Self Destructing Messenger

#13 - All's Fair

Music and voices. The sounds of heavy machinery and screams. It was nerve wracking but mostly it was annoying. Azalea replayed the conversations from earlier that week, only agitating herself further as she did. 'Let's volunteer at the local fair' Gia had said. 'We need to rebuild team morale' the teen had droned. 'It'll be fun' she claimed.

Well it was not fun. Azalea had been assigned as a ticket taker for the merry go round; assigned alone so there was no team bonding. She had spent all evening dealing with kids. She hated kids. The entire species were senseless, unsanitary and uncouth. For the millionth time that night, the blonde stared blankly at the hypnotizing swirl of lights and horses that was the merry go round. The horses' lifeless eyes bore into her, their mouths twisted open, frozen in time.

She also hated horses, a much more recent addition to her list of distastes.

Azalea was accepting tickets in preparation for the next spin when the atmosphere began to change. A sound, steadily built under the ruckus of the rides and people. The crowds quieted, trying to identify what it was as well. Suddenly it was clear. It was panic, shrill voices and the pounding of the bare earth.

And then it began to reach the area she occupied, first one then five then dozens of people running down the main thoroughfare. Livestock dotted the crowd. Cows, sheep and horses all running alongside man. The fair walkway began to get congested. Humans and animals spilled into the fair grounds, weaving between and crashing into the too slow and too stupid to run.

No voice in her head dictating suicidal rescue missions, Azalea jumped the protective fencing and dove onto the still moving carousal. She didn't care about the kids or parents but the craziness was stemming from where she knew Cayce to be... and Gia. The two had been set up at a concession stand near the livestock show area at the back of the fair.

Azalea righted herself, then stood on one of the horses saddles hoping for a better view. She could just barely see over the rows of game booths but it didn't help. There was no obvious big bad. Maybe all the people were freaking out because the animals escaped. That was a valid concern but Azalea found it hard to believe it was something mundane. Normal tragedies simply did not happen to her.

She was about to hop off the ride when a very real horse crashed through the gates, its legs tangling briefly in the metal bars and mesh. It struggled to its hooves and managed several off balanced strides before hitting the carousal full force. The impact spun the horse away and threw Azalea. Her back struck the plastic horse behind her before she landed on the platform. It hurt more than she thought but there were too many people around to see her use her intangibility.

"I f#@!ing hate horses," she gasp, pulling herself upright on one of the poles.

When she could finally breath again the hysteria had mostly passed, animal and human alike. Azalea steadied herself and then raced towards the epicenter. Ahead a lamb scampered towards her. Azalea adjusted, giving it a wide berth but as it closed in the wool from its coat began to fall out in great chunks until it was all gone. The creature shrieked, tossing its head from side to side, the skin from its mouth peeling back. Azalea dug her heels into the ground, falling to the dirt. Her eyes were wide as she watched the small creature be skinned by invisible forces. The animal continued running until it disappeared along the path.

As the one horror vanished, the world began to shift. The surfaces of everything in the area began to peel away. Walls crumbled, plants shriveled until all of the fair ground was in a post apocalyptic state. Fifty yards shy of her goal, Azalea was down.

Even at such a close distance, Cayce was blind to her as he dealt with his own problems. Gia was hysterical, crying pitifully in a heap on the floor. Every time he said anything to her she bawled even more loudly.