Escape the Night (S1): "It All Comes Crashing Down"

Freak Show: Part 3

"Is this it?"

It is.

"The carnival is coming to town! Follow your nose to the show!" Lele reads off. 

"Wait." Joey wrinkles his nose. "I. Smell. Something" he said sniffing between words. 

Eva sniffs too.

 "It smells like oranges."

It does smell like oranges. Which is strange, considering were in the parlor and that smell wasn't there before. Maybe it's some sort of weird perfume someones wearing.

Joey sniffs me ann Sierra.

"It's not us, Joey!" She yells. He looks shocked. 

"Oh." 

Follow your nose...ok?

I see Eva sniff around the first floor, trying to sense the location of the orange smell. Honestly, i'm surprised i can smell anything at all. See my sense of smell has never been my strong suit—eye sight maybe, but the scent is strong enough to permeate even my loser nostrils. Finding it, however, proves hard.

"It just smells bad in here," Sierra complains.

 "Not like oranges." she adds. 

"Yeah, it doesn't smell like oranges in here," Joey agrees nodding his head. 

"Guys!" Oli seems unusually agitated. Looking at all of us pointedly, he adds. 

"There are, like, fifteen to twenty orange trees outside...are you sure we have to find it inside?" he groans. seeing the group has already moved on to the next room, there, the scent is stronger, and Eva has a look on her face that seems she's pretty sure she's almost found it...whatever "it" happens to be.

Joey fiddles with the globe. 

"Oranges are in Florida. Maybe they're on the map? On Florida?" 

"Orange chicken! Chinese food! Maybe look at China!" Tim shouts excitedly. Oli sighs and rolls his eyes. Honestly nice try, Timothy. At least Oli's calmed down a bit, though his  eyes are still darting across the room like an anxious dog looking for food. 

"Guys," he says, sniffing at the air, "this smells a lot like oranges right now..." he trails off, looking around. Joey's now standing on a small stepladder, scanning the area behind the cabinet.

 "There's oranges over here. I don't know if it has anything to do with—" he starts but Matt interrupts. 

"Does it have a symbol?" Matt asks.

"Oh fiddlesticks! Look it! It's a box!" he points yelling enthusiastically. 

AAANNNNNDDDDD Bingo.

Oli grabs the box and carries it back to the parlor. We all follow, examining our next clue, the smell of oranges practically overpowering my poor nose.

"How did we not see that this entire time?" Matt mutters to no one in particular.

"Probably because we're idiots" Eva's exhaustedly replies to him.

Oli moves the box on the floor, and Lele kneels down on the carpet to figure out what the hell is going on. So we've got a box. Whoop-de-frickin'-do. But how is this thing going to help them fight the Guardian, or even find him?

"So we have the marking here," says Oli, pointing to the Society Against Evil symbol that's etched onto the side of the box. That symbol's a staple of the house now, but i'm still annoyed every time i see it. Probably because it brings back too many bad memories.

"Does it open?" Sierra asks.

"What if it's, like, a box for tickets?"

Well it looks like one, it's brown, medium-sized, and it's got the little ticket slot on top. 

I guess we're sticking with the circus theme, then. carry on.

"Oooh!" Tim claps his hands together like a four-year-old. 

"Put the ticket in there!" he points. Joey takes out the ADMIT ONE ticket and drops it into the box. The lid swings open, revealing two clown masks and a note. I jump back accidentally hitting Matt. Moments later, before i can get away the second roar hits our ears. Joey screams grabbing Eva. So does Sierra. Even Tim looks scared. Matt's eyes are squeezed shut. 

"That is terrifying." i sadly look at him, he may be an ass but were all scared here, so i decide to be the bigger person and i put my hand on his shoulder in a comforting gesture, he looks at me confused.

"Truce?" i ask.

"Truce." he replies smiling, patting my hand, that's still on his shoulder. 

The group then takes out 2 clown masks, passing them around like this is the world's creepiest game of Hot Potato. Lele grabs the note and reads it aloud.

"Now you see me, now you don't. Time is not forever. Time runs out. Your share is only one-sixth of an hour, not a moment longer." Okay. Never mind. This shit just got even weirder. Arthur shows up out of nowhere, as always, carrying another note. 

"It appears that you've also left this," he says, handing the note to a bewildered-looking Eva.Sierra's voice is loud and fades to a whisper. 

"What...what is that?" she asks hiding behind Tim. 

"Oh, no," groans Eva.

"Wait." Joey points to yet another note etched onto the side of the box. How they didn't notice that before?

 "What's that, what's that, what's that, what's that?" Tim asks repeatedly. Immasmack him.

"The Guardian is awake. Its rage can tear asunder both tree and mountain. There is a melody that is played when horses run in a circle that will summon the Ring Leader and his cursed carnival. His whip and wit have the power to subdue the monster. The first key to unlocking the horses waits in the river that flows to the sky on the back of the estate grounds." Oli reads off. More monsters. More riddles. Another chance to die.

Oh, fuck.