Page 35 of Charity's Torment

He hesitated. Tucking his hands into his pockets and locking his elbows in tight, he looked uncomfortable, which caused me to secretly smirk.

“I’ll watch.”

I paid the worker, picked up the gun, and popped all the balloons in a row with ease, winning myself the largest bear they had in stock. I watched him lug the damn thing around for me while I tried to find the next game that showed him we weren’t meant for each other.

Up ahead, a small line for a haunted house called The Butcher House awakened my interest, and I ran up, bouncing into the line like a kid. Okay, maybe I was having a little fun. I haven’t seen a clown yet, but the feeling was still there.

“This seems rather grotesque.” He grimaced as he put the teddy bear down at the door. The guardian to the haunted house informed him he could keep it there and pick it up when we finished with all the attractions. I giggled as she took pity on him, but then quickly frowned when I realized that he left his hands free to try to touch me.

My diabolical plan to see him having nightmares by the end of the night was quickly coming to fruition. Seeing as Halloween was fast approaching, everything surrounding uswasbloody and violent. It was our time to walk through, and I was giddy with anticipation. We strolled through the swinging double doors into a den full of thick fog and strobe lights—it created flashes of light resembling lightning in the night.

Christopher tucked in tight to me, clearly out of his comfort zone, and I giggled.

“Are you scared?”

I teased just as a man with greasy overalls and a bloody pig mask leaped out at him. His eyes went wide as he put his hands up in a defensive posture and hunched over to hide. I couldn’t contain my laughter.

Once he recovered from his first encounter, we progressed farther to see a gruesome scene of a man sawed in half with rather lifelike details. His entrails poured from the table and pooled in a puddle on the ground. Fake rats fed off his carnage while the man held a suspended scream on his face. If I ever saw anything like this in real life, I know I’d have new monsters to plague me at night. Wasn’t the goal for Chris to have nightmares?

We rounded the corner to find a room full of twitching bodies hanging from the ceiling, each one featuring a lifelike human with liquid dripping to the floor. Now, this was a room I was comfortable in, but Christopher tugged on my arm and held his body close to my back as I led him through. I’m positive all the other girls had men that were escorting them through while they cried like babies, “it’s too scary.”

A child’s voice sang a haunting song as we passed through into the next scene. Her soft, high octave voice ricocheted around the room, causing me to question her location. We walked beside a bloodstained bed where the headless singed doll bodies laid strewn across the room. A sinister laugh startled me from the left, and I jumped as I saw the source. A little girl wearing a yellow polka-dot dress sat huddled in the corner, petting a bloody head in her lap. Her head snapped up to stare at me with a crazy look in her eyes. “Shh. Mommy needs to sleep.”

Christopher pulled me away from her as I laughed. I’m sure he thought I was psychotic by now.

We walked into a room full of bright colors, with rainbows and tricycles and a picture of my happy nemesis on the wall. No. No. This is a butcher's house. Clowns do not exist here. I clamped my eyes shut, hoping I could feel my way out or Christopher would somehow grow a pair of balls and lead the way but to no avail. I bumped into the wall, forcing myself to open my eyes. Just as I did, a horrifying clown with jagged bloody teeth popped out from the wall and stalked toward me with jerking motions.

My heart slammed against my chest, and I shrieked. “Oh, motherfucking Christ on a stick. Shit. Fuck.” I flattened my body against the opposite wall while his contact red eyes penetrated my soul and hoped he would get over his fun with me and find a new victim.

Christopher pulled me away from the wall ruining my brilliantly planned cover, and walked me through the next room. “That’s quite the language from a young lady.”

You have no idea, buddy. That was nothing. “You should hear me when I’m mad.”

My heart took its natural pace as we walked through a few more scenes that didn’t include that villainous prick. A few more pig-headed beasts popped out along with the butcher and his bloody carcasses he had mutilated.

The lights went out as we crossed through thin plastic strips that hung down like a slashed curtain. I inched forward, unable to see the hand before my face, when intense lights shone from the front half of a car mounted on the wall, lit the room, and a powerful air horn blared. I held my arm up to shield my vision and closed one eye from habit. When the lights turned off, I opened my eye and noticed a man slip before Christopher’s face and get into position.

Now, it was his turn to be scared shitless. I turned to watch the performance. The car lights popped back on, and Christopher saw nothing but a man wearing one of those smeary doll masks, so close to his face, they could kiss. Christopher shrieked and jumped behind me, feeding me to the proverbial wolf. I bent over with uncontrollable laughter, my mind replaying his high-pitched scream.

“Are we done now?” he asked.

I nodded and held my belly as I howled with glee. We stumbled out of the haunted house with him petrified and me thoroughly entertained.

The elation didn’t last long as my skin prickled with the sensation of someone watching me. I looked around, trying to find the source. A big man stood in the shadows, hiding from plain view, but clear as day to me. He was facing towards me, watching and waiting for us to leave the confines of the haunted house so he could get me in the open. His beady eyes followed me as I tried to find a place to gain the upper hand.

“How about the mirror maze?” I suggested. No one stood in line, and it sat farther back from the rest of the attractions.

“Yeah, that looks tame.”

His hands still shook as I took it, dragging him in the direction we needed to go. We entered the maze, and I glanced behind me—the man didn’t hide his intent—he was the source of my unease.

Black and green lights lit the dim path, making it next to impossible to see too far ahead of you, but just enough you could make your way through. Green beams bounced off the mirrors, confusing my sense of direction. I unsheathed my curved knife, held it down by my side, and bumped into a mirror as I rushed to distance myself from Christopher. I couldn’t have him near me and become a liability if the man made a move in here—which I was certain he would. Halloween music played in the background, just enough to give the maze an eerie effect, but not enough to stop me from hearing Christopher calling out.

“Wait up, Charity.”

I charged through, crashing into another mirror when I spotted him. His broad shoulders blocked out the green light behind him, making him appear more daunting than he was. He bound toward me, and I braced for the impact, waiting for the jolt from the front only to be tackled from behind. My face knocked into the ground, sending a dull pain through my forehead. I shook the shock away and threw my elbow back, nailing him in the ribs. He twisted off me with a grunt. Clinging tight to my knife, I swiped at him, narrowly missing his ankle bone, then jumped to my feet. My blade sliced through thin air when I spun on my heel.

He disappeared.

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