Claudia lifted her eyelids, hoping in vain that she'd find herself back in her strawberry and rose petal scented bedroom (her personal space), warm, safe and secure. Praying that what she'd witnessed was nothing but a mere, prolonged, addlepated nightmare.
Tragically she woke to find herself in absolute reality: 'the same execrable odious tent', and the same repulsive stench, along with the unimaginable physical pain she was suffering. Unfortunately, it wasn't her bedroom.
Todd's dead body was still there, in the middle of the tent in total peace and sombre. It could not be said that Thanatos who in Greek mythology personifies death, may have been the culprit; it was, unequivocally the diabolical and reprehensible Machiavellian clowns and cohort. The previously fluid blood, which had stained Todd's shirt had now inspissated and coagulated throughout his body, characterising a dark shade of 'off purple sangria'.
Claudia tried to get up; however, was hindered. She peered down to observe the subject of her incapacitation, she was flummoxed. Her hands were tied together. And in such a bemusing and haphazard style, like an extra metre had been used superfluously. As a consequence, her natural and immediate reaction was to scream at the top of her lungs.
To compound her dread, Claudia felt her suppressed vocal orations, vibrating against a tightly bound bandana, partially secreted in her mouth. Anything she attempted to yell out, would by default be muffled. Tears began surging down the sides of Claudia's unnaturally, pale and once photogenic cheeks, before dripping off of her chin.
She was pondering over the thoughts which seemed to harp on in her brain. She couldn't help continuously question why this was happening to her, as well as what was happening.
During her self-contained semi-emotional outburst, Claudia failed to visualise those soulless and insipid clowns. They were nowhere to be seen. Was she alone? Claudia surmised.
She wondered what Marty, Marcia and Stanley were doing and their overall state. Speculating whether they would've deduced what had happened and sought help from the police. If that was the case, then Claudia could relax somewhat.
But then again, even if they had figured out what had happened, how were they to get help? They were about an hours drive away from home and their car was without fuel. What if they were still seated in that jalopy and total unaware of the evil and heinous happenings?
Claudia concluded that that was the case; they were still at the car, waiting for her and Todd to return. Not knowing that Todd had been killed and that she was being held hostage. The possibility that her demise would be similar and carried out by those moronic hydranencephaly clowns.
Her ribcage was progressively tightening around her lungs with every breath she took, making the breathing task almost impossible. Her heart was like fragile glass bordering on the probability that it could shatter at any given time.
The 'what if' questions persisted. What if she was held captive until she died in that semi hogtied state. Locked away and restricted from the outside world? What if Marty, Marcia and Stanley were killed before they could try and get help? What if she wasn't killed and didn't die...how long could she remain in that state before she lost her mind, before she went bonkers?
Her thoughts pertaining to being left alone quickly subsided when she spotted the two forbidding and aloof female clowns gawking at her from a distance. Claudia wanted to cry and scream out. She wanted to know what they wanted from her! Why they were going what they were. However, the bandana prevented her from uttering a single word...anything.
The female clowns started to approach her, slowly, as if to heighten the intimidation factor. The pink-haired one was in possession of a pocket knife which she held tightly. Claudia started screaming; however, it was barely able to be heard. Her attempts were coming out as muffled cries.
"Give me the knife," Penny said to the pink-haired clown.
"No!" the pink-haired clown retorted.
"Pinky, give it to me." Penny snapped.
Pinky sighed and rolled her eyes before handing the pocket knife to Penny.
Penny raised the tip of the knife up to Claudia's throat, which instantly caused the terrified girl's eyes to widen wit unprecedented horror. Claudia's mind, already in overdrive now hit turbo. What were they going to do with her? Were they going to kill her?
With her free hand, Penny seized Claudia's arm tightly causing Claudia to wince. Claudia fought against the fiendish clown by struggling with all her might.
"Stop moving or I'll slit your throat!" Penny threatened.
Penny held the knife closer to Claudia's throat, close. So close in fact that the blade came into contact with her skin, causing miniscule baubles of blood to bead along her neck line. It was a ploy to stabilise Claudia because Penny began to drag Claudia over to a trapeze bar.
The stabilisation didn't work, it had no effect on Claudia as she persisted in fighting back, wrangling and struggling. Her resistance included screaming and crying out. Claudia's fingernails acted as talons, scratching Penny's arms. As a result, the braindead clown let out a loud hiss before cursing under her breath.
Penny glowered at Claudia before slamming her clenched fist against her nose. Claudia's ethmoid bone crackled, the sound of which bounced throughout the tent. A metallic scent filled Claudia's nose whilst the discharging blood formed runnels about her face. An unimaginable throbbing pain gained momentum where the nose bone broke.
"You're pathetic," Penny kicked Claudia in the ribcage.
It was a forceful, aggressive kick, nefariously discharged by Penny. Her foot roughly colliding with Claudia's ribcage. A mixture of blood and saliva sprayed out from Claudia's mouth. She then collapsed onto the floor, shaking, shivering and sobbing.
She needed to escape. She had to get out of there. She just couldn't let herself fall victim to a bunch of deranged, dim-witted, psychopathic clowns. But how was she going to escape? She was tied up, she couldn't run away if she was tied up and she was on the floor in such inconceivable pain.
Unless...she miraculously managed to wriggle out from the ropes, she could then make a run for it.
"PLEASE LET ME GO!" Claudia pleadingly screamed through the bandana.
"Just shut up!" Pinky shouted.
Penny walked away, heading over to a corner of the tent where she retrieved an electric prod. With the prod gripped in both hands, she strode back over to Claudia.
"This is for not shutting up," Penny jabbed the prod against Claudia.
The synchronised oscillations of electric propagated through Claudia's body at lightening speed. The electric wave caused Claudia's muscles to instantaneously tighten and with tremendous force. She gasped then let out a loud, blood curdling scream as she prayed the pain would end as quickly as it started.
"Now, you can either do as we say, or you can get prodded again. Is that clear?" Penny threatened.
Claudia simply nodded in acknowledgement which in itself required tremendous effort due to the pain she was suffering. Her crying adding to her apocalyptic state. Observing how feeble and vulnerable she was at this moment; the clowns cackled evilly and exited the tent. Leaving Claudia to speculate as to where they were going.
She still desired the situation to be nothing more than a nightmare. She really didn't want it to be real, however...it was real. It was genuinely happening, she could only pray (and hope) that she'd be able to escape and see the light of day again as well as to breathe fresh unadulterated air.
It seemed highly impossible to escape, given her tragic state and deplorable circumstances. She was in so much pain...and the car was out of petrol. So even if she bolted, where could she go? She couldn't run home due to the distance. If she tried to evade capture, the clowns would eventually locate her. They'd know the remote area better than her.
Then again, she just couldn't remain there, on the floor, injured and suffering. She was compelled to try and escape...somehow. She couldn't stand the thought of letting anyone hurt her friends. Her friends were her main source of happiness and life without them was unimaginable. Her family had always treated her badly and they hated her. But her friends were different. They actually cared about her and Claudia couldn't afford to lose them.
Her hands were tied up at the front of her body, so she could easily reach the bandana. She took hold of the fabric and raised her arms, pulling the bandana up over her head before dropping it. Now all she had to do was somehow untie her hands and exit the tent without being spotted.
But how was she to untie her hands? There was no one in the tent that could aid her.
Claudia scanned the tent, frantically searching for anything she could use to cut the rope off her wrists. She spotted the bull hook, it was near the entrance curtain. She must've dropped it there when she was knocked unconscious.
She quickly scrambled over to the hook and began scratching the rope against the sharp, pointed tip. Fortunately for Claudia, the rope wasn't thick. So, with a little effort, Claudia thought that she'd be able to cut through the rope easily. She worked rapidly and to her surprise, the rope weakened. As a consequence, she was able to prise her hands apart until the remaining fragments of rope twine snapped.
Her hands were now free and fully mobile. She had to run and find the others! She was almost halfway there! She propelled herself towards the curtain and then thrust it sideways. Darting into the larger tent, her heart was beating faster than ever, like a well oiled German engineered machine. In contrast her throat felt like it was tightening, particularly with each step she took.
However, despite the fact that she could pass out, she kept up her momentum. If she kept running, it would pay off. She had to do everything that she could in order to escape. Even if it meant running with the pain she had. She needed to survive and not be held captive. She wouldn't let them take her life, not without a fight.
She reached the curtain, pushed it aside and darted into the larger circus tent. She continued hurtling through the tent. The entrance was ahead of her. She'd be outside momentarily. As close as the entrance seemed, it was similarly far. She was legitimately battling to run, excessively panting and in need of pure fresh air.
Strident pain was prominent throughout her body. Dried blood caked the front of her clothing and face. Even with a broken nose, she was still able to smell the dried blood which as giving off a foul distasteful odour. Her blonde hair was matted with dust, blood, sweat and filth.
She saw a thin segment of sunlight coming through the narrowest opening. Claudia started to feel the warm, summer breeze. The breeze started to blow rogue, tendrils of her filthy hair away from her face. Only a few steps remained as tears began to cascade down her cheeks.
Just as she came into contact with the curtain entrance, she collided with something or someone, which caused her to stumble backwards. Trying in vain not to lose her balance, her foot came into contact with an empty soda can causing her to lose balance. She began plummeting south and at an acute backwards angle. Her back hit the ground, causing a heart-stopping monumental throb to run up along her spine. At the same time, her head crashed onto the ground. Her whole head began to ache as her vision became blurry and tears welled up in her eyes.
She clenched her teeth in an attempt not to cry out. It was too dangerous to scream or yell out...even to whimper. The clowns would discover her and ultimately work out that Claudia was attempting to escape. They'd most certainly electrocute her again and even kill her.
Claudia couldn't bear to think what else they'd do to hurt her. She was already in so much pain and she could easily fall into a coma. With her vision still blurry, and her whole body pulsating with unrivalled pain, Claudia stumbled back up to her feet. Her surroundings appeared to be spinning around, like everything was in a carousel.
Except this was slightly different to a carousel. With each passing second, everything seemed to spin quicker...getting faster and faster...not dissimilar to her present status quo.
She was stuck on a literary carousel. She was practically stuck in this abandoned circus unless someone could get help. Even if she tried to get out, she'd just be pulled back and be hurt again. That same cycle of trying to escape would repeat.
Claudia reached a hand up to her head, massaging the back of it. Only hoping that the motion would somehow soothe the unbearable pain. As she retracted her hand away from the back of her head, she observed the blood that was on her fingers.
Deciding to at least try and get to Marty, Marcia and Stanley, she endeavoured to jog out of the curtain once again. As she pulled the curtain back, she came face to face with the thing that she had previously bumped into.
"Shit!" Claudia cursed, tears stinging her eyes.