“Guys! Hurry Up!” I yelled from downstairs. Ava, Rory, and I were going to ScreamFest at Canobie Lake Park. Regan was also invited, but she was busy and couldn’t make it. She told us to go without her, so we decided to go anyway.

“We’re coming!” Ava yelled back down to me from my room upstairs. 

“I’m nervous,” said Rory as she and Ava came down the stairs.

“You’ll be fine,” I said in response. 

“Ginny, you enjoy this kind of scary Halloween stuff. I’m nervous one of the weird characters is going to hurt me,” Rory explained nervously. 

“If that actually happened every year, nobody would go. And for the record, it hasn’t. I’ve been to ScreamFest before,” Ava replied. 

“Okay well can we talk about this in the car? We should be on the way by now,” I said, trying to hurry everyone along. 

“Fine,” said Rory.
In the car, Ava was sitting next to me in the passenger seat, looking out the window and watching the crisp, red and yellow leaves fall from the trees. Rory was in the back, looking like she was in deep thought. Probably thinking about places to hide if one of the weird monsters started coming towards her. 

“Okay guys, we’re here,” I said as we pulled into a massive parking lot, filled with random signs about different events happening soon. The scent of candy apples and cinnamon powdered sugar funnel cake wafted through the air.

I looked over at Rory, expecting her to be scared. Instead, her head was tilted and her eyes slightly narrowed. Then, I turned and examined the park. I understood why she was surprised. The park looked like a ghost town. There were roller coasters curving around the park, and other rides too, but no people. Ava, however, looked excited. Probably because that way there wouldn’t be slow walkers in front of her. There were so many cars in the lot though. Where had everybody gone? 

“Okay, well let's go in,” I said, walking closer to the park as Ava and Rory followed. 

When we got inside, we started peering around, trying to discover where everyone had gone. Not even the characters were in sight. Confused, we decided to just keep wandering and maybe as we walked around more, we would see people. 

Finally, we saw one of the characters. I couldn’t tell which one it was yet since it was pitch black outside, because the sun had set since we had arrived. Then, the character got closer, and closer, until it was practically a foot away from me. Looking straight at us, it grinned slowly, its smile going from ear to ear. Something glimmering from the moonlight was poking out of the monster’s pocket.

“I don’t think it’s supposed to look that real,” Rory said, her voice shaky. 

“That’s really creepy, even coming from me,” Ava replied, suspiciously.

The monster got closer once again. It started reaching out, like it was trying to grab us. To our surprise, it nearly did as it swung its large hands out from side to side, walking towards us as we kept backing away. 

“Run! They’re real!” said a voice from behind us. 

We all turned and saw a girl who looked a little younger than us out of breath, and slightly bent over. Remembering about the monster behind us, we turned again and saw it was face to face with us. Without a second thought, we were gone in the other direction. The slow wind blew against our faces as our legs kept propelling us forward.

“What do we do?” Rory asked sharply as we were all sprinting towards where we had come from.

“Let’s go back to the car!” Ava said as we continued running in that direction. 

When we made it back to where we had entered, all of us looked at each other as the fear crept into our eyes, and our jaws slowly dropped. The exit had been completely blocked off. Wood panels covering it, a chain around the panels, and a large lock dangling from the chain. 

“We need to find the key to that lock,” Ava said, staring straight ahead. 

We all looked around as if the key was somewhere near us. I felt a familiar feeling. It was like I knew where the key was, but I couldn’t quite grasp the location of it. The key could be anywhere in the park. Surely we would never find it. But suddenly, it came back to me. When the monster was getting closer to us, I noticed something gleaming in its pocket. I hadn’t noticed what it was because I was so focused on the monster itself. The shape of the object took form in my head. It was the key in his pocket! 

“The key was in the monster’s pocket. I saw it earlier but I didn’t realize what it was until now,” I said with hope. 

“Okay but how are we supposed to get the key from him?” Rory said skeptically. 

“I have an idea,” Ava answered.

We all moved to a hidden spot in the corner of the park, and made a plan. I would stand in the middle of the park, and knock over every object I could, to attract all the monsters. Then, once they were captivated and not paying attention, Ava and Rory would run out quietly and snag the key from the monster’s pocket.

With the plan in action, I went to the middle of the park and started banging on everything in my path. I noticed the strange figures slowly getting closer in the distance. I continued banging on benches, pillars, signs, and fences. The clangs from everything I had pounded on echoed loudly through the air until finally, the monsters surrounded me. I noticed the same monster I had seen from earlier. I then saw Rory and Ava slowly walking behind him, grabbing the key from his pocket. With a quick turn from the monster, Rory and Ava quickly sprinted away, both going in different directions. 

As the monster was still distracted, I took off in a similar direction too. After I had been running for a couple of minutes, it occurred to me I was split up from Rory and Ava, and didn’t know where I was. I looked around hopelessly, and then paused when I heard pounding footsteps in the distance. I turned around and knew what I was going to see. The weird face of the abnormal creature was right in front of me. I ran faster than I ever had back towards the center of the park. As I reached the center, I bumped into two other figures, hitting the ground as I fell back with force. 

“Rory? Ava? Is that you?” I said, not being able to see in the dark. 

“Ya, it’s us,” Ava said, gasping for air.

“Well, do you still have the key?” I asked nervously. 

“Yes, it’s here in my hand,” Rory explained. 

We all stayed still for a second, appreciating that we could finally escape this madness.

“Okay, now let's please go find that stupid exit,” Ava said, breaking the silence.

We all drifted around, disguising behind different large objects when we heard noises. After what had felt like an eternity, the exit was in sight. We all started trying to maneuver the boards off the exit they were blocking, so we could be set free from this nightmare. Our fingers gained blisters as we yanked on the old, raggedy boards. Once we managed to pull off one of the boards, we used it to slam against the others until they were broken enough that all we had to do was insert the key in the lock. Then, the chains would fall off the exit that they were wrapped around. 

“Hurry! Unlock it,” Ava told Rory as we all moved closer to the lock. Rory inserted the key into the hole, and slowly twisted it. 

“It won’t go,” Rory said. 

“Oh my gosh. I’m too tired for this. Keep trying,” I said.

“Let me see that,” Ava said as she pulled the key from Rory’s hand. She once again inserted it, and twisted it. A couple of seconds later, the chains released their grip, and the exit was open. Smiles crept onto our faces as we all walked through. 

“You really couldn’t unlock the exit?” I asked Rory with my hands on my hips.

“What? It’s hard sometimes…” Rory answered. 

“Okay…” Ava said sarcastically.

As I faced the park, I realized something was treading toward us in the distance, though. The monsters on the other side of the park had acknowledged that we made it out.

“Guys, Guys!” I yelled.

“What?” asked Rory.

“The monsters are coming! Let's go, we have to run to the car now!” I explained.

We all turned and ran back to where the car was parked. There was a click echoing through the car as we all piled in, and the doors locked. The wheels turned, and soon we were on the highway heading home. I could still feel adrenaline coursing through my body. 

“Next time you guys have these insane ideas again, just know I will never ever say yes after today,” Rory told us. 

“You don’t have to worry. I’m never doing that again,” I said. 

“Definitely not,” Ava answered in agreement.

Everyone was silent for the rest of the ride as we drove home, all of us trying to forget about the horror we just experienced.