It's just us, now.

Thirteen.

Days into the Apocalypse : 15

The door to the camper was unlocked and opened sooner in the day than they would have expected, Damon being the one to step inside.

"Hey, you three."Damon says as soon as he stepped in, looking at them with a rather uneasy expression, "Kane wants to speak with you....All of you, I mean."

Malachi winced, "All of us?"

Jon grimaced, putting down the viper eyeshadow that he was using to apply to himself, "Does Malachi really have to be there with him?"

"Yeah..."Damon answered, not seeming happy with the idea either but not voicing it, he jerked his head to the side and said, "Hurry up, just follow me and Hugo."

"Lets just go."Don sighed, standing up and holding Malachi's hand, due to his scared expression, as they stepped out of the camper alongside Jon. Hugo and Damon were outside waiting, and with Damon in front of them and Hugo behind them began to walk towards the giant circus tent where Kane was waiting for them. It was getting dark outside.

They stepped into the tent and walked towards the center, which was surrounded by rows of seats for what seemed to be for people to sit during a performance. Kane stood there waiting for them, leaning on his staff on the ground and grinning dangerously as they approached.

Damon and Hugo hung back behind them near the entrance, simply watching the interaction from afar with their weapons out in preparedness.

"Jester, Oracle."Kane greeted, "And your friend here, too. Don, was it?"

Don grunted in response, arms crossed. Kane tsked, before he could do anything in retaliation Jon quickly spoke up, "What do you want from us, from me, Ringmaster?"

"Why, Jester, I want you back working for me, of course."Kane answered easily, "Your departure was a saddening thing for our family, and with us you can be safe from this whole disaster going on outside, with those dead people rising and all."

"Sounds like something you'd enjoy."Jon said dryly, ignoring the way Don snapped his eyes over to him in warning.

Kane chuckled, "You've grown rather rebellious in your time away. Braver. There was a time you wouldn't even be capable of imagining speaking that way to me."

"Yeah, well, time away has been a gift."Jon snarked, "Got some perspective."

Kane chuckled. He turned slightly to the side before whirling around to slam his right fist into Jon's face, when Jon stumbled a bit Kane used his offhand to repeat the action into his gut. Jon stumbled back further, being caught from falling by Don who snarled in Kane's general direction. Jon managed to stand up on his own, readjusting his cap with an annoyed look at being punched twice.

"Bastard."Don spat, letting go of Jon hesitatingly, "I've been here almost two days and I can already tell this isn't a family like you've said. It's a freakin' prison, and if it was a family? It's a hell of an abusive, terrible, and manipulative one just because of your shitty presence."

"We are a family."Kane said firmly, Don rolled his eyes as he spoke, "I take it you don't understand the concept well."

Don scoffed, "That's rude. At least the family I do have, with my friends, is a happy one."

Kane picked up his staff, letting the other end rest in his palm. He sighed and said, "You know, I have cared for my workers for as long as they've been with me. Jester here was one of our family members for eleven years before he foolishly ran away. I could have left him for dead, leaving him to be a discarded human experiment, but no. I took him in, fed him, and gave him work to keep himself alive."