The Crimson Carnival: Chapter XI, The Lost Children And Found Courage

  --- Gregory Fischer ---

  He expected an order of either fight or flight, what he did not expect however was for Maeve to keep glancing between the crowd of carnivorous cannibal clowns and Ferris as if weighing a decision.

  Part of him didn’t trust her there, if only because of how hard the Theater Rose had fought to keep the kid in this nightmare, but another part of him was aware of the things that she’d implied about the Lost Child.

  After coming to some conclusion of her own, Maeve eventually called, “Ferris?”

  “Yeah?” The Lost Child answered dazedly as if unconcerned with all of the monsters looking at them. (Monsters he probably deals with on the daily…)

  Despite his attention being spread kind of thin at the moment, he was still able to make out one of the clowns asking, “Wait… is that a?” while taking a step back.

  Maeve looked the leader of the clowns in the eye and said, “Would you mind calling the other Children here?”

  “Big Sis?” Ferris asked from next to Louis. (Wait.)

  His eyes darted to a frightened Melanie with Ferris in her arms, and to an equally frightened Louis with Ferris standing half behind him. (What?)

  “Mister?” A voice asked from next to him, where a third Ferris was holding onto his pants leg. “Can we play?”

  “Doggy!” A familiar voice cheered, from where a fourth and fifth Ferris were now petting a confused looking Mr. Peabody.

  All around him came various cries of the similar, as more and more Ferrises continued to appear some crawling out from behind store counters, some stumbling out from alley ways, some bouncing off the tent roofs, and others appearing in the blink of an eye until they were surrounded by a veritable army of Ferrises.

  More than one of the clowns stumbled back, closing ranks as their group was slowly surrounded as even more Ferrises continued to flood the street.

  “Child!” Maeve called once more as she raised her hand, causing hundreds of heads to turn her way as she drew the attention of all the Lost Children.

  Like a guillotine the Theater Rose’s arm fell, her hand pointing at the horde of clowns as she declared, “This lot wishes to play.”

  “Play?/Play!/Play…” The Ferrises’ reactions all varied as they slowly turned towards the monstrous clowns that were now looking more than a little intimidated.

  “That’s-No!” One of the clowns yelled. “We do not want to-”

  “Play…” The horde of Ferrises declared as one as they stepped forward in unison.

  “No, we do not want to-”

  “Play…” The horde interrupted once more as they took another step forward.

  “Be ready to run.” Maeve told him as the air began to fill with something he recognized, even if he couldn’t remember what it was beyond the fact it terrified him in a ‘Kill it with fire!’ kind of way.

  “Don’t you brats listen!” The leader of the clowns roared. “We do not want to-” A Ferris latched onto the clown’s leg, cutting him off.

  Ever so slowly the clown looked down to meet the Lost Child’s gaze, where the smiling child happily drawled told him, “Play~”

  As one the horde of Ferrises descended upon the carnivorous clowns who were helpless as they were forced to ‘play’ with the Lost Children. Usually after being dragged to the ground by a dozen of the Ferrises clinging to their every limb.

  “Now!” Maeve yelled, dashing off to the side. “And keep a grip on your Lost Child!”

  He glanced back where Melanie was struggling to hold a squirming Ferris in her arms, while pouting about how he, “Want to play!”

  With a grimace, rushed over, and- “Give him to me!” -took the squirming Ferris into his arms, while wishing he still had access to his sleep smoke. (If Roisin changed her mind about leaving him behind then we’ve got to take him with us whether he likes it or not.)

  “I’ve got him. Go!” He told Melanie, with a nod towards Maeve even as the kid put up a far greater fight than he’d expect from one so small. “Come on kid… We’ve got to go…”

  “No, wanna play!” Ferris screamed, something shifting as for just a moment he looked more like a demon child than the innocent kid that had been following him all night.

  “Ferris we need to go!” Melanie cried, sticking around in spite of his orders to run. “Come on… Don’t you want to ride the ferris wheel?!”

  The squirming Lost Child froze, before slowly turning towards Melanie. “Ferris wheel?”

  Melanie nodded. “That’s right. We’re going to the ferris wheel, remember?”

  “Ferris wheel…” Ferris repeated once more, his eyes drifting to the massive structure as he quit squirming.

  “Y-yeah… we’re going to the ferris wheel.” He confirmed, just a touch nervously as he glanced at an equally nervous Melanie.

  “Hurry you two!” Roisin called from one of the alley entry ways.

  (Right, I need answers about this.) He decided, shaking his head when Melanie offered to take Ferris back before they both ran to catch up with everyone else.

  “What was that?” He hissed, once he was back near the front of the pack with Maeve.

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  Melanie glanced back at the children keeping up with their jog. “That was why the Lost Child needed to stay in the Crimson Carnival. As much as I hate it here, letting one of them out would let all of them out.”

  “And yet you told us to make sure we brought Ferris?” He frowned.

  Roisin actually looked offended at the question, letting out a growl as she brought their group to a halt. “Just because I’d prefer they remain contained, does not mean I believe they deserve to die with this hell hole!” Maeve took a deep breath to calm herself down. “Unlike all the others corrupted by the court, the Lost Children are still innocent, unaware of the threat they truly pose. Hopefully, I’ll be able to keep them contained when we escape and if not… I don’t know…”

  Part of him wanted more details on what kind of threat the Lost Children represented, but a quick glance at the cracks in the sky -already halfway to the horizon- had him reminding himself once more: (Priorities. Survive then deal with the complications.)

  With that in mind he turned back to the ferris wheel. “How much further is that thing? This park’s space is throwing me off more than I like.”

  Maeve glared at the ferris wheel. “With the dredges cutting off our previous path, as well as likely cutting off others… Too far, especially with us needing to ride it to its peak.”

  “Any shortcuts?” He pressed.

  “One.” Maeve grimaced, before setting off down the street. “We can cut through the ringmaster’s tent. I intended to go around it, but… needs must.”

  “And why didn’t you want to cut through this tent exactly?” He wondered, a brief glance at the teens showing that they were following if close to each other, and Mr. Peabody guarding the rear just behind them. “We’re on a time crunch, so there must’ve been a reason to avoid a shortcut.”

  “There are several anchors holding the carnival together, the tent represents the one drawing people into the carnival's trap.” Maeve explained. “As the linchpin it’s usually well protected but… Given the dredges on the street and the crisis in the sky, we might be able to cut through without triggering them.”

  “And I’m guessing we can’t simply cut around it rather than through it?” He frowned.

  “Can you walk around that?” Maeve asked, gesturing to something in front of them.

  Turning forward he felt excitement as the music thrummed through the air, drawing him closer and closer to where the light peeked out from the tent’s entryway before- A hand turned him away and dragged him back to reality.

  He blinked, looking around to find he was a good dozen paces from everyone else watching him worriedly. Maeve the only one next to him as she gripped the back of his neck and kept him looking at the kids.

  “What… what happened?” He asked, feeling light-headed.

  Maeve watched him for a moment before letting out a sigh. “I was not expecting you to be so… susceptible to mind magicks.”

  He winced, remembering what his book said about his resistance to ‘Mind’. (Fatally without the power of The Black Briar Librarian…)

  “I’m guessing this complicates things…”

  “No more than anything else this night has wrought.” Maeve admitted, glaring behind him. “We don’t have time to work around this though given just how much of the carnival’s magic twists this space.”

  He took a deep breath before pulling out one of his cigarettes and lighting it, not quite caring about second hand smoke now that he knew Ferris wasn’t human. As the smoke filled his lungs, he used it as a distraction to keep anyone from noticing the bit of heat he was channeling where his prosthetic met flesh. An unpleasant sensation but like many times before, one that kept him grounded when he turned back towards whatever hypnotic effect the tent was giving off.

  “Alright… I can handle it as long as I know it’s there.” He nodded, still in control of himself. “Though I make no promises on how well I do should a fight break out.”

  Maeve nodded back. “As long as you can keep moving. Children, hurry!”

  He couldn’t help but notice the way the kids were watching him as they approached, worried looks on both their faces. “Are… are you okay?”

  “I’ll live. Just caught me off guard.” He grimaced, channeling just a bit more heat, a bit more pain, to keep him grounded.

  He tried to ignore the way Mr. Peabody was staring at him, eyes more aware than any dog’s should be.

  “Let’s just get moving before anything else goes wrong.” He told everyone, the first one through into the tent.

  The inside of the circus tent was about what he was expecting, rows of stands lining around a ring in the center of the tent and only broken by several other entrances to the tent. Enough to fit hundreds of visitors, far more than what one would expect from a traveling circus.

  “I… was expecting something a little scarier…” Louis confessed as they all cut through the circus ring. “I mean, there’s some blood on the ground but… there’s blood everywhere in this hell hole…”

  “Quinn must’ve taken her pets with her. She’s infected a number of animals with her blood. Corrupting them like everything else.” Maeve explained, before subtly catching Fischer’s attention and looking upwards a finger to her lips. “As long as she took them we’ll be safe for the moment.”

  He frowned around his cigarette before looking up and seeing a dozen corpses strung along the trapeze wire. Dozens of cages hung from chains bound to the darkness above, each containing a set of hungry crimson eyes looking out from their prisons just waiting for prey to get just a little too close.

  “Kitties…” Ferris mumbled, having followed his gaze.

  Unlike the Lost Child he understood Maeve’s message, which is why he told the teens that, “If there’s no threats here then that just means we’ve got more time to get to the ferris wheel before the sky finishes shattering.” (Best not to tempt the hungry beasts…)

  About half way through the tent Maeve paused, her eyes on a nearby pillar. One that he was fairly certain was supporting the entire tent.

  “What’s up?”

  “Considering whether or not it’s worth bringing the tent down.” Maeve admitted.

  “Is that smart, with everything?” He asked with a vague upward gesture.

  “Likely not, but given her connection it might be enough to make Quinn stumble in her attempts to save the carnival.” The Theater Rose answered. “And the bloody beasts getting loose might be enough to distract any remaining dredges.”

  “If they don’t go after us first.” He pointed out, eyes on the kids that had kept walking without them.

  “Hence why I have to consider the choice.” Maeve glared. “I can easily cut it so that it falls after we leave, but should the present court survive -something I’ve no doubt with the King present- they’d know I betrayed them…”

  “Do you want to betray them?” He wondered, pretty sure he already knew the answer.

  “I’ve been with the Court for almost two hundred years… and I hate every last one of them, what’s worse I know they’ll never leave me free…” The Theater Rose confessed sounding so very tired.

  He nodded in understanding, because while it might not be one for one, he had been there before. “There’s a saying I… learned in the military.” (Before I got myself kicked out.) “Never fight for someone not willing to fight for you. If you’re really scared and hate this place after two hundred years with them, then burn it all to the fucking ground.”

  Maeve gave him an amused huff. “I don’t much care for fire myself, but-” Faster than he could react, the Theater Rose drew her blade and slashed three separate grooves into the pillar. “-I appreciate the sentiment all the same.”

  “Good, now let’s get the fuck out of here because I am not fist fighting a vampire bear.” He warned Roisin.

  “You won’t have to.” Maeve chuckled as they both moved to catch up to the kids.

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