Disclaimer and AN: All known characters belong to the guy who writes Carnivale (I can't think of his name at the moment). Also thank you to Shaun (a friend of mine) who was nice enough to beta read!
Defiled
'Damn Samson! What did he know anyhow?' I said to myself. 'Those crazies deserved to be on a higher speed. Too bad the Ferris Wheel doesn't do that.' I was completely blotto, as Gecko would say, as I walked up the hill. My knee was throbbing with pain as well as my face from the beating I received from those crazy loons.
I kept mumbling to myself, walking farther away from the noise and lights of the carnival. I stopped in my path when I noticed a shadow on the ground in front of me. I raised my head up. My eyes first meeting nothing but endless earth, then a person's feet. I recognized the shoes, but shook that notion out of my head. I looked up further, seeing what I hoped had not been true.
"Oh God." I muttered, falling to my knees, retching the bottle of liquor I had drank.
I turned back, looking at what once was the closest thing I ever had to a sister. I closed my eyes, hoping that this was my imagination. I opened them, still seeing her hanging above the ground. I stood up slowly, walking over to her. I untied the rope from the tree trunk, watching her body fall limp. I studied her, shaking my head in utter disbelief. I picked her up gently, as though she were deeply asleep, and walked back to the carnival.
The crowd was oblivious to me as I walked towards the cooch tent. Ruthie ran over to us as soon as she saw me.
"Dear God!" she exclaimed in a hushed voice. "Go get Samson!" She told Gabriel, who was right behind me. Ruthie grabbed a coat that was lying nearby and laid it down on the ground.
"Lay her down here." she said.
I laid the girl in my arms down as softly as I could and stepped back, seeing Rita Sue run up to us.
"No!" she whispered. "No!" Her "no"'s became a screaming yell as tears fell down her cheeks.
She started bawling, holding her daughter to her body, yelling at the Heavens above. The cooch tent flap opened, Felix rushing out to see what all the commotion was. He stopped, seeing his baby girl, Dora Mae, limp on the ground, "Harlot" written on her forehead. He stood in shock, for what seemed like a lifetime.
As I stood and watched the scene unfold, I felt numb and lost in my mind. It was then a quote came to mind. One I had read in the bible when I was young: "...And on her forehead, a name was written, a mystery, Babylon, the mother of harlots, and the abominations of the earth..."