The Nightmare's Return

Chapter 9

Rachel looked at the wheel as she was being lifted up into it. Each spoke was painted a different color from the center plate of the wheel, a flat circular spiral that Rachel was tied against. Each of her arms were tied to opposite sides of the wheel, her wrists strapped down, along with her feet individually but right next to each other, at the bottom of the wheel. The outer ring of the wheel had small panels placed around it. There were words on them but but Rachel couldn't see from her place in the middle of the wheel what they said. The wheel sparkled with pieces of shiny metal that was embedded into it here and there. Mr. Tophat addressed the audience again.

"Rachel is someone who once had the fate of a whole life in her hands. Within a matter of seconds she decided to make an action that would change that life forever. Now that favor will be returned back to her, and she'll know what kind of circumstances certain actions can bring."

The carnival workers and assistants had left the ring. No one except Rachel and Mr. Tophat now occupied the main stage. He moved over to the side of the wheel and placed his hand on it. Giving it a grip his hand pulled it with a hard downward motion, causing the wheel to turn.

"And here we go!" He said.

Rachel went around and around in a spinning circle. She could hear the click the wheel made as it went around, seeing only dizzying blurs of the insides of the tent, the lights, some of the shapes of the faces in the audience as she went around with the wheel. When it stopped after slowing down for a moment Rachel lay against the wheel diagonally, her head continuing to feel like she was still spinning. Mr. Tophat went from the side of the wheel to the front, his eyesight focused on the very top of the wheel where underneath a silver metal arrow that was just over the top of the wheel, lay a panel that had now just come into play.

"Ha Ha, LOSS!" Mr. Tophat shouted to the audience. "Yes, we all have experienced loss at one point of our lives. Some losses are big, some small, but all are painful.. Rachel!" Mr. Tophat shouted out, turning back to her. "I wonder how much loss you have known about in your life so far? I wonder if you have ever thought about what it would be like to lose everything, maybe even twice.. seeing everything just fall away before you.."

Rachel looking worried and nervous, watched Mr. Tophat turn back around and wave his cane across the air up in front of him. A screen of images appeared, stretching across the inside of the tent for everyone to see. The images were of places, people, all things related to Rachel. She saw her new and old home that she had lived in. She saw old and new friends, which included all the MS members, she saw her hang outs as a kid, the college she went to now, or used to. Than she saw the image of her father going by, her mother. That last image hurt the most, as Rachel thought about her mom all alone now, not being able to even call her anymore. Tears started to form in Rachel's eyes as Mr. Tophat continued to speak.

"Imagine all the things you hold dear, everyone. Families, friends, places that you grew up in. Dreams you always held dear, whether or not they would have included any, or all of them. Imagine if you lost them all. What if the important things in your life fell apart, disappeared. How would it feel, what could you do? How does it feel, Rachel.." Mr. Tophat said turning back to her. "To know that it all can be gone, taken away, crumbled forever by something and by someone, without anything you can do about it?"

He waved his cane across the screen of images and moved them closer to Rachel, as he got out of the way. As the images came closer Rachel noticed that they started to look pixelated, like they were coming apart. The images suddenly exploded, flying towards Rachel in small bits. Rachel now felt physical pain as the small bits hit her skin, causing her to shut her eyes quickly, her head turning to avoid the skin on her face from being hurt. She could hear the audience gasp as she got hit, feeling sharp pricks on her skin. When it was over Rachel opened her eyes and looked around at her arms, torso, and legs, wishing she could touch her neck and face. As she looked over the skin on her arms that were exposed she saw what looked like some small pieces of sharp metal, the size of cut confetti, stuck on her skin. Most of the other pieces that she had felt hit her, fell somewhere else. But they had hit her hard enough before falling away to cause small, thin cuts to her skin and clothing. And while there was no bleeding to be seen, Rachel's skin was still cut enough to see all the red from the small cuts that were just deep enough to where they went through a few layers of her skin, made from the shrapnel. Rachel looked at Mr. Tophat with wide eyes, trying to control her now fast breathing.