Emma

Have you ever experienced this feeling? This sinking feeling of dread as it settles at the bottom of your stomach like a rock? 

I don’t know what even got me into this horrible situation in the first place. The last thing that I remember is walking around the Ringling Brothers Carnival, alone. I don’t have any friends, you see, so I was completely and utterly alone. I have nobody to help me now…..after all, I was taken by the lost ones, and the lost ones never let anyone go. Alive, that is. 

As I’m lost in my thoughts of the outside world, a looming humanoid shape enters into my cold, dark, underground jail cell. I feel hostility and pure evil radiating off of the figure as it moves one step closer to me. Then, as the figure glides underneath my one dim light, I see it's absolutely horrendous face, and everything goes black. 

I’m stuck in a dream, it seems. Or more accurately, a wonderful dream gone wrong. Changed into a terrible nightmare that I can’t escape from. I think that somebody will come for me soon. I have to be important to someone, right?? Well, in case nobody ever comes for me, I’ll tell you how I even got into this situation in the first place.

***

 “Maryann! Maryaaaaaann!!! What’s taking so long, Mary?,” My so-called best friend had yelled. 

“I’m coming Emma!! I yelled back down the stairwell.

We were going to go to the new carnival that had just set up outside of town, and we were super psyched! We hadn’t done anything fun for so long together, so when our parents said yes, we knew that this was our one and only chance to live it up and party like there was no tomorrow. Little did we know that soon, we would both officially be missing people. 

When we arrived at the carnival, bright neon lights popped out and advertised every booth and ride that could be seen. As we wandered through the busy carnival, we smelt the mouthwatering fragrance of funnel cake and giant pretzels! Man, how I had missed the carnival. 

Soon, Emma and I got tired, so we decided to go home. By this time, we were deep in the heart of the carnival, and it was a confusing maze that we had no chance of getting out of on our own. When we realized this unpleasant fact, Emma, being the brave friend, walked up to a tall man and asked him if he could please lead us out of the carnival. This man politely agreed, but I couldn’t help but feel like something was terribly wrong with this man. 

As he led us through the carnival, I started to take in his appearance. He was wearing a long dark trench coat, with a hat almost completely covering his face, and by this time, I knew that something had to be wrong with this man. 

After we rounded a corner, I noticed that we were leaving the bright bustling fun behind, and we were headed into a dark building. I can only guess that Emma also felt that something was off, because she bolted back into the celebration. I got very scared and after a moment of hesitation, I ran after Emma. I ran as fast as my legs could carry me, but I wasn’t fast enough. The man caught up to me easily, and this time he gagged me, tied my hands behind my back, and led me into the dark building. 

The building stunk with the rank smell of rotting human flesh and day old urine. We continued to walk through the building, and soon, we came upon a tall oak door. The man opened the door, and what I saw made me drop to the ground in terror. There were about 30 figures standing around the room, as if they were simply just waiting around for my arrival. The silence in the room was eerie, but what was even more disturbing was the creatures’ faces. These creatures were all over 7ft tall, and every single one of them wore a distorted face. The one who stood out to me the most was the farthest away. This creature wore the face of a clown, with its smile turned up in a murderous grin. The clown creature then started to walk towards us, and that’s when I blacked out.

Let me just tell you from experience. Blacking out and waking up on a freezing cold concrete floor is not a fun thing to go through. It’s especially not fun when you don’t even know why you’re lying on a concrete floor in the middle of the night. I should’ve been home by that time, but instead, I was taken and then imprisoned in this horrible jail cell. 

After about an hour, I completely knew where I was and how I got there in the first place. I couldn’t believe Emma!! She was supposed to be my best friend, and what did she do? She ran away from the man that took me, and she didn’t even send any help! The only thing that Emma cared about was her own self preservation, not me, and at that moment, I vowed that the next time I saw her, I would get revenge. 

***

I wake up from my flashback, and I immediately realize that the creature is still standing motionless in my cell. I quickly suck in a short breath, but then recognize my mistake. I shouldn't have made any noise because now the creature is turning its face to look me straight in the eyes. As I muster the courage to look back at its’ piercing gaze, the man who wears the trench coat enters the cell.

As the man stares at the horrendous creature in shock, I find that I can’t tear my eyes away from something hanging from the creatures’ mouth, and as the creature shuffles towards the man, I realize that the mystery object hanging from the creatures’ mouth is an arm. But not just any arm. I would know that tattoo on the detached forearm from anywhere. That dangling, dead arm belongs to one person, and one person only. Emma.