Page 5 of Unmasking My Dark Knight

“Learned it from you,” she answered, giving me a quick goodbye before hanging up the phone.

I was indebted to Rachel for all that she had done for me these last three months, but sleeping in her living room started to feel like a band-aid to a bullet wound. My time at the park was coming to an end soon. Halloween was next weekend, and I felt like I was running out of time to figure out what to do next. And to be honest, I was fucking terrified. And although I knew this was a seasonal job that would end, for once in my life, I didn’t think about the future.

Just as I cut the engine and grabbed onto the door handle to exit my car, my phone began to vibrate in my hand.

I looked down at my phone for a second, hesitating. It was Gustav. His wedding was next weekend, here in town, and I was already dreading it. I wasn’t in the mood for celebrating love, but at least it was on Halloween, so I could get away with joining the party a little later due to work.

Right before it went to voicemail, I hesitantly hit accept.

“Hey, man. What’s up? Long time, no see,” I said, sitting back in my seat.

“Hey, Ro,” he responded, a little too chipperly. “How’ve you been?”

I looked out the window as it began to sprinkle. “I’ve been good. Busy, as always. What about you?”

He sighed. “Well, I wanted to ask you something,” he began, and the way his voice turned serious got my attention. “So, Leo can’t make the wedding. And, I know you were coming as a guest, but I was wondering… do you wanna come as my best man, instead?”

Ah, fuck. No. No way.

“Uh…”

“I mean, no pressure, man. I know you already declined before because you’re super busy, but this is totally meant to be! We’ve been best friends since we were kids, right? Feels like… maybe it would be cool to have you up there with me.”

God dammit. Gustav was always a good friend back in the day. The only reason we grew apart was because of that soul-sucking job of mine. Other than that, he always managed to stay in touch.

For instance, he actually called me to tell me he and Tallulah were engaged, rather than let me find out via social media like everyone else.

I hoped I’d do the same with him if that time ever came. If I were ever as lucky as him to find “the one.”

“Um,” I began again. I closed my eyes and shook my head at myself. “Yeah, man. I guess I can do that. Sure.”

There was a sigh that sounded like relief on the other end. “Dude, thank you. Really. That means a lot.”

I nodded to myself. “Of course.”

“I’ll text you with the wedding week plans—I hope you’re free this week? We just have some fun stuff planned for the wedding party. Nothing cheesy, I promise,” he chuckled.

I forced out a laugh. “Uh, yeah. I should be free.” Wait. “I just, uh, I have some stuff at night that I need to do. Just like a… night shift thing I picked up on the side.”

I hadn’t planned to tell anyone about my time as High Jynx. I didn’t want another reaction like Megan’s.

“Cool, yeah. It’ll just be some stuff during the day,” he explained. “I’ll text you later. Thanks again, Ro.”

After we hung up, I closed my eyes and lay my head against the headrest.

This was going to be a long fucking week.

I walked into the back entrance to the park in my all-black attire, my bag slung over my shoulder. The smell of kettle corn filled the cobblestone streets, the air thick with fog and music as I entered the backstage area where the actors got ready for the night.

There was everyone you could think of—replicas of Hollywood horror legends, original characters like evil clowns, zombies, ghost girls. There were a few like me, random stragglers who roamed the park to scare the unsuspecting patron.

I was just starting to get the hang of things, which was ironic because it would all be over soon.

There was something so communal about all of us getting ready together, something far more rewarding than any board meeting or Zoom call. It was tactile. It smelled like makeup and sweat, and the room was filled with laughter that satisfied some strange loneliness that lived within me. It reminded me of being back in high school, of the time I spent as the weird emo kid in theatre class.

I think I wanted to do that more than anything.

I wanted to perform, and being High Jynx was the most visceral extension of that old nostalgia that I hadn’t had in forever. All I knew was that I wanted to create. I’d always been artistic; I liked to paint, read, and draw. For years, I was obsessed with Shakespeare and Dracula, but I regrettably shoved that part of myself down the second I realized those types of people were the weirdos.