Chapter 4

Daniel and Jacob had just made it out of the storage building that they had gotten lost in. However, things are very different... and danger is closing in fast.

Whatever we had gotten ourselves into, it was worse than we had originally thought. Daniel and I had just found our way out of the storage building from the service exit but several things had taken us back. It was dark outside. From the moment that we had all split up and ran it was nine o’clock in the morning and now it looks as if it's midnight. 

“The f**k is going on man?!” Daniel screamed. “What the f**k is going on?!”

“Dan! Calm down for Christ sake!” I replied in fear. Whatever that thing was had definitely heard us now. “We have to stay quiet and try to look for Gabe!” 

“I don’t want to die Jake… I don’t want to die…” Daniel said as he began to sob again. His composure had depleted worse than mine. “How is this possible? What is happening. Is any of this even real?” 

“Dan… I don’t know what’s going on either but we have to stay calm and keep moving. If we find Gabe then we’ll run for the SUV and get the f**k out of here.” I said as I darted my eyes around the darkness for anyone. “Please don’t lose yourself here and now. I need you more than ever Dan.” 

Daniel shook his head and looked to the ground. He dropped to the ground and began to pull at his hair with his hands as he quietly sobbed. I felt horrible. This really was my fault. I had pulled everyone out here and now because of me our lives were in danger. I should have listened to Daniel that night, real or not. We should have left when we were still in the forest. 

It was hard to see around us. The darkness that had now casted itself among the Six Flags made it impossible to see exactly where we were and what else was with us. My brain was frantically searching for any options that we could take to successfully find Gabe as soon as possible. Just about everything that popped into my head was to try and call him on his cell phone. If that failed, then we’d try looking for him by foot. Although, walking through this place in pitch black darkness was something that I don’t think neither me or Daniel would want to do, especially after what we’ve seen and endured. I pulled out my cell phone and dialed Gabe’s number. Putting the phone up to my ear it rang so his phone wasn’t dead or destroyed. After some time of waiting while looking down at Daniel who now had his fingers in his mouth, chewing his nails frantically, the phone picked up. 

“Gabe? Gabe! Where are you right now?” I said quickly but quietly into the mic of the phone. 

“You… took… my… gun…” A quiet voice said over the phone. 

I slowly turned my head to the service exit of the storage building that we had just left. It was there. The body. It stood in the open doorway quietly, unmoving as it held an old dial phone up to its head with a cord that ran to the floor and trailed off into the darkness. It dropped the phone which made a clatter noise on the concrete base it was standing on. Daniel whipped his eyes over to the creature and smiled; crying in disbelief. 

“Gabe! Where have you been?” Daniel yelled as he began to run towards the creature. 

“Daniel! Stop! That isn’t Gabe!” I yelled as I reached out in an attempt to stop him. 

Daniel ran in front of the doorway but before he could stop, the creature's arms popped and crackled as they extended to an inhuman amount of length and wrapped around Daniel. Daniel screamed as the creature's split head grew a pair of large teeth causing blood to splatter from its mangled, caved in skull. Pieces of flesh and bone fell to the ground in front of it as my flashlight went out in that instant. In a panic, I raised the Winchester and pumped the forearm and fired. What was left of the creature's head was blown off. The rest of the pellets entered the creature's arms and chest as it flew backwards and dropped Daniel who screamed as he hit the ground. 

“You f****r! You blew my goddamn ear off!” Daniel yelled on the ground. “You killed him! You killed Gabe you sick f**k!” 

“Are you insane?! Did you not see what that thing just tried to do to you?! You should be lucky that I even hit it at all!” I yelled. “That wasn’t Gabe!”

I quickly made my way over to Daniel and tried to help him up but he pushed me away. My flashlight switched back on as I grabbed it and pointed it at Daniel. I looked in fear as some of the shotgun pellets had pried off his left ear and left some holes in the side of his face. I put the shotgun on the ground next to me and forced myself to Daniel as he again tried to push me away. Tears were running down his face as he was shaking, probably both from the pain of the shotgun wound and the horror he had just witnessed. If what he saw was me killing Gabe, he probably thought that I was the monster, not the thing that just tried to f*****g eat him. From my backpack, I pulled out some bandages and a bottle of rubbing alcohol. 

“Hold still,” I said. “I’m going to clean the wound. I’m not much of an expert of removing shotgun pellets from a gun wound but the least I can do is clean it and bandage you up so it isn’t exposed.” 

“You killed Gabe… why? Why did you do that you sick b*****d?” Daniel cried as he slowly layed down on the ground, sobbing. “Why? What the hell possessed you to do that?”

I poured the rubbing alcohol on his face to which he yelled out in pain. Probably stung like a son of a b***h. This was great. First, we’re attacked and then I shoot my friend in the face on accident. Poor Dan… he didn’t deserve any of this. I wrapped the bandages around his wound by wrapping it around his head so that it stayed out of his face and eyes. Blood immediately coated the bandages as he was losing a lot of blood fast. Having to deal with wounds before, I had never really been squeamish to this type of thing. This time however, was more than I could do. I’ve done small work on friends before but never one that had to do with me blowing my friends ear off his f*****g head. I waited there, sitting next to Daniel until he was calm enough to talk to. I looked over to the monstrosity that I had beheaded and saw that it’s elongated arms twiched like an animal that was being put down. I looked over to my shotgun and picked it up, putting more shells into it as I cocked the forearm again. I aimed the weapon at the creature's chest as I walked into the doorway past its arms until I stood over it. After a minute of looking at the disgusting thing and bearing the stench of its corpse, I pulled the trigger and another shot rang out, echoing off of the walls of the nearby buildings. If there was anything else in this park with us, it knows we’re here and most likely where we are. Another hole was blown into the creature as its chest was now exposed like a popped soda can. Blood covered the bottom of my pants and boots as I pumped the forearm of the shotgun again, walking over to Daniel who sat shaking in fear at me. 

“Dan.” I said in a stirn voice. “That wasn’t Gabe.”

“Then what else could it have been?” Daniel said, still sobbing.

“Are you f*****g serious right now? That thing just tried to kill you and you’re questioning what else it could be?” 

“I don’t know what is going on anymore Jacob. I don’t know what’s real and what isn’t.”

“We just have to look for Gabe.” I set my shotgun down beside Daniel. “We can do this. Listen Danny, I’m f*****g scared shitless right now but we have to find Gabe so we can leave. The sooner that we can get help the sooner-”

Daniel frantically reached for the shotgun, putting it up against his chin. I jumped and grabbed the shotgun. Pulling the trigger, I moved it out of the way but not nearly fast enough. The top half of his skull was ripped off as blood and pieces of hair and flesh coated my face. Daniel’s one eye that was left from his suicide looked at me with terror and sorrow. Tears formed up in it as he could no longer speak. He sat there, still as a tree as I stood up with the shotgun and threw it onto the ground, making a loud crack as it hit the pavement. 

“F**k!” I yelled as I began to cry. “F**k this! F**k you!” I kicked my backpack and stomped on it until all of the equipment in there was surely broken. “Come f*****g get me! Kill me! F*****g kill me!” 

Nothing. Nothing came as I dropped to the ground next to Daniel. I began to scream and cry. I had just witnessed my friend kill himself in front of me and I bare the blame. He thought that I was the enemy. How could this place have turned him against me? Just hours ago, we were all together, walking through the forest about to explore our last place together and now one of my friends is a still corpse on the ground. Blood pooled around his body as his head was now a faucet of a thick red crimson. I buried my face in his shirt and screamed his name over and over again. Suddenly, I heard something walking towards me. I looked up, tears in my eyes and full of rage, I viewed the same being that had been at the trailer house from earlier today. The radio static, its contorted neck, and its head that hung to the side of its body. The creature stood there, playing a looped laughing track over and over again as its head was twitching, presumably laughing along with the track. Out of the static and laughing track, it played almost a recording of Daniel’s voice. It sounded so surreal and artificial, yet it scared me at the resemblance of how it imitated his voice.

“Why did you kill me Jacob...? Why did you kill me Jacob...? Why did you kill me Jacob…?” It repeated over and over. 

I sat there, looking at the thing with tears in my eyes and blood on my hands. It was right, I killed Daniel. Whatever he had seen from that thing that attacked him, it was Gabe to him. I caused his death by allowing this place to get to him. I should not have bought anyone here in the first place. The amount of guilt of which I felt in that moment was insurmountable compared to any other feeling that I had felt in my entire life. If I had just called this off like Daniel had said before. I remembered that he said that he never wanted to call it off, but maybe it was a nightmare all along. Maybe it was a warning that we should have never come to this place. 

The creature continued to ask in Daniel's voice why I killed him again and again. I looked to the right of me and saw the Winchester shotgun that lay next to Daniel. Picking up the weapon, I pumped the forearm and looked at the barrel of the gun which was now coated in the blood of my friend. I was shaking, both in fear and in anger as I placed the muzzle of the shotgun underneath my chin. I wanted to shoot, I wanted to just end it all there so that nothing else bad could happen but something made me resist the urge. Dropping the shotgun next to me, I screamed at the creature who was still taunting me at the death of Daniel. Facing the creature, I raised the shotgun and pointed it towards the disgusting thing that now sat in front of me playing Alyssa’s voice instead of Daniels. 

“He’s in Hell with me now Jacob…” It spoke. “You put Daniel in Hell with me.” 

“No.” I said quietly. “You did that.”

I pulled the trigger as the creature fell onto its back. Blood shooting out of the front of it as flesh was ripped off of the monstrosity, the sound of an agonizing scream was echoing through the dark empty courtyard that the three of us now sat in. I stood from where I was sitting, having some trouble getting up and I stood over the now wounded monster. It’s breathing was labored as it’s distorted face was pulsating with pain and anguish. Pumping the forearm again and without hesitation, I put one final shell into the mouth of the demon. It’s brains, flesh, and part of its skull littered the ground next to me as I pulled the bloody muzzle of the shotgun out of its now decimated mouth. 

Everything had come to an end the moment that we had crossed the line between the forest and this place. We had thought that this place would be the last we’d see each other, but never like this. The three of us had crossed into some hellish, hostile world that wanted absolutely nothing to do with us. I kept my shotgun with me as now the only thing is my bag was the metal bar that Daniel had back in the storage building, the shotgun shells, and my camera that was once slung around my neck. Daniel was gone, taken by the horrors that resided within this establishment and now I needed to find Gabe. If there was one thing that I knew for sure, it's that Daniel wouldn’t want me to leave Gabe here for my own sake and I wasn’t planning on doing that in the first place. I’d find him and we would get out of here. I wasn’t going to be the reason that one of my friends died again. If I was going to die in this place, it would be only if I had failed in rescuing everyone that I came here with. I wasn’t going to leave Daniel behind either, so I picked up his body and slung him around my shoulder as I carefully began to walk towards what I thought was the original courtyard that we had entered this horrible place at. My hands and sleeves of my coat were covered in Daniels blood as I quietly sobbed while trying to figure out which way I needed to go. 

I was stopped by the sound of a voice. I wasn’t artificial like that thing had made from its mouth, but it was crying; quiet and muffled. I attempted to follow its source as best as I could. Looking around me with my flashlight in hand, I could see that there were different buildings to get onto roller coasters. The cheerful red and blue paint that was on the pillars of these buildings along with the colorful stripes and polka-dots that littered the buildings made it seem like a place of childhood. It was a false sense of security that this place had put upon you. From the moment we had walked in here I had a feeling of nostalgia and childhood reminiscence. It was almost as if the Six Flags was like a child predator, luring you in until it has you, to which it rips you from limb to limb. It was repulsive. Just the thought that this place had managed to manipulate Daniel into seeing one of our friends only for me to be the reason that he died was sickening. Even though I wanted to find Gabe, my thoughts were that I should have just pulled the trigger and let my corpse be eaten by whatever nightmarish horror that happened upon my body. However, I wasn’t willing to let my end be an act of cowardice. I wanted to try and save one soul, just one from this wretched pit of Hell itself. Whatever was going to stand in front of Gabe and I getting out of this place was going to be just another challenge that I’d have to face. Running away from this was something that I wasn’t going to let myself do for the sake of Gabe. As I continued to follow the sound of the muffled crying I was met with what looked to be a two story building that was painted red on the outside, its windows were either boarded up or left completely open with no glass to protect it from the outside. The front door to the building was broken and smashed inward, allowing anyone who would want to walk into this place to let them have a free ticket to enter. Great, my own personal gateway to Satan’s Funhouse I thought to myself. 

I set Daniel down on the ground and reloaded my Winchester with the last of my shells that I had. Only three shots left inside of this thing. I couldn’t waste it on nothing, I needed to make sure that whatever I was firing at was a threat. Quietly, I walked up some small concrete steps that led up to the front door of the building and I entered. Immediately, that same smell that I had experienced back in the storage building from the corpse was all that could be sensed in this horrible place. I gagged again, covering my nose with my shirt as I bared the horrid smell and attempted to find the source of the sobbing. Since I had entered, the sobbing had been reminiscent of Gabes which both comforted me that I knew he was here but also scared me to see what had happened to him. I could still hear the sound of the gunshots that had gone off back in the storage building. One. Two. Never had we ever needed to fire that gun twice but after everything that I had seen, I’m surprised that I didn’t hear more. The walls of the building were an old concrete with red paint that was chipping off probably due to time and the flooding that had happened here. The ceiling had mold and mildew while also having what could only be identified as asbestos that hugged the corners of the ceiling. Shining my flashlight around the walls, I saw a board that displayed a map of the entire Six Flags that was in still very good condition. To my surprise, the entire map had seemingly been very well preserved. I took the push pins off of the display board and looked at the map in a closer inspection. Apparently, I was located in a part of the park called the “Mardi Gras” which was the place most closely located to the roller coaster. This is also where we had entered from. At least now I knew a way out of here. All I had to do was find Gabe and then we’d make it out of this place. Folding up the map and putting it into my backpack, the crying that I was hearing had ceased. The entire building was now shrouded in silence.
“Gabe?” I called out. 

No response. Not a single noise could be heard from the building. The only thing that I could hear in that moment was my breathing and heartbeat. Cautiously, I walked towards where I had heard the crying. It was a small room that was at the end of the small hallway I was in. There was no door, only the hinges as the door frame itself even seemed to be missing. I used my flashlight as a guide for my eyes as I carefully inspected the entire room, only to find nothing of interest. There was no furniture inside of the room. The emptiness of the room complimented the silence that made the entire building feel even more barren. It was depressing. Stepping out of the room, I sat up against the wall and looked to the Winchester. Frowning, I knew that I shouldn’t give up now. I can’t let Daniel’s death be on my hands only to have Gabe’s be mine too. I had to push myself for Gabe.
For Daniel.
For Alyssa. 

Author's Note

I want to give a little bit of context on something really fast. I'm usually used to writing short stories so as my first novel that I'm planning on making, please let me know if the story is progressing too quickly or it you're losing where you are in parts. I apologize but I am still looking to better myself!