Levi sat in the backseat of his uncle's car, holding a deck of cards from his best friends who were like siblings to him. Attached to the pack of cards was a goodbye note from them that read, "To Levi: We'll miss you, Bro. Your shitheads forever, Furlan and Isabel." He couldn't help but laugh at the bittersweetness of the note.

His Uncle Kenny decided to take his mother and him in to get them away from the city that was becoming more and more dangerous. Levi didn't think the neighborhood he was living in was that dangerous, but some of the kids at the school he was at were starting to join gangs.

"Levi," Kenny called out to him but no response. He tried it again.

"Hey, Levi." Still, no response.

"Hey you little runt!" That got Levi's attention who shifted an annoyed gaze at his uncle through the rearview mirror.

"What?" Levi asked while gritting his teeth, attempting to keep his cool despite him being called a 'runt.' Yes, he was shorter than the average teenage boy but that didn't give his uncle permission to use it to get his attention.

"Relax, Spitfire, just wanted to tell you that we're almost there." Kenny teased.

"Geez, Kenny. You really do live in the middle of nowhere. Are you sure you're not bringing your dear old sister and sweet nephew out here to murder us?" Kuchel teased. "I'm going to have to go to the next town to shop."

"Ehh, you'll learn to like it. You've been in the city for far too long, Sis." Kenny looked out the window and noticed a building of interest, "Hey Brat, look over there. That's your new school." He pointed over in the direction with his finger while his hand remained on the steering wheel. "Looks good, right? A place for you to make friends with brats like yourself," he playfully taunted.

Levi rolled his eyes while biting his tongue. 'This old man…,' He thought.

"It doesn't look that bad, Levi," His mother piped up.

His mother was a saint. He had always admired his mother. He never knew his father so his parental figures were his mother and his uncle. Most of his life, however, his mother had to play both roles of parents. In the end though, his mother always did what she thought was best for him. For that, he has always respected his mother. He sat up to satisfy the small bit of curiosity he had and to appease his mother to look out the window to see his new school. It was a holiday, but he could still see kids running around on the playground. He noticed a girl a little younger than him dropping what appeared to be a potato on the ground before she picked it up to brush it off. 'Don't do it..,' He thought only for his face to morph into disgust when the girl took a big bite down on the potato. It was moments like these when Levi remembers that even his own mother is a human with her own faults."These hickabillies are filthy…" He muttered more to himself than to anyone while gripping onto the stack of cards in his hands, "I already know I'm not going to like any of these kids. There wasn't anything wrong with the old school."

At this moment, he realized how hard he was gripping onto the card. He looked down at his hands to see the box that contained the cards started to have the folded ends come undone. "Shit, Mom! The box holding the cards is breaking."

Kuchel turned her head to Levi with a deadpan expression, "Tch, Honey, I told you not to grip onto them so tightly. I swear, sometimes you don't know your own strength when you're pissed off or annoyed. I'll take a look at it when we get to Uncle Kenny's. If anything, we can put a stack of books on top of it to fix it."

Levi leaned back into his seat, his arms crossed after sitting his cards carefully into his bag. "Tch, can't believe my first deck of cards is a going away present, isn't that great?" Levi asked rhetorically, matching his mother's deadpan expression.

"That's not true. Uncle Kenny bought you UNO for your birthday and Christmas present, remember?"

"Mother, I love you, but you and I both know it's not the same. Uno is just that. You only play Uno. With a deck of cards, there are several card games to play. Plus, it's a great way to settle scores with people."

"He's right, Kuchel," Kenny concurred, causing her to roll her eyes at her brother before turning her attention back to her son.

"Here, hold onto your goodbye card and don't lose it. I'm going to open the window. And don't complain so much, Levi." Kuchel reached over to the button for the window and rolled it down before continuing, "It's fun to move to a new place, it's an adventure."

Levi said nothing but looked out the window for the remainder of the ride until his uncle finally came to a stop.

"Ahhh shit. Did I miss the turn? This ain't right."

"Look, Kenny. I can see your house from here," Kuchel spoke thoughtfully.

"Huh?" Kenny looked through his sister's window, and sure enough, he could see his house.

"It's that blue one on the end, right?" Kuchel asked.

"Yeah, that's it. I think I got distracted or day-dreamed and missed the turn off. This road looks like it'll get us there though."

"Kenny, please don't take a shortcut. You'll get us lost."

"Kuchel, when have I ever gotten us lost? This road will work."

Levi, who remained quiet in the backseat, looked out his window when something caught his eyes. It appeared there were tiny stone houses scattered all over the ground. "What are those stones? They almost look like tiny houses."

Kuchel looked in Levi's direction to see what he was looking at before answering his question, "They're shrines. Some people believe little spirits live there."

Satisfied with the answer, Levi sat back down onto his seat as his uncle continued to venture deeper into the rough terrain. Something about this road didn't seem right to Levi. He was surprised that his uncle was so sure about this unfamiliar road. "Eh, Kenny…I think we're lost."

Kenny rolled his eyes, "We're fine. I've got 4-wheel drive on this thing," he stated in a matter-of-fact tone while patting on the dashboard of the car. He accelerated on the gas, not caring for any bumps he may run over on the dirt road. When he hit a particularly large pothole, Levi levitated from the seat for a moment before crashing back down onto this seat, gripping onto anything within his reach that would keep him grounded.

Kuchel looked back to check on Levi and noticed immediately that the boy didn't have his seat belt, "Levi, sit down."

Before Levi could move to sit down or say a word, his body was knocked back into the seat from his uncle's erratic driving on the rough terrain. As he tried to readjust himself into the seat, something caught his eye outside the window. He turned his head and noticed an eerie looking stone face. Not like a teenage boy would admit it out loud, but something about it seemed off. As they drove past it, he could feel eyes watching him the deeper they drove into the woodland area.

Kuchel and Levi weren't sure what Kenny's deal was. He was picking up speed and driving as if he were on a mission, like a bounty hunter going after a fugitive. Levi and Kuchel both grabbed onto the car's handles, or as Levi likes to call them; the 'Oh shit!' bars.

"WHAT THE FUCK, KENNY?!" Kuchel shrieked. "SLOW THE FUCK DOWN! ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL US?!"

Kenny could feel the daggers coming off from his sister's eyes but he was determined to know what was at the end of this road, even if he wasn't sure where it led to. Something about this road was pulling him in, deeper and deeper.

Seeing that his own mother wasn't getting through to him and seeing something up ahead on the road, Levi sat up and yelled as loud as he could before smacking the back of his uncle's seat, "KENNY!" (A/N: yeah I did that.)

That seemed to have caught his uncle's attention. When he readjusted his eyes on the road, he could see what appeared to be a large boulder in the middle of the road. "The fuck is that?" He asked more for himself than anyone else in the vehicle. As he slowed down while getting closer to the object. He came to a complete stop when he was able to see a statue standing in front of a red building with a large, arching entrance. He poked his head out of the window to get a better look at what they were looking at exactly before finally stepping out of the car.

Kuchel turned to Kenny, "What's this old building here, Kenny? You live here so you're familiar with this area, right?"

Kenny turned to his sister with the same deadpan expression that seemed to have run in the family, "Kuchel, if I was familiar with this area, I don't think I would drive on a road that I knew would lead to a dead end." He turned his head back to the building and looked up to see the worn down signage that was no longer legible from years of being out in the natural elements. "Looks like an entrance," he added after some time had passed before walking up to the building to get a closer inspection of it.

Kuchel began to feel a little squeamish about the place, turned her head to look over at the dashboard to see the time. They had to be at his house before the moving trucks moved the remainder of her and Levi's belongings there. "Kenny, come on. We're going to be late for the movers." She stopped and turned her attention to the back of the car when she heard Levi's door shut. "Levi, don't. Get in the car."

"Sorry, Mom. I'm kinda curious to see what has Uncle Kenny's attention."

"And do we know what happened to the cat when curiosity got the best of him?"

"Come on, we gotta get him back into the car somehow."

Kuchel rolled her eyes before finally relenting, muttering a, "for fuck sakes," under her breath as she got out of the car and followed her brother and her son.

Levi watched his uncle carefully as Kenny dragged his hand up and down the exterior of the building as he inspected the place. Finally, Kenny spoke up, "This building isn't as old as it looks. It's fake. It's made from plaster to just look like stone." Kenny moved his gaze to inside the archway. He could feel something beckoning him inside.

A whispering sound of the wind followed by the sound of leaves rustling were the only sounds to be heard. Levi could feel something in the wind was coaxing them to go deeper inside the building. He looked down at his feet and noticed the leaves were acting as guides, rolling and pointing in the direction for whatever wants them in there. Not that he would admit it, a chill ran down his spine. To have some sense of control, he shoved his hands in his pockets and gripped onto the fabric inside. "Feels like the wind is pulling us in," he mumbled.

When Kuchel finally had the courage, she caught up to her brother and son and began to feel the ominous push at her back. She looked inside, making note of how dark it was inside and wondering what had caught her brother's and son's attention. "What is it?"

"Come on, let's check it out and see what's in here," Kenny said simply. "Looks like a hiding place for bandits on the run."

Levi jerked his head to face his uncle. He couldn't be serious right? "Have you lost your damn mind? Let's get going. We got shit to do."

"What's wrong? Scared, Levi?" Kenny taunted with a smug grin as if he was trying to challenge his nephew.

Levi rolled his eyes and glared in the direction of his uncle. "I'm not scared, old man. I'm just saying we don't have time to be fucking around." Plus, he'll be damned before he ever admits he was scared of the creepy looking building. It looked grimy, too. Aside from how creepy and dirty it looked, something about this place was off. He could feel the magnetic pull but something in his head was telling him they needed to leave immediately.

"The movers will get there before we do, Ken," Kuchel added in hopes to aid the process of leaving.

Kenny reached his hand over to pat the top of his sister's head. "It'll be fine. They've got a copy of the key anyway so they can start without us."

She let out a long sigh while looking at her brother, "Fine. Just a quick look then we're out of here, got it?"

Levi looked at his mother in bewilderment. "Are you kidding me? Come on, let's go. Besides, this place looks filthy." He turned his heels and walked his way back to the car only to stop and stand beside it, his last ditch of hope to get them to leave.

"Come on, Brat. It'll be fine."

"Fuck. No. Let's go." Levi looked over at the statue that his uncle had almost run into earlier with disgust. It was covered in moss, dirt, and whatever else was stuck to it. The statue had a big, creepy smile on its face. The eyes showed no signs of life but Levi could feel an unnatural presence around it.

"Tch, fine whatever," Kenny exasperated and began to walk in his desired direction without any clue of where it may lead to.

His sister followed closely after him after she turned to her son, not wanting things to escalate any further. "Just wait in the car then, Levi."

Levi stood there for a moment, watching the pair disappear in the darkness of the entrance of the building. His brain went through those scenarios one would typically see in horror films and how things were worse if the group got separated. He had two choices, take a chance and wait in the car hoping nobody isn't waiting to rob them or kill his only family. Or two, take a chance with his mom and uncle and stick together as a group. He clicked his tongue in annoyance at how troublesome they were being. They were normally far more responsible than this and his uncle's senses were just as good as his, if not better. It seemed like Levi didn't really have a choice, however. It only took a fleeting moment for him to come to the conclusion and with that, he quickened his footsteps to catch up to his mother and uncle with his pocket knife clenched into his hands, following them blindly into the dark tunneled entrance.

His mother stood and waited for her son to catch up. When he was matching her pace, she put a hand on his head to give it a quick ruffle while following her brother who was leading.

Kenny paused his steps and looked at his nephew and sister before cautioning them, "Watch your step. I don't know what is laying around here. Possible for fugitives to lay traps to give a sound of possible intruders to their hideout.

Kuchel's maternal instincts kicked in the further they went inside the tunnel. "Don't stray too far behind, Levi. Stay close." Levi nodded in response and remained 3 steps behind his mother.

Moments later, the three of them emerged from the tunnel and into an opened area that appeared to look like a lobby area. Based on the amount of dust covering the benches, floor, and everything else, Levi could guess that this place hasn't been of use for quite some time now. Just on the other side of the room, a ray of light cascaded around another archway leading to the outside. 'What is this place?' Levi thought to himself.

His mother broke him from his thoughts with her question, "Do you hear that?" She asked while placing her hand by her ear in hopes the sound will be amplified in the direction of her ear. Levi stood there and listened carefully to see what his mother was referring to. In the distance the sound of chugging and an engine running could be heard. "It sounds like a train," his mother concluded.

"Oh yeah, the train station for the town isn't too far from here." Kenny confirmed. "Come on, let's keep going and see what this place is exactly. I have a feeling I know what it is," he finally admitted. He walked towards the other archway and walked through to take in the surroundings. Kuchel and Levi followed closely behind, observing Kenny and what he was looking at. In front of them, a large and mostly empty field of grass spread throughout the field with houses and empty buildings scattered here and there. In the distance, a collection of small buildings could be seen. It almost looked like a small village.

'What are those buildings in the distance? An abandoned village maybe?'

"Huh, what do you know, it's that old, abandoned theme park I heard about a while back." Kenny piped, pulling Levi from his thoughts. Kenny turned his body to the building where they just came from and pointed to the clock tower and signage. "See? They built them everywhere in the early 90s, then the economy went bad and most of them went bankrupt. This must be one of them. I didn't know I lived so close to one though. I lived here for the past five years and never knew." Kenny turned back to the buildings ahead and started walking towards them, his sister Kuchel trailing not too far behind him.

"Oi! We looked around, let's get home before it gets any later," Levi called out to them both. "OI! Tch." He called out one more time but when he was ignored once again, he clicked his tongue. Something felt off about this place and it wasn't just because his uncle said it was abandoned. The wind started to pick up and began to push Levi, getting him to follow and go further into the field. Something odd caught his ear though, so he listened carefully. Initially it sounded like a moan, as if someone was in pain or crying.

"Levi… Noooooo…."

The moaning wind called out to him. An electric jolt shot right down his spine. He was getting a sense of deja vu; like he heard it in a dream from a long time ago. He turned his head back to see his uncle and his mother already quite a distance away from him and going in the direction of the buildings ahead. He quickly caught up to his mother and grabbed her by the arm to make her face him before he gained the courage to ask her. He didn't want to appear weak and vulnerable to his mother, but surely she heard someone call her son's name? "Did you hear that? Did you hear that moaning?"

Kuchel looked at her son with a perplexed look on her face. She stood for a moment to see if she could hear anything herself but when nothing came up, she brushed it off. "It was probably just the wind. It's really strong today. Even so, it's a lovely day for a picnic at such a beautiful hidden gem. I wish I had brought our lunches with us."

The three of them finally came up to a dry rock river bed. Based on the moss growth on the rocks, it seems there was water there at some point. Now it wasn't even a creek from how little water there was.

"Looks like they were going to put a river here," He observed while he placed a hand on one of the larger boulders, then a peculiar smell caught his attention. He turned his head in the direction of where the scent could be coming from. "Hey Kuchel, you smell that? Smells good right?"

She pointed her head in the same direction as her brother and gave her nose a few sniffs into the air to see if she could smell what he was smelling. Her eyes widened with excitement. "Yeah, that smells delicious and I'm starving."

"What do you know? Maybe this place is still in business? Let's get some grub then we can head home," and off Kenny went, further into the theme park to track the source of the scrumptious aroma with his sister following in tow.

"Levi, Dear, hurry."

Levi, however, was trying to maneuver around rocks that were far larger in size than him. He also needed to watch his footing with the smaller rocks. Despite how low the water was, there was still a chance the rocks were still slick. One slip and his food would be in the filthy water. That was something he wanted to avoid. "Oi, wait up!" He called out to his family.

When he finally made it safely to shore without any socks or shoes in harm of filth, he went to catch up with them. Something was gnawing at the back of his head, however. Something about this place just didn't seem right. Instead of smelling something pleasant, he smelled something foul. He couldn't place what he was smelling exactly, but he could tell something was rotting nearby.

According to the Ackerman family, they were excellent trackers and were in tune with their senses. Based on family legend, they had a great sense in smell, hearing, and sight. They are clairsentient individuals. In other words, they are perceptive, intuitive, and empathetic to people and things around them; regardless if it's past, present, or future. No one in the family knew where or when the legend actually started, but it's a story that's been passed on from one generation to the next. Kuchel brushed it off as a myth and an urban legend, but to Kenny he believed there was merit to it. For Levi, he wasn't sure what to believe for himself. There were moments that he has come across in his life that he believed were just unnatural to anyone else but normal for him and his uncle.

At this current moment though, he was at a loss for words. If his uncle truly believes in the legend, then why wasn't he getting the same eerie feeling he was right now? Was his intuition being blocked by the smell of something?

When the three of them reached the main area of the theme park, there were restaurants everywhere. Some looked rundown, some looked brand new. As far as Levi could see, he couldn't see any stalls that had games or other entertainment for kids.

'What an odd theme park…But that's not the thing that disturbs me the most. I don't see anyone else. No adults. No kids. No theme park employees. No one,' he thought to himself while he watched his uncle sniff in different directions to catch the source of smell he picked up earlier. When he decided on the direction, he pointed them to where he wanted them to follow. Levi and his mother stayed back a few yards to let Kenny guide them.

His mother must've made the same observation when she finally spoke up, "This is weird, I only see restaurants."

"Hey Mom, do you see anyone?" He asked her casually while not looking at her for a moment. 'I can still smell something disgusting nearby… How can neither of you smell that?' He added to himself. When he didn't hear his mother respond, he shifted his eyes towards observing her. Her face remained deadpan but she kept moving forward. Despite the clear red flags in front of them, the pair kept following Kenny for a few turns until he finally found the source of the smell. Coincidentally, it was the same source for the foul smell.

"Hey! Levi! Sis! Over here!" Kenny motioned them to come over. Before his eyes were large buffet plates and trays of foods stacked as high as gravity would allow it. He pulled back the flaps and got a better look around the inside. Various meats and exotic cooked fish in large portions were placed on platters and placed around the booth. Several steamers were running at the same time, cooking up dumplings, Kenny assumed. He looked at the spread of its entirety before searching for some plates. Everything looked and smelled amazing but he refrained from grabbing up a plate until his nephew and sister caught up. When he heard their footsteps, he stepped out of the stall and motioned them over to his direction. "Right here, check this out. It's all here."

When Kuchel stepped inside the stall, her eyes enlarged at the feast before her. She had never seen such a display of cuisine. "Ahh, look at this, Levi."

"Hey!" Kenny called out, hoping to gain someone's attention. "Who's running this fine establishment? Is there anyone working back there? You have paying customers here."

"Levi, Darling, come inside. It looks delicious."

At this point, Levi was convinced that his mother and uncle had lost it. How could they not smell that horrid smell? He couldn't smell anything heavenly within their vicinity. "No thank you, it smells disgusting here. Do you not smell that?"

"Oi!" Kenny called out once more, "Is there anybody in here?" Kenny's eyes scanned the room but he saw nothing in his line of vision, not even a shadow of a person.

"Don't worry, Kenny. We can pay the bill when they get back. Maybe something got their attention so they had to step away," his mother suggested thoughtfully.

"Tch," Kenny clicked his tongue but went to grab his sister and himself a plate when an interesting dish caught his eye, "Damn that looks great!"

His mother reached for what looked like some type of roast poultry. She took a look at the small roasted bird meat before taking a sniff of it, "this looks great." She muttered before finally taking a bite of the piece of meat. Her eyes rolled when chewed at the juicy and tender meat, her taste buds exploding at the exquisite taste. It tasted so damn good, crispy on the outside but soft and juice on the inside. It was really cooked to perfection. She turned to Levi to try to get him to try some of the food, "Levi, you have to try this. This is nothing we have ever tasted before!"

"No, I want to leave. Something isn't right. Plus we might get in trouble. Put some money on the table for the damages and let's get home," Levi pleaded. He hated begging his mother for anything, but neither of his guardians were thinking straight.

Kenny was stacking his plate with different types of food before he grumbled and moaned condescendingly to his nephew, "Tsk, Brat! Don't worry about it. Your dear old Uncle Kenny is here and he's got credit cards, cash, and checks." He sat 3 plates down for his sister, him, and Levi to share before shoving what looked like a piece of sausage in his mouth.

Kuchel turned to Levi again, hoping to coax him to sit down with them to enjoy the wonderful food before them, "Come sit, Levi. You have to try this! It tastes so tender."

"I said no."

Giving up, Kuchel turned back to roasted meat in front of her and continued chewing on it, savoring every bite. At this point, Kuchel and Kenny were paying no mind to Levi. They were far too hungry to keep trying to force Levi to eat. If he didn't want to eat right now, fine, he can eat when they get home later. The pair of them were scarfing down the food as if it were their last meal before the slaughter.

Levi looked at both of them incredulously. They were literally eating like animals, pigs nonetheless. He could hear them snorting and scarfing down their meal like a pig would on a farm. The display was disgusting and he had never seen them act like this before. He wanted to give them both the benefit of the doubt but their behavior seemed a little off. It was like all of their sense of rationality had gone from their mind. No one was around the stall or the theme park as far as he could see. He wondered if they were really alone here, but if that were the case, how was there freshly cooked food? Regardless of how horrendous it smelled, surely the cooks or owners of the stalls would leave the facility with their food unattended. Levi eventually gave up trying to get his mother and uncle's attention. Instead, he stepped away from the stall to step away from the disgusting smell and was hoping that there was at least one person around.

Just one person to put down any doubts he was having about this place. From what he could see, it was completely deserted. On his quest of searching for people, he stumbled upon a bridge and another large building similar to what he saw at the entrance. Except this building was far more grand and bigger. There was smoke coming out from the chimneys. What was odd was that it was a bathhouse in the theme park. 'Odd,' he mused to himself.

He stepped closer until he was right at the starting point of the bridge to get a better look to make sure he was reading the signage correctly. There was smoke coming from the chimney, water was running, and the smell of coal burning was in the air. It seemed like it was running.

"It's a bathhouse." Before he could make note of any other observations, a familiar sound caught his attention. He walked over to the railing of the bridge and looked over at the bottom. There he saw a train track with a train coming through the tunnel.

"Okay, there's the train," He noted while he walked to the other side of the bridge to see where the track led to. When he started to look, something caught his eye in his peripheral vision. He turned his head and noticed what appeared to be a tall, lanky person with glasses. Their hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail, but that wasn't what caught his eyes. It was the intensity of their stare from their big, amber eyes. The mysterious person's breath hitched when their eyes met. There was a look of recognition that quickly dissipated and morphed into shock and somewhat horrified.

A voice with warmth and command finally spoke with urgency when they had finally overcome their shock, "You shouldn't be here."