Creating the Magic of Us

Chapter 7

It was nearly midnight by the time Mark finally fell asleep, lying awkwardly over top of Marvin on the bed. The magician was gritting his teeth, trying his best to move Mark to the opposite side of the bed so that he could get up and leave. He couldn't stay here another second, being treated like an infirm by his overly attached lover. It was driving him crazy, slowly suffocating him to death.

Marvin held his breath as he gently slid Mark's arm off of his waist, quickly replacing his body with his own pillow so that Mark could still hold onto something that at least smelled a bit like him. He was thankful that Mark was a heavy sleeper, sighing in relief when Mark didn't even stir. Marvin waited a moment, watching his partner closely to make sure that he'd stay asleep before he decided to leave the trailer. Luckily for him, Mark was balls deep in a good dream, smiling slightly as he mumbled something under his breath. He almost felt guilty for the way he felt, gazing down at the man that was trying his hardest to give Marvin whatever he wanted. But any fleeting moment of guilt that he felt was quickly removed from his mind, replaced with the image of a freak he'd never noticed before now.

Marvin was sometimes too stuck in his own little world to see what was happening around him. Apparently, this admirer has been pining over him for quite some time, and Marvin, being the slight narcissist that he is, never even noticed. But he saw him now, hiding behind the curtain of the stage every night, staying in the shadows so that no one would ever know the way he felt inside.

At first, Marvin wasn't sure who might have sent that note, but the more he thought about it, the clearer it all became. The shadow behind the blade was Anti, always watching his every move with those piercing green eyes. The freak with the snake-skin tattoos and the forked tongue, covered in piercings that acted as a warning sign to others. He was terrifying and mysterious, but that only seemed to entice Marvin all the more. He wanted to walk amongst the freaks, to taste that danger on his tongue and live for the moment like they did.

The freaks lived by their own rules, doing as they pleased. They weren't stuffy and boring, overprivileged and snobby like the people he was used to associating with. In fact, they wouldn't even speak to someone like Marvin for fear of being shunned or shamed. They were different, but Marvin was beginning to see that being different wasn't necessarily a bad thing. He wanted to seek Anti out, perhaps to just talk or maybe to even explore this little fantasy of theirs. That wouldn't be such a terrible thing to do, right? They would only be experimenting with each other in secret, if it even came to that, that is. Who really knew what would happen once they actually met.

Marvin was adept at moving silently. It was a skill that he'd honed as a magician. The area that the freaks inhabited wasn't very far away from his own piece of the world, but it was like stepping into another planet once he was pulled towards it.

Unlike the neat and trim mobile homes of the main stage players, which was what Mark called himself and the others who were not connected with the sideshow, the freaks floated around in smaller tents that were sprinkled around much shabbier trailers to lay their heads for the night. Marvin had no idea what he would even say to Anti, if the sword swallower was actually the poet whose words were powerful enough for the magician to fall over like a shy schoolgirl. Even now his pale cheeks were scarlet at the memory, but he had to know, even if it ended in a broken heart.

There was also the not so small matter of Anti's lover, Damien. Not only was Damien ruthless and prone to anger, but he was also Mark's identical twin brother. No two brothers could be as connected as them. Literally, as they were once conjoined by a large section of skin and muscle until a risky surgery separated them nearly a decade ago. Mark raced to the softer and kinder life of a ringmaster, while Damien embraced the freak within. For years they resented each other's choice, but with finding new love they seemed to mend fences rather quickly over the past few years. They weren't truly brothers again, but they were getting much closer.

Back during those times, Marvin had been as encouraging as he could be to Mark, and thankfully Mark listened. With a slight sigh, the magician realized that Anti must have done the same. How painfully ironic it would be if Anti was the man behind the note that could rip the brothers apart again.

With that last thought, Marvin paused his heart and stood still, now halfway between Mark still sleeping in their bed and the unknown thrill. Was this something that he truly wanted to risk?

As if the sky decided to answer his question, there came a sudden sound of music in the air. It was the soft strings of what sounded like a violin, and the gentle melody made Marvin's body glow like fire. The tune was low and full of a yearning to be captured by someone who was worthy of it. Again, Marvin's feet were moving, and this time his purpose was clear. He needed to find the creator of such a lovely melody, and as he turned a corner, there he saw him.

Anti was leaning against the thick trunk of a tree, with the light of what seemed like a thousand stars shimmering off of his pale skin. The dark tattoos rippled across his arms and legs, and in his nimble hands was a violin and bow. He swayed as he played his song, with eyes closed and lips slightly opened. It was an amazing sight to behold, and Marvin drank up the vision like it was food to his starving soul. Marvin stayed as quiet as he could, but with a last couple of steps Anti's dazzling emerald eyes opened wide to see who his hidden audience was, and with a gasp, Marvin knew that he had been caught in the shadows.