Circus of Death - Candace Wondrak Page 0,9

the blue sky. Not another soul to be seen, anywhere I looked. The only thing I saw was an empty circus, no one else around. It was almost like I was the only one here, but I knew that had to be wrong.

This… this didn’t feel right, but still, I couldn’t sit in that tent and wait for whatever else to happen next. I had to make a move and get out of here, get the cops here or something. Something was going on at this circus, and it wasn’t good.

Pushing out of the tent, I threw a look around, not sure if I should run out of here or not. Running might be louder; it might draw someone’s attention. I had no idea if everyone was inside the other tents or what, but this was my chance.

Fuck it. I decided on running.

My bare feet took off, the dried-up grass crunching under my heels as I pumped my arms and ran with the speed of a girl who struggled to finish the mile lap in gym class. Hey, I wasn’t proud of my time, but at least I did it, you know? Perseverance and crap like that, right?

Kind of wished I was a faster runner right now, because it felt like ages as I ran through the field of tents, zigzagging through them to what I hoped was a way out. The tents were like landmines, my mind and my body, my sanity, every part of me craving to escape this God-awful place.

About fifty feet away, finally, I spotted the colorful archway that signaled the official entrance and exit of the circus, the ticket booth sitting just outside it, its stall empty, too. My ears heard only the sound of my feet on the grass, nothing else. No one tried calling out for me, no one attempted to stop me.

Good. Fuck these crazy ass people.

I made it out of the archway, my intent to run as far as I could, get to town, alert someone to whatever the hell was going on here… but something weird happened. Shouldn’t be surprising after that dream, but when I tried to leave, I felt like throwing up.

Though I could see the field just outside the archway, though I could see the world outside, not long after my foot crossed the line, it was like my body got turned around. Instead of running out into the field, I ran back into the circus, the big tent standing before me, a clown’s mouth hanging over the entrance flap on it.

What? No. No, no, no.

I spun on my bare heels, turning to the archway again, pushing myself out of it, trying to leave—but, again, I wound up staring at the huge tent, my nausea growing.

Over and over I tried, seeking to get away from this fucking circus, and I couldn’t. No matter what I did, no matter how fast or how slow I tried to leave this place, I wound up in the exact same place, turned around, staring at that stupid fucking clown.

It didn’t make sense. None of this made sense.

The air began to feel thick in my lungs, and I found it was hard for me to breathe. This… this couldn’t be happening. No way. Was I still in a dream? Had I never woken up to begin with? I couldn’t—this wasn’t real. There was absolutely no way this was real.

“Dear Thana,” Nigel’s voice came over me like honey, smoothing over me and soothing my fretting mind and body despite the fact that I tried to ignore it. He was behind me, somehow, which was to say he stood between me and the archway that led out of this twisted, crazy circus.

I closed my eyes, not wanting to turn around and face him, not wanting to see those black, soulless eyes. I was paralyzed, confused, fear filling me once again, because I understood none of this. This… this couldn’t be a dream, because I was awake, but that’s exactly what I’d thought when I watched Trey turn into a tiger and have at me.

When I opened my eyes again, I found Nigel suddenly before me, his tall frame standing between me and the main tent. Five feet away, wearing the same dark outfit he’d worn while he’d watched the tiger tear me apart.

There was no way my mind had made it up. No way. But if that was the case, then… then that only meant it was real, all of that had actually happened,