The Carnival - Henmei shikei

[Boston]

Tommy nodded in response to Jo when she asked if he could get the door open, glancing over his shoulder at her when she stood so close to him, “Of course, it’s made of paper and flimsy wood.”

To prove his point he grabbed the handle of the door and pushed the sole of his shoe against the frame, giving it just a light tug and a shove, snapping whatever weak lock was keeping it shut. He slid it open and took a step to the side, waving Jo inside and looking back towards the forest when he noticed something coming through the trees.

“Don’t be silly, nobody wants to sacrifice us…” He sounded a little distracted, naturally, looking into the forest, trying to see what it was they heard.

Tommy squinted to see through the darkness, and could just make out several wavy silhouettes marching through the forest. From this distance and in the darkness he couldn’t tell if it was people or some sort of creatures, perhaps similar to the red one he had shot in the tunnel. Either way, he figured he should get Jo inside before she saw for herself. It was obvious she was uneasy being out in the darkness, and she probably didn’t need the added element of being surrounded.

He slid the door shut once they were inside, and secured it with the now broken lock. As whatever was coming through the forest gradually made its way closer, Tommy made some more small talk to keep Jo distracted as he assessed the situation. He had never answered her earlier question due to falling out of a well, which made a nice starting point. “My work tends to keep me in shape…” He spoke casually and stood with his back against the wall, lifting a wooden flap which acted as the window to peek back outside.

He saw what now appeared to be several people, dispersing at the well and heading towards what he assumed was their respective homes. Tommy couldn’t help but chuckle inappropriately at this.

“The cases I’m hired for tend to put me in some kinda iffy situations, this ain’t exactly my first rodeo…If I don’t keep in shape I’m likely to get gunned down quick…” He moved across the room and peeked out another window, and noticed that a few of the people were carrying thick chains, the rattling of which could now be heard over the wind and rustling of the leaves.

Tommy squinted to follow the chain back towards the trees, to see that the true source of the rumbling in the forest was something much larger than any of the apparent townsfolk. “Or crushed by a thirty-foot boss fight…” He sighed under his breath and shut the window.

Soon the rain became so heavy that they could hardly hear anything else. Tommy had to nearly shout to be heard, “We fell pretty far down that hole earlier, but I don’t think we fell all the way to Japan!” As he heard someone walking closer to the house’s front door, he put his hands on Jo’s shoulders and walked her over to an out of the way corner, where she would be hidden by both the darkness and a tall bookshelf. He brought his finger to his lips to signal for her to keep quiet, and then backed up to the front door.

Tommy stood with his back against the wall just beside the door, and watched as the lock flipped from one side to the other. It slid open, and before the Japanese man could fully enter his home, Tommy grabbed the shoulders of his shirt and twirled him inside, slamming him back-first into the wall he himself had just been leaning against. Tommy reached out and slid the door shut, holding the man with one hand against his chest, his other now drawing his revolver and pressing the long barrel against the man’s throat.

“Koko wa doku!” Tommy shouted in Japanese, his voice suddenly rough and intimidating, and perhaps frightening if it was unexpected. The heavy rain shielded any noise from the rest of the villagers, “Hanashite!” As stated previously, in supernatural, life-or-death situations, as far as Tommy was concerned, there was no such thing as an “overreaction”.

The man was visibly startled, but didn’t look scared. He responded calmly and without emotion, and he and Tommy proceeded to carry on a conversation in Japanese.

Tommy periodically glanced over at Jo to translate the crucial information, “He says this village is a feeding ground for the Akki…” Jo looked a little confused, so he clarified, “A demon. A great, big, violent demon, that’ll smash us flat if he gets a chance.”

The two spoke in Japanese for a moment longer, and then Tommy holstered his gun. “You got a compass in that bag of yours?” He glanced over at Jo as he tore the drapes off the wall, and used them to tie the man’s hands behind his back. He used the other one as a makeshift gag, though the man didn’t seem to be interested in resisting anyway. “Locate Southwest. We gotta head that direction, fast.”

[Moridanu]

*Jo breathed a sigh of relief as Tommy broke the flimsy lock and slid the door open, waving her inside. Happily obliging him, Jo literally ran inside and then stood hopping from one foot to another as she waited for Tommy to enter. His reassurance that nobody wanted to sacrifice them did little to alleviate her anxiety.

~No offence, I mean.. I get that you are like.. super sleuth or something.. but how do you know nobody wants to sacrifice us? Unless I’m mistaken, you fell into this rabbit hole at the same time as me, so how can you be so sure of ANYTHING?!~

He seemed to ignore her though, as he quickly shut the door behind him after scanning the forest around them. Jo shivered and rubbed her arms as she thought about what could be out there lurking in the forest. The rain beat down, heavy on the roof of the building in which they now stood. Jo started to look around but was stopped in her tracks by Tommy saying that his work kept him in shape. ~Er.. okay then…?~ Jo said with an arched brow, before she realised that he was finishing the conversation they had started earlier when he had asked about her dancing. She found herself then quickly scanning him from head to toe and mentally checking him out. For the first time, it dawned on her that he was fairly attractive, but given the situation they were in, she knew that his physical appearance was the last thing she should be worried about. She nodded thoughtfully though as he spoke about his job and the need to keep fit. ~Yeah, I can see why that would be important..~ she offered helpfully as she watched him peeking out of the window. For the first time in her life, Jo was more than happy to let a man take charge. She didn’t want to peek out the window. She figured that what she didn’t know couldn’t hurt her, however when she heard the sound of rattling chains over the pouring rain and howling wind, she edged closer to the window. Maybe she should know what was out there, after all?

~Uh.. Tommy… what was THAT??! Did you hear that… it sounded like chains. Spooky things rattle chains.. like.. ~ she gulped ~ghosts!~ He didn’t answer her though, instead he told her that he didn’t think they had fallen all the way to Japan, and then approached her. As he reached out to take her by the shoulders, Jo had the weird sensation that he was going to kiss her. Instead he gently led her to a dark corner and put his finger to his lips, indicating that she should be quiet. She opened her mouth to ask what was going on, but clamped her mouth shut when she saw the door opening. Jo watched in trembling anticipation as Tommy moved at a lightning pace and grabbed what appeared to be a Japanese man. Before she had time to blink, Tommy was soon engaged in a conversation entirely in Japanese, as though it were his native language. She stood there in the darkness, blinking rapidly as Tommy turned to her and told her the area was a feeding ground of a giant demon.

~Oh God..~ Jo whispered as she stepped backward, desperate to have something strong like a wall behind her back. Finally feeling something solid behind her, she felt finally stable until Tommy asked her if she had a compass in her bag. She sighed, and stepped out of the shadows, nodding to the Japanese man who was now being tied up.

~I think I got something in here that might work..~ she said, opening up her bag and shuffling around inside. Pulling out her keyring, she tossed it to Tommy once he had finished tying up the mans hands. As well as keys, attached to the key ring was scannable disk for a local gym membership, a small pink ballerina slipper and a small silver compass.

Closing her bag back over her shoulder, she smiled apologetically as she shuffled closer to Tommy.

~I guess we are going to get wet eh?~ she muttered, while she waited for him to give her the next directions. *

[Boston]

Well it’s about time Jo noticed how much of a hunk Tommy is! Especially since losing that jacket, just look at him! His blue, lightly pinstriped, tailored, fitted dress shirt teased Jo with his muscular torso! The sleeves of his shirt strained and groaned, struggled, just barely containing his finely toned biceps! Such a mysterious international man of mystery and intrigue, any woman would be a fool to not immediately fall head-over-heels for such a stud!

Naturally, being a man in his mid-20’s, there wasn’t a situation in the world that would keep him from admiring the attractiveness of a young woman no matter the situation he found himself in. So it goes without saying that he had noted Jo’s attractiveness, but was better than to let the thoughts linger while working.

Unfortunately, this didn’t seem like the type of job that would allow for the mixing of business with pleasure…

Jo was quick on the keychain, which was good. Tommy couldn’t help but to take a moment and let a little smile slip over his lips when he saw the small ballerina slipper, he thought it was cute…He squinted and held the compass close to his face, spinning until he located Southeast. He looked up to get his bearings and then tossed the keychain back to Jo, and snickered inappropriately when she said that they were going to get wet.

He bit his lip to hide a wide smirk, and just nodded in response, “Mmhmm…snrnk…”

They didn’t have time to look for an umbrella or rain coat; Tommy opened the door and waved Jo out, then followed after. He shut the door to help cover their tracks then grabbed Jo’s wrist, and when they turned the corner of the house, they found themselves face-to-face with a row of villagers. They stood emotionless and in a row blocking their path Southeast, holding a portion of the thick chain Tommy and Jo had heard earlier.

One end of the chain was closed off naturally with a link, but the other was twisted and broken, as if whatever it had been holding broke free. “Oh, hey guys…” Tommy stopped suddenly and smiled pleasantly, holding one hand up to greet them. A moment later he bowed, and chuckled to himself, “Um, that’s a nice chain ya got there. Seems to be in a state of…disrepair…”

Whatever had been crashing through the forest started up again, and it sounded like it was barreling straight for Tommy and Jo. They could see the tree line toppling and branches being hurled into the air, the sheer destructive force amazing. Tommy glanced back for just a moment and then back at the villagers, reaching back to draw his gun, but stopped when he saw that they had parted without his threats.

“Thanks, gentlemen,” he didn’t have time to explain to Jo why they were just allowed to pass, and he was sure she didn’t want to wait around for an explanation.

When Tommy grabbed Jo’s wrist again, the sleeve of his shirt slipped a little up his wrist, and a few of the carnival’s paper bracelets became visible. The two oldest bracelets had vanished, and had been replaced by what looked like a tattoo of a chain around his wrist. The third oldest looked as if it was fading from sight before Jo’s eyes, if she happened to look down, as if gradually becoming a vapor that twisted and would become a chain like the others.

Of course, Tommy had been too distracted to notice all these markings that seemed to be appearing on his body. He led Jo into the forest and moved a bit more carefully, though still quickly, around the trees and over the roots, now just barely outrunning whatever it was that was giving chase. The forest was too thick, the night was too dark, and the rain was too heavy to see clearly what was chasing them, but the destructive force was tearing up the forest at their heels all the same.

[Moridanu]

*After quickly dropping her keys back in her backpack and zipping it shut, Jo threw the bag over her shoulder and did as she was directed by running outside. The rain fell so quickly and with such force that it was soon stinging any exposed skin and felt like nails pounding into her scalp as she winced and waited for Tommy to lead the way.

When he appeared and grabbed her wrist, Jo yelled out in pain and yanked her wrist out of his hand. Should she have looked down at her wrist, she would have seen the tattooed chain that had taken the place of her paper wristband the crazy old crone at the Carnival had fastened around her wrist when she had first entered this crazy nightmare so long ago. It felt like years now, but Jo realised it was only in fact a few hours. Sensing the urgency of Tommy’s desire to get them as far away from here as possible, and knowing that she would need to keep up, she reached out with the same hand and laced her fingers through his. Their hands fit together perfectly, and Jo wondered if the slight tingling she could feel was from his touch or the stinging rain that continued to fall all around them. She had no time to think about it however, as Tommy took off and virtually dragged her after him.

They soon skidded to a halt around the corner of the house as they came upon a long line of villagers. Jo didn’t want to think about what had been at the end of the chain, but she knew that whatever it had been had clearly come loose. Shivering, she tightened her grip on Tommy’s hand as he bowed before the men and actually greeted them. Jo rolled her eyes as he let go of her to draw his gun, just after they could hear something huge crashing through the forest towards them. The men moved out of the way however, allowing them to pass, and again when Tommy reached for her wrist, she manoeuvred it so that he would have to take her hand instead. Squeezing his hand quickly, she soon fell into step with him as they made their way more carefully through the forest.

Something large was chasing them, the sound of snapping twigs and rustling trees seemed deafening, even over the roar of the rain and the howling wind. She tried to look around her, but the forest was so dark and dense, she could barely see the path in front of her. There was a loud roar that appeared to be coming from right behind them, and Jo whipped her blonde head around in time to see what seemed to be two large fiery red eyes glaring at her through the dense darkness of the forest. Screaming in fright, Jo prayed for something to stop the monster in its path. At just that moment, there was a loud crack followed by a long slow creaking noise as a large tree seemed to shudder before it fell down on the ground, momentarily blocking the path between Tommy and Jo and the unseen force that was chasing them. She heard another roar, this one seemingly in frustration, as Tommy and Jo raced away.

The further they ran, the less they could hear the crashing behind them. Slowing down to a more comfortable pace, Jo squeezed Tommy’s hand before she panted ~Can we slow down, just for a bit? I don’t think my ankle can take much more at this pace..~ She hadn’t wanted to say anything, for fear of appearing weak, but Jo’s ankle was actually getting a lot worse the more she ran. It had passed the throbbing stage and had now gone completely numb and cold which scared her more than anything. She was scared that if she continued running on it, the bone would shatter completely. Slowing to a walk, she prayed that Tommy would do the same.

~I’m sorry..~ she panted. ~I .. I need to rest.. ~ she winced as she finally came to a complete stop, her ankle threatening to quit on her completely. Her wrecked knee then began to ache, seemingly in sympathy with her ankle, and Jo had to fight back the tears as she looked around the clearing they had stumbled into.

The clearing was quite small, but large enough for them to stand completely surrounded by a medium circle of soft dirt, moss covered rocks and a fringe of fir trees. The forest loomed all around them, the large trees meeting overhead in a canopy that blocked out the sky above them, while sheltering them from the stinging rain. Jo wished there was somewhere that they could take shelter for a while so that she could rest her wretched ankle. Just then, a loud boom of thunder made her look up and to the right. When she looked back down, she noticed what appeared to be a small cave like entrance carved into a solid granite cliff face she had not noticed moments before. Jo started to think how spooky it was that for the past ten to twenty minutes, two things that she had wished for had immediately come true, but she was in too much pain to give it that much thought. Pointing towards the cave, she looked at Tommy hopefully.

~I can’t hear that .. thing.. anywhere close for the time being. Do you think we could spare some time and rest? I’m sorry to be a pain, and I don’t mean to slow you down.. I just… I can’t keep going like this. My ankle feels like it is about to fall off, and now my knee is making itself known as well.. ~she shrugged apologetically. ~So either we rest, or you carry me.. it’s your call..~*

[Boston]

Tommy squeezed Jo’s hand tight when she laced their fingers together, guiding her under low branches and over thick tree roots until they came to the clearing. He hadn’t been paying attention to the sounds of whatever was chasing them, so didn’t notice it ease up until the sounds became muffled by the natural canopy of the clearing. He slowed to a stop so Jo wouldn’t go flying in front of him when they entered the clearing, and took a moment to look around.

He stood there for several moments as Jo spoke, gripping her hand loosely now, his chest heaving as he caught his breath. He couldn’t hear their pursuer anymore, so he nodded slowly in response when he spotted the cave as well. “Yeah, we can rest…” Tommy felt bad about making Jo run so much on her hurt ankle, and now she said her knee was starting to act up as well. She suggested he carry her, so he ducked down suddenly and swiftly and easily scooped her into his arms, one behind her shoulders and the other under her knees.

“Sorry to make you move so much on your ankle…” He had to duck a little to get into the cave, but was able to stand up fully once inside. He walked several feet in and then knelt, sitting Jo down gently and near a wall so she could lean comfortably – at least, as comfortably as possible given that it was in a cave.

He pulled a silver lighter from his back pocket, then, clicked it open and lit the small flame, illuminating their immediate area. He didn’t see anything that looked particularly dangerous, so he clicked the lighter shut and looked down at Jo as he stood. “I’m gonna find some branches…” Basic survival tips told him to build a fire and try to dry off, so he stepped back out of the cave for just a few moments.

Tommy returned with a pile of relatively dry branches and knelt in front of Jo, piling them on the ground and then taking a moment to light them. They caught fire easily enough and he dropped the light back into his pocket, and scooted back against the wall to sit beside Jo. He sat close enough to her so that they might be able to share body heat, but kept in mind that her survival instincts probably weren’t working as his were – that is to say, he kept enough distance so she wouldn’t think he was sexually harassing her.

Although the cave blocked out the rain and most of the cold, the occasional strong gust of near-freezing wind would still blow through the cave, pushing the fire around and sending a strong shiver up Tommy’s back. “I’d offer ya my jacket, but even if I had kept it, I don’t think you’d wanna put it on…” He shook his head slowly in thought, thinking back to the particularly nice suit jacket he had lost to the slime…

He let out a quiet sigh as he finally allowed his body to relax, dropping his head back and reaching up to run his hands over his hair, slicking it back loosely with the rain water. He shifted a bit uncomfortably in his soaked shirt before sitting up to unbutton it, leaning forward to slip out of it so he could dry it by the fire. This left him in a somewhat fitted white undershirt, which clung to his fit torso with the rain water.

“If you have a change of clothes in that bag, you should put something dry on.” Tommy noticed that her bag looked rather packed full, so it was easy to assume that there must be at least one dry shirt in there, “I promise I won’t peek.” He smirked and shut his eyes tight, turning his head away.

“We’ll leave after the rain settles down or when we’re found out, whichever comes first…” He spoke with his eyes shut and turned away from Jo. What a gentleman, not even sneaking a peek (that Jo noticed).

[Moridanu]

*Jo let out a sigh of relief when Tommy told her that they could afford some time to rest, the sigh quickly turning into an exhalation of ~woah~ when he swooped her up into his arms and carried her towards the cave. His arms felt strong around her, and as she reached up to wrap her arm around his neck, Jo could not help but study his face more carefully now that she was so close to it.

He was ruggedly handsome, and Jo felt herself starting to blush at the whole situation she had found herself in. She started to squirm slightly, growing uncomfortable at their closeness, but was saved from further embarrassment when he placed her gently down on the ground inside the cave so that she could lean back against the cave wall. Letting out a long shaky breath, Jo nodded as he told her as he was going to find some branches. Leaning back against the rocky wall, Jo closed her eyes for a moment, thinking that there might just be a crazy chance that perhaps this crazy nightmare would be over when she opened them again. But when her eyes did flutter back open, all she saw was Tommy returning with some relatively dry branches. She watched silently as he expertly lit what soon became a warm, roaring fire and then came over to sit by her. Despite the warmth of the fire, Jo began to shiver quite violently as a gust of cold wind blew in, causing her teeth to chatter. Her clothes were soaking wet, and she knew that she had to take them off so that they could dry out. Tommy clearly had the same idea as he shifted out of his shirt, revealing a tight white undershirt that clung to his muscular torso. Not that she was looking of course. She laughed nervously at his comment about lending her his jacket.

~Well, thanks for the intended chivalry at least.. its nice to know it aint dead, as many females fear these days..~ She gulped when he asked if she had anything dry to change into in her bag.

~Uh no… no clothes unfortunately. But you are right.. I really should try to get dry.. ~ Wrestling with her modesty and her growing sense of frostbite, Jo soon gave in to getting warm and started wiggling out of her tight red sweater, the wool wet and soggy as it clung to her skin. Finally managing to wrangle it over her head, she pulled the sleeves out and spread it out on the rocky floor near the fire. Aware that she was now wearing nothing but wet jeans and a lacy light blue bra, Jo crossed her arms in front of her, trying to cover her chest with little success. Shivering more violently as another gust of wind blew in, Jo found her teeth starting to chatter.

~It’s sooo cold..~ she muttered, through clenched chattering teeth. Almost without realising it, she shifted closer to Tommy, desperate to sit closer to him for some added warmth. Glancing over at him, she wondered if his eyes were open or not. Realising that he couldn’t keep his eyes closed the whole time they waited for their clothes to dry, Jo rolled her own eyes as she edged even closer to him until their sides were touching.

~I appreciate the gesture, but you don’t have to keep your eyes closed. I’m sure you have seen a girl in a bra before… if not a soaking wet, terrified and exhausted one with a throbbing ankle and knee..~

At the mention of her ankle, she bent over to pull her jean leg up and examine her ankle. In the flickering fire light, she could see that it had swollen to twice its normal size. The ointment had brought the bruising out, and it was now black with nasty bruises of dark purple and red. Large blisters where the suckers of the tentacles had been had burst, and yellow pus was oozing out of the wounds. Jo nearly gagged as she looked down at it in dismay.

~Well.. no wonder it hurts like a son of a bitch..~ *

[Boston]

Tommy grinned when Jo said that chivalry wasn’t dead, and he nodded slowly, “Well what can I say, guess I’m an old fashioned kinda guy.”

He nodded again when she told him she didn’t have a change of clothes, and wondered what she would do until he heard her working out of her soaking sweater. Keeping his eyes shut while she changed was one thing, but he couldn’t keep them shut their entire stay in this cave – so he waited until she told him it was alright, and then chuckled quietly at her comment.

He shook his head, “Well not all four at once…” He opened his eyes and of course tried not to sneak a peek, and for the most part did rather well. But when she shifted closer and sat against him, he couldn’t as easily ignore such thoughts, and was finally aware that he was sitting in a fire-lit cave with a very attractive, topless young lady who was having trouble covering her chest with her arms. What a lucky guy, huh? He would suggest putting their pants out to dry, too, but that would probably be pushing it…

Tommy could easily not stare at Jo, but sneaking the occasional glance was unavoidable, no matter how chivalrous he may be. But seeing as Tommy was such a super sleuth, he had gotten pretty good at sneaking peeks at people without them noticing.

“You look absolutely freezing…” He heard her teeth chattering when the wind blew in, so he shifted as close as possible, and draped his arm around Jo’s shoulders. Trying to come off as least threatening or pervy as possible, he rubbed her arm to try and help warm her up, since she was now shirtless – although, Tommy’s undershirt was pretty wet as well, so he was soon shivering along with her. When another gust blew in, he positioned himself to try and protect Jo from it. There weren’t any jutting rocks or corners in this fairly small cave, so he was the only shield from the wind she had.

When Jo lifted her pant leg to look at her ankle, Tommy looked down as well, and grimaced, “That’s a pretty gross looking ankle ya got there, gal…Once we get out of here I’ll get you to a hospital, but do you have something to wrap around it in the meantime?” He wouldn’t hesitate to use his undershirt as a makeshift bandage for her ankle, but wanted to find out what other first aid supplies she had on hand, first.

“Reminds me of this time I was in,” he chuckled and shook his head at the irony of being reminded of this particular story, “actually, I was in Japan, my case had taken me to Aokigahara…‘Sea of Trees’, affectionately nicknamed ‘Suicide Forest’…The trees are so dense and the mountains are full of metal, so even with a compass it’s easy to get lost…”

Trying to keep Jo’s mind off the cold and her injured ankle, he figured a story would be a fine idea – it would also serve to keep his dirty mind otherwise clean, “I was tracking this real bad mofo, he had stolen…” he paused, eyes rolling upwards as he chose his words, “a family heirloom, from my client…After three days of tracking him through this snow-covered forest I finally retrieved the heirloom, but wound up not only utterly and hopelessly lost, but I’d been shot, hit by two poisoned darts, and my ankle had been absolutely smashed by a great big pipe.”

He lifted his pant leg a little to show her his ankle, and the small surgical scar which served as proof that an operation had taken place, “I wandered around that forest for another three days before finding my way out. So we’ll be fine, gal, I’m good in tricky situations.” He nodded and rubbed her bicep soothingly, feeling her body finally beginning to warm up.

[Moridanu]

*Jo was grateful for the warm support when Tommy carefully draped his arm around her shoulder and started rubbing her arm to warm her up. Jo nodded as he told her she looked freezing, her lips turning blue as she moved closer to him still so that soon she was snuggled up against his wet chest. She almost suggested that he take off his white undershirt, as it really was soaking wet, but considered it best to keep her mouth shut given their current situation. Now that she sat so close to his body, she could feel him shivering too, and without thinking about what she was doing, she reached her right arm out so that it was wrapped around his stomach, pressing her body against his so that perhaps their two bodies could keep each other warm. The cold wind continued to blow despite the warmth of the fire, and she was even more grateful when Tommy shifted slightly so that he was blocking the wind from her.

She grimaced as he mentioned her ankle, and Jo shook her head when he asked if she had anything to wrap it with. ~No, I have a first aid kit, but Katie used the only bandage I had a few weeks ago, and I didn’t think to replace it.. stupid really..~ she trailed off as her thoughts turned to Katie, and she felt fresh tears prick the corners of her eyes. Sniffling, she pressed her face into Tommy’s broad, though wet, chest. She figured that as his shirt was so wet, he wouldn’t notice if her tears wet it even more.

Soon, Tommy was telling her about a time that he had had a wrecked ankle and Jo listened to his heart beat while his words washed over her. Huddled together in the dark cave with the crackling fire and the roaring wind, she finally started to feel warm and hoped that she was helping to keep Tommy warm as well. She smiled in the dark as she realised he was just trying to keep her mind off things. She was pretty lucky really, to have stumbled into this nightmare with such a nice guy. He could have been a real pervert, a sleaze, or even worse. He could not be here at all. The thought of facing this all on her own made her shudder even more violently, and she tightened her grip of Tommy as she squeezed her eyes shut and wiped her eyes against his shirt. Raising her head, as he showed her his scar, she rolled her jeans leg up so that he could see her knee. Two long scars were on either side of a knee cap that had clearly seen better days.

~Well, if you want to compare surgical scars..~ she laughed softly. ~This here is the reason I could never be a professional dancer. It was quite sad really, I had made it through the first six auditions for Julliard and then came the time for the final audition. They had even promised me a full tuition, and there was talks of Boris Kelnatof from the Russian Ballet coming to see me perform.. nothing like a bit of pressure right?~ she smiled grimly.

~Everything was perfect, and then in my final contemporary piece, my leg went left, and my knee went right. I fell like a sack of shit onto the stage and I knew that it was the end.. I didn’t even remember the ambulance. I just remember waking up after the surgery and the doctors told me I would never dance again. Hell, it took six months of physio just to be able to walk properly without a cane.. I hated that freakin cane..~

She blinked suddenly, realising that she had just wandered back four years into her past. Laughing nervously, she brushed her blonde hair out of her eyes as she tried to bring the conversation back to the present.

~Wow.. Japan eh? It sounds like you have led such an interesting life. I haven’t travelled anywhere but home and New York really, though we did fly out to Hawaii for Spring Break. That was a blast.. you should’ve seen the trouble we got into… Katie…~ The words died on her lips as the tears she had thought stopped, soon started to fall again. Sniffling, she struggled to be tough. ~I’m sorry for being such a baby, it just.. it keeps hitting me over and over again that she is really.. dead, ya know? And I can’t bear to think about the others… I keep hoping that maybe they got away, that they too are trapped somewhere, hopefully together, and hopefully okay… but… I know deep down that that isn’t likely.~
She shifted slightly so that her head was now resting on Tommy’s strong bicep of the arm that was wrapped around her, while her own arm lay loosely around his torso. The crackling fire popped suddenly as a stick or leave burnt quickly, and Jo jumped slightly before realising it was just the fire. The wind had died down finally, and although they could still hear the rain outside, there appeared to be no more noise coming from the mystery force that was crashing through the forest. As she listened carefully though, another sound was soon carried to her on the wind. A sound that sounded oddly familiar.

~Do you hear that?~ she asked, sitting up suddenly. Looking into Tommy’s eyes, she wondered if he could hear the same sound. It sounded like.. music. Only a different kind of music than one would hear on a stereo or radio. This music was tinny, and sounded just like the music they played over the P.A system at cheap carnivals - just like the carnival that they had entered all those hours ago. As the realisation of what the sound was that she heard, her eyes widened and she stared hard at Tommy.

~Can you hear that??? It sounds just like the carnival!~ She began to look around the cave. The sound wasn’t coming from the opening in the cave that they had come through; instead it seemed to be coming from behind them. And now that she had identified the sound, it was definitely getting louder. Jo could smell hotdogs and popcorn and she felt a fresh case of gooseflesh ripple all over the body. Suddenly scared by this latest development, Jo wrapped both arms around Tommy’s slightly dryer waist and looked up at him with wide eyes.

~Why the hell can I hear and smell the carnival in a cave in the wilderness? And please, for the love of all that is good in this world, tell me that you can hear and smell it too? Otherwise I really have gone crazy…~ she bit her lower lip anxiously as she waited for him to answer. *

[Boston]

Tommy nodded slowly as he listened to Jo, his eyes drifting down to her leg when she showed him her surgical scar. He rubbed and squeezed her arm soothingly when she leaned against him, and was just about to offer some truly profound words of wisdom when the circus music started. His nostrils flared as he sniffed, smelling the popcorn and circus food, and he nodded slowly.

“Yeah, I hear it…It’s coming from the other end of the cave…” Tommy eased away from Jo slowly and stood, stepping around the fire and heading towards the far end of the cave – it was just a few feet away, and seemed to be made of solid stone like the rest of the cave.

As he stepped closer to the wall both the scent and the music became stronger, for both Tommy and Jo. Tommy leaned in close to the wall and reached out with both hands, placing his fingertips against the hard, cold stone wall, only to find that it wasn’t made of stone at all.

“This wall isn’t a wall…” Instead of rough like normal stone, the wall he touched was perfectly smooth, as if glass. He frowned curiously as he tapped on it with his knuckle, “It’s a mirror. There must be a way back to the carnival behind it.” He frowned as he tapped on it with his knuckle – curiously, it reflected just the stone of the cave.

He turned around and walked back to Jo, tugging his undershirt off over his head as he approached, “Use this to bandage up your ankle. Once you’re okay to walk again, we’ll smash the mirror and get outta here. Maybe find your friends on the other side.” He knelt and handed her his shirt, then took his dress shirt from beside the fire. It had dried enough for him to put it back on comfortably by this point, so he slipped into it and buttoned it up quickly.

Once Jo was ready, Tommy slipped his holsters back onto his torso and stood, offering his hand to help Jo to her feet. He waited a moment, letting her test her stability, before walking back to the mirror. “Stand back, don’t want any glass flying into your eyes…” He glanced at Jo and then stood in front of her, acting as her shield, before turning suddenly and throwing a side-kick out at the glass. His foot went through the glass easily, the entire mirror shattered and rained down around Tommy’s ankle.

For an instant the thousands of pieces of shattered glass captured the multicolored lights of the circus and reflected them back into the cave as if a strobe light. The light caught in the air for perhaps longer than gravity should have allowed the glass to hang, as Tommy had both feet back on the ground before a single piece of glass. Once it fell, though, the circus was clearly visible through the newly created tall doorway.

Tommy stepped through the doorway carefully, back into the crowded circus. It seemed like business as usual, for the most part. The crowd was roaring and generally having a good time, dirty carnies were operating rides and rigging games, there didn’t seem to be anything out of the ordinary.

“To have made it out of that place is too good to be true…Everything looks status-quo, let’s try to find the exit and see if we can get outta here…” He glanced back at Jo and nodded, then started working his way through the crowd, heading towards the exit of the circus.

The crowd was too thick for him to notice the freak-show attraction they were passing just to their left. A tall man in a tight black trench coat and a mane of gray hair was swallowing several long swords, neck craned back to look up at the night sky, sliding the shimmering, razor sharp blades straight down his throat. After several had been pushed carefully down his throat, he turned his back to the ground and grabbed the hilts in both hands, tugging them forward to bulge out the back of his trench coat, giving the illusion that the swords were actually pressing through his back.

The man turned to face the crowd once more, and unbuttoned his trench coat for the big reveal. He pulled the front of his coat open in both hands, showing off his torso, or perhaps lack thereof – what should have been his torso was simply skeletal, and the blades were clearly visible through his rib cage.

[Moridanu]

*Relieved that he too could hear the music and smell the food, Jo almost yelled out in protest when he moved away from her to stand up and walk further into the cave. Although she could still see him, she felt strangely convinced that if he left her, he would never come back. This nightmare was terrible enough without the thought of facing it alone, and Jo felt her bottom lip start to tremble like a small child on the verge of a tantrum. She watched with wide eyes as Tommy began to feel around the wall of the cave, telling her that it wasn’t a wall at all and was in fact a mirror. Jo shivered as she thought of the Funhouse, its crazy mirrors distorting the faces of her friends and herself. She had always hated the Funhouse, especially the sense of being lost and the whole world being turned upside down. In some ways, she guessed that their current predicament was a lot like the Funhouse, and Jo shivered again, rubbing her arms desperately to warm up.

She looked up at Tommy, trying to stop her eyes from bugging out and her mouth from hanging open as he took off his undershirt, revealing his torso in all its naked glory. Her view was short lived however, as he was soon dressed in his striped shirt. Sighing, Jo nodded and whispered ~Thanks. ~ as she managed to use his undershirt as a makeshift bandage. Making sure that it was extra tight and secure around her ankle, she stood up carefully, testing her weight on her ankle as Tommy leant her his hand to steady herself. Tightly bound, her ankle seemed to hold, for the time being at least, as she bent over and picked up her sweater from the rocky floor of the cave. Being woollen, it had not dried as nicely as Tommy’s shirt, but it was at least drier than it had been when she had taken it off. It took some effort sliding it back on, and she could’ve have sworn it had shrunk a bit as it clung to her chest more than she remembered, but finally she was ready for whatever was to come next.

Tommy told her to stand back before he kicked at the mirror wall, breaking the glass easily. She gasped as she stepped closer to the large doorway that now stood before them. She could see the carnival, hear the people, and smell the food. Smiling at Tommy, she dared to hope that this craziness would soon be over. He seemed to share her enthusiasm as he suggested they try to find the exit and took off into the crowd. Jo swore under her breath and stepped out of the cave into the carnival thoroughfare.

As her foot stepped on a wadded up empty paper cup, Jo realised with a sick sense of déjà vu that they had stepped back into sideshow alley. She remembered being here only a few hours before when Brett had won all those prizes for Rosie, and Chris had managed to cheer up Katie after Steve had broken her heart yet again. Despite the melodramatics of the evening, Jo yearned for that happy time and felt a sharp pang of grief stab her heart as a laugh similar to Rosie’s reached her ears on a fairy floss scented breeze.

Reaching back to grab her backpack, Jo untied the red ribbon so that her aqua elephant was once again safely tucked into her arms. Rubbing the now dry pink ears, Jo sniffed back the tears that were starting to make themselves known once more as that laugh that sounded just like Rosie’s reached her ears again. It was followed by a snort of laughter and a mans voice saying “seriously babe, you will be the death of me.” Jo’s eyes widened as she recognised the voice as Bretts. Reaching out to grab a hold of Tommy’s hand, Jo squealed ~Oh My God!! They are still alive!! I can hear them!! They are… here…. Somewhere…~she trailed off as she looked more closely at the man she had just grabbed. Dropping his arm quickly, she apologised to the man who was clearly not Tommy. He grinned down at her with a mouth completely devoid of teeth, and she felt instantly nauseous as his foul breath washed over her.

~Tats aright luv, you cairn grab me anytimes!~ His laughter made her break out in gooseflesh, as she hugged the elephant tighter and stepped away from him. Looking around for Tommy, she couldn’t see him in the thick crowd. Starting to panic a little, Jo forced herself to calm down as she looked more closely at the scene around her.

Although they were definitely in sideshow alley again, this time it was remarkably different. The light was strange somehow, dark when it should have been light. Though the crowd was thick, there were no children laughing, no women and stranger still; no teenagers. Although she had difficulty making out features in the strange dark light, Jo just knew somehow that she was the only female in the immediate vicinity and it made her instantly uneasy. A large man wearing a dirty dark red coat appeared beside her then, sniffing the air like a hungry dog. He then leered down at her and reached out with grubby hands to pat her blonde head.

~Pretty..~he snarled, causing Jo to scream and run away from him as quickly as she could on her shattered ankle. Searching frantically for Tommy, Jo stopped dead in her tracks as she heard Rosie laugh again. Trying her hardest to block out the rest of the noisy crowd, Jo listened hard, focusing her attention on her friends laugh. Brett was talking again, but she couldn’t hear his words, only the deep tone of his voice. It was enough to give her a direction to follow however, and she began to make her way slowly off the main thoroughfare of the carnival.

Soon, she found herself in a darkly lit alleyway, almost empty except for a few weary carnies who watched her approach before going on with their business. Jo clutched the elephant to her damp chest as she limped onwards, rewarded for her efforts every now and then by the sound of Rosie’s laugh. As she moved further ahead, the lights above her quickly diminished until she was standing at the end of the poorly lit alleyway. Ahead of her was a long road of darkness and at the end stood what appeared to be some sort of trailer. Jo was about to turn around and go back the way she had come, when she heard Rosie gasp and say ~She found us!~ so loudly, it sounded like she was standing right next to her. Just then, she heard the sound of Brett laughing again and Rosie squealing ~Stop it! She will hear us!~ The sounds reminded Jo of all the tickling attacks that Brett used to love launching on both the girls, and she jumped in shock as she saw the front door of the trailer ahead begin to shake as though someone was knocking on it from the other side. Could Rosie and Brett be hiding in there, with Brett tickling Rosie causing her to laugh like that? The thought was crazy and made no sense, but nothing else did in the madness that had quickly become her life. Jo began to feel a deep throbbing headache behind her right eye, as another sense of helplessness washed over her. She wanted Tommy to appear beside her, to take her hand and tell her it was going to be okay. But he was gone, disappeared into the crowd in a strange confirmation of her earlier paranoia in the cave, and here she stood in front of a trailer that perhaps held her friends inside. Jo had to risk it, she just had to.

Squaring her shoulders, she took a deep breath and stepped forward. As soon as she made the decision to move though, the dark path ahead of her vanished and the trailer was suddenly directly in front of her. Now that she was standing close to it, she could read the writing that was painted on the side of what now appeared to be a gypsy caravan. The bright colours read “Madame Sophia – Fortune Teller.” Above the door was a windchime that tinkled ominously, blown by an unseen wind. Jo gulped as she stepped up to the staircase. Climbing the three small steps, she knocked on the door loudly, waiting to see who or what would open the door.

~Hello?~ she called out. ~Rosie??~ *

[Boston]

Tommy glanced back over his shoulder and noticed that Jo was having trouble keeping up. The number of people between them was increasing, so he turned around and tried to make it back to her, not wanting to separate. He heard the few people who spoke to her, and when he saw that one toothless old man patting Jo on the head, Tommy hurled himself through the crowd.

Several people were knocked to the ground in the outburst, which resulted in Tommy’s strong fist connecting with the man’s face, square on the cheek. The momentum of his hurled body and all his strength had been behind the punch, so the loud crack of cheek bone being absolutely smashed came as no surprise.

The man fell like a sack of bricks, but Jo was nowhere to be found.

“Jo! Dammit!” Tommy turned all around, grabbing people and shoving them carelessly out of the way as he looked for her. She had been here just moments before, but now she seemed to have vanished without a trace.

His search, however, was interrupted by someone apparently looking for revenge for Tommy’s assault on the toothless old man. He hadn’t considered the fact that attacking a circus weirdo in a crowd of circus weirdoes might incur some sort of repercussion…

A younger, fitter man threw a left hook at Tommy, but he didn’t have time to throw down. Finding Jo was now top priority, so Tommy countered with his own left hook, and ended up linking arms with his attacker. In one fluid motion he grabbed the man’s wrist with his free hand and used the hold to slam him onto his back, then knelt and knocked him unconscious with a single, powerful punch to the face.

Since the score was now Tommy: 2, circus weirdoes: 0, more of the onlookers decided to step forward in defense of their own. Tommy noticed that he was just digging himself deeper and deeper, so decided that he needed to take a particularly drastic step to just get out of the center of attention.

Several of them were about to pile on and attack in unison, but rethought when Tommy drew one of his revolvers and fired a shot into the air. The crowd immediately backed off, and Tommy drew his second gun for the added level of intimidation.

“Listen up fellas,” Tommy began, spinning in slow circles, aiming at each one of his would-be attackers individually, “I’m looking for the girl I was with, cute little blond girl, she was just here. One of ya jokers aside from toothless there must’ve seen her, speak up.”

The crowd parted slowly, forming a clear path to what looked like the entrance to a house of mirrors. Tommy nodded slowly and started down the path, keeping his guns pointed all around, spinning slowly as he walked, not letting his guard down for an instant and keeping an eye on each and every member of the crowd.

Eventually he reached the door and stood with his back against it, the crowd now contained completely in front of him and easier to keep an eye on. He lifted his foot to smack the sole of his shoe against the door, kicking it open easily. Tommy spun and took a quick look inside before stepping in, and shutting the door.

Naturally, he didn’t trust the circus-folk, and wasn’t expecting to find Jo in this house of mirrors – they had shown him a clear path to a building with a door, though, and it seemed like a better idea than standing in the middle of them waiting to get ganked. Before going further into the building, Tommy emptied the spent casing from his revolver and replaced it with a fresh bullet. He clicked the chamber shut and then holstered one of his guns, holding the other one in both hands and close to his chest.

It was entirely dark, except for dim light reflecting off the dusty old mirrors. Tommy tried to stick close to the walls, looking for a seam or a door handle, or some way to the backstage area, where he could perhaps gain roof access or find the employee exit.

Going back the way he came would just lead back to the angry mob, and by the time he got to the exit of this house of mirrors, it’s likely that the mob would have just moved to the back of the building to wait for him there.

One plus side to being in a house of mirrors during what he was now considering a “tactical operation” was that he had just as much a tactical advantage as any enemy he may encounter in this place. So long as he could keep his bearings and keep track of which image was accurately portraying what was behind him, he was able to watch his own back…

[Jo Harris]

*The heavy wooden door opened with a loud, long creak and Jo let out a long shaky breath when she realised that she had been holding it while climbing the stairs to the caravan. The wind chime overhead tinkled again, and Jo cast one more apprehensive glance upwards at its spinning shimmery beauty that was illuminated against the dark cloudy sky beyond the caravans roof, before she stepped into the darkness inside.

Stepping over the threshold, Jo stood just inside the door for a moment, letting her eyes grow accustomed to the darkness. The low rumble of nearby thunder could be heard then, the vibrations under her feet making her feel like the floor might disappear beneath her. But, standing there in the darkness, the only thing that happened was that her eyes soon grew accustomed to the dim light within the caravan and she took a hesitant step forward as she began to look around.

Old fashioned carnival posters were pasted along the far wall of the caravan, some yellow and fading, most curling at the edges. There was a picture of what appeared to be a two headed girl, and as Jo stepped closer she realised it was a poster promoting two Siamese twins. Although they only had one body between them, the girls had two equally beautiful faces, and what appeared to be one arm each. Peering closer at the picture, Jo realised that one of the girls arms resembled more of a crabs claw, and she shuddered as a loud boom of thunder seemed to erupt directly overhead. The girls had three legs, although one of them was considerably shorter than the other two and was adorned with a worn striped sock. Jo gripped her aqua elephant tighter as she walked past the wall, glancing quickly at the other posters promoting a lady with a beard that fell nearly down to her stomach, a man with skin that resembled a lizard and a large man who appeared to be bending an iron bar with his huge meaty hands. This large end of the caravan appeared to be the living quarters of Madame Sophia, as there was a large red chaise lounge in one corner, a coffee table scattered with various pieces of paper, a large armoire and an old beat up television. Cut into the far corner was what appeared to be a dark recess which Jo assumed must be her bed. Walking away from this area now, Jo soon found herself in the business end of the caravan, where Madame Sophia made her living by reading fortunes.

Jo felt like the intruder that she was as she stepped into the main parlour of the caravan, but she was unable to stop her feet from moving forward. Here, the decorations were more bright and colourful. Red, purple, gold and green scarves, curtains and ribbons were draped all over the walls, giving the illusion that Jo now stood inside a colourful tent. In the centre of this tent of colour was a round polished wooden table covered by a square purple and silver scarf with a large crystal ball in the centre. Two dark wooden chairs with purple upholstery were on either side of the table, and it was to the table that Jo was drawn. As she gazed down at the dark crystal ball in wonder, she could’ve sworn that just at that moment, Rosie’s rich throaty laugh tickled against her right ear. Looking around wildly, Jo saw no sign of her friend, only a few scattered candles and several large mirrors, but as her eyes glanced back downwards at the crystal she saw that the previously dark orb was now a light pink.

Fascinated by the sudden change in appearance, Jo sank into the nearest chair, the elephant falling absently from her fingers to the floor beside her as she gazed at the crystal ball which was now a light orange. Staring at the now glowing orb, Jo gently swayed back and forth from side to side as her eyes grew wide and her jaw relaxed. She had no idea how long she sat there, staring into the crystal but another boom of thunder awoke her from her hypnosis, the sound so loud above her that she inadvertedly jumped, knocking her knees against the table, causing the crystal ball to slip from its iron holder and roll across the table. Afraid that it would fall and break, Jo reached for it without thinking, catching it just in time before it rolled off the table. As her fingers touched the cool glass however, she screamed in pain as a million jagged images flew across her mind.

Tommy’s handsome face appeared to her suddenly, and she could see his lips moving, calling her name. She watched helplessly as he fought several men, before he disappeared back into the crowd. Rosie appeared then. Her face a twisted scream as tears streamed from her haunted eyes. Jo could do nothing but watch as the tears turned to blood and Rosies’ beautiful English rose complexion began to bubble before the skin melted off her face. Next Brett danced across Jo’s eyelids, his jagged movements coming from the electricity that could be seen bouncing off his skin. Still he smiled, laughed even, as his lips seemed frozen into an eternal sneer of sick agonised amusement.

Jo’s agonised scream threatened to tear her throat as she tried desperately to pry her fingers off the crystal ball, but they seemed burnt to the still cool glass while the images raced more quickly across her mind.

Tommy surrounded by mirrors. Her elephant looking at her with sad eyes before it ripped its own ears off. Breaking glass. Dripping blood. The ghost train that had started this all, rattling down the tracks into a pit of roaring flames. The unseen monster in the woods, knocking down trees, ripping limbs of helpless animals. More flames. Pools of blood. Rotting flesh. Blackened teeth. Tommy. Her mother, screaming as maggots crawled out of her nostrils while her eyes sank back into her head. Tarot cards being shuffled by unseen hands. A deformed foetus floating in a mass of yellow liquid in a large glass jar. The Siamese twins from the freak show poster, coming to life before her eyes and moving towards her with the crab arm reached out to her, tearing the paper of their poster as they moved towards her. The tarot card The Tower floating in the air above her, the picture depicting a Tower being consumed by flames. Tommy breaking mirrors, glass falling all around him, tearing his skin to shreds. The bearded lady stroking her long beard as centipedes and spiders crawled in and out of the thick, knotted hair on her chin. Her father, smiling at her in his sick way as he entered her bedroom, undoing his belt. Her aqua elephant, covered in blood. A full moon with dark clouds racing against the surface. Tommy, laying in a pool of blood, reaching out to her for help. Flames. Her ankle, black and purple with a large pulsating sack just above the joint. Katies decapitated head rolling towards her. Tommy’s face. The lizard man, poking his forked tongue out at her while his eyes glowed a sickly yellow. Tommy. Mirrors. The large pulsating sack on her bruised and battered ankle bursting open as hundreds of large black spiders raced against her skin, biting and tearing her flesh. The tarot card: The Fool, hanging upside down. Flames, leaping high above her head, hungrily consuming the many layers of scarves, and material above her head. Brett tearing his hair from his head, ripping it from the roots, tearing scraps of skin from his scalp. Chris hanging from a noose. Tommy. Mirrors. Breaking glass. Her aqua elephant on the other side of the glass. Tommy calling for her. Mirrors. Tommy. Mirrors. Tommy. Flames. Shattered glass fragments. Blood. Mirrors. Flames. Tommy. Mirrors. Tommy…

Her continued scream finally broke through the torrent of images, the sound seeming to cause her brain to convulse before coming to a complete stop, her fingers finally going limp upon the crystal ball that was now securely sitting back in its iron holder as if it had never rolled away in the first place. Jo’s eyes rolled back into her skull before her lids fluttered closed as she fell from the chair, hitting her temple on the edge of the table before she crumpled to the floor, knocking the chair over to its side. The chair knocked against a nearby shelf, causing one of the candles to fall to the floor. Flames licked the floor briefly, before beginning to climb up the wooden shelf. The nearby draped material soon caught aflame, the sound of flames crackling as the paint on the shelf began to blister and crack. Jo lay on the floor, metres from the flames, her mind blank as she drifted in the cool darkness inside her head. She was vaguely aware of Tommy. And glass. There was heat, but it seemed so far away from the cool darkness…. She wanted to stay in the darkness, away from the fear and the nightmare of the carnival. Reaching out to touch the darkness, she found it smooth and cool beneath her touch. Her burnt fingers felt instant relief at the smooth coolness that resembled glass beneath her skin. Glass. Mirrors. Her eyes moved rapidly back and forth behind her closed lids, but still she did not wake. The fire was now rapidly consuming the material and wood all around her, but in her mind, all she knew was the cool darkness. She moved her entire body as close to the smooth glass beneath her touch. Opening her eyes in the cool darkness, she saw that she was now pressed against the smooth cool surface. She could see Tommy on the other side, making his way carefully through what seemed to be a house of mirrors. Jo smiled as she waved at him in the darkness, but he failed to see her. Frowning now as an unwelcome sense of heat began to invade her cool dark sanctuary, she began knocking on the glass, trying to gain his attention. *

[Boston]

Tommy’s eyes darted from reflection to reflection as he made his way through the house of mirrors, and eventually he finally noticed the blood on his face. He saw the light pink, though fully healed spot on his cheek where that demon had slashed him, and the thin stream of blood that clung to his face and neck in the twisting shape of a chain.

“Great, I’ve been walking around with blood on my face and she didn’t even tell me…” He leaned in to the mirror and reached up to rub the blood away, only to find that it didn’t feel like dried blood – as if it was in his flesh like a tattoo, he couldn’t wipe it away, and he shook his head with a bit of a sigh.

Perhaps his reaction to this discovery should have been greater than it was, but at this point, there probably wasn’t a whole lot that could happen that would elicit a particularly strong reaction. So he just sighed and shook his head, and continued working his way through the house of mirrors.

After what seemed like several minutes of careful walking, Tommy finally caught a break – a dark red door of ornately carved oak was settled between two mirrors. It was unmarked, though, and certainly didn’t look like the type of door that would simply lead backstage or outside…

Tommy didn’t bother knocking. With a grab and a twist of the heavy brass doorknob he threw the door open hard and took a step inside, aiming his gun left and right, in a quick sweep of his surroundings.

“Konnichiwa,” Tommy was greeted immediately by the voice of a young Japanese girl, “they call me Miss Enma, purveyor of past, present, and future. Have you come to see one?”

“Konnichiwa,” Tommy responded, “shitsurei shimasu…” The young girl, no older than ten, sat at a tall wooden table with her hands folded neatly on top. She was dressed in a traditional Japanese school girl sailor uniform and her long black hair was perfectly smooth and straight, cut short just above her ruby red eyes. Her skin was deathly pale, contrasting greatly her hair and the darkness in which she sat.

“Please, have a seat,” she continued speaking in Japanese as she motioned to a chair opposite her, “I can show you the past, present, or future, but only one time. So think about what you wish to see carefully, and then choose wisely.”

Tommy nodded slowly and holstered his gun, keeping his eyes on the girl as he took a seat in the chair. He didn’t spot any immediate threats, but of course was suspicious of Miss Enma herself, “Show me the present…” He responded, speaking Miss Enma’s natural language.

Miss Enma nodded and lifted her small pale hands about a foot off the surface of the table, and held them as if holding a ball against its surface. Her thin fingers began wiggling slowly, very small, subtle movements, and the dark air between her hands and the table began to distort as if in a heat wave.

“Whose present do you wish to view?” She asked, the air between her hands and the table becoming whiter, and easier to see.

Tommy thought for several moments. He could use this as an opportunity to find Jo. If Miss Enma could really show him anyone’s present, then finding her would be a cinch. He nodded slowly and ran an uncharacteristically shaky hand over his hair, pushing it back out of his eyes, slicking it back with what little moisture remained.

“Show me Morgan.” Tommy whispered, his eyes fixated on the now brightly glowing air under Miss Enma’s palms.

Miss Enma nodded and the ball of light grew denser, but provided no illumination for the rest of the room. Tommy leaned in close and squinted his eyes, straining to see something, anything, in the ball of wavy light, but no images appeared.

“What’s happening, where is she?” Tommy asked quietly, “I don’t see anything.”

Miss Enma nodded slowly and dropped her gaze, her expression suddenly sympathetic, almost remorseful. “I apologize, Mr. Coffin, but it would appear that your Morgan has already been ferried to the Otherworld. She has no present.”

“No, how’d it happen? Tell me how it happened, show me how.” Tommy sat back and glanced between Miss Enma and the ball of light, speaking very quickly.

“I’m sorry, but that is a question for the past. You have already seen the present, so I cannot show you more.”

“No, show me!” Tommy raised his voice and stood up, “Show me how it happened, how’d she die!” He grabbed her thin wrist but recoiled immediately when it felt like she had a thick chain instead of bone beneath her flesh.

The ball of light dissipated when he touched her, and she lifted her gaze back up to meet Tommy’s. She opened her eyes, her rubies now shimmering with a faint iridescence. “I did not say she died, Mr. Coffin.” Miss Enma folded her hands on the table in front of herself once more, “You must leave this place. Leave before the chains unite, or share my fate.”

Tommy nodded slowly. He looked all around for an exit, but the only door in the room seemed to be the one through which he had entered. He drew his gun and stepped out of the room without looking back, only to find himself stepping into an area different from before.

When he turned around the door was gone, another mirror in its place. It was then he noticed that the chain of blood on his face and neck had stretched, now extending into his shirt, touching his collarbone.

“Dammit, Jo…Gonna tie our ankles together once I find you…” He spoke quietly, mostly to himself, as he drew his gun and once more began navigating the house of mirrors.

[Jo Harris]

*The caravan was a myriad of orange and yellow, as the hungry flames consumed all of the formerly colourful cloth that had marvelled Jo with their brilliance only an hour before. Flames flickered as the fire roared all around her, but Jo stayed motionless as she lay on the floor, a large purple egg forming on her temple from its recent interaction with the hard wooden table. Her eyes moved rapidly back and forth behind purple lids and her pale pink lips trembled under the beads of perspiration that had sprung up like tiny drops of dew on a morning rosebud. Her hands lay motionless beside her, though her right foot was starting to twitch as the heat of the nearby flames was now close enough to burn her flesh.

Inside the cool darkness of her unconscious mind, Jo watched helplessly as Tommy returned to the house of mirrors after his brief disappearance through a door just out of her line of sight. Once he appeared again, she banged on the glass, screaming at him through the transparent surface which was growing warmer by the minute. He failed to hear her though as he walked right past the mirror in which she was trapped, his gun drawn. Jo had a brief moment to wonder what was wrong with his face as it appeared mottled somehow, with what appeared to be some kind of chain of blood dripping down his face to wrap around his neck. Before she could make sense of what she could see though, he had disappeared further down the hall of mirrors, out of sight for Jo. Screaming in frustration, the scream soon turned to pain as the raging flames found her ankle. As the fire reached out to lick her ankle, the agony caused her eyes to snap open and Jo sat up so quickly that she almost passed out again from the dizzy nausea that washed all over her. Struggling to remain conscious, she took several deep breaths, immediately coughing harshly as the dark acrid smoke reached her lungs. Gasping for air, Jo looked wildly around her as she realised that she was surrounded by the flames. Her formerly uninjured ankle now screamed in unison with her busted one, and Jo felt hot tears of pain and frustration begin to stream down her cheeks.

For a moment, she closed her eyes and considered just laying down again, holding her breath until the flames consumed her, meaning an end to this nightmare once and for all. She knew that it would be painful to be burnt alive but compared to the pain of this ongoing agony; she considered it to be the lesser of two evils. Of course, this moment of self pity only lasted a few seconds, before the inner bitch of Jo kicked in and she felt the necessary anger wash over her. ~Fuck this!!~ she snarled between clenched teeth, as her eyes flashed open and she forced herself to study her current situation more carefully. Although she tried to take shallow breaths, the smoke was still her most dangerous enemy as black spots began to appear at the corner of her vision during another painful coughing fit.

Reaching down, she ignored the pain of her burnt ankle which was already starting to blister beneath the denim of her jeans that were now stuck to the burnt flesh, to untie the makeshift bandage that Tommy had given her – his undershirt. At the thought of Tommy, Jo felt her heart ache as she wondered where he was. Hoping that he was in a better situation than her, Jo stretched out the undershirt so that it was a long bandana and tied it around her face, covering her nose and mouth. Although her eyes still watered from the smoke, she found she could breathe easier as she looked around for a possible escape.

The round room in which she found herself only had two entrances. The door that opened up to the public was at the far end of the caravan, and even if she could unlock the two deadbolts that kept it closed, the entire door frame was consumed in flames, as was the thick draped material that hung directly in front of it. Deciding it was impossible to go out that way, she turned her attention back the way she had come in. Again, the draped material was a burning canopy overhead, the flames reaching down to meet the ones that reached up to them from the floor beneath. There was no way that she would be able to make it through that entranceway, even if the room beyond it was relatively free of flames. Her hands curled into fists of rage, Jo looked down beside her to see her elephant. Instantly, it brought back the memories of her friends and the fun they had had before this craziness had begun. Now she was going to die inside this gypsy’s caravan. Screaming in frustration, she threw the elephant blindly, gasping in shock as the elephant hit a nearby mirror. One minute, the image of the flying elephant’s silhouette against the orange flames was reflected back to her in the mirrors surface, while in the next minute there was the sound of breaking glass as the mirror shattered. Jo ducked to avoid the flying shards of glass, but instead of millions of sharp shards raining down on her, she was surprised to feel a sudden gush of cold air. Raising her head, Jo’s brow furrowed in confusion as she looked at the large mirror. Although the frame still hung on the wall, instead of the backing wood and broken remnants of glass that she expected to see, there was a deep sense of darkness within the frame that implied a sense of deep space. Rising to her feet shakily to get a better look, Jo gasped as she saw her elephant somehow sitting inside the darkness on the other side of the mirror, seemingly far away.

Both ankles screamed at her as she hobbled over to the mirror, the flames hissing at her as if they sensed her impending escape. Although it was less than a foot a way, her trek to the mirror took precious minutes due to the agony she felt with each step. Once she reached the mirror, she reached out with shaky hands to grasp each side of the gilded frame. She could clearly see her elephant, small now as it sat within the darkness, far from where she stood. Something crashed behind her as the flames were now starting to eat the main construction of the caravan and Jo realised that she had to leave NOW. Although she had no idea what mysteries lay inside the mirror, she had to take the chance. Dragging the toppled chair over to the mirror, she climbed on top of it slowly so that she could step into the mirrors frame. Although both legs were now on the other side of the darkness, she could feel nothing solid beneath her feet on which to put them, so she still gripped the edge of the gilded frame with both hands, holding on for dear life. The fire was now raging within the caravan, her small space of previously untouched floor had been completely consumed, and the flames leapt towards the mirror as if desperate to have her before she escaped. The gold of the frame began to burn beneath her touch, and Jo knew that she could not hold on forever. Closing her eyes, she muttered a prayer to whoever was listening before she let go of the mirror frame, plunging herself into darkness.

Keeping her eyes closed, Jo had no idea how long she fell. As well as the gush of air that rushed up to meet her, she could also hear other sounds. Voices, Rosies laughter, the sound of the carousel. Keeping her eyes squeezed shut; it was therefore a surprise that the ground had now suddenly appeared. Hitting it with a loud thud, Jo rolled for several feet before she came to a stop beside her elephant that was surrounded in broken glass. Opening her eyes, Jo could barely make out a wall of mirrors through her dizzy vision, one of the mirrors was now a gaping black hole that was starting to billow black smoke out of it. With a throat that had been ravaged by the smoke and her own screams, she opened her mouth to call out but only a soft croaky whisper left her lips. ~Tommy…!~ She hoped that he had heard the breaking glass, or at worse, the sound of her hitting the floor as she tried to call out to him again. It was enough to drain her of all her remaining energy, and safe from the burning flames, she closed her eyes and sank gratefully into unconsciousness once more. *

[Boston]

Tommy was only walking for a few minutes before he heard glass breaking and the thud in the distance. He turned on a heel to face that direction, and immediately began toward it. As fate would have it, he was walking past the mirror Jo was behind just as she tried to call out for him. He stopped and faced it, and his nostrils twitched when he smelled the smoke.

“Jo, are you back there?” Tommy asked, speaking mostly to himself than calling out to Jo. He took a quick step forward and smashed the handle of his gun against the mirror, shattering it easily and stepping through the newly created doorway, “Should’ve thought of just smashing my way outta here a lot earlier…”

He looked down to see Jo lying on the floor, and then up to the hole she had crawled through, billowing with smoke. He crinkled his nose and frowned when he smelled the burnt flesh on Jo’s ankle, and he holstered his gun, kneeling to scoop her up into his arms.

“C’mon, gotta get outta here before the whole place burns down…” Tommy figured he didn’t have time to try and wake Jo, with such thick smoke pouring from the wall he was more concerned with just finding a way out.

So with Jo cradled carefully in his arms, he hurried through the mirrored corridors, taking random turns until he found what he hoped was an exit. A skinny metal spiral staircase led up, hopefully to the roof. At the top Tommy kicked the thin metal door open and stepped into the cool night air, letting out a sigh of relief as they were finally reunited and out of the house of mirrors.

Though instantly hit with sudden vertigo, Tommy shut his eyes and staggered, dropping to his knees and nearly dropping Jo. When he opened his eyes again he looked out over the carnival from several stories up, the spiral staircase having let out to a rooftop taller than the ferris wheel. Escape from the burning building was still top priority, since Tommy’s plan of lowering them off the short hall of mirrors was suddenly debunked.

So he turned his gaze all around until he spotted a particularly rickety looking bridge attached to the hall of mirrors’ rooftop, leading to the adjacent building – the bridge became his new escape plan, so with Jo still cradled in his arms, he hurried towards it and walked very carefully across.

The entire bridge was made of weak, rotting wood, which creaked and begged to be torn apart, threatened to collapse, with each step. Making this trek while Jo was out was an excellent call, he thought, better she sit still than look down and panic. The perpetually calm and collected Tommy made it across the deathtrap of a bridge easily enough, and laid Jo down on the next roof.

“Alright gal, time to wake up now…” Unfortunately, there was no guaranteed method for waking up an unconscious person, so Tommy had to resort to clapping his hands and pulling her hair. Once she was awake, they could get back to work on finding their way out.