Now it's the start of an adventure. An occasional flashback or two, perhaps, but otherwise only the present will be written. Mr. Tiny joins the story. Enjoy!

To my reviewers:

Jerichoholic-Edgehead: Glad you liked it. Yeah, so maybe it is better written long.... but not yet.

Chapter 5. The Decision

The Cirque du Freak never seemed to meet problems. Either that, or Mr. Tall always expected them to arise, and prepared for it. The same did not go for its performers. One of them particularly. Cormac, ever since he had been told the ringmaster's words, he hadn't been the same. In the performances, he was bright, entertaining, the perfect performer. But once everyone had gone, he was an altogether different man.

Cormac knew that people were starting to worry about him, and part of him wanted to go to them, apologize, and explain to them exactly what was bothering him. But the majority of him insisted against it. He knew that if he kept this to himself for too long, his level of performance would drop, and he eventually might be kicked out of the Cirque. He knew he wouldn't be able to live with it if he had to leave. Only Mr. Tall knew about his past in the Cirque, and Cormac wanted to leave it that way. And there was something else that bothered him.

There was one other, outside the Cirque, that knew about him. His mother. He had always wondered where she had ended up. In fact, he now wanted to find her, more than ever. This was he was here now, packing his things, preparing his departure. He was going to ask Mr. Tall about his mother's whereabouts as soon as he could. Which would be... now. He shut his rucksack, slung it over his shoulder, and walked out of his caravan. As he strode over to Mr. Tall's caravan, a voice stopped him.

"Now, where are you going at this time of night, Colin Drewman?" asked the voice. It sent chills down his spine. He knew the voice.

Desmond Tiny emerged from the darkness, followed by three Little People. Wearing his sharp, yellow suit, his childish green Wellington boots, and his spectacles, Mr. Tiny presented himself. He was also holding his heart shaped watch. The Little People were as silent as ever.

"Desmond" whispered Cormac, his eyes wide and staring. As harmless-looking as he may seem, Mr. Tiny was an incredibly evil creature. He wasn't surprised that Mr. Tiny knew his real name, and presumably his past as well. So he had been wrong. One more person knew about his past. But he should have known. Mr. Tiny knew about everything.

"So," continued Mr. Tiny. "Going to find your mother, eh? Going to ask old Hibernius?" He chuckled. "I'm not sure if he'll help, you know. He might even not know!"

Cormac shook his head. "He'll know. I know he will" answered Cormac, and started to walk again.

"I know many things, Colin, and one of them is that Hibernius hasn't found her yet. True, he has been looking for her, but with no success. I have found her Colin; but if you don't want to know, fine." To this Cormac whirled round, facing the meddler. His face was a mixture of emotions; anger, confusion, annoyance, and disbelief. He couldn't bring himself to admit that Mr. Tall didn't know, but if Mr. Tiny said so...

Mr. Tiny sneered. It was in his nature to confuse people. And he loved doing it.

"Of course, I know where your mother is, but I'm not sure if I can tell you..." he trailed off. He was hanging out the bait. Would Cormac take it?

He did. "Anything! You know how much I want to see her again!" wailed Cormac. A solemn tear crept down his cheek.

"Well, if you put it that way..." started Mr. Tiny. And as Cormac heard what the little man had to say, it seemed that he had to make a decision. Fast.

"I will tell you where your mother is, only if you kill her afterwards." finished Mr. Tiny. His sneer could have frozen water.

Cormac faced a choice. Meet your mother, then never see her again, or don't see her and let her live. This was a Hobson's choice, he knew.

"You see," admitted Mr. Tiny, "if you don't kill her now, I'm afraid that she might prove a problem in the near future."

Cormac made his decision. He opened his mouth to speak...

Another cliffhanger. Which would you have chosen? Tell me via review!