“Honey my ass, we aren’t even married,” she hushed him,“hurry up before the sun goes down!” She walked even faster now, there’s almost a block of distance between the two. Off in the distance hid abandoned rides that once entertained many children, even the ones that were a child at heart. Pavements filled with excitement for firework displays were now dull and reeked of death. Air that bit the silver of the steel railings left rust behind. Trees and wild weeds barricaded doors of the haunted houses and reception rooms.
Rainie spotted a broken victorian street lantern and went toward it for a touch. The place truly preserved its beauty. The moment was taken away when Daemon asked, “Hey..Rainie, isn’t that a person?” He pointed at the boy that knelt down on the floor with his back facing away from the two.“What is he doing?” Rainie was curious too but instead of staying afar, she decided to investigate. She went behind the boy and blurted,“Hey kid, you shouldn’t be here this late. Your parents would be worried! This is an abandoned amusement park, not a playground.” Frightened by her loud voice , the boy jumped a bit as a response. He faced up and saw an intense face wrapped around a silver hijab looking down at him.
“I’m 16 thank you.”
“Don’t play smart with me, you aren’t even legal yet. This is truly not the right place. You should-.”
“Rainie, it’s okay. Let him be, I’m sure he knows what kind of trouble he’s getting himself into,” Daemon interrupted.
“I sure do, fine sir,” the boy responded holding up a scaled-skinned lizard that was about the size of a pinky finger. “I was on my way back home when I saw this crawling around the park. It’s rare in this area. I wanted to catch one myself and raise it.” Rainie’s face tensed up in a disgusted manner.
“If you don’t mind, we should all head out together. Honestly this place is feeling creepier the more I look around,” Daemon suggested to the boy.
The sun was lowering much faster than it should. The sky transitioned from a bright orange to a darker shade of blue.
“No, it’s alright. I can walk out by myself. The place is huge but I know the way,” the boy replied. He held the lizard firmly enough to not strangle the creature and slowly walked toward the fountain with a golden painted statue. Rainie watched the child walk away and she heard a sound aside from his footsteps. The sound of water. Impossible, she thought. The boy stopped walking , he seemed to have heard it too. The statue of the fountain right next to him started pouring water from its vase, filling the stone base. Rainie screamed. All three of them were too afraid to move. Until, a laughter ended the silence in an unpleasant way.
“It’s hilarious, this seems like a wonderful game,” the voice said from the seemingly broken speakers. Daemon was hugging Rainie as the voice spoke. Her tears from shock and makeup were painted on his shirt. Gaining some of her dignity back she untangled herself from Daemon and challenged the voice.
“Leave us or I’ll call the cops,” she said while holding out her phone as if it had powers.
“Haha, call them if you can.” The phone Rainie held melted. She shrieked and released it. The melted phone formed into a dark raven with blood red eyes. Then it flew away into the navy sky.
“Welcome, to my wonderland children,” the voice continued.
“There’s no way out as of yet -that’s for sure. The front entrances are blocked by a wall of vines,” said the boy while breathing heavily from his discovery.
“Yes, that’s exactly what I did. All me,” the voice said proudly, “tell you what, if you find me within thirty hours, I’ll release all of you. If not then I’ll have to kill you off one by one. Don’t disappoint me.”
“Let us out of here,” Rainie shouted angrily at the voice. Her voice echoed through the silence but there was no reply. The broken victorian street lights turned on one by one like torches. In all seriousness, the boy’s stomach rumbled.
“Excuse my hunger, I forgot to mention that I skipped my lunch today,” he said and broke the mood. “Sadly to announce that I have no food in my bag.”
“We should stick together and find a place to rest in tonight. It’s unnatural around here so we should be careful,” Daemon stated the obvious to reassure himself from the fear he felt.
“You don’t have to be afraid,” something muttered from the boy’s bag. The boy heard it and took off his bag and threw it off to a safe distance.
“Who?” He questioned as if he’s immunized by the queerness. The bag unzipped and a pair of stuffed rabbit ears moved to greet them. The whole toy crawled out of the boy’s bag.
“Wow, you still play with stuff animals boy? You’re 16 already,” Rainie mocked while in disbelief that the toy was moving.
“The bear is not mine,” the boy snapped.
“How rude are the both of you? I’m the spirit of park, and I was summoned to help all of you out,” the rabbit said. "How can you tell that I’m not tricking you?Lets start by telling you a simple story. This abandoned land was once ruled by happy spirits but one day a clown suicide here from humiliation. The clown took over our land and we want to claim it back. The clown did nothing great for us besides bringing sadness to this land,” the rabbit said to clear suspicion, “Like the clown, I have powers too and I don’t mind to use it to guide the 3 of you to resolve the park’s problem.”
“That’s understanding, if Mr. Spirit would like to grant me some food, I’ll consider,” the boy said.
“My fellow spirits would appreciate your help.”
The water from the fountain shaped itself into a plate and soon enough, a delicious steak, mash potatoes and strawberries fell on top of it from thin air.
Daemon bent down a bit to Rainie’s ears and whispered “Rainie, everything would be fine soon. We should eat while there is a chance to. We will survive, Its okay.”
“I forgot to mention our names. I’m Daemon Chen and this here is Rainie Fatima. We originally came here for inspirations on an art project.” Daemon made eye contact with the boy to urge him to introduce himself.
“I’m Josh Spence. Mr. Spirit, I’m thankful for your food. Could you grant me another wish to summon some insects for my lizard? I think she is hungry,” the boy said.
“Yes. Daemon, Rainie and Josh, I’m honored to have you three to help me. However time is scarce. There’s only thirty hours until the clown shows no mercy.”
“Please don’t make fun me. This place isn’t even that huge. Thirty hours is more than enough to walk around the park for more than 10 times,” Rainie retorted.
“I sure hope you’ll find him before the time comes. However this isn’t a dead park anymore. The clown’s laughter awoke everything supernatural that are very much alive. This is the 667th dimension. For newcomers like you three, I sincerely welcome you all aboard.”
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