Chapter 2
The Mad

As Sally passed along the gray smooth rock walls she felt glad she wasn't claustrophobic or else this would be a lot worse. The rock walls were smooth and wet against her touch. Not much to grab onto. As she walked she quickened her pace as the thought dawned on her on how long the path will stay open for her.

She began to feel cold as she walked farther and farther away from the swamp and rubbed her cold arms. Rain began to trickle down at first soft and then hard. It was even colder than the temperature. She ran hugging her jacket close for warmth with rain drops stinging her eyes as she ran.

She tripped over a rock and fell to the ground awhile she didn't move as her mind spun as the world around her shifted into a colorless blur. She felt like laying down and dying but she saw the picture of her friends in front of her and strength returned to her as she forced herself up to her tired and shaky knees now numb to the harsh and cold rain. She panted, covered in mud. She grabbed the picture and stuffed it back in her jacket, pushing herself forward jogging.

" Sonic...where are you... " she gasped between her breathes. She felt ready to faint until a voice called out to her.

" Where are you going? " it said in a whisper in her ear.

She turned and saw nothing. Then she felt something cold grab her arm and wrench her backwards. She was about to let out a scream but there was still nobody there. It was just her and the walls. That was it. She looked up to see if something was watching her but when she did hard rain stung her eyes. She ran as hard as she could shutting her eyes blind to the cruel world around her clinging to the now distant memories of yesterday. Her brain was now floating in a soup of adrenaline and her eyes sown shut to the harsh truth.

Time seemed to stand still as all her senses failed her and the only thing she knew that she was still running but deaf to the cries of her lungs telling her to stop. But soon she collapsed from exhaustion. Her body was huddled cold and wet completely stiff on the ground. Her eyes were open but only a blank expression was there. No sign of her fighting spark. But after a long silence she let out a small whisper.

" Was it all a dream...? "

A bit of life returned to her eyes and the pupils expanded back to normal but were still without will or life to them as she felt someone grab her arms and drag her as blackness took her. When she awoke she still felt weak and was in a corner. She looked around and the area was cold steel and checkered tile floors. She was still wet, but felt a little better. As she got to her feet she felt a pair of hands grab her arms from behind. She felt too weak to resist or scream but merely accepted these strange mysterious hands. It was almost hypnotic as she felt them move and slide up and down her body. But then a familiar feminine voice spoke.

" Someones still sleeping barely conscious or aware. It's time to wake up! "

And with that she was shoved through a pink curtain to another room. At first all she could see was blackness but but then she hard some soft music begin to play and the lights began to un-dim the room and the walls were starting to become known to her. The music increased in beat and she felt her heart begin to race as if it was going along with the beat. But then the theme became very loud and became a twisted hypnotic techno beat that made her heart and mind race. Bright flashes of pink and yellow and red colors filled the dimmed room and what Sally saw then made her jaw drop.

She saw girls on a stage performing on the poles for a invisible audience. But this is not what made her shiver. No, if this was any ordinary place she would simply feel mildly embaressed being seen. It was that everyone in the room looked like her. They had her hair, her body. Everything. But when she gazed into their eyes they weren't hers. They were dark, cold, hollow. It was as if they were dolls. Dolls on strings dancing to entertain the all seeing eyes. It felt wrong. It was a violation to her very soul to watch this dance of the dolls but she couldn't help it. After all, they looked like her. When the music died one stepped down off stage and approached her.

" Hello, gracious guest " she said sweetly smiling shrugging her shoulders looking cute.

" Where am I? " Sally asked.

" Where? You are here! Here is the only place that matters anymore, else you'd be somewhere else. "

Sally realized this person must be a nutjob. She didn't understand what any of that meant.

" All the girls here are princess's. Its so much fun when you enter you will never want to leave. "

Sally felt uneasy speaking to this thing. She knew in her heart their was only one Sally Acorn, and none of these were it.

" You all look like me... " she uttered.

" Of course we do. It's because we are mad! "

" I think I should be leaving now... "

" Oh you can't go! You have to be with us! You are us, afterall. "

" Thanks but.. " Sally reached back and punched this imposter in its jaw. She was not stupid to see danger when it was in front of her. " I'm not interested. "

The room came to a halt as the other Sally lookalikes all turned to look at her. The one she just punched was now laughing hysterically, as the others began to join in.

" Looks like we're going to have the break this one in, girls " one said.

They all wore wide toothy grins from ear to ear, the edges of their face tearing against the wide horrible smiles. Blood began to ooze from the corners of their mouths and out their nose.

" She is mad, I say! Mad! Let's be mad together! "

She pushed the others aside and ran out the back door. They followed after her in a swarm eager for her blood and flesh. She ran her hardest but they were closing in fast. They moved with inhuman speed and agility cackling and bearing their teeth. She turned and tripped over a branch and fell on her rear. They lunged over the hill like hungry vampires grinning demonically with their hollow eyes. Their manic laughter was like something from her worst nightmares come to life.

Before they were able tocatch up to her they collapsed to the ground and began writhing and squirming in pain. The rain stung their bodies as they roared in agony deep from inside themselves. They crawled to their feet and hissed at her. The fur from their bodies began to rot and curdle and fall from their bodies in clumps. They peeled off their faces like old skin revealing what lay beneath. They were covered completely in a black thick fur with two great horns reaching up into the sky. Where a mouth should be was a long hairy trunk with sharp claws and teeth. They all let out a great primal roar and pounded on their chests simultaneously and leaped into the air like cats after her.

She kept running as fast as she could but came to a great river. It was thirty feet across and was overflowing moving fast and hard and those things behind her weren't slowing down. To jump or not to jump. Time was running out. She desperately looked around for a log or anything she could use to make it across but there was nothing. Just nothing but solid wall still on both sides. When she turned around to fight something exploded out of the water. A great arm reached out of the river made up of the water itself.

The earth shook beneath her and the ground split. She saw the arm reach over top of her and grab the vicious creatures and drag them into the water kicking and screaming struggling to break free of the grip. Inside the hand was a great whirlpool force throwing them around like rag dolls as it submerged drowning the wretched things. Sally blinked in awe and confusion into what just happened.

Almost every minute something that could not possibly happen would happen. She knew that it was no dream but still could not comprehend it all. Her head hurt and her adrenaline left her and she dropped completely out of energy to move or do anything anymore and once again blacked out hoping to wake up from this nightmare. But this was only the beginning of her journey. When she awoke there was a blanket around her. It felt soft and inviting and she was dry. But when her vision cleared she found herself in a steel bar cage.

" What on Mobius? "

She tugged at the bars but got a electric shock from them. She looked around and found herself in a wooden room. She knew she was moving but to where? Beside her a figure stirred from underneath the blankets beside her. It was an elderly chipmunk woman. She stretched yawning fixing her gray hair into a ball. She turned and saw Sally and smiled at her.

" Oh, your awake I see " she said kindly.

" Rosie! " Sally said in disbelief. It was her old nanny who looked after her in Knothole from when she was a kid was with her.

" Oh, I didn't know we have met before " she said surprised.

" Wait...its me, Sally! Remember? "

" Sally...Sally...I'm sorry my dear but I do not remember you. I am sorry. "

" You don't remember Knothole? "

She shrugged. " You must be mistaken, my dear. Their is no place called Knothole anywhere near here. "

" Do you know where we are? " she asked.

" We are on the Caravan headed to the Great Badlands traveling with the Big Top Circus. "

" Circus? " she said hesitantly.

" Yes...we travel around all across Mobius performing unfortunately...the Circus is my only home but it feels like prison" she said looking sad. " When the man with the hat comes try to be nice to him and he might go easy on you. "

" What do you mean? "

" He is the owner of the traveling circus. He is not a nice man. He is wicked, child " she said holding her hand warning her.

The wagon they were in stopped and the sounds of mens voices were heard shouting and many feet scurrying around. Shadows passed over the drapes and then the sounds became distant until the sound of footsteps came crunching towards them. Rosie shuddered and made herself try to look small. Sally saw four long spidery fingers wrap around the edges of the drapes and pull them back. Rosie was terrified.

" Snively! " Sally cried out.

The tall circus leader who indeed was Snively looked over at her menacingly. " That is Mr Snively to you, brat! " he hissed.

He was a lot different than what she remembered him but he still for the most part looked like himself. He wore a tall golden brown top hat with a matching suit pressed to his body of the same color. White sleeves could be seen hanging neatly out from inside and his yellow buttons on the end of the sleeves shining brightly. He was no longer the tiny dwarf of a man but a tall skinny giant of seven and a half feet tall.

He had a over sized funny looking yellow bow tie firmly tucked in place. He had large brown boots neatly tucked into his pants that flopped a bit when he walked. He had very large eyebrows that were fixed in a permanent frown with wrinkles all around the edges and deep lines going down the sides of his face. When he spoke she could see his crooked yellow teeth. She noticed his arms were like long twigs. His left eye was rolled into the back of his skull and all that could be seen was a sick white film and his veins like rivers along his retina. In his right was a dark empty eye socket. Dark bags hung under both of his eyes like sacks to show that he also didn't sleep often and that made him extra edgy. His eye scanned along and saw Rosie hiding behind some boxes. In a flash his great hand shot out and grabbed her by the throat and threw her out with great force.

" No slackers on my watch! "

Rosie lay on the ground badly hurt from being tossed. Her shoulder was dislocated from the fall. She cried silently dragging herself. Snively shook his head and groaned.

" Hmmm...such fragile little things. "

He grabbed her again picking her up with ease and popped her shoulder back in. Rosie cried out in pain. He grinned dryly. " All fixed. Now off you go. "

Rosie took off in a flash to get away from him as he turned his attention towards Sally. He looked at her with intrigue while she glared back at him with hate.

" Your even more despicable than you were before! "

" Really? Why thank you! " he said taking it as a compliment grinning. " Be thankful you live, brat. If it wasn't for me you would be dead right now. I found you lying near a river freezing. If pneumonia didn't kill you something else would have. "

" I would rather be dead than to be robotisized by the likes of you! "

" Robotisized you say? What is that? " he asked with intrigue.

Sally's face went blank and then to shock.

" Is there something you know that I don't? " he said with haste in his voice wrapping his fingers around the bars sticking his nose in. Sally felt like busting that ugly thing of his but she remained cool.

" What do you plan to do with me? " she said in a low tone hiding her eyes under her hair.

Snivvely pulled out a large key from his pocket and unlocked the cage and flung the door open. " Trust me " he said bowing giving her a molesters smile outstretching his hand.

She shuddered at that face. He was so awful. Perhaps even sicker than his uncle himself. But then again, he was for the moment showing mercy to her. As much as she hated to she put out her hand and grabbed onto his clammy claw and felt the fingers wrap around and squeeze and constrict. Then with great ease he pulled her out like a feather. She almost lost balance when she did but remained on her feet.

" Where are we? " she asked.

" So many questions for such a pretty young squirrel " he said. " Come, I will show you things. "

He wrapped his left hand around her shoulder and his long fingers creeped down her chest and almost turned into a grope. She now realized how tall and intimidating he now was. She felt like a small child next to him. As they walked she smelt a mixture of smells in the air. It was the smell of a circus. The smell of stale popcorn and cotton candy mixed with urine and salty peanuts with animal shit and underneath it all the rotting smell of death. They approached a large circus tent that reached high into the sky and was striped yellow and red. As she looked behind her she saw a blood red sunset across a dry plain with some small mountains in the distance.

" We are in the badlands " said Mr Snively. " Nothing can survive out here. "

She felt his fingers wrap tighter around her shoulder and she coughed feeling her lungs being pressed on. They came to a great red steel gate. The paint was bright and fresh and the bolts and screws were huge. He tapped on it with his cane.

" Little pig little pig let me in " he said which was the password for anyone outside the tent.

It opened slowly scattering some dust aside. All Sally could see was blackness like a cave or a mouth. But then suddenly out of the dark without sound of oncoming footsteps sprung two horrible freakish clowns. Sally almost screamed but bit her tongue as they giggled and danced around them in a circle. They gave out big red grins that stretched from ear to ear across their white grease painted faces looking at her with their tiny yellow eyes. Their lips looked like they were swollen and mangled and scarred and then painted with blood. They opened their mouths revealing jagged sharp teeth spread out two inches apart from each other.

The first one was the short one with the vicious cannibalistic look to his eyes. Wrinkles and cracks could be seen around his eyebrows and the edges of his mouth with bright green poofy hair on each side of his face. Painted over his right eye was a black star. For a nose he had a perfectly round ball that would honk. His baggy suit was striped red and green vertically making him stand out. The other was the taller one. His eyes had more of a murderers look to them than a cannibal. They were slanted and drooped. He had a large fat tongue that hung lazily off the side of his face. He was much quite fat in his frame. His chin was like a wrinkled sack of skin that just hung off his greasy skull and rippled when he would talk. His hair was like the other clowns except was red and sagged. His pink suit was riddled with yellow polka dots, both wearing big red shoes.

" Meet Roosevelt and Boink " said Mr Snively proudly.

Roosevelt slid his tongue back into his mouth and glared at Sally with his yellow eyes. Sally was paralyzed by fear from these things. She knew what was on its mind. But then Mr Snively shot it a dirty look and it broke its hypnotic trance with her and joined hands with the other and did a small dance around them and hurried back inside.

" You need not worry about them. Just stay out of their way " he said with caution.

" What where those things...? " she asked, now trembling.

" Your new best friends " he said with a sneer.

As he walked her into the tent she felt like she walked into the lions den. The atmosphere was different. It was different than the one she felt at the club where everyone looked like her. She heard the sounds of low cornets, trumpets, trombones, French horns, baritones, and tubas all coming together in a welcoming symphony. Mr Snively stomped his feet and flicked on a switch for the lights showing Sally the ring and the people. But what horrified her was not the settings but the people there themselves. They were all horribly disfigured and mangled looking. One had a large metal shaft through its face and out the other end but seemed utterly numb to pain or death. There was another beside it who's mouth was torn wide open,a second face stitched inside. They were all horrors. She backed away and looked at Mr Snively who was grinning devilishly at her.

" Welcome to your new home. "