Stardust: Tales from Cirque Macabre

by Kristen Strassel

  She wouldn’t limit herself by my fears or my visions.

  “What time do we need to be there?” I asked.

  “I should go alone.” Her declaration was softer. Being alone with a bunch of vampires after being an active participant in a destruction spell was a bad idea, no matter what the potential reward. We didn’t have a timeline on when our spell would move into the destroy phase. “I can’t show up with a babysitter. It makes me look like I can be pushed around.”

  That stung, whether it was her intention or not. “I’m not your babysitter.”

  Holly rose to her knees and pushed her hair from her shoulders. “Then why are you there?” She gave me seconds to answer but all my canned responses about spells and protection were synonyms for babysitter. “Don’t get me wrong, I couldn’t do this without you. But some of it, I have to do myself.”

  She relied so heavily on everyone else—her travels to Bette for dance lessons, the band to provide her with music, the management to simply like her enough to let her keep her job, and even Lucille, who got her into this mess to begin with.

  “At least let me pick you up and drop you off,” I said.

  She wrinkled her nose in confusion. “Why?”

  “So I can limit my worrying to what happens to you at the rehearsal and I don’t have to worry about you getting home safe.”

  “Deal.” She kissed my cheek. “And when I get home, it’s your turn to wear the strap-on.”

  Four o’clock in the morning, and Holly still hadn’t called. She wasn’t answering texts and every call went straight to voicemail. No matter how much she wanted to please her new coworkers, this wasn’t like her.

  Every time I closed my eyes, I saw fire. Not the pretty sparks that Holly wore like nail polish, but massive amounts of fire. The kind that ruined things. The ever-present screaming provided the soundtrack. The first few times, I snapped my eyes open, willing it to go away, rushing to my spell books, which usually soothed me. Not this time. Then I resorted to the internet, since the promise of money would reverse our fortunes. The visions played in front of my open eyes, like they were on the screen, but the more times it happened, the more I worried my visions were trying to show me the present instead of the future.

  Lucille had passed out on the couch, snoring with her head back on the cushion. I tiptoed past; no need to clue her in something was wrong. She wouldn’t help, but my blood boiled at the thought of the smug smile she’d give me when she realized everything was going according to her plan.

  The screams in my head were overwhelming, making it painful to concentrate on driving because they’d taken on Holly’s voice. I may have run a red light or two, but I was chanting protection spells like crazy to keep me from screaming.

  The few gamblers left on the casino floor turned their heads as I ran to the theater. My bag banged against my thigh, and the stones meant to protect me would leave bruises. No security guard greeted me at the door, and I tugged on it. Locked. I slammed my fist against it, worried I wouldn’t be able to calm down enough to cast a spell. I couldn’t draw too much attention to myself because I’d be thrown out of here without a second thought.

  My strength was the future, not the past, and I racked my brain to remember the code that worked the last time we had to break into the theater. Holly had done it. She was better at breaking into theaters than dancing. I chanted the spell as I punched numbers, rattling the door, but not opening it. Think of it like the roulette wheel, I thought to myself. Numbers flashed in my brain, with flames licking them. It worked.

  I expected to be greeted with chaos and smoke when I entered the theater, but instead all was dark. Silence. The flashlight on my phone guided me, and I no longer ran. I didn’t want to miss a detail.

  The screams assaulted me, attacking me from the inside. I was exhausted and scared, and I didn’t trust myself to know the difference between a vision and a reality. Blackness was everywhere, and all that was missing were the flames.

  I was too late.

  “Holly!” I screamed, not worried about people knowing I was here or about hurting her pride. All I cared about was Holly’s safety. It had to be damn close to daybreak, and vampires would no longer be an enemy. My voice rang through the empty theater.

  I clutched my phone, relying on its light, and realizing even the security light was out. Something was definitely wrong. My heart thundered in my ears.

  “Holly!” The cry didn’t hide my desperation. My eyes adjusted to the dark, and the sea of seats was nothing but blackness in front of me.

  A flash of orange illuminated the hallway. I hit the ground as the heat rose above me, shocked that I was still alive. Groans and strangled cries came from the center of the theater. I scrambled to my feet, but stayed in a crouch, in case there was another fire bomb coming my way.

  “Holly!” I screamed for her again, this time knowing she was there. A primal scream erupted, way too feminine and familiar for my liking.

  I found her on stage, fully ignited. Even through the flames, I knew it was her. She held her victim by the throat, and the flames engulfed him as she whipped his broken body against the stage. With a guttural cry, she sent him skidding off the edge, into the seats.

  I couldn’t believe he had the strength to run. The flames ate away at his skin and hair, exposing the black nothingness I’d been able to see all along. I should’ve run after him, to make sure he was dead.

  But I wouldn’t leave Holly.

  “Rainey.” Holly’s voice pulled me away from that thought. “How did you know to come?”

  I ran. I missed a step and had to catch myself. Whatever was in my visions could get me if I was hurt, and I had to be strong enough for both of us.

  “It was a vision.” I kept talking as I approached the stage, so she’d know I was getting closer, but everything that came out of my mouth was nonsense. Nothing could strangle my cry when I saw her up close.

  The fire was gone. She crawled toward me, and everything was black. Her face, her hair, and her clothes, what was left of them. I fell to my knees, afraid to touch her. To hurt her. More.

  She collapsed, and her charred head landed in my lap. She didn’t have to be brave anymore. “They tricked me.”

  9

  “Are you hurt?” The answer was obviously yes, but I couldn’t bring myself to ask ‘how bad?’ I wanted to touch her, to erase all the suffering she’d endured for the last few hours while I lay in our bed, waiting for a phone call that was never going to come. Something that was bad enough to make her burst into flames.

  Holy shit. She’d been fully engulfed. And she survived.

  I refused to bring her more pain through my ignorance.

  “A lot of things…happened.” She could barely get the words out. I smoothed her hair, which was thick with filth and had chunks missing. Her scalp wasn’t exposed, but it was much shorter than it had been when she left the house. Jagged. What the… “I need help.”

  “You need a doctor.” I held my phone over her body, looking for obvious damage. Blood and soot painted her bare skin. “I’m calling an ambulance.”

  “No,” she croaked. “You can take care of me. With your spells.”

  I’d never felt so helpless in my life. “Holly, you’re scaring me. You just said you needed help but you won’t let me get it for you. My spells aren’t medicine. You need a professional to make sure there’s no damage I can’t see.”

  She chuckled, and it was chilling. “What will happen when I tell them I thwarted a vampire attack by bursting into flames? They won’t believe it.” Her head slid off my lap, and she shielded it with her arms. “The evidence is probably gone.”

  The thought of what evidence she meant made by blood run cold. “Can you walk?” I wasn’t sure that I could walk. I was numb; the only way I’d get through this was to resist all feeling. The scorched one that quieted the voices in my head.

  She pushed herself up from the floor. I barely recognized her—eyes vacant, like she’d seen t
oo much. Bruises and cuts marred her cheek. “I think so.”

  I was torn—wanting to help her, but not wanting to hurt her. Every move she made was punctuated by a groan or cry. Holly leaned on me, stumbling on the stairs.

  “You need a doctor.” I gave it one more try, to see if she’d changed her mind now that she was trying to move.

  “I don’t.” Her sigh sounded like it rubbed against sandpaper on the way out. “We have to handle this on our own.”

  Her words chilled me because they were true. We’d always had to handle it on own. Lucille protected us and exposed us at the same time, hiding essential facts that only she could provide us with. When we met anyone in a traditional setting, whether it be a doctor, teacher, or simply a neighbor, no one knew how to act around us. I could bring Holly to a hospital, but even with the best intentions, she wouldn’t get the help she needed. I had to rise up and figure this out any way I could.

  “Let’s get you clean.” I steered her to the bathroom. Holly collapsed when the lights snapped on and she got her first look at the aftermath of the night.

  I’d never realized how much of Holly’s beauty came from her optimism until she lay in a heap at my feet.

  It took everything I had to wet paper towels and drag them over her skin. I had to bottle up this pain and keep it for the retaliations that were sure to follow the attack. We’d lured the vampires, and now they had to be destroyed.

  If it was the last thing I did, I’d fulfill the spell. Not for Lucille, but for Holly.

  I couldn’t make all the damage go away. Bruises erupted under the surface of her skin, and the cuts looked like claw marks, covering her face, chest, stomach, and thighs. My breath caught in my throat as screams echoed in my head. No, there couldn’t be more.

  Her hands and arms were black. Charred. Skin flaked to the floor when I mistakenly tried to scrub it away. No way could I cry over her pain while she tried to regain her strength. I bit my lip so hard I drew blood.

  Holly held her hand in front of her face, and the last thing I’d expected to see was a smile, and not an unsure wobbly one—it had power. “I burned the bastard.” Her gold eyes sparkled in a sea of black that rimmed her eyes.

  “You also picked him up by the neck and threw him off the stage.” I returned her grin, soaking in the courage that radiated from her. “Think that’s what management had in mind when they wanted the two of you to work together?”

  She scoffed, and her face darkened. I feared the fire would return. “Not at all.”

  “Think he’s dead?”

  “He’s got to be.” Holly winced as she struggled to sit up straight. “Fire destroys vampires.”

  Lucille’s words from a couple weeks ago echoed in my head. She has what they need. A source of renewable energy. For a second, I regretted not chasing Noah, but Holly needed me more. Chances were that he was a pile of ashes ground into the carpet. And rightfully so.

  “Where do you want to go?” I was torn, and still not convinced I could get her out of here. That was before I factored in all the unwanted attention.

  “Home.” Holly was regaining strength, and the first thing that came back was the urge to fight. “I won’t run scared.”

  She covered herself with my sweatshirt, pulling up the hood to disguise the damage on her face. There was no hiding she was a mess. I used a distraction spell, one of my favorites, to make everyone we passed on the casino floor look the other way.

  “She could wake the dead.” Holly shook her head at Lucille’s extended snore when we walked into the apartment. Her sense of humor convinced me that she’d not only survive whatever happened to her, she’d thrive.

  She tore off what was left of her clothes as soon as she got in the bedroom. Every wound had followed her home. She broke down again, black hands covering her face.

  I put my hand on her shoulder, and she looked up at me, her bloodshot gold eyes were like flames. “I’ll run you a bath.”

  Holly nodded. Her emotions were a rollercoaster, and every high and low hit me like a wave or a smack in the face. Adding a few drops of aloe to the water, I lit a sage candle and inhaled deeply before bringing her in.

  She hissed when she sunk down into the water. Soot rose to the surface. Her eyes widened when she realized it, and before I could stop her, she opened the drain.

  “You’ll freeze,” I protested.

  “I won’t sit in that filth.” She chased any remaining dirt down the drain with running water, then plugged the drain again, leaned back, and closed her eyes.

  There was nothing I could to for her until the water covered her. “What happened before I walked in?”

  She swallowed hard but didn’t open her eyes. “Everything started off great. The fire eater was there, and she let me try it. Good thing I learned how to spit fire tonight.” Smoke clung to her voice, and her smile was closer to a grimace. “There were a ton of people around, and everyone had an opinion on what would make the show the best thing anyone had ever seen. They were all pretty lame, and no one cared what I had to say, or anyone in the band for that matter. So we stuck around after everyone else left to work on some of the stuff we’d been talking about.”

  And that was her first mistake. I kept that thought to myself as I dragged the washcloth over her skin. What was left couldn’t be washed away, but it didn’t mean I wouldn’t try.

  “The guys claimed to be frustrated with the production, too. Noah and I were working on some choreography where he had to catch me as I fell back out of a spin. The timing wasn’t working, and the rest of the guys were antsy to go party, so the two of us stayed behind.

  “We finally nailed it, and he tried to kiss me.” She opened her eyes and bit her lip. I stilled the washcloth. “No, keep doing what you’re doing. It feels good. I told him that wasn’t cool, and he said he’d make me forget all about my boyfriend. I told him I didn’t have a boyfriend, and it took him a minute to catch on. Moron. I meant to get out of there, but he wouldn’t let me.”

  Holly curled into a ball and faced the wall. She didn’t need to finish the story, her shaking shoulders did it for her. I crawled into the tub, fully clothed, to hold her.

  “I burned him. The fire rose from deep inside me, and my hands were the first to go.” She held her hand up, and it was a grayish pink now, pruny and healing. “It consumed me. Then he tried to get away from me, but payback is a bitch. It’s not easy to fight a vampire. Those fuckers are strong. But I didn’t give up. I had him pinned to the ground, and I didn’t care if I burned the entire hotel down at that point. I wouldn’t let that bastard get away with it.

  “It freaked me out to do that to someone. But his intentions were…” She shuddered, unable to finish the thought. She didn’t have to. “No vampire is going to fuck with me.”

  “He’s probably dead.” I hated that we didn’t know. I climbed out of the tub and peeled my clothes off. “What about the rest of the band?”

  “I won’t work with them.” Holly unplugged the drain with her big toe, and I wrapped her in a fluffy towel. “And I won’t have to. Those bastards gave me all the ammunition I need. Production wants me to fulfill my contract? It will be on my terms. My own show. My way.”

  The fire ignited so many things from deep inside her. I almost questioned if she really thought she could do it, but I knew better. She would, just like she said. Her way. Instead, I met her lips in a kiss. I closed my eyes, letting myself get lost in her. The story could’ve had a very different ending, but she didn’t let it.

  A vision came to me. Holly on stage, sticks of fire spinning in her hands. She raised one high, tipped her head back, readying to swallow it.

  The kiss grew hot, and I dropped the towel, terrified of what my vision would show me next. I gripped Holly’s shoulders.

  I Saw the crowd going wild, only happy screams, no black spots obscuring anything. She breathed fire, smiling at the shocked reaction of everyone around her. Water puddled at our feet on the floor. She wrapped her hands around
my waist, and we were one in her dance. Moving gracefully across the stage, a flame trailed from her fingers, moving up her arm, and consumed her entire body. She was so beautiful, the oranges and yellows mixing with her red hair as she danced.

  We fell to the floor—the emotion, the raw need too much for either of us to bear. We separated with a gasp, and the crowd went wild before my vision ended.

  “You won’t need vampires.” I’d never been more in love with her than I was at that moment. “You’re going to be a star.”

  Thank you!

  I hope you enjoyed Rainey and Holly’s story as much as I enjoyed writing it! The original concept of Holly Octane came to me at an Alice Cooper show. He introduced his bad ass female guitarist, and in the back of the arena, I could’ve sworn he said her name was Holly Octane. I told myself if I heard him wrong, I was totally using that as a character name. His guitarist was Orianthi, and Holly Octane was born.

  Cirque Macabre continues, and the rest of the series is told from Holly’s point of view. Keep reading for chapter one of The Fire Dancer. Sin City Vampire Club and Queen of the Night Time World are coming summer 2017.

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  The Fire Dancer

  The crowd gasped as Katrinka tumbled from the sky, only supported by the silks she wrapped herself in. That was my cue.

  Compared to Katrinka, I was a chicken shit. She twisted herself in fabric high above the crowd, relying on nothing but her strength and grace to keep her whole. I just had to rely on my brain short circuiting.

  The lights fell so the crew could clear Katrinka’s set. The crowd erupted in a chant. For me.

  “Holly! Holly! Holly!”

  It hardly seemed fair.