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 Posted: Tue Feb 23, 2010 4:35 pm
"How about yourself? You seemed to have dropped off the face of the earth after grad."
Daniel smirked at the comment and scooted down the railing as the line moved. They someone cut ahead of them so they could actually race against each other.
"Well, you know me," Daniel said with a smile, "I tried doing the whole band gig, but that fell through, like everyone knew. But hey, at least I gave it a shot, you know? After that, I started working construction. It's why I'm ripped..."
Daniel made a mocking macho face, flexing mockingly. After a moment of being a smartass, he let his arms go limp as he chuckled lightly. Oh yeah, and there was that bit of news...
"... And me and Shelley broke up," he added, mostly as an after-thought. Him and Shelley were considered to be the freaky version of the cliché high school sweethearts, having began dating since sophomore year and onward. Truthfully, Daniel didn't want to talk about. After all, who wanted to talk about finding out that their girlfriend/boyfriend of four years was cheating on you with your band mates?
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Posted: Tue Feb 23, 2010 5:01 pm
The was a pause of silence between the two as the line moved forward. Maria nudged Daniel as they moved forward. They were at least two people before them, not counting the ones they had just cut in front of.
"Well, you know me," Daniel said with a smile, "I tried doing the whole band gig, but that fell through, like everyone knew. But hey, at least I gave it a shot, you know? After that, I started working construction. It's why I'm ripped..."
"Well, the main point of it was going out and doing something different, right?" Truthfully Maria had always wanted to join in a band but she couldn't play an instrument or even sing well for that matter. That's what most of the guys joked about. They often commented that her voice was 'frog-like'.
"Hey, if you're ripped then let me see your muscles!" Maria replied as she poked his arms. "They have gotten bigger!" she chuckled shaking her head. "Keep it up and you could win a body builder award!" she joked.
Suddenly Daniel's demeanour changed. He went from happy to sad, or so it seemed.
"... And me and Shelley broke up."
That made sense. "I'm sorry to hear that," Maria replied in a touching tone of voice. She had known that they were a couple and had been for awhile although she was unsure of the reason for the break up. She doubted he wanted to talk about it anyways. "There are always more fish in the sea!" she exclaimed poking him in the side. "Besides, we're at an amusement park, its no time to thing of such depressing things! If you really want to, you can cry on my shoulder on the way back," she joked.
"Oh, speak of the devil, its our turn!" she exclaimed suddenly as the employee beckoned the two over to the karts. "I shot gun the red one!"
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Posted: Tue Feb 23, 2010 5:26 pm
Daniel let out a little shout as Maria poked him in the side, making a mockingly angry face. He stuck his tongue out at her and thus missed his chance when they were beckoned. Maria dashed out to the one red kart, leaving Daniel to look at the others. Oooh, black...
Daniel hopped into the black kart, pulling out goggles from his pocket. Yeah, he carried around goggles. He was a weird guy. He put them on, looking like some insane driver from the thirties. All he needed now was a gloves and a scarf.
Daniel eyed Maria, giving her, as he liked to call it, 'the stink eye'. Daniel got his kart to the start line, waiting next to Maria. He looked to her, giving her a bizarre wrestler stare-down through his goggles.
"You're going doooown, little girrrrl..." he spoke in a comical wrestler voice, making a few people who overheard chuckle. He followed it up with a spirited "YEEah!", making a few more people chuckle. Daniel then turned his eyes to the road, not wanting her to catch him off-guard again.
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Posted: Tue Feb 23, 2010 5:40 pm
Maria had sprinted to the red one and hopped into it with ease. She then buckled herself into the seat, pulled on the helmet and turned to stick her tongue out at Daniel. "Whose the little girl?" she replied back with a wink. She too then yelled out a 'WOOOHOOO!' as she revved her engines. "Get ready for the burn Daniel! I'll see you at the finish line!"
The employee had counted down from three.
"Three.
Two.
One.
RACE!"
He yelled as he threw down the green flag. Maria bolted from the front of the track and was already ahead of everyone else. She was laughing hysterically at the thrill of the high speeds. She wouldn't let Daniel catch up although the gap was closing.
Maria had turned her head for a moment to check her position and Daniel's. "Eat my dust-" she yelled, turning back to keep her eyes on the track. She was just turning a corner when something appeared out of the corner of her vision. It was a man, standing only a few meters before her dressed in black. "HOLY SH--T!" she yelled, eyes wide in terror. The sudden appearance of the man had made her lose control over the vehicle and sent her flying into the nearest pile of tires.
Her head had snapped back and banged against both the head board and the steering wheel giving her whip-lash. "Ouch..." she groaned, leaving her head to rest on the steering wheel. After a minute or two she hopped out of kart and turned to look at the track. There was no sign of the man at all, it was as if he had completely vanished. "What the hell?" she asked herself as she removed her helmet and tucked it under her arm. All of a sudden she felt a wave of dizziness flood over her and she toppled over having lost complete balance. "Damn head rush..." she groaned as she tried to sit up.
A few words echoed in her head between the white noise in her ear. 'Beware of sunset...'
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Posted: Tue Feb 23, 2010 6:14 pm
Daniel gripped the steering wheel in anticipation of the race. He was given notice of the helmet, and tried to put it on quickly. Unfortunately, he wasn't fast enough.
"Three.
Two.
One.
Go!"
Daniel just finished situating the helmet as 'Go' was said, and without thinking, hit the gas without hands on the steering wheel. He quickly grabbed the wheel, steering properly. He easily outraced the others in the race, only to be stopped by Maria.
Daniel spent a good portion of the track on Maria's tailpipe, trying to get around her. Laughs were had, and it was generally fun. Maria turned around and shouted back at him, "Eat my dust-" before turning back to the front.
That's when it happened. Daniel didn't see anything, but apparently she did. She screamed out and tried to avoid something, only to go into trees. People began gasping and heading towards her, but Daniel was already there.
Not caring for anyone else's safety, Daniel unbuckled himself from the go-kart and jumped out, stumbling from the inertia, and ran to Maria who was already out of the go-kart. She fell over, causing Daniel's eyes to widen. Daniel helped her sit up before looking at her.
"What the hell happened?"
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Posted: Tue Feb 23, 2010 6:30 pm
Maria, aided by Daniel, sat up, her hand pressed against her head. "Ugh, damn a*****e was out in the middle of the race track," she groaned shaking her head. "He scared me half to death." She squeezed her eyes shut and reopened them again. "You saw him, didn't you? He was sort of tall, wearing all black. He stuck out like a sore thumb." Maria groaned. "Ugh... I got whip-lash thanks to him." Maria rubbed her neck, the words of warning still echoing in her ears and in her mind.
Slowly but surely she stood up using Daniel to balance her. She wasn't going to tell him about the voice in her head. Her figured it was just her mind freaking out thinking about almost hitting the guy on the race track. "So I guess this means a tie?" Maria asked sheepishly as she found herself more and more balanced and clear headed.
One of the employees that had rushed over to her handed her an ice pack and then helped her over to the side where she could sit down on one of the tires. He then began running through the procedure to make sure nothing was broken. "I'm fine!" she kept repeating as the man shook his head. Maria had the ice pack on her neck, which was helping to numb the pain.
Another person was checking the go-kart. "It looks like the breaks were not functioning properly." He said as he pulled away from the red vehicle. "It has nothing to do with the kart!" Maria replied. "It was the man standing in the middle of the track!"
"Miss, there was no one out there. Are you sure you are alright?"
"I'm fine and I'm perfectly sane if you want to attack me there!" she argued back with and edgy tone of voice. "I saw what I saw. The idiot was right in the middle of the track, how could you not see him!?"
She then turned to look at Daniel. "You saw him, didn't you?" she asked in a pleading voice. She was already looking pretty crazy and it didn't help that there was physical evidence against her.
"If anything I demand compensation for my accident!" she muttered angrily. "Equipment my a**.."
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Posted: Thu Feb 25, 2010 6:06 pm
"You saw him, didn't you?"
Daniel couldn't look Maria in the eye after she said that, looking up at him the way she did. It almost seemed as if she was beginning to question herself. Daniel just awkwardly stood up and went and talked to the guys on the track. After a bit of talking, Daniel and them came with the agreement never to say anything about this occasion again. They threatened to report Maria to a wacko basket because no one else saw the man, including himself.
Finally, Daniel came back to Maria and helped her to her feet. "Come on," he said, "Let's go get something to eat." Daniel wasn't really in the mood to ride any rides or play any games at the moment, and that was the only he could think of that they could do otherwise.
They reached a food stand in silence and Daniel stood in line. He really didn't want to talk about Maria's mysterious invisible man, who had apparently been invisible to everyone but Maria.
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Posted: Thu Feb 25, 2010 6:24 pm
Maria stared at Daniel as he walked away with the others. She felt defeated as she slumped forward. 'I-I couldn't have imagined it...could I?' she didn't understand. Maria had sworn that she had seen the man. He was right in the middle of the road. There was no tricky sunlight, it wasn't over exposer to the heat she wasn't exhausted. She must have seen him. 'But why didn't anyone else?' she kept asking, over and over. 'Why was I the only one who saw him?' she shook her head and let out a lengthy sigh. "Its just great...everyone is going to think of me as crazy or messed up on drugs..." she let out another sigh of uselessness. Maria would not let it go. She had seen the man, and she was positive that he had been there.
It had taken awhile for Daniel to come back over. He seemed to have calmed down the situation and, at the very least, she wasn't going to get thrown out.
"Come on," Daniel said as she approached her and then helped her to her feet. 'God...' she muttered in thought cursing her own bad luck. "Let's go get something to eat."
"Sure..." Maria muttered, not looking at Daniel in the eye. He never said that he hadn't seen the person. That brought up two questions though, did he not see it or saw it but didn't want to look crazy. Her heart thumped in her chest at the latter. 'He wouldn't lie...would he?' Maria shook her head, 'no...he just must not have seen him...' that was the most logical thing she could have come up with. 'After all...I've known him almost my entire life...I don't think he would pick this moment to be a jackass about it.' She was starting to feel a little bit better even if she didn't want to eat anything. She wasn't in the mood for food, rather, she wanted to do something else to get her mind off of all the stressful thoughts that kept bugging her.
Maria followed Daniel quietly, not saying a word. When they reached the line she stopped. Her hand crumpled into a fist, she couldn't make up her mind on what to do. 'Should I tell him?'
The thought of those dangerous words flooded her mind. 'He might think I'm crazy though...' She kept sighing and looking around the place. Really, the last thing she wanted to be seen as was crazy.
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Posted: Fri Feb 26, 2010 7:56 pm
Daniel was at a loss. He wasn't sure what he should be doing. As the line slowly moved, he thought on what he should do. A part of him wanted to console her, saying that it was alright if she was going barking mad whilst he covertly called the nearest loony bin. Another part wanted to play it off and crack smart-a** comments on how she's going insane. A large part of him just wanted to ignore this and pretend it never happened. A small part wanted to lie, agree with her and just say he didn't want to look crazy like her. The rest of him wanted to talk it out and find some explanation as to why she saw this and he didn't.
Daniel decided he'd try to ignore it. Once they reached the front of the line, Daniel payed the first bit of attention to the menu since they first got in line. "Uuh..." he said indecisively, eliciting a small groan from behind him. Apparently someone didn't like people who weren't prepared.
Normally, Daniel would have rounded on him and vehemently rip him a verbal new one, but instead Daniel just ignored him. No more attention from security or management for him. Daniel quickly scanned the menu before placing his order.
"Two pepperoni slices and an extra large Pepsi," he said rather quickly before turning to Maria, "What do you want?"
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Posted: Sat Feb 27, 2010 9:48 am
The line was moving faster than Maria had thought or wanted. For the most part she just wanted to be quiet and try to let this pass. The surroundings were loud and noisy making her want to retreat to somewhere quiet where she could deal with the problem by herself and clear her head. It just wasn't meant to be though.
The line moved forward and Maria was bumped to make a step to the front counter. She seemed nervous and cautious about being in such a small area pinned against the cashier's desk and a crowd of hungry people. It only made her loose the only appetite she had.
"Uuh..." Daniel looked lost, or at least that's what Maria thought. 'He's probably debating on what he's going to do next,' she thought looking around the crowd. She didn't see any of the others around. 'At least they don't know about that stupid incident...' Maria thought she would die if all the others had watched her argue with one of the employees about a disappearing man.
"Two pepperoni slices and an extra large Pepsi," he said rather quickly before turning to Maria, "What do you want?"
Maira snapped out of her initial thoughts and turned to the menu. She groaned a little bit at the selection of food. 'Nothing vegetarian...' she grumbled with a sigh. "Just a small French fry," she replied to Daniel's question. It had only been recently that she had stopped eating meat. It just happened one day that she couldn't stand the taste of it or the texture. She had completely forgotten that some of the stands at the amusement park did not cater to her or other vegetarians. 'I should have brought a salad or a cheese sandwich...' she thought sourly at her own forgetfulness.
The ordered food took little time to make and after the amount was paid Maria picked up her small cup of French fries and started scouting out for a small table away from the thicket of the crowds. She had spotted one in the far off left of the court, under a tree. It seemed so ideal, so perfect. Maria pointed out the table to Daniel, announcing that she had found one before walking off to the table.
She sat down facing the crowd under the shadow of the tree as she began to slowly pick at her unappetizing meal. She didn't know where to begin. She wanted to talk to Daniel about the whole thing but she thought it would only make her look more off the wall.
"Has...anyone told you to beware the closing of the park tonight?" she started off awkwardly.
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Posted: Sun Feb 28, 2010 2:22 pm
Daniel followed Maria diligently to the spot she designated and followed along. He sat down across from her and took a long slurp from his soda. The pizza slices they gave were huge, meant to be a meal for one person. But Daniel had a fast metabolism, so he needed more food.
Daniel began attacking the first slice when Maria asked him the question. He paused, which caused a rather comical image of him trying to eat the slice. He quickly chomped away, trying to separate the food in his mouth from the rest, and after a moment of attacking, Daniel finally had the opportunity to swallow his food.
"Um..." Daniel began, still feeling a bit awkward, "Not the closing... but that one psycho dude who vanished from thin air warned us about staying here after dark."
Daniel took another slurp of soda before pausing and offering the cup to her. "Thirsty?" he asked, figuring that possible near-death experiences made people thirsty.
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Posted: Sun Feb 28, 2010 2:49 pm
Maria only had half the small French Fry before giving up on eating the rest of it. She pushed the small cup of fried potatoes in Daniel's direction before taking up his offer for a drink. "Thanks..." she mumbled before taking a sip from the drink. She didn't have much before handing it back to him.
"What creepy guy?" She asked giving Daniel a quizzical and curious look. "I don't remember any strange creepy guy..." she paused to think for a moment. "You mean when we were getting tickets, right?" Maria looked up into the tree branches thoughtfully, trying to pin point the correct memory. "Nope. All I remember was you acting like an idiot in front of the poor girl whom you screamed at after being caught off guard."
Maria shook her head and then stole another sip from Daniel's pop. She took some more time to think about it but nothing came to mind. "So... do you think we should listen to the people's warnings. I mean, I heard roughly the same thing but it couldn't just be coincidence, right?"
There was a sudden cool breeze that shifted through the trees, a chilly breeze that made Maria rubbed her arms to try and warm them up and hide the pimpled goose-flesh that had appeared on her arms. 'That was strange...' Cautiously, Maria looked around the crowd to see if she could spot any of the others who were with them. She saw no one. A shadowy figure caught her eye. She turned her head and stared at it trying to make out the figure. It seemed to be staring right at her. Maria could feel a chill run down her spine and she instantly went and grabbed Daniel's drink for a third sip, trying to make things look as natural as they could possibly be. 'You're overreacting Maria. You had one bad scare and now you're freaking out about little things here and there. It was nothing...then why do I have this stupid feeling in the pit of my stomach?' she looked distraught by the vanishing figure in the crowd.
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Posted: Sun Feb 28, 2010 3:04 pm
Daniel saw the cup of fried tuberous crop pushed in his direction and looked back up at Maria. When she asked her question, Daniel's jaw dropped. What? She didn't see him? Daniel decided to withdraw his objections as she kept talking.
Daniel took a bite of a fry as Maria made her last question. Daniel thought about the answer to the question himself, ignoring the cool breeze. Should they leave just because of a stupid superstition?
Daniel then thought of what could happen if they didn't leave. Would defiance of something so small and stupid be worth it if it was true? What if by trying to be brave they only got killed? All the questions began to make Daniel's head ache, and he reached out for his soda to find it had been kidnapped.
Daniel looked up, seeing Maria in distress, looking elsewhere. Daniel followed her gaze and only found a crowd of people, although he could of sworn he saw some sort of black mist or dust in the air. Whatever. Daniel looked back to Maria before taking his cup out of her hand and taking a drink himself.
"Well," he began, attempting to gain Maria's attention, "Personally, I think we should get the ******** outta dodge now. But, I think our friends might object. We need to convince them to get the hell out of here, too."
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Posted: Sun Feb 28, 2010 3:15 pm
"It seems like its going to be a bit difficult to find them and then convince them will be hard enough." Maria had released the drink and let Daniel have it back as she continued her train of thought. "Well... as far as I can tell we have a good five hours to find them. Maybe we should take this time to look for them and check out some other rides? Even if we don't find them we all know to meet up at the van afterwards right?" Maria shrugged and leaned back a little before letting out a smooth sigh from her lips. "And I highly doubt that we can convince them leave right away. If they tucker themselves out it'll be easier to leave, right? We could just shove them in the back of the van, put on the child safety lock and take off before they ever knew what hit them!" she chuckled. A sudden thought came to mind. "Maybe we should look up some information on this place before we go jumping to conclusions. You never know, there might be some evil company out there that is after this property and is pulling stunts to try and get customers to leave so they can buy up the land cheap." Maria made a motion with her fingers, rubbing her index and thumb together as she referred to the money.
"Anyways, why don't we go and hit one of the rides? Maybe the Pirate Ship or something before we get on the bigger stuff, like Fear Mountain. What do you say?" At this point, Maria was trying her best to convince both of them about the park.
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Posted: Sun Feb 28, 2010 3:43 pm
Daniel thought a moment before motioning to Maria. "Gimme the map," he said, lightly snatching it from her hand when she withdrew the map and unfolding it before them. He looked around the amusement park, taking a bite out of the pizza.
After analyzing and eating for a few moments, Daniel swallowed the last bite of pizza and pointed at a ride entitled 'The Terrible Twister'. "Tommy's probably here," Daniel said, "He loves spinning rides. And I'm pretty sure Corey's with him. As for Derrick and Lance, they're probably up on the biggest roller coaster they can get aside from Fear Mountain."
Daniel looked up at Maria and explained. "In the car everyone talked about rides and we all decided to ride Fear Mountain last, altogether as a group. Derrick and Lance called for the front row." Daniel looked back down at the map and began scanning around.
"That leaves Bill and Ted," Daniel muttered, "Terrible pair. Bill loves heights while Ted's terrified of them. Bill's probably on here, the Skycoaster. Ted's probably stuck following him around. Poor b*****d."
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