“In the center,” the Thin Man said, nodding toward the carnival. “The land changes, spreads out and is conformed around the anchor, so it is always in the very middle.”
“Of course it is,” Kenzie said, echoing my thoughts. “So that means we have to go into the creepy-ass carnival that probably has a bunch of creepy-ass killer clowns, because creepy carnivals always have killer clowns, and look for this anchor that could probably be anything...” She paused, gazing around a moment, then sighed. “And of course, Grimalkin has disappeared.”
I shook my head. “Come on,” I muttered, and drew my swords. “Nothing we can do now except find this anchor thing and destroy it. The cat will show up when we get out of here, I’m sure. Let’s get this over with.”
Warily, we started toward the carnival grounds.
The earth sucked at my shoes, making squelching noises as I walked through mud and puddles, watching for any signs of movement between the tents. I didn’t spot any indications of life. I did spot a lot of weird, disturbing shit—bumper cars that had long spikes bristling from the hoods, roller-coaster tracks that twisted in crazy, unnatural patterns, even tying themselves into knots, teddy bears with skulls for faces, and so on. There was a popcorn stand where I was sure I saw a tentacle vanish beneath the kernels, one whole wall of porcelain dolls with shrunken heads, and a bright red balloon that hovered in midair, except it wasn’t attached to anything.
“Who lives here?” Kenzie muttered, eyeing a poster that advertised some sort of freak show in the main tent. Come See the Bearded Lady, it read, only the “bearded lady” had a gaping mouth that could easily swallow you whole and huge barracuda-like fangs. “Did someone actually conjure this entire place on purpose? What kind of crazy would do such a thing?”
“I believe you have just answered your own question, my dear,” the Thin Man said, his long legs easily carrying him over puddles and patches of mud. “The Forgotten know how to move between worlds, sliding through the Veil like fish through water, but there are cases of fey and even a few mortals who have become lost in the Between. No one knows how it happens. It could be that a trod is unstable, or sometimes, though very rarely, it just vanishes on one end, and the traveler never makes it to his destination. And he is never seen again. Because once you are lost in the Between, you wander for eternity. After so long, their minds simply...snap.” He snapped his thin fingers for emphasis, making a sharp, quick sound that echoed through the silence. I winced at the noise, hoping it wouldn’t attract attention, though it probably sounded louder than it really was.
The Thin Man continued to address Kenzie, waving a hand at our thankfully still silent surroundings. “What you see now are the remnants of a fractured mind,” he stated. “If we do stumble upon the owner of this place, there will be no reasoning with them. Whether they be mortal or fey, their world has become as dark and twisted as they are, and they do not realize that it traps them as much as it does outsiders. Thankfully, this world appears to be rather new. I suspect it has not been here long, which is why it seems deserted. Still, whoever lives here will not be happy with us trying to destroy the anchor. I suspect we will see the worst of this place when we try.”
“Oh, well, that’s something to look forward to,” I remarked. “Haunted carnival that sprang from the head of an insane faery, what could be better?”
Razor poked his head out of Kenzie’s hair, enormous ears twitching back and forth. “Razor hears music,” he said solemnly.
We all froze. I gripped my swords and moved closer to Kenzie, holding my breath as I listened hard. A faint, barely audible melody drifted through the aisles and the fluttering tent flaps. It sounded bright and cheerful, reminding me of the tune the ice-cream truck would play as it cruised down the street, luring kids out of their homes like a modern day Pied Piper.
Yep, I was definitely creeped out.
“This way,” the Thin Man whispered, and turned down a tent aisle. We trailed him through the narrow cloth corridor, following the elusive sound of music as it faded in and out through the tents. Of course, the tents didn’t conform to logic, either, and we soon found ourselves in a maze of red-and-white cloth, trying to find the one path that would lead us out.
“All right, this is ridiculous,” I growled, as we turned another corner and found ourselves in yet another narrow hallway of candy cane stripes and canvas walls. “I say we stop now, and I start hacking through tents. Who’s up for that?”
Abruptly, the Thin Man came to a halt in the center of the aisle, causing Kenzie to pull up sharply. I slid in the mud to avoid running into her, grabbing one of the poles to steady myself.
“What the hell—”
The Thin Man raised an arm, silencing me. Edging forward, I peered over Kenzie’s shoulder, gazing between Razor’s huge ears, to see the rest of the aisle.
A body stood at the end of the corridor, its back to us. It was very broad, especially its shoulders and girth, and long brown hair fell in waves down its back. It wore a purple spangled dress that glittered in the dim light, and just as I was thinking that I’d seen that same dress somewhere before...it turned around.
“The Bearded Lady,” Kenzie whispered in horror, as the woman, a thick brown ruff sprouting from her jowls and chin, opened a fang-filled mouth wide enough to swallow a basketball and screamed.
“Run!” said the Thin Man, whirling around, and we did, scrambling down narrow, twisted aisles, hearing the heavy footsteps of the Bearded Lady splash through the mud after us.