Instantly, my mind went blank. I don't normally react very well to dangerous situations (obviously...) and I don't normally think about what I'd do if I found myself having a staring contest with a gun (the gun was winning) that was being pointed at my head by some deranged clown with a big red nose that slightly resembled a terrifying version of Lou Jacobs, y'know.

That added to the fact that I found out Romeo Barsille ordered the murder of my parents was not a good combination. I didn't know what I hated more, their costumes or how some of the biggest criminals in the world looked like they were about to cry. I mean, Nick and Micheal were the most dangerous men that I knew and look at the little snafu we were in.

I reached out and squeezed the red nose of the clown that held the gun to my head.

Let me repeat that: The clown who had a gun pointed at my head. And out of all the things I could have done (kicking the colourful balls between his legs, grabbing the gun, running away...all the other things that might save my sorry butt) a part of my brain decided it was perfectly okay to squeeze the clown's nose.

Damn you, brain.

The clown whose nose I squeezed gave me a dirty look. "What the fuck?" He exclaimed in a deep, baritone voice. The accent was slightly Italian.

I cringed, absolutely hating myself. Oh yeah, just squeeze the nose. That'll get you killed sooner, November. Micheal gave me a wild look of disbelief. Man, I just couldn't seem to figure out what was okay to do and what was not in these types of situation.

You know, the situation where eight scary clowns with guns had my friends and me captured and ready for execution. It took me a moment to figure out that the clowns probably worked for Romeo Barsille and the fairgrounds were abandoned because they ushered everyone out so there would be no witnesses.

A clown stepped forward. He had a rainbow-coloured wig and comical eyebrows that were drawn downwards to gave a terrifying effect. A black assault rifle rested on his shoulder. He looked me up and down, making me cringe with disgust. Where the hell was Cage Vickers when you needed him most?

"Get her with the others." He spoke quietly, using a voice changer that resounded loudly throughout the cold air. Micheal and Nick, watching me from their seated position, both gave me a warning glance to do as I was told. If they weren't going to resist, then I sure as hell was. I was never one to follow authority, anyways.

A hand grabbed my wrist and twisted it painfully to my back. I panicked and tried to fumble out of the grip, only stopping when the cool circular end of the barrel pressed into my neck. "Excuse me." I gasped as the clown began to drag me over to Micheal and Nick. "I need to pee. Can you take me to the bathroom- ouch! That was unnecessary!" I yelled when one of the clowns shoved me down to my knees.

I tried to stand back up, picking up a struggle that made Micheal panic. "November, what are you doing?" He hissed angrily. "Just do what they say, stop fighting back-"

"She's one feisty bitch!" A clown with purple hair roared. He had dirty yellow teeth that I couldn't tell was fake or not and waved his gun around in a threatening manner. Nick winced when it accidentally connected with the side of his head. He was already bleeding from the nose and it dripped down to his jacket. Didn't Micheal and Nick have guns?

Rainbow Clown came over and grabbed my chin roughly with his gloved hand. "Ahh...you're November Jones." His breath smelled like cigarettes. He leaned down closer and I struggled to move away, only to be shoved back by one of his friends. "Cage's little bitch."

I spit in his face and no, it was no accident.

Whatever retaliations I thought was needed, it only made the situation worse. Not only did the clown get angry, but he got violent. Micheal cursed as a hand came down hard on the side of my face. Instantly, the metallic taste of blood filled my mouth as pain blossomed up with blinding agony. The rest of the men either chuckled or smirked. Nick fought against his binds, only to receive another punch to his broken jaw.

Being held hostage by a group of crazy killer clowns was one thing. Being held hostage by a crazy group of killer clowns who worked for Romeo Barsille was another.

The sharp bite of a plastic cable tie on my wrist made me jump. I could do nothing except struggle furtively for only a second until another sharp slap died down the desire to fight in my stomach. The clown who was tying the cable wire leaned down, closer than was necessary, and I felt his potent breath slide down my neck.

"Here is what's going to happen." The clown with the rainbow wig, apparently the leader of this little shenanigan, slung his rifle over his shoulder and glared at the three of us. I could hear Micheal cursing under his breath. We were all on our knees, three feet apart with at least two guns pointed at the heads of Micheal, Nick, and I. Cage was still nowhere to be seen.

I skimmed around to look for an escape route. There was none. I could see one of the gate doors heavily locked with chains. The entire carnival was empty. Finding nothing at the moment, I turned back to the clown.

"We have a little job to carry out tonight but that doesn't mean we can't make it fun!" He hollered into the dark silence. Calming down, the clown caught my eye and smirked. Disgusted, I turned my head away and glanced at Micheal. He had his head down and stared at the ground, but I could see the little silver glint of a pocketknife as he fought to get loose of the cable tie. Since there was no one guarding behind him, it was the only flare of hope I got.

"We still have one last guest to arrive." He said with comical sadness, pulling his painted red lips down into a frown like he was upset Cage wasn't here. "The famous mobster. The notorious criminal. The master of manipulation....our guest of honour is running a bit late, isn't he...princess?" All eyes travelled to me as the clown stalked towards. He grabbed my chin again, forcing me to look into dark brown eyes.

"Don't worry." He breathed. "I won't hurt your precious boyfriend. But I will make him watch as I kill you...." The clown glanced at Micheal. "You..." He glanced at Nick this time, who smirked and gave him the bird, and then finally at me. "And then his little princess, November Jones. How's your sister doing, by the way? Man, pregnancies are a bitch to recover from."

"Can't we just kill them and find Cage already?" A male voice from somewhere complained. "Romeo asked us to send a message. Killing these fuckers seems like a pretty damn good message to me."

The clown leader turned and gave the one who spoke a stinging glare. "Why don't you keep your mouth shut Benny, unless you'd like to join our little guests over here?" He yanked my head back by grabbing a fistful of my hair. I resisted the urge to scream and bite his gloved fingers, which was right near my mouth.

"Yes, sir." The man replied, with a bit of mockery in his tone.

"I really do need to pee." I repeated, much to the frustration of both Micheal and Nick. Everyone stared at me. The barrel of the gun pressed into my neck again, a warning that I took no caution of. At this point, I was beyond caring anymore. Anything related to Romeo Barsille was dead to me.

Someone grabbed my shoulder roughly. Micheal grunted under his breath, staring at the man who was behind me. The look on his face was hopeful, which I didn't understand. He met my confused eyes and grunted again. I still didn't understand. The hand on my shoulder increased. When the rainbow-haired clown turned back to talk to his buddies, Micheal whispered something under his breath.

I couldn't make out the word over the sudden laughter of the clowns.

"What?" I mouthed back.

Micheal glanced at the group of clowns and leaned over, his eyes going back and forth from me to the man standing behind me whose hand was on my shoulder. With a careful soft whisper, I finally caught the word Micheal was trying to say. "Heath." Micheal repeated, jerking his head back to the man.

My eyes widened. The clown standing behind me was Heath. How clever. The hand was replaced with cold air when Heath moved his hand as the clowns turned their attention back to us, their discussion soon put into action. Heath couldn't do anything without attracting attention. I glanced behind me and saw the pink-haired clown, the facial features faintly resembling Heath. It was hard to tell under the makeup and all, but damn that was a smart move.

However, with the unknown presence of Heath among us, the danger was far from passing.

"Cage Vickers!" Rainbow Clown suddenly boomed out into the deafening silence. He walked around as his friends took back their positions of guns to heads, dragging his feet and enjoying his merry little self. Eyes searched around for any hint of Cage, mine included. For all I knew, he was still in the House of Mirrors, which was right beside us. "Come out, come out wherever you are! Or your little princess will end up six feet deep in dirt...if we care enough to dig a grave."

Silence. No sign of Cage.

"I need a tampon." I called.

Micheal made a funny noise in his throat.

Everyone stared at me. "She needs a what?" Someone whispered in the hushed silence filled with both disbelief and anger.

"If you don't keep your mouth shut-" Rainbow Clown growled. "-I'll shoot you in the leg so you won't die instantly. You'll sit your pretty self down and bleed out. And then maybe I'll kill you."

"But-"

"November, shut up!" Nick whispered.

I fell silent as Rainbow Clown paced up and down. "Come on, Cage!" He shouted again. The impatient tone in his voice made me nervous. If Cage didn't show up soon, it was going to end badly for Micheal, Nick, and I. "There's a friend who wants to see you. I'll give you a hint...his name begins with R and he's getting very angry-"

I struggled against the cable tie, my anger flaring back up at the mention of Romeo. If I couldn't hurt him, I could at least hurt some of his little buddies. The hand returned on my shoulder, pressing down in a warning as some of the clowns looked over at me, sneering. Leaves rustled around the empty lot.

Nick was staring at Heath, who was still standing behind me. A look of disbelief crossed his features as they communicated silently. A moment later, Nick cast me a look of desperation. Suddenly, he jumped up to his feet, effectively kicking the shins of the clown guarding him to momentarily dismantle their reign of power.

"Shit!"

With his hands tied behind him, Nick couldn't fight back very well. With the distraction he provided, no one was guarding Micheal and I. Glancing over, I watched as Micheal pried the gun out from his jacket hid it behind his back. Suddenly, I felt something press down on the cable tie on my wrists. A moment later, it loosened greatly.

Heath had cut the cable tie. I was free. I could feel his breath on the side of my head. "Don't move until Cage comes out." Heath murmured softly. He quickly straightened up as the Rainbow Clown turned to us. Micheal was shouting something as the clowns finally wrestled down Nick's retaliation. Heath moved away, inching closer to stand behind Micheal now.

"Enough!" Rainbow Clown shouted. "Mr. Vickers, either you come out here or we come get you!"

We all paused, breaths held. After a moment, nothing. Just the whispering sound of winds traveling through the cold night air. Crickets chirped and owls called forlornly, but there was no sound of the familiar footsteps of Cage. Either he was biding his time somewhere or he was gone. If he was gone, I couldn't blame him.

The target was Cage, not us. We were just collateral damage. Sacrifice our safety for his. He was the king and we were just the pawns. Pawns were easy to take out.

Rainbow Clown smirked. "Wow. He really does not give a damn about you guys, does he?"

Silence. No one had the courage to answer him. Even Micheal's face fell.

"Shame." He walked over and stopped right in front of me. I stared at his big red shoes, my eyes filling with tears that I fought back. Grabbing my chin again, I looked up into the painted face of the clown. He smiled at me, a great big smile with no ounce of remorse or regret. "Time's up, Cage! Come and kiss your little bitch goodbye."

He pointed the gun at my leg. I screamed and criss-crossed my legs so he couldn't find them, and then I realized that he would just shoot me anyways, it didn't matter if it was my leg or not.

That awkward moment when you're about to die.

"November-" Micheal started desperately.

I was sweating, despite the chill in the air. "Wait!" I shouted as the clown pointed the gun to my head this time. "Before you kill me, I'd just like to say something."

Everyone stared at me. I don't know exactly why I was stalling. I was going to die sooner or later. A part of me still hoped that Cage would miraculously show up and that he wasn't heartless enough to abandon his friends and me, even though I knew that plan was pretty uncertain. I cleared my throat. "Leonardo Da Vinci was the first to explain why the sky was blue."

Silence.

I continued after a moment of uncomfortable silence. If I was gonna go, I was gonna go with making at least ten people learn a new fact. "He was like, 'Bro, why is the sky blue? Like...why can't it be pink, bro? Blue is so not cute.' And do you wanna know how I know that?" If anyone was going to answer, I didn't give them time too. "Because I had to do this majorly long presentation on him in seventh grade that was worth, like, fifty percent of my grade and let me just tell you, I did freaking amazing on it-"

"Are you sure this is the right girl?" Annoyed, Rainbow Clown turned to look at another clown with bright green hair. He still had his gun pointed at me. With my hands free, it was oh so tempting to just grab his gun and change the game to my advantage.

"November Jones." Green Hair replied, staring at me. "Yes, I believe it is her."

"Are ya sure?" Rainbow Clown asked again uncertainly.

"Absolutely, sir."

"You know what?" He turned back to me, grinning evilly. "I am getting tired of waiting. It seems as though Cage...what's the word-" A gloved finger trailed down my cheek. Thoroughly disgruntled, I turned my head. "-hmm...shall I say deserted? It seems as though your master has deserted you, November. Such a shame killing you, too."

"Don't touch her!" Micheal shouted angrily. He struggled to stand up but Heath didn't cut his binds yet. After a moment of painful, fruitless fighting, he stopped and calmed down. Casting a hateful stare, Micheal knelt back down on the ground.

"Last chance, Mr. Vickers!" The clown shouted, glancing around. Still nothing. "Come and save your girl or I might just have to feed her to the dogs."

Heath, not caring to blend in anymore, visibly bent down and sliced the cable tie off Micheal's hands. Before anyone could react, he did the same to Nick. In the blink of an eye, they were all freed. After a moment of stunned silence, the clowns realized that we couldn't be helped captive anymore and that's when all hell broke loose. Actually, it was more like the gates of hell were propped open and everything poured out all at once.

Micheal and Nick, forever the quick foxes, had their guns out. Unfortunately, the clowns had guns too and their rifles were bigger than what we had. Heath stepped into action as well, pulling out his own gun. A deafening blast echoed through the night air as one of the clowns suddenly dropped to the ground, a noticeable red spot growing from his chest.

Micheal shoved me roughly out of the way as a pink-haired clown swung wildly, catching him in the jaw. Unfazed, Micheal fought back but only for a moment. There was no use in having a wrestling match when weapons were involved. All at once, everyone panicked and it was one big mess.

I was in shock. To see the core of what the Crows did was astoundingly horrifying. Hearing rumours was one thing. To experience the experience up close and personal, it made my stomach turn somersaults with panic. Of course, I knew what Micheal, Nick, and Heath were capable of. They didn't dominate the crime world by watching Disney movies all day.

I scrambled out of the way as one of the clowns aimed a gun right at me. The bullet smashed into the windows of the House of Mirrors above me. Shots rang through the air, connecting to bodies and flesh followed by a grunt of pain. Even with the skilled fighting of the Crows, the clowns outnumbered us.

Micheal was beating the crap out of a clown with red hair, Nick was shooting left and right, and Heath had disappeared. And me? Oh, I was just standing next to a building, trying to blend in like a chameleon.

To my utmost horror, I saw one of the clowns aim a gun right at Micheal, whose back was turned as he struggled to gain the upper hand. He didn't notice he was about to die. Before I could dash back out and do something, anything to save Micheal, the clown who was about to shoot him suddenly dropped to the cold ground. Micheal, eventually coming out on top, threw a knock out punch to the clown. I thought that was enough to suite his raged self, but I was wrong. Micheal bent down and swiped up a discarded assault rifle. I closed my eyes just in time, hearing the loud bang pierce the night air.

"Let's go." A hand clasped my shoulder. I turned to see Nick, bleeding from the nose. He was weak with pain but managed to stay upright. When Nick began to pull me away from the fighting, I panicked.

"Nick, you can't just leave them behind." I whispered frantically, watching as Heath swiped a swing from one of the clowns.

"Not my fucking problem." Nick growled back. He grabbed my wrist and began to forcefully drag me away. "Cage told me to protect you. And that's what I'm doing-"

I tried to pry his fingers off me but he was too strong and I was too weak. As we got further away from the fighting, the panic in my chest increased. So we were just going to abandon them? Leave them to defend themselves? "Micheal and Heath are still-"

"They can take care of themselves!" Nick hissed angrily. I never saw him like this before, so terrified and furious all at once. Suddenly, he halted as a clown appeared from around the corner, holding a gun. Before the clown could even put his finger on the trigger, Nick raised his own gun and shot him dead less then five feet away from us.

Unable to help myself, I screamed.

Nick clamped his hand over my mouth.

I fought against him. "Micheal and Heath- they're your friends! They're going to die, Nick! Don't you care?"