The Hollow

Chapter 3: The Festival

October 31st: 9:17pm

The bass thrummed through Jonahs chest as he stood looking down into the crowd. Halloween was their busiest night of the year as it brought out everyone's dark sides. Jonah was waiting again, the match in his hand posed to strike at the perfect moment. His eyes danced over the crowd, all of them unaware of his gaze. He couldn't be seen in his current position and he wouldn't be seen until he wanted to be. He reached in his pocket to feel the baggie Salem had given him, allowing its presence to calm him. 

“Are you nervous?” Zander asked from beside him. 

Jonah glanced over at Zander, his all white costume making him glow like the ghost he was dressed up to be, and shook his head. Zander was part of the opening show because he was a prince. Jonah could tell he was nervous, he always got nervous when he was on the wire, but as soon as he hit the open air the nerves would vanish. As soon as it was done he would go to The Lounge with the other children. Just as Jonah's eyes returned to the crowd the music reached its peak and everything suddenly stopped. All the lights went out and there was absolute silence. Jonah closed his eyes and struck his match, causing whispers to erupt like buzzing bees. 

“Good luck, Regale,” Zander whispered before stepping off the ledge and soaring over the crowd, causing them to erupt with screams.

He watched Zanders white form catch the hold on the opposite wall and slowly brought the match to his mask. As maniacal laughter blared over the speakers, Jonah stepped off the ledge, the crowd cheering as his mask caught flame and he soared over them, following Zanders path. Instead of catching the hold, however, Jonah just pushed off of the wall and soared toward the back of the room. Zander launched himself back into the air, reaching out to swipe and hiss at the crowd as he made his way back to his platform. Just as Jonah caught the hold on the back wall and made a grand sweeping motion with his free arm, figures draped in black cloaks descended from their own platforms into the crowd, looking like over-sized bats. Jonah waited, counting in his head the appropriate beats before pushing off the back wall and soaring to the front, his harness bruising his hips as gravity tried to pull him back to the ground. 

Jonah had done this routine countless times over the past year and the movements came as a reflex now, but he had only done it once with his mask lit. He prayed it didn't fizzle out as he pressed the button at his waist, releasing his harness. Somersaulting through the air he landed on the stage, the roaring in his ears telling him his head still burned. He spread his arms wide as a thick fog encased him. Once he was sure the crowd could no longer see him he ripped the burning mask off, tossing it in the bucket of water that sat behind his throne. A woman grabbed his chin, dusting powder on his face and making sure his skeletal make-up wasn't too smeared before she muttered into a walkie-talkie while she ran off. Fans kicked to life, blowing the fog away as Murphys distorted voice rang out.

“Presenting, Jonah Skillings- The Pumpkin King.”

Jonah bowed his head at the roaring crowd, his eyes jumping from face to face as the lights glowed to life. With a wave of his hand, The Festival began and he collapsed onto his throne. As music began to shake the room once more, Jonah surveyed the writhing bodies before him. He spotted a couple of Bogue's girls already luring men to their back rooms, saw some of Salem's people flitting through the crowd, giving everyone who wanted a taste of what they had to offer. His father used to tell him that The Hollow got its name because it was where the Outsiders came to fill that hollow space within them, vaguely he wondered where he could go to fill his.

“Zero wanted you to know that he went to The Lounge and that you did a fantastic job, Regale,” Salem interrupted his thoughts, handing him a glass.

“Thanks,” he said, taking a sip from the drink and wrinkling his nose at it. He hated vodka but he still took another long drink of it, he needed something to settle the adrenaline still coursing through his blood, "Next time get me rum."