At that point, Lucas rushed into the tent.

After spending some time in isolation in an attempt to determine how to read and control his ability, he could no longer sit still as an immense pressure spread throughout his body. He was already on his way to the tent, but only hastened his pace when he heard the scream.

"What's-!" Unable to finish, he stood at the entrance flap, staring at what lay before him. He looked from person to person, frozen in his place. Then he pierced through all the chaotic emotions and stared at Gin. He had suspected something different about her; something different from the others, but this was now confirmed as the powerful sensations appeared to be emanating from her. He looked hard at Gin, his mind instinctively holding a veil to that which would harm him.

Then his concentration flickered as his eyes fell onto Ri.

What was going on?

Dick jumped onto Lucie's horse as she attempted to catch the kidnapper. "The've gone into the forest, we'll never catch them in there. Can you take me to Humperdink's trailer? I need to tell him."

When they got outside Humperdink's trailer Dick got off the horse and ran up to the door, shouting back "Stay there Lucie." As he opened the door and went inside he was shocked. The inside of the trailer had been trashed and Humperdink was in the kitchen, cleaning up his still bleeding mouth and nose with some rags.

"Boss, it's Alex, he..."

"They took him, didn't they?"

"Yeah, but, who?"

"Apparently Alex's mother took loans from a not so friendly organization. She couldn't pay so they came to me for their money. They said if I don't give them all of the earnings from tomorrow's show they'll kill Alex."

"Wait... that means they were the ones who blew up my trailer. Why?"

Humperdink sat down on his couch, holding the rags to his face to stop the bleeding.

"Your parents are my star attraction, they know I love the circus like family. It was a show of power, they were showing me that they could take away everything that I care about if I don't do what they tell me to. They also said if I even tried to go to the authorities they would make tomorrow's show 'something I'd never forget'."


Humperdink spent a few minutes filling in Dick about everything he knew, telling him not to let anyone know what happened.

"You can't seriously be considering going through with this."

"WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE ME DO???" Humperdink sreamed, tears running down his face.

"OK, but Lucie and Ri saw Alex get kidnapped. You're going to have to tell them. Lucie is outside and I lost track of Ri when I came over here."

"Send Lucie in and go find Ri." He said, beginning to compose himself a little.

As Dick walked out of the trailer he told Lucie to go in, and he ran back to what was left of his trailer. He stopped on the way as he saw where he got thrown into the tree and looked around for a minute, remembering he lost Humperdink's 'present' from the blast. After searching for a couple minutes he found it and put it in his pocket. He finally got back to his trailer, the fire already out. It's gone. I grew up here, and now it's.... it's... gone. If I EVER get my hand on this 'Bernard'... But he pushed thoughts of revenge out of his head as continued his search for Ri.

Lucie stood outside nervously, waiting for the raised voices inside the caravan to stop. Suddenly Dick burst out of the trailer and told her to go in. She turned and watched him walk away from the caravan and felt a pang of sympathy for her friend.
His trailer, his home. Destroyed. Who would be so cruel as to do that to him?.
Memories flooded her mind, and the anger she felt wasn't just against the people who had hurt him...
She snapped out of her trance and hurried into the caravan. The state of the caravan made her start, and she looked around in amazement at the ruins of Humperdink's spacious home-on-wheels. Humperdink himself, looking fairly calm and composed, gestured to the one seat which had not been smashed to pieces. She sat, still surveying the caravan in shock.
"Lucie," he began. "It is very important that you tell me everything you saw when Alex was kidnapped."
"I'm so sorry, sir, but I really don't have anything to tell you. I just heard Ri calling out, and saw one person carrying a smaller person. I only assumed it was Alex. I wish I could be more helpful..." She tailed off.
"Oh...well, don't worry then dear, just keep yourself out of trouble." Humperdink suddenly looked more worried and lost in thought.
He probably thought that you'd be able to help, you idiot. Now you've blown his chances at catching them, and finding Alex.
"Just one question, sir, I was wondering who Alex actually is?" Lucie hoped for a few more answers to her unsaid questions such as why he was here, why he'd been kidnapped...
"Oh...yes, he is my nephew. I...I...I suppose you'd like to know why he has been taken off like this? Well, let's just say his mother owes a certain someone a lot of money, and the kidnappers want to force me into giving them money from the circus takings that I can't afford to give. It is our whole livelihood at stake here, as well as the life of my nephew. After everything I've done, all I've worked for. I can't believe she would risk ruining me, my circus, my friends..." Humperdink stopped abruptly and stared at Lucie in dismay.
"Sorry, dear, you don't need to be burdened with this. Just...go keep yourself out of the way...please. You are valuable to this circus, I know sometimes you don't realise it. I miss your parents very much, but I'm thankful for your talent with the horses every day!"
Tears almost, almost welled up in Lucie's eyes, but she pushed them back. She simultaneously missed her parents, the ones she'd never really known, and swelled with pride at Humperdink's praise. But she turned her thoughts to more important, current things. Standing up, she leapt out of the caravan at a speed that startled Humperdink who thought she was embarassed and upset by his words. He was however, too distracted to pursue it.
Lucie knew she needed to find Ri, and assumed that Dick had also thought to find her and ask about the kidnapper. The thought suddenly struck her that the kidnapper must have heard Ri call out. She hoped desperately that they hadn't come back to try and stop her from telling anyone. In that case, Ri could be in great danger as well as Alex. And Dick would be heading straight for it, if he found out where she was... Lucie was overcome with fear for her friends, and for Alex.
She ran straight to Dust and began to ride around the campsite, startling many people who were still recovering from the shock of the blast.
"Dick?! DICK?!" she called over and over.

Gin sat still, a smile gracing her face as she glanced at the man who had so abruptly entered the tent. Then she looked back at Ri, who had screamed so loudly that Tina, her beloved tiger, as well as all the other animals, flinched, drawing back into the tight corners of their cages. But the scream brought Gin much joy, it was beautiful, like music to her ears.

She didn’t even have to look over her shoulder to know that Yuki was trembling behind her, she could feel his eyes, darting around wildly, she could hear his heart racing, his voice mumbling so softly. “M-mistress” he called out, a hint of desperation in his tone as he looked over at Lucas.

"What's..." Gin repeated the only word that Lucas uttered when he entered. "What's... the cause of all my good fortune today?" she suggested an ending to his sentence. "I honestly have no clue." she added with a laugh, a cold, manic laugh.

With a snap of her fingers, Yuki stepped forward and unlocked the cage so that Gin could step out. Looking over her shoulder as the cage was locked once more, sure stared at Ri and breathed a tender sigh. "Maybe you are my good-luck charm." after those words she and Yuki both shifted their bodies, standing in the perfect position to block Ri from sight.

Giving her attention to Lucas she smiled. "Glorious day! Never in my wildest dreams did I think my prey would come to me so willingly."

Everything was moving rather fast, but in truth, she was glad for it. Despite it not being anything like how she had planned, as long as she got what she wanted she didn't care. Yuki, on the other hand, seemed a bit unnerved. "He probably knows... he probably know everything." Yuki whispered into her ear. Gin scoffed.

"Is he right, is that what brings you here little psychic boy!?" her right eye widening along with her grin. "Do you know everything? Including your fate? Did you accept it and come here to save me the trouble of hunting you down!?" She asked, though her voice started at a whisper, it gained volume with every word.

Gin clenched her fists to try and gain some control over herself, she was getting excited, it was almost time. She took a few steps closer to Lucas, staring at him with one wide, bloodshot eye. She breathed heavily as she stood there, waited for him to speak.

Lucas saw the challenge and met it head on, walking towards Gin. He was angry, yet didn’t quite know why. All he knew was that what he felt coming from this person in front of him was not good; it was such a cold, dark feeling. He stopped short of a few feet in front of her.

For all of the malice inside of her, he knew her comments bore the grains of truth. This meeting was, indeed, predestined. And he knew exactly how it would end. Still…

“I am here to put an end to whatever it is that you’re doing!”

Before she could reply, Lucas closed his eyes and brought his hands forward in an effort to concentrate.

His focus turned onto the source of the pressure, located within Gin’s eye socket it seemed. With almost all of his will, he directed his own intense pressure onto it, forcing the emanating power to subdue and eventually collapse into itself. He knew this was only a very temporary fix and that he would need to be quick.

It was then that he saw Yuki move from his position. Shifting his focus to the man, he had to release the grip he held upon Gin’s power and dashed for Yuki. Lucas only had a few seconds and he knew he had to make each one count. Reaching Yuki, he ducked under the predicted jabbing palm and aimed a precise blow at where his kidney was situated. As the mysterious man doubled over to his side, Lucas brought his fist upwards as hard as he could, towards the jaw. Upon connecting, Yuki let out a sigh before toppling to his knees and falling onto his side, unmoving.

As Lucas turned away from the crumpled form, he had already seen the next few seconds of this conflict; all that was left was for him to follow through the path that had been laid out before him. He reached for Gin’s face as she recovered from his dampening effect from earlier. He didn’t have much time, he knew, and hastened his arm’s movement towards Gin until he felt the gelatinous orb in her right socket press against his fore and middle fingers. He didn’t know if he had been successful in doing any damage or not, but he had done all that he could do as he hooked his fingers against the socket to keep hold as long as he could.

Lucas could no longer feel his psychic barrier around him as his power was totally spent from constant use over the past few minutes. He was left exhausted, fingers still hooked into Gin’s right eye socket. He was now looking into her left socket, unable to pull his gaze away.

As Lucie urged Dust to stop outside the last tent on her circuit around the campsite, she felt a sudden shiver run down her spine. Dismounting, she looked towards the tent, about two hundred metres away from the tree which she had chosen to tie Dust to. She recognised it as the tent where the animals were kept. She walked slowly towards the tent, unsure about why she felt so strange. She heard voices:
"Did you accept it and come here to save me the trouble of hunting you down!?" a proud woman's voice echoed out of the tent, as if impossible power was behind it.
“I am here to put an end to whatever it is that you’re doing!” This time a man, sounding determined and strong.
Lucie followed her instinct, feeling sure that Alex and possibly Ri were inside the tent, and sprinted the remaining hundred metres to the entrance of the tent. She had a small voice inside her head, doubting, and wondered if she should fetch help. She ignored the voice of reason, and was drawn inexorably inside the tent.
She froze in shock as she took in the scene, seeing a man with his fingers seemingly 'in' the eye socket of a woman. He seemed weak, and his focus was on her...face. . The eye which he was grabbing emitted a blue light, and she couldn't think what it could mean. Looking to her left, Lucie saw a small body huddled up inside a cage, shaking. With an audible gasp she noticed the reason for the girl's fear. A spectacularly large tiger was also locked in the cage with her.
who could do this to someone....?
She looked more closely and in an instant recognised the girl.
"RI?!" she hissed under her breath. She knew she had to get Ri out of the cage, away from the huge tiger. But she had no key, or any way to get one. If she left to fetch another trainer, Ri might be out of time. But she couldn't think clearly... She also knew that after her entrance only a few seconds earlier, the wild woman must have noticed them... Lucie felt time slowing as she saw the woman look their way, and her 'normal' eye flared with anger. A sharp, tangible fear shot through Lucie's body and she felt dizzy, sick and terrified. The one thought that remained was to get away. Her fear overcame her, and she just desperately wanted to be far, far away from the nightmare in this tent. She didn't dare to look behind her, and silently hoped that the man was holding the terrifying woman back...
She tasted the fresh air.....

She felt like she couldn't breathe... Her lungs were constricting, forcing tears out of her eyes.... Her mind couldn't cope with the horror of what she had just seen.....

"What's--!"

Her body jerked at this new voice, and she reflexively looked up. A strange man was standing outside the cage, glaring at Gin. At the expression on his face, suspicious and guarded at once, she began to shake even more.... What was going on? First that scary lady Kin, and now HIM....

Gin burst out laughing, the sound of which did nothing to abate her cage-mate's fear. Indeed, it served to do just the opposite.... While Gin's attention was directed at the man, the nameless girl tried to scoot covertly away, but froze as Gin looked back at her. "Maybe you are my good-luck charm."

The very words sent chills down her spine. It was like Gin had turned into a completely different person.... Or into her true self, said a nagging voice inside her head. Shivering, she glanced at the cage door, but remembered that it was Gin's man who held the key. She then looked at Tina, who looked back at her, then slowly blinked and turned her great head to stare out at the man and Gin, who had climbed out to meet him. The remaining caged human also directed her eyes out at the proceedings-- afraid to, but ultimately unable to tear her eyes away.

Gin had a hunger in her that was insatiable. It had been there all along, she realized suddenly; it had just taken this man to finally let it out. Listening to Gin's demented speech, watching her shoulders heave with each starving breath, she couldn't help the uncontrollable tremors that started in her legs and spread upwards to reach every corner of her body. She had a feeling about what was going to happen between Gin and the man. She had a thought about what would happen to HER, next-- and as the man flew into action, she herself flew into a panic.

She threw herself at the cage door, desperately pulling on the bars with all her strength. They mockingly resisted her efforts to budge them. Whipping her head from right to left, her black braids slapping her cheeks with the force of the movements, she caught sight of yet another stranger standing dumb-struck at the tent entrance.

She immediately grabbed the bars of the side of the cage facing the entrance, pressing her face into a gap and screaming, "You--You there! Help me! She's going to kill me! I'm going to die! Help, get somebody, help!" She didn't care whether or not Gin heard her, was beyond caring about anything but her own life.... Then her eyes widened with shock and both hands flew to her throat. She was so stunned that she didn't even notice as the strange girl whirled on her heel and raced away from the tent.

She had filled her hysteric pleas with all the terror and desperation inside her, screamed them so as for not one word to be missed..... And yet all that had come out of her mouth were short, nearly inaudible gasps.

Her head and shoulders slumped forward, jerking violently as she began to hyperventilate. It didn't matter now if she tried to shout for help, nothing mattered. She was going to die, die by way of Tiger or Insane Gin or her Mysterious Helper, and there was nothing she could do to save herself.

There she stood, her body arching back slightly as she glared up at Lucas, the man with his fingers hooked in her eye socket. Time seemed to stand still, the only sounds that could penetrate her ears was the sound of her own rapid heartbeat.

Gin could never recall being in so much shock, for once in her life things were moving too fast for her to keep up, and as she stood there, grin for once knocked off of her face, she tried to take in everything that just happened. But none of it seemed possible.

The head-splitting pressure the man had forced onto her left eye, temporarily blinding her… the pain was slowly fading now, but it left her face feeling somewhat numb. Impossible, how could he have done that?

She saw her loyal guardian, struck down with seemingly such ease, her darling Yuki, out cold on the floor, defeated... impossible. She had to reach him, make sure he was okay, but there was something about the hold Lucas has on her, she couldn't seem to break free from it.

Yuki was right, to be so unnerved, so worried... he was right to be so scared, and Gin should have listened, if she had, maybe this entire scene could have been avoided.

Before Gin could attempt to move again, she saw something over Lucas's shoulder... a girl. It was Lucie. Yet another member of the circus, discovering things they shouldn't.

Seeing Lucie turn and flee made her snap back to reality, if that girl told someone, things would get even uglier. And heaven forbid if Kin got her hands on her.

A growl sounded from deep in the back of her throat. Lucas had to die, right here, right now... and he knew it.

The sickening veins that marred the left side of Gin's face began to pulse, throbbing so violently that they looked like they would burst. After a few moments of pulsating, they started moving, roaming across her face, less like veins and more like macabre vines, growing over her flesh, fused with her flesh, made of her flesh. All the while the bright blue-white light glowed from her left eye, fueling this process.

Gin's grin returned to her, as the growing veins covered her right eye, and with it, Lucas's fingers. She had him now. With a bust of speed, the growth overtook him, rushing from his fingers up his arm and to his face to completely cover his mouth and nose.

He snatched his hand away, ripping through the veins that fused them together, but it was too late, the damage had been done.

Dropping to his knees he thrashed his head back and forth as he tried to get air, he pulled and scratched at it, but nothing worked, he couldn't save himself.

"That's the way. It'll all be over soon, Lucas" she crooned in a sweet, almost motherly tone, sitting on the floor and pulling him down to rest his head on her lap while he suffocated.

"Consider yourself lucky... I would have loved to carry out my plans for you while you were still alive, hear you scream, make you pay for what you did to Yuki." she whispered to him, her fingernails gently tracing across his throat, doing no harm. "But you were chosen as my next victim, and because of that, I can't allow your body to sustain too much injury."

"You lucky, lucky boy." she made a small scoffing sound before planting a soft kiss on his forehead. "Despite what you’ve done, after I kill you and turn you into a work of art, I promise to take good care of you, like all the others."

With one last shudder, his body fell limp in her arms, dead. The growth of fleshy veins that covered his face began to fade into his skin until no trace of it was left, he looked as if he were relaxing, eyes absentmindedly staring up at the tent ceiling.

Gin laughed a cold, maddening laugh as she stood up, leaving Lucas on the ground. It would have been nice to just sit there, laughing the night away over a dead body, but thanks to Lucas and Lucie, she had no time. She panted, slowly calming down, letting the uncontrollable, bubbling laughter fade away. Once she pulling herself together, she ran over to Yuki, dropping to her knees beside him.

She nudged the white-haired man, but nothing happened. "Yuki, are you alright? Say something!" she grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him, taking on a commanding tone to mask the sound of worry. A few moments later, Yuki opened his eyes and abruptly stood up, grimacing as he felt pain shoot through his body. He did his best to bow to Gin as he tried to voice his apologies.

"Shhh, it’s alright Yuki." Gin tried to silence him, breathing a small sigh of a relief, but Yuki kept talking, muttering, shaking. "Silence!! This is not the time! Focus!"

With those words, pain or no pain, he got down on his knees, his head bowed. "Anything, Mistress."

"I need you to trail Lucie, the little horse girl, she's seen everything" She spoke, tapping her chin as she paced around. "Don't let her know you're following her, don't do anything to her, UNLESS she tries to talk about what happened in this tent. If she does, knock her out and whoever she's talking to as well."

She kicked her leg out in rage "Not a permanent fix, but right now I just need to you buy us some time."

"Yes, Mistress." He stood and immediately made his way towards the tent entrance. She watched Yuki leave, vanishing into the night, and when he was gone she sighed again, trying to clear he mind.

The veins that had stretched to the right side of her face had now retracted, returning to the way it looked before it came to life to finish off Lucas. The glow of her left eye was dull, now that its hunger for death had been satiated. She fished around in her pocket, pulling out a small roll of gauze, and taking a moment to tape some over her left eye. She ran her fingers through her bangs, combing it back in place.

She picked up Lucas' body and carried him over to Tina's cage, she reached out for the cage door but remembered that Yuki had the key. Extremely frustrated, she curled her right hand into a fist and with a powerful sideways swing, slammed her fist into one of the bars, making it bend. She repeated the action until she could wriggle inside the cage, pulling the dead body in behind her.

Ignoring the pain in her now bleeding hand, she carried on, walking past the terrified Ri and over towards Tina, who stood up to move out of her way, going over to make sure that Ri didn't go anywhere. Gin brushed aside the thick bedding of hay until she reached the bottom of the metal cage, uncovering a trap door. Swinging it open revealed a large, deep looking hole in the ground. Her hiding place.

Unceremoniously, Gin pushed Lucas down into the hole, and slammed the trap door shut. That's when she finally turned and gave her full attention to Ri. Grabbing the poor girl by the wrist she dragged her out of cage. Tina, still inside the cage, was using her large paws to push the hay back over the trap door, the beautiful tiger then laid down right on top of it, guarding Gin’s secret.

With her tight hold on Ri's wrist, the girl couldn't escape. When Gin spoke, her voice was almost eerily calm. "Now what shall I do with you? My good luck charm is behaving more like a bad omen." She reached out, stroking Ri's head of braided hair.

Lucie heard nothing, and saw nothing, she only ran. Her mind was blank apart from the terror that pushed her to run faster and harder than she had ever run. Reaching the tree, she ripped Dust's reins from the trunk and leapt onto his back in one swift motion. Urging Dust into action with her legs and a loud cry, she hurtled off back into the campsite.

After a minute she reached the central area, and saw people wandering around, about their business. She couldn't find the words to call for help, the shock was still paralysing her and confusing her.
She needed to tell someone, but knew it had to be the right person. She rode in a daze away from the crowds and stopped just outside a tent. All she could think of was the potential fate of the man she had not recognised, and of Ri. She tried in vain to picture the woman's face, so she could report who was behind these things. It hit her hard...

The woman looked like Gin, the animal trainer...but...she was so, different. More powerful, so strong and terrifying. What could have happened to her? She...she knows that I saw her...

Lucie felt alone, scared and vulnerable. Gin could come after her at any time. She could even be chasing her now, ready to reduce her to a state similar to Ri's...All of a sudden, the fear overcame her and she fainted, falling from Dust's back onto the grass below.

Again, darkness. Then strong arms came around her, and a voice called to her...

Her mouth hanging open in a horrified O, tears spilled from her eyes as she witnessed the man's body being shoved down into the dark hole; as she was dragged roughly from the cage. At first she was so terror-stuck that she couldn't move, except for the uncontrollable tremors that wracked her body. But then, despite the tight grip Gin had on her arm, she couldn't help flinching back as the woman reached to touch her hair. Seeing how this reaction only made the twisted woman more delighted, she struggled to free herself but only caused herself more grief as Gin tightened her grip painfully.

"Let me go." She was so terrified that she hardly knew what she was saying. Her eyes desperately darted around, focusing on anything but Gin's horribly out-of-place smile. "P-please, just let me go, I--"

She stopped as she realized that, once more, she had no audible voice, and instead could only emit short, breathy gasps.

An idea flew into her head--a stupid idea, a desperate one. Forcing herself to focus on Gin's "normal" eye, she gestured wildly with her free hand at her throat, shaking her head so hard that her braids slapped her cheeks. Can't talk, she mouthed exaggeratedly, like a fish desperate for water. Won't tell. Let go.

She didn't care if she was being a coward, dishonoring the man's memory by not attempting to avenge him--how could she, anyway? She only cared about escaping this mad woman's clutches, was crazy for freedom, to run from the tent as fast and far as her shaking legs would carry her.

Let me go. Please. Let me go.