Aberro Specus

When you’ve lived in a city as long as I have you notice things. Place people congregate, places people avoid, where the best hookers are, where to dump the bodies so it gets blamed on the mob… things like that. This is about one of those places people avoid. It’s not conscious, for most people, it’s simply a feeling of… uncomfortable-ness. A feeling of “this place isn’t right, lets walk over here..” It happens in the dark places, the places that evil still lingers. You still get the occasional person who feels more comfortable in these spots… goth clubs tend to be built on them (the real ones, were you see the couple drinking each others blood in a corner and you’re more likely to mistake it for a satanic rite than a rave…), but I digress. Living in this city for the past fifteen years has clued me in to a few of them. The couple that is heading to the opera and gets off at the wrong train stop, and hurries up the steps uncomfortably to get out of the abandoned station, or the alley that even the homeless and rats don’t inhabit. Usually there is some underground access there, and always, even if it’s above ground, sunlight doesn’t shine there. Even on the brightest, cloudless day it’s gloomy in that spot, overcast and damp feeling. Is it an explainable phenomenon? Not by scientific standards. But it’s there, and I love it.

I started exploring these spots and mapping them two years ago. Once a month I’d travel the city for a full 24 hours, looking for a new spot, trying to find one of those dark places, explore it, make it mine. I keep a map in my drawer with each of the eight that I’ve found carefully documented, with a notebook full of my descriptions and feelings as I explored the place. There is no pattern, no rhyme or reason for their location. Scattered about the city like leaves on the wind, they simply exist. A corner in an alley here, a subway station there, an underground goth rave in this spot, an abandoned building’s basement in that… I’ve even attempted to purchase two of them that were in abandoned buildings, but the city “lost” or denied my requests.

So why am I talking about these places? What made me write about them today? Last night, I went to my favorite, the basement of a building located on… no, I best not reveal the location. I had lured a prostitute to the spot with the promise of ill-earned funds… After finishing my business and stuffing the parts in a garbage bag, I felt another presence. No one else ever came to these spots, it simply didn’t happen. I was almost always alone in them… the dead don’t count. Looking around carefully, I noticed a light flicker briefly from beneath a doorway. I had already satiated my hunger for the day, but sport was always welcome. Picking up one of my knives I crept silently to the doorway and inched it open. The light had vanished but that didn’t mean it’s creator had. The room was empty, but I saw the light coming from down a corridor. Creeping silently down it, I followed it through a labyrinth of passages, twisting through the basement for much further than I though it traveled. Suddenly I came to another closed door, with the light coming from much strong beneath it than previously seen. I paused for a moment, then pushed open the door and looked into the room. The sight chilled me, and in case you can’t tell, I’m not an easily scared person. I closed the door and ran, leaving my prize behind and escaping to the street, away from the darkness.

My soul felt twisted… turned round and burnt, from the visage I had encountered. But I felt curious. Even in my fear, I wanted more. I wanted to know what could cause what I saw, what I felt when I opened that door. I needed it. Morbid curiosity, or a death wish, either way I had to learn more. I returned the next night to that place, but the presence was gone. I returned each night, forgetting my normal routine, and searched that building for it. Exactly a month later, I entered the building, preparing to give up, when the presence returned. It overwhelmed me as soon as I entered. Filling my senses and causing as much pain as it did ecstasy within moments. I collapsed to the floor, used and discarded, but quickly climbed back to my feet, wanting more. I delved deeper into the basement, the presence growing stronger with each correct turn I made. In a short while I had found that door again, the light flickering, same as before. Opening it slowly, I beheld the site again. Grotesque and beautiful at once. Overpowering my senses and filling me with as much dread as it did excitement. To stare into the abyss and have it stare back into you, as the saying goes, was beautiful. Weeping, I fell to my knees, allowing it to wash over me.

I awoke later, I had no idea of how much time had passed, though the presence was gone. I rose to my feet, shaking, and lit my lighter. Peering around, I saw I was in the same place, still standing in the doorway. The room before me was plain, empty. The smearing of foul bodily substances on the walls was gone, the piles of desecration gone, the gaping maw of hell in the floor replaced with concrete floor. I saw none of the horror and delights from before, only a room, plain walls, plain floor. As I turned to leave, I caught a glimmer of light in the corner. Approaching it, I saw a simple talisman laying in a corner, discarded. I bent to pick it up, and as I touched it I felt the presence again, faint, but there. Pocketing the trinket, I left, returning to my home. As I sit here writing I can’t take my eyes off of it. It beckons to me, calling, begging me to pick it up. I know not how to use it, or what it can even do, but I know it’s mine… or rather I belong to it…

So on occasion my father gets these desires to go to Amusement Parks. He’s an avid fan of roller coasters, as well as parks in general. We generally always go to at least one each summer. Sadly neither my mother or I like roller coasters* so he generally doesn’t get to go on them, but a few years ago we took the girl I was dating at the time and she liked them, and this time Crista went, and she does as well, so he got to go on some. So Monday night he decided that we were going to go to Busch Gardens the next day. It’s a four hour drive, but that’s not a big deal, so we got up at 4A.M. and bundled into the car for our day of fun.

For some background, I’ve only been to a few amusement parks over the years. A small one in Upstate NY called Enchanted Forest, Hershey Park (a few times), Great Escape (now Six Flags in NY), Darien Lake when I was younger, Cedar Point in Ohio (on my senior class trip), Kings Dominion, and now Busch Gardens. Enchanted Forest is almost purely a water park, and it, as well as Great Escape and Darien Lake, have probably changed so much since I went to them that I wouldn’t remember any of the rides. However, These are (fairly) limited amusement park experiences compared to many people, particularly my father. I also had only been on two roller coasters, both older, above-rail cart models, and hated them. One thing my father always tries to do is get my mother and I to try a below-rail coaster, because he thinks we would like them.

So yesterday we walk around Busch Gardens and take in the sights. The park is split up by “country” and has The British Isles (England, Ireland, and Scotland), France and New France (Canada), Germany and the “Bavarian” area, and Italy. Each main area has a coaster also - Scotland has the “Loch Ness Monster”, France has “Griffon” (the newest one), Germany has “Alpengeist” and “The Big Bad Wolf”, and Italy has “Apollo’s Chariot”. The park also has three water rides, two “4-D” adventure rides - “Corkscrew Hill” in Ireland and “Curse of DarKastle” in Germany (both of which are pretty damn fun), as well as a variety of other attractions. The limitations of Busch Gardens are fairly obvious, with only three water rides and five coasters it’s not a very big park. Most of the attraction in going there is in the different cultural areas. More on that later though. First I’d like to mention the four hour car ride. It’s actually fun, and from our house we got to take the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, which is insanely long. Woo!

Starting the Chesapeake Bay Bridge

So we take our time walking around, looking at the various sections and whatnot. They have a small animal section, where I saw online that they have grey wolves, more specifically, wolf pups. The bastards had the wolf section closed though because they do private tours with the wolves (that you have to pay extra for) some days, and it was one of those days. That sucked a lot. I did see a wolf though, so yay! We also caught the tail-end (pun unintentional) of a “Pet Shenanigans” show, which was amazingly cute. Trained house pets doing tricks, it was awesome. I have no idea how you train a cat, but they managed it. Probably drugs. Anyway, we also saw a few other neat things going on. On to the rides though.

The owl kept staring me down...

The first thing we did was hit the Ireland area. Ireland = awesome, so we figured that the Ireland section would be. It kinda was, nothing great. But it had a really fun ride. “Corkscrew Hill” is a “4-D” Adventure ride. Basically, you sit in chairs on a platform that’s on a ball bearing and watch a 3-D movie, and the platform moves all around, tilting, raising, lowering, etc. while you watch. It’s really fun, and the movie thing was really cute too. The only draw back was that the ride only has two platforms, and one was busted, so the line took twice as long to get on (almost an hour). It was still great fun though. Then our second stop was the skyride, which was disappointingly short. We tend to always hit the skyride, because it’s a fun way to get a good view of the whole park and pick out points of interest, so you have a better idea of what is there and what you want to see. Busch Gardens’ skyride is horrible though. It only takes you from England to France, then from France to Germany (you have to get off and back on), and from Germany to England (getting off and back on again). Not worth it, plus you can’t see 3 sections of the park from it. So that was a bust. Luckily we got off of it right at the carousel, my mom’s favorite. So we rode that.

My mother and father on the carousel.

We decided to hit up the other “4-D” Adventure ride next, “Curse of DarKastle”. I read about this one online, and it looks like a a sort of haunted house ride. Fun! So we got in line, which was rather long. This brings up one of the cool things at Busch Gardens. In their waiting lines for rides, they have fans set up that mist water as well, to keep you cool while you wait. This is the first time I’ve seen a park do this and I think it’s brilliant. So after getting inside we got on the ride. This one was like “Corkscrew Hill”, but it also moved you throughout the “house” so there is more than one screen with action on it, plus there are mechanical things going on, plus the cart you’re in is on tracks that can separate, tilt around, raise, and lower… the last of which they do rapidly. Overall we were actually a little disappointed in this ride. It’s slow, the graphics in the 3-D aren’t as good as in “Corkscrew Hill”, and it’s not at all frightening. If they sped up the cart movements, making it faster and more disorienting, I think the ride would be a lot better. Plus it could be longer. Though I will say it’s cool to see the rides using the newer 3-D technology. Onward  though!

A statue of wolves at the Curse of DarKastle ride.

After this we decided to hit water rides. Crista’s feet started hurting and we wanted to do water rides before she put on sneakers, so we headed for the log ride. Basically… you load into a little cart that floats on water, and it drags you up a hill then drops you down two big hills, splashing water everywhere. Awesome fun. These are the rides that confuse me a bit though. I’ve always hated roller coasters, but I love these rides… but they are basically the same thing. After this ride I ran back to the car and got Crista’s sneakers, and my own, for more comfortable walking, and we continued on. We walked around a bit more, got pretzels (which sucked) and drinks, and my parents went on the big swings, which they love. Then we kept walking. At this point we were heading through Germany and my dad saw a roller coaster he wanted to go on. As we get up to it, we check to make sure it doesn’t do any flips or loops (as Crista doesn’t like those) and suddenly my mom decides to go on it too. My mother has never ridden a roller coaster, because they scare her, but she decided she wanted  to try this one, “The Big Bad Wolf”. This is the 25th anniversary of this coaster, and it’s one of the first inverted coasters in the world. It also doesn’t do any loops, and it actually only has two hills, a small one and a medium sized one - overall a good coaster for her to try. They all go on it while I hold onto our stuff, because I don’t like coasters either, I’ve gotten sick on the only two I’ve ever gone on. They get off and my mom loved it! Yay! So we figured out that what my mom didn’t like about coasters was that the cart on top is too “open,” which frightens her. Next amusement park we go to you can be sure that my mom will be on more coasters now.

My mother after riding her first roller coaster.

So we continue on and go on the “Roman Rapids”. This is Busch Gardens name for the river rapids ride most parks have, which you get on a huge inner tube and ride it around a river which has sprays, waterfalls, and the like… and you get thoroughly soaked. Busch Gardens’ actually kind of sucks. It’s too short first off, and they only have three waterfalls, otherwise you really don’t get wet much. After this we walk up to “Escape from Pompeii”, which turned out to be my favorite ride. “Escape from Pompeii” is basically a huge log ride, with one big drop, but you go through this little “tour” of the ruins of Pompeii when suddenly the “volcano” becomes “active” again. It was a lot of fun, and there was a lot of fire (woo!), hehe. Amusingly, the riders don’t get too wet on this one, but anyone on the paths next to it do when it splashes down. I went on this one twice because it was so much fun. Plus it’s one of the ones that takes your photo as you hit the drop, and I had to act silly for the photo (didn’t get a copy though, not worth it).

After this was the big event… my parents and Crista convinced me to try the roller coaster. We walked back to “The Big Bad Wolf” and my dad and I got in line. Both coasters I had been on before were the “normal” above-track kind. This was my first try on an inverted. I wasn’t nervous, but I wasn’t sure what to expect. We got on after a surprisingly short  wait, and the coaster starts off slow. You go around a few twists then hit the first climb. This takes you up and then drops you down a 59 foot drop which twists a little. It was actually really  boring. Then suddenly you get stopped and start the second climb. This takes you up then around a corner where the second drop sneaks up on you. This one is a 99 foot drop straight towards the river that goes through the park, with a sharp series of twists afterward. Now that was exhilarating. I actually went “Woo!” instead of holding my breath like I normally do on drops. I loved it! I quickly discovered that my dislike of roller coasters was for the same reason my mother was afraid of them. I think next time I’ll be hitting a few of them too!

The 99 foot drop on "The Big Bad Wolf".

Mom and Crista standing by the sign for the coaster.

After this we ate in the German “Festhaus” which has “authentic” German good, and beer (Anheuser Busch… so crap, but better than no beer). It was alright, but nothing great. After this we went and bought our souvenirs (I got two, that’s it) and hit the last event of the day - Kinetix. This is a Cirque de Soleil-esque performance that could have been really good. The acrobats were amazing, but the singers/dancers were horrible, and the band they had playing didn’t stay together that well. I just ignored the music and watched the acrobatics. They were really good, with some hoop-play, unicyclists, and other well-done stunts. After this we braved the exit-crowds and made our way back to the car.

Over-all it was a really fun day, although I have to say Busch Gardens is rather crappy for an amusement park. I’d definitely rate Hershey Park or Kings Dominion over it, and hopefully we’ll hit up one of those two later this summer. If you’re looking for rides, it’s not your place. If you’re looking for a cultural “infusion” it’s also not your place. These days it seems like Busch Gardens is more there for it’s own history than anything else. Their different cultural areas are rather lacking, and seem more a sad gimmick than anything fun. And there shows aren’t that good either. But a fun day was had by all, and that’s all that matters. *And my mother and I like roller coasters now!

Here’s the link for the rest of the photos on my Flickr - Adventures at Busch Gardens.

~Ian

Frank awoke in a cold sweat. He’d been having the same nightmare for the past three weeks. He was crawling through a mine shaft and felt something wet, slimy, and cold wrap around his left ankle, yanking him back down into the darkness, screaming. He knew it was just a nightmare, but it made him dread going to work. The new job gave him the creeps as it was, climbing through the old train system in the city to make sure no one was down there and keeping it clean and checking to see if the lines could be repaired and turned into a new, updated tunnel. The air in those tunnels was too damp, too cold, for July. The dream was unrelated anyhow, train tunnels are huge, the mine shaft in his dream was barely wide enough for him to crawl through.

Rising from bed, he glances at the clock, “5:29″ in bright red numbers staring back at him. He flicked the switch to turn the alarm off. He’d been waking up exactly one minute before it went off since he started having the nightmare. Stumbling to the shower he flicked on the pale yellow light and looked at his face in the mirror. He’d lost some weight recently too. All the walking around he guessed. The dark circles under his eyes weren’t going to go away, but the stubble would. He grabbed his razor and after a few minutes ran his fingers over his clean shaved, gaunt cheeks.”Ow… son of a bitch…” He swore as his fingers run over a cut. He glances at the blood on his fingertips and shrugged. Fifteen minutes later he heads out the door, showered and dressed.

The early morning light always threw the world into a different perspective. Everything seemed slower and the gloom, taking longer to cross his vision, entering and leaving his world in steps instead of flowing. It reminded him of the time he took shrooms and hung out in the park, everything moving in slow motion instead of the hectic pace it normally did. He rode the Blue Line to the financial district and walked to the office from there, catching the bankers, lawyers, and businessmen making their way to work. He liked to watch them at this time, their actions usually the most hectic, therefore screwing with him in the early gloom more than most. He smiled to himself as one man in an expensive suit caught him staring and gave him a dirty look. “It’s better to be remembered badly than forgotten” he thought.

Catching the elevator, he made his way down into the basement of the building and clocked in. Getting some coffee from the machine he took a sip and almost spit it back out. It tasted worse and worse each day. Dumping it out, he grabbed his gear from his locker and strapped the belt on. Radio, flashlight, emergency flare, whistle, extra batteries, water, tools, and his knife. Checking to make sure he had everything, he grabbed a hardhat and his badge and got back in the elevator. He was still working in the lines connected to the orange line, and had to wait a few minutes for a train. He glanced around and sighed. He wasn’t sure, but could swear the man at the other end of the station was urinating onto the tracks. As the train pulled in he stepped on and sat down. Five minutes later he got to State and got off. He noticed the pissing man get off too, as he walked towards the “Employees Only” door. Shaking his head he unlocked the door and slipped inside, pulling it shut behind him. Taking a moment to adjust to the change of light, he walked down the tunnel to the old part of the tracks. He shivered instinctively and remembered his dream. He flicked his flashlight on and turned left. He hadn’t gone this way before, and decided if he could get a few good hours of inspection in, he could call it quits for this section.

After two hours of walking he got the strange feeling again. Looking around, he could swear he felt the air grow ten degrees colder as he passed the last security light. Glancing behind him, he blinked. He could have sworn he saw movement… Turn and shining his flashlight over there, he saw a glimmer of light. He jogged over and saw a key laying on the ground. It was older and rusted, maybe even as old as these tunnels. He picked it up and turned it over. There were no markings, or they had corroded away, and it was a simple skeleton key. He slipped it into the pouch on his belt and looked around again. Whatever he had seem move was gone, probably a mouse or rat. He turned and started walking again. That’s when he saw the hole. It was ground level, with a rock laying next to it, blocking his view from where he had been standing earlier. It was easily big enough for a man to crawl through, and looked like something had been crawling through it recently. He crouched down to get a better look and heard a scuffling noise.

“Come out of there!” he shouted and shone his flashlight into the hole. The hole was actually a tunnel, and it swerved to the right ten feet down. Whatever it was he heard was already around that corner, but it had sounded human. Swearing to himself, he secured his belt and pulled his knife out, just in case.

“I’m coming in there for you, you’re not supposed to be down here!” He cried out, and started to crawl into the hole. Shifting along on his stomach, his flashlight in one hand and his knife in the other, he got a brief flash of deja vu, but ignored it.

Every time he got to a turn in the tunnel, there was another one ten to fifteen feet ahead of him. He paused for a minute to catch his breath and listen. Whoever, or whatever it was he was chasing, they almost seemed to be toying with him. Every time he turned a corner he’d hear, or catch the briefest glimpse of them… it… whatever, turning the next corner. He swore to himself and moved on again, trying to move more quietly, hoping to sneak up. But when he rounded the next corner, he heard it moving around the next one, twelve feet away.

“You son of a bitch… when I catch you…” he stopped, realizing his shirt was wet, shining his flashlight directly in front of him, he saw water glimmering on the rock. He hadn’t noticed until now, but he had been steadily moving down, and must be at least thirty feet under the T tunnels by now, and it was getting rather wet. His nightmare became a very vivid thought in his mind, and he froze, unsure of his next action. He thought for a moment, listening carefully, and he could here the rhythmic movement around the corner up ahead of someone breathing.

“Alright, you know what you fucker, I’m leaving. This isn’t worth it. If you want to wander around in these God forsaken tunnels be my guest.” He spit, and started to back up. He knew the turns in the tunnel were wide enough that he could double up and turn around at one, so he backed up the the first one he came to and did so. Making his way back out of the tunnel, he paused around the next corner he came to and, sure enough, he could hear the bastard following him. Shivering, he continued moving to the next corner. The tunnel was too tight for him to see behind himself, but he could hear the person closing the distance between them ever so slightly.

“I can hear you asshole, go away” he yelled. Moving forward another 30 feet or so, he rounded another two corners before he realized that the person was pretty much right behind him. Lashing out with his foot he kicked him… her… it, and froze. The sound his foot made connecting with it wasn’t… right. It was too wet, too squishy. Choking back a scream, he scrambled forward, not caring about scraping against the walls as he tried desperately to make his way back to the T tunnel, back to open safety. He dropped his knife at some point, but held on dearly to his flashlight. “It wont be like the dream, it wont be like the dream” he muttered to himself over and over again. If he kept the flashlight it wouldn’t be dark, and then it would be different, the thing wouldn’t drag him back into the depths, screaming. He rounded another corner and could see faint light ahead. He was getting close to the end. And emergency light had been directly across from the hole, and that must be the light from it, it must be.

“Ha, you son of a bitch. Kiss my ass!” He yelled and threw himself forward with renewed vigor. Turning the corner, he could see the opening ahead when he felt it wrap around his ankle. His left ankle. Screaming out, he had only a moment to feel that it was one, solid object wrapping around his leg, more like a tentacle than a hand. As it pulled him backwards with more strength than humanly possible, he scrambled for a handhold, but anything he caught was pulled out of his grasp as he was wrenched around corners and back down, deeper into the tunnel. After crashing against a few corners and being scraped up, badly, he managed to roll over and point the flashlight down the tunnel. He couldn’t really see from the way he was being yanked back down, but damn it, he would see this coming. He could tell he was already deeper than had been while following it. A cracked sob tore from his throat as his head bounced off the rock as he was twisted around a corner. Suddenly the bottom dropped out of the tunnel and he was half-falling, half-pulled through open space. Looking down he shone the flashlight on the body of what was wrapped around his leg was attached to. A mass of flesh, tentacles, and mouths being his final sight, he wished he hadn’t held onto the flashlight…