Ghostly Justice

Chapter 33: Another Kind of Halfa

"Are you going to get up or continue pretending to sleep?" Hibernius Tall had been watching over the unknown boy for almost an hour. He knew he'd woken up almost fifteen minutes ago. The show would start in thirty minutes and the ringmaster wanted to make sure everything was in order before then.

The boy opened his eyes. "How- how long have you known I was awake? Usually no one notices..."

"You weren't exactly resting peacefully. You're the most silent sleeper I've met but it was obvious you were having a nightmare." The boy flinched at his words and looked away. "I would ask what troubles you but that seems a bit personal for total strangers." Mr. Tall walked over to the tent entrance and held it open. "Why don't we take a walk around and get you something to eat. You may call me Mr. Tall."

The small boy looked like he wanted to turn invisible and fly away, which the man knew he could do from glimpsing into his future. "Danny..."

"Shall we get going then? I have a show to start soon and there's someone you should meet."

Danny followed the man outside and wondered if he went by tall because of how tall he was or if it was his actual name. He followed the man around a bunch of tents. "Are we at a circus?"

"Yes, this is a very special circus called Cirque Du Freak or Circus of Freaks in English. I am the ringmaster and I consider everyone here my family."

Danny tried to stay close to the ringmaster but he was taking insanely long strides and his short legs couldn't keep up. It didn't help that his stomach was empty after throwing up his lunch. "Please slow down! I'm physically and mentally exhausted!" He was about to fall to the ground after tripping over a jagged piece of metal when someone caught him.

"Are you okay? I thought I took care of all the loose metal." Danny looked up to see a boy about the same age as him wearing a dirty suit and tie. "My name's Darren Shan, are you joining the circus?"

Danny moved to stand in front of Darren. This kid smelled weird and it wasn't because he smelled like he'd been buried underground. It smelled familiar but he couldn't quite figure out why. "Um I don't think so, the last circus I was part of was kind of a bad experience. I also don't know how I got here." He looked around looking for Mr. Tall, who was no where to be seen. "Where did Mr. Tall go? He told me I needed to meet someone."

"Well he probably went to check on everyone before the show starts, you can help me with my preparations if you want. I just need to feed Madam Octa and make sure my master's awake."

Danny still wanted to leave but his core was telling him to stay. "Okay..."

Darren sniffed the air and looked down at the other boy's leg. His blood smelled really sweet, probably the sweetest thing he's ever smelled before. "You know you're bleeding right? We should get you to the infirmary."

Danny instantly started panicking. "I- I'm fine. There's no need for me to see a doctor!"

The other raven haired boy simply nodded. "We don't have to go see the doctor but don't you want to at least stop the bleeding?"

"Its already stopped." He raised his pant leg. "See?" The boys took a closer look at Danny's leg to see a large cut slowly disappearing.

"You heal pretty fast."

"Yeah..." Danny let go of his pant leg. The two started walking again in awkward silence. Eventually they made it to what Danny assumed was the other boy's tent.

"Here we are. Temporary home sweet home." Darren walked over to what looked like a large coffin and knocked on it. The he walked over to a clear tank in the corner of the room. "Good evening Madam Octa. You're looking as hairy as ever."

Danny peered around Darren's shoulder to see what was in the tank. He was across the tent as far away as his powers would allow with his stomach on empty. "You didn't say Madam Octa was a spider!"

The other boy just chuckled. "Right sorry, not everyone loves spiders. How did you get up there so fast? I didn't even see you move."

Before he could answer, Danny's stomach decided in that moment to make its presence known.

"Looks like Madam Octa isn't the only one that needs to eat. Who are you halfing and why are you here?" The boys looked over to see a man with bright orange hair putting the lid on what Danny now knew was a coffin.

"What's a halfing?"

"I think you should ask your new friend." The man turned to the beam Danny was perched on. "You might want to get rid of the blood on you. I smelled it long before you entered my tent." With that the man walked out the tent entrance.

"You can come down now, Madam Octa's back in her tank."

Danny hesitated before slowly climbing down and keeping a huge distance from the tank. "Can we go now? Also who was the dude in the coffin?"

"That was my mentor, Larten Crespley. So what's a halfing and why did he call you one?"

"Can we get some food first? I'm really hungry."

"Sure."

More awkward silence followed them despite how merry everyone else was. Danny paused when his ghost sense went off. Before he could look around to see the cause someone tackled him to the ground. "DANNY!"

All he saw before being released was bright green hair. He smiled when he saw who it was. "Hey Kitty, I haven't seen you since I was six."

"You two know each oth- oh shit what happened to your stomach!?" Danny and Kitty looked down to see part of Danny's dissection scar was showing. He hurriedly pulled his shirt down.

"I think I should go." Core be damned, nothing was worth the explanations they would want. He hadn't had to relive that trauma and he didn't want to start now.

"Danny wait-" Kitty tried to grab her friend's hand.

"I don't want to talk about it!" She held up her hands when she see the familiar neon glow.

"Alright but weren't you two going to get something to eat? I'll go with you, Johnny should be there as well."

Danny sighed, "You'd probably use your powers on me if I didn't. I will NOT be answering any questions so please don't ask." He started walking in a random direction.

Darren rushed to catch up to the other two. "Wait can you at least tell me what a halfing is?"