literature

Circus of Freaks Ch.3

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Morning light soon filled the brightly colored tents of the troupe. The "normal" circus got an official break, letting the members go out and relax or prep for the night's show. But the freaks got the closest to a break for them; being let out of the late night shows into the day showings.

It wasn't glamorous. It was in fact, very ordinary. A normal side show. Well, if you glanced faraway. But these men and women, boys and girls, were not ordinary. They were misfits. They were deformed. They were, most importantly, different.

So it was no surprise when the normal everyday goers went along to the circus and got a shock. Where were the sword swallowers? The acrobats? The hypnotists? No, they were gone for now. The oddballs were the replacements. Seeing the most hideous would prepare the eyes to meet a much softer and more appealing side of the Circo de Invitis.

     The first cage had a woman with intricate paintings and makeup all over her body. Nothing special. Until, at least, a human arm was thrown into her confines and she picked it up, gnawing hungrily at it until there was nothing left but bone. She paid no mind to any amount of blood on her, or to the disgusted and awed faces in the crowds.

The Cannibal Woman.

The second cage had two kids, brothers, bonded together by their necks. Two heads shared one body, each half of their body trying to take complete control over the other half, the heads of children bickering over what seemed like nothing. Over and over again they would argue, and in the end, even they didn't know why they were fighting anymore.

The Siamese Freaks.

The third cage had a young man in his early twenties with two extra pairs of arms sprouting from his sockets. They all seemed to move on their own, swaying absentmindedly like a wave. Each of the sleeves on his shirt was patterned differently with stars and other crazy patterns. But he looked confused, as if the arms were attached to him overnight.

The Hextuple Hexed Man.

And the last freak with kaleidoscope eyes and vilitigo around his neck and hands, making them a strange, pale bluish gray was in the fourth cage. It was stringed with thin paper streamers and painted with stars and stripes in gold and orange. His costume stood out in the warm colors, his face painted with two purple tear drops underneath his eyes, and his baggy jumpsuit covered in vines that crept over his body like a virus.

The on goers never seemed to stop coming. They kept streaming in, laughing, jeering, spitting, and ridiculing. At first, it was a horrible and depressing experience. But they got used to it. That was the only way, or you'd commit suicide or go insane. Well, at least more insane than you were supposed to be.

The only real luxury they were allowed was to talk to each other once they had other freaks fill in their shifts. Their lips had to be sealed when they were displayed, for a doll with a voice could scare the simple-minded.

This time seemed choice for the twins to argue as soon as other freaks took over their shifts. They pulled at each other's hair, scratched the other's ornaments off of their outfits and kept unintentionally head butting.

"Hey, what's going on with the twins this time?" The vibrant eyed freak asked the woman.

She gave him a quick glance and muttered, "Somethin' 'bout Bacon Sewell." He sighed. It was a bad idea to ask her. She always used slang and an accent he never really understood.

He looked over to the six armed man. "Can you translate what the fuck Matilda said?" The man fidgeted and replied quietly, "Don't use her real name here, Epsilon. Her name is Psi."

Epsilon rolled his eyes and snapped, "Doesn't matter, none of those customers will care. And don't call me 'Epsilon'. I prefer my own name, thank you very much. And it happens to be Church."

The other man hissed, "Stop it! Ringleader doesn't like that name being tossed around. Probably because the religion messes up everything here." His arms started cracking their knuckles and unconsciously starting to feel around for things to hit Epsilon with for being so stubborn.

Epsilon sighed. He knew things, but yet he didn't… It was frustrating. Like slivers of memories right at the corner of his eyesight; if he tried to look at it directly, it would always shy away. But he knew things weren't that simple at this circus. It wasn't because of religion; it was something much deeper than that.

But he wouldn't be able to explain it, not here in the open. Keep it straightforward. "Whatever, man. You know Psi better than I do, what did she mean?" He leaned his head on one of his palms and pulled at the sleeves of his outfit with the others. "Bacon is slang for police. She meant to say that they're arguing about Officer Sewell."

Psi looked up from her recent meal to respond, "Yep, Rho is right-o. Mu n' Nu be gabbin' 'bout Bacon Sewell. Silly nutters."

Epsilon rubbed his temples and the fighting between the twins became louder. His patience finally broke and he barked at the two, "Hey! What the fuck are you two ass munches bitching about this time?!" The twins stopped trying to strangle each other and Nu responded first. "Officer Sewell's been being mean to me! He's been harassing Frank too!" Mu replied with a calmer, but edgy tone, "Coleridge is the bother. He's been being suspicious. I'm just saying that George is putting him and my brother in their places."

"No, he is not," Nu protests, "you're lying! You know he's been hitting us with that nasty stick of his and you're not doing anything to help!"

"There is nothing to do, he's doing his job. And Coleridge isn't supposed to be fraternizing with the 'circus freaks.'" Mu grumbles.

"Bacon Sewell and Bacon Cole ain't got nothin' to do with either of us! N' ya better figah that out, sugahs, 'cause they's takin' us all up to the pearly gates n' throwin' us back down ta dis Hell!" Psi wailed frantically, obviously frustrated with the conversation as well. No one besides the multi armed man knew exactly what she said, but the general idea was still there. They needed to shut up about two policemen that kept them in their cages.

"I agree. Sewell and Coleridge are one in the same. They're both cops, so if we were to escape, it'd be in their job to catch us and put us back."

Nu stared pointedly at the multi limbed man and growled, "Rho, you don't know Frank! You don't know Sewell either! You don't know anything!" Mu slapped Nu in the face and barked out, "Says you! You know about as much as he does."

Epsilon intervened again, throwing a rock previously thrown at him by an obnoxious fat man dressed in a pinstripe suit far too small for his pot belly. "No one cares about Sewell or Coleridge! They don't concern us! Unless they directly screwed with us, I don't give a damn." Nu whimpered and looked away, sulking. But Mu held his stare and replied icily, "This is none of your business." "It is when I can hear it," Epsilon grumbled. Rolling his eyes, Mu dropped the subject, looking down at his feet as if they were suddenly very interesting.

This was getting repetitive. Not even humiliating anymore. It felt like a prison more than a punishment. Everything was the same, but this was at least one day he was able to see something besides musky holds and blindingly bright spotlights in a dark area filled with grinning fool faces in darkness. He would get bored to death before anything else.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I bid you welcome to the most extraordinary night of your lives! Welcome to the Tsirko tou Kakou!"

Epsilon looked up at the slit in the tent's ceiling. Moonlight was already flooding in. Rho voiced his thoughts. "It's night already? I guess we spent a lot of the time squabbling." Psi craned her long neck to gaze at the pale light pooling at their feet and murmured, "Another night… Night's so pretty… It reminds me of nights out on the bayou."

Epsilon stared at the cannibal woman and flicked his gaze to Rho for confirmation. He nodded and whispered, "She's much more understandable and calm when the moon's out." Epsilon shrugged and gazed at the moon a little longer. The sight of the near white orb gently coating the darkness with its placid rays was actually kind of nice looking. The sun was a little too annoying, and way too hot. But there was no denying; if anyone from the House of Freaks section of the circus ever saw it, they had to be truly free by that point.

And Epsilon was determined to be free.
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umbreonnamedangel's avatar
It's really nice to see you update again. :)