Work Text:
1979
Remus stood up, glancing around.
“Kiba?”
Out the corner of his eye, he saw that his hands were paler than normal.
“Kiba? Where are you?”
“Remus! I don’t like it here! I want to go home!”
“Kiba!” His hands hit the glass, his sister disappearing. “What the fuck…” He looked up at the mirror, finally taking in his reflection. He was paler than usual, and somewhat blue in places. He looked ill. No, he looked worse than ill. He looked…
He looked dead.
1984
“You know, I’m kind of a celebrity around here.”
“What? Do you have the high score on one of the games or something?”
“Nah, I mean Asphodel Heights.”
Remus barked out a laugh. Was this kid serious? Been dead for not even a day and already lying about who he was. And what kind of a lie was that? A celebrity? In Asphodel Heights of all places? Bullshit. “Yeah, okay.”
“I’m serious!” Nimrod continued. “My great uncle was Lucky Wattle, put Asphodel on the map with a bat-“
“Oh yeah, I’ve heard of him!”
“Really?”
“No, never in my life.”
Nimrod looked him up and down. “Not really a sports person, are ya?”
“Now what gave you that impression?” Remus asked sarcastically.
“Everything about you, if I’m honest.” Nimrod chuckled. “Anyway, I’m following in his footsteps.” He slowed to a stop. “Or… at least I was.”
Remus sighed. “Look, it’s… a lot to get used to, trust me I know. The lack of pulse, only being around from just after sunset up until sunrise, waking up where you died every night-“
“Every night I’m going to wake up with my head detached from my body?!?”
“…Yeah, most likely.” Remus winced. “But it’s not all bad,” Bullshit. “Sometimes kids leave some of their shit around the park so you can nick that for yourself if you find anything worth your while, and...” He trailed off, not being able to think of anything else. “Fuck it. Welcome to the afterlife, mate. It’s shit.”
Nimrod frowned and looked around. “What about the rides?”
“What do you mean “What about the rides?””
“Have you not gone on anything since you’ve died?”
“Uh, no. I don’t know if you know this, Numb-rod, but once we wake up, the park’s shut off.”
“Yeah, but don’t we have some weird ghost powers that could start it up again or something?”
Remus scoffed. Was this kid for real? “What?”
“Well, we’re tied to the park, aren’t we?”
“Yeah…”
“So shouldn’t we have some fun with it?”
1988
“You okay?” Nimrod asked Remus as he sat beside him on the bench.
Remus sniffed. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
Nimrod waited.
“They just…” Remus shook his head. “They died together; they get brought back together.”
“Yeah, but they’re stuck together for the rest of their afterlives. Literally.”
“If I had the chance to be stuck to her forever, I would. In a heartbeat.” Remus exhaled shakily, no breath coming out. “It’s not fair.”
“I know, mate.” Nimrod nodded, wrapping an arm around the other boy. “I know.”
They stayed like that for a while before Remus wiped over his face with his sleeve. “I can’t believe you weren’t lying about being a small-town celebrity.” He chuckled wetly.
“Like that guy Darius said, “Everyone knows The Rod!””
1995
“This is so cool!”
Remus and Nimrod glanced at each other, both raising an eyebrow at Gonzo.
“Not the typical reaction…” Remus muttered.
“Are you kidding? A fun park. At night!” Gonzo ran up to the loudspeaker booth. “Sick! My mix CDs are still here!”
Nimrod nudged Remus. “He’s an energetic little shit, ay?”
“Let’s just hope he has a decent taste in music.” Remus cupped his hands around his mouth as they walked after the newbie. “So, why’d you take a job at the park anyway? Was the local Macca’s not hiring or something?”
“The park offered a job for someone to announce things on the loudspeaker.” Gonzo shouted back over. “Ya know, new attractions, where to find food, shit to buy at the gift shop, stuff like that.”
Remus shook his head. “Dear old Dad, always looking for another way to earn a quick buck.” He murmured.
“The ad also said they wanted the person to play music, and I want to be a DJ.” Gonzo continued. “I’ve sent in dozens of tapes to Asphodel FM, but they’ve never picked any, even recorded some with my sister…” Suddenly all the energy drained out of the kid. “Oh man, Asha…”
Nimrod glanced over to Remus as they arrived at the booth. “Hey, I know it sucks, but it’ll be okay, you got us now, yeah?”
“Yeah, you do.” Remus said, leaning his arms over the side. “Tell us about your sister.”
1997
“You really have no idea who I am?” Nimrod asked.
Destinee shook her head. “Not really, I mean you died when I was what? 3?”
Remus barked out a laugh, like he had back when he and Nimrod had first met. “Get fucked, Rod. You’re past your prime!”
Nimrod looked back and forth between them. “Great.” He groaned. “There’s two of you now.”
1999
“So weird…” Nimrod glanced over to Remus, before looking back at the newest victim of the park. “You don’t even remember your name?”
Remus walked over and took in the kid’s t-shirt. “Looks like we’ll call you Zed.”
“Woah, when did the goose get down here?”
“Really, Gonzo?” Remus raised an eyebrow. “We’ve got a new guy and you’re wondering about a goose that’s being living here for a week?”
“Well, hasn’t it been on The Reaper the whole time?”
“Yeah, what’s your point?”
Gonzo turned to Zed. “Hey, when you woke up, did you see the goose?”
“Um, yeah, it was right next to me in the cart.”
You had got to be kidding.
Gonzo let out a laugh. “Oh shit, the goose is a ghost!”
2001
“He’s a kid, Nimrod! A full-on kid!”
“I know mate.”
“It’s fucked! This place should’ve shut down the day you died!”
“It should’ve never opened.”
“…Yeah, it shouldn’t’ve.” Remus sighed, continuing to pace around. “It’s just, how the fuck is he getting away with it? This place has been running for 22 years! Multiple kids have died and it’s still going!”
“Maybe… maybe this will be the last of it.” Nimrod said quietly from where he was sitting. “Maybe this time it’s gone too far, as you said he’s a kid-“
“We’re all kids-“
“Yeah, but you’re 19, I’m 17, Destinee’s 16. We’re old enough to be tragic for a week if that. But Tigger, he’s what? 10? Maybe 11? That’s a big enough tragedy to have more than a handful of folks demand this place get shut down.”
Remus stopped pacing. “Hasn’t stopped Dad before.”
“Yeah… yeah mate, I know. But this one’s public. There’s a real chance it’s over.”
2005
“What the fuck happened?”
“You died. Happened to us all.”
“The park’s not even running anymore, and we were in The Mirror Maze of all places! How the fuck could we have died?”
Remus saw Nimrod look at him from the corner of his eye.
“Kevin-“
“It doesn’t add up, Siobhan! Do you remember anything?”
Siobhan’s eyes darted around, shaken by her memories of her last moments. “Not really-“
“So, what the fuck happened?”
Remus shrugged. “The park claims who it claims.”
2022
“Well, what do we have here?” Remus called out as he made his way over to The Reaper. “Fresh meat!”
“Wha…” The kid looked around the park, confused. “Did I hit my head or something? I could’ve sworn-“
“Hit your back actually, by the looks of it.”
“My back? But there’s no way I would have survived-“
“That’s right, ‘cause you didn’t. You, my friend, are dead.” Remus smirked. “D-E-A-D. Dead.”
“Yeah, thanks, I can spell ya know?” Oh, new kid’s got some bite to him.
Remus ignored him. “Which also means, you’re one of us.”
“And what does that mean? Are you guys… are you guys’ zombies?!?” The new arrival smiled widely. “Oh, that’s so cool! Oh man, Chester’s not going to believe…”
Remus hadn’t seen that expression in a long time. The realization that the newest kid to die was never going to see their loved ones again.
“I have to go.”
Remus put his hand on the kid’s chest. “Yeah… no. You’re not going anywhere.”
“Dude, hands off, I need to go see Chester-“
“You can’t.” Remus cut him off. “Look…”
“Mapplethorpe.”
Remus blinked. “That’s a new one…” He muttered. “Look Maggot Boy-“
“What did you call me?-“
“We’re not zombies, we’re ghosts-“
“Okay, bit less cool, but alright-“
“And we can’t leave the park.”
“What?!? What do you mean “we can’t leave the park”?” Mapplethorpe asked in an (terrible, if you asked Remus himself) impression of Remus, outraged. “What about standard ghost powers? Walking through walls, flying, possessing the living-“
“Yeah, let me give you a tip, Maggot Boy-“ Remus chucked an arm over Mapplethorpe.
“Really? That’s the nickname you’re going with?-“
“All your horror movie logic? Toss it out the window. It’s pretty much useless.” The hand on Mapplethorpe’s shoulder tightened. “And you can’t leave the park, okay?”
Mapplethorpe scoffed. “Oh yeah, and what’ll happen if I did?”
Remus brought up his other hand before opening it, making a little poof noise.
Mapplethorpe’s eyes widened. “Oh.” He recreated Remus’ hand movement. “Got it.”
“Great!” Remus smiled as he clapped the other boy’s shoulder. “Right, introductions! Now, don’t mind us Maggot Boy, we might be a bit rusty, it’s been… How long since you died, Siobhan?”
“17-“
“17 years.” Kevin cut her off.
Remus clicked his tongue. “Thanks, Kevin.” He turned his attention back to Mapplethorpe. “17 years since we’ve done this, and lots of names to get through.” He points to himself. “Remus. Been 6 feet under since ’79.”