this is where fun goes to die

[salamandher]

[This is where fun goes to die.]

[The stereotypical abandoned amusement park. Everybody says it's haunted. And, in their line of work, when multiple people start saying something's haunted, it either is, or it's damned close to being so. There's probably some kind of correlation, but that's not important.]

[What is important is that traffic was so terrible. Terrible enough that they pull up into the weedy parking lot as the sun is starting to go down. It's cold. Not enough to snow, but enough to see your breath when you talk. There's a wind blowing up off the lake, and the old ferris wheel carriages swing out in the distance. Something calls out, long and lonely.]

[It's probably an owl.]

[But that owl is not helping anything.]

I'm so not getting out of this car. You know that, right?

[She's still buckled in, in fact.]

Comments

[salamandher]

Cheaper, probably. If you ditch something, you don't have to pay for the mess.

In a lot of ways.

[wizardcop]

There's something about an abandoned amusement park that just seems... so much more desolate than anywhere else.

[salamandher]

... People are supposed to be happy in these places. Yeah, they rip you off, but. Y'know.

Good times and stuff. They're not supposed to be empty. I guess.

[wizardcop]

Mm. Let's head towards the Ferris wheel. It's as good a place to start as any.

[salamandher]

... You still don't see anything? Isn't that a little. Concerning?

[wizardcop]

Nothing. So either it's nothing, or whatever-it-is doesn't want to come out and play.

[salamandher]

I'm hoping it's nothing. If it's nothing, I want two pizzas.

[wizardcop]

If it's nothing, then I should be the one getting the pizza for having to drag you out of the---

[ Near the roller coaster, he catches a glimpse of something, eerily pale and fleeing, disappearing into the foliage. ]

This way.

[salamandher]

You still made me--

[Oh, hell naw. She sees him look up, sees him track something with his eyes...]

Crap. Fine.

[wizardcop]

[ He heads towards the coaster, Fedora padding silently beside him. The shimmering shape peeks out from the undergrowth, and Jacob is shocked to be looking at the visage of a young girl, probably no older than ten. She stares at them. ]

It's all right. You can come out- we won't hurt you.

[salamandher]

[For all her own "supernatural" background, ghosts don't show up to her like they do to him. It appears to her, mostly, as if he's just talking to some bushes.]

[She stays behind him, making an attempt to peer over his shoulder at the air.]

What's it doing?

[wizardcop]

[ He frowns. He wishes there were some way to make her see what he sees. ] She's just a child. I think she's frightened.

[ He holds out a hand, expression softening. ] We're friendly. I promise.

[ The girl considers this. She's used to vandals and punk kids sneaking out here to spraypaint the derelict buildings and get high. The occasional photographer and urban explorer, maybe, but they stick to daylight hours and pay her little mind.

She hasn't seen any people in a long time, though. They stopped coming. Stopped coming when the nasty thing that lived under the coaster came back. It attacked someone- one of the kids. No one believed his story.

But this man seems nice. He has a puppy. So she steps out of the brush, half drifting, half walking towards his outstretched hand. Other faces begin to appear, curiously and cautiously peeking around rusted supports and through tall grass. Eight in all. ]

There are more of you? Eight. Adults, mostly- maybe teenagers. It's hard to tell. [ Jacob's narration is for Kara's benefit, mostly. ] You're the youngest, right? What happened?

[salamandher]

A kid?

[That's not really what she expected to hear. And, really, hearing there's kids just makes things worse.]

[She sticks close to him, hunching her shoulders in her coat. The back of her neck is prickling -- something is near. Even if she can't see it, the urge to leave is strong.]

[And these are just kid ghosts.]

Eight? In an amusement park? What the hell is wrong with this place.

[wizardcop]

[ The girl points, solemnly, to the coaster. More specifically, the cars, one on the track, the other dangling precariously over the edge. There should reasonably be more cars to this train, but there are none. All Jacob has to do is look at the sheer height of the drop to figure out what happened. ]

The roller coaster derailed. You all fell. [ It's not a question, but he gets several nods in response. ] That's it, then. They park was closed, the owner no doubt vanished, and everything was just... left as it was that day.

[salamandher]

Shit.

[What else are you supposed to say in a situation like this one? It's horrible, but nothing can be done about it. Not now, anyway.]

That's just... shit.

[But, they do have a job to do, don't they?]

Can you just... ask them to leave?

[wizardcop]

I could probably send them on. [ One of the first things he learned to do after he explained his ghost problem to Madigan. Thank god for that woman and her contacts. ] But I don't think they're the problem. They're harmless- most of them are still hiding.

[salamandher]

... If they're not the problem... what is?

[wizardcop]

It lives there. Under the tracks. [ The girl pipes up, and points to where the undergrowth and the coaster supports are thickest. ]

"It" does? What is... "it"?

[ They may very well get their answer, because Fedora suddenly tenses, fur standing on end. There is the long, grating sound of metal scraping over the cold dirt, and something in the grass rustles. Jacob's hand goes for his gun instantly. ]

[salamandher]

[Her head snaps around, while fire flickers in her hands.]

... We just had to ask, didn't we?

[At least there's some better light now, what with the human torch slowly coming to life next to him.]

[wizardcop]

[ Somewhere in all of this, the little girl shrinks back, hiding in the brush with her fellow ghosts, looking on in silent horror as a thing steps forward. Jacob can only catch glimpses of it through the plants- the fire may help with the light in their immediate area, but it does nothing for the shadows being thrown around under the coaster. It appears humanoid, eyes glimmering beneath a mop of mud-colored hair.

The metal scraping noise sounds again, and Jacob belatedly realizes it must be armed. It takes only half a second to tense before leaping out of its cover. Fedora is there to meet it, colliding in a blur of brown and black fur. An axe smeared with dried blood clatters to the ruined ground, no doubt knocked out of the creature's hand, while the two struggle. ]

[salamandher]

Shit!

[She really needs a better vocabulary for these situations -- she realizes this at an exceptionally inopportune moment. Panic spikes, and as such, the fire flares up. No longer just around her fists, but the full fire-on mode.]

[Granted, she can't really tell what's going on, but for now, Fedora seems to have it in hand.]

[wizardcop]

Kara, can you set it on fire without taking the whole roller coaster with it? [ There's a yelp from Fedora, and Jacob decides to pull the plug. He warded off the initial attack, but the rest of them need a turn. Jacob gives a sharp whistle. ]

Back off!

[ Which is Fedora's cue to get out of there. With a sudden, bizarrely human and inhuman screech, the creature lets go of the wolf, and Fedora leaps away, blood dripping from his muzzle.

Jacob can only stare. Part human, part goat, and bleeding from one shoulder, this... creature is absolutely, terrifyingly hideous. Something about its appearance just rattles him to the very core. ]

[salamandher]

[He's talking to her, and she knows this. But the thing is looking at them. Something about it makes her want to turn and run screaming in the opposite direction. And things don't make her feel that way very often anymore.]

[She shakes her head abruptly, like she's coming out of a daze.]

One way to find out...!

[Despite the fear, and the still-lingering urge to run, she tries to focus more on setting the thing's legs on fire.]

[wizardcop]

[ The sudden appearance of fire shocks both Jacob and the creature, and while the latter thrashes about, the former tries to take aim with his gun. He can't get a good bead on it, though, and the goat-man-thing is fairly resilient. It also apparently knows how to stop, drop, and roll. ]

Kara! Do you still have Charlie's knife?

[salamandher]

Uh! Probably?

[She's trying to focus all her effort on keeping its feet on fire. It smells like burning hair. With all it's trying to put the fire out, it's taking a lot of focus to keep it from going out.]

Back pocket!