Jack Kempton's Story

The cool morning air was refreshing, carrying the gentle scents of a recent rain. Small mud puddles dotted the country road, but the increasing heat of the day made it clear that the mud would be gone by the afternoon. As the sun rose, each color seemed to grow more vivid, the morning dew twinkling in the light. A small, feminine figure briskly trotted down the road at a pace that could barely be called a walk, giving each puddle a overly wide berth. Slowly, the road became more crowded as the woman approached a small town. Her pace slowed as she quietly took in the surroundings. The town was small, with a few buildings lining a main street, a train station, and post office, and a factory. A dilapidated sign near the factory read, "Temperance, Illinois" in faded white letters. A half dozen houses branched off of the main street, with about thirty or so more scattered about the countryside.

Evie became more nervous as she neared the train station. Her fingers were drawn to her pocket once more as she felt the money for the train ticket and the circus fare. She had been saving as much money as she could for more than a year, and she kept feeling uncertain that she would have enough, though she had carefully counted it several times. Arriving at the train station, which was just a small two-room building with a platform for boarding, she shyly peered through the crowd already gathering for the next train. In reality, there were only about seven or eight people, but it seemed rather packed to Evie. She hurried over to the counter, hesitating a moment before asking for a two-way ticket to Hallowbrook. A blush colored her face as she handed the man behind the counter some money, and she watched with apprehension as he counted it. Without a second glance, the man handed her a ticket and told her the train would arrive in about twenty minutes.

Evie went out to the platform and sat on one of the wooden benches, watching nervously for their arrival. It was their idea to go to the circus after all. Even though Evie had always wanted to go to a circus, it took a lot of convincing to get her to come. She was still worried that her mother would drag her back home when she figured out Evie had left with her chores undone. She hated not doing them, but she couldn't go to the circus if she had. Moments later, Jack showed up, to Evie's relief. However, he seemed to be having some trouble getting his ticket, and the police man came over. Though Evie presumed he was coming to help Jack, the policeman immediately began pushing him. Evie watched in horror as the man grabbed Jack by the collar, not only because of that, but also the glimpse she got of Jack's hand in the man's pocket. She carefully watched the policeman's face, hoping he wouldn't notice. The man let Jack go, and Evie scooted over to make room for Jack to sit. She waited for him to start the conversation, but responded with a gently scolding tone in her voice. "Now why did you have to go and do that? You're lucky that bull didn't notice your little caper. That gave me the heebie-jeebies, I thought you would get caught for sure!" There was genuine concern in her eyes as she spoke, but there was also a weariness that said they had this conversation many times before.

Evie became concerned when she caught sight of the train before Avalin had arrived. Hopefully she wouldn't come too late. The train arrived in the station, and after a few moments the final boarding call sounded. Finally, Avalin arrived and hastily boarded the train and joined them, and they took the last few open seats on the car. Evie smiled at her two friends, finally beginning to relax when the train ground into motion. Evie had only been on a train a few times before, but she enjoyed it. Though the trio talked for a while, Evie soon dropped off, content just to listen and comment every once in a while.

Soon, however, her thoughts turned to her mother and her home once again. She dreaded returning after a day of neglecting her chores. Everyone would be cranky and her mother would probably berate and beat her. Her thoughts quickly turned from the depressing subject as she stared at the landscape quickly passing them by. She began to wonder what the circus would be like. What unimaginable wonders would await her there? Suddenly, a thought came to her. What if she just joined the circus? She wouldn't have to go home ever again, and she could see the world. Her cheeks began to flush with excitement as she imagined what adventures she could have. Then she began to wonder what exactly she could do at a circus. She had almost no sense of balance, so she could not be a tightrope walker or a uni-cyclist. She was not nearly flexible enough to be a contortionist. The idea of swallowing swords made her feel queasy. Joining the circus was beginning to sound less and less practical.

Finally, they arrived at their destination. Since the circus was set up just outside the town, it only took a short walk before they arrived. Evie smiled at her friends as she bought the admission ticket and hurried in. Taking a couple steps toward the main tent, she immediately tripped and fell to her knees, feeling somebody stumble over her and walk past with a murmured curse. She yelled an apology to the man's retreating form before standing and brushing her dress off. She gave an embarrassed nod to Jack, who helped her brush off the dust. Mostly unfazed, she motioned to her friends and continued on, pausing a moment to watch a man who seemed to be flying on a piece of wood. Excitedly, she realized that this circus, the Torture Circus, also had mutants! This just could not get better. She made some comments on these things, but as she came closer to the tent, the name began to bother her. Why the Torture Circus?

Another fresh coat of mud clung to Jack's shoes with each puddle that he trudged through. He sniffled in vain to clear his stuffy nose and yawned. A result of staying up most of the night trying to 'scrounge' up enough money for the train ticket, circus, and...a pair of new shoes, or risk getting an ear full from his mother when he gets back home. Then again he wouldn't have to worry about that for a good few hours. Where he was heading would be the closest thing to a real retreat from familial issues and that was something that a teen like him needed. He looked at his now fairly ruined shoes as he walked towards the train station. He didn't really like this pair anyways. They always squished his feet a few hours into wearing them. In a way the moisture from the mud was doing him a favor by granting more give in the materials that they were made from.

He pulled his hat from his head and scratches at the annoying itch that nagged at his scalp. His locks of dreaded hair fell over his face and neck like an old mop that fell onto his head. If he didn't decide at the last minute that he wasn't going to use his savings to pay for the day's trip he wouldn't have wasted so much time caught up in thought when he could have let the top of his head breath for more than a few minutes before he would have to stuff his hair back into his hat. Sure he could just let it down today, then again he didn't like being stared at. Not when he still wasn't exactly sure that he had enough money for everything. It was just another thing that he could avoid worrying about. Having to endure a sweaty head for a while bothered him none compared to unwanted attention. He naturally attracted it enough as it was already. Sometimes it was to his advantage. Right now, having a pocket full of waded up money wasn't something that he wanted discovered.

Getting the train ticket was easy. Only pulling enough money to pay for it without several others falling out onto the floor. The man behind the counter looks down he disappears underneath the counter to pick up the crumpled up bills. He shoots a look at a passing officer. There was no real need for security. Not consistently anyways since there wasn't much trouble that could be caused there. Occasionally police still made their rounds since the station was still part of the city. The officer practically shoved Jack before he could stand up completely. He was quick to jump back up, refraining from pushing back once he saw who it was. The officer grabbed onto the collar of Jack's shirt and stared him down. Jack waited a few moments before breaking the silence. "...can, I get my ticket?"

The officer smiles, reaches down and picks up the cash Jack didn't have time to recover. "This is quite a bit for a boy like you to have." Jack slips from the cop's grip and fixes his shirt.

"I've been saving up all year sir...the circus is in town." Jack doesn't break his eyes away when he sets his hand palm up on the counter. "I just want to get my ticket. Its already paid for." The officer allows Jack to take the train ticket but pockets the money and returns to duty.

He lost a chunk of his money, but he managed to get his ticket as well as the cop's wallet which he pocketed when he was grabbed. There were too many people looking so he would have to behave himself and keep his hands in his pockets for a while.

Giving Evie a tight-lipped smile he sat down next to her when she scooted over. She most likely didn't notice him grabbing the wallet but it was only a guess. "I guess it could have been worse. I think there's still enough to get through the day." He wasn't all that committed to his words. Couldn't quite stop worrying about his parents back at the brewery. He just hoped that he would never come home to police raiding and arresting them. His attention is brought back when the train and Avalin arrives.

The trip felt like a blur by the time they had reached the circus. By the time he bought his ticket and walked in he noticed that Evie had tripped and fell. Jack rushed over to help her up but not before bumping shoulders with the person who tripped over her. It didn't matter if Evie was at fault or the fact that the other person wasn't watching where they were going. Jack helped Evie brush herself off with his hat before replacing his hat. He heard her mentioning something about someone being in the air. When he looked up however he didn't see anything. He hoped that the day would pick up. He noticed that she was looking at the sign.

“Did you remember to wash the dishes?” A rather flat voice called out harshly to the girl who stood kneeling on the floor, rubbing voraciously at it. “Yes, ma.” She replied with stretched patience. “Well, don’t forget to do the cabinets and pantry. I’m expecting it done within the next hour.” It was still spoken in the harsh, uncaring tone. However, at the mention of time, Avon’s head suddenly shot up. She smacked her forehead, a very surprised expression on her face. “Oh no, I completely forgot! How could I possibly forget that the train- I gotta go, ma!” The child babbled on, quickly dropping what she was holding and dusting off her trousers, zooming past the room where her mother was seated. “What!? You’re not going anywhere until you get those chores-“ The girl quickly cut her off. “Bye mother, I gotta go or I’ll completely miss my chance! I’ll do them later, plus more, promise!” The woman couldn’t respond or get up to grab her child’s arm in time before she darted out of the door. A very furious expression alighted on her strained face.

Avalin let out a loud sigh of relief, letting her frustrations out into the air. She let her hands spread out into the air suddenly, and she almost smacked someone straight in the face. She turned to them, smiling in a rather silly manner, showing her apologies. The person merely shook their head after looking her up and down. “Oh, train! Gotta go, focus Avalin, focus.” Her feet pounded against the ground as she ran in a full sprint to the train station. The girl burst through the door, surprising those who were seated around the office. “Ah, good! My train’s still here.” Her eyes flashed across the board over the man’s head, and she trotted up to him, a huge grin on her face. She rummaged around in her pockets before producing some money. But there was one problem- she had left quite a sum of it back at home. Lynn’s whole countenance fell, and her face paled. “Noooo! I swear I had the money, Mr. Kinley!” Her head drooped in her downcast, but the man merely chuckled, patting the counter. “That’s rather fine, it’s on me. You did help me out the other week.” A huge grin of relief was on the gal’s face as she clapped her hands together. “Attaboy, Mr. Kinley, who woulda’ thought it that you were so generous!”

Avalin clutched her train ticket, running out of the building and down the pavement to where the train was positioned. Her entire focus was on getting to the man who stood right outside, announcing the last call for boarding. She thrust the object out at him, and he chuckled, taking the paper and motioning for her to get on the train. Renu obliged gratefully, and took hold of the railing, propelling herself up and hopping the stairs. Her keen eyes scanned the carts as she searched for her friends. After spotting them, she strode over to them, plopping down into the seat with a huge, “Whooh, what a hassle!” She panted, bringing her feet up onto the seat and retying her boots. “Can you believe it, Mr. Kinley paid for most of my ticket because of the reconnaissance quest I worked him last week! What a nice man.” She grinned pleasantly, dropping her feet back down onto the floor before bringing her hands up and waving them away in opposite directions. “I can imagine it now: the great heroine was assisted so grandly by a copacetic gentleman in her most dire of times!”

With another grin, she eased back into her chair, resting her hands behind her head as she grinned at Jack and Evie. “It’s good to have the trio back together again!” She patted her thighs excitedly. “I can’t wait to see the circus, it’s just ducky! So many new possibilities and ideas for the novel, guys! Can’t you just smell it!?” She fell into explaining some other things that had happened during the day, painting them much grander than they might ever be seen by any other soul.

Once the train halted to a stop, Renu was the first to hop to her feet- although almost lost her balance in the process. She grinned laughingly, rushing out of their car and down the steps to the ground. Her eyes drank in the scene before her, a huge grin of awe scrawled across her face. In doing so, she also waited for her friends to join her in the sights. She quickly departed with Jack to purchase a ticket- this money she had made absolute positive she had before hand- and then ran out excitedly to gaze around again. She heard Evie’s comment, rather oblivious of the girl’s tumble, and her mouth formed a huge ‘o’. ’This place has real mutants!? It’s that kind of circus!?’

“So what are we doing first??”

Before responding to Avalin's question, Evie hesitated a moment to consider what their options were and to see if Jack would say something. When no one spoke for a moment, she quietly suggested, "We could go look at the various games and booths first, and then, maybe..." She paused, cheeks flushing, looking up at both of her friend's faces before continuing, "And maybe then we can go see the mutants and the acts?" Jack and Avalin did not object, so they started off going around to the various booths, laughing and having fun. It was the most fun Evie had had in a long time. She was slowly beginning to lose her awkwardness and was able to laugh more easily. She only tripped a couple times, skinning one knee, but she paid it little attention. Something like that had no power to dampen her mood. Soon, the cheery group of friends was ready to enter the various tents.

They visited the main freak show tent, which had a pleasant looking exterior that was only slightly faded. Inside, however, it was much darker, and Evie had to wait a moment for her eyes to adjust to the candle lit 'room.' When she was able to see clearly, she saw that all the mutants were locked in cages. She immediately wondered if any of them were dangerous people, but when she saw their weary expressions, she wondered if the bars were there to protect the mutants. Whatever festive air was created by the lights strung across the walls was dampened for Evie by the ugly cages. Were they supposed to look like caged animals?

She winced when she heard a young kid crying by one of the cages. The man inside, who had some sort of wings, stood staring coldly at the girl. Evie let out a small gasp when she saw the father come and kick the cage, and she hoped that he would go no further. Thankfully, the man was satisfied with that, and he walked away, dragging the crying girl with him. Evie shyly came closer as the mutant sat down and spread his crooked wings. He closed his eyes as if shutting out the world. Though her eyes were automatically drawn to his odd, bird like legs and wings, there was also plain concern on her face for him. Avalin, however, seemed even more transfixed. After a few minutes the man had not looked up, and Evie figured it was time to move on. Avalin merely waved them on and stayed with the bird mutant.

First, Jack and she headed to a tent that was connected to the main tent. Apparently, this was a tent for water based mutants. One of the mutants was tossed a key, and he unlocked the chains and floated to the top before he was dragged out by a large man. Then his arms were restrained, but it seemed like the men holding him were holding him up more than restraining him. A plain look of discomfort crossed the man's features as he took a shaky breath. People began to murmur about how unnatural he was, and Evie nearly winced. Her ma always told her that people were people, no matter what they looked like. She also told Evie that everyone should make themselves useful, usually accompanied by a scolding for dilly-dallying when she should have been working.

Sorrow and concern were plain in Evie's eyes as she looked at Jack and motioned that she was ready to move on to the next tent. They went to a tent with many young children, each with some unusual feature. For the most part, they were either tired and hungry, or as interested in the spectators as the spectators were in them. Soon after, Evie heard music starting, heralding some performance. She quickly followed the sound, and found herself in a performance tent that was already filling fast. She and Jack found a seat, saving an extra seat in case Avalin decided to join them, and watched as the woman began dancing with two snakes. Evie was amazed that the woman was blindfolded, yet danced so gracefully. She was tall, and she resembled a snake not only in looks, but also in how she moved. Evie was transfixed, as though she had been charmed along with the snakes.

At Evie’s suggestion, Avalin jumped up into the air and clapped her hands together. “Sounds just ducky to me!” She grinned and linked her arms with her two friends, cheerfully walking around with them to marvel at all of the amazing sights and all of the fun games that they had. Of course, just like Avalin would, she made ridiculous narratives and comments that caused bubbles of laughter from herself- she knew it was all in good fun, and made the narratives to do so in the first place. She was rather impatient to go and see these mutants, but she didn’t let it show. She was more self disciplined than that. She could wait.

But then the glorious moment came, and she practically dragged her friends to the large blue and red tent that held the mutants. However, she did slow down when they hit the tent flap that served as an entrance. It was eerily dark, and a shiver ran down the girl’s spine, a huge grin plastered on her face. This would be such a great addition to her story, she just couldn’t believe it! They stepped in, and she too had to stand and wait for her eyes to acclimate to the new dimness. But once they did, her eyes immediately jumped to the cages, and a sense of wonder stole her countenance- and boy did it run with it. She immediately gravitated towards that first cage, feeling only the giddy excitement of what the cages did for the whole scene. It was just so mysterious and she was sucking it up! Her fingers softly enclosed around the bars of the cage as she looked at the mutant before her. He was just absolutely brilliant! So different and so beautiful because of it; just think, having someone like that in her novel was just so right and exciting! And these thoughts were plain on her face.

But then she realized just what was happening around her- all of a sudden it wasn’t just them. Avalin then realized just how the bird mutant felt and looked like- cold and distant, while those around her mumbled things like: “Freak; Hideous; That is just not right; What’s wrong with him; Who would want a freak like that, it’s ridiculous!” Snickers followed, there were a few children crying, acts of anger were portrayed, and a frown scribbled itself across Lynn’s features, her hands closed tighter around the bars. She was only brought out of her self fury when her friends wanted to move on to the next mutant. She just forced on a huge grin and shook her head. “Nah, that’s okay, I’ll catch up with you guys later. Go go, shoo shoo.” She waved them off, and then turned back to the man in the cage with her previous expressions.

This creature before her was just awe inspiring. Seriously, having wings was just something she couldn’t possibly even dare to imagine herself having. She could actually be free. Sure, his weren’t exactly pristine for such a task, but the desire and respect was still there! It made her angry that these people couldn’t see that. So the girl stood there, hands clutched on the bars and her head drooped as she shook ever so slightly. It seemed like they were treated terribly, and that wasn’t fair at all! This would definitely be going in her story. And she would enjoy writing it down. ’But what if he- they… were to-… No Ava, that’s silly, leave that thought alone. … But what if….’

Jack was strung along by the two girls, following wherever they went. He didn't mind it at all. There was just as much fun in watching their reactions and excitement as it was to see with his own two eyes. If not more so. Anything that they suggested he would simply smile and nod in approval. And if they stopped at an area that lasted a bit longer than he had liked he would find himself sizing up purses and the sized of the wallet-shaped bulges in unguarded pockets. It wasn't like he could turn off the part of him that always looked for money earning opportunities. The only saving grace was that he would be pulled away to another area before he could slink two fingers into an open pocket or purse.

He would wait until they were near a food stand so that once they realized that he had slipped away he was already back holding up candied apples. One of the few things that could possibly make him forget about bad habits. It was so rare for him to be able to find them that he would end up spending more than anyone should if they only remembered how bad of a stomach ache they would get if they ate that many. The first two that he had in one hand he offered to Evie and Ava leaving the third one all to himself. His mouth watered when he smelled the caramel and candy coated apple.

Before long they found themselves in a tent full of mutants put on display for people. What interested him more was how differently people reacted to them. He himself found it to be somewhat of a challenge for his own eyes to digest. It would have been a lie if he said that he didn't show interest in how odd or almost completely normal they looked. But there must have been a part of himself that was projected into them that really made it difficult to keep his gaze on them. Despite thinking to himself that maybe most if all of it was fake until he saw a pair of wings move and stretch without the use of wires or a bunch of chicken feathers glued together to make it look like the person was part bird. They moved too naturally, eerily real, and that unnerved him. He only briefly made eye contact Ezekiel. His eyes were just as emotionless as a birds. Jack turned his eyes away and at that point he wanted to leave the tent. It was strange that Ava wanted to stay behind to look at the bird boy but he wasn't going to object. There was no danger with separating from the group and she also knew where he and Evie were headed to next anyways.

He again let himself get pulled away to the next event where they found seats and waited for the show to start. Another mutant that he didn't notice before began to perform on stage. What was different from this one was not just how she looked but how she moved. It was rhythmic and entrancing. Her form almost just as serpentine as the snakes. Not only did she perform well, she did it blind-folded which added another level of tension. However something pulled him away from the act. It wasn't her lack of skill that pulled him out of the feeling of being entertained. The corners of her mouth hinted at something far withdrawn from the show. Enough that he didn't have to look at her eyes to see that she was just as unhappy about what she was doing as the others back in the tent were. 'How bad could it possibly be?' He somewhat answered his own question by immediately thinking back to the people and kids gawking at the ones behind the bars. To perform in front of large crowds blind folded with no real way of telling what those snakes would do next. It would be a recipe for disaster if someone did or threw something to startle those snakes.

After a final spin, Happy bowed slightly before skipping to the back, unable to get rid of the snakes fast enough. But she knew that her act was only half over. With hidden dread, she walked briskly to the other side of her 'stage', towards an even larger basket.

Even though the boa wasn't exactly poisonous, it was still quite dangerous. Happy had been lucky so far, but she knew it had killed people before. Other mutants, and some humans, who had the misfortune of startling the great snake, and being too far away from any sort of help when it happened. Despite its bulk it could move quite fast, and once it started coiling, it was very difficult to get out.

Before pulling it out, she stepped to the front, closest to the audience, and bowed. "Before next act," she said in her falsified broken English and exaggerated accent, "I ask you please remain complete silence." She could see the heat from the stagehand on the other side, arms reaching outwards. She imagined he was holding a sign saying the same thing. When the crowd had dimmed down to an acceptably hushed volume, Happy returned to the basket.

Carefully, she draped the giant reptile around her shoulders and about her waist. He was a heavy one, and a snake she had the least experience with because of that. It was only a few years ago when she was strong enough to even pick him up. The large snake had a low body temperature as well, making him difficult to see since all that heat had to spread out, and didn't always reach the ends, making the tail, and sometimes the head, invisible to her. She stepped a bit closer to the audience to get into the sunlight, hearing a collective gasp and feeling that large wave of heat move away from her.

Slowly, laboriously, but ever graceful, Happy danced with the giant snake. He was less a prop than a living costume, and it sidled along her body slowly. Happy tried not to flinch when she felt its tail wrap around her thigh. Even with the heavy constrictor, she still moved lightly, as if she and the snake weighed less than air. About the stage she'd prance, her face smiling, but internally entirely focused and serious, feeling and watching the snake's every movement with intense concentration.

Happy was nearly done with her dance when disaster struck. Somewhere, near the front of the audience, a little boy who had been hugging his balloon to his chest in the anticipation and slight boredom, accidentally squeezed too hard and popped the balloon. The loud noise startled everyone, including Happy. And including the snake.

Immediately, Happy tried to wriggle free from the knot she had put herself in, but the frightened snake wasn't having it. The coils immediately tightened around her slender frame, and she could feel the squeeze working the air out of her lungs as it continued to wrap her. She heard the sounds of a boy crying loudly and his parents trying to comfort him. It wasn't until she fell to the floor when the crowd finally realized something was wrong. And then they just got louder.

Happy had her hands pressed against one of the largest coils, protecting her neck. She was frightened, but forced herself to stay level-headed. The snake squeezed again, even tighter, causing her to cough loudly from the air forced out of her. She had no choice, and she didn't even know if it would work or not. Frantically, she sunk her teeth into the great snake.

She tasted blood--ugh, disgusting!--and continued biting. The snake must have felt pain, even through all that muscle, and began thrashing. Luckily for Happy, the thrashing--which could have been disastrous--loosened the coils just the slightest. Acting extremely fast, she grabbed the edges of the huge coil on either side and pulled herself out. Her tiny feet slipped out just as the snake returned to tightening, and she was free. Without further ado, she grabbed the enormous, bleeding snake, ran to the basket, and dumped him in before slamming the lid down. With a toss of her head, she regained her composure, walked steadily to the front and took a bow, smiling despite the angry, fearful emotions she felt inside.

Jack bit at one of his knuckles when he saw how huge the next snake was that the performer had pulled out to continue the show with. He had only seen small rat snakes that he had to find and catch in the fields so that he could put them in hard to reach areas to eat the vermin that he couldn't club on his own with a shovel or an old broken handle. Compared to all the other critters of the animal world he most likely hated snakes the least since they tended to help. They didn't eat his food, chew holes in the house, bark, squeak or make much noise in general which in his book made them more of an unofficial business partner than a full on friend.

All this aside his eyes were glued to the large snake. There was no way that something of that size would be considered harmless. The weight from that snake looked like it would be more than enough to snap the poor girl's back from how it was weighing her down let alone receiving a good squeeze from it. The more he thought about it the less he found himself enjoying the show and more concerned with the person performing in front of the crowd. And with the help of Murphy's law a little boy's balloon popped. It was so quiet up to that point that it made everyone in the audience jump, Jack and the snake included. He could see the sudden tightening flinch from the snake and Happy's immediate attempt to wiggle free from the scaly leviathan. This wasn't part of the act. The girl's forced smile was wavering. Anyone and everyone in the audience reacted to show that it didn't go unnoticed.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Evie dash down to the crying boy to comfort him. Before he could consider his next move he was already moving down through the crowd after her towards the front row. By then he figured that he could just keep going to try to free Happy from the snake's grasp since no one else was doing anything to help her. His attempt to aid her was cut short when a man in the audience didn't take a liking to having Evie accidentally knocking the popcorn right out of his hand. She was too quick for the man to nab but Jack happened to be close enough for him to grab. "Hey! Your dumb Dora spilled my popcorn!" Jack jerked his arm away from him; too intent to avoid getting side tracked with a fight from the angry man. The man didn't appreciate being ignored and gave Jack a good strong shove when he was about to continue his dash towards the stage.

Not anticipating the added momentum left Jack completely off center so instead of landing on his feet at the bottom row he tumbled to the ground hard. Luckily he didn't snag anyone on the way down. His head hit the floor, dazing him but the brunt of the force went to his left shoulder. He could have sworn that he heard a pop. He tried to get up as if nothing happened, just as quickly he found himself laid out on the ground again after realizing that he couldn't figure out what was up or down.

Ava just smiled cheerfully at him, making absolutely no move toward or away from him as he took the cigarette from her hand, almost touching her in the process. It looked like it was on purpose, but many people did that anyway, didn’t they? With an internal shrug, her thoughts quickly shifted elsewhere.
"Thank you." She looked up at him and nodded. “Sure.” The gal shifted a bit so she wasn’t so uncomfortable in her position, however she stayed on the ground. She liked it much better, not to mention it said volumes when considered in book form. "Just because I'm not allowed doesn't mean I hadn't managed." Lynn put her hands up in mock defense, “Of course, of course.”

"The big shots around here are just a bunch of saps." The girl leaned forward, her hand up to her mouth as she stifled a small laugh, instead letting out a half cough half snort in her so-so attempts at covering it up. “Boy, do I ever know how that goes.” She leaned to the side with one arm, pointing vaguely up in the air with the other.

However, she caught the suspicious gaze she flashed her, even if it was only for a small moment. Slight confusion scribbled itself on her features, but she just shook it off. However, she was not expecting his reaction to her comment on his wings at all. She definitely didn’t mean to make him feel uncomfortable about them, and the glare he shot her made her feel actually pretty bad. ‘I should watch my mouth more.’ Internally, she gave herself a half hearted smile, knowing that that wasn’t very likely. He did however look back at his wings before snapping back to her, something like irritation on his face.

Avalin’s whole demeanor fell, and her voice came out rather uneasily. “I’m s-“ However, she was soon cut off by the noises coming from the main tent- and it didn’t sound good at all. She had instinctively leaned forward to touch him when she attempted to make an apology, but was caught off guard by the unusual noises. Registration suddenly dawned in her eyes, and she realized that she had missed one of the acts. She was actually rather glad she had- it was worth it to talk to this mutant, in all honesty. Avon was actually not that fazed that she had missed it, because it sounded like something very wrong had gone down. “Oh horsefeathers, it should appear I’ve missed the entire first act!” She smacked her forehead and immediately rose from her previous position, quickly getting up and trotting to the flap of the tent. She paused and turned back to the mutant in the cage. “I’ve probably given you an earful… um… sorry! I guess I’ll see you around then.” She rubbed her left arm rather sheepishly before she heard another collective gasp from the crowd in the other tent. That was a Jack-did-something-stupid-again kind of gasp, and she really should see what was going on. She dropped her hands and quietly grinned, disappearing outside and into the main tent.

She quickly made her way up to the stands, seeing Evie quite clearly among the crowd with her signature hat and motions. Plus the crying boy kind of attracted one’s attention. She hurried over to them, a confused look on her face. “Hey, what happened? What’d I miss?”

Evie heard some shouting and general fighting behind her, but ignored it for a moment. A skinny, secretive looking man, one of the stage hands, came up to her, gave her a watch, and told her to put it in her pocket and keep it hidden for a bit, before disappearing back into the crowd. She looked at it for a moment in confusion before stuffing it in her pocket just as the next act was announced. However, when she heard the thud of someone falling, she whirled, nearly falling herself, to see what was going on behind her. Seeing Jack on the floor, she gave a gasp, covering her mouth with her hands, before hurrying over to him. Tears were already streaming down her face when she crouched beside him, hurriedly and gently checking for injuries. She looked up into the crowd and saw the bright red, angry face of the man who had started the fight. Recalling his words earlier, she realized it was her fault. Because of her clumsiness and stupidity, Jack was hurt. The man who had pushed him merely grunted and turned away as if he had done nothing wrong, and Evie felt even worse.

She quickly dried her tears, not wanting to upset Jack, and helped him into a nearby seat when he was ready. "Are you alright, Jack. I am so sorry I got you into that. You gonna be okay?" she gushed, almost hysterical. Just then, Ava walked up and asked what happened. Evie quickly explained that she knocked a guy's popcorn out of his hand and Jack got hurt because of her clumsiness. She heard the announcer mention a watch, and her thoughts briefly flashed to the one she held, but her mind was quickly filled with concern for Jack once more. She heard her name called, and she realized the watch was part of the act. So that is why a stage hand gave it to her! Quickly asking Avalin to look after Jack, she uncertainly walked up to the stage. She realized the woman was a mutant as well, and immediately wondered if she was happy here at the circus, or if she was just forced to act like the snake woman seemed to be.

Arriving at the steps, she walked up the steps, slowing as she realized everyone's attention was now on her. As she reached the top step, her foot caught under the step and she tripped, falling on her hands and knees. Embarrassed, she rose as the crowd roared with laughter. Her cheeks blushed a flaming red, and she brushed the dust off her skirt as she timidly walked over to the woman and stood beside her, head down, abashed by her awkwardness as well as the crowd's attention. Realizing she was up there because of the watch, she dug in her pocket, fished it out, and held it out for the woman, daring to look in her face for a moment. She expected to see either disapproval or mocking. That is how her mother would look after Evie had just embarrassed herself in front of a room full of strangers after all.

No one really took much interest with Jack on the ground. Aside from the few onlookers sitting at the front there was no one who bothered to help him. That is except for Evie who rushed to his side. The light wasn't that bright where they were at but he could still see the glint of tears in her eyes. Seeing her eyes water was more than enough to make him snap up to a seated position. His hat lay on the ground nearby and his dreads were a tussled mess; some of it covering his face till he used his arm to brush it back. There clearly was a look of pain in his eyes when he did so. "I'm okay I'm fine." He blurts before she even has a chance to say anything. He felt stupid for turning his back blindly to the angry man who pushed him. He felt like an ass for making Evie tear up due to his fall. He faked a smile in an attempt to keep her drying eyes clear.

Picking up his hat he moved with Evie to an empty seat. The only thing that hurt more than his shoulder and head was his pride. "It's fine. I'll just walk it off after the show. I'm okay, really." Evie was quick to fill Ava in on all the details. He knew Evie did it because she cared but it made him feel like he was living the embarrassingly painful incident all over again. He sure as hell hoped that no one would snicker about it or he was going to make up for not doing anything to the guy earlier with the next person who laughed.

His shoulder felt stiff and slightly numb until he tried to move it. Pain shot through his shoulder and up his neck. He wasn't sure if it was the pain that prevented him from being able to lift his arm or if there was something more to his injury. Instead of continuing the assessment of his injuries he decided to ignore them just so his friends would stop worrying. The sooner they forgot about the accident the better. He held his arm to his chest with his elbow on one of his raised knees. It made him hunch forward somewhat but it was better than holding his arm with a blatant 'I'm injured' stamp on his forehead. It took just about all of the fun out of the show. They barely started to enjoy themselves and here he was, injured and practically had them stop their day short. Maybe he was just being too hard on himself but he really wanted the girls to have fun.

Jack's self-brooding was cut short when Evie tripped on one of the steps to the stage. His eyes widened as he nearly leapt up to help her. Another pain shot through his shoulder when his muscles tensed forcing him to freeze in place. He felt rather helpless when he saw her all alone up there with the crowd using her mishap as an excuse to laugh at her. There wasn't much that he could do now but he made sure to memorize some of their faces so that they would have an unfortunate time paying for their next bag of popcorn when they find their wallets missing. He only needed one working arm in order for that to still happen. Jack tried to get Evie to focus her attention on him by waving with his good arm to her. He put an overly goofy smile on his face to try to get her to relax. If he could be fine after what he went through, surely she would be able to start smiling again after her little fumble.

Ava put her hands on her hips as Evie explained what had happened. She grinned largely and shook her head, clicking her tongue against her teeth. “Oh, Evie, you silly bird, you really need to learn how to be more graceful. Just think of it, it’ll be a great story addition, the guy tries to save the damsel in distress, and the villain ends up pushing him off a few rows of seats. It’ll be better once I write it, of course, but it’s still good stuff! Jack just needs to watch what he’s doing and try to stop harassing people.” She grinned, her tone teasing and not worried at all by what had happened. Her friends were pretty strongly built, and she knew they were both fine.

Ava plopped down into a vacant seat and placed her elbows on the armrests, her eyes intently focused on the stage as the next act came out. It was almost as if she had completely forgotten about her encounter with the mutant just moments before, but in all honesty, it was still a very present factor in her mind; her friends just didn’t need to know about it, not to mention now wasn’t a keen time. Lynn’s eyes trailed after Evie as she was called up to the stage, and then frowned slightly when she tripped. However, as she got back up, Avalin smiled brightly, “Attagirl, Evie.”

She was more than ready to see what the next act would do with her friend, however it seemed like there was a small amount of tension, especially considering those around her were still chuckling at the girl. However, she had a small amount of time to herself by the pause onstage, and Ava let her mind wander back to what had happened.

Relief plainly showed on Evie's face when the woman, Ester if she remembered correctly, took the watch with a kind smile. There wasn't even a hint of disapproval or mocking in her gaze. In fact, Evie even thought she saw concern in her eyes. In that moment, Evie felt closer to that woman than she ever had to any acquaintance she had just met before. She could not fathom why she felt that way exactly, but it seemed clear to her then.

The woman continued with her act, never mentioning or even hinting at Evie's earlier embarrassment. As Ester asked her to stay for something else, Evie noticed Jack trying to get her attention, waving his arm wildly. She tried to figure out if it was the arm he fell on or not, but she could not remember. She shyly waved back with a small smile on her face, which increased to a full giggle when Jack made faces at her. Loud enough for Ester to hear, she said, "That would be fine." She gave a little nod and waited expectantly. Turning to find her friends in the crowd again, she smiled at them. She was glad that she had received the watch, though the events that followed were not the best. It was better to be up here and a part of the act than it would be just to watch from the audience.

She wondered what the woman would do. It seemed, at least so far, that her act was mainly to do with psychic tricks. Perhaps she would read Evie's mind. Evie wondered how it would feel to have someone read her mind. Would she even want anyone to do that? It would seem odd for anyone to know her personal, private thoughts. Would she start thinking differently if she knew someone was reading her thoughts? Maybe reading minds was not even a part of Esters acts and Evie was just thinking through this for nothing.

Jack Kempton

Jack felt an odd sense of relief when Evie finished making her way back from the stage but her face didn't have that initial look of excitement that he saw earlier. Instead Evie had a mix of shock and concern on her face. She must have been given an answer that she didn't like."What did you ask her?" Jack wasn't particularly surprised. At the same time it hadn't occurred to him to really notice, let alone do anything about it. The thought of his parent's countless lectures about staying out of trouble was the first thing that crossed his mind. The second was the thought of how exciting it would be to get a chance to do exactly what his parents didn't want him to do.

After a while, the plan was set. He nicked the keys from one of the staff members who was paying more attention to the dames prancing around than his own belt. It was a little too easy. There were so many people and so much noise around that there was no real worry about the keys accidentally clinking together as he lifted them. Part of the plan didn't include any food breaks. Jack made it a point to get something for himself and the others before too much time passed. This time he got corn on the cob. A sugar rush would have kept them going sure though a full day eating nothing but sugar made his stomach churn.

Sneaking through the secluded area of the circus made his heart race. He didn't even want to think what would happen if they were caught. There weren't many obstacles ahead of them and there were plenty of places for them to duck behind to avoid detection. This was the first time that all three of them did something this crazy. What a bad idea this was. It was far too important for Evie to allow Jack to back out. Certainly not now.

As they looked through the trailers and cages Jack found himself looking around like he was looking for someone in particular. Not for Ester like Evie was but for someone else. 'Where is she?' He thought. The girl with the snakes. His shoulder still ached from taking that fall when he thought that she was going to get strangled by that giant serpent. Having seen her with the spotlight on made it difficult to imagine what she would look like in such low light. "Evie, we can't stay very long." He whispered. As badly as he wanted to see that girl again he didn't want to stand around and get spotted. There was another problem. The keys were placed on a welded ring so that they couldn't be divided up. If they were going to open up a cage it would have to be done one at a time.

Ava’s attention flickered back into focus as the act actually began, and strained to hear their words. She caught a lot of it, but still missed quite a bit. She did wonder what question Evie had asked, but shrugged and figured she might be able to ask her later- if she remembered.

The act ended abruptly after the answer, and Ava looked expectantly to Evie as she returned to her seat. Jack leaned forward slightly to ask the same question she had been thinking about, and Lynn put her feet on the boy’s lap, disregarding any strange looks that might have been shot towards her unusual position in her chair. An uneasy look spread across her face as Evie began to explain what her question had been, and Avon’s arms crossed. It had been rather obvious with Ezekiel, but she didn’t entirely realize it was the same for all of the mutants.

The trio departed rather quickly from the show tent to sit sort of away from the masses, and Evie revealed her plans for setting some of the mutants free. Ava immediately jumped in, a huge grin on her face. When she said they’d find Ester, Ava protested rather fiercely. She was definitely set on helping Ezekiel out- besides, they hardly needed three people to set one mutant free. It’d be only better this way.

While they had time to wait for the night to fall, Ava went to see a few of the other mutants in different tents, she was also inspecting the cages and tanks and such but it never showed. Eventually she got bored and started wandering around aimlessly to look at things, until nightfall finally hit.

The gal returned to her friends and sat on a nearby crate as they went over their plans again. Jack had already swiped some keys from one of the guards, and Ava’s gaze ran over it intently. However, discontent soon struck her features, and a frown etched itself onto her lips. “Well that’s just copacetic.” Her tone was dry and sarcastic as she referred to the keys being welded onto the dang loop. It probably wasn’t all of the cages anyway. With a small frown, she rose from her seated position and wandered over to Jack and slipped one of his lock picks from a pocket and brought it up so he could easily see it- although he probably had already felt it. “I’ll borrow this and see if I can crack one of the cages while you guys are off trying to free that other mutant.”

She grinned brightly, a gleam to her eyes as she split off from the group to go search out Ezekiel. She decided that the first place to look was where she had seen him last- the display tent. She made sure that she wasn’t spotted by any passing guards as she slipped through the night towards the tent.

As Lynn pushed the flap of the tent gingerly aside, she quietly edged her way in and then came to a small stop to wait for her eyes to adjust to the darkness. Once acclimated, she snuck towards Ezekiel’s cage. Almost by her second step she had been hit by the smell of cigarette smoke. She grinned, rather relieved that she didn’t have to go about the circus grounds looking for him. Adrenaline was coursing through her as she approached the cage and stopped at the door.

Avon immediately set to work on the lock, fitting the pick in and beginning to jiggle it around and listen to the tumblers. Her gaze flickered over to his form to see if he had bothered to look up and see what the commotion was with the lock.

"And now, prepare yourselves for this next exotic beauty! All the way from the distant lands of the Far East, this Asian snake will charm you with her secret ways! Behold, the mysterious dragon lady!"

That was her cue.

Happy slid out, feeling the hot light from the spotlight on her. There was applause, shaken with hushed whispers. Some cat-calling. Happy had to stop from rolling her eyes behind her shut lids. Not like anyone could see through her blindfold.

The band started playing, some cheesy Oriental music, and Happy danced. She knew after her introductory dance, a prop would come to play. She hoped for the pole. The ropes could get too disorienting, suspended in the middle of the air. Especially on this night, with the snake. She really needed a pole.

Mr. Torture must have been feeling a touch bit merciful, because she saw the cold line that was the pole, dragged in by two hot bodies. Happy allowed herself to smile, and she pulled the veil off her face, still blindfolded, but revealing her face. She heard some gasps as her facial scales and pits were seen, for the first time for many. She saw a few leave, their heat exiting the tent. She could have sworn she heard the words "unnatural" and "damned chink", but maybe she was just imagining things with the music. It wasn't like it mattered. She had heard all the slurs and more.

She wrapped her ankle around the cold metal and gripped the pole with a hand. She pushed off with her other foot, grabbed higher, and was now off the ground. Still, she felt more comfortable this way. With the harsh spotlight on her, she could easily see the pole. The fact that it wasn't trying to bite her helped a lot. She swung around the pole before splaying out sideways, only her legs hugging the metal. She let loose her top, displaying a skimpy negligee underneath. As she turned her back to the audience, she heard some cries and more gasps. No doubt they had caught sight of her spinal scales.

Suddenly, Happy spotted more movement. Her stomach dropped at the recognition, and she slid down the pole a little less gracefully than normal. They were bringing out the ropes? But it was only a prop per night! What was Mr. Torture doing??

The announcer explained: "Many of you might recognize this young dame as the snake charmer from earlier. As apology for the mishap that happened, she has graciously decided to reward all of you to a second display. Watch as she tames these ropes as if they were living snakes themselves!"

For a moment, Happy considered leaving the stage. She had done her bid. She could keep pole dancing all night long. But not this. Not now.

But she knew, reluctantly, as she stepped towards the ropes, that she couldn't do that. Mr. Torture would have her head. She'd be punished, like the others. She couldn't let that happen. She was too proud for punishment. She was too proud for this too, but what could she do? Her hesitance must have been evident, because a shout came from the audience to hurry it up already. Oh, she would have told him off if she could! Bite into his neck. Bite into Mr. Torture's neck. Watch their hot blood escape their body as they turned from bright yellow to blue.

Happy was empty as she performed on the ropes. Empty. The only thoughts she had were those of strangling Mr. Torture, if she didn't end up strangling herself. She continued stripping until she was only in the negligee, and hung upside down, suspended from her ankles, for the finale. As the applause broke through, she righted herself, sitting patiently on the ropes until they lowered. There were some shouts calling for her to take the top off, even with the supposed horror of her scales. One man was standing. Typically, Happy would oblige, but tonight, with the ropes and humiliation, she didn't. This would be her protest. After all, she wasn't required to strip entirely naked. She had walked away in just her negligee before. So she just ignored the shouts, waving and smiling and waiting for the ropes to lower.

But they never did.

This angered her. Did Mr. Torture want her to strip? Was this further punishment for the snake? Did she dare defy? She decided she would. This was the last straw. She continued sitting. She could sit here all day. He knew she could. Eventually the crowd grew unruly. They demanded a full strip. Why was she sitting there anyways? Who did she think she was? This was why the goddamned chinks needed to go back to where they belonged. It wasn't long before the tent was filled with jeers of Chink and Jap. But Happy kept her chin up and ignored it all, like a regal queen.

Finally, the ropes lowered, and Happy stepped off briskly, picked up her clothes, and walked off, the jeers attempting to follow her. As the announcer tried to quiet down the audience and announce the next guest, Happy was met by a large, intimidating blob of white heat.

"What was that?" Mr. Torture hissed.

"My act." Happy replied, not lowering her head, but not raising it upwards towards his face either.

"Your act is to do what the audience wants!"

"My act is to perform my routine, and indulge the audience when I feel necessary."

Suddenly, Happy felt her face being grabbed and pulled up, the harsh fingers squeezing her cheeks. Tears pricked in her eyes immediately from the sudden pain, combined with humiliation. The blindfold was ripped off, but she kept her eyes shut.

"I don't know who you think you are, but you're getting too tall for your britches. I own you, and without me you'd be nothing! Remember that the next time you're dangling ten feet in the air, or I might not be so gentle in lowering the ropes."

There was a pause, and Happy said nothing. But the grip on her face tightened again as her head was shaken. "Look at me!" the man demanded, his disgusting breath rolling around her nose.

Happy snapped her eyes open, as wide as she could, and glared at him. She couldn't see his face, but she knew the effect her eyes had. It wasn't long before her face was released, Mr. Torture spitting on the ground inches away from her. "Get away from me, Freak," he uttered, before stomping away back to the tent.

Happy didn't move for minutes, still caught up in the tension of her previous position. Finally she relaxed, and blinked. She quickly wiped the tears away, clutched her clothes closer to her and mustered as much dignity as she could before walking away from the performance tent. Treacherous thoughts crossed her mind. She couldn't stay here any longer. She had to leave. But how? Should she poison Mr. Torture? Kill him? Bite him? Strangle him? Feed him to the animals? The possibilities were endless and oh so entertaining...

As she neared her tent, though, she was surprised to sense active heat. Most of the others were sleeping, but there were two...no, three...bodies that were awake and moving. As one ran towards another tent, she realized they weren't even caged. Could they be escaped performers? Or perhaps customers sneaking in? As Happy neared, she recognized one of them as the girl who had been called up for Ester's show. She was near Ester's cage as well. What was she doing here? And so close to the mutants as well. A thought popped up in Happy's mind, but she shoved it out of the way. No need to get optimistic. There had been sympathetic customers before, but they rarely did much for them. If anything, they were just trying to get a closer look.

Typically, Happy would shoo them off, but revenge was still brewing in her mind, and she decided to take advantage of the situation. She halted, about yard or so behind the humans, and cleared her throat. "Might I help you with something?" she asked with a smile.

Jack Kempton


Jack almost smacked himself when Ava took the lock picking tools from his pocket. He was so intent with focusing on the keys since they were much easier and faster to simply lift them off of someone rather than mucking around with his tools. He didn't see Happy in any of the cages. Where was she? Is she still back at the performance tent? There couldn't have been any other shows going on at this hour, it didn't make any sense. He was tempted to leave the group and circle the grounds one more time. Still, even though he was much less likely to be detected while roughing it on his own he was liable to get caught.

Just when he was ready to throw his hands up in frustration he heard a voice. He froze. By the unpleasant sound to that voice, for a second he thought they were caught for sure. "There you are!" He spoke out. Not loud enough for him to be detected by any of the other workers but enough to show that his enthusiasm for seeing her was much more than he wanted to let on. "I-we've been looking all over for you. If you want to get out of here then I suggest that we get going. Like, now." He stopped for a few moments. "If there's anyone else you want to bring I can help you get them but we can't stay much longer...hang on a sec."

Jack turned back to the others who were close by. "The longer we stay here the more likely we're gonna get caught. How many have we been able to free so far?" After they answered he went back to Happy.

He offered her his hand. He felt silly for doing it but he didn't know how else to show that he wanted to treat her as an equal and as someone that she could hopefully trust even though she hardly knew him. "They're already using the keys but I have another way to pick the locks if there's anyone else you need to get."

So they were escaping.

Before Ester spoke, Happy had already made up her mind. This was the chance she had been waiting for. The reason why she put up with this awful awful place, and why she had never tried to run away before. It was a multiple getaway, and in the event that the worse happened, she would only have to outrun the others. Perhaps on another night, she would have dismissed it. Or even told Mr. Torture. But congenial was the last thing she wanted to be towards him, and this would be her revenge.

Just as she opened her mouth to agree, the male started talking. His words confused her a little. Looking all over for her? She had just arrived though...would the even have known where to find her? He began babbling, about leaving and if there was anyone else she wanted to bring.

What he did next was also surprising, though in the dark any surprise she might have shown was easily hidden. Perhaps she should put the blindfold back on. She felt a bit exposed without it.

She wondered whether to take the hand or not. The warm thing was offered to her, quite within reach, pulsing red, orange and yellow. She figured there was some underlying emotion he was hoping to affirm by doing this--after all, it wouldn't be the first time someone had been cordial to her in hopes of getting something from her later--but rejecting it wouldn't do anything good for her. Maybe she should act flattered? It was clear this guy had some sort of feeling towards her. He was the only one who seemed remotely interested in letting her escape. Ester only offered so that she herself wouldn't get in trouble, and the other girl was just following along. From what Happy gathered anyways. She smirked internally at Ester. They weren't that different in that respect.

Finally, the snake girl delicately took the boy's hand. Her own skin was cold, her fingers small and slender against his. With a soft smile, she went for the innocent act. "Thank you," she said, smiling as she spoke and putting on the accent just a tad bit thicker as she clutched her clothes to her, still only clad in the scanty performance suit. "I have not many friends here, so I can leave whenever."

Ester almost breathed a sigh of relief when Happy seemed to be on their side, but it got caught in her throat midway. In all honesty, she wasn't relieved. Not in the least. Now that this was finally happening, she finally had an actual chance to escape, she wasn't sure how she felt. There was no denying that she was living in a hellhole, but this hellhole was the only world that she knew. The sadness she felt lurking over her was created by this place, and she had begun to grow fond of that sadness. If she left, would it accompany here? She wasn't sure if she wanted it to or not.

When she realized she was still on the ground, Ester got up and stretched out a bit, clearing her thoughts as she did so. Evangaline mentioned helping others. She wanted to get them all out, to save every last one, but that wouldn't be possible. Even she knew when bravery crossed the line into stupidity. No, she would bring one other, and that was it. If at all possible she would follow her instincts, which told her to leave them all. Hightail it out of this rodeo as fast as possible. But she had to bring Mark. She would rather have him escape than herself, and she would not leave him here alone.

"Okay, if we're going to do this we need to move." Ester said, trying to seem as confident as possible. Her voice didn't crack, that was a start. "I doubt you came to the circus with the plan of performing a jailbreak, so you probably don't know what you're doing am I right?" She didn't wait for an answer, she could read their minds well enough to know. "I need to get Mark, but we can't risk staying here any longer than we have to. So we grab Mark and we go." She had planned an escape many times and by now had the plan down to a T.

She looked at Happy to make sure she was fine with the plan and saw a boy next to her that she hadn't even seen approach. Huh, he must be quiet. Either that or Ester's hearing wasn't that amazing at the moment. Her heart was beating loud enough that she had to look around and make sure nobody else heard it. Adrenaline coursed through her that she knew would wear off soon, but it was thrilling for the time-being.

Evie noticed Ester hesitate a moment and wondered what was wrong. She realized from the look on Ester's face that she was concerned about something. Evie wondered what it could be and if she could help somehow, but Ester rose and stretched before Evie could figure out how to ask. Feeling somewhat nervous, she fingered her locket, absentmindedly playing with the clasp, as she warily looked around. It seemed they were okay for now. They needed to leave soon or they might---

"Okay, if we're going to do this we need to move."Ester said, as if reading her thoughts. "I doubt you came to the circus with the plan of performing a jailbreak, so you probably don't know what you're doing am I right?" This made Evie blush deeply, doubt quickly rising. But at the same time, she was certain that she was doing the right thing. Ester mentioned going to get someone named Mark, and Evie immediately nodded. "Of course. I don't... I mean, we haven't...." Her blush spread over her cheeks as she looked down nervously. "If you would... lead the way?" She said hesitantly. She was beginning to get uncomfortable under Ester's attention, and was quickly beginning to get nervous.

She waited until everyone was ready and then they set off. They had to stop once as one of the guards made his way lazily through the aisles. Just as they finally reached Mark, who was chained to a post and seemed to be sleeping deeply, Evie's foot caught on a tent peg stuck in the ground. She fell forward, arms flailing, and landed hard on the ground with a solid thump. She looked up and realized she was just inches from Mark's face.

She quickly sat up, blushing once more as she distractedly wiped the dirt from the front of her dress. She slowly reached out to touch his shoulder, giving a small shake to see if she could wake him. She realized he was resting face down on a rag of some sort and wondered if he was being drugged to sleep. She began trying to push him over onto his back, hoping he would be able to wake up if the rag was not on his face. If that did not work, perhaps Jack could carry him?

The sleeping form paid no attention to the group as it found him, even as the young woman tripped over a protruding post and fell but inches from his face. When she began to push him onto his back, the prone male moved easily enough, his body featherlight, as he was thin enough as it was, and between his fits and the way the mutations were kept in this place, he didn't get much to eat, and he worked most of it off one way or another. Once on his back, arms trapped under him, his chest began to contract and expand, quickly expelling all the sedative from his lungs. He moaned softly as he came to, the leg that was chained to the pole twisted awkwardly and a sensation of numbness permeating his body. One silver eye slid open, then the other, and his body convulsed slightly, muscles strained by the awkward position. Confused, the male began struggling, trying vainly to sit up.

When he'd decided that sitting up was not a viable options, thanks in part to the elevated, twisted state of his leg and because his arms were still tied behind his back, so he could not push himself up, he lay still, his head falling to one side, blinking away the fuzziness in his brain. As he did so, the first thing his eyes landed on was a girl. He flinched away in surprise, but recovered after the few seconds it took to reorient himself. "G'mornin', doll." He said cheerfully, his voice muted because it was so raw and thick. "Mind telling me where I am? I don't recall noddin' off here."

Another spasm claimed him for a moment and he had to grit his teeth through the pain of his muscles straining at his leg, trying to pull it away from the chain as his entire body seemed to curl into his core. He recovered quickly though, and as he looked up again he recognized Ester and Happy. "Lo' Ester, Lo' Happy!" He said smiling at the two. "This is just ducky, are we all here? What's going on?" The dizziness was quickly fading away, though he was still confused he'd quickly returned to his cheerful self, which was no surprise. He blinked after a second, however, realizing that it was extremely dark out. What? That...didn't make sense. This wasn't morning?

The confusion spread suddenly across his face, furrowing his brow and focusing his silver eyes on Esther in an unspoken question. It was nighttime. The girl before him was unfamiliar, and there was another lad in the group too who he didn't know. There were many things wrong with the situation, he hadn't been conscious at night in a very long time, but he knew that most everyone was locked up once the sun hit the horizon, so how were they out? That made no sense at all.

There was a more pressing matter, however, one that Mark couldn't know. Just how they would get him free now that he was conscious was a very curious notion, as he couldn't stand any of them being that close to him. Already he could feel the pressing horrors of the future in the back of his mind, soft, maddening whispers that would only set him off if anyone drew nearer. But there was one silent creature within the bunch, something that Mark had noticed earlier but did not recognize now. Evie made no sound, she emitted no signal for his brain to pick up, but he couldn't feel her empty space among the others when everyone was so close and he was so disoriented still.

Ester flinched a bit as Eva fell and could feel herself draw inside of herself when she flipped over Mark. She didn't notice the cloth and was sure he would wake up, throwing this girl into one of the tents. Before she could protest though, it was done. Mark woke up as slowly and calmly as he would have if had waken up by his own accord, which was rather strange to Ester. Normally he would freak out the moment he woke and saw some strange girl even near him. The fact that she had actually moved him should have sent him into ballistics, right?

That was about the time she noticed the rag, and her breathe was cut short, causing her to cover her mouth and hold in what seemed like a coughing fit that lasted a lifetime. One of the coughs had managed to escape through her hands and she hoped it wasn't enough to call attention over to their little posse. They chloroformed him? Was this only a one night thing or was it every night? Surely being drugged every night would damage a person. Her came to her a bit more shakily and she struggled to remain calm. Calm down. Calm down. Three seconds of weakness, then it's gone. One, Her breathes became more even. Two, Her mind began to clear. Three. Back to normal.

Ester could see the confusion on Mark's face and realized he probably wasn't putting all the pieces together. He had just woken up and the fact that it was night time would be odd to any of the people in their little mutated circus group. "Eva over here was nice enough to give us the spring. We're getting outta here Mark." Just like I promised we would. Ester wasn't sure she had ever said the promise aloud, or that Mark had ever known that was her intention even, but it was. Now it was happening.

That was about the time that Mark's thoughts protruded into her own. Mark was awake now, there was no way in hell any of them would be able to get close enough to free him. "You have got to be kidding me..." She was right here! Mark was right in front of her, Eva had the key, and they wouldn't make it out because they couldn't get close enough to Mark to let him free. Ester hit her head once. How could she have been so stupid? Absent-mindedly she begun pacing and as she did sent a little mental message to Mark. "Mark, there's no other way than to get close."

Evie was surprised at how light the man was. Though he was thin and lanky, it should have been much more difficult for her to flip a full grown man over when he was dead weight like that. It caught her off guard as he thumped harder onto his back than she would have liked. Ester noticeable tensed up, seeming like she was bracing herself for something. Was there something Evie had done wrong? Would this man, Mark, be alright when he woke.

She carefully looked over him as he began to stir, still kneeling just a few inches from his shoulder on the dusty ground. She grabbed the liquid-soaked cloth the man had been laying on, and, when she faintly smelled the undeniable scent of chloroform, she balled it up and threw it as far away from them as she could. Which, knowing Evie's luck, was not far at all as it caught a breeze and drifted most of the way back. She heard a shout somewhere among the tents and her heart began to race, but it quickly faded to faint laughter. They needed to get a wiggle on. This place was giving her the jitters.

Her attention returned to the man, and she realized he was quite the rag-a-muffin. His hair hung in long, dirty tangles, his clothing, not to mention his face, looked like he had not washed in ages. One eye slowly blinked open, followed by the other. She realized then that she had moved him to an even more awkward position, his leg twisted uncomfortably as he tried unsuccessfully to sit up for a moment. His eyes landed on her and he started. Perhaps she should have said something so he would not have peen surprised.

The man quickly recovered his composure and said, "G'mornin', doll." His words were slurred and he still sounded very much drugged. "Mind telling me where I am? I don't recall noddin' off here."

Evie blushed slightly and stammered out, "Oh, well, I... I am not...." Before she could finish, the man convulsed slightly quickly noticing the others with Evie and greeting the two mutants. Thankfully, Ester explained and Evie did not have to. Her words sent a slight thrill down Evie's spine. "Eva over here was nice enough to give us the spring. We're getting outta here Mark." Evie smiled and nodded. Nothing could have convinced her that this was the wrong thing to do.

Seeing Ester's attention shift to the shackle that bound Mark to the post, Evie belatedly realized she was still grasping the ring of keys in her hand. Ester began worriedly pacing, and Evie realized they did not have the time to sit around and beat their gums. "Oh, right," she mumbled, somewhat embarrassed. She scooted over to Mark's ankle, looking through the keys until she found one that looked promising. "Just give me a sec and I'll get this right off," she said in a reassuring tone, leaning over his leg to get to the keyhole.
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An awed, open-mouthed smile broke on Mark's features at Ester's words and the nod from the other jane. They were leaving? Wow, that was brave! And he got to come along too. It was almost screwy! Where would they go. Hopefully somewhere . But with less people than this place had. He trusted Esther, so there was not a doubt in his mind that she wasn't feeding him a line, but then again he trusted most everyone so it was rather regular. But they were leaving! He didn't even realize that rationally he couldn't leave yet because he was still chained up tight to the post, he was just happy to go. Mostly because Ester looked happy, and if Ester looked happy it was a good thing. Mark had never really contemplated escaping, he'd have no where to go and his condition was too bad to be on his own anyway. He'd relegated himself to this place without a second thought.

The smile slid right off his face when two things happened nearly at the same time. A worried look crossed Ester's face, coupled with ominous words, and the girl came nearer. Mark flinched heavily as if he'd just been struck, and if his arms had been free they would have risen to cover his head. No, no, no, they couldn't come near him. he didn't want them there. The stress alone was enough to make his body convulse, but he didn't fall into the mindless throes of a seizure, he just curled up like a shelfish. "Don't hurt me." He cried out under his breath, unable to catch enough air into his lungs to make the words any louder.

She was still there though, leaning over his leg, and he struggled to get away, just in case the effects of her nearness were merely belated and would hit him at any second. The only thing he succeeded in doing was flip himself back over onto his face, nose digging into the dirt. The darkness of the ground was enough for him though, so he buried his face into the hard dirt as if it could protect him, body trembling violently.
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Evie was startled by Mark's panic, nearly falling back in her surprise, but instead she decided to hurry and get it over with. She had no intention of hurting him, so hopefully he would not panic any more than he just had. The poor man was trembling, as if she would beat him with the keys instead of setting him free. What kind of treatment had caused this reaction?

Without touching him, Evie deftly slid the key into the lock and turned it with a click. The shackle fell open, releasing the man's ankle as Evie let out a sigh and fell back onto her rear, looking around half scared that someone might have heard the clamor.
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The moment his foot hit the ground Mark made his best effort to escape, though nothing bad had happened yet. He managed to scoot himself a bit forward, rolling over onto his back again. His head spun as he managed to sit up after another bout of spasms abated. A dry sob caught in his throat, making him wheeze, and his silver eyes were wild as he stared at the girl, who'd fallen over onto her tail. He was still shaking violently as he tried to calm himself down. Nothing had happened. It was okay. He was okay. She was far enough away now that nothing bad could sneak up on him.

She hadn't known it would hurt him, that much was obvious by the look on her face, but Mark couldn't help but fear. What if she came nearer again? Though, nothing had happened. Which was strange. His fits had gotten worse over the years, he wasn't immune to any kind of nearness now, everyone set him twitching. The quiet voices were just so terrible. But...Mark racked his brains. He hadn't hear anything but the quiet murmurs of Happy, Ester, and the other fella, who were all far enough away that they didn't do more than agitate him a slight bit.

She was silent, he realized for the second time in twenty-four hours. A nearly silent laugh coughed from his lips, which were upturned again, though he was still quaking terribly. Wasn't that just the bee's knees? She was silent. Either that or he was going batty.

Mark moved to stand up, but his arms just tugged at the rope that bound his wrists behind him, making him grimace. Oh yeah, he'd forgotten about that. His wrists were actually beginning to throb from all the tugging he'd just put them through. He squirmed a bit before finding the strength in his legs to stand, trembling like a baby deer. He took an unsteady, tentative step towards the jane, an unsure look on his face.
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Evie still saw no one approaching, but she doubted their luck would hold for much longer. The terror on Mark's face made her heart hurt. She wanted to gather him in her arms and tell him it would be okay, like she did when one of her siblings had nightmares. This was neither the time or place, however, especially since she was the one who he was scared of at the moment.

For a moment, she thought there was a look of longing and disappointment on his features, but she thought it was probably just her imagination. He quickly began to look confused, then amused, as if he had not found something he expected and that pleased him. Evie had no clue what could be going through his mind, but at least he was not tied up and unconscious or scared stiff.

He tried to rise, hampered by his tied hands, before finally standing and taking a step towards her. She stood as well, looking at their little group a moment before saying, "Ummm, so...what's next?"

Jack Kempton



Although he couldn't see her features properly in the dark he found her to be exceptionally intriguing to his eyes. There was a grace to her that she portrayed without even having to move. He looked for her because she was weighing on his mind more than his sore arm. Maybe it was selfish of him to choose to help her due to him taking a fancy to her but he didn't seem to be the only one who sought out someone in particular. Of course they also made an effort to rescue others along with them.

Her fingers looked so delicate and her hand was so cold. And his hands were unusually warm partly due to the fact that his heart was pounding from the adrenaline as a result of his constant concern for getting caught the longer that they were there. With her skin so cool he might have actually felt hot to the touch. Her accent sounded not just foreign but somewhat unnatural as if she was forcing it more than she should have. He let it go. There were more important things to concern himself with.

He didn't have any extra clothing to offer her and she was barely wearing enough to keep her warm. The only thing he could do was keep her close to him when they re-united with the group. At least until he could find her something to better cover herself.

Her laughter came as a relief to him, at least he wasn't the only crazy one here. It didn't matter if she tried to deny it, they were both completely mad for this, absolutely loony, bonkers. For some odd reason though, and perhaps it was the lunacy or the adrenaline, but a tickling feeling was running up and down the inside of his stomach. Vaguely his mind was running through how he thought it was cute how she covered her mouth in her embarrassment and how she tilted her head with a smile, and mortified he tried to lock these observations away. It had to be the adrenaline, that's what made the most sense, it also must be what was making his face feel like hot coals.

Ezekiel found himself back in reality as soon as she moved off of him, the two of them sitting side-by-side in momentarily silence as their bodies processed that danger wasn't so imminent. Even if they were apart now the previous proximity still lingered, his skin still tingling from where her breath had landed, remembering each touch. He furrowed his brows as he stood, brushing the dirt off his cloths fastidiously despite not caring about getting dirty. Being incredibly hygienic was never a habit someone could really form in a travelling circus, no matter how well they were treated. Silently Ezekiel told himself that he could remember it all so clearly because of the rush, along with all those years that he went without close physical contact, being in a cage most of the time did that to people.

He found himself only nodding in response, stretching out his wings and wincing as his nerves delivered pain to his head. There were some spots that would need to be put into a splint, but it wasn't anything he couldn't manage for now. "Copacetic." His voice was quiet and his wings folded again, as if to demonstrate that he would be fine and that there was nothing for her to worry about. When they had a real shot of getting out of here alive he found himself hardly thinking about the pain at all, and it wasn't as if his wings were special to him, not to mention that he probably would have never been able to use them for flight in the first place. Rolling his shoulders Ezekiel stepped forward and onto the path, looking both ways before gesturing to where Mr.Torture had come from on that assumption that he wouldn't head back that way anytime soon.

Again was their world filled with nothing but the sound of their own footsteps. There was no time for his body to relax, everything felt tense as they walked through the circus, stopping to check pathways before advancing, avoiding brutes and guards alike. Every one of his muscles felt tight, wound up and ready to spring at the slightest noise or hint of danger, anything that would jeopardize his own freedom. Yet he still stood close to Avalin, keeping her in grabbing distance in case they needed to run. While she could most likely run faster then him (Thanks to having normal feet and all), she didn't know the layout of the circus. After all that she had done for him, leaving her behind was the last thing on his mind, and both of them would get out of this in one piece if he could help it.

It wasn't far now, and he would have kept on going if it wasn't for noise, voices, and he turned to Avalin with a perplexed countenance. What was with that racket? Even if it was hushed the noise was such a contrast to the stillness of the circus, and it obviously wasn't from anyone that they should be running from. His wings twitched as he recognized a couple of the voices and he changed his course, walking towards the sounds rather than away, thinking that if it was what he thought it was then there was nothing for him to worry about.

He wasn't wrong, but he wasn't quite right either. He saw Ester and Mark, as suspected, but there were two other people that he didn't recognize, and then another who he didn't expect to be there at all. "Well, aren't we a bunch of eggs?" He questioned, making their presence known among the others as he walked closer, specifically approaching Ester and Mark, who he was more comfortable with. For a few quick seconds he looked between the two that were foreign to him, and then glanced back to Avalin, his eyebrows raised. Maybe she hadn't come here alone after all? "Are they with you?" He whispered, hoping that it was true, because if they were her friends then at least he could trust them a little bit.

Ezekiel stopped beside Ester, and in his surprise he was unable to force himself to smile, only managing a nod. So this was a full blown operation? He had to admit, he was impressed, and perhaps they would have a better chance at breaking out of this joint with more people, more minds. He tried to not think of the possibility of all of them simply being a bunch of saps. "Hi." He greeted her bluntly and looked over to Mark, the skinny boy's hands still tied and his own eyes widening. If this was going to be a group effort they should be getting out of her soon. The longer they stayed in one spot the more change they had at getting caught, and he would fight tooth and nail to see that they didn't meet with such a wanweird.

With this in mind he stepped forward without a word, avoiding vocalization as a means to not draw more attention to themselves, along with hoping that logic and nonverbal communication would do. He pulled out the key Avalin had nicked and quirked one of his eyebrows, curious to know if it would work on the chain lock as well. Figuring there was only one way to find out the winged boy sent a brief look over to the other male before knelling down behind Mark, his eyes squinting in the dark shrouds of the night, searching for where the lock was. When he found it he reached forward and grabbed the shackles, not giving any verbal warning. Really, he didn't know how to act in this kind of situation at all. Ezekiel bit the inside of his cheek as he placed the metal shaped by heat into the lock, holding his breath as he turned it, awaiting a click or a dreadful resistance.