within the heart is the only illumination within the tunnel. Once he passes through the entrance, his eyes grow adjusted to the gloom and he sees her riding in the boat ahead of him.
“ Hello!” he hollers to her but she fails to respond. “HELLO!” he cries at the top of his lungs, but again his cry goes unheeded. “Damn!” he curses to himself as he sits in the boat as it makes its way through the ride. He thought about getting out of the boat and wading up to the girl but decided against it, might be too unsafe.
There’s not much to this ride really, some soft music playing in the background, he thinks it might be some Carpenter’s song without the words. Scenes begin appearing on the walls of the tunnel. One is of two people, a man and a woman sitting side by side with their heads leaning upon each other. Another is of the same couple dancing at a merry festival.
Taking his eyes off the scenes upon the walls, he looks ahead for the golden haired girl but can only see darkness ahead. Anxious not to lose sight of her, he strains his eyes but is unable to see her.
His boat moves inexorably toward the darkened area and the temperature begins to drop, his breath misting in the coldness. The music playing starts to change subtly at first then moves into a more haunting melody and the tranquility the previous portion of the ride had induced fades away.
As he reaches the darkened area, the light fades altogether and he travels in complete darkness. The darkness seems to deepen and the coldness becomes more pronounced as does his feeling of unease. Holding out his hand, a glowing orb suddenly appears and dispels the darkness.
He gasps as he sees shadows moving along the fringes of the tunnel, none seem to pay him and his glowing orb any attention. They appear to be moving in the same direction as is the ride. When his gaze falls upon the shadows a shiver of fear runs through him, he’s seen them before.
With uncertain dread, he peers forward in an attempt to locate the golden haired girl but the light from his orb doesn’t pierce the darkness far enough ahead for him to be able to see her.
“ This boat is moving too slow,” he thinks to himself. “I’ll never reach her in time!” In time for what he’s not sure but the feeling that time is running out rises from deep within. Taking hold of the edge of the boat, he vaults over and splashes into the water.
As it turns out, the water is only two feet deep. Glancing at the moving shadows one more time, he begins sloshing his way through the water in an attempt to reach the boat bearing the girl.
The tunnel remains dark except for the light of his orb. Off to either side he’s able to make out vague outlines of the scenes which should be illuminated but are now only dark. He rounds a corner where the ride makes a sudden right turn and finds the boat that had contained the golden haired girl sitting askew on the ride. It continues to rock from side to side as the chain below it which should have been moving it along rubs against the bottom.
He looks around the darkened tunnel, but all he can see are the dark shadows continuing to move along the walls. Unwilling to risk drawing their attention by shouting, he leaves the boat behind as he quickly makes his way along the tunnel. Staying alongside the center of the ride, he occasionally brushes a leg against the chain moving under the water. Once, his legging became caught by it and only by ripping a large hole in it when he tore it off was he able to get loose.
The cold of the tunnel grows in intensity the further along he moves. From up ahead, he hears the girl, at least he thinks it’s her, singing a soft melody. At last he sees a glow and within it is the golden haired girl. She’s walking as he is, along the center of the tunnel and is totally oblivious to the shadows moving along the sides. Quickening his pace, he tries to close the distance to her. But no matter how fast he moves, he fails to gain any ground.
All of a sudden the tone of her melody changes, becoming more sad and tearful. Altering her course, she begins moving from the center of the waterway and makes her way toward the right side of the tunnel. The glow around her appears to keep the shadows at bay as she steps out of the water and moves upon a raised platform holding one of the ride’s attractions.
As she moves onto the dais, the movement of the shadows alters and they begin converging on the platform. “Watch out!” he cries as the shadows move toward her but the girl pays him no heed.
The shadows halt at the edge of the platform and become still, malignant hate radiates from them as they stand and watch the girl. Upon the dais, the glow which seems to surround her illuminates what looks to be a man hanging by his wrists from a rope that descends out of the darkness above. His features are hard to make out, though the blood, cuts and bruises dotting his body are not. This man has been treated badly and doesn’t look like he can survive very much longer.
Her song stops and sobbing can be heard as she reaches a hand out to touch the tortured man’s face. As she touches his face, a tremor more felt than seen runs through the shadows watching. Whatever is going on, they don’t care for it.
James comes to within ten feet of the edge of the ring of shadows and stops in the water. He feels as if he should know the man hanging at the end of the rope but recognition does not come. Unsure how to make his way through the ring of shadows, he remains there in the water.
A waft of nauseating air suddenly surges through the tunnel from the entrance and James turns his attention in that direction. Another boat is coming through the tunnel toward him. He peers intently to see if there is anyone riding within it and only when it comes closer does he see something that causes his breath to catch and his heart to practically freeze in his chest.
Riding within the car is one of the monstrosities he saw when he had been on that other plane of existence. That time when Igor had showed up and rescued him. Unlike the shadows which had traveled along the edge of the tunnel, this monstrosity sees him. Its red eyes are fixed directly upon him, steeling the will and strength from him by the second.
Suddenly, it gives out with a mammoth roar which thunders through the tunnel and makes jelly of his muscles. He begins backing away down the tunnel from the approaching nightmare. That’s when he notices the shadows have begun to leave the edge of the platform and are now making their way toward him.
Fear courses its way through every nerve in his body. It’s all he can do to keep his legs moving. He turns and starts running down the tunnel when his legging again becomes ensnared by the chain pulling the boats along. Losing his balance, he falls into the water and once he rights himself, frantically tries to pull his legging from the chain.
Back down the tunnel, the monstrosity is now out of the boat and coming toward him quickly. There’s no way for him to escape. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees the girl turned toward him, a look of pleading upon her face. Then the shadows block the sight of her as the monstrosity draws near.
Evil, malignant evil, radiates from the creature as it reaches its hand out toward him. His heart freezes in his chest and a scream is ripped from his throat as the creature’s hand draws near.
AHHHHHH!!
He starts awake and bolts upright on his cot. His breath comes in rasps as the fear continues to course its way through him.
His tent flap opens and Jiron rushes through with a knife in either hand. “What happened?” he shouts as he looks around for an attacker.
“She needs my help!” he cries as he begins to calm down. His breath continues to be labored as the fear starts to dissipate.
“Who?” he asks as others crowd the entrance to his tent to see what the commotion is about. “Who needs your help?”
“I…” he starts to say but the memory of the dream is already beginning to fade. “I… don’t know.” Like sand slipping through your fingers, the dream which had been so clear earlier is now all but gone. All that’s left are small fragments: golden hair, fear, and a sense that something needs to be done and done soon. But just what eludes him.
“I can’t remember,” he tells them as he puts his face in his hands. Breathing steadily, he brings his nerves under control.
Putting his knives away, Jiron turns to the others congregating at the tent flap and says, “He’s alright. It was
