Nodding against her shoulder, I let my tears fall.“Yes.Yes, you fucking did.Don’t do that to me ever again.”
She chuckled, Caleb chuckled, and he squeezed both of us.“Promise.”
Creeeaaaakkkk…
We all looked to the shadows, bubbling laughter getting louder and louder.They were coming.This was far from over, and we still had to make it to the center.I had no doubt that the ring would be in the middle of all this.That’s where the “big show” was going to go down.
“We need to move.”Caleb stood up, offering his hands to both Temps and me, and only wearing his pants.“The door.”
“I see you got casual,” I smirked at him, forcing that ball of light into my palm again.“Looks good on ya.”
He snorted, rolling his eyes.“I’m just glad Cerberus left me with my pants this time.”
A loud pop sounded from the distance, followed by that sourceless laughter.It kept repeating from the shadows until I could see the edges of figures forming there, each one holding a fistful of balloons.They each popped one, the noise so fucking loud and bright.
“Time for the show, folks!Step on down!Try your luck!”
They stood just out of the direct light, swinging their various blades out in front of them.Temps screamed as one slashed by her face, this long machete with polkadots painted on it.Blood splattered over the blade and handle, I peered into the darkness to see a massive man, six feet at least, and so round that it almost looked fake.
“We need to go!The exit’s that way!”I pointed at the door, which seemed so fucking far now, and we all took off, the figures dogging us in the shadows beyond where my light reached.
“Come on!Try your hand!Come see The World’s Largest Man!”The machete streaked through the light, slicing Caleb’s arm as we ran past.
He growled, raking his claws through the air and catching on the fabric of that oversized man’s clown suit.We ran, heading toward the threshold that glowed red from the seams.But an enormous sledgehammer smashed down into the tiles in front of us, busting them into tiny shards.
I shifted my glow that way, Temps now able to conjure up her own light at our backs.My stomach dropped as I saw what stood in front of us.
Mangled limbs at wrong angles, all four of them, worked to hold the sledgehammer, two heads craning in our direction in a sharp jutting motion.Only two legs held up the figure, all clad in those same dilapidated clown costumes, and the one backward hand gripped the sledgehammer toward me.It hoisted it up into the air again, smiling at us, too wide and too many teeth.
“Come play!Test your feat of strength, puppies!We’ll even let’cha get the first swing before ol’ KitKat!”
“A conjoined twin?”Temps stumbled near me.“What the fuck?What’s—”
“I think the ‘freak show’ has come to us girls.”Caleb reached into the pockets of his pants, pulling out three vials and shoving two and Temps and me.“Throw ‘em.I’m not sure what they do.”
“Now, now.”KitKat swung wide, and I had to duck under the huge, weighted head of the hammer.“No outside treats!”
“Ah!”I rolled, the sledgehammer colliding with the floor behind me in a deafening crash.Temps and Caleb darted to the other side, and I forced myself into a crouch so I could get moving again.“Meet at the door!”
We all got the message, and I ducked back as the conjoined twin sang again, barely dodging the long reach of the weapon.I sprinted toward the door, a fucking pipe organ starting up in the background as the “freaks” giggled relentlessly.Big Boy went after Temps and Caleb, slicing through the air with that machete.
“Hold still, folks!You’re ruining the trick!You know, the part when…” I watched Temps flash her light up in his face, and bright illumination revealed the horrific, torn flesh and stitches holding him together, each patch a different skin tone.“...I slice myself a new addition!”
“Oh, little witch,” a sing-song voice called behind me, and I risked a glance over my shoulder to see the twin barreling toward me, weapon poised over its shoulder, “hold still!Imma make some heathen paste!Eat it up and send it to Him, too!He loves to chomp on some abominations, too!Crunch those witches—”
I threw the ball of light on my hand to its face, and it screeched, reeling back as the sledgehammer came down again, demolishing the floor.
“—between His teeth!”The words came out on a horrible roar, a boom that shook the room at a pitch so low I almost couldn’t understand it.
As the light made the twin clear enough to see, I hucked the bottle Caleb gave me right at its face.In a whoosh, the liquid erupted into flames, burning down the front of the twin.It screamed, dropping the sledgehammer and clawing at its flesh as it charred and melted off.The smell was fucking awful, making me gag.
The hammer.
I leaped forward, snatching the weapon off the floor just as the twin reached for me, rolling out of the way and back toward the door.I took off for it, leveling the head of the hammer with the doorknob and swinging away.The locked panel flew open, wood chunks hitting the floor.
“It’s open!Come on!”
Caleb hooked a clawed hand under Temps’ arm and hauled her toward the door as he ran.He was a lot faster, even in hybrid form.Temps cranked back her other arm and lobbed the vial she held at Big Boy.It smashed against his face as he ran into her light, making him stop.
