Gustave's POV

Two summers and two winters have come and gone since my mother's death. At first, I had thought that spending the rest of my life with my papa would be anything but fun, but over the years he and I had become inseparable. I was thirteen now, thirteen and nearly at an age where boys were supposed to work. I have helped my papa around his park, but I had never held a job. Though, he kept me under his wing, promising me that work was coming for me soon. Losing my mother had been one of the hardest things I had ever gone through, but having Mister Y by my side made life a little easier. I wasn't the best student in school, but those who were once my bullies, became my closest friends. And that was all because of Mister Y… He had threatened them and ever since that day, I had not been bullied. If anything, everyone tried to become my friend, due to the fact that Mister Y was my father.

One evening in May, I rolled over in bed, the moon shining in through my window. I pressed my face against the pillow to block out the annoying light, only to hear something hitting my window. I immediately sat up, looking in the direction of the glass, taking notice that there were small pebbles being thrown at my window. Curious, I approached it and pushed open the glass.

"Guys, it's late," I said, looking at Zeus and Marius… They were the sons of Mr. Squelch and Dr. Gangle… Both of them used to be my bullies, but now, they were my closest friends.

"We're going to sneak over to Luna Park tonight," Zeus whispered. "To teach them a lesson."

For weeks now, this new amusement park called "Luna Park," had been open and treating its workers horribly… Or at least that's what my papa had told me. He replied over and over again that Luna Park treated its freaks terribly and that the owner abused them. It angered my papa and it angered every freak working in Phantasma.

"What are we going to do?" I curiously asked, throwing on a pair of trousers and grabbing my cloak.

Zeus, Mr. Squelch's son had a small backpack in hand, one that was filled with paint of some sort.

"Come on," he said, lending me a hand to help me out the window. "We'll teach Luna Park a lesson together. Freaks deserve some respect, especially in Coney Island."

After hopping out the window, I hurried away from my home, keeping quiet so that Mister Y wasn't woken. After arriving at the gates of Luna Park, Marius pulled out a pair of wire cutters and began clipping away at the fence, pushing back the loose wire and making way for us to sneak inside. I had never been inside these gates before, but this place was indeed different from Phantasma.

"Where to now?" I asked.

Marius pulled my arm as we headed towards the back of the park.

"This way," he said. "Towards the food stands and attractions."

When we were in front of the hotdog stand, a stand that was originally my papa's idea, Zeus pulled out a can of paint and opened the lid. Luna Park had taken a lot of my papa's things from his park and added them here, which was another thing that angered my papa. He was the one who started Feltman's hotdogs, and then, Luna Park hired one of Mr. Feltman's workers, who had his own version of the hotdog, a man named Nathan…In Luna Park, he opened his own stand titled "Nathan's Hotdogs." It hurt my papa's park deeply, but not in a way that one would think it would hurt.

I was pulled out of my day dream, when Marius and Zeus began to dip their hands in the red colored paint and splattered it all over the walls of the concession stands and buildings.

"Come on, Gustave," Zeus replied. "Do this for your papa! It's places like Luna Park that hurt freaks like your papa…Justice for us!"

Anger stirred within my body, so much, that I dipped both of my hands into the paint and splattered my hand among the walls. The once white color of the buildings were now covered in paint, paint that would be extremely hard to get out. But that wasn't all we did…No, Zeus and Marius had much more planned. After the streets of stands were vandalized, we headed towards the candy shops and souvenir stores. I wasn't sure where Zeus had gotten a brick from, but he pulled one from his bag and threw it at the window of the fudge shop, causing the display window to shatter.

"Here," he said, placing the heavy object into my hand. "You try…"

I did as I was told, and threw the brick against another shop window, causing that one to shatter as well. From there, Zeus pulled out the paint again and we splattered its red color against the walls.

"Free candy anyone?" Marius laughed as he stepped inside the candy shop, brining out boxes of chocolates. Satisfied with the damage we had done, the three of us headed towards a nearby tent to eat our candy. It must have been the freak show tent, for there were empty podiums scattered around every corner.

"You know," Zeus began, taking a seat on one of the podiums. "My pop might be the strongest man in Coney Island, but when I get to be his age, I'm going to be the strongest there ever was… Right, Gustave?"

I nodded and ate another piece of chocolate. "You probably will," I said. "You already have the muscles… By the time you're in your twenties, I'm sure you'll be even bigger than your dad."

"And what about me?" Marius asked. "Do you think I'll be an even better narrator than my father?"

"Most likely… You'll always have a job at my park. My papa hired your parents, so, it's only right that I hire their children as well. Though, I'm sure in a few years my papa will give you all jobs before he retires."

Marius was about to say something, when we heard sirens and people getting close. The three of us gasped and hurried to gather up our things. Marius stuffed the remaining chocolate into Zeus' backpack and stood to his feet.

"It's the police!" Zeus gasped, peeking outside of the tent. "They have dogs!"

"What are we going to do?" I questioned. "We can't be caught."

"We'll have to split up," Marius replied. "Phantasma is about a half a mile down the road. Let's meet there in an hour…beneath the giant wheel… We'll hide there until the heat dies down."

The three of us headed towards the back of the tent and as soon as the dogs came through the front, the three of us dashed out the back, running towards the front of the park. Lights were shinned upon us as we split up and went our own separate ways. I could hear the police getting closer and closer to me, but I ran, oh, how I ran. I jumped up onto stands and went from rooftop to rooftop, keeping my distance from the ground. Luna Park was larger than I first thought it to be, for I had completely lost the direction I had been running in, and soon, I was all alone and lost. My heart pounded against my chest as I heard the dogs barking and the voices of angry officers. I had to do something, otherwise, I was going to be caught. I was nearly towards the entrance, when I noticed that it was being blocked by the officers. Oh, I would never make it out now…

"Gustave, over here!"

When I heard Marius' voice, I spun around to see the skinny boy waving me on in his direction. The dogs were even closer now, so close that I spotted their heads coming from the other side of a shop. Marius grabbed my hand and pulled me through the park, our pace never slowing down for a single moment.

"Zeus found a way out," Marius gasped. "He was able to lift up the fence…"

"Thank God for that," I cried. "We're seconds away from being caught."

"How did they even know what we were doing?!"

"I don't know… Some nosey bat was probably looking out her bedroom window."

From in front of me, I spotted Zeus lifting the metal bars of the fence, making a hole barely big enough for someone to slip through. Maris went first since he was the thinnest… He struggled at first, but once he was on the other side, Zeus motioned me to go next. I pushed myself through, Marius pulling me to the other side. I became stuck, causing precious escape time to be lost. But once I was through, it was Zeus' turn. The boy was large…Not fat, but muscular, making it extremely hard for his torso to even squeeze through the hole.

"Come on, Zeus," Marius coaxed. "You're almost there…"

Both Marius and I grabbed one of Zeus' hands and pulled him. He was nearly through, when all of a sudden, the police showed up and grabbed Zeus' legs, pulling him back to the other side. He fought the officers, but they were too strong for him.

"Run!" Zeus pleaded to us. "Run! Run now!"

I was in shock, so much, that Marius had to pull me away from the fence. It didn't seem right to leave Zeus, but it was too late for him, and now, we were leading a band of officers on a hunt towards the beach.

"We need to get to the boardwalk," Marius cried. "We'll be safe there!"

We split up once again, our pace beginning to slow down from how much we had been running. I was becoming tired, so tired that I looked over my shoulder every once in a while to make sure that we weren't being followed. But that of course wasn't for long. Soon, I could see the dogs and hear the officers once again. I tried picking up my pace, but it was no use, for I was extremely exhausted. I ran right past Marius, for he had stopped to catch his breath. I was about to grab his hand, when a police dog tackled him. This instantly quickened my pace, for I was almost at the boardwalk… Faster and faster I bolted towards the dark figure, knowing that if I made it there, I would be safe. I could climb one of the posts and sneak up into Phantasma's boarders…

The dog's bark became louder, making it obvious that I was close to being caught. No, I wouldn't let this happen. Finally, I made it beneath the boardwalk, but that wasn't enough, for as soon as I attempted to climb one of the posts, the dog's mouth grabbed a hold of my trousers… I struggled against his strength, kicking him in the snout in an attempt to get away, but I knew it was over.

"Got ya!"

Two hands reached out and gripped my side, pulling me away from the post and sending me to the sandy ground below. Once I was face down in the sand, I felt my hands being pulled behind my back and something cold being applied to my wrists… I assumed that these were handcuffs, but I wasn't too sure, for I had never been arrested before.

"It's time to take a ride downtown," the officer sneered. "Once we're there, we'll send someone to fetch your parents."

No! Oh, my papa was going to kill me. If there was anything I wish I could do, it was turn back time so that I would have stayed in bed instead of coming out with Zeus and Marius, for now I knew that I wouldn't live another night.

Erik's POV

Ever since I became ill from my heart, I spent many nights in bed. Working Phantasma was exhausting, even with Nadir as my assistant manager. Gustave helped out a lot when it came to the work load, but there were many nights that I still felt exhausted. At least I still had Christine. She had not disappeared, and even though she and I worked side by side when it came to Gustave, I still loved her more than anything in the world. Though, I was woken one evening when I heard someone knocking at the door. The noise immediately woke me, causing me to sit up and reach out for my pocket watch. Oh, it was three in the morning. Who on earth would be at my door and at this hour? When the noise didn't stop, I groaned and grabbed my robe, slipping on the garment and heading downstairs while trying to adjust my mask. Oh, if this was Nadir, I would kill the man! He did like to make unscheduled visits, and sometimes they were at the oddest of hours.

"What is it?" I growled, opening the door to find two officers standing on my doorstep. Now, why would the police be standing here? I looked back inside towards my hallway, the hallway where Gustave's room was located.

"Mister Y, we're dreadfully sorry for the late night visit. I understand that you have a park to run, but we need to speak to you about a few things."

"About what?" I barked. "Couldn't this have waited until the morning?"

"No, sir," the other officer assured. "Could we come in for a few moments?"

When I let the two officers pass, I closed the door and turned to face them.

"Just keep your voices down," I warned. "My son is asleep and I don't wish to wake him. He needs all the sleep he can get with helping me every day in Phantasma."

"Sir," the first officer began. "Your son is exactly why we came here tonight."

"What about him?" I eagerly questioned.

"Mister Y, your son was involved in a crime spree across Luna Park tonight. We got a call from an eye witness stating that three minors were vandalizing the park. When we arrived, there were shop windows broken and paint splattered all over shop walls and streets."

"No," I growled. "You have the wrong boy. Gustave would never do something like that… He's in bed right now."

"Sir, Gustave is down at the jail house… He's in a cell with the two other boys who vandalized Luna Park. We've contacted their parents as well, and they too, are on their way to the jail house. You can come down to the station and bail your son out, but there will be things that need taking care of, especially when it comes to the damage that your children caused."

I squeezed my fists in anger, for I would kill Gustave for this! Without a second thought, I ran upstairs to dress, silent tears running down my cheeks, for all I had wanted these past two years was to be the best father that I could be, and yet, I had failed… I was a horrible parent.

So...Gustave is dead...Officially. Stay tuned to see if he lives Erik's wrath... Please review!