Lost Rambler

Carousel Book Six, Chapter 27

“It’s too early to worry like this,” I said. “They’re still within the time frame allotted for the story. Just have faith.”

I didn’t know what I was saying, but it was my attemp...

Carousel Book Six, Chapter 26

If I never went to hell again, it would be too soon.

I managed to make it to bed by noon the day we got back, and I didn't wake up again until noon the next day. Even then, I didn’t want to...

Carousel Book Six, Chapter 25

As the storyline ended, Silas, the Mechanical Showman, appeared amongst the rubble of the burnt restaurant.

"Congratulations, you've won a ticket," he said in his cheerful yet worn-out tone.<...

Carousel Book Six, Chapter 24

Oh gosh, Jerrica, one of the only named characters, had some role to play. Who could have guessed? She's the daughter of the guy who famously had no kids? No way!

It wasn’t exactly...

Carousel Book Six, Chapter 23

Hiding while the action was happening elsewhere was starting to get old.

Isaac had taken charge upstairs and was ushering people into this other version of Hot Head.

I stared from a dis...

Carousel Book Six, Chapter 22

I knew that Carousel rewarded exceptional feats, but I was expecting a reward in the form of something that fell out of Silas the Mechanical Showman’s ticket slot.

There were dozens of coin...

Carousel Book Six, Chapter 21

The rest of the scene was a non-stop onslaught.

Isaac, teaming with Ruck and Ramona, managed to move through the rest of the demons and cut through them with ease.

To Isaac’s credit, ...

Carousel Book Six, Chapter 20

Ramona and I stood over the broken remains of the Madame Macabre fortune teller. Like so many of the other things we had seen, this was a pale imitation of the actual animatronic, a mockery when yo...

Carousel Book Six, Chapter 19

I was there, in the pit.

I had thought about it since the beginning of the storyline, since before I knew that Hell was a literal, physical place. Somehow, I had known I would have to go ther...

Carousel Book Six, Chapter 18

I always liked to think that I was calm and collected. It was likely that all my teammates thought that, too, although they might have called me cold.

The truth was, I have always locked my e...

Carousel Book Six, Chapter 17

I was glad to finally have some momentum in this storyline. Finding out that many Insight tropes were completely corrupted was a terrible surprise.

Trope Master took forever ...

Carousel Book Six, Chapter 16

I had to drag Isaac along as soon as we went Off-Screen so that we could make an actual plan.

We had talked about the inevitability of going into hell for a rescue. After all, if we didn’t ...

Carousel Book Six, Chapter 15

I walked through the back halls of the pizza parlor like I was walking through a haunted house.

We had put off the realization that something supernatural was going on for as long as we could...

Update

Still working on the next chapters. I want to finish a whole batch at once to get this next sequence right, so please bear with me. It shouldn't be that much longer than planned, but I thought I wo...

Carousel Book Six, Chapter 14

I couldn't really complain about nightmares, could I? That was the worst I had seen of these demon enemies of ours—at least as far as my suffering went.

But when I woke up covered in sweat,...

Carousel Book Six, Chapter 13

On-Screen

We were back inside in the kitchen.

“Lock the doors!” Ramona called out. Nathan quickly ran to the front door and locked it.

“Are you okay?” Cassie asked Isaac, ...

Carousel Book Six, Chapter 12

“Stop pacing,” Cassie said for the tenth time, “and take out the trash. How many times do I have to say it?”

Isaac ignored her. He walked from one end of his family's living room to t...

Carousel Book Six, Chapter 11

I barely made it back into the kitchen in time for my next scene. Luckily, that scene didn't involve much from me—it involved listening. Of course, it also involved whipping up some pizzas. Five ...

Update

The chapter will be here in a matter of hours. Sorry for the wait. I will get the advanced chapters caught up over the next couple of weeks. It is my top priority. You should start pulling ahead ov...

Carousel Book Six, Chapter 10

I had been through a lot since coming to Carousel.

I had been a puppet on the strings of many a puppet master. I had run through mazes like a rat, but perhaps the most annoying enemy trope I ...

Carousel Book Six, Chapter 9

I told the others to go home and lock their doors.

I couldn't kick the feeling that anyone who got caught trying to watch what happened to Avery that night might share her fate.

Of cour...

Carousel Book Six, Chapter 8

I was struck by how normal working at Pecatto's was. It was too normal.

It felt like Carousel was rubbing it in our faces.

That wasn't to say there weren't odd things.

Camden had ...

Carousel Book Six, Chapter 7

I was in the back kitchen—the proper kitchen—where prep cooks were chopping vegetables and cooking off sausage so that it could get to the level of doneness they wanted when it got on the actua...

Health Update

I’m out of the hospital now—thank you all so much for your patience and support. My appendix burst, which required immediate surgery and some recovery time.

I’ll be easing back into pos...

Update

Unfortunately, I am stuck in the hospital for the next four days. I am sorry that I will not be able to get any writing done while I am here.

I will try to get you all caught up next week. I'...

Update

Feeling under the weather. Next post tomorrow.

Carousel Book Six, Chapter 6

"This one is fine," Cassie said as she cut off a piece of her pepperoni pizza with a fork.

"I'm having trouble understanding what you meant when you said the pizza was wrong las...

Carousel Book Six, Chapter 5: By the Slice

On-Screen.

“Get away from the door,” Isaac said as two upperclassmen stood too close to the entrance. “The pizza will be here soon, and I have to answer it because this is my&n...

Carousel Book Six, Chapter 4

Since we had all agreed that we would never run Post-Traumatic again—or at least not run it to gain experience points or rewards—we decided to watch the storyline.

It w...

Carousel Book Six, Chapter 3

Alright, just like we practiced.

We all stood around the dining room table, fanned.
I handed a rolled-up newspaper to Camden—I had just purchased it from a stand down the street...