Red Eyed Parade

[virtuallydead]

"Cute couples get in free, huh?" Sabrina's pointer finger was tapping her bottom lip, looking up at the sign, and shrugged. She had no one to be with, but as if that mattered; she had come here for a good time, and she didn't know that there was any free deals, anyhow. She had a few bills and coins in her pocket to get her through the afternoon.

The bobcat paid the required amount, entering the giant, magnificent park. The lights were daunting.

Her left ear twitched a few times in excitement. "Oh, what to do, first?!" The curious cats eyes darted left and right, before choosing the closest one by default. Minutes later, she found herself flying through the air, breathless, and- did that ferris wheel just grin at her?!

She took a breath, and herself it was just her imagination. It had to be.

[spike]

"Hmmm, this place seems fun..." Spike said as he walked up to the entrance with Angie, Shelby, Frost, and Ken. "Couples get in free, huh?" Angie said as she held Spike's hand. Frost held Ken's, the tiger started shivering. "Well darn, guess I don't have a couple to go with." Shelby said, the echidna opened up her purse and took out her wallet. "Guess I'll have to pay, then."

They got in, looking around at all the rides. "Doth this be where one comes to have fun? It seemeth very popular." Frost asked, she was never really used to other mobian culture. After all, she lived as a princess, raised in an ice kingdom. "Well, looks like we should have a good time here." Ken said, his hand still a little cool from Frost's ice-cold grip.

[virtuallydead]

Shaken, the bobcat decided that she didn't want any more fast-paced rides right now. As soon as the ride was finished, the teenager steadied herself before running off. However, it sure seemed like a giant waste to leave right now; she paid to get in, and she had only been on one ride. So, what was fun but not too fast-paced?

The ferris wheel, yes, but she didn't want to do anything with what looked demonix, even for a split second. Searching in the exact opposite direction, the blonde cat spied the bumper cars. "Yes! That will do!" she thought out loud, running forward, fear all but forgotten. The line was somewhat long, but the play space so big that it was decimated quickly. Exacted, she clambered into the royal-blue cart, the one closest to her that was free, and strapped herself in.

Excited, the electricity shot through the machine and allowed the harmless cars to hum to life, and what felt like the epic, fun battle of the century began. She got hit, she was able to hit another two people, and it followed the same general scheme for about the first minute, until someone rammed her particularly hard from behind. The green cat's head whipped back, causing a blue of confusion. In her daze, she swore she saw the teacups giving her large, catlike red and black eyes. Glaring at her, calculating her, despite the spin of the ride.

All her senses felt hazy, and all her brain could really register was blurred images as she got jostled around, only being hit, no longer doing any of the hitting. She didn't notice when it stopped; her mind was reeling so fast, that her stillness no longer registered in her brain. In fact, the carnie running the ride had to go out onto the floor, and shook her should gently.

"Hey, miss? Miss, are you okay?" he asked, concerned. it took a few moments before she came out of her daze.

"Oh? O-oh, yes!" she fake smiled, trying to seem alright, getting out of the car. "I must've zoned out- it happens. Thanks for your concern! You do a great job, sir!" Sabrina smiled brightly at the carnie, and appeared to happily rush off the floor. The moment she was far enough away that no one from the bumper cars area could see her, she stumbled and nearly fell, panting and sweating. She grabbed hold of the side of a concession stand to steady herself, a few hot drops rolling off of her forehead onto the pavement. Looking up slowly, she saw the wall slowly smile- red and black- and slowly open to reveal shark-like teeth. In fear of her hand being bitten, and yanked her hand away and ran again, a bit more desperately this time.

Did no one else notice this?

Maybe this was all her. After all, SOMEONE else would notice park rides growing eyes and teeth out of nowhere, momentary or permanent.

She set her eyes on mobians. Perfect, they were so much easier to talk to- even if they couldn't help, they might be able to point her in the right direction.

She caught up to them, and tugged gently on Shelby's arm from behind. "E-excuse me..." the sweat was rolling down her face. "Do you happen to know-" pant, "-where I could get some m-medical attention. I think I'm..." she huffed a few more times, looking at the ground in her lack of strength, and subconsciously braced herself on the echidna. "Hallucinating."

[spike]

The echidna looked at her, slightly confused and alarmed. "Hmmm, I was a nurse after all, alright I'll take you back to get examined." She said, then, she tried to calm her down. "Alright, look. Everything's gonna be alright, I'm going to just check you out and see if there's anything wrong with you." She walked her out of the park, but before doing that, she mouthed to the others "Go on without me." She started walking her back to the ship. This could be something terrible, she thought. This could be something horribly serious.

[virtuallydead]

On the inside, Sabrina was panicking, as she should; on the outside, she couldn't do much. 'Oh god move!' she told herself, but all she could do was stand awkwardly, barely able to support herself, and stare into the distance. Even the soothing words spoken to her by Shelby seemed far off and unrelateable, taking several moments to process in her head. She appeared to be dumb and oblivious, standing there without replying to her follow Mobian.

After her pause, but still staring off onto the distance, the cat nodded and replied, "Okay." Slowly, she allowed herself to be led out of the park, her worries about the mal intent of strangers all but forgotten. She let the minutes pass in silence, following slowly but steadily, never once falling down, losing her step, or losing her lunch. Her breathing slowly got louder, progressing back to normal.

She finally spoke on their walk, "I'm not sure if..." she took a few breaths, pausing as if she was trying to find proper words. "It's help if i told you, but I keep thinking that the rides and stalls have faces. Like, demonic ones. I've never had a fear of amusement parks, or a bad experience in one. Not even a nightmare before."