If Roosters Crowed Every Time Someone Died

The Goat Fair III

I spun on my feet, relieved. It was already late when we ate. It wasn't long before they closed the fair. First, they disconnected the electricity, and the stall lights went out one after the other, gloomily welcoming the darkness.

I took my phone out of my pocket and wrote: "I'm already home." But I doubted. Should I tell Moka?

...

I remembered his threats and pressed send.

The Goat Fair was a straight line that distributed like this: First, there was the ticket booth, two or three blocks of rides - carousel, Ferris wheel, etc. –, then the food trucks, the gazebos with games in them, the crafts stalls, and at the end of the street, the stage.

While the guards closed down, I hid near the entrance to wait for them to leave. A watchman remained by the roads. Not a problem. I walked some blocks outside the fair and then entered, squeezing myself between two tents. Without the crowd walking around, everything appeared bigger. The amusement rides, now turned off, resembled giant beasts, hibernating in the darkness of the night.

I walked down the main road warily. I was scared, but I had to do this for my friends. Ivan already knew us, and he was capable of doing... things to us. He had risked his partner, and I didn't want to imagine what he could do with people that endangered his freedom and identity.

Nevertheless, deep inside, a tiny little part of me whispered that I was lying to myself and that my friends weren't the one and only reason why I was voluntarily walking into the lion's den. I didn't want to admit it, I was scared of even thinking about it.

Stepping over the flattened earth and dodging some seedlings that had barely survived the human stampede, I reached the stage. It also seemed larger now that it was empty, it made me feel small.

I walked upstairs and got onto the stage, with secure steps on the outside and uncertainty hidden on the inside.

Everything was dark. The streetlights barely illumined from that far away. However, the full moon rose, imponent over the fair, and its glow lighted the steps I walked.

From the stage, I turned to check out the fair. The stalls looked tiny, gloomy. Although it wasn't an unpleasant view, I found the darkness relaxing for my eyes after so many lights. Silence floated calmly around, and the fresh air that I breathed made me feel alive.

"I didn't think you'd actually come."

I jumped and held my heart in one hand. I stared at him, breathing agitated. He stared back at me, a serious expression on his face. With feline agility, he slowly approached.

"You came alone?"

"Yes."

He stepped forward, I stepped backward.

"Did anyone follow you?"

"No."

"Does anyone know where you are right now?"

"No..."

I lowered my voice, and his gaze darkened. I felt the blood draining away from my face, my arms, my legs. I was alone and now he knew that, you knew that, everyone knew that.

"Interesting."

He could do anything right now and no one would notice.

Silence.

He moved his right foot, I moved my left one.

Silly me.

I should have sent someone a message, or I shouldn't have come. Or something, anything but the idiocy I had done. What was I thinking? Coming here alone? Without telling anyone? Why did I not realize before? Why hadn't I thought about that before putting my life at stake, again?