Cole stepped in front of his sister. No way he was going to sit back and let Alaire go first. He opened the black door and felt a cool gust of fresh air hit his face.
He expected the room to be located in a building or basement. Instead, the door brought them outside. When they looked behind them it was nothing but a small storage shed; Cole's guess anyway.
“How odd..." Cole said.
The door shut swiftly, locking them out.
Taylor and Jessica walked closely together, almost at the hip, like scared teenagers in a haunted house on Halloween. Blake followed behind them, slightly amused.
“This place looks familiar,” Jessica said suddenly.
“It does?” Taylor asked.
“Yeah… I think…”
It was gray and grim all around them. The sky was overcast and the whole world looked desaturated. The more Cole looked, the more he started to see some familiarities.
“Hang on,” he said, “I think she’s right. This looks like Wonder World.”
It was as if they were lead smack dab in the middle of a theme park. It was well known, but not for good reason. Years ago it closed down, but before that it was a very popular place with tons of rides, circus performances, treats, and all that jazz. Until the day of the massacre.
“Why would they bring us to Wonder World?” Taylor asked, “It hasn't been open in forever.”
“Creepy,” Blake said, “Really creepy.”
“We should get out of here,” Jessica suggested.
They started next to a ride called Galactic Plunge, basically the roller coaster that made you puke. Whilst aimlessly wondering around, Cole found one of the large display maps of the whole park.
“We’re here… Not too far from the exit,” he said.
“What’re those?”
Taylor pointed at the small icons located randomly on the map. Normally there would be icons indicating where snack stands or restrooms were located. But these icons were colorful clown faces.
“That's probably where they had performances,” Cole said, "Circus animals and stuff."
“Let’s follow this road, passing the mini zoo and gondola rides,” Alaire suggested.
Everyone started walking, but Taylor and Jessica lingered at the map.
“Whatcha doin', girls?” Blake said.
Taylor shrugged, but Jessica stood and said nothing. Her eyes were glued on the clown icons until Taylor eventually dragged her away.
“You look deep in thought,” Blake said to her.
“Sorry,” Jessica said dryly.
“Well stay close,” he said, “Don’t want a creep getting you.”
He winked at Taylor.
“Well, you definitely make us feel safer...” Taylor muttered.
“Charming.”
The park looked like a scene from an end of the world movie. Paper, leaves, and garbage scattered all around in the breeze. The character animatronics stationed at each fork in the road were rusted over and coated in a layer of dirt.
“Animatronics were never cute,” Blake said, “A Small World? More like small demons.”
“Stop. We’re already scared,” Taylor snapped.
“Aw. Just stay close.”
Cole rolled his eyes. He wasn’t too amused by the air Blake carried with him, but liking these people wasn't his priority. Cole gave everyone a quick glance. There was panic and confusion in just about everyone’s eyes. Adapting to each other’s reactions to fear was something he’d have to put up with.
Taylor whipped her blonde hair, pretending to be disgusted with Blake’s comments, but Cole spotted a tiny grin.
“Ugh, it’s so spooky here when it’s empty,” Alaire said.
“It probably doesn’t help that it’s haunted,” Blake added.
Cole scoffed, “Haunted?”
“Well yeah, a bunch of people were murdered.”
“Let’s not talk about it,” Jessica said.
That seemed to be ok with everyone, so they continued to walk through the park in silence. This was nothing that Cole expected when they walked through the black door. To be fair, he really had no idea what would happen. It was like being stuck in a bad dream.
Even the layout of the park was eerie and dreamlike. Every shape felt mildly dramatized. The trees stretched in awkward angles and even the clouds looked particularly swirly. What were they drugged with exactly, Cole thought.
“This should be the zoo…” Alaire said, her voice skeptical.
To their left looked like the perfect setting for a small zoo. There was the large sign above the walkthrough and a few entry exhibits with long steel bars to cage the animal inside. It was still deathly quiet. The park was shut down, but Cole half expected to hear monkeys screeching or something.
“What is that smell?” Taylor complained.
“It’s a zoo, sweetheart,” Blake said.
“A zoo that’s been closed!” she retorted.
Cole scrunched his nose. The blonde one was right, it stank! He couldn't quite pinpoint the smell, but it reminded him of rotten meat and feces.
Alaire had one of her hands over her nose, “You don’t think they left the animals in there?”
“Even if they wanted to they couldn’t,” Cole said, “Someone would've come after the park for abandonment.”
She nodded in agreement, and started walking through the entrance.
“What’re you doing?” Cole asked.
Cole just wanted to exit the park as soon as possible, but he followed his sister into the zoo. The other three in their group followed slowly behind him, probably not wanting to be alone either.
The smell got worse and worse. The zoo was designed with a circle perimeter, so that if you stood in the center you could see every cage around you. It wasn’t large, Cole remembered most of the animals were for the circus shows or petting areas.
“Oh!”
Alaire blurted in disgust. Inside one of the cages was a slump of orange-ish fur splattered with dark red blood. It was a grown tiger, or it was once, with it’s stomach gutted and most of the organs missing.
“What the hell?” Cole got closer to inspect the cage.
Alaire suddenly took a quick jog around the zoo, and came back with a grave expression.
“There’s more…”
“Who would take the organs?” Jessica asked, stepping away to avoid looking at the cage any longer.
“I didn’t think tiger liver was on the market,” Blake said half sarcastically, “Or maybe it is. For those freaks with an exotic appetite.”
Taylor was pale and bent over like she was going to hurl. Cole shot Blake a look.
“C’mon, man.”
Blake shrugged, “Just thinking out loud. What else could it be?”
“I don’t know…” Cole admitted, “As awful as it is, I really just want to get out of here. We can worry about it later.”
“I think a better question is; how are these animals not decomposed…” Alaire said.
The blood on the tiger did look old, and squirming maggots filled the lining of its inner cavity, but the park closed down so long ago. If the animal was killed at that time it should mostly be bones and hair left.
“That is… strange,” Cole said, “Alright, let’s go.”
Everyone’s pace quickened as they fled the zoo. Cole was trying to piece the puzzle together in his head. If this was a dream, then it would all make sense, he thought, because it didn't need to...
Jessica suddenly stopped. Strands of her red hair tickled her face from the wind, but she stood frozen.
“What?” Taylor asked, “Let’s go! It still smells awful.”
“It’s the clock. It’s still working.”
It sounded like Jessica was talking to herself. Her voice trailed off into a whisper.
“What now?” Blake said.
Jessica pointed. Cole sighed, irritated that they were stopping again, but came over to have a look. Attached one of the street lamps was a rectangle shaped clock. It was old and the paint had chipped, but it was obvious it was a painting of a clown’s mouth. The front four teeth had electronic numbers, counting down.
“Fifty seconds?” Blake said, “Fifty seconds until what?”
“I’m surprised it’s still working,” Jessica said, “They have a few of these clocks around the park to let guests know when the next circus performance start…”
“Well I doubt there’s any show,” Cole said, “Please, let’s keep moving.”
Ten seconds.
Two seconds.
It was like an alarm. A giggle, a loud horn, and the sound of cheering children all chimed from the clock.
Jessica cringed. The noise had startled all of them. Taylor even made a sad squeaking sound.
“I guess the speakers still work too?” Alaire said.
Jessica was trembling. Her breathing fast and sharp.
“Its…” she couldn't say another word.
She was looking to the left down a different path. Blake and Taylor followed her gaze, and Cole watched the color drain from their faces.
“What!” Cole demanded.
“Oh my gosh…” Alaire whispered.
Finally, Cole got a good look at what everyone was gapping at. On the path, standing maybe six foot something in obnoxiously large red shoes and a ruffled collar was a clown. He had all the effects; clown nose, painted face, and a cone hat. There was something else he carried with him, and it wasn’t a rubber chicken.
It was a large kitchen knife, already bloody.
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