Freak Show | Multiship [C]

Chapter 16 | Reality

A/N: So I feel like clarifying that bc this is an AU where a lot of rules are just thrown the fuck out the window, Manson and Twiggy are younger in this. I'll put a pic or gif w/ the chapter of them from the 90s. I'm also going to refer to Nikki Sixx by Sixx as to not get him confused with Nikki Misery.

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Morning dew blessed the flowers of the meadow. Sunlight just barely coved the Texas fairgrounds. It was calming, yet Angelo couldn't find sleep. He sat on the steps of his trailer and watched the sun come up. Something just wasn't right. He hadn't slept all night. In the calmness, a scream suddenly screeched through the camp.

Angelo shot up, running to where the female shriek originated. He knew it wasn't from the Freak Show's side, but he saw the whole circus as his family regardless. Who else would help out anyways? No one else was awake. Angelo came around to one of the tents where he heard voices. He saw Ronnie walking towards the same tent with his fists clenched. Inside, Andy and Juliet were clinging to each other.

"What the fuck happened?" Ange asked.

"Daredevil was crying and woke us up. We assumed he needed to go use the bathroom, so Juliet got up to take him out to the field. Some fucking asshole tried to grab her. I heard her scream and ran out, and hit the fucker in the face. Ronnie heard too and came out of his trailer. The guy started to run, so Ronnie chased him." Andy explained.

"He got away from me." Ronnie grit his teeth, "I want to break his fucking neck for touching her."

Angelo sighed, "I knew something was wrong. I could feel it in my bones. I'm going to go wake Manson and we'll do roll call of the freaks. I suggest you wake Sixx  and Zombie and do the same."

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Chris was trapped in his bed between Devin and Ricky. He had one of them on either side of him, clinging to his body. Normally he wouldn't be complaining, but the knock at his door seemed urgent. Eventually the pounding became loud enough it woke Devin and Ricky up.

"Who the fuck..?" Ricky groaned, holding his hand to his head.

"You have a headache?" Chris asked him.

"Yeah, fuck." He groaned.

"Go back to sleep." He responded, "I'll get it."

Chris managed to get out of bed and get on a pair of jeans. Devin pulled on a silk robe and followed him towards the door. Upon opening it, both of them blinked rapidly at the bright sun. They saw their boss and his boyfriend... girlfriend... partner. They rarely heard Twiggy talk and had no idea what their gender was.

"You know, some people like this thing called sleep. You should try it sometime." Chris muttered sleepily.

"You can sleep when you're dead." Manson snapped at him, "And apparently you all came very close to being dead. Someone attacked the camp last night."

That woke them both up. "Is everyone alright?" Devin asked.

"I'm not sure yet. We need to do a headcount, so get dressed and head to the big top in the next ten minutes."

"We will. Ricky is in here too, by the way, and I'll make sure he gets the message as well." Chris said.

Manson nodded, "Thank you."

He and Twiggy began to walk away. Chris closed the door harshly. He said nothing as he began to walk to the back to tell Ricky. Devin watched him go, earning a frown. She hadn't grown nearly as attached to these people as Chris was. They've been his family for years. For anyone to try to destroy that, it angered him beyond a point of words.

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Upset, tired, and hungry, the entire circus crew was lining the first few rows of the big top. They had three main leaders, ironic to the title of a three ring circus. Manson handled the freaks, Sixx was in charge of the midway, and Zombie ran the main show. The three of them sat on the edges of the stage as they addressed their crew.

"Someone, we don't know who, attacked out camp this morning. They didn't take any money, props, people, anything. They just were here to hurt us." Nikki stated.

"They attacked Juliet on their way out, probably afraid of witnesses, but their main focus was attacking the freaks. My freaks." Manson spoke lowly.

"Even though there are only counts of one man being spotted at a time, some of the people attacked recall being attacked at similar times. No one can be in two places at once. Which means, there was more than one person involved." Zombie continued, "It was probably just some religion nuts. We're in the south, after all. We're going to open the midway two hours earlier today and close it at sundown. The main show will be performing the same time, but the Freak Show is moved up to six. We want to get out of this town fast."

"Who's to say they won't follow us?" Ronnie asked.

"I'm guessing they just want us out of their town." Sixx responded, "So that's what we're going to do."

Nikki kept his arm around Ashley protectively as he asked, "Who exactly was attacked?"

"And when?" Devin added.

Sixx and Zombie looked to Manson. It was his department, after all. He kept his head down and arms crossed as he thought. Twiggy pulled on Manson's coat, whispering something in his ear. They then quietly bickered for a small moment.

He sighed, "From what we've pieced together, Ryan was the first one attacked. His trailer was broken into and he was knocked out around four in the morning. Kuza's trailer was broken into about the same time. His attacker wasn't as merciful and beat the shit out of him. Ryan-Ashley was attacked outside her trailer when she went to have a smoke at about five and she was knocked out too. They're all at the local hospital and Balz is there with them. Maria is still missing."

Chris' fists tightened, "What do you mean Maria is missing? How can you even consider talking about rushing to New Orleans without her?!"

"We're working on it!" He snapped back, "The needs of many outweigh the needs of few. As much as I desperately want her back, we have to get the rest of you to a safer place. We're trying the best, but look at us! The police treat us like the criminals when we try to ask for their help."

Sixx responded gentler, "We'll find her. I promise, we're not going to leave without anyone."

"Make sure you are with someone at all times today. Even though I highly doubt those pussies will try to attack us in the daylight." Zombie told them.

"You all can head back to your trailers and tents now. Just be careful." Sixx said.