Blasphemy

Chapter Twenty

Someone was screaming. 

It echoed through the darkness as Calvin stood still, hugging himself. He was sobbing grossly. He just wanted to go home. Music caused his ears to ring. 

He could hear the carnival from a mile away. 

The wrought iron fence was tall and crooked, and for some reason he wanted to walk into its park. His grip tightened on his arms. He was shaking. The music only got louder. He could feel it inside his brain. 

How did he end up here?

A horrifying second and bodies hung from the spikes of the fence. He blinked them away and stared upward, toward the sky. It was dark. A storm was rolling in. 

He could see it in the distance and the air chilled him to the bone. Frowning, he shifted his footing. Dead leaves crunched underneath his feet as he slowly began to walk closer to the flashing lights. 

He couldn't remember having ever been to a carnival, but if asked he couldn't say he was necessarily excited now. The dirt path twisting ahead only served to make him feel dizzy and uneven. Calvin felt like an array of puzzle pieces that were from different jigsaw boxes. He'd never be whole.

Arriving at the front gate, he reached up tensely and pushed on it. It creaked open nosily and he peered in. The muscles in his back were tight and they were beginning to ache as he cautiously edged on. He was bruising his arms with how hard he was squeezing. 

Cool air smacked him in the face. He could feel where sweat soaked through his clothes. He felt alone. 

The lights reflected in the sky above, but the area around him was pitch black. He could make out faint outlines of tents, of booths, but he couldn't see the details. He couldn't see the colors. Everything was just black. 

It unnerved him. 

Reluctantly, he carried on. 

Swallowing became a chore as he grew more and more anxious. The lump in his throat made it difficult and threatened to choke the life out of him. Numerous times, a noise caused the boy to tense more and to freeze in place as if that were some sort of viable defense mechanism. 

There was something out there. 

He knew it. 

Whatever was out there knew that he knew. 

Where did Alexis go?

Peter? 

He continued to move along, afraid to stay still for too long. 

Calvin scratched at his arms as an itch began to invade his skin. It crawled up his body, down his spine, to the end of his limbs. It was burning. It ached. He scratched more. It was as if his skin was moving beneath his clothes. Panicking, he ripped his jacket away and threw it to the ground. His nails ripped at the skin, leaving bloody trails. He whimpered and continued to shake. 

What happened to the hospital?

The itch subsided, but the boy was too afraid to move his fingers. If it started up again...

He was afraid. 

Underneath the skin, lacing through the muscle as it crawled like it was alive. Blood coursing through his veins as it threatened to rip those from his flesh. Knot them until he couldn't move. The itch remained in his mind like some ex lover. It threatened to come back when he least expected it. 

Like it was alive and knew. 

It knew. 

He was waiting.