Freak Show

Mikey sat and watched the performers scurry around, preparing for their individual acts. Alicia had instructed him to sit (and preferably stay) in the simple chair Brendon had begrudgingly given him (“Let him sit on the ground or something.”). He was, at this point, twiddling with his thumbs. Practice would only start in a couple minutes and in the meantime, Mikey would have nothing to do.
“Hey.” A voice suddenly said. Mikey felt a strong hand land on his shoulder. He whipped his head around. A tall man was standing before him; he had a dark brown afro which framed his face somewhat, and his chocolate eyes looked at Mikey's with interest and a hint of sadness. He was dressed in a long-sleeved storm grey shirt and tan overalls, rounded out with black boots. Mikey gulped nervously; his nerves always acted up whenever he was meeting new people (especially threatening looking ones).
"H-H-H-Hi." He shakily responded. The man standing before him looked at him as if he'd sprouted a daisy on his head. Mikey tried to smile warmly. The man shook his head, smiling in a friendly manner.
"Name's Ray. You're... Mikey, right?" The man questioned. Mikey exhaled awkwardly before nodding. "Relax, kid, I'm not gonna hurt you."
“S-Sorry. Nerves, y-y’know?” He said, regaining his composure. The man – Ray – chuckled a bit.
“Well, anyway, I suggest you move. We’re gonna start soon.” He said before walking away. Mikey let out a breath he forgot he was holding. He picked up the chair and moved it further back. After Brendon did his regular intro, Pete stepped out and pretended to perform his act. Mikey sat in the shadows, intrigued by it. Once he stepped behind the curtain, Brendon’s voice boomed again despite the lack of speakers.
“Next, the strongmen!” Three well-muscled men stepped out, Mikey recognising the one on the left as Ray. The one next to him was blonde, and the final one had mahogany hair, and was by far the shortest. Lindsey strutted out after them, standing right in front of the trio.
“And to demonstrate their strength, we have the Metal Girl!” Mikey noticed Lindsey’s eyes roll quickly and he chuckled. He watched as Lindsey straightened her back, put her hands on her hips before closing her eyes. She slowly turned to stainless steel, from head to toe, like a chameleon changing its colour. Mikey gaped at her while Ray stepped next to her. He effortlessly picked her up with one hand and held her above his head. As Lindsey began to change to solid gold, Ray threw her into the air. Mikey wanted to shut his eyelids so badly. Suddenly, the blonde haired man rushed out and caught Lindsey on one hand, just as Ray had originally held her. Mikey’s eyes widened as they repeated this, except with Lindsey doing a flip in mid-air and changing into titanium instead. Lindsey was placed onto the ground. She changed into copper as she did a backbend while the strongmen bowed. The four walked behind the curtain. Mikey stared at the empty space, processing everything that had happened. Ryan stepped out after them.
“Now, ladies and gentlemen, Gambit!” Mikey grinned, connecting the deck of cards in Ryan’s hand to his stage name. Ryan smiled back, held up the deck of cards before fanning them out into a circle around him. He slowly brought up a few clubs, a pale red aura around each of them. The cards floated around the tent. He repeated this, a different coloured aura on each card type. Beads of sweat dripped from Ryan’s forehead as he held each card in the air. The cards started to spin around, starting to make Mikey dizzy. Just as Mikey was about to wretch his guts out, Ryan ceased the spinning and rearranged the cards into a neat deck again. Ryan fell to his knees, panting. He still bowed before stumbling up and staggering back to the curtain. Mikey noticed Pete quickly catch him as he was about to fall over.
Alicia’s practice was quick. Just as Patrick was about to begin, the side of the tent opened. The bright sunlight from outside filled the main area of the tent, hurting Mikey and Patrick’s eyes. Mikey shielded his eyes from the light and saw a woman enter. He recognised her just as everyone else did. Alicia instantly stepped in front of Mikey.
"Miss me?" Sarah asked, attempting to sound sultry. Patrick's eyes widened as he stepped back a bit; he'd never really talked to Hayley or Sarah, but he knew what happened, and to be honest, it scared the shit out of him. The other performers quickly stepped out, as if barricading Mikey away from her.
"What're you doing here?" Pete asked. Ryan was hiding somewhat behind him, glaring intensely at Sarah. The latter giggled mockingly.
"Just checking up. Say, I heard you guys got a, new performer? Where is he?" She tauntingly asked. She strutted up to Brendon and ran his hand down his chest. He roughly grabbed her wrist.
"None of your business, bitch." He spat.
"Now that's not the way to treat neither a lady nor your ex, Bren." Brendon tightened his grip on her wrist, yet she showed no signs of pain.
"Fuck you." Sarah giggled before disappearing into a cloud of black smoke. Some members of the show sucked in their breath before they heard a sound. Alicia was shoved to the ground, and in her place Sarah stood over Mikey. The former made a deep purple construct blocking her and Mikey from the others. Alicia scrambled back up to her feet and slammed her fist against the construct.
"I think we should go somewhere a little more... private, love." Sarah said in a seductive tone. Mikey was about to object before Sarah clamped a hand over his mouth. In the blink of an eye, they were both gone in a puff of black smoke.
"GOD, DAMMIT!" Alicia practically screamed before collapsing onto her knees. Ryan quickly dropped to his and draped his arms around her shaking shoulders.
"It's okay, we'll find 'em." He said.
Oh, how he wished he believed himself.

Notes

whoooo i'm back. i've missed this story, and i'm beginning to get into the groove of writing. where are sarah and mikey?? who knows! other than me...