The Carnival Macabre Chronicles: Admission

Two: The Tickets

It took me by surprise that the book was completely handwritten; the scripture was elegant, an artist's hand. Sometimes there were simple little drawings - that couldn't exactly be called doodles - in the margins next to important passages.

It wasn't quite a story either. It was more of a documentation. The Raven's Eye was about an all seeing eye and whatever it saw was recorded into this book. The all-seeing eye belonged to a raven that a man would send off to spy on his enemies.

He said that he made a contract with a demon, who gave him this Raven and in return, the demon was guaranteed the man's soul and every soul that the Raven saw. The man didn't care. Even though there is an author of this book, I don't think it's the same man as the one depicted. I tried googling R.F. Crowe, only to get many results of various people on social networking websites.

I read about a fourth of the way through before having to put it down. The stories inside were rather depressing and gruesome; children being used as slaves, animals abused, and men taking control of the women in their lives. The raven owner was definitely a very cruel and yet kind-hearted man. Without a second thought, he would annihilate anyone who stood in his way, while at the same time try to save those who were innocent.

Sliding the book back in it's spot in my pillow, I pulled out my sketchbook. My hand seized control, outlining and shading in the important parts, then eventually coloring in to form what I'd known I'd been drawing all along. A raven's eye staring directly back at me.

Looking up at the clock, I noticed it was already well past eleven and since there was school tomorrow, I thought it'd be wise to get some sleep. So, I laid my head down on my pillow and placed my hand underneath to feel for the book.

- - -

I awoke to the smell of mom's version of breakfast, pop-tarts placed in the toaster for a minute. I sat up in bed, remembering yesterday's events. I pulled the book back out and stuffed it, plus my sketchbook, into my backpack. I felt the need to protect both and the safest place to have anything is on your own person.

I quickly brushed through my hair out so it didn't look like I had a monster attacking my face and put on some decent clothes, plain jeans and a t-shirt with some bizarre design on it. The typical teenage outfit in this day and age.

Mom handed me my pop-tart before pushing me out the door. She didn't like it when I missed the bus. I bit into the pop-tart as soon as she slammed the door behind me and recoiled from the hot taste.

Upon arriving at school, I noticed the air seemed too hyped up and excited. More so than usual, that is. I strolled over to my group of acquaintances and asked them what was with everyone today.

Melanie, some girl who just loved to open her mouth whenever she got the chance, spoke up first, "Haven't you heard? There's going to be a carnival in town this weekend and everyone wants to go! It seems though that there is a limited number of tickets being given out and no one knows how to get them."

"Yeah, it doesn't make much sense. Why would a carnival only want a certain number of people going?" Some kid, Ben, pitched in.

"Maybe it's small and they don't have enough room?" Jennifer piped up, which was odd because she usually kept quiet most of the time. 

"That's stupid, all this town has is room," Melanie pushed Jen's comment aside. That's probably why she never talks as much. Melanie was alpha female in this group.

I took this as my sign to speak up. "I have tickets."

Everyone stopped talking and stared at me. Probably wondering how the new girl, who hasn't even been here a full month managed to get tickets already while they didn't. 

"How did you manage that?" Melanie asked, obviously envious that I had something she didn't.

"My mom's boyfriend got 5 somehow and said I could invite two friends if I wanted." I shrugged like it was no big deal, which to me, it wasn't. I saw the greed instantly grow in all of their eyes. Great.

"You just have to take me!" Melanie squealed. Her glossy blonde hair flew around her and she jumped forward in delight. Just a second ago, she looked like she wanted to wring my neck, now she wants to be bff's? 

"Me too!" Marvin, this other kid who had bright orange hair that he was constantly mocked for, finally spoke up. He was a pretty funny kid though.

"Uh... how about you guys draw straws or something for the tickets since I only have two," I suggested to them. I mean, that seemed fair right? Out of the 4 others besides me that wanted to go. I couldn't just pick myself. I already knew I didn't really want Melanie to go. She was kind of a pain. I didn't really see how she fit in with the rest of the group. 

Melanie sat back and sneered, "Fine."

"Sounds fair to me," Ben replied.

"I'll get the straws at lunch and we'll figure it out then," Marvin volunteered.

Everyone made some sort of agreement and then talked about things like what they thought the carnival was going to be like. Listening to them, I realized this town doesn't usually host any kind of  special events like carnivals and that's why everyone really wanted to go.

Classes were boring as teachers continued to lecture about the same crap we learned three years prior. By lunchtime, the carnival was all anyone would talk about. It was sort of driving me nuts. I made my way over to our table. Jennifer was already there like usual. Everyone else was probably already in line, getting their food. Jennifer really opened up when it was just us two. Maybe because I wasn't so over the top like Melanie. I wouldn't mind if she came with me to the carnival. Ben, Marvin, and Melanie finally made an appearance and I saw that Marvin had four extra straws on his tray. 

"Alright," I started, "I'm going to make a mark on the bottom of two of the straws and then hold them up so that no one can see the bottoms. Whichever ones are marked, are the ones who get the tickets." Everyone seemed eager and for once, I thought I actually belonged with their group. I quickly marked two of the straws with a sharpie and then turned away from everyone, placing them precariously in my hand before turning back around and holding them up to everyone. 

Melanie reached out and snatched a straw while Ben, Marvin, and Jen each grabbed one gently. I looked around to see who got the marked straws. Jen's eyes light up. Her short, dark brown hair was pulled behind her ears as she happily glowed at the marked straw. Marvin looked psyched, too. This may be my chance to gain some actual friends. Jen was really nice, and Marvin too. All in all, I was happy I brought up the tickets. Melanie didn't seem thrilled about the outcome, but that was just too bad for her. I did feel bad that Ben couldn't come along. Maybe he'll get lucky and find a ticket.

After lunch, I gave Jen and Marvin my email address so I could send them the information about when we were leaving. Since no one else owned a car, Bob and mom were going to have to drive us. That's just fantastic.