Remembering that awful night back in 1996 still kills me to this day. The screams as the children fell to their untimely death through the flimsy Fun House second storey floorboards. The cries and wails from the mothers as they attempted to unearth their offspring. A memorial has taken part every summer since that day, one which I have been too afraid to attend, as I know what the cause of the accident was. It was not the shoddy maintenance, nor was it the overload of weight from the unsuspecting children, for that night I believe evil possessed that house, evil so strong nobody could have prepared for it.
As I walked over the vomit ridden path alongside The Dominator, I pondered over whether or not I should attempt fate once more and ride this beast of a contraption? I stared into the abyss of what was a tangle of twisted, steal track. The colours were overwhelming, the manic screech of the mechanical monster was far too . menacing for me to bear any longer, I turned my head to one side but all I could see was the laughter of my siblings in the back of my mind. I span around and began to run as far as I could from the cause of my recent troubles, the mocking from my so called friends who forever torment me with chants and rhymes of shame. I ran harder, I ran faster, I ran until my legs were aching, until the veins in my temple were on the verge of releasing my vital fluids. I shut my eyes and hoped it would free me from my nightmare, I tripped. I checked my nose for any signs of blood, there was. I pounded the floor in anger, and prayed that nobody I knew saw my foolish mistake.
When I was on my feet I saw that there were none of my friends to be seen, there was nobody to be seen. I felt a hand pound firmly onto my shoulder, and quickly span around to see an elderly man with a somewhat mischievous grin at the centre of his plump, round face. I chocked on my breath, and swallowed hard. He nodded in my direction, and pointed over my trembling shoulder, I was curious of the antics of what this mysterious looking man may attempt to do. He nodded once more in my direction and his arm remained in its erect, sturdy position. I gently turned my head in aid of viewing what the old man was so audacious in showing me. What I saw was the structure of no other than a run-of-the-mill children’s Fun House, and the old man was urging me into the crooked front door. As he slowly ushered me forward I glanced at what appeared to be a group of women waiting for their offspring to return from the depths of the House. I neared the door whilst a thousand thoughts of uncertainty rattled around in the back of my mind, I placed each hand on the doorframes of the opening, all I could see was the silhouettes of what appeared to be children running in the darkness. Laughter and giggles echoed through my ears, I tried to turn away but the old man was paranormally strong. I gave out a scream but the man just tightened his inhuman grip until I could no longer bare it, until I was securely within the four walls of what seemed no longer to be an ordinary Fun House, for the children had gone, and were no longer anywhere in sight, despite the rampant laughter and heavy footsteps which still droned throughout.
I span around to leave through the door which I entered, and was faced with a solid wooden wall. I violently thrashed at where the old man had once stood, only causing damage to my fingertips. There was no other route to take but through the house.
I stepped slowly through the windowless shack-like building, making sure of not creating too much noise. As I walked I noticed that I was no longer moving forward, but with each step I was gently gliding backwards. I grinned to myself, expecting some sort of conveyor belt, I glanced to the floor, but what I was faced with was in fact a hole opening up in the centre of the room revealing a dark, swirling vortex. My eyes were quickly hooked onto the black hole, my whole body froze as the opening gradually got wider and wider, until my feet were on the brim and I was teetering over the edge like The Dominator atop its lift. Suddenly I realised I was not plummeting to my death, but I was in fact standing on a sheet of glass stopping me from falling. I laughed to myself, maybe it was just a common Fun House after all.
I walked into the next room, expecting another trademark Fun House element, and I was not disappointed, as the room was home to an enticing maze of mirrors. As I trudged slowly around the room admiring my distorted complexion on each mirror, I joined in with the distant laughs and giggles. My laughter turned to gasps as I noticed the final mirror did not give off a reflection of myself, the rest of the room was within the frame, but my body was nowhere to be seen, it was as if I was a living spirit. Remembering my lighter which was in my breast pocket, I quickly pulled it out and flicked it on. The small amount of light which it emitted was enough for me to notice that there was indeed a reflection, however, the figure in between the frame was not mine, it was the chilling image of the old man. I span around to see I was no longer alone in the fun house, I was accompanied not by the old man, but by a small boy with a somewhat disturbing look on his small, pert face. The boy stared blankly right through me, I shuddered, the child continued to do nothing but look coldly into my eyes. I went to place my hand on his shoulder, but all I grasped was a handful of the musky air which filled the house. Slowly, the child began to walk towards the room which I had inhabited previously, I tried to call out, but all I got was the view of his back. As I chased after him he walked with a somewhat disturbing complexion, he appeared to be walking as if lighter than air, as if he ignored the rule of gravity. I neared the corner, I lost my balance and tumbled into a heap on the cold, wooden floor. I rolled out into the adjacent passage, only to find myself lying at the feet of the old man.
I glanced up, he did nothing, just stared blankly in front of him, not moving… not breathing. Suddenly he raised his left arm, he opened his mouth to speak, but all that came out was a breath of cold air. A loud knock on the wall made me glance in the same direction as the man was staring, a ghostly figure stood menacingly posed at the end of the rotting corridor. The old man stepped over my trembling body, towards the shadows, towards the silhouette of what could only be described as a spirit, one with evil intentions. I scrambled to my feet, and stood in the corner, the feeling of heavy drums pounded in my chest, my wheezing breath was the only sound I could hear.
The old man neared the shadows, and with no warning lunged towards the spirit, both vanishing into the misty darkness. Silence. Nothing appeared to stir, until the laughter of children which once echoed throughout the house mutated into screams and wails of pain. The drone of noise seem to come from every angle, every wall, ever crack. My ears where aching, the sound was too powerful for me to bare for much longer. I fell to my knees, I clasped my hands to my ears to block out the noise, but all it did was make the screams slightly muffled, but didn’t block out the terror which accompanied it. Then, more silence. I glanced around, nothing was there, but the peace was broken once again by the manic laugh which came from deeper inside the house. I climbed onto my feet, and gave myself a minute to recover from the previous incident.
I began to walk in the direction the old man had dived, but was stopped in my tracks by the drip, drip, drip of blood in the corner. I walked over to the small, red puddle, and glanced up. What I saw was indescribable, it may have been an arm, or a leg, or a slice of lung, but for sure I saw the head of the old man held to the roof only by the steak it had been pierced with, a look of sheer terror on his face. I stumbled back and hit the wall, I noticed my breath was showing as an icy mist, and into my line of sight came the shadowy figure. Once again, the drummer in my chest thought it was necessary to beat at full force. I saw the spirits face, it was dark and empty, it housed a pair of red, menacing eyes that told me he wasn’t considering letting me past. He opened his mouth, and concealed within was three rows of blood clotted teeth. I shut my eyes, so tightly an array of colours spilled into vision, I pressed my back to the wall, pressed until there was no room for a single extra atom. I fell back, through the wall and into a small room, I opened my eyes quickly enough for me to notice the demon staring in shock as the door shut in front of me.
I hopped to my feet, and span around to see a herd of small children surrounding me, all had expressions of fear on their little faces, though they looked pleased to see me. Before I had the chance of introducing myself, the walls began to shake, the ceiling panels started to crumble. A small hole appeared in one of the walls, I ushered the children towards the opening. Several made it out before the opposite wall collapsed. Some children didn’t make it. The shadowy figure stood there, looking angrier than before, I stared it in the face as children kept bailing out. The creature began to walk towards us, there were only a few children left. As it bounded our way, it swept up any obstacle in its path and flung it all behind, after the last child had made it, I managed to squeeze myself through the gap. The creature let out a tremendous screech, children ran in all directions, some back towards the source of evil, who I could not stop. I franticly searched for an exit, one which would release me from this nightmare forever. Behind me came the creature, ripping up walls and supports as it hunted me down. The whole of the house was trembling, the sound of wood twisting and steal buckling filled the air. I saw where all the children were running to, an exit had appeared in the wall, children leapt through to the outside world, and I joined them. I looked around, noticed we were on the outskirts of the fair, mothers of the children came galloping towards the hole in a desperate attempt to free their offspring. I stood up, looked up and watched as the entire fun house fell to the ground. It fell in an unholy fashion, one which I pray nobody will have to witness again. An ear-splitting cry came from within the rubble, which then gradually faded off to nothing more than the cries and wails from the twenty-something mothers pampering their children, and mourning those who were lost in the house of evil.
Most people my age don't enjoy writing, but at 16, I love it. I have been writing in one form or another for 5 years now, only having work read by an audience when my articles in the European Coaster Club's magazine, First Drop, are published. I live in England, and have done since I was born on 5th December '84. I came up with the idea for Fun House when riding a ghost train. I thought to myself 'what if the creatures were real?', and so, i decided to write that situation. You may notice the characters sex is not revealed, well, that is for you to decide.
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