A Conclusion to a Bloodied Gathering

The endless wave of the cheering crowd drowned my grinning visage into a tremendous surge of a pure form of abundant glee, and although my mask is hiding a portion of my face, all could still see just how exemplary I am feeling after hearing all that they say to me.

"You're the best, Timothy!"

"You showed that bastard who's boss!"

"He's not gonna bother you anymore now, dude!"

"More! I want so much more!"

"You did well, little Tim."

As if on cue, by the time I heard the Ringmaster's voice ringing somewhere behind me, I heard the sound of something silently grinding, ever so quietly approaching, like an oncoming blizzard somewhere even further behind the Ringmaster. Somewhere far at the back of everyone facing the crowd, an ominous sound resounded throughout the court. Still, the crowd was too excited to care about it, or perhaps the very reason as to why they are this passionate is precisely because of whatever may come when the origin of the sound was finally revealed.

"Tim, get down from there! It's dangerous!" I heard the worried voice of Veronica as she yelled at me from below the stone platform.

"Yeah, I should probably do that," I said with a chuckle, still unable to forget the cathartic euphoria I had just felt after killing the man I once called my best friend.

George's body is still on the ground, but because of the Ringmaster's ability, it's still in that same position it once had from the very beginning, head on the ground, and ass up. At this time, the amount of grease, dirt, waste, and dust all over his corpse had already spread throughout the platform, and as an almost vomit-worthy effect of what had just occurred earlier, the pale and almost shining white stone platform now darkened with both a black and a red hue, spreading all over the ground like a palette of a messy artist who had accidentally mixed two paint colors without his knowledge.

I slowly approached the edge of the platform nearest to me, and the Ringmaster approached the same side in long strides. Before I could even stand at my destination, the Ringmaster was already below me beside Veronica, looking up at me with nothing but awe in admiration written on whatever I could make out of the way he smiles at me. Veronica had the same smile as she slowly took his mask off, probably because she wanted to see me clearly, revealing her magnificent blue eyes, long eyelashes, and thick eyebrows. They both gazed at me admiringly as I leered down at them from up above while I could hear the sound of George's bone-cracking and his blood gushing out of his neck.

As I approached my destination, the stone ground, which was a few feet below me, had risen to create a makeshift stairway for me to descend. However, the stairway looks amateurish, and more than anything, it feels like I will trip if I ever used this to get down below me. I'm not so sure about jumping down either, for, knowing how much of an athletic failure I am and the level of clumsiness I possess in this kind of physical activity, I might fall embarrassingly. I know better than everyone that the surrounding people would laugh once they saw how my buttocks hit the ground with a crack. I sure wouldn't want to break the momentum I had made for myself in the eyes of my audience by tripping on the stairway or by falling the wrong way on the platform.

Once the stairway had ascended, it seemed that the only person who's not ready was me. When I took a feeble step forward, as if on cue, George's blackened blood flowed on the stairs forming a damp red carpet for me, but my only problem is that it seemed like it's much more slippery than ever this way. I gulped my saliva down like I was downing a shot of tequila and took another awkward step downwards. Although there are only five more steps I had to traverse, the applause of everyone above us made it seem like I'm about to descend the most prolonged fall I had ever had the misfortune of walking.

The Ringmaster must have noticed this. He gave off a soft chuckle as he looked at me with his head tilted sideways along with his equally faint smile. He then extended his hand up towards me before speaking in a tone I had only heard when I see people talk to their pets.

"Take my hand." With his bare hand extended towards me, my body suddenly shook after remembering what had happened to me when he last touched my body.

However, the Ringmaster had gone out of his way to make this request, and it would be unwise to show my pomposity at this very moment to everyone around us, especially to Veronica. Thus, although I was reluctant, I still took his hand and grabbed it as gently as I could with my eyes closed shut.

To my surprise, I did not feel any bizarre sensation traveling through my veins or any such electrifying feeling I had always felt whenever he touched me earlier. It seemed like everything I had felt before was naught but just a delusion.

More than anything, I felt confident knowing that the man who held the highest authority in this court at the moment is supporting me like another servant, willing to serve the person whom he chose to bestow his loyalty.

Thus, as the greasy and darkened blood of George flowed onto the white stone stairway, I descended, knowing that I am the only victor at this very moment. I held the hand of the Ringmaster without grabbing it too tightly, so I wouldn't show enough of whatever fear I am feeling. The more I descended, the more blood reddened my leather shoes; usually, I would be mad at this, but at this moment, I want to have my entire body bathed on it. I want it to flow on my skin, and I wish to never part with my prized possession.

By the time I had reached the same level as the Ringmaster and Veronica, the Ringmaster's hand was still holding my hand upon the level of our shoulders. I then saw that George's blood had created a puddle of blood below the platform, which soaked my shoe even further than before. I could even slightly feel the blood seeping through my socks.

"You might need another pair next time," Veronica remarked while pointing at my shoes with a grimace.

"Oh, no, no, no, Veronica," I whispered with a chuckle. "I'm never going to wash these shoes ever again."

Veronica scoffed with her eyes rolling to the roof of her head. "That's why I said you need a new pair, idiot." She said with her fingers touching her forehead as she shook his head in disappointment.

The Ringmaster tightened his grip on my hand, which I instantly noticed though I still did not feel the familiar electrifying sensation flowing throughout my body.

"W... what?" I whispered with a whisper, trying my hardest not to show my shock at that small gesture he had done.

Without looking at my direction, he faced the audience; I did the same. Still, without batting an eye on my direction, he replied to me in a whisper, "From this point on, I don't want you to take your eyes off me."

I smiled. Although I did not know what he meant, I do know that his words are law.

"Yes, Ringmaster."

And my only job is to obey.