The Funhouse

somehow, and he lied about his mother's name and age. And now you're lying to me.”
        “Conrad… let them go.”
        Her words were an admission that he had found Ellen's children, and a shattering, explosive elation tore through him.
        “I saw something in the crystal ball,” she said in a voice that contained fear and awe. “It's not even crystal. It's just a cheap piece of crap. There's nothing magical about it. Yet… tonight… when those girls were here… I saw images in the ball. It was awful, horrible. I saw the blond screaming, her hands thrown up in front of her face as if she were trying to ward off something hideous that was reaching for her. And I saw the other one… Amy… in torn clothes, all covered with blood.” She shuddered violently. “And I think… the boys, too… in the background of the vision… the boys who were with those girls… all bloody.”
        “It's a sign,” Conrad said. I told you, I've been sent signs. This is another one. It tells me not to wait. It tells me to get Amy tonight, even if I have to take care of the others as well.”
        Zena shook her head. “No. No, Conrad, I can't let you do that. You can't have your revenge. It's sick. You can't just go out there and kill those four kids.”
        “Oh, I probably won't kill any of them with my own hands,” he said.
        “What do you mean?”
        “Gunther will take care of them.”
        “Gunther? He wouldn't hurt anyone.”
        “Our son has changed,” Conrad said. “I'm the only one who knows how much he's changed. He's come of age at last. He needs women now, and he takes what he needs. He doesn't just screw them, either. He leaves quite a mess behind. I've been covering up for him the last few years. And now I'll be repaid. He'll give me the vengeance I've dreamed about for so long.”
        “What do you mean when you say he takes women?”
        “Uses them and then rips them apart,” Conrad said, knowing that she was the type who would feel morally responsible for the actions of her freakish offspring, smiling as he saw the pain flicker across her face.
        “How many?” she asked.
        “I've lost count. A few dozen.”
        “My God,” Zena said, shaken to her roots. “What have I done? What have I brought into the world?”
        “The Antichrist,” Conrad said.
        “No,” she said. “You're not in your right mind. You have delusions of grandeur. It's nothing as special as the Antichrist. It's just a vicious, mad beast. I should have had Ellen's good sense. I should have killed it like she killed Victor. Now… I'm responsible for everyone who has died and for everyone who will die before it's finished.”
        Standing over her, Conrad reached down, put his hands on her throat, and said, “I can't let you spoil everything.”
        Zena struggled. But she didn't have a strong enough desire to live, while Conrad had an exceedingly strong desire to kill her. He had never known such power and purpose as that which coursed through him now. He felt supercharged, crackling with a demonic energy. Zena thrashed and kicked and scratched his face, but she died much more easily than he had expected. He dragged her body into the darkest corner of the tent, later, he would figure out some way to get rid of it.
        The raven squawked hysterically.
        Afraid that the bird would draw someone to the body before it could be disposed of, Conrad opened the cage, thrust his hands inside, seized the raven, and broke its neck.
        He left Zena's tent and hurried back to the funhouse. Amy Harper and her friends would be arriving shortly, and he wanted to be prepared for them.
        
        * * *
        
        Tonight Joey was a winner. He won sixty-five cents pitching pennies. He won a small teddy bear by throwing darts at balloons. And he won a free ride on the carousel when he managed to grab a brass ring the first time around.
        He was on the carousel, riding a black stallion like the one in the movie of the same name, when he saw Amy. He hadn't considered the possibility that her date had brought her to the carnival, but there she was, in dark green shorts and a pale green T-shirt. She wasn't with Buzz, though. She was with Liz, and the two girls were headed toward the edge of the midway. Joey lost sight of them as the carousel revolved, and when he came around again, they had disappeared in the crowd.
        When he got off the