Dazzling lights swirl from above while exuberant sounds whiz in the background. Sounds of children screaming and crying, chainsaws cutting into something, animals squealing, all fused together into one distorted audio. She drops to her knees in the crimson river and clamps a shaking hand over her ringing ears
. The sound from above is overbearing as she almost begs for it to stop.
WHAT IS A SOUL WORTH? REDEEM YOURSELF. SURVIVE THE FUN HOUSE
Everything slows down to a dull ache of audio screeching, like nails being driven across a chalkboard somewhere in the distance. Karla stands up and sploshes through the blood leading up to a ramp of concrete. At the front is an entrance to a tunnel, the wall around is a clown with a gaping maw painted on it forming a mouth around the hole. Red lights blink in the two corners outside of it. Following her every step they turn with each step she takes. This wasn’t new, she was being cast on the web to hundreds or possibly thousands of paying viewers. “The Fun House” wasn’t new to her either, she had seen this before with Maddie. And knew there was almost virtually no chance she would survive.
The Fun House consists of multiple areas and rooms, each with different obstacles or traps, red rooms and hired perverts/murderers waiting to have their fun. No ones ever lasted more than two areas, from what Maddie had said. If they could survive more than one room, usually they wished for death, often being granted a drawn out slow escape from reality. One woman Maddie saw was sodomized with a hot iron, which after dying was used as a chew toy to a pack of dogs. The options were endless of how she could die, but for Maya she had to try.
Karla trails her misguided path with her trembling hand as she makes her way down a narrowing tunnel. The further she got the tighter the space around began to get. Eventually she was on her hand and knees, pushing through a crawl space it seemed.
She hits a door, judging by how it loosely budged when she bumped into it. Upon pushing it the rough surface opens, her unsuspecting eyes are scorched with fluorescent lights. The light blocks what lays beyond the exit, still she takes a chance and pulls herself out. Rotating in the squeezed tunnel she manages to twist around, feet first she drapes out to the ground, in case she has to run from whatever danger may be lurking.
Her sore feet land on a grimy sand like substance, the drop was high. Too high to climb back up to if needed. Carefully gaining her stance, she observes her surroundings. It looks like a gas station restroom, cramped and grody. A vent from above opens almost as quickly as it shuts. A black package possessing a note attached lands on the floor making a heavy “thud”.
RUN
The words bold and short spell a message, serious without any foreplay needed. A light and distant “beep” pulses like a low heartbeat. Karla looks around in a panic, the toilet is bolted down, against her thrusts with a now wore out shoulder, the thick door remains in tact. The beeping gains speed as her adrenaline catches pace. She looks to the cracked mirror in frustration and punches it. As it shatters to fragile pieces, an empty tunnel behind the mirror is exposed.
Beeping grows at an accelerated rate, the exposed hole glistens with spiraled broken glass screaming salvation. Blood and skin would be shed, but life would be the reward. Jumping in she stretches her arms outwards, elbows digging into the jaded shards, pulling her bleeding knees forward in a rush. Scurrying through the tight, broken enclosure, she pushes out the opposite end as a licking flame bursts through.
It barely brushes past her calf as her body drops to the ground. Blood and seeping lacerations tattoo her skin, slices of flesh with warm red pockets dance across her trembling body. This was no easy feat, and just the beginning of what was to come.
Looking around the new area she obtained occupancy in, she sees what appears to be a county fair displayed before her eyes. Attractions and rides are sprawled across the large area. A voice booms from the sky once more.
BLOOD WILL BE SHED, LIFE WILL BE LOST. HOW MUCH IS SHE WORTH TO YOU? ENTER THE FREAK SHOW TO FIND YOUR PATH
A mirror maze sits to the left of her, a unicorn ride spins lifelessly while bobbing up and down with no customers. No sky is above, only a concrete ceiling. The air stinks of body secretions and blood.
It’s almost overwhelming, something bad has happened here.
To the right past a dead ferris wheel is a shoddy looking building with neon lights displaying the words FREAK SHOW. Cameras follow her moves from distant corners, this was more than just a test. People paid high money to see victims die horribly in these themed environments. Forcefully brushing off her fears and common sense, she steps into the doorway embracing the wrapping darkness.