Circus Save Me, page 7
“I’m not so sure that Blain feels the same way,” I say in a conspiratorial tone, grimacing slightly. All of my interactions with him so far have been...eventful.
Jesse laughs and pulls a face.
“Yeah, Blain can be difficult. He is just really protective of us. He will get used to you. Just ignore him.”
I snort at this comment. I’m good at ignoring bad behaviour, I have put up with it all my life, but something about Blain just rubs me the wrong way and brings out a fierce, argumentative side of me that I didn’t know existed.
My attention is brought back to Nixon, who is proceeding to pummel large stone pillars into small pieces. I wince at the sounds of flesh hitting stone, he must be hurting his hands. I notice that Jesse has fallen quiet, watching the big man in the ring.
“So, what’s the story with Nixon?” I ask, curious.
“He was one of the first to join after Alcide founded the circus, I think they knew each other from before. I don’t know much, but from what Alcide has told me, he had a pretty shitty life. There is a reason he doesn’t speak much, you know?” he tells me, my heart sinking for the silent man.
No one's life after the bombs have been good, life is hard. And those scars….
“So, his power is strength?” I ask, trying to keep my eyes from the raised scars crisscrossing Nixon’s back.
Jesse shrugs. “So, they say.”
I look at him, surprised. Nixon is obviously strong, stronger than any person I have ever seen, what else could it be?
“Sure, he is strong, and he probably was mutated to become stronger.” His voice drops to a whisper and he meets my eyes with his. “He may not speak much, but when he does, he seems to know stuff.” He emphasises ‘know.’
I raise my eyebrows, leaning back in shock. “He knows the future?!” I ask quietly.
“No, I don’t think it’s that simple, and everyone will think you’re crazy if you say anything. I tried to talk to Alcide about it once.”
I look into the ring again and see Alcide is pacing around with a thoughtful look on his face. He steps up to Nixon and says something which makes him stop and look up at me. Uh-oh.
“Alcide has been pushing us all recently to develop our powers, so who knows,” Jesse continues, oblivious to the conversation going on in the ring.
“Rhea. Come over here for a moment,” Alcide’s voice carries over to me and I don’t really feel I have an option but to go over to him. Although after the last fiasco with Blain, I’m not quite as eager to trust him as I was earlier. Walking over towards the two men, I try to guess what he is going to ask me to do.
“Rhea, can you please turn into your stone form?” Alcide phrases it as a question but I get the feeling I don’t have much of a choice.
I close my eyes and try to find the place within me that controls my powers. This is only the second time trying to do it on command and this time I don’t have knifes flying at me, so it takes several tries. I can hear impatient voices around me and I try to tune these out. After what must be about five minutes, but what feels like an hour, I feel my body change. I open my eyes to see that I have turned to marble, not stone.
Alcide frowns, but then shrugs and looks to Nixon.
“This will still work. Right, Nixon, pick her up.” He tells the tall man.
“Woah, wait. Pick me up?” I ask, panic starting to rise in my voice.
“Yes, Rhea, you will be fine. Your body will protect you if anything goes wrong,” he states in a matter of fact way.
I stare at him, bug-eyed at his comment. Whilst he is telling the truth, I still don’t like the idea of anything going wrong. But I’m still trying to earn my place here, as Alcide keeps pointing out. I nod to Nixon. He gently reaches towards me and gives me a ghost of a smile which reassures me a little, I don’t think he would let anything truly bad happen to me. I guess there is only one way to find out. Without so much as a grunt of effort, Nixon picks me up, cradling me in his arms like precious cargo. Man, it’s a long way up here.
“Perfect. Now throw her,” Alcide orders.
My head whips round to look at him.
“Wha-” I’m cut off as I am hurtled high into the air, so high that I almost reach the top of the tent, rivaling Rex’s jump earlier. My breath is taken away from me by the force of the throw. My flight begins to slow as I arc through the air and begin my descent towards the ground. Panic hits me. I’m falling. In this form, I am heavier, so I am falling much quicker, a scream leaves my throat.
“Rhea!” I hear my name shouted by someone, but I can’t register who it is in my panic.
I wheel my arms in the air, trying to slow my stop. I’m falling too fast. Nixon looks like he is trying to catch me but at this speed, I am going to crush him. Panic races through my body and I can feel myself begin to change. My limbs lengthen slightly and I feel a large weight leave me as I turn from marble to something else. I glance at my fingers as I feel them tingle and I see webbing form in between them. I can see something else forming on my skin, but I don’t have a chance to look before instinct has me shooting my arms out wide. I am jerked back slightly, pain pulling at my shoulders and arms, but I am shocked to see that my fall has slowed, and I’m now gliding to the ground.
When I reach it, I bend my knees to absorb the impact, but I land funny and roll across the ground. Ouch. My fall may have been slowed but it certainly wasn't graceful.
I stand up and spin to glare at Alcide, who is wearing a smug expression.
“What the hell were you thinking?!” I shout at the ringmaster, my anger making me forget that this is a man I should be grateful to.
His expression changes and I see a flicker of annoyance cross his features before he masters it back into his usual controlled mask.
“Rhea, you need to push yourself to see what you can do, what your limits are. You were never in any danger,” he tells me, his voice even and smooth.
Rex and Jesse come running into the ring, both looking me over to check I’m alright. Jesse runs his hand along my arm.
“Woah, Firecracker, your arms.”
His tone of quiet wonder distracts me from my anger at Alcide and I look down at my arms. My limbs are longer and lighter, willowy, and my skin looks different. I squint my eyes and bring my arm closer. My eyes widen in shock. Feathers.
What. The. Hell.
Before my widened eyes the feathers disappear as my limbs return to normal length. I stumble as my usual weight settles across me, leaning into Jesse for support. I look into his eyes, fear at what is happening to me plain to see on my face. Jesse’s eyes soften as he pulls me into his arms for a hug. I stiffen initially, I don’t think I have ever been hugged before, but I feel safe in his arms, so I quickly sink into it.
Rex has been quiet for this whole exchange, watching me with worried eyes. I glance over at him from my position in Jesse’s arms and give him a small shaky smile. I see something in his eyes harden and hear a noise that sounds suspiciously like a growl. I’m worried that he is angry at me as his eyes flash orange until he spins around and strides towards Alcide. Walking right up to the ringmaster, the gentle man that I was beginning to think of as family stops just inches from Alcide. Fists clenching at his sides he looks furious.
“What are you thinking Alcide?! You could have killed her,” he spits out.
“She was never in any danger. She needs to push herself to see what she can do,” he retorts, and I can see that being questioned by his men is beginning to wear on his temper. “What I say, goes. I could throw her out on the streets if I so wished. Besides, she needs to earn her place here, you know that. And so far, she hasn’t.” he ends harshly.
A flicker of fear runs through me, he is right, he could snap his fingers and I would be out. I need to work harder. I bury my face is Jesse’s chest and I feel his arms tighten around me.
I don’t see what happens next, but Jesse’s shout of alarm has me glancing up.
“Rex, no!”
I gasp as Rex shoves the palms of his hands into Alcide’s chest and pushes the man away from him. My jaw drops as Alcide is thrown to the other side of the tent. I am not the only one shocked, as the room is filled with whispered comments.
“Did you see his eyes?”
“He didn’t touch an animal but still had their strength!”
“Will Alcide punish him?”
I try not to listen to these comments as my eyes focus on Rex, who is staring at his hands like they don’t belong to him. He looks lost. I take a step towards him.
“Rex.”
He looks up when I call his name, his eyes a mixture of shock and sorrow. He turns on his heel and walks from the tent.
I turn to see Alcide on his feet, brushing down his jacket as he watches Rex with a contemplative expression on his face. I’m surprised. If I had just been pushed by one of my men, I would be angry, but he doesn’t look that way. More like he is trying to figure something out. He then turns to look at the gathered crowd, his gaze stopping when it lands on me. I swallow, uh oh, this can’t be good.
“Back to work everyone. Jesse, you’re up,” he announces.
People jump to action. I go to walk back to my bench to watch, Jesse is already in the centre of the ring warming up when a hand lands on my arm. I turn to look at the owner of the hand, surprised to see Nixon. He looks like he wants to say something. I smile at him softly in understanding, knowing that he was probably feeling bad about what had happened.
“I wouldn’t have let you get hurt,” he tells me, his deep voice running over me.
I look at the big man in front of me properly, and I believe him. He would have caught me in my marble form, even though it would have caused him injury to catch marble at that speed, even with his strength. This silent giant would put himself at risk to make sure I wasn’t hurt. He had begun to turn away, but I stop him with a gentle hand on his chest. He looks down at my hand in confusion, then to my face. He expression softens at something he sees in my gaze.
“I know. Thank you, Nixon.”
He nods at me and lumbers away. I watch him as he exits the tent until I feel someone watching me. I turn and see Alcide watching me again. Winking at me he turns back to the ring to watch Jesse.
The rest of the afternoon I watch Jesse and the other acts of the show practice. I am mesmerised by Jesse. His act is acrobatics and he has to be one of the most flexible people I have ever seen. After doing a summersault that had me holding my breath, he looks over at me and winks. My heart does a summersault as if trying to mimic Jesse. I have to admit, he looks good in his tight leggings, shirtless with his hair slicked back.
Taking a run up, he powers along the circle performing an incredible series of tumbles and somersaults; when he lands he goes down to one knee, and claps his hands together as a large column of flame comes bursting from his mouth. I jump to my feet and run towards him, amazed. I didn’t see him use a flame, this must be his power!
“Jesse, that was amazing, I didn’t know you could fire breathe!” I say breathlessly.
“That’s me, too hot to handle,” he flirts with a wink, blowing a tiny flame in my direction.
I curse as I fall to the ground again, before standing and brushing myself off for what feels like the one-hundredth time. The rest of the afternoon had passed in a blur. Alcide had decided that I needed to get in better shape and learn some of Jesse’s moves. I don’t think that I will ever be able to do what he can, my powers won’t be able to help me either. But at a look from Alcide, I did as I was told, I’m still on probation here after all.
Which is why I’m in the dark on my own practicing my new moves. I really am terrible at this, but at least there is a nice view. When I was looking for somewhere to practice, I didn’t want anyone to see me, so I walked to the edge of the camp and found a flat space near a ravine. The land may be scorched and dying, but the orange sunset looks stunning out here.
With a sigh, I try to work through my stretches again, I am determined to get this. I will prove myself and earn a place here.
Facing the setting sun, I run through my routine again, I start to feel like I may be able to do this. A smile spreads across my face until a shock of pain hits the back of my head. Bright lights flash across my eyes and my vision starts to go black around the edges. I stumble, trying to gain my footing until I am shoved hard in the back and I feel myself tumble off the edge of the ravine.
The feeling of falling greets me for the second time today and I only have time to scream as terror fills me, my vision flashing again as the ground rushes up to meet me.
I jerk awake, the feeling of falling following me into consciousness. I look around and realise I am not where I thought I was, this is not Rex’s tent. I seem to be at the bottom of a ravine. Everything comes back to me in a rush. The Circus, Alcide, practicing my moves, falling. No, I didn’t just fall, someone pushed me. Looking up to the top of the ravine it is easy to see that fall would have killed a normal person. I take stock of my body, checking it over for injuries. Apart from my head, which is pounding from where I was hit, I can’t see any damage. But my body feels strange. My legs are in rock form, my arms are covered in a leathery material and my shoulders ache like there has been a heavy weight hanging from them. I close my eyes and try to pull my powers back inside me. It’s hard work, and I’m exhausted once it’s done. I’ve never changed into multiple forms at the same time before. I don’t even know what I changed into. Hearing an animal howl in the distance causes fear to rush through me, and I know I need to get back to the circus soon, there are worse things out here than just wolves. Especially, if you’re a lone woman.
Pushing to my feet, I look around for the best route out of here. I am starting to panic, the feeling rising at the back of my throat and threatening to consume me. I’ve never been on my own outside of a compound before, it’s too dangerous. I try to put more faith in my powers, I adapt to survive, I will make it back to my guys. I laugh, which sounds loud compared to the silence of the wilderness. My guys, since when did they become that? I shake my head, I need to focus if I’m going to get out of this alive.
I look around again, and for some reason, I feel compelled to go left, following a little dirt track that an animal must have made.
I stop walking as I hear a noise, a rustling coming from the tall grass on my right. I crouch down into a defensive position, ready for what might be lurking in the darkness. Two green, glowing orbs peer back at me from within. I stay as still as I can, unsure of who or what the glowing eyes belong to. I don’t know much about the animals of the wilderness, I’ve only heard tales from the folks in the taverns, although I wouldn’t pay much attention to what comes out of their mouths. The rustling gets louder and I feel my fear rising up once more. I keep as still as I can, like my life depends on it, even my breathing is shallow. Then out of the grass, an animal slinks towards me. It stands at about knee height, has the appearance of a cat, and has short black fur all over its body. In fact, it would look like a normal cat if not for the size, with its glowing green eyes and two tails. The cat continues to stalk towards me, but at this point, I don’t think it means me any harm. I know I am right when the creature rubs up against my legs, making a deep purring noise. I let out a small laugh and drop into a crouch, offering my hand for the cat to smell. Once my hand has been sniffed, I gently place it on its head, rubbing behind its ears. The purring noise gets louder and a smile crosses my face.
A howl sounds again, closer this time, which has me jumping to my feet. The cat spins around and hisses in the direction of the howl.
“Come on cat, we need to get out of here,” I say in a shaky voice.
The creature looks up at me as if it understands, and I swear I see it nod its head. I start walking in the direction I had felt pulled towards, glancing over my shoulder to see the cat is following me. A small smile crosses my lips again.
“You should have a name,” I say out loud as I walk through the bottom of the ravine. I walk for a while, losing track of time. I’m pondering over names as I begin climbing up a rocky incline.
“How about Sid?” I ask. I know I sound slightly hysterical, but talking to Sid is helping to keep me sane and not over think that someone just tried to kill me.
I don’t know how long I walk with my silent companion, but my feet are sore and my arms are scratched up from where I stumbled on the rocky ground. I may be used to hours of physical labour, but I’m not used to falling down ravines and walking in the wilderness. Suddenly, I can see lights in the distance and before I know it I am running.
I’m running blind, my breathing ragged, just following that instinctive part of me that has never lead me astray. I can’t see Sid, but I can feel his presence behind me as if watching my back.
“Rhea,” a deep voice calls to me.
I look up and have never been so glad to see someone in all my life. I don’t question why Nixon is out here in the wilderness, maybe he just knew that he needed to be here? I run towards him, stopping only a few feet from where he is standing. I look up at him to see him frowning at me, a worried expression written across his face, and before I know what is happening he pulls me into his arms and holds me close. Finally feeling safe, I let the emotions of the evening take over, tears running from my eyes as I bury my face in his shirt. I’m aware that at some point Sid has gone, but I don’t want to pull away from Nixon’s comforting embrace.
They find us like this an hour later, in the wilderness at the edge of the camp, with me clutched tightly in Nixon’s arms, just the two of us in the dark.
“Why the fuck have you woken me up. Because Harpy over there fell over? What, did she get a boo-boo?” Blain sneers at me, where I am sitting in between Nixon and Rex. Both of them holding a hand each.
“I was pushed,” I grind out. Once again Blain has managed to rile me up and he has only just walked into the tent. My fear turning into anger, the kind that burns deep, just waiting to explode. At least I am not shaking now, instead, I’m fighting the need to fling myself across the table and punch his smug, handsome face. Rex grunts, making me look down to see my hand has turned to stone around his. Shocked, the change retracts until my pale skin is revealed. As I look up at him, he offers me a smile before turning back to the table where we all sit for a ‘family meeting’ as Alcide calls it. The man himself sits at the head of the table, watching it all unfold with an unreadable expression on his face.
