Chapter Text
Amber’s P.O.V.
I stood dumbstruck with the dish in one hand. My mouth was slightly agape and my eyes were wide. Looking around the table I noticed that I wasn’t the only one that was surprised to see Jerome.
“Is there a ghost in the room?” He asked half teasingly.
All of a sudden the dish in my hand slipped and crashed into the floor, sending all eyes to me. Immediately, I bent down to pick up the glass when I felt a sharp pain in my right hand. I lifted it to my face and saw blood streaming down.
“Amber, you’re bleeding!” Fabian exclaimed.
The words sounded weird when said aloud, but there was no denying the crimson that was dripping to the floor. And yet something about it felt strange, like I was watching this all happen outside of my body.
But there they were, bits of glass stuck on my hand. I stood up and held my hand close to my chest as I walked to the bathroom at the end of the hall. As soon as I entered, I locked the door behind me and turned to face the sink. I cringed as I looked down at the bloody mess that covered my hand before taking out a pair of tweezers and carefully pulling out the fragments of glass. Once they were all out, I washed my hand and wiped off all the blood revealing a deep cut. I took out gauze and wrapped it around my hand, all the while trying to make sense of the jumbled thoughts in my head.
What just happened? Jerome appeared out of nowhere. I know what I saw earlier today and there is no chance that he could’ve gotten better so quickly. I just need to relax. There has to be a reason. But right now, I can’t even think of one.
I gathered cold water in my unharmed hand and splashed it on my face. I lifted my head and locked eyes with myself in the mirror.
“Just relax.”
After that, I turned and exited the bathroom. As I walked back into the dining area, I lifted my head high and forced a smile on my face acting as if nothing had ever happened.
“Anyone want dessert? It’s store bought,” I announced.
They all stared at me for a moment before they began to nod slowly, shaking off the previous events.
I walked into the kitchen then and picked up the chocolate fudge cake before setting it on the dining table. Everyone began to take a piece and eat. Soon enough it seemed normal as chatter shook the room, but I couldn’t quite shake the feeling that something was wrong.
(***)
The next morning the whole house was filled with noise. Everyone was scrambling to finish up preparations for the school’s annual fair.
I was working with Nina and Mara at the ticket booth where people exchange tickets for prizes. Patricia and Joy were working at the ring toss and the boys were working at the water dump. I had first suggested that us girls should work at the kissing booth, but they all refused and we got stuck with the most boring jobs ever.
Ready to head to the site of the fair, I walked down the stairs and into the kitchen fully dressed. The only other person there was Jerome. I eyed him warily as I took my seat at the table and poured myself a glass of orange juice.
“Lovely day,” he smiled. “Isn’t it?”
I nodded and looked down at my empty plate. I grabbed a piece of toast from the center of the table and began to pick it apart.
“If you don’t mind me asking, what happened to make you change so quickly?” I asked.
“It was just… a prank,” He answered, pausing in between the sentence.
I frowned at this before leaning slightly forward. “No, it wasn’t. It was real.”
The expression on his face changed then and he narrowed his eyes at me before saying, “If you know what’s good for you you’ll shut up and not mention it again.”
After the words left his lips, he slammed the pitcher of orange juice down onto the table. The pitcher shattered and orange juice swam across the table dripping to the floor. Jerome stood up and left the room, leaving me with the mess. I didn’t exactly know what to do, so I stood up and got a cloth to clean up all the orange juice.
After I finished I sat back in my seat and looked at the table.
That was quite a reaction. Maybe I should just keep my mouth shut. I don’t know why, but when he said ‘if you know what’s good for you’ I got the feeling that he would rise to epic proportions just to keep me from talking. Something is definitely wrong with him.
Before I could think about it any further, I heard several footsteps enter the room.
“Are you coming?” Nina asked.
I nodded and stood up. We all left the house and closed the door behind us.
(***)
I looked around the large football field where empty wooden booths and shacks stood for the fair.
Nina, Mara, and I had been unloading the boxes filled with all the prizes that were left over from last year’s fair. Once we finished we decided to walk around to see everyone else’s booths and activities.
We stopped at the boys’ station first and saw a glass tank with a miniature diving board above it for someone to sit on.
“Do you mind helping us test it?” Fabian asked as he handed me a ball.
“Not at all,” I nodded and positioned myself a good distance away from the target.
Mick sat on the platform wearing a pair of swimming trunks.
“Come on! At least give it to someone who can actually make the target!” Mick shouted.
I rolled my eyes and pulled back my arm as I got ready to throw the ball. I swung my arm forward and released the ball. It hit the target perfectly sending Mick into the ice cold water.
Laughter filled the air and I smirked as the surface of the water broke as Mick’s head appeared.
“Wow Amber, that’s quite an arm you have,” he complimented me, a huge grin on his face.
I merely shrugged and said a quick, “bye” before we continued our walk through the fair.
The next booth we stopped at was the kissing booth. A couple of girls and guys that I didn’t know were there to take shifts.
After a while, we had seen every booth and activity. We went back to our booth and waited for the fair to start.
(***)
“You don’t have enough tickets for the bear. You can get the stickers, eraser, or the key chain,” I explained to the fifth kid that hour.
The kid snatched the stickers and stuck his tongue out at me as they walked away.
I sighed and turned to Nina.
“I hate working this booth,” I complained.
She chuckled at the frown on my face before gesturing to the other booths. “Why don’t you go take a break?”
I decided to take her advice and I exited our booth. After a while of walking around, I landed in front of the fun house mirrors.
“Haven’t been in one of these in a long while,” I said to myself. “Might as well.”
I entered the fun house and was surprised to find that it was completely empty. I furrowed my brow and walked further into the room of mirrors. As I looked at my different reflections, I heard something click shut. I quickly turned around and instead of finding a door where I had entered, there was a mirror in its place.
I gulped and turned back around, walking deeper into the room. My eyes travelled across the mirrors, my reflection growing wackier with each one. That’s when I saw something.
I walked closer to one of the mirrors and noticed a figure in the background. Immediately, I turned around, but I saw nothing. All of a sudden, I heard a scream and the lights went out.
Panic washed over me and I began to shout for help. Loud crashing and smashing noises filled the darkness around me drowning out my cries.
The lights soon flickered on and revealed the shattered mess of glass surrounding me, but that wasn’t what worried me. There was something in the air. Smoke. Suddenly, one of the curtains caught fire. I jumped at the orange flames, stepping on a piece of glass as a result. A sharp pain erupted in my foot and I felt something cold drizzling down. Soon enough all the curtains were on fire.
I squinted through the smoke and yet I couldn’t locate an exit.
“Help! Somebody!” I shouted before breaking out in a coughing fit.
It was at that moment that I was suddenly aware of how light headed I felt. My eyes began to feel heavy and I collapsed on the cold glassy floor.