Not many years ago, it was a particularly dark night at the state fair that had come
to town as it usually did at this time of season. And at the top of the Ferris wheel
there was a young woman, no more than 26, named Vivian. All alone. Not alone
by choice, sadly, as her boyfriend had passed in a fire at his friend’s house that he
was visiting just one week before this night. Vivian had received the call not long
after the accident and rushed to the scene but would arrive to see nothing but ash
and rubble by that point. Not even the remains of her boyfriend; just ash and
rubble. Vivian’s heart was still filled with so much grief. She longed for him to
return to her arms’ embrace. Instead, she could only hug a cheap gigantic teddy
bear that she played for at a carny game which she spent more than she should
have in order to win it... something he would have done if he was still with her.
Vivian had never been to this state fair before and while it seemed to scream
amusement with its flashing lights, smell of deep fried foods that should have
never been deep fried, and music that was on an infinite loop, she decided to
instead gaze into the half-full moon’s eminent being. But just then, the moon’s
shine began to be covered up by the clouds. Then, one by one, the stars had
started to dim until they could no longer be seen. Like candles by a bed stand with
the window open next to it on a cold windy night. Then, all of the lights from the
rides went off, the smell of smoke began to fill the air, and the music fell silent.
Vivian had no clue what was happening and began to look down below and her
heart began to pound. All the park goers continued to ride the rides, purchase
food from the concession stands, and even the children continued to dance to a
tune that was no longer present.
Was this just her grief overwhelming her? Her vivid imagination after staring at
the moon for too long? Before she could even try to begin to understand why or
what was happening, the Ferris wheel she was on started to move again but this
time slower than before and had even begun to creak. When Vivian reached the
bottom, she tried to get out but the door wouldn't budge no matter how hard she
pushed it. She was now frantically kicking it but it just still wouldn’t budge. She
was starting to breathe heavily and it was getting hard for her to breathe with each
dry heave after another. She could still smell the smoke even though she couldn’t
see it so she looked around to see where it was coming from but there were no
flames nearby. And to her great horror and even greater horror, all the concession
stand employees had vanished but the park goers themselves continued on as if
everything was fine.
Vivian climbed out of the Ferris wheel and fell onto the ground and when she
looked up, all the park goers were now staring at her. And the longer they stared,
the more pale their faces became; not their bodies... just their faces. They had
become as white as the moon and began to glow. Only they weren’t glowing. They
were all just walking closer and closer towards Vivian. Vivian got up and began to
run as far from them as possible. Her lungs were exhausted and felt that the smoke
she couldn’t even see had begun to fill them but still she knew she had to run. She
tried not to cry while running but burst into tears when she saw what couldn’t
even be described as people anymore begin to approach faster, grow taller, and
become thinner.
Despite the lack of moonlight and light from the rides and stars, in nearly
complete darkness, the shadows from the park goers began to cast longer and
longer shadows. Vivian kept running and breathing and running and breathing
and with each passing second she considered just stopping because then maybe she
could rejoin her boyfriend once more in the afterlife she condemned for taking
him. She didn’t even know where she was running to as she had forgotten where
the entrance was. The park goers began to slowly enclose Vivian and the only place
left for her to try and escape from them was into the house of mirrors which was
set up like a maze. Without a moment to think anything through anymore, Vivian
ran inside. The lights inside the maze were all working properly but she would still
start bumping into every mirror. It was dead end after dead end after dead end. It
was silent at first... but the longer she was in there... the louder the sound of
unknown laughter grew. Vivian looked at the mirrors and they were laughing at
her. Her reflections were beginning to laugh at herself for thinking that she would
make it out alive. She collapsed onto the floor and curled up into a ball and began
to cry out hysterically, with tears gushing down her face, for help. But this only
made the laughter grow louder and louder.
Just then, all the mirrors began to crack. One by one. With each mirror that
cracked, the laughter would start to die down. It would only take a few seconds for
all the mirrors to crack. Vivian slowly looked around before beginning to stand
up... until all the mirrors shattered and their pieces, all still containing her
reflection, fell back onto the ground. Behind these mirrors there was nothing; they
revealed a non existent space that was darker than pitch black. And out of these
voids of nothing started to have something come out: hands. Slowly. Then even
more hands. Then feet. Then arms. Then legs. The lights inside the maze started
to dim. Vivian remained silent. Not out of paralyzing fear, but because she could
no longer breathe.
Then, the hands, feet, arms and legs stopped moving towards her. Instead, pale
bald heads that were looking down began to peek out from the voids. The bones
of these creatures could easily be seen as they were too big for the completely
smooth skin that they inhabited. Then, the creatures coming out from the mirrors
fell down to their knees all while still looking down. The creatures began to crawl
closer and closer to Vivian, who still couldn’t see their faces. Then, only inches
away from her own face, they stopped, and everything went silent, including
Vivian’s breathing. Ever so slowly... the heads began to peer up, which made the
sound of creaking doors who had never been oiled, to look at Vivian, who could
now see all their faces. And what she saw shook her to her core... it was all the
members of the USG. Their eyes rolled into the back of their head and their
mouths began to open, all whilst cracking louder and louder, until their jaws
reached the ground. And with bated breath that reeked of halal food they
whispered... “Your club is not getting a budget this yearrrrrrrr.”