Yn's POV
It had been 30 minutes since Joey played the harp, and nothing happened. We were all just sitting around it. I was trying to keep my calm. I wanted to bring back a person more than anyone else, so I just hoped that the person in mind comes back. And then suddenly there was a knock at the door. I was thinking that it was going to be a person, but no. It was just a briefcase.
Joey brought it inside and placed it on the table. "I know who that belonged to" Mortimer said. "It was some dead beat insurance salesman." "How do you know" Joey asked. "He lived in the town." We opened up the briefcase and came across some drawings. Then, there was some weird whooshing noise. That's when I looked up and saw Matt.
I was the first one out of my seat. I ran towards him and engulfed him in a hug. "Oh my god" I say and start to cry. "You're back." I felt Matt wrap his arms around me and hug back. God I've missed his hugs. "Aww" I heard Manny say. "I wish I had that sort of friendship with someone." I lead Matt over to a couch where he sat down.
I'm in shock. Joey and Safiya brought back Matt. I mean, that's who I wanted them to bring back, but I didn't think the harp would actually work.
Matt then hugged everyone in the group and then me again. "I missed you so much" I say and wipe the tears from my face. "I missed you too" Matt responded. "You guys are literally the definition of best friend goals" Manny spoke. "And you're going to make me cry." "Matt, we were able to bring one person back, and we chose you" Joey said. "You chose me" Matt said. We sat down again and that's when I remembered I still had his badge. I took it off of my pants and handed it to him. "You kept this" he asked. I nodded. "Of course I did."
"Now, there's one thing I need to know" Joey said. "What happened when you died?" "Well, I saw the church. And there was a blonde woman and an Asian man standing in front of it. They said that one of us had been to that church before." That meant that Joey was telling the truth about him dying. So that means that we do need Joey to survive the night.
"I don't mean to cut this short for you" Nikita said. "But we just got more clues and we need your help now more than ever." She picked up a piece of paper from the table. "Tell my story to let the fun begin." On the piece of paper, it showed a circle, and there were numbers all around it. Something about the circle felt familiar. And that's when it clicked.
"That picture looks like that" I say and point to a symbol on the wall. So we figured out that we had to put the pictures in order of how they happened. And these pictures were weird. I was not drawing stuff like this when I was a kid. "They all have W's on them" Ro said. "Mortimer, what did you say the guy's name was" Joey asked. "Willie" Mortimer responded.
We started tacking the pictures onto the wall in the order that we thought they went in. We had him being born, his parents fighting, him peeing himself, being bullied at school, going off to war, getting married, getting into fights with his wife, leaving his wife, making a deal with the devil, and then him going mad. So once all of the pictures are up, a box opens up and inside is a red button. Manny picks it up and pushes it. Then all of the lights shut off leaving us in the dark.
I was usually not afraid of the dark, but Everlock had creatures every way we turned, so that kind of made me a bit scared enough to grab whoever's hand was next to mine.
Suddenly, a purple glow emitted from the ceiling causing it to not be super dark. I ended up holding Ro's hand. Apparently, she's afraid of the dark. A box opened on the other side of the room. "It's a flashlight" Joey said and picked it up. "Guys, we haven't looked at the map yet" Safiya said. We all gathered around the map and took a look at what was new. The newest addition was a fun house. "The fun house is open for business. Bloody business" I read out.
Joey turned around with the flashlight, and we saw some words written on the wall. "Travel symbol to symbol starting with the swirl." And then there was an arrow that was leading us somewhere. The word follow was written on top of it, and the second o in the word was actually a 0. So basically, when we get to a symbol, we have to find it's match somewhere in the room and follow it to the next symbol, and it goes on until we have 4 numbers. I went back and looked at the words we found. "Follow grave instructions literally" I say. "We need to find a grave."
Everyone starts looking around for a grave, and Joey spots one on a poster. "It says RIP" Joey said. "Rip the poster off of the wall" Matt said. "Follow the grave instructions literally and rip the poster off of the wall." Behind it is a litter square hole in the wall. The lights turned back on and Safiya started putting the the combination using the 4 numbers we found. That small square opened up even bigger, and inside was the next artifact.
"The Psychedelic Swirl warps and distorts the souls of all who stare into it. To cleanse this wicked artifact, you must brave the rooms of the fun house. You'll need a ticket to enter, but don't plan on making it back out" Safiya read. Next to the artifact were these tickets, and there were enough for all of us, excluding Mortimer and Calliope.
Matt took the artifact from the hole and placed it onto the table. "It looks like we need 3 bulbs to complete the wheel" he said. "We'll take you guys to the entrance" Mortimer said. "Let's go." So I immediately walk next to Matt and grab his hand. Friends need to stick together at this point. And that's when we come across the fun house. It's this really creepy building with a cat face on it. The cat has swirly eyes and it's really scary. Then Willie walks out. But it's not normal Willie, this one has 4 personalities.
"A few rules before you suffer" he said. Then his head turned and we facing a happy faced Willie. "At the end of the hall is an elevator. You want to enter in one at a time or..." He switched personalities again. "Or I'll rip your guts out with a fish hook."
So this personality thing is kind of weird. One moment he is happy, and the next he wants to kill us all. And I'm just like, pick one personality and stick to it. You changing all the time is giving me a headache.
"The elevator will spew you into a room which you must solve quickly" Willie said. "Every few minutes, I will spin the dial of disaster, and whatever room it lands on, I will enter and take one of you back as punishment. Now, a red light may flash from time to time, and when you're in the room, you must get into the elevator within 5 seconds. Let's have some horrible fun. Tickets please."
We all handed him our tickets and walked to the entrance of the fun house. "Wish me luck guys" Matt said. He stepped into the elevator and was gone from my sight. Minutes later, I stepped in. The elevator started spinning making me a bit dizzy. I stopped in front of the candy room. There were balloons everywhere. I climbed through them and saw Matt by this box of candy. "Hey" I say. "What are we supposed to do in here?"
He waved me over and started to read a note. "That wretched woman hid all 5 of my treats. Put them back where they belong." So Matt and I pick up a needle and start popping balloons. Safiya comes in next and then minutes later, Ro joins us. We begin popping balloons trying to find the candy. After popping a lot of the balloons, we finally find all of the candies and put them in what we think is the right spot.
The candies were all placed, and a chest opened. The first thing I saw was a clue which Matt picked up. "Carnival Master corrupted one of you" he read. We also had a key, an encyclopedia, and these weird peppermint things. Then suddenly, I hear Willie, and he's entering our room. There is literally no where to hide, so when he comes in, he grabs Matt.
We use the key on the box and it opens up to reveal a puzzle. "This was one of my favorite pieces until my wife smashed it." So there were a few peppermints with different colors on them, and we had to put the rest of the peppermints in the correct place. Then, out of nowhere again, Willie comes into our room. I'm closest to him, so he nabs me.
I'm taken back through the elevator and the entrance to the fun house, and then lead to the back where I'm put in this cage. The good thing was that I had Matt to keep me company.
"There's no way out" Matt said. "I've tried everything." I sighed and slid down the fence wall. "I'm so happy that you're back" I say. "When you were gone, I just wasn't myself." "Yeah. Joey told me that you were drinking whiskey. How'd that turn out?" I laughed. "I would have gotten drunk off my ass if we didn't have to keep moving forward." Just then, Willie came back and threw Nikita in here with us. "Have a nice time guys. Coffee will be served later" Willie said and began to walk away. "What if I don't like coffee" I yell after him. He ignored me and disappeared around the corner.
Minutes later, Joey was thrown in. And then later, Manny. And then suddenly, Ro and Safiya come around the corner. "How do we get you out of there" Safiya asked. "We need a key" I say. "Did you guys get anything?" "We just have a note." "What does it say" Joey asked. "We have to choose 2 of you guys to under take the final challenge" Ro said. "We are going to choose as wisely as we can. But we have to get back to the lounge" Safiya said. And then they were gone.
So they had to choose between me, Matt, Manny, Joey, and Nikita for which 2 of us go into the challenge. And I'm just hoping that I don't get chosen.
Minutes later, Willie comes around the corner. "Your friends that are safe chose you 2 in the middle" he said and pointed to Manny and Nikita. "To enter the fun house one last time. Now the rest of you, scram." I made my way past Willie along with Joey and Matt and we headed back to the lounge. Inside, Ro and Safiya were sitting on the couches. I gave them both a hug. "Thank you for not choosing us" I say. "I know that it was probably a tough decision."
So while we're waiting in the lounge, Matt shares the note we found earlier with Joey about the Carnival Master corrupting one of us. I was worried about Manny and Nikita. I loved them both. Everyone that survived this far deserved to be here. And none of us deserved to die. Suddenly, Willie enters the room with a freaking fish hook on a pole.
"Oh my god" Joey said. "What is he doing here?" We all back up against the back wall. Willie waltzes up, and then stabs Safiya in the side with a fish hook. She falls to the floor and Willie leaves. "Safiya" I say and collapse onto the floor next to her. I felt for a pulse in her wrist, and then her neck, but I couldn't find one. "She's dead" I say and stand up. And that's when Manny and Nikita entered the room.
"What happened" Manny asked when he saw Safiya's body. "Why is she dead" Joey asked. "Willie told us that the winner of the challenge, whoever voted us in, they were going to die" Nikita said. "You don't have to say it with such attitude" Matt said. "I think she deserved it" Manny said. "Safiya died" Matt yelled at Nikita. I pulled him back to keep him from doing something he might regret.
"Listen" Nikita said. "She voted for me to die, and she got what she deserved. Now that being said, we have the last light bulb. So let's cleanse this artifact." Nikita placed the last light bulb into the Swirl and placed it with the other artifacts. "Alright" I say. "Let's find the next artifact."