Hello

The Second Scare

"What are we going to do?" My breath comes out in short, choppy breaths. 

"Just stay calm, for now," Austin says, caressing my arm with the tip of his finger. I nod, still petrified. The shadow props form a circle around Austin and me. 

"Hello," they all say. I freak out a little and emit a squeak. Then a fourth shadow comes around the corner and joins the circle. It didn't look like a shadow prop. 

"Poor stragglers, left all alone?" It says. "Perfect." It started to reach for me, and I hear Austin mumbling something about stepping up his game. He grabs my arm and pulls me through a space in between the clowns' shadows. A sear of pain shots through my hip and face and everything goes black. 

Something cold was on my face, sending stabs of pain through me, so I force my eyes open to see who was doing it. I am startled to see Austin, leaning over me, dabbing a wet cloth on my face so much so that I jump and slap the cloth out of his hand. A throbbing pain was pounding in my hip. My face only stings a little. I look around me and notice that everything is covered in blood. 

"Oh, I've gotten blood everywhere," I say. Looking at Austin's sweatshirt, I see blood there, too. "Did you get hurt too?"

He gives a small smile. "Na, this was all your doing." Gingerly touching my side, I lay back down and look at Austin. 

"You have beautiful eyes, Sage," He says. 

"I can do weird things with them, too. Want to see?" I ask. He almost looks skeptical for a second, then a smile plays on his lips. 

"What harm could that do to me?" He says. "Not much, hit me with your best shot, honey."

 I tell my eyes to show me my happiest moment. I don't know how I do it, but it gets a lot of compliments from where I'm from. Austin stares for a few seconds before he jerks back, breathing hard. 
"Wha-" He says, obviously appalled. 

"What did you see?" I urge him. He takes a few deep breaths before answering. "I-I saw people, more like shadows. They were hugging and laughing. H-how did you do it?" 

"I told you, some eyes are magical," I say. "But mine are just special. What you just saw was my happiest moment." I close my eyes, feeling dizzy. "I can also show the ocean."

"Show me."

I tell my eyes to show me the ocean. Austin stares for longer this time, then exhales hot breath. 

"This is magnificent, Kennedy!" I just smile mysteriously in reply. I feel heat rising to my cheeks and before I even have time to register what was happening, I find Austin kissing me. The only thing that my mind can come up with is how mentally confused I must be. To be kissing someone in the middle of a clown attack. I fight back, though. At least enjoy the moment, Kennedy! BAM! The door blasts open and Austin and I leap apart. This time there was no shadow, no, this was a full out clown. Its face was just so ugly that I could help but scrunch my face up in disgust. It almost looked like a gremlin, gross. 

"Enjoy the cuts," he hisses'. "They're poisonous!" The clown looks and sounds strangely familiar, but I'm too scared to think properly. 

Surprise number one, the clown leaves the doorway. Surprise two, he picks up the door and puts it back into place. 

"I'll make a bed on the floor," I suggest. I get up, but then I sit back down. I lost a lot of blood. 

"Ha, you're funny. Those darn clowns interrupted something twice, and I think that we deserve better." A smile plasters on his face, and his eyes twinkle in the dim light. Oh, what the heck, I think. What could go wrong? And so, it lasts about a full two seconds before we are lurched off the bed by something underneath.