The Fall - Chapter 3 (Patreon)

“What is this place?” Zoe asked.

Lucas was too shocked for words and had to rub his eyes to make sure he wasn’t seeing things.

They both felt as if they had travelled into the future; neither of the two could comprehend how this place even existed. The same skylight shined down over a luxurious looking theme park; at least it looked like a theme park.

The place seemed huge, it had rides, kiosks and it looked like it was all built into a dense forest that covered winding paths that must have lead all the way to the back of the park.

“Think of it like a place for reconnection, or strengthening relationships, it’s like a super advanced therapy session.” The woman replied.

It was all quite surreal, but if this is what therapy was actually like then Lucas could surely get behind that.

“What should we do first?” He asked.

He was sure the woman heard him but apparently she chose to ignore him and instead gave Zoe the answer he had asked for.

“Go out and have some fun dear, remember what I said if he gets to be too much of a handful.”

She turned back to Lucas warningly but then suddenly gave him a sweet smile before heading off.

“That woman freaks me out.” Lucas said, pulling on Zoe’s sleeve.

She was too busy taking in the surroundings to really pay much mind to what he had just told her.

“Zoe?” He prodded her again.

“What, oh sorry Lucas I wasn’t listening, isn’t this place fantastic, come on let’s explore.”

He was about to reiterate his feelings but instead ended up stumbling along behind Zoe as she pulled him by his hand down the winding pathway. Even Zoe wasn’t sure what direction they were headed nor of their destination; but it wasn’t long before she had pulled him all the way up to the front of a giant roller coaster. It was an odd sensation walking to the front of the line, they finally had other people around them, mostly parents and their kids, but the place was so big that they could still walk right up to the ticket man without delay.

“Hey, how do we buy a ticket?” She asked the man.

He too was dressed similarly to the woman at the front counter, it was an odd look for someone working the same job akin to a carnie, definitely not what you would have come to expect. Lucas noticed right away but for some reason Zoe said nothing, either that or she didn’t care enough to mention. He knew she would go for the biggest, scariest looking ride in the place first. She was always a thrill junkie, he would do anything to avoid going on them he hated rides, especially roller coasters but it was hard to say no to her.

“It’s all free, included with your pass.” He spoke softly and nodded at her bracelet. “Just scan that up here and you can ride.”

Zoe turned back to Lucas. “Come on, I know what you’re thinking, we’ll get it out of the way then we can do whatever you want to do.”

She tried bargaining with the presumption that the answer he would give her was obvious.

“I can just wait here its fine.” He told her hopefully.

“Nope.” Zoe shook her head. “You’re coming, it will be over quickly, and I’ll protect you.” She winked mischievously at him.

Zoe scanned her band at the ride and it gave what sounded like a positive beep in response. She practically pulled Lucas over to the scanner and held his arm over the sensor. Only this time the beep was different and sounded like when a bank card might be declined.

“Sorry miss, but he can’t go on.”

Zoe looked at the man in confusion. “Ahhh, why not?” She said sounding pretty annoyed.

“He’s too young, got the yellow band.”

Zoe screwed up her face. “But he’s the same age as me?”

The man shook his head but kept his calm. “Sorry but those are the rules, we’ll take care of him while you go on the ride.”

Zoe turned toward Lucas; he was completely confused as to what was going on, clearly some sort of mix up when they put his name in the system. But he wasn’t going to argue his way out of it; this was the perfect excuse not to ride.

“Its fine, go ahead I really don’t mind.”

Zoe gave him one last look before turning back to the ride and buckling into the front seat.

“See you on the other side.” She told him with wide eyes and a bright smile.

Lucas watched on anxiously as the ride slowly pulled away, he was secretly thankful to the ride conductor who was somewhat of a saviour. As the cart pulled out of view the man turned his attention towards him.

“Don’t worry son, we’ll have someone come by in just a moment.”

Lucas shivered, it sounded incredibly ominous and foreboding and in keeping with the rest of this place.

“What is that supposed to mean?” He asked, afraid how much what he had been told sounded like a threat.

“We can’t have a yellow band wandering around on their own; you will be looked after until your caretaker returns.”

‘Caretaker?’ Was this guy out of his mind, any rational person could see he was clearly an adult and in no way needed someone to babysit him, no matter what that lady had mistakenly typed into the computer.

“I don’t need a babysitter.” Lucas said grumpily.

He was self-aware enough to realise how pathetic that sounded, apparently the man was too judging by the smile that spread across his face.

“No matter, she’s here now.”

Lucas quickly turned as an older woman came almost sprinting towards him.

“Hello sweetie, I came as quickly as I heard, can’t have you running around on your own can we?”

The young man almost tripped as the woman reached for him and pulled him in close for a hug. It was uncomfortable having this stranger embrace him in such an intimate manner, like a fearful mother who lost sight of her child but for only a second.

“Who are you?” Lucas asked, trying to pull himself away but in vain.

“Oh silly me!” The woman laughed while straightening herself up. “My name is Violet, but you can call me Nanny if you prefer?”

Lucas sneered. “I won’t be calling you that.”

The ticket man laughed. “He has a bit of an attitude that one; I think you’ll have your hands full with him.”

Violet smiled before returning her gaze back to Lucas. “No I think you’re going to be on your best behaviour for me aren’t you?”

Something about the woman made him feel uneasy, forgoing their already incredibly awkward first encounter and the fact that she insisted that he call her Nanny. There was something even deeper than that, he wasn’t sure if he should be afraid of her, but something was telling him to be wary. If he wasn’t so frozen up he might have run away from her as pathetic as that sounded.

Lucas finally realised the woman was waiting for an answer, so rather than stand there like a fish out of water he decided to say the first thing that entered his head.

“I’ll be good.” He cringed even as the words left his lips; he probably couldn’t have said something anything more humiliating than that.

“I thought so.” Violet smiled.

Wordlessly she held out her hand and without much forethought of the consequences he accepted it. Lucas wasn’t entirely sure what had compelled his decision, but he soon found himself carted off back to where they had arrived from. He realised he was about to find out what was down the other side of the hallway, the moment when he should have turned back and told Zoe he wanted to go home.

It was too late for that now, especially once he stepped over that threshold and passed by the front gates again. The woman that greeted them was far off by the entrance, he barely caught sight of her but he could have sworn that he saw her staring straight back at him.

As they reached another set of doors and Violet pulled out her own key card, Lucas thought for a moment that maybe an identical theme park or something equally exciting awaited him on the other side. Unfortunately those hopes were quickly dashed when the doors opened to a much darker, dimly lit room.

“It’s quiet time at the moment so make sure you stick close by me and keep your voice down, ok sweetie?”

Lucas nodded and found himself pulling tighter on Violet’s hand without even realising he was doing it. Walking into the darkness he found that there was a light blue hue that cast over the room, it emanated enough dim light that he managed to work out where he was.

“What is this place?” He asked, already well aware what the answer was, but still incredibly unsure why she thought to bring him here.