“You’re rather chatty tonight, bro. Maybe I should start calling you Chatty Kathy with a K.”
Killian replies, but I’m not sure what he says, because as I re-enter the tent, I’m taken aback by fact that it’s a completely different world. It’s as though they manipulate your mind, replacing all of what you see during the day and changing it with everything your dreams are made from.
“Wow,” I gasp, taking in the droplets of neon purple lights that dip around the ceiling.
“You ain’t seen nothing yet. This is just the practice tent. It isn’t the one we perform in. Come on. Sit in the front.”
I don’t reply. I just let both of them lead me to the front seats. As I sit down and the plush cushions sink beneath me, I’m awestruck by everything around me.
The lights are all cut out when a single spotlight beams onto the middle of the stage.
“What’s going on?” I ask Killian, since I already know that Kyrin won’t tell me anything.
I can feel heat prickling up the back of my neck, and my spine stiffens: King is obviously here somewhere.
Killian leans into me, and I inch closer, so I can hear what he’s about to say. My fingers tingle to move, my limbs aching to be on that stage. Why, I don’t know.
“If you’re scouted into a family that isn’t The Brothers, you have to be initiated by performing their act without knowing what’s going on. If you pass, then congratulations, you’re a part of the notoriously famous and wealthiest show known to mankind. If you fail, well, you die.”
I pause, my head snapping to his just as soft music begins playing through the speakers. “Wait, you what?”
Killian’s eyes search mine, a smirk on his mouth. His eyes drop to my lips and his tongue sneaks out to wet his bottom lip. It’s then that I catch the silver ball in the middle of his tongue. He has his fucking tongue pierced. “They die.”
I instantly look at the stage and see Rose smiling from the center. Crazy bitch is smiling. “Midnight are acrobats as their main act…but not their only act.”
Rose stands in the center of the stage, her arms stretched wide. There’s nothing but silence and the cool midnight air surrounding us. I lean into Killian when the soft melody picks up and an electric guitar starts playing in the background.
“Why midnight?”
Killian’s phone lights up in his hand, and he looks down at it. The light from his phone displays his face. I watch as he slowly smirks as he taps something back. Turning over his shoulder, he sends a wink to someone behind us and then shoves his phone back into his pocket and leans into my ear. “A long time ago, and I mean a long fucking time ago, it was said that when the clock struck twelve, that was when the portal of hell would open and let all the ghosts, that were wanting to come to earth, out. But every night at twelve, they’d get sucked back in, and then more would be allowed through. Like a cycle. They got twenty-four hours here and so on. These ghosts were said to come from a small town in Romania.”
I look out at Rose and watch as she wraps one of the aerial ribbons around her wrist, trying to pull herself up. She’s failing, but she’s determined. I have no doubt at all that she can do this.
“That’s a bit weird. Is this small town still alive?”
Killian smirks. Something he does a lot. “It’s just folklore, but yeah, it is. They say that if a woman dances in front of a fire after midnight, she’s offering her body up as a vessel for one of her ancestors to jump into.”
“That’s…creepy,” I whisper, the set finishing in the background. I watch as the blonde girl, I think they said her name was Val, grabs onto a large ring that’s hanging from the roof, turning it around. She’s wearing short spandex and a sports bra. Nothing glamorous, but I’m guessing they save the costumes for the actual performances.
Rose searches me out in the crowd, knowing I’m here, but it’s too late because Val is running circles around her, the ring secured in her hand. She swings up, hooking her legs around the ring and hangs upside down as the ring goes higher. On her circling, the ring drops, and she grabs onto Rose’s ankles, yanking her upside down. All that’s stopping Rose from falling onto her head is Val. She pulls Rose up, and I watch as her arms and triceps contract from the movement. Rose finally figures out what’s going on and grabs onto the ring, swinging herself up. They sit side by side as Val performs multiple moves around Rose. I watch as Rose’s head turns from left to right. When Val splits right in front of her face, one ankle to one side and the other to the other, Rose falls backward, but at the last minute, Val grabs onto Rose’s arm, yanking her back as the ring lowers back to the ground. My heart is thrashing in my chest, and it’s not until they’re back on the ground when I realize I’m on my feet, my hands fisted and sweating. The music cuts, and the lights flick on.
“What the fuck, Val?” Kyrin yells out from beside Killian. “It was just getting good. Why would you save her?”
Val glares at Kyrin. “Because I happen to maybe like this one. And,” Val looks Rose up and down, “she has potential, but not enough to be better than me.”
Rose sneers at her, getting to her feet while sweeping her hair up into a high ponytail. “Fuck you.”
Val beams a smile at her, wicked enough to match Maleficent. “You’re so welcome, precious.” She tosses a bottle of water at Rose’s chest, who catches it instantly. “You’re in. Don’t piss me off.” Then she turns to leave. I take this moment to head straight for Rose, checking her over.
“Are you okay?” I whisper, noticing the purple and red bruises all over her body.
“I’m fine.” She offers me a gentle smile. One that doesn’t reach her eyes. One that illustrates just how not okay she is.
“Well, at least you’re with girls and not four males who may or may not murder you…” I murmur.
Rose’s eyes flick over my shoulder, and I follow. My jaw clenches when I see King seated a few rows behind where I was, his eyes lazy and his lips in a flat line. I hate that my stomach and chest feel as though they’ve been punched every time I find him watching me. Why does he have to be so infuriatingly handsome?
“I don’t know.” Rose bumps her shoulder with mine. “Seems like a pretty good way to wake up dead.”
I roll my eyes. “Rosé, you don’t wake up if you’re dead.”
She laughs at my nickname for her, picking up her tossed hoodie and slipping it over her slender shoulders. “Always so smart.”
I leave her a little bit after that and head back to our RV. Swinging the door open, I lazily make my way to the back where my bed is, kicking off my shoes and jeans and falling onto my bed, before losing myself in a deep sleep.
A jolt jerks me awake as the sun burns my skin through the window, warming me from the outside in. We’re moving. I climb from the bed, squeezing some booty shorts on and tiptoe out of my room and down toward the front of the RV, leaning against the walls every time we hit a bump or turn.
“Where are we going?” I ask no one in particular, but as soon as I reach the front, I see the same guy who was in here when I moved in.
“Morning, Birdie. We’re headed to New York. You’re up early.”