She lacked the power and energy to fight back when facing that kind of strength.
The parents were so used to using the family as a means of controlling everyone.
That would often be what would prevent anyone from retaliating against them.
A simple grip of her wrist caused her to drop the bottle in her hand, causing it to roll across the ground.
The power she believed to have over the children faltered in that moment.
Her drunken state had only made her seem weaker as she failed to struggle against the strength of the grip holding her. "Get off!"
Her other hand came around and slapped him in the face in an instant, but he remained standing there holding her wrist.
He seemed unmoved by what had been done to him as he looked down on her from an imposing stance that towered over her.
When her wrist was released, she did not bother remaining there as she was feeling much too indignant at what had taken place.
She was not in a state where she could stick around and try to regain some form of authority.
Remaining there would only end up bringing more humiliation to herself.
The main problem was whether she would be able to remember any of it the next day.
There were many times that she had gotten so drunk that parts of her memory from those nights had ended up being quite unclear.
Her present state was already quite bad, so she was not exactly in her right mind and was acting mainly on her emotions.
Everything passed by like nothing had happened, but it was just one of a couple of events that had already happened.
Those who forgot about such things would likely repeat them once again, since they had nothing to teach them about what could happen if they did not learn from their lesson the first time.
With those events happening more often and certain people becoming more aware of what was really going on inside the carnival, it was only a matter of time before the opinions of a lot of people would begin to change.
There existed one frightening problem related to their freedom.
They were all bound to the family they had been brought into.
They may not have been tied together by blood, but they were still considered family in the eyes of the law.
They had been tied together like that the moment they had been adopted, and their parents were their legal guardians.
That would continue to remain the same for as long as they were under the legal age to gain independence for themselves and be able to legally support themselves without needing a guardian.
Nothing may have changed, but a subtle crack was beginning to appear.
The control that the parents and others held over the adopted children was no longer so solid.
The trust and family bonds were no longer something that could keep everyone fooled.
Time began to pass after that incident, and things slowly started to fall into place one after another.
The preparations were being made to set up the next show.
They had arrived in yet another city to begin performing once more, so the preparations were underway.
Every tent was being raised, and every other part of the acts was being put where they belonged.
Many of the people who were a part of the various acts were practising their roles as they readied themselves for the opening.
A small gathering took place in the middle of the main tent, and among them were the two adoptive parents of Tiffany and the others who shared similar fates.
They were discussing many things, as if it were a natural thing.
That continued without any disturbance for a little while until something changed all of a sudden.
Everything turned the peace they had been having completely upside down.
The structures that were above suddenly came flying down toward them one after another as if a chain reaction had taken place.
By the time that it had happened, it was already much too late for anyone in that area to get out of the way.
They were all crushed underneath those structures that had come loose and fallen onto them from above.
They were only able to let out a quick scream among those who were able to notice what was going on before they were completely crushed in an instant.
Most of the deaths were almost instantaneous, while a small percentage of them had to live with the excruciating pain while being trapped, as their lives were fading away.
What nobody had been able to see was a tiny figure moving away further up in the theatrical stages that were the elevated platforms for the performers and equipment during the performances.
They were there for setup and maintenance purposes to allow everything above to be put in place for each of the performances, allowing for better visibility and accessibility during the
Other names that the area would be known as would be the skywalk, catwalk, rigging platforms, fly loft, grid, overhead truss or upper platform, where there would be walkways, scaffolded areas and the overall structural framework of the circus tent and stage production.