Liar, Liar, the Mage's Desire Vol. 2 (The Oumeno Strikes Back)

The Creepy Carnival (Prologue)

    It was the middle of the night. Himiko was sleeping fitfully due to the uncomfortable, sticky heat of the midsummer's wrath. Other than her occasional tossing and turning, it was quiet. Too quiet. Dead quiet. Across the room, Tenko was silent, which Himiko found very odd considering that Tenko always snored when she was asleep. Himiko wondered if it was because of the unrelenting heat. She wanted to call out to Tenko, but she was too nervous given that their bedroom window was open to at least let in some fresh air. For some reason, she was afraid that someone was outside and would hear her. She was afraid of being discovered and possibly being...

   No! She didn't want to think about the rest. She shook her head to clear her thoughts and laid her head back down onto her pillow. She told herself over and over that she was being silly, and forced herself to go to sleep. She then shut her eyes. As soon as she did, however, she heard a peculiar, faint tinkling sound, the sound of a little jingle bell. Her eyes shot wide open, but she laid still, afraid to move.

   "Himiko..." a voice floated to her in a raspy whisper. Himiko gasped and turned to face her window. The voice sounded like it was coming from outside. She didn't dare move. She swallowed hard with fear, hoping that whatever she heard was just a dream.

   "I know you're there...Himiko," the voice whispered again. Himiko's mouth went dry. Her hands began to tremble as she held on to her blanket. 

   "Look out...the window...Himiko," the voice whispered for the last time. Himiko gulped. Why would she do that? She didn't want to know who was calling out to her. She just wanted them to go away. To her surprise, she found herself gingerly stepping out from underneath her blanket, as if the voice was pulling her towards the window against her will. Gasping with shaky, silent breaths, Himiko peeked out of the window. She could only see 7th Island House across the lawn. As she craned her neck towards the street, however, she saw something that made her heart skip a beat. There, standing in the middle of the street, was a dark figure that Himiko could vaguely identify as a clown. With the help of the streetlights, there was no mistaking the massive clown shoes, the clown hat, the ruffled collar, and the baggy suit. Himiko felt like crying. One thing she suffered from was coulrophobia, the fear of clowns. She wanted to tear herself away from the window, but she just couldn't. 

    As if enjoying watching her suffer, the clown tilted its head and, with his hand, gave her a small wave. Himiko could see two glowing orbs appear, which she guessed were its eyes. Underneath its eyes, a large, glowing, sinister smile spread across its face. The clown then let out out a fit of wheezing laughter that became louder and manic. The streetlights flickered, and for a second, went completely dark. When they came back on, the clown was gone, but his laughter still echoed through the night, bearing itself into Himiko's heart and soul. Filled with cold fear and dread, she shut her window tightly and jumped back into bed, the laughter still ringing in her ears. She closed her eyes and forced herself to go to sleep. Finally, after hours of struggling, she fell into a deep slumber.