The Nightmare's Return

Chapter 11

Marcus and Rachel went to the door and exited the trailer, stepping out of the doorway and down the steps. Instead of getting one of his workers to escort Rachel to the show tent, Marcus put his right arm around her, holding her left hand with his. Rachel hated how soft his jacket felt, how she wanted to lean against it, and how Marcus held her nice and gently as if they were just going for a stroll to somewhere nice for just the two of them. By the time they had gotten to the tent Marcus seemed like his usual performing self, all ready for that night's show. Mr. Tophat, just as he needed to be. Inside the tent he walked Rachel over to a cage big enough for her to stand in. But instead of silver metal, the bars were gold, and inside of the cage a pink chair with a soft looking cushion of the same color sat on it. Over and under the cage was a wooden top and bottom, decorated with fancy fixtures and designs that were painted in soft orange and pink colors. After Rachel stepped inside and the gate to the cage was locked Mr. Tophat stood back and adjusted his jacket, straightening it out as he spoke to Rachel.

"Tonight you get the special front seat to the show. And now the audience gets to see the main star, throughout the whole night."

The cage was in the ring in the right hand side, where Mr. Tophat often stood while the acts were being done on stage. But instead of darkness, the cage was under a yellow light, perfect to highlight Rachel's new look. Mr. Tophat turned to leave, heading off to the red lit zone backstage to check on the rest of the group.

"Time to make sure everything is okay backstage with everyone else before the show. See you again out here, momentarily." He told Rachel, tilting his head forward and to the side, giving her his big mischievous smile.

Just minutes after Mr. Tophat disappeared backstage he came back onto the ring to welcome the audience, and to start the show. He introduced the main highlight, having the spotlight shine down on Rachel in her golden cage. The crowd ah'd at Rachel's gorgeous appearance, seeming excited at what her part in the show was going to be. As each act started Akiko, Graham, and Gavin all came out from the backstage looking around with their eyes and moving their heads back and forth until they caught sight of Rachel. They were all clearly looking to make sure she was okay just as she was sure they were told backstage by Mr. Tophat, to calm them down when they asked where she was when she wasn't put back with them after her change into her stage outfit. The show proceeded as usual all the way up to Rachel's at the end, where a new act proceeded with her participation. It started exactly like it did in her dream with Mr. Tophat, with the snake and the birds, Rachel being let out of her own cage onstage first for the performance. Everything was going perfectly for the show that night, but backstage while Rachel was going through her new act out front, a mistake by one of the carnival workers was caught by Akiko's wandering attention. The worker that locked their cages every day and night, had carelessly put his ring of keys onto a small hook on his belt this time, instead of holding onto them by hand. It seemed that more straw had been brought to be put into the tent, and the worker needed his hands free to unload it. Akiko turned to Graham and lightly cleared her throat to try and get his attention. Graham looked at her along with Gavin, who both followed Akiko's gaze and head turn to the worker, using her hand to make a jingling motion against her side to get their attention to the worker's waist where his keys were hanging. Akiko's cage was closest to the path the worker was going back and forth through in the straw, as he brought more into the tent from the back of an old truck, that had parked near the right side of the exit. Akiko sat back on her legs and tried to seem small like she was still sitting down, until she needed to move up and forward to get to the keys on the worker's side. His focus was on the straw bails, so he didn't notice her movement enough to take attention. Akiko reached a hand out every time he passed by her, going to walk to the back of the tent with a new bail. Trying to make a lift for the keys was harder when the worker was leaving to the truck without the bail, even though he was turned away from Akiko. There was nothing to distract him. So she stayed calm and after the fifth time he passed by Akiko she finally put out her hand just in time to get her pinky finger under the metal loop of the keys and give them a small lift and pull back. Luckily the key loop didn't snag against the hook, so the lift was clean. Not noticing a thing, the worker continued onto the back of the tent with his most recent bail of straw.