Obscure Occurrences |C. BAREBONE|

☛ Forty ☚

• April, 1927 •

Circus Arcanus hadn't witnessed the wrath of an Obscurial. One hadn't existed in Europe in hundreds of years yet there they allowed one to sleep only metres from the other wizards, oddities and freaks which inhabited the many tents of the circus.

They all awoke to a distorted roar which shook them all. And amongst this anger and devastation, right under the Obscurus sat Credence's tent which held a tortured Genevieve Burnett.

Thankfully, on that night, Credence wasn't out to extinguish the circus; they had nowhere to go if he did. They needed the food and a roof (even if it didn't provide the best).

All he asked for, all he prayed for in return for his labour, was no harm to come to Nagini or Genevieve. But that wasn't possible, Skender couldn't allow that. He had to wring out every last drop of who they were until he was only a slave and Nagini and Genevieve were reduced to toys.

From the ground the circus life peered up with a blinded vision. Credence appeared invisible against the late night sky. He was like a hunter but he wasn't looking for sustenance. Only a prey he could torment like a cat with a ball of yarn. That's what Catriona would be, an object he could curse into nothing.

He would be Genevieve's scourge.

Catriona followed behind the female oddities out into the dark to see a ball of tangled red and black. It was menacing in how it danced across the sky, pulling and tugging at its centre in wild movement... That's when Credence saw her. Already, he was blind to those around him, but seeing the metamorphagus uncut or harmed made the boy boil. His blood turned into thick, molten iron as his mouth released a painful sound between a sob and scream.

Nagini could hear his pain. It was vivid and hot. Like fire it engulfed every wizard and freak with a feral heat. She didn't know what had happened to cause such distress and she didn't think she would want to. After all, Genevieve was always there to comfort him and bring him back to Earth. The fact that she couldn't bring Credence from his Obscurus form made the maledictus shiver in fear.

"What's going on here!" Catriona screeched, her voice plagued with horror until suddenly...

Her body had collapsed to the ground. With a harsh thump it crumbled to the dirt and didn't struggle. From beside her, Nigelle (a female, lizard humanoid part of Skender's freak show) nearly shrieked in terror at the sight of her caretaker.

Catriona was sprawled across the ground with cracked markings haunting her once, tanned skin. Her flesh was now grey and appeared like stone as it dried into lizard-like skin. The beautiful woman was now hideous.

If you tuned out the buzz of the Obscurus, the circus had reverted into a soul-stirring silence. What could they do? Of course, Credence wouldn't fight back against any punishment, he needed to be there for Genevieve, he needed to protect her and not get himself killed. He needed to calm on his own.

Therefore, with a deep, gulp of air and a happy thought, Credence was once again beside Genevieve as a human. She seemed to whimper into his side once he laid down next to her.

Genevieve could never reject his warmth, it seemed physically impossible as she squinted her eyes tighter to dream of him. The witch was attempting to pull a potent memory of him into her mind and play it like one of those movies. She didn't want to be without him, she didn't want to be without magic or Nagini. She simply wanted it all.

"Don't worry-" Credence cooed into her ear as he raked his fingers trough her hair, "- I'm here and nobody is going to hurt you... Not again; not ever.