"Hey Vlad, look what I found!" Henry shouted waving an orange flyer in the air.
"What is it, Henry?" Vlad asked, yawning.
"Read it!" He said shoving the flyer in Vlads face.
"How'd you even get inside my house?" Vlad asked taking the flyer.
"Nelly, let me in."
"Of course."
"Anyway read this!" Henry said taking a seat next to Vlad on the couch. Vlad scanned the flyer.
"A midnight carnival?" He asked not amused. "You woke me for a midnight carnival."
"Well I think it looks cool you should come with me." Henry said turning on the T.V.
"What looks cool?" Otis asked from the kitchen.
"This midnight carnival that Henry wants to go to." Vlad answered as Otis tensed.
"Would this carnival happen to be run by a man called Sir Freak?" Otis asked.
"Yeah, how'd you know?" Henry asked.
"Oh, well I saw a flyer for it and I was thinking of attending it." Vlad glanced back at Otis suspiciously. Otis might be a cool uncle and an awesome vampire, but he wasn't the guy who loved carnivals. Then again this carnival did seem more like Otis' style.
"Alright Henry, I'll go, but one condition." Vlad whispered.
"Sure, what is it?" He whispered back.
"No adults.
"No problem."
"Henry, do you think we should really go?" Vlad asked having second thoughts.
"Of course we should we walked all the way here." Henry said, as macabre carnival music played in the distance. "Why is the big bad vampire scared?" Henry teased.
"I'm not scared, I just don't know if we should be here, it feels…wrong." Vlad said before following Henry through the carnival gates and into the old theater.
"Whoa." The two boys said in unison. The theater had about thirty people in the front seats and the curtains were drawn, however you could feel the presence of someone or something behind the curtains. The theater had a sky high roof and the violet curtains ruffled. Vlad and Henry took a seat.
The curtains flew opened, the light flickered out then back on the stage, an empty spotlight. The crowd grew silent and restless. The slow sound of footsteps tapped forward. A man wearing a stripped torn suit stepped forward, he had withered skin making him look only skin and bones and his large hat covered his face. He was very tall as he leaned over the microphone.
"Welcome ladies, gentlemen… Why have you come here? That answer is simple you want to see your fears come to life. You want to be scared? Different intrigues you, does it not? Well then if anyone would like to leave, then please. The doors will be closing soon." Everybody remained seated, however Vlad squirmed slightly. Something about this man frightened him, something was off, and he was unnatural. "Very well."
The man threw off his hat revealing his face, the crowd gasped. The man who was only skin and bones wasn't even that he was only bones. The skeleton man laughed, a horrid insane laugh, enjoying the crowds shock.
"Welcome to my carnival! I am Sir Freak, and for the time being, you are my assistants." Sir Freak said.
"Nice costume." The man next to Vlad mumbled. Sir Freak turned his head slowly as his head clacked to face the man. He jumped off the stage, bones rattling and walked so his face wasn't even an inch away from the man's face.
"You think I am a mere costume?" Sir Freak said, even Vlad could smell the corpse in the suit, and could hear no heartbeat from him, no blood. Vlad did, however, hear the racing heart of the man next to him. Sir Freak laughed again as his head fell into the man's lap where it continued laughing. The man screamed as Sir Freak took up his head and placed it back on his neck.
"Let the games begin." Sir Freak said as he walked off the stage.
"Dude, did you see that? It was freakin' awesome!" Henry said.
"I think you have a messed up version of awesome." Vlad said, as a man in a hoodie stepped forward. He stepped off the stage into the audience. He walked around and talked to each person each time someone screamed. Then he came to Henry and Vlad.
"Hello boys, my name is Snipe." He said pulling his hands out of his pockets to shake hands. Vlad reached to shake his hands when he noticed the man's fingers were large black snakes, Vlad looked up to the man's face to see spiders crawling over each other in his hair. Vlad jumped back at the same time Henry did. Snipe slinked out of the theater as the lights dimmed to a misty blue.
Sir Freak stepped forward into the blue spotlight.
"Now for a more delicate act, Sir would you step forward for a dance?" Sir Freak asked turning to Vlad. Vlad looked over to Henry. "Oh stop hesitating boy, you won't be dancing with me." Sir Freak snapped. Vlad stepped cautiously onto the stage. Sir Freak stepped of stage leaving Vlad alone on the stage. When a girl with the longest, most beautiful blonde hair stepped onto the stage. She had glittering blue eyes and wore a blue dress. She walked graciously towards Vlad. She took his hand gently when Vlad felt her skin was hard. She was a doll, a puppet.
Gentle music played as Vlad turned to Henry who was grinning like an idiot. Vlad danced with the girl, but soon he found the puppet wore the saddest expression and she had no strings. She led Vlad back to his seat and walked around the crowd letting everyone touch the air above her, proving to them she had no strings. She walked off the stage as the crowd watched her leave in amazement.
"With all this, what do you think is coming next?" Henry asked in hushed excitement. A man stepped onto the stage he looked normal enough, in fact kind of handsome. He had deeply tanned skin and slightly curly brown hair. He wore jeans and no shirt. He stood silently, when his bones seemed to move under his skin, horrid noises of cracking bones filled the theater. The man looked like the wolf man, but he had a full wrap of human skin. The man grabbed at his body ripping the human suit off. Part of his skin fell to the floor at Henry's feet.
"Gross." Henry said smiling. It's official, he's gone crazy, Vlad thought. The place where the man once stood now occupied a large wolf that stood on its hind legs and its front arms hung low at its sides. The werewolf let out an ear-splitting roar that had probably woken half of Bathory, if not all. The werewolf sniffed the air, and then turned sharply towards Vlad.
"Vlad, don't werewolves hate vampires?" Henry asked. Vlad froze in his seat, they did and this particular werewolf was staring directly at Vlad. The werewolf pounced of the stage landing in front of Vlad. Vlad squeezed his eyes shut; he could feel the werewolf's hot breath on his face. Then something happened, the breath had stopped. Vlad opened his eyes and saw a girl his age step forward. She wore a gypsy dress and cloaks that covered her lower face. Her long brown hair hung over her shoulders and her eyes blazed violet. Vlad gasped, as she herded the wolf man off the stage Vlad had caught a view of a mark similar to his etched into the back of her neck.
"Vampire…" Vlad whispered.
"What?" Henry asked, shocked.
"That girl's a vampire, I saw her mark." Vlad responded, he was about to stand and follow her when he saw a man walk back stage, a man who looked very familiar. It was Otis.