Of course, if Greg really wanted excitement, all he had to do was look behind him. The man in the back car was sitting up now. He had a mask on his face and an ax in his hand.

CLICK, CLACK, CLICK, CLACK

The cars kept clicking against the track as they rose endlessly upward. It sounded as if someone were winding up the tension on the ride - CLICK after CLACK. Greg looked down. He really was pretty high up. A lot higher than it had seemed from the ground.

‘Maybe it was the world's largest traveling coaster after all,’ he thought, idly. He watched as the car rose up out of the brightly-lit fairgrounds and he saw the dark woods spread out below him. The green tops of the trees looked like a soft carpet, waiting to catch him if he fell.

In the back car, Mitch was cursing. 'All those empty cars! Only one lousy kid for him to butcher! Where was the fun in that?' He swung one long, limber leg over the back seat of the next car just as The Monster's long line of cars began its first screaming descent.

Greg screamed just for the hell of it, trying to get into the spirit of the ride. Ignoring the carny's instructions, he raised his hands off the safety bar. It didn't help. He still felt totally safe. He still Knew that this was just a ride.

Meanwhile, seven cars back, Mitch almost did some screaming himself. He had come damn close to being thrown off the coaster and he had dropped the ax, but luckily the large metal weapon had landed in the wet, dank bottom of the car he was trying to climb into. Unluckily, one of Mitch's long legs was still sticking out the side of the car and it was thwacking against the side of the metal track as they hurled downward. Sparks flew. It felt like his leg was getting electrocuted. Cursing wildly, Mitch finally managed to pull his leg inside. He righted himself. His body felt like it was burning. His snake tattoos hissed angrily. He grinned through the pain. 'That was quite a stunt!’ he congratulated himself, ‘Only six more cars to go!’ But The Monster was going faster now, so fast that Greg put his hands back on the safety bar.

‘Where was Maxi right this second?’ he wondered. It wasn't a good question for him to ask. He knew the answer. ‘She was out partying. Probably dancing up close with some studly hunk - or worse - off in a dark corner making out.’ The idea twisted in his gut like a knife. ‘Well, what did he expect?’ She had told Greg to forget about her. She couldn't have been much clearer than that. But the thing was, he didn't know if he could ever forget her. Not even for a single---

The cars lurched through a hairpin turn and for the first time Greg found himself screaming for real. 'Wow! They were really cooking!’

Five cars back, Mitch turned his masked head trying to get a look down at the control booth. 'What was that idiot up to running them around the track this fast? How was he going to kill that kid at this speed?’

But instead of slowing down, the cars went even faster and Greg was screaming his heart out now because it was hard for him to believe that this ride was still under control. The cars kept hurtling — dipping — diving - twisting. It was as if the car was trying with all its might to throw Greg to his death. Then he remembered the words of the main carny at the gate-

“Don't worry, kid. I'll take you around so fast you'll wish you were on the kiddie carousel!”

‘So that was it! The bastard was trying to scare him!’ Greg made a silent vow. As soon as he got back on the ground, if he ever did get back on the ground, he would head straight home. 'Enough was enough.' The thought offered only slight comfort.

The cars were traveling so fast now that Greg's freckled face was shaking violently up and down as if his flesh were about to come off. He gripped the iron safety bar with all of his might, his knuckles turning bright white. He was screaming - screaming so loudly that he couldn't hear Mitch screaming just three cars behind him.

Mitch started climbing into the second car just as the cars flew into the coaster’s first loop de loop.

Greg felt sure he was going to drop right out of the coaster. As the car spun upside down, pins, coins, and other loose stuff from his pockets went flying out. His screams were mixed with gurgles. He was throwing up. And still, the cars kept going faster. Greg started praying - praying for the ride to end soon - praying that he would survive this nightmare. He shut his eyes just as Mitch reached the car behind his.

Grinning broadly behind his mask, the mechanic slowly stood. The wind cut into his chest like a blade. It whistled blindingly through the eyeholes of his mask. Struggling desperately to keep his balance, he raised the ax over Greg's head.

‘I'm a dead man,' thought Greg miserably.

‘You're a dead man!' thought Mitch happily, then he swung his ax down with all of his might, aiming right at Greg's skull.

   Chapter 12

As he threw up for a second time, Greg wasn't feeling particularly lucky.

He was luckier than he knew because the cars had gone into their second loop de loop. So instead of Mitch's ax burying itself deep into the back of Greg's skull, it slashed down into the track. There was a loud crack followed by a horrible sizzling. The chain of cars spun through the loop really fast, raced part way up the next hill, and then slid back and coasted to a halt.

Greg sat stunned. Then he smelled smoke. There were shouts from below. He looked down. He could barely make sense of what he was seeing.

It was the carny worker who ran the coaster. He was waving, "Stay where you are!"

‘Where was he gonna go?’ Greg waited - his heart pounding - his breathing ever so slowly returning to normal. Then he thought to wipe his mouth against the sleeve of his t-shirt and he felt the wetness there. When he looked down and saw the circle of white and yellow crud on his chest, he almost threw up for a third time.

The carny was clambering toward him, making his way up the track as easily as a monkey.

When the carny reached him, Greg found no comfort in the man's large scowling face.

"You okay?" The question was gruff as if the ride's malfunction were somehow Greg's fault.

"I-I think so."

“Come on," the carny said, unsnapping the safety bar and holding out a large hairy hand. "I'll walk you down."

The lights on The Monster had shorted out, leaving only occasional crackling sparks. That meant the ride was dark. Thanks to the darkness, neither Greg nor the carny noticed Mitch as he climbed quickly down the other side of the ride. He jumped down into the grass and disappeared into the shadows.

   Friday the 13th: The Carnival, chapter 13