Disclaimer: If you recognize it, it ain't mine.

---

“Hey there foxy lady,” Taylor said as she bumped hips with Kyra and handed her a glass of champagne.

“Hey Tay, glad to see you’re enjoying yourself.”

Taylor snorted into her Martini glass giggling. “Of course I’m having fun. Free food, rubbing elbows with all the ‘beautiful people’, free food, decent music, free food, my asshat of a boyfriend doing his best not to crush my toes as we dance, and…”

“Free food,” Kyra finished for her.

The two of them shared a laugh, and Taylor took a closer look at her friend.

“Well we know I’m enjoying myself, but what about you girlfriend? The party isn’t out here on the balcony. What are you doing out here all by yourself?”

Kyra shrugged. “Just needed some fresh air. Nick is in there ‘networking’ so I came out here to escape the business talk.”

“Uh huh, so what else is bothering you?”

Kyra stared blankly at her friend. “What are you talking about, Tay?”

“We’ve been best friends since college. I know you’ve got something else on your mind. Spill it girl.”

She laughed and slowly turned her drink around in her hands. “I was thinking about the dream I had earlier.”

“Yeah, what of it?”

Kyra stared into her glass and tried to count how many bubbles were in it. “It…it was about a person I thought I’d forgotten about.”

“Ooooh,” Taylor cooed, her curiosity piqued. “An old flame?”

“No, nothing like that,” Kyra said with a laugh. “He saved me once – more than once actually – but he left soon after that, and I haven’t seen or heard from him since.”

Taylor picked her toothpick out of her drink and bit off the olive. “So how long’s it been since you seen this guy.”

“A little over 15 years.”

A long, building whistle came out of Taylor’s pursed lips. “That’s a long time alright. I wonder why you started dreaming of him all of a sudden.”

Kyra shrugged her shoulders and wrapped her arms around herself. “I wish I knew.”

“There you two are,” a husky voice sounded from the doorway. The two girls turned around to see their boyfriends staring at them. Nick had his hands folded across his chest and Austin had his hands tucked into his pockets.

“I’m surprised you noticed I was missing at all, you had your lips planted so firmly on the director’s ass,” Kyra said with a smirk on her face.

Nick playfully grasped at his heart and took a step back. “Ouch! You wound me Kyra,” he said as he headed towards her.

“Truth hurts, baby.”

“Aww, come on. You know it’s all part of the job,” he said as he wrapped his arms around her.

“I know, Nick. I was only teasing,” she said taking his hand in hers.

“Ugh,” groaned the heretofore silent Austin. “Would you two cut it out already?”

Kyra giggled and buried her face into Nick’s shirt; breathing in his familiar scent and trying to drive all thoughts of the nightmare away.

Taylor playfully slapped her boyfriend on the arm. “Leave them alone. You know Austin, it wouldn’t kill you to take some pointers from your friend over there?”

“What? Do you want me to start fawning all over Kyra, too? ‘Cause if you really want me to baby, I will,” he said with a wink.

“Don’t even think about it,” Nick called out. “She’s already spoken for. So,” he said to Kyra again, “are you liking the party?”

“It’s great,” she said nodding her head. “Who do we thank for the Carnival theme?”

The two men laughed. “I think that would be Bob from accounting,” Nick said.

“Well I like it,” Taylor piped up.

“Of course you do. You freak,” Austin said in a playful undertone, earning him another slap from Taylor.

“Speaking of freaks,” she said tugging on his arm, “let’s go check out the sideshow. I’ve been dying to get in all night but the line has been so long.”

Kyra looked up at Nick. “Shall we?”

“Eh, might as well go and get this over with. With any luck Taylor will see some long lost relatives and they’ll take her back.”

---

To be perfectly honest, Kyra didn’t want to go and look at the people in the sideshow for one simple reason. They. Were. People. They didn’t deserve to be paraded around and gawked at because they were different. The whole thing made her skin crawl, but Taylor wanted to see it and she didn’t want to make a scene in front of Nick and his co-workers. So she hesitantly followed them into the tent-like enclosure towards the end of the ballroom.

She did her best to avoid looking at sideshow players as she and her group walked past them. Taylor ‘oohed’ and ‘ahhed’ as she giggled with Austin. Nick would occasionally make a comment to her, and Kyra would nod or just make a noncommittal ‘uh huh’.

The feeling of unease only grew as they moved on. They’d passed the bearded lady, the strong man, the human pin cushion, and the lizard man, and Kyra found herself wondering if these people actually signed on for this kind of work, or if it was forced on them.

She felt dirty and she didn’t like it. She kept telling herself that once they got to the end of the enclosure everything would be better. But the closer she got to the exit, the more her stomach churned and her skin broke out into goose bumps.

Finally they were at the last exhibit.

“The Wildman,” Taylor read the sign in hushed wonder.

The four of them made their way over to the cage that housed him, and Kyra had to fight down the urge to retch.

What she saw appalled and horrified her. In the corner of the cage was a man hunched over, wearing filthy rag for clothes and his hair was so long and matted it completely shielded his face. There were scars and scabs all along his arms and his knuckles were torn and bloody.

“Hi there wild man,” Taylor said coaxingly.

“Tay,” Kyra tried to warn her as the man growled.

“It’s okay, Kyra. This whole thing is just an act. You should know that,” Taylor replied turning back to the caged man.

“Hey there Wildman,” she continued. “How long you been with this setup?”

He growled again and sank down lower onto his haunches.

“Taylor, I don’t think that’s such a good idea,” Kyra tried again. Taylor ignored her.

“What’s the matter Wildman? Don’t you feel like playing?” she leaned in closer as she tried to coax him out of his corner.

This time there was no growl. Just a stillness that had all of Kyra’s senses on high alert.

“Come on Tay,” she said stepping forward to pull her friend back. “Let’s just -” was all she got out before the Wildman lunged forward and snaked a hand through the bars and latched into her hair.

Kyra heard Taylor scream and the two men yell, one for help, and the other at the Wildman. But Kyra wasn’t paying attention to any of them. Her captor had pulled her flush against the bars and his now upright body, and she could feel the rage and power rolling off of him. The contrast between the coldness of the metal bars and the heat from his body sent chills down her spine.

The Wildman still had one hand firmly entangled in her hair that kept her from moving, but his other hand was currently on her throat, chocking the life out of her.

She struggled and scratched at his hands, and then suddenly froze. His matted hair had moved just long enough for her to get a glimpse of cloudy mercurial eyes before everything went black.

---

A/N: Sorry it's taking so long between updates guys. My life has decided to get even crazier, which I didn't think was possible. I'm just not sure what I did to piss Loki off. Anyhoo, I'm working on the next chaps for "Hurt" and "Nothing to Lose". I haven't forgotten about NtL, just having a hard time with that story right now. C'est la vie.

As always people, if you're a readin', please be reviewin'.

Till next time my pretties.

Much love,

FemmePhantom