It was dark. It was always dark when they performed. A show in the light wasn't what normal people wanted to see. A show in the light was boring, almost mundane, despite the goods that were on display. It was still a few hours before the show, and the freaks were meandering about. The buzz of excitement was swarming. Although this wasn't the life a lot of them would've chosen, many of them loved to perform.
Frances was one of those. She was not exactly a center stage act, but she was certainly charismatic enough to try. She looked into her vanity, fixing her thick, blonde hair into delicate banana curls. Her blue eyes twinkled in the multiple candles she had in her dressing room, and she sprayed herself with expensive perfume that was gifted to her by a patron who was particularly moved by her performance. Her dress was white, and it matched her skin color. She loved her beauty. The only thing that marred it was the grotesque tail that poked its way through the back of her pretty dress. It was what made her a home here, instead of in the home of a high society husband. Her tail was a thick, two foot long, skin covered mass that poked out from her tail bone. It was able to be moved slightly, which is what she did in her act.
Next to her sat her companion, a man in his early twenties. He, too, prepared himself for the performance, combing back his hair to show the mutilation that was upon his neck and the right side of his face. He wasn't ashamed like Frances was of her freakish attribute, but he wasn't necessarily as proud of it as some of the others. "Frances, we must eat something before we perform. You know how I can't perform on an empty stomach."
"I know. However, you must wait. I have to be beautiful." She said. He rolled his eyes, and lifted himself out of the chair. He swung her over his shoulder, to which she hardly protested. As long as she was being carried, she didn't have to walk. Her tail hindered that ability slightly, so it was really a favor. Outside the dressing room, a rushing form crashed into the pair.
"Gregory, Frances. Good to see you." The voice sounded breathless. It belonged to a girl, long and slender, her body able to contort itself into many impossible shapes. Her smile was a very hurried one, as though she were late to something important. She adjusted the revealing outfit she was clad in, her lithe, long fingers contrasting with the dark fabric of the leotard. She looked nervous.
"What is the matter, Ellie?" The blonde girl asked, tilting her upside down head crookedly to look at her. She smiled reassuringly, the younger girl looking increasingly more apprehensive in the shifting lights of the camp grounds.
"Oh, Francie, it's awful! I was warming up, as you know. I like to do it in the grass. And then those boys from town, they were- oh, Francie. They were leering. They made comments. I can't perform tonight! I simply can't!" She wailed. Although Ellie was one for the dramatics, Frances was moved. She knew that the girl wasn't used to the treatment that the freaks received, she knew that they were all a little more seasoned than the mousy girl.
"Greg, put me down." She whispered. Her feet landed on the dirt, and she padded over to the teenager. "Hey, sweetheart, my love, listen to me alright? Go talk to Victoria. She knows exactly what you should do, okay? Go find her." She had wrapped her arms around Ellie, even though Frances was terrible with emotions or anything of the sort. She hated it, actually.
Ellie nodded, and walked away, off to find Victoria. The familiar faces were slightly calming, but she was still very shaken up. Victoria would be a good person to talk to. She had probably dealt with the same thing she just had. She could feel her lower lip begin to tremble as the young woman's face came into view. Victoria saw her and smiled, but that smile began to fade as she saw the tears that were glistening in the bird-like girl's eyes.
"Ellie whatever is the matter, dear?" Victoria asked, eyeing the girl with curiosity. Ellie told her the story, to which Victoria smiled a little. Ellie looked confused at her response.
"Are you- are you laughing? Why are you laughing? There isn't anything funny! How dare you, I come to you for comfort and sympathy after Frances's prompting and you're laughing! I can't beli-"
"Ellie, stop raving. You're going to be just fine, okay? I promise. Those boys will be here tonight, but remember you have nothing to worry about. You have a whole troop of freaks, and you know that if Steven or Gregory or any one of us hears a single word of any of that nonsense, those boys will be much more upset than you are." Victoria comforted her, and brushed a lock of mousy brown hair behind her ear. "Listen, my lovely, you have to go get pretty. You have a show to perform very soon, as you know. Go see if someone will do your make up or your hair nicely, okay? Go see if Tess is busy. It'll make you feel better!"
"Thank you Victoria, I feel much better. Have you seen Tess?"
"No problem, dear. I saw her a little while ago with Steven, somewhere in that direction." She pointed in the way she came. "Go find her; I'm sure she'd love to do that." The flexible teenager smiled and glided in that direction. Victoria was an older sister to many of the people in the troop. Although many others were older than her and far wiser, she was fairly compassionate when she wanted to be. She understood the struggles the freaks went through, and very well. She thought back to the times before she was here, and she sighed. She continued to walk in the direction she was before Ellie came. Her corseted dress was almost uncomfortably tight. High fashion wasn't important to the freaks, but it helped her feel more confident when she performed if she had a semblance of the current fashion.
She needed to go to the big top, which why she was entirely ready. She needed to help set up, she assumed. Although because of her condition, lifting heavy things wasn't really an option. She still could still move a chair or too around. Without doing something, she'd feel fairly useless. The show was soon, and she couldn't be more excited. She loved performing, even though her performance involved pulling all of her joints out of their sockets. She couldn't wait, and she was sure she wasn't the only one.
