The Stelter City Saga: Ultranatural (24 page)

Ammon leaned on the wood beside her and
glanced at Larissa just as the wind picked up. Her hair tumbled
behind her shoulders elegantly as she leaned her forearms against
the freshly stained railing. From Ammon’s view of her profile, her
lashes almost seemed to fan out past her nose as she stood there
watching the sky melt to dusk over the horizon.

When the wind died down, Ammon could
hear the light splashing and thunking of the waves against the
thick wooden posts beneath their feet. From somewhere behind the
hot-dog stand, a room of arcade games sang out carnival anthems
and, as Josh stood behind Ammon, his arms swung as if conducting
that music. From beneath sunglasses, Josh watched as a pelican
glided across the almost smooth ocean, its white belly reflecting
off the deep purple. If Cassie had seen it, she might have whipped
out her camera. Instead her eyes were glued to Ammon. “You’re
checking out Larissa.” She sang nudging him with her bare
knee.

Larissa looked up to see Ammon turning
away flushing.

“
You want to hold her; you
want to kiss her…” Cassie continued to sing. “To be
her-”

“
Shut-up Cassie,” Larissa
spat, “Nobody likes you.”

The blond girl scoffed and used her
free hand to clutch her chest, “Ouch Larissa. That hurt! Normally
Josh is the one that throws insults, but-”

Just then Josh pounced and grasped onto
the wood on either side of her hips before shaking the railing
ferociously.

Cassie’s screamed rang thought out the
amusement park and reflexively, her hands sprang for the light
post. “Josh you ugly monster, I hate you!” she wailed kicking him
in the chest. “I almost fell!!”

“
That would have been
hilarious.” He mused, rubbing his wife beater from where the bottom
of Cassie’s sandal had imprinted. “I never would have jumped in to
save you.”

“
Uggh, you’re a total
poopy-head!” she exclaimed sliding off the wood without getting a
butt splinter, “But since we’re all here, I might as well take a
picture.”

Ammon took this opportunity to slide
his arm around Larissa as he positioned himself between his
friends.

“
Face the front, Josh!”
bellowed Cassie as she positioned her camera over her
eye.

Josh disobeyed and instead flexed his
arms so that the muscles in his thick shoulder defined themselves.
“No!” he objected, “I want to see what I look like from
behind.”

“
Um, ugly.” Replied Cassie,
“How many times have I told you?”

“
Just take the
picture!”

Cassie rolled her eyes and
clicked the button. Normally, the gang would have all swarmed to
see the newest image, but that was roughly her twelve thousandth
picture that day, and frankly the comrades had seen enough of
themselves. “One step closer to home.” She sang. That was her new
thing now that she couldn’t say “
one step
closer to Hawaii.”
“I’ll stop by a
Walgreens and print these out for you.” She announced tucking away
her camera once more. “So we can cherish these moments
together.”

Since Josh was already facing the
ocean, he leaned over the railing and pretended that Cassie’s words
made him vomit. Sometimes there were just things he would do that
she didn’t bother to retaliate with. This was one of
them.

“
What’s next?” asked Larissa
when Josh had finished ‘puking’. “Do you guys want to stay for the
fireworks or just go back to the hotel now?”

Ammon shrugged but kept his arm draped
around her, “Whatever you want.”

Larissa glanced up at him. She had
never noticed that freckles spotted his cheeks until that day when
they mixed in with the slightly sunburn part of his skin just below
his eyes. The rest of him had taken to the sun wonderfully and he
was now coated with a warm brown tan on his arms. “Are you tired?”
he asked.

Cassie answered though the question
wasn’t directed to her. “I’m fricken starving.” She proclaimed
patting her stomach. It wasn’t the first time she had made that
announcement. She had been complaining about her starvation and her
tired feet all day.

Josh and Ammon both grasped onto their
stomachs in unison, their empty bellies growled. “Me too.” Ammon
mentioned then turned to Larissa, “Are you?”

Larissa shook her head then reached
into the back pocket of her capris to pull out a map of the
amusement park. “We’ve ridden all the rides haven’t we?” she asked
folding the paper over and glancing at it in her hands. “Accept for
the fairs wheel and this one.”

“
Which one?” asked Josh
peering over her dark auburn hair.

Larissa jabbed a finger at a
ride titled
The
Hammerhead
. From the edge of the dock, she
could glance down the stretch of wood and see the rollercoaster’s
steel track beyond the roof of the fun house.

“
Well then that’s perfect!”
exclaimed Cassie. “We can grab something to eat, hop on that ride,
and by then the fireworks will go off as we ride the fairs wheel.”
The little blond girl clicked her tongue. “Perfect timing. Come on,
there’s a hot-dog with my name on it.”

The group turned and Larissa bolted to
the front of the pack just so she could input her two cents. “Let’s
ride this one before we eat.” She said pointing over her shoulder
at the enormous ride. As they marched across the wooden harbor,
they could see a seats being hauled up the tracks as eager guests
held their arms high in the air. “I know I’m going to puke if I eat
before.”

Larissa didn’t have to lie
about that. She blamed it on her supernatural senses, but there was
just something about rollercoaster’s that didn’t sit well with her.
Even after her first one that day, she had been walking around
feeling as if her legs were made of jelly and her
head
was a pitcher of
water ready to topple over. She hadn’t complained once though. Two
reasons; one, there was no way she was making herself look weak by
saying the rides made her dizzy. And two; she had spent years
cooped up in an orphanage dreaming about doing something new. Now
that
something new
was right in front of her face, she was going absorb it all.
Even if her stomach didn’t want her to.

After coming to an agreement, the group
marched back to the throng of the amusement park. With each step
over the dry harbor floor, the sun fell closer to the horizon
casting long shadows across the park. Bells and whistles chimed
around them. Huge bubbles drifted across their path several times
and Cassie ran up ahead to pop them. She nearly toppled over a
flock of young teenagers as she tried to poke one that got caught
in the ocean breeze.

By the time they rounded the
fun house, the quartet was relieved to find
The Hammerhead
line on the verge of
vacant. They wound themselves through an empty maze of rails before
embarking on a long stretch of wood off the harbor. The only thing
before them now was an endless mass of water and the enormous
coaster perched above the surface.

The entire thing was held up by thick
steel pipes that sank deep into the ocean waves. Not a single piece
of the ride was attached to the harbor. Larissa’s stomach literally
did a flip as her eyes never reached the top of that epic bundle of
tracks. There were so many purple and yellow flips and spins,
Larissa almost wanted to turn around and retreat back to the safety
of the harbor. The only thing keeping her feet moving was the
excitement hammering through her veins.

They reached the loading platform just
as the seats containing exhilarated guests clanked back into the
start point. Whoops and hollers of adrenaline pumped teens echoed
beneath the wooden canopy as steel floor mats slid together beneath
their dangling feet. A worker in a booth gave the all-clear, and
with a hiss, the riders’ restraints were loosened. Larissa watched
as the guests slid from their seats and clambered across the wood
and steel platform on wobbly legs. Some of them fumbled for their
bags before exiting, others took the opportunity to snag a quick
picture. Regardless of what they were doing, each of them wore the
same wild grin.

Once more the worker signaled the
all-clear as the last guest disappeared down the exit ramp.
Simultaneous screeches rang through the short lines as the iron
gates containing the line of eager riders swung open. The gang
swarmed through like cattle, their feet clopping across the steel
platform. Cassie hurried all the way to the other side before
shrugging off her bag then hopping in the seat beside
Josh.

Together, the four of them
filled a row of seats and were among the first to throw the
restraints over their shoulders. Even with Ammon’s long legs, his
feet flopped around beneath
the
seat.
He attempted to glance at Larissa,
but the restraints over his shoulders were uncomfortably set so
that he could hardly even move his head. All he could do was sit
there and stare at the many seats before him.

A worker rushed past and yanked on his
seat just to make sure everything was secure. When that was done,
the employees signaled the all-clear. The steel floorboards folded
apart beneath his draped feet and Ammon just had enough time to
glance at the lapping waves beneath them before the ride started
with a jerk.

From beside him, Josh let out an
excited whoop followed by an annoyed ’shut-up’ by Cassie. Ammon
wasn’t able to hear the next of their conversation because it was
drowned out by the loud clicking of a cart being dragged to the
highest point of the ride. Since Larissa was on the end of their
row, she managed to tilt her head to the side and take in the view
as they ascended. She was on the side that overlooked the harbor.
With the sun just kissing the endless horizon, Larissa could hardly
see the specks of carnival light illuminating the dock. She could
make out the swirling of colors from the still active rides, and
over the growing wind, she barely heard a game announcing ‘Winner!
Winner’.

By now the seats had climbed so high
that the only thing visible was the silver wash of sunlight
bouncing off the ocean. Larissa let her head fall back against the
hard cushion. This was the most epic ride she had ever embarked on
by far, and up until that point, she had felt like she masked her
excitement perfectly. The coaster continued to clatter with accent
and now her excitement was borderline with fear. What if they got
stuck upside-down? Or what if the tracks became loose and they were
launched into the ocean to drown? What had she gotten herself into?
There was no going back, the ride couldn’t just stop and have her
exit. Her feet felt like melted cheese and she hadn’t even reached
the top. Her heart hammered faster than the clicking of the climb
and her stomach rolled around inside her like a tsunami.
Click…click…click…

Drop. What felt like a
straight plummet to the ocean sent Larissa’s stomach to her throat.
She felt every one of her organs rise from her hips, to her chest,
then finally erupted with a scream. All around her the screams of
the riders echoed over the rush of ocean wind, but even in her
ears, Larissa’s was the loudest. From beside her, she could hear
Ammon’s almost violent laughter then all at once the plummet of the
track
stopped
and
Larissa felt her entire body being shoved against her
seat.

When she cast her eyes around, she
witnessed the seats in front of her almost fold upward. She knew
exactly what was going on. They had just embarked on the first
upside-down loop. With a rush, her feet swooped above her head and
her shoulders rammed into the restraint vest. As they reached the
midpoint of a perfect upside down, Larissa felt the slight decrease
in speed. The fear of being stuck upside down had enough time to be
planted in her mind before she was falling once again.

The humid air slammed into her face
causing her to tear up. The bead of water slid out of her eye as
she forced her temple into the restraint. Now she could see the
tracks laid out in between the heads of other riders. Her eyes
barely had enough time to register that they were about to spin
over the track when her body was filled with the sensation of
lightness. Somehow, as their seats rolled over, no part of her body
touched any of the restraints like perfect weightlessness. Then
suddenly, with a swift whoosh, she was slammed back into her seat
as they shot up into another loop.

This time when they rushed back down,
Larissa was aware of the hammering in her ribs. It was from pure
excitement. As the ride spun her around, and flipped over itself,
Larissa didn’t register the speed of the ride, or the colors of the
whirling track. She wasn’t even aware of the time they were there.
A wild grin clung to her face as her body was thrown around and
tossed in all different directions. Fear was replaced with
anticipation; Larissa couldn’t wait for the next flip or the next
turn. Her arms sprung into the air and she felt all the blood rush
to her toes as the ride dipped so low, she might have skimmed her
feet on the surface of the ocean water.

Then she was thrown back up into the
sky as a delighted shriek escaped her lips. They whirled around
once more, and with her head still nudged against the restraint,
Larissa could see an upcoming plummet. Just as she began to fall,
her stomach lifted into her chest and brilliant white lights
flashed before her eyes. She had no idea what the lights were from,
all she knew was that they couldn’t have been a reflection of the
ocean water, but they were gone before she could think
twice.