Fic: After Heaven and Hell (Comes the Carousel) [Meg/Anna, PG-13] 1/2
Title: After Heaven and Hell (Comes the Carousel)
Author: bree_black
Artist: tringic, here.
Pairing: Meg/Anna
Rating: PG-13
Beta: Thanks, gwendolynd
Word count: 7500
Spoilers: Through 7x02.
Notes:: Written for the spn_reversebang based on tringic's spectacular prompt.
Summary: Not only did that idiot angel kill Meg, he also tore a hole in Purgatory, and since she doesn’t exactly have anything better to do at the moment, Meg decides to repair it. It’s a long trip across Purgatory, and when she arrives at the home stretch Meg is less than thrilled to find a goody-two-shoes angel on pretty much the same mission.
This layer of Purgatory is home to the souls of all the dead children who couldn’t get into Heaven, which says a little something about the kind of kids they are. To reach their final destination Meg and Anna must navigate an abandoned, booby-trapped amusement park designed to terrify them. Though a first they decide it’s every woman for herself, they soon realize they’ll need to work together to survive.
Meg approaches the gate with a combination of hesitation and relief. She's been through about seven layers of Purgatory by now, and the buzzing she’s learned to recognize in the air is strongest here. She must be getting close.
The wrought iron gate stands tall and imposing against the strange purple sky. A grey fog swirls around most of it, so all Meg can see is the elaborate curlicues decorating the top of the gate. Whatever's through that gate isn't going to be pleasant, Meg knows, but she’s not particularly worried. Nothing can be worse than the swamp monster she faced in layer three. She's in the home stretch, by now.
Meg feels so pleased with herself she even starts humming a little. She stops abruptly, however, when she gets close enough to catch sight of another figure, a silhouette emerging from the fog, dwarfed by the tall iron gate. She's not alone.
It's another woman, wearing skinny jeans and high boots, plus a blazer. Her back is to Meg, and a wave of red hair hangs down over her shoulders. The girl looks like she belongs on a college campus somewhere, not in front of one of the gates of Purgatory. The sight of her makes Meg want to laugh.
That is, until she turns around.
"Fuck," she says, "what the fuck are you doing here?"
The girl looks startled to see her, doe-brown eyes wide and innocent. Meg isn't fooled.
"I'm sorry?" she says, taking a step forward through the fog. "You seem to have me at a disadvantage. You know who I am?"
"Anna," Meg answers. "Angel, right?"
"That I was," Anna answers, "before. And you're a demon. Have we met?"
"No," Meg says. "But we have mutual acquaintances, and I made it my business to keep tabs on their friends."
Anna narrows her eyes, then smiles. "Meg," she says, voice light. "The one after the Winchesters, right?"
"Righteo, sweetheart. Now if you don't mind, I've got work to do." She strides through the dark, brushing past Anna and absolutely not noticing the way she smells like honey and strawberries and laundry left out in the sun to dry. Then she grabs the gate by two of its iron bars and pushes with all her strength.
It doesn't budge, of course.
"The gate's locked," Anna says sweetly.
"Thanks for that enlightening observation," Meg replies.
"It's latched," Anna continues, looking up. The lock is at least four feet above her head. "I've been here for ten minutes, trying to find a way through."
Meg doesn't make a habit of trusting angels. She looks around her for rope, or chain, or something to climb on, but the ground is bare and rocky, and the iron gate is smooth, with no crossbars to stand on, and no room to slip between the vertical bars, either.
"You won't find anything," Anna says.
"What are you even doing here?" Meg snaps. It's annoying enough facing a roadblock so close to the end of her mission already, let alone with a goody-two-shoes angel by her side making smart aleck comments.
"I could ask you the same question," Anna replies. "I'm looking for something."
"For the tear in Purgatory?" Meg asks.
Anna looks visibly startled. "Yes. So, I assume you're looking for the same thing? Why?"
"Because it's leaking souls, and I used to be plumber in a past life.”
Anna snorts. “You know about the Leviathans?”
Meg knows. Everyone knows. When the biggest bullies in the school yard suddenly go missing, people tend to notice. Most of the Leviathans left with the batch of souls that idiot angel swallowed, and the remaining stragglers were slowly following through the crack he’d left open. Seriously, who opens a door to purgatory and then forgets to close it properly? “I’ve heard rumours,” she says, still searching in vain for a way to open the stupid gate.
“Do you know how it happened?” Anna asks, “I mean, why it opened?” Her voice is the tiniest bit wistful. Meg knows the feeling. Many of the human souls were able to escape, but neither angels nor demons have any souls to travel with. Whether the door is open or closed, there’s no getting out for either of them. Not that Meg needs to have anything in common with Anna, of course.
“You don’t know?” she sneers. “Your little trenchcoat-wearing friend went power-crazy, swallowed a shit-ton of souls and called himself the new god. Teamed up with Crowley to do it, too, which means getting rid of me was high on the priority list. He’s why I’m here.”
He’s why she’s here for two reasons, actually. First, because he’d been the one to kill her and send her to Purgatory in the first place, and second because he’s the reason she decided to plug the leak. Call her vindictive, but Meg will be damned if she lets Castiel or Crowley get their greasy paws on any more ammunition. If she can’t rule Hell, she figures Purgatory is the next best thing.
Beside her, Little Miss Know-It-All has gone strangely quiet. When Meg glances over at her, she bites her lip. "He always was a little too ambitious," she says.
Her crestfallen expression makes Meg feel uncomfortable. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever. Point is, Purgatory's leaking, and somebody's gotta plug the hole."
"Right," Anna says, face determined. "If you stand on my shoulders you should be able to reach the latch."
Meg is shocked into silence for a moment. She hadn't meant to propose they work together or anything. She's never really believed in partnerships, and after her last couple of tries she doesn't plan on working for anyone else anytime soon, either.
"I work alone," Megs says, finally.
"So do I," Anna agrees. Meg supposes her boss hadn't lived up to his half of the bargain, either. "We open the gate, and then it's each woman for herself."
So that's how it starts.
Twenty minutes later, they finally unlock the gate. Turns out it's not so easy to climb onto someone else's shoulders, especially if they keep whining about how much you're pulling their hair, or getting swamp mud on their jacket.
'I don't understand how your boots aren't covered in mud," Meg snarls. "You must've come through the swamp too."
"What swamp?"
"Uh, level three of Purgatory? Waiting room for all those who've died by drowning?"
"Oh," Anna says, as she crouches down again. "You didn't know about the shortcut?"
This time, Meg pulls Anna's hair on purpose, just a bit. She doesn't really blame Anna for dropping her like a hot coal once Meg has thrown the latch.
Meg considers slipping through the gate and slamming it behind her, but before she gets the chance Anna is already through. She’d probably anticipated that kind of trick. Meg hurries through herself before Anna can try to pull the same thing on her.
Beyond the gate, the world is still cloaked in a thick grey fog, making it difficult to see more than a few feet in front of them. Far away, in the direction she can feel the buzzing in the air pulling her, Meg can just make out a few twinkling lights.
“Do you think that’s the hole?” Anna asks, but Meg pointedly ignores her, marching determinedly forward into the fog, toward said twinkling lights.
Of course, she marches directly into a bush.
As it turns out, they’re surrounded on all sides but one by the same dark green bushes, full of thorns that Meg learns by experience are not to be messed with. The bushes are dense, and every time Meg breaks off one of the branches it seems to grow back immediately. Also, they’re full of red-eyed squirrels who glare at her and chatter threateningly every time she disturbs them.
Anna watches Meg’s futile attempts to fight through the bushes for a few moments, before setting off down the sole strip of clear path. Out of options and loathe to let an angel beat her anywhere, Meg rushes to follow.
“You don’t have to come with me,” Anna says when Meg catches up and matches her long strides.
“Right back at you,” Meg counters, and then they walk in silence through the fog, side by side but certainly not together.
There once were two girls from away, a group of eerie children’s voices ring out from the darkness.
Who decided to join us to play.
Let’s have some fun,
We’ve only begun,
Maybe they’ll have to stay.
Meg’s not scared, of course, but she’s not exactly pleased to know they have company. “Oh no,” she calls back into the darkness. “You can keep her, but I’m out of here as soon as the job’s done.”
Meg can practically feel Anna’s glare against the side of her face, but she carefully avoids eye contact. Before Anna can say anything, the chorus of children’s voices pipes up again.
During our eternal rests,
We have devised several tests.
Pass all four
We have in store
And we'll release from your quest.
“What kind of little kids end up in Purgatory?” Meg asks. She only means to think the question, but she’s been alone a long time and she’s started habitually talking to herself. “You’d think they’d get a free pass to Heaven.”
“Most of them do,” Anna says. “Except in extreme cases.” She shivers as she says it.
“Oh,” Meg says. She walks on, listening for voices. All she hears is the chattering of the red-eyes squirrels and Anna’s soft even breathing beside her. “Well this should be fun.”
The path turns several times, but they never have to make any choices, shepherded on by the thorny bushes. The enclosed space combined with the chattering of the squirrels make Meg feel jumpy, like she’s being watched.
They hear the carousel before they see it, organ music floating out to greet them before they round the last corner. It’s an old, stately ride that has clearly seen better days, its white paint and gold trim flaked and peeling in places. Anna gasps with pleasure when she sees it, causing Meg to roll her eyes, but when Anna steps into the circle of yellow light surrounding the ride Meg does even bother to try to contain her laughter.
“What?” Anna snaps.
“Nice outfit,” Meg manages between bouts of laughter. Anna looks down at herself.
She’s wearing a short pink denim dress held up with suspenders , with white stockings underneath. A picture of a grinning clown is emblazoned across her chest. Also, her hair is arranged in two perfect braids.
“I look like freaking Anne of Green Gables,” Anna mutters.
“I don’t know what that is,” Meg answers, “but it must be hilarious.”
Anna scowls and puts her hands on her hips; the pose only makes Meg laugh harder. Clearly exasperated, Anna sighs heavily and marches up to the ride, climbing atop a white stallion with a purple mane and golden eyes.
“Giddy up,” she calls out over the sound of the organ. Nothing happens.
“Oh would you look at that,” Anna says with a smirk. “Looks like they want you to play too.”
Meg steps into the circle of light full of trepidation. To her substantial relief, her outfit is kind of cool. She finds herself wearing bright purple jeans and a neon green t-shirt. It could definitely be worse.
“I like your hair,” Anna deadpans. “Subtle,” and Meg reaches up to her head in panic. A giant velvet bow sits atop her long hair, like gift wrapping on a present.
Meg decides not to dignify Anna’s comments with a response. She climbs onto her own carousel horse, one horse to the left and one ahead of Anna. The moment she settles her feet into the stirrups, the carousel lurches forward.
At first, it’s actually kind of fun. But just as Meg starts to let herself relax, a flickering image appears on the platform before her, an enormous cobra readying itself to strike.
“What the Hell,” Meg exclaims, and then closes her eyes as the snake bears down on her, hissing all the way. But instead of the pain of fangs sinking into her flesh, Meg feels only an intense chill, then nothing.
The snake is gone. She looks over her shoulder at Anna just in time to see an oversized, hairy-legged spider leap from the adjacent horse toward her. Anna screams once and leans as far back on the horse as she can before the image vanishes, midair.
“I think the children are trying to frighten us,” Meg says, struggling to steady her voice and calm her racing heart. had the original owner of her last vessel had a fear of spiders that had somehow transferred to her?
“Right,” Anna says. Megs can see her lock her jaw.
It really, really isn’t. The ride seems to go on forever, and as the carousel picks up speed the apparitions become more and more realistic and solid-looking. Meg sees a vampire, and a vicious dog, and a dark hallway full of shadows. She realizes she has her green t-shirt on inside out, and a group of school children appears in place of the nearby horses, laughing and pointing.
An old, balding man wearing a stained white t-shirt leans over her, his breath stinking of alcohol. As he reaches out to touch Meg’s leg, she hears Anna’s voice over the organ music and his slurred compliments. ‘Hey, get away from her!” she screams.
And the man vanishes. Even better, the carousel noticeably. Meg’s heart leaps in her chest. “That’s right,” she yells. ‘We’re not afraid of you!”
Another image appears next to Anna’s horse. “Ha!” she calls out. “I had a pet rat when I was a kid. Is that the best you can do?” The carousel slows to a crawl, and Meg almost suggest to Anna that they climb off.
And then they see him. A man, four times the size of an ordinary person, wearing a white lab coat. he looms before them, grinning maniacally. But it’s not the man Meg is afraid of, it’s what’s in his hand. A giant, buzzing and spitting drill the size of Meg’s head.
“Open wide, girls,” the dentist says, and Meg is frozen with fear.
“Hey...Meg,” Anna says. Meg peeks through her peripheral vision and sees Anna leaning forward on her horse, arm outstretched. A part of Meg wants to roll her eyes, but the rest of her leans over and laces their fingers together gratefully. There’s something profoundly reassuring about the warmth of Anna’s hand in her own.
“Bring it on,” she mutters under her breath, to the dentist.
He vanishes, and the carousel finally comes to a full stop. They climb off their horses, and Meg accidentally steadies Anna when she stumbles dizzily, before hastily dropping her hand.
“Right, well, that gate is open now,” she says quickly, too loud. She strides off toward it, telling herself she really doesn’t care if Anna follows.
Their footsteps make crunching noises on the dried leaves as they continue along the path. The squirrels make ominous chirping noises from somewhere within the shrubs. Hearts still pounding, they finally approach a brightly lit stall, faded white front grown over with vines. "CONCESSION" is written in bright red cursive across the front.
"Yum," Meg says sarcastically, “I was feeling a bit peckish after that vomit-inducing bit of fun.”
"Do you think this is another test?" Anna asks, pushing a loose strand of hair behind her ear. She rings the bell on the stand's wooden front counter. "Hello? Uh, kids?"
Meg shakes her head. No children respond, of course, but a tray made of orange plastic slides out from the left hand side of the stand. On the tray are four food items: a stick of cotton candy, a corn dog, a rapidly melting snow cone, and a candied apple on a wooden stick.
"How kind of our gracious hosts to provide us with refreshments," Meg says. "Do they actually think we're going to eat this crap?"
Meg moves to walk further along the path, but just as she steps forward, a root from a nearby tree grows out to block her way. "Hey," she says, irritated. She moves to step over it, and the root jerks up, catching her in the ankle and making her trip and fall forward, onto her knees. When she stands up again, brushing wet dirt off her jeans, Anna is smirking at her, and a wall of shrubbery has grown up to completely block her path.
"I guess they do expect us to have a snack," Anna says. "Or, ironically, starve to death in this exact spot."
"Don't be dramatic," Meg says. "We don't need to eat." She steps forward to examine the tray of food. "You'd think if this was some kind of test we'd have to eat like...bull testicles or something." She’d seen that on a reality show, one time.
Anna wrinkles up her nose. Meg tries very hard not to find it endearing. "Well then I'm very glad they've given us the cotton candy," she says. She takes a huge bite of the fluffy pink cloud, decisively, as if trying to get it over with before she can change her mind. The pink sort of clashes with her hair, Meg notices.
They wait in silence. Anna chews, then swallows, and nothing happens. They both stare at the bush blocking what had formerly been their path. The bush stares right back.
"Abracadabra," Meg says.
"Alohamora," Anna tries, and then giggles to herself before taking another bite of cotton candy. "Maybe you need to eat something too."
Meg sighs heavily. 'This is a very embarrassing," she mutters. "Eating carnival food with an angel, of all things. The guys back in Hell would never let me live it down." She snatches up the candied apple and takes an angry bite.
"Yeah well seeing as we’re stuck here forever, I don't think your old Hell chums are ever gonna find out about this," Anna says. "Hey, hold on," she says thoughtfully. "Wait..."
But it's too late. By the time Anna's words sink in Meg has already swallowed the bite of sweet on the outside, tart on the inside candied apple. Moments later there is a ringing in her ears that sounds an awful lot like a witch’s cackle combined with maniacal children's laughter, and then the world starts to go all blurry. The last thing Meg sees before she loses her vision is Anna dropping her stick of cotton candy and rushing toward her. The last thing she feels is the hard ground rushing up to smack her in the face.
Part Two
Author: bree_black
Artist: tringic, here.
Pairing: Meg/Anna
Rating: PG-13
Beta: Thanks, gwendolynd
Word count: 7500
Spoilers: Through 7x02.
Notes:: Written for the spn_reversebang based on tringic's spectacular prompt.
Summary: Not only did that idiot angel kill Meg, he also tore a hole in Purgatory, and since she doesn’t exactly have anything better to do at the moment, Meg decides to repair it. It’s a long trip across Purgatory, and when she arrives at the home stretch Meg is less than thrilled to find a goody-two-shoes angel on pretty much the same mission.
This layer of Purgatory is home to the souls of all the dead children who couldn’t get into Heaven, which says a little something about the kind of kids they are. To reach their final destination Meg and Anna must navigate an abandoned, booby-trapped amusement park designed to terrify them. Though a first they decide it’s every woman for herself, they soon realize they’ll need to work together to survive.
Meg approaches the gate with a combination of hesitation and relief. She's been through about seven layers of Purgatory by now, and the buzzing she’s learned to recognize in the air is strongest here. She must be getting close.
The wrought iron gate stands tall and imposing against the strange purple sky. A grey fog swirls around most of it, so all Meg can see is the elaborate curlicues decorating the top of the gate. Whatever's through that gate isn't going to be pleasant, Meg knows, but she’s not particularly worried. Nothing can be worse than the swamp monster she faced in layer three. She's in the home stretch, by now.
Meg feels so pleased with herself she even starts humming a little. She stops abruptly, however, when she gets close enough to catch sight of another figure, a silhouette emerging from the fog, dwarfed by the tall iron gate. She's not alone.
It's another woman, wearing skinny jeans and high boots, plus a blazer. Her back is to Meg, and a wave of red hair hangs down over her shoulders. The girl looks like she belongs on a college campus somewhere, not in front of one of the gates of Purgatory. The sight of her makes Meg want to laugh.
That is, until she turns around.
"Fuck," she says, "what the fuck are you doing here?"
The girl looks startled to see her, doe-brown eyes wide and innocent. Meg isn't fooled.
"I'm sorry?" she says, taking a step forward through the fog. "You seem to have me at a disadvantage. You know who I am?"
"Anna," Meg answers. "Angel, right?"
"That I was," Anna answers, "before. And you're a demon. Have we met?"
"No," Meg says. "But we have mutual acquaintances, and I made it my business to keep tabs on their friends."
Anna narrows her eyes, then smiles. "Meg," she says, voice light. "The one after the Winchesters, right?"
"Righteo, sweetheart. Now if you don't mind, I've got work to do." She strides through the dark, brushing past Anna and absolutely not noticing the way she smells like honey and strawberries and laundry left out in the sun to dry. Then she grabs the gate by two of its iron bars and pushes with all her strength.
It doesn't budge, of course.
"The gate's locked," Anna says sweetly.
"Thanks for that enlightening observation," Meg replies.
"It's latched," Anna continues, looking up. The lock is at least four feet above her head. "I've been here for ten minutes, trying to find a way through."
Meg doesn't make a habit of trusting angels. She looks around her for rope, or chain, or something to climb on, but the ground is bare and rocky, and the iron gate is smooth, with no crossbars to stand on, and no room to slip between the vertical bars, either.
"You won't find anything," Anna says.
"What are you even doing here?" Meg snaps. It's annoying enough facing a roadblock so close to the end of her mission already, let alone with a goody-two-shoes angel by her side making smart aleck comments.
"I could ask you the same question," Anna replies. "I'm looking for something."
"For the tear in Purgatory?" Meg asks.
Anna looks visibly startled. "Yes. So, I assume you're looking for the same thing? Why?"
"Because it's leaking souls, and I used to be plumber in a past life.”
Anna snorts. “You know about the Leviathans?”
Meg knows. Everyone knows. When the biggest bullies in the school yard suddenly go missing, people tend to notice. Most of the Leviathans left with the batch of souls that idiot angel swallowed, and the remaining stragglers were slowly following through the crack he’d left open. Seriously, who opens a door to purgatory and then forgets to close it properly? “I’ve heard rumours,” she says, still searching in vain for a way to open the stupid gate.
“Do you know how it happened?” Anna asks, “I mean, why it opened?” Her voice is the tiniest bit wistful. Meg knows the feeling. Many of the human souls were able to escape, but neither angels nor demons have any souls to travel with. Whether the door is open or closed, there’s no getting out for either of them. Not that Meg needs to have anything in common with Anna, of course.
“You don’t know?” she sneers. “Your little trenchcoat-wearing friend went power-crazy, swallowed a shit-ton of souls and called himself the new god. Teamed up with Crowley to do it, too, which means getting rid of me was high on the priority list. He’s why I’m here.”
He’s why she’s here for two reasons, actually. First, because he’d been the one to kill her and send her to Purgatory in the first place, and second because he’s the reason she decided to plug the leak. Call her vindictive, but Meg will be damned if she lets Castiel or Crowley get their greasy paws on any more ammunition. If she can’t rule Hell, she figures Purgatory is the next best thing.
Beside her, Little Miss Know-It-All has gone strangely quiet. When Meg glances over at her, she bites her lip. "He always was a little too ambitious," she says.
Her crestfallen expression makes Meg feel uncomfortable. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever. Point is, Purgatory's leaking, and somebody's gotta plug the hole."
"Right," Anna says, face determined. "If you stand on my shoulders you should be able to reach the latch."
Meg is shocked into silence for a moment. She hadn't meant to propose they work together or anything. She's never really believed in partnerships, and after her last couple of tries she doesn't plan on working for anyone else anytime soon, either.
"I work alone," Megs says, finally.
"So do I," Anna agrees. Meg supposes her boss hadn't lived up to his half of the bargain, either. "We open the gate, and then it's each woman for herself."
So that's how it starts.
Twenty minutes later, they finally unlock the gate. Turns out it's not so easy to climb onto someone else's shoulders, especially if they keep whining about how much you're pulling their hair, or getting swamp mud on their jacket.
'I don't understand how your boots aren't covered in mud," Meg snarls. "You must've come through the swamp too."
"What swamp?"
"Uh, level three of Purgatory? Waiting room for all those who've died by drowning?"
"Oh," Anna says, as she crouches down again. "You didn't know about the shortcut?"
This time, Meg pulls Anna's hair on purpose, just a bit. She doesn't really blame Anna for dropping her like a hot coal once Meg has thrown the latch.
Meg considers slipping through the gate and slamming it behind her, but before she gets the chance Anna is already through. She’d probably anticipated that kind of trick. Meg hurries through herself before Anna can try to pull the same thing on her.
Beyond the gate, the world is still cloaked in a thick grey fog, making it difficult to see more than a few feet in front of them. Far away, in the direction she can feel the buzzing in the air pulling her, Meg can just make out a few twinkling lights.
“Do you think that’s the hole?” Anna asks, but Meg pointedly ignores her, marching determinedly forward into the fog, toward said twinkling lights.
Of course, she marches directly into a bush.
As it turns out, they’re surrounded on all sides but one by the same dark green bushes, full of thorns that Meg learns by experience are not to be messed with. The bushes are dense, and every time Meg breaks off one of the branches it seems to grow back immediately. Also, they’re full of red-eyed squirrels who glare at her and chatter threateningly every time she disturbs them.
Anna watches Meg’s futile attempts to fight through the bushes for a few moments, before setting off down the sole strip of clear path. Out of options and loathe to let an angel beat her anywhere, Meg rushes to follow.
“You don’t have to come with me,” Anna says when Meg catches up and matches her long strides.
“Right back at you,” Meg counters, and then they walk in silence through the fog, side by side but certainly not together.
There once were two girls from away, a group of eerie children’s voices ring out from the darkness.
Who decided to join us to play.
Let’s have some fun,
We’ve only begun,
Maybe they’ll have to stay.
Meg’s not scared, of course, but she’s not exactly pleased to know they have company. “Oh no,” she calls back into the darkness. “You can keep her, but I’m out of here as soon as the job’s done.”
Meg can practically feel Anna’s glare against the side of her face, but she carefully avoids eye contact. Before Anna can say anything, the chorus of children’s voices pipes up again.
During our eternal rests,
We have devised several tests.
Pass all four
We have in store
And we'll release from your quest.
“What kind of little kids end up in Purgatory?” Meg asks. She only means to think the question, but she’s been alone a long time and she’s started habitually talking to herself. “You’d think they’d get a free pass to Heaven.”
“Most of them do,” Anna says. “Except in extreme cases.” She shivers as she says it.
“Oh,” Meg says. She walks on, listening for voices. All she hears is the chattering of the red-eyes squirrels and Anna’s soft even breathing beside her. “Well this should be fun.”
The path turns several times, but they never have to make any choices, shepherded on by the thorny bushes. The enclosed space combined with the chattering of the squirrels make Meg feel jumpy, like she’s being watched.
They hear the carousel before they see it, organ music floating out to greet them before they round the last corner. It’s an old, stately ride that has clearly seen better days, its white paint and gold trim flaked and peeling in places. Anna gasps with pleasure when she sees it, causing Meg to roll her eyes, but when Anna steps into the circle of yellow light surrounding the ride Meg does even bother to try to contain her laughter.
“What?” Anna snaps.
“Nice outfit,” Meg manages between bouts of laughter. Anna looks down at herself.
She’s wearing a short pink denim dress held up with suspenders , with white stockings underneath. A picture of a grinning clown is emblazoned across her chest. Also, her hair is arranged in two perfect braids.
“I look like freaking Anne of Green Gables,” Anna mutters.
“I don’t know what that is,” Meg answers, “but it must be hilarious.”
Anna scowls and puts her hands on her hips; the pose only makes Meg laugh harder. Clearly exasperated, Anna sighs heavily and marches up to the ride, climbing atop a white stallion with a purple mane and golden eyes.
“Giddy up,” she calls out over the sound of the organ. Nothing happens.
“Oh would you look at that,” Anna says with a smirk. “Looks like they want you to play too.”
Meg steps into the circle of light full of trepidation. To her substantial relief, her outfit is kind of cool. She finds herself wearing bright purple jeans and a neon green t-shirt. It could definitely be worse.
“I like your hair,” Anna deadpans. “Subtle,” and Meg reaches up to her head in panic. A giant velvet bow sits atop her long hair, like gift wrapping on a present.
Meg decides not to dignify Anna’s comments with a response. She climbs onto her own carousel horse, one horse to the left and one ahead of Anna. The moment she settles her feet into the stirrups, the carousel lurches forward.
At first, it’s actually kind of fun. But just as Meg starts to let herself relax, a flickering image appears on the platform before her, an enormous cobra readying itself to strike.
“What the Hell,” Meg exclaims, and then closes her eyes as the snake bears down on her, hissing all the way. But instead of the pain of fangs sinking into her flesh, Meg feels only an intense chill, then nothing.
The snake is gone. She looks over her shoulder at Anna just in time to see an oversized, hairy-legged spider leap from the adjacent horse toward her. Anna screams once and leans as far back on the horse as she can before the image vanishes, midair.
“I think the children are trying to frighten us,” Meg says, struggling to steady her voice and calm her racing heart. had the original owner of her last vessel had a fear of spiders that had somehow transferred to her?
“Right,” Anna says. Megs can see her lock her jaw.
It really, really isn’t. The ride seems to go on forever, and as the carousel picks up speed the apparitions become more and more realistic and solid-looking. Meg sees a vampire, and a vicious dog, and a dark hallway full of shadows. She realizes she has her green t-shirt on inside out, and a group of school children appears in place of the nearby horses, laughing and pointing.
An old, balding man wearing a stained white t-shirt leans over her, his breath stinking of alcohol. As he reaches out to touch Meg’s leg, she hears Anna’s voice over the organ music and his slurred compliments. ‘Hey, get away from her!” she screams.
And the man vanishes. Even better, the carousel noticeably. Meg’s heart leaps in her chest. “That’s right,” she yells. ‘We’re not afraid of you!”
Another image appears next to Anna’s horse. “Ha!” she calls out. “I had a pet rat when I was a kid. Is that the best you can do?” The carousel slows to a crawl, and Meg almost suggest to Anna that they climb off.
And then they see him. A man, four times the size of an ordinary person, wearing a white lab coat. he looms before them, grinning maniacally. But it’s not the man Meg is afraid of, it’s what’s in his hand. A giant, buzzing and spitting drill the size of Meg’s head.
“Open wide, girls,” the dentist says, and Meg is frozen with fear.
“Hey...Meg,” Anna says. Meg peeks through her peripheral vision and sees Anna leaning forward on her horse, arm outstretched. A part of Meg wants to roll her eyes, but the rest of her leans over and laces their fingers together gratefully. There’s something profoundly reassuring about the warmth of Anna’s hand in her own.
“Bring it on,” she mutters under her breath, to the dentist.
He vanishes, and the carousel finally comes to a full stop. They climb off their horses, and Meg accidentally steadies Anna when she stumbles dizzily, before hastily dropping her hand.
“Right, well, that gate is open now,” she says quickly, too loud. She strides off toward it, telling herself she really doesn’t care if Anna follows.
Their footsteps make crunching noises on the dried leaves as they continue along the path. The squirrels make ominous chirping noises from somewhere within the shrubs. Hearts still pounding, they finally approach a brightly lit stall, faded white front grown over with vines. "CONCESSION" is written in bright red cursive across the front.
"Yum," Meg says sarcastically, “I was feeling a bit peckish after that vomit-inducing bit of fun.”
"Do you think this is another test?" Anna asks, pushing a loose strand of hair behind her ear. She rings the bell on the stand's wooden front counter. "Hello? Uh, kids?"
Meg shakes her head. No children respond, of course, but a tray made of orange plastic slides out from the left hand side of the stand. On the tray are four food items: a stick of cotton candy, a corn dog, a rapidly melting snow cone, and a candied apple on a wooden stick.
"How kind of our gracious hosts to provide us with refreshments," Meg says. "Do they actually think we're going to eat this crap?"
Meg moves to walk further along the path, but just as she steps forward, a root from a nearby tree grows out to block her way. "Hey," she says, irritated. She moves to step over it, and the root jerks up, catching her in the ankle and making her trip and fall forward, onto her knees. When she stands up again, brushing wet dirt off her jeans, Anna is smirking at her, and a wall of shrubbery has grown up to completely block her path.
"I guess they do expect us to have a snack," Anna says. "Or, ironically, starve to death in this exact spot."
"Don't be dramatic," Meg says. "We don't need to eat." She steps forward to examine the tray of food. "You'd think if this was some kind of test we'd have to eat like...bull testicles or something." She’d seen that on a reality show, one time.
Anna wrinkles up her nose. Meg tries very hard not to find it endearing. "Well then I'm very glad they've given us the cotton candy," she says. She takes a huge bite of the fluffy pink cloud, decisively, as if trying to get it over with before she can change her mind. The pink sort of clashes with her hair, Meg notices.
They wait in silence. Anna chews, then swallows, and nothing happens. They both stare at the bush blocking what had formerly been their path. The bush stares right back.
"Abracadabra," Meg says.
"Alohamora," Anna tries, and then giggles to herself before taking another bite of cotton candy. "Maybe you need to eat something too."
Meg sighs heavily. 'This is a very embarrassing," she mutters. "Eating carnival food with an angel, of all things. The guys back in Hell would never let me live it down." She snatches up the candied apple and takes an angry bite.
"Yeah well seeing as we’re stuck here forever, I don't think your old Hell chums are ever gonna find out about this," Anna says. "Hey, hold on," she says thoughtfully. "Wait..."
But it's too late. By the time Anna's words sink in Meg has already swallowed the bite of sweet on the outside, tart on the inside candied apple. Moments later there is a ringing in her ears that sounds an awful lot like a witch’s cackle combined with maniacal children's laughter, and then the world starts to go all blurry. The last thing Meg sees before she loses her vision is Anna dropping her stick of cotton candy and rushing toward her. The last thing she feels is the hard ground rushing up to smack her in the face.
Part Two