“Welcome to Therapy Park.”

“Eh...?” Helen slowly opened her eyes. “Wha... What’s going on!?”

She was sitting on a chair. Both of her arms were chained to it. “Hey! What’s the big deal!?” She shook both arms, but the chains refused to let go.

Where was she anyway? There were many structures around. A Ferris wheel. A Merry-go-round. A pool. A slide.

Was this a park? Everything looked worn down and abandoned, sometimes outright broken apart. There was nobody in sight. Living creatures didn’t belong in this eerie place.

“W-Why am I...?” Her teeth rattled. In this deafening silence, hearing her own voice instilled a tiny bit of courage. She’d lose her mind otherwise.

Why was she here? Where was ‘here’ anyway? Nothing made sense! The last thing she remembered, she was still at school. That's right. School. She was on the roof, about to... Anyway, how did she end up in this godforsaken place?

“Is this... hell?” She gulped. Her own words sent shivers across her skin.

“Not at all. This is Therapy Park.”

“Eh!? W-Who!?” Helen turned toward the source of the voice. There was a young woman. perhaps a teenager, wearing an attendant’s uniform.

“W-who are you!? Are you working here!? Remove these damn chains!”

“My, my. No need get so worked up.” The attendant smiled. Her childish, innocent smile would have been reassuring, if not for her ghastly pale skin. She was sheer white as if someone sucked all color from her skin with a vacuum cleaner.

“My name is Lariel. I’ll be giving you a short excursion to our park.” The attendant bowed. She was so polite and welcoming, yet that only filled Helen with further dread and suspicion.

“Can you please remove these chains?”

“I apologize, but this is part of the attraction. Please bear with it for now.”

“What attraction!? What am I even doing here!?”

“It appears you’re ready.” Lariel ignored the questions and pressed her hand on a red button. “I hope you’ll enjoy the ride.” Click.

“E-Eh!?” Helen jumped in her seat. The chair! It was moving! Why!? She finally noticed what was beneath the chair: rails. This was a park. There were attractions all around. It finally hit her.

“I-Is this supposed to be a rollercoaster!?”

“Indeed. This is one of our park’s most prized attractions. I hope it’ll be to your liking.”

“Agh! Why!? Who are you!?”

“As I said, my name is Lariel-”

“Why are you doing this!?”

“This is my duty as-”

“What do you want!?” Helen didn’t listen. She shook her whole body, desperately trying to get out of the chair. No matter how much she wrestled with the chains, they refused to give in. She was glued to her seat.

“Please, calm down. There’s no need to panic. With all things considered, this attraction is on the safer side. The mortality rate is merely 23%.”

“And you call that ‘safe’!?”

“Indeed. You have a splendid 77% chance of survival. Knowing that should put you at ease.”

“Like hell it would! You’re crazy!” Helen was losing her wits. Talking to that attendant was pointless. She was insane! A rock had more common sense than her! All this time, Helen’s seat had been moving along the rails. Before long, the slope leading downwards became visible.

“T-There’s... no... there’s no... no...” Helen couldn’t form words. It was nowhere in sight. She couldn’t see it. No matter how hard she peered in, it didn’t show itself.

The bottom. The bottom. There was no bottom!

“Save me! Please! I’ll die!” She called out to Lariel. This mad attendant was her last hope! If nobody stops the chair, Helen will fall into a bottomless pit!

“I understand.” Lariel flashed another innocent smile and walked toward the edge of the rails. “Since it scares you so much, I’ll tag along. I hope that’ll put you at ease.”

“Tag along? How do you even...” Helen’s chair wasn’t attached to any additional seats. There was nowhere for Lariel to sit. “Wait, that’s not even the problem! That won’t save me! Please! Stop this!”

“Fear not. It’ll be alright.”

“What will be alright!? This thing is-” Helen swallowed her words. She was already at the edge. She was going to fall any moment now.

“You must be kidding...” Only now she realized how steep the slope was. It was almost completely vertical! Going down these rails would be hardly better than falling straight down!

“N-NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” She wailed as the chair passed over the edge. The chair accelerated. Nothing was holding her. She was falling. Falling. “AAAAAAAAAAH!!!”

“You appear to be enjoying the ride.”

“Eeeeeh!? W-W-What are you doing!?”

“As I said, I tagged along to put you at ease.” Lariel smiled. She was also descending, but she wasn’t riding anything. She wasn’t holding onto anything either. She was just... falling!?

“You... you’re crazy!” Helen couldn’t believe her eyes. Her own situation was completely blown out of her mind.

“Well then, I’ll be going ahead.” Lariel saluted as her body descended farther and farther. She headed downwards way faster than Helen. The ground was already visible. Lariel was going to reach it first. She was going to crash. Crash. Crash. Die.

“A-AAAAH!” Helen shrieked. Lariel’s body pummeled into the ground. Twisted limbs. Smashed meat. Blood. Blood. Blood. A lump of torn flesh soaking in a pool of blood. “A-AAAAAAGH!!!”

Helen was heading toward the same end. There was no way she’ll live through this. Not with this speed. Not with how steep the slope was. She’ll crash. She’ll die. Her limbs will twist. Her bones will break. She'll become a disgusting puddle of redness. Just a puddle. Nothing will be left. Nothing will remain.

“Just... end it...” She closed her eyes. No more. She couldn’t take it anymore. This was madness. This was hell.

.........

......

...

“Eh...?” Helen timidly opened her eyes. She didn’t crash. The chair kept moving forward. She miraculously survived the steep slope. The next part was straight and horizontal, like a safe train ride. She allowed herself to breathe in relief.

“Ugh! Gah!” The urge to vomit assaulted her. The image of blood-soaked flesh was burned in her mind. It sent tremors throughout her body.

Just a short while ago, she was on the school’s roof. She was going to... She thought she was fine with... But right now, she cried. “Someone! Please! Save me!”

As if to answer her, the seat accelerated again. Faster and faster and faster. The rails kept going straight, so it was nothing compared to the nasty dive she took on the slope. There was no danger. There shouldn’t have been any danger. “You’re shitting me...”

A wall. There was a wall. At the end of the rails stood a thick, towering wall. A dead end. And she was heading straight into it, at full speed. She was going to smash into it. She’ll be splattered across it.

“Just stop it! Arghh!” She violently shook her whole body. The damn chains. These damn chains! She felt her arms being torn as she tried to pull away from the chair. “JUST LET ME LEAVE!”

Clack. Snap. Something broke. “W-Wah!” She flew out of the chair. The chains were ripped apart. “Agh! Wah!” She uncontrollably rolled across the ground. Her bones struck against the ground. Her skin was ripped. She had bruises all over, but she was alive.

An explosion resounded behind her. As she turned her unfocused eyes toward the rails, she saw fragments of the chair flying in all directions. A moment later and she’d be smashed the same way. Her aching arms trembled at the thought of being rent asunder like that.

“You see? You survived the ride without any problems. There was nothing worry about.” A familiar, soft voice addressed Helen. “Here, take my hand.”

“T-Thanks...” Helen answered in a daze and stretched her hand toward Lariel... Hm? Something seemed odd, but Helen was too exhausted to think. She could barely stand, so she grabbed the offered hand without thinking twice. A hand... was she really holding a hand? She slowly cast her gaze upwards.

“Ah... ah...” Words were stuck in her throat. She was indeed gripping something, but it wasn’t a hand. It was Lariel’s leg. A leg which stretched upwards and connected to... Lariel’s shoulder. “Ah... ah...”

It was an abomination. A leg stretching from a shoulder. A hand growing from a tight. A smiling face glued to a shoulder. An arm sticking out of a neck.

“Oh, I apologize. I assembled myself in a haste, so it appears I’ve made a couple mistakes. Just a moment please.” Clack. Something fell off the monster’s body. It was the “hand” Helen was gripping. It fell off the shoulder. A dead lump of meat. In Helen’s hand.

“Ah... Ah... AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!”

Everything went black.

Her senses shut down.

She refused to register any of this.

.........

......

...

“Eh!?” Helen opened her eyes. Her hands were gripping a metal fence. Her feet were at the edge of the roof. She knew this place. This is where she planned to...

The ground was far below her. She’d fall. Crash. Twisted limbs. Smashed flesh. Blood. Blood. Blood.

“Ah! Ah!!!” She climbed over the fence in terror, as if chased by a monster. She collapsed on the floor, but the pain of the impact didn’t register with her. She immediately jumped back on her feet and dashed toward the door.

After that, Helen will never again entertain the thoughts she had back then on the roof. Each time the idea tried to cross her mind, gruesome scenes assaulted her mind without mercy. She had to live. She wanted to live.

And so, Helen peacefully lived the rest of her life. She married, gave birth to children and eventually died of old age. But that’s a story for another day.