Chapter 1: Haunted Houses and Rollercoaster Rides

Costumed figures traveled from house to house, collecting candy. Zach and Katie laughed merrily at their two friends. Jack had grabbed Sara’s tail and wasn’t letting go.

“You’ll pull it off! Let go!” She spun around, but he managed to grab it again.

“Why? I’m having fun!”

Sara stamped her foot and glared, “Let go—NOW!”

“Okay, okay! No need to get so hostile.” Jack quickly let go of the tail.

Katie and Zach shared a smile, “Why don’t we go to the haunted house on fortieth? It’s supposed to the scariest one in the town!”

They arrived minutes in front of two rusty gates that loomed high above their heads. Katie pushed the gates open and ushered her friends to follow. The road to the house was long and dark. A cemetery lay to their right, the headstones silently gray. A wheezing breeze whispered through the air, sending chills down their spine.

A large Victorian house came into view. It hadn’t been occupied in years, the broken windows clearly showed that. Loose shutters moaned and the billowing curtains moved like a ghost. Each step creaked as they climbed the wooden stairs. The door had a metal knocker in the shape of a devil.

Katie reached for it and let go as soon as she lifted it. It fell against the wood with a large bang. The doors creaked open. After they’d stepped in, the doors closed as silently, forever sealing away the light. Darkness filled the room.

“Everyone stay close to me.” Zach’s voice rang.

“How can we stay close if we can’t see you?” Katie hissed, one hand groping the darkness.

Her hand hit something cold and smooth. It fell to the floor with a crash. She jumped at the metallic-like sound and froze when she heard a groan.

“Katie?” a familiar voice croaked.

“Zach! I’m sorry! Did I hit you?” she said, worried.

“Nah, I’m good.” Zach brushed himself off. “We need to find Sara and Jack.”

The two fumbled in the dark, searching for a wall to follow. They found the smooth surface walked alongside the wall, holding hands. They walked in silence for a few minutes until Katie suddenly lost her balance with a squeak. She tumbled backward, dragging Zach with her. They fell in a dark pit and landed painfully on the hard ground in a disgraceful heap.

“Oww…” Zach groaned.

“Agreed.” Came Katie's muffled reply.

Katie lay for a few seconds before gaining her bearings. She was obtrusively aware of the uncomfortable position they were in:

She was on her back and Zach ended on top of her. One arm was pinned underneath her body, still clasping Zach’s hand. Her other arm was free. Their legs were hopelessly tangled in each other’s robes. Zach on the other hand, was a little less tangled. His left arm was unfortunately pinned underneath Katie’s body while the other landed an unlucky spot, straight against her chest.

Katie blushed bright red, glad for the cover of darkness. Zach coughed awkwardly racking his brains for a single intelligent thought. He quickly removed his hand and rolled off. Next, Zach tried to untangle his legs from her robe, but found himself unable to do so. Katie decided to give it a shot. She grasped the dark clothing and yanked harshly. Her leg came free.

“Hey! That was my robe!” Zach protested, fingering the rip in his robes.

“Oops.” she unsympathetically apologized.

Zach let out a sigh, brushing off his robe. Katie sat up, realizing her hat and broom were absent. Her eyes were useless in the dark, so she groped the floor with her hands. She felt something like bristles and wood brush against her foot.

“Found my broom and your staff!” she proudly announced.

“And I think I found our hats.” he replied, “I think I’m might’ve stepped on yours, oops.”

After exchanging possessions, Zach and Katie set to the task of finding their friends. They wandered corridors and hallways, finding nothing familiar. Katie wished for a source of light to guide them, but wishing didn’t help in this situation. As they turned a corner, a blast of bright light blinded their eyes. Zach grew hopeful. Excited, they ran through the passage and entered a large room.

A sign hung from the ceiling reading, “The House of Horrors.” The air smelled old and dank. Benches crowded the stone walls nearly overflowing with people. Chatter filled the room. It was loud enough that Katie and Zach couldn’t hear their friends shouting. Jack and Sara flailed their arms, big smiles on their faces.

“Jack! Sara!” Katie waved excitedly, dragging Zach with her.

“Where’d you guys disappear to?” Sara questioned slyly.

“Wanted some ‘alone’ time?” Jack teased, a wolfish grin on his face; it matched his costume perfectly.

Katie blushed as a certain incident surfaced in her mind. Zach and Katie shared a look. Neither of them wanted their incident to be known. They’d never hear the end of it!

“We got lost!” Katie blurted.

“In any case, we saved you some spots.” Sara interrupted, moving over. Katie’s face lit up and she gladly sat down. Zach shrugged his shoulders with a thankful smile. Ten minutes passed. The line barely moved faster than a snail. Eventually, they reached the front of the line.

“Finally!” Jack said. He got up eagerly and stretched his sore limbs. The gatekeeper, dressed as the grim reaper, opened the velvet cord that prevented them from passing. He allowed the four of them to pass before closing it again.

“Where are we supposed to go?” Sara asked the gatekeeper. The grim reaper said nothing, but pointed a white, bony finger to a sign that had an arrow. “Oh…thanks.”

Katie, Sara, Jack and Zach followed the sign down a swirl staircase that adjoined a dark corridor. A torch hung on the wall. The shadows seemed to run away from the glow. The four followed the arrows until they reached another room much like the one at the beginning. Two lone rollercoaster carts lay deserted in the middle of the tracks.

From a dark corner came a cackling voice. An unpleasantly old lady walked from the shadows.

“Welcome, my pretties.” She rubbed her grubby hands together, eyeing each one carefully. “Let’s see…we have a wizard, a witch, a she-cat, and a werewolf. What luck!” She cackled like an old witch, which wasn’t far off.

Her hair was a wispy white and stringy. An old pointy black hat perched on her head with a spider hanging from the tip. Her eyes were small and tricky. She had a disturbing hairy wart on her pickle-shaped nose. Her breath stank horribly enough to make anyone believe she breathed green gas. (Katie nearly gagged when she opened her mouth.)

Her body type reminded Katie oddly of a watermelon covered in clothes. She was round while her hands were bony. She wore black tights that made her legs look like beanbags. Her shoes were pointy, decorated with a silver buckle.

The old woman’s looks rendered the four speechless and disturbed. Jack finally found his tongue and blurted, “Is this the ride?”

“Course it is!” she crowed, “Now then, please get in the ride. Two by two!”

She pushed Jack and Sara together and shepherded them to first rollercoaster like lost lambs. As soon as they were settled, she came back for Katie and Zach. However, they went to the rollercoaster car by their own capability. The old woman gave a smile, made a sweep of her hand, and disappeared from their sight into the darkness.

As soon as they were seated, the rollercoaster awoke. Three seatbelts strapped the teenagers to their seats; two crossed their chest and one across their lap. A strap slithered across any items they’d brought onboard, such as Katie’s broom. Alarmingly Zack and Katie found that they were ultimately strapped to the car. Nothing was mobile except for their arms and legs.

“Best hold onto our hats.” Zach warned, glad his mother had sewn a strap to his hat.

Katie hastily grabbed her hat before the rollercoaster jerked into motion. It started out as a slow ride, but began picking up speed very quickly. Unexpectedly, the coaster took a deep dive. Zach watched Katie struggle to keep her hat on. He chuckled, reaching over to lend a hand. The ride finally leveled again, coming to a screechy stop.

Katie saw something odd in the distance. “Does that look like lightening to you?” she questioned.

“Yeah, probably a new feature of the ride.” he said.

“I can hear screaming!” she said, worried.

“Haunted Houses carry recordings of screams all the time.”

Katie frowned, she didn’t believe him. The car grew steadily closer to the lightning that sailed across the sky. A bad feeling settled in her gut; she felt uneasy. It looked painful. Her hair began to rise and her skin felt tingly. She tried to tell Zach, but it seemed he was already aware. Zach was rubbing his arm, clearly trying to rid himself of the sensation.

Suddenly, a bolt of lightning struck the car. Katie and Zach screamed as pain filled their bodies. Their seatbelts snapped. Their bodies were lifted into the air by an unseen force. Zach’s staff and Katie’s broom flew after them.

Katie desperately reached for Zach, grasping his hand in hers. Her mind buzzed with unvoiced questions. How did this happen? Was this part of the ride? There was nothing in the brochure about lightning or defying gravity!

Zach felt something tugging him away from Katie. “No!” he yelled to the invisible culprit. His hand slipped from her grasp, taking her ring with him. A gray blue light engulfed his body. “Katie!” he whispered before he lost sight, clutching the ring tightly in his fist.

Katie screamed in shock, calling his name desperately over and over. She gave one last, blood curling scream before her body was enveloped in a black white light.