The little boy ran through the hallway of the arcade shop, desperately trying to get away. He yelled out for his sister, but all he heard was a piercing scream coming from the direction he had run from. Then, the screaming stopped and the place became eerily quiet. The boy took a step back, towards the exit door. He never turned his back on the monster. As he took another step back, he never noticed the figure laying on the floor behind him until it grabbed his ankle. The boy screamed out of fear thinking it was the monster but instead it was his father. His veins had been snapped out of his throat and his eye was dangling on his shoulder.
“Run” He said, barely breathing. The boy was surprised his father could even speak with the skin of his neck being stripped to parts.
“But-” The boy replied but his father interrupted him.
“Run!” the father shouted in his face. The little boy heard rushed footsteps from behind him and saw his older sister running after him with a terrified expression on her face.
“Go go go!” She yelled. Her ankle was half cut off. She had to hop to get there faster since it was hanging by an inch of bare skin. She took the little boy’s hand and they both rushed to the exit, giving one last look at the place before exiting the building.
The clown watched them leave with his red eyes shaped like the eyes of a feline.
I was heading home with my group of friends after having bought our costume for the halloween party. The parents of the popular kid throwing the party had gone away on a romantic getaway vacation leaving their son home alone. His name was Brody and he was a total douchebag, but he threw great parties.
“Do you think there’ll be hot guys at this party” Heather commented with a smirk.
I rolled my eyes but didn’t answer the question. Heather was a nice friend, she was loyal and honest but when it came to romance she was a total mess. It didn’t help that all the guys basically followed her everywhere she went. She had the stereotypical beauty, between being skinny and the long blonde hair and blue eyes, she was perfect.
“Seriously Heather, is that the only thing you think about?” Albert lectured her.
Albert was the serious one in the group. I got along well with him and he was considered the wisest of the group. He had medium length hazelnut hair and green eyes, I couldn’t wait to see his costume for the party. The group and I had made a pact to keep the costume a secret until they arrived to the party.
Then there was Jessica and Rory, my two best friends. I was closer to Jessica but I sure as hell wasn’t going to tell Rory that.
Jessica was also very smart but didn’t shove it in people’s faces like Albert. She was humble and kind, she’s the friend you call when it came to dating advice. Jessica had just gotten this new boyfriend called Price and they kept texting each other nonstop. Jessica didn’t care about the looks as much as Heather yet she was still the most attractive of all with her long black hair and her dark brown eyes.1
Rory was more conservative than the others and Connor was the active, handsome guy that girls loved to stare at. Too bad that he was already taken by me. I never really understood why he liked me. I mean I get why people would like him since he was the tallest and bulkiest guy, he had a great personality and the brightest blue eyes you’d ever find.
Then there was me, I’m not like other people. I have white hair and eyelashes and the palest skin ever. I’m what people would call an albino.
“What’s up, Elsa?” Connor asked me.
No, my name’s not Elsa, it’s Maria, he just loves to tease me. It’s our own special nickname that only my closest friends use.
“Nothing, I’m just nervous,” I responded. I wasn’t very likeable, in fact, people hated me in school, especially Brody. The only reason he had invited me was because he had a huge crush on Albert and Albert wouldn’t go unless he invited all of us.
The train stopped at its last station and people started packing their bags.
“Ladies and gentlemen, this is the last station of the day” The voice from the speaker said. My friends and I took our stuff and made our way back to our houses. Thankfully we all lived quite close. On the way home, we passed the arcade shop right around the corner of our house. It used to be popular when we were kids, but unfortunately, they had to shut it down last year after they found a dead body in the boiler room. No one knows how it happened or who did this, it was the biggest case that this town had seen for years and it remained a mystery.
None of us wanted to stick around so we rushed off to our houses. The idea that there was something or someone evil lurking so close to our houses made me feel uneasy. We said goodbye and all went our separate ways back home.
2 weeks later
I was getting ready for the Halloween party today at 6:30pm. From what I heard, it was going to go until midnight but my mother wasn’t enthusiastic about that. While I was putting on my costume, I saw a text from my boyfriend Connor and I felt my heart drop. His dog that he’s had for sixteen years had died sleeping peacefully this morning. He was at the vet at the moment waiting for the veterinarian to bring back his dog so he could bury it in his garden. When I heard this dreadful news, I knew I had to go to him as soon as possible.
It took me half an hour to arrive due to the traffic. I had never seen such traffic, there were police cars at the arcade shop. I hope my mum was safe, she’s a police officer and she wasn’t at home when I left.
I arrived to the vet just in time with the rest of my friends. We were all dressed in our costumes and of course Heather went as wonder woman, I should’ve guessed. Albert was wearing a catsuit from catwoman in the batman movies and Jessica was wearing a Batman costume. Rory instead went dressed as Micheal Myers from Halloween while I was dressed like a ladybug, how lame.
We went inside and found Connor sitting in the corner sobbing in his arms. He was wearing a spiderman costume.
“Hey, I’m so sorry” I said and gave him a huge hug to try and comfort him. He gladly returned the hug. The others sat next to us and joined the group hug. Connor cried into our arms and we just waited there patiently until he was done.
“It’s alright buddy, let it all out” Albert said rubbing his back to try and make him feel better.
“We’re here for you, we always stick together” Jessica comforted him with a sad smile.
The veterinarian finally came out with the dog in his arms. Connor took the dog and we all gave it one last kiss on the forehead. Then we drove back to Connors's house and buried the dog. We threw a memorial to make Connor feel better and then sang a song.
“I don’t think I can go tonight” Connor said as we all drank lemonade in corners large room. Did I mention that his dad is rich, well now you know.
“No no no no, you need to get out of the house, otherwise it’s not healthy” Albert argued back. But Connor shook his head sadly.
“I can’t” He replied.
“Think of all the hot gi-” Heather stopped when she realised I was in the room. I glared at her.
“Come on Connor, we’ll be with you” I tried to persuade him. He looked at me with tears in his eyes but finally agreed.
So we all got ready and headed to Brody’s house excitedly. Heather was wearing so much make-up that you couldn’t even recognize her anymore and Jessica went to search for her boyfriend.
“I’ll be back” She said, and with that she was gone. The rest of us went to mingle with the crowd for some time. But no matter how hard I tried, no one would talk to me. Brody came to say hi but could tell he was only there for Albert so the two of them talked for a while. Connor started dancing to the music as his morale went up a little and Heather was making up with a girl and guy at the same time.
“Why am I friends with that girl?” I thought to myself out loud.
I saw a few people pointing and laughing at me so I chose to go outside into the garden to have a smoke of my cigarette. I was the only one outside and the noise of the music had become faded. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, inhaling the fresh air of the night. I could hear a dog barking a few inches away from me but I tried to ignore it.
But the dog wouldn’t stop barking until I looked at the creature, annoyed. What I saw in front of me shook me to the core. It looked like Connor’s dog, but it couldn’t be. It had the same fur colour, same breed and it was dirty as if it had been underground for half of the day. I watched the dog run away towards the direction of the arcade but I didn’t follow him. I didn’t have time since I heard a scream inside the house and the music stop. I ran inside the house to check what was going on but all I could see was a group of people surrounded next to something. I pushed through the terrified audience and saw a puddle of blood on the floor. With horror in my eyes, I followed the drip of blood up and up until I finally saw Brody hanging from the chandelier. He had a knife stuck through his brain but that wasn’t the creepy part. It seemed as if someone had cracked open his skull, took out his brain since it was on the floor, and added a fully working disco ball inside. They then took out his teeth and eyes so the lights from the disco ball would come out of the mouth and eye sockets. And the worst part of all was his ripped out stomach making organs fly out of it and having his own intestines used to hang him on the chandelier.
The audience screamed out of fear and panic and started running out of the house. I pushed through the group until I found my friends. Jessica seemed upset but now wasn’t the right time to ask her about it.
“Oh my god, what happened?” Heather asked, scared.
“I saw Connor’s dog” I blurted out without having time to think. Connor looked at me with hope in his eyes.
“Where did he go?” Connor asked determinedly.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea” Rory managed to say but Connor wouldn’t accept that.
“Maria come on” He never calls me by my real name. He must be really serious about it.
“Uhh He must- i saw him- arcade!” I stammered through my words. Connor ran out with the others following him to try and stop him. I tried to follow too but a kid pushed me aside. I landed on the blood puddle and to my luck, it was just in time for Brody’s dead body to snap and fall on top of me. I rolled out of the way and his head hit the hard floor face first so hard that the disco ball popped out of his back skull. I felt like vomiting, it was a horrific image that was never going to leave my brain ever again. I tried to get back on my feet but felt weak and nauseous from the sight of the dead body.
By now all the terrified people had left. I finally regained strength in my legs and also ran out of the house. The idea that there could be a murderer in the room made me feel unsettled. I got outside and immediately ran to the arcade a few blocks away from here. The police was fast approaching behind me, taking a swift turn around the block and heading to Brody’s house. But I didn’t stick around to see the rest of the commotion.
I arrived to the arcade building feeling uneasy all of sudden, as if there was a certain since of evil lurking in it’s walls. The building seemed new and the lights were on, making me question if it had ever been shut down or if I had dreamt it. I took a step forward closing the door behind me. As soon as I did, the music turned on by itself and started playing a creepy noise as if there were children chanting close to me. I heard the door behind me click, indicating that the doors had been locked and the music started to slow down.
“Hello?” I called out, hoping to find any of my friends. I had never visited this place before. It felt so surreal. I took a step forward and the music and light shut down.
“Ah! Help!” I yelled in shock.
Two seconds later, the lights turned on again but this time the arcade games were gone and there was only a white room with black and white tiles on the floor. I tried to walk but my feet wouldn’t move, as if some type of gravity was keeping me stuck to the floor. From the corner of my eye. I saw a guy dressed as a clown approach me until he was close enough to punch me. I watched him suspiciously, clearly it was obvious that this guy was a lunatic, but what could I do.
“Maria” the clown said in the raspiest voice I’d ever heard. The clown gave me a mischievous smiled that bothered me.
“I’m just looking for my friend, that’s all” I said as calmly as I could but I knew he could hear the shaking in my voice.
The clown laughed at my comment and took out a remote control.
“I’ve got them!” He exclaimed. He had a classic red and yellow clown costume and red painting around his ears, eyes to mouth. Drool kept on falling out his mouth and he had a green curly wig with a nose ring the size of my hand. He clicked on his remote control, never taking his eyes off me and from the corner of my eye, I could see the movement of something. The clown moved out of the way and showed me my friends hanging off some crosses. They had large nails stuck through their hands and feet. I looked at each and every one of them with horror.
Albert and Connor had been stripped of their clothes until the only thing they had was a pair of boxers. Connor’s bottom lip had blood coming out and his hair had been ripped out just like his teeth. Heather, Rory and Jessica had also been stripped of their clothes and had cuts and bruises all over them just like Albert and Connor.
The clown laughed in amusement.
“Oh what joy!” It exclaimed enthusiastically. “Anyone wanna say something?”
“Maria run! He’s a psycho!” Connor shouted angrily with tears in his eyes.
“He’ll try to kill you,” Rory warned.
The clown clicked a button on his remote and I watched desperately as they slowly rolled away with the wheels attached to their cross.
“No!” I pleaded. “Who are you?!” I then demanded, turning to the clown.
The clown laughed even more maniacally now.
“Oh I’m just trying to make friends,” He replied.
“Well you have a funny way of showing it” I answered back furiously.
“Of course I do, I’m a clown! I like being funny. Why do you think I play games all the time? I call it Kronk’s funtime!” Kronk the clown introduced himself.
I tried to move my legs but it was like my muscles were being split in two.
“Let my friends go!” I demanded but Kronk simply laughed. The clown walked towards the white wall and disappeared inside of them. I was confused as to why he left like that, what did he want from my friends and I?
Circus music started playing and a mysterious microphone from nowhere turned on.
“Ladies and gentlemen!” Kronks announced, showing cameras of my friends. “Let’s play the game, who can she save first!” He exclaimed.
I looked down as the floor that was holding me down started moving. It split in two and I ended up falling down a long slippery tube that dropped me into a pool of blood. I fell hard on my knee and heard a crack but when I checked, there was nothing there. It looked like I was inside a torture chamber and I had no idea how to get out. I got up and searched for an exit. There’s a tunnel at the right, so I decided to follow the tunnel path to see if it would lead to my friends. From the corner of my eye, I could see a teenager with half her skin burned off walk towards me and one of her feet missing.
“Stay back!” I warned.
“Please, help me!” She yelled back to me. I didn’t know what to say or do, what if it was part of the act. “Are you Maria?” She asked.
“Yeah” I replied hesitantly.
“I’ve seen your friends,” She said. My heart filled with relief at the idea of finally getting out of here with my friends. But how could I be sure that she wasn’t lying. I got closer to her so I could see her more appropriately. She was a teenager just like me.
“What’s your name?” I asked the mysterious girl.
“My name’s… Olivia” Olivia responded. It took her a while to answer, I didn’t trust her but at the same time, I had no choice. I walked up to her and noticed one of her eyes were missing. It was just an empty eye socket.
“It’s right through the museum of the dead” She explained. I stopped dead in my tracks.
“Museum of the dead?” I asked in fear.
“Oh you’ll see” Olivia replied. She walked off and I followed right behind her.