R*A*T*S (Sequel To A*M*E*R*I*C*A)

Chapter 9

Chris' POV:

"He's really gone." Mike whispered under his breath as he held onto Kuza's arm. I looked down at my phone hoping I could get a response from Remington but an hours passed and still nothing.

Manson came back from his trailer holding a phone up to his ear and I could just hear the last part of his conversation.

"Okay, we'll be there tonight." Manson hung up as he approached the pit where everybody was gathered around talking amongst each other.

"What is it Manson?" Ash spoke out. The older man cleared his throat as he tucked his phone away in his pants pocket.

"Rem is fine. He's gone with his brothers to Rob's tent."

"What? Why are they there for?" Ryan growled softly.

"According to Rob, Sebastian and Emerson are the newest addition to his crew."

I furrowed my brows at Manson's words. Why would his brothers work for Rob when he's the reason their brother is struggling?

"We'll get more answers when we go to their final show tonight." With that Manson walked off to his trailer almost too quickly. Something's wrong... I pinched the bridge of my nose as I watched my father figure walk off in a hurry and I couldn't help but let out a soft sigh.

"Chris?" My sweet kitten purred in my ear as he wrapped his arms around my neck, resting his chin against my shoulder. I gently pet the top of his head causing him to purr softly.

"It'll be okay Rick."

I hope.
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-later that day-

It was an hour till show time at Rob's circus and we were about to head out. Manson chose only a few to go this time so as to not draw too much attention, well almost. It was Manson and I, Kuza, Ricky, Mike, Devin and Ryan. Despite Manson hesitating on bringing along Ryan or Devin, he finally decided to let only Ryan come along. So Devin Bill, Tom, Dan, Ash, Ryan Ashley and Balz stayed behind even though it made Manson uncomfortable. But Balz reassured that he would make sure everybody would be fine.

"I trust you'll take care of the camp Balz. We will be back as soon as possible." With that Manson and the rest of us went on our way. The drive there was quiet except for the music softly playing from the radio. Manson's knuckles were white as he squeezed onto the steering wheel and I couldn't help but feel guilty. He's like my father....no he IS my father. He trusts me so much all these years and I feel like I've betrayed that trust. Maybe if I had told him about Rem's brothers none of this would've happened.

Another thing that kept bothering me was why the hell would Remington's brothers work for a man who put their brother in this position? Struggling financially, at risk of being homeless, like all of us. But my real question is why did Rem fall so easily to following his brothers? He's usually the strong yet sassy guy who doesn't let his emotions get the better of him. Rem is the type who will call you a straight up biatch and snap his fingers in your face.

"Chris?" My train of thoughts was interrupted by the soft voice of Ricky who was looking up at me with furrowed brows. I realized we were already at Rob's tent and we all filed out of the van. It looked more crowded than usual. Manson guided us to the entrance where there was a line shaking around almost the whole tent. From here I could see the entrance and surprise surprise there I saw Maria sitting on a stool handing out tickets and taking money from customers. She was wearing a long red dress that dangled to the ground that was fitted to her body with a leather corset. Red gloves ran up her tatted arms and her makeup was simple dark eye shadow and red lipstick.

Maria looked up and her eyes brightened when she caught glimpse of us. She stood up waving over for us from over the crowd.

"Excuse me everybody, please make room for our special VIP guests." She called out, the crowd groaning as they gave us room to squeeze up to the front. Maria greeted us with a smile holding her hand out which Manson politely shook.

The blonde woman held open the tent flap, Manson thanking her as we entered. Ricky squeezed onto my hand as we walked by Maria who simply winked at me like she usually would.

"You brought the kitten with you this time. Cute." She giggled as Rick and I entered. There was a body guard dressed in his samurai looking uniform standing on the steps near us who held his hand out. He lead us to a row in the front where there were empty seats with a note saying 'VIP ONLY'. I sat between Rick and Kuza.

"Chris fucking Motionless is that you?"

"Course it is asshole, who else is 7 feet something."

I turned my head along with Ricky and my eyes widened to see the familiar faces of Andy and Ronnie.

"Ron, Andy! So good to see you guys!" I smiled as I reached over to hug the two. Ricky doing the same. It was at this moment that the others turned to greet our former clowns.

"Wow, Ricky is that you? You've grown up so fast kitten." Ronnie pat the top of the kittens head.

"Well, who are these new faces I see?" Andy pointed over to Kuza and Mike.

"You two, this is Mike and his fiance Kuza. Kuza is my long lost younger brother." The two clowns jaws dropped open in disbelief and I couldn't help but let out a chuckle.

"Now that you mention it, you two do look alike. Yeah, the resemblance is uncanny." Andy ran a hand through his now short hair.

"It's a long story trust me. But what brings you guys around here? How's the music career going?" Ricky chimed in.

"Really great. We've played tons of shows. We heard about this huge freak show while touring this state so we decided to give it a look. We assumed it was you guys.." Ronnie scrunched his eyebrows together. I sighed softly before shrugging my shoulder.

"Honestly, they're the reason we're falling hard. You see-" I was interrupted by the loud crowd cheering and applauding and we agreed to talk after. I turned back to face the stage where it was already filling with a deep purple smoke. In the center of the smoke appeared non other than Rob himself along with his wife.

"Welcome ladies, gentlemen and creatures of the night. I am so glad to see so many faces on what will be our last show in this city. So let's make it one you will never forget." The tall man held his arms out with his cane in one hand as the crowd roared with cheers.

"Now please welcome first to the stage, our contortionists, Vinny and Misery." The two men came out doing flips and bending their bodies in ways the human body wasn't meant to bend. Even Ash or Dani couldn't bend that way... I folded my arms across my chest as the two stood side by side, letting the crowd quiet down a bit.

"And joining them is a special guest and newest addition to their act. Please scream for our very own Remington Leith!"

Almost immediately upon hearing that name I shot my head up to see Rem hanging down from a large silver hoop by his legs. His arms were crossed across his chest, eyes closed shut. His hair was bleach blonde. I peeked over at the others who had the same reaction as me; shocked. In disbelief.

I turned back to look up at the vampire king just as he opened his eyes. He was wear black and white striped pants, a black vest covered in silver studs and a choker around his neck. But...something was off. His eyes glowed a bright red and when he smiled, his teeth bore fangs. The fangs were nothing new since he wore them for his act, but his eyes... There was something different. I've never seen him wear red contacts. The dark rings around his eyes made the red glow brighter. Rem smiled at the crowd as he spun slowly around in his ring, glancing at us like he didn't recognize us.

Ricky squeezed my arm and I looked down at my kitten who had a confused look on his face. I shrugged a bit looking back up to see Rem on the ground taking a bow, the crowd just eating it up and the short man just taking it. This is not Rem. Not our Rem. He may be sassy but he was not this cocky during his performances.

What's happened to you...
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- Oh wow! So much drama I'm loving this! I hope you guys are enjoying it as much as I am writing it. Feel free to express your thoughts in the comments below! New update coming soon! Stay Purdy (;