, peeling off the rusty weather-beaten purple door.
“Yeah, I’m with you. Jenkins would probably make up some bullshit story about us shoplifting or something,” I agreed.
“But what about the curse?” Henry retorted.
His eyes grew wide as the words left his lips. Right on queue, Jenkins’s voice cut back over the megaphone, “don’t make me come back there!”
That was all the convincing Henry needed. We were practically falling over each other as we clumsily stumbled to the door. Strangely, the employee entrance was already slightly ajar. We didn’t have time to consider this before we piled inside, Jack locking the door behind us. After the initial panic subsided and our eyes adjusted to the dark, we drank in our surroundings.
“It looks like we’re in some sort of break room,” Henry squeaked.
He was right. It was evident that the break room hadn’t been used in some time. The room was dimly illuminated by moonlight through a tiny window bordering the exit. To our right, a thick layer of dust coated two foldable tables, each accompanied by four filthy chairs. In the corner, a vintage tube TV jutted out from the wall, held in place by a flimsy looking plastic arm.
To the left of the TV stood a dingy old refrigerator. A pool of some unknown brown substance was seeping from beneath it. Hugging the corner of the wall next to the refrigerator sat a water-stained rusted sink. On the left wall, a row of dilapidated purple lockers loomed, casting a murky shadow that made it even harder to see in the already poorly lit room. We barely had a chance for the full weight of where we were standing to sink in before Jenkins’s muffled voice spurred us to move.
“Let’s go hide just in case Jenkins manages to get in,” I mumbled softly to the others, gesturing toward the door on the other side of the room.
Jack and Henry nodded in agreement, but I could tell they were just as terrified as I was. Their eyes were wide as dinner plates and Henry was trembling slightly as we made our way out of the break room. As we passed by the fridge, the putrid scent of rotting food assaulted our nostrils, leading us to quicken our pace.
I slowly pushed open the door to the break room as we prepared to find somewhere to hide. A feeling of nervous trepidation crawled up my spine as we gazed out into the vast expanse of the room. The space was massive. Squinting, I could make out the ticket booth at the front with vintage stuffed animals behind the counter, waiting in vain for some lucky child to claim their prize. Scattering most of the room lay a sea of ancient arcade games. Their power had been cut long ago and it was obvious that they hadn’t been operational in some time.
To our right, eight metal picnic tables lined the dining area. Empty pizza boxes littered the tops of most of them. Further past the unkempt tables sat a children’s play area; a jungle of intertwining colorful plastic tubes, stationed in the corner. At its end was a long purple slide that led straight into the ball pit.
I shuddered at the thought of Johnny Cameron’s shoe buried within the colorful orbs. My sense of unease only intensified as I couldn’t shake the feeling that we were being watched. I snapped my head directly to the right and I nearly jumped out of my skin.
There was a stage bulging out from the back wall of the room that I’d somehow missed in my initial sweep. Atop it stood three insanely creepy animatronics that looked like they came straight out of Five Nights at Freddy’s. Their heads were cocked to the side staring - no, glaring at us. I could feel their cold hateful eyes boring into my chest. The one closest to us, a chef with an exaggerated black mustache, scowled menacingly down at us with an expression of pure rage.
“Holy shit,” I muttered under my breath. “L-let’s get moving,” Jack whispered, voice quivering.
We made our way cautiously down the seemingly endless rows of arcade games until we were nearly at the front of the store. All of the sudden Henry put his pointer finger up to his lips, indicating that we needed to be silent.
“Hide,” he ordered almost inaudibly.
We scattered and crouched behind adjacent arcade games. I had a clear view of Henry and Jack from my position. Henry was pointing to the employee restroom to the left of the ticket booth, all color drained from his face. The door slowly creaked open. I started to get lightheaded and my hands began to shake, beads of sweat forming above my brow. Nothing could’ve prepared me for what walked out of that door. It was difficult to make out at first in the dimly lit room, but through a glimmer of moonlight I saw it.
There before us stood a hideous human-sized rat. The monstrosity was at least six feet tall standing on its hind legs. Its huge yellow eyes looked frenzied with animalistic hunger and the left one twitched intermittently. Its awkward orange teeth jaggedly protruded from the dark cavernous pit that was its mouth. Its thick matted gray fur was patchy and some spots were completely bald altogether. Its grotesque pink tail swayed back and forth like a pendulum as the vermin stood.
But the thing that disturbed me the most wasn’t the vile beast itself. It was the too-tight purple T-shirt with the Chuck E. Cheese logo hugging its chest that turned my blood to ice. A sickening realization washed over me like a tidal wave. It was him. In the flesh. This was Chuck E. Cheese.
I was ripped from my stupor by a commotion out of the corner of my eye. Jack was frantically waving his arms in the air trying to get our attention. Henry and I took notice at about the same time. Jack mouthed something to us and fortunately we were both close enough to make out what he said.
“Run on the count of three.”
Henry nodded.
“Where?” I asked soundlessly.
He pointed to the colorful play area at the far corner of the room. I gazed at it for a second then turned my attention back to Jack. In my peripheral vision I noticed that Chuck E. had his wet nose pointed in the air, sniffing wildly. We didn’t have much time. Jack held up three fingers.
“One.”
My heart was in my throat and time seemed to slow as adrenaline took over.
“Two.”
Every moment felt like a lifetime as I prepared to bolt for it. Jack hesitated for a split second. I could feel the fear radiating from him. Though he tried to conceal it, panic had spread like wildfire across his features.
“Three!”
I shot forward with Henry and Jack beside me as we weaved through token-eating machines on route to our target. It hadn’t taken long for the massive rodent to give chase. The skittering of claws on carpet further propelled me as the beast closed the gap between us. Then out of nowhere, all the arcade games simultaneously turned on.
I was almost blinded by the unanticipated burst of light. Illuminated screens and jingles of ancient video games surrounded us in all directions. A speaker from somewhere overhead crackled to life. It sounded like an old sound byte from a commercial was set on loop. “Chuck E. Cheese’s, where a kid can be a kid,” it sang mockingly.
There was something sinister behind those words. With each repetition the voice became more twisted and distorted. I remained focused on my target. I couldn’t let the sudden chaos distract me. We’d reached the dining area. We were so close.
“AAAAHHH!”
Someone screamed from close behind me along with a nauseating thump. It was Jack. I glanced back at him, but I didn’t stop. To this day I still wish I hadn’t. My heart sank into my stomach. Chuck E. had pounced on him and had begun burrowing into his abdomen. Jack’s face was twisted in pure agony, every muscle tense, as Chuck E. greedily ripped away Jack’s flesh and tore into his insides.
“Keep. Running,” Jack choked out through gritted teeth as a pool of blood blossomed beneath him.
The disgusting vermin’s face was soaked with crimson. Jack flailed and kicked, but it did little good. I looked directly into my friend’s pleading eyes and I whispered, “I’m sorry.” Hot tears splashed down my face. I was overcome with emotion. I wanted to turn back. To fight. To scream. To find some way to help my friend. But I knew that I had to keep going.
Henry and I reached the jungle of plastic tubes and we each dove into the cylindrical opening. We crawled on our hands and knees, Henry trailing me, until we were lost in the guts of the system of pipes. Jack’s tormented wails persisted. A pang of guilt struck me in my chest with each anguished cry. After a few minutes they grew quieter, until eventually they stopped altogether. When we finally came to a halt, I broke down into a fit of hysterical sobs. Henry grasped my shoulder and spun me around to face him.
“Jack. He. Blood. Dead,” I blubbered, snot streaming from my nose.
“Cole, look at me.” Henry demanded sternly.
“We have to make it out of here then we can mourn. Right now we have to be brave. We both know that’s what Jack would’ve wanted,” he iterated optimistically.
His strength was contagious.
“Y-yeah you’re right,” I stuttered, wiping tears from my wet face.
A newfound ambition began to bubble inside me. We had to escape that waking nightmare. For Jack.
We sat silently for a couple seconds. The machines outside were still blaring a cacophony of noise and the speaker had devolved into a demonic guttural bellow of that same phrase: “Chuck E. Cheese’s where a kid can be a kid.” Over and over and over again. I was struck with a deep sense of dread with each syllable, but I did my best to push it to the back of my mind.
“Cole, I need you to promise me something,” Henry uttered solemnly, avoiding eye contact.
“What is it?” I asked quizzically. “If I don’t make it out of here…” He trailed off, lost in thought.
“Don’t talk like that.” I retorted, grabbing hold of his arm so he’d meet my gaze.
“Hey. We WILL make it out,” I responded, more confidently than I felt.
“I know, but if something happens to me, just tell my mom I love her,” he murmured despondently, as a solitary tear rolled down his cheek.
“That’s not going to-”
“Just promise me.”
He stared intently into my eyes, resolve masking his features.
“I promise,” I begrudgingly relented.
A tense couple seconds of silence followed. Then we heard it. A loud clunk sounded from somewhere below us.
“Shit, it knows we’re in here. We have to get moving or it’ll catch us. Try to find the way out!” Henry whisper-screamed at me.
He didn’t have to tell me twice. I bounded through the winding tunnels, desperately searching for the exit as the scampering behind us grew louder. My knees hurt and I could feel blisters forming on my palms as they met plastic time and time again, working overtime to propel me forward. I turned right. Dead end.
I took a left. Another dead end. Forward was my only option. At last, I spotted the opening. Bright light spilled into it. I crawled as fast as my burning hands and knees would carry me. The ear-piercing sound of claws against plastic had grown close. Too close. We had to make it out before Chuck E. caught up.
The final tube sloped downward into the ball pit. I launched myself headfirst into the sea of colored spheres, Henry hot on my heels. I struggled to push the balls aside as I swam toward the edge. I heaved myself out of the ball pit and spun around to hoist Henry out. But when I turned, Henry wasn’t there. That was impossible. I heard him slide down after me. Where could he have gone? I picked up on a rustling within the ball pit.
“H-Henry?” I whimpered.
No response. I was rooted in place, frozen in anticipation. I stared on in horrified apprehension as the disturbance in the pit bubbled to the surface. Then… silence. I took a step closer, ready to call Henry’s name again when BOOM.
An eruption of round plastic shapes exploded into the air. Chuck E.’s hideous form emerged from within the pool, his lower half still hidden from view. His discolored teeth clacked together as fresh blood dripped from his mouth, painting his tattered T-shirt a dark red. He fixated on me, those frantic yellow eyes menacing enough to bore a hole into my skull.I could sense something behind those eyes. Hunger. A deep animalistic hunger like a tiger who’s been deprived of food for weeks. And I was next on the menu.
Without warning, Chuck E. dove back down under the surface. He torpedoed toward me as balls flew in all directions. I took that opportunity and tore through the remainder of the room, back to where we entered that hellhole. Chuck E.’s footfalls thundered after me mere seconds after I took off, the burning hateful glower of the animatronics following me the whole way. I wasn’t religious, but I prayed to any god that would listen that I would make it out of there. The door was fast approaching.
I could feel Chuck E.’s wet musty breath on the nape of my neck as he rapidly closed the distance between us. With one last burst of energy, I crashed through the door, slamming and locking it behind me. A deafening thud rattled the door in its frame just as I turned the lock. Another thud immediately followed. I didn’t wait to see if the door would hold. I booked it to the employee exit and threw all my weight into it.
Wheezing and gasping for breath, I spilled out onto the warm asphalt, scraping my knees, but I didn’t care. A nauseating wave of emotions hiding just below the surface suddenly crashed down on me and I cried. I wailed and screamed and called out the names of my friends until my voice was hoarse. After what felt like an eternity, I finally glanced up.
Officer Jenkins stood over me. One hand placed on his belt, he wore a grave yet sympathetic countenance and I discerned pity from his facial expression.
“The other two. They didn’t…”
He didn’t finish his statement. He didn’t need to. I slowly shook my head, tears returning to my eyes, threatening to overflow at any moment. Officer Jenkins turned for a second as something wet fell to the ground. He looked back at me solemnly, extending a meaty hand. I sheepishly took it and he dragged me to my feet. Head hung low, I started toward Officer Jenkins’s police cruiser. He grasped my shoulder and I whipped around to face him.
“Cole, I’ll explain everything to your parents. If anyone asks, you didn’t see anything, okay?”
I nodded. Officer Jenkins stuck to his word. He drove me home and explained everything to my parents. After he left, my mom embraced me and I sobbed like a baby. I knew my life wouldn’t be the same again. Not without my friends. The weeks that followed were some of the toughest of my entire life. I was constantly bombarded with condolences from well-meaning townsfolk. But all the “I’m sorry’s” in the world couldn’t bring back my friends.
The town held a joint memorial for Henry and Jack. It was a good service. I remember thinking that they honored their memories well. I kept my promise to Henry. His mother was present along with the rest of the town, mourning the loss of her beloved son. After most of the others had gone, I nervously walked up to her and she pulled me into a tight hug. She held me there for a long time and I couldn’t prevent a flood of tears from streaking down my face.
“Oh honey, I’m so sorry. I know you two were best friends.”
Her eyes were sunken and hollow.
“Mrs. Abbot, Henry loves you,” I managed to choke out amongst my snivels.
A slight shimmer flashed across her eyes and her expression softened just a little.
“Thank you,” she whispered as she turned to go.
The events of that night have stuck with me my whole life. I miss Jack and Henry more than anything. I still do. Up until this point I’d never told anyone what happened that night. I left the day I turned eighteen and I’ve never looked back. I’m twenty-seven now. I’m married to the girl of my dreams and we’re expecting our first child in three months.
Weird deaths and tragedies have plagued my loved ones ever since. My uncle had his arm cut off in an incident with a woodchipper. My dad died in a car crash a couple years back. My cousin’s house caught fire and left him homeless. I wanted to believe all these events were random. Complete coincidences. But I can’t deny it any longer.
So why am I telling you all this? Why bring it back up after all this time? Well, I’m in a car right now. I’m making the eight hour trip back to my hometown. I’m going back to that god forsaken place to do what I should’ve done years ago.
Because yesterday, my wife was diagnosed with stage four breast cancer. I can’t let it take what little I have left in this world. I don’t know if it’ll work, but I have ten gallons of gas and a book of matches. I’m going to burn that fucking shithole to the ground. I hope that ungodly freak of nature is still there because I’m going to make him suffer. Maybe then I’ll be able to get that damn catch phrase out of my head.