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Branzy was having a great night, which obviously meant something was about to go wrong.
He was out with his friends Rek and Chief for a Halloween event, and they had gone to a theme park, playing the carnival games and hitting the park rides. Comparing against a checklist, they were ticking places off the map. Branzy could hear them discussing where to go next, but he was still so dizzy from the spinning teacups, he could barely walk straight, let alone think of a route.
Smoke curled along the walkways while actors in all sorts of costumes roamed the streets scaring kids and taking photos. Branzy had even seen a man with a chainsaw running through the crowd and gleefully chasing people around. He was tempted to apply for that role next Halloween.
“How about,” Chief’s lips curled into a smile, “that haunted house?”
Looking over to where Chief was pointing, Branzy shuddered. Thick smoke snaked through the air as dark mist swirled around the house. With a giant maniacal clown face tottering on top of it, it was no surprise that there were not many people in queue. Its protruding eyes leered at him no matter where he was, and its lips were twisted open in a painful grin, as if laughing at the terrified screams from inside its gut. Branzy could almost hear it cackling hysterically, issuing a challenge to all who passed by. The mask had caught his gaze and would not let go, and he could feel the spirit of the house grinning at them. Thunder rumbled through the sky as they stared at it. Branzy frowned. It wasn’t even cloudy.
“Oh no. Oh no no no.”
“C’mon Branzy, where’s your Halloween spirit? It’ll be fun!” Rek waggled his eyebrows, taking him by the elbow. Chief took his other elbow and he was towed between them, marched towards the mask.
“You know what guys, you go ahead without me. I’ll just stay here until you get back!” he suggested. They took no notice and continued to drag him along.
“The queue’s good too! It was longer just now. We’ve got to take advantage of this!” Of course Chief would find something good out of this. Chief and Rek stood behind him in line, not giving him a chance to escape. All the while, they slowly approached the entrance.
The clown face mocked him all the more, laughing at his discomfort and what was to come.
“Oh yeah, that’s right, you. Just keep laughing. You’d better watch out.” Branzy muttered. Tearing his eyes away from it, he entered the lion’s (or clown’s) maw and was swallowed by darkness.
The first thing he saw was a clown popping out at him, face sheet white and malicious, holding a candle. The three of them screamed, which seemed to be the key as all the candles in the room lit themselves so they could slightly see. Decorating the room were multi-colored drapes, clinging to the walls to make mutated shadows. There were deformed puppets bent at all sorts of wrong angles, on the chair, on a shelf, from the ceiling, but instead of being in agony, they all had the same crazed smile.
The clown from before reappeared, stepping out of his pose as one of the puppets. Wordlessly, he beckoned them forward. Trembling, they inched towards him, and with a flourish he stepped aside, revealing a door which they could hear faint music coming from. He watched, amused, as they traipsed through the doorway and entered into a neon nightmare.
It was a maze filled with more drapery, some made to look like cobwebs, others making them stoop down to pass by. Lights flashed erratically, dazing them, the uncertainty heightening their tension. Every so often, a picture frame would swing open to reveal a clown observing them, or a puppet would come to life and charge towards them. Each time they would shout, and they could hear the satisfaction of the house rising, ringing with mirth.
They reached the end of the maze and stopped in front of another door. It swung open to receive them as they approached. Chief, being at the head, glanced back at them before warily entering the last, silent room.
As soon as Rek and Branzy had followed, the door closed and they were plunged into darkness again. The music cut out and the sudden silence put Branzy on high alert. Adrenaline pumped through him and he tensed up, bracing for the next scare.
There was a loud bang and a flash of brilliant white light, and their screams hung in the air. Branzy felt Rek grab his sleeve and make a break for it, trying to pull him along. In the dark, Branzy tripped over something and was left sprawling on the floor, out of Rek’s grip as he and Chief ran.
“Rek?” He whispered, the sound magnifying before dying out. “Chief?” he ventured a little louder. Tremors ran down his spine. He felt the blood rushing in his head, his heartbeat loud in the inky black silence.
The candles on the walls lit up. He screeched shrilly. It was lucky his friends had gone on and no one was around to hear it.
He sighed, he told them it wasn’t a good idea to bring him in here. Now he was lost and jumpy at every little thing. “Get yourself together, Branzy.” He balled his hands with determination and got up, looking for the exit and reassuring himself.
“It’s just an act. These are all props! Nothing to be scared of- ARGHH!”
A horrifying clown mask was grinning down at him. Possibly the most unnerving he’d seen so far. The eyes were hollowed out and blacked, a twisted maniacal laugh forever etched onto its face. It stared into his very soul, as if deciding whether to take it and claim his life. The clown held a scythe, bathed red with the blood of its previous victims.
Faced with certain death, Branzy did the only logical thing. He took a swing and punched it.
The mask dislodged, and time slowed. Branzy watched in fear as the mask fell off to reveal the prettiest person he’d ever seen. Eyebrows furrowed, eyes dark brown, almost black, glaring at him in shock. He gaped in awe as the actor’s long black hair with red roots unravelled to frame his face. His red and black jester's outfit was fitted, with sleeves that hugged his arms and pants perfectly contoured to show off his build, making Branzy fully blue screen. The fear from before was still there, only now it gave way to attraction. He’d never had so many conflicting emotions in his life, and he doubted he ever would again.
Branzy should have taken the time to run, but he was fixated, stunned with regret and hope. And he had punched the guy. What had he been thinking? Cursing himself silently, Branzy broke the tension, a sheepish, lopsided smile on his face, attempting to restore any affability he might have shattered, “Heh, sorry about that mister clown.”
To his surprise, the clown’s face broke into his own gleeful, slightly psychotic grin, “That was a good punch, very impressive.” Branzy felt his stomach flutter and a shred of hope nestled into his heart.
“Uh, thanks? I hope it wasn’t too painful, uh… what can I call you?”
“Clown. And no, don’t worry, I can withstand more than you’d think. I’m a strong guy.” Clown, huh? Odd name, but Branzy wasn’t in any position to criticise; he was too busy watching Clown flex his muscles.
“Oh yeah, I’ll bet.”
Branzy slapped a hand over his mouth, horrified. He could not catch a break. Thankfully the room was dark and Clown couldn’t see the blush creeping up his neck.
Clown’s face, illuminated by candlelight, was every bit as regal and ruthless as a sculpted statue of a legendary warrior. His gaze pierced through him. Branzy whimpered. It was not his time to go yet, but of course he’d blurt out the most inappropriate thing to say. Just his luck to do this in front of the most killer guy he's ever seen. He closed his eyes and waited for the death blow.
“Are you swooning right now?” This was even worse than he’d thought. Did he have to be embarrassed before he could die? How long did it take to just kill him, dammit!
“I- I did! I swooned. I'm sorry. That’s weird, I just-”
“That’s ok,” Branzy’s eyes snapped open to meet Clown’s. “It happens a lot, really. Don’t worry about it.” Clown kept his hard stare on Branzy, trailing up and down, intently measuring him.
Branzy's eyes widened. Clown sounded amused, rather than angry. “Here, give me your phone.”
Relishing his extended life, Branzy didn’t think twice before passing it to him. He was too caught up in the relief to be seeing another day. Clown’s voice grabbed his thoughts, “You’re supposed to be scared, not checking me out. Although I wouldn’t want to be punched again unnecessarily. Do you always react like that?”
“What did you expect me to do?" The edges of his lips quirked up, "I come face to face with stuff that fuels nightmares, I’m going to scream.”
“And punch it too, apparently.”
“I said I was sorry.” Branzy blustered.
Clown laughed brightly, and Branzy's breath caught in his throat. He felt his heart swell and fill with emotions he could not name.
“Well, that’ll be a story.”
Branzy imagined telling the story of tonight, Clown laughing beside him as Branzy introduced him to his friends. A thrill of delight rushed through him.
There was a pause of silence as they both savoured the idea.
Clown’s voice lowered. “We could get to know each other.”
“Yeah, I’d like that. I’d like that very much.” Branzy's voice was barely above a whisper, he doubted he could keep it steady if he spoke any louder. He regretted that the room was dark, eyes absorbing every bit of Clown that he could.
Clown bent down to face Branzy properly, their faces inches apart. Branzy’s brain went haywire, red alerts flashing. The world seemed to spin slower, and Clown’s soothing voice murmuring into his ear sent Branzy into a daze.
“I’m going to chase you now.”
“Okay.”
“You’re going to scream.”
“Okay.”
Clown picked up his mask and pulled back, and Branzy lamented over the loss of his gravelly whisper.
Clown put his mask back on. Even knowing the gorgeous face beneath it, Branzy still shuddered. It was a horror of a costume, and even if it had not been Clown under it, Branzy would remember the mask until his dying days. Luckily, now he had a dazzling face to picture alongside it.
Clown rushed at him, and Branzy’s flight instincts kicked in. He screamed, a bag of nerves and exhilaration, and ran a lap across the room, which was when he realised something important.
“Wait! I don’t know where the exit is!” Branzy was already panting, blood rushing to his head.
“Well then, you’ll just have to find out, won’t you?” Branzy could picture Clown’s maniacal grin. This time, he raised his scythe above his head, poised and ready to swing down on Branzy.
Amazingly, it seemed to do the trick. His eyes immediately spotted the exit right next to him, and he ran out screaming.
Rek and Chief were waiting outside. “Branzy! You took so long, did you get lost or something?” Chief chuckled, but Branzy could see the tension leaving his shoulders.
“Sorry for abandoning you back there, I tried to get you out with us, but before I realised it you disappeared!” Rek was clearly upset, and any ill feelings Branzy had held for him melted.
“Hey, it’s ok! I got out just fine, all limbs intact,” And with a new crush, he thought privately.
He stuck his hands in his pockets, trying to fake casualness, and was surprised to find his phone there. He hadn’t even realised Clown had given it back. Taking it out, he saw a new contact saved with a clown emoji and a kiss, and smiled sappily.
Rek and Chief hadn't noticed, after checking to make sure he was alright, they were back to squabbling over the map. Branzy drifted after them, head filled with killer clowns and romance, phone burning through his pocket with possibilities. He followed them to another queue, and got on the ride without a fuss. It felt like he was floating above himself.
He barely registered the ride starting, the world moving past him as he daydreamed, replaying the same scene a hundred times over. Clown's dazzling face. Clown's sinister whisper. Clown's very kissable lips. The ride climbed, gradually ascending, taking him to the sky.
He heard Chief whooping and Rek half-laughing half-screaming in anticipation, and felt content. It was a great night out for all of them.
As they reached the top, Rek turned to him with worry and confusion on his face, and shook him out of his stupor, “Branzy? You good? You’ve been weird ever since you came out of that haunted house, what happened to you?”
Clown, his heart sighed.
He opened his mouth to properly answer Rek, and promptly screamed into his face as they plummeted downwards. Branzy held onto the roller coaster's bar for dear life, and he fell for the second time that night.
Other excited screams punctured the air. With the ground zooming up to meet him and air rushing past his face, Branzy hollered with joy, letting his emotions burst out and overflow into the night sky.