S I X T E E N
Clownin' Around

THERE WAS A cloud of mist around the place, blocking my already very hazy vision as I squinted blindly into the dark. An eerie silence enveloped the maze-like arena once Death's message was broadcasted. It contrasted too heavily against the bouncy carnival music, and this fact alone made my hair stand with attention. The music was completely gone, wiped out as if the last few minutes were nothing but a simple part of my imagination. Then again, this current situation was not something in which one would see every single day on a norm.

No sounds, no anything. Death had already left me with the basic instructions of the game which was to find the center of the maze to retrieve the orb before time runs out. Or worse, one of the other 'participants' of the game finds me. This also meant that I would most likely be left alone without any more instructions to help me find my way.

He had not stated it in perfect black and white, but it was clear that this maze couldn't exactly be that easy to solve. This wasn't one of those mazes you can find at the back of the Sunday paper. This was real life, where making one wrong turn into the dead-end could add on hours to the time spent here in this hellhole before finding the end of the maze.

This was nothing more than a game to Death. I was the contestant, the only contestant, while he was the host, watching the game with quite obvious glee. A thought drifted into my mind as I began to walk blindly ahead, seeing that the road behind me led to a dead end. Had all the previous girls Death had targeted gone through this? Had they even lasted this long in his sadistic games?

Maybe, maybe not. The only way to find out would be to lose it myself, and that wasn't going to happen anytime soon if I had a say in it. Then again, he did mention that the carnival only happens every thirty or so years. Since these parties had only been going on for the last decade or so, there wasn't a high chance for the girls to have met their ends via this exact same maze.

That sounded like great news because that would mean that for now, as long I am in the maze, I will not run into rotting human corpses or a half-dead human like that woman back in the yacht.

The first fork in the road came and it split into two simple lanes that looked absolutely identical. By the rules of the maze, one should always go left and so it was left that I went with. I placed my hand on the wall, never letting it detach as I continued on. A wise friend once said that if you were to place one hand on one side of the maze, you'll always find your way no matter how long it takes.

The quiet area of the maze was different from the start of the carnival. There were no 'ooh's and 'aah's that could have either egged me on or annoyed me. There were no sly smiles that could have given me a clue as of to whether I was making the right decision or not. No music, no life, and definitely no friends to stay by my side and help me with my every decision.

I was all alone in this game, with no allies, no companion to help me.

The left lane was met with silence, and my grip on the pistol tightened. This stillness disturbed me in more ways than one as it could mean that a random killer can ever so easily come up from behind me to stick a knife in my throat when I wasn't looking.

When a rustle of the winds against the giant hedges resonated the small lane, I whipped my head around, eyes wide and scanning the area as I raised the gun to my cheek, the safety clicking off and ready to attack. I couldn't just blindly shoot.

I had a very limited number of bullets, and going by my guess, the bullets were the white diamonds on my bracelet. How fitting it was and how clueless of me to not figure it out immediately. Thirteen chances, meaning thirteen bullets in the pistol. I had thirteen crystal clear diamonds on my bracelet that changed color accordingly to the ghoul in which I successfully shot. Hence, one miscalculated shot, one wasted bullet could be the difference between life and death.

Once a blank of darkness greeted me, I slowly turned back to face the front, running forward as quietly as I could. My feet flew above the grass, barely even causing a rustle of the greens as I sprinted across and down the path, hand still placed along the hedge.

When the path split again, I was met with an even more complicated decision. Instead of the simple two, the path was split into three different choices. However, I was never given the chance to properly choose. The sharp crack of the snap of a twig echoed behind me, causing me to wildly flip my head around, my ponytail flipping through the air. My hand immediately left the hedge, dropping to my side while the other tightened around the gun.

Less than thirty feet away stood a character in which was a popular favorite of children during the golden years where circuses dominated. Its face was painted a pure blanket of white, reflecting the rays of the unforgiving moonlight as it stared straight ahead. A stark contrast against the canvas of white, its large thick lips were the color of a vibrant blood red as it widened into a large unmoving smile, so impossibly big that it would be physically painful. Two large red dots colored the apples of his cheeks, and his hair was puffed up into two rainbow-colored cones sticking out on the two sides of its head, almost like side-way horns. A single red shiny plastic ball replaced the normal human nose, and make up exaggerated the lids of its eyes into a large and almost disgusting curve.

It waved, its white-gloved hand twiddling its fingers in the sign of a hello as its other hand held onto a large bunch of helium balloons. Decked out in a costume of mainly canary yellow mixed with spots of variating colors of the rainbow, the clown tilted its head slightly as if expressing a sign of greeting. It shuffled its big red shoes slowly, almost as though trying to get comfortable with his position as they squeaked from rubbing against each other.

I wasn't staring at its bizarrely unnerving face, though, oh heavens no. I was staring at the black handle that stuck out of the pocket of his eccentric sunshine yellow onesie, a hint of silver glinting from the moonlight with hidden menace.

Death knew of my fear of clowns without a doubt, and he was playing it well. It seemed as though this sinister spirit knew more about me than even my closest of friends. How odd it was that Death seemed to be able to pick out all of my darkest secrets, pull out my fears and seduce me with my wants. It was a mystery to me as to how such a dark and malevolent spirit could know the prayers I whisper to the gods above.

Then again, that had always been the way in which demons worked. The devil listens in, intrudes on your silent invocations. He then uses this information to draw you further and further away from heaven and closer towards the dark forbidden depths of hell.

Clowns from the era of once upon a time were supposed to silly and sweet and were the most honored bringers of joy. They were supposed to be entertainment for children, kings, and pharaohs from ancient lands with origins that transcended through many events in true history and even myths. And yet, they had become so dark over the recent modern society. Perhaps it was the way they thought revenge should be brought; after all, it was our modern society that had downgraded these joyful clowns into something straight out of a nightmare.

Right now, it seemed as though I was still too deeply immersed into my very own one.

The threatening creature in front of me must have noticed my stunned silence, for it slowly let go of the helium balloons, allowing the rainbow of colors to float into the sky and out of view before it lowered its hand, pulling out the hidden knife in its oversized pockets.

Needless to say, I did not wait around for it to make its next move. Straight after that, I made a break for it, running down the left lane once more without turning back even once. I couldn't bring myself to do it. I couldn't bring myself to stare at its face for even a second more because it made me feel weak and helpless. Either way, I didn't even need to.

I could hear the taunting sound of a playful horn, the same resonance that was made in cartoons when those harmless animated clowns pressed their red noses. For every time it grew louder, it only served as a drive to make me run faster, turning left once more when the next fork in the road came.

The distance between me and the clown was all that mattered to me as of the moment. I wasn't going to stop for anything, considering that I was in a one-woman show. My heartbeat pounded in my chest, blood roaring in my ears as I curved corners, darting through different paths as quickly as I could without thinking about where these pathways could lead to. The wind was howling in my ears, my own breathing echoing into the night as my feet thundered against the earth in a continuous never-ending attempt to get the hell away.

However, no matter how much distance I thought I had put between me and the clown, it was always not enough. When I was brave enough to chance a glance, I could see the yellow-suited devil hot on my tracks, tailing me impossibly quick without slowing down.

The speakers crackled to life at the exact moment in which I was met with a dead end, the clown standing right at the end of the lane as it stopped, the silver knife glinting brightly in the light that was cast down mercilessly by the moon through all the fog.

"Now come on, guys. Quit clowning around! Get it? Clowning around?"

A chorus of projected laughter followed, most likely from the crowd that was gathered below the stage from before I was thrown into this horrific alternate reality.

"I know, I know." Death laughed, voice crystal clear as he paused for a second. I could practically see him wiping a stray tear away from his laughter. "I am hilarious. But chop chop, Mr. Clown. We don't have all night just to play! I have many other fun events planned in store for our guest of honor."

At his command, the killer clown charged forward, running towards me full speed ahead as he held his knife high into the air. I could feel my heart in my chest as it neared. When I realized that I had nowhere else to run, I turned over to face my right before jumping right through, ignoring the thorny branches that left scratch marks across my cheeks and palms as I struggled my way through. I could feel the clown's gloved hands graze my ponytail just the slightest, but it wasn't enough for it to pull me back over into its clutches.

The second I was over at the other side, I turned back to make sure the clown hadn't followed. And luckily enough for me, it stayed on the other side with no signs of coming through. However, I wasn't about to stay and wait for him to come over so we could have a lovely heart-to-heart bonding and a tea party. The second I gathered my senses, I scrambled up on my feet, running the hell away as fast as I could.

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