Board Thread:Writer's Workshop/@comment-25969638-20150104221550

SILLY'S PIZZA PALACE

Tuesday - 6:32 PM

So this new restaurant just opened in town. Silly's Pizza Palace, some family entertainment place designed to suck money out of parents who only want to get their kids out of the house.

Excuse me, that was uncalled for.

The truth is that Silly's is a pizzeria, complete with arcade games, amusement rides, costumed characters, and a great lot of hyper five-year-old children. Oh yeah, and it's circus themed, which wouldn't be so bad, if it weren't for the clowns.

I hate clowns.

The sign out front portrays Dexter the Clown, who I guess is supposed to be the mascot. Of course there are other supporting characters like a ventriloquist dummy, a magician, and a mermaid. Each one has a disturbingly wide grin stretching from ear to ear, and the eyes seem to follow you. These characters are everywhere. Posters, signs, walls, you name it. Even the arcade games are themed around these characters. It's as if you can't escape from them.

My name is Jack. I'm 16 years old, and I can testify that Silly's is more than fun and games. Beyond it's child-friendly appearance is something terrifying. Something evil.

It all started when Charles wanted to go visit the new restaurant in town. Charles is my younger brother, which meant that naturally, I had to go with him. My parents had gone out for the night, and it was down to Charles and me to find something to do. So I agreed to his request, although I wasn't in the least excited to spend my evening at a place like that.

Before that night, I had never seen Silly's before. I had only heard of it. It had opened almost a week earlier, but according to local residents, Silly's arrival took place almost overnight. No one had seen it's construction, which was very odd, but it's spontaneous appearance certainly didn't stop many people from going. No one questioned it, which slightly bothered me.

Anyway, Charles and I pulled up to the building, which I quickly discovered was enormous, far surpassing my expectations of it's size. Upon entering the building, the first thing anyone would notice is the strange smell of rubber and pizza. To the left is the arcade, and to the right is the food court, but straight ahead is practically an indoor amusement park. The light carnival music is almost drowned out by the noises of children screaming, laughing, and crying. Up against one wall is a stage where the animated characters dance and sing in front of the kids, which even I, as a child, would have been frightened to watch.

Charles obviously did not feel the same, and began dragging me over to the arcade games. The arcade games were pretty lame, which I didn't find surprising. In fact, they were sort of strange. I gave Charles a handful of change and began watching him play one, in which he was controlling a piece of pizza trying to find its way through a maze. When I looked closer, I realized that the maze was composed of what seemed to be human intestines. I finally convinced him to move to other games, but I quickly found that none of them were any better. In fact, they kept getting weirder and weirder. At around seven, Charles finally got bored enough to waddle over to the pizzeria and eat something, which came as a relief to me.

The pizza was okay. It wasn't great, but it wasn't terrible. By the time we finished eating, I wanted to go home. The atmosphere of the place was starting to make me sick. I tried to talk Charles into leaving, and he refused. He wanted to go play more arcade games, but before I could respond, one of the clowns appeared at our table. I suddenly felt my heart pounding. The clown handed Charles a balloon animal, and began making more. I was sweating now. After what seemed like hours, I finally pushed past the clown and made my way to the restroom. I splashed water on my face, trying to calm myself down, when I heard a voice come over the speaker.

“Silly's Pizza Palace will be closing in ten minutes. We hope you and your child had a fun experience. Please, come again!”

Relief flooded me. Now we had to leave. From now on, I'd make my parents take Charles. I wasn't coming back. I returned to our booth at the food court, only to find that Charles was gone. The little brat had probably gone to play more games. I went over to the arcade, searched around for a while, but he wasn't there, either. He was missing.

I felt myself panic a little, but it wasn't a big deal. This place was huge, he could be anywhere. Probably on one of the rides. I made my way to the amusement rides, which were already shutting down. Once again, Charles was nowhere to be found in the swarm of people. As the last wave of thrill-seekers made their way toward the exit, worry began to set in. My parents would kill me if I lost Charles in a place like this.

<p style="color:rgb(212,212,213);">“Silly's Pizza Palace will be closing in five minutes. We hope you and your child had a fun experience. Please, come again!”

<p style="color:rgb(212,212,213);">The building had grown quite quiet, and I suddenly realized I was the only person in the main area of Silly's. Everyone else had left. The only audible sounds were coming from the arcade games, and I won't deny it – the place was spooky. There was no more sunshine filtering through the windows. No more happy kids running around. No more cheerful atmosphere. I became increasingly aware of how cold the room was becoming.

<p style="color:rgb(212,212,213);">I just wanted to go home. I hated Silly's, I couldn't find Charles, and the pizza was starting to make me sick. The building was closing down, and I had checked everywhere. The only obvious hiding place that had caught my eye was the door at the far end marked 'employees only'. Thirty minutes ago I had restrained myself from the thought that my brother had wandered in there, but now, it was my only option. The employees wouldn't be doing much back there by now, anyway, would they?

<p style="color:rgb(212,212,213);">“Silly's Pizza Palace is now closing, thank-you, and come again!”

<p style="color:rgb(212,212,213);">The arcade games abruptly shut off, followed by the ceiling lights. I felt my heart drop instantly as the room snapped into darkness. I had to find Charles and get out. Fumbling to the employees only door, I grabbed hold of the handle and threw the door open. To my surprise, the hallway beyond was completely lit. The walls were a bland, pristine white, the floors a glossy tile. This was odd, and it certainly didn't complement the rest of the building. I slowly started forward.

<p style="color:rgb(212,212,213);">The second oddity I noticed was the smell, which had changed once I entered the hallway. This part of the building did not smell of freshly made pizza. It had changed to a pungent odor, which I can only liken to the scent of hospital antiseptic. A thick feeling began to swell inside me. A feeling of dread, because I knew I was not supposed to be back here.

<p style="color:rgb(212,212,213);">The corridor finally dead-ended at a single door, 'keep out' signs posted all across it. I felt myself succumb to fear. My knees began to wobble and I felt myself getting dizzy. That's when I heard it.

<p style="color:rgb(212,212,213);">Voices where coming from the other side of the door. I pressed an ear to it, only grasping bits and pieces of conversation. There were two – no, at least three people inside. Their voices were deep and hushed, and I couldn't make out words. Charles had to be inside with them. I took a deep breath, slowly pushed the door ajar, and peered inside.

<p style="color:rgb(212,212,213);">The room beyond was white, just like the hallway. Small tables stood against the walls, metal instruments strewn across them. A blinding light hung from the ceiling, aimed directly toward a metal operating table in the center of the room, and huddled around it was a group of clowns.

<p style="color:rgb(212,212,213);">Clowns.

<p style="color:rgb(212,212,213);">There were four of them, all bearing the classic white facial make-up, puffy hair, and red lips. Only these clowns weren't wearing the standard Silly's clothes. They were wearing lab coats. One was holding a clipboard – another, a syringe. I couldn't see what was on the operating table. I didn't want to know.

<p style="color:rgb(212,212,213);">I wanted to run, scream, hide. I wanted to be home. But the reality was that Silly's was not what it seemed to be. The reality was that I was behind the scenes, witnessing something I knew I was not supposed to be witnessing. But I had seen, and there was nothing I could do. I felt sick, and suddenly, nauseous. Unable to suppress it, I uttered an audible choking noise.

<p style="color:rgb(212,212,213);">One of the clowns stopped in mid-sentence, and all looked to me. I turned to run, but found myself clumsily tripping down the hall, too dazed and horrified to even save myself. A shout roared from behind me, and I found myself being wrestled to the ground in a confusing blur. A syringe was jammed forcefully into my back, and that's all I remember.

<p style="color:rgb(212,212,213);">SILLY'S PIZZA PALACE

<p style="color:rgb(212,212,213);">Wednesday - 1:17 A.M.

<p style="color:rgb(212,212,213);">I woke up. Unexpectedly, I woke up. I was alive.

<p style="color:rgb(212,212,213);">I was lying on the operating table, although the clowns were gone. The door was open, but the hall light was off. In fact, the only source of light at all was coming from the flickering operating light above me. Then the pain set in. Not in my body, or even my back. My face hurt, and it seemed to be getting worse with every second. It seemed stiff, hard, tense, although I couldn't relax it. I quickly ignored this and sat up, only to find small puddles of blood on the floor around me.

<p style="color:rgb(212,212,213);">In a dark corner of the room stood a cracked mirror, and I nearly jumped when I saw one of the clowns standing behind me. I whirled around, but no one was there.

<p style="color:rgb(212,212,213);">The person in the mirror was me.

<p style="color:rgb(212,212,213);">I slowly moved toward the mirror, so utterly horrified that only few words can describe it. I wasn't wearing my clothes; instead, I was wearing a multicolored suit and bow tie. All of my skin was a pasty white, my hair a vivid blue, but my face, my face had been completely transformed. My face was decorated in that sickly clown make-up. My lips and nose were a blood red, and a massive smile stretched from ear to ear. I tried to scream, but I couldn't open my mouth. My face was paralyzed in this manic state. I was crying like a mad man, but only on the inside. The only emotion I could convey was a false happiness, a lie.

<p style="color:rgb(212,212,213);">I no longer felt the need to flee. How could I? There was no escape. There was no escape from this.

<p style="color:rgb(212,212,213);">SILLY'S PIZZA PALACE

<p style="color:rgb(212,212,213);">Thursday – 2:58 P.M.

<p style="color:rgb(212,212,213);">Five weeks have passed. I am writing this message from the supply closet, but in two minutes I will be playing with the children. I am no longer scared, for I am no longer in control of my body.

<p style="color:rgb(212,212,213);">Every afternoon at a certain time, the clown takes over, and I find myself walking around the restaurant, happy as can be, visiting with children, playing games, making balloon-animals. But on the inside I am helpless, unable to stop myself, unable to run.

<p style="color:rgb(212,212,213);">When my shift ends, I still cannot leave; my new body will not let me. I can roam the restaurant as I please, but I cannot escape. I spend most of my time in the supply closet where I am undisturbed and left to my thoughts. My thoughts are all I have left, and when the restaurant closes, I have only to look forward to the sleepless night ahead. My body will sleep, but my mind stays awake.

<p style="color:rgb(212,212,213);">And I will do it all over again tomorrow. And the next day. And the day after that.

<p style="color:rgb(212,212,213);">Forever. <ac_metadata title="FREAKSHOW - Clowning Around (Unreviewed)"> </ac_metadata>