Sinclair

Chapter Twelve: Ferris Wheel

RIDING ON THE BACK of Sinclair's motorcycle feels the same as it always has. We ride along the barren, country road with no helments—although that's dangerous and I wouldn't recommend it at all—and all I can feel is the wind on my face and caressing tendrils of curls as I hold onto his waist and lean close to his back. Even though I can't see him, I know Sinclair has been smirking all this time. He, no doubt, is enjoying this closeness.

I feel inclined to tell him that he'd better enjoy it now because this is all the closeness that he's ever going to get, but I keep my mouth shut. If I said that, I don't doubt that he'd use his wicked powers of persuasion to trick my body into doing what he wanted.

Up ahead is the county line bridge that is completely vacant. After a girl jumped to her death a couple of years ago, no one went there anymore. And like with any small town, the rumors of the bridge being haunted started right after her death. According to a couple of intoxicated teenagers, they had gone to the bridge to party—AKA, to have sex, drink alcohol, and smoke weed—when they saw a girl in a long white dress standing on the very top of the bridge, her hair—somehow darker than night—blowing harshly even though there hadn't been any wind that night. The teens had described how the girl had turned to them, her hair still covering her face and rasped, "Die." Practically shitting themselves, they had run far away from the scene and to the police station.

What those poor teens didn't know was that the "ghost" had been Carla, the wind had actually been Bruiser—he had gotten one of those leaf blowers that the teens had been unable to hear due to the fact they were heavily intoxicated, making out, and they had music blasting through the speakers of their car at the time. And that raspy voice telling them to die had been another one of the guys. Basically, those teens had been pranked because Carla, Bruiser, and the guys had been bored that night and those two had been the perfect target.

Now as I looked at it, though, I could kind of believe it was haunted, even though things like that weren't really my forte. I was an extreme skeptic when it came to the paranormal, but everyone knew of the history that came with Willow's Bridge. There had been a couple of odd suicides here and there that had "stained" the quiet, peaceful town of Willow's Creek. Everyone knew it was a bridge one went to when they wanted to end their life. Looking at it now, as the moonlight glinted on the rusted metal surface and shone on the green looking water below it, even with my skepticism that bridge gave me the creeps.

Not even thinking about it, I shuddered and moved closer to Sinclair, gripping him a little tighter. I felt him stiffen a little in surprise but he didn't say anything and I knew why. If he turned to look at me now, we'd get lost in each other, as we always did, and he would crash this bike. Because, as good of a driver as Sinclair was, when it came to me he was very easily distracted.

As he turned the corner and the county line bridge disappeared behind us, I could see the Carn-Evil come into view up ahead. It was located in the little patch of land Willow's Creek used for all its special occasions: Christmas festivals, Fourth of July barbeques, County Fairs and the like. It was roughly sixty-three acres of land that, even from our distance, was brightly lit and calling for everyone's attention.

The closer that we became, the more excited I felt myself start to get. It had truly been a long time since I'd come to the Carn-Evil and, even if it had to be on a "date" with Sinclair, I was glad I got to see it again. I had forgotten how good Willow's Creek could put on a show when they tried.

As Sinclair parked his motorcycle into one of the little parking spaces that were available across the street from the venue, I found myself looking at the rides that I could see from here. There were so many lights in so many places that many of them were indistinguishable, but the one I could really make out was the Ferris Wheel. It had been my favorite ride from the time I was a small child all the way until my last year attending.