All of the noise around me ceased and all of the world around me vanished. My eyes could only see the horrific scene that was unravelling before me. My senses screamed at me to turn and run. But I was glued to the two figures with a morbid fascination. They were only partly visible from where I stood hidden behind what looked like a disused rollercoaster car, but I could clearly hear the sound of their struggle. I heard her try to cry out but her cries were muffled by her attacker. Moments later I saw a small gleam of silver reflecting off something in one of their hands. How was this happening?

A number of days earlier my nephew Jake had arrived at my house ranting and raving about a carnival that coming weekend.
"And it's only there for one weekend! And there'll be rides and clowns and shows and sweets and…!" he would say to me as he jumped up and down impatiently. "Please can we go? Please, please, please!?"
Of course I said yes. It would have been cruel of me to say otherwise.
If only I had known then that it would have been kind of me to say otherwise.
Several days later I was standing amongst a busy swarm – children, adults; people of all ages had come to the carnival. My best friend Samantha had come along with my nephew and I to keep me company, because there is only so much attention one person can give to an over-excited eight year old.
Jake adored the carnival. He dragged Sam and me on every ride he was tall enough to go on, and tried to trick us into allowing him to go on the ones he was not. We stayed into the late afternoon and as the sun set the fairground truly came alive. Each of us were enchanted by the dazzling lights which covered every attraction like a sparkling blanket of glitter. I often caught a glimpse of Jake and Sam's faces, grinning with their eyes wide as the lights danced across their faces. I had felt at that moment that nothing could spoil this perfect day.
After another few rides Samantha and I had to almost haul Jake into the cafe for some dinner, but he stopped his complaining as soon as we set foot in the door and saw that his best friend Joe and his family were dining in there too. He rushed over to sit at their table, throwing himself into a conversation, while Sam and I sat at the table next to them and we too lost ourselves in conversation and gossip.
Halfway through our meals, Sam received a message on her phone and our chatting abruptly ended; prompting me to ask who it was from. Of course I should have already known her reply – it was another guy. After going through the routine of trying to withdraw information about him from her, she finally broke into my questioning excitedly telling me that he was at the carnival. And, of course, she wanted to go and meet up with him.
Minutes later I was sitting alone at the table, mindlessly picking at my chocolate cake after giving up on trying to drag Jake's attention away from his friend. I had not argued with Sam when she had said she wanted to go. It was hardly an unusual occurrence. I did however feel slightly hurt by her sudden departure. She had given me the impression that she was, as I was, having a great day. I was certain when I had seen her looking so happy earlier that day that there was nowhere she would rather be. Obviously I was wrong.
I grew tired of sitting alone, my annoyance with my friend growing as the minutes went by. I was unashamedly jealous that my life-long best friend would rather be spending time with someone else when she had already agreed to spend the day with Jake and me.
I had told Jake that he should wait with Joe and his family – who I had met on numerous occasions before – until I got back. He did not ask where I was going thankfully, so I was able to make a swift exit into the hustle and bustle of the carnival outside. I was not entirely sure what I was doing, trying to find where Samantha had gone, because I was normally not one to interfere. But my irritation with her was clearly great enough to make me break out of my usual mould.
The carnival was not very big but the sheer number of people made my task of trying to find Samantha almost impossible. I hurried around, watching out for anyone who looked remotely like her but after repeating this process twice I stopped, giving up in frustration.
It was then that I saw two people – a man and a strangely familiar-looking girl – walking behind one of the stalls. It was Sam. I was certain.
Without thinking I followed them and they unknowingly led me to a quiet part of the carnival ground, where unused equipment and rides were stored. The sounds and music of the nearby fairground had faded to a point where only the loudest screams from rollercoaster-riders could be heard, and in the dim light cast by the nearby attractions I saw that Samantha and the man had stopped and were now talking in a hushed tone. I hid out of sight behind a disused rollercoaster car and strained my ears to try and eavesdrop. Their voices rapidly changed from whispers to angry shouting, and my curiosity at their argument dared me to take a peek at the scene unfolding, the scene I wish I had never witnessed.
Their argument had deteriorated into a violent scuffle, the shadows and the surrounding silence engulfing every sound and detail. I could hardly see what was happening but cold fear had frozen my lips together and my body to the spot on which I stood. I urged myself to run. I urged myself to scream. But my legs did not move. My lips did not part.
I heard her muffled cries, before the small gleam of silver caught my eye and broke me out of the petrified state I was in. A desperate sob tore my lips apart as I threw myself out of my hiding place but, as I was hurtling towards them, my tear-blurred eyes had noticed that the silver gleam had disappeared. A figure slumped to the floor with a groan and I fell to my knees crying in denial.
Raising my head, I blinked into the eyes that met my gaze.
I did not know why they had done what they had. Was it self defence? Was it something I could not dare to imagine?
I stared into the familiar eyes of my best friend. Samantha. A killer.