Freak Show, an inuyasha fanfic

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha, plain and simple.

Hola! This is my first fic. Hope you enjoy it. A little review before you start. I hope to make it a horror/thriller kind of thing, since I write those the best. I will try to include most of the main characters in this, but some might be left out. (TT)

Inspiration: I saw the movie "Freaks." It's major old like 1932, but it is so disturbing. I had nightmares for weeks. And let me mind you, I don't have nightmares. I saw "Nightmare on Elm Street," I have yet to have nightmares! This movie was so disturbing, that when it came out, it actually became illegal in some states! Rent it if you have the chance.

Here's the story. ENJOY!

Freak Show

by Sun and Moon

Chapter 1: The beginning

Come one, come all!

Have the time of your life.

Eat cotton candy, win some prizes

See wonderful acts.

This is a once in a lifetime chance

Cause there is nothing else in life that needs to be done than to go see a circus

Nothing at all.

Absolutely nothing at all

The Onigumo Traveling Circus rolled into town on a Tuesday during the summer of 1950. It was perfect weather for the circus to be in town too. The temperature stayed at an almost constant sixty degrees, and the sun shined almost every day.

I can remember the exact moment when the circus came in too. I was out in my front yard planting flowers. That day is almost crisp and clear in my mind. I was planting some white lilies. They were my favorite flower at the time. I had on a pair of working gloves, and I was wearing my knee-length, solid-colored red dress and my feet were bare. A large sunhat covered my head, and my long raven-colored hair was tucked inside. Wow, I was so innocent back then. It's hard to believe that this is the way I turned out in the end. Anyway, all of a sudden, I heard the sound of a car's horn honking, except it was much louder than an ordinary car...

"Kagome," Sota, my little brother, called out to me. "There's something coming up the road. It looks big. Real big."

I stood up, swept the dirt off my dress, and ran to join the crowd that was forming at the curb in front of our house. It was a large crowd, probably everybody on the street was there. From the elderly, to the small children pushing themselves to the front and looking down the road towards the noise. I myself pushed ahead to the front of the crowd, and looked towards the source of the blaring noise.

I couldn't see how far back it went, but a train of cars were making their way down the road. Lead by a long trailer pulled by horses– the horses were beautiful. Their coats were as white as snow– at least a dozen enormous wooden trailers pulled up slowly to us and stopped. I got a good look at the name on the side.

Onigumo Traveling Circus.

"It's a circus!" one of the little kids in the front called out. "It's a circus!"

Suddenly, the door to the front carriage opened, and out stepped a tall, regal looking man. He had long black hair, flowing down to his waist, and on top of his head was a dark purple top hat. He was dressed in the usual ringmaster attire: tight light-brown pants tucked into a pair of knee-high black boots, a white button-up shirt, and a red jacket resting on his shoulders. He took off his top hat and bowed to us before addressing us.

"Good morning ladies and gentlemen," the man started. His voice was deep and raspy, almost ominous. I disliked this man almost immediately. "My name is Onigumo, and you are all personally invited to come see our one-ring circus."

"It's more like a no-ring circus if you ask me!" a boy called out from the back.

Nobody laughed.

Onigumo chuckled. His laugh sent chills up my spine. "Dear boy, my circus may be small, but there are tons of things to do. We have everything from elephants, to clowns, to games and prizes. We'll be setting up today, and are officially open tomorrow morning at 8 sharp. We'll only be here a week, so come while you have a chance." As he finished his speech, he reached into his coat, and pulled out a packet of tickets. He threw the packet high above his head. "Complements of the house. Free admission tickets for tomorrow!" The crowd rushed to grab as many tickets as they could, including me. When all of the tickets were gone, everybody looked up to Onigumo.

To our surprise, him and the long train of trailers were gone.

I woke up the following morning at 7:00, hoping to get to the circus when it opened. I took a quick shower, and got dressed in a purple knee-length dress. I put on a pair of saddle shoes and tied my hair up in a high ponytail with a matching ribbon. I was ready at 7:45, and had almost made it out of the house until...

"Kagome, take your brother with you."

I groaned and turned towards my mother, who was standing in the doorway to the kitchen. "I have to watch him! I was going to meet my friends there."

"I'm sorry Kagome, but he's too young to be going places by himself."

"Mom he's in the 3rd grade!"

"No arguing young lady," my mother snapped at me. Her voice was getting louder and louder with every word. "Take your brother!"

"Fine." I called down Sota, and he immediately came skipping into the kitchen. He grabbed my hand and pulled me out the door. I had no idea he had so much strength to pull me out with such force!

"Sota!" I screamed. "Slow down!"

"I'm excited sister," he said to me, continuing to run. "I've never been to a circus before! I want to see the elephants and the tigers and everything!"

I gave up eventually, and let him pull me down the four blocks it took to reach the lot where the circus had set up. He dragged me all the way up to the ticket booth. I presented my ticket and Sota's to the man behind the counter. He looked at them, and handed them back to me.

"You're sure to have a good time," he said to me. His voice was raspy and inhuman sounding. Plus, he had glaring red eyes that stared back at me, right into my very soul. He had white skin, and white hair that hung to his waist.

So this is what an albino looks like I thought to myself. He was beginning to frighten me, so I immediately grabbed Sota's hand and pulled him away from the booth. I could feel the man's eyes following me the whole way. I could hear his voice mocking me in my head.

You're sure to have a good time.

It echoed over and over in my head.

"I know that I pulled you here, but you don't have to pull me so hard!" Sota said.

"Sorry," I said and let go of his hand. I looked around, hoping to spot a familiar face, but finding none, I looked back at my brother, who was looking up at me with big brown eyes. "Alright, where do you want to go?"

"Lets start in the beginning and work to the end!" he said excitedly. Once again, I waited as he grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the first tent. It was a medium-sized tent with a large sign planted above the doorway, the message in distorted letters.

Freaks.

On the flaps of the tent, there were pictures of the various freaks that usually appeared in freak shows. The bearded lady, the pinhead, the midget; it was all the same.

"Maybe we should start with the Big Top," Sota said to me, attempting to pull away. I resisted,

"What's the matter? Afraid?"

"I'm not scared!"

"Then lets go in," and reversed, I pulled Sota into the tent. (This will be the last time either of them would pull the other anywhere)

The tent was surprisingly crowded, and noisy too. It was obviously one of the more popular tents. I immediately had a wave of claustrophobia wash over me, and I began to feel dizzy.

"Are you okay Kagome?" Sota asked me, tugging at her dress.

"I'm fine. Let's just see the exhibits and go on to the next tent."

"Okay."

Sota and I joined the crowd of spectators gathering around a short man standing on a podium. He had to be no more than four feet tall, with white hair, white skin, and red eyes. He was another albino, just like the one at the front booth. I started to ponder about Onigumo's actions in the circus. He hired albinos for crying out loud! I really started to ponder about his business strategies when the guy started to talk.

He sounded similar, no, almost identical to the guy at the booth.

"Ladies and gentlemen," he said in a raspy, but quiet voice. It was hardly audible to the people in the back. "I'm glad you came to the freak show. Today, we have some exhibits that we hope you will enjoy. Onigumo himself collected these freaks for your personal pleasure from the four corners of the world. We've got the amazing man who is half dog, half man, a man with all of hell in his hand, a girl who has the strength of ten men, a dwarf boy with a tail, and many more. So look at the exhibits, and remember, don't feed the animals."

A few people laughed in the audience.

The man on stage was suddenly gone in an instant. I looked up, he was there, and all of a sudden, he wasn't. I didn't think much of it until much later.

"Kagome, I want to see the girl with the muscles. That's awesome!" Sota was excited. He ran away from me, and towards the back of the tent where the crowd was gathering.

"Wait Sota, don't go!" I called after him, but he kept running. At first, I thought about running after him, but decided against it. He'll be fine I thought. Finally having time to myself, I went to look at the main attractions.

First up was the small boy with the tail.

To my surprise, there was nobody around the cage. Curious, I walked over to it. It was the smallest out of all the cages, probably only coming up to my shoulder. It was your typical cage, made of metal, probably steel, and surrounded by bars so close together, I could hardly squeeze my hand through. I bent down and looked inside.

Inside a little boy was fast asleep. He lay on his back, so I got a good look at him. He was small. He was probably the size of a human infant, with a large head, and a big mouth. It opened and closed as he inhaled and exhaled. To my utter shock, his mouth was filled not with normal teeth, but pointy ones with extra long canines.

Fangs.

I covered my mouth with my hand as I let out a gasp. I guess the boy must of heard it because the ears on the side of his head twitched, and his eyes opened. They were an emerald green. He sat up, and let out a yawn, revealing his fangs. His arms stretched over his head and he stood up. That exposed his tail, which matched his hair color– auburn– and it was bushy and was probably bigger than the boy himself.

After he was done stretching, that was when he spotted me.

"Who are you?" he asked me in a quiet voice. Probably from fatigue, but from what I can hear, he didn't sound as young as he looked. He looked around two or three, but sounded at least five or six.

"My name is Kagome," I responded. "What's your name?"

"Shippo."

"That's a cute name. It suits you."

He didn't respond, but rather looked at me in a puzzled fashion.

"Is there something wrong?" I asked him.

"Not many people attempt to have conversations with me, let alone any of the other freaks." He looked down at his feet with solemn eyes, and looked back up again. "You're the first."

I can feel tears threatening to fall down my cheeks, but I held them back. It was all so depressing and hard to believe. "How come you have a tail?" I asked him.

He shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. I don't really remember my parents. All I know's they're dead."

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay."

We sat in silence for a while until I felt a soft tap on my shoulder. I turned around to find Sota staring down at me with a huge grin on his face.

"Kagome, you've got to see this!" he said excitedly. "This girl is mad strong! She just lifted up two of the guys from the audience! It was so cool!"

"I'll be there in a minute Sota," I told him, and he left, skipping away into the crowd.

"Who was that?" Shippo asked me.

"That was my little brother, Sota," I replied. "He's a real pain sometimes."

"I know a guy like that."

"One of the other freaks?"

He nodded. "The dog-man. His name's Inuyasha. He's a real..." Shippo stopped suddenly, staring wide-eyed at something behind me.

That was when a smell reached my nose. It smelled like smoke. I turned around, and there and behold, a fire had started to accumulate a few feet away. Everybody in the tent was screaming in a panic, running around trying to find an exit. The albino announcer was screaming in a megaphone.

"Get the freaks in the cages! Get the freaks in the cages!" he shouted. "Get them in their cages now!"

Various circus workers acted quickly, and scrambled to get the freaks in their cages. I'm not quite sure what happened during this time, but I remember seeing Shippo where I had left him, inside his cage, which was practically melting around him. He cowered in fear, sobbing silently. I looked at him, and for a split second, almost made a break for the exit.

That was before I looked back at the frightened Shippo just a mere few feet away. I made a decision, and reached my hand through the scorching bars of the cage. I managed to grab his hand.

The bad news... I wasn't able to pull him through.

"Help me Kagome," he shouted. "Help me."

"I can't pull you through. The spaces are too small."

Suddenly, I felt an unbearable amount of pain on my neck. It seared, and I felt flames burning through my skin. I had never felt so much pain before. I screamed, and immediately grabbed the burned spot, protecting it from the other flames dancing around me. It just burned my hands. In my mind, I imagined what they looked like... red, the skin falling off. It was too repulsive for me to even think of.

The last thing I remember, before I blacked out was the sound of Shippo's voice screaming for me, warning me of what was to come.

"Watch out Kagome!"

So... how did you like it? I promise everything will become clearer in the next chapter:

1) how the fire started

2) how Kagome got knocked out

3) what happened to Sota

4) who drank all the rum!

R&R PLEEZ!

Yours Truly,

Sun and Moon