#FreakshowFriday

Chapter 12: October Carnival

October 15, 2023

When Nathan snaps awake, he first struggles to remember where he is. He isn't in his own bed, isn't in the Venetian hotel room he woke up in this morning. He isn't even in a bed at all. He's sitting with his back against the wall of a dead-end corridor in an asylum in ruins, wrapped in a fleece blanket to keep warm. He hadn't intended to fall asleep, had still been partially uncomfortable letting his guard down like that even when it had been dark outside for hours, but he must have dozed off regardless.

Now, he blinks rapidly, clenching his teeth. Something isn't right.

Something isn't right at all.

In addition to feeling that supernatural undercurrent, his scar stings. It's a slowly intensifying stinging.

Nathan remembers the not-deer and how he felt then, and all he can think of is that this stinging feels much worse.

"What... Is it three already?" Jamie mumbles. With how fast she woke up after he did, sleeping can't have been much more than a light doze for her, either. Nathan can't see her very well in the darkness, but he feels her warm presence next to him and realises she fell asleep on him.

He'd probably spend a long time overthinking that if there weren't much more urgent matters to deal with now. Though this Italian autumn night has been a soft one in terms of temperature, Nathan shivers as goosebumps appear on his skin, which feels colder and colder by the second. He gets to his feet, fumbling to draw his phone from his pocket and turn the flashlight on. "It's a quarter to three," he observes as he bathes their corridor in artificial white light.

"Oh." Jamie still looks a little out of it, checking her watch to confirm. Then, she takes out her own phone and switches off the alarm she set. "Guess we might as well–" She yawns. "–get started on the last filming now? And then we can get out of here–"

"Forget filming," Nathan interrupts a little too harshly, but both his pain and stress levels are rising far too fast for comfort. "We need to get the hell out of here as soon as possible."

This statement renders Jamie understandably confused. "Wait... Wait a second, did I miss anything? Because–"

"Jamie, listen. Remember that thing in the woods I thought was a deer, but then when we got closer, it turned out it wasn't a deer at all?"

"Well, yeah–"

"Don't answer, it's rhetorical. I could sense that deer was paranormal bad news because of the magic residue in my body. Now I'm feeling similarly, but it's way worse, and I think something evil is coming for the asylum. For us. So please, please save the questions for later and just call Giovanni so he can come pick us up."

Though it effectively throws a wrench into her final filming plans, Jamie seems to understand that this really isn't the time for recalcitrance. She nods and obliges without protest, scrolling through her contact list to find Giovanni's number and reach out. While she makes the call, Nathan puts himself to good use by shoving what little items they removed from their bags back inside. It should take Giovanni half an hour to get to Poveglia, he remembers, but they might not have the luxury of waiting that out in this spot right here. The asylum is huge, has plenty of dark hiding places, and they may be better off not staying in any one spot for too long.

Because something terrible is coming in their direction for sure.

Nathan's fingers tremble as he packs, his heart racing. There's a stiffness in his muscles and his head is slowly starting to spin. The supernatural undercurrent he felt is more like a rip current now, one that may sweep him away entirely if he makes but one wrong move. Ice water, everything is ice water. When did it become so fucking cold?