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Sitting in your little metal chair, with little to no back support, you can hear the symphony of the annual Fall Fair echo around you. Nestled in the middle of the woods an hour out from the nearest city is a small towns biggest celebration of the year. The smell of artificially flavored popcorn, the loud screams of joy from fast paced rides and even faster paced performances in the Big Top. It is a jumble of a carnival, fair, and fall festival all jammed into one month. You have never really understood how or when it became so large, it just feels like it always has, the only people that attend are the nearby town which hardly reaches 100 residents and with at most a local Walmart. Yet this place has always seemed completely packed, at least for the past 3 years you’ve worked here, it’s always been your favorite seasonal job and it gives you a shielding gaze from any large population that may suspect you to be a witch.
Mindless scribbles fill your page as you fumble through a Sedoku page, until it’s time to stop the wildly swinging ride beside you. It’s comedically simple (and most definitely reckless) to start and stop the large boat ride you’ve been placed in charge of. Simply flipping a switch up to start and down to stop. But part of you wonders if it’s really even wired to anything or if the ride works by sheer will and carnie greed. You flip the switch down and stand with a couple pops up your back, raising your hands up to your hips to plaster your best customer service smile on your face as you turn to the now departing guest.
“Thanks for riding everyone, please watch your step and remember to grab your belongings from the side of the ride.”
It comes out half-hearted but you really can’t be blamed, you’ve been here for about six hours now and a layer of sweat and dirt was starting to collect on your company assigned striped polo and black slacks. You felt like the world's most under paid referee. Standing by the open gate as the new guests hop on you begin the cycle again, start the ride, play sedoku, and let your mind wander while you listen to the same carnival song reverberate through the forest. But today feels off, the weather is cool and the trees are a mix of oranges and brown but the night sky is darker and the air feels muggy, the pressure in the air feels charged, electric.
Fiddling with the corner of a tarot card that sticks out the side of your Sudoku book, it makes a fluttering noise that mixes up the monotony in a small enough way to be entertaining. It fell out of your bag this morning so you shoved it in your book to get it out the way. It was a tower, your first time pulling that card too so it was a little fresh, but too ominous for your liking.
“Put the puzzle away.” A stark voice comes from behind you and you almost jump but this has happened a few too many times to be surprised.
“Oh Michael!” You smile and it’s strained, of course it’s Michael! You know he would fire you if he could but you are one of the small handful of people that actually comes back to this middle of nowhere spot every year.
You partly hide the puzzle book as he shoots you an ugly look. Though you begin writing again as he walks away but that’s when you see it, glancing over your book to watch him leave, you don’t know how long it’s been there but it sticks out like a sore thumb once you notice it. A robot, not the regular service bots with wheels that cook and clean at big name fast food places and corporate grocery stores but a humanoid form. It’s arms and legs are just a little too long, it’s LED eyes are empty and twitch just a little too much for comfort and it is looking at you. You know these things, they were built for a purpose that the public pretends not to know of, these things are bounty hunters for regular human criminals and for things like you, monsters.
It looks like a jester, fitting for the setting but it felt too purposeful as if it were designed to fit in. Something in plane sight that would put you at ease. It had the shape of a crescent moon on its face and sitting atop its disk like head hung three dark blue lappets with golden bells at the end. The thing is hunched in the darkness, it’s fingers are thin and long and if you look hard enough almost seem clawed. But you don’t look long enough, you direct your eyes to anywhere else lest you be hunted and burned like those in your family before you. It wouldn’t be there for you though surely, you live in your one bed one bath in the far out woods away from prying eyes and practice your magic only in privacy. But if it isn’t here for you then what is it here for?
When you look back to where it stood you only find a large crowd of people laughing and filing out for the day. You let out a breath that you didn’t know you were holding in. Your hands are shaking, you drop your puzzle to the floor and leave it there as you flick the ride off to a stop. You don’t give your regular farewell. You just usher them off.
“Last ride of the night.” You mumble breathlessly.
Why is your heart beating so fast, is this an anxiety attack, no you have to behave like normal, but the sweat falling into your eyes is not helping you calm down. You have to leave right now.
You grab your bag from under your control panel and begin speed walking to the back of the park to clock out the crowds have thinned to a measly few, it feels like you are out in the open and you can feel the hours of work dig into the soles of your feet. The air is so thick that you can swim through it and a mist in the air makes the corners of the now almost dead park feel even darker. It’s the one and only time you wouldn’t mind seeing Michael in all his managerial half baked glory.
Not all is bleak as a glimmer of hope appears in the form of a large trailer with a sign reading “Employees Only” hanging on the door. The trailer itself is silver and worn from years of travel and is illuminated in the dark by one meager yellowed light hanging by the door but god it sure looks like a piece of heaven right now.
Stepping inside the large metal box you are hit with the sweet coolness of air conditioning and also
“Michael!” You shout, hitting your shoulder into the trailer wall. “Oh my god you scared me.”
He shouts back equally as loud if not more so, “What the hell was that, why are you yelling!” It seems you scared him just as bad or maybe you are projecting but you don’t miss the way he glances around the room before stopping his gaze on you and back to whatever phone game he was playing. “Since you are still here I actually need you to shut off the breakers in the fun house maze.” He speaks without looking up from his device as he shuffles back into a relaxed pose.
“Me?” You point at yourself before continuing. “That place is really creepy and I kinda gotta gooo..”
If they paid you more and if you liked Michael at least 20% more than you did now then maybe you would risk your life to help him. But with that thing out there and the daggers he regularly shoots into you, you would rather not let Michael know why you are so on edge. Hell he would probably burn you at the stake himself if he could, witch or not.
The silence in the room is palpable and you cant tell why the air of anxiety seems to exude from both of you, perhaps he can feel the change in atmosphere tonight as well but you finally speak up if only to get home faster and get this whole ordeal over with.
“I will grab it on my way out, but you gotta clock me out in 30.”
He only slightly nods in your direction as you turn to the door and leave.The walk to the fun house is no less eerie than the walk to the trailer except this time the payoff was a dark room full of mirrors instead of the sweet release of getting to go home. You push open the curtain and this time there is a distinct new smell, kicked up dust and Windex, cant say it was your favorite but it was a change from the constant fried food smell that lingered throughout the surrounding area. You actually have to squint a little as the lights go from warm orange hanging lights from the tents to bright purple bulbs that are scattered around the mirrors, that mixed with the smoke machine effect rising from the floor and this place really did feel sort of magical. If you didn't count in the very unsettling stretched and deformed mirrors all reflecting back at you. It takes you a moment to navigate the maze, you tried your best to avoid this room so the layout was for the most part a mystery to you but you manage to feel along the mirrors for spaces to walk through. You feel for whomever has to clean all one million of these things.
You reach the back door eventually and it is a simple wooden thing with a hole cut out for a handle. Opening it reveals a breaker box and the same plastic mop bucket that you've seen while working fast food,. That was of course before helpers bots replaced that line of work and you decided to move out here, hopping from seasonal job to seasonal job. Your hand rests on the sitch to the lights but before you can pull it down you are frozen in place. A shadow, much taller than you and uncanny in its long proportions stands blocking the light in front of you. Your body goes cold, you feel weightless as you feel nausea begin to heat up your stomach. Before you turn around your eyes dart to the top of the shadows head, it is spikey, fanning out in a circle like a windmill or a cartoonish drawing of a sun but jagged and sharp. A top its sprawling ray like formation is two lappets with a ball on each end, in the shape of a little bell that one might find on a cat.
“Hello!” You hear that same robotic static in the things voice that you have grown to recognize. A second hunter.
You turn ever so slowly and face the thing, having to turn your gun upward just to look it in the eye, it stands straight up, almost too straight with it hands coming together in front of its body to form a steeple of fingers.
“My name is unit FIVE U N. But you may call me Sun!” It looks back at you with white eyes that stare expectantly, looking closely you can see a small white pupil in its eye. The pupils flit down to your name tag as he scans it with a strained smile. “Ah I see!” He reads your name aloud but leaves the last letter off as it’s become scratched out of your tag after years of use.
You go to correct him but really you would rather book it for the door. What were those three responses to fear again? Because you were pretty sure you were no better than a deer staring at oncoming headlights at the moment.
“Uhm hi.” You feel like your body is shaking, perhaps from adrenaline or maybe fear as you give the robotic man your best attempt at a smile.
It’s smile seems to falter for a moment before it begins to speak again, the faint song of calliopes sing from somewhere outside. “Don’t turn off the lights.”
“What?” You stare dumbfounded, if it wanted to kill your then this was a weird start.
“We will need it to continue our search, we are looking for someone very important!” He emphasizes the very as his voice bank seems to pitch and jump as he speaks.
He leans in close, very close, and if he had lungs at all to breathe you could image that his breath would ghost the cone of your ear.
His voice is serious and low, a contrast to his overwhelming friendliness only moments ago.
“Do not go far, we will need you next friend.” With his opposite hand he pulls something from behind your ear and it resonates in that same familiar sound you heard earlier. The fluttering of your singular tarot card.
You look at him then the card and with one quick motion, without even the need to turn back around, you slam the breaker lights off and run under his arm toward the exit. You are running faster than you really thought you could, skidding on turns as you try to catch yourself before slamming into a mirror. But you can hear it, a sound unlike human running, it is more of a skitter. The kind of sound that could only come out of a creature running on all fours and it is getting closer. You are almost to the exit and as you run straight ahead in the final stretch you notice something strange. The thing is right in front of the exit, but it is darker now. It looks like the moon like creature you saw earlier and it is running at you, a spider like creature made of machinery but with it in front of the exit also stands you running. In the last moment before you can comprehend what you are seeing you run head first into a whirlpool of shattered glass and reflections as you slam into a mirror. The creature follows suit and you are both taken to the fun house floor as glass lays around your collective sprawled out limbs.
Blood, you are bleeding from somewhere, but where. It’s suddenly cold in this room or perhaps it is you as your head is spinning. You try your best to get onto your elbows and sit up when the scalding hot pain in your right side reveals itself as a distorted piece of stretched glass embedded deep in your flesh. The moon like robot begins contorting its limbs as it goes to right itself beside you.
“Naughty naughty, you weren’t supposed to go first.” It’s voice is so much darker and coarse than the sun robot but it hasn’t lost that playful lilt if not a bit more mischievous.
As it speaks you try to open your bag, you do your best to shuffle through your belongings as if you are not covered in hundreds of little cuts along your hands and body. Your head is light and everything blurs at the edges as you tilt side to side, losing blood always made you feel faint. Let’s hope tonight you could stay awake a little longer.
It continues as it uncoils itself from its heap on the floor. “Wait your turn, then we can play nicely.” It laughed low and uncomfortable, something that grated up your spine.
You feel drunk as you hand finally makes contact with what you were looking for, your spell book, you flip through it. Your left hand holds your book against your hip as your right grasps your wound now soaking in blood.
Your hands almost drop the book from how they shake until you stop dead on a spell. It’s a shield of sorts, or better described as a cage. It is a blood pact and there is no better timing as the creature has finally stood to full height hunching over you. Speaking the words of the spell aloud in a slurred speech the letters on the page glow and a crackling in the air wraps around the robot as it begins to lunge at you. But it’s claws never make contact with your skin as you reach out and green it by the arm with your bloody hand.
The robot freezes, the book stops its glowing, everything is still, dark, you can’t even hear the calliope nor smell the dirt that coats the fun house floors. You did it, you successfully completed half of a blood pact with a creature that has no blood.
“You… you can not harm me.” You clear your throat to distract from your lack of breath. Not until the sunrises at least. Or in the very off chance this murder bot decides to be your best friend and complete the pact. Not likely.
It’s only response is a low, “Hmm.” As it’s claws recoiled and its pin red pupils zeroed in on your hand around its arm.
Ripping its arm from your grasp you hardly saw it’s blur as it lowered to the floor on its hands and feet and ran out of the room shattering mirrors as it went leaving a path of glass to the exit somewhere off in the dark.
“Fuck.” You breath out, and lower your gaze to your still bleeding wound. Tears begin to cloud your vision despite your efforts to stop it, this shift has become the very thing you’ve dreaded your entire life. A hunter is here, after you, and you are too hurt and drained of magic to even think of fighting.
It said something earlier, ‘wait your turn’, the implication that there may be something or someone else here just like you gave you some small sliver of hope. You pull yourself up to lean your back against a mirror, it’s sturdy and cold against your skin as you toss the spell book on the floor somewhere nearby, it won’t be very useful tonight, your magic is drained and so is your body. Exhaustion claws at your eyes as you rip the bottom of your company assigned polo and ball the strip in your hand. You can’t say you’ve ever had an injury this severe but it’s nauseating and feverish, you can’t think straight as the world spins. You place your hand on the shard of glass wrapping it in the balled fabric and you pull, hard, much harder than you expected as it tugs on your wound. At first there is nothing then molten hot pain and a full body chill takes over as the glass is removed and in only a moment the world becomes a pin hole where you can hardly see your hands fall to your sides. Then it is black.
Opening your eyes slowly they burn, the darkness in the tent has been replaced with a bright fluorescent white light that covers any shadow in the room. Trying to sit back up is a losing battle but you are able to prop yourself on your right side, there is still glass under you and the room is a wreck of fun house carnage. It looks the same as when you had lost consciousness but with one small change. The large yellow sun like jester is sitting cross legged in front of you and despite his wide smile he looks pissed. Head cocked to the side with his elbow leaning on his crossed legs he mindlessly plays with a piece of glass on the floor and yet it never breaks its line of sight.
“You.” You manage to gasp out, the corners of your vision still blurry.
He strains out, “Me!”
You look down before it can continue speaking and see something beyond unexpected. Your previously open wound is now haphazardly bandaged with what looks to be the same fabric as the fun house tent. “We seem to have gotten off on the wrong foot, friend!”
“Wrong foot?” It felt rude to point out that it was the one that started off on the wrong foot but it also threatened to turn you in or worse so you'll swallow your tongue for now. “What, what do you want?”
“We need you to find something for us. Use one of those silly little spells of yours to find it for us and we wont turn you in, sounds like a splendid deal for everyone right!” The tall jester robot began to fidget with its fingers, could a robot be anxious.
The robot man talks about this ‘thing’ like an object but you know better, you know where monsters land in their line of work. It must really want to find whatever this person is to team up with someone it so clearly hates. Looking at the robot in the light you can really take in its details, it wears a red and yellow jester uniform. Perfect for the carnival but it also has little details that are a clear give away of its hunter status, leather belts with holy water, a dagger, steaks, and even a hardly concealed pistol, that you can only imagine contains silver, looped around its slender waist.
“How long was I asleep?” you ask, finally sitting up as straight as you can manage.
“I don't see how thats-” he goes to speak but pauses “we have been searching for.. awhile, you were out for maybe three.”
Holy shit, three hours was insane, you had maybe three hours left till the sun rises and breaks your spell. You could help them quickly and get out of here if they are true to their word but there’s no guarantee that the sunny one won’t turn on you the second the deal is up. If you had the energy you could blood pact with him too but any magic at this point would probably knock you out for 48 hours. Maybe if-
“Hello?” You hadn’t noticed just how close he had gotten as you were staring off into space. His face was only a foot from yours and the white dots of his eyes were staring into your soul. You jolt up hard but try to quickly steel your gaze.
“Okay.” You try to swallow. “You two don’t try anything and I will help you.” Any bravado you tried to put on was easily seen through, you were shaking like a leaf. But if you were going to survive till morning you would have to give it your best effort.
“Good! But I expect you won’t try anything either.”
You try not to notice the way his hand moves closer to his hip as he says that. But you nod, you know he’s unaware you have no magic left and it’s best you keep it that way. Standing up is more of a hassle than you expected, you clutch your side and almost tumble back down with a wince as you catch yourself. It has a much easier time, bounding up like a spring and picking any dust off with a meticulous hand.
“Where is your friend?” You interject as it continues preening.
“He will join us..later.” As it speaks you can see its smile tighten. Though you wouldn’t complain if you never saw it again; crawling towards you like a horror movie and yet you were the one considered a monster.
“Okay.” You nod and lead the way to the exit, you can tell its following by the clicking of its face mask swaying back and forth and the continuous crunch of glass between its feet on its too long legs. You sway as you walk, the lights are searing into your mind like a hospital room and the pain is endlessly throbbing in your side. You need a distraction, as you leave the tent to the cool night air you speak up.
“What is it, the person we are looking for I mean?”
His head clicks then stops, almost like it was surprised you spoke first. “A bog monster, absolutely disgusting creature, very wet.” at that it smeared with an emphasis on ‘monster’ which you cant help but feel was deliberate.
“Have you cast your spell yet, you have hardly waved your hands around or chanted anything, you don't even have your magic book!”
“My book!” You half scream half yelp. Forgetting the pain all together you dash back up to the fun house entrance in the quickest hobble you can muster. “I need to go back and grab it, i need it!”
The tall man rocks back and forth on the balls of his feet in what seems to be excitement, you pray it is not at your misery, but you are only becoming increasingly worried.
“Its right here silly!” The robot pulls your bag from his back, his stature making it look like it belongs to a kid.
You go to reach for it but he pulls it up and away from your grasp, tutting at you.
“Now now remember our agreement before you go casting any spells from it, okay?” His eyes narrow at you but his arm does not lower even an inch. His rays spic expectantly.
You already promised him, what more could you say to him.
“Yes, I promise, now can I have my book.. and the bag, all of it?”
“I suppose that will do, here you are.” In a dramatic show he swings the bag around and in front of you placing it in your hand that's not currently clutching your side.
You both continue walking back in the direction away from the fun house entrance but you breathe out a quiet “Thank you.. Sun.” and you think he almost hears it with the brief pause in his step.
You cant really cast a locator spell right now but you can sense when magic is nearby and you can sure as hell sense magical beings. So it shouldn't be too hard to find whatever they are looking for as long as you really focus. Which is easier said than done with the fog around your brain from a nine hour shift, a glass shard to your gut, and two robots that are employed to kill people like you now enlisting your help. Despite it all you actually do sense something, its very faint and it seems to be coming from the swamp lands past the edge of the forest that surrounds the carnival. Its only as you near the edge of the forest that you finally turn around again.
“I think its only a little farther, whatever it is…” You gawk at the empty space as you look behind yourself. This might be equally, if not more, creepy than if the giant lanky jester was still standing behind you with that cheshire smile. You know what, to hell with all of this, this is the longest night of your life and if the clown wants to leave you out here alone in the middle of the night when you are trying to help it then you will simply go at it alone and warn the poor creature. You swing back around to the direction you were heading with as much energy as you could muster but the blood loss was making you feel very disoriented. Like you were riding a tea cup ride but you were standing still. When your vision decides to come back in to focus there is a smiling faces hardly an inch from yours, claws aimed towards your eyes but clench in and out with anticipation, it is the moon one again. You flinch back in your fear as your eyes widen and your foot folds beneath you. Sent plummeting through the entrance to a small ring toss booth and down to the dirt and grass floor.
“Its you again, oh my god!” You scream out despite your previous attempts to be brave. Here in front of you was a walking nightmare and it hates you.
The moon bot enters the small space behind you, standing tall and shrouded in the cover of the booth its black and red eyes are all the more apparent. It walks over to you, slowly, with purpose, as it runs its claws along the walls tearing into the many blue stuffed rabbits that line the walls as a cheap prize. You crawl back as quickly as you can on your elbows, trying not to make eye contact with the beast. The wood shelving of the booth hits your back and thats when you feel it, the moment you know that this is how you will die. At a minimum wage seasonal job alone in a dirty booth where a coworker will find you in the morning. It swipes at your face and you screw your eyes shut, everything goes still, too still. You peer one eye open and then the other. The moon robot just stares at his hand stretched out and aimed at your face. The blood pact! Oh thank god its not sunrise yet or your skin would be ribbons on the floor right now. You wince at the pain in your side, you dont know when the bleeding had stopped but it has definetly started again.
It looks up at you and glares, crouched down low and far too close, it can not harm you but it continues to try. Then it stills, you can hear the soft whir of its mechanisms as it looks at you then its eyes turn from an empty black with red pinpricks to a red with white pupils to match its counterpart. Slowly and carefully it reaches its claw out to touch your shoulder, you hold your breath with a sharp inhale as it softly places its hand on your shoulder. For the first moment tonight everything is calm then in an instant its claws turn inward towards your skin and a force shoots its hand out and away from you. It had tried to trick the blood pact, this robot was next level crazy!
The animatronic shot up and away from you, crying out in a mechanical yell, its eyes returning to black as it slashed at the walls, the floor, the cieling. Your mind is running on autopilot now, one person can only take so much, you have no magic left to defend yourself and you dont really want to test if this thing can actually trick your blood pact into breaking. So you climb the wall up to a standing position, pain shoots up your side and it is only getting worse, and that thing is blocking the exit. So in your blood loss fueled, delusion rattled mind you decide your next best course of action. Ever so slowly you pluck a blue bunny plush from the wall, toss it a ffew times up and down in your palm and right as you are about to baseball league throw the poor stuffie the moon turns around with its sharp teeth bared and ready for round two. But its too late, the bunny goes soaring, not so gracefully, through the air. It lands with a plonk against the animatronics disk like face and you both still in the darkness just staring at each other.
One clawed hand extends out to its side in the silence, not even a breeze breaks the lack of noise, and the creature plucks a rabbit from the wall. Crushing and uncrushing it in its large hand the poor thing looks like it is in a tiny cage made of metallic claws that catch on any low light. Then without any wind up the moon thing launches the bunny directly into your left eye. The hit connect, not technically harmful but you can already see the thoughts processing in its mischievous face.
“Oh no.”
You try to run past him but he is quick to nail you with another bunny stopping you in your tracks so you retaliate with a bunny of your own. This has quickly escalated from a nightmare to a very childish event and you arent too upset at this turn of events. At least you arent one of these poor blue bunnies. He throws another and misses as you successfully swoop around him to the exit door, you throw one last bunny hitting him in the chest plate as you dash out the door. Panting and clutching your knees you feel a little crazy that a smile has begun to infectiously grow on your face. Then comes the laughing, uncontrollable and breathless you have to clutch harder onto your knees as you belt out a laugh of sheer disbelief. Through tears of laughter in your eyes you look up through the window to the booth and it is dead quiet and dark.
“Moon man!’ You have to stop to laugh, this night is either getting worse or better and you really arent sure which at this point. “You can come on out, I think I won that fight!” You pant that last bit out, maybe to gloat a bit but youve earned it. Your laughter slowly dies out and the anxiety slowly creeps in again as nothing happens. The quiet song of the circus music is the only thing that floats through the silence.
“Hello-” You are knocked to the floor, your lower back bouncing off the dying Autumn grass. You can feel your heart in your throat and the wind knocked from your lungs. Laying atop of you is a large and very heavy stuffed bunny a little shorter than the size of yourself but perhaps wider. You cant help the pained groans that escape you as an eerie chuckle floats through the air accompanied by three soft small bells.
You gasp out hard when you finally regain your breath and shove the bunny off of you. Quickly glancing around it is clear that that celestial themed bastard is nowhere to be seen but you can still feel the presence of eyes on you, unsure of whom they may belong to. Getting back up to your feet you enter back into the now destroyed ring toss booth in hopes to find something to slow your bleeding. Successfully you find a small red first aid kit. Unsuccessfully it is only filled with kiddy stickers with prints of varying cars on the surface. Almost a total bust but you do take the alcohol wipes from inside to try and clean off some of the blood and dirt on your hands.
You continue your trek back into the woods as you walk they quickly become marshy, the ground is slick and soft and the shadows seem to dance in your vision. You take one large step into what you think is moss but what is quickly discovered to be a foot deep hole of water. The Fall chill is now only worsened by the shocking icy daggers now shooting into your leg. Attempts to unsheath your leg from the soggy earth is only met with more pull back downward. You pull your bag off and place it on the floor beside you then brace your hands on both sides of your body and push as hard as you can. Until the pressure on your stomach feels like it will tear you in half and you slump back down with a childish yell of frustration. Maybe you can force the two animatronics to come pull you out but you get a feeling the Moon one would just stare and laugh and you are pretty sure the Sun one was afraid of you. Pausing all thoughts you freeze in place. The presence that you had just spent the last hour or two looking for, has somehow crept up behind you, watching you. Your blood runs cold as a shiver rakes up your spine.
“Witch,” The presence spoke in a deep southern accent that rumbled the dirt where you sat. “Your a traitor to creatures like us.”
A large darkness shadows you as the creature stands tall behind you on all fours, how long had it been watching you?
“You are aware of the hunters?” Voice shaking you aren't able to speak above a whisper. The creature only hums in agreement as it circles to the front of you.
Its long figure and scaled green skin resemble that of an alligator but its dark red hair and torn clothes clearly give away its humanoid silhouette. This is the swamp monster the hunters were after, they are fierce for sure but just by the look of this thing you are sure it would crush the sun and moon bots like a pair of empty soda pop cans.
“Why? Why stay, you could have run?” God knows you wish you had.
Its long maw of jagged teeth opens close to your face as it goes to say something, you lean back as far as you can but you can still feel the condensation from its breath. The heels of your hands dig into the mud. But before it can speak a shot rings out through the night air. Its large body jolts to the side before standing on its hind legs and letting out a bellowing roar. Strings of saliva fall from its jaws as it rears back with claws spread. The moon animatronic stands a few yards away with a smoking pistol still aimed at the beast. It looks almost like the same pistol that the sun animatronic had. The alligator man charges at the jester and you take this moment to continue trying to pull your foot from the watery hole in the earth. The ice cold feeling is fading as you start to lose feeling in your leg, it’s almost feels warm now, comforting. Blood is now dripping from your polo shirt into the watery mud beneath you and you stop shaking. Everything is okay, you are just so tired.
Then another shot rings through the air and you are pulled back to reality, the alligator swings wildly with its large claws at the jester. It is clumsy but strong and the animatronic has no trouble avoiding its swipes. The moon fires another shot into the creatures chest as it lunges at his face plate. Stepping back to avoid the beasts wild lunge he slips in the slick mud, back crashing into the ground, his pistol flying into the boggy brush.
“It was a good try hunter.” The alligator rolls the words around as he climbs onto the hunter swinging with its large claws at the jester. The animatronic pulls out its silver dagger but its attempt to hold the beasts claws back are lacking at best.
You have one chance to help him, you can grab your spell book and cast one last trick to get the monster off of him. But in doing so you will not wake up by sunrise, left at the mercy of the two hunters. Inhaling one large breath of cold air you decide the devil you know is better than the devil you don’t. You reach out to your bag, stretching your wound you manage to grab on to it and pull out your spell book. The creatures roars and the animatronics slashing attempts urge you on quickly. You flip through the pages wildly in search of a spell, anything that will help. Then you stop, that’s the one, a spell that can put any organic creature to sleep. The beast is organic, or at least you hope, so you prepare your spell and begin to speak. The alligator immediately stops its slashing as he whips his head in your direction, followed only next by the moons eyes. Everything is still while you speak, the letters in your book fade in and out. You don’t have nearly enough magic, especially for a creature this large. Then it begins galloping towards you, tearing the earth where it’s hands and feet land. It is coming quick and your spell only has enough power to slow it somewhat.
That’s all you needed, as it comes to a stop in front of you, wobbling off kilter you see the red eyes of the animatronic rise begins it in the dark. Then with one hard slash to the creatures throat it goes down hard. Falling only inches from you, shuddering your look up at the animatronic. For the first time he isn’t smiling so menacingly, he almost seems tired. He looks at the beast and the blood that covers his hands then to you and that’s when the nausea takes over or body. Everything spins and the last thing you see is the animatronic quickly approaching you before the world goes black.
Around you everything is soft, you feel like you are floating. Reaching out in the darkness you grab whatever you can and it feels somewhat… bear shaped. Opening your eyes slowly you are in a boat, laying atop a hoard of stuffed animals. You shoot up right but are promptly stopped by your pulsing wound. It’s the boat ride you operate, well used to operate, you’ll return to your job when hell freezes over. Blinking slowly you see that your wound is actually cleaned up much better than last time and this situation feels all too familiar as you look up and see the moon animatronic sitting in front of you, crouched at the front of the boat. The sun is about to crest the horizon and you dread what happens next.
“So.” You since. “I guess that completes our deal.” You look at him unsure of what comes next and notice that he has three large cow marks drawn across his chassis.
He almost looks as terrible as you do, serves him right. But yet you can’t help but feel a little bad for the robotic moon man.
“I suppose it does.” He cackles quietly to himself as he stands up and slinks closer to you.
You don’t even have the energy to be afraid anymore, but dying in a pile of stuffed animals is a hell of a way to go. Wait.. did he put these here, like a makeshift bed, that’s actually kinda sweet, in a way. He reaches out a clawed hand in front of you and stops dead. You both lock eyes, unmoving. Then it clicks after a breath or two.
“Oh!” You say without even attempting to hide your surprise. You reach out and clutch his hand firmly. He shakes it up and down in two fluid motions, he was going for a handshake. He then pulls back and proceeds to wipe that same hand on his pants with a sneer. Rude.
He looks like he’s about to say something, looking at the floor clutching his hand in and out before looking at you with those glowing red eyes. But before he can speak the dawn breaks and you can feel your spell shatter. The morning sun is a nice warm touch on your dirt and blood covered skin after a night of Autumn chill but despite the peaceful atmosphere you hear a robotic scream. The animatronic is double over clutching its head, its claws grip into its silicone face only seconds away from piercing right through. The mechanical scream sounds like a microphone peaking in a dead silent room, it hurts to hear and it hurts to watch. His blue clothes quickly fade to a bright yellow and red, his cap becomes two lappets instead of three and sharp rays sprout from its face one by one like a windmill. Then he crashes to the floor on his hands and knees, his screams become a gentle electrical sizzle.
“…one body?” You whisper, this is a magic you doubt you could ever recreate, the magic of animatronic engineering.
He snaps his head to you over his shoulder, anger evident in his face, his hand flashing to his pistol for only an instant before relaxing. Righting himself into a sitting position he surprisingly gives you a smile. It is weak and pained but sincere. At least you think, after what the moon one pulled earlier you can never be too sure.
“Thank you..witch.” He says, and for the first time it doesn’t sound like a threat or fearful but kind. His damage is clearly weighing on him as you see his rigid form twitch every so often.
“You’re welcome, hunters.”
At that he laughs and you can’t help but join as the warm sun hits you both and the carnivals calliope plays from far away you think you might have finally lost your mind. Joining up with a hunter, you better get over time for this.
Some part of you even hopes after this you can join up with them again.