Welcome to the Dark Carnival

A home loomed before me. My tattered faded green pants ruffled in the gentle breeze while I pulled my beaten red sweatshirt closer to me. A crimson bag hung across my shoulders and padded against my legs as I approached the building. A friend of mine told me that a record label here, but from what I could see, it just looked like someone's home. I knocked on the door and was greeted by the sound of a dog barking and footsteps approaching the door. The door creaked open and I took a deep breath, trying to muster up some courage, and silently hoping my appearance wouldn't make them turn me away. Soon a man with clown makeup stood before me. "Can I help you?" he asked. I nervously shifted from foot to foot, trying not to look at the clown. "Uh yeah…I'm hear for the internship" I said. The clown raised a painted eyebrow before smiling. "Sure, come in" he said, turning around and walking away. My fear just grew more as I slowly walked in. I had never really liked clowns and being face to face with one, especially one as wicked looking as him made my fear worse.

"Just take a seat here and I'll go grab Rob and Alex" said the clown. Not knowing what to do, I just nodded and sat down in the chair. Suddenly a dog came bounding over to me and looked up at me. Smiling down at the dog, I started scratching behind it's ears. "I'm sorry about Hooch here" said a voice. Looking up, I cringed as I saw another wicked clown before me. "What?" he asked, catching the look on my face. "N-nothing" I muttered. The clown before me seemed to smirk and walked over to me. "J leave the girl alone" said Rob as he patted the guy now known as J on the back and smiled at me. "You must be the girl Shaggy here told us about" he said. The two men beside him smiled at me. "Who's Shaggy?" I asked quietly, growing more and more nervous being in the same room as the two clowns. "I am. I'm the guy who let you in" said Shaggy. I nodded slightly and Rob chuckled. "What are these two scaring you?" he asked me. That made me laugh a bit and I smiled. "I never was good with clowns and having two wicked looking ones certainly aren't helping" I said playfully before slipping back into my shy and quiet demeanor as the two clowns laughed.

"I'm Alex Abbiss" said Alex as he shook my hand. "Nice to meet you" I said. "So you're here for the internship?" he asked me. I nodded and at that moment, I felt sorrow well up in my heart. 'I'm so terribly dressed, they aren't going to really hire me' I thought in shame. "Why are you sad?" asked J as he came to stand beside me. "Look at me, I'm a mess. I have no money to buy better clothes, my home life is hell, I live in poverty" I said. Shaggy just chuckled as did the others. "All the more reason to hire you" said Alex. I picked my head up and stared at them in shock. "Are you serious?!" I said, not believing it. "You get the job. I mean you know better than anyone what the value of a work ethic is" said J. I smiled and hugged J, causing him to laugh. "Wow first you're afraid of me now you're hugging me" he said. I cringed as I looked as his face. "Once the makeup comes off I'll be fine" I whispers. "Why are you so afraid of clowns?" asked Shaggy. Thinking back to the past made me shudder. "I had a bad experience" I stated. Just being around Shaggy and J made me uncomfortable. Rob and Alex saw that before Alex ushered me out of the room. "Here, if you want you can go take a shower and get comfortable. You look like you're frozen. Don't worry, I'll send Rob to bring you back here" said Alex with a smile. I smiled a bit and nodded. "Where are we?" I asked. "My mom's basement. I'm sure she won't mind if you take a shower" said Alex as he took me to the bathroom.

Taking the towels from his hand, I walked into the bathroom and locked the door. The shower was warm and relaxing. Never in my life had I felt so relieved before. After the shower, I heard knocking on the door. "I have some clothes for you" said Rob from behind the door. I smiled and unlocked the door, standing back as he handed me clothes. "Thanks Rob" I said as I pulled the clothes on. "So Hannah, how old are you?" asked Rob as I opened the door. "I'm 20, I'll be 21 on March 13" I said to him. "Cool so you're my brother's age, just a month older" Rob said with a grin. "Oh really now? Remind me to bust on him for that" I said, smiling with a chuckle. We made it back to the group and I suppressed a shudder at Shaggy and J. "So what's my job?" I asked, crossing my arms across my chest and avoiding looking at Shaggy and J. "For the time being, you'll just have to organize the area and help promote us" said J. I nodded and sat cross legged on a chair. "Anything else?" I asked Rob and Alex.

"Well, not at the moment but we will let you know when more things become open" said Rob. "Thanks" I said before noticing the time. Jumping up, I grabbed my clothes and shoved them into my bag. "Something up?" asked Shaggy. "I need to get home" I said rather panicked and took off without another word. My frantic footsteps thundered down the street as I tried to run home. I had to make it home before my mother came home as I had promised to make ramen for her after she came home from her shift at the local grocery store that paid little money. Once I stormed through the door, I had to jump over random objects littering the floor just to get to the kitchen. I slid across the floor and hurriedly put a cup of noodles into the microwave for my mom. "I'm home" she said tiredly as she walked into the house. "Hey mom" I said cheerfully. "You seem to be in a good mood" said my mom as she sat down. "Yeah because I got a job at a new record label!" I said. My mother's eyes widened as she jumped up to hug me. "Honey that's great!" she said. "I know, I'm starting work tomorrow" I said. I could hardly wait to work with them…except I didn't want to see the dreaded clown makeup again.