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

[wizardcop]

What does our proximity to Jers--- you know what, never mind. Let's just see that we can find, hm?

[ There's agate, of course, held by a rusted old chain. It's come off the hinges in one place though- likely shoved aside by vandals since it leaves an opening big enough for a person. Fedora steps through first, Jacob following after. ]

[salamandher]

Devils, Jake. The devils.

[She makes a face, but goes to duck after them, trying not to touch the rusted metal.]

[She'd really rather not find out if she's capable of getting tetanus or not.]

[wizardcop]

[ This place must have been closed for a while- nature is taking back what once was it. Vegetation pokes through the pavement and entangles itself in wood and iron beams. The ticket booth stands empty and dark, windows long gone, and the roof soon to follow.

Behind that, the skeletal remains of a roller coaster and a Ferris wheel loom in the near-dark. ]

Well, this isn't creepy at all.

[salamandher]

[She steps a little nearer to him as they take in the sights. Or... what's left of them. There's a little whack-a-mole booth, or something like it, a few feet away, and the cartoon critters have had the fake fur long-since stripped off. They're just little skeletons poking out of holes now.]

... Yep. Creepy. Let's go now.

[Was it her imagination, or did one of those things move?]

[wizardcop]

[ If it did, neither Jacob nor Fedora noticed. The wolf heads onward, nose to the ground, and Jacob isn't keen on being left behind.

He does grab Kara by the hand though. You know, so they don't get separated. He sketches out a spell with his free hand, releasing a little globe of light to bob along above their heads. It's getting dark, and that sure isn't helping things. ]

[salamandher]

[She's really okay with the hand-holding. In this instance. She maybe even squeezes it a little as she follows along.]

Seen anything yet? Except miles of rust and accidents waiting to happen.

[Like that roller coaster car sitting on the track. Half on the track.]

[wizardcop]

Nothing yet, no. What I want to know is why these places are just left to rot. Why not tear them down?

[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. ]