Page 10 of Runt's Haunted Ride
"It's not," Bulldog said. "Tell me."
I jogged to my bike, leaving Swinger to explain. The ride back to the clubhouse was quiet, each of us lost in our own thoughts about what we'd witnessed. By the time we pulled into the compound, the other teams were already gathered in the main room, cracking open beers and talking about their first night.
"There they are!" Tank called out as we walked in. "Alright, let's hear it. Everyone gives a report."
I grabbed beers from the cooler, handing one to Bulldog and Swinger. We looked at each other and settled in at one of the tables. Around the room, the other guys were sharing their experiences, and it quickly became clear that not everyone had seen the same level of... activity.
"Boring as shit," Crusher complained from his spot near the bar. "I stood at that gate for eight hours checking IDs. The most exciting thing that happened was some college chick flashed her tits trying to get a discount. But I'll tell you, that lady working the booth is some sort of odd."
Leaper nodded in agreement. "Same here. Nothing exciting. It was all pretty standard stuff."
Snake, who'd been on parking lot patrol, shrugged. "A couple guys tried to break into cars around midnight, but we ran them off. Nothing we couldn't handle."
Heavy, Torch, and Wrench from big tent security looked equally unimpressed. "I walked around that tent all night," Heavy said. "Nobody tried to get in. We could hear that damnmusic and shit from inside during the shows. The performers were odd, but we figure they all are."
Tank and Diesel, who'd been watching the performer area, exchanged glances. "We had a lot of coming and going from our area. I hear you—some of them don't look quite right."
"And those sounds," Diesel added, taking a long pull from his beer. "At the end, we heard some strange noises coming from tents and trailers. Weird shit."
All eyes turned to us—the midway patrol. Swinger lit another cigarette, his hands still shaking slightly.
"Boys," Fang said, leaning forward in his chair, "you three look like you've seen some shit. Spill it."
I glanced at Swinger and Bulldog, then decided to start with something that would get their attention. "You guys are never going to believe what we dealt with tonight."
"Try us," Tank said, leaning back in his chair.
Swinger motioned for me to go ahead.
"Let's see—we had various vendors with unique abilities like a forked tongue. The funhouse sounded like a BDSM dungeon. We had living dolls wanting an orgy, and clowns who were drugging people so they could have fun with them."
And for the second time this week, I'd caused the Silverback Club to go silent.
"Grape. Don't forget the grape," Swinger added.
"What's with the grapes?" Tank eventually asked.
I explained about the clowns.
"Those clowns are the same creepy fuckers with the colored hair we saw when we first got there?" Heavy asked.
"Yes. They prey on people—every customer that walks through that place," Swinger said, lighting up another cigarette. "One minute you're fine, then one of those hell monsters blows in your face, and next thing you know you're glazed over, agreeing to anything."
"They're not lying," Bulldog added. "I watched three of them drug a bachelorette party, then the girls nodded and got on the tunnel of love with them. The girls were handing over their jewelry."
"No shit?" Reaper leaned forward, grinning. "Must have been a drug. Wonder what kind?"
"One that makes you compliant as fuck," Bulldog said. "I saw another lady—she was walking around like a zombie, doing whatever that orange-haired fucker told her to do. And I mean whatever. Shit, he had her hand down his pants while feeding him mini donuts with the other, standing right in the middle of the midway. People walking by cheering them on. It was crazy."
The room perked up.
"You're making that shit up," Crusher said.
"No, they're not. There's more," I said. "There are these three women—the dolls—moving in perfect sync like they were connected somehow."
"Dressed as dolls?" Leaper asked. "When I came out of the can, I caught a glimpse of three women dressed as dolls."
"That's them," Bulldog nodded.
