Haunt

Delilah Does a Makeover - Part 1 of 2

Weekend One, Friday Night Continued

September 16, 2022

POV: Seven Wonders Park

After medics came for Jackie, the whole gruesome affair was treated like an injury to a sitting President: top-secret shit. No one was allowed to talk about it. Work carried on. The makeup room continued processing its line of screamsters under the direction of the assistant manager, Olivia, who was far more lenient than Jackie, letting subpar makeup slip by.

Focusing was difficult. Delilah Savini stared into the face of a curious high-school kid clad in vampire duds and, for a moment, couldn't remember her job.

"What happened in here?" he asked. "I heard that when they took Jackie out, she was covered in blood. They're saying one of the screamsters bit her fingers off."

"I don't know; I didn't see what happened," lied Delilah. She started applying his foundation and discovered she hadn't changed the makeup color yet – this was still zombie brown, not vampire yellow. "Hell and damnation," she said.

"Delilah." A voice spoke behind her. Delilah turned to see Olivia. "We're going to let someone else take your spot. I need to talk to you about vacation time."

Absently, Delilah handed over her makeup wand and followed Olivia through the crowded yet eerily quiet room. Whispers trailed behind them. Gossip was always rampant in the makeup and wardrobe warehouse, so they found this series of events irresistibly juicy.

Outside, under the shade of an oak tree, Delilah had to tell her story for the fourth time. This repeated questioning felt just like getting arrested. Olivia asked what Delilah had seen and for a description of Jackie's attacker (whom they had code-named Snapper, which sounded like an awful joke). Then Olivia asked a new one: Delilah's reasoning for pouring alcohol on the strange brown infection on the stump of Jackie's severed thumb.

"Because," answered Delilah, "It looked like shit that needed to be killed with fire. I didn't have time to grab a match."

"Do you need to go home?" asked Olivia. "You don't look like you feel well."

Delilah sighed, considering the offer. Going home meant not getting paid – the "vacation time" ruse that Olivia had used was just that: a ruse. Vacation time was for full-timers like Olivia, not for the makeup crew who worked seasonal hours. If Delilah went home, she wouldn't have rent money to give her parents this month, and it was money they needed. "No thanks, Jackie. I mean, Liv. Sorry. No, I need to stay."

"Well." Olivia looked thoughtful. "Let's get you out of the makeup room for now, anyway. Why don't you go tend to the costume trailer in the Badlands?"

That sounded all right to Delilah. She'd get to sit down for most of the night and have access to a cooler of free drinks. The trailer in the Badlands was for touch-ups – any screamsters or street freaks who felt their makeup succumbing to the humidity could drop in to get her help.

"Sure, yes, thanks so much, Liv. I'll head over that way." Delilah hesitated before moving away. "How are they going to catch her?"

"They've got to find her first," replied Liv, more anxious than Delilah had ever seen her.

"Is she a part of the park that went wrong? Do you know?"

Liv hesitated.

"Come on. I was there when it happened."

With a sigh of surrender, Liv said, "I heard she's something that slipped in. It happens sometimes. We generate a lot of energy. It attracts things."

"It happens sometimes," repeated Delilah. "Well, great."