Midnight Carnival (Part 4) Passage of Time
It's been a week already! Time for the next installment of this month's exclusive web serial. If you haven't been reading this, catch up with Part 1 here. Otherwise, scroll down as our merry group of friends enter the Midnight Carnival..!
But first, the legal bit:
This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
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As the group passed through the rusted gates of the abandoned amusement park, the air thickened with a palpable sense of anticipation. Maya practically bounced with enthusiasm, and she clung to Jake’s arm. Emma walked slower, Alex keeping pace with her as she turned the ticket over in her hands. Her fingers brushed over the punched hole; the mark having bitten through what looked like runes printed on the surface. She was impressed by the attention to detail.
Behind them she heard the heavy clanking of metal on metal. Almost like those of chains being run against the ground. When she looked behind her, she saw nothing sinister; merely the entrance to the park being closed. They must have been the last to arrive after all. In front of them, the distant strains of music could be heard, and she turned her attention forward, the anticipation of the evening overriding her initial hesitation.
As they approached the midway the four of them stopped at the sight in front of them. Alex smiled beside her.
“Now I get it,” he remarked, his eyes sparkling with the bright lights.
Jake turned and looked at his best friend. “It’s a carnival—”
“—inside an amusement park,” the two completed the sentence together.
Maya rolled her eyes dramatically and winked at Emma. “Boys will be boys,” she remarked.
Emma couldn’t help but laugh. And she had to give the organizers credit. Hiding the carnival inside of the amusement park gave it a certain allure. If nothing else, it was original.
As they continued to walk forward, the Midnight Carnival came to life before them. Strings of multi-colored lights adorned the makeshift stalls and rides, casting a kaleidoscope of hues across the work pavement. The once-silent rides groaned to life, their mechanical gears protesting the passage of time. The neon glow emanating from the carnival attractions painted an otherworldly scene against the eerie silhouette of the forsaken amusement park rides.
The abandoned coasters and Ferris wheels, now mere skeletons of their former selves, cast long, distorted shadows across the carnival grounds. The juxtaposition of the lively carnival against the skeletal remains of the past created an unsettling contrast, a visual testament to the transient nature of joy and the haunting specter of abandonment.
As the friends ventured further into the heart of the carnival, they passed by tents that seemed plucked from the pages of history. Cabinets of curiosities beckoned them with promises of peculiar wonders, and the flickering lights revealed glimpses of mysterious artifacts from eras long forgotten. A weathered sign pointed towards a tent where a fortune teller awaited, her silhouette dancing in the shadows.
The distant laughter of unseen revelers echoed through the night, carrying a mixture of excitement and foreboding. The group walked through the labyrinthine paths, surrounded by the strange beauty of the Midnight Carnival, captivated by its allure and the sense that, despite its enchanting façade, something darker lurked just beneath the surface. The carnival, with its timeless charm and ominous undertones, had ensnared them in a night where the boundary between reality and the surreal became increasingly blurred.
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