7. Luci
Luci
“We made it!”
I glanced over my shoulder at my friends as we stepped out of the fun house.
“Barely.” Mary laughed.
The midway stretched before us, alive with the chatter of guests.
It was currently the only lit up space of the park and even that was minimal.
Games lined both sides of the path. There were booths for ring toss, balloon darts, milk bottle knockdown, and water gun races.
It was authentically nostalgic. The faded paint, hand-lettered signs, and weathered wood all looked like they’d been carefully preserved instead of replaced.
I made a mental note to highlight the park’s continuity when I saw that the game attendants were dressed as old school carneys like the carousal worker had been.
“Heads-up,” Sam said, nodding behind her. “Hot Ringmaster coming ‘atcha.”
“See, that’s what you’re supposed to do!” I said pointedly at Catherine.
“I have no regrets.” Catherine shrugged.
When the Ringmaster was close enough, before he could attempt to jump scare me or say anything, I turned around.
“Are you following me?” I asked.
“I am simply at the right place at the right time,” he said coyly. “Can I interest you in a game before you venture into the rest of the park?”
You could interest me in more than a game, but I don’t even know your name.
“Only if you tell me your name,” I told him.
My friends had gotten into line of the closest midway game, the ring toss, and were doing a horrible job of pretending not to listen to us. Though, there was no way the way Amber was staring, arms crossed assessing him, was meant to be discreet.
I half expected him to keep going with the act, but his theatrical posture softened and he extended his gloved hand.
“Damien,” he said.
I looked at it for a second before sliding my hand into his.
“Hi, Damien.”
His thumb brushed lightly across my knuckles before letting go.
“Hello, Luci.”
I laughed and then looked around the midway.
“So…” I hooked both thumbs toward the games. “Are these as rigged as every other carnival?”
He looked deeply offended.
“Rigged?” he repeated. “I’ll have you know, Graves Park runs a perfectly respectable midway.”
“Mhm.”
“In fact,” he gestured dramatically, “allow me.”
He led me toward a weathered green booth with a sign that read:
RAVEN’S RINGS
Instead of colorful prizes hanging from the back wall, everything had a spooky twist.
Black cats, ghosts, pumpkins, bats, little skeletons, and…
“Oh my God,” I gasped.
A stuffed crow.
It was soft black plush with oversized feet, shiny button eyes, and tiny stitched wings tucked against its sides.
“I need him.”
“Oh, do you?” Damien chuckled.
“Yes.” I nodded. “I mean, look at him.”
Damien stepped right up to the counter. The employee looked up then froze. He stared at Damien. Then at me. Then back again.
A slow grin spread across his face.
“Oh…” He leaned both elbows on the counter. “…no.”
Damien sighed.
“Luci, this is Spencer,” Damien sighed. “Spence, this is Luci.”
“So this is why no one’s had eyes on you all night,” Spencer said.
“Watch it,” Damien warned, but his voice sounded more like he was pleading versus threatening. Turning back to me, he explained, “Spencer is my best friend. We’ve known each other since middle school.”
Spencer slapped three wooden rings onto the counter.
“Go on, Ringmaster. Show her you’re not just dramatic lighting and intimidation,” Spencer teased. “Win the lady a crow.”
“That was the plan,” Damien said with a hint of cockiness that was oddly attractive.
He picked up the first ring. I didn’t realize I was watching him so closely until I noticed I’d stopped blinking.
He tossed the ring with ease and it cut clean through the air.
Clink.
It landed around the first bottle.
Spencer blinked as if he couldn’t quite believe it.
“Lucky shot!” his best friend razzed him.
Damien didn’t respond as he picked up the second ring. He let it go with a flick of his wrist. Another clean, perfect arc.
Clink.
The anticipation had me holding my breath, as Damien picked up the third ring. For the first time, he glanced over at me. With his eyes locked on mine, he pulled his arm back slightly and let the ring fly into the air.
The ring spun once and then just like the others…
Clink.
Spencer stared at the bottles like they had personally betrayed him as Damien finally exhaled.
Spencer disappeared behind the counter, muttering, but I didn’t look away from Damien.
I couldn’t. It wasn’t just the skill. It was the ease, the way he didn’t celebrate, didn’t smirk, he didn’t even seem surprised.
He turned back toward me and for a second, I forgot the carnival existed.
Spencer reappeared holding the stuffed crow. It was all soft black plush and big, adorable button eyes with tiny stitched wings tucked neatly against its sides.
He dropped it into Damien’s hands like surrendering a hostage.
“There you go, cheater,” Spencer said with annoyance.
“How the hell could I have cheated?” Damien’s eyes furrowed. With a shake of his head, he, now, smirked. He stepped forward and held the crow out to me. “Your crow, milady.”
I took it carefully. It was softer than I expected. I hugged it instinctively against my chest.
“Oh my God.” I looked down at it. “I love him.”
Damien’s mouth twitched when Spencer loudly yelled from the booth behind us.
“CASSIE!”
Damien groaned.
“Your brother just won a girl a stuffed animal!”
As Cassie closed the space between us, her and Spencer very loudly went back and forth about how cute it was that Damien won me the crow. He didn’t seem fazed by their teasing though, he just stood there, sighing dramatically here and there and shaking his head at them.
When she joined us, she apologized and said that she needed to steal her brother for a few. Which was just as well, my friends were all but gawking at us.
“No worries,” I said. “I got what I needed.”
I squeezed the crow tightly to my body.
“Before I go,” Damien started. “I need to hear you say that my midway is not rigged. The last thing I need is you popping on the internet that I’m a con man.”
I laughed, because I thought he was joking, but he looked at me with raised brows.
“Oh, you’re serious,” I said, straightening my face. “I do not think you are a con man and I will be sure to write how your midway is, in fact, not rigged.”
“Good.” With a nod, he turned to Cassie and the two of them started walking back from where we started the night. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed that she pulled him away, but he was working and, technically, so was I.
When I rejoined my friends, they all started sputtering questions at me a million miles a minute.
“Is anyone hungry?” I asked. “We should go find some food.”