Barnaby didn't remember falling asleep, but at some point after locking Lura away, he did.
"Meeser Barnaby? Meeser Barnaby? Meeser Barnaby!" Diego was hurriedly trying to wake up his boss. Eventually Charles did, almost horrified.
"Diego, what is it? Can't you see I'm very stressed and need a minute to rest?"
"That's just it, Meeser Barnaby, you've been resting for almost a whole day."
"What?" Barnaby looked out the window and noticed the sun was just about to start rising. "My goodness, is everyone alright?"
"Yes, why wouldn't we be?"
"Because there's a supposed killer after us!" Barnaby held his head in his hands. "I was so careful. My business was doing so well. Now all of a sudden it's falling apart." He then lifted his head, remembering what he endured the previous day. "You haven't heard from Lura, have you?"
"No, Meeser Barnaby. I haven't seen her since yesterday morning, when she was feeding the animals with that farm boy."
"Was she now?" Even Barnaby could sense the tone of jealousy in his own voice. Diego looked at him, confused. "Lura is a bit upset at me at the moment, I'm afraid she ran off, stayed in a motel or something, I'm sure."
"I'm sorry to hear that, Meeser Barnaby. Nothing like a lover's quarrel, am I right?" Diego smiled, trying to cheer the man up.
"You… you don't know the half of it, Diego." Barnaby spotted a glass of water on his desk and swiftly took a large gulp. "How's the girl?"
"That's what I came here to tell you, Meeser Barnaby. She is ready. Where is the mysterious lady you hired to help us?"
"She's a bit of a free spirit, my friend. My guess is she turns into dust and just floats around in the breeze until we call upon her for her service." He took another gulp, leaving a tiny layer of water left at the bottom of the glass. "There's still the problem of finding someone to… sacrifice. The girl is dead, and the whole point of this project is to revive her."
Diego crossed his arms and looked outside, thinking of whom they might use. "Do you have anyone in mind, Meeser Barnaby?"
"I'll tell you who," Barnaby said jokingly, "Victor or Ellen Carson. It would certainly kill two birds with one stone, getting them off my back as well as accomplishing this monstrous task." He turned the glass upside down, sipping the last remaining bit of water. "Give me the rest of the morning to sort it out, and then I'll summon Ruuxa the Magnificent or whatever the fuck she wants to be addressed as." Barnaby stood up and stretched a well-needed stretch, having slept in his desk chair for several hours. He couldn't help but smile. I have the woman of my dreams locked away in a closet, he reminded himself, just to make sure that was a factual statement. "Diego, you, in the meantime, prepare everything for the procedure. We have one final show here and I want to make it spectacular. We need this girl ready by then, and we're getting it done today."
"Yes sir, Meeser Barnaby!" Like a child, Diego saluted his boss and left his office to do exactly as he was instructed. As he left he couldn't help but see a pair of headlights coming from outside. A woman with auburn hair stepped out of the car, wearing a sleek black dress and pointy black high heels. She was admittedly breathtaking. Diego immediately frowned, knowing he could never attract someone like that. The woman started walking closer to the train, and the sword swallower started to recognize her. The last time he saw her was yesterday, but she was with a man that time; today she was on her own. He came to the conclusion that she was here to see Barnaby, and knowing his boss had a lot of work to get done, Diego took it upon himself to confront the woman.
The woman was noticeably startled when she saw Diego exit the train just as she was approaching it. "Oh, um, hello. I need to speak to Charles Barnaby."
"And who might I ask is here to see him?"
"My name is Ellen Carson, he and I spoke yesterday."
Ellen Carson, Diego thought to himself, repeating the name over and over again. "Ah, yes, Mees Carson. Meeser Barnaby told me that he is running a bit late for your meeting." Diego suavely tried to wrap his arm around her shoulder to redirect her away from the train, but like a trained martial artist, she swiped his hand away before it could land on her.
"Mr. Barnaby and I did not have a meeting scheduled. I'm dropping by unannounced because I have some information that needs to be brought to his attention."
"Meeser Barnaby is currently tied up in something much more important, but he will be out very shortly, I can assure you, Mees Carson." She gave him a very disapproving look. This is the kind of woman who gets what she wants when she wants it. She does not take no for an answer. Only more reason for her to never want a guy like me. "Mees Carson, have you been to our show?"
"I was here the other night, yes. When my family was whole."
"Do you remember my performance?"
"Sadly I don't remember you. My husband and I had to leave early, we must have missed you."
Diego frowned. "I was the first act."
Shit, Ellen thought, knowing she got caught in her lie.
"While we wait for Meeser Barnaby, would you like me to show you how I swallow swords?"
Lura couldn't sleep. She was propping herself up against the door, looking at the mirror that smashed into dozens of pieces when she fell into it. Her face was hardly recognizable as the shattered shards and holes distorted her pristine reflection. Just like that mirror, she thought to herself, I am broken. I miss my baby so much. All this time I thought he was gone. And now all this time he's been out there, without a mother. Neglected. Oh, my poor baby.
She started to cry, which made it about the fifteenth time she'd started to cry since Barnaby locked her away in there. She couldn't really remember exactly how many times, she lost count after the tenth. Lura held her head with a hand on either side. She could tell she was physically shaking. Her stomach churned violently, a combined result of her being sickened by this inconvenient truth, along with the fact that she hadn't eaten in a day.
"Mama," she heard, like a whisper. Lura lifted her head and opened her eyes, startled by the voice. She swiveled her head back and forth, but clearly there was no one in the cramped room with her, just dozens and dozens of warped funhouse mirrors.
"Am I losing my mind?" she said out loud. And then, as if it was responding to her, a baby started to whine, as if it was in the distance somewhere. "David? Is that you, baby?"
There was hardly any light in there, just some slipping in from the cracks above and below the door, and from a vent all the way at the ceiling. But the lights seemed to be aiming at something. Lura looked into one of the mirrors and saw something. A figure. No, two figures. The picture got clearer and clearer, and she realized she was looking at herself, cradling her baby boy. The acrobat gulped hard with whatever remaining saliva she had left. She remembered this instant. She remembered this day. And as if it were her mind on a projector screen, that horrible day began to play in front of her in the mirror image.
"Hello, doll," said Barnaby as he entered the brothel.
"Ugh, it's you again," responded Lura. "Look, how many times do I have to tell you? I'm perfectly happy in this place. I don't need to join no fancy circus."
"I don't think you understand, Lura. I don't just want you in my show, I need you in it. And I am a man that can make anything possible if I desire it enough."
"What are you saying, Mr. Barnaby?" Lura put her hands on her bare hips and stood mere inches away from the fully suited man. "Are you implying that you're going to force me to work for you? Last time I checked, slavery's been long abolished. I said no. A gentleman like you should know that when a woman says no, she means 'back off.'" She glared at him but couldn't help bite her bottom lip. It was so hard to keep a straight face when looking at this man. She was incredibly attracted to him. At this point they'd only come in contact three or four times, but Lura lusted after him hard. "I've done well for myself here. I'm happy here. And I have a baby at home. I can't be traveling across America walking a tightrope with an infant hanging off my tit. Maybe in a few years, when he's older, I'll accept your offer, Charles. But not now."
Barnaby was enraged, but he concealed it with a gentle smile. "Very well, Miss Lura. If you don't mind I'd like to stop by and… visit you again sometime."
Lura smiled back. "I tend to get repeat customers, Mr. Barnaby." She winked seductively. "I'd be happy to have you back."
"Goodbye, Lura, hopefully fate will allow our paths to cross again." She gave a faint wave and watched him leave, and then took a sigh of relief and prayed that was the last time he would pester her about joining his show.
After her shift was over, Lura put on her fluffy coat and trudged the eight or nine blocks through the freshly fallen snow to her house. She lived in a cruddy apartment complex. Exterminators were coming in almost once a month. She needed to get out of there fast, for the safety of her baby boy. That raise had to be coming soon enough, she assured herself.
"David, Mama's home," she said. "Andy?" She was surprised to see that there were no lights on in the house, as well as no sight of her next-door neighbor and babysitter Andy. "Come on, don't be playing a trick on me, Andy, I've had a long night." She stumbled into her bedroom, and turned on the light, only to find Andy tied to a chair, mumbling around the gag in his mouth for help. Before she could even react, Lura felt a gun being pressed to her head.
"Hello, Lura." Barnaby stepped out from the darkness and stood behind Andy. "I just had the pleasure of meeting Andy. Sadly now we'll be saying goodbye. You won't be needing a babysitter." And with that Barnaby pulled out a gun and shot the man right in the back of the head. "Diego, would you mind untying Andy and making this look like a suicide? Here, take my gloves." The ringmaster removed his pristine white gloves and handed them to his henchman, a muscular black man. "This is Diego, our talented sword swallower. He's practically my right hand. Not that I don't have one myself!" Barnaby guffawed at his own joke, shaking his right hand around. Then in an instant he went from cracking an admittedly horrible joke to stern and terrifying. "What was it I told you moments ago, Miss Lura?" He stepped around the dead man in the chair and came face-to-face with the blonde woman. "Oh that's right, I can make anything possible if I desire it enough."
Lura had no choice but to spit right in his face. Barnaby removed his handkerchief and wiped off her saliva. "Well, we all know you're a fan of spitting…"
"Where's my son, you prick?"
"Taken care of."
Lura's eyes widened. "You… did you kill my baby?"
"Oh no, on the contrary, my dear. He's just… away for a while. Think of little David as… insurance. You agree to join my circus. Wow the audience. Make the fathers desperate to bring their kids just so they can see you contort yourself in every which way, in ways they didn't even know were possible in their own dreams. Make me lots of money. I know you can. And as long as you stay in line, you'll get your son back."
Tears started to stream down Lura's face. "You're a sick fuck, you know that? If you think I'm going to be a part of your little game…"
"Or with just the snap of my fingers, I can order David's head to be chopped off and fed to my very hungry lions." At this point Diego had finished rearranging Andy's body so it looked like no one but himself was responsible for his death. "Is there anything more precious than the love between a mother and her son? Especially at this age, a young infant needs his mother to survive. We've got plenty of formula on hand for him, unless you're okay with a wet nurse. I'm sure we could have that arranged."
On instinct, Lura kicked Barnaby right in the gut. The man holding the gun to her head grabbed her and restrained her, while Diego ran up to his boss and helped him to his feet.
"There's no getting out of this, Lura," Barnaby said, admittedly as best he could with the wind knocked out of him. "You and your son will be together again so long as you obey me."
The vision of the past suddenly disappeared, and Lura was looking at her present face in the mirror. Her face was soaked in her own tears. I don't even remember what he looks like, she thought to herself. But he's out there somewhere. And I need to find him. Lura regained a bit of confidence, but then immediately fell back into grief. The only one who knows where David could be is Barnaby, and there's no way he would tell her. And he certainly wouldn't tell her now that she knows her baby is alive. I'll probably spend eternity in this closet. He's going to starve me out. Let me waste away on my own. Let me live with the fact that my son is out there and let me die knowing we will never meet again. This is his plan. This is all part of his plan. She started to cry for the sixteenth time.
"Whew! That was horrifying!" exclaimed Ellen. Diego had taken her into his room and showed her all of his various swords. He had just finished plunging a broadsword down his gullet and spewed it back up like it was as simple as chewing a stick of gum.
"Not at all, Mees Carson. I've been doing it for ages. A blade like this?" He skillfully placed his finger at the sword's tip and spun the blade between his two hands. "This doesn't frighten me. A woman like you, however… terrifying?"
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"You are extremely beautiful, Mees Carson. You wear extravagant clothes, you probably sleep on a bed of diamonds. You have beauty. Brains. Money. Power. That is a very lethal combination. Meeser Barnaby is aware of that."
"Barnaby and I have all that in common, actually. He has that same combination, unlike my asshole of a husband. Beauty? Hardly. Brains? Sure, I'll give him that. Money? All mine. Power? I think we all know who runs this town, and it sure as shit isn't Victor Carson."
"You speak so poorly of your husband. Why?"
"Because we don't love each other. He doesn't love me, and in return I don't love him back."
"I see no reason why Meeser Carson wouldn't love you." Diego flashed her a fantastic smile. Ellen couldn't control herself. She lunged at the man, attacking him with her mouth. Diego didn't see that coming and wasn't sure how to respond.
"You know, I think I might be able to try sword swallowing," she whispered into his ear, groping his chiseled chest. "I don't have a gag reflex." Ellen put her hand between Diego's legs, only to discover that she was grabbing onto nothing. She quickly jumped off of him and put her hands over her mouth. "I am so sorry…" and then she realized she totally forgot the sword swallower's name.
"What do you have to apologize for, Mees Carson? You're not the one who castrated me." She still stood there, unsure of how to react. "If it's any consolation, if I had a dick, it would certainly be hard."
"That's, um… good to know." She was silent for a few moments, thinking of a way to quickly change the subject. "Is Barnaby ready to speak to me yet? Because I really need to—" Ellen was cut off by Diego smashing the handle of the broadsword against the side of her head. She fell to the ground with a thud, completely unconscious.
"It was a pleasure speaking with you, Mees Carson."
Barnaby paced back and forth anxiously, biting his thumbnail in anticipation. I haven't bitten my nails in years, he realized. It's the stress. Everything's happening at once, it's getting to me.
Suddenly Diego emerged from the curtain behind him. "It's all ready, Meeser Barnaby. Has Ruuxa arrived yet?"
"No!" Diego jumped at Barnaby's forceful reply. "I apologize, I'm just very anxious, and nervous, and concerned. And… I talk a lot when I'm anxious and nervous and concerned. Do me a favor, Diego? Run into town and fetch me some tea? I'm all out and I really need something to soothe my nerves."
"Certainly, Meeser Barnaby. Right away."
"Will you be okay if you miss the procedure?"
"I've seen plenty of kooky things in my lifetime, Meeser Barnaby. A break from this train for a few minutes would be much more exciting than whatever it is you have planned."
"Oh, and Diego? Thank you so much for helping get Ellen off my back. When I said I wanted to use the Carsons, I never meant it literally, but it certainly does help us out. You're a great help and a true friend." Diego didn't even say anything in response. He just smiled and left to get his boss some tea. He would rob a city of tea if he had to for this man.
Just like that, as Diego made his departure, a new guest arrived. Ruuxa. The Duchess. The Healer. Her.
"Glad you could finally make it, Ruuxa," Barnaby said, greeting the woman with a handshake. She refused it, and demanded to know where the woman was. The ringmaster led her past the curtain, where two tables were laid out. Atop of one lied Ellen Carson's unconscious body. Atop the other lied some bizarre concoction of beings. It certainly was manmade, that was clear from the visible stitch marks that connected them.
The girl that the fisherman found half-eaten in the ocean was firmly attached to the lower half of some large fish. Ruuxa wasn't entirely sure what it was, perhaps shark or bass. Maybe not bass, the girl was much too big for a bass, and the sizes were perfectly matched, for the girl's waist seemed to blend right into the scaly fish tail. Ruuxa was impressed. It did almost look real and convincing.
"Are we ready to bring this girl life?" she asked, with a commanding tone.
"Absolutely. Hopefully this all goes right, unlike just about everything else in my business right now."
Ruuxa chuckled. "Uh-oh, trouble in circus paradise?"
"You could say that."
"Now, calm down, Barnaby. Come join me. Let us meditate. Let us call forth the divine forces beyond our world, call upon them to aid in our excursion at the boundary between life and death." Barnaby was clueless as to what was happening, but he took Ruuxa's hand and they stood next to each other, eyes closed. "Let us exchange life forces. One woman shall die, the life will leave her body. The other shall be brought life anew, and shall walk among the earth once again!" Ruuxa lifted both her arms in the air. "Or in this case… swim."
Barnaby opened his eyes and could faintly make out a smoky apparition leave Ellen's mouth and worm its way to the other table and enter the mouth of the young girl. He was truly astonished. He had never seen anything like it. The color immediately left Ellen's skin. She was dead. Nothing killed her but the absence of life. The girl on the other table, however, was slowly starting to regain consciousness. Then she started gasping, as if breathing was something she had forgotten. Then she started hyperventilating. She managed to sit up and stared uncomfortably at the people around her. Then she started screaming.
"No, no, it's alright, dear. It's okay." The girl was absolutely petrified. "Julius! Come in here now, please!" Barnaby tried to restrain the woman as she flailed around aimlessly, while the fish tail seemed to have a mind of its own and started smacking hard against the table. Ruuxa, meanwhile, stood at Ellen's side, took the woman's now cold hand in hers, and began to chant something in a whisper. Barnaby didn't bother to ask what she was doing, but rather focused on keeping the manmade mermaid okay.
Shortly after, Julius entered the room. "Holy… shit. You… you actually did it."
"Julius, I'd like you to meet… I guess we haven't come up with a name for her." Julius stared at the woman, who was still visibly horrified and unsure of what was going on.
"She looks like a Cassandra," the lion tamer suggested. He smiled at the mermaid, and just like that, she seemed to calm down. Barnaby noticed she wasn't shaking anymore.
"Well she certainly seems to like you, Julius. And that's a good thing. I'm putting her in your care. I guess technically she's an animal, but don't forget she's half human, too. I want her to make her grand appearance in tomorrow night's show, so do whatever you feel necessary to prepare her for that." He looked at his creation. Something inside him couldn't help but think he was a god. "She obviously doesn't like strangers, and the last thing we need is a terrified mermaid. We need the people to think she's authentic. Understand me, Julius?"
"Absolutely, boss." Julius walked up to the girl. "Hi. I'm Julius. Can I call you Cassandra?" The girl tried to respond, but clearly speech was something that would take time to re-master. "I guess we'll get to working on that." He hated to admit it, but she was beautiful. He reached out his hand and caressed her cheek.
"Ca… Casssss…" she tried desperately to sound out her new name.
"Cassandra," Julius finished for her. "Cassandra."
"I need to go now, Mr. Barnaby," said Ruuxa, putting Ellen's lifeless hand back down on the table.
"Very well then, I shall have your payment ready tomorrow if you wish to come back then." He walked her to the door. "Ruuxa, thank you very much. I apologize for our little tiff during our first meeting. I truly appreciate what you've done for me and for this circus."
She didn't respond, just giggled, and then walked away with the wind. It was at that moment that Barnaby recalled their first meeting. What was it she said to me? 'Keep track of your staff'…
Barnaby couldn't wait to get in bed and receive a full night's sleep. It was going to be different without Lura by his side, but he tried to forget all about her. He stripped nude and slipped under the covers. He tossed and turned a little bit, trying to get comfortable. Then he found the spot that he and Lura normally lie in, with him as the big spoon. Barnaby reached out across the bed as if he was wrapping his arm around her.
He jumped when he actually felt something there.
Hurriedly he hopped out of bed and turned on the light. Under the sheet he found Diego, chopped up into several pieces. There was a note lying on top of them all. He grabbed the note with a shaking hand and read it: "THAT'S ALL OF HIM, ALTHOUGH ONE PIECE WAS ALREADY MISSING."