“Don’t remove the masks,” the woman called after us just as the gate slid shut and locked.
Her warning barely registered. I was too awestruck by everything at once. Nearly all my senses were heavily assaulted. Music was playing from different games and somewhere off in the distance an announcer spoke as if he was doing an auction.
There was a decent sized crowd of people going every which way. The thing that threw me off the most was that not all of them were wearing any kind of facial covering, walking around like this was an everyday amusement park.
The two men hanging upside down and having darts thrown at them would probably disagree with that sentiment.
“Stay close together,” Mel advised, stepping forward to lead the way.
We formed a chain, walking in a horizontal line so that we could keep an eye on each other. The further we walked the more visually twisted the carnival became.
A sign flashing Brazen Bull was a few feet ahead of us on the right. Behind a makeshift fence was an actual replica of a bull. Bronze in color with bars going across its midsection. Inside were three people begging to be let out.
Beneath the bulls stomach a fire had been lit, slowly roasting these people alive. I tore my gaze away from them and focused on moving forward. There were so many masked figures passing on either side it was hard to tell who was playing what side of the field.
They—the ones orchestrating this whole thing--had to of done this on purpose, creating confusion amongst those of us stuck here. I could guarantee those working under these people responsible for this fucked up place were aware of who their comrades were and weren’t.
A purple and white tent on the left further ahead had techno music playing from inside it. As a masked man exited, I was able to get a look inside. People were openly fucking on a raised dais. A woman was blindfolded down on all fours. One man gripped her hips, and another fisted her hair.
As the flap shut, her moans of pleasure were vividly discernable.
“What is the point of this place?” Mel asked.
“Better to find out why we needed to come here at all.” I put my hands on my hips and took a better looked around. There were only a few people watching us. Everyone else continued with what they were doing, caught up in their own struggles for survival.
“Do we keep walking around then?” Grace openly questioned.
“That seems to be the best course of action for now,” Mel responded.
I nodded, agreeing without words. I mean, what else could we do? After a little while the smell of corn dogs and funnel cakes had my stomach growling for the first time since I’d arrived at this place.
From the corner of my eye, I caught a flash of a familiar figure and my skin prickled with a sudden awareness.
He was standing statue still and staring at us as the crowd parted and flowed around him.
No, he wasn’t staring at us.
He was staring at me.
I stopped walking which caused the others to do the same. Grace and Mel caught on right away, following my line of sight. Mel didn’t ask who it was, but I’m sure she had an educated guess.
“What’s going on?” Dion asked, moving closer to me.
I couldn’t see Ciaran’s eyes, but without a doubt he tracked the motion. His head tilting confirmed he was watching us. Honestly, I didn’t particularly care how he felt about it because I wasn’t sure how I felt about him. Slowly, he turned and started walking away.
“Who is that?” Dion asked, catching on to what we were all looking at.
“The person we need to follow.”
Not willing to waste time seeing who agreed or disagreed with me, I started to do just that, making sure they kept pace and we didn’t get separated.
“And why are we following this person?” Dion asked.
“He knows something,” Grace responded, her tone not giving anything away.
“Something like what?” Dion prodded.
None of us replied, too busy trying not to lose sight of our target. Ciaran bobbed and weaved through the crowd. I swear he was purposely slowing, then speeding up whenever we got remotely close. By remotely, I mean in full view of the back of his hooded head. We were never in body touching proximity.
Wherever he was going, it had the announcer’s voice amplifying. Signs for a Diablos Round-up attached to an arena styled fence began appearing every few feet.
A little way behind the fencing was livestock chutes. But there weren’t any animals inside of them, just groups of mostly terrified people. Through the gaps in-between slabs of wood, I was able to make out that nearly all those being held captive were in masks.
I didn’t spare a thought for what was going to happen to them until we were being ushered into those very chutes. Laser focused on Ciaran; it wasn’t until he vanished into an eccentrically dressed crowd that I realized we’d walked right into a trap. There were more masked pandas separating and dividing people. Some were forced to the right while others had no choice but to go left. In a few seconds, the same would be done to us.