Most of the time, it backfires—on her.
She slaps his bicep. “Shut up.” Her weighted sigh has me suppressing my grin. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
His mouth quirks. “Don’t let the ghosts get you.”
I blow out a breath, containing a hint of a chuckle. “You guys are ridiculous. Those ghosts aren’t even that scary.” Unless you’re terrified of plastic mechanical mannequins lit up with a projector.
Jeremy’s brows draw together, but there’s mischief hidden between the creases and flickering in his eyes. “I’m not talking aboutthose.”
I tuck a loose strand of dark blonde hair behind my ear, folding my arms over my chest. “Ha. Ha. Nice try. You forget that I’m older than you and less gullible.”
Jeremy and Nicole hold my gaze, both with smiles on their faces that should be playful but seem eerie under the circumstances.
Jeremy’s manic laugh sends chills down my spine. “You don’t know the real story about Lachlan Park, do you?”
TWO | KATE
I’m not gullible.
I’m not.
But I also believe in gut instincts, and mine is one hundred percent telling me that they aren’t bull shitting me. Jeremy’s words toxically churn in my stomach.
“You don’t know the real story about Lachlan Park, do you?”
I stare at Jeremy curiously, waiting for him to divulge the information that’s sitting eagerly on his tongue as he studies my expression.
I’m not scared of a little ghost story.
There’s only one thing that terrifies me, and I’m hoping he’s thousands of miles away and not tracking my scent like a shark trailing its prey’s blood drifting through dark waters.
We work at an amusement park. Which I assume means that since this place is over ninety years old, there were some deaths back in the day from poorly constructed rides, and those unfortunate souls haunt the park.
That’s what I expect him to say.
What I’m not anticipating coming out of his mouth is, “Have you ever heard of The Evisceration Cellar?”
Evisceration…as in the harvesting and removal of organs?
The low thrumming of my heartbeat fills my ears, competing with the awful music we have on repeat for the ride. My chest rises and falls a little heavier now. Why am I breathing faster?
I gulp down the unanticipated nerves prickling my throat. “No.”
The smirk on Nicole’s face irritates me more than it should. I’m going to be extremely pissed off if they are messing with me. I’m the most recent hire to work with them; there was bound to be some joking and humiliation at some point. If this is a light hazing, I damn well don’t appreciate it.
My already fragile psyche doesn’t have the capacity to deal with this, too.
Nicole’s petite frame can’t conceal her excitement. She’s bouncing with eagerness. “Have you ever stopped to listen after you close down the ride and turn off the audio after your shift?”
My eyes bounce between them inquisitively.
“Like really listen,” Jeremy adds for extra measure. “Sometimes you can hear muted screams that seep through walls.”
“This is an amusement park,” I remind them, annoyed. “People scream on rides all the time.”
He shakes his head leisurely in a way that appears mechanical. “They’re faint. More like roars from pain and torture. They can be almost unrecognizable unless you know what you’re listening for—”
“Get on with it already!” My sudden outburst makes him grin wider.
