Veronica’s story-The adventures of Poppy McLain

*This story is underneath my folder titled “Adventures of Poppy and others”. Gacha Club character designs are under my forum titled “My character designs<33”. Enjoy!*

The year was 1974. Sixteen year old Veronica Donovan couldn’t believe how abandoned Nightmare Hill was, but right before her very eyes, she could see the decaying buildings and mud-colored grass stretch on for miles and miles.

She was driving her twin sister, Victoria Donovan, to the forsaken town of Nightmare Hill. The two of them both loved ghosts and so, they both went ghost-hunting together, searching for all sorts of spectral creatures hiding amongst dark, shadowy corners.

They had seen glimpses of ghosts sometimes, but they never got the chance to talk to ghosts before, because they would always fade away. Veronica hoped that they’d be able to talk to the ghosts that one time, even though there were legends that said the malice-filled spirits of Eloise and Leona resided there. Eloise, a woman who allegedly murdered children and haunted her house, and then Leona, someone Eloise saw as a daughter, who ran her own circus and may have kidnapped a little girl named Esmè.

Sure, there may have been evil ghosts in the town of Nightmare Hill (it wasn’t really called Nightmare Hill, people called it that from the legends. It was actually called Cambridge, but that wasn’t a very exciting name), but evil ghosts were still ghosts to talk to. She’d be extra careful and would make sure that Victoria was careful, too.

“Are we going to Leona’s circus or Eloise’s house first?” Victoria asked excitedly from the passenger seat.

“We’re heading right to Leona’s circus, then we’ll go to Eloise’s house!” Veronica beamed, for a good ghost hunting trip always began with a haunted circus!

“Splendid.” Victoria said with such vigor that Veronica knew that she was smiling without even looking.

………………………………………………

After much driving, Veronica could see a looming circus full of dirtied and torn-up circus tents waiting behind a wrought-iron, vine-choked gate and as she parked the car, she said:

“Finally, the moment you have been waiting for, the grand finale: We have arrived!”

Victoria immediately got out of the car and ran up to the gate, trying to push the old gate open. Veronica rolled her eyes and chuckled to herself as she unbuckled her seatbelt. It was typical of Victoria to go headfirst into a ghostly adventure.

“Are you going to wait for me?!” Veronica asked-shouted after she got out of the car, for Victoria was still trying to open the gate.

When asked about why they were interested in ghosts, Veronica and Victoria always said that it was the ghost and horror shows that inspired them, that the mystery behind cobwebbed doors let them know that there was more to everything than what was initially perceived. It was hard for people to believe that ginger-haired, freckle-faced Victoria and black-haired, pale-skinned Veronica were twin sisters who had the same “odd” interests, but as Veronica stepped foot towards the mildew-encrusted circus, she couldn’t help but feel closer to Victoria than ever.

“You were taking too long!” Victoria cried out, finally pushing the gate open.

“You have zero patience.” Veronica said with a smile as she shook her head, joining Victoria at the gates.

“But at least we’re both in! Come now, let us discover the shadows hidden within!” Victoria laughed, nudging Veronica along.

The shadows hidden within. They both always liked to talk about shadows hiding in darkness, it was what their favorite horror shows would say. Strangely, it gave a sense of optimism as well, that hidden shadows meant that there wasn’t nothing in the world and if there was something, good or bad, then they’d be able to see and deal with it together.

That was how Veronica saw it, anyway.

………………………………………………

The both of them were walking in the circus for quite a long time. Veronica still hadn’t seen anything ghostly and Victoria was getting impatient with every passing second. Veronica tried her best to keep Victoria’s interest piqued, telling her to wait until the ghosts came, but Victoria was getting so bored that she almost left until:

“Do not go, I have to put on a show!” An elderly man’s voice wisped.

Both of them stopped. They had heard a disembodied man’s voice, which could only mean one thing…there was a ghost!

A ghost. We’ve got to stay and listen, so that we can meet him! Veronica thought with a smile, glad to have been able to meet a real-life ghost in her lifetime.

“Watch and learn!” The man’s voice cried out.

Red and black smoke billowed in front of them, just like the swirls of peppermint. The scent of cotton candy twirled in the mixture and when the smoke disappeared, there stood an old man in a red velvet tailcoat and black top hat, smiling just like any ol’ fashioned ringmaster would.

“Welcome, visitors! It is I, Hunter, the ringmaster of Nightmare Hill, ready to give you the performance of a lifetime!” Hunter grinned, his brown eyes alight like fireworks.

Right in front of them was a ghost, in completely physical form, not just spectral flecks of air, but completely visible, speaking to them just like any other person. It wasn’t a dream, it was reality.

It felt too good to be true, so Veronica wouldn’t waste that moment.

“I’ve never heard of you.” Victoria said.

Veronica would have turned around and glared at Victoria if it weren’t for the fact that she was waiting for Hunter’s reaction, hoping that he wouldn’t be too offended by her words. What did it matter if Hunter was heard of in the legends or not? Maybe he bought the circus after Leona or was close with her. The point was that they were talking to a real life ghost and Victoria couldn’t mess it up!

“That’s why I’m here to give you such a fun day that you’ll think of for ages. What are your names? It’s been awhile since I’ve had any visitors.” Hunter beamed.

He didn’t care? He wasn’t upset? He wanted to get to know them better? He could just brush it off of his shoulders as though it meant nothing to him?

Veronica and Victoria exchanged looks of triumphant joy before looking back at Hunter, the annoyance Veronica briefly felt for Victoria dissipating once she knew that Hunter wasn’t mad at them, that Hunter only wanted to show them more of the rickety circus.

They both turned around to face Hunter and then, Veronica introduced them, for Victoria’s words died a little within her when in the presence of a ghost:

“I’m Veronica, and this is my sister, Victoria. We’re looking for ghosts, do you have anything that you want to tell us?”

“Certainly! Just come along and I’ll tell you everything!” Hunter grinned, gesturing for them to follow him.

The girls didn’t have to be asked twice. The both of them followed Hunter closely, holding onto the gleeful suspense of all the wonderful, strange things that would be told to them. Veronica didn’t mind the gray smoke that was floating above the ground. In fact, she found it quite charming, how it brought such a beautiful, dreamy, hazy quality to the circus. Besides, it could have been other ghosts in the form of smoke. Not all ghosts took on a completely solid appearance. Veronica wouldn’t judge.

After a few minutes, Hunter led them to a circus tent and…

“Behold! My very own circus freaks!” He beamed, extending his arms out as though he were going to engulf every living creature he saw. His firework eyes were dancing with a ferocity that made it look like they were cracking, his lips were lining white, uncannily symmetrical teeth, but what Veronica was most terrified of wasn’t his appearance, but at the fact that the “circus freaks” weren’t ghosts.

There was a little boy in a suit who looked as though he were made of shiny, smooth porcelain, a little girl in a blue cloak with both of her eyes closed as though she were trying to pry deep inside herself for an answer to an ugly, awful truth that she may not have wanted to hear, another little girl, except her skin was sclera-white, just like Veronica’s, a green-gray scaled woman with leathery, expansive wings protruding from her back had fire pooling out of her mouth, and a gray-skinned woman in a delicate, dainty long-sleeved pink shirt with spider legs desperately clawing at the space around her.

All of the creatures were trapped in cages, the dragon woman and spider woman trying their best to escape, the children caught in the current of fear, and the peppermint-colored, cotton-candy scented smoke clouds were rapidly spreading all around them, covering every inch of their vision, blocking out any exit…

“I could always go for new additions!” Hunter’s voice hissed with glee.

When the smoke cleared, they were both in iron cages, just like everyone else, just like the unlucky protagonists in a horror movie.

“If you have a penchant for the paranormal, then you’ll love being vampires! With just my magic, I turned you both into vampires, and now, you’ll stay with me forever! ENJOYYYY!” Hunter beamed before disappearing in a puff of smoke that was more of a bruise-red color than before.

His words sounded insane, but Veronica could feel two of her front teeth poking into her tongue, the bits of blood droplets tasting just as good as a bag of salt-dusted chips.

Just like that, the both of them had turned into vampires, all because they wanted to follow the seemingly-always smiling Hunter in an isolated carnival, all because they wanted to talk to a ghost. Why did Veronica ever believe that the man was merely jovial and not demented? Why did she see the ghost (or whatever he was, she wasn’t quite certain if he was a ghost anymore with the magic he did) as a person? Why didn’t she see him as a sick weirdo like every other person in a horror movie would?

Why did she want to believe that she and Victoria could get some unique understanding of the supernatural?

“Do you think that we could ever escape out of here? Even if we find a way out, should we escape?” Victoria asked, breaking Veronica out of her thoughts.

Veronica turned towards Victoria, wanting to look at her directly when she gave her answer, but Victoria was looking in front of her, at the rest of the circus tent. If there was one thing she was glad about, it was that she got to be in a cage with Victoria, that she’d be able to watch over Victoria in the cage. Sure, they were twins, but Veronica was the older one, and Victoria would always be the “baby sister” to her.

“When we get out, we’ll go back home. We’ll keep this vampirism a secret. Okay?” Veronica promised, a small smile on her face.

She hoped that Victoria could hear the positive energy in her voice, because Veronica certainly couldn’t feel it.

To promise that they’d escape and figure it all out was implying that they would both be okay, that it would be another one of their “spooky ghost adventures” together, but that moment was more than that. They were forever changed into creatures that hurt people to live just because someone thought it would be funny, because they both dared to venture into a place no one else did.

How would Veronica be okay with that? How would she be okay with the fact that they both could have stayed human if they never went to Nightmare Hill? It was her idea to go to Nightmare Hill, all because of some horror stories she heard. All because she wanted to find ghosts with Victoria.

No matter. The both of them were vampires, there was no changing that. They just had to find a way out of the cages and maybe free the others if it was possible.

They might not have ever been able to tell people that they were vampires, but they were still sisters. They could still help each other out.

Veronica would try her best to make good on her promise.