Tempted By Fae

by Midnight Coven

  “I believe that is a real life freakshow, right there.” Fleur gestured at the painted sign in front of the tent. It read Madam Tan’s Menagerie of Oddities.

  The tent, the sign, the strings of lights over the entrance, and the painted ticket booth next to it all had a vintage air of mystery—a little odd but rather enticing.

  I shook my head. “Menagerie is like a collection of something, isn’t it? It’s French, you should know.” Fleur was from Paris. We’d met through a language exchange program in grade school. Both of us had college degrees now, but we’d remained friends. “Animals, I think. Like a zoo?”

  She stared at the sign. “With oddities.”

  “What does it mean? Deformed animals? That doesn’t sound appealing, either,” I muttered, finishing my candy apple and tossing the stick into a garbage bin.

  “It doesn’t say ‘deformities.’ Oddities can be a number of things. Maybe it’s a collection of rare animals?”

  I took a step closer, eyeing the whole setup which appeared to have come straight out of some old movie.

  “It sure looks intriguing…”

  “Oh, come on. Let’s just go and see, shall we?” Fleur tugged my arm.

  “It’s twenty dollars each, just to get in.” I hesitated, glancing at the small sign next to the ticket booth window, then peeked around the booth. A group of people had gathered next to the entrance flap of the tent, waiting to enter. “And there’s a line.”

  “Which means it must be good.” Fleur marched toward the ticket booth and got in line. “I didn’t travel all the way from France to miss the freakshow in Toronto.”

  “All right. You did take me to the cabaret when I wanted to see one.” I followed her. “Let’s just hope this one ends better,” I muttered under my breath, but Fleur still heard me.

  “Ivy.” Her shoulders dropped. “You can’t still be upset about him. It’s been ages.”

  It had been a year and two months since our visit to a cabaret on my last trip to Paris. My heart tightened painfully at the memory, and I schooled my expression into something hopefully cool and neutral.

  “Of course not.” I waved her off. “I’ve long forgotten about Zeph.”

  That was not entirely true. I forbade myself to think about him, but men like Zeph were not easily forgotten. His image stayed in my mind long after he was gone out of my life. His mesmerising voice sounded in my ears every single night before I fell asleep. Then, he came to haunt me in my dreams…

  Since my job as a graphic designer allowed me to work anywhere, I’d considered moving in with Fleur when her roommate’s lease ended last year. The main purpose of visiting her had been to assess Paris as a new city to live in.

  I’d heard Zeph sing on the stage in a small but tasteful cabaret show on Boulevard de Clichy. He noticed me, asked me to dance. We talked. I liked him enough to let him take me home.

  I still felt a tug of longing for whatever magic he did to my body that first night and every night after during that week. The way Zeph made love was incredible, like nothing I had ever experienced before or since. I’d wondered if there could be something real between us. Zeph definitely meant so much more than just a vacation fling to me. He made me believe I was more to him, too.

  The day after I’d told him about my plans to move to Paris, he didn’t show up for our date.

  I sat in the café all afternoon, nursing a cup of tepid cappuccino, but he never came. He didn’t call either, and didn’t reply to any of my texts or phone calls, ending it just like that.

  Obviously, he wasn’t ready for anything more serious than a vacation fling. There was nothing left for me but to get over him. And it might be taking me some time, but I would eventually get his intense blue eyes and that magical voice out of my head.

  One day…

  With a deep inhale, I forced the memories to retreat.

  “Fine. Let’s go see the freakshow.” I produced some cash from the pocket of my shorts.

  “It’s a menagerie,” Fleur corrected me coquettishly, deliberately pronouncing the last word with an exaggerated Parisian accent.

  “So it says.” I smiled at her antics.

  “My treat.” Fleur elbowed me out of the way when our turn came to buy the tickets. “Two, please.” She shoved the money through the small window to the somber, dark-haired girl behind the Plexiglass.

  Huddling into a wide black scarf wrapped around her neck despite the summer heat, the girl accepted the money, avoiding eye contact.

  She handed Fleur our tickets, finally glancing up at us with dark, haunted eyes. Lifting her face out of the scarf, she gave us a practiced smile that never made it to her eyes. “Enjoy the exhibit.”

  “Come.” Fleur grabbed my elbow, dragging me to the entrance. “Let’s see what wonders that tent holds.”

  Chapter Two

  With the next group, Fleur and I entered the striped-canvas tent. An unknown fragrance hit my nostrils as a shimmering cloud of silvery smoke enveloped us.

  “Welcome to my menagerie,” a melodious voice greeted us.

  It took a moment for my eyes to adjust to the dim lighting. Then I noticed a tall woman in a red dress with a mandarin collar.

  “I’m Madame Tan,” she said with a beautiful smile, inclining her head. “Please follow me to my collection of wonderous things and unusual creatures.”

  Her fiery red hair was whipped into a high voluminous up-do, and when she turned to show us the way, an intricate weave on the back of her head came into view, with the thick plait descending down her back, past her shoulder blades.

  Instead of the open space I expected to find inside the tent, the striped canvas walls appeared to divide the interior into sections.

  We followed a short narrow corridor that opened into a medium size room.

  “Here I keep unanimated objects,” Madame Tan explained, making a sweeping gesture with her arm. A long curl of smoke followed her hand, coming from the thin long cigar she had in a holder that ended in a ring placed around her index finger. “All exhibits in my collection are unique, with no exception. Unless you have visited my menagerie before, I guarantee you have not seen anything like what I’m about to show you.”

  She pointed at the first display, a lit glass container on a small table.

  “The dead branch of a jastira tree. A predatory plant from Ilimitar forest.”

  “Where is that?” Fleur whispered into my ear.

  “No clue.” I shrugged, staring through the glass at the two-foot long stick that somehow reminded me of a human femur with jaw bones of a wolf-size animal at one end. “What does it matter? It’s not like it’s real.”

  Madame fixed her gaze on me, and I realized she must have heard me.

  “It’s dead,” she said, coolly. “Had we had a living jastira tree in here, none of you would be alive at this point.” She lifted her shapely eyebrow with a tilt of her head. “It’s the most bloodthirsty plant across both worlds.”

  She moved along the canvas wall, fluidly pointing at the shelves, jars, and curio cabinets as she passed them by.

  “A shell from Olathana Ocean. It used to house a hermit Water Fae. Most of the merfolk are lively, sociable creatures. Some, however, prefer solitude…”

  The shimmering, nearly translucent shell in front of us seemed big enough to fit me and maybe Fleur, too, at the same time.

  “This is made with griffin feathers.” Madame gestured at a gorgeous headpiece on a stand. “I used to have a live griffin in my collection, but it choked on a mouse and died.”

  “Griffins eat mice?” Fleur elbowed me.

  “They don’t exist,” I whispered back, keeping my voice down and, hopefully, out of earshot of Madame this time. “It’s all just a show, remember?”

  “A pretty well-done show, though.” Fleur reached for one of the shimmering feathers of the headpiece on the display table.

  “Please, do not touch the exhibits,” Madame warned sternly. When Fleur jerked her hand back, our hostess cont
inued, “Biqirelle crystals from the Dakath Mountains. These are said to have healing powers and are highly treasured by the winged people of the mountain peaks.”

  She moved on to another display as we still gaped at the tray with multi-colored crystals that glowed with shimmering lights from within.

  “This is a communication device made by the dwellers of the Lorsan Wetlands. They’re not as technologically advanced as humans but could be considered mechanical geniuses.”

  Madame carried on, “And this is my collection of jewellery made from werewolf teeth and claws.”

  We moved along the rows upon rows of displays with bizarre objects. Fake as they were, the craftmanship that went into them was exquisite.

  “Next is the exhibit of live creatures. This way, please.”

  Following her through another canvas-walled corridor, we entered a larger room with a number of enclosures along the walls.

  “Welcome to my very own little zoo,” Madame said in a sing-song voice.

  “This is unbelievable, Ivy! Come here.” Fleur waved at me from one of the enclosures.

  “I insist you remain quiet.” Madame puffed a curl of smoke in the direction of my friend. “Loud noises aggravate the animals.”

  “Look at this,” Fleur hissed to me in a loud whisper, pointing at the pale pink creature inside the low metal fence. At first glance, it appeared to be a small pig, a piglet rather. Except it had two heads, one on each side of its long body.

  “Where’s its bum?” Fleur made big eyes at me.

  Madame approached us. “The anus is located in the middle of the belly.”

  “Is it a real animal?” I frowned, leaning in to stroke the soft velvety skin of the creature—nothing like the coarse-haired pigs I had encountered before. It snorted at me, then snapped its teeth, barely missing my fingers.

  “Do not touch the exhibit!” Madame snarled, startling me with her anger. I promptly snatched my hand out of the enclosure.

  “Is this some kind of a mutation?” one of the visitors asked. “A birth defect?”

  “Maybe due to a radiation exposure?” another ventured a guess.

  “Birth defect,” Madame confirmed, with a long puff from her cigar. “Normally, this species is born with three heads. This one only had two at birth. So, he is truly unique, in his world and in ours.”

  “What is his world?”

  “The snowy planes of Sarnala, of course, in the magical kingdom of Nerifir. That’s where the natural habitat of the Virleth pigs is located. Unfortunately, this species is nearly extinct. The werewolves live in the planes, too, and they annihilate all living creatures in sight during their Night of Madness.”

  “What is she talking about?” I muttered softly. This woman sounded as though she truly believed in the existence of this mythical world she was describing.

  Fleur leaned closer, whispering in my ear softly, for only me to hear, “I don’t think she has it all up in there.” She twirled her finger at her temple. “You know.”

  “Or maybe, she is just a very good actress?” I whispered back, giving the woman a benefit of a doubt. “Entertainment is her job, after all.”

  Madame led us through the rest of her exhibits.

  Among many other magnificent plants and animals, we marvelled at a red bird with a long, snake-like body and three pairs of legs, then stared in awe at flat, stone like creatures that burst into magnificent fireworks of colors whenever they moved.

  Finally, she stepped out of the room into yet another short corridor.

  “Well, thank you for your visit. Radax will show you the way out.” She gestured in the direction of the tall, broad man standing by the open flap of the wall leading to the outdoors.

  “Is that it?” I wondered out loud. The tent appeared larger from the outside than it turned out to be. “There must be at least one other room in here,” I muttered to myself as our group moved to the exit.

  A puff of air brushed by my hand from a canvas overlap in the wall on my right, and I quickly yanked the fabric aside. Secured both from the top and the bottom, the canvas stretched tight in my hand, creating only a narrow slit.

  The space on the other side was completely dark except for the glowing blue letters VIP attached to a thick rope that stretched across what appeared to be the entrance to yet another room in the tent.

  “Miss?” Madame prompted me as everyone had exited, with Fleur waiting for me at the entrance. “It’s time for you to leave.”

  “But what is in there?” I asked.

  “The VIP area,” she replied curtly. “Entrance by invitation only.”

  “How does one get invited?” I asked, undeterred by her tone.

  “That would require a certain level of income. The ticket to that section costs much higher.”

  “Well, I would argue that twenty dollars is high enough—”

  “To see things not found on Earth?” Madame scoffed, cutting me off. “Hardly.”

  I decided against pointing out that the show was over and she could drop her magical kingdom act now.

  “What do you exhibit in that section?” I asked instead. “How much is the VIP ticket to get there?”

  “Ten thousand dollars.” She crossed her arms over her chest, her mouth pressed into a hard line as she stared me down.

  “What?” My face must have clearly displayed my astonishment as satisfaction spread on hers.

  “Please follow Radax to the exit,” she said, calmly. “Or I will be forced to order him to physically remove you from here.”

  Chapter Three

  “What do you think she’s hiding in there?” I kept looking over my shoulder at the entrance to the tent after a burly, bearded man with a spectacular arm tattoo escorted us out.

  The sun dipped low on the horizon. It was getting close to dinner time.

  “Probably another bunch of handmade oddities.” Fleur shrugged.

  “Handmade?”

  “What? Do you believe any of those things are real?”

  “Of course not,” I mumbled. “The shell must be plastic, and that tree branch looked like no plant life ever could.”

  “The pig was amazing, though,” Fleur gushed. “And the bird.”

  “Where do you think they came from? They seemed rather realistic.”

  “Not sure.” She turned her eyes up to the sky, as if searching for an answer up there. “The bird could be a mechanical toy. The rocks, too, painted with some wicked glow-in-the-dark paint.”

  “The pig felt pretty real, though.” I scratched my chin. “I mean I touched it myself.”

  She shifted from foot to foot. “I don’t know. Maybe he’s the product of a surgery done by a mad scientist? Do you need to pee?” she asked suddenly.

  “Um. No.”

  “Okay. Wait here, then. I need to use the stinky public washrooms, then we’ll get some ice cream. It’s so freaking hot today. Doesn’t even feel like I’m in Canada.”

  I stepped to the side as Fleur sauntered toward the white trailer of portable washrooms.

  Getting my cell phone out of the back pocket of my shorts, I quickly checked my messages. To get out of the way of the swelling pedestrian traffic filling the fairgrounds that evening, I stepped back around the wall of Madame Tan’s tent.

  “Please, follow me.” I suddenly heard her melodious voice, slightly muffled by the fabric of the tent.

  Madame must be taking another group on the tour of her little menagerie.

  “For my treasured VIP clients, I have something especially precious to see…” she murmured, her voice trailing off, lost in the textile bowels of the tent.

  There’d better be something especially precious for a ten-thousand-dollar ticket. I scoffed to myself, suddenly feeling like some second-class citizen, denied entry into the place reserved for crème de la crème.

  In addition, my curiosity about what could possibly be worth that much money for a few minutes of observation made me wish I had X-ray vison so I could see through the walls of the
tent. It was just fabric, after all. Not even that thick or impenetrable.

  Squinting over my shoulder and shifting closer, I furtively inspected the weatherproofed canvas of the tent wall behind me.

  A distant sound of music filtered through from deep inside the tent somewhere, slow and beautiful.

  The desire to take a peek, if only for a second, burned through me.

  What if I could slide under the bottom edge?

  The lower end of the canvas all around the tent had been weighted down by long bags of sand. Moving them would take effort and time I didn’t have—some passer-by could spot me here in the shadows and question my actions. Or one of Madame’s staff might see me.

  I slid my gaze along the canvas to one of the support poles. Moving that way, I lifted the long rubbery flap over it. It protected the place where two wall panels overlapped underneath, with their sides clipped together.

  The clasp proved easy enough to open, creating a gap between the two panels that I might just be able to slide through and into the tent.

  That was it.

  It was simply meant for me to sneak in, wasn’t it? In and out, before anyone noticed. I just wanted to get an idea of what it was all about.

  I threw a quick look around to make sure no one had noticed my snooping yet. With a quick bracing breath, I squeezed through the gap and into the fragrant semi-darkness of Madame Tan’s menagerie.

  Just one look, then I’d get out before Fleur even came back. We would get some ice cream afterwards, and no one would ever need to know where I went while she was gone.

  The space inside was about three feet wide, and it appeared to be a corridor stretching in both directions. Following the music, I headed right, grateful the rubber soles of my sandals allowed me to pad along noiselessly.

  The sound of music intensified, then the murmur of voices mingled in. One standing out above the rest—the melodious voice of Madame Tan, who sounded as if she was telling an enchanting fable of old.

  “The Olathana Ocean Fae would be most likely called ‘sirens’ in your world. They are known for their enthralling voices and ethereal looks…”