The magical circus | Newt x OC story

I

Romania – Bicaz – 1922

What is the true meaning of freedom? Is it to be able to go wherever you want? Is it to do what you love and be with your loved ones? Is it the feeling of the fresh wind from the mountaintops on your face as you watch the stunning view pass by?

Irina often thought about freedom. Some days her live felt like freedom, other days it didn't. She didn't have a home. Well, not a proper one. There wasn't a house with walls and windows and the smell of freshly bakes cookies anywhere waiting for her. There was a rusty freight train with scary looking men and the smell of animal dung that she could call home. But if that is your only option you tend to think twice to call that home.

'What are you thinking about?' the sweet voice of Irina's mother asked as she showed up next to her daughter. Both women were looking quite similar: long, dark tangled hair with dark eyebrows and fair skin. Their eyes were two shades of green apart from each other and the daughter had outgrown the mother by five inches. They both wore simple, hand-sewn clothing, made in the few free hours they had between the job and travelling.

Irina blinked a couple of times to wake up from her thoughts. She had leaned on the edge of the wagon for hours. Suddenly she noticed how sore her body was.

'The usual stuff. What life would be like for normal people,' she replied. Her mother sighed and placed a hand on her daughter's shoulder.

'We are normal too Irina. Just in another way. This is our life, I hope one day you will accept that,' she said sadly.

Her daughter let out a humourless laugh. 'I think circus freaks are as far away from normal as it gets. But I know, I know, don't give me that look. I am not trying to open a discussion we've already had a million times. I'm just gonna check on Fiara. See you at unloading time.'

Without sparing her mother another look Irina turned around and opened the door into the next compartment. Her mother looked beaten and tired once her daughter stopped looking.

Three compartments down the train was Irina's destination.

'Hey girl! I'm back!' Irina called out happily while closing the door behind her. The compartment was bigger than a usual one. It needed a lot of extra length for the creature inside it. In the middle of the compartment stood a huge creature that resembled a rhino, but twice as big and with a differently shaped head. The horn on its head was 9 feet tall and seemed to illuminate in the dark, dusty room. The moment the creature saw the girl walking in, it started jumping on its short legs, making the compartment shudder. Irina had to hold out her arms to regain her balance.

'Okay Fiara! I'm happy to see you too! No need to start an earthquake about it,' she replied with a smile. The creature seemed to smile and stopped her movements. Irina came closer and laid her hand on the beast her head.

'There's a good girl,' she told the creature. 'I'm glad there is someone left on this bloody train that is glad to see me.' Irina said it with a smile, but it was a sad one. She stared unseeingly at the horn of Fiara.

'Mom still thinks we are normal. Us. The circus freaks. People pay money to watch us because we are weird! If only they knew..'

Her hand automatically reached for the small, long object hidden on the inside of her coat. When her fingertips touched the wooden material a couple of sparks ignited. She retreated her hand with a sigh. 'If only mom knew. I wonder what she would say. Would she understand it? What if she did something to me when I was small to make me like this? What if my dad-,'

She stopped talking abruptly. The only sound to be heard was the wheels hitting the tracks and the soft breathing of Fiara. Irina moved automatically towards the haystack in the corner and scooped up a handful. She threw it down in front of Fiara who began to eat eagerly. Irina got back to reality when she heard a clinking sound. When Fiara tried to reach the furthest bit, her chains snapped her back ruthlessly. Irina moved the hay closer.

'I hate them as much as you,' she told the creature as she massaged the skin around the chains, 'but if I were to take them off they will throw me off the train. And I don't even want to think about what they will do to mom. No, Fiara, we have to plan this. But I promise you, I will release you. You will not have to be a circus animal for the rest of your life.'

Fiara was too content with her food to let the girl know she was being heard. 'And hopefully you won't be the only one.'