"We have to!" Lorelei said.
Miles wasn't moving. He wasn't talking. His eyes were open, and he was silent. He was barely breathing. Shock had consumed him. Thomas fought a clown and the clown won.
Todd shook her. "Quiet. He probably knocked and said that to every door. He doesn't know where we are. But he's definitely waiting in that hallway He is waiting for us. As soon as we stick our heads out..." Todd made a bashing motion with his hands.
Lorelei cringed and looked away. Miles didn't move. He wasn't even holding Colorado.
"I'm worried about Miles. What should we do next? How do we get out of here? We need mom and dad... and... maybe..." She paused, and whispered, "The police."
Todd's face squished all up and then he gasped with a little frustrated sound. "I've been trying to get out of here. I want my mom too." The last sentence was laced with anger.
Lorelei nodded and tried to pet Miles' hair the way her mother sometimes did. He didn't move.
It was like his body hadn't died yet, but the rest of him was dead. He was dead. Thomas was dead, and that killed Miles.
She laid on him and listened to his heart. It was pounding fast. "Miles, it's gonna be okay. I'm right here, it's gonna be okay."
He didn't respond.
"I don't know what to do. I don't have a plan." Lorelei whispered to Todd. It was one of her deepest, darkest fears. Running out of ideas how to fix things.
He looked at her very seriously and nodded. "We can't fight him again, it's too easy for him to win, he's very strong. No more fighting."
Lorelei chewed her lip. "Greg wanted to fight 'em. He broke that clown's nose. Do you think?" She paused and subtly made the same bashing motion with her hands. "Do you think that's why we haven't seen him yet?"
"Greg?" Todd asked.
"My other brother. He's older, he's smart and really strong." There was a whimper forming in her voice as the tears threatened to break free.
"Which slide did he take?"
Lorelei frowned. "I think yellow?"
Todd suddenly grinned. "I know where he is."
Chapter Thirty-Three
Gregory could hardly stomach what he was watching. "Wait. Micheal. What is going on?"
"We are interrogating him." Kayla said calmly, for a child covered in the blood of her enemy. She smiled at Stucco, his deflated suit, and his scrawny body chained up to the wall. "So? Are you gonna tell us how to get out of here?"
Micheal said, "Watch this." And he stepped backward and then spun hard, both swords extended. The tip of the left sword drug along the clowns costume but didn't quite catch his skin. But the second one slipped into the flesh, a long thin line of red dripping from his belly not a second later. He was hairy.
The grown man, the clown, was hairy.
"You missed!" Kayla shouted.
"That was just to scare him. Don't you like to scare kids? Do you like to be scared too? Or..." Micheal's voice took on a menacing tone, "Do you like to dish it out and can't take it?" Kayla grinned and Micheal stepped back to do his double sword ninja swing again.
"Wait." Gregory said again. His stomach was turning. Something was very wrong here. "Micheal, wait."
"That's what my daddy used to say before he hit me. 'You like to dish it out and can't take it.' And then he'd hit me. Usually with just his fists, but when he picked up a paddle, I knew it would hurt. You're just like him. You are a bully." Micheal raised the blades and pointed them at the clown's throat. "Tell us how to go home. This time I am not gonna miss. You better believe me. I will not miss." There was such a deep threat to the boy's voice that the clown whimpered.
And then Stucco opened his mouth and said, "Please. Please stop, I'll help you." His voice was cracking with fear, and tears were running down his face. His makeup was smudged with blood, but the tears didn't leave streaks, the white makeup underneath the blood was still perfect.
"I said wait!" Gregory stood between the boy and the clown. "Something is wrong here. How did you catch him?"
Kayla bit her lip and looked away. Micheal held the swords now pointed at Greg. He squinted his eyes and frowned.
"We didn't have to catch him, he was here when we got here." Micheal said angrily. "He was here, and he won't answer questions unless we stab him. If you only knew the things he has told us. The things he did to kids. Very bad things. The kind of things that makes what my dad does to kids look nice." There was venom in his voice.
Kayla looked smug. "He deserves everything he gets. He murdered kids, and not in a nice way. In really horrible ways." She grinned as she looked at the sagging clown. He hadn't stopped crying.
Micheal rubbed his face with frustration. "You don't get it Greg. You just don't get it." As he rubbed his face his skin got lighter.
"Have you met any ghosts? The one that led me to you said using the weapons strengthens them." Greg paused, he was staring at Micheal.
There was a long white streak on the boy's nose.
"You've got his makeup smeared on your nose. You look crazy." Greg leaned forward and rubbed the boy's nose. "I think we should come up with a plan before we stab him, something isn't right... hey! It won't come off your skin."
Kayla stepped closer. "Let me see." She rubbed Micheal's white streak and suddenly some color came off. But not the white, the skin color rubbed off and underneath was a bright white color. She rubbed his cheek and a green triangle appeared. "You're not my brother, you are a clown!"
Micheal frowned. "I am too your brother. Our mom's name is Martha. We live on Sycamore ave, our house is blue. My first grade teacher was Mrs. Finch, and you told me she was a jerk. But really, she was nice." His eyes narrowed, and he poked the limp clown with his blade. "How did you do this to me?" Then he poked even harder. Stucco let out sharp cry as the tip of the blade inserted into his bicep. "Tell me!"
Stucco took a deep breath. "I didn't do it. I was a kid like you once..."
Before he could continue Micheal cut him off, "You liar!" And he finally spun, his ninja sword move gaining momentum, and the first blade caught the clown under his chin. The second blade got stuck in the clowns chest. Micheal had to pull hard to free it from the clown.
But there was enough blood to make Gregory vomit and burst into tears. Kayla didn't cry, but seemed mesmerized.
Micheal laughed. It was a hysterical laughter that got out of hand immediately. He kept covering his face with his hands as he laughed. "Did you see his face? Did you see how he looked? He didn't see that coming." His laughter roared and when he finally stood up straight again, his face was all clown. Green triangles above and below each eye, his nose had a bright yellow circle on the end, and his skin was white as snow.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Lorelei wrapped herself tightly around Miles. He still hadn't spoken since Thomas had been hit. "I need you to walk with us, Miles, please."
Todd frowned. 'We can't go to Greg if this one can't walk. There is no where safe to leave him."
"What do you know about this place?" Lorelei asked suddenly. "How long have you been here? How did you avoid clowns for so long?"
Todd looked uncomfortable. "I didn't have any kids with me. Not like you you see? You got Greg, and Miles and well..." He didn't say Thomas but they were both thinking about the bloodied skull of their friend. "So when everyone was changing, I wasn't trying to save them. I just stayed back." He had a distant look in his damp eyes.
"Changing?" Lorelei said, frowning. "Like Miles? Where they can't... Be present?"
"No, no. Not like that. I've never seen a kid do this before. I meant the games. They change."
Lorelei looked up at him. "Games?"
He let out a long sigh. "There is something here, something in the funhouse. I think it's the devil. He makes these kids play impossible games, and the losers die, and the meanest of them turn... they turn into the clowns. Once there are no normals left... " He took a deep breath. "Well, none that they know about... They do it again. Every week a few kids join and... The girl I met last week.
She had stayed alive for months that's how good she was at hiding. She said it's been going on for years. This place.." The boy gestured. "This is hell. This is the devils playground. This is where they grow clowns."
Lorelei shuddered. "But, clowns... it's just makeup."
"Not these clowns. This is different. They have to bring children to the devil to play. They can't stop even if they wanted."
"Where is your friend now?" Lorelei asked.
Todd swallowed. "She goes by Skittles now."
Chapter Thirty-Five
"Micheal?" Gregory asked quietly.
The clown boy didn't answer. He was rummaging in the tools and weapons strewn about the ground and pinned to the walls. He seemed taller.
Kayla said nothing, but slowly armed herself.
"Guys? What are you doing?" Greg asked.
"This is the devil's playground, and it's time to play games." Micheal said, as he finally picked another weapon. This one was a scythe. The kind death carries. Micheal raised it into the air and then turned toward Greg.
"You are in this with us or you are against us. There are no other options. Pick a weapon, then pick a side."
Kayla was holding a long hammer with a pointed head on both sides. Her face looked normal, but she wasn't acting normal. Greg turned and grabbed a sword.
"Okay, now what?" He said, trying to hide the fear crawling around the back of his mind.
Michel frowned, and he had a flicker of terrified child, but then he was all clown when he said, "we start." It was plain and simple.
And he swung his scythe at Kayla. She screamed and swung her hammer back at him.
"Children, children, there will be plenty of time for that in a moment, but please wait until the arena is ready." Gregory looked up and saw Otis standing at the doorway way up in the air. "I have something to keep you entertained in the meantime." He continued.
and then he threw Sue down into the pit with them. The dog snarled and yelped. Immediately it cowered in the corner, its tail tucked tightly, ears laid back.
"Mine." Kayla said, and she stepped forward to hammer the little dog. Sue bared his teeth.
"No!" Gregory swung his little sword at the girl. "Leave the dog alone!!" and his speech turned into immediate tears. "My brother, he loves this dog. I don't know if I'll ever see him again. But I can't let you kill him. His name is Sue."
"Your brother's name is Sue?" Kayla asked incredulously.
"The dog, it's a boy, but its name is Sue. Miles is my brother."
Kayla's eyes grew wide. "I remember Sue. But, this dog is mean, look at it!" She pointed her double hammer at the little dog and it snarled in response. "It can't be Sue."
Micheal said, "Who cares!" And stepped forward to swing his weapon. "You think you can dish it, but you can't take it, can you!" And he held his scythe over his head to slam it down on the tiny furry body.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Todd grabbed Lorelei's hand, and said, "I think we should run now. I hope Gregory hasn't turned yet. Whatever you do, don't fight, don't join in. It makes it worse. Don't play the games."
"I've got him." Lorelei said, gripping Miles hand hard. She turned to her little brother and whispered in his ear, "You have to run with us, we don't want you to be left behind."
Miles' eyes grew wide and frightened, but he said nothing. He gripped Lorelei's hand so hard she worried he would crack her bones.
Todd opened the door, and he was right. Milo was still sitting in the hallway. His back was to them, and he was clearly dozing a little. The three kids shuffled into the hallway. Lorelei held her breath, staring at the form of the skinny clown leaned against the wall. Thomas wasn't with him. Where had he gone? Miles let out a little whimper. Lorelei froze and glared at her little brother. They had all seen Thomas get hit by the bat! Didn't Miles understand that if he made noise now, he might be next? She might be next?
Todd feet moved slow and slithered across the floor. He was clearly heading for the large wooden door shaped like a star. Lorelei could feel him trembling in front of her. Would Milo see them before they got there? Or would they escape in time?
Miles let out another whimper. All three children froze in place as Milo's steady raspy breathing stopped. He let out a cough. And shifted.
Todd was trembling even harder now. His fingertips were on the door handle. Lorelei had to bite her tongue to keep herself from screaming. Milo was rustling against the wall. He seemed to rub his eyes.
Lorelei could hear the tiny fluttering sound of Todd's fingertips trembling against the door handle as he tried to turn the handle making no sound. He was holding his breath. She was holding her breath. Miles had tears trickling down his cheeks. He was terrified too, but he could not control himself like the other children.
The door clicked softly as the latch finally released. Milo let out a fart. All three children shuddered together. The noise felt so loud.
Todd gently pulled on the door begging the hinges to be silent. The door made a soft scraping noise across the floor. Lorelei glanced from the door now just opened big enough for the children, and towards the long slender clown rubbing his eyes. He stretched both fists up into the air into the back popped.
Todd slipped inside the door, then Lorelei, and Miles. Miles let out a long whimper as soon as he was on the other side of the door. Todd gestured for him to be quiet, one finger pressed to his lips. He pulled gently on the door, but forgot to turn the handle. In the latch clicked loudly into place.
Had Milo heard them? Panic was bubbling up inside Todd. Surely he heard that loud latch clicking shut! How could he have missed it? It was so loud. Todd could feel his teeth rattling, the fear inside him bubbling out. "Run." He whispered.
And he dragged Lorelei forwards, she grabbed at her little brother Miles. Miles couldn't hold back any further, and he let out a real groan. His terrified, loud whimper was begging to curl into a scream. Lorelei tried to take in the room as they ran. It was solid gold. The walls were reflective, but they distorted the children as they ran past. The color was all wrong, their faces were marbled. It terrified her.
But it was easy to see where Todd was running. He was running towards the yellow slide at the very end of the room. There was nothing else here, this room funneled children into that slide.
Todd had been down the slide once before when he had been chased in here. With his friend, the girl now called Skittles.
The last time he went down it, it had taken him days to get back up. Getting up, getting out, was nearly impossible. It was terrifying to choose to go down it again.
But he knew that is where they had to go. They had to go to the games, they had to meet the ringmaster.
And maybe, just maybe, they would have to play.
And that was his last thought as his butt hit the yellow plastic and he slid and Lorelei let out a scream. Milo was opening the door behind them, rattling it and shouting. Lorelei shoved Miles down the slide in front of her. She looked back and could see the large terrifying man chasing them.
And she slid down to the depths.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Michael had grown. He was bigger.
That was Gregory's thoughts. Turning into a clown, made you bigger. Gregory had always wanted to be bigger. He wanted to be longer, taller, faster, stronger. What young boy didn't?
But watching the boy had been trying to save suddenly spurt up, didn't look fun. It looked terrifying. It wasn't just the growth that look terrifying, the makeup melted to his skin, and the large scythe he was waving in the air.
Kayla had also changed. Not as much as Michael. But she looked pale, and her lips to taken on a rosy tint. It looked the same rosy that his mother got when she put on her favorite lipstick. It looked, unnatural.
Sue was cowering behind Gregory. His furry white body was trembling, and his teeth were bared.
Greg didn't have to do anything. The scythe was slamming across the hammer. Michael was trying to kill Kayla. Kayla was protecting Sue, for now
. There was little he could do to stop them. He had tried, twice.
And he didn't want to hit them. He tried fruitlessly to convince them again. "I came here to save you. Stop fighting. We have to save our energy for this game. I came here to save you. Please stop fighting!"
Neither of them even noticed him. It was like he had left the room, it was like he was gone. As their weapons rattled, Otis suddenly stuck his head back into the room.
"The Ringmaster is ready." The door way up in the air above their heads clicked shut loudly.
And the right side of the room across from where Stucco the clown limply hung slid open. On the other side was a large sandpit. In the center of the large standing room stood an old man.
He was deformed, his nose twisted brilliantly to one side. One eye unable to open from the scarring. He wore an oversized top hat, and his silver and red swirled cape. He lifted one arm and shouted, "Ladies and gentlemen! Boys and girls! Clowns and ghouls! Let the games begin."
His other arm, his left arm was missing all of its fingers, and was formed almost like a wing the elbow unable to extend the skin grown together from forearm to bicep. He spun twirling his cape.
There was a halfhearted cheer. And then Michael stepped into the arena, scythe held high. And he shouted, "My name is Cleaver! And I will defeat these children!" Michael swung his weapon and grinned. The crowd roared.
It took a long while for Greg to register what Michael had just said.
Michael was a clown.
Greg was a child.
They were enemies now.
Michael became a clown, by killing a clown.
Kayla became part clown, by helping. Soon she would be a full clown if she kept fighting.
Greg's brain was crashing with this information. If he fought, and he won, he would become the enemy. If he did not fight, he would die.
This was the new truth.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Firelocked Funhouse (Locked House Hauntings Book 3) Page 9
