“How much longer do we have to wait?” I whined.
“Probably only like twenty minutes,” said my older sister Brooke.
I winced. There seemed to be an interminable line of people waiting to ride the new-and-improved Haunted Mansion in Disneyworld.
“I’m sorry, but you’ll have to wait for the next ride,” I heard a voice say a few minutes later. I looked up to see that all the people had gone in except for my sister, me, and a group of guys behind us.
“Hey, Kat,” my sister said, “if we get stuck on the ride, maybe those guys will protect us.” She snickered because she knew how scared I got about scary rides in amusement parks, even though I was ninteteen.
When we felt like we were about to collapse from the long wait, a worker finally approached us and unhooked the chain for our turn to ride through the mansion. I looked up at my sister in fearful anticipation while she merely stared back with a mischievous grin. We walked into the mansion, the guys following behind us. Chills ran up and down my spine as we entered the darkened atmosphere.
We stepped into a small enclosed room, decorated as a parlor. A mysterious deep voice welcomed us to the Haunted Mansion, the floor slowly moving downward.
I looked up and froze at the sight of several portraits of murdered victims. The voice requested that we make our way through a small passage. We obeyed the request and moved quietly through the narrow passageway. We soon discovered that the passage led to a room with a long line of cars for us in which to ride. I slid in beside Brooke, and the group of guys split up in groups of three and two into the cars behind us.
Suddenly, the cars began to move. As we traveled into pitch-black territory, I gripped Brooke’s hand in fright.
“Ow, Kat! You’re hurting me!” she yelled.
One of the guys, teasing us, shouted in a deep voice, “You girls all right up there?”
“We’re fine!” replied my sister haughtily.
The guys snickered as the ride continued.
The cars took us through many corridors, numerous computerized monsters incessantly jumping out at us.
As we entered another hallway, I encountered my worst fear: the ride stopped.
“Oh my gosh. This is NOT happening,” muttered Brooke. I became even more frightened as my twenty-one-year-old sister now seemed to be freaked out herself.
“Um, Kat, everything will be okay,” she said as my hand still gripped hers. “I’m sure someone will be along shortly, or the ride will start up again.”
“Okay,” I said, a knot forming in my stomach.
“Wow, man! This is so cool!” I heard one of the guys say.
“Dude, this is awesome!”
Then one of the guys howled like a werewolf. “Brian, cut that out!” I heard another one say.
“Oh my gosh, Kat? You don’t think that.....”
“No way, Brooke. It couldn’t be....could it?”
“Well, go check it out, dork!”
The bars suddenly rose from our laps, but still no one was in sight except for the seven of us.
I peeked around the side of our car to see the one and only Nick Carter standing next to the infamous Brian Littrell.
“Hey, beautiful. Are you sure you girls are okay?” Nick said sincerely.
“Hi, I’m Brian,” he said with the cutest southern accent. “What’s your name?”
“Uh, I’m Kathryn, and this is my older sister Brooke.”
My sis turned and around and waved to the guys in disbelief. She turned to me and simply mouthed “WOW” then asked, “Do you guys know what happened?”
“I have no idea,” said Nick. “I hope we get outta here soon, though. I’m so scared of the dark.”
“Baby,” said Brian, giving him a noogie.
“Hey, guys, what are you....well hello there, ladies.” I stood there, watching my sister’s jaw drop as AJ McLean approached us.
“Um, hello,” said Brooke, smiling sheepishly. “I’m Brooke.” She extended her hand to AJ, and their eyes locked in a momentary romantic gaze.
“Hey, who are you guys talking to?” said Kevin. “Oh, well, hi there. I’m Kevin, and you are...?”
“Hi, Kevin. I’m Kat and this is my sister Brooke,” I said to Mr. Body Beautiful. Howie followed behind.
“Hey girls. I’m Howie. What’s up?” I shook hands with Sweet D., and my sister followed suit even as she and AJ continued to glance at each other.
“So, how are we gonna get outta here?” I asked the guys.
“Well, we could try the way we came in, but I think it’s blocked off,” said Kevin.
“I guess we’ll just have to walk to the exit then,” said AJ. “It’s our only way out.”
“Alllllll righty then!” said Brian, imitating Ace Ventura.
“Wait a minute. You mean we have to walk through the mansion to get to the exit?” I said.
“Oh, it’s ok. Hey, since you and I both hate the dark, you can walk next to me,” said Nick. “I’ll hold you close.”
Nick put my hand in his, and we began to make our way through the mansion. Our group of seven followed the cars’ tracks, hoping to find a way out very soon.
“I really don’t like this,” my sister said. I turned around to look at her, only to find AJ pull her close.
“It’s all right, baby,” I heard him say.
We finally came upon the last car....and still no exit.
“It shouldn’t be too hard to find our way out from here,” said Brian.
“This is the end of the ride.”
We continued walking.....then......the lights and all the mechanics shut down.
“AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!” I screamed, my eyes welling up with tears. “Brooke, I hate this!”
“Sweetie, it’s okay,” I heard Nick say. I couldn’t see him, but I knew he was there. I felt him wrap his arm tightly around my shoulder, and I responded by hugging his waist.
The lights then came back on, and we breathed sighs of relief. We still hadn’t found our way out, but at least now we could see again.
“Hey, we haven’t tried this hallway,” I heard Kevin say. I looked up and saw a sign with bright red letters spelling out a relieving word: EXIT.
“Whew. Thank goodness,” I heard Brooke say.
We stepped outside as dusk began to fall. I could barely see the moon, and the sun was beginning to set in the West.
“Hey, what are you girls doing the rest of the day?” asked AJ.
“Well, we’ve been here since 10 a.m., so I was planning on us going back to the hotel and resting up before dinner,” said Brooke.
“How about we treat you girls to dinner?” he said.
My sister melted at the invitation, and I grinned at Nick. He winked at me with his shimmering blue eyes.
