COME ONE, COME ALL, ENJOY THE GREATEST CARNIVAL OF ALL!
WE HAVE GAMES, WE HAVE FOOD, WE'LL KEEP YOU ALL NIGHT!
JOIN US FROM SUNSET TO THE BREAK OF DAWN!
YOUR EVERY WISH IS OUR DESIRE, YOUR EVERY DREAM WITHIN OUR STANDS!
COME TO THE DARK CARNIVAL AND JOIN US!
THE GHOULISH DELIGHTS AWAIT WITHIN!
COME ONE, COME ALL!
These were the words many have heard throughout the week in Sweet Rock, leading up to Halloween. Usually this city was quiet, except for the occasional crime here and there. Many people simply went about their lives, working, being with family, the same old routine. That is until this mysterious Dark Carnival showed up. No one is entirely sure where it came from. Some say it's a group of travelling gypsies, others say it came from Europe. Many people were shocked to see men and women dressed as skeletons and ghouls roaming the streets and shouting their chant to whoever would listen.

The Dark Carnival. Some would say it sounds menacing, others would think it just has to do with the holiday coming up, but many knew deep down, in the recesses of their minds, they would be there on Halloween.

That night, as soon as the sun set behind the mountains at 7:00pm, the gates to the carnival opened, and the people flooded in. It looked like your regular carnival. There were food stands, game stalls, rides a plenty. The only difference with this one was the fact the entire staff were dressed as strange creatures. Zombies, Skeletons, Vampires, Masked Murderers. It was all part of the show the people said, this is just to set the atmosphere. No one knew the horror that lied within these gates. As the sky grew ever darker, so would this carnival...

(( Players are now welcome to post! You may arrive all at the same time or not, it's up to you! The latest your character can show up is 9:00pm~! Remember to bring friends and family! This is a carnival after all~))

It was only 7:30 pm, and Tiffany was heading home from her friend Jessica's house after hanging around with them after school, an event she'd told her parents as of thirty minutes before she'd left. As she walked, her airy mind wandered, and she took the long way home around the neighbourhoods.

At some point or another- she never kept track- she stumbled upon the gates to what had been advertised around town for days and she had completely forgotten- The Dark Carnival. Ever curious and searching for fun, the blonde-haired babysitter peered inside and was met with an amazing sight. Men and women dressed as ghouls, skeletons, and other gothic what-have-yous patrolled the park in shadows and robes, cloaked by an air of strange secrecy. She, however, didn't seem to notice.

"Oh my god, what an amazing park! Maybe this is going to be, like, awesome or something. I should totally explore this; maybe, if it's good, Mom and Dad will let me stay and invite my friends!" Lacking the prudence to call her parents first, Tiffany walked into the park.

David enters the theme park along with his daughter Jade. She was certainly much more excited than he was about it though. After all, David had a lot of work he still had to do.

"Daddy!" She called out through the crowd. David pushed through the seemingly endless horde of costumed people. Why would anyone have a carnival that only could one once per year? David figured that they must have done other things throughout the year.

"Daddy, I'm going over to this game, ok?" David had given his daughter, Jade, some money for this.

"That's fine dear," David said, eying the costumed employees suspiciously. "Just remember, that's all the money you have for tonight."

"Yes Daddy," Jade sighed. She ran off again, and David strolled after her. He kept keeping an eye out for anything criminal; old habits died hard for David.

(OOC: So, David is a lawyer here with his daughter. He is dressed in a business suit, and isn't too overly pleased to be here. He is good looking, but he looks somewhat exasperated and annoyed.)

Aug 30th 2008 Approx. 7am
“run! Lore run!” Amera yelled as she raced towards her sister, grabbing her arm and earning a grunt as she pulled Lore behind her. A hissed,

“What did you do!?” came from her older twin. Shrugging she continued to run, pulling Lore behind her.

“Nothing… bad…” She gave her a mental reminder to hide her lighter so Lore couldn’t find it. Slowing to a walk the twins were finally able to catch their break. Amera pulled her hat further down her head as she bowed her head towards the ground, pulling her jacket around her, hoping to hide the soot from her twin.

“You started a fire didn’t you? Didn’t you?! Amera! You promised no more fires!” Amera whined and stopped, stomping her foot and spun to her twin,
“I didn’t intentionally start this one, I swear! There was a fight and… my lighter just happened to be in my hand.. and then..” Lore cut her off,

“so you did start a fire.. Damn it Lore! There’s only so many times I can bail you out of trouble.” Amera shrugged and blinked at her twin as Lore held out her hand, “You’re lighter Amera..” Amera scoffed and continued walking, placing the ear buds into her ears and drowned out her sister’s angry yelling.


Sept. 20th 2008 Approx. Noon
A knock sounded at Amera’s house causing Lore to be woken from a nap after working a graveyard shift. Walking to the door she peeked out and groaned. Opening the doors she sighs,

“Amera.” Amera waves standing between two officers

“Hiya Lore..” Lore looked to the officers and rubbed the back of her neck,

“How bad this time?” One of the officers chuckled,

“We got there just in time. We just offered to bring her back home and make sure she got inside.” With that the officers left. Once Amera walked inside her twin rounded on her,

“What the hell Amera! What did you do!?” Amera simply shrugged,

“Nothing. No fires were started..” Amera couldn’t help it if she liked how the fire crackled and popped.

Oct. 31st 2008 Approx. 7:30-7:35
Amera walked beside her twin, flicking her lighter on and off as they headed home. Music flowing into her ears from her mp3 player she vaguely heard someone talking about something. Taking one ear bud out of her ear she finally heard someone advertising a carnival. Stopping short she sighs,

“How about it sis? Should we go?” Her sister stopped beside and tilted her head,

“Maybe.” Amera sighs and walks towards the carnival knowing that her sister would follow, albeit reluctant. “Amera what are you doing?”

“Going in. Are you scared Lore?” Amera laughed as Lore seemed to curse at her twin but she could hear the older follow, “Besides, It’s a carnival.. what’s the worst that can happen?” Lore grumbles under her breath as she sticks close to the younger.

“You are a pain in the ass Amera. I swear if you start any fires I’m going to leave you hanging..” Lore trailed off remembering the last time they went out and Amera started a ton of fires having her older twin to cover for her.

“I won’t start fires…” Amera said the words but they both knew that she was lying. Amera loved the crackling of flames, It was why she liked to study explosives. At least with Lore there with her.. Amera was safe from starting fires …wasn’t she?

8:00pm
Friday, Oct. 31/08
Sweet Rock, BC

With the sun fully set, the carnival was even brighter than before. The music playing and the people everywhere created an almost euphoric atmosphere of fear, excitement, and glee. One of the biggest attractions was the Fun House of Mirrors. Many people flocked to the front, and as they entered screams of terror and delight could be heard. Anyone watching would notice they never came back out of the front door... Another area where the people seemed to flock, was a large ring of stalls that had been set up. There were many games that have been set up. Good ol' Test your strength games, Ring toss, Sharpshooting games, and many more. Many people flocked to these games, willing to spend their money. Many teenagers flocked to the more "violent" games, kids flocked to their parents asking for money to play the obviously rigged ring toss or strength games. All in all, the people seemed happy, oblivious to the oddity of this Carnival.

David:The young man followed his daughter into the ring of game stalls. As he followed her, a large man bumped into him causing him to nearly lose his footing. Once he regained his composure, he looked around and realized his beloved daughter Jade was missing in the crowd....

Tiffany: She stood in the middle of the pathway staring at the amazing spectacles before her. A large rollercoaster could be seen at the far end of the park. Closer to where Tiffany stood, she could see the Fun House with it's large line of people. Over to her right, she could see a large group of people flocking towards what looked like a ring of game stands. Befuddled, she stood on the pathway wondering where to go....

Lore & Amera: The twins entered the carnival in awe. People were everywhere, dressed in odd costumes dancing around. Families and groups of friends were wandering about from one attraction to the next. Wandering down the main pathway they noticed a large line-up for the Fun House. Beyond that they could see the Roller Coaster where screams could be heard as it took its circuit. To their right they noticed quite a large group of people, kids, teenagers, and adults swarming the games and enjoying themselves.

((Well I've given you multiple options on what to do. David it is somewhat obvious what may happen~ As for Lore/Amera and Tiffany, you got quite a few choices. Enjoy!! Also I shall post a link here --}
Carnival ))

Tiffany stared down the three-way path, her little mind inundated with wonder and excitement. Almost hypnotic in its thrills, the Carnival seemed to be beckoning, drawing her in with its peculiar charms. There was one attraction in particular which caught her eye.

"Oh, wow, is that a fun house??" she squealed. "Oh my god. I could take some aMAYzing selfies in there; this is so going on my Facebook!" Without a single care in the world, the teen meandered her way through the bustling crowds and strangely-dressed personnel. As she drew nearer to it, she could hear the screams of horror and delight from the wandering visitors inside. Tiffany grinned as remembered the frivolous "advice" given to her by another good friend of hers who also loved amusement parks:

[With the fun house in mind,] "The louder they scream, the better the house."

Oct. 31st 2008
8:00pm
Lore looked around and started to panic, “Amera?” Quickly scanning for fires she couldn’t see any as she raced through the crowds. This wasn’t supposed to happen. She was supposed to stay near Amera..

Meanwhile….
Amera walked up to one of the stalls and knelt down next to the child, “Hey Jade, want some help?”
Listening to the little girl she smiled and began to help the girl win something. Not knowing how frantic her sister had become.

Lore dashed through the people and stopped short, was that… could it be.. “David!” She yelled over the excitement of people as she made her way to the man, “David, have you seen Amera?”

All at once memories flooded Lore,


Feb 2008

Amera was cautious as she went towards the house with a grim smile on. The loser cheated on her with her best friend, so she was going to make him pay. Setting down the bag she brought with her, she was quick to assemble the parts and pieces she needed and flicked her lighter watching with a satisfied look in her eyes. Stepping onto the sidewalk she watched as the fire grew closer to the house. Smiling widely as the building erupted with flames as a loud BANG sounded in the dead of night. Just as the bang sounded the car she knew to be her boyfriend pulled up, jumping out the man raced to the house seeming not to see Amera until he turned to look if anyone seen it,

“AMERA! What the hell!?” Amera could hear the words being yelled at her as she simply watched the flames. She could also hear faintly the dialing of a phone and the distressing sound of her ex on the phone. She felt someone pulling her back,

“Amera, come on lets go..” Amera shook the person off and simply watched the flames, enamored by the crackle and pop of the orange waves going through the air, “Amera.. he’s called the cops, we have…” Amera once again shook the person who she came to realize was her twin,

“no.. Not yet.. It’s not done yet..” It was then that Lore forcefully pulled her twin away from the devastation she had just caused.. Hoping that someone would be willing to represent her sister as she was sure the man would press charges. She, however, failed at removing Amera from the scene in time. Cops were heading over and Lore watched with saddened eyes as they took Amera away.

Lore raced home to call someone but as soon as she dropped herself onto her couch she fell asleep. Waking up a few hours later she picked up the annoying ringing phone and went pale hearing that it was the man’s laywer, digging out the phone book she quickly found the number and dialed it, waiting impatiently as it rang,

Hello, this is David Wolfington from..” Lore cut him off,

“My sister is in trouble and I was hoping that you’d be able to help. She lit her ex’s house on fire and now he’s going to charge her with arson..” She paused feeling slightly bad for cutting him off, that wasn’t a way to get him to help her sister,

Lit a fire, huh..
“Yes, and he knows it was her because she was standing near it watching. I saw the smoke and.. please.. can you help her?”

”Ma’am, the evidence doesn’t seem to favorable, but I could reduce the sentence.”
“If you could that would be great. I just don’t know what else to do..”

”So, I’ll need the date of the court appearance, and the date the event..
“It happened tonight and the court hearing is in one weeks’ time.”

”uh- huh… alright… Ok, one more thin ma’am: I would like you and the defendant to come into my office the day before the court appearance so we can work out some of the details for the case.”,/i>

“I can see what I can do about getting her there.. It shouldn’t be a problem, but I have a feeling she’s going to be in the jail until then. I’ll call and let them know you’d like her present with me.”

”Okay ma’am, alright goodbye” “Thank you so much.. Goodbye.” Lore hung up and let out a sigh of relief, someone was going to help her sister. She just wished that Amera would stop with the fires..

Lore leaned against the counter at the police station, waiting for Amera to be released. Finally after some time Lore saw her twin and sighed thanking the officer the sisters left.
“so.. where are we going? Oh! Can we go get food?” Lore shook her head at her sister’s carelessness.

“No, we’re going to see a lawyer.” Amera grumbled as she followed her sister, glad to have her lighter back as she flicked it on and off.

A little while later they entered the building and were infront of David.

Waiting for Lore and Amera, David set out two glasses of water for them. He was hoping to try and make this court case less painful for them... even though it seemed that Amera had done this sort of thing before. David had already done some planning, and he was thinking of trying to convince everyone that Amera wasn't really a danger to the public. After a last minute inspection to make sure the office was tidy, then he sat down a busied himself with some paper work. A short time later, Lore and Amera arrived.
"Good morning. How are you two today?" David asked, extending his hand.
“Good morning, we’re both fine.” Each of the girls shook his hand
"Okay, let's take a seat then." David said as he sat down behind his desk again. "So, as we all know, there really isn't a way to deny this incident. I would propose that you say you are guilty. Just saves time and money really. I was thinking of arguing for conditions instead of jail time." David pauses for a moment. "What if I tried to get you," David said to Lore, "too watch over Amera? You wouldn't have to worry about jail time. It's kind of like a house arrest. The downside is that the two of you would have to be together all the time." David paused and waited for Lore's and Amera's reaction.
“That would be fine. We live together already so it’s not that much of a jump.”
"There might be some community service and a fine that is with the sentence. Hopefully I can reduce those somewhat..."

" To do this though, I need to prove that you aren't a dangerous offender. Did you purposely ignite the house while it's owner was not in it?"(to Amera)
“Of course I purposely did it while he wasn’t home. I’m not a murderer.”
"Have you ever got in to a fight, injured or threatened anyone about bodily harm?" (to Amera)
“No. just lit fires.. harmless..” She stopped talking when she saw the look her twin was giving her.
As he got answers to the questions, he would write down notes on a piece of paper "Lore, is there any reason you would not be able to keep an eye on Amera?"
“Not in my knowledge.”
"Is there anyone else who could care for Amera if you suddenly were unable to"
“No, it’s just me”
After nearly two hours of planning, David felt like he had all the information he needed. "Ok, so I think that is all we can do for now. I would like you two to show up fifteen minutes or so early. It will give us time for anything last minute, and will make you look responsible for being there on time."
"Goodbye, I'll see you both tomorrow."
Amera looks back and grins widely,
“Nice to meet you sir!” Amera walked out knowing that her sister had more to tell David so she just waited, flicking her lighter on and off watching the tiny flame.

Lore paused and looked at the man,
“Sir, if I may.. I wanted to thank you for taking on my sister.. She’s set other minor fires that she’s gotten charged for and no one else wanted to keep helping her. It means a lot to me that someone other than myself is willing to stand by her. She’s not a danger to the world, she lights the fires and just watches them. The man who’s house that was… hurt her bad.. It was her own way of getting back at him.. I don’t think she would have done it if people were in the house..” With that the woman turned to leave.

October 31st 2008
Stifling a curse, David called out "Jade!" He struggled his way through the crowd. "Jade!" He called out again. Part of him was confident in her behaving well and being able to get home, but the over-protective 36 year old parent part wasn't. He grimly pushed through the crowd and continued working.

It had been a few minutes a searching when he heard a voice call. Lore dashed through the people and stopped short, was that… could it be.. “David!” She yelled over the excitement of people as she made her way to the man, “David, have you seen Amera?”

"No I haven't." David replied, though he knew full well what the terms of the court case were. "I am looking around for my daughter Jade. Have you seen her?" David hoped Lore had seen Jade, but he also knew that they had to find Amera...

Amera walked up to one of the stalls and knelt down next to the child, “Hey Jade, want some help?”

"Recognizing Amera as one of her fathers clients, and not quite remembering exactly what Amera did, Jade glanced up and smiled. "Yes please. These games are hard. I haven't won one."

Listening to the little girl Amera smiled and began to help the girl win something. Not knowing how frantic her sister had become.

8:30pm
Friday, Oct. 31/08
Sweet Rock, BC

Tiffany: Tiffany happily stepped into line for the fun house. The place was definitely crowded and it was visible that it'd taker her awhile to get her turn inside. From what she could see up ahead, many of the people exiting the Fun House were visibly shaken, almost ghostly white with fear. Her train of thought was broken as another scream pierced the night air...

David and Lore: The lawyer and twin frantically searched the area where Jade and Amera had disappeared from. Their voices grew hoarse from calling their names, and no one would answer their pleas for help, too enamored in the sites and sounds of the strange carnival. The longer they searched, the more disorientated they became, eventually they ended up right where they started, no more closer to finding those that they had lost.

Amera: Walking with Jade, the two girls wandered through out the game area not realizing what they had stirred up. They stopped occasionally to play games that were easy enough to win, and within a half hour, Amera and Jade were carrying at least a dozen stuffed animals. Sitting to rest after Jade convinced Amera to buy her a candy apple, a strange man dressed in all black walked up to the two girls. Bowing to them, he dipped his top hat and pulled out two black roses. "One for each lovely lady." His voice was deep and rumbled almost like thunder. Standing, he towered over the two. "Riddle me this my dear girls,
I am the part of the bird that is not in the sky,
who can drown in the ocean and yet remain dry.
A last vestige of man that refuses to die.
In mourning I am tossed at your feet to lie;
I begin my job early, devouring your ankles and thighs.
I work my way up, eating your legs to your waist.
And though around midday away I am chased,
I return quickly to savor the arm of my taste.
As evening falls I enter your lungs,
spiraling down past your mouth and your tongue.
I feast on your body, your soul, and your mind,
but as darkness falls you shall find
that away I will go, a relief for some;
At least until tomorrow morning comes.
What am I?
Staring at the two with his dark eyes he grinned, "I'll give you until the end of the night to figure it out, keep the roses." Bowing once more, he slipped away into the crowd.

Once David and Lore had returned to where they had started, David knew that they were in trouble. He cursed under his breath, then coughed. His throat was dry. At any other time, he would've bought a drink of water. But not at this time. Fear was taking over. How could he lose Jade here.

Hoarsely, David said to Lore, " Ok, that didn't work. Where could they be? They must have somewhere they would go..." David thought. Where would Jade go? Where would Amera go?

---------------------------------------
Jade had won some things with Amera! Jade carried some of the stuffed animals with Amera, including her favorite the black cat. That is when a man in a top hat arrived; he handed them a black rose, and than began his riddle. Jade listened, entranced by his voice. "I'll give you until the end of the night to figure it out, keep the roses." the man grinned, as he bowed and he left. Jade looked up at Amera. Wow, what do you think that means?

As she stood in line, awaiting her turn to enter the house, Tiffany looked around the carnival and took in some more of its sights. As her thought process wasn't terribly complex, her observations weren't, either. Eventually, her glimmering eyes fell upon the line of people leaving the house: their faces where stark white, as if they'd been caked with talcum powder. Truly, a fun house was supposed to instil fright and terror for sake of amusement... but these people seemed more than just amused. Some were reeling. Others were weeping, clutching their clothes. Nobody was smiling, or chatting lightly with their friends about it... all she saw was misery.

Misery, perhaps; now, however, Tiffany was wondering. "This thing seems preeeetty scary... maybe even too scary." She remembered the awful dreams she'd had when a group of friends showed her Stanley Kubrick's "The Shining". Suddenly, she ducked out of the line, giggling in spite of herself. "I think this'll be way too scary for me alone, but if I'm with my friends, then maybe it'll be better!"

Her hand darted down into her purse and withdrew a hot pink cell phone. All her friends were on a collective speed dial, and she called up the ringleader. "Heeey, Jessie, it's me, Tiffany! ... Omigosh, you would not believe this. I'm in that carnival that just came into town- and it is, like, soooo creepy-cool! ... Oh yeah, you gotta come down here. ... Oh, totally- listen, can you make it? ..."

Lore:

Lore rushed around the grounds searching for her sister and David’s daughter, the man had done so much for her and her twin that she owed it to him to search for both of them..

Damn it Amera…. Why now of all the times do you go wandering off… her thoughts repeated around, mixing in with the cops finding Amera and taking her away.. Lore couldn’t lose her.. she was all she had left now..

Stopping and looking around she cursed once more at her sister as they stopped at where they had started. She vaguely heard David asking questions..

“…would go…?” Shaking her head she focused her mind to complete the task,

“What kind of rides does Jade like? I don’t see any fires so it’s safe to say that Amera is being well behaved infront of her, but that’s only going to hold out for so long..”


Amera:

Amera tensed slightly, pulling Jade to stand slightly behind her, she reached into her bag and gripped a lighter- just the feeling of the source of her delight sent calming waves through her- when the man came up to her and the young girl. She listened intently at the riddle and began to think it through, the end of the night should give her sufficient amount of time to solve it.. Looking around, Amera frowned seeing that it was getting later and looked down at Jade,

“Let’s go find your dad okay? I’m sure he’s worried about you..” Leading the girl in what she hoped was the right direction, she began her search for David, the lawyer who had saved her ass from a less than stellar life..

Tiffany: As Tiffany sat on her phone she didn't notice the large crowd of people moving towards her. Before she heard the answer from her friend the next thing she knew was she was getting jostled around by a crowd of people moving through the park. With a cry she was pushed to the side as her phone was torn from her grip in the flurry of movement. As she fell out of the monstrous crowd she landed in front of two very distressed looking people, one of which seemed familiar to her.

David and Lore: As the two stood distressed after going full circle, they couldn't help but notice a large crowd of people rushing through the park. Just as quickly as they came they were gone, but in front of them sat a dishevelled looking blonde girl.

Amera and Jade: The two girls wandered through the game stands and crowds of people looking for the little girl's father. It was hard to move without bumping into anyone, and they were constantly being halted by larger groups moving through to other games.

David was about to move forward, when a large crowd began to move in. Pushing forward, David called his daughters name, " Jade! Jade!" As quickly as it had come, the crowd dispersed.

In front of David sat a young blond girl. She looked somewhat worn out from being swept up by the crowd. David knew, at least from witness' description, how nasty crowd could be. This girl... David recognized her. But from where? A client? No, he'd never had her. She wasn't a lawyer from the opposite side, that he was sure of. Maybe she was a witness? Whatever, he didn't have time for this. Turning back to Lore, he hoarsely said, " I think we should move on. I think Jade would be attracted to the smaller, noisier rides..."
-----------------------------------------------------

Jade looked around for her father. She hadn't realized that he hadn't been nearby until right then. At least she knew who she was with. It was one of her fathers clients.

Looking back out towards the theme park, Jade called out, in somewhat of a panic, "Dad! Dad! Where are you?"

"...Oh, totally- listen, can you make it? ...-oof!" As Tiffany stood, motionless beyond hand gesticulations and the occasional turn of the head, a large crowd of amusement park busybodies bumbled past her, bumping into her every so often. As they went, however, the bumping and pushing gradually grew more aggressive, coming to a height as a large figure thrust her out of its way onto the ground. At the same time, an arm, almost out of nowhere, wrenched her phone out from her grasp. It happened so fast, she could only cry out in vain.

It took a moment for her head to clear. "Ooh... what... HEY! MY PHONE!! GIVE ME BACK MY..." she broke off, and looked upward at the two people standing before her. One of them, a gothic-looking girl- she looked to be about her age- she couldn't recognize; the other one was a well-dressed man whom she thought looked oddly familiar. The two seemed distressed, as though something terrible had happened.
The man regarded her curiously for a moment or two, perhaps sharing the odd sense of familiarity, then turned back to the goth girl and said, " I think we should move on. I think Jade would be attracted to the smaller, noisier rides..."

Jade? That was a familiar name. As the two above her milled between each other, she scuttled to her feet, brushed herself off and regarded them with puppy-eyed interest. "Are you looking for someone, mister??"