A/N: I honestly don't have any idea what to say except, enjoy.
"Mr. Tophat?" Rachel said in shock. Her father's smile grew wider that the moment he saw her. He no longer was wearing his usual carnival attire, instead, he now had on a white button-up shirt paired with a pair of black slacks underneath a pale green trench coat. The only item that he still had from his carnival attire was his gold cane, the amber top piece no longer glowed with unknown electricity now that the curse was broken.
"Rachel! It's good to see you again, my dear!" He greeted. He opened his arms wide in greeting. Rachel felt the urge to move into his arms and hug him but stopped herself from doing so when she remember it wasn't just them there.
"Rachel? Do you know this man?" Hannah Carpenter asked, causing both of them to look at her. The moment Mr. Tophat realized who she was, the smile on his face fell as shock flickered in his eyes. He quickly caught himself and gave her a bright smile as well, though he corners didn't quite reach his eyes as the other did for her.
"Mr. Tophat at your service," he quickly answered, bowing slightly in greeting.
"Mr. Tophat?" Hannah repeated with a raised brow. He let out a small chuckle.
"Mr. tophat is my stage name. My real name is actually Marcus Cochran," he explained with a smile. For a brief second, recognization flickered in her eyes at the sound of his name, but before she could say anything, Cassidy appeared behind them.
"Marcus, you guys made it!" She cheered, before leaning out of the entrance to look into the front yard. "You guys can just bring everything to the back, I'll open up the gate to let you in." she then called out. Rachel leaned quickly forward to see that she had been talking to a group of people parked in the driveway carrying benches and chairs in the direction of the backyard. Cassidy leaned back in, pulling Rachel back with her, and waved Marcus inside. "Come on in." Marcus quickly followed suit and together, the four headed back towards the living area and kitchen.
"So, how do you know Rachel?" Hannah asked as she moved to Mr. Tophat's right.
"I run a carnival, your daughter and her friends have visited it a few times when we were nearby," he explained with a nervous smile.
"He's the one I told you about, the one who gave me his tophat," Rachel quickly added. The moment she finished, Hannah gave him a surprised look before smiling brightly at him.
"So, you're the one she told me about! I wanted to meet you the last time your group was here, but Rachel said you were away," she explained excitedly. Mr. Tophat's smile relaxed as he let out a held breath. They soon reached the kitchen and the three sat down on the stools at the counter while Cassidy walked off into the back to help with setting up.
"Yes, I had some business that needed tending to, so I, unfortunately, had to go away for a while," Mr. Tophat said as he sat down on one. Rachel took the one next to him while her mother remained standing.
"I just realized that I still need to give you back your tophat, it's at my house, maybe my mom and I can run over real quick and get it for you," Rachel said once she was seated. Her mother nodded in agreement, but before either could more, Mr. Tophat began to shake his head.
"You don't need to do that. I'd rather you keep it, it suits you better than me," he said with a smile.
"It's too big for me. I tried to wear it and it fell right over my eyes," Rachel frowned, using her hands to mimic the brim of the hat as she pretended to put it on and the brim falling to her nose. Mr. Tophat immediately let out a laugh.
"Then I really want it to stay with you," he said in-between the laughs, causing Hannah to laugh alongside him. Rachel frowned in mock anger before smiling and giggling as well.
"So, a carnival, huh? Sounds like fun," her mother said, leaning forward to rest her arms on the counter.
"It is, I just love bringing people, especially children, fun and cheer. Though, my carnival focuses more on scaring people than anything else," he explained, an eased smile appearing on his face as he talked.
"That's doesn't have to be a bad thing, even a little bit of fear can be fun from time to time," her mother replied with a soft smile. Mr. Tophat nodded his head.
"Couldn't be truer," he agreed, giving her a pleasant look. Hannah returned the look.
"Do you have a family, Marcus? Any children? Wife?" she asked, startling the man with the unexpected question.
"Mom!" Rachel scolded. Her mother frowned at her with 'What?' look. Mr. Tophat waved Rachel off as he took a moment to collect himself.
'I-" Mr. Tophat attempted to say after a moment, look down at his hands. "I don't have a wife or children. As much as I would have loved to, I never found the chance to due to moving around so much," he finally got out, a sadness appearing in his eyes as he said the last part. Hannah gave him a sympathetic look as she took hold of one of his hands and gave it a squeeze. The contact caused him to look up at her with startled eyes.
"Any woman would be lucky to have you as a husband and no doubt an excellent father as well. I can tell you are the type of man who cares about children dearly," she consoled. Mr. Tophat gave her a small smile and squeeze her hand back.
"You don' know how much you saying that means to me," he whispered back. Hannah gave him a look of curiosity at the statement, but once more, before she could reply, someone else spoke up.
"Okay! You guys can come on out, foods about to be put on the grill!" Cassidy called out from the back door. The trio moved from their seats in the kitchen and, along with everyone else, headed outside to enjoy the food.
In the backyard, tables and benches were set up to make one long table where everyone could sit together. Cassidy had already taken a seat next to one of the people from the crew who set it all up. In fact, all of the people from the crew were now seated and conversing between themselves.
"Hey, Mr. Tophat?" Rachel turned to look over to the man as they stepped onto the grass. Once she knew she had his attention, she continued. "Who are those people that were in the driveway when you arrived?" Mr. Tophat blinked before smiling.
"You don't recognize them? It some of the crew from the carnival, they're just not wearing their costumes now," he explained. Rachel blinked in surprise before turning back to study the people more closely. She quickly realized he was telling the truth. The young man with dark hair and woman with blonde hair who was seated across from Cassidy were the stilts clowns from the carnival, and the older woman next to them was a contortionist. The short man and large man were obviously the pair of clowns that had led the chase after Akiko and her friend the first night they went to the carnival. The only person she couldn't figure out was the man Cassidy was sitting next to. As she walked closer, she noticed how he tilted his head at the sound of her footsteps and how the dark sunglasses he wore completely obscured his eyes. In his lap was a folded up walking stick. He tapped his fingers on Cassidy's arm and tilted his head towards her, causing Cassidy to turn and see her.
"Rachel! Care to join us? I was just telling Horace about some of the stuff that's happened since they were here," Cassidy smiled. Rachel nodded and took a seat on the other side of her. She looked around at the group as Cassidy continued her conversation with the man, Horace as she now realized. The others gave her smiles and greetings as she looked at them one by one. Her attention was brought away from them as the other members of the Midnight Society soon joined them as took their seats beside the group. Graham, Louise, and Akiko sat across from her while Gavin and Adam sat down next to her.
"It's weird seeing you all without your makeup," Gavin said as he nodded his greetings.
"Isn't? Anyway, you guys know Horace," Cassidy said, indicating the man beside her, who nodded to no one in particular. "With the magic over the carnival gone, the spell giving him back his eyesight is gone as well." Cassidy quickly explained, quickly added as she looked back at him, "though I think there's a spell I could use to help with that so you can continue being the ticket taker."
"That would be nice, I would hate to lose my job now that everything's back to normal," Horace smiled back. Cassidy began to nod back but stopped herself as she realized there would be no point. She quickly turned back to the group.
"Those two are Jeremy and Bridgette, they're twins," she indicated the stilts clowns, who waved at the group. "They're troublemakers, so beware. The much more responsible woman beside them is Lizzie, she's their older sister." The contortionist nodded and laughed as both Jeremy and Bridgette shot offended looks at the other girl. "Lastly, this is Oscar and Boris. Oscar is mute while Boris is deaf in his left ear, so they rely on one another while working and are inseparable." Cassidy waved to the last two, Oscar being the large one while Boris was the smaller one. Both gave the children neutral looks before going back to what they were doing. Cassidy sighed and leaned closer to whisper to the children. "They're also very shy about people, not everyone was kind to them before they joined the carnival, so don't take it personally if they aren't very open to you guys." They all gave her frowns at the sad explanation and nodded. They then all leaned back into place as they all began to talk while waiting for their food.
"Hey, Rachel?" Akiko called over from where she sat. Rachel and Cassidy both turned to look over at her, curious what Akiko wanted.
"Yeah? What's up," Rachel answered back.
"You know how we had done some research to find out what we could about Mr. Nobody and we found all these stories about him?" She asked. Rachel frowned a little and nodded, growing more curious about what this could be about.
"Yeah?" She replied.
"Well, we tried to find more about him afterward, but the thing was, all the stories gave different places of where he was from. One said New York, another Maine, and another said he was from Virginia! Each one was different. There was no real focal point in any of them besides his name being Eli Wickham. And even that was changed in some of them," Louise started to explain.
"Ok. So, what are you trying to say?" Rachel asked in confusion.
"What We're trying to say, is that Eli Wickham, Mr. Nobody, or whatever his name is, might just be as real as Slenderman or the boogieman," Akiko said. The other children all looked at each other in confusion before looking back at the two girls.
"That's impossible. We all saw him," Gavin countered.
"Actually," Cassidy finally said since the conversation began, "It is possible." They all turned to face the young woman at her statement. She let out a sigh before explaining. "You remember what I said the first time we met, about how some stories if they're told enough times, they can become real?"
"Yeah, I remember you saying something like that," Graham nodded. "But I don't understand how that works."
"Well," she began, pausing in thought, "you know how there's beliefs or sayings that people say that aren't actually true? Like you shouldn't eat anything just before swimming or that sugar makes children hyper?"
"Or like Darth Vader saying 'Luke, I am your father!', when he actually said 'No, I am your father'?" Adam suggested, causing Cassidy to laugh and nod.
"Yeah! Well, stories can be like that too. If a story is told over and over enough times, it can begin to take on a life of its own, and eventually, it can become as real as you and me," her voice became almost a whisper as she said the last sentence.
"How do you know that, have you seen it happen before?" Graham frowned. Cassidy let out a small laugh before looking away, the children all followed her gaze to see that she was looking towards where her father and her uncle were standing beside the grill. Looking back to the others, she finally answered.
"Because that's how my father and uncle came to be," she said. They all froze at the revelation.
"What?" Akiko gasped.
"Father and Uncle Sardo were once characters in stories told by another Midnight Society some time back in the '90s. The children kept on including them in different stories, giving them each a life of their own. Eventually, one day, they woke up in our world, having become as real as you and me," Cassidy explained.
"Wait, the 90's? As in the 1990s?" Rachel asked. Cassidy nodded. "But your dad cursed my dad back in the '40s, how can that be possible?" Cassidy shrugged in response.
"Who knows? Life and magic are strange, being able to shape the world around things, creating a history that once upon a time, never existed in the first place. One can never truly understand life's mysteries, even ones as unique as you and me, we can only work our ways around them," Cassidy gave a smile, letting out a laugh at the expressions each child gave her as they tried to make sense of it all. Just then, Mr. Tophat appeared holding a plate of food for both Rachel and him.
"Here you go sweetheart," he said as he handed her the food. Rachel gave him a bright smile in return.
"Thanks," she said back with a bright smile of her own, quietly adding in a hushed voice, "Dad." Love and pride appeared in his eyes at the sound of the name. Just as he moved to sit down between her and Cassidy, a loud gasp rang out in the yard, causing everyone to turn and look at the source. Standing frozen at the end of the table with her food having fallen from her hands was Hannah Carpenter. Her eyes filled with tears as she stared directly at Mr. Tophat.
"Marcus," she gasped. Mr. Tophat frowned at her and opened his mouth, but before he could speak, she continued. "It's you!" she cried. Understanding filled his eyes as he handed off his plate to Cassidy and quickly rushed over to the woman. She threw her arms around him as she began to cry. "It's you, I remember!"
"Hannah," he softly back with a tearful smile.
"They had us move, there had been a problem with the group I had joined and they made us move before you could get there. I'm so sorry!" she cried. Mr. Tophat held her tightly, petting her hair. He slowly lowered the two of them to the ground into a more comfortable position.
"It's ok, it's not your fault. You couldn't have known," he hushed as she continued her apologizes. Around them, no one knew what to do as they watched the scene before them. Rachel felt a tap on her shoulder, causing her to look back to see Cassidy gesturing her to go to the two. With a small nod, Rachel stood and moved over to her parents. Mr. Tophat looked over at her with a sad smile and lifted one arm to let her into the embrace. Noticing her daughter now there, Hannah Carpenter began to cry even more.
"Oh, Rachel, I'm so sorry. If it wasn't for me, you would have still had your father there with you," she apologized, wrapping her arm around the girl as well. Rachel shook her head and leaned her head against her mother's shoulder.
"It's not your fault. I didn't remember either, neither of us did," Rachel assured. "But it's ok now, we're together now, just as we were before." Her parents both nodded and tightens their embrace.
"We're together now," Mr. Tophat repeated in a whisper. Hannah raised her head to look at him and slowly moved her arms so her hands were cupping each of his cheeks. She looked at him for a moment before leaning forward as placing a soft kiss on his lips. Both her and his eyes slid closed as they held the kiss for a moment and Mr. Tophat's hands to hold her cheek as well. Finally, they parted and opened their eyes. They stared silently at each other before smiling and let out small laughs, leaning their foreheads together.
"I missed you," Hannah whispered.
"I missed you, too," Mr. Tophat whispered back. Slowly, they parted and began to rise, guiding their daughter up along with them. It was then that they remembered their audience. Hannah turned her head to look over at the other people before hiding her face in her lover's shoulder. Mr. Tophat let out a small chuckle before looking out to everyone.
"I think it's high time I introduced myself. Hello everyone, my name is Marcus Cochran. I'm Rachel's father," he explained as he wrapped his arm around both Rachel and her mother. "It's a long story, so why don't we enjoy our food and we'll explain everything later on." He then began to guide their little trio to where Rachel had been sitting, pausing in his step and quickly added, "later on, someday." Gavin's father and some of the others let out small laughter at the last part as Mr. Tophat continued his walk over to their seats.
"My food, I need to get a new plate," Hannah mumbled from where she still had her face placed on his shoulder. Mr. Tophat smiled and patted her shoulder.
"That's alright, you can have some of my and Rachel's food," he whispered back, looking down at Rachel from the corner of his eye. Rachel quickly nodded her head in agreement.
"Yeah! Dad put too much on mine anyway, I would never be able to finish it all," she said with a smile as she took her seat. Both let out a laugh at the statement.
"So, what was it you lot talking about that made you all make those faces earlier?" He asked once they were seated. Cassidy and Rachel both laughed.
"I'll tell you later," Cassidy promised, knowing that they had enough confusion for the time being.
"Killer books!" Graham exclaimed, popping up from his seat, scaring everyone and making them jump in their seats.
"What?" Louise asked with a confused frown.
"Killer books! That can be what you use for your new movie!" He turned to look at Akiko. She stared at him for a moment.
"Next," she simply said, turning to face the others, ignoring the crestfallen look on Graham's face. Louise patted his back sympathetically as he sat back down. They all looked around, trying to think of ideas.
"Zombie clowns?" Adam offered, looking over at where the twins were sitting. Akiko shook her head.
"No, just I did zombies. Though clowns might work," Akiko replied, causing Adam to grin a little at the second statement.
"I'm confused, what's going on?" Tophat walked over and leaned down to whisper to Rachel. From his shoulder, Hannah nodded in agreement.
"We're trying to help Akiko think of a new idea for her horror films," Rachel whispered back. Her father nodded and thought to himself. His gaze trailed around until it fell on Cassidy. A wicked smirk appeared on his face.
"Spider-people?" He wondered out loud. Cassidy shot him a glare.
"No," she warned.
"Spider-people?" Graham asked back at the same time.
"No!" Cassidy repeated, looking more alarmed.
"Yeah, you know, head and torso of a human, body, and legs of a spider," Tophat began to grin wider.
"We're not doing this," Cassidy said, her voice began higher. Hannah let out a small laugh at the sight of the distressed girl. Mr. Tophat smiled back down at her and placed a kiss at the top of her head, causing her to smile a little wider.
"Spider-people?" Akiko asked, though more to herself than anyone else.
"Akiko, no!" Cassidy pleaded. Her pleads seemed to fall on deaf ears.
"I like it," Akiko smiled. She quickly pulled out her phone and began typing away on it, obviously already planning and thinking about what they can do for the film. Cassidy groaned and let her head fall onto the table and wrapped her arms around it. The Carnival crew all let out a laugh at her unhappiness.
"What's with her?" Rachel finally asked. Cassidy's muffled voice came out from under her arms. "What?" Cassidy raised her head to look at Rachel.
"If there's one fear I never grew out of, its giant bugs," she answered in a deadpanned voice.
"Actually, spiders aren't bugs, they're arachnids," Graham said. Cassidy shot him a glare, caused him to shrink back and turn away to Akiko and Louise as they muttered on about their plans for the film.
"Whatever. I just hate giant bugs or arachnids. They give me the creeps," Cassidy shuddered.
"Cassidy also didn't have the best experience when it came to spider people," Dr. Vink added, walking over to where they were all sitting. Akiko and Louise both paused in their chat and turned to face the mad scientist.
"Don't," Cassidy groaned, obviously not interested in this conversation.
"What do you mean she didn't have the best experience?" Akiko slowly asked.
"They may have tried to feed her to their young," Sardo answered from when he sat at the end of the table.
"Uncle!" Cassidy cried at his betrayal. Sardo gave her an apologetic shrug before turning back to his food.
"What?" Graham asked, his voice cracking in fear. They all turned to face Cassidy, who gave her father and uncle each a glare before sighing.
"I'm getting out of this that easily, am I?" she asked. Everyone shook their heads in unison. With another sigh, she sat up. "Fine. Ok. You know how there's all these different spiders ranging in size? Some that are as tiny as the head of a needle and some that are as big as the palm of your hands? Well, what no one tells you is that those guys are just the babies. There are spiders much, and I mean much, bigger than that. In fact, they're not only the size of adult humans, but they have features like them too." She paused as she looked at the enamored faces of the people around her before smiling and continuing. "For the approval of you all, I give you the tale of the Spider Queen's Kingdom."
A/N: After 3 months and 30,783 words, I finally bring this story to a close. While this story may be over, I might write a small drabble or two involving this world. Maybe one with an appearance by a certain cigar smoking clown, I'm not sure yet. If I don't, then I hope you all enjoyed this story and have a wonderful day. Thank you to everyone who has read this story and the few of you who gave me a review. Take care.