Happy Halloween!
Oh, and this takes place in an AU where the movie events happened, just that in a modern time.

A fair had come to town. Or, more specifically, to its outskirts, several kilometers from Portorosso. They had already been there for a few weeks, but due to their chores at the pescheria and on the farm, none of the Underdogs had had time to go. But since the organizers announced that this weekend would be the last one the fair would be present, the Paguro and Marcovaldos agreed to let the children attend. While both marriages went to a party to which they had been invited.

So as night fell, Luca, Alberto, and Giulia headed to the carnival, a space illuminated by red, blue, green, yellow, and orange lights, full of mechanical games such as the rotary tea cups, a small roller coaster, bumper cars, a pendulum ride, a pirate ship, a carousel, a Ferris wheel, among many more. And, of course, the food stalls couldn't be missing; there were hot wings, popcorn, milkshakes, hamburgers, and banderillas, among others. And there were other games, such as dart throwing, ring throwing, roulette, scoring goals, face water gun clown, marbles, and many more.

Needless to say, the atmosphere was more alive than ever, as it seemed that all of Portorosso had attended that day. There were people everywhere. It was almost impossible to find a spot without somebody. There was laughter, children were running, and one could smell the aroma of melted butter, candy, caramels, and hot dogs.

The Underdgos had already ridden most of the attractions and now were enjoying some food, or in Luca's case, a chocolate milkshake since he needed the sugar to recover after his time on the roller coaster. While Giulia enjoyed a caramel apple and Alberto a cotton candy.

"So, where to now?" Alberto asked after taking a bite of his candy.

The three of them walked, thinking about what they could do next. That night, Alberto was dressed in a yellow t-shirt with a brown vest on top, black pants, and shoes of the same color. Giulia wore a red blouse and navy blue pants with her classic sandals. Luca was wearing a white polo shirt, blue-light jeans, and black shoes.

"Anything as long as they don't turn us upside down," Luca responded, taking another sip of his drink. He was still dizzy.

"We could do something more peaceful," Giulia suggested, lowering her apple, "maybe the strength tester."

"I don't know," Alberto continued before bending his arm, "I wouldn't want to brag about this."

Giulia just rolled her eyes while Luca laughed. Unfortunately, another laugh joined them; only this one was not friendly, quite the opposite. The Underdogs sighed before turning around and meeting Ercole and his henchmen, Guido and Ciccio, each with their hands stuck in the pockets of their leather jackets.

"Oh look, it's the losers' club ," Ercole mocked as they approached them.

" Underdogs ," Giulia corrected him as she walked in front.

But it only made the bullies laugh, which made Alberto raise his fists. The night was going well enough to be ruined by those three. Luca quickly put a hand on Alberto's arm and shook his head. He didn't want anyone to start a scene. Giulia realized this but told herself to calm down; she knew Ercole and how to handle him and his minions.

"What do you want, Ercole? Another humiliating defeat like last summer?"

That made Alberto smile, who nodded and looked at Ercole maliciously. The bully just made a face.

"Only because you cheated."

"If that makes you feel better, keep thinking about it," Alberto mocked.

Things remained silent, with each team with their eyes on the other. None of them moved or breathed; it seemed that even people surrounded them so as not to intervene in their staring duel. Luca swallowed and looked at his friends. They hadn't had a fistfight ever since the week before the race that summer, and not only had they been punished to the point that they were almost not allowed to compete in the Cup, but they had also been left with bruises and scratches, of course, Ercole and his gang also got their share part of injuries, but it was an experience that Luca did not want to repeat.

"Well... it was good to catch up, but we should go," Luca responded, putting himself in the middle of his friends, "we have a lot of things to do."

Ercole laughed.

"But number two, you haven't even heard what I came for."

"We're not interested in knowing why you came," Giulia barked, "we just want you to leave us alone ."

"Oh, really?" Ercole continued with an offended tone, putting a hand to his chest, "Don't you wanna hear about my little bet?"

Alberto and Giulia opened their eyes and exchanged glances, while Luca just shook his head; whatever it was, he wasn't interested, knowing Ercole it could only be a trap. He hoped his friends would realize that.

"What kind of bet?" Alberto asked, feeling slightly intrigued. If Ercole was serious, there was a chance of winning, and that meant being able to humiliate him again, and that idea just thrilled him.

The bullies looked at each other and smiled, giving Luca a bad feeling.

"Whatever it is, we are not interested," Giulia added, "we have better things to do."

"Oh, really ?" Ercole said again, "Aren't you interested in knowing the story behind The Laugh House ? The most haunted attraction in the park."

Giulia rolled her eyes; more fairy tales, what she was missing. Luca, for his part, opened his eyes, more intrigued than scared; even if he did not believe in ghosts, he did like to learn new things, and yes, that included legends and myths. Alberto was interested since he loved horror stories with ghosts, zombies, and everything they could offer.

" The Laugh House? " Alberto repeated.

Ciccio and Guido exchanged glances and smiled.

"That's right," said the blonde, "it's the last attraction on the left, a horror house."

"There it is! Of course, they say it's haunted. It's nothing more than publicity," answered Giulia.

The Underdogs looked at each other again. None of them were convinced that what those three said was genuine. Hell, it seemed like they were being led into a prank, but on the other hand... If they kept their guard up, maybe they could even return it to them.

"What do you want to achieve here?" Giulia asked.

"Oh, just a friendly competition, that's all," Ercole said maliciously.

"If you come with us, we could show you," Ciccio added.

Giulia looked at her friends; Alberto was intrigued by the whole story. Luca, for his part, just wanted to get out of there so they could continue enjoying the fair. But he knew how competitive the Marcovaldos were, and the rules said that if most of the team agreed, everyone would go with the option taken.

"Sometimes I hate democracy," Luca said to himself, sighing.

Giulia looked closely into Ercole's eyes.

"You better not be up to anything," she warned them.

"Oh, nothing of that, I promise, pinky swear," Ercole replied, raising his hand and bending his little finger.

None of the three trusted his words.

...

The Laugh House was a horror attraction that was quite far from the rest of the fair. It measured at least six meters long, and smoke machines were placed at its corners to give a more gloomy air to the atmosphere. The walls were glued with the faces of monsters such as Frankenstein, Medusa, the Wolfman, Dracula, and the Creature from the Black Lagoon. On its roof, it had the cardboard figure of a dragon that covered almost the entire surface. The scales of the reptile were red, its back was full of spines, its claws were clinging to the edge and were sharp and elongated like blades, its mouth was full of sharp fangs, and it was open and breathing fire. His eyes were brown, while the iris was red, as was the sclera.

And despite its size and appearance, it was not the most outstanding thing about the house.

Placed to one side, almost at the entrance of the attraction, was another figure, this was the face of a clown, it was white and elongated, his smile almost covered entirely it, which showed his perfect yellow teeth, surrounded by purple lips, they were holding a cigar. His nose was red and round like a tomato, his face was covered by a reddish curly crown, his bushy eyebrows were black, beneath them were his yellow eyes surrounded by a black circle, and his head was crowned by a small swamp-green hat. Around his neck, he had a green ruff with black dots.

He wasn't even half the size of the dragon, and yet, there was something about his appearance that just made him feel more...scary. It could be the unnaturally large smile or the fact that he had no iris. Whatever it was, the kids couldn't take their eyes off it.

The trio of thugs only saw them from behind, with their arms crossed and smiling.

"Okay, it looks creepy. I'll give you that," Giulia said, turning around, "but it's the decoration of a horror house. It's obvious that it has to be scary."

Luca and Alberto joined her, with the second nodding his head. Luca didn't say anything because he did find the clown scary. The boy knew it was just a piece of cardboard, but still, something about it gave him bad vibes. Luca couldn't explain it; he just felt uncomfortable with his presence; it was like the first time he met Uncle Hugo, only a thousand times worse. Despite his appearance, his uncle was family and would never hurt him, but the clown...

He decided to try not to look so intimidated. He knew Ercole loved that.

"Honestly, your attempt at a mustache is scarier," Alberto mocked.

Ercole widened his eyes, stifled a sigh, and raised a hand to his lips to cover his growing facial hair. Ciccio hardened his gaze while Guido held back his laughter; he was on Ercole's side, but he had to admit that sometimes it was difficult for him not to laugh at the humor of those three, especially Luca. Luckily, Ercole didn't notice his reaction as he was too focused on the Underdogs.

"Ha, laugh now, but I assure you, this is not a game."

With that said, he began to walk in circles around them, with the kids always following him with their eyes in case he tried something.

Ercole continued:

"Legend says that many years ago, on Halloween night in Maine, a circus came; one of its clowns, Zeebo, got tired of his routine and stole the entire payroll: $4,500 grand. But as he fled, the police noticed him and chased him."

Ercole returned to the front to join his thugs; he stopped, and now it was Ciccio who narrated:

"There was an amusement park, Funland , where Zeebo hid in the horror house. He waited until he was sure the police were no longer following his tracks."

"But he made a terrible mistake," Guido continued, "Zeebo liked to smoke cigars, and while he was leaving, one fell on the floor."

"The entire attraction burned, and Zeebo was trapped," Ercole continued, "no matter how many attempts by the police and firefighters, everything was in vain, and the clown perished in that inferno ."

"Years later, that place was rebuilt and renamed The Laugh House; they placed a Zeebo mannequin to scare everyone," Guido added, pointing to the attraction, "this is that same house."

"Legend says that Zeebo's spirit continues to haunt the attraction, unable to rest until the day he gets his money back."

With that, they finished their story; the Underdogs had remained silent and in the same place while they heard the story, each thinking their own thing. Giulia believed it was nothing more than a fairy tale. Alberto had to admit that he had liked it, and Luca-- was trembling a little; he was not a suggestive person, but... just imagining those events gave him goosebumps.

"I give you points for creativity," Giulia said, applauding, "and it's good publicity."

"I liked the part about the fire," Alberto added, "although it was a bit cliché ."

Luca just nodded; he didn't want to speak because he felt that fear would be noticeable in his voice.

"It's just a silly horror story," he told himself.

"Oh, the legend is real, I assure you," said Ercole.

"It is; we investigated it," Guido continued.

"Anyone could write it and upload it to the internet," Giulia responded, rolling her eyes, " Santa Mozzarella , we could do it when we get home."

Her boys nodded in agreement; even if he was scared, Luca was grateful to have his friends by his side, who always made him feel safer. Besides, Giulia was right; anyone could write something like that and publish it online. It was nothing new. What did surprise him was that Ercole never stopped smiling; he continued to see them with that same security and joy as if he were waiting for that reaction.

"Well, if you are sure our story is just a fairy tale, why don't we make a little bet?"

Before Luca or Giulia could speak, Alberto beat them to it:

"Go ahead."

The other two looked at him with anger. Couldn't he have waited a little? They knew Alberto's competitive nature, but that didn't mean he stopped irritating them everytime he got them into trouble. And they also knew that Ercole was aware of it and that he could take advantage.

"It's easy; go in and complete the tour."

"Ha!" Alberto laughed; he expected something more than that.

"That-- doesn't sound so bad," Luca said; it didn't sound pleasant either, but it would be easier if he did it with his friends.

"That's right, too easy ," Giulia added, tilting her head. There was something else here; she knew Ercole, and things were never so easy with him.

And it seemed she was right because Ercole smiled again, showing his teeth; his smile rivaled the clown.

"Oh, that was just the first part; you must enter the house and," he paused dramatically before adding: "Take Zeebo's nose."

That made Luca widen his eyes; Ercole couldn't be serious. He understood the part of forcing them to go through that maze, but stealing property? That was going too far; there was no way his friends would accept... right?

Giulia opened her mouth as if offended.

" Santo Pecorino , you don't expect us to accept that, do you?"

"Ha! I thought you Underdogs weren't afraid of anything. I guess I was wrong."

Ciccio and Guido laughed behind him.

"We are not afraid of anything, but we're not gonna risk ourselves for a silly bet... we don't even know what's in it for us."

Luca nodded; whatever it was, it wasn't worth it.

"Ah, that's right, if you complete the house and take the clown's nose, we will dress as clowns at school, and I will use Zeebo's nose."

"Santa Ricotta!" Giulia thought , "That... is tempting."

The idea of those three, especially Ercole, wearing ridiculous clown outfits in the school hallways... was very tempting, the teasing and photos she could take. Ah! Giulia would enjoy it so much! She could finally give it back to him after all the times he humiliated her for her little incident in the Cup.

But she had to control herself and said no, no matter how fun the humiliation of her archenemy would be, it was not worth having to steal the fair. Her victory in the last Cup was her best revenge. Luca agreed; he couldn't do it; he knew that stealing was wrong, and his conscience would never leave him alone. He felt wrong whenever he took an extra cookie from the jar, and to that, he added his paranoia.

"If we steal the nose, and Ercole starts using it at school, the police could make the connection, and they would arrest us all, and we would go to jail, and I would never survive there, and I would never be able to go back to school, nor to the library. Not seeing my parents, not Uncle Hugo, not Nonna, right? What will visiting hours be like?"

While all those ideas were going through his head, and Giulia was preparing to say no, Alberto, once again, beat her to it:

"That's it? Ha! It will be a breeze!"

His friends turned to look at him, stunned; what was he thinking? They knew that he liked risks and that he rarely backed away from anything, which had gotten them into a lot of trouble on multiple occasions. This would be another one of those times.

"You better have your baggy pants ready," Alberto continued as he turned around, ready to go in: "Let's do it."

"Oh no, not this time," Giulia said to herself, then took him by the arm and began to drag him away from the place.

"Excuse us, team talk," she said while dragging Alberto, who only saw her angry.

Luca followed them; when they were far enough away, Giulia let go of her brother, who still angrily looked at her. Giulia rolled her eyes, downplaying it. Luca joined them, and the three formed a circle, then took each other's arms and lowered their heads.

"What are you doing? Don't you want to see those three humiliating themselves?"

"You know there's nothing I enjoy more than Ercole's suffering, but it's not worth it. We could get into serious trouble for this," Giulia argued.

"She's right, we're talking about committing a robbery... maybe this is what they want, to make us get into trouble so they can look like heroes."

Alberto shook his head.

"Luca, Luca, I thought you already knew how to silence Bruno."

"If there is any occasion to listen to Bruno, it is this one, Alberto," Giulia scolded him, "Luca is right; they could be doing this to make us look like thieves."

"I think you two are overestimating Ercole."

"Maybe, but not to Guido," Luca added, knowing how competitive and intelligent the bully could be. This was unfortunate because, when he wasn't trying to please his abusive boss, Guido was a friendly guy.

"They are still upset about the last Cup; it is obvious that they want revenge," Giulia continued, "we have to be cautious."

Alberto rolled his eyes; to him, Ercole and his thugs were not smart enough to set up a trap like that. In his eyes, they had challenged them simply because they believed he and his friends were not capable of doing it, but Alberto knew himself and his mates. He knew that if they put their mind to it, they could win.

"I seriously think you two are just paranoid. That nose is not even that important. I bet the owner has thousands of spare like that."

"What a loggerhead!" Giulia thought the good thing was that she knew what cards to play.

"Whatever the case, I don't think it's worth the risk."

"I second the notion," Luca added.

Alberto sighed; two against one only meant one thing: by motion, his friends had won.

"Fine... but can we at least go in?"

Luca swallowed; he wasn't so sure... he was afraid, and although Luca had changed a lot since meeting the Marcovaldos, he still felt nervous on many occasions. Apart from that, everything related to terror and horror had never been his thing.

"We're already here," Giulia said, "and we agreed we wanted to see everything we could."

"Yes, and I want to see the clown," Alberto added, raising his fists.

Luca bit his lip.

"Come on, it will be fun," Alberto tried to convince him by shaking him playfully.

"Although we don't have to enter if you don't want to, we are not obliged to do what Ercole tells us," Giulia comforted him.

"It's okay," Luca replied, "that's why we are the Underdogs, right? To face whatever comes."

He looked towards the house. It did look very intimidating, but... Silenzio Bruno , right? He just had to go in, face whatever was inside, and come out; plus, with Alberto and Giulia by his side, he had nothing to worry about. After all, horror movies were more bearable when they watched them together, and sometimes, they were even fun. And as Giulia had said, it was all just publicity for the attraction.

Right?

"Underdogs forever, right?" Luca asked, extending his hand to the front.

Giulia and Alberto exchanged glances, but in the end, they shrugged; if Luca agreed, they didn't see why not.

"Underdogs forever," they both repeated, joining their hands with Luca's.

The three separated and returned to their adversaries, who had remained in the same position, waiting for their response.

"We won't steal the nose, but we will go in," Giulia said with determination.

Ercole shook his head.

"No nose, no deal."

"Fine by us."

Behind her, Luca and Alberto nodded their heads, with the latter more forcefully than voluntarily.

"Wow, and I thought you three were brave. I guess I was wrong; let's go," Ercole ordered to his henchmen; they only laughed mockingly and followed him.

"The cup is still ours!" Alberto exclaimed, using his hands as a megaphone.

"Yes, and we were on the front page," Luca added in a lower tone.

Despite this, their rivals did not seem to care, as they had already walked away.

Giulia, for her part, just shook her head and turned around to see her friends.

"That's how we deal with fools like those," she said, pointing at the trio.

Luca nodded and gave her two thumbs up.

"I still think we could have done it," Alberto said.

Giulia looked at the house, it didn't look that bad and... she was just a little curious to see if it was as scary as they said.

"We can still go in; we're already here," she said, "and we wanted to see everything we could."

"And we would do it because we want to, not because Ercole forces us," Luca pointed out.

That seemed enough to convince them because the Underdogs were always looking for new experiences.

"Okay, let's do it," Giulia said.

The entrance was a big wooden door with a metal knocker and golden latches. Everything looked old, and the wood creaked under their feet. Luca swallowed. They hadn't even entered yet, and that place already gave him the creeps. Also, how old was this site? Were they sure it wouldn't fall apart? Alberto and Giulia weren't that worried; in fact, they were a little intrigued to meet the clown.

Alberto was at the head; being the eldest, he felt he had to look out for his friends. He stretched out a hand towards the latch, and the door opened wide from the inside. It took them by surprise, and the three stepped back, a little scared. On the other side, there was nothing but smoke, covering a blackness that could only be compared to a starless night. The three stopped, staring inside; there was nothing and no one, but then, who had opened it?

"Guys..." said a trembling Luca.

"Don't worry," Giulia quickly said, "it must be automatic."

"Oh... right," Luca answered; it made sense, and now he felt a little dumb for not thinking straight.

"She's right," Alberto added, taking a step forward. He wasn't gonna admit that it had scared him, so he had to return to his brave boy attitude, "it's just a cheap trick. Let's go in."

Giulia nodded while Luca continued to tremble.

"Don't worry, everything is false, everything is false," Luca repeated in his head.

With confidence restored, the Underdogs advanced towards the entrance again, two yellow eyes welcoming them. They stopped in their tracks and saw that in the darkness, two bright eyes stood out, just like the clown figure.

"Wow... they're getting straight to the point," Giulia thought; now she was also getting a little scared, but she told herself to calm down. It was all an act, a good but false act.

The eyes did not stop looking at them. Sometimes, they even narrowed as if they were studying them. Which began to make them a little uncomfortable, especially Luca.

"Eh... is this normal?" He asked.

"Of course," Alberto responded, although he wasn't so sure either.

The eyes moved forward, and big footsteps were heard. Alberto opened his eyes while Luca stepped back, and Giulia froze.

The yellow dots got closer and closer until they entered the light, and there they could see him clearly. It was just a man, about fifty years old at most; his eyes were normal, so what they saw inside must have been some trick. He was dressed in khaki pants and a jacket with red and yellow lines; he wore a white button-down shirt, a red bow on his neck, and a hat on his head, and he carried a circus staff. He was smiling, showing his teeth, but... it was a strange smile like he wanted to convey confidence and kindness, but... it felt forced.

"Oh, excuse me, young lads, I didn't mean to scare you," the Ringmaster apologized; again, he sounded strange, as if he wanted to be friendly when he couldn't be.

"No, we weren't scared," Alberto said quickly, trying to sound brave. Now that everything had happened, if he felt a little silly, it was clear everything was just a trick.

"Just a little," Luca said as he breathed.

Giulia nodded, although she felt more uncomfortable than scared.

The Ringmaster smiled and stepped aside to let them pass.

"Are you gonna try it, huh?

"Y...yes," Alberto finished, remembering why they were there, "why not?"

"We are the Underdogs... we fear nothing," Giulia added, standing next to her brother. She did not believe that the man had bad intentions, but... she felt strange in his presence.

Luca didn't say anything; he just joined them, shaking his head energetically, as if this way he could show more confidence, both to the man and to himself.

The Ringmaster took off his hat.

"That's good; the funniest thing about the fair is when you laugh in the dark."

He had his arm pointed towards the entrance, inviting them in; behind him, there was only darkness and smoke.

Alberto looked over his shoulders, first at Giulia and then at Luca, who was beginning to regret it, but they were already at the entrance. It was too late to turn back.

"Silenzio Bruno, Silenzio Bruno," he repeated in his head, hoping it would give him strength.

Giulia just kept her gaze steady; she was ready.

Alberto smiled; he always liked it when he had to do these things with his friends. The Underdogs advanced inside, and the man only followed them with his gaze, always smiling. Luca and Giulia preferred to avoid his look, giving him a coin as payment.

When the three entered, the man came out and took the doors.

"Have fun," he told them before closing the gates.

When he did so, the kids were plunged into absolute darkness. Luca stifled a scream and approached his nearest companion; he didn't care who it was. He took his/her hand and squeezed it a little.

"Don't worry, it's part of the show," he heard Giulia say.

Luca sighed, feeling calmer.

"Yes. I bet something will come out shouting very loudly now," Alberto spoke now.

Luca gulped; just because he knew something was coming, that didn't mean it was any less terrifying. In fact, it made it worse. Now, he couldn't stop thinking that at any moment, something would jump, screaming as loud as possible, and he couldn't stop imagining what it could be. What if it was the most terrifying thing he had ever seen? The most horrifying creatures came to his mind, expecting the worst.

A light turned on a few meters in front of them, and the children turned to look at it. The light was not very powerful and barely illuminated enough to form a small circle under it.

"I guess we should move there," said Giulia, pointing to the place.

Alberto nodded, and they both walked towards the point. Luca stayed motionless because he still felt he was holding a hand, but that was impossible; his friends were advancing...

Slowly, as slowly as he could, Luca looked down to his right, where he had felt the touch... Nothing, there was nothing; his hand was suspended in the air. He opened his eyes as wide as he could, that couldn't be it, Luca had felt something, he couldn't imagine it...

Or could he?

It was his habit to daydream he always did; in those moments, he really felt he was in other places, living different experiences. Could it be that the same thing had happened to him now? In his desire to feel accompanied, he had imagined someone by his side?

"Yes... that must be it," he said to himself.

"Luca?" Alberto called him.

"Everything is alright?" Giulia asked, a little worried, "If this is too much for you, we could..."

"No, I'm fine," he assured as he jogged to catch up with them. Whatever was happening there, it would be better to stay together.

The brothers exchanged looks, not knowing what to think. In the end, they decided to continue; if Luca said he was fine, it was because he was, after all, he was a terrible liar. As their friend joined them, they noticed another light turn on in front, just like the last one.

"I knew it. It's all part of the show," said Alberto. He looked at his friends, placed his arms around both of their shoulders, and then brought them closer. "Don't be fooled; this place just wants to play with us, but we can handle it, right?"

Luca appreciated Alberto's enthusiasm because it was contagious, feeling embraced and with his friend's trust, he was convinced they would be fine.

"He's right. We just have to keep moving forward."

Giulia smiled. She hated to admit it, but her brother was right; they were nothing more than mind games; everything was designed so that they would doubt the environment, but they would not fall so easily.

"Let's continue," was the only thing she said.

With renewed confidence, the trio moved forward; as they reached the next point of light, another came on, and so on, noticing that there was a pattern to all of this.

"He's probably controlling it from a secret cabin," Giulia said when they had gone further.

"If so, I must admit that it is an impressive design," Luca said. Feeling genuinely impressed by the house.

"Yeah, but..."

AARGH!

Luca screamed and clung to Alberto's arm as the screaming figure appeared next to him.

It was Frankenstein's monster. It had come out of nowhere, roaring, and its red eyes glowed in the darkness, the lights above it turned on and off continually. While it startled Alberto and Giulia, it made Luca jump. The redhead looked at the figure and then at the boy, smiled sympathetically, and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry, it's just a mannequin," she told him.

Luca saw the monster; the red light in its eyes was flashing, and it was also maniacally laughing as if mocking his reaction. Luca sighed.

"You're right, I'm sorry."

Alberto patted him on the back.

Frankenstein let out one last laugh before returning to the darkness; a door was heard closing, and then everything fell silent again. The kids told themselves that it was better to keep moving forward.

"Don't worry, everything is fake," Luca said to himself, "Silenzio, Bruno."

He shouldn't even have been that scared. The Portorosso Cup and the aftermath when the fishermen surrounded them had been much more terrifying and real. Here, it was nothing more than animatronics and smoke machines.

When they reached the end of the hall, they realized they had to turn right. The kids did so and noticed that a hallway stretched in front, much better lit, and to their right, they saw a row of curved mirrors.

"Uh, this is interesting," Luca said.

They went inside and saw their distorted reflections: Luca was long, his head almost protruding from the mirror, and his arms looked like spaghetti, while Giulia was fat, her length almost touching the limits of the mirror, and Alberto was short while his head was enormous. The three stared at their reflections, then at each other, and burst into laughter.

"We look so weird!" Giulia laughed.

After that, they began to make faces and stick out their tongues; seeing how they became distorted with each movement, they continued to move forward, changing with each new mirror they passed by.

"Yeah! Almost as much as that stupid clown!" Alberto responded.

"Yeah! Almost as much as that stupid clown!" Added a fourth voice.

The mirrors were gone, and now they were facing a glass booth; on the other side, a clown was standing. The kids stopped, and the clown laughed. He was just like the promotional one outside the house. Now he completed his appearance with a long-sleeved, purple shirt with yellow and red dots and huge pants with green lines, yellow and purple. And this clown wasn't an animatronic, oh no, it was real. They could tell by his face that he was human and was holding a cigar.

The trio stopped and saw the new presence; he had a macabre smile, and he kept looking at them, similar to the case of the Ringmaster. They did not feel that the clown had bad intentions. It was just... it was uncomfortable to be in his presence.

"Yeah! Almost as much as that stupid clown!" he repeated, raising one hand, showing a brown cloth bag with a euro symbol embroidered in green.

The clown laughed again as the kids backed away.

"Maybe he's not evil... but he looks terrifying," Luca thought.

"It doesn't feel good to me," Giulia admitted.

Alberto just kept looking at him, feeling that there was something strange about him.

The clown laughed again, and the light in the cabin went out, although his laughter took a while to die down. Alberto blinked and stepped forward; he extended one hand and placed it on the crystalline surface. Alberto inspected his hand and then put the other. At least they had been protected. Another Alberto appeared in front of him, with his hands placed in the same position. Alberto was startled, trembling, and stepped back; the other Alberto did the same, realizing it was only his reflection.

Alberto stopped, staring at himself; he opened his eyes and looked at his friends, his cheeks blushed a little.

"Don't worry," Luca said quickly, "this place plays with your mind."

Giulia just nodded; usually, she would never waste the opportunity to make fun of her brother, but... at that moment, she didn't feel like it.

"Let's just keep going," was the only thing he said, ashamed of having fallen.

The other two didn't contradict.

They regrouped when they reached the end of the hallway; they had to turn left again; there was another hallway. It was not as illuminated as the previous one, but it was better than the first. There was a path of lights, each separated by at least half a meter. Its surroundings were dark.

"Okay, I think I'm starting to understand how this place works," said Luca, at least he wasn't scared enough to lose his mind, "in each new hallway, there is something that distracts us to then scare us, in the first one it was the lights so that we wouldn't notice Frankenstein, in the second the mirrors. I believe that there is something on both sides, in the darkness, so that we do not see what is at the end of the corridor."

Giulia put a hand to her chin thoughtfully.

"You know? I think you're right," she said.

Alberto nodded. That's why he liked Luca; he always knew what to think.

"Very well, then we just have to keep our guard up."

"And not let ourselves be distracted by anything," Giulia concluded.

Luca nodded; it was good to see he was listened to.

The three went inside, ready for whatever awaited them. To their right, a light turned on, a coffin opened, and out of it came Dracula, with red eyes and screaming; the vampire rose up to Luca's height, so the two stood face to face. Although the scream startled him, Luca was not scared; he had already expected it. The same thing happened with Alberto and Giulia, prepared for anything.

They walked a little further, and a new monster appeared. This was a man who did not have his head in place, but in his hands, which he shook while laughing like a maniac, beneath him, there was a light that turned on and off.

Giulia stifled a laugh.

"This one is almost funny."

After passing it, they realized that they had to turn the corner again. When they did so, they saw that there was only one hallway.

"That wasn't so bad," Luca said when they finished.

"No, something tells me that the worst is over."

"Yeah, I bet..."

MRAWRR

The face of a dragon appeared in front of them, it had come out of a wall, it was a bright green color, its eyes were yellow, it had horns and huge fangs in its mouth, its nostrils were huge, and smoke came out of them, while he was spitting fire from his mouth.

Giulia screamed and hugged Alberto in panic; her brother blinked and looked at her oddly. He had not seen her like that since the day on the beach.

"Really? It's not even that scary."

"It's not that! Don't you remember what those fools told us?" She said, referring to Ercole and his henchmen, "The first version of this thing caught fire! And now we have a fire-breathing machine!"

Luca and Alberto opened their eyes, understanding what she meant. The three saw the dragon again, who finally finished spitting fire and returned to hiding. The three looked at each other and continued advancing.

They walked in a straight line for what seemed like an eternity; the path was well-lit, and they found nothing else that could scare them, which only gave them a bad feeling because they felt that at any moment, the worst of things would come out, but no, everything was in order.

It wasn't until they reached a dead end that they stopped. In front of them, there was nothing but a black wall.

"Okay... now what?" Luca asked.

Alberto took a step forward and began to inspect the wall.

"Maybe there's a secret button or something, like in Batman ."

Giulia was about to say how unlikely that was when the wall rotated on its axis, revealing another room on the other side, taking Alberto by surprise, who let out a small yelp as he fell into the room.

Luca and Giulia exchanged glances and then looked ahead.

"A revolving door," Giulia pointed out.

They approached the wall and pushed it slightly, which allowed them passage to the other room, where they found Alberto on the floor, with his face against the floor.

"Alberto, are you okay?" Luca asked him, crouching down next to him.

"I've never felt better," he replied, raising a thumb.

Giulia observed this new location, and what she saw surprised her. This room was not like any of the others; its walls were colorful: yellow, purple, blue, and red. Each one had a door in a different geometric shape, each different from the other, with nine in total. The yellow floor had a purple spiral, and the room was perfectly lit. Giulia felt like she was in a Tim Burton movie.

While Luca helped Alberto stand up, a voice spoke to them:

"Open the right door, and you'll be free. Open the wrong door, and you'll see him ," he sounded like the Ringmaster.

The boys looked at all the doors. Now they knew what they had to do.

"Very well, there are nine doors and three of us; if each one opens a different one, we will get out of here quickly," Giulia indicated.

Luca and Alberto nodded, and each one went towards his choice. Alberto went for the eight since he had a shirt with the number printed on it that he really liked. Luca chose four because he liked even numbers, and Giulia chose three because it was the number of its members.

Everyone put their hand on the doorknob, exchanged glances, and nodded.

"Here we go, the quicker we get out of here, the better," thought Luca, swallowing hard, praying that he wouldn't get the clown.

Not like Alberto. Who internally wanted to meet Zeebo.

The three turned their knobs and looked inside.

The brothers got a wall with a figure of a skull and a werewolf with glowing red eyes that moved from side to side while they laughed, mocking their mistake.

Luca, for his part, found the exit in front of him, stretched a hallway with light blue walls, with a sign of a hand pointing a finger towards the end. Applause and cheers could be heard from the ceiling. Luca looked up and smiled.

"Luca, you did it!" Giulia congratulated him, walking towards him.

Her friend looked at her, smiling, as she put a hand on his shoulder.

"Let's go," he replied.

They were both ready to leave when they realized Alberto was not following them. He was studying the doors.

"Alberto?" His friends asked.

Alberto focused his attention on door number six because they said that six, six, six was the number of the beast. That gave him the feeling that Zeebo was there, that and that its color was red, the color of the blood. He took a step towards that door. Giulia rolled her eyes while Luca put his hands to his face.

"Seriously, Alberto?" Giulia asked him tiredly.

"Come on, don't tell me you're not curious to see it," he replied.

"We already did it, the one we saw back there, remember?" Luca told him.

"Come on, we won't be back in, and the fair is already leaving. Why stay with the doubt?"

Giulia shook her head and looked at Luca.

"Let's just let him do it. The faster, the better," he relented, knowing his friend well.

Giulia looked back ahead, feeling defeated.

"Just do it," she relented.

Alberto smiled, showing his teeth. He advanced quickly to number six and opened it. Luca would have liked to tell him to wait a little, but his friend was not known for being cautious. Just as he opened the door, a macabre laugh was heard, circus music began to play, smoke came out of the frame, and an enormous figure appeared above them. It was gigantic; it measured at least three meters and was equal to the figure at the entrance; his long face was even more disturbing in person, his empty eyes were even more disturbing, and his size was imposing.

Even Alberto backed away; he thought he was prepared, but no, the truth is that Zeebo was disturbing even if he was just an animatronic. His appearance was disturbing. Luca and Giulia didn't scream, but they couldn't take their eyes off the clown either, it was... ugly, even if it was just an object, it had a strange aura around it, maybe it was his immovable smile that could never leave his face, they just wanted to get away from there.

"Very well," said Luca with a trembling voice, "we already came, we already saw it... let's go."

Giulia just nodded.

Alberto couldn't stop looking at Zeebo, he was so... unreal, he had seen strange things, but... that clown took the prize. So, with slightly trembling hands, he took the door and closed it little by little, without stopping to see the clown. Once the door was closed, Alberto turned around with a smile on his face and his hands in his pants pockets.

"It's not even scary," he said triumphantly.

Neither of them believed him, as they looked at him skeptically, with Giulia crossing her arms and Luca raising an eyebrow. Alberto didn't stop smiling and just walked towards the exit.

"Come on, we still have a lot to see," he said as he passed through the door.

Luca and Giulia followed him with their eyes. Then they looked at each other, they shook their heads and laughed, amused by how Alberto's pride wouldn't let him admit when he was scared. After that, they followed him; they didn't feel like continuing in that place. Once they left, the exit door closed, and the room was left alone. The handle of door six began to move.