Episode 2

10 YEARS LATER

Natalie.

Oh no.

Natalie!

Natalie bolted from her bed. The hair by her scalp moist from perspiration. So much time had passed, and yet she still had the dreams, the nightmares. The same flashing images of Button’s dismembered body, the stone, and the hand coming out of the water… 

Jen stood in the entryway to Natalie’s tent. Her dark hair tied up in a bun and her foot tapped with mocking impatience, “C’mon. We gotta go.”

“Go where…” Natalie, painfully aware of how hoarse her voice sounded, said.

“Uh, our first day. Remember. We were up all night drinking - thinking about it. Maybe you really don’t remember.”

Nope. Natalie felt the post-party nausea. Her thin body curled into a ball, “Ugh…”

“Don’t give me that,” Jen shook her head, “I told you to take it easy. Meet me at the gates in fifteen minutes.”

Today began the new era for the band of circus folk. Before, they’d travel from city to city, state to state, but since the incident ten years ago, their bookings became close to nothing. The circus stayed very popular in the month of October, though…

Since then, many lost their jobs or were forced to find new ones. Only the few stuck together, some being Natalie and Tina and their newest witch recruit, Jen. Matt, or Matholemew Magnificento as he was referred to now, started a magical performance. Macy, or Lady Mae, fulfilled her life’s mission and became his assistant wearing the dazzling and rambunctious outfits. Together, they put on quite the display and they’re probably one of the reasons Wonder World reached out to them.

A few months ago, a theme park in a town named Sandburg called the circus and offered the members permanent employment. Seeing as they were on the brink of starvation, no one opposed, and they all migrated to Wonder World together. 

The last decade had been hard on everyone, but Natalie felt relieved they were able to keep their friends. Though, sometimes she’d lie awake at night contemplating her life choices, she ultimately decided she wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. Grandma, Jen, Matt, and Macy were all she needed. 

But now they had all of Wonder World.

 

Natalie begrudgingly readied herself by washing her face and hair, and stepped out into the crisp morning air in sweats and a knee-length cardigan. Luckily, all performances took place in the evening, so when Natalie arrived to the group’s first meeting, almost everyone showed up in pajamas holding giant coffee cups. 

Jen handed her a bottle of water, “Take a scone, if you dare.”

Natalie’s stomach rebelled at the very thought, and she caught the stomach acid burning it’s way up her throat, “Shut up.”

Matt and Macy waved them over to some chairs they reserved. Wonder World had it’s own theater, small but quaint, and probably classier than anywhere they previously performed. Macy’s eyes, always dolled up with thick lashes no matter what hour of the day, lit up and she slapped Matt’s arm in her excitement. 

The seats and curtains matched in all red, rich in color and fabric. Everything had an accent of gold - even the ceiling that formed a perfect dome shape. It reminded Natalie of an opera house, which didn’t seem their style, but at this point they all had to keep an open mind.

“We aren’t exactly performers,” Natalie whispered to Jen, “Do we have to be at this meeting?”

“If I get paid more I don't mind putting on a bedazzled dress for a couple of hours,” Jen said, “Where’s Tina?”

“She felt worse than I did this morning,” Natalie grumbled, “Different reasons… She’s been a grump lately. Maybe because of the move.”

“She’ll get over it,” Jen shrugged, “We have to.”

Natalie hadn’t told anyone, but ever since the night of Button’s brutal murder, her grandmother lost her marbles. And the stone. They searched high and low for the black rock, and when they couldn't find it, her grandmother had an episode. 

The rock still remained a mystery to Natalie. Tina never explained what it was or why she practically worshipped the thing. As for their psychic readings and other means to make the circus money, Natalie had taken over, letting Tina do smaller tasks. Another reason why they hired on Jen, although she considered Tina’s aloofness to be related to old age.

“Does she still sleep walk?” Jen asked.

“Almost every night,” Natalie pursed her lips.

“Dang.”

Macy practically danced in her seat, “I’m so excited you guys. Look at this place, it’s like Vegas!”

Matt chuckled to himself, “Something like that.”

“Who are those people?” Macy pointed, not being inconspicuous at all.

From the emergency exit doors across the room emerged a new set of fresh looking artists. The door’s echoed as they shut behind them. Two men and one woman. The blond man had a chipper aura about him, and smiled like it was his resting face. The woman came up to his shoulders and had thick rimmed glasses. And the last character looked like a mountain man sporting a head full of hair and a thick beard to match. 

“New guys?” Matt said.

“We’re the new guys,” Jen muttered.

“Hello!” the blond man greeted them eagerly, “You must be the kids from the circus?”

Natalie’s eyes narrowed, knowing full well they were all about the same age.

“Jen,” Jen shook his hand first, “This is Natalie, Matt, and Macy.”

“Oh, Matholemewmew!” 

“Yeah…” Matt didn’t bother correcting him, “So, who are you?”

“I’m Andrew,” he beamed, “This is the lovely Jordan, and this is Jacob, although he looks more like the wolf-man right now.”

“Is that your act?” Macy crossed her arms, but Andrew didn’t pick up on her sass. “We’re all actors actually. We’re working on becoming triple threats! All of us sing and perform - dancing being our falling point.”

“You’re into musicals then?” Jen smiled, and nudged Natalie as if to share a joke. Macy studied the three of them with a hostile stare with only Matt grinning awkwardly to cool the tension.

“We’re putting on our first musical this year,” Andrew clapped his hands together, “I’m actually going to talk all about it, right now!”

Natalie’s face dropped. The one presiding over their morning meeting was the actor. Her headache couldn’t handle his level of energy, but she sat through it like the rest of them. Jordan had a mouthful of questions about the circus, their life in the circus, and anything borderline personal. 

“You’ve been everywhere! What’s that like? Have you been to the East Coast? I LOVE it there. Where do you all sleep? In hostiles? Tents? So, like, camping?”

When Natalie reached out to Jacob to avoid answering more questions, he showed his vocal range by bursting out into song. Like a domino effect, both Andrew and Jordan joined in. While Natalie resisted the urge to vomit, Jen joined in the songs with jolly amusement. The only one to relate to Natalie’s hangover was Macy who looked equally in pain. 

“I like them,” Jen said, “Maybe I’ll join the musical.”

Macy scoffed. 

“I think Jacob inspired me to grow out my beard,” Matt played with the ends of his mustache. Macy glared, “You can’t! Your staple is your pirate mustache! I’m not going to have our show suffer because one of the actors got away with looking like a lumberjack.” 

“He probably gets all the parts,” Matt pointed out.

The four of them returned to their tents. Out of habit, the tents were set up upon arrival to Wonder World, but starting tomorrow they’d join the rest of the performers in the trailer park. Natalie tried accepting that change would be good for them, and maybe especially good for her grandmother.

Natalie brought hot tea to Tina’s bedside and watched as she stirred in her sleep. She kept muttering something and took sharp intakes of breath. Natalie sighed, she understood too well about enduring nightmares.

She set the tea down on the side table and prepared to leave, when Tina suddenly grabbed Natalie by the wrist. 

“Grandma…?” Natalie hesitated.

Tina’s eyes had rolled back, showing only white. Her mouth hung open and made a hallow groaning noise.

“He’s here… He’s free…”

“Who, grandma?” Natalie tried prying the woman’s fingers off, but her grip was firm.

“Death is here… Death…is free. Death… must…feed.”

Her eyelids shut, and her body went limp with sleep once more. Natalie felt hot tears forming as she brushed the hair out of her grandmother’s face. 

“You’ve been saying that for years… But what does it mean, grandma” Natalie pleaded, but knew the answer would be empty as always. 

Her chest felt heavy with guilt. She put on the facade with spells and magic, but never believed like Tina had. Since that night, the last time they performed the ritual, the night Natalie opened her eyes and looked into the water, her grandmother had become crippled by this fear. 

This fear of Death.