Lisa shrugged him off. “I thought you wanted to get your money’s worth,” she mocked. “Oh, look, it’s Derek. Hi, Derek!” Lisa yelled and ran over to the next spotlight.
A tall kid at least as old as Rath with a sharp nose and curly brown hair sat on a tall stool, legs dangling. He looked like the same Derek who had outpaced Rath in gym class. A first-class runner.
That was impossible, though. “Derek ran away last year, remember? I told you. You were sad because you said you liked Derek a lot the few times you’d met him. Why would he be—”
Rath paused and rubbed his eyes.
Derek’s face was memorable. Sharp features and intense green eyes. Where Rath expected to find dirty sneakers, he found stumps.
“Derek?” Rath asked. “Is that you?”
“Naw, man, not Derek. I’m Angel.” Angel shifted his brown hair out of his eyes.
“Angel,” Rath hesitated. Up close, he was definitely the same Derek Rath had grown up with, he was sure of it. “Are you okay?” He tried hard not to stare where Angel’s feet should’ve been, but it wasn’t working, and Angel snapped his fingers.
“Yo, you should really check out my wings, though. Pretty cool, huh?” Angel spun the top of his chair around so Lisa and Rath could get a good look. Feather wings were tethered to his bare back, stitched with an ugly black thread in a crude manner. They seemed to move as though guided by puppet strings.
Lisa cringed and clutched her moose tightly.
Rath stepped back and looked up and down Angel’s body for signs that he was imagining familiarity. He had the same drawl Rath remembered. The same body type, despite all the modifications.
Angel’s smile was unnaturally wide and didn’t reach his eyes as he spun back around to face them. “You two should come to the show in the big tent. It’s gonna be a blast!” He pointed to a flier on the wall, advertising the upcoming performance. “Portia will be there too, and Wolfie. You haven’t met Wolfie yet. You should both come backstage after the show. I have something I wanna show you.”
Rath shook his head, glad for an excuse to leave. “We don’t have enough money for the main show.”
Angel frowned. “I’m sure I can talk the ringmaster into letting you in. He took me in like family and helped me get past my fear of heights.” Angel’s wings ruffled. “You should really lighten up. You look tense. This is a carnival,” Angel said. He raised his arms toward the top of the tent. “You’re supposed to be having fun.”
Rath ignored him and glanced over toward the exit. A stool with a spotlight sat alone with a name in old, fading letters behind it.
Angel tapped his shoulder. “That used to be Cynthia’s spot,” he mused. “She was great at bending her body into impossible shapes.” Angel’s face went slack. “She had an accident last week. We’re looking for a replacement but—”
“A contortionist?” Rath cut him off. “She was a contortionist?”
Angel nodded. “You know, I remember when your father passed, and you were so angry that you took all the knives from your parent’s kitchen and threw them at a tree. You never missed once.”
“I never missed…” Rath trailed off. “So what?”
“So, you’d be great at throwing knives. We could use a new act like that.”
Rath’s head began to spin. This was all too much. First, Derek no longer went by that name, and acted like he didn’t know them at all, and now he was reminiscing on something that had happened when they knew each other.
He needed a break. He needed Lisa’s exuberant personality to ground him. It struck him that Lisa had been uncharacteristically silent. He looked back where Portia was preening on the stool. Only a couple of other people were in the tent with him, and none of them were Lisa.
“Lisa?” he called out, waiting for a reply. Nothing.
Suddenly all that he could think about was Lisa. Derek-Angel left his mind as quickly as snow melted in the summer. How could he lose her? His mouth was dry as he rasped out another, “Lisa?”
Angel grabbed his arm, and Rath whirled to face him. “They pay well here, if you need money. You should stay.”
Rath pulled his arm away. “I need to find my sister, Derek.”
Angel winced. “She’s just outside the tent. Probably waiting for you.”
Lisa was, in fact, hanging just outside the tent with a small bag of popcorn in one arm, and her moose in the other. She shoveled the popcorn into her mouth, her appetite apparently unmitigated by their disturbing reunion with Derek.
“Lisa, where did you get that?”
“I didn’t steal it,” Lisa replied hostilely. “A nice man gave it to me. He said we could go see the main show for free and gave me the tickets.” She struggled with the popcorn and moose in order to pull out a stack of tickets from her pocket.
Rath took the tickets, eyeing them warily. “What man?”
Lisa pointed to a poster showing the ringmaster with his long, black coat and top hat, white gloves, and gleaming white smile. Everything else about the picture looked wrong. His face, aside from his smile, was shrouded in shadows that deepened the more Rath tried to look at his face. He wasn’t quite sure whether it was just the artist’s interpretation or if the shadows covering his face were really that deep.
Rath tried to grab the popcorn, but Lisa pulled it away.
“You shouldn’t be eating that,” Rath said. “You don’t know where it’s been. Someone could have messed with it.”
Lisa ducked out of Rath’s reach.
An announcement blared over the speakers, followed by raucous carnival music.
“The show is starting!” Lisa jumped in excitement, almost spilling her popcorn. She handed it to Rath. “Want some?”
Rath shook his head. “No, thanks.”
Maybe the popcorn was fine. Maybe Der—Angel—had told the ringmaster about their conversation and he was just being nice. The tickets and popcorn looked normal enough. Maybe Rath was just overthinking the kindness of strangers. Rath followed Lisa into the big tent, along the row of bleachers closest to the stage, and sat beside her.
Lisa shoved a handful of popcorn into her mouth.
The lights dimmed, and the show began with the spotlights trained on the ringmaster.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” he boomed. “Tonight, you have all come here to see a spectacular show! And we will certainly give you one for the books!” He drew his hands up over his head in a dramatic gesture.
From one corner of a net high above, a clown appeared, tied to a silk ribbon, and jumped down, rolling gracefully out from the ribbon as they were lowered to the stage.
Chills ran up Rath’s spine as, even from such a distance, he could see the fangs protruding from the clown’s mouth. Their jaw moving oddly from side to side. Rath was reminded of a viper he’d seen at the zoo.
The clown waved at the ringmaster excitedly. They smiled, the corners of their lips drawing too close to their eyes as the clown presented the audience with a wave of one hand and turned to face the ringmaster.
The ringmaster translated, “Wolfie would like a member of the audience to come on stage for our next act. Do we have any volunteers?”
The audience behind Rath cheered and wooed. Several hands went up, but Rath noticed there were several pairs of eyes looking at him and Lisa in the front row. Several familiar faces teachers, neighbors, other kids from his high school were a part of the audience. He hadn’t seen them since they entered the carnival. There was something off about every one of them. A hypnotized stare, glazed eyes, and an uncanny smile.
He turned back to look at Lisa who not only had her hand raised, but was standing on her seat.
Rath grabbed her around the waist to make sure she didn’t fall and pulled her back down.
Wolfie pointed to her excitedly, then hopped off the stage and approached her; their big, paw-like clown hands spread to each side of their body.
Lisa leaped from her seat, but Rath grabbed her arm and held her back. “No way, you a
re not doing whatever this is. They can pick somebody else.” He didn’t want to worry whether a magic act would make his sister disappear.
She jerked her arm out of his grip and shoved her moose into Rath’s hands. “Keep her safe for me, okay? I’m gonna do something fun for once.” She went right into Wolfie’s outstretched arms.
The clown wrapped their entire body around his sister, and Rath couldn’t take it. He looked back at the audience, which appeared complacent. It was as though they didn’t see the yellow eyes, the darting red tongue, or the scales on the clown’s arms. The clown was a snake in human skin. It was all just entertainment to them.
Rath turned back to them, ready to jump up and pull Lisa away from the grotesque thing ‘hugging’ his sister, but the ringmaster stepped between them.
“Sit down,” he insisted. “She is perfectly safe. This is a show, remember?” The ringmaster bellowed jovially, earning a raucous laugh from the audience.
Rath couldn’t believe it. Everyone was against him, even his own hometown. He paused when the ringmaster bent down, catching the overwhelming smell of something he couldn’t quite place. Like overripe bananas or—
Rath’s thoughts were interrupted by the ringmaster placing a hand on his chest and pushing him back until he was sitting in his seat, watching his sister. He tried to rise again, but it was like he was glued to the seat, unable to move no matter how much he squirmed.
The clown released Lisa from their hug and whispered in her ear.
Rath blinked and rubbed his eyes as the clown unhinged their jaw much wider than should’ve been possible. The clown’s fangs retracted like a robotic monstrosity and, to Rath’s horror, Lisa jumped inside the clown’s gaping maw.
Rath wanted to scream, but the sound caught in his throat. The scream was inside his head, loud and shrill, his sister’s name reverberated in his head.
Rath twisted around to get a look at the crowd’s response as their gasps of amazement didn’t sound alarmed enough. Instead, the audience reacted as though they were watching a fireworks show, as his sister completely disappeared into the clown’s gullet like a fawn being devoured by a snake.
And then the clown unhinged its jaw again, and Lisa stepped out with the grace of a butterfly landing on a flower. She was covered in copious amounts of slime, but otherwise she was grinning from ear to ear.
Rath figured she had to be in shock; how could she not be, after being swallowed whole? How could the entire audience be clapping and cheering as a young girl toweled gut slime off her dress and jumped down from the stage?
Rath finally broke from his paralysis, and he drew Lisa into a hug that she didn’t return. “Are you okay? That must’ve been scary!”
Lisa pushed him away, “It’s just a show. It wasn’t scary; it was exciting.”
Angel and Portia were the next act, but Rath didn’t want any more to do with the carnival. Now that he could move again, he quickly got up and tried to pull Lisa to one of the exits.
“Come on, we’re leaving,” Rath said. He pulled her from her seat.
Lisa pulled back. “But I don’t wanna,” she said.
The clown stood by the exit, smiling too wide, watching them with intense yellow eyes.
Rath paused in the aisle, clutching his sister’s hand as Angel soared to the top of the tent and swooped down over the audience. There was a foul scent of rot as he passed overhead, and Rath noticed that the stumps of his legs were now attached to metal talons that arced into wicked points.
Portia performed acrobatics in the air overhead, using silk ribbons. She almost appeared to be floating on air as she twirled and the silk ribbons became lighter, thinner, almost non-existent. Her extra pair of arms and extra eyes were harder to see at the distance, but then she drew closer, homing in on Rath and Lisa as she came to land off the stage and in their path.
He had Lisa’s hand in a death grip, and he wasn’t letting go until they were off the carnival grounds.
With Portia and Angel both grounded, it seemed like the show was over and the audience was filing out.
Rath charged forward, sister in tow, but every time he thought they were at the exit, someone would bump into his shoulder. Rath would get turned around, and they’d somehow end up back at the bleachers beside the stage. Portia and the clown were each off to the side, neither approaching the pair, but it still happened twice more before Rath threw up his hands in resignation.
By the time the rest of the crowd departed, the exit was blocked once more by the clown and the spider lady, and now Angel as well. They gave Rath and Lisa that eerie, impossible smile that didn’t quite reach their eyes.
Rath shuffled back with Lisa until they were up against the stage.
The ringmaster appeared, face still a blurry shadow under the hat. “Didn’t Angel tell you there was something special for you after the show?” He flourished his cape. “Come, see for yourself what awaits you this fine evening.” The ringmaster held out a hand to Lisa. “You don’t want to miss out on a fun opportunity now, do you?”
Lisa shoved her moose into Rath’s arms, startling him enough to lose his grip on her hand. Then she took the ringmaster’s hand and followed him onstage.
“I’m tired of never getting to do anything fun,” she said.
Rath scrambled after his sister. “Lisa, stop! We’re leaving right now.”
The ringmaster pushed her gently through the red and black curtains, turned, and gave Rath a smile that froze his blood. His teeth were entirely too sharp to be human, his lips a pale blue. The shadow that before had covered his face finally lifted. His skin was corpse gray, his eyes glass marbles in sunken sockets ringed with purple.
“I can bring the dead to life,” the ringmaster proclaimed. “An audience before the show is often dead, and the show brings them life.”
A chill ran down Rath’s spine. What was this man even saying? “Give me my sister back.”
“It is past the time for you to talk,” the ringmaster said.
Rath’s lips went dry, sticky, and suddenly he couldn’t open his mouth. His hands flew to his mouth. It was still there. He tried to speak. Behind his lips he begged Lisa to come back, but there was no way she could understand him. He stumbled forward and fell onto his knees.
The ringmaster put an arm around Lisa and faced Rath. “The way I see it, you have two choices.”
Lisa’s eyes, normally brown, glowed a deep blue.
The trio of performers stood around them like sentinels, watching the events unfold with blank expressions.
The ringmaster carried on. “Angel has told me of your situation. Out of the generosity of my heart, I’m extending an offer to you. You can come into the fold, join our family, and become a performer like your friend, Angel.” The ringmaster’s voice boomed as though he were talking to an expectant audience. “Or you can leave your sister here where she won’t be a burden to you anymore. You can have all the freedom your heart desires.” The ringmaster pulled off a glove to reveal a corpse-gray hand and long, yellow nails.
The choice didn’t sit right. He failed to mention what would happen to his sister if he decided to join the circus.
The ringmaster seemed to understand Rath’s unspoken question. “Your sister has already taken from us, and in return, she will be staying. She is bound to our carnival whether or not you choose to join. Angel tells me you have quite the knife throwing skills.”
Rath had nowhere to go. The curtains were too thick and heavy to move, and there was no visible exit. He got to his feet and felt the clown push him gently forward into the ringmaster’s hands.
The ringmaster clutched Rath’s shoulder with his bare hand, nails digging into flesh. His eyes glowed blue and Rath felt something crawl into his brain, like a maggot worming into the tissue.
“I know everything about your life, Rath,” the ringmaster said. “You spend all your time worrying about your sister. Angel tells me you’re sixteen. A sixteen-year-old shouldn’t have to worry about putting food
on the table. A sixteen-year-old should be playing outside, making mischief with other kids, having fun at carnivals.”
Rath grabbed at the dead hand, struggled to pry the fingers off his shoulder. He still couldn’t speak, but he could make it very clear he wanted nothing to do with their circus family. Rath motioned for Lisa to follow him, but she stayed obediently in place, as though in a trance.
“I told you, there’s a choice.” The ringmaster’s blue lips pulled back into a taut smile. “You can join our family, become a knife thrower, keep Angel company. Or you can leave. The popcorn and the tickets need some compensation after all.”
Rath’s mouth was suddenly able to open again, and he crumpled to the ground in a coughing fit. “Lisa said those were a gift.”
“A gift?” the ringmaster chuckled. “Goodness, no. An exchange.”
“We haven’t agreed to anything. You can’t keep us here. People will notice if we’re missing.”
The ringmaster pulled a small booklet of papers from beneath his robes. Each paper had a face, a timestamp, and a name. Across the top, Missing.
“Do you know how many children go missing in this town? In small towns all across the USA? Do you really think anyone in this place will miss you?” The ringmaster leaned in close. “Would you miss them?” The ringmaster pulled off his other glove and admired his manicured, yellow nails. “You could travel the world with us. We could take care of your sister. All of this—” the ringmaster gestured to the area around them “—could be your home.”
“I refuse to be a part of this,” Rath took a step back, squeezed the moose, and glanced around. “Where’s my sister?”
The ringmaster waved toward the large, red curtains. “My dear Portia will be taking care of her.” The ringmaster’s eyes glowed blue and Rath felt powerless, accepting. “You should take Cynthia’s place. We could use a strong knife thrower to ramp up the suspense in our show.”
Did he want to be a part of this creepy carnival just to stay with his sister? Lisa was the one who enjoyed the acts, and the people. She’d been excited to be a part of the show. She’d had fun.
Dark Carnival (A Horror Anthology) Page 15