#partial plot drop 004

wednesday september 21st, 1988

Every year a carnival comes to the town of Shrike Heights to celebrate the conclusion of the Summer just gone, and every year on the very first day the carnival is open, up and running, a parade passes through the town to get the residents into the carnival spirit. As it passes through the entire town, anyone who wishes to catch sight of it has the opportunity to do so; no one has to travel very far to watch at the very least a portion of it - a perk of living in such a small town. Most residents make a point of attending the festivities rolling through town as it’s a joyous time, an entertaining show, and dressed up performers in the parade often give out treats and free entry tickets or tickets to go on different rides at the carnival. Not to mention, the carnival always works closely with the students of Shrike Heights, so family members are often morally obliged to attend to see their children walking, performing, or showcasing the floats they helped to build over the summer. 

This year the carnival is coming to town a little later compared to the year previous. After the gruesome events at the conclusion of the end of summer carnival in ‘87, some residents question whether or not it’s canceled this year, and some residents speak loudly about how it should be, if it’s still set to go ahead. The event is indeed set to go ahead, and town officials hype up the occasion regardless of what the residents think, speaking about how eager they are to give their people the chance to find joy amongst all the pain that typically befalls Shrike Heights. 

11:21 a.m. 

The parade makes its grand way down the streets of Shrike Heights, and residents line the sidewalks as it does so, watching on in amusement and at times cheering with glee. It’s a spectacular sight, and even a lot of those who plan on skipping the carnival come out of their homes or places of work to view some of the show. Valentine Ortiz doesn’t plan on attending the carnival this year, not after what happened to him there last time, but he’s in good spirits as he watches on; maybe recovery is possible after all, he thinks, maybe in a years time he won’t only be watching the parade, but he’ll make it back to the carnival. His service dog Merry sits obediently beside him, though he doesn’t feel the need to call upon him for his services. It’s a good morning. 

The closer you get to Town Center, the larger the crowd on either side of the parade is; Valentine has chosen to steer clear of the larger crowd, not only for his sake, but for the sake of Kit Sombun too, another survivor of the attacks. They’re both still working on their recoveries, and pushing themselves too hard too fast isn’t part of their plan. As the crowd is much thinner where they stand, they’re able to get front row positions to the show, and it makes them laugh as they watch the animated, costumed performers wave to them and occasionally interact with them as they walk by, much like what they do with the children who typically fight for the front row position down where the crowd gets more populated.

Despite understandably having reservations and doubts about coming out to the event, the energy of the parade and its performers is contagious. Valentine and Kit both smile as they watch dancers, musicians, school students and the carnies advertise the carnival and the end of summer celebrations with grandeur, their eyes only diverting from the floats that pass them by when a performer steps up to them. The performer wears an animal costume, bright yellow in colour, a mask clearly resembling the features of a mouse; the costumed performer doesn’t stick out from the rest of the bright display of the parade in the slightest, though something feels vaguely familiar about them to Valentine. Without saying a word, the mouse hands the two men pieces of wrapped up candy, and then they continue their walk down the street, handing out more sweets to other chosen individuals.

“Can’t say no to free candy.” Valentine laughs, immediately unwrapping a piece and throwing it into his mouth. Kit smiles, though he slides his own piece into his pocket; he’ll be able to enjoy that later, he thinks, his entire focus going back to the parade. The parade holds Kit’s focus until minutes pass and Valentine catches his attention by handing him Merry’s leash, an expression of discomfort on his face. “My tummy hurts.” He tells him, wrapping his arms around his own center. “Kinda… Pretty bad.” He’s been trying to power through the pain that slowly intensifies, trying to enjoy the parade as it’s a big step to get back into the community like this, and as it’s been such a pleasant time thus far, but his stomach begins to cramp up in a way that it never has before. Kit’s smile drops as he notices Valentine growing more pale and slightly sweaty. He’s about to suggest they head home, his body immediately overcome with panic as he jumps to morbid conclusions, but before Kit can speak a single word, Valentine is rushing off. 

Kit and Merry follow him, both concerned, and they catch up to him in the nearest alley to find him throwing up into a trash can. Merry paws at Valentine’s leg as Kit begins to rub his back soothingly, unsure of what to do and fretting over the fact. “Do you know what’s causing it?” He asks, and Valentine is only able to answer with a shake of his head and groan. “It’s not like you ate anything bad this morning.” Kit thinks out loud, trying to work out what’s wrong so that he can remedy the situation. “And you weren’t showing any signs of anything until-” until Valentine ate the candy. “You’re not allergic to anything, are you?” He questions, anxiety causing his voice to shake as he digs into his pocket to pull out the piece of candy. Again, Valentine shakes his head, straightening up but still holding his stomach; his breakfast has now left him, but the pain hasn’t. “Candy to die for.” Kit begins reading the small text printed on the wrapper out loud as he looks for the ingredients. “Love from your friends, the Animals.” He looks up to Valentine, about to comment on how strange the packaging, but he falls silent when he sees Valentine’s mortified expression. Kit doesn’t understand what he’s just read, but Valentine knows. The Animals are back, and they’ve just poisoned him.

11:33 a.m.

Edward Cunningham has missed the past two years of these celebrations, and despite now being back in Shrike Heights, he’s not in any hurry to watch the parade or to attend the carnival. Perhaps if his younger siblings were in his care today, like they so often are, he would have been more excited, but without them he’s not sure if he’ll even catch sight of a single float. He has other things to do around town, he’s not prioritizing anything other than those mindless errands, but he happens to breeze through them; perhaps because most of the other residents are making a point of seeing the parade, the stores in the mall he visits aren’t crowded enough to stop him from getting everything he needs promptly. He makes it outside and over to the main street where the parade passes by after all. 

A face he’s not expecting to meet on the curb next to the parade is the one that belongs to Omar Hassan. Edward can’t recall seeing him outside of the mall since he’s been back in town, since the mall’s construction, and the truth is that he’s a little surprised to see the man there. He’s surprised that anything could have taken him away from his work, but he smiles in his direction and he honestly doesn’t think much more of it as he walks over to greet him. He supposes it’s a good look for the mall to have their more internal employees attending town festivities, and he’s glad to see that Omar isn’t being made to miss out on anything because of his duties at the mall. They begin to catch up with friendly small talk, though like the rest of the crowd, they quickly get entranced by the parade’s show. 

The float that begins to slowly pass them by has what looks to be hundreds of helium filled balloons floating above it. Performers dressed as clowns, characters, animals and other undecipherable yet brightly coloured things both perform skits on their float and walk alongside it, interacting with the crowd that watches them pass. Neither Omar or Edward are particularly interested in the crowd work being done, but they both silently think about how nice it is to be surrounded by people who seem to be excited and happy about the festivities. The crowd around them isn’t terribly large, but it’s substantial enough all throughout town to keep the upbeat energy that is certainly feel good, even for those who have reservations about the parade, the carnival and all else that’s happening in Shrike Heights right now. 

As they stand beside each other and silently watch on, a person costumed in bright red with a mask resembling the features of a dog of the same colour approaches. He holds out a red balloon for Omar to take, though with a laugh Omar shakes his head and his hands, rejecting the offer. He doesn’t particularly want to have to take it back to his office, knowing it will only inevitably linger there until the helium no longer holds it up against the roof; not to mention, he feels a little foolish at the thought of carrying around a balloon as a grown man. Edward has the same worry of looking silly, carrying a balloon across town at his age, but the dog is insistent on one of them accepting his offer, so Edward takes one for the team and he wraps his hand around the string of the balloon. He laughs, already a little embarrassed, but he knows his younger siblings will be elated to see the balloon when he returns home, so he supposes it will be worth it in the end. Unfortunately, however, Edward never makes it home with the balloon.

He plans on only watching the parade for a small while longer, as does Omar, though neither of them discuss this. They just stay standing on the curb, taking in the details of the next float that passes, the float being one of many that accentuates features of and advertises the carnival games. At the front of the float is a man holding a collection of darts; he keeps pretending that he’s going to throw them at the balloon float ahead of them, but he does no such thing due to the safety risk. People laugh at his act, but Edward and Omar aren’t able to laugh for very long before their mood is terribly soured. A dart comes out of nowhere, perhaps from another person on the same float that passes, and it pops the balloon Edward holds. The act would have been fine, if it wasn’t for the fact that once popped, a liquid that has gone undetected inside of the floating balloon drops down and splatters the two men all over. They both groan and begin to gag, not hesitating to rush off to clean up; there’s no mistaking what the dark, red liquid is that covers them from head to toe. They’ve been drenched in blood. 

11:49 a.m.

Down where the crowd gets larger and louder, Aera Davies is watching the parade with glee. It’s safe to assume that all of the mall workers have been suffering since the attacks began here in Shrike Heights, and there’s no need to only assume that Aera has suffered when she so recently lost a co-worker to the killers. Bodhi is on her mind today. She doesn’t think the parade would have been his scene, but she’s still saddened that he doesn’t even get the option to attend, should he have wanted to. She decides to make the most of the events that she can enjoy, not only for her own sake, but in honour of Bodhi and the other friends and family that they have all lost because of the serial murders that have now thankfully slowed down. Aera isn’t confident enough to say that this is all over with, but she’s an optimistic person and she’s confident enough to enjoy festivities like the parade. 

Someone who can’t say the same is Johanna Prinsen. There’s not an optimistic bone in that woman’s body, but regardless of the fact, she’s made it to the parade too, and she stands just behind Aera in the crowd. Johanna isn’t able to enjoy the parade at all, but she puts on a brave face and she acts like she’s having a blast for the sake of appearances. She doesn’t want anyone to know just how much she’s struggling, so she wears her best smile and she tries to lose herself in the colorful display. She might not be feeling good, but she does enjoy aspects of the performances, and her smile becomes a little more genuine as she watches the cheerleading team from Shrike High pass them by. She remembers the day when used to be recruited for the parade performance as a high schooler, and while so many positive changes have happened for her since then, she can’t help but feel a longing to have those days back, those days when their town wasn’t under attack. 

While the students and some other members of the town get to walk, perform and make the welcoming parade the grand spectacle that it always is, the main reason for the parade is to highlight the arrival of the carnival. Aera and Johanna are reminded of the fact as the cheer squad passes them by and another float highlighting the carnival games begins to roll down the street in front of them. This one is safe from sharps, but many people standing on the float hold water pistols in their hands, not the kind one might use for a water fight in their own backyard, but instead the kind one might use at the carnival games that require you to shoot water into the mouths of fiberglass clown heads. The performers use these water pistols to spray the crowd, evoking screams of mostly joy, mixed with some screams of horror as they wet newly done perms or ruin bright, powdery makeup. 

Johanna is glad to be a row behind others, glad to be out of the line of fire - well, water - but Aera isn’t so lucky. Aera doesn’t need to worry about her hair, nor does she particularly care for her makeup, but she’s still hoping the water will avoid her. She squeals with joy and nervousness as she watches someone close to her get sprayed with the water, and though she thinks she’s prepared enough to be able to dodge the pistol, she’s wrong. Her assumption isn’t the only thing that’s wrong, however, but the carnie’s aim proves to be wrongfully precise and they shoot water right into Aera’s eye. She gasps, then inhales the water that drips down her face, and as she coughs and splutters she falls backwards into the rest of the crowd. Johanna groans as she’s unexpectedly tasked with catching the weight of the woman, but thankfully she’s relieved of her duty swiftly as a performer with a green rabbit mask helps her back up and onto her feet steadily. “Thank you.” Aera says graciously, despite the fact that she can’t see who’s helped her as her eyes are squeezed shut tightly in an effort to protect them from the water. The rabbit pulls a handkerchief out of their pocket, and they place it in Aera’s hand. Understanding even without her sight, Aera begins to wipe and dry her face, and the rabbit walks off with the rest of the parade. 

Aera begins to find the humor and the fun in the situation, that is, until she opens her eyes and looks at the handkerchief she’s just used. A jagged gasp leaves her, and she stumbles back with fright. Once again, her body has knocked into Johanna’s, but this time Aera takes them both down. Aera spins and catches herself on her arm, grazing her skin and most likely earning herself bruises, but Johanna is less fortunate, falling back without being able to catch herself, her head hitting the sidewalk with a harsh thud. Before she can do a thing to react to anything that has just happened, Aera is helping her up. “I’m so sorry, I’m so- I’m sorry.” She shakes her head, and Johanna suddenly cares less about her injury as she grows more concerned for Aera. The fear in her eyes is disturbing, but it makes perfect sense the second her eyes find the handkerchief she holds. Embroidered onto the fabric are yet graphic scenes of people being murdered in many different ways; the stitch work is tiny, but impeccable, making the scenes clearly understood. Across one edge of the fabric, the stitches speak. ‘Shrike Heights, 1987 -’, the embroidered text says, and the words are chilling enough to cause Johanna to shiver. “I was just frightened.” Aera explains, though there’s no need to. Johanna is frightened too.

12:00 p.m. 

With so much commotion surrounding the parade, it’s easy for unfortunate incidents to be missed, and this is especially true for those in the busier parts of the crowd. August Vogel hasn’t noticed any poisoned candy, blood spills or sinister handkerchiefs as he stands in the crowd, and neither has Moss Oliva, not even when Moss is now awfully observant due to great paranoia. They both have reservations about being out at the parade, though they’re both trying their hardest to enjoy the moment and to experience the joy that’s been promised to them by the likes of Mayor Sweeney and other town officials who have been advertising the parade and the carnival. They stand at the start of the busiest portion of town, where the crowd begins to swell and still grow, and surrounding them is excited chatter about the best part of the show arriving. 

The parade doesn’t have much longer to go, and everyone knows that it’s at this point when things grow to be a little more engaging, where all down the line the performers give it their all while those who are less performative begin to really work the crowd by gifting their best vouchers and sweet little presents - or not so sweet, if you’ve been unlucky enough to be given items that have clearly been tampered with… Cheers from the crowd grow louder as those walking amongst or standing on top of floats demand it, and the environment only grows to be louder as costumed individuals begin handing out treats and prizes to most who stand at the front of the crowd at the edges of the street. Moss jumps as the first confetti cannon goes off with a loud bang, and August can’t help his first response being to laugh. “You okay?” He then asks, to ensure he’s not coming across as insensitive, reaching out to place a hand on Moss’ shoulder reassuringly. With a small laugh of his own, Moss nods. 

More and more confetti cannons begin to go off, sprinkling little pieces of confetti all over the crowd on either side of the road. It’s a marvelous sight, to look up into the sky and see slow falling rain of every color falling down, and it strangely brightens the mood of most in the crowd, including the at the time hesitant Moss and the at the time slightly pessimistic August. The volume of the event is undeniably overwhelming, but it feels good to be overwhelmed with something that isn’t only complete despair. Moss smiles, and he turns his head to look at August, who he shares the nice moment with. The smile is returned by August, who gains more optimism from Moss, and who then allows himself to enjoy the event a little more. Neither of them are aware that killers are present, and neither of them are expecting things to go sour, even if they both are worried underneath their layer of temporary joy. 

Suddenly a performer stops their walk right in front of the two. Their costume is all purple, their mask closely resembling the features of a bear. They don’t say a word, but they hand both August and Moss free tickets for the carnival’s largest roller coaster, and then they step back, shooting a small confetti cannon of their own over the two. Unlike the rest of the confetti that flies through the skies, the confetti that falls on mainly August and Moss, the two prize winners, is only black and white. August notes this immediately, and he picks a piece off of his shirt to examine. “Hey, it’s like proper paper.” He tells Moss as the bear is no longer anywhere to be seen, having walked along with the rest of the parade. “See, it’s got some text on it.” He shows the other man, picking more pieces off of himself to try to find words, only out of sheer curiosity. With a laugh, he keeps speaking. “It looks like the confetti is made out of other free tickets. See, ‘coaster’. Maybe if we piece it all together we can have unlimited rides.” He jokes, not seriously caring to do so, but finding the thought entertaining. 

Moss finds the thought entertaining also. He’s not sure if he will even make it to the carnival, but he too begins to collect pieces of the confetti to read and potentially piece together. Shortly after picking the second piece out of his own hair, his face drops. He falls to a knee, and he begins to search through the pieces of confetti that have now fallen to the floor frantically. After a moment longer of searching, he straightens up, still on his knee, and August can see tears rolling down Moss’ cheeks. The rest of the parade is completely forgotten by the both of them. “Flora Oliva.” Moss reads the name of his late wife, the one taken from him far too soon in one of the attacks. He hands the pieces to August, and he continues. “Charlotte Davis.” His voice is quiet, but August can hear him loud and clear, remembering Charlie. “Bodhi Kol.” He hands these pieces to August, too, but he no longer continues searching, instead handing even more of the already found pieces to him, pieces that contain segments of dates and other details. “It’s not just made out of free tickets. It’s made out of death certificates.” His voice shakes as he looks up to August, still crying. 

12:03 p.m. 

For such a small town, the crowd around the parade is unexpectedly big. Most of the residents suppose it makes sense, with how many new people have made their way to Shrike Heights since the construction of the mall, but it’s still a jarring sight. Both Kang Mina and Tatum Lee understand the growth that their small town has seen lately, though they both find themselves surprised by the crowd nonetheless. Are so many people really that eager to see a silly little show filled with adults playing dress up? Neither of them are sure, but somehow, the two of them get stuck in the thick of the crowd anyway. They have to push their way to the front to preserve their ability to breathe, and once there, they decide to watch part of the show. May as well see what all of the fuss is about, right? And besides, with all the commotion, neither of them are sure that they’ll find an easy path out. So much for Shrike Heights being a small town. 

The atmosphere is just as loud and chaotic, even when all of the crowd is behind or beside them, no longer fully surrounding the two, but at least they can actually see the details of the show now. In a break between two tremendously large floats, a group of dancers dressed in their best begin to pass them, performing with wide, attention grabbing smiles. Mina’s eyes immediately begin scanning their faces of makeup; it’s more alternative than they would have thought them to have, and they immediately go on to wonder about the products used to craft their looks. Beside them, Tatum’s eyes are also fixed on the dancers, though instead of thinking about their makeup, she begins to examine their outfits. A dancer close to them wears a costume with red lace on it that reminds her of a couple of the new arrivals found in Jennifer’s; she wonders if now would be a good time to head over to the mall to obtain some for herself, of if the emptiness of the stores would only make it more likely that she’ll get caught paying with a five finger discount. 

There are aspects of the parade that can entertain anyone, it seems, though this very fact may act as part of the parade’s downfall. It’s simply chaotic. Minutes have passed and confetti cannons still go off; people - mostly children with high pitched vocal abilities - scream as performers hand out vouchers, candy, balloons and more; people in the crowd talk to each other loudly to be heard over the music that blasts from floats and the loud voices amplified as spoken through microphones; whistles are blown, hands are clapped, drums are hit, horns are honked, sirens go off in the distance; mothers call out to their children that walk to represent Shrike Elementary for the very first time. Chaotic very quickly turns into overstimulating, and many in the crowd don’t care enough for the parade to stick around for the entire thing, many including both Mina and Tatum. 

Unfortunately in their spot, wedged at the front of the thickest part of the crowd, it’s not easy to make an escape. Neither of them speak to each other about it, they instead both try to wait it out for a moment, but that quickly gets old as the grubby faced child next to Tatum keeps bumping into her as he jumps to the beat of the music that plays. “I need some space.” Mina tells the other, as if reading Tatum’s mind - though it’s not hard to assume one doesn’t want to stay in the suffocating position for long. The two of them begin to push their way back through the crowd, struggling but making decent work of it, and feeling relief with each step they take away from the overzealous crowd members and performers. They settle in a section a little ways away from the worst of the crowd, though they stop earlier than planned as Mina catches sight of someone she knew in high school standing at the top of a float. It’s still overwhelming where they stand there, but both of them are planning on heading further out and going their own ways in only moments, so a minute longer won’t hurt either of them - or so they think. 

Suddenly, Tatum is knocked into Mina from the side by someone she assumes is trying to skate past them, through the crowd that contains only just large enough gaps for them to weave through, from the looks of things. They both scan their surroundings, but before they can spot the brightly coloured roller skater with no respect, a performer from the street comes flying their way, seemingly accidentally, and they collide with both Mina and Tatum harshly. Though the collision seemed accidental, the cat recovers with ease, and they keep on walking before Mina and Tatum can even take a step back to try to steady themselves. Unfortunately once they do step back, they find an inability to steady themselves, as they in almost perfect synchronization feel a stinging pain in the back of their calves and quickly fall down onto the ground, landing on their backs. Everything happens so quickly. As they lay on the filthy sidewalk with throbbing, aching bodies and stinging, bleeding legs, they both catch sight of one bubblegum twin each, and though the wind has been knocked out of them, they feel even more breathless as they begin to register what has happened. The twins skate away before Mina or Tatum - or any of the few people in the crowd that even noticed the fall, though somehow not the killers or the attack - can say anything, though before they’re completely out of sight, Tatum just catches a glance of the razor wire that the twins used to trip the two. 

12:06 p.m. 

It’s not surprising in the slightest, the fact that so many in the crowd find themselves more overwhelmed than what they might have felt at the welcoming parade last year, or certainly the year before. Not only has the size of the town grown, but many residents of Shrike Heights have experienced horrors they never even saw coming in years prior. Only a small collection of attack survivors come out to watch the parade, but because of the obscene amount of survivors that there are, they happen to make up a large population of the crowd. Soren Chen happens to be one of these survivors, accompanied by Sawyer Pearson, naturally. It’s a big step to be in the community again after suffering such a brutal fate in the last recorded attack, but Soren doesn’t feel so scared when Sawyer is by their side, vowing protection.

Despite promises uttered and reassurance given, Soren is finding herself quickly overwhelmed. She trusts Sawyer, but she can no longer say that she trusts Shrike Heights - though the more she thinks about it, the more she realizes she’s never had much trust in anything at all, even before the attack. As always, Soren is trying to be brave. The loud noises make her flinch, the screams make her gut churn, and the masked performers make her angry. How anyone can don a mask when that’s the exact criteria for a Shrike Killer, she doesn’t know; she’s not the only one who thinks that the insensitive act of wearing masks, carving faces into jack-o-lanterns or even owning white sheets should be banned from this town. But despite all she feels, and all she thinks, she doesn’t say a word. She’s uncharacteristically quiet with Sawyer, but the attorney knows her well enough to read her regardless of the absence of speech. 

“Would you like to get out of here?” Sawyer asks her, a comforting hand on Soren’s shoulder that proves ineffective as Soren’s breath still noticeably hitches when the conversation is initiated. Perhaps to say it was noticeable was a stretch; perhaps it’s only noticeable to Sawyer. Perhaps this is why Soren trusts only her to help navigate the extremely large, extremely loud outing that Soren isn’t sure she’s ready for yet, despite wanting so badly to have a nice time here. “Come on,” Sawyer begins affectionately, not needing to wait for a verbal answer when the look on Soren’s face reads overwhelmed and done with the event well enough alone. “The best of the parade is over now, anyway.” She tries to make leaving sound like a choice better than it is, despite not being local to Shrike Heights, despite not really knowing what the end of this welcoming parade typically looks like. 

Together, they begin to walk away from the thick of the crowd. Soren’s arm is still securely trapped in their cast, so the two walk slowly and steadily to ensure no more damage is done to them; lord knows, Soren has endured enough injury for one lifetime. “They didn’t bring back my favourite float this year, anyway.” Soren speaks quietly, yet still loudly enough to be heard over the crowd. To say they feel disappointed over having their life so deeply changed by the killers would be an understatement, but they’re trying their best to pick out the positives in their experiences. With Sawyer there, that’s a little easier to do. “I think-” before she can finish her sentence, two brightly colored individuals zoom past them on their skates, causing the two to stop quickly and harshly to avoid a collision. Being a skater herself, Soren knows it’s not hard to respect others when your chosen method of transport is on wheels; she knows that their rudeness was a choice, though that’s no surprise, though she doesn’t yet understand how sinister their choices are. “Let’s go.” The nervousness in Soren’s voice is louder now, and their steps are faster. She was already feeling positively overwhelmed, but now overstimulated doesn’t even cover how she feels.