Marcel Roe was just your average 14 year old boy- not the sporty and popular kind of boy, no- always had his nose in a book, was kind and polite, soft spoken and basically an angel from the heavens above. His pale face was littered with freckles, his short and curly almond brown hair was tucked behind his ears as he walked past the somber amusement park on his way home. It was lifeless, cold and depressing. Marcel's parents always told him to stay away from that place no matter what the circumstances were, if it were indeed a dire emergency then find the nearest adult he could trust.

"Wayward Wonders," he gripped the straps of his backpack as he glanced up at the faded blue sign, "Hasn't been touched in- how long?- 5 years?" he stood there for a while just to take in the macabre but beautiful sight, to any young child- or child at heart- it was tempting to not rush in there just to ride the carousel.

Why didn't the city just tear this place down? There was a good reason but Marcel just wasn't that interested at the time. In the corner of his eye he could see a red blob dart from one window to another in the funhouse, odd. "Did they get new management?" he tilted his head and waited for any more signs of movement. There was none. The boy shrugged and walked off with a sigh, he was hopeful that they'd re-open the park and allow people to visit...

Marcel finally reached his front door, unlocked it, and tossed his things inside, "I'm home!" he called out while removing his shoes, "Hey, mom, I got a question!"

"I'm in the computer room!" his mother yelled from somewhere in the house, "What's up?"

"Did Wayward Wonders get new management?"

"No?" his mother, a woman in her late 30s, cocked a brow quizzically, "Why? Also, shouldn't you be doing your homework?"

"I'll start on it later." he brushed her off, "I was asking about Wayward Wonders because I saw someone- something in the window of The '96 Funhouse."

"Must've been a bird."

"No, mom, it was bright red! What kind of bird is bright red?!"

"One that's been in a nuclear reactor, apparently." the woman casually sipped at her coffee, Marcel gazed down at her desk to see stacks upon stacks of documents; his mother was a creative writer and anything odd did not phase her much.

"Just- never mind." The boy groaned before walking out, "I'll get started on that math homework now."

"I'm here if ya need me kiddo."

This is how our story begins, with Little Marcel Roe's story and a little rumor that has the whole town on their knees praying to whatever god there was.

Marcel was sitting cross legged and staring at his phone, he was texting his close friend Diego, telling his friend about what he saw at Wayward Wonders. He could've sworn he saw an actual person...

Diego: It could be the ghost of Wayward Wonders, man. I mean, after what happened and all.

Marcel furrowed his brows and began to type back.

Marcel: What happened exactly?

Diego:That's right, your folks didn't tell you. Here's the story, Marc...

Wayward Wonders was owned by the Wonder family, they had three children: one girl and two boys. The daughter was the oldest of the three; bright and kind, stubborn yet headstrong, but something wasn't quite right in her head. She was a happy child, always smiling and sticking her neck out for others, yet the urge to destroy and torment and harm things was imprinted in her brain. Maybe it was due to the many years of neglect from her mother, maybe it was due to the constant harassment and abuse her brothers tossed her way and her parents never did anything about it, maybe it was because she was forced to grow up too quickly, maybe it was all of the above.

It was said that the Wonder family wanted to live elsewhere after the mysterious "death"‐ more of a disappearance actually- of their daughter. They refused to sell it so they just let it sit there and become an eyesore, soon rumors of the "Wayward Wonders ghost" came into the small town of 17th Street. The ghost of the missing "Wonder Girl" as people would like to say. It's believed that every missing child case is because of this said ghost, but that was just a fairytale parents told their kids to keep them away from abandoned areas and to scare them from staying out too late. Sometimes, if you listen closely, you can hear the pained shrieking of the Wonder Girl at night...

Diego: And that's the story. Ya scared? ;)

Marcel scoffed and shook his head.

Marcel: Yeah, like some ghost girl is gonna scare me.

Diego: I heard the Wonder Girl was a real cutie, do you think her ghost is cute too? I know cute girls scare you dude.

Marcel: Dude! The girl's dead, have some respect for christ's sake! Marcel disliked when his friend joked like this, but what could he do? They were stupid kids.

Marcel: Even if that were the case, I doubt that story is even true.

Marcel sighed loudly before lazily pulling his binder from his bag.

Marcel: Now, I gotta get started on homework before my mom hangs me. Later.

Diego: Coward! Good luck! Later.

The time was now 3:45, Fallout Boy's Where Did the Party Go played in his headphones, Marc wished for something interesting to happen but sadly interesting does not exist in his world. In his world of honor rolls, his world of science, his world of math, his world of straight A grades, of friends, of music and daydreams, of scholarships and tickets to IVY league schools. Interesting was out of the question for him...