Cave of Shadows

Infinite

 Chapter 8- Connor’s POV

“You will be staying in the barracks with the other resident soldiers,” the Ringmaster barked at me as we marched through the halls of the Circus.  “You will rise at dawn every day and perform your duties as a member of this troupe.  You will be given your rations at high noon every day.  At night, you will socialize with your fellow C-Men before retiring to sleep, waking at approximately 2:00 in the morning to take your shift at the watch.  If I or any other member of this troupe senses any degree of disloyalty from you, any at all… well, you know what we are capable of doing.  Do you understand?”

I nodded immediately.  No disloyalty.

“Good.  Here is your uniform.  You receive a new one every 2 weeks, as the work you will be doing is dirty, and the uniform is going to become a red jumpsuit instead of a white one.  The barracks are that way,” she said, pointing to our left, “and I suggest that you go there and stake your claim on a bunk before the others come back from duties.  There are no assigned bunks here, C-Man Howe.  First come, first serve, and if you don’t show up in time to claim one, you sleep on the floor.”  She walked away without another word, clearly demonstrating her confidence in her ability to crush Rachel if I even thought about putting one toe over the line she had just described to me.  I did as she said and made my way to the barracks.

Once I arrived, I did as the Ringmaster had suggested and claimed a bunk.  The mattress was quite lumpy, with weird angles sticking up everywhere, but it was functional, and it wasn’t bloodstained.  I decided it would probably be best to change into my uniform before anyone else showed up, and so I began removing the tuxedo I had been so sure I was going to die in, and exchanged it for the plain white jumpsuit lying on the bed.  The tuxedo reminded me of Roxanne, and the fact that she was somewhere around here, too.  What were they doing to her?  I knew the Minister wasn’t happy with her because of what happened at the wedding, but I thought his rage would be more primarily directed at Rachel and I, not her.  After all, her offenses were minor compared to ours.  Still, where treason is concerned, guilty is guilty. 

A carving on one of the beds called me back to reality: a symbol, the same symbol that had been tattooed on that man’s chest, the man I murdered in cold blood.  However, now was not the time to allow myself to be consumed by guilt.  What was that symbol doing here?  What does that symbol even mean?  I was going to have to try and look into that.

Several large men entered the room laughing and joking and punching each other.  They didn’t notice me for a few minutes because they were so consumed by laughter.  When they did finally stop laughing long enough to wipe the tears of mirth from their eyes, they saw me and immediately introduced themselves.

“Welcome, m’boy!  My name is Ahab, and this is Arthur, Napoleon and Robin.  Welcome to our humble barracks!  Your name is?”

“Connor Howe, pleasure to-“

I was interrupted by the loud guffaws of the four men in front of me.  “No, no, you don’t understand.  That was your name.  However, upon enterin’ our ranks, you are given a new name.  A C-Man name.  So, what’s your name?”

I thought back to when I had first come here.  Then, I remembered.

“Antony.  My name is Antony.”

Ahab shot me a smile of approval.  “Antony.  Good.  Now that that’s settled, why don’t we get down to business?”

“Business?  What do you mean?”

“Reach under the mattresses, pull out what’s under it, and use it, boy!” Ahab wheezed.

I did as I was told, and was rewarded with a book the size of a brick.  The front cover said “Les Miserables,” and below that was a picture of a sad little girl.  The cover also said that the book was written by Victor Hugo.