The Circus Infinitus - Victoria 7

by Ethan Somerville

  I slipped into the forest of pipes and gauges lining the back wall, and found a heavy steel door with a giant wheel at its centre. I turned the wheel and slipped through into a room containing three large boilers. The heat was phenomenal. A normal human could have borne it, but only just. Large piles of coal lay nearby, waiting to be shovelled into the maws of these huge machines. But at the moment all the boiler doors were closed. The great machine was in a stand-by mode. I wondered how infernal this place would be when it was at full power.

  But the heat was enough to send the worst of my chill away. I found myself a seat next to one the boilers and opened my book to read. I was able to concentrate quite effectively for several hours, until some bare-chested carnies came in to start stoking the fires for the first show of the new day. I would have stayed, basking in the glorious heat of the wide-open boiler doors, but the men somewhat regretfully told me I was in their way.

  I returned to my room, which had warmed slightly, but still felt like ice after that wonderful chamber. Since I didn’t really sleep in this form, I spent some time meditating to relax and try and overcome the cold by sheer will power. It was a long, slow process, but it was working. I could bear the cold better than I had on first waking, but I still didn’t like it.

  Later, I wrapped myself up in a thick fur cloak and wandered the grounds for a few hours, exploring more of this strange circus. Then, in the afternoon, I went to see my first show. Once again in the Big Top’s warm interior, I felt almost comfortable, surrounded by excited people.

  As I sat down I noticed cables running down from the seats and into the floor. I wondered what they were for and where they went. Each chair appeared to have one. Perhaps my clever self would be able to figure them out. Then the lights dimmed – electric lights, I realised with a shiver of excitement. Truly this place was a modern marvel! How had all this been accomplished?

  The Ringmaster appeared in stage in a single circle of light. “Welcome to the Circus Infinitus!” he boomed in a voice that clearly reached even my dark corner.

  “Take a breath, close your eyes,

  Hold it as the curtain rises

  Suspend your belief, be prepared

  For amazing sights never dared

  Displays of science, magic and power

  Freaks and clowns, beasts in a tower

  Acrobats will roll, tumble and throw

  Hearken now we start the show!”

  The Ringmaster clapped his hands with a sound like thunder and the lights cut out again. There was a bang, a flash, and a huge billow of smoke came from the stage. A strange, creaking, grinding noise followed.

  “Behold! The fantastic machines of Professor Abbacus!” the Ringmaster shouted from somewhere. His voice seemed to come from all around me.

  The lights came back on to reveal an entirely new stage, the one I had glimpsed earlier with all the machines on it. I knew it could be raised and lowered, but how had it been moved all the way over here? I wondered in confusion. Perhaps that strange mechanical noise had been it shifting around on a track. But how could something so massive have been transported all that way?

  “Dreadful experiments have left him hideously scarred, hence the bandages he must wear!” proclaimed the hidden Ringmaster. “But they have also left him with a dreadful thirst – for ELECTRICITY!”

  Professor Abbacus stood at the base of a giant, two pronged device. He yanked town a switch, and snakes of blinding white electricity started to sizzle up between the shafts. He stepped back as they grew larger and brighter, becoming increasingly impressive and deadly. Strange shapes began to appear in the electricity; artistic designs and words. Audience members started to gasp and clap at the sight.

  But Professor Abbacus wasn’t finished. He shut down that device and moved to another, a large metal cage on a tall pole wrapped with thick cables. A deep hum started that grew louder and louder. Then another bright spark of electricity shot out from the cage and hit the floor with an almighty crack!

  This time people actually screamed at the sight.

  More bolts of lightning began to blast from the machine. Then, to everyone’s horror, Professor Abbacus walked into the middle of the stage. Electrical bolts sizzled and crackled into the steel floor all around him. Audience members began to gasp and call out.

  But Professor Abbacus stayed where he was. He lifted his hands, and suddenly a massive bolt hit him right in the chest! He jerked in its mighty glow, but didn’t fall. He stayed with his hands upraised in supplication as bolt after bolt slammed into him. I was horrified, but couldn’t tear my gaze from him. How on Earth was he doing that?

  There was a clunk and the strange lightning ceased throwing bolts and shut down. Professor Abbacus stayed with his hands upraised for a second, then flung one arm forward, blasting electricity from his fingertip. The searing energy passed right over the heads of the seated audience members! There were more squeals of horror and delight.

  Professor Abbacus made lightning sizzle between his hands just like it had between the prongs of that other device. Then he sent two streaks of energy sizzling across the room. They smashed into the wall above the back row – one barely a couple of feet above my head!

  I was fascinated, but right now I wished I was in my smart form. She would know exactly what was going on!

  Professor Abbacus did a few more tricks with the lightning, sending it arcing around his body. He even lashed it like a whip. When he thought everyone was sufficiently impressed, he clapped his hands. There was an almighty flash of ball-lightning – and then he was gone.

  The lights went out. Everyone cheered and clapped. Some stamped their feet. Others jumped into the air. The noise was deafening.

  As the noise slowly died away, the Ringmaster’s disembodied voice spoke again. “I trust you enjoyed the Professor’s display. Now for our acrobats! The fabulous Limboni Triplets and the truly delectable Adella the Amazon!”

  There were more strange creaking and groaning noises, and when the lights came on again, a new stage was revealed, with nets, trampolines and trapezes.

  I thought these performers would be rather ordinary after Abbacus’s display, but they proved me wrong. Not that I’d seen many acrobats during my life, but the Limboni triplets seemed to defy gravity – and the laws of human anatomy. The boys only had two arms between them, but seemed able to swap them at will as they flipped through the air. The girl, who possessed all her limbs, seemed to have a skeleton made of rubber and could tie herself into the most complicated knots. All three leapt, tumbled and practically flew through the air. The boys even staged mock battles over their arms, much to the amusement of the crowd.

  The other acrobat, Adella the Amazon, was six feet of rippling muscle dressed in a hot pink leotard, with a long dark ponytail and a cat-mask to hide her face. Like the Limbonis, she seemed able to leap and fly through the air, her great strength and agility propelling her an impressive distance. She performed the most amazing tricks on the trampoline; triple somersaults and backflips, spins, turns and twists and once, she leapt so high into the air she was caught by one of the Limbonis as he swung on his trapeze. Using only one arm each, they flipped Adella from one to the other several times,

  There was something familiar about that woman, but I couldn’t put my bony finger on it.

  When their show finished, I clapped as hard as everyone else. The curtain dropped, and that discordant grinding noise started again.

  “And now for our animal acts! Be warned, these are no ordinary beasts, but strange, exotic creatures from far off wilds!” the Ringmaster boomed.

  Once again I expected to be deceived. But the creatures that were paraded, and then instructed to perform simple tricks, really were exotic. The massive polar bear “Cuddles” had been declawed by his previous owner, but Prof. Abbacus had fitted him with new steel claws, as long and gleaming as carving knives. The elephant “Trunks” really did have two of them, both perfectly viable and able to lift a carnie in each. The “carnivorses�
� had tentacles, fangs and claws instead of hoofs, and were even more intelligent than normal horses.

  Following the beasts came “X the Strongman”, so called because he could not write his own name and made an “X” whenever required to do so. He was also mute, so he couldn’t speak his name either. This massive, semi-naked black man was able to lift everything presented to him; other carnies, horses, carts, Cuddles – even the elephant. He never even grunted with effort or broke a sweat. Great iron chains were wrapped around his arms and middle, I wondered, as I watched him in fascination, if he was one of the circus’s zombies as well.

  X was followed by the four dwarf clowns I had seen in the canteen. They were a welcome change of pace, and their antics even made this dried up old corpse of a body laugh.

  The very last act was the Ringmaster’s own, a truly phenomenal display of mental magic. He analysed objects handed to him – with great detail and humour. He read minds with disturbing accuracy. He levitated willing – but extremely frightened – members of the audience. He pulled mysterious objects from his top hat. And then, at the very end, he created a ring of fire from thin air and leapt through it, disappearing from sight.

  I clapped as hard as the rest of the audience, so hard I thought I was going to jar my ancient arms from their sockets. I even cheered and stamped my feet. Never had I seen such a spectacle! And now I was part of it, a privy to its secrets.

  Unfortunately, as it turned out, I wasn’t privy to very many secrets at all. After the show I sought out the Ringmaster to question him, but he simply gave me his usual enigmatic smile, and told me to “wait and see”. I did ask Professor Abbacus as the hour before midnight drew to a close, but as I’d expected, he simply sniffed and informed me in his usual curt way that I still couldn’t be trusted.

  How long would I have to wait before I would be? Before I was truly an accepted part of this place? How long had all those undead carnies waited? All these questions ran through my mind as once again Professor Abbacus examined my amulet to monitor its changes, and perhaps start predicting it.

  But, like the Circus folks, my curse kept to itself. That night I shifted into the Spider Queen. Even Abbacus stepped back in surprise at the sight of me. The Ringmaster’s jaw dropped in amazement. “You really are a spider!” he exclaimed. “I thought you simply would have had spidery aspects!”

  I scuttled quite easily up a steel wall and hung off the ceiling. “Do you think you can use me in an act?” I purred.

  “Oh, of course! Can you spin webs?”

  “Over the years I have learned to create truly magnificent works of art. I could whip one up in between shows, and swing down during a quiet moment to give your audience a real thrill.”

  He laughed. I could tell he was fascinated by my new form. And that excited me too. In this form I was just as insatiable as the Vampiress, although I must admit lovers were far rarer. I didn’t have that body’s ability to beguile.

  But then Professor Abbacus grabbed the Ringmaster by a shoulder and practically shoved him out of the room. That was strange. He had been interested before, but now he couldn’t wait to get out of my presence!

  I crawled down the wall and exited the room. If I wanted enough to eat, I would have to go and spin a large web somewhere. There were a couple I had left in the forest that may have prey caught in them, but I would still have to create a new one for next time. Or could I rely on the folks in that cafeteria to feed me? They had managed to sate the Wolf Woman’s ravenous appetite.

  I decided to check my old webs first, and crept from the Circus Infinitus into the dark night.

  Chapter Thirteen

  I found a couple of field mice in one web, which served as a small entree, but nothing more than flies in the other one. I returned to the Circus hungry in the early morning, and made my way into the cafeteria to see what was available.

  To her credit, Ethel did not scream her head off at the sight of me. After all, being a zombie had granted her some immunity to total sanity loss. But she did take a step back and look me up and down. “Are … you the new lady?” she asked somewhat shakily. “The one who can change her form?”

  “Yes. You fed me when I was the wolf. I was wondering if you could do it again. I’m starving.”

  “Er, perhaps. What would you like? I’ve just managed to chase the clowns out and am about to pack up for the night.”

  “Meat, and lots of it.” I showed her my fangs.

  “I have some mutton, but it might take me a while to cook up enough for you.”

  “No need to cook it. In this form I like my flesh raw. In fact, the bloodier the better.”

  “Very well – raw meat we have in abundance. But unfortunately nothing bloody at the moment. I’ll bring you a haunch.” She hurried off into a back room and returned a few minutes later with a mutton leg, quite large but very cold. I wasn’t sure why it was near freezing in temperature, but didn’t question. My hunger got the better of me, and I tore into the meat.

  In this form I had two ways of eating. I could devour meat like a carnivore with my long, pointed teeth, or I could drain a victim’s blood with my tongue, which doubled as a proboscis. I preferred to ingest a creature’s life-fluids, especially from its still beating heart. Unfortunately, this was a wasteful method and so I only reserved it when there was an abundance of food.

  For a while I simply ate, enjoying my cold, but raw meat. Edith continued to bustle around the kitchen, cleaning up. I wondered if maybe she would reveal some of this place’s mysterious secrets. “I heard that all you carnies are actually zombies. How did this happen?”

  “Oooh, that would be telling, lady with many faces. Can’t be doing that until we can trust you.”

  “But surely you can trust me now. I’ve been here for days already.”

  “Days, aye. Not weeks. Not months. We can’t let just anyone know our secrets, Miss. I’ve been here since the Circus Infinitus started, and there are still things I don’t understand about this place!”

  It seemed they were all in this together. Oh well, I guess I would have to be patient. The trouble was, in this form I was not patient! It was the least patient of all my bodies! Perhaps if I did some exploring I would find out more. “Very well,” I conceded to Ethel with a predatory smile. “I can wait. Thank you for the mutton.” I licked the sheep’s thigh bone clean, and left it on the table.

  “That’s quite alright, Miss. Throw the bone to me. I’ll keep it for soup. Don’t waste anything around ‘ere. Too many hungry mouths to feed. Most of ‘em belong to the clowns! They may be tiny, but they eat more than everyone else put together!”

  It was getting light when I left the cafeteria, but the first show wasn’t due to start until eleven. So I spent the time exploring the inside of the Big Top. In this form I was easily able to scuttle all over the walls and examine each stage. I learned that they were moved around by a complicated mechanism beneath the floor. It was massive and looked like it had taken years to build; all interlocking cogs and wheels controlled by a series of levers sent into the right-hand wall, just behind the velvet curtain. The big boilers up the back powered the mechanism and were calibrated not to just run on coal, but on whatever garbage was thrown into it. They were also extremely efficient; the interior of the big top was warm and smoky, but not nearly as hot and polluted as it should have been.

  Down the back near the boilers and behind the ring mechanism, I found a large room containing a mysterious machine comprised of seven concentric circles that looked like they could each spin on a different axis. It was connected to another device that looked like several cylinders of discs joined together. Some sort of control board with buttons and levers on it stood on front. Cables trained across the floor and dangled from the ceiling. The whole thing looked quite unstable and dangerous. My head spun. I'm sure my smart form would be able to figure it out, but right now I simply gaped at the amazing set up. What on Earth was it? I knew it was important, and a feeling deep down inside me told me it had
something to do with how the Circus Infinitus moved around. I had yet to find the means by which the place was shifted.

  I thoroughly examined the strange room, and then I noticed the back of the narrow catwalk I had spotted earlier. I scuttled up the wall underneath and crawled up onto it. From here I had a great view of the entire inside of the Big Top, with its rotating stages and tiers for the audience.

  At the end of the catwalk was a steel door studded with big rivets. I moved up to it and tried it, but found it locked. So I knocked.

  "Go away!" shouted a crotchety, very familiar voice. I smiled. I had found where Professor Abbacus lived. I wanted to look inside, but I doubted he would let me. Perhaps, if he came out later to perform some check ups, I'd be able to sneak in.

  Or perhaps I could a look in another form, namely the Vampiress's. Then I could turn into mist and slip under the door.

  I scuttled off to look at something else. There was plenty inside to keep me amused. Then, an hour before the first show, I spun a large web across the ceiling. It was only basic, certainly not thick enough to catch anything, but it would serve my purpose. I scuttled up into the dark rafters close to the ceiling to wait for my signal as the first customers came in to take their seats.

  I watched my second show from above. Professor Abbacus started with his lightning bolt show, and a few of his searing blasts nearly sliced the guy-wires of my web and sent me plunging before my cue!

  The acrobats and Adella the Amazon followed, performing a similar routine to the one I'd seen as the Mummy. My signal came when Adella the Amazon flipped herself up into the air towards me, and pretended to miss the outstretched hand of one of the Limboni boys. To horrified gasps from the audience she plunged towards the ground.

  Then I shot down on a thin strand of silk and swung towards her, catching her in my four strong arms.