Page 68 of These Unhallowed Halls
“Well, well, what have we here?”
I let the fabric close, frozen there at the gap as I listened to the exchange.
“You will not have another soul!”The sound of magic cracking through the air was a soft rumble, but a smug chuckle followed it.
“Parlor tricks ain’t going to work with me, sweetheart.I’m one of His chosen.”
Another crack, this one booming and final before a thug followed, and I swallowed hard, silently cursing.He’d fucking killed her.The stubborn woman wouldn’t get into the godsdamn ten, and now she was dead.
Fuck!
“Aw, He’ll be so please.Bit of food for our god to snack on once the old show begins, and He wakes up.I’m getting in real good with the Ring Leader now.”
Footsteps thudded in the other direction, the shuffle of something being dragged following them.I waited until it was silent again, and then it was just me, left in the darkness, and the quiet as the cult claimed another victim.
Twenty-Five- Illusion Stands In The Mind, A Twisted Thread You Must Unwind
Temps
Ihadheardthevoiceoutside the tent while Caleb was dealing with the dean.Lizzie and I had looked at each other, eyes wide in the dark as the panic choked me, for what felt like eons, before a faint light at the seam got our attention.I took off for it, wanting to get to Caleb, and felt Lizzie hot on my heels.I remembered how this place had acted before, and I held my hand out behind me, seizing her hand so that I didn’t lose her.
But we couldn’t find Caleb.
As soon as we got to the flap where he’d come in, he was gone.Nothing but blackness lingered around us.The tent, this fucking cult, had set up traps so that they’d be ready for us again, or anyone else, for that matter.
“Dammit, I’m sorry.I couldn’t get to him.”I shook my head, my voice a whisper, and I turned to face Lizzie as tiny circles of light began to blink on behind her.
“It’s alright.I know you tried.It’s this fucking place.”Music started to play behind us, sweet and tinkling noises that felt plucked by the tiny metal fittings inside a music box.“Ugh, what now?”
She turned around as a shape took form, this constellation of lights making sense as a hazy red glow filtered out from behind it.It moved, circling over and over, a familiar sight from memories of my childhood.But I dreaded what I might see now inside this cursed carnival tent.
A carousel.
“We need to keep moving forward.You remember what Caleb said.He’ll do the same.He’ll keep moving, and we’ll find him where the paths converge.”
Lizzie raised a brow at me, her mouth in a straight line.“You sure about that?”
Sucking in a deep breath, I grabbed her hand and nodded once.“Yes.I have to be.I choose to be.We’re magic, too, Lizzie.We can fight back against this.”
With a smile, she pulled me over for a quick kiss.“Damn skippy, babe.Let’s go.”
The dim red glow behind the carousel brightened with each step we took closer, the music that played from it an odd juxtaposition compared to the sinister vibes it gave off.The top of the carousel was lit with those little lights, revealing the shapes carved into the worn wood at the top.They were depictions of little scenes, like you might see on the typical ride, but these weren’t cute.
Bodies being torn apart, fingers deep inside skulls, the silhouettes were all violent and wrong.In some, I thought I saw the pieces of people being eaten, and my stomach flip-flopped.Things lingered in the shadows around us, unwilling to come into the light, and it flickered, revealing dozens of pairs of eyes.
“Keep it lit.”I held up a hand, conjuring a bit of light in my palm—one of the first tricks I learned when I was studying this stuff on my own.“They won’t come toward the light.”
Lizzie held up a hand, closing her eyes briefly as she forced herself to conjure up the glow.She didn’t do this type of magic as much as me, and I focused with her, calling up more of my own inner power to help her get a ball of illumination floating above her palm.
The creeping sounds in the dark corners stayed put, and we both silently agreed to hurry up and get onto the carousel to come out the other side.
“What the fuck?”
As we got closer, Lizzie was the first to notice the horses.These weren’t the pretty ponies and occasional “circus” animals that we’d expect.The black stallions’ eyes all glowed an eerie yellow, their bodies purposefully missing chunks, rib cages, and bones exposed.
“Fucking zombie horses?Are you serious?”Lizzie squished me against her as we stepped up onto the revolving platform, keeping me close to her.
“I’m going to assume we should steer clear of the mouths.”
