Page 4 of Off the Rails

As I peered over my shoulder, my foot lost traction. Next thing I knew, it was crumpling underneath my body, and sending me hurtling toward the ground. As I hit the ground, something crunched in my pocket.

“Fuck!” I yelped as quietly as I could.

There goes my phone.

Pressing off the cool forest floor, I limped for a few strides. A bruise was forming on my hip, just above my shorts pocket.

But after a few steps, the aching subsided enough. I broke back out into a full sprint.

Banking left, I tried to vary my path enough to lose them. I’d already put some distance between us when I saw a chain link fence.

It wasn’t worth slowing down. I ran straight into it, letting the metal stop my momentum for me. The fence clinked under my weight, but it didn’t budge.

Still, it was old and worn out. There had to be a hole somewhere.

Behind me, the footsteps grew louder. My time grew shorter.

And then I found it: a slit in the fence. A string of links sliced by a bolt cutter.

Looking up, I realized where I was. Feverpoint. The old Valemont amusement park.

Beyond the fence, everything was overgrown and rusty. It’d been abandoned for at least a decade now. The shadowy silhouettes of faded roller coasters towered over the whole place like forgotten gods.

There were rumors… about what happened in this place. Stories of ghosts and clowns that haunted its darkest corners. Tales of women going missing and children turning up confused and bloody.

But what choice did I have? It was the rumors in the park or the very real dickheads barreling toward me.

There’s no alternative.

Grabbing the slit in the fence, I peeled it back and slipped inside.

Whatever was beyond the fence couldn’t be worse than what was closing in.

At least, that’s all I could hope.

3

TESS

I’d lost too much ground making up my mind.

As I sprinted into Feverpoint, hurtling past the overgrown rides and stands of the old amusement park, I could hear the guys behind me, ripping the fence open and piling inside.

They yelled after me, spotting me as I careened onto one of the main, cobblestone paths that weaved throughout the park.

Tall weeds stuck out from the cracks in the stone.

My feet burned, the worn soles of my sneakers disintegrating against the friction.

Looking over my shoulder, I watched the men sprinting after me.

I couldn’t put enough distance between us. If they had eyes on me, I wouldn’t be able to escape.

Scanning the sides of the main walkway, I hunted for a place to peel off — to slip into the shadows and hide.

The amusement park was quiet, other than the sound of my heavy breaths and the men chasing after me. If I could just find a place to take cover…

But a scream from behind me drew my eyes back. One of my attackers was gone.