Love Story

John Writer

Delilah and I entered the fair grounds just as the sun was setting.
It’s a chilling 67F on this windy night, November 27th. I could imagine the
weather forecaster saying something like that about now. Of course I had no idea if it was
really 67. I hadn’t looked at the therm in my car. I was far too busy paying attention to
Delilah.
But no so much that I’d run off the road. Haha, no, sir. Safety first as they say.
Yep, safety first; Delilah second.
The circus was in town. We’d been planning that day for weeks. First I picked her
up in my white two-door Ford, and we drove around Fayetteville, looking at whatever
stores we wanted to stop at. Then we made our way to the theatre to watch The Princess
and the Frog. We both agreed that Disney moves had lately been below par, but this one
was advertised “in the tradition of classic Disney movies.” The nostalgia in both of us
peeked out to see what was going on. It was good, but not as good as the classics,
Aladdin and stuff. Next we went to Macaroni Grill for lunch. Afterwards we headed back
to the movies to watch The Blindside, by far the best inspirational sports movie I’ve ever
seen. Finally we went to the fairgrounds, and after the circus I was finally going to meet
Delilah’s stepfather.
It was the perfect way to celebrate our shared birthday. Seventeen: the awkward
age between being able to buy cigs, dry ice, and vacuum cleaners and being able to drink.
Not that I was into that stuff. Well the dry ice and vacuum cleaners, sure.
Anyway we had just paid for tickets and gotten in.
The light grey gravel crunched beneath their feet sending cracks through the
crisp layers of air around them, the writer in me said.
“Wow, look at everything. This looks awesome, sweetheart. Oh! Let’s go to the
hall of mirrors,” Delilah said.
“Heck no. That’s where all the bad stuff happens in movies,” I said.
“Oh, come on, you superstitious baby.” She started pulling me one way, while I
dug my heels into the gravel.
“How bout we don’t and say we didn’t. Let’s go to the carousel. That looks nice
and innocent.”
“You’re scared aren’t you?” She stopped pulling, but she kept holding onto my
arm.
“Pshaw, no. All right, yes. Let’s just go anywhere else, and I’ll be happy,” I
pleaded.
“Fine, where should we go?” she asked.
I looked at the crowded city of bright lights and crazy people: the big top farther
back, acting as the town square; the carousel in front of us; and the various buildings and
attractions that I couldn’t pin specifically. But we hadn’t quite entered that city yet. Nope,
we were still in the outer circle of awe and jaw-dropping.
“I still say the carousel.”
“But that’s boring; it’s not exciting at all,” she whined.
“What could be more exciting than going on a huge spinning wheel with a bunch
of metal animals with poles shoved through their abdomens with me?”
 “Nothing, sweetheart,” D said.
We made our way into the line; it looked like at the end of this go-around, we’d
be able to get on. I couldn’t see any other teens around. It was all old people and families
with small children. There weren’t any teens hoping to get stuck on the Ferris wheel for a
make-out session, because there wasn’t one here.
My attention returned to the carousel. It had one of those two-seater sleighs on it,
but there wasn’t anyone in it. In fact I almost never saw anyone in them.
Then I heard the crashing explosion. It seemed then as if everyone turned in slow
motion. For a split-second my eyes tried to tell me it was day. It was definitely bright
enough to be. Then it went back to darkness, and I couldn’t see, because of the dilation.
Next the screaming started.
Later I found out it had been the hall of mirrors that had exploded. I always think
to myself that I’m glad I didn’t let Delilah take me in there, but I was never able to say it
to her face.
People started running, and when people are in such panic they lose their manners
and start running over people, crushing them to death, so I decided I’d better get Delilah
and me away from the crowds.
“C’mon! We need to get away from people.” I grabbed her forearm and pulled
hard, knowing she’d follow.
We made it to the edge of the iron fence surrounding the fairgrounds and beyond
that was the forest, taunting our fear. We ran along the edge where there were a lot fewer
people, but as we got close to the gate, we came upon a crowd of people just standing
there.
“What the frick is going on?” I said.
“Get back!” I heard someone yell.
I stood against the fence and saw two guards standing with their backs to the gate,
holding guns.
“Stay back, or we’ll shoot all your fucking heads off,” one of the guards said.
“What the heck?” I said.
“What’s going on?” D asked.
“There are two guards, but they’re not letting us out. They must be containing the
area, so they can find the culprit, but why are they using such vulgar-”
“Wait. There’s someone coming.” D was on her tiptoes.
I could see him. He was wearing a long, yellow and red striped trench coat over a
white shirt and black pants. He also had a large, red top hat. His face looked really pale.
One of the guards unlocked the gates while the other held his machine gun up in
warning.
“They’re letting him in! Why are they letting him in?”
“I don’t know, D.”
The outlandishly dressed man stepped away from the gate so I could no longer see
him. I could only see some of his top hat. Then there was a tiny scraping sound, and the
man either grew taller or had stood on something. He held a megaphone up to his face.
“Ladies and gentlemen, you all have the chance to become the latest additions to
my group of Carnies.”
It sounded familiar. It took some memory searching, but I eventually remembered
why. There had been a couple reports of a man known as The Carnival Master, travelling
around with his group of Carnies, playing dangerous games on fairgrounds. But it had
been clear across the U.S.
“Don’t bother using your cell phones. We’ve jammed any signals in or out,” he
continued.
“Shit!”
“Delilah!” I said.
“Oh, sorry.”
“-so don’t try. That would just ruin the fun. Now for the objective of our little
game. We’re going to have a little battle royale tonight. A brawl to the death. Last one
alive gets to join my crew or leave scotch-free.”
By this point, I had realized that his mouth wasn’t moving. It took me a minute to
realize he was actually wearing a theatre mask, one of those white, ceramic ones.
“There won’t be any teaming up though. As we speak, my Carnies are placing
weapons, all melee, around this Carnival. You could also use your surroundings as
weapons. This won’t be chaos though. Well, not complete chaos. Every game has to have
order, right? The fights are going to be one-on-one matches. No sneaking up on people.
You both have to agree to a fight, but from there the rules go out the window. You can
play a game of cat ‘n mouse. You can do anything that both of you agree to, but you must
both agree to a fight before any blows occur.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like to welcome you to the Carniepunk Tourney
Three. No go find your weapons and fight!”
By now I saw there were quite a few people walking around the fair grounds.
They were all wearing demented clown masks. The kinds I’d seen in Halloween stores.
These were his Carnies.
“C’mon. We gotta go hide somewhere,” I whispered to D.
I had a hard time getting her to move, but after a few seconds, I got her going. We
kept to the shadows, staying close to the fence.
“Hahaha, you can team up now, but you’ll just end up killing each other,” a fence
guard said as we passed him.
We were behind a row of sideshow games. I opened the door, and we entered a
basketball shoot. We crouched behind the counter.
“How are we going to get out of here?” she whispered.
“Kill the leader. He’s hiding in the surveillance tower with a few guards.” We
peered out of our hideout to steal a glance towards the middle of the fair grounds. I had
seen him up there on our small trek. And as I thought, he was still up there.
“If we can collapse the tower, he’s dead.”
“But won’t his… henchmen just come after us?”
“This isn’t a story. These people want out just as much as we do. They’ll go back
to their normal lives, telling lies of how the Carnival Master had held them prisoner.”
“Why don’t they just gang up on him then?” she asked.
“I don’t know. Maybe they’re too distracted by the prospect of power to see the
truth.”
We were both silently contemplating the situation.
“We need more people on our side. There must be some sensible people here
besides us.”
The door behind us creaked open. I turned knowing that we were going to die.
 A young man stepped in, but he had no weapon.
“I’m one of those people,” he said, crouching beside us. “I’m Louis. I’ll help you
take out the Carnival Master.”
I smiled. “Hello, Louis. My name is Lance. This is Delilah.”
“There’s only one problem with your plan. There’s guards posted at the bottom of
the tower, making it harder to take it out.”
“Maybe we could set up a distraction,” D said. “Like one of us starts a fight right
in front of the guards, while the other two sneak up behind them while they’re distracted
and take them out.”
“Good idea,” Louis and I said.
“I’m a black belt in martial arts. I may have the best chance of staying alive in a
fight and keeping it going long enough.”
Before either of us could respond, a scream cracked through the air. A few
seconds later I tugged on D’s arm.
“C’mon. Let’s set up near the tower. We’ll be waiting, Louis.” We exited the way
we came.
I held her arm to make sure we stayed close. We crouched in between two
buildings and looked out at the walkway between us and the burger joint near the tower.
A sound, alerting the use of the PA system, aired over the grounds. “I think we
need to have a little music going, don’t you.”
‘50s music began playing. The eerie sound mixed perfectly with the situation.
I looked out one more time to assure that the way was clear. “Let’s go.”
We sprinted across and went right into the burger place, once again crouching
behind the counter. A few minutes later, we heard Louis’ voice.
“I challenge you to a fight.”
“You don’t even have a weapon. I’ll beat you real good,” another voice said.
We peeked out to watch. Louis had taken a stance that looked more like it
was tailored for boxing then for martial arts. The man he was facing was large,
more so in width than length, but he had a flail.
I began looking for a weapon to use on the guards. I found a metal spatula,
and broke the head off of it, making it jagged.
I returned my attention to the fight just as the fat man was rushing Louis.
The man brought the flail head down towards Louis, who easily side-stepped the
attack then brought his leg back like a taut bow and let his foot fly right into the
man’s elbow, snapping it inward.
At that moment all the guards underneath the tower were paying attention
to the fight.
As the man screamed, he switched the flail into the other hand. He wasn’t
giving up. He brought it around towards Louis, who dodged again.
By now all of the guards’ backs were turned. Now was my chance. I
crawled over the counter silently, taking my shoes off. I crept up behind the
closest one and plunged the broken spatula into his back, where his heart should
be.
It was a shocking feeling to kill someone, but it couldn’t be helped. I
pulled the gun from his hand and shot the last three. When I saw the bloodied
ground around the fallen clowns, my hands started shaking. I couldn’t believe that
this could happen.
I was a teenager. I wasn’t supposed to be killing people so easily. The gun
dropped out of my hands.
Louis finished with the fat guy. He picked up the flail.
“These beams are thick, but they’re still only wood.”
I picked the gun back up and checked the clip. Five shots left. I shot each
of the beams once and the last one twice.
“Oi! What are you kids doing?” The Carnival Master’s masked face
looked down from the hatch above them.
More out of instinct than anything, I pointed the gun up at him. He
immediately moved back.
“Quick. Take out these beams,” I told Louis.
He started swinging at the nearest one, while I searched for something big
enough to help. My eyes scanned inside the burger place then the surrounding
area. A few side-show games… one of which was a hammer smash, where you
tried to hit the bell. I ran over, carefully, and grabbed the hammer.
After dragging it back, I went to work swinging it at the beams again and
again.
“We’ve got him. We’re gonna get out of this alive.”
Just as we broke the first two beams, we heard a crash of glass. We all
instinctively ducked and covered our heads. A chair had been thrown out of the
tower followed by the Carnival Master’s body. At first I thought he was
committing suicide, until I saw his body land on the massive big top to our right. I
saw people being ushered into the big top, but before I knew what was happening,
I had cold steel to my neck.
“Go into the tent. All of you.”
So we too were herded into the big top. And of course, the Carnival
Master stood in the center. He held his top hat in one hand and a cane in the other.
We were led to seats near the front of the sloped seating. For a moment I felt like
we were being seated to watch some amazing show.
If only that were the truth. Instead we were being ushered to our deaths.
The sick leader of this gang placed his hat on his head like it was a baby,
being laid to sleep.
“We were having some difficulties with the normal setup. So we’ll be
moving the rest of the festivities in here. From now on, I’ll be picking to random
people to face off.”
So now he’s forcing us to fight. Is this some punishment for us trying to
bypass his game?
“It’s a bit more uniform, don’t you think?” He spread out his arms, turning
his head from this side to the other. With that he walked off to who knows where.
I didn’t care to keep watching. I was thinking about how this would end.
Pair after pair went into the ring. Sometimes they both fought, sometimes
only one fought, and sometimes it took awhile for either of them to fight, but in
the end someone always ended up dying. It was a massacre.
 “Please. I just need to go to the bathroom! You can go in with me. Just
please!” I heard one lady say at one point.
The guard she was talking to simply slapped her face and pointed back to
her seat. Later I heard her crying. I was happy I wasn’t sitting by her.
I quickly realized that we weren’t being picked. People who’d already
gone were going again. This disturbed me.
Finally there were only five people left
The thought kept coming back. What if the Carnival Master was setting
Delilah and me up to fight?
But why?
I looked up just as one of the fighters kicked the other in the head then
stomping on his chest.
“That’s good!” The Carnival Master approached the survivor. “I enjoy
your enthusiasm. Now,” he turned to Louis, D, and I. “the semi-finals. Our latest
winner… and you.” He pointed at Louis, who solemnly got up and hopped over
the barrier to the ring.
I secretly hoped he lost just so Delilah or I didn’t have to fight him. The
match ended in less than a minute.
Louis won. I leapt over the barrier not giving the leader the chance to pick
D. I wouldn’t give Louis the chance.
Just as I reached the middle, Louis said, “I don’t have to fight you.” He
turned and started walking away.
“You’re giving up?” I simply couldn’t believe it. I didn’t know if it was
good or bad, but I certainly didn’t expect it.
“No.” He turned back to look at me. “I don’t have to fight you, because
I’m not one of you.” His face suddenly made him look crazed.
“You see,” the Carnival Master approached us, “Louis is my son. He’s
been with me since the beginning.” He chuckled, but Louis was letting a wave of
laughter.
He must have been holding it in ever since he approached me.
“Why me?”
“If everything goes right you’ll never know.”
“And now,” Louis said through his laughter, “You have to fight your love.
Your sweet little girlfriend.” This set him off again, laughing.
“I won’t.” I looked back at Delilah. “I’m not going to do it, D.”
“Fair enough,” the leader said. “We’ll make it a choice. No fighting. Just,”
he held up his hands in excitement, “an instant. Get her,” he said to Louis.
“No! Don’t hurt her.”
“Oh, trust me. You’ll be the one doing the hurting in a bit,” he replied.
“Shut up! I would never-” I was hit hard on the head.
“No, you shut up.” The Carnival Master punched me in the stomach.
“Come on. We’re taking a field trip.”
He grabbed one of my pant legs and yanked my feet out from under me.
“Agh!” With no wind in me, I had no will to fight back.
He dragged me across the dirt, down stairs, through a door, and into a
cement room, under the big top. Louis threw Delilah into the room.
 “Not so rough!” she yelled.
I started crawling towards her.
“We’ll leave you two be for now.”
She was crying. It took all I had to sit up and wrap my arms around her,
and we cried together for what seemed like hours. Then the door opened, and he
came through.
“Well that was long enough, I think. Now,” he pulled a pistol out of his
jacket and held it with only his thumb and forefinger, “this is the choice I’m
giving you.” He was looking at me. “You can kill her, or she’ll kill you. Oh, and I
think it’s time for introductions. My name is Gregg. You must be Lance. And you
must be D.”
“How did you know?” There was something stiff in D’s throat. She
seemed to be scolding him, rather than asking a question.
“I know the people who I play games with. I do my research that’s all.”
“You can keep your gun, Gregg. Neither of us are going to use it.” I was
finding my strength again. I stood up slowly.
He was silent for a moment. He started snickering at first, but it grew to
wild laughter. When he stopped, he placed the gun on the floor.
“Have fun.” He left the room. Closed the door. Locked us in.
I walked over and picked up the gun. I looked over at D. “Don’t worry. I
just need something to hold. Everything’s flat. No handholds.”
I walked towards her, but she still seemed worried.
“D, you know me. I love you. I’m not going to shoot you. Look, I’ll even
put the safety on.” I pushed the button by the trigger.
I sat down by her, and looked at her face. Her makeup was running. She
was sweating. But she was beautiful. And I loved her. I kissed her on the lips.
“It’s going to be okay. Next time he comes in here, I’ll shoot him, and
we’ll be free.”
“But what if he doesn’t come back in, ‘till one of us is killed?”
“I can shoot the gun, so he thinks one of us has killed the other.” I took the
clip out, but to my dismay there was one bullet.
“Damn it!”
Then there was a knock on the door.
“Slide the gun towards the door.”
I put the gun on the ground and ran it along the floor without letting go.
“I’m not stupid. I want to hear it hit the door.”
I practically threw the gun across the floor, following right after to pick it
up.
But before the gun even reached the door, it opened, and Gregg picked up
the gun, spun it in his hand, and placed the barrel against my forehead.
“Go sit down. Young Delilah, come out here. I’d like to talk to you.”
I walked backward toward the wall. “Don’t hurt her.”
“I won’t,” he hissed through that smiling mask of his.
Delilah slowly got up.
 As she exited the room, I roared at Gregg, “I swear if you rape her, I’ll rip
you to pieces with that mask.” I began trembling. I didn’t want to imagine what
he might do to her. It seemed like days before she came back.
When she did, Gregg lingered, before saying, “You’re next, Lance.”
I got up and exited the room. The room we were in now was just a larger
version of the small holding cell he was keeping us in. All cement.
“What do you want, Gregg? Why me? Why Delilah?”
“Like I said, Lance, you’ll never know.” He grabbed my shirt. “Just kill
her, and you’re free to go.” He shoved me against the wall.
“Never.”
Gregg slugged me in the face. “Why do you love her so much? She’s not
even that pretty. She hasn’t done much for you. She must be amazing in bed, if
you want to keep her around this long.”
“Don’t talk about her like that. Ever.” I stood up and drove my fist into his
gut.
“You make me sick,” he said.
That made me pause. I should be the one saying that.
“Your love for her is useless. Love is worthless. Only physical things
matter.”
“That’s what you think.”
After a silent gap, Gregg shoved me back in the room and did the same
with the gun.
I picked it up again. I walked back over to Delilah and held her. We sat
there together for what could have been days. I couldn’t tell. We didn’t have
watches. Our phones were dead.
We would take turns crying. Maybe because one of us needed to be strong
while the other wasn’t. Maybe because one of us would run out of tears and
simply couldn’t cry.
There were no dreams in that place. Not even nightmares, because nothing
could be worse than what was happening. I didn’t sleep much anyway. Delilah
slept more than me.
I was thinking. I knew what I had to do. I knew I was going to do it. I just
had to build up the will. Finally it came. Delilah was sleeping. This way she
wouldn’t know until it was already over. I held the gun up, but I started crying,
making my hand shake.
“I’m sorry. I’m so so sorry.”
Before I pulled the trigger, a memory came to me.
We were walking through the mall. We looked through a jewelry store.
“I want that one,” she said.
It was a beautiful set of earrings. Both shaped like crowns. But the price
tag wasn’t right.
“It’s not worth it, D. The price tag isn’t right. It’s for too expensive for
those earrings. I could get you something else. Something that’s priced right.”
“No, I want those ones,” she pleaded.
 It took a little, but I got her to follow me out of the store. But as we
walked out, I saw a look on her face. It wasn’t right. It wasn’t D. It scared me. It
pulled at my soul.
“I’m sorry. I’m so so sorry,” I had said to her.
“It’s not right,” I said as I held the gun up.
Then I pulled the trigger.
She woke up.
My breathing changed.
“Oh my God, Lance! What did you do?” she screamed.
I had missed. I didn’t hit my heart. I had hit my lung. I would die from
lack of oxygen slowly.
Gregg burst in.
“Finally- what?”
“I told you, I wouldn’t kill her, Gregg. You lose.”
Gregg laughed. “No, Lance you lose.”
I knew he was wrong.
“D-did I do good, Daddy.”
“Yes, Delilah. You acted your part magnificently.”
Something lodged in my throat. Tears streamed from my eyes.
“That’s right, Lance. Delilah is my daughter. Well, stepdaughter.”
“Daddy, why did you leave the safety off?”
“Huh? I didn’t. It must have gone off by accident.”
“Oh, okay.” Delilah got up.
I watched my love and the monster that had her caged walk out together.
Lies abound. I felt myself drifting off into sleep.
-----
I woke with a start. I didn’t know where I was. There were bed sheets.
And whites and pale blues. I saw a TV in the corner. There was a curtain around
me.
A hospital. How did I get in a hospital? How was I alive?
A nurse came through the curtain.
“You’re awake. We were scared for you.”
“What happened?”
“You were in a coma for three days, sweetie. You’re lucky you were even
alive.”
“How did I get here?”
“Someone called and told us what happened to you. An ambulance came
and got you.”
“Who called for me?”
“We don’t know. It was a young man’s voice.”
I sat there. I had known that Gregg was D’s stepfather. All the pieces fit. I
didn’t know until last night, but as soon as I saw Gregg there, I knew it couldn’t
be a coincidence with all the other proof I had.
But who called for me. And why?
 It didn’t matter. All that mattered was that I found that monster, Gregg,
and saved my love. It was only right. I would save Delilah, and we would love
each other, and she would be my bride.
But first I had to kill the monster.