Page 10 of Hell of a Thing

Her story tugged at my heartstrings. The tiny angel reminded me of my cousin, Samantha, and the way my aunt and uncle had planned out every moment of her life until she decided to run away and never look back. For all we knew, she was dead on the side of the road somewhere. If only I’d listened to her when she’d said she couldn’t take it.

“I’m Mallory, by the way.” The angel’s soft voice brought my attention back to her bright blue eyes. She held up a hand and gave me a wave that sent the charms on her bracelet tinkling. She huffed out a breath, hugging herself tightly. Something about Mallory made me feel instantly protective of her, like by taking care of her, I could somehow make up for the way I’d failed Sam.

“Well, Mallory, nice to meet you. I’m Lisa.”

“‘Nice to meet you?’ Are those really the words you’re choosing right now?” Her face pinched.

I laughed humorlessly. She was right, there was nothing “nice” about this place. “Perhaps not the best word choice, but hey, I appreciate your company. I think it’s prettynice.”

The phantom of a smile graced her full lips. “Earlier, even surrounded by everyone as we are, I felt incredibly alone. That probably sounds ridiculous, but anyway, talking to you does make me feel better.”

“It’s not ridiculous. I get what you mean.” The camera-clown incident flashed in my mind. Did he still have it? Was he taking pictures as he scared others outside? Pushing the oddly violating thought from my mind, I said, “Listen, Mallory, it’s going to be okay. There’s got to be a way out. This is a carnival after all, and the carnies need to be able to move around. There are probably passages or something we can use to escape.”

That brought a tentative smile to Mallory’s pinched face, and I looked around, trying to make good on my promise. Maybe there was another hidden switch in the wall. With a confidence-inspiring smile at Mallory, I squeezed my way through the group and began sliding my hands along the smooth plaster.

I’d just reached the center of the room when a rumbling nearly shook me off my feet. Only the tight press of warm bodies at my back and the wall prevented me from falling. What I’d thought of as a wall on the other side of the space rose into the air, revealing a dark cavern behind. Peering into the darkness, I strained to see what lay within. Was this the next exit? Maybe, but something about it didn’t feel right.

The darkness came to life, and I gasped as movement within the shadows caught my eye. Struggling my way through the panicked crowd back to Mallory, I took her hand and squeezed. She pressed closer. Not hard to do given how the crowd leaned away collectively.

“Just stay with me.” A clacking sound came from within the darkness and a skittering of legs across the tile made me shutter, but I couldn’t see what it was no matter how I strained my eyes. My limbs were heavy and numb, but I had no fear of being trampled here. No one could move enough to do so. Instead, we were tightly packed, and at the mercy of whatever creature lay in the darkness.I struggled to lift a stiletto up, but with the door now revealing a new threat, everyone was screaming and surging backwards into Mallory and me.

The press of bodies made it hard to breathe. Around me, I caught glimpses of wide panicky eyes, like a herd of farm animals realizing they were being led to the slaughter.

I may have been short, but I had enough substance to protect me from the jostling, while Mallory was starting to sink beneath the crowd.

Tugging at her hand, I pulled her towards me, wrapping my arms protectively around her and trying to keep the press of the people off.

A roar echoed around us as the thing in the shadows emerged.

The monster that appeared was at least ten feet long, its legs scraping the floor as it fought to bring its bulbous body closer to us, its prey. Rearing back, the creature revealed a long slit down its abdomen surrounded by sharp gnashing teeth.

A fucking centipede? The creature’s legs stretched forward and grabbed onto the thick padding of Hot Dog’s bun, pulling the helpless man towards its middle.

“Help! Oh God.Please, someone, help!”

There was no way I could make it through the crowd in time to be of any assistance, but the logical thought didn’t keep me from trying. The centipede pulled him into itself, setting down on its legs to bury him beneath its rotund body. Blood squirted out the sides of the beast, and the man’s pitiful screams cut through the panicked shouts of all the rest.

The body of the beast undulated in a pleasant rhythm as it enjoyed its meal. Tears slid down my cheeks unchecked as I continued to try to fight my way forward, failing even as the man’s screams grew fainter.

Once they stopped, I was sure the beast would rear back again and descend on a new victim, instead it turned from us and moved back into its cavern, becoming one with the darkness and leaving behind only a smear of red in its wake.

A cheerful chime rang out as a panel shot upwards beside us, leading us to our next nightmare.

Chapter 5

Sweat trickled down my spine, making the pleather chafe as I crawled through the sweltering building. Each room seemed hotter than the last. After so many twists and turns, and up a set of winding stairs, I couldn’t imagine still even being within the vicinity of the carnival. Time became irrelevant as we moved, entering room after room that couldn’t possibly be supported by the mid-sized structure we’d seen outside.

How could this be real? I kept waiting for someone to open a secret door and flip on a hidden light switch. For a perfectly normal person to appear and laugh off the whole thing. They’d tell me this was a well-done haunted house, pat me on the back, and send me home. But as much as I tried to will it into reality, nothing of the sort happened, and I couldn’t afford to be lost to despair. Not when I had Mallory to think of. She was a sweet kid and focusing on her helped me forget the sheer terror of our situation.

How could this place exist? How could they do this to people?

You signed the contract.

My heart clenched.

The horror of the place overwhelmed me, and I couldn’t help the panicked sob that escaped from my throat, though I coughed to hide it when Mallory looked over with a puckered brow.

How could I be so stupid? Signing my life away like it was nothing. Thinking it was a joke. Convinced something bad could never happen to me. Foolishly believing these people—no, thesemonsters—would never cross that line.

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