"Is dad here yet?" Greg said impatiently, trying to change the subject lest the dreaded words 'let's go home' come up.
"I'm not sure, he should have been here by now. My phone isn't exactly working that well." She pointed at a booth. "Funnel cakes or hot dogs?"
"Why not both?" said a large booming man voice, and Miles turned and let out a squeal.
Dad was a large balding man, not fat, but large. He liked to joke that God gave him a few extra inches because he was a naughty child.
He made being tall seem like a terrible punishment knocking his head on things and groaning about how far away his feet were. But it never stopped Miles from hoping he would tower above everyone someday. He thought it seemed so fun to be giant.
With three chili dogs and four funnel cakes, they feasted happily together at a concrete picnic table. They were not close to the plank fence, but Miles kept scanning it for the figure of the girl.
"Sorry for being so late. I got stuck in traffic." With no further explanation Dad set a large red fisherman's bucket hat on his head.
Mom nodded and between large, gulping bites of funnel cake she slathered sunscreen on the Miles' face. He obliged her and sat still but snarfed down his corn dog as soon as she stopped. She immediately launched herself onto Lorelei's face, and Gregory, recognizing he was next, quickly applied his own sunscreen. He felt too old for the mommy treatment. But it didn't save him any grief as she insisted on helping him smear it 'evenly' no matter what he argued.
After they had stuffed their bellies, they rode the Ferris wheel together. Dad sat with his arms wrapped around mom, and he whispered something in her ear. Greg rolled his eyes, he hated when they got all mushy. Lorelei watched the carnival from the air.
"Did you see the haunted house?" She asked, pointing at a large purple tent.
Greg looked at where she was pointing and saw the two very tall clowns standing in front of the entrance juggling bright colored balls. There were lots of kids swarming in and out of the purple tent.
"I don't think we've walked past it yet."
Miles noticed the little yellow carrier and saw the big fat clown with that angry face. Sue the pretty white dog was dancing next to him. The dog looked so small from the heights of the Ferris wheel that Miles had to squint to see it.
The dog and the fat clown were on the way to the purple tent. Miles pointed at a much closer ride called the tarantula. "How about that one instead?"
Greg snorted, "Dude you've been picking all the rides lately!"
Miles bit his lip and frowned. He didn't want to go past the mean clown again, but he did want to see Sue. Just then, dad let out a loud stinky fart.
"Hey! Keep the F-bombs to yourself!" Greg shouted. Mom and Dad both looked at each other and laughed super hard. Even Lorelei laughed.
"F-bombs?" Mom said, when she finally collected herself.
"Fart bombs. Duh." Greg said and waved his hand melodramatically across his nose.
Mom laughed again and grinned to Dad. He whispered in her ear and bit her neck. Greg made a vomiting motion, and they finally stopped. As the Ferris wheel lifted them back into the air again, Lorelei stared at the long fence. It didn't take long to see the white form of the little girl. She was standing back away from the fence. Her dress was perfectly white again.
As Lorelei stared at her, the dress slowly turned red again.
But she dropped out of view as the Ferris wheel lowered. When it rose back into the air Lorelei couldn't see her at all. She looked down and realized she was biting her fingernails again. Chewing on her fingernails was very unladylike, but when she was nervous, she couldn't seem to stop herself. What did that girl mean when she said clowns hurt her?
Lorelei glanced back at the purple tent with the two super tall clowns juggling merrily in front of the entrance. "Maybe we should try the tarantula?" She said.
Greg groaned. "Fine, but seriously, I want to check out the haunted tent thing. The purple one. I want to do that next."
Mom wasn't much for rides. She hadn't even gotten a bracelet for her and Dad. They said everyone should meet up in two hours. Plenty of time for rides.
Lorelei, Gregory and Miles raced out of the Ferris wheel and ran to the Tarantula. The ride was fun, but Lorelei got a bit queasy and was grateful when it was over. As soon as they got off the ride, Miles was shouting, "let's try that giant boat!" But Gregory stopped him.
"We are going to the purple tent, I'm tired of your excuses." He said.
Miles, always hamming it up, kicked the dirt melodramatically, hanging his head low and crossing his arms in a big dramatic gesture.
Lorelei hissed, "Knock it off, let's go do it and get it over with, okay?"
Thunder rumbled in the distance and Greg muttered, "It better not rain." The park, despite the huge crowd when they had checked in, had already thinned considerably. Perhaps they had checked the weather and wanted to head out before it got exciting.
Greg marched down the long path to the purple tent.
Lorelei was behind him, just a step behind, but Miles waited until he almost couldn't see them to go. Then nerves hit him and he shouted, "Wait for me!" And he ran as fast as he could to catch up, immediately latching on to Lorelei's hand.
Sue, the little white dog yipped as they walked past, and Miles peeked past his sister at the little dog. She was looking at him, her tongue lolled out, and he desperately wanted to pet her again. She barked again, cocked her head to the side and looked ready to run to him. Lorelei pulled him forward quickly so he wouldn't be tempted.
Greg stopped in front of them so quickly that Lorelei stepped on the back of his foot. "There it is."
The tent looked much larger now that they were standing in front of it. There was a steady buzz of people, children, and adults going in and out. All of them had bright smiling faces. "It must be really fun in there." Greg said.
The word "Funhouse' was painted in scrawling red letters above the tent on a large wooden board. Miles hesitated. "What if that little girl was right about the clowns?"
The two extra tall clowns were still juggling bright colored balls back and forth over the entrance, people wandering underneath them.
"She didn't even make sense. She was probably just trying to freak us out." Greg said, and he stepped forward confidently. His stout figure disappeared into the tent quickly.
Miles looked nervously at his sister, and she stepped into the doorway. He scrambled to follow her and soon they were inside. The tent was a maze. The first section had a long mirrored hall with a green arrow pointed at it. A large arrow had the word "Begin". A few feet away was a pitch black hallway with a white plastic sign. The sign had the red word "EXIT" written on it. Greg was already stepping into the mirrored hallway.
Miles held tight to Lorelei's hand as they followed. As soon as they took the first step there was a loud crack behind them. Lorelei let out a little girly scream, and Miles whirled around and looked behind them.
All he saw was himself. Reflection, after reflection. Not even Lorelei. He turned back and squeezed her hand even harder. She was still right next to him. She stepped closer to him and looked back and suddenly they could see them both, reflection, after reflection.
"I guess we can't go backwards." Lorelei said, and pushed forward slowly, one hand outstretched. "Gregory! Wait for us!" She shouted into the mirrors, but he didn't reply. How far ahead had he gone?
Chapter Eight
A moment or two later they came to a mirrored fork. Miles whispered to Lorelei, holding her hand so tight he was worried he would break it. "Which way to you think Greg went?"
She stuck her head down into one hall. "I don't know."
Miles, still gripping her hand, stuck his head down the other hall. Inside his mirrored hallway was the fat, angry clown. He had a terrifying, angry smile. The clown said, "Better run boy!"
And Miles screamed and pulled his head out of the hallway. The clown's big fist came cracking at his head. "Lorelei, it's the clown we ha
ve to run!" He screamed harder, and shoved her forward into the second hall. They were running, and tripping together, smashing into the smooth cold glass as they fumbled forward. Suddenly it went dark.
Miles gasped back a sob, his whole body was trembling from head to toe. He gasped again, Lorelei pressed her hand to his mouth. "We have to be quiet." She mouthed into his ear, not even breathing out when she said it.
Her nearly silent words were enough to make him stop. Tears welled up in his eyes, and the darkness was cold like the walls. The darkness was freezing. The wet terror dripped down his cheeks as he blinked over and over again, his sister's hand still clasped on his mouth while they waited.
Then they heard it.
The cracking smash of glass.
Both of them screamed and Lorelei dragged Miles' this time, her hand trailing the cold mirror, the one holding Miles hand was pressed to the glass on the right as they ran, the other hand stretched out in front in case there was a turn.
They zigzagged at a frantic pace through the glass maze until she felt the glass grow sticky.
She paused and clasped her hand on Miles' mouth again. They had run as silently as they could after that scream. Why was the glass sticky?
Miles was trembling and breathless, but he would scream if she moved her hand. Of that she was certain. So she kept it covered, letting him breathe softly between her fingers. The lights flickered twice, then slowly turned on. Lorelei's eyes grew wide as she realized the glass was sticky and red. There was a long trickle of sticky red blood. Right at her fingertip level. A long trail behind them, a sticky trail in front of them. She let out a real scream, a terrified scream. They had been following a trail of blood!
Miles screamed as she screamed. He wasn't even certain why, but his heart was pounding so hard that he thought he might throw up.
"Why is blood on everything?" She shout/whispered in hoarse terror.
Miles looked at the wall where their hands had previously laid and shuddered. Then he vomited, right on the slick floor. He let go of Lorelei's hand and wiped his face. Blood smeared his face. She shuddered and almost lost her lunch too.
But then she grabbed his hand. "You're bleeding." She said. And his knuckles were raw and bloody.
"Oh." Miles said.
Lorelei looked at her own hand, it too had been scraped bloody.
"But..." She took a deep breath. "When did we cut them?"
"Maybe when we were running, and you kept pressing our hand into the wall to keep us from getting lost." Miles said.
"Is this from us?" She pointed at the long streaky blood line.
Miles shrugged.
"But how would it be in front of us?" She said. The line in front of them was sticky, and dry, and behind them was quickly drying to the same sticky texture. "We went in a circle. That's how."
Lorelei said to herself, frowning.
"How do we get out of here?" Miles said, his voice quivering again. They heard no other sounds. Was the mean clown still following them? Miles pulled Colorado from his pocket and held him tightly. "I don't like this place."
"Me too." Lorelei said, and then said, "We should keep going at least." And they followed their own streaky blood trail, keeping it on the right, and looking left repeatedly for a second route.
"How will we know if we went in a circle again?" Miles whispered.
Lorelei paused. "Well, um, I guess like this." She smeared the red line with her raw knuckles, leaving a long bloody vertical line. "If we see this line, we've gone in a circle."
"Okay." Miles chewed on Colorado's paw while they walked. His hand was back in Lorelei's but they weren't in a hurry anymore. After a while, they came back to the vertical line without seeing any way to escape the circle trap they were in.
Lorelei frowned when she saw it. "I think we need a new plan."
Miles stared at the endless reflections of them trudging slowly forward. "What if we walk the other direction?"
"I am not sure how that will help. Maybe we just missed it because there are so many mirrors. I think I should put my hand on the left wall and we can walk, and that way we won't miss the gap." So they did. And a few minutes later they were back at the vertical mark. Lorelei was frowning even harder now.
"We got IN here somehow so we have to get OUT of here some how!" She ranted.
"Can we try my plan now!" Miles said.
"What was your plan?" Lorelei frowned at him.
"To go the other way." Miles pointed.
Lorelei rolled her eyes, but she had no better plan, so they walked the other direction, her hand still firmly pressed on the clean wall as they followed the blood trail.
Miles held her hand, and they didn't talk while they trudged.
But suddenly a few minutes later, Lorelei said, "Hey, what happened to the blood line?"
They stopped, and neither of them could find it on any of the mirrors. Lorelei frowned again, she hated it when her plans didn't work, and she hated it even more when someone else's plan worked. They took another turn as they walked forward, and ran into Greg, who was standing still. He was pale, and very quiet.
Chapter Nine
Miles wrapped his arms around his brother. Gregory whirled with a frightened look on his face and shouted. He was trembling from head to toe. "It's just me." Miles said, big worried look in his eyes, and Colorado firmly grasped in his left hand.
Greg hugged his little brother back, big tears welled up in his eyes. "We should stick together in this place, it's creepy."
"Did the clown scare you too?" Miles whispered.
"Clown? What clown?" Greg said. "I've just been looking all over for the exit. I'm totally lost, and I couldn't find you guys, I was freaking out."
Before Miles explained what had happened to him and Lorelei, the glass mirror in front of them opened and there was a brightly lit hallway. The three children scrambled inside. The hallway had yellow and pink and blue stripes, alternating. Miles still had Colorado clenched tightly in one hand, and Lorelei clenched tightly in the other.
Lorelei was pale and quiet, following Greg. The hallway was pretty short, and on the other side was a small dark circular tunnel. Greg poked his head into the tunnel, and then said, "It's a slide, guys. It's a slide." And then he shrugged. "Here goes."
And he leapt into the tunnel, sliding into the darkness. Miles screamed to Lorelei who was about to follow Gregory, "Wait wait! Let me sit on your lap!" Fear was still cracking his voice. She looked at him with a worried expression.
Miles was so scared, and she didn't like it. She wasn't even certain any more that there was a clown. "Okay." They took a moment to get settled. Miles sat between Lorelei's legs, and Colorado sat on his lap. He wrapped his arms around Colorado, and Lorelei held his waist tightly.
And then.
They slid.
Into the darkness.
Chapter Ten
Gregory slipped out of the darkness and fell into a bouncy room. The floor was spongy and soft and full of air. He grinned and jumped and tumbled around on it. It was such a relief to find something familiar and safe and fun. A bouncy house room.
Colorado, Miles and Lorelei fell into the room, and soon all three children were bouncing and laughing. They jumped until they were tired and then laid on the cool soft material and rested for a bit. "What do you think we should do next?" Greg said.
"I want to find mom." Miles said.
Lorelei looked around. "Do you even know how we can leave this place?"
Greg slowly sat up and looked around. The room was square, and the walls were inflated and solid on all four sides. The slide was about three feet off the bouncy floor. It would be difficult to get back up it if that was the way they wanted to go. "Maybe we have to push on one of the walls."
"I want mom." Miles said, seriously. "I don't like this place. I wish we had never come in here."
"Oh, come on, don't be a spoil sport. It's not been 'the most fun ever' but it's not like we're being tortured in here. Come on, we can get
out of here." Greg ran and pushed on the walls. They moved back and forth but it didn't seem like a way to exit.
Lorelei tried to climb another wall. "Maybe we have to go over them?"
But it was Colorado who found the way out. Miles stood up and went to Lorelei to help her up the wall, and the little white bear with the bright blue shirt fell to the ground. The inflated bounciness swallowed the bear as it slid between the crack on the corner of the room. Between the wall and the floor, the bear almost disappeared, with only his ear sticking out. "Colorado!" Miles screamed, and dove for the bear like his life depended upon it. His movement were too fast, and he popped underneath the wall, sliding into the next room with Colorado in his hands out in front of him. Not even his feet stayed in the bouncy room.
Lorelei shouted, "wait for me!" but before she too could charge the corner of the room and slip underneath the wall, Gregory charged first. He popped out behind Miles like a little room giving birth to preteens. Lorelei lost all momentum and tried to worm and wiggle her way out, but got stuck halfway. "Guys?"
Gregory turned and helped drag her out of the inflated room.
Miles stared at the crazy scene in front of him. There were balls everywhere, being shot from every direction. Another ball zone, but this one was filled to the brim with children. They were laughing and shooting balls and as they stood there, the alarm went off. The big red button flashed, and the funnel dumped, balls raining from every direction.
It felt familiar, and almost, almost safe. So the children stayed and played another twenty minutes before Miles brought them back again and said, "I want mom."
Gregory tapped a tall, thin boy and said, "How do we get out of here?"
The boy was startled, and he shook his red hair from his face. "Why do you want to get out of here?"
"We've been here a while." Greg said. "Do you know how to leave?"
"No." Then the boy dove into a pile of balls and went back to playing.
A bell rang, a loud booming dingaling, like a casino machine ringing in loads of cash. And the ceiling opened a panel and down dropped a long pink stretch of fabric. It fell all the way to the floor like a long rope. Immediately kids grabbed at it and tried to climb it. Until they heard the loud booming voice.
Firelocked Funhouse (Locked House Hauntings Book 3) Page 3