[Hi guys, this story is taking darker turns now, and I hope that's ok. TRIGGER WARNING for rape. I went back and updated Chapter Two because I realised that I failed to establish that the main story has been taking place on the night of October 30th – so when the time passes midnight it will be Halloween morning, and guess what that means? Mordrake in this chapter! I'm excited…

The song that Lily sings is called 'Astronaut' by Amanda Palmer. I wanted to use the idea of the characters from season four singing modern day songs, I know some fans don't like that but I personally like it and wanted to pay tribute to it in this fic. If you want an idea of the emotions that the song Lily sings invokes then go and give 'Astronaut' a listen, but if the singing thing isn't for you then just ignore it and carry on. Thanks for reading!]

Chapter Four

Lily bit down on the hand that was clasped around her mouth, hard. Ash grunted with pain but only redoubled his grip around her waist. With all her willpower Lily tried to force his hands away from her, but all that she succeeded in doing was making him laugh.

'I can feel you trying that voodoo of yours on me, honey, and I'm telling you it won't work. Never has worked on me, has it?' He forced her over to the bed and pushed her down, pinning her there with his legs. His face looked triumphant; he was claiming his property, Lily thought, and felt physically sick.

'You just love me too damn much for it to work,' he continued, pushing her hair back from her forehead, leaving it oily with his sweat. She smelled drink on his breath.

'I don't love you, Ashley!' she forced out from between her clenched teeth.

'You need me too much, then – you can't deny that!' Ash sounded as if he were trying to convince himself more than her, and Lily's frantic thoughts cast about the trailer, trying to think of a way to hurt him enough to make him let her go. During the day and in a good light Ashley Barnard could look like a handsome prince, with his angular jaw and thick wavy hair, eyes blue and piercing as the sky and smile like a cheeky schoolboy caught doing something wrong. In that crazed half-light, however, he looked to her like a leering demon and for the first time Lily felt truly afraid for her life.

'I overheard you talking to that other slut, saying you're going to go to Thribodeau and tell him about us,' Ash growled. 'I can't let you do that. I need this job. After you ran out on me I had to go back to performing, only there isn't so much work left for a man with fucking gills these days. Freakshows are closing everywhere, and the ones still open want flashy acts. Acts like yours, the act I made for you.' He pushed down on her stomach with his knee and she gasped in pain.

'I've got nothing now, sweetheart. You were my ticket to stardom and you're not going to ruin this for me.'

'Wasn't – going – to – tell…' Lily moaned, trying not to show him how much he was hurting her. She was weak, she knew; she'd never had the courage to fight anyone, especially not Ash. But she was proud and she would be damned if he'd see her cry.

'Oh really? I caught that little blonde slut running off to Dale not five minutes ago. Set her straight on a thing or two,' he added, grimly.

Lily looked up at him, panicked. 'Did you… hurt her?' she demanded through the pain. Ash smiled and shrugged, an evil glint in his eye.

'Let's just say she won't be talking to Dale anytime soon. I didn't kill her or anything, don't you get your panties into a twist,' he said, 'I just straightened her out. She'll be OK in a day or two. Hell, twisting into all different shapes is her job.'

'You… bastard…' Lily snarled. Ash put a hand on her breast and looked uncharacteristically solemn.

'I loved you, Lily. I'm gonna make you love me again. Right now,' he grunted, reaching down to his belt, 'I'm going to teach you a lesson. Make sure you never think about going running to Dale, not now or ever, otherwise I'll do worse next time. You know I can do worse…'

Lily felt the urge to scream well up inside of her as she realised what Ash was about to do, but forced it down. She didn't want him to see her terror and she was afraid to provoke further violence from him. Like he said, she knew how much he could hurt her, and she hoped to make it out of there with no broken bones. No matter what happened.

She lay motionless as he pulled her nightdress up over her hips, her eyes shut tight as she tried to send her mind out to somewhere, anywhere else than where she was that moment. As he forced himself inside of her she thought of the starry expanse of space stretching out above the trailer, of her mother's smell, now only half remembered, of her brother's laughing face as they had played together as children. Of the sound that the bomb made as it had destroyed her world nine years previously.

When Ash had gone, a slurred threat and a harsh kiss his parting gifts to her, Lily lay still for a long time, not thinking, concentrating on breathing. The action of drawing in air and expelling it in a steady rhythm reminded her that she was alive, and for that she was thankful. Her tears could fall unheeded now but they did not. Her eyes were dry. She felt a wetness on the inside of her thigh and knew that it was blood.

Slowly, so slowly, she drew herself up and gasped in pain as her joints screamed their protest at the movement. She did not want to look in a mirror but could feel the bruises blooming on her body, her arms, her breasts. Her mind was still blank, too shocked and tired, so tired, as she moved to her feet and hobbled out of the trailer into the night.

She didn't know where she was going, only that she had to leave the place where she had been violated, the soiled bed and the stale air that still smelled of his sweat. As she walked through the grass she could hear the others still laughing and drinking in Dale's tent, although it must have been past midnight by then. Her foot struck something soft.

There was a whimper from the darkness and, looking down, she saw that she had almost stepped on her friend lying in the long grass at the side of the path. Mandy was huddled into a ball and she was holding her arm, which was bent strangely. Lily leant down and touched the other girl's shoulder, her heart hurting at the way in which she jumped at the contact, afraid.

'Lily! Lily, he – that man – my arm – Oh Lily, it hurts so bad!' Mandy sobbed, leaning gratefully on her friend's shoulder as she raised her to her feet. 'He told me to stay here or he'd kill me. He said he didn't want me going to Dale about him. He's crazy, Lily!'

'I know he is,' Lily answered, her breath coming faster as her heart sped. Suddenly she didn't feel blank and emotionless. She felt angry. Her rage swelled through her body, her heart on fire with it, breathing the soul of it, and she felt the power hit her all at once. She felt everything; the warmth of the bodies clustered in Dale's tent, the minds of the ants in the long grass, the terror coming from her friend in waves, all of it connected, all of it at her disposal. The powers that had always been within her reach were now at her fingertips and she knew, then, exactly what to do with them.

'What time is it?' she asked, trying to keep her voice steady. Mandy looked at her as if she had gone mad but reached into her dress to where she kept a small pocket watch given to her by that boy, Peter.

'It's just past midnight.'

Lily nodded, her clenched fists trembling. 'Mandy, I have something I need to do. Will you go to Dale's and get someone to look at your arm? Tell them that you tripped and broke it.' Lily saw Mandy's look of confusion and smiled, as kindly as she could. 'Trust me. I'm going to fix this, once and for all.'

When Mandy had gone Lily took a deep breath, feeling the pain coursing through her body and turning it inside out, feeding the power from it. She looked towards the main show tent. It would be dark, she knew, there would be nobody there to challenge her. She hurried towards it, feet barely touching the floor.

As she pushed approached the stage she stopped for a moment and considered what she was about to do. The stories weren't specific about what happened if a freak performed on Halloween and it had been Halloween for the last few minutes, since the clock struck midnight. What all the stories agreed on, however, was that a terrific force would be invoked and bring death with it. Which was exactly what Lily wanted.

She stood on the darkened stage and flicked a finger in the air, sparking a flame which hung there and grew, drifting upwards in a large ball of light which illuminated the whole tent. She looked around at the musical instruments that the freaks had packed away but left onstage and moved a hand towards them, making them leap out of their cases and assemble themselves, ready to play. She took a deep breath and looked up to the sky, looking through the canvas of the tent and to the stars beyond. With a glance from her the piano began to play itself, furiously, with all the power that she could draw from her rage, and the drums began to bang away as if they were possessed. Lily began to sing.

Singing was not one of her talents but she threw all of her pain into her voice and it rang out loudly, husky from tears but stronger than she had ever thought. As the power surrounded her in a fury of activity and as the music swelled and carried her upwards, her hair began to whip about her head and unknot itself, her red curls flowing around her face. The nightdress that Ash's careless hands had ripped began to knit itself back together and her face, contorted with the passion of her singing, seemed to glow from within with a furious beauty.

A green mist was flowing into the tent, she noticed mid song, but she carried on singing, afraid now to stop. As her voice reached a crescendo she felt a presence behind her and turned, dream-like, to see a man stood within touching distance. He was a handsome man, she saw as he moved towards her, an entranced expression on his face. He was tall, with long black hair and pale blue eyes that were wide with innocence but darkened by an unidentifiable air of sorrow. She felt as if she were in a trance herself as she reached out to him and sang the last few notes, addressing him and only him in this strange dark vision.

'And you may be acquainted with the night,' she sang, 'but I have seen the darkness in the day, and you must know it is a terrifying sight, because you and I are living the same way…'

As the last notes of the piano died away into silence, broken only by Lily's heavy breathing, she noticed that the stranger's clothes were odd. An old fashioned suit and jacket that looked like something her great grandfather had worn in a family photograph, long destroyed, and an emerald green cravat, with a black top hat pulled low over his head. There was even a cape, for goodness' sake.

'You,' Lily said, drawing herself up to her full height, the power still coursing through her, 'must be Edward Mordrake.'

'At your service, Miss,' Mordrake replied, taking her hand and pressing it to his cool lips.