"What the theme park ride doin' tho?" I looked at the large contraption in the middle of the room. It looked kinda like an octopus, with arms coming off the side holding the seats. It was moving. "What are you talking abo-- Oh my gOD WHAT THE--" "Yeah man. You just noticed?" "UH YES??" "Well, I thought you knew the whole time. That's totally normal right?" "NO??" "Oh-" "OH?? oH?? YOU THOUGHT THIS WAS NORMAL-" "I mean yeah-" I started laughing. I couldn't help myself. "Sammy, calm down. Maybe someone like, turned it on before we got here...?" "WHO-- WHO WOULD DO THAT-" "Your mom." "Aubrey you haven't even met my mother." "I kinda assumed she's dead." "Wow. What the fu-" The ride seemed to clear it's throat. "What are you two going on about?" "Your mom." Sammy had a confused expression. "But you just mentioned my mother? What does this have to do with it's??" "Sammy. You poor thing. I'm messing with you." I pat his shoulder sarcastically and turned to look at the ride. "So uh, what's your name?" "Bertrum. Bertrum Piedmont... At least, I recall that being my name? Whatever. It doesn't matter now. Or does it? After all these years, would the best solution be to let go or to remember?..." It started laughing. The noise wasn't a normal laugh, it sounded creaky, like a settling house. There was a hint of humanity, but it was very faint. "He left me here! Can you believe it? The nerve of that man. I once saw him as a friend! And to think that backstabbing monster made it out alive, leaving his foul nightmares and secrets behind like a piece of rubbish he refused to pick up!" The panels in the middle of the ride moved to reveal a large face. It was, to say the least, disturbing. It was like staring at a corpse. I'd never seen a dead man before, but I sure counted Bertrum as one. "That Mister Drew. Tearing apart dreams even though his life was built on them... I'll never forget the day he left me here to rot. After all I did for him. After the grandiose plans." The creaky laughter started again, and Sammy and I exchanged a nervous glance before taking a step back. "I can't get revenge. But who's to say you won't do?" One of the arms started to move in our direction, and fast. Panicked, I jumped out of the way, hoping Sammy would do the same thing. But he just stood there. "MOVE, IDIOT-" The arm crashed down. It missed him, hitting a desk and destroying it, throwing wood everywhere. I rushed over to Sammy and dragged him out of the sentient ride's reach. "YOU'RE GONNA GET YOURSELF KILLED, IDIOT--" He didn't respond. I looked over at him. He had the same blank expression as that time in the safehouse. He was, well, I guess this is the best way to put it; drippy. Like he was physically unstable. But he seemed to be happy. "Yo, yo, Earth to Sammy. You good?" "I'm fine." Bertrum continued to destroy things. He was desperate to kill us, for whatever reason. "Damn it. You're really gonna have an episode now? Of course- Sometimes I wonder why I keep you around." I laughed internally, knowing I was the more incompetent one and wouldn't be able to last any of this alone. "What do you mean? Stay here, it's safe." "No. You stay here, I'll go take care of the idiot behind us... I think." "Oh? Have fun!" I smiled. "Sure." I ran towards the rubble of the desk for some kind of weapon. Dodging the ride's seats, I found an axe on the ground. Must've been inside the desk when it was crushed. I turned to examine my opponent. It seemed impossible to beat him, especially by myself, but I had a plan. If I could just climb up to the head and attack that... I reached out for one of the seats. My arm wasn't fast enough, and the ride hit me a few feet out. Sammy laughed and asked, "Are you having fun?" He probably didn't understand what was going on. Or he did and just said that because he hates me. Either could make sense. I struggled to stand up. It felt like my leg was probably broken from the landing, but the adrenaline of the situation made it numb. I reached out again and grabbed on, trying to quickly shift my corrupted arm like Lucky's claw hand for a better grip, and pulled myself into the seat. Bertrum stopped moving for a moment, giving me the chance to crawl up the arm and closer to his head. When he resumed, I stumbled for a second, worried I was gonna fall and hurt something again, but I righted myself and edged closer to where I needed to be. It was right next to me now. I held my breath and swung the axe sideways. Bertrum let out a scream of pure agony. It sounded creaky like his laughter, but more genuine. More real. Soon his movement faltered, and eventually he stopped completely. He was dead. I killed him. I had never killed anyone before then. I felt weak. Whether it was my broken leg or the weight of actually killing someone, I don't know. But I fell off the contraption and fainted on the ground.
