Keep Your Eyes on Me

Dinna

I pick up the music in the tent and watch people walk in the giant tent in the middle of the carnival. As more and more people enter the more I don’t want to go in, you listen to the ooh’s and ahh’s but I’ve seen enough movies to know that won’t last long. A cold rough hand rests on my shoulder and I jump in fear again turn around to look at the people standing there wearing hoods so I couldn’t recognize their faces and become frozen in fear and get a growl come from one of them as another pulls out a bloody knife then pick up a quiet giggle as it turns into laughter.

 “You should have seen your expression!” says one of them. I grab the hood and yank it off his, or her, head. As I focus on the face in front of me, I recognize it.

 “Jamie you jerk,” I hit him “You almost gave me a heart attack!” I say turning away from him. 

He grabs my hands, yanks me toward him, and hugs me “Chill out not that bad.” he says.

I remember the growling and the bloody knife. I notice at all of them but don’t get a sign of any knife so I ignore it. “Who else is with you?” I ask, staring at the figures behind him.

He looks at the two other people “Oh it’s just Karie and Alan” he says brushing it off.

The two twin siblings take off the hoods “Yeah it’s just us not like it’s not we’re anyone important” Alan says crossing his arms and rolling his eyes.

“Shut up Alan,’’ Karie says slapping his shoulder “Let’s all just take our seats” 

“Are you sure?” I say looking at my feet thus to the black, white, and red tent “It seems creepy if you ask me.” 

Karie grabs my hand “No one did” 

She drags me into the circus and sits me down. We’re in the 3rd out 9 rows, about 7 or 8 feet away from the nearest exit.

“I hate this,” I say as the clowns come out and give Karie a flower that squirts water.

Jamie

“I love this!” I say a little too loud which causes me to get an intense glare from Dinna but the lights go dark and the spotlights move around the tent so she takes the focus off of me. A man in a giant top hat with a red ribbon on it comes out to stand on a platform as someone talks on the speakers placed in the corners of the tent.

‘’Everyone keep your eyes on me

And all the wonderful things you might see

The clown juggle 10 bowling pins with ease?

Or a man that bends his body any way you please?

The acrobat woman walking on a tightrope?

Seeing these well you can only hope.

All of my employees have their purpose 

At Mr. Bernard's Marvelous Circus!’’ 

The spotlight eventually settles onto the man in the top hat who holds a microphone to his mouth and speaks, “Hello everyone,” he takes a bow “I am your host Mr. Bernard and tonight will be a night to remember.” a dark grin creeps on his face. Then at least 10 clowns come out and surround him, “The clowns’ everyone!” he spreads out his arms to introduce them. As the crowd applauds, Mr. Bernard disappears.

“Where’d the top hat guy go?” I say leaning right towards Alan.

No answer, I turn to my right to see an empty seat I look up to see Alan sneaking towards the back of the tent. I don’t want the girls to notice me following him; I look to see the girl focusing on the clown act to notice me so I slide to Alan’s seat and slowly follow the steps of him towards the back. I walk into a room with animals and circus equipment everywhere, “Alan?” I say walking towards a room with light, I peek through in the room to see Alan and a clown. The clown pushes Alan into a wardrobe and locks it. I put my hand to my mouth and step back, as I take another step I accidentally step on a metal ring. The clown looks up, and I immediately rush out of the room and back to my seat. Once I sit down I see Alan come in through the entrance with some popcorn and drinks “Alan?”

ALAN 

I walk back into the circus tent to see Jamie looking at me in uttermost shock. I give Dinna and Karie their drinks and one large popcorn to share, then take my seat next to Jamie “Popcorn?” I say offering him some popcorn doesn’t even move.

I ask again then everything stops, nothing moves. I stand up and lay the popcorn down on my seat. I leave the tent and walk around the carnival, everyone is gone, not one person in sight. I walk towards the Ferris Wheel, the lights still blinking, I hear one balloon pop from the dart and balloon game and I walk up to the counter.

“Hello?’’ I look into the booth “Is anyone there?” 

I hear the Ferris Wheel turn on; it moves and then stops. The door to the passenger pods at the bottom opens, and a man steps out. He’s an enormous man with a black fedora, wearing a black suit with a red tie. He spots me and I step away then walk and walking turns into sprinting and sprinting turns into running as I notice the man following me. I try to scream for help, but I don’t hear myself speaking every time I try to scream or shout for help. It just burns my throat. As I’m running, I see lights blinking in the circus tent and music playing, the man in the fedora gaining on me so I know I want to speed up. I try to run a little faster but I can feel my knee giving out on me. I look back again and come to a stop. I look around. I don’t see the fedora man anywhere. I look behind me to see the lights in the tent have gone out. I look around me to see every light in the carnival go out one by one slowly until one ride whose lights stay on. The Ferris Wheel lights are blinking faster and faster and every time I blink it gets closer and closer and I can’t move my body I can’t run, speak, or yell for help I can only watch. Once it is right in front of me my body moves but not the way I want it to, it walks into the passenger pod I try to pull myself away but I sit in a passenger seat of the pod. I calm down and close my eyes and when I open them I find myself able to move my body again but I’m no longer in the passenger pod, I’m right back where I started sitting down offering Jamie some Popcorn. 

“Alan are you okay?” Jamie says as he puts his hand on my shoulder.

Karie

I hear Jamie as he asks if Alan was okay and takes my attention off of the clowns and onto my brother.

“What happened?’’ I asked leaning forward and looked at Alan who’s shaken up a bit.

“Nothing!” Alan blurts out, then Alan looks at me with the most fearful look in his eyes.

“What are you looking at?” I say, crossing my arms.

“He’s not looking at you,” Jamie says as he points at something behind me “He’s looking at that!” 

I turn around to see a nun on her knees crying. I look back and see the woods.

“Hey, guys where d'you go?’’ I shout.

The nun shushes me and lowers her voice, “It might hear you.” She looks up and around.

“What are you talking about-” I hear branches cracking and looking behind me then again turn to face the nun but she is no longer there, only a boy with black hair giggling and staring at me, I hear another branch crack and see the boy take off into the woods behind him.

“Hey wait up!” I shout at him. I move branches and leaves out of my way, trying to see where she’s going. After a good 3-5 minute, I see the little boy run into a cabin. It looks like no one has lived in it for years, but there are curtains and you can see a dim light from the outside. The door is wide open so I walk into the cabin shielding my eyes from a light that I thought was dim by the looks from the outside of the cabin. I look around to find myself in a room with a one-way mirror the lights go out but on the other side, the light only dims down slightly. I see the boy sitting in a chair with a blindfold wrapped around his eyes and his legs and arms strapped to the chair. Suddenly a man appears beside me.

“Testing Testing can you hear me, Cameron?” the man says Cameron, the boy, responds quietly for me or the man to hear.

“Repeat that please but just speak up a bit,” the man says 

“Yes, I can hear you,” Cameron says “Dr. Bernard, can I go home now?” he says facing the two-way mirror I look at the man Dr. Bernard? I think to myself.

“I’m afraid not Cameron,” he goes into the room and puts on a pair of rubber gloves “And Cameron you don’t have to call me Doctor I’m your Dad,” he says removing the blindfold.

“If you were my Dad, you’d take me home,” Cameron shouts.

The man suddenly gets up as Cameron shakes the chair angrily. The man gets on his knees and looks at Cameron and strokes his hair and says something but I can’t hear it over Cameron as he shouts, then everything stops. Cameron and his dad are eye to eye. Camerons’ dad screams and I fall and cradle into the corner the dad wanders around the room he leaves and steps into the room I’m in to leave that room. Everything goes quiet until I hear the screams of other men and women and then again it goes quiet. The last you hear is a gunshot, Cameron is out of his straps, and in front of the two-way mirror, I close my eyes and cry and when I hear Alan, Jamie, and Dinna I open them again. 

“You saw something too!” Alan says pointing at me. I nod.

“Something happened, and it all has to do with him,’’ I point at Mr. Bernard who is hiding in the shadows of the tent smiling and looking directly at Me, Dinna, Jamie, and Alan “And we will find out what.”