During the interval some of the non-performing freaks came round selling souvenirs, including the slobbering pups who actually got a lot of attention, and even a few "oh, they're so cute" and "aww bless them". Some of the stuff they were selling was not half bad; like mini chocolate models of the stuff Harold had been eating and little bouncy ball eyes.

"There will be more novelties later," Lucian announced from center stage, "so don't spend all your money right away."

In the short break Avi could hear individual conversations from people in the crowd. Some were astounded and blown away by what they had witnessed, whilst others were considering leaving if things got any more gruesome and a few were trying to dissect the show, certain everything was all an elaborate illusion. Also as he was listening Avi let out a low growl he didn't know he was capable of as the pups spotted him on their rounds and began to bound over excitedly. They scurried away quickly after that, tails between their legs.

The second half began with a much bleaker and far more dramatic act. A young black man called Jacob, who had barely said a word upon meeting Avi earlier, could embody the spirits of his ancestors who had been slaves back in Georgia.

What followed was a horrific, jaw dropping and frankly tear jerking portrayal of his ancestors being taken from their homelands, placed on cramped and over crowded ships and put to work in the fields. Jacob's voice changed for each person, even switching to a woman's at one point.

Avi had seen a lot in his short life. Been through a lot and had a lot of pain inflicted upon him. But this simple display of what slavery had done to people was a sharp reminder that things were a hell of a lot better for him than that of Jacob's ancestors.

How could human beings be so cruel to one another? Was Avi's one thought as Jacob embodied someone who was being mercilessly whipped for disobedience. He winced every time the man's body lurched from the lashings, and he could hear Kevin sniffing and feel the older boy shaking.

By the end of that performance there was not a dry eye left in the whole crowd. Blinking away the dampness from his own eyes, Avi noticed Scott was in a state of intense focus, staring at a section of the audience who had been particularly distressed by that last act. As the blond stared at them Avi could visibly see them relax and calm from hyperventilating to understandable sadness.

"What are you doing to them?" He whispered to the boy.

"I'm just letting them know I'm here," Scott simply replied and Avi left him to it.

Before he left the ring Jacob apologised for any distress he may have caused anyone and explained it wasn't done out of spite, merely his way of reminding people of the atrocities committed in the past and to encourage them to make sure nothing like it could ever happen again. He must have left the stage to the loudest applause that night.

After another ensemble act the lights dipped down again and everyone sat in hushed silence, waiting in apprehension for what they assumed was going to be some jump scare. Nothing happened for almost too long, and people began to get restless wondering if something had gone wrong or if the show had ended and they weren't being told.

Suddenly a man cried out: "There's something on the floor!"

There was a small commotion near him as others tried to look under their own chairs.

"It's by my feet!" A teenaged boy shouted from the other side of the tent.

There was silence again as people sat nervously in their seats, waiting to see if it was them who was going to be surprised next. There was another scream that came from the center of the seats and a lady jumped on her chair.

Avi already had a strong suspicion of who this stealth performer might be and the little cackle and a voice calling out: "Never mind little old me. I'm merely passing through," was enough to confirm it.

So snake boy makes his entrance at last.

From the amount Mitch had prattled on about his grand performance, Avi had been expecting some sort of spectacularly loud and over the top entrance. Not this skulking in the shadows business.

Avi watched the crowd intently as cries of "Where is it?" and "What was that?" could be heard, followed by that person leaping out of their seat. People were rising and falling, creating a ripple effect.

Mitch was quiet for the time being, obviously taking his time to build up his fear factor until...

"Hey! It took something from my bag!" A blonde woman shouted.

"These are some nice sun glasses." The little snake had moved on from spooking to theft.

"I'll have this too thank you." He laughed as a man had his bag nicked from underneath him.

"Where am I?" He hissed, voice reverberating around the tent. "What am I?" By now a few people were reaching down to try and catch the intruder. "Close!" The boy let out a high pitched giggle.

Another man nearly fell over trying to catch the boy at his feet. "You'll have to try harder than that," Mitch gloated.

"Because." There was another cry as he stole someone's shoes straight off their feet.

"I'm." A woman was incredibly freaked out as the watch on her wrist disappeared into thin air.

"Always where you least expect me." The center green light turned on again to reveal the small teen sitting in the middle on the ring, surrounded by all his stolen goods and looking incredibly pleased with himself.

At first Avi was confused. This boy was definitely Mitch, yet there was something not right about him. The scales! His scales are different! Before it had only been through intense focus on the boy's skin that you could make out the tiny emerald scales Mitch had in the place of skin. Now though, he was practically shimmering under the spotlight, the nickname Snake Boy had a whole new meaning.

Avi realised after a while that it was in fact a costume giving Mitch his extra scaly aesthetic, and not his actual skin. The boy was wearing a skin tight costume, from neck to toe, invisible if you weren't looking out for it. On top of that the only piece of clothing as a pair of just as tight shorts. Avi also noticed that those fangs of his were fully out.

The boy laughed some more as the crowd stared in wonder at him, and held up the items, dangling them in the air in a taunting fashion. "You what them? Come and get them!" He challenged, before pointing to a huge guy in the front row. "You Sir, with the hat," he announced, springing to his feet. "Are you willing to partake in a little game of cat and snake in order to win back everyone's possessions?"

The guy confidently stepped into the ring and sized up against the boy. It was almost comical, the height difference. You'd probably need four of Mitch, stood next to each other and on top of one another, to make it an equal fight.

This guy's face reminded Avi of himself as the snake boy danced around him, explaining what he had to do. "The rules are simple," he sang out happily, holding up a red circle in one hand. "You manage to stick one of this sticky thing on me and you win."

Just to prove there was no trickery going on here Mitch allowed the guy to test it out on him a few times before the game started. The circle stuck to Mitch like it was magnetic, almost as if it were drawn to him. The game should have been an easy win for the big guy. Should have been.

As it happened the only time the guy looked like winning was when he lunged towards Mitch before the boy had even said go. "Oh we like to play dirty do we?" Mitch queried as he simply side stepped out of the way. "Alright, two can play at that game." He grinned manically, canines shining under the lights.

What followed next was a fight like no other. Every time the guy tried to get anywhere near Mitch, the boy would just duck and weave out of the way, always leaving it until the last possible second before he fluidly slipped behind the guy and shoved him over.

From his view, and now that he wasn't the butt of the joke, Avi could truly appreciate just how flexible the boy was. His body moved in a way it had no right in moving. For certain moves, like when he would suddenly snake between the guy's legs, it looked like he needed to dislocate at least eight bones in order to achieve it.

He's good. I'll give him that.

For a while the game of cat and snake just consisted of Mitch dodging his increasingly frustrated opponent around the ring, the audience laughter growing all the time at the David verses Goliath match.

Then Mitch upped his game. At one point the guy had been aiming a right hook at the boy's face and the next moment he had been spinning around in confusion, the pair of stolen sunglasses on his face.

Avi blinked in surprise. Okay that was pretty awesome!

Mitch gasped dramatically, pointing to the shades with his mouth wide open. "How Sir, did you manage to do that?"

And so it occurred that the audience were falling about in their seats in hysterics after the bag and watch ended up on the confused man as well, each object seemingly being conjured up out of thin air by Mitch and placed on his opponent every time he tried to strike the small teen.

"Wow! You're so good at this!" Mitch complimented the guy, who by now looked a bit delirious, aiming a clumsy kick out at the boy only to find his shoe replaced with one of the nicked ones.

"Oh, there's a shoe!" Mitch cried out happily, holding up the new piece of footwear in his hands "And there's another one," he said as the man repeated the same action, only to find his other shoe replaced.

It was slight of hand and misdirection at the highest level. Even Avi had to grin as the audience got to their feet in applause while Mitch took multiple bows, all the stolen goods now returned to one very confused gentleman.

Boy may be annoying, but there's no doubt he's just as amazing as the other acts.

Mitch wouldn't have been out of place at a magic show, he definitely knew how to work a crowd. However he wasn't done quite yet, for as his opponent went to return to his seat, Mitch held out an arm to halt him.

"I really ought to punish you for being such a naughty boy at the start," he hissed, licking his pointed teeth purposefully. The audience shuddered as one as Mitch pulled himself up on the guy's shoulders and brought his teeth up to the bare neck, acting like he was going to bite him vampire style. The man was completely frozen, like he had been hypnotised by the boy's tones.

Just as Mitch went to clamp his mouth shut there was a yell from backstage and a man came charging out. Avi's eyes widened in surprise. It was Ricky. And he was missing an arm.

"The Croc man!" he cried out in fear. "The Croc man is coming!"

There was a brief pause while the crowd watched him, stunned by this turn of events, before the Croc man himself lunged out of the darkness behind the canvas and chomped at Ricky's leg, completely tearing the limb off from the calf downwards.

As you would expect, the audience began screaming once more, a few running for the doors only to find them locked in.

Mitch was straight away in action-man mode. "Get back to your seat!" he ordered the man he had been planning to bite a moment ago, shoving him out of the way before sprinting towards Ricky and tackling him to the side just as the croc went to take another mouthful out of him, while at the same time taking the opportunity to reach for the abandoned limb still hanging in it's mouth.

"Over here boy," he enticed the half man half croc away from his first victim and lead him out to center stage. The beast actually moved fairly slowly on all four human limbs, his animal head definitely weighing him down at the front as he lumbered after the boy.

How convenient, Avi thought, as Mitch just happened to stop his retreat where everyone could get the best view. He hadn't bought that anyone was in any danger for a second, especially since he knew Ricky rather enjoyed sawing his own limbs off anyway.

They danced around each other, each move so precise you would think it was practiced, although only one out of the two of them had any idea they were performing. Zooming in on the croc's razor sharp teeth, Avi spotted a small, thin, transparent wire, almost like a spider's thread, tied around the upper and lower part of the Croc man's jaw, and trailing off to the backstage area. He smiled to himself, proud for having worked out that little bit of trickery. Another bit of proof no one was in any real danger; someone was obviously making sure the croc wouldn't be allowed to take a bite out of anyone who wasn't Ricky. Still, it was thrilling to watch.

He had to admit he was a little caught off guard when Mitch tripped dramatically over the swishing tail and went flying to the ring side. He wouldn't have thought the boy would have liked to have himself messing up as part of the show.

Quite the contrary, still in full actor's mode, the teen raised in hands in the air, crying out to the heavens. "Oh no! Who dares help us now?"

Avi was midway through rolling his eyes when there was a flutter from high up. And a flash of blue and purple. He gazed up searching for the newest performer and his mouth dropped open.

It was Kirstie...and she was finally showing her true form! Her hidden ability that she had been teasing Kevin and Avi about the whole day was finally revealed, and boy was it worth the wait.

She has wings. She has fucking wings!

Not feathered like a birds, but delicate and see through like a butterfly's, with a few stands of green and silver running through them. From so high up she seemed as if she could actually be a kind of fairy and a part of Avi wanted to scoop her up in his hands, like one might admire a real butterfly. He found that he was having to remind himself o breath; that act suddenly no longer second nature as he was presented with some oasis of beauty a creator with a mind more pure than his had conjured up.

As Kirstie glided elegantly for scaffold to scaffold it was like she froze in mid-air, and time slowed down as he took in every detail of her beauty. Every curve of her body. Every slight sparkle in those wings, every lock of cascading gold hair; he was mesmerised by them all. Even the dress she had been working on when they had first met fitted her perfectly, flowing out behind her, only adding to the whole wondrous aesthetic.

This wasn't just a freaky ability, this was the closest thing to flying! Visually, there was nothing more amazing. Each time she was airborne she performed an incredible stunt; twists, rolls, flips, each time her wings took on a new shapely form, wether is was for balance or show Avi couldn't be sure. All he knew was that those delicate, beating wings were the most incredible thing in the universe.

How could she have kept those hidden?

The audience ducked as she glided above their heads, leaving behind a trail of glitter so the people below were left sparkling. The noises they made this time were not ones of horror or disgust; it was childish delight at some childhood dream coming true before their very eyes. The fear of the Croc man momentarily forgotten, replaced by pure joy.

At one point in her display the girl landed just above where the three were sitting and gave Avi a wink. He grinned back automatically, so wide that his cheeks ached, and gazed after her eagerly as she finally swooped down towards the enemy, who had been slowly making his way towards a cowering Mitch, who for no explained reason apparently couldn't just stand up and walk away; instead he was just making a fool of himself by rolling about on the floor.

Landing in between the two and instantly leaping into the air again aimed at the croc, she began to spin around him, he wings propelling her faster and faster until she was just a blur; a flurry of color and beauty, enveloping the Croc man into a kind of rainbow twister, the both of them disappearing in a cloud of glitter and dust.

When she eventually came to a stand still the Croc man no longer looked anywhere near as threatening, with all out his scales completely covered in a silvery dust. Kirstie on the other hand, looked exactly the same, that little exercise barely causing her to break out a sweat.

Pointing authoritatively to the backstage door she shouted, "Be gone!" ordering the croc to leave them be and, after a moments hesitation, the beast turned around and staggered off back to where he came from, slightly dazed but no worse for wear. It appeared Kirstie's little act had turned him from a ferocious monster into an obedient reptile.

Actually, Avi had seen the small wires being tugged slightly and could smell some sort of cooked meat wafting through the canvas. No doubt Mr Croc was leaving for his dinner rather than staying in the limelight only to have more glitter thrown over him. Still, he could appreciate the storyline and the audience seemed to buy into it, cheering enthusiastically for the girl as she drifted over to Mitch. Avi frowned as a few of the guys sent wolf whistles Kirstie's way.

Mitch to his credit also stayed true to character, putting a hand on his forehead and leaning back dramatically from his seat on the floor. "My oh my! A true angel has come to rescue me," he fawned over the girl, wrapping her up in a hug.

"Shut up!" Kirstie pushed the small boy away in mock disgust, generating more laughter from the crowd, and Avi felt a bit too much happiness from that little interaction.

His smugness vanished however at Mitch's next line, as the boy smiled dopily into the audience and said, "I do believe I'm in love," before the lights cut out and the two vanished into the blackness to yet more laughter and cheers.

Well that's a blatant lie, unless you're talking about him, Avi grumbled in his head, glancing towards Scott. Wait, why am I getting so annoyed about that?

Thankfully his attention was brought back to the show when another spotlight flicked on and Ricky was shown standing up with a leg and arm tucked under his still attached arm.

Oops, I forgot about you. Glad to see you're still alive.

"Hmm," the decapitated man squashed his missing arm and leg back into position, and there was a hissing sound as flesh moulded itself to flesh again, until they looked good as new. "Well that was fun," he observed and strolled off merrily to more applause.

Avi wasn't even allowed a brief respite to reflect on Kirstie's act, as the moment the ring was empty a small bird flew into the tent, flying in circles for a bit before it was suddenly shot down, it's feathers flying everywhere as it fell to the floor dead.

What the...?

A woman in a red cloak entered the ring.

She reached down and picked up the dead creature, jet black hair falling loose.

She breathed into her hands.

She opened up her hands...

...And out flew the bird, flying around as happy as it could be for something that had a massive bullet wound in it a moment prior. People uttered sounds of shock and disbelief, a few made the sign of a cross on their chest. Avi genuinely didn't know what he thought about that act either. Having freaky abilities was one thing, but that was bringing something back from the dead, and he knew from horror movies that that never worked out well.

What was worse though, and what was sending shivers down his spine and awakening that feral feeling inside him once more was the woman herself. Bad, his senses told him. Bad. He didn't know how but he knew this woman was bad. It was like he could smell evil evaporating off her. She smelt rotten. She smelt of decay. Avi glanced around to see if anyone else had taken note of the stench coming off this woman, but everybody seemed to be watching her as normal. There was nobody holding their noses or looking like they were going to throw up.

As the lady spun around with her arms widespread in the process of bowing to the applause - her act was a very short one - her black eyes met with Avi's...and that's what did it for him. The moment their eyes locked any last bit of self control he had left sprinted away in terror, that same primal urge from earlier taking over.

Grabbing his friend by the arm he whispered urgently, "Kevin, we're getting out of here. Now."

Kevin turned to him in confusion. "Wha-?" He was cut off by Avi clamping a hand over his mouth, and urgently motioning that they needed to leave.

Scott was still concentrating on the audience. Avi didn't know what the guy's hearing was like but decided if they were quiet enough the blond wouldn't realise they were gone until he tried talking to them. Giving Kevin no choice but to follow him as he dragged the boy out the way they came, Avi pushed his friend in front of him and began to march them both through the backstage crowds, keeping their heads down. If they were lucky enough no one would pay them too much attention when they were all bust themselves.

"Avi!" Kevin tried to turn around, annoyed by the younger boy's unexplained marching orders. "Dude just calm down! What's going on?" He glared at him as Avi harshly shushed him.

Avi wanted to explain. He really did. But right now he was running on pure instincts and those instincts were telling him to get as far away as possible as quickly as he could. There was no time to think about the contract they had signed or the people they had met; not Mitch, Scott, not even Kirstie. Run. That was all. "Just keep moving," Avi demanded, shoving Kevin forward. "Anyone so much as shouts at us, make a break for it."

Wether it was from being stunned into obedience or him being able to identify the desperation in Avi's voice; for once Kevin didn't question him.