They’re coming.
I move through the crowd, pushing myself forward. The guards are blowing whistles now and everyone’s facing towards the noise, trying to see what all the fuss is about. Even the attendants are distracted.
Hoshi was right though; they aren’t firing any shots.
There’s a carriage open, ready and waiting for riders, but nobody’s getting on.
I jump on to it and it rises slowly upwards.
I’m riding the Wheel of Misfortune.
Out of the frying pan and into the fire.
HOSHIKO
For a while, everywhere is chaos.
Panicked people are running in every direction. The guards’ whistles have confused them all and there’s a herd of people heading away from the rides and towards the main exit.
Carving a path through them, I see the white figure of Silvio.
He’s standing still amongst the pandemonium in the middle of the Cirque while people rush past him like rats fleeing a sinking ship, his eyes darting over all the somersaulting versions of me.
I can’t freeze. I have to keep moving, have to keep performing.
I somersault and turn along in time with the firework display surrounding me.
From the corner of my eye, I watch him. His gaze lands on me, scrutinizes me for a second and moves on to the next Hoshi.
Then he heads towards the big wheel.
I look up at the enormous carriages on their slow, cyclical path.
One half of each one is dark, but the other half is lit up, its insides glowing brightly against the dark night sky.
Most of the pods are empty; the queue must have disbanded when the guards started blowing their whistles. Just above my head, though, rising slowly upwards, there’s a boy in one of the carriages, his face pushed up to the glass, looking down at me.
It’s Ben.
BEN
At first, I think I’m all alone in the carriage. I sink down on the seat lining the edge and let myself breathe for a moment or two.
The area in front of me is shrouded in dark curtains. Then, from behind it, muffled sounds.
Someone, or something, is in there.
The half of the carriage I’m sitting in is open-topped. In the middle, there’s what looks like a steering wheel on a central column, with two buttons on it.
Sneak Peek, one says. The other: Release the Beast.
I don’t know what they mean. I don’t even want to think about it. All I know is that I won’t be pressing any buttons.
As I move upwards, Silvio’s voice fills the pod. Even after hitting him over the head with a hammer, I can’t escape this man.
Welcome to the ride of your life! You’ve been brave enough to climb aboard the Wheel of Misfortune! Are you ready for the big reveal? When the carriage gets to the very top, your battlers will be revealed! One Dreg, one savage beast. What horrors will your Dreg face? Will it be a lion? Will it be a bear? Will it be tarantulas? Listen, what can you hear? Are there any clues? Will your Dreg make it to the bottom? There’s the sound of his manic laugh and then a loud alarm.
“Ladies and gentlemen, it’s sneak peek time! Want a quick reveal before we get to the top? Go on, you know you do! Why not take a look?”
The Sneak Peek button pulses with red light. Morbid curiosity moves my hand towards it. Someone I know must be in there. But with what?
No. I won’t play their sick games.
“Five seconds left! Will you take your sneak peek?”
I move away from the button and cover my ears. I press myself up against the glass, as far as I can from the other side of the pod.
You can see the whole circus from here.
All the way across the other side, six black figures move stealthily along the walls towards the Arcadia arena. The Brotherhood. They’ve made it inside.
Far below me, a stream of Pures are heading towards the main gates. I scan the crowd, looking for Sean, but I can’t see him anywhere. It’s then I notice one solitary figure standing still amongst the thronging masses. Silvio. Around him, around them all, red and gold fireworks, and a dozen acrobating Hoshikos. And there, looking up and staring at me, the real Hoshi. I’d know her anywhere.
HOSHIKO
The mistake I make, for the second time, is staying still as I stop and stare up at Ben.
Ben’s mouth is open wide. He shouting something at me, frantically, pointing over my shoulder. I turn around. Silvio is moving steadily towards me.
The Wheel of Misfortune is right in the far corner of the Cirque. There’s nowhere else to go.
I run towards it, jump up on to the scaffold frame and start climbing, up up up towards Ben.
BEN
I watch helplessly as Hoshi scales the scaffold of the wheel towards me.
Why is she doing that? Once the wheel gets to the bottom, I’m caught. Silvio’s already there waiting. There are guards moving towards us from all parts of the circus.
Hoshi’s getting closer. I flinch as Silvio and the guards fire rounds of bullets up towards her, but she’s so quick and light that they miss her every time.
The carriage keeps moving upwards, right to the top of the wheel.
Then Silvio’s voice again. “You chose not to take a sneak peek! Time to end the suspense. Are you ready?”
The black screen in the middle of the pod lifts up.
HOSHIKO
A bullet ricochets off the glass near my ear. The guards have the wheel completely surrounded now and their aim is getting more accurate. I weave to the side and jump up to the next level.
I move up the left-hand side, past each carriage slowly making its upward ascent. As I pass each one, I can see straight into the half of the carriage that doesn’t have a roof. Ben’s must be near the top by now. If I can make it up that far without being hit, I can drop down next to him.
I know they’re going to catch us both, but maybe I can get to him first. I’m not making the same mistake ever again. This time, we’ll face whatever they’ve got in store for us together.
We should never have separated. It doesn’t work when we’re apart.
BEN
Behind the screen, there’s a thick sheet of glass. Beyond that, the rest of the carriage is divided in half again, segmented by a gridded gate.
In one section, crouched up in a ball, right in the corner, Ezekiel.
In the other, prowling, snarling, angry at being kept in such a small space, a huge tiger.
HOSHIKO
Somehow, miraculously, I dodge the bullets and make it right to the top. This one has to be Ben’s carriage. I scramble up the smooth glass sides, gripping on for dear life, and drop down, right inside.
I fling myself straight into his arms but he doesn’t throw his arms back around me, not like I thought he would. He doesn’t react at all.
I pull back and look at him.
He’s rooted to the spot. His face is as white as Silvio’s and his body is shaking. He’s staring, transfixed, at something.
I spin around to see what he’s looking at.
Ezekiel, face-to-face with an angry tiger.
BEN
The gate between Ezekiel and the tiger starts to slowly lift. He doesn’t stand a chance, cowering in that corner like that.
Last night, with the wolves, he was ready to fight. He wanted to stand next to me, right at the front.
“Stand up, Ezekiel!” I yell. “Stand up and fight! Come on! You can do this!”
On the other side of the glass, he scrambles to his feet. He looks at me, his face full of doubt and fear.
“That’s it!” I yell. “Show him how tough you are!”
He faces the tiger. It crouches down low, staring at him.
He jumps in the air and lands with his legs wide. He waves his arms, makes fierce noises, just like we did last night. My God, he’s so brave.
It’s no good, though. The tiger throws its head back and roars. It’s not like the wolves; it’s huge and frustrated and ferocious and the only thing in i
ts proximity is Ezekiel. It’s not going to be intimidated by this six-year-old boy.
Ezekiel’s panicked eyes flick over to me and back to the tiger.
It pulls back on its haunches.
I can’t look any more.
HOSHIKO
What is it they say in these situations? Fight or flight? Why on earth does Ben think that Ezekiel is going to be able to fight a tiger? The only answer here is most definitely flight.
The ceiling of Ezekiel’s half of the pod is supported by white metal bars criss-crossing over it.
“Jump, Ezekiel!” I yell. “Jump up to the bars!”
At the same time, I bang as hard as I can on the glass panel dividing us from the tiger. I push right up against it and pound it with my fists.
The tiger turns to face me while Ezekiel leaps up behind it and grabs on to the bars with his body, gripping on with his feet and hands. He’s even more agile than he was before, when I first saw him at selection.
The tiger steps closer towards me so there’s just millimetres dividing us. I stare aggressively into its eyes. I’m so close that I can see the strings of saliva when its mouth opens in another roar.
I snarl and roar back at it.
Next to me, Ben joins in.
We need to keep its attention focused on us.
The tiger launches itself towards us. I stop myself from flinching back as its body comes into contact with the glass, shaking it with his huge might. The screen doesn’t come anywhere close to shattering though. There’d be Pures in here normally; they’ll have made certain they’re well protected.
Ezekiel has moved right over to the top corner and he hangs there, staring down at us. His little face looks so frightened.
How long does this ride go on for?
BEN
We aren’t going to be able to keep the attention of this tiger for much longer, not when there’s fresh meat in there, dangling just above it.
It’s still trying to get to me and Hoshi at the moment, though. It raises itself up on to its hind legs, pushing its paws into the glass. Its claws look sharper than razors.
Silvio’s voice fills the pod again.
Has your Dreg survived their battle? Have they made it around the Wheel of Misfortune? There’s just one minute remaining! One minute left to enjoy the ride of your life!
Next to me, Hoshi yells and stamps even harder.
I join in.
The tiger hurls itself against the glass one more time and then turns away, searching the pod for Ezekiel.
It doesn’t see him at first, but then it raises its head and looks up. It crouches back and springs.
Hoshi and I both scream out helplessly as it jumps.
HOSHIKO
As the tiger launches into the air, it jerks back suddenly, jolting away from Ezekiel. It’s only then that I see that it’s chained to the floor.
The chain’s long enough for it to prowl around the whole pod but, when it jumps up, it stops just short of Ezekiel.
The tiger tries again but is pulled back.
Ezekiel just needs to hold on, to stay pushed tight. If anyone can do it, he can.
“Hold on!” I cry.
He pushes himself upwards so that he’s pressed against the glass roof as the tiger lunges at him, again and again.
He can’t hold on much longer, though. His body starts to sag down in the middle.
The tiger’s paws swipe again. This time, they don’t miss.
BEN
Ezekiel flinches upwards as the great paws lunge at his body, leaving behind five sharp red gashes on his exposed stomach.
“Don’t let go!” I shout. “You can do this!”
He looks down at me. His eyes full of pain and fear.
The tiger lunges again.
HOSHIKO
The tiger misses Ezekiel the next jump, and the one after that.
Ben and I keep shouting to try and get its attention again, but it just ignores us; it would much rather have the meat it can smell.
After an eternity, Silvio’s voice fills the pod again.
Five, four, three, two, one!
The chain holding the tiger pulls it backwards, reeling it in like a giant fish, and the gate between it and Ezekiel drops back down with a clang.
Ezekiel hangs up there for a few seconds more and then drops down to the floor. He crawls over to the glass towards us. He puts his hands up and I crouch down and touch them with mine.
He’s crying. “You did it!” I cheer through the glass. “You did it!”
Ben bobs down and puts his hands over mine.
And then the carriage stops moving and the doors swoosh open and the guards grab hold of all three of us.
BEN
While we’ve been in the pod, they’ve somehow managed to lure the fleeing masses back into the Cirque, and there’s a big crowd watching as the guards pull me from Hoshi and drag us off in different directions.
I never even got to speak to her and now I don’t even have time to say goodbye.
Still, Ezekiel’s in one piece, and Sean’s out here somewhere, looking for his brother and the Brotherhood, and they’ve made it inside – I’m sure it was them I saw earlier. And Hoshi’s images and what she said – they’re bound to affect my mother’s election campaign.
The tide is changing. There will be a brighter day.
We’ve taken on the Cirque before, taken it on and won. We can do it again, all of us together this time. We will do it again. We’re strong now.
Whatever they put me through, I’ll never let them win. Even if it means I have to die, I’ll damn well go down fighting.
HOSHIKO
There’s no point begging or screaming, so I don’t bother saying anything.
I just let them pull me right across the fairground to the back of a big building that looks like a hill. They drag me through the corridors and throw me into a room.
I’m alone for a moment. Then there’s the sound of lots of footsteps, and in walks the new strange white Silvio with Vivian Baines, surrounded by her entourage of guards and security.
She closes her eyes when she sees me, like she can’t bear to look at me. Her hand flutters to her chest and she breathes in and out dramatically, as if she’s fighting back nausea.
I know how she feels.
When she opens her eyes, they shine with hatred.
“Finally, I have you! The little tramp who bewitched my son!” she hisses. And then she slaps me. Crack! Right across the face.
My head reels back. My fingers itch, desperate to hit her back. I move forward and the guards immediately close in around her.
“He’s not your son,” I say. “Not any more. He hates you.”
Her nose wrinkles up in disgust, like it always did when she looked at me.
“Perhaps he’ll change his mind when we finally get rid of his distractions. That’s assuming he makes it out of here alive.”
Fear grips me, squeezing the air from my lungs. What does she mean?
She turns to Silvio. “It’s not often you surpass my expectations, Ringmaster, but on this occasion, you have certainly managed to do so. I’ve had police forces across the country hunting for this bitch for months, and now here she is, back in the Cirque. It’s all gone full circle – it’s almost poetic. I suppose I should thank you; you’ve made things much easier for me.”
Silvio preens himself proudly, basking in her praise. I’m pleased to see a large egg-shaped lump on the top of his head where Ben cracked him with the hammer. If only he’d done it a bit harder and finished him off completely.
I won’t let their words and their threats scare me. I won’t let them win.
“What have you done with Ezekiel?” I demand. “He’s injured, he needs treatment.”
Silvio rolls his eyes. “So much melodrama! That was just a scratch! Nothing that will stop him being in the line-up for my opening ceremony!”
I stare at him, my curiosity prickling, despite myself. This is the first time I’ve
had the chance to look at him properly.
So many times, this man has haunted me in my dreams, and now here he is, in real life, looking more like a phantom than a real person. His eyes have the same evil glint as before. His voice drips with the same cruel silkiness, but the rest of him is altered beyond anything I could have ever imagined.
“What’s happened to you?” I ask him. “Why are you dressed up as a freaky ghost? It’s not Halloween yet, is it?”
His eyes narrow.
“I assure you, Hosh-i-ko, I am very much alive. Someone like you could never have the power to destroy someone like me. Do you know what kept me going all these months? What fed me? What brought me back from the brink? The thought of seeing you again. The thought of exacting my revenge.”
“Well, I hate to say it, but you look a teeny-weeny bit silly.” I turn to Vivian Baines, but not before I hear his little gasp of outrage and shock. “I’ve just had a thought.” I smile at her and flutter my eyelashes. “I should really start calling you Mother now that I’m on such intimate terms with your son. What do you say, Mummy dear?”
There’s an audible snort of amusement from one of the guards. She whirls round.
“Who laughed?” Her voice is cold and steely. There’s no answer. “I said: who laughed?”
Silence again.
“I’m waiting,” she says.
The seconds tick by.
Finally, one of the guards speaks.
“It was me, ma’am. I was just clearing my throat.”
“Get out,” she says to him. “Get out now and don’t come back. You can collect your final wages on Monday.”
He turns and leaves. Nobody says anything else.
She turns back to Silvio.
“Have this girl executed,” she says. “Immediately.”
I look at him, all white and ghostly and grinning, and my blood runs cold again.
“Madam,” he says, silkily. “If you would permit me to make a suggestion?”
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