Del was waiting under the neon-lit entrance of the midway when Anna and her friends arrived. He held strands of pre-purchased ride tickets that stuck out like dried, yellow stems. Scout stood just behind him, with his back against the archway and his legs spread wide.
“So, where do you want to start?” Del asked.
“This is all new to me. Go ahead and lead the way,” Anna said.
They drifted through the entrance, flowing along with a procession of young families, curious farmers, and packs of roaming teens. Del and Anna took the lead, already lost in their own conversation, while the others followed paces behind. Scout bounced from foot to foot trying to maneuver to the front but was blocked at every turn by slow walkers and a flotilla of baby strollers.
“Hey, when did this become a thing?” Scout caught up to Fiona and Lula and nodded in Anna’s direction.
“You mean Anna and Del?” Lula asked.
“Yeah.”
“I think we’re watching it happen real time,” Fiona said.
“I know. Isn’t it romantic?” Lula said.
“No. Not really,” Scout shook his head. “Seriously, I don’t get it.”
As they wandered aimlessly through the midway, wasting tickets on the rides with the shortest lines, the color of the evening sky transitioned from a golden haze to a deep plum. Anna looked up and saw the first sprinkling of stars. She had been up there, really up there, just hours ago and missed the quiet of space already. Something about the cacophony of sounds in this place, the screams and shouts, and the whirr of speeding rides felt unreal. Time seemed disjointed and splintered. And, for a moment, Anna wished she had just stayed home with Mara after all.
Colored lights flashed from every surface and lit their faces in a succession of neon hues as they walked along. Anna looked over at Del, his tan face almost bone-white in the harsh glare of the Whacky Shack, his head crowned by the lights of the Ferris wheel in the distance. He had said something, but she didn’t hear it. Something in that light had made her uneasy.
“Are you ok?” Del had to raise his voice above the wooden clacking of the roller coaster. “I thought I lost you for a second.”
“No, I’m ok. It’s just hard to hear,” Anna smiled back. But she wasn’t okay, and she couldn’t understand why. The last few moments with Mara had thrown her off, and a sense of unease had followed her home and to the midway and was only getting worse as the evening progressed.
“Want to go someplace else?”
“No. Maybe I just need something to eat,” Anna said.
The five followed the smell of fried grease and funnel cakes, as the off-key organ from the merry-go-round clashed with the music blasting from tinny speakers overhead.
The rides along the midway, all variations on a spinning motion, some fast, some slow, some in perfect circles and others in jarring whipsaw trajectories, seemed to be building up a field of kinetic energy that Anna could feel in her bones. Her skin itched like static electricity.
“See that ride there? The Claw? I don’t recommend eating before you get on that thing,” Del said.
“Excuse me?” Anna asked, distracted.
Scout had caught up again and stuck his head over their shoulders
“Yeah, the Claw, affectionately known as the vomit comet. Questionable safety record, but definitely the best ride on the midway,” Scout said. “That is, unless you’re afraid to go on it, Armstrong?”
Anna looked down at Scout. At that moment, she wanted nothing more than to throw her friend over her shoulder and rocket him through the sky in a series of barrel rolls to let him experience a real vomit comet firsthand. Amateur.
“How would you know, Scout?” Fiona said. “You can’t even meet the height requirement.”
Scout shoved Fiona, who shoved back harder in return, back and forth, escalating all the way to the concession stand, where Scout finally conceded defeat and rubbed his sore shoulder. The five settled on corn dogs and fries and ate as they walked toward the arcade, their fingers sticky with dripping mustard and no napkins in sight. As they turned the corner, they walked straight into a row of arcade booths covered in candy-striped awnings, and a gauntlet of carnival barkers shouting out at any passerby within striking distance. Del stopped at the milk bottle toss and wiped his hands on his legs.
“You want me to win this for you?” Del asked. He nodded toward one of the faded, stuffed prizes that hung on the back wall.
Anna looked directly at Del for a moment. She knew he meant no harm, but she was irritated. The too-bright lights and the constant electric buzz of the midway had set her on edge.
“How about this? How about I win it for myself?” Anna said and plopped down three wrinkled dollar bills on the counter.
The barker swooped up the dollar bills with one hand and laid down three large softballs in return.
“Three! Three chances to knock down the bottles. Just step right up,” the barker shouted out to no one in particular.
“Forget it, Anna. These games are rigged,” Scout said.
The barker leaned over toward Scout.
“Why don’t you let the little lady make that decision for herself.”
Anna picked up one of the softballs and tossed it up and down in her hand, estimating the weight and drag, and resisting the urge to throw it at the barker’s head.
“No. He’s right,” Anna said as she forced eye contact with the barker. “You’re cheating. These balls are corked. I can tell. And the bottle on the bottom right. It’s jutting out by almost an inch so it can absorb most of the force.”
The barker was used to confrontations, but he seemed to be taken aback by this young girl’s fierce gaze.
“Sorry, Einstein. No refunds,” the barker said quietly as he looked away.
“No refund needed,” Anna said.
She focused in on a spot no more than a quarter inch in size just between the two bottles on the bottom. She factored in the weight of the ball and the required force, then pulled back her arm and whipped it forward using her entire body for leverage. The softball hit with a dull thud, as the lead bottles not only toppled but exploded off the entire base.
Anna’s friends cheered in unison and clapped her on the back, as Scout pounded the counter and jumped up and down like a monkey. But something was wrong. She couldn’t hear anything. Not her friends’ voices or the sounds of the crowds. Nothing but a deep buzzing sound, like stray magnetic waves around a transformer box. The sound seemed to come from inside her head, blocking out all other sounds in the midway. Anna shook her head and thought her iCom must be malfunctioning. The buzzing was louder now, and had shifted to a different point of origin, just across the alley near the entrance to the Hall of Mirrors. Anna turned as if in a dream and looked past her friends. There in the shadows that marked the entrance, a bone-white face appeared to float in midair. It stared straight ahead with deep-set holes for eyes and opened its mouth in a silent scream.
Anna blinked and the buzzing stopped.
Like the rush of air into a vacuum, the sounds of her friends and the midway returned, and the bone-white face was now replaced by the tired look of a middle-aged father escorting his two small kids out of the Hall of Mirrors. Only seconds had passed, but it had felt like minutes.
“Hey kid! You want the jalapeño or not,” the barker held out the fluorescent green prize at arm’s length.
“No, keep it,” Anna said quietly.
“Anna?” Del asked. “Are you sure you’re ok?”
“Yeah, I just think it’s the noise,” Anna said, as she rubbed the sides of her temples. “Maybe I’ll take you up on your offer to go someplace else.”
“How about the Ferris wheel? It’s pretty quiet at the top. Want to try that?” Del asked.
“Sounds good to me,” Scout said as he put his arm around Del and Anna. “I call outside seat.”
Fiona grabbed Scout by the collar and yanked him back with a tug.
“Did you not see the sign? No third wheels on any ride,” Fiona looked down at Scout. “Maybe we can get some drinks while they’re gone. What do you say, Scout? Your treat.”
“And no rush, you two. Take your time,” Lula gave an exaggerated wink, as Fiona dragged Scout, still protesting, toward the concession area behind her.
Anna glanced back at the shadowed entrance of the Hall of Mirrors. Nothing. Those raw-boned figures were real, she knew it, and somehow had followed her from her dreams and across the universe, to finally here. Del placed his hand against Anna’s back and she jumped.
“Sorry. I just . . .” Del said, embarrassed. “You first.”
He returned his hand to Anna’s back and guided her toward the Ferris wheel. She could feel the weight and heat of his hand, so foreign, and it took a sustained effort to not just turn around and fly away. The two walked in silence through the crowds toward the towering lights of the Ferris wheel.
Del handed the ride operator a handful of tickets and let him know they’d be staying on for multiple rides. The operator, a recent high school grad not much older than they were, nodded with a knowing glance and waved them into the seats of the swinging bucket.
“Hey, it’s not like that,” Del protested.
“Sure, kid.”
The two stepped into the open bucket, pulled back the restraining bar, and leaned into the seat, their shoulders touching.
The Ferris wheel started with a jolt and the sound of metal gears clicking into place. As they ascended into the night air, the sounds below receded just a bit, enough to allow Anna to finally catch her breath.
“I’m sorry if I’ve been a little out of it tonight. It’s been a super long day,” Anna said. She looked straight out into the neighboring field, its tall grass glowing in the artificial light of the midway.
“No, you’re great. I was just afraid . . .” Del paused.
“Of what?”
“Of, well. I gotta be honest with you, Anna. You kind of scare me,” Del said.
“Me? Scare you?” Anna pointed to herself then chuckled, as if tonight couldn’t get any stranger. “Geez, I sound like Tarzan.”
“That’s what I mean. Right there,” Del turned to face her for the first time. “Your brain just works faster than mine. You’re funny and smart. You throw like a dude. No offense. And you’re the prettiest girl in—”
“You can stop now,” Anna cut him off sharply. She could now add awkward and uncomfortable to the night’s growing list of dysfunctions.
“No, I mean it,” Del said.
“You’re serious, aren’t you?” Anna asked.
“Yeah. I’m serious,” Del smiled. “I like you, Anna.”
Anna turned and looked at Del. Any other night, this would have been magic. The lights of the midway in a haze behind them. The warm evening breeze. She tried to block out the ghost image from before and focus on this moment, and this boy who sat next to her with his nervous expression and too bright smile. She reached her hand out for his, then stopped.
The sounds of the midway began to fade behind her and were replaced by a deep hum she felt in her chest. No, not again. Lights flickered and dimmed.
Out in the neighboring field, three bone-white figures moved in the tall grasses toward the Ferris wheel, toward Anna. Their movements erratic, disjointed, and in odd, sharp angles. Their eyes now spinning suns that lit up the ground beneath them.
The lead figure stopped at the edge of the field, a short distance from the foot of the Ferris wheel and looked up toward Anna. She sat frozen in the blinding light, her hand still hanging in midair. She and Del were at the peak of the Ferris wheel and moving slowly downward in an arc toward the waiting figure. Its gaze patiently tracked her motion as she descended. The creature took a step forward, its feet now on asphalt, but its body still behind the barrier like a parent waiting for their child to finish the ride.
Anna snapped out of her daze and looked around. No one else seemed to notice, not Del whose mouth hung open, or the teenage operator who stood within striking distance of the alien figures. The ride stopped with a lurch, and Anna frantically pushed back the restraining bar, just as the creature took another step forward and passed straight through the barrier, its pace now quickening.
She was already in full sprint and weaving through the crowds when she heard Del cry out from behind her.
“Anna! Wait!”
“Nice going, Romeo,” the ride operator snickered behind him.
Anna didn’t look back as she ran toward the edge of the midway, away from Del and the lights and the ghost-like figures from her dreams. She activated her iCom and didn’t care what people thought as she began yelling into her wrist.
“Mara! Can you hear me?”
Silence.
“Please, Mara!”
Anna weaved her way through the crowds and made it to the relative darkness just outside the edges of the midway. She activated her cloaking device and allowed herself one last glance back. The figures were gone. But she could hear Del calling out for her in the distance, his voice rising above the din. She would have to tell him something. Just not now. The only thing that mattered now was to get to Mara as fast as she could. She looked back in the direction of home and took several long strides before floating up and out, swallowed by the night sky.