Ghost Circus

I woke myself up with my screams. My husband, Rodger, rolled over and opened one eye. "What was that about, Amanda?" He groused. "You were carrying on for at least five minutes."

Typical, I woke up from a terrifying nightmare and all my "better half" could do is complain about me interrupting his shut eye. "I had a nightmare about Kelly," I told him. "It was so real! There was this big black and orange tent in the abandoned fair ground. She went inside and I had to get her but there were all these performers that tried to stop me. But it was like they were only half there, like ghosts or something."

Rodger sat up and snorted. "Babe," he said. "You've been listening to those weirdos on the Gloamingwood Forum too much. That fairground got shut down in the eighties. That fire breather went nuts with his act and made the big top burn down. Thats the only reason that place closed."

He was such a skeptic. "So?" I countered. "That doesn't mean that it isn't cursed or haunted or whatever. Can we go make sure our daughter's still in bed? It'd make me feel better." My husband crawled out of bed and put a pair of sweats on.

"C'mon," he said. "Lets go see."

Down the hallway, in her bed, I could see Kelly's brunette curls. The rise and fall of the pink duvet told me she was still alive. "Nothing to worry about," Rodger said. "You just had a bad dream."

We crawled into our bed again. I kissed Rodger and tried to go back to sleep. My alarm went off just as I was starting feel drowsy. "Aw Jeez," I said. "All right, I guess I ought to go face the daylight."

"I slept through my alarm," Rodger said. "Mind if I go in the shower first, hon?" I stretched and pulled on my lavender scented bath robe. "Sure," I said. "I'll go make Kelly's lunch for school."

I had just zipped up my daughter's Polly Pocket lunch bag when Rodger came downstairs. He smooched me on the cheek. "Bye hon," he said. "I've got a big pitch at the office. Love you!"

"Love you--" SLAM "--too," I finished weakly. I tried to tell myself that Rodger was just busy but sometimes it felt like he loved his job more than me.

I wanted to be disgusted but just then, Kelly bounded into the kitchen. "Hey mom!" She said. I had to keep cheery. "Hey baby!" I replied. "You ready for school?" Kelly nodded "yup," she said. "We're going to the train depot on a field trip!"

I almost dropped her breakfast on the floor. "Is everything okay mom?" My daughter asked. "Yeah," I said. "Um, I need to listen really carefully."

My daughter's blue eyes fixed on me. Suddenly Kelly was as serious as could be. I knelt down next to her. "So I know you're excited," I said. "There are big trains and you need to be careful. But it's also near the old fairgrounds, I don't want you to go anywhere near there. Deal?" Kelly smiled her sweetest. "Okay, mommy," she said. "Deal! I gotta go, the bus is coming. Love you."

I hugged her tight and made sure she had her backpack. Then I did some light housework. I sighed, it was only nine o'clock. "What to do with the day?" I asked no one.

I hopped on my exercise bike. Then I went over some of the time cards my company's employees sent me. All the washing up and other chores caught up on, I decided to take a power snooze. I was on the couch napping when the phone rang.

I pulled it out of my purse. It was the school. "Hello, Amanda Riffits speaking," I said. There was a pause. "Hello Mrs. Riffits," it was Kelly's teacher, Ms. Coolidge. "We have had a little incident."

My heart shattered in my chest. "Oh no!" I said. "Is Kelly hurt or is she.." I couldn't bear to finish the sentence. "I'm sorry," Ms. Coolidge said. "Your daughter went missing. We have the Yard Master and railroad security searching but they haven't found her yet."

Oh my God! "I'm on my way!" I said. "Is there somewhere we can meet?" A second of silence. "I'll wait for you outside the depot's main office," She said. "Again, I'm so sorry Mrs. Riffits. See you soon."

"Yeah, bye," I said as I hit the call end button.

I prayed I didn't get a speeding ticket as I drove my Prius ten miles over the limit. I made it to the train depot. Ms. Coolidge stood with the permission slips held in front of her black pencil skirt like a shield. "Mrs. Riffits," she said. "No sign of Kelly yet I'm afraid." I remembered my conversation with my daughter before she left. "What if she's not here?" I thought out loud.

"Excuse me?" Ms. Coolidge said. "I checked, she was on the bus when we left the school. She wasn't when I just did a head count at lunch...about an hour ago." I looked over to the vacant lot.

Just like in my dream, there was an orange and black tent in the fairgrounds. "My daughter's in there," I said. "Like last night." My kid's teacher's brow crinkled. "In where?" She asked. "Hey wait--!"

I was already running across the street. I lifted the cool, heavy tent flap and stepped inside. Even in the darkness I could see my own reflection in the shiny walls.

"Kelly?" I called out. "Baby can you hear me? It's mommy." Silence met my words. I tried to navigate the mirror maze calling out my daughter's name.

I thought I saw a wispy figure reflected in the mirror in front of me. I turned around. A see through woman in a dark green rhinestone encrusted leotard grinned impishly. She appeared to pull daggers from nowhere. I screamed and ducked as she threw a blade. The mirror near me shattered.

I started running through the labyrinth followed by the knife wielding entity. Glass exploded all around as blades impacted the brittle surfaces. I thought I was going to die.

Suddenly, the mirrors vanished and the laughter faded. A spotlight illuminated a prone figure with a halo of brown hair in the center of a ring like enclosure. "Kelly!" I shouted as I ran toward her.

It was odd she didn't stir when I called her name. I knelt beside her and felt for her pulse like I learned CPR class. I could feel her heart beat. I nudged her arm.

"Kelly, sweetie," I said. "Please wake up."

"She won't wake up until my performance is over," a voice said. I looked in the direction the sound had come from. A tall figure glided down the steps. It was wearing a black top hat and a red cape. It glided down from the audience seating area.

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"She's my volunteer," Top hat said. "You're the guest of honor. Now have a seat and enjoy the show!"

Before I could make any demands or ask more questions some unseen force placed me in the front row of the stands. I couldn't move my arms or legs. "What the hell?!" I protested.

"Levitation!" Top Hat declared. I watched in horror as my daughter's body rose higher and higher. As she reached the top of the tent, her arms and legs star-fished away from her torso. Kelly started spinning in rapid circles.

Once it seemed like her head and feet were going so fast they blurred together, she started plummeting. I covered my eyes with my arms. I didn't want to see my baby girl splatter.

When I didn't hear a dull thud, I risked peeking. Kelly hovered inches from the ground. "Applause," Top Hat demanded.

"You sick bastard," I yelled. "Let us go you freak!" Top Hat looked at me. Its eyes were glowing bright reddish-white. "So," it said. "We'll skip to the finale." With a crackle of sparks and acrid smoke, Top Hat vanished.

Kelly moaned and sat up. Moments later she looked around fearfully. "Mom!" She shouted as she rushed over. I wished I could've hugged her back as she sat on the bench next to me. "Aw, Kelly-bird," I said. "I'm glad you're all right."

"Um mom," Kelly said. "I can't move. I think I'm stuck to the bench." I gasped as I realize I'd missed something.

A red and white spotlight danced around the ring. "The Fire Breather," a disembodied voice announced. A man with a goatee and two flaming batons materialized in front of us.

His half naked torso glistened as he twirled the burning props. The performer lifted one end up above his head. He breathed out and flames reached the canopy. Hungry orange tongues licked at fabric and wood.

"This act's been canceled!" I shouted. I strained against whatever energy held me in place, I managed to tear away. I screamed as part of the skin of my palms peeled off me and stuck to where I'd been restrained.

Apparently whatever was keeping us hostage hadn't counted on resistance. The fire breather glared hatefully at me. I was quick to close the distance. I grabbed one of the flaming batons and rammed it down the goateed man's throat.

Inhuman screams deafened me as the entity began burning. I grabbed Kelly. Thank God she wasn't stuck when I reached for her. I tried to find the exit. I couldn't see through the smoke filling the tent.

"Mommy, I'm scared," Kelly whined. I knelt down and hugged her tight. "I know, baby," I said. "Me too, close your eyes; it'll be over soon."

I felt tears run out my eyes and evaporate. Gradually, the air cooled and the light stopped flickering around us. I noticed the things seemed different. I opened up my eyes.

It was sunset. The tent and flames were nowhere to be seen. I stood up and tapped Kelly on the shoulder. "Hey look." I said. "Everything's okay again." She looked around. "The scary guys are gone," she said. "What happened?"

I saw a woman who looked like Cyndi Lauper watching us. "Who're you?" I asked. The woman seemed like she had just noticed us. "Oh," she said. "I'm a medium, my name's Ashe Langley. Are you guys okay? I was drawn to this spot when I felt the spirits here awaken again."

"I don't know what just happened," I said. "I think me and my daughter almost died. What are you talking about spirits for?"

Ashe shook her head. "I knew it," she said. "You guys might not be aware but when I was a girl, a circus burned to the ground here. I believe the energies of the performers who died are trapped here. They're afraid to move on so they lure new victims to this site so they can keep existing."

"What do you mean 'so they can keep existing'?" I ask. Miss Langley blinked a few times. "The spirits here need to feed on other life forces," she said. "Thats why every once in a while police find burnt bodies here. It's their work. I expected to find more victims but it looks like your aura was too strong for them to kill you."

I remember the other worldly shrieks of the fire breather and shivered. "So are they gone now?" I wondered. Ashe looked sad. "I'm afraid they've only become dormant," she said. "I'm here to perform a cleansing. Then I'll sprinkle holy water and hope that gets rid of this negative energy. I think you're safe for now but I'd leave as soon as possible."

I thanked Ashe for her explanation. I would call Ms. Coolidge to let her know I found Kelly later. Right now I just wanted to get us away from there.

Prompt:A nightmare comes true the next day.
Word count:1981