"Are you okay?" Jasper asks me on our way to the rollercoaster.
I shake my head. "Not really," I say, smiling at him.
"It'll be okay," he says. All of a sudden, he grabs my hand and looks ahead of himself. I felt the heat growing on my cheeks. Every time Jasper touches my hand, I feel this rush of emotions. I don't know what it is. Does he like me? Do I like him? It's not something you really think about when your life is a nightmare. Maybe I've just missed him. I'll go with that.
So there we are, holding hands again. The others are ahead of us with Mrs. Harmon. I'm about to ask Jasper if he's afraid of heights, when all of a sudden, I see a little girl sitting on a chair in front of us. She's no older than seven. Blood is stained on her forehead and her left eye dangles out of her skull. She's holding a sign. The sign says, "I died here." Behind her is The Drop ride.
I stop walking and point at her. "Look!"
Jasper looks and when he does, she vanishes. "What is it?" He stops walking and looks at me.
My heart is beating fast and I'm afraid all over again. "I saw a-" I'm about to tell him when I see the girl again, walking toward Jasper in a slow-motion fashion. She smiles and blood spills between her lips. She's holding a hammer and when she nears his back, she whispers, "You're dead," in Jasper's ear while raising the hammer.
I scream and pull Jasper away, causing us to both fall onto the ground. I'm looking around frantically for the girl but I don't see her. Jasper takes my hand, but I pull it away. "Girl-girl with a hammer." My words don't come out the way I want them to.
Jasper looks around and he's going, "What is it? What is it?" making a scene. By now, the others are running toward us.
"What is the problem?" Mrs. Harmon asks.
"She saw a girl," Jasper says.
Mrs. Harmon nods. "Yes, we do have some people who break in and linger around."
"She was dead!" I say a little bit too loudly.
Mrs. Harmon smiles and waves her hand. "The ride awaits."
Jerod helps me up and Doreen wipes the dirt off of my pants. "You okay?" Doreen asks.
"This place is creepy," I say.
Helena starts walking ahead. "What else is new?"
Doreen looks at me and shrugs. Everyone else heads back to the ride. Caleb hugs me. "It'll be okay," he says. "Be brave." He takes off toward the rollercoaster where everyone is being seated while Mrs. Harmon is working on the controls.
"It'll be okay, Emily," Jasper says. "Caleb's right. We have to be brave."
"I don't trust the rides. I don't trust Mrs. Harmon," I say.
Jasper smirks. "We don't have a choice."
He is, indeed, correct.
***
Click click click. The cart drags itself up with effort as our hands tighten on the bar and our breath quickens in anticipation and fear. Click click click. Jasper is sitting next to me, while Caleb is sitting with Helena behind us, and Jerod is sitting next to Doreen. Let me tell you how happy Jerod is. Jasper laughs nervously, "It's awfully high isn't it?" he asks. Click click click. Suddenly, I'm full of doubts-why did I let them convince me this was a good idea? But it is too late to turn back now. Click click click. I'm not too big on heights, so I'm looking around to distract myself, and for a moment I can see trees, small towns, and birds flying over us. Click click WHOOSH. There is nowhere to go but down.
I'm screaming louder than I mean to while Jasper has his hands up in the air. He's laughing as we loop around and around and around. My hair is going here and there along with my bobbling head. Each loop makes me believe that I'm going to fall at any moment now. The ride is almost over when all of sudden, there's a man holding a baby in the upcoming loop. They're actually just sitting there, like their bodies are glued to the track, and even though they're upside down, they can't fall. The baby is crying and the man is telling it to shush.
"Stop! Stop the ride!" I yell.
Of course, we don't stop the ride. I know it's impossible to. I see the man look me in the eye as the rollercoaster wheel runs over them, leaving a loud crunch in my ear. No one else seems to have seen them. They're all laughing until the ride finally comes to a stop. I try to look behind me but I can't. The ride is still too fast.
"Next ride!" Mrs. Harmon says as she comes to unstrap us.
Everyone is laughing, even the prick. Helena comes up to me and gently punches me on the arm. "Hey, cheer up. It wasn't that bad."
My hands are trembling as we walk behind Mrs. Harmon toward the next ride. The Drop. If you're not familiar with the The Drop, it's where you take a seat and the ride slowly lifts you to the top. When you're at the top, it waits a good ten seconds before it drops so you can look at the view, which is quite terrifying. Then... it drops.
"I'm starting to feel sick," I say to Jasper.
He playfully leans on me and laughs. "Come on, it won't be that bad." I playfully push him off of me, then I realize he has my phone.
"Hey!" I say.
"Relax, I just want you to take a picture of us," he says.
I smile. "Fine." He hands me the phone and I open the front camera to take a picture of the both of us. I take a few steps back and point the camera at him. "Say cheese," I say.
Jasper smiles shyly. "What's taking so long for you to take the picture?" he asks.
It only takes him a few seconds to realize that I'm not taking a picture. I'm videotaping him.
"Hey, lovebirds!" Helena yells. "Come on!"
I put my phone back in my pocket but take it out because it vibrates. It's a message from Carmen. I read it.
"Thank you so much!" she says. Then she sends me a picture that makes my heart sink deep down into my stomach. The knife in my gut twists and I feel my legs turn to noodles. She sent me a picture of the book. A new text message comes in. "I got my father back! This book isn't evil. It's a miracle."
I drop my phone and run after Helena. I turn her around and look at her hands. She's still holding the book.
"What are you doing!" Helena says.
As I'm looking at the book, I start to lose hope in everything. In Helena's hand isn't the book. It's just a look alike. Carmen. Carmen read the book. She knew from the start what she was doing. When she realized the book had ability and power, she thought about her father. I start to cry because I know the only way she can get her parents back is by sacrifice. I can only think about China, hoping and praying that she didn't kill Jerod's adopted sister.