Chapter 73
Chapter 74
Chapter 75
Chapter 76
Chapter 77
Chapter 78
Chapter 79
Chapter 80
Chapter 81
Chapter 82
Chapter 83
Chapter 84
Chapter 85
Chapter 86
Chapter 87
Epilogue
Acknowledgments & Authors Note
Suspicion always haunts the guilty mind...
William Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part III, act 5, scene 6
The First Day
1
River Ridge, Illinois
Youre doomed! the fat man on the stool said.
He was missing two lower front teeth. Peppered stubble whorled on his cheeks; vines of long hair framed his face. His eyes locked on Gage as he extended his hand, raising his voice over the chaos of the midway.
Give me your ticket, kid.
Smiling, Gage placed his ticket in the mans red-stained palm, then raised his voice. Hey, is that real blood?
You tell me, kid. Look where fate has brought you. The fat man cast his tattooed arm back to the huge arching sign bearing blood-dripping words that proclaimed the attraction.
The Chambers of Dread: Americas Biggest Traveling World of Horrors!
This is so cool! Gage said.
Cool? How old is your young soul?
What?
How old are you?
Nine!
The mans eyes narrowed into reptilian slits as he assessed Gage, then his dad, then his mom. They stayed on Mom long enough to border on being unsavory before coming back to Gage. Then the man knocked on the wooden advisory bolted to the metal barricade next to him.
Warning! This attraction may be too intense for pregnant women and people with heart conditions. It is not recommended for children under the age of 12 unless they are accompanied by an adult.
A fat finger, tipped with a long, yellowed and chipped fingernail, pointed at Gage. Mark my words, kid. These Chambers is cursed. No one who enters is ever the same when, and if, they leave. Nows the time to run home with your mama. Otherwise, move ahead. Next! You, there! Youre doomed!
Whoa! Gages laugh betrayed excited nervousness as he and his parents inched forward in the crowded line that snaked between barricades to the entrance. The aroma of deep-fried food, grilled meat and cotton candy wafted from the food stands. He felt his mothers hands on his shoulders before she leaned into his ear.
Youre sure youre okay to do this, sweetie? Youre not too scared?
Mom, Im not scared!
We could skip this and get something to eat over there.
Hes fine, Faith. Youre always babying him, Gages dad said, while checking messages on his phone and texting responses.
Always working, Faith Hudson thought, irritated. It was as if his phone was part of his anatomy. Now he was dialing.
Seriously, youre calling someone?
Phone pressed to his ear, Cal flashed his free palm to Faith, signaling her to quiet down. She bit her bottom lip, hesitating, then said what she was thinking. And I was going to thank you for making time for us today.
Cal never heard her, focused on his call. Yeah, its Hudson, he said into the receiver. You gotta tell Stu the numbers wrong in the storyits fifty thousand, not five... Right. Good. Bye.
He turned to his wife. Im sorry, whatd you say?
Nothing.
Cal looked at her for a long moment while across from them the Polar Rocket erupted with a diesel roar, frenzied squeals and Led Zeppelins Immigrant Song. After absorbing everything that Faiths silence screamed at him, Cal leaned into her ear.
I had to make that callit was important.
Theyre always important calls.
I had to correct an editing error. What were you trying to tell me?
She stared at him. I was going to thank you for making time to be with us, but youre not with us. Youre working.
Cripes. Im here, Faith.
Are you?
Please, dont start.
No, no, Im not. Faith glimpsed the family behind them, the mother and father awkwardly pretending not to be watching them. Immediately Faith rubbed Cals shoulder lovingly and smiled for all to see. Everythings fine. Really.
Sure, everythings perfect, Calvin Hudson told himself, turning from Faith and scanning the top of the Mega-Roller Ferris wheel. Shed never truly understood his work, he thought. He was a journalist; it was in his DNA. The demands were 24/7. She never really grasped how deeply involved he was with his stories. He couldnt just switch it off, like she insisted; or like she could at the PR firm. Now there were rumors of layoffs at his paper, the Chicago Star-News, making him uneasy. He had to work that much harder to prove he was still valuable to his editors. Jobs in the business were scarce. But the way Faith had said, Dont worry, well get by on my salary and youll find something else, had wounded him. How could she be so dismissive, as if his position in life didnt matter, as if she wanted him to lose his job. She had no clue how much hed given to ithis blood, sweat and tears along with much of his soul. She had no idea the things hed done.
And if Cals uncertainty about his job at the paper wasnt bad enough, the situation at home was worse. He and Faith were no longer as intimate as they used to be. She had grown colder over the past few years. Their lovemaking was infrequent. Her displays of affectionspontaneous handholding, touching or even kissing, which used to be commonwere now rare.
Shed become more impatient, more demanding. And the way she babied Gage... Is your pizza too hot for you? Want me to cut it for you? Maybe that movies too scary for you? The boy was nine. And he clearly hated when his mother treated him this way. It was no wonder Gage lived for any free time with his dadwith Faith, it was as if he was drowning and desperate to come up for air.
But no one knew that Cal and Faith were grappling with these problemsnot their relatives, not their friends. We dont need everyone to know our business, Faith had decreed.
In keeping with a job as a public relations manager, appearances were important to Faith.
Given her personality and her professional skills, she was good at hiding the truth when it counted. Maybe thats why buried in a corner of Cals heart was the fear that Faith would take Gage and leave. Cal would never see it coming.
He forced himself to shift away from all these thoughts and stay positive. He found comfort in the line he had on a potential reporting job overseas. The chances that hed get it were slim, but if he did it would mean a big change in their lives.
Still, no matter what he and Faith felt, Gage came first.
Cal looked at his son, thinking that he must sense his parents were having problems.
Like powerful telescopes scouring space for signs of life, kids like Gage could pick up infinitesimal traces of parental discord. Theyd internalize it without voicing a word, while alone at night in their beds theyd hope and pray that everything between Mom and Dad would be okay.
Looking at Gage in his beloved Cubs cap and T-shirt, the one with the faded mustard stain, his khaki shorts and sneakers, Cal felt a surge of love for his son. He would do anything for him.
No matter what problems Cal and Faith had, they needed to show Gage that they were still a family intact; thats why they were here at the River Ridge Summer Carnival. Every year the big traveling midway of games and thrill rides visited their suburb on Chicagos West Side for ten days. Gage had ached to come, specifically to respond to the double dares from his friends about going through the Chambers of Dread.
Marshall and Colton said they were going to get their parents to come to the fair today, too. I hope so because if I see them Im gonna tell them, In your face, dudes! I conquered the Chambers of Dread!
Cal mussed Gages hair, smiling and thinking that maybe this fear, the kind that was manufactured and sold, would take their minds off the real things they feared in their lives. Maybe for a short time they could pretend to be a happy family.
Cal glanced back at the fat man on the stool, saw him raise a walkie-talkie and say something into it.
The Hudsons were next in line.
As they entered the Chambers of Dread through the yawning jaws of the Demon King, the carnival barkers warning of doom echoed.
Cal and Faith exchanged measured looks before they and Gage stepped into the darkness.
2
Thick waist-high fog enveloped the Hudsons in the dim light; wisps of it curled around Gages chest as they began their journey through the Chambers of Dread. Screams from the unseen visitors mingled with moaning in the darkness ahead of them. They moved toward ominous rumbling, coming to a passageway formed by a large, tunnellike drum, continually spinning, inviting visitors to step through the Portal to the Grim World Beyond, according to the twisted neon sign above it.
Keeping their balance while walking through the portal with a few other people, the Hudsons found a deeper darkness on the other side and began moving slowly through a maze when a large, cloaked figure emerged in front of them.
Oh my God! Faith gasped as the figure raised a severed human head before them, then vanished.
Its not real, Mom! Gage laughed.
I know, sweetie. It just startled me. Are you okay?
Yeah, this is so dope!
But the underlying nervousness in Gages voice worried Faith, making her wonder if hed be okay. Especially with what seemed to be up ahead.
Agonizing pleas beckoned them to the Dungeons of Dread and a darkened narrow walkway that reeked of rotten eggs and had water trickling down its jagged stone walls.
Oh, no, let go! No! a teenager ahead of them shrieked.
Something scratched at Faiths ankles. Then it gripped them before she kicked free. Looking to her feet she saw clawlike hands reaching out from barred windows where the condemned, confined in a subterranean prison, grabbed desperately at them, calling, Save us! Dont leave us!
Hurrying through the dungeons, the Hudsons came to another dark twisting connection echoing with wails, growing louder as they got closer to the next chamber.
There, the entire scene glowed in flickering orange, yellow and red as flames licked from a massive mound of wood and bramble. A large post protruded from the center. Bound to it, a woman wrapped in a white nightshirt, her head shorn, face glistening, her eyes inflamed, screeched, So you think burning me, the witch queen, will be my end! Fools! I curse you all! Ill torment you from hell!
The temperature soared, giving the scene a heightened degree of authenticity. Faith saw one man point out for his wife how the flames were controlled from a gas line, that the wood pile was a prop, like the gas fireplace in an expensive home.
Did you hear me? the witch queen screamed. Youre all cursed! Forever!
Faith found kinship with the witch queen.
Her writhing against her bindings echoed how Faith felt, bound to her heartache. Cal had grown distant over the last couple years and she didnt know why. After one of his big stories hed grow pensive. Faith didnt know what was happening with him. Whenever she tried to talk about it, hed shut her down. Hed become absorbed in his work and was never home. She was always alone, making her feel that he preferred the long hours of working with cops, criminals and street-smart, pretty female reporters to being with her.
Had he fallen out of love with her? Once, shed overheard him on a call joking to someone that journalists were truth seekers and PR people were professional liars. Did he feel that way about her? Most of her work was for big nonprofit groups and charities, and that was the only time shed heard him talk that way, so she let it go.
Or tried to.
Faith needed to hold things together for Gages sake. But it wasnt easy. She knew Gage idolized his father and lived for any free moment Cal spared for him. But it only happened when it was convenient for Cal. How many times had he canceled at the last minute on promised father-son days to see a movie, or the Cubs, or check out video games because he had to work late?
Gage was crushed every time. He was resilient, but still, it broke Faiths heart.
Cal had promised her that he would leave the crime beat and advance up the editorial ladder toward a more stable job and life. It never happenedand she knew it never would because he loved what he was doing. Thats why she saw the looming layoffs at the paper as a chance for him to start something new, for them to reconnect. Because little by little she felt something was slipping away from them. They were growing apart, forcing Faith to take a hard look at taking control of matters because she and Cal couldnt go on like this.
They used to be so much in love. What was happening to them?