Chapter 4

Stepping out of the hotel felt like they were stepping into a whole different world than when they stepped in. In just a few hours, the whole town had completely transformed. What had once been a quiet little community was now a sprawling wilderness of people, stands and game stalls. There was face painting, traditional games like Splat the Rat and even the ones that were obvious cons like the Ball of Death. Chloe had heard that one going on from inside the hotel room and adamantly made it clear that she wasn't going on that even if they guy had a truck to try and win. Nine times out of ten, the ball itself was too small for the motorcycle to build up enough momentum meaning gravity inevitably caught up with it. You might make it to the top of the ball, but the only thing you'd be winning was a concussion and maybe some broken bones as a bonus prize. There was also one of those games where you had to throw the ball into the hole to win a prize, but they weren't even trying to hide the guy hiding behind the booth using a stick to block the ball. There was even a live band in the bandstand going to town on acoustic instruments and still somehow sounding powerful enough to be heard over the fireworks and funfair noise.

The whole event was a chaotic mess of noises they couldn't sort through and faces they didn't know. Max decided she would just keep a firm grip on Chloe's hand, watch their spending and let Chloe have more or less free run to blow off some steam. There was no disputing she needed it. But both of them knew there was only one stop that could be their first.

"There it is!" Chloe said, pointing excitedly. It reminded Max of their first unsupervised concert together before everything went to hell. But sure enough, the taller girl's height advantage had meant she spotted it first. The wishing well sat in the middle of the square and was surrounded by a throng of people. As they approached, one who was very familiar recognised them and waved them over.

"Ah, well ain't this a rare event for our town?" Eddie said as they approached before turning and waving the crowd away from the well. "Everyone stand aside! We have some outsiders who have come to make their wishes!"

"Oh, you don't have to do that!" Max protested, trying to not sound like she was pleading as everyone else moved away from it.

"Nonsense, Missy!" Eddie waved her off dismissively. "The locals here can make their wishes at any festival they want. You only get this one chance. You better believe we have the good grace and decency here to know who gets priority. Now come on over!" Sheepishly, Max moved over to the well. She'd never liked the feeling of cutting a line and now here was everyone else urging her to do so. But still, they all seemed okay with it. She moved up to the well and leaned over it. "Now don't lean too far on in there." Eddie instructed her. "We've only had one person fall in so far but there's always time for a second. Just think about what you want and whisper it to the well. Make sure we all can't hear it." Max thought about it, but really there was only one thing she'd wanted from the beginning.

"I wish to spend the rest of my life with Chloe." Her words were drawn down into the depths as though pulled there by some unseen force and she stood up and moved aside to everyone's applause as Chloe leaned down in her place. Max could see her lips move, but couldn't read what was being said as her words were pulled down too. As it happened, the atmosphere totally changed. There was no applause. The temperature of the air seemed to drop into the negatives as Chloe stood up again and became aware of an almost hostile energy around them. Max moved over and took her hand as everyone's gazes followed them. No one said anything. It looked almost like they were glaring at them. What had they done wrong?

Knowing it probably wasn't a good idea to stick around where they weren't wanted, they turned and walked away. The sudden change in everyone's demeanour had unnerved the two and so Max decided to get some noodles from a Taste of Asia noodle stand for each of them before finding a seat on a nearby bench at the edge of a playground. There was almost nobody there other than two kids who were playing Vanguard to get away from the chaos.

"That's six damage! I win!" one of them yelled as he set the cards in his hand down while the other kid nearly screamed in frustration.

"That's six times in a row!" Max and Chloe could only laugh internally at their enthusiasm. It reminded them of themselves when they were that age playing pirates.

"That was so fucking weird at the well, wasn't it?" Chloe made sure to keep her voice down to avoid angering any nearby parents. "I mean the way they just turned like that!"

"I hear you." Max nodded. "Totally weird. Still, we don't have to stick around for long. A bit of shopping tomorrow and then we can pay our hotel tab and get out of here the day after. Maybe even the same day if you're not hogging the changing room too long."

"Hogging?" Chloe turned to Max with an expression of mock confusion. "What do you mean? We're hella sharing!"

"I don't think they allow that in many places." Max laughed as she leaned into the taller woman who wrapped one arm across her shoulders. "Still, I can't remember the last time we had an excuse to go shopping together. I mean we were never much into it to begin with, but it was often nice to just walk around the places even if we never intended to buy anything from them other than more pirate gear."

"Or stuff we could use to make it." Chloe added. "Or laughing at nothing in particular or looking at boys like they were something out of a catalogue. And I guess that particular catalogue was yet another thing we had no interest in buying from." She gave Max's shoulder a gentle squeeze to illustrate her point and Max burst out laughing again. She hugged Chloe closer and just relaxed, enjoying the quiet of the night.

And that very thought was the one that burst her bubble of warm, euphoric enjoyment. She sat up quickly and looked around. Why was it so quiet? The fireworks had totally stopped and when she looked over she realised that the crowds of people totally vibing to festival music and playing party games were now reduced to a thin trickle. Chloe had noticed the change in her posture and was now more alert herself. She'd clearly noticed that something was amiss too. That was when Max nudged her and pointed to the table the two kids had just been sitting at. Their seats were now vacant, but their cards were still laid out on the table exactly as they had been.

Wordlessly, the two girls got up and went over. Sure enough, the cards were there but the kids were nowhere in sight. There was no way they'd been snatched. This was the kind of close-knit community where everyone knew everyone. If someone attempted something like that, it wouldn't take much to know who'd done it. Plus there was no way one person could snatch two kids without it making a noise and they'd surely have noticed more than one. Those kids had up and left of their own free will and left their cards behind.

"Why would they leave these here?" Max asked to no one in particular. "I don't really play TCGs. One of them won, right? Do boys usually just up and leave both decks when one of them wins?"

"From the look of some of these cards I doubt it." Chloe shrugged as she picked up one of them and looked it over. "This thing is what we in the business universally call 'shiny as fuck'. I wouldn't want to leave this behind." She took another look at it before glancing around and letting out a sigh. "Look, I'm the furthest thing from an expert. I have no idea where they went. But if you're really concerned we could ask around."

"Sounds like a plan." Max nodded. Taking Chloe by the hand, she headed with her back towards the area where the bulk of the remaining people were. It was chilling to think about. What had made so many people just leave? The entire town had turned out for the event- almost four-hundred people partying in their own fashion. Now they were lucky if there were fifty. Most of the stalls were empty too. Stallholders and customers alike had simply vanished. Food was still left on the grills, air rifles, baseballs and plastic hoops had been clearly dropped mid-game and just left where they were. Something about the scene made Max have to fight the urge to vomit and the quickly ditched what was left of her noodles in a nearby trash can. Her appetite was as good as gone.

"Hey!" Chloe called out, running up to one of the people that was near to them. It was an older man with a walking stick and a stereotypical tweed suit on. "Where did everyone go? There were two kids in the park and they've vanished! We could need the police!" But Chloe's desperation turned to outright fear when the man turned to face her. He wasn't glaring like everyone else had been, but his eyes were totally empty. They were devoid of all emotion, feeling and reason. It was like looking into the eyes of a corpse. He didn't say anything. He just stood there staring at them. A quick look at everyone else showed that they were doing the same thing and with the same kind of stare. Whatever was happening, they were all in on it. Max and Chloe didn't think twice. They just ran.