5 The Clumsy Girl

Back at the haunted house, Daniel eyes were fixed to the pale figure of his sister that was currently making a mess of the bathroom floor. Every time Alex would appear she would leave a trail of water wherever she was standing, and it was always Daniel who would have to clean it all up. He could still clearly remember the weird looks that some of the orderlies at New Hope would give him when they found him in the morning laying in a huge puddle of water.

Even now Daniel still didn't know how he should feel about all of this. Should he be happy to see his sister again, or should he feel sad at the constant reminder of what he used to have. One thing was for sure, every time Daniel saw his sister in that state he would feel pain as if someone had taken a knife and stabbed at his heart multiple times.

"I got a job," perhaps trying to ease the awkwardness, Daniel nervously tried telling his sister about his day.

What am I doing with my life? I'm talking to what may be the ghost of my sister in the mirror at midnight. However before Daniel could continue, Alex eyes narrowed slightly as her lips curved upwards.

Is she smiling? Does that mean she's happy for me?

Feeling conflicted, Daniel just stood there staring at her without saying anything, and before long she faded away as though she was never there. At this point Daniel was just standing before the mirror, staring dumbly at the spot where his sister stood before she left, however all that was left was a puddle of water in the floor.

I really don't know what to do. I feel better knowing I'm not crazy, but things used to be much simpler back then. Now that I know it's her, am I supposed to help her move on like in the movies, or is this what my life is going to become now? Haunted by the ghost of his own sister, what a joke.

Deciding that it was best to get some sleep, Daniel headed back to bed, and with all that happened to him today it didn't take long before he fell asleep. However, from the corner of the room white airy threads gathered together to form a silhouette. The silhouette was almost see-through, and if one didn't look too closely it would've been impossible to spot it from a distance. It slowly inched closer to the bed and the closer it got the more threads it gathered. Slowly but surely the shadow was closing the distance between it and the bed, however just before it reached the edge of the bed the sound of water echoed from the bathroom. As quickly as it came in, the shadow disappeared from the room and the room was quiet once again.

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Daniel didn't wake up until it was almost 1 pm, however for the first time in ages he felt refreshed. If it wasn't because he had a job to do and very limited time to do it, Daniel would've gone back to bed and slept the rest of the day. He could've sworn that he hasn't slept this well since the accident happened. Hopping out of bed and leaving the staff room, Daniel was once again greeted by the mess that was the haunted house. There was dust everywhere, a few props out of place and broken down and it smelled like a cat had died and gone to heaven.

The staff break room was directly to the left of the entrance and it was connected by a long hallway ran from one end of the haunted house to the other. In the middle of the hall there was lame purple door that led deeper into the house while on the far right there was another door that read 'Staff Only'. Daniel had seen this door when he first came in, but he was too tired back then to pay attention to it, and deciding that it was time to familiarize himself with the haunted house, he walked down the hallway and opened the door.

Inside the room, Daniel spotted an assortment of boxes laying across all corners of the room; some on top of one another and others sitting on some shelves connected to the wall. This must be the storage room. Daniel walked up to one box and opened it to take a look, and inside he found a gloomy dark-purple robe that has clearly seen some better days. Pushing the robe aside, Daniel found more clothes most of which were torn and a couple of scary masks, thought they were clearly made by an amateur.

Pushing that box aside, Daniel grabbed another one and inside he found a couple of fingers, arms and even heads, none of which were real of course. The box was filled with spare parts for mannequins of different size and they looked fairly good until he looked at them closely and realized that no two parts were the same size. Each finger and each arm was a different length and when he tried assembling a mannequin, all he could make was a mismatch of a human being. The head was too big for the torso and one arm was much wider than the other, there was even a foot that was missing one toe.

I'm done for. These mannequins were all clearly bought from different places and no two parts will fit any mannequin. How the hell am I supposed to put together a haunted house in one week when I've got literally nothing. At this rate the only thing scary about this haunted house will be just how bad it is.

Realizing just how hopeless the situation was, Daniel decided to met the manager of the park first and ask for some help. Daniel put the box back and went to lock up before he left to go meet up with the owner.

Once outside, Daniel looked up to see parents walking by with their kids and couples holding hands as they enjoyed their dates, overall it was a happy picture all around.

That's right I live in an amusement park now. This is going to take some getting used to.

It was only during moments like these that Daniel would remember the situation that he was in, but he didn't have time for that right now. He must meet up with the park manager first, and so Daniel walked past the crowd of people and arrived at the a tiny booth located at the front of the park. The booth was small but big enough to fit two people comfortable, and hanging on the roof there was a sign that read "Got any Questions?"

As he approached the booth Daniel couldn't help but playfully say "I have a question."

The lady working at the booth looked over and hearing what he gave him a friendly smile. "Hello sir, welcome to Dreamfair, how can I help you today?" It was clear that she thought he was a visitor as she gave him this rather polite response, then again he just came in yesterday around 9 pm which is usually closing time, so more likely than not nobody here knows that he works there just yet.

"Actually I'm not a guest, see my name is Daniel Moore and I just took over the haunted house, I was just wondering where the manager is?"

"Oh, you're looking for the boss, well he should be on break right now but you might find him in the Spaceburger joint that's just inside the food plaza."

Before Daniel could thank her, there was a loud crash that came from behind her. The lady working at the front desk looked helpless as she turned around to face her coworker who was looking downwards as she trembled nervously.

"This girl, what did you break again," it seemed as though this happened rather often as the lady who greeted Daniel picked up the broom that was standing just an arm's distance from her and swept up the broken shards of what used to be a coffee mug in a rather casual manner.

"This... I'm so sorry, I was just feeling thirsty so I grabbed the mug, but then my finger slipped and before I knew it the mug hit the floor and then broke into little pieces." The girl nervously backed up and tried to huddle closer to the corner, but her elbow knocked into a picture frame and once again the sound of broken glass rung out in the little shack. Daniel felt as though he could see a vein popping out the forehead of the first woman as she prepared to scold the other girl rather harshly.

Deciding that it was none of his business, Daniel left the scene of the crime as he walked over in the direction of the food plaza. Once he arrived, Daniel once again asked the cashier where the manager was, and without any mishaps they kindly pointed him to a lone man dressed in a fancy business suit sitting by himself on a corner booth.

Daniel nervously approached the middle aged man enjoying his burger, as he thought up of ways to convince him that the task that they gave him was just impossible for a fresh high school graduate. He looked at the man, who in one second could turn Daniel into a homeless man, and aside from his receding hairline the man was rather average, if anything the man looked rather friendly.

"E-e-excuse me sir," announcing his presence, Daniel stuttered as he stood next to the park manager and nervously awaited for his response.