The City High Review

You know that feeling you get when you’re doing something you know you shouldn’t be doing? Where you’ve gotten far enough that you might as well go big or go home? Well, I’ve had that gnawing feeling in my stomach for the past half hour. I stand in front of an old building with multiple warning signs. Signs that don’t exactly bring comfort to me as I go against every single one of them. Aside from the standard “DO NOT ENTER” and “RESTRICTED AREA”, the one that’s freaking me out the most is the one printed in bright yellow reading “RISK OF COLLAPSE”. 

The two idiots next to me don’t seem to share any of my worries attempting to scale the fifteen foot metal gate blocking our way. On a day meant to be less miserable than the rest, my mind won’t stop playing the worst scenarios. If I’m not battered to death by some killer in the woods or flattened by the roof of this building, I’d probably end up in the back of a police cruiser.

“Jayce, can we please not?” I plead. I stare up at my brother, who has one leg on top of his friend’s folded hands and the other swung over top of the gate, getting him halfway over. 

“Can you please be quiet?” He snaps back, grunting as he attempts to swing his body over in a way that won’t send him crashing on the floor. “I’m trying to focus, so cut the nagging or go home.” 

I bite my tongue as I glare at him knowing that there’s no getting through that thick skull of his. Our grandmother didn’t want us wandering around on our own and in a town of maybe forty teens, you run out of options for friends pretty quickly, which leaves me stuck with him.

With a loud thump, Jayce lands on two feet on the opposite side of the gate, grinning up at us with a Cheshire-cat-like smile. He disappears for a couple seconds, returning with a rock the size of a soccer ball. I flinch back as he slams it down repeatedly on the huge metal lock, and the lock crumbles to the ground. He throws the rock to the side, and pulls the gate back. It lurches back when he gives it a hard tug and swings open with a loud, groaning sound.

“You’re welcome.” He states with a wink as Alex shoves past him.

“Come on already,” he urges, heading towards the double doors of the old community center. “We’ve already wasted an hour trying to get in, and the carnival starts in an hour.”

Jayce jogs ahead as they walk step in step together. Trailing behind them, I wrap my arms around myself, pulling my jacket tighter as the wind blows against the trees. It causes them to sway and create the creepiest rustling sound and as much as I love the fall atmosphere, I’m definitely not a fan of the five-pm sunsets and inconsistent freezing temperatures. The sun has already gone down leaving us with an orange sky that helps the building look less like a terror house.

We try one of the door handles, and it’s unlocked, creaking slightly as it opens. I guess they wouldn’t need to lock the doors when they assume that no sane person in this town would attempt to climb over the giant fence surrounding it. 

“Careful, this place isn’t stable.” I warn as the two of them head in, catching my brother rolling his eyes as Alex snickers. I swear you’d never guess they’re two years above me. At least when the three of us are found smooshed under a pile of rubble, they can’t say I didn’t warn them. 

The floorboards are unsteady as they bend under my weight; they’re stained with mold and dirt and the entire place smells like a rotting animal. The benches are pushed to one side of the room with a bunch of stuff piled atop the tables. Everything in here looks run-down or in the process of falling apart. There are boxes lying around everywhere, most of them are filled with what looks to be tethered cloaks and robes. Another box is filled with a ton of terribly exposed black-and-white Polaroids. To be honest I’m not fully sure if these photos are unclear or if it’s the fact that I can’t seem to see five feet ahead of me.

Pulling out a mini flashlight buried in the bottom of my bag, I aim the beam at the photos. They’re mostly pictures of ribbon cuttings, and old town meetings. I’ve never attended one of them, this place had shut down way before I was born, something to do with an incident a couple of years back. Now all their meetings are private, where you need to set up an appointment to file a complaint.

Perching the flash at the edge of the table, I rummage through the box, it’s not just pictures though—there’s letters and newspapers. One of them is titled “Hollowridge Carnival, The truth we need.”  

Reaching down to grab the paper, my hand brushes against something solid and metal, a small instant film camera. It looks old and the lens has a long crack on it from corner to corner. It’s covered in dust and as my finger brushes over the shutter button, a bright flash shoots causing me to fall back, dropping the camera on the ground, shaking slightly as a Polaroid starts to print out. But that makes no sense, this camera looks like it hasn’t been touched in years, there’s no chance it has any battery left.

“Ari, we’re heading out.” Jayce’s voice suddenly breaks me out of my trance. “Hurry it up or we’re leaving without you.”

Brushing my hair out of my face, I stand up on unsteady ground. Glancing at the camera lying on the ground, I reach down with a shaky hand and shove it into the pocket of my jeans. Dusting myself clean from the dust, I grab my flashlight and run after them.

I walk in silence a few feet back as we make our way to the carnival, I can see the flashing lights and crowds chattering all the way from our spot. The wind blows against my hair but I don’t mind the cold so much anymore. Pulling out the picture from my pocket, I flip it over to see it completely blank. Maybe the film is damaged? Or maybe the camera doesn’t work right. All of this is just so confusing, the camera’s not supposed to work at all. 

I tucked the photo away with a sigh. As we near the entrance Jayce pulls out a twenty dollar bill and his cell. “Take these and don’t bother us, I’ll be back to get you at 8:30, alright?” He says tapping my shoulder as he walks away. “Call Alex’s number if you need something.” He shouts over his shoulder, leaving me standing alone at the side of the road. So much for sticking together.

Walking past all the rides, children run past me without a care in the world. I walk over to a bench, setting my bag on the ground, I slump down, watching the bright lights flash around. They’re pretty, I give them that, but the same rides get boring after years and food courts aren’t exactly appetizing, especially when you have no one to enjoy it with. 

I pull out the camera again, finally having a chance to examine it somewhere that isn’t crawling with bugs in every corner. Holding it out to the light it looks pretty simple. The lens extends out with the power button that’s stuck in, and the shutter button seems a bit sensitive, I mean I didn’t even have to press it for it to print. It’s got a small window to see through but it’s covered in scratches and dirt. 

I wipe at it with my sleeve and bring it up to one eye, squinting to see through. Bringing my finger to the side of it, I let it linger over the button before pressing down. Nothing happens for a brief second, and I think that maybe I’ve imagined it all. Maybe it was a hoax, but then the light flashes and the camera shakes as it prints out its second photo today. Or maybe it’s magic… 

I sit stunned in my seat as the photo falls out onto my lap. It’s gradually developing and I can make out the outlines of the rides and people despite it being in black and white. It seems a little distorted and blurry as I look at it under the light. 

As it slowly develops, I feel my heart tightening in my chest as a shiver runs down my spine. The photo looks similar to the view in front of me, with the rides lined up and people scattered around. Except the rides look old and dead, a contrast to the shiny bright ones in front of me. There looks to be three people in the photo but they don’t look like anyone I recognize—certainly not anyone at the carnival.

My palms start to sweat as my stomach churns, like something is tickling my insides. Maybe going there was a bad idea… I think to myself, clutching the camera tightly. I grab my bag and make my way to the exit. I pull out the cell and send a quick text asking Jayce. Shaking my shoulders in an attempt to calm my nerves, I peer at the exit ahead of me then back at the camera. 

Holding it up again with shaky hands, I aim it at the entrance and snap a photo, I get one of the food courts, and another one of the Ferris Wheel in the middle. One by one the pictures print out, and a chill runs through my body as they start becoming clearer. In the photos, the entrance ground has a large dark stain on it, there’s nobody in the photo, and the ticket booth is in shambles. The food court is empty and the entire place looks run-down. There’s garbage everywhere and the benches are flipped over on the ground but there seems to be no one there again. 

Holding the last photo in my hand, I freeze in terror and the camera slips out of my hands landing on the ground with a crack. My body is stuck in place as I stare at the Polaroid. The Ferris Wheel seems to be the only ride in the photo that’s lit, and there’s people in it too, but instead of being inside the ride, there are six bodies hanging one by one on the Wheel, and each one of them is wearing a robe with a letter written across their chest, the letters spelling “Hollow”.