Stacie grinned like a little girl as she weaved her way through the crowd. A carnival set up camp just outside Kansas City and she was having the time of her life visiting all the stalls and eating deep fried carnival food. Not the healthiest choice but the food was the least frightening thing about this place. Not only was it a carnival but it showed up just in time for Halloween and the staff was going all out for the holiday. Most of the regular carnies we're dressed up like zombies, with some of the best makeup jobs Stacie had ever seen. Somehow the acrobats wore costumes that made them look like skeletons, probably just a trick of the light but damn did the illusion work. One thing that went a little too far was the clowns. Stacie wasn't a fan of them to begin with but these clowns went the extra mile in making themselves look scary. Pennywise had nothing on these guys.
A ringing bell signaled that the main event was about to start and the big top opened it's doors. A man stepped through the opening, wearing a long, horrendously loud coat and a top hat. The ringleader.
"Good evening ladies and gentlemen," His voice rang out clearly across the yard, probably some hidden speaker system. "If you all be so kind as to head inside the show will start momentarily."
The crowd started to funnel towards the tent, strangely in sink for an unorganized group. Stacie was pulled along with the crowd, her eyes taking a second to adjust to sudden darkness of the tent. Everyone filtered into their seats that lined the tent. Once everyone settled down a spotlight flared to life to illuminate the center ring.
"Welcome one and all!" The ring master appeared in a puff of smoke, flourishing to cheers of the crowd. "Tonight you will see things beyond your imagination. Darkness, death, monsters, everyone one of has something that we fear." As he spoke creatures appeared around the arena in puffs of smoke. To the untrained eye they looked like unspeakable, hideous creatures. But Stacie was much more than a common citizen.
"I have confirmation," Stacie whispered into a microphone hidden in her sleeve. "He's summoning demons."
"Roger that Conrad. Hold position and maintain surveillance, we need to know just how dangerous he is."
"Understood." Stacie sat back and waited, watching the show go on from the sidelines with she thought back to the briefing on this guy. Alex Hornbrow, thirty two years old, orphaned at a young age and grew up in a circus not that different from this one. But one day there was a mysterious incident were the entire staff just disappeared, everyone except Alex.
An uneasy air settled over the crowd. They didn't know what they looking at but it clearly wasn't natural and fear started to settle into their minds. Even Stacie, who could name half the demons Alex summoned, felt her heart beat a bit faster. The show continued, the creatures preforming routine circus stunts that seemed oddly out of place for the macabre setting. Throughout all of it Stacie kept her eye on the ringleader, every few minutes he prick his finger with a knife before flinging the blood in a random direction.
No, not random. It was always in five specific places...five points.
Shit.
"Be advised," Stacie whispered into her handset. "He's preparing some sort of ritual, something that requires a pentagram."
"A summoning?"
"Can't tell." Stacie tried to pier through the smoke that was getting thicker by the minute. "Flo can you see anything?"
"Negative," Flo's voice sounded staticky, like the signal was getting weak.
"I'm get-ng int-fer-ce on the c-ms." Beca's voice just barely made it through. The smoke cloud started to grow denser, making it difficult for Stacie to even see her own hand. But there was something else in the room, she could feel it. An immense feeling of dread settled on her soul, the crowd around her started to scream as the smoke parted in front of them.
Alex had moved to the side of the arena, his eyes glowing as lines of fire traced a pentagram into the sand. From the center a massive hand burst through the floor, finally spurring the crowd to run for the exit. "You're fear will become fuel for my master!" Alex cackled, clearly insane.
The only people not in a panic where Stacie and her teammates. Flo was on her feet directly across form Stacie on the other side of the tent while Beca was only a few yards away. "We need to stop the ritual!" Beca shouted over the chaos. "Before whatever that is gets here!"
Stacie peered at Alex who was chanting in some demonic tongue. The ritual wasn't complete, which meant that there was still a chance to stop it. "I have a plan!" Stacie shouted back. She made a few hand signals to Flo who gave her a thumbs up before dashing off towards Alex.
"Are you going to tell me what it is?" Beca moved closer, raising an eyebrow because Stacie's plans were always weird.
"Just be ready. As soon as the coms are back radio Aubrey for help." Stacie leapt over the railing of the stands, falling a good three feet before sprinting towards Alex. There was only one way to stop a summoning in progress and that was to get the summoner to shut up. The problem was that summoning demons usually put you into a trance, completely oblivious to the word around you unless something totally jarring snapped you out of it. A complete shock strong enough that it left you dumb struck.
"Hey Hornbrow!" She shouted. "Get a load of these!"
Stacie pulled her shirt up, giving the crazy guy an eyeful.
"What the-" Alex, caught completely off guard, snapped out of the trance just long enough for Flo, who snuck around behind him, to land a solid kick to the back of his head. He fell to the floor, out cold.
Whatever was trying to come through the portal howled, the arm sliding back into whatever Hell it came from. The ground resealed itself, the only evidence being a massive scar running down the length of the arena. The crowd, which had been trapped by the spell, poured out of the tent, leaving behind the team.
"Why?" Beca walked over while pinching the bridge of her nose. "Why is it that all your plans involve nudity?"
Flo laughed as she slapped a pair of handcuffs on their prisoner. "Are you really surprised at this point?"
At that moment the rest of their squad showed up. "I want all human employees rounded up for questioning." Aubrey said as she entered the tent. "And make sure the perimeter is secure. We don't need any demons running loose." She spared a glance at Stacie's group before rolling eyes. "Stacie, put your shirt back on."
"Fine," Stacie lowered her shirt but kept her cocky smirk. "But I want it on record that my rack is hot enough to stop a demon summoning." The other girls groaned. Flo picked Hornbrow off the ground leading him towards the exit. "Hey!" Stacie gestured to the would be demon. "At least I got that freakshow."
"You are so lucky we don't have an HR department." Aubrey said while massaging her temple. It was going to be a long night.
