Fred groaned again and looked at his phone, squinting against the backlight. “It’s almost morning, anyway. Let’s get up and get going. You want the complimentary DIY waffles or should we head back over to that diner.”
James shook off a chill, a lasting remnant of the dream’s touch on his flesh. “Are you asking if you can go fail at hitting on the wait staff again?”
“I can’t fail if I don’t try, James. Hashtag goals.”
James laughed and headed for the bathroom. “I’m just gonna jump in the shower first. I’ll be quick.”
“Yeah. Sally told me how quick you were.”
James stopped and glared at his friend. “Too soon and not cool,” he said.
When James stormed into the bathroom and slammed the door, Fred called out to him. “Hey, think of it this way, bro. If you had been better in bed, she wouldn’t have left you for Burton, and then maybe she’d still be alive. Your weak sex game got that girl killed.”
A few minutes later, James came out of the bathroom in clean clothes with a still-wet head. “First of all,” he said. “You’re a horrible person. Second, we don’t know she’s dead; and third, what if I had gone with her instead of Burton. Maybe my two-minute love life is what kept me alive. Have you ever thought of that?”
Fred gave a hearty laugh. “We’re here now, so that’s not great logic, buddy.”
“Fuck, you’re a buzzkill.”
“That your excuse for never drinking or doing anything fun, for that matter?”
“You mean this isn’t fun?” James said with a crooked smile. “I’ll be in the van. Don’t make me wait too long or I’ll be done before you get there.”
Fred shook his head and grabbed a towel, heading for the bathroom.
While James was waiting in the van, he turned the camera on and pointed it at himself. “We spent our first night here in Merryville, and I dreamed of the Puppet Man. It was vivid and real and made me feel hesitant about today’s plans, but I don’t want to turn back now. Still, I can see the shadows of the puppets, hear them calling—”
A bang on the window beside him made James jump. He yelped and dropped the camera. Fred was laughing his ass off as he walked around the van and got in the other side. “I dropped the camera, you asshole,” James said as he got in. “That could have ruined everything.”
“And it’s probably still recording, so everyone will get to listen to you cry,” Fred said with a smile.
James grumbled under his breath as he retrieved the camera and stopped it. They drove to the diner in silence.
“You mad at me now?” Fred asked him, his tone showing no real concern.
“You really think if she’d stayed with me, she’d be alive?”
Fred frowned and huffed as he parked the van in the practically empty lot. “Maybe she is alive, man. Who knows what he does with them out there? And no. I think that girl would have run off with or without you. She was not one to be tamed.”
James looked at his friend in silence for a moment, like he was contemplating his words. “Maybe,” he said at last. Then they went inside.
Judith wasn’t working. There was another woman there. She looked like she could be an image of Judith in twenty years. She greeted them with a joyous smile. Then she noticed the camera. “Oh, has our little town gone Hollywood now?”
“Maybe,” Fred said, smiling at her. “You never know.”
They sat down and ordered coffees to start with as they mulled over the menu.
“It’s fresh,” the woman smiled. “I’ll fetch that while you boys decide.”
When she came back with the coffeepot and two mugs, James took his while she was pouring the next one and he sipped it immediately. He needed the caffeine.
“I’ll take the ham and cheddar omelet with home fries,” he said. “Also, can I ask you a strange question?”
“Yes, Judith is my daughter. Pretty much everything in this town is family run, and yes, she’s single, ever since that butcher boy ran off with the girl from the tire shop.” Both boys laughed as she looked nonchalantly at Fred and asked, “What are you having, friend?”
“Definitely want the platter with the eggs and bacon and sausage and all that.”
“Sounds good,” the woman said. She turned to leave, and James stopped her.
“Umm, sorry, but that wasn’t my question. I mean, umm, I did think you looked like Judith, and Judith is definitely lovely. I just had something else I wanted to ask you about.”
The woman—whose nametag said Ginger—stopped and eyed him curiously. “All right,” she said.
James nodded, and Fred picked up the camera. Ginger raised her brows at that, but she didn’t verbally protest. “Last year, there were four college kids that came through here from out of town. Two guys and two girls. I was just wondering if maybe you saw them or spoke to them. Do you remember?”
“Course I do. We don’t get many visitors. I think ya’ll are the first ones since then. Sometimes the truck drivers stop as they pass through, but mostly it’s quiet. I take it you know them.”
“Yes. The blonde one, Sally, she was my ex-girlfriend. We weren’t a very good couple, but still, she never came back. None of them did. We decided to bring the camera, to try to find out what happened.”
Ginger gave an exasperated sigh. “And let me guess, you think the Puppet Man did it. Do you really care about that gal, or you just want to cause a stir?”
James put a hand out and lowered the camera, which earned him a dirty look from his friend. “I do care,” he said. “I just want to know what happened.”
Fred brought the camera back up. “Do you think it was the Puppet Man?”
“I gotta get this coffee on the warmer ‘fore it gets cold.” Ginger walked away and Fred sighed, setting the camera down on the table.
A girl walked over with a confident strut then and sipped her soda through a bendy straw that she chewed on like a toothpick. “Mind if I join you?”
James scooted over so she could sit. The girl chuckled and set her drink down on the table. “I don’t think that girl missed you a whole lot. You shouldn’t be too concerned with her. She was all over that boy she was with, like bunny rabbits, I’m telling you.”
James scowled. “I know. I still don’t want anything bad to happen to her.”
The girl chuckled again. “You should be more worried about bad things happening to you. What’s happened to her has already happened. Go on back home.”
Fred was filming her and struggling to hide his excitement. “You think the Puppet Man got her?” he asked from behind the camera.
“Ain’t no thinking about it,” the girl said. Then she got up and snatched her soda from the table. “He’ll get you too, you go out there. Go home, fellas.”
When she walked away, Fred set the camera down, and James could see the giant grin that peeled across his face. “Dude, that was gold. We need more of that.”
“I don’t know,” James said. “What if she’s right?”
Ginger appeared, carrying a tray with their food on it. “Mary Lou ain’t been right since she was born,” she told them.
Fred laughed, but James only frowned. “Do you know JoJo?” he asked her.
“Not too well,” Ginger said with a sigh of annoyance. “Nobody really does on account of the fact that he don’t really ever leave that land and socialize with anyone.”
Fred lifted the camera as she worked to set the food down in front of them. She shot a dirty look at the camera and the man behind it, but carried on with the task at hand.
“Why do you think he kept it?” James asked her. “The circus. After all that happened, why wouldn’t he just get rid of it, tear it all down, burn it even?”
Ginger put the last plate down harder than necessary. She looked angry as she stared directly into the camera. “I reckon he was scared, don’t you? He didn’t want to go anywhere near it. Now, you boys, enjoy your breakfast.”
James watched her leave. He reached out but thou
ght better of it. Then he just picked up his fork.
“We’re not going home,” Fred said to him. “Don’t even mention it.”
James rolled his eyes and worked to swallow a forkful of omelet. “Oh, last night you’re all, I’ll be recording from the other side of the fence, but now you’re Captain Fearless.”
“Well, things are different now. We’re getting some great stuff. Like, this could be our ticket for real, man.”
“I didn’t want a ticket. I wanted to find out what happened and make sure it doesn’t happen to anyone else.”
“Great. Let’s do that and get our ticket at the same time. You were the one ready to hop the fence, and now you’re like, maybe we should go home. That dream really shook you, huh?”
“Actually, it did,” James told him. “Just eat your breakfast.”
“Good thing you didn’t order chicken. That would be cannibalism.”
James sighed and aggressively stabbed his omelet, tearing off another forkful and shoving it into his mouth. Fred smiled at that and took a bite out of a sausage link.
When breakfast was over, they gave Ginger a big tip in hopes of getting back on her good side and then headed out to the van.
“Let’s do a bit now where you explain the puppets, before we go,” Fred said.
“Yeah, all right,” James said, his mind going back to the silhouettes from his dream, their laughter filling his mind. He shook off the chill it brought with it. Then he looked into the camera.
“There are many theories surrounding the legendary Puppet Man. Some say the tall man talked to the puppets because they were all he had once he killed the others, that they are no more than puppets and he alone is the madman behind it all. Others say that the puppets are cursed and his work with them is what drove him to kill.
“Some say he wears them on his hands and makes them do the killing for him. Others say that they are actually attached and are a part of him. There are some that believe that the puppets are very much alive and are separate entities of their own. The truth is, it’s all guesswork, because the only people that could confirm or deny any of this, never return. We aim to find out once and for all, the truth of the Puppet Man, and share that answer with you.”
Fred lowered the camera. His grin had grown. He looked like the Cheshire cat. “Dude, that was gold. You were born for this.”
James bit his lip and nodded. “All right. Let’s just get over to old man JoJo’s place and see what he has to say.”
“Hell, yeah,” Fred said, climbing into the van, all traces of fear gone.
James went to hop into the driver’s side when he felt like someone was staring at him. It took him back to his nightmare, and he trembled slightly. Nervously, he turned and looked back towards the diner. That strange girl, Mary Lou, was standing out front, staring at him and chewing on her straw. Her words echoed in his mind. He’ll get you too, you go out there. James frowned, turned back, and climbed into the van.
They drove through town and seemingly out of it until they reached JoJo McCurdy’s land. The woods stretched on for miles and it was all wrapped in tightly wound metal fencing topped with barbed wire, but the gavel-topped dirt road at the center went straight up to the house. The boys were expecting a mansion, but the house was actually quaint. It was more of a cabin.
“There’s no way he owns this much land and isn’t rich,” James said as he drove up, the gravel of the road pelting the sides of the van like a hailstorm.
“Maybe he’s a minimalist or just like a nature guy or something. Or it could be that all his money is tied up in the land and he won’t sell it. Maybe he inherited it and doesn’t have any actual money.”
“Mmm,” James agreed as he threw the van into park.
Fred grabbed the camera and they hopped out, marching to the wooden front door before they lost their nerve. Fred raised the camera and James knocked. The door opened but the man standing before them couldn’t possibly be old man McCurdy.
“Can I help you?” the middle-aged man asked, eyeing them curiously.
James flashed a smile. “We’ve driven a long way to film a documentary on this town, and we’d really love to get some footage of the old circus. We promise we won’t stay long or touch anything. We’ll just film and leave, if you let us.”
The man at the door frowned. He looked past them for a moment. “Come on in.”
When the man stepped out of the way, the boys entered the cabin. The interior definitely screamed old man. There was a wood stove with a fire going. Everything in the place looked practically colonial.
“My name is Bert,” the man said. “My dad is old, and he’s not well. He doesn’t always have a firm grip on his mind anymore, but the one thing he is still very clear on is keeping people away from that old circus. He refused to sell the land or allow anyone to tear it down. He swears it’s cursed. I can show you some old pictures that may be good for your film, but I’m afraid that’s the best I can do.”
James wanted to frown, but he made himself smile. “Definitely. We’d love to see them.”
“All right. Hold on,” Bert told them.
He went into another room and they watched him—Fred through the lens—open the drawers of an age old china cabinet. He came back with a manila envelope and laid it on the kitchen table. He opened it and reached in, pulling out a stack of weathered old sepia photos.
Each one depicted the circus when it was up and running and full of life. They showed children running and laughing, people cheering and the circus crew when they were alive and well. Clowns were juggling and the strong man was bending metal. Fred was zooming in on the individual photos.
“Wait. Is that him?” he asked from behind the camera.
James took the photo he was asking about and looked at it closely. It was a crowd photo, but in the background was a man taller than all the others, staring ominously over the heads of the crowd at the cameraman.
“It is. It has to be,” James said.
Bert shot them a curious gaze and then scooped up the photos, shoving them back into the envelope. “What is this really about?”
James swallowed a lump in his throat. “There were four college students that came here last year. One of them was my ex. They never came back. We’re just trying to figure out anything we can about what might have happened to them.”
Bert frowned. “I’m sorry about your friends,” he said, “but I’m gonna have to ask you to leave now. I have to get back to taking care of my dad.”
He moved to usher them towards the doorway. Fred didn’t turn, though. He was filming over Bert’s shoulder at a doorway in the back.
“Come on. Let’s go,” Bert said.
There was a shadow behind him, though, and Fred was more concerned with whoever was back there than the man before him. The shadow emerged from the doorway, a skeletal form surging forward and lashing out with a bony finger.
“You think this is a game?” a toothless old man hollered. His skin was so thin it was practically translucent, his eyes sinking into his head, but still bulging with his adrenaline-fueled rage. “You need to go! Go! Goooooooooooo!”
Fred stumbled backwards at the outburst and tumbled to the ground, the camera going everywhere as he went down. James pulled him back up to his feet by the back of his shirt.
“We’re really sorry. We’ll go.”
“Dad, calm down. Please. Get back to bed,” Bert was saying to his father. He looked back over his shoulder at the boys heading out the door. “Please heed his advice, guys. Just go. Don’t make me call the police on trespassers.”
“Yes, sir,” James smiled. “Thanks for talking and showing those pictures. Take care.”
He hurried back to the van and climbed in. Fred hopped in the other side. When they slammed the doors and started the engine, Fred said, “We’re not really leaving, right?”
“Of course not,” James answered. “But we don’t want to deal with cops. We need to drive somewhere and ditch the van so he thinks we�
��re really gone. Then we’ll hop the fence and finish on foot.”
“Atta boy,” Fred told him.
Following the plan, they drove the van to somewhere more public, where people would see it and believe they weren’t up to no good. Then they did their best not to be seen as they headed back. They threw their coats over the barbed wire and then scaled the fence. Fred still cursed when his coat ripped. James tossed the camera over the fence to him and then climbed over.
“There’re a lot of woods,” he said when he landed. “How are we supposed to know where the circus is?”
“Maybe we’ll hear it,” Fred said with a grin.
James huffed and marched past him. They walked for a long time, long enough that Fred stopped filming and put the camera away. The woods were thick and dark, even in the light of day, which they assumed was beginning to fade, despite the fact that they couldn’t see it.
“Dude, what if Sally and the others never even found the damned circus? What if they got lost out here? Hell, they could still be out here somewhere.” James leaned against a tree and worked to catch his breath. “Even if we do find it, can we find our way back?”
“You need to chill. Think about the movie, man. Whatever is happening out here, you want to tell the world, right? You understood that when we were headed here. You said it had to be good so people would watch it. You were worried about the lighting and the angles. Remember?”
James frowned. “Yeah. I remember.”
He pushed off the tree and got back to the hike. It wasn’t long before he stopped again, though. Fred started to protest but James held up a hand to stop him. He pointed ahead through the trees.
“Get the camera.”
Fred excitedly raised the camera and stared through the lens at where his friend was pointing.
“I’ll be damned. That is creepy as hell,” he said as he saw the old sign welcoming people to JoJo’s Hometown Circus. The paint was chipping and faded, the wood weathered and rotting, and yet it was still colorful and festive, almost childish.
“Looks like we’re here,” James said. “Keep your eyes open.”
“Kinda hard to film with them closed.”
Dark Carnival (A Horror Anthology) Page 12
