A/N:After having a nice night's rest, Rachel meets faces new and old and learns more about her father.
Rachel could hear her mother talking outside as she reached the downstairs. Quickly pouring herself some cereal for breakfast, she picked her bowl and went to the door to see who she was talking with.
Outside, she saw that it wasn't just her mother there, but also Gavin's dad as well along with a gentleman she didn't recognize. The man had mostly white hair with only a few black strands revealing his original hair color. He had on a suit that was a tad bit old fashioned but seemed to suit him well. He was the first one to notice her.
"Hello there, my dear!" he greeted, giving her a bright smile. It was then that her mother and Gavin's father noticed her.
"Morning, Rachel!" Gavin's father greeted.
"Good morning, sweetie. This is Mr. Wickham, he just moved into the house across the street," her mother said, waving toward the man.
"Eli Wickham, at your service," Mr. Wickham said, holding out his hand.
"It's nice to meet you, Mr. Wickham," Rachel nodded her head and looked down at his hand and there to her hands occupied by holding her bowl. Looking back up, she saw that he realized his mistake and took back his hand.
"So, Mr. Wickham, do you have any children?" Her mother jumped in, trying to shift their attention. Mr. Wickham gave her a small sad smile.
"I did, but they're all gone now," he answered. Both parents gave him a look of sympathy.
"I'm so sorry, I can't imagine what that must be like," her mother said. Mr. Wickham nodded his thanks.
"That was years ago, I must live happily now, for their sake," he gave her a smile. Rachel took a bite of her food as she watched the exchange, unsure what she could say or add. Instead, a thought pooped into her mind.
"Hey, mom? Do you might if I go hang out with the others today? We're going to show Cassidy around town," she said, turning to look at her mother. Something flashed through Mr. Wickham's eyes at the mention of Cassidy's name, but it was so quick, that Rachel didn't have the chance to figure out what the look was.
"That sounds like a wonderful idea, Rachel. I hope you kids have fun," her mother gave her a smile, which she returned before heading back inside. As she walked back to the kitchen counter, her phone began to ring. Quickly picking it up, she saw it was Louise calling.
"Hey, Louise. What's up?" she asked as she answered the call.
"Did you ask your mom for permission to hang out yet?" Louise quickly asked, urgency in her voice. Rachel frowned.
"Yeah, she just gave me the okay for it. Why? Is something going on?" She could hear Louise mutter something to someone else in the background.
"Maybe, we're not sure yet. Just get dressed quickly, we're going to be on our way to pick up you and Gavin up soon."
"Wait, why?" Rachel asked though she was already heading for her room to change out of her pajamas.
"The Carnival of Doom is back in town."
The group of friends all sat on their bikes and stared up at the menacing sign that signified the entrance to the Carnival of Doom. None dared to speak, unable to think of what to say that would make them all feel better. It looked the same way as it did the last time they saw it, though all the rides were shut down since it had not yet opened. The spell over them broke as the sound of another set of wheels came from behind them. They all turned to look over their shoulders to Cassidy on her own bike heading their way. She came to a stop right next to Adam at the very end and looked up at the sign.
"This can't be good," she said. They all nodded in agreement. "Well, no use in just standing here and doing nothing. Let's see why they're back." With that, she got off her bike and began to make her way to the entrance. The group stared a look before scrambling off their own bikes and hurrying after her.
"The last time someone entered the carnival before it was open, they got hypnotized and kidnapped by Mr. Tophat. What's to say it won't happen again to us?" Graham asked as they caught up to her, Adam nodded his agreement as he was that very someone from last time.
"Seeing as Rachel's already defeated Mr. Tophat, I doubt they have the power or interest to do that again," Cassidy countered. Before anyone else could object, they reached the ticket booth. The ticket-taker clown was at the booth, lounging on the table with his back to one of the walls and "IT" by Stephen King in his hands. His face turned into a shocked smile as he looked up from his book and saw Cassidy and the group standing before him.
"Cassidy! What are you doing here?" he exclaimed, hopping down from the counter to stand inside the booth. Cassidy gave him a half-smile.
"Could ask you the same thing, Horace. Where's Bartholomew?" She replied. Akiko looked over at Rachel and mouthed "Horace?" to them. Rachel just gave a shrug as the others all had confused looks on their faces.
"He's in the back, making sure everything's set upright and ready for tonight's opening," Horace replied, jerking her thumb in the direction of the back area. Cassidy nodded her thanks and began to move to leave when the clown grabbed her arm.
"Hey! Like I said, tonight's our opening night. You get in if you present these at the entrance," he pulled out from under the counter a handful of slips of paper and held them out. Each taking one, they saw that the slips of paper were the "free-entry" tickets they had gotten before. "Join us tonight, it'll be fun, and this time you don't need to worry about any evil ringleaders trying to kill you." He gave them a smirk before letting Cassidy's arm go. Cassidy nodded before walking away once more, this time, he didn't stop her. Rachel and the others followed behind. "See you all tonight!" They heard him call as they walked away.
It didn't take long for them to find Bartholomew. He was with some of the other workers, setting up one of the tents. They waited in silence as they watched them pitch the tent. It wasn't until the tent was finally up that Bartholomew noticed his audience.
"Rachel and friends!" He greeted with a smile, before noticing Cassidy. The smile dropped in shock. "Cassidy! You're back! What are you doing here?"
"Could ask you the same thing? What are you guys doing back in town? No trouble I hope," Cassidy replied, folding her arms infant of her. Bartholomew shook his head.
"None of the sort. In fact, it's the exact opposite, I do believe," he answered. "Come, let's all talk somewhere more private." He waved them along to follow him as he began to walk further into the back. They soon reached Mr. Tophat's old cabin and all stepped inside. From what Rachel could tell, the cabin was the exact same as it had been since the last time she saw it, on the night of Mr. Tophat's defeat. Bartholomew sat upon the chair in front of the vanity. Rachel, Gavin, and Adam all sat on the couch. Akiko, Louise, Graham, and Cassidy all remained standing, with Graham slightly hiding behind Akiko and Louise.
"So, we're in private. Now, what are you doing here?" Cassidy asked, leaning against the wall beside the couch. Bartholomew let out a sigh.
"We're here because he wants us here," Bartholomew answered.
"Who wants you here?" Graham asked with a confused frown.
"The same man who's call we've been answering since the beginning," Bartholomew answered, looking at Rachel as she quickly realized the answer.
"My father," she gasped. Bartholomew nodded. "But he's dead, I killed him didn't I?" The man shrugged.
"That, I'm uncertain of. All I know is that he's calling us. Though, I have no idea what for," he replied.
"Mr. Nobody," Cassidy stated. Bartholomew whipped his head to look at her at the name, anger and confusion sparking in his eyes. "Mr. Nobody's after Rachel. That's why you're here, to help protect her, I bet."
"Is that true?" Bartholomew looked back at Rachel. Rachel nodded her head. Bartholomew whispered a curse under his breath, looking away to somewhere unknown before looking at the group again. "That certainly explains why we're here, though I wish it wasn't. Mr. Nobody is a dangerous man from what I've heard about him. If he really is back, you all must be careful. That man will stop at nothing to get what he wants."
"And what he wants is revenge," Cassidy hissed. At the man's confused eyebrow raise, she quickly explained. "For Tophat preventing him from getting Nicolet all those years ago." Bartholomew's brow furrowed in confusion at the mention of Nicolet, but before he could say anything, Louise quickly jumped in.
"If you're still hearing the call of Mr. Tophat, could that mean he's still alive?" She asked. Bartholomew looked at her and opened and closed his mouth as he thought over the question.
"Perhaps, but I'm uncertain of how we could learn the answer short of Marcus appearing before us himself," Bartholomew answered. They all thought over the question before Cassidy finally spoke.
"We could always ask the man who cursed Mr. Tophat in the first place," she suggested. The group all looked at each other before looking back at her.
"That could work," Akiko said with a shrug.
Cassidy and the gang found themselves standing in front of Sardo's Magic Mansion. Bartholomew had to stay behind at carnival in order to finish in the set up of the carnival, much to his own disappointment. Though, Rachel promised they would tell him anything they might learn the next time they saw the man. Let out a sigh, Akiko turned to look at Cassidy.
"What are we doing?" she asked.
"We need to talk to the man who cursed Rachel's father," Cassidy answered, keeping her gaze on the store.
"And we're going to find him here?" Akiko asked in disbelief.
"Yep," Cassidy simply said before heading inside, the group quickly following behind. The store was as empty as it was the first time they were there. Cassidy made her way straight for the curtain and passed through it. The children all stopped at the front and counter and watched the curtain. Cassidy's head popped out from behind the curtains a second later. "You guys coming or what?" she asked with a raised brow before disappearing behind the curtain once more. Sharing a look, the group quickly filed through the curtain. Behind it was a storage area full of cardboard boxed with different objects inside and other items too big to go inside the boxes scattered across the room. Cassidy made her way along a clear path in between the objects and passed through another door away. The children quickly followed behind her and saw that the doorway was the entrance to a basement below the shop. As they reached the bottom, they saw that below the shop was a makeshift laboratory. Bubbling beakers and tubes were placed all around on tables and in the center of all, was a man. Cassidy raised her hand to signal them to stay where they were as she approached the man.
"Dad?" she called out. The man jumped in surprise at the sudden voice, fumbling with whatever was in his hand. He whipped around, ready to yell at his intruder, but the anger melted off his face the moment he saw that it was Cassidy.
"Cassidy, darling! Sardo said you weren't going to be until later!" he smiled at her. He quickly placed the object in his hands down and took off his goggles, moving to give his daughter a hug. The group all gasped when they saw the face of the man.
"You!" they cried. Cassidy and the man both jumped and turned to face the group.
"You're that weird guy from the carnival, the one who insisted he wasn't a nutbag!" Adam cried as he pointed to the man. The man opened his mouth to say something, but Rachel jumped in first.
"You're the one who cursed my father! You said that when we met at the carnival!" She cried, suddenly remembering their conversation from that night. The others all made sounds of their agreement. Cassidy shot her father a glare.
"Wait, he's your father? Your dad's the one who cursed Mr. Tophat?" Gavin frowned. "Is there anything else we should know about?"
"There is, but it's better we focus on one thing at a thing. I promise once this is all over, I'll explain everything to you guys later," Cassidy raise her hands to placate them before they could speak and turned back to her father. "We need to talk about Marcus and the curse."
"Ah," her father said, an ashamed look appearing on his face at the name. "I suppose before I say anything, I should properly introduce myself. My name is Dr. Vink."
"Dr. Wink?" Adam asked.
"Vink!" Cassidy and Dr. Vink corrected in unison.
"With a va-va-va," Dr. Vink circled his hand in sync with the sound. "Now, before we begin, let's go somewhere more comfortable. He waved them all to follow him over to another section of the basement where there were chairs all scattered about. One by one each person sat until finally everyone was settled in. "Now before we begin, are there any questions?" They all shook their heads.
"Stop stalling, father," Cassidy gently scolded.
"Very well then, onto the tale," Dr. Vink agreed with a sigh. "Well, it was around the early '40s, back when I was a not-so-good man and I decided to go to a carnival that had come into town. It called itself the "Carnival of Doom". Quite innovative for the time. Well, the owner of the carnival, a man known as Marcus Cochran, prided himself with his ability to scare the living daylights out of people. Had the reputation of being the "Master of Fear". As I stated before, I was always learning for new experiments, and I found one in the form of Mr. Cochran. So, I managed to speak with him and made a bet with him. I would return to the carnival the next day and if he was able to scare before the sun rose, I would give him whatever he so desired, no matter what it was. If he failed, I could do whatever I want in return. I left him to think it over and decided if he was interested in this deal or not. I returned the next day and there he was at the entrance, wish at hand, so to speak. And so, he went off, pulling every trick he could think of to try and trick me. Clowns, zombies, monsters, bugs, heights, you name it, he tried it. Nothing worked. It wasn't until the sun finally came up once more did he admit defeat. And as part of the deal, I did what I wanted, and I decided to curse him.
"As it was the fear from his patrons that he seemed to feed on, it would be his patrons' fear that would keep him alive for all of eternity. And if he tried to resist feeding on their fear, his body would betray him and force him to feed, doing whatever was necessary to have it. His cane, which I created for him, would give him the power to do so, the limits only being that of his imagination. The curse would only be broken when a very special child, one who wasn't affected by the amnesia spell, arrives at the carnival and undoes what was done."
"And that child is Rachel, right?" Graham asked as Vink finished his tale. Vink smiled and nodded.
"I believe so. She and Cassidy are the only children he ever met who were able to remember him the next day," he agreed.
"What about my mom? Didn't she remember him?" Rachel asked next.
"Well, he actually had to take special means to help her remember, had to use a special potion so that she wouldn't be immediately affected by the curse," he admitted.
"So, Rachel defeated him and he turned into a bunch of scorpions, so what? He's now dead?" Akiko asked. Vink frowned at the question.
"Honestly, I don't know. I never thought about it back then," he answered.
"So, there's a possibility he's alive then?" Rachel asked hesitantly. Vink paused in thought before finally answering.
"I suppose so. Has there been anything that makes you think he might be?" He asked, turned to face them all.
"There's been scorpions showing up everywhere in town, recently. They seem to be attracted to Rachel little," Graham pointed out. Dr. Vink nodded.
"Interesting, anything else?" He asked. All but Rachel shook their heads, causing attention to focus on her. Hesitating for a moment, she spoke.
"I saw him last night, in my room," she explained.
"What? Are you sure you weren't dreaming?" Akiko asked. Rachel shook her head.
"I'm certain. He was gone by the time I woke up, but he left me an origami scorpion and a note on my desk," she replied. Dr. Vink raised his brows and tilted his head.
"Well, then, I suppose that it is quite likely he is still alive," he admits.
"Is there a way to get him back completely then?" Louise asks, leaning forward in her seat.
"Hm. You said that when you shattered his cane, he turned into scorpions, correct?" he asks, pointing to Rachel, who nods her head. "Then, to get him back, we would need to use some kind of binding spell. One that would bring the pieces of Cochran, the scorpions, back together again and turn them back into him."
"Can you make it?" Graham asks, engrossed by the information. Dr. Vink nods his head.
"It will take me a bit to make it, but with Cassidy's help, I'm sure we'll have it done in no time," he smiles, looking towards Cassidy who only glares at him.
"You're lucky that Rachel and Marcus are involved or else I would have nothing to do with this stuff," she hisses. At the group's confused looks, she huffed. "I will never forgive my father for all the bad things he's done to people in the name of science. So many suffered for it."
"And you have every right to," Dr. Vink consoled, patting her knee. He let stood up and moved to his lab tables. "Now, it will take a bit, so you kids ran along until then." With mutters of "goodbyes", the children all went to the stairs as Cassidy moved to help her father with his work. Pausing on the landing as the others left, Rachel looked back to the pair.
"The wish you would have granted if my father had won, what would it have been. He mentioned back at the carnival that it was a stupid wish that he had forgotten. Do you remember it?" she asked. Dr. Vink froze and looked to Cassidy in sadness before answering.
"The one thing he wanted more than anything in the world was a child of his own," he whispered before turning and returning to his work. Cassidy looked to her father in shock before looking back at Rachel. Without any more words, Rachel left.
A/N:Well that was a fun chapter. I'll see you all next week with the next installment. Until then, take care!