The Guild of Fallen Clowns (40 page)

Peepers returned his right hand to Sam’s
shoulder and instructed him to keep his eyes open. Sam nodded with
his head tilted down and eyes opened wide. Peepers jolted him
forward and pulled back, preventing him from going over the
edge.

“Please don’t do that. Please let me back on
the roof,” Sam pleaded. Peepers grinned in pleasure as his eyes
closed and his head lifted.

“Remember this place?” Peepers
whispered.

“Yes, of course I remember. Why did you
bring me here?” His body trembled.

“To finish job,” Peepers answered.

Sam sniffled and turned his head. Peepers
leaned out so Sam could look at his face. “Did you think death
would stop me?” Peepers smiled.

Sam’s face went flush as he realized the
identity of Peepers. “The Happy Clown Killer?”

Peepers nodded. “Peepers now.” He
smiled.

Sam turned away. His eyes closed tight. His
face was tense with fear.

“You can’t kill me this time,” Peepers said.
“This time, Sam die
when
Peepers finished.” He let go of Sam
and paced on the roof behind him with a glib sense of satisfaction.
Then he moved his mouth back to Sam’s ear. “The Happy Clown Killer
will feed on Sam tonight.”

Suddenly, the fear in Sam’s face gave way to
a sense of calm. His eyes opened and his muscles relaxed. “When
you’re ready?” Sam whispered. Then he grinned.

Peepers moved to Sam’s side and looked with
disgust at his expression. “What did you say?”

Sam smiled and turned to face him. “I said,
‘when you’re ready.’”

Again, Peepers scanned Sam’s face and
relaxed composure. He grew angry. “I am the Happy Clown Killer! You
fear me!” he yelled. Sam nodded with a smile, which further
infuriated Peepers.

“I know I’m going to die tonight,” Sam said
without concern. “I also know some things about you,” he added.

Peepers snarled and showed his most horrific
face in a failed attempt to change Sam’s expression. Sam casually
picked up the figure of Peepers and studied it. “You see, I know
that you get off on the fear in others,” he said. He turned back
and chuckled at Peepers’ grotesque face. “The truth is—you had me.
Before you told me who you were, I was so scared that I think I
pissed myself. But now that I know you were the Happy Clown Killer,
I’m seeing things a lot differently.” He smiled and looked back at
the figure in his hands. “Oh, sure you won’t let me off this roof
alive, but that doesn’t mean I have to feed your lust with my
fear.” He turned back to Peepers, who continued to stare him
down.

“Yes, Sam will die,” Peepers said.

“Yes, I will, but I’m okay with it because
you’ve given me something I’m willing to die for.”

Peepers looked at Sam in bewilderment.

“You don’t get it, do you?” Sam said.
Peepers’ eyebrows lowered.

“Wow, I always thought you had every
possible angle worked out. I gave you far more credit than you
deserved.”

“What is Sam babbling?” Peepers growled.

“Calm down, clown. I’ll tell you. I’m just
enjoying playing with
you
for a change.”

Peepers wrapped his arm around Sam’s neck
and leaned forward. “Last chance,” he said.

“All right, here it is. You failed to
consider my reaction to having a second chance to kill you.”

“Kill Peepers?” Peepers asked.

“And that other thing I know about you is
that you were terrified when you went over the edge to your death.
I’ve never witnessed a fear as intense as yours,” Sam said. Then he
held Peepers’ arm to his neck with one hand and held out the figure
with his other. “I’ll see you in hell, clown!”

Sam lunged forward, taking Peepers over the
edge with him. Peepers and his figure screamed in unison as they
raced toward the pavement below. The impact shattered the statue.
Peepers’ body evaporated into smoke. Sam’s broken body landed face
up—smiling.

Standing with an opened black trash bag
clutched in his rubber glove-protected hand and another black bag
draped over his torso like a raincoat, Geno leaned down and picked
up the bloody hand beside Regina’s body. He tossed it inside the
bag, then reached to her side for the serrated pruning saw.

From the mirrors inside the Labyrinth, Guild
clowns watched in morbid curiosity as Geno portioned the corpse
into six equal weights. He lowered the safety goggles over his eyes
and lifted her handless arm as he placed the saw on the shoulder
joint.

Before he was able to start cutting, the
building started to shake and rumble. Terror came over the faces of
the Guild clowns, who looked to each other before fading from sight
in the darkness of the mirrors. Still gripping the saw, Geno stood
and turned to face the room. The magnitude of tremors intensified
as a section of mirrored panels shook so violently that they
appeared to come loose from their pivoting hinges. The saw dropped
from Geno’s hand as he watched from across the room.

From the center of the spectacle, a
shockwave blasted across the room, knocking Geno against the wall
behind him. Behind the wave, demonic screams pierced the reflective
barrier as Peepers’ body hurled out from the mirrors and crashed to
the floor. The impact snapped and twisted his limbs in unnatural
directions as blood began oozing to the floor from his half-crushed
skull. The quaking subsided and Peepers’ eye opened. Blood reversed
course as his face and bones cracked and unfolded to his previous
form. As soon as the process was complete, his body sprung from the
floor to a standing position. His neck cracked as he rolled out the
final kinks. Completely restored, he locked eyes with Geno as anger
boiled up from inside. Geno gulped. Peepers snarled and rushed
directly at him, kicking the table and chairs out of his path,
sending them crashing against a wall, smashing the wine bottle and
glasses into fragments around the room.

Geno’s hands instinctively rose to protect
his face. Peepers stopped inches from him and stared down.
Buffalo-like grunting fogged Geno’s goggles with putrid hot breath
from Peepers’ bulbous burgundy nose and clenched mouth.

Geno tried to meet Peepers’ eyes, but he
couldn’t see through the protective goggles. He pulled them off and
threw them to the floor. Peepers’ eyebrows lowered. “What—what
happened, Father?” Geno asked.

“McGiggles,” Peepers said. He turned away
from Geno and calmed himself.

“Happy McGiggles? Is he here?” Geno
asked.

Still turned away, Peepers ignored Geno’s
questions as he continued his own search for answers to his failure
with his last victim, Sam. “Prove Peepers wrong. McGiggles help
Sam.”

Geno stepped forward to show his support.
“Let me join the Guild, Father. I’ll take care of Happy McGiggles
for you.”

Peepers spun to face Geno. Rage filled his
eyes as he fought off the compulsion to destroy his son right then
and there. “You failed me!” he growled. “Cannot trust you in my
Guild. Maybe Peepers kill Geno so McGiggles torture you himself.”
Peepers shot him a look of pure disgust before turning away
again.

“But Father, I tried twice. She would
recognize you, so I have to hide it in her purse. There were
people, and Alan.”

Peepers turned back and glared at his son.
“Enough with excuses. Geno’s plans flawed. Disgrace to father.”

“You are right, Father. I failed you, but
I’m not finished. I won’t fail you again.”

Peepers turned. “Fail again and the Guild
will feed on your soul.”

“I won’t fail again. But I was wondering,
Father. Why the girl? Why don’t we go for him instead? I don’t
think I would have to hide it. I can tell him I was weak and made
one last piece and he needs to destroy it for me because I can’t do
it myself.”

“No!” Peepers shouted. “It must go to his
female. Peepers make clown suffer.” The sides of Peepers’ lips
turned up, revealing a smile. “Will take all clown loves before
feed on him.”

Geno nodded. “Whatever you wish. I’ll try
again, and I won’t let you down this time. The clown’s woman will
take you home with her tonight,” Geno said.

Peepers grinned as he considered the outcome
of his plans.

*****

With his canvas sack securely tucked under
his arm, Geno plowed through the crowded midway in search of Alan
and Mary. Failing to find them as he rounded the last corner, he
felt his heart pounding as panic set in. He stood near Cracky’s
booth and finally spotted the couple heading toward the exit.

Cracky was busy with a customer and didn’t
see Alan looking in his direction to offer a final farewell. Alan
and Mary didn’t want to disturb him, so they turned to leave. Geno
brushed in front of the next customer in line and panted out the
words, “Alan was looking for you. He’s leaving.” He pointed and
backed himself out of sight behind the booth.

Cracky looked over the crowd and yelled out
to Alan. Alan turned and Cracky smiled, waving him back to the
booth. Cracky handled his last customer as Alan and Mary
arrived.

“Hey, Cracky, I wanted to thank you again
before we left, but you looked busy.”

Cracky looked at Mary’s giant panda. “Looks
like you guys had a good time tonight.” He smiled.

As they continued talking, Geno took
advantage of the cover provided by the stuffed panda and worked his
way to Mary’s purse slung behind her shoulder. He eased open the
zipper and removed the Peepers figure from his bag. As he reached
it toward the opening, both Mary and Alan burst out in laughter
over something Cracky said. Her body arched forward, pulling the
purse out of reach. She shifted the panda on her hip and tugged the
purse strap higher on her shoulder.

Geno remained undiscovered, but he stood
back as guests stopped in front of him to discuss how many tickets
they needed to purchase. One of them removed some bills from his
wallet and the group moved to the front of the booth. Alan glanced
at them and he and Mary backed away.

“We’ll let you get back to work,” Alan said.
“I’ll see you same time next year,” he added.

“It was nice to meet you, Cracky,” Mary
said. Cracky winked and the two turned and walked toward the
exit.

Geno went back to panic mode. His target was
leaving and he still had the last Peepers figure with him. He
noticed a family of seven following close behind the duo and
sprinted up behind them. Once outside the gate, he broke away from
the family and moved between the rows of parked cars, ducking low
as he closed in. They reached her car, but Geno was still six cars
back, nervously peering over the parked cars, stuttering,
“Nn-ne-no!”

Hugging the panda by the trunk of her car,
Mary turned and asked Alan to take her keys from her purse. He
pulled them out and opened the trunk. Mary lowered the panda inside
and gently positioned it face up.

*****

The boisterous sounds from a rowdy group of
approximately twenty college age kids approaching from fifty yards
away diverted Geno’s attention from Alan and Mary. The group was
scattered, and they sauntered along without urgency. Geno noticed a
boy with long hair and a baseball hat grabbing his crotch before
tucking between parked cars to take a leak.

*****

“This isn’t right,” Mary said as she looked
down at the panda’s face smiling back at her from inside the
trunk.

“What’s wrong?” Alan asked.

“He shouldn’t be locked in the trunk.” She
looked back at Alan. “How would you like to be thrown in the
trunk?”

Alan smiled. “I agree,” he said as he
reached down and removed the panda. Still holding her keys, he
pressed the remote to unlock the doors. The space between the cars
was tight and Mary laughed as she watched Alan attempt to open the
back door and stuff the large prize inside.

“Be careful. Don’t hurt him,” she said. Alan
wasn’t as gentle as she liked so she placed her purse in the trunk
and instructed him to step aside.

“Sorry, but it’s a tight fit,” Alan said as
he stepped back to let her finish the job.

*****

The chain of loud young people got Alan’s
attention as they filtered by the car. Alan looked back at Mary and
grinned as she pulled the seat belt across the panda’s body.
Running to rejoin the group was the longhaired boy with the
baseball hat. His head tipped down as he plowed into another, more
athletic, boy. Irritated, the larger kid shoved back, sending him
against the back of the closest car. This was Mary’s car and the
boy was pushed half into her trunk. He bounced back and tailed
behind the group for the next five or six cars before slipping out
of sight between the cars. Mary finished buckling the panda in the
back seat and Alan closed the trunk on his way to the passenger
seat.

*****

Returning through the carnival gates, Geno
pulled a novelty baseball hat with a long hair wig attached from
under his shirt and dropped it in a trashcan. He grinned and
continued toward the Labyrinth.

*****

Taking her eye from the road in front of
her, Mary looked in her rearview mirror to check on the panda. Alan
snickered and looked back. “Don’t worry, he’s safe. You buckled him
in good.”

Mary grinned and looked back to the road. “I
didn’t want you to see me doing that. I must look silly,” she
said.

“I think it’s precious,” he replied. “Oh
god, did I just say ‘precious’? Forget about looking silly. Better
than sounding gay…which I’m not…really.” He sank into the seat.

Mary burst out laughing. “Now
that
was precious,” she said.

“I don’t know where that came from. I never
used that word before. I act so stupid around you.”

“Oh, let it go, Alan. I think it’s cute.”
She paused, then added, “Some might say you’re…precious.” Of course
she did her best gay man impersonation of the word “precious.”