“Are you sure this is the place?” Jack whimpers.

I glance down at the email. “That’s what it says.”

“Then why does it look… dead?” Kate asks.

Jack squeaks.

“I don’t know. The email said it was a free week-long ticket to this amusement park.”

Kate snorts. “Looks like you got scammed.”

I groan and look around. This was definitely not a vacation. Years of debris, dust and gravel coat the ground. The air smells of rotting wood and oil. The rides bent and twisted, destroyed beyond repair. The arcade smashed and shattered.

Yet, there is something… eerie about this place. Something I can’t explain…

Snap. I look over and see Kate snapping photos with her new camera.

She points it at Jack and says, “Smile!”

He scowls and goes to bat the camera away.

Kate gasps and hugs it close. “Don’t touch my baby.”

“We should get out of here,” Jack whispers, turning to me.

Whoosh.

I turn around. What was that? I hear Kate and Jack gasp.

Whoosh.

What…? I hear a scream and turn around.

“Kate… where’s Jack?”

Kate, pale-faced and sweaty, trembles, “I don’t know… I think… something.. snatched him up..”

“That’s right,” I hear a throaty voice say behind me. I spin around.

There stands a tall, woman wearing a white, flowing dress. Her skin is pale, her eyes black and sunken in.

“Are you a ghost?” Kate asks.

She smirks, “That’s what you humans call us? Then again, you’re not very smart are you? You came here.”

I gulp. “Where’s Jack?”

“Oh… he’s safe…”

“What do you want..?” Kate trembles.

The ghost smirks. “Oh… just…” she glances at the sky.

What is going on?

Suddenly, she gasps. “It’s here. It’s finally here. Freedom. At last.”

She turns and floats through the gates, spreading her arms. Kate and I glance at each other and make a run for it. When we reach the exit… we can’t get out. It’s like there is an invisible wall. What…?

The ghost floats in front of us. “Oh… I should tell you… you can’t leave. You’re stuck. Just like I was all these years. Now it’s your turn. Until you can get someone else to take your place, you can’t leave.”

She turns to leave and then stops. “Oh… and one other thing. Jack’s dead.”

Kate crumples to the floor, sobbing.

The ghost whimpers, mockingly, “Aww.. are you sad? Well… too bad.”

She leaves. And we’re stuck.