Freak Show (3 page)

              “I’m really not sure, but we should be a little more careful than I was planning on. Make sure you never go anywhere without one of us, OK?” I shrug my shoulders and nod. “Just for protective measures.”

              “I wouldn’t do that anyway.” My mouth speaks the words, but my brain’s trying to find a way to escape them and hunt down Pandora. Right, like I’d ever be brave enough to explore a place like this on my own. The park is enormous and there are so many people here I wouldn’t even begin to know where to look for Pandora if she wasn’t still in the mansion turned hotel.

              “Well, now that we know to stick together, what should we do first? Can I see the map?” Becca asks and lays the folder out on the small coffee table between us. I look down at the map and smile. It look exactly like the view out of the window. With one half of the sky dark purple and the other half blue as blue can be.

              “What’s this part?” I ask and press my finger to the darker side of the map.

              “That’s the Other Side. We don’t go there, OK?” Anne takes the time to look each one of us in the face. “That’s where the worst of the stuff happens here. If you go there…” She pauses and runs her finger over the glossy surface of the map. “You don’t get out. Pill or no pill.”

              “Damn, OK.” Kelly giggles and picks up a pen from inside the folder. She draws a giant X over the Other Side and chuckles. “So that’s a no go. What about the lake?”

              “We can go there.” Anne nods. “They have a show coming up in a bit. It’s like BMX extreme or something, wanna catch it?”

              “Hell yeah!” Kelly and Becca both laugh and stand up. “Let’s go now.” Becca is bouncing on her toes again.

              “Let’s change first.” Anne smiles at our looks of confusion.

              “We didn’t bring anything.” Becca holds out her hands as if to show proof of her statement.

              “Come on,” Anne hoots and skips to an open doorway I didn’t even see, nestled next to the stainless steel refrigerator. It’s a massive bedroom with four twin size beds. Two on one wall and two on the other. The beds are staggered so they each have space between them and at the end of each footboard, like in the old books my friends’ mothers would read to us when we were little about orphanages with twelve little French girls all in a row. Each bed is perfectly made, in white silks and silver pillow cases. I want so badly to bury myself in the shiny fabrics, but Kelly’s gasp turns me around.

              Anne has opened an armoire stuffed full of costumes and wigs of every length and color. My lips part in a smile as I draw closer. Kelly and Becca are both yanking out items and holding them against their bodies and looking into separate full body mirrors hanging on the armoire’s open doors.

              “This place is so cool!” Becca wails and spins herself around, a cotton candy pink dress hugged to her chest. The layered skirt flows around her legs as she spins. She throws the dress to the bed and begins to undress.

              “It’s like we can be anything we to be want here.” Kelly muses and also starts to undress.

              I wander over as the girls part in different directions to change. My fingers slip over the fabrics but nothing catches my eye. Nothing until my fingers brush past a leather corset. I pull it free from its hanger and smile. It looks just like Pandora’s. I have never worn anything that would showcase my tits the way I imagine this will, but I can’t pass it up. I throw it to the bed closest to me and keep hunting through the materials.

              A black skirt calls to me and I press it to my hips. It’s short. Really short, and made of ruffles. I shrug at my reflection and turn to undress like my friends. I push my jeans down and the skirt up my pale legs. They look longer and firmer somehow beneath the black frills. My fingers brush over the tops of my thighs and I recall the visions from the elevator.

              I’m so horny it hurts, and shimmy my knees against each other to feel the friction. “Are you gonna wear a wig too, Serenity?” Becca calls and I turn to smile at her.

              “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe.” She looks stunning in her dress. The pink makes her bleached blonde hair stand out even more than normal. I slip my shirt off and then my bra. No need for a bra when the laces of the corset should hold me in effectively. I push the leather against my skin and turn my back to Becca. “Can you lace me?”

              “Hold the footboard like chicks do in the movies.” Becca suggests, and I do so with a giggle. She pulls and yanks me until the breath in my lungs is squeezed out and it’s a struggle to pull in fresh air. “You look so hot!” She gushes from behind me then taps my shoulder. “You’re all laced in.”

              “Here,” Anne hands me a headband with an itty bitty top hat glued to the side of the band with a stop watch resting on its brim.

              “How very steampunk.” I smile and slip the band over my hair. The hat settles just to the side of my head like an eighties side ponytail and I turn to look at my reflection. The brown of the leather warms my skin and pushes my tits out. I run my hands down my slim waist and whistle. “Damn.”

              “Yeah, girl. You look amazing.” Kelly passes me a pair of brown knee high boots and again I think of Pandora. Anne stands behind me and uses bobby pins to shove some of my strawberry blonde hair up on top of my head. It looks purposely messy and super sexy.

              “Is this a trick mirror?” I ask amazed at the way I look. Slim and strong, sexy yet soft. I sit on the corner of the bed to lace up the sexy boots and force my eyes to look straight up as Becca swipes my lashes with mascara and pulls on my face to draw thick black lines under my eyes.

              “Nope, but I was told there is magic in the fabrics. They adjust to your body to fit you perfectly and accent its best qualities.” Anne is wearing a blood red cocktail dress with no straps. There is a thin layer of black lace peeking from the top and sneaking out from the hem at the bottom of the dress. The red compliments the purple in her hair, only it isn’t her hair. She has on a long purple wig. The ends of the wig brush her waistline as she moves.

              “Would they lose their magic if we took them home?” I ask and she pouts her lips.

              “I have no idea. But I bet they would charge us, you know like if you steal a hotel robe or whatever.” Her hands move up to play in her fake hair like she might be missing her real locks and I grin.

              “Oh yeah, that makes sense.” Becca joins me on the same bed and I look her over. She looks like a wad of blown bubble gum in the best way possible. It’s Kelly that really shocks me though when I gaze in her direction. My normally shabby friend looks like a vixen on a mission.

She is sporting skin tight, electric blue leather pants and a black fishnet tank top with a blue bra that matches her pants perfectly. Her hair or her wig, I should say, is tied up in pigtails. Instead of her normally dull brown hair, her wig is jet black. I blink a few time and give her a whistle as well.

              “Holy shit!” Anne and Becca stand up and we all gather around Kelly. “Let’s get out of this room and show off.” Suggests Anne and we all nod happily.

In the living room Anne pulls the key card out of the folder and stuffs it in the cup of her bra. Then picks up the map and waves it toward the door. “Everyone have everything?” Kelly asks.

“Our cell service will be spotty here but keep your phones close in case we get separated, OK?” Anne, our fearless leader orders as we head for the elevator. My hands roam down the leather covering my waist and as we approach the elevator, butterflies exploding in my stomach. I rub my flat belly and feel a goofy smile take over my face. Here we go.

              Instead of returning to the lobby/dance club, the elevator stops on the fifth floor. The doors open and I’m surprised to see we are outside, on a balcony hovering over the beginning of the gardens. The air is warm as it winds up my legs and tickles my thighs. My fingers brush the cuff indicating my “race” and I roll it around slowly until its back in the same place with the identifying letters under my wrist.

              “Oh! Drinks.” Becca coos and wanders off toward a small tiki bar at the edge of the balcony. I won’t lie, a drink sounds fantastic right now. The bartender appears to be human as well and gives us a megawatt smile.

              “Looking for trouble today, ladies?” His voice is full of teasing playfulness and Becca gobbles it right up.

              “Why else would we be here?” Her eyebrows wiggle at him and he throws his head back in laughter.

              “You certainly will find it if you aren’t careful. What can I get you?” he shoves a rag into a tall glass and wipes it out then slaps the rag to lay over his right shoulder.

              “Humm,” Kelly puts a hand on her hip and purses her lips. “What can you make that will cause a slight buzz but still allow me to walk in these heels?” We all giggle, but that’s a very good point. I shift my feet and look down at the pretty boots covering them.

              “May I see your wrists, please?” The bartender asks while leaning closer to our group. We all hold up our cuffed arms and he nods. I guess the cuff works as well as a driver’s license here. “I have just the thing.” He turns from us and begins mixing whatever it is we’ll be drinking.

              I scan the balcony and again see things my brain is struggling to comprehend. Bodies in shapes and colors I’ve never seen before brush against each other as they laugh and chat it up in the fake sunlight. I lift my head to the sky, before we crossed through the mist a storm was brewing fiercely, but here the sun’s rays wash over us without a thundercloud in sight. Unless you count those strange purple clouds, but they seem to hang over just the Other Side.

              “Enjoy, ladies.” His voice brings my gaze down from the sky and I smile at him over the four drinks placed in front of us. They are large plastic bottles shaped like a mostly naked man that blinks rapidly with small green and blue LED lights and huge straws. They remind me of drinks only adults could carry around on the fairway during the state fairs when I was child.

              “Oh my God!” Becca titters and picks up her bottle, her index finger brushing down the tiny plastic abs. “What is it?”

              “A good time.” The bartender grins and leaves us to help a couple at the other side of the tiki bar.

              “Mmm, it tastes so sweet.” Kelly moans between hearty pulls on her straw. I pick mine up and look down at its contents. Its clear liquid, vodka maybe, but purple glittery streams swirl around in a constant typhoon. I watch and wait for the mini twister in a cup to slow or stop, but it remains the same.

              “Is all of yours still mixing itself?” I ask confused and poke at the drink with my straw as if I could interrupt its current but it does nothing to slow it.

              “Maa-gic,” Anne sing songs at me like I should be over being shocked or surprised by now, but I my brain is still struggling to keep up with the mystical ways of this place. “Now that we’ve got the goods, let’s head down to the lake for the show. It should be starting soon.”

              Drinks in hand we follow Anne to the edge of the balcony and down beautifully wide wooden stairs. I sip at my drink cautiously but once the cool spell touches my tongue it’s hard to keep from drinking it down quickly. Kelly was so right, it’s sweet and smooth without the burn I was expecting. It’s delicious!

              At the bottom of the stairs our spiked heels meet smooth as glass marble squares of a pathway that wind through the garden. The pop music that had been playing on the balcony turns to soft notes of classical instruments. Not like elevator music, but whimsical night sounds. My body sways and my feet ach to ballroom dance with a partner I’ve never met before.

Strong smelling flowers sway towards us as we walk between them. Their petals whisper in the wind and blow sweet scented kisses at our noses. The smells I can recognize are hints of lavender and magnolia but nothing in this garden looks like the plants I associate with their smells. The colors are more vibrate and their centers are more plush than I remember flowers on the outside being.

              Memories of Alice in Wonderland singing with the flowers makes me giggle while we walk and my friends perk their eyebrows at me, but no one asks me what’s funny. They’re all too busy drinking from their sexy man glasses and taking in the flowers as well. A big red, rose like flower slops against my shoulder and I just know any second it will ask me if I’m a flower or a weed. I think I’m a weed. But right now in this sexy skirt and leather corset, drinking this magical cocktail, I feel like a fucking flower.

              The garden begins to feel like a labyrinth of shrubs and exotic flowers that we’ll never escape, but I can’t find it in my body to be annoyed. It’s breathtakingly beautiful here and my cocktail is apparently bottomless because no matter how much I suck the straw at the whirlwind inside, the drink never shrinks.

              Another five or ten minutes pass, maybe it was longer or maybe it was shorter, I have no idea, the bushes part into a large viewing area before the lake. It reminds me of parks in largely populated cities like New York or Chicago. Benches and small café tables are spread around here and there before a rail divides the viewing area from the shore. The sleek metal rail is supported by sheets of glass, allowing you to see straight through to the depth of the waters.

              We saunter over as a group and every one of us leans our elbows on the rail with our drinks hanging from our fingers on the other side of the glass barrier. The rail is just high enough that we have to bend slightly, popping our asses out to the passing by public. It makes me feel flirty and dirty, perhaps a bit naughty as I pop one hip out and feel the ever blowing breeze trace its fingers up the backs of my bare thighs. 

              A monstrous gurgling sounds from the lake. It’s so loud it drowns out the noise of the crowds. People rush over to where we’re standing by the railing and push themselves against us to get closer. The water’s surface begins to bubble and spout up in the shape of a massive circle.

From the depth of the water rises an oversized sphere made of glass or plastic, it’s hard to tell, but the sphere is as clear as the water that pours off its slick exterior. When it finally settles on top of the water, the top begins to crack and breaks in half. Opening up to reveal an entire skate park inside.

              Shocked whoops rise from the crowd and the excitement buzzes over my skin as I watch with an open mouth. Four men, at least male bodies, ride on unicycles up and down the ramps. Their bodies are cut like the best human athletes in the world but each one has a different shaped animal head. My hand slaps over my mouth as a perfect masculine body with an elephant’s head speeds towards us and flies off the jump. He pulls the unicycle from between his legs and lifts it up like a fist bump, barely getting it settled back between his legs before the rubber of the wheel skids across the platform in the center.

              The next rider’s head looks like a black panther’s, and when he reaches the top of the ramp his unicycle drops to the top of the ramp and a rider with a long giraffe like neck and head, barrels straight for him. With unimaginable power in his legs the panther headed man jumps up and straddles the giraffe rider’s neck as they speed back down the ramp and up the next as one. Screams and applause rattle all around us.

              Back and forth they do trick after trick, each one riskier than the last. My lungs burn and I realize I’ve been holding my breath in fear of them falling or crashing. I puff it out in a huge exhale only to suck in yet another shocked gasp as out of nowhere three skateboarders join the unicycles, creating a tangled web of riders on the apparatus. They bolt back and forth, nearly missing each other every time. My eyes feel enormous as I try to follow the incredible show of athleticism.

              “Holy fuck, it’s like the X games on water!” squeals Kelly and I finally uncover my mouth.

              “What are they?” I lean closer to her to yell near her ear.

              “Who cares? They’re hot!” She yells before blaring out a whoop of cheer and leans over the rail even farther. 

              Screams break through the happy hollers of the crowd and I spin around to see what the cause is. To the left side of the sphere a pale white colossal crocodile, the size of a blue whale, leaps out of the water and sails over the skate park. His jaws are split open and snap down with a force that shakes the earth under my feet. A skater is caught mid jump as the beast floats through the air and is just about to be snatched between the giant teeth of the creature but crashes to the ground with just a large slash down his back where a tooth grazed his skin. He lands with a roll then jumps up in victory and the gleaming crock dives back into the water on the other side. The splash he causes rocks the skate park and all the animal men wobble on their feet to keep their balance.

              “Oh my God,” all three of my friends and I yell at the same time. My cocktail slips from my hand and tumbles down the small bank. The bottomless drink is pouring out and mixing with the lake’s water in a never ending stream of purple glitter. The skater turns around to pick up his board and blood flows from the wound on his back. Once his board is in his hand again he walks slowly to the edge of the floating park and lowers to his knees. Another rider joins him and cups water into his hands to splash it over the open sore. I lean even closer to watch, like when there is a car accident and you can’t look away from it, but as the water washes over him, the blood disappears and the wound closes up instantly.

              “Is the water magic, too?” I look to Anne for answers and she places her hand between my shoulder blades.

              “No honey. He is.” Her eyebrows wiggle suggestively and laughter rolls up from my belly. It’s so unimaginable that my brain can’t process it, so instead I double over in laughter. Crocodiles the size of whales and men with the heads of animals, of course! Why wouldn’t he be magic instead of the water? It’s absolutely crazy.

              A pair of hands rest on my hips and I turn to look at who’s touching me. “Enjoying the show?” It’s Pandora.

              “Um, y-yes.” I mutter softly, my gaze is caught up in hers and the crowd around me begins to fade away. I shift my feet to face her and she lifts one hand to cup my jaw.

              “You’re even more beautiful than last time.” She smiles.

              “I don’t,” I shake my head in confusion. “Do I know you?” Her smile drops into a pout like frown.

              “Oh, Serenity.” She breathes and wraps her arms around me in a tight hug. I fold my arms around her waist and lean my face into her neck. She smells like lilacs and I breathe in deeply. Drawing her scent into my nose to keep a part of her with me when she vanishes again, because for some reason I know she will. Her hands rub up and down my back in a soothing gesture and she whispers, “I forget how hard it can be for you.”

              “How hard what can be?” my voice sounds like a low whine as she pulls away from me just enough to place a soft kiss to my forehead.

              “It’s against the laws for me to tell you, sweetheart.” Pandora takes a step back but her fingers twist into a stray strand of my hair. “Keep your eyes open for him, OK. It’ll all make sense when you find him.”

              “I-I don’t. I don’t know who. Who am I looking for? You aren’t making any sense!” I grab the wrist of the hand that’s playing with my hair and squeeze it tight, hoping I can get her to tell me who she is and who the hell “he” is. My voice is demanding and insistent but it doesn’t matter.

              “I’m sorry.” Her mouth says the words with no volume and Pandora pulls free of my hold. She walks backwards, her gaze never leaving mine, until the crowd swallows her up again. This heavy sense of being homesick washes over me. It’s as if I’m missing a huge part of me I don’t even know exists. Hugging her felt like when I’d been away from home for the weekend and when I come back my dog is so happy to see me that he knocks me over to get into my arms.

              “BULLSEYE!” A rough voice near me screams and Anne plows into my back. Her unexpected weight drops me to my knees with her covering my back. She’s breathing heavily and her hands are grabbing for me, my shoulders, my biceps and my elbows.

              “Are you OK?” She huffs, standing me back up and touching me all over.

              “Yes, what the hell?” I snap. “That hurt.” I look down to see tiny particles of gravel stuck into the skin of my knee. I brush it off and as the dirt falls to the ground again I’m left with tiny patterns in my skin.

              “Ugh!” She puffs out a huge breath of air and points to a man a few feet away who is laughing hysterically while another man tries to shove at him. The two look like brothers fighting over the last piece of candy. “See them? The one with the shorts is the one who yelled bullseye.”

              “So?”