Marvin's car pulled up into the dorm parkinglot at noon on the dot. He had acsidently hit a cat crossing the road and the evidence of it on his tire was still present. He already had a cigarette pertruding from his mouth, still unlit, as he waited pastiently for the two phsyco lovers to meet him at their agreed destination. If Marvin was being honest to them about his urges, he would tell them about the world that he was about to take them to. He would tell them about the promise he had made to himself as he watched his father die in the ICU. He would tell them about how many times he had put a needle into his arm and how many times he saw hell in its every detail as the high of heroin overcame his every molecule, leaving him a sack of flash and organs slouched on a couch in a house that he had never been to. He would tell him about the time he stood on the edge of a bridge and pondered about what choice he should make. Pondered if life was worth it. He would tell them about walking in on his mother in her most vulnerable state and having a love afair with her that no one should ever even consider. But no, he would not tell them that. He would keep inside where it belonges. He would smoke the unlit cigarette until it fell from his dead lips onto the cold concrete. He would drive his taxi anywhere but where he was. Anywhere but where he had to remember.

So, as he saw Lilly and Sam, hand in hand, making their way into his car, hy pushed his thoughts deep into his mind and put on his carasmatic lie of a smile. "Hey kiddos! Glad you made the right choice. I hope this adventure makes us great friends."

They both jumped into the backseat with only one suitcase of luggage between them. That's all they needed. "Marvin!" Sam cheered excitedly as he jumped into the car. "How are you doing, you crazy bastard!"

Marvin, surprized by the sudden change in character, belowed joyously, "WELL! Aren't we in a good mood today?!"

"The best i've ever been in, Marvin. Honestly, I've never felt more myself in my life." Sam smiled from ear to ear. "I am so happy."

"Well, in that case, where are we off to today lady and gent?" Marvin looked at them through the reflection of the rearview mirror.

Lilly shrugged and rested her head on the love of her life.

Sam thought for a moment and then shook his head. "I could care less, Marv. Dealers choice."

"Ah, my favorite kind of choice." Marvin pulled the car into gear and the three drove off into nowhere.

---

"A string of murders at Ohio State university in the last few days leaves family's in dispair and students affraid for there lives. ⅛ of the student body has dropped out or has considered it, survie shows. Does this mean the end of one of the biggest universities in America? And what of the victims of these crimes? Peggy Andrews, Todd Baily and Jeana Ward, all found murdered in their respective dorm rooms, and two unaccounted for students, Lilly Edwards and Sam , all being linked two white masked killers that have been spotted around campus, as well as being the reason for Miss Edwards's hospitalization just days before her disapearence. Niether of their bodies have yet been found. This string of cases have seemed to be linked to who is being called Alonzo the Great.

"At the same time these killings have been taking place, the Columbus Police Department shooting is being called into question, as the killer, Miss Betty Bowler, has been taken into custody, but her actions are showing some evidence of reason. As before she was considered to be mentally unstable, this photo has been peiced back together shawing who is claimed to be Alonzo the Great and behind him, 11 year old, Collin Bowler, the shooters nephew, being tortured on a tall metal pole. This was at first thought to have been faked, but after some investigation, a deleted video from which the picture was derived from, along with deleted footage of Lilly Edwards and Sam in seperate interviews, both discussing Alonzo and his hold on their lives, the police realised Betty Bowler might not actually be lying.

"In light of all of this evidence and information being discovered, we all have to ask ourselves if we might have the next Al-Qaeda on our hands, right under our noses. They call themselves 'The Circus of Horrors,' and they live up to the name.

"Along with being spotted all over Ohio, these masked figures have also been seen in New York, Kansas, California and multiple other states around the country."

Allon Fando watched the bar television with absolute focus. His unwavering attention caught the bar tender's interest. "Mr. Fando?" She leaned up against the bar and waved her hand in front of his face, but he didn't respond. "Yo. You there?"

Allon looked over to her and sighed. "I think he got himself into something bad... " He opened his wallet and pulled out 15 dollars and threw it onto the counter. "I should have stayed down there... Damn it." He stood up to leave.

"Allon, the drink was only five dollars."

But he wasn't listening. He was already out of the bar door.

---

Betty sat silently in her cell and the calm officer sat on the other side of the bars, his leg bouncing up and down as anxiety ate at his stumach. He sighed, but the panic only contunued to build. "Betty... that was stupid... You could have done this in such a different way. A way where you wouldn't be behind bars and we could be out there looking for this guy."

Pause.

"I just wanted somebody dead. I wasn't thinking." Betty curled her legs up to her chest. "Collin was like... well, he was really important to me. I don't have a lot of stuff, but I had him... I just thought I'd have him around for longer... I didn't think that was such a rediculas thing to have."

The officer leaned back and sighed again. "It's not..."

Long pause.

"What's your name?" Betty changed the subject.

"My names Trevor." He turned his head to face her and met her gaze. He hadn't noticed that she had been staring at him.

"Why?"

"Why what?" He sat up and turned his body to her.

"Why is your name Trevor?"

"I guess that's a question for my parents." He chuckled awkwardly. "What an odd thing to ask."

"I'm named after my Grandma and my mom. That's why my name sounds out of date." Betty leaned her head againt the cold stone wall. "My sister's named after my Mom's dead best friend. Angella. What a gross sounding name?" She laughed for a second and then went quiet. "No, I shouldn't say that. I love my sister."

"Where is she?"

"Probably still in New York. mourning her sad empty life." Betty looked back into Trevor's eyes.

"You mean cause Collin died?" Trevor leaned forward.

"And then her husband jumped off his office building. So she's probably sad about that, too." Betty ran her finger along the stone wall, feeling every bump and crack as it damaged the tip of her shiny finger nail.

"Damn... That sounds horrible. Why didn't you stay with her? It sounds like she really needs you." He scooted his chair closer to the bars.

"Maybe I'm just a selfish ass hole. That sounds about right." Betty smiled, but both of them knew there was no joy behind it. "Maybe it's because I don't know how to feel anymore. Maybe it's because I wish I was dead too. I don't really know anymore. Seeing that video was the only thing I really understood. It felt like the only logical action. I shouldn't have brought the gun... I don't know why I did... I think... I think I just wanted to use it. I wanted to put it to someones head and..." She paused. "Damn..." A tear rolled down her face. "I don't even know who I am anymore."

"Do you feel bad that you used it?"

She looked up at him. A moment passed. "No." She looked away. "She worked with him. She was part of it. She deserved to die."

Trevor nodded his head and looked away from the cell. "I agree."

She shot her gaze back at him. "You do?"

He sighed a third time. "Do you wanna see that video now?"

"You watched it?"

"I did." He turned to her. "Every. Second."

"I want to see it."

---

Downtown Columbus, East Long St.

"Marvin!" Sam called from the back seat as Lilly unbuttoned his white dress shirt.

"What is it, Kiddo?" He called from the front seat as he held his unlit cigarette with gritted teeth.

"We're making a Red Room together! You wanna join?" Lilly kissed his neck suductivly as she removed his shirt from his torso.

"Are ya?! That sounds like a blast!" He swerved past a car that was going too slow for his liking. "But I'll have to pass for now. I've got other things goin' on. And so do you for the current moment. Hope you don't mind waiting on thoes Red Room plans for a few months."

"A few months?!" Sam shot up and gently pushed Lilly off of him.

"I guess it's best I tell you why I saved you now, huh?" He turned his head back to face Sam and smiled his toothy grin. "Alonzo hired me."

A chill went down Sam's spine. "Holy shit."

"Thought you woulda figured that out by now, but don't worry. I'm not here to turn you in. I don't do that. I feel a man should catch his own prey. No, I'm actually on your team."

Sam turned to Lilly who seemed to just be looking out the window, without a care in the world, or at least, he thought she didn't care. "What are you going to do to us?" Sam reached for the blade he had placed in his back pocket.

"I would never hurt a hair on your head, kiddo. I'm no killer. No, he hired me to keep you two away from him. He said it like this, 'I want a challange, a game of Cat and Mouse if you will.' I thought, hey, no skin off my nose. I keep two young kids from getting killed and I get paid for it. That sounds like a plan." He honked his horn at the car in front of him. "Come on ya old baggy bitch, move your ass!"

Sam released his grip on the knife. "So, you're not gonna kill us?"

"On the contrary, Sammy. I get paid more the longer I keep you alive." He slammed his foot on the gas and rammed into the back of the car in front of him. "This slow ass shit eater!" He drove faster, pushing the car in front of him. The car honked and hit its breaks, but it was no use, the inertia of Marvin's car already had it in motion. He pushed it right into a four lane intersection, causing a blue Jeep rangler to slam into the side of it, causing both cars to sprawl out into the open road and perfectly clearing the lane for Marvin.

Sam watched out his window as they passed noticing a baby's head had crashed through the broken window of the first car on the side where the jeep had hit it. He couldn't tell if it was alive or not, but the visual frightened him. It reminded his of the first time he had seen Alonzo's Carnival of Horrors. When a sight like that scarred him. But it didn't feel like that anymore, he felt himself feel desensitized to the needless violence, like it wasn't real. Like he wasn't actually there. The thought scared him, but made him feel at peace at the same time. Sam turned to Marvin. "I thought you just said that you weren't a killer.

"I didn't T bone the car." He laughed.

Suddenly the three of them heard a police siren from behind them. Sam turned around to see the police cruiser behind him. "Well, shit Marvin. What now?"

Marvin looked at the cruiser through his rearview mirror and reached over to his glove compartment and pulled out a 9mm semi-automatic pistol. "Who wants to shoot a gun?"

Lilly sat up, suddenly interested in her surroundings and raised her hand.

"Alright, sweety. Let's do it." He handed the gun back to her. "Now the first thing you'll need to do is-" Before he couldn't finish talking, the window was open, the safety was off and she was firing deadly accurate shots at the police cruiser. In seconds, the front window of the vehicle was shattered and the officer inside was riddled with holes. His car swerved off of the road into the side of a State Auto building. "Damn! Now, that's a killer if I've ever seen one." He laughed and pounded the stearing wheel.

Lilly smiled and pointed the gun at Marivin.

"Whoa! Hold up, that wasn't part of this." Marvin tensed up.

Lilly looked at Sam and nodded at him.

"Oh, um. Marvin, take us to uh... take us to..." He bit his lip and turned his head to Lilly. She shrugged in response.

"Take us to Vegas. Las Vegas. Yeah, let's go to Las Vegas." Sam nodded, sure of his choice.

"Like I Said kids, I'm on your side here. You tell me the location and I'm going there. You don't have to point a gun at me to get that to happen. But if it makes you more confortable to have the gun then keep it, it's yours." He smiled at them through the rear-view mirror.

Lilly didn't trust it, but she put the safety of the gun back on and sat it next to herself.

"Can I ask why you chose Las Vegas?" Marvin threw his unlit cigarette out of the window and put a second one in his mouth.

"I don't know... I guess I've just kinda always wanted to go there."

"Best time to go somewhere is when you're being hunted down by a massive cult, i guess." He chuckled. "Sure, let's make this a vacation. Las Vegas it is!"