Coney Island Freak Show
Rating: T
Summary: The Doctor lands the TARDIS at Coney Island, home of the famous fairgrounds. He, Jamie and Zoe partake in all the sights and sounds, unaware there is something sinister going on in the background. That is, until one of them becomes a target …
Genres: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe-Canon Divergence, Mystery, Friendship/Love
Characters: 2nd Doctor, Jamie McCrimmon, Zoe Heriot, OCs, other characters
Disclaimer: Not my characters (the Doctor Who ones, anyway). This story is written for entertainment purposes only. No copyright infringement is intended.
Author's Note: Though I'm a native of Long Island, NY, I've never really spent much time at the Coney Island fairgrounds and some details regarding rides and games are obviously not accurate. I've taken creative license by adding an upside down roller coaster that wasn't present in the early-mid 1980s, when this story takes place.
Like two sisters sporting tails
Like a man who swallows nails
Like a mystic predicting change
Well honey I'm no Coney Island Freak Show
But lately things have been a bit strange
— Sarah Segal-Lazar, "Coney Island Freak Show"
Prologue
"Ha, would you look at that?! First try! Guess Iambetter at this than I thought."
"Yeah, more like beginner's luck. We're heading over to the arcade. Meet us there when you're done congratulating yourself."
Seventeen-year-old Chad Murphy rolled his eyes and aimed a smirk in his friends' direction. School had just let out for the summer, and the three of them decided to head on over to the Coney Island fairgrounds for some fun. Chad had surprised not only his buddies but himself as well by earning the high score on the "Test Your Strength" game. In all the years he'd been coming here, he never thought of himself as skilled at many of the games, especially not the one in question.
He nearly startled at the sound of someone clearing their throat nearby and he turned to find the dour-looking, thirty-something game attendant handing him a large stuffed animal —a pink ostrich with a goofy-looking face.
Chad wrinkled his nose. "Uh, couldn't I have something else, like, uh," he turned desperately to the row of toys hanging against the wall, "that Yankees pillow?"
The man simply stared at him impassively while the puffs of smoke from the cigarette hanging out of his mouth assaulted Chad's nostrils.
"Uh, yeah. Never mind." He swiftly turned and walked away. Oh, well. He'd give it to his little sister. She liked goofy stuff like that.
He headed in the direction of the small building that held the arcade and was about halfway there when he suddenly heard hurried footsteps behind him.
At first, he shrugged. There was a good crowd here; there usually was at this time.
But the footsteps sounded as if someone were purposely following him. As if theymeantto seek him out.
Look, stop it, man. You're just being paranoid. Go meet up with the guys, they'll be suddenly they'll probably bust my chops over that goofy looking toy ...
And the footsteps became closer, more hurried.
Chad halted in his tracks and expelled a sharp breath in frustration. "Okay,what do you want?!"
He turned sharply around to find a woman blinking innocently at him.
No, make that a very pretty woman, maybe five to ten years older than him, with long, thick, brown hair, lightly tanned skin, and the brightest, emerald green eyes he'd ever seen. She wore a loose-fitting, white blouse over a pair of navy blue Jordache jeans.
"Oh! I'm sorry, miss, I didn't—"
"Is this yours?" she asked, holding out a thin, black billfold.
His wallet! He must have set it down when he paid to play the game! His parents would kill him if he came home without it.
He found his gaze going back up to her pretty face.
"Uh … " He suddenly shook himself out of it. "Uh, um, yeah, it is!" He smiled gratefully as he accepted it from her. "Seriously, thank you. I don't know what I would have done …" He trailed off again, his eyes sweeping over her attractive figure. They soon picked out the name tag pinned near her left shoulder.
"Marcie," he read.
She smiled, showing a row of dazzling straight, white teeth. "Of course. I'm just glad you got it back." She gazed questioningly at him.
"I'm Chad," he returned with a slight nod. "So, um, you work here?"
"Yeah, as a matter of fact, I do." Her pleasant smile suddenly turned a bit flirtatious. "I hope you don't mind, but … I couldn't help watching you beat that Strength Test game. Not many guys do."
Chad felt a shiver run down his spine as she stepped closer, almost closing the space between them, her gaze holding his fast.
"You come here often?" she asked, her smile broadening.
"Uh .. Y-yeah. Every chance I get," he replied with an awkward smile of his own.
"Oh, really?" She batted her eyelashes at him. "You live around here?"
"Yeah, I do. I, uh …" He suddenly puffed out his chest. "I'm nineteen. I have my own place just a few blocks from here." Yeah, okay, so it wasn't exactly the truth. But all in the name of impressing a gorgeous girl …
"Niiiice," she replied, her smile curling into a grin as she appeared to be studying every inch of him. Her eyes sparkled as she met his gaze.
"Did you happen to get a good look at 'The Stellar Express'?" she asked.
Chad's brow furrowed in confusion. "No. What's that?"
Her smile faded but she intensely held his gaze. "It's a brand new ride we just added. We're trying to get some opinions on it from regular park attendees. We're randomly selecting people to get first crack at riding it as an exclusive promotion." She placed a ticket in his hand. "And I'm randomly selecting you."
He gazed at her in surprise. "Oh, wow. Thanks! This is so cool." He turned in the direction of the arcade. "Wait until I tell my friends. I bet they'd love to test it out, too—"
Feeling a nudge to his side, he turned back to her. He was back in that heat-seeking missile of a gaze and she shook her head faintly. "This ticket is just for you —-and me." The flirtatious grin was back.
"A-andyou?" he nearly squeaked.
"Yes! It's for couples. Come on, let's go."
She grabbed his hand and he walked quickly away with her. Testing out a totally new ride with a hot girl? How could he refuse?
The ride was in some weird shape: the top resembled parapets, like a castle, but the rest of the ride was shaped almost like an ocean liner, becoming wider and oval-shaped toward the bottom, with tiers and even portholes. He was barely able to study it when a sharp whistling sounded in his ear and he turned to find Marcie gesturing to a large car on a track.
"Have a seat," she directed with another smile. He lowered himself down and moved to the far side, looking up at her expectantly. She effortlessly slid in next to him and then nodded at the ride attendant.
"Have fun," the attendant said before pulling a lever on the wall next to him. Chad felt his smile falter as he looked at the other man. Did that grin on his face almost look sinister? Nah, he was probably just imagining it. He leaned back and sighed, smiling again as the car started moving.
About thirty seconds into it, Chad had made up his mind it was a very … interesting ride. Actually, 'weird' might be the best way to describe it. The car moved steadily through a series of different rooms, each with a different effect. One featured lots of funny mirrors on the walls. Another featured several optical illusions, such as a staircase that seemed to ascend indefinitely, a tunnel to nowhere, and another illusion that nearly freaked him out, making him think the ground had disappeared out from under them.
"What do you think?" Marcie yelled over the strange soundtrack of mostly mechanical, chirping noises.
"Awesome!" he said, trying hard to mask his apprehension as he gave her a grin and a thumbs up.
They had exited another room filled with dark, sinister shadows and were traveling slowly through a long, equally dark corridor when a sudden dip in the car's track nearly made him jump.
"What did you think of that?" she asked. Even in the dark he could see her grinning broadly.
"That was great! Startled me!"
"Just wait until you get a load of thenextsurprise!"
"When?"
"Now!"
Chad's jaw dropped as the car he was sitting in appeared to split in two—his half going off in one direction, Marcie's going off in another, like a train switching rails.
"Marcie? Where did you go!?"
There was no answer.
"Yeah, interesting ride, alright," he muttered to himself. Maybe he would meet up with her again further along? Why not? The tracks would meet again and the car would come back together, rejoining them. Actually, that was a cool idea.
But as a whole other minute ticked by with no Marcie he started to get nervous, and not just for her sake. How much longer was this ride going to last? Most of the ones he was used to were over in less than two minutes. Then again, thiswassupposed to be a test ride. Well, he'd make sure to bring up the overly long time ride to them as something that should be changed.
As if someone had heard him, the ride came to a stop. "Aw, come on," he griped. He'd been on rides that had broken down before. They usually resumed pretty quickly, but as he sat and looked around, it didn't seem like it was going to start up again anytime soon. The pervasive darkness and strange noises weren't helping, either.
"Alright, that's it. I'm done," he said, nearly cringing at the shakiness of his voice. With his considerable strength he forced open the safety bar and climbed out, attempting to feel his way around in the dark. As if in answer to his prayers, he soon located several colorful signs that read "Emergency Exit" with arrows pointing to the right. He cautiously walked in their direction until he spotted another huge sign with an arrow pointing below to a simple door with a metal push bar across it. Laying his hands on it, Chad smiled in as he pushed, anticipating bright, hot sunshine as he stepped through.
He was still shrouded in darkness. Ahead was yet another brightly colored "Emergency Exit" sign.
"Hey, what is this?! This doesn't look like an exit!"
Was this some kind of sick prank? Would he be opening doors and reappearing in endless dark corridors? His friends would probably think he fell off the edge of the Earth.
As he approached the sign, he soon felt something solid impeding his forward movement, like a wall.
Okay, if he just went back the way he came …
He caught the glint of silver metal as a door slid shut, effectively trapping him.
"What is this?! What's going o—"
Chat's eyes widened in horror and he screamed as a loud, vibrating noise filled the space.