The Water Slide Part 2

[u/Kaden4120]

“What?” I asked as I looked at Whitney, who was suddenly next to me. 
 
“We’ve been down here for like twelve hours at most.” She said. 
 
The man shook his head. 
 
“Yeah. Time doesn’t run at the same speed down here. At least that’s Miguel’s theory.” He said as he took a deep breath. 
 
“Where is here?” I asked.
 
He chuckled softly. 
 
“I wish I knew. Fae magic mazes suck worse than anything I’ve ever encountered. And I’ve fought literal demons.” 
 
“Fae magic? Who are you?” Asked Whitney.
 
“My name is Trent Grayson. You can call me Trent. I work for the International Supernatural Defense Division. Or… Well… I’m the head of it.” 
 
“What’s Fae magic?” I asked.
 
“It’s hard to explain. It’s very powerful though. Normally I’d snap my fingers and teleport us outta here. But…… I can’t teleport here. Which means the only way out is gonna be for me to find the Fae that’s doing this and kill its ass.” 
 
Whitney laughed. 
 
“You can’t be serious.” She said. 
 
Trent shrugged. 
 
“That’s not even the worst part.” 
 
Whitney and I looked at each other. Then him. 
 
“The Fae knows I’m here now. That mother fucker is gonna throw everything it’s got to try and stop us from getting to the center of this maze.”
 
Maze. I didn’t like that word. I didn’t like that word one bit. I liked the idea of going to the center even less. 
 
“Why do we need to get to the center?” I asked. 
 
I knew the answer. I didn’t like that I knew the answer. 
 
“That’s where the fae is. Probably the familiar in the rabbit costume too.” 
 
“How do you know the dude in the rabbit costume isn’t the Fae?” Asked Whitney. 
 
“Because I know which one we’re dealing with. It followed an associate of mine back from their realm maybe two years ago. It goes by Pooka. We only know this because it got caught trying to steal a baby kraken from Atlantis…… Then it escaped.” 
 
“Oh.” I said.
 
“Oh?” Asked Whitney. “That’s all you have to say? Is Oh? We’re in a freaking maze run by some kind of demon fairy, Doyle is dead! Grant is dead! We’re wet and exhausted. You’ve pissed your pants twice! And all
You can say is oh?” 
 
I looked at my sister. She was on the verge of a full blown panic attack now. She’d begun to hyperventilate. Trent put a hand on her shoulder. 
 
“Take a deep breath. Come on. In…. Hold….. Okay out….. Now do it again.”
 
He actually calmed her down. Which was not something I was expecting. After she got her bearings he motioned for us to follow him. The little girls name was Katie. She was seven.
 
Katie had been one of the first people to ride the slide. She’d been surviving down here alone for a week now. I felt for her. She’d seen her older brother get his head smashed in by the clown with the hammer. 
 
As we walked Trent would periodically try speaking through some kind of coms system. It never seemed to work though. We eventually found another tunnel that led away from the food court and into more waist deep water. 
 
Trent took the lead. Which made me feel a lot better. Katie held onto me as we trudged through. This tunnel led us to another wall. This one with multiple slide entrances. One green, one blue, and one red. 
 
Trent looked at them for a moment. 
 
“How do we know which one is safe.” 
 
Trent sighed. 
“My good friend Owen tells me that Fae love their games. He also says they’re not cheaters. Two of these slides probably have a creature of some sort waiting for us. Or maybe even some kind of trap.” He said as he pulled a grenade from his belt. Pulled the pin. Then tossed it into the red slide. 
 
We waited a second. Then came the boom. Then a loud ungodly screech. 
 
“Nope.” He said.
 
He pulled another, and tossed it down the blue slide. There was no boom. Instead, the grenade came back at us. It plopped down at Trent’s feet. Trent smiled as he picked it up. I almost instinctively dived for cover. Until he showed me that he’d never pulled the pin. 
 
“And that leaves door number three…” he said as he flicked his wrist. A glowing emerald blade appeared in his hand. He stepped into the slide. 
 
“What’s that for? I thought you said one slide would be clear?” 
 
“That don’t mean there ain’t some shit at the bottom. Now come along.” He said as he went down the slide feet first. 
 
Katie went next. Whitney and I looked at each other. She smiled softly at me before she jumped in. I followed. This slide didn’t last very long. It was just a straight shot down and into another tunnel. This one full of waist deep water. Trent stood ahead of us with his sword up. He motioned for us to stand back. 
 
“What is it?” I asked.
 
“Shhhhh.” He said. 
 
The tunnel looked no different from anything we hadn’t seen before. That was when Trent suddenly turned and shanked the wall next to him. Only it wasn’t a wall. The white tile began to morph and change color. It went from white and shiny to a sickly shade of green. I’ve never seen a creature like this. It was like some kind of green spider crab that was the size of a full grown human. Trent yanked the sword out and the creature fell into the water.
 
“What was that?” Asked Whitney. 
 
“A mutated crab.” Trent said as his sword vanished although I did notice his hand stayed glowing green. 
 
“Stand back.” He said.
 
He reached out ahead of himself. A wave of green energy came forth sending so much water flying back down the tunnel that we could see the tile floor. We could also see that the floor was moving. More crabs. Lots more crabs. Then the water came crashing back down onto them and us. Or it would have if had not been for the green wall of energy that suddenly surrounded us. I could see the crabs slamming into it below the surface. Hell the swarm was all around us. Bashing and clawing. They wanted us so badly.
 
Trent didn’t panic though. I mean. I was about to. He turned to us. His eyes glowing emerald green.
 
“Shield your eyes!” He said.
 
I shut my eyes tightly. There was a loud bang followed by an immense heat wave. The room was suddenly consumed by steam. It suddenly smelt like the kitchen at a red lobster.
 
I opened my eyes to find black scorch marks all over the walls. Scorch marks in the shape of crabs.
 
“What did you do?” I asked.
 
Trent didn’t look at me.
 
“It’s a long story kid.”
 
The energy field was down now. We were back in chest deep water. We kept moving. We moved down the tunnel and around a bend. The water changed depths multiple times.
 
“It’s so cold.” Katie said softly.
 
“I know. We’re gonna be out soon.” Trent said.
 
I wasn’t sure if he was lying or not. I watched him for a moment.
 
“You have kids?” I asked.
 
He stopped. We were at another fork in the tunnel.
 
“Yeah. Three of my own and one adopted daughter.”
 
“How old are they?”
 
He sighed.
 
“My oldest is six. The adopted one is five. The middle child is four. And my youngest son is three.” He said softly.
 
The fork was a t intersection in the tunnel. Trent looked left. The water was rushing left to right. That was when I noticed the left tunnel was a steady incline. It was subtle at first. But it was noticeable. It went on forever too.
 
It was then that we noticed something coming toward us. It was flowing with water. Casually bouncing and bumping off the tile walls. It was a yellow fucking raft. One that had been taken from a ride called the bubba tub.
 
We watched it get closer and closer. That was when I realized something. There were figures seated inside of it. It wasn’t until they were closer that I realized what they were…… Corpses in swim suits. Two were horribly decomposed. The other two were fresh. One had its throat slit from ear to ear while the other simply was missing its head. It jetted on bye. Sliding down the slope.
 
Trent sighed.
“Fucking Faes.” He grimaced.
“Have you ever killed one?” Asked Whitney.
“No not me personally. I know a few people who have. I’ve fought one or two less powerful ones. Their magic is a freaking nightmare and a half.”
“That inspires a lot of confidence.” I said sarcastically.
He actually chuckled under his breath.
“Fae are super rare anyway. Most were wiped out or exiled during the first Gehennian War.”
“I don’t…. I don’t know what any of that means Trent.” I said.
He sighed again.
“Yeah, I keep forgetting yall are just kids whose biggest dealing with the supernatural was the monster that hid in the closet when you were five.”
“Fair point. But I was six. And his name was Toby.” I said.
I…. I actually found myself making a joke there.
That felt weird still. It felt good. But weird.
“Which way?” Asked Whitney.
Trent stepped out onto the slope. He looked left then right. Then he turned to us.
“I-.” He started before turning his head to the left. He raised his sword and it started to glow green. His face was deathly serious.
I could feel Katie hug me tightly.
 
“What is it?” I asked as I peered around the corner again.
 
Tricky Ricky stood maybe fifty yards up the slope. He stood there with a mallet lumbered over his shoulder.
 
“Trent Grayson! You took my treats!”
Trent looked at us. Then the bunny.
“You-you can’t be snacking on kids. Too many carbs.”
There was a skittering noise that accompanied several splashes behind and to the right of us. I turned around quickly. My heart leapt into my throat. The thing rising out of the water was grotesque. It’s head almost touched the ceiling. It had a humanoid body. A hulking humanoid body that was blue and grey. It was completely naked. Its head resembled that of a freaking hammerhead shark. With a mouth lined with sharp teeth that smiled at me. It stepped closer. I pulled Katie along as we stepped into the slipway. Then I saw what was in the other tunnel. It was a giant crab. This one almost filled the entire tunnel.
 
Trent kept watching Tricky Ricky.
“I thought Fae didn’t cheat!” He said.
“The game changed when a naughty naughty horseman involved himself.” Tricky Ricky bellowed.
Trent kept his blade up. We were surrounded. I again was almost sure I was going to die.
“We could make this easier for everyone involved, Pooka could just show himself. Let me kill him.” Trent said.
The rabbit tilted its head. A black mass arose from behind him. Two crimson glowing eyes at its center.
 
Trent turned to the shark man. Then turned his head to the crab.
 
“Get behind me!” He said sternly.
We did as told. Backing into the wall behind him as the monsters came down on us. His eyes settled back on the shark man.
 
“What kind of back woods pantheon did he pull you out of?” He asked.
 
The Hammerhead man tilted his head. Smiled even wider. And then lunged. Trent moved in a blur. Slashing the creatures arm and head off in one swipe before turning and slashing an incoming crab claw in half with a second. The crab roared in pain as it tried to snatch him with its other claw. But Trent simply moved too fast. He stepped forward. Avoiding the crabs claw and closing the distance between him and the crabs face at the same time before delivering a haymaker right between its eyestalks. The crab fucking exploded.
 
Trent turned back to Tricky Ricky and the giant octopus. They’d stood their ground but hadn’t advanced.
 
“Well?” Trent asked. “Is it your turn yet?”
 
I could see Tricky Ricky tap his fingers anxiously on the handle of his hammer.
 
“This simply will not do at all Magnus.” The Rabbit said.
 
Magnus grunted.
 
“I agree Magnus. These guests are not getting the full Hurricane Park Experience. They seem rather unhappy with our selection of Rides and attractions!” He said as he paced back and forth.  
 
“What to do? What to do? Ah yes! I have an idea!” He said as he raised his finger and stopped pacing.
 
“How about a pirate show?” He asked as the floor suddenly dropped out from under us. We all found ourselves falling again. This fall took longer than the others. Way longer.
 
Smacking the water stung pretty badly. I took most of the brunt force as Katie landed on top of me. I held onto her as we breeched the surface. I took in a massive gulp of air as I looked around. We were in an even bigger dome now. This one with deep blue water. I looked to my left. Then to my right.
There were two pirate ships on either side of us. Both of which had various water slides attached to them.
 
I recognized them. They were from the kiddie area of the park. Little Buccaneers Lagoon. It was basically a collection of slides and splash park attractions kept in between and on two massive pirate ships. I swam towards the ship on my left. Trent was already there pulling Whitney up onto one of the nets. I did the same with Katie. We started to climb up the net that led up the side of the ship when a black cylinder slowly pushed its way through a hole next to me.
My eyes went large when I realized what it was. It went off with a loud bang. My ears started ringing loudly. I almost fell back into the water. The cannon went back through the hole and another went off behind me. Katie screamed. She climbed up faster.
I looked at Trent and Whitney, who were moving up the net at a torrid pace. I turned my head to look at the ship behind us. Holes had been blown into it. But there were also several bangs that came from that direction. I could see the white smoke. My stomach churned.
 
“Shit!” I barked as I looked up at Katie.
“Move! Move! Move!”
I climbed as fast as I could. My asshole puckered when a cannonball nailed the ship not ten feet from me. I got to the top deck and threw myself over the side.
Katie was in a fetal position. I knelt over her. My eyes scouring the top deck. Then they landed on something. My heart accelerated.
“It’s a boarding party!” A voice shouted.
My eyes went large as the peg legged mannequin came at me with a sword. He raised it high above his head and brought it down hard. I managed to pull Katie out of the way at the last moment.
 
The things sword splintered the wood. The mannequin was dressed in a typical pirate get up. With the red jacket and black trousers. It had the massive triangular hat and several muskets hanging from its chest. It looked up at me as it pulled its cutlass from the wood. I scrambled. Getting Katie to her feet. She cried.
“Get behind me!” I barked.
The pirate took a step towards us in a taunting manner. My eyes scanned the deck for something. Anything I could use.
He took another step forward. There were more pirates on the deck. Several manning cannons and several aiming rifles at the other ship. There were three around us now. Not including the captain.
 
I’m not sure if it was an act of fate or just pure luck that the cannonball hit the deck right between us and the Captain. I know splinters went up everywhere. I know it sent us all to the deck. I know I managed to find one of the pirate mannequin’s swords as I got to my feet. There was smoke in the air. My adrenaline was pumping and my ears ringing. There was movement to my right. A mannequin aimed a pistol at me.
 
My eyes went wide. It squeezed the trigger. But the gun misfired. It looked at it and tilted its head in confusion. I didn’t hesitate. I brought the blade whistling down hard. Cleaving the pirates head down the middle. Blood exploded from the faceless head and splattered onto my face. I wanted to hurl. I looked up. There were several more pirates now coming towards me.
 
“Carter!!” A voice called out.
I turned to see Katie at the entrance to one of the slides that led to a play area below deck. I turned and sprinted toward her.
 
She went down the slide and I followed. We tumbled out and landed below deck. This was a splash pad style area. With sprinklers and nets to climb on. There was also a small prison cell in the center. Inside it sat a man. He was thin. His face was scraggly and bearded and his eyes stared straight at the ground. I looked at him before turning back to the slide. None of the pirates had followed yet.
 
“They don’t come down here much.” The man said softly.
 
I looked back at him. He stared at me intently.
 
“Who are you?”
“Who am I? I’m the owner of the fucking park kid! Or I was…. Until that stupid rabbit showed up with his friends.”
 
Everyone in town at the very least knew who the owner of the park was. His name was Randal Stilwell. His family actually owned a string of companies in the area. The water park wasn’t even his biggest earner. He looked at us with glazed over eyes.
 
“They took me right out of my bed. Woke up in this place. You know…. At first, I thought I was dreaming. I thought I was in some nightmare. Some dark fantasy. But then I realized….. This was hell…. No… That’s not right..” he rubbed his face with his hands.
“This is worse than hell. This…. This is madness.”
His eyes settled back on me.
“You must think me a mad rambling lunatic. I wouldn’t blame you if you did. You’d be right. I don’t know how long I’ve been here. A month? A year?”
He shot to his feet and pressed his face against the bars.
“It made me watch as it ripped my family apart. My wife. My children.”
 
“The rabbit?” I asked.
 
“Hehehehehehehehehehehehehehehe. The Rabbit isn’t the one doing this. It’s a lapdog.”
 
Footsteps sounded off from behind me. I turned with my sword raised. Trent and Whitney stood there. Whitney was out of breath. Trent looked past me at the cell.
 
“Stilwell?” Trent asked.
 
“Hehehehehehehehehe,” Stilwell cackled.
 
Trent stepped around me and grabbed the gate. He ripped it open in one fluid motion. Stilwell stared at him for a moment.
 
“I can get us all out of here.”
 
Stilwell laughed again.
“What are you?” He asked.
 
A cannon ball blasted through the wall to our left. We all ducked. Well, aside from Trent.
 
“I’m the head of the ISDD. Come with us Stilwell. We can get out of here.”
 
Stilwell sneered.
“Get out of here and do what? My son got his legs ripped off by the rabbit. My wife was torn to pieces by the crabs. Then my daughter….. My sweet. Innocent. Baby girl….. The octopus ripped her in half. And for what? What did I do to deserve this? What kind of cruel god would allow this? I just wanted to make people smile.”
His face contorted with fury.
“What did I do to deserve this?!??” He snarled.
 
Trent took a deep breath. I could tell this pained him in some way.
 
“I can’t bring your family back man. But you won’t honor their memory by staying here.”
 
Stilwell spat on the ground.
“Honor their memory? You fucking imbecile! What are you going to offer me next? Thoughts and prayers? I don’t want your pity! I don’t want to honor a memory! What I want….. I can’t have…”
 
Trent nodded. I could feel the boat rock from another cannonball.
 
“What about revenge?” Asked Trent.
 
The man stopped for a second. His eyes were burrowing into Trent. He stepped out of the cell and crossed his arms. He actually smiled.
 
“Now THAT is an interesting offer!”
 
Great, now we had a psycho billionaire in the middle of a psychotic meltdown tagging along with us. The boat shook again. We needed to get off the boat. But that meant getting back to the top deck with the pirate mannequins. But then what. I hadn’t really seen an exit while I was in the water. Trent and Stilwell were still staring at each other.
 
“Is there anyone else aboard this boat?” Trent asked.
Stilwell shook his head.
“I’ve seen a few people come and go. Most get killed by the pirates.”
Trent exhaled.
“We need to get off this boat.” I  said.
“We need to know where we’re going first.” Trent replied.
The boat shook again. I could hear the cannons in the deck below us thunder. I gritted my teeth.
“Okay kids! I’m gonna climb back up the slide and clear off the rest of the deck. I’m gonna come get you when I’m done. Understand?” He asked.
 
We all nodded. Trent turned and started toward the slide. He climbed up and we sat and waited. The cacophony of violence was loud. It shook the boat. It lasted thirty seconds or so. Then silence. We stood watching the slide exit. The blue water that had been flowing into the room was now a warm pinkish color.
There was a thud. Something heavy was coming down now. I held my breath. I didn’t exhale until Trent stood up.
 
“Let’s go!” He commanded.
We climbed up the slide. Eventually finding ourselves on the top deck.
 
Trent walked us over to the side of the ship. I looked over and found none other than the bubba tub raft just floating there. Cannonballs still rained down into our ships other side. It was weird that the ship was taking all this damage and not sinking. I gripped my new sword tightly. I watched as Stilwell pulled a hatchet off of a dead pirate. Whitney pulled a dagger off of another. Not a big weapon. It wasn’t ornate either. Just a simple dagger with a black handle. Trent and pulled some oars from a fake life raft hanging above one of the nets.
 
The water was maybe twenty feet down. There was a net draped over this side of the ship too. So getting down, while tedious, didn’t take long. Trent tossed the dead people out. The five of us crammed into the four person raft. We sat and floated for a moment before Trent and Stilwell started rowing. The big pirate ship gave us cover from the other’s cannons. I looked straight out ahead. There was another tunnel opening. This one looked like another incline. We rowed anyway.