My father? What is he doing here!? I made an attempt to step off the stool and back away, but Cheetah placed his hand on my back to keep me in place and, with Tom's hand holding the chain on my neck, I truly was trapped now. I felt vulnerable in the presence of the man who put me here in the first place. I was afraid of what he had come back to do.
"Hello, Reginald. It's been a while," I heard my father greet the ringmaster with a gruff, exhausted tone. He sounded different... very different. Tom shifted uncomfortably beside me, but he kept his composure.
"That's Master MacSeren and yes... it has been a while," He responded coldly. I tried to back away again, releasing an uncomfortable grunt as Cheetah pushed me gently and held me forward again.
"If you don't mind, sir, she is very clearly uncomfortable and it may be more dangerous than expected... perhaps you'd be willing to let someone else-" Tom began but he was quickly interrupted by my father.
"You're forbidding me from seeing my own daughter's performance? That's not very compassionate of you."
Tom insisted, "This is not something to take lightly. She is very dangerous when upset."
"MacSeren. I insist..." my father hissed. Tom was silent for a few moments, but finally, I heard him sigh and his tight grip on my chain released. My heart skipped a beat and I could feel my palms become sweaty. This was a different fear than I had felt during the Lion Incident; this was an overpowering fear because I knew I couldn't fight for my life. I couldn't run from my father, I couldn't attack him, but I couldn't bear to look at him.
"Ladies and gentlemen! In a few moments, you are about to witness a test of sanity! This man here will stare into the eyes of the Demon and outlast her hypnotic gaze! If he is able to, that is..." Tom announced to the waiting audience. I grew more and more anxious and I pressed myself against Cheetah's hand, wanting to press myself right through his hand and run away. I was terrified.
"I warned you, sir," Tom whispered to my father and backed away to secure my chains. There was something in TomCat's tone that didn't seem to care; it was as if, despite only a few efforts to deter him away from this act, Tom didn't care if I snapped and attacked him. I wish I had the strength to do so, but my father isn't a lion. He's a human being; a human being who directly influenced my very life for the worse. I wanted to hurt him... but I was afraid to.
Cheetah suddenly removed my blindfold and stepped away, still holding tightly to my chains along with Tom. The two performers suddenly seemed so far in that instant and the Big Top suddenly felt so large. It was only me and my father now and I had to face him.
The man I saw seated before me was not the man I grew up with. He was clean-shaven and he wore expensive clothes that only wealthy businessmen could afford. The manner that he gave me radiated with disappointment and disgust. I was reminded of Precision when I looked at him, but in the state that I was in now, I didn't just feel insignificant. I truly felt like an animal, gazing upon mankind for the first time ever from behind the glass case of a zoo exhibit.
"Hello, Tae... I see that the new ringmaster finally saw your true colours," he greeted with the emotion of a puppet. I hated that he was right; I hated that he wasn't just overreacting about me being different from other people. Normal people don't sit chained up in the middle of a circus ring.
"It's... It's an act," I whimpered, picking nervously at the wood of my stool and trying to keep my eyes on my father's to proceed with the act. There was nothing in his green eyes. No emotion. No opinions. Nothing.
"An act, huh? Then why did young Reggie have to warn me about you?" he challenged me. Unsure of what to say, I turned to Tom and stared at him fearfully. He only gestured with a motion of his head for me to keep going and I reluctantly turned back around.
"I'm glad Reggie put you in a cage. It keeps you from spreading your filth and causing evil all over the town... but I'm curious... just how powerful are you if two grown men have to contain you?" my father said, leaning on his knees and staring at me as if I were a clue to a mystery. I felt a sharp pain of emotion hit my stomach and my mouth went dry from my subdued fear. My muscles were tensing up and locking in place; I wanted to get off the stool and run away but I couldn't.
"Well? Show me!" Father commanded. I flinched at the tone of his voice and I was instantly taken back to when he would yell at me for doing anything wrong. The tears came into my eyes too quickly for me to stop them and I had to look away before my father saw them.
I could tell the audience was confused now. Their murmurs amongst each other and a few in the back standing to get a closer look. They were all curious as to why I was the one looking away and not the man across from me.
I looked up again, struggling to contain my panic and tears and trying to make the ringmaster proud. I met the man's eyes once again and we stared long and hard at each other... but I saw nothing. There was absolutely nothing. I don't know why I saw nothing!
I could no longer contain my panic and I broke into a fit of hysterical crying. I scrambled off the stool and ran towards Tom as if he would protect me from the evil that sat across from me. Tom exclaimed in surprise and tried to pull me off, but I hung on tightly and hyperventilated into his hip. Cheetah came closer, concerned as well and the audience's quiet murmurs escalated into a buzz of confused chatter.
I watched through frightened tears as my father stood from the stool, his frown of disappointment and disdain burrowing deep into his features. With a sigh, he stared directly at the ringmaster and shook his head.
"She will only be fit for a display-case, MacSeren," he stated, before promptly turning and exiting the barrier with the suavity of the rich man he had become. Everyone present was left stunned and confused but I didn't care. All I wanted to do in that moment was escape.
...
"How could you do this to me in front of him! Of all people!!" Tom inquired angrily, pulling me by the chain on my neck clamp towards my cage. I struggled to keep up with his stride and the weakness in my legs from my previous outburst made it even harder.
"I'm sorry!" I cried out, just before tripping over my own feet again and falling to the floor. I landed with a grunt and I could feel my tears building once more.
"I don't want to hear your apologies anymore! You embarrassed me, Tae!" TomCat yelled, turning to me angrily and pulling me to my feet with one harsh movement of his arm. He pulled open the door to my cage and ushered me inside, climbing in after me to continue yelling at me. I had curled into a ball on the floor and began crying again.
"I would've been more accepting if he had fallen down screaming or maybe if you had attacked him! But no! For some reason, you chose to run away! Why the hell did you run away!? Now everyone is just going to think you're a normal human girl that I put in a cage for sport!" Tom yelled furiously. I only stared at him, sobbing and it wasn't long before Tom's angry features relaxed as he realised what he had said.
With an exasperated sigh, he ran his hands through his hair and tugged. For a moment, he closed his eyes to calm himself.
"I thought you would attack him... that's why I warned him. I hate that man just as much as you do... I just... I didn't think you'd be afraid of him..." Tom finally told me after a short pause. I whimpered and hiccuped as I watched him. He stood there for a moment with his eyes glued to the floor and his hands tangled in his locks of hair.
Finally, not knowing what to do, he exhaled sharply from the remaining rage that he had to contain and locked my chains into place. And without another word, he hastily exited the cage, slamming the door shut behind him. He walked away with his shoulders hunched and I'm sure he had to suffer from wishing the disappointed guests a goodnight and offering them embarrassed apologies.
I laid there in my cage, crying harder than I'd ever cried before.