The Timeservers

Chapter 51

New York City, New York

The Peccadillo Circus

December 20, 227 P.F.E

2315 hours

Via wasn't sure what she was expecting to find inside the circus but she definitely wasn't expecting to find Barkley jumping out at her from behind the hidden doorway. Barkley had to move quickly to catch Via's fist and prevent it from going right into his jugular as she reacted the way she was trained to.
"Barkley! Wh-Have you been waiting for me?" Via sputters and shoves his hand from hers.
"I figured you would show up yesterday or today. There was too much pressure. Everyone shows up here when there's too much pressure."
"I didn't expect to see you again. Not after the other day."
Barkley grins, leaning an arm against the doorframe. "That was a little dramatic. The blood-soaked shirt?"
Via pinches her lips, despising what she's about to say next. "Maybe I overreacted a little."
"I'm glad you've seen that."
"Well, let's go in. I'm anxious to get into the circus." Via pushes past Barkley and tries to head into the room he's been blocking her way into. She stops in her tracks when she sees what's there. There are rows and rows of bizarre costumes and masks.
"You can't just go into the circus. The whole relying on someone to not tell on you because they'll implicate themselves only goes so far. These people aren't the most trustworthy. Pick a mask, then go in. You don't want these people to know who you are, even if you don't exist." Barkley ties a mask around his own face. It's a silver color with a pointed chin, no mouth, and a nose that's quite large and doesn't match Barkley's at all. He puts on a top hat and a gold and deep purple jacket, like something someone in a parade would wear. There's an ornate baton resting beside him and Via's sure it's part of his costume as well. "You also can't go in with your hand like that."
Via lifts the hand she pressed to the brick. She hadn't wanted to look at it before, certain that it was already bright red and blistered. Instead, she sees red welts and blisters forming the laughing and crying masks, a brand.
Barkley reaches out for Via's hand and she snatches it away. He holds his hands open for her to look at. One hand is empty and the other holds a medical device for treating burns. "Trust me?"
"You've already established that no one here can be trusted. I naturally assumed you included yourself in that."Via tucks her burned hand behind her, closing it slightly and regretting it as pain shoots up her arm.
"Clever girl. How about trust that I don't want you to be caught because I know that you would crack if any of your little friends asked what you were up to? They may have betrayed you, and they certainly did or you wouldn't be here, but you'd still tell them anything. You told Kelly about your parents leaving."
Hearing Kelly's name, his real name, on Barkley's lips is terrible enough. Hearing that Barkley also knows Via's biggest secret, the worst moments in her life makes her sick. She'd trusted it to Kelly because he's Kelly. Kelly knows to keep secrets. Even if he thinks it's for a person's own good to tell someone else, he will keep a secret. Via wanted him to know. It was a relief to tell him about it all. Barkley will use every secret Via has to torture her and bend her to his will.
She holds out her hand and Barkley takes it, clamping onto her wrist as he uses the device on her palm. In a few seconds, the burn is gone, leaving a faint tingling where it used to be.
"Now, go get ready. The circus is waiting."
Via steps into the trove of costumes and masks, digging through them to see what there is. There's everything from scarves to medical masks to masks that cover the eyes. There are some that cover the whole face as well. Via finds something that appeals to her and she steps behind a rack of clothes to put on the costume she selected.
When she steps out from behind the rack of clothing Barkley smirks. She can't see it, but she can tell from the way his eyes look as they peer out of the holes in the mask.
She chose a dress, short, a few inches above the knees. It's covered in a gold pattern like bare tree branches, but the dress beneath it is white. The mask she chose is pure white, covering only the top half of her face. There are gold feathers sprouting from one side of it, at the top, and they arch around her head.
"You know it's dangerous to wear white here. People don't come here to be reminded of what's good," Barkley says. It's less a warning and more of a pleased observation. Via takes a step away from him. Barkley takes her arm instead.
"You don't want to be alone in this place." Barkley tilts his head. "You don't want to be here, do you? There's still a chance to turn around." The way Barkley says it makes it clear that there isn't. Via made the mistake of going down this far, now the only way out is to keep digging.
"I'm fine. You should be the one who's nervous right now. I'm wearing white after all. I've also been bottling up seventeen years' worth of every wrong thing. I could be a dangerous person tonight."
"You've been a dangerous person for the last month. I know what they teach you to do as a spectre. I'm just surprised you haven't already let it all out on the job."
"I prefer to keep my misdeeds private, all the better to keep from being blackmailed." Via sidesteps Barkley and pushes open another door, the one that will lead to the circus. She hopes it's the one leading to the circus. All it says is 'a door better left closed.'