Ensnaring Darkness

XXI. In which he enters Sans Soleil!

The park was bustling with activity. The faint sound of merry music drifted with the mild breeze. The massive structures of some rides could be seen from the entrance: a roller coaster, a Ferris wheel, and a massive water slide. There were long queues and visitors are strolling about holding cotton candies and colorful balloons.

Donovan's vicious words tauntingly repeated itself in Julien's mind. "...that horrible place."

He couldn't see why the old man would describe this place as anything but fun. Boisterous laughter, cheers, and screams can be heard. It was far from the cacophony of mayhem Julien envisioned.

The phone in his pocket vibrated again as if to remind him he was yet to check it. He had an uncanny suspicion he'll know more from the app. Knox was yet to get down the car, as he seems to be giving instructions to the driver. Julien checked his notifications and was blown away with its contents.

Congratulations! You've unlocked a Hard(core) mission - Donovan's last wish!

You accepted Donovan's wish! You've unlocked two sub-missions - A Date in Sans Soleil and Fake Paradise!

A bad feeling rose in his heart. What wish? When did he accept Donovan's wish?!

He clicked on the details of the mission.

~Donovan's last wish -5 stars

Donovan's been buried in grief and pain of losing his family. All he wanted is to give them the justice they deserve. Help Donovan and win his favor.

Reward: ???

~A Date in Sans Soleil -2 stars

What a perfect day to have a tour around the famous SANS SOLEIL! Bring your special person with you and visit all the attractions in the park!

Reward: 1 spin in the Erotic roulette, 1 voodoo doll

~Fake Paradise -4 stars

In the midst of the bustling city, evil had accumulated and pooled in one place over the years. Stealthily hidden by laughter and screams of excitement, it had grown into a terrifying place. The scent of death and danger masked heavily by the sweets while bright red paint concealed it's unspeakable history. Destroy the fake paradise and unravel all its secrets!

Reward: Based on completion rate.

Julien read the details of the missions again and felt a headache coming. Three at once?!

"Let's go Mr. Alderean." Knox's voice pulled his attention away from the app's mission. Without his overcoat on, Knox looked a little less formal, but he hardly thinks it will stop him from catching everyone's attention.

He pocketed his phone and followed with an anxious heart. Well, at least there was that Date mission. It was two stars so it's quite simple, he only need to visit all the attractions with Knox. Somehow, he felt excited but what worried him is how he would dragged Knox to visit them. They were after all here to get revenge for Donovan.

Just as he thought, Knox was garnering attention. With his tall and muscular build, his handsome face and the aristocratic air around him, it was inevitable for him to stand out amidst the throng of normal park visitors.

There were a lot of people. Julien spied a lot of queues edging on at a steady pace. Oddly, they didn't have to squeeze through the crown. When the people saw Knox, they automatically give way to him.

Julien looked around and made an internal note of the attractions in his mind: The rides were east of the park, on the south was a circus show, on the west were the booths of mini-games and up north to where they were heading was a haunted house.

"Uhm, sir? Where are we going?" he asked, following closely and thought silently, 'Please don't go to the haunted house'

"Up ahead." was Knox's short reply.

Julien's stomach dropped. He had bad memories of haunted house attractions. There was one time he strayed away from his sister and was lost for almost half a day before they found him.

"Mu! Mumu!"

Mumu sounded ecstatic and the bells from its' tail rang louder. The little guy even jumped down from his head and tottered up ahead with an added bounce to its step. Julien didn't know why it felt so happy and he was reminded that it loves dark places and the app described one of the missions as a place filled with evil.

Julien pondered deeply about it. They were connected. That meant the fake paradise is Sans Soleil? Then, what Donovan claims of it to be a horrible place might really be true! But when he looked around, it was hard to think that way.

Even he thinks the place is filled with fun activities.

Or so he thought until they arrived at the haunted house attraction.

Although there was a long queue of couples, what was noticeable was that there was a make-shift tent on one side and it was filled with people. Most of them looked pale from fright!

Julien froze. He had a really, really bad feeling about this.