Carnival of Shadows

A mysterious carnival appears overnight in your town. The rides seem to move on their own, and the ringmaster knows your name. Can you uncover the secrets hiding behind the bright lights and swirling music?

You wake up on a Saturday morning to the sound of calliope music drifting through your open window. That's strange — there's no carnival scheduled in your town this weekend.

'What is that?' you mutter, rubbing your eyes. The music is bright and tinny, the kind that plays on old-fashioned merry-go-rounds.

You pull back the curtain and gasp. Overnight, an enormous carnival has appeared in the empty field at the end of Maple Street. Towering tents in deep purple and midnight blue stretch toward the sky, and a giant Ferris wheel turns slowly, even though nobody seems to be riding it.

'That was not there yesterday,' you whisper. 'That was definitely, absolutely not there yesterday.'

A golden ticket sits on your windowsill. It reads: 'Admit One — The Carnival of Shadows. We've been waiting for you.'

Your heart beats faster. 'We've been waiting for you,' you read again. How did this get here? And what does it mean, they've been waiting for YOU?