by L. A. Tafe
When the twins are satisfied with my shattered body, they drag me out of the house and into the carnival. I heal my body as they drag me, slowly relieving the agony that the twins unleashed on me.
Before I know it I am dragged threw a large opening, into pitch-black darkness. The twins drag me just a little farther then they leave me, each of them kicking me in my ribs before they go.
A spotlight flicks on right above me, bathing me in bright light. At the edge of the spotlights illumination, I can just barely make out the bodies of ghoulish clowns all around me. Sick piercings in sick places, faces painted in all sorts of ways, grotesque wounds cover their bodies, all of them are watching me with their sharp teeth showing through hellish smiles.
As I look closer I can see the clowns are sitting, even more clowns sitting just above them. With sand beneath my feet and the spotlight above my head, I realize I'm in a circus tent and the show must be about to begin.
Lights turn on around the tent, revealing everything I couldn’t see before, showing a crowd in stadium seating with me in the center of an arena. Ohhhh shit.
The crowd roars, their jeers and booing echoes throughout the massive circus tent. I search the crowd until I find Lancifer, sitting in a massive chair that is more like a throne. Lancifer raises an old chrome microphone to his mouth and his voice booms throughout the arena.
“Come one come all! To the main event of the evening!” Dread rises within me, my body is almost shaking, scared of what is coming.
Lancifer’s voice blares throughout the arena again but I cant make out anything he says, my head is spinning too fast.
A loud roar startles me and I spin to find the source. The spotlight begins roaming the crowd, passing over clown after clown, landing on Lancifer just long enough for him to wink at me from beneath his black hood.
The spotlight settles on the ceiling right above me and I hear another roar, as the top of the tent is torn open. A massive beast of a clown drops down upon me, his weight crushing me into the dirt.
“Here’s jumbo!” I hear Lancifer roar over the microphone, the crowd begins chanting “JUMBO! JUMBO! JUMBO!”
Jumbo is massive, a ten foot monster that only resembles a man in that he has a head, two arms and two legs. His shoulders are swollen beyond muscles, boasting arms that are as long as I am tall. His chest and huge belly are bare, only striped ruffled pants clothe the beast.
Jumbo looks down on me drooling, a wide dumb grin across his face. I'm so fucked.
The crowd stops cheering and Jumbo looks around at them, clearly bothered that they stopped. He grabs me with his massive hands, picking me up off the ground with ease and launches me across the arena, the crowd erupts with cheers as I fly through the air, landing in the stands, crashing into several clowns.
My head is fuzzy, my eyesight blurry, my head pounds as dozens of sharps talons dig into my body. I slowly come out of my daze.
Several clowns drag me out of what is left of the stands I crashed into. One of the clowns bites into my right leg and rips a wound into me. I cry out as blood pours from the wound, feeling another bite in my arm and the clowns begin to yell, fighting with one another over who gets to get the next bite.
Frenzy builds amongst the clowns and they start pulling me in all directions. I don’t fight them. I’m in too much pain to fight them, too hurt to even think about healing myself.
I yell at the top of my lungs, screaming in pain as several of the clowns begin feasting upon me.
Lancifer’s voice rings out right next to me, “No! You, fucking fools! He is not yours to kill!” Lancifer strikes out, his claws moving swiftly, ripping the necks from every clown within reach.
In seconds, each clown is upon the ground, lifeless and bloody. The arena goes silent, not a single sound upon the air. Lancifer picks me up off the ground by the back of my neck and points me towards the beast
“Continue.” He commands, letting me go. I fall to my knees helplessly at the edge of the inner ring. Lancifer laughs at me and goes back to his throne.
I lift my head just in time to see Jumbo charging, his eyes blood shot, his face contorted except for the same dumb grin across his face. I dive out of the way at the last second.
Jumbo misses by inches and crashes into the stands. The crowd lets out a string of jeers at me and at Jumbo. I am too beaten to give a shit; Jumbo on the other hand is driven into a rage at the crowd’s disapproval. Jumbo centers me in his sights and begins to charge.
Blood is gushing from the wounds all over my body, a chill sinks into my bones with the blood loss, feeling weaker and weaker by the second.
Can I really die here? The question hits hard, not necessarily within my conscious thoughts but somewhere deeper, a simple will to survive ignites within me and I feel power flood my veins.
Before Jumbo reaches me, all the blood that was pouring out is sucked back in, healing the wound with the last drop.
Jumbo crashes into me, the impact driving the breath from my lungs. In one quick motion, Jumbo slings me into the air, cocking back his largest arm to drive into me when I come down.
As I come back down Jumbo frowns at me, seeing the wide grin spread across my face. Jumbo hesitates when I get within striking distance. Instead he grabs me with both of his oversized hands and begins to squeeze me.
In his crushing grasp I will be jelly in seconds, but that isn’t my plan. Instead my plan is flames, all that is on my mind is flames. Red-hot roaring flames.
In the blink of an eye my entire body is nothing but a ball of flame, burning hotter and hotter till Jumbo throws me, howling in pain.
I tuck and roll for a smooth landing just a few feet from Jumbo. I watch as Jumbo franticly beats at himself trying to put out the flames.
Seeing my opportunity, I rush him with my shoulder in the lead, hitting him square in the chest, knocking him to the ground, digging my knee into his neck, staring deep into his eyes. They resemble those of a terrified child, a child that knows he’s about to die.
Jumbo flails violently, thrashing all about in frenzy, half of his body charred by flames that are still burning. I dig my fingers into the small eyes of the giant monster, not stopping until I gouge them out socket and all. Jumbo continues to thrash, roaring in pain as his eyeballs hit the dirt.
Driven by rage and newfound strength, I borrow my fingers into Jumbo’s eye sockets, deeper and deeper till I reach his brain, mangling everything I touch.
I don’t stop until Jumbo’s arms collapse at his sides, crashing to the ground with a loud thud. I look up at the crowd, practically snarling at them. I killed Jumbo and I’ll fucking kill all of you too!
I jump down from Jumbo’s chest and proceed to the middle of the arena, still looking from clown to clown in the stands, silently challenging every one of them.
When I settle on Lancifer I can see that me killing his pet was not part of his plan, his face a mix of surprise and violent hatred. I smile at him, knowing I won, knowing I beat him.
Lancifer smiles back, a triumphant smile that tells me I have not won, that says beyond a doubt, I will never beat him.
The lights around the Arena go out, leaving just the spotlight shining down on me for a moment then it to goes out. I snap my fingers and a small flame burns at the tip of each of my fingers.
In the dim firelight, I see outlines of beasts that look a lot like Jumbo, except bigger. Each of them have a pair of glowing green eyes, that I'm sure can see in the dark a hell of a lot better than mine can.
A half dozen pairs of green eyes surround me, each of them staring me down, ready to fight. A cheer from the crowd pierces the air and the beasts begin to charge.
Adrenaline floods my veins once again and the small flames at my fingertips burn a whole lot brighter. I may not win, but I'm going to kill as many as I can before they kill me. Any doubt that I can’t die in my dreams is gone, but so can Lancifer and so can his monstrosities.
I close my eyes and open them, they now glow red and I can see
all six of the monsters just as well as they can see me, all of them nearly upon me. Bring it.
I sidestep quicker than the eye can see, the half dozen monsters crash into each other, stunning them all long enough for me to retaliate.
I grab the closest beast by his only arm, pulling him over me and slamming his head into the ground, shattering his skull into pieces from the force of the impact. In the blink of an eye, I climb another beasts back, grabbing him from behind getting him into a headlock, choking the life out of him. The beast stumbles as he gasps for breath, as another of the monsters cocks back an arm to take a swing at me. I duck and the blow that was meant for me hits the beast I am strangling, right in the back of the head.
I jump from the beasts back as he hits the ground, either dead or knocked cold. Two down, four to go.
Before I can react, one of the beasts grabs me by one of my arms and picks me up, whipping me around the air, then slamming me to the ground.
Another beast grabs one of my legs and begins to pull on me while the other pulls on my arm. I cry out in pain as both my leg and my arm are pulled out of the joint with a quick snap. The crowd roars in acceptance and the beasts begin pulling even harder, just a few more seconds and they will pull me apart.
With my spare arm, I latch onto the beast that just pulled my arm out of place, digging in with my fire lit fingers, striking him aflame like a match.
The beast cries out and releases me, falling to the ground, quickly burning to a crisp. The other monster releases my leg, no doubt fearful he will be the next one to go up in flame, and he is right, he is going to be.
I heal my two out of joint bones and rush the monster that had my by the leg, both of my hands now fully aflame. Before I reach the monster, he leaps into the air, up and over me to the other side of the arena. It isn’t until I turn that I see why.
A dozen of Jumbo’s brethren meet my gaze as I turn, all of them standing so close I can feel their hot rancid breath on my skin. Lancifer walks out from behind the beasts, walking right up to me, his face just inches from my own. “It’s time for you to sleep, Lance.” Lancifer says, “It’s my turn now.”
I bring my hand up, trying to grab Lancifer by the neck and wring the fucking life out of him. But Lancifer catches my arm before it gets anywhere near his throat.
He smiles at me and tosses me through the air, into the group of two-dozen monsters. A beast catches me before I hit the ground and throws me to one of the others.
He slams me on the ground and throws me to another of the monsters. I black out on the ground with all of the monsters pounding me into nothing. Lancifer’s laugh is all I can hear over the sound of my screams.
CHAPTER FIVE.
My eyes open and I thrash about, feeling the hands of monsters pulling on me, beating me into the ground. As I finally fully come to I realize I'm in bed, no monsters are attacking me. I sit up and look around me, everything I see has a red tint too it as if I'm looking through some sort of film. I scan the room and realize I'm not in my room; I'm not even awake. I’m still sleeping!
“I was wondering when you would wake up.” A girls voice says right into my ear. I jump from the bed, my head reeling with what is going on. This can’t be happening!
“Calm down, your just fine.” The girl says, getting out of the bed and coming towards me. She looks just like Amy, but like everything else in my nightmares, there are a few things different. Her skin is as white as snow, hair is the darkest of blacks, and her eyes seem to glow a blue.
“Where the fuck am I? Who are you??” I ask her, scared of knowing the truth but having to know for sure.
“Like you don’t know. You’re in your home. And my name is Amy.” The girl says, agitated by my questions. I look at her, still wanting the rest of the answer. She laughs, a high-pitched giggle that seems so out of place in this room of rot and decay. “You are in your nightmares.”
“How?” I ask, not surprised by her answer. “I don’t know.” “Don’t you fucking lie to me!” I bellow, “Where is Lancifer then?” “I can’t tell you.” Something snaps inside of me and I rush her, pinning her to the wall beside the bed. “He will kill me!” The Dream Amy screams.
“I will kill you!” It slips from my mouth before I think about it. I let her go and she sprints out of the room, I hear her slam the front door closed downstairs. I lean against the wall, slumping down to the floor. What am I going to do?
From the window I look down on the carnival, seeing something I’ve never seen before. Sunlight. Or rather what passes here for sunlight, no sun in the sky, just an illuminating light that seems to come from nowhere.
I walk downstairs, going out the archway that used to be the front door. With a thought, I conjure an old rickety wooden chair for myself, sitting upon it and watching the run down amusement park and the scattered clowns within it.
Without Lancifer to command the clowns they seem to wander aimlessly, without any purpose at all. Some of them speak to one another while others look to be drunk, leaning against a circus tent in a stupor.
The clowns don’t even look over at me as they talk and fight amongst themselves. After watching for quite a while I decide one thing. This is a weird ass place.
I tense up at the sight of one of Jumbo’s brethren, a one eyed behemoth that seems to have been in more than a few fights. The beast roars and I see another of the monsters emerge from the flap of a giant circus tent, he also lets out a roar, and then it’s on.
The two beasts fly at one another, colliding in a loud crash of fury. Clowns gather around the monsters, cheering as the one with one eye grabs the other by the arm, kicking the beast in the back and ripping the arm right off.
I forget about the fight when I see Dream Amy moving her way through the crowd, looking up at me. She approaches me cautiously, still frightened by my threat to kill her.
I think up another wooden chair and one appears. She pays no thanks, just sits down and doesn’t say a word. “Where is Lancifer?” I ask her, trying to keep the anger out of my voice.
She says nothing. Just sits and watches as the beast with the decapitated arm gets hit neck twisted till it breaks and he falls dead, the crowd of clowns cheers for a moment before dispersing. I ask her again, “Where is He?” making the chair float up into the air, turning it so she’s forced to face me.
She looks down and spats on me. It lands on my face and begins to burn like acid. “I have power here as well.” She says, making her chair float back to the ground.
I quickly wipe the acid spit from my face, letting it burn my hand for a moment till I turn it to water.
“I am more than the common clown, Lancifer made me with a little spunk.” Dream Amy tells me, answering my stunned expression. Since when can he create anything more than mindless minions?
“Am I stuck here?” I ask Dream Amy after a few minutes of silence. “For now” she says indifferently. I am pissed now, I want out, and I want to find the bastard that has me stuck here.
“Where the hell is Lancifer?” I yell at Dream Amy. Finally she looks at me, “Out for the moment.” “I want out!” I yell. “Don’t we all.” She mumbles to herself more than to me.
I stand and grab my chair, flinging it out into the carnival to get the clowns attention. “One of you will tell me where Lancifer is! Or ill rip the whole park apart piece by piece till I find him.” My voice echoes throughout the entire park.
The clowns gather and stare up at me, blank expressions on their faces. They don’t know where he is. They are idiots.
Someone in the crowd catches my eye, in a sea of grotesque multicolored clowns, a figure in a black cloak sticks out like a sore thumb. My first thought is that I found him, found Lancifer. But why would Lancifer be hiding?
The figure sticks a hand out from his grab, beckoning me to follow him with a gesture of his hand. I realize who the figure must be, someone I have not seen since the night Lancifer was locked away. Someone who can give me answers.
I run into t
he crowd of clowns, moving swiftly to not lose the figure in black. Clowns around hardly notice me as I muscle my way past them. I see the tip of the figures cloak disappearing behind a carousel, as I get free of the crowd.
The figure and I play cat and mouse all throughout the amusement park, till finally I reach a large structure that looks far to out of place to be an accident, not to mention I have been here long ago.
I walk through the large automatic front doors; the place smells musty, old, a faint taste of blood in every breath. Not quite like a real hospital, just a little worse, like everything in my nightmares. On the inside it looks like an abandoned, peeling paint, patches of the ceiling and walls are missing, fluorescent lights flicker throughout the halls, illuminating everything just enough to make out shapes.
I walk through the hospital, winding my way through a maze of halls and small rooms. The whole hospital is silent. All the rooms I pass are empty, just filled with trash and old rusted medical beds and equipment.
I wander down hallway after hallway for what seems like hours. Finally, walking down a hallway I swear I’ve been in several times, I see a closed door. A black cloak is pinned to it. I cautiously walk to the door, unsure of what to expect. It’s been so long since I was here last, since I’ve seen Him.
I open the door, ready for anything to come at me. But nothing does. I look at the room, recognizing it immediately. “Do you remember this room? What happened here? Who saved you from yourself.” A voice says, the door closes behind me and there is the figure looking nothing how I last saw him.
“Oliver.” I say to the boy I once knew. His face and body are just like mine, except for his sandy white hair and the scars that cover his face make him look much older than me.
“Now you remember who I am? All those years I spent defending you from your nightmares and you forget me. I should rip your fucking heart out.” Oliver’s voice is calm; his threat is almost like a question.
“I didn’t forget you.” I say, slightly ashamed. “No?” Oliver sneers, “Just left me to fend for myself when you didn’t need me anymore, was that it?” Oliver grabs me by the neck and hoists me up in the air, seems like it takes no exertion at all for him.