Page 26 of The Circus

He shakes his head but his smile remains, a touch of sadness and resignation in his eyes.

“Fine, weirdo. We’re a package deal anyways, so she better be cool to me.”

I grin.

“Don’t worry. She still hates my guts.”

Just hopefully not after Saturday.

The driveto wherever the fuck Eden is sending me is long, the highway mountainous and winding, each side of the roadensconced by massive pines and evergreens. I’d searched the coordinates on a school laptop during chemistry this morning, printing out a map to follow as though I’m a pioneer on the Oregon fucking Trail.

Cash’s Mustang rumbles smoothly through all the hairpin turns, and I have to grip the steering wheel and grit my teeth to prevent my toe from pressing down harder and harder on the gas pedal, the temptation to let it fly making my skin itch. I’d never take advantage of Cash like that, though—risk wrecking his baby. Plus, I need it on nights when my hunting takes us out of city bounds, Cash always happy to get stoned and wait for me to kill whoever the voices have deemed worthy of death by my knives.

As I round the next bend, a small, quaint village comes into view, and a light drizzle patters against the windshield.Hangman Hollow, Population 328, the worn wooden sign reads, the white paint delineating the amount of people that reside here chipped and flaking away in the Olympic weather.

A small, warm smile creeps onto my face.

Wherever Eden is leading me, it has her soul written all over it. The perfect amount of mystery and darkened peace.

Once I’m through the town, it’s another five miles until my turn. The road grows more and more narrow, the elevation climbing enough that fog begins to cling to the trunks of trees, the sun hiding its face from whatever is lurking in these haunted woods. The silver clouds above roil with heavy, impending rains.

Eyes skirting to the map on the passenger seat again, I nearly miss the turn, no sign pointing me in the right direction, just a light break in the trees. Slamming on the brakes, I skid across the wet pavement, tires squealing. Alone in the desolate woods, I stare down the bumpy, rocky dirt road and wince, praying the suspension in his ‘Stang can withstand this leg of the journey. The trees and undergrowth are so thick that no light permeatesthe canopy to paint the forest floor below. A sinister warning crawls its hundred legs down my spine as my eyes adjust to that darkness, a flicker of something ghostly white a ways down the road dissipating into thin air.

Shaking myself loose, I grin. It’s just the fog. But I wouldn't be scared if it were something more, and neither would Eden.

Just another reason she is meant for me. No other girl would give me coordinates and make me work for something she is offering up. No other girl would play into my predatory side and send me on a scavenger hunt to make our tryst perfect. How she discovered this place, so far out from the city, is a question I need answered. I want to crawl inside her mind with her, harbor all her darkest secrets and twisted fantasies. And if she doesn’t have any, then I’ll share mine with her.

Slowly, I turn the wheel, edging the nose of the Mustang off the highway and onto the foreboding path before me. The map shows a red dot about four miles down the snaking road, and I take it slow, splashing through puddles of mud, cursing to myself because I know Cash is going to make me wash his prized possession.

At some point, it grows so dark beneath the thick trees that I have to flick on the headlights. Their glow bounces off the dewy ferns and moss-coated tree trunks. I’m met with more gauzy fog, but no other hints of phantoms. It feels as though the forest is holding its breath, everything pulling back with hisses as I willingly wander nearer their macabre home. By the time I have half a mile to go, Ifeeltheir eyes on me, the pitiless eyes of hundreds of souls. Some are curious, others bat shit crazy, and the worst are like mine; evil.

My chest feels as though a stone tablet has been laid upon it. It’s so heavy here, and the closer I get to this unknown location, the harder it becomes to breathe. As though all those lost souls are pushing against me, begging me to turn around before it’stoo late. Some, however, entice me, lure me in because they want me to join their legion of the dead. But then, the trees thin, some semblance of humanity still awaiting nature’s brutal reclaiming. A long, wrought iron fence materializes out of the darkness, and my toe presses down a little harder on the gas pedal as sick excitement builds in my chest, fighting against that heaviness.

And there it is, a massive break in the trees and the gate to an abandoned insane asylum.

My heart positively soars, the gray, cloudy day casting eerie shadows in the empty, gaping windows. I roll to a stop in front of the gate, stone pillars keeping the wrought iron upright on either side. Spires pierce the sky above, and dead ivy winds between the bars. It’s absolutely huge, this place, so derelict and sorrowful and terrifying all at once.

But I am Teddy Poe, and ghosts never scared me.

SEVENTEEN

TEDDY

My boots crunchover broken glass and all manner of debris as I cross the threshold of the asylum and stand in the foyer. Hands in my pockets, I grin, tilting my head back to take in the high ceiling above me. Goosebumps litter my skin, the chill in here enough to make my breath cloud in front of my face.

So we will need a few sleeping bags.Check.

Like a giddy kid in a candy store, I explore every nook and cranny of this place for hours. I won’t make the bus ride to the circus with Eden, but I trust Cash will keep an eye on her, per our agreement. If I’m not back, he takes her downtown. That peace of mind gives me the freedom to conjure up some truly horrifying ideas of what I’d like to do to this space, were it to ever become mine.

Certain rooms are calm, others childlike, and some downright vile. At one point, the patter of little running feet can be heard above me. Though it is unnerving, the sound is innocent.

Just a little ghost excited for a friend. There’s a permanent smile stuck on my face, my heart racing and alive for the firsttime in so many years. Ironic, to feel this way amongst the dead, but I never claimed to be normal.

Eventually, I settle on the perfect room. Three floors up, facing the front gate, the windows busted out, which creates the perfect view of the mountains in the distance. Watching a sunrise from that vantage point?

Well, someone’s getting morning sex, that’s for damn sure.

I’ll have to have Cash help me bring up a mattress or some shit. And candles. Lots of candlelight to set the mood. Mind lost as I put together what I think will be a really fucking good night with Eden, I meander downstairs, aiming for the basement. Jogging down the ancient steps with the small beam of my flashlight flicking left and right, I see him at the last second, a grizzled man dressed in rags, his blue eyes pale, surprised. I should’ve known there’d be squatters here. I’ll have to clear the building on prom night, but Eden won’t have to worry; she’s far safer in this phantasmic building with me than anywhere else in the world.

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