Devoured (11 page)

I lean my head on his shoulder, thinking this is the last time I plan on taking a spin in the old cupcake cars. Suddenly Remy appears—standing directly in our path, shaking her head.

“Don’t come back here, Meggy,” she says.

The car goes right through her and I’m hit with a blast of cold air.

“Whoa,” Ryan says, shivering. “Did you feel that?”

I turn around in the car and see Remy staring after us. “This is a bad place!” she screams. “Bad! She’s here—
right under here
. They’re gonna get her too. She’s gonna die!”

“Who?” I whisper.

“What?” Ryan says.

“Help her!”
Remy cries.

The car bursts through the last door, and Remy’s screams echo after us. Hayden’s eyes lock onto mine. The car comes to a halt, and Kevin comes running over. “
Hayden!
You didn’t hit the brake lock!” he yells.

Hayden quickly pushes down the lock and shakes his head “Sorry! It’s Megan, she looked—”

“I don’t care what she looks like!” Kevin barks. “When the car comes to a stop, you lock the brake until it’s time to send it to the loading dock!”

Hayden turns bright red. “Sorry.”

“We can’t afford even one mistake, do you hear me? Do you think you can get a grip or do you need a red card too? I hear the custodial crew loves having new recruits handle the urinal cake replacements.”

“I can do this,” he says quietly.

Ryan and I hop out of the car, and Hayden can’t stop stealing glances at me. Is it that obvious something is wrong with me?

A beep comes from the exit panel. Hayden stands at attention, and I’m pretty sure he won’t forget the lock this time.

“Jeez!” Casey Winters says as her car comes to a halt at the exit. She jumps out, looking wildly around. “Some idiot was yelling, ‘She’s gonna die,’ in there! It totally freaked me out!”

Oh my God, she heard Remy!

She glares at us, but we all shake our heads.

“She’s nuts!” Tyler Michaels says as he slides out of the same car. He rolls his eyes. “I sure as hell didn’t hear anything.”

“Hey!” Kevin yells. “Watch the language! You’ll get fired in a heartbeat if anyone hears you talking like that once we’re open.”

Tyler scowls. “Sorry.”

Izzy walks out of the staff entrance and looks quizzically at all of us. “Everything okay?”

Casey shakes her head. “Was that you yelling in the ride?”

Izzy nods. “I called out as you passed by.”

“No!” Casey says. “The ‘she’s gonna die’ crap?”

Izzy’s eyes pop. “I didn’t say anything like that, I swear.”

Casey’s lip trembles. “Well, I don’t care what anyone says, I heard it, and I’m not going in there again! I want one of those red cards.” She holds out her hand to Kevin.

Kevin rubs his eyes for a second and then pulls a card off his clipboard and starts writing on it. “I don’t know why they keep this ride—there’s something about it that gets to people,” he says as he gives it to her. “I have to transfer at least five kids a year out of this one.”

As Casey walks away, she looks back over her shoulder one more time, and then quickens her pace. Nothing like a little Remy fun to make a creepy ride even creepier.

Kevin exhales loudly. “I fucking hate training day,” he mutters.

Tyler lets out a snort. “Nice talk from a level four,” he says under his breath.

“Okay, people!” Kevin says, clapping his hands and smiling like that will clear away the pall hanging in the air. I half expect him to start up the Land of Enchantment cheer. “Do you think we can finish this up so we can go home?”

We all nod, but everyone looks a little nervous now.

“Great! Megan, you take the oven; Ryan, you’ll do the exit; and Tyler, you load. Let’s hustle!”

I so don’t want to go back in there. But it’s only Remy; no need to be more afraid than usual. Well, except for the “she’s gonna die” part.

“You okay, babe?” Ryan asks, and I realize I’m just staring at the staff passageway into the ride. “Do you want to switch with me?”

I shake my head. “Um, no, I’m good. Casey got me a little spooked, that’s all. It’s just a ride though, right?”

“Yeah.” Ryan takes a quick look around. Kevin is explaining something to Tyler, and he leans in and kisses me. “Are you sure?”

I nod.

“Okay, see you in a few.”

I hope so. And I hope Remy was just talking about the girl she already showed me and not … I shake my head. I don’t even want to think about the possibilities.

TEN

I duck through the passageway under the STAFF ONLY sign and drag my hand along the dark walls. A few dim bulbs every few feet light the way, and I keep my eyes on the glow tape lining the path. The walkway opens up a bit onto the Haunted Forest. The wolf jumps out to my right and I suck in my breath. It howls frantically and I wrinkle my nose. Who the hell designed this ride? No doubt the same nuts who made those mirrors.

Just keep going, get to the cottage, check in two cars, and then get out of here.

I walk up the steps and hear the witch’s voice punctuated by the sound of Remy crying.

Fabulous.

The path narrows and I start climbing the stairs to reach the control panel.

“Meggy,” she whines.

I look up and see Remy at the top of the metal stairs.

“Go away, Remy!”

“Meggy, she’s gonna die.”

“
Who
is gonna die?”

Remy’s face crumples. “Where’s Daddy?”

“God, I don’t have time for this!” I walk right through her, shivering in the wake of cold air around her.

I march up to the control board and hit the speaker button. “All set,” I say, my voice higher than normal.

I ignore Remy and look around the witch’s house. The jarring angles and too-bright candy-colored pinks and purples make my head spin. I look at the Hansel robot shaking his bars and fumble for my inhaler. I exhale and put it to my lips, but Seamus’s car enters the house before I can use it. I wait until the witch slides out and push the button to alert Ryan.

Seamus is clutching the safety bar, and I remember he’s one of the exchange students, so he’s never been on any of the rides here. “Watch out, the track’s gonna drop!” I call out, trying to keep my mind off of Remy’s nonstop rant.

“Thanks!” he yells as his car dives beneath the oven.

A few minutes later, the car carrying Hayden and Izzy comes into the house. They’re laughing, oblivious to Remy’s tantrum. Hayden points to Hansel in the cage. “Someone put a muzzle on that kid!”

“Hell,” Izzy says, “I’ll throw him in the oven just to make him shut up!”

I push the button when they’re at the oven, and then Remy appears in front of me completely solid, her face contorted in anger. In the back of my mind I take a second to wonder what stage Luke would call this.

“Why won’t you listen?”
she says slowly. Water starts to drip down her forehead and gather at the ends of her braids. Her hands ball up and she glares at me angrily.
“Why won’t you help her?”

Izzy and Hayden whoop it up as the oven lifts and their car careens down the slope.

“Stop laughing!” Remy shrieks. The electric board sparks up, and then the power goes out.

I drop my inhaler and freeze in place as Hansel’s frantic cries become slow and distorted and finally fade to silence. Smoke fills my nostrils and I pray the board won’t catch on fire.

“Helloooooo?” Izzy calls out, laughing from inside the oven tunnel. “I think we’re having
technical difficulties
.”

“Here, witchy witch,” Hayden bellows.

“Shut up!” Izzy says, but she’s laughing.

I stare at the place where I think the board is, relieved there aren’t any flames.

Izzy starts the Land of Enchantment cheer. “Who’s got the magic? Who’s got the style?”

“It’s
smile
,” Hayden cuts in.

“Who cares? Who’s got the vision to go the extra mile? Land of Enchantment, that’s our name—
crappily
ever afters, that’s our game!”

One of them proceeds to make farting noises and they both erupt in giggles.

“I have to get out of here,” I whisper. I stand up and feel my way along the wall. An icy chills passes me and I hiss at Remy. “This is your fault!”

I feel her small cold hand take mine, and then I’m in the woods. Real woods—not the fake one inside the ride. Someone crashes through the brush, breathing heavily.
“Oh my God, just leave me alone!”
a voice shrieks.

Who is it? Izzy and Hayden are making so much noise, I can’t get a good read on the voice.

“Please!”

A second person passes about six feet from me, picking their way carefully but quickly through the brush. I see a glint of sliver in the moonlight—a knife.

“Leave me alone! Somebody help me! Help me!”

I try to listen to the voice but Remy is screaming and Izzy and Hayden are yelling out the cheer again.

There’s a jumble of noises—snapped branches,
Land
of Enchantment
, leaves crunching,
save her
—and then a scream cut short. I listen for more, but all I can hear is Hayden and Izzy. At least Remy is quiet now. But then there’s something else. A sound. A repetitive sound. All I can think of is the sound the knife makes when my mother carves the turkey on Thanksgiving and she hits the bone and cartilage. Grating.

It’s getting harder to breathe, and I feel around the wall, trying to retrace my steps back to the control board to find my inhaler. I hit my shin on something and curse. And then the lights are back on. Hansel is crying for his sister and I’m gasping for air.

Ryan comes running toward me. “Megan! Are you all right?”

I put my hand on my throat. “Inhaler,” I wheeze. “Dropped it.”

I grab onto the control panel to steady myself, but I know I’m going to pass out. I feel the inhaler pass between my lips and the medicine pumped into my mouth. I gasp and choke but instinctively hold my breath and count to ten in my head. Then I slowly exhale and my breathing eases.

“Here, sit down,” Ryan says as he helps me into the chair. The power flickers off again, and I clutch his arm.

“Don’t leave me,” I gasp.

“I won’t,” he says, holding me tight and stroking my hair. He moves the inhaler into my hand, knowing I’ll need another hit.

Then I hear Remy again, but this time it’s soft, hiccupy sobbing like she always does after one of her big melt-downs.

A flashlight pierces the darkness. “Megan?”

“Luke!” I call out. “We’re over here!”

Luke flashes the light over Ryan and me. In the dim beam I see a look of surprise on his face. “
Oh!
I didn’t know someone was with you.”

I nod. “Yeah, this is Ryan.”

“Do you two know each other?” Ryan asks stiffly.

I nod again. “Luke works here, and he’s a friend of Ari’s.”

Luke is looking back and forth between Ryan and me, and I’m suddenly uncomfortable. I hear Samantha’s voice in my head—
No PDA, it’s against the rules
—and untangle myself from Ryan.

“Um,” Luke begins, “the generator is acting wonky, so I told Kevin I’d get you and he’s going in through the back exit to get the people stuck in the tunnel. And”—he looks at Ryan—“you’d better not let Kevin see you leave; you’re not authorized to come in during a shut-down.”

“
Sorry
, I didn’t want to leave my
girlfriend
in the dark!” Luke turns on another flashlight and hands it to Ryan.

“I just don’t want you to get in trouble, that’s all.”

“Let’s get out of here, Meg,” Ryan says, holding out his hand and pulling me up.

Luke stands aside and lets Ryan go first. “Wait,” he whispers as I walk by. When Ryan rounds the corner, Luke puts a hand on my shoulder and leans down close to my ear. “What happened? I heard her clear across the park.”

I start walking. “Another vision is what happened— another scary-ass vision!” Tears well up in my eyes. “We’ve got to do it tonight, with or without Nicki. I don’t care if we have to pull a random stranger off the street!”

“What about your
boyfriend
?”

“No, not him,” I say, and hurry to catch up with Ryan. As I walk carefully in the light Luke is shining my way, I wonder, why not Ryan? He certainly seems less skeptical than Nicki. But Nicki was Remy’s friend. Surely she’d be more likely to show herself to Nicki. I nod. Nicki’s the one.

As we make it closer to the exit, I can see the path outside in bright light and a crowd gathered around Miss Patty.

“Okay, team,” Miss Patty says. “We called you over so you can see how to handle things in an emergency. If a ride goes off-line, what’s the first thing you do?”

People look at their feet, but one hand shoots up from the crowd.

“You in the back!”

Samantha steps forward. “You try the backup generator and then immediately alert whoever is on supervisor duty for your area of the park!”

Miss Patty smiles at her. “Right you are! Good job! And who goes in to help anyone stuck on a ride?”

“Only level-three or-four employees,” says a tall, skinny guy with a French accent standing next to Samantha.

“Excellent!”

They lean into each other and Samantha blushes. Dare I hope Samantha might be hooking up with a French hottie?

“Don’t worry people,” Hayden says loudly as he leads Izzy and Kevin out of the exit. “We were this close to being baked in the witch’s oven, but we kept our heads, remembered our enchanted team training, and made it out alive with only one finger being chopped off!” He holds up his hand with his thumb hidden in his palm.

People start laughing and clapping, but Kevin waves his hands in the air.

“Whoa, whoa! No one lost a finger, and there was never any danger of anyone not making it out alive,” he says, glaring at Hayden for a second. “But this was a good drill and I’m proud of the way
most
of my team handled it. Now, if your team leader says you’re done, you can head on home. Don’t forget, character actors still have to meet in the costume shop.”

Luke gives Ryan a sideways look. “Later,” he says. “I’ve got to get back to work.”

Samantha waves to the French guy and then skips over to Ryan and me. “Oh my God! I can’t believe you were trapped in there, Megan. Were you scared?”

“No,” I lie, “but Ryan here did come to my rescue.” I hold up my inhaler.

He gives me a quick squeeze and then takes a step away, obeying the no-PDA rule.

“Well, I’m really glad I’ll be out in the open air! I’m doing the captain gig for the SS
Mermaid
, the swan boats, and the water fun park. And I met this supernice guy, Christophe from
France
, who’ll be my second mate. And I think he might like me!”

“A French second mate? You lucked out,” I say, thinking Christophe from France just might signal the end of the third wheel in my relationship.

“I know!” she chirps.

“Well, just be careful, Sam,” Ryan says. “You’ve know him for what—a couple of hours? And he’s from France!”

“What’s wrong with
France
?” I ask, glad I didn’t tell them about the messed-up export from said country hanging on the wall at Ari’s.

He shrugs. “It’s France—
no one
likes France. And what happens when he goes back there at the end of the summer?”

Samantha frowns.

“Hey, that’s a long way away,” I say, giving Samantha a conspiratorial smile. “
And
there’s nothing wrong with a summer fling.”

Samantha sticks her tongue out at Ryan. “Exactly! And I don’t even know if he
likes me
likes me.”

“It sure looked like it to me!” I say.

“My team!” Kevin barks. “Over here!”

“I’ll wait at the benches,” Samantha says.

Ryan and I walk over to Kevin, who’s looking more stressed-out than ever. “Okay, I just talked with Miss Patty. This ride is closed until further notice. It’ll need an electrician to go over the wiring, then it’s gotta be inspected.” He shakes his head. “It’s one of the oldest rides and it’s always causing trouble.”

“So do we need to get trained on another ride?” Izzy asks.

“No,” Kevin says. “Until this is up again, we’ll have you relieve people during their breaks. Some of you will be on cleanup, and some will get a quick gift shop orientation. Anyone a character actor?”

I raise my hand.

“Megan, you may get some extra hours at that until Hansel and Gretel’s is fixed.”

I nod. For once I’m glad I signed up for the Snow White gig.

“We’ll have your new schedule printed when you show up on opening day,” Kevin says. “I apologize for the inconvenience.” He waves dismissively at us and turns toward the office building shaking his head. “I hate training day and I hate this fucking ride.”