Wrestling the Kraken

Bridgett

Bridgett

Bridgett felt better with dry clothes. They were baggy and faded and she wasn't entirely sure if they were clean, but they were dry.

Lanz looked her way. Her hair began to frizz up as it dried with the salt of the ocean air, giving her uneven curls. Her mascara still left a black streak on her face. Though, through it all, there was something about her. She looked up at him.

He set his soup down, wiping the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand. "So... uh, what brought you here, you know, to the beach today, if you don't mind me asking?"

She looked down wondering why she wanted to tell him. To tell him exactly. She wasn't sure but there was something about him. A sincerity maybe? Yes, that could be it. Sincerity was one of those rare occurrences in life. If it came, it was fleeting and yet she knew it for what it was the moment it found her. Like a light switching on from the dark. It was there. It was bright, and it was illuminating.

"I had a long night. Sorry about the dinner... I got carried away. I went to see the opening show at the circus, wanting to see for myself what the new act was. Turned out it was just Vivianne doing my act." She said looking down. That was still a matter that had to be dealt with. There just seemed to always be something else. Reality became more of a juggling act than actual living. There was no time to reflect and no time to dream. Life was running on a wheel, trying to outrun the wind.

"That's a new low from them. Then again I'm not surprised." Lanz replied, a shadow growing over his face.

"You've had experience with them before?"

Lanz fell silent, looking down at his hands. She saw the question stoked a fire in his eyes and she wished she could retract it for his sake. "Sorry, I didn't mean to... you don't have to share."

"No, it's fine." He shifted his weight. "I, uh-" He had to swallow, but his mouth was too dry. Working up enough saliva for another try, he continued. "I used to be a part of the Karras and Rossini Circus." That was harder for him to say than he expected.

Bridgett's eyes grew. "Really? What was it like? What did you do there?" The words flew out of her mouth. Her nerves released them before she had a chance to inspect them.

She realized how insensitive it came out and the shame silently rebuked her. Of course the time he spent with the circus must have been something wonderful, but looking around the tent she could see that something had brought him from there... to here. Looking at that burning fire in his eyes, she could tell that particular something had been painful.

"It was fine. Everything you would think it would be." He said. Bridgett saw what could have been a tear, but she wasn't sure. Lanz grabbed the pans and stood up, clearing them away.

"I met someone. Lily. We were inseparable. Lanz and Lily, they always grouped our names together." Bridgett knew the name well. Hearing it again brought terror into her veins. She was a deer watching the approaching headlights as she listened to every word... every tone.

"Even though we were together all the time, I never had her heart. She fell for the owner's son, Dante. One night, I came back after most had left. Lily and Dante were, uh... together." He said, finally daring to look up into Bridgett's face. This time she knew tears were fighting their way out.

"I left. Couldn't stand what my eyes had seen. Then the next day.." Lanz shrugged, a tear escaping. "No more Lily." He wiped the tear away with the back of his arm and breathed in.

"Anyway, that was the beginning of a string of murders that seemed to follow the circus. Audience, town folk. Lily was the only circus family though. I couldn't stick around anymore. It just wasn't the same. Besides, I couldn't stand the sight of that smug son of a gun. He's a wolf in fancy clothes." At this point the fury that kept to his eyes had spread. His chest was heaving up and down, and his face looked like the dam was ready to break any moment.

"I could never prove it, but I know... I know it was him."

"How do you know? I mean you really think it was him?" She asked, wanting to see just how much he actually knew.

"Of course! It has to be!" He snapped and Bridgett took a mental note of the line that was crossed- his reaction.

Choosing her words and tone carefully, she continued. "But what reason would he have for Lily, or for the other murders?"

"Because he's a wolf." He replied with cold steel in his voice.

She had all she needed to know. The look in his eye gave Bridgett a chill and she searched for something to say that would change the subject, though her heart felt his pain.

"So you didn't finish telling me about what brought you here." Lanz said, breaking the tension. It was as if the mood in the air had never changed.

"Yes I did."

"No, you said that they stole your act. "

"That's right." Bridgett didn't see the problem here.

"Well, that's not the whole story. The show was yesterday and today you decide to walk straight into the ocean. There's something in the middle missing there."

What are you getting at? Bridgett narrowed her eyes. She realized the abandoned buildings were close to the beach, but the site she had chosen for Claire was at least several miles west of here. Did he roam the whole area at night?

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"I mean, you said you needed to feel something else, right?"

"Right."

"What was it you were feeling before? Because the other day when I met you and the rest of those..." He started to chuckle, remembering the sight of them.

"Those what?" she teased, smiling herself.

"Those very professional, talented individuals... I was going to say." He laughed. "Yeah, you all were ready to pick yourselves up again and start up your own thing. That was after they kicked you out and had you do a walk of shame." His amusement faded away, replaced with a curiosity. "I guess I don't buy it. You seem like a tough broad, so if something is going to send you into the ocean to cool off... it must be serious."

Very intuitive. Very... unexpected. "I don't really know where to start. It's more a collection of things really." She was thankful for a change in subject, but her answer would change the mood right back. Again she wondered at the wanting to tell him. To tell him everything.

"I'm listening."

"It's a long story." She said, dismissive.

"I'm listening." He settled in, getting comfortable, smiling in dare.

She looked up at him with interest. Strange creature. "Well... I guess it really started when I was a child." She paused to look at him, seeing if he had lost interest.

"Go on."

She smiled and told her story.