"Riley!? Where have you been!? Wait… what happened to your arm!?"
Several hours later, Riley was finally walking out of Nightwalker's House of Horrors—with an entire medical team trailing behind him. Hannah and the rest of the group were already waiting outside, and the moment they spotted him, they all exchanged stunned looks.
Riley was wearing a sling, gauze covered half his face, and there wasn't a single inch of him that didn't look banged up.
The only consolation?
He was walking straight—no limp, no wobble—without even a flicker of pain on his face.
"Ma'am, we found him unconscious at the bottom of the Stairs of Madness," one of the medics explained, jogging up. "We checked the CCTV. He… fell. The ambulance is already on its way."
"What!?"
Hannah rushed to her brother, arms instinctively reaching out—but she stopped herself, terrified she might hurt him worse. And so, instead, she frantically scanned him with her eyes, inspecting every scrape, bruise, and bandage.
"How the fuck did this even happen!?" she snapped, her voice almost cracking. "You've fucking memorized the whole layout of the fucking Stairs of Madness! You could fucking walk through that thing blindfolded! And also—how!? There's like a fucking dozen safety precautions there!"
Bella, Benjamin, and Pauline shared a look as Hannah dropped the word "fuck" about six times in under ten seconds. But really, could anyone blame her? Seeing your sibling like that would make anyone lose it.
"Man, we gon' sue all y'all!" Bella joined in and shouted, flipping off the medical staff. Her brother immediately pushed her hand down, but she just switched hands and flipped them off again.
"Sis, stop!" Benjamin hissed, trying to wrestle her other arm down too. Bella looked ready to argue, but Benjamin quickly released her and turned to the staff instead.
"Man, but she deadass right. We gon' sue yo' ass!" he said dramatically, waving his fingers in the staff's face. "How you even build attractions that—nah, not maybe—definitely mess people up!? And sweet lil' Riley, of all folks!?"
The staff member, who had been the unfortunate recipient of Benjamin's waving fingers, leaned back awkwardly before glancing at Hannah.
"Uh… ma'am?"
Hannah, who was still busy inspecting Riley, returned the man's gaze with a long sigh.
"My family owns Megaland," she said casually.
"W-what!?"
Even Pauline, who had been quietly hovering around Riley, gasped at her words.. Although, honestly, she probably should have seen it coming.
The signs were there.
No one questioned them even though they were walking around the park without tags on their wrists. They were also able to skip the long queues, and the staff only greeted them with a smile and a nod.
She initially thought it was because Hannah and Riley were frequent guests who came each month, but no.
They actually owned the entire theme park.
"Huh…" The twins exchanged a look, squinting at Hannah suspiciously.
"...So, we can't sue?"
"No," Hannah sighed, shaking her head. "But what we can do is fire these incompetent assholes for not—"
"Sister, it is not their fault."
Before the entire House of Horrors staff could start dreading for their jobs, Riley finally raised his uninjured arm and spoke up.
"I was being chased by someone invisible," he said calmly. "It was the male staff who volunteered to take me outside when I got lost."
"Invisible…?" The staff all looked at each other in confusion.
"Do we even have someone like that?" "I… would have to check. But as far as I know, no? What did he look like, Riley?"
"He told me his name was Ryan Roman," Riley answered without any hesitation.
"Hold up…" Bella narrowed her eyes the second she heard the name. "...That sound mad familiar. Bro, where we hear that from?"
"For real…" Benjamin muttered, thinking hard. After a few seconds, his face lit up, and he snapped his fingers at his sister. "It's that pedophile dude on TV!"
"Aw, hell no!" Bella gasped, pointing too. "The one that busted out that crazy-ass supermax joint for the crazies!? He here!?"
"W-what!?" Hannah's whole body jolted as she whipped her head back to Riley, her eyes wide and trembling.
"Did… did that guy do anything to you?"
And suddenly, the temperature around them began to rise sharply.
"What the—" Bella, Benjamin, and Pauline all staggered backward as the heat hit them almost instantly. The medical team and House of Horrors staff instinctively backed away too, flinching as they heard their clothes start to sizzle.
The ground beneath Hannah's feet blackened, scorched by the heat radiating off her body. The soot expanded in every direction—except where Riley was standing. There, the ground remained untouched, as if his very presence pushed the destruction away.
Hannah couldn't control her powers when she was emotional, but just like her heart, her fire refused to hurt Riley.
"Riley," Hannah said again, her voice crackling with the heat, steam curling from her lips. "Did he do anything to you?"
Riley blinked a few times, locking eyes with her.
Then, he nodded.
"He told me we would play 'hide and wank,' Sister," Riley said, his voice still calm. "I did not understand what that meant—but I heard him breathing close to me after that, so I ran away. And then… I fell."
I apologize, Sister. That is not necessarily a lie, but it is not the whole truth either–I hope you could forgive me.But I do not think you would understand what I did, what I had to do to…
…feel happy. You would resent me for it, abhor me. But I had to do it. I have never felt more… alive. Hannah met Riley's gaze, her eyes completely still as she stared at her brother. But after a few more seconds, she turned sharply and pointed at the staff.
"Find him," she said coldly. "Or I will."
And of course, the staff didn't hesitate—they sprinted back toward the House of Horrors, radioing anyone they could. Security. Management. Even employees who were supposed to be off for the day.
After all, it wasn't just that a known fugitive was lurking in the park—the first victim just happened to be the child of one of the owners. One could argue that this was already the best-case scenario for the park itself since they could do damage control, but for the employees working today?
If they didn't at least find the shadow of Ryan Roman, none of them could even hope to keep their jobs.
As the staff scattered, the oppressive heat around Hannah finally began to subside. Bella, Benjamin, and Pauline each let out a relieved breath. Still cautious, they carefully tapped their feet on the scorched ground as they stepped closer to Hannah and Riley.
"S-shit, fam. You good?" Benjamin gulped, looking over Riley's battered state again. "I heard the dude had, like, super strength. You were able to run away?"
"Stupid," Bella muttered, smacking the back of her brother's head. "Riley got mad telekinesis, remember? You saw how he wrecked that platform during the demo!"
"I also saw him damn not able to control it, sis—kinda like you," Benjamin smirked, rubbing the spot where Bella hit him.
"How… are you feeling, Riley?" Pauline finally spoke up, glancing nervously at Riley's broken arm. "It… doesn't hurt?"
"It hurts a lot, Ms. Pauline. Extremely, I might add," Riley said with a blink. "But my Father knows someone who can heal it, so I do not have to suffer for long."
"I… I see…" Pauline blinked at him.
For someone who admitted to being in extreme pain, Riley's face showed absolutely no sign of it. Not even a flicker of discomfort.
She had met a lot of strange people before… but Riley Ross was something else entirely.
Pauline opened her mouth to say something else, but Hannah's voice abruptly shrieked into all their ears.
"Ack!!" She groaned, grabbing handfuls of her own hair.
"We—we're so screwed, Riley! Mom and Dad can't find out about this! If they do, we're dead! Like—dead dead!"
"Correction, Sister," Riley said, shaking his head calmly. "I believe you are the only one who will be in trouble. But do not worry, I will stand by your side and support you."
"Ack!" Hannah covered her face again, practically vibrating with stress. But after a few moments, she shook it off and chewed her lip in thought.
"It… doesn't matter. First, we need to get your arm fixed before either of them sees it. I think I have Arnold's number—he owes me. He won't tell Dad if I—"
"And what is it that he would not tell me?"
Before Hannah could even finish, a deep voice interrupted her.
A tall, broad-shouldered man approached them.
He was dressed neatly in a black suit, the front of his slicked-back hair streaked with gray. At first glance, he looked stout and heavy, but as he got closer, it became clear:
He wasn't fat at all.
His face was still sharp and chiseled, and his body underneath the suit was built like a truck—pure muscle.
Hannah couldn't really say anything—she just stared at the man standing before them.
The man, meanwhile, calmly swept his gaze over Riley's injuries… before smiling and turning his attention to Pauline and the others.
"You must be my children's new friends," he said, casually waving a hand. "I'm Bernard Ross, their father."
"Wait a minute…" Bella stretched her arms out dramatically before stumbling backward into her brother, taking in a huge, shaky breath as she glanced at Hannah.
"...Of course. Your… your old man… your old man would obviously be the Bernard Ross…" She almost gasped the words. "...the smartest man alive?!"
While Bella, Benjamin, and Pauline stood there utterly shocked, Hannah just rolled her eyes and muttered under her breath,
"Psh. Smartest my ass."
***
Meanwhile, back inside the House of Horrors, the staff had started ushering the guests out.
They turned on all the lights, causing a chorus of groans and complaints to echo through the halls.
And a group that was stuck in the Hallway of Torture, in particular, were loud about their complaints.
[Everyone, please proceed to the nearest exit sign. Staff and security wil...]
"Oh, man! We were halfway through already!" one teen grumbled. "At least let us finish it!"
"Bro, let's just go. They said they're giving out free passes for another day," his friend shrugged. "Free's free, man."
"Tch. Obviously. But like… what the fuck—how realistic are they making these props now!?"
"I know, right? Creepy in the dark, but now with the lights on? It's even worse! What if it's like... an actual body or something?"
"Shut the fuck up, bro. You're freaking me out. Just go!"
"Yikes. This is why I like coming here, man!"
The group rushed toward the exit—but not without stealing a few lingering, nervous glances back. There, tucked between the other props, was something that caught their eye.
A mangled doll, almost naked, mounted upright by a stick jammed through its body—starting from the butt and exiting out the mouth—or perhaps it entered through the mouth, and exited through the butt. But from the way the teeth were jutted forward, it was probably the former. Its limbs were twisted, the nails torn and dangling by threads of flesh.
Its eyes were both gone, and one of its ears was missing too.
The doll also had several holes around its stomach, chest, and neck—all the same sizes, and similar to the width of the stick that was coming out from its mouth.
Its face showed emotion deeper than any doll could. Its face was twisted, but not because of the stick protruding from its open mouth, no—its face was twisted because of fear.
It was grotesque.
Horrifying.
Hyper-realistic.
Almost too realistic.
But none of the guests lingered long enough to question it. Just another scary prop, they told themselves. After all, there were other dolls beside it that looked even more grotesque.
In fact, it looked tame compared to the others. It only stood out because of how realistic it was. Other than that, it truly looked and felt like it belonged there.
Unbeknownst to everyone who had seen it, however… it wasn't part of the attraction at all.
It was almost too realistic, because it was.
It was Ryan Roman.
Perfectly posed—seamlessly blended into the House of Horrors.
Just as Riley had promised, he turned him into something the children would enjoy.