The Nightmare's Return

Chapter 7

After Graham was brought back and Gavin was taken after and returned, it was Rachel's turn to be taken out of her cage. She watched as Akiko's cage was locked back up after she was put in, and waited for the large man in overalls to come to her next. As she went with him out of the tent Rachel noticed Gavin looking somewhat nervous for her. But while she was concerned Rachel knew that as long as there were plans for them for the carnival, for now, all of them were at least meant to stay alive. When she was locked into the bathroom that Graham had described being put into, Rachel looked around, seeing a toilet, sink with hair and some hygiene items on top, and the shower which had a purple curtain across it. Everything was in purple, red, brown and white shades. Multiple colors, just like a carnival used, Rachel took in. She also noticed that there were no windows, no spaces that could be seen inside of the bathroom, just a yellow skylight window in the ceiling, and some small holes that could barely be seen on either sides of the skylight. They looked like they were there for maybe a use in venting for the bathroom. Rachel saw the small table on the right that was next to the sink, which also had a mirror at the back of it she also noticed now. Rachel made sure that the bathroom door was locked before going over to the small table to disrobe. She got her shoes and socks off but stopped before taking off anything else. She looked over at the mirror and feeling uncomfortable, decided to unfinish undressing in the shower. She didn't see any other reflection than her own in the mirror, but still felt better just throwing her clothes over to the table from behind the shower curtain.

Rachel washed up, getting the fresh towel hanging next to the shower and dried herself before wrapping herself with it. As she stepped out of the shower, Rachel looked over at the small table noticing a movement with her shoes happening. All of her clothes had transformed into different clothing, the last of the transformation happening with her shoes, as they turned from low cut sneakers, into gold hued flat dress shoes. Instead of pants and a shirt, she now had a puffy white dress blouse, a gold tinted vest to put over it, a white skirt that had different lengths of cut white fabric sewn together, and white tights almost spandex thick. She got dressed and brushed her teeth and hair. She went to leave the bathroom, noticing how her new clothing felt good on her skin and fit her perfectly. She opened the door and was grabbed by her arm light enough to just have her be pushed back inside, and keep her from going past the bathroom door right away. Rachel couldn't figure out at first why she wasn't being allowed to leave just yet, until the man at the bathroom door pointed one finger to the sink behind her. She went over and looked at the man than back at the sink, where it looked like the man's finger was pointing to the stuff on it. Rachel realized that there was make up there that all seemed to match her skin tone. She picked up the tube of lipstick she saw and put some on her lips. She used some of the eyeshadow, blush and face powder that was there too, putting on some mascara after. She gave her hair a quick spray with the hairspray can that was on the sink and walked back to the bathroom door. This time she was let out, and taken back to the tent with her friends. The man put Rachel back into her cage and locked it, just like with the others.

"Ohh, fancy." Akiko remarked to Rachel, as she saw what she was given to wear, compared to the rest of them. Akiko herself was wearing an outfit that was in all dark colors, mostly black, that looked like she was going to a dangerous rock concert. Her shirt was torn in places like at the sleeves, and the bottom of her shirt. The bottoms of her pants were also torn in shreds, open razor cut tears littered her legs going up to just four inches away from her waist. She had put her hair up into two separate buns at the top of her head, two stripes of white cloth used to keep them tied up. Gavin looked like he was dressed from the Middle Ages, as a knight without armor, which made Rachel uneasy. All of them could hear the carnival workers moving about around them, getting things ready for the night. From time to time they could hear Mr. Tophat's voice give out commands to them. Almost two hours after they had all gotten ready and put back into their cages, the gang felt the world around them spin again, this time everything stopping inside of another tent, the inside tinted with red lighting. Hay was across the floor just like in the tent that they had spent the night in, the soft red lighting strung up overhead giving this scattering a kind of red, silky look. A flap opened from the left side of the large tent and Mr. Tophat stepped through, twirling his cane before putting it behind his head and across his shoulders as he stepped closer, a pleased smile on his face.