CHRISTOPHER CARROLL - LOVE & HORROR

Christopher Carroll enjoys watching movies and spending time with his family when he is not writing. Follow him on Twitter @chris_r_carroll.

​Love & Horror

It had been a very long week for Seth, but the one thing that he had to look forward to was going to Horror Night at Universal Studios. So when the day finally arrived Seth was anxiously counting down the hours till it was time for him to head to the park. When he got there the spooky vibe hit him like a brick wall. The red ominous lights reflecting off of the ground was casting dark shadows of all the workers who were dressed up in creepy costumes.
            As Seth walked around the park he saw people dressed up as so many of his favorite horror movie characters like Micheal Myers, Freddy Kruger, Jason Vorhese, the girl from the Ring, and hell he even saw an Ash from the Evil Dead series. The longer Seth was in the park the more he started to forget all the shitty things that had happened this past week. 
            A couple of hours had passed since Seth arrived at the park. When he finally saw all of the special horror themed roller coasters that they had. The first one that he came across was The Nightmare on Elm Street themed coaster. After waiting in line for about thirty minutes it was finally Seth’s turn. As he walked up to the cart, he saw this gorgeous girl who had long, curly,and silky looking red hair and light blue eyes. In that moment Seth got this panic feeling in his stomach and started to think to himself Please Don’t Sit Me Next to Her over and over again. Next thing he knew he was sitting right next to her. 
            “Hey there are you okay?” asked the girl. 
            “Yea I’m okay,” says Seth. 
            “Alright well what's your name?” asked the girl.
            Seth looks away and then says,”I’m Seth.”
            “Well, it's nice to meet you Seth,” says the girl.”I’m Rachel.”
                                                                                          
They both awkwardly watched the people coming to fill up all the carts behind them in silence. When all of a sudden Rachel asked,”So is this your first time to horror night?”
            “Is it that obvious?”.
            “Only a little bit.” 
  Then the ride starts to ascend into a very dark hallway. Then all of a sudden they dropped down into a boiler room. As they maneuver through all of the pipes in the boiler room, they come to a giant Freddy hand with the tracks tracing over it. When all of a sudden the ride stops with them being right on the tip of one of the knives. Everyone starts to scream just as an announcer comes over the intercom saying, ”We are currently experiencing some technical difficulty. So please stay calm as we fix the problem.”
            Seth looks over at Rachel and sees just how scared she is. He then realizes that he should probably talk to her and try to keep her calm. “Everythings going to be ok Rachel,” says Seth.
            “How do you know that?” screamed Rachel.
            “Because I’m sure that this kind of thing happens all the time.” 
            “I’ve been coming here for the past seven years and this is a first.” 
            “Well, regardless if its a first it's happening so best thing we can do is stay calm.” 
            “STAY CALM? We’re fucking upside down,” Rachel screamed.
            Seth was struggling to stay calm in this situation let alone keep Rachel calm. “I know, trust me I am fucking terrified, but panicking isnt going to change our situation,” says Seth. Rachel just kept looking around quietly. “So why don’t you tell me a little bit about yourself?” Seth asked.
 
            Rachel sighed then says, “Well, I grew up here. I am currently twenty-three and working as a bartender.”
            “That’s awesome,” says Seth. “What's it like working as a bartender?” 
            “It's actually a lot of fun. Since I am a night person it fits into my schedule pretty well,” says Rachel.
            “Do you get free alcohol when ever you want?” 
            Rachel laughed a little bit and then replied, “Sometimes but that's only when people buy shots for me to take with them.”
            “Hmmm how often does that happen?” 
            “Well, considering people don’t like drinking alone pretty regularly,” Rachel says with a smile..
            Seth noticing the smile says, “You’ve got a very lovely smile.”
            “Thank you,” says Rachel as she started to blush.
            Seth smiles back at her and then asks, “So what is the weirdest thing that you have experienced while being a bartender?”
            “Well, there has been a lot of weird moments,” says Rachel. “But the one that takes the cake would have to be when this one guy was flirting with me and he asked me how much it would cost for me to fuck him.” 
            “Wow, that must have been terrifying more than weird.” 
            “No not really because I get guys who hit on me all the time.” 
            “Ah, I see. So what does your boyfriend have to say about that?” 
            “Well, I’m single so not a damn thing,” Rachel says while laughing.
                                                       
            Seth laughing with her says, ”Wow.” 
            “So tell me a little about you?” 
            “Alright well let's see, I am twenty-one and I’m currently a manager at a movie theater,” 
“Well, that's cool,” 
“I guess,” 
“So what is the craziest thing that you have seen while working there?” 
“Well, this one time I caught this elderly couple fucking during a Pixar film,” Seth says while laughing. For the next three minutes Seth and Rachel were just laughing. When the next thing they knew the ride finally started moving again. They both were smiling as the ride came to a stop at the exit.
“I just wanted to thank you for keeping me calm,” Rachel says as she hugged Seth.
“Your welcome,” Seth says while hugging Rachel back.
“Would you want to go out sometime?”.
Seth smiled and says “yes.”