Nadia and Alexis ran to their lockers as soon as the bell rang, grabbing their backpacks and their new iPhone 12s.
“Omigosh, I can’t wait to go to the amusement park!” Nadia exclaimed exuberantly.”
A soft voice replied, “It isn’t safe to go to Busch Gardens on Friday the 13th, my friend.” It was a small girl who Nadia and Alexis had never seen before. The girl’s long hair was messy and matted. Her clothes were out of style and looked like they had spent the night balled up on the floor. Her eyes, however, were as bright as the moon on an inky black night.
“What do you know? I bet you’ve never been their before. Also, who are you?” huffed Alexis snootily. But when she looked back, the girl was nowhere to be seen.
“Finally, we’re here!” Alexis sighed in relief. The two besties hopped off the bus. It was a beautiful day, the sun shining and the air was filled with the musty smell of leaves. They had forgotten to tell their parents they were going to the amusement park, but whatever. It’s not like anything bad was going to happen. They ran right to the ride they had been waiting their whole lives to ride, the Alpengeist. In order to be even considered cool at school, you would have to ride it. In their fearless frenzy, they had not noticed that the park was empty, except for the employees and themselves. To their surprise, there was no one in line. The teen monitoring the ride had his hoodie up, and his long, dark tendrils of hair covered his face, so all you could see was his mouth. In a surprisingly high pitched voice he muttered, “Go in. We just opened up.” Alexis and Nadia cracked tremendous grins at each other, grins that only true friends could exchange. They hopped onto the ride, exploding with delight. The ride monitor buckled them in, and then, unnoticed by Alexis and Nadia, whispered into a small device, “Two rowdy girls. Coming your way.”
As soon as the ride started, the girls went up and down, again and again. It had been almost twenty minutes. “When does this ride stop?” Nadia asked Alexis, “and where’s the guy that monitors this thing?” Alexis could only shrug her shoulders. There was no end in sight for the famed roller coaster. Then, out of nowhere, a huge hill appeared in front of the daring duo. The cart slowly chugged up the hill and the girls braced to descend. Counterintuitively, the ride rose so high Nadia was sure she was breathing in clouds. The air bit at her lungs, clawing and scratching. Alexis let out a blood-curdling screech like a petrified pterodactyl. They squeezed their eyes shut, praying that the ride monitor would do something. The air continued to slash and bite at their terrified tomato red faces, like a savage beast. Then, as if it were all just fine, the girls opened their eyes and could breathe again. Somehow, they had reached the end of the ride and were safely on terra firma.
“What in the name of Pete were you ladies doing on that ride? Don’t you know it’s broken? What psychotic monitor let you on there? Who was it?” a white-bearded man said angrily. His name tag said George, Manager of Busch Gardens. “Sorry sir,” Nadia replied, “there was a boy who let us on the Alpengeist. We don’t remember his name.” As they told the caring manager this, his face froze. His eyes widened. His mouth turned into a perfect ‘o.’ “Th-that must have been him. I fired him seven years ago. For reasons I cannot tell you.” George took off his hat. “Call you parents, the bus ain’t coming back.” The girls then realized that their phones were dead, and went to George’s office to call their parents. Only problem? Nobody picked up. Alexis chewed her lip nervously and tapped her foot. What are we going to do?, she thought. George noticed Alexis’ worried face and said, “I just found out that there’s another bus coming here in ‘bout ten minutes.”
Alexis and Nadia got onto the bus, both of their faces flooded with unease and worry. Their parents hadn’t texted or called them. Nadia was positive her mom would freak out and ground her for at least twelve years when she got home. It was quite unusual. The girls arrived at Nadia’s house, and the first thing they noticed were that all the lights were off, but her parent’s cars were in the driveway. Nadia’s dog, Dotty, was barking. Nadia gulped loudly, and grabbed Alexis’ hand. The two friends approached the door. They pulled it open. Two vile, scarred, green skinned creatures that were somehow familiar greeted them, and behind the gruesome creatures, a figure with long dark hair and a sinister smirk said, “Give us your brains.”
