Page 91 of Catching Feeling

I nod. “Of course. Don’t worry, I’ll protect you, Reese.”

He chortles, swiping the flashlight from my lap, and opens the driver’s-side door, slipping out.

I do a little happy dance in my seat while he walks around and opens my door. When he opens it, I give him another quick peck on the lips before I hop out and turn on the flashlight and ready the camera.

“Okay, let’s do this. We have to go to the fun house!”

Reese groans as he flips the switch on his. “Fuck me. Why did I do this again?”

“Mmm. I’m going to fuck you alright… and because you’re amazing, that’s why. Now, come on, you big chicken. Nothing’s going to happen,” I say, grabbing his hand and tugging him toward the entrance.

For my sake, I definitely hope we see a ghost, but for him…

“Yeah, that’s what every single person in a horror movie says before they die, babe.”

True.

But I think it’ll be fine. The only thing in here we really need to worry about is the alligators from the nearby swamps.

Now, those I’m afraid of.

Reese unlocks the heavy padlock on the front gate and pushes it open, allowing us to slip inside. Pretty sure he’s supposed to lock it back, but I think he’s too afraid that he won’t be able to get out if something’s chasing him. He’s looking a little panicked, to be honest.

As soon as we’re through the gate, he’s back at my side, fingers woven tightly in mine, so tight that it almost hurts.

The park is eerily quiet and creepier than I remember, which makes me excited. This is so my vibe, and I am loving it already, and we’ve only just walked through the gate.

There’s no electricity, so it’s completely black aside from our flashlights, and I am a little thankful that Reese got the good ones and not the ones where the batteries die within twenty minutes, because as excited as I am to be here, I do not want to get stuck in the dark in the middle of the night.

“You sure about this, Viv?” he whispers as we make our way past the ticket booth and further into the park.

I giggle. “Yes, I’m sure. We’re already here. You know, for a six-foot-three, bad-ass collegiate athlete, you sure are a baby.”

“I am manly as fuck, Sweet Tart. Do I need to remind you with my dick?” he says, glancing down at me, his expression still slightly anxious. “I just don’t… fuck with ghosts. They’re meant to stay on their side of the…”

“Veil,” I volunteer when he trails off.

He nods seriously. “Yeah, that.”

We pass by the dilapidated merry-go-round, now faded and crumbling from the exposure to elements since the flood. The rusted metal creaks and groans in the wind. It’s eerily haunting, seeing so many pieces of the park still intact, like one day it just ceased to exist.

And I guess, in a way, that’s what happened. Now, it’s a ghost town. A moment stuck in time, untouched by the world.

We walk hand in hand down the sidewalk, passing by what was once the carnival games. There are old bottles with plastic rings still wrapped around the necks of them from a game of ring toss.

“This is so fucking creepy,” Reese mutters, tightening his hand around mine. I tug him along the sidewalk when his stride slows.

“Come on, I think we’re almost there.”

The number one place on my list is the fun house. It’s apparently where there’s the most activity, some even caught on camera, and I have to see it for myself.

I’ve been studying maps of this place, old documentaries, and other media stories for years for Haunted Homicide, so even in the dark, I feel like I know it.

With only the beam from our flashlights to guide us, we make our way through the park, and finally, I spot the fun house up ahead.

“There it is!” I say excitedly, stopping to turn to Reese. His brow is furrowed as his eyes dart around us. “I just want to see this one place, okay? Then we can leave. It’s good enough that I even got to be here. After dark at that. I promise, we’ll go right after this.”

Reese nods. “Alright. Let’s do this shit.”

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