Legend of Angreal - Carnival of Strange Things

Ladies and gentlemen, step right up. The carnival is about to begin, and the show is to die for... 

Grab your ticket and take a seat. The ringmaster’s opening act? A creature showcasing its bloody feat.

There are haunting spirits with much to tell. Tales of torture and screams straight from the burning flames of hell.

Tick-tock goes the time, seconds passing by as you slowly lose your mind.

Watch.
Wait.
Listen.

Evil is coming, and it’s striking from behind.

Horror and fear, like filth on your skin it clings,
Question is, are you brave enough to endure…

The Carnival of Strange Things?

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Legend of Angreal Sample...

Sadie
 “Look!” Jessie screeches in an over the top manner. “Just look at him, he’s disgusting.”
I snatch my tablet off her, letting my annoyance shine through. “I’m the one who discovered him, you know. You don’t have to go about acting like it was you.”
“Alright, Sadie, you don’t need to be a bitch about it. I’m saying he’s awesome. What is it? Like, a demon, or something? We should hunt it. I’ve always wanted to be a demon hunter.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, it isn’t real. It’s just artwork. That’s why I wanted you to see it…”
But Jessie’s already distracted. She always gets this way when I talk about art or something else that doesn’t directly interest her. She can be so selfish sometimes, I honestly don’t know why I’m still friends with her.
I guess because I want to keep in with the other girls.
“Come on, guys.” Jessie turns to face the rest of our friends, the Girl Gang we call ourselves. “It’s my sixteenth birthday and this is how I want to spend it. At this carnival, hunting for this demon. What’s it even called?”
“Angreal,” I reply grumpily.
“Right. The carnival is here at the moment, in town. I’m sure my brother will give us a ride. Come on. Jessie, Kate, Rae, Isla?” She looks at everyone in turn. “Darla? We can turn it into a real night out as well. Carnivals are usually the best fun ever.”
I already know everyone will agree before they nod. Jessie always gets her way, and it’s her birthday, so how can we disagree? The problem is I hate carnivals. The smelly, sticky food, the bright whirling lights, the stomach-churning rides…it’s all awful. I knew the moment it hit town I wouldn’t be able to avoid it, but I’ve tried my hardest anyway.
I’ll suck it up though, I’ll go and make an effort because I don’t want to be all alone when it’s my sixteenth birthday. That’s social suicide, I can’t think of anything more embarrassing than that.
“Great!” Jessie bounces off her bed and out the room. “I’ll get Ben now. We’ll be there in a while, then the fun can begin.”
“Can I see that?” Isla quietly takes the screen from me, her brow furrowed in disbelief. “Jessie does realize this is nuts, doesn’t she? Someone’s obviously created this Legend of Angreal because the Carnival of Coisas Estranhas is in town right now.”
“No.” I point to the date. “Look, this website was set up years ago. I actually stumbled across it accidently when I was trying to find out what coisas estranhas means.”
“And what does it mean?”
“Strange things…or weird stuff. Depends on what translator you’re using. Basically, the carnival isn’t like other ones. The rides are all themed weirdly. Creepy-themed, mostly. It’s just a ploy to be a bit unique. I guess everyone’s growing sick of the same old clowns.”
“So, there are no clowns?”
“Probably. Just other stuff as well.”
“Okay, so whatever.” Isla shakes her head. “This demon obviously means nothing. The story doesn’t even make any sense. He was created using Voodoo. As far as I know, Voodoo isn’t used to create demons, so there’s a hole in the story right there. He haunts the carnival looking for people with dark souls to become followers. Using their blood to get into their bodies. Or to infect them…that part isn’t even clear. Doesn’t that sound like a publicity stunt to you? A crazy story to get people to come to this so-called unique carnival? Also, look at him. He doesn’t even look like a normal demon…”
“I don’t think he’s supposed to,” I jump in. “That’s part of the story. He isn’t a typical freaky beast you’d expect to steal your soul. Angreal has more of an ice-cold beautiful blue ethereal appearance to lure you in when you least expect it.”
Actually, the more I look at the image, the less disgusting it is. I guess he would be tempting in a way…
Her lips turn down into a frown. “Well, it still looks stupid to me. How is it supposed to determine if you have a dark enough soul to become a follower anyway? It can just see it?”
“On another site I found, it says he makes you do certain things, to find out if you have what it takes.”
“Things? What sort of things?”
“I don’t know. Like dark things, I suppose. Evil tasks. I wouldn’t like to think too much about it.”
“And then what happens? When it takes you?”
I shrug. “I don’t know, I guess you follow it around, doing it’s bidding.”
A thick silence clings to the air for a moment, until Isla bursts out laughing. She has this crazy infectious bellow of a chuckle that always gets me, so it isn’t long before I’m bent double too, and the other girls have joined in.
I love it when it’s like this, just us old friends. Well, and Darla too. She joined the school two years ago, same as Jessie, but she slotted into our friendship group with ease, whereas Jessie took over, pushing me to one side, changing everything.
I would love it to be this way all the time. Just us five.
Hey, who knows, maybe this demon will turn out to be real and it’ll eat Jessie as we hunt it down. Or it’ll recognize her darkness and steal her soul. Who cares as long as she’s out of my life!
“Guys, it’s time!” Jessie’s face returns, shattering the magic. “Ben said he’d take us. We’re on the way to the carnival.”
My stomach drops, my heart sinks, my fun night is over. I force a smile on my lips as everyone else squeals with joy, but I don’t know how long I’ll be able to keep pretending.
Being fake and keeping my feelings inside isn’t exactly something I’m known for, but I’ve had to get a lot better at it over the past couple of years. It seems like all that practice has been leading up to right now, a night that’s going to be the worst of my entire life.