"Get up on your feet," Pinky demanded.
"Just leave us alone!" Claudia shrieked as she started walking over to Pinky.
Claudia lined up and aimed a punch for Pinky's head. She was ready to smash the clown's face but her actions were hindered when Penny grabbed her from behind and held the sharpened blade of her pocket knife against her throat.
"Let go of me you fucking bitch!" Claudia screamed.
"Get up!" Pinky yelled at Marcia, spit spraying out from her mouth.
"Can you not spit!" Marcia fired back furiously.
"Get the fuck up!"
Marcia obeyed Pinky. She slowly and shakily stood up to her feet. She figured that if she could just manage to run out through the curtain then she could get to the car and get help. She felt guilty knowing that she'd be leaving her friends Claudia and Marty behind. But she had to try and do something. She couldn't just remain idle. She'd had enough and she wasn't going to endure anymore torture.
Pinky grabbed a hold of Marcia's upper arm, her tight grip causing the girl to wince. The clown then began to drag the her towards the curtain.
"Move! Walk out the fucking curtain!" Pinky ordered.
Marcia frowned and knitted her eyebrows. Why the hell was Pinky trying to get her out of this tent? Could it be possible that Pinky and Penny weren't evil after all? That everything they had done was an act? That they were actually good and that they were going to try and help her, Claudia and Marty to escape?
The idea was utterly bizarre and unlikely; however, at that point in time, Marcia was desperate. And so, she would believe anything as long as it meant that she'd have a chance of escaping from the place. But then again, she knew that she couldn't completely rely on this thought...because it could be completely wrong.
Instead of trying to help her and her friends, Pinky and Penny could be leading them into a trap. Marcia needed to be smart. She had to think rationally. Marcia didn't argue or protest against Pinky as she slowly made her way outside the tent.
"No! What the fuck are you doing with her! Leave her alone!" Claudia yelled from behind Marcia. "Marcia don't listen to her! Get out of here!"
"Shut up!" Penny snapped as she thrust her knife into Claudia's knee.
The sudden and swift action was followed by a heart-distressing and painful scream being emitted by Claudia. In a heartbeat, Marcia quickly glanced over her shoulder to see what had happened. She saw Claudia lying in a pitiful state with blood flowing out from her leg and spilling onto the ground.
"Move!" Pinky shouted, pushing Marcia forwards.
Marcia stumbled before regaining her balance and finally walking out through the curtain. She made her way into the larger tent with Pinky trailing right behind her.
Suddenly, Marcia began to feel queasy and apprehensive. It was almost as if her gut was telling her that something bad was about to happen. So, she decided to abandon the futile thought that Pinky and Penny were trying to help her escape. She decided to trust mother nature's bestowed intuition...'her gut feeling'. She was going to take this chance to try and escape.
Marcia's sapphire coloured eyes scoured the large tent...trying to spot the other hideous clowns. She couldn't see them anywhere. She was in luck. If she could manage to run out through the entrance of the big-top, then she could easily make it to the car. She'd just have to be quick so hat she could outrun Pinky.
She was about to turn around in order to eyeball Pinky but was stopped when a foot collided with her back. The collision caused her to trip, lose her balance and then fall frontwards landing on the ground.
"Try anything and I'll fucking kill you," Pinky threatened. "And I'll kill your friends too."
Marcia was now certain that Pinky and Penny weren't going to try and help them escape. She wanted to slap herself for even thinking of such a stupid idea. The thought was absolutely childish and impossible. It would have been a miracle if something like that was authentic and actually transpired.
When Marcia stood up, she saw that Pinky was behind her. However, Pinky's back was turned (facing the other way). Marcia took a deep breath as she gathered up all of her remaining energy. Then like a homemade missile being catapulted from a slingshot, she made a run for it. She wasn't optimistic as she was extremely frightened and nervous. Nevertheless, she knew that she had to try. The sound of her feet slapping against the dusty ground seemed to echo throughout the tent as she neared the entrance.
"Hey! Get your ass back here!" Pinky shrieked, chasing after Marcia.
Marcia was certain that she'd been ahead of Pinky...but...somehow, Pinky had caught up to her. Pinky then swung her knife into Marcia's direction. The blade came into contact with Marcia's shoulder, leaving a thin jagged incision. Marcia felt warm blood oozing from the wound; it then ran down her back. She was about to take another step when Pinky kicked her from behind, causing Marcia to fall to the ground once again. The villainous clown started to seriously assault Marcia.
As a countermeasure, Marcia had lifted her arms up in front of her, (in an attempt to defend herself). It was useless as the onslaught was unabated. Pinky was berserk, like a savanna swelling rabid wild dog. She viciously punched, kicked and pulled on Marcia's hair. She was relentless and even cut a large patch of Marcia's hair.
"You thought you could fucking escape? I'll teach you to run away you fucking cunt!" Pinky swore, as she cut Marcia across the face.
Although the barrage of punches and kicks lasted less than a hundred seconds...for Marcia it seemed to stretch on forever. Marcia's whole body was stinging like having been stung by a crazed swarm of wasps'. She also felt her entire body ache. Whatever hope she had of escaping, it was all gone. She'd exhausted all possible 'attempts'. Marcia had no idea how she'd escape if she tried again...or if she would even manage to escape at all.
***
Marty began lifting himself up into a sitting position...and as he sat up, he opened his eyes. He felt like an old man with arthritis. Every joint in his body was stiff and ached with unimaginable pain. He tried to rub his eyes but it hurt due to the large and massive bruises which were apparent all over him.
He eyed his surroundings and saw both Marcia and Claudia awake. They were both sitting cross-legged. Claudia was facing away from Marcia and her gaze was glued to the dark red curtain (the only exit out of the small tent). Not only that but she looked even more frightened than she'd previously been. She was trembling so much that her face was terror-stricken. Dried tears adding to her horror.
As he looked at Marcia, he realised that she looked completely unfamiliar. A clump of her soft, caramel coloured hair had been sliced off and had settled onto the ground. Fresh bruises and lacerations were scattered across her arms and legs. Her skin was caked with dried blood and sweat as well as gritty dirt. Marty noticed that she was shivering uncontrollably.
Marty tried to recall what had transpired but he couldn't remember anything. He couldn't even think clearly. It made his head throb to think or do anything. He shifted himself into a new position. The movement made a 'loose gravel scraping' noise, which caused both Marcia and Claudia to look over towards him.
"Marty?" Marcia said.
"Huh?" Marty replied.
Despite the amount of pain that she was in, Marcia rushed over to Marty's side and hugged him tightly. It took Marty a few seconds to process what was happening before he could return the gesture and embrace her too. Marcia pulled away and looked at him before asking,
"Are you okay?"
"Everything hurts," Marty mumbled.
"What did they do to you?" Marcia looked like she was going to cry.
"I...I can't remember anything."
"What? You really can't remember what happened?"
"No," Marty shook his head. "What happened to you? You're hurt!"
"I...It was Pinky," Marcia stammered.
"What the fuck did she do?"
"It's nothing, don't worry." Marcia said. "There's something else that did happen...that's way more important."
"What? Did the police find us?"
"Stan...Claudia? Should we tell him?" Marcia glanced at Claudia.
"No...not now." Claudia replied. "It'll be too much for him."
"What?" Marty asked. "Is it something about Stanley? What happened!"
"Nothing...don't worry." Marcia reassured.
"No, tell me what happened."
"Marty...calm down."
"Well it has to be something! Just tell me!"
"Marty..."
"Just tell me what fucking happened!" Marty shouted.
Marcia flinched and immediately became scared, slowly backing away from Marty. She sat back next to Claudia as she was frightened...possibly because of everything that had befallen them. Maybe...perhaps it was because he sounded so irate and he barely used to yell.
"Marcia..." Marty said in a calmer tone. "Please, tell me what happened."
Marcia looked over at Claudia who hesitantly nodded. Marcia looked south towards the ground as she spoke.
"I-It's Stanley..." Marcia uttered.
"What about Stanley?" Marty demanded.
"That clown...he was coming in...he was going to hurt you while you were unconscious and Stanley and Claudia...they got into a fight with him and then..." Marcia sniffed and wiped away a few tears before continuing. "Then the clown swung his hammer and...Claudia told Stanley to duck and he..."
Marcia couldn't bring herself to say that Stanley was dead. She was scared to voice those words as she wouldn't be able to control her emotions, she'd break down and simply lose it. She was so sad but similarly angry. She was dejected because Stanley was another one of her closest friends; however, his life had been extinguished.
Marcia was mad at the clowns for their inhumanity, wickedness and evil manner. But she was crankier at herself. She didn't even do anything to help Claudia and Stanley. She just stood there and watched. No matter what she tried to do, she wasn't able to move. Everything appeared to go before her eyes in a flash. She now understood how Marty had felt when he was almost caught by the clowns when trying to escape. She felt his frustration and anger at not succeeding.
"Stanley's...dead." Claudia finished for Marcia.
"What?" Marty said.
"He's dead! The fucking brainless clown killed him!" Claudia vehemently stated, her eyes welling up.
"They killed him too?"
"Yes..."
"Why? What did he even do to them? Why did they have to take Stanley god dammit!"
Marty slammed his fist onto the ground as he uncontrollably started to shed warm tears. At that moment, it felt like all of his undamaged and uninjured skin had started to tighten. With each breath he took, his skin continued to constrict him and get tighter. He then felt his skin start to burn. His pulse and heart beat got faster which also caused bile to rise up to his throat.
He felt like his whole body was burning on the inside and the outside. Everything in his vision started to blur, his tears exacerbated his cloudy vision. As the bile rose up, his oesophagus also started to burn. He then vomited; a mess of yellow sprayed out in front of him.
"Oh my god Marty," Marcia ran over to Marty's side.
Marcia seized one of the bandanas on the floor and used it to wipe the vomit off of Marty's face. Marty looked over at Marcia; he looked scared and sad at the same time.
"We have to get out of here...I can't do this anymore." Marty announced. "We can't do this anymore...enough is enough."
"Marty, I promise I'm going to do everything I can to help us escape." Marcia promised.
Suddenly, the entire group of psychotic clowns waddled into the tent. Marcia quivered at the mere sight of them. She was terrified. She was scared that the evil clowns were going to torture Marty, Claudia or herself again. She didn't want the same torturous acts to occur again. But these thoughts immediately dissolved from Marcia's thoughts as the group appeared to take no notice of Claudia, Marcia and Marty. They trudged over to Stanley and seized him by the arms and legs.
They dragged him over to a free trapeze bar which happened to be right next to where Todd's body hung. The three friends were left to watch as Stanley was secured to the trapeze by the clowns.