Gothic: Cashton

duo

The song above/to the side really sets the mood for the show

The crowd gasps when the cane vanishes into thin air. None of it makes sense. Calum looks around wildly, trying to find any hint to an optical illusion. He finds nothing. The man in the center of the circle chuckles.

"Now that I've got your attention. Allow me to Introduce our first act of tonight. Boys?" He calls behind him. Three pairs of red eyes glow from behind him and three boys slink out cloaked in black. The man in the middle claps his hands together and the boys drop their cloaks showing off bright green skin that could possibly glow in the dark. The shortest of the three begins to glow lightly and cracks start to form in his skin. Calum fears for the boys life.

"My name is Freakshow. Welcome to the circus" the host says before disappearing completely. Calum scoots closer to Michael again, gripping his arm tightly. Michael pushes Calum off him.

"Calum stop it. Its just a show." He hisses. Calum pouts, watching as Michael snuggles into Lukes side. Calum is lonely. He looks down to see the cracks in the boys skin growing and becoming brighter. After a few moments, the boys skin breaks like a shell and a larger boy steps out looking twice as scary and half as human as he was before. The crowd gasps and Calum cowers. Everything about the show seems wrong to him. Everything seems scary. The two other boys do the same thing as the smallest one and they all let out loud beastly noises. Calum covers his ears and the crowd cheers. Then, very suddenly, the biggest boy grips the smalles boys arms and pulls until they both tear off and the boys shoulders spurt blood. Someone in the crowd screams and Calum tries to get up, but he can't seem to move. The smallest boy doesn't scream or cry. He stands there completely still until like magic his arms begin growing back at a rapid rate. He wasn't hurt at all. And that's how their act goes. They take turns harming one another and growing back the pieces they lose. One tears out anothers eye and eats it the eye grows back a different color. The largest one wheels out a table and lays his top half on it. The middle boy grabs a large, sharp axe. He touches the biggest's middle twice with it before bringing it back and hurling it foreward with all his might, cutting what Calum assumes to be his brother completely in half. Calum shrieks as the boys intestines and other such organs spill onto the floor below him along with his bottom half. The crowd sits on the edges of their seats as they watch the boys bottom half begin growing back. When it does and the boy stands, the crowd cheers wildly. Calum just sits. He doesnt like violence. He doesn't like gore or horror or people being hurt. He wishes he could leave but he can't seem to get up from his seat.

The acts go on and on for hours. A tall girl walking across a tightrope on her hands over a pool filled with box jellyfish. Calum fears for her life but she makes it, jumping from the end of the tightrope to the floor.

A group of four men juggle flames and light themselves on fire when they finish. Everyone screams but they survive. Without a single burn on them.

A boy levitates a girl off the ground and over the crowd, allowing people to pass their hands all around her to prove there is nothing attatched to her. There isn't. Michael moves his hand around her. Calum does not.

Finally after many more acts, Freakshow returns to the center of the circle.

"How's everyone enjoying the show?" He shouts. Everyone cheers. Except Calum. "Glad to hear it! Now before we introduce the final act, I'd like to warn you. At first she'll seem like any other circus performer, but I beg you to wait before getting discouraged, because she truly is a work of art. Please give a massive welcome to Spider"

The crowd waits and a girls crawls out on her hands and feet moving in such a way that shouldn't be possible for a human being. She sands up straight and a ball appears in front of her. She steps onto it as if it were a chair or a stool of some sort. She closes her eyes and bends so her head is peeking out from between her legs. She bends her legs in an impossible manor and lifts herself onto her hands. She begins moving around the center on the ball, turning it with her hands. Calum leans foreward in his seat, suddenly intrigued. She lifts her leg from where its contorted above her and points it toward the ceiling. People begin to get bored until the girls leg splits into two legs. She lifts the other and it does the same, then both of her arms. She ends up with eight limbs which Calum supposes is why she's called spider. She unfolds herself and gets off the ball, opening her mouth to reveal a long sharp pair of fangs. Calum is horrified. She climbs up the center pole with no trouble. Its as if she actually is a spider. A human spider. She lowers herself easily from the top of the tent and lands on her eight limbs. She opens her mouth again and hundreds of spiders crawl out, growing and exploding into small fireworks to which the crowd cheers wildly. Spider stands on her four legs and they grow back together along with her arms. She stands straight and bows. The crowd goes nuts. Freakshow comes back out and raises his hands, earning wild cheers from the crowd.

"We have a surprise act for you this evening featuring yours truly! But for this we need a volunteer. Calum sinks lower in his seat. Various people jump up, begging to be a part of the amazing show. Even Michael gets up begging to be noticed. A spotlight moves through the crowd and lands, not on Michael, but on Calum. Michael scowls and sits.

"You there! Come on down here!" Freakshow calls. Calum shakes his head and points to Michael. Freakshow shakes his head and raises a hand, lifting Calum into the air and bringing it toward himself to yank Calum through the air. Calum stands next to Freakshow shaking like a leaf. Freakshow touches his shoulder and everything goes dark. Calum doesn't see a thing.

The crowd leaves in a haze, not remembering anything aside from the show being the best they'd ever seen. Luke and Michael get into their car without Calum, not realizing hes missing, or remembering him in the slightest. Calum no longer exists to them.

Please leave a comment and my favourite will get a dedication :-)