Taking hold of the sledgehammer, I realized this thing was way heavier than either Ciaran or Dandy made it look, but it was better than the flimsy knife. I gripped the wooden handled tightly and carried it with me through the next partition.
I sucked in a deep breath and let it out as soon as I exited the tunnel and got my first look at the next area. Just how big was this place? There was no sign of Ciaran anywhere. He’d vanished into thin air. Every time I saw him, I became more confused and unsure where he stood in all of this. He’d clearly saved my ass. Again.
But why?
No way was he keeping me around for some selfless reason or undying love. I could convince myself it had something to do with our shared past and family ties, but that didn’t tell me why he was so adamant to make me his.
Hearing footsteps, I turned towards them. A woman in a simple mask emerged from behind another partition. Judging by the grey hair I could see sticking out from behind it, she was older. The second she saw me she immediately took on a defensive stance.
“I’m one of the good guys,” she blurted out, raising both her hands up.
Based on how saturated the pocket-knife she was holding appeared to be, there was no way she meant that literally. Good people didn’t easily take the lives of others. That went against their ingrained moral code.
“Did you see a man in a mask?”
The woman’s shoulders visibly relaxed.
“Honey, there’s men in masks all over this place. We’re in masks. Can you be more specific?”
“Never mind.” I shook my head and relaxed my hold on the sledgehammer, turning away from her.
If she seen Ciaran, she would’ve either remembered him straight away or it would be impossible for her to be standing in front of me because she’d be dead.
Essentially ignoring her, I focused on which direction I needed to go. This woman had just come from the right, so I decided to keep heading left. Flipping the sledgehammer and carrying it with both hands, I proceeded down the next path, entering a narrow hall.
I sensed the woman behind me, still paying her no mind. There were better things to worry about right now then another tag-along.
The walls were decorated in a special kind of paint that made them seem as if they were glowing. I hadn’t paid much attention to the details of the fun house but in a hallway that seemed endless and no one around but a quiet old lady, I now had a chance to do so.
There were eyes painted every few feet, dark and empty as if they were watching me. The phrase we kept seeing was written too along with the names Dion had mentioned earlier.
Azrael.
Stolas.
Vetis.
I wished he were here. He could tell me what they meant. I genuinely hoped he was okay. He’d begun to grow on me, like a cute fungus. Battle Royale with killer clowns wasn’t anyone’s forte, especially his.
The faint sound of screaming began to creep down the hall as I got further.
I found myself glancing back more frequently as the feeling of being watched increased. However, no one appeared. It was just the old women and me still. When we finally reached the end of the hall, there was another choice to make. Once more, we could go left or right and pass through another partition.
On the wall going right someone had written Exit while left said Enter. The woman stepped out from behind me and began going the opposite direction.
“Sweetie, we need to go this way,” the woman urged.
Something about her tone made my nerves fray. She kept speaking to me as if I were incompetent.
“Commonsense advises otherwise,” I replied.
“Suit yourself. You’re going to get yourself killed.”
I watched her hurry down the hall that said Enter, shaking my head. I made the obvious choice, ignoring the warning signs telling me to go back the other way.
There was a sudden bang and soft cry from behind me. I stopped and looked back. Not even a few feet down the opposite hall, the woman dangled slightly off the ground, a metal rod impaled through the side of her head and another her middle torso.
I felt no empathy for her. This was precisely why I knew not to go that way. There was an unwritten rule here: never run away from danger, instead face it head on. Choosing the path to safety more than likely would have resulted in an even quicker death, like the woman who’d just been doubly impaled. That wasn’t to say this direction was any safer, though. Nothing was safe here. This whole idea was one big fucking joke. The fun house, not Devil’s Playground.
We’d been forced into this place and then told to fight for our lives using pathetic pocketknives. Up against clowns and their weapons of choice, this was one giant shit show I’m sure meant to entertain a wider band of sadistic fucks. It would’ve been comical if me and my friends weren’t stuck in here too.