CHAPTER SIX Sammy Calavicci looked up at the haunted house. He was standing on line for a half-an-hour already, and his feet were starting to get really tired. He looked up--above the entrance way of the ride--at the bobbing witch on her broom stick and the ghosts peeking out of the windows; even more monsters, ghosts, witches and goblins were painted on the wall separating the ride from the place where people got into the black, high-backed carts at the start of the ride. And, he knew even more spooks were inside, since he was just in there but his older brother was dragging him on the ride a second time since their parent's agreed to it. "Angelo, do we have to go on again," Sammy asked his thirteen-year-old brother. He could still feel goose bumps on his arms from be scared. "Why don't you want to? Are you chicken or something? " Angelo asked. "The ghosts eat up chickens for snacks, and they're going to get you as soon as the two groups in front of us leave. By that time, the ghosts and mosters will be nice and hungry." "Angelo, I'm not chicken," Sammy defended. He tried not to act like the baby, wanting to be as brave as his older brother. But, right then he really did not even believe what he said. His big brother put his hands up to form wings and started flapping and making clucking noises teasing him. "Can you imitate a dog, too?" Angelo heard a young female voice say from right behind him. "I love dogs." Angelo turned around and spotted a girl he liked from his class standing behind him. He felt embarrassed at being caught while making fun of his younger brother, and he slipped his hands passed his baggy funny saying T-shirt and straight into his baggy blue jeans. "Woof! Woof!" he said doing a bad imitation of a dog, trying to act cool at the same time. He took his hand out of his pocket and slid it through his hair, which was long on top and shaved on the bottom. "How's that, Mary?" "Pretty good," she lied, smiling at him. "I'm surprised to see you here. I thought you would be home working on that killer project we got for history class." "Oh, I had to be here. My brother's a dj for WOLZ."" "Your brother's a dj!" she said. "That's so cool!" "Well, I guess so," he commented, before the two of them broke into a conversation about music and their day at the park. Angelo completely forgetting about his little brother standing next to him. "Hey, Tony!" Sammy called as he saw "his older brother" running up to them. "Tony's" face looking nervous and scared, as he tried to figure out what to do. "Hi, Sammy," Sam greeted. "Sammy, you better get off that line for the ride. You too, Angelo." "Sure," Sammy said, climbing over the railing. He was glad that he was told not to go on it again, instead of making up his own decision to leave. This way he didn't feel like a chicken, but only doing what "Tony" said "Good ridance," Angelo said, watching his little brother walking away. "Angelo, get off that line!" Sam yelled at him. "Everybody here! Get off the line! The ride's not safe!" "Yeah, right!" Angelo said with an extreme teenage attitude. "Mom and pop said I could go on it. I don't have to listen to my brother." "You have to listen! Everybody has to listen! The ride's not safe, and there's going to be a fire!" Nobody paid Sam any attention. Some might have mumbled to others around them. And, a worker tried to calm him down and also the people on line. But, nobody did what Sam asked. Four black carts came up on the tracks where the ride started. And, the people in the beginning of the line, including Angelo and the girl he was talking to--who both shared a cart-- were helped into them. Sam rushed up to the booth, just as the man behind in the control booth pushed the button starting the ride. "Stop the ride!" he told the man. "This ride is going to catch on fire, and --" "Look the ride is safe!" the man told him. "It's been inspected a few years back. Nothing is ever going to happen here. "Now, I would be quiet and leave if I were you, before I call security," he said. His hand placed on the phone in the booth. "Don't call security," Sam said. All he really needed now was to get thrown out of the park. And, maybe, even get the station in trouble as well. Sam contrived a plan. "Well, if you say the ride is safe, then give me a ride on the next cart." Being inside the ride would give him a head start for saving everyone, but he hoped that the fire did not devour him before he could do anything about it. "First, you said that the ride is unsafe. Now, you say that you want a ride! If this is some kind of scheme to get to the front of the line, -- The man thought about it for a minute, before calling another worker on the ride over to them. * * * Angelo sat next to Mary in their cart, her long blue fingernails digging into his hand. He bet that when he came off the ride he would see five reddened indented marks in his right hand. But, he didn't care. It gave him a reason to hold the hand of the girl he had a secret crush on for the past month. He guessed she felt the same way by the way she was sitting close to him squeezing his hand not wanting to let go for more reasons than the mosters and the way she laughed at all of his jokes. A ugly green-faced witch stirring a caldron lighted up in font of them as the cart neared. "Eek!" she squealed. "Don't be afraid. It's only Mrs. Peterman," he said, naming the school's cafeteria lady. The cart stopped right in front of the witch. "Mrs. Peterman, what are you making?" he joked, pretending to talk to the dummy. "Bug stew, uh, I mean beef stew. Love that." "Uh, Angelo, I think something is going on here," Mary said nervously as she finally let go of his hand. "Hey, there's no problem. They said everything is safe," he said. He faked a yawn, stretching his hands over his head so that he could place his right arm on her shoulders. "Just enjoy the ride, Mary." "Angelo! I'm serious here. Your brother said the ride's not safe. Maybe, he's psychic." "My brother's not psychic," Angelo tried to assure her. The lights flashed off. And, the entire place was pitch dark without a light in sight. "Then, why did the lights just turn off?" After a brief pause, she said, "Uh, Angelo, I think I smell smoke coming from somewhere." He sniffed the air, and realized that she was right. "Houston, I think there's a problem!" * * * Sam was glad that the man had given him the next cart as he asked, actually the man just wanted to please him to get him out of the way and stop disturbing customers. He sat in the cart somewhere in the middle of the ride's tour through witches's dens, ghost's houses, monster's caves, and vampire's castles. But, the scarcest thing was right up ahead of him. In the land of fake spooks, real sparks of fire were starting to brew from one of the cages which held a gauze covered mummy. Sam remembered that a fire had once devoured the roof of his childhood farmhouse and part of the top floor, when he was eleven. It was also caused by faulty old wiring, or as the fire department had stated a mouse chewing on faulty old wiring. He still remembered how he was stretched out on his bed in his room, reading a high school science book he had taken from his brother's room when he first smelled the smoke drifting down from the attic. He thanked God that the only victims was parts of the house itself and some of the family's belongings. Now, he was faced with the start of a more severe fire. One that would leave real people as victims in its wake. He immediately got up from his seat. He went to several carts immediately in front and in back of him, managing to get the people out of them and out of the entire ride through the emergency exit nearby, before the lights turned off. Still, many people remained on the ride. "Sam? Sam? Where are you?" Al called through the darkness. "Over here," Sam called back. Al picked up the flashlight near his feet, so that he could see around him and give light to his friend. "Sam, you're half done. There's nobody else down in that direction, just a bunch of empty carts," Al said relieved as he pointed toward the area where Sam just covered. But, his tone was full of excruciating sadness as he remembered his son's ashes and bunt remains being found in the wreckage. The once jovial, laughing child dead at the age of thriteen. "You got Sammy and the some of the others off. But Angelo still gets killed along with two other people." "I'll save him, Al!" Sam promised the boy's morning father. "Just help me." "I will, Sam," Al said with all of his heart. Sam looked at the wall of fire coming from out of the cage and expanding almost straight to his cart. He tried to get through the orange flames dancing with the heat of hell threatening to give the ride-goers the scare of their lives. When Sam got to the other side of the cage, he saw that the fire had spread more quickly on this side then on the other. He walked to the carts, making his way through the fire. He was glad to see that some of the carts did not have people in them, either the people had left through the exits already or the carts were left empty at the start of the ride. The first cart he came to--which had people in them--was Angelo's. Angelo sat there modified, paralyzed and unable to move. The young teenage girl next to him tried to get him to move knowing that the flames were not that far away. His eyes were full of fear staring straight ahead of him into the darkness, and his body was tense, unbudging and shaking with terror. Sam put his hands under the boy's legs and behind his back, and picked up his heavy body. "Where's the exit?" he asked. "I don't know," Mary said. "We were going to look for it, when he got up." Al's depressed expression lessened. But, he still knew that even though his best friend was carrying his son, it didn't mean that his son would not die in the blaze. He saw his terrified you son. "You found him!" Al said. He turned towards his son and his son's childhood friend. "Don't worry, kids! 'Tony' will save you. I know he will," he said trying to comfort him. He wished with all of his heart that his words would come true and definitely not the memories he had of his son's death. "The exit's over here, Sam," Al said, leading them further down the dark corridor until they reached the exit. "Come with me," he told Mary. The group walked out the exit outside, until Angelo was safely deposited with his family outside of the ride. Kelly and Albert rushed over to be at their son's side, scared and worrying that he would not be fine, Sam knew though that he would be. "Sam, he's going to be fine now," Al said truly relieved. His face broke into a smile, and his depressed look was gone. "Sam, you did it!" Sam saved his son for him! "Thanks, Sam." Sam turned around and started to rush back into the burning building. "There's still another person in there," he commented as he started to rush back in through the emergency exit. "I'm going back." Albert caught up with him and grabbed on to his arm when Sam was still a good distance away. "No, you're not, Tony!" the worried father said, grabbing onto his arm. "Two of my sons were in there, and are now out. No way do I want one of them going back in there." "Listen, Sam!" Al agreed with his other self. No way did he want any harm done to either his son . . . or his best friend. "Ziggy says that your going to leap any second now. You already did you mission." "How could I when somebody else is going to die?" "You're going to die, if you go back there," he heard the worried father and the worried best friend say at the same time. "And, no way do I want that to happen." "Ziggy gave you a choice. You could either save everybody in the haunted house. Or you could save Liam. You choose to save the people on the ride." "I had to save Angelo," Sam stated. "You know your a real hero for that," Albert said gratefully. "And, Liam's --" Sam whispered to Al. "Also, in there," Al finally comprehended. "Ziggy knew you would choose the bigger thing--especially because of my boys--and that meant you would have to do everything. Better go brave those flames to finish your assignment." Al turned his head to the side to look behind him. "That was some mean trick, you know that!" he scolded Ziggy angrily. Even though Al gave him permission to go, Tony's father still had a tight protective grip on his son's arm. "Just let me go," Sam said. He understood fully Albert's feelings, but also felt that there was probably another family who would get hurt when the victims was taken. "I have to --" "What you have to do is be here with your family!" He pointed out the fire trucks and firemen trying to fight the blaze and save the remainder of people inside. "They have firemen saving the day! I don't want there to be another victim." "Al, just leave me alone!" Sam said, trying to break free of the grasp. "Sam!" Sam was surprised to hear Albert calling him that instead of his son's name. Albert was surprised that he had just called "his son" that. But, by the way he was acting right now, "Tony" really did remind him of his best friend, a total Super Hero in the making. He looked into his son's eyes. But, for a moment, saw not the brown eyes of his son, but the green eyes of his best friend who was trapped inside. He somehow learned for certain--although he could not see and tell for sure-- that the man next to him was not his son but really was Sam. "You can't always save the day," Albert commented. "I can always try." "Always the idealist boy scout, huh?" he said. He let go of Sam's arm. "Sam, just go on. Knowing you, you would probably go as soon as I had my back turned to you for a second. My wife will kill me for this, though." "Thanks, Al," Sam said as he rushed back toward the building. "Only one thing, keep safe, will ya?" he called to him. * * * The fire inside of the ride glowed in colors brighter than the inside of Al's closet. The walls and carts were engulfed with flames. The metal which held the ghosts and the ghouls was starting to melt in places due to the high temperatures of the fire. The witches, demons and vampires were glowing and coved with the light of destruction. On the wall next to Sam, a huge ten-foot tall mutant fly was zapped with fire and reduced to ashes. Sam leaned again the bug's cage. The smoke filled his lungs, and he tried hard to catch another breath. He constantly coughed as his eyes were blinded by the thick black clouds. Al was right next to him, telling him where to go and asking him if he was ok. But, Sam could hardly do anything. He could not hear his friend. He could not see him. He tried to move on, pushing himself to go on to save the last victim of the blaze and to escape. He wanted nobody to die. He had no idea how far he went in the dark, flame-lit hallway, when his body could not take anymore. He collapsed on the hard metal track. "Sam, get up!" Al yelled at the semi-conscious man. He knew Ziggy and his instincts were right. Sam really was going to die in the fire! "Please, Sam! Get up!" "Can't Al!" he coughed, before he felt his senses disappear. He could not smell the smoke, or see his surroundings, or hear the timbers and structure of the ride coming apart around him. * * * Liam spotted the exit door left open when Sam barged back in. He was finally relieved that he could escape from the hell around him. The strong nervousness and panic which overwhelmed his body and mind finally started to subside but was still left on the same mode, still stronger than ever. Liam rushed toward the open door, not watching his step. He wanted so much to leave. But, the devil's destruction around him wanted him to stay, even if meant making him trip over a large plank which fell to the ground from the ceiling above. His body fell to the ground with a almost paralyzing thud. * * * The strong will to live was too much. He had to get up. No doubt about it. The man pushed his body up from the ground. His strength immediately returning in a stronger force than ever. He rubbed the smoke away from his eyes, walking toward the door. He turned and saw another body lying nearby. No way should another person die in the fire he wanted to get out of. He put his arms under the other man's arms and dragged him out of the exit door into the safety of the fresh air outside. The paramedics nearby rushed over to them, placing the body on a stretcher. (c) 1997, Summer