Body parts, really lightweight latex props, dangle low from hooks that are chained to the ceiling. The group—Sammy, Billy, Vanessa, and Connor—each shield their faces with their hands to avoid being slapped by the limbs as the car slowly rides forward.

It's silent. Incredibly silent. The only sound comes from the grind of metal against metal as the small coaster pushes forward on the tracks. That and the distinct sound of chopping.

The ride emerges from the dangling props, revealing a dim lit room that is designed to look as if they were inside some sort of shed. Metal shelves line both walls, with various yard equipment placed randomly on the racks. A few more body parts hang from the shelves, latex flesh swaying from where their limbs were supposedly torn. Several yards of barbed wire are wrapped together poorly, set on the highest shelf on the right.

They turn toward the chopping sound and see Teardrop in the far left corner of the room, just a couple of feet before the exit. He is hunched over a table and, with his ten inch carving knife, slowly swings down at it with five second intervals in between chops. He appears to be operated machinery.

Teardrop wears a pale white, porcelain mask with black markings painted on it to resemble the Pierrot clown, but with an oddly twisted grin instead of a frown. Behind the open slits in the mask are his petrifying wide ebony eyes staring blankly forward. A single black teardrop, more than likely the trait that earned him his infamous name, hangs from underneath his right eye. Jet black hair shoots out wildly from the back of the disguise and an inky silk lined perfectly along the bottom of the mask covers his neck as well. He wears a black button up, long sleeve shirt tucked into matching pantaloons. Leather gloves and a pair of boots, looking as if they were dipped in a puddle of molten obsidian, top off his outfit.

The car halts in front of him just as he stops chopping at what they can see is a slab of human meat laid out on a large wooden cutting board. They exchange panicked looks, even though they know that it's just part of the ride.

Not moving an inch, Teardrop stares down at the table. Behind him, smeared high on the wall in blood, reads 'GOTCHA!'.

Nathan pulls himself slightly away from Abbey so he can turn his body to face her. "So, did you decide? Are you taking the scholarship?"

"No." She says without hesitation, talking as if he already knows the answer to his own question. And he should. "I want to stay with you."

The passenger car lowers to the ground but passes the platform as the Ferris wheel continues to rotate.

"Abbey, it's a full ride!" Sighing, he shakes his head in frustration. "I care about you so much and damnit I love you to death, but I can't let you throw away your future to be with me. I don't want to be the one to hold you back."

"You're saying that us being together would be me tossing away our future?" She stares at him unbelievably, shaking her head.

"No, that's not what I'm saying—"

Scoffing, Abbey turns to look out of the gate at the view of the park, this time not finding the scenery so appealing. "Sounds like you're saying that you want me to leave."

Clearly stressed, Nathan retracts his arm from behind her and rubs vigorously at his face. He's been convincing her for the past few months that, considering she is a straight-A student and has worked hard to get to where she is academically, there is no doubt that she should go to college. She busted her ass to get that scholarship.

When she first told him about it, he was more than excited for her. But then his mother became so ill and, with no one else around to take care of her, he decided that it would be best for him to stay here. Even though the university is nearly across the country, he tried to convince Abbey that their relationship could work long distance but her initial reaction was to stay with him.

After a night of them arguing back and forth, she said she would consider it. Now that he brought it up again, it's clear that her mind has already been made up and he can't help but shake the feeling that she is making a terrible mistake just to cater to his needs.

Sighing, he looks through the gate to follow her stare as he collects his thoughts.

The group continues to stare at Teardrop, as if waiting for him to move. The car still remains in idle, the bars in front of their waists lightly trembling with the slightest motion vibrating from the tracks. Fog continues to seep in from the walls surrounding them and, with the crimson light flickering from the arched ceiling above, the atmosphere darkens even more.

Vanessa stares intensely into Teardrop's eyes, half expecting him to blink. Behind her, Connor's hands slowly lift up behind her before clenching down tightly onto her shoulders. Startled, she turns her head to see him laughing childishly and slaps at him.

"Damnit, Connor." She mumbles under her breath as she turns back around. Grabbing his arms and wrapping them around her, she still nervously nuzzles her back up against his chest despite the fact that he just scared the hell out of her. "Asshole."

Sammy and Billy sit in the front of the car, both of them silent as they look at Teardrop. Really though, his attention is more drawn to the back of her head and her blonde hair flowing down her back.

Noticing his stare, Connor reaches over the back of the seat to flick his upper right arm—snapping him back to reality. Billy glances back to see Connor glaring at him, a discrete way of reminding him that she is off-limits. Billy quickly turns away, appreciative that Connor didn't put him on blast for once. Although he can be a major dick sometimes, Billy just thinks that he gets that from hanging around his brother too much.

Still motionless, Teardrop peers downward at the table when—suddenly—the room goes pitch black. A slight hum echoes down through the tunnel as they can hear the machinery abruptly cut off.

Outside the Death Ride, the lights and music throughout the entire park shut off as well. The moon lights up the lot with a grayish cerulean hue like that of a horror flick, the only thing missing is a sheet of fog and a thunderstorm.

Abbey and Nathan both peer out of the passenger car as they see the last light, coming from one of the windows on the office near the back of the fairground, flicker out. The small car swings back and forth as it lingers at the very top of the Ferris wheel.

"What just happened?!" She looks around frantically. Her immediately thought is that the police had shut them down but, as her eyes peer past the front gate, she sees no vehicles other than Nathan's car. "Are we stuck up here?"

He tries his best to remain calm for both of their sakes. "Okay, let's just stay calm. Maybe we blew a breaker or something?"

Careful not to lean too far, as he'd rather not fall through the open gate and plummet to the dirt, he peeks his head over the ledge to see that they are about fifty feet or so high from the ground. He gulps.

♫ ɢᴀsᴏʟɪɴᴇ / ʜᴀʟsᴇʏ ♫

Who do you think will be first on the chopping block... literally?