I ran my fingertips over the sandpaper like shards that made up the horns on my head. I wish I could say they were merely a temporary detail on my face, like a pimple perhaps, but no. They were as real as you and I.
I was one of the acts in Elsa's Freak Show, and it was by far the lowest point in my entire life. Everyone within this fiasco of a freak show, though they were polite, exiled me because I was the oddest of them all.
Yes, I am a demon. Or at least, that's what I've been brought up to think.
Aside from the horns that grow on either side of my forehead just inches from my mane of wavy auburn hair, I would consider myself to be quite beautiful. But alas, it is the smallest things that tarnish a prettiest of objects.
My nicknames nowadays are 'Horns', 'Satana' or anything that came to mind; Usually names that revolved around the Ruler of Hell or his minions. I worked hard, I did my job correctly, but I would never manage to compete with the other beauties that reside within the disheveled tents that litter this seemingly forsaken field of yellowing grass. My only friend who even tries to be kind in all of Jupiter, Florida, is young Jimmy Darling. But I don't really pay that much heed to his pretty words and kind fashion since he's close friends with everyone and would flirt with every female with a working hole between her legs.
When I first came to this Freak Show, I originally thought it might've been an abandoned circus; someplace I could live in hiding for the remainder of my life (However long or short that may be). But when various other weirdos and outcasts began to appear as I walked through the ruddy multicolored town, I began to feel slightly at ease. These men and women were also like me; unwanted by society and in need of a different home then the ones that they had before. At the time, I'd been wearing a hat over my horns, so perhaps they thought I was going to be a customer to their peculiar production. Again, I say, aside from the horns and the various scars and burns that decorated my body, I look like anyone else.
Elsa, the German woman who'd seen my state also was under the impression I was a paying customer in need of a good show, but I had to explain to her that her show was not the reason why I was there. I was hoping to barter some form of living arrangements. She asked me without pause if I had anything of value that could be added into her show, to which I immediately regarded my horns that grew from my head like an elephants tusks grew from its mouth. I showed her the rough bits of bone protruding from my forehead, and that seemed to please the heavily makeup-ed woman. What also intrigued her were the burns that had also been scarred onto my body.
Due to the belief that I was a demon, I had to be the subject for many an exorcism and torture. Such treatments required normal men and women alike to burn me, douse me with what they believed to be 'holy water' and chain me so that I couldn't move in the slightest no matter how hard I yanked. My parents hated everything about me, so they did nothing to end my eternal, agonizing torture.
That's when I ran away to join the circus, so it had become.
And that's the long and short of it.
"Hey Lucifera." Jimmy muttered and I quickly shut the notebook I'd been scribbling in. I shot him a glare as he grinned at me cheekily. Like me, he was also an outcast to society; and only because he had 'lobster hands'. His index and middle finger were sealed together along with his pinkie and ring finger which shared the same fate, creating a lobster-like appendage of human flesh. His fingers were also abnormally long due to his deformity, but they were put to great use when the time came to pleasure a woman.
"You know I hate that." I hissed back at him, trying to forcefully shove the hat I'd been wearing back over the brown horns that refused to be covered.
"Fine..." Jimmy sighed, "What was your name again?" He muttered sarcastically.
"I told you a THOUSAND times. My name is Rebeque." I sighed, stuffing my notebook close enough beside me so that he couldn't see. Jimmy rolled his eyes. I could quickly see why girls would fall for him so easily; he had such a pretty face.
"Hey, I'll remember your name as soon as I can count to ten on my fingers." He said holding up his hands which held fingers that would forever be sealed together.
"You'll be able to once I cut your fingers apart. One. By. One." I growled, staring at him as I caused my hands to mimic a scissoring motion.
"Oh come on, Rebeque... You know my fingers are my best features." He said with a wink. Ugh! Why did he have to be such a flirt?
I rolled my eyes as I had to force myself not to smile at the childlike demeanor of my fellow freak.
"Hey..." He muttered, the tips of his index and middle finger brushing against my cheek softly. I opened my eyes again, wishing that the dirty-haired boy would just leave me alone to my thoughts.
"Happy Halloween." He chuckled before passing me a pocketful of candies which fell into my hands. My eyes grew wide when I realized that I didn't remember what candy tasted like.
"Where did you get these?" I whispered in alarm, "I didn't think Elsa let us celebrate Halloween."
"Eh... she doesn't like us to perform on Halloween... for reasons." He muttered, tossing me a caramel piece which I took gratefully into my bony fingers. I was never given candy as a child; mothers would chide me saying 'candy is for angels like our daughters. Not for you.' So I simply went without that simple delight.
I bit into the brown cube with excitement and nearly fell over in pleasure at my first taste of caramel. I'd known that candy was sweet, but I rarely ever indulged in such wonderful pleasures.
"It's... delicious..." I sighed, trying to prevent from moaning aloud at this discovery of amazing and astounding flavor. Jimmy smiled at my response to the new experience.
That's when our solitude was interrupted by a shout.
"Hey lovebirds! We've got a show to do tonight!" The Muscle Man shouted at us.
Jimmy looked horror-stricken for the briefest of seconds before he stood up.
"But it's Halloween. We don't do shows today." Jimmy replied without pause.
"Not my rules... Elsa's! In case you didn't know, we're running low on funds and need to bring in some real paying customers tonight! And, you, Demona!" He shouted before approaching Jimmy and I, stomping through the tall grass in order to reach us. I rose up slowly as soon as he met us, trying to keep a snide remark in the back of my throat. I would not be the demon they believed me to be.
"Yes?" I asked politely, brushing the dirt free from my clothes.
"Guess who's gonna be our new fire-breather." He jeered, holding a bag just far enough behind him so that I couldn't see what was within.
"I'm going to take a wild guess and say it's the man with the short arms?" I asked, tucking my elbows behind me until I looked somewhat like a dinosaur. Jimmy suppressed a chuckle behind me, and Muscle Man looked rather aggravated by my arrogance before he roughly pushed the burlap sack into my arms. The force of his shove nearly caused me to topple over, but I managed to stay upright.
"You are. I trust you know how to light a match?" He cooed sarcastically.
"Yes?" I replied, trying to hide the disappointment in my voice when I was given the heavy bag of gasoline, torches, and water.
"Good. Then I'm sure you'll be able to figure out how to breathe fire without burning the Big Top down." He growled before strutting off in all his fat, muscled glory.
"I'll try!" I shouted behind him sarcastically. I decided, right then, that I would begin practicing my new act before I tried for Elsa. Hopefully, if I gave enough effort, she would like it and let me stay in the show.
I turned to Jimmy nervously as his calloused, webbed fingers rubbed my shoulders through my extra-large T-shirt.
"It'll be alright, okay?" He muttered before standing before me. I took his hand gingerly in my own for a moment before I looked up at him.
"I know it will be." I replied without a tremor in my voice.
He stood at least a head taller than I, but I didn't mind feeling short this time as oppose to other times when I wanted to head-butt people into bending down so that I stood over them.
There was a long pause while I just studied his perfect, child-like eyes and tried not to let the quiet of the atmosphere get to me.
"You sure you're not a demon?" He asked softly, a cheeky grin appearing on his tanned, freckled cheeks. My brows furrowed together in both confusion and impatience at the question; Didn't he realize that I hated being referred to as a spawn of hell?!
"No! I'm just a human! This like a scar... something I was born wit–."
"Because you've enchanted me..." He sighed before walking off. I tried to ignore the butterfly feeling in my heart as I stood stock-still in surprise. Did I really just hear Jimmy Darling say that? No... Must've been a dream; a passing thought.
Oh well, time to start practicing.