Meeting a Flirty Stranger at the Amusement Park
“february 13th, 2000”
Vampire Prince Series
CHARACTER(S): Vincent (Human)
LISTENER: Unnamed Unempowered Human
PLACEMENT: Vampire Prince, Episode 0
RUNTIME: 13:53
WARNINGS: None
OVERVIEW
On the evening of February 13th, 2000, at the Wonderworld amusement park in Dahlia, Vincent strikes up a conversation with a fellow parkgoer while in line for the Surge rollercoaster. The parkgoer seems “terrified” and is in line alone. Also alone in the line, Vincent begins to speak to them, inquiring why they plan to go on the ride if they seem so scared. The parkgoer tells him that they’ve been dared onto it by their friends, who are now watching from a distance, expecting them to chicken out. While Vincent relays that his situation is nearly the opposite of theirs— he is the only one of his friends who does want to ride again, hence why he’s alone in the line— he makes a concerted effort to reassure the parkgoer.
This attempt at reassurance goes somewhat awry as he goes into some detail of the ride’s intensity, he circles back to his ultimate point that if they can handle this ride, they can handle all of them, and that they’ll be able to rub their friends noses in it when they walk out at the end of the ride. The parkgoer nervously rebuts him, suggesting that it’s a question of “if” they walk out, not “when”, which Vincent laughs off, mentioning the rarity of rollercoaster accidents and how they almost exclusively stem from faults on the riders’ part.
Vincent agrees to ride it beside them. He mentions that he is at the park with two friends who are a couple, and that that often results in him feeling like a third wheel both in general and specifically in the context of the rides, most of which are built around people sitting in pairs. Though he draws out the conversation in an effort to keep the parkgoer distracted, he ultimately recognizes and calls out that the effort is an unsuccessful one, given that the parkgoer still looks very anxious. Vincent then describes how, as a child, he was terrified of rollercoasters and that it wasn’t until he forced himself to go on them again as a high schooler from fear of mockery that he realized he had actually grown to like them. He states that the parkgoer might surprise themselves and actually enjoy the ride, but that even if they don’t, they’ll at least be able to tell their friends off.
As they enter the rollercoaster, he again assures them that they’ve “got this”, mentions the security measures in place, and then states that they can hold his hand if they’d like— no one will be able to see them doing so over the walls of the car, and it can be their secret. They agree, and he tells them they can squeeze his hand whenever it feels like it’s too much. He tells them that his name is Vincent, they tell him their name, and he cheerfully replies that it’s just “one last ride”.
The ride attendant can be heard mentioning that the park will be closing in forty-five minutes, reminding all riders to keep all hands, arms, feet, and legs inside the car at all times, and checking with the other attendants before launch. The other attendants reply affirmatively, and the Surge rollercoaster embarks on what will ultimately turn out to be its final journey.
TRIVIA
Released as a Prequel video to the Vincent series as part of the Valenweek 2020 anthology. In terms of release date, it immediately preceded the “Your Vampire Boyfriend Explains His Turning” video, where Vincent explains the events of and directly following this video, in the present day.
Currently the only instance of an established Vampire character being portrayed before their Turning.
As is confirmed in “Your Vampire Boyfriend Explains His Turning”, the unnamed listener in this audio did not survive the Surge accident, making this the only instance of a listener character being deceased.
Currently the video placed in the most distant past (February 13, 2000)
