Winston and Rafi jumped into two separate compartments and were soon lifted upwards. Adrian jumped from compartment to compartment, remaining near the top as the wheel spun.

Rafi readied a knife as he made his way upwards around the bend.

"HEADS UP ASSISTANT-BITCH!" Caleb shouted.

Rafi turned just as Caleb was swinging on a pole straight at him. Caleb's gigantic clown shoes collided with Rafi's face and sent him tumbling backwards. He slid down the back of the compartment and landed with a thud in the one below him.

Caleb swung around with glee on the inside workings of the ferris wheel. "Did you see, brother!! Are you proud of me?!?" he yelled up to Adrian.

Adrian looked down at Caleb, smiling and nodding with approval.

As Caleb let go of one poll and grabbed onto the next, he realized this poll was a bit more wet than the rest.

"That's no poll!" Rafi shouted downwards.

Caleb craned his neck upwards and realized he was hanging onto Rafi's massive erect penis. Caleb screamed out and dangled helplessly. Rafi laughed and willed his penis to go limp, lowering Caleb down more and more.

Adrian looked down in horror. Caleb looked back up at him, a single tear wiping away his clown makeup and revealing a sliver of his hideous burns once more. The tear fell from his face and made the long journey to the flames below.

Caleb soon followed. His hands slipped and he went into a free fall.

"HA HA HA!! HAHA-HA-HA!!" Caleb laughed on his way down.

His body crashed against the inner workings of the ferris wheel before landing in the scorching flames below. His broken body burned, but his smile was wider than ever.

Up above, Adrian looked down in horror as the flames overtook his dead brother. He wiped his eyes and stood to his feet in the compartment.

As he turned around, he was stomach-to-face with Winston.

The little man revealed a hidden knife from up his sleeve, slid it into his hand, and dug it into Adrian's gut. Adrian gasped, shocked that Winston got the drop on him.

Winston twisted the knife and slid it sideways, cutting deeper through Adrian's stomach before pulling the knife outwards. Adrian stumbled back and toppled over the railing of the compartment.

Winston leaned forward and grabbed Adrian's hand before he could fall completely. Adrian dangled helplessly as Winston showed off an impressive feat of strength and held him in place.

Adrian took one last look over the vast grounds of Cirque de Joie. It was in ruin, as it had been once before. The Big Top. The Tarot Tent. The concession stands, the rides, the games, the sleeping tents. All were reduced to ash.

"Spare me..." Adrian pleaded. "Spare me and together we'll create the greatest act of all. There's no need for Rafi. No great magician needs an assistant!"

Winston removed one hand and was now holding Adrian with just one. He calmly leaned forward and pulled Adrian's top hat off of his head.

Winston dug inside the hat and reached around, biting his tongue as he searched for something. Adrian looked up at him curiously.

That's when Winston pulled out a white rabbit. Adrian looked puzzled. "How...how did you do that?" he asked.

"Well my friend..." Winston began. "A magician never reveals his secrets."

With that, Winston threw the live rabbit at Adrian's face. Adrian's hand slipped out of Winston's and he toppled down below. The music exploded into its climax as Adrian's body vanished into the smoke and flames below.

"Abracadabra." Winston said as he placed Adrian's top hat onto his own head.

Rafi and Winston stepped off of the ferris wheel and dodged flames on their way out. As they approached the gate, they turned back in time to see the massive ferris wheel come crashing down to the ground. The earth shook beneath their feet as it slammed into the ground.

"How about we get the fuck out of here....partner?" Winston said with a wink.

Rafi stroked his dick and patted Winston on the back. "Let's go get some ass!"

Winston waved his hand over the padlock on the gate, unlocking it and dropping the chains below. The two stepped through the gate and slammed it shut.

A small clown car awaited them on the outside. Despite hardly being large enough for Winston, they fit inside the car with incredible easy.

As they drove away from the massacre and left Cirque de Joie to burn behind them, Winston laid down on the clown car's horn twice.

HONK HONK!

On the far side of Balls of Steele, murder would soon strike again.

One man was restless. Truth be told, he hadn't gotten much of any sleep at all since they arrived in Black Creek. While the rest appeared to be sleeping, the man quietly tip toed to the Balls of Steele storage closet.

The man entered the pitch black room and shut the door behind him. He brushed his hand around the wall and flicked the light switch upwards. The light illuminated his face.

It was Paddy.

In front of Paddy was his masterpiece. Earlier, he had torn the Black Creek map straight out of one of the directory stands. He had pinned the map up onto the wall, but that wasn't all.

There were pages and pages of notes, photos of the shoppers, yarn stretched out from store to store, pins, theories, clues, etc. All four walls in the storage wall were completely covered. Paddy had come here each night that he wasn't locked in the Security Room in order to put together his wild theories.

Paddy uncorked a bottle of his Arthur's and took a swig. He set the bottle down and took a step forward towards his masterpiece.

"Begorrah, I'll catch ye yet poisoner. Soon enough, friend. Soon enough."

Paddy reached backwards for his bottle, but it wasn't where he had left it. He turned around curiously and was met with the bottle cracking across his face.

------------------------------

Paddy whistled as he diligently ran a rag across a Guinness glass. The door to Paddy's Pub swung open and a handful of Irish blokes stepped inside.

Paddy threw the rag over his shoulder and set the glass aside.

"Aye! What will it be fellas?" he asked the group.

"Four pints of ye Arthur's!" someone shouted.

Paddy smiled to himself as he went into the back storage room. Business was going well recently. Almost too well, as Paddy just noticed they were out of Arthur's.

"Begorrah!" he gasped out. That's when he saw a wooden crate on the top shelf. He set it down and pried it open. Sure enough, there were some older bottles left over. "Heaven's bless!" he shouted.

Paddy came out and poured four pints for the group. "Enjoy lads!"

Throughout the afternoon, the four friends ordered more and more of Paddy's old Arthur's. Paddy happily served them.

Sometime later, while Paddy was cleaning the back room, the sound of a few glasses shattering alerted him.

Paddy ran out to the bar and saw two of the friends passed out on the floor.

"AYE! THESE BLOKES ARN'T JUST A WEE BIT DRUNK, LOOK!" one friend shouted. He was pointing down at the foam seeping from their mouths.

"Bollocks!" the other shouted. "What did you give us, Paddy! These lads have alcohol poisoning!"

Paddy jumped to action. He hoped over the bar and saw the two young men passed out on the floor, each with a friend kneeling beside them. "Ye've gotta help us Paddy!" yelled one. "Over here Paddy! Please!" yelled the other.

Paddy stood between the two unconscious customers. Their bodies began to shake and their condition quickly worsened.

Paddy stood still, completely frozen in place. The calls for help began to drown out as Paddy wiped the sweat from his brow and beard. The screams turned to nothing but a hum and his vision began to blur. He was having some sort of panic attack.

"HERE PADDY!"

"PADDY OVER HERE, PLEASE!"



"AHH!" Paddy screamed as he shot up from his bed. It was all a dream. Paddy was sweating bullets and looked ill. He wiped his forehead and propped himself against the bed's backboard.

He reached into his drawer and took a swig of his emergency whisky.

"Aye..it was but a dream, Paddy." he said softly to himself as he laid his head back down. "It was but a dream."


------------------------------

The glass bottle shattered as alcohol and blood poured from the side of Paddy's head. He fell onto the ground while shards of glass rained down on top of him.

Paddy held the side of his head in pain. His ear was cut and his hearing was shot. All he could hear was ringing in his ears.

Alcohol and blood filled Paddy's eyes as he took a few swings around the room, hoping to make contact with his attacker.

"WHERE ARE YOU YE COWARD!" Paddy yelled weakly. He swung a few more times before he was shoved backwards.

Paddy fell against his table of maps and notes. His attacker pressed him against the table and held the broken bottle against Paddy's throat.

"Aye, I always knew me' Arthur's would be the death of me, but not this way!" Paddy exclaimed.

With that, the attacker drove the broken bottle deep into the front of Paddy's neck. Paddy gurgled as his throat was torn open. The attacker pulled the bottle back and made one more plunge.

Paddy fell backwards as his throat poured out blood, alcohol, and shards of glass. He laid on his directory map of the Black Creek Mall while blood pooled beneath him and covered his notes. He reached into his jacket pocket, removed his emergency flask of whisky, and weakly held it to his lips.

Paddy managed one final sip before his hand fell to his side and dropped the flask. He was dead.