Chapter 21 DOLL
XXI. DOLL
I woke up with my hand pressed to my temples. The pain was pulsing under my fingertips. When my eyes opened, I realized I was wearing a white dress and sitting on the bed in the attic. Enzo was on one side of me, watching, and Oscar was still asleep on the other.
But we were not alone.
There were faces I had never seen before.
A man with two heads stared at us without moving.
A woman with pale scales slowly shifted in the corner, the dwarf she held resting quietly in her arms. Another woman stood near the wall with six arms crossed over her chest like she was patiently waiting for someone to speak.
A sharp breath escaped me. I looked around the attic and started pinching my skin to check if I was dreaming again. Enzo grabbed my hand before I could dig in harder and whispered, “Hey, hey, you are back.”
Oscar opened his eyes. He gasped for air like he had been pulled from underwater and started shaking as he looked at Enzo and at me. The woman with scales came closer. She leaned near my neck and sniffed softly.
“Do I know you?” I asked her, tilting my head, but she didn’t respond. She didn’t even blink.
“Who are you talking to?” Enzo asked. “It is just the three of us here.”
Oscar laughed. It was a cracked, half-broken sound. He looked at Enzo, then at me.
“That is Ariel. She has been here ever since I got here.”
Enzo shook his head slightly toward me.
“No one is here.”
Oscar kept pointing. First at the two-headed man. “That is Yuri and Viktor.” Then, at a woman with six arms. “That is Peggy.”
Then he turned to the dwarf. “And that is Luci.”
My palm covered my mouth before I even realized I was doing it.
I shook my head toward Enzo, then toward Oscar.
He was seeing people who were no longer alive.
I had only seen their photos on the walls downstairs.
They were part of Cirque de Perdutti back in the sixties.
Maybe that was why he renamed the place. Maybe they told him to.
“Is Mia real?” I asked Enzo quietly.
“As far as I know, she is,” he said with a small laugh. “She is downstairs getting everything ready for tonight.”
“Tonight?” I repeated.
“Yeah. It is opening night.”
“Opening night is not for another two weeks.”
He looked at me with tired eyes. “You have been asleep for two weeks.”
The attic seemed to tilt for a moment. I felt time slipping around me, like it did inside dreams.
I leaned closer to him and whispered, “They are dangerous. We have to get Oscar out of here.”
“We will all go to Rome after the show,” he said, standing up and walking away. “But first we have to perform. The Circle is already here.”
I turned to Oscar and grabbed his hand. “Do you remember?”
He looked at me with that strange softness in his eyes. “How can you forget something worth remembering?”
A tear slipped down my cheek.
I nodded.
“Get dressed, Doll,” he said as he stood. He walked to the closet, the one with the doors hanging off their hinges, probably from one of his blows. He grabbed the red dress and tossed it at me. “I love to see you in red tonight.”
He walked out of the attic. As he stepped through the doorway, the others slipped away with him, fading like smoke.
I was alone again.
I rose slowly and turned toward the broken mirror. The shards caught the light and sliced my reflection into pieces. Most of the bruises had already healed. Only a few remained, fading into that yellowish color that comes before they disappear completely.
I picked up the dress he had thrown. This one was a single piece that clung tight to the body, covered with thousands of shiny stripes that brushed against each other along the bottom hem. When I pulled it over my skin, it fit perfectly, hugging every curve of my body.
Beside the closet were thin red tights. I slid into them carefully.
Next to them were black ballet shoes. I slipped them on and tied the long silk straps into a firm knot around my ankles.
Then I took two red silky ribbons and braided my hair, one braid on each side, weaving the ribbons through until they disappeared into the strands.
At the sink, I started on my makeup. I drew sharp black triangles above each eyebrow and matching ones beneath my eyes. Then I picked up the red lipstick. After smoothing the color over my lips, I traced the scars where they had once been stitched shut and crossed them with small black X marks.
When I finished, I walked toward the stairs and headed down. This time, he was not waiting for me.
Enzo stood in the hallway, smoking.
When I closed the door behind me, he flicked his eyes toward me.
“We have to go,” he said. “He already opened the show.”
We rushed down the stairs. His cigarette smoke trailed behind him, and before I even registered it, we were already at the door.
Outside was nothing like it had been two weeks ago. The carnival felt alive again. People gathered everywhere. Children ran in circles, laughing. There was a line at the Ferris wheel, another line for popcorn, and cotton candy. Lights blinked. Music grew louder, and the whole place breathed.
We walked through the crowd and toward the meadow where the main tents still stood.
“The Circle wears black masks and black suits,” Enzo said as the main tent came into view. Circus music pulsed from inside.
“They are not trying to hide, are they?” I asked.
“It is easy to hide in a carnival when everyone thinks you are part of the act,” he said. “They don’t care about anyone else until they get what they want.”
He glanced toward the tent flap. “Anyway, you are next. Oscar said you are great with the trapeze, so he made you his final act.”
“And then what?” I asked.
“When you land, bow and meet us at his tent,” he said, clapping his hands. “It is showtime.”
I moved closer to the entrance. Oscar stood inside the ring and waved me forward. My heart thudded in my chest.
I stepped in, dancing my way across the circle until I reached the middle.
The ropes of the trapeze slid down from above. I grabbed the wooden bar, and it pulled me up into the air. I swung forward, then back, twisting as the crowd beneath me blurred into streaks of color. Another trapeze swept past. I leaped to it, spinning through the air before catching the next bar.
I lifted myself up, settling onto the top of the bar. When I looked down, little girls in the audience were staring up at me with wide eyes. I lifted my hand and waved at them.
This was no place for families, but they still came.
I moved again, rising on my toes on the wooden wire, holding the ropes as I bowed. When I saw the net tighten below, I finished the act. I spun once more through the air and let my body fall into the net. It caught me hard, then bounced me back up, and I landed lightly on the ground.
The crowd clapped. I bowed again and tiptoed toward the exit.
As soon as I stepped outside, I noticed men in black suits. The moment they saw me slipping out, they started moving toward me. I ran straight to Oscar’s tent. When I pushed inside, the table was covered with masks, knives, a bat, and an axe.
“They are already after me,” I said, barely catching my breath.
Oscar grabbed a rabbit mask with long ears and pulled it over his face. He took the axe and lifted it to his shoulders. Enzo reached for a mask too, but instead of the axe, he picked up a metal bat.
“You have to lead them to the wooden park,” Oscar said.
I nodded and looked at both of them.
“Go,” he shouted.
He didn’t give me any promise that I would be safe. The shout may be the closest thing to one. I glanced over my shoulder as I ran out. Oscar was right behind me, and farther back, the men in suits had already started chasing.
I ran so fast I could hear my heartbeat pounding inside my ears with every step. When I reached the woods, I ducked behind the bark of a thick tree and crouched low.
Screams moved through the trees, followed by heavy thuds. I held my ears and stayed curled down until a hand grabbed me by my braid and yanked me upward.
“Finally got you,” the man said. He twisted a knife near my neck and dragged me backward.
He started pulling me deeper into the woods. Behind us, I heard Oscar’s voice. “Let her go.”
The man holding me laughed. “Or what?”
“I won’t chop your dick off,” Oscar said.
The man kept dragging me until we reached the edge of the cliff.
Oscar stood several feet away in black leather pants, blood smeared across his skin.
His axe rested on his shoulder, dripping.
The rabbit mask covered his face, and he tilted his head slowly to the left, then to the right, like he was studying both me and the man holding me.
He moved closer. When the man shifted his grip to test Oscar, I punched him hard in the gut. He let out a rough groan and doubled over. I ran toward Oscar. He caught me, pushed me behind him, and lifted the axe. With one clean motion, he hurled it at the man’s face.
The mask split in half. Blood ran down his chin in a thin dark line. He staggered back, struggling for balance, then slipped over the edge of the cliff and disappeared.
Oscar turned to me. He lowered his mask and cupped my cheeks with both hands.
“You good?” he asked.
I nodded.
He pulled me closer. His lips touched mine. His tongue slid against mine, hungry, pulling me into him. I wrapped my arms around his neck and let him kiss me harder.
A sound behind us snapped the moment.
“Ew,” Enzo said. “You two need holy water and a priest.”
“Go away,” Oscar said, waving a hand without looking back.
Enzo laughed. “Okay, demons. Have your fun. And when you” he paused and cleared his throat “finish whatever this is, come meet Mia and me in the house.”
“Aha,” we both nodded, and as we heard the footsteps, Oscar lowered me to the ground. We were both stained with blood, but he didn’t care. He lifted my dress and pulled down my thong.
Then he pulled a balloon from his pocket and said, “I heard you like to play with balloons.” He chuckled, lowering himself down.
But he didn’t put it inside me. He pulled down his pants, his cock sprang free, and he pressed the balloon to his lips and blew it up.
Then he brought it to his cock and rolled it on, using it like a condom.
The red balloon puffed out at the tip, round and stretched; the rest of it was tight against him.
He lifted my legs in the air, folding them toward my chest. Then he spat on my swollen flesh, rubbed his fingers over it, teased my clit, and shoved himself inside me.
The balloon at the tip made my stomach drop as he entered. The rubber dragged against my inner walls, turning pain into pressure, pressure into pleasure. It spread me wide, deeper with every thrust. I tightened around him, and the balloon started to deflate, hanging loose at the base of his cock.
“Fuck,” he groaned, diving deeper, his thrusts getting stronger.
One hand grabbed my breast, the other rubbed my clit, trying to make myself wetter for him. The wetter I got, the easier he slid in and out, the harder he fucked me.
As he pulled out, he stripped the balloon off and threw it to the ground. He pulled me over, and as I got on my knees, he lifted my ass, arched my back, and dove back in. His pace got faster.
One hand gripped my hip while he fucked me, hard. My mouth let out short, sharp screams as his cock swelled inside me.
Then he pulled out again. This time, he knelt behind me, lifted my ass higher, and buried his face between my cheeks. His tongue moved fast, licking across my clit, up and down, until I couldn’t think straight.
I moaned, my breathing rising, falling, louder each time. He could tell I was falling apart, trembling again. He pulled back, then shoved himself inside me, deeper, rougher. After a few thrusts, he came, filling me in.
He leaned back, sat down, and pulled me with him. I kept bouncing on top of him, my body still chasing the edge. I tightened around him, moaned hard, and came.
Just as I got off, turning to face him, lips still parted, Enzo came running in.
We jumped up. Oscar zipped his pants while I pulled my dress down.
“Mia left with all the money,” Enzo said, breathing fast. “She’s gone.”
Oscar tilted his head, eyes narrowing.“Fuck,” he shouted.
“By the time I got back, she was already in the car.”
I reached for Oscar’s hand. He gripped it tight for a second, then let go.
“Not now, Doll,” he snapped. “I have no patience.”
He walked past me.
Enzo looked at me like he almost felt sorry.
“Are you?” he asked.
“I will be,” I said, cutting him off before he could finish the question.