In this chap­ter, the car­ni­val unfolds with a vivid and sur­re­al ambiance as Jim and Will, two young boys, tra­verse a mile-long parade amidst the live­ly fes­tiv­i­ties. They expe­ri­ence the chaos and mag­ic of the car­ni­val, with Jim remem­ber­ing the enchant­i­ng tales of darn­ing-nee­dle drag­on­flies while Will finds him­self in a tur­bu­lent blend of emo­tions. The Gyp­sy, trail­ing behind, embod­ies mys­tery with an air of wound­ed­ness.

As they weave through the car­ni­val, Mr. Dark casts a watch­ful eye over the such strag­glers, his sig­nif­i­cance loom­ing larg­er than life. The boys nav­i­gate through a Mir­ror Maze, where reflec­tions of them­selves appear and dis­ap­pear, sym­bol­iz­ing their inner strug­gles as they search for iden­ti­ty. They sit motion­less among fig­ures of the deceased at the Wax­works, unno­ticed by the jovial crowd, embody­ing both fear and despair as one boy’s expres­sion reflects pain beneath the guise of wax.

The Witch enters the scene, attempt­ing to speak but stymied by the over­whelm­ing spec­ta­cle. Mr. Dark seizes the moment to entice the gath­ered crowd, pro­mot­ing a dead­ly spec­ta­cle known as the ‘BULLET TRICK.’ As the night deep­ens, the atmos­phere thick­ens with ten­sion. The Witch’s fear becomes pal­pa­ble as Mr. Dark coerces her to par­tic­i­pate, reveal­ing his sin­is­ter con­trol over the car­ni­val.

As vol­un­teers for the act are called upon, silence fills the air until Charles Hal­loway, a seem­ing­ly ordi­nary jan­i­tor, steps for­ward. His char­ac­ter emerges, autonomous against the back­drop of fear, hint­ing at a deep­er con­nec­tion to the events unfold­ing with­in the car­ni­val.

Amid the spec­ta­cle of dan­ger, the chap­ter paints a por­trait of cama­raderie, fear, and the eerie under­tones of the car­ni­val, set­ting the stage for an empow­er­ing con­fronta­tion. The dynam­ic con­trasts of light­heart­ed­ness against dark themes res­onate through­out, offer­ing an explo­ration of self-worth, brav­ery, and the vital role of com­mu­ni­ty in fac­ing fears.

Wait­ing ai