I hightailed it, weaving past several game stands, left, right, left, right. I looked back, but couldn’t see it. I kept running, then after a dozen more strides for good measure, I slowed to a crawl, barely able to catch my breath drenched in sweat. I couldn’t afford to march blindly into another freak, it’d be game over. Crouching by some shooting stand I peeked around its wall to the ever closed front gate. Not a soul in sight, say for that old man, catatonic as ever.
I looked back where I came, no monsters, and no Anton. Then I cautiously made my approach, scanning my surroundings every other millisecond. I dashed to the side of the old man’s shed-sized booth, and dropped out of sight. I drew my phone, and used its reflection to look back where I came. Still nothing. I waited for my breathing to calm before putting my ear to the ground, and I waited still, and prayed a genuine prayer for what felt like the first time in my life that I’d hear his footsteps, or see him in the reflection. But nothing. He was dead.
The self loathing that washed over me was crippling. He was miles ahead. He could’ve escaped with ease but I slowed him down. Anton waited for me and It cost him his life.
No. No, I don’t know that. He could still be out there fighting while I throw a pity party. I wiped the tears out of my eyes, and pocketed my cell. I can’t break down here. He needs my help, before it’s too late. I rose to a crouch then struggled to stand sliding up the wall. I stepped around the booth and headed for the arcade tent.
The closer I came, the more apprehensive my movements. I’ve been trying to scan the whole area before bolting to the next hiding spot as quickly as I could, but my time was consumed more and more with suppressing jittering legs, and fighting my urge to hyperventilate. I spotted it in the distance a couple dozen feet away. The tent. Moment of truth. I ran up to its side. Afraid of going in, I took out my phone and put on the flash. I lifted the wall up, slipped the camera underneath and snapped a dozen pictures.
I stepped away from it and blitzed through the camera roll. I saw the aisles of arcade machines, the lights hanging from the roof, but there was no monster, and no corpse. My heart rose. I crawled under the tent and wigged myself inside. I searched the first aisle, nothing. I searched the second aisle. Still nothing. Finally I searched the last aisle. Nothing. Wait, No. There was something.
“Droplets.” I mumbled. Red droplets on the floor. I almost missed it. I felt like throwing up but I had too little to eat. I refused to believe it. I needed to find Anton now. I strode out of the tent.
Suddenly my throat was snared in an iron grip, and I was effortlessly lifted up off my feet into the air. My eyes followed the arm back to yet another janitor. It squeezed tighter and tighter, I tried to scream but It came out a weak croak. I desperately struggled to pry a finger off scratching my neck in the process. It grabbed the spear from its belt. I banged on the arm but it’s stiff as a branch, I couldn’t even reach its face if I tried. It flicked out the spear and wound back. I whipped my phone right in its eye. It dropped me, stumbling back. I hit the ground hard, gasping for air and rubbing my throat. I watched it suffer in silence as it cradled its eye.
“That’s what you get!” I cried, before grabbing my phone and scrambling away. I looked back. It peeled its hand from its face and snatched up its trash bag before chasing after me.
I ran for the Hall of Mirrors up ahead, bolted up its steps 2 at a time then slid inside to a halt. I began making my way through its interior, gliding my hand along the mirrors to keep from slamming into something or missing a gap. A few steps forward, then a left, a few steps forward then a u-shaped turn around a mirror wall.
I heard its footsteps come in after me. Here goes everything. I took a left, walked forward several paces and spun around. About 13 feet away should be my reflection. Then I waited on the coin toss, if this didn’t work I was a goner. The janitor stepped out of the passageway, made a right, and saw me. I stared back at the thing. What are you gonna do I thought. Without hesitation it thrusted its spear right into the center of my chest. Cling!
The rod bounced off the mirror. Yes!
Wasting no time I slipped by it whilst its back was turned and maneuvered my way outside the building’s entrance. My heart was in my throat, the trick worked, but I wasn’t out of the woods. Back in the open I knew I had to find a hiding spot or it was all for nothing. I made a beeline for the spinning teacups ride to my right. I leapt up onto the platform, and dived head first into the closest cup. I crash landed on something soft and squishy.
“Ow! what the heck!”
I shimmied around his body into the remaining space left.
Curled into a ball, I covered my mouth and nose with both hands in an attempt to muffle my heavy breathing.
“What are you-” I clamped his mouth shut with my right. He tried to resist but I refused to move it. I stared into his eyes and made a silent plea to shut the fuck up that thankfully pierced his thick skull. He stopped struggling and we stayed like that for about a minute before I loosened up and he got restless. The boy ripped my hand off his mouth to speak but I was quicker.
“Nick!? How are you still…What are you doing here!?” I hissed.
“Hey! I just came because of the rumors man. Everyone was hyping this place up crazy, It’s cool everything’s unmanned, but I’ve been to way better parks. This place is so mid. I literally fell asleep at the tables.” He snickered. “At least it’s free. Anyways I woke up to the earthquake, saw the time and headed to the gate in the dark with my phone light. Guess what.” he said. “Guess you’re not guessing.”
I was astonished.
“T-the gate was locked.”
“How did you know!?”
“Shhhhh!”
“Sorry sorry, anyways, yeah it was locked. And that stupid old man wouldn’t open it even when I gave him the freaking watch. I think he’s slow but you didn’t hear that from me. Anyways, I heard people with a flashlight coming so I left it on the ledge and ran. It was probably security.” he snorted. “Like I’ll get caught by those losers. I found this hiding spot and just stayed here. Then you had to come and wake me up after freaking cannon balling on me. What the heck man, you still didn’t say sorry.”
“Wha-, I-, How-,”
I didn’t know what to say.
I still can’t believe it, but it seemed he’d gone this whole time without a single encounter with the janitors. While Anton and I were running for ourlives he was fucking napping?
“Dude are you ok? You look like you’re gonna croak, it’s super gross. Anyways, go find your own cup, it’s too cramped for the both of us, and I was here first.”
“Go fuck yourself. I’m not getting out of here. There’s monsters-” I stopped. How could I possibly explain what’s going on to him without sounding psychotic. Nick burst into a whistling wheeze, which gave way to full blown laughter. He tried to cover his mouth.
“Dude shut the fuck up they’ll here you!”
“Did you just say monsters? What are you five? You sound like my baby sister. She’s in kindergarten!”
He snorted again.
I never wanted to strangle somebody more in my life. That’s when I heard the first few footsteps. So did Nick seconds later. Dress shoes on cobblestone. We clammed up. They were swift and growing louder and louder. I couldn’t stay here. I started to get up, but Nick dragged me back down. “Wait, it might be security.”
“Nick!” I said, “We’re gonna die here, please just-”
It stepped onto the ride. And I knew it was over. I lied down. It marched around pausing at each teacup, probably peering inside getting closer and closer. It was coming to us now. My heart pounded in my chest, and I tried to control my breathing. In, out, in, out. I prayed to god for forgiveness. Then I grabbed Nick by the collar and twisted him over me.
“Dude what the-” Its shadow loomed over us cutting him off. He followed my terrified gaze behind him, up into the monster’s pitch black lifeless eyes. It looked down at us. No, down at him. Nick stammered out a “wha-what is,” before the spear plunged through his neck piercing my bicep in the process. I groaned. Blood spurted out of his wound staining my face. It palmed his head and lifted him up into the air before tearing it out, and skewering him up under the ribs in one fluid motion. He jolted before going limp from the shock.
I crawled out of the cup and scrambled to get off the platform. I glanced back. It was preoccupied trying to stuff his corpse into the sac on the ground.
I didn’t know where I was running. My mind just played his gruesome death on loop over and over. But when I came to, it didn’t take me long to realize I was heading in the gate’s direction. As if now after all this time it’d just be open.
They say that after you kill somebody, the world loses its color, but maybe it just hadn’t set in yet. My mind was working overtime to rationalize the decision. We were both dead the moment it loomed over us. If one of us gets away is it really wrong? But, if you shoot a man through the head that’s drowning in a lake, did you not murder him? Damned or not, it was you wasn’t it? No, it’s more complicated than that. It’s like the trolley cart problem. Only, one track has person A and person B, but the other track just has the former. I saved B.
I did the right thing didn’t I? But, even if I did, what about Anton? And that shut me up. What about the person I convinced to accompany me in this hellish cat and mouse deathtrap. There was no weaseling out of that. They killed him, brutally. Then they bagged his lifeless body like they did Nick’s. I strolled past the booth. The gate was still closed as always. I walked up to that ugly clown face and let out a flurry of punches until my right arm burned from the irritated wound. Yeah that’s on me. Blood’s on my hands. I closed my eyes and slid down the wall until I hit the ground. “Will?”
My eyes shot open and I looked around for the source of that voice. It was Anton. Slumped at the side of the booth, my hiding spot. No way, it’s impossible. I walked over to my friend. His clothes were drenched with blood, as he clasped a hand over his neck area. He was breathing hard. “Anton?”
I was too afraid to touch him. Afraid that if I did he’d disappear. Then he plopped his free hand on my shoulder with a groan. “I thought you didn’t make it, I should’ve known better.” He smiled, that joker’s smile.
“Are you okay?” I said, realizing how dumb the question was the moment I asked it I followed it up with another. “What happened to you?”
He shook his head.
“I tried to juke that thing back in the arcade, but it stabbed me on my way out. I thought I got away from it, headed back here, that’s when I spotted another.”
He said in between breaths. “Chased me halfway round the world before I shook it. When I finally got back you weren’t here. I thought about heading out to look for you but I was too afraid. I’m sorry, I’m a coward.”
“Shut the fuck up,” I said. I couldn’t even look him in the eyes anymore. “You saved my life. Dumbass. Why didn’t you leave when you had the chance.”
He chuffed, “Now who’s the dumbass? If I did, we wouldn’t be friends, moron.”
You still wanna be friends with me?
“What about you, there’s blood on your face, your arm…”
I tried to wipe it off on my sleeve, to no avail.
“Uhh, I, there was someone else here,” I started. But that’s when I heard the cruelly familiar tapping of shoes on cobblestone, off in the distance. My heart dropped. Another janitor. Anton craned his neck around the wall to see. “Shit!” He tried to get to his feet but nearly fell over. He caught himself on his injured side. “Shit,” he groaned. I plopped my hand on his shoulder.
“Sit down.”
“We need to-“
“Run?” I finished. “Just stay here.” I stood up, “I’ll be back.”
I started walking towards it on fumes. For the first time since our encounter I wasn’t afraid, because I realized we were gonna die no matter what. I took off my baggy sweater and I stretched it out in front of me. “Come on you freak.”
It reeled back the spear and thrusted through the apparel while I stepped back. It grazed my side as I veered out the way. It tried to grab my face but I leaned beyond its reach. It settled for my arm. I grabbed the spear in retaliation. It lifted me up and tried to pull the rod back but I refused to let go. I could hear Anton’s panicked screams whilst I kicked at it wildly but it didn’t even flinch. It was like striking a brick wall. It made one final tug at the spear. My hand slid down the metal until it was sliced open by the tip. Finally free, it reeled back once more. I pulled my legs into my chest and shot them out at its arm right as it launched the spear into me. I managed to slow it down but it still sunk an inch into my side. I struggled to push the arm. To get the spear out of me but it slowly slid further in. I cried out in excruciating pain.
This is it.
Beep beep! Beep beep! Beep beep! It dropped me and the fall tore the trash picker out of my side. “Fuck!”
I sprawled out on the ground upon collapse. There was a crack on impact emanating from my pocket. I retreated into the fetal position, then watched as it picked up the trash bag, retracted the metal, spun around and strolled off where it came till it was out of sight. I looked over my shoulder to the source of the beeping. It was the watches. I struggled to my feet and stumbled over to the ledge of the booth. I snatched one up, and read it. The count down, it had reached zero.
“Are you alright?” Anton stammered wide eyed. His gaze fixed on my side’s running river of blood. “Better than I deserve.” I muttered. I slumped down next to him, my breathing now as heavy as his.
I struggled to put my shirt back on, taking breaks in between to appease my wounds, flaring with pain. Finally done, we sat in silence, but our minds were still whirring with thoughts. I couldn’t take it anymore, I needed to say something. So I opened my mouth to speak but Anton beat me to it.
“I did cross country.”
“What?”
“You asked me why I didn’t do it, when we were talking.” He whispered. Anton chuckled and winced. “In middle school, no one could beat me, not even seniors, I was the fastest kid on land. I tried out for the team, made first place, easily. We held a meet a month later with all the different schools. I did my best. I tried so hard but it wasn’t enough. I came in 10th.”
His breathing had gotten worse, I wanted to stop him from saying any more, but knew better than to interrupt him.
“I couldn’t understand what happened, so I quit. Said the only way to never lose again is to not race. If I didn’t race, who’s to say I’m not the best? Pure bullshit. I was just lying to myself. I’m always fucking lying. I was never the fastest. Why’d I take so long to get it? I still want to run. I always wanted to run.”
“You’re gonna be fine.”
“Will, no more lies, I’m tired.” He took a moment to catch his breath, then he spoke up once more. “Can you keep a promise?”
“Stop fucking with me.” I told him choking back a sob.
“I had some time to think. Can you run for me? For the health benefits and stuff.”
the park lights started to dim. “I don’t think…” His voice started to trail off. The lights began shining bright, brighter than ever before, I had to close my eyes. “Stop talking, you’re hurting yourself!” I spat. It kept going on and off, dimming before brightening, then dimming, then brightening. The ground rumbled beneath us, a weak rumbling like a washing machine, that picked up speed and power. Then the lights started to get brighter, and brighter, with no sign of dimming like before. It reached an intensity rivaling the sun, I covered my eyes lest I go blind, and waited until the quakes stopped and at long last the world settled down. The tremors subsided, the lights dimmed one final time, and it was safe to open my eyes again.
I stared into the black void. But realized, it wasn’t all darkness. Because when I looked up. I could see the twinkling stars, sweeping clouds, and a crescent moon. We were back. “Anton, it’s over, look, the sky!” I waited for him to react. But there was no response. “Anton, are you there?” I reached around the wall and grabbed his arm, he wasn’t holding his wound anymore. “Dude, stop it. You’re not funny.” my voice was breaking. I shimmied over to him “I’m not stupid, stop playing!” I felt for a pulse but there was nothing. I felt for breath, but there was nothing. I started to shake him. “Stop it, wake up! Stop playing!” But Anton’s dead. The moment our eyes met I knew he didn’t have long. But knowing didn’t make it any easier. I couldn’t hold it together anymore. “You dumbass!” I cried. I wailed until my voice went hoarse. I didn’t know I had that kind of grief, but I found it cradling the best friend I ever had, and let it out till there was nothing left.
I didn’t notice anything. I didn’t notice when the lights came back on. I didn’t notice when the gate was finally opened. And I didn’t notice when that girl walked in. Bless her soul.
She found enough courage to approach me, tapped my shoulder, and for the moment the world came back into focus. I looked up at her. “Are you okay?” she asked.
Are you okay? I thought. Do I look okay? What a stupid question, what a stupid fucking question. Who’s the idiot that came up with it? I ignored her.
“What time is it?” I muttered.
“10 something.” she said.
“What!?” I shouted. “What’s the day?”
“Uh, saturday,” she said, utterly confused, “It’s the 16th.”
“July, right?”
“Yes.” She said, concerned, “Are you okay, your friend…”
That-, that makes no sense. It should be 1 AM Sunday.
The rumbling started at midnight and we spent an hour in hell before coming back. Even if time fucking froze, it should be midnight exactly now at least. So why in the world is she telling me it’s 10PM Saturday night. I opened my mouth to speak when a possibility suddenly dawned on me.
“One last question.”
She nodded nervously, signaling me to ask away.
“Where am I?”
She furrowed her brow in further confusion.
“Denver Colorado. Should I call 911 for your friend?” she asked genuinely concerned. “Is he…”
Anton and I lived in Winnipeg.
Somehow. Some way. By the grace of Satan it seemed. We had traveled over 1500 km across the US Canada border in -2 hours. No, -1 hour, the time zones. We were an hour ahead of Denver. My eyes widened as I realized. Wouldn’t this mean that back home, it’s just 11 something, PM? Back in Winnipeg, could we still be wandering the park. Could it be that we haven’t disappeared yet? Couldn’t I save them? I thought. I can save Anton, I can save Nick, I can save us all from ever suffering tonight.
I pulled out my phone from my pocket with jittering hands but it was broken, from the fight. “Shit!”
“You can use mine if you want.” She said, unlocking hers before handing it over.
“Oh my god, thank you,” I said.
I got ready to punch in Anton’s numbers. And that’s when I realized that I didn’t know it. Shit I don’t know anyone’s numbers. I had added him to my list of contacts years ago, and we mostly just texted and video chatted on social media. Fuck, I only know my own. I felt all the hope drain out of my body. And then it hit me. Wait a minute, I know my own phone number. I was with Anton all night, I can call myself and stop me from ever mentioning overstaying our welcome. I frantically punched in my phone number. And waited with baited breath for me to pick up. Ring, ring, ring, ring. Nothing. No no no no no. I called again. Ring, ring, ring, ring. Nothing. I called again. This time it doesn’t even ring. {You’ve reached the voicemail box of ‘William knight, To leave a message press-}
I hung up tears pouring down my face. I remembered this moment on the other end of the line. I knew exactly what happened.
“Dude, who is that?” Asked Anton.
“I don’t know some stupid scammer or something, unknown number.”
“Well put it on airplane mode, it’s distracting me,’’
I was struggling to breathe. It’s like, It’s like I killed him twice. Like I smothered him. Brought him back to life and smothered him again. I wondered how many times I could be let down before breaking. Have I already been broken? Is this not what it feels like?
The following hours went by in a blur.
I got up and handed her phone back, “Please, forget about us. Go have fun.” I said, before proceeding to carry Anton all the way out of the forest alone. We came up on the side of a road, a couple vehicles drove by, but it didn’t take long for someone to take interest. A blond man with his hair in a bun who looks like he’d just got back from work pulled over. He was kind enough to drive us to a hospital in the backseat. The spear had missed my vitals. And so I was put under anesthesia as they quickly treated my injuries. They pronounced Anton dead on arrival at 11:58 AM. Close enough, I guess.
The nurses tried to figure out who I was, asked me my name, age, date of birth, address. That last one shocked them. “What are you doing so far from home son? Did you run away?” She asked. “I don’t know.” I said. It took half an hour for the police to get involved and even less for them to get me on the phone with my parents. It was difficult. Every part of it. Dealing with their fear, their questions, their concerns. I barely managed to keep my cool. And answer their inquiries as sanely as I could. But things were just beginning.
When the hours kept flowing. When the questions kept coming. When the police kept probing, when my answers were too vague. When I started to look less like a victim and more like a suspect. I saw their glances at me when they left the door. The suspicion in their eyes. “Your friend was found dead, he has a stab wound, you were stabbed, and you don’t know what happened?” You can’t handle what happened, I wanted to snap back. So it came as no surprise to me when I was arrested after being discharged from the hospital.
By then my parents had flown down to Denver. They were livid, “Have you lost your minds!? my son didn’t do anything, the real monster’s still out there!” I heard my mom argue with an officer. My dad just comforted me all the way to the back of the police cruiser. “We know you’re innocent,” he said, “Everything’s gonna be okay.” I was driven to the precinct and left in a cell by my lonesome. They’d scoured the forest I’d come from for days. They couldn’t find the park. I knew because they kept on asking about where I was. By the time it reached the FBI, I had grown numb to the interrogations. “I’m not saying anything without a lawyer.” I told them over and over, so much, the words started to sound unreal. It was the best decision I could’ve made, because he worked fast. Pulled some strings and got me released, on my second day detained. Thank god for lawyers.
These investigators don’t want the truth. They want a big bad guy they can lock up, throw away the key, and put a nice little bow on their investigation. But not this one. No, not this one. They can have fun chasing Ted Bundy or whoever the fuck they think did this, I’m done. The flight home was the smoothest I’ve ever had. And for the first time, thousands of feet in the air, I had a restful night’s sleep. Then we touched the ground. The drive from the airport back home was a lengthy one. And to my parents credit they didn’t ask me any questions a single time. I needed that. This whole ordeal was sickening. It’s like everyday I had to relive the worst night of my life, and it won’t even do anything. I just wanted it all to end but it kept going.
How can I describe dealing with the families? Suffering? Pain? Crystallized grief shredding my psyche like a fruit in a blender? The Blood samples they’d collected off my face came back. Nick’s blood. They’d sent out search parties for his corpse, in both cities. They’re chasing a ghost. Nick’s gone. But they don’t even know it. They just saw three went missing. 1’s dead, one fell off the face of the earth, and I’ve got his blood on my face, stab wounds, and non-answers. Desperate for someone, anyone to blame, charges were pressed by Nick’s parents, but were ultimately thrown out of court due to insufficient evidence. Anton’s parent’s knew better, they didn’t even try.
Chris finally came back from vacation, and I made sure he heard everything from me first in person. The park’s secrets, the monsters, Nick’s forced sacrifice, Anton’s death, the rewind, my failure to use it. I was so tired but with each and every truth it felt like a weight slipped off my shoulders, having someone to talk to, someone that understood. I thought I ran out of tears, but I’m not ashamed to admit we cried all night together. We don’t frequent the park anymore. Chris and I. It’s just too much. My parents are looking into a therapist but what’s that gonna do?
There’s nothing anybody on this earth can possibly tell me that could numb what I’m feeling. Nothing they could possibly say I haven’t already told myself countless times. Nick was a good kid. A little annoying at times yeah, but what I did to him was beyond wrong and because of me his parents lost their son, his sister lost her brother, what’s the justification for that? And Anton, the one I dragged into hell. The one who dragged me out. I didn’t even get to tell him I’m sorry. I don’t think it’ll ever make up for any of it, but I haven’t forgotten the promise. I’m running for the benefits, every single day, like he asked me to. And I hate it so much.