Inferno Park

by JL Bryan

  “Definitely not that,” Jared told her. He turned to look the opposite way, along the black arrow with HAUNTED ALLEY in ghostly green letter, and he led her in that direction instead.

  Dark Mansion was as he remembered it before the sinkhole, the waiting area winding through a graveyard with dry-ice fog crawling across it, the fake tombstones painted with names like DeCade Boddee and epitaphs like Here lies poor Jill / Went uphill with Jack / Jack had an ax / Jill never came back.

  Dim lanterns cast patchy low light onto the facade of the two-story building, designed to look like a rotten old mansion with loose shutters and mossy balconies. In one window, a skeleton swung on a noose and held a cardboard sign that read HANG IN THERE! That sign had changed frequently over the years. Jared remembered it saying JUST HANGIN’ OUT and NO NOOSE IS GOOD NOOSE!

  From another second-floor window, a character nicknamed Old Sackhead looked down at the waiting area, his mask a gunnysack with two eyeholes and stitched-up mouth slit. He waved a bloody butcher knife back and forth to greet people waiting in line.

  Beyond Dark Mansion, Haunted Alley looked restored to life, too. The fake gas lamps glowed outside the Haunted Souvenir Shop, which was the only exit from Dark Mansion, displaying Dark Mansion and Inferno Mountain t-shirts in its window. The Devil Dogs booth, its logo a Dachshund in a devil costume, offered foot-longs with chili and onions. The red neon pitchfork glowed above the Beat the Devil game, and eerie pipe-organ music played from the Ghostly Gallery, a game where players shot BB guns at “ghosts” made of brightly colored cloth draped over helium balloons. Glowing green footprints led up and down Haunted Alley, bright and clear as though freshly painted.

  Inferno Mountain, though, was just a towering, lightless mass, all its lights off, no red glow from the volcanic caldera at the top. The lower half of the devil’s enormous face glowed in the festive colored lights from the park below, casting deep shadows upward across its eyes. Its horns were only visible where they curled up against the night sky, blacking out the stars.

  The red front gate to the pitchfork-prison waiting area for Inferno Mountain was locked. A metal sign on the red gate read:

  RIDE CLOSED TODAY

  Sorry for the inconvenience!

  In his mind, Jared could see the pitchfork gate at the base of the mountain opening, the black train rolling out. Tricia Calhoun in the front car, her head torn off, blood all over her white dress.

  “What are you thinking about?” Becca asked.

  “Nothing.”

  “You can talk to me, you know.” She touched his arm. “You can trust me.”

  “There’s nothing to talk about. What’s everyone else doing?” Jared looked up and down the midway.

  Tamara and Elissa had reached the wishing well, where Elissa looked like she was digging for coins in the pocket of her denim shorts.

  Heath, the quiet lumbering sophomore—God knew how that guy had attached himself to their group, but they seemed stuck with him—was bashing at the Whack-A-Frogs with a giant mallet.

  Farther back, Derek steered Finn into the dim Old West ruins of Fool’s Gold, which didn’t look restored at all as far as Jared could see, except for the light-trimmed track of the big Starland Express roller coaster.

  Tamara and Elissa laughed and dashed on from the wishing well, toward the lighted retro-futuristic landscape of Space City.

  “Want to go into Dark Mansion?” Becca asked. “That was always my favorite. All the secret doors.”

  Jared looked up at the haunted house. He didn’t want to go inside. He felt like he was the only one who realized just how crazy all of this was. Maybe it was because he was the only one who’d been here the night it happened, the only one with any firsthand experience of the park’s destruction.

  Or maybe it was because he’d only had a small taste of the amusement park’s free beer, while everyone else had guzzled it.

  “We don’t have to go if you’re scared,” Becca said, with a concerned look on her face, but he knew it was just an act. If he didn’t go, she would think he was weak or a coward, and she would pick on him for days or weeks about it. Having the beautiful Becca around made him feel bigger than he was, like more than just another loser around school. If she lost respect for him and they broke up, he knew it would wreck him.

  “Sounds like you’re the one who’s scared,” Jared told her. “You’d probably rather go to Tyke Town and ride the teacups.”

  “I would not!” Becca started up the walkway through the graveyard, past the headstone of I.C. Feet (Took a walk / Out in the snow / Wore no boots / Now lies below). “Race you to the front door!” she called, and she took off running.

  Jared raced after her, pressing himself to his top speed, determined not to lose even this most minor of competitions.

  They were dead even by the time they reached the wide, decrepit-looking front steps, and Jared leaped up three steps at a time, across the little porch where a park employee, often in a cape and fangs or werewolf mask, used to manage admission into the Dark Mansion. As with many of the rides and booths they’d seen tonight, it appeared unmanned yet fully operational and open for business.

  Jared slapped the horned face of the oversized door knocker two seconds before Becca arrived.

  “I win,” he said. “Where’s my prize?”

  “It’s waiting inside,” Becca said, raising her eyebrows.

  Jared grasped the door handle, his thumb lingering on the top latch. The door was wide, peaked, with snarling gargoyles and stone brickwork painted above it. He was starting to tremble, scared to look any deeper into the park’s mysteries.

  It’s only a dream, he reminded himself.

  But if it was a dream, then anything could happen.

  “Are you scared of what I’m going to do to you in there?” Becca whispered in his ear.

  Jared pushed the door open with a loud creak. He took Becca’s hand and led her into the darkness.

  Chapter Fifteen

  On the midway, Elissa stood with Tamara at the Double Dutch House, eating the most delicious, intoxicating square of chocolate fudge she’d ever tasted. Tamara ate her chocolate with her eyes nearly closed, trembling with pleasure at each nibble.

  “Hey, girls,” Finn said as he approached, though he was only looking at Tamara, and he touched her briefly on the lower back when he arrived. Elissa felt an instant pang of jealousy.

  “Oh, Finn.” Tamara opened her eyes, laughing a little. “Sorry, I’m totally lost in this chocolate. You should try some.”

  “Hell, yeah. Hey, do you want to go explore the park? It looks fucking crazy out there,” Finn said. As an afterthought, he glanced at Elissa. “You can come, too. It’ll be fun.”

  “Sounds great,” Tamara said, returning his smile and his long stare.

  You can come, too. Elissa felt stung, and she looked away.

  “Hang on, Finn.” Derek caught up with them, looking scummy as always, clapped Finn on the shoulder, and steered him west, toward Fools’ Gold. “We have work to do.”

  “Work?” Finn looked back over his shoulder at Tamara. “I came here to not work, man.”

  The two of them fell into a whispered argument as they walked off toward the Old West town, which looked completely dark.

  “We don’t need those lame, stupid boys, anyway. Let’s go exploring by ourselves.” Elissa said. She grabbed Tamara by the wrist and pulled her down the midway.

  “Wait! I can’t walk and eat,” Tamara giggled. She shoved the rest of her fudge into her mouth, then licked her fingers.

  “Come on!” Elissa tugged on her wrist, and Tamera stumbled forward, still giggly with her sugar high. They walked on past the game booths, eventually emerging into the brightly painted, music-filled central plaza. Even the little stage near the concession area was lit, with its red curtain drawn back and tied, but nobody was there.

  Elissa glanced around to make sure nobody was in earshot. Jared and Becca were exploring Haunted Alley, stupid Heath was poundin
g away at the Whack-A-Frog, and most importantly, Finn and Derek were far back along the midway.

  “Why are you flirting with Finn?” Elissa whispered. “You know I like him.”

  “I am not!” Tamara looked startled.

  “You’re letting him flirt with you, then,” Elissa said. “You always take the guys I like.”

  “No, I don’t.”

  “We started hanging out with Scott Jensen because I liked him, and you ended up going out with him,” Elissa said. “And now it’s the same thing with Finn. You’re going to end up with him, not me. I can tell.”

  “I can’t help it if some guys like me instead,” Tamara said.

  “They always like you instead, because you’re pretty and I have a big butt and a weird face. That’s the problem.”

  “You do not have a weird face! You have a cute face.”

  “Whatever.”

  “I never do anything to take these guys from you, Elissa. They just come after me. What else am I supposed to do?”

  “Um, try saying no, you’re not interested? Steer one my way occasionally?”

  “Oh, okay. I guess I could. I guess I always just let these things happen.”

  “But you won’t go out with Finn? Or do anything with him?” Elissa asked.

  “Nah, I won’t. Hey, look, the wishing well. Remember that?” Tamara pointed to the brick well with its cheerful little wooden roof and roped bucket.

  “You promise you won’t do anything with Finn?” Elissa asked.

  “I promise.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Yeah. You know I’m good at not doing stuff. Finn will just be one more thing I don’t do. Like laundry. And homework,” Tamara said, and Elissa laughed.

  Elissa read aloud the poem painted on a sign over the well:

  Some wishes come true,

  Some others are lost.

  You’ve nothing to lose,

  Give your coin a toss!

  “Okay, let’s do it.” Elissa dug into her pocket, picked out two pennies, and gave one to Tamara. “Have a wish on me.”

  “Thanks!” Tamara smiled at her for a long moment, then turned and flicked her penny down the well.

  “Hey, I wasn’t ready yet!” Elissa said.

  “Oh, was I supposed to wait? I didn’t think about it. Maybe I have another one.” Tamara opened her purse.

  “No, it’s okay.” Elissa balanced the penny on her thumb and index finger and aimed it into the darkness below. The wish came to her mind, unbidden but inevitable:

  I wish I was prettier than Tamara, she thought.

  She flicked the coin down the well, watching its tumbling copper glint until it was out of sight.

  Elissa felt a stab of shame. Why had she wished to be prettier than Tamara? Why not simply wish to be pretty? Or to genuinely not care about her looks or what people thought of her? Or wish for something practical, like a million dollars?

  “It’s just a stupid wish,” Elissa whispered, shaking her head to try and clear the bad feeling.

  “What did you say?” Tamara asked, still smiling at her.

  “I said, let’s go see this park! Right? And if any of the rides are open, we find the highest, fastest one and ride the hell out of it.”

  “That’s what I was just thinking!” Tamara replied.

  Hand in hand, friends again and drunk on beer and sugar, they staggered toward the high, pulsing lights of Space City, where most of the big rides could be found.

  “American Rockets? That’s one of the highest in the park.” Elissa pointed to the glowing stripes of neon and rows of colored bulbs flashing up and down the ten-story central tower of the rocket ride. The four rocket cars flashed and pulsed with their own lights, sitting on their launch pads and ready for riders.

  “Maybe,” Tamara said, but she didn’t sound sure.

  “The UFO Spinner?” Elissa pointed to the flying saucer with hundreds of brightly colored, flashing lights on its silver shell. “It just goes around and around and pushes you back against the wall. It doesn’t go up high or anything. Maybe later.”

  “Maybe later,” Tamara agreed.

  “There’s the Brain-Scrambler!” Elissa pointed to the twelve-foot scientist with the oversized brain, his giant lava-lamp flask glowing red. He stood sentry by the entrance to the white dome enclosing the ride. The words PROFESSOR ATOMIC’S BRAIN-SCRAMBLER! glowed and flashed across the top of the dome, accented with neon test tubes. “I always loved that big alien professor guy.”

  “Me, too.”

  “Oh. Oh!” Elissa stopped walking and put her arm across Tamara’s stomach to stop her, too. Then she pointed up at the monster ride glowing and flashing ahead.

  The Moon Robot was a Zipper-style ride. Its central structure was an oval-shaped steel axis, about fifty feet from end to end. The entire oval rotated like a windmill, and a large wheel spun at either end of it. Twelve little cages, each barely big enough for two riders, spun end over end while zipping around the outside of the oval like the teeth of a chainsaw. The entire structure glowed with purple and gold neon.

  “Moon Robot,” Elissa breathed. “Probably the best ride in the park, and they’ve got it running again! This is the one for us, Tamara. It has to be.”

  “Oh, yeah, it’s totally us!” Tamara beamed, the thousand lights of the Moon Robot reflecting in her wide eyes. She was always so agreeable that Elissa suspected she found making her own decisions to be too much hard work—Tamara could be profoundly lazy when not excited by something new and shiny.

  Tamara was usually willing to go along with other people’s ideas, so Elissa did find it entirely possible that Tamara hadn’t set out to steal the guys Elissa liked, but had just passively gone along with their interest in her. It was just Tamara letting other people make her choices, as always.

  Elissa took her arm, and they dashed together through the empty waiting area for Moon Robot, giggling as they ran back and forth between the railings. They blew drunken kisses at the giant toy robot that decorated the waiting area.

  “How do we get on it?” Tamara asked as they approached the concrete slab of the loading area for the ride.

  The Moon Robot ride stopped rotating. The outer cable brought one of the twelve caged cars down to the very bottom of the ride, directly in front of them. It stopped abruptly, and the door of the empty cage swung wide open, as though inviting them in.

  “Wow,” Elissa said. “Okay, but how do we start it and stop it? We need a rope or a boy or some other tool.”

  “All of our rides are now fully automated,” a flat voice said behind them. Both girls jumped and shrieked in surprise.

  The man approaching them must have emerged from the ride operator’s booth, which was shaped like an Apollo space capsule with black-tinted windows. The booth’s round door stood open now, with the lights of a control panel glowing somewhere deep inside the dim booth.

  He was in his thirties, or his forties, or his fifties, his face bland and expressionless, his eyes an almost colorless gray. He wore a candy-striped white hat with a matching suit, a bow tie, and a red handkerchief tucked into his coat pocket like a goofy rich guy in an old movie.

  The girls gaped at him, afraid to speak. They glanced at each other—fight or flee? Tamara would probably wait for Elissa to decide.

  He looked between them, then up at the glowing tower of the ride.

  “The Moon Robot,” he said. “The best ride in the entire park, some would say. Rapid rotation, tremendous G-forces, all while riding six stories into the air. For those who need a good, solid jolt of fear. Is that what you’ve come to find?”

  Tamara gave Elissa a shocked, helpless look.

  “Um.” Elissa cleared her throat. “We’re sorry, we thought the park was closed...”

  “It is. But you’ve come inside anyway.”

  “Yeah.” Elissa trembled. “Are you the security guy? Because we can just leave. You don’t have to...get us in trouble.”

  Tamara nodded vigorously, he
r eyes wide.

  “I am not the security guy,” he said, with just a little smile at the very corners of his lips. “I am the new proprietor. As you can see, our renovations are making rapid progress.”

  “Oh, yeah, uh-huh,” Elissa agreed quickly.

  “It looks great!” Tamara said. “It’s all so pretty. And new.”

  “I am pleased to hear that you approve,” he said, though his face didn’t show any particular pleasure, or anything at all. “You are squarely in my target market, after all. Your demographic provides my most valued customers.”

  “Really?” Tamara asked. For some reason, she seemed to enjoy hearing that she was part of a valued target market.

  “Young, bright, wandering souls desperately seeking a good time,” he said with a slight nod.

  “That’s totally us! Right, Elissa?”

  “Sure.” Elissa shrugged, just glad the guy hadn’t called the cops, so far.

  “Please provide feedback on your experience as you exit the ride,” the man said. He made a flourishing gesture and the open cage and bowed his head. “Now, my ladies, your gondola awaits.”

  Tamara and Elissa snickered.

  Elissa led the way toward the open cage with a growing rush of excitement. Instead of getting mad at them for sneaking into the park, the guy was actually inviting them to try out the ride. She figured he must be some crazy rich guy—he would have to be, if he’d bought and restored the entire park. She wouldn’t mind making friends with a crazy rich guy like that.

  “Moon Robot! Whoop!” Tamara cheered as she climbed into the little cage, suspended a few feet above the ground, and dropped into the narrow seat. The man in the striped hat held the cage to prevent it from swinging back and forth.

  Elissa climbed up beside her.

  “This is awesome,” Elissa whispered.

  “I know!” Tamara squeaked, bobbing up and down in her seat.

  “Place your hands in your laps for the safety bar,” the man said through the cage wall.

  That didn’t sound right to Elissa—wouldn’t it make more sense to raise their arms out of the way while it closed over their laps? She did as instructed, though, and placed her hands on her thighs. Tamara copied her.