The ringleader smoked. Evie knew this when she transformed into him. He smelled like cigarettes and his lungs, well, her lungs now, burned with every step she took. The stink of his clothes and the grease he used to slick back his hair made her gag. She stepped out of the caravan, ducking to avoid the real ringleader, Al. He would be furious when he realized she stole his keys and took over his body. She promised herself she would turn back when she was finished. Al wouldn't have to know.
Evie walked through the rows of trucks, caravans, tents. Performers dressed in costumes or regular clothes sat in the back of trucks with their feet swinging or walked around the grounds. Several performers hurried off in direction of the main tent to practice. She tried to avoid being seen, because people would be suspicious if they saw two versions of Al running around. He was tall and lanky, and he couldn't be missed in a crowd with his shiny black jacket and red bow-tie. She felt like she was on top of a large building, staring down at the streets below. No one knew that she was an imposter, a fake.
This was about Cassel.
Cassel wasn't his real name, of course. Everyone who worked for Al used stage names, but she had no idea what his real name was. He was one of the best performers he had. Cassel was a trickster, whose who could create different realities, make you see things that aren't there. When she was around him, nothing seemed real. They were never friends, really. He performed right after her, and whenever she'd leave the stage after a rough night, he would be waiting for her behind the curtain. Cassel would make things appear out of thin air for her, delicate white birds or bouquets of daisies, just to make her feel better. And then he would go to perform, leaving Evie backstage with the birds whirring around her head and landing gently on her shoulders. They would disappear minutes later.
He did have trouble with one boy in Al's troupe, Levi. They used to be roommates, but they fought constantly about money, Al, work. Cassel complained that Levi was making things move in the room just to scare him, and Levi said that Cassel was the one giving him these horrifying nightmares. Then one night, Cassel decided to play an even bigger trick on him. He made Levi hallucinate about spiders that crawled into his ears and laid eggs under his skin until they hatched. He scratched his skin until it bled and left angry red streaks on his arms, legs, neck. He had to be dragged out of his room by the older men in the troupe, when he tried to claw out Cassel's eyes while he slept.
"He did it." Levi had said, staring at his hands, blood caked under his fingernails. "He did it."
Cassel was almost fired, but Al reconsidered and he was suspended for two months without pay. Accidents involving the supernatural were common, considering the business they were in. Evie didn't even think he went to tell her goodbye. They weren't exactly close, but they were allies. They both tricked people for a living. After every show, Cassel and Evie would play cards in the group caravn, where the performers went after the show to watch TV or play games. He would have to leave the circus and he could come back in August. But he didn't come back. When Cassel didn't show up on the day he was supposed to return to work, no one knew where he was. After four days, they said he skipped town. After a week, Al told Evie to stop looking.
That's how she found herself in trouble. She wouldn't stop looking.
The clock struck ten, signaling the start of the show. Evie wouldn't be performing tonight, but almost everybody in the troupe was going to the show. She would be able to sneak around without being spotted. It became so dark that Evie couldn't see what was in front of her, not even the bumpy gravel or the neon circus lights behind her.
She walked towards Al's apartment building, which was right next to the circus grounds. It was tall and it looked like it was about to collapse. It was painted a an ugly yellow color, and a pile of old bricks sat next to the concrete steps. Every light was off in the building, making the windows look like black pits. Evie walked up to the front door and reached into Al's pocket for the giant set of keys hanging on a metal ring. She jammed each key into the door until she found the one that fit, the door creaking and wheezing as it opened. Evie put the keys back into her pocket, and stepped inside.
