Innocent Creatures

Chapter 14 (P.O.V: Clive and Fia)

*

(Clive)

This place is starting to make me feel terribly queasy.

Ariana lays whimpering in the corner of the cage, whilst wearing the circus outfit given to her by Derik, which is the name I believe belongs to the tall guard outside our door. I cling to River as I shiver hopelessly, due to the snow beginning to fall outside. Seventy-one little lines have been drawn on the floor since our, let's say, arrival here. This means that Zeek and Skye have been here a total of 106 miserable days, I believe. Me and River cling tightly, not wanting the cold to pass between us. River is taller than me, so I can curl into his chest and he can rest his chin on my head, reducing our painful shivers. I intertwine my fingers into his, and sigh, which sends a painful shudder rattling down my spine. I glance over to Red, and run my look over his face. His cheekbones are much more pronounced than they were, due to the lack of food we all have, and you can strangely see the outline of his eye sockets whenever he squeezes his eyes shut. Fia sits next to him, brushing his hair out of his eyes whilst whispering to him in a quiet, lulled tone. Ariana lays on the hay, whimpering whilst Zeek, carefully, starts bandaging her back with the single towel we were given by Sebastian after we were allowed a single bath. That bath happened three weeks ago.

Ariana's condition is worsening, and she cries a little more each day. We try to keep track of time, but it escapes us, and we can not estimate how long we have left with her. She can not die though, for we all think she can be saved.Time will not heal her wounds, and if anything, it is making them worse. Dread fills the air whenever she coughs, and all of us hold our breath until she stops. We all love her dearly, and I know everyone would be so regretful if she passed.

We have noticed Sebastian give the girl -of whom we have called Mad Misty- in the chair a vile every day, which has DMHP written on the side of it. Afterwards, she starts to scream whilst describing the hallucinations she was experiencing and laughing. It is extremely scary, making Ariana and Skye cry, also Red and Fia balance their forehead's together whilst the noises happen.

"Red, I can't take it!" Fia whispers, her voice catching and tears roll down her cheeks.

"Shhh..." Red sighs and he strokes Fia's hair, however he too is shivering and his eyes are watering.

I wonder if he knows of Fia's feelings towards him, and I wonder what he would do if he did know. Mad Misty started laughing louder, making me curl tighter into River's chest, and let out a sad sigh. We all wanted to leave, as the tight space was driving us insane. Sebastian said that we will be moved to a better living space though because his other performers are confused as to where the new performers he had mentioned were.

He makes shivers run down my spine that are so painful they rattle my bones. We all dread performing on his stage, as if we make one wrong move, he will hit us, all but one of us. He has taken rather kindly to Fia, not hitting her a single time, and giving her coats to wear to stop the cold freezing her fair skin. He lets her out of the cage, and walks with her around the tent. Also, whenever we move to another town or city, she can have a blanket to warm her. I wonder why she has been taken kindly to...

(Fia)

I sit balancing my forehead on Red's with my eyes closed. I worship our silence, holding his hand.

"Do you think Grandma and Papa miss us?" I whisper.

"Well your Papa will miss you, and Shelia will miss you, but since we are not biological to her, she probably does not miss me and Ariana too much" He sighs.

"Nonsense Red, she loves you as much as your mother would have".

"Do you think so?" He takes his head off mine and looks into my eyes, which are watering terribly.

"Of course she does"

"Thank-you... " His eyes are so golden that they could be made from pure sunshine, and they are beautiful.

"You are welcome" I smile, ignoring the laughter coming from Misty.

He smiles too, and squeezes my hand. "You are a good friend Fia" he whispers, making my heart sink  little.

"Awe... thank you, you are a good friend too!"

Suddenly, Sebastian walks into the room with a loud shout. His presence freezes everyone in the room, and paralyzes them with fear, and he says:

"If you are to be in our show fully, I have realized I need to know what you can do. So, guards, take them to The Ring" He says, flashing an evil smile and tipping his black hat over his eyes.

"No!" I hear Skye shout "I don't want to follow your petty orders! Let... Let me go! ...et...m...go..." She thrashes as her guard pulls the black bag over her head, muffling her cries.

"LET HER GO!" Zeek shouts, throwing himself at the giant guard, who is strangely caught of guard and is thrown hard to the floor. Zeek bashes the guards head multiple times on the floor, shouting "Don't... You... Ever... Touch... Her... Again!". I am shocked as an awful cracking noise vibrates through the room, and my hands jump to my mouth at the third hit, letting out a gasp.

"Zeek stop!" I yell.Blood pools on the floor after around seven seconds of intense fighting from both the guard and Zeek, and the guard's eyes close. Other guards reach them after a long time, wrenching Zeek of the poor guard. His face shows no remorse, only anger.

"That was not very polite of you!" says Sebastian, wiping a tiny spec of blood off the cage handle. "Take him with three guards! Off you! Oh, and remove the body"