Chapter 2: State Fair

Aubrey couldn't contain her excitement. She jumped and pranced around the kitchen.

"Hey, get up there and get dressed already!" Mack said attempting to match her level of excitement.

"Dad! I just can't believe its tonight!" She said as she left the kitchen and up the stairs.

"Melissa..." Mack said, making absolute sure Aubrey was out of earshot.

"I saw something really... weird outside of Johns office today." Mack said, he felt a sense of regret even bringing this up.

"Okay? What did you see?" Melissa said.

"I saw a man... he didn't have a face... but then.. he did." Mack was squinting his eyes and looking off, feeling as if he was a mad man.

"Mack. First off, a guy with no face? Really? Second off, you have been stressed, like you are every winter. Things are gonna be a little weird and a struggle, but we get through it every time. Now get upstairs and get dressed before we are late! And don't forget to wear your FACE." She said with a joking jab.

Mack couldn't help but return a smile. He walked up the stairs and he could hear Aubrey talking to herself. But assumed it was her way of letting out the excitement a little. Mack had reached his closet and began his attempt to find a shirt that wasn't ruined from working on the ranch. He had finally found his favorite long sleeve red plaid shirt and some pants with a little red stain on it, but no holes. He got dressed, brushed his teeth and was about to leave the room.

When he got to the hallway, all the lights were off. "Girls?" He asked. Then it appeared. A thing at the end of the dark hallway. It was hunched over, taller than Melissa and Aubrey. Mack stared in absolute horror. It walked towards him. Increasing its speed each step. Claws skittered against the wall and tore at the wallpaper. It was feet away and Mack still stood, stunned in place. Unable to do anything about the ensuing monster. Then the lights turned on and Mack saw the creature in all its horrifying details. It was a yellowish skinned creature, no face. Its muscles were the only thing giving this creature any kind of detail. It whispered to Mack. "You are our favorite, that's why we save you for last." Then the beast had vanished just as fast as it had appeared. Mack let out a loud desperate yell.

Aubrey came running out of her room and saw her dad crouched onto the floor with fear stricken eyes. Aubrey shouted "Mom! Mom!". Melissa came running upstairs.

"Oh my god! What happened Mack?!" She shouted.

Mack just sat there a second and looked up at them.

"Aubrey, go warm up the truck. We will be right down, your dad is a little stressed." Melissa said without escaping her glare towards Mack.

Aubrey nodded and went downstairs at a seemingly slow pace as if listening. When the front door shut behind Aubrey, Melissa began to speak.

"Babe, you need to relax. Things are going to be okay. Honestly, and I mean it, do you need to see a doctor? Talk about this?"

Mack just stared. Nodded slightly and rose to his feet.

They both met Aubrey in the truck and Mack put it into gear and drove off the ranch.

"Sorry about that Aubrey. I tripped over my own foot and thought I was going to be sick." Mack said in the most unrealistic tone.

She just smiled. The whole truck ride was Aubrey and Melissa discussing which ride they were going to go on first. The radio continued to blare static in the truck. Mack focused on it and he felt like he could hear something behind the static, but out of fear of his recent delusions, ignored it.

They arrived into town and it was a completely different place than it had been hours ago. Sun was just over the mountains and the town had been decorated in spirit of the State fair. They found a parking spot only a block away from the fair grounds. Melissa and Aubrey held hands and skipped ahead of Mack. Mack walked close behind with his hands in his coat pockets. His thoughts still whirled. "What the fuck was that thing?" He kept thinking. He caught a glimpse of the fair in a reflection of one of the butchers shop windows and it's as if he saw the fair 'glitch' in the reflection. Mack knew he needed some mental help for whatever was happening.

The fair was packed. Kids ran around with cotton candy and shouting at one another. "I wanna do this ride!" "I get to ride with you guys too!". Carnival music blared loudly across the center square, and even the Holmes hotel had lights furnished around it, giving it a bright glow. There were carousels, a massive ferris wheel, and the ultimate favorite, anti gravity spaceship ride.

The music stopped momentarily and static blared so loudly that Mack had to cover his ears. But, no one else seemed to notice. The music resumed and everyone was still dancing around enjoying themselves. Mack looked around and noticed John standing talking to a group of guys. From a distance Mack noticed everyone in his group. You had Jack, the town butcher. Jeffrey, the pizza owner. Ted, the pizza delivery guy. Holmes, the one guy who runs the fair every year and has his big hotel in the back all lit up. Mack walked over and started to think of conversation openers. He always felt awkward walking into a group of guys, considering he knew all of them. Ted was the only one that he knew did other stuff on the side to help people like deliver pizza or help John, but other than that, nothing.

"Mack! You son of a bitch, 'bout time you got here." John said.

"Yeah sorry, had a bit of a power outage." Mack said.

"Well, thank you for coming, it has been an honor." Holmes said. Holmes phone began to ring, and he answered it. "Really, right now? Okay fine, I am on my way." He hung up. "Work calls, good thing it's only twenty feet away and I haven't had too many choro's right?" Holmes said causing the whole group to half laugh.

We all stood as the group of dads at an awkward event that only I had kids at. I would randomly ditch them to find Melissa and Aubrey having the time of their lives, running from one event to the next as if the entire thing was gonna stop and end in a moments notice.

"So, word is, Harold, was poisoned." Ted said.

"Wait, how do you know that?" Mack asked.

"He the damn towns Psychologist Mack, what do you mean?" John said with a laugh.

"Wait, what? I thought you just did odd jobs here and there?" Mack replied

"Nah man, I do that stuff for free. Apparently this town is more normal than I thought when I opened my offices here on Bundy street." Ted said.

The rest of the group continued on with the typical, weather and work conversations. Jack claimed business slowed down, and considering Mack was the only real rancher in town, it wasn't a surprise.

Mack was glancing around and saw Aubrey and Melissa enjoying some cotton candy. He continued looking around and just stared at the hotel for a brief moment. Then some lights started flickering off and on. Then splat. Something was splashed up against the window on the top floor.

"What the hell is that?" Mack asked the group but nobody paid him any attention. Mack began walking towards the hotel. He glanced once back at Aubrey and Melissa and noticed they were about to board the anti gravity ride and paid no more attention to them. He entered the hotel lobby and was greeted by Marie at the front desk.

"Mack, hey again!" Marie said

"Marie? What are you doing here?" Mack asked

"Just working my second job, college debt am I right?" She said with a very wide smile.

"Hey, you mind if I talk to Holmes real quick?" Mack asked

"Oh I am sorry, he's currently handling a dispute on the top floor. The age of this hotel can sometimes cause a bit of an issue with occupants. Especially ones from out of town." Marie said, still holding her great big smile.

"Oh, okay. No worries. You got a restroom?"

"Yes sir, over there around the corner by the the stair way." Marie said without even breaking eye contact.

Mack began walking and when he got out of sight of Marie, he opened the door to the stairway and started a very fast pace up the stairs. Laugh could be heard more clearly as he got closer to the top floor. He opened the stairway at the top and the hallway reeked of something very foul. The hallway looked as though it should have been condemned. The wallpaper was peeling, there were holes in the walls. None of the rooms even had doors on them. Mack began walking down the hallway and noticed one room with a light flickering on and off. Once he reached the doorway, the laughs filled his ears. He peered inside the room and noticed what looked like blood pooled in the room. It was splattered against the walls, the window Mack had seen and even on the ceiling. He slowly crept into the room and noticed two people at the end of the room putting something in the closet. Everything in Macks body told him to run as far as he could, but something was also pulling his curiosity closer.

He had stepped on a broken lightbulb on the floor which followed with a loud crack. Both of the people that were in the closet turned around. Neither of them had a face. They screeched so loud that Mack fell backwards into the pool of blood. He opened his eyes and the faceless beings were gone. Mack slowly walked to the closet and looked inside. He could see nothing. Then all of a sudden, the light in the closet beamed on and he could see a hole in the back of the closet leading straight down. The light had caught the perfect angle and could see down it, Holmes. His body was mangled, folding and shoved down this chute. Mack stared in absolute horror. He ran back out of the closet and slipped on the blood and banged his head hard against the floor. He was knocked unconscious.