Breaking the Void

Chapter 8 - Absolute Hell

(Your POV):
"No, no, no, absolutely not," I struggled against Peter's grasp, trying to at least save myself. If everyone else wanted to sign their death certificates then they could be my guests, but I was going to have nothing to do with it.

"Come on, (Y/N), it'll be fun!" Ned encouraged with a large smile as though he were suggesting that we go frolicking through a field of daisies.

I turned to MJ for reinforcements, the only person left that I could trust with just an ounce of common sense. "MJ, help me out here. That thing is a literal death trap, you can't do this to me. I thought you were my friend."

"While I don't find the prospect of going on that thing particularly amusing, if I agree to it then the group will owe me one. So sorry, (Y/N), but your sacrifice is one that I am going to have to make," she replied, walking past me and leading the group over to the line.

Now completely desperate, I turned to my boyfriend, "Pete, please, I will do anything. What can I say to talk you out of this?"

"Have you ever actually ridden a roller coaster before? I mean like a real roller coaster, not a kiddy one."

I shook my head, "and there's a reason for that: I wish to live."

"See? So you have no idea what this is going to be like. Just try this one and if you don't like it then you don't ever need to go on another roller coaster again, I promise. Who knows, you might actually like it," he reasoned, tugging on my arm lightly as he filed us into the line.

I glared at him as I muttered, "not likely."

The line took an eternity to get through, but part of me was thankful for it. The longer that the line took to get through, the longer that I still had my life. However, I also wished that I could just get it over with and the long waiting time was not helping my nerves. The screams of the other unfortunate amusement park guests filled my ears and made my heart race, knowing that I was to be one of the next victims to this daunting monstrosity.

"Hey, it's going to be alright. This ride is perfectly safe and it's actually really fun, you'll see," Peter tried to assure me as I hesitantly stepped forward to the cart.

I gave him no response as I shakily sat down in the seat next to him, pulling down the protective apparatus to my chest. I wasn't yet sure whether I liked the seats yet. On the one hand, the restraints gave me a sense of comfort, but on the other hand, I felt as though they were constricting my movements and condemning me to this torture I was about to endure. I grasped the restraints like I was holding backpack straps, my knuckles turning white. Peter placed a reassuring hand on my knee but I did not glance over at him, keeping my eyes fixed ahead at the back of the seat in front of me. In order to distract myself from everything going on, I began to read the safety warnings over and over, hoping that if I just concentrated on that small label everything would be over soon.

The cart jolted forward and I let out a small gasp, not prepared for the sudden movement. The cart then began to inch forward at a steady and agonizing pace, ever so slightly tipping upwards as it followed the tracks. A million thoughts began to swirl through my head as I tried to focus on the safety label. Keep your arms and legs in the cart at all- what if the conveyer belt were to give out right now and we all fell back into the next cart waiting to leave? No, focus on the warning. Do not ride if you are pregnant, have heart problems, or have a pre-existing condition. I feel like I am about to throw up, this incline is like an ascent to hell. How high up are we? Oh god, don't look down, please don't look down.

"You doing alright over there?" Peter asked me as though he knew that my thoughts were in chaos.

"Mm-hmm," I managed to hum back, afraid to open my mouth as the knot in my stomach grew.

"Good, because we are about to make the drop."

His words echoed in my head and my grip on the restraint tightened a bit, to the point where I could feel my fingers sinking into the material. I tried to slacken my grip a bit, cursing my superstrength that was about to be exposed. However, my thoughts quickly drifted from that as the cart reached the tipping point. I could physically feel my body lifting out of the seat as we began to descend, the track leading us through a loop before the cart was tilted towards the side. Not even my first attempts simulating a high-speed chase when I was seven compared to the horrors of having to resign myself to trusting that this cart would bring us to the end of the track alive.

Flashbacks began to play through my mind, memories of falling through the air with nothing to catch me. I had been lucky so far that I had either been quick enough to save myself with my grapple or Peter had swung out of nowhere to save my life, but still, the paralyzing fear remained.

I let out a breath of relief when the cart finally slowed down and returned to the platform that we had departed from. The second that the restraints clicked open, I threw the restrains up and climbed out of the seat, thankful that the agony had finally ended. Marks had been left in the restraint where my fingers had dug in, but thankfully no one else seemed to notice it as I shakily returned myself to stable ground.

"So, what did you think?" Peter asked, wrapping his arm around my waist.

"I hate you and if you ever make me doing something like that again no one will ever be able to find where I buried your body," I replied, trying to get as far away from the demonic coaster as possible.

"Was it really that bad?" Ned asked as Peter's face fell slightly.

As I nodded, I realized how disappointed the two boys were that I had not enjoyed what they apparently deemed as fun. I quickly tried to remedy the down that I had put them in, "but now it's over so why don't we all get some food before we have to leave? Funnel cakes are on me!"

That seemed to lift their spirits and by the time that we had finished eating, it seemed that they had all forgotten about the ordeal with the roller coaster. Besides, I couldn't really blame them. They just wanted me to try something new and have fun, it wasn't their fault that I had neglected to tell them about my fear of heights.

I arrived back at the apartment just barely before my parents, uncomfortable with how close of a call it was. They came through the door as I picked up my secure device to check for missions, which I was still hoping I would be assigned now that I was healed and showing great progress in the training room.

"You don't need to check that thing," my father spoke as I placed it down in disappointment. I really did want to go back out on assignment. Even though I was disillusioned to their ideals, not having any missions to complete left me without purpose in life and I detested the feeling.

"I apologize, I suppose that I am just eager to get back into the field."

"Well if that is what you want, then that is what you will get. You do have a new assignment, but we didn't upload it there because it is one that involves you going undercover."

-

(A/N): So my life kinda flipped upside down today but my first sips by subscription box arrived so I guess you just have to enjoy the little things. But I may not be posting for a while just with everything going on in my life unless I use writing as a distraction from reality, which I so often do. Anyway, I promise that I will finish this book eventually, but I don't know when the next time I'll update will be. Thank you for bearing with me!