Welcome to the Dark Carnival

J and I walked back to Alex's place with the eerie silence still in place. "So, you uh…wanna tell me why you're so afraid of clowns?" asked J. 'I had a feeling this question would come up' I thought as I shook my head. "Fine, I'll tell you" I said quietly. J was about to smirk when I glared at him. "Don't tell the others though. It's something I will get along to on my own" I said. J nodded and I scratched the back of my head. "Well, it all started back when I was 6" I started off as I tried to not shudder at the memories that came rushing back to me.

"See the pretty balloons Hannah?" asked my mom as she smiled down at me. She had taken me to the carnival so that I could experience it at least once in my life. What I didn't know, was that she spent all the money she got from work to take me here. "They're so pretty mom" I said as I watched all the kids run around with smiles and I reached up to get a balloon. A white clothed hand appeared in my line of sight and my eyes trailed passed the hand and up to the smirking visage of the clown before me. His eyes were grinning in a way that both intrigued me but also told me to stay as far away as possible. "Here you go young one" said the clown as he handed me a balloon. My mother ushered me away from the clown and I turned to find the clown waving at me with a sinister painted smile.

That was just the beginning. Shortly after leaving the carnival, news reports started pouring in that an escapee from jail was running around dressed as…you guessed it, a clown. The reports said the man was highly dangerous and was a murderer as well as a convicted pedophile. My mother didn't let me out of her sight after that. No matter where she went, I went with her. I guess you could say she was paranoid, but for good reason. I wish I could say that it was enough, that I was kept safe, but it wasn't. You see, that night I had a terrible nightmare, one involving the clown from the carnival. I woke up drenched in my sweat, calling out for my mother before a hand clamped down on my mouth. The light switched on and I saw the carnival clown on top of my, on top of me, with an evil smirk. He placed his finger over his lips, signaling for me to be quiet and then brandished a knife.

I panicked and started thrashing, which infuriated him and he hit me, then cut me with his knife. Blood was everywhere and he didn't care, he was just smirking. I remember fearing for my life that night. Then the clown did what I never thought he would do, or more like…I had prayed that he wouldn't. His hand started to wander until it was under my pajama bottoms, touching me in a place that I felt repulsed by. When he let go of my mouth, I took that time to scream for my mom. The clown glared at me and my mother ran in, a knife in her hands. She was defending me from the evil clown. He took off and my mother cleaned my wounds before calling 9-1-1.

"And I've been afraid of clowns ever since" I said. J just starred ahead and if you looked at his face closely, you'd see that his jaw was clenched tightly. "What happened to the clown?" he asked through gritted teeth. "He was soon found and arrested. My mother spent whatever money she had to get me therapy. Even after all the therapy, I couldn't look at clowns anymore" I said softly. I hadn't been aware that I was crying until J placed a hand on my cheek and wiped my tears with his thumb. "It's over with. You don't have to worry about that anymore. You have me, Shaggs, Alex, and Rob to look out for you and protect you" he said as he pulled me close to him. Though I only knew J for a short time, I felt like I could trust him so I smiled at him. "You promise?" I asked. J pulled away and stared me straight in the eye, and for once, I didn't shudder at his makeup. "I swear on my hatchet" he said. I laughed and jumped on his back, causing him to be surprised. "Since when are you like this?" he asked. "I trust you" I said before yawning. "Hey go to sleep. You had a long and terrible night" said J as he patted me on the head.

When I opened my eyes, I saw that I was in Alex's house. "Morning sleeping beauty" said Shaggy as he smiled at me from behind the makeup. "Morning Shaggs" I said as I yawned and curled up closer to the pillow I was laying on. "Aw isn't that cute" said Rob as he walked into the room with a smirk. "What are you talking about? I sleeping on a pillow" I said. "Oh yeah sure, if you count Violent J as a pillow than yeah you are" said Alex as he grinned. My eyes widened and I looked up to find J asleep with his makeup on. I scrambled to get out of his grasp but that only caused him to pull me closer to him. Everyone was laughing but something told me it was a hollow laugh. "J, did you tell them?" I asked him softly. J hung his head, guilty of repeating the nights events to his friends. I sighed and ran a hand through my bed hair. "So then…you know" I said. "Why didn't you tell us before? Had we known we wouldn't have put the makeup on" said Shaggy as he sat down. "I didn't want to become a burden. I'm going to have to get used to it, as I need to work here" I said.

Alex turned on the TV to find the news was being reported. "Around 7 o clock last night a man brutally murdered a woman. She was home alone when he barged in and started stabbing her all while laughing maniacally. Sources say that the woman who died was Barbara Walters, mother of Hannah Walters. The sources also say that the man who murdered her was none other than Fred Walters, Hannah's father and Barbara's husband who was in jail for theft, murder, and arson. Hannah was seen on the scene along with a wicked clown looking man and seemed distraught at the sight. Many condolences to Hannah for her loss" said the news anchor before Rob shut off the TV and everyone's gaze was on me. "Hannah…" was all Alex could say before my sobs stopped him. "That bastard stole my mother from me. She was hoping to see me go to college, get an education and get out of this hell hole we lived in. Now she won't see any of that! What makes everything worse was that the news anchor didn't give two shits what happened! It was just news that needed to be reported" I said, shocking everyone by swearing.

It was silent for an hour after that while J held me, trying to calm me down. Shaggy had gotten up and ordered pizza then handed me a bottle of Faygo, hoping it would help. "My mother…she isn't going to be around for my birthday" I muttered. "That's tomorrow, isn't it?" asked Rob. I nodded and took a sip of my Faygo, while J rubbed my back. Alex got up and headed upstairs and then moment's later he came down. "Hannah, my mother said it would be alright if you stayed here. She knows that you have nowhere else to go and doesn’t mind having you here" said Alex. I slowly started to smile but it faded slowly after. "Hannah, we know that you will never forget her, but when your ready, please try to be happy" said Shaggy as he ruffled my hair and then everyone laid down. "We'll be here for you" said Alex as he yawned. "It's morning and you guys are sleepy?" I asked quietly. "We were up all night" said J as he laid me down again. I looked up at him and he smiled softly at me before I yawned. "See, you're tired too. Get some sleep" he said as I closed my eyes. "Alright" I muttered before everything went black.