Afraid of the Dark

Chapter Føur

Mark sat awkwardly at a dining chair, his arms crossed and resting on the table. Although he had been given the offer to get something to eat, he didn't feel like it was right to go and raid someone else's food supply while they weren't there. Furthermore, with the lunch at the restaurant having been booked for one o'clock, he wouldn't have long to wait for something to eat. He wasn't even hungry anyway. Those three reasons made him feel like it would simply be better to wait for his younger friend to come back downstairs. However, that moment did not come. He heard the noise of a vacuum cleaner upstairs, which he reasonably presumed was Seán making extra sure that the floor was clear of glass fragments. Afterwards, he heard a few footsteps but then there wasn't any further sound. The American didn't want to intrude on his friend, believing that he was staying upstairs to simply think about what had happened. He was most likely worried sick about his pet, and guilt-stricken despite Mark's attempts to help. Part of him wanted to go up to check on him, but he also understood how it was important to give his friend some privacy.

So, he sat impatiently, tapping his feet in a disjointed rhythm and occasionally checking the time on his phone. The TV from earlier had been left on, and every now and then it would catch his attention. A show named "This Morning" was playing, and it was being hosted by two people. One was a man with silver hair which was cut short, while the other was a woman with long, blonde hair which hung loosely down her back. An advertisement break ended, and the show resumed. The man spoke first.

"Welcome back to the show! After the incident at Alton Towers on the tenth of May in which a group of friends were shockingly kidnapped and held hostage, it resulted in multitudes of injuries and even casualties, forcing the park to close. The police, with the aid of the Alton Towers staff, worked diligently to help solve the incident and protect the identities of the members of the group who had been involved in the horrible event, although they later revealed themselves online with the request that they were given time to process and grieve before the media approached them. All of the members of the group were internet celebrities which led some to believe that this was a planned attack."

"That's right, Phil," the woman responded. "After almost three weeks of being shut down due to police orders, the theme park Alton Towers has released its second statement since the investigation began, and this time it is one of good news. The park is set to reopen tomorrow, on the first of June, at the earlier time of seven o'clock, remaining open until midnight. With ten percent off on all park tickets and merchandise, and a hot drink offered to all of its visitors, it will be a grand reopening that will go down in the park's history."

"Nick Varney, the CEO of Merlin Entertainment - who own Alton Towers - explained in the statement that the park had done everything that they possibly could to ensure safety for all of their visitors, by increasing security measures both inside the park and in the new "Border Stations" where all visitors would have their belongings checked by trained security officers. With all of the reopening deals and safety statements, some people are wondering if Alton Towers are simply trying their best to but on a "brave face" to encourage people back, with some even saying that it's unsafe for the park to reopen again. What do you think, Holly?"

'Phil' and 'Holly' continued to discuss the topic, even inviting some correspondents on to go into detail about the topic. It wasn't the first time which Mark had heard about this event. How could he not, considering that it had happened to some fellow YouTubers? He didn't exactly know many of them well, but it was still something that shook him up a little. It can't have been a coincidence that all five of them were targets and they were all internet celebrities. He was practically certain that this event was a planned one, but then again, he didn't want to come up with conspiracy theories. Perhaps this is what Seán meant when he was speaking about bad dreams to do with their job?