The Nightmare's Return

Chapter 10

After the show Akiko, Graham, Gavin, and Rachel were taken back to their large tent and were given some soup and bread for dinner. They were each individually taken one at a time again to the outer bathroom to change clothing and to wash up for bed. Gavin had asked Rachel if she was okay when she had been put back into her cage earlier. Like Gavin before her, Rachel had managed to compose herself enough to only let a small amount of what she went through to be seen. She mentioned the wheel and crazy images of things that were around her with some rain just thrown into the act for fun, and left out everything else. She didn't want to talk about any details that happened on the wheel, or anything else that might concern anyone. It had already been a rough night. Akiko and Graham had talked about what they had went through for their acts, and Gavin mentioned the knight battle, but left out the more harsh parts that he had experienced. Rachel could sense that something else was there, but let it drop, as Gavin didn't want to mention anything else. As they all went to sleep in their cages, Rachel also wrapped her blankets around herself to try and get some sleep. She thought about what happened in her act on the wheel. She thought about what she went through emotionally and what worried her the most. And she thought about what she didn't want to but was there, about the new connection she felt with Mr. Tophat while she was stuck on the wheel. She drifted off to sleep like everyone else did eventually, all hoping for and wondering about a way to escape their situation in Mr. Tophat's new carnival..

..To another bright spotlight Rachel opened her eyes to hear the sound of a clapping crowd. She looked around, turning her head from side to side to see where she was. She was back at the tent where her and her friends had been put through the acts created for them, for Mr. Tophat's show. But all she could see were parts of the tent's surroundings that could barely be seen in the dark past the spotlight, and the shapes of some of the audience's faces in the stands again. It felt like she was the only that was in the ring, until she heard his voice.

"Welcome everyone to the new act we have here tonight. Our beautiful girl here is going to participate in showing all of you that in the darkness, there can be at least a little light beauty to be seen." Mr. Tophat who was now standing a little further ahead of her, turned and held a hand out to Rachel, who was dressed in a dazzling gown. Rachel took his hand and walked forward to where he was standing. He took both her hands and put them up for her, palms out and up. He turned toward a carnival worker who handed Mr. Tophat a small black velvet clothed, covered box. He placed one of his hands under the box and slowly removed the velvet covering with the other. He than reached inside and pulled out a curled up black and white striped snake that went up to being three feet long, after Mr. Tophat carefully stretched it out with his hands. He lifted the snake up and went over to Rachel moving to stand behind her. He moved his head a bit to the side of hers so she could hear him better. He told her to keep still as he lowered his arms down in front of her, bringing the snake down over the front of her head, and into her hands. Before Rachel could react in too much fear, Mr. Tophat put his hands over her shoulders and squeezed them to help her keep calm.

"Now, now, it won't hurt you. Just relax and show it to the audience."

Rachel did her best to keep her body steady and her breathing even, as she refrained from going into any panicking as she stood up a little straighter, and put her arms out more towards the audience in the stands in front of her. The audience kept quiet, mouths hanging open as they visibly moved back in their seats, even though they were nowhere near the snake. Mr. Tophat moved his hands down from Rachel's shoulders and slid them underneath her arms, moving them to her hands, and placing his underneath hers. Rachel had made sure to try and not move a muscle as he did so, even though the gliding of his hands made her skin slightly tickle. Mr. Tophat moved his hands away from Rachel's just a few inches away underneath to bring them back up quickly, to hit the backside of her hands for the snake to jump up from them and into the air just above her head. The audience became alarmed, some people screamed. But when the snake landed back into Rachel's hands it was no longer a snake but a feather boa, which Mr. Tophat took from Rachel's hands and placed around her neck. The crowd cheered, laughing at themselves and looking at each other, embarrassed about being so scared by the apparently safe trick. Rachel recovering from the small heart attack she almost just had, took some deep breaths, knowing that her own fear was nothing to be embarrassed by here. The people in the audience didn't know Mr. Tophat like she did. What he could actually be capable of with fear..