Abandoned Theme Park - Part 2

**This is a part two to my previous story, Abandoned Theme Park**

Groggily, I open my eyes, which immediately start stinging from the immense amount of dust in the air. I look around, trying to figure out what the hell is happening. And then, I remember everything. 

“Kelsey! Kelsey!” I shout into the open air, suddenly panicking. “Kelsey, are you okay?”

I hear a low moan from somewhere nearby. I try to jump to my feet, but my head is spinning and I stumble. “Kelsey, where are you?”

“Josh… over… here…” She suddenly starts coughing violently and I see her. She’s partially buried under a pile of broken wood, her usually near-perfect skin scattered with cuts and bruises.

As quickly as I can, I pull the wood pieces away from her, one by one. “My God, are you okay?”

She looks up at me, her deep blue eyes unfocused. “I… I think so.” She slowly tries to find her footing, and I offer her my hand. All of a sudden, she lets out a loud yelp and falls back to the dusty ground.

“My foot,” she gasps, her hands now caressing her ankle. My heart pounding, I crouch next to her and gently slide off her tennis shoe. She winces, hissing through her clenched teeth. 

“I’m going to take off your sock to check your foot, okay? I’ll be as gentle as I can.” I try to soothe her as I slowly remove her sock. Underneath it, her foot is black and blue.

“Oh no,” she moans. “It’s probably broken! Oh, what do we do?” 

“It’s okay, I’ll just call my sister to come get us. Then we’ll take you to the hospital.”

Kelsey starts to cry, tears streaming down her dust-covered cheeks. “Oh, Josh, we need to get out of here. Something bad’s going on, I just know it!”

I can feel tears welling up in my eyes, too. “Kelsey, I’m so sorry I brought us here. This is all my fault!”

“Don’t think like that. Just call your sister; we need to leave as soon as possible!” She sniffs and tries to wipe off her face.

I sit next to her and let her lean on me while I pull my phone out of my pocket. I’m about to text my sister when a sudden gust of wind engulfs us. We both shriek in shock as it yanks my phone out of my hands and flings it across the wreckage. It smacks into a splintered wooden beam and falls to the ground face-down, surely broken.

We barely have a chance to process that before we hear a strange sound, a hissing noise. It seems to be coming from everywhere at once. Kelsey clutches my hand, nearly frozen in terror. I can feel my heart racing. 

Suddenly, a ghostly figure appears in front of us, perched atop the wooden ruins. Kelsey and I both scream. The hissing sound comes to a sudden stop. 

The figure looks down at us almost curiously. It seems to be the outline of a tall female, with short hair and long limbs. She appears to be wearing a long, flowy dress and no shoes.

Before we have the chance to do anything, the ghostly lady holds up a hand. “Who are you?” she questions cooly, her voice as smooth as silk. Her eyes are hard, looking us up and down.

We both stare at her, frozen, not knowing what to do. It’s not every day that a ghost lady appears in front of you.

“Who are you?” she repeats in the same cold tone.

“I-I’m Josh… and this is… K-Kelsey,” I manage to stammer.

“Why are you here?”

“Who… are y-you?” Kelsey asks in a very small, scared voice.

“That is not important right now. Why are you here?”

I freeze again, my mind going completely blank. Why am I here? A stupid reason, I’m sure.

“I just want to leave,” Kelsey squeaks timidly. “Can you let us go? W-we’ll never come back, ever!”

“Why… are you here?”

Kelsey turns her head to look at me, her eyes wide open with fright. Clearing my throat, I stand up, trying to appear braver than I am. “We were exploring,” I say, hoping I come across confidently. “But we now realize that… that was a mistake, and we’re leaving.”

“No.”

I gulp. “Why… why not?”

“You cannot leave. Not until I wipe your memories of the past 24 hours.”

“Sorry, what?!” Kelsey shrieks. 

Boldly, I say, “Well, if you’re going to wipe our memories, at least tell us who you are before you… do that.”

“Fine.” The ghostly woman’s eyes seem to stare into my soul. “I am the previous owner of this park. I was killed here suddenly one day, many years ago, by a group of teenage boys who snuck in after hours. They chased me off the nearby cliff, not having any idea what would happen somehow. Stupid boys. So, I made it my mission to come back and protect this place from any more intruders. Even after it closed down.”

Both mine and Kelsey’s mouths are open in surprise. 

“I can’t believe I’m seeing this,” Kelsey mutters, dazed.

“Well, you won’t remember it for much longer.” The woman lifts her hands.

“No! Wait!” I blurt out.

She looks me up and down inquisitively.

“Don’t take our memories. Please.”

“Alright, I’ll give you a deal. I’ve had this happen before, and it’s been quite fun.” Her gaze darkens. “Either I take both of your memories of the past 24 hours right now and send you outside the gates, or…” She stares at me. “You have to defeat my bumper car, and you both leave with your memories intact.”

“I’ll do it.” I take a deep breath. 

“No, Josh! Just let her take our memories, please! We can leave!” Kelsey begs me, her eyes looking into mine pleadingly. She’s still on the ground, her injured foot limp.

I close my eyes for a second, thinking. I probably would just let her take our memories if it wasn’t for what had happened this morning… 

Earlier that day

“Wanna dance?”

I extend my hand to Kelsey, grinning sheepishly as my phone plays a slow, romantic song. She takes it, her beautiful smile burning into my soul. I hope my hands aren’t sweaty.

I lead her in a slow dance around her bedroom, hoping that I’m doing everything right. I’ve never danced with a girl like this before. Kelsey is the first girl to truly like me for who I am. And it feels amazing.

Suddenly, I feel the need to say it. Just say it, Josh! 

“I… I love you, Kelsey,” I stammer. Oh, no. I sound so awkward!

Kelsey lifts her head from my shoulder to meet my gaze. I was thinking that her eyes would be full of surprise, but instead she looks incredibly happy. 

“Oh, Josh. I love you too!” she says with no hesitation.

I can feel myself grinning from ear to ear. And before I know it, she’s leaning in, her face getting close to mine. I hold my breath, my eyes widening, heart racing. 

And then she’s kissing me.

I snap out of my flashback, that moment bringing a surprising amount of happiness to me.

I never want to forget that - my first kiss. If this ghost takes away our memories from the past 24 hours, neither of us would ever remember that happened.

“I’ll do it.”

The ghost lady smirks. “Fantastic. I’ll enjoy watching this.” She snaps her fingers and the loud engine-like noise from earlier sounds. All of a sudden, that same bumper car is emerging from the wreckage and racing right towards me. 

Thinking quickly, I dash away from Kelsey. I have to keep her safe. I can hear her shrieking, “Josh, no!” 

I grab a broken wooden beam from near me and run farther away from the little vehicle, dodging the scattered wrecked wood. The cart is still careening at me, and I whirl around and stand my ground. The only thing I can think about as it nears me is that romantic moment this morning, and how much I want to treasure that memory forever. 

Using that as my motivation, I hold the beam out in front of me as the bumper car approaches me at full speed. My heart pounds as I stand my ground. I can hear Kelsey scream my name.

And before I know it, the car smashes into my makeshift weapon. I can feel the jarring impact throughout my body. But I don’t hesitate as I take the splintering wood and jam it underneath the cart while it is slowed down. Somehow, I find the strength in me to flip it over. 

It revs up wildly while it is flipped over, and thinking quickly, I use the remainder of the wood I was holding to smash the battery pack on its underside repeatedly. I can feel its efforts dying as I keep hitting it, practically blinded. I squeeze my eyes shut as little bits of plastic fly by my face. 

Finally, the bumper car quiets. 

I’ve done it.

I don’t know how, but I’ve done it.

I look over at Kelsey, and she is in awe. Even the ghost lady looks shocked.

I drop the broken remains of my weapon, feeling several splinters in my skin. I rush to Kelsey and lift her up since she can’t walk. She wraps her arms around my neck, crying softly. And without a word, I begin to walk away.