R*A*T*S (Sequel To A*M*E*R*I*C*A)

Chapter 29

>>>1 year later<<<

Ricky's POV:

"Ladies and gentlemen, ghosts and ghouls, welcome to a brand new night here at the Cirque De Freaks!"

I heard Chris' voice boom through the speakers out in the arena and I couldn't help but smile. I took a look in the mirror, buttoning up the corset I had on over my collared shirt. It's already been a whole year since Chris turned me into a vampire. Everything happened so quick I almost lost track. Hyde and Kaz disappeared after Chris turned me into a vampire and we made it back to our bus safely, and we've never heard of them ever since. We just assumed they're doing well, especially Hyde. A few months after those events, tragedy struck and Manson passed away. The doctors told us it was due to a heart attack. The stress of everything must've finally gotten to him and it's unfortunate it had to end like this for him. But through his dying wish he passed on his legacy to Chris, much to his surprise. We all hesitated on even continuing the show but Chris knew Manson would want us to move forward and keep his legacy going. So now after a year and a few new acts later, we were back on top. Rob and Sheri moved away after everything happened, but Rob did get the chance to bury the hatchet with Manson  before he passed away. So at least there was some peace there.

"Ricky, you're on in 5!" I heard the familiar voice of Reita who practically skipped around backstage with his clipboard in hand. After the whole situation, Reita asked to join us on the road and of course we agreed to let him in. He was so smart and incredibly organized so it helped us keep everything in order. I shot him a smile and thanked him as he skipped away. 

This was our first show since Manson's passing, of course all of our fans knew and were incredibly devastated to hear the news. But our show must go on. Johnnie was finally out of the hospital, but decided to leave the crew in order to pursue his music career. Of course we all supported him in his decision even though we would sadly miss him, especially Alex.

"And now, the moment you've all been waiting for, please welcome our human feline, Ricky Horror!" Chris announced, followed by a loud roar of applause. I took a deep breath before stepping through the curtains to be met by the all too familiar bright lights and smiling faces of the fans. No matter how many times I stepped through those curtains, I never got tired of seeing this. This was my world, this was my life. 

After greeting the fans in the first few rows with my flips and letting them pet my ears, I went back to the center of the ring standing next to Chris. Ever since Chris turned me into a vampire, my physical appearance has changed. I've grown a couple of inches taller, my facial features were a bit more chiseled, and of course my eyes would sometimes change color. Mostly gold or red. Chris' eyes stayed permanently red, so to hide his secret we told the fans they were contacts. We made sure to drink plenty of blood before any show because our fangs would poke out when we were hungry. Chris looked down at me from his tall stature and sent me a sweet smile which I couldn't help but return it with my own smile. Suddenly Chris scooped me up into his arms swinging me over his shoulders so I was now sitting on them. If I had a pulse, it would've been skyrocketing right now. I'm not afraid of heights but it was sure unexpected for Chris to do this in the middle of a show. He held me high and I just smiled and waved at the crowd as I was carried around. I steadily stood up straight on Chris' shoulders so now 
I was at least a good 9 or 10 feet in the air. I've done jumps a lot higher than this before, but this was my first time jumping off of another human being. 

"Let's give these uglies a show they'll never forget, what do you say Ricky?" 

I nodded my head and with one swoop I lunged myself off of his shoulders, falling freely through the air. I looked up to see a hoop so using my tail, I grabbed onto it and swung around in a circle earning the applause of the audience. I hopped down from the hoop landing on the ground on all floors and stood up straight holding my arms out. As I was observing the audience, my eyes were drawn to a set of familiar golden eyes. I squinted my eyes to see if what I really saw was there, but when I did, the eyes were gone. Furrowing my brows, I shrugged it off and went backstage as Chris announced the next act. As I went backstage I was met with Reita and Balz who were talking to each other. Balz did get his eye back, but he wasn't able to put it back in because he wouldn't be able to see through it the same as before. He wears a patch over his missing eye, but he still carries the eye around with him in a small jar as a necklace. The eye still functions well and he could see through it. 

"Hey Rick, great show out there! Wanna come help me at the merch table?" Balz smiled. 

"Sure, uh, I feel like I just saw somebody familiar..." I mumbled the end of my sentence. Reita and Balz looked at each other before looking back at me. 

"Was it Hyde? It can't be." Reita tilted his head to the side with a confused look on his face. 

I chuckled scratching the back of one of my ears. 

"Maybe, I could be wrong though. It was pretty crowded out there."

Balz bit his lip before placing his arm around my shoulders and walking us away from backstage. 

"I believe you. I've felt a strange presence since arriving here in Denver. It feels much colder than usual here and i've felt a dark auora during the whole show."

"But they disappeared together. What would bring them to come back to us out of nowhere?"

Before Balz could answer, we felt a cold rush of wind surround us. I got closer to Balz clinging onto his shirt before the wind stopped. We both looked up to see a cloaked figure standing there wearing a black hat over their head so we couldn't see their face. Balz stood in front of me but I was still able to see who it was. They lifted their head up and low and behold, it was indeed Hyde. His golden eyes glowing brighter than ever. 

"Hello Kitten, Joshua." He gave us a deep bow and stood up straight. 

"What are you doing here Hyde?" I hissed slightly. Force of habit. 

"I've come back for you all."

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