I stared down at the severed arm. The memory of the little girl's scream of agony was mixed with the sound of the bullets as they pierced me and other people. The blood surrounding the arm was like a garnish. The redness of the blood greatly enhanced the whiteness of the little girl's arm, the chubbiness of baby fat that didn't have time to age and go away, and the lack of aliveness as it no longer belonged to a child who was alive.
I feel sick again.
I finally ripped my eyes away from the hand and looked down. The red eyes on the wall continued to stare in silent bliss but as time passed the more the space around grew dark. I wouldn't be able to see my hands if I didn't focus on using my sense of sight.
When I finally looked up, almost every eye was gone. Only a scatter few still stayed watching me. Seeing me finally move, the pupils expanded a little bit but did nothing after that. No other eyes came to watch me.
I took the time to finally ground my bearings. Breathing in, I picked up Po and stood up. Looking over to the unfinished game, I walked over, not looking at anything around me.
The barrels stayed in the same position that I last saw them in. Except, all the numbers on the barrels were no longer glowing red.
"Did I lose?" I judged uncertainty before looking towards the remaining baseballs and reached over to pick one up but no matter how much strength I put in, none of the balls would separate themselves from the surface.
Taking my focus away from the game, I looked around the stand trying to see if there was anywhere I could pass through but no matter where, from the right, the left, the top, or the bottom, all locations were blocked to the point that even an ant couldn't slide through to the other side.
"Did I really lose? Am I stuck?" Dread was creeping up while I settled down and looked through my bag. I still had a good amount of stones in it. Around what looked to be 200 but it didn't mean that they were useful for my case.
I pulled out a red stone that was a bit bigger than my hand. It was a type of bomb, one where it takes in energy from the environment and brings it to itself, until it can't handle it anymore, which causes an explosion.
However, no matter how much I think about it, I don't believe this is going to succeed. Maybe I can try it out just in case?
While still deciding, footsteps sounded out, causing me to perk up and hide. Throwing myself behind the remaining barrels, I peeked from behind it to face the wall that still blocked the back passage.
Slowly the wall morphed. It looked like it turned into liquid as a hole opened up from the middle and two large felines walked in. One looked to be a tiger, its build was bigger than any tiger I had seen and the color was more vibrant.
The other was a lion, its black mane was huge, and its body was compacted with unhidden muscle. Its black nose sniffed the air, and it let out a tired yowl.
"I know, baby. Sorry, I woke you up." A woman said as she came up from behind the two kings of nature. The lion hummed before rubbing up on her like a kitten causing the woman to laugh.
The woman stood at around 5'8. Her hair was red, curly, and cut into a bob framing her whole face. She wore a similar hat to the Ringleader but hers was shorter in height and it was pushed down, causing her hair to cover her eyes.
She wore high-waisted flared red pants that had black stitched designs of the two felines on either pant leg. While she also wore a black turtleneck and black and red tuxedo tailcoat over it. Her clothes were mostly tight making her look sharp and taller.
"Little boy come out. I need to explain what's going to happen right now." The woman said not paying much mind to finding me as she was more focused on petting the two felines next to her.
Keeping my guard up, I placed Po in my robe and held tight to the bomb before stepping out. Neither of the felines paid much mind to me but the woman "looked" at me and hummed.
"You are so cute! Little Feline, I like your mask." She giggled. I nodded my head subconsciously while I didn't come closer which looked like she didn't mind as she instead walked over and reached down to grab the abandoned arm.
My heart peaked as she flapped it side to side. The little hand flapping with it. "Well, this is truly a shame. I did tell her that her anger was going to be the best of her. Now she kicked an iron plate and burned into ashes." The woman sighed.
She looked up at me and pursed her lips. Using the severed hand like a pointer she pointed at me and said, "She didn't like being ignored. Her parents ignored her, her siblings ignored her, and everyone pretty much ignored her when we went to their village. Thus they barely noticed when she was gone."
An ache was spreading in my chest while the woman continued, "Welp it was to be expected. She was only born with one arm, people don't like differences." She said looking down at the arm. Her other hand came up curled around her red hair before she began giggling. "The reason for her life being what it was, is now the only thing that remains of her."
She shrugged her shoulders before tossing the arm behind her like it was trash. The tiger instantly jumped and swallowed the whole thing in one bite causing my stomach to turn. The woman hummed while walking closer to the stand, looking at all the barrels before shaking her head.
"What an interesting situation. How should I go about this?" She thought out loud stretching her words, as she hummed, flipping her head from side to side.
"I could just listen to the Ringleader and give you to him and call it a day." She said, causing my heart to spike but then she giggled and shook her. "But that's not fun and I quite like you. A little body fighting against such a big monster. So amazing. So fun. Giving you to the Ringleader would be idiotic."
She looked at me and then towards the barrels before a big grin spread through her face. "How about this? You still have to go against the clown since you already knocked it down before any of this fiasco started and if you're still alive till the end, you have to meet me and we have a little game."
I looked up at her and then at the 7-point barrel with the Beast Tamer on it. However, I still nodded my head, not trying to start a conflict that would only lead to my demise.
The woman smiled before saying, "Then it is settled!" She clapped her hands and the once sturdy carnival stand instantly liquified and seeped into the ground. I dodged the splatter, which caused me to get closer to the woman.
She took the moment to get closer to me to the point we were face to face. "How did you kill the snake?" The random question made me confused while I thought back on what she was asking about.
"The black snake?" I finally pinpoint, causing her to nod her head as a wide smile spread through her face. "Luck," I answered her with a white lie. It was lucky of me to meet Alene and her taking out the Gu Snake. The Beast Tamer looked stunned before she burst out in a cackle.
"Luck? Luck?!" She exclaimed between laughter and wheezing. "If my bitch of a sister heard that, she would be hysterical!" She laughed louder, even grabbing her stomach. I didn't know how to react as the woman laughed with canines on full display.
"I like you! I like you a lot." She said finally calming down a little. "Hey let me tell you something between you and I yeah?"
I nodded my head hesitantly causing her to let out a soft chuckle before she crouched down and whispered in my ear. "My sister is the one who controls the Gu. When you killed that snake she took a big hit and for that I thank you. So let me also tell you, those little children you care for are pretty safe. They have a big shot with them."
My heart pumped while the woman straightened up and turned around. Walking back from where she came from. "I wish you luck Little Feline!" She yelled not turning back around as she left through the wall along with her felines. Behind them the wall closed, returning to the immovable fortress.
The Beast Tamer was swift when she came in and swift when she exited. Her overallness made her similar to that of the felines beside her.
However instead of paying attention to the exit of the woman I was more focused on the information she gave me. Zhou Mei and Jiang Wu are with somebody strong. The Beast Tamer has a sister who controls Gu, and the Beast Tamer has some freedom away from the Ringmaster and she doesn't like her sister.
Again I knew I needed to take things at face value but I need to remember these things just in case of the sprinkle of truths within them. Putting my focus back, I turned and made my way down the now-open hallway.
The journey down was worse than the journey before we reached the stand. Po was here but not really. Putting the focus on my sight and hearing could only do so much. My footsteps made it clear I was alone and my sight enhanced the magnitude of the shadows around the space.
I pushed down the feeling of fright as I was coming across a fork in the maze. Looking both ways I walked to the right.
Honk, honk.
My heart leaped and quickly I started running. I tried to keep as quiet as possible as I dashed through the hallway. Seeing another fork, I went to the right again and behind me, a bounce of a ball sounded before the heat was felt behind me as an explosion that shook the whole maze sounded out.
I continued to run as explosion after explosion came from behind me. I looked behind me but nowhere did I see the hint of the Clown. All I saw were tiny balls as they were shot from expenses of black at no specific location.
I continued running and when another fork came up, I once again turned right but was startled, as instead of the hallway in front of me, I was in a big space of nothing but grass. Turning around I was going to run back but a familiar wall came crashing up, blocking my way back.
Another rumbling rang, and when I looked over, entrances opened, and children in different masks and clothing came walking out in a single-file line. They all were quiet, and all of them walked like dolls as every movement was the same.
My back was close to the wall as I watched them coming in, and arranging themselves in lines of 15 with 8 lines in total. In one of the lines, I noticed a girl with very white hair and skin.
White!
I looked around, but decided against going to the girl who finally stopped in her position. The walls that allowed everyone came right back up and when the walls met contact with the ceiling in a resounding boom a click went off and all the children became animated.
Crying, panicking, and begging were heard everywhere. Children with different languages were heard everywhere. Some I could understand but there were many I couldn't.
"Ignis?!" I looked over, and White's startled pinkish-purple eyes looked at me from behind her rabbit mask before she came rushing over to me.
I stepped back when she came close but the girl didn't care as she looked over at me with shock and horror on her face. "Why are you here?! I thought you escaped!"
Tears were welling up in her eyes as I shook my head and explained what happened. "I'm so sorry Ignis. I'm so sorry!" I tried to say it was okay but no matter what she kept apologizing while her breathing became haggard.
I was going to console her more, but from the side of my eyes, I saw many red eyes appearing. Grabbing White's hand I dragged her away from the walls as influxes of eyes appeared.
It was like the whole place became hushed. The red eyes came one by one, and they squeezed and squashed together as if trying to blend. The hand I was gripping grasped me harder and I don't know if it was me or White who was shaking as all the walls that I could see were getting covered.
The area around became scarlet.
My hand was tugged and before I knew it I was running. I looked up at White who was running ahead of me, this time with my hand clasped into hers. Sounds of crying began once again, along with sounds of horror.
The sound reminded me too much of the mall. Making me finally conclude that the shaking was coming from me now.
"Maze game: Ring Toss, is happening in 10 seconds. Please enter a circle before time ends or you will immediately forfeit." The sound of many voices resonated. My head felt like it burst open as I didn't stop enhancing my hearing.
I lost my bearing with only White keeping me afloat with her hand. Memories of the mall were floating in. The terrible ache that no matter how much pain I could go through was still able to leave me breathless each time.
I felt a headache coming on as I was finally let go and I almost toppled over from the lack of footing. When I looked down I was in a white glowing circle that was big enough to only encase one person. When I looked up White ran and entered a circle of her own. She turned to me and said something but I couldn't hear anything as the ringing was still pounding my head.
Probably realizing that she shook her head and looked to the side of her. I also followed her gaze and felt my heart lurch as I saw what looked to be tree branches clinging onto children's legs causing them to not be able to run.
I looked up and saw a big white 3 glowing. Steadily the time counted down. I saw children claw at the ground, push others from the circles, or even just sit there and give up.
When it finally made it 0 a little boy who gave up turned to face me and smiled before his head exploded. It was like a vexation against me, as my hearing came back at that moment.
The sound was nothing similar to what I heard before. It was loud, wet, and high-pitched with undercurrent deepness. One by one their heads exploded and all the matter came flying out like fireworks.
All their bodies toppled down before they were pulled into the ground by the roots that still clung to them. The sound of crying and quiet talking could be heard all around.
Memories of the mall came intertwining and I turned to face White who was looking down onto the ground. I didn't see her face until she looked towards me. She was crying but no emotion showed on her face.
"Are you okay?" I asked, trying to be comforting but I probably looked worse than her.
She looked at me before shaking her head. A soft smile appeared on her face as she apologized once more. "If you die I will never forgive myself." She murmured as her face finally contorted.
"Don't cry. Everything is going to be okay." I tried to reassure her.
Yet, as if going against me once again, the space rumbled again. The ceiling began opening up, and a translucent wall surrounded us in the radius of the circles we were standing in.
Honk, honk.
When I looked up at the sky all I saw was a black ceiling.
Honk, honk.
Slowly the black back away and only then did I realize that I wasn't looking at a black ceiling. I was looking up at an eye.
The Clown's face and body were giant. I felt like an ant or maybe it was better to say I was an ant compared to the size of the clown.
The Clown looked at each one of us and grunted before reaching up and honked once again and the black liquid squeezed out came crashing down. None of it made it inside my circle but those that did were screaming out in torment.
The liquid filled the circle like a glass. The children in it were being burned alive as the black liquid was like an acid. I watched as their skin melted off their very bones and puke rushed out of me. I wasn't the only one as other children also puked or even fainted from the sight.
The Clown smiled wide and its broken teeth fully displayed itself before it stepped back. It grunted as it took out what looked to be a ring, before focusing on us.
"Ignis. Please be safe." White whispered beside me and I wanted to once again relieve from any stress I could but I was to focus on watching as the clown toss the ring at us.
The ring flew before landing in one of the circles that held a little boy who had a bear mask on. The ring, like a magnetic force, instantly plopped right on the boy's neck before tightening up.
All of us looked, even the crow's eyes, at the boy who began panicking. A child who also wore a bear mask beside the boy was screaming and pounding on the wall. I didn't know what the child was saying but the desperation was deathening.
The boy who had the ring around his neck, looked over at the other child and smiled. He began talking which soothe the child a bit and the two children talked to one another while we all held our breaths.
I looked at the ring that turned into a type of collar on the boy before looking up at the Clown who was looking down at the two children talking. The more they talked the more the Clown's smile grew.
Then suddenly the Clown's eyes focused on me. It was a surreal feeling. The Clown didn't have iris nor a pupil but for some reason I knew it was staring down at me.
It grunted before it suddenly smiled to the point that it took up almost all its face causing deformation on its already wretched face. Instantly my eyes went back down to the boy. We all watched as strings came inching out from the collar.
The boy looked at the strings and began to touch them but stopped as lumpy material appeared on the end of them. One at a time they changed to different colors and only then did I realize what they were.
Balloons.
Gradually the colorful balloons began to gain air in them and slowly they floated up. My heart dropped and before I knew it I was banging on the wall. The boy who was looking at the balloons faced me and I instantly shook my head while pointing at the balloons.
Understanding what I'm trying to convey, the boy began trying to take the balloons down but no matter what he did, the balloons continued going up. The other child, also noticing something was wrong, began saying something hurriedly.
However, no matter what, the boy couldn't take down the balloons or pull off the strings. When the balloons finally floated to the top nothing happened at first.
However, as if knowing his death was coming the boy turned to face the child who was now screaming and said something to them. The child was going to respond but before anyone had time the balloon came slamming upwards and the boy's neck snapped.
We all watched as the balloons didn't take him to the sky. It left him in a place that he was visible for all to see, as if showcasing.
I backed away until my back hit the translucent wall. My eyes looked at the broken neck before ripping my eyes away and looking at the child. The child was on the floor, looking up at the boy.
At first they didn't move, and the Clown gruntles could be heard above. This caused the child to finally move, as they looked up at the Clown. Slowly they got up and took off his mask. It was only then did I see that it was a boy.
His face was void of any emotion and he looked up at the Clown who was looking down at him with a smile on its face. A smile of his own spread on the boy's face but his eyes didn't share the same sentiment.
"When I kill you I hope that smile remains on your face so I can put a blade through it." The boy declared, causing everything to become deathly quiet.
My heart pounded as I slowly looked up at the Clown who was no longer smiling and in my heart I couldn't but say.
"Well fuck."