Come to me.

Running harder than he ever had before, and the thing inside him constricting his airways, an infinite anxiety, and the sound of footsteps not his own from behind him. He glanced over his shoulder to see what it was, lifted up his arms to block the onslaught of branches and vines. There was shouting in the distance, and a wave of flames coming up from the forest, sparking up the trees one-by-one, then two-by-two. The raucous became louder and seemed to suddenly envelope him. The trees became thicker until it was impossible to continue running. He slipped between one trunk and another until he caught himself on a branch, and then he realized he was bleeding: his side had been cut. A furious, splintering pain contracted against his stomach as he continued, limping, through the woods. It was now pitch-black. The branches had become so entwined and the trees so tall he could no longer see himself or where he was going. He reached out, gingerly, to feel his way through the maze.

Two eyes opened before him. Two liquid-jet black eyes appeared a foot in front of him. They glistened as though they were reflecting the darkness. He clenched his side and felt the warm pulsation of blood against his palms. He blindly stumbled backwards, hitting a solid wall. "Who—" he gasped, bending over in pain. "Who are you?"

The eyes disappeared and reappeared much closer, down at his stooped level. "Stop running." He felt an ice cold finger touch his jaw, and he squeezed his eyes shut.

Come to me.

"Honey...? Honey, can you hear me?"

He reopened his eyes. A large man wearing a wig was bent over him, with one hand below his line of vision and the other delicately brushing the matted hair from his forehead. Wide-eyed, he quickly pushed the man away, throwing him against an old cart, and tried to jump to his feet. As he stretched his torso he heard a terrible ripping noise from his side and fell several feet to the ground, knocking his head as he did so. He squinted down and saw the ripped sutures leaking. He groaned again, his head now also throbbing, and noticed he was no longer in the forest. He was in a strangely fluorescent room: white walls, white tiles, white ceilings. He was naked, and the cold floor didn't help with his discomfort.

"Oh, oh, oh!" The man stamped his foot as he regained his composure and waved his hands around. He cast a heavy sigh in his direction and shook his head. "Look what you've gone and done now. Can't you do anything your told to without screwing it up?" He put his hands on his hips and walked past him, pulling back a curtain to reveal Adam strapped to a gurney. He convulsed against the restraints around his legs and arms. His screams were muffled by the cloth tied across his mouth. The man in the wig "tsked" as he lifted a small ladle from the cart next to Adam. He twirled it between his fingers, inspecting it, before he leaned over. "Well, let's just get this over with, shall we?"

"Mm mmm!" Adam screamed through the towel, shaking his head. Adam's breathing was fast and uneven, loudly flaring through his nostrils.

"There, there," the man cooed. "It'll all be over soon enough."

He blinked in disbelief as the man plunged the ladle into Adam's left eye and laughed. "Stop!" he shouted, reaching out, crawling, spasming across the floor towards the man's leg. The man didn't stop, but the sound of Adam's muted cries made him want to vomit. "Please stop!"

"Oh, don't you worry, Tinkerbell," the man chimed as he transfered the disarticulated eye into a metal bowl. It was made a disgusting plop. He turned to look down at him and grinned, "Your turn next." He smacked his lips as he turned back to the cart, slowly lifting a metal club from its place. "Now..." The man turned back to face him and gave him a crooked smile before swinging.

Come to me.

A woman's body. She was barely dressed in dark pink frills and dancing, tanned hips effortlessly rolling from one side to the other. He felt the top of his head where a lump had formed and blinked, eyes still adjusting to the now dim light. He could hear other people, children laughing and cheering and the sound of mechanical whirrs from the outside. That was when he realized there were other people around him. He was standing in a crowd of filthy, grunting men, each mesmerized by the woman's dance. One of them gruffly pushed him to the side, almost knocking him to his feet, as he sidled up to the front row.

He felt his side, felt his clothes, and saw no incision. He turned around to look for Adam, but he could barely see anything for the other people. He glanced back at the dancer, whose eyes were locked on him. He swallowed, backing up a little and bumping into a barrel-chested miner who shoved him forward. As he stumbled he bumped into another man, who also pushed him, and continued to rebound like a pinball until the largest man in the tent grabbed his shoulders and threw him forward. He landed on the stage. The dancer continued, unfazed, but smiled down at him. He quickly scampered to his feet, but she wrapped her arm around his waist and pulled him forward.

The men whistled and cat-called as she thrust her pelvis against his and looped her arms around his neck. He couldn't supress a small smile from his face, but desperately tried to look out and find Adam as he did. She slipped one hand around his chin and turned his face towards hers, promptly kissing it. He blinked wildly as her other drifted down to his waist. Her fingers flitted up his shirt and down his pants. He gasped a little and felt himself tense up. Several of the men had started howling and pounded their fists along the stage floor. She tilted her head to the side and slowly parted her lips.

Come back to me.

He leaned forward and kissed her.

There was an awful choking noise over his face, and he heard the crunching of leaves as someone pulled away from him.

"The fuck was that?" Adam hacked from somewhere he couldn't see.

He forced his eyes open, but still couldn't see anything. It was dark. Night. They were still in the woods. He jerked his hand to his neck, feeling for the snake bite, but it was nothing. "Adam?" His eyes were adjusting to the darkness, and he propped himself up against a tree. Adam was sitting on the ground, staring at him, wide-eyed. "What...?" He looked around. "What happened?"

"Um, well." Adam rubbed his arm across his mouth. "I think you just tongued me."

"I...." He wasn't sure how to explain. "I thought you were—"

A piercing woman's scream shot through the trees. Adam stood up. "Did you just—?"

"Yeah." He slowly rose to his feet. They turned in circles trying to locate the source of origin. "Do you think it—?"

"No. There's no way."

They glanced at each other. "Was there a snake?"

Adam furrowed his brow. "What?"

"A snake? Did one bite me?"

"When?"

"When do you think?"

"There wasn't a snake.... You just...passed out."

He rubbed his neck again but felt nothing. "It told me to say stop."

Adam stared at him, shaking his head.

"What?"

"Nothing."

They stared at each other before a light, breathless whisper surrounded their bodies. "Come to me..." It was languid, slipping its syllables around their necks like the dancer's arms, pulling at their waists.

"It sounds like—"

"It's not."

Adam swallowed and wheeled around at the sudden crunch of leaves behind them, but nothing was there. "We have to come to it, right? It can't do anything to us unless we go to it." He said it more to reassure himself.

"Yeah. If it's what it sounds like, then we'll be okay if we just stay put until dawn."

"But then they could see us...."

"They won't." He slid down against the back of a tree and watched as Adam turned in place, peering through the woods. He finally sat down as well, but continued to fidget and look over his shoulder at the slightest of noises.

"Are you, um...you seeing okay?" He didn't look at Adam.

"I'm...fine, thanks. Are you seeing okay? What happened to you?"

"I just remember there was a snake, and then it...told me to tell them to stop, and then I tried to get it off me and they heard that little girl. Then you came and then it bit my neck."

Adam blinked. "I was breaking the lock and you just passed out. I had to carry you out into the woods, but now, seeing what I did, I don't think I needed to destroy my vertebral support: they were just gonna leave you there for dead."

He shook his head, swallowing. "This keeps spreading farther, Adam. Even with everything out of service, word still travels." He looked down between his legs at the dirt. He dragged his finger through it, making a circle and some squares. "We can't keep running."

"We don't have a choice."

He closed his eyes. "I don't have a choice. As the police order rebuilds itself, I can't hide anymore, and as soon as people realize.... They don't want some criminal living with them."

"Judah," Adam said sternly, abruptly. "We did what we had to."

They didn't talk much after that; instead they dozed until the foggy haze of morning sprawled over them. They groaned, collecting themselves and stretching. "What is that?" Judah asked, squinting and pointing towards two bright spots.

"I..." Adam trailed off, squinting too. They heard the sound of a motor—several motors—and paused. "I think it's a truck."

Quietly, they stepped through the fog to get a closer look. They reached the edge of the forest and neared a clearing where a road was, or had been once before. They realized it was not just one truck, but an entire convoy of trucks and trailers and mobile homes, most baroquely styled and painted with exciting colors and of fantastic figures. Voices and loading sounds permeated the morning air, but they couldn't see the people making them.

"Is it a...carnival?"

The word MANAGEMENT was scrawled across several of the otherwise nondescript containers. Despite Adam's protest, Judah stepped forward, out of the woods, to get a better look. He could see a word on the very front truck, but he couldn't read it. He looked back at Adam, who shook his head again, but Judah inched closer.

A woman appeared from between two of the trucks. At first she didn't see them and continued to adjust her brassiere, but as soon as she saw Judah staring at her she jumped, startled. She squinted at him through the fog and then noticed Adam moving around in the bushes. "What are you two doing up here?" she asked.

"Uh..." Judah looked back at Adam for an explanation.

"You're supposed to be back there putting up the cages with the rest of the crew." She stepped towards them, eyes narrowing. "Well?"

"Sorry," Judah muttered, shaking his head. "We, we were just, um... we had a—"

"Did you two go in the woods?" she asked incredulously.

"Well, we thought it would—"

"Are you out of your goddamned gourd?" she drawled. She turned, scoffing in disgusting, and motioned them back to the trucks. "Don't let me see you chuckleheads again."

"Uhm, yes, ma'am. Sorry, ma'am." Judah swallowed and motioned Adam to follow. Adam reluctantly emerged from the woods, scowling at him.

"What is wrong with you?" he hissed in a whisper.

"Nothing," Judah replied. "Look, this is the best way out of here for now."

"We have no idea where she's going! What if she takes us back to—"

"Enough chatter, ladies!" A beefy man tossed several tent poles at them, which they fumbled before grabbing hold of.

Adam's arms tensed beneath the weight. He groaned, looking around at all the freaks and drunkards. "I have a bad feeling about this, Judah."