Chapter 48
Time was running out for Alice. The little bit of it that she had left, she'd have to use every last second. While Henry walked around and headed off to who knows where she quickly opened the door and peeked out before walking out in the open. She didn't see an obvious control panel in sight, but it had to be around there somewhere. Someone had to push something for the cars to stop and go.
So walked over to the other door and pushed on through it. Right near the end of the ride was another platform. A sign hanging above it with flickering lights read the conductor of death. She followed up the path of the track and stepped into the area. A giant control panel covered a desk and blinked in tune with the lights. A window was cut out above the panel and she could out onto the platform. It had to have been covered in some strange sort of material or paint because the window was dark and she swore that she would've remembered seeing it if had.
She had to give the designers some operator must have dressed up as some type of monster while they worked here. To give the riders an impression of some sort of monster controlling the cars they were trapped in. In reality, they probably had just decided to put all the controls on one panel to keep everything together. With that big of a panel, it's easy to see why they didn't want something that big and important out in the open with the tourists.
Instead, they had made the scene into part of the attraction. With no one obviously controlling the cars and ride it would have made some children nervous. But in reality, some was just sitting and looking through a disguised window to know when to have the cars stop and when for them to go. Pretty smart for a horror ride.
She could've thought more about the way the ride worked and such, but there were more important things to do. She scanned over the control panel looking for any clues on what to push. Parts of words had faded away over time and the ones that she couldn't make out, she hoped weren't important. The universe seemed to give her a break for once as a small row of buttons were under a faded but still readable label that said LIGHTING.
The downside was that those four buttons' labels were gone with the time. She was gonna have to figure out what they did. She pressed the first button and for a second she didn't think that anything had happened. A loud echo of a machine reached her ears moments later. She looked out down the track and could see some sort of spotlight shining down the hall.
For a second, she feared that a Projectionist was near but it didn't move or groan. She waited for a minute more, before settling on the idea that it was just one of the lighting effects. She pushed the next button in the line and once again it took a second to what happened. The main spotlights were flickering a little now and it looked like some small tracks lights light up.
Alice decided to pick up the pace, and she pushed the next two buttons. The lights in the room that flickered stopped. She wasn't sure which button had done it, but she didn't care. It has done what she needed to, at least she hoped it had, and that was that. As she stepped off the platform, she paused and debated which way to go. She could go back the way she came, or she could go down in the other direction.
It was obvious that the track came around in some sort of circle. Now, it was just time to debate which way would be easier. She should go back down the familiar path or she could try walking down the new path. The only problem was that she had no clue how far it would go before she reached her operation room. It could be only a few yards always or it could be another half journey around it. She would've thought about it for a second, but her train of thinking was interrupted by a sound.
The sound was an echo from the room over. It was big and heavy like the sounds the levers made and it worried her. The only one would've been willing to do dangerous things that get them killed was Henry. Whatever Henry wanted with the lever couldn't have been good. She didn't debate it any longer.
Alice turned to the left and walked down the unknown track. She didn't want to have to turn around and risk him seeing her as she crossed over to the other door. Even if the path took one minute or fifteen minutes longer she'd have to deal with it. She rather lose that time, than risk being seen and have no time at all. The track was just as bendy as the one she had walked on.
As she walked, she took notice of one other platform attraction. It was a nightmare kitchen. Dust had fallen over the weirdly shaped and cracked pots. Shelves of books with gruesome looking pictures of people being cooked were spread around. Jars were filled with disgusting sticky looking substances littler the counters and bookshelves. A stove that looked like it had teeth and eyes were sticking out. Hollow eyes that followed her.
She noticed that some cooking knives were scattered around and about with books and jars. Not bothering to step out of the track and onto the platform, she reached over and picked one of them off the floor. The knife was big and clearly made from some cheap plastic, but it would do. The ink wasn't hard to break apart and rip. She could tear into Boris with her own hands, but having something the help do it or focus pressure on certain points would be useful. She kept on walking.
"So?"
"SO."
"Are we just gonna cut him open, grab the stuff we need and go?"
"I THINK THAT'S THE BEST WAY TO DO IT."
"We'll have to stick Borris' parts in something to take with us."
"OF COURSE, NO WAY WOULD WE GO THROUGH ALL THIS TROUBLE AND NOT GRAB WHAT WE'VE WORKED FOR."
"It has been a lot of work."
"NO KIDDING, DOESN'T HELP THE FACT THAT HENRY'S PRACTICALLY ON TOP OF US RIGHT NOW."
"We're running out of time."
"EVERYONE IS."
"..."
"... WE NEED SOMETHING TO STALL HIM."
"What?"
"WE NEED SOMETHING TO KEEP HIM OFF OUR BACKS SO WE CAN LEAVE WITHOUT HAVING TO DEAL WITH HIM."
"Don't we already have Bertrum to do that for us?"
"PFT, PLEASE. HENRY'S TRAVELING AROUND HE MIGHT END UP IN THIS HORROR RIDE BEFORE GOING TO OLD BERTY'S ROOM."
"True."
"EVEN IF HE ENDS UP WITH BERTRUM, THERE'S NO GUARANTEE THAT THE JERK WILL WIN. LET'S BE HONEST WE LEFT BERTY BOY WITH AX NEAR HIM. A COUPLE WELL PLACED SWINGS AND BAM HE'S DONE."
"That could be a problem."
"OBVIOUSLY."
"We should return the favor."
"HMM?"
"I really really don't like Henry."
"SAME."
"He gave us a monster, a devil, that stand tall above us and can tear us apart."
She could feel the rage building up inside both of them.
"I think it's about time that we pay him back for the gift."
"I'M NOT SURE WHERE YOU'RE GOING WITH THIS, BUT I LIKE THE SOUND OF IT."
"It's simple, he gave us a monster so we'll give him a monster."
A devilism small spread across their face.
"I GET IT. HE GAVE US A DEVIL AND WE'LL GIVE HIM A WOLF."
Author's Note- Thank you all for reading! We're super close to wrapping up the story. Now, I decided to post from every Saturday to every Saturday or Sunday. Lately, I've been busy on the weekdays and I haven't had time to really write. So, I've been doing a lot of writing on Friday and Saturday. Sometimes posting it on Saturday is kinda hard to do. So chapter will either up on Saturday or Sunday. See you all next weekend!
