The Devil's Carnival

Edward and Alfonse, Lost

The party came to a collective halt once they reached the carnival. It was massive. They had guessed as much when they saw it from the road but they had no idea. Massive metal gates, not connected to any fence, greeted them as they approached and it was these very gates that had forced them to stop. It was rusted and creaked ominously as they stood staring at it. It wasn’t striking or beautiful or even hideous. It was just its placement that left the watcher just a little unsure. Mina looked past the gate and into the filled lot behind it. She had her reservations from the start but this close she was now sure. Sure that this place would kill them all. At the thought she tugged at Danielle’s arm to either bring her to her senses or get free, neither worked. From somewhere behind she could swear she heard laughing children but it wasn’t until the two boys came charging past that she realised it wasn’t her imagination. The two youths ran past the gate one on either side. They were laughing excitedly and everyone stared as they ran into one of the smaller tents right next to the big top. It seemed so out of character for the boys who had remained glued to their mother side all this time. They hadn’t as much as looked away from her and now this. It may have been out of character but there were so many distractions they forgot about them all too soon. They could just make out numerous game stalls around the yard with everything from Milk Bottle Toss to Clown Toss, Stand the Bottle, Queppe Dolls and Duck Pound. What was far more striking was what reached just beyond the metal gates. Stretching as far back as the eye could see were banner lines on either side. The garishly painted canvases advertised several of the acts to be seen in the show. One such canvas were the portraits of two young men, one handsome with blond hair and large white wings while the other sat chained with large black eyes, a Glasgow smile and massive black wings. Written underneath was ‘Cain and Able. One an angel, One a demon.’ Amongst others were those of a master ventriloquist, a real mermaid, a werewolf and a half woman half snake. Those were only the ones that they could see. In all of them, although they would not so easily admit it, as that there were two things very wrong here. Well, there were plenty wrong. The fact it appeared out of thin air and that it was in the middle of nowhere to start off with, but if you could ignore that, if you could, there were two things that stood out amongst the rest. One was that the light were on but no one was home the other was the sheer state of the place, it looked damn well abandoned. That which still stood standing by some divine act was slowly rusting through. The organ kept paying but only the wind moved the feris wheel and carousel. As it did, it howled painfully. The banner lines were, in themselves, terrifying but also very old and faded. The few game stalls they could get a fair good view of were falling apart and the paint was peeling off of them. They also noticed several confectionary stalls but if the rest of the place was anything to go on there would probably be several different kinds of unmentionables crawling around in the candy. “Where are they?!” Mrs. Gimble charged right through Tom and Allen, nearly knocking them off their feet. “Where are my boys?!” They knew that they had seen the children and where they had went but now they had no recollection of here they had run off to. Just a little dazed the group looked about them for any sign of the children but they didn’t see as much as a footprint in the dirt. It bothered Mina that she had so easily misplaced them. She knew well that they were not her responsibility but she was still bothered by it. When no one could tell her where the little ones had run off to Mrs. Gimble dropped to her knees and sobbed as loud as she could. Stumbling up to them from behind her was a very out of breath and very red Bob who was so exhausted he couldn’t get a word out. When he finally came to a stop he gasped for air and as he rested his hands on his knees his legs threatened to give out under him. He tried several time to straighten up but every time he sank right back down. “Where are my babies?!” Mrs. Gimble was by now so hysterical she was shaking violently. “Why? Why did you take them from me?” She yelled up into the shy and into eternity. The people who surrounded her felt both worried and heartbroken at the sight of her. Harold and Tessa Parker, being parent themselves, probably felt the worst. “Now don’t you worry, we’ll help you find the little ones.” Tessa parker smiled, her nose out of the air for now, walked over to Mrs. Gimble and reassured her with the same smile she pitched to her Garden Association when she won best rose garden. It was the best one she had but raised just a little anger in her husband. The show she put on and the smile that she added served as a testament to a flaw in her personality. She was vain and this little spectacle was her trying to get all eyes on her. She didn’t notice but her husband was glaring at her and intended to have words with her. Mrs. Gimble looked up at her with surprise. She could not believe one of these strangers would do anything to help her and she did wonder what they want from her in exchange.