Chapter Fourteen
I never thought it possible to feel so alone.
I couldn’t remember such isolation any other time in my life. Of course, I had Halfrieda and Valida for company; they were great friends. But what had happened to me in The Dark Room, and what Laurent and I had said to each other, weren’t things I could discuss with them. Or with anyone else, really.
The feelings of isolation and loneliness only got worse once I made it back to our communal tent. Everyone had returned from promoting the circus in town, but there appeared to be so many more curiosities than before—faces I didn’t recognize, had never seen before. Maybe I wasn’t too observant when I first came to the circus, but it sure seemed like a lot of people had joined the troupe since my arrival.
How could I miss the woman with what appeared to be plants, foliage, growing out of her skin? Or the teenage boy with curling horns like bighorn sheep? I didn’t know what to make of so many new faces, where they’d come from, how they’d ended up in the Cirque du Noir.
“Watch it,” someone snapped at me when I stumbled past. His enormous body was covered in piercings so numerous, they gave Rex’s scars a run for their money.
Rex…
I hadn’t seen him since our last argument and I couldn’t deny the fact that I wanted to see him, wanted to understand what this strange need was between the two of us. And I had a feeling Rex definitely knew more than he was letting on. Same with Laurent. They had the answers and I only had the questions.
“I-I’m sorry,” I mumbled before hurrying to my bed.
Halfrieda was lounging across hers, a book in her hand as I collapsed in a heap. “Where did all these new people come from?” I asked.
“Town, I reckon,” Halfrieda replied coolly.
“Why would Laurent add more people to the circus in such a small venue? Seems like the amount of people in our circus outnumbers the sum of all the townspeople who’ll come to watch us!”
“Could be.”
“Maybe all the residents of Guineesville are all circus performers,” I pointed out with a shrug. “There are just so many new people, and a lot of them are so—so—”
“Curious?” Halfrieda offered with a wink.
I sat up straight, staring at my friend, my eyes wide with disbelief. “How can you be so calm about this? Where in the world could all of these people have come from? It’s almost as if Guineesville is a town of curiosities!” I shook my head. “And how did we not see them while we were setting up? I’ve never seen so many people congregating in one space!”
Halfrieda set her book to the side with a yawn. “Dunno, love, but I don’t really have the brainpower ta think much ‘bout it. Did a lot o’ showboatin’ today, an’ we still gotta perform tonight.”
“R-Right. Sorry.” I reclined on my pillow, exhaustion suddenly overtaking me. Closing my eyes, the quiet chattering inside the sleeping quarters was soothing and a pleasant background for a mid-afternoon nap and my body sorely needed just that—it was still fairly weak from the magician’s box incident.
I was glad when the memories of my unpleasant encounter in The Dark Room faded away as I drifted off to sleep. With any luck, all the strange, unanswered questions surrounding this place would fade away as well, becoming nothing more than a bad dream.
***
The midnight show came and went.
I was well enough by then to perform my portion of it. I felt good when I stretched and bent my body, although I got winded quickly and experienced a wave of clamminess more than once. I wasn’t completely recovered from the trauma of what the twins had done to me, but found it surprisingly satisfying to tuck myself into my special birdcage and be carried off stage with roaring applause behind me. At least that container couldn’t fill up with water.
“Looks like ya still got it, love!” Halfrieda grinned. “The crowd adores ya.”
“I thought I’d be off my game.” I glanced around at the crowd, a new thought suddenly occurring. “Hey, don’t the twins usually go on right before me? Where are they?”
“You didn’t hear?” Valida appeared from around the tent, Balthazar slithering calmly across her arms. “Zey vere forbidden from performing. A little taste of zee consequenzes when someone tries to hurt our own.”
I couldn’t believe they were getting away with such light punishment, regardless of their importance to Laurent’s bottom line. The three of them had tossed me into a tank of water and left me to drown—to die! What sort of castigation would they receive if they’d actually succeeded? Yet, Valida seemed content with their punishment, as if it were fair. It seemed more like a slap on the wrist to me.
Halfrieda nodded curtly. “I reckon they oughta be thrown out entirely, but that’s up to Laurent an’ Rex. They always decide what’s best fer all of us.”
As far as I understood it, Laurent and Rex were the law in the Cirque, and being a tight-knit community, they took care of their own. They didn’t bring in outsiders for company business. So naturally, they were in charge of deciding the punishment for Robb and the twins.
But there was something more to the story, something no one had told me. “Do you know what happened to them?” I asked. “Rex said he was dealing with them, but I don’t know what he meant. Or maybe I don’t want to know.” An involuntary shudder ran down my spine as images of Rex’s skin being pierced multiple times by sharp bits of glass flashed across my mind.
“Aw, don’t worry ‘bout them,” Halfrieda reassured me. “Rex’ll make sure they don’t mess with ya anymore.” I assumed any punishment from Rex was a far worse fate than getting thrown in jail.