Dakota’s origin

*This story is underneath my folder titled “Circe the ringmaster!”. It’s the origin of a character from one of my Halloween tales. All of my Halloween tales are underneath my folder titled “31 Halloween tales” and this particular character is from my story “31 Hellish Halloween tales”. Gacha Club character designs are under my forum titled “My character designs <33”. Enjoy!*

 Introduction

It was the year 1946, four years after the great disappearance of all the circus performers of “Circe’s Cherry Circus!”. For four years, the circus stood tall, without anyone to perform in it at all.

Well, in the year 1946, that all changed when the circus had finally gotten performers.

When Dakota slathered on the clown makeup and donned the colorful costume, he didn’t expect to see things that no one should see, to hear things that no one should hear.

But isn’t that what happens when you join the circus? You step into a world of dreams and nightmares. The possibilities are endless, which means that magic and malevolence are bound to happen.

All Dakota wanted to do was bring life to a barren circus.

Life was exactly what the circus needed, but not in the way he imagined…

Chapter One

Dakota turned up the dial on the radio as he straightened his tie. He wasn’t sure if the original ringleader was around anymore, but he’d still check it out.

He didn’t have much in life. He lived in an apartment that stank of mildew and disease, the same apartment that the original clown, Clover, lived in before her disappearance.

His whole life, he wondered what life would be like if he smiled and laughed. If there was color and vibrance.

If he still had his family.

His parents and his older sister, Blaine, disappeared back in 1943.

1943. That was a horrible year. It was the year that his family disappeared, the year the circus was shut down in October, and the year Dakota was an adult for the first time.

Dakota had nothing then, and still no resources years later, but perhaps the circus would make him happier.

It just needed a little freshening up. That was all.

“The creatures that haunt Circe’s Cherry Circus still wander, searching for lost, unsuspecting souls to devour.” The radio man’s voice narrated ominously.

Dakota laughed. His favorite radio station was the “Crazed ghosts of Cherry Brook” because of the ridiculous, overdramatic stories of the abandoned places in his beloved town, Cherry Brook.

It allowed him to think of something other than 1943, other than what happened many years ago.

It allowed him to imagine.

Chapter Two

AT THE CIRCUS

Dakota stepped over the puddles of mud as he dodged the broken pieces of the carnival attractions.

He wasn’t sure why he wore the only suit he had, a raggedy brown one with mismatched patches sewed on.

Perhaps he did it to be more professional? To have some control in his life?

Either way, it felt right to dress his best. Even though the circus was forsaken, it still held a hint of its own charming joy.

“You made it! Welcome!” A woman’s voice boomed from behind him.

Dakota turned around.

Standing in the rubble was a woman dressed in a rouge and black dress, wearing a matching top hat. She had an air of independence and charisma about her, just from the sparkle in her eyes and the way she grinned.

“Angelese Circe, but you can call me Circe. I’m the ringleader of this ol’ circus.” Circe said, extending a gloved hand for him to shake.

Dakota shook it, albeit hesitantly. Why was she still there, and dressed in her uniform, too? Did she really expect people to volunteer to perform there? Was she waiting for him?

Circe laughed grandly, her dark red lipstick emphasizing the white of her teeth.

Why were her teeth so blindingly white?

“I can see from the way you’re dressed that you’re looking for a place here. That’s why you came in a suit, isn’t it? To apply for a lifetime of color and joy? I know that this circus has seen better days, but with a little love, it can really shine. You agree, don’t you? That’s why you’re here?” Circe asked.

Her dark brown eyes glowed a little too eagerly for his liking, her smile seemed to grow wider.

She was only asking a question, but it felt like she wanted to reach deep into his soul and pull out his vitality.

It scared him a little, but since he couldn’t keep her waiting, he nodded.

“Stupendous!” Circe beamed, clapping her hands together, the sound slightly muffled by her gloves.

“Come now, let me show you around.” Circe said, gesturing for him to follow her.

No interview? She just wanted to…show him around?

He’d ask later. There was probably a good reason that she wasn’t interviewing him…right?

Chapter Three

“What do you want to be? What are you interested in?” Circe asked.

She wanted to know what he wanted to be? Was she going to give him follow up questions? Why wasn’t she giving him an interview, like the ones Dakota heard in the radio?

“Are we having an interview?” Dakota asked.

Circe laughed as though he had told a particularly hilarious joke.

“Have you seen this place? It’s a dump! There’s no interview, I just need performers. Now, what do you want to be?” Circe asked, her voice carrying a jagged edge.

Ah, so that was how it was. No interview. A bit unprofessional, but he couldn’t blame her. The circus had been lost to time, it needed to be revived.

“I want to be a clown. I want to make people laugh.” Dakota said.

Circe turned around and flashed another of her glaringly bright grins at him.

“Wonderful! I’ve got just the thing for you!” Circe beamed.

Dakota couldn’t help but feel a glimmer of hope within him. Despite how odd it was, he felt a tad comforted that Circe was optimistic about the circus. Perhaps he’d find family there.

Perhaps he’d find a rainbow of love there.

Chapter Four

Circe stopped in front of a trailer with peeling red paint, the words “Lillie the lively clown” fading on the side.

She opened the door, Dakota followed suit.

Inside, the trailer had a bed covered in plaid blankets, the walls were stripped bare of any photos, and a single teal painted closet waited to be opened.

A shiny black sewing machine waited on a polished wooden desk, piles of fabric sitting next to it.

“I hope you know how to sew, because you’re going to be making your own costume.” Circe said.

“Of course I do! I sewed my own suit!” Dakota grinned. It’d take a while, perhaps the rest of the day and all night, but it was worth it for him to be a clown!

“Splendid. The others will be excited to see you, and then we can all get this place back on track.” Circe said.

Others? That didn’t make any sense.

“Isn’t it just us?” Dakota asked before she could step out the door.

Circe turned around to face, flashing the grin that almost made him bolt out the door.

“Oh, there will be others. Just you wait.” Circe said.

She walked off, her pristine black Mary Janes click-clacking as she did so.

Dakota turned towards the sewing machine. It was nice of her to offer a place for him to stay, but he couldn’t sleep there. He had an apartment of his own.

He’d tell her later, though. He had to get to work first.

Chapter Five

FLASHBACK

Dakota rushed to the shrill ringing of the telephone in his apartment, cruelly woken up from sleep. Who would be calling him at such an hour?

Upon picking it up, he heard:

“Mom, Dad, and I are going to Circe’s Circus. You’re more than welcome to join us.”

It was his older sister, Blaine. She and their parents loved to search for ghosts in abandoned places. They believed in something else being out there.

But Dakota? He saw it all as ridiculous. Why should there be anything out there? There was dirt and only dirt. To search for something else was childish.

“No thanks. I’m alright up here.” Dakota said.

“But you’ll miss out on all of the fun!” Blaine whined.

What fun was it to trek in dirt-ridden, rusted places at the dead of night? It was fun hearing about it in radios, but in real life…

It was unproductive.

“Are you sure?” Blaine asked.

Dakota had to use every fiber of strength within him to not sigh at Blaine’s words. She was trying to get him to change his mind, as she always did. She didn’t accept no for an answer until it was repeated for a considerable amount.

“Positive.” Dakota said, standing ground with his words.

And with that, he ended the phone call.

Chapter Six

Dakota rubbed his tired, worn, bleeding hands together, satisfied with what he had created. It had taken all night, and eye bags were weighing down on his face, but he did it. He made his clown costume.

It was a light purple overall jumpsuit with a pink tie and light blue gloves. He wasn’t sure where the makeup, wig, and shoes were, but perhaps Circe left some stuff for him in the closet.

Behind the trailer door, Dakota could hear voices rising. His heart began to race as he thought of performing with a crew.

It’d be nice to have some real friends.

Holding the clown costume in one arm, Dakota stepped out into the glaring sun, a stark reminder that reality was never to be run from.

That was alright. He’d make things work and ends meet. That was what he always did, and that was what would always work.

Every time, it never failed.

Chapter Seven

When Dakota made it to the clearing, he found two little girls conjoined together, a tween boy, an extremely gaunt woman, and a clown woman dressed as a train conductor.

Why is she already in costume? Dakota thought.

“Fantastic! You’re all together!” Circe’s voice boomed.

Dakota turned around, surprised that Circe had appeared out of nowhere, but not as much as how fast the circus had performers.

“Everyone, meet Dakota! Dakota, those two lovely little girls are Emberlynn and Juniper, that boy is Alexis, that woman is Zara, and that clown is Clover. I bet you’ll all get along beautifully!” Circe beamed.

Dakota and the others waved awkwardly at each other. Circe stayed there, smiling for a good, prolonged minute, until she left them to their own devices.

How did she find people so fast? Dakota thought to himself.

But did anything make sense at the circus? It’d make sense sometime soon, right? It had to.

At least he wouldn’t be alone with Circe. That would have made him a tad uneasy.

Chapter Eight

THE VERY FIRST PERFORMANCE

Dakota watched from behind the stage curtains as Emberlynn and Juniper played with dolls on the rickety stage, the audience clapping wildly for them.

Somehow, Circe had managed to make tickets for an entire audience to view the performers. The whole act of the conjoined little girls was the fact that they were conjoined. That was it.

Juniper flinched, as though she had seen something that had particularly unsettled her, but Emberlynn nudged her to play again.

Dakota frowned. Was it just his imagination, or was there a purple, bruise-colored smoke cloud in the distance?

He didn’t get much sleep the other night. That must have been why he was seeing things. He’d feel better the next day.

But then, why did Juniper react to something? Was she tired too, or was there something out there?

Of course she was tired! There was no other explanation! Why would anything be out there? There was just the depleting circus and the humans who called themselves performers!

And yet, Dakota couldn’t get rid of the lump that was growing in his throat.

Chapter Nine

AFTER THE PERFORMANCE

Dakota bowed down to the audience that clapped for his eccentricities. He juggled a few bowling pins and rode on a unicycle, but that caused such an uproar from them.

After he bowed, he walked out of the stage. Clover was assigned to be the conductor of a train that went around the circus. Zara could make spiders crawl from her mouth, Alexis was yet another clown, and Emberlynn and Juniper were simply themselves. The fact that they were conjoined was enough for the audience to cackle.

Dakota watched the train go by the circus. The wheels turning were peaceful, a continuous, routine rumble of time passing by…

Right next to him, Emberlynn and Juniper were shivering, holding onto each other. Their eyes were wide with fright, but there was nothing in front of them.

“Please…no…not my bones…” The girls mumbled.

Dakota flinched. What about their bones? What was frightening them so?

He nudged Juniper’s shoulder gently, so she wouldn’t be in the clasp of fear.

Juniper being touched affected Emberlynn to slightly flinch, and the girls ran off, as though they were afraid to talk to him.

Did the circus just make people act in certain ways or-

No! He’d talk to them, that was all. If they wanted to talk, great! If not, then he would leave them be and let them rest.

He didn’t want to bother them too much.

Chapter Ten

A FEW HOURS LATER

Emberlynn and Juniper sat on a bench. The others went off to their trailers to rest, save for Clover, who was still driving the train.

Dakota sat next to them on the bench. He didn’t want to force anything out of them, but he also didn’t want them to go to bed with unpleasant feelings.

“Are you kids okay? You seemed all shaken up a few hours ago.” Dakota said.

The girls looked up at him, their eyes seeming to question whether they should tell him or not.

“We’re fine. We just thought that we saw something bad.” Emberlynn said.

“But what if it’s something evil?!” Juniper cried out.

Emberlynn turned around to face her and yelled:

“It’s not! Stop it!”

“It’s probably nothing. Don’t worry too much about it, okay?” Dakota said.

Because he hated to see anyone fight at all, especially if they were young kids.

“We’re not going to worry.” Emberlynn said pointedly.

Juniper twirled a strand of her hair frantically, so Dakota smiled and said:

“That’s good. Remember, if you two ever feel unsafe, you can come to me or to the others. We’re all in this together.”

For although it was one day since he met them all, he had a feeling that they would all stick it through.

At least, he hoped.

Chapter Eleven

FLASHBACK-SEVEN YEARS OLD

“It’s okay, Dakota. The ghosts are nice.” Blaine said.

Blaine held on tightly to Dakota’s hand. Their parents had taken them to an abandoned mansion, said to be haunted by countless ghosts that were murdered at a party.

A classic horror story, yet Dakota still felt the fright simmer in his bones. What if a wailing ghost jumped out at him and attacked? What if he drowned in the misery of other lost souls? What if-

“Look!” Blaine cried out, pointing to something in the distance.

Something moved underneath the pile of cloth on the ground.

Blaine ran towards it, dragging Dakota with her. He didn’t want to come, but he also didn’t want to let go, out of fear of being alone.

She pulled back the cloth and…

And it was a rat. A rat was moving in the cloth.

Blaine shrieked, so did the rat. The rat scurried away, but Dakota sighed in relief.

There were no ghosts.

No ghosts were coming for him.

Except, didn’t he hear wailing earlier, when he stepped into the mansion? Like the sound of a woman crying?

No, no. That was the wind, just like there was only a rat.

There was nothing to be afraid of. Nothing at all.

Chapter Twelve

Dakota opened his eyes to the glaringly bright, painfully obvious sun. It was a new day, and a new day to bring out more performances!

A bone-white claw reached out through his window. Dakota watched carefully as it crawled further and further…

It was Zara, panting as though she had been furiously beaten. Her lips were chapped, her eyes were wild, and her skin and clothes were covered in muck of all kinds.

“Sorry to disturb you…I just had to…had to find somewhere to rest…my trailer it…it doesn’t feel right. I couldn’t sleep. I felt like…like…like my bones were breaking.” Zara said between shaking breaths.

She was on the floor, her hands firmly planted on the hardwood like they were nailed straight on. Zara tried to get up, but kept slipping on her own feet.

Dakota jumped from bed and helped her up.

“It was so vivid and real. I thought that I was going to die. I…”

Zara couldn’t finish her sentence. She bawled right into tears, her white eyes holding the petrified, paralyzing fright of a child. Dakota wiped her tears away as best as he could while stroking her damp hair, starkly reminded of a moment in his childhood where he was so scared that he cried.

What could have happened to make a grown woman cry?

Chapter Thirteen

Dakota rushed out of the trailer, one arm looped around Zara’s shoulder.  Circe was setting up the string lights for the circus, ready for the next show.

“Do you think that you can perform today?” Dakota asked. He didn’t want to force Zara to perform, even though Circe was already setting the stage.

Zara shook her head. Her breaths came out shallowly, as though from a deep, hollow coffin. It reminded him of when he was a child, when he thought that ghosts would drag him into darkness, steal his soul, eat his flesh. He wouldn’t be able to do anything about it, because they would so fast, and ready to kill-

Dakota opened the door to Zara’s trailer. They had made it, with the humming and thrumming of the train wheels that Clover controlled.

Zara wrung herself from his arm and plopped limply on her bed, her dark black hair looking less thick and more vein-like.

“Do you need anyone to take care of you?” Dakota asked.

He never wanted to be alone in a place where he felt unsafe. As a child in a rumored-to-be haunted house, and even as an adult in his apartment.

“It’d be nice to have you here.” Zara croaked weakly, her skin becoming an overly fluorescent, plastic peach-color.

Dakota closed the trailer door as though he were ushering a little kid off to bed, carefully and quietly. The clown wig and the red nose he found in his closet the other day itched at his skin, as though they were opposing him, and his stomach felt like it was swirling into a funnel, but he couldn’t bolt away.

Not from Zara. Not from the circus. The circus that…that was abandoned only until he showed up.

Why did she have such a terrible dream?

Chapter Fourteen

Hours had collided into an out-of-pitch symphony as Dakota watched over Zara as best as he could. He gave her cold water, pressed a cold wash cloth to her head, told her stories of his childhood (none of the ghost stories), all of which to keep her conscious.

She was slipping in and out of wakefulness and sleep, as though she weren’t quite in reality. Clover’s train chugged along the tracks, the show went on with the girls and Alexis.

BANG BANG BANG

Dakota jumped in his chair while Zara barely did so much as flinch. He was just telling her another childhood story when he heard the impatient raps on the door.

He got up from the chair and looked through the peep hole. There was Circe, biting her bottom lip and drawing blood, restlessness in her eyes, like a predator eager to kill.

Dakota didn’t open the door. He slinked back into the chair, next to where Zara lay.

“Who was that?” Zara asked groggily.

“Circe. Stay where you are, she’ll pass.” Dakota said.

“Why don’t you let her in? She could help.” Zara mused.

Why didn’t he let her in? She was the ringleader, she could have done something useful.

But something about her was just…off. In no time, she made the forsaken circus alive, and she had gotten performers. Something about the way she smiled…or was it her voice? Or was Dakota overthinking it?

Finally, the banging stopped. The train continued to roll along.

Dakota let out a breath of relief, reminded far too much of holding his breath in dusted, barren buildings, as though he were trying to stop ghosts from stealing his life away.

Chapter Fifteen

The sky had hushed into night, but the train still moved along. Dakota got up from the chair. He looked back at Zara, who was sleeping soundly on her bed.

He hesitated at the door. Should he leave her? What if something happened? What if she got hurt? What if-

She was safe in her trailer. Besides, she wasn’t the only circus performer. There were younger kids performing, too.

Dakota would lock her trailer door, just in case. Only she would be able to unlock it from where she was.

She looked so peaceful with her black hair splayed around her pale face.

Nothing was going to happen. She was going to stay peaceful, because nothing was going to happen.

Chapter Sixteen

Dakota tossed and turned in his bed, thoughts of Zara haunting his mind. He hadn’t yet gone back to his apartment to tell them his situation, and perhaps it wasn’t his apartment anymore. He’d had to live at the circus.

Would Zara be okay? Would the others be okay? He locked her door, she should be fine. But what if something happened to her? To anyone else? Why was Clover’s train still chugging on the tracks?

A severe knife-cut scream broke Dakota out of his thoughts. He pulled off the covers and ran out the door.

The scream was from Zara’s trailer.

Chapter Seventeen

Dakota made it over to Zara’s trailer, along with Emberlynn, Juniper, and Alexis. Clover was still in her train, as though she hadn’t heard Zara’s screams.

Outside of her trailer, in a white bird cage, were Zara’s pet spiders, crawling about in a skittish manner. On the first day, Mrs. Circe had given Zara a bird cage of spiders, which Zara used for her tricks. Zara’s main talent was being a supposed “spider whisperer”.

“Is she okay?” Juniper asked nervously. Dakota couldn’t see very well, even with all of the string lights on, but he could hear Juniper shaking.

“Yeah. She probably just had a nightmare.” Emberlynn said, but even she didn’t sound too convinced.

And from Alexis’ silhouette, Dakota could see that the boy was biting his fingernails deeply.

“She’s going to be okay. I was there with her. I took care of her. Emberlynn is right, she only had a nightmare.” Dakota said, gently removing Alexis’ fingers from his mouth.

The three kids turned to look at him, hanging into a barely existent thread of hope. Dakota felt the pressure building up within him on being the adult of the group. He was twenty-three years old, and he still didn’t feel like he was doing anything right.

But he had to be strong. For them. Because he wasn’t sure if Zara was alive, if Clover was available, and if Circe was even trying.

“Out of my way! Go to your trailers! I’ll figure this out!” Mrs. Circe cried out, pushing Dakota aside. She didn’t push the kids, but the way she yelled still shook them.

“Does anyone want to go to my trailer for the night?” Dakota asked. He wouldn’t force them, but he thought that it might help.

The three of them nodded. He gestured for them to follow him, but not before glancing into the open door of Zara’s trailer.

Her body was lying limp out on the floor, and she looked like a pile of skin, as though she had no bones.

Dakota swallowed hard. He would never repeat what he just saw to the children, ever.

What…what was Circe’s circus really about?

Chapter Eighteen

Nobody slept easy in Dakota’s trailer. Dakota made himself a bed on the floor with blankets and pillows while he let the kids sleep in his actual bed, just so they would be more comfortable.

But even then, he didn’t think that they slept well. He heard the girls cry out in pain, and the boy whimper to himself. Dakota tried to wake them up by shaking them or yelling, but nothing worked. It lasted all the way until morning.

And through all of that trouble, Clover’s train never ceased to move along.

Dakota tried his best to swallow down his guilt, but it still built back up. It wasn’t his fault that they didn’t sleep too greatly, but still…

Why couldn’t he wake them up?

Chapter Nineteen

Dakota’s door opened with a neat click. Circe stepped into the trailer, her shoes click-clacking on the hardwood floor.

Dakota blanched. If she could so easily walk into the trailers of any of her performers, then why did she knock on Zara’s door? Was she trying to trick them? Did she have something to do with what happened to Zara?

“I know that last night was rough. One of our own has passed tonight, and it leaves me with great sorrow.” Circe said, lowering her hat to her chest, as though she wanted to express her misery.

Yet even then, her voice had the “showlady” quality to it.

“But as they say, the show must go on! You’re all doing fantastic, keep the spirits up!” Circe beamed.

Keep the spirits up? Did she not sense the growing unease in all of them?

“Now, Emberlynn and Juniper. Please see me.”  Circe said, nodding towards the girls.

Right then, her voice had gone lower than before, almost inhuman.

“Can’t we all meet up? As a group?” Dakota asked.

Circe snapped back to Dakota, grinning widely at him, and said:

“I appreciate your concern, but I’m the one who gives orders here. Emberlynn and Juniper. See me now.”

“Can’t they-“

“Dakota. You’re just a performer. I can have you replaced any time.”  Circe seethed through a smile.

Emberlynn and Juniper jumped out of bed, fear in their brown eyes. Dakota didn’t want them to resign to any fate, to feel as though they had no voice.

He grabbed Emberlynn’s wrist, but she pulled away and walked over to Circe.

Circe briskly walked away from the tent with the girls in tow, as though she wanted to get as far away as possible.

Dakota wouldn’t let them go too far. He couldn’t save his blood family, but there was still time to save his found one.

Chapter Twenty

“Alexis, get up. We’re following them.” Dakota said.

Alexis shot up from bed and gave him an incredulous look.

“Follow them? What’s the point? It’s not like we’re going to be able to do anything.” Alexis said.

He didn’t even question why Dakota wanted them both to follow Circe and the girls. It was like he knew that something was up with Circe, and that, that disturbed Dakota to his core.

“Maybe we can help them. But we’ll never know unless you get up. Come on!” Dakota said, gesturing Alexis to follow him.

Alexis sighed, as if resigning himself, and got up from the bed.

They couldn’t give up. Not yet. There was still time.

Chapter Twenty-One

“What if she finds us? What if she sees us?” Alexis asked.

The two of them had gotten out of the trailer and followed Circe and the girls to the main tent.

“She won’t see you. Stay out here. Peek a bit from the flap to let the girls know that they’re safe. I’ll let them know that you’re here and then you three can make a run for it. I’ll go talk to her.” Dakota said.

“Why are we doing this?” Alexis asked, his eyes full of fright.

“Because I don’t trust her.” Dakota said grimly.

Without further ado, he stepped into the tent. Even though he already had a bad feeling about Circe, the sight he found still wasn’t any less terrifying.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Huddled in the corner was Emberlynn and Juniper, their eyes bloodshot, their small bodies weak and frail, shivering as though they would break away at any moment.

Circe stood over them, her eyes wide and wild, panting heavily, and…and she was grinning. Except her smile took up most of her face, almost as though she was entirely teeth.

Dakota didn’t waste a second. He pounced on Circe and with his free hand, pointed to Alexis on the other side.

The girls ran off towards Alexis, leaving only him and Circe.

Circe, who was beginning to break out of his tackle, who was heavy under his grip, who…who…

What on Earth was she doing with the girls?

Chapter Twenty-Three

Circe got back up and turned the tables on him, tackling Dakota on the dirt.

Her face was spotted with soil and mud, her hair was strangled and knotted with dirt balls, but she still had on the expression of an overexcited child, an almost pointed-tooth smile completing the look.

“You thought that you could stop me, eh? Thought you were lickety-slickety enough? Goodness, you’ve got yourself quite into the pickle!” Circe cackled, clawing her nails deep into his flesh.

“What do you want?” Dakota moaned, for her nails were so sharp…so ingrained…what was she?

Circe laughed, a peculiar sound that was between a panicked scream and clapping hands. Dakota wondered what it would be like if he’d disintegrate into dust, but then relaxed as he thought of the children running free.

As long as they were safe, who cared what happened to him?

“What I got from Clover, from your family, from Zara, and now, from you! Nothing more than your bones!” Circe shrieked.

Dakota looked back to the entrance flap longingly, but resigned to his fate.

At least the children wouldn’t be harmed.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Circe’s mouth opened up into a hole of teeth, salvia dripping onto his face savagely.

He closed his eyes as she tore through his own face, sucking away his bones, drowning Dakota in his own blood.

Please, kids. Run. Run as fast as you can. He willed desperately in his mind.

Circe’s nails-no, claws-were digging through his skin, drawing up blood mixed with intestines.

If his death had to be gruesome, then he hoped it was the only death in the circus.

Finally, he felt his heart drown away.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Dakota opened his eyes. He was in the same tent as before, except everything was hazy, as though someone put a gauze veil over his eyes.

He didn’t hear anybody talking outside the tent, only crickets and Clover’s train.

How long ago had Circe killed him? Was it already night?

Dakota floated towards the entrance flap and pulled it back. The children may not have been able to see him, but he’d check to make sure they were okay.

After that he’d find his family.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Dakota didn’t see the children no matter where he looked. He should have been relieved, since it must have meant that they left, but something was tugging at the corners of his mind, telling him that everything was…off.

Behind him, Dakota could hear Alexis struggling, as though somebody were roughly grabbing him by the arms…

Dakota sharply turned around.

He couldn’t see the girls, but he did see  Circe dragging Alexis away, pulling on his arms with the same restrictive force she used on Dakota, as though to drain the life out of him…

Dakota felt a hysterical grin spread across his face, making his eyes bulge out madly. Even amidst all the terror, Clover was still driving her train.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

“You think that you can run from me? You think that for a second, I would let you go? Deplorable, honestly, how that would ever cross your mind!” Circe shouted out.

She was beginning to choke Alexis, his eyes growing wide, froth spilling from his mouth. He flailed his arms, but she only held on tighter.

Dakota focused all of his energy on  Circe, channeling all of the sorrow and madness that was twisting within him, but then-

A flash of pink light flickered in his eyes and pushed him away.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Dakota looked up. Right above the shivering Circe and confused Alexis was…

Clover?

Except, Clover wasn’t her regular self at all. Her eyes glowed white, and there were pale, feathery angel wings on her back.

She pointed at Alexis and then made a gesture of covering her ears. After only a few seconds, Alexis covered his ears.

Dakota watched as Clover began to open her mouth, watchful of what would happen next.

She was just going to open her mouth, but it was the first time she would do so.

It just had to be monumental, Dakota could feel it.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

From out of her mouth came the ear-bleeding sound of a siren scream, a scream of pain lodged deep within, covered by years of iridescent circus lights and lipstick-painted grins.

It was the scream Dakota wanted to cry out when he read on the newspaper that his family “disappeared”. He knew that it was something more, but didn’t want to acknowledge it. He was afraid to face the truth. He was afraid to face the ghosts.

But sometimes, one has to face what’s uncomfortable in order to escape.

Chapter Thirty

The circus was trickling with flames from Clover’s scream, the first fire burst having died down. Alexis’ body was beginning to look suspiciously translucent, but Clover took his hand and pointed at Dakota.

Dakota pointed to himself, just to be sure.

Clover nodded and gestured at him to come closer.

There was nothing left for him, nothing except the other side.

He walked up to her and felt his heart begin to relax a little when he saw Zara, Emberlynn, and Juniper join her.

In single file line, they followed Clover to her train.

Epilogue

Clover’s train led them all to the afterlife, to the land of fresh flowers and blue skies.

At least, that was the intended plan.

Juniper wanted to run outside, to be free, and dragged Emberlynn along. Dakota followed suit, hoping that he’d catch them and bring them back.

Years have passed since the circus had burned away. In place of the circus is a school, a school built in the fifties and still standing in the seventies.

Dakota and the girls haunt the halls and walls, far from their families, far from their friends, far from the afterlife.

Circe may be dead, but will they be free?