At the same time, a shrill whistle sounded from the camp. Immediately afterwards, dense patches of firelight lit up, as if a fire had broken out.
The people in the circus realized they were gone and began to search for their traces with torches in hand.
The fog grew thicker and thicker. The greyish-white thick fog was like a tangible substance, moving among the tall cypress trees.
In less than a moment, the firelight from the camp was obscured, leaving only a faint glimmer.
But this was still not a good omen.
The thicker the fog, the closer dawn was.
Leona regretted letting Mammy return the gold pocket watch to Mike. With the watch, she could at least know what time it was.
Moreover, after returning the watch to Mike, Eric didn't get an apology or compensation.
People still thought he was a freak.
Not far away was the stable, which probably housed more than a dozen horses. But most of them were draft horses and packhorses, large and clumsy, and slow in speed, mainly used to drag carriages.
The circus only had one good horse, which the manager called "Caesar".
It was a lean and powerful Arabian white horse, with a graceful and beautiful figure. Its coat was as smooth as satin and would even show a brilliant luster like a shell under certain lights.
When Leona tried to befriend the horseman, she fed Caesar several times - it was as picky as a spoiled dog. It only ate the juiciest tips of radishes and had fruit after its main meal.
She had never eaten fruit in the circus.
After several attempts, Leona gave up the idea of escaping the circus on Caesar.
It was too pampered. It was hard to say whether it would throw her off unhappily when they were running away.
However, Eric easily led Caesar out.
Leona could hardly believe her eyes.
The reason she thought this horse was like a dog was that it would bare its teeth like a dog when it ate something unpalatable.
The horseman said that when Caesar went mad, it once bit off a keeper's ear.
Since then, she had been scared of its large and neat teeth and dared not approach it again.
Now, it seemed to smell the dangerous aura on Eric. It didn't even dare to snort and let him tie the backpack to the cantle of the saddle with a belt.
Leona saw her own reflection in Caesar - like her, it was afraid that Eric would stab her without warning.
Out of sympathy, she stroked its head.
Caesar didn't refuse. Instead, it gently rubbed its nose against the palm of her hand.
Eric didn't even look at them and had already mounted the horse.
Leona hesitated a little, not knowing how to tell him that she had never ridden a horse before and didn't know how to get on it.
Before she could think of a perfect excuse, Eric bent down, grabbed her ribs with both hands, and directly picked her up and placed her in front of the saddle.
He rarely came into contact with people and had no control over his strength.
Her armpits hurt unbearably where he pinched.
Leona didn't dare to cry out in pain, afraid that he would make it even more painful.
This couldn't go on.
If they really wanted to team up, he had to accept... socialization training.
She didn't expect him to have a normal conversation with her. At least he should learn the right amount of force to touch her.
If their relationship got better, she might let him take a bath or something.
At this moment, Eric gently flicked the reins, and Caesar started running.
Leona immediately grabbed the pommel tightly, afraid that she would accidentally be jolted off - if she was thrown off by the horse, Eric definitely wouldn't pick her up again.
At the same time, the people in the circus seemed to have discovered that they had stolen Caesar and fired several warning shots into the air.
Leona then understood why the people in Los Angeles were so sensitive to loud noises before.
People who wouldn't be shot would never understand the feeling of a gunshot exploding behind them.
Like being whipped hard in the heart.
Leona comforted herself that the accuracy of the gunshots at this time was low. Even in a brightly lit place, they might not be able to hit them.
Moreover, there was such a thick fog.
Just as this thought flashed through her mind, she heard several bangs of gunshots, and a bullet hit beside Caesar's hoof.
Under Eric's control, Caesar only neighed in panic and didn't kick them off.
Leona's back was instantly soaked with cold sweat. Her heart thumped violently towards her throat, and blood surged wildly in her temples. She almost collapsed in Eric's arms.
At this point, she didn't care what Eric was thinking anymore. She turned around desperately and squeezed into his arms, trying to use him as a human shield against the bullets.
Unexpectedly, Eric didn't pull her away.
She heard his heartbeat.
His eyes were cold and empty, but his heartbeat was fast and powerful, like some kind of powerful hydraulic machine, continuously pumping hot blood to every part of his body.
She actually felt warm and... safe in his arms.
This atmosphere was soon broken.
Suddenly, a carriage appeared ahead - it was a flatbed cart without a compartment, firmly blocking the way.
On the carriage, a guard aimed his gun at them and shouted loudly, "Stop - stop, or I'll shoot!"
For a few seconds, Leona's mind went blank. Her whole body was as stiff as if soaked in ice water, and her hands and feet were numb, unable to make any reaction.
Everything in front of her completely exceeded her understanding.
No matter how calm she was and how fast her brain worked, she was just an ordinary person and had no ability to deal with such a situation.
Seeing that they were about to hit the flatbed cart, Eric suddenly pulled the reins back forcefully.
Caesar neighed in panic. The picture in front of her suddenly rotated. In panic, Leona only managed to hold Caesar's neck tightly.
Caesar was breathing rapidly, and its neck was already sweating. It seemed as panicked as she was.
However, Eric pulled the reins hard, leaned forward, squeezed the horse's belly with both legs, and actually calmed it down!
Just as Leona was about to breathe a sigh of relief, what happened next was unforgettable for her -
Eric threw a rope lightning-fast and accurately caught the guard's neck. He then pulled back fiercely!
No one knew how he manipulated the rope, nor did anyone know how powerful his strength was. He actually tore off the guard's head!
Leona hated her good eyesight. She could even see the neatly broken neck of the guard, exposing bright red muscles and pale vertebrae.
Eric's eyes were calm, and he slowly retracted the rope.
Leona saw a trace of minced meat on the rope and almost vomited.
She closed her eyes, turned her head, and tried her best not to look at the bloody scene in front of her.
Yes, she had seen many horror movies, but seeing such a terrifying scene with her own eyes still had a huge impact on her.
Especially the blood - so real, black, warm, gushing, and solidifying when blown by the wind, like a fishy jelly.
Eric seemed calm, but in fact, his heartbeat was extremely intense. The scene in front of him seemed to arouse a barely describable excitement in him.
Leona tried to reduce her own presence, afraid that he would discover that there was still a living thing in his arms that could have its neck twisted off.
Eric didn't look at her. His gaze fell on the rifle beside the guard.
Several tens of seconds passed. Leona had calmed down her fear and regained some composure. "Do you want to pick it up?"
Eric didn't answer but dismounted and picked it up.
He could use a gun. The actions of unloading and reloading were quick and professional.
No matter how many times she saw it, Leona would still be shocked - his insight far exceeded that of ordinary people. He had a brilliant mind.
Just like in the original novel, if it weren't for his strange appearance, he could have become a world-famous inventor and magician.
Leona didn't want to seem spineless.
But she was really glad that when they first met, he only expressed his opinion with a dagger instead of tearing off her head directly.
Eric finished checking the gun and then started checking the guard's pockets.
Leona didn't know when he would finish.
She was a little scared and wanted to get off the horse and go to his side.
But damn it, she couldn't ride a horse.
She hadn't received any riding training. Getting off the horse rashly might startle the horse - at worst, she would only lose the backpack. More likely, she would break her neck directly.
She didn't understand why Eric left her alone on the horse.
Some kind of trust test?
To test whether she would turn the horse around and abandon him?
But she couldn't ride a horse at all!
As time ticked by, the people from the circus would arrive at any moment.
A strong sense of crisis crept up her spine. Leona held onto the pommel of the saddle, her hands and feet stiff, and didn't dare to move.
Fortunately, at this moment, Eric finally finished looting the body and walked towards her.
However, it was still too late.
In the thick fog, the firelight was getting closer, like a spreading fire scene.
The people from the circus arrived.
Suddenly, more than a dozen strange faces emerged from the darkness, staring at them expressionlessly, like eerie black-and-white old photos in a museum.
The atmosphere was tense and on the verge of explosion.
The leader rode a black horse. Compared to her nervousness, he seemed to handle the horse effortlessly.
The circus manager.
This was the first time she had face-to-face contact with the circus manager since she traveled through time.
He was about forty years old, with an ordinary appearance, sporting a pair of sideburns, wearing a dark suit, with the gold chain of a pocket watch hanging from his abdomen. He seemed like a gentleman with good manners.
However, there was a cigarette in his ear, and the flap of the gun holster on the saddle was open, revealing the ivory handle of a revolver.
In the dead silence, the manager spoke slowly:
"To be honest, I'm a little curious about how you persuaded Eric to run away with you."
Leona looked into his eyes without saying a word, her palms sweaty.
"I've been with him for three months and only heard him say three sentences: 'Not mute', 'Okay', and 'Got it'. He can sing, but he never sings in front of the audience. No one knows where the voice comes from, from his throat, his abdomen, or - does he hide a gramophone under the stage?"
It was a joke.
Leona couldn't laugh.
The atmosphere was heavy as death.
She subconsciously looked at Eric.
He stood between her and the manager, his expression inscrutable, as if he had long anticipated this scene.
Leona could only ask the manager, "What exactly do you want to say?"
The manager said lightly, "What I want is very simple. At this point, Eric definitely can't work for me anymore. I don't want him anymore. I want you - you're more valuable than him."
He took off the cigarette behind his ear, put it in his mouth, struck a match and lit it. "You seem to know where that bag came from and what it's for. This is very important to me."
The manager took a puff of his cigarette and exhaled smoke. "If you're willing to stay and answer my questions about the bag, I can give you anything you want - fame, money, whatever you want, I have it."
Leona thought, you have nothing.
If she weren't a modern person but the real Polly Claymont, she might have been fooled by this speech.
After all, the manager seemed more worthy of allegiance than Eric.
The manager had more people, guns, and connections.
Eric only had a rope and an old-fashioned rifle.
Who would be stupid enough to choose him?
But she couldn't forget Eric's scene of twisting off the guard's head with a rope - it couldn't be explained by physics.
This was a horror movie world.
He might have superhuman strength.
After traveling through time, she weighed the pros and cons, swallowed her pride, and carefully planned her steps, barely gaining his trust and surviving from his hands.
How could she give up everything she had painstakingly built because of a promise from the circus manager?
"Eric..." Leona suddenly spoke, with a slight tremor in her voice.
The manager didn't stop her from talking to Eric and looked confident, as if he was sure she would choose him instead of a dangerous freak.
Finally, Eric looked up at her.
His eyes were calm to the point of being serene, as if he wouldn't be surprised no matter what she chose.
"...I choose you," she said.
As soon as the words fell, she watched him show a look of shock.