Now that I had become all too aware of the lack of people, the eeriness was becoming unbearable and impossible not to notice. The feeling of being watched become more apparent - it felt as though the eyes of all the missing people were all piercing their gazes into the back of our heads. There was no one. No one behind any shop counters, no one behind the stalls that scattered the underground place, no one walking down the heavily amusement filled streets, no one. I've never been a fan of crowds personally, often preferring the comfort of my own company or that of Lola or Drew... But if this was the first time my wishes had been listened to and fulfilled, it's a bit far and a slight piss take in all honesty.

The air was feeling as heavy as the thickest, dingiest, London fog on a very bad day. There was no real reason for this, considering we were underground, you wouldn't have been able to tell. There was a breeze as light as on a beautiful Autumn day, there were clouds in the sky as if there wasn't a whole world above us, it wasn't normal, it didn't seem real, but it was tangible. It was real. The thick air was coming from the uneasy feeling of how quiet it was, not through the actual atmosphere. As creepy as it was with no one around, it was... Beautiful here. I could tell that the others were feeling the same thing; Drew's mystified face and Lola's dumbfounded glare; they saw the unnatural beauty of this underground circus? Carnival ground? Whatever it was, it had made the three of us completely speechless. It was silent, peaceful, yet still there was tension.

It was perfectly timed to interrupt my thoughts, which of course it would be, why would I expect anything less? Everything else to do with this has been coincidentally timed, so why not this? The sound of a door being unlocked echoed through the street, causing us all to become hyper aware of the direction it was coming from. We looked towards a door that was enclosing a very empty and run down looking shop, only a few buildings away. The rest of this place looked perfectly kept, everything looked as if it was well used but also well looked after, this building however, was the duality within the street. It was the Hyde to the rest of the street's Jekyll. Why hadn't I noticed that before? I scorned myself bitterly, as it was quite obvious that in a place this pristine, the one odd building in a pretty decent bunch would probably hold a clue as to what was going on. The door now began to open with caution onto a deathly empty street harbouring no human life bar us three, who were staring right in the direction of the movement, like deer in headlights, stunned into stillness.

A tall silhouette emerged from the open doorway and turned to close the door behind them. They didn't seem to notice us, but then again, maybe they already knew we were there?

"What should we do?" Drew asked in a hushed voice, slightly panicked.

"Well..." I trailed off into quiet thought, my eyes not moving away from the silhouette for even a split second.

"We stay." Lola interjected abruptly. "Right here. For all they know we are just tourists having a look around. Nothing dodgy to see here, right?" She sounded very sure in herself for someone who was squeezing my arm so tightly.

"Oh of course Lola, this super bloody secret underground world of wizardry is the top attraction for tourists at the moment! Top tier reviews on trip advisor I've heard!" Drew hissed back under his breath, trying to keep as quiet as possible. I couldn't help but laugh out loud at his burst of wit, but loud enough for the silhouette to hear me. It was clear to see that it turned to look right in our direction, acknowledging our presence. Even though it was only a silhouette that could be made out, I felt like I knew who it was. It was tall, it held itself very straight, with very calculated movements, like it knew exactly what it was doing at all times... It was him.

At that realisation, I suddenly let out my breath that I was holding and gained a newfound courage which we had all lost only a moment earlier.

"Weird someone turning up at your work without you knowing, isn't it?" I spoke out, concealing the slight tremble in my voice as humour. I mean, if it was the Ringmaster he would know what I was going on about. However, if it was someone else that I had quickly assumed to be someone entirely different, that probably wasn't the best icebreaker. Especially when it was quite clear this place was not intended to be found...

"Ah, sweetheart, how lovely of you to exceed my expectations." The deep, familiar voice echoed through the shadows, walking steadily towards us as he spoke. The sound of his voice sent shivers up my spine and I couldn't figure out why, I felt the electricity in the air as if he was casting a spell.

"Sweetheart?!" Lola and Drew both scoffed in unison and looked at me perplexed.

"Ron, is that him?" Lola turned to me to ask. Drew nodded at her, still wearing his perplexed expression, as Lola's eyes widened. He was getting close enough to see properly, the moonlight - if it was moonlight at least - was shining down on him like a spotlight.

"What expectations did you have, may I ask?" I bit back, quite impressed with myself for even having a response so quickly. If only my ability at calm retaliation worked this well during a rush hour at work when the customers begin to think they are know-it-alls. It was clear to see that Lola and Drew were both astonished I was speaking to calmly, which I couldn't blame them for due to the fact I was pretty astonished too, however, a bit of moral support wouldn't have gone a miss right now.

After an extremely long few seconds, the Ringmaster was standing right in front of us, almost level with Drew, but looking down at me. His eyes were piercing, a slight smirk on his face.

"Well - seeing as you have exceeded said expectations, it doesn't really seem to make sense to dwell on them now, does it, my dear?" He raised an eyebrow as he finished the obviously rhetorical question. Was he treating this like a game? Seeing if I would crumble or bite back? It didn't matter. Because as soon as I had processed his word, he turned on his heel - spinning 180 degrees so effortlessly - and began to walk back in the direction he came.

"Come on then, you three. Follow me. Keep up, won't you?" He announced, peering over his shoulder for a split second to see that we were all standing where we had begun still. I swear he winked at me before he turned back to face his destination.