Yn's POV
"Have you guys noticed that all girls have been killed" Lele said. I nodded. "Yeah. Why haven't the guys been killed off yet?" "There's a lady killer on the loose" Sierra said. "Look" Matt said. "We've got to stick together for now. We can't have more people killed. We just need one more artifact and then we can go home."
"Was there anything upstairs that can help us out" Oli asked. Joey nodded and pulled out a carnival ticket. "On the back it says round and round the room we go" Joey said. We all started looking for things around the room. I just looked under this lamp and there was a note. "Guys" I say. "I found something. It says the carnival is coming to town. Follow your nose to the show." And then suddenly it starts to smell like oranges.
So we are all looking around for the source of this smell. Joey gets up on this ladder and points out this box that we can't see from the ground. Oli pulls it out and the smell of oranges gets super strong. Oli set the box on the table so we could all get a look at it. It was just a drop box. "Drop your ticket in there" Eva said. Joey put the ticket into the box and it opened. Inside are these 2 clown masks and a note.
"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" Lele reads out. Arthur comes in and hands me a piece of paper. "You seem to have forgotten this" he said. Before I could read the letter, Oli points out another note on the box. "The Guardian is awake. There is a melody that will summon the ring leader. His whip and wit has the power to subdue the monster. The first key to unlocking the horse waits in the river that flows to the sky on the back of the estate."
"What does that say" Sierra asked and pointed to the note. "The two wearing the clown masks will be invisible to the Guardian and should search for clues. The rest of you must hide from the Guardian past the grass line on the back of the estate. Every five minutes a gong will sound and one of the masked guests must run to the exchange circle and place the mask on another guest. The Guardian patrols the grass-covered area. If everyone is captured, the guardian wins and the artifacts will be recovered by that house and you will be back to the beginning" I read aloud.
"Marvin has informed me that the guardian is coming" Arthur said and handed us each a flashlight. "We need to move now." Then there's a banging on the window behind us and we all turn around. This huge monster thing is standing there and I'm terrified. We all run out back and enter the safe zone. The guardian is close behind and is patrolling the grass.
We sent out Eva and Sierra first. "What's our plan" Joey said. "Who here is good at riddles?" I raised my hand. "Usually I am. But this riddle doesn't make much sense." A gong went off and that meant that 2 people had to go and take the masks. Tim went to try and distract the guardian but slipped and fell causing him to get captured.
Joey and Lele got the masks and Sierra and Eva came back to the safe zone. Joey shouts that he found a key and the gong goes off again. Lele runs back and gives the mask to Oli. "I'll go next" I say. When Joey comes back, I take off in a run to try and reach the circle, but the guardian cuts me off. "Get back here" Matt yelled. I turn around and jump to reach the safe zone. All of my body crosses the border except for one of my feet. The guardian touches my boot and suddenly everything around me is black. For a few minutes, I can't see anything. Then a strange music hits my ears.
My surroundings come back to me and I hit the floor with a thud. I was now on the back porch with Tim and Matt who must have been captured after me. The ringmaster and his assistant are standing there along with the monster who looks ashamed of himself. I run back over to the group and I'm engulfed in a hug by Oli. "I thought we lost you" he mumbled before letting me go.
"I think a celebration is in order" the ringmaster said. "For the return of our beloved, my esteemed guests. I ask you to join me in the evening of the thrilling bizarre, of the carnival. Follow me."
All I'm thinking is that this can't be right. Something about this is weird. If we're going to a carnival, then it probably won't be a pleasant one.
So the ringmaster leads us to this carnival which is on the side of the house. A bearded woman takes our ticket before sending us on our way. We enter this circus tent and immediately I spot the artifact. "Look" I say and point it out to everyone. "We need that" Eva said to the ringmaster. "That artifact is my greatest treasure. It took me a very long time to get it. But I'll make you a deal. If you find me 2 participants to be in my show, I will give it to you."
We split off into our groups to discuss and this time it's girls against guys. The girls and I discuss who we want to vote for and I decide to vote for Tim. He was the first one to get captured and he hasn't done a challenge yet. Sierra agrees with me and says she'll vote for him too. Lele and Eva decide to vote for Matt. I walked up and wrote Tim's name on the paper and then sit back down. Arthur shuffles the votes inside like usual and picks out a name.
"Oli" Arthur said. That was probably the biggest shocker of the night. Oli has been doing the most work and he found a lot of the clues. Arthur then picks another name out of the hat. "Yn" he reads a loud. "I want to know who voted for Oli and I" I say. "Because out of all of us, we've been doing the most work." No one answers my question, but I see Sierra smile a little and that's when I know that she voted for me.
The ringmaster has up stand up and face everyone and I realize that there is also a small crowd watching us. "Now, you can't perform in these clothes" the ringmaster said. "Vita, take them to get changed." Vita, a.k.a the assistant, took Oli and I to the back where we had to put on these mime outfits. We had black pants, a white and black striped shirt, black suspenders, black shoes, and a black beret to put on. Then we are lead back to face the crowd.
The audience not including our friends boo at us and that gets me pissed. So the ringmaster tells us that we'll be competing in 3 events. First the strong man feat, then juggling, and finally a tightrope walk. The first event I already know that I'm going to lose. If you compare Oli and I based on muscle size, then he'll win by a long shot.
Oli stepped up and took the mallet. He gave it a swing and it went about halfway up before falling down. "One more try" the ringmaster said. Oli swung again and this time managed to hit the bell on the top. Now it was my turn. I grabbed the mallet and gave it a swing. I got to about the halfway point. One more try I think to myself. I gave the mallet another swing, but still don't hit the bell. The crowd begins to boo louder.
I turned around and hefted the mallet onto my shoulder. "The next event" I say loudly. "Is Yn bashing in every member of the audience's head if they don't be quiet." The audience stopped their booing so I dropped the mallet. Next was juggling. I had no clue how to juggle. I sort of hoped Oli didn't either.
Oli went first and failed miserably. Then it was my turn. I got the first two balls up but the third one messed everything up and my balls fell to the floor. No one won that round. And then it was the tightrope. Oli tried it but couldn't take a few steps without falling. Now I had to go.
I prayed that I could tie this up. I had really bad balance. And I was afraid of heights. The tightrope wasn't that high off the ground so it wasn't that bad, but it still made me a bit dizzy. I climbed up onto the platform and took my first step. I held my hands out on either side of me and took deep breaths as I walked. It took about a minute, but I was finally able to make it to the other side.
Then the ringmaster said that since there is a tie, it's up to audience to decide who wins. We get put into these dunk tanks which the ringmaster said are filled with piranhas. All I can think about is that I'm going to die. The audience likes Oli better because he didn't threaten them. So when the ringmaster points to me, and then Oli, I'm not surprised when it sounded like they booed less for him.
At this point, I feel like this is how I'm going to die.
And then the ringmaster said that we should both go in the tanks. Suddenly, the platform under me drops and I fall into cold water. I can hear my friends screaming and I'm thinking that they can see the piranhas coming after us. I can't since I had my eyes closed. But I don't feel anything. I surface above the water and wipe the water from my eyes before looking down. There were no piranhas in here with me.
I climbed out of the tank and Vita gave me a towel. Oli ran over and engulfed me in a hug. "I thought that you were going to die" he said. "And it would have been all my fault." "No it wouldn't Oli. You performed better than I did and-" I couldn't finish my sentence because his lips were suddenly pressed onto mine. I hadn't known Oli long, but we've put our lives in each others hands. I trusted him completely. I kissed him back but it wasn't long before our friends pulled us apart. "Come on" Lele said. "We've got the artifact."
We all headed inside and placed the last artifact onto the mantle. We finally had the 4 artifacts. The people who died can now rest in peace because we have a way out. We all looked at each other. "What do we do now" Joey asked.