Erik's POV

I wasn't sure why it happened, but that evening, I woke up with a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. I gripped my thin belly and groaned, hurrying to my bathroom to lean over the toilet and just in the nick of time. I stood there vomiting into the bowl, my insides screaming as I did so. When I was finished, I wallowed back to bed and laid down, wondering what I could have possibly eaten to make me so ill. Food never did agree with me, not matter how much I needed it. Outside, thunder rumbled against my roof, so much, that a few moments later, I had Gustave rushing into my room and towards my bed. Oh, what on earth did this child want now?

"Gustave," I pressed my head into my pillow and gripped my sore stomach. If there was one thing I didn't want, it was for this child to be in here when I wasn't feeling well.

"Mr. Erik… It's storming outside again."

"And I thought I told you to go to your mother about this. I'm sick, Gustave, please just go away."

"Sick? What's wrong with you, Mr. Erik?"

"My stomach doesn't feel well, all right? Now please, go back to bed."

"Do you want me to get my mama? Maybe she can make you feel better?"

"No, she cannot, Gustave. Please, I beg of you…Go back to bed."

A flash of lightning illuminated the room, causing Gustave to gasp and hide beneath the blankets of my bed.

"Gustave… Enough!"

I was becoming angry now, so angry that I just wanted to scream. This boy wasn't my son, and I wouldn't have him up here hiding from a storm and acting as if I were.

"Christine!" I called out her name in an angry tone of voice.

A few moments later, I heard footsteps coming up the stairs, and when she appeared in her night attire, she rubbed her eyes and looked my way.

"Erik, is everything all right?"

"No, Christine," I murmured. "Everything is not all right. Your son is afraid of the storm and has sought out shelter in my bed. Usually, I wouldn't mind, but I'm under the weather tonight."

Christine scooped Gustave up into her arms and looked down at me.

"Are you going to be all right, Erik?"

I nodded and snuggled into my pillow. "Yes, Christine. Goodnight."

For the remainder of the night, I laid in bed with a severe stomach ache, always attempting to fall asleep. Yes, when morning came, I would have stayed in bed, but the summer season was over and I needed to finish up some business in my office. I had once again been plagued with the horrible vomiting, one that left me feeling uneasy with myself. A few hours of work, and then, I promised myself that I would come straight home and go right to bed. It took every ounce of strength to dress myself, and even more to head downstairs. Though, when I was there, I had Gustave tugging on my shirt.

"Mr. Erik, where are you going?"

"To my office," I cringed. "For a few hours, child. And then, I will be home."

"Mama went shopping in town. I don't want to be left alone."

I sighed and reached out for his hand. "Come along then. You can sit quietly in my office while I work."

Concentrating on work was harder than I first thought it to be, seeing that my stomach was still in an uproar. Oh, I would never eat anything again, this I swore.

"Mr. Erik, you don't look so well."

Gustave was sitting on the windowsill, looking at my pale complexion as I worked on documentation for my park.

"I'll be fine," I mumbled. "I'm just tired is all."

"Mr. Erik, are you having a meeting of some sort today?"

I shook my head. "No, Gustave, why?"

"Because there are lots and lots of people headed this way… Freaks."

Freaks? I curiously shot up from my seat, only to realize that Gustave was right. Mr. Squelch was headed this way, followed by at least one hundred others. And Gustave was right, they were freaks, freaks of all different shapes and sizes. Oh, what was going on? When the large man entered, I approached him, only to have the man smile at me.

"I have come to fill out an application," he began. "Me and all of the other Luna Park workers."

What?! Oh, no…No, no, no, no, no… I couldn't let this happen. If every freak applied for a job at my park, that would leave Luna Park empty. No, Mr. Tilyou would have my head. I wouldn't allow it. I had told Mr. Squelch to come and apply for a job; not the entire park!

"Mr. Squelch, I can't do this…"

"And why not?" he questioned. "You spoke about a park that would be filled with peace. Peace is what any freak would want, Mister E… Luna Park is filled with hatred and pain. Mr. Tilyou makes us all do things we would never do on our own free will. The other day when you offered me a job, I couldn't keep this park of yours silent any longer. Soon, ever freak was talking about your new world."

I stepped towards the door of my office and gazed at the crowd of freaks standing before me. I had never seen so many of them gathered in one place. I looked down at my feet and knew that doing this would most likely be the death of me. If Mr. Tilyou got word that his freaks were leaving his park to join my own, I would most likely end up in an early grave. But Mr. Squelch was right; every freak deserved peace.

"Gustave, go into my drawer and pull out the applications."

Gustave did as I asked and came rushing towards me with the stack of papers.

"Have everyone fill one of these out and give them back to me. I will look them over and get back to everyone soon enough." I said, handing the papers to Mr. Squelch.

Like I had asked them to do, everyone filled out the applications and handed them in one by one. It took a few hours, but once everyone left, I carried the stack home with Gustave excitedly jumping up and down at my side.

"Did you see the small woman, Mr. Erik?"

"Yes, I did," I said.

"And did you see the really tall man? I like him, Mr. Erik… Are you really going to give everyone a job?"

"We shall see," I said. "I have to look over these forms and get back to everyone."

By the time I made it back home, my head was pounding, so hard, that I stumbled up the stairs as soon as I entered through the front door.

"Mr. Erik, are you going to be all right?"

"Yes," I cringed, grasping my stomach. "Just go and play with your toys until your mother gets home. I'm sure she will be back soon."

"But can't we play, Mr. Erik?"

"No," I coughed. "I'm not feeling well. I'm going to go upstairs and lay down for a while, Gustave, you just go and play."

Once I was up in my room, I closed the door behind me and changed into my pajamas before lying down in bed. I felt worse than I had a few hours ago, making me feel as though I had been run over by a train. My head was pounding now, and my heart was racing. Oh, what on Earth could I have possibly eaten to make me feel like this? I laid there for hours, constantly rushing back and forth to the bathroom. By eight, I was so exhausted, that I couldn't even lift up my own head.

"Erik," I heard Christine calling for me, but didn't answer. I don't think I could have if I wanted to… When my room door swung open, Christine came barging in with a look of worriment displayed across her face.

"Erik, the neighborhood has broken out with illness…"

She stopped when she seen me laying there in bed. She gasped and came rushing to my side.

"Erik, you're ill…"

She placed her hand against my forehead, noticing its extremely cold surface.

"Ange…you need a doctor. Oh, you're ill, just like the rest of the neighborhood is. I read it in the newspapers this morning. Everyone is coming down with some sort of stomach flu."

But I was too busy listening to the rapid beating of my heart. And with that, I passed out and fell into a deep slumber. When I awoke, I opened my eyes, taking notice that there was a roaring fire in my hearth and I felt warm. Though, my body felt weak, and that ill feeling was still in my stomach.

"Erik," when I heard Christine call for me, I turned my head to find her at my bedside with a glass of water in hand. "Here, ange… Drink this."

Being the caring woman that she was, she lifted my head and helped me drink my glass of water. Afterwards, she placed me back down and adjusted the blankets that were tucked over my body.

"Christine," my voice was hoarse, but I didn't care. She knew something about me, something about this terrible illness. "What's happening to me?"

"I was in town today when everyone started to scramble about. They were rushing to get the morning newspaper. I nearly fell on the ground and was nearly trampled on. I didn't know what everyone was so worried about, but when I read the article in the newspaper, I knew it was serious. I rushed home as quickly as I could, worried that Gustave or you had come down with the illness."

"What illness?"

"Cholera," she shuddered. "Our neighborhood somehow contracted it. They said it was from eating the seafood that the local butcher was giving out two weeks ago."

Oh, I knew I had come down with this illness, for just recently, I had cooked myself a piece of fish for dinner. Luckily, Gustave and Christine had not been home to eat it too.

"You'll be all right, Christine," I assured. "Both you and Gustave. You didn't eat the contaminated fish. I had a piece of fish for dinner just this past week. You weren't here at the time."

Christine sighed in relief. "Oh, thank goodness. I've been watching over Gustave closely these past few hours. I had a doctor come out to examine you. He said that you have it… That I need to keep a close eye on you and to make sure you're kept hydrated."

Just as I was about to say something, another bought of illness took me over, causing me to lean over the bed and vomit onto the floor. Christine rushed to my aid, attempting to hold a chamber pot beneath my mouth, but by then, I was already finished.

"Oh, look what I've done…" I pushed back the blankets, only to have Christine push me back down.

"I'll clean it up, Erik. You need to rest."

"Christine, no… I don't want you cleaning up my body fluids. I'll manage this on my own."

But Christine wouldn't listen. She simply covered me back up and went to scrubbing the floors clean of my vomit.

"There have been already ten deaths in our neighborhood, Erik. It worries me."

"Don't be worried, Christine," I weakly assured. "It's not contagious."

"People die from dehydration, Erik. That's why this illness is so deadly."

"If I die, Christine, it will be a blessing. But God never lets me die as I wish. He would rather see me suffer here on earth."

"Erik, don't say that…"

"Why not? It's the truth, Christine."

"Be as it may, Erik, your wellbeing shall be in my prayers tonight. For the past five years my father has been looking out for me when I pray to him. Tonight, I shall pray to him and ask that he looks over you."

"I don't need your pity, Christine," I groaned. "I just wish to sleep."

When Christine was finished cleaning up, she took a seat at my bedside and rubbed the scars that were on my right wrist.

"I will stay by your side tonight, Erik. The doctor said that you shouldn't be left alone until you're feeling better."

"And what about the boy?" I questioned. "He will surely be needing you too. He doesn't like to be left alone."

"I already put him to bed, Erik. Now, just rest."

Knowing that it would be the best thing to do, I did just that, closing my eyes and letting sleep take me away. All throughout the night, my stomach cramped up and left me feeling woozy. To make matters worse, my body's fluids ran out of me like an uncontrollable faucet…And out of both ends. I wasn't sure how many pairs of sleep trousers I went though that night, but one thing was certain, by morning I was so exhausted from the hellish night I had, that I didn't have the strength to go on.

"I washed your clothes out for you," Christine said, placing another blanket on the bed. "They're downstairs drying on the line."

"Thank you," I gasped. "You…You didn't have to do that."

"I told you that I wasn't going to leave you last night. You would have done the same for me, Erik."

I closed my eyes again and felt her hand against my unmasked cheek. "You're exhausted, Erik. You should try to sleep. I changed the sheets on the bed and washed the top sheet as well. Try to make it to the bathroom if you can next time."

"No promises," I gasped. "I can't even move my legs."

Christine lifted up my weak legs and placed them on top of a soft pillow.

"There," she said. "Perhaps that will make you feel better? I'm going to go downstairs and make you some toast. The doctor said that you should at least try to eat something light to keep up your strength."

When Christine was gone, I closed my eyes, only to have Gustave come walking in.

"Mr. Erik?"

"Hmmm?" I murmured.

"Mama said that you're really sick."

"Hmm Hmmm."

"Well, I don't like to see you sick, Mr. Erik. Last night, I couldn't sleep because I was worried about you so much. So, I sat up drawing with my crayons and did this for you?"

I opened my eyes to find the boy standing there, holding a drawing of some sort in hand. It was colorful and I was even standing near a fence… Or at least that's what I thought I was doing.

"It's Phantasma, Mr. Erik… And see, you're right here."

Gustave placed the drawing on my night table and smiled. "So, while you're sick, you can think of Phantasma and get better."

I smiled. "I will, Gustave. Thank you…"

And with that, the child wrapped his arms around me… Pure energy and healing, this hug was.

Did a lot of research for this last chapter. This was a pretty common thing back in those days...I looked up symptoms and different ways to treat it. Contaminated meat and fish was how it spread... Anyway, a few of you wanted to know what my book was called. Go on Amazon. It's called "The Escapades of Augie Atwell." A children's chapter book. Though, I find it fun to read for all ages. Going to be a series...Anyway, thank you for reading