Circus Of The Death (ABrokenWorld#1)

Chapter 7

Horror-House
Really now? Horror-Haus? Couldnt you have a better name?

"NGH! Ah, damn! Fucking shit!" Damien exclaimed in frustration as he once again tumbled down from the high fence.
"What are you doing?" asked a soft voice.
"What does it look like? I want out!" Damien shouted at the small figure. Anna. Her eyes were red from crying in the circus tent. The whole situation had taken a toll on her, and she felt deep sympathy for everyone caught up in the chaos.
"I think you should curse a bit more quietly. We wouldn't want anyone to hear you," she replied calmly.
"Who cares? Let these psychos kill me! I'll take them all down before they lay a finger on me," Damien said confidently as he cracked his knuckles.
"Hmm, suit yourself," Anna mumbled to herself and walked away from Damien. But the boy became curious.
"Hey, where are you going?" he asked.
Anna stopped and looked back at him. "I need to find my object."
"What? You're playing this ridiculous game too?"
"Did you see what happened in the tent? I take it very seriously," she explained and continued on her way. Damien rolled his eyes. It was all just an act, he thought. Surely, all the people here were just puppets. He had no desire to continue playing this game. Everyone seemed too serious, much more so than Scar. Where was the fun in that? As he thought about Scar, he wondered where she was. "Ugh, she and her solo adventures," he thought, even though he had walked away from Scar. In the end, curiosity got the best of him, and he decided to follow Anna. He had completely forgotten what his object was, but that didn't matter to him. He just wanted out.
After a while, Anna stopped in front of a house. The once-white walls had faded to a gray, eerie shade from years of neglect. Most of the windows were broken or boarded up with brittle wooden planks. Some of the few remaining intact windows were covered in thick cobwebs that swayed in the wind. The entrance to the house was blocked by a rickety gate that creaked eerily with every movement. The house itself seemed on the verge of collapsing from the outside. Loose and crooked roof tiles, some missing altogether, created a precarious look, and the chimney leaned dangerously to the side. The facade was crisscrossed with cracks that formed unsettling patterns, and in some of these cracks, dark shadows seemed to lurk.
A sign was attached to the wall of the house, reading: "Nightmare Manor. The Lost Souls." The letters were written in a distorted script, as if they were twisting and contorting. The black of the letters appeared to be streaked with a dark red, giving the impression that they were bleeding.
Damien grinned and said, "Are you serious? You want to go in there?"
"Well..." She hesitated. "I think it should be found in a horror attraction," she said and approached the old, creaky door. The dark-haired boy followed her.
"I think you're going to soil yourself in there," he said to her with a wicked grin. Anna looked at the taller boy in annoyance. "Just leave me alone," she said and then entered the house. Damien found the girl amusing; she was much easier to tease than Scar. His girlfriend would have slapped him by now. He eventually followed Anna into the house.

Dex slowly woke up. His vision was still blurry, and his thoughts seemed trapped in a thick fog. He tried to get up, but something was holding him in place, tightly bound around his body. Fortunately, his vision gradually improved, allowing him to take in his surroundings. The walls were painted with bright, contrasting colors—red, yellow, blue, green—and these colors wildly intermingled, creating an almost hypnotic effect.
Strange props were scattered all around the carriage, from oversized, worn-out clown shoes to peculiar hats and wigs. However, the lighting was dim and subdued, with softly flickering lamps casting irregular shadows. Dex felt the confinement of the space; he felt trapped and helpless. His gaze fell upon a window, but it was too distant to see through. At the same time, he realized he was tied to a chair, the rope wound tightly around him. His heart began to race as he looked around the room in confusion and concern. However, he noticed that his injured leg had a fresh bandage, suggesting that someone had tended to him. Had he been rescued?
Suddenly, the door creaked open and swung wide. Twisty entered the room, saying, "Oh, you're awake," with a smile. It felt strange to hear him speak in such a calm tone. He then pulled up a chair in front of Dex and sat down, his gaze piercing the boy.