Freeks

by Amanda Hocking

  “Our contract stipulates that we don’t get paid until Sunday the twenty-second, the last day of our show.” Gideon spoke loudly so his words would drown out the protests. “The midway has made some money, but we’ve only had one night of shows. We haven’t even made enough to cover the cost of getting out of here.

  “I won’t force anyone to stay,” Gideon said. “Everyone is always free to go, whenever they choose. But I am staying.” He paused. “Would any of you like to leave now, before you’ve gotten paid?”

  Someone coughed, and a few chairs creaked as people shifted their weight. But no one raised their hand or stood up. Everyone was staying.

  “We do need to take extra precautions, beyond the ones I mentioned with the tigers,” Gideon went on. “You cannot count on your extra senses, since they’ve been going out. For those of you that perform, you need to do things the old-school way—no tricks to save you or help you.

  “I’m also instituting a buddy system,” Gideon said, and this was met with groans and eye rolling. “At least when it’s dark out. Don’t go anywhere alone. There’s no reason to risk it.

  “All right. Any questions?” Gideon asked, and when there didn’t appear to be any, he said, “Let’s go to work, then. Everybody try to have a good time, and stay safe.”

  We all had jobs to do, but everyone seemed slow to clear out. Gideon had given us a lot to take in, even if I already knew some of it.

  Roxie muttered as she stood up, “This sucks.” Then she raised her arms over her head, stretching, and the short pink top she wore rose high, revealing her taut belly.

  “It sure does,” Hutch agreed, letting his gaze linger on her exposed skin. Roxie noticed, so she swatted him on the arm. “Sorry.”

  “At least it explains what happened with me the other night. Sorta.” Her brow furrowed, and she pursed her lips for a moment, then turned to me. “What about you? Have you felt anything?”

  Gideon had asked me the same question after we left Leonid’s, and I told him I hadn’t. At least not at Leonid’s. Since we’d gotten to Caudry, I’d had these weird flashes of cold, especially in my chest, but that was all. There I was, mere feet away from this super-powerful water, and everyone else’s senses were going wacko.

  That was all the proof I needed that I didn’t have the same “gift” as my mother. The chill I felt wasn’t anything more than nerves or a cold draft.

  “No,” I answered Roxie. “But I never do.”

  18. lust

  “You’re gonna be late if you don’t head out soon,” Roxie told the mirror, but the reflection of her blue eyes was locked on me. The red sequins on her slinky two-piece outfit glinted under the light from the globed bulbs of her vanity, and her bleached-blond hair was teased out as large as it could go.

  Tacked up on top of the mirror were a few photo-booth snaps of her and Carrie, along with another one of me, Roxie, and Blossom. Next to the pictures was a flier for Roxie’s solo show, which featured a drawing of scantily clad Roxie standing in a ring of fire with the words Foxy Roxie Plays with Fire written in flames across the top.

  “What if you need my help?” I asked, but I glanced at the clock and saw that it was already 7:56.

  I sat on the tattered fold-out sofa in the back of Roxie’s Airstream, watching her get ready under the guise of helping. I’d already done my gathering for the night, and for the moment, nobody needed my help.

  “The show doesn’t start for a half hour, and I’m already practically ready.” Roxie gestured to her attire and heavy makeup. “I’ll be fine.”

  “I know … but Carrie isn’t here,” I said.

  Usually, Roxie and Carrie performed together in a sort of burlesque show. They danced provocatively in skimpy outfits, but never took their clothes off, and they usually incorporated some element of magic. Roxie played with fire, and Carrie did tricks with hoops and made flowers appear and disappear.

  But with Seth still in the hospital—recuperating very slowly, according to the doctors—Carrie remained posted at his bedside, meaning Roxie was doing the act by herself.

  “I’ll be fine,” Roxie repeated, and turned to face me. “Why don’t you want to go meet Gabe?”

  “It’s not that I don’t want to see him.”

  In fact, my heart skipped a beat every time I thought of him, and I wanted nothing more than to see him and talk to him and feel his lips against mine.

  “Then what is it?” Roxie pressed.

  “With everything going on, I feel bad,” I explained lamely. “Like I shouldn’t be out having fun.”

  Roxie folded her arms over her chest. “So, you think if you weren’t out having fun with a cute guy for a couple hours, Seth would magically be all better? And all the weird vibes going on here would disappear? And the carnival suddenly wouldn’t be going broke?”

  I lowered my eyes. “Well, no.”

  “If you didn’t go meet Gabe, what would you be doing?” Roxie asked. “Hanging out in your trailer, reading a book and waiting around to see if someone needed a hand—even though you know that nobody will, not until it’s time to close up for the night.”

  “But—” I started to protest.

  “No.” Roxie held up a finger to silence me. “This town sucks. Somebody should be having fun, and if it’s not me, it might as well be you.”

  “You’re right.” I stood up and took a deep breath. “How do I look?”

  Even though I’d been debating whether or not to meet him, I’d still gotten ready like I’d planned on it—I wore a thin white sleeveless top that just barely showed my white bra underneath, a handkerchief skirt with a bold tribal pattern, and a few layered necklaces and bracelets.

  Roxie tilted her head as she studied me. “You look amazing, but you’re missing one thing.” She reached back and grabbed a tube of lipstick from the piles of makeup she had strewn about the vanity counter.

  “Thanks,” I told her after I’d applied a coat of bloodred lipstick. “Now I should probably run, if I want to meet him.”

  I smiled at her, then dashed out the door. I ran all the way through the campsite with the full moon lighting my way, but I slowed down once I made it through the hole in the fence. Running to Gabe out of breath wasn’t exactly the kind of impression I wanted to make.

  It was as I made my way down onto the midway that I realized Gabe and I had never decided on an exact meeting place. And, to make matters worse, it was packed. Well, worse for my love life at least.

  Then, just as I was feeling frantic—stalking down the gravel pathways, my eyes darting everywhere—I finally spotted him. He was standing a few feet away from my mom’s fortune-telling tent, exactly where I saw him last.

  His back was to me, with a fitted leather jacket pleasantly hugging his broad frame. I’d seen him only a couple times, so it should’ve been harder to recognize him just from his silhouette. But I knew it was him all the same.

  When he turned around, he was already smiling, like he knew I was there. Like the first time I’d seen him, sitting on his balcony, and somehow, he’d been able to see me hiding in the shadows.

  “Hey,” he said as I reached him. “I thought you might’ve changed your mind.”

  “No, I got held up for a minute.” I smiled up at him. “Sorry.”

  He shook his head. “Don’t worry about it. I’m just happy you’re here now.”

  My mom’s tent was mere feet from where we were standing, and even though the curtain was closed—meaning she was with a client—it was still dangerous to be this close to her. If she spotted us, I couldn’t handle the lecture, or the ensuing embarrassment of my fortune-teller mom chewing me out in front of a townie.

  So I knew that we should move, that I should direct Gabe to go anywhere else, really. But, for a moment, I felt too … mesmerized? In lust? Enchanted? Frozen?

  His eyes were the same rich golden brown they always were, but tonight they seemed brighter and bigger, like a gemstone catching the sun. Even his smile seemed somehow sexier
than before, and the wicked edge to it felt sharper. Everything about him had my heart racing even faster than normal.

  I narrowed my eyes at him, trying to understand what could be different. “Did you change something? Maybe your hair?”

  Gabe laughed, smoothing back his thick hair, then glanced up at the night sky. “No. Nothing’s changed.”

  “Sorry.” I pulled my gaze away from him and shook my head. “I’m just having a weird day.”

  “Maybe we can turn that around with a fun night?” Gabe suggested.

  “That sounds like the perfect plan.” I took the opportunity to start walking away from my mom’s tent, and Gabe followed, his steps matching mine.

  “What do you have in mind?”

  “Well … I thought maybe we could hang out here again,” I suggested.

  Truth be told, I would’ve loved to have gotten out of there, away from the prying eyes of everyone I knew. But I couldn’t. Gideon had assigned Roxie as my buddy, so technically, I wasn’t supposed to be leaving her alone. The only way I could really justify seeing Gabe was if I didn’t get too far away that I wouldn’t be able to help Roxie if she needed me.

  “Cool.” Gabe grinned. “I’m up for anything as long as it’s with you.”

  “Anything, eh?” I arched an eyebrow.

  “I have an adventurer’s spirit,” he proclaimed. “I can take on any challenge, and I’m not afraid of anything.”

  “Wow.” I widened my eyes with feigned amazement. “I bet you rule at Truth or Dare.”

  “I really do,” he admitted, then stopped short. “I can tell that you don’t believe me, so I’m going to prove my bravery.”

  “Oh really?” I smirked. “How, pray tell, are you going to do that?”

  “I’m going in there.” He pointed to the long black trailer at the end of the midway, where a name had been written in bold red paint—Terrifying Curiosities & Oddities of Past & Present.

  I kept my smile plastered on my face and gulped down my unease. Of course, there was nothing terrifying at all about what the museum contained—unless you counted Hutch, who I did not trust to not accidentally let on to Gabe exactly who and what I was.

  But I couldn’t tell Gabe that, and I didn’t want him to think that I was the kind of person who was too afraid to go into a place like that, because I absolutely wasn’t.

  So, with my smile still in place, I said, “Let’s do it.”

  “Excellent.” Gabe held out his hand to me, so I let him take mine in his. His skin felt hot—almost uncomfortably so—but I didn’t see any appearance of being overheated. No sweat, no flushed skin. Just an easy smile and a glint in his eyes.

  As we walked toward the museum, he said, “To paraphrase the great Ray Parker Jr., I ain’t afraid of no curiosities or oddities.”

  19. curiosities

  Hutch ran the museum, but he didn’t even notice Gabe and me right away.

  He was supposed to be selling passersby on the museum, calling out to them and telling them to step right up and see the horrors inside. Instead, he leaned against the black podium near the door, absently chewing on his dirty fingernails, his shaggy brown hair flopped over the neon sweatband he wore around his forehead.

  When he caught sight of me, walking with my hand in Gabe’s, he straightened up and offered the best showman smile he could manage.

  “Are you brave enough to face the horrors within?” Hutch asked Gabe, but his eyes flicked to me for a second. I smiled at him and hoped I didn’t look as nervous as I felt.

  “Yeah, I think we can handle it.” Gabe held up two fingers, making a peace sign. “Two tickets, please.”

  “Five dollars,” Hutch said, and he kept casting nervous glances my way as he and Gabe made the exchange.

  “Is it really that scary in there?” Gabe asked.

  “Some people have lost their minds after going through,” Hutch told him loudly, hoping to attract more customers. “You better hang on tight to your lady.”

  “Will do.” Gabe laughed, but he squeezed my hand tighter.

  He went first, going up the metal staircase into the trailer, and I looked back over my shoulder at Hutch. I mouthed the words “thank you” to him, for not outing me, but he just grinned and waved me off.

  The museum was nothing more than a semitrailer that had been painted black and dimly lit, so everything inside would seem spookier than it was. Black curtains strung across rods provided the labyrinthian pathway and blocked off the less-exciting parts of the trailer.

  A spooky record played over the speakers, covering up the low hum of the AC. It was nice during the dog days of summer, because we had to keep it air-conditioned, so I spent many a sweltering afternoon in this trailer.

  The first few “exhibits” sat under glass cases on black tables. They were basic fodder you’d find at any place like this. A two-headed snake floating in formaldehyde in a jar. A skeleton pieced together from a fish and a monkey that appeared to be a mermaid. A glittering horn that allegedly belonged to a unicorn.

  “I expected unicorns to be larger,” Gabe commented on the horn, which I suspected came from a goat.

  “Maybe it was a baby unicorn,” I suggested.

  Gabe scrunched up his face. “That’s depressing, then.”

  As we rounded the curtain to the next half of the museum—the part with the live performers—Gabe put his arm loosely around my waist, so his hand rested on my hip. Even through the fabric of my skirt, the heat from his skin was palpable. In the cool air-conditioning of the trailer, I would’ve thought he’d cool down some, but it apparently hadn’t had any effect on him.

  I was about to suggest he take off his jacket, but a girl farther down in the trailer screamed, and instinctively, his arm tightened around me, pulling me closer to him.

  This half of the museum devolved into more of a haunted house. Performers sat in little curtained cubicles with a spotlight above them and a pane of plexiglass separating them from the audience. In front of them was a plaque that explained who they were and why they were here, but the performer remained perfectly motionless—that is, until a spectator leaned in to get a better look at the plaque.

  Performers varied from day to day. Sometimes Luka would be in here, shoving stakes through his hands, and before the incident, Seth would lift heavy weights.

  People like Betty the Bearded Lady and her husband, Damon the Three-Legged Man, were usually here, although Betty preferred to wave and apply makeup, while Damon tended to lurch around his space like a caged monster, terrifying the spectators.

  I kept my head down in an attempt to avoid recognition, but I jumped at all the right times, relishing the way it felt when Gabe held me closer to him. I wasn’t scared and didn’t need him to protect me, but I’d take any excuse to end up in his arms.

  When we neared the ending, where the bright lights from the carnival shined in through the open door, Gabe stopped suddenly. He looked around, so I did the same, but I didn’t see anyone. We were alone in the narrow walkway, and he leaned down to kiss me.

  I wanted to kiss him, but someone could round the corner any minute, catching us in an embrace, and I didn’t want to risk it.

  “Come on,” I said. I stepped back, holding one of his hands in mine, and I pulled back the curtain behind me, revealing crates of random junk we used to set up the museum, like tools, different props, and extra black fabric.

  His lips curved into a smile, with a devilish curl in the corner—the one that warned me that I should be afraid, that he was someone I should not be inviting to take me into the dark shadows. But I didn’t care.

  The fire in his skin had somehow spread to me, with a heat radiating deep inside me. Soon, I’d be gone, and I would never see him again. But now I was with him, so I needed to savor every moment and really be with him, tasting his lips and feeling his hands on my body.

  Gabe followed me behind the curtain, pushing me back until I was pressed against the cold metal wall of the trailer. His mouth was on mine, k
issing more ferociously than he had before. One of his hands slid up my shirt, his fiery fingers pressing into my side as he held me, and I wrapped my arms around his neck.

  The feel of his body—firm and hot—pressing against me, mixed with the feel of the metal—cold and unyielding—pressed against my back. He felt so hungry, and I wanted him to devour me. I wanted to consume him, to feel him on every inch of my flesh—

  —then I felt an icy dagger piercing my heart. A brief agony tore through me, and my chest felt frozen, with the cold blasting through me.

  “Mara?” Gabe sounded breathless and panicked.

  I blinked as the cold subsided, and his hand was on my cheek, gently forcing me to look up at him. Even in the shadows of the trailer, his dark golden eyes seemed to glow as they searched my face.

  “Are you okay?” Gabe asked, and I managed to nod. “What happened? You just … froze up.”

  “I don’t know.” I lowered my eyes, because I couldn’t explain it.

  “I’m sorry if I was being too aggressive.” His voice was low and pained.

  “No, no. It wasn’t that.” I smiled weakly at him and took his hand. “I liked that. I like kissing you.”

  He smiled crookedly. “I like kissing you too.”

  “Good. I’m glad that’s settled, then.”

  “Maybe we should get out there and get some air.” Gabe motioned toward the exit behind him.

  He stepped back then and bumped right into a crate, sending it clattering to the floor. He bent down, scrambling to pick everything up.

  “Hey! Nobody’s allowed back here!” Luka barked, and he pushed back through a curtain. He must’ve been in the back, getting ready to take over and give Damon a break. But then he saw me and confusion spread out on his face. “Mara? What are you…”

  Then his eyes darted to Gabe, and Luka’s eyes widened with realization.

  Gabe had straightened up, giving up on cleaning the mess, then motioned between Luka and me. “You two know each other?”

  “Shit. I’m sorry,” Luka apologized, but it was too late. My secret was out.