Hey. Thanks for taking the interest to read this. I'm not really sure if it's the kind of thing people really want to read, but I found it in my livejournal and thought I'd tweak it a bit and publish it here. It's my first fanfic in a while.
"I can't believe you're making me do this," I said, grabbing Jessica's arm to stop myself from falling through the thick bushes. We were 'strolling' through the forest, on our way to Jessica's idea of fun.
We'd all seen the posters, secretly stuck on the inside of people's lockers, passed around at lunch.
The annual 'freak show' had arrived at our tiny town, Forks, and I had been conned into going. Me, Bella Swan, daughter of the Chief of Police, was going to an illegal, horrific, freak show.
"Come on Bella! It's something interesting, finally. We're stuck in this town for another year. We might as well make it fun." Jess sighed, pulling me out of the bush onto the path, thankfully. I may not have been as clumsy now that I'd grown up from baby-Bella, but I definitely preferred straight ground.
We were headed towards the disused theatre on the boundary between Forks and La Push, the small reservation next to our town. On buying our tickets we had to promise we wouldn't tell anybody else where this thing was being held- they'd taken our details but really didn't need to, Forks is so small they could find anything out about anyone they wanted.
As we got closer to our destination, I thought about the flyer we'd been given. It was currently located at the bottom of my underwear drawer- if my Dad found it there'd be no end to the grounding. Even at nearly 18. The flyer had advertised a mind-reading boy, an apparently psychic girl, a scarred man who could make you feel anything he wanted just by looking at you, and a man who drank the blood of animals. It was clearly supposed to be different from the average two headed man, bearded woman kind of freak show. This one was dangerous to the audience, but, like the fool I was, I agreed to be dragged along. I'm not going to lie; I was also a little intrigued. I knew it was immoral, but we weren't going to laugh at these people. We were legitimately interested in their 'freakishness'.
Before I knew it we'd found the desolate theatre and a small queue outside. This queue was constantly moving- I guessed so as to not draw unwanted attention. Jessica squealed next to me.
"I'm so excited! Are you?" she asked.
"I wouldn't go that far." I was dragged through the door by Jess, who handed a hooded guy our tickets. We followed the crowd into a small hallway, where an icy-looking platinum blonde girl stood. She could only have been twenty at the most, but her cold eyes and hard expression made sure everybody knew she wouldn't take any shit. Her skin was so pale she looked ill, but in the most beautiful way possible.
"Nothing you see here is to be talked about once you get outside," she said. "We have all of your details, and if any of this gets to the police we will know who did it. You're to go into the theatre and sit down. Be very still. Once the show starts, do not get up until it's over. If a member of the show talks to you, talk back, but don't approach them. If you can't take it, leave now."
Jessica stared at the girl with wide eyes.
"You sure you wanna do this?" I asked.
"Of course I do. We've come this far." And with that, we were pushed into the theatre. I let out a gasp of horror when I saw the stage- it was separated from the seats by a screen of barbed wire. I'd known it might be pretty horrific, but I'd assumed it was mostly rumours. Maybe it was going to be really scary after all.
We ended up on the fifth row back, sitting next to some rowdy kids from the reservation. Typically, they were moving about and making noise. I hoped they didn't draw any attention to us; I just wanted to watch the show and go home.
As the theatre filled up the lights gradually dimmed, and as it got darker Jess gripped my hand harder.
"I'm almost starting to regret this," she whispered. I nodded my head in agreement.
"We've got to watch it though, we're here now," I said, not wanting to have to leave and make a scene.
"Good evening," a musical voice said from the darkness. A spotlight appeared at the corner of the stage and a blonde man with the same icy look as the woman from the hall glided to the centre.
"Tonight you will not be watching two headed men and bearded ladies. You will be watching real, dangerous people. If you aren't still and careful, they can hurt you. I beg you will stay sitting down, and that you will watch, and that once you've left this hall you forget what you have seen."
The boys next to us scoffed, earning a displeased glance from the man on stage.
"Firstly, I bring you Emmett the wolf-eater. He survives off the blood of animals. Be very still and stay where you are." With that, the man disappeared quite literally, and a couple of hooded people crept out from the darkness at the side of the stage. They were dragging a cage holding two wolves, appearing to have no trouble hauling the heavy load. The wolves were going mental, fighting and tearing at each other.
I could practically feel Jess shaking next to me, but too scared to speak or even move I stared at the stage. Nothing happened for a long moment.
Suddenly someone pounced on the cage. No warning, he appeared hissing and spitting. The man was huge with muscle and as pale as everyone else running this show. He was shirtless, and wasn't unattractive at all. He tore into the cage with no trouble at all, causing the wolves to attempt to run away. Seemingly instantly Emmett grabbed one, pouncing on it and biting into its fur. Jessica grabbed my arm. I was horrified. Never in my seventeen years, even in films, had I seen something so disturbing. Yet I couldn't stop looking.
He repeated the same with the other wolf, who had given up trying to get away when the first one had…died. At the end of it all, Emmett looked up at the audience with blood-covered lips, snarling. He grabbed at the barbed wire, growling.
"Fuck!" one of the boys yelled, causing the monster on stage to look in our direction and rattle the wire. The hooded people appeared again, grabbing Emmett and hauling him from the stage.
What had we let ourselves in for?