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It’s cold outside, and I swear I can smell snow on the air. I bet we get some before the day is out.
There’s a fire roaring in the tower’s fireplace, and it looks super cozy. Even though the Christmas lights have come down, there are still strings of fairy lights over the mantel that I want to stay up until spring. The candles dotted around the room also add a lovely warm glow. I love this place.
My home, I think happily.
“Hey, look at this.” Cain comes thundering downstairs.
I’m reading on the couch, my legs up on Mal, who is writing some new music. Roman is in the easy chair listening to an audio book. He pulls his ear buds out and frowns at Cain.
“My man, you nearly went through the stairs. Like a herd of goddamn elephants.”
Cain waves his words away. “Guys, this is fucked.”
He lifts my legs off Mal and sits right between us.
“Roman, get over here,” he orders. “I was scrolling socials, and this shit came up on my feed. It’s... well you just have to watch. “
He hits play on the video. Roman watches over his shoulder from behind the couch, and I lean in close, too. My heart stutters when I see the entrance, that clown’s open maw. I never wanted to look at it again.
“What the fuck?” Roman’s voice is taut.
“Shhhh, just watch.”
“We pride ourselves on only investigating the most serious hauntings here on Ghosts and Ghouls,” a chirpy female voiceover says. “And tonight, do we have a treat for you. We’re at the Clown Carnival. So called because the clown at the entrance is found all over the carnival, but that’s not why it’s famous. Rumors have been heard all over the nation of carnival goers terrified by unearthly screams, apparitions, and terrible sights. They say you can sometimes see men here, shadowy, dark figures that just disappear through walls, or even the mirrors in the funhouse. Let’s talk to one such witness.”
The camera pans to a pretty woman.
“There were five of them,” she says.
My breath hitches and I put my hand over my heart.
“Five big men, and they were walking toward me, by the Helter Skelter, and then… they were gone. Poof. Just… vanished. It sounds crazy, but it’s true!”
“Holy fuck,” Mal breathes.
“Their ghosts haunt the carnival, allegedly.” Cain’s voice is tense. “I’ve watched the entire thing. One woman even said she felt them pushing and pulling her in the funhouse. What the fuck? It can’t be true right?”
“Maybe it’s the sister?” I suggest. “Maybe she bought it in the end or something and wants to drum up trade, so she’s made up these rumors. A lot of people love haunted places.”
“No.” It’s just one word from Roman but it quiets us all. “It’s real. I felt the energy of that place, and it was so bad, and I mean beyond those fucked up brothers. There’s something there.”
I shudder in terror at his words. “Oh, God, could it have followed us back here?”
“No.” He smiles at me reassuringly. “I did protection spells and made sure this place was cast iron safe from anything bad following us home. I didn’t fully sense it until we went back the second time. I guess the first time, there was enough madness and mayhem from the brothers, but when we returned, I… I just felt it.”
“So, that’s why you smoke cleansed everything and did all those incantations and made that special water you sprinkled on the ground all around the tower?” Mal says.
“Yeah. I didn’t tell any of you, because I didn’t want to freak you out, and anyway you might not have believed me.”
“Oh, I believe you, Roman.” My voice is soft.
“Well, shit.” Mal scratches at his jaw. “So, we had a lucky escape in more ways than one?”
“Yes, we did. But we’re all here now, and safe and sound,” Roman says.
He’s doing so much better these days. My weird idea to go back did actually help, but I think relying on his intuition and making sure he protected the tower, and us, did too.
“Do you think it will come back this way?” I ask, meaning the carnival.
