The Guild of Fallen Clowns (47 page)

Peepers was deep in concentration as he
locked eyes with Dale. “Peepers’ powers stretched with thoughts
from many. The clown’s brother has secret we see clear with
attachment.”

“What is it? What’s he hiding? Do you want
me to beat it out of him?” Geno said. His hand tightened to a fist
and he started toward Dale.

“No!” Peepers shouted. Geno stopped. “His
vehicle draws attention. Take keys and move from grounds.”

Geno reached into Dale’s pocket and yanked
out his keys. “I’ll take care of it, Father,” Geno said. He shook
the keys and disappeared behind a panel leading to the rear
exit.

*****

Lyle looked like a human yo-yo as he tried
to keep pace with Alan’s speed walk through the parking lot. He
took short sprints before falling behind and sprinting again.
Catching up for the fifth time, he took a few extra steps ahead to
give him time to ask a question before Alan could outpace him a
sixth time. “Hey, when we see Dale, can you do me a favor and don’t
call me Stinky?”

Alan chuckled and continued his pace. “That
really bothers you, doesn’t it?”

Lyle started into a jog to stay with him.
“It’s just that Dale’s a cop. Our shop does a lot of work for the
department and I don’t want it to spread.”

“Imagine how it feels to be called Booger,”
Alan replied.

“Yeah, good point,” Lyle confessed. “Tell
you what, I won’t call you Booger anymore if you keep a lid on the
Stinky thing.”

“And if I don’t?” Alan said. They reached
the gate and Alan slowed his pace. Lyle tried to catch his breath
as he responded. “You got me, Boogy. I still won’t call you that
word, even if you call me Stinky.”

“Well played, my friend. But this just means
we have to come up with a new name for you.” Lyle agreed when Alan
pointed to the ticket booth. “There’s Cracky. Let’s ask him if he
saw Dale.”

There weren’t any customers at the booth
when Alan and Lyle stepped up and caught Cracky by surprise. His
head was turned away to exhale cigarette smoke through a crack in
the side door.

“Holy bejesus, Boogy! Don’t do dat to me. I
almost dropped a log in my trousers.”

Lyle cracked a smile and chuckled under his
breath.

“Sorry, Cracky. Didn’t mean to surprise you
like that—”

“I’m already on round two with da
undershorts, and dis is my last pair.”

“Right, I’m sorry about that—”

“Round two?” Lyle asked.

“Yeah, flip um inside out and you go twice
as long before having to wash um,” Cracky said. “Who’s your friend,
Boog? And why you all dressed as clowns?”

“I’m in a hurry, Cracky—” Before he could
finish, Lyle reached his hand out. “My name is…Popsicle. Popsicle
the clown.” Cracky shook his hand.

Alan looked back. “Really? That’s what you
picked?”

Lyle shrugged. “I had to think fast and I
saw those kids over there eating popsicles. I choked.”

Alan returned his focus to Cracky, but
before he could speak, Cracky jumped in.

“Yeah, I get it. You’re one of dose
bomb-pops wid da red, white, and blue all over your face. Just like
da red, white, and blue popsicles. Dat’s clever, pal. I like
it.”

Lyle gave Alan a smug grin. Alan shook the
entire conversation from his head and boldly inserted himself into
the exchange.

“Cracky! I don’t have time to explain. I
need your help. I’m looking for my brother, Dale, the cop. Did you
see him come in here—maybe an hour or so ago?”

Cracky thought for a few seconds. “No, I
didn’t see no cops today. I woulda noticed dat. I’ve been in dis
booth for at least two hours.”

“He’s got to be here. Is it possible you
might have missed seeing him? Maybe you were smoking and he could
have slipped by without you noticing him?” Alan said.

“I suppose it’s possible, Boog, but what’s
going on here? You look like you just saw a ghost or somethin’. Is
everythin’ okay?”

“Maybe he changed his clothes. Of course, he
must have changed so he could wait for me without drawing attention
to himself,” Alan thought out loud.

“Boog, what is it?” Cracky said.

“Dale’s in trouble. Geno must have done
something to get him inside the Labyrinth. Peepers is going to kill
him. I’m sorry, Cracky, I have to help Dale. I hope it’s not too
late.”

Cracky grabbed Alan’s forearm before he
could take off running. “I don’t get all what you’re sayin’, but
I’m not lettin’ you go up against Geno widout me. He’s a bad apple
just like his old man. Now, I’m gonna let you go, but you gotta
wait for me to get out of dis booth.”

“Okay, but hurry up.”

Cracky released his arm and exited the
booth.

“Okay, let’s think about this,” Alan said.
They walked at a quickened pace. “Wait,” Alan said as he stopped.
Cracky and Lyle also stopped and stepped back to him. “What was
that you said about Geno’s father?”

“His old man? Aw, don’t worry about that
psycho killer. He died a long time ago. I was just sayin’ it’s
possible Geno’s apples come from da same apple tree as his
daddy.”

“Was his fathers name—Peepers?” Alan
said.

“Peepers? No, I don’t remember exactly. I
was just a kid when it all happened. I just heard da stories. I
think he had one of dem old country names. He was from Europe or
one of dose other countries where everyone drinks all the
time.”

“Was he a clown?” Alan said.

“No, he ran da Labyrinth before Geno took
over. Oh, wait.”

“What? What? Wait, what?”

“There was somethin’ ’bout a clown. Yeah,
dat’s right.”

“What? What about a clown, Cracky?” Alan
begged.

“They called him—Da Happy Clown Killer.
Dat’s right, I knew he killed a bunch of people, but I almost
forgot what his serial killer name was. Probably ’cause he didn’t
dress like a clown when he killed people. It don’t make sense, does
it?”

“Then why did they call him that?” Alan
said.

Cracky thought hard. Then he looked back at
Alan and shrugged. “Beats me. Like I said, it was a long time ago.
I was maybe ten at da time, living wit my mother. Why you asking
all dese questions anyway?”

Ignoring Cracky, Alan started walking again.
They followed. “It must be him. Geno isn’t being forced to do
anything. He’s helping his father. Peepers is Geno’s father.”

Outside the Labyrinth, Alan stopped and
walked in circles, looking for his brother. Cracky and Lyle caught
up and joined in the visual search.

“I don’t see him,” Lyle said.

“Me neither,” Cracky added.

“This isn’t good, guys,” Alan said, his
focus moved to the Labyrinth. “Dale must have gone in without me.
Damn it!”

Lyle turned toward the building. “Let’s
go!”

“No, wait, Lyle.” Alan grabbed his shoulder.
“This is my problem. It’s too dangerous. I can’t let you guys go in
there with me. Call the police and wait for them out here.”

Frustrated, Lyle jerked his shoulder out
from under Alan’s hand. From behind, Cracky placed his own hand on
Alan’s shoulder. “No way, Boog. Da cops will take too long and
Geno’s smarter den he looks. He’s got home field advantage in dat
building. You need backup support. Now what’s da plan?”

“The big guy’s right, Boogy. You need us,”
Lyle said.

Alan knew he wouldn’t succeed in changing
their minds. It also occurred to him that he didn’t have a plan.
“The plan?”

Lyle pulled his Poppy figure out of the
oversized clown suit pocket. “We gonna use these again?” he
asked.

Cracky’s eyebrow rose as he looked at the
figure. “What’s dat for? You gonna whopp Geno over da noggin wid
it?”

Lyle began to explain when Alan cut him off.
“Look—I don’t have a plan. I mean, I had one, but that was before
Dale went missing.” Alan glanced at the figure in Lyle’s hand. “Put
it away,” he instructed. Lyle shoved it back into his pocket.

“So what was da plan? Maybe we can make some
improvisations,” Cracky said.

“Well, the plan was to destroy the molds so
Peepers couldn’t leave the Labyrinth and kill more people.”

Cracky jumped back. “Whoa, you lost me pal.
I thought dis was about Geno. What’s all dis talk about molds and
murderin’ people? And who da hell is dis Peepers character?”

Alan shook his head. “Please, Cracky. Even
if I did have the five or six hours it would take to explain it all
to you, you still wouldn’t believe any of it. Just trust me, you
don’t know what we’re dealing with. It’s too dangerous, and you
might be able to help more by clearing the area and calling the
police.”

Lyle jumped between the two, facing Cracky.
“We’re dealing with evil clown spirits. I’m not sure who Peepers
is, but Boogy’s telling the truth. I’ve seen them with my own
eyes.” Again, he pulled out his Poppy figure and showed it in front
of Cracky. “This is one of them—but this one isn’t evil. It comes
to life as my father and kicks ass against the evil ones.” He
turned to Alan and continued. “Alan has one too. His father is a
giant. Show him, Alan.”

Alan sighed. “Wow, it sounds so much worse
than I thought,” he grumbled. He nudged Lyle to the side and
stepped closer to Cracky and whispered, “See what I mean, Cracky?
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. I believe this Peepers guy
is the spirit of Geno’s long-dead father, the serial killer. We’re
obviously two very sick and potentially dangerous people. If
nothing else, you might want to call the cops so they can haul us
away to the loony bin. We’ll be in there.” He pointed to the
Labyrinth. “Make sure they send the entire force because it’s not
just the two of us.” He pulled the Poppy from his pocket and waved
it in front of Cracky. There’s four of us. Oh, wait.” He reached
into his other pocket and pulled out another. “Five, there’s five
of us crazies.” Lyle looked surprised to see a third Poppy.

Unfazed, Cracky attempted to calm Alan by
lowering his arms with the figures. “Boogy! Keep it down. Dey might
hear you,” he said in a low tone as he scanned the area.

“I know. That’s what I’m trying to tell you.
You don’t want us around your customers. We’ll scare them all away.
Think of the children, Cracky. Think of the children,” he
pleaded.

“No!” Cracky gritted his teeth. “Dose
spirits. We don’t want to tip dem off.”

Complete shock came over Alan’s face. “What?
You can’t be serious. You believe us?”

Cracky nodded. “Yeah, I know people, and you
are an honest person. I know you ain’t crazy because I’ve seen more
den my share of para-abnormal shit happenin’ in dis place over da
years. I ain’t never seen no ghosts of clowns. Dat’s a new one, but
I got some stories of my own dat would make your head spin. As a
matta of fact, one night, I saw a ghost walking away when its head
did actually spin full circle. So stop with da crazy talk and let’s
figure out how we gonna free your brother.”

“Full circle?” Lyle repeated. Cracky
nodded.

“Okay, but now we have two objectives,” Alan
said. “Assuming Dale
is
in there, and still alive, we need
to get him out. The other thing is, I still need to destroy the
molds.” Realizing the fact that neither Cracky nor Lyle had any
background of the relationship between the molds and recent deaths,
Alan took a few seconds to brief them. “If the molds aren’t
destroyed, Geno or someone else can make an unlimited number of
duplicates. The figures of Peepers allow him to go beyond the walls
of the Labyrinth, where he can kill hundreds, possibly thousands,
of people. I might not get another shot at this, so the molds have
to be destroyed.”

“I can find your brother,” Cracky said.

“I think you should both find Dale,” Alan
said. “I’ll look for the molds.” He pulled the third Poppy from his
pocket and held it out to Cracky. “If your father looked anything
like you, this will come in handy.”

“I don’t look anythin’ like my father. I’m
puny compared to him. He was da strong man in da freak show.” Both
Alan and Lyle smiled, but Cracky didn’t take the figure.

“Go on, take it. I brought it for Dale, but
I don’t think it would have worked for him because he barely
remembers our father. You’ll need it.” Alan held it out further.
Cracky raised his hands and stepped back.

“If it’s all da same to you, no thanks. I
can take care of myself.”

“Are you sure? Peepers has some unnatural
powers. This might help level the field.”

“No, please put it away, Boog. I’m good,”
Cracky said.

Alan returned the figure to his pocket. “All
right, my guess is that Dale will be in the lower section. Peepers
always showed himself to me down there when he came through the
mirrors.”

“Wait, when you say he came through the
mirrors, do you mean he walked around them?” Lyle asked.

“No, he can exist both inside and outside
the mirrors,” Alan replied. He continued as if there was nothing
unusual about his explanation. “I’m also assuming the molds are
hidden away up above. Cracky, how do I get up there and what will I
see?”

“You mean up in Geno’s lair?” Cracky
replied.

“Seriously? You just made that up, didn’t
you?” Alan said.

“No, I’ve always called it dat because Geno
is da evil genius behind da Labyrinth. If it makes you feel any
better, I can call it da nest. Dat’s what it used to be
called.”

“No, it’s fine. So, tell me about—Geno’s
lair
. How do I get up there?”

“You’ll have to go in through the back,”
Cracky said. He fished a key ring from his pocket and searched
through at least fifty keys before taking one off and handing it to
Alan. “I hope dis still works. I haven’t been up dare in years.
Once you’re in, you’ll see a spiral staircase to da lair. Be
careful, dough, because you might get spotted if da mirror is
open.”

“What mirror?” Alan said.

“Right in front of you is da mirror dat
swivels into da big room. If it’s turned, Geno might see you. You
wanna slip in very quiet like, and stay to da left. At da top of da
steps you’ll see da entire floor is made of metal grates so he can
see down into da Labyrinth. It’s sorta like a wheel wid spokes, but
the spoke from da stairs is wider den da others. Dat’s where he
stores stuff. Dose molds might be on dat one. Den, in da middle, is
a round area where he controls everythin’ down below. Other spokes
go out from da middle so he can move out ta see what’s going on as
he changes up da mirrored walls. It’s pretty ingenious, if you ask
me. You can see why I call it his lair.”