What Happened Under The Big Tent (IT'S ALL PART OF THE SHOW SEQUEL)

Chapter II 🦂Remember To Forget Forget To Remember

...I wanna hear you say, I remember you.

I jumped at the harsh sound and Everything was entirely black. I was skittish at certain noises before, but this one made me shutter
and it felt like fear had me pinned against a wall.

The dark had me pinned -the kind of dense blackness where you can't see your own hands in front of your face.
I was never afraid of the dark, I had no reason to be and being the child of The Emperor Of The Night had quickly earned me the name: 'Princess Of The Dark'.

Trying to manage my nerves, I soon released I wasn't alone in the darkness. There was something there! Or someone...
From a far, I could hear a commotion echoing from what was most likely the animal area. There was the bold sound of metal clanking against more metal, then it was quiet all except for the humming that came from the handful of generations running in the distance.
As I blinked slowly, the clanking of metal on more metal came yet again.

The blotchy figures were getting closer by the second. Something didn't seem right. I liked being scared, and if I'm being frank, I wanted to be scared, but this was ridiculous!

I wanted to run—
I could run, but how far would I get? Where would I go? I had to do something. So I started to run.
I was going so fast, I had to be somewhat weary of sliding and possibly falling on the stones below. Regardless of the risk, I kept going.

As I neared the performers area, there was banging and again the harsh clanking of metal.
-Not only that, but now I could hear the parrots screaming and a cold shiver made my whole body heavy at the sound of my horse whinnying.

'Oh no! Pippa! What's going on!?'
I thought to myself.

I wanted nothing but to go check on my horse, but the nighttime darkness had gotten darker. -Was that even possible at midnight?
-There could be a high probability of such a bizarre occurrence, after all, this was The Carnival.
With my father as the mastermind of the business, anything and everything might have been possible.
THIS nightmare on the other hand, shouldn't have been possible. -So why?

I felt uneasy and fear shot through me like a forceful slap. -I could relate... I wanted to turn around- but fear had me anchored. -What was worse? Turning around or not?
I whirled around in one swift motion and was hit with fear. No, turning around had been the worser of the two.

"No! N-no. S-stop... please! Don't- NO!"
I cried.

The dark void stretched a long ways out and there wasn't anything it didn't touch. There was silence as I couldn't fight my eyes closing...

****

...
"MADISON."
My name filled the room -or wherever I was.
As I woke up practically leaping from where I lay, I don't recall if I screamed or cried first.

My father had spoke my name.
It took me some time to figure out where I was after the worst of the panic had seemingly passed already.

"Shhhhh. It's alright. Shhh, you're alright. It's okay."
Spoke Marcus.

My father gently pulled me into his arms as he tried to make sense of what happened before the moment he had sensed my nightmare.

"Shhh. Breathe Madison. That's it."
Marcus said as he placed his left hand on his cane and closed his eyes momentarily.

Almost immediately, a glass of water appeared in Marcus' palm. He handed me the glass.

I never questioned that part -I was aware of the power in the cane... just not how it worked or the sheer amount of power it contained.

"Thankyou, Marcus—"
I trailed off as I slipped calling him Marcus.

He took his tophat from his head and set it on the table -open side up.

He bent down on the chamber's wooden floor -only partly covered in a burgundy carpet. He likes red, as do I. Marcus balanced on one knee and the tip of his boot.

"It's alright. After that nightmare, I understand."
He said.

He didn't need clarification on what had startled me, he already knew. Marcus seemed to always know.

"T-they tried to take m-me! They wanted to hurt me... a-and you—"
I stuttered.

"Shh. It's all right. Nothing bad is going to happen... I will not let anyone... hurt you, Madison. No harm will ever come upon you again. All you have to do is trust me. You mustn't be too alarmed, Tiger."
I headed my father's words.

"Do you want to go back to sleep?"
Marcus asked me.

I didn't respond though. I didn't have an answer.
Part of me wanted to sleep- I WANTED TO DREAM but I didn't want the nightmares intruding in any way.

"Would you like me to say?"
He asked a different question.

I looked him in his eyes with my green eyes that matched his and that gase gave him the answer.

"I shall stay. "
He said as I settled back into a comfortable position and laid my head back down on the pillow.

I closed me eyes briefly. Opening them milliseconds afterwards, I stretched a faint smile at this fact.
My father- Mister TopHat, had changed.

Now wearing his light gray/bluish shirt with his gray long coat over it, black slacks and polished black shoes- all the moments prior to the bad events came back to me. I saw the moment when the merry-go-round arrived at Marcus Cochran's Circus for assembly and the heap of canvas tents where the games were to be set up momentarily.

After my father pulled the patterned quilt over me, he smiled at me before saying:

"Good night, my child. Dream big Madison."

I looked at him briefly...

"Here you go. Pleasant sweet dreams, sweetie."
I heard him say as he slid off his jacket and laid it next to me.

"Thankyou father."
I said as I clutched the brown and white plush horse in my left hand. Daddy gave me the horse when I was very little and he held onto it till he found me. -Till he brought me home.

I gripped his jacket with my other hand.

The inner chamber was still and quiet.

"Sure thing, Madison."
I heard him say softly as I closed my eyes a second time.

As for Marcus' magical wardrobe swap, some part of it - of seeing him prior as Mister TopHat and Marcus Cochran now, it offered me a sense of safety and security.... A feeling of peace and....

Home.

(1,111 words)