10. Dark Horse
The kids were exhausted but turned the whole manor upside down searching for Flabber until Wolfie brought the gorgeous Madame Tassel to the parlour. She looked desperate and had tears running down her cheeks.
"I´m so glad you are all right, children. I saw it all in my crystal ball and was all worried" she smiled.
"You use a crystal ball?"
"I´m Madame Tassel, Mysteria´s clairvoyant. The one who taught Flavius how to see through the fog"
"Wait, Flavius?" the three looked at each other. "You mean Flabber? You taught him how to use his crystal ball?"
"Who else could? Jack dislikes them because he can see through his magical eye" the lady was already known by the monsters.
"Hey, I remember you. Flabber was all nuts about you and Mirko" Mums pointed out.
"Indeed. And you vere alvays talking avout somethink called 'The Vulf'"
"So true, dear Count. Flavius and I have been searching for centuries for that creature"
"You mean Wolfie?" Drew pointed at the werewolf.
"No. We mean the Big Bad Wolf" Tassel smiled. (AN: Something like this: art/Finale-3-121798064 by Endling). "The biggest and most bloodiest creature on earth. A large beast that seems to be made of black smoke, missing an eye, honey voice and as deadly as a cobra´s poison. No made up fool like those nowadays fairy tales but the one of the old which ate naughty children and people, spreading darkness and death where he went. Flavius and I wanted to end his reign of terror"
"He! Keep dreaming! Nobody can hold down that thing!" Mums snickered.
"Cuz it has no mortal body. But we once had a plan and we still have it. But now, Flavius is in danger. He has been taken to Jack. The Ringmaster won´t have mercy"
"We must save Flabber!"
"From who?" chimed a voice and they all saw Little Ghoul. "Jack? Jack adores his pupil and would never harm him"
"Hello? He trapped Flabber in the organ"
"And your point is? Jack is weird, sometimes a bit harsh but always does things for a reason"
"Hate to admit it but she´s right, you know?" Fangula nodded.
"I dunno" Roland and Drew looked at each other.
"We have to go to the circus, sooner or later" Arts wasn´t convinced either.
"We three will go this evening with my parents. We can meet then"
"Thank u so much, young ones. I will see to Flavius, I promise" Madame Tassel smiled warmly and both the boys were relieved but not Jo. Something was off, not right. "See you then" the woman joined his circus partners and returned to the big top.
"Well, at least we know we have friends in there" Drew lied back.
"I don´t like her" Jo frowned.
"Were two" Ghoul folded her arms.
"C´mon, girls. Why not? She´s an old friend of Flabber"
"Not in the way you guys think. Madame Tassel IS the clairvoyant, true, but she´s also a strange ghost. She wanted to be a phasm and is the same age as Flabs but, her past is too dark. Whenever she was around and even now, Blue acted weird, like under a spell, under her command and Jack did not like that. When he snapped out of it, he seemed sad, my brother told me. Flabber and her might be friends but, even if it is with a small part of his heart, Blue hates and fears that woman. So, if you guys go tonight, eyes open cuz she´s like a snake in the grass"
"She´s nice"
"Yeah but, when Mysteria was here forty years ago, all she did was read Flabber´s books over and over not get him out of the organ. Taz only cares for her Wolf thing"
"But why? If she´s bad, why destroy the biggest monster of all?"
"Vho knows? Vut in case you haven´t noticed, she vas happy to see you three"
"I hope those are just figures" Roland and Drew swallowed.
"I got a better question. If Jack´s the good guy, why did he put Flabber in the organ?" Jo went thoughtful.
XXXX
Jack was thoughtful. Flabber had finished his tale and now, the Ringmaster had many questions in mind.
"Why didn´t you told me about the letter?"
"I feared that someone else, the author, might read it" the phasm was feeling the pain again.
"He wrote you, or better say, he threatened you because you said you were quitting the quest for the Big Bad" Jack kept his scarred eye closed.
"I´ve been feeling ill ever since" Flabber felt the increasing puncturing.
"Voodoo or something like it?"
"That would explain why the pain comes and goes over and over. But..."
"Flavius, do you have any idea of what day is today?"
"No" it was getting difficult to stay awake with the drowsy feeling and the stomach ache.
"It´s your deathday. The anniversary of your death" it was true. "Your body is remembering what happened but why...?" Jack saw his pupil barely holding back a painful moan. The phasm could hear screaming in his mind from the past. "Perhaps you do remember"
"What? It's just a stupid nightmare" he tried to smile.
"Nightmare or memory?" their eyes met. "Stop fighting. Let it flow"
"For the first time, in ten thousand years, I'm scared to death, Jack. Cuz I'm afraid of what I might find"
"You know why I took you in?" the Ringmaster smiled. "Cuz you were full of life. You had a horrible death and everyone kept on telling you that the best thing to do was to forget and close your eyes. But you didn´t. All the people I asked about you, told me so, that you loved life and were willing to do anything to have a reason to go on. I liked that and I still do. You have caused chaos by bringing those monsters from the comics but, I can see in your eyes that you know you´re responsible and will do anything to put things back to place. You´ve grown up, my boy, and that´s good. You will come home when it´s time but I want you to know that there´s a reason why I put you in the organ"
"There is?"
"Indeed. You´ll find it out soon enough. My dear Soothsayer and I talked it over quite a few times" Jack´s smile captured Flabber´s attention. The Soothsayer was a female Sable Antelope who helped Jack with her predictions and kept Taz at bay. A sharp pain in his belly made him double back when it reached his chest. He felt as if his body was rejecting the very same magic that sustained it. Flabber tried to stand up but his legs gave away. Luckily, Jack had seen that and easily kept him up with one hand while the rest of the circus crew came running.
"I can´t breathe"
"Stop fighting. Let it flow" the Ringmaster repeated and the phasm´s world went black around him.
"So you wanna play with magic
Boy, you should know what you're falling for
Baby do you dare to do this?
Cause I'm coming at you like a dark horse
Are you ready for, ready for
A perfect storm, perfect storm
Cause once you're mine, once you're mine
There's no going back"
Jack was inspired basically by Earl P. Sidebottom 'The Phantom' from Flying Rhino Junior High, but also by Endling´s Oliver Alptraum and Big Bad, and MagpieFreak´s Lucifer Mephistofeles from "Circus of Pandemonium" (all in deviantart, including my dear Earl) as well, as the music group Duendelirium (look for them in Youtube, you´ll thank me later).
Lyrics belong to Katy Perry.
Who´s really the bad guy, our Dark Horse?
And the Wolf?
Stay tuned!