A Friendship That Will Never Ever End

"Lured her?" George whispered in an almost incoherent mumble. That's probably the quietest he has ever been since he came here in this court. Suddenly, however, that quietness of his did not last long, for he suddenly screamed once again with his usual obnoxious and curse-ridden ramblings of absolute rage. "How dare you! How fucking dare you say that! You don't have the right to say that, you fucking piece of shit! My daughter is not the kind of person who will follow someone like you! Fuck you! I bet you don't even know her! I bet you're just making shit up at the top of your head! I fucking bet you can not—absolutely can not—fucking describe her right now, so don't you fucking talk about my daughter like you know her, you fucking garbage! Don't you ever speak like you know her!"

"Wow. George. The F-bombs." I laughed as hard as I could, and everyone else laughed along with me. The Ringmaster didn't laugh, though, but he was smiling. He's always smiling. "Hey, Ringmaster," I said while cradling the ax in my head as I turned my head to face the man behind me.

"Yes, little Tim?"

I chuckled and mumbled incoherent babbling before I could regain my bearings and speak well without laughing or giggling midway. "We should have probably taken a video of this thing right here, and every time George says the word 'fuck,' everyone watching must take a shot of tequila."

"Fuck you!" George snarled while still trying to run towards me even though he knows very well how futile that is.

"Oh." I turned my head to look at him again with eyes wide open as if I saw a treasure trove that pretty much solidifies my point. I then turned my head once again to the Ringmaster while pointing my thumb on George, who was still trying to run after me. "See? He's a content mine!"

"That's a fantastic idea, little Tim." The Ringmaster said with a slight chuckle in his usual, well-articulated tone with the same smile he always has whenever he speaks to other people. "I'm not sure about the alcohol part, though. Wouldn't it be better if we do it like Russian roulette? Every time he says that word, people will have to pull the trigger."

"Not a bad idea." I nodded my head while I clenched my lips tightly in agreement to what he just said.

The Ringmaster then shrugged while flashing a bigger smile, showcasing his perfectly aligned, pure, white teeth. "I think it's amazing!"

I laughed at his little show of confidence while I swung my ax around, trying my hardest to conceal the craving I have in my heart. "Always like your confidence, Ring guy."

The Ringmaster blew a bit of air out of his nostrils, accompanied by a "humph" sound before he said, "You're not the only one."

Strange. The way our conversation is going right now is how I usually talk with the Ringmaster. Still, earlier, although my memory of it was a bit foggy, I can remember that I'm acting way differently from the way I always do while he was touching me. Now, this is not the first time I saw the Ringmaster touch someone, but this is the first time he ever touched me. I do remember everyone acting in a somewhat erratic way, almost as if they're convulsing, every time the Ringmaster gave them a little touch. Still, the people he did this to were always women, so I shrugged it off as just a bunch of thirsty, desperate girls who haven't had the taste of men in the previous years. I usually talk to him the same way I speak to everybody, which is similar to how we banter around earlier, but I feel like I...

I wasn't myself a few minutes ago.

I feel like that wasn't me at all. I felt like a different person altogether.

I felt like I was remote-controlled to think and act a certain way.

"You pieces of shit! I'll fucking kill all of you!" George howled once again in his usual sharp tone.

"Oh," The Ringmaster snapped his finger before using that same hand to point his forefinger at George's sweaty and greasy face. "That's a shot of tequila right there."

That little exchange of theirs took me back to reality. I need not think of all those trivial things now and just focus on the task at hand unless I want to be the next sacrifice next year.

"Oh yeah, what were you saying again earlier? Sorry, I was just really out of it, like, really, really out of it." I chuckled as I laid the huge ax I was carrying on my shoulder. "I'm sure the Ringmaster would understand."

"Pardon?" The Ringmaster said with the usual smile he has, but a hint of confusion was now a part of his tone.

I coughed lightly and diverted my gaze back to George. "Forget it. You know what, George, if you want to prove so much that I lured your daughter here in her own volition, then I can always describe her to you."

George seemed to have ignored what I had just said entirely and just focused his attention on what small word I had spoken with fear reflecting upon his eyeballs. "How... How did you know my name? Who are you? Who the fuck are you!? How did you know my name!?"

"Well... Simple." I chuckled once again. Perhaps, I'm enjoying this little exchange between us way too much which made me so glad that I have my mask on, but I sure am feeling tired already in more ways than one. I smashed the ax down onto the floor to use it like a cane, but it was too tall so I leaned on it instead. I then pushed my entire weight on it while I had my other hand on my waist. This posture of mine thus made my body look like the hands of a clock pointing at 5:55. "We just know each other. I know about you and how you were born and raised in Massachusetts and you stayed there until high school and then you moved out with your friend to study in New York and then you met your wife after college and then you got married in the Bahamas and then you went on to live in a flat in downtown New York with your friends but then all of you moved out and then you started to go back to your hometown with your best friend to build a bar there and then you had a child there and your daughter, who has a long brown hair, hazel eyes that she got from her mother, thick lips that she got from you; she's probably about as tall as me, if I remember correctly, and her skin is as pale as a cloud, so much so, that I almost did not realize she's already dead. And you know what happened next, George? I talked to her, she greeted me, I told her to come inside of my flat, she agreed, I gave her a Bavarian doughnut, and then I took her here before the others kidnapped you; you know what, George? She's more than happy to comply with my request, and you were being difficult so we have to force your ass up! She was laughing while I went to this place with her! She loved this court! She was a little bubble of joy. Until she died, that is."

"Fuck you! You fucking liar! You probably researched my family and my life, and for what? Just to fuck me up! Just to fuck my family up, and now I'm miserable because of you! Fuck you and your fucking grin, yeah, I bet you think you're fucking better than me just because I can't get you! I'll kill you all! I'll fucking kill you all! Then I'd rip your face off, and when I do that, you bet your ass you're not gonna be grinning like a little fuck boy bitch anymore! I'll fucking rip you apart, and we'll finally see what kind of trash subhuman you are behind your dumb mask! Why don't you take your mask off, huh!? Face me like a man and not some fucking disgusting guy researching other people's families!"

"No, no, no, no, no, no, George. You're getting all of this wrong. There's no research needed here." I said as loudly but as calm as I could while swaying my head in all different directions. "I lured your daughter here, and she came to me willingly."

"I don't fucking believe you! My daughter is smart; she's well educated! I fucking make that happen! I made sure she wouldn't be one of those dumb bitches around her! She wouldn't be fucking stupid enough to trust a stranger like you! Especially not a fucking... a psycho—a madman—a monster like you!"

"No, believe me, George." I straightened my body and started swaying my ax on the ground, which then resounded a shrill noise of metal hitting the surface of ancient stone. "She'd come to me."

I saw a hint of confusion on his face, but for some reason, I felt like he's already putting the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle together; I feel like he could finally see the bigger picture. However, his mind is telling him otherwise, or perhaps, he just refuses to think of the possibility of it ever happening. He wanted to reject the truth so badly as if his life depended on it. To be fair, his life does depend on it somehow.

"I... Your voice..." George said while stuttering.

"She would come to me, George." I smiled as I continued to sway my ax as it made that ear-piercing sound as it hit the concrete slab.

"I... I know your voice."

"She would trust me."

"Who are you?"

I started taking my mask off slowly while I spoke. "I think you already know, George."

"No..." Tears started to well upon his eyes until it finally dropped a single droplet of a tear rolling down his cheeks before it stopped on his chin. "No, please... No, don't take your mask off."

"You need to know that your daughter did not come here against her will," I said as I slowly revealed the top of my head to the man trembling before me.

"Please..." Tears were rushing out of his eyes like a waterfall of melancholy, gushing waves on his skin. "Don't do this to me..."

I finally then showed the man before me the truth he kept wanting to deny. He would have probably been kneeling on the floor right now, for he is shaking his feet in a somewhat unusual way. However, it seems that the enigmatic malevolence of the Ringmaster's ability is not allowing him to take a rest.

"You need to learn the truth."

"Timothy..." George's sobs continued to fill the court, and in every hiccup and sniff he makes, the sneers of cold condemnation coming from the audience standing from high above grew bigger and broader. "No, man... Come one, man... Don't..."

"You know what, George, you're right all along."

"Don't do this to me, man."

"The Caravan does move on."