Chapter 6

It was damp, dark, and reeked of rotting flesh in the sewer. Time Bomb walked slowly through the tunnels, trying to remember all the turns she made so she could find the surface again. Splashes came from every tunnel, confusing her from time to time. She couldn’t figure out if it was on purpose or there just happened to be something splashing near her at the time. In the distance, she saw the silhouette of a person. She couldn’t tell if they were looking at her or away, but she knew they were waiting for her. She walked closer. Hearing the splashes of her footsteps, he took off. She ran after him, keeping up at a good pace. He ran into an opening and disappeared. She followed then stopped, staring ahead.

“Why, hello there,” said FreakShow, as he leaned on a black cane, with a chunk of ruby on the end under his hands.

“Hi?” she asked, confused. Not many people greeted her so casually. Especially people with sacks over their heads.

He chuckled, “Don’t be shy, Time Bomb. I just came to ask you a favor.”

“Oh?”

“Go to Hell,” he sneered, jumping in the air.

While coming down in the air, he aimed his cane at her chest. Confused, she watched, unsure of what to do or where to move to. Before hitting her, she jumped back, his cane splashing in the inch deep water.

“Who-”

Before she could finish he said, “Aw, my new shoes. Now they’re covered in slime polluted water. Your fault of course…for moving.”

Still more lost than ever, she continued to watch him as he lifted his cane in the air. She reached back, grabbing the hilt of her katana. Just as he brought his cane down, she whipped her katana out, stopping his cane from hitting her in the face. He jumped back, then before she knew it, he rammed his cane in her side. Surprised, she shrieked in pain. She didn’t know anyone could move that fast. He was like a bolt of lightning. Using one hand, she gripped her side, the other she used to hold her katana protectively in front of her. He snickered, then leapt in the air again, landing behind her. Before she could turn around, he hit her back with the cane, and she fell on her stomach, the tip of the katana stabbing her lower stomach. As soon as she felt the tip go in, she rolled over on her back.

“Who are you?” she choked out, looking up at him. As he stood over her, she observed his clothing and posture. It was different from other people she fought, more polite.

“Heh, I am the FreakShow,” he said, and turned the ruby on his cane to the left.

A blade came out from the bottom of his cane. This is it. He was going to stab her, wasn’t he? He brought his cane down, and stabbed it into her upper right leg. She screamed in pain, then he pulled it out, blood streaming into the sewer water. The blade went back into the cane, then he turned it around so the ruby was in front of Time Bomb. Smack! He hit her in the back of the head with his cane. Everything went black.

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Time Bomb opened her eyes. Everything was blurry, and she couldn’t move. Her head felt like a stone and she was hanging on something. The smell of decaying skin invaded her nose. Gag reflexes set in, and she started to cough. FreakShow laughed; she couldn’t see him, but he was there laughing.

“Isn’t lovely?” he asked, “This is where my wives stay.”

“Wives?” she choked out.

“Oh, yes. Look towards me, dear,” he snickered, “Move your head to the right.”
She turned her head around. There he was, sitting on a pile of bones. They weren’t just a pile, though. They were arranged to look like a big arm chair. There were tons if different bones in there, some she couldn’t even identify. He sat back in the chair, his arms on the makeshift arm rests, and his legs wide open.

“Wives?” she repeated.

“Oh yes. This was Diane,” he lightly kicked the skull closest to his left foot, “Do you want to meet Bella? She still has muscle and skin,” there was a smile in his voice, Time Bomb could detect it. “Bella,” he called, “Bella, dear, I need you!”

A girl in her late teens, early twenties came over to FreakShow. She had long black wavy hair and tan skin. She wore a plain white dirty dress. Stitches went up and around her arms. Not just any stitches either, the string looked like it was made from some plastic material instead of string. Her skin was irritated all around them, and even looked like there some bleeding from where the stitches were sown in. It was the same on her hands, legs, and feet. Her face was nice at one time, but not now. She had a huge gash on her upper right cheek. It was still open, and somewhat oozing. Her name was carved into her left cheek. There was a large brown button over her left eye, or replacing it. Her other eye was light green, and teary.

“Oh…God…” Time Bomb gasped.

He chuckled, “This is Bella. Isn’t she beautiful? I made her sow her own stitches. Not a bad job,” he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her in his lap, “I think she looks fantastic.”

“You’re sick…”

“No. No no. I’m just a freak. Beauty is however we see it. I happen to find beauty in mutilation.”

“It’s still sick.”

“Please,” he said, gently pushing Bella off his lap. He whispered something in her ear, and she scurried off. Walking over to Time Bomb he said, “You’re lucky. I was going to kill you, but then decided that you could just hang out here and die a slow painful death. You’re not going anywhere, are you?”

She squirmed a bit, noticing it wasn’t helping, then said, “Not right now…”

“And not ever. I will be back. See you then.”

Now she was stuck, and in trouble. Real trouble. She tried to think about how she could get out. Stopping time wouldn’t do anything, and a portal can’t help if she can’t jump into it. She sighed, then noticed that her katana was on the floor. It was sitting on top of some skulls. She had an idea, it wasn’t the best idea, but it was an idea. The blue portal appeared under her katana, and it fell in along with some skulls. Her arms were behind her back, and she could feel the rust scratching her wrists. Her ankles each had a cuff on them, and a chain connecting them. The portal appeared and her katana came down and went into one of opening of one of the links in the chain connecting her ankles. Some skulls fell with her katana and hit her back and head. Bracing herself, she took a deep breath, and moved her upper body back, lifting her arms. Her fingertips barely reached the sheath, and she started to pull it off. She had to shake it a few times, but it finally fell off. Once the sheath fell down, it rolled over a few bones. She lifted her upper body again, trying to aim the lock with the tip of her katana, hoping it was rusty enough to break the cuffs. Straining to stay up, she hit the cuffs against the sharp tip of the katana.

Rust started to fall in her hair. She found a small opening in the handcuffs, and tried to wedge the blade in it. There were cracking noises, she wasn’t sure if it was the cuffs or her blade about to crack. Pressure was taken off her right wrist; and a semi-circle piece of rusted over metal fell in the bones. Instantly her arms fell over her head, and dangled on either side, relaxed. She stayed still, hanging from her ankles for a few minutes. Then, taking a deep breath, she pulled her upper body up again, and reached for her katana. She touched the blade, and pulled it up, then tipped it over so she could reach the hilt with her other hand. Her abdomen burned, as she forced herself to stay up and aim the katana with the small opening in the cuffs of her ankles. She forced the tip in, but then let her upper body fall back, abs screaming. Taking a deep breath, she swung herself a bit, then got her body back in the position it was in.

Carefully, she aimed the blade, and forced it in again, this time she kept pushing up. She could see the opening slowly getting larger. Then she heard a small crack, and pushed harder. There was a louder crack, and one ankle was loose. Immediately, she started to push the blade into the other ankle cuff. As it started to turn into a struggle for her to keep her body up, her breathing got heavy. Finally, it broke, and in that instant, she fell. Since she was heavier than the skulls and her sheath, when she fell, some bones made a loud breaking noise. She froze with fear as the sound echoed throughout the room she was in. She waited a few minutes, then made a portal, and jumped in it, relieved she was out of the sewer.