Chapter XVI

"No!" The blonde little girl squeaked, before racing across the hallway into one of the bigger rooms. But, it was true, what she had heard. There standing in front of a desk was a tall, chubby man. Adults always said to her: "Never judge a book by its cover," But for some reason, she could always take a look at someone and see their personality. This man, she knew, was not a kind man.

The small boy standing next to him was only four years old. Ariel, herself, wasn't even talking yet- All she could say was 'no'.

He was wearing a raincoat that went down to his shoes, the hood pulled over his face. His warm, sad, light green eyes melted in with hers- Light blue, a crystal shade, they seemed to be screaming.

All of the sudden, she couldn't stand it anymore. This was her only friend, the both of them had no family for love, and he had looked out for her. As far as she was concerned, he was her only big brother.

And they were going to take him away from her. Forever.

She reached out to him; her finger tips just touched his when she was pulled back into the hallway. There was a sharp pain in her shoulder, and a tall woman spun her around, digging her manicure into the little girl's skin, causing deep marks.

All the sudden she found herself, alone, in a dark room. It seemed endless, and she tried screaming. Nothing came out of her throat.

A figure appeared in the distance- a short, chubby man. He came closer, and there was a small light, causing his shadow to become bigger, and bigger..

Until the shadow transformed into an enormous dragon. It leaned into the defenses child, showing its horrible, twisted face. Its eyes were a blood red and yellow mixture. Blood dripped of it's scars onto her face, each one making deep cuts onto her own flesh.

Ariel's heart skipped a beat, and she immediately woke up. Her face was soaked with sweat and tears. Evra had shaken her awake.

She breathed a few times. The beginning of the nightmare was usual.. It wasn't even a nightmare, it was just a memory from her childhood, but the dragon part? That was new..

"Ariel? You okay?" I asked. She had waken both us of up with her shouting and sobbing.

"It's okay, it was just a nightmare," Evra said consolingly, sitting on his knees beside her sleeping bag.

"Sorry.." There was a lamp on now, and she could see she had woken us up.

"It's okay," I replied.

"I hate that nightmare.." She mumbled, laying her head onto a pillow soaked with tears. "It comes like very two months.. And I can't sleep all night afterwards.." Ariel stared at the ceiling of the tent for a minute or two, then sat up again.

"Evra?"

Evra, who had just returned to his hammock, rolled over. "Yeah?"

"I've.. just been curious; Have you been with the cirque your whole life?"

"No, my parents disowned me to an orphanage, then I was adopted by a freak show which sucked- And then I came here- To the Cirque Du Freak, it's much better then the last place.."

Ariel thought about what he said for a little. He was a lot like herself.. From growing up with a harsh childhood, he had become shy and everything. She should've assumed he was with a different freak show earlier, or someth-

Whoa, whoa, whoa. ORPHANAGE?

"Where was this orphanage?" She asked.

"Dunno. Some town."

"Do you remember anything about it?"

He sighed. "I remember it wasn't too different from the freak show.. But that's about it.."

Evra rolled over and everything was silent for a moment, until he abruptly sat up.

"I remember I had my first best friend there.. She.. was a girl.."

Ariel held her breath.

"I can't remember anything else." He continued, then lay back down.

She sighed, and then laid back down herself. Was Evra my childhood friend..? Ariel wondered. This thought bounced around in her thoughts all day.

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I tossed the last piece of meat into the wolf-man's cage, and the three of us started away. We came across a hill that led into a large field surrounded by woods, when a little girl came running up to us.

"Arie! Arie!" She shouted, almost knocking Ariel over. We stood watching, confused.

"What what?"

"Look! There's a light in the woods and its coming this way! Can you see it?" The child pointed north east, and we all looked.

Sure enough, there was a flame coming this way.

"It's a torch.." Ariel murmured.

When it came closer, we could make out figures- The people in blue cloaks. It was kind of creepy to watch.

The little girl hid behind Ariel, craning her neck to the side so she could see. They all walked in pairs, forming two straight lines, with one walking behind them, who held the torch. They came up the hill, and when they passed us, I could see the one in the back- Short white hair, yellow suit, thick glasses, and green boots.

He smiled at us. I smiled back, then turned around after he was gone.

Evra was trembling with fear, and Ariel seemed uneasy.

"Who was that?" I asked, raising a brow.

"Muh.. muh.." Evra took several breaths, but his voice was still shaking. "M..Mr. Tuh-Tiny…"

I frowned, and then looked at Ariel. She was scared as well, but not as badly as Evra.

"What's wrong with you?"

She shook her head, and looked down.

Her eyes were wide with fear. She didn't blink- Didn't dare. Now she was in a sitting position, her hands on the floor, and feet sliding her backwards. The room was pure darkness, with only a small slit on the roof allowing light to pass through. The light wasn't any help- In fact it seemed to make things worse. The light must have been tainted, as it made shadows bigger, made them dance around and become real.

No- It wasn't the light. It was the owner of the shadows who was tainted.

She couldn't back up any further when she found her back pressing up against the wall.

Shaking her head, she saw the figure come.. closer.. closer..

It was familiar.

'M.. Mr. Tuh-Tiny…' She remembered Evra had called him.

"Ariel?" I asked, shaking her awake

The world around her slowly started to piece itself back together.

She sat up, rubbing her head. Ariel found herself where she had slept the previous night, in their tent.

"You feelin' okay?" I asked.

"Yeah.." She replied, sitting up. "What's up?"

"Mr. T.. T.. T-Tiny wa-wa wants us," Evra squeaked.