To Kayla Diamond for writing my favorite song…..

CARNIVAL HEARTS

CHAPTER 1

I yawned and shoved my hands in my pockets. A cold breeze tossed my waist-long braid of blonde hair. I kicked at a piece of wood. Fifteen minutes ago I had been in my house, and all of a sudden there’s this crazy flash of light, and I appear in this place. It looked like some sort of old amusement park or something. Far away I saw an old Ferris wheel that seemed to be partially sunk into the ground. It was tilted at an odd angle from what I could see. I had decided to go to it. It was very, very quiet all around me. As I looked around, I saw all the pieces of old fashioned, wooden fairground equipment. It was quite disturbing to see an old merry-go-round horse half submerged in the ground, with one black eye seeming to look directly at me. I shuddered. I kept waiting for a raccoon or something to show up scrounging through the abandoned food trucks, which were tipped over on their sides. I shivered again. What had happened here? How did I get here? My head swarmed with thoughts. Maybe I was dreaming. That’s it! I was dreaming. I smiled to myself and skipped along past a ramshackle ball toss game, the kind where you can’t actually knock the bottles down no matter how well you hit them. Indeed, the bottles were still intact despite the rest of the building falling to ruins. What an odd setting for a dream. I had certainly only ever been to a fair once, and that was when I was 7. And it sure didn’t look like this. I wrapped my arms tighter around myself as another breeze blew past me. Much to my annoyance, the sun was setting directly in front of me. “Even if it is a dream, I suppose I should find somewhere to stay.” I spoke out loud. Silence was the only sound around me. I trudged along, getting slowly closer to the Ferris wheel. A shadow flickered across the ground in front of me. My heartbeat quickened and I caught my breath. A crow cawed and flew up from behind a pile of brightly painted, but now faded wood. I breathed out. I smiled sheepishly at the crow. It landed in front of me a little ways and tilted its head. “Hello.” I waved. It gave me a hard look out of one black eye before squawking loudly and flying away directly past my head. I turned as it flew by and the tip of its wing brushed against my cheek. I jumped. I wouldn’t have felt that so clearly if this was a dream. I frowned and shook my head. I was nearly to the Ferris wheel now. The sun was bright pink and half gone one the horizon. I looked the direction the crow flew. It was a soft, dark blue and I could already faintly see some stars. I turned back towards the Ferris wheel. “I’m coming.” I informed it out loud. I started running towards it. I heard a faint rustle to my right. I turned my head and stopped running. There was a toppled over booth and a trash can, nothing else. I squinted. The shadows around me seemed to be moving. My heartbeat quickened again. My neck stiffened and I started walking at a forced slowness. It was becoming darker by the second. Another rustle to my right. I turned again. Suddenly there was a whipping sound to my left and a ticking sound. Tick..tick…tick… what was it? I stepped closer to the sound. And then someone yelled “Grenade!” And I was tackled to the side, behind an over-turned booth. The bang was an amazing sound, sending shivers down my spine as I felt the blast wave hit me. A brilliant red and orange explosion left the spot that had been directly to my left in flames, as the old, dry, wood around the area caught fire. I caught my breath and sat up. The person who had tackled me had already jumped up and was standing on top of the booth and was viewing the fire with a grin on her face. I spat dirt out of my mouth and rubbed even more dirt off the side of my face. The girl turned to me. “Oh, my apologies. We don’t get many colts around here.” She offered her hand. I looked at it. It was covered in a dusty black glove. I looked back up at her as I took her hand. “What’s a colt?” I asked. She just shrugged as she pulled me up fast. “Guess it’s what we call a newbie.” I frowned. “Newbie? New to what?” She turned and looked at me funny. She shook her head. “Guess you’ll figure it out soon enough.” She turned back to the fire and flames cast a bright light on her. She had very short dark brown hair, which was roughly cut, ending unevenly in a purplish color. She was wearing a soft purple collared shirt, with one sleeve rolled up to the elbow and the other left down. She had a black tie hung loosely around her neck and black shorts with a skirt panel. She had dark brown combat boots and a loose belt that seemed to have no purpose, until I noticed the black shotgun hanging carelessly on the girl’s hip. Huh. “How old are you?” I asked her. “That’s an odd question.” She said turning towards me. I huffed. “I just wanted to know. You look to be my age.” She nodded. “Guess so. I’m 15 since you want to know so badly.” “What are you looking for?” I asked her. She kept looking around. She sighed. “My friends.” “You have friends here?” I scrunched my nose. She crossed her arms and turned towards me one last time. “Stop asking questions colt. You’ll get answers later.” I was quiet for a few minutes standing by her before the fire started to die and I noticed the white bandage on her cheek. “What happened to your face?” She gave an exasperated groan. “Nothing!” She looked like she was about to walk away when there was a step and I turned to see a light-haired boy come up to us. “Hullo colt.” He said cheerfully. “Stop calling me a colt.” I said annoyed. He shrugged. I saw that he was wearing a red hoodie and black jeans. His light hair had a shock of red in it and he had a pair of red safety goggles strapped onto his head. His boots where odd and chunky. I can’t even try to explain them. “Where are the others?” The girl said. The boy shrugged. “They’ll be along shortly, but I say we ditch them and get to the shop quick, they’ll figure it out.” He said with a mischievous glint in his eye. The girl shook her head. “Nope, we’re waiting here.” And she jumped on top of a fallen piece of amusement park equipment. I opened my mouth to ask what ‘the shop’ was, but the girl waved her arm suddenly. “There they are. Hey! We’re over here!” She cupped her hands to her mouth and called. I couldn’t see a thing through the smoke. I squinted. Sure enough, a group of kids, also around my age, were walking towards us. I shrank back a little, before I remembered I was just in a dream. I breathed out. There were two more girls, and another boy. “Where’s Queen and Chain?” the purple haired girl who had tackled me asked a girl with a long brown and green braid. She was wearing ripped army pants and a black tank top. She had a gray mask covering her nose and chin. “They said they’d meet us at the shop. I sure called it when I said there’d be something fun goin’ on.” She said gesturing to me and the fire. “Yeah, it was another raid from those pesky… anyways, this the new colt.” By now I was extremely annoyed. “Who are you guys?” I snapped. Green-haired Girl shrugged. “I’m Emerald but you can call me Emmy if you want. That’s Crash, he’s my brother.” She said jerking her head toward a boy with black and blue hair. He waved. “I’m Mace.” Said the girl with purple hair. The boy with the red in his hair introduced himself as Jump. The boy with black and blue hair was wearing a hoodie and shorts with tennis shoes. He had headphones hanging around his neck and a bandage on his chin, kind of like Mace, “You already know, I’m Crash.” He said and flashed a grin. The last person to introduce their self, was a girl with short, even, brown and electric blue hair. She was a little. . . odd. She held still, and yet, she still seemed to be moving – shuddering almost – from place to place. Her eyes were unnaturally blue and seemed unfocused. Her name did not surprise me. “I am G-Glitch.” She stuttered. “We’ll explain much more later,” Mace quickly put in, noticing how uncomfortable I was.“We’ve got to get back to the shop, to introduce you to Queen and Chain, if he’s feeling up to it. Come on… Uh, what’s your name colt?” “Kayla.” I said. Emerald wrinkled her nose. I frowned, what had I done? Glitch shrugged. “I s-suppose it does-sn’t matter w-what we are c-called.” She stammered. “Please, Kayla is much better than a name like Jump.” Jump threw in. The big group started off in the direction I had been going. To the Ferris wheel. We reached it in just a minute. A warm light shone from various cracks in the wood in the large ticket booth. “Welcome to our stomping grounds, right in the midway.” Jump said. The door opened as we approached. A girl with entirely smoky blue hair flew out. She was wearing a pretty, flowy grayish blue top and gray shorts. “Hurry up! Chain just woke up and he’s feeling much better.” She called as we got closer. Emerald took off running towards the building yelling behind her that she was starving. I stepped in through the doorway and looked around. The ticket booth was bigger on the inside than it looked from the outside. There were several make-shift bunks hanging on the wall, and a little stove in the corner with a single burner, which had a pot of something on it. The girl who had greeted us was sitting on the floor when we walked in. “Hullo Queen.” Jump cheerfully greeted her. “Hello Jump,” She said kindly. She looked to be about 18, a good bit older than me. “And I assume this is the new one.” I liked her immediately, because she didn’t call me a colt right off the bat. “Yes. I am Kayla.” I said. A look, vaguely like disappointment, passed over her face for a split second. “Welcome. We should eat first, and then I will help explain everything because I guess you’re pretty confused.” I nodded. Mace plopped down on the floor and crossed her legs. Emerald climbed on top a bunk. Crash and Jump sat down to a make-shift game of checkers and Glitch went to the corner and sat by a small cot I hadn’t seen. A boy with longish white hair was sitting there, leaned against the wall for support. His hair fell over half his face, blocking his left eye from view. His visible eye was a gentle blue. He smiled at Glitch, whose face rendered no apparent emotion except extreme focus. I looked back at Queen as she offered me a bowl of steaming soup. It tasted good. Mace said it was just duck soup. I thought that was odd. Since when did duck taste good? We sat in a circle in the middle of the hard floor, except for Glitch and Chain, who stayed in the corner. “Well, I guess my first question is who are you? I mean who are you?” I emphasized the word. Queen paused for a moment as she thought. “L-lost ones i-n the n-night I suppose.” Came Glitch’s creepy response from the corner. Mace shook her head. “You say the strangest things sometimes.” Queen gave a smile. The kind of smile someone would give a young child with a disability. Something about that smile made me annoyed. Glitch was as smart as them, can’t they see that?“No, I believe what Glitch meant was that we only really come to life when it turns dark.” Queen tapped her chin. I started. Jump’s eyes widened. “Not like that!” He quickly put in. “We only have our…well…we only get to…..have to….the raids…” He fell back helplessly and motioned for Emerald to help. The dark green-eyed girl nodded. “We have things we call raids at night. We’re not actually sure what they are, but they are actually quite fun.” She explained with a grin. “That’s what the grenade was from earlier.” Mace pointed out. I scrunched my nose. “Grenades don’t tick.” Mace shrugged. “Did it tick? Guess it was just a bomb then.” “A what?” I started again. She waved her hand. “Nothing.” “We only look the way we do at night. In the daytime we’re just normal kids. And we love the nighttime, because it’s when things are exciting.” Queen put in. “Oh,” I said. “That makes since. I guess.” I figured. It was a dream of course, and I suppose it was interesting. “Can’t really explain it much better than that.” Emerald said. “You ‘love the night’?” I asked. Crash nodded. “Yes, nighttime is the greatest thing.” Mace stood up. “C’mon, I wanna show you something.” She opened the door. I hopped up and followed her outside. She grabbed a ladder on the side of the building and climbed up to the roof. I followed her. She shouted loudly “Shut the light off Queen!” I flinched. “Shh, someone will hear you!” I hissed. She gave me a silly look. “Who? Guess there’s no one else but us around.” She laughed. The light inside the ticket booth shut off. “Now look up.” Mace touched my hand and gestured to the open sky. I did.“Wow!” I gasped. The sky was like a black blanket, with a bucket of diamond dust and sequins scattered across it. The ones farthest away, almost outside my vision were glittering pin pricks in the atmosphere. I inhaled as a sharp pang of regret shivered up my spine as I remembered it was just a dream. I shut my eyes. I opened them. The night was still spread out above me. “Guess I know exactly how you feel.” Mace said beside me. I had almost forgotten she was there. “It’s beautiful.” I breathed. “Nighttime…it’s practically our life.” She dreamily said. “I feel…wild… no that’s not the right word.” I searched my memory for the word I was looking for.“Free. Wild and free.” I breathed. Mace nodded. “Yes. Wild and free.” The door opened below us. “Come in now, or you’ll target us for raids.” Came Queen’s soft voice. Mace nodded.“We’ll be right there.” She turned to me and pointed at the horizon. There were some odd-looking things way out there, it looked like people, and a large, banner covered vehicle. I could faintly see streaks of fire. “Yikes.” “Guess that’s a good way to put it.” She said. “Why don’t you go get rid of them?” I asked her as she started climbing down the ladder. “They disappear if we get within a hundred feet of them. We tried once, a while ago, we got bombed, and they disappeared.” “Oh.” I did not envy them for their life. “Took you two long enough.” Emerald said. “Guess so.” Mace said absent mindedly. As I entered the building someone turned the lights back on. Glitch looked up as I came in. She looked at Chain and said something he smiled and nodded. Suddenly Glitch appeared by my side. D-Did she just teleport? Oh. It’s a dream, that’s right. “C-come here.” She carefully pointed towards Chain. “Okay.” I said. Honestly I was scared to say no. I followed her shuddering figure over to the boy. “Hello.” He said. Glitch teleported away. “Hi. I heard something about you not feelin’ too good?” I offered. He gave a dark chuckle. “Just a little bit. What’s your name?” He asked. I hesitated briefly. “Colt.” Out of the corner of my eye I saw Mace and Queen give out relieved sighs and high five each other. Why had I said that? “Chain.” He stuck out his right hand. We shook hands. “How long have you been here?” I asked waving my hands around to signify the entire amusement park. “Not very long. Only a couple months, and this happened.” He gestured to himself with his right arm. “What exactly did happen? You get sick?” I asked. His eye clouded over. “No not exactly. I think you don’t want to see.” “Huh?” I was confused. He gave me a long stare before reaching up and brushing his hair away from his face briefly. My mouth tried to drop open, but I shut it before it did. Half of his face was entirely…warped. It looked awful, like it had been blasted off with a bomb or something. I forced myself to keep a steady gaze on his blue eye. His left eye was reddish black, the exact opposite of his other blue eye. Instantly he brushed his hair back over it. I shut my eyes and breathed for a few seconds. When I opened them Chain was still looking at me. “Did I scare you? I’m sorry.” He dropped his gaze. I did something I’d never done before around someone who was hurt. I stayed by him. “Does it hurt?” I asked softly. He looked back up at me, his eye filled with tears. One trickled down his cheek as he nodded gently. “Badly.” He whispered. “I’m sorry.” I said. He smiled through his tears. “It’s alright. If…If you don’t want to hang out with me or anything, I totally get it.” He sighed. I was surprised. “Why wouldn’t I want to hang out with you? You seem pretty cool. And I’m sure it wasn’t your fault that happened.”I said thinking of the only compliment that wasn’t weird. He laughed. “Well thank you, I appreciate that more than you know.” I smiled. “I just thought….” I tapped my chin. “Couldn’t we make you a mask of some sort?” He frowned. Quickly I added “Just so that you wouldn’t have to feel so bad about it, and you’d be able to brush back your hair from your face too.” The frown faded. “Yes that is a good idea. I will ask Glitch.” He said brightening at the idea. I got excited about the idea the more I thought about it. “And I’ll help her.” I said with a smile. He smiled, but it quickly turned into a yawn. Glitch was at his side in a moment.“ I’m fine, really! Just a little tired.” He laughed and tried to push her away as she offered him water. She shook her head. “No. You h-have to r-rest now.” I grinned at Chain and slipped away. “So. Your name is Colt now, huh?” Emerald said with smirking eyes. “Thought you didn’t like that name.” Jump nudged me playfully. “Yeah, even when I used it.” Mace winked. “Aw, lay off guys, it just came to me while I was talking to him.” I said defensively. “Mhm. Guess youtwo are going to be good friends.” Mace snickered and ran away. I shook my head. I looked out the small window on the door to see it was already becoming daytime. No wonder Chain was tired, he’d been up all night. I realized I was tired too. “You can have that bunk.” Emerald pointed at one above the stove. “It’s the warmest.” She explained. “Yes, especially if it breaks and falls on the stove.” I said drily. It looked like she grinned, but I couldn’t tell because of her mask. “I like your humor Colt.” “Thanks.” I grinned back. I climbed up in the bunk as it became brighter outside. I yawned and curled up. Through the slit of my eyes, I saw the others climbing into their bunks. Dear God, don’t turn off the stars for a long while yet, they’re too pretty. Amen.

CHAPTER 2

Then I opened my eyes and it was late afternoon. I can’t say I woke up – one does cannot really wake up in a dream you know – but I did feel refreshed. The room was quite hot. I sat up and almost fell off the bunk. I rubbed my eyes. “Why hullo.” I looked down to see Jump staring up at me. How different he looked! He was still wearing his red sweatshirt, but now his boots and tan pants were gone and he just had tennis shoes and shorts on. The red shock in his hair was gone, leaving it just light brown. “You sure look different.” I said. “Guess we all do.” Mace said coming up. Her hair had lost its purple, and her purple shirt had been replaced with a creamy t-shirt and she was wearing jeans instead of her skort. Her gun was gone too. Emerald was stretched out on the floor in a soft green cardigan and white shorts. Her long braid was done up in a braided crown. She looked really pretty now that she had lost her tomboyish look. Her mask was gone too. She actually had a very pretty nose. “Emmy, why do you wear the mask at night?” I asked her. She stretched her arms behind her head and opened one eye. “I just like too. No one else does.” She smiled. “You have a nice smile.” I complimented her. She rolled her eyes. “I don’t like compliments, maybe that’s another reason I wear the mask.” “Oh. Sorry.” I apologized. She shrugged. “It’s fine. Sleep well?” “Yeah, I guess.” I said. I saw Glitch sitting against the wall. She was wearing a soft blue jumper. Her hair was brushed smooth and had lost its blue. I saw that she wasn’t shaking or teleporting. “Hey Glitch, where’s Queen?” I called. “She’s up on top of the Ferris wheel.” Glitch called back. I noticed her eyes were bright and focused. I turned to go find Queen. I turned back. “Glitch?”“Yup?” Glitch looked up from the book she was reading. I walked over and sat down by her on the floor. “What book are you reading?” “Alice in Wonderland. Why? What’s up?” She inquired nervously closing the book on her finger to mark the spot. “Well… I just wanted to ask you something.” “Well?” She looked up at me with her clear blue eyes. “Why aren’t you… glitching?” I blurted. Glitch flinched. “Oh…that. It’s… weird I know. I have no idea why I do that whole shaky thing at night.” She explained. I nodded. “Well, has Chain told you about the idea for a mask?” I asked her. She nodded excitedly. “Yeah! I thought that was an awesome idea, I was going to start working on it tonight.” “Why tonight?” Glitch blushed. “Well…to be honest I’m a whole lot smarter at night then during the day.” I laughed. “Well, I need to find Queen. I’ll help you tonight if you want.” She nodded. “Sure!” I stood up and walked out the door. I turned around one more time. “Where’s Chain anyways?” “He’s out with Crash.” I went outside. I looked up. Sure enough I saw a figure up at the top of the Ferris wheel. “Queen!” I shouted. She looked down. “Hey Colt! Come on up!” She waved her arm. She threw a rope down and it took me a long while to figure out what it was for. It was for climbing of course. It was knotted in several places so I started up. I kept telling myself not too look down. But it’s a dream. It’s OK I thought. Still. I reached the top safely. “Hey Colt!” Queen said. I barely recognized her. “Wow you look way different.” Her blue hair was now entirely blonde, and instead of the pretty gray top, she was wearing a comfortable pink t-shirt that had the words ‘life is a ring toss’ printed across the front. And she had glasses. Queen laughed. “Yes I suppose so.” She looked like she was about my age now. Maybe younger. “I like it though.” She smiled. “Thank you. You know…” She left off her sentence as though to say ‘never mind’. “What is it?” I asked. “You look different too.” She smiled. I looked down at myself. “Do I?” I asked her. She laughed. “You don’t notice it. Last night you had black jeans, a black long-sleeved shirt, and black boots. Your hair was braided too, remember?” Oh yeah. “Oh yeah, guess so.” I looked back down at myself. I was wearing light blue jeans, and a white tank top now. My boots were brown. My hair was wavy and hung down past my waist. “What do you think?” Queen gestured out around us. I looked. My breath caught in my throat. We were so high, that I could see every inch of the fairgrounds. There were multiple fair rides that were sinking slowly into the ground, or just falling apart where they stood. Everything was brightly colored but faded and washed out thanks to the elements. “It’s… beautiful, in a creepy kind of way.” I admired. Queen agreed. “How long have you been here?” I asked her the same question I had asked Chain. “About two years.” She said absently. “Has anything changed?” “Well, sure. The people. The raids. Our smartness.” She laughed. “The people?” I asked her. “Yes, they always change. My good friend Seal used to be here, but the story goes he found a way out and just couldn’t come back.” I thought of something. “Found a way out? You mean you can’t get out if you wanted? You have to actually escape?” Queen looked at me and for the first time I noticed the sad, lonely look in her eyes. “Yes, Colt.” “Oh.” I said. “I’m so sorry.” Queen raised her eyebrow. “You make that sound as though you are sorry for me specifically, what about you?” “Oh. It’s a dream.” I said comfortably. “What?” “It’s a dream, don’t you know? None of this is real.” I said waving my arm. Queen shifted in her seat to face me. “So you’re trying to tell me, that my life is a dream? Something out of your brain?” “Y-yes.” I stammered. She chuckled. “Colt, you’re dumber than you look.” My face felt hot. “What! I’m not dumb!” I said indignantly. Queen’s eyes darkened. “You already saw Chain’s face. Ask him what happened, ask him how it felt, and then try telling me, try telling him it’s all a dream.” She snapped sharply. “It is a dream! How else would I appear here magically, and Glitch can teleport around and all this stuff?” I snapped back. Queen placed her hand on my shoulder and squeezed. “Because we’re freaks Colt. We all, maybe not you, but we… we all did something. Dunno what, but we did. Glitch has problems, I’ve got problems, and we’ve all got problems. Don’t know what they are. Don’t care. We’re here because we’re supposed to be here.” She let go of my shoulder with a sigh.I shook my head. I wouldn’t believe any of that. “That can’t be right! If you don’t even know what they are, then why would you think that?” I quizzed her. “Because I’ve tried to get out of this place every day since I came here. We’re not meant to get out. Seal probably didn’t even get out.” She said darkly. I shook my head. “No. There’s got to be a way out, how else would you get in?” I pushed my point. Queen let out a frustrated growl.“No! You can’t get out! This place is a prison.” She snapped standing up, rocking the passenger car we were in. “There is a way out. I know it. I’ll get you all out – before I wake up.” I was not backing down. Exasperated she grabbed the rope.“Fine. You’re going to die trying. I’m going down.” She said and climbed down. I waited for her to finish getting all the way down the rope before descending too. I climbed down hand over hand. My feet touched the ground and I shook my head to clear it off all annoyance. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe I was right. Doesn’t matter. I walked into the room.“Glitch, let’s go work on that mask right now.” I told her. She looked up confused. “Okay? I thought we were doing it tonight.” She responded shutting her book. “We were. But, I really need to talk to someone right now.” I said awkwardly. Glitch smiled.“That’s fine, I seem to be the therapist for this group.” I smiled back. I purposely tried to avoid eye contact with anyone. Even so Chain managed to make me look up at him in the corner. He stared right at me with a questioning look. You already saw Chain’s face….ask him what happened, ask him how it felt… then tell me it’s a dream Queen’s words echoed in my head. I turned away quickly and hurried out the door. I stood right to the side of the door and put my head backwards onto the building. The hot sun shone down on my face as I waited for Glitch to come out. When she did, she looked confused. “Are you alright?” I shrugged. “C’mon. Lead the way.” She gave me a look and picked up a satchel off the ground by the door. As she slung it over her shoulder she said, “Let’s go.” Glitch started walking down a small path. I followed her. “How old are you?” I asked. “How old do you think I am?” She said playfully. “Hm. Fourteen?” She snickered. “No, I’m sixteen.” “What!?” I was shocked. Glitch snickered again. “Wow, you don’t look your age.” I laughed. “Yeah, I know.” She laughed. “Here we are.” She said after a moment. We were standing in front of a small building, with an excessively decorated plaque that was entirely unreadable. I pushed the door open and we entered the workshop. “Put that stuff on the floor and we’ll get started.” Glitch waved her hand towards a cluttered worktable as she started digging through boxes. “Ok, you’re the boss.” I pushed the stuff off the worktable, keeping things I thought we might want. “Where did you get this stuff anyways?” I asked holding a wrench to the light. Glitch stood up with her arms full of supplies. “You’d be surprised how many old toolboxes are laying around in this place.” She replied. “Cool.” I said. She dropped a bunch of white material on the table and said, “Let’s use this stuff, it’s pretty easy to weld.” I nodded. “Sure, I don’t know much about this kind of thing.” I laughed. She chuckled. “I’ll teach you don’t worry. Alright, first thing’s first. Safety.” She handed me a welding mask and coverings for my torso and arms. I put them on, feeling very lumpy. I looked at Glitch. She looked funny. She laughed at me so I laughed back. “Alright. Next thing next.” “What is it?” I said lifting the welding mask. “Now you tell me about what you’re so upset about.” She said smiling at me. My heart skipped a beat. How could I tell her that everything happening is a dream? I couldn’t…. but it is a dream. “Don’t get mad at me while I tell you alright?” I warned her. She laughed. “I go through every night having people treat me like I’m disabled, I think its fine.” I told her about everything. She sat on the edge of the table with a solemn look on her face. When I finished, she was quiet. “Well…?” I asked desperately. She sighed. “I hate to say this Colt, but Queen is right. . . This is no dream.” She said softly. I buried my face in my arms. I let out a huge breath. “Do you hate me too?” I asked lifting my head briefly. “No. I understand your confusion, unlike Queen, who thinks everyone just needs to understand without questions.” I smiled. “So, maybe I’m wrong… but… there’s no explanation to WHY I’m here.” I said frustrated. She shrugged. “I told you I’m smart at night only.” She winked. I shook my head and laughed. “C’mon, let’s get this done.” About two hours later, it was getting to be dark and we were going to ‘turn back’ at any moment. “There. It’s perfect.” Glitch breathed as she held up the finished mask. It looked a little like the Phantom’s mask, but less creepy. “He’ll love it. We can give it to him tonight.” I said excitedly. Glitch frowned. “We? Aren’t you going to give it to him just yourself?” She asked confused. “Why would I do that?” I asked even more confused. She shrugged. “Because nobody likes to hang out with me at night, that’s why Chain and I get along.”I frowned.“Of course not, I will admit you freaked me out a little when I first met you, but after hanging out with you now, I would have to be a jerk to ditch you now.” I said hugging her. She froze for second before hugging me back. “Thanks.” She whispered. I just laughed, and then we put everything back where we had found them and put the mask in Glitch’s bag. “Let’s go.” Glitch slung the satchel over her shoulder, and we hurried back to the ticket booth. “When are we going to turn back?” I asked Glitch. The sun was setting quickly. “Soon. Very soon.” She responded opening the door. “Hey everyone!” She said cheerfully. “Hey Glitch, Colt.” Crash nodded her head our direction. “C’mon, I wanna give Chain the mask before I start stuttering.” She laughed weakly. I nodded. “Chain!” We ran over to where he was sitting, in his cot. “Hey. What’s up?” He sat up. Glitch pulled the mask out of her bag. “Here.” She held it out to him. “Wow! You actually made it.” He laughed and took it. Chain held it in his hands for a moment before looking back up at us. “W-would you mind if you turned around while I tried it on?” He sheepishly asked. I laughed, and Glitch and I turned around. “Okay I’m ready.” We turned back to him. “How do I look?” He laughed. “Wow. Glitch you measured it perfectly.” I complimented her. The white mask covered the injured parts of Chain’s face perfectly but had a hole for Chain’s other eye. It looked great and complimented Chain’s face shape. “It looks amazing.” I told him. He laughed. “It’s nice to see everything again.” He admitted. “Can you see out of your other eye?” I asked him. He nodded. “Yes, it’s just discolored.” Chain laughed again. “I feel like I might cry. I haven’t been able to have my hair out of my face without feeling ashamed since before Glitch came.” He breathed out. “Really?” I asked interested. “Yeah, It was the day before Glitch came when we decided to try to get rid of the things out there that keep raiding.” He said absent mindedly. Glitch gave a light laugh. “Yes, I remember coming to this place and freaking out because of how beaten up you all were.” She smiled thoughtfully. I was thoughtful too. “What exactly happened?” I asked him. “Well, like I said we decided we would go get rid of the raiders, but we didn’t know that they disappeared if we got within fifty feet of them.” “Fifty? Mace said a hundred.” I said. He looked confused. “I wonder why. It’s definitely fifty feet.” “Hm.” I said. “Continue.” “Well, we ran up to them to them as fast as we could, slashing and shooting, We were running so fast, that there was a five second delay before they could disappear, making it about forty feet before the bombs happened. You see, we got about forty feet away from them, when they bombed us with the super-fast bombs they’ve got. They detonate almost immediately. One exploded near me, and the blast wave sent me to the ground, then another one went off by my face, and that’s how this happened.” He said gesturing to the mask. I nodded, knowing I couldn’t ask any more from him. “Thank you Chain. I have one more question for you though.” He looked expectantly at me. “If you had the chance to get out of this place, would you take it?” His eyes glittered. “Yes.” He said. “Absolutely.” I smiled. “Guess not everyone loves the night.” I impersonated Mace. Glitch laughed and then hiccupped. “I’m turning b-back, just a second.” She ran out of the room, but just before she left I saw her figure shudder. “Is she alright?” I asked. “Yeah, she’s fine. She hates letting people see her switch.” Chain said. I grinned. “We’re both switching now too, everyone is.” He pointed around the room. Mace was switching slowly, with the purple returning to her hair. Everyone was. By the time my focus came back to myself and Chain, I was already in my black suit and my blonde hair was braided. I turned to Chain. He was wearing a black leather jacket and white t-shirt with black cargo pants and white and black boots. His hair changed, being black into white. He took a deep breath. “I haven’t switched since I got injured.” Chain let the breath out in a shaky laugh. I held out my hand to him. He looked at me with a confused look. “Come on. We’re going outside.” I grinned. He grinned back and took my hand. I pulled him up and Glitch came to my side, shuddering. I grinned at her too. “Good to have you back girl.” I said. She managed to give the slightest smile. “T-thank y-ou Co-lt.” She stuttered and flinched. “It’s okay. I don’t mind your stutter.” I smiled at her. “Me either.” Chain said. “T-thank yo-u.” She repeated. “Let’s go outside.” I pulled the door open for them. As Glitch shivered past me, I looked at Queen. To my surprise she glared at me. I don’t know what made me do it, but I grinned back at her and when I exited the building I shut the door with a slam. “That was loud.” Chain said. “Who cares? There’s no one else but us around. Let’s make some noise!” I laughed. “Let’s!” Chain agreed. “I haven’t had a good romp for a long while.” He said wistfully. “In this abandoned amusement park, we can romp wherever we want.” I laughed. “Can we try the merry-go-round?” He asked. “Isn’t it broken?” I asked. “N-no. O-other one s-s-still w-orks.” Glitch informed me. “Ooh, let’s find it!” “F-follow me.” Glitch teleported a little ways a way. When we reached her she teleported again. I laughed. Pretty soon, I saw the working merry-go-round. It seemed to be the only thing that still had working lights, besides the ticket booth. Glitch teleported onto a horse and sat there. Chain jumped up on one near her. “Skip the line and get on the ride.” He called to me with a laugh, as I made a point of acting out waiting in a long line. I hopped onto the platform and said, “Climb aboard and hold on tight!” Then I pushed the horses as hard as I could until they started moving. Slowly at first, then faster till they were going at a normal pace. I jumped onto one as it went by and laughed at the familiar rising and falling feeling. A ridiculously pathetic neon sign flickered in my peripheral vision. Suddenly I noticed another light nearby come on. “Wait a minute.” I pushed the horses harder till I was practically running with them. Lights came on all around us. Soft, yellow lights that cast a sweet glow to the night sky. Glitch laughed aloud, even in her shuddering form, the laugh was clear. She teleported off the horse she was on to stand on my left. Chain came and stood on my right. “Wow.” He breathed. “It’s so pretty.” Glitch said. I looked at her. “You didn’t stutter!” I exclaimed. She laughed. Chain and I laughed along with her. Something about watching the horses go around us so smoothly in the soft light, stirred something in me. I reached out and grabbed Chain and Glitch’s hands. “Look at it all.” I said barely breathing. “It’s amazing. It makes something inside me hurt a little.” “Me too.” Came the echoes of the two people beside me. “What is it that hurts? We should give it a name.” I thoughtfully said. “Hm. . .” Glitch quietly turned away as she thought. I realized I was still holding Chain’s hand and blushingly let go. “Sorry.” I muttered. He just laughed lightly. “That’s it!” Glitch decided. “Hm?” I turned towards her. “It’s our carnival hearts.” She doubled over laughing as she said her little idea out loud. “Our carnival hearts…” I repeated. I liked the name. “It’s a good name for it.” Chain said. “Yes.” I agreed. “We’ve got carnival hearts.” I chuckled. As the horses slowed down, the lights faded and went out. “C’mon, I wanna explore the fun house.” Chain said. Glitch teleported after him. I followed. My foot kicked a bottle as I stepped off the platform. I crouched. It looked like a soda bottle. I stood up and looked around. I could almost see the people having fun at the fair. Children screaming with laughter as they went up and down on the different rides. I smiled at the prospect. I looked up at Glitch who was teleporting to different places of interest and pointing at things. “Chain, Glitch wait.” I had just thought of something. “Raids happen every night, correct?” Glitch gave me an odd look as she glitched from side to side.“Yes. That is right.” “How far can you teleport?” “Where is this going?” She asked. “Just answer the question, I have a really big idea.” “About seventy feet is the farthest I’ve done.” “Perfect.” I breathed. Chain gave me a confused look. “We’ve got to get back to the ticket booth immediately.” I said hurriedly. They asked no questions, and we started off at a run towards the building. I burst in the door. “Mace, Emmy, Jump, and Crash. We’re getting out of here tonight.” “What?” Queen snapped. “We’re getting rid of the raiders.” I told her. She scoffed. “We tried that once. That’s what happened to Chain remember?” “That was before you had Glitch, remember?” She glared at me. “So?” “Queen, I believe I know where Seal went.” I smiled.

CHAPTER 3

We crouched. “Okay, one more time, what’s the plan?” Glitch breathlessly asked. Mace made an ‘ugh’ sound. “We’re going to get as close as we can. Then you are going to glitch into their group, shoot one, and glitch back. Then do it again until they’re all gone. Got it? Then, once they’re all gone we’ll run in towards the banner covered vehicle. If my plan works. . .” I trailed off. “Then we get out.” Emerald whispered breathlessly. “Yes. . . That’s the plan.” I said. Jump was crouched, ready for action. The raiders were only about a hundred feet away from us. “Alright.” I looked around. “Let’s go.” I nodded at Mace. She handed her shotgun to Glitch with the warning to take care of it. Glitch nodded. She was shuddering a lot. “Hey, are you alright?” I looked her in the eyes. She met my gaze. “Yes. I can do this.” I smiled and put my hand on her shoulder. She smiled back. I nodded at her. “Go.” She took a deep breath and stood up. I held my breath as she walked closer to the raiders. 90 feet. They were aware of her, but they were ignoring her.80 feet. They looked at her. She paused. My breathing hitched. I let that breath out as she kept walking. 70 feet. They turned and started getting restless. I squirmed.60 feet. She stood her ground and kept walking. My breath caught in my throat again. I stood up to call off the plan. Too late. 50 feet. And everything exploded. Chain stood up and screamed. “Glitch!!” I felt limp as the smoke cleared and there was no sign of the shuddering figure. I bent my head down overcome with remorse. I had just sent the glitching girl to her death. “Glitch.” Chain murmured again, looking faint. He was going to hate me for the rest of his life I knew. Then there was sudden chaos. Shooting, bombing, and smoke and fire. And the seven dead raiders fell to the ground.I let out a cry of relief, as there in the center of the dead raiders stood Glitch, shuddering and bent over with a laugh of relief. I jumped up and ran towards her. I hugged her. “Oh man, I thought you were dead.” She glitched out of my arms and laughed. “No, I think I’m alright.” “And thank goodness for that.” I sighed. “Colt!” My head snapped up as Emerald waved me over to where Jump, Crash, Mace, and Queen where standing, looking into the vehicle. I looked at Chain and Glitch. I took their hands and took them over to the spot where the others were looking. It was like an illusion, as the two doors that led into the vehicle opened to reveal a tunnel that looked very much like a sewer tunnel. “I’ll go first.” Emerald offered. “Emmy wait.” She turned towards me. I stuck my hand out. I had only been around these teens for a day and a night and a half, but I had grown attached to them all. “Bye. It was good knowing you.” I told her. She grinned and took my hand. “Don’t forget, that I like your sense of humor Colt.” She laughed and said goodbye to the others before stepping into the tunnel. And then she was gone. “I’m her brother.” Crash said. “I’ll go next.” He did some funny handshake with Jump and said bye to the rest of us. He slipped into the tunnel behind his sister and was gone. Jump turned and viewed us all. “Thanks. To all of you.” He said. “I didn’t get to know you hardly at all Colt, but it was nice having you around for a little while anyways.” He grinned. I grinned back. True to his name, he jumped into the tunnel and disappeared.“I’ll go next. Thank you Colt. This means a lot.” Mace said to me. “Mace, why did you say they disappeared from a hundred feet last night?” I asked her. She chuckled. “Guess I just forgot. Bye Colt.” She stuck her hand out. I hugged her. She was, after all, the first one I had met. She laughed and hugged me back. “I think I’ll miss you.” I told her. She laughed again. “Guess I’ll miss you too.” She slipped into the tunnel. I turned to the next person. “Queen…” I trailed off as the blue haired girl studied me. She sighed. “Sorry I’ve been a big jerk. I was just really mad, there you were, this newbie, telling me that we could do what I had tried to do for years. I’ve got one thing to ask you though.” She said with a smirk. “Still think it’s a dream?” I blushed. “No, I don’t.” I smiled. Queen put her arms out. I gave her a hug. “Thanks. A lot. I probably would’ve gone insane if I had stayed here much longer.” She said. “Maybe I’ll find Seal again.” She thoughtfully tapped her chin. I smiled. “I think you will.” Queen laughed. “I hope so. Goodbye.” She gave Chain and Glitch a hug each too and left. I took a deep breath. The sun was coming in from the east, just above the Ferris wheel nearby. I let that breath out. I turned to Chain and Glitch. To my surprise, I was tearing up. I bent my head ashamed. “Sorry…” I laughed a little and wiped my eyes. Glitch opened her arms and walked up to me, enveloping me in a hug. Chain came and hugged both of us too. “Group hug.” He muttered. I couldn’t help but laugh. “Thanks you two. I needed that.” We stayed in the hug for a little longer. Then Glitch pulled away. To my surprise, we were all transformed into our normal, day time clothes. “I’ll really miss you Colt,” Chain said sheepishly. “You and Glitch were the only ones who really talked to me, and made me feel any good about myself after my injury.” “Aw. . . thanks. I’m going to miss you a lot too Chain.” I said meaning every word. Glitch came up to me. “Same here Colt. You and Chain are the only people who didn’t treat me like I had a disability. I thank you both so much for t-that.” She blushed. “That stupid stutter . . . and I’m not even in my glitching form.” She laughed aloud. “Well, I thank you for listening to me rant Glitch, and for letting me see that I was wrong after all.” I told her. She smiled weakly. I hugged them both. “Guess we should go now. . .” Glitch said with tears in her eyes. I sadly nodded. “Don’t forget me, please. And don’t forget our ‘carnival hearts’.” She said with a weak laugh. “I won’t.” Chain and I said in unison. “Bye Glitch.” We nodded at her, afraid to hug her hand start crying. A small tear trickled down her cheek as she stepped into the tunnel. “Chain. . . Bye.” I stuck my hand out to him not really knowing what else to do. He looked at my hand before ignoring it and hugging me. “I think we’re good enough friends.” He laughed out loud. I laughed too and pulled away. “Hope to see you again sometime Colt. Sometime out there you know?” He said waving towards the tunnel. I nodded. “Yeah. So I guess I shouldn’t say ‘bye’, I should say ‘I’ll be seeing you.’” I said. He smiled. “Yes, I’ll be seeing you Colt.” He said with a final laugh. He raised his hand to me and stepped backwards into the tunnel. Tears overflowed in my eyes as he disappeared. I laughed through my tears. I looked around the abandoned amusement park. “There’s no one else but myself around… Goodbye!!” I shouted as loud as I could to the amusement park. Then I took one last look and turned around. I ran through the tunnel and splashed into the murky water that was on the floor. Desperately, I turned around. The amusement park was gone. Two big tears rolled down my cheeks as my vision blurred.

“Kayla? Kayla! Wake up.” I opened my eyes groggily. Then they flew open. Mom was bent over me. “Are you ok? You were crying in your sleep.” She told me. I ignored her looking wildly around. Tears threatened to rise in my eyes again. Had it really all been a dream after all? “Get ready for the day Kayla. Breakfast is ready on the table.” Mom said leaving my room. I kicked my sheets off my legs dejectedly and brushed my hair. I walked down the stairs into the dining room. I ate my breakfast sadly thinking about Queen’s duck soup. There was a knock on the door. “It’s the postman Kayla.” Mom called. “I’ll get it then.” I responded. A letter was nice at any rate. I opened the door.“Hey Colt, ready to go to the fair?” Chain and Glitch grinned at me.

THE END

CARNIVAL HEARTS LYRICS

In this abandoned amusement park
We come to life when it turns dark
We’re just Carnival Hearts
You and me

In a swirl of flashing lights
We’re the lost ones in the night
Got our fingers intertwined
Wild and free

A pathetic neon sign
Lights the corner of my eye
Welcome to the midway
Welcome to our stomping grounds

Broken bottles spilling dreams
I can almost hear the screams
Silence is the only sound
There’s no one else but us around
Let’s make some noise

In this abandoned amusement park
We come to life when it turns dark
We’re just Carnival Hearts
You and me

In a swirl of flashing lights
We’re the lost ones in the night
Got our fingers intertwined
Wild and free

Oooh oooh
Don’t turn off the stars

Oohh ooooh
We got Carnival Hearts

Oooh oooh
Don’t turn off the stars

Oohh ooooh
We got Carnival Hearts

We wear black to mourn the loss
Of all the rebels without a cause
Life is just a ring toss
And baby you’re the boss

Of my –
Psychedelic funhouse soul
You’re the –
Only one I need to know
No one else but us around
Welcome to our stomping grounds

Lets make some noise

In this abandoned amusement park
We come to life when it turns dark
We’re just Carnival Hearts
You and me (Ah-oh)

In a swirl of flashing lights
We’re the lost ones in the night
Got our fingers intertwined
Wild and free (Ah-oh x2)

Oooh oooh
Don’t turn off the stars

Ohh ooooh
We got Carnival Hearts

Oooh oooh
Don’t turn off the stars

Ohh ooooh
We got Carnival Hearts

Skip the line get on the ride
Climb on board and hold on tight
It’s our love it’s our life
You and I

In this abandoned amusement park
We come to life when it turns dark
We’re just Carnival Hearts
You and me
(Ah-oh x2) (You and me)

In a swirl of flashing lights
We’re the lost ones in the night
Got our fingers intertwined
Wild and free (Ah-oh x2) (Wild and free)

Oooh oooh (Carnival)
Don’t turn off the stars (Carnival Hearts)

Ohh ooooh (Carnival x2)
We got Carnival Hearts

Oooh oooh (Carnival x2)
Don’t turn off the stars (Carnival Hearts)

Ohh ooooh (Carnival x2)
We got Carnival Hearts

THNX FOR READING YALL