The premise of The Carnival Games are that 30 people get trapped in a carnival run by three serial killers.

FORM:

Name: Morgan Griffin

Pronunciation: If you can’t figure out how to pronounce that you need to go back to pre-school.

Gender: M

Age: 19

Appearance: Morgan has shoulder length, shaggy black hair that has a thick electric green streak through it. He has pale skin with thin lips and brown cat like eyes (that he rings with eyeliner) on his chiseled face. He is on the shorter side standing at only 5’8 and having a more petite build he sure manages being intimidating well. On the fateful day of the carnival Morgan was wearing his favorite leather jacket- the back one with all the zippers and spikes around the collar- with some torn up navy jeans and tall thick-soled combat boots. As for a top he has decided to be an underachiever and just grab a white tank top, after all, they pretty much go with everything, right? On a second thought he decided to grab his spiked collar to wear around his neck. He might have grabbed some other, more logical things as well if he’d known the danger he was walking into….

Personality: Morgan is a very creative and artistic person with an eye for detail that most people would miss. He is also a very passionate person when it comes to literature, poetry and art. He is pretty laid back, focused and driven person most of the time, as long as he’s on his meds that is. Morgan suffers from ADHD that when it’s not treated can be an ‘airhead’ and a ‘painfully confusing person’ to be around, but he is pretty meticulous about those things so it’s generally not a problem. Morgan generally goes out of his way to be nice to people, but when he’s around his friend Arwen the two can get pretty sarcastic, borderline downright obnoxious. Having been screwed over in life more than a few times Morgan often struggles to see the good in life, swaying between optimism and negativity.

Background: Morgan was born out of wedlock to a druggies resulting, the first 10 or so years of his life being miserable. His mother never beat him or anything, but there was never food in the house so he was always starving and the house generally reeked, it had always been hard pinpointing exactly what the smell was, it could have easily been the uncleaned dishes, the BO of his mother and whatever man she had brought home this time, or the cat urine. Ms. Griffin didn’t really learn her lesson after having Morgan and proceeded to have three other children; all of whom Morgan attempted in vain to care for. When he was 11 he and his siblings were swept into foster care, bouncing from home to home they never really belonged anywhere. Eventually all of the kids were separated and Morgan never saw them again. In middle school Morgan was picked on brutally by the other kids, it got to the point where he was contemplating killing himself. This was the point at which Morgan realized that writing poetry was a comfort to him and after that he didn’t stop. The bullying may have continued into high school had Arwen Black, a girl from the grade ahead of them, told them to cut it out before she destroyed them. Everyone knew that when Arwen black threatened to destroy you she meant it and so the bullying problems were mostly solved. Did people accept him? No, but at least kids weren’t dumping soda on his head. High school was moderately uneventful, he made a small group of friends and worked two jobs knowing that he’d need to fend for himself and get a apartment as soon as he aged out of the foster care system. When he did, he managed to afford a low end apartment and is currently trying to save up enough money to go to college and master in poetry and the arts.

Fears: Morgan isn’t necessarily a fearful or paranoid guy. Like I said before, he is a pretty laid back guy, the only thing that really strikes fear into his heart is Chiropractic Care. -And yes it is a perfectly real fear.

Other: Morgan carries a little leather journal around and will write a poem down whenever he is inspired, even if it is in the middle of a conversation.

He was at the fair with his friends (Including Arwen) celebrating his birthday- and what a crappy birthday it turned out to be.

Task 1:

The cool September breeze rippled through Surfside Valley Carnival, sending shivers up the spines of all those who walked within it’s wrought iron gates. I sometimes pondered why the old carnival had a fence surrounding it. I had always come to the conclusion that it was to keep kids from breaking in without paying, it had never crossed my mind that they might ever serve the purpose of keeping someone within.

My friend Arwen bumped my shoulder playfully, her curly brown hair being tossed by the wind. “So, is this not the best birthday present ever?” She grinned arrogantly putting a hand on her hip.

My eyes darted around taking in all the vibrant colors and sounds, the bustle of humans from all walks of life, the loud flashing lights that illuminated the carnival like artificial stars in a man made night as I found the ability to nod. “Yeah, this is just… amazing. I’m so glad you forced me to come.” I laughed remembering how she had boldly broken into my apartment and pulled me from the loving embrace of my bed, declaring I was going to have the best birthday of my life whether I liked it or not.

Her arrogant grin turned into one of smug satisfaction as she took a big bite out of the huge bubble gum flavored cotton candy she held. “I knew you’d like it.”

I grinned at her, “Yeah, I can’t wait to get home and write. I am so inspired, the array of sights and sounds is just overwhelming!” My hand drifted instinctively toward the bulky pocket of my leather jacket in which my journal sat, my fingers itching to add to the pages of ever growing collection of poems.   

Arwen noticed, but then again Arwen noticed most everything. She rolled her eyes and shook her head, “I think we have a few minutes until the gates close, do you want to go sit at that picnic table and jot down whatever angelic rhyme is floating through that dye infested scalp of yours?” She asked sarcastically pointing to a old wooden table that sat in the immense shadow of the rusted old roller coaster.  

I rolled my eyes, “Whatever, nerd.” I punched her playfully, accepting her offer and pulling my worn journal free. I flipped the leather bound book open onto a blank, creamy malella page and hovered my pen over it. I hesitated, closing my eyes for a second and taking a deep breath as I always do before I write anything. The delicious aromas of carnival food wafted into my nose and flooded my senses, making my smile grow a little. I didn’t want my trip to end.

I opened my eyes and began to scribble the words that bounced around in my head, desperate to break free and become a reality cascaded into the page with such perfection I knew they had been waiting to be written for a long time.

“The world is full of color and light,

I walk alone in black and white,

Streamers, and balloons fly like kites,

Looking past them, my gaze falls on my sights,

The giant Ferris wheel in all it's glory and height,

It's neon lights shining through the night,

Could it really be possible that I'd die tonight,”

I sat backwards smiling in satisfaction at my work. It had turned out a lot more ominous than I had intended, but it felt right. I brushed my hand fondly over the page feeling the indents in the paper of where my pen had pushed down.

Arwen reached bent over my shoulder, I felt her hair brush my shoulder as her eyes scanned my work. “Ok, how did we go from, ‘This is my best birthday present ever!’ to ‘Could it really be possible I’d die tonight?’” She asked flatly.

I shook my head, nobody seemed to understand that my poems didn’t always necessarily relate directly to me. I had seen a girl earlier who had appeared beyond upset, she looked out of place among the chattering crowd that jostled her, hence my poem was born. “Its not about me….” I started, but trailed off as I looked up and saw someone approaching us.

My eyes fell upon the man who walked toward us with moderate perplexion, wondering what he wanted. The lone word that strayed into my mind as I watched him was; statuesque. Even though the word was more commonly used to describe a woman, it fit the man perfectly. As he drew nearer I noticed that his chestnut colored eyes glittered with something I didn’t trust.

“Hello, we’re running the coaster one more time before we close the park for the night, we need a few more people. Might I be able to coax you two lovebirds to take one last ride?” He asked, with a air of pompous arrogance in his voice. The back of my mind demanded to know why they just didn’t run the coaster without it’s maximum amount of people, but I ignored it, jumping to the more pressing matter.

I forced myself to laugh politely, even though I disliked this man more and more with each passing moment. “What I want to know is why when anyone sees a boy and a girl together, they automatically assume that they are dating? I mean can’t a guy have a female friend?” I asked lightheartedly.

Out of the corner of my eye I watched Arwen, her jaw was clenched as she stared at the man, brush a stray curl behind her ear. I knew better than anyone she was plotting the arrogant man’s demise as we spoke, suddenly the tension in her stance was gone and she smiled.  “I wouldn’t put too much into it, Morgan. This poor guy clearly has no clue what an actual couple would look like since,” She paused as if loading her voice with as much sarcasm as humanly possible for her next line. “he clearly goes on loads of dates due to his charming personality.”

I looked down biting my lip trying to keep from cracking a smile, I thumbed through the pages of my journal uncomfortably.

The man’s eye twitched, he was clearly not amused by Arwen’s comment. “Are you going on the ride or not?” He demanded flatly.

Arwen looked to me questioningly and I shrugged, though I kind of did want to go on one last time. I had gone on earlier and had really enjoyed myself. I loved the way the freshly oiled tracks had clicked as torrents of wind had blown in my face as the landscape blurred until it resembled an impressionistic painting.

Arwen looked at the man reluctantly, “Fine.” She snapped rather than said as the man smiled curtly in response.

We followed him through the rapidly dying carnival up the metal stairs to the platform upon which the archaic roller coaster sat, seemingly rejuvenated from the large variety of people who chattered with electricity within it’s sides. I found myself wondering what the dented and chipping old coaster had looked like in its hay day.

“Excuse me.” A female voice snapped me from my thoughts. I turned only slightly startled to see a elfish looking girl with thick black hair that was pulled into two pigtails pointing to an empty seat next to a girl I didn’t know.  

“Wait, can’t I sit next to Arwen….?” I asked even as I watched a guy with bright red hair yank her towards a seat closer to the front.

I tried to mask my disappointment as the girl shook her head and shrugged, “Sorry. Life sucks. There were only two seats left and they don’t happen to be next to each other. Don’t worry, you can meet up with each other after the ride.” She said carelessly. There was something about her statement that bothered me, though I couldn’t put my finger on it.

She walked me over toward the empty seat, her eyes watching me as I took my seat next to the narrow girl with the long wavy brown hair. The seat was hard and lumpy, I tried to re-adjust my position a little to get more comfortable- but the elfish girl wasted no time in pushing the bar down and pinning us in the seats. Oh well… I guess I would have to cope with being a little uncomfortable.

The girl sitting next to me turned to face me, her freckle covered face beaming. Her entire being seemed to send off a very vivacious ora. “Hi, I’m Cleo, Cleopatra if you will.” She grinned, her eyes sparkling with energy.

I was a little taken aback by her friendliness, most people weren’t this outgoing. I smiled back, “I’m Morgan.” I said, “Nice to meet-”

She cut me off as her eyes focused on my hair, “I love that color.” She excitedly, pointing to the thick streak of electric green in my otherwise black hair. “Where did you get that color?” I was about to answer her when she gently reached out and touched it. “Dude! You’re hair is so dead. You seriously need to give it some hair vitamins or something! Actually- You know what works great? Argan oil. You put a little of that in each day and it will be the picture of health in a month. Go ahead and quote me.”

I hesitated unsure of whether it was safe to speak yet. “Well… umm thanks for the advice. I will definitely look into that.” I said slowly, trying to recollect my thoughts that had been scrambled by the very overwhelming girl.

Her grin broadened as the coater jerked forward, “Anytime, pal.” She said leaning back into her seat as the coaster slowly climbed the first bump.

Click, click, click the tracks go as we slowly yet assuringly climb our way to the top of the steep peak of the coaster, I look to my side and see the ground below me inching away as the coaster makes its way towards the dank night sky.

When the cart reaches the peak of the arch and it stop, my heart jumps into my throat in anticipation. A sudden silence hangs above the train as the riders prepare for the stomach-turning descent. Suddenly the cart dips forward as we fly down the tracks, some people around me shriek with excitement as we speed downward. The velocity increases by the second, the wind blowing through my hair as we swoop up and down the other bumps as if they are no more than small indents. My body is jostled by the shakes as the coaster twists and turns, and then falls back down to earth again only to skyrocket back up. The elation rushes through me faster than the rapids in a river.

Finally the coaster slows and we roll gently into the station. I laugh, as I catch my breath and my heart plunks back into my chest where it belongs. I was going to have to come to carnivals more often. I strained my neck trying to see if I could see the back of Arwen’s head from where I sat, wondering if she was as exhilarated as I was.

Cleopatra distracted me from my task though, as the roller coaster staff began unlocking the bars that kept us imprisoned in our seats. “That. Was. Awesome!” She said throwing her head back and laughing joyously. “If only Jayden and Emily hadn’t chickened out.”

I nodded even though I had no idea who Jayden and Emily were. “Yeah, it was absolutely amazing. I didn’t remember it being that fast.” I said as the redheaded guy clicked our bar up. I got to my feet and stretched as Cleopatra grabbed my arm, her eyes wide.

“Oh.My.Gosh. Thats what I thought too! They must have vamped up the speed a little or something.” She said exuberantly, as we stepped out of cart and merged with the hustling crowd. My eyes scanned for Arwen as Cleopatra rambled on about something, I tried to listen but I was concerned about not being able to find her. For whatever reason a strange complex hung over me, making me feel like I had abandoned her- which was stupid of course because we we forced to sit apart.

It wasn’t until I reached the stairs that I realized something was very wrong. As I looked out into the fair I noticed that it was absolutely still. The carnival that had been brimming with life when we had been boarded the roller coaster was now dead, as empty as a graveyard. A lone  plastic bag tumbled through the stalls as the wind pushed it through the skeleton-like stalls. Shivers ran up and down my spine as my eyes darted over toward the towering gates.

The doors were shut.

The crowd pushed us forward and Cleopatra laughed carelessly, wrapping her arms around her chest for warmth as a particularly cold breeze whipped through. “Wow. We must have been on that coaster longer than I thought!  The staff will let us out.” She grinned confidently.

I disagreed completely. This was bad. This was beyond bad, it was disastrous. No one locks a bunch of fairgoers in the park by accident, which meant this had to be intentional- and if it was intentional that means that something frighteningly sinister was about to unfold. My foot hit the bottom step and I stepped to the side of the line of people filing out.  Cleopatra was still at my side, I watched as she waved at the red headed guy who was herding the rest of the people who had been on the roller coaster off of the platform. “Hey! Ginger! The gates are closed, ya mind opening them for us!” She yelled loudly, I flinched at the amount of volume that was able to exit her mouth.

The man ignored her, even though there was no way he couldn’t have heard her. I watched his face closely as a small flicker of an expression crossed his face before he disappeared into the shadows; one of long awaited anticipation. I swallowed feeling my heart feeling like it was about to pound right out of my chest.

I felt a hand grasp my shoulder, I jumped forward as if I had just been electrified. I spun around to see Arwen and I let out a breath of relief. “Well aren’t you just the ball of nerves tonight Mr. Morgan.” Arwen chucked, though it was clear that she rattled by the occurrences; to what level? She wasn’t showing. “Whos that girl?” Arwen continued eyeing Cleopatra up and down suspiciously, clearly ready to pound the girl into the ground if she even so much as breathed wrong.

Luckily, Cleopatra seemed mildly oblivious, her face lit up as she turned from watching the red headed staff member and laid eyes on Arwen. “Oh! Hey! Are you Morgan’s friend? I’m Cleopatra, but my friends call me Cleopatra.” She laughed ditzily sticking out her hand for Arwen to shake.

Arwen regarded Cleopatra’s hand as if it was a venomous reptile, but reached forward and shook it anyway. “I’m Arwen.” She said coldly. Arwen wasn’t the warmest or the most trusting of people by a long run, but with good reason.

I tapped my finger nervously on my pants, resisting the urge to yank my journal free and begin scribbling in it, words bounced around in my head begging me to let them out. “Tick tock, Life is a clock, Tick tock, Time can’t be bought-” I muttered nervously, not intending anyone to hear but Arwen’s all hearing ears didn’t miss a beat.

She snapped at me, cutting me off mid rhyme, “Gosh, Morgan! Don’t be so creepy!” Her eyes were wide and for half a second they betrayed the fear that welled inside her. She stopped and shook her head, “I’m sorry…” She muttered regretfully.

I reached forward and embraced her, wrapping my arms around her small body. “Its okay, I get it.” I said before releasing her.

“Okay? I think it’s awesome. It’s really catchy, I just want to smack music to it.” Cleopatra said beginning to chant my lyrics and do a little dance. I cracked a grin, but my amusement was short lived, because at that second the speaker’s around us crackled to life, sputtering as if they had not been used in decades even though I had heard it used earlier to advertize the car show. The message they carried now though, was not nearly as lighthearted.

“Good evening competitors!” A female voice laughed, “Congratulations, you’ve been selected to play a game.” My heart dropped, realizing my foreboding suspicions had been correct. “A game known as death.” A male voice cut in. “....For now we are going to give you fifteen minutes to run, make alliances, and find a hiding spot. Sound good?” A few people around me gasped, I swallowed hard and stared at the few strands of grass that was poking through the hard packed dirt. I numbly bent forward and yanked it from its roots. We were just like that strand of grass; dead.“Thats all for now. Something a bit easy to start these games off. Don’t worry; the worst is yet to come.” The female voice cut back in as the microphone shut off.

Dead silence filled the crowd as people exchanged glances, unable to grasp what they had just heard; that we were truly trapped. Then a girl with black hair started sprinting away from the group, the rest of us were quick to follow. Part of me thinks that if we had stayed together we would have been able to overpower our captors and escape, but we didn’t. I tried to yell at them to stop, I tried to communicate my theory, but frightened humans are virtually incapable of logic or reason. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Arwen trying to do the same thing, it was in vain though. Within a blink of an eye we were alone, the only evidence that indicated others had been here was the rapidly settling cloud of dust they had left in their wake.

I turned to Arwen and opened my mouth to say something, but someone beat me to it, “It’s like the freaking Hunger Games.” I turned to see Cleopatra leaning against a beam that supported the platform that supported the roller coaster.  

Arwen furrowed her brows, “Why didn’t you run off with the others?”

Cleopatra shrugged, “They said we could have alliances and there are safety in numbers. I like you guys, lets stay alive.” She started running toward the left, her long legs pushing off of the ground gracefully. On some level she reminded me of a gazelle. After a few strides she turned to face us, “You coming?”

Arwen looked at me, the distrust in her eyes was clear. I bit my lip and looked down, the wheels in my mind turning. I was generally a pretty good judge of character and I didn’t think Cleopatra was any threat to us…. “Arwen, I think we can trust her.” I said uncertainly, not wanting to make a choice without her input.

She shrugged as if she had no preference, though it was evident she did. What that preference was, however, I had no idea.“I don’t care honestly. Lets just hide before whoever is after us comes to find us.” Her voice was steely and determined.  She sprinted after Cleopatra, her strides short and quick like a rabbit’s.

I cast one last glance behind me at the roller coaster, its black outline was just dimly visible against the starless night. I looked away and began running after my newfound alliance. The cold air burned my lungs as I forced my feet down as fast as I couldn't until I was next to Cleopatra and Arwen. Our pounding footsteps and our ragged breaths were the only thing I could hear besides the howling wind.

“Should we try to find a way out?” Arwen asked, as we took a sharp right away from the rides and toward the concession stands. “Maybe we can dig under the fence.”

I wasn’t sure if that was a good idea, but then again I wasn’t sure if that was a bad idea either…. “I don’t know.” I said helplessly, looking toward Cleopatra hoping she had an idea of some sort.

She nodded her head slowly, throwing a glance over her shoulder. “Its worth a shot, Arwen.” She said gritting her teeth as we sprinted through the concession stands toward the wall that blocked us from freedom. It was funny to think that such a thin barrier could determine life or death for us. I wasted no time in kneeling at the foot of the looming wall and digging my fingernails into the dirt frantically, praying silently that it would be successful, praying this would be the key to escaping this nightmare. The ground was dry and my nails barely put a dent in it, I sat back realizing it was hopeless unless we had shovels to move the rocklike dirt that sealed us in our prison like cement that was crammed into a keyhole preventing the key from being able to open the door. I glanced around, Cleopatra clawed at the dirt mercilessly, while Arwen stared ahead blankly.

I froze as voices rippled into my ears, Arwen and Cleopatra stopped moving as well their eyes as wide as desks as they strained to hear what was being said.

“Come out, come out wherever you are!” Someone giggled in the distance. My heart stopped.

“Shhh, Sayuri! They’ll hear you!” Another voice scolded angrily.

“We’ve got to hide.” I whispered getting to my feet, my hands shaking from the stress of it all. Cleopatra and Arwen followed suit, I started running back into the shadows of the concession stands. I scanned the isles rapidly trying to find a decent place to hide.

“Hey, I think I hear someone!” On of the voices in the distance laughed.

“Shit.” Cleopatra breathed, mirroring my very feelings. “We have to do something quick!” Her face looked sickly pale, her face stricken with worry. Out of the three of us I think Arwen was the only one who was keeping a strong face, though with every ticking second her mask cracked a little bit more.

That was when we heard it. “Psst! Over here!” A new voice whispered frantically as the footsteps of our pursuers grew rapidly closer, closing in on us. My head spun around to see a pale hand beckoning to us from the depths of a dumpster that was in the alleyway between a hotdog stand and a balloon pop game. I hadn’t even noticed it. “Quick!” The voice cried softly.

I didn't waste a second  before running over to it. The stench was revolting, it seemed to curl around my neck choking me. I was in no state to complain though, as the hand propped up the cover up just enough so that we could slide into the trash filled dumpster. I rolled inside, Arwen and Cleopatra on my heels. As soon as we were in it’s depths the hand lowered the lid shut and we were engulfed in darkness.

I held my breath as the footsteps of our pursuers slowed right in front of the dumpster. “You sure that they came this way?” A masculine voice demanded.

“Yeah…” A female voice snickered, “I know exactly where they are too!”

I felt my stomach heave, preparing for the lid of the dumpster to be thrown open. I had been nervous before, but I don’t think that it ever had coursed through every vein in my body, utterly engulfing me. Every instinct in my body screamed at me to run and to try to save myself. I ignored it, pulling my legs up to my chest, trying not to shake.

I heard a pile of barrels get knocked over, followed by the sound of metal hitting human flesh and boy’s terrified screams. The sadist's laughed hysterically as cries of pain sounded from whoever had been hiding behind the barrels. They slowly faded as whoever it was, was dragged off to whatever horrible fate awaited them.

I let out a breath, feeling like an awful person for feeling relief. Someone clocked on a miniature flashlight that illuminated the piles of trash that we sat on, lucking most of it was bagged. “I think they are gone.” Arwen breathed, shifting a little faking the shadows shift with her.

My eyes flitted over to our rescuer, she was a strong looking willowy girl with gemlike emerald green eyes and slick black hair. She sat with her legs crossed with her hand holding her chin. “Thank you.” I said, genuinely grateful. I had no idea what would have happened if she hadn’t decided to help us.

She shrugged, “No problem. I could use some friends in this ‘game’- if you could even call it that.” She rolled her eyes, trying to act tough, though it was clear she was just as rattled as all of us. “The name’s Maxine, and you are?”

“I’m Cleopatra, its really lovely to meet you under such wonderful circumstances. I just love the smell of rotting pizza.” Cleopatra drawled sarcastically her voice barely above a whisper. “Thats Arwen and Morgan.”

Arwen made a note of studying the hiding spot. “Very clever choice, Maxine…. A crappy dumpster with a stench that could kill is the least likely place someone would hide in a fair….”

I smiled fading into a corner, feeling Cleopatra and Arwen were more than capable of being sociable while I wrote a little. I longed to watch my anxieties flow onto the paper like silk and free me of the burden of carrying them alone, so for the second time tonight I yanked my journal free from the cramped pocket of my leather jacket and flipped it open to a new page.

“I look out on world so sound.

There will always be a cat around.

He sits and stalks a little mouse

Who's hiding inside his little house.

The cat is hungry, it’s plain to see..

For a fat juicy mouse would surely be

Entertainment for him, eternally.”

I didn’t even see it coming one second I’m frowning at my less than perfect poem, the next  the lid of the dumpster is being tossed open and powerful flashlights are being shone downwards illuminating even the darkest crevices of my hiding place, blinding my eyes. I blink as I watch Cleo get yanked upwards, I shout as Maxine shrieks a war cry and  pounces on whoever attacks her.

My breath gets caught in my throat as I watch an arm reach for Arwen. I stab the hand with my pen. The arm retracts with a curse, something hits my chest, knocking me backward.  All the air in my lungs is forced from my lungs as I hit the side of the dumpster with a clang. I forced my eyes open just in time to watch Arwen get dragged from the hiding spot. I struggled to get up, trying to force air to flood back into my lungs. Adrenaline rushes through every vein in my body like a stampede of wild horses, uncontrollable and fearsome. Two arms grab me under my armpits, I bring my elbow around hitting my attacker in the face. He let go as a fist came down and hit me in the face, I collapsed momentarily dazed as I fell onto the cold ground outside.  

I looked up as a flashlight was shone directly in my eyes making them sting, I knew in that moment that this cat and mouse game was over. The nightmare, however, had only just begun….