Out of the Darkness

120

I laughed, and clapped Ash on the back. "Seriously, this is-" "Oh, excuse me," Sam said, bumping into someone. I looked over to him, to see that he had bumped into a clown. I wasn't particularly scared of clowns but this one...well, it was creepy. It had burnt orange hair, sticking up in tufts on it's head, the white paint on it's face seemed to be it's actual skin that was peeling away in spots, showing blood, sinew, and muscle underneath. It's eyes gleamed red, and it's mouth was cut open in a Joker smile, it's broken ragged teeth showing. "Uh," Sam said, glancing at me, and moving away from the clown. It then started to laugh, not just any laugh, but one of those creepy, high pitched ones, that only got louder. "HEHEHEHEEE," it almost screamed at us. "Okay, yep, it's a nightmare," Sam said, jogging around me to my other side. The clown was wearing one of those basic white jumpsuits with the pompoms as buttons. Only they weren't pompoms. They were doll heads, broken and bleeding, 3 of them down it's torso. God, I hoped they were doll heads. The white jumpsuit had red and brown stains on it, probably blood since this was a nightmare. "This isn't our nightmare. So, who's is it?" I asked, keeping my eye on the clown as it walked away and randomly scared a group of young girls. "I don't know," Ash replied. "It doesn't matter. We just need to find the door and get through it." I looked around at the various fair rides. The Enterprise had a drop down door, like you would expect a flying saucer to have. I counted 4 different fun houses that could be the exit. There were two more rides that you had to go through an actual entrance, instead of a gate. Then there were 2 haunted houses. That would be too cliché though...right? "Keep in mind that the demons in this realm may be more aggressive.  Word may have gotten around that we are traveling through the realms. That's prohibited, so they will try to stop us, just like before," Ash said, as we stopped to watch the Pirate Ship swing up into the sky. The air was filled with joyful shouts, and peals of excited laughter. If I hadn't seen that creepy ass clown, I would still be wondering how this was a nightmare. It was just so light and carefree. "Where do we start?" Sam asked, glancing around. I pointed at the ride that was near the beginning of the fair. "The Enterprise?" I said, shrugging. Ash shook his head. "Not a good idea. If it's not it, and we get stuck on that with demons, we'll be trapped. Sometimes, the most obvious place is the the right answer." He pointed towards the first haunted house. It looked like an old wooden saloon from the Wild West, except it had the usual cheesy ghosts and vampire cut outs decorating it. "Seriously?" I asked, taking in the haunted house. It was one that was we would have to ride through, in those little cart seats. "Yep," Ash replied, smiling at us. "Come on. You guys love spooky, right? If it is the exit, great! If not, it'll be fun." I rolled my eyes, smiling. "Whatever. Let's go see some cheesy ghosts." Sam laughed, and we made our way up the steps to the ticket guy. "Tickets?" he said, in a bored tone, holding out his grease stained hand. "Uh," I stuttered out, looking to Ash for help. "Here ya go," he said, placing a few paper strips in the guy's hand. "Those aren't-" I started, but then the guy opened the chain that was stopping us from entering. "Two to a seat," he said, motioning us through. "Those weren't tickets," I murmured quietly to Ash. Sam and I took a seat in the front, and he climbed in behind us. "It's a dream. I know how to control them, when it's just surface area. It's the demons, the bad things in a dream that I can't control." He patted mine and Sam's shoulder then sat back with a smile on his face. At the last minute, a little boy, maybe 8 or 9 years old, stopped by Ash. "Can I sit with you?" "Sure," he replied, smiling at the little boy. The kid took his seat, then waved to a woman that I assumed was his mother. She smiled and waved back.  A creepy voice boomed in our ears, telling us to buckle our safety belts, keep our hands and feet inside the cart, and not to be nervous. "You will be able to leave this place. Just maybe not alive! HAHAHAHA!" "What the actual fuck?" Sam said, glancing at me. "Why is this starting to freak me out a little?" I laughed, but I could hear the nervousness in my own voice. "Whoa!" I cried out, when the carts jumped forwards, and headed towards the closed doors. They swung open when we got close to them. It was like we were on a train track, the little carts just clicking along into the unknown darkness ahead. I turned my head to look at Ash. "You're sure this is safe?" I asked. He grinned and shook his head. "Not at all, but we don't have a choice. Nothing about this trip is safe. I told you that." "Fuck," I groaned, turning back around. We clicked along into the darkness, and the doors closed behind us. "It's really dark," the kid said. He didn't sound even a little bit scared so I had to give him props for that. "There's a light up there. See?" Ash said, pointing in between Sam and I. He was right. There was a red, glowing light just ahead. "AAGGHHH," a blood chilling scream filled the stagnant air around us, just as a cheap skeleton popped up out of a casket that we were passing. "Oh shit!" Sam gasped, grabbing his chest. I had to laugh. "Did the big, bad skeweton scawe you?" I asked. "Shut the fuck up," he replied. I heard the little boy laughing behind me, and grinned.