CHAPTER TWO  ⨾  Sacrificial Lamb.

PREVIOUSLY ON AFTERGLOW . . . Joey recruits nine friends to save a town trapped in the 1970's. But is keeping a secret from them. The town of Everlock seems safe, until the clowns come out to play. And they discover something truly evil is currently at work.

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LUKE ROLLED THE DICE.

The fates of Vivienne and her friends' lives were at risk. Luke rolled an 8. The number belonged to Nikita Dragun. Thankfully, as much selfish it sounded, it wasn't her, nor Ro, nor Mat.

Nikita: So we're all spinning round & round and they're all pointing at me to be killed and I'm thinking oh my god, of course, they're gonna kill the pretty one.

Teala: I'm over spinning and I don't like it, I'm getting really dizzy and nauseous.

Surprisingly, the group hears a motorcycle drive up to the carousel. "Is that Mortimer?!" Vivienne asked.

"Oh my fucking god yes!" Nikita cheered.

"Yes go Mortimer!" Colleen screamed.

Mortimer suddenly fought with the clowns, he shot one, and then drove through a door to park his vehicle. Ultimately, it distracted the clowns.

Roi: I think Mortimer is a good guy now. I'm a huge fan of Mortimer!

Mortimer started to get physical, he threw his bike helmet at the clowns and shot fire. Cowards were the clowns, as they all ran away.

Colleen: Mortimer appears. And he comes and unties me—and everyone else—but me, mostly.

Once Vivienne and Matthew get untied, they immediately hugged in each other's embrace, they held to each other tightly. As if it's the last time they'd have the opportunity to.

"Oh, my gosh, Safiya!" Vivienne laughed and went to untie her.

"Thank you, Vivi, finally." Safiya said as she got to walk freely.

Rosanna: We all make a run for it, I look down I see these dice and I'm like, I'm gonna take these—these could be something.

Joey: So I definitely had my doubts about Mortimer and calliope, but the fact they're both helping us and rescuing us, makes me trust them a little bit more.

The group ran inside an arcade. "Are we good? Is everything good?" Manny asked.

"Looks like we're in this together, huh?" Mortimer said to Calliope.

Calliope looked coldly at him, "Looks like it, pretty boy."

Safiya: So after all the chaos of being tied to a carousel, at least now we know sort of what we had to do to get rid of these clowns.

Manny: In order to defeat these clowns and make them go away we had to cleanse the artifact. And the jack in the box, is the clown's artifact.

Safiya: So we got the key, a journal, and also the dice the clowns left. How do we put these things together to know what we're able to do next?

"Okay, so what do we have to do?" Vivienne asked as JC grabbed the dice.

"Oh, guys!" Joey opened the fridge, "I found some celery!" Joey announced.

Matpat: So inside the carnival master's journal, we discover a map of the room we're standing in. So we're searching the black wall, and we see behind a cork board is some sort of locked case.

"It's a secret chest or something." Matthew said.

"I think that's what the key's for!" Teala suggested. Joey unlocked the case with a key.

Roi: We knew that the two dice the clown left had to go in there.

"Does the dice fit in there?" Vivienne asked, as it did, the fridge said ON at the top. Vivienne opened the fridge door, revealing a hidden room.

Rosanna: We open the fridge, boom! Secret passageway, secret door, to like our own hidden lounge!

"This is everything! I like this room way more!" Teala excitedly said.

"This is much better." Colleen commented.

Vivienne: Thus room is like magical. It's so beautiful, so big. I feel somehow really safe in here.

Roi: It's very peaceful, but it's too peaceful. Where are the clowns?

Safiya: If I were to describe the lounge in four words, it would be, Brady Bunch sex dungeon.

Mortimer was last to get inside, closing the fridge behind him. "This place is so cute." Vivienne smiles.

"It's like the ultimate swinger pad!" Matthew commented.

Manny: We're looking around the room we're like what in here looks like it'd be helpful to us in any shape, way, or form? All of sudden, Vivienne noticed a map of Everlock.

"Wait is that the town? Is that a map?" Vivienne pointed at the picture on the wall.

"Town of Everlock, yes it is!" Colleen replied.

"So we're here." Joey points at the map.

Matpat: So every time we cleanse an artifact more of the map is revealed. Seems like we gotta get cleansing some artifacts.

Joey: So immediately I spot the Society Against Evil symbol, because, you know, we go way back.

Manny: On the back, there's a full summary of what the hell going on and we're like okay this is literally like premise, middle end...

Vivienne took off the map on the wall and went to the couch. "Just lay it out." Matthew instructed.

"Lay it out, honey!" Manny said as Vivienne did.

"We were too late, even with all of our society's knowledge we didn't understand the carnival master's dark plan. To save Everlock we froze it in time to give us a chance to stop him, but we were no match for his wrath. Realizing all his lost, I used the last of my magic to encase him in an amber prison. But, the spell has reached its end. At sunrise, the carnival master will be released from his prison, and will consume all life of Everlock.

"There are eight corrupted artifacts, which the carnival master draws power from. If they can be gathered and cleansed of evil, the carnival master will be weakened and can be slain. However, the artifacts are protected, and whenever touch, their evil guardian appears. The final act to cleanse each artifact will require voting on two, who much undertake a horrifying challenge that only one will survive. By sunrise, if the artifacts haven't be cleansed and the carnival master slain, everyone in the town, including you, will be destroyed."

Vivienne looked in horror, what did she just read? "Okay, so not only do we have to save a town, we also have to save ourselves?" Rosanna asks.

"Yea..." Manny nods, not wanting to.

Safiya: There are eight artifacts that the carnival master draws his power from...

Manny: Each little artifact has a protection that means we're gonna have to deal with like tons of minions.

Matpat: In order to cleanse the artifact, two of us are gonna be put for elimination and one of us is gonna die.

Roi: So if we don't figure this out before sunrise, we are all doing to die.

"When you said we're gonna save the town you didn't say we were all gonna die!" Colleen said.

"I came for puzzles and hanging out with my friends, I didn't come to sacrifice my life. I haven't even met these—Calliope is a great person, you're phenomenal calliope thank you so much." Matthew pointed at the woman whose smiled. "But the rest of this stuff? Why should I care?" Matthew ranted.

Joey: Would you guess anything different? My friends have to die in order to cleanse an artifact. Hmm, where have I seen that before?

Rosanna: So in order to cleanse this artifact, we've already got the gear, but we have to replace the spring and the song with all new things and then (sighs).

"Okay, here I'll read mine first." Joey spoke. "Guys listen. The jack needs a pleasant song so he's not so angry all the time. The clowns have one you can use, but they've taken it to their disco party where they're guarding it. Proper attire is behind the yellow couch."

Colleen: There is a disco party and mamma, I'm ready!

"The spring of the jack has been corrupted with evil and must be replaced. The clowns have hidden it in their giant tent. You'll have to rip the stuffing out to find it." Nikita read.

Rosanna: To get the part of the jack, since we only have sunrise or else we all die, we split up. Half of us go to the disco, and other half go to a creepy clown tent.

Group one included Joey, Nikita, JC, Colleen, Teala, and Safiya. Group two included Matthew, Rosanna, Manny, Roi, and Vivienne.

Vivienne: The first hint that we had on our note is that we have to beat stuffing out of it, and as soon as we saw stuffed animals. Now this was a hard thing for me and Ro.

"I'm sorry, Dolly." Rosanna softly said to a ripped stuffed animal.

"Guys I found a silver dollar!" Matthew held a coin.

Rosanna: So we're ripping apart stuffed animals, we're looking for a spring, but then we find a coin.

"I got a coin." Vivienne said too.

"You found a coin?" Matthew asked.

"Yeah I found a coin too," spoke Manny.

Suddenly the tent heard a clown's laughter. "Jesus it's them." Vivienne muttered before hiding behind boxes with Matthew.

"I wanna bash your head in!" The clown hit the benches before laughing.

Roi: This is scary. I'm scared. Very scared.

"Where are you, you little shits!" The clown yelled.

"Come out you sons of bitches! Damn it!" The clown got frustrated, hitting a bench with her bat repeatedly.

Manny: this girl is Harley Quinn on crack. It was terrifying, and so loud, does she shut up?

"I'm coming to find you! Mamma's coming!" The clown finally walked out.

Vivienne: So we rip apart almost every single stuffed animal, still hurt from doing that, but we find four coins.

Manny: So we find all the quarters, okay what do we do? We see this one box.

"Oo, put the coins here. We have to drop it in." Vivienne ordered.

"Three, two, one." They all dropped the quarters, the box opening.

"Oh myyy!" Vivienne gasped.

"Oh god." Roi muttered.

"Find Zero G man and solve his dilemma." Manny read.

Matpat: So inside this box there's a bunch of empty balloons and a comic strip about Zero G Man, who, apparently, is sad because he lost his ability to fly.

"Oh my god! We need to blow the balloons up to make Zero Man fly!" Manny realized.

Vivienne: I feel like I've been doing a lot for this small little spring. But anyways we start looking around for Zero G man. We can't find anything, so we go back to the comic and read it again.

"I can't be here I can't fly...May Day May Day, call zero g man, zero g man." Safiya read the strip. "

"Zero G Man!" Manny called out. "Did it open?" Manny asked to no avail.

"I think we need to all say it." Roi guessed.

"Okay so let's do it. Six times." Rosanna went along with it.

"Ready? 1, 2, 3..." Safiya counted.

"Zero G Man, Zero G Man, Zero G Man, Zero G Man." The five chanted, a chest popping open.

"Is that Zero G Man?" Rosanna asked.

"Okay wait, guys, we have to divide and conquer, you guys fill up the balloons with helium, there's helium right there." Matthew said.

Rosanna: We learn we need to fill up the balloons, and I'm like, great! I've had lots of experience planning parties I've had worked a helium tank, I know how it works. This is gonna be easy, but...

The helium tanks were extra loud. "Oh my god that is so loud!" Matthew and Vivienne both said.

Matpat: So here we are, trying to whisper to each other and not to signal old crazy Sally over there, and then all of a sudden there was like a (imitates helium tank sound), oh my god in filling up my balloon (imitates helium sound).

Rosanna popped a balloon, she screamed out of fright. "Oh my god hide guys!" Vivienne said as everyone ran to hide.

Manny: We start hiding we're like all hiding with each other.

"Come out and play little chickens, knock knock." Sally spoke. "Hello! Come out and play!"

Manny: So I realize she's trying to like going around my box and I'm kinda like crawling the other way she's going, it's like oh my god I'm literally about to get screwed here.

"I just gotta go tell her they're not here!" Sally laughed away.

"Coast clear." Vivienne mumbled.

Vivienne: So after all the commotion with the balloons popping and the clown chasing us, we get enough balloons to make Zero G Man fly.

"Zero G...Zero G..." Roi chanted, thinking it would help Zero G Man fly as the group attaches balloons to the action figure.

Roi: So at this point I'm just like, this is a very collaborative effort.

"Ready?" Safiya asked.

"Let's try it." Manny whispered, Matthew let Zero G Man, with the balloons, fly.

Matpat: He's more of  hovering than soaring gracefully, but it will do.

Vivienne notice another box open. "Oh my gosh another box!" She whispered.

"It's the screw it's the screw it's the screw!" Matthew repeated, holding it.

"Okay, so it says, this artifact requires one more piece to be replaced—" Vivienne tried to read.

"Here's Sally!" They suddenly heard.

Vivienne: Oh my ducking god does she ever go away?? Every five minutes I see that woman!

The group of five run away out the tent, Vivienne taking the piece of paper with her, "Having a party without me? You little bitches!" Was the last Vivienne heard from the tent.

"Finally!" Vivienne ran inside with Matthew, holding the spring.

"Oh my gosh you got it!" Colleen smiles.

"You guys got it too?" Manny asked.

"Oh my god yes!" Matthew cheered.

Nikita: We finally put all the pieces back together for this little jack in the box, and it's revealed—

"We found this note." Safiya held out the note. "It reads that the artifact requires one more piece to be replaced to be fully restored. A new jack head. Two must be selected by vote to undertake a deadly challenge to recover it. Choose wisely, one of you will not make it out alive. For this unique trial, the two selected must choose a partner to fight for them."

Safiya: I am thinking, why did Joey bring us here? Is he on our side? Is he trying to kill us?

"So basically this whole save the town thing is a whole suicide mission, that you brought—why—why us?" Matthew burst, Vivienne tried to put her hand on his shoulder to calm him down, which was at slight ease. "Thank you," he muttered.

"Me? You guys came here knowing exactly what you guys were getting yourselves into!" Joey argued.

"No we didn't! You didn't include the sacrifice challenge!" Vivienne told back.

Vivienne: From what I'm hearing...we're basically sacrificial lambs! I could possibly be a sacrificial lamb.

"This is a difference between adventure and certain death." Matthew snapped.

"I wanted to save the town of Everlock, I didn't know it required or that you guys were going to be—" Joey tried to explain.

"Die?" Colleen asked.

Roi: It's horrible! I don't understand why Joey wants us in this situation, you know? That makes me mad.

"So if the fighter looses, then the person who chose that fighter dies." Roi asked.

"That's a lot of pressure." Nikita spoke.

"That's so much pressure!" Teala said.

"So how are we supposed to do this?" Colleen asked.

"So let's say this, do we have any volunteers?" JC tried to ask, being met with silence.

"What?" Vivienne questioned at how stupid that question was, people laughed.

Matpat: Well, we talk amongst ourselves trying to get a handle of who did the most for the team, who was a weak link, who wasn't jiving with the rest of the group.

JC: I feel as though I'm safe right now, because I played such a pivotal character in the last challenge...

Vivienne: I feel as if I don't have the chance to be in the final challenge. I found most clues in the tent, and noticed the map.

Colleen: I talk to Guava, JC, and Vivi, and I'm like—

"Okay guys listen up, I don't think Teala is pulling her weight I know she's trying really hard, I love her to death, she is such a sweet girl and she's a good friend of mine, but I think we should vote her in." Colleen explained to the three.

"Okay but me personally, I wasn't with y'all anytime. I was stuck in the Ferris wheel, horrible experience, and I was only with Roi. But, if you'd want me to, I can vote her?" Vivienne asked.

"Yeah true." Roi said.

"It'd be honestly better and a help if you do." Colleen said.

Vivienne: Obviously I'm not gonna pick her first. I'm gonna gather information.

Vivienne went with Matthew, Teala, and JC, "Teala, I've heard your name get passed around a few times..." Matthew said.

Teala: I am very shocked, i feel like I could've done more help, but I don't think I've done anything to slow down the group.

"It is now time to vote. Grab the ticket with your face of the person you'd like to enter in the challenge. I will shuffle. Then I will draw two." Calliope spoke.

Matpat: She so happens just to have cards, with our faces, and names on it in the event where we have to vote each other and die...

Joey: There's definitely a time this was much harder, but I'm way past that.

Matpat: When it came on my vote I decided to vote JC.

Nikita: I voted for Teala, partially cause she didn't do anything, partially also because I'm jealous of her outfit.

Safiya: I think I'm gonna vote for Roi, he hasn't been solving much.

Manny: Roi, I love you, you're amazing, but I don't remember what you did.

"I will now shuffle then draw two." Calliope said.

"I'm shaking." Colleen spoke.

"Me two!" Vivienne quietly nodded.

"The Hippie." Calliope spoke, many gasps were heard.

"Who'd vote for you?" Teala asked, MatPat pretended to act shocked.

JC: I thought everyone had my back, apparently at least one person voted me in. Don't know who it is.

Vivienne: Even though I barely knew the guy, who'd vote for him?

Roi: Everybody was so surprised.

"The super spy." Calliope pulled.

"Oh my god." Joey muttered.

Teala: I saw calliope pull my name and my heart just sank.

"Please select a partner, to fight for you, starting with the person who was chosen first." Calliope referred to JC.

"Matpat." JC spoke—much to MatPat's irony.

JC: I ended up picking Matt, because I feel like he's a powerhouse all around.

Matpat: It's like the biggest mind-blown irony ever, 'cause I'm the one who put him in that position to begin with! Now I'm the one who has to defend his life?

Teala: I originally wanted Matt.

"Uh, well, I choose Sophia (Safiya)." Teala said.

Teala: But I know Sophia is very smart, so I picked her.

"Wouldn't it be funny if he's the one who voted for me?" JC jokes, people laughing.

Matpat: When JC said that I was shook. But I didn't wanna say anything, because here I am going to defend him, I didn't want his trust in me to be shaken.

Atlas, the four walk out the safe lounge, the last time the group seen JC. The room was quiet, and the only sound was the speculation on who would probably win, and what happened when the group was split up.

Later on, when the five walked out, they came back with four.

"Oh my god." Joey said, noticing JC's absence.

"What happened?" Vivienne asked.

"JC is dead. They killed him." Safiya explained.

"I failed him. I feel horrible." Matthew told Vivienne.

"I'm sure you tried your best, even though he died, we'll probably meet him there anyway." Vivienne tried to say lightheartedly.

"But like I also want to survive." Matthew chuckled, his mood rising.

Colleen: This is terrifying because Jc is one of the best players we had all day and he died. So no matter if you perform good you'll still be up for death.

Vivienne: This is horrible because I realize, JC is genuinely dead. We can't go back in time we won't see him magically appear and say surprise.

"Okay, this is the first of eight artifacts." Safiya spoke, adjusting the head to the jack in the box.

Safiya: So we had one artifact cleansed. which is great. But I know we have seven left. That's a lot.

"I also found a note with the jack in the box." Safiya added. "It says, not everyone in town is telling the truth." Safiya read.

"What if it's one of us?" Colleen asked.

Nikita: Honestly, should I tell the whole group that I'm not naturally a blonde?

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working on this since I got back from school lol. I'm so happy to be writing this, it's such a break from writing Disney movies. I'm also wondering how I'd develop Matthew and Vivienne. But I'll probably make it along the way as I write, I always do anyways.