Collin Bowler was dead.

Lilly saw all of it. Every cut, every stab, every shot, every swing.

Collin Bowler was dead.

And Lilly cried.

She didn't understand why she cried. She didn't even know the kid, but for some reason, she cried.

Sam entered his Dorm Room to see her in tears. Still bloody, still bruised, and now crying. The same Lilly he who had guided his hands to end a man's life. But at that moment, she cried at a black computer screen.

"L-Lilly?"

Then there was a knock on Sam's door.

Sam begrudgingly walked over and opened it. "What?"

Outside the door stood Peggy and a police officer by her side. Peggy had black eyeliner streaks running down her face. She simply mouthed the words, "I'm sorry..." And then turned away from Sam.

"Hello son, we're looking for a miss Lilly Edwards." The officer gave a friendly smile, but Sam knew there was malice intent behind it. There was nothing he could do about that though.

"Who?"

"Your girlfriend, Sam." The officer pushed.

Sam looked over at Peggy angrily. "I see."

In moments, Lilly was by his side. Her tears wiped away and her soul once again hidden from the world. She smiled at the officer.

"Are you Miss Lilly Edwards?"

She nodded.

"Can I ask why you're covered in blood, Miss Edwards?"

"She got hit by a car." Sam butted in.

"What?" Peggy looked over at Lilly, finally. "Oh my gosh, are you ok, Hunny?"

The officer gruffly cleared his throat. "Excuse me, but I asked Miss Edwards."

There was a pause.

"She doesn't talk, officer. She's mute." Sam lied.

The officer looked over to Peggy for conformation. Peggy nodded back at him. The officer didn't seem fully convinced, but he went along with it. "Alright, well. I guess I'll need the three of you to come in for questioning."

"Can I ask why sir?" Sam felt a protectiveness build in himself.

"It's about the knife that Miss Peggy Andrews found on her and Lilly's kitchen sink. It had the blood of multiple missing victims in the area, along with Miss Edwards. And yours, Sam."

Lilly didn't clean the knife. I know that might sound odd, but she didn't think so. To her, the knife represented her true self. She kept the DNA of each of her victims on it as a sort of trophy. The more it collected, the more alive it became. The more she felt alive. The more she felt real.

"In any case, it's just best if we clear this up now then later." The officer held his arm out. "I'd rather not put you in handcuffs if I don't have to." The officer smiled genuinely at that time.

Lilly held a finger out to him to tell him to hold on and walked over to Sam's computer. She pulled a flash drive from its face and pocketed it.

"Miss Edwards, I'm gonna have to ask you to show me what that is." The officer put his hand on his gun.

She pulled the flash drive out and showed it to him.

"Is that all?" The officer asked.

She nodded.

"Can I have it please?"

"Not yet." She responded.

"Lilly..." Peggy spoke shocked. "You can talk?"

---

"Miss Edwards, why was your DNA on the hunting knife." The officer spoke from the other side of the interrogation table. "You have to admit, that's highly incriminating."

Lilly set the flash drive on the table.

"This is where the flash drive comes in then."

She nodded.

"Is there an alibi on there or what?"

---

"Sir, Someone screen recorded our last episode."

Alonzo turned off the sink faucet and looked back at the white-masked man. "What?"

"We just got the ping, sir. Our apologies."

"Who was it..?" His voice went scary.

"It was Guest6347 sir."

"Son of a bitch... you're kidding."

"Not at all sir."

---

The officer plugged the flash drive into a little white laptop with a crack in it. He looked skeptical. "This better be good, Miss Edwards."

Lilly smiled.

---

"What are we going to do, Alonzo?"

"Do you have someone tracking their IP address?"

"Yes sir."

"Then we go hunting."

"Yes sir."

---

The officer looked on in horror as the torture porn in front of his eyes was seared into his brain. "Holy... shit... Holy shit..."

"We happened upon his website officer... He's been tracking us down since... I've been so scared. When Peggy found that knife in our own dorm room... I just didn't know what to do... He had are DNA on the knife... He was watching us sleep!" Crocodile tears ran down Lilly's face. "He killed that little boy... He's so sick... And he's going to kill me and Sam... I don't wanna die officer..."

It was bullshit. But Lilly knew what she was doing.

"Holy shit... Lilly, that's terrible." And that was the win. He was hooked. Now it was time to reel in the catch.

"I don't know what to do..." She 'sobbed.' "He's going to kill me. I don't wanna die!"

---

Alonzo adjusted his hat on his head and fixed his makeup just slightly. Just enough so that the smile was perfect. He smiled to himself. "Welcome to the Circus, ladies and gentlemen." Then he laughed to himself. He was filled with excitement. He was about to kill someone he had a personal relationship with. The thought tickled him.

"The Collin boy has been prepared for you sir. And your date is here." A voice said through his dressing room door.

"Perfect!" Alonzo responded. "Tell them I will be there shortly."

"Yes sir. Oh, also, we've tracked down the screen recording to a computer in Columbus Ohio."

"Ah, Columbus. I love Columbus! They have one of the biggest sex trafficking rings in the world. Maybe we're dealing with one of them." Alonzo put on a special bowtie that he had been saving for just this day. "Alright Francis. I'm ready."

A masked figure opened the dressing room door. "That's wonderful sir."

"Is our guest comfortable?" Alonzo said as he exited the room.

"As uncomfortable as possible, sir."

"Wonderful Francis. Absolutely wonderful." He faced his friend and sighed. "Any other news for today?"

"Goldie Locks sends his best regards to tonight's episode. He will be unavailable for the viewing because he has a bidding war on some new specimen tonight."

"Bidding war this weekend, the dice game last weekend. He's always busy. I need some new friends." Alonzo smirked. "Like you, Francis."

"Thank you sir." Francis nodded at Alonzo and Alonzo nodded back. With that, the convo was over, and Alonzo was on his way. He walked through one dark hallway after another until he came into a large grey room with a dining table in the middle of it. The dining table was made of dark cherry wood with a smooth varnish put over top. Little designs of playing cards lined the edges of the table, with a painting of a white rabbit coming out of a purple top hat on the center of the table. Alonzo adjusted his jacket and sat comfortably at the head of the table. After a moment, a masked figure brought out a large platter holding something under its lid. It was sat in front of Alonzo. Then a platter was brought to the foot of the table where Alonzo's guest sat. At the same time, both tops were pulled off revealing a crispy sauteed poor little Collin Bowler who had been prepared just to Alonzo's liking. His guest screeched at the sight of the little boy's edible corpse and tried to scoot his chair backward to no avail.

"What's wrong dad? Are you a vegetarian?" Alonzo laughed. "You always seemed to love to eat my world right up. Why not another boy?"

Jeffry Stallis nearly threw up. "There's somethin' wrong with you, Carlos... You've gone loony."

"They say the faults of the children are the faults of the parents." Alonzo plunged his fork into the boy's face and tore out a fried eyeball. When the eye made contacts with his teeth, it gushed its juices into his mouth. Alonzo let out a joyful moan. "Carly, you've done it again. This is incredible."

"What the hell is this, Carlos?" Jeffry couldn't even look at his son. He faced the floor holding back the contents of his stomach. "You're running some cult down here. It's sickening!"

"My name is Alonzo, dad. And I thought you'd be proud of me. I'm a businessman now. I'm responsible for a whole company of people. Individuals all over the world. India, China, America, Russia. It doesn't end. The Circus of Horror is a worldwide lifestyle. And I'm right here... right in the center! Isn't that cool?!" Alonzo stood up. "I'm a god down here."

"You're no god, Carlos... You're disgusting." Jeffry tried to scoot back further, but accidentally tipped his chair to the floor. "Shit!"

Alonzo ran up to him quickly. "Oh, dad. You don't understand! I know I'm a monster! I never thought differently. I know exactly what I am. But you see... That's the difference between me and you... I'm honest about who I am. And I'm proud of it."

"How could you be proud of this... How could you think any of this is good!" Jeffry Screamed.

Alonzo bent down to his level and looked into his eyes. "It's art, dad. I make art." He leaned in close to his father who tried to back up but could not. His body was completely stuck to the chair. Alonzo wrapped his mouth around his nose and bit down hard. He chewed harder and harder until the nose cartilage completely broke from Jeffry's screaming face. He heard it crack and felt the blood fill his mouth. Once the nose was ripped from his Jeffery's face, he chewed it, and stared directly into his father's eyes. Jeffry heard every crack and pop as the cartilage was broken up in Alonzo's Mouth. After what felt like too long. Alonzo swallowed the nose and smiled at his father. "Now, how do you interpret that?" He chuckled.

"Who... are... you?" Jeffrey whimpered.

"It's me, Daddy. You're a little boy." Alonzo stood up. "Dinner has been fun, dad. But it's on to the after-dinner activities, now." He called to nobody as if he was heard no matter what. "Have him tied to the pole in fifteen minutes please and thank you."

In seconds Masked figures surrounded Jeffrey. Alonzo didn't even look back. And Jeffrey screamed.

---

"Sam, who did you kill?" Was the first thing the officer said when Sam stepped into the room. He wasn't the officer he met at his dorm room, though. Sam didn't recognize this one at all. She was a brunette woman with a pretty face. She was a bit chubbier, but that didn't take much away from her looks.

"I killed my stepfather," Sam replied immediately as he sat down.

"That we know, Sam. I'm more talking about who you've killed recently." She picked up a manila folder and shuffled through the paperwork with it. "DNA on the knife, blood from missing victims from all over Ohio. That's not a coincidence and honestly, it's not that good for you. That's a lot. Why shouldn't I believe you killed those missing people?"

"Because I didn't." Sam shrugged. "I have no reason too."

"Sam, you've killed before, who's to say you wouldn't kill again?" She folded her arms.

"Because that was self-defense and also extremely traumatizing so please. Until you have official proof, don't shove that in my face over and over." Sam's fingers tapped on the table rhythmically.

"We do have proof. The knife. You're guilty."

Just as Sam was about to respond, a familiar face burst into the door. "Where is he?" It was him... Sam hadn't seen him in years that he almost didn't recognize him. His beard had grown longer and his stomach had gotten wider. He was older... It felt strange at first. Sam wasn't sure if that was a bad kind of strange or not, but it was strange. There standing right in front of him, was the man who saved his life. 6 years later.

---

"She's dead..." Sam held his mother close to him. Her body felt heavy in his arms. It felt wrong. It felt fake. He felt tears fall down his face, but the reason for them didn't connect. But they fell anyway.

"We could bury her in the back yard." As Sam cried, his stepfather walked back and forth, pacing the kitchen. Thinking. How could he get out of this one? It couldn't be that hard to make this all disappear. It was easy. He paused, his thought interrupted by his stepsons annoying sobbing. "What are you crying about, she was just a slut anyway!"

Sam had had enough of his shit. He jumped up and attacked the creature. "SHUT UP!" The two of them tussled back and forth, slamming into kitchen utensils and knicking over bowls and plates that shattered as they hit the ground. Sam's monster slammed his head into the kitchen counter and picked up a dirty filleting fork that was in his reach. He slammed it down into Sam's eye. Then he threw him to the floor. "DON'T MAKE ME BURY YOU TOO!"

That was all Sam remembered clearly. The next few seconds didn't make much sense. He remembered hearing his own voice, but he didn't recognize it. He sounded like he was imitating a scary monster from something. It disturbed him... He didn't know who or where he was. Then he remembered the baseball bat. He swung it down on his father, over and over and over and over and over again. Until his face was just a puddle. He remembered the feeling of the blood from his eye trickling from his eye, down his face. And then he remembered falling to his knees in the front yard. And then...

---

"My name is Allon Fando. I am here to figure out what's going on with this boy." Allon sat down next to Sam and put his arm, gently on his back. "You ok, kid?" He whispered.

"Yeah, I-"

"I'm sorry sir, but you can't just barge into an interrogation like this." The officer argued.

Allon threw his FBI detective badge down on the table. "Why don't you scram before I get you fired?"

"What the hell is this?! I'm not running some sort of funhouse here Mr. Fando! Barging into an officers interrogation for personal reasons is disgusting to say the least."

"Well... I guess, welcome to the funhouse. This is how shits going down." Allon shrugged. "Screw off."

She shook her head and exited the room, slamming the door, hard, behind her.

"I'll admit that I do feel bad about that." Allon leaned over and hugged Sam, tight in his arms. "Hey kiddo, tell me what's goin' on here? Did you do it?"

Sam shook his head. "I didn't kill any of those missing people and the knife is not mine."

"A MURDER CASE, SAM! What the hell did you get yourself into right now? Ok, well..." Allon ran his hand through his beard. "Do you know who did do it?"

There was a long pause. Lying to everyone else was easy... But Sam owed Allon his life. He couldn't lie to him. He had too... No, Lilly. He couldn't do that to Lilly. Sam sighed.

---

That was the next memory. A car, and then after a moment, a hug. Allon Fando found Sam in the front of his house, eye bleeding, clothes dirty and ripped, blood-splattered. Allon was pretty sure he knew exactly what was going on, so he hugged Sam. He held him close. He gave him the affection he knew that Sam lacked so badly.

You see, Allon had been hunting Sam down for months. Back then, he was a simple PI. But Sam was his own personal case. It started with a few noise complaints from neighbors. Complaints of yelling. Complaints of violence. It was a bad situation. And when Allon went to check it out, he saw it first hand. The home was unkempt. Furniture and trash littered the home like a junkyard. It wasn't a safe environment for anyone. And that was when he saw Sam. At the top of the stairs. Bruised and beaten. At that moment, he knew he had to do everything he could to get him out of there. He broke laws and cut corners until he had enough evidence to get Sam's Step Dad locked up for a long time... But when he arrived, it was too late. Everything had already went south.

Sam's mother had been beaten to death by the monster's fist. He had met a similar fate from Sam's bat. Sam had escaped... To a world that didn't want him. But Allon wanted him. So he took him in... Or, he would have.

Saving Sam had gotten him promoted to an actual officer of the law. From there, he just kept going up. But eventually, Sam was left behind.

---

When Allon heard that he was taken into custody, he hopped on a plane and was there that same day. He couldn't make up for lost time, but he could be here now.

"Yes..." Sam finally responded.

"Well, who is it?"

The door burst open and on the other side was a very angry officer and another who looked a little blank.

"There he is! This prick thinks he can just interrupt my interrogation like that and everything's just gonna be fine. That's bullshit!"

"It's fine Dina. It seems the situation might be a little more complicated than we thought." The male officer sighed. "You're free to go, Sam. And just so you are aware. We've got your back. If you need any help. We'll be there immediately. This Alonzo fellow is not gonna hurt you anymore."

"Thank you so much Officer. We've been so worried." Sam lied. He had no idea what the officer meant by that, but he trusted Lilly.

"What's this Alonzo thing?" The officer, apparently named Dina turned to the other officer.

"I will show you the video in a bit... But you might regret asking."

"I'll take the kids back to school for you guys." Allon butted in.

"Thank you detective. That would be helpful."

And with that, the situation was over as quickly as it had began. Lilly held Sam's hand all the way home with a big smile on her face. And Peggy didn't say a word. Sam assumed she must have been ashamed of herself for implicating them. Sam wondered if that might change Lilly's opinion of her. Maybe they would get to kill her, too. Sam smiled at the thought and looked out the window to see the trees passing by.

---

Peggy and Lilly didn't communicate for several hours that night. They didn't even look at each other. They both faced the wall.

Lilly was angry. Lilly was more than angry. Peggy was supposed to be her friend and she nearly got her and Sam caught. If it wasn't for Lilly's quick thinking they'd be done. Peggy was a problem now. Peggy needed to go. She had no place in the world any longer. She was a waste of space... And Lilly knew that. So she got up.

Peggy turned to face her. Tears streamed down her face. She hated herself for what she had done.

Good...

"I-I'm so sorry Lilly... I didn't mean for that to happen... I just wanted to make sure I helped the police to the best of my ability... I didn't know that would get you and Sam into trouble... I didn't know..." Peggy sat up from her bed.

"You're a little faggot, aren't you." She was not a homophobe, this is true. But this was Peggy's weakness.

"Lilly... How could you say that..?" Peggy felt the air chill.

"What if Mommy and Daddy knew how much of a little faggot you were? How much you wanted to touch my breasts! How you have wet dreams about your female roommate. How you screwed her when your weakness was too much." Lilly sat down at the end of Peggy's bed.

Peggy was speechless.

"What if they knew..? You're a whore. A disgusting pig. You should get raped from both ends. That's what a whore deserves."

"Lilly... I thought we were... friends..? Why are you saying these mean things to me? We're best friends... right?" Peggy had tears running down her face. "I held you in my arms when you had that episode. I... I love you and Sam... you guys are my friends."

"I could never be a friend to a faggot whore." Lilly paused. She felt empowered again. She was finding herself again. "Maybe you just kill yourself. A faggot like you could never be loved anyway. You're just taking up oxygen." Lilly stood up and stretched her arms. "There's an envelope opener in my desk if you need it. That'll make it quicker. And don't leave a note. No one will want to read it." Lilly grabbed a pair of slippers from the closet and put them on. "Huh, look at that, I was able to face my fear of speech just to say that to you. I really do hate you. I'm going to Sam's." And with that, Lilly exited the room.

She felt no guilt. Only peace.